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Session 13 (10th November 2014)

For the second adventure in our Lonely Coast campaign I turned once again to Raging Swan.  This time I went to the brilliant Shadowed Keep On The Borderlands which got amazing reviews and makes for a totally different style of play from the groups previous adventure Retribution.  If you’d like to read the whole campaign’s adventure log it’s posted in order here.  The previous session can be found here and the whole of the Shadowed Keep sessions here.

Note if as a player your GM is likely to run Shadowed Keep On The Borderlands by Raging Swan please do not read any further, the adventure is one that will be wrecked by spoilers.

As the last of the bones of their adversary collapsed into the pile in the middle of the floor Hederas and Elrohir caught one another’s eyes with relief.  Elrohir ran to fallen form of Armitage, stemming his bleeding and making sure that he was not about to die.  Hederas grabbed the still form of Dvadi surprised that he could not even move his limbs.  While working out what action to take to revive his comrade, Dvadi came round by himself slowly moving his limbs.  Walking to the fallen bones the dwarven warrior brought his iron shod foot down upon the remains of the skull stamping twice on it in order to crush it into fragments.

Hederas called upon his god to revive Armitage and heal his comrades, deciding eventually to expend all of his remaining healing magic to banish their remaining wounds.  All felt that they were badly in need of a rest and   Having discussed their plans with the ghost of Einaar they closed the flagstone in Kaarina’s bed chamber behind them in order to reduce the risk of being discovered and camped down for the night.

Exploring the contents of the room in more detail they cautiously explored the two large chests before anything else.  Mostly these contained bags of coins, while over a thousand of the coins were copper there were also bags of silver and gold coins.  The small chest was of the most interest to the group however as it contained three books.  The large black leather tome Armitage identified as containing a number of spells however two further tomes, also leather bound but with silver hinges and clasps, were two volumes of prophecies of Cymer and the object of their expedition to the keep.  In good spirits the last of the items in the room were examined.  The quality of the workmanship on the longsword of cold iron made Dvadi’s heart sing, it’s pommel exquisitely carved with the symbol of Ironwolf which was also echoed on a heavy darkwood shield.  By these were four crossbow bolts with black fletching, Elrohir immediately noted the workmanship as something special but again it was Armitage who identified them as magical screaming bolts.

The night passed relatively comfortably and to everyone’s relief without incident early the next morning they broke camp and ascended the tower once more.  While all felt Elrohir’s desire to drive out the goblins they believed lurked in the basement it was decided that it would be sensible to return to Wolverton and complete their task for Meylor first.  The remains of the Ironwolf family could also be given to Meylor for proper burial and there was also a distinct possibility that they find Commander Nance willing to offer a reward for proof that the goblins and/or bandit had been disposed of.  Elrohir also announced that he felt the need to cremate the body of the elf they had discovered in the main hall.

As they were about to leave the keep they noticed that the entrance hall seemed to have been used during the night, wet foot prints covered the floor and led towards the stairs where the group suspected goblins lurked.  Most of the footprints were goblin but with them was something larger, probably even too large to be human.  Sticking to their plan and heading outside Elrohir stopped the group just as they were about to enter the courtyard.  In the mud of the rain that had evidently been hard overnight but now drizzled in an unpleasant way two corpses, almost certainly goblin, lay at the doorway to the watchtower.

Keeping careful watch for possible movement from the tower the group crossed to the main gate of the keeps outer wall.  Sheltering out of the rain they held a hurried conversation before Elrohir, leaving the corpse he was carrying with his fellows, stealthily returned to the courtyard.  Noting the new charring at the bottom of the door to the watchtower and the chunks of masonary that had killed the goblins, he retrieved the nearest corpse and quietly dragged it back to the keep.  In the entrance hall he drew his dagger and set about dismembering the body before spreading the various parts around the room in an obvious display they hoped would increase tensions between the two residents of Ironwolf Keep.  Carefully rejoining his comrades at the gate they hiked the several miles back to the road, stopping only so that Elrohir could find somewhere to cremate and mourn the fallen of the first born race he had found.

Passing through Horsford, the rain still soaking them, the group pressed on for Wolverton without even pausing for refreshment at Oslo’s Rest.  Eventually Wolverton came into sight and the tired party reached the gate in a bedraggled fashion.

Previously when the group had arrived at Wolverton they had come in charge of one official prisoner with letters of introduction as well as five captive bandits.  On this occasion though the greeting was less warm and the guards at the gate weren’t aware of who they were.  Sergeant Cadam Odgers was on duty inside the guards house and while he also needed to account for any spoils the party had accumulated for tax purposes the mood was far friendlier when he was called.  Armitage was loathed to part with 10% of the group’s hard won and opening some of the bags of copper coins managed to convince Cadam that all that they had brought back was copper, thus significantly decreasing the tax they owed.

The news that the group brought of the bandits and goblins at Ironwolf Keep definitely caught Cadam’s attention and he immediately asked the group to come with him to see Commander Nance.  Hederas convinced him that they would visit the Commander at the first opportunity however they needed to immediately see Meylor Vosper as their business with her urgent.

Making their way to the Justice And The Light through Wolverton’s muddy streets they were ushered in to see a surprised looking Meylor Vosper.  It was obvious that Meylor was confused as to why after only a couple of days the group had come back to see her.  Hederas boldly placed the two books of Cymer’s prophecies, flipping open the cover to the top book showing the title page within.  Meylor’s scepticism immediately turned to amazement and it was obvious that she was deeply impressed by the speed with which the items had been obtained.  Having quickly questioned the group about their quest she promised that the reward money would be at the temple by the next morning.  Hederas also passed over the mortal remains of the Ironwolf family which Meylor promised to bury with honours in hallowed ground.

Wet and cold they decided to leave the visit to Commander Nance until the next day. More urgent business seemed to be to return to The Hare And The Ass and their huge twin roaring fires, dwarven ale and warm and hearty food.  The next day they could visit the Commander, re-equip and try to drum up some kind of promise for rewards for returning to the keep to dispose of both the bandits and goblins.