First Adventure League Epic from Player to GM: Reclamation of Phlan

Signed up to play in an Adventure League Epic organised by Grahame Luck of Racoon Tycoons at Exiles Gaming Club in Marrickville. The GM dropped out last minute, so I signed up to cover.

The way an Epic works is that there are multiple tables of adventurers operating in the same area of usually for a common goal, in this particular case it was the re-claiming of the city of Phlan from the grips of the Maimed Virulence, the green dragon Vorgansharax. Having conquered Phlan and seized control of the Cinnabar throne, the refugees of that fair city and the heroes have been marshaled by the Knights of the Black Fist to reclaim the city and bring order to the North.

The tables have characters of different levels: Tier 1 (1-4), Tier 2 (5-10) and Tier 3 (11-16). In this game there were 5 tables: Tier 1 (1), Tier 2 (3) and Tier 5 (1).

Tier 1 were the Lions tasked with establishing a beachhead, these heroes were to liberate the streets of Phlan, with each district having its own quests.

Tier 2 were the Eagles mounted on griffons, these heroes muster a rebel army from hamlets outside of Phlan with information from quest of the other two groups guiding them to powerful allies.

Tier 3 were Broadswords, brave and resourceful heroes that would teleport directly in to the castle, the lair of the dragon and confront the beast there.

The ran a group of Eagles (Tier 2 - mostly level 10 and one level 5 hero) as follows:

Acquila an incredibly wealthy Aasimar celestial warlock

Beryl an emotional human life cleric of Kelemvor with a strong hatred of the undead

Epsilon a halfling evoker wizard with a love of storm and lightning magic

Zinbys an unusually murderous criminal Gnome draconic sorcerer, new to the group and much less experienced but no less deadly it was soon to be discovered

Thump the boisterous leader of the group, a satyr wild magic barbarian

Shade a silent (did not speak in fact) elf champion fighter that was as much assassin as warrior

The Phlan Eagles, as they were called, while providing air support for the Lions first met their soon to be continued nemesis, the night hag Agatha and her wing of zombie wyverns. Using the alchemical bombs given to them by the gnome sappers of the alliance they used the superior speed of their griffon mounts to make short work of the assigned targets identified by flares. Despite some trouble from the swarming zombie wyverns, the group were able to make a tactical retreat once their mission was complete helped by a clutch use of 3rd level command spell by Zinbys, which would become a pattern in the battles to come. Thwarted by the quick tactics of the heroes Agatha looked on impotently as the heroes withdraw, only managing to wing Acquila with her magic missiles as he beat a hasty retreat.

Ordered by Dragol Rend, a battle chaplain of Tempus and Vindicator of the Order of the Gauntlet to seize a key strategic watchtower the Phlan Eagles jumped into action. The gathered warband of one hobgoblin captain and eight hobgoblins were no match for the fireball of Zinbys and were incinerated instantly, leaving only their commander a dragonsoul available to hold off the combined might of the heroes. He too soon departed this mortal coil when Shade leapt off his griffon and struck down the foul sorcerer with his sword in a backstab that any assassin would be proud of.

But the heroes' mission was not complete as Agatha and her wing of zombie wyverns appeared again to foil their plans. Beryl incensed by the undead and the affront to her god called upon the powers of Kelemvor and using the superior speed of her griffon to strafe the foul creatures while under the influence of spirit guardians, leading to their return to the grave. Thump used his martial skills and wild magic to great effect blinding, slowing and grappling many foes to prevent their occupation of the watch tower. Epsilon used his storm magic to keep the tower clear and Zinbys used message to convince the night hag Agatha that Orcus called her away for a more important task, leading victory in their mission but also a lifelong nemesis for the party and Zinbys.

After securing the tower the once gain undertook a mission from HQ to track down the champion of the orc tribes supporting Vorgansharax and the party was again able to prevail despite the machinations of the night hag Agatha. Beryl was able to turn her zombie wyvern mount leading her to be out of position and incapable of meaningfully participating in that batter. Ultimately, the champion cyclops fell to Acquila's cloud of daggers assisted by Thump as he held the massive brute in place. Though, I suspect that Thump did not enjoy the more than dozen javelins aimed at his direction by the rest of the tribe but ultimately none could bring the satyr barbarian low!

By combing the religious and arcane knowledge and experience of Beryl, Zinbys and Epislon the party foiled an attempt by the Thayan Red Wizards to summon demons onto the battlefield.

Then they were assigned to raise Doomguide Glandon, a priest of Kelemvor to gain his assistance in stemming the tide of undead. Beryl opening wept when she met Acolyte Mymn, another member of Kelemvor's Church, having being lonely for soon long! They ultimately did not succeed in raising Doomguide Glandon, him having become a powerful vampire overlord and backed up by their old nemesis night hag Agatha. But they managed to destroy vampire Glandon's undead associates, survive to retreat and bring back news of his fate to the alliance.