| Session Date | February 6, 2015 |
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| Base XP Gained | 1977 |
Golag - slain by party in fight that included a hill giant
The party had decided to retreat from the dungeon beneath the ruined fort. Turning around, they climbed back up the stairs and made their way towards the exit of the keep. However, as they entered the great hall, they found an Ogre poking around their previous handiwork. The Ogre shouted something (Lune translated it as "they're back, get them" or words to that effect). The party fell back into the doorway they'd just opened as six Ogres moved towards them. Aldeberon and Rowan, holding the door, took the brunt of the fighting, both being badly hurt as they fought off the Ogres, supported by Lune's glaive. One Ogre, clearly in charge, was exhorting his fellows to "hold them off." When it became clear the Ogres would lose, this one fled. He was out the great doors as the party finished off the last Ogre.
In their present condition, there was no thought of pursuit, and the party quickly made their way from the fort and into the night (under a full moon). They passed down the hills die and found a good camping spot in the woods below the fortress where they settled in for a few days rest and recuperation.
They passed three (well, two and a half) nights resting. During the day, Drogo made his way back to the keep under cover of invisibility to keep an eye on things. On the first day, he could hear chittering and movements inside the great keep, but saw no sign of any trouble (later, they found that the corpses of the slain Bugbears, Ogres, and the Giant had been badly gnawed by giant rats). The second day the halfling made a ruckus to entice any enemies to show themselves, but only succeeded in getting the attention of the great spiders dwelling in the ruined tower.
When finally rested and fully recuperated, Drogo once again climbed the hill to scout. This time, he spotted a lone Bugbear skulking about the courtyard. He returned and informed the party, which once more climbed the hill in the morning light, following their two invisible thieves. The Bugbear was not in the courtyard, so the party entered the great hall, finding the creature poking around the various corpses. It fled, though it took two arrows in the back for its troubles. The party pursued it into one of the towers, and called up that if it came down, they would spare it. Reluctantly, it did, knowing it was dead otherwise.
The Bugbear told them it was a scout, sent to find out what had happened to the garrison of this fort. An Ogre had reported the garrison destroyed by a force of a score or more of men and "many" elves. Given the Ogre's poor mathematical skills, the party claimed they had nothing to do with it, and were merely exploring on their own. The Bugbear was clearly skeptical, but said nothing. The party considered killing it, but realized that no matter what they did, another force was likely to come along. Rowan, in particular, was adamant that they should be true to their word and release the creature. This they did, and it quickly fled from the keep and out the main gate.
The party decided to risk going below, knowing from previous parleys and interrogations that the dungeon was "full of hostile monsters." If that were true, it was likely that there was another entrance/exit to the place, which would give them options to avoid another occupying force. With luck, any enemy force might take a few days to arrive, in any case. So, down they went, quickly coming to the four-way intersection they'd found before.
Here, they turned north, coming to a door beyond which Rowan could detect evil. Drogo picked the lock on the door -- inside were three ogres, one of which was sent to see why their door just opened. This one was quickly slain and the party rushed the other two, quickly slaying them, as well. They continued north through various passages, and soon encountered a pair of Trolls. These proved to be fairly tough opponents, inflicting a variety of wounds before they could finally be slain and the bodies burned. Inside the room, the party discovered a headless dwarf body, much gnawed upon by the Trolls. They also found some treasure, as well as a scroll of protection against werewolves.
They continued to explore to the north, bypassing a number of corridors heading both east and west. Beyond one door, they were nearly blinded by an intense white radiance emanating from a room. They chose to bypass this for the moment, and took another nearby door, beyond which they found another hill giant. They did not wait for a parley, and attacked it. As this fight went on, another door to the room opened and a half-orc warrior emerged and attacked, wielding a great dwarven battleaxe. The giant and its master were powerful foes, but the party greatly outnumbered them, and they soon were both slain. Between this and the adjacent room, the party were fairly certain they'd found and slain the garrison commander they'd been previously told about -- why he seemed oblivious of what had happened to his topside force three days previous was unclear. However, he and his giant friend proved to have a good deal of value between them. In addition to a good deal of coin, the party acquired a number of potions. Drogo did, however, manage to find a poison needle trap the hard way in the half-orc's chest, but aside from some nausea the poison had no effect (NOTE: forgot that Halflings get a big bonus against poison based on their constitution, for future reference). Havak (I think it was) also nearly lost a finger reaching into the giant's sack, inside of which was a giant rat pet of some sort (or maybe it was an appetizer).
Buoyed by their first real find of wealth, the party now turned west to continue exploring. They passed through a variety of largely empty corridors and rooms, inside one of which was the unlikely graffiti that stated "Kavkaz Lives!" As they made their way through a large room with multiple doors and passages entering it, Parker thought she detected a secret door as she passed a wall to the south. It was, indeed, a secret door. Beyond it, the party found what was clearly an old, forgotten armory. Inside were numerous suits of fine armor and shields (all depicting the eagle of the old Lormyrrian Empire). Also inside was a very elaborate and decorative great helm, a spear, and a crossbow with runed bolts -- all likely enchanted. The party was positively giddy at finding such a stash without trouble. Most of the armor they opted to leave behind, given the weight and knowing it was likely safe in the secret room.
They now continued west through a door, soon finding a room infested with green slime. a glob dropped on Iban from the ceiling, but his companions were able to burn it from his armor before it ate through it, leaving it still serviceable but somewhat unsightly where the torch flames had killed the acidic goo. Continuing west, they passed through a chamber with a pair of burnt out torch stubs, though there was no sign of what had left them there. Beyond this room, they came to a north-south corridor; not far from them they could see a staircase going down, and a discussion began on where to go next...