Run Date: November 29th, 2022
PCs
Renaran: Lv1 Magic User
Peril: Lv1 Bard
Xena: Lv1 Barbarian
Remnants of Randomness
During the adventure last week, I rolled up some rough weather that set the pacing for that session: a blizzard. Said blizzard roll(s) lead into this week, putting a damper on the PCs desire to venture too far from town. As a result, everyone brought new Lv1s and decided to try hitting up the Anthill hook in Weebury.
With the blizzard still raging, the party decided to do a bit of shopping in preparation for the excursion (except for firewood... one day they'll learn). Their movement was slowed to a crawl, however, and the party arrived just before nightfall. Weebury's buildings were disassembled save for several walls and rock foundations, and the party wasn't interested in diving into the giant anthill and potentially being forced to trek back in the night. To this end, the group set themselves up as best they could in the corner of an old house. They set up a miniature camp and used their tents and tarps to house and protect a fire, as well as avoid the precipitation. The person on watch had the duty of tending to the fire. Oh but wait... No firewood.
There are times a GM takes joy in being a bit catty, and I indeed indulged a bit. The party fell into problem-solving and figured that the run down buildings would be a fine enough replacement. Second obstacle? Tools. This party didn't have any chopping implements (read: axes) so the barbarian decided to repurpose her greatsword. To their credit, the group managed to gather enough chips and chunks to burn for around 10 hours. It may not have provided much heat, but they were glad for it. Even better, despite the noise, the ants had no interest in leaving their warm abode.
With the cold night over, the party started planning their attack. They wanted to draw out some of the ants, line them up, and knock them down. After using that first wave as a test, they'd venture in. The question arose: How to draw them out? The group had some leftover burnables and formulated a plan around it.
The anthill was centered within Weebury's inn. Though the second floor and ceiling had been destroyed, the main floor, walls, and a couple tables were still intact. The party decided to try and build a bonfire. They gathered what they could, took a couple pints of oil, and tucked everything into a protected corner. Then they lit the spark and... POP. The fire burned hot and fast, but didn't spread. The blizzard had soaked the wooden walls, preventing a proper wildfire. With that, Xena took out some of her frustration on the anthill.
As Xena was chopping away, she discovered that the ants had reinforced their hill with chunks of wood and stone, explaining the deconstruction of the nearby buildings. Her chopping also managed to draw the attention of the guards at the entrance. Four giant ants came marching through the hole at the top and descended upon the barbarian, laying into her with mandible and burning saliva. Xena's rage shrugged off the pain and the battle commenced.
With Xena slowly getting surrounded, Peril intervened with a sling. A solid strike drew the attention of one of the ants and it charged her. I was on a roll with Nat 19s today, and Peril dropped instantly. Renaran then tried to distract Peril's attacker before it had the chance to begin chowing down. The fall back commenced: Xena fought her way out of the near-surround and followed Renaran out of the inn's old doorway. As the ants marched through to give chase, however, Renaran unleashed a Thunderous Invocation, matching their HP and sending the soldiers backwards to their deaths. The force also struck the anthill, leaving a significant dent and further reinforcing the fact that it had been... reinforced.
With the ants out of the way, Renaran checked Peril's body: alive, but coughing up blood. The party then mounted a full on retreat through the snow, leaving their camp and everything in it behind. It was late evening when the party returned to Riversmeet, and after dropping Peril off at the Oldtown church for mending, they split up. Xena went to drink and Renaran decided to spent some of his ill-gotten gains (he "recovered" some of Peril's cash).
The first part of the session ended rather quickly so we filled the rest with a simple progression of time/downtime.
Peril
Peril was left in the care of the Oldtown church, and decided to spend her time recovering offering what she could to others. Being a bard, she had experience with singing and storytelling, though she had issues with the former due to her injury. One night, a few days into her recovery, a man with a stab wound entered the church. Peril found out that he was stabbed by pirates, and convinced the guy to spill his (figurative) guts. Turns out Brent, our stabee, worked with a group of river pirates that smuggled all sorts of goodies from Amstral. He was branded a traitor and thief, but managed to escape the den and survive the trek to Riversmeet. Brent offered to tell her about the details if she'd exact revenge. Peril, true to her namesake, took the offer and began memorizing the details.
*This was a good opportunity to throw some work to my player. I told Peril that since Brent knew the place, she could make the map, traps, etc for the lair and we would use that for the future.
Renaran & Xena
Renaran had big plans but little commitment to execution. After pocketing Peril's cash, he hit up a local informant to see if any hot gigs or opportunities were taking place. The informant told Renaran about a party being held, and that many of Riversmeet's well-off would be attending. Renaran took this less as a "Rich folks not home" and more as a "Time to crash the party."
His chaotic plan shifted in so many ways that I barely remember everything, suffice it to say he only came away with a pittance and a lesson. Renaran tried to rope Xena in as a distraction while he considered disguising himself as one of the nobility. Xena's distraction did wonders, though it resulted in her drunken ass being dragged into an alley and kicked a few times. Renaran, however, didn't take advantage of the ruckus and instead went off to the roadhouse the carriage drivers were hanging out in. He tossed up a mime as an illusion and scouted the place a bit. After deciding not to risk breaking into any of the carriages or the cabin/barn the drivers were drinking and playing cards in, he returned to find his mime gone and a few pennies at its feet. One day he may learn that rewards require risk.
Rewards
1 XP
Note
I think this was our lowest session reward, especially with everyone surviving. The players continue to play a game of touch and go, as their cautiousness seems to be tempered by terrible luck. It's somewhat funny, thinking on all the events thus far. For every point of heroism or monster that outclasses the group yet falls, there is a point where a few wrong steps lead straight into a brick wall.
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