The woods around Wittgendorf swallowed sound like a grave. Even the wind seemed reluctant to pass too loudly between the trunks, as though it feared to wake what slept in the shadows. Beneath those roots and stones, under the slow pulse of the earth itself, the party found the throat of the castle—a black mouth opening into damp stone and stale breath.

The villagers had called it salvation: the caverns beneath Castle Wittgenstein. A hidden way in, if one dared to crawl through filth and darkness. They had spoken, too, of lashworms, of beastmen, of a priestess of the old goddess Raya who kept a fragile sanctuary in the woods. What they had not said was how quickly hope curdled once one stepped into that cavern and felt watched.

Felrick led them around the bend and into a vast chamber strewn with refuse. Midden heaps rose like rotten cairns, bones and pottery shards and scraps of cloth tangled in damp rot. The glow came first—faint, unhealthy green—before the shapes resolved themselves. Rats, each the size of a large dog, their fur clotted and dusted with that same sickly phosphorescence, their eyes burning like coals buried in ash.

They did not scatter. They watched.

Qavitrae’s voice hissed softly behind him. They could not leave such things at their back. Better to kill vermin now than be gnawed in the dark later.

Felrick sighed, lifted his pistol, and fired.

The report of gunpowder cracked the cavern open. Flame spat from the muzzle. One rat’s skull burst apart in a spray of bone and green-tinged gore, the echo chasing itself down every tunnel. The remaining beasts fled at once, scattering into black passages, claws scraping stone.

The silence that followed felt heavier than before.

They sifted the trash heap warily. Wanda stood guard, shield ready, while the others rummaged through the ruin of human living. This was no random midden. The refuse bore the shape of a story: gnawed vegetable scraps, bones cracked for marrow, torn clothing. Thindruk overturned a shard of pottery and uncovered the cracked skull of a child.

The bone was small. Too small.

More bones followed. Human. Some warped, some bearing strange deformities. A three-fingered arm, stripped to the pale curve of bone, a silver bracelet still looped around its wrist. Flesh had been eaten. Something had fed here.

Drag marks scarred the stone, leading deeper into the caverns.

They followed.

The lashworms waited in the walls.

Felrick’s whip lashed forward into the narrow corridor ahead, probing for danger. Something shot from a crevice—too fast to see clearly—and withdrew just as swiftly. When Nora tossed a slice of meat into the tunnel, a fleshy tendril snapped out and dragged it back into the rock with a wet, violent yank.

The creatures were not subtle. They were hungry.

So the party fed them.

Wanda, gloved against the slime, hauled the carcass of the slain rat and flung it into the corridor. From several unseen cracks came lashing strikes, tearing flesh away in greedy chunks. When the remains were pulled back and cast in again, nothing moved. The worms were sated—for now.

Beyond the lashworms, the air changed. Water ran through the caverns in a narrow stream, clear and cold, cutting through stone worn by ancient floods. They crossed carefully, Nora vaulting with athletic ease, others aided by steady hands and measured breath.

The rats’ trail led them onward.

Then the cavern widened again, and they found the source of the refuse.

A mound of trash lay beneath a shaft of thin daylight. Twenty feet above, stonework lined a vertical tunnel—the interior of a well. Stalactites hung like teeth, and among them clung shapes that made the skin crawl.

Bats. Enormous. Wings folded around bodies as long as men were tall, fur dusted with the same green powder as the rats. They slept in uneasy clusters, claws dug into stone, their chests rising and falling in slow rhythm.

One cry, one spark, and they would descend.

They did not linger.

Instead, they edged along the cavern wall and found, carved into the stone, a spiral stair.

It wound upward for long minutes, each step a measured risk. Thindruk’s dwarven eye traced the masonry as they climbed. Human stonework, yes—but clever. Old. Not ancient like the well, but forgotten enough that moss crept across the steps untroubled.

At the top waited a small, featureless room.

No doors. No windows.

Only stone.

Thindruk studied the walls and saw what others would have missed: the faint pivot points, the careful balance of weight. A hidden door, disguised as solid masonry, waiting to turn.

They listened.

Through the thickness of stone came faint voices. Not nobles. Not lords in silks and arrogance. Servants. Hungry, whispering about food and cures that did not work. The castle was not at ease.

