Madness at Gardmore Abbey -session 5

 played July 30

Whispering Grove -Autumn Nymphs

Return to WinterHaven

'Remarkable. Just remarkable', he says. Lord Paidrig leafs through the maps and lists detailing the orc defences again, shaking his head in wonder and adjusting his spectacles. 'You have truly outdone yourselves. Between this and the information extracted from the orc savage Sir Oakley brought back the day before yesterday, we finally have enough information to form a proper battle plan. Just remarkable', he adds, thumping the heavy mahogany desk.

The five of you are squashed into Lord Paidrig's study, two sitting and three standing, as Lord Paidrig and Rond Kelfem the captain of the militia study the documents.

Lord Paidrig looks up sharply. 'Gods, It’s rediculous. Do the Fey actually believe these gardening journals give them some sort of claim on this land? Still, we might be able to use this to our advantage. The breach in the wall offers by far the best approach to the village. We need to get these fey creatures onside against the orcs. If all they want is to live in an overgrown garden after the battle that won't be a problem, so long as they don't stop us coming through. Do you think you five could arrange some sort of deal?' he asks, tossing over a large coinpurse (600 gp),  and a contract between Winterhaven and the Feywild, with the exact terms and signatures of Berrian and Lord Paidrig left blank.

He rises from his ornate chair. ‘Well, we have work to do. Return to the Fey and make these terms acceptable’ His eyes are very pale and unblinking, and he clenches his hand into a fist, punching his desk. ‘They will accept – its in their interest, and we need that breach covered. Then return here and we will finalise our plans – I’m aiming to launch this attack in a fortnight

Sir Oakley

If you could assist me in purifying the temple at the summit of the corrupted abbey. That high plateau was called once Dragon's Roost. Your job would be to keep me alive and help me reach and enter the temple so that I can conduct the ritual of purification. I am not helpless by any means - I can still use this sword, believe me - but I am not as young as I once was, as my experience with the orcs a few days ago taught me.'

'As unpleasant as the Blood orcs are, they are but a symptom of the evil that has now taken over what was once such a holy site, not the cause of it. I won't interfere with any plans you have to defeat the orcs, but I must remain focused on my quest.

Arcanian Lab

You walk up the curving stone steps leading up the tower's doorway. As you do, you are struck by an image from the past - 'The Death of Eleida', but it is an dreamlike vision only and you have no idea who these protagonists are.

All of you see the same thing- a tragic scene plays out on the steps leading to the tower as the town burns behind. The man is devastated - you can see he is in love. The dead paladin is beautiful. The vision only lasts for a moment.

A barrier of shimmering ice spans across the doorway, blocking the view inside. You might be able to dispel the wall  but he can sense that the power of the person who erected the ward is much greater than his own. This magical wall of ice is undoubtedly alarmed and any attempt to dispel it would probably trigger it. The windows into the tower are all sealed with ice.

The wall of ice blocking the main doorway into the door glistens with a wet sheen as you works on it. Droplets of water form on its surface, turning quickly into little rivulets that trickle down and pool on the stone threshold. The wall of ice is melting. White electrical sparks fly along invisible threads spun across the doorway as the arcane weave misstriggers. Those trained in Arcana hear a low humming sound – inaudible to the others– that signifies the collapse of the magical field. 

Flesh Golem -Elaida

2 Gargoyles

Warped Magic Trap

  

Madness at Gardmore Abbey -session 4

played July 23

Font of Ioun

Berrian

Visions

You make your way up the path, and enter a clearing. A font bubbles from a tumbled-down fountain, its water sparkling in the light. Encircling its broad base is a mosaic depicting a platinum dragon and a silver stag in eternal chase; the tiles that define the beasts' shapes are marked with miniature runes. Along the mosaic's perimeter, toppled walls and mossy statues form a broken stone shell bounding what once must have been some manner of shrine. Clouds of magnficent  blue and purple butterflies float around the clearing.

A host of eladrin camps amid the fallen walls, hair and mail shimmering like quicksilver. They seem alert, as if having been stirred by the ring of a bell tower. The male leader, tall and silver-eyed, scowls as you approach and brandishes a gleaming longsword –. ‘What is your business here?’ he says. ‘Speak quickly or fall where you stand.’ In the blink of an eye the other Eladrin suddenly teleport and surround you, their own bright swords instantly drawn. The trees around the font seem to whisper and shift, although there is no wind to blow them.

The fey knight nods as each of you speak, though their  eyes linger on you distrustfully.

