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PREVIOUSLY - CAMPAIGN DIARIES 43 - Intruders at Phylund Lodge
After having defeated the red wizard and his dread warriors, the Owlbear League takes a breath. Lady D is crunching on the skull of the necromancer.
Seraphina steps out the the building with the dread warriors under her command and says, "Weren't we supposed to question these guys to find out what they were up to?"
Nowhere looks at Lady D. "Ooops."
Upstairs, Immeral picks up the unconscious Orryn and carries him down to Seraphina for healing.
K'ronk reaches for the spell book of the dead wizard and by opening it, triggers the glyph of warding protecting the book and it explodes. He is blasted into the wall of the study, riddled with bits of the shattered desk and is knocked out. The remaining bits of windows blow out, and the blast startles the other members of The League. Immeral, walking out of the room gets knocked down by the blast, dropping unconscious Orryn, but is unharmed. The remaining Owlbear League members race back into the building, except for Seraphina.
She directs the dread warriors to step into the space where the shattered Wall of Ice was, and the remaining magical cold freezes the undead a few steps into their task and they freeze and perish. She then races after the others.
Nowhere drags K'ronk into the sitting area as Seraphina races up the stairs, assessing her companions are in pain on multiple levels and casts a prayer of healing which heals six of the battered party. As K'ronk opens his eyes, he asks Immeral, "did the spellbook survive?" Immeral looks over at the destroyed room, "Blown to bits. Fuck."
Orryn gets up with a groan, not fully healed, but thankful to Seraphina. "What happened?"
Dain says, "The red wizard blasted us, we blasted him, he died, and before we could question him, Lady D ate his head, then Kronk grabbed his spellbook and shit blew up."
"Damn" says Orryn. He wanders to the blown out window and signals for Lady D to go back to the woods.
Immeral says "Let's search for traps."
Atlas says "and secret passages."
K'ronk says "Both!" as he stretches through some remaining aches and pains.
Orryn leads them north, down the hall slowly, searching for traps along the way. The hall opens into a lounge. The walls here are lined with weathered wood and hung with moldy tapestries, a few of which lie in heaps on the floor. There is a fireplace in the corner with some stools clustered around, but the hearth is cold.
Before trying the door, the group searches for secret passages, but finds nothing. They listen at the southwestern door, but hearing nothing, they open the door.
This room contains a copper tub covered in verdigris, a wooden bucket, and a clay bowl. The room is clean, and the roof has been patched with fresh planks. The tub has been used recently, and the bowl contains a scrub brush and a partially used bar of scented soap.
Nowhere grabs the soap. She smells it. "Harkenberries" she says as she tucks the soap away. Atlas give her a funny look. "Sir Isteval" she whispers and winks.
They move onto the southeast door, and hears nothing, so they open the door. This room contains a bed and other furniture, now warped and rotten. They close the door.
K'ronk opens the northeast door and finds another moldy bedroom with a hole in the ceiling and rotten floorboards.
Immeral opens the north door, having heard nothing, and finds a landing. The walls of this landing are decorated with hundreds of wooden crests bearing the emblems of noble families. Some crests have been removed, some have fallen to the floor, and all have faded with age and weather. A large hole in the ceiling explains the weathering of the area. A spiral stairway descends downward.
They file into the landing, Immeral checking one door, and finding only another moldy bedroom.
Nowhere asks "Do we want to keep going? We only needed to find out where the gnolls were, and they are here, we could be done, we are healed, but we are tired. Maybe we're done."
Seraphina adds, The Raven Queen has gifted me with a spell of protection, Leomund's Tiny Hut. It is a sphere that can protect us while we rest." K'ronk and Immeral nod in acknowledgement.
Dain replies, "It's still daylight, there may still be villains to kill."
K'ronk says "I want to make sure that no more innocents are killed on the road." and the others nod in somber agreement. He opens the next door. This large room, once richly furnished, now contains the rotting remains of three beds, with matching chests and chairs. They file in cautiously, checking for magic and checking for traps. Unfortunately the chests only contain moldy clothes.
Dain opens the final door and finds only a smelly privy, fresh with the scent of urine.
Not wanting to leave any potential enemies behind them, they head back to the sitting area, and check the door to the south. Opening it reveals a trophy room.
