Session 25: Taking the Tegel Trail to Modron.

The Adventurers finish off the Dire Tiger and arrive in Brushwood.  Back on the trail the next morning, they get ambushed by Bandits. 

Written by our scribe Carl with a few edits by myself. It is based on our Sunday, October 2, 2022 session. Jimmy took the screen shots on Roll20.

Continued from: Back to the Armory and a Road Trip.

Location: On the Tegel Trail, about 8 miles west of Brushwood

On the way to the city of the invincible overlord, we fell afoul of a dire tiger....

Natalie initially fell more afoul than most, but the fight was on.

Reebo had just created an illusion of a charging elephant, along with the trumpetting sound effect, and as the illusion approached the fight the tiger disengaged and ran for its life. The illusionary elephant pursued for all it was worth, and with a few ranged spells the tiger went down.

We decided to rest a while, fixing the tiger hide and assorted bits.  Natalie did rituals to bond to the cursed sword and one of her hand crossbows. Never can be too prepared.

Shadow took the tiger head, cleaned it up and put it on one of the pack mules. He was getting set for decorating his (someday to be purchased) house.

We spent the night there, healing up and resting. Spells and health up to snuff, we headed onward in the morning.

April 24th
We continued our journey without incident and arrived in Brushwood late in the day.

While we were settling in, Shadow found his pack was full of insects and about 1/3 of his rations were eaten by bugs.

Brushwood is a nice little village on the river, about 500 folks live there. There is a nice temple to Mitra on the west side of the village.

Checking the local shops, we encountered a dwarf named Gram to whom we had sold some weapons earlier, and said hello.  There was a combination inn and tavern, flint cutter and a leather shop who purchased the tiger hide.

The hide sold for 100 GP, more than we expected.

That evening, Reebo talked a little about his past in the city state.  He is sorta wanted, at least by one merchant. He planned to use disguise self to help stay anonymous, plus a hooded cloak for the time he is not under the spell.

Additionally, there is a BIG premium for changing money, about 20%. Buying stuff before we go in would be to our advantage.  Modron, another town we will pass through, would be a better place to change money.

April 25th
Moving on, we got about halfway to Modren by dusk, and set up camp. Most of the night was calm, but midst the third watch the horses got a little restless. Paraselene started rousing the sleepers and we prepared as best we could.

A Shambling Mound shuffled up toward us. Like a big bush coming in... flammable?

After killing it, we searched the remains and found a  bag containing 70 GP, a flask of ale, a tin spoon, and a Shambling Mound Root-Stem.



Arkhelm used his knowledge of Alchemy and explained what could be done with a Shambling Mound Root-Stem:

"When held by a creature, that creature gains resistance to lightning damage as the stem draws the energy towards it. Can be mastercrafted (abjuration) by a spellcaster into an amulet of lightning absorption, which requires attunement. An attuned creature is immune to lightning damage, and if it would take lightning damage, it instead regains hit points equal to the damage that would have been dealt."

Arkhelm didn't know the process, but thought he could learn it with some research.

When the sun came up we were back on the road again... The trees thinned into grassland, tall grassland, and the road surface improved. Hopefully that meant we were getting some place near a town.

Tall grass is a good hiding place for a group of folks.  Several came out of hiding, and one told us to surrender our packs and the horses. We could keep our weapons, armor and lives, just leave the packs and horses and move on. Shadow Walker tried to negotiate, but some people have to learn the hard way.

We have a mage, fair enough for them to have magic too. When they started losing, the leader transformed into a giant wolf spider. Spiders... why does it always have to be spiders???

She and a few of the bandits got away, leaving behind their dead and some who we captured. Maybe we can find "the cave" that the leader said to meet at. Maybe one of the ones they left behind could be persuaded to tell us where the "cave" is.

Continued in The Bandits' Cave