Chapter 4.2: The Dim Journey to Orlane

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May 2, 2026 4:20 pm
Sora bites her lower lip, visibly torn. She wants to keep her advantage and attack now, but that would hinder Dell's shot. She elects to wait until the archer has taken his shot before revealing herself.
OOC:
Delaying until after Dell fires, then jump out and kick Abe. Free attack to follow up with a punch.

Rolls

Martial Arts to hit - (1d20+4)

(19) + 4 = 23

Martial Arts damage - (1d4+2bludgeoning)

(1) + 2 = 3

Martial Arts to hit (free action) - (1d20+4)

(9) + 4 = 13

Martial Arts damage (free action) - (1d4+2bludgeoning)

(2) + 2 = 4

May 3, 2026 3:37 am
WhtKnt says:
Sora ... wants to keep her advantage and attack now, but that would hinder Dell's shot. She elects to wait until the archer has taken his shot before revealing herself.
OOC:
Do you still want this to be Sora's round one when I remind you that there is no delaying your turn in 5e, only Readying a single action?


May 3, 2026 9:49 pm
OOC:
Okay, I think I get it, sorry for the confusion. I played very little 5e. It's not my favorite system, but I was drawn to the nostalgia of this module.
Sora will go ahead and use her action to spring out of hiding and close with Abe, and attack with her attack action and bonus action.
May 4, 2026 6:20 pm
WhtKnt says:
Sora will go ahead and use her action to spring out of hiding and close with Abe, and attack with her attack action and bonus action.
OOC:
Not a 5e expert either, but I think you can only ready a single action. So if Sora readied an action to attack when Dell shot at a bandit, she could only take one action: move (dash action), attack (from where she is) or some other single action. She could not move, use an action to attack, and then use a bonus action to attack using monk features. So you basically have to choose which single action you want her to take this round: move, throw something as a ranged attack, or take some other action.
May 4, 2026 10:39 pm
She isn't going to ready an action, she is going ahead and jumping in.
May 6, 2026 5:50 am
Round one, continued...

Grallaria drops down from Amnestria's shoulder, cutting off any line of sight from the bandits as she drops below the window sill.

Sora runs out from her hiding place in the barn, speeding across the farmyard to jump and kick Abe.
Abe takes 3 bludgeoning damage!
Sora follows up with a series of punches and slaps.
Abe takes 4 bludgeoning damage!

Amnestria ducks down at the window, following Grallaria. She's significantly larger than the bird, so the top of her head is still visible over the sill. Amnestria draws a tiny glyph in the air with her wand to refresh her illusion of an empty window. She hopes that helps to keep them both concealed.

Two more bandits, Chel and Dhit, enter the farmyard from the path.
"Who is that??"
"She's attacking Abe!"
"Jilted lover?"
"Doesn't matter, she's beating the hell out of him!"

Chel and Dhit run across the yard to end adjacent to Sora and Abe just outside the farmhouse door.

20 - Bandits Abe (-7) and Bem
19 - Grallaria (1/1)
17 - Sora (8/12)
17 - Amnestria (9/9)
17 - Bandits Chel and Dhit
14 - Dell (9/9)
11 - Bandit
10 - Bandit
6 - Berthold (9/11)
6 - Kazzak (12/12)
3 - Antonius (10/10)
0 - Reynald (4/4), Guilbert (4/4), Olyena (1/4)

Rolls

Secret Roll

May 6, 2026 5:52 am
OOC:
There are now four bandits in the yard with Sora (though only three are adjacent to her). @mathias0077, post Dell's turn.
@CancerMan - you posted Amnestria's hide action before Sora ran out, but since Amnestria's turn comes after, the wizard can choose something different for her action and I'll update the post if you do.
May 6, 2026 9:46 am
Dell seeing the others dun into the fray will steady himself. Nock his arrow, inhale with the draw and aim at Chel exhale and loose. Perfect shot the should buy Sora sometime until the others spring out of the house. After firing Dell will make note of where the other bandits are then duck back into cover.
OOC:
I figured I would target a new comer since Abe already had his turn and our tanks were getting ready to come out of the house and attack.
Last edited May 6, 2026 8:34 pm

Rolls

to hit, damage - (1d20+5, 1d6+3piercing)

1d20+5 : (12) + 5 = 17

1d6+3piercing : (2) + 3 = 5

Sneak attack - (1d6)

(6) = 6

May 6, 2026 3:58 pm
As her owl descends into hiding, Amnestria draws a tiny glyph in the air with her wand to refresh her illusion of an empty window. She hopes that helps to keep them both concealed.
OOC:
I'll just amend my action to keep the Minor Illusion up, since it only requires somatic and material components.
May 7, 2026 4:18 am
Round one, continued...

