OAWYM: A Bridge Too Far

Game Date: 7/30/2016
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: OAWYM, Session 5
System: D&D 5e
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Byzun (Gary) - Human Sorcerer
Malcer (Graham) - Human Warlock
Marcella (Lanessa) - Human Bard
Tamir (Other Matt) - Human Fighter Archer
Thokk (Daniel) - Half-Orc Barbarian
Val Ravensword (Matt) - Half-Orc Paladin

The Session:
Having just finished clearing out a bullywug cave, we untied their Halfling captive and asked him some questions.  He was a member of the nomadic "Reedfoot" clan, and we escorted him back to his people.  We stayed with them overnight, and returned to Tor's Hold.  There, our questgivers thanked us for stopping the bullywugs, and told us they'd meet us in Albridge later so they could help fight the Iron Circle.  Then they gave us some supplies to deliver to the Druid near Albridge.

When we reached the Druid's circle, she warned us that the Iron Circle had been looking for us.  She told us to head back to town and meet with the leader of the resistance.  We disguised ourselves as Iron Circle brigands and headed into Albridge. The resistance leader berated us for our silly disguises, and told us of a supply wagon the Iron Circle was going to send out the next day.  We decided to head out first and ambush the cart.

We headed a few miles East, passing several farms, and hid in a stonehenge-like sundail.  When the wagon finally arrived, we rolled badly on our stealth checks, and failed to get the drop on them.  It was a long fight, made worse by our efforts not to harm the cart.  We faced seven Iron Circle fighters (Brigands and Cutthroats), led by a spellcasting Dark Adept.  They also had a clockwork hound with them called an "Iron Defender".

The Defender ran out ahead of the wagon and engaged Val and Byzun in melee.  Then the Dark Adept conjured a spiritual weapon to annoy Val.  These two were the biggest problem.  The Defender was difficult to hit, and the Dark Adept kept healing his allies.  Tamir climbed on top of the sundail for a better sniping angle.  Malcer hit two of the fighters with Burning Hands, and Byzon hit three with Shatter.

At one point the baddies started moving the wagon again, so Thokk threw a javelin at one of the wheels.  It got caught in the spokes, breaking them and popping off the wheel.  Malcer jumped into the cart to engage the Dark Adept.  The Adept cast bless on some of his allies, raising their attack rolls.  When we were down to six enemies, Thokk got hit and succumbed to his cursed axe's Berserker rage.  He spent a few rounds mindlessly attacking anyone nearby, so we wisely kept our distance.

We were down to three enemies - including the Adept - when they started to retreat.  We kept attacking them from a distance.  Tamir finished off one Brigand, and Marcella stopped the Adept with a Sleep spell.  Unfortunately, one enemy (a Cutthroat) got away.  We calmed Thokk and tied up the Adept.  The Adept had a key to a lockbox in the cart, which we opened.  We interrogated the Dark Adept, and decided what to do next.

The wagon wheel was broken beyond repair.  Marcella took a horse to one of the nearby farmhouses, and bought a wheel from them.  We fixed the wagon and headed back to town.  On the way we had to cross a well-guarded bridge.  Malcer tried to disguise himself to fool them, but rolled a 1 on his deception check.  FIGHT!

We faced a combination of enemies similar to that of the previous battle.  Val's companion Dene blessed three party members right at the start.  Tamir, who had been driving the cart, moved it sideways so we would have cover.  Byzon used Thunderwave on two enemies, pushing both of them right off the bridge.  Then he used Shatter to hurt three more.  Thokk went berserk again, surrounded by enemies, while most of us were safe on the other side of the cart.

Thokk took a lot of damage, and Marcella did her best to keep him healed from a distance.  Tamir finished off another Dark Adept, and Thokk killed another Iron Defender.  Things were looking pretty good, but then Thokk went down, and more enemies started running up from farther down the bridge.  We had to end the session mid-battle, so we'll cross that bridge later.

This is how things left off:
Thokk is down, Marcella is adjacent to him, healing him.  There is a swarm of nine enemies near the pair, the closest one being seven squares away from Thokk.  Malcer and Tamir are in the wagon, Val is next to the horse, and Byzun is behind the cart.  Val, Thokk, and Malcer are blessed. 

We are considering grabbing Thokk and running.  Thokk should be calmed when he wakes up.  Here is a picture of how we left off: