11-30-2025, 10:32 PM
EP 124 18th Drindos C.E. 1032
After Enkili shared his worries for the slaves, Grynn cast an enhanced Spiritual Weapon, then took a defensive stance; using his shield and his moves to force the enemy to miss him (dodge action). The Spiritual Weapon glided into position against one of the shape shifting pig men and walloped him upside the head. Only having Grynn as a target, the archer dipped two more arrows in his pot of poison before aiming for the priest. The first missile dropped short, but the second one hit.
Blaylocke was forced to cast an enhanced version of his Haste spell on Enkili. The pale armored man with red eyes raised his big crossbow and nailed Grynn with a shaft (crit). From her place around the corner, Leiya had a bead on the shape shifting pig man skirmishing with the Spiritual Weapon. Her Sacred Flame burned flesh with a burst of wholesome light. One of the Hobgoblin archers lodged a missile into poor Grynn, his vestments unable to shunt this attack aside.
Downing the Potion of Healing Blaylocke had handed him, Enkili felt the need to help Grynn. He moved next to the priest and looked menacing. Two archers shifted their attention to the fighter, but both missed, orders from the red eyed men shifted attention back onto Grynn. A shape shifting pig man swung it’s hammer at Grynn after taking damage from the Spiritual Guardian, then it tried to gore him with it’s tusks. Both attacks missed. The other one also missed the priest with both weapon and upthrust tusks. Two envenomed shafts sank into Grynn from the archer, and the holy person was poisoned, and almost knocked out; only the great fortitude of his race kept the priest from succumbing to his wounds.
Another arrow from a Hobgoblin zipped passed Grynn’s ear, the hum making Melana’s adopted priest flinch aside. Then another missile careened from the southern wall, meant for Grynn as well. Leaning to get a look around the corner, Leiya could only see Enkili, she buffered the fighter with a Word of Healing. She remained where she was, just at the edge of Grynn’s Guardians of Faith spell; which she had not been excluded from.
Another arrow failed to hit either Grynn or Enkili, the projectile sailing between the duo. The second shape shifting man boar raised its hammer, but the swarm of Grynn’s Spiritual Guardians shredded the feral creature before it could choose a target. Using his bulk to hold the last shape shifter against the wall, Enkili called for Grynn to drop his Spiritual Guardian spell and escape around the corner (Maneuvering Attack). Protected from a reprisal, Grynn hobbled fifteen feet to get around the corner. Enkili then followed up with two more sword strokes and killed the last shape shifting man boar, he then offered a middle finger to the enemy before falling back around the corner himself.
To bring himself back from the cusp, Grynn beefed up a Cure Wounds spell which he layed on himself. He then took a few more steps down south to get behind Leiya. As he moved he willed his Spiritual Weapon to float into a position that denied the slavers the back rows of the halls corner. Blaylocke considers casting Leomunds Tiny Hut in the south western room, but is quickly persuaded to wait. A Hobgoblin ran up, stopping before entering Leiya’s Spiritual Guardian sphere. It tried a difficult shot at Enkili who was partially concealed by the wall, the shot chipped wall stone.
Grynn glanced in the south eastern room and saw a badger chained to a stake and a Halfling whose throat had been cut. As he moved into the room he realized what he was seeing, the Hobgoblins and Orcs had been forcing the Badger and Halfling to fight, but when Jolrael’s Thunderwave spell had detonated they had killed the Halfling before issuing out of the room. Grynn’s first thought was to try freeing the badger, but he had to deal with the poison messing with his strength, coordination, and train of thought. He used Lesser Restoration to strip the venom from his bloodstream. Stepping into the room meant he lost sight of his Spiritual Weapon, that spell faded from neglect.
Hobgoblins began to form a staggered formation of archers near the corner, but none of them tried to fire on Enkili who taunted them with brief but difficult shots; the fighter only saw the two northernmost Hobgoblins move into position, but had heard others also move into place near the wall's turn. Moving up to the corner, Blaylocke chanced a glance around the wall. Pale faced and distraught, the bard turned to his friends and simply said “Run!”. He had seen that another group of over a dozen Hobgoblins, with officers, had joined the crew from the mess hall.
A batch more slaver guards closed in. Leiya cast her signature Sacred Flame on the nearest Hobgoblin, the magic failed to adhere to the goblinoids flesh. Trying to calm the badger with gentle words and slow gestures, Grynn watched helplessly as the animal flipped and hissed from the end of the chain holding it, unmoved by the gestures offered to it. So Grynn scooped up the dead Halfling and began to exit the room. Lips peeled up from the pain, the wily slaver archer moved into the Spiritual Guardians and launched an arrow at the spells author. Despite her discipline and training, Leiya futilely fought to keep her spell up, but the surprise assault caused her to hesitate at the wrong moment.
