Crossing the Barrier Peaks
This continues the tale of half of the Pre-Fosweld group and follows on from Garak's End and The Inn of the Whispering Elm.
Crossing the Barrier Peaks
Chapter 1 (31.12.2024) - A Promising Start
28.04.1259 It was around lunchtime when the party arrived in Shé-ek. They marched straight to the main town square, where a town crier was shouting about adventurers wanted to travel to Fosweld. He seemed rather bored. A tall, rugged, bearded man was standing nearby, looking rather frustrated as well as bored.
The party introduced themselves to the two figures. The tall, rugged, bearded man turned out to be Kirkullef, who would be the guide for the journey over the mountains to Fosweld Castle. He was hoping for more adventurers, and muttered that he had heard a rumour about some other potential adventurers who had been eaten by giant birds or something. He sighed, but was keen to set off as soon as possible, and so was everyone else.
The ponies were stabled in Shé-ek as the trip might be too difficult for them, and so were the carts also stored. Crimsy cast her first ever third level spell, Cure Disease, on Animataa and he started to feel much better at once. After a few preparations and a bit of shopping, everyone set off, Kirkullef leading the way. Behind him were Zharzhar, Animataa and Crimsy. Then came Nuxi and Spoglifromp, followed by Lilly and Starzio, with the two clerics Aixy and Zimbi at the rear.
It was mid-afternoon and the party were about an hour and a half east of Shé-ek when suddenly Kirkullef stopped and held out his arms for the party to halt. He had heard the sound of a twig snapping! Suddenly, a group of hobgoblins jumped out on either side of the rough narrow track to ambush the party.
Their leader said that if they left all their treasure, weapons, armor, equipment, clothes and everything in a heap and went to work for the hobgoblins as slaves, they would be allowed to live. Crimsy, who spoke Hobgoblin, said they were not going to be anyone's slaves and a fight broke out at once.
The party were very quick off the mark and won reaction by several segments. This allowed the spellcasters to devastate the hobgoblins, who were in four groups of four surrounding the party. Crimsy Entangled one group, Lilly Webbed another, Starzio used a Sleep spell to incapacitate a whole group of four, and Animataa knocked two out with a Colour Spray.
Of the four that had not succumbed to a spell, the leader was shot and badly wounded by Kirkullef, then finished off by Spoglifromp, and two more ran away, leaving just one, which surrendered. In the end, the hobgoblins ended up giving the party all of their weapons and armor and belongings, although they didn't have much. The party let them live and the hobgoblins trudged miserably back to whereever they had come from.
Kirkullef was impressed by how well the party had handled the battle. Nobody had taken any damage and the enemies had been completely crippled before having a chance to act. "Perhaps we might survive the journey to Fosweld after all," he growled in a fairly friendly way.
He was busy organising the party and telling them how they should manage themselves. Animataa didn't like this much and said he was not a child. Kirkullef was a bit patronising to him, calling him "Little One", but he spoke with a gruff grin and most people realised that the new member of their group meant no harm.
The marching order was re-established and everybody continued up hill and down dale with no further troubles. Just after sunset, when dusk was approaching and everyone was fairly tired and wanted to find a place to camp for the night, the burning glow from distant torches was seen. Whoever was carrying the torches was approaching!
There was only one lantern lit for the party, and that was quickly dimmed as the torch bearers approached. Ogres! The party had surprise in their favour and again used mostly missiles and spells to defeat the ogres. This time Kirkullef took a hit from an ogre and Zharzhar accidently hit Crimsy on a fumble, so some healing was needed by the end of the fight. But again, the party dealt with the foe with speed and skill.
A few of the party, especially the smaller ones such as Nuxi and Spoglifromp, were complaining that they were tired, but Kirkullef insisted that they continue on for at least another mile from the ogres before they tried to set up camp. Nuxi crawled on her hands and knees, but she was encouraged to stand up and plod along as best she could. It turned out to be a good decision as an excellent camping spot was found, with flat ground and a large pond.
Spoglifromp started fishing and some of the others started gathering wood and setting up bedding. Zharzhar wanted to do the first watch, but Kirkullef insisted that the spellcasters were to rest and not watch at all. That meant he, along with Spoglifromp and Nuxi, as the only non-spellcasters, would be watching. Spoglifromp was rather disgruntled by this idea and grumbled a lot, but did his watch all the same without any stealing.
Chapter 2 (01.01.2024) - Out Of The Frying Pan, Into The Fire
29.04.1259 Spoglifromp ended up doing the final watch and used the time to catch more fish. Everyone enjoyed a fishy breakfast. Spoglifromp was still grumbling about missing sleep, but not as much. Everyone set off, the way becoming steeper, trickier and colder as they rose high into the mountain range.
The day passed uneventfully. True it was colder here, but everyone kept warm by moving and climbing. Once the first peak had been ascended and descended, the group began on the next one. Kirkullef wanted to try to be over the summit before sunset so they could use the sunrise to help their progress the following morning.
