Battle report: the death of E.K.

Turns out I made a couple of mistakes about spell rules that gave the party an advantage. I reckon you'd have won anyway though.

Grim and Zumm toured the region, telling the people of the new ruler and his new policies: taxes would be reduced but must be delivered rather than collected, and anyone who wanted to could go to Castle Granis to be trained in the region's new army. Grim also recruited a cohort, Hurgadar. Hurgadar is a mongrelfolk (the product of generations of inter-breeding between many different humanoid races), and is an adventurous wanderer who agreed to travel with Grim in order to seek adventure. Grim and Zumm collected Verschoyle (plus Zurga and their new flesh golem) from Stoneskull, and the party returned to Castle Granis.

Some goblins attempted to assassinate Grim using warforged bane arrows, but Grim survived the attempt and the castle guard took care of the assassins. The party traced the plot back to the cleric Merred Nastor and his new disciples, who turned out to be hosts to parasitic tentacle creatures. Verschoyle took care of these with a spell, but the most powerful one (inhabiting Merred Nastor) escaped.
Using scrying, the party traced the tsochar to the tomb of Dragith Nurn, where they saw that he was in league with their arch-enemy E.K. The party travelled overland to the tomb, fought their way in through the dolgrim and dolgaunt guards, and finally killed E.K. and the tsochar in a magical fire-fight across the chasm.

EK had set up a lift, powered by an ogre slave, to the bottom of the chasm. The party descended to find that the guards at the bottom had fled. They found some treasure in boxes that EK's minions had helpfully retrieved from the caves.

Zumm went in to the cave of the bearded devils, touched a large crystal embedded in the wall, and was handed a secret note from the DM.

The party set off back to Castle Granis to wait there for the next plot hook to arrive.

Timeline update

Sypheros 14	Grim and Verschoyle arrive at Graywall with Ug's body, and take it to a gnoll druid that the mercenaries had recommended. However, Ug's soul refused to return. Verschoyle befriends Graywall's most powerful wizard (or at least its most powerful commonly-known wizard), Tharrad Katarn. Grim and Verschoyle also managed to locate the cleric Merred Nastor who had gone missing on his shopping trip to Graywall. A goblin bowmaker had noticed his poorly-concealed Silver Flame symbol and tipped off the arena guards. He was due to be executed in the arena the next day. Verschoyle enters the arena in order to fight on his behalf and spends the night hin the cells. Meanwhile, Grim kidnaps the goblin bowmaker.
Sypheros 15	In the arena, Verschoyle defeats the manticore that was due to kill Merred Nastor. A bugbear scout from Darguun introduces himself to Grim and Verschoyle. Verschoyle and Tharrad Katarn continue to swap spells.
Sypheros 16	Grim leaves for where his army is camped. Verschoyle begins crafting a headband of intellect. Burr, the bugbear scout, introduces himself to Verschoyle again.
Sypheros 19	Tharrad Katarn teleports Verschoyle and Burr to the army camp, where Grim is just arriving.
Sypheros 20	The Battle of Stoneskull. Grim's army defeats Jalahand and Grim becomes warlord of the region. Burr is killed by a trap.
Sypheros 21	The party receives a letter saying that the Daughters of Sora Kell endorse Grim's rulership of the region. Grim and Zumm embark on a tour of the region. Verschoyle and Zurga begin creating a flesh golem.
Aryth [November] 20	Grim finishes his tour and arrives back at Stoneskull to pick up Verschoyle, who has finished his flesh golem.
Aryth 21	Grim, Zumm, Verschoyle and Zurga arrive back at Castle Granis...

Your fiefdom

Total population: 3,000 (approx. 70% goblins, 15% orcs, 10% ogres, 5% mongrelfolk)

Notable towns

Castle Granis
Ruler (when Grim is away): Skardash, goblin ranger
100 goblins (inc. 20 trained warriors and 20 ordinary warriors)
4 ogres
Merred Nastor (Cleric of the Silver Flame)

Garduk
Ruler: Valdash, orc fighter
800 goblins (inc. 300 warriors, 20 elite guards, a blacksmith and a healer)
10 orcs (inc. 4 warriors)

Stoneskull
Ruler: Kardash, orc fighter
500 goblins (inc. 200 warriors and a healer)

Settlements range in size from a dozen goblins to a few hundred, with none being larger than Garduk. Goblin villages are ruled by either orcs or ogres, or sometimes both (in which case the ogres lord it over the orcs and the goblins are slaves to both). Most settlements have a healer. Chieftains are generally experienced fighters and some have trained elite guards, but none are more powerful than Valdash or Kardash.

