Dark Paths 39

Dark Paths of Riddleport
Session 39
November 24, 2013

Assault on the Library

Roll20 Chat Log

Session Summary

The Elf leaders gather their troops, give them a brief pep talk then send them out into the forest to war. After a short trek through the woods, the Crew has arrived at their chosen spot, the ancient Elvish Library.

With Sairalindë leading them and her companion Findecano watching over them from a strategic vangate point nearby, the Crew approaches the Library. In no time, the Drow reveal themselves, perched on the flat roof of the library, nestled between the two high domes of the library's north and south ends. 

Battles rage on the ground and on the roof!

Snargash signals to Aragon that he is going to give him a helping hand up to the roof by charging in and crouching down. Aragon rushes up and launches himself from the Half-Orc's back, flipping gracefully before landing on the roof in front of the startled and reloading Drow. Bodi follows Aragon, though he takes the slower 'climbing the wall' route. Aethel, Guy and Paal approach more slowly, using their ranged attacks to keep the Drow busy. 

Spheres of inky blackness begin appearing around the battlefield, momentarily blinding the Crew until Sairalindë is able to dispel them with her magic. A Drow captain wearing plate armor from head to toe and wielding a nasty looking flail leaps down and engages Snargash. The skilled Drow nearly gets the best of the Half-Orc monk but helpful distractions like lightning bolts and handfuls of psionically projected rocks keep him occupied whlie Sairalindë sneaks up behind hm and stabs him through the chinks in his armor.

Back up on the roof, Aragon and Bodi make quick work of the skirmishers and then begin to pursue two fleeing Drow, only to find that they have slipped around the raised dome roof and through a hidden entrance to the library.

The Library is an important strategic location.

Continuing Story Doc

Continuing Story Summary

Paal, Guy and Aethel provided ranged fire while Snargash and Sairalindë engaged the Drow on the ground. Aragon and Bodi had moved to the flat part of the library’s roof and engaged the Drow shooting crossbows there. After just a few moments, the Drow had been neutralized or run off. Aragon and Bodi pursued the two fleeing Drow across the roof. They managed to disappear behind the rounded top of the southern end of the library. As Aragon blindly charged around the corner, he saw a dark hole leading to the interior of the library and the Drow were nowhere to be seen.

Bodi halts in his tracks as Aragon looks around the corner.   Bodi steps back to the wall and recovers his thrown knife.   He then produces his elven rope and lowers it down the side to see if he can assist his companions to climb up to the roof level.

He contemplates them taking 2 approaches to the Library, suggesting that the elves keep some archers around to cover the doors incase any Drow try to escape through that direction.

Aragon swears as he sees no Drow.  Then his eyes light on the dark hole, and without breaking stride, jumps in!

Aethel curses to himself as Aragon just brazenly walks into the dark opening.  He digs into a pocket, and tosses a continual light stone into the opening past Aragon.  “At least lead with some light!”  Aethel moves to follow thereafter.

Aragon leaps down through the opening the Drow went through. He quickly finds a small landing and a narrow tunnel leading down into the inky blackness of the library. He quickly feels some footholds carved out of the tunnel’s walls, but he forgoes them and just hops into the narrow space, hoping that it isn’t too deep. As he lands at the bottom, presumably the ground floor of the library he finds himself in complete darkness. Before he could even blink his eyes, he hears Aethel’s muffled voice from above then suddenly the room is filled with bright light as one of the magical stones comes dropping down into the room.

The room is covered in spiderwebs and Aragon’s skin crawls as he sees handfuls of the little crawling beasts scurrying away from the bright light. To his right, a door slams, giving some clue as to the direction his quarry went. As he begins to move toward the door, he spots 2 large shadows moving in the deepest areas of webbing, one across the room to the left and one just to his right near the door where the Drow went A second later they are revealed as giant dog sized spiders!

Up above, Aethel peers down into the hole that Aragon went into but cannot see much due to the fact that a landing lays directly below then continues down off to one side, cutting off view. He can see that his continual light rock is illuminating the area though.

As the rope comes down the side of the building the monk calls up, “All clear top-side Mr. Bodi? Any injuries?”  Bowing briefly to Saera he says, “Thank you Ma’am. We should do it again sometime. Oh. . , say. . , in another 5 minutes or so?” and walks toward the rope, thrusting his thunderstaff through the belt of his harness across the small of his back. He calls up, “On the way!” and commences his ascent.

Bodi calls down that no one is seriously hurt on the roof. He then grunts as Snargash begins to climb the rope. He stumbles a bit, but with Bodi’s help from above and Sairalindë’s help from below, Snargash makes it up. The Elf woman looks at Paal and Guy with a look of ‘what next?

Taking a deep breath, Aragon steps and slashes quickly at the nearest spider.  He shudders - nasty beasts!  The nimble arachnid skitters out of the way, then pounces back at Aragon, mandibles flashing!  Fortunately, the fangs find little purchase on Aragon’s armor.  He backpedals and attacks again!  He tries to distract the creature with Nadir while Zenith crashes down for the kill!  The blade misses again, and BOTH spiders move in for the kill.  Aethel is mistaken if he thinks he hears a shriek as Aragon jumps back and drives both blades down into the pile of creepy crawlies.

Nadir slices the top spider in half, and the second scurries away from him.  “There are spiders down here!’ he calls.  “Big ones!”  He crosses the room, avoiding the cobwebs as much as he can.  “The fiends went to the right!  Come on!  They’re getting away!”  He charges to the doors on the right, jumps into the air, and kicks them with both feet!

As the doors burst open from Aragon’s kick, the light from the glowing stone fills the room. The center of this vast oval chamber is dominated by a number of tall stone bookcases coated in dust and cobwebs. Some of these shelves lean ominously to one side, their age clearly showing. Scattered about the floor of the chamber are thousands of crumbling tomes, most holding little more than scraps and dust, their knowledge forever lost. Two Drow, leaning around the far end of the center shelves point and fire their crossbows at Aragon while a third shoots at him from the left, also taking cover behind some shelves.

Aragon drops flat and the three bolts fly over his head.  Using his momentum, he leaps to his feet.  The drow duck behind cover to reload, so he quickly makes a call and heads off to his left, hoping to kill the one there and use the shelves as cover.

Atop the Library Bodi assists Snargash to the rooftop level.   He then looks down at the others and calls out to them.  “Aragon went inside to pursue our quarry.   I wish we had some back up support to cover the doors in case we chase the drow out of this thing, but I think it best if we keep moving before they have time to regroup!”

Bodi waits a few moments to help Snargash climb up and sees that Paal, Guy and Sairalindë are going for the main doors afterall.   He then heads off following Aethel to the opening where Aragon lept into the fray.   Bodi looks to see what is below before he lands.   If a spider is below him, he may just jump on top of the thing with his rapier, otherwise he will look to keep pace with Aragon as he chases down the drow.   

Cursing at his friend’s impetus, Bodi mutters under his breath, “Dammit Aragon, I have a wager on this and I have drow to kill!”

Bodi tells Snargash to follow him into the depths and that there are hand and foot holds carved into the wall for them to descend.   

Bodi leaps down, using  his acrobatic skills to make a quick landing and skitters around the fleeing arachnids as he follows Aragon through the next set of doors.  He looks around at the immediate area looking for any threats. He makes sure that the others get down and sees Aethel ready with more of his light magic. “A lightning bolt would be quite interesting around here” Bodi mused to his wizardly friend.

Aragon steps into the chamber and puts on a burst of speed, hoping to slay him before he can shoot again!  He slams his shoulder against the end of the bookcase and whips both blades from left to right.

The Drow retreats back down the aisle away from Aragon’s flashing blades, managing to avoid one of them but then stepping right into the way of the other. The Drow staggers back from the blow and draws his blade, a finely crafted shortsword, taking a moment to ready it.

The quick ‘yelp’ of surprise and thwack of crossbow bolts slamming into the doors clues Bodi that there is resistance in the next chamber.   He starts to make his way off that direction to where he thought he heard Aragon move.  Cloak coiled in his left hand and throwing knife in his right, Bodi charges through the doors as the drow should be reloading.

The half-orc saunters into the room after him, arms wide, and the room echoes with his booming voice singing extemporaneously, “Such cute little toy crossbows you tiny people have. You really should just suck on them and get it over with! Your captain’s remains await you outside. . .”

