Olympus RPG Blog

Dramatis Personæ

Brother Mendel (Herodian)
Dane Sardock (Winston)
Gabriel Auditore (CommJunkee, for Rigil Kent)
Gestlin the Unpredictable (CommJunkee)
Magnifico the Clown (Feste)
Rainald North-Hammer (Gigermann)

Of Strengths and Perceptions

23 Apr 2014

Continued… At that, the fight began in earnest, a whirling, chaotic tempest of steel and magic. The captain of the Templars rolled on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames, aided by his lieutenant; those Templars bearing sword-and-shield remained in the saddle and charged forward at the Heroes; those bearing two-handed swords quickly dismounted and followed behind the horses; the crossbowmen above loosed their bolts at the spellcasters and Dane. Gestlin dove to the ground to avoid being struck, and crawled to the cover of the boulder. As one of the mounted enemy passed ’round the dark side of the overturned wagon, Gabriel sprang from the shadows and stabbed his horse, which fell with its rider; Gabriel attacked its rider as he got to his feet. One of the Templars cast a Grease spell upon the boulder where Dane perched, and though he struggled to keep his footing, he continued to loose arrows two-at-once at those who approached nigh to the rock. The horsemen weaved amongst the Heroes on the road, dividing them, hacking down at them with their broadswords; Brother Mendel and Magnifico were both struck hard in the fray, while Gestlin blasted the backside of one of the horses with a Flame Jet (the rider managed to stay mounted). Rainald dodged ’round the horses and managed to force two greatsword-wielding foes back away from the casters, but his spear could scarcely find its mark, for the enemy was very skilled. After another volley from above, Dane shifted his aim to those crossbowmen on the cliff. The casters remained encircled by the horsemen, while Gabriel and Rainald exchanged strikes with the other soldiers on the ground. The pixie-scout flew up to Gestlin as he had gotten to his feet; it threw a tiny handful of pixie dust into Gestlin’s face, and he fell to the ground, fast asleep. Brother Mendel cast a healing spell upon himself lest he should fall, and masterfully wielding his staff, disarmed one of the mounted Templars of his sword, then later, another. Magnifico cast a Madness spell upon one of the enemy, who lost himself to imagined horrors, dropping to his knees; then Magnifico tried, in Elvish, to convince the pixie to betray its master for a promise of freedom. The Templar captain, now extinguished, and his lieutenant charged forward to join the fight. The now-weaponless mounted Templars spurred their horses to attack, assaulting the casters with hoof and flank, then they quickly dismounted and scrambled to retrieve their fallen swords. Gabriel wounded one Templar such that he would surely die, and the enemy surrendered himself, and he turned to one of his formerly-mounted company as he reached for his fallen sword. At the same time, Rainald had been lured away from the casters, and after a lucky thrust of his spear caught one in the face, quickly fell back to his fellows. Dane picked off one of the crossbowmen, then another, and another. Brother Mendel now faced the Templar captain, and he disarmed him with his staff; the pixie, unconvinced by Magnifico’s reasoning, tried to pick up the sword for its master, but Mendel spotted it and smashed it with a mighty swing of his staff. Magnifico strained himself to summon the magical energy to cast a Madness spell on another soldier, who succumbed to its effects, just before Magnifico collapsed from the injury it caused him. As the Templar captain reached for his fallen sword, Brother Mendel disarmed him again; the enemy leader became so furious that he chased Brother Mendel unarmed, trying to tackle him, though Brother Mendel batted him aside again and again with his staff. Meanwhile, Gabriel had near-decapitated one foe, then another, while Rainald engaged the lieutenant, and one by one, the Templars, most of them grievously wounded, threw up their hands in surrender to the Heroes. Finally, the Templar captain, exhausted and angry, and grieved by the apparent death his dear pixie companion, gave himself up as well, broken as his company was broken.