Dell leans out from his hiding place in the loft with bow drawn. Loosing the arrow at one of the newcomers, he then steps back behind cover.
Chel takes 11 piercing damage with a shout of dismay.

Two more bandits enter the farmyard from the path; let's call them Ene and Fern. Dhit yells: "There's another one in the loft!" Ene and Fern take cover behind the wagon with Bem. They load their crossbows, Readying attacks at the first hero they see.

Two more bandits enter the farmyard; let's call them Gull and Huff; Fern yells "We've got the archer - you check the house!" Gull and Huff duck down for a moment, then nod and head back into the trees.
20 - Bandits Abe (-7) and Bem (half cover)
19 - Grallaria (1/1)
17 - Sora (8/12)
17 - Amnestria (9/9)
17 - Bandits Chel (-11) and Dhit
14 - Dell (9/9)
11 - Bandit Ene (3/4 cover) and Bandit Fern (3/4 cover)
10 - Bandit Gull (in the Forest) and Bandit Huff (in the Forest)
6 - Berthold (9/11)
6 - Kazzak (12/12)
3 - Antonius (10/10)
0 - Reynald (4/4), Guilbert (4/4), Olyena (1/4)

Rolls

Secret Roll

May 7, 2026 5:46 am
OOC:
There are three bandits just outside the farmhouse (Abe, Chel, and Dhit) which can easily be reached in one move by characters by the front door.
There are three bandits taking cover behind the wagon (Bem, Ene, and Fern) which will take one move to reach with melee attacks; otherwise they have cover from ranged attacks.
There are two others (Gull and Huff) moving through the trees somewhere that cannot be seen by any of the PCs currently.
@matmaisan Berthold's turn is next.
@rpgventurer Kazzak's turn is after him.
@Mathfuric Antonius is the last combatant in the round.
Please post their turns now.
May 7, 2026 9:01 am
"Follow me!" the knight urged his companions, as he opened the door and stepped outside of the house, covering as much of his body with his shield as he possibly could. Berthold swiftly scanned the theatre of operations, and realized that the crossbowmen taking cover behind the wagon were to be his target, if only he could get to them. Fully expecting a hail of missile fire, he uttered a prayer to Heironeous Lord of Valor and charge out at his quarry.
OOC:
If there is a path Berthold can follow with his speed of 30 that allows him to avoid opportunity attacks as he reaches one of the three -- and if possible more -- bandits hiding behind the wagon, he'll do that. If there is none, he'll attack the first bandit on his path who would have had the opportunity attack. In that case Berthold's priority is to approach, as much as possible, the group composed of Bem, Ene and Fern. I'll post an attack, though I understand Berthold will be triggering the readied actions, and might bot be able to deliver the attack.

EDIT: Here's hoping that he actually gets to deliver the attack.
Last edited May 7, 2026 9:03 am

Rolls

Berthold (Baronet of Dunsdale): Longsword to hit and damage - (1d20+5, 1d8+3)

1d20+5 : (20) + 5 = 25

1d8+3 : (8) + 3 = 11

Critical roll additionnal damage - (1d8)

(1) = 1

May 7, 2026 8:57 pm
OOC:
Kazzak will go out the door. Like Berthold, Kazzak will attack a bandit behind the wagon if he can reach one this turn. If not, he will attack Chil.
"Zâramu ai-mênu!" Kazzak stomps out the door and attacks the bandit he mentally targeted from the window.
OOC:
I don't think I've rolled a double digit to-hit number in this adventure yet. :-(
Last edited May 7, 2026 8:59 pm

Rolls

Longsword attack (hit/damage) - (1d20+5, 1d8+5)

1d20+5 : (3) + 5 = 8

1d8+5 : (4) + 5 = 9

May 7, 2026 11:49 pm
Antonius grimaces as the carefully laid ambush dissolves into open violence almost instantly, Sora exploding from cover with reckless speed to crash into Abe amid shouts and confusion. "Too soon…" he mutters under his breath, though the moment for subtlety has already passed. He slams his shield into place upon his arm and strides out onto the farmhouse balcony with the heavy certainty of an executioner ascending the scaffold.

Raising one hand skyward, the other spread wide over the battlefield in a sharp, commanding gesture, he cries out in the name of Wee Jas, "The Ruby Bell does not ring in warning — it tolls only when Wee Jas has already claimed the soul." His voice cuts across the farmyard like a funeral bell as dark ruby light coils around his fingers and gathers over Abe and Chel locked in combat below. Then the spell falls.

