Midgard: Session 6 - Owl Harpies, Lake Trolls, and Chameleon Gators
We rejoined this session having just begun the long journey from Zobeck to Melana, the nearest of the Seven Cities. Immediately after starting off, the players decided they should murder any small groups of travelers in search of the "pure white" souls they needed for one of their tasks. After killing eight poor individuals, they decided to lay low for a while as they encountered a large patrol of guardsmen making their rounds.
After a close encounter (and a lucky deception roll), the party crossed the invisible threshold into the wild countryside, and began my favorite part of any adventure: rolling on encounter tables! They made it the whole first day only encountering travelers and guards, with me rolling many empty encounters in a row. To spice things up I decided to give them a little nocturnal encounter, an Owl Harpy from Kobold Press' Tome of Beasts.
After some struggling against this flying, charming, blindsighted opponent, the party felled the creature and discovered a bag of foreign coins, and a small magic bow with enchanted arrows, which they promptly forgot about.
The next day, the party encountered a second group of guards, this time fighting a Lake Troll. The chaos wizard of the party flipped a coin, deciding that the party would go to the help of the troll instead of the guards. After quickly dispatching all 6 of them, the party attempted communication with the troll which went as well as you could imagine.
Over the course of the fight my party expended about half their spell slots, took quite large amounts of damage, and knocked out the troll six (!) different times, just for it to get back up and continue attacking. I later learned that none of the party members were aware that trolls would continue regenerating unless attacked with fire. To top it off, this kind of troll is special and requires something else as well. The party eventually grew bored and rode away from the poor creature.
Later that same day, they also ran into a Gbahali, a huge chameleon crocodile that lives entirely on land, attempting to sneak up on potential prey. As they traveled my party was able to spot this one at a distance, beating its stealth check of 23. They considered trying to outrun before jumping out and running headlong at it. As it went in and out of visibility for the assorted party members, it managed to bite and grapple the paladin, almost killing him. They slew the creature and immediately began fighting over its scales and teeth.
As dusk came, the party found a wayside tavern and settled down for the night, attempting (and failing) to barter down the innkeeper's outrageous price of 1gp per person per night. Within the tavern they found a drunk who gave a few answers about the foreign coins, claiming that the coins belonged to the fey kingdoms before the Great Retreat.
In the morning, the bard was woken by a strange knight in red and black armor, wielding a massive halberd. He said nothing, kicking down the door after the bard hid under his Cloak of Invisibility. The man rummaged through the bard's pack, while the rest of the party woke and attempted to intervene. After a few rounds, the man was slain, fell to the ground and exploded into ash, leaving only his armor and weapon behind.
Within the rest of the tavern was a gruesome scene. The strange remains of each other person in the tavern was scattered across the room, many major organs (heart, lungs, eyes, and brain) missing out of each. Hearing a metallic tapping on the roof, the sorcerer cast invisibility and went to investigate, while the bard and rogue looted all the rooms. Waiting on the roof was an undead drake, staring northward.
We left off there as multiple players wanted to call it a night, and the mysterious deaths and strange knight and drake were more than enough to keep the players full of questions and ideas for next session.
After a close encounter (and a lucky deception roll), the party crossed the invisible threshold into the wild countryside, and began my favorite part of any adventure: rolling on encounter tables! They made it the whole first day only encountering travelers and guards, with me rolling many empty encounters in a row. To spice things up I decided to give them a little nocturnal encounter, an Owl Harpy from Kobold Press' Tome of Beasts.
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| The fearsome CR 5 Owl Harpy, apparently a difficult fight for my level 7 party. |
The next day, the party encountered a second group of guards, this time fighting a Lake Troll. The chaos wizard of the party flipped a coin, deciding that the party would go to the help of the troll instead of the guards. After quickly dispatching all 6 of them, the party attempted communication with the troll which went as well as you could imagine.
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| The rare Lake Troll cannot be beat by a simple 21 Nature check. |
Later that same day, they also ran into a Gbahali, a huge chameleon crocodile that lives entirely on land, attempting to sneak up on potential prey. As they traveled my party was able to spot this one at a distance, beating its stealth check of 23. They considered trying to outrun before jumping out and running headlong at it. As it went in and out of visibility for the assorted party members, it managed to bite and grapple the paladin, almost killing him. They slew the creature and immediately began fighting over its scales and teeth.
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| A Gbahali, one of Midgard's many strange creatures. |
In the morning, the bard was woken by a strange knight in red and black armor, wielding a massive halberd. He said nothing, kicking down the door after the bard hid under his Cloak of Invisibility. The man rummaged through the bard's pack, while the rest of the party woke and attempted to intervene. After a few rounds, the man was slain, fell to the ground and exploded into ash, leaving only his armor and weapon behind.
Within the rest of the tavern was a gruesome scene. The strange remains of each other person in the tavern was scattered across the room, many major organs (heart, lungs, eyes, and brain) missing out of each. Hearing a metallic tapping on the roof, the sorcerer cast invisibility and went to investigate, while the bard and rogue looted all the rooms. Waiting on the roof was an undead drake, staring northward.
We left off there as multiple players wanted to call it a night, and the mysterious deaths and strange knight and drake were more than enough to keep the players full of questions and ideas for next session.
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