Beneath Ravenscraeg

The party was locked in combat in the tower that extended high above Ravenscraeg. They’d found themselves confronted by Frozen Shadows Ninjas, raven swarms, air elementals, and ultimately, the bloodfeather raven that had been dogging their steps almost since they left Brinewall Castle. But they’d begun whittling their enemies down.

Bella backed out of the cloud of ravens clawing at her eyes, and slashed away with her rapier; a few birds fell, but the swarm persisted until Sawyer, ignoring the pain from his rapidly heating armor and weapons, bashed at them with the boss of his shield. That was enough to finally scatter the swarm. Shinjiro rushed the bloodfeather raven, who was readying another spell. He unleashed a damaging flurry of blows, and the raven fell in a cloud of black feathers.

The party turned to focus its attentions on the last surviving ninja, but he vanished from sight! Not wanting to allow him to escape, Sandoval rushed down the stairs and blindly threw his net, hoping to catch the fleeing ninja, but it fell limply to the floor. Zhustin set his eagles in a search pattern around the room, but they failed to detect any hidden enemies. Seeing that the combat appeared to be over, Bella moved to check the closed door that remained in the room, and then motioned for Sawyer to open it. He did, and moved inside. The small chamber held only a simple bed a table bearing a water pitcher and basin. A fireplace stood in the eastern wall, but it had no andirons for logs and was empty of ashes. Remembering that Snorri’s journals they’d found downstairs had referred to a hidden cache in the “upstairs flue”, Sawyer stuck his head up the chimney. Sure enough, the flue was blocked, and he pulled out a soot-stained bundle that contained a pair of Boots of the Winterlands.

Unfortunately, by this time the Heat Metal spell that had been cast on Sawyer was doing some serious damage. He dropped his sword and shield, but knew that it would take too long to remove his armor. He called out for help, and Marie and Zhustin started forward. But at that moment, the missing ninja reappeared behind Bella, attacking her in a blinding flurry with his wakazishi and blocking everyone’s path into Sawyer’s room. The group reacted quickly; Sandoval blasted the ninja with his Wand of Scorching Ray, and Zhustin followed up with a volley of Magic Missiles. Then the eagles converged in a screaming swarm on the hapless foe, and he went down beneath their talons.

Sawyer stumbled out of the room, literally broiling to death inside his plate armor. Zhustin and Marie began a desperate tag-team effort to save him: Zhustin would cast Ray of Frost to try to cool the armor while Marie sent wave after wave of healing magic at the fighter. A cloud of steam filled the room, but finally the armor stopped glowing cherry red, and Marie’s healing brought Sawyer back into fighting trim.

The group began to explore the room. Shinjiro climbed the ladder through the trapdoor in the ceiling. Above, a wooden platform had been built into the thatch roof of the tower; at the far edge was a sheer drop off to the vale below. A small wire coop with a wooden table next to it sat in the shelter formed by the roof’s peak. The entire platform and adjoining roof were thick with bird droppings, and numerous black birds fluttered around, croaking ominously. However, the flocks of ravens seemed to be dissipating, flying away as if whatever force had gathered them here had disappeared. Seeing nothing worth investigating, Shinjiro headed back down. Downstairs, Bella found a large nest inside the alcove from which the bloodfeather raven had appeared. In it, she found a disturbing collection of human teeth, along with some gold and jewelry. On the raven’s body itself, they found a small satchel containing a pair of scrolls, and on one of its talons was a ring; all were magical. The footlockers at the foot of each ninja’s bed contained the requisite jade raven statuettes, along with a collection of clothing and jewelry in the style of distant Minkai.

Having explored all the upper reaches of Ravenscraeg, the party descended the stairs to Goti’s laboratory, then took the stairs that led down. It quickly became pitch black, and Zhustin and Sandoval cast Light spells to provide illumination. At the bottom of the stairs they found themselves in a featureless room of mortared stones. The walls dripped with condensation, giving it a cold, clammy feel. A single closed door was in the opposite wall, and after a quick check by Bella, Sawyer pulled it open.

The door opened into a short corridor with a closed door at the opposite end, and another corridor leading off to the north. Looking around the corner, they saw that this passage led some 60’ to the north, and was bisected by a deep channel of flowing water. On the opposite side of the channel, a heavy timber plank lay on the floor, while on the near side a brass bell and clapper hung from the wall.

