The Second Age - Session 3

Sonday 19th Zeptambor, Year 599 (continued)
After having killed the kobolds at the river, the party continued into the forest, following more kobold tracks.

After an hour or so, they were ambushed. Kavaki found himself dangling 20 ft above ground, his foot caught in a snare for almost the entire combat. The kobolds, who were quick on their feet and showed a tendency to focus their "firepower", did cause the party quite a few problems. Especially Velkin got a sound beating, being out for counting twice. But in the end, even the superior tactics and breath weapon of the kobold tribe were no match for our heroes.

After the fight, the party talked a bit about going on, but opted to find a safe spot and huddle up, as several (Velkin) were quite exhausted even though it was still relatively early in the day (mid-afternoon). Kavaki found a place for the party and they settled in.

During diner, the party was surprised. Noone heard anything, but luckily for them, it was merely a lone man called Jeremy, a messenger who had lost his way in the forest and stumbled upon their camp. The party was very suspicious at first, but since Jeremy answered all their questions to their satisfaction, no one could find a good reason why they should turn down his request to share their camp-fire. As it turns out, Jeremy was a fun fellow with a lot of good stories, and with him came a batch of Ebon Coffee, arguably the best coffee of Draegor.

Mansday 20th Zeptambor, Year 599
The next morning, the party and Jeremy parted ways. He was heading for Fallcrest, while they were headed deeper into the forest in search of those pesky kobolds.

And it wouldn't be long before the party found them. A couple of hours later, the heroes stumbled upon what looked like a small kobold camp. 5 tents spread out on a very steep slope up a 60 rock protruding from the ground, on 3 different levels. One of the levels also had what looked like a black obsidian octagon 10' high and 3' wide.

The party started debating what to do, when one of the kobolds started to move towards the place where they were hiding. Without thought, they all crashed through the bushes and "opened fire" on the poor innocent (;)) kobolds. A few kobolds went down, but more kept coming. It certainly looked as if it might be a hard battle. Then, out of the top tent, came a small green dragon, roughly the size of a boar. It hissed and roared, claiming they would all die for interfering with it's plans, then it took wings and flew by the heroes and breathed it's poisonous breath upon them, severely wounding several, turning the battle against the party.

Tokiel slowed down the dragon, while Velkin forced it down to the ground, where Garel-Kai and Paaku could get to it (Kavaki was holding off 3 kobolds up the slopes, far away). Unfortunately, the dragon, despite it sized, proved to be a very dangerous opponent. First Velkin went down from the earlier poison breath, then Paavu also went down to the second breath which also killed Velkin permanently as he was laying within the area. The green dragon then took to the air and flew away. Torkiel tried to stop it by slowing it down, but unfortunately, it just got out of range and sight before dying.

With the dragon gone (and most of the kobolds by now) it was just a matter of time before the last kobolds would be eradicated, or so they thought. Kavaki had been holding out a long time up top, and was very confident. But a few good hits by the last kobold downed him as well, although not more than he was up and about a few moments later.

After searching the camp, where they found 4 magic potions and a pair of gauntlets of ogre power, the unnamed heroes decided to return to Fallcrest and inform the Lord Warden of their findings.

Back in Fallcrest some hours later, the party was rewarded with 200 gp per member present. The Lord Warden said he wouldn't mind if they chose to pursue the of the kobolds (which the party assume exist), but he would be equally happy if they chose to deal with goblins, brigands, the thieves guild running rampant or whatever struck their fancy. After a quick talk, they decided to head up north (after some information gathering) and look for some more kobolds the next morning

Tirsday 21st Zeptambor, Year 599
Before heading out, the heroes decided to swing by the church and get the staff identified. At the temple, they met Dobukan, a deva invoker out on adventure, looking for a party. They agreed that he would identify the staff for free, against joining the party. As it turns out, no one wanted the staff, so it was given to the new guy, since he could. What a nice party of freaks.

After the temple, they swung by the tower of the wizard to see if he was in. He wasn't, but someone else answered his door. He claimed he was the apprentice of the tower and that the mage was out looking for components, but Torkiel called his bluffs (there were several) and pressured him, trying to get the truth out of him. At some point, he got enough and pushed open the door, which revealed that the room was in chaos, it had obviously been searched. A battle followed, and the man proved to be far from an apprentice, but instead a competent illusionist. A quick succession of area spells had the good guys on their heels, but luckily for our friends, Paavu (by miracle) resisted everything and took care of the illusionist, almost singlehandedly. Torkiel and Garel-kai just managed to stop him from killing the bad guy, so it all ended with him being captured and tied up.

