Session 35 Report

General Summary

Haymin’s Heroes set off on their journey to escort Aedwine Humfrith to Luthua on June 4, 498 AV. Travel for the first couple days was relatively uneventful and their pace was aided by a Lively Step spell from Selia Roselyn Maxwell. The young noble struggled with fatigue, clearly unaccustomed to walking for such lengths in a day. But Haymin’s Heroes let him use a Magic Bedroll to sleep in overnight. As a result, Aedwine would awake well rested and fully refreshed each morning. This even seemed to somewhat ease the signs of withdrawal he had been exhibiting. On the morning of June 6, 498 AV, they heard a commotion coming from the small lakeside village of Greendell as they were passing by. Heated voices, cries, and threats turned the party’s attention and they took the path towards the village to observe the situation. What they found was a group of six bandits causing trouble. Four of them were endeavoring clumsily to make away with three pigs, threatening any villagers who opposed them, while two other bandits were groping a teenage village girl and trying to pull her away with them, despite her struggles. Haymin’s Heroes intervened. After an exchange of words and threats, weapons were drawn. The ensuing fight was over with quickly and the bandits killed. During the battle, an Entangle spell from Ladigo Farthon spooked the bandits’ horses and caused them to gallop away. With the bandits fallen, a red headed and freckle-faced girl came out and kicked a bandit corpse and insulted it, “Useless! Scum!” The girl was named Bria Carver. She was the daughter of the mayor, Holmen Carver. The mayor was also one of the first villagers to emerge from hiding. He thanked Haymin’s Heroes and offered them a warm meal and a clean barn to sleep in. Through conversation, the party learned that these bandits, the Jackals, have been harassing the small village, on and off, for about two years. In recent months, their raids have grown more frequent. Haymin’s Heroes offered to dispose of the bodies of the bandits while lunch was being prepared. It took them over an hour to take the corpses deep into the forest west and cover any track, as they did not want them to lead back to Greendell, for fear of any reprisal against the village. Titta Morco also offered to return to Greendell after their business in Luthia was concluded and take care of their bandit problem, once and for all. They ate lunch and purchased some necklaces with some wood carved pendants of animals from a local craftsman, Mirek Ogden. Ladigo and Mogi Delvin even commissioned some specific pendants from him which they would pick up on their return to Greendell. After lunch and some more conversation, the party set off. There was still plenty of daylight left in the day and they still had much travel ahead of them. When they camped that evening, they heard the sounds of galloping horses coming from the road. Auren Sylynn snuck towards the road to see, as did Titta. They saw six horses bearing nine riders speed north along the road. That night, they were extra vigilant during their watches, but nothing ever bothered them. The next day, however, they were ambushed on the road. Suddenly, the sound a spell being cast was heard from the woods to the west. A Glitterdust covered the majority of the party. Only Fisher was outside the effect. The sparkly mist blinded all except Ladigo, Auren, and Pyzar Zim. They saw the spellcaster suddenly appear out of thin air in the forest between some trees. From behind him, Auren could see several more men approaching. The battle seemed desperate, at first. The majority of the party was blind, and they were outnumbered, considering Aedwine was a non-combatant. Ladigo cast Entangle into the forest, deep enough to just catch the spellcaster at its edge. This slowed down many of his reinforcement. However, two of the men who worked their way out of the Entangle, as well as the spellcaster, were easily recognizable. They were the bounty hunters who had come to Heroes for Hire a few days ago. Auren rushed towards Azuma, the sorcerer, first. Pyzar then engaged Maltar, the warrior, who was armed with a scimitar that bubbled with acid over its blade. Mogi aided the cause by summoning earth elementals with his ring. And though Titta could not see, Fisher rushed to attack, facing off against a hired mercenary who was fighting alongside Lavro, the third bounty hunter of the group. Selia grabbed onto Aedwine who had been standing next to her before they were blinded and dragged him away from the sound of the battle. During the course of the fight, Azuma stepped out from the Entangle, but not before being wounded by Auren. The sorcerer then sent three Magic Missiles at Aedwine, knocking him unconscious. He cried out, “I got him!” Pyzar then stepped over towards the sorcerer and cut him down, and said, “I got him!” Ladigo acted quickly and rushed over to heal Aedwine, preventing him from dying and bringing him back to consciousness. Then Selia took Aedwine deeper into the woods and cast Alter Self to mirror his appearance. Maltar instructed Lavro to heal Azuma, and the rogue pulled out a vial and bent down to administer it. Between Auren, Pyzar, and one earth elemental, they took down Maltar. But Pyzar was heavily wounded by the bounty hunter whose skill with his scimitar was impressive. Then Pyzar finished off the fallen Azuma and Maltar before Lavro could finish feeding him the potion. The other earth elemental took down one of the mercenaries, and Fisher killed one of his own. With the battle turning against them, the three remaining Entangled mercenaries, surrendered. Lavro ran away. Pyzar chased him, and wounded him. Then as the blindness from the Glitterdust wore off, Mogi dropped Lavro with Magic Missile, and Pyzar ran the fallen rogue through with his greatsword. The three surviving mercenaries were gathered and stripped of their weapons. Titta questioned them, but they did not seem to know much. They admitted to being hired by the bounty hunters to help take down Aedwine Humfrith, whom they did not know by name, only description. They had been given descriptions of Haymin’s Heroes as well. They did not know what any of this was about, nor did they seem to care. They were offered 50 crowns each for their part in this battle. When asked, they told the party where to find the horses, and Auren went and gathered them. They just happened to be the horses that belonged to the bandits from the day before. Titta ultimately let the mercenaries go and they were given back their weapons. Haymin’s Heroes, though, kept everything they looted off the three fallen mercenaries and the three bounty hunters, as well as keeping the six horses. On Maltar, they found an interesting letter. If offered 2,000 crowns to find and kill Aedwine Humfrith and warned that he must not reappear in Luthia. At the bottom of the letter was an ink seal depicting a black mushroom.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists