The group spent three days back in St. Orlan, meeting up with Azrak and Urgesh. Each of them coveted the magical, elf-sized armor dug up last week. The suit was simply too small for the half-orc who stood over six feet tall. Azrak’s trunk was also too well-endowed to fit in the shirt, and the arms seemed too long, too. Always helpful, Jerker lent his battleworn suit of field plate armor to Urgesh. He also introduced Azrak to his father who agreed to construct a suit of field plate armor for the dwarf. Azrak handed over 500 gp and requested a black finish. He estimated it would require a month to prepare.
On the 8th, they traveled to the ruined tower, most on foot, Urgesh and Azrak on horseback. They spent an uneventful night, and the next day, they returned to the castle where Ferris had stolen the map the week before.
Castle Assault
They approached the south gate, striding in confidently and yelling. No answer came. Looking at the various buildings, they chose to explore a barn with an attached corral. Inside, they met two ogres nesting in the hay loft. The ogres were friendly and willing to join the group in an assault of the palace. They described the inhabitants as witches, which seemed to match Ferris gave of fearsome warrior in black plate armor.
They made directly for the double doors of the palace and instructed the ogres to break down the doors, a feat they failed at. Jerker took up a maul and smashed through the barred doors. Inside, two figures stood behind an overturned table. One wore black armor and held a mace. The other held a halberd.
Urgesh, holding a wicked lance taking from a black knight of Tosasth, spurred his warhorse through the doors. His lance skewered the man in the black plate armor, killing him instantly. Azrak followed, swinging his hammer as the fighter with the polearm. Jerker stepped forward to slash at the fighter, then urgesh leapt down upon warrior. He squirmed out of the grasp of the half-orc, retreating to the corner of the room. He cried in agony at the death of his companion and demanded to know who was attacking them.
The party paused to sort out the situation. Presently, they suspected untruth from the ogres, and as they turned to question the tales told by the two brutes, they watched as they bolted from the castle. Jerker climbed onto Azrak’s horse, sitting awkwardly in the custom saddle made for a dwarf, and rode after the ogres. In the field beyond the gate, the ogres split in different directions. The horse turned to follow one as the other dashed in to bushes. Jerker struck down one ogre in one blow, then drove the horse into the brush.
Coming into clearing, Jerker came up behind a feminine figure with unusual hair facing away from him. Instinctively, he twisted his gaze away as he pulled the horse up short. He thought he heard the hissing of snakes. The next instant, he spun the horse around and rode back into the castle. He explained to the others that he suspected a demon with terrible powers.
Back in the palace, the fighter begged for release so that he could bury his friend. The party relented and watched him lug his friend out the gash in the eastern wall of the castle. He called out some lament to Derwin and Nebt. Azrak attempted to delay him with questions about the names but the others diverted him. The fighter carried his friend from the castle.
Exploration
Hot battle set aside, they began exploring in the inside of the palace. Urgesh dispatched the zombie hanging by the neck in the bedroom through which Ferris sneaked in the previous week. He took the dagger from the zombie’s chest and asked Azrak to read the paper there affixed. It said “traitor”.
Aderian pulled open the door to a kitchen. A spear wizzed past his ear, sticking in a door on the west wall. Nothing interesting was found in this room, and two doors leading out were disregarded.
One door from the main hall opened to a room decorated with murals of reclining wine-drinkers. The door on the west wall opened to a hallway, and the first door from the hallway contained a pile of shredded cloth. Likewise, a second bedroom contained torn clothing amongst broken furniture. Aderian poked through the refuse, eventually coming upon something solid and heavy. He cleared away the rags to find an invisible box. He could feel its shape and extreme weight, but could not see it. After fiddling with it for ten minutes, he found purchase in the top and opened the box. Inside were 500 gold coins.
Invisible outside, the inside of the box was seen to be stone, which explained the 200 pounds of weight. They set this box aside and discussed placing it at the ruined tower.
Next, they followed the hallway around to find stairwells going up and going down. They also noted a door with a crescent moon above holy symbol hanging from a nail. Urgesh pushed the door open. To his left was a latrine pit. Across the room were three metal urns, one of which bore a glowing symbol. Instantly, the half-orc collapsed into unconsciousness. Next, Azrak stepped up, saw the symbol and likewise tumbled to the floor. Aderian then stepped up and was unaffected. He dragged the two sleeping fighters out of the room and closed the door.
Presently, a voice from inside the latrine called out, “Wait! Let me out!” The former pirate opened the door again to face a giant rat. It said, “hello, friend!” Aderian did not consider the talking animal his friend and shut door, concluding it was a demon of some sort. They left this room as it was and dragged Urgesh and Azrak to the bedroom where previously the zombie hung.
Jerker, Ferris, Aderian and Nate climbed the stairs to arrive at a long hall. In a corner, they saw three small coffers wrapped in a thick belt. Something triggered a sense of fear in them. The sequence of strange encounters was too much, and they ran back to the bedroom to stay with Urgesh and Azrak. After 90 minutes, the spell over them subsided and they were away again. It was late afternoon.
End Notes
- Treasure: 500 gp in an invisible stone block
- Combat 415 xp
- Ogre 240 xp
- Cleric of Sheebalb 175 xp
- Characters
- Aderian (fights, leads) 66 xp
- Azrak (suspicious, fights) 60 xp
- Ferris 65 xp
- Ferris’s Dogs
- Jerker (fights, strength) 66 xp
- Nate 65 xp
- Urgesh (aggressive, fights) 63 xp
- We affirmed that magical armor does not resize to fit the wearer.