Episode 4: We go looking for the poachers

After getting what information we could out of the last remaining bandit, and then setting him free, we had a brief discussion as to who has which skill sets and we made a proper party order. Meghan, being the druid, is acting as scout ahead of the main party. None of us are trying to be stealthy, mainly because we have a tank with us. That and we're all feeling a bit full of ourselves after offing the bandits.

Meghan easily found the trail through the woods and we took off down it. Paul (the hawk) went ahead to scout, but once he scented an encampment he returned to Meghan and she alerted the party.

About that time the poacher's guard tower occupants called out to us. As Meghan only volunteered to scout, she remained silent but signaled to the party to take over.

That led to much back and forth between us and them. They were demanding we put down our weapons to step forward to negotiate with them. Malek had stepped off to the side and laid in wait for the poacher's reinforcements to arrive. After several moments of back and forth and rapidly deteriorating negotiations with the poachers to let a spokes person of our party to be unarmed and come forward to negotiate, the poacher's reinforcements arrived.

So Malek attacked with color spray, took one of the new arrivals right out (this poacher is stunned and unconscious). This left 2 standing and 1 prone on the ground level and 3 in the tree stand/watch tower. Meghan gave her staff the command to change into a shield just as two of the guards in the watch tower let loose with arrows at Vohn and Meghan but miss.

Top of the round Vohn goes, so he slides around to the side and lets loose with his gun, hits all 3 on the ground. Meghan steps up to one of the ground troops and slices with her scimitar and gets a critical hit. Did 10 points of damage. Thonk steps up and swings at the other ground troop. Fizzledorp then starts up his whirling blade and swings at the same ground troop that Thonk is swinging at, but misses. Thankfully Thonk didn't completely freak out at the whirling blade starting up behind him and swinging around to hit the guy in front of him. And by around, I actually mean between his legs ... Fizzledorp is 3' tall and Thonk is around 6'5. Malek starts shooting arrows at the poachers in the guard tower.

The poachers of course return fire at Malek and a couple of us. The ground troops then decided to swing at Meghan and Thonk. They do connect with Meghan doing some significant damage.

Lutor then steps up and casts a spell that gives Meghan a +1 to a/c and channels some of the damage she takes to him -- basically all damage she takes she only takes half damage, the other half he winds up taking. Not sure how to feel about that one.

Vohn then shifts his position a little to get a better angle on the ground troop in front of Meghan and the one prone, and gets a solid hit in. Meghan also gets a solid hit on that troop but he hasn't gone down yet. Thonk and Fizzledorp get two solid swings in on their poacher they're fighting and do some solid damge, but he doesn't go down yet. Malek keeps shooting at the poachers in the guard tower.

The poachers continue to shoot at us from the guard tower, one hits Meghan for 2 hp, so she takes 1hp and Lutor does too, but the poacher in front of her misses.

Lutor, being the entertaining character he is, then tries to intimidate the poacher in front of Meghan. Successfully it seems.

And that's where lunch ended today.