Session 3 - Scene 2 (of 4)

The next morning begins with everyone getting together at the edge of town, heading off on the road to Harkenwold.  Merend explains to everyone about his conversation with Grundelmar.  They agree that taking out the bandits is a good idea, but there is some discussion over whether to do it before or after they retrieve the herbs.  Most everyone ends up agreeing with Shaelynna – it would be better to either eliminate the bandit threat first, or return the herbs to Fallcrest first; so as to avoid the risk of losing the herbs while engaging the bandits.

The discussion then moves to which road they should take when they come to the fork in the road leading out of town.  They could either take the Trade Road up into the hills and mountains near the old minotaur ruins of Thunderspire then south down to Raven's Roost.  Or, they could take the King's Road down to Harkenwold directly, passing through the forests along the White River.

Krolec initially declares the northern Trade Road to be their best bet.  But he quickly changes his mind.  There are likely more bandits along the Trade Road, Thunderspire is rumored to be home of very dangerous creatures, and he'd just rather get the herb situation over with before tackling the bandits.

A couple hours later, and they head into the forested region.  Sheaelynna and Dilis take the point, staying out a little ways ahead of the others.  Shaelynna spots something moving back in the forest a short distance ahead, and rushes back to tell the others.

Krolec and Merend are both thinking it could be a bandit ambush.  Krolec has Shaelynna and Dilis head into the forest while they continue more slowly along the road.  He hopes to be able to get a jump on the bandits.

Moments later, Krolec spots a couple of women coming down the road.  Merend suspects they are intended as a distraction for the bandits.  As they get a little closer, Krolec and Leigh hear that the women appear to be calling out looking for someone named "Rhonda".

Back in the forest, Shaelynna attempts to find who is in the area.  Not stealthy enough at first, she spooks someone hiding behind a tree.  It moves too quickly for her to get a good look, but she can tell the shape was shorter and humanoid.

On the road, Krolec decides to send Merend out to talk with the women a little ways ahead of the group.  He makes sure they get close enough that the wizards can attack with their magic missiles if necessary.  The women appear to be wearing older-fashioned peasant clothes.  

The women announce themselves as being from the nearby village of Juniper Creek.  They inform Merend that they are looking for a younger woman named Rhonda, who has gone missing.  She apparently snuck out to play while they were waiting for her to get dressed.

But Merend can tell something isn't quite right with their story.  They are a bit evasive as to how the girl went missing, or what she was up to before she disappeared.  One of them also lets a comment slip about "he won't be happy" that the other woman gives her a stern look for.  Merend inquires further, with the woman explaining that the "he" she referred to is "the father".

Shaelynna slowly and quietly advances her way forward in the woods.  She eventually spots someone hiding – it appears to be an adolescent girl wearing old-fashioned clothes.  The girl appears to be nervous, but seems to be in good health and has no signs of injuries.  Shaelynna decides to watch her for awhile before deciding what to do next.

Session 3 - Scene 3 (of 4)

Krolec hears the sounds of horses approaching from back down the road, in the direction the women came.  It sounds to him like two horses, moving quickly but not at a fast gallop.  In short time, two horses appear around the bend.  Both are ridden by men wearing old-fashioned peasant clothes.

Merend asks the women about the men on the horses as they approach.  One of them declares the man in front to be "Alby", the local keeper of the peace.  The other man is one of his assistants.  Alby immediately dispatches his assistant into the forest to "find her".

Merend tries to strike up a conversation with Alby, but it is clear the man isn't that interested.  He considers this a "private matter" and tells Merend they are free to move along.  While Merend talks to Alby, Krolec quietly slips off into the forest to warn Shaelynna.

In the forest, Shaelynna hears the man on horseback heading in.  She sneaks around behind the girl, then grabs her while placing her hand over her mouth.  Warning her not to make a sound, Shaelynna moves them to a better hiding spot just as the man enters the area.  She hears him calling out for Rhonda to come back, noting that she's "defying the will of the prophet".

Once the man is out of earshot, Shaelynna talks quietly to the girl.  The girl tells Shealynna that her name is Rhonda and she comes from the nearby village of Juniper Creek.  After piecing some comments together, Shaelynna is able to understand that Rhonda ran away because she was scheduled to be married to "the prophet" – the leader of the village who is said to be able to divine the will of the gods.  Apparently the village practices a very old-fashioned sect of religion that still believes in polygamy and arranged marriages.

