The party finally made it into Firestorm Peak
Who would've thought that the entrance
would be guarded!?

(This encounter took more than one session to resolve.
Starting during our meeting of 5 May, 2007. This is a
synopsis from the second session of that battle...)

Synopsis:
The party has finally crossed through the Gates of Firestorm Peak. In their quest to uncover the fate of Tanar's father, and eliminate a source of taint, the party has entered the mountain - And met some determined defenders!

Some time ago, the party began a new adventure (Real date: 16 Dec 2007 / Game date: 11 Det 1002). The party set out in search of Tanar's father. So far, the party has discovered two very large gates in the side of the mountain. They believe that their quest takes them into this cursed mountain during a period of celestial confluence. While they search for a way into the mountain, they've witnessed some strange sights, met unlikely allies, and fought some terrible monsters.

Recently, the party reached the 'Monastery of the Hallowed Doctrine'. A sanctuary for those who fight taint. After a brief battle with a pair of huge stone golems, they entered the monastery, met it's occupants, and took a short break to receive healing and some much needed reset. After some conversation with the residents of the monastery, the party hooked up with another traveler, and prepared for the heart of their battle - On to Firestorm Peak!

The journey back to the entrance of Firestorm peak took our party over the Charnel bog - A haunted remnant of a long ago battle. The party flew over this fetid place, avoiding encounters with most of the occupants, and minimizing exposure to the taint ridden moor.

As they finally reached the gates of Firestorm peak, an unusual snow storm was under way. While white fluffy flakes drifted down from on high, the mountains peak was ablaze in crimson flames. As the celestial fires danced on the mountain, the party entered the now open gates that led into the heart of this mystery.

The entrance was not without it's defenders. Lurking just within the entrance, were enlarged guards. Duergar, a group of underground dwelling Dwarves, were waiting for the party. Stationed just inside the entrance, these 16 foot tall Dwarves sat quietly, invisibly, intently waiting. Just as the party attempted to pass the first barrier, the defenders struck!

Here is the scene, as we left it after the second session of combat in this well defended entrance. It's not over yet, and the party still has a considerable number of defenders to overcome. Damage on the party's side is still relatively low, but who knows whether it'll stay that way.

Here is an illustration with legend.

Legend (Party members):

(Note: Much of the material presented in this synopsis is player info only. It is up to the players
to assess this information, and use only the information that the character is aware of.)

