Druid Destruction

The Party:

• Rig Bigny, Gnomish Beastmaster
  • Flit, the bat familiar
  • Clench, the Wardog War-Badger
  • Faufe Yitaw, Dogwere (Badgerwere?)
    • Rawf, Wardog familiar
    • Grerr, Wardog totem animal
• Caranthir, Human Leader of Men
  • Rhea Trueheart, Elvish Nightblade
  • Lucille "Luce" Burwood, Fighter
  • Elenora Garrard, White Mage
• Gróin of Norston, Dwarven Sapper
  • Zarc, Thrassian Gladiator
• James Morthor, Warlock
  • Doggan, Tiny-Sized Dragon familiar
  • Iodberta, Fighter
  • Frauuara, Fighter
  • Leah Thewend, Airwalker
  • Encarna D'cruz, Priestess
  • Alice, human child (age 10)
• Llarm Paphyra, Elvish Polydoctorate
  • The Metal Man, construct
• Airsen Birdmaster, Airwalker

After a bit of puttering about, not entirely decided whether to start the session or not, we finally started the battle. Caranthir rushed in, and the other fighters joined him, slashing at the leader. The leader retreated to the center of the stone circle, just in time for the three other high-ranking druids to cast their spells: Bless, Bane, and Holy Chant (for those of you keeping track at home, anyone close enough when it went off would thus be at a -3 to attack, and -3 damage!). The other druids, meanwhile, leaped forward, attacking and revealing the pit vipers and anacondas wrapped around their arms and waists. Their weapons (and fangs) clanged off the armored fighters, to no avail.

The next round, Airsen saw that the leader was about to cast a spell, and loosed an arrow; it struck home, and the leader's spell fizzled in what was likely the deciding factor of the battle! If the spell (Plague of Insects) had gone off, all the henchmen would have been driven off, the spellcasters would have been unable to cast any spells, and even the awesomely-armored Caranthir would have taken 2 points of damage per round. Alas; it was not to be.

The fighters, meanwhile, bashed on the front lines, slowly whittling down hit points, as the casters fired off the first sleep spell, dropping a few of the approaching mercenaries and taking out nearly every totem animal. Though a few mercenaries were roused, and one of the low-level druids hit the newly-hired Zarc with Cause Fear; Zarc immediately turned tail and ran. The battle raged back and forth, with the mercenaries, Sleep'd once again, were wiped out by Luce and Airsen's hawks, while the druids were Sleep'd, then Sleep'd again. However, Caranthir was Feared, then Fawfe, sending them fleeing; Morthor's two fighters were also hit with Cause Fear, but shrugged the spell off, due to their berserk rage. Suddenly, two huge totem animals leaped from the undergrowth and attacked! The bear was quickly dispatched, but the lion's crushing paws brought down Llarm! Rig and the beasts rushed to Llarm's aid, and Elenora ran to heal her, while Gróin killed the bear.

Eventually, all but the leader and the three high-level druids were killed. The leader transformed into a huge lion, and two of the others turned into a lion and a bear, respectively. Rig charged the smaller lion, along with Fawfe's familiar and totem animal, but the tenacious bite of the lion-druid first dropped Grerr, then Rig! The rest of the fighters encircled the mighty lion-druid, and were finally able to beat the monster to the ground. Seeing their leader fallen, the three remaining druids surrendered.

Pillaging the camp, the party found 4000 ep, a silver statue worth 50 gp, a box of shells worth 40 gp, a treasure map, and a box of ceremonial daggers. Morthor swiped the shells and statue. Additionally, they discovered a prisoner, bound and gagged: Sneakily, the Spy!

Under the care of Elenora and Morthor's dragon familiar, Llarm was brought back, though missing three toes; Rig, too, regained consciousness, though his hand was crushed. Poor Grerr was unable to be healed, and expired; the loss dropped Fawfe to half hit-points.

Rather more injured than they had expected, the party loaded their valuables into their carts and limped back to civilization. The group came across a few small statues - a rabbit, a few bugs, and a lizard. Statues are not normal occurrences on the plains; rather, they were the efforts of four basilisks! With two of their number out of the fight, and several others with low hp, the party opted to flee; though they attempted to outrun the creatures, the basilisks were hungry, and chased them relentlessly... until Sneakily kicked the bear-druid (still in bear form) out the back of the wagon. The basilisks stopped for their tightly-bound snack, and the company managed to make it back to civilization.

The church was desperately grateful for the demise of the druids, and the bonus of two captured members; they promised a Miracle as repayment! Rig and Llarm paid to have their injuries healed; Llarm needed a further week of bed rest, while Rig needed two. Rig's hand, though no longer crushed, was not as steady as it had once been, and in future combat may accidentally strike a friend, instead of an enemy.

• XP from combat:
  • 12 mercenaries (13 each)
  • 6 2nd level druids (47 each)
  • 3 5th level druids (460 each)
  • 1 7th level druid (900)
  • 4 basilisks (0, escaped)
• Total XP from combat: 2718
• Treasure:
  • 3000 ep (1500 gp)
  • silver status (50) (stolen by Morthor)
  • shells (40) (stolen by Morthor)
  • 1 load of weapons (unsold)
  • treasure map
• Total XP from treasure: 1590
• Total XP: 4300
• XP per PC (except Sneakily): 380
• XP per Henchman: 190
• Treasure per PC: 214 gp
• Additional treasure for Morthor: 90 gp

Special Note

With the large number of henchmen in play, I've decided to distribute treasure a bit differently with respect to the PCs and henchmen. All treasure goes to the PCs, and they may dole out the treasure as they see fit, as long as they pay the minimum base monthly rate.