Shaeylnna tries not to make judgements about the religion of the village, but definitely disagrees with a female being forced to marry against her will.  She decides to help sneak Rhonda out of the area.  By this time, Krolec has also found them, and overheard some of the girl's story.  He's much less understanding of the difference in cultures, and tends to believe the prophet's hold over the village represents tyranny.

Having to put the philosophical question of morality aside for the moment, Krolec comes up with a plan to go back and distract Alby long enough for Shaelynna to move past him.  They will all meet up five miles down the road and decide what to do next.

By the time Krolec emerges back from the forest onto the road, Alby is in a pretty foul mood.  Merend has spent several minutes too long getting things ready to move out again.  Obviously he intends to charge into the woods the second the group leaves the area.  Alby does notice Krolec heading out, and wants to know what he was up to.  Krolec bluffs his way out of it, explaining he went into the woods to relieve himself.  

Krolec then heads over to Alby, trying to pick a fight; partially to give Shaelynna time to move out, and partially because he'd like an excuse to hand out a beat down.  Alby doesn't rise to the bait, and the group eventually heads out under his watchful eye as Shaelynna manages to sneak Rhonda across an open path in the woods that leads down to the village of Juniper Creek and into the forests beyond.

Session 3 - Scene 4 (of 4)

A short while later, everyone meets back up at the pre-arranged area.  After introductions are made, everyone moves a little ways away from Rhonda to decide what to do with her next.  Shaelynna and Leigh want to take her to Harkenwold, safely out of the clutches of her village.  Krolec implies he'd prefer a more direct solution to ridding the village of the prophet (who he is convinced is a fraud), Alby (who he is convinced is a thug), and their enforcers, but the rest of the group finds the suggestion rather bloodthirsty and troubling, particularly since the prophet hasn't really done anything wrong according to how the society of the village functions.

Merend and Al get everyone to agree with their suggestion – see what Rhonda wants first.  But talking a bit more to Rhonda, it's clear she's pretty clueless.  She's never been out of the village before, and believes completely in her indoctrination.  She wants to head back to the village, but she doesn't want to marry such an old man (though she appears to have no problem with polygamy or arranged marriages in general).  She also appears to harbor feelings for a young man named Rick who was exiled from the village a year ago.  Merend stalls for more time by convincing her to accompany them to Harkenwold (and to look for Rick there), then saying he will speak to the prophet on her behalf when they head back that way.

Merend then insists they move out now, because they are still too close to the village.  Krolec agrees, and everyone heads back out into the forest as night falls.

Passing into the forest at night, Shaelynna fails to spot a bandit ambush up ahead quick enough.  Krolec readies his swords as four bandits emerge from the foliage and charge at them.  Leigh quickly blasts two of them with a scorching burst spell.

Two of the bandits head straight for Shaelynna and Dilis, while the other two head back towards Krolec and Leigh.  Al attempts to protect Leigh by placing a cloud of daggers in front of her.  This causes the bandit to move in and attack Al instead.

Shaelynna takes a slight hit, but quickly maneuvers herself to avoid being flanked by the bandits.  She and Dilis then move into striking position for one of them, while the other breaks off to attack Krolec instead.

Krolec quickly finds himself outflanked.  He takes a couple of strong, solid hits.  Al also has trouble with the bandit attacking him, taking some injuries himself.

Leigh attempts to help out Krolec by firing her magic missiles while moving Rhonda out of the way of danger.  A solid hit leaves one of the bandits bloodied.  Krolec presses his attack while attempting to escape, but is outflanked again.

After failing to intimidate the bandit enough by using his mage hand spell to retrieve the short sword he is carrying, Al steps back and allows Merend to charge in with his mace.  But Merend's attack is unsuccessful, and he is hit by a damaging strike from the bandit.

Between Krolec's deadly sword and Leigh's magic missiles, one of the bandits is finished off.  The other one that was on Krolec begins advancing on Leigh.  Krolec moves in to intercept.  Al attempts to aid Krolec using an orb of force, but his gambit fails.  Next to him, Merend is holding off the bandit nearest them using his lance of faith and sacred flame spells, while using his beacon of hope to heal them (though failing to weaken the bandits with it).

After several rounds of back and forth maneuvering, Shaelynna has maneuvered her prey right where she wants him, and she and Dilis move in for the kill.  Krolec and Leigh finish one of the other bandits off, while Al and Merend finish off the last one.

