Keep on the Shadowfell - Session 3

Our hearty adventurers spend a long night in the caves previously occupied by Irontooth and his Kobolds, sitting around in their pajamas eating trail rations (S'mores) and discussing fiendish ways to torment the mysterious goth elf chick from the Winterhaven Inn. Apparently few adventurers make it out of 5th grade.

In the morning they pack up, check the map for directions to the dragon burial site and head out. As the party approaches the site they see a steep-sided crater puncturing the wilderness. Near the center of the depression, several humanoid figures cluster around a collection of bones. Two small, dragonlike creatures near the rim stand alert and stare at their approach.Getting a good look at the men below Jacobb asks, "So Alazar, which one is your friend?"
"I'm, uh, really not sure. I was kinda hoping he would recognize me...." he replied giving tentative wave to the men down below.

Noticing their arrival, a Gnome with dark eyes and grey skin calls out, "Thank goodness you've arrived when you have! My name is Agrid. We are trying to move a collapsed wall and we need more people. We'll gladly make it worth your while!"
"Hey guys....Doogie definately wasn't a Gnome named Agrid." Alazar remarked. Then louder, "Where is......Douven!! Yes! That's his name! Where is he?"
"Douven? He headed to a nearby town to get some supplies we need. He should be back soon. Now, can you please come give us a hand?"

The party, always eager for a fair share of loot, talked it over and decided to help out. Under the direction of the Gnome, they and the other men all took up positions around a large section of a fallen wall and prepared to lift.
"Ready?" called Agrid, "One.....two.........take them out, men."
The four burly men with Agrid drew vicious looking clubs from their belt and moved in to surround Nobalis while the guard Drakes flanked Slavin. Slavin pulled two throwing hammers out of his belt, snarled at the Drakes and shouts over to Nobalis,
"Just hold on till I take care o' these overgrown iguanas and I'll be right there to bail you out!"
"Uhhh....thanks?" Nobailis replied as all four of the Human rabble seem to drop as one from an impressive display of swordsmanship. "I'll be right over here avoiding all this peril..."

Ross the Dragonborn laughs heartily and prepares to charge into the frey to help the burly Dwarf. He is stopped short by a rock slamming square into the back of his head giving him a nasty -10hp bump there. He spins around and locates the attacker, a Halfling with a sling perched atop the crater's rim, just in time to catch another rock square between the eyes!
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow OW!!!" he cries defiantly, returning hate on the offending slinger.
The Halfling soon learned that unless your name is David, you really shouldn't throw rocks at scaly, lightning breathing creatures more than four times your size.

Alazar fired off an arcane bolt of energy at the Gnome. As it hit, Agrid faded from sight.
"Did you see that guys?!? I totally obliterated him!" the elated wizard shouted.
"No wait.....there he is...." he dejectedly stated as a crossbow bolt fired from the reappearing fey creature stuck firmly into his staff.

J'Draven made short work of the guard drakes that were gnawing on Slavin, apparently Dwarves are quite tasty to them, while the Gnome, outnumbered and out skilled, succumbed to the wrath of the rest of the team.

Scouring the area for anything actually of value, the party found an amulet with a magical aura around Agrid's neck. J'Draven noticed something suspicious lodged in one of the rib bones sticking out of the dirt.
"Interesting......" she muttered under her breath examining a shiruken with a sunburst design etched into it. It seemed rather warm to the touch....

"You find anything good over there?" Jacobb called to her.

"Maaaaaaybe......" she replied. "Catch!!"

Jacobb shrieked and dove for cover as a makeshift lantern stand exploded from a small fireball and continued to burn for some time.

"Niiiiiice....." purred J'draven as the weapon magically flew back to her hand. "Dibbs."

No one argued with her.

Examining some supplies and blankets in the north-west corner of the crater, something caught Nobalis's eye.
"Hey look! Something is moving over there under those blankets....."

"Serpents!!!!!" cried Slavin brandishing his battle-axe and leaping forward!

