Keep on the Borderlands July 16, 2017
Cast
Zeph playing Muad’dib, lvl 6 human barbarian urchin. Would rather kill enemies in their sleep than in a fair fight. AC20.
Jayne playing Sanity, lvl 6 tiefling warlock acolyte. Obsessive. AC15.
Elliott playing Bastion, lvl 6 dwarf cleric of Sumi. Fanatical in devotion to Sumi. AC21.
Felicia playing Noonie, lvl 5 human rogue charlatan. Too greedy for own good. AC15.
Chandler playing Chargrim, lvl 4 dwarf fighter mercenary. Doesn’t like to admit he’s wrong. AC17.
Micah playing Dehli, lvl 5 halfling rogue criminal. Money first! AC18.
Summary
There have not been any raids against the borderlands since the last expedition of the heroes. This is probably because the humanoid denizens of the Caves of Chaos are eating their own dead.
The heroes restock their supplies, then depart the Keep on the Borderlands in the morning. As they follow the well-worn path to the Caves, Maud’dib uses his spyglass to discover a hobgoblin sentry in a tree far up ahead. Chargrim goes alone to try to sneak up on the sentry. Unfortunately, he is spotted. The hobgoblin sounds an alarm: “Bree Yark!” The other heroes hurry up to assist Chargrim. They kill the sentry and hide near the base of the tree. Two more hobgoblins come to investigate, and the heroes kill them as well, but a fourth sentry makes it back to the Caves of Chaos to alert the denizens.
The heroes approach the valley of the caves from above. They observe that the goblins, hobgoblins, and gnolls appear to be on high alert, with multiple vigilant sentries. The heroes enter the same orc cave that they explored in the last expedition, sneaking in through the chimney. Maud’dib tries to sneak down the hillside to observe the orc cave entrance from outside, but is observed by the hobgoblins from across the valley. The hobgoblins sound an alarm, and soon a phalanx of hobgoblins starts double-timing across the valley towards the orc cave. Maud’dib falls down the chimney into the orc cave in his haste to warn the others.
The heroes find the orc cave to be empty and thoroughly cleared. All valuables have been removed, and only bloodstains and worthless debris remain. They journey further into the cave, finding a secret door that links the cave to the adjoining cave of another orc band. The heroes had already killed the chief and leaders of this neighboring orc band on the previous expedition, but several orc warriors remain.
The heroes are ambushed by orc warriors as they open the secret door. Soon the heroes find themselves surrounded, with orcs in front of them, and the phalanx of hobgoblins behind them. The orcs flee to a side room along the main passage, and a large group of bugbears enters the cave complex in front of the heroes. An enemy wizard darts around the corner to cast spells at the heroes. He casts a fireball on them, and then blocks their progress with a web. They remove the web with fire. Bastion summons spirit guardians that drive the hobgoblins away.
Eventually the heroes attrit their way to victory, slaying the remaining bugbears and orc warriors. The wizard has disappeared. They find the remaining noncombatant members of the orc tribe- mothers and children, which they slaughter for scalps. There is also some loot for them to claim, including a scroll of the fireball spell. The heroes then put up barricades to block both cave entrances and rest.
After their nap, the heroes set off for the Temple of Cthulhu. Sanity uses the newly-found scroll to cast a fireball into the intersection beyond the entrance. This is where twenty goblins and six hobgoblins were laying an ambush. The fireball spell kills them all. A group of eight zombies stagger towards the heroes, but Bastion channels divinity to explode them. The wizard attempts to snipe at them again, but this time they have attacks readied. The wizard is slain! The heroes decapitate the wizard and then animate his corpse to question him. He is not helpful for some reason. The heroes claim his ring of protection, spellbook, and other trinkets, notably an ancient map of the surrounding lands.
According to the map, the towering ruins across the bay were once known as “San Francisco.” LINK
The heroes explore further into the Temple of Cthulhu. They find a shrine with a giant statue of Cthulhu. The Status animates and starts to lumber towards them. The heroes flee the statue, going further into the caves. They easily slay several cultists who attack them scimitars. As the statue lumbers closer, they are confronted by the High Priest, who blasts them with an Ice Storm. Once they slay the High Priest, the statue of Cthulhu becomes lifeless.
The heroes thoroughly loot the Temple of Cthulhu and claim the scalps of all their humanoid victims. They have ended the threat from the Caves of Chaos and return to the Keep on the Borderlands victorious.
THE END
Spellbook Contents:
Alarm, Detect magic, Disguise self, Expeditious retreat, False life, Identify, Mage armor, Magic missile, Unseen servant.
Continual flame, Darkvision, Gentle repose, Invisibility, See invisibility, Web.
Animate dead, Fireball, Tongues, Vampiric touch.
Blight, Locate creature, Ice storm
Treasure: 578.6 gold pieces each (including the gp noted during the session, plus scalps).
Experience: 1940xp each, including a bonus for completing the adventure.