Kirkullef 's wish was granted. The party made good progress and were able to find a camping spot in the twilight, near a stream and with enough flat ground for everyone to be comfortable. The same watches were assigned despite Spoglifromp's protestations.
While everyone was sleeping during the first watch, Kirkullef raised the alarm. A pack of hunting worgs had found the party and closed in to attack! Everybody made their CON check and woke quickly, which was lucky. Crimsy cast a Speak with Animals to try to persuade the worgs to leave, but they were too hungry and the party looked tasty, so the fight continued.
There were a couple of injuries in the fight that followed, but nothing very serious. Nuxi and Spoglifromp both sneaked into the shadows and were both able to backstab on the following round, Nuxi's being enough to one-shot one of the worgs. Aixy's Spiritual Hammer was also effective, as were the Burning Hands spells from Lilly and Starzio.
Zharzhar and Kirkullef had a decisive influence over the battle, with both swords and bow, and when only one of the worgs remained it ran off with its tail between its legs, sporting injuries from Crimsy, Zimbi and Spoglifromp. The party managed to cut some fresh wolf steaks from the defeated, which served them well for breakfast the next morning.
30.04.59 The next morning, the skies were thick and heavy, grey and overcast. Kirkullef thought a storm was likely on its way. Everybody was on full health when they left the camp, feeling optimistic. Kirkullef said that if they continued to make good progress they would arrive at Fosweld Castle the next day.
As they day wore on and the party continued to climb through the mountains, the impending storm grew closer. There were distant flashes over the far peaks. The going was hard and occasionally treacherous. It was cold and snowy in the high peaks. A green dragon was seen by the party as it flew high overhead in roughly the same direction the party were flying. It seemed to descend towards somewhere in the distance. They trekked on.
They came to a rope and plank bridge over a deep ravine and the bridge was not in very good repair. Kirkullef did what he could to make the nearside safe, but the far side was broken as well and the way across would be quite treacherous until it was repaired. Animataa, with his tightrope walking skill, was the first across, and made it look easy. He took a line with him to help the next one cross, which was Spoglifromp, then Nuxi.
With all the smaller, lighter people across it was time for some of the bigger heavier characters to make the trip. Zharzhar was next and lost balance. After a few scary moments she managed to cross, with help from those holding the rope at each end. When Kirkullef crossed, he spent some time repairing the stakes and retying the ropes before the others came. Last to cross was Aixy, who had no trouble at all.
They continued on for a while in the cold thin air. Suddenly, the party came upon a group of what appeared to be giant boar. Crimsy was fast enough to cast an Entangle spell and four of them were snared, but one dodged the weeds and moved to attack.
Kirkullef shot true, but was rather surprised and horrified when his arrow went in, then came out again without causing any damage. "Try magic!" he urged.
Nuxi managed to score a hit with her throwing dagger and that was effective, but Spoglifromp missed with both of his. Starzio cast Burning Hands and Lilly Magic Missile, both of which damaged the creature, and the party were beginning to realise they may not be able to defeat these foes.
Zimbi cast a Light spell on the boar's head, which blinded it, and Crimsy attacked with her magical scimitar. When the boar fell, it turned into a man! The party realised that these were not just wild pigs, they were wereboar!
With eight minutes left on the Entangle spell, the party fled, hoping to find somewhere to hide. Spoglifromp and Nuxi grabbed the daggers they had thrown as they ran, Kirkullef marshalling and encouraging them as they went. If they were fast enough with their eight minute headstart, perhaps the wereboar would not chase them? As the rain began to fall, everyone ran helter skelter down the narrow rocky mountain trail to try to find a way to escape the threat of the wereboar.
After fleeing for several minutes, things took a turn for the worse. Right there, beside the trail, were a pair of young green dragons. They were devouring some unfortunate creature, perhaps a goat, in front of a cave entrance. The smaller of the two lifted its gaze to look at the humanoids who had suddenly stumbled into view, and the larger, with its back to the party, turned its head and growled at the new meal that had presented itself to them.
Kirkullef shouted a battlecry and took out his bow. He shot at the smaller, younger dragon and scored a critical hit, quickly finishing it off with his second arrow. Animataa also shot an arrow that hit the larger dragon. Everybody else missed. Crimsy stood a little to the side and began casting Call Lightning, but it would take a whole turn to finish casting it so she was effectively out of the battle. Zimbi ran straight in to combat to try to protect the party from the worst.
The angry dragon breathed and four of the party fell unconscious - Spoglifromp, Animataa, Zharzhar and Nuxi. Fortunately the breath weapon didn't include Crimsy and risk interupting her casting, or the two wizards, who would have surely died if either failed their save.
