The Thing In The Fortress

General Summary

Having cleared the bridge, the party made their way to the edge and spotted six Duergar in the courtyard of the stronghold. Ludo saw three doors and a passageway, and after divulging this information to his fellow party members he snuck his way across the courtyard and shadow-stepped up onto one of the ramparts and attacked the guard who resided there. The remaining members decided to sneak around the edge over towards the passageway. Alelyn, Fenrir, and Chester made there way over behind a pillar without any real sound. Gaius' armor made some minor noise, meanwhile Alexander decided instead of going down the bridge to the ground below he would jump over the side the few feet to the ground, his bulky metallic half-plate clanging the whole way down. This of course drew the attention of the Duergar sentries in the courtyard and battle ensued. The guard up on the rampart with Ludo let out a loud roar that caught him off guard and knocked Ludo prone. The guard on the other rampart heard the roar and began ringing an alarm bell, signalling to those with that they were under attack. Battle continued for several rounds before the large intricate doors carved with the dwarven motif opened and two more Duergar emerged. One in a more intricate plate armor and carrying a large warhammer glowing with a purple energy and a shield, the other in plate mail with a strange tank strapped to his back and cables extending from that into his lance. The one with the tank turned invisible while the one with the hammer grew larger and hurled two javelins drawn from his back that struck Gaius piercing deep into his flesh. The enlarged Duergar let out a bellowing command to attack and those still standing from the initial guards attacked the party. The invisible one with the tank got behind Chester and struck out with his lance. As the lance pierced his back flames errupted around it, its power coming from within the strange tankon his back. This attacked caused the Duergar to break his concentration on the invisibility and become visible again. Alexander hurled his hammer and the force of the blow broke the neck of the one with the firelance. Ludo, Fenrir, and Alelyn attacked the enlarged one. Striking out with her shovel and calling on her magics of the grave Alelyn once again the dolorous bell tolled. Ludo strikes him in a pressure point momentarily stunning him and essentially freezing him in place. While it is locked in place Alexander comes in with two heavy overhead blows of his hammer, striking the enlarged Duergar's skull. A sickening crack as it's neck snaps and compresses down into his body like that of a giant turtle, his form returning to it's normal size as it crumples to the ground. After searching all the bodies they remove the platemail from the one with the firelance and the one that enlarged. They decided to hide the armors near the bridge, while Alexander took the glowing warhammer and added it to his arsenal. Chester could determine that it was magical, but without an identify spell he could not tell what properties it possessed. With their loot hidden away, Ludo set off to scout the area and find a way to reopen the large intricate doors. As the others approached the doors the saw large purple gems about the size of a dinner plate in the door that act as eyes of the Dwarf lord carved into it. Alexander reached out to touch the gem in an effort to remove it and upon making contact his body locked up and he was frozen in place though he only appeared to be standing stone still to the others. After a few moments Ludo made his way through the winding interior of the stronghold to a lever on the other side of the door. Pulling the lever the doors swung open, and pushed Alexander's frozen form with it. Alelyn positioned her shovel in between the door and Alexander and used it like a lever to pry him off the door. Knocking him back with a great deal of force he fell to the ground not remembering anything after reaching out for the gem. After letting his companions know what he had found so far, they agreed that Ludo should scout ahead and see if he could find where they needed to go. Blending into the shadows he disappeared down the hall and made his way through the stronghold before coming to a grand area with stairs leading up to an extravagant landing full of pillars and a set of bronze doors that were probably close to sixty feet tall. Listening at the door he could hear the sound of three voices inside, though he couldn't make out the words he could tell that one of the voices was the deep husky voice of a male Duergar. After he returned to the group and letting them know what he found, they made their way back to the grandiose doors. While Ludo looked around to see if there was a way to sneak into the room, Gaius used a spell to pound on the doors in an attempt to open them. Any hint at subtlety gone at this point, Ludo blended into the shadows, while Chester made himself look like the Duergar warlord they encountered in the courtyard and took his hammer from Alexander. After a moment the doors opened, and they could see inside a pair of Duergar on a dais talking to a druid of The Mouldering. Looking beyond the individuals they could see that the room was covered in vines and fungal protrusions. Gaius used thaumaturgy to enhance his voice and threaten those inside, only to be laughed at. Entering into the room a fight ensued. After using his Hunger of Hadar spell to great effect, Chester dismissed its effect as a vine and fungus covered massive creature descended from the high ceilings. It's central large eye emitted a cone of spores that caused necrosis within those caught in its field, while other ocular tendrils fired off rays at the group. Chester and Alelyn were hit with several of these rays, one of which caused them to uncontrollably bleed and significantly weakened them. The strange creature fired off a ray at Gaius hitting him with a blight ray and the extreme necrotic energy of it rendered him unconscious. As he darted about landing attacks on the various foes Ludo spotted a strange cocoon off to the side of the room, noting to deal with that later. They continued to attack the creatures felling them in turn until only the fungal ocular monstrosity remained. Alexander landed a critical blow to the creatures main eye, empowering the strike with holy flame and the divine energy of his divine smite. The immense power of the attack caused the creature to wither and explode into a burst of spores and rotten plant material.

Rewards Granted

2 Magic Warhammers glowing with purple energy Ornate damaged platemail Damaged platemail The Mouldering signet ring The Mouldering amulet Bag of Holding Ring of Dragon's Discernment Iron Crown Gnarled Wooden Staff Vial of Purple Wyvern Blood Vial of Crushed Belladonna