The Death of Derros

This session consisted of one massive battle between the heroes, a handful of Captain Grey's men, the remaining Duergar mercenaries and their leader Derros.

After destroying the dark skull in the poly-temple the party headed downstairs to see what became of the zombified villagers. To their surprise the twenty or so villagers had returned to normal after the destruction of the artifact that had stolen their souls. They were a bit disoriented and confused except for one who carried himself with an air of confidence and authority, the village smith Graugthum. He deftly took charge and thanked the adventurers who were obviously the ones who had rescued them and slain their captors. While he retrieved a hammer and shield from one of the fallen Duergar he explained how most of the villagers had safely retreated to the wilderness before the Reavers had attacked. Those who stayed behind were in the militia or were not willing to leave without a fight. Many had been slain during the failed defense of the walls. The dead had been raised by the gray Dwarven clerics during the fight and turned against the remaining villagers. They soon were forced to surrender and were put in chains.

That was four days ago. Since then some of them had been tortured and questioned to death about the whereabouts of the Prince. That stopped when the mayor had cracked and told Mortimer Grim where the party had taken him. Grim had taken some of his men and ridden North in the hopes of catching him then. Derros had been left behind to set up defenses, so he commanded his clerics to take over the poly-temple and begin converting villagers into "followers" using the dark powers of his favorite toy, the Dark Skull, a slow and painful process.

The adventurers quickly related their tale to the smith, mentioning their indebtedness to the garbage monster Kang who lives below in the old Orc warrens who showed them the secret way into the village. They also told of the company of loyalist soldiers waiting to liberate the villager outside the gates. The smith told them that the gates were well guarded and that he preferred to go rescue the remaining villagers first, who he knew were not as well watched. He grew impatient and instructed the villagers to arm themselves and follow him. Before they left Graugthum warned the adventurers to beware of the Duergar, that they have the ability to remain unseen. And with that they parted ways.

The party decided it was about time to finish their mission, opening the Northern gate and letting in Captain Grey and the remaining loyalist troops. Hildegarde decided to scout out the Northern gate. At first appearance the Northern gate looked deserted, but as Hildagarde watched and waited she became aware of the telling sounds of shifting feet and the clink of metal on metal that revealed to her that the gates were not unwatched and their guardians were staying well out of sight. She shared her findings with her companions and they worked up a plan.

Since it was the dark of night Hildagarde was able to take flight in bat form and soar over the gates in search of their loyalist allies. She found them hiding amongst the underbrush not far away and surprised them by sneaking up from behind. A startled soldier almost struck out at her before his arm was stayed by Captain Grey. He asked her of news and she related their tale all over again. When she queried the captain at the small number of soldiers remaining at his command he admitted that most of them had been sent back to Castleton already. Earlier in the evening they had made a brief assault on the South gate. During the he had received word of a large army of Hobgoblins and their thralls approaching the Baron's town. Captain Grey had then let Sir Grim see him give the command to retreat and abandon the liberation of Portyngton. Instead he had stayed behind with a few hand picked soldiers and Sergeant Brown. Hildagarde asked Captain Grey to wait and watch for the gates to be opened and then returned to the party.

Hildagarde was experimenting with her new found abilities as a druid this session. One power allowed her to summon nature's companion which took the form of an eagle she named Bingo. She took the opportunity to work on Bingo's tricks, in particular teaching him to "fetch". Unfortunately she didn't tell Bingo exactly what to fetch so he flew off in search of something random. Eventually he returned with an empty wooden tankard. This seemed to please Hildagarde.

The party, knowing it was guarded by hidden watchers, stealthily approached the North gate. Lukana and Hildagarde secretly worked their way around buildings and under the ladders leading to the watchposts over the gates. Sir Andros and Gignus took up positions where they could see the gates and support if any defenders should show themselves. Unfortunately, due to their heavy armor and unfamiliarity with sneaky techniques, they both ended up in a very exposed position in a pool of lantern light. Elrothien took up a more advantagious artillery position safely in the back behind the corner of a building. Beornweynne and Digna took a much more direct approach of charging the gates openly, hoping to draw their attention.