Berrien introduces himself , a note of bitterness in his tone. His stern features do not soften. Although possessing the ethereal beauty and unlined skin of the fey, dark circles under those silvery pearl eyes speak of exhaustion. His delicately embroidered tunic of green and grey is clean, but very thin in places, and below it the mithril coat of chainmail glimmers but is missing some links.

‘I am Berrian, Seigneur of house Velfarren. For two human lifetimes I have searched the wide world over in a quest to discover the mystery of my father's fate and pay a son's proper tribute to his memory. All roads have led me here, to this human ruin. But once again they diverge and lose themselves in the fog of time, and though I near their ends I cannot see them clearly. Do they lead to dishonor? Vengeance? Death? It is impossible to see. I know only that in this place is a madness like in no other, and I will not be tricked again.’

Another Eladrin talks to Berrien  ‘They do not speak respectfully? What are they hiding? – what is their purpose here? – to claim this fey grove for the Orc’s? They’re wearing Orcish garbs.’. Berrian addresses you again, this time his tone is slightly softer, but the distrust etched on his impassive face remains.’

He steps over to the table and pours the contents of a flask into six glasses, and hands you one each, taking the sixth himself. 'Feywine,  to remind us of our home, I apologise if I have been discourteous.' Berrian offers up a toast to far off homelands and indicates around him. 'Do you feel it? This grove thrums with the life of the Feywild. But the closer we come, the farther we fall away. Fey beasts lair in the ruins. Gossiping nymphs tantalize us with secrets. And now my sister Analastra too has vanished, thus halting our sacred quest until she can be found.'

You sense that Berrian's sole priority is his family - first his sister, then his father, and finally the retainers who have accompanied him on his journey. You think that he would defends his charges fiercely against any threat and refuses to admit any distraction from his quest to find his father. No ethical principle guides his action except the loyalty of kinship and his sense of honour. Although aloof, he seems passionate and mercurial, quick to take offence and suspicious of anyone new. He is proud, defensive and stubborn and expects proper deference, responding well to respect, humility, honor, and sincerity. 

‘Do you know what I have discovered since I arrived? These overgrown gardens were created and planted, not by the humans, but by the fey – by our kind. Humans and orcs have no concept of claims to plants and animals; no understanding of natural beauty. Everything will be destroyed and this little piece of the feywild will be trampled.’

Font Visions

GroundsKeppers Cottage

2 OwlBear

Madness at Gardmore Abbey - session 3

played: July 16

Outer Gardens

Skill Challege

Deathjump Spiders

Perhaps you can creep through and avoid activating the webs, either through some acrobatic contortions or sneaking. The webs might also be disabled by someone who was deft or knowledgeable in such things.

The spiders, sensing that they are assaulted, react with shocking and terrifying speed. All of them leap high into the tree canopy directly over you, then one by one they drop down from above, surrounding you and striking with their fangs

“You examine a creature that is cocooned in a web. It is dead – a skeleton – dressed in metal armour with shield and sword – all rusted beyond use. A knight or paladin, caught by the spiders long ago. The silver and blue dragon symbol on his breastplate has survived remarkably well considering the rest – perhaps due to its silver plating. You wipe off the black tarnish and see that it has been scratched, as if by a fingernail. A message – left perhaps by the man (judging by the size of the armour) as he was bound up and awaiting his grizzly fate. You can just make out the words, thought the writing fades near the end.

 'I have failed my brothers – without me the chest will remain sealed and the brazier unlit – Bahamut forgive my weakness'.”

Bell Tower

2 Displacer Beasts

3 Dire Stirges

Madness at Gardmore Abbey - session 2

played July 8

After successfully battling your way through the Main Gate; you find yourselves in an open area.

 Given the archery hay bails, various wooden training swords, shields  and some spears, you conclude this to be a mustering area. It is currently empty.

(south)

Immediately next to this area to the south is a tall fortress on a high point overlooking the abbey.

Beyond it is what appears to be an overgrown garden.

And beyond that, vegetation and trees seem to have overtaken and covered the area.

Except for a tall but dilapidated bell tower in the midst of it.

At the far south built into the outer defensive wall is a watchtower.

(north)

To the north you hear sounds of many orc voices ,some clanging of metal and you can smell food cooking . You see several dwellings  with activity about them . This looks like a village.

A tall grey tower looms over the far end of the village.

Beyond that you can make out a  large ruined garrison built into the outer wall.

(west)

To the West is the top of the hill.

On its pinnacle and in various states of ruin and disrepair are large stone structures.

The large central one has some marking and carved structures on it leading you to believe it to be a Temple; but you are not sure of their use of the other buildings.