The Templars still able asked permission to see to their wounded, and it was granted them; in the end, only one of them had actually died. Rainald, Gabriel and Dane were impressed with their surprisingly-honorable behavior after the battle as they were with their martial skills during it. Magnifico and Gestlin were roused. Magnifico took up the pixie—not quite dead yet—and magically healed it, and offered it freedom, but it instead went to its master; there was no spell binding it to the captain, forcing its loyalty, that they could detect. The Heroes, specifically the casters, were in bad shape, but were intent on dragging the truth of what the Templars were up to here from the captain, who they declared would remain their captive; the others they elected to allow to leave in peace, though the lieutenant insisted he remain behind to stand by his captain, and surrendered his weapons to his men as they returned to their tower in the city. As they all rested, Rainald spoke to the lieutenant, asking what this business was about: he replied that they were under orders to capture them, and could say little else on the matter.

After much rest and some magical healing, the Heroes prepared to “interrogate” the captain, assuring the lieutenant that he would not be harmed. Gestlin then cast a Sleep spell on the captain, who fell into a deep sleep. Then Magnifico cast a Mind Search spell, sifting through the captain’s unconscious—and therefore, unresisting—thoughts for the answers to their questions; he learned that Lord Wallace had been taken captive by the Templars for “treasons” against King Conall, and was being held prisoner in Tredroy, and was not expected to be moved from there. This was cause for some speculation, as the Heroes knew that the Templars had little presence in Caithness, and as an order of the Church, had no business in Caithness politics.

Afterward, it was decided to take both of their prisoners back to the ship, to be held there in its hold, while a runner was sent with a message to the Templars at their tower, demanding a ransom for their release, to be paid at the docks in the morning. The following morning, the Templars did indeed present themselves at the docks as bidden, bearing a ransom of thirty-six gold marks; the prisoners were released as promised, without incident—the Templar captain, though still feeling low over his defeat, even seemed to acknowledge the Heroes’ honorable behavior. After the business was done, the Heroes wished to hasten away to Tredroy, but there was the matter of Proximo and Aamir, and the demonstration that had been promised, along with whatever information Proximo might have been able to gain from his contacts regarding Lord Wallace’s whereabouts. Also, the Templars would undoubtedly have magical communication abilities, and their agents in Tredroy would certainly be immediately alerted to the Heroes’ approach, ruining any chance of surprise. So, they elected to stay in Craine for one more day, to see what could be done.

Notes

• This session was dominated by the rather large combat sequence that began at the end of the previous session
• Gabriel’s player was on vacation for this session; Gestlin’s player picked him up when Gestlin fell
• The Templars that opposed the PCs were possessed of skills of around approaching 20; we quipped that this must be all the “master-level” fighters in the whole order come after us—fortunate for the Order that they didn’t all die. As we began to understand what we were up against, we were unsure of a positive outcome, but we triumphed anyway—for reasons I can’t fully understand; it was a total mess on the PCs’ part, and I don’t recall any particular tactical blunder on the enemy’s part
• Now that we have a definite location of Wallace, we have no real need to go to Bannock, but Aamir himself hailed from Tredroy, so he will undoubtedly want to do a dragon show there—same plan, different location. Proximo’s information via his contacts is no longer a requirement, but we’ll see what he came up with anyway—maybe he can add something useful

Dramatis Personæ

Brother Mendel (Herodian)
Dane Sardock (Winston)
Gabriel Auditore (Rigil Kent)
Gestlin the Unpredictable (CommJunkee)
Magnifico the Clown (Feste)
Rainald North-Hammer (Gigermann)

Of Diplomacy and Intimidation

23 Apr 2014

Brother Mendel met with the rest of the Heroes for breakfast in the common room of the Crimson Mug Inn and showed them the threatening note he had discovered next to his bed, secreted in the night by someone he believed to be a Templar brother-knight, a near-certainty given his Seeker vision and Gabriel’s reconnaissance from the previous day; they deduced the enemy’s location in the vision to be the same tower in town to which Gabriel had followed “Valorus’” Templar escort. They briefly discussed kidnapping the Templar from his bed in the tower using a portal, as they had in the past when Pachacuti traveled with them, but Brother Mendel considered the difficulty of the “weave” and determined it was beyond his skill. Instead, they decided to meet with Aamir Rachmani as promised, at the estate of Proximo, and perhaps draw their foes out of the shadows as they conducted their business for the day. As they were expecting trouble, they geared up for a fight before they left.

