Session 8 - Chapter 4 - Berdusk Arrival

Hello and Welcome!

After the late night encounter, the adventuring party managed to get a long rest and recover. The remnants of the Blights did offer some more kindling for the fireplace so while there was no loot to collect, the enemies did make themselves useful in the end.

The rest of the evening went off without incident and then in the morning the troupe broke their fast and then tended to the horses and continued on their way to Berdusk. 

They rode for another 2 days but luckily there were no more issues as they were able to make camp safely along the way. The route took them along the river which ultimately brought the city walls and the bridges to cross the river to enter the city into view on the morning of the third day.

Everyone was happy for the chance to have a proper rest in a city for one evening before continuing on to Elturel. Jemnes mentioned to Chard, Dafnae, and Torsion that he had arranged lodging for them at the Flourishing Flagon (as well as a place for the horses to be liveried at for the evening). He gave the three a map of the city and urged them to do some looking around and shopping before they would meet up with him for an evening meal at the tavern (where he had arranged the lodging). 

The three thanked him for the help to which he thanked them in turn for the escort and reassured them that there would be no less than 5 verses just on their heroics of defeating those nasty Blights along the road in his ballad about them. And with a flourish Jemnes wished them a good day and went off to tend to matters at the Bardic College.

So the Adventurers took the opportunity to survey the city and see the sites. And they did partake in a bit of a shopping montage to get some necessary items :

• They managed to sell the bone dragon amulets and expertly cut gems recovered from the Cultist cave for a better price than in Greenest - and they got a good diamond needed for spell casting
• They bought several books in the bookshop (knowledge is power after all!) in the hopes that they would come in handy later for learning skills and proficiencies :
  • Dafnae managed to find a good reference book on Poison making but could only find a reference book on plant identification (she'll need to have another look elsewhere for more help in using the herbalism kit for making healing potions)
  • Torsion was interested in more Dragon lore and found a great reference book
  • Chard found good reference books on Smithing, Carpentry, and Masonry Tools - such practical skills always came in handy when adventuring)
• And plenty of the basic necessities such as crossbow bolts and healing kits
• Torsion upgraded his Mace to a Warhammer to get that extra bit of damage boost

Once finished with shopping and seeing the sites, they met up with Jemnes at the Tavern. They got settled and then returned for their evening meal, which Jemnes graciously paid for as well in thanks for accompanying him. 

As the food and drink came, Jemnes said that he had arranged one more special surprise for them - entertainment for the evening. He reassured them that they would be in for a special treat - one of his best pupils would be performing at the Tavern this evening.

Halfway through the meal the clamour of the crowd dulled to a gentle murmur as a petite Halfling dressed in a bright dress got on the stage and began her performance.

It started off slow and solemn with gentle soft flute and light drum tapping. But this built up into different songs with a faster tempo and louder singing from her. As the music got faster, the crowd's cheering got louder. And as the cheering got louder, the Halfling's dances got more energetic, she quite nimbly jumped from the main stage to other tables to the delighted roars and laughter of the patrons. She continued her performance and managed to not spill any mug of ale or overturn any plate of food. It was a wondrous show.

So much so that the three Adventurers at least for one evening managed to set aside worrying about what the Dragon Cultists were up to for at least one evening. Torsion thought back to the many banquets he had in the Dwarven Halls - Ale seemingly flowing endlessly. Dafnae thought back to her days walking the alleyways and shadows of Baldur's Gate - it was far easier to relieve a ruffian of their coin purse when they had imbibed a few mugs of ale (and she took what she needed from that and gave the rest to the less fortunate - more than likely the brigand had pilfered what they had from someone else anyway). And Chard felt that for once his demonic nature and tormented dreams were just a faded memory and he allowed himself to get lost in the revelry. 

There would be time to worry about the threat to the realm in the morning they all thought.

And so they enjoyed the Halfling's performance and enjoyed their meal in high spirits.

Once she finished, after a few repeated finale encores requested / demanded by the audience (they overheard from the neighbouring table that the performer was a frequent act here at the Flourished Flagon and a crowd favourite) she came over to the table where the four of them sat. Jemnes greeted the Halfling with a deep bow and said to her what an astonishing performance she did yet again. She thanked him and the three also voiced their praise to her, asking where she had learned to perform like that. Before she could answer, Jemnes smiled slyly and replied, "She has a natural talent for such performances but of course her skills have been honed by her mentor, yours truly. And my dear fellow Adventures, allow me to introduce to you one of my star pupils, Pipp". 

Pipp blushed and bowed with a flourish to rival Jemnes and thanked Jemnes for the praise and turned to the other three and greeted each one in turn. Then excitedly she enquired if they were the ones who had helped save Greenest and the Master Bard from the horrible Cultist raid which had happened recently. Chard, Dafnae, and Torsion replied that yes they were and Pipp then quickly grabbed the nearest chair and sat down and asked them to tell the whole story and to spare no details.

And so the evening continued in conversation about the events that had passed. The three found a certain honesty / innocence / goodness in Pipp. Pipp in turn hung on each word they had to say asking for details to be expanded on as she wanted to hear about everything that happened. She several times expressed how grateful she was for them to have helped save the Master Bard. 

