October 17, 2014 Session Report: Justice Is Served

As a general rule, I like to write up my after-action reports within a few days after a session ends. Everything is still fresh in my mind then, and the players are still interested in discussing what transpired. It's for a good reason that you've never heard the phrase "Wednesday-morning quarterback". No one wants to talk about a game they can hardly remember.

For a variety of reasons, however, I couldn't put this session report together until more than two weeks after the session ended. (It took place on October 17, 2014.) So, if this report seems fuzzy on the details or a little less vivid than usual, now you know why.

The session began with the party finally entering Anauroch, the Great Desert. Using the orb, they determined that Jacob, one of Gawain's former party members, had traveled deep into Anauroch's interior and had located an ancient city or fortress there. What Jacob and his band of raiders intended to do or find there was anyone's guess.

Well-stocked with water and provisions, the party journeyed for several days into the desert without incident. They had their first encounter about a week into their trek. One night during the second watch, a party of 3 hill giants and 10 ogres happened to stumble over the party's camp. These ruffians had 15 human slaves with them. The party members on watch heard the racket these guys were making when they were still almost 100 yards away. The watchmen demanded that the intruders identify themselves. In response, the hill giants called the party "slaves" and demanded their surrender. The repartee went downhill from there. After exchanging a few final insults, the hill giants and 8 ogres charged. The others stayed behind to guard the slaves.

Considering that hill giants have 8 hit dice and that ogres are no slouches either, the battle didn't last very long. Edenowen the Druid cast Entangle early on. That took 3 ogres out of the fight almost immediately. Eirik and Toran Malem, the big fighter and the ranger respectively, made quick work of the hill giants, with both men getting showered with hill giant guts at least once. As a ranger, Toran was especially in his element slaughtering these evil humanoids. Peyton the Cleric, Theodric the Magic-User, and Zhuo Xuan the Monk also more than held their own. It was all over in about 5 rounds.

The party then turned to the ogres guarding the slaves. They dispatched them with ease and released the prisoners. The next morning, after everyone had rested and eaten, the party members began to interview the former slaves. They all hailed from various small towns in the Dalelands. The ogres and hill giants had seized them in slaving raids on their villages a few weeks before. Their captors told the humans only that they were being taken to a camp deep within the desert to work as slaves. In addition to this intelligence, the party also recovered a crude map of Anauroch from the ogres. The map showed a huge canyon stretching east-to-west across the desert. In the middle of it was the slaver's destination--apparently a city. As luck would have it, this appeared to be more or less where the party was headed. Now they knew they were on the right track.

After the party members finished interviewing the slaves, everyone quickly realized that they faced a dilemma. The 3 ogres that Edenowen had entangled were still alive. Killing these captured prisoners in cold blood or leaving them tied up to die in the desert from exposure was out of the question for a party of Good and Neutral characters. Letting the ogres go was likewise unpalatable. They were real bastards after all, and they might warn the wrong people of the party's whereabouts if allowed to escape. What were our heroes to do?

Peyton came up with a brilliant answer. As a cleric of Tyr, the god of justice, Peyton suggested that the party put the 3 ogres on trial. The former slaves could testify about what they experienced under oath, and the ogres would have the right to hear them and face their accusers. Toran invoked the Rule so that the testifying slaves could not hear each others' testimony. The ogres may have even been offered the right to cross-examine the witnesses. (I can't recall.) It was all very well-done. Yet, despite the sterling due process and concern for the rights of the accused, the verdict was never in doubt. The ogres were as guilty as sin of, among other things, murder, kidnapping, assault, and at least a hundred other crimes. They were all convicted and a punishment of death was immediately imposed and meted out.

After thus serving the cause of justice, the party provided the former slaves with plenty of food, water, a map, and even some of the party members' own gold and then sped the humans on their way back home. (One of the humans was a woodsman who knew the way out of the desert.) I thought the whole incident was so well played that I gave every party member 2 hero points as a reward.

The party had two more encounters after the incident with the ogres and hill giants. The first occurred a few days later. The party happened upon a band of 12 Thri-Kreen--strange desert-dwelling creatures that are sometimes referred to as "mantis warriors". Neither the Thri-Kreen nor the party were surprised. They eyed each other warily, but neither side attacked. Eventually, the party managed to get away from the Thri-Kreen without incident.

Following another two weeks of hard riding, the party finally spotted the great east-west canyon on the slavers' map. According to the map, their destination appeared to be a city located along the canyon's southern rim. Since the city apparently faced south, the party decided to approach it from the west-northwest by following the canyon. After skirting the south rim for a couple of days, the party was spotted by a mounted patrol consisting of 6 humans and 5 dogs. Although 5 of the humans were 1st-level fighters and their leader was 3rd level, the party took these guys out with ease. Theodric then cast Charm Person on the lone survivor. He sang like a canary. He explained that the patrol had come from the city, which was right where the party thought it was. The city itself sported a large contingent of soldiers (i.e., 100+) just like him and even more slaves. The slaves were being used in massive excavation projects all over the city. He didn't know what they were looking for. And, finally, he revealed that Jacob was the commander of the whole expedition.

With that, the survivor's "interview" ended, and the group called it a night. The party resolved to enter the city in the next session and find out exactly what Jacob was doing there.