Defenders Log Entry #5: The Bandit Strikes Back (The Disaster at Last)
Darellon, 1st level woodsman, 20 hp, played by Joel
Drew, 1st level ranger, 15 hp, played by Jack
Felix, 1st level fighter, 10 hp, played by Alex
Morgan, 1st level fighter, 7 hp, played by Alan
Celeste, 1st level cleric of Phaulkon, 6 hp, played by Sean
Quentin, 1st level druid, 6 hp, played by Jeremy
To begin, we made our little purchases and set off north once again, a fully banded mail party with the exception of Quentin.
In the afternoon of the second day, we spotted a trio of armed people. Darellon, wearing the badge, hailed them, but they didn't respond. Ignoring them, we continued.
Two nights out, we set up camp again. During the second watch, Darellon and Morgan were the only ones awake when a fight for our survival began.
Before we could react, four huge creatures bounded from the sides at the helpless party. Morgan was able to tell with infravision that the humanoids were about 9 feet tall and had a violet-bluish skin tint. (Yes, I know-- ogre magi? Oh dear...)
Darellon and Morgan yelled an alert and then stood back to back, each taking one of the (now to be called) ogres. As the others attempted to wake up, the two unengaged ones fell upon the defenseless risers. As Celeste tried to rise, she was clubbed down, and played dead for a moment. Drew was smashed repeatedly and beaten the ground moments before he could stand.
Finally Quentin rose, and was bludgeoned out of consciousness.
The ogre attacking Morgan was frustrated by his defenses and squirminess. Morgan dodged in and out of range, swiping the ogre and wounding him badly, opening a bleeding wound.
Darellon fared worse and took a sizable hit. In anger he swung back... and the falchion shattered, pieces smashing both of the combatants. Darellon pulled out his backup, only to take another hit. He growled away the pain and struck back, inflicting massive damage on the ogre. Finally, the ogre swung and connected solidly, opening a wound. Darellon swayed and finally sank down to the ground, bleeding.
It was a desperate moment. Felix had just arisen to be faced by an uninjured ogre. He saw no other option, and madly closed, slashing the monster with his magic short sword. He then ripped again before the beast could react and dropped the surprised ogre to the ground. He then ran straight at the other ogre.
Unfortunately, moments earlier, Celeste had bolted to get out of melee combat range, in order to provide spell cover. The ogre had dropped its club, and hurled a huge boulder. The boulder caught her square in the chest, tearing her body apart with force and leaving her ruined on the ground.
Enraged, Felix charged and wounded the ogre badly. The ogre retaliated by smacking him hard in the head, sending him reeling. Despite being disoriented, Felix swung again with amazing success, laying this second ogre flat.
Morgan finished off his ogre, who had failed even to touch the elusive elf, and stepped over the body of Darellon. He ripped open the final ogre, who was barely alive from Darellon's parting shot, and he dropped.
Felix ran to save Darellon, as Celeste was clearly dead, while Drew was at stable consciousness, and Morgan ran to Quentin. Quentin was saved, but unfortunately Felix was unable to patch up Darellon fully, and he bled to death.
The party recovered 250 gp, some gems, and no items of note off of the vicious attackers. Felix and Morgan each helped one of the others as they began the four day journey back.
On the third day, our old friends in the trio appeared, to rob the party. They lifted the 200 gold and most devastatingly the magic sword that had served us so well. On the third evening, a group of a dozen giant rats crept up to the campsite of the helpless group. Forewarned by Quentin's animals, the party was able to stumble a couple dozen feet away, but the rats kept following. So they hatched a plan.
Morgan shot at the rats, attracting their attack, while Felix lit the oil flask to cause a small fire wall that forced the rats around it. They split roughly in half and Morgan and Felix each faced off against six. Morgan was bitten once, but Felix was unhurt and together they slew the dozen. The final day was uneventful.
The party returned to town, and Quentin was healed in exchange for the Gaseous Form potion. In addition, Drew was able to recover in two weeks, which seemed unlikely considering the poor condition he had stumbled back in. Many thought he would suffer severely as a result of the cold rain on the rat night. Fortunately, there was no damage to Drew, and Quentin sustained a minor permanent weakness (loss of some strength).
The party is about to be joined by the two newest members. These two are cousins from Latt, both Nevronian, from the same tribe. I don't know the name of Sean's character (human (northener) woodsman, 18 hp, falchion specialist-- played by Sean), but joining him is the middle-aged Tyveris (human (northerner) cleric of Nevron, 10 hp, hammer user-- played by Joel).
So that was the near-end of the party. But we came out of it still partially intact. I'm glad about Darellon's heroic end, and sorry to see Celeste meet the fate that few Phaulkonian clerics can afford. But we did defeat a group of monsters that seemed totally fatal, and without the horrid losses we could have sustained. Though we lost the sword and the potion, we can count ourselves lucky.