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"Retake the Island" - Concluded!
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 2856581" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><em>The following chapter is considered by my players to be the single most fun game night in our group’s twenty-four year history. </em> </p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Chapter Twenty-three, “The Jeep Battle“, August 7th, 1018, 6:30 P.M</strong></p><p></p><p>The high level group concludes that they have too many people for the one bag of holding, and do not want Serita to have to use up three of the limited teleports from her ring to get them all there. Mojo reminds them that one of Alton’s Jeeps is nearby, and that he knows how to drive it, having acquired that skill during his stay on the technologically advanced world of Carvel. The group heads over to Alton’s house and gas up the vehicle. Mojo gets in the driver’s seat as Narg and Serita cram into the passenger seat. Timothy and Razou stand behind the two seats, holding onto the roll bar. Freyland, Lannon and Fiona get into the back, and Kale stands atop the rear hitch behind it, demonstrating his “surfing” skills. The tied and bound unconscious prisoner is lashed to the hood, and off they go.</p><p></p><p>They head through the mile-long cave at approximately forty miles per hour. They discuss leaving the jeep by the mouth of the cave, and continuing on foot, but Mojo has other ideas. He guns the engine just as they approach the cave exit. Bouncing and bumping at a speed far exceeding any attempt at safety, the Jeep goes barreling down the side of the mountain, with Mojo only occasionally tapping the brakes to slow them down. At one point during this, the prisoner regains consciousness, only to faint at the sight of his current predicament. By the time they reach the base of the mountain most of the party are glad that it had been a while since they last ate, as it takes a few minutes for their stomachs to settle. </p><p></p><p>Stopping only briefly, Mojo has the Jeep spin out in the dirt along the road. He floors it for the ride the remaining four miles to town. He discusses driving straight into the tavern at top speed, but the rest of the party strongly suggests stopping first to find the other team that was to meet them there. “No way,” says Mojo, “we have the element of surprise, lets use it.” Fiona points out that they don’t know exactly where the enemies are at the tavern, so the “bull in the china shop” approach might not be best. Mojo makes no sign of slowing down. Narg says to him “Mojo, come-on, what about the other group.” “Let them get their own Jeep,” is Mojo’s reply. </p><p></p><p>Eventually, Mojo reluctantly listens to the others, and slows down as they approach the tavern. He stops the Jeep a few hundred yards away from the building, far enough off that the enemy guards did not hear the vehicle approach. Blip and her group, being a lot closer, heard the distinctive sound of the Jeep’s engine and head over to investigate. Those in the Jeep see Aradyn, Blip, Fiona, Jaime and Kharole approach them, and climb out of the vehicle. Seeing Jaime and Kharole, but not five of the others who had gone with that team, Narg asks “What did you do, make a trade?” “And a bad one at that,” comments Mojo. </p><p></p><p>“I’ll let him explain,” says Blip, as she finally empties Immy out of his bag of holding. Immy starts to tell them all how he botched the plan. “How could you screw up Get’Em?” is Mojo’s comment. Immy summarizes what has happened, the party’s only relief being hearing that the others were captured rather than killed. Blip points out that the enemy has threatened to kill the hostages at the first sign of another attack on the building. It is also mentioned that Jerry is free, that he stayed behind to watch the building. “Good,” says Narg, “It’s probably better that he not be here in case we decide that we have to burn down his tavern and inn.” It is pointed out that neither Jamie or Kharole are in any shape for a fight, and should get some rest. “Since when has Kharole ever needed to rest?” comments Mojo. </p><p></p><p>Luekia and Lannon decide to go scout out the building, staying clear of the hobgoblin and bugbear guards at each of the exterior doors. They make their way up to the tavern roof, and over to the second floor of the inn. Once there, they climb through a window. Lannon invisibly checks out the hallway, finding bugbear guards at the door by the staircase as well as the doors to the master suite at the end of the hall (four interconnected rooms). </p><p></p><p>They head back outside the building, and unlatch the shutters to these four rooms, peeking inside to see both the hostages and enemy adventurers in these rooms. They return to inform the others. Luekia confirms the identity of four of them from the previous tavern battle, the fighter Cronin, the half-ogre Gorthe, the assassin Albert and cleric Kingsley. The other fighter and the mage are not recognized, and it is assumed they were assigned here as replacements for the three killed or captured in the prior battle.