| Session Date | August 28, 2021 |
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| Base XP Gained | 2430 |
| Player Notes | ZZ's Notes |
Moving south from the shrine to Maelentir, the party was struck from the blackness to the south by a great volley of arrows, followed by charging Ogres and Hobgoblins from passages to east and west. A sharp melee ensued. ZZ hasted himself, Knar used his wand of fire to throw a wall of fire down the wide southern corridor, and Iban cast a fireball down that direction, as well. The brief flash of various fires revealed a large number of Hobgoblins who were incinerated in the various conflagrations! Meanwhile, the flank fights continued, though Knar webbed the eastern direction and most of the Goblins there. The Ogres fell quickly to ZZ and Jarrik, and the Hobgoblins followed suite rather rapidly, a well. Knar also lit the web on fire, eliminating a few more of them.
The party had a brief respite as they healed up a bit, but soon the howl of wolves was followed by a second wave attack. Dire Wolves and Hobgoblins rushed at the party, beginning a second melee before they'd even been able to fully utilzie their healing abilities. However, these creatures were all eventually slain,as well. The party slipped into the western corridor to continue resting and recovery, only to be attacked by Hobgoblins again from both directions. These were soon dispatched and the party decided to move south into a room...only to have forgotten a pit trap was there. ZZ and Jarrik fell and suffered minor injuries. They were soon fished out and the party continued, this time avoiding the second pit trap.
They continued to the west, seeking stairs down and escape, only to run into yet another Hobgoblin ambush. As these were holding up the party, they were attacked from behind by a number of Hell Hounds, who blasted the party (and last two Hobgoblins) with fire. They proved to be a good deal more deadly, and this melee went harder than the last few, albeit not longer. However, during the fight, Knar dimension doored back to the wide north-south passage...and right in front of three Fire Giants, the chief of which wore white dragon armor and wielded an immense black two-handed sword. He blasted them with a cone of cold before they could act, but this only angered them and they killed the wizard in short order. Meanwhile, the last Hell Hound was slain and the party debated going to rescue or recover Knar (they had heard his death scream). ZZ strongly wanted to do so, but the party was now in bad shape after the running battles, especially this last one. So, they headed downstairs, where Iban cast invisibility 10' radius over them all.
They did not get far when a prowling Hell Hound sensed them and attacked, making a racket that surely alerted other enemies as to their general location, plus several of the party were now visible because of this fight. Another party of Hobgoblins soon attacked, though they died rather quickly. The party was becoming desperate to reach a place of comparative safety. ZZ cast augury to see if the secret passage they'd used before was a safe bet, but the answer was an emphatic no! So, they made their way to the secret passage they'd used to come in. Iban scried the shack topside and saw that it was empty. However, moving up and having the still-invisible Beldon peek around, they found that the Fire Giants and a great number of Hobgoblins were present, with the Hobgoblins forming a loose cordon. Worse, there was a Hell Hound or two there, as well, which had proven to be very effective at finding invisible people.
The party now decided to return once again to the dungeon. But, when they opened the secret door, they found a large puddle of oil in front of it and a bunch of Hobgoblins with torches. Iban stepped out regardless as the oil was set alight, protected by his ring of fire resistance; Bel followed, and Jarrik began shooting down Hobgoblins. other Hobgoblins shot a volley or two at Iban and Bel. However, they were not large in number and thus no match for the party. The party now moved out into the dungeon, but were harried constantly by Hobgoblin archers and halberdiers. The party was weakening to a dangerous degree. Knar was gone and Iban was soon out of spells, sleep being his last one. healing was also quite low, and no one was uninjured. Seeing no hope ion remaining below, the party returned back to the shed and began to implement a typical party rube goldberg ploy to escape, involving a lot of potions and what not. Jarrik and ZZ took potions of gaseous form and vaped away. Iban, Mordecai and Beldon (all invisible) then slipped out of the shed, but were detected immediately by the nearby Hell Hound.
ZZ now invoked the powers of chaos using his Jester Suit (which worked fine despite also being in gaseous form). What happened was odd, as would be expected of such things. The world grew quiet and still and the party found themselves (all of them) in a peaceful, surreal wood. Walking towards them was a glowing figure, Knar, or at least his ghost. Chaos had created this freeze in time and allowed him to give advice to the aprty, Obi Wan style. He used the opportunity to harangue them to take the Potion of Fire Giant Control that they were holding and had discussed, but chose not to use. I'm sure there was a lot of spiritual head shaking! Suddenly the scene faded back to reality. Iban guzzled the potion and attempted to take control of the Giant leader, and succeeded! He presented himself as an agent of the Giant King, a spy within the party. He told the Giant to throw all his forces to the southeast to find the party and kill them,a s they'd escaped him. This the giant did readily, much to the confusion of the Hobgoblins and other giants (he clearly was used to getting his way, as no one said anything aloud about it). Iban also used the opportunity to plant the idea that the wizards gold and copper were enemies of the Giant King. He also asked that the body of Knar be turned over to him (the Fire Giant did say he had orders to return slain adventurers to the Giant King with all their gear, but Iban said he would take care of it). Finally, Iban asked that any prisoners they were holding also be turned over to him - there was one, a lone human, who Iban ordered to carry Knar's corpse. I think there were a few other tidbits exchanged but I forget them. The Giant's name was Bruvir, by the way...He would've said that, hoping to be mentioned in despatches (so to speak) to the Giant King!
With that, Iban departed and soon the rest of the party had gathered. They made their way west to the small village of Tolit, where the locals were only to happy to let them rest in safety and comparative comfort for the night. The next day, they made their weary way south, back to Far Andor, where they arrived as the sky darkened with dusk...