Session 21: Riders to Ribbons

Octavius conjuring a Shield spell

Summary

The Waterfall Cave

House Phaulkon Shield

The party sheltered in a waterfall cave, planning to breach the manor basement via badger-dug tunnel. At dawn, a Zhentarim scouting party neared, but Octavius's illusory bear growl scared them off. Smokescale, resummoned and suspicious of thralls, accepted an insult as proof and scouted ahead, confirming lighter defenses and talk of slain intellect devourers.

While preparing near the walls, Octavius's sneeze gave them away--horns blared and ballistas fired as the party fled north. They ambushed pursuing riders in the woods: Spike Growth shredded cavalry, ogres and displacer beasts fell next, and fireballs finished fleeing troops, leaving the manor eerily quiet.

Lilia tunneled beneath the walls, opening a path into the basement. Inside, they found a dead man's head crawling with spiders, Glenn claimed the Ranger General's old shield, and Detect Magic revealed enchantments moving upstairs. After failing to open a chest, they shoved it into the tunnel as the session ended.

XP Award

• 525 XP for evading the scouting party with illusion magic
• 1000 XP for turning half of the Zhentarim camp into mincemeat
• Total: 1525 XP
• Current XP: 32588 XP -> 34113 XP (Level 7 --> Level 8!)
• (Required for next level: 48000 XP)

Things That Happened

The Waterfall Cave

• Date: 18th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), evening, 1372 DR
• The party departed the Phaulkon Manor grounds, heading north into Hullack Forest, seeking shelter from scouting parties.
• After a few hours, they located a cave behind a small waterfall. Scouting it showed no signs of permanent bear residence.
• Deciding against Diedric's Tiny Hut, they rested for the night, discussing a plan to enter the estate through the basement via the shaping of stone and a dire badger digging beneath its walls.

Encounter: The Scouting Party

• Date: 19th of Tarsakh (The Claw of the Storms, April), morning, 1372 DR
• The party awoke to the gentle humming of Diedric's warhammer.
• A scouting Zhentarim party could be heard approaching the waterfall, saying that's somewhere they would have hidden.
• Octavius cast Minor Illusion, creating the sounds of a bear growling in warning.
• The scouting party fell victim to the ruse, moving onward.

The Fiend's Report

• After being resummoned, Smokescale demanded proof that the party were not mind flayer thralls.
  • He was satisfied by an appropriate insult.
• Unit 137 poked Glenn to confirm.
• Smokescale was sent to scout. He flew off invisibly.
  • He returned to ask for directions.
• He flew off in the correct direction.
• He returned several hours later, confirming that the Zhentarim stronghold was less alert. He overheard chatter about intellect devourers having been killed by scouting parties.
• The party made their way toward the manor grounds once more.

The Owlin Rogue

• As the party began to make preparations outside the manor's walls, Octavius sneezed.
• The party began fleeing north back into Hullack Forest as warning horns blared and ballistas fired.
• Octavius narrowly avoided being skewered several times, using his divination and a Shield spell.
• As the party fled, they inexplicably began musing on the geography of the region, including the Elfmound and the Wailing Fog to the east.
  • Their encyclopedic knowledge revealed that the Elfmound was really a netherese ruin, with a stone that killed all who touched it -- and that the Wailing Fog was rumored to be a the lair of a coven of hags.

Making a Stand

• Scouting over the trees once out of range, Octavius spotted several riders heading toward the party.
• They decided to make a stand in the woods.
• Glenn set up a rope trap across some trees for the enemy riders.
• The party hid among the trees.
• As the riding party approached, Octavius was immediately spotted poking his white owlin head from behind a tree.

Encounter: The Meatgrinder

• What proceeded was a slaughter of a great portion of Zhentarim forces.
• The first wave, mounted spearmen and rangers, fell victim to a Spike Growth spell, throned briars piercing and dismounting them.
  • Their horses escaped with cuts.
• The second wave, of ogres and their displacer beast pets, fell to the same Spike Growth, with Glenn goading them on one of their mounts.
• A third wave of ground troops fell to fireballs, a few attempting to flee, only to be felled by a pursuing owlin.
• Charred bones and ogre mincemeat remained in the aftermath of the slaughter.
• The manor grew silent, no longer sending forth troops.

Tunneling

• Glancing at the aftermath and Glenn, his new horse fled into the woods.
• The party proceeded back toward the manor, no longer being pursued.
• Smokescale scouted ahead, saying that they were hunkering down, barring the main gate, with more archers on the walls.
• Lilia animorphed into a giant starry badger and began digging.
• It wasn't too long before she dug a tunnel underneath the wall, and after a few attempts, breached the soft cobblestones that made the floor of the manor's basement.
• The party followed her inside, Unit 137 rolling through.

The Basement

• The party ascended into the manor's basement, dark with its muddy cobblestone floor.
• Crates of supplies and barrels of wine were visible, along with a locked treasure chest and a large iron cage.
• In the cage was the body of a skinny dead man, skin milky white, facedown. It smelled of excrement.
  • Half of the man's head was missing, spider webs protruding from the opening, attached to the cage walls. Around him were empty vials of dreamsilk.
• The party hesistantly turned his head around with a Mage Hand spell.
  • Spiders poured out of the hole in his head, eyes, and mouth.
• Leaning against a wooden crate was the Ranger General's previous shield, bearing the symbol of House Phaulkon. Glenn took this.
• Diedric tried to remove the curse from Glenn, but he still felt its barbs resist the spell, as he was not close enough to the point of origin.
• Octavius cast a Detect Magic spell, sensing a collection of Abjuration and Transmutation magic upstairs, which appeared to move.
• Failing to unlock the chest with a conjured lockpick, they shoved the chest into the hole and the session came to an end.

Maps

• Nothing new

NPCs Encountered (or mentioned)

• No new named characters

Memes

• Octavius's stealth ability, probably.

DM Thoughts

• Remind me to place encounters strictly underground, in linear dungeons made of hard rock.