D&D Session #36: Consequences

We managed to fit a D&D session in between the Japan trip and PAX somehow.

This was one of those sessions that wasn't really long (<3 hours) with no real, pull-out the grid battles, yet it felt like a lot happened.

The giant creatures were approaching the village, and a group of orcs were approaching the partyat the end of the last session.

The party hailed the orcs, who began to unload the weapons from the spiders. Their leader, Yotsu, looked grateful to see everyone. Their job done, he gave everyone leave to take shelter in the village while his samurai dealt with the giants.

The elf, Sonny, took that advice and went into the village. Buck followed, with different priorities: last time they were there he and Tyriron had left a wad of old cheese filled with wine in the corner of a shop in town. This "cheese bomb," as they called it, was supposed to explode or something and just somehow ruin that shopkeeper's day (he and Buck had...disagreements).

Having an idea, though, Buck returned outside of the walls of the village to try to convince Yotsu to not engage the titans: he believed that the titans were a force of nature and, unless Yotsu knows what and where "the citadel" is, their best bet is to move out of the titans' way.

Yotsu saw some wisdom in this, but knew that most of his people wouldn't leave, even if destruction were imminent. So, he would at least attempt to fight these things first. And, if it all seemed for naught, he would gather those who would follow and retreat.

During this time, a group of orcs believing the giants to be allies had approached the titans with open arms. A titan kneeled down before one of these orcs, reached out a hand, and crushed it. The rest of the orcs, realizing their folly at last, began to retreat.

As Buck returned to the village, the samurai had begun to shoot volleys of arrows from their new elven bows. They did not seem to have much effect. The rest of the Hot Water Party continued to watch as arrow after arrow hit the titans, slowing them almost not at all. Even the cannons, used with great precision, only seemed to slow one of them down. At that point, Yotsu sounded the retreat.

Meanwhile, Buck visited the shopkeeper, who was busy gathering supplies for the troops. He was naturally suspicious of Buck but, not having the time or patience to deal with him, left the half-orc to "watch the shop" while the shopkeeper made his run.

Buck used this time to search the shop high and low, yet he could not find the "cheese bomb" anywhere. So, when the shopkeeper returned, the interrogation began. Apparently the shopkeeper had found the cheese bomb about a week ago and had thrown it away. That trash had since been brought outside of town to be burned.

The shopkeeper was quite forthcoming about the location of the town dump, which was southwest of town, away from the titans. So, wishing the shopkeeper the best of luck at not dying, Buck headed out toward the dump.

At that point, samurai were scrambling about the village, grabbing belongings and family that would agree to leave. Buck met up with Tyriron, and they headed for the dump together to search for their cheese bomb.

Meanwhile, Ere'Sat, John, and Akito searched the town for Sonny, who realized that perhaps the village wasn't the safest place. They met up with Zelda and the spiders, then followed Buck and Tyriron to the dump

Upon reaching the dump, Buck and Tyriron searched for a full 20 minutes before, against all odds, they found their cheese bomb, only slightly toasted. Certain that the cheese bomb was key to their survival, Buck took his small bird companion Buckle off of his shoulder and explained his plan to the little thing: that it must fly toward a titan and carry the cheese bomb up its nose. Buckle looked at the toasted cheese bomb, looked at Buck, then promptly flew away.

Plan A thwarted, John Freeman signaled to Ysbrydwyn, who had been flying above the village all this time in hawk form. The druid came down to them and listened to Buck's plan. She seemed hesitant, but finally agreed to fly the toasted cheese bomb up a titan's nose.

At this point, the titans had surrounded the village, punching through the walls. As Ysbrydwyn flew toward the nearest one, it swatted her out of the sky, sending her falling into the village, within the walls.

Alarmed at the loss of both their druid and their cheese bomb, the party quickly concocted a search and rescue plan. The village was burning, and visibility was low as John and Tyriron (riding Gently, the riding dog) entered the village. They were all invisible, thanks to John's magic, and they entered through the hole torn through the wall by the titan that hit Ysbrydwyn.

It was hard to see through the smoke clouding the town, but a careful search of the area just inside the walls revealed the toasted cheese bomb! Their druid companion was nowhere to be found, however.

One final, thorough search revealed that something small had been dragged away from the area. Tyriron found a small tuft of fur as well, which matched the fur of Ysbrydwyn's animal companion, Chewy. Though concerned for her safety and unsure if they should leave the fate of a bird-form druid in the hands of a large cat, they realized they couldn't afford to stay any longer.

As they turned to leave, Gently began to bark at something in their way. Large feet and legs appeared through the smoke, standing in their path. Though invisible and certain they could slip through between the titan's legs, Gently's barking was no doubt giving away their position.

John Freeman cast a spell to make it sounds like many dogs were barking all around, hoping to give them a chance to escape. However, as Tyriron and Gently ran under the titan, a hand descended upon the pair. Tyriron managed the jump free, but Gently was caught. They could no longer hear him barking.

Rescue plans and revenge plans raced through Tyriron and John's minds, but soon the gravity of the situation hit them full force: they had to run, now. Or they would die. Tearfully, they said a silent farewell to Gently and escaped the burning village.

They met up with the rest of the group and Yotsu's band, at the edge of the road heading south through the jungle. Sonny, Zelda, and Yotsu's crew would head south, away from the titans. Meanwhile, the party would head toward Kirtan's ship, which brought them to this realm. Unfortunately, their only communication with Kirtan was through a rune on Gently's ear, so they couldn't call for an evacuation: they'd have to reach the ship on foot.

Unfortunately, the path leading to the ship was past the titans, and now that they noticed them, every movement in the jungle might be a titan. The party's spiders (Webdings and Arial Black) seem hesitant to go anywhere near the titans, and finding a way around seems impossible. What will become of them?

A faithful companion for a toasted cheese bomb. Was it worth the trade?

MVP for this session was definitely Buck, who convinced Yotsu to abandon the village if things got too dire. Also, when Ysbrydwyn disappeared into the village, he recognized that it was too risky to go into the village and save the toasted cheese ball. He couldn't stop his fellow party members from going in, but he still gets points for knowing when to cut his losses.

Finally, a huge thanks to Heidi for playing with us this far! She has decided to leave the campaign for all the right reasons, and though we'll certainly miss her, I respect her decision to resign. Farewell, and I hope Ysbrydwyn's ambiguous departure was satisfying~