Party Escapes Bandit Camp, Hired to Fight the Rot

“Five captives, Kaarl the warlock Korvax, Dahc the cleric, Bob the fighter, Fridge the druid, and Thrain the ranger, woke bound in a rainforest bandit camp with no gear and no memory of meeting each other. After freeing themselves and a mistreated hound (who refused to join them), they raided the camp's tents and wagon, recovering their equipment, gold, a magic returning hand axe, and a cryptic note about a Soul Monger and someone named Rezmir. A tense standoff with a captive alchemist named Mila ended peacefully with directions to Port Nyanzaru, but the returning bandit leader Grelt ambushed the party, dropping Thrain twice (once into the campfire) before Bob and Fridge finished him off with a sword strike and a lethal shocking grasp. On the road north the party fought off a pack of talking velociraptors and discovered a dying, mummifying tiger, mirroring the fate of the bandit Pell, before being intercepted by the wealthy, dying noblewoman Syndra Sylvain, who hired them to venture south into the jungle's interior to stop the resurrection-sickness plague at its source. The session ended with the party accepting the contract and heading toward Port Nyanzaru. Overall a strong, character-establishing first session mixing dark comedy backstories with real combat stakes.”