At the end of the evening, Pipp thought that this was her chance to do more and explore the world and do more good in the world. She boldly asked if she could join them and help. The three looked at each other and Torsion replied, "Aye wee lass, we can use all the help we can get but you need to be ready as the road ahead will be long and quite dangerous." And much to Chard's and Dafnae's surprise, this seemed to excite Pipp who seemed to sit an inch or two taller as she replied "Well Master Dwarf, I wouldn't have it any other way!". 

Then with a flourish and a raised mug of Ale, Jemnes announced, "Well then friends, its agreed and a toast them to the Band of Four and may Tymora grace you all with good luck and fortune on your journey!"

And so Chard, Dafnae, and Torsion welcomed Pipp to the Party.

It was then decided to retire for the evening and to then meet up after breakfast and continue the road to Elturel after breakfast.

Pipp excitedly packed her belongings and wrote a note to her parents to let them know she was off to adventure and for them not to worry about her. Chard, Dafnae, and Torsion took the opportunity to have peaceful rest. Dafnae did have one more read of Talis's letters before sleep. In the morning Chard was relieved to not have had another nightmare.

The four then saddles their horse (Jemnes provided a suitable horse for Pipp to ride as well) and they left the North-western Gate and continued the ride to Elturel.

The day's journey was easy and spent with chatting, Pipp getting to know more about her new travel companions. They were happy to discuss and Pipp and Dafnae started to build a bit of a friendship / bond with each other. 

It would take a few days to reach Elturel so at the end of the first day they found a suitable camping place and prepared for rest.

Dafnae and Pipp would take the first watch and not long into it they heard some commotion from someone calling out to them from the road (they must have seen the light from the campfire). The two woke Chard and Torsion and then they cautiously welcomes the lone traveller to the camp. 

He explained that his caravan carrying silks and furs was ambushed by bandits and he alone manage to escape but he feared the rest of his retinue were lost. He asked for refuge for the evening. While discussing, Dafnae tried to check the road for any other signs but all seemed clear. The rest were a bit suspicious and interrogated him for details. His appearance did appear as a nobleman who had been in a recent scuffle so they decided to let him stay in the one tent while Chard and Torsion kept watch. Torsion did ask some more questions and while he couldn't quite put his finger on it, he felt something wasn't quite right but he didn't want to press the man too much.

But the feeling wouldn't quite go away and while keeping a very keen eye out, Torsion did spot some additional movement in the woods (the campfire was quite low this late into the night but Darkvision is very handy) and he spotted a Bandit approaching.

Thanks to his good Perception, Torsion was able to thwart the ambush that the bandits were preparing and so he had the opportunity to get the jump on the one bandit and he told Chard to rouse the others. 

Chard woke Dafnae and Pipp and they quickly got ready. As Pipp went to wake their guest, Dafnae whispered to her that this would be her first taste of combat and to stay alert and ready.

Pipp woke the snoring nobleman. But as Pipp continued on into position to support Chard who was engaging other Bandits who were approach the camp from another direction, their guest made an opportunity attack on the poor Halfling who was caught unawares. So it seemed he was in league with the Bandits. Seems their hunch was right but they couldn't quite see past his initial deception.

So the battle ensued. Torsion and Chard focused on the advancing bandits while Dafnae and Pipp focused on their guest who seemed to be the Bandit Captain. 

Torsion was able to try out his new Warhammer which seemed to be a well crafted and well balanced weapon, landing some good blows on the bandits. Chard meanwhile was able to take some swings at the first few bandits he engaged. The rest of the advancing bandits though were subject to his Burning Hands - the hapless bandits were not much for strategy and they bunched together and were not dextrous enough to dodge the flames and several of them met a fiery end.

Meanwhile Dafnae and Pipp used magic to deal with the Captain. He was a tough fighter so they had to work together. Dafnae relying on Magic Missile to strike true and Pipp relying on Dissonant Whispers to affect the slightly dim-witted Bandit Captain. 

As the rest of the bandits were being routed, Chard turned his attention to the Captain as well. He had taken quite heavy damage and while under the effect of a failed save against a new casting of Dissonant Whispers, Chard managed, with a spinning flourish, land his glaive squarely on the neck of the Bandit Captain, rending his head free from his body. A fitting final Critical Hit.

Seeing this the last two damaged Bandits started to flee but the Heroes gave chase. Chard used his Magic Missile to take out one and with a lucky blind shot in the dark, Pipp managed to crack the last one in the base of the skill with her sling bullet who crumpled to the ground with a slump.

The threat over, the Heroes regrouped and checked the bodies of the Bandits and found some reasonable currency. On the Bandit Captain they found something interesting. They found some drawings of dragon insignias similar to those they saw in the Bandit Camp and they also found a strange device - a sort of lock box with a special locking mechanism. They would have a look at this in the morning.

But now they went back to their tents and resumed their long rest. The evening continued without incident.

They would resume the journey in the morning.

---

It was another great session and thanks to some fortuitous rolls we were able to avoid a nasty Bandit Ambush, It was a good random encounter setup by Adam. 

Plus we managed to give Pipp a spin and try out her new Bardic skills. So far its working out quite well and we think Pipp will be a great addition to the team.

It so far is a food mixture of physical combat and magical support.

In the pictures below you can see the party in action against the bandits which are the Novaminis models. The horses from Great Grimoire lazy munched on some clovers they found during the ordeal - they were not worried for one moment that their riders would not be able to handle the encounter.  

Until next time when we continued the adventure!

-Pete (& Mitz & Simz)