Wiki of The Dungeoneering Crew

In the Drakensgrab Hills, a determined party set out to infiltrate a fortified stockade, a grim fortress where slaves, including their captured friends, were likely held. Their mission was to liberate these captives. As night deepened around 11 p.m., Kipp, Brandy, and Oglesby took point, moving stealthily through dense brush. Kipp’s Boots of Elvenkind ensured his steps were nearly silent, giving the trio an edge as they approached the looming structure, complete with a moat and high parapets. From their vantage point, they observed shadowy figures patrolling the crenelations, but none paused to scan the surroundings, suggesting a lapse in vigilance.

The trio reached the brush’s edge, where they surveyed a dry moat, 10 to 15 feet deep and 20 feet wide, devoid of water. Oglesby scouted closer, identifying a section with rock fall that eased descent and a steeper exit point away from the main gate. He noted arrow slits along the walls but no lights or guards, indicating a potential blind spot. Scaling down carefully, Oglesby navigated loose rocks to the moat’s smooth, water-worn bottom, then climbed out to tests their ability to cross it. Finding no signs of activity, he confirmed the area’s apparent desertion and reported back to the group.

To mask their approach, Pyreece carried a stone enchanted with a Silence 15-foot-radius spell, that hid the clank of armor as she and Audra advanced. With cloaks draped over their armor to dull any shine, they and the rest of the party followed Oglesby’s path across the moat. They reached a rope, crafted by Jon from makeshift materials like bed sheets, anchored at a second-story window. Kipp climbed first, peering into a dusty corridor lit by moonlight, marked by cobwebs and a single trail of footprints. Despite an uneasy feeling, he saw no immediate danger and secured a proper rope for the others to ascend.

Oglesby and Brandy followed Kipp through the window, with the rest of the party close behind. Inside, Oglesby checked a door for traps, finding it unlocked and covered in dust. It opened to a long-abandoned guard room littered with broken furniture, cobwebs, and bone shards. A trail of footprints led to stone stairs, with the upward path bricked off, forcing them downward. At the bottom, a latched wooden door, illuminated by moonlight through arrow slits, revealed no sound beyond distant voices and wind when Oglesby listened.

Easing the door open, Oglesby exposed a courtyard reeking of manure and rotting vegetables, with a 30-foot patch of slick mud leading to a gatehouse. The gatehouse’s portcullis was lowered but stuck, leaving a gap to crawl under. Kipp and Brandy ventured out, hugging the shadows. Kipp struggled through the mud, sinking nearly to his calves, while Brandy skirted the walls edge to avoid it. They slipped under the portcullis, entering a passage lined with empty crates that opened to a flagstone drive and a dusty parade ground, where a fountain, porch, and makeshift roof were visible under high parapets. The rest of the party followed.

From the parade ground, the party spotted two bugbears with a chained boggle, a snuffling creature used for tracking, under the eastern parapet. Kipp, leveraging his 70% hide-in-shadows skill, and Brandy planned an ambush. As the bugbears moved, the boggle sniffed out Kipp, howling and alerting its handlers. Kipp charged, landing a critical hit for 14 damage and a follow-up for 10, felling one bugbear. Brandy struck the second for 9 damage. Combat erupted as the boggle lunged at Kipp, and the party, except for Audra and Pyreece (initially unaware due to the silence spell), joined the fray. Elenor signaled the pair, who raced in and helped dispatch the boggle. Pyreece tossed away the stone with the silence spell.

The battle intensified as bugbears on the parapets fired arrows, and a massive ape emerged from a building, targeting Brandy. Brandy’s agility thwarted the ape’s attacks, and she swiftly killed it. More bugbears appeared, some wielding bows, others halberds. Brandy, assisted by Audra, vaulted onto the parapet, striking a bugbear. Pyreece’s hold person spell failed initially but later immobilized one bugbear. Oglesby, invisible, opened a barred door and found two bugbears in a noisy room. He accessed the parapet, where Brandy fought, drawing the bugbears out. Kipp and Brandy cleared their foes, with Kipp ignoring a playful wolf pup in a room to join her.

