Session 40 - Zoyana in the wilderness (recap) - The Saga of the Looting Luters

In this session, Zoyana survived her fight with the crocodile…

When the giant crocodile pulled her out of her Cave Bear form, Zoyana realized she was in real danger. The crocodile immediately grabbed hold of her foot and pulled her, in halfling form, into a death roll under water.
- Over and over they turned, sending searing pain up her leg and pummeling the breath from her lungs.
- As she started to black out from asphyxia and pain, she felt her blood meld with the saliva of the crocodile and the crocodile’s blood in the water. She felt a surge of adrenaline and a magical affinity for the beast trying to kill her.
With a strength driven by her dire situation, Zoyana wildshaped into a Giant Crocodile herself, and the fight was on.
- The two struggled under water, biting and lashing and being pulled downstream by the river.
Once past the bridge, Zoyana breached the surface to take a lunging bite out of the croc. And in the process sent her mental message to Aegar.
Zoyana continued her fight with the crocodile as they were swept down river.

Far downriver, Zoyana finally emerged, exhausted and victorious.
- She found a comfortable spot along the bank and curled up to take a short break… and awoke just as the sun started to rise, many hours later and much more rested.
With her experience as a wanderer, she knew that the road would be not-too-far North, so she could get to it, she could wait for a boat or build a makeshift raft to head down river, or she could walk overland.
- Hesitant to return to the water, she made way toward the road, and then paralleled the road to the west, keeping secure in the wilderness.

Coming into the late afternoon of her first day on foot, she stopped and froze as she saw footprints that looked uncannily like bugbear footprints.
- The footprints looked fairly fresh, and she hunkered down to stealthily track the bugbears and find where they might be hiding.
Not far ahead, she followed the footprints to a clearing with a cluster of sleeping mats around a firepit and a half-dozen bugbears milling about the camp.
- And as she came into view, she heard a giant crash off in the distance, well beyond the camp.
The bugbears started excitedly look at each other and started yelling and gesticulating.
- Zoyana caught “We got it!” among their goblin-speech, and gathered that they were celebrating whatever just happened, they think they caused it, and they were stoked
- She saw four or five of them go running off away into the woods to the North West, leaving just one in the camp.

Zoyana started muttering to herself: “What would Aegar do?… What would Aegar do?… What would Aegar do?…”
Zoyana then climbed stealthily into a nearby tree and cast Moonbeam above the lone bugbear.
- It screamed in pain, looked around and started turning in circles, and jumped out of the moonbeam
- It then looked hastily around to try to understand where the light had come from, and started yelling.
Zoyana moved the Moonbeam to follow the bugbear with the glowing light.
- It continued with the screaming and the searching, stepping again out of the light and scampering away
Not far enough. Zoyana moved the Moonbeam to follow the bugbear once again.
- It looked up at the sky, shaking its fist, froze, and just keeled over dead.

Zoyana listened for reinforcements, then quickly searched the camp.
- It looked like the camp of a bugbear clan / raiding group
- Among the pallets, Zoyana collected 3 glittering gems (50gp) in a small pouch, a coinpurse containing 1 gold piece, 9 silver pieces, and 12 copper pieces, a small gold bracelet, and 3 rusty daggers, a half-rotten shield, and a servicable morningstar.
Rather than pick a fight, Zoyana headed North East, planning to skirt closer to the road.
- Aegar would not be happy with me if I did that…"

Not far from the camp, Zoyana heard some hooting and hollering off in the distance, and then saw a partial clearing.
She first decided to skip it. Then started to have second thoughts. “Shit. What would Aegar do? Shit.”
She turned to go investigate. “Shit. Aegar would help that fucking beast. God damned fucking Aegar…”
- She wanted to go see what they caught, and then decide whether to intervene.
- What she saw (Perception 23) was a giant elk in a circle of rocks, and a little tree-man that turned out to be a Wood Woad

As she approached, Zoyana spied 6 bugbears and what was obviously a bugbear chief
Zoyana snuck up (Stealth 20), climbed a tree, and called lightening down over the circle of rocks.
- Lightening crashed down among the bugbears.
After a number of strikes, the bugbears began avoiding the cloud over the trap and actively searching for whoever was casting the spell.
Zoyana could tell that whatever the trap was, it had been sprung, and there were no obvious traps out on the field.
- As soon as she thought she’d been seen, she wildshaped into a Cave Bear and rushed the trap in the center. With a swipe of her claw and her gaping maw, she obliterated the trap holding the tree spirit in.
The wood woad and (after a little finageling of a bear trap holding its leg) giant elk joined the fight.
The fighting was brutal. Zoyana got wrecked, the giant elk got pummeled, and the wood woad nearly died a couple of times. But the wood woad, posessed of anger from the trap and damage to its forest, teleported between the trees and helped Zoyana kill every last bugbear.

As the last bugbear fell, the wood woad raced for the giant elk (which was down to 3 of 42 hp). It called Zoyana over.
- She returned to halfling form, and cast Cure Wounds on the elk healing it greatly.
The Wood Woad thanked Zoyana politely and explained what happened: the bugbears had been ravaging the forest, and had caputred the giant elk in order to trap and kill the Wood Woad.
After some banter, the Wood Woad reached out to the ruby on Zoyana’s necklace and put its hands over the gem and then steps back.
- WW: “What are you searching for?”
- Z: “My family”
- WW: “Where did they go?”
- Z: “I don’t know. They just disappeared in the mist one day.”
- WW: “Well, family is a thing that we all need.”
- As Zoyana started to nod, the Wood Woad pulled a piece of bark off from the center of its chest, and reached out and held it over the ruby. It stepped back and said “The forest thanks you. And I see you have nature in you. If you keep this and let it grow it will give you strength. Some of what I have as thanks.”
- Z: “Thank you”
- Zoyana sensed that the bark it had just passed to her is the spark to help bring a magical enchantment to her ruby.
With a bow, the Wood Woad stepped away, backed into a tree, and disappeared.
Zoyana then looted the bodies, finding a couple morningstars, a plethora of javelins, the chief’s worn armor,

Zoyana made exceptionally good time (Survival 22), and arrived at the Outer City of Baldur’s Gate without additional complications.

3 glittering gems (50gp) in a small pouch
a coinpurse containing 1 gold piece, 9 silver pieces, and 12 copper pieces
a small gold bracelet (25gp)
3 rusty daggers
a half-rotten shield
a serviceable morningstar
Amulet of Health countdown:
- Started on Day 31
- 40 days to completion: done day 71
- Sped up 5 days from help from Wood Woad: done day 66

Session	Task or Accomplishment	Zoyana
40	Bugbear camp	25
40	Bugbear - moonbeam from above	200
40	Fucking up the bugbears	950
40	Communing - Wood Woad’s blessing	250
40	Travel	50
40	Arrival at Baldur’s Gate	100
	Total	1575