| Session Date | November 16, 2019 |
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| Base XP Gained | Carry Over |
The party returned to the Dwarf city after a long absence, or at least what seemed long to them, given the strange time properties in the Temple of Deeper Chaos. Upon arriving, they directed one of their servants to show the refugees Ilsar and Lazos around the city to help them on their way, which the party recommended be via Grilbie to avoid the Giant King. The party also gave them some expense money while Iban quickly penned letters to the Mayor of Grilbie, the captain of the Dwarf company defending the town, and the miller (who is an agent of the Rangers of the Barrens). The letters discussed the fact the brigands were regrouping in the Empty Quarter west of the town and also expressed Iban's interest in purchasing land there to establish a stronghold at some point in the future.
The next morning, Nali visited the party in their quarters. The party detailed their most recent adventures and, after some discussion, recommended that the Dwarves seal off the dungeon by collapsing the long tunnel to it. They had discovered no direct threat to the Dwarf Kingdom from there, and in fact thought leaving the tunnel open was more dangerous, noting the Dwarves already lost doing so. Nali considered this carefully, saying that if he were to recommend it, it would likely happen (he was the main voice for keeping it open, at least until it was verified there was no threat). He said he would bring it up soon and would see if the city leaders agreed.
He now turned to the mission that he'd alluded to previously. Specifically, he wished the party to travel to the city of Manston to gauge the willingness of the city to resist the Giant King. The Dwarf King wishes Manston to resist but is unwilling to openly aid the humans lest he be drawn into a war he does not want to fight. Nali wanted to know if they would simply capitulate (likely a disaster for the Dwarf Kingdom), or would fight (bad, but less so, he hopes). For his part, Nali hinted that he supported aiding the Humans with aid and even military force. In any event, he also wished the party to learn more of the Giant King’s forces – numbers, dispositions, intentions, etc. Nali suspects war within a month or so, based on the time of year and weather. Several Dwarf scouts had been dispatched but none had returned and were feared lost. His main question, aside from when the attack will occur, is where it will first fall. Will the Giant King move directly on Manston, or will he reduce the towns and villages in the countryside first? What of the potential for a very late planting, given the unusually cold spring? Is the city well provisioned for an extended siege? Can it supply its needs from the lakeward side? Of particualr note, however, he told the party they were under no circumstances to promise any sort of Dwarf aid to the city; that was by direct order of the King himself.
However, Nali had managed to split the difference slightly. Several contracts for goods to the human merchants of the town had not been delivered because of the Giant King. To fulfill these contracts, Nali had convinced the Dwarf leaders to send three wagons of arms to the humans; this was not aid against the Giant King, they reasoned, but simply payment of previous contracts (note: Dwarves are quite Lawful in their Good and were perhaps a little too clever in their legal reasoning). The party would therefore escort the wagons to the town and deliver the goods, making sure to be emphatic that it was payment for old debts, not aid or a pledge of alliance. To aid the party, a force of drivers and guards would be assigned; all would be soldiers but in "civilian" clothing, and were not to reveal their status to anyone. As officers, of course, the party would be in command. With the three wagons would be two drivers for each and four more guards on foot, for a total of 18 Dwarves. They were even now being prepared at a secret egress point near the northeastern corner of the Anchor Mountains. Iban requested a fourth wagon be made ready as a decoy and Nali agreed. Nali also told them he would ensure they had three ravens for emergency messages, if needed (though he did say that their ravens had been having trouble getting through, though whether it was enemy activity or the severe weather, he could not say).
There were three bridges the party could use for the wagons to cross the long Durn Flow that defined the rough border of Manston's territory. Nali cautioned against the western one (Wolfs Bridge), which the Dwarf Road crossed, as it was likely controlled or at least watched by the Giant King. The middle (Old Bridge) took a minor road towards the town of Dolan, though the fact it passed near an area of rough terrain concerned the party (it could hide enemy forces). The easternmost (Elf Bridge) was also the main landward trade route between Manston and the Elf Kingdom. The party decided to make for the point where the Elf Road and the Dolan road split off from one another...they could then put off deciding on a specific bridge until they hopefully had more information. Iban initially favored the middle bridge, while Cadwallider favored the easternmost one. In any case, Nali said, they were not permitted to enter the Grand Forest, the lands of the Elf Kingdom (the Dwarves had asked permission to ship the arms through the woods but the Elves flatly refused to avoid even a hint of involvement).