They decided to open the door first. It opened into a natural cavern thirty feet across and fifteen feet high. A waterfall poured in through a small aperture high on the south wall, filing a turbulent pool in the floor and sending a cold spray throughout the room. They remembered the stream in the hidden vale above, and concluded this must be where it went after it disappeared into the grate outside. A smoothed ledge extended outward from the door, and two large barrels sat to the right of it. They were filled with fresh water, and ladles hung from their sides. Another ledge extended on the far side of the pool. A smaller cask was on this ledge, next to a heavy wooden door. The pool was too broad to easily jump, and no one was particularly keen to go for a swim, so they elected to leave the far door a mystery for the time being.

While the rest of the group checked out the water room, Shinjiro had easily leapt across the 10’ wide stream in the long corridor. The plank on the far side was some 15’ long and 2’ wide, and probably weighed 200 pounds. Shinjiro tried to lift it, but it was too much for him to move. Bella tossed him her rope with a grappling hook, and he tied it securely to the end of the plank. The group on the far side began dragging the plank across the channel, making distinct scraping noises as it moved. At the back of the party, Nicki, not wanting to risk getting his feet wet, took on Gaseous Form, and began slowing wafting along the corridor, carried by gentle currents of air. Shinjiro moved quietly to the end of the hall and peeked around the corner. The air was growing distinctly warmer as he moved up the hall, and he soon found out why. To the left was a closed door, but to the right was a large room dominated by a roaring furnace in the north wall, bathing the room in a dull red glow. A large pile of coal was heaped against the east wall. The room was oppressively hot compared to the rest of the cellars, and a trio of trolls warmed themselves in the furnace’s waves of heat. They had not noticed the sound of the plank being drug across the floor, but as it dropped into place on the far side of the channel it made a loud CLUNK. All three trolls turned to look, and immediately spotted Shinjiro.

Shinjiro retreated back down the hallway, but stopped at the edge of the channel; he wanted to guard the bridgehead so the trolls couldn’t dislodge the plank and trap everyone else on the far side. Sawyer tried to rush across the bridge to his aid, but slipped on the narrow plank and tumbled into the water. Luckily, he’d been holding onto the rope that was still tied to the plank, so he wasn’t swept away by the current, but he would have a difficult time climbing out in his heavy armor. Nicki continued wafting.

With a bellow, the trolls rounded the corner and charged at Shinjiro. Luckily the trolls were large and the hallway narrow, so only one at a time could advance. But one was enough. The lead troll attacked Shinjiro with its claws and snapped at him with slavering jaws. The monk hit back hard, but was dismayed to see the troll's wounds healing before his very eyes. Bella and Zhustin were peppering the trolls in the back with arrows and acid attacks, and seemed to have some effect; both trolls disappeared back into the room from which they’d come. But Shinjiro was still standing alone against the troll.

Luckily, Marie had been thinking fast. As soon as Sawyer tumbled into the water, she’d moved up and cast a Fly spell on the fighter. He now zoomed up out of the water to land beside Shinjiro and prevent the troll from dislodging the bridge (or worse, using the heavy plank as a weapon). He arrived just in time to see the lead troll slash at Shinjiro with its mighty claws. They both sunk deep into his flesh, and then he ripped them apart in a horrible rending motion. A spray of blood coated the walls, and the monk dropped unconscious to the floor.

Although Shinjiro unconscious on the ground was becoming a familiar sight to the party, it nonetheless infuriated them. Sandoval blasted the troll with his Wand of Scorching Ray, and the beast roared in fury as his skin blistered and smoked. Sawyer slashed with his sword and Bella feathered it with an arrow, and the troll fell, skin still smoking.

Zhustin crossed the makeshift bridge with little difficulty, but as Marie attempted to follow to aid Shinjiro, she too slipped off and into the water. Sawyer, still flying, swooped back to lift her out of the stream and deposit her next to the unconscious monk. Nicki wafted some more. Just then, the two trolls reappeared, their arms full of big chunks of coal. The first dropped his load and swung at Sawyer, slashing him deeply but failing to catch him with both claws and enable his cruel Rend attack; his partner chucked a large lump of coal at the fighter that missed by a mile. Bella moved up to where she could toss a vial of her Alchemist’s Fire at one of the trolls. The vial hit, and some of the fiery liquid splashed onto his mate; it did little damage, but the flames seemed to inhibit their regenerative powers for the moment. Zhustin decided to go one better. He slipped past Bella and around the corner towards the closed door to the west, and then unleashed a Fireball into the furnace room. Its waves of flame washed over both trolls, although they dodged the worst of its effects.