The old loot

Gnarled Oak Staff

This gnarled, jagged staff is said to have belonged to an order of monks called the Celestial Dragons. Thousands of years ago, they were champions of the oppressed, traveling out from their vast and numerous monasteries to defend the common people against whatever tyranny was near. According to legends, the staff is said to be infused with the lifeforce of an angel to make it resilient and forever.

Staff
Enhancement: +1 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +1d10 damage
Property: In addition to the normal enhancement bonus, add the staff ’s enhancement bonus (+1) to damage rolls as an item bonus.

Kobold camp loot

Gauntlets of Ogre Power

These oversized red and black plate-armored gloves are embedded with ancient symbols of strength and power.

Item Slot: Hands

Property: Gain a +2 item bonus to Athletics checks, strength ability checks and damage rolls of powers with the weapon keyword.

Power (Daily): Free Action. Use this power when you hit with a melee attack. Add a +10 power bonus to the damage roll.

Potion of Frost Resistance

This potion is clear white, smelling a bit like ash

Potion

Power (Consumable): Minor Action. You gain resist 5 to damage of a specific type until the end of the encounter.

Potion of Healing

This green potion smells like rotten eggs.

Potion

Power (Consumable • Healing): Minor Action. Drink this potion and spend a healing surge. Instead of the hit points you would normally regain, you regain 10 hit points.

The Second Age - History

Draconic Calendar: add 11565

Infernal Calendar: add 578

Elven/Eladrin Calendar: add 3711

Dwarven Calendar: add 6745

Mindflayer Calendar: add 16392

Old Human Calendar: add 1689

Unknown: The World is created by the Primordials. Giants, elementals and other inhabit Draegor and fight over the rule with the most ancient of all, the dragons.

Unknown: Humans, elves (at this point Elves/Eladrin/Drow), dwarves, halflings, orc, goblins, hobgoblins etc are created by the gods and the Primordials

ca. -17000: Most humanoid races are enslaved either by the dragons or by the titans/giants

ca. -16500: After centuries of slavery and warfare between the ruling races, the mindflayers arrive from beyond and conquer almost all. The Giants/Titans retreat to remote places on Draegor.

-16392: Empire of the Mind, also called Nihilath. Empire of the Mind is founded as Mindflayers enslave most of the world, the dragons disappear from the world of men.

-11569: The gods arrive to the world alongside the Dragons. They fight the Empire of the Mind and it's mindflayers who have enslaved the world.

-11565: The war is over and the mindflayers flee to other planes of existance or deep underground.

-7467: The Elven Schism. The elven race is split in three. The "modern" elven race is born, along with the eladrin and the drows. Both Elves and Eladrin stick to worshiping The Eternal, while the Drow throw their lot in with The Shadow.

-7300 (ca): War between the gods and primordials end. The gods win, with some of the Primordials fleeing into the Abyss, changing to Demon Princes.

-7280: The gods leave the world, retreating to their newfounded Astral Dominions. Most Exarchs follow suit.

-6943: Empire of the Sword is founded (hobgoblins), as the hobgoblins are the first to get organized on a big scale. From their great city of Xi Kir, they spread both to the north and south, laying waste to any resistance for years. The only resistance they run into, are the dwarves.

-6745: The Empire of Iron is founded by the Seven Dwarves, as the empire spread, the hobgoblins of Xi Kir are pushed back.

-5329: Xi Kir falls to the dwarven expansion, and Xakiro becomes the new hobgoblin capitol.

-4309: Total collapse of the Empire of Iron, Xi Kir is taken back by the hobgoblins. After centuries of war, the hobgoblins prevail, with the aid of giants, drow and evil dragons. One after one most of the proud ancient dwarven cities fall, and are sacked. The Dwarven Alliance breaks, and those who aren't enslaved are cut of the rest.

-3976: Empire of the Sword collapses, after years of pressure from the remaining dwarves, human rebellions, and increasingly powerful Eladrin armies, striking from the Feywild without warning.

-3711: The Anauli Empire is founded. After the hobgoblin domination for more than 2000 years, the Eladrin move in from the Feywild, and conquer large areas.