Beornweynne was first to meet with resistance, head-on as she barreled into an invisible foe and staggered back. Three enlarged Duergar warriors, bolstered by the blessings of their cleric allies, revealed themselves and attacked. Digna charged into battle singling one out while Beornweynne marked another. The other warrior attacked the poorly hidden Sir Andros. A sudden volley of cross-bow shots from above revealed the remaining three Duergar, all clerics, stationed on the watchposts high up on the wall. Hildagarde returned fire, lodging one of her arrows in the lung of an unfortunate alcolyte. Lukana vaulted up to the wall and drove the projectile even deeper into the wound before killing and tossing the lifeless body down below. The most powerful of the evil clerics singled out Gignus, directing his spiritual weapon a ghostly pair of iron shackles, to strike him again and again. Elrothien made use of one of his newly mastered spells to fly into the air above the fracas and launch magic and mundane missiles down on the evil clerics.

Gignus ignored the thrashing of the spiritual weapon and performed a blessing of Moradin over the battle field, bolstering his allies and hindering their enemies. With a well placed spell Elrothien greased the weapon of a warrior who dropped it, while Hildagarde tumbled under his feet to snatch it away. Beornweynne, Digna, and Sir Andros quickly brought down their now disadvantaged opponents. Lukana took the opportunity to unbar and open the gates. Captain Grey led his troops as they cheered and rushed into the village. Soon the remaining guards were brought down.

Hildagarde remembered that she had taken a crystal ball from the hag Zabeedah and thought it might tell her where Grim was hiding. Taking it out of her bag she saw that it had been cracked and ruined. In a flash of inspiration she used one of her new druid spells to mend the crystal. Before she could peer into it Elrothien gave a shout of alarm from above. The night rain had produced puddles and rivulets in the streets and the splashing of invisible boots betrayed the approach of more enemies. Hildagarde used another of her new spells, faerie fire, to outline the approaching foes in a bluish glowing light. Captain Grey and Sergeant Brown quickly moved their soldiers into position.

The new threat included four enlarged Duergar warriors and a sergeant supported by five clerics and followed by their mercenary lord, Derros mounted on his armored dire boar. Derros wasted no time in increasing the number of his troops by raising his slain followers from the previous fight as zombies. The adventurers and loyalist troops appeared to be surrounded.

Elrothien launched magic missiles down on Derros from above but found him protected by a magical barrier. Derros retaliated by sending his own spiritual weapon to chase the flying wizard. Gignus called upon the power of Moradin to destroy the animated zombies. Captain Grey and Sergeant Brown led their men into battle against the gray dwarven warriors. The rest of the adventurers spread out and engaged the front lines.

From the relative safety of his ferocious mount, Derros brought down an unholy blight on the loyalist troops. The cold, cloying miasma of greasy darkness enveloped and killed all of the lesser soldiers leaving only Captain Grey and Sergeant Brown alive but sick and weakened. The adventurers struck back bringing down many of the warriors and clerics before closing in on their leader. Beornweynne was the first to reach him, but she was gored grievously by the dire boar and then smote by the evil clerics mace which delivered icy bursts of damage with each strike. Digna quaffed one of her potions of haste and then charged at the boar, striking it repeatedly. Sir Andros finished off the beast with a pair of well placed arrows, and it crashed down into the mud and muck. Derros was able to roll free however. Elrothien flew back into range long enough to blast him with a scorching ray, which did not penetrate the defensive barrier but did shatter it.

Derros once again called on the dark power of his evil god and animated the newly dead as zombies. Gignus was forced to try to destroy this new batch of undead, but was unable to summon forth enough power to get them all. Sir Andros was able to drive off the rest with the invocation of his deity. Sergeant Brown charged the mercenary lord and was slain. The rest of the warriors and clerics were dealt with and the adventurers converged on Derros. He fought viciously and delivered terrible blows to our heroes, but was finally brought low when Elrothien hovered above him and drove a bolt of lightening straight through him, killing him instantly.

When the dead were tallied and experience was given Lukana, Digna, and Beornweynne earned a new level each.