18th of Eleint, 1369DR
The Barracks & A Skewered Gnome
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Game Date: 01.26.01 In Attendance: Bill, Brett, Dave, Ed, Laura, Tom Dave M.

       Listening to the door and thankfully left undisturbed, the party spent the next day and a half holed up in the gaming room, licking their wounds. Recharged to full health, the Old Man pointed out that food and water supplies were beginning to run low. After a slight trap-triggering adventure of opening the door, the party cautiously approached the kitchen to see if the coast was clear to restock their food supplies. But alas it was not, and after some debate the party decided that less confrontation was better...
       Our fearless adventurers chose a discreet route back to the well room, where they cautiously inspected the room for any dangers. Deciding the coast was clear, the Old Man lowered the bucket into the well and drew up a gallon of low-quality H2O. After taking a sip to see if he'd drop to the floor in convulsions, the Old Man shot a dirty look at Jallarzi as she announced belatedly, "hey, I can purify that for you!" So as Jallarzi purified the refreshing liquid, the group refilled their waterskins... at least they wouldn't die of dehydration down here!
       Deciding to check out the room across the hall and next to the library, the ragtag team took up positions around the door as Jess did her thing. Thinking the coast clear (or just not thinking), she opened the door to discover two guards watching not only this one, but two on the nearest door, and one in the back of the room. Ike, Drakheim, and Jess moved into the barracks to engage the guards, with Max providing showering cover. In an effort to find a way around the party and into a position of usefulness, Angelis ran through the well room and out the other side... Meanwhile, a Banite took off out the back door of the room, leaving Zarp and Jallarzi no choice but to take off down the hallway to try and catch him before he found some friends. The Banite outran our short-legged gnome, who finally decided to give up... or so he thought! Jallarzi wasn't quite so ready to give up on this guy, so she grabbed the gnome by the back of his shirt and hoisted him in the air while continuing her chase... all the while ignoring Zarp's pounding fists and pleas to put him down! Back in the barracks, the team made short work of three Banites when the last one decided to try and follow his friend out the back door! The Paladin was in close pursuit, but just as the Banite entered the hallway, he ran into the returning (empty-handed mind you) Cleric of Tymora and her gnomish luggage! Just as the Banite lunged at the pair with his sword, Jallarzi acted on instinct and granted Zarp's wish... she let get... by throwing him at the guard! The unfortunate little gnome was impaled by the guard's sword! The Banite fell back and into the emerging paladin's reach as he dropped the sword-laden-with-gnome to the floor. The unforgiving stone floor pushed the sword out of Zarp, leaving the barely conscious gnome laying in agonizing pain as his life blood flowed out of him. Sir Drakheim made short work of the final Banite as Jallarzi quickly healed her little friend.
       Angelis finally rejoined the crew... he had found his clothes somewhere, but was still upset about something and wouldn't tell anyone where he found them. The rest of the party also regrouped near the door they had entered the barracks in to take a quick assessment of their situation... One Banite had gotten away, so they couldn't stay here very long. Max did some quick checking of the nearby dressers, turning up civilian clothes and some keys. Not wanting to stick around any longer, the party headed back the way they came...
       The adventurers went through the well room to the hallway on the other side... they knew it connected at it's end with the alchemy room, so this was the next stop in clearing out this evil dungeon. After checking out the door and moving to open it, the inept Jess barely jumped back in time to save more than her hair from getting singed from a couple jets of flame! Door now ajar, they could see that this room consisted of a dozen smaller rooms... each one obviously an officer's quarter! As Ike attempted to enter the room, he was greeted with a crossbow bolt. Seeing the offender, Ike charged in to engage... with the Paladin right on his heels! Max moved in and to the side, taking cover in one of the doorways and shooting the gesturing robed figure in the back of the room... only to see his bolt bounce off of the sorcerer! Zarp laid some grease down in front of one of the other black fighters, slowing him down from reaching the melee. Angelis darted in near Max to attempt his own crossbow shot, only to get the same results! Jallarzi and Jess stayed back to watch the hallway, and aid anyone who needed it. Soon the paladin would need such help, as after falling one black fighter another Banite came up behind... only this one was wearing full plate! The paladin took a nasty blow that ripped clear through his armored shoulder and fell to the ground! Jess would've easily gotten him to safety with Zarp's help, had not the evil sorcerer dropped a magical globe of darkness around the entrance! Before the Old Man could attempt to retaliate against this atrocity, the sorcerer decided to disappear with an invisibility spell! Doing the best he could, Max dropped a sleep spell in the midst of bad guys, watching as only one of their fighters dropped. Jess and Zarp managed to get Drakheim to Jallarzi, as Ike finished off the bad guys with Max's help. Just when the party thought the coast was clear and they could start inspecting the officer's barracks, another crossbow bolt came flying from one of the back rooms! The Old Man was hurt, so he yelled for the party to kill the offender... to which Zarp quickly replied, "Okay!" and let loose a lightning bolt from his wand! It stopped the guy all right, as well as taking out the back two rooms and giving the holy duo of the party a fire to put out. Now that they had found that last mage, they were free to inspect the barracks... or so they thought! Zarp found something on the floor and started kicking it... even though he couldn't see anything! He saw something soon enough though, as the now-awakened sorcerer became visible again and blasted Zarp with some magic missiles from his ring! Zarp dropped to the ground, but the Banite soon followed as he was no match for this party alone! Jallarzi and Drakheim helped the party lick their wounds as they began raiding the barracks for whatever they could find. With the equipment and treasure they found here, they knew this battle was well worth its effort! Hopefully now they'd have better luck with these guys!

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