Dear readers, before the break of dawn, our valiant champions were roused from their slumber by the urgent tolling of the Nightstone alarm bell, a call to arms that echoed through the streets like thunder. With a swift and purposeful stride, they burst forth from the inn’s threshold, their hearts aflame with resolve, their spirits forged in the crucible of adversity. Upon reaching the gatehouse, they were greeted by Privates Breck and Winterspell, whose urgent words carried the weight of impending doom. Across the river, an orcish warband, numbering over twenty strong, had gathered, their savage cries rending the air like a tempest unleashed. Hindered by the raised drawbridge, the orcs resorted to desperate measures, dispatching scouts to swim across the Ardeep River in a bid to breach Nightstone’s palisade wall.
Soon, the orcs, led by Gurrash, their haggard chieftain, and Norgra One-Eye, their haggish shamaness, breached the southern wall. While Privates Breck and Winterspell ran to defend the keep, our heroes raced to meet the invaders in the town square, hearts aflame with the fire of righteous indignation. Javelins and arrows flew through the air as both parties advanced towards each other, locked in a deadly dance of death and destruction. The clash of steel rang out as the two forces collided in the stony square, a swirling maelstrom of chaos and carnage unfolding amidst the cries of the wounded and the dying. In the heart of the fray, Tien was struck down by a powerful blow from an orcish assailant, his form crumpling to the ground amidst the tumultuous tide of battle. Meanwhile, Lady Syndra found herself ensnared in the sinister machinations of Norgra One-Eye, her longsword slipping from her grasp as a malevolent hex took hold of her very being. With a triumphant roar, Gurrash urged his warriors onward, his eyes ablaze with savage fury as he sought to crush the defenders of Nightstone beneath his bloody boot heel.
As the tide of battle seemed poised to turn against our valiant heroes, a sudden clarion call echoed through the air. Eridan’s keen ears pricked up at the sound, recognizing the familiar cadence of elvish horns emanating from the west. The orcs were forced to split their forces, to confront this new threat on their western flank. Seizing the opportunity afforded by their foes’ divided attention, our heroes rallied together with renewed vigor. With thunderous blows, Zephyr felled one orc after another with his mighty mace, each strike ringing out like a divine judgment upon the wicked. Dru, his battle-axe cleaving through orcish flesh with relentless precision, laid waste to any who dared stand in his path. Eridan moved with a grace and agility that belied his deadly intent, his twin blades a blur of steel as he danced through the fray, cutting down orc after orc with ruthless efficiency. And Syndra, her spirit undaunted by the foul enchantments of her orcish adversaries, called upon the blessings of Eilistraee to bolster her companions’ resolve.
In the heat of battle, Eridan seemed to succumb to the ferocious might of an orcish onslaught, only to rise again like a wraith, his blades flashing with the fury of a tempest unleashed as he swiftly dispatched three more foes. Meanwhile, Dru’s relentless assault cleaved through the enemy ranks like a scythe through wheat, while Zephyr’s mace struck true, felling yet another orc with a resounding blow. However, amidst the chaos of combat, Lady Syndra faltered under the weight of Chief Gurrash’s brutal assault, her strength waning as she succumbed to his mighty blow. Yet, in a testament to their unwavering resolve, our heroes rallied together, their combined might overwhelming Gurrash as they closed in with the ferocity of a pack of wolves, hacking him to pieces with righteous fury.
Zephyr revived Lady Syndra, and Syndra revived Tien, and together our valiant heroes raced westward, to finish off the last of the orc invaders as they exited the doors of the western gate towers. Our heroes made short work of these last orc rabble. Murk delivered the killing blow to Norgra One-Eye, sending her to join her comrades in the eternal, infernal servitude of “He Who Never Sleeps”. From the tower-top, Murk hailed the wood elves that had been so instrumental in defeating the orc invaders. Their leader identified himself as Rond Arrowhome, and gave curt acknowledgement before leading his band back to their home in the Ardeep Forest.
