A9S2-Bree Reunion

Aug 15^th in Bree: After hearing Margo's departing words, they sought out Weldon who lamented the story of the dragon attack. "As you know, I gifted my tapestry to the great hall of Hobbiton. I happened to be in town delivering goods when a dark shadow flew over the sky. A dragon landed in the middle of the town square. I rushed to see what was going on and spied a woman sitting on a chair, directing a squad of hobbits to steal my tapestry! Other villagers stood as if paralyzed. Apparently, she didn't find what she was looking for, because she had her dragon torch my tapestry before she climbed atop the dragon who flew off carrying her chair. That's when everyone regained their senses and fired arrows at her departing dragon."

The fellowship looked at Loegir and remembered his vision before they departed Rivendell. As they sat at the inn, feasting on ale and food, Kyan pulled out his map to retrace their route and to consider Belemir’s and the Dark Queen’s intentions. And that’s when he tasted a bitterness on his lips, and saw his fellow adventurers start to wobble in their seats. And saw Brandel approach with a tray of mugs as he now smiled wickedly, “Belemir said you’d be back, and I’d have a chance for revenge.” As poison coursed through the other’s bloodstream, Kyan was able to resist the poison. But he was still surprised when Brandel dropped the tray to pull his blade, and others now approached the table:

Ambush: Kyan just had time to throw his ale at Brandel as the bandit swung: and missed. But the other thugs struck: two caught Theo flatfooted and drew blood while two others slashed at Thran still sitting in his chair. [Poisoned: disadvantage attacks and saves, and MAX HP reduced to half] Theo stood and awkwardly swung and missed his foe. [Battle Cry] Kyan stood and raised RingRist to strike as he cursed, “Coward! I never thought you’d reform. Long live the fellowship!” But Brandel was ready as he yelled his own warning, “Shield!” As RingRist struck and flared, the thugs were ready with closed eyes: they were not affected by the sudden light. Thran raised his staff and cast Thunderwave: both his attackers were pushed back 30ft (one crumpled against another table). Thran also laid hands on himself to remove his poisoned condition. Overlooked, Loegir closed on one of Theo’s attackers and got within his space to attack… without success.

[2 fumbles] Brandel’s sword slipped out of his hand as he also slipped on the spilt ale and fell prone. Which gave Kyan a free attack to kill Brandel. Kyan’s dog charged at Thran’s attacker, slumped against the table, who pleaded, “Call him off!” Theo’s attacker hit; Theo reacted to strike back. His other attacker was engaged with the boy who struck [AOO: Attack-Of-Opportunity] when the man tried to step away to swing at Loegir. One of Thran’s attackers scrambled (disengaged) through an open window, while the wolfhound kept the other one pinned at the table. Thran stepped closer to ‘lay hands on’ Theo to remove his poisoned condition.

With Brandel dead, Theo’s attackers also fled (disengaged) through another window. Kyan captured the lone thug and first confirmed him without an amulet. Nor did Brandel have an amulet, but he did have an empty vial that smelled of a strong poison which Thran confirmed. The frightened thug confessed, “Brandel gave us 10 gold each; said you’d be an easy mark as he planned to poison all of you with something another man gave him.” Only now did the other patrons come to their senses as they were blinded and confused when RingRist flared.

Rymen apologized for Brandel’s actions, “I never saw it coming. He was dutiful in his job. I just thought he was trying to better himself when he asked to serve you the food and drinks.” Kyan suggested they call it a night to get up early to ride out in search of Belemir and the Dark Queen. As the housemaid Belinda readied their individual rooms, Thran took time to heal himself and Theo while Kyan planned to recover with a good night’s sleep.

Bedbugs: Loegir immediately woke when he felt his bed jostled- he grabbed his shield and sword and stepped within the man-sized spider’s space as it crawled from under his bed! He swung at its underbelly with sword and shield; the spider stepped back to attack but missed [but suffered another AOO by Loegir]. In another room, another spider webbed Kyan’s dog as it bit the dwarf still in his bed. Kyan grabbed his new sword Spider Bane and hit: [natural 20- max damage]. Theo sensed danger in enough time to react to avoid the spider bite but was stung: [natural 20] Theo found himself immune to the poison. Yet the spider was too elusive as it dodged one of Theo’s attacks.

