Session 7 - Chapter 4 - The Long Road

Hello and Welcome!

The three Heroes made it back to Greenest and relayed all of the information to the Governor. He was excited to hear the information and found it strange that the Cult of the Dragon camp would disperse so suddenly but it was good to learn more about their plans, even if the full details of their nefarious plot are still unclear. 

He told them that Leosin had departed for Elturel earlier that morning and that he requested that they join him there as soon as possible. He had even arranged horses with the master Bard Jemnes Hedare.

It was a long road back and they were weary from all the battle so the Adventurers took a long rest in the Barracks after a nice meal (and levelled up to Level 4!) with the plan to have an early start in the morning.

The following morning there was some business to attend to. 

They located the local jewellers with the hopes of both earning some extra gold with the loot that was obtained from the Cave. The three decided that the ornate ring and pearl necklace should be returned to their owners (not all loot is the same and they felt it inappropriate to further exploit the poor people of Greenest and they asked the jeweller to return those items to their owners). The jeweller appraised the masterfully cut gemstones but they were not happy with the price he offered despite some persuasiveness from Chard that it would be very helpful to finance the long road of adventuring to rid the land of this threat but to no avail. So they decided to hold onto them as well as the dragon inlaid scabbards. Perhaps in a larger city it would be possible to get a better price.

Shopping continued. In the Adventurer's Outpost they bought a pair of 2 person tents. Dafne fancied a Poisoner's Kit (a little extra damage is always helpful) and with some successful persuasion she was able to get a deal together with an Herbalism Kit (a little extra healing is always also helpful). She figures the veil between life and death is always so thin that she feels she can have a go at mixing both deadly poisons and life saving salves.

They made their way to the Hedare Ranch and after a quick recap chat with Jemnes, they set off. He had asked the trio if he could accompany them as he has business in Berdusk and he would welcome some company to avoid the perils on the road. It was agreed and during the discussion they decided to take the main road which does go through Berdusk en route to Elturel instead of taking the direct route through the forest to Elturel instead. Its a few days longer on the road but it is expected to be safer since it is a well travelled route.

Tors was a little apprehensive about riding a horse (how often does one see a Dwarf mounted on a 16 hand mare after all?) But he put aside any concern for embarrassment and thanks to a good Animal Handling check, managed to mount his horse far more elegantly than both Dafnae and Chard had ever imagined. Dafnae of course looked elegant on hers, but Elves always tend to make everything look effortless (even if they struggle!). Chard of course with his military training he had proper command of his.

 The journey was easy going initially. Jemnes regaled the three with his stories and promises of creating an epic ballad of the exploits of Chard, Dafnae, & Torsion. And as an insatiable flirt he was quite generous with his praise for Dafnae but she was not overly impressed (she supposed once you met one Bard you met them all ..) but she did notice a unique pin on his lapel she had not noticed before. It was a Moon & Lyre and this was something which made her believe that there was more to this Master Bard than just being a typical cad.

As they travelled, they came across a retinue of soldiers marching down from Berdusk making their way to Greenest. The travelling party gave a quick chat to the commander and bid them good luck and gave them an update on what's been happening there and reassured them that the dragon which had assaulted the Keep had gone with the Cultists when they left. They waited patiently for the soldiers to march past (one must follow the rules of etiquette of course).

The band of four continued and the weather began to turn. Rain was approaching. They decided to stop off at the next suitable place to make camp as the rain drops began to fall. Not far up they noticed a track leading up to a farm house so they decided to check if they could stay in a barn or similar for the evening.

As they neared, they noticed that the farmstead appeared to have been abandoned a few years ago. 

Chard and Dafnae scouted around the property while Tors and Jemnes stayed with the horses and found nothing out of the ordinary - just that it was left to the elements. And both the elements and nature had started their part to batter and grow over the building. The outhouses would be suitable for the horses and after several knocks at the door, Dafnae was easily able to pick the lock and gain access to the main house.

A quick inspection found nothing of interest or out of the ordinary in the building so seems that the previous owners just cleared off.  They did see many barrels in the basement which appeared to contain a liquid that had the smell of apples but they decided not to try it to see if it was cider or something else.

The rain was coming down hard at this point and they led the horses to the outhouses and secured them and then now after being thoroughly wet, they all went into the house, list a fire in the fireplace, and placed their bedrolls on the floor. They agreed Jemnes would take the first watch giving Dafnae an opportunity to do her meditative rest and then she would take the rest of the night's watch.

All was clear until Jemnes spied some movement outside the window in the middle of the night.

Just as he was reaching to wake his companions, the door swung open (no key had been found to relock it after it had been picked and the door wasn't barricaded!) to reveal a humanoid shaped Vine Blight shamble into the room.

The battle began!

Dafnae reacting first, she tried to slam the door shut but the Monster was too strong for the opposed strength check so she instead took her Cunning Action to take to the back of the main room to try to attack from afar while the other three took the invader head on. 

But all was not as it seemed because as the first one slithered in, the Heroes realised that there were a total of 4 of these Plant Monstrosities making their way in. 

Chard, Tors, and Jemnes took stand and engaged the Blights head on. The battle was tough because they had managed to Ensnare the three melee attackers which caused them to be Grappled. Dafnae unfortunately dropped her first hand crossbow bolt and then heard loud thunder and nervous whinnying from the horses which concerned her given the current encounter.

While grappled and within the tight corners, Chard was able to cast Burning Hands with excellent precision to only hit 3 of the Blights. This did some significant damage, causing hisses from the attackers. And as they landed their blows, the black ichor was oozing out of the wounds the three were inflicting on the Blights. Similarly Tors was able to engulf them in his Sacred Flame which also caused good damage.

Regaining composure, Dafnae effortlessly picked the lock to the back door in order to check on the horses and thankfully their doors were secure so they seemed to only be nervous about the storm and they must have felt the concern from their riders (horses do share a special bond with their mount). 

So the battle continued, one Vine Blight falling, followed by another and then another. Each one falling into a mound of writhing vines and oozing black ichor. 

As the last one fell, the brave warriors saw four Needle Blights approaching. This time they were able to take two out quickly and bar the door which caused the other two to move around the house towards the open back door. Luckily Dafnae was able to dispatch these two with ease.

After these new foes were dispatched, the night grew quiet with one final loud thunder clap. 

Dafnae, Chard, Tors, and Jemnes then discussed this attack. Seemed it was the vines that started to cover the farmstead were in fact these Blights - indistinguishable from normal vines. They tended to their small wounds and to help lighten the mood before they bedded down to rest again, Jemnes did a little bit of his Ballad about the three which undoubtedly would include a verse or two about this Blighted Farmstead.

So they went back to sleep and then Chard amusingly through to himself "what did they say about the road less travelled?". 

They will resume their journey to Berdusk in the morning.

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It was a great fun session and happy to resume the adventure after a few weeks of distraction (work trips and family holidays). 

In the pictures you can see the Modular Terrain being used to represent the Farmhouse and the Outhouses and of course the masterfully painted minis by Adam (these Blights were from a pre-existing stash, future sessions should feature predominantly items from the shop). And to mention Jemnes was created by Adam using Heroforge (and printed by us here). So its nice fun to have various things making the tabletop more engaging. The valiant steeds are models from Great Grimoire in the shop. We like using the 2D map to paint the bigger picture and then the blocks to setup the main encounter area. And the miniatures look great on the blocks and on the map and it really adds to the ambiance.

More adventuring to come. Now we are alternating weeks between ToD and other campaign RotF Keep up to date on both of them!

Thanks and happy continued Gaming and Painting!

-Pete (and Mitz & Simz)