From a History of the Lords of Westmarch - Volume XIV

Session 10 Part 1

PCs

Talos Redwand, 5th level Conjurer
Lutien, 5th level Fighter (Myrmidon)
Brendel, 4th level half-elven Fighter (Swashbuckler)
Eswin, 6th level elven Thief
Kieren, 6th level Druid
Shaw Ashcroft, 4th level Ranger (Justifier)

NPCs

Skiznit, the Wererat Priest and his two henchmen

 

By Lady Myrs Kratys

After resting up in the extra-dimensional prison and preparing themselves for their assault on Mullahey, the heroes returned to the lower chambers of Malgen’s Keep. Awaiting them in the circular chamber, hiding behind the pillars in the room were 12 diseased gnolls and their Grueshach leader. Their ambush proved little more than a nuisance for the companions however, and they were dealt with in quick order.

The companions then found Skiznit and his wererat associates waiting for them on the spiral staircase. Brand went to the stables to await the heroes, while the wererats showed them the secret passage into Mullahey’s audience hall. Lutien, Talos and Eswin formed a distraction and agreed to assault Mullahey and his cronies head on through the front doors of the chamber, while the others waited in the secret passage to attack from the flank. Before entering, Talos summoned his Hell Hound companion using his staff and sent it to hide in the secret passage with the others.

Talos Summons his Hell Hound

Lutien kicked down the doors to the main chamber with one of his armoured boots and screamed a challenge at the huge half-orc priest, who was seated on his throne. Talos under cover of an invisibility spell, and Eswin using his elven cloak, slunk into the chamber unnoticed. Ten diseased gnolls, two Grueshachs, a human noble and the carcass of Mullahey’s bride stood defiantly, waiting for Lutien to act. The burley armoured warrior unslung his great musket and fired it at Mullahey. So true was his aim that it blew off half of the corpulent half-orc’s face. The priest screamed in pain and the battle was joined.

At that moment, those waiting in the secret tunnel emerged off to the gnolls’ left, taking them by surprise. The Grueshachs tried to move to intercept as well, using their fell magic. Eswin used his newly won gauntlet to cast a fear spell over half of the gnolls and the human noble, effectively taking them out of the fight. Mullahey responded by casting a stinking cloud spell centred on Lutien, who was immobilized by retching fits for a while. Talos tried to creep up unseen, but tripped a latch for a pit which opened up revealing a greenish slime that attacked him, disintegrating one of his daggers.

The battle on the right flank was furious, as Shaw, Brendel, the Hellhound, the dread wolf, and the wererats struggled in hand-to-hand combat with the gnolls and one of the Grueshachs. Shaw, Brendel and the wererats were caught in an icy cone of cold summoned by one of the Grueshachs and Skiznit’s two companions were frozen to death. Kieren cut a swath through the Grueshach with his flame tongue scimitar and Talos managed to summon six goblins to distract Mullahey. It was touch and go for a while and several of the heroes were nearly slain. Talos threw his last ice bomb severely wounding Mullahey, but destroying his Hell Hound and sending it back to the elemental plane of fire. The battle itself was in doubt, but in the end Lutien recovered from the stinking cloud and used his magical batte axe to slice open Mullahey’s throat, toppling the huge half-orc from his pedestal and sending his carcass to the ground. Once that was done, mopping up the others was easy. One of the Grueshachs managed to escape however, using his magic to turn himself into gaseous form. And with that, the reign of Mullahey came to an end, and the men of the Westmarch retook Malgen’s Keep, something they had been unable to do for 500 years.

 

In the aftermath of the battle, the companions managed to interrogate the human noble, one Lord Draven, a disgraced nobleman from Vodymsira who hadn't been seen in the capital in years. Unfortunately, they could discern precious little more from the noble, who had been the victim of a forget spell.

After gathering up Brand and three war horses in the stables, the heroes returned to Kratys’ Keep to report on their success and hand over the outlaw Lord Draven.

From a History of the Lords of Westmarch - Volume XIV

SESSION 7

PCS

Talos Redwand, 4th level Conjurer
Kieren, 5th level Druid
Shaw Ashcroft, 4th level Ranger (Justifier)
Eswin, 5th level Elven Thief
Lutien, 4th level Fighter (Myrmidon)

Aldereth, 4th level Half-Elven Priest of Brom the Battlelord

NPCS

Boy, the man-at-arms

Part 1

By Lady Myrs Kratys

Six they went to the maw of the mountain,

To rescue the son of the Kratys Lord;

Six they went to bring law to the mountain,

Fell beasts they fought and put to sword.