The fight spread to the towers, where bugbears continued firing. Kipp climbed a ladder to a weighted trapdoor, shoving it open and toppling a bugbear. He and Brandy dispatched the pair atop one tower, while Oglesby, still invisible, backstabbed and then killed a bugbear on the opposite tower. Elenor exhausted her Magic Missile spells, and Audra and Pyreece fired on the elevated enemies. The battle concluded when Kipp finished the held bugbear, leaving the party victorious but drained.

Exhausted, the party searched the enemy for any equipment or valuables but found nothing worth keeping. The neglected fortress had proven a deadly gauntlet, and their mission to free any potential captives held there was far from over. Low on magic and fatigued, the group faced the daunting prospect of exploring and clearing the stockade of any remaining threats—a challenge that might prove insurmountable in their current state. Yet, their resolve to rescue their friends held firm, setting the stage for the trials ahead.

This is where the session ended.

Please start the recorder.

Exp: 503 + 50 = 553

In the shadows of the Drakensgrab Hills, the party prepared to infiltrate a fortified structure they'd been told was the stockade. A place where slaves were taken and held for a time. They were here to find their friends who had been captured and enslaved, and free them.

Around 11 o'clock that evening, Kipp, Brandy, and Oglesby took the lead, moving silently through the brush, relying on their stealth. Kipp wore Boots of Elvenkind, enhancing his quiet steps. The group crept uphill toward the structure, a looming fortress with a moat and parapets. From their vantage point, they could see forms moving along the crenelations but no guards stopping to peer out.

The three advanced, reaching the edge of the brush. They spotted a dry moat, about 10 to 15 feet deep and 20 feet wide, with no water to complicate their crossing. Oglesby moved closer, scouting along the moat, noting a section with rock fall that offered better footing for descent. The far side was steeper, but he identified a potential exit point away from the main gate. He checked for windows or guards, finding only arrow slits and no visible lights, suggesting a blind spot.

Oglesby scaled down the moat, navigating loose rocks with care. At the bottom, he found smooth stones worn by past water flow. He climbed out at a good spot and reached the wall’s edge. Peering through an arrow slit, he saw no movement or light, confirming the area’s apparent abandonment.

Oglesby returned to the group. Pyreece carried a stone on which she had cast a silence spell with a 15-foot radius. Audra moved with her. The stone hid the noise their armor made while sneaking up to the fortress. They pulled cloaks over their armor to hide any shine as well. The party followed Oglesby's path, descending into the moat and climbing out with relative ease.

Oglesby led them to the homemade rope that Jon had fashioned from makeshift materials, possibly bed sheets, secured at a broad window on the second story. Kipp climbed up, peeked through, and saw a dusty corridor with cobwebs, a single line of footprints, and moonlight filtering through. Feeling uneasy but seeing no immediate threat, he stepped inside. He dropped and held an actual rope for the others to climb.

Oglesby climbed next, squeezing through the window, followed by Brandy, who scampered up with ease. The others followed. Inside, Oglesby checked a door for traps and listened, hearing nothing. The door, unlocked and dusty, opened to a long-abandoned guard room with broken furniture, cobwebs, and bone shards on the floor. A line of footprints led them to stone stairs going up and down. The upper stairs were bricked off, so they descended, finding a latched wooden door at the bottom, illuminated by moonlight through arrow slits.

Oglesby unlatched the door and listened hearing only wind and distant voices. He eased it open, revealing a courtyard with a strong odor of manure and rotting vegetables. A 30-foot patch of glistening mud lay before a gatehouse, its portcullis lowered but not touching the ground, leaving space to crawl under. Boxes and crates lined the passage beyond.

