Wealsun 4, 621 CY, Godsday
Castle Greyhawk
The drawbridge was up; someone had raised it again, but this was no obstacle to those who knew the secret magic word that lowered it. Brother Langdon spoke the word, and the drawbridge responded to his command. This was the power the Company of the White Oak now commanded.
A full complement of the entire company – Haruspex Niv, John Grond, Brother Langdon, Percy, Reed Underbough, Vask, Rom Riverbluff, Brother Ulrich the Maimed, and Gendri, along the hirelings Harvard, Saraband, and Herv, and Vask’s trained bear – was there. This was a particularly special trip for Harvard, who had announced he was leaving with a caravan for Blackmoor after this, to explore his roots, but would gladly enter John’s services again when he returned.
The courtyard was unchanged since their last visit. Rumors of new adventuring parties exploring the castle had apparently not led to any new deaths out front – or else someone had did a good job removing the evidence of same. Now the undecided question was, what was their priority on this expedition? The answer came to them quickly. With such an assembled force, how could they not challenge the gargoyles in the keep?
Entering by the same side door to the keep they had used before, they only paused long enough for Reed to examine again the statue in the side hall. His thiefly senses told him the loose arm of the statue would trigger something magical, but with no way to disarm it and no desire to see what that magical effect was, the Company moved on to the main hall.
John called out to the gargoyles to come out, but one of the gargoyles responded, calling for them to come in. Haruspex responded by throwing a sleep spell into the hall, and they all heard something heavy drop a short distance. At this time some of the Company charged into the room, some of them hung back with missile weapons ready, and those charging in were greeted by two gargoyles swooping down to attack. A third one remained sleeping on the shelf above the exits to this octagonal chamber.
Normal and silver arrows and bolts were tested against the gargoyles, but their stone hides proved impervious to them. Only the magic javelin wielded by John and the magic axe wielded by Vask could harm them, for when these weapons struck, the gargoyles’ stony hides yielded like flesh and sprayed red blood. Langdon and Ulrich grappled with the gargoyles, weighing down their legs so the gargoyles lost maneuverability. Vask’s bear entered the fray and, while it could not hurt the gargoyles, it got one of them in a bear hug the gargoyle could not escape from.
During the battle, the double doors to the south opened and two more gargoyles entered the fray, but were dropped quickly by twin sleep spells by Haruspex and Saraband.
Finally, the original two gargoyles were killed after the longest battle the company had yet known to this point. John and Vask were fatigued from the five straight minutes of fighting. Reed was loaned the javelin so he could go around and kill the sleeping gargoyles. Percy and Ulrich were casting healing spells – Ulrich on himself, since Ulrich had been badly hurt in the fray.
And then they heard the sound of more footfalls on the stairs that descended from the west down into this chamber. The Company readied themselves for another fight. Haruspex, burning through more of his spell repertoire than he had in a long time, cast Phantasmal Forces and conjured a group of illusory ogres to bolster their numbers. The opponents coming down the stairs were five bear-like monsters with wide, furry heads and big toothy mouths, wearing piecemeal armor and carrying crossbows. Though slimmer, they looked to be the same type of monsters who had ambushed them on the Western Road when returning to Greyhawk from Verbobonc. The advanced guard of ogres was enough to send the monsters retreating back upstairs, but not until after firing a volley of crossbow bolts into the chamber, striking non-existent ogres and a poorly-positioned John Grond.
Having bought themselves a respite, the Company could now wait for Reed to kill the last of the gargoyles and search their perches for treasure. Unfortunately, the gargoyles were naked and there were only nine loose gold pieces up there to be found. Perhaps the monsters on the upper level had better treasure? They would head up there soon. John and Vask had rested now and John and Ulrich were healed. Percy, upon healing John, noticed that the crossbow bolt wound looked infected by poison. Luckily, John had a potion that could neutralize poison to quaff, and did so, using up the last of the Company’s first acquired magic potions. Gendri shared his theory that these monsters were the bugbears of legend.
Now the Company advanced after the bugbears – and into a second volley of crossbow bolts, with illusory ogres again taking the worst of it. At the landing, below an arrow slit in the west outer wall of the keep, the stairs split to the left and right. The Company went up the side to the right and fell on a group of five bugbears falling back away from them. The ogres pinned the bugbears into isolated melees that the real members of the Company then waded into. It was a hard fight, but again the Company won. The bugbears had some gold on them in pouches, but not a lot. They had poisoned crossbow bolts, which Reed eyed greedily. There was both a door and a doorway in this room, with the open doorway leading into a spiral stairwell that went up and down.
