Welcome to the ongoing saga of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign I ran a little while back. It started off using The Sunken Citadel module from the Tales From The Yawning Portal source book, but was then fitted into my Homebrew setting and moved on from there.
In the last post, the party managed to get through to the kobold clan hiding in a small warren at the centre of a rock arch in the mountains. They also negotiated with Arixxiphan, their cunning leader, for a key they'd been asked to get.
I hope you enjoy my D&D campaign write-ups, and the commentary I add to them. Questions, comments and feedback are welcome !
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
With the party now united with the kobolds, and after a celebratory feast, it was time to work out how to break them back out and get free.
They discussed a variety of ideas without reaching a definite conclusion. Most of them involved fighting their way back through the disorganised and demoralised orcs at the siege camp the party had so effectively wrecked on the way in.
Unfortunately, this is where events intruded. The orcs had other ideas. The leaderless orcs in the northern camp had received reinforcements, a group of orogs mounted on war pigs, who rapidly took charge of the situation and restored order.
The orogs also set up a semaphore system so they could co-ordinate more effectively with the orcs in the camp at the southern end of the arch. The arch spanned a wide and deep ravine, which made communication between the two siege camps difficult, and reinforcement between them almost impossible.
What the orcs decided to do was pretty ruthless. Both kobolds and party were now effectively trapped. But the warren and the dense field of traps protecting it on both sides of the arch made a direct assault suicidal, even by orc standards.
So their new plan was simply for the orcs in both camps to chop away at the rock until the arch broke and crashed to the bottom of the ravine, killing all inside the warren.
Our heroes became aware of this new threat when the arch started trembling to great blows delivered onto the ends of the arch by the orogs using mining picks. The ordinary orcs helped, as well as providing archers to cover the work.
With time suddenly at a premium, the party had to come up with a plan which could be executed before the arch collapsed.
They ended up going with the simple and obvious one. Pooling all their rope and the little the kobolds had, they had just enough to reach the bottom of the ravine. There were just a couple of the kobolds who were a rare winged mutation which could fly. Additionally they had Garnet; as an aasimar, they could fly although their protests about being nothing more than a glorified taxi service for those too young or frail to climb down the rope were hilarious !
To avoid being spotted (and shot at) by the orcs, the kobolds resorted to the simple expedient of opening up the entrance they already had at the bottom of their warren. Previously used as a way for the flying kobolds to sneak out and harass the orcs, now it was the gateway to safety.
Everyone scrambled down the rope as fast as they could, with the kobolds abandoning all but the lightest and most valuable of their possessions.
They got out not a moment too soon. As the last of them landed on the snowy ground of the ravine, the rock arch gave way with a loud crack. Kobolds and adventurers sprinted away as the arch came down. Rocks fell, but thanks to good saving throws, no one died.
Next time.... pursuit !
Previous posts in this series;
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-introduction
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-lets-meet-our-characters-
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-arrival-at-oakhurst
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-to-the-sunless-citadel
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-into-the-citadel
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-kobolds-are-people-too-
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-a-deal-with-kobolds
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-no-creatures-land
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-a-beast-a-fountain-and-more-rats
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-first-encounter-with-the-cunning-goblins
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-pits-and-dragons
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-the-goblin-chiefs-potted-plant
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-down-the-hole
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-the-fungus-garden-and-a-laboratory
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-the-bugbear-gardener
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-into-the-twilight-grove
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-showdown-at-the-gulthias-tree
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-an-unexpected-offer
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-orcs--orcs-
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-overthrowing-the-mayor
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-cooling-off-cantrips-and-council
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-taking-the-fight-to-the-orcs
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-first-sight-of-the-orc-stronghold
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-storming-the-wall-of-sorrow
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-kicking-in-the-orcs-back-door
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-finishing-off-the-orc-stronghold
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-tough-choices
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-plans-and-realities
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-breakthrough-
@alonicus/the-second-dandd-tarak-campaign-getting-to-the-trapped-kobolds