Thunderspire Labrynth - Session 1

This session was played on 6/26.

Cory ran:
Human Knight (formerly the Dragonborn Paladin)
Ander the Halfling Rogue

Alex ran:
Barakas the Tiefling Warlord
Chan Lee the Human Monk

When last we left our intrepid heroes they had just defeated Kalarel in the dungeon below Sir Keegan’s Keep. While they had emerged victorious, it wasn’t without a cost. The wizard Ulrick had been dragged through the portal into the Shadowfell. Upon returning to Winterhaven they were hailed as heroes for preventing Kalarel from opening the portal and releasing a horde of undead upon the realm. Lord Paldrig after giving the adventurers a day of rest brought up the topic of the missing townsfolk. Remembering something about that they dug though their pockets and found a couple of notes from the Bloodreavers about slaves and Thunderspire. It turns out that Thunderspire is a mountain a couple of days travel from Fallcrest. Hiring some horses they leave the adoration of Winterhaven for the comforts of the road.

In Fallcrest they paused to gather some information on Thunderspire, discovering that there is a trade town within the mountain itself called the Seven Pillared Hall. They also learn a bit about the Labyrinth that the Hall resides in. A day later they arrive upon the mountain road, and follow it up to the Minotaur Gate. http://towerofthearchmage.blogspot.com/2011/06/sunday-inspirational-image-thunderspire.html

They ride in, and follow the gently sloping boulevard deep into the mountain, passing the many demon statues that line the walls. It’s oddly quiet, and even the sound of the horses hooves seems somehow subdued in the greenish light of the widely spaced copper lanterns. After travelling in near silence, they finally hear a noise that they didn’t create - a scream of pain coming from a doorway off of a side passage. Investigating they discover a chamber of hobgoblins playing with a bound halfling, and an unconscious human. A brief scuffle ensues, and inevitably one of the hobgoblins is tossed into the coal filled brazier.

The bruised halfling tells his tale, and invites his rescuers to stay at his aunt’s inn in the Seven Pillared Hall. They asked him about the hobgoblins and the Bloodreavers. Rendil says the Bloodreavers have been seen around the Chamber of Eyes, deeper in the Labyrinth, and that the hobgoblins at their feet were members of that clan.

The human turns out to be a monk with no memory of what he was doing in the labyrinth! Yet he seems to be just the sort of person to fill out a party in need of an extra adventurer. Unfortunately the monk is battered, bloody, and bruised, and will need a day to recover.

Arriving in the Seven Pillared Hall, the adventurers are given the 5 copper tour, during which Brugg the enforcer (he is the brute squad!) encouraged them not to cause a fuss. He doesn’t like people that cause a fuss. Anything from littering to stabbing someone in the eye is causing a fuss. If in doubt, presume it causes a fuss, and don’t do it. The adventurers beat a hasty retreat back to the inn and holed up for the night.

The next day (though it’s difficult to tell day from night in the Labyrinth) the adventurers got directions from their devoted halfling friend, and they ventured through the Dragon Gate into the Labyrinth! Luckily his directions were good, and they arrived at the Chamber of Eyes! They opted to avoid the big doors, and instead scale the balcony and sneak in through the side door. The rogue scouted and found doorway leading down into a barracks. Inside were a pair of goblins and a dozing hobgoblin. The monk and rogue managed to catch the goblin guards by surprise, and the rogue went straight for the hobgoblin. At the top of the round the rogue and monk both took the initiative, and the rogue performed a coup de grace on the hobgoblin, coming up 1 point of damage short of outright killing him. The knight managed to make it down the stairs, over some beds and finished the hobgoblin off before he could do anything! The monk meanwhile had finished off the first goblin, as it tried to escape past him, but 2 more appeared from the far door. taking a potshot before running away to alert the rest of the compound.

The resulting combat was a mess! The adventurers managed to trigger encounters 3+4 at the same time, most of which was fought in the Duergar guards room with the big fireplace. Because this ended up being an exceedingly long and fairly convoluted combat I am only going to give highlights:

• The party ran out of healing, with the knight down to a single hitpoint.
• The dire wolf ended up being a pushover. Disappointing!
• The Hobgoblin Chieftain? Mostly useless
• The Duergar ended up being the most long lasting opponents. The adventurers were mightily disappointed that they had fire resistance.

The noise and bustle eventually managed to draw the attention of the monsters from the final encounter just about the time they were mopping up in the Duergar’s chamber. The party barricaded themselves in a hallway to limit the hobgoblins, humans, and goblins ability to nail the party’s weakened warriors. One one side was a door, that the monk was holding closed. When he heard the room beyond the door had some enemies in it, he popped open the door, stepped in, smacked everyone around hard, slid one unlucky soul into the fire before stepping back into the hall. The remaining opponents turned tail and ran away after seeing the bodies of their comrades, and then seeing half their number taken out.

At the other end of the corridor, which lead out to the balcony that the part entered by, the monk managed toward the end of the fight to drag a hobgoblin into the corridor between himself and the rogue, and then knocked down one of the goblins, and pushed him off the balcony edge! It was at this point the last remaining hobgoblin decided that discression was the better part of valor and surrendered. The party interrogated the hobgoblin, looted the compound, and returned to the Seven Pillared Hall, releasing their prisoner just outside the Dragon Gate.