Session 6: On to Lionsmane- Report

General Summary

Following the burying of the corpse gatherer golem and the female dwarf artificer, the party struck out again for Lionsmane.   Late in the morning, the party cleared through a small forested area and approached a long stacked-stone wall that marked the limits of a large farm, long left fallow. As the seven (Krindle was mysteriously missing) companions continued along the white field stones, precariously but methodically placed, Earendel spied a trio of dark shapes circling in the air. Whatever it was seemed interested in the husk of a building that was, most likely, what remained of the farmhouse connected. Even from this distance, it was clear that fire had consumed the home, and not so recently. The shapes turned toward the heroes with a purpose and began winging in their direction. The party broke away from the wall, and headed up onto a small hill that was broken with a number of tall pines and some exposed boulders.   Father Brennan took a deep breath and began casting. "Here, friends. Stay nearest me for a moment." By the time the bard had finished his casting, only Glim remained by his side. Ordinarily, the older man would have been frustrated, but he was growing accustomed to the brashness exhibited by several of his colleagues, Rupert and Ashton in particular. Landrey, too, had rushed forward and taken a position on top of large grey rock in the center of several of the tallest trees. Earendel and Harrigan took a positions immediately behind the two largest men, and also failed to benefit from Father Brennan's magics. Only Glim stood fast and waited. A sudden powerful windstorm took hold in the bard's immediate vicinty, an unseen layer of protection against the pursuing foes. As the creatures flew nearer, their appearances came into focus: lion-headed monsters with large bat wings, and long tails covered in jagged spikes. The party was being hunted by manticores.   The party loosed several volleys of arrows at the beasts as they approached, many of the missiles striking true. Glim turned a bright red gear on one of his contraptions and sent a magicked whirlygig at the beasts as well. The ranged battle ended when the manticores landed, but they had signficantly underestimated the combined strength of the party. Within a few seconds, Rupert had cleft the tail from the enemy who had suffered the most damage from bows. Earendel, Harrigan, and Ashton, in harmonious militancy, brought the second to its knees with a series of well-placed stabs and one massive overhead chop from the halberdier. Only Landrey seemed initially in trouble, having earned his own manticore who landed next to him on the rock.   The fight was over almost as soon as it had been joined, the group was starting to learn to play off of each other's choices in battles and individual strengths. Landrey benefitting from being somewhat alone on the field of battle, while Harrigan and Earendel tumbled and evaded near the the front line, waiting fo the opportune moment to strike. Soon, Harrigan and Glim were figuring how best to declaw and defang the beasts, and filled several sacks with manticore parts. Father Brennan concluded the encounter, the way he began it: offering encouragement and practical advice, "Perhaps, we should wait here a few moments, while we regather our strength. That farmhouse will need to be scouted."   After the better part of an hour, the party gathered themselves and set off back down the hill towards the farmhouse. The damage to it was clearly from fire, but as Earendel, Harrigan, and Landrey approached closely and peered through the burnt timbers and shattered windows, nothing of any particular interest was readily observable. From a distance, however, Glim observed that near the entrance, a pair of charred wheels may have meant that someone had jammed a cart against the front door. Without warning, and from within the ruined home, a black shriek streamed forth, capturing the three closest party members in its awful enchantment. Only Landrey was able to shake off the stunning effects of the enemy, still unobserved. The rest of the party moved in, with the speed of Father Brennan's winged encouragement spell, closing the distance quickly. The party then set eyes on the lone foe: an amorphous roiling blackness in the vague shape of a man, hovering on the mid-morning air.   The undead spirit screamed again, stunning another two of the party, and flying up above the remaining frame of the burned home. Glim quickly assembled a magically-enhanced culverin and loosed an arcane ball into the center of the creature. While this had an appreciable effect on the enemy, subsequent attacks from Landrey's bow and Harrigan's blades did not. Ashton charged forward and jumped off a small pile of rubble, calling forth the power of Remantil as he smote the creature, which had a devastating effect. Rupert, not to be outdone, climbed to the top of a narrow wall and leapt off towards the Allip, bringing his greatsword, that had been enchanted by Glim earlier that morning. This also caused serious damage, but the creature floated down into the center of the party for a final devastating audible attack. No sooner did the otherworldly magical voice cease its stupor-inducing effects then Glim adjusted the aim of his cannon, to the right, patted it twice, and fired it again, causing the remaining soul of the creature to dissipate in a brilliant flash.   