Winning the Road to Suderham
After a few rounds of moving into the room and trading missile fire (as well as webbing up the ghouls), the opposition was revealed to be mainly illusory. The emaciated gnoll-like figure (a representation of Yeenoghu) was really an illusionist. The ghouls were complete figments. But the gnolls hid the true appearance of a small band of truly large gnolls (standing 10' tall).
The tall gnolls did not stand up too long to concerted opposition, nor did the illusionist, though he succeeded in making both Tesrae and Kendrick flee wildly in terror from the chamber before attempting to flee. The illusionists flight was stopped before it even started.
The heroes then searched and found the likely escape route of the illusionist, a hidden passage. They followed for some considerable distance and found that the passage opened into a shallow cave... with the promise of daylight at the cave mouth. Gil scouted the location carefully and found that the cave opens into an area of rough ground, basically a grotto, on a escarpment overlooking a city. Looking around at the lay of the land a bit more, he found that they were now on an island in a small lake surrounded by the walls of a large caldera. An island in a volcanic lake.
Looking about, some distance along the escarpment appears to be a small fortress, fields dot the plain below the escarpment, and the city, presumably Suderham, is faced with a shantytown between its own walls and the waterfront docks. With some small maneuvering, it would be possible to approach the city from the landward side and enter through that gate.
After a bit of rest, the heroes decided to indeed approach from the landward side and use the letter found on the captured Markessa to bluff their way into the city as advance guards and escorts. They planned to avoid traveling through the shantytown, anticipating that the residents would be largely humanoids.
After a brief challenge at the gate, the band of adventurers was let into the city. A quick question of a local gave them the basic lay of town. They learned the location of the best inn in town, the White Knight, where they determined to seek rooms. They also learned that local business will only accept the locally minted coin... probably a way that the Slavelords maintain cashflow and currency reserves.
On the way to the White Knight, they noticed the slave market at the center of town. A chilling thought that so many people's lives are bought and sold at that very spot, trading in human misery.
The tall gnolls did not stand up too long to concerted opposition, nor did the illusionist, though he succeeded in making both Tesrae and Kendrick flee wildly in terror from the chamber before attempting to flee. The illusionists flight was stopped before it even started.
The heroes then searched and found the likely escape route of the illusionist, a hidden passage. They followed for some considerable distance and found that the passage opened into a shallow cave... with the promise of daylight at the cave mouth. Gil scouted the location carefully and found that the cave opens into an area of rough ground, basically a grotto, on a escarpment overlooking a city. Looking around at the lay of the land a bit more, he found that they were now on an island in a small lake surrounded by the walls of a large caldera. An island in a volcanic lake.
Looking about, some distance along the escarpment appears to be a small fortress, fields dot the plain below the escarpment, and the city, presumably Suderham, is faced with a shantytown between its own walls and the waterfront docks. With some small maneuvering, it would be possible to approach the city from the landward side and enter through that gate.
After a bit of rest, the heroes decided to indeed approach from the landward side and use the letter found on the captured Markessa to bluff their way into the city as advance guards and escorts. They planned to avoid traveling through the shantytown, anticipating that the residents would be largely humanoids.
After a brief challenge at the gate, the band of adventurers was let into the city. A quick question of a local gave them the basic lay of town. They learned the location of the best inn in town, the White Knight, where they determined to seek rooms. They also learned that local business will only accept the locally minted coin... probably a way that the Slavelords maintain cashflow and currency reserves.
On the way to the White Knight, they noticed the slave market at the center of town. A chilling thought that so many people's lives are bought and sold at that very spot, trading in human misery.
posted by Bill D91 at 9:47 AM
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