But the Company, now very short on spells, wasn’t feeling like exploring more and was ready to call it a day – at least, until a third volley of crossbow bolts descended on them when they crossed the landing again to leave. Now John led a charge up the stairs to the left, where they found a group of six bugbears positioned around the railing. This too proved a challenging battle, in which John was seriously hurt and Reed moderately hurt, but bugbear after bugbear fell before them, until John stunned the last bugbear with a punch. Like the dying bugbear they had spoken to on the road, this one’s head changed back to what seemed to be their true appearance, hairless and turnip-like lumps. But it spoke and, just like the one on the road, warned them that “more were coming.” This one also added that these were the tests of The Adversary – far from the first time they had heard of this mystery foe. And then they killed it.
This bugbear had three gems in his pouch along with gold, and the first of the six they dropped had worn an electrum bracer and carried a ceremonial silver dagger. It was still what they considered a light treasure haul, but it would serve. The Company left the castle, heading back to the city to sell off their loot…
Castle Greyhawk
The drawbridge was up; someone had raised it again, but this was no obstacle to those who knew the secret magic word that lowered it. Brother Langdon spoke the word, and the drawbridge responded to his command. This was the power the Company of the White Oak now commanded.
A full complement of the entire company – Haruspex Niv, John Grond, Brother Langdon, Percy, Reed Underbough, Vask, Rom Riverbluff, Brother Ulrich the Maimed, and Gendri, along the hirelings Harvard, Saraband, and Herv, and Vask’s trained bear – was there. This was a particularly special trip for Harvard, who had announced he was leaving with a caravan for Blackmoor after this, to explore his roots, but would gladly enter John’s services again when he returned.
The courtyard was unchanged since their last visit. Rumors of new adventuring parties exploring the castle had apparently not led to any new deaths out front – or else someone had did a good job removing the evidence of same. Now the undecided question was, what was their priority on this expedition? The answer came to them quickly. With such an assembled force, how could they not challenge the gargoyles in the keep?
Entering by the same side door to the keep they had used before, they only paused long enough for Reed to examine again the statue in the side hall. His thiefly senses told him the loose arm of the statue would trigger something magical, but with no way to disarm it and no desire to see what that magical effect was, the Company moved on to the main hall.
John called out to the gargoyles to come out, but one of the gargoyles responded, calling for them to come in. Haruspex responded by throwing a sleep spell into the hall, and they all heard something heavy drop a short distance. At this time some of the Company charged into the room, some of them hung back with missile weapons ready, and those charging in were greeted by two gargoyles swooping down to attack. A third one remained sleeping on the shelf above the exits to this octagonal chamber.
Normal and silver arrows and bolts were tested against the gargoyles, but their stone hides proved impervious to them. Only the magic javelin wielded by John and the magic axe wielded by Vask could harm them, for when these weapons struck, the gargoyles’ stony hides yielded like flesh and sprayed red blood. Langdon and Ulrich grappled with the gargoyles, weighing down their legs so the gargoyles lost maneuverability. Vask’s bear entered the fray and, while it could not hurt the gargoyles, it got one of them in a bear hug the gargoyle could not escape from.
During the battle, the double doors to the south opened and two more gargoyles entered the fray, but were dropped quickly by twin sleep spells by Haruspex and Saraband.
Finally, the original two gargoyles were killed after the longest battle the company had yet known to this point. John and Vask were fatigued from the five straight minutes of fighting. Reed was loaned the javelin so he could go around and kill the sleeping gargoyles. Percy and Ulrich were casting healing spells – Ulrich on himself, since Ulrich had been badly hurt in the fray.
And then they heard the sound of more footfalls on the stairs that descended from the west down into this chamber. The Company readied themselves for another fight. Haruspex, burning through more of his spell repertoire than he had in a long time, cast Phantasmal Forces and conjured a group of illusory ogres to bolster their numbers. The opponents coming down the stairs were five bear-like monsters with wide, furry heads and big toothy mouths, wearing piecemeal armor and carrying crossbows. Though slimmer, they looked to be the same type of monsters who had ambushed them on the Western Road when returning to Greyhawk from Verbobonc. The advanced guard of ogres was enough to send the monsters retreating back upstairs, but not until after firing a volley of crossbow bolts into the chamber, striking non-existent ogres and a poorly-positioned John Grond.
