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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 7830526" data-attributes="member: 16069">We D&D.Session #42b The Rise of Tiamat #01b Into the Serpent Hills.Brothers of the First Light.Lummins (played by Rob) Male Half-Elf Cleric of Lathander Lvl 8Lux (played by Sandy) Female Human Warlock Lvl 8Watt (played by Jackie) Male Human Bard Lvl 8Sgt Bobby Markguth (played by Pete) Male Human Fighter Lvl 8&Hotlips Houlihan (played by Sandy) Female Halfling Rogue Lvl 8Secondary PCs.Derek Pilch (played by Jackie) Male Human Druid Lvl 8Hard Bonk (played by Rob) Male Half-Orc Monk Lvl 8Sgt Harald Hardaxe (played by Pete) Male Shield Dwarf Fighter Lvl 8The start of the action proper and remember- this is session #42 of our game but only session #01 of The Rise of Tiamat scenario.Oddly Boareskyr Bridge is exactly (I mean- exactly) 500 miles away from Waterdeep, that’s five days travel on the Lighthouse, mostly at full-power ahead. The flying ice castle arrives in the region veiled in cloud. Blagothkus (and Lummins (Half-Elf Cleric)) generate a (minor) storm as it approaches- mainly to drive people indoors and keep away prying eyes (good idea- Rob).The away team- the Brothers of the First Light, are landed, the PCs enter the hamlet- mostly a collection of tents although with a few wood and/or stone buildings, the largest and most imposing a small but sturdy keep. Home the PCs have been told by Ontharr to a bunch of soldiers from Elturgard. The PCs make a bee-line for this place, and then after an hour of standing around get to chat with a very stiff and serious old major. The fellow is very helpful, although only after he sees the Brother’s papers.Alas the old major doesn’t know a great deal- only that a Yuan-ti camp infiltrator was killed approximately four days ago in Bolo’s Tentside Inn, the killer was reported to be a gruff Dwarf- name unknown. Soon after the PCs locate the aforementioned tavern, and interview the owner- Bolo, a tough talking female Halfling.Bolo adds a few details to the story (after a bit of chat and a few gold coins are given over), the killer Dwarf was wearing purple robes (a bit of a giveaway) and accompanied by at least a dozen hooded/cloaked companions- all tall and thin, they could have been barbarian mercenaries. The Dwarf, before he killed the cloaked Yuan-ti, was asking about guides to the Serpent Hills, home to many Yuan-ti- Bolo warns. After the slaying the Dwarf and his company set off immediately and without a guide, heading straight for, you guessed it- the Serpent Hills. That was four days ago, as the major said.The PCs have their target. Then a short debate- can we follow the trail from the air, from the comfort of the Lighthouse, not a chance says the DM- the group therefore buy up some trail rations (and some other bits of equipment) and then depart, in a rush to get after Varram the White.Varram’s trail is easy to follow- his company were moving quickly and making no attempt to disguise their tracks. The Brothers spend the rest of the day and a night in the wilds- moving quickly through semi-cultivated lands in to cracked dirt plains studded with low hills and mesas, it’s an arid place- finally bedding down by a dry riverbed.Then a second day on the trail- in the morning the PCs encounter a clearly visible, but unmarked, grave- it’s old, and therefore left undisturbed by the PCs. The Brothers press on and spend the last hour of light that day exploring a small ruin on the plains- an ancient shrine perhaps, but the stone of the building has been worn smooth by the wind. The Brothers make camp here, convinced that Varram and his company also camped hereabouts.Remarkably nothing attacks them- I’m doing the Random Encounters RAW, as previous.Then a third day, and once again the trail is easy to follow- mid-morning several discarded waterskins are found within one of a dozen or so ruined buildings, in what was (probably) once a hamlet.Later the PCs come across the ruined remains of a much larger settlement, at least fifty ravaged stone buildings, some of them must have once been very large and imposing structures- time and the elements have scoured the place of its history. The ruined town (or temple complex?) is, thankfully, abandoned- although the PCs slow their pace and chose to pass around the outer edge of the ruins. Several of the PCs become agitated, mainly because the DM keeps getting them to make a variety of rolls. The kindly DM is toying with the PCs for a reason- read on.  The PCs insist (to the DM) that they keep a close eye on the ruins as they move away from them.And thus, they are mostly otherwise engaged when they walk around a butte and straight in to an ambush (of sorts), the temporary camp of a pair of Hill Giants hiding in the lee of the rise, and out of the sun.[ATTACH=full]114719[/ATTACH]The first Hill Giant spots Sgt Bobby (Human Fighter) approaching and brains the warrior with its massive club, remarkably Hotlips (Halfling Rogue) is awake to the action- the Halfling hustles forward and shoots a crossbow bolt in to the great beast. Lummins is also quickly on it, targeting (his favourite) Fireball just behind the first Hill Giant, which burns- and screams, its hair on fire. The second Hill Giant stays back, grabs up a hunk of rock the size of Hotlips and hurls it at the aforementioned Halfling, the Rogue is hurt badly- and sent sprawling (for 25 damage, nice).The Brothers are in a fight.Sgt Bobby unleashes Hazirawn, his new (malicious) magical greatsword- the blade slices through the burnt Hill Giant’s flesh like a knife through butter- three hits (with Action Surge) for a total of 62 damage (lots of it Necrotic). The partially incinerated Hill Giant is left screaming and crying like a baby- and trying to get away as fast as it can. It’s going nowhere.Hotlips fires a crossbow bolt in to the back of the Hill Giant’s skull- the bolt protrudes through the beast’s forehead (a Crit with Sneak Attack for 40 damage). The first Giant falls.The second Hill Giant looks unsure for a moment- whether to fight or to run, the decision is entirely taken out of its hands. Watt (Human Bard) moves towards it- waves his hands while muttering (sing-song) arcane sounds- a second later and the Hill Giant is gone, squatting in its stead is a fairly small bright green frog.Alas for the PCs (and later for the Hill Giant) the frog manages to leap in to a crack in the baked earth and thereby escape Watt and Sgt Bobby’s clutches. The Players however take a moment to applaud Jackie (playing Watt) they didn’t know the Bard could do that, several of them are hooting with laughter.Then, when the PCs are ready, Watt stops concentrating on his Polymorph spell- the Hill Giant screaming, having just reverted to full size while wedged at the bottom of a narrow fissure in the hard-baked ground, reveals itself. Soon after the beast is persuaded to surrender- and then to chat (remember Lummins and Lux (Human Warlock) both speak the Giant tongue).Odd-Nob, the Hill Giant, is treated well- prior to being released back in to the wilds he reveals (after much questioning) the following-1) The Serpent Hills are home to many Lizardfolk, and their masters the Yuan-ti.2) A bunch of people (Varram the White et al, probably) passed this way at least three (or maybe five- see below) days previously. Odd-Nob finds the concept of time slightly confusing, he uses the term ‘yesterthen’ to indicate any time already passed.3) There are lots more ruins in the Serpent Hills, in short Odd-Nob is not sure where Varram is heading. In translation- the DM is not telling the PCs where Varram and friends are going; they’re going to have to continue to track the Dwarf.The rest of the day (after a short bout of healing), and the night, pass without further incident.The fourth day on the trail is a little more interesting- at midday the adventurers stumble upon the remains of a patrol from Elturgard, the group has been decimated- only three (from twelve) of them left alive. It seems they too have encountered Varram and his cohorts. This after a bit of back and forth between the two groups, the wounded soldiers are initially very wary of the PCs- they eventually agree for the Brothers to close with them (and to help/heal them).Their story is they’re all that’s left of a long-range patrol, they encountered a Dwarf and his companions (Varram et al) approximately four days previously, they’re exhausted and more than a little disorientated- hence they’re a little unsure how much time has passed since the encounter. The Dwarf seemed to be asking for directions. Note- none of the survivors are able to answer the question “directions to where?” All of the troopers, including the captain of the group, involved in the discussion with the Dwarf and his company, were slaughtered. Perhaps their captain was not keen to provide directions, the soldiers heard raised voices- furthermore the captain was clearly disturbed by the Dwarf and his followers. Varram is variously described as being- short, arrogant, violent and awfully sweary (and very very angry). The three soldiers escaped with their lives because they were at the back of their group, and they ran- as fast as they could when they saw their comrades being slaughtered.The Dwarf’s companions, described as ‘a bunch of tall, thin- cloaked men’, fought like furies.Lots of good questioning by the PCs here, but I didn’t want to give too much away.The three survivors are healed, given food and water, and also directions back to Boareskyr Bridge. The PCs add half a day to their march stopping to interact with the broken patrol- they spend the rest of their fourth day looking after the trio, and then part company the next morning.Again, Varram’s trail is easily found- the fifth day is spent heading in to the Serpent Hills proper, the PCs pass around yet another ruined settlement, this one much larger in size- a town or else a small city- they do not however approach the ruins- the trail leads elsewhere, Varram didn’t stop here.The Dwarf’s trail does however come to a conclusion at the end of the day’s travel, in yet another set of ruins hidden away in a canyon between two steep bluffs. The hills here are dotted with caves, the PCs therefore proceed cautiously, they quickly discover a (not long, maybe) abandoned campsite close by. Night however is closing in, the Brothers find a nearby ruin and make their own camp, the light fades quickly they therefore have no time to explore the area. The Brothers resolve to stay in hiding, and to keep a keen an eye on the (abandoned) campsite- and double guards for the night watch.That however is the end of the first session of The Rise of Tiamat.</blockquote>

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