This room holds the remains of scores of hunting trophies—furs, mounted heads, skulls, and small beasts stuffed whole—of which only a few still hang from the walls. Four wooden bookcases, their shelves broken out, have been laid on the floor and filled with grass and furs. A stairway to the south leads downward.
The Owlbear League searches the room and finds little of interest although Nowhere takes an interesting baboon skull. They move on to a final door to the south.
This room contains a large writing desk near the middle and a cupboard on the east wall. A bed in the northwest corner has been covered with a messy heap of straw and furs. There is a gnoll sleeping on the fine bed, and as the door opens he leaps up then quickly stands and races to attack. He is massive and terrifying.
Immeral uses a witch bolt spell, and a beam of crackling, blue energy lances out toward the gnoll, forming an arc of lightning. His eyes bulge and the gnoll leader howls, charging through the blast.
K'ronk casts Blindness/Deafness on the massive gnoll and Dain charges in at the doubly enraged gnoll. Dipping into his own rage madness, he screams in barbarian fury, but his attack glances off the gnoll's armor.
Atlas charges into the room and throws a flurry of blows against the gnoll captain, drawing blood from the gnoll.
Orryn lets an arrow fly with his short bow, shooting between his companions Dain and Atlas, planting an arrow into the creature's torso.
Nowhere is blocked from getting close enough to attack, so she just stands at the ready.
Seraphina casts sacred flame and a magical flame descends over the gnoll, taking burning damage, setting his fur aflame and backpeddling and swinging widely.
He lashes out with his glaive, missing Atlas narrowly, and fumbling backwards and falling on his back.
Dain dives on the gnoll in a frenzy of barbarian madness, chopping into his torso with his great axe. He hits again in fury, chopping off one of his arms, and the gnoll falls unconscious. Dain wipes a handful of blood over his face like a mask.
K'ronk squeezes in with the final blow from his goat staff, and smashes the skull of the gnoll. They take a breath and start searching the room and Orryn finds a chest under the bed. The chest contains a bag of holding, and within - an agate lanceboard set (200 gp), 23 gems (50 gp each), 42 gp, and 392 sp.
Atlas finds a potion of healing on the body of the gnoll captain. "I wonder if this guy might have had some answers why the gnolls were here."
"Oh shit, yeah." Immeral says. Dain shrugs.
The Owlbear League gathers themselves and heads north, back to the landing and the large staircase downward.
It is a dilapidated keep hall. The stone walls of this room are bare and aged. Part of the rune-engraved monolith on which the structure is founded is visible in the southwest corner, and a fireplace has been carved into it. The room contains disorderly piles of containers, as well as rugs, blankets, cloaks, furs, vases, and other earthenware.
All three doors to the outside have been barred with a wooden joist on the inside. Spiked planks are suspended above the door with ropes and pins as obvious traps, easily avoided from the inside.
In an alcove to the southeast is a descending stairway.
The League heads down the spiral staircase into the basement of Phylund Lodge. The room at the bottom of the stairs is a wine cellar. Bricks line the walls here. The western wall is covered in shelves on which stand a few dusty bottles. Countless other bottles have been shattered on the stone floor. A banded door on the eastern wall is slightly ajar, and they see a hallway beyond.
They head down the passage, treading quietly and cautiously, and come to a corner, which Nowhere and Orryn peek around. To the south they see the passage opens into a room lit with a lantern. Within the brick-lined walls of this damp, square room are three empty barrels and an upturned chest. The rotting shards and rusty hoops of a few other broken barrels are scattered here and there on the floor.
To the south is a pile of furs and straw. On the straw gathers a pack of hyenas, maybe a dozen. Next to them is a small cask, a copper pot, and a metal bucket.
Sitting on a cask is a man, tied and gagged, terror in his eyes. He is bleeding from multiple bites on his legs and torso, probably from the hyenas. A huge gnoll steps over to him, gibbering in the gnoll tongue. This one decorated more than other gnolls – maybe his a chief or a shaman, but he looks a bit beat-up too. As the gnoll speaks, he looks up occasionally as if praying to the gods. Suddenly, the gnoll grabs the throat of the man and tears it out. The gushing blood has the hyena’s yipping with delight, rising from their hay bed to feed.
The gnoll drops the man to the floor and with an order to the hyenas, they descend upon him and tear him to pieces.
