| Session Date | February 27, 2021 |
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| Base XP Gained | 7673 |
| Player Notes | ZZ's Notes |
The party debated their action and settled on the idea of killing Solen. Knar thought he was too dangerous to let live, and no one could think of a viable reason to let him do so. Iban hoped that slaying him would give them more time to thoroughly explore the dungeon, as well. So, they made their way back to the large staircase leading up to the castle. And then, Bel found a secret door, delaying that plan a bit. It led to a secret passage and into a prison cell. With no way to open the cell door, however, the party decided to proceed with their initial plan. The stair led up into the Keep. Opening a door, invisible Iban could see a few Ogres standing around on sentry. As a fight could alert Solen before they found him, they opted to return to the dungeon and try the path they'd taken previously. By chance, they ran into a pair of Ogres who chased after them (to their own destruction).
Back at the former zombie guard room, the party turned south, only to set off a magic mouth ("You are all going to die!" in Jack Hawkins' voice from Zulu) and then run into a wizard locked door. Amadin defeated this (on his second try) with a dispel magic. In the cloakroom beyond, a second magic mouth triggered ("You have been warned...and so has Lord Solen!"). Knar led the way this time, hoping to block any lightning bolts with his ioun stone along the narrow way. Back above the secret door proved to be wizard locked, though Amadin defeated that with his final dispel magic. The party found a Wight occupying Solen's study. Mordecai drove it off easily, but it had nowhere to go as the next door was apparently wizard locked, too! That door was forced open with a spell (from ZZ?), and the party found themselves confronted by Lord Solen, or several him thanks to a mirror image spell. Knar dimension doored directly behind him, but before he could strike, Solen let forth a cone of cold that tore into most of the party. Bel was slain and Amadin knocked unconscious. But, this was not enough to drive the party off, and they rushed Solen, only to disrupt a few of his images. Outgunned, the wizard vanished, likely also dimension dooring to relative safety.
The party explored Solen's quarters, plundering some moderately valuable items of minimal interest (except for a huge tapestry depicting a map of the Lormyrrian Empire some centuries past); they also saw a portrait of Solen himself, dated 40 years past yet appearing identical to the man they had seen a few times already. The turned Wight remained a non-threat but, from another door, there was an incessant pounding as a guardsman tried to come to his lord's aid, but was confounded by yet another wizard locked door. A brief parley through the wood was held, and the guard soon informed the party that the forces of Giant King now ran the keep. Indeed, the remaining human garrison was under house arrest in their barracks (though they had refused to disarm themselves). After some negotiation, the wizard lock door was bypassed and the party came into the main Keep. They took some time to plunder the Lady Idrina's quarters (daughter of Solen), and then slew a pair of Bugbears standing guard over the human garrison. "Rescued," the humans were quick to promise that they were only too happy to also desert and join their fellows. Indeed, the army of the Giant King was due the next day, and the Bugbears had been saying that they were sure to be executed anyway.
With some two dozen guardsmen in tow, the party returned to the dungeon, not wishing to start a general melee with the remaining Ogres and Bugbears (and Trolls, they were told, though their whereabouts remained unknown -- also, the guards were pretty clear that they stood no chance against a force of actual Giants). The expanded entourage did make a side trek to the dungeon within the dungeon. Their guardsman friend (I didn't name him, but we will say he is Andor) offered to draw the torturer out for the party. This he did, and joined in by striking the killing blow (a MOST impressive crit). The prisoners proved to mostly be from the Underhill Tavern, taken by the forces of the Giant King the previous fall (FYI,some of the party had visited there the previous year). There was Hans the innkeeper and Renna the bar wench. They told the party that others of their group had died in the interim, or been dragged off to an unknown fate. Also present was a dwarf, Farn, a petty merchant who had the great misfortune to be taken at the inn. He had been ill-used, as the torturer assumed he was a spy of the Dwarf Kingdom. Another man, Finz was also liberated, though he gave no good account of himself save that he was a traveler taken more recently. Perhaps of most interest was the prisoner Idrina, daughter of Solen himself. She proved to be quite insane, and the party did not hinder her when she opted to wander off into the dungeon. The last prisoner was Boros, a guardsman taken for daring to insult the (now-dead) half-orc to his face. He was most popular with the guards (and would later be elevated to Lieutenant of the newly formed mercenary company).
With these additional non-combatants, the party successfully escaped the dungeon through the waterfall entrance and soon found themselves back in the village of Durnton. The party was only to happy to see their new mercenary company filled out with two dozen more men. It was late and all were ready for a good rest.
The next day, Amadin, accompanied by a few of the guardsmen, Bel's corpse, and a sack of gold was sent back to Manston to have the elf warrior resurrected (yet again). Meanwhile, the party would return to the Keep as soon as might be, as the armies of the Giant King would be there soon enough. They had not obtained their main goal as yet, the gem of seeing. Indeed, they feared that Solen might take it and flee, thus negating the entire point of them being here. The Rangers, led by Merrin, were also dispatched to learn what they might.