A Call to Arms!

After resting at Rivenroar and reflecting on recent deeds. The band broke camp and decided to head to the village of Brindol to return the stolen heirlooms they had recovered back to the Hall of Great Valour. Inspired by the heroic rescue mission they had just completed they also agreed on a name for their band - The Company of the Free.

In the knowledge that the area was crawling with the advance forces of an Orcish war party, not to mention reports of a dracolich - the group elected to take the more arduous route through the mountains.

After a gruelling journey they arrived back at Bodrin's Watch and met up with the Dwarvish commander of the fortress - Captain Forgeheart. He was (by dwarven standards) relieved to see the company make it back. He also explained that the council at Overlook had put out the call for groups of adventurers to help repel the expected Orcish onslaught. The party gallantly decided they should head to Overlook and see what help they can offer.

Upon arriving at Overlook Garig suggested that the erstwhile captives of Rivenroar should be allowed to start a new life in Overlook and that it was the Company's duty to help them. He promptly gave each survivor a number of gold pieces. Nalklyr gave him a questioning look, to which he replied "Freedom counts for nothing if you have no food in your belly, my friend". The grateful rescuees, were profusely grateful and promised the would tell others of the brave and kind Company of the Free, before heading off on their way.

Valthurn and the boy Thurann offered to take the relics from the battle with the Red Hand of Doom to Brindol on the Company's behalf. Valturn explained that the Elsir Consortium often had trade caravans headed that way and they would seek passage on the next one.

The groups first priority was to head to the temple of Kelemvor in the Nine Bells district. Grogar explained that if Kelemvor judged his soul fit, it may be possible to bring Melech back to the realm of the living.

The Nine Bells frequently referred to by many as the Nine Hells did not disappoint. The place was a cesspool of depravity and destitution. Beggers, prostitutes and thieves were commonplace in the squalid district.

As they passed one of many darkened alleyways Nalklyr head a muffled scream, upon further investigation he found to source of the noise. Three guardsmen and two elves stood amongst a group of freshly slain corpses. One of the elves noticed Nalklyr's spying and called out "They've come to us! Kill them!" With that the battle began. The two elves darted off down darkened alleyways whilst the halberd wielding guards charged the heroes. The fighting was furious and one thrust actually knocked Garig to the ground however, he was able to recover quickly and launch a vicious counterattack. The battle seemed to be going well when Nalklyr heard approaching footsteps from an adjacent alley. Investigating, he found one of the Elves attempting to sneak round the back of the party. He loosed a poisoned bolt from his crossbow and invoked a protective cloud of darkness. Undetered the Elf charged past him headed for Quick Ben who had just launched a savage mental assault on the last of the guards which actually blew his head from his shoulders. Suspecting a coordinated attack Grogar headed to the opposite alleyway to intercept the second Elf. Garig headed over to Ben, although the Elf engaging Ben looked weak and close to death as Nalklyr's poison coursed through it's veins. Garig quickly dispatched it and watched in horrid fascination as the creature transmuted in to the pale, featureless form of a doppelganger. Hopelessly outnumbered the remaining "Elf" was cut down quickly. A search of their attackers yielded a scroll, upon which were written the names of several adventuring groups - The Slayers, The Freeriders and the Company of the Free! Also crossed out were the names of the Company of the Hawk, which Ben surmised were the Doppelgangers last victims.

Without further delay the Company headed to the House of the Dead - temple of Kelemvor. Grogar explained he was from the Order of the Scales and was quickly ushered through the halls to the temples senior priest Doomguide Brother Malsar. The priest explained the ritual required to resurrect Melech was complex and taxing and that it was customary for applicants to make a sizable donation to the church for such favours (700 gps) to which the Company readily agreed. Brother Malsar told them to find lodgings and return the following morning.

They found an Inn named Belden's Rest in Tradetown which seemed to be of a reasonable standard. The proprietors were an elderly couple named Rory and Ruth Teng who instantly made the heroes at home serving the house speciality of pressed duck accompanied with a couple of bottles of Luskan red.

Rory explained that the Company of the Free were not the only adventurers in residence this evening and that the Freeriders were also staying at the Inn. Ben insisted that their fellow adventurers must also be warned for they were also on the death list the group had found. They headed up to the Freeriders rooms and were met by their leader Megan Swiftblade, a pretty human with a scar running down the side of her face. Although initially suspicious Megan warmed to Ben and the others and quickly introduced her band. Megan was perturbed by the death list and instructed her party to be extra cautious. Ragnum Dourstone, a dwarvan preist of Moradin and unusually gregarious, suggested the two groups share several tankards of ale and swap adventuring tales. Having struck up a rapport with the band the offer was accepted and they drank and talked until the early hours.