-3365: The Anauli Empire ends when King Yedar Moonshadow dies. 12 children are left behind, and each wants to rule the empire. An internal civil war fought primarely in the Feywild leaves the humans, dwarves, elves free reign on the material plane to once again become free. The war is won by the twin sisters Mir'a and Tika Moonshadow, who promptly embark on forging their own empire.

-3278: Realm of the Twin Queens (empire) is founded. The Twins never managed to subdue the amount of land that their father did, nor did they try. Wise from the mistakes of the past, they fought overextension, even though the nobles were screaming for more power, and more land.

-2824: Realm of the Twin Queens ends when Kalok Sunstrife wrestles control of the nobles and topples the twins. Both are beheaded, and Sunstrifes commands the Eladrin armies back to the Feywild.

-2801: The Cendriane Empire is founded when Cendria Nightsky allegedly has Sunstrife assassinated and takes control. Focusing on the north instead, Nightsky conquers vast amounts of land near the subartic limit.

-2252: The Scar of Elemental Chaos appears after a great earthquake.

-2239: After a 26 year draining war, the Eladrin are finally victorious at what latter becomes known as the War of the Scar.

-2235: End of the Cendriane Empire

-1689: Founding of the Auran Empire. More than 15.000 years after it last happened, a dragon rules an empire on Draegor. Aura Goldenclaw rules with a just but very firm hand. His laws are fair, but harsh, and utter loyalty is demanded. One by one, the cities either join him, or are forced to bow before his military superiority. Under the law, all are equal, except of course for slaves. The Auran Empire blossoms, becoming a huge beacon of light in an otherwise dark world.

-876: The Dragonborn Empire of Arkhosia is founded after more than 45 years of internal wars amongst the Dragonborn tribes. First it expands to the south, claiming all the enormous Arkho desert.

-578: The human empire of Bael Turath is forged in the north. Decadent humans worshipping devils run the empire, but power seems not to satisfy them nearly enough.

-424: The Pact is made. The Noble Houses of Bael Turath, mightiest city on Draegor, make a pact with Asmodeus himself. All nobles are corrupted and turned into tieflings.

-234: The two empires clash for the first time, in what later became known as the Battle of the Fields of Blood.

-122: Beginning of the Battle of Razortear, where more than ½ million tieflings and other infernal beings lay siege to the mightiest dragonborn keep.

-111: The Siege of Razortear ends by it's sacking, when the infernal forces of Bael Turath finalize a enormous tunnel 10 years in the making and penetrate the before impregnable fortress.

-106: Fall of Arkhosia. The infernal legions of Bael Turath capture and sack the Dragonborn capitol. The Arkhosian Empire is no more, and many Dragonborn flee further to the south, into the desert.

-103: Explosion of Bael Turath and Sundering of the World, where huge areas of land are buried beneath the seas. A rift in the Feywild lets out fey energies, causing the forests and woods of Draegor to grow at an exponential rate. Whole towns are swallowed by the wilds, and mankind loses touch with each other. Remnants of the two empires remain, although they are a shadow of their former selves. Alexander Zorich becomes Exarch of the Keeper. Without the might of Bael Turath behind them, the tiefling nobles of Qu'orath find themselves with a revolution on their hands.

-100: In a few short years, King Alabar of Nerath expands his country to become an empire.

-97: Six long years of civil war which had atrocities beyond comprehension ends with the Tiefling noble houses resuming control. They do however have lost large holdings, including what becomes the Darkwood Vale, the Principality of Gemor, as well as Freedom, or rather Land of Freedom, as is the full name of the country.

-96: Named after the abundance of Darkwood in the region, Darkwood Vale is founded. Darkwood Vale is a country run by an alliance of city states. Seven Dukes form the ruling council, called the 7 Drakes of Darkwood.

-95: Inspired by the boldness of the newly created Darkwood Vale, the rest of the "liberated" regions of Qu'orath reinforce their independence by becoming countries of their own. The Principality of Gemor becomes a hereditary monarchy, while Freedom because a democracy, ruled by the Senate.

-86: The Kha-Khan of Qu'orath, Ti'Kir Za'lemous reveals he is a high priest of the Shadow, and makes worship of the Shadow the state religion of Qu'orath, forbidding all other gods.

-20: Out of the morning mists from the east, comes a fleet of war from Freedom, coming to free those still living under the infernal iron boot of the tieflings. The war lasted a few months, and Qu'orath lost almost a quarter of it's lands in the south-west. At the end of the year, a cease-fire was negociated, called the Blackstone Treaty.

