Investigation: The Horseshoe Isle Settlement (Session 4)

Cast of Characters

Keyleth Arwyl:  Elven Protector Druid (Circle of Shelter, Beastwalker Circle)
Fen Silverfang:  Longtooth Shifter Berserker (Temperate Lands)
Sophia Vermillion:  Half-Elven Valorous Bard
Miyako "Mia" Sotoko:  Human Centered Breath Monk
Zeus:  Dwarven Wrathful Invoker

Summary

Wow, we finally finished this adventure after over 2 months of not playing!  Though it wasn't necessarily avoidable, this session felt really rushed.  The DM is leaving for Paraguay in a few days, and shortly after he gets back I'm moving out of state until around August for work.  So this was definitely destined to be our last session for quite some time, which meant that it had to be concluded.  The DM cut some stuff, but we still ended up cutting it really close, and we didn't even get a proper denouement. 

At the end of the last session the heroes were ambushed during their extended rest, and they decided to rest again after the fight to refresh all of their resources.  They saw smoke above the mountain the previous day, and so they headed in that direction.  Due to a miscommunication I was picturing a very different geography than the DM.  In my mind's eye, we were on an island of at least 50ish square miles with a relatively large volcanic peak that rose at least a thousand feet up, if not a bit more.  In truth the island was probably closer to 10ish square miles with a roughly 100 foot tall cliff "ridge" that ran down the middle of the island, and was probably only a few hundred meters wide at most.  Oops. 

Anyways, the party made their way up toward where the smoke was coming from, Mia and Keyleth stealthily scouting ahead.  They came to the cliff face and found a gate flanked by 2 trolls (chained up nearby) and 2 archers in protected battlements just above the gate.  Though their movement in the brush was spotted, Keyleth ran into the open as a wild boar, and then pretended to flee back in the direction they came when she saw the trolls.  Basically, the idea was to put the guards at ease, thinking the rustling was just wild animals.  Mia snuck further around, while Keyleth went back to the others.  She sent Fen to find Mia so the two of them could climb the cliff in secret beyond the line of sight of the guards.  They were to come at the gate from above.  They began by rolling large boulders over the edge on top of the unwitting trolls, but soon ran short on available rocks (and time).  As soon as they secured their rope and started rappelling down the ranged guys revealed their position by attacking.  One of the trolls was incredibly tough for a level 7 party (a level 12 Battle Troll from MV...I hate high-level soldiers).  Halfway through the battle I was convinced we'd have to flee from him even after defeating everyone else, but we prevailed in the end.  It was a long slog thanks to the fact that we only had 1 fire power at our disposal, and it was an encounter power (Sophie picked Burning Spray as her Dilettante!).  We decided the best course of action was to wait until any trolls in a given battle were all dropped, and then "finish them" with Burning Spray as a coup-de-grace.  So the troll's consistent regen was pretty annoying.

Zeus ended up taking quite a bit of damage (being bloodied 3 times!).  Though the plan was for Fen and Mia to take out the archers first, Fen ended up simply dropping off of the rope  and eating some minor falling damage (thanks to Acrobat Boots he was still able to move + charge next turn) because the trolls ended up being far more dangerous than expected.  This was because Keyleth and Zeus rolled horribly at the beginning of the encounter, making our attempts to control the trolls futile.  I'm convinced that a few lucky (big!) hits from Fen and consistent Vicious Mockery damage/debuff from Sophie (including 1 crit) were the only reasons we fared so well against the Battle Troll. 

In any case, the party triumphed and then Mia crit-picked the lock to the gate.  She then rolled a 1 to pick the lock of the next door inside, which was built into a cave-in.  The door shifted when Fen broke it open, but Zeus determined that the stones were stable enough for them to safely pass (from a metagame perspective, we were pretty nervous about this since we knew that his Dungeoneering role wasn't all that high).  The party was soon in a room filled with stacked crates, that led to a staircase outside of a rock ledge (we'd made it through the "mountain").  The stairs led to a lagoon where Fen saw 2 trolls and several pirates loading things onto schooners when he peeked around the corner.  There was also a child manacled to the wall of the cave, whom we freed and told to hide (though he was convinced that we were all pirates playing a cruel joke on him, and when he saw Keyleth use Wild Shape he accused her of being a demon). 

We were off to a great start in this battle, with Keyleth nonchalantly flying onto the roof of a building and off the other side in dodo-form to get to an advantageous position.  Mia then used Crane's Wings to jump off the rock ledge, over the staircase, and through the window of the building (to find herself surrounded by 5 thugs who ended up being minions).  Fen set himself up at a bottleneck at the bottom of the stairs, and Keyleth opened the battle with Vine Serpents, successfully hitting both trolls.  One troll would remain restrained for the entire combat, never making a single attack (very unlucky with the saves!), while the other was immediately barraged with other control attacks after making his second save (the first being Charm Beast, forcing him to attack the other troll).  Sophie and Zeus pretty much sniped from the rock ledge the entire time (at least until Sophie needed to come down to dish out some heals).  Because he tended not to get to use Longtooth Shifting very often, Fen elected not to heal himself after reaching just above his bloodied value from the racial power's regen in the previous encounter.  Starting the encounter almost bloodied, it would take only one hit before he could activate Longtooth Shifting again.  His high defenses actually prevented him from being hit for quite a while.  Perhaps my favorite "Fen moment," however, was when Mia was badly injured and way out of Sophie's healing range.  Fen instructed her to jump aboard the schooner that he was fighting pirates on (with his aura still up) and park herself next to him.  She soon went down, but he was able to bring her right back up with Swift Recovery.  Soooo glad I picked that skill power for him at level 6!  The defense bonus from having used her second wind also saved her butt during the next round of archer attacks.  Overall the battle was won fairly easily, in no small part thanks to Keyleth's luck with Vine Serpents.  That has been so effective at wrecking encounters that it's probably my favorite daily power now.

Further Comments

As I said before, this session was very rushed.  We called it immediately after this battle (during which there were a lot of distractions so it took longer than it probably had to), with the DM basically saying "congratulations, you have 2 schooners so you can get back now."  No roleplaying to find out who the kid was, no closure after dragging our pirate prisoner around for this whole adventure, nothing to resolve the fact that we destroyed Captain Jack's ship (or what we would do with our new surplus of ships), and perhaps most disappointing, no resolution for Sophie's case of herpes.  Keyleth had been collecting herbs for use as ritual components to reduce the cost of the Remove Affliction ritual, and we also never investigated that possibly corrupt Cleric in the next town over.  The DM had admitted that he's not great at improvising, but I still would have preferred going through with that little side quest (after all, improvisation is an absolutely critical skill for any GM, and the only way to become comfortable with it is to actually do it). 

I may follow this up with a longer post later, but lately I've been thinking about the weaknesses of 4E and tonight really highlighted some of those.  I like how free-form and flexible the system is out of combat, but combat lies on the complete opposite end of that spectrum which can create a bit of a disconnect.  It almost feels like you're playing 2 different games at times, with OoC being a sleek, streamlined RPG and combat being a highly involved tactical miniatures game.  The length of combat also tends to remove you from the main narrative for long periods of time.  I also dislike the way that the system scales with level, and despise the magic item and treasure system (which we've thankfully been largely ignoring in this campaign).  I really think that combat can be simplified and made more efficient while preserving most of the tactical depth, but it would be a tough thing to accomplish.  Finally, there's just something "off" about efficient use of resources (a combination of recovering everything after an extended rest, no long-term effects in general, and a lack of momentum-building mechanics that restrict flexibility in designing variable-length adventuring days). 

I think a lot of these thoughts are a direct result of having played The One Ring several times now.  Though it's a very different system than D&D 4E and I wouldn't want one to turn into the other, so to speak, I think I'm starting to prefer a lot of elements in a game like TOR.  I'm finding myself looking more and more forward to what the designers have in store for us with 5E/D&DN, hoping for something that plays a bit like 1E D&D but with the "polish" and some modern elements of 4E.  I'd like quick, exciting combats with an easily-accessible option for tactical depth on a system that above-all emphasizes narrative elements.  I'd like to avoid the restrictive, simulationist rules of 3E (particularly for OoC stuff) in favor of something streamlined and easy-to-use like some elements of 4E (replicating the "feel" of TOR with decidedly D&D mechanics).  Ultimately if the new game doesn't deliver I'm starting to feel confident that I'd be able to create a "hybrid" system that does more or less exactly what I want it to (especially since such modularity is one of the major design goals of D&DN anyways).

Investigation: The Horseshoe Isle Settlement (Session 3)

Cast

Keyleth Arwyl:  Elven Protector Druid (Circle of Shelter, Beastwalker Circle)
Fen Silverfang:  Longtooth Shifter Berserker (Temperate Lands)
Sophia Vermillion:  Half-Elven Valorous Bard
Miyako "Mia" Sotoko:  Human Centered Breath Monk
Zeus:  Dwarven Wrathful Invoker

The Crossing

The party began by waiting until cover of night to paddle over to the next island in the chain.  During this time Keyleth gathered some more ritual components to reduce the cost of Sophie's Remove Affliction ritual.  Under an overcast sky, they set out.  Zeus and Fen rowed, while the 3 girls acted as lookouts.  The pirate captive was gagged and tied up.  About halfway to the other island Sophie spotted 3 shark fins heading toward their small boat.  Mia wins initiative, but the best she can do is throw a dagger at one of the sharks.  Soon they're charging at the boat, attacking those on board.  At one point one of the sharks grabbed Fen, threatening to pull him under.  It wouldn't have gotten far, however, since Fen had been using Run Down to keep it slowed, and it was also in Keyleth's Nature's Growth zone (a tangle of seaweed).  Keyleth used Charm Beast on an adjacent shark, and then commanded it to attack the one grabbing Fen (which was a kill). 

