Session 22: Cutting the head off the dragon

A decisive blow against the Necromancer scourge taking over the continent!

Following a lead from the halflings of Watersmeet and a missing person reported by Kiandra, we set out to eliminate the Necromancers south of Sanctuary by assassinating the leader of their southern outpost. Kiandra, seeking out her friend captured by the Necromancers, led our team of myself, Red Scarlotte, Orzu Fizzlespark, and Mr. Chips (although Chips did seem to be mostly following Orzu's bottle of rum).

We snuck in under cover of night in a boat wreathed in magical fog. Kiandra and I disguised ourselves as Necromancers and set off to assault the ballista atop the main gate while Red Scarlotte and Mr. Chips took out the guard in the lighthouse. My natural authority and Kiandra's powers of persuasion persuaded the guards to just... leave and head back to the barracks. They were rowdy boys and had no place on guard duty.

Our side-mission complete, we headed towards the Necromancer HQ to rendezvous with Orzu on the roof. Kiandra sneakily climbed the rope Orzu dropped but I was too worried about sneaking with my bulky chainmail armour so I stayed on the ground and kept my disguise up. While my fellow did their thing on the roof, I walked through the front door and found the HQ very quiet. I snuck up the stairs, hearing a commotion behind the door that we thought was Mage Clay's office. I heard him shouting at someone called Tyburn but when the door opened there was naught but a flaming skull floating away. I froze, remembering the assault on the Fish and the Bear's hideout where a similar skull knocked me out and lost me a hand. I prayed to Thruun, thinking that my end was upon me. Fortunately my disguise still held and the skull floated past me and away.

Next thing I knew, I heard Red shouting in the room and slipped through the doors. She was lying on the floor, wounded and weirdly dessicated. I was torn between healing her and taking out our target, Mage Clay. I opted for the latter and channeled Thruun's divinity to ensnare Clay in spectral vines. However it turned out to be somewhat unnecessary since, with a sudden flash from the skylight, an orb of rancid acid descended and... well... melted Mage Clay. Hopefully with meditation and time the sight of the Necromancer melting will fade from my memory.

When you cut the head off the dragon, the rest falls. With the leader dead, the other Necromancers would scatter. While I healed Red, I saw Kiandra rummage through Clay's desk and Mr. Chips run out of the door and down the stairs.

I realised that my diguise still held and decided to use this subterfuge to redirect the Necromancers away from us while ww searched for Kiandra's friend. I summoned my preaching voice and bellowed at every Necromancer who could hear that the Mage had been assassinated and that the assassins were heading for the dig sites south of camp. A lie, yes, but a lie for the greater good.

With the Necromancers distracted, we checked the sheds for prisoners. Red saw something that she liked not in Shed 1 but in Shed 2 we found the object of our search, Kiandra's friend.

By this point, the camp was in disarray and I was still shouting at Necromancers to head south to intercept the "Orc army" who had assassinated the Mage. We ran for the boat but Red and Mr. Chips veered off to burn down Shed 1 and the undead abominations Red had seen inside. I ran after them to protect them. By the time I arrived, Red was crouching over a barbell and so I offered to carry it to the boat for her. However it proved too heavy and we had to abandon it.

Necromancer leader killed. Necromancer outpost destroyed. Kiandra's friend released. Thruun be praised!

Well done all, I feel we worked as a very effective team and the planning phase of our incursion was top class.  I'm sure the three ales helped my enjoyment of the situation as I do vaguely remember us questioning a halfling named Jeff for a long time.

Apart from Red being quite gung-ho with her attack of the mage and almost getting herself killed I feel it all went very smoothly.  

I was especially happy to use my diamond for the first time to rid us of mage clay.  Altho I was expecting him to be a tougher adversary if I'm honest, so my attack may have been a little overkill.  Nevermind, I'm glad we found Kiandra's friend.  I was a little concerned not being able to question the mage may cause tension between the High Elf and I if we hadn't.

I even managed to get some back flip practice in along the way.

.... oh and btw.... Watersmeet does a fine sardine sandwich.

Oh, also I received a note from my handler in the Evergreens who told me about the tree of Oghma. It sprouted from the corpse of a wise man who was a demigod, a scholar who ascended to become a proxy of Oghma, a living embodiment of the God. When he died a beautiful silver oak tree grew from his grave. It will answer a question a month to an Evergreen member. It's south of the former outpost so should be easy to access now.

I need to think of something profoundly existential to ask it about Thruun or the Effervescence or Shaar.

REPORT

SUBJECT: Excursion to Necromancer's Outpost

Secured membership of AG to investigate disappearance of LN, MIA. 
Travelled 12m S to Watermeed with assigned allies MD, RS, MC and OF. Halfling Mayor Jeff (Note: inebriated) and Carpenter Fred (Note: useful if foolish) provided intelligence on site layout.
Enemy camp infiltrated via harbour (Note: under construction, use Northern side). Guard disillusioned with leadership. Simple deception strategy successful. Basic weaponry at gate disabled. 
HQ accessible by skylight. Mage slain. (Note: OF strong magic, RS brave but incautious, MD independently competent, MC volatile). Alarm raised. Intrusion detected but not identified by enemy.
LN located. Extraction successful. 

KA

Hello Friends - Yes, an excellent adventure! I am also feeling much refreshed (and rehydrated) but it will be some time I think before I decide to drop in unannounced directly into a chief necromancer. That being said, I am glad that we routed and scourged this outpost and cleansed it and its undead (I hate undead!) from the land, and I would be happy to do it again!

Sadly, I found a barbell belonging to my Circus brother, Seb the Strong. If anyone hears any news about the necromancers and their outpost 12, please let me know!