Humblewood Recap #7

Humblewood Recap #7 Sunday March 22, 2026 @ 12:00- 4:15 P.M.

 

<<WARNING SPOILERS FOR THE HUMBLEWOOD CAMPAIGN: ADVENTURE IN THE WOOD! >>

PART 2: THE BANDIT MENACE

     Quilliam used Healing Spirit to treat the injured. Quilliam and Lucius skinned the mountain lions and got some meat out of them. Even though they were larger animals, the amount of rocky skin and inedible organs filled with stones led to less rations than the wolves. The party was slowed down as Galadriel’s speed was reduced to 10 feet with two levels of fatigue. They were forced to set up camp early for the day…

     The party listened to Fray’s infiltration plan. Fray described the Coalition’s Bandit Fortress as a natural stone castle built into The Crest Mountains itself. She proposed her manacles transferred to Lucius and her Bandit Captain’s sword given back.  Lucius would be her prisoner. Quilliam could turn into a spider. He could carry the key and Lucius’s weapons. On a signal he could end his wild shape, unlock Lucius’s manacles and give him back his weapons. Galadriel the Outlander and Zivvy would need to acquire bandit outfits and could play the role of Fray’s underlings. The party decided to hunt bandits the next day.

      The party gathered food, hunted goats, and found water the next day. They also found a bandit patrol. The bandit patrol had set up a trap, a rope net strung across the mountain pass. Zivvy and Lucius saw it and stopped in time. Galadriel the Outlander and the Fray’s wolf raced across the net as the trap sprung and ended up on the other side. Quilliam was trapped inside the net.

      The Vulpin bandit leader called out, “Well look at that. Thought you were the ones hunting, did you? Attack!” Her Mapach bandits moved forward and attacked Galadriel twice, hitting her once in the leg. Fray’s wolf lunged forward and ripped out the throat of the Mapach bandit that had hit Galadriel. The wolf’s ferocity seemed increased by the threat to Fray. Zivvy thrusted her rapier into a Mapach bandit and left them bleeding from a wound in the ribs. Galadriel cleaved the other Mapach bandit with a wicked downward swing of her axe. Lucius fired his short bow at a Mapach bandit but missed. The Vulpin bandit leader drew her rapier and attacked Galadriel twice. She feinted her first swing and then delivered a wicked stab into Galadriel’s ribs as she was off balance dodging the first attack.

     The Mapach bandit that had been stabbed by Zivvy fell over while trying to stab her back with his dagger. Fray’s wolf bit the Vulpin bandit captain in the femoral artery in her thigh which gushed blood from the wound. Zivvy stabbed the Mapach bandit on the ground in the neck with her rapier. Lucius shot his short bow at the Vulpin bandit captain puncturing her ribs with an arrow in the side. The Vulpin bandit captain cast Charm Person. She charmed Galadriel the Outlander and said, “Be a dear and get rid of that wolf for me.” Galadriel hit the wolf in the side with a downward sweep of her axe. The wolf whimpered in pain.

     The wolf bit the Vulpin bandit leader. Zivvy finished off the Vulpin bandit leader with a stab in the back. This ended the Charm Person spell on Galadriel. Lucius released Quilliam from the net. Quilliam cast Goodberry and dropped one on the ground. Quilliam gave all the berries to Fray’s Wolf and the wolf licked him in appreciation. Galadriel the Outlander debased herself by picking up the Goodberry from the ground and ate it. Zivvy healed Galadriel with a Cure Wounds spell. Zivvy grabbed a Mapach bandit outfit and Galadriel had to make do with the Vulpin bandit uniform. Lucius grabbed a short sword and rapier for later.

      At camp, they made their preparations for the infiltration the next day. They transferred Fray’s manacles to Lucius. Zivvy used her disguise kit and cosmetics to disguise the manacle bruises on Fray. They altered the Vulpin bandit uniform to try and make it look like that of a regular bandit instead of a captain. Quilliam cast Speak with Animals and asked for a woodpecker for a distraction the next day.

     As the party approached the bandit stronghold, they saw 100 feet high stone walls, two stone towers 200 feet tall, and two gates guarded by Mapach bandits. One gate was a wider wagon entrance and the other gate an entrance for people on foot. The party lead by Fray approached the two Mapach bandits guarding the entrance for personnel. Fray explained that she was here to see Benna after dropping off her prisoner, the traitorous Lucius. She flashed her Bandit Captain’s sword and they wilted under her intimidating gaze.

       The party entered the 240 feet long inner courtyard. Fray and the party were escorted around the courtyard and given a tour before heading to the northern inner keep. Lucius was escorted to the prison by two Mapach bandits. Two Jerbeen thieves guarded the entrance of the prison tent. A Mapach gaoler watched the cells from a chair in front of a desk. Lucius was placed in one of the four empty cells underneath the tent tarp. The slightly rusted metal cells also seemed to prop up the tarp above. The Mapach bandits who escorted him to the cell left. Lucius gave the signal to Quilliam and he crawled out of his shirt. He transformed into his normal Hedge form underneath the prison bed. Quilliam unlocked the manacles on Lucius’s wrists. Quilliam unlocked the manacles on Lucius’s ankles next. Lucius opened the cell door by casting Mage Hand and using his legerdemain to pick the lock. Quilliam cast Blindness on the Mapach jailer which blinded him, and then he screamed for the Jerbeen thieves outside who rushed into the tent.

     Quilliam handed Lucius his short bow and then cast Shillelagh on his staff. Lucius shot his short bow and hit a Jerbeen thief with an arrow that nicked him in the shoulder and made a hole in the tarp as it struck the tent. The Jerbeen thieves drew out their knives. The Mapach gaoler got up from his chair and ran into the courtyard.

    Quilliam cast Ice Knife and punctured a Jerbeen thief with the icy projectile right in his arrow wound. The Jerbeen thieves moved forward and attacked Quilliam and Lucius twice, both hitting once. Lucius realized that Quilliam still had his melee weapons and tried to bite the Jerbeen thief but he ducked out of the way. The Mapach jailer continued blindly running ahead.

    Quilliam smacked a Jerbeen thief unconscious by shattering the ice that had been lodged into his arrow wound with a strike from his staff. The remaining Jerbeen thief attacked Quilliam twice but missed. Lucius ripped out the last Jerbeen thief’s throat with a Sneak Attack bite. The Mapach gaoler continued running into the courtyard but then got shot in the back by Lucius and dropped dead. Quilliam gave Lucius back his short sword and rapier.  Lucius tried to sneak into the courtyard and retrieve the Mapach gaoler’s body. He did grab the body and returned to the tent with it. He was, of course, spotted out in the open. The prison tent was surrounded by bandits. Quilliam raised both his hands to the sky. As if by serendipity, hundreds of birds led by a woodpecker descended upon the Bandit Stronghold’s courtyard and defecated on the bandits. Lucius and Quilliam skulked away in the resulting confusion and revulsion.  

     Meanwhile Fray and her wolf, Galadriel the Outlander, and Zivvy went to the northern inner keep. Fray convinced the Mapach bandits manning the inner keep gate to let them inside to see Benna after seeing a flourish of her Bandit Captain’s sword and her steely gaze. They entered a meeting hall and tried to negotiate with Benna’s personal Jerbeen bodyguards to see her. Benna herself strode out of her personal quarters to see what the noise was about. Benna listened to Fray’s story about Lucius being the traitor who had entered the Bandit Fort and let in the Perch Guard leading to the fall of the fortress and dismissed it as a lie. She noticed the manacle bruising as well. Perhaps coerced into treachery… She also noticed Galadriel’s ill-fitting and tight uniform and the dirt that they had used to try and cover up the Bandit Captain rank on her uniform. Zivvy managed to convince Benna she was a Mapach bandit just following Fray’s orders. Benna had her personal bodyguards search Galadriel and take all her weapons. Fray kneeled and gave Benna her Bandit Captain’s sword. With the traitors disarmed, Benna decided to go and see this Lucius for herself…

      Quilliam and Lucius snuck into the northern inner keep and saw the two Mapach guards at the gate. Lucius cast Minor Illusion to make a skunk and Quilliam cast Druidcraft to give the air an oppressive feel. The Mapach guards didn’t leave their post to investigate. Instead, they took out a dagger each and threw it at the illusion of the skunk. One of the daggers pierced the illusion of the skunk and the other guard slipped on the cold and damp stairs and fell over. Quilliam cast Fog Cloud and made it look like the skunk had erupted into a musky cloud. Lucius snuck up on the fallen Mapach by following the wall. When his foot hit him on the ground, he stabbed downward with a sneak attack and dispatched the guard. Quilliam followed the wall on the other side trying to sneak up to the other guard. Quilliam cast Shillelagh on his staff. The other Mapach heard his ally fall and then tripped over him trying to get to Lucius.

        Lucius missed the Mapach guard in the fog, or at least the living one. Quilliam hit the Mapach guard with his staff. The Mapach guard got up and hit Quilliam with his axe.  

        Lucius missed again, not realizing the guard had moved back towards Quilliam. Quilliam missed a Chilling Touch attempt. The Mapach guard hit Quilliam hard and he went down bleeding on the floor. The Fog Cloud ended as Quilliam was no longer concentrating on it.

       Lucius cast Tasha’s Hideous Laughter, but the guard didn’t fall for it. Then the two of them just kept missing each other for a couple rounds as Quilliam started to bleed out.

       Finally, Lucius hit the Mapach bandit with his rapier and finished him off. He gave a Healing Potion to Quilliam just before he left the realm of the living.

       Lucius grabbed a key from one of the Mapach bandits and opened the door. They entered the small courtyard of the inner keep just in time to see Benna and her entourage escorting Fray and Galadriel the Outlander as prisoners.

      Benna said, “Well you must be this Lucius that I have heard about from Fray. So, what is the truth about the Bandit Fort? How did you get your burn scars?” While asking this, she took off her red bandana and revealed her burn scars. Her left ear was gone, her face scarred, and her left eye seemed barely able to see at all out from the scar tissue surrounding it.

    Lucius explained how Fray had left him to die in the Humblewood tied up by rope as a swarm of Emberbats descended upon the forest. How Fray’s actions had led to him becoming scarred like this. That he had a role in the fall of Fray’s bandit fort, but failing to defend it was her fault.

     Benna said to Fray, “It would have been better for you if you had just killed him and be done with it. Now you must be punished for failing to defend the fort and disobeying me.”

    Lucius persuaded Benna to try and make peace with the Birdfolk Council. Benna seemed to feel Lucius was a kindred spirit who had been capriciously scarred by the burning woods.

    The party went to the courtyard and witnessed Benna’s justice. She heated Fray’s own Bandit Captain’s sword and pressed it to her right cheek. The burn left her cheek hairless and scarred. The she doused the sword and gave it back to Fray. Benna said to her, “Do not fail me or betray my rules again.”

    The entire bandit encampment had come out to see this including orphaned children and elderly Humblefolk with a few Birdfolk here. Most had been burned and scarred by the ever-increasing burning woods.

     The party rested for an hour and waited for Benna to write her message to the Birdfolk Council…

[End of session]