The PCs braced for whatever was coming at them quickly through the woods. It sounded like men? Whoever it was they had no concerns of trying to maintain stealth. Crashing through the trees, bathed in the moonlight were five men in armor carrying weapons. The lead man was a tall stout fellow wearing splint mail, carrying sword and shield and bearing a tabard of Heironeous. To his side was a man wearing a similar tabard but adorn in chain and carrying shield and flail. Spread out behind them were three men in studded leather hauberks, carrying halberds with short swords at their belt.
Ivarr hailed the party and asked them their business. The lead man identified himself as Bedwyr the Gallant of Heironeous and said a warband of orcs were in hot pursuit and to ready themselves for battle. Before traditional greetings could be exchanged several black feathered shafts flew out of the dark hitting the trees around them. Bedwyr exclaimed "The scouts! They are upon us!". With that the PCs fanned out, grabbed some cover and waited. They didn't have to wait more than a moment before yells, cries, and taunts came from the wood ahead. Stepping out into their small glade were two groups of Orc bowmen who positioned themselves on the flanks, six total, and eight orcs that charged up the middle at the PCs and their newfound companions in arms.
The orcs charged and met deadly steel. In the ensuing melee Ivarr, Banning, Bedwyr and the flail-carrying fellow, Tiberius the Acolyte, each slew an orc or two. Q the Druid felled an orc bowmen with his sling, and Io conjured up a magic missile and slew yet another. In a few moments of combat the orcs quickly saw their fortunes change and fled back the way they came. Several PCs and one of the church footmen were wounded and the adventurers decided not to give chase. The Runner Banning, felt differently and wanted to make sure the orcs were simply not melting out of sight to regroup and attack again, so he stealthily set forth in pursuit. He followed them for a good couple of miles when at a point of dense underbrush he was surprised and assaulted by three orcs. They pressed the ranger mercilessly, but Banning's swift sword work kept him alive. In short order he dispatched the trio of rear-guard orcs only suffering minor wounds. His question answered, he decided the wise choice was going back to rejoin the encamped party. This he did.
(... at this point the party was comprised of, Banning- level 1 NG human ranger, Bedwyr- level 1 human paladin of Heironeous, Ivarr- level 1 N human fighter, Quarajoki- level 1 half-elf druid, Io The Good- level 1 NG elf magic user, Tiberius- level 1 NPC LG cleric of Heironeous, and three church of Heironeous footmen, out of an original seven, equipped with coats of studded leather armor, halberds, and short swords)
Planting, 15th day, 576 CY: The following morning the party, now nine strong, set out for the caves. By late-day they had at last come to the dark twisted vale lined with cave entrances. From it they saw some whips of smoke, heard some strange music, and overall got a very eery feel. It was getting towards dusk when they finally settled on a plan of action and chose a cave. They chose one on higher ground towards the side they were on. They checked their equipment, made some last minute tactical coordinations and then set forth!
They entered the cave and the chamber before them was rough and natural. For a few minutes they inspected the area. At the end was a passage leading to another chamber, this one was worked and not natural stone. Moments after they shined their light into it several long arrow shafts came flying out of the darkness at them and they heard a sort of hyena dog-like language ahead. Io The Good, immediately recognized it as Gnollish and knew what they were up against. The PCs quickly gained cover by stacking up along the sides of the cave leading up to the passage. After an exchange or two of missile fire between the two Io heard the gnolls yell for two of their number to go for reinforcements. At this the party decided to two do things; toss a torch into the chamber ahead where the gnolls were, and then charge and engage the occupants.
The party raced in with Ivarr, Banning, and Bedwyr leading from the front. It was during this melee that the rest of the party could sense something "special" about Bedwyr when they were engaged with the evil gnolls. Almost as if he radiated some sort of aura, as if this aura somehow protected them or made them more capable in battle.
The party exchanged blows with the gnolls. Bedwyr and Banning were both wounded, but after several exchanges the two gnolls were dispatched. Bedwyr getting revenge on the last gnoll standing, his blow a decapitating strike. No sooner had they secured the room they heard a group of gnolls coming down the passageway opposite of the party at the far end of the room. The party quickly formed up in front of the entrance to the passageway and placed their footman in the second rank with the halberds. SIX large gnolls attempted to gain entrance into their room! The melee felt more like a "last stand" by the party. Throughout the battle Tiberius, standing fast in the second rank, cast heal after heal exhausting his three prayed-for spells. Banning nearly went down, and the gnolls did not break like the previous night's encounter with the orcs. No, these creatures were ferocious! Finally though the last gnoll slumped against the wall the handiwork of the druid's scimitar.
