Game Report: Dylan and Mars

The party reconvenes after the great kobold adventure, newly geared and skilled and still heading west towards the Salt City. They spend an undetermined amount of time walking, following a treaded road when they come across a human paladin and rogue fighting a half-dozen panthers. Hiding behind a nearby crumbled wall is about six children, bunched together and scared.

The heroes jump into the action, rushing to the rescue of this unlikely group of travelers. The panthers spread out, one heading straight for the kids. The warlord and fighter answer the call, the former moving to defend the chil’ins, the latter moving to save the outnumbered paladin. (Well, since the same player was controlling both characters, I guess only J answered the call.) The rest responded in kind, dividing efforts to burn down the panthers.

It took a long time, mainly due to some missed rolls, the NPCs being a bit underequipped, and the panthers running all over the damn place. Luckily, while they seemed to hit often, they didn’t hit very hard, and only the warlock felt threatened, running through some bramble bushes to avoid combat. The children also ping-ponged around the battlefield, running to hide under various PCs’ feet and generally limiting actions. The panthers were eventually thinned and the PCs asked what was going on.

It appears the paladin, Dylan, and his wife Mars, the rogue, had split off from their caravan with their children, 15 and 9, to head to a rumored vault in the Glass Forest, which had been enchanted to prevent the Wanderlust. (The Wanderlust being a trait all former citizens of Atia are cursed with, that provokes them to pull up roots every six months and prevents civilization from returning to normal.) They had picked up a few orphans on their way, however, and are now a bit unwieldy. The PCs, both enticed by the prospect of a permanent home and overcome by a need to do good, decide to join them.

They travel for maybe half-a-day, getting to a hill by some trees. Mars was scouting over the hill and notes there’s an anomaly ahead. It appears part of the Elemental Chaos had just transposed itself onto the material plane, and some magma creatures were sulking about. They figure going around would put them behind, and the paladin, confident that his new travel companions can easily clean up, suggests they just barrel through.

Mars and the kids stay back, and the team + Dylan charge down the cliff. They quickly prove their competence in the easiest battle yet. Some good rolls, some easy manipulation, and a cloud of ice here and there dissipates the magma creatures. They stand around congratulating each other when they hear a noisy rumbling over the hill…

They climb back up the hill to see in the distance what appears to be a house on wheels. More accurately, various wagons strapped together with boards that eventually grown to such absurd proportions that it now takes four bulettes to pull it. When they see this bizarre moving fortress, a horn sounds, and a piece of the house detaches and flies towards them.

There’s a moment of confusion, then some conflicting plans of action. A couple of PCs, in their weakened state, decided that running is the best option, and head for the trees, but as they get moving, the paladin shouts that they aren’t leading whoever this is back to the children. The PCs curse, but oblige, realizing that yes, that can’t be allowed to happen, so they’ll just have to stand their ground. Once this is established, they get a good sight of just what kind of problem they have…

The floating chunk of house holds four devils, tall and ruddy orange. Their limbs are long and spindly, and there appears to be a natural hole through the left side of their chests. Their faces are blank except for a pair of blue eyes, and their hair, black with red highlights, were done up in braids, woven around their horns. These were bloodletters, monsters known for silent but unspeakable torture.

They dismounted their platform and ran straight at the party, and the warlock falls in approximately three seconds. To his (her?) utter dismay, after going down, he (she?) is teleported onto the platform itself. Naturally, there was panic. The cleric quickly used his healing word to get the warlock up, and she (he?) hopped off of there as quickly as possible.

The battle continued like this for a few turns. The players would go gung-ho, using their most powerful abilities and action points only to become frustrated when they missed, the leaders would try as hard as they could to keep everyone up, and when the bloodletters’ turn was up, everybody crossed their fingers. They did surround the rogue-like bloodletter and got him bloodied, but it was a hollow victory. A well-placed axe took out Dylan, the paladin, and having collected what they came for (a body), they made their exit. The players gave chase, but couldn’t keep up with the platform, and were getting too close to the moving house itself.

A little sullen, they hid until the house was out of vision, then went back to find Mars and the kids. They found her in the trees, along with a warforged bard merchant. They deliver the bad news, which she takes in relative stride, and after finding out that they just encountered the Blood Caravan, they decide that they’ve got a rescue mission on their hands. The bard, whose name is Mute, asserts that they will need supplies, and a lot of help. The scene closes with everyone trying to get a good night’s sleep.

Lessons learned: I was fully prepared to allow them to royally screw up this time around, but still found myself doing some prodding to make sure they would be a-ok; a bit burned, but fine. I’m not sure if I should be offering friendly advice or let them live with their decisions, no matter how deadly. Also, need to prepare NPC friendlies better. Either that or stop using friendly NPCs. I’m sure the player’s XP bars would appreciate it.