The following day the Company headed back to the House of the Dead to find out whether Doomguide Malsar's ritual had been successful. They were elated when they were greeted by Melech who although he seemed a little shaken from his ordeal, stood living and breathing before their very eyes! Grogar thanked the Preist and his offered prayers to Kelemvor for the miracle which had been granted.

With some time to kill the Company decided to take in the sights of Overlook before the meeting with the Council in the evening. They decided to puruse the shops of Overlook hunting down any magic items for sale. The first stop was the Dungeoneers Survival Emporium an outfitters run by Myra Edgerton a "voluptuous" half elf. Ben had heard rumours that if one flirted with her then she had a secret cache of magic items which she surreptitiously sold. His efforts of flattery were flatly rebuffed and Grogar interceded. The charismatic Dragonborn immediately captured Myra's attention and she promised Grogar for the price of a meal at the swanky Turned Spoon she would let him view her "special wares"! Grogar swallowed hard before gallantly accepting the half elf's proposal. She then took him down into her cellar and showed him the items she had for sale. Grogar made a note of the items and their cost and returned to the rest of the group after arranging an evening rendezvous with Myra.

Their next visit took them to Stonehome Treasures run by a human merchant named Mikal Rensfield. His wares comprised of weapons, armour and other finely crafted items, however the parties main interest was in his stock of magic items. Sadly all they could really afford were 3 potions of healing which they duly paid for, before leaving the shop.

Their final stop was Merty's a gaudy shop, run by a cocky but not unlikable halfling named Riley Swiftoe specializing in magic items, ritual components and alchemical reagents. Riley proudly proclaimed that although his prices were high, his items were the best and moreover if his customers had any custom requests he employed a gnome articifer to satisfy any such requirements. Promising they would come back when they had acquired more coin, Ben bought some ritual components and they exited the shop.

After exploring the sights of Tradetown the Company decided to head to the seat of the city's council Caer Overlook in the central High Hall district. On the way they bumped in to the Freeriders, and the approached the impressive edifice which served as the venue for Overlook's government. There they were escorted by the dwarvan guards thorough a myriad of highly polished and many statued corridors to a central audience chamber. Upon a dais sat the 5 dwarven elders which made up Overlook's ruling council. Also milling around the room were several other adventuring groups who had also answered the call. One such group were the Farstriders which were famed as the bravest party in the area having recently slain a black dragon. There leader a famous Warlord by the name of Edgar Sommerfield strode over to the Company of the Free and arrogantly asked who in the Nine Hell's they thought they were. Garig quickly retorted with a few cutting insults of his own. However, the fracas was soon silenced when Elder Cadrick stood up to address the assembled groups:

"Welcome to High Hall friends. I am Elder Cadrick. I don’t much see the point in bandying words, so I’ll lay it out for you. War is upon us. A great host of orcs comes from the west. Their intention is clear. They will come through the mountains bent on slaughter. Those they spare can look
forward to a short life of slavery. Overlook, and Bodrin’s Watch in the mountains, have long held fast against these raids, but our scouts say never has such an army gathered. Thus, we turn to you brave souls to help defend not only Overlook, but also all Vale. When the orcs arrive, we’re certain they will come up through the pass. We know this because already there have been attacks from the tunnels below, compromising the fastness. The defenders have fought back the savages, but it’s clear the rest are coming and fast. So here’s the plan. Durkik Bronzegilder will lead the militias and most of you to bolster Bodrin’s Watch. Orc trailblazers infest the tunnels below, so we’ve tasked their security to the Farstriders. One more mission remains, though. We need a group to evacuate the monastery on the other side of the mountains. It’s dangerous work, what with the orcs and all, but priests need a warning of what’s coming if they don’t know already. Do we have any volunteers?"

All stood silent other than the Company of the Free who accepted the dangerous mission without a second thought. Edgar Sommerfield his face crimson with rage yelled "Need I remind the council of our previous agreement". Elder Cadrick gave the Warlord a placating look and a nod, then moved to speak to the Company of the Free. "This is brave and dangerous work, my friends. The Monastery of the Sundered Chain lies further up in the mountains and the journey will be arduous and who knows what creatures you may encounter. Seek out the leader of the order a Paladin named Kalad. For this task we will pay 1000 gold. May Moradin give you all the strength you need to complete your quest."

