Session 36: Medusa Cuckoo

Upon reaching the summit of the cliff, we surveyed our surroundings and spotted a small tower rising out of the forest below. After a quick search, we found an old trail leading into the forest. The tower appeared to rise from the rock almost organically for there were no visible doors to be found. Following this trail further led us to what appeared to be an old, dilapidated villa. With the tower looming nearby, we surmised that there may be a passage leading to the tower within.
Approaching the gate house, we noted a number of lifelike statues of dwarves littering the area. The status were of incredible detail and might have been true works of art had not the expressions of the dwarves conveyed such horror. Tables had been overturned to form a barrier but appeared to have had little effect in halting whatever force had overrun the manor. Moving further in, the manor was largely empty and appeared to have been ransacked of any of its valuables.

Eventually in our searching, we discovered a passage leading down into the earth beneath the manor. There we found ourselves in a large antechamber whose primary feature was a titanic column in the center. As we surveyed the antechamber, we were ambushed by the slings of four kobolds who had hidden at the top of the column. We weathered their first volley of stones and then took action while the little ingrates reloaded. In a flash, Lynnya and I teleported to the top of the column through a gate of magic. Meanwhile, the rogue, Tywil, made his own magical relocation, disappearing in a puff of mist and appearing in the midst of the kobolds an instant later. The goliath, being half the height of the column to begin with, merely climbed up to join us. Startled as they were by our sudden appearance, the kobolds fell quickly to arrow, spell, and sword as they fumbled with their slings.

The battle ended, we now saw how the kobolds were able to sneak upon us. A spiral staircase rested atop the column and led upward, seemingly into the tower. Mounting the stairs, we found they indeed rose up into the tower. We only found one chamber, all the way at the top of the tower. It was a semi-circular chamber with a wall cutting through what would have been the center of the circle. Upon this wall, there was a great clock face looming ominously over us.

Just then, the clock struck midnight and began to chime. As part of the clock’s display, a small door opened twenty feet above where we stood. Expecting a small animatronic dwarf, as is customary within their craftsmanship, we were instead horrified to see a medusa step through the door. Suddenly, the dwarven statues near the gate house made much sense. I felt the lethargy of the medusa’s gaze grip my body just as I was able to look away. Thinking quickly, I unstoppered the Eversmoking Bottle Flint had given me (and he thought I would never find a use for it!) and the room quickly filled with a quick smoke, obscuring the medusa. Tywil leapt up to the platform where the medusa stood to engage her directly but was nearly brought low by the short sword she wielded and the poison of her writhing, serpentine hair. While the rogue fought her directly, Lynnya, Goblin, and I engaged her with spell and arrow. Certainly, the smoke filling the chamber made the battle more difficult but it protected us from the medusa’s deadly gaze. The odds against her, the medusa retreated back through the door which closed tightly behind her. We refused to be deterred, however. Mustering his strength, the goliath moved the hands of the clock to the top of the hour, causing the chimes to thunder through the tower and thrust the startled medusa back into the room where we quickly made short work of her.

Following the battle, we searched through her chambers behind the wall and found a small chest with an array of treasures, including a magic ring of protection. We then rested, anticipating the battle against whatever foul force  was holding this kobold rabble together into an army.

Session 35: Alice in Chains

As we continued our search of the caves we entered a large chamber with a pool. Before we were able to check the room thoroughly we were set upon by a group of Kobolds. Unlike groups we had encountered in the past these few were up for a fight, and they had magic to aid them. Through coordinated attacks we made short work of them. After the battle we took some time to examine the room properly. We saw a staircase leading out of the chamber but were more interested in a rough rock staircase on the other side of the pool. We could not reach this staircase without passing through a shark filled pool. Goblin suggested dumping the bodies of the Kobolds in the pool to feed and distract the sharks. This worked just long enough for us to cross the pool and continue up the rocky slope, where we arrived at a platform covered in mushrooms. Our stout dwarf friend thought it best to examine the area first as the mushrooms wouldn't affect him if they were toxic. As Flint entered the mushroom patch he was attacked by two myconids. Flint was able to hold off the creatures while the rest of us took turns striking from afar. After the fight was finished we all joined Flint on the mossy platform and Tywyll took the spoils - a pair of boots of spider climb. 

As we continued our climb upwards Flint stepped on a stair that was booby-trapped and fell down into the shark pool. Goblin came to his aid with a water walk spell and Flint rose out of the waters before the sharks came after him. Goblin and Tywyll anchored themselves on the next platform and dropped a rope for the rest of us to climb up. Flint, annoyed that he had fallen for the booby trap, left it to the rest of us to search the area. We found a door and, though we didn't hear anything from inside, we decide it best to not leave our backs open to unexpected assault. We entered the room and found a human waiting for us (according to him). He tried to convince us of his desire to punish those that try to stop others from achieving their desires, even if those desires are to enslave others. Eventually Flint had enough of this blasphemy and attacked. Much to our surprise this creature defended itself with chains. Flint and Goblin knew then that this was a devil and needed to be destroyed. The gods favored us and we were able to dispatch our foe without any of our group getting hurt. Examining the rest of the rooms on this platform we found three humans who claimed to be buying supplies. Goblin was eager to kill them if those supplies turned out to be slaves. Eventually we let them go and they went down the stairs. If they lied to us the Gods would punish them and let them fall into the pool of sharks. The final doorway we came to led out of the caves and we decided it was time to take a rest and recoup our strength. 

Session 34: Up the Wall

The Liberators spent the night at Falcon Keep, and in the morning, received the maps they needed from the knights. They showed the escarpment running along the south-west side of the territory controlled by the kobolds, and where the path up the mountain lay. After two uneventful days of travel, they found themselves at the foot of a cliff, looking up. It looked possible to scale, but they decided that it would be safer to climb the stairs that had been carved into the cliff's face.

They proceeded cautiously, and when they were just two flights up, Flint discovered a secret door. It led inside of the wall, curving around to a carved hallway. One of the doors turned out to be a jail, in which were interred two hill giants. They were no trouble for the party, and they continued on to a larger room with a long ladder in the back. It was guarded by kobolds, and a spiritual weapon helped them see the error of their ways. At the top of the ladder, another party of kobolds was waiting, but twin spirit guardians proved to be too much for them. After that, the Liberators took a breather to prepare themselves for the second half of the ascent.

Session 33: Spyders and Hags

Image by Unded

After recovering our strength and nursing our bruised and battered egos we decided it was time to complete the second of our three tasks. We decided to take the spider house to make better time through the countryside. On our journey we ran into the knights of the local keep riding their bear mounts. We brought them up to speed and asked what brought them to this area of the forest. They told us of the witch they were hunting and of the mischief she was creating. We figured this was the same witch whose house we were using for transport so we decided to help our allies. Flint surmised that the best location to find the witch would be where we first came across the spider house. We returned to the ridge where we were immediately set upon by the witch. Rather than fighting us directly she cast a summoning spell and brought forth three demon spiders to battle for her. The knights took on two of the spiders, leaving just one for our group to dispatch. Luck was on our side, or so we thought. Just as we felt the battle was won the demon summoned six more spiders to its aid. Though not as large they proved no less dangerous. First Goblin and then the rest of our group were bitten and paralyzed by their poison. Fortunately they were less powerful than their master so we were able to shake off the effect pretty quickly. Through our combined efforts we were able to take out a number of the smaller demon spiders and then concentrate our attacks on the true monster. After a lengthy battle the demon was killed and sent it back to its own dimension. Once the largest was dead, the smaller ones disappeared as well. We had destroyed these demons but were still on alert in case the witch returned. We were all too spent to engage in yet another battle. We took time for a brief rest before returning to our original quest.