-16: After 4 years of cease-fire, the oppressed races of Qu'orath realized that this would probably be the best opportunity they would ever get to free themselves. Rallying under the banner of the dragonborn Torax, grand-son of the legendary Mh'oltar Dragonslayer, another revolution was started. Freedom immediately broke the cease-fire and joined forces with the rebels.

-14: After 5 years of grueling war, the rebellion was crushed and the Armies of Freedom had been sent packing back to Freedom. Now, the nobles of Qu'orath didn't simply settle for regaining what they had lost. No, they wanted blood, they wanted revenge, they wanted to show the world that no one attacks Qu'orath without suffering the consequences. So, instead on focusing on strengthening their country, they instead marshaled just about every able man and woman, and went to war. "Normal" countries either have a walking army or send it by ships. At best, they can field a decent cavalry. Qu'orath however, wars in a different way. Many wizards and warlocks traveled east under disguise. Portals were built inside Krurax, the nearest and biggest city in Freedom, and with the rituals strengthened by more than a thousand human sacrifices, the armies of Qu'orath poured through the portals, crushing their surprised enemies quicker than anyone thought possible. After a night of debauchery, Krurax was no more. Every single inhabitant (it had more than 20.000) that hadn't escaped, had either been killed during the combat (or slaughter rather) or executed afterwards. Then the army split up in many small units and rampaged through the countryside for 2 days, destroying, raping, and setting everything they could find to the torch, before turning west and meeting up with the fleet that had been sent to pick it up.

-10: The Fall of the Empire, which starts after the Battle of the Nine Sons, where King Elidyr and his nine sons defeat the White Ruin, an exarch of Yeenoghu who has challenged the might of the Empire, but die none the less. At least the sons die. King Elidyr is last seen when he is pulled into a rift to the Abyss by the White Ruin, never to be seen again. This leaves the Empire with no clear succession, and soon after, it implodes in internal strife.

-2: Rise of the Empire of the Keeper, also called the Ebon Empire. In the wake of the Crash of Nerath, the Theocracy of the Keeper moves in and cements their position as a power to be recognized. Over the years they absorb a good deal of the old empire of Nerath, as well as expand their lands to the south. It is said that Emperor Razdar, aka Bane is the son of the Keeper himself.

0: Year of Arrival

3: Elf and Eladrin conflict blossoms up, and they decide leave Drahar and move back out into the forests.

10: The halflings of Drahar grow restless, and reclaim their ancient ways on the rivers and seas.

11: The dwarves reclaim their independence and move up to the Golden Peaks and found Magyth, the golden mine.

14-17: The Great Exodus. Lots of people leave Drahar following either Blackhand (to Blackkeep)or King Azar (to Laketown).

23: Qu'orath makes contact with the Ebon Empire, or rather, the Ebon Empire makes contact with Qu'orath when a ship with soldiers and clerics of the Keeper arrive on the east coast of Qu'orath. They haven't told them that they have already expanded the Ebon Empire to this continent.

24: Out of nowhere, on a midsummer afternoon, more than 50.000 refugees arrive from Ghalton through the portal. They were some of those that were caught in the blast. Not a day has passed for them.

25: Start of the story of the Swords of Drahar. The Army of the White Ruin is ressurected and invades Aglar and Nerath. Towards the end of the year, the Swords of Drahar enter the Feywild and slay the Troll-King Skalmad, foiling an invasion of Drahar.

26: High Priest Zoran of Kord is assassinated by Rakshasa assassins inside the Church of Kord in Drahar, Trevor is named High Priest of Kord, and the Swords of Drahar battle a lich and a dracolich to stop the magical plague unleashed on Drahar. In Mahrs, the Swords of Drahar make an alliance with Blackkeep and battle the White Ruin army in the Devil's Pass, killing the Aspect of Yeenoghu after hunting him through the mountains. Towards the end of the year, the Swords start working on the ritual that will allow them to enter the mind of Kord and find the Divine Source. By now, they know the gods are false.

