And here we are with our very first plotted raid in Wicked Ones! Last time here.
Our...heroes, I guess...are staking out the route from Charter Hollow to the site of the Confraternity of the Three encampment. They're lurking along the road at night, hiding behind whatever cover they can find, and Queequaz the Querulous has summoned up a bit of fog to hide them.
Their target: a wagon of paper and other sundries that the Confraternity is taking back to their base. A driver rides the wagon, while two armored men ride resplendent chargers flanking it. Baldruf sneaks up under cover the fog to cut the horses loose...and just as he's starting to cut, one of the men on horseback raises a holy symbol and burns away the fog.
Baldruf, rather caught with his breeches down, stabs wildly at the driver, and fires his crossbow at the knight on horseback. The bolt hits the dude's helmet and doesn't really harm him, but dazes him some. Thudd hurls his hammer at the head of the other knight, knocking him from his horse, while Fnort charges in at the horses drawing the wagon and kicks them over. Unfortunately, they collapse on top of him.
Queequaz and his acolytes are, characteristically, some distance away. They call up dark magics to amplify the pain of the crossbow bolt in the first knight, and it works, but the knight sees them and charges at them, scattering the goblins in panic. Queequaz changes them all into creeping bugs and bats, and they slither off and away from the now very confused knight.
The driver of the wagon rallies the horses and they stand up (and get off Fnort). Baldruf stabs at the dude, but then slinks away and climbs in the back of the wagon, And there he gets another surprise - there's a fourth man riding the back, dressed in leather armor and carrying a flail! He forces Baldruf out and strikes him with the whip, chastising him in Light Tongue.
Fnort closes in on the knight that Thudd was dealing with, swinging his sock of rocks. Thudd takes advantage of the distraction and stabs the dude in the leg, and Fnort leaps up and tries to brain him, but misjudges how tall he is, bounces off his chest, and lands flat on his back. Baldruf climbs up on the wagon, past the inquisitor, and gets the horses moving, and yells to the others that the wagon is heading back to the Sepulcher!
Thudd manages to get on the wagon, while Fnort winds up under it. He struggles his way in, though, just as the two knights come galloping up (leaving the driver and the inquisitor behind). Queequaz is trying to get onto the wagon and Baldruf throws him a rope, and he manages to climb on board with Fnort's help...but throws Fnort out in the process of getting in.
Fnort lands with a thump, and sees the other two enemies still on foot, running after the wagon. He charges at them, screaming and waving his deadly sock, and they run. Fnort grumbles something unkind about Queezquaz and starts heading home on foot.
The wagon isn't doing especially well, though. Thudd throws a bear trap out the back, but forgets to open it. Queequaz calls on help from his deity and not only opens the trap, but multiplies it, and it fells one of the horses and riders. The other one rides up alongside the wagon and tries to calm the horses, and Baldruf fires a bolt into the horse's flank. The rider braces like he's going to jump to the wagon, and Baldruf, vengeful at the best of times, leaps onto the horse with him!
Now no one is steering the wagon. Queequaz is in the back, but he's far too craven to try. Thudd crawls up to the driver's seat and hurls a concoction he came up with earlier at the knight on the horse. It shatters, drugging the knight, Baldruf, and the horse. Baldruf takes advantage of the situation and slits the knight's throat, while Thudd manages to grab the reins and head for the Sepulcher.
The Wicked Ones aren't safe yet, though. Barely have their gotten back when they realize that the Confraternity has followed them! Three adventurers - the inquisitor from before, a heavily armored knight, and a cleric of the Three - arrive at their door. But of course, now these adventurers have the dungeon to deal with...
They bypass the spiked pit trap easily, and push into the main hall. They approach the cabinet full of undead rats, and the horrible little beasties burst forth, but the cleric disrupts their magic and the rats fall dead. The adventurers press on into the ossuary, wherein the two gnoll cutthroats that report to Baldruf are lurking. Unfortunately, they're also hung over and a little dinged up from the last dungeon invasion.
The knight charges forward and slashes at them. They roll and attack, trying to press whatever advantage they can, but the knight strikes out with his sword, felling them both.
The adventurers, finding nothing else here, return to the main hall. They try to enter the hallway at the southwestern end, but the bone puzzle lock thwarts them. They find another door at the end of the hall, however...but this one leads down the corridor enchanted with a fear spell!
The knight and the cleric fall prey to it, but the inquisitor cannot be swayed from his mission. They all three press on into the hall, and are confronted with the goblin acolytes. These little creeps call up dire magics against the adventurers, but they stand strong, and the goblins melt themselves into ooze and flee. The adventurers continue unimpeded into the Scriptorium.
There, they find the crafter imps busily engaged in cleaning the room (including scrubbing the books). The inquisitor charges forth and chastises them. They activate a "sprinkler" that douses the room in slime, temporarily blinding the adventurers, but the cleric calls up a glowing golden dome that forces the imps back. They try to hide, but they're leaving little slimy footprints, so instead they fall back into the guard post.
The knight follows zealously, and runs straight into the kobold pack. The kobolds leap on him, stabbing at him with their little knives, and peel the armor from his body before laying him low. They turn their attention to the other two, with the imps taunting and throwing rocks, but the inquisitor and the cleric manage to beat them off with their weapons and return to the scriptorium.
They loot the room, and the cleric heals his companion a bit, and then they descend to the Sanctum itself! (Boss music.)
They catch the Wicked Ones unawares, licking their wounds, and the inquisitor berates them in Light Tongue. Fnort screams at them, backing them down, but they advance cautiously. Baldruf charges forward in an uncharacteristic show of direct force, and gets his knife smacked out of his hand for his trouble. He backs up and puts a crossbow bolt in the inquisitor's chest, and Queequaz calls on Crevis once again to blind the inquisitor.
The God of Cowardice does, but blinds Queequaz, too. The goblin zealot praises his master, and Thudd flanks the inquisitor and hurls his hammer into the intruder's head, killing him.
Fnort tries to tie up the cleric with his newly-acquired rope and grappling hook, but all he manages to do is wrap the rope around some of the pillars. Baldruf takes advantage, though - he runs in, bounces off the ropes and drives his elbow into the cleric's head. The cleric falls to the ground, unconscious, and Baldruf stands victorious!
Next time, we'll see what this cleric can be persuaded to tell them!
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