Sir Keegan’s Keep - Sessions 3 (pt 2) & 4

Admin Note: For a variety of reasons I never got around to writing these up. And while I have some notes, it’s just not all that fresh in my mind. Therefore you’re getting a combined and abbreviated session report.

Session 3 was played on 2/19. Session 4 was played on 3/12.

Cory ran:
Rhogar the Dragonborn Paladin
Ander the Halfling Rogue

Alex ran:
Barakas the Tiefling Warlord
Ulrick the Human Wizard

Having explored the upper level of the dungeon under Sir Keegan’s Keep, the party descended the dark stairs... and encountered Hobgoblins and an open pit. They quickly attacked, and as they made it to the bottom of the stairs they saw something that struck fear into their hearts... a large caged spider! Once the hobgoblins realized the danger they moved to attack, all except one who ran to the spider cage. Realizing the danger the rogue and wizard worked in concert to stop the hobgoblin from releasing the spider, while the paladin and warlord dispatched the hobgoblins pretty quickly. So quickly in fact that they never had a chance to toss anyone into the pit!

Moving on, they next scouted the barracks. Unfortunately they were spotted and attacked. It was a relatively quick fight, with the hobgoblin warcaster being dropped to bloodied with a single hit.

The party did find itself hurting a little more than they’d realized, so they decided to head back to the hidden armory and catch a long rest. The hours passed quietly, and upon emerging from the armory they were greeted by the sound of silence.

Heading back down the stairs they found things just as they’d left them. However, upon entering the room, the Hobgoblin Chieftan and the remaining members of his warband emerged from their hiding places and attacked! This fast and furious battle resulted in a hobgoblin soldier and the warchief down the 20 foot pit, with the warchief getting kicked back down every time he tried to crawl out! After this they searched the entire Hobgoblin compound, and looted several choice items.

If I recall correctly, this is where we wrapped up the 3rd session.

The hall from the hobgoblin compound split, and the adventurers picked the side path. They eventually ended in a chamber with 3 corruption corpses before them, and a gelatinous cube behind them. The undead dropped quite quickly, as the party really focused their attacks, in spite of a series of low damage results. The cube on the other hand was a real beast. 150 hit points takes a long time to wear down!

Returning to the main corridor they arrived in the room of the skill challenge. Anyone who was paying any attention when 4e was released knows all about skill challenges, and how this one runs. It’s mostly like a combat, only using skills instead of attack powers. Why they waited till near the end of the module to show off a skill challenge, and why they used such a poorly designed one remains a mystery... We muddled though it.

The next room was the ghoul warren. This was a fun fight, especially with the Clay Scout! Plus this was the first combat where the rogue didn’t go first, and the first combat where a monster got to go first!! The ghoul wizard and clay scout all went before the rogue! The zombies all dropped pretty quickly, while the ghoul made them work for it, and they managed to catch and kill the clay scout before it managed to escape and warn those ahead! This was a tense and exciting battle! The adventurers caught their breath and explored the hidden room.

The adventurers steeled themselves and descended the stairs. Opening the door the first thing they see in this ruined cathedral is an angel pinioned high on the wall with adamantium spears. His blood flows down upon a statue of Orcus where a priest performs a desecrating rite before flowing around the room and down the central hole. The adventures decide to sneak around the side to try to surprise the priest. Unfortunately they pick the side where most of the monsters are hiding. The vampires are a surprise, but they drop quickly. The berzerkers are tough, and with the party slightly spread out they manage some solid blows. A tough fight later the monsters were defeated, and shock of shocks, one of them (the dark creeper) ended up down the shaft.

The angel, too high up to free and protected by some dark barrier, urged them to hurry! To stop Kalarel before he could finish opening the portal!

The adventures grabbed the chain that hung above the shaft and climbed down. Kalarel, his assistants, and the dark creeper were waiting.

What really caught their attention was not Kalarel, or the other monsters, but the giant glowing circle and the inky black portal that something was trying to come through.

This was a long battle! The players were really worried about the glowing circle, and were none too thrilled to find out it healed the bad guys! They were even less thrilled when the portal started grabbing at them when they got too close. The combat circled around the pit of blood, with the bad guys trying to stay near the circle, and the players trying to keep everyone away from it (and the portal).

The climax of the battle occurred as Kalarel was brought low, but Ulrick the wizard was grabbed and dragged into the portal, much to the shock of all. With the death of Kalarel, the ritual was broken, and the angel freed.