Welcome to Ravenscraeg

After Nicki survived the Tengu ninjas’ attack on the stair, the group gathered on the landing at the top of the stairs. The massive front doors to Ravescraeg loomed before them. To their surprise, the doors were open a crack; the ninjas must have crept out unnoticed as the group raced across the plain to Nicki’s “rescue”. Not seeing or hearing anything from inside, they pushed one of the massive doors open.

Rows of pillars supported the forty-foot-high roof of the longhall. Torches set into pillar sconces and two fire pits set with iron spits in the center of the rush-strewn floor gave the room a ruddy glow. Several doors opened into rooms on either side beneath ten-foot-high balconies lined with feasting tables. At the far end of the hall, a fifteen-foot-high balcony with the master’s high table looked out over all. Smoke holes cut into the roof high above allowed in more light and the croaking of the many ravens that roosted on the roof’s ridgepole. Aside from the song of the ravens, all was silent.

Nicki took up a rearguard position in the doorway while the rest of the group cautiously made their way inside. Zhustin pushed open a door immediately to the right of the entrance; inside was a guardroom, empty save for piles of rock and rubble that defenders could rain down through now-shuttered arrow slits on anyone climbing the stair. Marie,  Shinjiro, and Bella began climbing the stairs to the west that led to the balconies, while Sawyer and Zhustin made for the east-side balcony, and Sandoval moved quietly down the east wall, listening at the closed doors along the way.

Suddenly the raucous sound of the ravens became much louder, as two dense swarms of the big black birds poured down through the smoke holes in the roof. One engulfed Shinjiro and Marie, slashing at their eyes with claws and beaks. They both fought back against the birds, Marie with her mace and Shinjiro with fists, but Marie quickly found herself blinded and Shinjiro was so disoriented by the swirling attacks that he found he could do nothing but try to escape. The other flock swooped down towards Sandoval, who tried to outrun them. A third flock of ravens descended from the roof on the outside, slashing at Nicki and beginning to fly through the front door. Ignoring their attacks, Nicki slammed the door, keeping them at bay at least for the moment. Seeing the dizzying swirl of birds trying to peck out his friends’ eyes, he did what he thought was the most sensible thing, and locked himself in the guardroom.

Sawyer raced to Marie’s aid. Fearing his sword would have little effect on the hundreds of ravens, he instead used his shield to bash at the birds en masse. His attacks, combined with the damage already inflicted by Marie and Shinjiro, was enough to scatter one of the swarms. The other was still pursuing Sandoval, who dashed up the stairs to the balcony where Zhustin stood. Zhustin saw the mass of ravens descending on him, and fired off a Ray of Frost. One of the hapless birds fell, ice-encrusted, but it had no effect on the rest of the swarm, and he found himself surrounded by scratching, pecking ravens. Blinded, he dropped to the floor and groped his way under one of the long tables.

Marie had used her healing skills to regain her eyesight, and she and Sawyer now rushed across the hall to help Zhustin. Between her mace and his shield, they managed to scatter the ravens, but as Marie knelt to treat Zhustin’s eyes, the third raven swarm, temporarily thwarted when Nicki slammed the door, now descended through the smoke hole in the roof, and headed directly for them. Marie and Sawyer swung wildly at the avian attackers, but both were quickly blinded. But Nicki managed to regain some of his nerve. He threw open the door to the guardroom, pointed a shaky finger around the corner, and fired a Color Spray up the stairs and into the raven swarm. Blinded and stunned, the birds began flying aimlessly, crashing into walls or falling into the fire pit. Marie and Sawyer had also been blasted by the magical light show, but since they were already blind, it had no effect on them.

With the threat of the ravens gone, the party continued exploring the great hall. Bella and Shinjiro were on the west balcony, and found a locked door at the top of the stairs. It was no match for Bella’s picks, and inside she found a small armory full of chain shirts, spears, and arrows. Sandoval was making his way cautiously down the eastern balcony, when he heard the eerie sound of flute music floating through the hall. The sound filled the cavernous room, but seemed to originate from somewhere ahead of him.

The music must have been a signal, because moments later two doors beneath the west balcony flew open, and a gang of armed thugs rushed out. They were armed with short spears and battleaxes, and headed for each of the four stairways leading up to the balconies, their strategy obviously to surround and overwhelm the divided party.

But this group of adventurers was tougher than they’d anticipated. One charged up the stairs at Shinjiro, only to be met with the blur of his fists of death. As he staggered from Shinjiro’s assault, Bella calmly slipped her rapier between his ribs, and he fell. But his partner was right behind him, and two more came running from the north to surround the monk. Another charged Sawyer, who met his charge with a deadly sweep of his longsword, killing the thug in a single blow. Two more ran at Sandoval, who had begun to sing his killing song. The bard’s crystal echoblade resonated with the notes of his song, and its deadly vibrations felled yet another attacker. One charged Marie, who smashed him in the face with her mace. Zhustin pelted him with an acid dart and Sawyer spun and slashed at him from behind with his sword, and he, too, bit the dust.

While everyone else was dealing death wholesale, Nicki had decided to try a different tactic. He’d picked up a blowgun some time ago, and had been collecting poisons at every opportunity, and he decided this was the right time to put them to use. He puffed out his cheeks and sent a dart flying at one of the attackers, but it seemed to be only the most minor of annoyances, and its poison had no effect. Undeterred, Nicki carefully loaded another dart (taking care not to accidentally prick himself), and looked for another target.

