DF Soaring Phoenix, Session 91 - Ploughing in the off-season

    Session 91 was last Tuesday. We had a small group of 3 players, as two couldn't make it. We also ended earlier than usual, due to unavoidable interruption.

Session Date:    Tuesday 27 August 2024

Party roster:

Ben, half-ogre barbarian, 233 points (PC)
Eleanor Bayley, human adventurer (thief), 296 points (PC)
- Dagne Timar, human priestess of Metallys (cleric), 147 points (NPC Ally)
Erizax Ofaris, human wizard, 292 points (PC)
Merrill Tangled Tail, cat-folk monk (martial artist), 234 points (PC)
Violetta, human warrior (barbarian), 161 points (PC)
Randall, human veteran (knight), 173 points (NPC Ally)

Campaign Date:    9 February, Year 647 of the Vycenaean Empire.

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    Having questioned an injured stranger to the village and answered some of his questions in return (session 90), Eleanor received an invitation for her group to accompany the young wizard in his quest to the ruined castle, once he was well enough to go. Perhaps both Corian and Eleanor had been cagey in their responses to each other's questions, as while Eleanor had detected no falsehoods in Corian's answers, neither Eleanor nor her companions seemed to trust the injured wizard's story about his party being set upon by undead assailants and he being the only survivor of that attack. 

    The PCs had decided to proceed to the ruined castle immediately, rather than wait for Corian. Dagne suggested however that should the group distrust him, then Corian's story about how he was attacked could be verified in his absence, by reversing his tracks from the night before and locating the site of the reported ambush. The group agreed this was a good idea, and they would do this first before proceeding to the castle. 

    Ben tracked the spots of dried blood down the track and out of the village, and along the road winding through the hills for a couple miles. Then the trail led the group off the road and away from the forest (and also away from the direction which the PCs had assumed Corian had come from). Ben led the party south cross-country over the low hills, past a few outlying farms, and then south-west into the Barrens.

    The group came to an isolated farm which they cautiously investigated. There they found signs of a recent battle: a few weapons, skeletons on the ground, but no bodies. The farmhouse seemed to have been recently occupied but there was no sign of anyone now. Ben found clues that the bodies had been dragged into one of the fields, and by a large non-humanoid creature, possibly a giant insect of some kind. 

    In that field Ben spotted earth that had recently been disturbed, and he realised that what he had seen earlier when entering the farm, that had looked like haphazard ploughing in the previous field, was probably signs of this creature. Ben went back to the first field, and borrowing Eleanor's shovel, he decided to dig the disturbed earth. 

    Everyone stood outside the field and watched as Ben, about 20 yards away, started to dig. It didn't take long to find something. Or perhaps for something to find Ben. A gigantic insect-like creature burst from the ground near Ben, and lunged at him. That initial surprise attack missed (counted as Move and Attack, rolled above 9). However the critter was fast, and attacked again before anyone could react. This time the bug clamped Ben in its mandibles, an attack he failed to dodge. The mandibles failed to injure Ben through his high damage resistance (mail armour on top of very tough skin), but grappled him in the process (Fantastic Dungeon Grappling, 3 control points) and also releasing acid, which did not get through his armour (yet). Then everyone passed their mental stun checks (made at a bonus, because while the attack was a surprise, it was not entirely unexpected). 

    Before anyone could take action, the critter again chomped on Ben, this time just strongly enough to injure him (1 HP damage) through his DR, and increasing the grapple (7 control total). A further release of acid accompanied the second bite, and the accumulated corrosion weakened the mail (-1 DR) on Ben's torso. Merrill was the first party member to react to Ben's predicament, and he vaulted the fence, running into the field as fast as he could. 

    We paused it there, due to player absences. Hopefully the party can extricate Ben from the grip of the monster next week. Here is a screenshot from the end of the session.