A2: Secrets of the Slavers Stockade
After a harrowing journey in which the party faced hunger, bandits, and the wild tribesmen of the Drachensgrab Hills, the adventurers are have arrived at their destination and are scouting the fort from concealed positions on a nearby ridge. The fort is situated atop a high, steep hill that surveys the countryside. A warding ditch 20’ wide and 10’ deep surrounds the fort.
The only access road winds down from the north, through a narrow valley, up to the drawbridge that spans the ditch.
The hill fort is a combination of recent construction and the remains of an older stone fortress. The outer wall of the hill fort is an earthen rampart topped by a wooden stockade. However, the curtain wall containing the drawbridge is made of stone. The wall is 35’ high and is topped by a stone parapet which is constantly manned. The curtain wall is connected to the rest of the fort by the rampart and stockade.
The ground slopes upward from the curtain wall, and some distance back, across an open courtyard, is the gatehouse. This is of massive construction, four stories high, with a stone parapet atop it, so that all sides can be defended. The rampart and stockade connect to the gatehouse and surround the fort keep.
The keep abuts the rampart on three sides, with a parade ground to the north between the main building and the gatehouse. The fort was originally a single story stone building, but the slavers have added a wooden guardpost as a partial second story. The entrance to the main building is recessed back and an enclosed garden leads from the building’s entrance to
the parade ground.
The rampart and stockade surround the fort on the west, south, and east sides and join the curtain wall to the north. The outer face of the walls and stockade are fitted with downward sloping spikes to prevent attackers from scaling the walls. The stockade has a walkway on all sides, the walkway being 15’ above the main building’s first floor. Guards patrol the walkway, and the top of the gatehouse and curtain wall, but it is impossible to estimate numbers from a distance.
The escaped slave has told the party that he left the fort by running a makeshift rope from the curtain wall’s second story to the ditch and climbing down. Since no one saw him leave, he is sure the rope is still there.
What will you do?
< < < PARTY > > >
Bernhard F5 HP 22/22 THAC0 17 AC 1 M/R: +1/+0
Black Angus F5 HP 22/22 THAC0 17 AC 3 M/R: +2/+0
Brother Nerrag C5 HP 22/22 THAC0 18 AC 0 M/R: +2/-
Falan M3/F3 HP 12/12 THAC0 18 AC 7 M/R: +1/+1
Ronan M5 HP 12/12 THAC0 18 AC 5 M/R: +1(+2)/+1(+0)
Thorik T5 HP 12/12 THAC0 18 AC 7 M/R: +1/+1(+0)
Dhar-Gradvig F3 HP 12/12 THAC0 18 AC 6 M/R: +1/-
Thrall F3 HP 14/14 THAC0 18 AC 3 M/R: +0/-
Tum-Tuk F1 HP 4/4 THAC0 19 AC 6 M/R: +0/-
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:30, Wed 01 June 2022.