Realms of Sar: Recap

[b][u][size=18]Session 2[/size][/u][/b]

[b][u]Characters:[/u]
Gundahar
Mitch
Dalik
Vanion
Kelen
Reg (NPC)[/b]

Morning came very abruptly for the characters asleep in the Sleeping Giant Inn, that is to say, all of them except Valentian, who slept quite soundly, soundly enough that the group actually managed to forget about him completely. Based on the events that transpired that dawn, it's understandable.

Gundahar and Vanion woke to the sound of some ruckus outside. Mitch also heard it, but was groggy and woke up very slowly. Vanion shook Dalik awake, and Gundahar and Vanion both peeked their doors open and looked into the hallway. There, four thieves were breaking into a room on the other side of the hall. One of the thieves saw Gund, however, and quickly moved to fling his door open and stab him, only to be shot in the back by Vanion's crossbow afterwards. A melee quickly ensued with the aid of Dalik, Mitch, and Kelen. Kelen later introduced himself as a traveler and cleric of Fharlanghn, who provided healing to a grateful Gundahar.

Afterwards the party learned that Reg had been sleeping in the room broken into, and that Reg had no more idea what was going on than they did. They also realized that a huge battle had begun outside in the town of Dendrick proper. Apparently an army of goblins had broken down the walls around dawn and stormed the town, taking most of the human defenders by surprise.

Reg led the party (plus Kelen and minus Valentian, who was somehow still asleep) out of the inn and to the southern part of the town, navigating back alleys to reach the southern gate. Along the way they met two human guards with halberds, who were convinced by Mitch to join the group in helping them escape. At the gate, they found a dozen goblins waiting to prevent their escape, along with a scout party of six goblins that returned later to assist their comrades.

A fierce battle broke out. Gundahar accounted for many goblins with his battle rage and his war maul, but was almost killed by goblins later in the fight. Vanion took potshots at the goblins and managed to hit their leader with a powerful shot, nearly dropping him in one hit. Kelen fought alternatively with his crossbow and quarterstaff, and Dalik crushed several goblins' skulls with his large mace. Reg fought with longbow and dual-wielded swords, Mitch with a crossbow and rapier which he actually managed to kill a goblin with.

At the conclusion of this battle 15 goblins lay dead or dying, with 3 having fled the battle. Most of the group had wounds with only Mitch remaining unscathed. One of the human soldiers had been hit hard and was saved from bleeding to death by Mitch.

[i]This is where the third session will pick up.[/i]

[b][u][size=18]Sessions 3 and 4[/size][/u][/b]

[b][u]Characters:[/u]
Gundahar
Mitch
Dalik
Vanion
Kelen
Niall (Now a "Part-time NPC")
Reg (NPC)[/b]

The first day of travel along the southern road to Adlerhall was mostly uneventful. At dusk, Gundahar went hunting, trailed by Mitch, and killed a deer and a wild boar (after a combat in which the boar was soundly defeated). The group ate well that night, and then retired, with several members keeping watch at various times. The campsite remained safe, though.

The next day around midafternoon, a storm rolled into the area. Near a bridge crossing a wide stream, they met an elf scouring the area for tracks. He gave his name, Niall, and explained that he was hunting a group of bandits who had raided the elven village that he lived in. Gundahar was willing to go at the promise of a glorious battle, and after the mention of treasures stolen from the elves, the rest of the group decided it would be a good idea. They followed Niall into the forest to the east, following the bandits' tracks, and Niall decided to split the group up. Gundahar and Kelen went ahead with him, looking to encircle the bandit group, when they realized the bandits were probably in a small house they had discovered. Niall found a back door, but as he was still rooting around the building for any other possible entryways, Gundahar and Kelen decided to rush the front door. They were fired upon by two bandit crossbowmen hiding behind carefully concealed arrow slits, but both shots missed. Gundahar proceeded to bellow "COWARDS!" as the guards awakened the other bandits, alerting the rest of the PCs some distance away.

