Weekly Gaming Session Summary #72 (08/28/2021)

A Thank You For Playing today's Dungeons & Dragons 5 th  Edition game of 08/28/2021 - From 10:00 am EDT, until 2:00 pm EDT, and our 82nd Gaming Session, goes out to:   Barbarian – Human - Marcuria Violezi -  Connor D. Paladin Knight – Human – Marshall - Mr. Chiller Rogue Thief – High Elf - Roqar -  Roxxifarius War Priest – Human – Juan Denero –  Buddy-D   Wizard (War Mage) – High Elf – Dia Xiloscient -  Elizabeth K. Wizard (Sage/Scribe) – Drow Elf – Rolo -  Daniel M.     Whom Could Not Make It Today!   Monk – Elf – Farren Nidanas -  Bahrrenn Drakke     Game Summary for Saturday (08/28/2021):   Opening Scene: Day 59: August 19th, 12:03pm   Things start after the party took care of annoying ravens as they started to cross a small bridge over a stream to get to the hut on the other side. The see there are clearly more ravens in the trees in back of the hut and on the roof, and also more to the north east in the trees, all watching the party. As they cross the bridge to the other side, Rolo, fires off a Fire bolt spell and it does 5 damage to Raven #12, defeating it! The rest of the ravens swoop down upon the party anew!   Initiative Rolls are made and Combat Round #01 beings:   Various Ravens fly towards the party members!   Avery and Dia, moves to cross the bridge and get into position to attack the Ravens!   Dia, casts a Web spell hoping to trap some of the birds, #2, 19, 21 and 22!   A couple more Ravens fly over to attack!   Juan, fires his light crossbow, hitting Raven #17 for 10 damage, defeating it!   Marcuria, runs and jumps over the stream, which is about 10 ft wide and whacks Raven #19 for 7 damage with the magical +1 Hew battle axe!   Rolo, casts the Fire Bolt at Raven #14, dealing 17 fire damage, defeating it!   Roqar, moves behind the others crossing the bridge.   More Ravens move to swoop down on the party!   Sildar Hallwinter, just stays back for now.       Combat Round #02: Avery, casts the Vicious Mockery spell on Raven #20, who fails it’s wisdom saving throw, rolling 6 needing ≥ 15 and takes 5 psychic damage, defeating it!   Various Ravens continue to move towards the party!   Marshall, slashed Raven #22 with the magical +1 great sword for 13 damage, defeating it!   Juan, fires the light crossbow, nailing Raven #16 for 11 damage, defeating it!   Marcuria, moves up.   Rolo, casts the Fire Bolt cantrip at Raven #15, dealing 9 fire damage and defeating it!   Roqar, continues to move behind the party.   Raven #24, attacks Rolo with its beak, missing him!   Raven #18 moves to attack!   Sildar Hallwinter, slashed Raven #24 with the long sword for 10 damage, defeating it!     Combat Round #03:   Avery, stabs Raven #23 with the rapier for 13 damage, defeating it!   Marshall, pounds Raven #18  with the mace for 9 damage, defeating it!   Rolo, fires the Fire Bolt cantrip at Raven #21, for 7 fire damage, defeating it and casing the magical webbing to catch fire and kill the remaining Raven #02!   End of Combat!   Roqar, checks for trap at the front door of the hut and did not find one. Then she tries to pick open the lock with her thieve’s tools and opens the door!   Opening the door, Roqar sees that everywhere disorder and confusion reigns. A myriad of strange objects, potions, and old tomes are scattered on every available surface, including the floor. In one corner of the room is an iron cage. Inside, a girl named Sally, of no more than nine years old looks at you, terrified. “Y-you’re not with the witch, are you? Are you here to save me?” she sobs with a hint of hope. Right away Marshall assumes the young girl is an illusion and Avery chastises him.   Sally mentions she has been here a few days, captured by orcs and given to Eris Cherrydwen as a gift.   Sally tells the party the night hag has been gone a few hours now. Saying Eris will be back to feed her.   Meanwhile Marshall, has been using his divine sense to detect evil upon the girl and a fiendish aura registers like a noxious odor to him, around the young girl!   Marcuria was in the process of offering food when Marshall orders Sally back into the cage and proclaims that the girl is no on their side, as she is spilling with evil! Marcuria is like, “Yea, Of course. Why am I not surprised”?   Sally then says, “Very well knight, I am Eris”. With that said she transform into her true self to become the hag she is!   Marshall lowers his weapon.  Eris asks the party what is it they want here and tells them she is capable of defending herself.   Marshall tells the hag they are seeking information and Eris ask what is the information they seek.   Roqar, asks what Eris’s deal with the orcs is. Eris explains it is one in which each basically helps the other out.   Eris says, “For the most part anyways. I had to deal with a bunch that went against me, of which I know you have seen the result yourselves.   