D&D Session 16

By Sudhir Sood
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First published 28th July 2026

Bluebell & Tharbin volunteer to take the ox & cart back to Phandalin, but before setting off, a long-strider spell is cast on the ox by Bluebell to expedite their journey. Sometime later as as they travel along the trail, Bluebell spots a light off in the distance that appears to be coming towards them, as the light gets closer they make our some sort of object in the form of an orb, that is being carried aloft by some ungodly creatures. The orb appears to be emanating light from storks extending off the orb, Bluebell & Tharbin air on the side of caution and take the cart off the trail and hide as daylight draws in. Bluebell dispatches her familiar to observe the mob from above, & sees through her familiar that the mob are carrying weapons that emit a green glow. They remain hidden until the mob has past by, before continuing with their journey.

A small ruined castle looking at a two storey tower that is mostly intact. In front of that is a medium-sized tent and to the left (and closer still to the viewpoint) is a well complete with rope, pulley and bucket.

Ruined Castle on the hill

Meanwhile the rest of the party follow Silanne along an off beaten track, up through the hills to our south. Silanne takes precautions in concealing herself as she approaches the ridge of the hill ahead of our position, the rest of the party follow a little further behind whilst trying to keep eyes on Silanne, as the light falls around us.
With my night vision I observe Silanne peering down from her position ahead of us, & a short time later she signals by hand for me to bring the rest of the party up towards her position, before gesturing to stop 20 feet away from her. She makes some hand signals that I have no idea what they mean, but Fiorana appears to understand as they immediately respond by carefully approaching the ridge of the hill where Silanne is positioned. A short time later Silanne signals for the rest of the party to follow and take positions along the ridge of the hill. As the party get close we all have our sense of smell assaulted by some foul stench.

A map of old owl well, the ruined castle on the hill. The well has a diameter of five feet. Fifteen feet north of the well is a fifteen foot square tent. Thirty feet to the Northeast of the tent is a forty foot diameter small tower.

Old Owl Well

Silanne & Fiorana than communicate that they will head down the hill towards the tower walls we observe from our position on the ridge. Silanne & Fiorana successfully reach their positions on the north & west walls respectively, before signalling to us to make our way down as they slip inside pass the walls. Fiorana moves to the west wall of the tower & Silanne moves to the north wall of the tower, than signals to the rest of the party to make our way down just outside the walls, before they both disappear inside. A few minutes later Silanne reappears and whispers towards Tremen Psst there are undead in the tower, who then proceeds to enter the tower. Not unexpected it is in complete darkness, so Tremen lights his lamp, I can only guess what look on his face was - one of surprise & apprehension, as he saw rows on rows of undead. Fortunately we hear that the undead almost immediately drop to their knees. We learn a little later that Fiorana has discovered a wizard in the tent to the south west, that appears to know of us and our movements. She informs us that he is wizard of necromancy, which raises a few concerns within the party.