Chapter 3 - Attack on the Atrium

               With the wagon packed, the courageous team of Alistair, Embry, Alandel, and Wyyntr packed up their wagon and headed a out of town.  While leaving the town, they decided to make the cave that had just recently become vacated their base of operations.  Having packed the wagon full of booze, food, chairs, tables, and whatever wasn’t nailed to the floor of the Green Pony ( although, Alistair most likely tried to take the nails as well) there were more than enough supplies for them to stock the cave and make a nice, although dank, home.

                Setting up shop came easy once everyone had unloaded the cave.   The group decided that since there were no more doors, as they had been kicked in and shattered, that they would all take turns watching the front room of the cave that had the only door outside, alternating shifts to The Druid and the Wizard so they could meditate.

                After being at the cave for a day and a night, it was once again Alandel’s turn to watch the front entrance.  While he was up front, Wyyntr was in the far back room pouring over an old book.  Embry was in the storage room where the dragon eggs were found searching, and finding, a hidden entrance to the surface.  Alistair was passed out near the pit sleeping off a nasty drunk. 

                At midnight, footsteps began to rumble outside of the cave entrance.  The distinct sound of marching soldiers rang into the Druid’s ears.  While he rose to his feet, a knight, clad head to toe in black entered the cave.  Alandel rang the warning bell to let the others know there was an emergency.  The Ranger and the Wizard heard the call, and ran to his aid, while the gnome slept through the warning.

                Alandel lunged at the knight, dealing some damage with his spear.  Embry appeared in the entrance way and fired a arrow at the knight, while Wyyntr shot a magic blast at the same time.  The knight still stood tall, and took a swipe at Alandel, taking a chunk of his arm in the process.  The druid lunged again while the soldier moved around him, and struck true with his spear.  The knight was still at his feet.  Another knight appeared in the doorway, and made his way to Wyyntr.  The Ranger fired an arrow at one Knight, while the Wizard took another swipe with her magic at the soldier that was approaching her.  Alistair finally joined the fight and let forth with some magic of his own, casting an illusion of a dragon’s roar and terrifying the second soldier.

                The Druid was finally able to put down the first night, with an assist from The Ranger, but not before the second man struck Wyyntr down.   With Wyyntr laying on the floor,  a knight in gold appeared in the entrance and demanded that the group surrender and stand trial for their crimes in Macridi, the killing of three city guards, one bar owner, and the chief constable of Macridi.  

                Embry stepped forward and warned the Gold Plated man to leave.  The Captain of these troops scoffed at the notion, and once again demanded their surrender or they would surley die.  Reaching from his belt, The Elf threw a bottle of Alchemist Fire on the black night, while splashing the gold captain and the door way (seriously, this was some Batman shit.  The Ranger thinks he is The Dark Knight of Gotham mixed with The Green Arrow).  The black soldier had perished, while the captain ran out of the cave, burning and cussing the Ranger. 

                While the entrance Burned, Embry and Alandel brought the Necromancer back to the waking world and let her heal.  Realizing they were outnumbered, and out classed in a physical fight, the group drew back out of the cavernous atrium, and held the hallway leading to the back rooms.  As the fire guarded the entrance way, they devised a small plan on how to guard their new home.

                The Atrium soon filled up with nine black knights, along with the burned golden captain.  Once again, the Captain demanded surrender.  

The Ranger had one motto for this night.  Death First

Fury and Rage flew through the door as The Ranger flung another vile of Alchemist fire at the knights, followed by The Druid and the Sorcerer taking a vile from Embry, and splashing the knights right and left.  The Atrium was now filled with Green Flame and burning soldiers.   The knights and the captain ran out of the cave, trying to keep their lives intact.

As dawn broke, and the team had licked their wounds and looted the corpses of the fallen soldiers, a voice beckoned from outside, asking to meet with the men who had dispatched with his soldiers, saying that he did not come to harm them and would like a guarantee that we would also not be harmed if he entered the cave.

The faction of warriors gathered and agreed to let the man enter.  Through the entrance stepped a man dressed in fine garb carrying a bagpipe around his shoulder, followed by a large brute of a barbarian guarding his back side.  The man introduced himself as Lord Darish of Randric.     The Lord informed the four battle worn combatants that they were wanted for murder in Macridi and they were to stand trial for these crimes.  However, he could make these charges disappear if the gang was willing to play ball.

Lord Darish gave the four an offer.  There were some bandits that were causing him a great deal of trouble.  Normally, he would send the Black Jackets to take care of these matters, however, this was a “delicate” matter that did not need to be hacked and slashed to bits.  He needed a small group with a bit of finesse to dispatch with these bandits.  Additionally, the bandits had taken something quiet precious.  A necklace with a blue stone pendent.  The Lord was very keen that this was to also be retrieved for him. 

After some negotiating with Embry, Lord Darish agreed that he would give them a two week writ of pass while they proceeded with their investigation along with a map of his findings as to where the bandits may be located.  

The Lord and his guard turned on heel, and walked out of the cave, leaving the adventurers to prepare for their next journey.

XP gained – 2600 per person (seriously, those were some tough ass knights)

Additional XP – 300 per person for story advancement.

Total – 2900 XP

All party members are now at Level 2 (possibly level 3 now)