The Adventure So Far

Below we have the mighty (or not) exploits of the adventurers in Ardonea.

Beginnings
All six members of the party began this adventure on the Solace, a large junk ship owned by Captain Tulic bound for Priath, the city of opportunities, for their own individual reasons. Fate would bring them together for either the adventure of a lifetime or a fool's journey throughout the land (or perhaps a little of both).

Session 1
The party began on the second day of the Solace's journey east towards Priath, wandering around and feeling out the ship at around 7 pm. Talon moved first, encountering Haalien the first mate who disappeared just as swiftly as he was introduced. Talon was then yelled at by Elysia the crusader for disturbing her sleep, then asked his name without any hint of anger or malice. Afterward the pair adventured up to the deck to find Captain Tulic gazing off into the sea, with Haalien on the wheel of the ship. A brief conversation started, before all involved members moved away to watch time pass on. The cleric Curil moved introductions along further, taking an active role in getting to know his fellow travellers on the ship while Mathis the bard practiced his instrument as if alone, off to one side of the boat. The wizardRiver Phoenix also came to the deck, engaging a simple commoner in a game of magase and trouncing him soundly. In turn however he was barely by the Elysia of all people. Not too long after everyone save Mathis went to sleep, the bard following suit once midnight struck. However a loud rallying cry was heard from the captain at approximately 3 am, causing three of the party to rush up to the deck while the others donned armour.

They found the crew of the Solace being attacked by pirates, facing off against six on the Solace itself and more on the way. River Phoenix immediately ducked back down the stairs, and readied a Color Spray to blind any pursuer. An inquisitive pirate took the bait, and fell straight into the wizard's spell, being knocked unconscious instantly and at the mercy of the party by the bright lights that fired up the staircase in a cone. This split the remaining attackers 3-2, three facing off against the crew and two going to investigate what happened to their comrade. Despite their best efforts, the three magic users could not dispatch the knocked down pirate or his companion who also fell over him, the meagre damage they dealt gave the pirate reinforcements time to respond. The party moved up to the deck, where Sigma shifted into his semi tiger form and began laying into the pirate who tripped while another slashed River Phoenix. Mathis the bard tried his luck with the morningstar, being more of a bother than an actual threat while River retreated behind a guard and summoned a small monstrous spider. However as the other two party members were not providing much threat, a flanking pirate struck River for a mighty blow, heavily wounding him and bringing him to the brink of unconsciousness. River dropped prone and scurried as fast as he could back towards the stairs as pirate crossbowmen had joined the battle, bolts narrowly dodged by Sigma and Mathis. Unfortunately, when taking an attack of opportunity against a passing pirate Mathis somehow managed to get his morningstar ripped from his grip by the legs of his target, the mace being flung from the ship to rest in the depths below. The fight continued downhill for the party until the arrival of Talon, the halfling able to deal death as soon as he strapped on his studded leather armour. Shortly after the remnants of the pirate assault were cleaned up, the crossbowmen on the boats beating a hasty retreat after witnessing the true potential of the party's frontline fighters.

After this, Captain Tulic took Mathis, Sigma and Talon under his employ as guards, with the addition of Curil (after proving himself in a fist-fight against Elysia). River was left out as he was seen dragging his heavily wounded body along the floor after being struck twice. Later Elysia was taken on as a scout by Tulic as she saw a ship far in the distance, at half the pay of her fellow party members. The following night brought shock as a magical alarm was triggered, River Phoenix casting one upon his door. It was the elf woman who he had before smitten with but a glance across the mess hall, the alarm causing her to flee and left River with all the blame. This reaffirmed Tulic's dislike of the wizard, and furthered lessened his chances of employment.

Session 2
With the Solace arriving in Hadelin, River was quick in purchasing health potions should he require immediate healing given his first experience in combat. The rest of the group worked on scooping out the small town, gathering information in bars and around the town. Their efforts found little, only that a there have been disappearances over the last few months in this town and other coastal settlements along with an occasional shady character spotted moving around. As they went to leave the town, a sudden merfolk attack began the party's second combat encounter, the fish people not distinguishing between any of the land dwellers as hostiles.

As his very first action, Talon leapt from the deck of the Solace to strike at one of the merfolk, dealing a severe but not fatal blow as he plunged into the water. Curil's bless and Mathis' inspire allies were cast, augmenting the combat effectiveness of the party as they began (mostly) ranged combat against the attackers. Sigma's eagle however found the reflections in the water particularly offputting, critical failing but not confirming many times as he clawed at the aquatic fighters. Tulic and Haalien readied crossbows, firing many but hitting little as the attack on their boat continued. Talon began to regret his decision to leap in the water and began failing swim checks, rendering him not only unable to act but also flat-footed against his foes. It was the intervention of River that saved him, summoning a shark on the deck of the Solace before swapping it with Talon using Benign Transposition, the marine animal fairing far better at aquatic combat than the 8 strength halfling. To the west Elysia managed to slay an ambitious merman who came onto land, but the arrival of a large monstrous crab and an armoured merman brought a new threat to the party. Curil, Sigma and Talon moved to engage this new foe, the druid arriving first and being quickly (and expectedly) rendered unconscious by the giant crustacean. Talon and Elysia landed solid blows against the beast while being peppered by bolts from the animal's handler, while the eagle continued its string of failures despite the realisation of its full attack. A round later the crab was dead, the swordsage and crusader dealing potent melee damage and the battle ended, the remaining merfolk raiders fleeing from Hadelin.