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5 Mirtul, (Day 41)

Evening

• Under the effects of Pass Without Trace, The Party successfully sneaks to the hidden northern entrance of Cragmaw Castle found by Mo while scouting.
• The Party enters Cragmaw Castle, creeps down the hallway to the southmost door, where Verna  picks the lock and opens the door.
  • It is a concealed postern door to provide a secondary entrance/exit on the southern side of the castle.
• The Party back tracks in the hallway to a door where Verna heard goblinoid voices.
  • Rae  peeks through the curtain divider and casts Silence to affect the room.
• Verna slips in and finds 3 Hobgoblins: two Hobgoblin Recruit in simple leather armor and a Veteran in chainmail
  • The Hobgoblin Veteran seems open to parlay, but is silenced. He cautiously attempts to show his willingness to talk but slowly pulls out his Warhammer to test Verna’s intentions
    • Verna winks at him
    • He coyly winks back, but makes it obvious that he will attack if Verna makes a wrong move
  • Verna makes a “calm down” motion
  • The Hobgoblin Veteran makes a clear motion to back up, still unable to speak
  • Verna pretends to misunderstand him, putting a hand up to her ear and silently mouthing “What?” as she advances on him

BEGIN COMBAT

Round 1

• The Hobgoblin Veteran exits a door to the north, outside of the Silence area. The Party hears yelling between him and another, unknown character, then he reenters the room and fires his Heavy Crossbow at Verna but misses.
• Verna responds with a shot from her Light Crossbow, piercing the Veteran’s Chainmail and burying a bolt in his shoulder.
• Vala  casts red Chromatic Orb, throwing a mote of fire at The Hobgoblin Veteran. The Veteran takes the flames in stride, seeming to resist their effect. Vala yells her revelation to The Party, particularly Rae.
• Rae steps into the Silence field, holds up his holy symbol and invokes the Radiance of Dawn. Intense radiant light flashes out 30 feet from him, immediately searing the two Hobgoblin Recruits and The Hobgoblin Veteran. Scorched corpses are all that remains of the Recruits, while the Veteran is severely burned, obviously near death. 
• Mo advances on Veteran, bludgeoning him with Grew.
• From the hallway to the south, The Party hears a loud crash
  • A gigantic Dire Wolf comes running through hallway and stops in front of Rae
  • Outside of the orb of Silence, Rae and Vala hear a gutteral, booming voice bellow  “Who dares enter King Grol's domain and attacks without parlay? Snarl [the name of the wolf, presumably] will be happy to feast on your skulls unless you want to talk. And if you have any love for the dwarf, any denial of parlay will forfeit his life.”
  • Vala snaps to, puts her hands in the air and calls out placatingly, “Oh we’d love to talk, please come out.”
• Snarl viciously bites Rae, and shakes Rae around before throwing him prone. Miraculously, Rae is able to maintain concentration on the Silence spell.
• "Rig" and Sildar approach Cragmaw Castle from the south, pausing at the edge of the forest leading to the castle
  • Sildar  says “We have no way of knowing if and when they got here. But I think we should probably assume that if they're not here, they will be soon. And I think we should probably find a way in and scout the area.” 
  • "Rig" dashes toward the southern wall of the castle while blurting out “All right, don't dawdle, old man!”
    • Sildar chuckles, bemused
    • Despite Rig's youth and speed, Sildar meets her at the castle wall only a few breaths behind. Surprised at his alacrity, "Rig" thinks to herself, “I underestimated the old man.”
  • They find the southern postern door and pause at the entrance
• Around the same time, Orthanc  approaches from the north, noticing footprints leading to the curtain blind that the Party entered through
  • He doesn’t recognize their tracks but figures it prudent to follow

Round 2

• The Hobgoblin Veteran pulls out his Warhammer and swings at Mo, but misses. The hobgoblin’s second attack makes solid contact, brutally smashing Mo in the ribs and throwing him 10 ft across the room. Moviolently collides with the wall but manages to stay on his feet.
  • Verna notices that the Hobgoblin has found himself in a dire situation, severely wounded with two allies killed and cornered in the room. Despite this, the Veteran does not even consider feeling through the barred door to the south…. curious.
• Vala runs down a small hallway into the north-eastern room and finds a massive, armored bugbear - King Grol.
  • She raises her hands non-threateningly and casts the Message cantrip to communicate in the Silence field, saying “We would very much like to parlay about the dwarf. Please do not harm him. I'm Vala. How can we help you?”
  • King Grol attempts to speak, but realizes he is Silenced, then sends a depraved telepathic reply: “Deals off. You look like a tasty one!” and licks his slavering lips with a disturbingly long tongue. 
  •  Vala finds fresh new ground for types of upset.
• Rae casts Burning Hands into the belly of Snarl, the Direwolf that is pinning him to the ground, causing massive burn damage to the creature, nearly killing it and setting it on fire.
• Mo casts Starry Wisp, further harrying The Hobgoblin Veteran with radiant damage.
• King Grol moves out of the Silence field and yells into the northeastern room “Vyerith, kill the dwarf, he is useless to me now.”
  • He lasciviously trundles toward Vala, swings at her with his Warhammer, but misses wildly, distracted by the grotesque plans he has in his head for Vala
  • Vala mockingly laughs in his face
  • King Grol laughs back, saying “I loves it when they fight back!”
• The dying Snarl bites at the Rae while holding him pinned to the ground
  • Rae casts Warding Flare, partially turning Snarl’s bite aside. Snarl manages to sink its fangs into Rae’s shoulder one last time before burning to death.
• "Rig" and Sildar stand at the postern door, preparing to enter.
  • "Rig" whispers to Sildar that the door is likely to be locked
    • Surprisingly (to Rig) the door opens easily 
    • "Rig" is disgusted by the seeming incompetence of the goblins she assumes are in charge of the castle.
  • "Rig" slips through the door and advances down a hallway, walking past Verna
    • Verna instantly recognizes "Rig", having heard incessant chatter from Vala about her, and calls out “Rig!”
    • "Rig" pulls out her stilettos, brandishes them at Verna, and yells “How the fuck do you know my name?!”
      • Verna is bemused as Vala had described her meeting "Rig" in almost the exact same manner.
    • Sildar partially hears the conversation from outside and shouts into the doorway to "Rig", asking if she is talking to a goblin
      • "Rig" replies “No! It’s a lady!”
      • Sildar hurriedly asks if the “Lady” she is talking with is Lady Vala but "Rig" replies that it’s not
  • "Rig" sizes up Verna and points a stiletto at her, boiling her entire assessment down to “You cool?”
    • Verna impishly smiles and shrugs.
    • "Rig" slips past Verna while facing her the entire time. 
    • Verna is amused at Rig's extreme, perhaps performatory caution, and plays into the situation by pantomiming stabbing her and laughing.
  • "Rig" finds Rae, bloodied, on the ground beneath a dead Direwolf. He looks an odd sight: he is mostly bald but his head is covered with a thin layer of peach fuzz hair and smeared with blotches of ink that look like shoddy Thayan tattoos. He is holding a holy symbol of Lathandar and seems to be praying ever so softly
    • Rae looks up at "Rig", holding out her stilettos, and assumes that this is how he dies
      • "Rig" looks back at Verna, gestures toward Rae, and asks “Is he with us?”
      • Verna repeats her playful, silent reply: a smile and a shrug.
    • "Rig" notices Vala through an open doorway, laughing at a massive, armored Bugbear. "Rig" rolls her eyes and mutters “Snob.” in Vala's direction
    • "Rig" is disappointed that there is no violence she seems capable of doing at the moment and settles with healing Rae, dressing the worst of his Direwolf wounds with her Healers Kit.
  • "Rig" quietly enters the room where Mo and Vala are locked in battle, but doesn’t make herself known and none of the combatants notice her.
• Sildar follows "Rig" through the postern door.
  • He sees Verna, puts the sequence of events together and says to her “Oh, you're the lady that she saw. “
    • Verna responds, sans preamble: “Some guy's trying to rape lady Vala.”
    • Sildar exclaims: “Someone's going to besmirch the lady!? Where is he?” and takes off down the hallway
  • As he dashes north, he notices Rae, bandaged but still trapped under a dead Direwolf. 
    • Sildar asks “Rae, you doing alright?”
      •  Rae wheezes in response. 
    • Sildar looks seriously into Rae’s eyes and utters one word: “SITREP!” 
      • Rae manages to wheeze out with some trouble:  “Goblins…. Vala… Rockseeker is in danger but lives.”
        • "Rig" calls from the other room “I’m not gonna let her get raped!”
        • Vala turns, elated at hearing Rig's voice, and screams “Rig! You’re alive!” but doesn’t notice Sildar outside the room. 
    • Sildar pats Rae on the chest, pinning his Lord's Alliance Pin back in place, and respectfully says “Good man” before advancing with purpose. 
  • Sildar continues across the room through a curtain to the north, where he sees Orthanc Hellbringer" data-mention="Orthanc Hellbringer">Orthanc
    • He is bewildered at the situation having found 2 members of the Party returned at such an odd time and asks himself “What the fuck?”
      • Orthanc thinks Sildar is speaking to him, holds up his hand, and says “Hi.”
• Orthanc quickly moves through the castle toward the sound of King Grol and Vala in battle. 
  • He greets Vala, who is happier now that Orthanc has returned and cries out “It’s a reunion!”
  • Orthanc motions to King Grol and loudly asks “Who is this guy?”
  • "Rig" interjects:  “Some RAPIST!” 
  • Orthanc matter-of-factly replies “Well, we can’t have that” and readies his weapons for attack

