This was then we din’t quite get through the big string of fights that mark the end of this first chapter. We also got a new player (and thus a new character) in the party.

The characters:

• Drystan Silverhart – Level 3 Aasamar Paladin (Knight of Solamnia)
• Yseult De Lorimar – Level 3 Human Warlock (Noble)
• “Fletch” Siannodel – Level 3 Kagonesti Elven Ranger (Folk Hero)
• Sabelina – Level 3 Human Cleric of Gilean (Acolyte)
• Sidekicks: Hrigg Roundrook and Tem Temble

This session was very combat-heavy, as we’re coming up on the end of the chapter. Sabelina’s backstory is that her family kept a temple to Gilean, and they kept operating the temple even after the Cataclysm, and after Gilean stopped responding. Unfortunately, because this session is so combat-heavy, with the characters helping to hold off the Dragon Army, so there wasn’t quite that much roleplaying going on.

Not saying there wasn’t any roleplaying going on though. For the second of the encounters, after an initial fight against a group of Baaz, I had the characters see three (undead) Solamnic knights sitting on their horses atop the cliff that overlooks the town. Sabelina rolled a natural 20 on her History check, so she was able to identify the armor of the knights as being pre-Cataclysm Solamnic armor.

The second of our combat encounters put us up against Gragonis, now with a group of Baaz, with something of a rematch. In the party’s last meeting with Gragonis, they’d beaten him very quickly, with Drystan taking him out with a critical hit with a Smite, and in the “How Do You Want To Do This” he decided he chopped off Gragonis’ arm (which allowed him to withdraw with his bodyguards). Here, Gragonis had a shield attached to the stump and was using his battle-axe one handed. This ended up not helping him much, as Drystan charged him, and got a critical hit with a smite again, once again doing enough damage to kill him outright. Drystan decided he took the other arm, and I decided (as I couldn’t particularly think of a way to use him later) that the Baaz decided to leave him to die.

I do want to give a special shout-out to the battle maps I’m using – specifically Tessa Morecroft’s Map Pack (Affiliate Link) for this adventure. It provides a lot of dynamic elements to the combat that helps spice things up. For example, the battle map I used for the second fight included an area at the bottle of the map, with three bottlenecks for the Dragon Army to go through. It really made the fight much more interesting.

Next month, we finish off the chapter, and take stock.

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