And Orcus' representative in the plane of existence is banished...

We did it! After a few months of slow going, the party conquered the Keep on the Shadowfell! And I only killed four characters in the process, three in the last two battles. :) Sorry about that guys!

After finishing up the upper level, which included the battle of slimes and bugs, the party was ready to head back to the lower levels of the keep. A failed attempt to use a bad password taken from the elf ranger at the graveyard, led to a bloody battle with the new guards at the lower entry. This was quickly followed by an encounter with the reinforcements and ultimately the Hobgoblin boss. In the end the players were able to secure a room to rest and soon they entered a room with a statue of a Titan, two statues of dragons and some cherubs with vases. No bad guys... As our old friend Admiral Ackabar says 'It's a Trap!" The Titan swung his sword, the dragons belched fire, and the vases poured water. The triple threat traps kicked in and the party was soon arcane and thief checking for their lives. Luckily, it was the Eladrin that got caught in the pool trap and he simply teleported out. Stupid teleport!

In the next room (Saturday's session), the party encountered more Zombies and a Wight, what is it with Orcus and undead anyway? A short put expensive fight ended with the party heading in to the upper level of the actual rift. As they entered the room with blood flowing down into the lower level, they were set upon by many vampire minions, an underpriest of Orcus, and a handful of Human Berzerkers. This was a tough battle for the party, and Uhlk (Human Fighter) fell to the Berzerkers. The vampire minions held up 1/2 the party while the Berzerkers just beat the snot out of the rest of the team. In the end, the party needed to rest, but from their vantage point they could see that the barrier was ready to fall, so they heroically dropped down and took on Kaliel and his entourage. The party lost Elladen (Eladrin Sword Mage) and Eldcar (Halfling Thief), but was able to secure the rift for the time being.

With a bitter sweet victory, the three surviving heroes, Zoltan the Reformed (Human Wizard with Cleric Tendencies), Zarthor (Dragonborn Warlord), and Sliver (Elf Ranger), brought back the bodies of the fallen on a floating disk. Elladen and Uhlk, both had 'Do Not Resuscitate' orders on file, so only Eldcar was raised. Lord Pariag of Winterhaven, thanked the party and saw to their costs while proposing an additional task. Stop the slave trade at Thunderspire. Conveniently, the merchant of town also had some business that the party could conduct for them at the Spire.

The weakend party will shortly be joined by a Dwarf Fighter and Dragonborn Paladin and they will set forth into the hinterland.

jp
Not quite a TPK