Having bought themselves a respite, the Company could now wait for Reed to kill the last of the gargoyles and search their perches for treasure. Unfortunately, the gargoyles were naked and there were only nine loose gold pieces up there to be found. Perhaps the monsters on the upper level had better treasure? They would head up there soon. John and Vask had rested now and John and Ulrich were healed. Percy, upon healing John, noticed that the crossbow bolt wound looked infected by poison. Luckily, John had a potion that could neutralize poison to quaff, and did so, using up the last of the Company’s first acquired magic potions. Gendri shared his theory that these monsters were the bugbears of legend.
Now the Company advanced after the bugbears – and into a second volley of crossbow bolts, with illusory ogres again taking the worst of it. At the landing, below an arrow slit in the west outer wall of the keep, the stairs split to the left and right. The Company went up the side to the right and fell on a group of five bugbears falling back away from them. The ogres pinned the bugbears into isolated melees that the real members of the Company then waded into. It was a hard fight, but again the Company won. The bugbears had some gold on them in pouches, but not a lot. They had poisoned crossbow bolts, which Reed eyed greedily. There was both a door and a doorway in this room, with the open doorway leading into a spiral stairwell that went up and down.
But the Company, now very short on spells, wasn’t feeling like exploring more and was ready to call it a day – at least, until a third volley of crossbow bolts descended on them when they crossed the landing again to leave. Now John led a charge up the stairs to the left, where they found a group of six bugbears positioned around the railing. This too proved a challenging battle, in which John was seriously hurt and Reed moderately hurt, but bugbear after bugbear fell before them, until John stunned the last bugbear with a punch. Like the dying bugbear they had spoken to on the road, this one’s head changed back to what seemed to be their true appearance, hairless and turnip-like lumps. But it spoke and, just like the one on the road, warned them that “more were coming.” This one also added that these were the tests of The Adversary – far from the first time they had heard of this mystery foe. And then they killed it.
This bugbear had three gems in his pouch along with gold, and the first of the six they dropped had worn an electrum bracer and carried a ceremonial silver dagger. It was still what they considered a light treasure haul, but it would serve. The Company left the castle, heading back to the city to sell off their loot…
Session 25
Wealsun 16, 621 CY
City of Greyhawk
Green Dragon Inn
The Company of the White Oak assembled here to meet and find out who was leaving on the next expedition to Castle Greyhawk in the morning. The Green Dragon was seen as a central location to rendezvous, even though only one member of the company, Langdon, was staying here.
Vask showed up, walking stiff and wincing when he moved. He revealed that he had been earning side money this past week as an underground gladiator, but he was hurt in last night’s fight -- moderately injured, Percy assessed upon checking him over. Percy and Ulrich cast all three of their cure spells between them to bring him back to full health. Luckily they could recover their spells in the morning before they headed out.
Langdon, Reed, and Gendri all had other things to do in the city and planned to skip this return trip to the castle, but Haruspex and John convinced Reed to come and bring his henchman Herv along. Since they wanted to bring the mules and cart along this time, in case there was a good treasure haul (for a change), Haruspex’s hireling Peter would be brought along to serve as a teamster. Nine people, plus Gert the Bear, was a good-sized number, surely good enough to handle any challenges ahead.
Wealsun 17, 621 CY
Village of Hawfair Green
Leaping Trout Tavern
The Company reached their launching-off point for tomorrow’s trek to the castle around midday and just hung out here, as had become their custom during the winter months (when they would have reached the castle after dark if they tried the trip in one day). The tavernkeeper, Stout Stanley, told them about a rival adventuring party, the Band of the Black Dragon (“We don’t like them, that sounds evil!”) that had just passed through yesterday on their way to the castle. It seemed they had over a dozen members and two clerics among them, but he could tell them nothing else about these rivals -- but promised to be more attentive in the future if paid 1 gold a week to act as their spy.
Alone, the Company discussed some rumors Rom and Ulrich had learned in the city during downtime. Rom heard there was a black dragon that lurked in a cavern under the castle, or at least used to. Coincidence, that the band had this name? Also, Ulrich had learned of an abandoned temple between the city and the castle that must be somewhere off the road (since no one had ever seen it). Things to look into for another time, perhaps. The castle itself remained their goal.
Wealsun 18, 621 CY
Castle Greyhawk
The drawbridge was down and no one was stopping them from going inside -- except for John Grond. He remembered the absent Langdon had been given a magic word to say that could lower the drawbridge. Would it also raise it? John remembered the word and how to pronounce it, but when he shouted it, the drawbridge did nothing.