Megan Swiftblade and the rest of the Freeriders came over to wish the party well and promised to meet up again once the Orcish invasion had been repelled.

With no time to lose the Company headed out on their quest. Grogar with a small measure of relief quickly called to see Myra before they departed and explain he would not be able to keep their appointment. Although deflated, Myra said she was proud her hero was embarking on such a brave mission with which she hugged the embarrassed Paladin and planted a kiss on him. She made Grogar promise to keep their tryst when he returned from his quest.

The journey to the Monastery of the Sundered Chain was indeed perilous, the terrain was unyielding an more than one of the group picked up injuries along the way. The group reached a rocky shelf. Grogar volunteered to climb up to the next ledge and drop down a rope for his companions. Unfortunately halfway up the steep slope his handhold crumbled away and he tumbled back to the lower ledge twisting his ankle in the process. As he tentatively got up onto his feet again his eyes went wide with alarm. Ghouls!

Emerging from a cave entrance ahead a group of 5 ghouls came tearing onto the ledge at frightning speed. Within seconds the undead abominations were upon them. Seeking to ake advantage of the terrain Ben summoned an almighty clap of thunder and blasted a group of 3 of the beasts. The first of them was flung off the edge of the cliff to certain death, the next barely managed to cling on to the edge of the cliff and the third managed to completely dodge the blast.

However, the fight was far from over. The remaining ghoul clawed Ben who immediately became paralyse by the creatures foul necrotic energy. Beset by another of the ghouls Nalklyr summoned a cloud of darkness, hoping to cover his escape to a more tactically advantageous position. Alas, it was not to be - as he dodged through the battlefield a ghoul raked him with a claw which rooted him to the spot. Grogar launched at his nearest assailant summoning the power of Kelemvor to obliterate the undead aberrations and the creature racked in pain at the touch of Grogar's holy blade. Garig exploded in to life, his first attack swung his axe through the belly of a ghoul and cut in to a second with the follow through he then maneuvered into the centre of the pack of ghouls and swung his axe in a mightly circular sweep catching 3 of the beasts with the same attack.

Nalklyr and Ben however were in a desperate position. The ghouls paralyzing attacks had left them unable to maintain a safe distance and the ghouls savagely bit in to their exposed flesh leaving the pair of them in total shock. Melech, seeing that he battle was swinging back in to their adversaries favour, took control. "I didn't return from the arms of death to fall prey to a bunch of undead scavengers! Steel thyself wizard, these monstrosities are no match for the Company of the Free!" He then entered the fray kicking one ghoul out of the way before slicing a second with his magical longsword. Melech stirring words seem to shake Ben out of his shocked state and brought him back in to the battle. He launched another powerful wave of thunder at the ghouls pushing one of them off he cliff ledge to a grisly death.

Grogar could see Nalklyr was in a serious condition. Still in a state a shock and bleeding profusely he invoked the power of Kelemvor to challenge Nalklyr's assailant, then used his self sacrificing lay on hands ability to help restore his friend's health and finally launched in to the ghoul which a deadly hack of his fullblade severing the creatures head.

With that the tide of battle had swung back to the heroes and the remaining ghouls were quickly dispatched. They decided to take a short rest before continuing their arduous journey to the monastery.

Mission Accomplished!

After some deliberation, the band bravely decided to press on rather than risk the lives of the remaining hostages. Further exploration of the complex revealed a chamber containing a fountain. Ben was able to decipher various runes inscribed on the fountain and identified it as a "Fountain of Renewal". Everyone imbibed the invigorating water of the fountain which magically replenished their energy reserves.

With renewed determination the group pressed on in a search for the two missing captives. The next room they entered was a foreboding Chapel. A dark obelisk dominated the room which seemed to absorb the any light sources within. Before the band had chance to examine the room further they were set upon by a pair of wererats and a gnomish mage. The party quickly set about the wererats, and soon turned their attention to the troublesome mage. Quickly realizing he was overmatched the evil gnome tried to make good his escape but a well struck sword thrust by Grogar was sufficient to put an end to his plans. A search of the area revealed a sack containing several relics from a famous battle - "The Battle of Brindol". Furthermore, the party was able to take the gnome's ritual book from him.