They did not open the door.

Instead, Thindruk leaned a copper coin against the hidden seam—a silent sentinel to tell them if the door was used in their absence—and they descended.

At the base of the stairs, darkness stirred.

Wanda caught the movement first—a shape hurtling from the black. She raised her shield just as a rock the size of a man’s skull slammed into it. The impact jarred her arm to the bone.

A lumpy, slapping sound echoed as something fled into the dark.

They flung a torch toward the motion and glimpsed it for an instant: a twisted figure, limbs disproportionate, skin hanging in folds, a face stretched in a rictus grin. It moved like a sack of meat dragged across stone, yet it leapt with unnatural speed.

Joe’s crossbow bolt struck its back before it vanished. The creature screamed—a high, wet shriek that scraped against memory—and then it was gone.

Later, in a narrow passage choked with mushrooms, Felrick felt its gaze upon him again. He looked up in time to see the grinning face peering from a crevice overhead, a rock poised to fall. He hurled himself backward as the stone crashed down where his skull had been.

The creature fled once more, slipping into the labyrinth of cracks beyond reach.

They found no further path through the mushrooms, no second route to the castle walls. The bats slept on, undisturbed. The lashworms gorged. The caverns offered no easier road.

So they withdrew.

The forest air felt cleaner than it had any right to be. They returned to Sigrid’s camp before dusk and told their tale: the lashworms, the bats, the hidden stair, the servants’ murmurs. A forgotten way into the castle existed. Dangerous, but real.

Plans were laid in low voices around the fire. They would carry only what rope was necessary, lowering lines from the walls once inside. Stealth above all. A small handful of the villagers’ quietest would accompany them. The rest would wait below the northern wall, ready to climb at a signal.

The castle would not be stormed by siege.

It would be opened from within.

With that resolved, they returned to the riverbank to rejoin their vessel.

The bank was empty.

No hull rocked in the current. No sail furled against the wind.

Only reeds and mud.

Qavitrae’s sharp eye caught what the others missed: crossbow bolts scattered near the waterline, their fletching half-buried in the damp earth. Shots fired from the river toward the shore.

Blood did not stain the mud. No body floated in the shallows.

But the boat was gone.

The loss hung in the air like smoke. Perhaps pirates. Perhaps river wardens. Perhaps Wittgenstein’s own men.

It scarcely mattered now.

The road to Kemberbad was cut off. Weapons would not be purchased. Reinforcements would not arrive by sail.

The only way forward was through stone and shadow.

They would take Castle Wittgenstein—or die beneath it.

Session Notes
  • The GM recaps the party’s recent contact with refugees from Wittgendorf who have fled into the forest to escape horrors in the village, only to live amid the dangers of the surrounding woods.
    • The refugees report Beastmen activity in the area.
    • They also explain they have protection from Raya (an Old God associated with fertility and life), mediated by a priestess of Raya named Sigrid who lives in the forest and tends the protected grove where the refugees have established their camp.
    • The party convinces the refugees they are allies and intend to deal with the evil nested in the castle.
    • Sigrid and the refugees do not want villagers rushing the castle; the villagers are also not eager to charge a castle headlong.
    • A proposed plan forms:
      • If the party can infiltrate the castle and reach the walls, they can drop ropes or ladders to allow a force of roughly 30 people to climb up to the wall top.
      • That force would then attempt to “evict” the Wittgensteins from their castle (with an assumption this would likely be on the riverside).
    • The refugees share additional intelligence:
      • Caves exist under the castle through cliff walls.
      • There are stories that the well in the outer bailey connects down into these caverns.
      • Refugees previously explored the caves once but encountered lashworms; two people were killed and others injured, prompting them to flee and abandon further attempts.
      • If the party can find a way through the caves and get up to the walls, the refugee force may be able to act.
    • The party’s immediate goal is to scout the caves and return to the forest camp before nightfall to plan the attack.

  • The party returns to the cave map area and reorients to their current position.

    • The GM describes a large cavern (roughly 60 yards across) ahead, containing heaps of trash, midden, and bones.

    • Within the heaps are very large rats:

      • The rats glow faintly green in the dark (visible, but not bright).
      • The rats are roughly large-dog sized (about six feet nose-to-tail), dangerous but not pony-sized.
      • They appear aware of the party and are looking toward them, though they remain very still.

