Shintzella Dies is Enslaved at the End
This session was played on Wednesday, July 16, 2014 from 8pm to 10:30pm.
The seventh expedition included:
Gareth Aleyard the Halfling (Rob)
Shiv McCutty the Halfling (Greg)
Shintzella the Amazon (Andy)
Jandor the Elf (Dan B)
And the merry band of hirelings:
Raik the man-at-arms
Algard the man-at-arms
Grubb the toch-bearer
Medium Raric the man-at-arms
Fraktus the Forgotten man-at-arms
Mr. Sinister the war-dog
The foolhardy brave adventurers began in Bogtown, their base of operations. Having obtained the Ancient Scroll of Bow Mastery they visited Valeron the finest bowyer and fletcher around. Despite Valeron's overt disdain for non-elves, he did speak with Jandor. Not only did Valeron speak Ancient Thracian but he deciphered that the scroll provided the instructions to create a composite longbow, an ancient art now known only to the oldest and wisest of the elves. After haggling, Valeron offered to construct a bow for the party if they covered costs and he kept the scroll. The party agreed to come see him after they -robbed gravesites- acquired the necessary monies.
Forgoing other opportunities, the Damn Dirty Apes set out for the ruins of the Lost City. They immediately reviewed their map based on encounters with ferocious lizardmen, turtleneck barbarians, and giant vermin. They decided to head towards the area where they encountered the barbarians.
The area of the Lost City contains many ruined white stone buildings. Many have crumbled walls, others have no roofs, and others seem strangely intact. The same can be said for the many statues that rise out of the long grass, weeds, and vines that have overtaken the ruin.
On their guard, the party approached two statues of stately male warriors. Having passed many statues previously, they proceeded cautiously but confidently.
Until the grinding of stone on stone could be heard! The statue-warriors animated and attacked the party!
A battle ensued. They noticed that their weapons seemed to bite and (strangely) stick into the stone. The Raik the man-at-arms took two hits from the Barrow Guardians and was slain. Nonetheless, their combined flanking attacks produced the desired result and the statues, having taken several hits, crumbled into piles of stone.
After the combat the group pressed on with their exploration of the ruins. While searching a small intact building, their men-at-arms (wisely posted at the front archway) noticed a group of humans approaching their position. The PCs moved into the structure and hid, hoping to avoid combat. They noticed a group of turtleneck barbarians along with a leader dressed in platemail and a cleric in black robes. They stood outside the structure and seemed to discuss their options before moving past the party and heading west. They never noticed the PCs.
The next structure they investigated, thanks to a timely spell of Read languages by [[[Jandor[]], revealed a shrine to the deity Apollo. A dais in the form of a sun appeared to serve as an altar to the god. The inscription revealed that the god may provide his blessing upon those who leave a "valuable sacrifice."
They made several weak attempts and offered several religious benedictions but these were unsuccessful.
The group continued their exploration through several ruined buildings before being surprised by a large group of lizardmen.
The lizardmen threw several spears that killed Grubb the torch-bearer and wounded several others.
The PCs immediately retreated to the nearest structure. They watched as poor Grubb bled-out in the no-man's land between the two buildings.
Shintzella, in paladin-like fashion, was determined to save Grubb and ran out into the open to save him. Making a guttural-lizard battle-cry, the lizardmen charged to make the easy kill.
Lacking any discernible battle tactic, several party members advanced, while the smart ones stayed behind and engaged in ranged attacks.
The blood-thirsty lizardmen moved fast and hard, the confusion amongst the PCs was their downfall, and they all fled leaving Grubb and Shintzella to death or enslavement at the hands of the reptile-men.
Ya, that's how we roll.
Grubb the Torch-Bearer (enslaved)
Shintzella the Fighter (enslaved)
Raik the Man-at-Arms (slain)
