The Mouth of Doom: Session 9
General Summary
Mockery of Formal Dining
Report Date
05 Dec 2020
The battle in Castle Calaelen rages on between the Wrenjers and their allies and the seemingly never ending amount of goblins. Unlike most goblins of Myzelis, these are blood thirsty and constantly aggressive. Zetwuzadi with the aid of Croaker had tied two doors together making it impossible for the weaker goblins to break through the door, forcing them to make their way around. As the group readies for the next round of attacks, Jalen explores down the hall. The halfling rogue can smell the dampness of a cellar down the stairs. Croaker tries to open a door that is locked and they are the only adventurer able to hear the pitter patter of feet behind the door that was secured with the rope. Ambrose investigates the locked door and notices the very fine inscription on the lock that would have triggered if Croaker had been able to force their way through the locked door.
Trusting that the wizard would have disarmed the door if they could, they move on to recently darkened hall. While the group was taking a spell examining the corridor, someone had doused the torch where Jalen had tossed it but minutes before. The Wrenjer paladin readies herself for the onslaught of arrows she assumes will greet her and rounds the corner. About a half dozen goblins unleashed their arrows on the half-orc, among them is their leader barking out orders. She was able to survive the first round of arrows, while she moved up to prepare space for her companions, the second set of arrows were unleashed upon her. In the room where Ambrose had seen the fancy tea set, more goblins lurked waiting for their prey.
Zetwuzadi falls to the second set of arrows, luckily, Croaker is able to heal her. On her way back to safety, the cleric roasts a goblin with her Sacred Flame. Remembering Ferric trying to get someone to drop an oil flask, Rain stealths in and throws it at the feet of the goblins in the tea room. It wasn’t her intended spot but it works as Ferric moves up and lights the oil on fire; afterward, they close the door leaving the goblins freaking out with the flames. The battle continues with another flask of oil being thrown at the goblins in the side room. As the goblins fought, their leader would grab one of their minions to take the hits the adventures laid upon them until there was no more fodder. Uzadi moved in and slew the boss as they were up against the impressive double doors into the main keep.
A clatter of furniture and smoke emerge from the tea room as the goblins had tried to smother the flames with the table. The four creatures had tried to escape the room only to die to the party mere moments after they escaped the flames. Moving into the room where most of the goblins seemed to have come from, they discover it as a dining room set for a formal dinner but by someone who had no idea what a formal dinner would look like. The group fans out and gather the items the goblins were carrying. They decide to quietly and quickly look about the inner keep’s main floor. Jalen moves down the other hall and finds that the stairs that would climb to the second story have had the ceiling above it fall down upon it. Each of the doors on this side of the castle seem to be stuck as if the disrepair and general water log of the doors made it impossible to budge.
Remembering the voice behind the iron doors in the courtyard, Jalen moves stealthily to hear if the individual was still at work. The door is still locked and the person behind the doors is still hammering away. Either they never heard the call to arms or they did not care. Meadbh examines the raised relief and learns a bit more about Castle Calaelen. She remembers that the merchants were a splinter group of elves from Hynfoal and had taken the elven god’s name and their iconography, the unicorn, as their own. They are unable to recall any more details; however, there are no other members of House Calaelen.
Upon the goblin and gnoll bodies, they were able to gather a plethora of arrows, weapons, armor and some silver. The leader had a small sized chain shirt and a necklace with a white gold ring on a simple leather strap. Ferric was able to scavenge 80% of the fancy tea set that had crashed to the ground when the goblins had tried to smother the flames with the furniture and had spent their time gathering the tiny shards and broken pieces in hope of mending the two teacups. Ambrose was able to gather that the simple white and gold band that matched the same iconography of Calaelen was a Ring of Protection. Meanwhile, Croaker ritually casts Detect Magic and finds that the lock that had the fine inscription radiated evocation magic and something beyond the doors triggered in their magical eyesight but not strong enough to pass through the thick castle walls.
It seemed that the goblins had started dinner while the adventurers started their siege. As the group gathered back in the dining hall, Uzadi found a rather delicious smell of cooked fish wafting off the stove. In total the group finds about 20 days of rations and while they take a small breather they discuss what they should do next. They still had one more door to investigate, the one that they had tied the rope too. It seems like the large bird creature was still making noises somewhere near or in the castle and they needed at least a short rest from the battle. Ambrose, Jalen and Meadbh move to investigate the tower.
They investigate Castle Calaelen’s inner tower and find that although the wooden floor seemed to buckle it would not break under their feet or under the weight of all the slain. Jalen cautiously follows Tidi, Ambrose’s baby platypus familiar, up the small rickety ladder to the second story. The second story of the tower had a door in which the rogue set a small alarm trigger while he investigated the room. He found more games in a wooden cabinet with glass paneled doors and the hole and rope from the tea room. After taking some games, the halfling descends down the ladder reporting back to the group what they had found.
Deciding to take their rest in the dining hall, they lock the inner keeps doors and set up a watch. Jalen planned on spending most of their time up stairs using the rope as easy access for the advantageous vantage point through the arrow slits. Ferric moves themselves near the corridor that had the stairs that led down to the basement. Uzadi, with Croakers help, set up two of the tables on their sides. One was up against one of the doors while the other was easily placed for a quick setting to barricade the last door securing a safe space for the group if they needed. About ten minutes into their rest, Jalen’s trap is triggered.
Jalen quickly cuts the rope and uses the wall to slide down. He informs the group and they all ready for battle, facing the tower’s doors; waiting for the creature to descend the rickety ladder. The hooded figure is causing the ladder to shake and shudder under the smaller form. Ferric hits the creature, singeing the cloak revealing the bone white ribcage and a tattered robe stretched over a dwarven skeleton. The creature simply points at the double doors and they slam shut; the entire area starts to quake. Jalen tries to open the doors but they are unable.
The group plans to fall back to the forest. As they make their exit, the lights start to dim while the area still quakes. They are unassaulted in their rear advancement. The cawing of the large bird had increased and as they round the rock they had first glimpsed the castle, they could hear flapping of large wings. The wind had picked up, as well while they were laying siege to Castle Calaelen.
Despite the darkness, they find a relatively safe place out of the wind for camp. Ferric and Jalen, on their trek back from the castle, had discussed skeletons and the magic that seemed to frighten them to retreat. Ferric explains that the thing in there is not out of their expertise, in the moment it seemed wise that they fell back if only for their current level of skills. But they should head back in the morning and prepare another assault. Ambrose jokes that the group probably wishes they had a necromancer now but the group seems to respond with a resounding ‘no.’
They rest with nothing eventful happening throughout the night. They wake to calm winds and a single thought that they left all the bodies in Castle Calaelen with a walking skeleton… Even with that thought in mind as they prepare to continue their siege, they feel stronger and more confident in their skills.
