Welcoming Committee

“Lovely neighborhood,” Jax muttered as the party took in their new surroundings. Nat’s Teleport had landed them deep within the wastes of the Hold of Belkzen. To the east lay a tangle of badlands, with scrub brush and wind-gnarled trees the only vegetation. To the west rose the Kordar Mountains, a range of volcanic peaks rising against the gray sky. They were on the lower slopes of the nearest mountain, its peak sheared off. “That’s Mt. Dou-Bral,” Nat said solemnly, pointing up at it.

 

Laori and her friends hadn’t accompanied them on Nat’s extra-planar jaunt, but she’d assured them they’d arrive shortly, so they settled in to wait. Several hours later, as the sun was setting, the trio stepped out of a deep shadow behind a house-sized boulder. “Hi guys!” Laori said, waving merrily. The group made camp, and cooked a spare supper over an open fire. The night was pitch black, moon and stars hidden by thick overcast, and distant howls of unseen beasts echoed off the mountainside. As they prepared to bed down, Nat cast a Tiny Hut to give them some protection from the elements as well as to hide them from whatever night creatures prowled the waste.

Even with Nat’s magical protections, no one slept well, and they arose at dawn anxious about what lay ahead of them. A faint trail led up the mountainside, little traveled. The summit lay about 1500 feet above them, but the way was steep and rugged, with many switchbacks that multiplied the distance they must travel. To make matters worse, a cold drizzle began to fall. As they climbed, Tomas paused frequently to examine the path they were on. “See anything?” Jax asked quietly.

“There are some tracks, but not recent,” Tomas replied. “Some animal, but mostly boot tracks. Big ones, with hobnails. I’m betting orcs.” Given the area they were in, that seemed like a safe bet.

It was early afternoon by the time they reached the summit. The rain had stopped, and they found themselves looking down into the caldera of the extinct volcano. A crater lake filled much of the caldera floor, its waters dark and still. An island rose in the center of the lake, and on that island sat a vast castle – Castle Scarwall. It was an imposing collection of towers and fortifications, connected to a narrow peninsula at the lake’s southern shore by a long causeway. Ancient fortifications lay in ruins at the near end of the causeway, but the rest of the castle appeared to be in amazingly sound condition after centuries of disuse. At the back of the castle, one tower stood out from the others; it walls were black stone, unlike the gray of the rest of the castle, and it was shaped like a 12-pointed star.

At the sight of the Castle, Sial and Laori fell silent, staring in awe at the legendary structure. Laori turned to Sial, a look of astonishment in her eyes. “Is that what I think it is?” she hissed in an excited voice, but the Shadowcount quickly silenced her. “I don’t know. We won’t know until we get closer.” The exchange piqued everyone’s interest. “Is there something we should know?” Wren asked suspiciously.

“No, no,” Sial replied. “Just an interesting structure. Quite impressive.”

Wren was unconvinced. “It seemed like something important. You need to tell us – is there something dangerous we need to know about?”

The Shadowcount looked at her for a moment. “No, nothing dangerous – well, other than the obvious, that is. But possibly … interesting. Important. We’ll have to get closer before we’ll know for sure.” Sial was obviously holding something back, but he seemed to be sincere that it was not some new threat. If anything, he seemed to be suppressing some new excitement.

The descent to the caldera floor took a few more hours. As they progressed, the trail widened, and scattered and broken cobblestones indicated there had once been a road here. As they approached the peninsula at the end of the causeway, they could see that the ruins they’d seen from above were the remains of the castle’s outer defenses. A barbican had once stood here, its crumbling curtain wall flanking the remains of two gatehouse towers, the western one of which had collapsed. The other tower, though battered by the centuries, still stood, and seemed to have a ramshackle lean-to built against its rear wall.

They approached slowly and cautiously. The area before the barbican gate was mostly clear, although a few trees and shrubs grew here and there. Something crunched under Tomas’ foot, and he looked down to see a fragment of ancient bone. Looking around, he saw more weathered bones, and rusted fragments of weapons or armor, relics of some ancient battle.

