Session 2: Against the Gnoll Kidnappers Report

General Summary

Night Lysday the 5th of Harvestide in the year 3025 AF We rejoin our heroes on a cool, clear evening on the outskirts of the Druthain Wood. The night sky was clear, but with only a half moon it would be difficult for those without darkvision to see. Having convinced Silver Leaf and his elf scouts to aid them, the heroes began planning their attack on the gnoll encampment. If there were prisoners there, they wanted to find them and set them free. Druss spoke up first recalling the Battle of Greenvale when he was a solider in the army of the Kingdom of Merrin. Orcs too numerous to count were massing in the Whispering Hills and they greatly outnumbered his small force of soldiers. Their commander ordered them to set up a defensive line with archers positioned on either flank. The orks, mindless and brutal, charged forward toward the soldiers in the line and then the trap was sprung. Archers opened up on either side and the line held as the orcs were destroyed. Druss suggested that they employ the same tactic against the gnolls. The terrain was ideal for it. They would make their stand in a narrow gap in the ridge facing a path through the forest that led to the gnoll camp. The elf archers would position themselves in the woods on either side. All agreed that this was the best strategy.

Markuen and Shayne volunteered to scout ahead to discover the layout of the gnoll camp prior to drawing them out. Shayne crept slowly up the right flank hiding in the trees. Markuen, adept at moving through forest terrain, moved quickly up the left flank. The woods were thick, so despite their darkvision they could not see each other as they moved forward.

As Shayne approached he saw that two gnolls guarded the path through the forest that led to their encampment. They took no notice of him as he moved forward hiding inside the treeline. There was a single fire lit in the center of the camp and four gnolls stood around it barking and whining angrily. Beyond them, Shayne could just make out the shadows of two cages. He had found where the prisoners were being kept. Markuen moved up the flank and heard what sounded like wild animals in a copse of trees nearby. He attempted to creep closer to investigate, but he stepped on a dry twig. Immediately, five hyenas that had been worrying a corpse in front of them looked up and sprang after him. Markuen knew he was in over his head so he turned and fled, but he did so with purpose. Knowing that the elf archers were lying in wait behind him, he led the hyenas toward them. At the same time, Shayne risked moving a bit closer so that he could get a better look into the camp. He saw that twenty to thirty gnolls were in the camp either asleep or around the fire. A gnoll with a whip was taking a child out of one of the cages, while a large gnoll with a glaive at his side slept nearby. As he tried to move closer, one of the gnolls heard him and screamed out in alarm. The whole camp was now alerted to their presence. On the other side of the woods, Markuen burst from the trees on the left flank near the ridge and the elves opened fire on the hyenas. The sound of the battle alerted the others who started to move forward to find out what was happening. As the heroes rounded the ridge they saw their friend Markuen being attacked by hyenas and they rushed to his defense. Near the encampment, Shayne was attacked by the two gnoll guards and wounded. He quickly fled back into the safety of the woods and dove under a pile of leaves at the base of a stand of trees. The gnolls raced after him sniffing and poking around wildly with their spears. Shayne was too well hidden for them to find him. As he lay their, Shayne could hear the sound of the gnoll camp preparing for battle and he began to worry for his friends. For now, he was forced to remain hidden or risk being attacked by gnolls on every side. With the help of the elves, Markuen was dispatching the hyenas. Druss, Leonardo and Tenzin began to move forward up the path, while Arveer and Iados did the same. Moving forward, Tenzin called upon the power of Morwen to bless the warriors and give them divine guidance in battle. As the last hyena was killed, Markuen moved forward again but soon discovered that three gnolls were charging through the woods while a band of five gnolls had come forward along the left flank drawn to the sounds made by the attacking hyenas. He once again retreated back to the elves who had now moved down from the ridge to get into position to flank the path as per the original plan. Druss took up his position on the forest path, yelling to his friends to "Hold the line!", "Hold the line!". Arveer and Tenzin rushed to join him while Iados and Leonardo moved in the woods to help Markuen. At the head of the path gnoll archers burst from the trees and began shooting at Arveer and Druss. Silver Leaf and his elves on the right flank moved into position on the tree line preparing to fire on the gnolls as they approached. Now the battle had been joined in earnest and our heroes were split up. The plan was falling apart and our heroes began to wonder if they would ever make it out of this alive.

Markuen joined the elves on the left flank and began firing at the gnolls as they burst through the trees. Even the magical fire of Iados could did not stop the gnolls from charging forward. Unfortunately, one of the elf scouts was surrounded by the gnolls and even though Leonardo had joined the fray, hacking with his sword and bashing with his shield, the elf was slain.

As Silver Leaf and his elves prepared to fire they were surprised by the two gnoll guards that had gone off in search of Shayne. The gnolls exploded through the trees right on top of the elves who were forced to defend themselves. On the main path Gnoll warriors came running wildly toward Arveer and Druss. Arveer stepped forward and said, "I will not lose anyone today!" and used his icy breath weapon on the gnolls. The beasts reacted quickly and were able to avoid most of the blast, but the attack blunted their charge.

Shayne, having heard little noise nearby for some time decided to emerge from his leafy hiding place and once again look into the camp. What he saw there would haunt the dreams of the Fate Bound for many nights to come. The gnoll pack leader and six of his warriors were standing near a purple oval of magical fire with a shimmering cloud within it. The gnoll with the whip lay dead on the ground next to the cages. The children, four of them, were being led toward the shimmering portal. As Shayne watched they disappeared one-by-one into the cloud.

