Campaign Journal: Trenches and Horses

Who's here?

• Jax
• Fulvus
• Slick
• Frederick
• Rondel

Where are they? Cobalt Lake. The party retrieved the broken lens from the tower to return to the dwarves for raw material. They said their farewells and thanks and headed back north. The first night they found an abandoned cabin to hunker down in and get out of the weather. Unfortunately, a pair of worgs was also interested in the cabin and a disagreement on squatters rights occurred. A tense battle occurred as the two beasts pushed into the cabin, but Jax and Goober pulled through, making killing blows to both the beasts. 

The rest of the night passed, and the party rode north on a cold clear day.

That is, until Slick and his horse fell into a concealed trench in the road. Dammit. They party was swarmed by a pair of Chaos knights and their respective mutie mooks. Both of the knights missed on their charges. Slick, his priorities in the right place, attacked the horse.

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All sorts of havoc broke loose and the desperate fight closed. The next round, a pair of mages appeared, casting dangerous magic. Henry felt his skeleton get pulled, but was able to shake it off. Roderick, not so, and his arms twisted and withered. Rondel hasted the party. Time to get it on. Some were slowed by the opposing mage's entangle spell, but others dodged free.

Slick and Durkan dispensed with one knight and horse, with Jax taking down the second. Rondel silenced the mages, handicapping them.

Fulvus leapt, using his magic boots, at one mage, who seemed to have crystalline flesh. He critted. Boom! And took his own damage.

Yes, I used Tim's damned reflection spell on my party. 

The mage's mutation gave him a high AC, but any damage would shatter him. So Fulvus found himself full of glass shards. Slick discovered the second mage was also protected in such a way, but fortunately his backstab damage was limited. They shot him from a distance, just to make sure.

Most of the mooks were eliminated, and the party limped onward to Hardbrand Tower. The undead knights greeted them, and they laid low for a couple of days, healing up. Slick can't receive divine healing while he is in possession of his wraithblade, so he tried some of the liquid flesh he recovered from other Chaos forces. Nothing bad happened, although he wasn't able to convince anyone else to try it. Everyone kept watch on him. Just in case...

The rest of the journey back to Neuforde was thankfully uneventful. Rondel bought some spells from the local elves, Fulvus contracted an addition for the brewery to display his ever-growing head collection, and the party rounded up some loose magical items to use for trade with the Desert Elves.

Returning to the ship at Scaldwater, they sailed south to Chirath. 

***

DM notes:

Another close battle with the Chaos forces, as they tried to prevent the party from returning with their information and resources. Roderick, the party's hench-archer, was dealt a devastating blow through a brutal vivimancy spell, bonewarp. They will be seeking a method to restore his arms and skills...

As a late holiday gift, I gave my players each a set of "Disappointment Dice" from Viridian Gaming.

Most of them weren't too cursed.