"No wait....!!" pleaded Alazar, but it was too late. With a loud 'Thwock!!' the Dwarf's axe made contact, slicing through blankets easily and totally eviscerating a storage chest loaded with digging supplies. The blankets fell to the side revealing the terrified gaze of a man bound and gagged, staring at the axe blade not a hand's breadth from his face.

"He looks oddly familiar......" mused Alazar. "Have we met?"

"Alazar! It's me! Douven Staul! Thank goodness you've found me!" Douven exclaimed, then under his breath added, "Though it seems you still enjoy that beer chilling trick a little *too* much...."

Douven explained how he was captured and forced to help the Gnome find a special mirror for use in some summoning ritual. He was so pleased to be found that he let the adventurers keep his Amulet of Health as a reward, pausing only long enough to take the picture of his wife out of it.

Bad Wolf Company headed back to town feeling very triumphant and full of themselves.
"This calls for beer!" Slavin declared.
"You buy it, I'll chill it!" quipped Alazar.
"Well bargained and done." came the Dwarf's expected reply.

The small fields around the walled heart of Winterhaven seem strangely empty. Inside the walls, the few villagers they see walking around appear nervous, pausing to give furtive glances before darting away.

While at the Inn, a wandering bard was singing a tune that seemed awfully familiar. It was a story about the Keep they were soon to visit! Tipping him a chilled beer they were able to get the full tale:

"The people of Winterhaven avoid Shadowfell Keep. Some
leave it alone because all ancient ruins have a disturbing
feeling about them, a feeling composed of lingering
memories and unknown mysteries. Some say the place
is haunted. Others fear the rumors of goblinoids using
the place as a lair. Whatever the reason behind its solitude,
one fact is clear. Within two short decades after the
collapse of the Nareth Empire, Shadowfell Keep was abandoned
and left to fall apart and decay. It was on a grisly
night about eighty years ago that the commander of the
keep garrison, Sir Keegan, put into motion the events that
led to the keep’s downfall.

Perhaps the Shadow Rift’s malign influence is too
strong to resist. Maybe Sir Keegan was an insane monster
driven by demons we may never understand. Whatever
the case, at the stroke of midnight on that fateful day, Sir
Keegan began to systematically slaughter every resident of
the keep. His own wife and children were first to fall to his
blade, then his trusted advisors, and finally many of the
soldiers under his command. Sir Keegan was too skilled
for any one soldier to defeat, yet eventually the garrison
managed to respond with an organized defense. Although
many brave soldiers died, they managed to drive the mad
knight into the passages beneath the keep and finally dispatch
him.

The keep became notorious for a time. As one of the
last bastions of the fallen empire, there was no one to
order it back into service. So, it was abandoned, feared for
a time, and eventually, more or less forgotten. An earthquake
a few years later collapsed the upper towers and
walls, and turned the place into a ruin of tumbled stone.
Rumors persist of great treasures buried beneath the
keep, yet few have dared explore the passages over the
year. Sir Keegan’s ghost is said to roam the corridors
beneath the ruins, wailing in grief over the tragedy of his
life. The people of Winterhaven avoid the place, and the
mere mention of Shadowfell Keep is considered bad luck
by many of the farmers and villagers."

After that tale, they all decided to head off to bed to prepare for tomorrow's journey. For who knows what, or who, they might encounter deep under the Keep on the Shadowfell....*dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun.......* (want a hint? They aren't Kobolds. We're all done with Kobolds for this adventure. Sorry guys....)

In the morning, Jacobb decided it would be funny to announce that they *weren't* going to the Keep today in front of the goth Elf. But alas, the Elf was nowhere to be found. Dejected at having their fun ruined, the six warriors shuffled off down the road with big pouty lips.

They turned off the road and plunged into the thick forest, looking for the faint trail that would lead them to the Keep.

Ahead, the narrow track widened into a clearing. Great piles of shattered stone blocks and scorched timbers dominate the clearing, sprawling out from its center to the edge of the woods. No plants grow among the ruins or within the clearing. The ground is bare dirt, and although the forest has begun to reclaim the path leading here, it has not intruded into the ruins of Shadowfell Keep.

