21st day of Reaping, 580 CY - One Minor Slavelord Down

And here today the party did what the party does best - slaughter. Once again the blind druid, Cadwin, proved to be a valuable member of the party as Sturm Bucholz, the minor slavelord and thief below them went on an invisible back-stabbing spree. He only managed to get one attack in before Cadwin exposed him with Faerie Fire and Sarril followed up with Hold Person.

The entire party worked together like a well-oiled machine this session, which was really nice to see for a change. Pontus proved he could be a pincushion and absorb the crossbow bolts from the 10 orcs that were shooting, giving Jarrus time to finish off the 5 giant weasels that were actually quite a bit scarier than they might seem. Before too long, Sturm, his weasels and all 10 orcs lie dead, giving the party time go through his belongings and recover quite a bit of information about the Slavelords.

In addition to learning that the inner council of 9 slavelords have some members plotting against each other (no surprise, really, as evil always turns on itself at some point), they also learned that the slaves are taken to a hidden city in the Drachensgrab Mountains called Suderham to be sold and traded. Only trusted slavers are allowed there, so the party decided to use the information in the ledgers they found to pretend to be agents of Sturm travelling to Suderham to do his business. They learned of a merchant named Alforas who left a few days prior on his way to Suderham and if they were quick enough, they might catch him and free some slaves on the way.

The party decided not to waste time exploring the rest of the temple and instead find the quickest way out. That way appeared to be through a trapdoor they found in one of the tunnels. The trapdoor led into a chapel inside the ruined temple where they were attacked by sturges. But the noise they made fighting the sturges allowed the real enemy, a cleric of something called the Earth Dragon, and her minions to prepare for an attack. When the party barged into the next room, she was ready. It was a tough fight, but the party prevailed, even sparing the life of the cleric if she would answer some questions and provide safe passage out of the temple, which she did.

From there, the party wasted no time going back to town, buying some riding horses, and making their way to the southern road that leads into the humanoid invested foothills of the Drachensgrabs. With Pontus tracking the merchant caravan, the party was on their way, stopping to pay tolls to the humanoid tribes along the route to avoid trouble. It is now the evening of the 21st Day of Reaping, 580 CY and the party has made camp for the night. We shall see what dangers await them next week. . .