In the early hours of the day, the travelers arrived at the base of Malgen’s Keep. Luck was on their side, for none roamed the battlements to spy their approach. Foregoing the main gate and the undercroft, they climbed into their magical bag and had the druid Kieren turn himself into a bat and fly them up to the empty battlement on the second level. Entering a door they found there, they came upon a group of diseased gnolls and slew the unprepared beasts easily. Moving further into the keep, they became trapped in a chamber with two iron portcullises. From holes in the ceiling above, they heard the cackling of more gnolls, who proceeded to pour boiling oil down upon the attackers. Grievous wounds were suffered by all, before the burly fighters were able to lift a portcullis and the group could find safety on a flight of stairs leading up. Not soon enough however, as their torch bearer, an unfortunate soul from Kratys Keep they named simply “boy” had his very flesh melt away from his bones before he could reach the safety of the stairs.

Cursing their loss of secrecy, the five remaining adventurers poured into the room at the top of the stairs. Twelve ugly, disease marked gnolls awaited them. In the corner a bound prisoner in plate mail struggled to free himself. The heroes jumped into battle, but were not as quick as the gnolls. Three of the gnolls took off through doorways to the north and east. A ferocious melee took place, with the diseased beasts trying to grab our attackers and dump them into pots of boiling oil. In the end however, the companions prevailed and managed to rescue a half-elf warpriest. The priest, one Aldereth, was one of the surviving members of Brand Kratys’ band and agreed to help the companions in their quest to rescue the lord’s son. They were six in number once again.

After ferreting out some of the gnolls that had taken flight, the companions found a spiral staircase that led to the depths of the castle. There they found a sealed magical portal which they believed led to Brand’s prison chamber. It was confirmed later by a survivor gnoll that Brand was being kept in a place that is not a place. The key, our companions believed, would be in the possession of the new lord of Malgen’s Keep – a half-orc priest of the diseased demon lord Gornadhun by the name of Mullahey.

Mullahey the Half-Orc,
Blood of Malgen and Blessed of Gornadhun

Back up the spiral staircase the companions went. They came to a room with three figures pantomiming at cold stoves, who took no notice of the companions. Eswin, the Tuathan thief strode up behind one and stabbed it in the back. Too late the elfish adventurer realized when the undead zombie exploded in a plume of yellow dust. Eswin’s lungs were coated with a vile poison and he began choking to death. Kieren strode forward and was able to slow the poison with his magic, but the elf’s time to find a cure was limited.

They pushed on into a grand chamber with a large balcony surrounding it. Inside an obese half-orc sat upon a throne laughing at the small band who dared to raid his demesne. Twelve diseased gnolls popped out from beneath the balustrade of the balcony firing a rain of arrows down upon the group. Two bison headed Grueshachs also looked on from the shadows, preparing to unleash their fell magic. Lutien fired his musket at the fat half-orc, but missed. Seeing the odds stacked against them, the companions closed ranks and made a strategic withdrawal from the room. Best not to fight the diseased Mullahey on his own terms.

Trying to throw off any pursuit, the companions made their way higher up into the keep. They passed through a room littered with garbage and were assaulted by two horrendous beasts with tentacles. Having already been injured, the adventurers fought desperately and with strength of will and sword arm managed to overcome these fetid guardians. The ranger Shaw Ashcroft, betrothed of Lord Kratys’ daughter was afflicted with some rotting disease during the battle, and the company was forced to hobble on. They ascended some more stairs and found themselves in a small armory. There, they barricaded themselves in and tried to take care of their wounded.

A Brief Interlude III: The Blood of Malgen

As Told by Lady Myrs Kratys of Kratys Keep

In the days following the Siege of Kratys' Keep by the Half-Orc Hallir and his Broken Moon Orc tribe, much was done by the peoples of the keep to rebuild. Walls were mended, the injured were cared for, and the dead were buried. Yet the Lord of Kratys' Keep remained ever concerned that the Broken Moon Tribe was not completely destroyed. For in the battle, the fabled gem called The Salamander's Heart was stolen and could not be located. Lord Tarran believed that some orcs had survived and made off with the magical stone. Being too weak from the many wounds he suffered during the battle, the Lord himself was not able to ride out and ferret out any straggling orcs. So he sent his son in his stead, along with a band of light cavalry to scout the lands to the east and north.

The Salamander's Heart

While out on this mission, Brand and his band were ambushed. It was not until some days later that we learned of what had happened. On the morning two days after his disappearance, Brand's severed hand was found at the foot of the front gate. Curled in its rigid fingers was a note. It indicated that if Tarran Kratys wanted to see his son alive again, he would bring The Salamander's Heart to Malgen's Keep in exchange for what remained of Brand. It was signed by one Mullahey, Blood of Malgen and Blessed of Gornadhun. This note brought both further confusion and concern to the already weary Lord Tarran, for if this Mullahey did not have The Salamander's Heart, then who did? And if the gem was stolen, how could he possibly deliver it to this Mullahey?

