Wallacian Campaign Session #33
General Summary
- After turning in the Catoblepas tusks to Edmund Taylahr in exchange for magical items, the party returned to Cragmaw Castle to supervise repairs over the winter.
- Working with Halia Thorton, Almalexia found outside investors to pay for repairing the ancient bridge across the Cragmaw Canyon. The work was completed a few weeks ago, and travelers are already paying tolls to avoid the long detour to north around the canyon.
- The veteran party-members (Almalexia, Cressidien, Rizwyn, Sauroff, and Silvermoon) were joined by Bartholomew, Brenna Callahan, and Sabiha Saban.
- The Cragmaw tribes of goblins, orcs and bugbears continued to periodically stop travellers on the Tri-Boar Trail to extort "tolls" from them.
- Although these incidents along the Tri-Boar Trail were infrequent, there were signs of larger numbers of tribal members up in the mountains, away from the trail.
- Seeking to learn more, the party tracked down a group of Cragmaw skulking near their castle. More of the patrol escaped, but a lame goblin shaman was too slow, and was captured.
- The party took the shaman to their castle to interrogate her. Named Keeshek, the goblin was convinced to talk. She said that the Cragmaw tribes were divided into factions. The chiefs of the various tribes wanted to follow the advice of warriors from the "Eagle" orcs. These warriors advised waiting a couple years until more of the young orcs and goblins mature into adulthood, then attack all the humans, elves, and dwarves who are occupying "their" territory. The faction follow an orcish shaman named Ursala Urgala. Ursala claims to have visited both Phandalin and Phandelver, and says that the outsiders are increasing in numbers more quickly than the orcs, goblins, etc. She says that the "spirits" advice attacking NOW, before the population imbalance grows.
- Asked to prove that her spirits were real, Keeshek began chanting and eventually managed to cast some sort of short-range teleport spell. Guards reported that she appeared just outside the castle walls, and fled to the south, higher up into the mountains.
- The party decided to let her flee, then follow trail to one of the main Cragmaw camps. They intended to parlay with the chiefs, and attempt to find a peaceful settlement.
- They easily followed Keeshek's tracks into the mountains. However, both they and the orc warband heading north managed to be stealthy and not perceptive, as they surprised each other.
- There was a brief parlay, during which one of the orcs, a buck-toothed individual, let slip that a "diversion" of some sort was planned. The parlay broke down, and combat began.
- During the fight, Almalexia managed to incapacitate the buck-toothed orc with a spell, the captured him. The rest of the orcs were quickly slaughtered.
- Interrogating their new captive, the party learned that the orc warband had intended to launch hit and run attacks on the castle in order to keep the party and their troops pinned in place. Apparently Ursala and her spirit advisors felt that the castle was too well defended, and instead was even now leading her followers in an attack on Phandalin.
- Bartholomew and Cressidien were sent on ahead to warn Phandalin, while the rest of the party gathered 65 of Alamlexia's tribal satyr warriors and headed west along the Tri-Boar Trail.
- Bartholomew wild-shaped into a giant eagle and flew west. However, he had not been to the town before, and missed it on the first pass. He did spot it when he circled back, and landed to warn Halia Thorton and Harbin Wester. The party wanted the townsfolk to evacuate to Phandelver, but it was discovered that an advance party of orc warriors was already blocking the road into the mountains.
- Although Cressidien is fast, he is not as fast as an eagle, so he arrived in Phandalin a while after Barthalamew. he went in search of Sildar Hallwinter, but was told that he was not in town.
- The townsfolk split into two groups. One group followed Harbin Wester up to the old ruined manor on top of the hill and began to fortify it. The other group accepted Halia Thorton's offer to take refuge inside the Miner's Exchange.
- Cressidien and Bartholomew used their magical talents to help toughen the defenses of the manor and Miner's Exhange. This included creating a moat arond the Exchange. They then took refuge inside the Exchange waited for the rest of their party to arrive.
- As the rest of the party neared Phandalin, they were met by a disheveled Mirri, one of Halia Thorton's assistants. Mirri told the party that the Cragmaw warriors had arrived, and were besieging both the manor and the Miner's Exchange. Doing a quick survey of the situation, the party decided that the manor was not in immediate danger, since the Cragmaws were still fighting their way up the steep slope. In contract, the Miner's Exchange was already being attacking by the Cragmaws.
- The party decided to throw their entire force of both PCs and NPCs to relieve the siege of the Miner's Exchange first. And that is where we will pick up in our next session...
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