Scouting the Dymrak Valley Report

Fullfalling 2321

With little to do back at the keep, the Gnarled Council gathered their resources to scout and claim the Dymrak Forest Valley Region. Abebane, Brannon, Connal, Gymno, Lerikan and Rostam ended up back in Hillsboro and hired Eldwinn, the blacksmith's brother, who was known as a local scout. Knowing the location of the goblin lair they cleared out earlier, they decided to check on that location and use it as sort of a base of operations.  

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Only a few days into their mission, they were attacked by a flock of axebeaks, large wingless birds with beaks as sharp as axes.  

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Five more days went by as they encountered local wildlife, a few wolves, and even a grizzly which Gymno and Rostam scared off with their magic. The end of the fifth day brought them into a strange clearing, an old tree with a wizened face carved into its trunk. Taking their time, they soon determined it wasn't a treant, dead or alive, and the face was truly just a carving. In the glade was a perfectly circular ring of mushrooms.  

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Deeper into the forest, they encountered a small shack. A stew simmered in a cauldron atop a stone fireplace, which was still warm when they arrived. They waited until nightfall, and set up camp outside the shack, but no one returned. By mid-morning, Abebane assumed that the occupant was waiting for them to leave before returning, and nothing was gained by remaining, so they noted the location of the mysterious cottage on their map and left.  