Proximo

Aamir

The Heroes traveled through the city without incident, across the river, to arrive at Proximo’s impressive estate. They were met there at the gate by a guard, who took their names and escorted them to a nearby garden area where he introduced them all to Proximo and Aamir. They were offered food and drink by their host, and got straight to business, though not initially regarding the dragon show as was expected—the Heroes instead inquired of Proximo what he might know of Lord Wallace, the Templars, and slavery in-general, telling him of their mission to find the wayward baron. Brother Mendel presented as payment the enchanted necklace they had recovered at Ferrier upon their return from the Otherworld, a “priceless” artifact that granted the wearer special favor with the opposite gender when under the light of the moon; he offered to allow Proximo to wear the necklace out that night to prove its effects. Proximo was so impressed by the gift that he told them much of what he knew (but not all, as he appeared to hold something back), and promised to speak to his many contacts in the area on the matter. When the subject was eventually changed to the dragons, the Heroes expressed a willingness to perform at Bannock, as the event would likely prove useful to their mission. Proximo was almost insistent that they perform in the arena, with the dragons fighting slaves, but Heroes were reluctant to shed blood needlessly, lest the dragons should make a habit of it. Magnifico swore that Brother Mendel’s illusions would be more than adequate to appease the bloodthirsty crowd, but before Proximo would relent, he desired a private performance to prove its “realism”; Magnifico agreed to a demonstration on the morrow, at the estate.

The Heroes left Proximo’s manor satisfied of their success, and started toward the docks to inform Captain Finn they would tarry another day or two. As they left the gate, a suspicious fellow was spotted down the street a bit, inattentively carving a piece of wood while not-so-discreetly observing their activities. Gabriel brazenly strode toward the man to ask him his business; the man at first tried to pretend to innocence in lacing up his boot, then broke into a run down an alley as Gabriel neared him; Gabriel decided to let him go.

Rainald spoke to Captain Finn, and after helping get Gestlin’s wagon loaded back on the ship, spent the day talking with the other sailors here and there on the docks, doing loading work, and fishing for a while, to feed the dragons. At the same time, Gestlin opted to make use of the Mages’ Guild in town to learn some new spells, taking Brother Mendel to aid his studies; Gabriel followed along to watch their backs. The time passed without incident.

As evening approached, the Heroes assembled back at the Crimson Mug. As they arrived, a youth seated on a barrel outside the tavern door jumped down to deliver a written message—upon reading, it said they should meet with Proximo at a monastery just outside town at sunset. The Heroes suspected a trap—perhaps just naturally suspicious—and girded themselves for battle before setting out on foot for the monastery; Gabriel knew the place.

As the sun settled and the shadows grew long, the Heroes strode boldly down the secluded riverside path leading up to the monastery. They spotted an overturned wagon up the path, and presumed it to be the inevitable ambush spot. They spotted a tiny light flitting about in the trees above, identifying it as a pixie (having encountered them before in the Harkwood), before it disappeared into the foliage ahead of them. Then the ambushers revealed themselves; first, a handful of crossbowmen emerged from a high cliff to one side of the road, followed shortly by riders appearing from (figuratively) nowhere before and behind them, all bearing Templar colors. The Heroes were boxed in by the cliff, the riders, and the river, and they took up a defensive stance; Gabriel darted into the shadows next to the fallen cart and disappeared from view, while Gestlin readied an Explosive Fireball and held it. One of the Templars to the fore rode forward a step or two, the pixie they saw before now resting atop his horse’s head; he addressed the Heroes, demanding they lay down arms and surrender or be slain. A few of the Heroes questioned their ability to best such a band, but held fast, wondering internally if this would be their end; after a minute or two of blustering back and forth, Dane, atop a large boulder, impatiently loosed an arrow at the Templars’ leader. Action ensued.