Yet clearly someone has tampered with the ruins. In the center of the debris, stone blocks and timbers have been gathered into a pile. Someone has cleared a path through the rubble and pulled aside the wreckage to reveal a stone staircase. The staircase descends into darkness.

The stairway leading down consists of finely crafted stone, perhaps the work of Dwarves. A breeze chills them to the bone as they take each step down. The flicker of torchlight spills from a room at the bottom of the stairs.

Suddenly, Ross spies a figure at the other end of a 30' square room.
"Bad guy!!!!!!" he screams as he launches himself down the stairs and charges the offending creature. Or tries to. About halfway across the room a large piece of canvas disguised to look like the floor gives way, tumbling Ross down into a 10'x10' pit.
"Ahh, rats." he says.
"Did you say, Aww rats?" asked Nobalis...
"No....I meant to say, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! RATS!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed the Paladin as dozens upon dozens of filthy rats crawled into the pit from holes in the side and began swarming him, looking for a place to bite down for a tasty morsel.

"I'm on the nasty Goblin." says Slavin as he charges across the room and engages the smelly beast.

"We'll help Ross out of the...oohh.....message for you sir....." Alazar starts to say when as a crossbow bolt suddenly plunges into his shoulder.

Jacobb starts towards the wizard when a bolt nails him in the chest as well.
"Don't worry, I'll heal..ooof......HOLY CRAP THAT HURTS!!!!!!!! What the hell man?!? Why didn't anyone tell me these things hurt so bad?! *This* is what you guys are going through when you ask me to heal you?!? Get it OUT!!!!"

"You've never been wounded before?" J'draven asks incredulously.

"What?!? No!!! You see this big red cross on my back? I'm a Medic! I stay out of the way till people get hurt, then I tell them it's not so bad and put a band-aid on them so they can go fight some more. Why aren't you guys punching me in the face when I say that?!? Owowowowowowowow!!!! Alazar! Go lie down! I'll make you feel all better, morphine, all the good stuff. I promise!"

Lightning fills the pit as Ross desperately tries to keep the rats at bay but they continue their attacks, undaunted.

"For this?" Alazar quips, "No way. This is just a scratch. I'm still good." as he fires off a complex spell towards the archers.

J'Draven sends her new toy down the hallway towards the three Goblins illuminated by Alazar's Flaming Sphere with a flick of her wrist. A fireball erupts setting one on fire, causing the archers to scurry out of sight around the corner.
"Keep an eye on our flanks, they might be coming around." she warns the rest of the group.

"I'm on it!" shouts Nobalis, jumping over the corner of the pit trap, or trying to and falling in.
"Ow......woah! There are a *ton* of rats down here!"

"Help......me......." pleads the Dragonborn.... "They are in my armor....down there.....!"

Nobalis and Ross work together to get rid of the remaining rats while above them, another Goblin warrior and the remaining archer try to flank from the East. Slavin takes out the first Goblin they saw and rushes back to assist the others just as the flanking warrior plunges his spear deep into Jacobb's gut.
"M....medic...." the Cleric manages to spit out through the pain.

Someone throws a rope down into the pit and ties it off on a nearby pillar. Ross rushes for the rope and starts to climb, but his armor gets snagged and he falls unceremoniously to the ground. As he begins to stand up, Nobalis uses him as a stepping stone and dramatically leaps out of the hole.

Working as one, the team finally puts the last two Goblins down, never to rise again. Needing a rest, but feeling much stronger for the experience (experience...get it...heh....*sigh*) the stalwart heroes start to head back up the stairs, not even five minutes after they entered in the first place.
"Try again tomorrow?"
"Yeah....a rest would be good..."
"Chilled beer?"
"Definitely"
"We got that first room mapped, right?"
"Yep...well, most of it..."
"Good enough."

As they step out into the light they hear a faint voice behind them....
"Hey guys? I'm...uhh...I'm still in the pit. I can't get out...guys? C'mon! I....oops! ow. Oh hey! I found a shield! I hope it's magical, that would rock.........."