Crouching Tiger, Hoisted Ballista

This session happened Friday, September 10, 2010, and was the only session I ran this past weekend.

Adventuring Group:
Su Bel (human cleric)
Mog the Doomed (half-orc barbarian)
Tycho von Helmont (elf alchemist)
Agnes Sunbeard (dwarf rogue)
Rhapsody (half-elf rogue)
Thorngrim (half-orc sorcerer)

Note: the list of player characters is in player sitting order, from my left and then clockwise around the table.

The masterwork ballista that Tycho, Agnes, and Rhapsody had commissioned was available a week after the order had been placed and so Tycho pulled the donkey and cart out of the stables and the regular group of adventurers made their way to Drop-off Tower with the new ballista. They followed Gravemarker Road to the Tower and arrived with enough time to start hauling the ballista to the third floor using a block-and-tackle system with Mog and the donkey providing the muscle power. Unfortunately, the tiger that had dogged the trio of Tycho, Agnes, and Rhapsody last week returned!

Not wanting to tangle with a tiger at just this point, the rope was tied off and the adventurers withdrew into the Tower and waited for the tiger to lose interest and leave. The group had learned the hard way that the great cats are not to be trifled with and was short on funds in case someone died, which seemed likely when dealing with a tiger. It did eventually leave.

After the sun set and the tiger left, a dire boar wandered near to the Tower and was felled by a set quick ranged attacks from the adventurers. Mog went out to quickly field dress the dire boar, but his fear of the tiger returning distracted him and he did a thoroughly awful job of it. What he brought back was edible – after someone else did some work on the rough chunks of meat. Later, an assassin vine (perhaps attracked by all the blood) managed to get close enough to the tower to attack. It injured Thorngrim greatly, but was itself killed by Rhapsody.

When dawn finally arrived, the adventurers quickly finished hauling the ballista up to the third floor and installed it looking out the window over the door to the tower. They then set out to finish the exploring work that Tycho, Agnes, and Rhapsody had started. They found little during the day (other than more trees), but that night their camp was disturbed by 5 giant ants, a giant stag beetle, and finally two leopards out hunting. One of the leopards killed one of Thorngrim’s trained dogs, but was itself killed by Rhapsody’s spiked chain when it tried to flee.

The next day, the adventurers explored further, nearly completing their exploration of the Edgewood, but needing to camp another night. This evening they faced a small troop of giant ants (four of them) and a dire tiger. The dire tiger nearly killed Agnes in the first round of battle before the other adventurers were able to tear away the dire tiger’s prize and flee at high speed, leaving behind all the dire boar meat they still had on them. The dire tiger seemed to accept this as it did not pursue the adventurers. The wand of cure light wounds was heavily drained healing Agnes’s wounds, but all were relieved to escape none-the-less.

The next day the tired and groggy adventurers finished their exploration of the Edgewood. They returned to the Iron Keep and exhaustedly sank into the chairs of Spider’s Bar. That night a storm blew through from the south, bringing cold rain and winds with it. The seasons were finally starting to turn…

[This was a short if occasionally tense session. Su Bel, Rhapsody, and Thorngrim all made 4th level during this session. Next session things start to change as Summer turns to fall and the auroch herds start to return to their winter pastures.]