Round 3

• The Hobgoblin Veteran bashes Mo his Warhammer, throwing him across the room into "Rig", who is knocked aside but stays on her feet.
  • Mo lies prone on the ground, vulnerable to a killing blow from The Hobgoblin Veteran, who holds his warhammer above his head, preparing a vicious downward chop
    • Rae casts Warding Flare, ever-so-slightly distracting the Hobgoblin who manages slice into Mo but accomplish a deadly blow
• Verna sneaks into the north eastern room from which King Grol emerged but finds nothing of significance. She peeks into a small antechamber off of the room and finds Gundren Rockseeker  hanging from his arms in the corner with a female drow (presumably “Vyerith) leering over him.
  • “Vyerith whispers in a language unknown to Verna. It sounds strange, as if it were one continuous series of sibilant sounds rather than distinct words in a sentence. She also finds it odd that the drow seems to be speaking to an unconscious Gundren.
  • “Vyerith does not notice Verna’s presence.
  • Verna calls out to the party, more animate and aggressive than she’s ever sounded:  “Drow! Filthy drow! Worse than goblins!”
  • “Vyerith DEFINITELY notices Verna now. 
• Vala hears Verna’s exclamation, considers the disgusting bugbear in front of her and the armed Orthanc behind the bugbear, and decides she is no longer needed in her particular location. She casts Misty Step, pirouetting through a sudden rift in space, and appearing in the doorway where Verna entered.
  • Vala calmly enters the opening to the antechamber with her hands raised and attempts to reason with the drow, calmly saying “I'm sure we could come to some sort of arrangement. We are here to parlay for the dwarf. As I told the rapist outside.”
  • “Vyerith does not acknowledge Vala’s existence.
  • Vala attempts to cast Vicious Mockery, but the drow easily resists the psychic intrusion.
  • Vala squeezes past Verna, attempting to place herself between Gundren and “Vyerith in an effort to protect the vulnerable dwarf.
    • “Vyerith demonstrates that she did, in fact, notice Vala, but simply did not care to acknowledge her existence by punching Vala in the face while she tries to move past.
    • Before her nose is broken into a crooked mass of pulped cartilage and blood, Vala finds it odd that Vyerith didn’t attack with the knife in her hand
• Rae drops his field of Silence and casts Resistance on Mo, to bolster him against any more mundane damage.
• Mo expresses his state of being “tired of this shit” and Wildshapes into a Brown Bear, forcing "Rig" against the wall by the sheer mass of his bearbulk.
  • Still prone, BearMo rolls onto his belly, rears up, and digs his claws into The Hobgoblin Veteran's shoulder. BearMo pulls the Hobgoblin to the ground, bites deeply into the Hobgoblin’s neck, and flings him across the room, breaking his neck in the process.
  • BearMo slashes at King Grol. His claws fail to dig deep into the Bugbear’s reinforced armor, but the force of the blow knocks King Grol prone.
• “Vyerith raises her ceremonial dagger to cut Gundren’s throat.
  • Vala quickly reacts to grab “Vyerith’s arm, but she isn’t strong enough to prevent the attack.
  • Verna reaches out just in time to pull the knife wide of Gundren’s neck.
  • “Vyerith is enraged, sneering and hissing at Verna and Vala
  • “Vyerith whispers in her strange and stares directly into the eyes of Vala and Verna
    • Vala keen arcane mind allows her to resist any effects
      • While staring into the drow’s visage, Vala notices something odd: it seems to momentarily shimmer into the vague likeness of another face.
    • Vala becomes distracted while trying to intuit some details about the drow, giving “Vyerith the opportunity to punch her in the face again
      • Vala is again intrigued that the drow chose to strike her with a fist rather than use the deadly blade in her hand
      • Vala also realizes that “Vyerith is very tall, even for a female drow, and has a strength unmatched to any elf she’s ever heard of
    • Verna suddenly sees “Vyerith face wither into a mask of flesh strung title over an angular skull and her eyeballs disappear into bottomless pitch black. Verna is Frightened. 
• "Rig" quickly sizes up the state of the battlefield, scurries up BearMo's back, and leaps from it, both stilettos aimed at King Grol
  • She buries one stiletto into his shoulder, driving him to the ground with the force of her leap and jabs her second knife point through King Grol's iron codpiece as they strike the ground
  • Grol emits an ear-splitting yelp of pain while blood gushes from his wounds
  • "Rig" holds her body weight against the blades, pinning Grol to the ground like insect pins
• Sildar enters the room to find a terrified Verna fleeing through the antechamber door. 
  • He asks about Vala, and Verna emphatically points over her shoulder while she screams.
  • Sildar maneuvers Verna out of the doorway, swapping his place with her
  • He notices Vala looking dazed and bleeding profusely from her nose, standing between Gundren and “Vyerith.
  • Sildar calls out “Lady Vala, I got your message!” rallying her to power through her pain. He then brandishes his Longsword and misses an attack on “Vyerith, distracted with concern for Vala’s well-being.
• Orthanc rushes into the room and immediately rages at the sight of a bloody Vala and a near-dead Gundren. He swings his Greataxe at “Vyerith, but misses - the close-quarters battle is not conducive to such brute force tactics.

