Champions of the Lord's Alliance!
You're still Phandalin's Finest to me
| Bringing the light of civilisation to the Sword Coast frontier for over four tendays Map by Wizard of the Coast |
[12 min read]
And so it ends! Frontier Forays, the little drop-in campaign that could, has concluded. And being the non-adversarial DM that I am, I can say that it was just as satisfying a conclusion for me as it was the players. Cryovain, the self-styled mastermind behind the assault on Phandalin, was vanquished with the last throw of the dice (or in this case, the last bead of a Necklace of Fireballs). The remaining orc army disbands, the townsfolk rejoice, and Sildar appoints our heroes "Champions of the Lord's Alliance". Take a bow, Alucard, Terach, Wick and Wiggity, and maybe a free beverage or too at the Sleeping Giant tavern, you've earned it! But let us relive the final session while it still lingers in our collective memories...
Sortie before dawn
Before dawn, the group assesses the information brought back from the scout (see the last preparations here), and decides that the catapults are the biggest threat to Phandalin's defences. So in the cover of darkness, Alucard and the scouts lead them to the camp, to find the giant, many ogres and some orcs, conveniently grabbing some sleep before the attack at dawn. These troops are scattered haphazardly around the over-sized catapult that only the large creatures would be able to operate, an important insight as the party plans their strike.
Come the moment, come the man. Alucard coats his weapon with the wyvern poison recovered from the orc assassins, and readies one of their (fantasy equivalent) cyanide pills, before stealthing into the camp, the new moon casting no light and aiding his risky venture.
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| Assassin is a state of mind. Alucard's stealthy surgical strike pays off. Image by Lee Kent |
With consummate ease, Alucard kills one ogre with his envenomed weapon, before hastening to the hill giant catapult operator. The hapless giant, whose snoring due to sleep apnea not only covered Alucard's approach but also left his mouth agape, never knew what hit him. Choking on the poison pill as another rapier strikes him with precision, the hill giant's innards are forcefully evacuated as he dies, and Alucard must gracefully avoid his boots being soiled.
Finally the camp awakens to the party's shenanigans, and they are forced to go loud. They manage to kill two more ogres, leaving the catapult unable to be manned with the forces remaining, so they beat a hasty retreat back to their perch at Tresendar manor, having successfully struck the first blow in the battle.
Double Trouble
| Ettins were commanded to attack the palisades but often disregard their orders Image by Zhouxin Ye |
As the dawn hits the frontier, Cryovain orders the assault, relying now on one less way to break the defences. A large group of ogres and orcs are poised to attack the well-defended front gate with a huge battering ram, another catapult moves into position in the north-west, and five large ettins amble towards the palisades, their oversized weapons likely to be able to punch multiple holes in the wall.
The party decides to help Ragnar and his berserkers engage the unruly ettins, seeing this area as the least defended and with the potential for multiple points of ingress to be created for the mass of orcs nearby. It soon becomes clear that the ettins have been ordered to do just that, charging to the walls and weakening the wood with their blows.
The ettins are engaged in front by the barbarians (on foot) and from behind by the party (mounted on horseback), each group desperately trying to prevent the ettins from gaining entry. Luckily ettins are notoriously ill-disciplined, and their efforts to taunt them into hitting the defenders were rewarded, albeit at the cost of many brave berserkers' lives.
Wall of Fire, Web, Eldritch Blast, and Hideous Laughter do their work to incapacitate and mostly cut them off from the palisades, but the hardy giantkin are still able to destroy two sections of wall before succumbing. With the ettins destroyed, the party heads back to survey the rest of the battle, while Ragnar and the few remaining fighters call in the townsfolk to help them try and repair the damage.
Catapults... again!
The party takes a rest and triages the situation unfolding below in the town: the north gate is holding; the south gate still has a large force amassed outside with an ogre battering ram to gain entry; the south-east walls are being repaired but scores of orcs are poised to attack; and in the north-west, the last catapult is being directed towards the defenses.
