20: In Defense of Blackwall Keep - Against the Lizard Men

The heroes surveyed the scene of carnage. After speaking with Hawkins and a few other soldiers, the heroes healed themselves and most of the soldiers, then helped the men as they started to pull the dead bodies of their fellows from the marsh.
One of the more troubled soldiers hacked off lizard man heads and put them on the sharpened spikes surrounding the keep. Azrael convinced Dawson, one of the soldiers with tracking skills, to help them track the lizard men back to their lair tomorrow.
The heroes were put up for the night in the tower, and helped the men maintain guard. Upon the morning, Azrael cast a spell and intoned the name of his goddess, Akira - queen of the Air, which magically repaired the front gate.
Early the next day, MacCubbin and three of the remaining ten soldiers headed north to rouse the Diamond Lake garrison. The heroes and Dawson headed deep into the Mist Marsh to rescue Marzena and the other soldiers captured by the lizard men. 6 soldiers remained to garrison the keep, where 33 had stood the day before.
The first few hours of walking through the mist Marsh were eerie, as a heavy blanket of Mist rose from the fen. Sounds were distorted. After a few hours it had mostly cleared, but visibility after 150 ft. was limited. Groves of Mangaroo trees dotted the marsh, trees made up of a large mass of roots and vine-like branches which grow in wild patches. Pools of standing water abound, and not a few have huge snakes or crocodiles waiting patiently for their new meal present itself.
Dawson tracked the band of lizard men back to a large growth of Mangaroo trees. “They must live in there. Gotta be an entrance some place.”
Quickly Aarth and Lath located a concealed entrance inside. A tunnel barely 7’ tall and as wide had been hacked through the roots and branches. The tunnel was dimly lit, as sunlight filtered through the branches. Aarth cast invisibility on himself and scouted inside. The others cast various defensive spells on themselves and waited for their elf friend to report.
Inside he found a tunnel which had a strange fungal guardian at the bend and a little way further were 2 lizard man sentries near a crossroad of passages. After hearing this report from Aarth, the heroes headed in. The fungal plant set up a keening shriek as the heroes neared it. The lead fighters went straight for the sentries, while Azrael beat on the fungus with his flail. Aarth shot one of the sentries, and they quickly were beaten, but as they fell more of their fellows attacked from a side passage, then seen after more lizard men came at the group from another side passage.
Stigand moved to the left towards the only passage with no combat, expecting a further assault from that direction. He headed down the passage a short ways, then came into a small room with a much higher ceiling. He heard a lovely captivating sound, and in a trance walked forward towards the lovely ‘dragon women’ Lath heard the song over the keening of the Shrieker resisted it’s enchanting allure. He recognized the magical compulsion and told Aarth about it. Aarth and Lath headed after Stigand to see what had happened.
Meanwhile, Aardgal and Bornir were fighting lizard men in one hallway, while Morgrim held a second hallway against the lizard men. Feldnar was in the middle of the crossroads, while Azrael battered on the Shrieker at the rear and Dawson maintained a healthy distance from the action.
Aarth found a stupefied Stigand standing in the middle of a room, while two dragon/harpies clawed at him mercilessly. Lath placed a silence spell on one of Aarth’s arrows. The dragon harpies recognized the sudden silence and one breathed a gout of acid which struck Aarth, Lath, and Felnar. It struck Felnar full in the chest and he fell to the ground screaming in agony, then lay still. Aarth fired the silence arrow and retreated, the arrow missed the dragon/harpy but stuck in the wall behind them. Lath also backpedaled, curing Felnar of most of his acid burns.
Azrael finally bludgeoned the Shrieker into paste and the group could hear each other better to co-ordinate their actions. Bornir went to take Morgrim’s place holding off the south corridor, while Aardgal held the west corridor by himself with his mighty two handed sword.
Morgrim charged into the black harpies room and found Stigand on the floor in a pool of his own blood. Dozens of lacerations scored his flesh. One of the black harpies sang, but luckily Morgrim had cast a minor prayer to his god Moradin, protecting him from evil, before entering battle, and it protected him from the harpies alluring song.
Morgrim charged the harpies cutting into one which had a grievous arrow wound to it’s side. Another gout of acid scoured Morgrim, Bornir and Azrael, barely missing the two elves who had been burned earlier. Within a dozen seconds the black dragon-like harpies were down. Stigand was alive, but just barely.
The Lizard men retreated leaving a half dozen dead in the hallways. News of the groups attack would spread quickly.
Stigand was cured and regained consciousness. He still bore dozens of scars. Immediately he felt a strange hate towards the black harpies, and immediately with knife and fist he took to the bodies, cutting talon, fang and horn from the creatures. He seemed more feral, more of his name sake, than before the encounter.
Aarth chanced across a cache of coins and a few nice items, a piece of jewelry and a pair of knee high red leather boots. He scooped these up, and the group stalked down the hallways.
The first hallway was up some crudely hewn stairs. At the top was a great amount of detritus which the group decided to avoid. Heading towards the back of the harpies chamber they found a short hallway and an empty room which had recently been living quarters. At exit tunnel at the back led them to a second living chambers, this one not so empty. 4 Lizard men with Javelins at the ready stood at the back. The threw them at Aardgal as he charged, one scored a hit, then he and Morgrim struck at the scaled folk. The four retreated into the room behind and the group harried them.
The room beyond was a strange quarters, a strange smell filled the room, and in here was a pool, several stumps with pots, mortar and pestle, a pit for a fire, and at the back were a stooped old lizard man with various baubles and necklaces, pouches and gourds slung around it’s withered old frame, his pet giant adder, a rather fierce looking lizard man, and the four lizard men who had retreated.
Aardgal and Morgrim pressed the attack, but before anyone could follow the lizard man shaman cast a spell which turned the growth underfoot into deadly spikes. Aarth countered with his bow and Felnar his spells. Lath cast Shield Other on Aardgal who was taking a beating from the fierce lizard man, who was armored in turtle shell armor, and wore a bear’s head helm. The barbarian slashed viciously at Aardgal with fang and claw.
A Lizard man appeared from concealment in last room and attacked Dawson! Azrael cast a fly spell on Bornir, so the stubby dwarf could reach the battle in the next room, then turned to help the guide.
The Lizard man shaman tried to summon a creature but Aarth’s arrow wound prevented her from completing the spell. With a snarl she tried to warp Aarth’s bow into the shape of a pretzel with a spell, but he resisted. Next she cast a fog cloud on the middle of the group, effectively keeping them from helping the battle.
Bornir’s help came just in time and he and Aardgal killed the lizard man barbarian. At the same time Morgrim finished off his two foes. The Shaman’s adder struck Aardgal 3 times, and each time he resisted the poison, as they struck at the Shaman, the aged figure shimmered and shape shifted into a small snake which slithered through the back wall. Before the larger Adder could follow it’s master the threesome struck it dead.
At the back of the chamber was Marzena, recognizable from her description. She was badly beaten, tied and apparently drugged. The group scooped up a few baubles from the Barbarian and with Bornir’s assistance he carried those inside and in front of the spike growth to the room behind. There they found another dead lizard man, this one with paint and vines t help it achieve concealment. Dawson was badly wounded but alive, thanks to Azrael.
The group had achieved it’s main goal, to rescue Marzena, but more soldiers were captured in the raid, and the group was very, very hurt.