Round 4

• Verna, frightened of “Vyerith, runs out of the room and happens upon "Rig", still savoring the pain she is inflicting atop King Grol.
  • "Rig" immediately clocks Verna’s intentions and makes room for an incoming attack.
  • Verna goes straight for that dick
    • “It is cream of genital soup in that codpiece”
• Vala attempts to invade “Vyerith’s mind with an Id Insinuation, but “Vyerith easily resists.
  • Vala pours a Potion of Healing I (Lesser) down Gundren’s throat to stabilize him against his potentially mortal wounds.
• Rae finally manages to extricate himself from under the Direwolf corpse and dashes down the hallway, following Sildar.
• BearMo sees King Grol thrashing in pain on the ground
  • BearMo slashes his claws into Grol to hold him down, making it all the easier to tear out his throat.
• “Vyerith sees the futility of her situation. Suddenly, her body begins to shake violently while all of her bones simultaneously break themselves into small shards that collapse into a more compact frame. Her skin then begins to bubble and dissolve into wet, greasy clumps. The Party watches as a small male goblin seems to be birthed from a collapsing skin cocoon that was previously in the shape of a large drow female.  
  • “Vyerith uses the distraction to nimbly escape through a small, concealed burrow hole at the top of a rubble pile that was previously an exterior wall of the castle. 