After the archer fell back out of view, a Hobgoblin danced into position moving around the Spiritual Weapon and easily avoiding Enkili’s prepared attack. It fired a bow from the back ranks but missed. Another closed in with longsword ready. A third had it’s arrow spring back off of Enkili’s sturdy chest piece, the paint was scratched but the shaft had failed to breach the steel cuirass. A Hobgoblin lieutenant hurled a javelin at the fighter, but failed to lead its shot against the shifting stances Enkili used. Hasted, Enkili stepped into the nearest mass of Hobgoblins and dropped all three of those slaver guards, then the fighter turned and zig zagged around his friends as he retreated down the hall. He had seen all the fresh Hobgoblin troops closing on the turn.
The fighter got around the dog leg in the southern hall near the armory. The sound of Hobgoblin troops closing in could be heard without having to strain. Lieya fell back several yards then raised a new stronger Spiritual Guardians spell, she could not include Enkili because she could not see him. A fresh wave of slavers rounded the corner, their leader managed to close on Grynn who was still at the north east room’s door clutching the dead Halfling.
Before risking running from his new attacker, Grynn turned and manifested another Guardian Spirit at the dog leg. Risking harm, the priest then ran away to round the corner where the fighter was. The Hobgoblin missed with a wild and rushed opportunity swing. Blaylocke almost got hit by a hurled javelin, but Leiya interposed her shield in the nick of time (Guard the Faithful feature). The second javelin streaked over the Bard’s shoulder, but a sped arrow caught the bard as he was appreciating being saved by Melosta’s (Melwen) priestess. Shocked by the unexpected attack, Blaylocke felt his Haste spell unravel and pass. Around the corner Enkili gasped and slumped against the wall, drained by the passing of the spell.
Scooting passed Leiya, Blaylocke turned and unleashed his Conjure Volley spell back up at the northern turn in the hall. Many of the cries of pain and outrage went silent. There were enough cries that lingered to assure the party that there were still numbers ranged against them. Boots drummed, then the slaver archer sped two shots at Leiya, the first missed, but the second hurt her bad enough that for a second time, she lost a spell she had been concentrating on. Though she wanted to retaliate against the man, he scampered around a corner, so Leiya sent a Sacred Flame at a Hobgoblin. This cantrip failed to do anything but crawl over the big Hobgoblin’s armor, doing no harm.
The armored man with red eyes stepped around the corner and fired his crossbow, stepping back after the quarrel left the trough. Leiya cried out as the shaft hit her squarely. Grynn ran for all his legs were worth, dashing around the dog leg near the armory, Blaylocke followed the priests example, his stubby legs almost keeping pace with the priest’s sprint. Before she could follow suite, Leiya was stung by two more arrows from the slaver’s archer. Poison began to flow through her system, weakening her limbs. The sniper hid around the northern corner once again. A Hobgoblin sprinted into Grynn’s Guardian of Faith with upraised weapon. It died in a flash of holy light. Leiya finally made it around the corner, but instead of following Grynn and Blaylocke, she pulled a scroll of Protection From Poison out and read it.
She stumbled a few more steps after curing herself. Plowing through the flash of divine light from the Guardian of Faith spell, the armored man with red eyes tried to overwhelm Enkili with slashes from a sword as big as the Sainted Sword. Both swings failed to hit or penetrate the plate armor the Mandagan wore. A Hobgoblin followed suit and actually survived the Guardian of Faith, it too could not bring harm to Enkili.
“Mangy cur, only your fleas will lament when I kill you!” the fighter exclaimed before suddenly shifting and attacking the Hobgoblin. He missed abysmally (nat 1). The fighter then aimed his last two attacks at the red eyed fighter. He hit once, but his second stroke cut through armor and flesh savagely (nat 20). Moving with the blow, Enkili then aimed a bonus attack at the Hobgoblin and killed it too; both bodies clattering to the floor.
Calling out, the fighter taunted the slavers. “I killed your boss!” This boast seemed to redirect the sounds of charging boots into the patter of retreating feet. Among the mongrel exclamations of the Hobgoblins the enemy archer was heard cursing. Stepping out to see what was north of them, Enkili saw no living being, just piled bodies lying in sanguine repose. He then backed around the corner overcome with relieved laughter. Another close fight seemingly barely survived….
*At this point the party checked to see that all the surviving slavers had fled, running up the stairs and bolting some unseen door behind them. Blaylocke discovered that the two men left to guard the catatonic slaves had fled, and all those slaves were still unresponsive but living.
**A discussion began where ideas were advanced. Do they stay and camp? Do they leave and camp nearby trying to return later? Ideas of using Stone Shape and Leomund’s Tiny Hut for either aforementioned camping scenario were advanced as well. Though the idea of just leaving the slaves and slaver stockade in a retreat was also posed, no one really considered that an option. The only certainty is that the party is spent, their spells and tricks running really low.
***Will their enemy, the slavers, return in greater numbers? Will they gather what slaves are still under their control and abandon the stockade? Where is the Elven lady from the market? Will she intervene in some manner?
****Our next game will be December 7th with everyone but Ramsay Cowlishaw joining in. I encourage the party members to add ideas to this sight, or to have me post them for you if you contact me. What can we do to remain safe while resting with living hostile forces all about?