The Kingmaker's Cairn, Session 1

 In which the party...

• Is invited to a dinner at the hall of one Lady Jamandi for a quest to colonize the wilds.
• Chat up other guests at the dinner, other hopeful adventurers: 
• Sybil the thief slips the rings and valuables off one sorcerer Tartuccio, who waxes tales of his own heroics oblivious with the thief's flattery.
• Yslin the ranger impresses one barbarian Amiri as they bond over hunting and tales of dangerous travails in the wilds.
• Cannora the elf plays her with against another elf Jaethal, as the iterant gambler tests her wit against Jaethal's as they proceed mock the other guests at the party.
• Ethex the magic user endears himself to one halfling Linzi, who finds an intriguing character for her travelogue as he nerds out over various magic spells and books with her by mistakenly assuming her writing relates to magic.
• Head to rest up for the night only to be awakened by the shout of a guest being cut short.
• Realize that bandits are attacking the tower, and set up traps at the entrance of their room - including a bear trap by Yslin and Caltrops by Sybil. 
• Manage to slay 2 bandits with traps, as Ethex takes control of a third with his Command spell.
• Use the controlled bandit to send other bandits in the wrong direction as they make their way through various rooms. 
• Discover gold, gems, healing potions, and even a tanglefoot bag of tar by looting corpses.
• Save hiding halfling Linzi, who is being attacked by a blinded ogre, by entrapping the ogre with the tanglefoot bag before fleeing.
• Run into one giant Jurginder, who takes a hefty bribe of gold, gems, and healing potions to let them through to the great hall.
• Find 3 tied up guests of the dinner - one of whom is Amiri, who they revive with a healing potion and joins the party, leaving the other 2 for the moment.
• Enter the great hall to discover the captain of the guard holding the fort, while Lady Jamandi has gone to the opposite wing to save other guests while it is on fire.

Party: Sybil the thief, Yslin the ranger, Cannora the elf, Ethex the magic user, Amiri the barbarian, Linzi the halfling