Rodania S2E04 Summary: The Weight of Choice
Campaign: Restoration of Rodania
Date: Goodmonth, 995
Setting: The Duskwoods and the Shattered Isles of the River Artery, amid a covert operation against Claudia Marque’s supply lines.
Main Characters:
- Jornan Eastward – Halfling Paladin and Baron, striving to restore his people’s honor.
- Darius Quarterling – Half-Halfling, Half-Dwarf Rogue and spymaster, always one step ahead.
- Eldrous Pith – High Elf Necromancer and agent of the Ghoul Lord, master of arcane strategy.
- Ciaranna Lyndis – Exiled Half-Elf noblewoman and bard, navigating the line between mortal and myth.
- Drack Drakeshield – Dragonborn barbarian and rebel of the White Brood, a storm of fury and fire.
Gifts in the Dark
As the party finalizes plans for the ambush on the Gold Boat, they travel under false identities—posing as mercenaries and bandits to mask their allegiance to Eastward. The chosen strategy, the Shattered Isle – Rocky Rapids Ambush, will lure the boat into treacherous waters using deceptive navigation and sabotage.
Before the mission begins, two intimate and symbolic moments unfold.
In the quiet of camp, Tharuk Stoneveil approaches Ciaranna Lyndis with a gift: The Unbound Fang, a cold iron dagger born of legend. Forged by a woman who defied a fae pact through silence, blood, and ritual, the dagger cannot be described or named by Fey. It breaks glamours and nullifies magical bonds—but more importantly, it represents the power to choose one's fate. Tharuk kneels before Ciaranna, not as a warrior or subject, but as someone who sees in her the same defiant fire. Ciaranna accepts the dagger, enduring the sting of attunement and recognizing it not as a gift, but a mirror of who she is becoming.
Not far away, Kelgrim Deeproot gives Jornan Eastward a sacred mantle, the Root-Bound Mantle, woven from bark and stone. It symbolizes his rejection of the Fey Courts and grounds him in the Duskwoods’ blessings. The forest watches him now—not as a pawn of Winter or Summer, but as its own.
The night ends with Ciaranna and Tharuk exchanging quiet truths. Tharuk speaks of her unfinished beauty—not in appearance, but in spirit—and of the strength he sees in her choices. Ciaranna, moved, accepts his words with grace and the faintest blush. She acknowledges her journey with new clarity, understanding that she has not merely survived, but chosen—again and again—to shape her own path.
The Ambush Begins – Storming the Gold Boat
The party initiates the ambush under the cover of morning mist, each group executing a coordinated role in the plan to trap Claudia Marque’s heavily guarded supply ship—the Gold Boat. The operation unfolds as a multi-part skill challenge, where success means control over the battlefield before open combat begins.
Darius and Ciaranna, disguised as caravan leaders, face the first obstacle: a riverside patrol loyal to Marque. Using forged documents, bribery, and silver tongues, they talk their way past the suspicious guards without raising alarm. The patrol lets them through, and the caravan continues on toward the ambush site with no shots fired.
Drack and Jornan prepare the trap itself—rigging massive chains and debris to trap the Gold Boat in shallow waters. Drack, relying on brute strength and rage, anchors the chain snare, while Jornan dives beneath the river to secure the trap. Their success ensures that the vessel will be caught exactly where they want it.
Eldrous and Roland, operating further ahead, sabotage the escort ships. They sneak into position and attach alchemical bombs to the patrol boats. A well-timed arcane blast from Eldrous and a toppling tree from Roland seal the fate of the escorts. Both enemy vessels are crippled or destroyed before they can raise an alarm.
With all preparations complete, the trap springs. The Gold Boat grinds into hidden chains and rocks, veering violently and becoming stranded. The escort ships burn or sink nearby—there will be no reinforcements. The time to strike is now.
Combat begins with Drack flying Jornan onto the deck in a surprise maneuver, while the rest of the party races to board from nearby rafts. Ciaranna supports with enchantments, Darius unleashes alchemical fire on clustered enemies, and Eldrous snipes a ballista gunner with a devastating firebolt. Goliath allies from the Moving Mountain Clan leap into the fray, evening the odds against the Marque’s elite guards.
Reinforcements arrive—a new patrol with a grenadier and marksman—but thanks to a bonus from perfect skill challenge execution, the players gain temporary hit points and battlefield control. The tide of battle is in their favor, and the Gold Boat’s defenders are already scrambling. The prize—gold and dangerous alchemical supplies—is nearly within reach.
The Battle for the Gold Boat
As the ambush unfolds in the rocky waterways of the Shattered Isles, the party boards the Gold Boat in a coordinated assault. Ciaranna steps forward first, delivering a powerful ultimatum to the enemy crew. Her commanding presence and well-placed threats shatter morale—most of the crew abandon their posts and flee without a fight. She quickly follows up with charm magic, turning two of the remaining sentries to her side and manipulating the battlefield into chaos.
With the enemy ranks thinned, Roland and Darius press the advantage. Roland batters riflemen with his hammer and forces enemies prone using his Topple maneuver, while Darius dispatches targets and prepares the ship’s ballista to defend against reinforcements. Their precision and planning allow the rest of the team to move in safely.
Drack Drakeshield joins the fray, flying into battle and unleashing a storm of violence. He cuts through multiple foes with cleaving attacks, overwhelming the remaining defenders with sheer physical power. At the same time, Eldrous Misty Steps to the patrol boat and disables its ballista, ensuring no reinforcements can arrive in time to turn the tide.
Captain Merrick Vance, the ship’s commander, emerges from the smoke and opens fire on Roland with a repeater pistol. He hurls slurs and threats at Ciaranna, raging against her presence and the fey blood he blames for the ambush. Despite his fury and strength, the party quickly surrounds him. Roland lands several punishing blows, and Darius maneuvers the ship’s assets into position, but it is ultimately Drack who ends the captain's life with a brutal strike.
With Vance dead, the last of the defenders throw down their weapons. The party offers surrender rather than slaughter, ordering the survivors to abandon the ship and swim to shore. The river falls quiet, and for the first time since the ambush began, Eastward claims control of the Gold Boat.
Extraction and Secrets
With the Gold Boat disabled and the escort ships neutralized, the party turned to the task of extracting its valuable cargo. A tactical minigame commenced, where each turn represented the delicate process of retrieving supplies while minimizing evidence and avoiding complications. Players drew from a custom card deck containing crates of gold, weapons, alchemical supplies, raft movement commands, and dangerous consequences such as patrols, survivors, and damaging mishaps.
Despite escalating difficulty and the risk of exposure, the group worked efficiently. Strategic use of skills—particularly from Darius, Eldrous, and Garandorf—enabled them to neutralize threats and maximize extraction. Rafts could only carry four items at a time, requiring careful planning and movement coordination to ferry goods to shore and onto carts.
By the end of the looting, the party had secured a significant portion of the cargo:
- Most of the weapons, fulfilling a critical objective to arm allies like the Moving Mountain Clan.
- A large haul of gold, loaded methodically by Eldrous with uncanny consistency.
- Several crates of alchemical supplies, though a few were deliberately left behind or destroyed.
- Three unique treasures, including a cryptic, rune-inscribed blackwood box sealed with multiple locks and warnings, hinting at future consequences.
They managed this with zero evidence left behind, evading the Marquis's detection entirely—for now. As the party prepared to leave with the bulk of the supplies secured and the Gold Boat effectively stripped, the victory was decisive, but ominous undercurrents lingered.
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