  • The party assesses the cavern conditions and the rats.

    • Ambient sound is minimal: mostly echoes of trickling water; otherwise quiet.

    • The party discusses whether to engage or bypass the rats.

    • Felrick tries to determine the rats’ behavior and whether they are setting a trap.

      • The GM allows an Awareness or Handle Animal approach.
      • Felrick’s read: the rats do not appear to be hiding; this looks like their nest, and the party is close to it.
      • Conclusion: the rats are unlikely to scatter simply because the party is near.

  • Felrick initiates combat with the rats.

    • Felrick fires his pistol at the closest rat at approximately 20–25 yards (long range for his pistol).

    • Damage is rolled; Felrick considers whether to “push damage” but instead uses rules/bonuses to maximize the result.

    • Final damage totals high enough to kill the rat outright (25 damage is stated as lethal).

    • Felrick explicitly does not take an aim-related bonus, narratively describing the shot as casual rather than carefully aimed.

    • Result:

      • The pistol shot produces a loud report that echoes through the caves.
      • The rat’s head explodes (burst of flame/smoke noted), killing it instantly.
      • The remaining rats scatter into the dark rather than attacking.

  • The party chooses not to pursue the fleeing rats into the darkness.

    • The GM indicates where the rats run:

      • One rat flees down one tunnel.
      • Two rats scamper down another tunnel.

    • The GM removes/hides the rats from the scene as they vanish into the cave network.

  • The party investigates the trash heap and midden.

    • Multiple characters conduct Awareness checks with different focuses:

      • Some search for useful clues/objects.
      • Others stay vigilant for threats (including the possibility of rats hiding in the trash or circling back from behind).

    • Findings:

      • No hidden rat ambush emerges from the trash piles.

      • No immediate sign of the rat that fled in the “south” direction looping around behind the party.

      • The trash is clearly human in origin:

        • Remnants of food and vegetable matter (limited, likely consumed heavily by vermin).
        • Gnawed bones.
        • Pottery shards.
        • Torn fabric remnants.

    • A more disturbing discovery is made:

      • Thindruk uncovers a cracked, broken human skull, child-sized, within the heap.
      • There is also shredded, bloody clothing nearby.

    • Thindruk attempts to infer the source/direction of the trash.

      • The GM confirms no overhead chute or ceiling hole large enough to explain the midden; only condensation/water drips from the ceiling.

      • Evidence suggests the trash was dragged into this cavern:

        • Drag marks and scattered detritus indicate movement from a specific direction (the GM points out the direction on the map).

      • The party concludes that following the direction the trash came from may lead toward an entry point connected to the castle (or at least to where the trash is being produced).

  • The party examines additional bone evidence for signs of mutation/Chaos influence.

    • Nora asks whether the child skull is deformed; the GM says it looks normal.

    • However, further scrutiny of the bones reveals something abnormal:

      • A roughly human-sized arm/limb appears to have a three-fingered hand (likened to an unusual “three-limbed” structure).
      • A small silver chain/bracelet is still around it, despite the flesh being stripped away.

    • The party interprets this as a sign of Chaos corruption or mutation affecting victims associated with the area.

  • The party discusses how the remains could have reached the cavern.

    • The castle is about a mile downriver from the village; the party is roughly a mile from Wittgendorf.

    • The party considers whether a child could have wandered this far, and whether the bones were feasted upon by rats or something else.

    • A Survival-based attempt to identify exact bite/chew patterns is discussed.

      • The GM notes the bones are too worn/chewed/broken to determine definitively.
      • The party is fairly confident rats have chewed them but cannot be sure something else did not also feed on them.

  • The party proceeds along the tunnel indicated by drag marks, watching for lashworms.

    • Felrick and Thindruk (both able to see well in darkness or with available light) make Awareness checks while advancing.

    • The group uses cautious probing techniques to avoid lashworm attacks:

      • Wanda uses a whip extended in front at intervals to test crevices and the corridor ahead without cracking it loudly.

  • The party confirms lashworm presence and tests feeding behavior.

    • Near an intersection, the GM describes brief movement:

      • Something whips out of a narrow crack/crevice in the wall (less than an inch wide), shoots into the corridor, and slithers back into the crevice.