Ruined Fortress

Ettin

Chieftains Retenue

4 Orc Rampagers

2 Dire Wolves

Orc Storm Shaman

                

Orc Chieftain Barkrosh

Madness at Gardmore Abbey -session 1

played: June 18

WinterHaven

'Have you returned from Gardmore Abbey?'

That's what they say in the Vale when someone starts acting strange. It's a byword for eccentricity, or madness. But no one returns from Gardmore Abbey nowadays.

How did that noble structure get such a reputation? Gardmore was one of the earliest settlements in the Vale, and the large monastery overlooking the town and Gardbury Downs was a centre of learning and pilgrimage for centuries. Dedicated to Bahamut,  Gardmore was the base of  a militant order of paladins that won great fame in Nerath’s distant crusades. As the story goes, the paladins brought a dark artefact back from the Infernal Bastion far to the south for safekeeping at the Abbey. Perhaps that artefact was the cause of the fall - who knows. Sinister forces gathered and Gardmore fell, and the ruins of the monastery have lain uninhabited for over one hundred and fifty years.

Until now.

Recently, orcs have been raiding merchants and travellers along the king's road near the abbey. People are saying that the orcs have taken over the ruins of the ancient monastery, and are raising an army to attack Winterhaven, or perhaps even Fallcrest.

-Lord Padriq

“Travelers on the King’s Road of late have been attacked by orcs,” Lord Padriq said. “The attacks mostly occur in the vicinity of the old ruins of Gardmore Abbey, so I suspect the orcs are using the ruins as a lair. If I could, I’d raise a militia to go root out the monsters, but the good folks here can’t see past the village walls. If it’s not a direct threat to Winterhaven , they don’t think it’s our problem. But the orc attacks affect merchants and traders coming here, so it is our concern, after all, and I need to deal with the monsters. To start, I’d like to hire you to scout the abbey and find out whether the orcs are lairing there. Come back and tell me what you find— as complete a picture of their lair and defenses as you can.”

We don't want your investigations to lead to the orcs improving their defences. We need to get an idea of the enemy numbers and positions, and we need it quickly. We don't want you to risk trying to deal with the problem yourselves at this stage. We are looking for reconnaissance, not a siege.'

'And as for the matter of the reward, while it is true that six hundred gold is no king's bounty, this is only the first stage in a larger project, for which you will be compensated 

Gardmore Abbey - first approach

You leave Winterhaven immediately, and begin the journey along the King’s Road to the Gardbury Downs. The Abbey is only 18 miles from Winterhaven as the crow flies, but the road winds through the hills and it takes all day just to reach the turning off to the Abbey. As you approach, you pass broken and burnt trade wagons, carcasses of dead horses, even dead travelers or merchants. Those wearing Heavy armor push themselves hard but by nightfall can take no more, and you set up a small camp off the King’s Road.

The following morning you wake and make a hearty breakfast  and proceed down the overgrown road that leads to the Gardmore Abbey. At about nine o’clock you hear the thundering of hooves behind you on the path and hide in the bushes as six horsemen charge down the lane towards the abbey. You take a look at them as they fly by, and recognise them as the elf mage/ dwarf cleric/ drow rogue/ half-orc barbarian/ human fighter adventuring party from Wrafton’s Inn yesterday morning. The half-orc is riding a huge war horse that towers over the other five animals, and the sixth horse is riderless, carrying instead many empty leather sacks.

They pass and you step back onto the road, following in their dusty trail. By late morning you reach the top of a low rise and see the defended ruins of Gardmore Abbey ahead of you, about a mile/twenty minutes away.

The overgrown path that leads from the King's Road ends in a gate flanked by squat, square towers. To either side of the gate stretches a curtain wall showing signs of its age, supported by occasional towers and buttresses. Above the wall, on the summit of the dramatic defended outcrop is the great mass of the ruined abbey.

To the left of the gate (south), the abbey's outer wall is draped with ivy, and the canopy of a thick forest is visible beyond. A tall watch- tower stands at the far left (south) end of the hill, marking the end of the curtain wall. This wall extends halfway around the hill, and nature has taken care of the rest. The hillside is so steep on the left side (west and south) that a military assault would be impossible, though a smaller force might be able to scale it.

You see no sign of the five riders. Smoke rising from the ruined buildings along the right (north) side of the hill behind the walls suggest that there is some life within, but you are too far away to see any figures guarding the defences.

Gardmore Abbey Main Gate

4 orc reavers

2 orc archers

1 Ogre

Madness at Gardmore Abbey -session 0

 Prelude

Kobold Shamans grove
Wood Woads
Tattoo
Donjon Card