DF Soaring Phoenix, Sessions 93 and 94 - Digging Themselves into a Hole

    Session 94 was last week. Session 93 was the previous week. Here is a brief summation of events across the two sessions.

Session Dates:    Tuesday 10 and 17 September 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 to 11 February, Year 647 of the Vycenaean Empire.

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-- The party spent 2 days at the abandoned farm, looking for dead bodies and other clues to confirm or deny the story told by the injured young magic-user Corian.

-- Ben confirmed the giant insect-like creatures they had just fought were almost certainly ankhegs.

-- They dug a hole into the ankheg tunnels under the farm, and progressed along them carefully as the tunnels did not seem particularly permanent or stable.

-- They found 5 bodies (2 adults and 3 children) which the group determined were likely the family who had lived on the farm. These bodies were not recently dead, but were largely intact. 

-- The party dug 5 individual graves behind the farmhouse and buried them, and Dagne performed a proper burial ritual. 

-- Corian had told Eleanor (back in Fairhill) that he and his 3 companions had been attacked by undead, and only he survived. The PCs continued to dig out the tunnels, looking for these 3 companions.

-- Throughout the tunnels, the PCs found 4 more corpses. These were partial bodies, presumably eaten by the ankhegs, with both the corpses and their clothes, armour, and gear badly destroyed. 

-- Those bodies the PCs also removed from the tunnels, and identified them as (probably) 2 humans, a dwarf, and a half-orc. On the half-orc they found a badge or brooch, which Randall recognised as belonging to a mercenary outfit in Plytos. 

-- Violetta found in the tunnels a torn pouch containing silver and gold coins worth $1300 (not an amount to make the party rich, but enough cover some of their expenses), and a holy symbol to a lesser human deity. 

-- Erizax, using the Seek Magic spell in the tunnels, found a small leather armlet or large wristband, still attached to the wrist of a half-orc's severed hand. 

-- The armband was unusual in that in did not look or feel enchanted to Erizax's innate supernatural perception (Magery) and he would not have known it was magical but for Seek Magic. After carefully removing the armband from the wrist of the severed hand, Erizax studied it and then, knowing nothing of its power or effect, he tied it onto his own wrist in the same fashion. 

-- The party buried the partial remains of the 4 "adventurers" as best they could, in a single grave. Dagne again performed a burial ritual. 

-- They left the farm on the third morning, heading back towards the hills, intending to pickup the road and from there proceed to the forest beyond, where they would scout for orcs and/or the ruined castle. That was the plan, but as it would turn out, they never made it as far as the forest. 

-- Shortly after they had left the farm, Eleanor pointed out a crow or raven which had flown past them, presumably coming from the farm, and heading to either the village of Fairhill or the forest beyond. 

-- The bird itself was not unusual, but the circumstance of this sighting was enough to give Eleanor cause to be concerned. The players speculated whether this was Corian or his purported enemy spying on them, but they had no evidence either way. They continued on their journey. 

-- In the hills surrounding the village of Fairhill, the party encountered a small group of riders. These were 5 human warriors or soldiers, with yellow pennants on their spears, and one of whom wore plate armour with a full helm. 

-- The strangers challenged the PCs to identify themselves, and the party did so. The soldiers then told the group that the Magistrate in Fairhill wanted to speak to them, and they would take them back to the village. 

-- On the journey back, Merrill tried to engage the riders in conversation. From the lead soldier he learned that his name was Sgt. Vidir, that the knight was Sir Costen, and that they were in service to Baron Mylark. 

-- Sergeant Vidir was the more talkative of the two. However it was the taciturn Sir Costen who told the PCs that they were wanted for the murder of Corian. 

-- While this news was alarming, it did not stop the inquisitive Merrill from continuing to talk with Sgt. Vidir, and Merrill's truthfulness meant that any question from Vidir was answered as honestly as possible. 

-- None of the PCs* attempted to prevent the soldiers from taking them to Fairhill, either by force or by guile.

-- Violetta attempted to stop Merrill from talking with the soldiers, by changing the subject and engaging Merrill in conversation regarding topics of low consequence. Eventually she got so exasperated with Merrill's honesty, that Violetta grabbed his tail and yanked on it. This certainly got Merrill's attention, and his annoyance, which seemed to amuse Sergeant Vidir. 

-- Once arriving at Fairhill, they were met by the town guard, who disarmed the party and took them into custody. 

-- They were taken to the guard tower, and led down into a small dungeon beneath the tower with 4 cells, where they were locked up (without their weapons, armour, and other gear). 

-- After some time waiting, the guards took the party members one-by-one, up to a room on the ground floor of the tower, to meet Magistrate Arlen. Also in the room were Captain Baran of the town guard, and a female elf member of the guard whom the PCs had seen before. Sir Costen and Sgt Vidir were also present, but they did not speak during the interrogations. 

-- Merrill, Ben, Violetta, and Erizax were interrogated in turn. Each were asked whether they had killed Corian, and what evidence they had of their innocence. All denied having killed Corian or knowing who killed him. 

-- Dagne was taken upstairs for her turn, and shortly afterwards the other party members heard a loud bell ring, some distance above them. They presumed this might mean that the village was under attack. 

-- Dagne was brought back and returned to her cell in a hurry. While the guards were nearby, Erizax called to them through the bars in his door, telling them to that the party would fight in defence of the village. The guards did not answer or acknowledge Erizax's suggestion. 

-- The moment the guards seemed to be gone, Erizax turned to Ben and told him to break them out of the cell, but Ben refused. 

At that point we paused the session...

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* Two of the players were absent for this part. Eleanor's player for the whole session, and Erizax's player joined later. So things might have developed differently had either or both of them been present, but those are the breaks. 

After all, how the PCs act (or choose not to act) is what makes the story :-)