As Bodi and Snargash enter the dimly lit chamber, they realize that the Drow have had just enough time to reload their crossbows as they lean around the edge of the stone shelves and fire, both aiming at Bodi, who is in the lead. Both bolts fly directly at Bodi’s neck!

“Well that was bad timing!”, Bodi yells as he tries to somersault out of the way of the incoming crossbow bolts.

Pressing his attack, Aragon tries to slay the Drow before he can recover.  He makes a downward swing to distract the foul foe, followed by a slash at his leg!

The Drow gives ground and attempts to parry but is thrown off by Aragon’s feint and Nadir cuts deeply into the Drow’s leg, sending him hard to the ground.

Bodi drops and pops back up on his feet as both crossbow bolts sail past where he was standing.    As he pops back up from his tumble, he hurls a throwing knife at the drow warrior to his right.

Bodi’s throwing knife goes just wide of the Drow, clanging against the far stone wall behind him.

Meanwhile, several aisles over, as Aragon’s foe goes down and he contemplates leaping up to the top of the stacks, he catches a movement out of the corner of his eye as another Drow Captain comes from around the next shelf, swinging her morningstar directly at the back of his head!

Aragon ducks and rolls forward out of the way of the vicious attack!  Turning, he smiles.  Someone to go toe-to-toe with!  Nadir flicks out at the Drow’s weapon hand, while Zenith makes a show at a leg.  “Was that your friend outside?  Killed him with one blow.  Hopefully, you’ll last a bit longer…”

Aragon’s Drow opponent says something to him that sounds vaguely Elvish, but he cannot understand any of the words, though he thinks he catches something akin to feces and baby pig… She leans forward and crosses her buckler across her body, easily blocking the strike against her weapon hand and spits at him. She leans back, steps forward and quickly whips the morningstar back at Aragon’s face!

Panning his eyes across the room the monk assesses the threat quickly and steps forward, angling slightly to his left. As he does so he singles out the lone drow a few yards in front of him, pointing his finger straight at him, then turning his hand over and beckoning with that finger while drawing his staff back out of his harness with his other hand. He looks at the unengaged skirmisher with the expression of someone having to clean up something distasteful, singing sweetly, “So come and get some of my ugly stick, little boy!”

The 2 Drow in front of Bodi and Snargash duck back behind the shelves as they bring their crossbows up to reload. Normally it should take a few seconds to reload such a weapon, but it appears that these Drow have mastered the skill of quick loading!

As the archers drop back to reload, the monk sidesteps along the wall following his quarry. Looking down the first aisle, he waggles a finger at the Drow admonishing, “No, no, no. . . You can’t run away that easily!”

Paal tries to force his way through the ground floor door and provide a complementary angle of fire.

Aragon backflips away from the Drow’s swing with a laugh, then brings Zenith and Nadir back across the Drow in two powerful slashes.  “I’m not sure you can keep up with me in that tin can - let’s see if we slice you out of that suit!”

The Drow confidently ignores Aragon’s feint and raises her shield to intercept Zenith, but Nadir hits the edge of the buckler and nearly cleaves it in half, forcing it out of the way. Zenith bites deeply into the torso, penetrating the Drows plate armor. The heavily armored warrior’s eyes widen and she steps back, taking a defensive position.

Approaching from the side, Snargash watches Aragon dancing with his dark opponent. The Half Orc slows and begins playing a familiar tune.

Pressing his advantage, Aragon slashes at her weapon hand while his tries to lead her weapon off-line with a feint.  She easily avoids his attack, but knowing she still is at a disadvantage she falls back on her foul Drow magics in a vain attempt to thwart the Bladedancer.  A field of darkness envelops him and his foe.  Dropping himself into Cat’s Whiskers, he smiles and confidently brings both blades across from left-to-right intending to sever her weapon arm.

Surprising his foe who thought she had the advantage in the dark, Aragon strikes out at her, defeating her defenses and nearly severing her weapon arm. He hears her heavy weapon fall to the floor and prepares himself for some other attack, but it does not come.

In the darkness, Snargash finished playing his song, but can no longer see Aragon.

