Advanced Forces
Eighthday, Thirdden, the Sun Moon, 748 AC, the Frozen Wastes
The Great Wall
It is midday by the time you finally reach the edge of the mountains. What had started out as merely a line across the endless horizon of tundra now stands before: a vertical wall of blue-white ice, glimmering in the sunlight and stretching in either direction as far as you can see. While it is not sheer - there are plenty of crags and small ledges you could use as handholds - it is tall. The ice must climb at least a mile before it is broken up by gray rocks. It is also clearly slippery, with rivulets of winters streaming down the wall in at least a dozen places, landing in wide pools of mud. Littered around the wall's base are scattered boulders and and huge chunks of ice.
Ambush
Hidden among the rocks are four demons, two Barlguras and two Bulezau's, patiently waiting for the party to come near enough to destroy. A Wisdom (Perception) DC 15 test will alert the party to the Bulezau's presence but it will take 20 to locate the Barlgura's as they have cast Invisibility on themselves. Otherwise they will wait and attack once the party comes closer.
During the battle, the demons will use the terrain to their advantage, leaping form boulder to boulder, flanking opponents and generally doing whatever they can to gain advantage, trying to force the characters into the mud, which is difficult terrain. Both types of demons are blood-thirsty but once the battle turns poorly, one of them will attempt to scamper up the cliff to warn the larger demon army.
Part of a vast Abyssal army, this group was a scouting party sent from the gate deep within the Nameless Mountains. They carry with them no treasure, but a careful search - Intelligence (Investigation) DC 15 test will uncover a crude map that marks the gate in the mountains as well as the location of Fort Starrin.
Experience
Hard/Level Nine CharactersA quartet of bloodthirsty demons is a dangerous situation. This encounter is worth 11,700 XP.