The Battle of Nightstone
The Confrontation
We crossed the moat to confront Kella's bandits on the town side of Nightstone. Whatever diplomacy might have been possible evaporated quickly - steel was drawn and the fight began.
Then the horns sounded.
The Orc Raid
Mid-battle, an orc war band descended on Nightstone. The war chief blew his horn, rallying his troops as they crashed into the fight. Suddenly the bandits weren't our only problem - they weren't even our biggest problem.
In a twist of battlefield logic, everyone turned to face the greater threat. Orcs don't negotiate.
The Fight
Barzer took to the air, raining fire from 45 feet up. Fire Bolt and Magic Missile tore into the orc war chief while he tried to coordinate from the back lines.
Kaltor charged into the thick of it, trading blows with multiple orcs. He held the line until he couldn't anymore.
Theren took position on a boulder for the high ground advantage, picking targets with his longbow and Hunter's Mark. An orc spear found him - 21 points of damage when he only had 16 left. He went down hard.
Elaris kept her head when others were losing theirs. Her Healing Word brought Theren back to consciousness just as he was fading.
Kaltor went down too - overwhelmed by orc fury. But the party rallied.
Selena and Elaris worked overtime on healing, pulling our frontliners back from the brink.
Nysera controlled the battlefield, making every spell count.
The Aftermath
One by one, the orcs fell. The moment the last orc dropped, Selena wasted no time - she turned and immediately engaged the bandits, landing a strong hit on the bandit leader before they could even react.
What followed was chaos. Elaris found herself surrounded by bandits closing in. But before they could capitalize, Theren made his move - he leapt off the boulder, sprinted toward the bandit leader, marked him with Hunter's Mark, and unleashed a flurry of short sword strikes with two-weapon fighting. Both blades found their mark, leaving the bandit leader bloodied and reeling.
Then Elaris stepped up with a nat 20, delivering a devastating critical hit that ended any hope the bandits had of regrouping. After that, it was over quickly.
We're bruised. We're bloodied. But we're standing.
Kaltor and Theren both tasted death today - and spat it back out thanks to the healers. That's twice in one fight our front line nearly collapsed.
The Snake Got Away
As the dust settled, movement caught our eyes - Kella's flying snake was fleeing the battlefield. Barzer hurled a Fire Bolt after it, but the spell went wide. The snake disappeared into the distance.
Someone is going to know what happened here. The question is: who, and what will they do about it?
The Spoils
The battlefield yielded:
Treasure
- Ring of Jumping (uncommon) - to be claimed
- Gold ring worth 25 gp
- 4 platinum pieces
- 5 gemstones worth 100 gp each (500 gp total)
- 491 gold pieces
Weapons (Common)
An abundance of orcish and bandit arms:
- Spears
- Javelins
- Shields
- Scimitars
- Short swords
- Short crossbows
- Great swords
- Greataxes
Loot distribution to be handled before next session.
Questions Remaining
- Who was the orc war chief? Why did they attack Nightstone now?
- Did the bandits know the orcs were coming?
- Is this connected to whatever Kella was reporting to her contacts?
- What was worth infiltrating a ruined town for?
Next Session
- Divide the loot
- Investigate the orc attack
- Search for any surviving bandits who might have intel
- Figure out what's really going on in Nightstone