Tomas and Jax were in the lead. Jax gave Tomas a nod, then slipped off to the east, headed for a spot where the curtain wall had collapsed, and it might be possible to climb past it, or even up onto the battlements of the guard tower. He slid quietly from shadow to shadow, barely noticeable. Tomas also crept forward, under the shadow of one of the few trees growing beside the road. His keen eyes didn’t see any movement ahead, but the tower’s crenelated parapets could hide much.

“See anything?” Erin asked, moving up to join him. She was doing her best to stay out of sight, but she lacked the ranger’s and rogue’s trained stealth. As if in answer to her question, a volley of arrows whizzed off the guard tower’s parapet and two of them buried themselves in her leg. She could feel the sting of poison in the arrowheads, but she fought it off.

A gruff cry sounded from the battlements and Nat recognized the Orcish warning: “Intruders coming down the road!” Tomas spotted an orc bowman standing in one of the crenelations of the gatehouse’s highest tower, and fired back. It looked like at least one of his arrows might have found its mark, but at this distance it was difficult to tell. However, there was more movement on the lower parapet, and another orc appeared on the ruins of the western wall. More arrows came flying out. One struck Erin, but three more hit Tomas and he felt weaker as their poison burned in his veins.

The group was still quite a distance from the walls, at the far end of longbow range, and other than Tomas they weren’t well prepared for long-distance combat. Shadow cast Invisibility on himself and continued strolling up the road, hoping to get a better view. Shadowcount Sial hurried to the lone tree on the east side of the road and pressed himself against its trunk, Asyra at his side. Erin retreated to join him, Laying on Hands to cure some of the damage the orcs had already inflicted. Wren moved forward and cast Bless, while Nat stayed close to Sial; he feared that an onslaught of undead would come rushing out of the castle at any moment, and didn’t want to waste spells on a few paltry orcs. Besides, this was his first chance to see the Shadowcount in action, and he was keenly interested in what he might be capable of.

Laori had stayed out in the open, continuing to advance up the road, and now she and Tomas were the most open targets. Tomas fired again at the archer at the top of the tower, and he collapsed backwards, an arrow between the eyes. But another flight of arrows flew from the lower battlements and the western wall; Tomas was hit three more times, and Laori once. Laori decided those cowering behind the tree trunk might have the right idea, and ran to jostle for a place behind the narrow slice of cover. Tomas slid one step back, under the overhanging branches, hoping they might deflect an arrow or two.

Shadowcount Sial was scowling at their predicament. His eidolon, Asyra, was almost useless in this situation, so he spoke some words, waved his hands, and she vanished. “Hey! Where’d she go?” Nat asked in surprise, but Sial ignored him. Nat still didn’t want to use up any valuable spells, but he took his crossbow and aimed carefully at the orc on the western wall. He figured he was probably out of range, but he aimed high and hoped for the best. The bolt soared in a high arc, and to Nat’s amazement actually thudded into the orc’s shoulder. “Did you see that?!?” he cried. “I hit him!!!”

Wren wanted to do something to even the odds. She picked up a rock, cast Deeper Darkness on it, and threw it as far down the road as she could. Everything between the party and the walls was engulfed in inky shadow; they could still see the battlements beyond it, but nothing between. “Get into the darkness!” Wren cried. “They can’t shoot what they can’t see!”

“Nice idea,” Nat replied, “but orcs have Darkvision. They can see in there just fine.” Wren’s cursing in response was very unladylike.

Jax, who’d managed to slip up to the eastern wall unseen, cast Greater Invisibility and clambered into the gap where the wall had collapsed. On its far side, he could see that a ramshackle building had been built up against the gatehouse walls, and above him he could see that it might be possible to climb up onto the wall’s parapet. He tried once, but tumbled back onto the broken stones. Picking himself up, he had another go at it, and managed to pull himself up onto the parapet. Ahead of him, the gatehouse tower rose above him, blocking his view of the orcs who were shooting at his friends from the parapet on the other side. But there was a door in the gatehouse wall and he approached it cautiously.

Tomas fired another round of arrows, and backed farther under the tree. Wren rushed to his side and cast Cure Critical Wounds to try to keep him in the fight. However, that made her a target as well, and arrows flew all around them, hitting both her and Tomas (undoing much of her healing). Erin was furious at herself for hiding behind a tree like a cowardly spellcaster, so she charged out into the open, dashing across the open ground to press herself against the barbican wall. Laori thought that looked like fun, so she followed, grinning as she joined Erin. Shadow had found himself surrounded by Wren’s magical darkness, so he decided to use it to his advantage, and cast Shadow Jump to also leap to the base of the tower wall.