A couple of rounds after the first shark is bloodied, 3 more sharks appear, attracted by the scent of blood.  They all attack the bottom of the boat, severely damaging it.  At first everyone tries to stay in the boat, but once the reinforcements arrived Mia jumped in the water to use her burst attacks more effectively (only 1 shark remained adjacent to the boat at the water's surface).  Shortly afterwards Fen jumped in to get as many of the sharks in his defender's aura as possible in an effort to keep them from attacking the boat.  Keyleth soon followed, using Wild Shape to turn into a sea turtle before using Predator's Flurry to daze 2 of the sharks (because sea turtles beating up sharks is awesome).  The one shark still above water wouldn't go down too easily with just Sophie and Zeus taking potshots at it, and it used one of its final actions to attack the boat, finally destroying it.  Under too much stress already, it fell apart and Sophie and Zeus fell prone in the water (both were wearing chainmail, and had Athletics scores of 2 and 1, respectively).  Fortunately, either Fen or Mia (I can't remember) killed the last shark, and Keyleth immediately rushed underwater to save the bound and gagged captive, who was sinking. 

Fen let Zeus use his large (wooden) shield as a paddleboard, and they swam the rest of the distance to the other island.  Fen propped the prisoner up onto some boat debris, and dragged her (him having the highest Athletics bonus).  Everyone ensured they would at least stay afloat by utilizing pieces of wreckage.  Only Sophie failed her Endurance check, slowing the others down and losing a healing surge in the process. 

The Ambush

The swim took quite a long time, and it was about 5 am by the time they reached the island.  They were exhausted, and Keyleth did a quick sweep of the beach to look for tracks (which she found), and they made camp in a densely vegetated spot away from the tracks.  Zeus took first watch, and it was during his watch that they were ambushed (he failed his Perception check).  During the surprise round, he was peppered with arrows and brought down to bloodied.  Initiative was rolled, with the PCs generally moving more quickly than the monsters (only Fen rolled low). 

The opposition consisted of 6 humans; 2 archers and 4 melee fighters, 2 of which were beefier than the others.  Keyleth summoned a Pack Wolf next to one of the weaker melee guys and an archer, and used an Action Point to Charm a nearby strong melee guy.  The wolf knocked the weaker guy prone.  Being prone (having been woken up), Mia was forced to simply chuck a dagger.  Zeus used his usual tactic of blasting guys with Hand of Radiance, as well as using his second wind.  On Fen's turn he stood up (minor action, thanks to Acrobat Boots) and charged the 2 enemies near the Pack Wolf, protecting it and keeping the enemies in his aura.  The archer didn't fare too well in this scenario. 

Mia's nova round consisted of a move+attack a bunch of guys encounter power, followed by Spinning Leopard Maneuver (a similar daily) via an AP.  She ended up hitting every single enemy on the field, ending near the guys tied up by Fen's aura.  Her total damage was 150 for that round (there was a crit in there).  Speaking of crits, Keyleth had some odd luck; she rolled two crits, but one was Charm Beast (no damage), and the other was with her Pack Wolf (no crit dice thanks to the lack of the Implement keyword on SNA).  She also crit-succeeded a saving throw.  Frustrating to see nothing special happen for all of those 20s!

Zeus, Fen, and Mia all got beaten up a fair amount, but nobody went down.  Keyleth's Pack Wolf was never hit (and only attacked once), so it got 4 or 5 attacks in.  To be fair, the DM thought it was like the Shaman's SC and so didn't attack it, but even so it was protected by Fen the majority of the time anyways.  Even though nobody was in much danger, a couple of dailies were used and almost everyone used an AP.  Certainly the most challenging encounter of the adventure so far, and it was fun as well.  Still, this DM tends to lean to the easy side when building encounters, and it's something I've mentioned before.  This was a good start (being a random encounter and all), and I hope the upcoming encounters are very challenging. 

For now, this was where we ended the session.  We played a little under 3 hours, and there was only a little bit of roleplaying with most of the session being the 2 encounters.  On average, that's a little over an hour for each encounter which is longer than I prefer.  It is worth noting that the cats provided a lot of distractions (from watching their antics, to cleaning up after they'd knock something over, to keeping them off the table) so we weren't running at full efficiency, and there seemed to be a lot of thinking over options when it came to a player's turn.  Even my turns took a little longer than usual, and I have my characters' powers pretty much memorized.  I guess I just wasn't thinking ahead as much before my turns came up (especially with Keyleth, who is more tactically complex than Fen being a controller and all).  While I really enjoy playing Druids, they really do require you to be on your game.  A good portion of their control comes from positioning enemies (and/or yourself) just right after dazing/proning them to deny actions and/or generate OAs.  While it's certainly engaging most of the time, sometimes I wish control consisted of more straightforward effects like stun, blind, and dominate as opposed to dazes and prones.  I can't wait until I pick up Repel Charge in Paragon, as this will make my positioning options more flexible. 

Anyways, that's all for now.  The DM hopes we'll be done in one more session, but I personally have my doubts, lol.

Investigation: The Horseshoe Isle Settlement (Session 2)

Cast of Characters

Keyleth Arwyl:  Elven Protector Druid (Circle of Shelter, Beastwalker Circle)
Fen Silverfang:  Longtooth Shifter Berserker (Temperate Lands)
Sophia Vermillion:  Half-Elven Valorous Bard
Miyako "Mia" Sotoko:  Human Centered Breath Monk
Zeus:  Dwarven Wrathful Invoker

Battle Aboard the Merry Jane

The previous session ended with The Spooner nearly destroyed, and the PCs raising a white flag in mock surrender to the pirate ship.  The idea was to wait until the ship got close enough that the crew could board them, and then the party would attack.  The Spooner being a small fishing vessel, the pirates shouldn't expect resistance.  As the ship (called The Merry Jane) pulled alongside the Spooner's port, the PCs could see 4 thuggish looking deckhands with grappling hooks nearest to them, clearly preparing to board.  There were also 2 buff looking pirates, 2 pirate archers, and 2 tough-looking pirates that appeared to be in charge.  Before the deckhands could toss their grappling hooks, the party attacked and initiative was rolled.

Zeus rolled highest, and blasted 3 pirates with Searing Orb (1 was a deckhand, which not surprisingly turned out to be a minion).  With 1 enemy down and the other 2 blinded, Mia used Crane's Wings to easily jump aboard the Merry Jane, and she went straight for the blinded pirates.  Keyleth was up next, using Vine Serpents to contain 3 different pirates and setting up her Nature's Growth zone nearby, the limit the mobility of the enemies around Mia.  Nobody else blew any dailies, and Sophie, Keyleth, and Zeus pretty much stayed aboard The Spooner as artillery.  Fen was able to just clear the jump (the distance between the 2 ships was 2 squares) as part of a charge toward one of the archers.  He used an AP to attack the archer again, bloodying him and knocking him prone.  This was the only AP spent during the encounter.

The following are some observations and highlights from the rest of the battle:

• In general, though we didn't plan for it our party is extremely AoE heavy and also happens to have a lot of forced movement at their disposal.  The fact that Zeus and Keyleth have Hand of Radiance and Magic Stones, respectively, is interesting, and regardless of what Mia is doing she can slide someone with Centered Flurry of Blows.  Though it didn't occur in this battle, I'm keeping an eye out for opportunities to use Magic Stones to group enemies in Fen's aura (MS is a push 2 for her).  Mia can then blast the crap out of them while protected by Fen, and if Fen gets overwhelmed Prescient Warning and Curtain of Steel are great retaliatory attacks (CoS will trigger Fen's Fury, which will score him 16 THP).
• Vine Serpents absolutely wrecked this encounter.  Most of the pirates in the zone didn't have ranged attacks, so while they were immobilized/restrained they couldn't do anything.  One of the archers was in the zone, but every time he shot out of it he took 9 auto-damage.  Mia (and eventually Fen) parked next to the zone just outside, so once enemies were no longer immobilized/restrained they still took damage for attacking outside of the zone.  Add in the party's proclivity for forced movement and you can see why the enemies went down quickly.
• Mia was the only combatant to knock someone overboard, using Crane's Wings (with FoB as a backup in case the pirate made her saving throw to avoid getting pushed off).  That pirate was the only one to survive the battle, as Keyleth threw a rope down to her afterwards so they could ask her about the settlement (and gather info on the area's pirates).
• Fen was never even bloodied, only taking a single hit.  The DM was rolling really badly for attacks most of the night.  Mia was the only PC to take any appreciable damage, but the only healing that had to be dished out was Revitalizing Incantation.  
• Keyleth rolled a 3 with her Charm Beast attack, and the Elven Accuracy roll was a 2.  Boo.  The DM wasn't too happy to learn that the pirate was dazed anyways, leaving Fen as his only viable target.  
• Fen went into a Fury late, getting to make only two attacks as a striker.  The first was a bad miss, the second was a charge that critted the last archer (who had only 3 HP left) for 40 damage.  As he sliced the head off of the pirate, he caught the head in mid-air as the body was thrown overboard by the force of the blow, then he slammed the head onto the deck. 

The Settlement

After the battle, the party went below deck of The Spooner and called the crew (and Captain Jack) over to The Merry Jane, their new ship.  Jack immediately went below deck, and the crew requested Mia's assistance as this was a bigger vessel and they were now shorthanded.  Keyleth went up to the crow's nest as lookout.  Sophie, Fen, and Zeus interrogated their captive.  They learned that this area is the territory of the Pirate League, and that they've made it a point to get rid of any settlements they find.  They also learn that Captain Jack was kicked out of the Pirate League, and their captive was responsible for him having only 1 eye.  They also questioned her about the "monstrous tracks" reported by the supply crew, and she informed them that many pirates in the area enslave various monstrous creatures to do their bidding.

It wasn't long before the ship got as close as it could get to the beach, at which point the PCs rowed to shore, taking their captive with them (you know, we never did catch her name...).  The settlement was very primitive with just a few thatched huts and some rudimentary buildings (a mill, shop, etc).  Bodies were indeed everywhere, and Fen (being trained in Heal) went over to them to determine cause of death.  He rolled a 19, which made for a 29 total, so the DM answered pretty much every question I had regarding the injuries.  They had died about a week ago, most of them with slash wounds inflicted by swords.  A few, however, were bludgeoned pretty badly and suffered from bite wounds that were inflicted while the victims were still alive.  Meanwhile, Keyleth decided to investigate the large tracks that were reported, aided by Zeus, Mia, and Sophie.  Keyleth critted her Nature check to ID the tracks, which combined with the +6 from the three aid rolls resulted in a total of 40.  She pretty much instantly recognized them as troll tracks.  The tracks were mixed with humanoid tracks, with a trail leading to the settlement from the woods, and then going back into the woods the way they came.  Knowing that trolls were difficult to take down without acid or fire damage, the party took stock of their resources.  Sophie's Dilettante was Burning Spray, and this was their only fire attack.  At least it was something.