Directing the defenders to the south gate with artillery support from Zanzibar (picture a flying gnome sorcerer hurling fireballs from the air), the party feels the other catapult is the major threat. They know what they are dealing with, but without the advantage of pre-dawn surprise, also know how challenging it will be. They resolve to try and damage the catapult at the same time as those creatures able to operate it. Just to be sure...
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| Call Lightning. It's a hell of a spell. Especially in a storm. Image by AArtifex |
As the rain pelts down and thunder peals overhead, Wiggity calls the awesome and terrifying power of Call Lightning down upon the catapult and its defenders. Bolt after bolt rain down, interspersed with Wick hurling beads from the Necklace of Fireballs, in a campaign of elemental shock and awe. The orc war chief calls in the reserves before joining the fray, and since the catapult is even hardier than the hill giant still loading it, the party's blitz starts to bog down in the mud. And with Crovain swooping low over the scene, bolstering his allies with their fear of him, it appears the battle will be drawn out further. Only Terach doesn't seem to mind, slicing and dicing through the defenders, orc and ogre alike, in blind fury.
Needing to finish the job before getting overwhelmed, Alucard moves through the cover of trees towards the beleaguered giant. One massive boulder manages to be launched towards the Phandalin defence before Alucard emerges from hiding with his rapiers brandished, the sneak attack earning the changeling the moniker of giant slayer, two for two!
Objective complete, the group wants to beat another hasty, or shall we say, tactical retreat. Wiggity covers the approach of the reinforcing orc archers with Spike Growth, causing them a nasty surprise as they surge forward and find themselves getting sliced up by the blade-like plants covering the terrain. The party returns to Sildar, having prevented any further damage from siege weapons to the walls, gates, auto crossbows and ballistae of the defence.
Confronting Cryovain
Watching from the skies, Cryovain is disappointed. The siege weapons are destroyed and most of the ogres and giantkin, his shock troopers, are vanquished. The plucky defenders can be seen holding off the orcs that are streaming through the gaps in the walls. Phandalin's leaders, save Ragnar, remain in command, guiding the militia back to the narrow causeway to Tresendar Manor to create a bottleneck.
"My pathetic forces have failed me. I have enjoyed watching them die. There will be fewer of them pestering me for their reward by the time I have ended this day" muses the albino blue dragon. "Now I shall show the overblown adventurers they made a mistake in not accepting my offer to serve back at the logger's camp."
| After the battle swings out of his favour, Cryovain makes a desperate play |
Cryovain, having used his Arcane Eye to scope out the manor, knows the bulk of the townsfolk are holed up there, vulnerable. In a final Machiavellian move, the crafty blue plans to ransom their lives to his gain, by confronting Sildar and the party atop Tresendar Manor. But first he needs to strafe the waiting ballistae that guards it, and in doing so, sustains some material damage to his person.
| Cryovain alights atop Tresendar Manor to negotiate. Or incinerate. Whichever is more expedient. Battle map by SgtSnarf |
As the thunder and lightning auspiciously crashes around them on the lofty outcropping, the group attempts to parley with the antagonist. Needless to say, negotiations break down, but not before Terach closes the distance in his trademark "look me in the eye while I ready my longswords behind my back" move. With Sildar at their sides the party engages the adult blue dragon! Cryovain has some tricks up his sleeve though:
- He easily flies up and out of Wiggity's Wall of Fire and moves around with ease
- His tail attacks lash out in between his many claw and bite attacks
- His mighty wings buffets the ground, knocking heroes prone
- His lightning breath sends many into death throes from the massive damage
- He grapples the heroes, flies up and drops them 70 feet over the far ledge
- He shrugs off spell effects with his legendary resistance
During the epic struggle, Cryovain warns the heroes ominously that "the world is crumbling around them" and that he needs to "carve out his domain ahead of what his coming". He makes many other claims about calamities besetting the world of Faerûn, but the party concentrates on finding the key to defeating the dragon.
That key is Terach, the half-orc warrior wielding the legendary Dragon Slayer longsword! In a rage, Terach is almost indomitable, and with multiple strikes including devastating crits, Cryovain finally knows fear. But he also knows that raging barbarians need to stay close and so takes to the air to frustrate our hero.
