Solum Week 33

Recap[]

Exploring Fort Ylkvad[]

The party are in the storeroom of Voraci Keep of Ylkvad at one of the ends of the magic bridge across the wide river. They are searching for the orb that creates the anti-magic effect around the keep. The party split up into two search groups. Léa & Voytek in one group, Jasper & Marius in the other group.

Jasper & Marius head outside the storeroom to see how many guards are left in the keep when they spy the Orc Captain in the middle of the parade grounds talking with a brown robed man. They can't see in the dark if it is the Voraci Monk who they met in the forest last episode. There are 24 orcs patrolling the walls of the keep, but the Orcs here appear to be the dregs of the army, as the rest went to fight off the feint to the north.

Léa & Voytek head downstairs and search the dungeons, the stairs are 10 feet wide. In the cells are many humans, some goblins and orcs. The two search the area and find only cells, no sign of where the Orb is being kept, also no guards. The two go down to the next floor, going down a some more wide, switch-backed staircases, but the staircase ends with a 5 foot wide wooden ladder that goes down a pit. Léa climbs down the ladder first. The ladder leads to a 10 foot wide corridor that is 30 foot long that leads into a 20 foot by 20 foot chamber where the orb, with blue/purple/grey mist within, sits on a 4 foot tall pedestal. Behind the pedestal is a cliff down, with a soft glow coming up, illuminating the runes on the rear wall..

Jasper & Marius return to the storeroom and don't see Léa & Voytek. Jasper & Marius head downstairs and meet up with the others. Léa stays lookout at the top of the ladder while Voytek, Jasper, & Marius go into the chamber. Marius moves 30 feet away from the pedastal and fires an arrow at the Orb, but the Orb doesn't budge. Marius uses one of his fire arrows, which splits the Orb in half.

Fleeing the Balor[]

The room shakes and a Balor climbs out of the pit behind the pedestal. The party start to flee up the ladder. Jasper, the last up the ladder, gets hit by the Balor's flame whip. Jasper manages to start climbing as well. The whole party flee up the staircase with Léa.

As the party flee up the 10 feet wide stairs, the light behind them grows ever brighter and the entire keep around them trembles. Léa strips out of her leather armor so she can cast spells again as Voytek heals some of Jasper's Wounds. The roar from the Balor echos all around them. A Bat-Creature comes rushing up the switch-backed staircase, but the party just keep fleeing. The Bat-Creature claws Jasper as Marius hits it with an arrow. The Balor catches up with the party and trips apart the Bat-Creature. The party keep fleeing.

The party each the dungeon level, filled with trapped panicking prisoners. The party keep fleeing up to the surface, as they hear other-worldly screeches behind them.

Up on the surface the party see part of of the Keep's outer-walls has collapsed and the Orc Guards are in a state of panic. The Orc Captain is trying to wake up the two Trolls. Voyteks calls the Orc Captain over to give him a warning as the Balor bursts out of the keep and into the fort's courtyard. The Orcs Solders on the walls flee the keep. Voytek casts Dictate on the Orc Captain, ordering him to raise the Portculis so they can escape. The Orc Captain goes back to wake up the trolls to open the portcullis. The party flee towards portcullis as Marius shoots at the Balor.

The Portculis starts to rise up slowly as the Trolls pull on their chain and the party are all up against it. Léa tries to shrink the Balor, but it resists the spell. Voytek casts Inverted Ethics, but the Balor resists.

The Balor closes in on the party and attacks Marius but misses. Jasper taunts the Balor to get it's attention. Léa goes under the Portcullis that is barely off the ground and onto the bridge. Voytek casts Light at the eyes of the Balor, but it resists the spell. Marius gets under the Portcullis next. The Balor breaths fire on Jasper next. Jasper and Marius then get under the Portcullis next. The party then flee over the bridge. The Balor attacks the Orc Captain and Trolls.

While crossing the miles long magical bridge, bat-creatures swoop down from the sky at the party. The first one attacks Jasper, but Voyteks kills it before it can carry Jasper off. There are 2 bat-creatures left.

The next bat-creature attacks Voytek. Jasper drinks a fire-breathing potion and breathes fire at the bat-creature then Marius then hits it with 2 arrows, almost killing it. A bat-creature attacks Léa, killing her, then jumps off the bridge.

Jasper breaths fire on a bat-creature. Marius fires an arrow at a Bat-Creature. The uninjured Bat-Creature attacks Marius and tries to lift him, but Marius was too heavy, then Marius shots a arrow into it's spine, dying when it lands on the bridge. The other bat-creature lands on the bridge itself, hissing at the party, but Marius kills that one as well.

With the Bat-Creatures dead, the party carry Léa's remains.

Back in Mezinga[]

A mile later as the party get to the Longborn side of the river, they see the Balor on the far side of the bridge jump onto the bridge. The party are allowed into Fort Mezinga. The whole fort is on alert over the Demon on the far side of the river..

The party drop off Léa's remains at the infirmary when Chancellor Volbains comes to the party, demanding where the demon came from. Voytek explains it was guarding the orb, but the orb is now destroyed. Chancellor Volbains however is pleased that Léa is dead, still suspecting her of being a spy. Voytek casts "Command: Poop" on the Chancellor, foring him to use a nearby chamber-pot. Outside alarms and cries call out.

A cleric in the infirmary explains to the party that |Baby Margaret has gone missing. She was being kept in the convent, but has disappeared. The party ignore that for now and go to the walls of the keep where archers are firing on the Balor below. The Balor is pounding on Fort Mezinga's Portcullis. A barrier goes up in front of the Portcullis, and the Balor is unable to get past it. The archers stop firing.

The party go to the convent to investigate Margaret's disappearance. The Elder Cleric, who is an over 100 year-old woman, says all the other clerics rushed off to deal with the Balor, leaving her alone. The blind woman was taking care of Margaret when she was snatched from the cleric's arms 10 minutes ago by a man wearing a Red Hound tabard.

The party leave the convent to search for Margaret. They see the Balor is walking away from the keep across the bridge in the direction it came. The party go talk with Chancellor Volbains, who explains he just moved Margaret for her protection, and sent her to Oldpoint to the East. Voytek tries to get a wizard to comfirm the Chancellor's story, but ends up arguing with the wizard, who casts levitate on Voytek. The spell lasts for 2 hours.

The party rest for the night.

Speak with Dead[]

The party meet up and Voytek casts "Speak with Dead" on Léa, asks her advice for defeating the Army of Voraci, but Léa gives a vague cryptic answer. Léa is then cremated with the other dead solders.

The party then go find Chancellor Volbains. He is in the observation tower of the keep. The party wait down the staircase in a kitchen for the Chancellor to come down. Voytek casts "Compulsive Order" on the Chancellor as soon as he comes into sight. Chancellor Volbains will now put everything he sees into order.

Jasper follows the Chancellor down the stairs and drops some coins. Panicked and unable to stop, the Chancellor throws Jasper down spiral the staircase. Jasper gets up and starts to climb the stairs. The Chancellor demands Jasper get out of the way, but ends up tripping over Jasper. Once at the bottom, Chancellor Volbains starts arranging the dropped coins. Voytek asks what was all that noise about, and the Chancellor says he knows what Voytek did.

Experience[]

2500 exp each (59625 exp total each)

Battle Stats[]

* Damage from Magic Sword unknown.