The monk frowns slightly and casts the spell on himself, before reaching for the the Dark Vision Stone stowed conveniently in one of the pouches of his harness. He speaks softly, “One moment Mr. Aragon and I’ll play a second verse.”

Meanwhile, back at the front doors of the library, Paal, Guy and Sairalindë make their way inside. It takes several moments as the doors are barred from the inside, but some magic from Sairalindë and a stout shoulder from Paal get the doors open. They enter a round chamber that is covered with thick spider webs. The center of the room appears to be mostly unobstructed as to the doorways leading to the right and left. None of their companions can be seen anywhere around, though four large shadows scurry out revealing themselves to be giant spiders nearly the size of large dogs!

Bodi saw that his attacker was reloading  his crossbow quickly, so lunged into action.    Starting off at a run and attempting to fast-draw his rapier in the process, Bodi was looking to perform a flèche type of fencing attack.   He runs and draws his rapier out and holds it out straight as he charges in and attempts a thrusting attack with his arm fully extended.

Though Bodi’s aim is true, the Drow manages to step back, dodging the blow while continuing to load his crossbow. With the bolt in finally in place, the Drow continues stepping back into the darker shadows of the library, raises the weapon to point at Bodi’s face and fires! The tiny projectile flies directly at Bodi, sure to hit unless he does something! As he contemplates his action, he feels a sharp pain on the side of his neck and sees blood splatter from the wound. He realizes that he forgot the other Drow on the other side of the stacks behind him! He feels faint as he realizes that the wound is fairly serious. As the other bolt speeds toward him, he feels fire in his veins as the Drow poison quickly attacks his nervous system, pulling him to the ground, unconscious. Fortunately, though he does not know it, the remaining bolt flies past him, no longer on mark since he is now prone.

Hearing the crossbows and a collapsing body, he snarls as his fingers slip on the stone, forcing him to  waste another precious moment digging it out of the pouch.

Snargash realizes that he dropped the Dark Vision Stone not back in the pouch, but on the floor. He quickly drops to the ground to find the valuable magical item. Aragon keeps his blades at the ready, listening quietly for his foe, but he cannot sense her. Meanwhile, Aethel moves into the room and sends bolts of lightning at the two remaining Drow skirmishers, finishing them off. After a tense moment, the Drow’s magical darkness fades and Aragon sees his foe, laying motionless and bleeding on top of one of the stone bookcases.

“There it is!” exclaims Snargash as he finds the magical gemstone, putting it back into his pouch before moving to examine the injured Bodi.

Back in the entry chamber, Paal, Guy and Sairalindë either kill or drive off the giant spiders. They open the doors to their left where they hear loud bursts of lightning, hoping to find their companions. Another set of doors remains to the right of the main entrance to explore.

Session Notes

This was our first full session of Roll20. It was a tiny bit slower than MapTool but I think that with some practice it will get easier and easier. I like the Roll20 interface, though I keep wanting it to behave like MapTool. I will get used to it eventually! Overall, it was good and I think that everyone is ok with moving!

Cast of Characters: 

Aethelarian "Aethel" Flitterseed - Noble Elf wizard played by +Daniel White 
Aragon Whisperwind - Elven Bladedancer played by +Arne Jamtgaard 
Bodil "Bodi" Jantzen - suave and smooth swordsman played by +Mike Biancone 
Guy Greystone - Gnome telekinetic played by +Gren Drake 
Paal Ulfsun - Northman Human ranger played by +Ben Zittere 
Snargash Windblown - Half-Orc monk played by +Amergin O'Kai 
and +Jason Woollard as the DM

Wandered Roads 28

Wandered Roads of Varisia
Session 28
November 23, 2013

Campaign Timeline

In The Crow's Nest

Moonday, 24th of Lamashan

The party quickly resumes their exploration of the Crow, taking only minimal time to check the their fallen opponents. There will be time for that later. The hallways and corridors were all similar: ancient and falling apart, or more to the point, being taken apart. It was clear that someone, possibly the Tower Girls had made quick work of removing and defacing murals, carvings and other bits of artwork adorning the structure.