    • Nora tests the lashworms by tossing a slice of meat into the hallway.

      • The lashworm lashes out quickly, snags the meat before it fully settles, and violently yanks it into the wall crack.

    • The party looks for signs of where the rats went and whether anyone died here.

      • They notice small drops of fresh blood but no bodies.
      • The party reasons that bodies (if any) may have been removed/consumed, possibly by rats.

  • The party recalls/establishes lashworm behavior and forms a plan to neutralize them temporarily.

    • The GM confirms the party already knows lashworms are not huge and behave like animals.
    • With sufficient meat, they can be sated and become docile for a time.
    • The party decides to use the dead glowing rat as bait/food for the lashworms.

  • The party feeds the lashworms a glowing rat corpse to clear the passage.

    • Qavitrae and Wanda (with gloves) handle/drag the heavy rat body (about the size of a big dog; estimated around 60 pounds).
    • The corpse is carried/heaved into the lashworm area.
    • Multiple lashings whip out from several directions, tearing off large chunks of flesh.
    • This feeding frenzy lasts about 30 seconds, then stops.
    • Wanda attempts to retrieve and toss more of the corpse back in using the whip; after some effort, she succeeds.
    • The second toss produces no further lashworm reaction.
    • The GM estimates leaving the corpse there may keep lashworms satisfied for approximately a day or two.
    • The party notes a concern: if they must traverse this route later when lashworms become hungry again, it could be extremely dangerous.

  • The party reassesses directionality at the lashworm intersection and chooses a northern branch.

    • A check to determine the drag-mark direction is attempted; due to distraction and conditions, the party does not get a confident read at that moment.

    • The party proceeds north, where the sound of running water grows louder.

    • The group reaches an underground stream:

      • The water appears clean-smelling.
      • The stream is roughly a couple yards across (wide enough to require a small jump or assisted crossing).
      • Depth is estimated around 4–5 feet.
      • Current is present but not fast enough to be immediately dangerous if someone falls in.

    • Qavitrae considers cave formation:

      • The party infers the caves were likely eroded by water and may have been flooded historically, with water levels changing over time.

  • The party decides how to cross the stream.

    • The group considers ropes/guidelines but lacks a clear anchor point (no pitons, nothing suitable to tie off to).

    • Wanda, being taller, takes a long stride across first and positions herself to help others.

    • Athletics checks are made to jump across with Wanda’s assistance.

      • Nora demonstrates athletic confidence with repeated, effortless jumps.
      • Thindruk initially fails but spends a coin to turn the result around and makes it across safely.

    • Everyone ends up across without getting wet.

  • The party follows signs of trash/detritus beyond the stream and finds a larger cavern.

    • The GM describes a cavern with higher ceilings and stalactites.

    • Large bats are present:

      • Multiple giant bats hang from stalactites with wings wrapped around them.
      • Bats are described as extremely large (around 6–7 feet).
      • They appear still/asleep and not currently aware of the party.
      • Green glowing dust is smeared on nearby stone and appears in their fur, suggesting contact with a strange substance and possibly explaining their unusual size or condition.

    • In the center of the chamber:

      • A notable pile of garbage sits under a shaft of light.
      • Above the trash pile is a large hole in the ceiling; the party can see stonework consistent with a well shaft.
      • A narrow column of daylight filters down the shaft (daytime outside), illuminating the trash below.

    • The party recognizes this as the rumored connection to the castle’s well.

  • The party evaluates access options to the well shaft and the risks posed by the bats.

    • The well opening is high above the cavern floor (the GM initially estimates ~20 feet to the stonework visible; daylight comes down as a narrow shaft).

    • The party debates how to reach it:

      • Ladder or scaffolding would be required; riding bats is joked about but not acted upon as a realistic plan in the moment.
      • They recognize bringing large ladder materials through narrow cave passages would be difficult and might take days of effort.

    • The party also considers timing:

      • If bats are nocturnal, they may leave at night, potentially reducing the risk of waking them during a stealth operation.
      • The group recognizes that waking the bats could alert the keep above.

  • The party continues exploring and discovers a constructed stairwell leading upward.

    • Away from the central bat chamber, the party finds a stone stairwell that ascends.

    • Thindruk examines the workmanship and age.