The Leader ducked below Dane’s arrow, but Gestlin threw his ready Fireball at his horse’s feet, releasing a massive fiery explosion, felling the horse and setting the Leader ablaze. The mounted Templars bearing sword-and-shield charged the Heroes, while those bearing two-handed swords quickly dismounted and rushed in on foot; the crossbowmen loosed their arrows at the Heroes’ casters; none were struck, but Gestlin had to dive to the ground and crawl for the cover of the boulder. Then the unthinkable happened:

[“Sir” Magnifico] begins a dance hereafter to be enshrined in Anglish dictionaries under “suggestive,” though perhaps it commands rather than suggests. His sinuous, liquid movements awaken something primal in the human soul, evoking dim racial memories of Lovecraftian horrors beyond time. The concepts involved confront vows of piety, obedience and chastity and evert them—the very concepts of right and wrong lose, for a long, horrid moment, all semblance of meaning…

To be continued…

Notes

• The Necklace was a random bit of treasure we ended up finding in the ruin of Ferrier, our first stop after we returned from the Huallapan homeworld—the Vasa had razed the town, and had no use for treasure, so everything was left behind; Mendel was later able to identify the necklace’s properties. We had all but forgotten we had it
• The PCs really have no intention of touring Al-Wazif right now, though they won’t burn any bridges in that regard, as it may be useful before or after they recover Lord Wallace; however, having the show set up in Bannock is good for the mission, so we definitely wanted the sponsorship there, as well as Proximo’s slaver contacts. We spent a good bit of time thinking of ways to give the audience a vision of bloodshed while still being able to say, “No slaves were harmed during the performance of this show” afterward
• Dane was ready to take a shot at the spy outside Proximo’s estate, sparking a discussion about whether or not one could hide or disguise that sort of thing with an Illusion spell (Mendel doesn’t have proper Invisibility yet)
• We had a brief encounter with pixies in Harkwood in Book I; some of the PCs lost some silver to their sticky fingers, but Gabriel (at least) gave some shiny up willingly—otherwise, the encounter was benign. It did have us expecting an Elvish ambush, though, until the Templars revealed themselves
• Magnifico’s Infernal Dance was intended by his player to distract the crossbowmen from being able to effectively fire upon the other PCs, being unable to look upon the spectacle directly. Mags didn’t have any skill/spell/etc. to allow for that effect by RAW, though it certainly did draw attention. I think it had a greater effect on the players listening to its description—bear in mind that Magnifico is an old man, Unattractive and Hunchbacked, wearing a jester’s bright, silly-looking garb—and it was suggested he might be using Rainald’s spear as a stripper-pole. Just for giggles, the GM made everyone viewing it roll a Fright Check, the results of which included more than one Critical Failure
• We ended up stopping for the night mid-combat; I decided to defer the report until next time, to put it all together into one

Dramatis Personæ

Brother Mendel (Herodian)
Dane Sardock (Winston)
Gabriel Auditore (Rigil Kent)
Gestlin the Unpredictable (CommJunkee)
Magnifico the Clown (Feste)
Rainald North-Hammer (Gigermann)

Of Performances and Revelations

22 Apr 2014

At the approach of the appointed time, as the sun lowered in the West, the Heroes left the Crimson Mug and fetched Gestlin’s wagon once again, and the dragons in their cages, and made their way up the main street to the market square, to prepare for the evening’s show. A space next to the wagon was cleared for the “stage,” with the dragons in their cages to either side of it. Rainald and Radskyrta would take up stations next to the cages to keep the crowd at a proper distance; Dane found a balcony where he could overwatch the crowd for ne’er-do-wells, though he would eventually join the crowd-control team. Gestlin was ready to give his support to the show with magical fireworks, but his reputation for clumsiness gave Magnifico some concern, and it was decided he should sit out the performance to help manage things backstage. Townsfolk began to trickle into the square as the players rehearsed. As the audience grew, Magnifico began to doubt his ability to keep Primus and Secundus under control during their part of the show, and it was decided that the dragons would only be loosed one at a time.