</p><p></p><p>A horse approaches on the road, ridden by the still invisible Jerry. He tells them of his encounter with Lono's team, and sending them off to Phormosah’s house. They ask about any secret doors built in and around his tavern and inn. He hesitates for only a minute and then tells them of three secret doors from his room in the back of the tavern. They ask about tunnels or other ways to sneak in, with he says has never been important to have before, but he’ll make it his next priority construction job. They decide to send Jerry inside to check out the inside of the tavern via his secret doors. </p><p></p><p>Jerry returns to tell them that the interior of the tavern is filled with hobgoblins and bugbears, over a dozen of each, mostly asleep. He adds that they appear to have been spending a lot of time drinking. Narg comments, “speaking of that, did you bring back any?” Jerry produces two bottles of 180-proof whisky. Narg starts to consume one when Jerry comments “I actually brought them to use as Molotov-cocktails.” They give some to Kale, who finds it a bit strong. </p><p></p><p>The group debates the merits of rescuing the prisoners now, or waiting until later. It is pointed out the it would be good to get back Blake, as “he is good at getting away with stuff and doesn’t get caught.” “He’s like an anti-Ryan,” comments Mojo. (The player doesn’t know whether to take this as a compliment or an insult, as both Blake and Ryan are his playing characters.)</p><p></p><p>The group decides to execute a three-prong assault on the Tavern. A group comprised of those with thieving skills thieves: Blip, Immy, Jerry, Lannon and Luekia, will get into position outside of windows of the 2nd floor of the inn. A second group: Aradyn, Narg, Mojo, Razou, Serita, and Timothy will create a distraction in the tavern, to hopefully draw some or all of the enemy adventurers away from the prisoners. A third group: Freyland and Jaime, will serve as support troops for the distraction group, helping to initially clear the front door and then following-up with wounded and stragglers. Fiona, Kale and Kharole will stay behind at a rendezvous point to guard the prisoner, and protect any hostages rescued from the Tavern.</p><p></p><p>They discuss using the Jeep for the tavern assault, to which Narg tells Jerry “Let me put it this way, I’d start talking to door salesmen if I were you.” They decide to construct some sort of wooden battering ram for the front of the Jeep, as Alton will be very upset if they break the vehicle, since he lost his other Jeep to a fireball two days earlier. They also take the time to remove the glass windshield and mirrors, which will be nearly impossible to replace. Mojo comments about this being the first time they ever entered a tavern violently, although that is often how they leave them.</p><p></p><p>Mojo gets behind the wheel. Serita takes position next to him as a back-up driver in case Mojo winds up unconscious, since Alton has given her some rudimentary driving instruction [Editor’s note- doesn’t the combination of Druids and cars appear to be an inherent contradiction?]. Aradyn takes position in the passengers seat. Narg stands right behind the seats, holding onto the Jeep’s rollbar. The two clerics hunker down in the back. Mojo decides to drive back away from the tavern an eighth of a mile, in order to have room to get up to a really good “ramming speed”. </p><p></p><p>The thief group takes position. Using his Slippers of Spider Climbing, Lannon invisibly positions himself outside a second floor window on the main street. Immy activates his giant fly, and hovers outside of a window of the next room. Standing on the tavern roof, Luekia and Jerry position outside of the third room and Blip outside of the forth room. Below, both Freyland and Jaime take position at the edge of the woods, approximately eighty feet away from the rear double-doors to the tavern, which is guarded by a pair of bugbears.</p><p></p><p>Mojo floors the jeep, accelerating up to a speed of ninety-five miles an hour. As they bump and rattle down the dirt road, Serita reminds him “The goals is to kill them, not us.” “Don’t be such a worry-wart,” answers Mojo, “I know exactly what I’m doing.” Narg rolls his eyes at that comment. </p><p></p><p>As the Jeep begins to near the tavern, the two bugbears guarding the door hear it in the distance. Jaime and Freyland use that as a signal, and begin to fire their distance weapons (slings and arrows) into the bugbears. By the time the Jeep approaches the door, one bugbear is down, and the other is very wounded. Both clerics time their Prayer spells to kick in just prior to the vehicle’s entry into the building.</p><p></p><p>Mojo decides to use the wounded bugbear in from of him as “padding”, catching him between the battering ram and door, as the Jeep goes smashing through. Narg’s player begins throwing out lines from the “Blues Brothers” movie, from the scene where they drive through the shopping mall.</p><p></p><p>Ten feet from the door is a long table, five feet wide and thirty feet long, on which four bugbears and two hobgoblins are sleeping. The jeep’s collision with it sends the table and its occupants flying back into the southeastern corner of the room, and onto another table of sleeping monsters. Mojo then runs down a hobgoblin that was standing in the center of the room, and Narg jabs his Nargblade out just before the Jeep reaches a standing bugbear, letting its momentum create the slashing action. Aradyn stands up and fires arrows into bugbears in the far corner, Serita helping to steady him. In the rooms on the second floor of the inn, the enemy adventurers begin to exit the rooms to investigate the loud crashing sounds below. </p><p></p><p>Mojo turns the Jeep towards another table, and then sharply turns the wheel, sending the Jeep into a spin, to stop before hitting the far wall. This table is struck at a forty-mile-an-hour impact, with similar effect to the first table hit. Mojo hits the brakes, as the Jeep comes to a stop after hitting a third table, knocking out the two table legs on that side, with the three hobgoblins on top of it sliding beneath the Jeep's tires.