Session 26

* Crescent Keep (Regional Headquarters of the Silver Crescent Cult)

### NPCs:

* Vrutha (Orc Warrior, Leader of Dragon's Heart. Carries a two bladed-battleaxe and uses a Dragon Shard)
* Pelton (Human Ranger, talented archer and unerring tracker, accompanied by a wolf companion)
* Chase Wonderway (Gnome Adventurer, Dandy's Father, Under the effects of some sort of mind-clouding enchantment)
* Gar's Reinforcements

**Previously...**

## And Now...

   The characters have decided to escape the Crescent Keep via an underground tunnel. Although it was made for gnome size, they did manage to squeeze their way out. The tunnel led to a vertical chimney which exited under an illusionary rock concealing the entrance. There was a metal grate over the exit, but Arik used magic to silently bypass it with minimal effort. Behind them in the tunnel, they began to hear an eerie wailing noise and some could even sense a growing evil coming after them,.

Outside, they could see the keep hundreds of yards to the West, but also they could see two members of Dragon's Heart - Vrutha the Orc warrior and Leader of Dragon's Heart, and Pelton the hunter and his and a wolf companion passing nearby and heading towards the Keep. They tried to wait it out, hoping to emerge after Dragon's Heart had passed, but the wolf caught their scent and started approaching them.  Stuck between an unknown evil back in the keep and DH they decided to launch a surprise attack.

Dandy opened with a strong hit, striking Vrutha with a sling stone in the side of her temple. In response, Vrutha charged the party but was unable to close the distance. Pelton opened fire, knocking Goldie out in a single hit with a poisoned arrow, whereupon she assumed her tabby cat form. Meanwhile, Pelton's wolf companion began to circle around to flank the party.

   Gauging the numbers against her, Vrutha activates a glowing object under her armor and breathes a scorching gout of dragons-breath. Most of the party dive for patches of water to evade the flames, but Arik is struck hard and collapses. Fortunately, Tivram is able to get to him and heal the worst of it, and Arik is able to get back into the fray.

This is a good thing, because Vrutha is proving an incredibly tough, brutal and proficient combatant, managing to hold off multiple opponents while absorbing an increasing number of critical strikes. Of course, while everyone's focusing their efforts on her, Pelton's able to launch arrow after arrow, making him a bigger threat than even his leader.Goldie, in cat-form, is clawing and distracting where she can (and even managed to land a couple of good hits on Pelton's wolf).

In panicked desperation, Dandy attempts to intimidate their opponents or negotiate a stand-off, even using her fireworks shard for emphasis, but her words are useless. Her actions, though, have unexpected consequences, with the fireworks revealing the silhouettes of half a dozen armed warriors approaching. They've been drawn to the display and as they draw closer, Dandy can see that one of them is Gar.

The reinforcements shift the tide of battle. Pelton and Arik engage one another, but both seem equal to the other's skill and no decisive blow is struck. Pelton disengages and begins falling back towards the tower as his wolf covers his retreat. Between the wolf and Pelton's archery, several orcs are dropped and Arik even manages to force Pelton to drop his bow. Unfortunately, he is then felled in turn by the wolf who retrieves the bow.

Vrutha, nursing a badly injured leg, attempts to seize Chance, but Dandy resists, latching onto the Orc's arm and slowing her down. Gar charges Vrutha, who is knocked into the mud and is forced to relinquish her grip on Chance. Tivram binds Vrutha's legs with magic, but just as it looks as though she is done for, she once again uses the glowing artifact and sprouts immense Dragon Wings from her back (wings which EXACTLY resemble those of Zorsha in her Draconic Form), and begins to retreat towards the Keep. In frustration, Gar unleashes a venomous torrent of insults and abuse, challenging her and calling out her cowardice. It's a good idea which gets mixed results, Vrutha does indeed respond, but her diving aerial attack only serves to knock Gar off his feet into a pool of swamp water.

    Vrutha and Pelton break off and make a beeline for the Keep, with enough of a head-start that they can't be stopped. The party rushes to Arik's side where he is powerfully messed-up. After a quick check, Tivram begins casting a healing spell, but takes additional time, realizing that such a spell will need to be very potent if it's going to be of any help, given Arik's current state. As ze does so, Pelton takes a last, long-range shot at Arik, striking him and rendering him beyond Tivram's ability to heal, then, enters the Keep.

With Arik critically wounded, the party stablize him and build a stretcher, so they can ferry him back to Tamalir where, they hope, he can be fully healed.

*(**GM's Notes:** Players should be aware there are several talents to increase your wound and strain capacities, and even to minimise the impact of Critical hits. I know combat is not central to this game, but if you engage with DH again, some of you may want to consider beefing up a little. Depending on the amount of downtime we use between sessions, Arik might begin healed and recovered by next session, but no matter what, I want his last Critical hit (the one dropping a stat) to still be affecting him at the start of the session.)*