Meanwhile, Gabriel slipped into the shadows of a side alley, and made his way to the guild-hall of the Aldenard Trading Company to observe the goings-on there, and break in when the time was right.

Soon, the spectators filled the square, and Magnifico gave the signal to start the show. Magnifico started off with a light-hearted joke routine that transitioned seamlessly into the main-course, the story of the Heroes’ adventures in the Otherworld against the Vasa, focusing, as it had before, on the role and person of Malcolm Wallace, this time with much embellishment of the Megalan role in the war. Participating due to a last-second capitulation, Gestlin magically levitated Magnifico above and amongst the crowd as he spoke, sang, and played, while Brother Mendel provided illusory illustration of the story, and all seemed well. Both dragons were very clearly unnerved by the large number of humans before them. As the show arrived at the point of the story featuring the dragons’ flyover, Secundus’ cage was opened; Magnifico failed to firmly seize his attention, though, and Secundus hissed and roared at the crowd, flying to rest atop the wagon, beating his wings and baring his teeth menacingly. The onlookers, of course, applauded the magnificent display, being oblivious to the players frantically struggling to get the young dragon under control, and keep Primus from following his example. Then the worst happened—Secundus excitedly bolted down from his perch to attack one of the spectators in the front row; Rainald sprinted to intercept the dragon, and threw his shoulder into the dragon’s ribs, knocking him to the ground at Dane’s feet. The townsfolk in the front row screamed and pressed back into the crowd to get away. Scrambling to help, Gestlin activated his staff with a shout of “Smil-Blam!” and Possessed the creature; his body went limp as his consciousness transferred to the body of the dragon, and he (as the dragon) collected himself and leapt into the air, circling low over the crowd in as close an imitation of Secundus’ intended performance as he could recall, before returning to the cage, entering with a “bow” to the crowd. The onlookers applauded all the more, now convinced by Magnifico that the “attack” was merely part of the show all along. (Primus didn’t get his turn after all, for obvious reasons.) Magnifico continued his performance without missing a beat, and concluded it with the post-Crusade, mysterious disappearance of Lord Wallace, on a trade mission through Megalos.

It seemed the show was very well received by the townsfolk, though none came forward to say they had seen Lord Wallace; in all, monies collected amounted to a little over 22 and a half gold marks, which, after reimbursement of the permit fee, was split up evenly amongst the participants—not a bad profit at all. During the cleanup afterward, the Heroes were approached by a well-dressed Wazifi man who greeted them in the Arab tongue—and was somewhat surprised when Magnifico responded in kind. Speaking Anglish, the man said his name was Aamir Rahmani, of Tredroy, and that he was very interested in sponsoring their show, “unique in all the world,” on a sweeping tour of the great cities of Al-Wazif. Though the Heroes had no time for such distractions from their mission to locate Lord Wallace, Bannock (where Lord Wallace had last been seen) was in Al-Wazif, and such a show there might be a good opportunity to cover their search. The man encouraged them to accept his offer and invited them to meet with him on the morrow before they left downriver; Magnfico promised him that they would do so. He would be found at the home of Proximo, a well-known dealer in slaves all over Megalos, with whom he was staying while in Craine.

Gabriel caught up to the rest as they returned to the Crimson Mug to bed down for the night; he had broken into the Aldenard hall and got away cleanly, but found next-to-nothing there that would shed any light on Lord Wallace’s potential whereabouts or his business with the trade company.

As Brother Mendel woke the following morning, he found a dagger stuck in a post by his bed, anchoring a paper note. Without reading the note, he immediately cast a Seeker spell to divine the location of the one who had left the dagger; he caught a vision of a man dressed in the garb of a Templar brother-knight, in a stone-walled room with a view of the river through a single, narrow window—likely the tower where Gabriel had shadowed the Templar earlier that day. Brother Mendel then carefully opened the note and read: “Give up on your search for Wallace or it will be your deaths.”

