Slain by Elf

I, Dinike the Bard, follow the adventuring party to a small town on a river trading route, and hang around with them in town. I play a rather enchanting tune in the market square and manage to rustle up enough gold to stay in the fancy inn for the night, and have a slap-up meal as well. Perhaps by coincidence the others also stay in that inn. We all overhear about troubles with people disappearing in the area and merchant boats being looted, so we decide to go to the town council in the morning. On meeting the council, my quick tongue makes amends for the Mage's whining about the apparently low reward for our services, and I also manage to sweet-talk the members of the council in to offering a greater reward should we return the cargo of supplies that has been stolen. I think it is at that moment I am truly accepted in to the group.

We head off northwards to investigate the strange occurrences further. After passing and burying a couple of dead bodies just off the beaten track, we hear some guttural grunts ahead. Using my magic to understand them, I overhear a conversation some Ogres are having about a successful raid. We are close enough to see six of them sitting around a fire with a deer roasting on a spit above it. We decide to engage them. As we are working out our strategy, Grot, the Fighter, turns to me and says that he is happy to have found the Displacer Cloak, which should make him harder to hit in battle, and that he looks forward to using it.

With little further ado, our plans are put in to effect. Grot charges in to being the fray, jumping as he charges for an almighty attack. The Mage casts a powerful Lightning Bolt that hits three of the Ogres. Our Ninja almost disappears in to the background and creeps up on the Ogres, and the Archer lets loose a volley of arrows that strike home. Whilst the Ogres are still working out what just happened, more arrows and hits come flying at them, and their numbers are reduced.

It's not long before they regain their wits, such as an Ogre wit is. With their long reach Grot finds himself gaining the attention of two of them, including the leader, and is hit quite hard in the next few moments. He finds himself with two Ogres hitting him from a distance, and little chance of fighting back against both effectively, and feeling a little worse for wear. Showing some tactical wisdom, he makes a short withdrawal, back to where he can be healed and supported by the Cleric and Archer. A summoned Celestial Bison courtesy of the Mage blocks the path of the two Ogres so they cannot make a retaliatory charge in to us. As this great beast is chopped down in a few seconds it seems like Grot made the sensible choice in retreating momentarily.

With combined resources, the remaining Ogres are killed and no one is left in peril. After the battle, I ask Grot, 'How did the Displacer Cloak work out for you? Did it protect you as much as you hoped?'

'Oh yeah, the Displacer Cloak. I knew I had to remember something.'

I think I need to sing a Bardic tune of Remembrance next time.

This entry was posted on 5th January 2006 at 10.54 pm and is filed under Dungeons & Dragons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.