Day 7, shortly after noon.
Drawing #1: A very rough map of the forest, with a river intersecting the road near the middle. There is a rectangle just to the left of the point of intersection.
-The bandits' lair is between 4 and 5 miles west of the road
-head west immediately after crossing the river
Drawing #2: A close-up sketch of a dead Dwarf (one of Lord Urist's servants), face down. The wound on the back of his neck is deep.
-Attacker was able to strike the spinal cord for an instant kill
-blade was poisoned with Liquid Death (dark-coloured, viscous, faint offensive odour)
We avoided an ambush today, thanks in largest part to Adler's habit of scouting ahead of the group. I haven't been giving him enough credit.
He came back and reported four figures ahead of us. We decided to approach cautiously; most of them were dwarves, and with the (albeit very extremely recent) tidings of the dwarves being at war, it wouldn't have been safe to assume that these dwarves weren't out for Lord Urist... plus, only two of the figures remained on the road at this point. Highly suspious.
Everyone else in our group seems to speak Dwarven, but luckily the Dwarves also seem to speak Common... with a rather thick accent. Some of those words were just pronounced downright WRONG, though. Anyway, I stayed back in the cart to guard Lord Urist while the rest of our guards went to deal with the negotiations... which quickly turned sour. The third figure struck by popping out of the bushes and back in again, like an elastic shadow or something. I rushed to help out with the battle, advising Lord Urist to keep his eyes open; I aided in killing one of the enemies, but in that small space of time, the enemy rogue managed to sneak around us (through the brush, even) and strike one of Lord Urist's attendants dead. I cast a spell to quicken myself and rush back, to prevent him from sneaking off into the forest again. The rogue quickly dived under the cart. When Lord Urist jumped off (I haven't decided if that was a good idea, since the rogue is sneaky enough to attack from beneath, or a bad idea for leaving his feet exposed and being closer to the enemy), I rushed to grant him some magical protection. Someone kicked one of the mules to make it go, leaving the rogue sprawled on the ground; we made short work of him from there.
The aftermath of the battle:
-One of Lord Urist's attendants are dead.
--I took a look at the wound. The precision of the strike was amazing; the assassin struck right down to the Dwarf's spinal cord, killing him instantly. The blade was also poisoned with Liquid Death (see below); even with just a scratch, that Dwarf didn't stand a chance.
-Of four potential threats, two are dead, we have taken one hostage (we removed his equipment and I tied him up), and one is missing; we don't know where he is, which is worrisome. I think Adler said he was human, so perhaps he was consorting with the Dwarves and has left. I will not stick to this assumption; if he's in the area, he is likely an active threat. Perhaps he is one of the bandits.
-We captured the enemy's equipment, which is as follows:
--Chainmail, daggers, greataxes. Shoddy quality.
--A magical jerkin, which improves one's capacity for stealth and provides as much protection as my armor. I wanted it, but pragmatically chose to let Adler have it, since he is our party's scout.
--Dwarfbane: Poison, made specifically to kill creatures with poison resistance, Dwarves for instance.
--Liquid Death: Poison. Highly Toxic is an understatement. I would not dare apply this to my own weapon, for fear of scratching myself and dying before I can call for help.
--The third type of poison is unidentified. It had a label in a language I don't understand (nor does anyone else in our group), but with my magic I read it as "Tears of the Obyriths". According to Idaho Bones, Obyriths are a species of demons, dwindling in population, but still with several notable figures. My guess is that it is toxic; I have a secondary theory that it causes the drinker to take on demonic power temporarily, but I doubt this is the case. I will Identify this stuff later, when we are not cavorting through forests looking for bandits.
((the journal entry continues on a different page))
In-character, this is just the first part of Veshnoal's journal for the day (with some retconned-in sketches), since he's still in the middle of doing things (interrogating the captured Dwarf, dumping the loot in the wagon, keeping a watch for that fourth guy, asking Idaho Bonus about Obyriths). I might have to edit this journal if I find new stuff out early next session. The rest of the time between in-game "now" and whenever Veshnoal actually gets a chance to write things down is "on another page". Yay literary framing device?
Also, fun session.
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Topic: D&D 3.5: Alternative Energy: Dead but Dreaming (Read 41677 times)