Roqar inquires if there are any orcs still living in the caves in the hills of Wyvern Tor and Eris tells her no and informs the party the orcs originally living in Icespire Hold in the sword mountains had fled due to the now dead white dragon.   When asked where the ancient fortress was,  Eris turns ethereal to go outside and then tells the party to look up into the direction she points, telling them to note the fortification they seek in the ice and stone. There is a path up to the place which is easy to spot.   Eris asks them if they had anything else on their minds and no. The party leaves to head up the path to Icespire hold, warning Eris they would be back if she lied.   Juan had gone around the back of the house but did not find anything out of the ordinary, though the remaining ravens keep watch over him.   The trip up to the hold is approximately 3 miles up from the base of the mountain range. The party decides to camp out over night to be fully refreshed and have all spells memorized or prayed for.   As they go up the pathway across the cold, windblown foothills of the Sword Mountains, they happen upon a large, prone creature frozen in the ice! It is a dead ogre! Roqar spots a sack that is also frozen in the ice, near the ogre!   Roqar, chips away at the ice with Marcuria’s pickaxe and yanks it out. Inside is found a rusty dwarven helm, two halves of a splintered woodened shield, a tumbleweed, a crumpled up cowboy hat, and a sackcloth doll in desperate need of re-stitching. There are 3 vials inside as well. Popping the vials open reveals a red liquid that shimmers when shaken, which usually turns out to be healing potions.   Roqar tries on the cowboy hat and then puts it in her backpack.   Marcuria, takes a tiny sip of one and it feels refreshing.   Clouds partly obscure a stone fortress situated atop the icy spur of a jagged, snow-covered mountain that you recognize as Icespire Peak, a landmark so enormous as to be visible from Phandalin on a clear day. The mountain dwarfs the fortress, which consists of two separate structures joined together by a stone bridge. A narrow, winding path corkscrews up the mountainside to the smaller of the two structures, and appears to be the only safe way to reach it by land. It’s an unwelcome path, but not as unwelcome as the cold, howling wind that buffets you.

As the adventure party climbs the pathway upwards the temperature drops to around 35° F and they come to a spot of rubble where tracks are now visible on the ground prior to it:   This narrow trail clings to the mountainside as it twists around and up to the gatehouse. Tracks from horses coming and going along the trail are clearly visible. Characters must traverse the trail in single file. The rubble briefly slows their progress as it is difficult terrain, and they press onwards until they find themselves under the solid stone bridge that spans the approximately 35 feet gap between the gatehouse and the main fortress. The bridge being 50 ft above them. They continue onwards and upwards until they reach the gatehouse door of which Marshall tries to kick in to no effect other than hurting his foot. Marcuria, looks for a trap on the door and did not find one, then simply tries the door and it opens easily enough. Just inside the doorway is the iron bar used to lock the door, resting against the wall and there are 5 horse stalls along the east wall. Four of the stalls have healthy looking riding horses in them. They nay as the party enters with Marcuria in the lead and Roqar, who puts her cowboy hat on, enter first. As they make their way past the stalls a muscular woman with long black hair and cold blue yes emerges from the hallway just south of them. The first thing Runa Vokottir says is, “Come up here to chill out”? Roqar says, “We heard there was a dragon here.” Runa says, “Yes, there was a white dragon up here, hasn’t been back in a while, so we though we’d move right in”. Roqar says, “Seems like we had the same ideas”. Runa says, “Well we were here first lady, it belongs to us now”. Marcuria says, “ Was about to ask you the same. Thanks for saving me the trouble. Nah, you can keep this place. We ain't staying, that's for sure. Seen anything unusual lately”? Runa remarks the only unusual thing lately was the absence of the white dragon. Marcuria tells her the dragon is going to be gone for a long time. While Runa does not like the party being here. Her boss Syleen Wintermoon, a lean figure with long red hair, pulled back in a ponytail. Roqar asks what kind of business they have going on here. Syleen says : "I am Syleen Wintermoon. I am the leader of this bunch, so you seek the dragon, we do not know where it is but if it's gone we claim the fortress."   Marshall says, “ and when it returns how will you fare? lets us track this thing, take it off your hands". Roqar says, "Mind explaining who we is in your case?"   Runa says, maybe we can let you in for a price, got anything to offer”? Roqar says, “In our case, we are on business on behalf of the Order of the Gauntlet". Syleen says, “We are members of the Stone Cold Reavers, as we call ourselves. Never heard of this Order of yours”.   Marcuria says, "Uh huh.....starting to all make sense now. Never heard of you. You adventurers, bandits.....like to know a little more before we talk about trade..."   Marshall offers the Stone Cold Reavers, 15 gold coins each, to have a look around the fortress.   Syleen says, “Yes, good enough for your little sight seeing tour. There is four of us so that’s 60 gold”.   Marshall says, “A fair bargain Ma’am”.   Jabarl the Orc-Biter, a rugged, sullen brute, makes himself known. “Very well then, you may come inside”. Marshall counts and hands over the coins.   Syleen says, “ Right this way up the stairs. Those 3 rooms are just barracks, storage and a smithy".   Rolo, having gone Invisible, casting the spell upon himself, had stayed a bit behind to have a look into each room. The storage room contains empty wooden barrels and crates that are so old and brittle they fall apart when Rolo moves one.   The barracks contain wooden cots that lie in broken heaps against the walls, leaving a clear space in the middle of the room. In the smithy, an anvil rests on the floor near a fireplace that hasn't been lit in years. To one side of the hearth is an old bellows. Scattered about the floor are rusty tools and old horseshoes. The party is lead up two flights of  stairs, into the barbican where they meet Brakkis Elspaar, an unshapely man whose best years are behind him.  He mentions that they are mercenaries for hire. Marcuria says, “ Yeah. Familiar with that trade. Only left it behind recently. Tell you what then.....maybe we'll clear it out for you anyway, as a gesture of good faith. Let us come up and down here as we please, maybe i'll even sweeten the bargain, get you guys some firewood so you're not borderline-freezing to death up here."   Jarl says, “We’ll think about that”.   The party is warned of stirges in the audience chamber of the fortress across the bridge and proceed to cross it. The bridge is edged by 3 feet high stone railings. Mounted to the fortress wall north of the door is an iron bell with a short, rusty chain dangling from it. The door across the way stands ajar, its crossbar broken. Damage to the door suggests it was forced open at some point.   The party goes past the door into a short corridor with arrow slits in the north and south walls. Roqar checks for traps on the door at the opposite end and and did not find one so she opens the unlocked door. Three striges are seen fluttering around the audience chamber. The stirges are easy work, with Dia, Juan, and Marshall scoring the kills! In the audience chamber, along the walls you see hangers for items no longer present, including hooks for tapestries. Among the litter on the floor here are dozens of bones of humanoid appearance in rusty armor. Painted on the stone floor is a 10 ft diameter, shield-shaped crest that features a black tower being struck by a golden bolt of lightning. Marcuria checks for a trap on the south door and did not find one and opens the door into a hallway with 2 doors on its south wall and one on its end. Marcuria then searches for a trap on the nearest south door and not finding one opens it. Everything in this room is destroyed like the previous room. Even a pair of chandeliers, once hung on chains. Smashed furnishings include a long wooden dining table and a dozen wooden chairs. Lying in the sooty fireplace is the stuffed and mounted head of a large white wolf with glassy blue eyes. There are empty hooks above the mantelpiece. Roqar checks the wolf head and fire place and did not find anything unusual or a secret door. Marcuria checks for a trap on the west dining room wall and did not find one. Opening the door reveals the kitchen area. Destroyed furnishings and scattered debris line this room. A cold breeze blows out from the twin fireplaces built into the south wall.   And this ends the gaming session for the day, until next time!   It is now August 20th (Day 60) at 10:30 am.     The Adventurers’ Experience Points Earned This Session:    Ravens (14): Challenge Level 0: 10 * 14 = 140 XP   Stirges (3): Challenge Level 1/8 : 25 * 3 = 75 XP   Total:  215 XP 215 / 6 = 35.83 XP per Adventurer   ----------   Grand Total Experience Points:   Everyone is at 13,584.91 XP    Level 6 now reached at 14,000 XP     Loot Found This Session:   A rusty dwarven helm Two halves of a splintered woodened shield A tumbleweed A crumpled up cowboy hat (Roqar) A sackcloth doll in desperate need of re-stitching. Potion Vials (3): seems to be for healing    A White Wolf with glassy blue eyes trophy head   Number of Sessions for current Adventure Module: 82 nd Session for “Lost Mines of Phandelver / Dragon of Icespire Peak” 08/28/2021   [1st Session start was 08/15/2019]