Pushing on into the Tower Girls lair, evidence was found of hastily set up living quarters and other signs of life but it was clear that the gang had recently picked up their base and moved it further in. Eventually the group came to a ledge overlooking the large shaft they had encountered when they first arrived. Down below, they could see the water from the bay and the 2 rafts they had arrived on. The 3 rowboats they had encountered were missing, obviously Fenster the Blight had made his way back to Magnimar with them.

Ten feet above their heads, at the top of the shaft hung a wooden platform hanging close to the ceiling with complex system of ropes and straps. There were several hanging ropes, one even long enough to reach the 200 feet below to the base of the shaft. Unwilling to swing and climb across without knowing what was there first, Daellin used his magic to levitate Samad up to the platform. Once on the platform, Samad could see that it led to a trapdoor in the ceiling that led up to another passageway in the tower.

Using a length of the looted Tower Girls silken rope, the group took turns tying each other off, swinging across to another ledge, climbing up onto the platform and then going up through the trapdoor. There were a few close calls, but safety ropes and a good bit of luck saved the day. Daellin followed the last of his companions by flying up under magical power.

Now in the upper most level of the tower, the band of heroes traversed down a long hallway that was once some sort of burial chamber, its niche-tombs having already been destroyed and looted. Upon entering a chamber at the far end of the hallway, Ehlyna, out in front, stopped suddenly, looked down and muttered “oops” as the sound of a bell could be heard nearby. She had walked into a tripwire.

Not waiting for the others, she charged off down the passage, axes waving and Dwarven curses pouring from her mouth. The rest of the group arrived right behind her in what appeared to be guard camp. Two bedrolls and some food lay on the floor. One dead Tower Girl was bleeding at Ehlyna’s feet, only halfway out of her bedroll. The owner of the other bedroll could not be seen.

A quick search of the area and a side passage revealed a latrine and some stored treasure: a crate bearing a bronze Thassalonian statue and an urn containing about 100 ancient Thassalonian coins. Pressing on, the heroes found a stairway winding back down into the tower.

An ambush by the Tower Girls!

At the bottom of the stairs, the Tower Girls lay in ambush. Two jumped out and attacked Ehlyna,

Kallin waits for an opening.

but her armor was enough to stop the blows. Several more Tower Girls revealed themselves and fired their crossbows. Quickly the party spread out and engaged their opponents. Before long, the battle was joined by another Wererat and more donkey rats. Calina shot the Wererat from across the room in low light and managed a hit, but the arrow merely bounced off the lycanthropes skin. The Wererat threw her head back and laughed as she continued to charge!

Vexeron prepares a Glue spell!

Vexeron waited for a clearing in the battle then cast a Glue spell, trapping two nearby Tower Girls. Samad quickly dispatched one of the with his superior reach. Behind him, Kallin and Leela slowly moved up, watching for the right time to enter the fray. Daellin and Ehlyna meanwhile charged across the room at the crossbow firing Girls. As the Wererat charged, Calina quickly readied one of her new silver arrows and let it fly, striking the Wererat square in the face, instantly dropping it to the ground, dead. In no time, all but two Tower Girls were dispatched. The remaining Girls were given the opportunity to surrender and they did so immediately. They easily revealed that there were no Tower Girls left except their leader, Alaya and they explained exactly how to get to her chamber. They also explained that most of their loot had been sold already and that Alaya had the money.

Hoping to catch the leader off guard before she realized her hideout had been infiltrated, the party continued on, heading down further, now on the 2nd level. They entered a large, arrow head shaped chamber with several doors and a few columns. The most striking feature of this room was the massive pair of silvery metal doors at the western end of the room. The doors, each 5 feet wide and nearly 10 feet tall, had no visible handle, knob or hinges, but were decorated with many sets of burning eyes all facing in toward a set of runes on the face of each portal. They were Thassilonian runes that were present in many other ancient ruins they had explored recently, though nothing could be made of them.

