Siege of the Gnoll Rock Fort: Game 2

General Summary

Key Events

The The Company of the Furies: Eumenides raced to catch the gnolls and giants that had captured Lady Eva Ilios and the sword Viribus.
The Company ambushed and slew a giant in an abandoned tower.
The Company attacked the gnoll rock fortress and human mages from Order of the Necromantia, slaying them all.

Key Learnings

Human mages are using acidic fetid black liquid to sicken and create diseased gnolls and humans that can explode in combat, and storing and transporting the both the raw materials and end product.
Human mages are communicating with distant areas using messenger pigeons, who are infected with the rotten acid.
The mages used pigeons to communicate with other in far distant cities, most of the information was destroyed in the fight. The party decided not to translate the information. Later in was discovered that the following information could be obtained:
The Company discovered five names, one which had a location. None of the names meant anything to the party at the time they were discovered. Carthain, Grond, Thar, Pencheska Natyssa, Constance (Khyber).
“Gerald has been found waiting in Julkoun. Send Sir Wren Arundel to capture immediately.”

Detailed Summary

The Company just completed a hard fought battle and began the session standing over the dead and burnt bodies of your vanquished enemies with the smell of blood, miasmal zombies, gnolls and burnt bodies. The party decided to rescue Lady Eva, and tracked the gnolls and giants into the hills and light forest region. The hilly terrain starts out easy, but progressively gets more forested with rockier hills. The weather begins cold and cloudy, and a light layer of snow obscures the ground immediately before the gnoll and giant lair is discovered. The party came upon an old abandoned castle tower. Sleeping inside was a giant and gnolls. The party ambushed and easily killed them. In the tower basement was a number of boxes, including glass bottles with foul rotten black liquid, diseased pigeons with red eyes, and alchemy equipment. The party continued tracking the gnoll and giants to their lair, which was hidden behind a massive whitethorn thicket. The party quickly disposed of the gnolls guarding the passageway through the whitethorn thicket, which were spending more time drinking and gambling than watching. The gnoll and giant lair is located on the top of a massive hill with sheer cliffs. At one time there was a road way that allowed carts, horses and others to reach the top of hill, but that had long since collapsed. On the front side, there was a very narrow winding path that could barely allow one human sided person to walk up to the top of the hill. Also, there was a massive open cave, which had opened when the road had collapsed. Living in the cave were a large number of hill giants and gnolls. At the base of the mountain path was a large pen with the gnolls’ hyena mounts. Instead of attacking from the front, the party climbed the rear of the cliff, reached the top, and conducted a surprise attack on the gnolls and human mages. A brutal, bloody and magic infused battle left all the enemies on the top of the cliff dead, with a climatic death blow of gnoll reinforcements charging up the narrow pass way being destroyed by an onslaught of spells from Twim. The end of the battle left dead bodies, a burnt and smoldering roof top, smashed pigeon and burnt cages, and in the main and only habitable building destroyed alchemy materials with their foul smells and acid strewn across the rooms, and overturned sleeping and living quarters. The living quarters include spartan bedding, a wardrobe, four personal chests, a rudimentary kitchen and other items of ordinary household life (chamber pots, lamps, food stuffs, a wooden barrel for bathing, etc.). In the center of the room is the naked body of Lady Eva, which is healing after recently having been cut open, filled with the rotten black ooze, and sewn back up like Frankenstein’s monster. She is clearly alive and conscious. The only visible doorway or passage is a door in the floor, which has not yet been opened. The door is made of metal with iron bars and strange magical writings in various substances (chalk, ink, shit, purple dye, and other), and candles in a pentagram shape. The party, wounded and tired from days of travel overland is a top a hill with giants and an unknown number of gnolls and hyenas at the base of the hill. As mentioned above, the key decision is whether to hunker down now, or soldier on knowing that there are still unfriendly gnolls and giants left alive.

Rewards Granted

Treasure Obtained

From the gnolls

clothing, weapons (short bows, arrows, knives, clubs, flind bars, long swords, pikes, axes), food (dried and fresh meat), armor (studded leather, shields, partial pieces of plate or chain, i.e., a breast plate, greave, etc.), clothing (vests, cloaks, shirts), coin (45 cp, 55 sp, 15 gp, 3 pp), gems (4 amber 50 gp each)
Costume jewelry
Gold and amethyst necklace (2,500 gp)
Ring of Luck. Gold ring with red jasper with the Goddess Fortuna. Allows the re-roll once per day.
Ring of the Scorpions Gold right with white opal and red scorpion (+4 vs. poisons).
Gold Earrings: Gnoll Loot. 500 gp.

From the mages

Ring of wizardry (50 charges): Simple gold ring: Writing in Arabic inside. Doubles 1st level spells.
Fur vest of warmth.
Amulet of protection: Eye of Horus +4 protection and proof against detection and location: silver, Eye of Horus, silver Egyptian eye with gold inlay and jet eye.
Bracelets of Protection: Golden Rams. Bracers of Defense AC 5, Golden' ram's head bracelet.
3 Candles of Propitiousness
Wand of magic missiles: 15 charges Ordinary wooded wand
Silver pendant: Young Empress Beuva with Imperium Aetrnum on one side, and a bay tree being hit by lighting on the other side. +5 saves and half damage from electricity attacks and acts as a brooch of shielding.
Expensive clothes
Wooden jewelry box:
1,450 gp
700 pp
Letters between Lestor and a lover from Fulton, Adelette.
10 jars with brackish water and children’s heads
Ring Golden horse images 2,000 gp
Amulet of Perpetual Youth. Image of boy emperor Gandymeade.
Gold ring of protection +2 (Arabic writing)
Necklace of the Horses. + 5 horsemanship proficiency, speak with horses, animal friendship horses
Conch: Horn of the Tritons
Potion of Water breathing
Pearl of Sirines
Potion of Extra Healing
Potion of Fire Breath
Horseshoes of speed.
Oil of fiery burning,
Oil of elemental invulnerability,
Schroll of Protection from devils
Flute, Zither, Cymbals
4 spell books from the Order of the Necromantia mages.