His plan somewhat ruined by Gundahar's charge, Niall proceeded to enter the back door, where four sleeping bandits were waking up. He attempted to perform an acrobatic move by jumping onto one of the beds and knocking a bandit over with it, before hitting another bandit with his handaxe. However, he tripped, and fell to the ground, missing the bandit entirely. The bandits quickly capitalized on this mistake, and began to attack the prone Niall, while one left the room.

Meanwhile, Gundahar was delayed by one of the bandit crossbowmen who had switched to his sword (the other one fled to a back room immediately). This crossbowman evaded his attack, but proceeded to flee as well. Gundahar followed them, and it turned out they had run down some stairs, along with the other bandit that had left the room Niall was in. Gundahar charged in to help Niall, followed by Kelen. However, before they could eliminate the bandits, Niall was knocked unconscious.

Around this time, the rest of the PCs arrived, and began to enter the house. Vanion helped Gundahar and Kelen take out the remaining bandits in Niall's room, and Mitch tried to heal Niall, and eventually succeeded with Kelen's help. After this, the group mostly assembled in front of the staircase leading to the basement. Vanion crept down to listen at the door there, but wasn't too quiet himself and the people inside heard him. He then deployed some caltrops in front of the door and crept back up.

Eventually, Gundahar's penchant for battle overcame discretion, and he decided to bash the door down. He was greeted by a crossbow bolt, but it missed him. Mitch, who was right behind Gundahar, decided to wait until he could get a clear shot to shoot at the crossbowman, but Gundahar charged him, blocking the shot entirely. It turned out there were five bandits in the room- two with crossbows, one with a longsword standing by the door, one with a greatsword standing some distance away, and one more taking cover behind a table. Gundahar missed the enemy with his war maul on the charge.

Gundahar seemed to be invincible here as both crossbowmen, one switching to his sword, missed him (along with the bandit with the sword hiding by the door). Dalik also charged in, hitting one of the crossbowmen with his big mace and knocking him out. Meanwhile, the bandit swordsman moved up onto the stairs and hit Vanion with his sword, only to be killed by Kelen.

At this point, the bandit with the greatsword, the lieutenant and leader of this group, moved up to attack Dalik, giving him a tremendous slash that would have knocked almost anybody out. Dalik managed to stay on his feet through some feat of amazing toughness, though. The other bandit revealed his own skills, sending a magic missile at Gundahar and hitting him while the other bandits were having no luck doing so.

The rest of the group made its way down the stairs. Mitch and Vanion fired crossbows at the mage, but his mage armor blocked both shots that would have otherwise hit him. Kelen misses the bandit lieutenant with his quarterstaff and Reg attacked the bandit that Gundahar had problems hitting. Gundahar himself switched targets to the lieutenant, but missed him as well. Dalik withdrew from combat and healed his wounds, revealing his capacity as a cleric to the rest of the group.

As for the bandits, the mage and other bandit couldn't hit anything, but the lieutenant inflicted a painful, if not deadly wound on Kelen. However, Gundahar managed to strike him with his war maul, putting him out of commission for good with a terrible blow. At this, the other bandits surrendered immediately, valuing their lives more than a very unlikely victory.

The PCs found a considerable amount of gold in loot, and Mitch took the mage's spellbook for his own use in learning to become an arcane caster, after saving the greatsworder's life (with unsuccessful heal checks that convinced Kelen to help him). Dalik also took the greatsworder's greatsword. The group then left after raiding the bandits' kitchen upstairs and receiving a few clues as to what the other bandits were up to. Niall also explained that another group of them was in Adlerhall, and one of their maps confirmed that they had a hideout there. Niall wanted to kill the bandits that had surrendered and the greatsworder that Mitch and Kelen had saved, but he wasn't really in any condition to make demands.

After about an hour, Gundahar realized that he wanted the greatsworder's armor, a chainmail shirt. He returned and got the armor from him, and gave him his old studded leather so he wouldn't be defenseless. Then he left, and the group continued on their way to Adlerhall.

[i]However, the group still knows little to nothing about the bandits' whereabouts or who their mysterious financier is... Nor do they know anything about the package they are supposed to deliver to a bartender in Adlerhall... and they never took all of the bandits' weapons, from the living or the dead.[/i]