Searching the bodies, the group is disappointed not to find any treasure, though they are surge to pick up the bandit's maces.  Shaelynna gives one of the maces to Rhonda so she can protect herself.  Merend is also disappointed not to find any papers or other clues on the men, though he does notice they all have a tattoo of a raven on their shoulders.

Moving a short distance away, the group decides to make camp for the night.

Session 3 - Session Notes

After two combat-heavy sessions, this session was a nice chance to do more role-playing (and less arguing).  There were also less people this time around - two players couldn't make it, and a third drop-in player that I had scheduled also canceled.  Actually, it was rather nice.  I'd prefer to only run with 5 players if I could get away with it.

Sgt. Gerdrand and Grundelmar are straight from the DM's Guide, of course.  I wanted to present an opportunity for the PCs to starting interacting with the townfolk more.  As they perform more deeds, they should get more popular in town and make more contacts.

The Juniper Creek subplot, for those who don't recognize it, is heavily inspired by the HBO show, Big Love.  I had pre-prepared a series of happenings depending on which road they traveled on.  They chose the more interesting one, so that worked out nicely.  

I liked that storyline because it presented the PCs with a situation that makes them feel a bit uneasy, but has no clear resolution.  For the most part I like to keep a pretty black and white universe for D&D, but throwing a little bit of gray in once in a while keeps things fresh and allows for some more character development.

The bandit attack almost didn't fit in.  I just happened to roll a check for a random encounter to see if it happened before they made camp.  It did.

As for encounter planning, it seems I now plan 4 encounter configurations for each one.  Because I'm never quite sure what size the group will be that night, I plan out for 5, 6, 7, or 8 PCs so I can adjust the encounters a bit accordingly.

Session 4 - Cast of Characters

Zena - human warrior princess
Leigh - eladrin battle wizard
Al Truism - human controller wizard
Merend - dwarven devoted cleric
Shealynna & Dilis - eladrin beast master ranger and her fey lynx companion

And introducing...

"Shay" - genasi defensive swordmage
Rhogar - dragonborn protecting paladin

Session 4 - Scene 1 (of 3)

1 day ago...

Zena is hanging out in a local bar, relaxing with a nice drink as her back injury has finally recovered enough for her to get out of the house.  Across the room, she spots her friend Rhogar, a local dragonborn paladin.  She stops over to say hello, and the two discuss the possibility of heading out on an adventure to meet up with the rest of her group and fighting bandits.  

Rhogar, who is also friends with several members of the group (particularly Merend, as Rhogar is a paladin of Bahamut), agrees to join her on the trip.  As they discuss their plans to leave, another of Rhogar's old friends approaches – a genasi swordmage who Rhogar calls "Shay".  Rhogar introduces Zena and Shay to each other, and they all agree that three people on a trip are better than two.

As they are leaving, a patron at the bar beckons Zena over for a private conversation.  The man confirms that her group is the one searching for the man in the purple cloak, then reveals that there was another man who was asking about a man with a purple cloak about a week ago.  When Zena asks who the other person inquiring about the mysterious man was, the man tells her it was Pace, the ne'er-do-well rogue whose body they found in the sewers.  The man advises Zena to be careful, suggesting his opinion that the man in the purple cloak may have been responsible for Pace's death.

Wasting no time, the three compatriots head out of town almost immediately after the conversation with the bar patron.  However, Zena quickly realizes that she does not know which way the group headed, because Krolec never made a decision about that before the group left town.  After consulting some maps, the three decide that it makes the most sense to take the Trade Road north, then cut down to Raven's Roost so they can deal with the bandits first (as Krolec surely would have decided to do).

Their trip through the hilly region of the Trade Road is largely uneventful, except for one lone traveler passing them by during the day (whom they elect not to stop and talk to).  After a long day of travel, they make camp in the shadows of the Thunderspire Mountains.  The night passes quietly.

Session 4 - Scene 2 (of 3)

Present time...

As Krolec and his group make camp for the night, Krolec decides that it would be best for him to head out on his own and scout the area ahead for bandits and other dangers.  Krolec puts Merend in charge while he's gone, thinking Merend makes the best deputy leader due to his skills in critical analysis and because he would be unlikely to go off on any side missions with Krolec.  Shaelynna, who has expressed interest in being the group leader more than once, finds the decision curious but says nothing.

Merend organizes the watches for the night, putting himself on the last watch.  Ironically, all is quiet until his watch, when he is disturbed to hear some large rustling in the woods nearby.  He quickly wakes everyone, and as they ready themselves, a large, angry (and possibly rabid) cave bear emerges close by.

Shaelynna and Dilis attempt to hide in the foliage, waiting to ambush the bear if he passes by to attack Merend.  Unfortunately, the bear's keen senses are able to detect her.  The bear rushes over and severely mauls her.

Merend immediately begins using his abilities to heal her, as she and Dilis begin to encircle the bear and move in to counterattack.  Leigh and Al keep to the rear, firing their magic missiles.  Leigh proves to be a better shot.

Surrounded, the bear goes into a frenzy, attacking Shaelynna and her cat.  Only Dilis is hit this time, with a glancing blow from the bear's claws.  Shaelynna and Dilis attempt to strike back, but are unsuccessful.  Merend attempts to blast the bear with a lance of faith, but misses, while Al scores a light hit.

Leigh, however, gets a spectacularly good hit from the bear.  So good that the bear momentarily forgets about Shaelynna and Dilis and begins heading after her.  As he drops his guard to move away, Dilis strikes the bear with his claw.

Thinking quickly, Al decides to blast the bear with a ray of frost, slowing it down.  Shaelynna and Dilis use their fey step abilities to teleport back into flanking position, where they strike again.  The bear responds with another claw at Dilis, this time more seriously injuring him.  Merend takes the opportunity to heal the cat while Leigh lets loose another devastating magic missile attack.

Once again the bear moves forward, as Dilis and Merend fail to stop its advance.  Luckily for Leigh, it manages to miss her.  She steps back and unleashes another magic missile.  Al tries to gain a little distance as well before casting his.

As the bear moves forward and again tries for Leigh.  Merend begins blasting away with his lance of faith, assisted by Al's magic missiles.  Leigh finishes the bear off with yet another solid magic missile hit.

In the aftermath, Shaelynna works to skin the bear and cook up some food.  Merend considers having the group rest some more before heading out, but Shaelynna talks him out of it.  They head back out, and the rest of their trip is uneventful until they reach Harkenwold a day and a half later.

Session 4 - Scene 3 (of 3)

Back near Thunderspire...

Zena, Rhogar, and Shay begin their travels towards the Raven's Roost area.  Eventually, they come to the path off the main road that leads down through the hills towards Raven's Roost, and eventually to Harkenwold.  The remainder of the day is uneventful, and they decide to camp for the night about five miles outside of the ruins area.

That night, they discuss their plans for what to do next.  Shay comes to the sudden realization that they are all front line warriors, with little in the way of stealth or healing.  With Rhogar's size and heavy armor, sneaking into the area would be nearly impossible.  And they simply don't have enough people for a full frontal assault.

Eventually, the three compromise on a plan to get near the ruins, hit one of the outlying patrols, then head down to Harkenwold to rendezvous with the rest of the group before trying to take on the bandits.  

They eventually find a patrol of four men out near some small ruins in a field a mile or two away from the keep.  Shay tries to get them to sneak up as close as possible, using the partial ruins as cover, before they are spotted; but Rhogar and Zena make way too much noise.

The bandits turn their attention towards the three as Rhogar charges in and attacks with his longsword, striking valiantly.  Zena rushes in and makes a crushing blow against one of the bandits, leaving herself open to counterattacks.  Shay is more tactical, using her defensive ward to protect Zena from her opponent, and using a lightning lure to drag one of the other bandits into striking position for herself.

The bandits strike back.  The bandit on Rhogar is unable to penetrate his strong armor, while the one on Shay simply misses.  The warded bandit also attacks Shay, and misses.  The fourth bandit, however, maneuvers around to flank Zena, hitting her with a strong blow.

Rhogar strikes again, quickly bloodying his foe.  Zena scores another strong his on one of her bandit as well.  And with three of the bandits lined up in a phalanx, Shay uses her sword burst power to hit them all with a very powerful blast, killing off one of the bandits in the process.  She also switches her defensive ward to the bandit flanking Zena.

The flanking bandit decides to attack Zena anyway, managing to still hit her.  However, the defensive ward robs the blow of nearly all its strength.  The other bandits are unable to penetrate the defenses of the three warriors at all.