As the party explored the ruined home, now devoid of enemies, they found little of note except a small, partially burned statuette of Shinhalla. A few minutes later, however, Father Brennan moved aside some planks from the fallen second floor, and under a bookcase, he discovered a small gnomish skeleton, blackened by the flames and heat. The gnome appeared to be clutching, with his or her last breath, a small metal box, which appeared unaffected by the fire. The party unceremoniously removed the box from the skeleton, drawing a disapproving look from Ashton in the process, who subsequently worked with the bard to provide a proper burial for the dead gnome. Harrigan got to work checking for mechanical traps, and located one, a shape blade trap. Harrigan told everyone what he found and they all took several steps back from him as he attempted to disable the trap. In a few minutes, he had successfully disconnected a small chain from the blade. Earendel then focused on the metal box with his magical detection spell and revealed several powerful enchantments, including a high-level spell cast by a cleric: blade barrier. Earendel also identified arcane lock, which could be bypassed with the correct password. Drawing from the clues of the statuette, Father Brennan began singing a series of classic Shinhallan hymns followed by a recitation of typical verses from holy texts popular among worshippers. In a few minutes, the spell was passed with the utterance of the phrase "the brilliant protectoress shall ever keep her eye upon us." With this step completed, Harrigan carried the box to a field outside the house and Glim focused his cannon on it the box. With a loud boom, the magical force struck the metal container and send it, end-over-end, several yards away, but neither the trap was triggered nor did the container open. The party resolved to deal with this particular challenge later and stowed the silver box.   Later that day, the party encountered a large group of armed men, flying a white banner with a skull and crossed axes. A large human stepped forward as did a well armed orc who stool over seven feet tall. The pair left their weapons behind with their own companions before approaching the group. The introduced themselves as Gnashen Purgslestang and Draigc Blunderbelly of the Giant Fellers. Ashton instantly recognized the name as a small but powerful outfit that supported the Kingdom against the Shon-Turian invaders as an elite mercentary outfit. The exchange was pleasant and friendly, and the party gleaned the description of an ancient temple located nearby: Temple of Rage. Gnash claimed that it served as an excellent trial for those with confidence behind their sword arm and was a holy site to worshippers of Unladar. After a brief disagreement, with Landrey and Father Brennan voting, vigoously, against the Temple of Rage as a distraction from delivering the goods to from Kerrick to Ivan Jannis in the Great Library. The votes went the other way, however, and to the Temple of Rage the party continued.   A large stone archway, as if under a large bridge, sat in the middle of a clearning, with a small sign, outside with words written in another language. Glim recognized the language as Giant, and the sign was a simple enough invitation to those wishing to test their mettle against the trial. Father Brennan, producing a folding field char from within his pack, refused to enter, claiming instead that time was better spent in other ways than testing themselves against the whims of Unladar. Landrey joined him and the two took a position at the top of the stone arch, also with a small chair that he produced from inside his pack.   As they entered, Rupert seemed to be identified as the leader because the incorporeal servant of Unaladar spoke directly to him, "Are you prepared to begin the challenge?" It said with a flat effect. Rupert looked around to his companions and uttered a single response, "Yes." At that, a set of stone walls erupted from the sand and boxed in the companions, now 5 strong. The first round included a pair of fierce bugbears, but the party dispatched then almost without effort. Rupert indicated a continuation, and again the walls erupted as an allosaurus and an ankheg. While the allosaurus had the capactity to hurt, or evenkill, someone, Glim's intelligent use of his healing cannon shined through as the unliving champion of the fight. Soon these enemies were also dead, and Rupert was requesting a third.   The next round included a trio of griffons who should have fared far better against the party, but, again, the party, even without Father Brennan and Landrey, the party remained in control of the fight. With the griffons dispatched, the party faced a more formindable combination of a winter wolf and a chimera. While the beasts breathed their breath weapons, the party stated tightly positioned around Glim's cannon to minimize the power of the monsters' attacks. As the situation grew more serious and several of the members began to wane in the battle, Rupert, Harrigan, and Ashton all struck remarkably critical blows against the chimera ultimately causing it to fall. With the three-headed best dead, the winter wolf's defeat was a mere formality.   The party took their leave of the spirit servant of the temple, choosing not to continue further in challenge at this time. After leaving the area and continuing to push toward Lionsmane, the group encountered a group of well-armored men arguing with a dwarf woman. Glim recognized the insignia of the men, immediately, as Scale Wardens, servants of the Merchants' Alliance. The party pressed forward to the argument, and the apparent leader ordered the party to stay away and move along. Uninterested in leaving the situation without intervening, the Wardens became hostile, and managed to attack in perfect consort, dropping an over-confident Landrey to the ground. Father Brennan invoked his winged prayer, and the party closed the distrance swiftly. The three men were a significant threat, resisting physical and magical attacks, but in the end, even invisibility potions could not save them, and two fell in battle. The third was captured for questioning.   Now, closer than ever to Lionsmane since the great Crepitus Magnum, and in a land swarming with Takers, the party must consider how it will proceed toward the capital.