END COMBAT

• The Party is baffled by the spectacle they just witnessed.
  • Orthanc tells The Party stories told among his Goliath tribe of “Skin-Walkers,” creatures that can take the shape and perfectly adopt the persona of any humanoid. 
    • They are mythic in their prevalence but are rightfully regarded with terror.
    • Orthanc confidently tells The Party that if they ever see that Skin-Walker again, they should kill it on sight.
      • The Party is a bit confused as to how they are supposed to know if they’re looking at it, if it can perfectly imitate any sentient being…
• Sildar rushes into the room and begins cutting Gundren down from his bindings.
  • As he is working, he talks to the unconscious Gundren: “I found you. I’m sorry I let you get taken, that I let them take us. I swore I would find you again alive or dead. I’m glad to have found you, even in this state.” 
  • An aside to Vala: “Thank you for sending me that message. If I weren’t here to help save Gundren, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
• Vala smiles and says “I don’t know if he, or we, would have made it without you. Thank you, Sildar.”
  • She asks Sildar to carry Gundren back to the Hobgoblin barracks for healing.
• Upon reaching the barracks doorway, they see "Rig" still leaning on the stilettos buried in King Grol's corpse,
  • "Rig" notices Vala and makes an exaggerated point of removing them while Vala watches a fountain of blood streaming from the wounds. 
    • Vala doesn’t seem to notice and happily calls to "Rig", expressing how much she missed her.
  • "Rig" slides off the dead Bugbear, approaches Vala with an inquisitive nose in the air, and grabs Vala’s chin to gesture to her broken nose: “Quite the shiner!” 
    • Vala freezes. The only other time "Rig" touched Vala was to flip her on her ass into the mud.
  • While Vala is distracted, "Rig" expertly sets Vala’s nose. 
    • Vala screams in pain, but immediately thanks "Rig" when the deed is done.
    • A thick smear of Grol’s blood remains on Vala’s face after "Rig" lets go.
    • Vala is relieved Grol is dead and doesn’t seem to notice (or perhaps care about) the blood on her face
    • Vala asks if Grol is dead.
    • "Rig" absent-mindedly kicks Grol’s corpse while confidently blurting out “I think so?”
    • Vala laughs at Rig's return, and joins in kicking Grol’s corpse a few times.
• Rae, Verna, and Mo explore the room to the west.
  • It is a high, narrow hall that looks to have previously been a chapel or shrine of come kind.
  • Beatific figures are sculpted along the room's upper reaches, looking down on the floor below, but most of them are severely damaged or destroyed.
  • Rae casts Light on a small stone he picks up from the ground to better investigate.
    • The room is filled with iconography of several of the patron gods of various pantheons throughout Faerun, including Corellon Larethian, Selûne, Garl Glittergold, Moradin, and Yondalla
• Orthanc joins Gundren, "Rig", Vala, and Sildar in the barracks where Gundren rests on a bed.
  • Vala uses her magic to heal Gundren’s open wounds while "Rig" sets several broken bones.
  • As his body begins to knit itself together, Gundren awakes to a group of strangers, including the largest man he’s ever seen, hovering over him.
    • Gundren seems confused and only partially aware of his surroundings, but manages a short conversation with Sildar.
      • G: What? What? Where am I? Sildar? Sildar? Sildar, is that you? 
      • S: Yes, yes, Gundren, it's me. I have a group here that we've been searching for you for weeks. I was taken captive. But we finally found you. 
      • G: Where's me map? 
      • S: What? Oh, your map.
      • G: To Wave Echo Cave. Did that dirty drow get it?
    • "Rig" interrupts and says “it’s probably in here” as she throws upon a previously barred door at the south end of the barracks and snarkily remarks that the “stupid goblins have locked the treasure door from the outside”
      • An enraged, sickly, and obviously starving Owlbear erupts at the opening of the door and grabs "Rig" with it’s claws, pulling her into the room.
      • The Owlbear tries to peck "Rig" with its beak, but she manages to evade the attack.
      • "Rig" gathers herself and rushes out of the room, slamming the door but forgetting to reset the door bar behind her.
    • Sildar ignores Rig's antics - nearly being killed and eaten by a ravenous and perhaps diseased Owlbear - and continues his conversation with Gundren
      • S: We haven't found your map
      • G: You must find me map! I have to get back to Wave Echo Cave!
      • S: Gundren, we don’t need the map. We know the location, we know the location of Wave Echo Cave!”
      • G: Oh thank the Keeper of Secrets, I need to find me brothers. They're still there.
    • Gundren passes out.
  • Sildar and Vala confer in a brief conversation:
    • Sildar explains that Gundren’s condition is stable, but he will need extensive rest and recuperation in Phandalin before he will be able to venture out again.
    • Sildar asks if an owlbear just attacked "Rig", and Vala confirms that she believes it was.
• In the shrine hall, Verna approaches some heavy curtains separating another room to the north. She reaches to open the curtain.
  • A Grick - a 6 foot long wormlike monstrosity with a head of barbed tentacles surrounding a large beak - drops from concealment on the ceiling, landing behind her

BEGIN COMBAT

Surprise round

• Verna narrowly evades theGrick's’s barbed tentacles attempting to grasp her, but it manages to bite her with an attack from its beak.