Zena gets her second wind, then strikes back at the bandits with another powerful strike.  Rhogar chops away as well, as Shay hits with another sword burst.  Another of the bandits falls.

A short distance away, two bandit archers pop out of the bushes and begin firing.  Shay is hit with a glancing blow from one of the arrows.  The three of them, however, continue to concentrate on the bandits attacking them in melee.

Rhogar chops down a third bandit.  The two archers decide to flee, quickly running out of the area.  The fourth bandit also attempts to flee, but Zena's fighting skills prevent him from getting away.  She maneuvers him into a flanking position with Rhogar while Shay moves in from the side.  The three of them quickly finish him off.

Knowing that the bandits in the area have been alerted by now, the three take haste to get out of the area and continue towards Harkenwold.  They are able to avoid any more problems for the next couple of days, and eventually find their way into the town, where they quickly meet up with the rest of the group.

Session 4 - Session Notes

Well that didn't take long.  Four sessions in and I'm already doing what I hoped to avoid - running split groups, lol.    Actually, I personally don't mind it so much as I worry about the players who aren't currently active getting bored.

This session had one special guest star - the guy playing Rhogar.  For those who kept up with my Rifts campaign, this was the guy who played the infamous Liftkor character.  He's been busy with his two jobs for a while, so he probably won't be a regular, but may be able to drop in from time to time.

The other new character, "Shay" was played by the same player who plays Shaelynna.  Normally, I am quite adamant about not letting players play more than one character (I dislike it for several reasons).  But, this was a special case - she plans on retiring Shaelynna and replacing her with Shay, and this made a good introduction point.  Also, it allowed the three of them to go on a parallel adventure to the other group, instead of me having to just say they catch up to them at some point.

As for the Shaelynna charcter, she'll be written out next session.  There were two primary motivations for this.  The first was that the beastmaster ranger didn't quite work how she originally envisioned.  The second is that the two primary defenders of the group - Zena and Quinn - are also the two players most likely to miss sessions.

As for the two missing regulars - Krolec and Quinn - well, no one has heard from the Quinn character in a few weeks (I may end up kicking him off of regular status; he doesn't have reliable internet access and so is impossible to get ahold of).  And the Krolec player remembered (at damn near the last possible minute) that he had a trip planned for that night.  *sigh*

Anyhow, the session turned out to be pretty fun.  Not as much story this time, of course, but the two combats were interesting.  I did manage to sneak in another hint about the purple-cloaked man, though.  Plus, I got everyone rounded up back into the same area for next time; always a good thing.  If it seems a little light in the write-up, it's because there was a fair amount of out-of-game things going on.

BTW - This was yet again an introduction of the new rules for a player - the Rhogar player hadn't tried 4e before.  Once again, the new player picked up the rules right away without issue, and had the same comments as everyone else did their first time - he loved how clean they were and how quick and easy they played.

While this thread isn't a 4e soapbox, I will just point out again that every single person who I've had play it for the first time was able to very quickly pick up on the rules and found them to be clear and concise.  Only four sessions in, and people who were still struggling with remembering the rules for Rifts have mastery over these rules.  Whether you agree with the artistic direction of 4e, I think there is little room to critique the quality of the structure of the rules.  They simply work excellently in play.

Session 5 - Cast of Characters

Al Truism - human controller wizard
Leigh - eladrin battle wizard
Merend - dwarven devoted cleric
Rhogar - dragonborn protecting paladin
Su-ika - genasi shielding swordmage
Zena - human warrior princess

Session 5 - Scene 1 (of 4)

The next morning, everyone gets together to decide what to do next.  They notice that Krolec had not yet returned from his scouting mission; which he should have been back from by now.  Merend, however, is unconcerned and assures everyone that Krolec can take care of himself and is no doubt in the middle of planning the assault on Raven's Roost.

Everyone takes a moment to get acquainted with the two adventurers travelling with Zena.  Rhogar is known to Merend (and the absent Quinn) through their shared worship of Bahamut, but Shay is more of a casual acquaintance.  Shay decides that it is too confusing to have her and Shaelynna using similar names, and so decides to go by her actual name, Su-ika, from now on (which she had previously dropped in favor of the nickname Shay, as humans seemed to have problems pronouncing Su-ika).