Continuing the search for the remaining hostages, they cautiously advanced down a passageway into a room containing several strange menhirs. Their examination of these strange objects was interrupted when a huge hobgoblin donned in plate armour and wielding a heavy spiked chain burst in to the room. There could be no mistake - the party had found Sinruth leader of the Bloodreavers. Having some "unfinished business" with the Bloodreavers Garig was quick to challenge the ferocious monster. The two warriors stood toe to toe in a fight to the death. Twice Sinruth was able to trip Garig with the chain, however Garig was able to roll away at the last second from the fierce stomping Sinruth followed up with. Grogar also joined the battle, but Garig was clearly the focus of the Hobgoblin's rage. Nalklyr used the creature's fixation on Garig to launch a number of devastatingly precise strikes and Quick Ben managed to distract the beast with a series of mental assaults. Unable to withstand the barrage of attacks from all sides Sinruth was cut down and fell to the stone floor with a mighty crash. A search of his corpse revealed a letter from a mysterious party referring to themselves as the "Emissary". Perhaps there was some higher power directing Sinruth and the Bloodreavers. The group then went on to search Sinruth's quarters. Within they found a sarcophagus, inside of which was a magical crossbow and staff, which Nalklyr and Ben quickly seized.

Having explored all of the lower floor of the catacombs the party headed back to the entrance chamber as there were two passageways leading off from here which they had not yet explored. The first lead to a large, foul smelling chamber dotted with several patches of strange mushrooms. Ben and Garig went off to make a closer examination of this strange flora, however at that moment two massive rage drakes appeared from behind a group of boulders on the far side of the room. One engaged Grogar, the other charged for Garig and Ben. Garig reacted quickly bashing the monster squarely with his shield dazing it for just long enough for the pair to regroup with the rest of the party. Ben followed up with a spell which covered the floor with treacherous ice, causing the huge beast to crash on the floor. Whilst the drake flayed on the floor the party was able to focus it's efforts on the other Drake. Nalklyr engulfed the flailing drake in Darkfire and shot a bolt the the humongous lizards eye, which seemed to enrage the Drake further. Grogar had been badly injured by a vicious bite and had to retreat to the stairs, this left Garig to face both beasts on his own. Positioning himself to ensure he made best use of his shield he set himself for the charge of the second drake at his rear whilst the second snapped wildly at his front. The beast charged, but Garig was ready. Dodging the drakes attacks he wheeled around felling the first drake with a mighty blow and reversed his sword in one fluid action skewering the second beast behind him. The rest of the party stood speechless in awe of the warriors martial prowess.

The group went on to investigate the adjoining chamber which contained Lord Padraig. Unfortunately he was trapped with some kind of magical forcefield. After, unsuccessfully trying to fathom the working of the field, Valthurn the Sage noticed a subtle pattern that the field would blink out of existence after a set period. Anticipating the blink Valthurn swiftly pulled Lord Pedraig out of the magic circle, before it reactivated. Now there was but one prisoner to locate - Thair Coalstriker, Winterhaven's Dwarven smithy.

They headed back to the entrance chamber and descended the last remaining stairs. This brought them to a room which they ascertained to be the Von Jallach Crypt. A strange matrix of symbols glowed eerily on the floor. Valthurn explained the runes where in an ancient phonetic alphabet and spelled out the words "Von Jallach". Garig edged around the room carefully avoiding the glowing glyphs. However, he didn't notice skulking in the shadows behind him was a gnome. The gnome swung it's war pick peircing Garigs plate and inflicting a grievous wound. Before he had time to react, the situation became even more dire when two swarms of needlefang drakes began pouring into the room. Garig was overcome by the ravenous creatures which pulled him down tearing at his flesh. The second swarm headed for Ben, who attempted to avoid them by stepping on to the glowing runes. Unfortunately, this triggered a bolt of electricity which engulfed the Thayan mage. Nalklyr gained retribution on the gnomish backstabber, firing a deadly bolt which hit the gnome straight between the eyes killing it instantly. Lord Padraig, entered the fray helping keep one of the swarms at bay whilst Grogar desperately attempted to revive Garig. Quick Ben singlehandly blasting the other swarm back conjuring wave after wave of deafening thunder. With practically all their resources used and Garig hovering on the brink of consciousness the battle was finally at an end.

Wasting no time the party headed to the room adjoining the crypt and were relieved to find Thair Coalstriker the last of the captives. Although he had been singled out for some particularly brutal treatment from his captors the dwarf was able to walk and a swig on Garigs waterskin was sufficient to lift his spirits considerably.

With all of the captives free the party decided their next course should be to return the historical relics which the Bloodreavers had stolen from Brindol, back to the village. But first a long overdue rest was due, the party practically collapsed physically exhausted but spiritually elated that they had completed such a brave and dangerous rescue mission.