Group prior to final last stand

This is the current party, following the first part of the last stand battle at the monastery:


Left to right:

Hunolt the Brave (human fighter)

Patience Constantina Tangleleaf the Vigilant (halfling ranger)

Brik the Considerate (half-orc monk)

Belinda the Heartening (halfling bard)

Archduke Neo III the Quick-witted (halfling rogue / wizard)

Pandora the Mysterious (half-elf sorcerer)

The last stand (at the monastery)

The party reached the monastery safely, thanks to Patience's scouting. There, the heroes and villagers of Grymnon would make their last stand against the Horde of Ardric. Though they faced an impossible challenge, they set about securing the second story of the antechamber. Once the creatures had breached the ground floor and began ascending the stairs (only one could be used as the heroes had filled the other with debris), the group gave word for the villagers to escape through the windows and climb down to safety.

The group also lit the other stairway on fire, hoping to fry the creatures. Alas, the acid-spitting demons with poisoned talons were not susceptible to fire.

The Abbott, revisiting his suspicious behavior from the conference, began undergoing an abominable transformation. We thank our other newfound companion, Brik the monk, for ejecting him out the window.

The battle went nearly as could be expected: the abominations barreled through the village guards and severely injured the heroes, even killing a newly new-found companion, Ezekiel the monk. Soon, we were once again at the down-but-not-out stage, where more of us were unconscious than not. The fiend Ardric reappeared, sniping the escaping villagers from outside (we solved this by creating new route through another window).

Our new companion, Brik, the half-orc monk.

Other highlights included the Archduke's wall-like opposition against one of the creatures, blocking it from reaching the rest of us; Belinda's securing of Archduke once his opposition met its match at the hands of said creature; Brik's much appreciated assistance in healing our wounds (through healing potions); and [please insert any highlights you recall and think should be mentioned here].

The last gate

Following the breach of the northern gate (and the butchering of both guards and abominations), the southern gate was next on the chopping block.

Belinda thought it best to support the guards with speeches of heroes past who survived impossible odds and who lived to see another sun rise above the mountains.

As the abominations appeared outside the village walls, the guards sniped them as best they could, concentrating on one which spat bolts of acid. Only a few of the bolts even scratched the fiend. By the graces of fortune (or so they thought), Hunolt the Brave rode down with his loyal Zzrath from the northern gate.

Sadly, this gate also proved no match against acid and the creatures stormed the village.

***

In the end, less than a handful of the guards stood alive and the heroes had lost their new companion, Werton, to poison. The interim sheriff (replacing the Dread Sheriff Tyrion) and the blacksmith were among the fallen. Having little time to mourn, the survivors set out for the monastery.

An aberrant salvation from down below

Shortly after Ardric's escape, the heroes began their hunt. Patience and the Archduke went on ahead for reconnaissance while the rest stayed behind, tending to the survivors of the conference ambush.

They discovered that Ardric had kidnapped the widow Hutchinson's daughter and that time was of the essence. He also controlled the Ardheim contingent.

In the end, the whole party tracked Ardric and his company to one of the nearby vales. There Ardric performed a profane ritual, one dedicated to Thoon, that appears to have transformed his company into creatures from below. They were too fast and too powerful for the party, prompting all its members to retreat back to Grymnon. (with at least one horse killed in the process).

Incidents included the sudden appearance of dozens of smaller creatures and a dozen larger beasts to our left, Pandora's moral dilemma of either riding away or waiting long enough to secure the Archduke (where she decided upon the latter), the Archduke's six-second horse-switching (as his horse died, he jumped up on Pandora's), and Belinda's mounted spellcasting (as her horse was about to collapse due to its wounds, she successfully healed it while riding on it).

Once more to barricades, my victims

And so it came to pass that the Horde of Ardric descended on Grymnon. The village guard evacuated the civilians to the monastery, with a skeleton crew remaining to guard the village proper. The heroes tried to protect the northern gate, but the wood was no match for abominations' acid spit.

The heroes protecting the northern gate were Patience, Archduke Neo, Hunolt, and Werton. In the end, Hunolt was forced to withdraw (due to his severe wounds) and seek help.

Thankfully, the creatures did not take their time to dine on the fallen, for if they had, we would have lost Patience and the Archduke. Unfortunately, several of the guards fell to the beasts.

Pen beats sword, warhammer beats pen, magic beats all

As could be expected, the roundtable culminated in an all-around brawl. Magda, whom the party had inspected and found to be the same ol' priest it knew, started showing new, disturbing features as her flesh was no longer as dependent on her skeleton for support and her mouth now sported a dangerous poison. Even the Abbott, who had, until now, only been reasonably suspicious (given the circumstances), attacked the Grymnon heroes, nearly fatally wounding Pandora with a standing candelabra.

Belinda the Bard, Werton's traveling companion, heard the commotion and joined in on the heroes' side.

During the ensuing combat, criss-crossings took place: Ardric executed the Daughter (to which his retainers did not even bat an eye); Magda and Bjarne Max attacked their former comrades with the intent to kill; the Abbott betrayed the party; and, Ardric secured the book and fled. The battle included multi-elevation where Werton attacked from the top of the conference table while Belinda attacked from below and Pandora's rescuing at the capable hands of the Archduke.


In the end, the Daughter, Magda, and Ardric's two retainers died; Bjarne Max remains in the custody and care of the Grymnon priesthood. Ardric successfully escaped with the book and his life.

A book, two hostages, and a series of miscommunications

Upon arriving in Grymnon, the Archduke set about translating the Book of Olaf through mundane means, fully remembering what effect it had had on him when he used divining magic on it.

Uncertain of the Magda and Bjarne Max's fate, the party worked on how they could retrieve the two while also retaining the original book. They sent an envoy to Ardheim, requesting an exchange of the hostages for a copy of the book.

Due to a breakdown in communications (the surrounding mountains may have hindered proper divination reception), a prearranged (and strategically determined) site proved unusable and the meeting between the heroes and the Ardheim representatives (a Daughter, the priest Ardric, a couple of his retainers, and their two hostages) was relocated to the Grymnon monastery, under the auspices of the Grymnon clergy.

Forty additional dwarven warriors, who served Ardric, waited outside for the duration of the discussion (and the ensuing combat).

***

Thankfully, the party was now joined with Werton, a dwarven fighter.

MIA - Magda and Bjarne Max

On the day after the Heroes of Grymnon arrived at Ardheim, their priestess, Magda of Moradin, received an audience with the Daughters of Ardheim. Patience and Pandora went with her, both to ensure her safety and to see what they could uncover while Magda engaged the Daughters. The assembly consisted of seemingly identical or cloned women bearing masks; they physically resembled dwarves, yet gave a distinctly non-dwarven (I'd dare say, non-humanoid) vibe.

Eventually, the party received proper accommodations. The heroes knew that it was a trap, yet it was a most welcome trap. If they were to be prisoners, better it be in comfortable surroundings and with hospitality than in some dank, musty dungeon where clean water was the height of luxury.

Magda also attended a private audience with one of the Daughters, discussing theology and Magda's allegiance to Moradin. The meeting took a turn for the worse once the Daughter asked about the Book of Olaf, ultimately requesting its retrieval. In what may have been a most judicious or most troublesome decision (at the very least, the road to their departure was troublesome as the Archduke masterly pulled all possible moves to remain undetected), all but Magda and Bjarne Max left for Grymnon and the book.



That same day, assailants came for the Magda and Max, forcibly converting them toward aberration. They were lost.