Over the mountains and through the fire…

Gathering to make plans and move on to challenge the Gnomes of Gulmoor, Raifer requested Armin and Hammer to get some word back to Oolm as to the goings on in Sudalon if at all possible. They agreed and would try but could not do it from within Sudalon. Next, the last supplies were amassed, packed and readied for the trip. Garan offered an option to use a Dwarven Clerical spell, Mark of Brotherhood, to help ensure no infiltrators made their way in to the group. But the long term and religious implications were too much for many members of the party.

All prepared they headed out of town with the help of SUGAR and made their way towards the mountains. It was a wide open plain between the city and the hills and they crossed it quickly. Making their way to the nearest path up they could find. The path lead quite a ways up in to the mountain but eventually ended in a gathering area where there was no choice but to begin climbing. Warrex, the only one with true climbing skills lead the way. He scouted out and found old signs of past climb attempts which he was able to use on the first leg of the ascent. As he made his way to the next purchase point and secured climbing lines he was followed by Justin, Bekki and Raifer. Furion, Tyrade and Indigo would take up the rear ready with spells to catch those that fell. And that safety net would be used several times. A Spider Climb was cast on Warrex to help with a very difficult section of the climb and Feather Fall and Levitate to catch a few party members that lost their grip and would have otherwise fallen. But the group eventually made their way to a large mesa plateau amid the mountain.

The mesa crossed several miles of the range and lead to a spot where they could look down on the far side into the plains below. In the distance Justin spied a caravan travelling west in the direction of Gulfmoor, or at the least, the coast. They spent the night on the mesa and prepared for the climb down the far side. They found a way down and avoided any real trouble or danger making it to the lower foothills and the plain below. The group travelled a bit in to the plain to make some room between them and the mountain and headed west.

Later that day some movement was spotted ahead traveling in their direction coming from the direction of where Gulfmoor is. Raifer decided to move closer to the foothills for cover and to possibly avoid the oncoming threat. But it was soon evident the threat veered towards them and was closing ground quickly. They could discern that at least one or two of the gnomish hover devices were in the threat heading towards them. Since it was late in the day a quick plan was devised. The Halflings were to split off and head in to the hills to hide. The rest of the group would move ahead a few hundred yards and set up camp.

It became clear there were four of the hover craft each with at least 4 dwarves riding and one also had a catalpult mounted on it. One vehicle broke off, speeding up to approach the party making camp. Ruurik and Garan were dressed in the Sudalon military uniforms they had taken while in town and moved to the front to greet the oncoming dwarves. When the vehicle stopped two dwarves dismounted and approached. Garan noted that one of the dwarves bore the rank markings of a Colonel. The Colonel began asking questions but Garan’s ability to bluff his way through was sorely lacking. Ruurik jumped in and spread the cover story out and it appeared the Colonel was buying it. He offered assistance to the party and Ruurik agreed that they could use two additional dwarves to help guard these refugees of an attack back to safety. The Colonel ordered two to stay and help sending a Sergeant and a Corporal from his wagon. Then he returned to his vehicle and they moved on. The two new dwarves established themselves as in charge and ordered the two party dwarves to organize the party and set up watches. The enemy dwarves would rest during the first watch.

As the night wore down the Halflings decided to move closer to the group believing it safe since the hover craft had moved along. As they crept closer Jimmi tripped and fell causing a noise loud enough to be heard. The Sudalon dwarves ordered Ruurik and Garan to investigate. As they approached the the area of the noise it became evident where the Halflings were as Jerri and Jimmi were engaged in a rather involved disagreement. About what, no one was sure. The Halflings were unsure if the dwarves near them were from Sudalon or their own and waited ready to attack if needed but Ruurik was able to signal them and defuse any potential problem. He relayed the current situation and the plan the group had devised. They would wait a few hours in to the night to allow the Sudalon dwarves to be resting peacefully and then move in on them, incapacitate them and question them. The plan did not include any killing. Yet. Having briefed the Halflings they returned and reported something about a buffalo or maybe something with horns but nothing else of note. With that the entire party settled in for the evening. Garan and Ruurik were up first for watch duties and the Sudalon dwarves set their watch duration as five hours.

A few hours in to the night as they prepared to move in and capture the dwarves Garan thought he heard something off in the distance. They also thought they spotted some movement north of the camp but were not sure. Ruurik moved to alert Raifer but found he was asleep. Ilykia was awake and near Raifer. She moved along the ground to rouse him. In the hills, Cade, awake and waiting for the action spotted the stirring in the camp and moved to wake the Halflings that were asleep starting with Jimmi.