      • The stairwell’s stonework appears human-made and inferior (as characterized by Thindruk), but notably more recent than the eroded well stonework.

      • The stairwell is still likely very old (centuries), but newer than the well system.

      • There is minimal infrastructure for light:

        • No torches lit and no wall sconces.
        • A hook at the base suggests a lantern could be hung.

      • Growth (moss/lichen) and lack of worn divots indicate the stairwell has been used infrequently over its lifespan.

    • The party debates who should ascend to scout quietly.

      • Felrick and Thindruk go up to scout because they can operate with less reliance on bright light and can better manage in darkness.
      • Qavitrae stays below due to limited ability to see without the lamp, and Nora remains near the bottom to avoid being isolated in total darkness without a light source.

  • While Felrick and Thindruk scout upstairs, the party below encounters an unseen threat.

    • Everyone at the bottom makes Awareness checks.

    • Wanda notices movement in the darkness beyond the reach of the dim lamp light (approximately 30–40 feet away, beyond the effective light radius).

    • Something is hurled from the dark toward the group:

      • Wanda attempts to interpose and block using her shield, making a challenging Parry check.
      • Wanda critically succeeds.
      • She doesn’t merely block; she knocks the projectile away.

    • The object is revealed as a large rock (fist-sized or slightly larger in the initial description; later described as dangerous enough to seriously injure if it struck the head).

    • The party hears a lumpy, thudding, slapping movement as something retreats rapidly into the dark.

  • The party uses light to identify the rock-throwing creature.

    • A torch is lit from the lamp and thrown outward to illuminate the darkness briefly.

    • In the torchlight, the party glimpses a strange creature:

      • It moves with an undulating, lopsided, “lumpy” motion, fleeing as the light approaches.
      • It appears malformed and unsettling in silhouette and movement.

    • Qavitrae (and/or the group) attempts a rapid ranged response.

      • Qavitrae takes a hard crossbow shot, complicated by darkness and the fleeting target.
      • The shot hits; the creature attempts to dodge but fails due to penalties against a fast, punishing attack.
      • Damage is dealt (initially 10, then increased with additional spending/bonuses to a higher total; the final narrated impact is substantial).
      • The bolt slams into the creature’s back; it makes a wet, grunting, squelching noise and a scream-like sound as it flees out of view.

    • The party interprets the creature as the likely source of the earlier scream heard in the caves.

  • Felrick and Thindruk complete the upstairs scout of the stairwell terminus.

    • After climbing a long spiral (legs burning, stopping to catch breath), they emerge into a small, featureless stone room:

      • Approximately two yards square.
      • About 10 feet high.
      • No doors or windows are immediately visible.

    • Thindruk examines the stonework to determine whether a doorway was sealed or disguised.

      • Awareness check is made.

      • Thindruk identifies a cleverly balanced pivoting wall mechanism:

        • A section of wall is hinged/pivoted around a central axis and can rotate outward to create a narrow passage (big enough for one person at a time).
        • It will not open very far.

      • There are no signs it has been used recently:

        • Dust is accumulated, and the room is notably dusty, suggesting the mechanism is rarely used.

    • Felrick and Thindruk listen carefully on the other side.

      • Both make Eavesdrop checks and succeed strongly.

      • They hear faint murmuring voices:

        • Discussion about needing more food.
        • Someone remarking that “the lady’s cures” are not working.

      • They assess the voices as common folk (servants/low-status inhabitants), not nobles or highborn.

  • The party below manages fear and tension after the creature encounter.

    • The GM calls for stress checks after the reveal of the strange creature.
    • The party succeeds overall; they remain functional and do not break under pressure.

  • Felrick and Thindruk decide not to open the secret pivot door.

    • They weigh the risk:

      • Opening could expose them to detection by nearby people.
      • The information gained might be minimal compared to the risk of compromising a potentially unknown/unused secret route.

    • Thindruk places a copper coin as a “sentinel” marker:

      • Positioned so that if someone opens the pivot wall and notices the coin, it cannot be replaced from the castle side without entering the caverns to set it back.
      • This will allow the party to detect if the secret door is disturbed before their return.

  • Felrick and Thindruk descend and regroup with the party below.

