The GM decided we needed to be punished for attempting to carry out so much loot such that we were encumbered.  (We did linger quite a while in a mostly unexplored level full of fiends.)  So, he created an Underground Temple map in the middle of our usual exit tunnel to the Smuggler’s Hideout.  And created a “random” encounter.  According to the email Brian forgot to send, we heard a noise behind us.  We hustled forward but the monsters were catching up.  Rather than prepare or turn or lay in wait, evidently, he decided we would be overtaken more of less unaware.  Two cat-like creatures and two fiends in hot in pursuit in response to our attack and theft of the amulet fragments.  Our choice was, do we run for the exit or turn and fight? That depends on who wins initiative, of course. 

TerStegan won and prepared to attack.  He used his Helm to get 3 interact actions for one action.  He cut loose the breastplate for two actions and one of the glaives for one.  Now he was no longer encumbered.  Then he regripped his axe and entered his stance.  Next, a goat-like fiend moved up and did a Frothing spew.  20-foot line at Oakwood and Briscoe.  Both saved for half.  10 points and they didn’t fall prone.  The other one moved up and did a Fume instead.  Black smoke concealing everyone within.  (They were immune from the effects, of course.)  Oakwood saved but the rest failed for Sickened 1.  Briscoe cast Rousing Splash on Oakwood and ran through the archway and out of the smoke area.  Aren’t we fleeing, he asked.  Clarisa ran out as well and cast Laughing Fit.  Wait, reverse that.  She cast first.  She missed the flat check and used a hero point.  The fiend missed that save.  And then she ran.  And then retroactive play.  That smoke attack had no range so none of us were in it.  Only them.  An unseen Hellcat stealthfully moved and Growled.  That burst got Briscoe and Oakwood but TerStegan used his Counter Performance since it was an auditory attack.  He rolled poorly and used a hero point for a critical success.  That made them immune for 24 hours.  The next Hellcat, which we could sort of see, moved up and attacked TerStegan while still hidden.  The bite hit for 18 and it was no longer hidden.  The claws both missed.  Oakwood took an action to place the keg of flammable chemicals on the ground and roll it away.  That wasn’t as far as he’d hoped so he had to step south one square and then turned on his Thermal Nimbus.  He was also now no longer encumbered.

TerStegan hit for 23 and 8, losing 5 damage on each.  And cast Shield, still standing on the flaming glaive he dropped last round.  A fiend moved behind Oakwood and TerStegan.  It couldn’t do its Fume because of the Slow from the Laughing Fit so it attacked TerStegan.  But it took a crit reaction for the move from TerStegan for 50 first.  And its boiling blood splashed us.  But it was minimal fire damage and bounced off the resistance from the Thermal Nimbus.  After all that, it missed even with flanking.  The next fiend moved up and Spewed on them.  Oakwood missed the save and took 18 and TerStegan took 5.  The nimbus helped mitigate the damage but Oakwood was knocked prone.  Briscoe ran back in and missed a fiend.  But he at least gave TerStegan flanking.  Clarisa shot a fiend with a Briny Bolt for 26 and sustained the Laughing Fit.  That guy bled but we all saved so it bounced.  The hidden Hellcat got all the way around and pounced on Clarisa in the other room.  That crit but only rolled 28 on 4d12+16.  The other Hellcat missed TerStegan, even with flanking.  It growled.  Oakwood and Briscoe were immune but Clarisa only succeeded for Frighten 1.  Oakwood stood up and no one hit him for it.  And cast a Timber Sentinel in the middle of us. 

TerStegan missed by one but Oakwood did his reactive guidance focus ability.  That hit for 22 and we all took the splash.  Oakwood and the tree took 1.  TerStegan then missed again but then hit for 19.  That dropped it and its blood bounced.  The last fiend crit Oakwood for 46 but between the Nimbus and the tree, he took none of it.  And it rolled a second 20 with its second attack.  That did 34 points.  Briscoe turned and fired a Tempest Surge on the Hellcat on Clarisa.  It saved for half so 12.  He then moved and did BFM on Oakwood for a net 23.  Clarisa sustained the Laughing Fit and cast the same on the other Hellcat which failed its save as well.  It then bit her for 29 and then re-hid.  The next Hellcat bit Oakwood for 16 and clawed him for 12.  He, in turn, missed it twice and raised his shield. 

TerStegan missed twice and cast Shield.  The fiend did its Fume to cause more confusion.  Briscoe wasn’t in the smoke, made his flat check to target and did a Tempest Surge on the fiend.  That did 20 and made it Clumsy 2 for a round.  He then ran over to Clarisa and did BFM for 32 hit points.  Clarisa sustained both spells and fled into the room with the rest of us.  Her Hellcat attacked Briscoe and missed. And then crit with a claw for 47.  The other Hellcat missed the save from the smoke for Sickened 1.  It made its flat check however and hit TerStegan for 19.  And missed with 2 claws.  Oakwood saved against the smoke, cast Sure Strike to ignore the conceal and crit the fiend.  That did a disappointing 20 cold.  The blood splash bounced.