Several more missiles and Aixy's Spiritual Hammer all missed, but Zimbi gave it a wallop with her mace before Kirkullef scored another critical hit with his double handed sword and ended the second dragon. The party were very relieved, but Crimsy was still casting and the rain began to fall more heavily.
The healers got everyone to their feet and Spoglifromp drank a Healing potion. Most people were recovering when the dreaded four remaining wereboar finally arrived. Grunting and snuffling, they stopped running at the sight of their prey and approached the party more slowly, knowing their meal was a done deal. Crimsy, being the only character with a magical weapon, stood her ground and the others were not sure what they should do.
Just in time, Crimsy's cast was finished and she called down a huge bolt of lightning from the stormy sky. One of the wereboar was killed at once and the others stunned. Nuxi was terrified by the noise of the lightning and several people followed behind her as she fled into the cave to shelter from the storm.
Before they were able to attack, Crimsy called down a second bolt of lightning that killed the three remaing wereboar. Nuxi squeaked and ran deeper into the cave, tripping over some of the treasure in the heap of coins. As she landed on her tummy and looked up, a large green head with amber eyes rose from the shadows beyond where she had fallen to stare malevolently at the intruder. It would seem that the mother of the two dead green dragons was now awake!
Nuxi screamed a warning and ran out of the cave as fast as she could into the pouring rain and strong winds. All the others were shocked and hurried outside with her. Kirkullef said that they had to find a place to hide and hope the dragon didn't find them! Nobody was in a good enough condition to face an old green dragon. They all ran off, back the way they had come, apart from Crimsy, who stood in direct line of the cave entrance, waiting for the dragon to emerge.
As soon as it did, Crimsy called down another huge lightning strike. The electrocuted dragon retaliated and breathed its foul gas breath weapon over Crimsy, but she made her saving throw and survived! She was also a few segments faster in her reaction than the dragon, who was clearly not accusomed to being hit by lightning when it poked its head our of its cave. Crimsy called more lightning down from the heavens, and this time the dragon fell.
Crimsy's heroics immediately put her up to fourth level and very close to fifth! Everybody was amazed and congratulated Crimsy on her kill. The party went into the cave to shelter from the raging storm and had a look through the treasure, but most of it was copper.
They heaved the dragon corpses back into the cave and decided to spend the night in the stinky dragon lair to recover and wait out the storm. The healing spells that remained were cast and everybody slept, with the same pattern of watches and the same complaints from Spoglifromp, with Crimsy sleeping under a wing of the big dragon she had vanquished.
Chapter 3 (02.01.2024) - The End of the Beginning
01.05.1259 By the next morning, the storm had blown itself out. They finished off the wolf meat for breakfast. Once the more valuable items had been gathered up, Crimsy sealed the cave entrance closed using her Stone Shape spell, making sure there was a small darker area in the middle so they could find it again later. Casting the spell was enough to put Crimsy up to fifth level.
Setting off once more they were soon going downhill. There was a sparsely wooded area ahead and they made further progress towards Fosweld Castle until they were attacked by some strange eight foot tall men, wearing brightly coloured warpaint and animal skins, and wielding sharp-looking broadswords. These were Qullan, although the party did not know it.
This was a much easier fight for the party. Animataa killed three of them in a single round with his flashing warglaives. Kirkullef defeated another. Zimbi walloped one with her mace and Spoglifromp ended it, while Crimsy and Starzio shared the last one. The strange humanoids had nothing of value but their broadswords, which nobody could use, so they were gathered up and the party continued on.
By and by they came to a road. Kirkullef said that this was the road which would take them the rest of the way to Fosweld Castle, but they would not be using it for the whole journey. After a while, he led the party off the road and into the woodland, carefully making his way between the trees with the others following.
After about another hour, he called a halt and explained to the party again what had been going on in Fosweld, the dangers they would face and the rewards that waited for them if they were successful. He also said that he would not be going inside the dungeon with them. He would wait for them for four days and if they did not return, he would leave, assuming they were all dead. Then, taking the best sneakers, he crept carefully forwards to the very edge of the treeline.
There in front of them was a wide open, roughly circular space, that sloped gradually downwards on all sides towards the centre. In the very centre stood Fosweld Castle, surrounded by a moat. The only road, presumably the one the party had travelled, emerged from the trees to the left and continued down the hill to a single bridge that crossed the moat and led to a walled courtyard before the castle itself.
Roughly equi-distant from each other, three pairs of goblins patrolled the wide sloping meadow, a few yards inside the treeline, moving clockwise.
Finally! They had arrived at Fosweld Castle!
The party were now as follows: Aixy C4, Nuxi T4, Crimsy D5, Zharzhar F3/MU2/C3, Lilly MU3, Animataa F3/I2/T3 and the NPCs: Kirkullef R3, Zimbi C4, Starzio Ench2, Spoglifromp T4.
This concludes this part of the story. It continues with The Fosweld Somnolence (Tessa).