Previously 8/10/14

Previously in Mistledale

After the “fey scattering”, the group realized that Katie’s henchmen would be asleep for hours.  Noting that the pack bearer never returned, Katie wanted to launch a search but it was unlikely that poor Doug survived the harrowing journey through the forest.  Even Katie and Styve were severely wounded by the red-berried vines. 

The party carried the sleeping henchmen with them and pressed on toward the Beast’s keep.  Once at the dragon maw entrance, the party noticed the mouth somewhat closed this time, with a portcullis blocking the way in.  Peering in, they were greeted by crossbow fire.  Thovan bravely ran into the line of fire to cast light inside the maw.  Taking a few hits, he was not surprised to see kobolds were inside.  Thovan did note the technique the kobolds employed was rather sophisticated.  About 8 kobolds were inside the maw, all armed with heavy crossbows.  Only four kobolds fired from within the maw while the other 4 reloaded their crossbows.  The kobolds also piled crates near the entry so as to provide cover for themselves. 

The party debated whether to camp right outside the dragon’s maw or to retreat a safe distance away.  After common sense won out the group retreated completely out of the cursed wood and made camp for the remainder of the day and night.  Katie vowed to return and find her pack bearer (and her gear he carried).  A convenient use of a Nap spell later, Zaven, Lily and Dusty woke in time for the rest of the party to get some rest.  Zaven kept watch that night being fully rested, Capt. Dusty helped on second watch.

The night was uneventful but at dawn, while the casters all meditated for spells, Zaven and Dusty heard the heavy footfalls of soldiers.  Looking out across the plains, they saw a troop of orcs travelling nearby.  After a brief scuffle, the party defeated the orcs with ease, the group reentered the cursed woods looking for the lost pack bearer. 

At the fey clearing, Thovan and Zaven decided to hack their way through the forest on the trail of the pack bearer.  Meanwhile, Katie and Styve examined the area of the attack.  Lily and Dusty discovered that the fetishes held coins.  All four of them pulled down all the fetishes they could find and gathered up the coins within. 

Hard travel through the woods turned up the pack bearer’s body, but the most important items of Katie’s gear was missing.  Examining the scene, the group discerned that the red-berried vines slew the poor sod, but the fey came across the body and looted it.  That means the team had to seek the lair of the fey if they were to recover their items.  After an exhaustive search of the areas, the clearing and where the body was found, the team hacked their way to a probable location for the fey to lair.  They found a lightning blasted, ancient tree with a large hole at the top.  Unfortunately, they alerted the fey by brushing past several wind chimes hanging from branches.

The fey attacked immediately; surprisingly very few of the group succumbed to the horrifying visages of the unseelie faeries this time.  A well placed Web spell and sleep arrows rendered most of the team helpless.  Katie managed to escape the Web but Zaven couldn’t reach a clear area and was unable to jump free.  This made the Web form imperfectly, weakened.

Katie quickly fumbled through her backpack for a torch and tinder but the faeries realized the Web was weak and had other ideas.  Before anyone could even think, the second fey blasted Thovan with Aganazar's Scorcher.   Thovan looked up and was horrified by the sight, he fled from the group, burning as he did so.  Disgusted by the situation, Katie threw her torch down and cast a Magic Missile killing the faerie that cast the Scorcher.  Through the quick spell work of Katie, the second Unseelie was also slain and the party found her spellbooks in the trunk of the tree.  In addition, they discovered some heavy glass vials of sparkly, colored “fluid”.  Thovan identified the vials as containing “souls”.

Now the party must decide how to enter the beast’s lair and what to do with the sleeping henchmen...