</p><p></p><p>Jerry and Luekia enter the first inn room vacated by the enemy adventurers, being careful to not be seen through the doorways by the other enemy adventurers in the two adjacent rooms. They quickly but quietly begin moving four ship crewmembers into the bag of holding. The only enemy now in the adjacent room with Blake and three of the tavern employees is the half-ogre, who had been sleeping. He awakens, and starts to put on his armor. Lannon deduces that it would be best to take out this opponent before he gets on his magical platemail, so moves in through the window for a backstab.</p><p></p><p>By now all remaining monsters in the tavern have awakened. The first two enemy adventurers, a Fighter and Cleric, enter the tavern from the inn door in the northwest corner. Mojo makes this his next destination, and floors the Jeep, finishing off the hobgoblins beneath the vehicle. Between him and the corner of the room is a table with two bugbears, who do not have time to move before the Jeep strikes, sending one flying and the other beneath the wheels. This gives the cleric time to move back through the doorway into the inn, but the fighter is hit full-force, and pinned between the Jeep’s battering ram, and a now splintered table in the corner. </p><p></p><p>Upstairs, Lannon backstabs his foe for fifteen points, followed by a dagger thrust for another six. This causes the half-ogre to turn around, rather angry. As the fighter reaches for his two-handed sword, Lannon hops back out the window. The half-ogre moves over to the window, to the doorway to the next room. Luekia makes a hasty move to keep from being seen by the half-ogre, as Jerry jumps under the bed. </p><p></p><p>The now stopped Jeep is near the bar, on top of which several armed hobgoblins are now standing. Narg jumps onto the hood of the Jeep and then onto the bar, sword out, killing a hobgoblin while also clearing a space for himself to land. Mojo notices that the wounded fighter in front of the Jeep is still alive, so backs up five feet, then floors it into the wall to finish him off (damaging one of the vehicle’s front fenders in the process, sorry Guy) . Mojo scans the room, seeing that two tables of monsters still remain between him and the southeast front doors, so decides to head that way.</p><p></p><p>The room that Immy is outside of is finally vacated of enemies, so he enters and starts putting the four tavern employees into his bag of holding. Blip also is now able to enter the room, although she can still spot the back of a bugbear in the main hallway, so cautiously enters and calls over for Luekia to help “bag” the remaining crew members.</p><p></p><p>Narg is having fun atop the bar, cutting down his opponents, as Jamie and Freyland enter the building. Jaime starts to target monsters still standing, while Freyland checks out the crumpled bodies along the wall, making sure that they are all dead. They watch as Mojo splinters the remaining tables, and several more foes, this time accelerating rather than braking as he hits the front door full force, just as the bugbear guards outside of the door on that side begin to enter the tavern to investigate what is going on inside. One of these bugbears is run down, while the other gets caught onto the battering ram. Mojo drives straight across the street and into a tree, sandwiching the bugbear in the process. He then backs up, and accelerates towards the other pair of bugbears guarded doors in front of the building.</p><p></p><p>Upstairs, two bugbears spot Blip and Luekia rescuing the last ship’s crewmember, and charge into the room. Blip and Luekia make a hasty retreat out the window, with one bugbear following. Two rooms over, Lannon sneaks back into the room, and cuts the bonds on Blake, and them moves in for another backstab on the half-ogre, which is now nearly dressed. Lannon hits, but then gets cornered by the enemy fighter. Jerry comes to his rescue, moving into the room, and backstabbing the half-ogre. Blake starts to cut loose the other prisoners. A bugbear rushes in to help the half-ogre, and Lannon engages him in combat, leaving a hopelessly outmatched Jerry to fight the half-ogre by himself.</p><p></p><p>On the return trip into the tavern, Mojo hits one of the two bugbears that had been guarding the other doors. The second bugbear becomes the target of arrows from both Aradyn and Jamie. By now, Narg has eliminated all of the foes on the bar, and two other hobgoblins that had been behind the bar have surrendered. Mojo notices one table of foes remains, twenty feet away behind him in the northeast corner of the building, so throws the Jeep into reverse and drives into it. These three monsters, being hit at a slower speed than the others, are only wounded, so the Jeep’s occupants all exit the vehicle and deal with them. Deciding that Jamie and Freyland can clean up the rest, Narg charges towards the stairs through the door into the inn, calling for the other five from the Jeep to follow.</p><p></p><p>Luekia and Blip make it back to the woods with their full bag of holding. Immy arrives outside of the window where the battle is taking place, and Blake helps put two of the hostages into Immy’s bag, filling it. Blake then climbs down from the window, and follows Immy to the rendezvous point. Back in the room, the remaining hostage, the simple-minded tavern bouncer named ‘Yeah‘, goes to tavern owner Jerry’s assistance after Jerry yells for him to “Come save the boss!” Seeing no other weapon at hand, Yeah picks up the bed frame, and hits the half-ogre with it. The half-ogre swings at Yeah, as Jerry gives Yeah a “follow me” gesture, and then runs into the adjacent room, and hides. </p><p></p><p>Narg starts to bound up the stairs towards the second floor of the inn, as the door opens and a bugbear charges down at him. He hits with the Nargblade, which cuts off the creature's leg, causing it to tumble down the stairs. Narg manages to dodge out of the way of the falling