Session 308

# May 18th, 2023 - Assault on the Tower, Part 2

## Assault on the Tower, Part 2

The session began as the party continued their battle against the remnants of the patrol group, finishing off the guard drakes as the next group of enemies ran across the grasslands towards them. The soldiers in that second group continued to fire their crossbows from long distance in a vain attempt at overwhelming the party, with a few bolts striking true. That second group’s guard drakes continued to sprint ahead towards the party, and as they got within range Watch erupted the ground in *spike growth* catching most of the drakes and slowing them considerably. About half of the party were still mounted at this point, and a few found difficulty in continuing to control their stolen draft horses, who were tiring and scared of the guard drakes snapping and clawing at them.

Just as the last of the first patrol group’s guard drakes were felled the party began to retreat back south towards the forest, many were wounded and only a handful had spells remaining. Combined with those circumstances the two wyverns and their mounted knights from the guard tower were screeching across the sky flying rapidly towards them. However, not all the party were still mounted, with Carlton, and Watch on foot, Orsais and Joakim having fallen from their horses, with Raven still *shapeshifted* as a deionychus. Fax galloped to and picked up Joakim, while dino-Raven allowed Orsais to cling to his back as they all tried to flee south. The wyverns swooped down from above and Watch dove to the ground to try to hide in the grass, with Daelain casting a *minor invisibility* on him in the shape of a rock to hide him.

With no one able to reach Carlton, the paladin found himself running while trying to avoid one of the wyverns with the knight on its back firing a heavy crossbow at him. Carlton twice successfully cast *command* upon the creature to cause it to “flee”, which granted him enough time to almost reach the forest edge. Fax and Joakim found themselves the target of the second wyvern and knight, with the Joakim and the following Daelain firing all their remaining magic at the knight - eventually killing it. Unfortunately, the beast was able to kill their horse causing the two to fall to the ground. Without its mounted knight directing it, the wyvern instead began to feast upon the dead horse while the two ran as fast as they could towards the tree line.

Watch reached the forest and while the rest of the party concentrated on killing the second mounted knight to save Carlton, the warlock set off west through the forest to continue his original mission. Watch once again *disguised himself* as a wounded dragonborn soldier and went about his looping path around the grassland of the tower towards the ravine. Orsais *heated the platmail* the wyvern mounted knight wore, Raven had *shapeshifted* back into his natural form and multiple times tried to pin the wyvern down with an *entangle* of brambles, but the creature was strong enough to break free. However, the combined fire from the rest of the party and Carlton’s expert dodging allowed them to kill the knight. The wyvern was being burned by its heated plate, and once the knight no longer was holding on tight the beast threw the dead dragonborn from its back. With the party all having reached the forest, the wyvern instead flew the short distance to the dead horse the first wyvern was feasting upon. The two snapped at each other and clawed at the horse until they ripped it in two. The wyverns then proceeded to pick up and fly away in opposite directions with their prizes.

The last group of soldiers and guard drakes approached the forest, with most of the soldiers having stumbled upon Watch’s *spike growth* and almost killed themselves. The party backed further into the woods to try and further split up the pursuing guard drakes and enemy veteran, while those wounded soldiers appeared to flee once they reached the forest and lost the sight of their leader. While the rest of the party fought and killed the four remaining guard drakes and their veteran, Watch worked his way through the forest around the tower to the edge of the ravine. Still the middle of the night, in the moonlight he climbed down the side of the chasm with his expert Tabaxi skills, and worked his way towards the center where the bridges central pillar rested.

Watch used his *mold earth* magic to dig out the ground beneath the stone support until it fell over, causing the massive wooden beams above supporting the bridge to crack and come tumbling down. The majority of the central wooden span came down with it. The party by this time had finished killing the remaining pursuing veteran and guard drakes, and were resting in the forest when they heard the crash of the bridge. They finished bandaging their wounds and preparing for a final assault on the tower, making their way back to the tree line.

Whatever soldiers had been guarding on their side of the bridge were no longer to be seen, with only a few torches atop the guard tower itself. By this point, Watch had climbed his way back up the side of the ravine and waited watching to see what the rest of his team would do. When he saw them charge across the grasslands once again on their remaining horses he prepared. The lookouts atop the tower yelled to those within that “they’re coming!”, and moments later the perhaps ten or so remaining soldiers burst out of the tower carrying what they could and ran around westward. Following last was none other than Lord Joffrey, chasing after them screaming to not be left behind.

Watch wasted no time in using his *mold earth* to dig out another pit in front of the traitor noble and buried him neck deep in the ground. The enemy soldiers didn’t even look behind to help, continuing to flee for their lives. The party gathered and spent a few hours searching what remained of the tower, not wanting to remain by the time the sun arose. They knew the coming army could possibly arrive sometime the next day, now blocked from crossing the ravine, but still wanting to be nowhere near for fear of further flying wyverns. They gathered the coin that had been recovered from the broken chest, and what weapons and armor they could scavenge.

The group filled a cart with their loot, pulled by one of their horses, and they rode the rest of their stolen steeds south from the tower after finally completing their mission. The tied up Lord Joffrey rode along in the cart as their prisoner. They started to follow the Coast Way road back towards the army camp at the town of Grainvic, and that is where this short session ended. It was very early in the morning of the twelfth day after leaving Black Landing, before dawn.

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