Nowhere ducks back, communicating what they see to the rest of The League, when Orryn watches a startling transformation. The six hyenas distort and twist and within moments turn into gnolls. Orryn tells them.
Immeral says "Let's try to capture the shaman this time and gather some information." his eyes holding a second longer on Nowhere and Dain than the others.
Dain asks "can we kill them before they are transformed?"
Orryn looks back and the shaman is watching the almost fully-formed gnolls take their feet "Too late."
Dain says "Let's go anyway!"
The Owlbear League rushes into the room, weapons out. Nowhere swings Icerazor at one of the newly minted gnolls, slashing it brutally with ferocious swings, slashing it, stabbing it, then twisting the blade for brutal damage which sends the gnoll to the ground unconscious in a spill of blood.
Seraphina casts hold person on the shaman gnoll and he mutters a stifled cry as he is paralyzed into place.
Orryn draws his rapier and rushes at one of the gnolls, but it dodges and he misses.
Atlas dives in with a flurry of blows battering one of the gnolls with her fists encased in gauntlets of ogre power, but it backs off and yips in laughter.
Immeral casts ray of frost and blasts the chittering gnoll that Atlas had beaten down and blasts the gnoll with blistering cold damage that knocks the gnoll out.
K'ronk swings his goat staff hitting a different gnoll, driving him backward, and then follows with a quick blast of fire bolt for some hair-burning damage, but the gnoll howls and is still standing.
Dain attacks the closest one with his great axe and slashes it badly, he swings again, but the gnoll backpedals out of the way.
The gnolls counter, one clawing and biting at K'ronk, but he knocks the feet out from under the gnoll and it is smashes to the ground knocked out.
The other gnolls focus on Orryn, and the wily gnome dodges one, but the other lands a bite on the shoulder of the rogue.
Nowhere slashes twice at one of the gnolls attacking Orryn with Icerazor, tearing at its hairy flesh and drawing gouts of blood and it growls in anger.
Orryn uses his wand of magic missile and blasts one of the gnolls apart with a half-dozen purple bolts of magical energy.
Seraphina releases a flurry of blows on one of the remaining gnoll, sending it reeling and bloodied, barely on its feet.
Immeral casts chill touch at the gnoll fighting Dain and the magical energy knocks out the gnoll.
K'ronk targets the last fighting gnoll, flinging fire bolts at the creature, setting the wounded beast on fire and killing it outright.
The group dusts themselves off and then uses Atlas' rope of climbing to tie up the gnoll shaman.
Seraphina casts zone of truth upon the shaman and Immeral, who can comprehend languages talks to the gnoll.
"Do you speak common?" Immeral asks.
"I do" responds the gnoll in a gravelly voice.
"Why are you here with the red wizard?" Immeral continues.
"I will tell you nothing." he replies.
"You have to tell us something so that my friends are not inclined to kill you right away."
"If I tell you, the wizards will kill me."
"We will kill you first."
The gnoll howls in frustration.
"You don't have to tell me why the gnolls are here, although I want to know. Tell me why the red wizard is here" Immeral returns.
"I only know they want us to keep the locals busy." he replies.
"What did they pay you to do this?" Immeral asks.
"Gold and magic." the gnoll responds.
"What sort of magic?" Immeral continues.
"The necromancers know how to extend life. They promised us these gifts when we returned to Thay. Is that enough info to let me go?"
Immeral tells him "Not just yet." and the gnoll growls in frustration and tugs at the ropes.
Nowhere points Icerazor at him and the gnoll stops squirming. "Where did all townspeople from Julkoun go?"
"I don't know anything about Julkoun." he replies.
Immeral asks "You're not working with the goblins?"
The gnoll responds "I hate goblins, they smell like fish."
"Right?" Nowhere says, and Dain nods.
Immeral ignores them "What special abilities do you have?"
"If I could get loose from your ropes I would have the ability to kill you." the gnoll replies.
Immeral scoffs, "There are more things that can kill you right now than me."
"What do I need to say for you to let me go?" the shaman asks.
"Just keep talking and I'll let you know when we are done." Immeral replies and the gnoll howls in frustration again.
"Are there any other gnolls here in this compound?" asks Immeral.
"There are other gnolls, all about. But, you must have defeated the ones outside."