1 - Thalidimar - Thalidimar is riding piggy-back on the shoulders of Solmar! I really wish I could find an illustration of a Priest riding piggy-back on a Warforged Paladin, but that's a rather rare site. With poisoned spikes littering the floor of this chamber, Solmar is one of the few ways to get across without significant risk. The cleric has activated a magic item which conceals the party in darkness, and blinds those who do not know the secret word. While some party members didn't know the secret word, word has been spreading about the secret word. Party members that were initially blinded by this darkness are no longer affected. Just how far has this knowledge spread? They party might find that the secret word is no longer that. The darkness will last for two more rounds. Thalidimar is ready for the next initiative roll with a -2 penalty. His divine power is still in effect, but it has only one round left. He also cast a mass aid spell early on in the encounter. Thanks to that spell, everyone is enjoying the benefit of extra hit points, a bonus on attack rolls, and a bonus against the effects of fear.
2 - Duracell - So far the Monk has managed to evade most of the combat by using her flying belt. When will that thing run out of charges? She's currently flying 15 feet above the ground. Last round, she commanded Jeeves to revert to gem form. Now she's preparing to pick up Jeeves (who's been acting as a caltrop clearing custodial worker), and carry him to a new area of the battleground. Presumably, he'll resume his sweeping duties once he's out of gem form. Duracell currently has a -2 to her initiative rolls.
3 - Zeddishous & Fang - Battered but not down, Zeddishous has never been one to back down from a fight. Moving forward from a brief respite, he's back in the midst of things. Back at the front of the battle, we can only hope that he doesn't get hit by more of those huge ranseurs. Those gigantic polearms sure pack a wallop. With wings a flappin' he's currently flying 20 feet above the caltrop laden battle field. Fang is a bit further back - just adjacent to Duracell. So far his howling hasn't really caused much damage to these monsters, but I'm sure they 'all' heard it. Wielding his mundane bow (in order to use alternate ammo (pile arrows)), he's been plucking away at the defenders. Earlier, he had unleashed a magical tornado into the 'pit'; a defensive position containing four defenders. The tornado forced the four defenders to flee the 'pit', and now there six rounds left on the tornado's duration. At the end of his most recent movement, Zed has entered another area of silence. There are a few areas in this entrance which contain zones of silence. It's uncertain what there purpose is. So far they've only been a minor nuisance.
4 - Tanar - Trying to stay out of the line of fire, Tanar is cautiously picking his way through a mine field. The adventurers began this encounter by clearing the entrance of some invisible caltrops. Unfortunately, the entrance isn't the only part of the area that's seeded with caltrops. As the caltrops are covered with some type of poison, it's probably a good idea to avoid the hazard they create. A couple of rounds back, Tanar caught onto a pretty good idea. Using a 'gust of wind' spell, he was able to blow many of the caltrops out of his way. Unfortunately, due to the fact that they're invisible, he can't be certain that he's completely cleared the squares. [squares known to have caltrops show small piles of caltrops on the map. Squares that are known to be cleared are marked with a different color floor tile. Squares that are questionable (Tanar used gust of wind on them), have a small white square at their center (including the square that Tanar's standing on)]. Tanar is ready to roll for initiative, but he's currently at a -4 to his initiative roll, and he doesn't have any weapons at hand.
5 - Grenco - Lacking his ring of invisibility (de-magicked in a previous encounter), Grenco finds that staying out of the way is a bit more difficult without the ultimate form of cover. Grenco covered much ground when Tanar commanded his Celestial Hippogriff to carry Grenco over two defensive positions. Dismounting from the Hippogriff, Grenco headed for the corner of the room. Unfortunately, he stepped on one of those poisoned spikes. The result? Zero Strength! After two rounds, the poison had sapped Grenco of all his Strength. Laying there, completely defenseless, and unable to call out for help, it didn't look good for Grenco. Thankfully, Duracell was able to ferry Thalidimar over in order to cast some restoration on this brave scout. Still weakened from the poisoned caltrop, Grenco is currently at 2 Strength (a -5 modifier) and slowed to half his normal movement. With a -2 to initiative, his effectiveness is in question, but certainly not his resolve. Where's Flash? Grenco's blink dog companion was outside a little while ago, but the cold weather has forced him to enter this mountain of madness. He's currently just inside the entrance. The corner that Grenco is occupying is silenced. More of that annoying silence.
6 - Solmar - The party's bulwark. While this living construct may be immune to poison, he's not immune to the holes in his feet. Stepping on a caltrop hurts! One result of stepping on these invisible spikes is a reduced movement. While the caltrop hasn't stopped him, or caused much damage, it has slowed him down some. Due to the damage to his feet, Solmar is currently moving at one third his normal rate. Solmar is currently carrying Thalidimar on his back. Unfortunately, this makes his shield less effective and he can't wield the sword he's carrying. The poisoned caltrops have caused all the damage they can to Solmar, but Thalidimar's feet are much more tender. With Solmar's help, Thalidimar may be able to safely move this invisible darkness into the heart of the defenders.
7 - Dynnera - The party's newest member, Dynnera is doing her best to lend a hand. She summoned a Celestial Hippogriff, which helped ferry Grenco across the battleground, but the creature was attacked by the entrance defenders, and it vanished after sustaining more damage than it could sustain. Using her ability to hurl fire-bursts, she's been attacking the defenders and doing a pretty good job in that regard. At this point however, there are very few defenders in range of her attacks. She'll need to get across this caltrop field to remain effective. Dynnera is ready for the next initiative roll, but she's also at a -2 on the roll.

Legend (Entrance defenders):

Using invisibility and cover to their advantage, the Duergar have been very effective in their role as entrance defenders. From the entrance (where the party came in) to the back end of the room, I'll describe the defenders from a tactical point of view. Top to bottom, left to right.

2nd fortification (the Pit): This box initially contained four enlarged Duergar. Currently the pit contains one tiny Duergar and the tornado (marked as a blue circle) spawned by a party member. Zedd's tactical move (dropping the tornado into the defensive fortification) forced the defenders to abandon their well defended 'pit'. There are two living defenders from the pit. Both defenders have shrunken down to tiny size. The tiny defender to the left is invisible. Standing just outside a small open door (leads into the pit), he's currently in a zone of silence. He's keenly aware that the area is littered with caltrops. He's immune to the poison, but the damage (in his reduced state) could still do him in. Armed with a tiny ranseur, it's doubtful that he could cause the party much trouble. The other Duergar. The one to the right, the one that's still in the box. Is standing beside a tiny door (the door is open). Outside the door, he can see Tanar. Presumably, that means tanar can see him. This tiny Duergar has taken a bit of damage, and he's probably low on hit points. Oh, yeah. He's unarmed as well. He dropped his ranseur before he shrank down, and now he doesn't have any weapons. What's more dangerous? The tornado or Tanar?

