Assault on the Stag Lord’s Fort

The Plan

The assault on the Stag Lord’s Fort was a culmination of careful planning, cunning tactics, and unwavering determination. After weeks of scouting, gathering intelligence, and eliminating bandit strongholds, we devised a plan to infiltrate the fort under the guise of delivering stolen liquor.

Leonardo and Djames, transformed by magic into convincing merchants, took the lead as the faces of the ruse. Kairos and Lizzy would hide inside liquor barrels, disguised as bandits, and would remain ready to act if the deception failed.

The Battle

The ruse carried us past the gates of the Stag Lord’s Fort. Leonardo and Djames, disguised as merchants delivering a shipment of stolen liquor, led the way, their feigned confidence masking the dread beneath.

Upon entering the fort, Leonardo and Djames encountered a grim scene: drunken bandits sprawled in various states of inebriation, guards lazily patrolling, and a pervasive lawlessness. Djames and Leonardo had distracted the bandits, while Lizzy and Kairos carefully moved out of the barrels to observe the layout and noted key details: the fort’s weak points and the bandits’ positions.

While drinking with the bandits, Leonardo and Djames also noted the presence of a caged Owlbear, pacing restlessly in a crude pen behind an equally crude portcullis. The Owlbear immediately caught Djames’ attention. It was massive and feral, and clearly the Stag Lord had intended for it to be a symbol of his power, but since it was untrained, it was currently more of a liability. Djames suggested using the Owlbear to sow chaos during the eventual battle. Leonardo agreed, devising a plan to release it as a distraction at the right moment, and notified Kairos via a Message spell.

In one of the cluttered, dimly lit rooms, Lizzy and Kairos stumbled upon Auchs, a towering, simple-minded man engrossed in playing with crude, childlike toys. The room was a chaotic jumble of broken objects and makeshift trinkets, which seemed to fascinate Auchs endlessly. Recognizing an opportunity to manipulate the situation, Lizzy and Kairos used their resourcefulness to engage him.

Lizzy and Kairos quickly noticed Auchs’ obsessive attachment to his toys and seized upon it. Lizzy presented a jade trinket as a ploy, cleverly spinning a story that other bandits were planning to steal Auchs’ precious belongings. Kairos supported Lizzy’s narrative by subtly hinting at how the fort’s disrepair could enable such treachery.

The combination of Lizzy’s guile and Kairos’ perception ignited Auchs’ temper. Enraged at the thought of his possessions being taken, Auchs stormed out of the room in a fit of anger, shouting incoherently and inadvertently creating a significant distraction in the fort. His commotion disrupted the bandits’ routines and ultimately sowed chaos in their ranks.

Auchs’ outburst marked the beginning of a series of events that undermined the fort’s defenses. His volatile nature, amplified by his size and strength, made him both an unpredictable element and a useful disruption to the Stag Lord’s operations.

The bandits soon noticed the chaos, as suspicious whispers now turned to shouts and the alarm was raised. With the fragile façade now shattered, the Stag Lord’s bandits swarmed to defend their leader. Chaos erupted as arrows rained down from the ramparts, and we found ourselves in the thick of battle.

Djames used his silver tongue to stall the bandits for a heartbeat longer while trying to release the Owlbear from its pen. The beast roared with unbridled fury, charging into the fray and scattering the bandits closest to its cage. The fort erupted into chaos as arrows rained down from the ramparts, and the party found themselves embroiled in a battle they had meticulously prepared for.

Leonardo shielded his allies while delivering crushing blows to the bandits. Lizzy darted around with deadly Needle Darts attacks. Djames bolstered the group with his stirring anthems. Kairos unleashed devastating spells.

Amidst the chaos, a surprising turn of events occurred: Akiros Ismort, one of the Stag Lord’s trusted lieutenants, defected. Disillusioned by the Stag Lord’s tyranny and madness, he turned his blade against his former allies, providing critical support to the party.

The Stag Lord himself was a force of nature with his lethally accurate longbow. His strength and ferocity seemed almost inhuman, fueled by years of rage and unchecked power. Yet, even he could not withstand the combined might of the party. After a brutal confrontation, he fell, marking the end of his reign of terror.

Clean-up

As we delved deeper into the ruins of the Stag Lord’s Fort, the lingering curse of Gyronna became apparent. Symbols of the Angry Hag adorned the walls, their malevolence seeping into the very stones. The priests who once worshiped her, bound to the fort by her wrath, rose as zombies, driven by an unrelenting hatred for the living. Their forms were grotesque, twisted by the dark energies that animated them. With glowing, hate-filled eyes and decayed flesh, these undead servants attacked without mercy. We faced several waves of these cursed priests, but their rotten limbs turned out to be little effort for our party’s kiting strategies.

In the depths of the fort’s basement, we encountered Nugrah, the Stag Lord’s estranged and deranged father. As we entered his lair, a face carved into the wall animated, taunting us and summoning a Giant Ant to hinder their advance. The battle began with Nugrah unleashing waves of magical attacks, including a Hydraulic Push that momentarily disoriented Leonardo.

Nugrah’s fury was evident as he continued his assault, casting Electric Arc to lash out at the party. However, his deranged state made his attacks erratic and unpredictable. Leonardo, raising his shield, charged forward and dealt a devastating blow that broke Nugrah’s focus. Sensing his end, Nugrah unleashed a final, desperate curse, but it fizzled out against the magic from the party.

The Aftermath

With the Stag Lord defeated, we turned our attention to dismantling his empire. The bandits scattered, their cohesion shattered with their leader’s death. True to our word, we cast the Stag Lord’s body into the Sellen River, fulfilling the vengeful demand of Davik Nettle. As the corpse was consumed by the swirling waters, Nettle’s spectral form appeared, offering a token of gratitude before moving on to the next life.

The fort was thoroughly searched. We uncovered a trove of treasures, including the Stag Lord’s infamous helmet, magical gear, and records of his operations. However, the most haunting discovery was a diary belonging to Nugrah, the Stag Lord’s father. Its contents revealed a chilling account of Nugrah’s descent into madness and his abusive treatment of his son, shedding light on the origins of the Stag Lord’s cruelty. The pages painted a chilling portrait of a broken man, consumed by bitterness and power.

As we set fire to the fort, purging its tainted legacy, we reflected on the weight of our actions. We had not only defeated a powerful foe but also struck a decisive blow against the chaos that plagued the Greenbelt. With that, the Expedition into the Stolen Lands had come to an end, and we’d now be free to found our kingdom of Amedaria with the grace of the Aldori Swordlords. Yet, we knew this was only the beginning - many challenges still lay ahead in our quest to bring order to the Stolen Lands.