Immeral nods and asks "What about on this floor?"
"I am mostly alone down here. It has been that way ever since Noyerghu took over."
"Who is Noyerghu?" Immeral asks
"Another pack lord." the shaman says, "who took over my command."
"What abilities does he have?" Immeral asks
"He is a powerful warrior, a gnoll pack lord."
Immeral continues "Do you want your pack back?"
The gnoll answers with a tinge of sadness "I don't see how I would be honored. Now I just focus on creating new gnolls for the pack."
"We're not helping him." Nowhere says.
"If we convince him to help us..." Immeral starts
"He just threatened to kill you." Nowhere replies.
"Is that enough to let me go?" the gnoll asks.
Meanwhile, Atlas and Dain are having a discussion about how powerful the zone of truth magic might be. "What color are my underwear?" Atlas blurts out. Dain laughs, K'ronk looks at them strangely, Orryn shakes his head in disgust, and the former gnoll pack lord stares in confusion.
K'ronk asks, "Who was that man earlier you fed to the hyenas?"
"He was a villager whose soul would birth the new gnolls." he says.
"Is this a ceremony every gnoll knows how to do?" Immeral asks.
"Every pack lord. Are you going to kill Noyerghu?" the gnoll asks.
"Likely yes." Immeral says.
"Good." the gnoll states, "but he has other gnolls with him."
Immeral asks "How many are with him?" not realizing that they likely defeated Noyerghu as the sleeping pack lord near the red wizard's study.
"At least a dozen." he answers.
"Who does Noyerghu answer to?" Immeral continues.
"He was helped to be pack leader by the red wizards. They did something to my mind, they took my will to fight away, and Noyerghu, a gnoll from Thay bested me. There was a monsterous voice in my head that took over, but it is gone."
Immeral turns to K'ronk and with a worried look says "I don't think that is the succubus." He then asks "Are there any other red wizards with you?"
The gnoll answers "There are two red wizards here."
"Only one now." says Nowhere.
"Where was that villager from?" asks K'ronk
The gnoll answers "He was from the Trade Way, the main road. This is what we were told to do by the wizards. The gold and the magic to prolong our lives were the promises."
K'ronk continues "Are there more red wizards nearby?"
"I do not know," the gnoll replies. "Can I go now?"
K'ronk asks "What did you know about the man you killed? Did he want this? Did he beg for his life?"
The gnoll answers "Of course."
"How do we know you won't report us to someone?" Immeral asks.
"I will leave immediately, if you have killed the gnolls upstairs, there is no reason for me to fight, I will go back to the hill country."
Atlas whispers "Just kill him."
"So you pull a man off the road, he begs for his life, and you now beg for yours. Do you regret what you have done?"
The gnoll says "I did not have a choice."
"What do you feel now?"
"I just want to go home." the gnoll says, somewhat dejected.
Immeral says "He just wants to go home. Let's let him go."
Atlas interjects, "He will just kill someone else or seek revenge on us later."
Tired of the conversation, Nowhere raises to swing Icerazor and the gnoll says "I hope the red wizards eat your souls. I will see you in hell." then Nowhere lops off his head.
Immeral looks disgusted. "He was helping us, we didn't need to do that."
Nowhere says "I did not see the moral dilemma. He was bad, I don't care what info he gave us. He killed innocents, we killed him, that is what we do." Immeral seems torn, but they move on.
"Do we have what we need?" asks Immeral.
"We could clear out the entire lodge." says Nowhere
"I feel bad for this guy they tore apart." K'ronk says. "Do you think we could find his family?"
Dain picks up a scrap of his body "He's not even half a carcass. Wait, here's an ear."
K'ronk says "maybe if we bring the pieces in a barrel?"Orryn suggests "I am more worried about the other red wizard.
"Seraphina adds "I could cast Leomund's Tiny Hut to protect us while we rest."
Atlas replies "We still haven't tried the Rod of Security that you mentioned to us."
Nowhere says, "Instead of a rest, I will heal K'ronk, we can clear a little more of the area before we bed down for the night." and she casts cure wounds.
The Owlbear League then slowly proceeds south and enter a room some 15'x15'. This damp, brick-lined cellar contains four shelves on which stand a few clay and glass vases. Similar containers are also broken on the shelves and floor. To the west is a banded wooden door covered in mold. There is a hallway to the south ending in another door.