The group (with their captive in tow and gagged now) followed the trail through the woods for about a mile.  At this point they reached a beach, where the tracks ended.  It looked like a small boat had been drug up on the beach, and had likely come from another island about a half mile across open water from this beach.  Using the spyglass that one of the crew members had lent her before the pirate attack, Sophie looked for anything of interest on the other island.  It appeared that there were some smoke plumes coming from the mountainside, and possibly some structures there as well.  They walked back to the settlement, portaged their rowboat through the woods to the second beach, and spent the rest of the day waiting for the cover of darkness, at which point they would row to the island. 

Our DM needed to get some sleep so we ended here.

Investigation: The Horseshoe Isle Settlement (Session 1)

Cast

Keyleth Arwyl:  Elven Protector Druid (Circle of Shelter, Beastwalker Circle)
Fen Silverfang:  Longtooth Shifter Berserker (Temperate Lands)
Sophia Vermillion:  Half-Elven Valorous Bard
Miyako "Mia" Sotoko:  Human Centered Breath Monk
Zeus:  Dwarven Wrathful Invoker

Introduction

The Red Frogs are finally back in action after a several-week hiatus!  The DM for this campaign decided to scrap the Prologue that we previously ran because of the time gap and changing ideas.  Worked out well though, because since then Heroes of the Feywild was released, and now I get to run some new builds from it (Keyleth and Fen) instead of being locked into playing Lyra and Berylis again.  Worth noting is that when Sophie was leveled, she took some new powers from that book as well (Revitalizing Incantation and Prescient Warning).  The combo I'm thinking about is that when Fen is getting clobbered by several enemies Sophie will use Prescient Warning, and then immediately afterwards I'll go into a Fury via Curtain of Steel.  Should prove to be a pretty devastating nova round, especially if I follow it up with an action point on Fen's next turn.

Another point worth noting is that this party is very AoE heavy.  All of Mia's encounter powers are bursts (even if they may not be the best power of that level), Zeus is very AoE heavy (actually, he often spams Hand of Radiance), and Keyleth and Sophie both have their fair share of area attacks (Keyleth has Magic Stones, which can be used to clump enemies to set up her burst/blast-happy allies).


The Village of Tarvarin

Our heroes begin in their headquarters (technically an unspecified satellite HQ, as the main headquarters in Fallcrest has established geography that conflicts with this adventure's needs).  They learn that the guild has been contracted by the Gold Coast Trading Co., which has been trying to establish settlements fairly heavily along the Strait of the Winds.  There is a heavy pirate presence in the area, and GCTC hopes to secure the location with a strong presence there.  They lost contact with a recent settlement on Horseshoe Isle about a month ago, and the latest re-supply ship found the village ravaged.  Material goods were looted and bodies were scattered about like confetti.  The supply ship's crew quickly retreated without further investigation, as they noticed large, monstrous tracks and feared for their lives.  GCTC wants the Red Frogs to investigate further.

The party heads south down the road to the village of Tarvarin, 3 days away, which sits across the Strait.  On the way there they encounter bandits who try to rob Fen.  Big mistake.  Keyleth, disguised as a dog, is the only one who notices and she barks a warning.  The party attacks and quickly dispatches the bandits.  Fen is the only one to specify a non-lethal "kill shot" on the bandit who robbed him, no less.  He takes her weapons and armor (and the party splits the gold that the bandits had) and dump them in a hidden spot down the road.  His way of teaching her a lesson.  Overall, the encounter was ridiculously easy and was over in just 2 rounds.  Keyleth and Mia were the only ones to even get hit (once each, Mia's being an OA she provoked), with Fen never getting the chance to Fury.

When the party reaches town they check into the first inn they see, the Upturned Mug.  At this point the player of Sophie and Mia went to pick up food, and he authorized me to control his characters.  Big mistake I guess.  I had Sophie go drink-for-drink with Zeus, and she ended up passing out after puking her guts out in the alley.  She woke up with a (female) Half-Orc and a fun new rash (which we all assumed was herpes...this was more the DM's fault than mine, I just wanted her to be hung over in the morning since she's the party face).  Quote of the night from Sophie's player:  "This was never supposed to happen." 

In the morning Keyleth and Zeus took point talking with Gils Brooks, GCTC's owner/manager.  He gave more details, and was unfortunately unable to spare a ship at the moment.  The party did get the name of one of his contacts at the docks; One-Eyed Captain Jack (those of you who remember the original prologue will see some similarities here).  They found him later, and Sophie was feeling well enough to haggle with him (Words of Friendship) on the price (including possible hazard pay) for passage on his fishing schooner.  He told them to be ready by morning, and Zeus and Fen invited him to have a drink with them later at the Upturned Mug (despite the fact that he was already cradling a bottle of rum). 

Disembarkment

With passage on a ship secured, Sophie, Keyleth, and Fen headed to a local temple to Melora to see if Sophie could get her rash cleared up (Keyleth's Senses of the Wild confirmed that it was indeed a disease, though she couldn't identify it specifically).  The Remove Affliction ritual proved pricier than expected, so Sophie tried to haggle to work out a deal.  Keyleth (who had spent much of her childhood/young adulthood professionally collecting herbs for an apothecary in the Feywild city of Shinaelestra) identified the requisite components (via a Nature check) and offered to reduce the cost by providing the components.  After a less successful nature check, she came back with a smaller bundle than expected barely putting a dent in the cost.  She offered to continue collecting on their journey so that when they returned she could provide the temple with a fairly large stock of components, knocking the price down as far as possible. 

While she was out collecting (with Fen's assistance) Sophie tried other negotiation tactics with Brother Gabriel, the priest.  He revealed that there may be one other thing she could do for him; in an adjacent town someone from one of the temples there (allegedly) stole a holy book from him.  It's rumored that they've gotten involved with some dark practices (necromancy), and Brother Gabriel wants Sophie to gather some intel on the situation and return the book.  This would earn her a major discount on the ritual.  Sophie tried to get him to perform the ritual first, but he insisted that if she wanted the discount, he needed his book first.

Afterwards they all met up at the Upturned Mug for drinks.  Sophie performed for tips (while being hit on by Captain Jack the whole time), Zeus drank everyone under the table, and Keyleth and Fen retired early enough to be the first up in the morning (needing to kick Jack awake, as he'd passed out in his booth).  They all followed Jack to his schooner (named The Spooner), and met his first mate (Levi) and the other 4 crew members. 

All seemed to be going well until they spotted a large ship in the distance.  The Spooner was fighting the current to get to Horseshoe Isle, while this new ship had the current on its side.  It soon became obvious that they were being pursued.  Levi was at the helm, Jack still being drunk.  Sophie got a spyglass from one of the crew members and noticed that the crew of the other ship were definitely moving around a lot on deck.  It soon became obvious that they were loading cannons.  Shortly afterward, The Spooner took a hit to the hull.  They were about 300 yards out from the island and only had a single dingy that could fit 5.  While desperately trying to think of a course of action and coming up with nothing particularly brilliant, the ship took another hit to the deck.  Sophie jumped away in time, but one of the crew members was tossed overboard, limp as a rag doll.  Keyleth ordered the remaining crew below deck to start lashing Jack's rum barrels together into a makeshift raft.  Jack dejectedly went below deck after muttering that "you (the PCs) might actually be kept alive for ransom, but they'll just kill me and the crew."

When they were still a couple hundred yards out from the isle and it was obvious that The Spooner couldn't take another direct hit, Keyleth ordered the party to quickly put together a makeshift white flag to signal that they surrender.  The party agreed that their only chance was to get close enough to allow the pirates to board.  They stood a much better chance against the crew than The Spooner did against those guns, and if successful they would have a new ship.

It was at this point that we called it a night, since there is a pretty large battle coming up.  Keyleth, Zeus, and Sophie all have forced movement powers so the best tactic is obviously going to be to try to knock the pirates overboard (while avoiding being knocked overboard themselves!).  Should be fun.

PC Profile: Fen Silverfang

Backstory

• Fen Silverfang was a respected berserker warrior of the Moonsilver tribe, an all-Shifter society whose territory included a Fey crossing to Brokenstone Vale. The crossing lies in a wide valley surrounded by tall mountains, one of the only productive winter hunting grounds for the tribe. Lycanthrope raids are common, and despite their ancestry the Moonsilver’s are their bitter enemies. The tribe relies heavily on its warrior caste, which includes the elite berserkers and bear warriors who have learned to channel the Primal Spirits to come to their aid in battle. Most members of the tribe (including Fen) fear the Feywild, and avoid the crossing.

• While escorting a party of the tribe’s best hunters over a high mountain pass, Fen and his allies were ambushed by werewolves. The fight was brutal, and several good warriors were slain. Fen was grievously injured, and only survived after being pushed over a small cliff and landing in an icy tarn. He slowly returned back to camp, noticing an unusually large amount of werewolf tracks. When he finally made it back he learned that attacks had grown much more frequent, and that the tribe was planning on abandoning their territory. Within days they had packed up what they could and left the valley.
• It didn’t surprise the Moonsilvers to learn that they were feared in most of the civilized lands. They ended up making a temporary camp in the foothills of the Dawnforge Mountains, relying on bundles of Wolfsbane hung outside of their huts and a few silvered weapons for protection against any werewolves that may have tracked them.
• After several months of relative safety, the Moonsilvers decided to try and improve their situation. About half of the warriors were left behind to guard the camp, and emissaries escorted by warriors were sent out to look for anyone friendly toward Shifters. They weren’t openly shunned in Fallcrest or Nenlast, and so several members of the tribe settled in these towns temporarily. A friendly Shifter tribe that patrolled the coast of Lake Nen proved worthy allies, and they also had dealings with an Elven village on the outskirts of the Harken Forest.
• Some of the warriors, including Fen, were sent out to seek the wealth necessary to amass more silvered weapons. The plan was eventually to increase their numbers and equip themselves better so that they could re-take their former territory. Each warrior went about this task in a different way, but Fen’s decision was to join up with the Red Frog’s mercenary guild...