27: The Swords head to the Abyss and kidnap the Heart of Grazz't her love. Fleeing back to the mortal world, they are followed by the Aspect of Demogorgon, Orcus and finally Grazz't himself. In an epic battle inside the Church of Kord in Drahar, the Swords manage to fend of the arch demons, locking them up in the Abyss for 101 years. They then head to the Feydark, where they kill the Fomorian King Balor and claim the Evil Eye, an ancient artifact. They then head to the Elemental Chaos, where they complete epic tasks in order to strike a deal with the Sultan of the City of Brass, so that they can complete the ritual. On the 5th Apryyl, the Swords hurry home to Drahar who is under the assault of a demon army. They die a heroic death at home, inside the Church of Kord, assaulted by hundreds of demons. Drahar is sacked, but as history will show, not even death could stop them in their quest.

31: Simon the Humble, scribe of late Trevor of Kord and witness to the death of the Swords of Drahar, chronicles their story.

35: Stories of the true gods start, first amongst survivors of the sacking of Drahar.

158: Actual organized worship of the original gods has now begun, and the Usurper gods start to lose small portions of their power.

501: The Godswar start.

515: The Ancient Compact with the Primal Spirits is broken and the gods once again walk the mortal world with all their powers. The world was sundered. Cities were destroyed, empires fell, mountain ranges were leveled, seas raised and even the weather was affected. Entire kingdoms worth of people were killed, and it looked as if there would be no one left to worship whoever would win the war.

521: The Compact is restored, the Usurper gods are killed and the real gods once again banished to the Astral Sea by the Primal Spirits. But Draegor is a broken world, filled with smoking ruins where there once was might empires and cities. The Auran Empire, gone. The Empire of the Keeper (also known as the Ebon Empire), destroyed. Drahar a shattered ruin, etc, etc.
is an exarch of And a lot of those left behind share an arguably strong distrust of the gods and those that still worship them. After all, they did almost destroy the world. Instead, people have come to worship the primal spirits to a larger degree. The Swords of Drahar are now exarches and saints, standing at the side of the gods (Gnoguh and Saint Carric are exarches of Kord, GorkMoradin, Torn is an exarch of Ioun, Truxas is an exarch of Melora and Tagron is an exarch of Asmodeus). Saint Carric is even attracting quite a following.

599: Current year

Kobold Encounter Loot

I forgot that you found 1 healing potion, 1 potion of clarity and 1 potion of spirit on the kobolds that you found on the river.

Potion of Clarity

This cool cyan liquid smells a bit like roses

Power (Consumable): Minor Action. Once during the next encounter (or 5 minutes) as a free action, you can reroll a d20 roll you just made, gaining a +1 bonus on the reroll. You must use the result of the reroll.

Potion of Spirit

This lavender-scented potion is a dark violet hue

Power (Consumable): Minor Action. You gain a +1 power bonus to death saving throws until the end of the encounter (or the next 5 minutes).

Potion of Healing

This green potion smells like rotten eggs.

Power (Consumable • Healing): Minor Action. Drink this potion and spend a healing surge. Instead of the hit points you would normally regain, you regain 10 hit points.

Full Moon on Draegor

It is a full moon on every 30th, 1st and 2nd day of the month

The Second Age - Session 2

Onsday 15th Zeptambor, Year 599

Having eliminated the bandits, our brave heroes without a name (yet!), sat down and chilled a bit, pondering their next move, while healing up. Velkin took a walk around (not inside) the Castle of Flames, looking for perhaps a cave or something else of interest. He soon came running back, having spotted 4 bandits returning from the hunt with a deer.

Our heroes hid in camp, ready to ambush. When they (the bandits) were close enough, Amul charged in, swinging his fullblade with fury. What at first seemed like a walk-over, turned out to be lethal. A few lucky strikes and both Amul and Garel-kai found themselves unconscious, hovering on death's door. Luckily for them, Tokiel's chose that moment to really get in gear and show the bandits just how powerful a sorcerer's magic is, killing almost all of the remaining
bandits, with the last one fleeing quicker than you do before an angry Red Dragon...

On the bandits the heroes found a treasure map.

After that fun-filled incident, the party decided to not stick around. It might be too dangerous, what if more bandits returned. Velkin and Amul got the idea to disguise their tracks and numbers, and then they all left with the mules and wagons, heading east back to Fallcrest. Or rather, heading east right into the woods, stopping once out of sight to rest, because several were pretty beat up by now, and they had no desire to navigate the big and rather dangerous Silent
Forest at anything less than full strength.

Velkin found them a suitable place to rest and hide, and they crashed for the rest of the day, talking about the treasure map and what it meant. Nothing happened during the night either, and at first light, the heroes continued.