monster, but it knocks those behind him back down to the base of the stairs. </p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Lannon finally finishes with the bugbear he was fighting and rushes out that door of the room into the hallway, only to find himself looking at a corridor filled with four enemy adventurers: a fighter, mage, cleric and thief. Fortunately for him, all four are looking away from him towards the staircase. Lannon moves in for a backstab on the nearest one, the thief, but is seen before he can reach him. </p><p></p><p>The mage moves to the top of the stairs, and hits Narg with multiple Magic Missiles. This does not deter Narg, and he continues charging up the stairs, causing the Mage to move back, and the fighter Cronin, in full plate mail, to move into position blocking the doorway. Narg and the fighter exchange blows, both connecting for much damage on the other. Mojo throws his hammer, missing for a change, and a player comments “He’s loosing his touch when he’s not wielding a Jeep.” Serita uses her boots of speed to hurry up the stairs, and casts a Warp Wood spell onto the floorboards beneath the fighter’s feet. The board bends, causing Cronin to fall, as Serita casts a now-needed cure onto Narg. </p><p></p><p>Back in the far room, Yeah hits the half-ogre again with the bed frame. The ogre swings his sword, smashing the frame in two. Yeah decides to follow Jerry’s advice, and rushes into the next room. The rather angry half-ogre follows and becomes a sitting duck for a backstab by the hidden Jerry, hitting for twenty points. The enemy is dazed, so Jerry uses the round to push Yeah out the window to the tavern roof to escape. Yeah jumps down, as Jerry rushes into the next room. The half-ogre is confused as to which one to pursue, and calls out that they are both cowards. Jerry yells back “You know it buddy, why don’t you go pick on somebody your own size.” This enrages the fighter further, who charges after Jerry. Jerry slams the door shut in the half-ogres face and locks it, then runs to towards the door to the hallway. The half-ogre heads back to the room he was sleeping in, to finish gathering his things.</p><p></p><p>Lannon engages the thief in battle, only to have the enemy cleric also move in to reinforce him. At the other end of the hall, the enemy fighter stands back up, with Narg bounding up to the top step yelling “You are not welcome on my island!” Narg swings the Nargblade for a severing blow on the man’s leg, cutting it clean off. The enemy leader Cronin falls, giving Serita a chance to bound up into the hallway, and cast a Faerie Fire on the other enemies. Meanwhile, the enemy mage places his hand on Narg’s shoulder and casts a Polymorph Other spell, which Narg successfully saves from. Mojo and Aradyn make their way to the top of the stairs.</p><p></p><p>The enemy cleric Kingsley decides the adventurers at the staircase are a greater threat than Lannon, and starts to move back in that direction. Jerry enters the hallway, which distracts the enemy assassin Albert. Lannon breaks off his attack on the assassin, hitting the cleric instead to prevent a Hold Person spell from getting off. Of course, turning your back on an assassin is not always the wisest course of action, and Lannon is successfully hits him for a significant number of hit points. </p><p></p><p>In the suite of rooms nearby, the half-ogre quickly searches for any remaining hostages, discovering them to all be gone. He then has to deal with the floor falling out from under him, as Immy, from outside of the window creates an illusion. The Half-ogre grabs onto the windowsill to keep from falling to the first floor. He ties to pull himself up further, and falls. Only then does he discover that he is still on the second floor. Immy flies off..</p><p></p><p>The fighter Cronin shows incredible fortitude, continuing to fight in spite of the severed limb, and mutters “I’ve had worse,” under his breath. Narg ignores him, leaving him to Mojo, and charges at the mage ten feet away. The mage gets off a Hold Person spell, which only manages to affect Aradyn. Serita assists Mojo in finishing off the fighter, then she moves over to break Aradyn out of the hold.</p><p></p><p>Narg gets over to the mage, getting in two hits. On the second attack, Narg’s player rolls a natural “20” which is a severing blow, which then rolls up to be a decapitation, thus ending the threat from the mage. Timothy makes it to the top of the stairs, and casts a Hold Person on both the enemy cleric and assassin, neither of which make their saves. </p><p></p><p>As Narg searches the mage, the rest of the group heads over to tie up the two held enemies. With impeccable timing, the half-ogre fighter decides to head out into the now quiet hallway, and opens the door right next to where Jerry is standing, with the other six Silver Moon party members still fifteen to twenty feet away. As the half-ogre begins to jab his massive sword into the gnome, Jerry’s immediate reaction is to yell out to the others “Whoever kills him first I’ll rip up your bar tab.” </p><p></p><p>The enemy’s two-handed sword strikes downward, the blade missing Jerry’s face by millimeters, and pinning the gnome’s beard to the floor. Just then, Mojo’s hammer and one of Aradyn’s arrows strike the half-ogre, followed by a dagger thrown by Lannon, a second arrow from Aradyn, and a hammer thrown by Timothy. Not wanting to be left out, Serita rushes up to the fighter with her boots of speed, becoming the target of the half-ogre’s fists, which she effortlessly ducks under. She then hits him with her scimitar, just as two more of Aradyn’s arrows, Mojo’s hammer, and Timothy’s staff find their target, dropping the enemy to the ground. Serita, Mojo and Lannon each hit him one more time for good measure.