Round 1

• The Grick lashes out its tentacles again, grappling Verna and digging the barbed tips into her flesh
  • With Verna in its grasp, the Grick easily bites her again with its razor sharp beak.
• Rae casts Scorching Ray on the Grick, severely burning it and causing it to drop Verna.
• Verna recovers her balance from the previous attacks, Steady Aims and stabs the Grick with her Shortsword.
• Mo Wildshapes into a Brown Bear and interposes himself between Verna and the Grick
  • BearMo slashes the Grick with his claws, knocking it prone, then viciously bites it while it's down.
• The heavy curtains fly open: two Goblin Bodyguard's in simple leathers block the entrance, protecting a Goblin Witch Doctor farther back in the next room. 
  • The Goblin Witch Doctor shakes his staff adorned with various skulls and fetishes then cries out “What have you done to my Sleebo?! Kill them! They will be fodder for Maglubiyet!”
• "Rig", lying on the floor in the Barracks room after being thrashed by the owlbear, hears the screams from the Goblin Witch Doctor.
  • She looks up to Orthanc and, somewhat exasperated, says that they should probably go investigate the situation.
  • She points to the door to the owlbear room and emphatically tells Vala to not enter it.
    • Vala reassures her that she definitely will not be opening the door. 
• The Goblin Witch Doctor casts Spiritual Weapon, summoning a spectral sickle in front of Rae, which immediately slashes him.
  • The Goblin Witch Doctor wildly gesticulates with his hands in the air and cries out: “Get them! Kill them, my pretties!”
    • Rae, Mo, and Verna hear a skittering noise, then screeching and squeaking coming from somewhere in the room.
  • A swarm of Skitterling erupts from behind the Goblin Witch Doctor. 
    • The Skitterling resemble fat little possums with bat wings and six legs. Instead of clawed paws, their hind legs end in sharp crab-like pincers. 
    • Thick, green liquid oozes from their teeth, which they madly apply to their claws and pincers.
• The Skitterling lack any semblance of being aerodynamic, and clumsily fly through the doorways into the shrine hall. The swarm breaks apart with half attacking Rae and half BearMo. The Skitterling scratch and bite, trying to attack Rae and BearMo's faces.
  • Rae quickly reacts, casting Warding Flare to blind the skitterling's and cause them to miss in their attacks.
• The two Goblin Bodyguard's rush Verna, but miss in their attacks. 
• "Rig" pulls herself up from the floor to go join the fight. 
  • Vala, tending to Gundren, tosses "Rig" a vial of Recipe, Antitoxin. 
  • "Rig" enters the shrine hall and stabs a Skitterling out of the air with her Stiletto. She stabs another with her offhand Stiletto, puncturing a hole in its wing and driving it to the ground.
• Orthanc Dashes behind "Rig", getting himself into the shrine hall but unable to attack.
• Back in the barracks, Sildar and Vala tend to Gundren when the door "Rig" had previously closed bursts open, revealing an extremely injured and sickly owlbear with a Handaxe lodged in its flank.
  • Vala is befuddled, as it can only be the owlbear that The Party had run off after encountering it on the Triboar Trail - the axe protruding from its rump having been flung there by Orthanc. 
• The Owlbear swipes wildly at Vala, but misses and crumbles to the ground, in panicked exhaustion. 
• Sildar lifts his shield and steps in front of Vala to shield her from an additional violence.

