Session 13

Day 60

After going early to sleep, Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron get up in the middle of the night to thwart the supposed magical attack that is coming. The golems are hidden in the Big Boobs Barn, while the four defenders lurk nearby and wait.

Around 4 am, a portal (Arcane Gate) opens up on the wall, and Starkhold soldiers flood the ramparts. Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron strike back, while the golems block the enemies from getting down from the wall. As the ramparts fill up, and all seem under control, a wizard comes through the gate, closes it and opens another one, this time from the wall directly to the balcony of the palace. Soldiers from the wall storm through, quickly followed by most of the defenders, minus two golems and Nevron who are left behind.

The battle is moved to the palace, where Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron manage to deal with the mage and the Starkhold soldiers before they kill Lord Delacroix and Jaren Sunwell, the elven council-member.

They are obviously very happy with Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron. But Delacroix also admits to them that Ashfield probably won't hold. They need our heroes to head to Ironville and strike a deal with Sophie Ran. Delacroix would go himself, but doubt he would be able to make the trip alive. Our heroes seem to be Ashfield's only hope. However, an alliance is worth nothing if Ashfield is taken or sacked.

They have located and identified one or more of the immediate leaders of the Starkhold army. They reside in an old mill, reachable by Arcane Gate, which they have two scrolls off. So Chavron, Arath, Petyr and Nevron have Charming Charlie open the gate and our heroes sneak from the forest to the mill. Disguised as Starkhold soldiers, they bluff the guards and make them leave. They enter the mill and face the leader, his pyromancer and his bodyguard. After a long and close fight, they manage to kill the enemies. Unfortunately, when Nevron attempts to open a gate from mill's roof, the spell fails. Instead they have to sneak back.

Random Rules

Effect of Surprise. A creature that is surprised cannot move or take actions until after its first turn in the battle.

Moving Around Other Creatures. You can’t move through an enemy’s space unless it is two sizes larger or smaller than you. In contrast, you can move through an ally’s space, but you can’t stop there.

Instant Death. Massive damage can kill you instantly. When damage reduces you to 0 hit points and there is damage remaining, you die if the remaining damage equals or exceeds your hit point maximum.

Moving Diagonally. Entering a square diagonally costs 11⁄2 squares of movement. This rule means you must have at least 2 squares of movement left to enter your first square diagonally, and every 2 squares you move diagonally uses up 3 squares of movement.

Charge: To charge, you choose a target that is at least 10 feet away from you. You move up to half your speed to a position where that target is within your reach, and then you make a melee attack against it. After the attack, your turn ends.

The Effects of Being Stable. A stable creature doesn’t make death rolls, even though it has 0 hit points, but it does remain unconscious. The creature stops being stable, and must start making death rolls again, if it takes any damage. A stable creature that is not healed regains 1 hit point after 1d4 hours.

Longer Casting Times. Certain spells require more time to cast: minutes or even hours. If you take damage while you are casting a spell that requires more than a single action or reaction, you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw to continue casting the spell. The DC equals half the damage you just took. If you take damage from multiple sources, such as from an arrow and a dragon’s breath, you make a saving throw against each source of damage separately. If you fail the save, the spell fails, but it is not expended. If you want to cast the spell again, you must start over.

Session 12

Day 58

The next day, the Starkhold army, which is now encircling the town of Ashfield, launches it's first attacks. It manages to break a hole in the south-western wall, but our heroes quickly arrive and make the difference in a long and drawn-out battle, which ends when they push back or kill all those who have come through, and order the golems to plug the hole .

Day 59

Later, during the night, Arath and Nevron sneak out of town, in order to magical compel some info from the enemy and also have them destroy as many siege engines and catapults as possible. Unfortunately, they prove very resistant (or lucky) to the magical suggestions of Nevron, and while 4 catapults are destroyed, it is far too little to make a difference. They do however learn a couple of interesting pieces of info. The next night, a magical attack is coming, and after Ashfield, the army's plan is to head east towards Ironville Crossing. They also learn that the enemy knows of the golems and the wand that controls it.

Once back in Ashfield, after getting a fake wand made, to fool the Starkhold army, they go check on Elias, as he has been missing for a couple of days. They suspect he is somehow involved with the magical attack or the acquisition of the wand.

They find the Twins' Church locked and guarded, but Nevron convinces the guards to let them in.

Inside, they find Elias is sitting, naked in the light of 4 candles, with blood flowing from his eyes.

I have been chosen. The Twins have taken an interest in you and chosen me as the method of communication. Now I see.

He then starts to convulse and continues, with an odd voice:

 Four things will define your greatness.

The army in the shadows that wants to rule mankind.

The deadly trio that will cover the world in plague and ruin.

The forgotten one that wants to destroy the world.

And your death at the hands of an ally.

Elias then wakes up…

Someone get me a cigar..

Naturally, the heroes are quite surprised by this, but also skeptical. However when Elias offers to answer any questions they may have in a Zone of Truth, they relax somewhat.

They hurry back to get some sleep, before the supposed magical attack.

Session 11

Day 57

The northern part of Ashfield is under attack, and Navron, Chevron and Arath have been asked by Lord Michael Delacroix to rescue his son, who is trapped up there. Not only is he  his son, but also privy to a lot of information about the town and it's army.

