On the upside, this meant that when the party retreated back to the nearby town to hire more meatshields and do some shopping the Thiefs player didn't miss much.
On the downside, it also meant that when the players encountered their first wandering monster the Thief nearly died and the player wasn't there to participate. Oh the angst (on the part of the other players. Not me. Mwahaha)
Session 8 - We need some more men!
Reeling from the loss of Ramiri, Tonf and Narmak - the 3 hirelings who died to poisonous spores - the party initially retreated back to the village to lick their wounds and plan what to do next. The rest of the hirelings decided to stay on, with the exception of young Landersluth (the 10 year old alcoholic torchbearer) who did a bunk in the night. Who knows if they'll ever see him again!The silver coins were shared, but none of the players mentioned the gems they had found to their minions. It turned out the gems were pretty valuable, 3,000gp valuable!
The money was sufficient to encourage the party back to the town to stock up on supplies, new equipment and more hirelings. Yannick (the Barbarian) hired on 2 additional torch-bearers, largely on the premise that they both had dogs with them - An Illyrian Bearhound called Grey Wind and a Santalan Deathsniffer called Mr Fluffypants. He also hired another man at arms.
They also reported in to Rufus and revealed to him their cunning plan to take another cart of supplies north disguised as guards and then counter-ambush the bandits when they attacked! Rufus agreed to the idea, and as luck would have it he had scheduled another wagon north for the following day!
Oh, the party also saw the local blacksmith (on Rufus' recommendation), who told them that the strange sword they had found (called the Profane Blade by Quill, the Sunspear of Sol) was very well made and worth quite a lot of coin!
Session 9 - If you go down to the woods today....
As agreed, the party disguised themselves as guards and escorted a cart and some mules north to the village. They were expecting bandits, but no bandits appeared. They were slightly vexed. However they did get to give the villagers a nice supplies! (Blame Quill for that gag..)The decision was made to return to the dungeon but, instead of venturing back inside they opted to find and follow the tracks made by the bandits. With Paige (the Thief) making some stonking tracking rolls they proceeded to follow the bandits trail for many miles through this hilly and forested countryside. On the first day the most interesting thing they found was a dead mule, butchered for its meat. On the second day.. well, I think at this point I'll insert the play report from Yannicks player.
Yannicks Woe
It all happened so fast.One moment we were travelling, hunting the human brigands two days west as they bolted... the next we were listening to the last breath rattle in Bomani's throat as Quill and Sol battle for Paige's life across a battleground of stab wounds and gaping cuts where a woman's rib age should be.
It seems my instincts had been right and the brigands fled from our discovery, taking the cart with them and probably the human's share of the supplies. They certainly hadn't bothered us as we trekked nervously up the road with the next weeks supply run... and so we sought to follow.
The nights were cool and the food was poor, but there seemed little to do but follow on after our prey, though they may have outnumbered us a tad.
Here we heard the humming and thought Aha! there was a chance to kill is few of them left behind on watch, eh? But when we got closer we saw the humming was made by insects, vile and not at all small.
Had they treasure, I asked myself, had they beaten and eaten a parcel of banditry that we could pick clean the pockets of, I thought. We had to know and so I asked Paige to get closer... I suggested stealthily, but once more the forest floor refused to cooperate.
They turned, vile and mean and we turned tail as one and sprinted for the rest of us. Saints hear me I swear I thought she was right beside me, but as I turned to face them with the band I saw her borne down by two of the creatures. Then my attention was taken as one of the creatures saw fit to try and take my face off, even as another stabbed at Bomani and bore him down. I swatted my attacker hard and dealt with his kinsman, while my warband and saw to the thing that sucked the life out of our leader. Quill rushed from body to body while I rallied the troops to clear first one, then the other of the vile things that remained.
Then it was over and all that was left was to fight for Paige's life. We took a day of it and it's clear she'd never recover from the wound without higher powers and we had almost resolved to bury our man and set Paige up as best a retirement as we could when Quill's thought rang out... The Bishop! Rufus talked of such a man and Quill swears that through him Sol could restore life to the dead or vigour to the wheezing.
All that remains is to get them back there and admit to the gems we hid from our men.
Let's get to it, eh?
*************
And that was the first player casualty of the game so far, and my first player kill in many many many years. It was a random wilderness encounter - 5 Giant Carnivorous Flies. The flies were initially unaware of them, and the party could have simply avoided them at that point, but curiosity dictated they take a closer look and Paige fluffed both a move silent and a hide in shadows roll to get closer. The flies saw lunch and a fight ensued.
The flies initiative fell right between the Barbarian and the Thief and two of the beasts took Paige from 2 hp to -5 in that first round. Another landed on Bomani (the Fighter) and with a critical hit took him straight down to -5. Quills player did the right thing (if slightly metagaming) and attempted to treat the wounds during the combat. Sadly Bomani needed to be healed to 1hp within a round or die and the best Quill could manage was 2hp when she needed 6. Oh for 2 levels or a healing potion!
Recognising she could do nothing Quill dashed to Paige. A much more fortunate roll on the Mortal Wounds table meant that Paige needed to be healed to 1hp within a day or die, this gave Quill the time to prepare a poultice of Comfrey and apply her Healing proficiency over the course of the next day. It was still touch and go of course, but Quills player rolled 3 on each of the d3 healing rolls and Paige was saved. She's pretty crippled though.
The party has decided to once again retreat and go in search of 'the Bishop'. The wilderness is scary and full of death. The dungeon looks a more attractive prospect... which is saying something.
Final Thoughts
Bomanis death and Paiges near death were unfortunate, but served to highlight how deadly combat can be in ACKS. The flies are 2HD monsters with a high move speed and good damage (1d8) so they presented a credible threat to a party of 10. Lucky rolls on my part meant I dished out 21 points of damage in the first round and then my luck evaporated and I didn't hit at all for the rest of the fight. I also forgot that the flies, behind 2HD, can cleave. Probably for the best!
Next session I anticipate using the Restore Life and Limb spell for the first time... could be fun!
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