| Session Date | March 6, 2021 |
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| Player Characters | |
| Base XP Gained | Carry Over |
| Player Notes | ZZ's Notes |
In Durnton the next morning, the party provided Amadin with a sack of platinum and gold, and the elf set off mounted with Bel's body to have her resurrected in Manston. Meanwhile, Iban attempted to scry Lord Solen with his crystal ball and found him in a dungeon room in the company of a young woman. He did not keep the scry going very long. He next scried Finz, the prisoner they'd freed who had subsequently disappeared. He, too, was in a dungeon area, with several other humans. While this transpired, Knar took a tour of the mercenary camp. Their morale seemed good, though a few had deserted in the night...they had apparently left in good spirits, feeling they were wealthy enough to strike out on their own, although the roads were all closed to them except towards Manston, He tried to recruit a few to return to Castle Solen, but they all seemed quite firm in desiring to NOT go back there ever again, if possible.
The party left the village at this point, riding somewhat over halfway to the castle, accompanied by a few soldiers. There, they dismounted and the soldiers returned with their horses. Meanwhile, Iban cast visibility over the whole (reduced size) party. After a brief discussion and an augury from ZZ, they decided to make their way to the waterfall entrance, though they surmised that the sortie port might also be safe enough a this point. Reaching the castle an hour or so later they found that the rumored army of the Giant King had indeed arrived. From what little they could see, a large force of Bugbears, Ogres, and even Giants had arrived and moved into the Keep. Small parties were everywhere nosing about, while a fair number now occupied the walls (their attention seemed focused towards the courtyard, from which they could hear a great deal of activity and noise. Everything seemed somewhat chaotic and undisciplined, which seemed to bode well.
They made their way without incident back into the wet dungeon, and were surprised to find the dead Ettins where they'd left them, seemingly undisturbed, However, moving into the dungeon beyond they ran into a trio of Ogres who seem to have been detached form the occupying force to begin exploring the dungeon. The party decided to eliminate them to avoid any raising of an alarm. One was knocked out with a sleep spell form Iban, while the other two were soon taken down by melee. The bodies were dragged into the Ettin room and, along with the dead Ettins, dumped beyond the secret door to the cave behind the waterfall.
The party now explored towards the east. The areas they explored were very damp and mold-ridden, and they did not linger, bypassing several doors until they came to a wide hall where they encountered several Violet Fungi and a Shrieker. These seemed of little concern, except that the noise brought a small hoard of Trolls from a nearby lair at the party. They moved very fast and got into the party before they could do much to them (the party managed a lightning bolt from a wand, though Knar had a spell disrupted). The Trolls were quite tough but were slowly whittled down until none remained. The remaining fungi were shot down with arrows. Beyond, the party found an abandoned Troll lair (apparently it had been home to the Trolls killed in the Battle of Durnton). Another, active lair, contained a sizeable treasure, including a magical armband of unknown properties.
Other rooms proved to be a moldy mess, with water dripping from above throughout. One appeared to be a temple area, but nearly covered with yellow mold. Iban levitated across this room but found nothing of obvious note, The party then turned back west towards the great staircase to the Keep. There they found another party of monsters coming down from above, apparently intent on searching the dungeon. It seemed that the Giant King's forces were getting their act together and trying to take full control of the Keep and the dungeon below it. At one point they found a force of Bugbears and Ogres fighting zombies. It seemed that their window of opportunity was closing.
The party now returned east to the yellow mold temple where they thought they might search for a secret door that would lead to the level they knew was below,. By good fortune, their guess was exactly right and they found a secret door and staircase down (as well as a magic dagger in the mold). Below they found a long hall with many statues, male and female, apparently representing the Lords and Ladies of Solen going back many centuries. The dungeon area lacked the mold and dampness of the previous areas, and indeed they soon a rather habitable section. One room appeared to be a scrying chamber of some sort. Another was clearly quarters and office, probably for Solen himself. This they plundered, finding many letters, some dating back decades. The most recent were between Solen and one inok-Faruz. The latter had apparently urged Solen to put up with the Giant King for the "greater good" and that "great changes were coming." By way of recompense, he also provided Solen with directions to an "ancient Hadashim complex" in the region (note; the Hadasht were an ancient enemy of the early Lormyrrian Empire, noted for their powerful sorceries...the directions can be interpreted as a treasure map to a new dungeon).
Further explorations revealed a disused storage room. Further on, the party came to a door which Iban was unable to force. He quickly quaffed a potion of clairaudience and detected spellcasting beyond. A weird spellcasting standoff ensued, separated by an unopenable door. The party eventually dispelled the wizard lock but the room was empty (it was clearly quarters for a woman). A pursuit now ensued, as the party located a secret door and went in pursuit of Solen and his presumed leman. The secret passage led to another prison, which the party only cursorily examined. Meanwhile, Iban decided to drink a potion from Solen's stash labeled "strong healing" -- it was, alas, poison and he began to succumb to it until Mordecai was able to cast slow poison on him. ZZ (?) then cast locate object on an amulet he'd noted Solen wearing and sensed he was to the west. The party pursued briefly but soon lost the trail.
It was clear the enemy would find this level eventually. Solen had fled and the party had not located the gem of seeing. Time was running out!