A. But First, Taking Out Some Easy Targets.

In the middle of the night, the PCs find themselves under attack by the team of brown cloaks. First, the campfire blazes up and gives off a roiling cloud of back, choking smoke, which has little effect on anyone. The PCs spread out to take on the attackers individually; although the Middle Redding horsemen make good use of trampling with their mounts, Athron “commands”at least two to move into areas threatened by his compatriots, who are able to finish them off. Within a minute, the fight is over.

B. The “Fortress”.

The next day, the PCs come within sight of the makeshift “fortress” used by the Middle Redding tribes for the annual contest.

The back is formed by a large raised earthen berm, which slopes down on either side in a curve that meets a 25-foot high wooden wall. The top of the earthen berm is covered by thick, tangled growth, courtesy of the defending team’s druid. A 100-yard space in front of the wall has been burned clear of the tail plains grass. In an attempt to avoid actual combat, Duran makes use of a potion of invisibility to sneak into the compound, hoping to simply steal and banner. Inside, he sees only five, rather than the expected six, defenders. One, a young woman, insists to her compatriots that “Saria” swears that attackers are waiting not far away, but the fighter on the wall indicates that he sees no one. Duran’s search for the flag – even in the covered privy pit at the back of the open yard fails, and he returns to the other PCs before the invisibility potion wears off.

Duran reports back to the PCs; shortly after his return, Broc notes that a falcon overhead has kept circling far longer would ordinarily be expected – and the PCs realize that the raptor must be a familiar of a magic-user behind the walls. A plan of attack is agreed upon – Vermillion and Duran will attack from either side wall, while the others essentially “rush” the front gate.

Broc is the first across the open area in front of the wall, and discovers that a spell has been laid across one stretch that makes the grass underfoot feel like spikes. He steps up to the front gate, and falls into a dark pit – an illusory surface covered the trap. Climbing out, he steps upon explosive runes, and the PCs also trigger a glyph of warding on the lock. However, despite the initial gauntlet, the PCs soon enter the fortress, with Duran forcing the fighter off the wall, Vermillion disabling another with a tanglefoot bag and then finishing him off, and Boeden, Broc and Athron joining in taking out the female cleric. The sorcerer, who spoke of Saria, disappears and then seemingly reappears – a false image, that is used to distract the PCs.

The female sorcerer eventually does become visible, on the top of the earthen berm with the young male druid and a pretty female bard – all three level spells against the PCs from that vantage point. Although the druid and bard seem almost untouchable at first, Vermillion deafens the sorcerer with a thunderstone and then Athron casts blindness upon her. Duran, Athron and Boeden continue with ranged attacks, finishing off the sorcerer and (with Vermillion’s direct melee attacks) weakening the druid and bard. Enraged by multiple attacks, Broc rushes the back wall and attempts to climb, only to slide back down when the bard casts Grease under his hands. His next attempt to climb is complicated by the druid’s summoning of a swarm of spiders from the side of the earthen wall. Once atop the wall, Broc is laid prone – but manages to lift his sword and strike the druid down. DM’s note: AJ was really hoping he could manage to push the druid off the wall just as Broc reached the top.

The bard surrenders and compliments the PCs on the fight. The PCs then resume their search for the flag, which at first is nowhere to be found. A meticulous search through all of the defenders’ belongings, however, turns up a small scrap of cloth that looks exactly like the flag in miniature on the cleric’s unconscious body – a Reduce Object spell had been used to make it easier to hide the flag. The PCs finish the search in the late afternoon/early evening, and are left to decide whether to head out immediately – knowing that the Talon team, in the blue cloaks, are probably waiting for them.

DM's Notes: At this point, we were forced to take a break before finishing the last fight and wrapping up Duran’s family problems. John was unavailable due to personal reasons, Giorgo was teaching salsa dancing on Tuesday nights, and AJ and I were scheduled for a pre-Christmas trip to DisneyWorld with the kids. After our return, Christmas and New Year’s came up, so I turned the baton over to Chris. This photograph modified under Creative Commons license._