</p><p></p><p>Aradyn pulls the sword up from the floor, freeing a very grateful Jerry, who declares the bar tabs for all of them to be negated. Mojo comments “Good, since that will include all of the damage we just did to your tavern.” “How much damage?” asks Jerry. “You don’t want to know,” Timothy answers.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 2856581, member: 8530"] [I]The following chapter is considered by my players to be the single most fun game night in our group’s twenty-four year history. [/I] [B]Chapter Twenty-three, “The Jeep Battle“, August 7th, 1018, 6:30 P.M[/B] The high level group concludes that they have too many people for the one bag of holding, and do not want Serita to have to use up three of the limited teleports from her ring to get them all there. Mojo reminds them that one of Alton’s Jeeps is nearby, and that he knows how to drive it, having acquired that skill during his stay on the technologically advanced world of Carvel. The group heads over to Alton’s house and gas up the vehicle. Mojo gets in the driver’s seat as Narg and Serita cram into the passenger seat. Timothy and Razou stand behind the two seats, holding onto the roll bar. Freyland, Lannon and Fiona get into the back, and Kale stands atop the rear hitch behind it, demonstrating his “surfing” skills. The tied and bound unconscious prisoner is lashed to the hood, and off they go. They head through the mile-long cave at approximately forty miles per hour. They discuss leaving the jeep by the mouth of the cave, and continuing on foot, but Mojo has other ideas. He guns the engine just as they approach the cave exit. Bouncing and bumping at a speed far exceeding any attempt at safety, the Jeep goes barreling down the side of the mountain, with Mojo only occasionally tapping the brakes to slow them down. At one point during this, the prisoner regains consciousness, only to faint at the sight of his current predicament. By the time they reach the base of the mountain most of the party are glad that it had been a while since they last ate, as it takes a few minutes for their stomachs to settle. Stopping only briefly, Mojo has the Jeep spin out in the dirt along the road. He floors it for the ride the remaining four miles to town. He discusses driving straight into the tavern at top speed, but the rest of the party strongly suggests stopping first to find the other team that was to meet them there. “No way,” says Mojo, “we have the element of surprise, lets use it.” Fiona points out that they don’t know exactly where the enemies are at the tavern, so the “bull in the china shop” approach might not be best. Mojo makes no sign of slowing down. Narg says to him “Mojo, come-on, what about the other group.” “Let them get their own Jeep,” is Mojo’s reply. Eventually, Mojo reluctantly listens to the others, and slows down as they approach the tavern. He stops the Jeep a few hundred yards away from the building, far enough off that the enemy guards did not hear the vehicle approach. Blip and her group, being a lot closer, heard the distinctive sound of the Jeep’s engine and head over to investigate. Those in the Jeep see Aradyn, Blip, Fiona, Jaime and Kharole approach them, and climb out of the vehicle. Seeing Jaime and Kharole, but not five of the others who had gone with that team, Narg asks “What did you do, make a trade?” “And a bad one at that,” comments Mojo. “I’ll let him explain,” says Blip, as she finally empties Immy out of his bag of holding. Immy starts to tell them all how he botched the plan. “How could you screw up Get’Em?” is Mojo’s comment. Immy summarizes what has happened, the party’s only relief being hearing that the others were captured rather than killed. Blip points out that the enemy has threatened to kill the hostages at the first sign of another attack on the building. It is also mentioned that Jerry is free, that he stayed behind to watch the building. “Good,” says Narg, “It’s probably better that he not be here in case we decide that we have to burn down his tavern and inn.” It is pointed out that neither Jamie or Kharole are in any shape for a fight, and should get some rest. “Since when has Kharole ever needed to rest?” comments Mojo. Luekia and Lannon decide to go scout out the building, staying clear of the hobgoblin and bugbear guards at each of the exterior doors. They make their way up to the tavern roof, and over to the second floor of the inn. Once there, they climb through a window. Lannon invisibly checks out the hallway, finding bugbear guards at the door by the staircase as well as the doors to the master suite at the end of the hall (four interconnected rooms). They head back outside the building, and unlatch the shutters to these four rooms, peeking inside to see both the hostages and enemy adventurers in these rooms. They return to inform the others. Luekia confirms the identity of four of them from the previous tavern battle, the fighter Cronin, the half-ogre Gorthe, the assassin Albert and cleric Kingsley. The other fighter and the mage are not recognized, and it is assumed they were assigned here as replacements for the three killed or captured in the prior battle. A horse approaches on the road, ridden by the still invisible Jerry. He tells them of his encounter with Lono's team, and sending them off to Phormosah’s house. They ask about any secret doors built in and around his tavern and inn. He hesitates for only a minute and then tells them of three secret doors from his room in the back of the tavern. They ask about tunnels or other ways to sneak in, with he says has never been important to have before, but he’ll make it his next priority construction job. They decide to send Jerry inside to check out the inside