Kipp and Brandy ventured out, sticking to shadows. They approached the gatehouse and the gate that hadn't completely lowered down as it was cockeyed and likely stuck. Kipp sank into the mud, nearly to his calves, slowing his movement. Brandy stayed closer to the wall, avoiding the worst of it. They reached the portcullis and slipped under it. The passage led to a flagstone drive and a dusty parade ground. Kipp checked the crates, finding them empty. The others caught up.

From the parade ground, they saw a fountain, a porch, and a makeshift roof. High parapets, 20 feet up, lined the keep, with a walkway around it. On the eastern side, under the parapet, they spotted two large, hairy bugbears with a chained, whimpering creature, a boggle, described by Jon as a “snuffling creature” used for tracking.

Kipp, with a 70% hide in shadows skill, and Brandy prepared to ambush. As the bugbears moved east to west, the boggle sniffed the air, spotted Kipp, and made a strange howling sound, alerting the bugbears. Kipp charged, surprising one bugbear with a natural 20, dealing 14 damage, followed by a second attack for 10 damage, dropping it. Brandy engaged the second bugbear, hitting for 9 damage.

Combat erupted. The boggle jumped at Kipp. Those of the party, aware of the attack, joined in. The silence spell kept Audra and Pyreece unaware initially, but Elenor signaled and alerted them. Audra and Pyreece helped finish off the boggle. Bugbears fired down on them from the parapets above the gate. Pyreece cast hold person, though the bugbears resisted. They initially fired back up at the bugbears but that wasn't working. Kipp rushed the wall and climbed it at one point, engaging the bugbears on top.

A very large ape came out of the building behind all of them and attacked Brandy. Brandy proved to be very difficult to hit and seemed to have no issues hitting it back. In short order, she killed it.

More bugbears appeared, some on the parapets with bows, others with halberds. Brandy, boosted by Audra’s strength, performed parkour over the parapet, landing and striking a bugbear. On a second attempt, Pyreece did manage to hold one bugbear that Kipp was dealing with. Then she broke into a stable, finding two bugbears hiding. She left them and returned to the courtyard to use her sling. They continued to fire from below.

Oglesby, invisible, found and opened a barred door and ascended stairs to a noisy room with two bugbears drinking and speaking a language he didn't understand. One was much larger. He opened a door in that room that led to the parapet where Brandy was fighting two bugbears. The two in the chamber got up to find a battle outside and moved out to engage. Brandy continued cutting them down quickly.

Kipp finished off all of them on his side of the wall and entered the door to the room off of the parapet. There was lone wolf pup in the room. It wanted to play be Kipp ignored it and continued through the room and came out behind the bugbears that Brandy was fighting. Together they finished them all of.

The bugbears on the two towers above them continued firing down on them. Kipp ran back into the room with the pup and climbed a ladder to reached a trapdoor leading up. Finding it heavy with the weight of something on top, he put his strength into it and push hard enough that the bugbear on it lost balance and stumbled off of it. He was able to push it open then. This revealed the two bugbears on the parapet. He and Brandy finished them off quickly. Oglesby, still invisible, had climbed up the ladder to the opposite tower and backstabbed the bugbear on top of it. He finished it off quickly after that.

Elenor had used all of her Magic Missile spells. Audra and Pyreece assisted the fight by firing on the bugbears above them. The fight finally ended after Pyreece asked if they'd dealt with the bug bear that she'd held. Kipp went back to it and fished it off and the battle was finally ended.

The party regrouped, assessing their haul: bugbear weapons, leather armor, and javelins, though they took none. Exhausted but victorious, the party stood amidst the dust and blood of the parade grounds, parapets, and towers, having overcome a significant challenge in their quest. The fortress, though neglected, had proven a deadly gauntlet, and their time here had only just gotten started. Exploring and clearing it of any additional enemies would likely be difficult for a well rested group, but for this group, tired and low on magic, it could prove to be impossible.

This is where the session ended.

Please start the recorder.

Exp: 503 + 50 = 553