The Gate to the North

We finally got back to Descent after a month's hiatus and it really showed on the party. The group is heading up to the secret pass near frostgate and they took a little trip through the dungeon called The Gate to the North, another slay fest in three acts.

The first dungeon they had was Dargon's Lair, featuring a red dragon which I finally got to use after Tim's paint job and although he did not kill many, he did weaken the party for later adventures. Lord Hawthorne, played by Jay did not die but he did eat three burn tokens, causing him to lose three health every round until he finally extinguished them on the second level. I did kill both Red Scorpion and Laurel of Bloodmoon before they got me, allowing me to take an 8-5 lead in the Conquest tokens department.

The second battle was the King Janius (Bag of Bones), a master skeleton without Undying but he does get up after being killed. He also allows undead archers a bonus to their pierce. Once again the party triumphed but again after suffering a pair of deaths. While everyone was standing around admiring their handiwork I used Dark Shadows on Laurel of Bloodmoon and caused her to attack a weakened Hawthorne. Hawthorne lost his final burn token by falling over dead... I was now up 22-10! Heh heh heh, in the best Harvey Ronald style...

The third and final act was the Arena, led by the mighty Ogre. He had conveniently placed skeletons on as many high ledges as he could, allowing a wicked crossfire from them. Until the party killed them... When Hawthorne came forward and challenged the Ogre to a battle, mano a ogre, I summoned a party of beastmen and the commander of the beastmen charged forward (to give his command bonus) and whacked Laurel of Bloodmoon, causing a whopping 12 points of damage! conveniently killing her at the same time. The ogre stepped forward and swept both Red Scorpion and Hawthorne off their feet, killing her and grievously wounding him. Hawthorne retreated away from the action, allowing me to charge forward and attack both Red Scorpion and the Runewitch, I dealt 9 damage to both of them and used the knockback feature to knock them onto the ledge, knowing full well that they would take damage when they jumped off. My plan backfired as I could not completely get the Ogre away and the two of them teamed up to cover him with a layer of death magic... They did get distracted and decided to kill all the creatures in the dungeon, giving them no extra conquest but allowing me to get two more. I finished the night with 32 CT and they finished with 17.

I was now leading the CT race for the first time in the game, and they were in Frostgate now, after a brief sidetrip in an outdoor encounter to purchase potions, they were now behind in CT in the game, 101-110. It is now a Silver level campaign!

There is a series of dungeons that allow the players to catch up to the Overlord if they are behind in CT, and the silver level one is a short trip away. This dungeon allows them to get a skill, additional dice and the like if they complete it. So they are headed there for their next adventure, probably next week.