The Citadel

After talking with the Dwarves, it became clear that they would use Duggin's knowledge and escort him to the Citadel and resecure the remaining pieces of Stonefang.   Without considering the writings of Rogvir or any part of their overall quest, they set out towards the Stonefang Pass and hours later saw the light at the end.  Inching forward to look outside, they could see a stone bridge traversing what sounded like a flowing river.  Across the bridge, the Citadel itself stood, carved out of the face of the mountains.  Duggin told them there were six outbuildings, two on this side of the river, that housed Dwarven guards.  Wyndham crept forward to get a better look and noticed two Orc archers on the buildings across the river.  He returned to the group, still hidden in the Stonefang Pass.  After talking over strategy, Wyndham shapeshifted into an Orc and crossed the river while the rest of the group remained behind.  After crossing the bridge, he counted four total archers atop the buildings and several Orc guards on foot including a well armored Orc tending to a Dire Boar.  Wyndham approached the Orcs and explained to them that he was coming from the Pass and located several Dwarves with a cache of gems.  Eager to make a profit, the Boar riding Orc ordered the other foot soldiers to escort him with Wyndham back to the cache.  Wyndham lured them over the bridge and, once they crossed the bridge, blasted them with a thundering roar! While the Orcs lashed back, Thorn emerged from the pass to engage the Orcs, but was quickly pelted with arrows from the archers.  Using the cover of the Pass and the buildings the group dealt with the Orcs on this side of the river then crossed the bridge and, under the cover of Wyndham's lightening bursts, eliminated the remaining Orc archers. 

Talking over the strategy with Duggin, he explained that the Citadel had no way in but the main entrance, where they would find a corridor with murder holes and a lower level of guard rooms.  Upstairs there would be a warded door, behind which the offduty guards could rest without fear of interruption.

Taking Duggin's advice, they opened the main doors and crossed the killing zone corridor.  The secret code is Javalin.  If you text it to me by Wednesday, you will get a magic item in the next session. It appeared the lower level was empty so the group headed up the stairwell to the second level and found the door.  Wyndham tapped into the arcane power that was in his blood as a sorcerer and bypassed the ward long enough to open the door and enter the room beyond.  Luecis could hear the voices of Orcs beyond the door and the group prepared for the worst.  Thorm charged into the room and opened the door directly down the hallway.  Behind the door several Orcs stood ready and hurled javalins at him.  However, he slammed the door shut and jammed it closed with a dagger.  Meanwhile, a room connecting to the hallway had several more Orcs, who charged into the hallway to repel the group.  Through the efforts of Thorm and his returning shield, the Orcs fell one at a time.  After the battle, the group was shocked to hear the cries of Dwarves beneath a trap door in the room.