The Company was heading up the slope of the bailey, circling wide around the keep, when they heard the sound of fighting to the south. Since they were heading to the south anyway to reach the stables, they had no qualms with continuing towards the fight.
The “fight” was a siege, and it was taking place in the fortified building connected to the south-facing curtain wall of the castle, touching the stables at one corner. The building was long, two stories tall up by the stables, and three stories tall on its west side where the ground was lower. There were two sets of double doors protected by portcullises -- and four men were charging at the nearest doors with a ram, while four more men tried to keep them protected with mantlet shields. Behind them were four men in armor with smaller shields, formed up around an unarmored man and a hobbit girl.
Ulrich took point in rushing to help -- and was met fiercely by two men at the rear of the siege who thought they were being attacked by brigands from behind. One of them ignored Ulrich's shouted offer to help, thinking it some deception, and walloped Ulrich good with a morningstar. The other man then tried to hold him back, for this other man was Bennet, a clergyman of the Unorthodox Common Church of Greyhawk of Percy's acquaintance. Plus, Bennet recognized the matching tabards of the Company of the White Oak and identified them as much to his peers.
There was no time for other words just then, for a fresh hail of arrows rained down their way, and Ulrich was struck again, this time a potentially fatal wound. Percy rushed over to heal him, while others shielded him and Ulrich from more arrows.
Finally, Bennet could identify himself as one of the founders of the Band of the Black Dragon. The Band had been on the trail of the Hydra Company, a sizable force of brigands who had terrorized the villages in the southern Domain of Greyhawk last year, was nearly decimated by the authorities, but had since regrouped and were now all of them left were holed up in this building. Bennet sheepishly admitted he was not sure if there was still a bounty on Hydra; for the man who just struck Ulrich, Draxus, this was personal and he said so.
Once Ulrich was back up on his feet, John Grond pulled everyone back to discuss if they even wanted to get involved in this. Percy insisted he had to, and that was good enough for everyone else. It was suggested that they split up and try the pincer move that had been so effective on the ogre tower -- half the Company goes in through the ground floor, while the other half climbs to the roof and descends from above. Vask, Rom, and Ulrich would aid the Band in breaking in down here. Peter would stay back out of harms' way with the mules, and that was alright with him.
Reed sprung easily to the top of the curtain wall with his magic boots, and Ragnar had no trouble climbing the wall in his magic armor, with the aid of the rope, but getting everyone else up top proved difficult. Ropes had to be tied around people and then they were hauled up. It took three whole minutes to get Herv up there, but they worked out all the bugs after that and it only took a minute to get Percy and Niv up top next. They were on the wrong side of the tower from the building, but the towers all had steep steps that allowed defenders to ascend over them. By now Reed had already scouted ahead and found them a trapdoor in the middle of the roof of the building.
Meanwhile, arrows had felled two of the men-at-arms working the ram, giving Vask and Rom a chance to slip in and add their muscle to the endeavor. At long last, the portcullis was destroyed and the bar behind the doors was broken. Vask and Rom dropped the ram and raced ahead to pry open the doors and go inside. Ulrich was right behind them. Draxus had also sped past the men-at-arms and joined them in penetrating to what looked like a storeroom with barrels inside, defended by five brigands and a dwarf warrior.
The brigands hurt Draxus and he withdrew back into the bailey, to be replaced by Bennet and one of the men-at-arms, but as the brigands went down they were replaced by more coming in from a side room. The dwarf briefly gave Vask a good run for his money, but once the dwarf went down, Vask made short work of the brigands. A thief tried to sneak out from behind the barrels and backstab Vask, but botched it and wound up dead.
Also meanwhile, John Grond was dropping into a room on the third floor defended by 2 human and 1 orc brigand, and an unarmored man. Percy figured he knew a magic-user when he saw one and tried to catch him in a Hold Person spell, but it only caught the three brigands. Percy was right, the target started casting a spell at the same time and got it off because Reed's crossbow missed, but the spell just formed a glowing shield in front of the spellcaster. The shield didn't keep John from injuring him with the magic javelin, held as an awkward melee weapon. But nothing shielded John from the charm spell that the magic-user cast next, then gruffly asking John to protect him from harm. John complied by cold-cocking Herv as Herv tried to run past, laying him out cold.
Niv, from above, was still able to paralyze the magic-user with his own Hold Person spell ray fired from the wand he wore, and short work was made of the brigands by everyone, since the charm spell did not extend to John protecting them. John warned everyone not to harm the magic-user, and then he checked on the western door in the room, since there was no way to go down from this room. The next room was defended by three men and an orc who were discussing what to do about the sounds of combat in the next room over. John charged them right away. At the same time, the door to the east opened and a woman dressed like a fighting cleric opened the door on Haruspex, Percy, and Reed (who was trying to wake the only subdued and stunned Herv) and was about to attack them. Haruspex was faster with his Hold Person wand and, though she almost resisted, she was paralyzed just before striking Percy.
Also also meanwhile, down below, the adventurers who now held the front room of the building heard terrible screams of pain and panic coming from outside. When Rom first glanced out through the doors, he saw a nightmarish scene. Dozens of skeletons and zombies had appeared out of nowhere and were attacking the Band of the Black Dragon members who had remained outside, killing most of the men-at-arms and seriously wounding their magic-user and hobbit. Gert the Bear too was out here, called for earlier by Vask, but unable to reach his side because the Band was in her way. She was already injured by and ganged up on by three zombies.
But worst of all was the apparition floating through the scene of carnage. It appeared to be a spectral warrior, clad in chain and shield, but its sword was made of mist, and its face, visible through its open-faced helm, appeared to be made of mist, in which floated two balls of bright white light that served as its eyes. It spotted Vask and bellowed in a haunting voice that two friends regretted they could not be there to kill them, so it had sent him instead, and he had brought a legion of the abyss to aid him.
Brother Ulrich focused on turning the skeletons, while the Band's clerics (they had four!) concentrated their attention on turning the zombies. Rom raced out to aid Gert and harassed the zombies attacking her.
Vask, valiantly, charged the spectre. His battle axe struck first, biting into the spectre as if it were a man of flesh and blood. The spectre was surprised, but unworried as it swept its sword back at Vask. As the sword of mist struck, it surrounded Vask and drained energy out of his very being. A lesser man might have died on the spot, but Vask was able to keep fighting. It availed him not, as a second strike drained the last of Vask's lifeforce from his body, and Vask fell dead to the ground.
Also also also meanwhile, John killed the brigands right away, but their leader was a tougher foe and held his own against John for several minutes. Percy peeked into the room the female cleric had come from and saw there were three more men and an orc in there, but he shut the door on them. He coordinated with Haruspex so that Niv would toss a Sleep spell into the room as soon as Percy opened it, and the stunt worked. In the room where John fought, an orc opened the door at the far west end, that must have opened into the adjoining tower, but the orc backed out instead of joining the fight. John dealt a moderately serious wound to his foeman, but at the same time was struck by an envenomed blade. Right after that, John put the man down with a strong kick. And right after that, John fell to the ground, paralyzed by the poison. As Reed was finally reviving Herv, Percy came in to check on John and found him appearing to be near death. He quickly identified that the wound was poisoned, though, and sucked the venom out in time.
Also also also also meanwhile, the spectre turned and chose Rom as its next target. As it flew towards him, Rom tumbled underneath it, came up next to Vask's fallen body, snatched up the fallen magic axe, and spun around to find the spectre already upon him again, and blocked the sword of mist with the enchanted haft of the axe. Pushing the spectre away, Rom had room to swing the axe, struck, and caused harm, but still not even moderate harm to the undead monstrosity. Ulrich was now bravely at his side, trying to shield Rom from harm, but it did no good, as the spectre was easily able to outfight both of them and struck Rom with the sword of mist. Like the first hit on Vask, Rom was energy drained, but not enough to kill him, though he knew a second hit would. Rom called for a retreat and tried to back away into the building. As Rom did so, the spectre turned and raised its sword to dispatch Ulrich instead.
At that moment, a lightning bolt flew through the air at such an angle that it missed Rom and Ulrich, but disintegrated the spectre. The lightning bolt had flown from the hand of Roger Bacon, the Wizard Prospero's friend and right hand man, who was there with two armored strangers. Roger was glad to have arrived in time, as if he'd known the attack was coming. He introduced his two friends, one of whom was a lama of Zeus named Sekolus. Learning he was a cleric of such powerful standing, Rom and Ulrich were very eager to talk to him about if he could raise Vask from the dead. Sekolus could not, at least not today, but promised he might be able to save Vask in the future.
Also also also also also meanwhile, while John was recovering from the poison (but not the charm), Haruspex and Percy searched the room and found a big treasure chest. Reed rushed over to check it out, found no traps, and succeeded in picking the lock. Inside were over 4,000 electrum pieces and a handful of gems!
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