The troll hit Sawyer again, and his buddy gave up on throwing coal and bulled past his friend, ignoring Sawyer and Bella’s swords as he moved into position to claw at Bella. He became the immediate target of choice for the party: Bella counterattacked with rapier and dagger, Sandoval blasted him with his wand, Zhustin popped him with a crossbow bolt, and Marie let fly her starknife. The combined damage was too much, and he fell to the ground. Sawyer faced the lone remaining troll and wound up for a mighty swing of his longsword. The blade separated the troll from his head, and he fell as well. Sawyer tossed the head into the roaring furnace just to be sure he wouldn’t regenerate.

There were a trio of crude beds made of poorly cured bearskins and wolf pelts lying in the corner next to the coal pile, along with a hogshead and the bloody bones of some unfortunate creature, but the party elected not to search the trolls’ lair. Instead, the focused on the closed door. It was locked, but the lock was no match for Bella’s skills. Inside was a room totally unlike the crude stone cellar they’d been passing through. The ceiling of this grand chamber rose twenty feet overhead, its heavy beams serving as both rafters and supports for the great hall above. Teak paneling covered the walls, and the floor was of polished wood. Along the walls, wooden columns rose to the ceiling above, bearing banners emblazoned with pictograms from far-of Tian Xia. Above these hung small oil lamps that give of a dim glow. A small porcelain bowl rested before the center column to the south, with four reed mats arranged before it. Shinjiro recognized the ideograms on the banners as being words related to the combat philosophies of Minkai, and realized that this room was a dojo – a training ground for the martial arts.

A number of closed doors lined the north and west wall, and the group moved cautiously into the room to investigate the nearest. As they moved away from the walls, the floor creaked loudly, and Shinjiro surmised that it had been designed this way, to force those training here to hone their stealth skills. The door revealed a nondescript cell, containing a simple sleeping pallet, water cup, and a small shrine to Yaezhing, the patron of ninjas and assassins. Bella and Sawyer moved on to check the next door, and found an identical cell.

Frozen Shadows Monk

Suddenly a trio of ear-splitting explosions rocked the room, deafening Bella, Shinjiro, and Zhustin. Spears came flying down from the ceiling, and the party spotted four figures clinging to the rafters, lurking in the shadows. They had shaved heads and flowing robes, much like Shinjiro. Nicki, who was still wafting along, was near enough to the ceiling that he could now see that the rafters and beams running up the walls were rough hewn and that that there were a series of handholds concealed among the shadows of the ceiling. Deciding it was time to stop being gassy, he drifted to the floor and became material again. He immediately conjured a Flaming Sphere, which bounced up from the floor to immolate one of the monks clinging to the rafters; unfortunately, it also started a nice blaze on the wooden floorboards. Sandoval began singing, but the party members who had been deafened were oblivious to his inspiring tune.

Sawyer was still flying, so he took advantage of that to swoop up to attack one of the Frozen Shadows monks. The monks, having expended their ranged attacks, began dropping to the floor, using outstretched hands against the wall or columns to slow their fall. As Sawyer’s opponent attempted to drop out of his reach, he opened himself up to an attack of opportunity, and his slow fall became a fast and messy drop into a lifeless heap on the floor below.

Shinjiro quaffed a Potion of Barkskin, anticipating a bruising battle ahead. Zhustin fired an Acid Dart at the monk that Nicki had burned. Bella move to engage another, and scored a hit with her dagger and a critical hit with her rapier. Sandoval threw his net over another, entangling him in its folds. Sawyer flew over to where another monk had landed, and finished him off with a single blow from his longsword, while Marie busied herself trying to put out the fires that Nicki’s Flaming Sphere was starting around the room.

Just then, a new opponent appeared on the far side of the room. She was a smallish Tian woman with short-cropped hair, but the look in her eyes was chilling. She was Omoyani, the Frozen Shadows’ ninja-monk training master. She flung a volley of shuriken at Sawyer, and as they hit, they exploded into small balls of flame. The fighter, already badly blistered from his experience with the broiling armor, now found his clothing in flames.

The entangled monk managed to close with Sandoval, and attempted to strike him with a Stunning Fist, but the net encumbered him just enough to save the bard from being stunned. Bella got around behind him, and stabbed him in the back, but he stayed on his feet. Omoyani rushed across the room and got behind Bella, returning the favor with a backstab of her own, as the battle continued to rage.

The PCs earned 1,714 XP for the night, putting them at 25,748 XP, with 35,000 required for level 7. We’ll be at Rich & Joette’s next week. I’m planning to call in from California, and will let everyone know before Sunday if there’s any problem that would force me to cancel.