Session 11: Hunting the Hunters Report

General Summary

The seventh session, taking place on the 9th of December in 2023, involved the characters of Sensu (BloodMarry), Ausie (Primolasp), Cord (Mr Bibbles), Xelfy Zippletopple (Yeti) and Red (Erasmas). The session lasted from 19:30 British Time, following technical difficulties, to 22:54 British Time.
Once more, the session began at the inn, where the party for the first time paid for full breakfasts rather than consuming the entire free sandwich market, getting a somewhat filling serving of Beef (probably Beef, may be better not to consider the price tag for it) and a side of potatoes. After having their breakfast, the party set out to the Guild at the crack of dawn to begin the assault on the bandit camp.
Upon arriving, the party were met with the Guildmaster and a small army consisting of Mork, Daiven, Kad, Ausie, Sgyl and a distinctive amount of armoured mercenaries. After explaining the newly discovered information of the now known to be multiple bandit camps, the Guildmaster directed the party to Sgyl, who would be serving as direct leader for the operation, and who had served as Guild Swordsmaster and trainer back in Earsh before it was overrun. After a short discussion, the team set out from Winkwarwick, intent on getting the job done swiftly in what was hopefully not foreshadowing. Unfortunately, the operative word here is foreshadowing, not hindsight.
After a short journey to the north of Winkwarwick, the team went off-road into the forest to find the camps. Having travelled into the woods, the team split up in preparation for the assulat before charging in. Utilising the element of surprise, the Guild's forces and the party managed to breach and then route the defences of the bandit camps, succesfully capturing or killing most of the bandits but, amidst the ones that escaped, one of the ringleaders fled, who Sgyl directed the party to pursue.
After following the ringleader for a while, the party eventually caught up to them by a cave entrance, their quarry fleeing inside the cavernous tunnels. Motivated both by the paycheck and an instinctual sense that the cave is a plot device, the party followed the ringleader into the cave, utilising their darkvision to navigate the winding tunnels.
Eventually, having found themselves in a more refined, man-made section of the tunnels, the party entered into a massive underground cavern, a marsh-filled city ruins illuminated by a broken magical illusion at the top of the cave, various large fungal growths infesting the area. Although weirded out, the party continued through a broken section of wall to enter the city, noticing various people moving in the distance, and approached some of the nearer ones. Fortunately, the party encountered Cord who explained for the party to keep their distance from their fellow victims to avoid being infected by spores.
After a short conversation, a small scouting party of Dwarves arrived in the city, led by Kwarm, who took an interest in the party's prescence and, after ensuring the party were not infected, explained that he is responsible for groups of dwarves sent by a nearby underground settlement to contain the Red Pox, the parasitic fungus afflicting Cord and the Poxwalkers, and prevent it from escaping to the outside world. Immediately nullifying centuries of work, the party brought the disguised Cord along with them to the Dwarven outpost, Fort Greybeard, where Kwarm explained more about the history of the Dwarven Empires and that there is work available if the party was willing to earn funds. Content with their mission being..."completed" and agreeing to remain quiet about the entire civilisation underground, the party were escorted back to the surface, with their Red Poxwalker associate in tow. This will not go terribly wrong at all.
Before returning to the city, however, the party elected to camp out for the night, and to avoid bringing Cord back if the party will turn into fungus zombies over night.

Campaign

World of Maqbara Campaign

Protagonists

Xelfy Zippletopple

Neutral Good Forest Gnome (Hermit)
Sorcerer 7

51 / 51 HP

STR
8

DEX
14

CON
16

INT
14

WIS
8

CHA
16

Eshemi Sahar

Oliver Felixis

Red

David Friedrich

None Variant Human (Exiled Solider)
Paladin 3

28 / 28 HP

STR
16

DEX
10

CON
14

INT
8

WIS
8

CHA
16

Sensu

Chaotic Evil Variant Tiefling (Charlatan)
Bard 9

66 / 66 HP

STR
8

DEX
14

CON
14

INT
14

WIS
9

CHA
20

Report Date

09 Dec 2023