Nowhere listens at the door to the west and hears the gurgling of running water. She opens the door and finds nature caves and a running river. She closes the door "I don't like the creatures who come from wet caves." The others nod.
They continue south to the other door which stands ajar and hangs free of one hinge. Running water can be heard from within the next area.
The eastern half of this chamber is occupied by a square basin fed with roiling water.
K'ronk detects magic but discovers nothing interesting.
Nowhere says "Let's go back where we stay dry." and the others agree.
They head east from where they battled the gnolls, finding the room getting more ornate than the previous room. Not having a clear direction, they head to the door to the north.
There is a door of finely chiseled marble decorated with a crest of a wolf speared through the ears. A name is carved on the door "Bartos Phylund".
K'ronk detects magic again, but sees nothing unusual.
Nowhere pulls open the handle on the marble door and it moves easily. Inside is a square crypt containing a stone casket mounted horizontally on the life-size statue of a crouching beast. The top of the casket has been removed and lies on the floor nearby.
They step in cautiously, but aside from the missing corpse, nothing seems amiss. They search for secret passages or treasure, but find nothing.
The League cautiously continues down the hallway to the west and finds another crypt to the north, this one for Urtos Phylund. Inside, the crypt is the same, except the crypt is intact. Grasping the edge of the lid, Dain and Nowhere lead to group peeling of the lid of the coffin. There is nothing inside but a desiccated corpse in tattered clothing. They search the coffin and the room, but find nothing. They move on to the west to a large open crypt some 30' wide and 50' long. This large crypt contains burial niches for wooden coffins. All the niches are empty, and a dozen or so coffins have been opened and cast to the floor or leaned against the wall. A skeleton lays within each.
K'ronk detects magic but sees nothing. Knowing that this will not tell whether a skeleton is undead or not, Seraphina steps forward with her ring of undead command and she orders them to come to her.
Five of the skeletons become animated and rise to her command, and she commands the undead to attack the other skeletons in the room.
The skeletons take to the matter quickly and dispatch the unactivated skeletons, destroying them and their coffins. Wood and bone splinters and the room becomes a field of debris with the Owlbear League wondering, who set this undead trap. At the end, the ones under Seraphina's command turn on each other, and within minutes, there is one standing, and it is under her command.
Nowhere says "Hey boney." The skeleton does nothing.
They check out the door to the north, which is marked ?????? Phylund, and is similar to the other crypts. They open and search the crypt and it is empty.
They then turn to the south, through the debris field from the skeleton trap.
The door to the south has the Phylund crest on it, but no name.
Inside the crypt are six stone slabs, the walls are filled with empty burial niches, and on each slab are the skeletons of dead ancestors. They move, and a battle ensues.
Dain runs into the room with his shield before him, smashing into a skeleton and sending ribs and and arm flying.
K'ronk misses with a firebolt from the doorway, and moves into swing his goat staff at one, but the it dodges.
Immeral casts ray of frost and hits the one Dain was fighting, and it shatters into pieces.
Atlas rushes in and throws a flurry of blows against one of the skeletons, battering its bones and sending its skull flying, destroying it.
Orryn moves into the room wielding his rarely-used flail. He misses on his attack, feeling awkward with the flail.
Seraphina swings Lightbringer, which glows with radiant light in the presence of the undead enemy, and she destroys the skeleton she hits.
Nowhere uses her flail, and smashes a skeleton, breaking bones left and right and destroys it. She turns and tries to hit another but misses.
The remaining two skeletons attack. One misses Orryn and the second swings at Nowhere clawing her leg for minor damage.
Dain swings his shield and misses the dodgy skeletons.
K'ronk swings the goat staff and hits one, using its necromantic energy to destroy the skeleton, shattering its spine and sending vertebrae flying.
Immeral casts fire bolt and kills the last skeleton in a burst of flame.
The League searches the room for secret passages and treasure, but find a passage, but Orryn finds a jeweled dagger, and as he examines it, it hums with magic. Later, they find it is a Dagger of Venom.
NEXT - CAMPAIGN DIARY 45 - Secrets of Phylund
This adventure used material from the D&D Module "Scourge of the Sword Coast".
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