Session 4, 2007-08-04: Destruction of a Yuan-ti outpost

Session 4: wherein a messenger gets ninja'd, and an outpost does too

Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine

Lotus found a rat nearby and used Speak with Animals to convince it to walk through the outpost. She then cast Chain of Eyes, and watched the world through the eyes of the rat scout. From this and outside observation, the party guessed there were about half a dozen yuan-ti inside, along with a marruspawn. The party sent word to Mary that they'd located a major outpost. Mary responded to hang tight and wait for help, that Kasvim was en route. The party decided not to attack any of the enemies unless they were clearly leaving the outpost -- those who stepped out to urinate were left alone. When the original messenger left, the party tailed him and killed him a short distance away from the outpost, quickly returning to their observation point.

Soon, a yuan-ti messenger approached the camp from the north. Nathaniel disguised himself as a half-blood yuan-ti and called out "halt!" The messenger seemed confused -- "who are you and what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting anyone." "What kind of crap intel do you guys run out north? You didn't get the memo? Get inside and read over the new security protocols." As the messenger rounded the corner of the rock, his face came into contact with Jakob's stunning fist. Nate successfully cast Hold Person to freeze him. Ike fired an arrow from atop the rocky outcropping and directly through the messenger's head, and thus, he was neutralized in three different ways.

When Kasvim the Silver Dragon arrived (in human guise), Nate used one of the recently acquired scrolls to scan the golem's programming:
1. Remain within thirty feet of the cave mouth.
2. Remain at ease while peaceful Yuan-Ti are present.
3. Destroy all living creatures.
4. Sound the alarm if attacking or being attacked.
Nate immediately took on the persona of Nessun Grisseth, a yuan-ti warrior. The party walked right past the stone golem and into the main room of the outpost. One of the yuan-ti clerics saw the party approached and asked "what's going on here? What is this?" Immediately, Flynn, who was standing invisibly in the entry tunnel, began singing of the demise of the yuan-ti. Jakob and Tara ran at the enemies and started tripping them, while Kasvim took dragon form and bit the marruspawn. Nate, Lotus, and the remaining yuan-ti traded a few spells while Ike steadily cut them down with several arrows. Icy breath from Kasvim killed the marruspawn he held in his mouth and seriously wounded the remaining yuan-ti, who proved to be only a minor challenge.

Nate ran to grab the important-looking papers that sat on a table off to the side, not thinking to check for defenses. A fireball ignited, burning the papers and seriously injuring Nate. A search of the camp revealed an eternal wand of mage hand, which would have proven useful for moving papers onto and off of the table without setting off the fireball. Disappointed with his mistake, Nate brooded as the party headed back toward Waecleft, wondering about the strange vial of black sand they'd found on one of the spies.

As the party headed home, they noticed a dead troll covered in red flowers. Flynn recognized the flowers as dread blossoms, calling out a warning as they began to attack. Lotus lit the flowers on fire while Jakob stomped all over them, quickly subduing the evil flowers. As the party neared the road, a great thunderstorm started up, leading them to seek shelter in a small cave. As the storm was letting up, Lotus heard a group of trolls approaching from on top of the cave. Jakob reached out and pulled one of the trolls down, and Ike and Tara brought it down. Jakob and Tara held their ground against the other three trolls while Flynn sang, Ike fired his bow, and Lotus unleashed the fury of mother nature.

Back at Mary's outpost, Flynn attempted to magically identify the black sand. The identification failed. Nate opened up the container and accidentally inhaled a tiny bit of the sand. The party poured it into a bucket and poured some water on top of it, and found that it fizzed and bubbled and increased in volume. Several speculations as to the nature of the sand were made, but none proved to be as bad as the reality the party would later learn.