…they see five figures, four of whom seem unaware of this new development. The room is a barren rectangle, with multiple exits. Two doors sport prison bar motifs and are guarded by a single armored figure. A hallway out the room is guarded by a pair of the same. In the middle of the room, a darkly beautiful elven woman, wearing a stylish studded leather coat, stands and watches the hallway.
Digin is through the door, stubby legs pumping and axe swinging. As he hews at the elf, Fingers lurks off tho the corner where he remains invisible for the duration of the battle. Kegdrain and Zaal launch arrows while Sniffles and Bayga remain a bit confused about what is happening so far away in the darkness.
The advantage of surprise is good and all, but there is a swift turn to the tide of battle as an armored undead slashes at Digin, who is then grappled and hurled to the floor by the vampire spawn. She attempts to bite, but he manages to jam the edge of the shield in front of his jugular.
Another undead takes a swipe at the prone Digin, while Kegdrain suffers a terminal bow malfunction and Zaal is unable to land an arrow into the melee.
The tide is turned when Sniffles rolls into the room and rebukes the undead, who fall back in awe. While they are distracted, the rest of the party -including the badger- unites in its efforts to slay the spawn. They are successful in the end, but not before she has dined on some of the dwarve’s life essence. They spend a minute launching missile weapons at the rebuked undead and eventually slay them.
They investigate the prison cells and hazard a guess that the large muscle-y, bearded foreigners are the barbarian prince / king / sultan / poobah that has been rumored to have been behind the encroaching army’s approach.
They have the means to end a conflict in hand, but there are still obstacles to be overcome. There is a moment of terror as they open the door that was under observation, and realize it is the rear of a giant temple / auditorium which seems to be packed to the rafters by screaming cultists. OSR!
They flee as hastily as the gnome’s stubby legs will allow, then burst into the temple through the secret door they entered not but three hours prior. They exit to the streets. It is a few hours before dawn and they are in a city on the edge of war. Military patrols roam the streets and a general curfew has been imposed. The army is mobilized and the sense of tension is palpable. They find ways to pantomime their intentions to the freed captives, relying on the charm of the clerics to forestall the worst possible outcomes.
They plot a path to the docks, hoping to find passage on a boat. They figure, rightly so,.that the barbarians are persona non grata in the city, and it would be best to keep their existence and location quite hush hush.
Alas, the docks are also under military occupation and it looks like boats are searched and passage is heavily scrutinized. They fall back on a distant resource who employed them in their first party venture. They make contact and after some gratuities are distributed, the group finds itself in the wine cellars of a fish house. The following morning, they are smuggled aboard a fishing boat, while some heavily bribed guards look the other way. Still…the number of loose ends is alarming.
The boat delivers them to a point about three miles north of the city walls, then returns to the deeper water, where it will be sunk, and all hands aboard declared lost, save the one lone survivor. The party scales the cliffs and does some dead-reckoning. If we walk that way for a few miles, we might start hitting barbarian outriders. . The intent is communicated to the former prisoners and the march begins.
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