At that moment, the forest was bathed in a light purple glow. All eyes turned toward the night sky and the source of the strange aura. Something was streaking across the sky, a glimmering purple light tapered at the ends and bulbous in the middle. It was a sight that no one there that night had ever seen before, but what could it mean? Now was not the time to consider it as the gnolls were not dismayed by the strange light in the sky and they were out for blood.

On the left flank, Leonardo, Markuen and the elves battered the gnolls who had rushed to attack. Markuen was not so lucky and one of the gnolls struck him with a viscous blow sending him to the ground bleeding to death onto the forest floor, his essence slowly returning to the forest as his people believed. With a final push Leonardo and the elf scouts were able to kill the last of the gnolls. Arveer continued to battle fiercely on the path laying into the gnolls as they continued to charge forward. One mighty blow sent the head of a gnoll crashing into the trees. Silver Leaf and the elves strafed the charging gnolls with arrows while Druss slashed at any that came too close with his great-sword. Shayne moved closer to the battle attacking the gnolls from behind as most of them had now emptied out from the camp. The gnoll onslaught was too much for our heroes. Arveer fell to a nasty spear thrust and fell unconscious. Tenzin was there however to heal him and bring him back into the fray. Soon after Druss was laid low and the wild gnoll leapt over his body and tried to bite Iados. Things looked grim indeed for the Fate Bound. Would this mean an untimely end to their story? Now the wisdom of their alliance with the elves would prove its worth. As Leonardo rejoined the battle on the path and Arveer rose to attack once again calling upon his training and reserves of strength to gird himself, Silver Leaf and his scouts peppered the gnolls with arrows. Shayne attacked from the rear as well and together the gnolls were defeated. Leonardo touched Druss and healing energy flowed into the downed fighter's body. Druss quickly rose and wiped the blood from his mouth his training as a soldier allowing him to fight on with grim determination. Arveer looked upon the clearing into the gnoll camp and saw the pack leader surrounded by five of his best warriors. Anger surged inside him. Every fiber of his being wanted to charge forward and engage them in combat, but looking about him he saw his bruised and battered friends and Markuen was nowhere to be found and quite possibly dead. Reluctantly he urged his friends to retreat. They would live to fight another day. Then something strange happened. The pack lord fell to his knees and his warriors surrounded him. As he collapsed to the ground, the gnolls began biting and gnawing at his flesh tearing him to pieces. They were feeding on their leader! Taking this as a sign, the Fate Bound and the elves burst into action. They charged forward as one and together they were able to slay the last of the gnolls ending their threat and putting an end to their kidnapping ways. Leonardo quickly returned to the fallen Markuen and using his healing touch once again was able to bring him back to consciousness. The battle was over and our heroes moved into the clearing to discuss what had happened even as the purple object in the sky disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Druss and the elves set about gathering up the gnoll bodies in one place so they could be burned. They found no identifying marks on them, nothing to give them a clue as to who are what was behind their depredations. Markuen investigated the area where he had found the hyena pack. They had been gnawing on the torso of a humanoid, unrecognizable now. Arveer moved to a fallen tree trunk and sat down looking distraught. Tenzin and Iados rushed to his side to find out what was wrong for they feared that he may still be hurt from the battle. Arveer confided in them that the site of the cages and the children within brought back terrible memories for him. The fact they they were not able to rescue the prisoners was weighing heavily on him. It brought back the terrible memory of his brother who had been imprisoned and tortured in order to save him and his siblings. Tenzin consoled him relating the story of how he had watched his father die and Iados consoled him as well. The group then examined the area for more clues. Iados looked very carefully at the spot where the portal had been and deduced that it must have been very powerful magic that had scarred the ground without burning it. Druss found a name, Quinn Jacoby, scribbled inside one of the cages. He also deduced with Silver Leaf that the gnoll with the whip had been slain by the glaive of the pack leader. As the group looked at the body of the pack leader, Iados was struck by his eyes. They were reddened and bloody, a side effect of magical mental control. Perhaps the pack leader was being compelled to kidnap the children, but by who or what? It was also strange that the pack had taken no other treasure or loot for a thorough search of the camp only uncovered 5 gold pieces and 8 silver pieces on the leader himself. The elves then took their leave, not wanting to spend the night. They needed to tend to their fallen comrade and get back to their clan to tell them of all they had seen. Silver Leaf thanked the heroes for opening his eyes to the threat that the gnolls presented to the forest and now to the power that was obviously behind them. He told them that they need only tell fellow members of the Galanor clan that they knew him and they would be given safe passage. Druss asked for a token that they might keep to show to other elves and Silver Leaf gave them one of his arrows. As he left he also spoke to Iados and Shayne saying that he had misjudged them based on their race. Iados , having been raised in the Druthain Wood was pleased to hear that he had changed Silver Leaf's mind. Markuen was also pleased telling Silver Leaf that perhaps the peoples of the forest should join together in the face of these bad omens. Leonardo also approached Silver Leaf and asked if he had ever seen the symbol from his dream. Silver Leaf said he had not seen it before. Belsday the 6th of Harvestide in the year 3025 AF The next day was sunny with some mixed clouds with the wind from the northeast. As the heroes prepared for breakfast, Druss told them that he knew of way to make a very hearty strew. He asked Markuen and Arveer to hunt for some food first. Markuen brought back some very plump rabbits while Arveer foraged for some tasty cherries. Druss then made a wonderful stew that not only filled the heroes bellies, but made them eager to face the new day. They decided to call it the Fate Bound Feast. Here ends the second session.

Rewards Granted

187 experience points 5 gold pieces 8 silver pieces

Missions/Quests Completed

The heroes defeated the gnolls that were kidnapping travelers on the edges of the Druthain Wood. Sadly, the children that had been kidnapped disappeared into a magical portal and could not be saved.