Characters:
- Ilai (Druid)
- Fae’ael (Ranger)
- Raoul (Rogue)
- Belrith (Cleric)
As Fae’ael and Ilai are telling Belrith about their planned trek into the Bronze Forest through the portal under Paldenro, they are greeted by a slightly wet Shadar-kai by the name of Raoul. He washed upon shore near Teslan’s keep and was escorted here. After some chatting, the party learns he is extremely humble but that his full title is “Marquis Raoul de Chantilly, Lord of the Twilight Court, Admiral of the Sea Wolves, Captain of the Dire Tide, Thane of Chagney, Count Consort de Rennes, Sentinel of Shadows, Confident of the Raven Queen.”
The party is impressed, but latches onto the fact that he is both an admiral and a captain. They decide to begin construction on a keelboat to further explore the ocean before they head out on their adventure. After making a stop at the fountain of temporary hit-points, the adventurers travel by Ilai air – where the eladrian summons a pair of giant eagles before casting longstrider on them. This enables the party to cross 20 miles in a single hour, arriving at Paldenro in the middle of the day, with only a short stop along the way.
Once in Paldenro, Ilai and Fae’ael show Raoul and Belrith the portal to the Bronze Forest. Wanting to know which way to explore once in the forest, they discuss what question Belrith should ask of Lady Luck with divination. They eventually decide on asking where the Bronze Forest is located in reference to three possibilities Ilai had postulated based on Fae’ael’s map. Belrith sets up an elaborate shell game as part of his ritual, which Fae’ael plays. At the conclusion of the game, Lady Luck reveals that the Bronze Forest is in the north east.
Before heading out, the party decide to rest, hoping to restore the spells Ilai spent to get them here. As Belrith falls asleep, the three elves watch him, trying to figure out how sleep works and what the strange noises Belrith are making are (they are snores.) Meanwhile Belrith has a nightmare about an air elemental chasing him in a casino and stealing his wealth. Ilai casts tremorsense on Fae’ael for her watch, enabling her to hear the approach of a giant spider.
As the spider approaches, Ilai wild shapes into a spider and tries to intimidate the beast to get it to stand down, unfortunately it is too hungry and attacks. The party is able to bring it down easily within one round, with only slight damage to all of them. Belrith heals them up and they are able to finish their sleep, getting a short rest instead of a long one.
In the morning, they go through the portal with Fae’ael leading them into the forest, they find tracks of six bugbears hunting along a game trail, going southwest, sometime within the last day. Not wanting to bump into possible enemies, Fae’ael attempts to lead the group around the tracks, but accidently leads them north- eastward instead of westward. Ilai finds more, older bugbear tracks and the party decides to rest for the night.
In the middle of the night they are surprised by a group of five bugbears, sneaking up on the party and avoiding Fae’ael’s watch they attack, getting off twelve attacks before the group has a chance to act, knocking Raoul unconscious and blinding Fae’ael. The party recovers somewhat with Fae’ael casting Aid and Ilai casting Haste on Fae’ael. Although Raoul is healed, he gets knocked unconscious again and the party is surrounded.
Fighting for their lives over the next few rounds, Raoul manages to escape to a ranged position while Ilai climbs a tree to endeavour to avoid attacks and keep up haste. A hasted Fae’ael is able to bring down a couple of the bugbears, but not before Belrith – who has been concentrating on healing the rest of the party – is knocked unconscious, and then swiftly killed before any of the other heroes can act. Their revenge is swift as they easily deal with the remaining bugbears and rush to Belrith’s body. Fae’ael pulls out a spell scroll of revivify, handing it to Ilai, who casts the spell while Fae’ael petitions Lady Luck. Belrith is brought back to life, although very injured as Raoul looks on slightly traumatized.
The party heal up, before trying to rest for the evening, Fae’ael and Ilai taking a watch together. They discuss the fight, complimenting each-other’s tactics and wondering if there was anything they could have done differently to prevent Belrith’s death. As the night turns sombre, Fae’ael spends time re-braiding Ilai’s hair, before the two share a hug, and let Raoul take the next watch.
The next day the party decide to explore a little more, wanting to know what are other possible dangers around the immediate vicinity of the portal. They get a little lost, but manage to find a tower where the bugbears seemed to have taken residence, only a hex away from the portal. Deciding not to deal with this threat, they spend time exploring around, getting slightly lost, before returning to the portal another two days later. They move a large boulder in front of the portal to hide its nature somewhat, before returning home. With a long-rest a Paldenro, Ilai is able to summon the giant eagles again and the group fly Ilai Air back to Sophia’s Rest. On the way back, Fae’ael tries to lighten the mood, learning a little about Raoul’s history (many of his titles are hereditary, one is from a marriage), and trying to engage Belrith in conversation, but the cleric is unusually quiet and reserved. Flying the eagles back, they arrive safely with new knowledge and a greater respect for the dangers of the Bronze Forest.