3rd fortification (Ranseur alley): The third defensive position inside the entrance is two rows of defensive walls, manned by giant-sized ranseur wielding Duergar. This gauntlet (20' high, 40' wide and 30' deep) looks a bit daunting. The configuration provides an extremely defensive position for the Duergar positioned here. Behind the walls are a group of huge Duergar, arranged in a flanking phalanx, they are in a perfect position to use their cover, invisibility and reach weapons to devastating effect. Despite the close quarters of their defensive position, these Duergar are able to fight without squeezing penalties, due to their martial training in the cramped confines of this mountain home.

As usual, these ten foot stone walls are topped by five feet of barbed spikes pointing outward. This should deter any attempts to climb the walls, and the ten foot height provides effective cover against melee attacks from outside the defensive position. While the Duergar stand 15 feet tall, they are standing on a raised area (behind the wall), this raised area gives them enough height to allow tactical advantage, while still placing them behind the fortified wall. The Duergar are trained to use their pole weapons against adjacent targets. While characters adjacent to the wall have cover, they are not immune to attack from the Duergar, as they have trained to shorten the grip on their weapons. Thus allowing them to attack adjacent opponents. The ground between the two walls is likely to be covered with invisible poisoned caltrops. That ought to slow down any attackers. And then there's the silence. So far all the defensive positions have been bounded by a five foot zone of silence. As Grenco finds himself in a zone of silence, it's likely that this position contains that same zone of silence. When the party first observed this area of the entrance, they couldn't see any defenders. They were all invisible. Since then, many have attacked, become visible and then crouched down to avoid attacks from the darkness that the party is using for cover.

Here then is a description of the eight defenders in this third position. From left to right, top to bottom. Keep in mind that many of these Duergar have 100% cover from the party. Some are crouched down behind their defensive wall, and some are invisible.

Nr. 10 : This defender is the only one in this fortification to suffer damage (so far), this defender has attacked, so he isn't invisible. Currently, he's crouched down behind the wall. With 100% cover, the party (other than Zeddishous) can only speculate on his actual position. He is wielding a ranseur sized for a huge monster.
Nr. 6: Undamaged, this defender has attacked, so he isn't invisible, but he hasn't crouched down. He's hoping to get an attack in on Zeddishous. He is wielding a ranseur sized for a huge monster.
Nr. 11: Undamaged, this defender has attacked, so he isn't invisible, but he hasn't crouched down. He's hoping to get an attack in on Zeddishous. He is wielding a ranseur sized for a huge monster.
Nr. 7: Undamaged, this defender has attacked, so he isn't invisible, but he has crouched down. With 100% cover, the party (other than Zeddishous) can only speculate on his actual position. He is wielding a ranseur sized for a huge monster.
Nr. 12: Undamaged, this defender has attacked, so he isn't invisible, but he has crouched down. With 100% cover, the party (other than Zeddishous) can only speculate on his actual position. He is wielding a ranseur sized for a huge monster.
Nr. 8: Undamaged, this defender has attacked, so he isn't invisible, but he has crouched down. With 100% cover, the party (other than Zeddishous) can only speculate on his actual position. He is wielding a ranseur sized for a huge monster.
Nr. 13: Undamaged, this defender hasn't attacked yet, so he is invisible. With 100% cover, the party can only speculate on his actual position. He is wielding a ranseur sized for a huge monster.
Nr. 9: Undamaged, this defender hasn't attacked yet, so he is invisible. With 100% cover, the party can only speculate on his actual position. He is wielding a ranseur sized for a huge monster.

As this encounter enters it's eleventh round, one can only wonder whether the party is moving from the frying pan into the fire! Will more Duergar arrive to defend their home? One can only assume so. Is there some other way into the mountain? I think it's too late for a more subtle approach to the entrance.

While the players have a couple of weeks to think about this encounter, the party fearfully waits to see what their dangerous opponents will do next.

The map above was created using Dundjinni for the Mac. The corridors and rooms have not been completely mapped, and those side corridors are actually pretty small. At 12 inches by 12 inches, one can only imagine what might use them?

Hopefully, the party can safely conclude this encounter on the 2nd of June. Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion. Stay tuned for adventure!