The party had gathered all the allies they could: Sharwyn the Sorceress, Braford the Fighter, Booger the Halfling, and Oleane the Druidess. They had planned to sneak up the the keep and infiltrate but Zarah had unceremoniously fallen into a pit trap approaching the wall and alerted the guards.
Surprise ruined the party rushed to the gate. While Jocelyn, Braford, Zarah, and Agatha worked on battering the gate down, Oleane caused vines to grow quickly up the side of the wall so the others could begin scaling it and assault from two directions. Inside the gate a bell began to ring in alarm.
Half the group made it up and onto the battlements just as two bandits with bows made it to the battlements. Fighting started on the battlements with a bandit archer in the top of the broken tower also adding bow fire to the fray. Down at the gates, the party broke through and rushed into the courtyard.
The party up top was quickly overwhelming the bandits on the battlement. In the courtyard three more bandits rushed in from a set of double doors and engaged the party there. One of the bandits took note of the size and skill of the attacking group and ran back through the double doors to “Get the boss.”
Four more bandits appeared from doors off the courtyard while the bandit in the tower continue to add his support. Oleane was knocked unconscious by a vicious blow but the rest of the party was faring pretty well. Surprise may not have been total but there had been enough that the bandits were arriving piecemeal instead of all being ready at once. This allowed the party to turn the tide fairly quickly in their favor.
Most of the initial bandits had been neutralized, including Belthorn climbing the tower to toss the annoying archer off the heights, when “The Boss” arrived, a cleric of Asmodeus. He was preceded by 3 zombies, two orcs, and the bandit that had fetched him. He attempted to Hold Agatha first and failed. After that he cast Curse on the group in the courtyard as they battled.
Agatha blasted the zombies with her Channel Divinity and healed the party in the process. All but one of the bandits fell in combat while the zombies were quickly being dispatched. The cleric of Asmodeus saw the writing on the wall and retreated back into the Keep while casting Darkness behind himself to slow down pursuit.
Soon the party controlled the Keep and went looking after the cleric of Asmodeus that had retreated. They found a basement section of the keep and explored it. The discovered a shrine to Asmodeus and a secret door that lead to what seemed to be The Boss’s study and bedchambers but there was no sign of the cleric. Kvothe took a candle and some potent alcohol and burned the cleric’s bed.
Continuing their exploration, they found the actual dungeon and the cells there. Leander was there being held prisoner. He indicated that the cleric had shown up a few minutes earlier, taken the guard, and left. The party released Leander who healed a few of their wounds. Taking some time they found another secret door that led to a treasure room… which was trapped with a Glyph of Warding.
Still looking for the evil cleric, the party retraced their steps back to the bedroom with the now smoldering but no longer burning bed. In the ashes, they discovered a metal chest that had been under the bed. Further exploration turned up a secret passage into a cave system in the room.
Looting the bandits, talking to Leander, and going through treasure turned up the following information:
- There were more Potions of Domination in the loot which tied these bandits directly to the bandits that had waylaid them on the way to Harken.
- These bandits were exceptionally well-equipped. Their armor and weapons were of fine quality and well cared for. They were well supplied and organized. Very unbandit-like.
- The bandits were talking to The Brokenskull orcs for some reason.
- There had been other kidnap victims but they had “moved on” from here to somewhere else.
We ended the session here and a couple of the party got enough experience to level up as soon as they get back to safety. Next time we’ll see whether they opt to return to civilization or pursue the evil cleric into the Underdark.