There was suddenly a lot more free space behind the tree trunk, and Sial began casting a spell. A moment later, three large Air Elementals appeared above Wren’s Darkness and charged at the orcs on the battlements, battering them with blows of blowing air. “Whoa!” Nat exclaimed, eyes widening. “That looked like a Summon Monster spell, but I’ve never seen anyone cast one so fast! How’d you do that?” Sial just scowled at him. “Just shut up and let me concentrate!” he growled, and began preparing for some ritual.

The orcs redirected their attention to these new attackers. The one on the western wall fired arrows into one of the Elementals, but his mates who were under attack on the eastern parapet dropped their longbows and unlimbered wicked greataxes, inflicting deep gashes that sent gouts of vapor spewing into the air. The Elementals changed tactics; the flew off out of reach, then began flying circles, swooping down to slam the orcs before flying out of reach again. The orcs immediately recognized the strategy, and held their greataxes at the ready, swinging in mighty blows as soon as the Air Elementals drew close, carving out great chunks of cloud.

Tomas took advantage of the momentary respite, and kept feathering the orcs on the battlements. His first shot sent one sprawling face-down on the parapet floor, and arrow through his skull, and his next two arrows sank into one of the orcs waiting for the Elementals’ next attack. He then redirected his aim to the orc atop the western wall. An arrow sank deep into the orc’s chest, almost knocking him off the wall, but he was still alive. Then a volley of Empowered Magic Missiles came flying out of the sky, sending him cartwheeling off the ruined wall to the ground below. “Yee-haw!” Shadow cried; he’d used his Boots of Levitation to float up to the top of the gatehouse tower, which had given him a clear shot at the hapless orc.

Jax had opened the door into the gatehouse. He found a crude and filthy bedroom, with a cot pushed up against a flight of stairs leading up. He almost screamed when he saw an enormous black snake hanging from the ceiling, but then he realized it was a stuffed and poorly-preserved trophy. There was another door in the northeast wall, but he decided to try the stairs first. At their top, he found an empty room, its stone floor sagging and riddled with cracks and fissures. There was a door directly opposite the top of the staircase, and he opened it. It led onto the tower parapet, where he saw the sprawled body of the orc Tomas had killed first, and Shadow pumping his fist in the air just beyond the parapet wall.

Erin had followed the path Jax had taken, following the eastern wall to the spot where it had collapsed. She looked up at the opening onto the parapet, but knew there was little chance she could make the climb unaided. But she always tried to be prepared, and she had a grappling hook in her pack. She pulled it out, swung it in a few circles, then lofted it up to grasp tightly to one of the crenellations. Using the rope, she had little trouble climbing up the wall. She saw the door at the end of the parapet standing open, and she reached it just as Jax descended back down the stairs. “It’s just me,” the invisible rogue whispered from inside, as he advanced to listen at the other door out of the room.

Sial seemed to be totally consumed with whatever ritual he was performing. As interesting as that might be, Nat felt he probably ought to pay attention to the battle. He could see the Shadowcount’s summoned elementals swooping down on the orcs on the battlement, but each of their attacks drew a ferocious riposte from the orcs’ battleaxes. He could also see arrows flying up at the elementals from somewhere behind the guard tower, and surmised there was at least one more orc that no one could see. He decided that maybe just one little spell couldn’t hurt, so he conjured an Elemental Wall of fire that caught the two orcs he could see on the parapet. One collapsed in flames; the other survived, and dashed out of the wall to gulp down a potion while he waited for the Elementals’ next fly-by.

Wren dismissed her Deeper Darkness then did one more round of healing on Tomas before the ranger dashed off down the road, to press himself against the barbican wall. Laori was ahead of him, spiked chain twirling slowly in her hands as she advanced through the space where the barbican gate would have once stood. She could see arrow slits in the wall to her right, but no arrows flew out at her.

