Day 6: 3/19, Turimor Hills

Having made their way to the bandit stronghold, our heroes decided to retreat to a sheltered location to plan and prepare. Daethin sniffed out an offshoot of the canyon where the group could set up camp and wait for cover of darkness. The party set up camp and took 8 hours to rest before beginning their infiltration.

At about 12:30 that night, the companions returned to within sight of the gate. After some deliberation on how to procede, Daethin and Kit once again scouted ahead. Under the cover of darkness, Kit was able to approach to within easy bowshot of the tower guard. She made effective use of one of the makeshift sleep bolts, given to her by the pixie, Mustardseed.

Daethin and Kit were then able to approach the gate and quickly neutralized the other guard who was warming himself by a campfire. Once both sentries were out of commision, the two advance scouts returned to the others in preparation for the next step.

Beyond the pallisade, the adventurers discovered a box canyon occupied by a low, stone ruin. An expanse of open field stood between the party and the crumbling outer wall of the structure.

Once again, Kit and Daethin scouted ahead. Beyond the ruined wall, they discovered a cluster of large hide tents surrounding another campfire where several human bandits and a pair of brutish looking hobgoblins were warming themselves.

The heroes decided to turn the tables on the unsuspecting brigands. They established a perimiter around a gap in the wall, which made an ideal choke point. Daethin and Kit spread caltrops around the edges of the gap and Rayne readied a Caltrop spell to fill the remainder when the enemy approached. Daethin then backed away from the wall and called out, questioning the hobgoblins’ machismo in order to provoke a reaction.

The tactic worked like a charm. One of the hobgoblins and a bandit quickly rose to investigate. When the hobgoblin spotted the smirking elf, Daethin beyond the wall, he attempted to close to melee range. Unfortunately for him, Rayne’s Caltrop spell hit the mark and the brute stopped short as he came up lame. Rua’Lanna immediately followed-up by rushing in and rending the hobgoblin to within an inch of his life with her mighty longsword.

Having made their presence known, the companions engaged the enemy wholeheartedly. Rayne let loose with a couple wildly aimed bursts of her newly learned acid arrows. Unfortunately, they did more damage to the already ruined building than to her intended target.

Feeling the glorious rush of victory in her veins, Rua’Lanna charged headlong into the fray, only to trip over one of the lines supporting the tents, which caused her to fall on her face. Rushing to her friend’s aid, Eleanor closed with the enemy brandishing her silver morningstar. Meanwhile, Kit crept around the far edge of the outer wall, hoping to find the opportunity to use her sneak attack.

Rua’Lanna’s reckless charge had apparently alerted the occupants of the tent over which she tripped. At the very least, it convinced them to come join the fun. Two more hobgoblins burst out of the tent and immediately went after Eleanor and the downed Lanna. However, Eleanor was not easily subdued and she made quick work of one of the hobgoblins, splattering his cranial matter all over the outside of the tent with her trusty morningstar.

Daethin and Rayne had also joined the party at this point. The former loosed his arrows with blinding speed and devastating results. Rayne, in turn, once again cooked up a bandit flambe with her Flame Ray.

However, the battle was not finished just yet. As Eleanor laid low one of the hobgoblins, a bigger, meaner brute stormed out of one of the other tents weilding a massive two-handed axe. Thinking quickly, Eleanor once again made deft use of a Hold Spell, stopping the beast in its tracks and allowing Daethin and Lanna to swiftly remove him from the picture. Rather than eliminating him completely, the heroes managed to subdue the axe-weilding hobgoblin allowing them to bind him for future transport and questioning.