From Opkhar, they flew their new ship to the west, making for Mialain's homeland of Enmurinon. Enmurinon is a plateau divided into the eastern highland forests where the largest population of Elves in the known world live. The western half of the plateau is a slightly concave swampland where the runoff of the water that falls in the east collects to form a vast wetland.
As they approached the plateau, they could see its tall cliffs towering a thousand feet above them. But a storm was rising and they needed to take shelter in the lee of these cliffs and so they approached closely. As they did they were suddenly attacked by raven-like bird-men. Before they could react these attackers had knocked Zanne overboard (she managed to grab a rope as she went over the rail however) and physically grabbed Llyra and carried her away.
Mialain was once again stuck trying to operate a skyship that she didn't understand very well but her affinity for nature's winds helped her hold the ship steady, away from the threatening cliffs. Eshik fought off some of the other attackers while Astavian helped get Zanne back aboard. They killed one of the bird-men and the others retreated, still carrying Llyra.
The PC's gave chase in their ship and fortunately didn't have to go far before they saw the black feathered kidnappers duck into a cave from a ledge on the cliffs. They descended, tied up the ship as best they could, and went in after them.
Just inside the caves they found themselves under attack by carnivorious vines that lined the walls near the entrance. Managing to cut their way through these with minimal injury they continued inside where they suddenly arrived in a chamber some 30 feet wide with a 30 foot tall cliff in front of them. From the top of the cliff the bird-men rained arrows and blowgun darts down upon them.
The party returned fire with thier ranged attacks while Eshik and Astavian tried to climb to the top and engage the enemy directly. The battle was back and forth with the Dragonborn both falling from the wall at least once. They finally reached the top and attacked the last of the bird-men who fled through a tunnel at the rear of the chamber. As Zanne and Mialain scrambled up the wall with the help of a rope from Eshik, Astavian continued to pursue the kidnappers.
He rounded the corner to find himself confronted with spider-like monstrosity, topped with a slender neck and tooth filled mouth. In addition to its poisonous bite, this creature assaulted Astavian mentally, slowing him down in his pursuit. The others quickly came to his aid and their combined attacks gradually backed this creature into a side chamber that served as its lair. All the while this creature was issuing a high pitched shrieking that sounded like a call for help. Just as the PC's felt they finally had it contained, they were attacked from behind by a hulking, insectoid creature with huge claws and a confusing array of eyes.
Having not had a moment to catch their breath from the moment they first entered the cave, they found themselves in a desperate fight for their lives. Both Eshik and Astavian fell to the claws of the larger beast before it was over but Mialain kept them alive with her Consecrated Ground. They finally managed to slay the spidery master and then the insectoid brute but they were barely standing at the end. A search of the lair revealed a chest of coins, oddly of Dragonborn mint, that had the stink of swamp on them, as well as the captured Llyra and an Elf inside a nearby cell. They also found a long, very straight, tunnel leading westward. It ran for nearly two miles and at the other end they found themselves overlooking a lush, forested valley. The Elf indicated that his village lay therein.
Rather than let him travel alone the PC's brought the Elf back to their ship and rested while the storm passed. They then took to the air and made a course over the clifftops and toward the village in the valley.
******
So things are a bit hazy now about most of the details of these fights. Partly that is because we had a very literal "cliffhanger" when the PC's entered the lair of the bird-men and came to that cliff. At that point we ended the session and wouldn't play again for three weeks because my family took a two week vacation up the east coast to visit several fellow ENWorlders. Upon our return we picked up there and finished their assault on the cave of the Neoghi slaver and his thralls.
The most notable thing about that series of encounters was that they were effectively one BIG encounter because the PC's didn't rest from the time they fought the carnivorous vines until they had slain the Umber Hulk. In between they fought the Kenku kidnappers of course. I didn't consider this to be "bad" tactics on the part of the players. They were worried for Llyra's safety and kept pushing on for fear that something terrible was happening to her every moment that they delayed. I liked the fact that they cared enough about an NPC to put their characters at risk like that. But the result was a dangerous battle where most of the PC's were one hit away from unconscious for a large portion of it. It was totally awesome!
It also points out a feature of environments like this where one encounter can easily lead right in to another as enemies flee toward help. This has of course been present in every version of D&D. But with so many abilities set to recharge after the assumed Short Rest between encounters I feared that we might finally meet up with the much talked about "grind".
Now I'll grant that there were a lot of At Will powers being used in those final few rounds of combat. But things were so desperate by that point that it was anything but a boring grind. Instead the players were scouring their character sheets looking for any unused magic items or seldom utilized powers that could be brought to bear on the situation. They were also spending every available Action Point to either launch extra attacks on their enemies or to perform stunts that approximated the effectiveness of their long-spent Encounter Powers. So rather than feeling like a grind it actually seemed pretty darned exciting.
I wouldn't want to set this situation up all the time. But I think that once in a while hitting the PC's with a situation like this where they have to do a lot with their diminishing resources can be really fun.
