Session 38 - Attack of the Harpies!

6th August 2022

In-game timeline: DR1489 Eleint 25 - Eleint 25

Our "Heroes" have awoken to find their weapons have once again been taken from them, and, after some searching, have come upon a camp with a rather jovial chap welcoming them and inviting them for breakfast.

They somewhat sensibly decide to go along with the invite, and they join the owner of the voice, who turns out to be a large human with long, flowing hair and a booming, friendly voice. He greets them all and after some discussion it turns out that he, Blue, is the "leader" of the last remaining band of pirates on the Isle. He and his companions had spotted the party the previous night and had luckily spotted the tattoo on TC's arm - hence "only" stealing their weapons.

During breakfast, Blue introduces the group to the rest of the pirate band - at least, the ones that Blue is admitting are around. They are introduced to a dwarf and a half-elf, and a little while later an elderly human and a dragonborn turn up - Mahtis' sister, Ruhin!

Luckily, Mahtis assumed that her sister may be arriving, and so asked Kandi to "message" her as she arrived to pre-warn her that Mahtis was here, and to not show any signs of recognition. Luckily Kandi was up to this task and Ruhin arrived at the camp forewarned and did not show any signs of recognising Mahtis.

As Ruhin and Mahtis went off to have a private chat, under the pretence of gutting the freshly caught fish, Blue explained that the halfling body they found was that of Joy, another pirate who headed out to find a safe path through the dunes. The group shared Joy's map with Blue and explained that she found a safe path through some of the dunes but then came a cropper to skeletons at the end.

Ruhin and Mahtis share stories. Mahtis passes on the bad news about Ruhin's past love, Karakas who met his end at the Fallen Fortress. Ruhin explained about her life with the pirates, and that she would be keen to leave - the Isle and, if possible, the pirates. A plan is discussed. Ruhin would like to rescue the slaves, who she knows live in a quarry to the east. She wonders how Blue would react when he finds out that they are not sent by the pirates as a rescue party. Ruhin wonders if some sort of poison or sleeping draught could be used to incapacitate the pirates at some point. She knows there is a dragonborn herbalist within the slave group - or at least, there used to be - who may be some help in this matter.

Back with the group, our "Heroes" explain that they would like to press on to the Abbey ruins to try to get some loot, as they wouldn't want to return empty handed. Blue wishes them well, but explains that none of his group would want to face the clerics again. He has the (partial) route through the dunes, and knows that the ship (he believes a pirate ship) is coming to collect them in 2 days. They arrange to meet at the Big Rock at midday the following day and head back through the dunes together. Our "Heroes" set off back to the Big Rock.

They head out northwards, ignoring the slaves for now and smelling the scent of loot at the Abbey. The route heads through open plains, so no chance of stealthing or hiding in any way.

After an hour or so of walking, the group hear a commotion ahead. They prepare for battle and turn a corner to see a female form knelt over a seemingly unmoving male dwarven body. The female is flailing her arms above her head in an attempt to fend off apparent attacks from some very large bird-like creatures that have the head and arms of hideous human females.

Carro lets off an arrow towards one of the creatures, drawing their attention and causing the flying creatures to rise up and fly towards the party, screeching as they come.

As they approach, the group fire off some ranged attacks, just as a couple of the creatures start to sing. In contrast to the screeching previously heard, the songs of these creatures are beautiful - entrancing even. The elves seem quite resistant to the beauty of these songs, but TC falls under the spell from the singing of one of the creatures. He can do nothing but walk towards it, but luckily manages to shake off the enchantment before the creature reaches him to attack him.

The creatures soon regret their decision when the party launch their attacks. Carro's sharpshooter enables him to ignore the disadvantage of the long range, and score significant damage when he hits, which he manages to do with unusual frequency. Mahtis and Kandi help out with more sensible damage of their own, and TC, having shaken off the effects of the beautiful song, is getting his own back with some well-aimed Eldritch Blasts. Two of the creatures decide to fly off, gaining cover when they go out of sight behind some nearby hills. One is close enough to Kandi to fly in and make an attack, scoring but a scratch on the bard.

As the two the creatures disappear behind the terrain, the other two are taken down - one by TC as it attacks Kandi and the other dropped by Mahtis as it is trying to fly off with an injured wing. 

With two dead creatures on the ground and two having flown away behind the shallow hills, Carro searches one of the dead creatures and the rest of our group of "Heroes" approach the woman who was being attacked, still kneeling over an apparently dead body…