Curiosity getting the best of him, Daellin went over and pushed on the doors, trying to open them. The metal doors did not budge, though he was met with a fiery blast that burnt the fingers of his hand. His surprised yelp summoned Alaya to the chamber from the doors at the far end of the room. She opened her door, looked out at the assembled adventurers and quickly retreated back, closing the door behind her. Muffled sounds of locking doors and moving furniture could be heard as Ehlyna attempted to bash through the door. It took a few hits, but finally the surly Dwarf knocked the door off its hinges and crashed through, lodging herself inside the wardrobe that had been shoved in front of the door. A strange cross shaped room was discovered, recently decorated with all the modern luxuries the leader of the Tower Girls ws afforded, but Alaya was no where to be seen. An open window near her bed indicated she may have climbed out of the window into the familiar shaft near the Crow’s front entrance. A quick search could not find her. Vexeron stepped up and used his magic to See Secrets and noticed a chest hidden under the bed and a secret door in the side of the fireplace.

Expecting to find Alaya hiding behind the secret panel, Ehlyna readied her axes as the door was opened. She swung her axes ito the space behind the doors but did not find Alaya. Instead her blades impacted the skeletal remains of a long dead body, quickly turned to dust and bone shards. The body was wearing a curious yellow bird pendant that radiated magic and was equipped like an adventurer with chain mail, a rapier, some rope and a sack of gold!

Another quick search was made for Alaya, but she could not be found. Looking out the window again revealed that one of the two rafts Fenster had left was now missing, presumably taken by Alaya! With her out of the picture, the group was drawn back to the metal doors. Daellin again touched the doors, attempting to move the runes like they had on the paradox box back in the Pathfinder Lodge. The runes did in fact behave the same way, by glowing and switching places, but he was again burned by magical flame!

Curious as to what was behind the door, Vexeron used his magic (Glasswall) to see through it, revealing a dusty and cobweb covered hallway with brightly colored and fully intact frescoes, murals and reliefs. This hallway had apparently been untouched for many years! Eager to get past this barrier and delve further into the Crow to find their intended prize, another Shard of Thassalion, Vexeron and Daellin devised a plan. Vexeron cast Glasswall on Daellin so he too could see past the doors, then Daellin tried his newly learned Teleportation spell and magically placed himself on the other side of the door.

While Daellin explored behind the door, Calina, Leela, Ehlyan and Kallin went back through the Tower Girls hideout, dispatching a few remaining donkey rats and gathering up any valuable loot.

Batting the many cobwebs out of the way, Daellin made his way down the hallway to a set of stairs leading down. He followed them down and finally came to some sort of ancient bath area, which still held a small amount of fetid and scum covered water. He descended from a 20 foot balcony down to the pool and noted several side passages leading out as well as a large crack in the wall with numerous guano markings nearby, obviously bats laired somewhere further in, also indicating that there was another way out, possibly one of the illusion covered windows that had been discovered in the upper floors.

As Daellin approached the pool, the green slime covered surface exploded toward him in a chaotic green splash. Not interested in being covered in slime again, Daellin Blinked away and saw that there were two amorphous globs of scum lurching toward him slowly. He quickly sunk an arrow into one of them and began retreating. The blobs followed him up the stairs and he loosed a few more arrows in their general direction, all hitting, though there was no indication as to whether it was doing any good or not. Decicing that it would be best to face these abominations with the group, he retraced his steps back upstairs and Teleported himself back past the door, somehow making a miscalculation in his spell and injuring himself in the process, but fortunately not whisking himself away to some unknown locale!

He filled his companions in and it was then decided to head back to the mainland and they started the process of hauling their loot and the remaining two Tower Girls back down to the hidden boat dock at the base of the piling.

Continuing Story Doc

Continuing Story Summary

This is an ongoing story and will be updated when it is complete.

Session Notes

Another good session of exploration and combat. The characters have just entered into what could be described as a mega-dungeon. I'm excited about this next bit of campaign. We have done our fair share of dungeon exploring so far, but each of them have been small and contained, this one is a bit bigger and spread out over multiple, separated levels. I just had to jump on the mega-dungeon band wagon!

