This time was a rare 10+ hours session, with players going in and out along the way. It served also as an introduction for a good friend and his 10 y-o son who’s just beginning  tabletop gaming. Ah, the innocence!

Characters

• Flyzus, Wood Elf Ranger (hunter), Outlander; sole survivor of his tribe after an orc invasion
• Varis, Drow Rogue (scout), Far traveller; exiled scion of a noble family on the losing side of a feud
• Droidoc, Halfling Druid, Outlander; was there when Camp Righteous fell, lost his mind, he’s a loony
• Lucky, Half-Elf Cleric of Tymora, Street Urchin; the lowly will be exalted
• Phileas, Half-Elf Bard, Archeologist; “it’s not tomb-robbing if you do it respectfully”
• Shin, Tabaxi Fighter (arcane archer), Outlander; big-game hunter, has no patience for weakness

Smuggler’s Cove

• (Flyzuz, Varis)

Flyzus and Varis had to secure some illegal stash hidden inside a cave not far from where they had beached. They could see some giant crabs that fortunately didn’t look too aggressive but the axe beak nearby was another matter. Coming out of the trees it made short work of one the crustacean. F and V  did a bit of climbing to evade the large  bird. A few minutes and a dead poisonous snake later and F and V arrived at the entrance of the cave. Flyzus spotted some carnivorous vines dangling in front but a simple oil fire solved the problem. Inside the cave they could see a pond and, understandably, that aroused their suspicion. Varis threw the dead snake near it and a long tentacle quickly snatched it. F and V decided to feed something bulkier to the aquatic thing so it would be busy eating whilst they did what they were there for. So a few arrows and crossbow bolts later, a freshly slain axe beak joined the snake in the water. The plan worked. Further in the cave, a darkened leather hid a passage leading to another area, with a little light coming from a natural chimney above and further, to the smuggler’s stash of goods. There was also a swarm of bats that they chased off, not without receiving a few painful bites.

Back in town, they enlist at the Coliseum:

Arena: The Mercenaries vs the Skeletal Horde

• Flyzus, Varis, Droidoc and Shin

6 skeletons with rusty spears. The PCs barely survived. There’s a long way to go before they’re called heroes!

Arena: The Mercenaries vs the Gladiator

• Flyzus, Varis, Droidoc ans Shin

The PCs were offered to replace a gladiator who was sick. Hum, he had severe diarrhea okay? They didn’t have to win, just show up against his opponent, a hardened veteran of the Grand Coliseum. They indeed did not win, but it was a close call…

Along the coast

• Flyzus, Varis, Droidoc ans Shin

Shin had a proposition for his battered new friends. His employer offered 250 gp for cleaning a newly acquired mine from its critters. They accepted and paid a fisherman to drop them 30 miles northward. They had a few more miles to walk  along the rocky beaches and high cliffs. As they progressed, they began to hear singing, the lure of harpies! Fortunately, none of them succumbed and Shin let loose an arrow from 300′ and hit! The two harpies, noticing that their song had no effect, took to the air and closed the distance on the PCs. Only one came close but was put down easily.

The Mine

• Flyzus, Varis, Phileas, Lucky and Shin

Having found the mine, the PCs saw that giant wasps seemed to inhabit the place as they saw them come and go constantly. They also noticed that one of the giant wasp was strangely infected by some sort of fungus. The PCs decided to smoke the wasps, collecting all the wood pieces they could before sunset and then they made a fire. A few groggy wasps tried to get out but were easily dispatched. After the smoke had cleared, the PCs entered the mine. They found quite a few dead wasps near the entrance and, also, the rotten carcass of a crocodilian a little further. Something ran off before they could see it clearly.

They went deeper and that’s when the real fun began…

The Tabaxi was in front, and was the target of a thrown rock, hurting him lightly. The next few rounds were surprisingly testing for the PCs as they received a LOT of rocks from the angry vegepygmies while a thorny kept them tied in melee from the other side. They were downright anxious when they found out that the little fungi men could regenerate and did not stay down. Finally, they managed to prevail, using oil and torches to burn the vegepygmies but one of them escaped and the PCs badly needed a rest. That’s what they did before going into the deepest level of the mine.

The first trouble below was an encounter with the surviving giant wasp queen which succeeded in stinging the young cleric of Tymora. The poison nearly did him but once the queen was dead he healed himself with his goddess’ magic.

Soon after, the final battle was against the vegepygmy that had escaped earlier and his chief who was busy absorbing… nutrients? in a pit, with some tendrils jutting from his arms.

The peak of the battle was when the vegepygmy chief released his spores, poisoning Flyzus and Varis. Lucky saved Varis’ life with a merciful spare the dying and did the same a moment later when Phileas was grievously wounded by claw attacks.

Shin found a few gems carefully placed on a rock, with a delicate mushroom in the middle. He didn’t take the mushroom.

Arena: The Mercenaries vs Mr Sticky and his Darling

• Flyzus, Varis, Phileas, Lucky and Shin

Back in Port Nyanzaru, the PCs received their reward for clearing the mine and after a well-earned rest they were back in the arena! This time they were against something of an infamous gladiator: Mr Sticky the Ettercap. 

Mr Sticky had a large cloak on when he entered the arena and while he moved to meet the PCs in battle, he removed it releasing his pet giant spider Darling that was hidden under. He then restrained Lucky with a web. Phileas played tricks on the ettercap’s mind with a dissonant whisper- Mr Sticky was convinced by the spell that the crowd was booing him–  forcing him to flee in shame while Flyzus, Varis and Shin killed Darling. The ettercap was rather mad at this point as he came back but the combined attacks of the PCs proved too much for him, he surrendered.

DM notes

• The group of PCs was missing frontliners badly. Most of them are good at range but they had problems when it was time to engage in melee.
• The vegepygmies, with their skirmish tactics were way harder than I tought they would be.
• This session was really heavy on combat, perhaps a bit too much.
• The vegepygmies could have been persuaded to leave the mine if diplomacy had been tried. The players were a little freaked out with some of my descriptions by the time they met them. I think that’s why it didn’t occur to them.
• Arena battles are a little silly but we’re having a lot of fun doing them.