Shaelynna then announces to the others that she will be taking a leave of absence.  She has decided to stay with Rhonda and help her search for Rick, the young man who was previously exiled from Juniper Creek.  Shaelynna also thinks that she and Dilis should help train Rhonda to be able to take care of herself.  And since the group now has Rhogar and Su-ika to help out, she won't be as needed for the mission against the bandits.

After wishing her a fond farewell, the others return to business.  They decide to start by going to the local herb shop and procuring the jalep root herb that the merchant in Fallcrest needed.  However, when Leigh arrives at the store, she finds the owner is out to lunch for the next 15 minutes.

Merend decides to use the time to talk about their plans for getting at the bandits.  His first idea is to have Rhogar, Zena, and Su-ika pose as bandit recruits.  Su-ika quickly reminds him that the bandits have already seen the three of them and the archers that escaped their attack a couple of days ago would have certainly alerted the others.  Disappointed but undiscouraged, Merend's next idea is to split the group to use himself and the wizards as bait, while the warriors remain close by.  Rhogar reminds him that none of the three warriors are remotely skilled at stealth, but Merend doesn't think it should matter – as they are trying to draw the bandits to them anyways.

A short while later, the proprietor of the herb store (called Spices and Seasonings) arrives back and flips the store sign to "open".  Leigh and Al decide to go in.  Leigh briefly explains to the shopkeeper about needing to buy jalep root to replace the quantity burned in Fallcrest.  The herbalist expresses his regrets that the shipment to Fallcrest was the last of the herb he had.

He goes on to explain that jalep root is frequently harvested in the dangerous Witchlight Fens region.  The supply he gets is usually shipped back to him by a warden named Whittlesey.  However, Whittlesey has gone missing and is long overdue back from his latest expedition into that area.  The merchant explains that Whittlesey did send back one shipment before he lost contact.  It contains a crate with a small statue packed in some leaves and some notes about its providence from his diary.  Apparently, Whittlesey found the statue inside of a hut made of skulls and other bones.

The merchant brings out the small crate and asks Leigh about taking it back to Fallcrest.  She decides to go talk to Merend first.  Merend doesn't want to lug the crate to an attack on Raven's Roost, and decides that is where they should head next as the Witchlight Fens are far away in the other direction.  The herbs will have to wait.  

Merend is also a little suspicious of the merchant's trusting nature in his willingness to just hand over the crate to strangers.  Merend figures the statue could be trouble – perhaps whatever lived in the hut of skulls will come looking for it.  In any event, Leigh goes back in and explains to the shop keeper that they are unable to take the crate for now.

Session 5 - Scene 2 (of 4)

The group heads out for Raven's Roost immediately, taking advantage of the early hour and daylight still available.  Merend decides they will travel north along the path to Raven's Roost until the point at which the forest begins to spread away from the path.  After a couple of hours, they reach that point.

Merend doesn't want to travel into the relatively weak cover areas of the plains surrounding Raven's Roost.  So, he decides they will follow the forest line as it heads northwest, allowing them to later come at the keep from a different angle.

Merend's plan is for he, Al, and Leigh to walk out in the open of the fields while Zena, Su-ika, and Rhogar stay within the tree line.  Su-ika isn't quite sure why the three least stealthy people will be "hiding" in the woods, but Merend explains that it's too dangerous to have his group in the woods because the warriors wouldn't be able to see if anything happened to them.  After going over it a few times, it still doesn't quite make sense to everyone, but they follow Merend's plan anyways.

Feeling it is a lost cause, the three warriors in the trees decide not to bother with trying to move quietly.  They stay in the tree line, following a short distance behind Merend's group.  Hopefully, the distance and cover will be enough to keep them from being too obvious.

A couple of hours later, Rhogar is walking along when he feels something constrict around his foot.  Su-ika notices that Rhogar has apparently stepped into some kind of animal snare.  However, the snare appears to be too weak to hoist the hefty Rhogar, and everyone hears the loud snap of a tree as it splits.

Out in the fields, Merend and the others hear the tree cracking and see a flock of birds scattering from the forest behind them.  They instantly get on alert.  Merend scans the surrounding area, looking for anyone who may have been alerted.  He doesn't spot anyone.

After everyone is assured the snare trap was a false alarm and not related to bandit activity, they head back on.  A few more hours go by and it begins to get dark.  Merend decides they will need to make camp soon.

