LFG: Birthday Bash

Game Date: 9/28/2013
Location: The Game Keep
Campaign: Looking For A Group, Session 13
System: D&D Next / 5e Playtest
DM: Rusty

The Party:
Baer "Halfbeard" (Cliff) - Dwarf Fighter
Barad Stronghollow (Jeremy) - Dwarf Paladin
Demethius the Holder of Actions (James) - Human Cleric
Doran of Clan Hawk (Eddie) - Human Barbarian
Jared (Rob) - Elf Druid
Keyleth Siannodel (Matt) - Elf Druid
Steif Tartaus (Thomas) - Human Monk
Woil Xurcaine (Daniel) - Gnome Wizard
Zuul the Punching Bag (Graham) - Half-Orc Paladin

The Session:
Last session we killed a gaggle of pirates, and sent a bunch more running.  After freeing the villagers they'd captured, we worried that the fleeing galleon might attack our own ship.  We spent a fair amount of time debating on whether to use the remaining canoes to return to our ship, or trek through the forest, or even split the party and do both.  We picked the forest, with Zuul staying behind to protect the villagers until our return.  It turned out we were worried for nothing, as our ship's captain hadn't even seen the pirates.

Taking The Long Way

We sailed back to the village of Tanaroa, and returned the former captives back to their people.  Chieftess Mira made us honorary members of the island tribes, and asked a special favor of Keyleth.  As part of her induction into Clan Hawk, she asked Keyleth to marry Mira's cousin Doran.  Keyleth asked for some time to think about it.  In the meantime, Doran has joined the party, so he and Keyleth can get to know each other better.

The rest of the party each got to pick their clan:  Hawk, Elk, Tiger, or Turtle.  Between all our party members, we have all four clans covered.  We spent a week in the village, after which the islanders gave us some rations, took us as far as they could, and wished us luck.  Thus began the first of what will probably be several sessions, exploring the jungles of this island in search of an artifact.  We have planned a circuitous route around the island, starting at the outer areas and spiraling inward, in order to cover the ground most thoroughly.

Sleeping Near The Enemy

After a day or two we encountered a pair of dinosaurs with club-like tails.  We approached them cautiously, but they didn't attack so neither did we.  The following day we were camping when a dozen Bugbears tried to sneak up on us.  Luckily Zuul and Demethius were keeping careful watch, and spotted the Bugbears before they could kill us in our sleep.  Zuul attempted to intimidate them before the attack, but he just wasn't scary enough.  He got surrounded right off, taking a beating while the rest of us woke up and got to our feet.  Still, it wasn't that bad a fight.  We got a few bruises and used several healing spells, but the Bugbears didn't last too many rounds.

This Cake Is Not A Lie

After that we spent a couple of more days trekking through the jungle.  One day we were walking along when seven huge spiders came at us.  To be honest, I don't remember much about this battle because that's when the surprise party started.  My wife suddenly showed up in the Game Keep's back room with several of my friends, bearing a cake to celebrate my 40th birthday.  My character used her favorite flame spell on the spiders, and the other players were kind enough to roll my dice when I couldn't pay attention.  But from what I can tell, we defeated the spiders pretty quickly.  After that, we took an extended rest and called it a day.