Session 305

# April 6th, 2023 - Bridge Burning

## Spider Scout

The session began as the sun started to rise over the party's campsite filled with blood and the bodies of the enemy patrol. They bound the remaining soldier that Carlton had knocked out as others wrapped their wounds. The soldier was smacked awake when they were ready to start questioning him, and Fax began to ask about the other patrols in the area. However, the soldier would have nothing of it, and started yelling loudly causing nearby birds to disperse from the trees into the sky. Watch proceeded to slit his throat while whispering something to him.

The group packed up and moved west to cross the Coast Way road and approach the edge of the forest where they could more closely watch the area around the tower. They decided to wait until the dark of night to attempt to move in, and sent Raven to *wild shape* into an animal to investigate the area. He shapeshifted into a spider and crossed the mile or so of exposed grassland to the hill the tower sat upon. He crawled around the building and saw a stable building adjacent, and inspected the enormous bridge that was their target - it had stone supports on either end of the ravine, but the main portion of the span was made of wooden beams.

The adjoining rectangular building to the circular stone tower looked like an inn, with multiple bedrooms filled with different numbers of beds. Spider-Raven then moved over to the walls of the stone tower and climbed higher, peeking into windows as he went. Upon the third floor of the tower he saw one larger room with a number of soldiers playing cards around a table, with Lord Joffrey sitting quietly along a wall. The next level above appeared to be a rookery, but instead of the expected griffons of the Black Landing army, there were two chained up wyverns resting upon the hay beds. On the very top of the crenelated tower was the large signal fire, and a group of dragonborn soldiers looking out over the area, one had a spyglass. Knowing he was limited on time in his *wild shape*, Raven proceeded to return back across the clear grasslands.

Once Raven returned and told what he scouted, the party planned how they were going to attempt to take out the bridge. They didn’t have any oil or flammable powders, and so they decided to quietly gather firewood and lots of tinder to fill their horse drawn cart. Some of the party kept lookout around them, and once did see a number of figures moving west in the distance behind them, but no patrols stumbled upon them throughout the day. Carlton tied up the horse to a nearby tree and left the plate mail set under a bush. The group then rested and waited out the rest of the day and into night, and during that time they did see one enemy patrol return to the tower to switch out with another. The group expected the signal fire to go out again as the night waned towards morning, but it never did so.

## Bridge Burning

Thus, the party decided it was time to move out on their plan. They split into two groups, one ‘stealthy’ group with Watch, Orsais, and Fax went first and crossed the grasslands to the west side of the tower in an attempt to cause a distraction. As they ran, in view of Orsais and Fax, Watch changed from a human into a dragonborn. Meanwhile, the rest of the party moved north along the road, on the east side of the tower, with Carlton not-so-quietly pulling the tinder-laden cart. The stealthy group reached the tower without incident and climbed up to the dropped wooden drawbridge that marked the rookery level. They began their distraction by setting fire to the hay beds the wyverns were upon, which caused the creatures to start creating a raucous as they screeched and tried to pull away from their chains.

Fax threw a *chromatic fire orb* up to the wooden roof of the adjacent inn-building catching it alight, as Orsais summoned a *minor illusion* creating the sound of continuous thunder in an attempt to cover the sounds of the wyverns. When Carlton’s group neared the tower, they heard the sounds of the distraction but regardless a group of guard drakes and soldiers came from the stables directly towards them. Joakim, Raven, and Daelain engaged the soldiers and guard drakes as Carlton ran full speed barreling past any in his way. He had cast a *shield of faith* upon himself, flinched off any melee attacks, dodged a thrown spear, and continued past as his party members engaged the enemies, keeping them from pursuing.

Watch, Fax, and Orsais had climbed down the tower and were creeping around the north side of it - next to the ravine - around the time soldiers started pouring out of the tower. Thinking fast, Watch in the shape of a dragonborn scout came around the north side of the adjoining inn building and shouted towards the soldiers that “they are this way!” Most seemed to be looping around the south side of the tower towards the thunder and screeching wyverns, but a group peeled off north to join him. Watch told his compatriots to think fast, as the soldiers rounded the north side of the inn building. Fax unleashed his lightning breath and Watch erupted the ground in a *spike growth*, combining to kill a number of soldiers.

With only seconds before the other group would come around the south side, Orsais took the risk and just dove through one of the wooden windows into the inn building, with Fax following closely behind. Orsais then conjured another *illusion* outside the building (through the window) of Alburt the wizard as another distraction. Watch instead leapt off the edge of the ravine, grabbed onto the cliff side, and expertly climbed his way along towards the bridge. He saw Carlton reach the bridge and start running across the stone portion towards the wooden span. Inside, Orsais and Fax found themselves in an empty bedroom with soldiers still running down the hallway towards the tower exit. They carefully crossed the hallway into another bedroom on the east side of the building finding a soldier passed out drunk. Fax used his flint and steel to light another fire, as they jumped out that window behind the stable building.

Carlton got a good portion down the wooden span with no soldiers following him, and dumped the now-flaming tinder cart upon the bridge (Daelain lit it aflame with his last *scorching ray* before Carlton got too far from their melee with the soldiers and guard drakes). As Carlton was running back across the bridge Fax and Orsais peeked into the stable that had housed the guard drakes and soldiers, who were now engaging with Raven, Daelain, and Joakim, and found horses remaining tied up and unguarded. They immediately decided to free them and start an escape - they each hopped upon a horse and tried to pull another with them. This happened just as Watch clambered back up from the ravine and joined with Carlton running towards their party mates bursting out of the stables with all the horses. The paladin and warlock also jumped upon a horse each and the group bolted as fast as they could towards their remaining friends fighting along the road.

The horse riders ran full speed, knocking over guard drakes in their way as they reached their remaining party members caught in a melee, with them being pulled upon or jumping on the horses behind their friends. However, at this time one of the wyverns, now freed from their burning rookery, swooped down with an armored rider trying to kill Daelain. Raven perfectly timed his casting of *entanglement* as the roots and vines erupted from the ground and grabbed the wyvern as it came down to stab Daelain with its poisonous tail. Daelain cast a *thunderwave* to free himself from the brambles. The remaining party members were able to climb atop various horses and they all ran as fast as they could south and east towards the tree line in various areas. The second wyvern was flying around trying to catch one of the horses, but they left caution to the wind and each reached the woods.

The rest of the soldiers from the west side of the tower surely were pursuing, but it was too late. The group had planned on regrouping near their campsite from the day before on the east side of the road.

That is where the session ended, very early on the morning the eleventh day after leaving Black Landing.

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