Our heroes hastily patched up their wounds as they took their morning repast, then headed north, at the direction of the surviving Nightstone guards, to the so-called “Dripping Caves”, presumed refuge of Nightstone’s villagers. Dear readers, sure enough, the tracks of the fleeing villagers were easy to follow, and led our intrepid heroes directly to the nearby caverns. Amidst the oppressive gloom of the cavern’s depths, our valiant band pressed onward, undaunted by the dank stench that hung heavy in the air. With Tien’s torch casting flickering shadows upon the rugged walls, they ventured forth into the heart of darkness, their senses keenly attuned to the slightest hint of danger that lurked within.
Suddenly, their intrusion disturbed the peace of the cavern, rousing the resident ogre from its leisure. Nob, bathed in the mire of a lukewarm mud bath, was caught unawares by the sudden intrusion of our heroes. With a thunderous roar, he seized his greatclub and rose to meet the intruders, his primal rage unleashed upon those who dared disturb his solitude. Undeterred by the formidable foe that stood before them, our heroes launched themselves into the fray with unbridled fury. As Nob’s mate, Thog, rushed to his aid, she bore witness to her beloved’s swift demise at the hands of the half-orc warrior, Dru, his battle-axe cleaving through flesh and bone with a savage ferocity. Our heroes quickly descended upon Thog, ending her grief, sending her to join her beloved to meet Vaprak in the Abyss.
Meanwhile, five goblin archers harried our heroes from concealed positions deeper in the cavern. Fearless, they ventured inside to hunt these elusive ambushers. Murk leapt onto one ledge, and found Nitch, killing the goblin in a flash. A well timed shot by Eridan slew another goblin, Gleek, while Tien mounted another ledge and put an end to a third, named Lop. Murk bounded onto another rocky bluff and cut down the fourth, Slibberdabber, while Dru smashed the fifth, named Pox.
Drawn by the faint cries of the villagers, our heroes ventured forth into a fetid chamber, where they found the survivors huddled in fear, their spirits broken by their harrowing ordeal. The dwarf innkeeper, Morak Ur’gray, spoke for the group, telling of their tragic captivity: one by one, the villagers were being eaten by their captors! As the heroes lowered a rope down to the captive villagers, to escape the chasm, a cloud of bats came pouring out of a dark hole in the floor.
The commotion alerted another goblin, named Snigbat, who spotted our heroes. Again, cries of alarm echoed in the large cavern as Snigbat ran to raise reinforcements, our heroes in hot pursuit. Dru followed him into a narrow tunnel, and caught up with Snigbat in a small chamber filled with giant rats, twin goblinesses Ratcha and Zukluk, and the goblin boss, Hark, engaged in the brutal desecration of the body of Darthag Ulgar, former proprietor of the Lionshield Coster in Nightstone. Nearby, Daphne Featherstone, former Lady-in-Waiting to Velrosa Nandar, awaited a similar gruesome fate.
Our heroes made quick work of the giant rats, and the gobliness twins. Boss Hark was no fool: he immediately dropped his scimitar and surrendered, offering the heroes his hoard, in exchange for his life. The heroes agreed to his terms, and Hark led them to his treasure: eighty-seven copper pieces, fifty-five silver, twelve gold, a matching pair of silver salt and pepper shakers, a bloodstained leather case containing a complete set of thieves’ tools, a holy symbol of Silvanus carved from wood and inlaid with gold, and a magically illuminated, levitating Driftglobe: an ideal arcane upgrade to Tien’s mundane torches. They also found a number of simple weapons in the cavern, which Eridan distributed to the hapless villagers. Our heroes then accompanied the survivors back to their ruined village.
The grieving villagers returned to their shattered homes, to try to rebuild their shattered lives. And as our heroes retired to the Nightstone Inn, weary yet triumphant, they knew that their journey was far from over, for the road ahead was fraught with peril, and giant shadows still loomed on the horizon.
chronicles 