Session 034 The Bandit Theater

The party and the actors exchange some words. The Sindarin actress bangs her fist on the chest of the Drughu man, decrying his inability to remember his lines. The big man says "I told you I am not so good with memorizing lines!" The actress and Weyliri say his next line, almost in unison. "The strength of mine own heart lifts up this carriage for you! Can you not see? Can you not feel it?" He seems frustrated and dejected.
Several of the party pay attention, attempting to discern whether this is a real play or some type of setup. Weyliri certainly seems engaged, the Sindarin woman is clearly delivering lines as an actress, and the Goliath is surely befuddled.
Rhyna and Asklon both join up with Weliri, with Rook moving near them. As a precaution, Askelon casts Mage Armor on himself, at which point the actress notices the Eladrin mage. She stops, looks alarmed, and blurts out "My lord, we did not expect to find a noble audience on this dusty road!" She turns the Drughu to look, and tells him "Ludfrond, unless my memory fails me, we are in the presence of a Prince of Clan Gelarhun!" She curtsies deeply and says, in Sindarin, "We are honored to perform for you on this day given by Siem, my lord." Hearing the name of Siem, Hjalgrimm mutters that they are not in the service of that god. Askelon recognizes her from years ago, believing that he may have seen her perform in plays at Elinlingal in Ulfshafen. He tells her "I recognize you, but do not recall your name, nor do I recognize this play." She responds "I am Jenserel, your grace. I left Ulfshafen years ago to expand my repertoire and my studies. This play was penned by Master Alfric of the Company of Esaldin in Tashal. Mayhaps that is why you are unfamiliar with it. Our company was recently granted permission to take the play on the road. We have tailored it to provide an interactive stage for travelers and other audiences in the hopes that a more immersive experience would leave them feeling more entertained and hopefully more generous." She pauses, then glares at Ludfrond. "As long as we can remember our lines!"
Rook, feeling uneasy about the situation, especially having spied a figure hiding on the outcropping, quietly pulls the Dekejis Claws and prepares to act if anything combative happens.
Hjalgrimm goes to step toward the actress and the Drughu, but bumps into something he cannot see. He looks down and still sees nothing. He kicks hard at the spot and feels something give way, as though kicking it made it dissipate. Askelon notices this, and wonders if it might be an Unseen Servant. They are smallish to medium size and invisible, but are easily destroyed. Hjalgrimm takes offense to this, pulls his greatsword from the ground, and yells "What trickery is this?" as he moves to attack the actress. As he moves forward, Ludfrond turns to face the advancing Khuzdul, releasing his hold on the axle. Alarmingly, the wagon does not collapse. The party can now see that there is a beam of wood holding the wagon up that was hidden behind the massive Drughu before he turned. Ludfrond shrugs and says "Oops." Hjalgrimm, feeling frisky, pulls his recently acquired pistol out, loads it, and fires a bullet into the air. The horses all jerk, but none of them pull free of their ties to the wagon. Fluffy does not react, but both the actress and the Drughu flinch. "By Yashain, that thing is loud" exclaims the actress.
Jenserel explains "As I said, it is a work in progress. Stages have props and some of us still need to work on our lines." Ludfrond complains "I am not so good with lines." Jenserel then says "My lord, I offer our apologies. We are quite hungry, and rumbling stomachs do not help with our performance. We will both you no more, if we could just have a small donation to our fledgling theater group." Askelon pulls out his money pouch, counts out ten gold coins, and tosses them on the ground in front of Jenserel. She pulls up her skirts and kneels down to collect and count the coins. "This is very generous, my Prince. May Siem bless you in your journeys!" She stands and urges Ludfrond to put the wheel back on the wagon, which he does with ease. The large man tosses the supporting plank into the wagon, lifts Jenserel onto one of the tethered horses, and leads the wagon, horses, and troupe down the road.
As the theatrical group lumbers down the dirt road, Rook and Faelon both look for the figures they thought they saw hidden on the rocky outcroppings to the east and west. After a few moments, each of them sees their target moving quickly behind rows of hedges on either side of the road. The group starts moving to give chase.
When he is within range, Rook hurls one of his Claws at the figure in the hedges, but in the shifting situation the dagger slams into the dirt. Askelon hurls a Chromatic Orb into the figure on the east side of the road, hitting him and knocking him down. Rook then throws both daggers at his target, hitting and dropping the brigand. Askelon releases a batchof Necrotic Missiles into the bandit that he dropped, shredding the guy. He feels the dark Bukrai energy flow from the hapless bandit into himself. Hjalgrimm decides he wants to keep the other bandit alive and casts Healing Word. He asks Rhyna to join in the fight and Weliri to bind and watch the remaining bandit. Weyliri casts Charm Person as the healed bandit regains his feet, and she orders him to sit. He happily complies as she binds his wrists and feet.
The party decides that this probably was an ambush gone bad and chases down the theater group.
As the party closes in, Jenserel is still on her mount, but Ludfrond has moved to the back of the wagon. Jenserel loudly exclaims "Oh, thank the Blessed Realms, you have saved us from what would surely have been death by those brigands. Thank you!" The party closes in, as they have decided that they don't believe the theatrical act.
Hjalgrimm gets right up to Ludfrond and casts Compelled Duel on him. The big man does seem to be focused on the Khuzdul with the menacing greatsword. Hjalgrimm slashes him hard with Arya's Greatsword, adding some Bukrai smite to the sting, but the Drughu's skin seems to turn to stone for just an instant, reducing the damage. The big warrior glares at the Dwarf and bellows something that sounds like Stone or Earth in the Giant tongue. Hjalgrimm feels a great pull, but shrugs it off. The prisoner bandit shakes his head, but cannot rid himself of Weyliri's control. Suddenly a male Gnome appears in the back of the wagon, casting a spell. Hjalgrimm suddenly falls to the ground laughing hysterically! Seeing this, Rook hurls his Claws at this new spellcaster threat, missing once but hitting with the second. The Gnome seems to maintain control over his spell. Then the next surprise appears - a male Halfling pops up in the wagon and fires an arrow from his short bow at the rogue clad all in black. His aim is off, he misses, but only by a hair. Jenserel dismounts and moves around to see what is happening. She attempts to Charm Rook but he is not affected. Frustrated with this, she uses her Bard talent of Unsettling Words on the Rogue, saying "You're not even a real person, you sham! Hang your head!" The words rattle Rook. The actress then moves back behind the protection of the horses. Faelon, just catching up with the rest of the group, finds that he is not within melee range of a target, so he throws a dagger at the Gnome. It thunks into the frame of the wagon. Ludfrond, adjusting from the painful strike from the Dwarf, yells another word in Giantish, this time "Flame!" He slams his maul hard into Hjalgrimm, and flames burst into life all around the Dwarf. The strike is not as painful as Hjalgrimm expected, but then the flames coalesce into shackles binding his arms!
Hjalgrimm flexes hard and the shackles burst and dissipate. He shakes off the arcane laughter and stands. He casts Healing Word on himself to recover from the assault from this Drughu opponent. From his position away from the immediate danger Askelon casts Wither and Bloom centered on the Gnome caster. Both the Gnome and the Halfling take minor damage, but the big warrior seems unaffected. Hjalgrimm regains some of his health as a result of his teammate's spell. Rhyna has now reached the melee and swings Zurinda's Striker at the towering Drughu, but her swing is wide, narrowly missing Hjalgrimm. The Gnome pops up again and casts another Hideous Laughter spell on Hjalgrimm, once again causing the Khuzdul to fall to the ground in hysterics. The Dwarf is prone and incapacitated.

Loading

Loading