Session 9 - In Defense of Greenest
23 Thaumont 1010 - 24 Thaumont 1010
General Summary
After their short rest at the keep, the party exits through the remote exit to the southeast (through the underground passage below the keep). Once they have found their way out the gate, Stavos notices hobgoblins and wolves patrolling along the river and woods. The party decides to wait, to see where the raiders go before proceeding. When they realize that the raiders are going the same general direction that they are headed, they decide to attack the raiders to prevent being flanked later. The melee team moves forward to get within 50 feet of the raiders, and the ranged attackers strike with advantage with long bows and spells. They make relatively quick work of this group, and the wolves that had split off come back only to be speedily dispatched.
With this threat dealt with, the party moves on sneaking along the edge of the trees to avoid being seen by the dragon, and crosses the stream closer to the mill. The party sees the raiders around the mill, and chooses to sneak up from the other side of the road to get better positioning. They use a similar tactic, with the Melee participants advancing to within striking range, while the ranged attackers hold back. They relatively quickly take down the western group of goblin raiders with surprise, and the second group, which saw the party advance around the building were taken down fairly quickly thereafter. None of the goblin raiders were able to escape, and the party begins inspecting the mill for survivors. after searching around the lower level to see if the mill operators were still here, three bugbears attack from above, landing a couple strong hits on Stavos. The party quickly regroups and tries to dispatch the bugbear threat, but these are tough buggers, and the battle rages on for a while.
Shortly after the bugbears are dealt with, a small contingent of soldiers arrive to take over protection duty on the mill. The party heads back toward the keep, sweeping a few homes on the way to see if there are any townsfolk in need of escort. It appears that the homes are all abandoned, and the party returns to the keep. They report their activities to Tarbaw Nighthill, and he is thankful, but troops from the wall have reported that another goblin raiding party appears to be assaulting the Temple of Zirchev, where a large group of townsfolk have taken refuge during the raid. Tarbaw asks the party if they are willing to go forth again to rescue the townsfolk at the temple, and prevent a slaughter. Of course the party agrees, as allowing the temple to fall would be a disaster.
They once again depart from the southeast sally-port, and work their way along the edge of the woods to the half-wall around the temple. From here they see several things. First, a pair of Hobgoblins with a battering ram assaulting the front door, with a group of goblins defending them. Second, another pair of hobgoblins and a smaller party of goblins attempting to set a fire at the back door of the temple with what seems to be wet hay based on the smokiness. There is a third, larger group of raiders parading around the outside of the temple going clockwise lead by a goblin dressed like a jester who is singing loudly to encourage the raiders.
The party decides to let the third team go by and work around the temple out of sight, then attack the smaller raiding group at the back door of the temple. They suppress their fire starting attempts remotely by magic, angering the Hobgoblins who then yell at the goblins to get the fire going. The party assaults these raiders, surprising and making quick work of them, and let none escape, lest the other raiders would be alerted.
They quickly put out the rest of the flames, and make a decision about how to rescue the townsfolk. It is determined that they may be able to surprise the raiders, by opening the doors, and letting them in, then fighting them inside, where the circling group won't be able to see them. They pick the lock at the back door, and go in, re-locking the door behind them, and find their way to the main temple room, where they find a couple dozen townsfolk (who are extremely relieved to find them as friendlies, rather than goblins), with Eadyan Falconmoon doing his best to calm and organize the crowd. They quickly get the townsfolk to the back of the room, and take up a defensive position inside the doors. Once ready, Belfur uses mage hand to lift the bar holding the door shut, and the raiders storm in.
Once again, the party is successful in eliminating the raiders, but one goblin escapes back out the front door. Tork and Belfur pursue the goblin, but it gets pretty far before they are able to stop it, crying out an alert to the third group of invaders.
The party decides to fight the third group here at the temple, rather than trying to make a run for it. They instruct the townsfolk to hide in the back rooms and hallway, and keep watch out the back windows, and to immediately come get the party if any further raiders show up back there.
The invaders quickly arrive, and the party is ready for them as they come in the door. This group is much tougher than the last however. The jester looking goblin appears to be a Nilbog and, unlike the other goblins, it has some sort of aura of protection that prevents attacks from striking it, plus the attacker must overcome it's charm-like secondary effect to even attempt to strike it, or spend the rest of their action praising the little bugger.
The party works on the rest of the goblins and hobgoblins, but the group of raiders in the back keep striking, then retreating back out the door, creating a high risk situation due to the number of raiders. Leofingol repositions himself to have line of sight to the group of wolves and goblins in the back, and drops a Shatter spell on them, killing all caught under the spells area. This allows the party to focus on the hobgoblins and bugbear in the temple, as well as the Nilbog.
They take down the bugbear and hobgoblin, and turn their attention to the Nilbog. It continues to use its protective aura, but upon their second successful attack in a single round, the magic aura no longer seems to do anything, and the Nilbog dies like any other goblin.
With the goblin raiders dealt with, the party decides to bring the townsfolk to the keep. They escape out the back and sneak back along the edge of the woods, and into the sally-port.
Once again, they report their success to Governor Nighthill. Just as the party is catching their breath with a short rest, another commotion catches their attention on the wall. Stavos goes up for a view of what is happening, and sees a large party of hobgoblins, a blue Half-Dragon, Langdedrosa Cyanwrath, leading them calling out to the keep. They have some "worthless prisoners" that they will exchange if the Keep will send out their strongest fighter to fight in single combat with the Half-Dragon. Once again, Governor Nighthill asks if the party will save the prisoners. It takes the party a while to decide who would have the best chance in single combat against this very large, and intimidating, Half-Dragon; in the end Tork volunteers, though Belfur was also considering.
The Half-dragon is a powerful opponent, and after his self aggrandizing monologue, he explains that this will be single combat, and if anyone else interferes, the prisoners' lives will be forfeit.
Tork moves forward in preparation, and the party stands by to prevent death if possible. The Half-Dragon strikes first, with two powerful blows with his greatsword that wipes out Tork's aura of temporary hit points. The blow is so strong that it sends Tork into a barbarian rage. Tork is able to land several blows, but the Half Dragon is very strong. After a couple especially strong attacks from Tork, the Half-dragon lets out a fierce lightning breath attack, dealing a large amount of damage. Tork reels from this. but somehow isn't killed on the spot. He amazingly surges forward again for yet another attack, but is unable to kill the Half-Dragon, and the next blow renders him unconscious. This is the first defeat that has been handed to the party in their adventures so far. Thankfully Tork survives the encounter; the Half-Dragon is marches off in triumph, ordering the townsfolk released to the defenders at the keep. The party heals Tork as the Invaders melt away from the town, the black dragon last seen heading west.
The raid appears to be over, though the rationale of the invasion is still not at all clear; the party returns to the keep.
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Report Date
11 Jan 2020
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