It never ends, suckers!
Our heroes have fought wave after wave of invader, yet they keep coming - and now the mill is on fire. Can things get any worse?.
Starring, in order they sit around the table:
Nyvan, (played by Jason) a elven knight known for entering dangerous areas on his own and enjoys duels... just not today.
Venmir, (played by Brett) an elven clergyman, known as Kindelf, who likes playing bows and arrows.
Sigurd, (played by Iain) a travelling swordsman - he likes to sing. Only now and then.
Rodin, (played by Lorne) the battered and sullen dwarven axeman, who does an excellent impression of a dead dwarf. And hits all the time. Almost.
Nandrim, (played by Hilton), the ridiculously brave elf magic-user who always has something to say about dragons - YAWN!
and The DM, (played by Alex), who loves to comment in blue. And writes this blog. He's also a bit of a git and likes to make life difficult for his players.
The party is now complete. All five players have met one another and the siege of Greenest is in full swing - and there doesn't seem to be any way out...except perhaps in a blaze of glory?
When news of the attempted destruction of the mill reached the heroes and Governor Nighthill, he implored them to reach the mill and hold it until they could send reinforcements to hold it. Without hesitation, they set off for the tunnel.
This time through the tunnel, their route was a little easier. No rats and since they'd passed the key away from Nyvan, it wasn't quite so nerve-wracking having someone open the lock. Theycrept along the stream carefully, taking care not to get noticed by any of the invaders.
As they approached the mill, they saw a number of smaller fires around the edge of the building as well as a number of enemies. As they discussed their options, Nyvan interrupted their discussions brusquely, "Every time we sit about planning our options, something shite happens - so let's just go and kill the evil bastards and stop mucking about!". His plan met with genuine enthusiasm and the party all leapt forward to charge the enemy.
Four of the mercenaries turned to face them and charged to meet them halfway, at the behest of the fifth, who stayed at the mill, watching carefully.
The battle joined and within seconds, Rodin, targetted by the enemy, was dropped to the floor. The toll of the last few hours had shown itself. The others leapt into the fray and dropped three of the enemy in a few moments. The remaining soldier and their leader all turned to run. They shot down the soldier in the back but the leader had disappeared.
Venmir checked on Rodin, Sigurd started putting out the fires, Rodin had a nap, Nandrin picked fluff from his belly-button and Nyvan decided the best thing to do was walk into the mill on his own...
It was a trap! As he walked into the building, half a dozen figures stepped out of the darkness on the loft level and flung spears down at him. Miraculously, they all missed, and when they jumped down to engage him, he squealed loudly enough for the others to hear - and they charged in to help. They found Nyvan beset by many foes, with one dead on the floor before him. The battle was fierce but alarmingly one sided (for the DM - with Nyvan in particularly deadly mood) and before long the heroes were victorious.
As the party discussed their options, a group of militia-men turned up and relieved them (nope, no erotica here thank you). They ran back to the tunnel and headed upstairs to meet with Nighthill and Escobert.
Nighthill was in sombre mood. The Temple of Chauncea had been burned with most of its congregation inside - only a handful escaped, but luckily it included the priest, who was helping in the makeshift infirmary. The sorely-wounded heroes rushed there for some free healing (which they eventually got but I didn't make easy!).
As they exited the keep, Nighthill met them with what seemed like good news - apparently the numbers of naughty dudes outside was dwindling as they left in small groups - and the dragon had left. The party nipped up to the battlements to check it out.
As they looked on, a monstrous figure loomed out of the darkness before the keep. Seven foot tall, blue scales, a massive sword and a greatspear, Nandrin named it a half-dragon. With him were near a score of kobolds and also four hostages. He offered the hostages, alive, in return for the Champion of Greenest to step forth and face him.
Before anyone could say anything, one of the guards rushed down stairs with a cry of despair, but he was stopped by Nighthill. The hostages were his family.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Nyvan as he strode all manly-like down to the front gate. "I'll face him!".
The priest healed him back to full health and the party blessed him, with Sigurd singing a song of valour which filled his heart with confidence. Nyvan strode forth.
The creature waited and they discussed terms. Three of the hostages now. The reaining woman once the fight was over. The fight was to the death. Nyvan agreed.
Rodin watched, jealously, Nandrin slipped outside the gate and watched in admiration, especially at Nyvan's tight buttocks, while Venmir watched his best friend from the battlements. Sigurd sang his song, which some of the guards join in with, even though they didn't know the words or have any singing ability.
The duel began!
Nyvan stormed forward, dodging two sings from the beast (but secretly wondering how the fuck he had two attacks!), before unleashing a massive blow which, in conjunction with nigh on max damage and his thundering shout, caused a massive wound to the beast....who dropped to one knee, then smiled and stood back up. In return, he unleashed his own magic - lightning breath! Nyvan staggered back - and then struck again. The crowd gasped, but the monster was not done. He swung his massive blade forward once more and Nyvan dropped to the floor. The keep went quiet.
With a slow glance over the battlements, the creature sneered, then slammed his blade down into Nyvan's prone body. Venmir cried out in pain as he watched the sword pierce his friend. The kobolds let the woman go, and she ran to the keep, passing Nandrin who had rushed forward to try and save Nyvan. Venmir wanted to shoot the beast in the back, but Sigurd halted him, "the duel was in good faith and Nyvan knew it was to the death." he added.
Within minutes, the town was abandoned by the evil mercs and monsters. Nighthill, amazed at the honour displayed by Nyvan and his pals, offered them a place to sleep and some healing potions he'd been saving for an emergency. He left them to rest but not before telling them how Escobert was in the infirmary, sorely wounded and missing a foot.
They all rested. Finally. And stopped cursing the DM. hehehehehehe
When they recovered, they found Nighthill once again asking for their help - this time to find the enemy encampment and find out what they wanted, and why. They all agreed, although Nyvan and Sigurd agreed to do it for nothing, the others were not so hasty.
they were also approached by a young monk who explained that his master, who was an expert on the cultists, had been captured or killed fighting the cultists and he begged their help to save him if they found him in the enemy camp. They agreed.
They mucked about for a few more hours (and Rodin spent some time bonding with Escobert, despite all the foot jokes - it was beautiful) and left just before first light.
First up, they found a pack of kobolds and humans squabbling over food, and then sitting at their own fires, 50 feet away from one another. The party snuck up on them and spltted the humans in no time. The kobolds fled in EVERY DIRECTION EXCEPT TOWARDS THE PARTY (that's important for Lorne!). No humans were left alive.
They carried on and the way became a little more conducive to ambush, so the party kept their eyes open. I pulled Venmir out of the room to explain how he had seen someone standing up a slope to one side. I then spent 45 seconds explaining the area and mentioning repeatedly how the party was continuing to walk forward, waiting for Venmir to shout STOP or somehow else halt the party, but he didn't, so I dropped rocks on them. The party got humped good off the rocks, but returned fire and battle was joined. Venmir made up for his lack of warnings and twanged both the clerics in the ambush group while they stood on the slope above them.
This was obviously some kind of rearguard, rather than just stragglers.
But at the point, we called it a night.
More next week!
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