The Story So Far – 2011-09-21

Player	Character	Role	Class	Race
Lofton	Lorian	Controller	Wizard	Eladrin
Jason	Reef	Striker	Rogue	Changeling
Sabin	Xaelin	Striker	Sorcerer	Dragonborn
Pete	Orin	Tank	Fighter	Mul (half-dwarf)
Michael	Kriv	Tank	Paladin	Dragonborn
Perrin	Alphazar	Leader/Striker	Hybrid Druid/Shaman	Wilding
Jason	Berrian	Controller	Mage	Eladrin

The next morning the party heads off to storm the castle. On the way, they contrive a plan.

Step one of the plan was to have Reef bluff his way into the castle through the main gate. Unfortunately, Sturmik, the tiefling that commands the gate house saw right through his disguise and ended up arresting him, tying him to a chair in one of the tower rooms and beating on him trying to find out what he was up to. Reef played it sly though and faked unconsciousness to get them to leave him alone.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party was waiting in the tall grass just at the edge of the cleared area north of the North Tower. After waiting for Reef to signal them, they took the initiative, assuming he had been caught.

Somehow, the party managed to get within 20 feet of the wall before they were spotted. The alarm went up and archers on the wall brought their bows to bear on the adventurers. Xaelin reacted quickly and carried Kriv into the air, landing cleanly on the top of the North Tower. Xaelin then dropped a rope over the side to help Orin and Alphazar up. Kriv kept guard at the top of the stairs. As the Sentries came up to the top of the stairs, they found themselves face to face with death.

Surging down the stairs the fighters hacked and slashed their way through the Sentries on the northeast wall and the east wall as they charged into the Great Tower. There they slashed and burned more Sentries and a couple of Dragonborn Soldiers. Just when they thought thing had calmed down, two Hobgoblin Sellswords emerged from their sleeping chamber, morningstars whirling to bring a hail of blows on the fighters. Orin went down, but Alphazar used the mystic arts to heal him so that he could get up and fight again. Just then, two more Iron Circle Brigands appeared at the main entrance to the hall. Just before Xaelin unleashed his fiery doom upon them, Alphazar recognized Reef and called out to him to stand down. Reef unleashed his sly flourish upon the Hobgoblins, followed by the other Iron Circle guy’s magic missile.

While the fighters were battling their way along the battlements, Reef was being guarded by a single Iron Circle Brigand. That Brigand helped Reef out of his bonds and helped him get his weapons, explaining that he was changing sides and would like to help Reef and his allies. Berrian turned out to be a Mage and used his arc lightening and magic missile to good effect during the encounters.

After killing the hobgoblins, the party was able to take a short rest to debrief the new guy and get the layout of the Great Tower and its occupants. Of note was Nazin Redthorn’s apartment on the upper floor, and the Gaol on the lower floor where Baron Stockmer was being held. During the break, Alphazar bit a chunk out of one of the Dragonborn Soldier’s legs and ate it up with gusto. A short search of the Sentries, Soldiers and Hobgoblins revealed that the Hobgoblins were carrying 50 gp each. The Soldiers wore Scale Armor, which may be of interest to some of the fighters.

Once the break was over and a plan was laid out, Reef and Berrian headed upstairs to try to get Nazin Redthorn to come downstairs to judge the foolish attackers. Nazin Redthorn was hiding in his apartment, well guarded by an Iron Circle Adept and three Hobgoblin Sellswords.

Successfully bluffing Nazin and his guards, Reef and Berrian convinced Nazin to check out their story, so he sent one of his Hobgoblins down with them. The Hobgoblin was subsequently ambushed and slaughtered before he could even raise the alarm. Reef then took on the form of the Hobgoblin and went back upstairs to let Nazin know the way was clear and that he should come, even though he sounded more like Yoda than a Hobgobliin. Alas, the trap could not be sprung because Berrian had a coughing fit while Kriv’s sneezing gave his position away. Without surprise, the party had to move quickly to engage the Hobgoblins, shut down the Adept and kill Redthorn. Redthorn, however, had other plans, and upon seeing the ambush, turned tail and ran back up the stairs. However, Xaelin flew himself and Reef in pursuit, preventing Nazin from getting away. Reef then smashed Nazin in the face and sent him tumbling through the air to land on his feet in front of Orin, who turned his attack on Redthorn and cut him hard.

Alphazar and Kriv magically switched places, denying the Hobgoblin’s attack. In short order, Alphazar and Kriv, slew the Adept and the Hobgoblin while Orin, Reef, Xaelin and Berrian slew Redthorn and the other Hobgoblin.

All told, it was a messy and brutal battle, but the adventurers prevailed. A search of Redthorn found a large iron key that opened a treasury room in the back of his apartment. Inside the treasury were some chests filled with gold and silver coins, several magic items and some potions.

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Treasure:

(Optional) 2 suits Scale Armor

250gp (Hobgoblins)

700 gp, 1400 sp (chests)

4 Potions of Healing