The Mouth of Doom: Session 7

General Summary

Gnolls and Moss

After the concert the night before, the party assembled rested in the Bristleback Inn. Zetwuzadi informs them that they had forgotten to take care of the gnolls’ corpses yesterday. In the rush of trying to track down the escaped gnoll and the investigation of the giant pumpkin that followed, they all had forgotten that gnolls were not properly put to rest. Ferric agrees that this was an oversight by all of them and with the unhallowed ground that the pumpkin was resting on, leaving the gnolls could be a disaster for the area. The Wrenjer’s and their allies talk about how they planned on traveling to Castle Calaelen afterward. Would it be better to cut across the land or would their river idea be the fastest route. Either route could cause them to miss a possible gnoll party attacking Zelkor’s Ferry, but the group seem to be confident in the hired guard of the small fortified town.

On the way out of town, Arddan stops the adventurers at the gate to talk with Croaker. He informs the Wrenjer initiate that the mission they are attempting could give the Wrenjer’s a needed outpost in the Forest of Hope and that if she was able to help accomplish this, then they would not be an initiate any longer. He asks the cleric to watch out for herself and the others, knowing they would do so anyway.
Leaving early in the morning on the fifth of Zhira, the party follows the same path they had the day before and like yesterday, nothing assaults them. Two hours later, they find themselves on the ridge where the giant pumpkin laid naturally decaying. All around the gourd are animals of various types, from birds to squirrels to larger creatures consuming the pumpkin. It seemed that the magic that had made it difficult to pierce the skin had ceased as the animals were scavenging it. The group had piled the gnolls off to the side while they were searching the bodies and they all noticed a large bear eating the corpses. They wonder if the bear would be able to finish off the gnolls, but they also notice other bears waiting their turn on the easy prey. Meadbh asks if they should be worried that the animals would become contaminated by what the group had been so worried about yesterday; however, Ferric points out that sometimes animals are smarter than “us thinking folk.” Zetwuzadi does confirm that the desecration is still present and they all agree that this area should be routinely monitored for spread of the unhallowed ground.
After a short but informative tour of the area, they head back to Zelkor’s Ferry to take the boat up river to the castle. On their way back north, the sun had graced the land with its presence gently warming the winter air. The light, although still dim, was wonderful as they traveled. Arddan and the Yellow Dagger had already started their trek up the Canyon River by the time the group returned four hours after they left in the morning. The captain of the town guard informed the group that no gnoll had attacked when they were away and if they do, he jokingly said that they would hear their screams.
Rowing up the river required everyone’s help but they hit their intended location, guided expertly by Rain, by noon. Jalen offers to scout ahead and Zetwuzadi wants Rain to accompany the rogue as she is also skilled at scouting, and having two people watch is better than one. They work out that the two sneaky folk were going to go well ahead of the noisier group but still in eyesight and using the signal whistle for communication, the group arrives near the forest outside the castle fairly easily and the trip is uneventful. Continuing on with the scouting pattern, Jalen is able to spot the castle as the sun was starting to dip behind the Jaw in the Northern Racchis Range. He pokes around a large stone and sees a large fort or rather a small castle. The stone structure is made of white stone that has been tinged by the excessive amount of moss that covered most of the stones. The castle was surrounded by a forest with a massive stone cliff on one side, it seems to not receive a lot of sun, making it a perfect place for moss to thrive. Jalen does not see any visible lights from the structure but spots a small plume of smoke near the southwest corner. Moving back to Rain, he relays that he has found the castle and they travel back to the party.
Jalen explains that the castle is just around the bend, past a stone cliff face into the forest. It seemed to his keen eyes that the castle has fallen into disrepair and is covered in moss. He notes the area he had approached seemed to be an excellent spot for entry. The party moves up to the stone face that Jalen had spotted the castle around, they remain there while Rain and Jalen move in for a better look. Upon further inspection, Castle Calaelen indeed seems to have succumbed to the Brume multiple times and the old scaffolding seems not to be in use. As the two scout, Croaker points out that ravine could lead to the castle’s sewer and be another possible route into the structure. At the southwest corner, Jalen and Rain inspect the walls, making sure to find the arrow slits on the second story. About every 15 feet there are small slits in the stone face to allow archers to defend the keep. Rain boosts the small halfling up, Jalen attempts to grab one of the handholds but grabs a hunk of moss and they both fall down the ravine hitting some soft rocks.
They hunker down, trying to stay quiet to hear if any of the gnolls heard their commotion and they do indeed hear the snickering speaking of creatures speaking Gnoll. Seeing a gnoll head poke around the corner of the gatehouse quickly followed by another, the two hide. The party just watches as their companions lose their initial fight with the moss covered wall but they trust their companions to hide and alert them if they need help. As the gnolls scurry back to the keep they all hear a massive ‘caw’, stopping them in their tracks until they run back into the castle, scared. Ferric connects the call to a large corvid. Returning to the group, the scouting party is congratulated for using such a great decoy call with their whistle, but they explain that it wasn't them. Rain agrees that they should figure out what creature made a noise no normal crow would be able to emulate, as they all don’t know what the situation is at Castle Calaelen. Ambrose poses that maybe the creatures take orders from a massive raven. Zetwuzadi pulls the party further into the forest in case the giant bird takes flight.
Further away, they discuss possible options. At this point they need more information on the castle and they offer that Ambrose’s familiar, Tidi, could be transformed into a bird to make an aerial scouting trip but Zetwuzadi notes that there isn’t much animal life around the structure. Another option, which seemed well received by the rogue and the wizard, was to draw a smaller group out and attack those. The paladin also seemed keen on the idea. Ambrose really wants to light gnolls on fire and Jalen wants to use an oil slick. Ambrose shares that he used to use a trick called the Firebox to steal from others in Gylidd Syn Aethri. Ferric offers that maybe they should all try what Rain and Jalen had before but as a group and if it doesn’t work they could make a distraction there to call out some of the guards.
The group was able to successfully travel from the stone face to the southwest corner of the castle without altering the castle guards. This part of the structure has no parapet so all they had to do was make sure they were not loud on their way. It seemed to the group that this corner of the castle was being held together by a prayer and Croaker offered that they should not linger. Being assisted by Meadbh’s Mage Hand, Jalen is able to make it to an arrow slit and confirms that this area is uninhabited and on the verge of collapse. As the three move up to an arrow slit closer to the gatehouse, they hear two loud caws. Instead of using the three, they decided to have Meadbh lift Tidi up to the second story. This part of the castle was just a pile of rocks. Now knowing that this area was relatively safe from overhead attacks, they stage an ambush while Jalen makes a sound similar to that Rain and Jalen had made earlier.
Four gnolls leave the castle to investigate the sound unaware of the ambush the Wrenjers and their allies set. A battle commences with one gnoll falling quickly. Ferric readies a spell in case two retreat to call the others. The warforge is clever, the gnolls retreat but not before the druid pulls one back to the group. Unfortunately one gnoll was able to call for help. They pursue the retreating gnoll. Rain easily moving through the difficult terrain is key in this fight. Zetwuzadi happens to speak Goblin and tries to deceive one of the reinforcements and after a second attempt is able to successfully dissuade the creature into leaving the gatehouse. Keeping her distance, Rain was able to see into the interior of the castle, through the open gate she was able to spot a stable and a possible bath house at the far back. Ferric drops a natural fog bank at the front of the gatehouse as cover for the group to successfully make their way out of the difficult terrain and onto the path that leads into the castle.

Report Date

21 Nov 2020