EoD 022: Against the Bandits

The heroes quickly plotted and schemed the bandits’ imminent demise. With their prey still distracted unloading the Masterson’s wagon, the party crept through the forest to come at the ruin from the west. In this way, the bulk of the ruined donjon hid them from the distracted sentry atop the tower roof.

Reaching the ruin, Shawn and Syllana crept along the outer wall until the sentry was in range. Syllana loosed a single arrow with deadly accuracy—the arrow tore through the front of the man’s face and took the back of his skull off. Dead before he knew it, he fell back onto the tower roof. The two sharpshooters held their breath for a moment, but none of the bandits in the muddy courtyard seemed to have heard their companion’s demise. Emboldened by Syllana's amazing shot, Shawn swung round the wall into the keep’s gateway and loosed at another bandit…only to miss.

The surprised bandits leapt into uncoordinated action. A few rushed to defend the gateway—these the party swiftly cut down—while two others—one badly injured— fled into the tower. These two managed to get inside before Jalt smashed into the door. Annoyingly, something blocked the door from inside, and the redoubtable dragonborn could not break it down. 

Meanwhile, several other bandits had reached the roof and begun hurling stones at the party while others used bows and crossbows to attack those assailing the tower door. Most missed—and several of the bandits were killed or badly injured by Shawn’s and Syllana’s deadly shots. While Polumya heroically watched the rear, Heklmia reached the outer door atop the keep’s wall and unleashed two thunderwaves. The second of the two titanic bursts of sound sundered the ground-floor door and badly damaged the other door. Transforming into bear form, she tore the upper door down—shrugging off punishing strikes from stones hurled down from the tower roof—and lumbered inside to be confronted by a lone bandit who rapidly retreated out of the room.

Syllana dodged into sight and loosed an arrow through the open ground-floor door. Her shot was true, and it shattered a lantern illuminating the box-strewn room. Below the lantern, two bandits crouched behind a table, shooting at any of the heroes trying to get into the room. One of the bandits dodged the resultant cascade of burning oil, but the other was not so lucky. 

As the luckier of the two bandits fled up the tower’s spiral staircase, several of the heroes—Jalt, Stor, Shawn and Polumya surged into the guard room. Although the badly burnt bandit tried to surrender, most of the heroes—incensed at the attack on the poor Masterons—accepted no quarter. Even though Shawn subdued the man and tied him up, the doomed bandit was quickly killed by Jalt.

Meanwhile, Stor pursued the fleeing bandit up the stairs. He forced the man back to the second floor only to fall victim to magical paralysis cast at him by a half-elven woman standing behind the bandit. Paralysed, he could do nothing as the bandit repeatedly stabbed him. Downstairs, Stor’s companions—led by Jalt—belatedly became aware of the hapless half-orc’s situation…

This post is a session summary from my weekly 5e D&D Edgelands of Darkness campaign set in the Duchy of Ashlar.

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