Wren was now alone by the tree (well, Nat and Sial were there, but they hardly counted). She debated where to go next. She didn’t trust Laori, so she decided wherever the Kuthite cleric was, she wanted to be somewhere else, so she set off to follow Erin. She found the rope from Erin’s grappling hook still dangling down the broken wall, and used it to climb up to the parapet.

Tomas moved out to join Laori, bow at the ready, then moved out in the front. He heard Nat’s voice in his ear, courtesy of a Message spell: “Tomas, Shadow – report!” He kept quiet for the moment; the fight on the parapet was raging overhead, but he didn’t have a shot at anyone from down here, and didn’t want to alert anyone to his presence. He reached the back edge of the gatehouse; the road curved to the northeast and he could see the lip of the causeway that led to Castle Scarwall. To his right, a crude lean-to had been constructed against the back wall of the tower, and there was a door into it. He took one step towards it, when the door flew open and an orc charged out. He had a bow in his hand, and seemed as surprised to see Tomas as Tomas was to see him, but he recovered instantly. He rushed Tomas, dropping his bow and drawing his greataxe as he ran. He hit Tomas with a vicious chop that sent blood spraying. Another orc appeared in the doorway, and followed his comrade to attack Tomas with his own greataxe. “New enemies coming out the back!” Tomas responded to Nat’s Message, wishing he’d hung around with Wren to get just a little more healing.

Laori charged at the orcs, slashing one of them with her spiked chain. Up close, she and Tomas could see that the orcs had painted their faces white, giving them a shocked, skull-like appearance. The Air Elementals also spotted the new foes, and altered course to start swooping down to attack them. The first two simply slammed the orcs as the flew by, but the third transformed into a Whirlwind and tried to pick one up, but failed. Tomas took a step back and feathered the nearest orc with arrows. It followed, and chopped him again with its axe. Its mate focused on Laori, and while she enjoyed the pain it caused, she knew the enjoyment wouldn’t last long at this rate. The Elementals swooped down again, focusing their wrath on the orc facing Laori, and their winds spread its blood into a fine mist as it died. “I’m coming for you!” Nat screamed at the remaining orc from across the field, trying to sound intimidating, but if it heard him, it paid him no notice.

Up inside the gatehouse, Jax and Erin had crossed the empty room beyond the chief’s bedroom to the door they suspected led out to the parapet; they could hear the muffled sounds of battle from the other side. Jax quietly opened the door. Just to its left, an orc stood with his back against the wall, battleaxe clutched at the ready as he warily watched the Elementals flashing through the air; an empty potion bottle lay at his feet. He was so intent on the flying Elementals that he didn’t notice the door open. Jax, still invisible, stepped out and slid his blade between the unsuspecting orc’s ribs. The orc gave a sharp cry, then collapsed in a heap.

But Jax heard motion behind him. He spun, and saw another orc emerge from behind an angle of the wall, where he’d also apparently positioned himself to receive the Air Elementals’ attacks. He was taller than the other orcs, and wore a belt with seven small silver-plated dragon-like skulls hanging from it. He held a massive greatsword in his hands, and was glaring intently for whatever had just slain one of his men. This was Ury Sevenskulls, chief of the Deadwatcher Orcs. “We’ve got more company out here!” Jax called back through the open doorway.

At Jax’s warning, Erin charged out; she didn’t know what she’d be facing, but she was frustrated and embarrassed that she hadn’t yet drawn blood. She charged at the orc chieftain and slashed her flaming sword across his chest. The orc barked a guttural laugh, then hit her with a two-handed blow from his greatsword that all but gutted her. He snapped at her with slathering jaws, but missed. Gasping for breath, Erin managed to reply with a laugh of her own, but it left blood running from her mouth.

Jax stepped forward, unseen, and stabbed at Ury, catching him by surprise and opening a wound that gushed blood. Erin caught her breath for an instant and Laid Hands on herself, then called upon the power of Iomedae to Smite Evil. Her flaming longsword flashed, opening more deep wounds, but Ury swung back, and his massive sword almost knocked her off her feet. She looked up into the fury of his white-painted face: if she was going to die, this is how her goddess would want her to fall.

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No XP until we finish this encounter, but you will all be at 13^th level when it completes, so have your characters ready next time.