Session 14
General Summary
Our heroes found themselves in an old abandoned and ruined village on the edge of the Forest of
Ninn. They were inside the basement of a broken down old tower. Lynott and Drax stood by the
remains of a smashed door, looking into a tunnel down which a hill giant was approaching.
Another giant was up on the surface, crossing the ruined village in their direction, watched by
Elijah who was hunkered down in the shadows up there. Jaina�s holy symbol was glowing
gently, spreading comforting light to those in the basement with her.
Elijah decided that staying to melee the giant on the surface alone was a bad idea and so
scampered to the stairs back into the basement. From there he aimed a solid slingshot right into the
giant�s face. This seemed to annoy it and it bellowed and charged towards the tower. At the same
time Drax unleashed crossbow quarrel at the giant in the tunnel and that foe also charged in
towards the basement through the tunnel. The two giants arrived at the same time and Snow Patrol
were sorely pressed. By combining their attentions on one giant at a time, however they were able
to prevail. The giants tried to stomp on Drax, but the wily dwarf, veteran of many campaigns in
the mountains, was a match for them and nimbler than he appeared. Elijah rolled between one
giant�s legs and flanked him. Soon the giant toppled, blasted back by a ray of holy fire from
Jaina�s holy symbol. Lynott stepped up and skewered the last one and the others swarmed over it
and it too fell.
Taking a breather they searched the giants for anything of interest but were disappointed. They
moved down the tunnels and into the lair of the hill giants and set up camp for the night. About
this time a figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Fett, who had returned from Pembrose where
he had returned Lordana safely and collected the six hundred gold Imperials for killing Delvo and
rescuing the farmer�s wife. These he distributed to the group.
The night was peaceful and quiet � perhaps nothing was stupid enough to enter the lair of two hill
giants � and the sun dawned in the east as Fett was on guard. The sharp eared elf heard a noise
coming from the village ruins, just detectable over Drax�s snoring. It was the sounds of
something being dragged. He peered out and saw a small giant, perhaps a forest troll, dragging a
large deer along through the ruins in the general direction of the hill giants� lair. Fett woke the
sleeping group and they all quickly armed and armoured themselves, splitting up to hide as best
they could. The troll dragged the deer carcass into the clearing, presumably bringing it for
breakfast for the two hill giants, and the team ambushed it. Even a large and dangerous giant like a
troll was no match for the combined efforts of Snow Patrol. They quickly subdued it and then
grabbing torches from the fire, set light to it, knowing that if left alone the troll would regenerate
and rise again. It burnt quickly and fiercely and was soon gone.
With the troll vanquished the group returned to the tunnels beneath the village. They noted that the
tunnel leading to the shrine was cold and felt somehow evil. They decided to investigate and
found that it lead to some sort of basement with a spiral staircase which lead up into the ruined
shrine. The iconography was old and indistinct and it wasn�t clear who the shrine was dedicated
to but it appeared it might have once been to Pelor but had now been desecrated. The group
didn�t feel up to dealing with this evil shrine this day so retreated back into the tunnels.
They went the other way and found themselves in some tunnels which were being used and
created by the ankhegs. Two further ankhegs were discovered on the surface where these tunnels
emerged and even though Fett and Elijah were quiet and soft-footed the insectoids detected them
and scuttled to attack. One dug right into the ground where it stood and moments later emerged
behind the group. The two creatures sprayed acid all over the tunnels where the team were
grouped and no one escaped without getting burnt. But there were five strong armed adventurers
and only two giant insects and the result was never in doubt. Soon both ankhegs lay dead, their
chitinous bodies cracked and ichor oozing out.
Searching further they found that one of the tunnels in this area lead onwards and onwards to the
west, gently sloping down. They followed it for some way and realised that it must be leading
deeper into the Underdark. It seemed they had found the entrance that Crus had hinted might still
be here. They decided that they didn�t want an extended foray into the Underdark right now and
so returned to the ruined village. At this stage they were unwilling to further search the evil shrine
and so they returned back to Twain.
