| Session Date | December 29, 2018 |
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| Base XP Gained | 2500 |
The party rested securely in the Dwarven encampment that night. Towards dawn, the party awoke to the sound of horns blowing and soon they spotted a party approaching from the road with a white flag; apparently the brigands wished a parley. The Dwarven captain, Ziglir-Zurash, was expressionless, but told the party that it would be unseemly for him to represent them, so he ordered the party to do the talking for them, as they were "commissioned officers in the King's army." So, Iban and Aldeberon, accompanied by the company's lieutenant, went out to meet the herald and talk. Meanwhile, an invisible Cadwallider cast ESP and went to learn what he could.
The emissary (he was a cleric of Magnus, BTW) stated that he represented Lord Fasanorn, "late Knight of the Road and presently Lord of Grilbie." His master wished to know why the Dwarves had sent an army into the lowlands, as the affairs of Grilbie were a human concern. He was also rather unhappy to see humans representing the Dwarves. The party responded that the affairs of Grilbie were of concern, as all knew that the Dwarves intended to open up trade through it to the human lands beyond. The brigand emissary countered that his master was much in favor of trade, and would be all to happy to discuss details of such a move as the weather improved. Cadwallider, meanwhile, gathered that the main concern of the emissary was delay, if he could not convince the Dwarves to return home.
Iban now began to talk for the Dwarves, becoming exceptionally hostile. Every time the emissary tried to speak, Iban would cut him off and threaten him. For instance, when the emissary mentioned that they had the Dwarves from Grilbie with them to be handed over if the Dwarves would depart, Iban declared that they were hostages and prisoners. Finally, he threatened to kill the emissary as a liar and demanded he "be off." The emissary was clearly nonplussed and unsure of how to take this behavior, so he departed rapidly and fled as fast as he could. The Dwarven lieutenant, Balor,was much amused by all this.
Iban now became invisible and cast fly, moving north in the growing light to scout and observe the departing brigands. He expected an attack was imminent. Iban soon spotted the brigands, mounted and riding hard to the north towards Grilbie. Along the approach to the village he could see wolves prowling an area athwart the road towards the river. He took the opportunity to use the wand of illusion (borrowed form Cadwallider) to make an illusion of himself riding after the brigands, yelling "I am coming for you!" which got them to ride even harder. However, there was no army visible in the field between the dwarf cam and the village.
Back at camp, Captain Ziglir-Zurashasked what was their next move. Given Cadwallider's detection that the brigands wanted to delay the Dwarves, the party urged them to move quickly towards Grilbie. But first, they asked if the captain could send a message asking for reinforcements to be sent as soon as possible, saying that Grilbie had fallen and the enemy had wizards in their force. The captain concurred, and gave an order. A raven was brought to him and he soon had written a tiny message and dispatched it with the bird.
The Dwarves quickly broke camp as the party went out ahead, hoping to kill wolves as they went. This proved to be difficult as the wolves seemed interested only in patrolling and not in fighting. Still, using invisibility and flying, Iban was able to knock two asleep with a pair of sleep spells. One he slew and one he flew back to the dwarf camp as a prisoner. Borrowing the goat of travel, he then raced back to the north, driving into the woodland along the approach to Grilbie. The woodland was clear as the wolves were falling back towards the village. There was activity in the village, but no danger of ambush en route. He raced back to the camp (after peppering a wolf with arrows).
Iban now scried in the crystal ball to see if he could find the emissary from earlier in the morning. he was successful, and found the emissary in the Inn, talking rapidly to a number of other brigand officers. One of them, however, a spellcaster by the look, seemed to sense the scrying, and suddenly they were scattering outdoors.
The party then turned to the captured wolf, which they soon determined was a werewolf. It was named Halvorn, it said. It was working with (not "for") Fasanorn the brigand chieftain. When asked if he was a minion of the Giant King, the wolf said "Fasanorn is his own man, or so he thinks." he was not terribly forthcoming with information, though it was clear the werewolf had no desire to be slain outright. The party ensured it was well tied up and guarded. The Dwarven captain, meanwhile, ordered his archers to prepare silver arrows (they apparently kept a small supply); Aldeberon handed over ten more to supplement them. Also, Calidor, Ranger of the Barrens, said that he knew of someone named Fasanorn, a man kicked out of the Rangers some years back.
