Exploring the Edgewood

This session happened Friday, September 3, 2010, and was the only session I ran this past weekend.

Adventuring Group:
Tycho von Helmont (elf alchemist)
Agnes Sunbeard (dwarf rogue)
Rhapsody (half-elf rogue)

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

With only a small number of adventurers available, Rhapsody suggested they explore more of the Edgewood, rather than attempt any of the adventure locales they were familiar with. Tycho and Agnes agreed and the trio set out.

From the Woodcutter's Camp they explored south, to the edge of the hills, before making camp. Near dawn a shambling mound approached their camp and they hastily broke camp and fled the immediate vicinity. They resumed exploring along the southern edge of the Edgewood, avoiding a pack of giant ants. They received little rest that night as the camp was beset by 4 giant ants (which they killed), an assassin vine (which Rhapsody critically hit twice in a row before Agnes killed it), a tiger (which they avoided), and three more giant ants (which they quickly killed).

Somewhat groggy when the sun rose on the third day, the trio continued east. Mid-day they discovered the source of the giant ants – a giant ant mound. Not wanting to engage an entire nest of ants on their own, the trio went around and continued east another three miles before camping, exhausted. Their rest was not disturbed until the end of the Rhapsody's watch (third watch), when Rhapsody heard a dire boar approaching. The trio quickly broke camp and avoided the dire boar.

Approaching Drop-off Tower, the trio found the remains of an ancient orchard with trees of several fruit types heavy with fruit. They spent the better part of an hour harvesting as much fruit as they could stick in a bag of holding. Heading east again, they came across the Old Road and found a cache of logging gear of human construction. This was puzzling, as the Old Road is no where near where the loggers of the Woodcutter's Camp work. The trio packed up the gear and decided to head directly to Drop-off Tower to store the gear and camp for the night.

During the first watch, Tycho spotted a giant stag beetle ambling past the tower and decided to attack it, flinging an alchemical bomb at the beetle. He hit it squarely but did not kill the beast, succeeding only at driving it away. The rest of the night was uneventful.

In the morning the trio returned to the southern edge of the Edgewood and continued exploring eastward. They encountered a nigh impassable section of forest and had to work their way around it to the south, finding little else during the day. That night, a manticore and a bulette separately approached the adventurer's camp, forcing the trio to abandon their camp twice during the night.

The next day and night passed quietly, and on the seventh day they passed Owlbear Crossing on the as-yet-unnamed river that demarcates the border between Edgewood and East Edgewood. Swinging their exploration arc back northwest to follow the river, the trio came across a nest of giant stag beetles, including the one Tycho had burned three nights earlier. Tycho prepped Agnes for the fight with enlarge, bull's strength, and cat's grace. She then raged and charged the beetles. The fight went poorly for the beetles.

The next day the trio followed the river to the coast, where they found an old abandoned village. There were signs that the village had been attacked and not peacefully abandoned. Going through the ruins, the trio found some clay urns containing a total of 1500 gold marks – a nice haul.

After exploring the for the next day and finding little more than more forest, the trio's camp was disturbed by leopards, a tiger, and a giant boar, in addition to an hour or two of rain. They spent most of the night moving camp to avoid the threats. With the wildlife in the area starting to get dangerous, the trio started exploring back west in the morning, heading towards the Iron Keep. They passed the Unmarked Cairn and the spot marked "assassin vine" on the Table Map. The marking was theirs and marked where they first encountered an assassin vine in the forest. It is now home to four of the deadly plants. The trio wisely decided to avoid contact and headed north to the Gravemarker Road, where they camped for the night. That night the tiger re-appeared and the trio moved again to avoid it.

The expedition ended with a quick sweep of the northern tip of the Edgewood and then back to the Iron Keep. After some discussion back in Spider's Bar, the trio pooled their monies and commissioned a masterwork ballista for installation in Drop-off Tower. It will allow a stronger defense of the tower, especially from flying creatures.