Lost Colonies Session 20

This session is a tale of caution for those who travel through the wilderness without a detailed map or with little regard to making one themselves. On their journey out to the "funhouse" dungeon, one of their henchman was a ranger — thus, the chances of getting lost were reduced significantly. He died. With him, the journey out to the dungeon was a three day trek through the desert. Without him and a map, the journey back has turned into a ten-day odyssey through the wilds that has yet to end. Fortunately, they did pack a sizable amount of rations and the clerics each use a spell slot for Create Water so starvation and dehydration have not been an issue. As a result, they have made it out of the desert, but the session ended as they came across the bank of a very wide river in the middle of a jungle. Here are some of the highlights of the evening:

• Hamlen has befriended a female dire wolf that was pregnant. She gave birth to three healthy pups. Dn. Goram has been using a Speak Animal spell on a daily basis throughout the ordeal to make sure everything goes smoothly and the pups stay healthy and the dire wolf stays happy.
• In another example of successfully using Speak Animal, the party lured a wild camel into their caravan with promises of food and water. Thus far, the camel seems quite happy to follow them around.
• They also used the spell to find out the identity of a pack of wild dogs from the dire wolf. After disdainfully calling them "small ones," the party asked if she could frighten them off. The pack failed their moral check after hearing the dire wolf claim her territory and the party avoided a midnight combat.
• Another spell the party used extensively during the evening was Augur. As much of a "game breaker" as this can be, I really enjoyed the party using it. I twisted their words as much as I was able and they often cast the spell twice in order to check the accuracy of the first spell. More than once, the dice produced two different answers...
• They were lured into a trap by a lammia — convinced by an Augur spell that treasure was there. That treasure turned out to be an immobile Rosetta stone in the form of an obelisk. It was a declaration of independence by various ancient peoples from their "overlords." The one language that the party was most interested in was one they had encountered on and around the various Masked nemeses they've been periodically running into.
• The party also found a tower surrounded by a seemingly impenetrable force field.
• We left off as the party was preparing to negotiate with the giant spiders that occupied the bank of the river that lay ahead of them.

For me, the most rewarding moment of the evening (for the map lover in me) was when the party collectively decided that they needed to have a detailed map of the area if they were to explore like this again. Thus, next session I get to dust off the old pad of hex paper...