TerStegan missed the save against the smoke to be Sickened 1.  He stepped out of the smoke, retched against the Sickened, and hit the Hellcat for 26.  The fiend used his Spew on Oakwood and TerStegan.  The first saved and the second crit failed and then heroically saved.  They took 28/2-7=7.  Briscoe had a target rich environment of blooded characters to heal.  Unfortunately, Oakwood was still in the smoke but Briscoe made the flat check to get to him and used his bonus BFM.  That did 24.  He then did a powerful heal spell on himself for 47.  Clarisa didn’t sustain on the Hellcat, did sustain on the fiend and cast on the other Hellcat.  That failed for Slowed 1.  The unslowed Hellcat went hidden, moved and attacked Clarisa with a +2.  It barely hit and did 26.  And hit with a claw for another 18.  The Slowed Hellcat crit Oakwood for 54.  But it missed its conceal flat check so that didn’t count.  It clawed him for 16 but the shield took 8 of hit.  Oakwood breathed another round.  He made his Fort save, put up another Tree and raised his shield.  He was contributing more with the Nimbus resistances than he could with damage. 

TerStegan hit the Hellcat once and finally moved it to blooded.  The fiend hit Oakwood for 8 and his shield blocked it all.  Briscoe healed everybody for 21, including them.  (4 vs 3 is a win?) Clarisa was running out of spells since we hadn’t had a chance to rest.  And she only had 1 action since she was sustaining two spells.  (Should she have been casting damaging cantrips instead? Hard to know.  What she didn’t have was any Magic Missiles and that damage was missed.)  She cast Shield.  The Hellcat missed Clarisa with a bite and then hit with a claw.  It missed a crit by 1.  That did 21 and she chose to keep the shield’s AC and take it.  And missed.  The other Hellcat crit Oakwood by a lot but missed the flat check again.  The claw hit TerStegan for 17 but the Tree took all of it.  Oakwood cast Dash on Herbs on Clarisa but rolled a minimum 6.  And then attacked the fiend and did 15, making the flat check.

TerStegan decided to flank the fiend and try to get something off the map.  (The Hellcats had a hell of a lot of hit points.)  He made his Fort save from the smoke.  He hit and made the flat check.  He did 25.  And then missed.  The fiend attacked the still flanked Oakwood, ignoring the smoke.  That did 19, less 5 fire and 14 to the tree.  And then missed.  Briscoe cast another Tempest Surge on the fiend but missed the flat check.  His Halfling Luck didn’t apply so he used a hero point.  That did 15 doubled for 30 because it crit missed its save.  And Clumsy 2.  And then he hit with his trident for 8.  Clarisa stepped 5 feet to get next to the battered tree and sustained the two spells.  One Hellcat waited for its friend to move up to get flanking for both.  It bit Clarisa for 17.  The Tree gave its remaining but she still dropped to 0.  The other one crit Briscoe for 48.  And hit with a claw for 21.  And missed.  He went from unharmed to near death.  Oakwood crit the fiend and dropped it after making the flat check with a 5.  And put up another tree next to Briscoe, figuring that was more hit points than he could possibly heal. 

TerStegan moved to flank a Hellcat.  He hit once for 25.  Briscoe did BFM on himself for 22 and then cast his last heal on Clarisa for 36.  Clarisa stood up and cast her Silver Needle Darts and missed.  She used a hero point and barely hit.  That did 20 points, none were resisted.  She stopped sustaining to do so.  One Hellcat fled towards the dungeon depths now that its master was dead.  The other made a 31 acro to get past us but TerStegan gave it a parting 9 points.  Oakwood missed his save, finally moved out of the smoke, retched to clear to sickened and raised his shield in case they came back.  TerStegan was dying to give chase but picked up the magic glaive he had dropped at the beginning.  He pretended it was the smoke that stopped him from charging after them and rolled a 1 on his Performance so nobody bought it.  We spent 20 minutes healing up and refocusing.  And then packed back up and headed for home.

And then Brian rolled a random encounter.  A demonologist and an anti-paladin came walking down our secret cave.  (For a hidden cave that no one had used for 500 years, there sure was a lot of traffic in it.)  They claimed ownership of our hard-earned flaming glaives.  And they wanted all the rest of our stuff too.  So, it was to be a fight.  We rolled initiative and agreed to go one round.  And then the GM restarted Foundry to try to fix some stuff and that didn’t fix it.  We took it as a sign to just stop.  Maybe Xeelie will show up to help next time.