07: Assault On Cragmaw

The next day at camp Karendil experiments with the mysterious container and conjures mayonnaise; meanwhile, the group discusses tactics for assaulting the castle.  It is decided to take the castle by stealth, and they sneak into the unguarded side entrance of the ruined fortification.

Davron leads the group directly towards the desecrated temple, which is shrouded in darkness.  From beyond a tattered curtain they hear the low chant of goblins worshiping Maglubiyet.  Davron starts towards the sound but halts at a rustling in the shadows above.  A Grick lashes out from the darkness and strikes Davron; its attack alerts the beings behind the curtain, who fall silent.  The Grick is dispatched quickly and the group pushes through to altar, where Steve sneaks up on the goblins hiding behind it and attacks one.  Shiv flips onto the altar and shoots another and the rest of the group rush in and confront the enemy.  After killing the goblins Davron reconsecrates the altar and relics while the others secure the room.

They continue towards the interior and stalk room-by-room, clearing each room of small units of goblins and hobgoblins, until they arrive at the third tower.  Behind a door they hear two voices arguing, a goblin and another, and the group breaches the door and rush in.  Shiv feels a momentary shiver in her mind and behind the door the goblin shouts, “Bitch, what are you doing now?”.  Davron, the first one in, sees Gundar lying motionless on the floor and a halfling woman, Verna, standing over him.  At a table across from her is the enormous bugbear known as King Groll, who rushes towards Verna a livid rage.  Davon casts Hold Person on King Groll and he falls, paralyzed.  Steve attacks the bugbear, wounding him, and Embra disarms him, strips him of his armor, and hogties him.

Upon closer inspection it appears Gundren has been petrified and a cursed amulet resting upon his chest has turned to stone along with him.  Shiv moves Verna to the bed and makes sure she is okay.  Jory examines the adjacent door and discovers the remains of the guard-post reduced to rubble in the room.  They discover a pack of magical item beneath the bed, while Embra unsuccessfully interrogates King Groll; he only replies, “you’d better kill that bitch over on that bed (Verna), or she’ll kill every last one of you.  She’s not what she seems to be.  I don’t know what she is but she’s not…”.  At this point Verna brutally strikes Shiv from behind, knocking her unconscious, grabs the pack of magical items, and flees through the adjacent door.

King Groll screams, “Get her!  She’s got the map!”  The group gives chase as Verna skillfully hops up the rubble wall and shapeshifts into a  Drow female.  Jory runs to the doorway and fires his longbow but misses.  Embra runs to Shiv and casts Cure Wounds on her and she arises, shaken, and drinks a healing potion.  Davron races to the doorway and attempts to jostle him aside but cannot.  Steve pushes through both men in the doorway and gives chase, clambering up the rubble pile.  Karendil races to the doorway and hurls a spell at the Drow, paralyzing her; she falls over the other side of the wall outside the castle.

Shiv, Steve and Karendil continue up the rubble, while Jory and Davron race to the stairs to make their way downstairs and outside.  Embra remains in the tower to guard King Groll.  At the foot of the stairwell Jory and Davron are attacked by the last two hobgoblin guards, who were alerted by King Groll’s shouting.  Outside, Steve runs down the Drow and bites at her but misses.  She throws a poisonous spray at him, but he is unaffected by it.  Davron is struck savagely by one of the enemy guard.  Embra,  hearing the clamor of battle beneath her, makes a combat decision and kills her prisoner so that she may assist her comrades.  She runs into the skirmish and slays the last hobgoblin as the other falls beneath Jory’s killing strike.

The Drow is hit by Karendil but continues running into the darkness; Steve, continuing his chase, bites her but does not slow her.  She turns and sprays another blast of poison at Steve, striking him in the face and blinding and choking him.  He stops chase and she disappears into the night.  Karendil tells the group that he fears  that “Verna” is actually a Doppelganger, and that they will have to be on their guard as anyone they meet could be this being in disguise. The group returns to the room and Embra decapitates the corpse of King Groll and lashes his head to her belt.  They continue through the rest of the castle and find a trapped Owlbear, which flees from the room and into the forest.  They find a trunk full of riches and collect it and the rest of the items from the castle and set up camp for the night in the castle.  The next morning, prior to their departure, Embra notices that the masonry of Cragmaw castle has ties to her own family’s line of stone-smiths.

As the group roams back to Phandalin, any potential ambushes or raid by goblin or hobgoblins are thwarted when they see King Groll’s head; they arrive back in town without further incident.  Davron writes a report to Waterdeep and pays a visit to Sister Garaele, while Embra delivers Sildar’s belongings to him and reports to Townmaster Harbin about the clearing of Cragmaw Castle.  Shiv visits Verna’s aunt Colleen Alderleaf and Verna’s cousin and they say they haven’t heard from Verna in a long time; she suggest they visit a druid friend of hers named Reidoth who camps in Thundertree and who might help the group with their Gundar dilemma.  Shiv thanks them and leaves them with some gold.

• King Groll the bugbear
• 17 Goblins
• 6 Hobgoblins
• a Grick

• Sildar’s armor
• 1 unopened cask of Dwarven brandy
• -2 Potions of Health, each taken by Davron and Shiv
• 770gp
• various weapons (150gp worth)
• 1 Potion of Healing
• 1 Scroll of Silence
• 1 Scroll of Revivify

680XP (2700XP total)

4TH LEVEL SON!

• MARGINALIA SON!
• DM to Karendil: “Yeah—to the face, I get it.”
• Shiv’s acrobatic Pris-like flip onto the altar and crossbow shot at a goblin
• DM to Embra (after repeated dice fails): “What [enemy] are you going to come into the room and whiff at?”
• Jory: *stands above a sleeping goblin’s bed, raises his sword, and misses both attacks, striking the bed on either side of the prone goblin*
  Embra: Jory be all like, “Man, fuck your Sealy Posturpedic!”
• Karendil: *discovers Owlbear* Everyone look nonthreatening and unfoodlike.
• Debut of Steve’s Wolf form!