[Session Report 5 - 7/9/24] The Bandit Cave of Dantar of the Dread Wilds

Dantar of the Dread Wilds being escorted back to Dragonwrath

    The session began on the 16th of First Seed with the party recovering in town, listening to rumors, and talking to NPCs throughout Dragonwrath.  They eventually left town on the 21st in search of druidic ruins, known as the Halls of Ghuldesh, that were just north of the stronghold.  Once there, they took note of the ring of standing stones, long worn down over the centuries, and explored the underground ruins.  Inside, they saw channels within the dungeon walls and decided to hold their flame to it, believing it to be oil.  Quickly, the room became bright and fire was seen tracing the walls.  This caused the eyes of the 3 statues in the room to glow blue and a secret door opened up leading to the southern part of the ruins.  They explored the area a bit more and found some treasure and even encountered the rumored druid who was said to still maintain the location.  The druid, Kalithog the Learned, explained that due to his cowardice in the past he was obligated to act as a guardian of the dungeons.  After some discussion, the party decided to leave the druid be and traveled back to town.

A random woodland encounter

    After staying at the Wayfarer's Inn, the party went out into the wilderness again, this time with the hopes of finding a bandit lair since they had heard local merchants complaining about their caravan being robbed along Bandit's Pass within Outlaw Forest.  They traveled to Outlaw Forest and on the 25th, they saw a unicorn but it quickly galloped away after being startled by the party.  They continued on in the forest and came upon a stone tower.  A lord, riding a horse, came out to greet the party and introduced himself as Lord Fenhor the Fearless.  He informed the party about the gang of bandits that recently attacked a caravan before challenging the party to a joust.  Kratos II accepted and after 3 tilts, it was declared a draw and Lord Fenhor made sure to recognize Kratos for his bravery in accepting the challenge.

    Our heroes, still determined to find the bandits, made their way to Bandit Pass, however, after a day of traveling they realized they were nearly out of food.  They only had 1 day of rations per party member and the fear of starvation soon set in.  They decided to split up.  One group would stay put and forage while the second group would travel back to Lord Fenhor's stronghold in the hopes that he would be so generous as to gift them enough food to travel back to civilization.  Unfortunately the foragers were unsuccessful but the second group was able to make a deal with Fenhor.  In exchange for a week's worth of rations, the party was oathbound to him, should he ever need to call upon them.  Thankful for his hospitality, they said their farewells and quickly made their way to meet up with their other party members.  Once they were all together, they headed back to Dragonwrath.

    On the 4th of Rainfall, the party arrived at the gates of Dragonwrath and felt the comfort of strong walls and a warm hearth once again.  Now weakened from a day without food, some of the party members had to rest for a week.  During this time, the other party members began to familiarize themselves with the various points of interest around town.  They decided to check out the tailor and asked him if he had made any black robes lately, which was a reference to a rumor they had heard earlier about a group of strange men in black robes coming to town.  The tailor assured them he had not made any robes.  The adventurers then asked to commission some black robes so that they might get to the bottom of this mystery.  He agreed and on the 9th the party received new, black robes.

    A few days passed and the recovering party members were now completely healed.  Not wanting to waste any time, they immediately went back into the wilderness (the hunger pangs now seemingly a faint memory) to explore the bandit lair.  While walking through Outlaw Forest, the party saw a blue dragon flying overhead.  Not wanting to attract its attention , the party continued their journey to the bandit cave.  Eventually, they saw 3 men clad in leather and armed with short swords and bows in front of a cave entrance.  They decided to wait for nightfall so that they could surprise the men and hopefully take them quietly.

    It worked!  The party got the drop on them and quickly killed 2 of the 3 bandit guards and seriously wounded the last one.  Overcome with pain and not wanting to take his chances fleeing, Randall the Bandit surrendered.  The party threatened him with magic (which they did not have) in order to interrogate him.  He told them everything he knew, even drawing a map of the caves and detailing where Dantar of the Dread Wilds' personal chambers were.  After much discussion, the party thought it best to let Randall go into the caves in order for him to sound the alarm and lead some of the bandits away from the caves.  Randall was able to lead 5 of the 13 bandits out of the caves on a wild goose chase while the party snuck in like special forces operators.  They quickly located Dantar and in a moment, caused him and his 4 body guards to drop like rocks with the use of an effective Sleep spell.  They beheaded the bandits (there was a bounty of 5 gp per bandit head) but decided that Lord Branif Greencloak of Dragonwrath might prefer it if Dantar was delivered to him alive.  The party then moved on into the common area and encountered 3 bandits who were cut down almost as quickly.  

    Now that the caves were clear, the party took note of where the caravan goods were and looted Dantar's personal chest.  Some time passed and the 5 bandits (plus Randall) arrived back at the caves.  The party quickly hid by a wall next to a passage, hoping to surprise anyone coming that way.  They heard footsteps and voices getting louder and suddenly jumped out in front of the bandits.  The bandits were caught by surprise and the party attacked.  After a brief melee, Amar the veteran was sadly cut down but the party was victorious, having killed all of the remaining bandits (except for Randall).  The party loaded up as much as they could carry and marched back to Dragonwrath with Dantar bound with rope.

    When they finally reached the gates of Dragonwrath on the 19th of Rainfall, they were greeted by a guard who asked them their business with the prisoner.  They explained who he was and the guard quickly let them in while informing another guard to get Lord Greencloak.  Lord Greencloak came down from his castle riding a horse, along with his retinue, and greeted the party.  He thanked them for their service, rewarded them, and then had Dantar of the Dread Wilds publicly executed.  Then Lord Greencloak ordered some of his men to collect the caravan goods to return to the merchants and traders.  The party was celebrated as heroes and Hal the tavern master gave a round of drinks to everyone in honor of their efforts.