After racing back all the way to the standing stones where we first met the druids, all tired from a full night without sleep (-1 on d20-rolls) we found the place. And teeming with seven druids! Including one who looked pretty senior, so losing their Arch-Druidess was not going to derail their plans after all. There was also one humanoid form tied up and gagged next to one of the stones. And two wolves! And our donkey!!

Ambush

We carefully surrounded their camp, and after a cry of “Ka-kaa, ka-kaa!” from Darion, they all attacked, except for Aretain hanging back to look for a good opportunity for freeing the elf.

Our first (surprise) round really sucked. In the second round Apoqulis dropped one druid while their head Druid yelled: “Get the fighter! Take their fighter out!”

Druids swarmed Darion with blade and spear, while Matrius the Vampire Hunter sniped one of the wolves. Heidel attempted to take the other wolf in the back, but failed to hit. The chief druid growled and turned into a gigantic black bear. Darion, surrounded and sporting several fresh wounds, needed to channel his attackers, so he used one of the standing stones as back guard … and finally took out his wounded foe.

Stabs and Entanglements

Aretain hurled a dagger at the other wolf over a stunning distance, and hurt it. Then Apoqulis tried to finish it off but stumbled and missed. Darion cut one of the druids, but with minimum damage! With his magical two handed sword Endbringer. 5 damage for a scratch. Not good enough.

Her comrade cast Entangle on the area to the west, catching Apo, Heidel, AND Aretain. Apoqulis, Aretain and the wolf got entangled, but Heidel managed to resist. But right then and there one Druid sniped him with a critical hit! 12 damage to our mighty dwarf, a serious wound.

This is not how we planned it.

Then Darion rolled a fumble. He cut himself, then got stabbed again by the she-druid, while she in turn got healed up by a friend behind her.

Heidel lashed out against the black bear, Apoqulis pummeled the wolf. Really not going great.

The struggles went on, finally the wolf went down, and Darion switched targets and struck at the other druid – who did not expect that. He got sliced in half and died without so much as a grunt. Heidel once again axed one trying to help the bear.

Suddenly the druids decided to move out. The stabby Druidess and her healer felt they had enough and picked a good moment to sneak off. He yelled to the colleague guarding the elf: “Take him!”
Indeed, that one shouldered the elf and moved out north.
Why did they run when they had us in the ropes? The consideration is not wrong per se. Darion was down to 8 HP, so two good hits would be enough to cut him off. Alas, his mighty blade could kill an adult druid in one strike. So it was kind of a vabanque-game: Can I stab you twice before you can slash me once? Nah, they ran, and they took their bound hostage with them… which we could not let slide.

The big bear missed the exodus of his underlings and lashed out at Apoqulis, even hit the full three times!! But the damage rolls safed his bacon: It always came out for only 1 hp. Claw, claw, bite, all for just 3 HP. A miracle!

Now Matrius sniped the heal-boy right from Stabby’s side.

Emboldened by his survival, Apoqulis really cracked at the bear skull with max damage. Yet, he was still up. While Matrius had to reload, the two surviving druids cut their losses and ran off into the forest, he with the unconscious elf shouldered … our objective slipped out of our grasp!

Then the bear — also running into the lower digits of his hit points — turned and ran as well, just in a different direction.

Keeping up the pressure

Heidel and Apoqulis pumped some healing into the reeling Darion where he sat in a growing puddle of blood. With reaching the halfway mark of his HP, he also got his fighting spirit back: “They ran that way! Let’s go! We can’t leave the elf to them!”
We ran right after them, broke through the underbrush. We found the carrier, slowed down by his load, struck him down, and freed the elf.

Objective complete after all! We returned to the ritual site, broke and spoiled their blood circle, and took our donkey back. We collected the weapons they left behind, so Darion now has a shortbow. Aretain expertly skinned the wolf corpses. One of the druids wore a strange looking, wooden ring with insignia. The clerics both shied away from that druid abomination without knowing what it would do.
Apoqulis put it away for later inspection.
A cantrip of 1 HP restoration got our Elf back to his senses and we talked.

The Elf

Thaylen Duh’rien, Member of the Voiceless Circle.

Usually this Circle does not approve of the Blood Druids and their summoning ways, but they have a non-interference policy between one druid circle and the next. But now they have nabbed Thaylen for their sinister purposes. Still, the Voiceless Circle is peaceful and friendly and will try to preserve this policy, Thaylen feels.
Just guarding the innocent wild, keeping watch. The Voiceless Circle members each have a ritual, where they just sit and watch nature for 24 years.
Asked about orcs, he knows that several orc tribes lair in this area. He knows about the Keep, but not about its secret below. And he knows a place where we can rest in hiding, and he knows great mushrooms to cook.

The sacrifice interrupted and crippled, we moved to the Elf’s secret hideout nearby.

Speaking of Stormwing, it turns out that Thaylen even knows good old Briegenn the Stormwing-Druid. The strange rituals of the Blood Druids are known to them too, they often try to summon creatures. About the druids close to the Keep he believes they must also be Blood Druids, but the details are a mystery.

Circle of Confidence

We decided to trust him and reveal our whole story, and the problem of Stormwing Keep.

His Circle cannot take hostile action against anyone, but they can brew potions, and Darion asks them if they maybe can somehow strengthen the locks that keep the evil being in check under the Keep. He would need to know more about the locks to help.

Is there anything that can block magic to be cast in a certain area? A question for the whole circle, if anything.

Aretain hopes to get taught something: too punishing was the experience just now when she saw us all get stabbed, shot, and beaten, and feeling helpless because she had no combat magic. Alas, druid magic is not for her arcane mind, and anyway learning spells takes long. Too long!

And at that moment, in Thaylen’s semi-secret hideout in a small cave, we had a random encounter.

Next session we will find out what it is.

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