of the tavern via his secret doors. Jerry returns to tell them that the interior of the tavern is filled with hobgoblins and bugbears, over a dozen of each, mostly asleep. He adds that they appear to have been spending a lot of time drinking. Narg comments, “speaking of that, did you bring back any?” Jerry produces two bottles of 180-proof whisky. Narg starts to consume one when Jerry comments “I actually brought them to use as Molotov-cocktails.” They give some to Kale, who finds it a bit strong. The group debates the merits of rescuing the prisoners now, or waiting until later. It is pointed out the it would be good to get back Blake, as “he is good at getting away with stuff and doesn’t get caught.” “He’s like an anti-Ryan,” comments Mojo. (The player doesn’t know whether to take this as a compliment or an insult, as both Blake and Ryan are his playing characters.) The group decides to execute a three-prong assault on the Tavern. A group comprised of those with thieving skills thieves: Blip, Immy, Jerry, Lannon and Luekia, will get into position outside of windows of the 2nd floor of the inn. A second group: Aradyn, Narg, Mojo, Razou, Serita, and Timothy will create a distraction in the tavern, to hopefully draw some or all of the enemy adventurers away from the prisoners. A third group: Freyland and Jaime, will serve as support troops for the distraction group, helping to initially clear the front door and then following-up with wounded and stragglers. Fiona, Kale and Kharole will stay behind at a rendezvous point to guard the prisoner, and protect any hostages rescued from the Tavern. They discuss using the Jeep for the tavern assault, to which Narg tells Jerry “Let me put it this way, I’d start talking to door salesmen if I were you.” They decide to construct some sort of wooden battering ram for the front of the Jeep, as Alton will be very upset if they break the vehicle, since he lost his other Jeep to a fireball two days earlier. They also take the time to remove the glass windshield and mirrors, which will be nearly impossible to replace. Mojo comments about this being the first time they ever entered a tavern violently, although that is often how they leave them. Mojo gets behind the wheel. Serita takes position next to him as a back-up driver in case Mojo winds up unconscious, since Alton has given her some rudimentary driving instruction [Editor’s note- doesn’t the combination of Druids and cars appear to be an inherent contradiction?]. Aradyn takes position in the passengers seat. Narg stands right behind the seats, holding onto the Jeep’s rollbar. The two clerics hunker down in the back. Mojo decides to drive back away from the tavern an eighth of a mile, in order to have room to get up to a really good “ramming speed”. The thief group takes position. Using his Slippers of Spider Climbing, Lannon invisibly positions himself outside a second floor window on the main street. Immy activates his giant fly, and hovers outside of a window of the next room. Standing on the tavern roof, Luekia and Jerry position outside of the third room and Blip outside of the forth room. Below, both Freyland and Jaime take position at the edge of the woods, approximately eighty feet away from the rear double-doors to the tavern, which is guarded by a pair of bugbears. Mojo floors the jeep, accelerating up to a speed of ninety-five miles an hour. As they bump and rattle down the dirt road, Serita reminds him “The goals is to kill them, not us.” “Don’t be such a worry-wart,” answers Mojo, “I know exactly what I’m doing.” Narg rolls his eyes at that comment. As the Jeep begins to near the tavern, the two bugbears guarding the door hear it in the distance. Jaime and Freyland use that as a signal, and begin to fire their distance weapons (slings and arrows) into the bugbears. By the time the Jeep approaches the door, one bugbear is down, and the other is very wounded. Both clerics time their Prayer spells to kick in just prior to the vehicle’s entry into the building. Mojo decides to use the wounded bugbear in from of him as “padding”, catching him between the battering ram and door, as the Jeep goes smashing through. Narg’s player begins throwing out lines from the “Blues Brothers” movie, from the scene where they drive through the shopping mall. Ten feet from the door is a long table, five feet wide and thirty feet long, on which four bugbears and two hobgoblins are sleeping. The jeep’s collision with it sends the table and its occupants flying back into the southeastern corner of the room, and onto another table of sleeping monsters. Mojo then runs down a hobgoblin that was standing in the center of the room, and Narg jabs his Nargblade out just before the Jeep reaches a standing bugbear, letting its momentum create the slashing action. Aradyn stands up and fires arrows into bugbears in the far corner, Serita helping to steady him. In the rooms on the second floor of the inn, the enemy adventurers begin to exit the rooms to investigate the loud crashing sounds below. Mojo turns the Jeep towards another table, and then sharply turns the wheel, sending the Jeep into a spin, to stop before hitting the far wall. This table is struck at a forty-mile-an-hour impact, with similar effect to the first table hit. Mojo hits the brakes, as the Jeep comes to a stop after hitting a third table, knocking out the two table legs on that side, with the three hobgoblins on top of it sliding beneath the Jeep's tires. Jerry and Luekia enter the first inn room vacated by the enemy adventurers, being careful to not be seen through the doorways by the other enemy adventurers in the two adjacent rooms. They quickly but quietly begin moving four ship crewmembers into the bag of holding. The only enemy now in the adjacent