Dragon Warriors - Session 2:8

Escape from Glissom (15^th May 2013)

The Dragon Warriors

Aethelfrith – Thane

Sir Erich of Barton – Knight (NPC’d)

Hillson – Warlock (NPC’d)

Nazir al Khalid – Barbarian

Solaran – Elementalist

Karban Telos – Sorcerer

A Quick Getaway (Day 16 (96) – dusk)

The Reavers saw that although they outnumbered their foe, the magical attacks were causing them quite a bit of discomfort. As the mages were situated on the docks, two of the better armed pirates decided to jump to the docks to take out the spell casters to even up the odds a little. Just as the two pirates leapt overboard to the wharf side, the grille above the cargo hold gave way and one of the pirates lost his balance and dropped into the hold. This gave the party on board just the space they required to take on their opponents more easily and it also allowed for Aethelfrith to leave the fray to try to protect the spell casters who were now about to be sorely pressed.

The battle on the boat raged on with Sir Erich, Nazir and Hillson trading blows with the pirates whilst the spell-casters on the dockside just managed to get off a few more deadly spells before battle was joined on the wharf.

The toll of magic and melee began to tell on the pirates still aboard the ship as they began to fall one-by-one to the steel of the brave warriors and the eldritch battering they had taken from the sidelines, but not before they had injured each of the three adventurers on board the ship. Hillson’s magical cures managed to keep Sir Erich alive on more than one occasion.

Meanwhile, the last of the pirates on the ship managed to climb out of the hold and back onto the deck. On the dockside, Aethlefrith, Karban and Solaran combined their attacks to take out the first of the well-armed Reavers.

The last pirate on the ship ran for the side and jumped onto the wharf beside his last remaining comrade. This did him no good as he had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. A combination of magic and steel accounted for him swiftly, but the last standing pirate managed to cut down Karban, knocking him unconscious. Nazir, who had seen the last pirate on ship jump overboard, decided to run down the gang plank and help his companions with their fight at the dockside, and he arrived just in time to strike the killing blow on the last of the Reavers.

Aethelfrith called for Solaran to run to the tavern to collect their crew whilst he whistled overboard to attract the attention of the awaiting pilot.

It took only a few minutes for the pilot to set up his tow ropes and get his crew on-board the cog to guide her out into the harbour, but that was all that was required to drag the bodies of the Reavers on-board and have the crew clamber into the rigging to set the sails for when they breached the harbour walls.

Just as they hit the calm waters of the Bay of Glissom, just outside the confines of the harbour break waters, Aethelfirth looked back and saw about half-a-dozen people had appeared on the dockside and were waving and gesticulating at them. Guessing that they were the Guaires and Reaver representatives who were due to make their escape by sea he chuckled lightly to himself.

A Passage by Sea (Days 16–29)

As soon as the harbour mouth was cleared, and the guide ropes from the pilot had been cast adrift, Solaran used the last of his magical powers to summon a wind from the calm evening air to push the cog out into the bay waters away from pursuit and towards a new destination for adventure.

The following day, the winds picked up and the ship’s going was good, but the third day had the small cog battling high waves coming from directly ahead. Unfortunately all the good distance they had travelled the previous two days was for nought as the captain recognised a landmark to their east and reckoned that although they had sailed a good 40 miles, the storm had pushed them back to within just a few miles of Glissom again.

The next week or so saw the return of the calm weather, and equally calm winds. The Elementalist’s magic allowed them to make good headway when combined with the steady rowing provided by the crew and companions. On the fourth day they passed a merchant vessel that was also heading away from Glissom and on the fifth they passed a Glissom naval vessel heading back to its home port.

On the tenth day, the wind finally began to pick up. They had covered about 100 miles so far by the reckoning of their captain, and the stronger breeze should now start to get them closer to their destination. This proved to be a good wind and they managed to cover another couple of hundred miles according to the landmarks that the captain was able to pick out on their brief forays back to the coast to gather their bearings.

Winged Vengeance (Day 30 - night)

Unfortunately, the start of the second week at sea saw the return of the doldrums, and an encounter at sea with a winged assailant. Just after dusk on the fourteenth day of leaving Glissom, the lookout in the Crow’s Nest, Karban and Nazir spotted what they thought was a flying horse. Karban, whose eyesight seemed to be the best that night spotted that it also sported a rider. Suddenly a great bolt of energy leapt towards the small cog. Nazir, who was directly in its path, just managed to jump out of its way in time and it struck the deck in a huge shower of sparks and energy.

The rider guided his very ugly flying steed to within a few yards of the boat to gloat before flying off. A parting shot from Karban missed the winged assailant as he headed off south to report on the cog’s whereabouts.