The dramatis personae:
Del ~ half-elf wild mage sorcerer, myself
Finn ~ halfling monk
Sue ~ human beastmaster ranger
Davidius MacFleetwood ~ half-elf (iirc) bard
When last we left our intrepid adventurers, Del had threatened the Big Bad End Guy as follows: "I will burn your [bad word] tree to the ground!" And Del then tried to cast a spell
against the BBEG, but there was a misfire, triggering a fireball centered on Del. Unfortunately knocking most of the party unconscious. (Edit: And, importantly, setting the bad guy's tree hopelessly
en fuego, enraging him.)
Luckily, Davidius survived, as did Del's zombie minion, and Davidius managed to do some healing while the zombie grappled the BBEG, and the party managed to beat a fighting retreat over a lengthy stretch of underground terrain. Lightly armored and nimble as they are, they could stay ahead of the healthy, spellcasting bad guy while fighting off his minions.
In fact, they managed to get off enough attacks against Bellock, the BBEG, that - though he, enraged, pursued - he began to take more damage than he could afford to give. Though Del stayed just in sight, teasing him on, he could not get the kill shot he wanted on the half elf sorcerer who destroyed his tree, and slowly the attacks from others started to wear him down. And his minions were eliminated, one at a time.
When Bellock realized it was time to retreat, it was too late. The party smelled blood in the water. Well, most of the party. Davidius had been sprinting away for so long that he didn't know what was happening. But Del got in a lucky firebolt that did a lot of damage, and Bellock turned to run, but could not get far enough. Finn caught him and finished him off with a well-placed dart to the back of the head.
The party finished the dungeon - or, at least, finished off the BBEG - and will finally get an overdue long rest. When it recovers next week, it will be time to track down the last missing adventurer (some NPC paladin, lost somewhere in this dungeon), and make its way home.
Thanks for your support, all! The scoundrel Del lives to fight another day.
For those struggling to sleep tonight, here is Del's backstory, and why I call my own character a scoundrel:
Spoiler Alert!
Born a half elf to a remote clan of elves, his troublemaking nature and mixed heritage made him a good choice for tutelage in Tyreen as a guest of one of the noble houses, specifically, the DuCasse family, led by Vladimir DuCasse. The idea was that his natural charm and cosmopolitan education and upbringing would lead to a natural role as a diplomat when his education concluded. Several things conspired to throw this plan off the rails: First, he couldn't & wouldn't stop being a troublemaker. He's a carouser and a more-than-competent con artist, when he chooses to be. Problems with jilted women and cheated a-holes led to problems with his host family, where - despite his charm - he started to fall out of their good graces. Second, it turned out that he had inherited the spark of wild magic that pops up once every two or three generations in his home tribe. His mother knew he had it, which was part of the reason why she was so eager to send him away from the tribe, where she feared for his safety if the tribal powers-that-be knew that a half-breed had inherited a sacred gift. Legend has it that the tribal spark is the gift of a gold dragon, so he wears a pendant that is a shimmering gold ring, formed of a shard of a gold dragon scale.
Anyway, things started to come unglued in town, so he told his host family that he intended to see civilization and beyond, and they were glad to wish him the best and say goodbye for awhile. Now he is a curious adventurer, glad to turn a buck and find shiny things when he can, as he tries to master the blossoming wild magic within him.
I am told we are now level 5, which means I have some homework to do before next session.