Session Twenty Six

***The vines and needle creatures struck by the fire continue to smoulder, though the rain has already put out most of the flames. All around you are the strange and terrible creatures the woman had warned you about, the "army" of the druids. They are only vaguely humanoid at best; perhaps, at a very large distance, you might mistake the largest as a person in strange armor. Their movements are stiff and bring with them the sound of rustling and clattering, while the smaller, twig-like ones are much the same, though they are much quicker, their rigid movements more akin to a rapid twitching. For both kinds, their bodies are misshapen, and where their eyes would be are nothing but hollow pits in their faces. The druid stomps her feet against the stairs and hisses between crooked brown teeth as, from the fields of decaying vines, another volley of needles is launched towards Devi.***

## The Party

* Alyssandra, the Human Paladin/Warlock.
* Clara, the Human Warlock.
* Dakira, the Dragonborn Bard.
* Devi, the Drow Paladin.
* Kriswyn, the Firbolg Druid.
* Tansy, the Tiefling Light Cleric.

## Horde

The party stood strong against the blights and their continued assault. As they fought on against the needle blights in the fields and their constant barrages of needles, the sound of footsteps from behind them was the only warning before another of the feral druids and five more of the thorned creatures came out from the loading docks area, and the druid laughed as he and the blights joined the fray.

After a failed attack against Clara by the druid in the doorway, Kriswyn charged her in dire wolf form, bringing the druid down and shaking her in her jaws while the druid howled in pain and rage, while Tansy dodged an attack from the twig blights as she called on her powers as a cleric to scorch her enemies with divine energy that left the twig blights nothing but a pile of ash that the rain was already mixing into the mud, and left the druids deeply injured.

Clara's attack against the blights was successful, but their attack delivered immediate retribution as they returned fire, almost bringing the warlock down. Devi and Alyssandra both turned their attention to the new group of blights and druid, Devi drinking the party's final potion of healing and Alyssandra dealing the druid a terrible blow, though he remained standing and attempted to strike back, but failed to land the hit. On the other side of the battlefield, meanwhile, Tansy was struck by another volley of needles, and as Merletta pecked valliantly at the druid who had tried to strike Alyssandra, further reinforcements came as yet another druid came running on all fours around the side of the winery, bringing two new blights with them.

### Retreat

The party decided it would be a good idea to retreat in some direction, especially as their health was so low, and they were so outnumbered. From where they stood, they could see the front door that the first druid and her twig blights had come from, the loading docks that the second druid and his needle blights had come from, and the open-air veranda area that this new druid seemingy come from, along with the two creatures that lumbered forward towards the party, each seemingly made of nothing but dead vines.

The druid managed to free herself and make an attack against Kriswyn, but failed, and was grabbed and pulled prone again by the large red dire wolf. Dakira rushed to Tansy's side, casting Cure Wounds to help her regain her footing, and Tansy ran inside the winery, aiming a quick swipe at the druid on the ground as she passed, though her mace missed the mark. Unfortunately, the next needles buried themselves into Kriswyn, and as the dire wolf went down she shifted back into her normal firbolg form, and the druid was released as Kriswyn tried to catch her bearings after being so violently knocked out of her wildshape.

   Clara turned herself invisible and bolted inside after Tansy the moment she was out of sight, leaning against the nearest wall to try to catch her breath. As Dakira took the brunt of another set of needles, Devi changed course and ran inside as well, slitting the druid's throat as she passed. Inside, Tansy attempted to patch her up despite being out of spells. Outside, Alyssandra took down the druid in front of the docks, and took a moment to catch her breath as on the other side of the battlefield, the surviving druid attempted to cast a magic rock to strike down the now-firbolg Kriswyn, but missed her by inches.

Ismark hesitated against going inside himself, attempting to cover the rest of the party's escape, and seeing Alyssandra surrounded by the docks he did his best to help her against them, and killed one of the blights. It was for nothing, though, as the blights swarmed her and brought her down, with Kriswyn being caught by another barrage of needles and falling not long after. As the blights continued to strike out at Ismark, Dakira hurried over to Kriswyn's side and used the rest of her magic to heal her back to consciousness before running inside with the others, while Tansy ran back outside to help, summoning a sphere of fire to attack the blights surrounding Alyssandra.

The blights immediately targetted Tansy as soon as she emerged, but her armor kept her safe. Kriswyn was not so lucky, and was unable to even stand before the blights attacked her again, and from inside the winery, Devi and Dakira hurried to drag her inside. The blights and the druid continued to target Tansy, some of their blows landing, but she stood strong for a few more minutes before they wore her down, and her magic failed as she fell into unconsciousness, and Merletta was destroyed not long after, putting an end to her flying around Alyssandra's fallen body.

Ismark was left the only one still standing outside, while inside, Dakira tried to stablize Kriswyn.

## Things Gained

* Lots of wounds.
* The idea that this was maybe a worse idea than it sounded in the first place.
* Unconscious party members.

## Developments

The party has spent their first whole session in combat.

The party has encountered all of the enemies who would leave the winery.

The party has the most unconscious members to date.