Just as it seemed that the fight was well in hand, a door beneath the eastern balcony opened, and a group of black-clad figures spilled out, while at the same time, two more stood up from their hiding places on each balcony. The party had seen their sort before, on Snorri’s funeral ship – Frozen Shadows Ninjas! One drew a shortbow and sent an arrow across the hall to find its mark in Marie’s thigh. His partner on the eastern balcony charged a Sandoval, who now confronted both a thug and a ninja. On the ground floor, one charged towards the stairs where Shinjiro and Bella were still fighting a pair of thugs. Bella waited at the top of the stairs, but at the last instant, he flung himself into the air, flying over the balcony railing to land behind her. His mates did the same trick on the opposite side of the room, easily leaping the 10’ up to the balcony level.

Except for the one firing a bow, the ninjas were armed with short stabbing weapons, called sianghams. One slipped in behind Marie, and tried to backstab her, but stumbled over Zhustin, who was just standing up from his hiding place beneath the table. Sawyer plunged his sword into the ninja’s chest and he staggered back. Nicki chose that moment to shoot another deadly spitball. The tiny dart did miniscule damage, but it was just enough to send the ninja tumbling over the railing to the floor below. Sandoval dodged a ninja’s thrust, then swept his echoblade across his throat, and the attacker collapsed with blood jetting from severed arteries. Another went after Marie, only to be met by Sawyer. Again, the big fighter dealt a near-mortal blow, and Nicki claimed credit for the kill with a prick from his blowgun.

On the opposite balcony, Bella had little difficulty dispatching the ninja who had leaped up behind her. There was still a thug facing Shinjiro, and Bella hurried to help the monk. With a pair of lightning-fast thrusts, she buried her dagger in the thug’s liver and her rapier in his heart; either blow would have been instantly fatal by itself. By this time, the only enemy still standing was the archer ninja, and Shinjiro charged him. They traded attacks in a dizzying display of martial arts, but Zhustin fired an Acid Bolt from across the room, and Sawyer calmly drew his longbow and sent an arrow of his own arcing across the hall. The shaft sank into the ninja’s back, and the arrowhead protruded from his chest. He stood, swaying, for a moment before falling slowly to the floor.

The hall was quiet once again, save for the panting of the exhausted heroes. After catching their breath and receiving some more healing from Marie, they continued exploring the hall. The rooms the thugs had come from proved to be cluttered bunkrooms, strewn with rumpled bedding and assorted clothing and personal items. Behind a curtain was an alcove with two foul-smelling buckets that obviously served as a crude latrine. On the opposite wall, the ninja’s bunkroom could not have been more different. Ten sleeping pallets lay neatly arranged about the room, at the foot of each a small footlocker for personal belongings. A closet in the north had been converted into a shrine to a foreign deity. A painted stone idol sat on a low table, depicting a man with a fearsome scowling red face, bulging eyes, and long beard, wearing red Tian robes and an iron crown. In one hand he held a noose, while the other held several shuriken. Marie recognized the idol as Yaezhing, the Tian god of harsh justice and murder, and patron of ninja and assassins. A small bowl before the idol held a pile of gold jewelry and coins. Another room held the hall’s larder, a cold room stocked with numerous barrels, baskets, and sacks of dry goods. Butchered carcasses—primarily sheep, but a few hogs as well—along with bundles of roots, tubers, and herbs hung from the wooden rafters overhead.

Upstairs, there was another locked door on the eastern balcony. After Bella opened it, they found it stocked with cloaks and cold-weather gear to outfit the hall’s occupants through the long winters, along with several bales of furs and raw wool. There were also a number of wooden boxes that Bella began opening eagerly. Most only contained mittens, wool socks, or long underwear, but one was crammed with leather scrolls covered in tiny, cramped Skald runes. A quick checked proved they were not magical, and Bella lost interest. But when Sandoval examined them, he could make out enough to determine that these were the personal diaries of Snorri Stone-Eye, the Mad Reaver. They were filled with incoherent ravings of his apocalyptic vision of the future, where a war of the gods would bring about the end of mankind. However, in one passage where he described how he would use Ravenscraeg as his shelter during the end times, he mentioned a hidden cache in “the upstairs flue” that was hidden away safe “for the coming winter”.

In the back of the larder was another locked door. Beyond was a cramped corridor that ran from one end of the longhall to the other. It was filled with all manner of tools and supplies, from blacksmith’s tools and a portable forge, to block and tackle and long coils of rope. At the west end, a closed door led farther south, while there was another door in the east end of the corridor, right beside the party. They decided to go that way first.

The room beyond had been hewn from the rock of the crag, and a wooden stair rose along the walls to the north, while an open door to the south revealed another set of stairs leading down into darkness. Tables and workbenches filled the chamber, holding all manner of alembics, crucibles, burners, and assorted tools. A variety of dried herbs and plants dangled in profusion from hooks on the bottoms of the stairs, and sacks and chests holding additional equipment and components had been shoved underneath the stairs. A torch mounted on one of the stair posts illuminated the chamber with a flickering glow, revealing a macabre centerpiece: on a table in the center of the room lay a long glass case, containing what appeared to be the body of an elf.

The PCs earned 1,086 XP for their exploits, putting them at 23,234 XP and Level 6. They need to earn 35,000 XP for level 7. Please get your level 6 character sheets ready before our next session. We won’t meet next week, but will meet at Leo’s on Oct. 12, although Brian will be missing.