Arriving there late afternoon they took the two hill giant heads to Constable Duggin and collected
their reward of three hundred and fifty gold Imperials, and then set out to see Crus. Once more
they were greeted by a door with a mouth which asked who they were and then let them in. Crus
greeted them and bid them come up to his lounge where trays of meats, sweets and drinks
magically floated up to them. Crus quizzed them on their discoveries and listened as they told him
of their battles and their success at finding an Underdark entrance under the ruined village. He was
pleased to find this knowledge out. In return he told them a small amount more about the pillars
on their map. He said that the pillars were inscribed with magical words and that the order in
which they were read was significant. The group noted this information and then made their
excuses and left. They were sorely tired and in need of a good night�s sleep.
That night Drax dreamt once more of the human in platemail. He was striding through the dark,
quiet streets of a grey and very wet city. A dull continuous roar could be heard in the background.
Drax wasn�t sure what this all meant but at breakfast he told the group and they agreed this
sounded like Dun Eamon, a city to the north called the Grey Citadel. It was built in the middle of
two huge waterfalls and was said to always be wet and the waterfalls would explain the dull roar
that Drax could hear. Quite what this meant the group weren�t sure � other than perhaps this
was the next nearest demonologist � which meant there were none left in Quail Valley. Drax
knew that Dun Eamon was home to some of the finest dwarven smiths in the Empire, and Fett
knew he had a contract to find the Begley Brothers and return them there. Perhaps it was a place
they might visit soon?
Thursday 14th September dawned bright and cheerful. The group broke their fast and then set out
into the warm morning sun. They followed the river downstream on the northern bank and around
lunchtime camped in the shade of the trees on the edge of the Ninn Forest where the tributary from
the ruined village flowed into the river. Here they turned into the forest proper and as the sun set
over the far off Stoneheart mountains in the west they came across the site of the ruined village
once more. They moved slowly and carefully to the site of the old ruined church and in the fading
daylight Jaina was able to confirm that this was indeed an old shrine of Pelor. Approaching closer
to a broken down wall they could see in to the inside properly. The place was unnaturally cold and
gloomy and Jaina felt a chill run down her spine. The shrine had been defiled by agents of the
Demon Prince. 4 old sarcophagi were placed in a row in the middle of the shrine and plaques
described them as the graves of four old priests of Pelor. The group readied themselves and Drax
stepped across the broken down threshold and into the shrine proper.
As he did so the place fell eerily silent. Then two ghostly figures rose from two sarcophagi. Jaina
gasped in shock and Drax almost stumbled backwards. These were two evil wraiths, and they
were drawn to the life energy of the living. The flowed out of the sarcophagi and towards Drax.
Jaina stepped forward and brandished her holy symbol, calling on Pelor and blasted one of the
ghosts with a lance of holy fire. Its ethereal form burned and it writhed in pain. Jaina and Lynott
summoned magical weapons of pure force to battle the undead after Fett�s arrows, Elijah�s
sling bullets and Drax�s axe passed mostly harmlessly through the incorporeal undead. The two
wraiths sunk into the floor away from Jaina and the party dropped back into the evening sunlight
� Jaina telling them that wraiths hate the sunshine.
All was quiet and the wraiths were nowhere to be seen. Eventually Drax decided to bravely move
into the centre of the shrine. He planted his feet, hefted his axe and waited. The others took aim
with spell and missile weapons waiting for the wraiths to return. Sure enough, as if they could
sense his warm life form the two undead drifted up through the floor to try and engulf the dwarf.
Magical weapons swung, arrows hissed and the two wraiths were stretched a bit thinner. Then
Jaina�s holy fire lanced right through one destroying its link to the Shadowfell and all that gave it
power. It fizzled out with a echoing dying scream. One was left. Like the troll before it, even a
wraith was no match for the combined might of Snow Patrol. Soon it too was destroyed and the
shrine fell silent once more. It was notably warmer in the area too.
Jaina spent some time whilst there was still some daylight left removing the corruption of the evil
Demon Prince on the old shrine of her god. She realised that properly re-consecrating this place
was beyond her given the ruined state it was in, but she was able to remove the taint that it was
under. The sun had gone by the time she had finished and the group decided to find somewhere to
rest up and camp the night before they headed home. In fact they decided there was no need to
head back to Twain in the morning � they could set their sights on returning to Pembrose and
then from there maybe head north again and try and finally make it to Bostwick. They retreated to
the shelter of the hill giants� lair and made camp. All wondered what the morning would bring�
Report Date
10 Apr 2024
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