Leucis (5th lvl Warlord) Monk (5th lvl Monk) Edhas (5th lvl Bard)
Dora (5th lvl Wizard) Wyndham (5th lvl Sorcerer)
Exploring into the Pass, the party headed in only about 200' before they could head the sound of wings flapping. With all the group caught off guard with the exception of Edhas, many stirges swooped down from the ceiling and latched on to various party members as they were looking at the bodies of what appeared to be dead dwarves. With finesse and skill of Wyndham the group was able to shrug off most of the damage caused by the stirges until a massive earthquake shook the Pass opening a 20' chasm in the floor and a crack in the ceiling. After the quake settled several deathjump spiders scurried out of the ceiling and headed right for them!
Although the poison was difficult to fight off, the group held their ground against the spiders, with Monk's area attacks and Dora's illusions. As the earthquake persisted with aftershocks, they were able to destroy the remaining spiders and decided resting was in their best interest as their bodies were pushed to the limit of healing. Returning to the surface they rested in one of the abandoned buildings by the river they crossed until morning.
They headed back into the pass until they could see the enormous slab of stone that Rangrim had told them about. Beneath the many-ton slab they could see at least one orc arm pinned and large pools of blood coming from under it. Clearly Rangrim had lowered the slab onto several unfortunate orcs. Just as he indicated the stairs leading up to the gatehouse were on their right. Before climbing the stairs, they inspected a channel that ran up the wall down to an indented spot with an iron nub that was clearly used as an anchor for something to latch on. Unable to do anything with it, they climbed the stairs and noticed a hallway with several pressure plates that set off arrow traps from behind the right wall. Using arcane power, Dora illuminated the runes on the pressure plates providing the rest of the group with the ability to cross the fifty feet without setting off the trap. Monk carried Dora across but before the others could follow his steps, several iron cobras lurched from the end of the hallway and forced the group to deal with them while evading the dangerous arrow turrets. After destroying their enemies, triggering and deactivating a portcullis trap and following the hallway to a door, they entered the actual gatehouse control room with a large lever on the ground. The room was guarded by two hammering contructs. After Dora destroyed both hammering constructs, they learned they were unable to move the lever alone. An inspection of the room revealed an ogre sized rusted iron construct with a ritual to animate and control it. Dora read the ritual and decided to use the construct to pull the lever. In preparation for something happening, Leucis went back to the iron nub outside the gatehouse to be ready to do what was needed to keep the slab aloft. The construct pulled the lever, the slab lifted but before Leucis could latch the chain that ran down the channel, many orcs rushed from behind the slab.
Leucis ran up the stairs shouting for Dora to drop the slab. Although the construct turned the lever, the orcs had already crossed under the slab. Leucis delayed their advance up the steps and down the hallway by lighting three fires with oil. Meanwhile, Leucis, Monk and eventually Wyndham held their ground in the hallway pelting the orcs as they made their way down the narrow hall. Dora was able to drop an illusionary ambush and killed several orcs, winnowing their numbers. Dora and Edhas, however, were caught off guard when the largest of the orcs seemed to reach out and control the construct with a magic glove he was wearing. Although Monk was overwhelmed by the mass and numbers of orcs, the group was able to pound the orcs until the last one fell. Edhas, who was troubled most of the day with bad luck, came through at the last moment and blasted the leader orc with a critically aimed spell, toppling him and his companions.
Weaving their way through orc corpses, the group stabilized the dying Monk and decided the could go no further and needed to use the security of the gatehouse to rest. Beyond the stone slab, it would be unlikely to locate a place of safety better than this.