Description

Though his disposition is generally amicable, people are often uneasy around Fen Silverfang. His lycanthropic bloodline shows with a thin, silky coat of dark salt-and-pepper hair, thickening to wolf-like fur on his shoulders and jaw (though this “beard” is nearly all black). His lips are thin and jet black, with a slight sag where his upper canines protrude slightly from his jaw. Most wolf-like, perhaps, are his long feet which are unshod and bear large claws halfway between a wolf's and a bear's. An efficient gait places his heel on the ground only when walking at very slow speeds. When you first meet Fen, his amber eyes often give the uncomfortable impression that he's sizing you up (and he is). If you shake his large, thickly padded hand (criss-crossed with scars) you're surprised by a light grip that brings to mind the gentleness of an alligator carrying her young in her mouth. Looking back up to his eyes you notice the sombre longing of a warrior who grew up too fast and simply wants to settle down in peace. But that's not to diminish his skills as a fighter. He's about the size of an average human, but far stronger than most warriors of that race (and far less visibly muscle-bound). His technique confirms that he's been fighting all his life, though by channeling the Primal Spirits in battle he can go from precise, opportunistic strikes and parries to a full-on, trance-like state wherein his brute force is fully realized. His worn hide armor and thick, wooden shield suggest a primitive upbringing far from civilization, and yet his gleaming sword resembles the finest burnished silver and appears to be a curiosity (until you learn that what he grew up fighting were lycanthropes).

Character Sheet
Longtooth Shifter, Temperate Lands Berserker

Trained Skills:  Athletics, Endurance, Perception
Languages:  Common, Elven

Feats:  Weapon Prof (Bastard Sword), Shield Prof (Heavy), Master at Arms, Berserk Vitality

Powers: 
A-W:  Run Down, Stalk and Strike
E:  Batter Down, Implacable Advance, Curtain of Steel
D:  Sweeping Cut, Rage of the Crimson Hurricane
U:  Feral Rejuvenation, Cull Weakness

Equipment:  Vanguard Bastard Sword +2 (silvered), Magic Handaxe +1, Magic Hide +2, Vanguard Shield, Acrobat Boots, Lesser Badge of the Berserker +2, Belt of Vigor, Wolfsbane (4 bundles), Potion of Healing (2), Grey Rain Cloak, Standard Adv. Kit (with extra rope).

PC Profile: Keyleth Arwyl

I thought I'd create a post for each of my PCs that I could link to from the "Cast of Characters" section of my session reviews.  For now I'll focus on my new adventurers, who get to see their first real play in the next adventure (which we should start up in the next week or so). 

Backstory
Note that I used the "Build Your Story" option from Heroes of the Feywild to jump start this (indeed, this was the character that I made when I first tried that chapter out!).  The link to that post is here.   Below is a somewhat abbreviated (and yet, expanded) version.

• Keyleth was orphaned at a young age, and grew up in the city of Shinaelestra in the Feywild where her foster parents moved after fleeing the Gnoll force that destroyed their village. They made a meager living as farmhands at one of the local vineyards, and when Keyleth was old enough she was hired by an apothecary to collect rare herbs (in the Feywild, and in the Mortal Realm after Shinaelestra's nightly worldfall).
• After learning that her parents were actually respected members of the Druidic Circle of Shelter and had left her in order to pursue a dangerous mission in search of a necromancer (Decius Derakh), she departed on a quest to learn what may have become of them. She suffered a mishap in the goblin-controlled Murkroot swamp, and was sold into Fomorian slavery for a time before escaping into Brokenstone Vale, the Valley of the Lycanthropes. There she befriended a werebear tribal elder, who advised her to seek out the Citadel Arcanum in Mithrendain. She was captured by the guards, but not before discovering records showing that Decius had attempted to get through the Maze of Fathaghn to steal a branch from the Mother Tree for some dark ritual. He was no match for the Dryad Queen that resided there, but perhaps she could be of help to Keyleth in locating him now.
• On her way to the Maze the Primal Spirits began whispering to her, starting her on the Druidic path. The Dryad Queen was sympathetic, pointing her to where she had banished Decius into the Mortal World (and giving her a magical fire box that showed his face in its smoke). She advised Keyleth to seek out members of her parents' Circle.
• Despite the Dryad Queen's warning, upon entering the Mortal Realm Keyleth became singularly obsessed with hunting down Decius. Though she slowly developed a mastery of Primal magics, they began to manifest her wild recklessness. After developing an unpleasant reputation, an elderly member of the Circle of Shelter (Bryce Calanor) sought her out and presented her with a task; he would train her in the ways of the Beastwalker Circle, and then she was to go on a personal quest. She was to remain in beast form with no outside contact “until her reflection acknowledged her.” This was the path to Wisdom.
• Unable to make sense of her end goal, she alternated between many different animal forms for nearly a year. Most other creatures were wary around her, and avoided her despite her guise. Then one evening, while foraging through the forest in the form of a black bear, Keyleth heard the mournful howl of a wolf. For no reason that she could explain, with a swift leap she took wolf form and bounded toward the sound. She encountered a litter of yearling pups that had struck out on their own, and they greeted her enthusiastically. She traveled with them for several days, hunting and lounging and frolicking. She let her concerns about Decius and her quest melt away. Then, one of the young wolves approached her, sat down, and turned into Bryce! By opening her mind to the influence of the Primal Beast she had learned to view the world from a new perspective, and to shed away her dangerous single-mindedness.
• Though he had no information about Decius or Keyleth's parents, Bryce advised Keyleth to live her life and to see the world, seeking out a variety of experiences and perspectives. The Dryad Queen's fire box would alert her when an opportunity to seek Decius arose. In the meantime, he pointed her to a treasure-seeking mercenary group that he had helped co-found years ago, the Red Frogs...
   

Description

In her elven form Keyleth's moss green eyes slowly scan the room, with a focused patience behind them. With just a momentary wolf-like glance, you can sense her connection with the Primal Beast. Her dark brown hair (which shows flecks of autumn-gold in the sunlight) is long but tame; a braid on each side corrals it in place down her back as they weave through to beautiful but practical effect. An elven technique, to be sure. Every movement of her lithe-but-field-tested limbs portrays a calculated grace, as if she is at home in any environment, which the slight semi-permanent curve of her mouth confirms, conveying a relaxed joviality. And yet her gear reveals that she's not to be underestimated. Worn over her finely-spun woolen tunic are plates of reinforced animal hide – the thick but supple tanned armor of woodland bison which bears the evidence of averted injury. Around her left forearm is tied a short length of wood adorned with various protective wards, including carved runes and talismans of bone and gemstone. In her right hand she carries a full-length staff carved with the shapes of sinuous vipers and wrapped in a snakeskin grip. Light, thinly padded moccasins and the sure footing of a mountain goat allow her to travel with speed across any terrain.  Her favored beast forms are the black bear, wolf, and dog (wolfhound mix, mostly for civilized areas), though her forms vary based on her mood.

Character Sheet

Elf, Circle of Shelter Protector

Trained Skills:  Athletics, Insight, Nature, Stealth 

Languages:  Common, Elven, Goblin

Primal Attunements:  Air Spirit, Senses of the Wild, Call the Spirits

Feats:  Superior Implement Training (Accurate Staff), Beastwalker Circle, Staff Expertise, Cunning Stalker

Powers:  

A-W:  Grasping Claws, Magic Stones

E:  Gust of Wind, Predator's Flurry, Charm Beast

D:  Summon Natural Ally, Vine Serpents

U:  Sudden Bite, Camouflage Cloak

Equipment:  Staff of the Serpent +2, Aversion Staff +1 (reflavored), Pouncing Beast Armor +2, Claw Gloves, Lesser Badge of the Berserker +1, Siberys Shard of the Mage, Hamanu's Terrible Roar (boon), standard adventurer's kit (with extra rope), Dryad Queen's fire box (story item)

 

Recovery: Viral's Diary (Session 3)

Cast of Characters (Level 6)

1. Lyra Cinderfield - Human Staff of Defense Wizard
2. Berylis Lindelenon - Elf Panther Shaman
3. Unit 27 - Warforged Weapon Talent Fighter
4. Rozzle - Elf Brutal Scoundrel Rogue
5. Zeus - Dwarf Wrathful Invoker

Approach to the Tomb

The PCs began this session continuing their journey down the river, eventually coming to a small clearing that led into a very old and overgrown cemetery.  As Nero had warned them, the party circles around the cemetery to find Midos' grave near the back.  Rozzle and Berylis scout ahead to keep an eye out for danger.  It's too bad they didn't have tremorsense; as they follow Nero's tracks skeletal hands burst out of the ground and knock Rozzle prone, as well as grabbing him.  The party is soon beset by several more skeletons, two of which can hurl fire from range.  Given the undead theme of this adventure, we'd really missed Zeus last session.  Unfortunately, his dice were extremely cold tonight (actually, he was borrowing mine, and that's usually one of my hottest D20s), and he missed with his first 4 attacks.  Disappointing to be sure.  Ultimately we were able to protect Rozzle (who had only 2 surges remaining) really well, but at a huge cost to both Berylis and Zeus (Zeus used 4 surges in that combat, and Berylis ended up down to only 2 as well). 

I continue to be impressed by the Shaman class (in the Heroic tier at least, Spirit Hunt and Twin Panthers end up being equivalent to optimized striker powers).  I'm finally starting to get used to the "splash heal" style of Healing Spirit, which was really useful for healing up what little damage Rozzle took without dipping into his two remaining surges.  Despite the fact that I don't normally like strikers, it's nice to have hefty damage in your back pocket, in addition to all of the fun positioning and control tactics that the spirit companion entails.  My trend of "not feeling" the Wizard recently continued tonight (at least in combat; she proved invaluable OoC later).  Missing with Charm of Misplaced Wrath sucks quite a bit, and it seems to happen quite a bit.  My multi-target control power (Icy Rays) has been serviceable, but unless I blow a daily it's usually the most interesting thing I have to do.  At-wills have tended to be underwhelming; I don't think I've used Beguiling Strands this whole level, and the best thing about Winged Horde has been its minion-sweeping utility (the Rogue is mobile enough to avoid OAs on his own most of the time).  I'll be glad to get back to playing a Druid again, though I'm sure I'll pick Lyra back up at some time during this campaign.


Into the Tomb


The PCs find the gravestone they're looking for, and Unit 27 unceremoniously picks it up and tosses it aside to expose the tunnel.  Berylis and Zeus notice that the tunnel was only dug within the last year or so.  It opens into a hole in the floor, which leads into the tomb's interior.  Lyra sends Helo, her Dragonling familiar, down to scout it out and make sure the room is safe (which it is).  It's a large room with an altar at the center.  The altar has a round well and a square well on it, with a round and square lantern on a nearby table.  A glass sphere (actually, it's more oblong) hangs from the ceiling above the altar.  Two pillars flank a sealed black door (which presumably is the front entrance that we were warned by Nero to avoid).  The pillars do not reach the ceiling, and dials on them cause gas to emanate from the tops.  Opposite the black door is a purple door with a symbol of the sun above it.  On the remaining walls are a door each; one red, and one blue.  After playing around with a pebble that had Light cast on it (carried around the sphere via Mage Hand) it became obvious that a light placed on the line between the glass sphere and either pillar caused a beam to focus on the sun symbol above the purple door.  Since the PCs were warned to beware the blue door, they started with the red one.  Behind it was a large room with a red flame burning on the opposite side.  Being paranoid, Lyra simply used Mage Hand to carry the lantern across the room and sweep it into the flame.  The lantern lit, and she placed it onto the pillar with the dial turned (focusing a red beam of light above the purple door).  It turns out that by using Mage Hand and not entering the room, the party was able to avoid a combat encounter altogether.  Sweet!


The blue door revealed a long (25 square) hallway, which was only 3 squares wide.  The floor was made of extremely slippery tile, with a pattern of blue tiles winding back and forth across a matrix of red tiles.  Lyra had her dragonling step on one of the red tiles, which triggered a dart trap (which missed the familiar, not that it would have mattered).  Crossing the hall without triggering red tiles looked to be extremely difficult, as evidenced by the body lying near the opposite end (at which a blue flame burned).  Though this flame was out of range for Mage Hand, Lyra simply cast the Familiar Mount ritual and flew across the hall on Helo (recovering the body, which turned out to be Nero).  The heroes lit the blue flame which unlocked the purple door, and placed Nero's body in their bag of holding.  Once they were finished here, they would give him a proper burial, including fare for the boatman.

Viral's Chamber

The purple door revealed a simple room with a long, stone bridge across a subterranean creek.  The bridge led to another door, which Lyra opened via Mage Hand and sent her (now large) Dragonling to scout out.  Helo poked his head it to find 3 women sitting on a large bed, and a man that looked to be in his 30s reading a book at a desk.  The man looked shocked to see Helo, who retreated.  Lyra used Ghost Sound to imitate the sound of a large army crossing the bridge toward the room (succeeding her Bluff check to fool the occupants), and the party entered.  The man seemed excited to see the PCs, exclaiming that it's not often that he receives visitors.  When questioned about his diary, he explains that Emaf (the PC's current employer), Gibs (the adventurer-turned-zombie, Athos (the farmer whose daughter the party rescued earlier), and himself were once an adventuring party themselves.  They discovered this very tomb, and within it woke the relic of a mysterious deity.  They were each granted 1 wish.  Emaf wished for fame and glory, which he was granted via knowledge of many ruins which he plundered for their artifacts.  The deity, it turned out, was not benevolent, and turned each wish against its recipient.  Emaf eventually looted all the ruins that he could find, and sought to once again find the tomb where they now stood.  He had lost knowledge of it, however, and it had driven an insane obsession (which eventually led to his hiring of the party).  Gibs just wanted to retire, settle down, and live a quiet life.  He was given a nice house in Deadwood Falls, but he never specified that where he settled down would need to remain forever safe (obviously he paid his price for that).  Athos wished for good health and longevity for his family.  While his daughter reaped this award, he himself was killed. 

When the party asked Viral what his wish was, he kept trying to evade the topic.  They worked out that he was trapped down here (had a lot of time to read), and he let slip an implication that perhaps he sought immortality.  The party asked why he couldn't just walk out, and whether the women were free to do so.  When he finally admitted that it was the creek that kept him in his chamber, the PCs knew that they were dealing with a vampire.  They suspected that he was feeding on the women, and so they kept questioning him without letting him know that they were on to him.  He kept pressing them to stay, but they wanted time to regroup and think things over.  They tried to let 27 (who has no blood for a vampire to feed off of) stall him with conversation while they went back into the hall to talk things over in private, but the door slammed shut.  Two invisible creatures (Pale Reavers) materialized near it, and the party immediately rolled initiative. 

The fight turned out to be fairly difficult, and quite appropriate for a final battle.  After 1 initial attack the party focused their status effects on Viral (the most effective which was Zeus' Silent Malediction).  The women turned out to be minion Pale Reavers who could take human form, and halfway through the battle more Pale Reaver reinforcements showed up.  Berylis, Rozzle, and Zeus all had a fairly typical encounter, with all of them performing their roles admirably.  Unit 27 and Lyra had a quirky fight.  First of all, it should be mentioned that the Pale Reavers could drain healing surges, which was extremely dangerous for Rozzle and Berylis, who each had only 2 left.  I was extremely surprised to learn halfway through the battle that Unit 27, in contrast, had TWELVE surges yet!  It hadn't occurred to me before this, but he really wasn't suffering very many hits at all before this, and this encounter was no different.  This was partially because he was being missed (there were many rounds where he dutifully protected Rozzle), but a lot of the time he was off on his own going toe-to-toe with a single enemy.  I think that the player controlling him was more focused on running Rozzle overall, and he often just got somewhat forgotten.  He was usually locking down minor enemies instead of the biggest, baddest target that a defender should be going after. 

After suffering a nasty blow, Lyra took her second wind early on (round 2 I believe) and then activated Fire Shield.  Her plan was to move away from the Pale Reaver that was causing her trouble, and park herself adjacent to one of the minions who happened to be backed into a corner.  She was going to provoke an OA to deal Fire Shield damage to it, and after all why not?  The Reaver was marked, she had her defense bonus from Second Wind, and she hadn't used Shield yet.  Her effective AC was 29 (at level 6), without accounting for the Mark (so it was actually 31).  Simply put, the Reaver could only hit her with a natural 20, and if it took a swing it would be sucking fire damage.  Well, it took the swing and it made that crit, leaving Lyra with a scant 10 HP.  Fortunately, the cornered minion tried attacking her, killing itself with Fire Shield damage (I think the DM felt sorry for Lyra's luck, lol).  But the shenanigans didn't stop there.  It was during this round that the Dark Reaver reinforcements arrived, and two set themselves up in a flank with Lyra.  I dared the DM to set them up that way, knowing that I still had my second wind bonus (and Shield was unused).  Before CA they could only hit me on a natural 20, and including CA into the equation doubled their odds (19-20 would be a hit).  The DM rolled ANOTHER FRICKIN' TWENTY!!!!!  Poor Lyra took 30 damage, while she only had 10 HP remaining.  This was two away from her negative bloodied value of 22.  Talk about a close call!  Sucks that my "fire tank" strategy backfired so badly, but who expects 2 crits in a row after becoming nearly untouchable thanks to second wind + shield? 

In any case, the party was mopping up by the time Lyra got an opportunity to act again.  It was pretty late by this point, and we all decided to call it a night immediately after the fight without RPing the conclusion.  We'll probably take care of that next session.  Overall, it seemed like we were all running a little slow, and there were a lot of distractions (the cats and dog were being quite rambunctious).  It was a fitting end to the adventure though; an unexpected plot twist (we figured Viral was dead, not undead) followed by a suitably challenging final encounter.  I'll certainly remember Lyra's terrible luck for a good, long while after this. 

Recovery: Viral's Diary (Session 2)

Well, it's been over 2 months but the Red Frogs are adventuring once again!  And we should be back to a weekly schedule for a while, which is definitely welcome.  We're continuing the Viral's Diary arc, although the next DM in the lineup has said that he's scrapping his original adventure (the prologue of which we've already played).  This actually works out fine for me, because it allows me to try out some of the Heroes of the Feywild options in actual play sooner.  But I digress.  On with the session summary.

Cast of Characters

Lyra Cinderfield (my character):  Human Staff of Defense Wizard
Berylis Lindelenon (my character):  Elf Panther Shaman
Rozzle:  Elf Brutal Rogue
Unit 27:  Warforged Weapon Talent Fighter

Note:  The player of Zeus, our Wrathful Invoker, was out of town.  Hopefully he'll be joining us for next session.

Note 2:  I'd set Lyra up to be my primary character, but for this session I pretty much played Berylis as primary.  His skills were more relevant, I had more fun with him in combat, and I was just feeling his personality more than Lyra's today.  Perhaps it's also me distancing myself from her since I plan on possibly running a Druid again, and it would be a bit silly for me to run 2 controllers when there's also an Invoker in the party. 

Deadwood Falls

The party arrives at the edge of Deadwood Forest, following the directions found in the farmhouse.  Lyra uses Create Campsite to hide them because the forest had a reputation for being treacherous.  They wake to a heavy fog, and make their way through the forest.  Berylis and Rozzle scout ahead, and soon they hear something crashing through the undergrowth.  The party gets into position just before a party of goblins comes rushing ahead.  We roll initiative and attack.  The goblin leader gets a low initiative roll, but when his turn comes up he simply calls the other goblins off and says "no fight!" in halting Common.  As the party decides what to do, Berylis hears some rustling off behind them, and Lyra throws a stick in that direction.  All of the sudden 2 spider swarms erupt from under the dead tree that Lyra, Berylis, and 27 are under, and 2 Deathjump Spiders join them.  At this point Rozzle is across a small gully with all of the goblins, separated from everyone else (1 of the deathjumps is on their side).  The spiders are dispatched (with some help from the goblins), and the party continues their questioning.  They are able to gather that the Goblins are running "from Death," but they're unable to describe what they mean any further.  In any case, they're coming from the direction of Deadwood Falls, which is of course ominous.

Outside of Deadwood falls, the party comes to a clearing where many people are hung from nooses.  Berylis searches the area for tracks, and finds some that go off running, but it looks like the people were chased and then captured again.  Rozzle notices some nooses that were snapped, and it looks as though they were chewed threw.  With a very high Nature check, Berylis determines that the chew marks were from a humanoid.  Finding nothing else of interest, they head toward town, which is deserted.  It looks to be in shambles, and eventually the party stumbles across a child's arm clutching a diary.  The most recent entry talks about Gibs (the man that the party is seeking), who would always invite the local children into his blue house and tell them stories, and about how he became sick after returning from his latest adventure.  People who visited him also became sick, and they were all taken into the woods and didn't return with those who took them.  Eventually Gibs did come back, but everyone started screaming and Milty (the boy) was instructed to hide.  Sounds like a zombie infection if ever we saw one. 

Berylis searched the town's perimeter and found tracks leading everywhere.  He followed a set until eventually they confirmed the zombie theory.  They dispatched the zombie and then returned to town to look for a blue house.  With Unit 27 and Lyra standing guard outside, Berylis and Rozzle searched the house.  Gibs appeared to be a hoarder, and had some minor valuables as well as some magic items (these turned out to be a Skull Mask, which Berylis took, Surefoot Boots for 27, Scale Armor of Resistance (Necrotic) which was somewhat useless since only 27 could use it and he already had +2 Magic Armor, and 2 Sunblades which nobody in the party could make good use of.  There was also a chest on the second floor with 2 keyholes, one of which contained no tumblers (so Rozzle couldn't pick it).  Upon searching further, Berylis found a key which fit into the hole without tumblers, and Rozzle was able to then pick the other keyhole.  In the chest was many papers (including the deed to the house, which Rozzle claimed), as well as a journal detailing Gibs' last trip to Viral's Tomb.  Apparently, you had to get their by paddling a canoe downriver, deep into the forest. 

When the elves rejoined Lyra and 27 outside, Berylis heard approaching footsteps.  Soon the party was surrounded by zombies, which were approaching from all sides.  This zombie apocalypse encounter ended up being really fun, as it featured 10 zombie minions, 3 regular zombies, and a Dread Zombie (the former Gibs) that could only be killed by radiant damage (and since the entire party failed their Knowledge checks it was essentially invincible as far as they could tell).  For the next 4 rounds a new wave appeared, and each wave had an additional regular zombie and 5 more minions.  In total, the party blew through 30 minions, 7 regular zombies, and they had to flee from the Gibs, who they had no apparent way of killing.  Rozzle became pretty beat up trying to repeatedly kill the Dread Zombie (especially since he spent much of the fight out of range of Healing Spirit), and Lyra was the undisputed MVP with Stinking Cloud and enlarged Winged Hordes.  One of the players commented that the wire outline that I used for the Cloud's zone might as well have been an eraser as I moved it around the battlefield.  Also notable was Berylis' nova round, which consisted of Spirit Hunt followed by Twin Panthers via an action point, resulting in 60 total damage which was higher than Rozzle's nova round.  A zombie walked around his spirit companion later that round to bring the round's total damage up to 78.  Oh yeah, Panther Shamans are definitely formidable.

On the River

After fleeing from Gibs the party eventually located his old canoe and paddled down the river.  It was pretty late by this point, so they paddled in shifts (Berylis and Unit 27 while Rozzle and Lyra rested).  A few hours in a ghost appeared on the river, holding out his hand.  Berylis brought the canoe to the bank to talk with him.  His name was Nero Wimsley, and he fully admitted that he had been somewhat of a douche in life.  He surmised that the party was headed toward Viral's Tomb, offering to provide them information seeing as this was where he died.  However, this information wouldn't come free.  Nero was unable to move on because his body still lay in the tomb.  He asked the party to place 2 coins in his mouth and bury him, so that he could pay the ferrymen.  Berylis agreed to this, while muttering under his breath what ridiculous superstitions humans had.  Nero then informed the party that Viral's tomb was guarded, but behind the ancient cemetary there was a tunnel through the tomb of a man named Midos that led into Viral's tomb.  He also mentioned that there was a shrine to Avandra along the river that the party could spend the night resting in.  He warned them not to camp in the forest, for it was very dangerous at night.  He also told the party to be wary of a blue door in the tomb. 

After departing, the party decided to press on straight for the tomb instead of stopping at the shrine.  Whether or not this was a good decision remains to be seen.  Rozzle had only 2 healing surges left, but everyone else was perfectly fine (this is why glass cannon strikers annoy me sometimes).  Everyone was good on APs, and everyone but 27 had blown a daily in the zombie encounter (so he had 2 left).  So press on we did.  Unfortunately, luck was not on our side (sorry Avandra), as we kept seeing fleeting glimpses of ghosts through the trees as we paddled downstream.  Eventually, a group of ghosts became openly aggressive and attacked.  Rozzle played conservatively and didn't take any damage that I can remember (though he didn't deal much, either), however, Berylis and Lyra both got focus fired pretty hard at various points in the encounter (the crits didn't help either), so they are now significantly down on surges as well (Berylis has 3 and Lyra 4).  Still, no one was knocked unconscious and the party focus fired efficiently.  It was at this point that we stopped the session.

Further Commentary

The DM has asked that we "grade" his performance, which I think is very valuable for a new DM.  I've thought a little about it, and so I figured I'd post my thoughts here.  For overall adventure structure I think he's fallen into the tendency to railroad, as most new DMs do.  The information as described often presents 1 obvious option, and when pursued the party discovers new information that leads them to another obvious option.  Also, the contrivance of "party finds and NPC's journal which tells them what they need to do and where they need to go" is very much overused.  It doesn't seem organic, and it doesn't offer much in the way of roleplaying opportunities.  It feels very much like the PCs are forced to follow a script, and the only say that they seem to get in the matter is the style with which they go through the motions.  It's worth noting that most published 4e adventures share this shortcoming as well.  This is admittedly a really difficult habit to break as a DM, or at least I think so.  I still tend to imagine a sequence of events in my head and design my adventures in such a way that everything leads to the events in the correct order.  I think it was a big shortcoming of my last adventure, and part of that is the format of switching DMs for episodic mini quests.  With just 1 level (about 3 sessions for us) to work with, it's tough to really create multiple strands of plot and a sandbox of unique options.  For my level 8 and 11 adventures I'm already planning on departing a little from the railroad-style adventure, and I'll link elements from level 5 with these adventures.  In fact, I've decided to take advantage of the interstitial period between these adventures to move things forward behind the scenes, which will allow me to present the party with a wide variety of challenges and link events in ways that might not be possible if the PCs were involved every step of the way.  At least that's my hope.  In any case, the take home message here is to move away from the obvious railroading, with an acknowledgement that it's a tough thing to do and probably won't happen all at once.  I'll give adventure structure a C, because this is pretty much what you can expect from most new DMs.

The other obvious element to grade is encounter design, and the DM has come a long way since his last foray into the world of DMing.  Despite the fact that some of these encounters were admitted to be filler encounters, none were pointless or boring.  Interesting terrain was provided in all cases (even the simplistic layout of the zombie encounter had multiple enemy "sources" and choke points).  The first encounter had a nice twist when the goblins turned out to be so desperate to avoid combat, and there was always a tension with Rozzle being alone with just the goblins on their side of the gully (even though the DM was adamant that the goblins didn't look like they wanted to appear threatening to the party).  The mix of deathjump spiders and spider swarms was a good one, and deathjump spiders happen to be one of my favorite monsters as well.  In any case, RPing the conversation with the goblins provided a sense of the frustration of the language barrier without being annoying, as well as set the ominous mood for the rest of the journey.  All told, for a self-described "random, filler encounter" this certainly didn't feel like a waste of time.  A solid B+.

The zombie apocalypse encounter struck a very good balance on multiple counts.  First, the balance between minions and regular monsters was spot-on, letting the strikers (I'm including Berylis in this description) as well as the controller shine.  There were enough minions to make it feel like the PCs were against an entire army, but enough standards to keep things tactically interesting.  The second point of balance was the number of waves.  An encounter like this can easily turn into a grindfest where there's so much of "the same" that it becomes boring.  On the other hand, too few zombies doesn't feel like an "apocalypse," and blowing through an encounter like that can feel really anti-climactic.  It ended up running a little over an hour, which I think was just about right.  The DM also openly stated that he accounted for the presence of Lyra, as he's seen her enlarged AoE's and what Stinking Cloud is capable of.  This is why I believe the balance that was struck was intentional (consider that in a striker-heavy, AoE-light party 30 minions plus 8 standards would have been a terrible idea).  The encounter was damn fun, highlighted how the town could have gotten to be in such bad shape, and provided a strong incentive for the PCs to hightail it away as fast as possible.  Indeed, I think this would have been a more appropriate incentive to leave town than Gibs' journal entry (and more tension could have been created if the journal had been discovered after this encounter, with the party desperate to find a clue about where to go).  As far as the encounter itself goes, this one is a solid A.

Finally, the ghosts.  According to the DM, he included this encounter as a specific consequence of the PCs neglecting to rest at the shrine.  Which is funny, because that was a last minute impulse by me to make things interesting.  I figured the shrine was added to prevent a random encounter while the party slept, and didn't think that one would be sprung on us while traveling the river.  In hindsight it should have been obvious, but oh well.  In any case, having the woods filled with ghosts was a nice touch.  As an experienced backpacker who has had several jobs that involved walking around the woods all day, I don't find forests the least bit frightening and I usually detest the "scary, sometimes dangerous forest" trope.  However, if there's a reason behind a specific forest being scary (haunted, in this case) then it paradoxically appeals to me.  I like that these woods are crawling with ghosts, and that some of them will lash out against the living.  As for the encounter itself, it was pretty straightforward.  Still, an abundance of trees and the dynamics of the canoe on the river kept the terrain interesting, especially since the ghosts had phasing and some hid inside of the larger trees.  Annoying, but realistic, and to have just a couple employing this tactic was a good balance.  Lurkers would have been really appropriate here, but to be fair the actual monsters used was an on-the-fly decision (I don't think the DM expected us to turn down a rest in the shrine!).  The one near-miss was that at first he had a level 12 monsters on the map because it was a quickly-designed encounter, and the experience added up.  I immediately explained that this was a bad idea and he added 2 lower level monsters in its place.  Just to reiterate, monsters that much higher-level than the party are far too difficult to hit, which results in a grindy, boring, frustrating combat.  Add in the complication that the monster will also have an absurdly large pool of HP for their level and the problem is exacerbated.  Going along with this problem, monster HP actually scales too fast at higher levels, and in the early levels of a tier in particular it's assumed that PCs have achieved their massive power-jump.  Basically, the difference between a 10th and 11th level PC is greater than that between a 9th and 10th level PC, and a level 12 monster assumes you're on the other side of the Heroic-Paragon boundary, with its increase in damage-boosting options.  Quite simply, the system is not designed for this kind of thing.  If you want to represent a tougher-than-average monster, that's what Elites and Solos are for.  This allows for monsters of varying strength while keeping the basic mathematical assumptions of hit rate, damage, etc. intact.  Ignoring that almost-mishap, the encounter was somewhat run-of-the-mill but had a good atmosphere, and was a tangible consequence for a decision that the PCs made.  Altogether probably a B-, which really isn't too bad at all. 

In short, encounters all had a narrative purpose and were an appropriate challenge.  This DM's previous adventure saw us through several trivially easy encounters followed by an absurdly difficult one that resulted in a TPK.  A big step forward.  What needs the most work is overall adventure structure, keeping in mind that paid game designers often don't do much better.  Still, improvement in this area is definitely something to aspire to.  Providing multiple meaningful choices that allow the PC's decisions to matter, having stuff going on in the background, and working on improvising are all good things.  One thing that I've found helpful is the actually plan less.  Draw up encounters, but don't provide a road map to them.  Let interactions with NPCs flow naturally in response to PC actions as opposed to being completely scripted.  Make sure that major events can play out in more than 1 way.  For example, say that the king has been getting death threats.  Don't assume that the party will accept an offer to protect him simply because that's what the DM planned.  Have the party learn about the point of view of a rival, such that the whole situation is muddled in shades of gray.  Maybe the party instead decides to help the rival and ignore the king's plight, or even to help the king's assassins.  In short, give the PCs enough "say" to be able to drive much of the story.  It makes DMing easier in a lot of ways if the players do so much of the work for you.

Recovery: Viral's Diary (Session 1)

Cast of Characters

Lyra Cinderfield (my character):  Human Staff of Defense Wizard (Helo - Dragonling Familiar)
Berylis Lindelenon (my other character):  Elf Panther Shaman (Legadema - Spirit Companion)
Rosil:  Elf Brutal Scoundrel Rogue
Unit 27:  Warforged Weapon Talent Fighter (Hammer and Board)
Zeus:  Dwarf Wrathful Invoker

The Amber Farmhouse

The Red Frogs were hired by a man named Aramis Emis to find the diary of an archaeologist named Viral.  It is reputed that Viral discovered a powerful magical artifact, and the diary is thought to provide clues to its whereabouts.  The last man known to have seen Viral was Amoz Gib, but he lives in a secluded village called Deadwood Falls located deep within the dangerous and labyrinthine Deadwood Forest.  Few find their way through the forest alive, but the party does have one lead:  a local farmer/merchant by the name of Athos Amber regularly visits the village, and so the party travels to his farmhouse in order to enlist his services as a guide. 

As the party approaches the property, they see a golem with a sack of corn on its back standing in the middle of the path.  Upon approaching the construct, it animates and plays back a recording of a man's voice.  Assuming the man is Athos Amber, it sounds like his wife was killed by some unknown assailants, and that he was able to hide his daughter in the "attic" before he too was killed.  Lyra examines the magical workings of the golem while Rosil investigates its mechanics, and they determine that it's non-sentient, and essentially a piece of sophisticated farm equipment.  So they investigate the farm house (which has an attached barn) cautiously.  Lyra sends Helo ahead to peer through the windows, but nothing can be seen.  The party goes into the barn which houses not farm animals, but a workshop containing another (inactive) golem as well as a bunch of random junk.  They enter the house through the door that connects to the barn, and find nothing of interest on the ground floor.  Upstairs Rosil scouts the individual rooms; the first contains a desk and a blue chest, the second is a bedroom that appears to be the site of a struggle, and the third contains the horribly mangled body of the wife.  The party returns to the first room where Lyra detects the presence of magic in the blue chest, which Rosil picks the lock to revealing a book, several loose pieces of paper, and a magical key that's warm to the touch.  The book seems to be an atlas with random notes scrawled into it (including the names of some influential merchants), and fortunately a route through Deadwood Forest is laid out.  Among the loose papers is the will of Athos Amber, who appears to be very rich for a simple farmer.

As the party makes their way back to the barn, the key grows warmer in Lyra's hand.  It reaches its hottest in front of a very tall pile of junk, which turns out to be an illusion hiding a ladder and a trapdoor in the ceiling.  The secret loft contains many crates, and the party suspects that Millie Amber (the daughter) is hidden in one of them.  Lyra uses Ghost Sound to emulate the voice that the sentinel golem recorded, and Millie (about 10 years old) emerges from a crate thinking that her father has returned.  The party asks her what happened, and she reports that about 5 days ago she was woken up in the middle of the night by her father and told to hide in the (well-provisioned) attic until he came to get her.  The party doesn't tell her that it looks like her parents are dead, but offer to escort the girl to Winterhaven where her grandparents live (it's on the way to Deadwood).  As they get back to the ground floor of the barn, the doors slam shut and Lyra orders her to return to the attic.  Lyra fires several enlarged Winged Hordes out of the windows in an attempt to catch their ambushers off guard, but it doesn't sound like she makes contact.  Three regular Wraiths and 2 Mad Wraiths float in through the windows and initiative is rolled. 

Before anyone's turn came up Lyra yelled for Zeus to focus on the 3 Wraiths, and the two of them largely succeeded in keeping them out of the fight while the Mad Wraiths were dealt with.  Berylis led off with Spirit Hunt after the Mad Wraiths caused Unit 27 to attack Lyra.  Zeus caught 2 of the Wraiths with Rebuke Undead, after which they moved forward (unable to do anything else thanks to the daze).  Lyra hit them both with Icy Rays, immobilizing them.  Rosil critted a Mad Wraith, and Unit 27 stuck close to the Rogue in order to protect him.  The controllers double teamed the Wraiths with a combination of area damage and status effects (eventually Berylis finished two off with Twin Panthers), while 27, Rosil, and Berylis took care of the Mad Wraiths. 

Once the battle was over, the party escorted Millie to Winterhaven where they found her grandparents.  Lyra made sure that they were capable of taking care of the child, and offered to check up on them on their way back through (Lyra was herself an orphan).  They then traveled the rest of the distance, with Lyra studying the book (and their route) throughout the journey.  Finally the made it to the border of Deadwood Forest, and it was at this point that we ended the session.

Commentary

The DM for this adventure made a "rookie" mistake, which was forgivable since this was only his second time DMing 4th edition.  The mistake was that he used wraiths from the Monster Manual instead of the new ones from the Monster Vault.  BIG DIFFERENCE!  MM Wraiths are infamously grindy, with the insubstantial property (they take half damage from most attacks) and attacks that inflict the "weakened" condition (target deals half damage).  Thus, damage was often quartered when fighting these guys.  Also, aside from the recharge power on the Mad Wraiths (that force PCs to attack their allies) their damage is pathetic.  Oh, after looking at the stat block those wraiths also have regeneration, which the DM forgot to apply.  Anyways, these monsters easily make for some of the most boring combats in 4e being non-threatening and yet dragging out combat by being difficult to actually hurt.  The DM ended up calling the fight into round 4 when it was blatantly obvious that the party was going to win (even if it would take a couple more rounds) and sustain no meaningful damage. 

I advised the DM to use Monster Vault monsters in the future, and so a very important lesson was learned; 4e had some pretty crappy monster design at first, and an inexperienced eye can't always tell which monsters are the worst offenders.  For example, the Monster Vault wraiths don't have regeneration and they don't weaken, so insubstantial is the only damage-reducer that PCs need to worry about.  The wraiths also deal almost twice as much damage as their MM incarnations, and they gain the ability to become invisible.  If invisible when they attack, they more than double their already improved damage.  In short, they actually function as Lurkers.  Though MM wraiths are labeled as the same, they actually function more like skirmishers (and not very effective ones at that).  I honestly hadn't examined the differences between the 2 versions that closely (I learned early on to simply pretend that wraiths didn't exist precisely because of the aformentioned problems), so I'm actually glad the mistake was made because now I realize that MV wraiths are not only useable, but look pretty fun! 

As for my characters, I'm really happy with them so far.  I've been agonizing over Lyra's power selection a bit, and before this adventure decided to switch out Color Spray for Icy Rays at pretty much the last minute.  Even though Icy Rays isn't enlargeable (and doesn't synergize with Helo's "breath" ability), I think it'll be a better choice.  In playtesting multi-target daze often doesn't reliably deny standard actions (it's tough to get a set-up where everyone is denied charging), and the unfriendliness was a concern with relatively inexperienced 4e players.  Plus now that Icy Rays slows on a miss it's a phenomenal opening move, and I generally like powers with very flexible targeting capacity (Icy Rays can be used against two creatures that are far apart from each other, meaning that you hamper exactly which enemies are most dangerous regardless of positioning relative to each other).  We'll see how it goes. 

