Back on the Attack!

Summary:

After raiding the Chamber of Eyes and dismantling the slaver organization, Bloodreavers, VoSFK searched the den and found information that implicated Grimmerzhul's, a trading post in the The Seven-Pillared Hall. Upon returning to the Hall, the group met with a representative of the Mages of Saruun. Upon reading the intel describing Grimmerzhul duergar trading goods for slaves, the Mage representative charged VoSFK with the task of storming Grimmerzhul.

The adventurers made haste to plan. But a single plan couldn't be agreed upon. Cedric mentioned using a knock ritual to unlock a door and sneak in by night. Many others advocated a blunt assault. Taegahn offered to scope the trading post out first and since a plan could not be readily agreed upon, the ranger set out.

Taegahn avoided the main building, instead spying a nearby tunnel. As he got closer to its entrance, four duergar guards came into view. Undaunted, Taegahn approached them and said, "Hail. Where does this tunnel lead."

"It leads to your timely demise. I'd like nothing more than to see a fancy pants like yourself chopped down a few notches, but that's play. And I'm working right now."

"So, the tunnel leads to Grimmerzhul?" the ranger persisted.

The lead dwarf hocked a wad of pleghm and shot it at Taegahn's feet, hitting his boot square. Taegahn looked down at the spittle and then back at the duergar. "You spat on me."

The duergar hocked again, hitting Taegahn's companion boot. "You'll rue your actions this day, friend," Taegahn said.

"Huh?" the duergar grunted, not following Taegahn's eloquence.

"I'll not suffer your spittle upon my newly shined combat boots."

"What?" the duergar grunted again.

"What I'm saying is I'm going to shoot you in the face," Taegahn enunciated slowly and clearly. He then turned and paced back a good distance before pivoting while donning his bow. He let loose an arrow aimed at the spitting dwarf, but missed widely. The dwarf hooted loudly as his companions took a few steps back, activating a lever. A steel portcullis came crashing down in response, blocking the tunnel entrance. The spatting dwarf taunted, "What ya doing now, bow boy?" The other dwarfs reared back in laughter.

Taegahn returned to the rest of the party, who were busy milling around in front of Grimmerzhul's like grazing cattle. A lone duergar eyed them suspiciously. Taegahn summarized his encounter with the duergar guards. Shava listened intently as her brother described his humiliation. Her tiny fists clenched and before anyone in the party could react, she turned to the duergar guarding the trading post, pointed at him, and uttered a single commanding word that brought the guard to his knees. The party stared in surprise and then executed plan B: storm Grimmerzhul's by bashing its door down and killing whatever resided within.

Gareth arrived at the door first. He paused for a moment and tested the door handle. It gave way, clearly unlocked. The fighter flung the door open wide to reveal four readied duergard led by a dwarven woman. Orchid stepped alongside Gareth, scoping out the situation. Gilic let looses a battle cry, but choked on it when he inhaled a passing insect; he ran through Gareth straight into the room, marking most of the dwarves, daring them to attack. Cedric unleashed a ray of frost on the prone dwarven guard while Queequeg ran completely past him; the tactical warlord completely missed the duergar's presence, exposing his flank as he focused on Grimmerzhul's. Shava ran towards the post, stopping behind Orchid.

The dwarven leader, Kedhira, pointed at Orchid. The rogue felt pain ripple through her and found herself suddenly teleported directly beside the woman dwarf. A swordmage! The other duergar helped tear into the hapless rogue, who did all she could to backpedal herself away from the carnage. Gilic and Gareth meanwhile pushed into the front as best they could, while Cedric and Taegahn continued attacking the prone duergard outside. The latter rose up and stepped towards Queequeg whose back was to him. He shook his head briskly, firing prickly barbs out his beard that tore into the dragonborn warlord. Queequeg felt woozy, his body felt on fire where the barbs landed. Kedhira teleported Orchid beside her again in a mist of blinding pain. Cedric ignored the duergar outside, instead moving towards the post and casting sleep. Orchid slumbered peacefully along with a duergar. Meanwhile, Taegahn dropped the guard outside, strode into Grimmerzhul's, killed the remaining upright duergar inside, and only came to a halt after resting his boot upon the chest of the remaining sleeping guard.

"Wipe clean my boot, curr!" he shrieked.

The battle over, the party attempted to interrogate the last duergar. The questioning ended with Taegahn putting an arrow in the dwarf's head. Searching Grimmerzhul's, the party found various high quality weapons in stock and a note. The note inside mentioned Horned Hold and requested additional provisions to better feed the "new merchandise." The party took the evidence to the Mages who asked the party to pursue the duergar to the Hold, deep in the Underdark. They also handed Shava a glimmering mace as reward for services rendered.

TO BE CONTINUED

Phat Lewtz:

+2 Holy Healer's Weapon - Shava

Line(s) of the Night:

"What I'm saying is I'm going to shoot you in the face." - Blake, speaking to a dwarf guard who had trouble understanding Taegahn's previous subtle innuendo.

"What ya doin' now, bow boy?" Craig, responding as the same dwarven guard when Taegahn shoots at him and misses.

"It'll be coming out his bush." - Craig, talking about Gilic's potential to shoot pointy barbs from out his thick beard.

Baked Good of the Night:

Castle Bundt Cake. Yup, it was chocolate and shaped like a castle. Megan fretted that it didn't taste good, but my slice was scrumptious.