In the twilight, he, Al, and Leigh head into the woods and make their plans with the others.  After much confusion, everyone eventually understands Merend's plan – Su-ika and Rhogar will camp out in the open with a visible fire, while the others camp back in the woods secretly.  

Merend's hope is that no one will notice the switch, and will try and ambush the two camping in the open.  To that end, he organizes two alternating watches – one person in the open camp and two in the forest will be on watch at any given time.

Session 5 - Scene 3 (of 4)

As twilight falls, the first watch of Zena, Leigh, and Su-ika begins.  It doesn't take long before the peaceful night is disturbed.  As Zena watches out from the forest, she spots several spots of light in the sky beyond the camp in the fields.  The spots appear to be moving.  As they get a little closer, she realizes what she is spotting is a flight of flaming arrows.

The arrows hit the ground between the camp and the forest.  The dry grass immediately erupts into flames, covering a wide area.  Heavy smoke fills the air, and the group in the forest is immediately cut off from the camp.

Zena and Leigh wake Merend and Al while Su-ika gets up Rhogar.  A second set of arrows flies directly towards the camp.  Rhogar is stuck with one, but it does not penetrate his armor.  Su-ika, however, is less lucky and is hit with a very damaging arrow.

Rhogar and Su-ika spot the bandits a fair distance away.  There appear to be four archers off to the side, and four bandits with maces headed directly towards them.

Not wanting to waste any time, Merend decides to run straight through the fire.  However, he misjudges the size of the flames (around three feet tall and fifteen feet deep), and is severely burned in the process.

Zena decides the more tactical approach would be to simply run around the flames.  Al follows closely behind her, using her for cover.

Rhogar draws his weapon and immediately charges ahead.  Due to his slower speed, he stops short of actually being able to attack one of the bandits.  Su-ika decides to follow him.  She tries to hit the bandits with a lightning strike from her blade, but it misses both of her targets.

The bandits move in and begin to attempt to surround Rhogar and Su-ika.  Rhogar takes a severe hit to the head and is dazed while Su-ika avoids the attacks on her.

Back in the forest, Leigh uses her mage hand spell to pick up a section of dirt and dump it on the fire, creating a path through the flames.  She then walks through the opening harmlessly.

A short distance away, the archers decide that the flaming dwarf makes a good target and hit him with one of their arrows.  Near death, Merend decides to heal himself then move away, closer to Rhogar and Su-ilka (after putting out the flames on himself, of course).  

Zena charges in to attack the archers, but misses.  Al fires an acid arrow into the middle of the bandits.  The resulting splash kills one of them.  Not to be outdone by her fellow wizard, Leigh fires her own acid arrow and kills two more.  The remaining archer attempts to attack Zena with his short sword, but is unable to overcome her defenses.

Back in the fray of melee, Rhogar misses with his dazed attack against the bandits.  Su-ika uses her aegis of shielding magic to protect him from one of the bandits, and then follows up with two sword bursts that severely injure the bandits.  However, one of the bandits still manages to hit Rhogar with a solid hit, while Su-ika also receives the strong end of a heavy mace.

Merend spots the nearly dead Rhogar and decides to heal him.  Al figures Zena will finish off the remaining archer and moves towards the melee.  He blasts one of the bandits attacking Su-ika with a magic missile.

Leigh, however, decides not to chance it and fires her own magic missile at the remaining archer.  However, she misses.  As does Zena's sword attack against him.

The bandits on Su-ika and Rhogar get in another hit on each of them.  Merend, failing to notice how close to death Su-ika is, elects to blast one of the bandits with his lance of faith power instead of healing her.

In her rage, Su-ika kills two of the bandits with a sword burst.  Al attempts to blast a bandit again with a magic missile, but misses.  On the other side of the battlefield, Leigh finishes off the remaining archer, forcing Zena to charge across the field to attack one of the remaining bandits.

Merend notices there are only two bandits left alive now, and wants to save at least one for questioning.  He tries to grapple one, but fails.  And his attempts to get the bandits to surrender are subverted by magic missile attacks from the wizards.  Su-ika yells for Merend to heal her, but her tone puts him off and he decides to heal himself instead.

Zena charges in and splits the skull in half of one of the bandits.  With only one bandit left, Rhogar manages to knock him out rather than kill him.