Fullfalling 13th-14th

Eldwinn pointed out some tracks, a sizable party of bugbears had recently passed. Following the tracks, the party came upon a wooden stockade. Bugbears guards peered out from the walls, obviously from a raised walkway inside, looking for enemies approaching. A frontal assault would be suicide, so the party looked around for another way in.   Finding a narrow trail, the party followed it to a cave that opened beneath the ruins. At the back of the cave the party followed a tunnel, which soon turned to a long corridor northwards filled with stalactites, as the Council passed beneath them, they began raining down, Connal, Brannon and Lerikan jumped to the north, while Abebane, Rostam, and Gymno stayed to the south, Connal was hit bad, but Lerikan's construct also got hit, along with Abebane, Gymno, and Brannon. Then the stalactites began to move, revealing themselves as piercers. Rostam and Gymno found them to be amusing cantrip target practice for their eldritch bolts and fire bolts.   The passage eventually reached a four-way intersection where they were again attacked from the east, this time by four large worm-like creatures with tentacles. The poison on those tentacles nearly paralyzed Connal, who stayed in the forefront while the others used missile weapons and spells to take down the carrion crawlers.   Heading west to a large cavern, they entered into the middle of a war. Giant rats emerged from various holes in the walls to snap at and bite stirges who swooped down whenever they could attack a rat. Unfortunately, the party's lantern caused both groups of vermin to turn and attack. While none of the creatures were a match on their own, the numbers made the battle difficult. Soon the council was covered in small bites as the last of the vermin was slain. Seeing that the area was covered with skeletons, some of which were still fully armed and armored, Gymno cast detect magic while Brannon made a careful search, aided by Lerikan. While most of the equipment was old and useless, under one pile of bones was a rotted leather bag still holding four gems.   Heading back to the intersection and following the northern passage, it begins to smell really bad until it opened into a large cave filled with trash. As the party spied into the cave, they hear the sounds of bugbears above and saw the bloody bones and remains of some creature thrown down a shaft in the ceiling. The large mound of garbage in the center of the chamber came alive and two tentacles wrapped around the dropped bones, as an otyugh looks for its latest meal. Then it saw the council. Connal ran in aided by Lerikan's clockwork defender while Brannon moved around to find a clean slice. Gymno fired away with firebolts, while Rostam hit it with eldritch blasts. Right after Brannon took a deadly stab with his dagger, the creature wrapped a slimy tentacle around Connal and threw him back against the wall. Bloodied, the creature surprised everyone when they heard its telepathic voice in their minds. Now realizing it was sentient, Rostam drove it mad with a hex, giving Brannon and Lerikan's defender time to slay the creature.   The only way up to the bugbear lair was climbing up through the trash chute. The party waited hours until the sounds of bugbears quieted. Once they were sure that a large number of them slept, Brannon stealthily climbed up the shaft and found himself in the main sleeping chamber of the bugbear tribe. Over a dozen of the creatures lay about. After securing and dropping a knotted rope, Brannon signaled the others to climb up, and he silently began slitting throats of the sleeping bugbears. Unfortunately, not all of the council was a quiet as Brannon, and soon the room began to wake. As Abebane began to climb, and Connal waited below, Rostam, Gymno, and Lerikan joined the battle against the bugbears. Seeing the large number of enemies, Gymno let loose with a fireball. The bugbears who didn't burn to a crisp were quickly slain by the others. A large chest held silver and copper coins. Suspicious that the bugbears would have accumulated more than this, Brannon took some time searching the room, eventually finding a secret door containing a sack of gold, a spear, and a few vials.   Two directions beckoned, Brannon estimated that the northern passage would lead to the above-ground stockade, so they decided to check the south passage so that they would leave nothing behind them. The passage went south, then east, where two ogres guarded the way. Feeling a bit cocky, Connal charged passageway and met the larger ogre in battle, while the other ogre struggled to get around them. Connal got a beating from the ogre and had to fall back, but by that time, the rest of the council had taken down the ogre in the back. As Connal dodged its blows, the others finished the remaining ogre off. The alcoves the ogres obviously were sleeping in each contained a bag of gold and a few vials. Taking a short break, the council identified the vials as potions of healing, while Connal used one of his own healing potions. They'd count coins after their work was done.   Past the ogre nests, four cells lined the hallway which again turned south. Two cells contained bugbears who yelled out to their companions about intruders, they were easily slain, while one cell held a barely alive human female. She introduced herself as Trin Arken and told a story of exploring the hills with her band before they were whittled away by the bugbears. She's the last survivor and was just waiting for the bugbears to kill and eat her.   At the end of the hall was an iron-bound door. Picking the lock, Brannon noted how complex it was. Beyond the door rested a large iron strongbox. Based on the door lock, Brannon suspected a trap. Sure enough, the strongbox was on a pressure plate. Wrapping a rope around it and working together to give it a quick pull, the heavy chest came flying off the pressure plate as a hail of stones fell from the ceiling. Noticing a small slit in the lid above the lock, Brannon disabled a scything blade which would have sliced anyone trying to open the lock. On opening the chest a mouth suddenly appeared on its lids, yelling "ALARM" in Beastcant. Luckily, no one nearby was alive to hear it.   Piling the valuables into Brannon's Bag of Holding, the party steeled themselves to head north. Passing three storage rooms which contained supplies, weapons and armor, and poor-quality foodstuffs, they found themselves at another intersection. Just as they were deciding which direction to take, a door to the west opened and a bugbear emerged. Casting a spell, it engulfed the corridor in darkness. More chanting beyond the darkness promised additional spellcasting bugbears. Having had enough, Gymno cast his web into the darkness. Lerikan followed that up by throwing some alchemist fire into the web, which quickly burned. After a very short period of screaming, it fell silent and the darkness faded. The witchdoctors' chambers were filled with strange herbs, jars and boxes. A crude mural depicting Hruggek, the bugbear god, covered one wall. A chest contained more treasures, and Rostam confirmed that some of it was magical.   The southern passage led to what had to be the chieftain's quarters. Here the large bugbear rested with another witchdoctor and his bodyguard. While the bodyguard tried to block the way, the witchdoctor summoned darkness behind them, making escape difficult. When the bodyguard fell, the chief took his place and battled while the witchdoctor used his chill touch. With powerful swings, the chieftain dropped Connal, but by that point, he fell quickly to the rest of the Council. Abebane healed Connal enough to get him up and moving. They decided to take another rest in the chieftain's chambers.   Connal ended up moving to the rear of the party, while Lerikan and his clockwork beast took point. Coming upon a guardroom, they quickly defeated the bugbears there. Past the guardroom was a ramp up into the stockade.   Brannon quietly snuck under the portcullis and up the ramp to gauge their opposition. A small smithy, a large hut with bugbears entering and leaving had to be the barracks, and a finer hut, likely where the chief held court were surrounded by the wooden palisade. A raised platform on one corner of the stockade held a ballista and almost a dozen bugbears paced the walkway looking out over the palisade. The time for subtlety was over. Gymno used his last fireball on the barracks hut and Lerikan hurled some alchemist fire on the chieftain's hut. As the smoke filled the grounds, the council fired arrows, bolts, and spells at anything that moved. Once the bugbears massed up to attack, they retreated down the ramp and shut the portcullis, giving them even more time to attack the dwindling horde.   By the time the remaining bugbears were able to raise the portcullis, only about a dozen remained. Fighting a defensive retreat through the dungeon, the party was able to pick off another four or five before the rest turned tail and fled. One or two fell before they finally escaped.   Looting what was left above ground, the council burned the stockade to the ground. Ending the bugbear threat in the Dymrak Valley.  

Fullfalling 15th-18th

It took another 3 days before the Council was sure they had all of the biggest threats in the region taken care of. On the way out of the valley, they were attacked by a few griffons, there must be a nest somewhere in the hills. Gymno added that Balan was familiar with griffons, and may be able to provide more insight when the infiltrators (Brannon corrected, "Venatore", and added "the Hunters") returned.