A deep, resonant knell echoes across the homestead—not heard with the ears alone, but within the bones and marrow. Shadowed chains of crimson and black burst upward from the wooden deck beneath Abe and Chel, winding around their limbs and throats as ghostly ruby sigils blaze across their flesh like seals pressed upon a tomb. The air chills sharply, and for a fleeting instant the two bandits glimpse something terrible reflected in the cleric’s magic: their own graves waiting beneath the judgment of Wee Jas. The tolling reverberates through them with merciless finality, like the sounding of a great temple bell for condemned souls, each note heavy with inevitability and death.

Without breaking stride after releasing the spell, Antonius fluidly draws his warhammer from his belt and descends toward the melee below, boots pounding hard against the wooden steps. Shield raised high, he closes on Abe, Chel, and Dhit to support Sora, planting himself beside her like a mailed bulwark amid the chaos as arrows fly, bandits shout warnings, and the trap erupts fully into battle.
OOC:
Casting Toll the Dead on the two injured Bandits if the other two are running out into the courtyard. Abe and Chel need to roll a WIS DC13 or take below Necrotic damage

Rolls

Antonius Block: Toll the Dead - (1d12)

(7) = 7

May 8, 2026 5:36 am
Round one, completed

"Follow me!" Berthold bursts out of the front door, and crossbows twang as Ene and Fern use their reactions to try and perforate him. Ene's bolt thuds into his shield, but Fern's bolt punches through into his gut.
Berthold takes 5 piercing damage!
Stepping past the scrum of enemies around Sora, Berthold lashes out at the one most blocking the way - Abe - and catches the man in the back of the neck.
Abe takes 12 damage and falls, headless.
Continuing through the space thus vacated, Berthold continues his charge toward the wagon, coming around the side to confront the three crouched there.

"Zâramu ai-mênu!" Kazzak is right behind the baronet, coming around the other side of the wagon, swinging at Bem. The bandit ducks and weaves around the swings. "How many of them ARE there??" Bem wails.

For a moment Antonius is taken with the image of himself looking down from a high vantage point, directing the battle. But then he steps out of the front door and calls the judgment of Wee Jas down on Chel and Dhit, the two nearest bandits. "The Ruby Bell does not ring in warning — it tolls only when Wee Jas has already claimed the soul."
Chel takes 7 necrotic damage and drops dead.
Dhit takes 7 necrotic damage and staggers.

This ends round one.
20 - Bandits Abe (Dead) and Bem (half cover)
19 - Grallaria (1/1)
17 - Sora (8/12)
17 - Amnestria (9/9)
17 - Bandits Chel (Dead) and Dhit (-7)
14 - Dell (9/9)
11 - Bandit Ene (3/4 cover) and Bandit Fern (3/4 cover)
10 - Bandit Gull (in the Forest) and Bandit Huff (in the Forest)
6 - Berthold (4/11)
6 - Kazzak (12/12)
3 - Antonius (10/10)
0 - Reynald (4/4), Guilbert (4/4), Olyena (1/4)

Rolls

Ene crossbow attack on Berthold AC18, piercing damage - (1d20+3, 1d8+1)

1d20+3 : (4) + 3 = 7

1d8+1 : (7) + 1 = 8

Fern crossbow attack on Berthold AC18, piercing damage - (1d20+3, 1d8+1)

1d20+3 : (15) + 3 = 18

1d8+1 : (4) + 1 = 5

Chel WIS save DC13, Dhit WIS save DC13 - (1d20, 1d20)

1d20 : (2) = 2

1d20 : (10) = 10

May 8, 2026 3:30 pm
Round Two
(this is preceded by round one, followed by round three)

Bem whips out his sword and slashes at Kazzak, hoping for a lucky strike. But the dwarf easily blocks the blows with his shield.

Grallaria flies out the open window, momentarily bracing for impact despite knowing that it is an illusion. Flapping into the Dim Forest, she sees that two bandits, Gull and Huff, have made their way east through the trees around past the back of the farmhouse.

Sora spins, turning the spin into a kick that catches Dhit in the chest. The kick lifts him off his feet; he lands flat on his back.
Dhit takes 5 bludgeoning damage and does not get up again.

Peering through the dim image of the closed shutters, Amnestria sees Kazzak and Berthold confronting the three bandits behind the wagon; she intones the arcane syllables and gestures, flinging sand.
Through long study, Amnestria knows exactly where to direct the magical energy so that it doesn't affect her teammates. Despite the adrenalin pumping through her in this life-or-death situation, Ene starts to feel her eyelids droop as the magic washes over her...then abruptly she collapses behind the wagon, fully unconscious.
Ene is asleep.