room with Blake and three of the tavern employees is the half-ogre, who had been sleeping. He awakens, and starts to put on his armor. Lannon deduces that it would be best to take out this opponent before he gets on his magical platemail, so moves in through the window for a backstab. By now all remaining monsters in the tavern have awakened. The first two enemy adventurers, a Fighter and Cleric, enter the tavern from the inn door in the northwest corner. Mojo makes this his next destination, and floors the Jeep, finishing off the hobgoblins beneath the vehicle. Between him and the corner of the room is a table with two bugbears, who do not have time to move before the Jeep strikes, sending one flying and the other beneath the wheels. This gives the cleric time to move back through the doorway into the inn, but the fighter is hit full-force, and pinned between the Jeep’s battering ram, and a now splintered table in the corner. Upstairs, Lannon backstabs his foe for fifteen points, followed by a dagger thrust for another six. This causes the half-ogre to turn around, rather angry. As the fighter reaches for his two-handed sword, Lannon hops back out the window. The half-ogre moves over to the window, to the doorway to the next room. Luekia makes a hasty move to keep from being seen by the half-ogre, as Jerry jumps under the bed. The now stopped Jeep is near the bar, on top of which several armed hobgoblins are now standing. Narg jumps onto the hood of the Jeep and then onto the bar, sword out, killing a hobgoblin while also clearing a space for himself to land. Mojo notices that the wounded fighter in front of the Jeep is still alive, so backs up five feet, then floors it into the wall to finish him off (damaging one of the vehicle’s front fenders in the process, sorry Guy) . Mojo scans the room, seeing that two tables of monsters still remain between him and the southeast front doors, so decides to head that way. The room that Immy is outside of is finally vacated of enemies, so he enters and starts putting the four tavern employees into his bag of holding. Blip also is now able to enter the room, although she can still spot the back of a bugbear in the main hallway, so cautiously enters and calls over for Luekia to help “bag” the remaining crew members. Narg is having fun atop the bar, cutting down his opponents, as Jamie and Freyland enter the building. Jaime starts to target monsters still standing, while Freyland checks out the crumpled bodies along the wall, making sure that they are all dead. They watch as Mojo splinters the remaining tables, and several more foes, this time accelerating rather than braking as he hits the front door full force, just as the bugbear guards outside of the door on that side begin to enter the tavern to investigate what is going on inside. One of these bugbears is run down, while the other gets caught onto the battering ram. Mojo drives straight across the street and into a tree, sandwiching the bugbear in the process. He then backs up, and accelerates towards the other pair of bugbears guarded doors in front of the building. Upstairs, two bugbears spot Blip and Luekia rescuing the last ship’s crewmember, and charge into the room. Blip and Luekia make a hasty retreat out the window, with one bugbear following. Two rooms over, Lannon sneaks back into the room, and cuts the bonds on Blake, and them moves in for another backstab on the half-ogre, which is now nearly dressed. Lannon hits, but then gets cornered by the enemy fighter. Jerry comes to his rescue, moving into the room, and backstabbing the half-ogre. Blake starts to cut loose the other prisoners. A bugbear rushes in to help the half-ogre, and Lannon engages him in combat, leaving a hopelessly outmatched Jerry to fight the half-ogre by himself. On the return trip into the tavern, Mojo hits one of the two bugbears that had been guarding the other doors. The second bugbear becomes the target of arrows from both Aradyn and Jamie. By now, Narg has eliminated all of the foes on the bar, and two other hobgoblins that had been behind the bar have surrendered. Mojo notices one table of foes remains, twenty feet away behind him in the northeast corner of the building, so throws the Jeep into reverse and drives into it. These three monsters, being hit at a slower speed than the others, are only wounded, so the Jeep’s occupants all exit the vehicle and deal with them. Deciding that Jamie and Freyland can clean up the rest, Narg charges towards the stairs through the door into the inn, calling for the other five from the Jeep to follow. Luekia and Blip make it back to the woods with their full bag of holding. Immy arrives outside of the window where the battle is taking place, and Blake helps put two of the hostages into Immy’s bag, filling it. Blake then climbs down from the window, and follows Immy to the rendezvous point. Back in the room, the remaining hostage, the simple-minded tavern bouncer named ‘Yeah‘, goes to tavern owner Jerry’s assistance after Jerry yells for him to “Come save the boss!” Seeing no other weapon at hand, Yeah picks up the bed frame, and hits the half-ogre with it. The half-ogre swings at Yeah, as Jerry gives Yeah a “follow me” gesture, and then runs into the adjacent room, and hides. Narg starts to bound up the stairs towards the second floor of the inn, as the door opens and a bugbear charges down at him. He hits with the Nargblade, which cuts off the creature's leg, causing it to tumble down the stairs. Narg manages to dodge out of the way of the falling monster, but it knocks those behind him back down to the base of the stairs. Meanwhile, Lannon finally finishes with the bugbear he was fighting and rushes out that door of the room into the hallway, only to find himself looking