Leadership among the orcish rulers is hereditary, and the majority of chieftains are part of Valdash's extended family. There is no single head of the family. Leadership among ogre-dominated villages goes to the strongest by combat and rarely passes down in a family. There are no villages with a goblin chieftain, although sometimes an orc warlord may have an experienced goblin as a trusted advisor.

As you tour the region, reactions to the change of rulership range from indifference to happiness. The only mild voices of dissent are from ogres who are unhappy that the ogre mage warlord has been replaced by a non-ogre. Most of the civilians have never seen a warforged before and think that Grim is an orc who never takes his armour off, although some experienced fighters who have done mercenary duty recognize him as a warforged. The announcement that the taxes are being lowered is universally greeted with happiness. In general, your rule is off to a good start.

The region is 100 miles across at its widest point. It is bordered on the west and south by other warlords' territories, on the east by Breland, and on the north by the Eldeen Reaches and the Byeshk Mountains. (Blue lines on the map indicate regional boundaries and red lines national ones.) The region is barren and rocky, and the area around Garduk is the only place where crops can reliably be grown. Well-worn dirt tracks link all the settlements; the only one that could reasonably be called a road runs from Stoneskull to Graywall, passing close to Castle Granis.

The Droaam Warlord prestige class

Home-brewed content! This is my first attempt at creating a prestige class. I created it with Greg's character in mind but I might use it for some NPCs.

Warlords are the rulers of communities of barbaric humanoids. They may rise from these communities themselves, or be heroes who take control of a barbaric tribe. Warlords are typically barbarians, fighters or other martial classes who sacrifice some of their physical training in order to become more effective leaders.

Requirements
Base attack bonus: +5
Feats: Leadership
Skills: Intimidate 8 ranks

Class skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge (local), Ride, Sense Motive

Hit die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Fearsome reputation, bonus language
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Inspire rage 1/day, battle intimidation
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Hold the line, bonus language
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Inspire rage 2/day
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Greater battle intimidation, bonus language

Fearsome reputation (Ex)
A warlord adds his class level to Intimidate checks.

Battle intimidation (Ex)
Starting at 2nd level, a warlord can use Intimidate to demoralize an opponent in battle as a move action (rather than a standard action).

Bonus language (Ex)
Although most monstrous creatures speak Common, a good warlord knows that he can rule more effectively if he speaks the first language of his subjects. At 1st, 3rd and 5th level the warlord gains a bonus language from among those spoken by his subjects or the creatures of the surrounding area (excluding secret languages such as Druidic). A typical list would be Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, and Orc.

Inspire rage (Sp)
Beginning at 2nd level, you can incite your allies to fly into a rage while attacking. This functions as the rage spell, except that it is a language-dependant effect and can be negated by magical silence. You must continue speaking or shouting while you concentrate to maintain the effect, and the effect lasts for as long as you concentrate plus one round per level. At 4th-level, you can use this ability twice per day.

Hold the line (Ex)
When you reach 3rd level, your followers and allies are more frightened of you than they are of their enemies. Whenever an ally or follower who can see you is subject to a fear effect that allows a Will save, you can make an Intimidate check as an immediate action, and the ally uses this check result in place of their Will save if it is higher. You cannot use this ability if you yourself shaken or otherwise suffering from a fear effect.

Greater battle intimidation (Ex)
At 5th level, a warlord can demoralize an opponent in battle as a swift action.

The letter

To Lord Grim,

Welcome to the family. Let me tell you how this works.

You are now a Droaam warlord. You rule the area formerly controlled by Jalahand, and in this realm you have absolute authority. The Daughters of Sora Kell have no wish to interfere in the internal affairs of your fiefdom. As long as you do not threaten to destabilize the region you will be left alone.