Dell looses an arrow that skims past the combatants and disappears into the woods. Then he considers whether to leave the loft or not. All but one of the people who'd called him out are already defeated (only Bem remains), and every visible bandit appears engaged; perhaps he could remain where he is? He decides that this is still a good vantage point and resolves to continue attacking from above.

Fern drops her crossbow and yanks out her sword to attack Berthold.
Berthold takes 6 slashing damage and falls, dying, behind the wagon.

Gull and Huff break out of the trees and run for the kitchen door in the back of the house. Guilbert, stationed at the east window, sees them running below and yells so everyone can hear: "There's bandits in the back!" Gull bursts through the door, sword drawn, but there's no one in the kitchen. Huff follows inside the house, disappearing from Guilbert's view.

Critically succeeding his death save, Berthold blacks out for a few moments, then wakes up in severe pain, lying on his back on the ground.
Berthold is not dying, prone but conscious, with 1 HP!

Still clashing swords with the bandit, Kazzak yells "Yaaarr!" hammering blows at Bem. The bandit turns aside the first, second, third strike, but Kazzak whirls his sword in a spiral, finally batting the larger man's blade aside so that he can slash a deep gouge in the bandit's gut.
Bem takes 12 slashing damage!

Confident that Berthold yet lives without his help, Antonius whirls around. "Sora, with me!" he barks, then calls toward the barn, "Dell! Kazzak and Berthold need your bow more than I do!" Stepping back into the house, he starts to call upstairs "Amnestria!" when Huff's Readied crossbow twangs. The bolt thuds into the door jamb past his head. Antonius finishes his shouted encouragement of the wizard as he takes stock of the situation in a glance. "Your magic has already turned this fight—keep pressure on the wagon! Wee Jas favors the disciplined, and today your aim is truer than any blade here!" Huff is standing in the middle of the room (the main room which is the ground floor kitchen/dining area); Gull has Dashed, with just his feet visible at the top of the stairs. As he can't reach Gull with his remaining movement, Antonius crosses the shorter distance to Huff and growls, "You've chosen the wrong door," as he smashes the bandit woman in the shoulder with his warhammer.
Huff takes 8 bludgeoning damage and drops the crossbow.
20 - Bandits Abe (Dead) and Bem (west of the wagon, half cover from ranged, -12)
19 - Grallaria (outside in the trees, 1/1)
17 - Sora (just outside the front door east of the wagon, 8/12)
17 - Amnestria (in the second floor north room, 9/9)
17 - Bandits Chel (Dead) and Dhit (Dead)
14 - Dell (in the barn loft, 9/9)
11 - Bandit Ene (west of the wagon, full cover from ranged, asleep) and Bandit Fern (west of the wagon, 3/4 cover from ranged)
10 - Bandit Gull (on the second floor landing) and Bandit Huff (in the main room of the house, -8)
6 - Berthold (1/11) west of the wagon, Prone
6 - Kazzak (12/12) west of the wagon
3 - Antonius (10/10) in the main room of the house
0 - Reynald (4/4) in the southern room on the 2nd floor, Guilbert (4/4) in the eastern room on the second floor, Olyena (1/4) in the southern room on the 2nd floor

Rolls

Bem sword attack on Kazzak AC18, slashing damage - (1d20+3, 1d6+1)

1d20+3 : (5) + 3 = 8

1d6+1 : (2) + 1 = 3

May 8, 2026 3:34 pm
OOC:
@CancerMan @WhtKnt please post your round two turns now.
@mathias0077 you could also post your turn now; it's unlikely that Dhit's turn will change what you are having Dell do.
May 8, 2026 4:38 pm
Amnestria stands back up as the sounds from below signal that battle has begun. She gives silent instructions to Grallaria, and the owl flits through the illusory window and into the air to locate the remaining bandits. The wizard herself points her wand at the wagon and intones the magical words to envelop the two crossbowmen in a drowsy haze.
OOC:
Grallaria will try to find Gull and Huff and relay their location, as well as their intended destination if its obvious.
Amnestria will cast Sleep on the area behind the wagon, hoping to get Ene and Fern.

Rolls

Grallaria perception - (1d20+3)

(8) + 3 = 11

Amnestria Sleep spell - (5d8)

(67438) = 28

May 8, 2026 4:45 pm
Sora, seeing the headless Abe fall, looks for a new opponent. She will attack the nearest bandit. If she doesn't have to move, she will add in her bonus attack.

Rolls

Martial Arts to hit - (1d20+4)

(17) + 4 = 21

Martial Arts damage - (1d4+2bludgeoning)

(3) + 2 = 5

Martial Arts to hit - (1d20+4)

(5) + 4 = 9

Martial Arts damage - (1d4+2bludgeoning)

(2) + 2 = 4

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