at a corridor filled with four enemy adventurers: a fighter, mage, cleric and thief. Fortunately for him, all four are looking away from him towards the staircase. Lannon moves in for a backstab on the nearest one, the thief, but is seen before he can reach him. The mage moves to the top of the stairs, and hits Narg with multiple Magic Missiles. This does not deter Narg, and he continues charging up the stairs, causing the Mage to move back, and the fighter Cronin, in full plate mail, to move into position blocking the doorway. Narg and the fighter exchange blows, both connecting for much damage on the other. Mojo throws his hammer, missing for a change, and a player comments “He’s loosing his touch when he’s not wielding a Jeep.” Serita uses her boots of speed to hurry up the stairs, and casts a Warp Wood spell onto the floorboards beneath the fighter’s feet. The board bends, causing Cronin to fall, as Serita casts a now-needed cure onto Narg. Back in the far room, Yeah hits the half-ogre again with the bed frame. The ogre swings his sword, smashing the frame in two. Yeah decides to follow Jerry’s advice, and rushes into the next room. The rather angry half-ogre follows and becomes a sitting duck for a backstab by the hidden Jerry, hitting for twenty points. The enemy is dazed, so Jerry uses the round to push Yeah out the window to the tavern roof to escape. Yeah jumps down, as Jerry rushes into the next room. The half-ogre is confused as to which one to pursue, and calls out that they are both cowards. Jerry yells back “You know it buddy, why don’t you go pick on somebody your own size.” This enrages the fighter further, who charges after Jerry. Jerry slams the door shut in the half-ogres face and locks it, then runs to towards the door to the hallway. The half-ogre heads back to the room he was sleeping in, to finish gathering his things. Lannon engages the thief in battle, only to have the enemy cleric also move in to reinforce him. At the other end of the hall, the enemy fighter stands back up, with Narg bounding up to the top step yelling “You are not welcome on my island!” Narg swings the Nargblade for a severing blow on the man’s leg, cutting it clean off. The enemy leader Cronin falls, giving Serita a chance to bound up into the hallway, and cast a Faerie Fire on the other enemies. Meanwhile, the enemy mage places his hand on Narg’s shoulder and casts a Polymorph Other spell, which Narg successfully saves from. Mojo and Aradyn make their way to the top of the stairs. The enemy cleric Kingsley decides the adventurers at the staircase are a greater threat than Lannon, and starts to move back in that direction. Jerry enters the hallway, which distracts the enemy assassin Albert. Lannon breaks off his attack on the assassin, hitting the cleric instead to prevent a Hold Person spell from getting off. Of course, turning your back on an assassin is not always the wisest course of action, and Lannon is successfully hits him for a significant number of hit points. In the suite of rooms nearby, the half-ogre quickly searches for any remaining hostages, discovering them to all be gone. He then has to deal with the floor falling out from under him, as Immy, from outside of the window creates an illusion. The Half-ogre grabs onto the windowsill to keep from falling to the first floor. He ties to pull himself up further, and falls. Only then does he discover that he is still on the second floor. Immy flies off.. The fighter Cronin shows incredible fortitude, continuing to fight in spite of the severed limb, and mutters “I’ve had worse,” under his breath. Narg ignores him, leaving him to Mojo, and charges at the mage ten feet away. The mage gets off a Hold Person spell, which only manages to affect Aradyn. Serita assists Mojo in finishing off the fighter, then she moves over to break Aradyn out of the hold. Narg gets over to the mage, getting in two hits. On the second attack, Narg’s player rolls a natural “20” which is a severing blow, which then rolls up to be a decapitation, thus ending the threat from the mage. Timothy makes it to the top of the stairs, and casts a Hold Person on both the enemy cleric and assassin, neither of which make their saves. As Narg searches the mage, the rest of the group heads over to tie up the two held enemies. With impeccable timing, the half-ogre fighter decides to head out into the now quiet hallway, and opens the door right next to where Jerry is standing, with the other six Silver Moon party members still fifteen to twenty feet away. As the half-ogre begins to jab his massive sword into the gnome, Jerry’s immediate reaction is to yell out to the others “Whoever kills him first I’ll rip up your bar tab.” The enemy’s two-handed sword strikes downward, the blade missing Jerry’s face by millimeters, and pinning the gnome’s beard to the floor. Just then, Mojo’s hammer and one of Aradyn’s arrows strike the half-ogre, followed by a dagger thrown by Lannon, a second arrow from Aradyn, and a hammer thrown by Timothy. Not wanting to be left out, Serita rushes up to the fighter with her boots of speed, becoming the target of the half-ogre’s fists, which she effortlessly ducks under. She then hits him with her scimitar, just as two more of Aradyn’s arrows, Mojo’s hammer, and Timothy’s staff find their target, dropping the enemy to the ground. Serita, Mojo and Lannon each hit him one more time for good measure. Aradyn pulls the sword up from the floor, freeing a very grateful Jerry, who declares the bar tabs for all of them to be negated. Mojo comments “Good, since that will include all of the damage we just did to your tavern.” “How much damage?” asks Jerry. “You don’t want to know,” Timothy answers. [/QUOTE]
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