Torsday 16th Zeptambor, Year 599

Most of the next day was uneventful. They traveled east for the whole day, until they were tired. Velkin found them another spot to rest, and after some food, the party crashed for the night, electing to guard-duty in two's.

During the night, they were approached by a Unicorn whose corner of forest they were now in. It wanted to know what they were doing there, but they convinced it that they were merely passing through with some merchant wares, and that they meant no harm to the forest. Rather flabbergasted of having met a real Unicorn, they completely forgot to ask it's name before it was gone.

The next day they continued east, with Velkin on point. Around midday, he suddenly heard some arguing in an unknown language. Stealthing ahead of the others, he found 4 goblins arguing (over something) over the body of a human. An attempt to lure them into a trap failed, and Velkin suddenly found himself running back to the others, with 4 howling goblins on his heals.

The goblins fought in an uncharacteristically disciplined way, using their shields to cover for each other, but little good did that do. Our heroes killed them all the same, although one (Velkin) was down and counting.

After the fight, they continued so quickly they completely forgot to check what the body was.. aah, being a newbie again ;)

Later, towards sunset, as they were approaching civilized lands, they ran into Robin the ranger, who was out hunting goblins and kobolds. They had a little talk with him, but soon moved on, making it to Fallcrest late evening.

Before heading to bed, they went and finished their business with Amara, each getting paid 100 gold pieces for their hard work. They inquired whether she had more work for them, but she said that if they wanted to work, they should talk to the Lord Warden. With the multiple goblin and kobold attacks and with zombies and skeletons running wild in Fallcrest a couple of nights ago, surely the Lord Warden had something they could do.

They decided to get some sleep and headed back to their "rooms" at the Lucky Gnome Taphouse.

Freeday 17th Zeptambor, Year 599
After having only slept a couple of hours, Velkin awoke in the middle of the night to the screams of a woman, coming from outside on the street. He looked out the window and saw a skeleton who had ripped out a rib and was using said rib to bore into the chest of a woman.

Yelling for the others to wake up, Velkin opens a window and tosses some magic at the skeleton. Kavaki jumps out of the bed, graps weapon and shield, and jumps out through the window, pulling with him the window frame. But out he got, and between the two of them, the skeleton soon died. But it was too late to save the woman. The others arrived, and they headed out into town to find out whether there were more instances of undeads slaying defenseless victims. But having to wait for the armor-wearers to put on armor cost some time, and by the time they got to the square, the skeletons and zombies had all been slain. They tried to track the undead, but lost the tracks around the bluffs. They figured the undead had come from the crypts built in the bluff, and returned to bed, as they could not find any more clues.

Lordday 18th Zeptambor, Year 599
Once awake, Velkin and Kavasi headed to visit the wizard in his tower, in order to get identified the new staff of Velkin. But no one was home. After that, the party headed up to see the Lord Warden. He accepted their help, and told them they could either go after kobolds, goblins or handle undead in town. They decided to spend a night laying in ambush near the crypts, in order to perhaps catch a skeleton or two. Or maybe the evil necromancer they think is behind the undead attacks.

Night came, and the heroes hid, waiting for something to happen. Suddenly Velkin spotted some shadowy figures in the middle of a break-in. The thieves (all but one) were attacked and slain inside the house, and as they prepared to turn the last one in, he offered them something better. He told that weird things were happening in the thieves' guild, that a woman called Mistress Adele had taken over the guild, controlling almost everyone with the help of magic. He also told that one of the guild's hideout was in the deserted Moonsong Temple. For this information, he was let go, before the guards arrived.

Sonday 19th Zeptambor, Year 599
The next morning, the heroes packed their bags and headed out, aiming to find the pesky kobolds who had attacked the farms several times within the week. They easily found the tracks and followed them into the forest, to the Jade River. The followed the river and the tracks downstream, where there was a possibility of passage. Part of a bridge was still standing, but in order to get to and from the bridge, there was a lot of jumping from rock to rock. As they were almost over the river, 5 kobolds came out of the woods. They had been hiding, waiting for the right moment. Battle started, and it soon proved to be a precarious situation. Velkin was unable to get from rock to rock without help, so he was stuck out on the bridge, 45 feet from land. The others were trying to get to land, but they were assaulted by gluepots and many other things from the kobolds' slings. Kavasi was seconds from dying for good and Garel-kai was in a rough place as well, but, as often before, the heroes managed to get the upper hand at the end.