The party agreed to conduct the mission, though Cadwallider requested a three day delay to conduct some magical procedures (i.e. recharging some wands and his staff of power). During the delay, Iban used his crystal ball to scry a variety of subjects: the Ranger Calidor (he was in the widlerness, apparently scouting; later, he was in a town and noted the scrying and seemed concerned), the brigand with Iban's sword (he was in a camp in the wilderness with much building activity around him), the priestess of Larana of the Healing Hand in Manston (she was in a temple, seemingly unconcerned), the refugees Ilsar and and Lazos (they were traveling, apparently safely), and Astraharsis (she detected the scrying and signed a greeting and that all was well). Attempts to scry a Giant boss and the Frost Giant emissary that they'd seen in the Dwarf city failed.
After a two day journey underground, the party reached the secret egress point and were able to examine the wagons and meet the Dwarf contingent. The next morning, the decoy wagon set off due north towards the old Dwarf Road and the territory of the Giant King. The weather was exceptionally cold for mid spring and the ground covered with snow, as a light snow fell. Iban went with the decoy wagon, invisibly, occasionally flying and scouting ahead for trouble. A few hours later, the real wagon group set off to the northeast as previously planned. All went well until late in the day when Iban spotted a large force of Bugbears and Trolls, led by a giant and accompanied by a number of wolves, making their way towards the wagon from the northwest. He quickly warned the Dwarves, who cut loose the horses and abandoned the wagon, fleeing immediately to the south. But when it became clear the Dwarves would never outpace the wolves, who were racing ahead, Iban levitated up above the wagon and hit the four of them with sleep spells. He then descended and slew them before fleeing himself. This bought the Dwarves a lot of time, but not enough, as the faster monsters were slowly overtaking them. Invisible once more, he now tried to distract the pursuers, first by lighting a flask of oil to burn like a lamp and placing it off the Dwarves' path. This brought a few Bugbears to investigate, though the main body continued to pursue the Dwarves by following their tracks in the snow (it did not help they were simply retracing their path down the wagon's trail. As the Bugbears prowled about, Iban cast pyrotechnics, causing an explosion that injured the Bugbears. This brought the Giant running, shouting that "the Dwarves have a wizard - spread out!" Iban slipped away, as it appeared the deception efforts had finally succeeded. He took to the air and flew off to find the real wagons.
Meanwhile, the main wagon train had plodded on without incident. It was slow going as the Dwarves' ponies, while strong, were none too fast. Fortunately, the ground was still frozen as mud could have made the journey nearly impossible in this trackless wilderness. The wagons stopped for the night and formed a triangle within which the Dwarves lit a fire (a necessity in this weather). Fortunately, the fire also allowed Iban to find them easily
That night, a few hours before dawn, the encampment was attacked by four Trolls. They surprised the camp, killing two Dwarf sentries on one of the wagons. Iban had earlier ordered the Dwarves to pile wood between the wagons as a rough barrier that could also be lit up, but the Trolls ran over it before that could be done. A short, sharp fight ensued in the close quarters within the wagons. The first two Trolls leapt down out of the wagon and into the group to aid the two that had rushed in over the wood pile. The melee was vicious in the close quarters, and two more Dwarves were killed in the fight, with two others injured. But, the Trolls were cut down by Dwarves and the party one by one (some of the Dwarves were no dummies either - they immediately began dragging the fallen Trolls into the campfire to burn them). During the fight., one of the Dwarves went almost berserk, tearing into the Trolls with great skill. Finally, all the Trolls were slain and burned. The fighting Dwarf's scarf had now fallen form his face and the party realized that it was Floi, brother of Nali, who they'd rescued many months before. He was not there with anyone's permission and Cadwallider had quickly surmised he was there to regain his lost honor. This he admitted, and asked to not be sent away (unlikely given they were a full day out form the Kingdom and in the bare wilderness). The party agreed to let him stay, and he agreed to obey their orders as an ordinary soldier (though he did mention in passing "despite the fact I outrank you all"). ZZ and Mordecai now healed the wounded Dwarves, while the former conducted his rites for the fallen Dwarves. (Not sure the disposition of the bodies)
The rest of the night passed uneventfully and the expedition prepared to resume their journey, hoping to reach the road juncture by dark. Iban hopped into a wagon to rest, having had a long day...