    • The group discusses:

      • The newly found stairwell and secret pivot door as a promising infiltration route into the castle.
      • The rock-throwing, lumpy creature encountered in the caves below (now injured by a crossbow bolt).
      • Concerns about waking the bats and compromising stealth.

  • The party debates whether to continue exploring or retreat to report to the camp.

    • They estimate they have not been in the cave complex long since reaching the central areas (around 30 minutes of exploration in the deeper sections after the long approach).
    • They decide to explore at least one additional branch before exiting to the surface, while trying to avoid traversing areas that might wake the bats.

  • The party backtracks through the caves, checking side branches.

    • They note an offshoot cavern that appears to be a dead end and choose not to over-scrutinize it.

    • They re-enter the mushroom chamber (green glowing mushrooms present).

      • Earlier conclusions are reaffirmed: the mushrooms are safe to be near if left undisturbed; do not touch/eat them.

  • The party attempts to explore an exit near the mushrooms.

    • They move single-file through a narrow passage.

    • Felrick leads and makes an Awareness check, succeeding.

    • The GM calls for a stress check as Felrick sees a grinning, wrinkled, lumpy face peering from a crevice above.

      • Felrick succeeds the stress check and does not freeze or panic.

    • The creature attempts an ambush:

      • It holds a large rock above Felrick, preparing to drop it directly down.

      • Felrick chooses to dodge rather than attempt a shot that would not prevent the rock from falling.

      • The creature’s attack roll succeeds (it would hit if Felrick failed to evade).

      • Felrick’s dodge result is good enough to avoid being struck:

        • Felrick throws himself back as a watermelon-sized rock slams down where he would have been.
        • The creature retreats upward into the crevice; small rocks clatter as it withdraws.

    • The party considers retaliatory options (including a thrown bottle bomb) but rejects them due to the risk of igniting themselves or otherwise escalating hazards in a confined space.

    • Felrick warns the group to watch above and proceeds cautiously onward.

  • The party confirms a further explored area is a dead end.

    • They reach another stream crossing area and a cave region described as an “eel cave,” but it does not connect onward; it appears to be a dead end.
    • The party notes that the underground waterway continues but becomes difficult to follow without wading, and they decline to enter water-filled low-ceiling tunnels.

  • The party returns to the cave entrance and reunites with the Wittgendorf guides.

    • The guides have remained nearby but out of obvious sight; they reveal themselves once they see the party emerge.
    • The guides ask whether the party found anything.
    • The party chooses to return to camp and share findings with everyone, arriving with time to spare before sunset.

  • The party attempts to cover their tracks returning through the woods.

    • A Survival check is made to conceal signs of passage and avoid being followed (with assistance attempted).
    • The attempt fails; the party acknowledges they are not effective at masking their travel through the forest.

  • The party reports to Sigrid at the forest camp and begins operational planning for the assault on Castle Wittgenstein.

    • Reported cave findings and route features include:

      • The lashworms are real and dangerous, but can be managed by feeding them enough meat (the dead giant rat was used to sate them for an estimated day or two).
      • Giant glowing rats were encountered and one was killed; remaining rats fled into the tunnels.
      • A trash heap connected to the castle’s well system was found, implying a route beneath the outer bailey.
      • Giant bats inhabit the well chamber; waking them may alert the castle.
      • A constructed stairwell in the caves leads up into the castle interior, culminating in a secret pivot-wall door.
      • The secret door area has faint common-folk voices nearby; it seems to be a lightly used, possibly forgotten access point.
      • A malformed “lumpy” creature in the caves throws rocks from darkness and crevices; it was hit in the back with a crossbow bolt and fled.

    • Sigrid and the camp discuss feasibility concerns:

      • Moving a large force through the caves is difficult due to tight, belly-crawl passages and the need to push/pull gear through.
      • Sneaking past the bat chamber with dozens of people would be risky unless timed for night when bats may be absent.
      • The stairwell/secret door offers a potential route that avoids the vertical well climb.

  • Alternative approach options are discussed: external approach to the castle walls at night.

