D&D Log: Session 7

We return back to the Spoony campaign to recap last night’s very eventful adventure. Before I start I must note that Sean was unable to make it due to weather knocking his power out, and Paw was unable to make it as something came up. Alright, back we go.

So last adventure ended with us having killed the Dretch, and escorting Garret out of the tower. We were awaiting word from Sarmanath’s clerics when one night a town guard alerted us to trouble at the Wiggins Farm. We rushed out to find a high elf and his elven squire under attack from orcs (and goblins) and us being the heroes we are, we rushed in to save them. I was NPCing Sean at the time, and I was very cautious about sending Darstine into battle because I didn’t want to get Darstine killed I decided to play it safe for a while until we started to finish off the orcs. Then I had her attack the spell caster, but dude had some kind of mechanism that when you attacked, he got to roll some massive interrupt. Hit Darstine for 21 damage, and the chick only had 27 to begin with. She came damn close to being killed twice, but thankfully with Andraste and Garrett nearby we ended up fine. The battle ended, and we managed to protect and save both the high elf and his elven squire.

We learned that the high elf was a diplomat from the Amber Woods speaking on behalf of the Witch Queen who was giving her response to King Donovan’s suggestion of allying the nations of man together. Had we not intervened who knows what would have befallen the message? Anyway, we offered to act as escorts to the high elf and his vassal, but Grae and Vane were opposed to the idea, mainly because the high elf was such a snooty douche. Vane was obvious because well, he’s Angry Joe, and Angry Joe wants to murder all, but apparently Grae hates all elves which is something I didn’t know about, and is very important later on.

So on our way to Sarmanath we passed the Clerics we sent for. Led by High Cleric Emmitt (no, not Emmitt Smith, Joe) they came to answer our request, so we directed them where to go, and continued to Sarmanath. Just to note, because their players were not there, we left Darstine and Andraste behind in Ahestas to do what they will (likely assist the clerics). Anyway, we arrived in Sarmanath to a royal precession given in honor of our high elf friend. Grae, so disgusted with the high elf diplomat, decided to decline going to the castle, and instead went to the nearby tavern. The rest of us (Vane, Juliet, Garret, and Viktor) went with the high elf to see King Donovan. Inside the castle we were told to give up our weapons, but I kept my totem, and Vane kept his staff posing them as useless objects. Inside the King greeted us with as warm of a welcome as he could, and told us that he would reward us with gold and titles for safely escorting the diplomat. The diplomat then presented Donovan with the scroll containing the Witch Queen’s answer. Donovan opened it, and to our surprise, we had just fallen into the villainess’ trap.

In a flash King Donovan became entrapped in solid amber, and three portals opened up. From two appeared two feral fey hyenas, and from the last appeared a young dragon made entirely of amber. With a cackle appeared the Witch Queen’s form as she laughed at Donovan’s form completely encased in amber. She told him that she would never ally herself with a fool who still bent his knee to a god, and that the only reward a kingdom like this deserved was complete and utter destruction. Alright, recap.

The only players here are Juliet, Vane, Viktor, and Garret. Only Vane and Juliet are equipped. There are six guards in the hallways that may or may not be initially hostile towards us. Beyond that there are two fey hyenas, an amber dragon, the high elf, the elven squire, and the Witch Queen’s avatar. We are royally fucked.

It’s rather surprising how quickly things fall to shit the moment your number advantages disappear, but luckily the guards were on our side. Their first turn they managed to attack the Witch Queen’s avatar which disappeared with her signature cackle. The guards were actually extremely useful, and helped eliminate most of the foes while some of us got stuck with some rather shitty rolls. When things started getting rough, the high elf and the elven squire used some magic bracelet that recalled them presumably back to the Amber Forest, and before long our only remaining foe was the dragon. Yeah, only remaining for, as if it were an easy fight. Although in truth it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. The dragon rolled rather poorly, so while it did manage to KO Garret, Juliet managed to heal him rather effortlessly while the dragon tangled with the guards and Viktor who was rolling on fire during the later rounds. Finally it came down for the final attack, and Lord Vane had been desperately been itching for a good kill. After Skitch botched a Vicious Mockery attack, Lord Commander Vane was up and he attacked and hit. His thunder surged into the dragon, tearing the beast apart and shattering it. At that moment the guards from outside came in to assess the situation. They saw their king trapped in crystal, perhaps dead. They saw the bodies of several dead guards on the floor, and they saw us, weapons raised. They immediately ordered us to drop our weapons.

Garret, Juliet, and Viktor quickly complied. Lord Vane said no. See, for Lord Vane he had just gotten his first big epic kill, and was on a high. In addition he was not friendly to the notion of surrendering and appearing to surrender when we were the heroes. His moment of defiance cost him far more than he expected. He was surrounded by four guards who attacked, and in an effortless string of attacks tore Lord Vane apart. You are not reading that wrong. Lord Vane was killed.

RIP Lord Commander Vane.

The rest of us were arrested, but before I get to that allow me to switch over to Grae for a brief moment. The man is drinking in a tavern when word spreads of the Witch Queen’s betrayal. The news is causing panic in the streets, and a growing anger in the citizens over the death of their king. Now I remind you, Grae apparently hates the elves, and when the news spreads, Grae, a tad drunk, grows irate. He suggests that the elves should be killed—that any elves in Sarmanath have their ears clipped, and any half-elves be under suspicion. He declares they should march on the elves that night, and even has two half-elves sitting in the tavern arrested and put in stockades. Essentially the dude just turned Sarmanath into a WW2 America where we round up the elves into camps. Wow, there is likely going to be a very serious confrontation about this later. If we live to have it though.

Back to our remaining heroes (Viktor, Juliet, and Garret), they were stripped to their underwear and thrown into tiny coffin-like cells to await the judgment regarding our involvement in the king’s demise. We were teased by the lock keeper who was a rather twisted individual who seemed quite eager to torture us, and unfortunately Garret was first up. Without weapons we couldn’t escape, and thinks seemed rather hopeless. Garret was interrogated be Elana, the daughter of King Donovan who seemed confused as to our allegiance, but was now doubting us being allied with the elves. Unfortunately, Talbot the cousin of King Donovan, did not think the same. He ordered Garrett tortured before leaving, and we could only assume tiny would tell before Juliet and Viktor were next. Then suddenly, a terrible scream and roar echoes throughout the chambers with the roar being so intense that it shook the very foundations of the castle. The next moment we hear the lock guard begging for his life before he was violently murdered. Suddenly the doors are ripped off our cells and we see Garrett standing before us with hollow eyes and a savage intensity. Freed from our cells we watched as Garret, in a booming voice, told us that our escape was “through the tombs”. Then he passed out. Woke a moment later without any idea what happened. With that the three of us are free, but we have no idea what’s going to happen. We’re prisoners who are considered to be king killers who have no idea how to escape the castle, and if we even can escape. Once again let’s recap everyone situations.

Juliet, Garret, & Viktor – Half-naked prisoners without any equipment who are under suspicion of killing the king with Garret in particular being possessed by some godly power warning us to escape through the tombs.
Grae – Helping spur on a very violent racial bias against the elves. He’s essentially trying to beat and murder everyone of elven descent, and is even suggesting marching to war against the elves that night.
Vane – Dead.
Andraste & Darstine – Back in Ahestas sipping on beer and playing fucking darts.

I have to say we did a fantastic job of splitting the party which is going to make next session even more interesting.