Session 13
February 12th 2020
We began this session in the heat of combat. Orel quickly finished off the bandit with the mohawk, and some kind of light, presumably representing the bandit’s soul, left the bandit’s chest and was drawn into the ring of Grixis, who was still unconscious from the bearded bandit’s Lightning Bolt attack. Burke and Milo focused on taking down said bearded bandit (which would make a good tavern name, by the way), and Milo’s Dire Wolf Bite Attack knocked him Prone. Meanwhile, Howard’s still-unnamed Halfling Fighter/Rogue fought with the lanky bandit, who fights unarmed and without armor. The lanky bandit landed a lucky hit on Howard’s character, who, having already been wounded by a Lightning Bolt, dropped unconscious. On Grixis’ turn, his ring started glowing brightly, and his unconscious body started levitating and spellcasting on its own. When Orel downed the ugliest bandit, that bandit’s soul was drawn into Grixis’ ring as well. Burke and Milo finished off the bearded bandit (whose soul was also absorbed) then turned their attention to the lanky bandit. Grixis’ body then fired a purple beam of energy at the tallest bandit, which killed the bandit and revived Grixis.
At this point, the last remaining bandit, the lanky one who fights unarmed, started to flee. Milo hit him with an Opportunity Attack and gave chase, while the rest of us slung ranged attacks at the retreating bandit. Grixis, now feeling powerful, encircled the lanky bandit and his pursuer, Milo, with a Wall of Fire, and the now-trapped bandit surrendered.
Milo revived Howard’s character with a Cure Wounds, and we all debated what to do with our lanky captive. We decided we were too far out into the wilderness to turn him over to any authorities. We briefly considered killing him, bringing him with us, or turning him loose without his clothes, but we ultimately decided to let him escape, on the condition that he take up a trade other than banditry. Apparently, he knows how to tan leather, so maybe we’ll meet up with a lanky leather-maker later on.
We looted the bandit’s bodies, finding a spellbook on the bearded bandit’s body, a vial of acid, a set of thieves’ tools, and a non-magical greenish gem. Then we proceeded on our journey.
On Day 8 of our journey, we came to a fork in the road, where we had to choose whether to take the High Path, the most direct, and coldest, route to our destination; the Low Path, a longer road with lots of switchbacks; or a New Path, making our way as best we can along whatever trails we could find. We opted for the High Path, trusting our various magics and some firewood to keep us warm.
On the evening of the 3rd day up the High Pass through the Small Teeth Mountains, Milo noticed that some of the animal sounds we’ve heard were animal calls made by humanoids who had us almost surrounded and were drawing closer. Instead of trying to outrun them, we laid wait for an ambush by setting up camp and pretending to go to sleep. When a tribe of orcs approached us, we surprised them by catching most of them in the area of a Wall of Fire, killing most of them, but two of them got away. One of us (Orel, I believe) finished off one of the not-quite-dead orcs and looted his body, finding valuable vestments that had once belonged to a cleric of Waukeen.
On the 4th day in the mountains, the 12th day of our journey so far, we reached the treeline and considered taking our last chance to gather firewood, but one of us noticed a Green Dragon’s head among the canopy of the last copse of trees. The two made eye contact, and we, saying that we don’t want any trouble, pass on by and ride through the night to put as much distance between us and the dragon as possible. As we travelled through the night, our horses spooked, and we saw some large, winged creature flying overhead, going ahead of us. About 20 minutes later, a middle-aged knight in green armor approached us from the front and suggested that we make camp and exchange stories. He seemed friendly enough, but the horses shied away from him, and he regaled us with stories of of the gold dragons he fought as a dragonslayer.
Come morning, the “knight” told us of a lair up in these mountains where we might find a golden scroll that he would like us to retrieve for him, for which he is willing to offer us a large chest of gold (and another, smaller chest of gold for the higher-ups in Acquisitions, Incorporated). With little information about who or what might be guarding the scroll, we still decided to accept the side-quest within the side-quest because the allure of gold is strong and because the “knight” who calls himself Tyromenator (with a silent “e”) asked us nicely.
So, next week, we are going to bravely enter a mountain lair to retrieve a golden scroll for our new employer, Tyromenator, meet up with him on the other side of the mountain (hopefully before he gives up on us in three in-game days), and then continue on our quest to fetch the Eye of the Serpent for our other employer, Rand. Business is looking good for the Eyes of the Beholder, assuming neither of these side quests get us all killed.