Had a fun session with the teens yesterday. While they were in a large city, the newest PC who joined the party last session (elven ranger/druid) was approached by a human female who gave him a scroll to give to the elven M-U in the party. When he did so, they rest of the group realize from his description that this was Alissa, the minstrel-thief who seduced and then robbed the M-U earlier in the campaign. The letter to the M-U says that she is soooooooo sorry about any misunderstanding that might have arose from their last encounter, and that she wanted to make up for it by giving the group the location of of a ruin containing a valuable treasure. Much too dangerous for a lone minstrel, of course, but it surely won't prove difficult for a group of seasoned adventurers. The ruin contains a brooch that is a family heirloom of one of the local merchant houses, who would pay a pretty coin to have it returned to them.
Suspicious (but ever-greedy) the group does some investigations, and finds out the story tracks. After making the necessary preparations, they head south down the side of the river to the ruins in question. While there's a few monsters to be dealt with, traps and physical barriers form the main obstacles to be overcome. They eventually work their way to where the main treasure is, secreted in a small alcove some 40 feet up the side of the wall. The halfling thief scales the wall, wedges her way into the alcove, manages to disarm the trap, and after a few tense moments manages to return with the brooch, which she gives to the elven M-U for safekeeping ("in case it's cursed or something").
On the way out, they are ambushed by a group of rival treasure hunters. The cleric amongst the enemy casts Darkness from a scroll, causing complete and utter confusion all around. The heroes manage to win, but not before the elf M-U gets knocked out by a venomous dart that she was hit by (which the players note doesn't seem to match the attacks of any of the rival treasure hunters). A quick check reveals that the brooch is still in her pouch. They opt to get out quickly before any other ills befall them.
On the way back to the city, one of the two rangers spots signs of movement on the other side of the river; they can see where the grass and foilage is being disturbed by movement, but they can't actually see what is causing said disturbance. The PCs quietly confer with what to do and if they can cross the river (about 50 yards wide) to deal with this unseen danger. Then, somewhat uncharacteristically, the halfling thief abandons any notion of subtlety or stealth and calls out for whoever it is to reveal themselves.
From across the river, Alissa does so, deactivating her cloak of invisibility. She explains that, yes, she had been following the group at a distance invisibly, so she could get the brooch herself. She was soooooooo sorry for having to use the knockout dart on the lovely elf, but it gave her a chance to switch out the fake brooch she had previously obtained with the real one during the fight in the darkness. And hey, they did get some other treasure in the ruins, so no hard feelings, right? She knew a shortcut back to the city, and could claim the reward before they would be able to arrive, so there wouldn't be any need for any further awkward meetups.
The two rangers try to attack with their bows, but she wins initiative, and slips deeper into the woods invisible once again. The group is obviously irked and frustrated (rightly so), but can't think of a way to cross the river in time to track her down before she gets back to the city. After continuing their walk back, the thief asks if Alissa is still nearby, invisible. The rangers see no sign of movement... at which point the thief pulls out the real brooch from her backpack. She explains that she managed to acquire a fake brooch before they left the city, as she anticipated Alissa might somehow be following them.
They get back to the city, and make arrangements to meet with the merchant house. The matriarch of the house is suspicious, since there was someone just earlier that day who tried to pass off a fake brooch on them. The town guard was called, but the scoundrel managed to escape their grasp. The brooch is tested, and found to be genuine, and the party gets their reward.
Really pleased how this session played out. Could have went in a lot of different directions, but in the end everyone had fun, and the thief's player was clearly the MVP of the session.
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the GM is pretty frustrated, I'm pretty frustrated because no one else bothers.
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