Session 5 - Scene 4 (of 4)

While some of the members rest for a minute to regain their composure, others decide to loot the bodies.  They find a few salvageable weapons and seven more copper pieces.  They also notice the men all have the same raven tattoo; they are definitely part of the Raven's Roost gang.

Merend has the bandit tied up and they decide to move out at least a mile or two before stopping to interrogate him.  Merend tries questioning the bandit, but gets little out of him.  Rhogar uses his fearsome appearance to assist, and the bandit begins spilling his guts.

The bandit explains that his group was on patrol when they spotted Merend and the others.  He informs them that the rest of the bandits are back at the keep.  He thinks there are fifteen of them, but his math skills are suspect.  

Merend wonders about more patrols, but the bandit says his patrol won't be missed for another couple of hours.  And after that, they will likely hole up as this will be the second patrol in the area that has gone missing (and the third attacked).

Merend questions the man about supplies, and is dismayed to find that the keep easily has enough food and water to last several weeks.  He also discovers the keep is mostly stone, so smoking the bandits out won't work either.

The bandit goes on to describe their leader as a man named Kavrex.  He is said to have very pale skin and white/gray hair with strange black tattoos all over his body.

Finally, Merend gets a good idea of the layout of the keep.  The roof usually has a few archers as lookouts / guards.  The ground floor is one main hall with a storage room off to one side and a stairway on the other.  The second floor contains their leader's room, a barracks room, and a sealed off room that no one uses.  But the most interesting described feature to everyone is the chest full of gold that is said to be in the leader's room.

Merend decides to move the group within a couple miles of the keep, but around to the rear side.  There they make camp again.  And begin to plan for taking the bandits out for good.

Session 5 - Session Notes

The write up for this session was longer than I thought it would be - the actual session ended a little early due to a couple of the players having personal stuff come up.

As noted last time, the "Su-ika" player was also the "Shaelynna" player, so this session swapped out one character for the other.  The "Shay" nickname also went away now that she actually thought of a real name for the new character.

The guy playing Rhogar dropped in again.  Actually, it looks like he'll be making it regularly so I'm going to upgrade him to a regular.

Conversely, the guy playing Quinn is still MIA so he's losing his regular slot.  Frankly, I'm overjoyed.  The Rhogar player is a friend, and the Quinn player is a laconic moron who doesn't have email, making him a major pain in the ass (not only can I not easily communicate with him, but when he shows up he adds virtually nothing to the game).  I may yet get some political fallout for making that decision (the Krolec player usually drags him along to sessions so I may get a complaint about it).  Frankly, I'm ready to argue over it.

Let's see...other things of note...

The "merchant was out to lunch" at the beginning of the session was actually an in-joke.  We usually start the sessions at 7 but people usually show up late and/or talk until 7:30, so I usually grab something to eat and eat it at the beginning before we really start.  This time, everyone showed up early and wanted to start right away, so I needed an excuse to not have to RP the merchant until I could finish my burger.

Jalep root is an actual herb.  It's one of those uncommon herbs used in "witchcraft".  I picked it because I wanted something exotic sounding (it'd be kind of a let down if they travelled all this way for some oregano).

Whittlesey, the crate/statue, and the hut of skulls are all taken out of the Douglas Prestion & Lincoln Child books The Relic and Reliquarry.  I wanted to give the group another option for something to do plus add some more story and atmosphere into the game.  And since we've already established the sewers in Fallcrest this may be some foreshadowing...

The scene with Rhogar and the snare trap was meant for comic relief as well as add some tension to the situation.  It worked well on both counts.

The combat that broke out wasn't originally planned.  But, it became clear they aren't going to just storm the keep so I had to improvise.  I thought the situation with the flaming arrows made for an interesting combat.  Note that 3 PCs nearly died (Merend, Su-ika, and Rhogar).  Granted, the players are still god-awful when it comes to using teamwork and tactics.

Finally, a word on the flames - the Merend player was a little annoyed when he took so much damage from the flames because he didn't think I described them menecingly enough (though I did say they were 2-3 feet high and I drew them on the grid to be 15 feet deep).

Of course, I probably did give him a little more damage than the "by-the-book" damage (I gave him 2d6 per square).  But, frankly, my feeling was that if you are going to be a dumbass and walk straight through a fire (particularly one that would be up to your chest), you deserve some damage.

Anyone agree?  Disagree?  

Heck, does anyone even read this stuff I'm typing?  It's like cricket city out there.