Ehlyna's favorite dream

Characters Present:

Kallin Hawkril, Half-Orc shaman and budding Priest of Pharasma - played by +Daniel Ernst
Calina - Varisian Human archer and scout - played by +Carol Coburn
Leela Cardnool, Gnome scout, cartographer and Illusionist - played by +Lisa Smith
Daellin Silvanthalas, Elven Farstrider Ranger - played by +Ben Lipe
Vexeron, Human wizard - played by +Greg Grady
Ehlyna Fuzziface - Dwarven Warrior - played by +Jodi H
Samad Aldhul, Human ex-mercenary - played by +JeCorey Holder
Ellie - Halfling Finder of Things - played by +Megan McCarron

and +Jason Woollard as the DM

Dark Paths 38.2

Dark Paths of Riddleport
Session 38.2

Aragon Preps the Sniper's Nest

Session Summary

Aragon is roused early by the Elves Sairalindë and Findecáno. Both are equipped for battle. “We want to get Fin into position in some ruins on top of a hill just across from the entrance to the Library so he can provide cover fire, but we need one more Elf to join us. Are you in?” Sairalindë says quietly to the Bladedancer, who is already getting up and prepping his gear.

Findecáno continues, “The battle should start shortly, but I want to be ready before you all move out. If you can accompany us there, then you and Saire can get back to the main force just in time. It’s still dark out, so we will have to be careful. Once I get into position, I should be able to conceal myself until needed.”

Aragon quickly and silently strapped on his armor and swords.  The tension in the darkness before a battle was palpable.  These two Elves were finally getting to take the battle to the enemy, one they had been fighting for years.  Of course he was in!

He was ready.  With a quick nod, they moved to the edge of camp.  Fin led them past the perimeter, and soon they were on the road to Celwynvian.

Aragon could see that the rest of the camp was stirring and preparing for the main battle shortly. He noted several smaller bands heading out on preliminary missions and other tasks. He even saw Bodi heading off into the forest with Eärwen and a few other hunters. Aragon smiled, thinking about Bodi’s wager with the dour Kaerishiel.

As they traveled, Sairalindë handed out cakes of Elven waybread as they traveled. Aragon ate his without a word. Findecáno talks as they move through the darkened forest. “We will skirt around the entrance to the city and move in from the north. We will cross through the some ruined buildings and set up in a bit of ruins on a hill just across the main avenue from the Library. I will be able to cover your approach, and if needed, retreat from the Library. It will also put me in a good position to support the main troop when it moves up to your position.” I have only seen this location from a distance and have not actually been on the ground there, so we will need to be careful. Saire will monitor our approach for magical traps and obstacles.

Aragon nods.  “How much cover will we have from the forest for our approach?  I can be sneaky if I have to be, but my friends will verify that it is not my usual style.  However, I am guessing we want to get you in place as quietly as we can.”

Aragon ate as he walked.  Fin led, then Sairalindë, and he followed.  While he did not doubt his ability to move quietly when needed, he was impressed with the pace the other Elves set.  Clearly they were in their element.  

After a short time, the three Elves reached their destination. Sairalindë leads the way into the ruins of a small structure. She motions out through the wide open doorway and up a rocky slope ahead, “That’s it. Just past that rise is the library. From there Fin can cover the entire building. I’ll bet there are some Drow up there, it’s a common sentry point for them. It overlooks the main avenue leading into Celwynvian.” She peers at the slope ahead of her. Several spots of crumbled ruins dot the hill. The remains of some type of structure can be seen at the top of the hill. Aragon can make out the upper reaches of the library past the hill. “Yes, there, I can see something moving up on top of the hill, there can you see it?”

Approaching the sniper's nest

Findecáno draws his bow and sights down the arrow at the hill ahead. Though it is still dark, there is enough light for the Elves to see clearly. “Yes, I can see at least 2 people moving around up there. Wonder if there are any more in the area?” he muses. He turns and looks at Sairalindë and Aragon, “What do you think? Should I start shooting, or do we want to get closer first? Neither of you have a bow.”

Taking cover in a ruined building

Sairalindë stares out onto the slope for a moment then turns back, “I detect a magical effect stretching between those two ruined towers and out to about 15 feet to either side. We can maneuver around it or get close to it, use those ruins for cover and I can dispel the ward in the middle somewhere.” Both Elves turn to look at Aragon.

“I would prefer to avoid the magic if we can.  Let us try and sneak around it.  I think we can get around to the left, there.  That overgrown wall could keep them from flanking us, too.”  Fin nodded, and they moved silently through the grass.

