Beholder Group - Midvale School for the Gifted - Fallen Fortress Session 3
Beholder Group – Fallen Fortress session 3 summary
In-game timeline: Start of session, Midsummer’s day +4. End
of session, Midsummer’s day +5.
The party believe they will find him at the druidic circle that they have heard about and, despite having only a vague direction as a clue to the circle’s location, decide to try to find it.
Much of this session was spent with Drogan and Alwaith attempting to convince Meepo that they really are trying to find Calcryx, despite them heading in the wrong direction (as far as Meepo is concerned). Initially persuasion was attempted, which worked for a little while, but later attempts required quite a large degree of intimidation from both of them. By the end of the session, poor little Meepo has been slapped, manhandled, threatened to be tied up in reins like a small child, had a flaming blade held to his face, and seen Alwaith transform into a dragonborn-style lizard and tell him to do as they say or else. Meepo is not having a good day. He is starting to think that maybe the party doesn’t respect him very much.
After a number of hours wandering in the thick forest, the party get lost. Meepo, however, knows how to get out of the forest and, when he is finally, relatively politely, asked to help, immediately takes them out into the edge of the wood.
Just as they emerge, however, they are confronted by three, fairly large and definitely focused, boars that are rushing out of the undergrowth directly towards them. Having to act fast, the party all decide (yep, even Drogan) to jump out of the way and try to hide behind some trees rather than stand their ground and face three charging boars. Alwaith drags Meepo out of the way too, and pushes him behind a bush. Just in time to see a white dragon wyrmling, which they assume to be Calcryx, swoop down and blast the boars with an icy breath weapon, freezing one of the boars in its tracks. She disappears for a minute, and the party, perhaps wisely, decide to stay hidden, Alwaith keeping hold of Meepo, as Calcryx returns to grab the frozen boar in her sharp talons, and fly off northwards.
The group quickly decide to run after her, Alwaith having to hold Meepo back as he is rushing as fast as he can to catch up with Calcryx. She does eventually disappear from view, but they have progressed deeper into the forest, and decide to press on in the direction she was last seen heading, so they can at least get an idea of where she may be hiding out.
Alwaith senses the air around them getting cooler, which they take to mean (and Meepo affirms) that Calcryx may be somewhere nearby. They send Devon out to scout the area around, and he takes a circular route, trying to spot the white dragon somewhere.
Unfortunately Devon isn’t as stealthy at this point as he knows he can be, nor is he paying as much attention as perhaps he should, and he somehow manages to stumble out of the woods into a clearing containing not only an ancient, overgrown circle of stones but, possibly more importantly at that time, a white dragon wyrmling sat on top of one of the stones, looking straight at him!
Devon manages to save himself with a good initiative roll, allowing him to dash back into the thickets and find a good place to hide, just as Calcryx spreads her wings and takes to the air to find him. After a few good hiding attempts from Devon, who is in a somewhat panicky state – what with being on his own with a dragon of unknown power looking for him – he manages to remain composed enough to stay out of sight, and Calcryx eventually gives up and returns back to her current abode within the stones. Devon, with an audible sigh of relief, makes it back to the rest of the party to explain what happened. Meepo needed to be restrained to stop him running off to greet Calcryx.
The party decide not to tackle Calcryx at this point, but instead they use Drogan’s navigational skills to pinpoint and remember their current location, and head off towards the Fortress instead, convincing Meepo that Calcryx headed that way. Before leaving the woods, they rest up for the night (Drogan managing to stop Meepo sneaking out to try to find Calcryx himself).
The following morning, the party head for the Fortress. They approach cautiously, and seem surprised when the “Fallen Fortress” that they have heard a fair bit about is, in fact, a Fortress that has Fallen into the ground by long-past events unknown. It is at the bottom of a rift, and it seemed that the only way down to the entrance was via a narrow, crumbly staircase cut into the hillside.
What then ensued was the party’s longest battle so far. Against a vine and some twigs. With some impressive weapons – eldritch blasts, guiding bolts, shortbows, battleaxes – all managed impressive misses, as the vines and twigs whittled away at the group, managing to do some impressive damage to Drogan, who was relieved that he had such a strong constitution, and Alwaith, who was equally relieved at his extra, temporary, health that his false life gave him. Dwarrowsteel managed to throw his only light hammer so badly, that it flew straight past the vines and twigs, beyond the steps and careered into the rift below, never to be seen again.
