Issa fidgets with the lock a bit before it clicks open. It is nearing midnight now, and they hear croaking frogs, buzzing cicadas, shouts from town, and clashing of metal. Stepping out of the tunnel, the party sloshes into a small stream of water on the north side of town. Nymby climbs a tree to get a better view of there the temple is. As a gnome, she can speak to small animals. She tries to ask a squirrel about the attack, but the squirrel is very scared and confused. Nymby also has a special connection with her pet snake. She climbs down the tree and sends Snakey onward to scope out the situation. Snakey slithers up the streambed silently. He sees a dozen raiders in front of the temple led by an intimidating half-orc woman with a staff. They are using the trunk of a fallen tree to repeatedly ram the front doors.

The group struggle to climb the streambed, slipping down a couple times. The mud is surprisingly slippery. After a few attempts to boost each other up, they end up tossing the gnome. Nymby lands gracefully at the top and lets down her rope to pull everyone else up. At last they turn to face the raiders. To their surprise, the half-orc woman immediately shoots acid into the eyes of the lizardfolk next to her. Apparently, she was an imposter? Issa transforms into a tiger again to maul the guard drakes. Zelena’s witchy fingers tingle with electricity that arcs across to another lizardfolk. Nymby releases Snakey onto her enemies, shooting him like an arrow from her bow straight onto the face of a raider. In a few swift moments, all the raiders are dispatched and the party yells inside, “All clear out here. May we come in?”

As the front door cracks open to let them inside, the moon goes dark above them. An enormous form covers the night sky. The group rushed through the cracked door to avoid the beam of blue lightning energy careening out from a gaping jaw. Somehow the door withstands the blast. Two dozen scared faces greet the party. Everyone stays silent for a few moments until they hear the beating of very large wings leave the vicinity. Slowly tension dissipates and the party takes in the room. At the center is an altar surrounded by pews in a circle. A human brandishing a shortsword and wooden shield approaches the women, “Thank you for helping. I was not sure my might would be enough to save all these people if the raiders broke the doors.” Introductions are made. She also only arrived in town today and is traveling to the west. Phoebe is new to the adventuring world but wants to prove her worth to her god, Odin.

-I messed up several times in this session. The squirrel gave no information because I was caught off guard and have trouble thinking on my feet often. Getting out of the streambed was funny, but the group kept failing their rolls for a silly thing that should not have taken as much time as it did.

-A few new players joined. One person literally knocked on my front door that evening door and said, “I heard there was DnD here.” She had been invited by another player unbeknownst to me, so I gave her a character I had lying around – Vola the evil half-orc wizard. With everyone else, I had time to meet separately before they joined the campaign to create their characters. I am so glad she came though, because now she is one of my closest and dearest friends. And she is the only one who keeps notes (super important in any game).