    • Sigrid provides reconnaissance-based assessment:

      • The castle is poorly lit at night and not fully manned.
      • Scouts have approached the road to the main gate under cover of darkness without being seen.
      • A force could potentially leave the road once it reaches the cliff tops and move along the cliff walls to reach the northern or eastern sides.
      • The gate is watched and is the strongest defensive point (multiple layers such as portcullises); controlling it from both sides would be difficult.
      • Northern wall patrols appear minimal; scouts can see patrol torches at night and believe there are stretches of wall with limited guard presence.

    • The party highlights a key uncertainty:

      • The secret door from the stairwell leads “somewhere” in the castle, but the party does not yet know if it provides convenient access to a particular wall segment for rope deployment.
      • Risk: villagers could be waiting on the wrong side if the party cannot reach the intended drop point quickly or quietly.

  • The group discusses force composition and stealth priorities.

    • The camp is willing to send a small number (three or four) people with the party as an advance element.

    • The party debates whether they should bring:

      • The quietest/most stealth-capable individuals, to maintain secrecy and navigate unknown interior routes.
      • Or the strongest fighters, for decisive combat once contact is made.

    • The party trends toward selecting stealth-capable people because:

      • The key objective is infiltration without alerting defenders until the force is in position on top of the wall (or holding a critical interior point).
      • Combat superiority matters less if defenders can be taken by surprise.

  • The party conducts tactical planning and compares rope strategies.

    • The party explicitly considers two logistical approaches:

      • Carrying many ropes and materials into the castle to deploy quickly once in position.
      • Carrying a lighter load (a single rope or minimal line) and using it to haul up additional ropes/rigging prepared by the camp.

    • A Warfare-based planning test is run as an extended test for strategic evaluation (with assistance).

    • Conclusion from the planning:

      • A light-load approach is favored because:

        • The party does not know exactly where they must travel inside the castle and cannot guarantee ease of movement.
        • Carrying heavy rope bundles (approaching ~100 pounds) would slow them and increase risk of detection.
        • If spotted early, the operation is already compromised; speed of mass rope deployment matters less than remaining unseen until the force is positioned.

      • The primary strategic principle is to avoid sounding an alarm until the infiltrators have enabled the main force to get onto the wall (or otherwise seize a key position).

    • Additional operational thought:

      • If the party gets people inside, securing a defensible position (such as a bailey area that can be held) could also secure an escape route and staging point for further action.

  • The session advances into an immediate complication after planning: the party’s boat is missing.

    • The party returns through the woods to the riverbank where they had anchored their boat.

    • The boat is gone.

    • The party searches the riverbank for evidence:

      • Awareness/Survival-type checks are made.
      • Qavitrae is the only one to succeed.

    • Evidence found:

      • Several crossbow bolts lie among reeds and along the riverbank.
      • The bolts appear to have been fired from the direction of the water toward the land (shots that went wide and scattered).

    • The party interprets possible explanations:

      • The boat could have been spotted and seized by castle forces.
      • The boat could have been attacked on the river by unknown assailants (including the possibility of a second boat engaging it).
      • The party notes that piloting the boat alone would be extremely difficult, making a simple “fled downriver” scenario unlikely without additional crew or assistance.

    • Practical result:

      • The option to travel quickly back to Kemperbad to purchase weapons is now effectively off the table.
      • The party deprioritizes the missing boat relative to the castle operation, deciding to proceed with the invasion plan and focus on training/preparation locally.

  • Session end state and immediate next objectives implied by the events:

    • The party has confirmed at least one viable subterranean route into the castle via the well-linked caverns.

    • The party has discovered a constructed stairwell that leads to a secret pivot-wall door opening into an area of the castle occupied by common folk voices (likely servants or low-status inhabitants), and has marked it with a coin to detect use.

    • Known cave threats have been identified and partially mitigated:

      • Lashworms can be sated temporarily with meat.
      • Giant rats exist and may remain in the cave network.
      • Giant bats inhabit the well chamber and represent a stealth/alertness risk.
      • A malformed rock-throwing creature uses crevices and darkness for ambush and has been wounded by a crossbow bolt but remains at large.

    • The assault plan now requires:

      • Selecting a small stealth element from the camp to accompany the party.
      • Preparing rope/rigging solutions that minimize carried load while enabling rapid scaling once a line is established.
      • Deciding between using the subterranean secret-door approach versus an external night approach to a quieter wall segment (or a hybrid plan).
      • Addressing loss of mobility/logistics due to the missing boat.