Into the Breach

7th Eleasias, 1372 DR (Yes, I’m keeping time again!)

After the disastrous raid on Blackwater, the PCs regroup, heal Wern the militia chief, and ask him what he knows about the castle.

Wern reveals that he doesn’t really know much about how to get into the castle, but reveals that there may be other ways to get in. Kieran remembers that the group did have to rendezvous with the group of Purple Dragons, which everyone else somehow forgot.

In any case, the group heads off to meet the soldiers, who have been waiting for them for days. The captain shows them a map of the castle and proposes a way of disrupting the castle’s defenses: As long as the PCs are able to seize the barbican and open the gate, they can clear the way for the soldiers. The Purple Dragons can then gain control of the trebuchets on the roofs of the barbican and begin raining hell on the rest of the castle.

The PCs have come up with an brazen plan to break into the castle: While a patrol exits, the party, clothed in both invisibility and seeming, enter the fortress and hide until sunset. As the sun goes down and torches are lit, the PCs overturn the torches (which is not outright a hostile action) and thereby set the barracks on fire.

After using a commune spell, Acantha determines that the plan will work well enough, but many other things regarding the Marquis’s intentions are for them to discover on their own. Acantha also gleans that the Marquis is part of a large conspiracy, and that there is more at stake here than mere personal gain. Before the spell ends, Kelemvor leaves them with a simple piece of advice: “Connect the dots.”

The PCs execute the plan. Under the cover of dusk, they sneak across to the castle’s base and prepare to get in. Just as planned, they are able to avoid detection until the torches are lit at sunset. They then drop torches and start sneaking off elsewhere as the invisibility wears off.

After turning visible, they stroll nonchalantly over to the barbican. Kieran picks the lock, and the party soon finds itself in the barbican’s capstan room. Deciding instead to take out the hobgoblins on the roof ahead of time, they go up to the roof.

On the roof, they meet not only the archers, but a heavily-armored hobgoblin with a shield and longsword. In an attempt to lead them away from the barbican and avoid a fight,  Kieran tries to bluff the officer on the gate (whom they did not realize is the top hobgoblin officer) into leaving.

Kieran, unfortunately, knows not a single ounce of Goblin.
Alzarug, fortunately, has no ranks in Sense Motive and has 12 Wis, which puts his modifier at +1.

<Kieran> *random grunting, gesturing at the fire, rolls high*
<Alzarug, Hobgoblin Crusader of Bane> *in Common* Yes, I can see it’s burning.
<Kieran> *now in Common* Why aren’t you putting it out? Can’t you see the barracks is on fire?
<Alzarug> Yes I can. Our orders were to stand our ground on the gate. Why aren’t YOU putting it out? What are you doing here?
<Kieran> We were ordered to come up here.
<Alzarug> What? Why? Who gave you those orders?
<Kieran> *at this point noticing that this was the only guy wearing a big helmet and ornate armor* Um…um…YOU DID, SIR!
<Alzarug> Really?! Did I? (rolls a 1 on Sense Motive) *scratches chin for a moment* Well, whatever! I’m changing your orders now! Go and put out the fire!
*party stands there, blinking*
<Alzarug> YOU FOOLS! Why are you just standing there?
<Kieran> We are following your example, Sir! *again rolls high*
<Alzarug> I see. Well, what are you waiting for?! Follow me! *Goes down the stairs.*
Just as he takes the first step down, female bugbear clad in light robes runs up the stairs, almost bumping into Alzarug.
At this point, Kieran, who has a couple of levels in Swordsage, uses Shadow Garrote on him. The damage is massive, but Alzarug was far tougher than he appeared. He yells to his archer underlings to open fire.

Azareth springs into action, blinding one of the archers with glitterdust. Lesa also attempts to attack Alzarug, but the commander skillfully blocks every single one of her strikes. Grinning with malice, Alzarug tells the PCs that they won’t live to regret their mistake of attacking.

So ends the most recent chapter of The Black and the Purple. I was quite happy at how they were able to pull off a plan and actually stick to it, and I was also very pleased that Kieran finally managed to put her legendary Bluff skills to use along with her deadly precision attacks. This is only the beginning of an epic struggle to take Dragonsgate and put the Marquis Eldershade’s plans to rest.

But just what is this conspiracy? How do the dragonspawn figure into the equation? The PCs are about to find out.

~ by J. R. R. Flores on November 22, 2008.