This is where they saying, "it takes a village to slay a dragon" comes in. Wick and Wiggity use spells to get the dragon back in range, either bringing the dragon down or depositing the melee fighters on his back. Alucard punctures the spine with his rapiers. Sildar bravely tries to protect Wick with his shield. And all the while this is going on above their heads, the townsfolk hidden in the manor's basement stream out of the secret exit tunnel to get to the safety of the woods.
Which brings us to the final moments, when Cryovain manages to dislodge his hitch-hikers, avoid all snares, and use his frightful presence to stop the heroes in their tracks. The heavily wounded dragon wheels away from Tresendar Manor, bent on escape and vowing to never rest until Phandalin is ash.
Wick, recently revived by Alucard's fast hands and a healing potion, staggers to his feet as he sees the fleeing dragon disappear into the storm, almost beyond range. Fingering his necklace and joyously finding one remaining bead, he plucks and tosses it at the unsuspecting Cryovain. His aim is true, and time stands still as the bead turns into a raging ball of fire, engulfing the bloody frame of the big bad evil guy and bringing him down to the ground as a flaming corpse...
| Portrait of the dragon Cryovain, in happier times. RIP. Image by Lauuw-w |
At the sight and sound of their master's destruction, the orcs break off from the defenders in town, fleeing back to their scattered homes in the mountains. They didn't anticipate such a stubborn defence, nor did they believe that Cryovain could be bested.
The townsfolk throw down their weapons and cheer as Grista opens up the store of ale at the Sleeping Giant in honour of the heroes, undoubtedly Phandalin's Finest. Sildar, his weary frame supported by Lindsay, summons his strength of voice to declare our heroes true Champions of the Lord's Alliance. And Townmaster Harbin raises a glass to those that didn't make it, including the woodcarver's widow Mirna, whose favour given to Wick proved to be a good luck charm at the last...
| Portrait of the widow Mirna, before her death at the battle of Phandalin. To which Terach assures Wick, his brother-in-arms, "Don't worry mate, there are plenty more widows after today" |
Highlights from the session
- Alucard the giant killer - the Arcane Trickster that channelled his inner assassin with more than 200 damage across two kills!
- Wiggity's Spike Growth cheese grater, Call Lightning decimating the orcs, using giant spiders to web a dragon and drop it out of the sky, and out-supporting Wick.
- Terach destroying all that come before him, Dragon Slayer absolutely slicing and dicing Cryovain! It must be said - charging a dragon with four hit points, only to get smote, then get up again - no one does courage like Terach.
- Wick Feather Falling anyone who fell off Cryovain, and a final Fireball surprise for the albino bastard right up the tail pipe!
Aftermath
As the curtain falls, our heroes' euphoria from the victory fades, replaced with an ominous feeling of foreboding. Messengers start arriving from all over the frontier, bringing unsettling news that backs up some of Cryovain's boasts:
- There is word from Icewind Dale, talking of an endless night, even in summer
- Hill giants have been seen congregating in the Starmetal hills and whispers of the modest steading of Grudd Haug growing in size
- People flee from Triboar as the land becomes a flattened wasteland of ash
- Baldur’s Gate and Elturel have collapsed into the earth, and the Blood War rages there
- In the south, people are saying the most powerful healing magic is being prevented
Perhaps the newly minted Champions should sober up and investigate these reports?
| Image by Quill & Cauldron |
Signing off for a time, this is Frontier Forays, featuring Phandalin's Finest, Champions of the Lord's Alliance, Friends to Goblins, Fellers of Flowers, Surfers of Sharks, Nemesis of Nezznar, Liberators of Lost Mines, Bane to Barrels, Foolhardy Facers of Fearsome Dragons, Heartbreakers of Talos' Templars, Survivors of Suffocation, Toe-Clippers of Tyrant Lizards, Bane of Giants, and Curtailers of Cryovain's Sword Coast Conceits.
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