Session 18: Giant Ants Continued… and Bandits

The Adventurers finish their battle with Giant Ants and disturb a bandit hideout.

This is from Kay's notes from our November 29, 2023 session. Since our group is scattered around the country, we used Discord for our voice communication and Roll20 for our virtual tabletop. Thanks to JoJo for the screen shots.

Continued from: Giant Ants!

Date: May 14, 3517

Flashback: Last night at Castle Calaelen
Lark bound to himself the sword he found at the Temple to the Gods of Chance. It turned out to be a Bastard Sword of Crushing. It gives an automatic critical damage on inanimate objects (like doors) and constructs (like Golems), with a +1 attack and +1 damage. Now he can open doors on his terms; we just won’t be able to close them again, ever.

May 15, 3517 10AM
Inside the Mouth of Doom

We were in combat with giant ants, well one giant ant; one of the ants had been killed and the other live one was carrying it away from the fight in its mandibles; we were left with one live giant ant. Upon seeing the ant, Gelver screamed and ran away back down the hallway toward the area where we originally found him. When he passed Artie, Artie tripped him, and he tumbled to the ground. Artie tried reasoning with him to stay with the party.

Meanwhile Parahelia’s spiritual hammer hit the giant ant with force. Elron cast produce flame which hurt it. Breena moved up and shot it with her crossbow, doing more damage. Lark’s shot his crossbow, but missed. The ant attacked Elron, while Blaze sent her flaming sphere to hit it in the back. Beneddar cast Toll the Dead on it, and it finally died.

Artie tried to calm Gelver down and had some effect.

Elron moved past the ant’s body and heard the other ant receding down the hall in front of him. Breena and Lark moved up to Elron and heard it, too. Blaze moved her flaming sphere ahead around the corner of the hallway, as Beneddar moved past the dead ant’s body.

Gelver panicked again, and ran away in the opposite direction around the corner, screamed, and ran back toward us with a single kobold chasing him. The kobold came around the turn in the hallway, spotted our party and turned around, running away back down the hall that leads to the diamond-shaped room.

Elron continued moving forward around the corner toward the rat’s room, and saw the giant ant with the dead one in its mandibles. Elron noticed that there was a stinger on its butt, something to be avoided.

Breena moved up to Elron. Blaze started moving up, keeping her flaming sphere 30 feet ahead of her. Everyone else continued moving up toward those in the lead.

Beneddar cast Toll the Dead on the last living ant as the group moved up to engage. Elron cast produce flame which injured the ant. Blaze continued to move the flaming sphere forward. Beneddar cast Toll the Dead again for more damage. The rest of the group continued to advance.

Lark moved up to the giant ant and attacked with his sword, causing major damage. The ant dropped the dead ant it was carrying and tried to sting Lark. The stinger glanced harmlessly off his armor. It then turned around to tried to bite him but missed.

Blaze moved her flaming sphere into the ant for more damage. Beneddar added on with Toll the Dead, and Sinis cast acid splash, all of which hit and caused damage. Parahelia moved up to the ant swinging her one-handed sword and finally killed it.



Elron tried to get the poison from the stinger and succeeded, but a drop on his skin stung him. Blaze partially healed him of the damage he took earlier.

Lark continued up the hallway to the door past the rats’ room that we didn’t open last time. He used his new sword to demolish the door, walking in, without backup from the group. The room was empty, but there was the click of a pressure plate and the sound of vents and moving air. Lark backed out of the room. Air was coming out of vents from holes in the ceiling. The north-south hallway turned east at this room. The group moved along the hallway to the east and then it turned north. We noticed that the area where the kobold bodies had lain was empty except for blood stains, and the rat bodies in the room were also gone. There was a bulge in the north wall of the hallway; Lark investigated it and it appeared to be an area that had been a door once, but was sealed up.

The hallway turned north and then west again; Breena and Rocky were the first ones there, and Breena thought she heard voices. Blaze, trying to catch up to them, sprang a trap and fell into a pit, taking damage from the fall.

Beneddar came up to the pit to help Blaze out. Elron moved up to the pit.

Suddenly a section of wall opened next to Breena.

An orc came out of the door, saw Rocky and swung his battleax at the squirrel, but missed. Thinking food, he ignored Breena. Two more fighters come out, humans, saying, “What the hell’s going on out here?”

The orc and four humans noticed Breena and prepared to attack.

Breena cast thunderwave at maximum force. The orc died, 3 of 4 humans died. Rocky vanished, dismissed by the spell. The last remaining human was dazed – way to go, Breena!

The rest of the party moved up to join them. Blaze was up but on the wrong side of the pit to help Breena, so she tried to jump the gap and missed; as she started to fall, Beneddar cast feather fall on her, allowing her to grab the far edge of the pit and pull herself out, this time on the correct side of the conflict.

Beneddar cast Toll the Dead on the remaining live human, killing him.



Breena could see into the room they came out of; it’s a 10 x 20 ft room. Breena saw another doorway open on the far end of the room, and more fighters started coming through. Elron jumped across the pit and started searching the bodies. Parahelia moved up and jumped the pit, making it look easy. Lark and Sinis caught up to the group.

Blaze moved to Breena and cast flaming sphere in the doorway to block the fighters from coming through it; two orcs and two human fighters were caught in the flames.


Continued in Session 19: Fighting Bandits, Both Human & Orc