I also gave Berylis Spirit Hunt shortly before starting play with him, replacing Spirit of the Slavering Bloodlust.  Without being an Eagle Shaman, the buffs from SotSB are unlikely to reach the damage potential of Spirit Hunt, so personal damage won out in this case.  Besides, I'm waiting to see how well the other players respond to my Spirit Boon before I add more buffs that rely on Legadema's proximity into the mix.  So far so good on that front, though; the Spirit Boon came into play almost every round, even if I did have to remind the players about it.  Between the Spirit Boon and Strengthening Spirit, I don't think it will be too long before everyone realizes that it pays to be next to Legadema (though I certainly need to do my part and make sure that I actively position her next to people).  Anyways, between high personal damage, granted attacks (Claws of the Eagle), and the Spirit Boon it seemed like Berylis dealt comparable damage to Rosil, perhaps being slightly lower (hard to say, as Rosil rolled the only 2 crits of the combat).  This being Heroic tier (where Rogues shine) and Rosil being fairly well-optimized means that Berylis is probably exceeding the damage of some strikers, at least this early in the game.  As he levels his damage will probably be more indirect (from buffs), though I'm sure personal damage will remain competitive as well.  I'm already looking forward to a combat where several enemies are bloodied on the field and Lyra and Zeus simply park themselves next to the spirit and blast away (with the backing of a hard-hitting spirit boon).  You can get a lot of mileage out of the Spirit Boon via area damage.

Rescue: Against the Bloody Toads (Prologue)

Since I finished up my arc last session, we were due to start a new DM's adventure (at level 6).  One of our players couldn't make it, however, so instead the DM for the level 7 adventure offered to run a one-shot "prologue" for his adventure, which would serve as an introduction to his arc and wouldn't require a full party (plus we didn't want to start the level 6 arc with a player short).  So here is a summary from my point of view as a player.

Cast of Characters

Lyra Cinderfield:  Human Staff of Defense Wizard (my character)
Berylis Lindelenon:  Elf Panther Shaman (my other character)
Meryl "Wiggy" Wiggins:  Gnome Chaos Sorcerer
Miyako "Miya" Sotoko:  Human Centered Breath Monk

Session Overview

The party from the Red Frogs was hired by Tirel Thygus, a noble from the small port town of Kirkston (southeast of the Nentir Vale).  Kirkston looks to have seen better days, and the PCs soon learn that the economy is doing really poorly.  Somehow, Tirel has managed to maintain his wealth through the crisis.  Though this seems odd, the party doesn't question their new employer about it.  He reveals that his daughter Lileth has been captured by a group of pirates known as the Bloody Toads.  They've asked an outrageous ransom for her which, despite the fact that he can afford it, he doesn't want to pay out of principle.  He notifies the party that the Bloody Toads are based on an island chain a short distance off the mainland, but that their main stronghold is magically hidden.  He also asks the party to report on or bring back any powerful sources of magic, which he only says he has a strong interest in.  Other than that, he claims to have no other leads for the party, and cannot even offer a ship.

The party splits into two teams to gather information around town; Lyra aids Berylis (who uses Speak with Spirits) but the two find nothing, though Wiggy and Miya have much better luck and learn that the guy they want to seek out is One-Eyed Jack.  One-Eyed Jack hangs out at the Sailor's Tavern, just off the docks.  The party heads to the tavern, and Berylis spots their quarry right away after again seeking guidance from the spirit world.  Turns out the nickname One-Eyed was a bit generous; the man has actually had both eyes removed, and wears a bandana with a single eye painted on it over his face.  This bandana seems to give him some amount of perceptive power, despite the fact that he is actually blind.  Lyra and Wiggy approach the surly fellow, asking if he could provide them with information.  He seems disheartened because nobody ever asks for his skill (as a sailor) anymore, at which point Lyra tries flattering him, assuring him that they actually do need a ship and that they'd be happy to employ him as their captain.  He claims to know these waters better than anyone, and admits to being a former Toad himself (it was they who took his eyes out and marooned him on an island).  Once he agrees to help the party, Lyra reveals the identity of their employer, who Jack informs them was a former Toad himself!  Apparently Tirel Thygus had somehow struck a deal which granted him great power, which he was to use to make Kirkston a safe haven for the Toads.  He betrayed them, keeping this mysterious power for himself, and though he doesn't grant them protection in town, he also doesn't attempt to interfere with their raids (which is why the town is currently so impoverished).  Clearly Tirel isn't exactly trustworthy, and the PCs will proceed on this mission with caution.

Jack tells the party to meet him at the docks the next day, and they will try to find a ship.  During that time Jack managed to put together a 3 man crew:  Hagger is a short, broad-shouldered human (and former Toad), Fira is a young woman who was a former pirate hunter, and now seeks revenge on the Toads for some reason, and Victor is an Elf who knows where the party can obtain a schooner.  They follow up on Victor's lead and pay the schooner's captain, Brutus Mars, a visit.  The schooner is a piece of junk and the party tries to haggle a low price from Brutus, who can see that they clearly need a ship and assures them that they aren't likely to find a cheaper one anywhere.  He demands 1/3 of the group's profits (though the party declines to inform him of their mission), and they ask him why he deserves a share of the treasure if he's not coming with them.  Apparently he intended to be their captain because Jack is a damn fool that can't see anything, but Lyra sticks up for Jack assuring Brutus that he will do just fine.  Brutus soon agrees to a lower price, but requires that the PCs transport some cargo in secret; he says that he doesn't know exactly what it is, but assures them that it's important.  Lyra asks to see it, and Brutus pulls out a small, orange book.  Lyra detects magic and learns that it's enchanted to hide the words on its pages, and informs Brutus that it's a pretty simple spell.  She then bluffs that it's a dangerous item, and the hazard of transporting it should lower the cost of the schooner rental.  Brutus grudgingly agrees, asking for 150 gp now and 150 when they got back.  He then gives them the coordinates to an isle where a man is being held captive, and this man is who they need to deliver the book to (he claims not to know why, because the book was given to him by someone else).  Lyra whispers in Jack's ear via Ghost Sound asking if he knows how to get to the island based on the descriptions, and whether it's out of their way.  He simply tells her that that's where they're headed anyways.

So they set sail in their newly acquired schooner.  The hidden base can only be reached by using a magical compass that only Bloody Toad captains have, so the basic plan was to sail out looking like a tempting target until a Toad ship took the bait.  On their way the party passes the island where Jack was marooned, and continue on their way (Lyra keeps a light spell active to make them easier to spot).  Soon they come across a ship, but it's an unusually large warship that is probably captained by someone very important within the organization.  According to Jack, this wasn't a ship that they wanted to get captured by, as they were very unlikely to win in a confrontation.  The schooner turned around and headed back toward the island, where they would have an advantage given that they could get closer to the island with their much shallower keel.  And so they waited.  The ship sent out 2 rowboats to pursue the schooner into a bay when it could go no farther.  Lyra stood up on the edge of the ship, staff held high and the wind whipping her robe in an attempt to look powerful and wizardly.  She boomed "you shall not pass!" as loudly as possible with Ghost Sound.  Berylis called his spirit companion, Legadema, and sent her as far as possible out over the water.  Lyra used Ghost Sound to give her a terrifying roar.  The combined magical display was intimidating enough to send 1 of the boats fleeing back to the main ship in terror (the main ship ended up shooting the cowards with a barrage of cannon fire). 

When the boat finally came within range, Legadema was in a perfect position to make OAs on 2 of the 4 rowers as they sped past her.  Lyra used a readied Arc Lightning to blast them as well.  Initiative was rolled as the boat was now in range, with Lyra leading off with Stinking Cloud.  Since the boat wasn't fast enough to make it through the cloud in a single move action the rowers could either double move or make their ranged attacks at a severe disadvantage.  They consistently elected to row as fast as possible toward the Schooner, with Lyra constantly moving the Cloud to auto-damage them and deter them from using ranged attacks.  Berylis simply kept moving Legadema ahead of the cloud and reading a Stalker's Strike (or Twin Panthers once they were in range) for when they emerged from the cloud.  She was also able to use Spirit's Fangs whenever the boat rowed past her.  Wiggy also readied his ranged attacks for whenever the boat emerged from the cloud, and Miya was unfortunately unable to do much of anything until the boat came close enough for her to jump onto it.  When this finally happened 2 of the rowers were already dead, and the remaining 2 were well past bloodied.  Crane's Wings finished one of them off, and an Eternal Mountain (via Action Point) nearly finished the last one.  He used a free action to surrender to the party, at which point Lyra took his weapons with her Mage Hand while Berylis tied him up and brought him on board.  He explained that he'd take his chances being a captive of the Red Frogs, since fleeing back to the Toad's ship would get him just as killed as fighting to the death.  At this point the party decided to head for the southern edge of the island to put some distance between them and the warship, besides the fact their prisoner informed him that Bloody Toad ships often docked in the bays of the island's southern coast.  It was at this point that the session ended, with the party seeking easier prey on the other side of the island.

It's notable that in the night's only encounter the PCs did not suffer a single attack.  The rowers kept using double moves (and at one point both rowers were slowed and one was also dazed), and the party kept pummeling them with a combination of readied ranged (or melee spirit) attacks, Stinking Cloud's auto-damage as Lyra kept moving it over the boat, and Legadema's Spirit Fangs as the rowers moved past.  The last rowers were at death's door by the time they reached the schooner.  It's also worth noting that this was the first time that I used the playtest version of Stinking Cloud in actual play (I'd been using Visions of Avarice to avoid the nerfed SC).  Stinking Cloud may not be the powerhouse blaster power that it once was, but it's still exceptionally useful.  It'll still deal reliable auto-damage (at the very least when you use your move action to plop it back on top of enemies) on top of your normal standard action, and you can still keep it between the party and ranged enemies to ruin their day.  It certainly trivialized this encounter, even if it was arguably the perfect set up.  Had I been DMing the encounter I probably would have had the intimidate delay the second boat by a round instead of causing them to outright flee, and I would have applied some ranged pressure.  I also would have considered continually popping the SC instead of constantly making double moves.  As it went down, the party was in a position that was way too defensible for the attack to be anything but futile.