Loegir hit his foe again, but the spider retaliated with its own bite and sting to poison the boy. Meanwhile, Kyan’s spider bit him while also trapping the dwarf in webbing. [fail, Inspiration-natural 20] Kyan broke free of the webbing and plunged his sword through his foe for a solid kill. He used his dagger to cut his dog free of its webbing. In his own room, Theo was webbed…for a little while before he broke free to hack at his foe. Meanwhile, Thran cast Thunderwave: [natural 20] the walls of his room bulged as wall board temporarily separated from the blast as the spider was thrown across the room. Two of its legs were caught in the gaps in the wall that flexed back closed. Temporarily pinned, the severely injured spider was still able to web the elf.

Theo and his spider foe exchanged hits as they maneuvered in his room. Meanwhile, Kyan raced from his room, across the hall to Loegir’s, where he found the boy already being encased in a spidery cocoon. Kyan threw his axe and killed the spider. In his own room, Thran struggled to break free of the webbing. [fumbled Inspiration] In fact, he got more tangled and even cut himself. His spider foe broke free of the wall, leaving 2 of its legs behind as it crawled towards it prey as its fangs dripped poison in anticipation of an easy kill.

Kyan quickly cut Loegir free of the webbing and then cut Loegir’s spider bite so he could suck out the poison. While Theo’s foe bit him, the Beorning killed his spider foe. Meanwhile, Thran desperately struggled against the webbing without success as the spider reached him and bit the elf.

Kyan lifted the poisoned boy and carried him across the hall to the elf’s door where he ran into Theo, also about to enter. Inside, a hapless elf failed to break free of the webbing as the spider bit its defenseless prey. With the door open, Kyan first mocked the elf, “Stop playing around; I need you to heal the boy of poison.” With the door open, his dog rushed in and lunged at the spider, knocking it prone as it bit the spider’s throat and ripped it to pieces.

Thran used his Thurl potion to heal the boy first before the scholar treated his own wounds and those of his allies. [Insight] They all pondered how the spiders got in: the windows and doors were closed. Kyan remembered his dog growling at something under his bed, and Loegir mentioned feeling his bed jostled before the attack. They checked under Thran’s bed and found a small box tied to the underside with its lid open and webbing inside! Thran reasoned another magical trap like the bookworms of the Grey Haven library. They found similar boxes in each room. “How did they get here? Another of Brandel’s poison attacks?”

And that’s when Rymen and his son appeared dressed in their nightgowns, “What’s going on? I heard a loud crack. Why are the wall boards buckled?!” By now Kyan began to suspect the housemaid, “Rymen, how long has Belinda been working for you? Do you think she’s in league with Brandel or Belemir?” Learning she had her own room downstairs in the inn, Kyan concocted a trap to catch Belinda in a lie.

The Trap: Kyan and Rymen knocked at her door. Soon a light shone under her door before she eventually answered. Kyan spoke, “My allies have been killed by a pack of wolves that got into their rooms. You need to clean up the mess.” But Belinda’s reaction was of fright, “Wolves?! Are they still roaming the halls?” Kyan took another direction as he revealed one of the boxes. But again, she was clueless. And even more confused when the others appeared at her door, “I thought you said they were killed by wolves?”

Only when Thran asked her about an amulet did she react with surprise. They searched her: nothing around her neck. They were about to give up when Thran considered an anklet: bingo! When they removed it, Belinda seemed to come out of a trance, “Where am I? Why are you in my room? Belemir? Why, an old, grey-bearded man gave it to me while he drank in the bar.” Rymen remembered the man, “Now that I think about it, while he had a long grey beard, his skin was not wrinkled like an old man’s. Nor spotted with age-spots.” It took them awhile to realize Belemir had appeared in disguise.

Their Trap: Kyan concocted their own trap, “We’ll sneak out and lay low nearby. Spread the word that the fellowship was killed last night by spiders. How you buried us in the cemetery with our armor, weapons, and a metal box with a strange shard in it. That should draw Belemir out of hiding. Meanwhile, we’ll send word to Radagast via a sparrow. And have the whistle ready if we need to call for the eagles.”

NEXT SESSION: A9 S3: The Trap