Play Report: Keep on the Borderlands, Session 17 (Adventures with Valgin’s Whole)

On July 1st, Arden and Wingus travel from Larkbridge to the Keep to meet Krazer. Their first order of business on the 2nd is to return to the kobold caves in the builder caves to see if there is any more loot to be taken there:

• Arden (HuS): Level 3 Half-orc Assassin
• Wingus McDowell (KeO): Level 2 Halfling Thief
  • Silas: Level 1 Human Thief
  • Muon: Level 1 Halfling Scoundrel
• Krazer Krane (JoJ): Level 2 Human Fighter

They enter the caves without incident and while the others keep watch, Wingus uses one of their re-pitons to jam the pit door. To the left, they see giant rats alerted by the sound, but hesitant to engage when they see them on a good footing. From the right, a kobold calls out in orcish to question what they’re doing.

Between a reaction roll over 95 (exceptional friendly response) and circumstances rendering a kobold particularly trusting toward a half-orc, they eventually convince the kobold that he needs to take them to talk to the orc he says is in charge around here. The kobold helps them past a new trap in the tunnels and back to toward where they slew the kobold chief. In the guard room, three orcs leap to their feet when they see them arrive.

While one of the orcs runs and knocks on the door to the chief’s quarters, the other two block the party from coming far into the room. Muon puts a shaft through the orc at the door, dropping him, and another large orc comes through the door and joins the others in melee. None of those in the melee manage to land an effectual blow, not even the kobold who takes the lead orc by surprise with a stab at his back.

As the fight continues, Silas and Wingus move up into melee while Muon watches the rear for reinforcements with an arrow on the string. Arden suffers a sprain dodging a near thing, but they eventually overcome the orcs with no losses, including the treasonous kobold.

In the chief’s room, they find a map with orcish written on it. Questioning the kobold, they learn that the orcs killed their chief and their strongest kobolds and are now using the remaining kobolds to add traps in their own caves, as planned on the map. When they ask him to join them in the service of Valgin, champion of the oppressed, the kobold merely indicates that he and the others will probably flee the caves with their chief gone and orcs coming down on them. They know of other kobolds they can join. He goes to talk to the others about gathering their things to leave when the trappers get back from the orc caves.

With the map of the orc caves in hand, they head up to sneak into them. Despite going with the sneaky boys in the lead, they enter to find the orcs alerting to their approach and fully nine orcs flanking the entrance. With the orcs taunting them to come in and apparently unwilling to come out, the party withdraws back to the kobold caves where they do a little looting in the abandoned kobold common room, finding only a pair of rope displacers. Not daring to stick around the caves in the current shift of power, the party returns to the keep.

On the 3rd, they decide to pursue a rumor that Arden has heard of dwarvish artifacts coming down the Evenflow River, presumably having washed out an abandoned dwarven hold. They know that Sargrim’s Tower is rumored to be the cradle of dwarvish civilization, but that dwarves have not dwelt their for many centuries and it is now known primarily for a heretical High Temple of Sargrim at its a peak, a temple so influential that the Supreme Judge of Sargrim who presides at the capitol is expected to make a pilgrimage there before taking the position.

They follow the river up toward the deep gorge between Sargrim’s Tower and the Glistening Range. On the way, they fish some things out of the river that look like they are of dwarvish origin, including an intact clay pot with liquid inside labeled “Restorative of Health” and some trinkets they might even be able to sell back in town. They push on far enough, checking calm eddies as pools as they go, to need to camp for the night. Early in the night, a couple dozen goblins come on their camp, but they manage to threaten them off with the threat of Valgin’s wrath, attributing the great fireball that streaked across the sky (and which the goblin leader saw) to his vengeance upon those who first offended him on his rising. The goblins agree to leave them alone for a token payment of 1 silver piece each and move on.

In the morning, they continue on up the river, planning to go another couple hours before hurrying back without all the searching in eddies and pools. They find more trinkets, some of them valuable, and then they suddenly come to an end. They remember passing two major tributaries on this side of the river and some smaller ones, so double back and explore up the larger of the two. Their effort ends when they come to a waterfall where the river pours over a large cliff they aren’t well equipped to climb.

They know they are already late enough to need to hurry lest they be caught out in the wilds a second night, so they hike back to the keep.

On the 5th, they all return to Larkbridge to meet Elend after his meeting with the royal dwarven delegation that stopped in with the Baron on their way to the capitol. Wingus, Silas, and Muon, however, press on the two days to Endsdell to meet with the Marquis and offer their services in fending off a rumored impending barbarian attack.

Not much of a payoff from this session, which is disappointing for Wingus is particular who already had the XP for a level up, but spent treasure on his magic dagger, Bumble, and hasn’t nearly the funds for it. Perhaps the Marquis will have profitable work for him.