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Dunmari Frontier - Session 43

Ambushes and Alliances: in which bandits are intimidated and wyverns subdued

Featuring: Kenzo, Wellby, Delwath, Seeker, Riswynn
In Taelgar: Jul 19, 1748 DR to Jul 23, 1748 DR
On Earth: Friday Mar 25, 2022
Tokra-Darba Road

The Dunmar Fellowship thwarts a bandit ambush, recruits the bandits, survives a wyvern attack, and confronts Chardonians.

Session Info

Summary

  • The Dunmar Fellowshipdeparts the ~Crossroads Caravanserai~ and stays at the Akela Inn, gathering rumors of a dragon and bandits.
  • They ambush bandits preparing to attack them, subdue and recruit them with the promise of money and treasure.
  • The party is attacked by wyverns; they defeat them, capturing one in the Mirror of Soul Trapping, but one bandit is killed.
  • The Chardonian group, led by Kadmos, meets the Dunmar Fellowshipfor the first time, and uses charm magic on most of the party.

Timeline

  • Jul 19, 1748 DR, morning: Depart ~Crossroads Caravanserai~ heading towards Darba on the Tokra-Darba Road.
  • Jul 19, 1748 DR: Travel along the Tokra-Darba Road
  • Jul 19, 1748 DR, evening: Reach Akela Inn, the last inn on the road before the Copper Hills. Speak with Amar, the innkeeper. Gather rumors. Spend the night.
  • Jul 20, 1748 DR: Travel along the Tokra-Darba Road a fast pace, covering 30 miles of increasingly hilly road.
  • Jul 21, 1748 DR: Approach the hilly terrain that marks the Copper Hills. Discover a bandit ambush, and ambush the ambushers. Intimidate and bribe them into fighting the rumored dragon together. Kenzo listens to the story of Justan, the captain of this raiding party. Camp for the night in the midst of the Copper Hills.
  • Jul 22, 1748 DR: Uneventful, but watchful, trek at a slower, more careful pace through the hills. Camp for the evening.
  • Jul 23, 1748 DR, morning: Travel cautiously along Tokra-Darba Road.
  • Jul 23, 1748 DR, early afternoon: Find a dead, disembowled horse on the road. Ambushed by two wyverns during the afternoon rains. Kill them, losing one of the bandits to the poison stinger. Approached by Marcella and her Chardonian companions, seeking to purchase or trade magic items. Meet Kadmos, Casian, Hektor, and Antonia. Wellby, Delwath, and Riswynn are magically charmed by Kadmos.

Narrative

We begin as the party departs the caravanserai and small settlement at the crossroads where the Tokra-Darba Road branches west and south from the Stoneway. The first day of travel passes uneventfully, despite the mud and rain, more noticeable now off the ancient Drankorian roads that seem impervious to bad weather.

Towards evening, the party comes to the Akela Inn and fortification on the road, the last carvanserai until the Darba hinterlands, more than a hundred miles west. Here, they gather news: rumors of a dragon are everywhere, as are tales of bandits in the Copper Hills. No travelers have come through for some time, since the messenger who reported the dragon several days ago. One caravan - well guarded - set out west carrying vellum from Tokra and silk from much further east, but no news has come from either direction since then. While here, the party also speaks with some Aagir Mystai. The Aagir Mystai form something of a traveling knighthood of sorts, charged at least in part with keeping the roads safe for trade, and they are waiting for a larger troop to arrive to go sort out the bandits once and for all, and challenge the dragon as well if need be. Although Wellby attempts to convince them to travel with the party, they refuse, saying they will wait for their companions. Kenzo then collects the story of Amar, the innkeeper.

The next few days pass in uneventful travel across the increasingly hilly and tree-covered landscape, until a combination of skill (particularly Wellby’s beast sense ability) and luck leads to the party spotting a bandit ambush well before the bandits see them. Wellby and Delwath sneak up behind the bandits, invisible, getting the jump on them. Delwath intimidates them into submission, and eventually the party peacefully subdues the group of eight bandits that were watching the road here, prepared to ambush travelers who camp for the night. With an offer of money and a share of any treasure, the bandits agree to travel with the party.

At camp that night, Kenzo listens to Justan’s story, the captain of this group of bandits.

The next day passes uneventfully, but the day after, July 23rd, does not. After a slow morning that includes finding a disemboweled horse on the road, the party is ambushed during the afternoon rains by a pair of wyverns. While Kenzo is nearly killed by the venom in their stingers, and one bandit does die, the beasts are soon subdued. One wyvern is temporarily rendered harmless by Seeker, who turns it into a turtle. The party decides to keep it in the Mirror of Soul Trapping.

As the battle fades and the party begins to recover, they see riding over a low ridge on the north side of the road five adventurers – the Chardonian group traveling with Marcella, from the inn at the start of the session. The Chardonians are attempting to purchase or trade for Drankorian magic. After some back and forth, the session ends as the seeming leader, a hooded man named Kadmos, attempts to speed up negotiation by using magic to place a charm on Wellby, Delwath, Seeker, and Riswynn; only Seeker succeeds in resisting the magic, protected by the Ring of the Warded Mind taken from Agata Dustmother.