Abomination Vaults – Session 43: This Means War

“I Wanna Warm Up on the Riffraff” – Konnor

Fireday, 25th of Neth, 4722 AR

There’s nothing here for free
Lost who I want to be
My serpent blood can strike so cold
On any given day
I’ll take it all away
Another thought I can’t control
This means war

This Means War, Avenged Sevenfold (2013)

• The group awoke to a fine meal. The morning chef had transformed the cathooj eggs and meat into a meal fit for a king. The hollowed ones of the outpost were very grateful. Konnor didn’t even care if he had blown a small fortune on the rare eggs. The meal was worth it! Damn bird…
• Trulk liquidated the goods he had been collecting/looting. Most of the items sold for the normal 50%, but the merchant gave him full price for the gems in thanks for the meal.
• After some discussion, the group decided to deal with the urdefhan war camp next. During their last trip into the hunting grounds, they had noticed how close the entrance to the camp was to the hollowed ones’ outpost. Any forays across the hunting grounds would leave enemies at their backs.
• Leaving the outpost, they noticed the riding lizards had wandered off. Briza didn’t seem concerned and no one made an issue. They continued west and noted that the fog covering the floor in the next cavern was gone. This was where they had fought the derghodaemon.
• They neared the war camp cavern and stopped to make plans. From inside, they could hear the sounds of sparring, metal ringing on metal. Trulk, who could see farther thanks to his darkvision, spotted urdefhan warriors training, urdefhan in robes who resembled spellcasters, and some roguish-looking urdefhan. The group disputed a bit about how they would approach the war camp. Diplomacy? Assault? Ultimately, the decision was taken from them when one of the urdefhan spied them outside the cavern entrance. A warning was called and it was time for battle!
• Trulk charged into the war camp and immediately realized there were more urdefhan than he had originally spotted, many more! Over a dozen warriors, spellcasters, rogues, and female urdefhan wielding whips waited for him. It was too late to withdraw and Trulk drew as many of them in as he could.

• Jorne rushed in to help and the rest of the group nudged forward as well. ShaiLu maneuvered Hound into the fray to assist. The entrance to the cavern was a natural funnel to keep the urdefhan from surrounding them. A couple of the warriors got through, but most of the urdefhan threw themselves against Jorne, Hound, and Trulk.
• It quickly became evident the urdefhan were outmatched. While they possessed strength in numbers, they were not strong enough to truly endanger the adventurers.
• One of the spellcasters ordered one of the rogues to “Run and tell the master the New Roseguard has arrived.” The rogue slipped away; he was too far from the party to be stopped.
• The party defeated the urdefhan. For a moment, they started to rush south after the rogue but stopped themselves. They spotted two doors leading east into other chambers and were running past numerous tents. They didn’t want to leave themselves vulnerable.
• Jorne, Trulk, and Rasp searched the area for threats [and to loot the bodies] while Konnor refocused and ShaiLu kept watch with Hound. They then pressed forward to the first door.
• As they moved further south through the war camp, they heard music playing in the distance. Konnor began to move towards the source, but the others urged him to be cautious and stick to the plan.
• Through the first door, they heard quiet movement. When Trulk opened the door, he was blasted by a spell from an urdefhan blood mage. The mage stood by an arcane circle drawn on the floor with blood and was attended by several urdfehan spellcasters. They had heard the sounds of battle and prepared a surprise for whoever opened the door first.
• ShaiLu blasted a fire spell into the room. This would create an extra complication as the urdefhan were not the only ones in the room. Around a blind corner was a prisoner in a cage, a gnome who could not protect himself from the flames of her spell. The poor guy was set on fire and began to scream in agony.
• The adventurers charged into the cramped room while the spellcasters formed a barrier between the party and their master, the blood mage.
• Hound charged the line and Jorne tumbled past the defense. Trulk followed and they broke down the urdefhan’s defensive line before turning on the blood mage. They surrounded him.
• The blood mage ordered his surviving minions to kill the gnome before the party could free him. He then blasted Jorne repeatedly with phantasmal killer spells, trying to end the acrobatic rogue.

• Rasp and ShaiLu got close enough to cast healing and quenching spells on the suffering gnome. Although not initially successful, Rasp managed to put the flames out on his second attempt.
• Jorne and Trulk struck down the blood mage while Konnor took on the remaining spellcaster. The bard managed to defeat the last urdefhan before it could kill the gnome.
• Success! ShaiLu felt bad for setting the gnome on fire and Jorne went to tend to his wounds. However, before they could do anything to help, a new threat announced its presence.
• The master, Khurfel, had arrived with reinforcements in the form of two spellcasters and the rogue who had fled the first fight.
• The two groups threw themselves at each other in the tight confines.
• Konnor summoned a phantasmal orchestra to blast the urdefhan with a tumultuous sound! Although the urdefhan resisted much of the damage at first, the bard would continue to pummel them as the battle progressed.
• Trulk made himself vulnerable in hopes he could draw Khurfel in. Coincidentally, attacking Trulk was exactly what the urdefhan champion wanted to do. The pair traded devastating blow after blow like wrestlers in a ring.
• Rasp and ShaiLu healed Trulk while Jorne and Hound moved in to take out the spellcasters and rogue.
• Calamity! Inspired by Trulk’s battle with Khurfel, Briza charged in to assist the barbarian. Unfortunately, she did not watch her positioning well enough and left herself open to attack by the urdefhan champion. He struck her down! Fortunately, ShaiLu had a special spell for just this kind of emergency. She flung vitality into Briza, bringing the hollowed warden back from the brink of death.
• Trulk had made good progress whittling down Khurfel, but his efforts were curtailed when one of the spellcasters healed the champion. Jorne and Hound doubled their efforts and brought down the spellcasters with Konnor’s help.
• Finally, Khurfel stook alone against the adventurers. The tide had turned in their favor, but the champion did not seem to mind. He thanked Trulk for a fine battle and smiled as the barbarian struck the killing blow!

END OF SESSION