Naturally, just as you receive tribute from the villages in your fiefdom, you are required to pay tribute to the Daughters of Sora Kell via their representative in the region, Governor Xor'chylic of Graywall. The Daughters require tribute not in the form of livestock or goods but in the form of mercenary services. Once you have had time to consolidate your rulership of the region, a representative of Xor'chylic will arrive to collect the first squads of mercenaries. In order to be sure of your loyalty, Xor'chylic may require that you and your companions serve personally in the Droaam army for a short term.

Agents of the Daughters of Sora Kell are marked by the sign of the Spiral Eye. You are to give such agents any assistance that they require. Failure to do so will be seen as disloyalty to the Daughters themselves.

The Daughters of Sora Kell have been impressed with the reports of your progress and believe that you will be an asset to the nation of Droaam. If, however, you displease them, do not doubt that they have many ways to remove you from power.

Your faithful servant,

Hagrith One-Eye
Secretary for Eastern Droaam Affairs
Office of Sora Maenya
Palace of Skulls
Great Crag

The Battle of Stoneskull

I'd better write it up before I forget what happened...

Grim left Graywall, taking Merred Nastor and his goblin bowsmith prisoner with him. Verschoyle stayed in Graywall for three more days in order to use the resources of Tharrad Katarn's magical laboratory to craft himself a headband of intellect +2. While there, Verschoyle met Burr, a bugbear scout from Darguun, and reluctantly agreed to let him join the party. When Verschoyle had finished making his headband, Tharrad Katarn teleported him and Burr to the army's camp, where Grim, travelling for three days overland, had just arrived. Tharrad gave Verschoyle a magic scroll that might help him out in a moment of need, and told him that he might be able to get him into a circle of wizards of which he was a part.

After some discussion, the party opted for a full-frontal attack on Stoneskull. Verschoyle opened the battle by casting fireball into the middle of the village, and continued to rain magic onto the army as it approached. While the two armies entered melee against each other, Jalahand himself personally took on the party, but they killed him.

As soon as Jalahand was dead, the mind flayer that the party had defeated the previous week used the opportunity to strike while they were weakened. He appeared, along with a shadowy version of an otyugh (the shadow plane counterpart of one of his otyugh minions). The party dispatched them fairly easily, with the help of Tharrad Katarn's scroll, which turned out to summon some hell-hounds. Verschoyle commented that he now knows Tharrad Katarn's alignment: hell-hounds are Lawful Evil, so Tharrad Katarn is presumably (although not necessarily) the same.

With Jalahand and his lieutants defeated, some of his army fled but the majority surrendered. The battle was over quickly enough that there were only a dozen or so goblin casualties on each side, although all of Jalahand's ogres had been killed by Verschoyle's fireballs. No major NPCs on the party's side were killed (although Kardash has a few more battle-scars than before).

The party spotted a mysterious figure observing the battle through a spyglass.

The victors went into Jalahand's throne room, where Burr attempted to use his thief-like abilities to open the ogre mage's magically trapped treasure chests and fell victim to a phantasmal killer trap. Zurga opened the other chest by summoning a fiendish monkey (which got killed by a lightning trap). The chests contained lots of money. Grim also acquired a cloak of charisma +2 which Jalahand had been wearing, and Verschoyle took the periapt of health that had belonged to the mind flayer.

The party and their army spent the night in Stoneskull, with Grim keeping the peace between the two goblin armies. In the morning, they found a note left in Jalahand's cave next to where Verschoyle had been sleeping. The note was from an agent of the Daughters of Sora Kell (the rulers of Droaam) endorsing Grim as the new warlord but specifying that the party might have to serve for a time in the Droaam army to prove their loyalty. (DM railroading and an excuse to use Heroes of Battle? Not at all...)

The next day, Grim embarked on a tour of his new kingdom, while Verschoyle began work on constructing a flesh golem out of the corpses of the fallen goblins. (I'm not sure what Zumm was doing during this time; I'm assuming he either went with Grim on the tour or spent the time in quiet meditation.) Grim told his new subjects that the taxation would be reduced and that they could count on his protection in exchange for their loyalty.

When we eventually resume the campaign, it will be a month or so later. Grim's rule of the region will be stable and Verschoyle's flesh golem will be finished.