Imbued with Water Breathing by Charming Charlie, the three friends walk across the river floor and emerge in the northern part, which is in chaos. The Starkhold army is getting picked up by boats, while the town is burning. From the screams, lots of people seem to have been imprisoned in the burning buildings. Seems uncharacteristically brutal, considering José Stark's reputation.

Navron, Chevron and Arath pass through the town in disguise, finding Delacroix' town house, which is burning. Arath rescues the son who is inside, trapped beneath burning debris. He is grateful, but has a broken leg and thus movement is slow.

Somehow their cover is broken and they more or less have to fight their way from the house through a burning town to the harbor, which is now almost empty. They jump into a boat and row back to their own forces, wondering why the Starkhold army doesn't attack from the water, but instead seem determined to encircle the town to the south.

Session 10

Day 49

Nevron, Arath and Charon return to Ashfield and warn the Council, which seems to have adopted Elias as a temporary member, that the Starkhold army is coming.

Day 51

After debating for a couple of days on what to do, they decide to return to the temple in order to get the golems. Petyr offers to join them, and they happily accept.

Day 53

Finally arriving at the temple, they run into some gargoyles and a ghost. With the monsters dead, they search the temple and cleverly find the wand, hiding in plain sight. Inspecting the wand reveals more or less how to use it, and Arath summons the golems, who are down below, in the basement.

Day 56

3 days and one hill giant later, they return to Ashfield, which is under siege. They circle the town and cross the river further to the west. Leaving the golems hiding in the river, they enter town and bring the Council up to speed. Meanwhile, the northern section of the town is under attack.

Session 9

Day 39

After a meeting with the Council, where Nevron, Arath and Charon explain what they found  out about the orcs, they are hired to protect the Council. The Council feels that there is a risk that the Starkhold commanders might send assassins to kill them, plunging Ashfield into chaos before an impending attack.

Day 41

During the night, the assassins strike, killing Markos before our three heroes can kill them off.

Day 42

Father Elias calls on the council, explaining that he recently had a vision from the Twins. He saw himself studying a book. He immediately dug out the book from the temple library and began reading it. Turns out the book told a story of a currently abandoned temple in the hills to the north-west. Many years ago, the temple had apparently had some fierce guardians, 3 stone golems controllable by a special wand. Those golems could be used to help repel the attackers, so the three are asked to travel to the temple, find the wand and return with the golems.

Day 43

On the way to the temple, Nevron, Arath and Charon are captured by a patrol of the Starkhold army. They are brought to the camp near Ringborg and put in chains.

Day 47

Nevron, Arath and Charon finally manage to escape, and head back to Ashfield with the certitude that Starkhold will soon be attacking their adopted town.

Session 8

Day 27

After killing the shaman and interrogating him, Arath, Nevron, Chavron and Petyr headed out to find the remaining goblins. They did so about an hour later, but after a brief battle and 10 dead goblins, they knew nothing more than they did before.

They returned to Ashfield and were met on the outskirts of the village by Thomas Gyll and his 6 thugs. Thomas acted as if he had never made a deal and hired the four adventurers, and wanted them to leave. When Nevron called him a liar and presented the ring they had found, Gyll and the thugs attacked them.

Arath, Nevron, Chavron and Petyr killed them all but one of the thugs, and told the village that they were now in control. In Thomas Gyll's house, they found evidence that he had a deal with the goblins regarding some 40-odd captives. Shortly after finding the evidence, Father Tobias from the Church of Twins approached and told them the village's secret. A red dragon called Firebreath (by the humans) had ruled the area for years, and Thomas had been forced long ago to strike a deal. Provide a steady stream of human cattle for the dragon, against protection and not being attacked.

Day 28

Arath, Nevron, Chavron and Petyr called a town meeting to convince the inhabitants of Darion Town to leave the village. Unfortunately they presented their case of killing Thomas Gyll very poorly, and the villagers tried to mob them instead. So they decided to leave town quickly and head further up the river to investigate.

Day 29

On the way south, towards the orc villages, they ran into four orcs. The captured orc told them that "a white elf came to the village and then the elders told us to head up to a pass in the mountains for the glory of the orc people". He also had a note which outlined the mission he and his 3 companions had gotten:

Darion Town, house next to white and brown mill, east end, kill man, wife + 3 children, get diary, brown leather with elven runes.

After disposing of the orc, the 4 companions return to Darion Town in disguise and get the diary, which tells of a secret vale leading through the mountains and a dragon temple in the same vale..

Day 31

Penetrating the mountains, Arath, Nevron, Chavron and Petyr stumble over about 50.000 orcs in a valley. They decide to press on and look for the hidden valley mentioned in the diary.

Day 32

The four companions find the hidden valley and soon after the dragon temple, former home of the Cult of Aurac.

Day 34

2 days later, the temple is clear. Filled with undead, oozes, traps and a couple of mindflayers, the four companions had a lot of close calls, but managed to get out alive. They found the family heirloom of Petyr, his father's mace. They also found some magic items (a ring, a battleaxe and a wand) and some other loot. But most interesting was also the fact that they found indication that Aurac was not dead at all, but merely hibernating instead, and that the temple had been protecting the "key" to the location of Aurac. It might have been moved before falling to the undeads though, as no key was found, nor any information on where it could be.

Day 38

Arath, Nevron, Chavron and Petyr arrive back in Ashfield.