30 Two Half-Men

Nov 5-19, 861

Foreword
    Party Composition, Party Balance, these things are for the birds. This session featured the Dwarven Rogue-Veteran Tibbs, and the Veteran-Rogue Dwarf Neiroun Merryview getting the better of a 9HD monster.

Session Report
    All week, in between questions on the price of goat-feed in Mayburgh, and how many chickens he could have shipped at once, Neiroun's character had insisted that he knew what this weeks session was going to be about. The party was going to take the Akithian Job. The party was going to march 150 miles North-West into the Tundra, find the Horse-Warrior Steppe-People (Akithians), prepare a report on the size and composition of the Akithian Army, and bring back the head of the Akithian ruler. He even took the cash advance offered on the job as an expression of his commitment.

    So I was not surprised inn the least when the party left Falkirk heading South-East, on the road toward Mayburgh. And none of my session prep was upset because I don't do session prep. In Mayburgh they bought horses, rations, and weapons, and Neiroun hired some soldiers. Neiroun also tried to lure some weapon-smiths and armourers back to Falkirk, but couldn't pony up the cash. After fighting off  some drunken ruffians and spending a night at the sign of the Ten Teacups, they scrounged up a job escorting a shipment of pig-iron back to Falkirk.

    Back in Falkirk and accoutred for a long expedition to the North, the dwarves decided to investigate one of the towers in the Jungle.
    
    As they entered the ruined tower, they saw a centaur-shaped creature opposite them. A voice spoke to Tibbs "You're going to kill those friends of yours for me." Tibbs had been charmed.
    
    Neiroun didn't wait to see what Tibbs would do.
    
    "I want to tackle him. I want to put him on the on the ground and render him unable to fight." Overbearing rules are no big deal, the players know how tall their characters are and how much they weigh. 2 d100 rolls later Tibbs went down hard, KO'd but not in a coma.
    
    Neiroun collected himself, and his torch (he'd dropped it to give Tibbs the old 'Dallas Cowboys Handshake') and he and the hirelings advanced on the creature. A woman from the waist up, and a four-legged beast from the waist down, the monster tried to ensorcell Neiroun "You're going to call off your soldiers." Neiroun did no such thing. The adventurers engaged the creature.
    
    Terrible world-twisting syllables erupted from her lips, and suddenly there were 4 beast-women. Neiroun called for the soldiers to fall back to the tower's entrance. The beast women advanced. The party discovered that the additional creatures were illusions that would disappear if they could be hit. The Light Footman Herenna the Henna-Haired Harridan was toe-to-toe with the monsters. She was hit, lost a point of wisdom, was hit again, lost another point of wisdom, again, again. Herenna fell. Around this time Tibbs woke up, and started firing into the fray (looking to hit the adventurers of course). Neiroun found himself fighting on two fronts, beast woman to the left, fellow dwarf to the right.
    
    The monster called for a truce "You fellows are welcome to the treasure in the tower. Let me go, and there'll be no hard feelings."
    
    The party wasn't interested in any outcome that left the foul beast alive, but the monster was willing to play hard-ball.
    
    "Tibbs, if I'm not alive tomorrow, you will march barefoot and alone across the desert, and will bring me back a dessert from the other side."

    The party decided they were interested in letting the beast-woman go. They collected her treasure and headed back to Falkirk.

Afterword
    I don't know if Tibbs would have been compelled to march into *almost* certain death under the Charm spell. But the beast-lady was desperate, and the players didn't want to take the chance.