After making it safely to cover, they started moving slowly toward a semi-ruined building past the magical field.  Just as he drew close, a Drow assassin popped out and took a quick shot with his hand crossbow.  Startled, Aragon responded with Cat Plays with Leaf, but was not fast enough to knock the bolt out of the air.  It pierced the armor on his leg and promptly exploded in flames!

Aragon swore and started to press on through the pain, but the foul underdweller hid in a quickly-summoned magical darkness.  Aragon moved instead to his right, away from the assassin, and soon found daylight.  Where he spotted another Drow, this one a warrior!  Now this was more like it!  The warrior shot at Aragon, of course, but Aragon floated out of the way with Leaf on the Wind.

Then the warrior hid himself and Aragon in darkness as well.

Aragon stopped.  This was getting frustrating.  Then he remembered some of the training from the Temple of Air and Steel, and LISTENED.  It was more than just using his ears, it was taking in everything he could sense and letting it paint a picture in his mind, a picture of his swords, his foe, and the terrain between.

Then he charged, and as he did he heard the slightest intake of a surprised breath from the Drow.  He shifted his weight slightly, flowed into a perfect Lightning Crashes Down, and felt both blades strike home!  The fiend had obviously underestimated a Bladedancer’s ability, and was woefully unprepared for the attack!  Zenith sliced deeply, driven through his plate armor, and Aragon soon heard the rattle of the Drow’s last breath leaving his body.  (crit attack, then 3 on crit table, works out to 51pts of damage.  Boo-yah!)

Then the darkness lifted (due to Sairalinde’s magic).  Aragon started to search his fallen foe, when more crossbow bolts flew from the top of the hill!

He charged, trying to minimize the time they had to reload, but they were too fast!

As he hit the top, the darkness dropped again.  He turned back, thinking to learn if the darkness lasted very long on its own, but then Sairalinde dispelled it, so that was moot.

He charged again, but that had given the fiends time to reload.  When he came around the corner, another bolt, acid this time, punched through his left leg.  He tried valiantly to cling to consciousness, but before he could open a can of Elven whoopass, he passed out.

Aragon opens his eyes to see Sairalindë leaning over him. She has just finished pouring another Healing Potion down his throat. “Come on, you should be able to walk now. Fin is in position, we have just enough time to get back to the camp, get us both patched up and be ready for the battle.

Pausing for a moment, seeing the confused look on Aragon’s face, she continues. “You took some more bolts, looks like from one of the Drow’s acid bolts. Tore your armor up a bit. I think maybe we should have planned a bit better. The Drow are good shots with those crossbows.After you went down, Fin and I finished the remaining scouts off. I took a flame bolt, but nothing a little magic can’t fix. We stashed the bodies as best we could, though we didn’t spend any time looting them. In my experience, most of the enchanted gear they use is only usable by Drow. Some sort of limiting enchantment, though I did gather up several healing potions,” she nods toward the vial she has just given Aragon. “Come on, let’s go.”

Looking over toward the ruined pavilion where Findecáno was going to set up, Aragon sees a seemingly disembodied arm stick up from a patch of shadows and wave at him before disappearing again into the shadows. Sairalindë winks at Aragon, “Shadow Cloak. It comes in handy in his line of work!”

Notes

This "session" was a short side trek designed to give some extra playing time to those who wanted it during a bit of a slow spot in the campaign (due to my hectic party schedule in October and November). It was played out as a combination of play by post continuing story like we often do and a one-on-one live session in Roll20. This was my first real test run of using Roll20 as a GM and I liked it. Our group is making the switch over to Roll20 from MapTool due to some Java issues one of the players is having. We have played using MapTool for about 5 years now, and it's sad to see it go, but I think it's time to move on. I have been playing in a great Roll20 GURPS campaign run by +Christian Blouin revolving around a group of Dwarves from Erebor on a mission to retake the Mines of Moria in the 4th Age of Middle Earth. It has worked well and I felt comfortable making the leap.

As usual for a continuing story, my text is BOLD and Arne's text is normal font.

Cast of Characters: 

Aragon Whisperwind - Elven Bladedancer played by +Arne Jamtgaard 
and +Jason Woollard as the DM