At that point everything changed as Garan heard a definite sound and was able to identify it. He turned to Ruurik and said “Catapult!”. Ruurik turned and raced towards the Sudalon dwarves screaming “Catalpult! Sarge!” hoping to maintain the ruse and involve the opposition in their defense. A few of the party that had fallen asleep woke and those still awake began to scurry to their feet as the first round of ammunition from the catapult landed right next to the camp fire. The incoming round was a ball of hot oil that burst on impact, igniting from the camp fire and splashing hot burning oil on all those near it. Bekki, not yet awake and just next to the fire was incinerated.

The first reactions of the party were not good and did not go their way. Garan attempted a Bless and Furion cast an Invisibility on himself but both spells failed. The group rousted the remaining sleeping members and scattered from the burning oil. It was then the party noticed a number of dwarves moving in from the north led by a few wolves that had already closed ground on them and the group attempted to organized themselves to attack the oncoming threat.

The battle was now engaged and the entire party up and moving. Garan evoked a Dust Devil to attack the wolves. Raifer moved in to attack the Sergeant taking him in to hand to hand, scoring a perfect hit immediately knocking the sergeant out cold. Arrows flew from both sides with the Sudalon dwarves all armed with crossbows firing rounds in to the group but their first volleys were a clean miss. Alydra scored the most interesting hit firing her bow shot, using a Drow Black Arrow, at the Colonel.

The battle became pitched and difficult as both sides took serious damage. Warrex was struck by a mighty axe hit scored by the corporal which he returned just as well. Parker struck and killed the first dwarf using a Spiritual Whip and Garan’s Dust Devil finished off one of the wolves. Alydra shot a dwarf with another black arrow causing a far more damaging hit than even she thought possible as the previously unscathed target fell dead. But for all the good, several members would drop or break their weapons in the fight. Tyrade dropped his bow, Warrex and Ruurik both dropped and broke their primary weapons. And Garan would have several spells fail. The dwarves slowly moved in after each volley, closing ground preparing for a charge with their axes. Once close enough, Indigo released a Stinking Cloud disabling two. Furion dropped another with a bow shot.

The Halflings once recognizing the situation mounted their own charge down to the fray. Cade led them off to the side, skirting the main fight attempting to flank the dwarves. As they charged around the flank they spotted the catapult and decided to make for it. They spotted a six man crew working the device and moved to reach a location they could use ranged fire weapons to take them out.

The fight continued, each side taking serious damage, several of the dwarves were now dead and a good number of the party seriously injured. But at that time the Colonel, who had been surveying the battle from the rear along with an aide, turned and began walking away from the battle. A move that frustrated Indigo and Tyrade as they had him in their sights to use an Aganavar’s Scorcher against him.

The catapult loosed again, the ball of hot oil launched in to the group. It struck the ground amid a few of the party but it did not burst, rather it bounced. Ilykia was immediately in front of it and she jumped back. The round bounced in to her, breaking and oozing some hot oil on her but nowhere near the intended or potential effect.

Garan, now severely wounded, backed off the fight and moved to aid others that were wounded. Alydra, firing on all cylinders with her bow, pierced several other dwarves. Indigo made use of his Aganavar’s Scorcher on another dwarf and Tyrade dropped one more. Furion used a Magic Missile to drop another.

The Halflings finally made it to the catapult only to find the crew attempting to rewind and reload the device. They opened fire at the next round of ammunition trying to break it before they could load and fire it. Cade and Books were able to pierce the ball but it did not burst at first. But a second volley from Cade caused the large ball to split open splashing the oil filling on the crew. It then found the fire used to heat the oil and an explosion of fire ensued. One dwarf died instantly and two others were seared. The crank team resetting the device continued with their task until they noticed the Halflings charging in whereupon they scattered like leaves in the wind abandoning the device.

Ruurik, now using his backup battle axe, defeated the corporal with a final slash leaving only a few dwarves standing. Indigo finished off one with a Magic Missile, Ilykia another with her bow and Justin one more. The final dwarf was then surrounded. Raifer offered him the chance to surrender. The dwarf had one condition, “Keep that other dwarf away from him” indicating Ruurik. Ruurik giggled and backed away sheathing his weapon and the dwarf surrendered.

The battle was done, many of the party were severely injured, Bekki was dead, they had two prisoners and the Colonel and his aide had gotten away.

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