They Met at a Tavern 28: Side Explorations

Memorial Day Weekend, so the party was mostly partying, except:

• Dan: Kiara, elf Ras Godai
• Seana: Zanegar, 1/2 orc Sea Wolf
• Chris: Thorn, dwarf Wizard

Side-questing, it is...

The trio (and NPC Zet The Conspiracy Goblin) decided to scout the edges of the badlands, hoping to find evidence of paths through the tortuous landscape:

something like this

They were moving along through the canyons and washes without too much difficulty when they crossed paths with a large number of humanoid tracks heading deeper into the badlands. Past experience called these out as serpentfolk. The trio decided to track the band for a while, to see if they could get a sense of their destination. Kiara was able to scout ahead, and the ID of the group was confirmed with a pair of dead serpentfolk, who had apparently succumbed to wounds. After a few hours, the party caught up with a warband of approximately 20 serpentfolk and a handful of pack-lizards. Since there were many more of them than there were of the party, the three chose discretion over stupidity.

Oh, they picked up a shortbow and a few arrows off one of the corpses, since none of the three had a missile weapon, and they intended to do a little hunting.

Backtracking the warband's path, they eventually found a small redoubt built into a cliff-face near the edge of the badlands after spotting a column of greasy smoke. They cautiously approached and were hailed by a guard. Upon closer inspection, they saw the source of the smoke, a pile of burned bodies, as well as several fresh graves.

The place looked like it had just survived a small siege.

some Dyson joint

Repairs were beginning on the walls, which Thorn recognized as damaged from magic. The guard introduced himself as Hugo Espluga, and asked after the party's business. They replied regarding their explorations and quest, and said they had backtracked the serpentfolk to hear. Espluga explained that the stronghold (manned by a group called the Iron Sentinels) had recently come under attack by the serpentfolk. Their leader had a staff with the power to break stone, but fortunately, it had a catastrophic malfunction before the walls were breached, otherwise things may have turned out poorly.

Other soldiers and such came out to meet the party, and they were invited inside to shelter for the evening. They were introduced to the group's leader, a dwarven priest named Thirmus Undersword. He explained that the Sentinels had monitored the boundaries of the badlands for generations, keeping watch on activity, aiding travelers, and the usual Hospitaller-type stuff. 

Undersword apologized for any meager fare, as the combat had strained their resources, and resupply had not arrived. He hoped that the serpentfolk would not prevail in the end, simply by the Sentinels needing to abandon their post. The serpentfolk, while a nuisance, had become more organized and aggressive. An ancient race, it seemed like they were angling to regain some past glory or holdings. The party asked for info on the Badlands. The Sentinels explained that they only rarely entered the area, but that there were once tracks through the maze-like canyons and ridgelines. They confirmed that tunnels and other breaches through the ridges existed. While the trackways had once been used by messengers and cargos, they were mostly lost, except for some smugglers, explorers, and hermits. A portion of an old map was produced, and the party copied it, hoping to cut some time (And ration requirements) off their travel.

Kiara gifted the Sentinels her porcelain teakettle that she'd picked up in a treasure roll. Probably safer in a besieged fort, than in an explorer's pack...

After the pyre had burned down, Thorn sifted through the bones and ashes. Most items of value had been ruined in the fire, but he found the end of the staff used by the serpentfolk mage to siege the walls. It was splintered, but oddly unburned. An object for study...

The next day, the party headed back towards their camp, using the copied map as a guide. It worked well unto they hit a box canyon. Probably just a mapping error...

Backtracking, they heard a snort in the bushes, and were charged by an angry boar.

Teefies!

Zanegar shot it with the shortbow, and Thorn attempted to sleep it. No luck, it was too powerful. It gored his horse in response. Kiara chose to try her stupefy talent, since she hadn't had a chance to use it. Well, it worked, and Zanegar beheaded the thing. Rations were harvested.

With nightfall, it was time to get attacked by something, per the dice. Four serpentfolk jumped the party, but they were on guard for once. Zanegar critted one, Kiara wounded a second, and Thorn webbed the survivors. Zet was able to roughly translate their hissing speech, and they claimed to be looking to reclaim old holdings, and would once they secured the old magics from the north. Knowing they said enough, the three clammed up. 

The party tried to pawn them off on the Sentinels, but they had no interest in them, so the surviving serpentfolk "fell down" somewhere along the trail.

With that, the party found their way back to their home camp...

DM Notes:

I figured it would be a slim group for the session, so had a handful of small things prepped for side quests or explorations. The warband was part of the redoubt scribble-notes, and a random encounter roll provided their retreating tracks. Some world-building and intelligence-gathering was also on the plate.

Dan and I chatted afterward on the tendency for default combat in games, and we armwaved on the other two elements of TTRPGs - exploration and roleplay. In prepping for possible locations to be found in this game (or in general), I find myself preparing locations with resources (living or objects) as much as things to kill... The Iron Sentinels were one of these. I just need to find the map and scribbles to write it up, now...

And, Dan also confirmed that, as he suspected, he had played through Foxtail Grotto with another local group. There was death, undead sailors, and Dan's PC succumbing to the dragon. Learning that someone else has run one of my scribblings, and locally, even!