13 February 2010
From The world of Yarel
- Date
- 13 February 2010
- Previous
- 16 January 2010
- Following
- 10 April 2010
- Minimum XP
- 1110
Summary
Bandit attack, party robbed, box of reagents stolen
The game session sees the party setting out from Hant, headed south towards Pladwell and through the bandit-controlled woodlands a little after midday on day 2 of the quest to recover the missing caravan of equipment.
Oops! I had overlooked a difference in the way that the PRPG experience tracks work. The experience track I am using takes 2,000 XP to get to 2nd level, I had thought it was 1,000.
To correct things and put the the player characters where I expected them to be I have doubled all of the experience that I have given out so far. That is why this game session's XP award is significantly higher than would otherwise be expected. The new minimum XP for all game sessions up to and including this one is 1,970.
Contents |
[edit] The bandit attack
Around late-evening (just before nightfall), as the party were headed through the woodlands, Blázen noticed signs that the party were being watched. At least three times, he spotted figures in the woods, darting between the trees alongside the party. He advised that everyone dismount and prepare for something to happen.
A few minutes later a lone figure wearing studded leather armour, holding two swords, with a longbow across his back emerged from the trees and proclaimed to the group: "You look wealthy".
Smilie immediately reacted to this by firing his crossbow at the figure (and missing), at which Blázen also opened fire (and also failing to strike his target).
Seeing that the rest of his team were not interested in talking, Weapon charged forwards to attack this figure and wounded him with a strong strike to the chest.
It was at this point that the 8 bandit archers in hiding (who had not been spotted) opened fire on the group. The volley immediately knocked Bastion unconscious, although no other partymember was struck.
Smilie and Blázen changed their targets to fire at the archers but could not bring more than one down. Weapon did manage to knock the 'leader' reeling and near-unconsciousness, but as soon as he had - he too was brought down by the archers (who also wounded Smilie in their second volley).
[edit] The bandits offer surrender
At this point, with two members of their party knocked down and Smilie badly wounded, another member of the bandit posse emerges from hiding, and calls: "If you surrender now, we will stop". Smilie and Blázen lower their weapons and growl a little.
The newly-emerged bandit runs over to his leader and a few words are exchanged between the two, before he looks at Weapon's wounds and proclaims that he is sorry that he cannot do anything for him. He then investigates Bastion's wounds and stabilises him before he dies.
This bandit moves around the party and takes items of value from them (telling them: "We're bandits, not murderers"). Anything of significant value is taken, including the box of reagents that they were supposed to deliver to Dekov.
The bandit steps over to Bastion, puts Bastion's own manacles on him and casts a curing spell into him in order to wake him up. Bastion identifies the man as a priest of The Wilders. The priest tells Bastion the same thing - that they are bandits and not murderers. He then withdraws with the loot, and the archers slowly leave, vanishing into the undergrowth.
[edit] Bastion speaks with the bandits
Blázen manages to track the bandits back to their camp, leading the party there. Bastion decides that he will go into their camp alone, and instructs Smilie and Blázen to leave back for the road, and take Bastion's horse.
Bastion convinces the bandit priest that they should sell the box to The Shadow Masters guild in Dekov, so that it will at least have gone to the right place, even if the party don't get the reward for it. (with some well placed bullshit and skilled gab if i do say so myself), graham
[edit] Finding the caravan's tracks
Bastion returns to the road, where Blázen and Smilie have discovered the tracks from the caravan at the fallen trees. The caravan approached the trees, but then turned around and headed back in the direction it came from.
As the party continued south through the night, following the caravan's tracks, they came across a dirt track leading north-west (almost doubling back on themselves). The caravan's trail took this direction.
At around the same time, they met a travelling monk by the name of Talathel, who agreed to join the party, as he felt it would make a good story for his journal.
The party (with Talathel) headed south to Pladwell for some healing and rest, ready to set out following the caravan later that day.