Round 2

• The Grick coils its body, bringing it upright from prone. It grasps and bites at BearMo, but misses with both attacks.
• Rae holds up his Holy Symbol of Lathander and Channels Divinity from the Morninglord, calling upon a Radiance of Dawn - a burst of white hot light emanates from his Holy Symbol.
  • Radiant energy fills the room, blistering the Grick and most of the Skitterling to death.
  • The Goblin Bodyguards are caught in the edge of the radiant blast and severely burned. 
• Verna casts Sleep, forcing the Goblin Bodyguards to fall to the ground in slumber. With Rae having expertly dispatched most of the threats in the room, Verna decides her time is better spent in scouting, aka scouring the castle for any valuables, so she exits the room through a door to the northwest.
  • The adjoining room seems to have been the castle’s principle storage room - filled with barrels and crates, most of which are old, dusty, and moldering.
  • She notices a relatively new and clean looking sack, bulging with contents. She opens it to find: 
    • A very fine looking Brigandine stained with blood and torn cloth Lords' Alliance emblem adornment.
    • A Crossbow, Heavy
    • A peculiar sword with the profile of a Longsword but an extra long blade and an extra hand-length hilt
      • The pommel is also oversized and made of solid lapis lazuli with an engraved inset of a shield surrounding a silver 6-pointed crown and 3 white stars
• BearMo snatches a Skitterling from the air with his teeth, crushing it in a burst of blood. Then he splatters another Skitterling against a wall with a swipe of his massive paw. 
• The Goblin Witch Doctor looks to the fallen Grick and cries in anguish and anger:  “You killed my pet!”
  • "Rig" interjects that they had, in fact, killed “A lot of them,” indicating the ground littered with dead Skitterling.
  • The Goblin Witch Doctor runs to a shrine at one end of the room and throws open a cage door from beneath it, releasing another swarm of Skitterling.
    • He casts Sickening Ray at "Rig", but misses.
    • "Rig" is furious to have had a spell cast at her.
• The spectral sickle slashes at Rae, but misses.
• The sleeping Goblin Bodyguards remain immobile on the ground. One is so injured and in such a deep slumber that its brainstem ceases function and it dies, suffocating in its sleep.
• A Skitterling attacks Rae but misses while another manages to do some minor damage to BearMo.
• "Rig", enraged, lunges at the Witch Doctor, tackling him to the ground, and stabbing him with each of her Stilettos, killing him.
  • She stands and calmly slits the throat of the remaining sleeping Goblin Bodyguards
  • She then Action Surges and skewers two Skitterling with a single stab of her Stiletto.
• Orthanc leans his head into the room and asks "Rig", Mo, and Rae, “You got this?” considering the frantic owlbear attacking “the princess” (meaning Vala) in the other room, a more pressing concern than the remaining handful of Skitterling.
  • He assumes the answer was in the affirmative and runs back to the barracks.
  • Orthanc immediately recognizes his own Handaxe sticking out of the flank of the Owlbear and comments “Oh hey! It’s you again!” while putting the Owlbear in a headlock, attempting to subdue without killing it. 
• Confused by the situation, Sildar asks Orthanc and Vala why they’re not killing the Owlbear.
  • Vala responds that The Party is at fault for its injury, its poor condition, and its captivity.
  • Orthanc notes that it’s “Not sporting” to kill an already injured combatant. 
  • Sildar briefly considers and then expresses an idea has popped to mind. He rummages through his backpack, pulls out a large sausage, and tosses it into the room where the Owlbear was previously being housed.
    • The crazed, starving Owlbear smells the delectable meat tube and sprints into the room after it.
    • Orthanc, Sildar, and Vala notice that the axe wound looks very infected.

Round 3

• Rae casts Word of Radiance, and a column of radiant damage burns a Skitterling to death.
• Verna listens at the westmost door off of the storage room and hears raucous goblinoid conversation. 
• She silently communicates her findings to "Rig" in Thieves Cant sign language.
• BearMo claws and bites the remaining Skitterling to death.

END COMBAT

• While the Owlbear is distracted sausage-snacking, Vala and Orthanc work together to help it
  • Vala casts Cure Wounds on its festering butt wound while Orthanc simultaneously snatches the Handaxe.
  • The Owlbear is briefly angered by the pain but quickly goes back to feeding.
  • Orthanc immediately slams the door shut. 
  • Vala yells “BAR IT!” until Orthanc also bars the door.
• "Rig" dresses the worst of Verna’s wounds with supplies from her Healers Kit.

Next Session → Session 021: Placeholder