No sooner had the party breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be alive after such a battle, they heard more footfalls coming from down the passageway. This time they decided their fate rested in the druid's magic. A plan was quickly concocted that the party would flee the cave, sit outside a good hundred yards and when the gnolls chased them out the druid would entangle them with his magic.
Outside the party waited ... and they waited. The gnolls did not pursue them out of the cave. What the PCs did not know was the gnoll chieftain did not attain his rank within the tribe by being a fool. He looked around, saw that eight of his best warriors lay slain but not one enemy was left for dead. He decided it was time to use the agreement he had made with the nearby clan of orcs. He told his remaining warriors and women folk to pack up everything they could, take the young and under cover of the deepest of night they would leave their lair for another.
The party realized the gnolls would not take their bait so they fell back several hundred yards into the wood. Setting up a rotation of double watches they rested uneasily. Fortune or the gods was with them, not a wandering monster came close to their camp. Banning, ever hale and hearty (high CON!), decided he was best fit to maintain a sleepless watch on the gnoll cave throughout the night. This he did and in the earliest of morning he saw a group of gnolls leave the cave and travel down into the vale and enter another. With this information he was pleased...
Planting, 16th day, 576 CY: Banning went back to the party and woke them at first light. Tiberius was already up sitting in prayer. After a meal of hardtack fried in bacon grease, along with some smoked fish and ale, the party gathered their gear and entered the gnoll cave. They searched all through it and found it truly abandoned. In their searching they found several things. First off the gnolls left much of their armory behind, including ,after some searching, a magical long sword that shed light when pulled from the scabbard. The party also found what was the chieftain's quarters and searched it high and low. They found a loose flagstone that contained a small secret compartment underneath, but whatever was stored here was taken by the wily chieftain. The adventurers spent hours carefully searching the entire lair. Their dedication to the task did pay off for they found a secret door that lead down a long well worked passage. Not too far into the passage lay the remains, probably human, of some poor bastard who didn't make it out of the caves alive. There was nothing of real value on him except his boots. Oddly enough while the rest of his armor and clothing had along rotted, the soft leather boots were in perfect condition. Ivarr examined them, then promptly switched them out for his own. For a man girt in banded mail, he walked completely silent. Hmmmm .....
The party followed the secret passage and it ended in a smooth wall. Their experience beginning to add up, the party decided a careful search for secret doors was in order. VIOLA! They found one, amazing! Through it they carefully went Banning leading the way. The room beyond contained one passageway out. Within the room were boxes, crates, barrels all filled with various supplies. Everything from rope, tinder, oil, ale, preserved food, candles, torches, spears, axes, knives, crossbow bolts, sacks, blankets, and mining equipment. The party engaged in searching through the equipment worse than children in a toy store. Luckily for the adventurers Ivarr was maintaining careful watch on the passage leading out and suddenly he saw several bones and coins suspended in mid-air moving towards them from down the passageway (this room and the passage way had torches in sconces mounted along the wall- odd they noted). As it got closer they could see to their horror it was not merely some loose material suspended in air, but a LIVING CUBE that seemed to sense their presence and was aggressively moving towards them.
The adventurers quickly fled this abnormal monstrosity down the secret passage and slammed the door behind them. The door was made out of wood but made to appear as stone. After several tense minutes they could see the cube was pressing up against the door on the other side and they were hearing a faint hissing sound, the door was slowly being DISSOLVED! The party quickly decided to soak the door in oil and light it ablaze. This was done just in time because no sooner had they finished soaking it and put a torch to it, it weakened and the cube broke forth into their chamber. It was burning in some parts as the PCs backed up against the wall hoping the flames would put this oddity to its end. It did not. As it neared the party it attempted to touch them with his surface. Fortunately it failed to do so and several blows from the swordsmen of the party laid it low. The adventurers did notice that its contact did pit their blades, new ones they needed and soon. In his triumph Bedwyr claimed the magical blade gained from the gnoll's armory. It was at this point the player characters decided to rest for 4 hours secure in the secret passageway so that Tiberious could pray to Heironeous and regain his curative magics. This is also where the second session of the campaign ended.
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