The twig blights basically died whenever they were hit, but hitting them proved to be difficult. The vine blight was a different story, however, and took a fair bit of damage before finally succumbing to death. The party were pretty beaten up. Insects are no longer the bane of this group. Now it is plants.
Dwarrowsteel kindly managed to quickly stop Meepo from bleeding out, and used his healing spells to bring Meepo and Drogan back to health. Meepo’s day is not getting any better. He is starting to regret this mission.
The group head down the remainder of the steps cautiously, using a flaming torch to test out the ‘animated-or-not’ status of the vines and bushes they pass, but manage to get to the entrance of the Fortress without further incident.
Heading inside the Fortress, the party come upon some kobold
bodies, long since dead, one of which was hiding some ancient draconic script
which indicated that the fortress was created in honour of a dragon named
Ashardalon. At this point, the party faced a great challenge. Two doors.
Asking Meepo how to continue into the Fortress, he walked to the north-western door and opened it, indicating that this was the way to go, and that the south-western door was not one he had been through before. Ignoring him, the group decided to head for the south-western door.
Devon checked out the door. There was no keyhole. Hmmm. Maybe it wasn’t locked. He stood aside to allow the party brute, Drogan, to use his immense strength to open the door. With a huge intake of breath, Drogan pushed hard against the door - as hard as he could. It wouldn’t budge. It must be magically locked. Or spiked shut from the inside. Or maybe the stonework around the door had shifted when the Fortress fell and the door could no longer be opened. Meepo looked on, wondering how this group had managed to get this far... in life. It turned out the door opened easily. It just needed to be pulled, not pushed. Drogan’s face turned a little red.
Trying to make up for that – ahem – oversight, Drogan pushed
forward into the next room, checking it out first, but missing the group of
stirges hiding in the shadows of the high ceiling. As the rest of the party
entered the room, the stirges attacked, proving to be annoying little buggers
that latched on and started sucking blood, given half a chance.
Although they
were not tough, their numbers caused a problem, and it took a while to get rid
of them, with Dwarrowsteel and Alwaith taking damage from a stirge or two,
though they did manage to knock them off as soon as they attached. Unfortunately
Meepo got hit and drained, collapsing unconscious again, before the party got
rid of what they thought was the last of the stirges.
The group studied the only other apparent exit to this room – a heavy, stone door, with a relief carving of a dragon, and a keyhole in the mouth of the dragon. Devon’s attempt at opening the door with thieves tools, and Drogan’s attempt to push the door open using strength (after checking the direction of opening!) both came to nothing – this door seemed to be well designed, very sturdy and securely locked. They give up on that door for now.
Dwarrowsteel spent some time searching this room for a secret door, not finding one, but while doing this, three more stirges appeared and caused more problems – attaching to Drogan and Dwarrowsteel before they were dispatched. The party are a little beaten up at this point, are carrying an unconscious kobold, and have no healing spells left.
Heading back into the tower room, they decided to leave Meepo there to regain consciousness, rather than carry him around. Dwarrowsteel just about managed to persuade Drogan NOT to pin Meepo to the wall with a spear. At least someone is on his side!
Heading into the corridor opened up by Meepo previously, they found it led to another closed door. The party is starting to hate doors. This one definitely opens away from them, so Drogan tries to force it open, as it wouldn’t open easily, and there was no obvious lock. It wouldn’t budge. Sigh. Devon checked around the door frame and noticed something unusual about the floor around the door. Drogan, in a flash of insight that almost made up for the “push/pull” incident previously, suggested they all stand at the back of the corridor and let Devon, the lightest one, try the door. It worked, and the door opened easily – an investigation by Devon showed that the floor was pivoted and set up so that the door is firmly gripped closed if any significant weight is placed on the outside of the door. Devon proceeded to make a loud racket by knocking in a piton into the floor to hold the door open, allowing the rest to enter the room, which is as yet uninvestigated – beyond noting there are no obvious creatures in it.
And so we leave our “Heroes”, slightly battered and bruised, low on spells and other healing, missing a light axe and with an unconscious Meepo left behind. Along with insects, the party now intensely dislike plants. And blood-sucking bats. And doors. And Meepo.