The people of the keep were too few in number and too inexperienced to mount an assault on Malgen's Keep to rescue the heir to the Westmarch, so the heroes who had proven themselves so valiantly in the keep's siege were sent for once again. Perhaps a well coordinated strike by a small band could succeed where an army would fail. Then again, Malgen's Keep would surely be prepared for any offensive action, and it could very well have been that we were sending these brave souls on a suicide mission. Only time would tell if this desperate attempt to save the Lord's son would be successful.

From A History of the Lords of Westmarch - Volume XIV

Part 1

By Lady Myrs Kratys

The year 606AT was dying slowly, with workers in the fields around Kratys Keep halfway through the Tenthmonth. Many of the young men had left for Beltigost’s crusade against the mad king Aldurnus II, leaving but a handful of able-bodied men tasked with both protecting Malgen’s Gap and collecting the harvest. As such, the keep’s vulnerability was high and it was ill-prepared for an orcish attack. But fortune was with the people of Kratys Keep during that fateful autumn, as four brave heroes from the capital of Vodymsira had accepted an invitation from Lord Kratys to celebrate their liberation of the lord’s son earlier in the year. Were it not for their presence, the history of the Westmarch would have been very different indeed.

Sir Edgar Salisbury and elderly knight errant, Talos Redwand a nobleman and conjurer of modest skill, Kieren the wild druid, and Eswin the Tuathan elf arrived at the keep on the 10^th of Tenthmonth, dust-covered and weary from a four day travel. After they had cleaned and refreshed themselves, they were treated to a feast in their honour for deeds done in Brysgod some months before. Tales of high adventure were shared, thanks were given, and the celebration lasted well into the early hours of the morning.

When the sun crested the horizon to the east, the peasants and the lord were already hard at work in the fields. All day they toiled until at last the sun began to sink behind the Greycloaks and they began heading toward their homes. It was then that a watchman on the keep’s tower noticed a dust cloud moving in swiftly from the north. The pealing of the watchman's bell brought the peasants in with all swiftness and the gates were barred. Lord Tarran Kratys however, was not among their number.

Several tense moments passed; at last, Lord Tarran Kratys appeared from the cover of the orchard that surrounded the keep. He was bleeding heavily and had been pierced in three places by black-shafted arrows. Hot in pursuit of the lord were five bandy-legged, crooked backed orcs with murder in their big red eyes. Kratys hobbled his way to the gate and was hoisted over the wall through the efforts of Talos and his manservant Thurin, while Eswin and Keiren directed a unit of archers to fire upon the orcs. When all was said and done, Tarran Kratys was safe behind the walls of the keep and three of the orcs lay dead upon the ground, with the remaining two fleeing into the orchard for cover.

After the Lady Myrs bound the lord’s wounds, Kratys confirmed their fears. The Broken Moon orc tribe had taken advantage of the Westmarch’s vulnerability and marched on Kratys Keep to settle an old score. Watchfires were lit and stones of magical light were placed around the keep, as the freeholders made preparations for a siege. An hour after sunset, a lone orc carrying a flag of truce approached the gates. Claiming to be the herald of Hallir, leader of the Broken Moon warband, he stated the orc cheiftan’s terms. If Kratys surrendered, the orcs would slay the men quickly and the women and children would be taken as slaves. Knowing better than to trust an orc, Kratys refused. The fate of those within the keep would be sealed in battle, not surrender.

Hallir the Blood of Malgen, Half-Orc Chieftain
of the Broken Moon Tribe

As the keep continued its preparations for the siege, Eswin and Kieren left on a reconnaissance mission to gather information on the strength of the Broken Moon tribe. Eswin easily blended into the shadows of the forest with his elven cloak, and Kieren used his ensorcelled cloak to turn himself into a bat so that he might fly undetected above the orcish horde. While in the orchard, Eswin learned that there were near a hundred orcs in the warband, led by a brutish half-orc chieftan named Hallir. A gnarled old shaman by the name of Goomjaba and a heavily armoured ogre were also counted among their number. To Eswin’s dismay, he also learned that the warband was busy building a catapult and scaling ladders for the siege. Using a magical formula he had procured in his earlier travels, Eswin managed to booby trap the catapult. He also made an assassination attempt on Hallir which proved unsuccessful, so he melted back into the shadow of the trees. With Kieren’s aid, Eswin made his way around the orchard and managed to slay several straggling orcs along with five drummers whose pounding was weakening the morale of those within the keep.

When they returned to the keep, they informed the lord that the orcs were not yet prepared for their assault. In a last desperate attempt to find aid, the druid Kieren spoke to one of the lord’s hawks and instructed the bird to fly with all haste east to the Dimwald Forest, where it would find Kieren’s mentor Goran Shae. As the sun once again made its appearance in the east, the two hawks returned to the keep. One began to shed its feathers and grow, and within less than a minute Goran Shae, master of the Dimwald stood before those assembled in the keep. A glimmer of hope was kindled in the hearts of all those present.

Continued...