The party now decided that they and the Dwarves were moving too slow, giving the brigands time to dig in and defend. The Dwarf captain, Ziglir-Zurash,concurred and ordered them to move on Grilbie immediately. Iban, Cadwallider, and Calidor the Ranger (all invisible) moved out ahead of the Dwarf company, while Aldberon and ZZ moved to the head of the force. They moved north unmolested and soon came to a point along the road just outside bowshot of the Keep. The brigands had built a low barricade between the Keep and the stone Dwarf House, and were busily extending it towards the river and also to the west, but had a good way still to go.
Cadwallider now took to the air, and flew over to the area near the Keep above the enemy lines. The emissary cleric from the morning was below him. He now cast a Demand spell from his book of infinite spells. This was the first bit of good luck for the party, as the spell was a success, and compelled the cleric to cast hold person on the magic-user that Cadwallider knew was nearby (he'd also cast detect invisibility). With one stroke, the greatest danger to the party was taken out, and the Dwarves and party began the real Battle of Grilbie. Cadwallider swooped down and threw the paralyzed wizard into his bag of holding in order to suffocate him. (NOTE: this was a long, complex fight and, as always, I don't have detailed enough notes to do a full and accurate play by play).
Essentially, there were two areas of action during the battle. In the first, mainly around the Keep, Iban, Cadwallider, and Calidor attacked the enemy's spellcasters, keeping them occupied and distracted while the Dwarves, led by Aldeberon and ZZ, swept left (west) around the Keep and into Grilbie itself, avoiding the rudimentary barricade built by the Brigands. The cleric proved to be one of the more dangerous enemies, though there was another wizard on the Keep tower and another cleric near the Inn. All would perish by the end of the battle. Iban, aided by his horn-summoned berserker warriors took the keep form the roof, while Cadwallider blasted spells hither and thither, though he himself was "shot down" when his fly spell was dispelled.
Meanwhile, the Dwarves swung wide left. They took arrow fire for some time, but it was of limited effect due to the range and their superior armor. They swung around the Temple of Alondra and came into the town just south of the recently destroyed bridge, now crossed by a number of planks. here they engaged the bulk of the brigand force which had swung around to block them. The brigands fought better than might be expected for such troops, but even superior numbers were no match for the better Dwarf warriors, not to mention Aldeberon and ZZ leading the charge. The brigands did finally fall back towards the bridge, while north of them the leadership watched.
As the fight at the Keep ended, Iban and Calidor came around to the right and hit the brigand flank. Meanwhile, Cadwallider blasted the last cleric to the north of the river, though not before he managed to hold person ZZ. But, the brigands were beginning to buckle, and soon there leadership mounted up and rode off to the northwest, abandoning their rank and file to their fate. The brigands broke at this, many following horsed or afoot after their leaders, while many others simply surrendered. All told, the Dwarves took some 60 prisoners. There would be a long discussion on how to deal with them, with execution seen as the only viable option.
Pursuing those that fled was deemed a poor option, as the Dwarves could not catch them and the party was tapped out for spells and the like. So, they began to investigate the status of the townsfolk. Most were just fine, it seemed. They had been herded into the two temples and the town hall, and left lightly guarded. A few had been killed during the initial assault by the brigands, but it seemed that the brigands wanted the villagers alive. The Miller was missing, however, as was the local wizard and the Druid. The various clerics were all safe.
Cadwallider now dragged the suffocated wizard form his bag of holding to allow ZZ to cast speak with dead. He first asked if there was a "higher reason" for all this -- he responded that they had all been well paid to take and hold the town. When asked how big their organization was, he said it was quite large and that another "twelve score brigands" would be arriving the next day.
The party needed rest and recuperation, as did the Dwarves, but it was unclear how much time they would have. All told, the Dwarves had lost 25 of 80 rank and file fighters, with even more injured. Of the enemy, aside from 60 captured, there were at least 75 slain, not including the spellcasters. The Battle of Grilbie would certainly be remembered by both sides!