Notes

• Gabriel’s player was called away to work shortly after the session started, and did not return until it was all but over; had that not occurred, more would undoubtedly have been made of his break-in
• The GM gave Magnifico a -2 to handle the dragons due to the crowd, the size of which they had not yet experienced; then, at the critical moment, he rolled a “17” anyway—the die is a fickle mistress 😛
• After the near-death of one of the crowd, Magnifico’s player was beginning to wonder, understandably, whether this large-scale production was a wise idea—then the Wazifi guy showed up
• The discovery of the knife-note inevitably led to a lengthy discussion about how we should answer the deed; a most promising idea we had was to kidnap the Templar from his bed via a portal, created by “Alien Magic” (that is, Ritual Path Magic). As this group is inexperienced with RPM, this resulted in quite a long time spent figuring out what it would take for Brother Mendel, whose skills and abilities in such things are, as it turned out, woefully insufficient for what would turn out to be a rather more powerful effect than we had led ourselves to believe when we were portalling all over the Otherworld in Book I—suffice it to say that the “portal” plan was abandoned. Hopefully, we’ll have a better one ready for next time

Dramatis Personæ

Brother Mendel (Herodian)
Dane Sardock (Winston)
Gabriel Auditore (Rigil Kent)
Gestlin the Unpredictable (CommJunkee)
Magnifico the Clown (Feste)
Rainald North-Hammer (Gigermann)

Of Rumours and Questions

22 Apr 2014

In the morning, the Heroes split up.

Rainald went to the docks to help the crew with the ship’s maintenance, and help them get Gestlin’s wagon unloaded and reassembled for Magnifico, along with the flimsy, makeshift cages for Primus and Secundus—designed for onlookers’ peace-of-mind rather than keeping the dragons restrained. Between work shifts, Rainald made his way up and down the river’s docks and spoke with the sailors there about whatever might be of interest, and perhaps any sightings of Lord Wallace or the Merry Weather, the barge that had brought him downriver through Craine. Later in the day at some of the sailors’ suggestion, Rainald visited the office of the port authority. Given the impatient, agitated patrons loitering in the office lobby, he was surprised to be served so quickly—perhaps a perk of his status as Lord of Rainaldsheim? The small, well-mannered clerk led him to the archives and pulled down from the shelves a massive folio containing the port records for the specified period. Rainald realized then that he should have brought along someone who could read, and informed the clerk that he “would have to do the honors” for him; the clerk read aloud the pertinent information: the Merry Weather had indeed stopped in Craine for a couple of days about a year ago, though no accounting of passengers was available, nor its business at port. The clerk politely and professionally refused Rainald’s gift of a silver piece for his aid until it was “carelessly” dropped on the floor; Rainald helped the clerk put the heavy record-book back in its place, thanked the man again, and took his leave.

Gabriel and Gestlin made their way to the city’s market districts to ask after encounters with Lord Wallace when he undoubtedly stopped in Craine. The two both spotted a familiar sigil, that of House Berd, which belonged to the Lord of Fordham in Caithness, above the door of the hall of the Aldenard Trading Company. Thinking Lord Wallace would surely have done business with fellow Caithnessers, they strode up to the door and knocked. They were met at the door by a clerk, who led them into the lavishly-decorated lobby, full of rare curiosities from all over the known world (which Gestlin managed not to knock over). Upon inquiry, the clerk informed the two that this company was owned and run by Hagen Berd, nephew to Lord Fordham, and traded in various goods, but his master was unavailable to meet with them; he instead offered to give his master word of their desire to speak. Gabriel sensed the man was hiding the truth, and taking care that his dragon tattoos were visible to him, forcefully demanded again to see his master; the clerk took umbrage and demanded the two leave the premises. Gestlin made a valiant attempt to defuse the situation, but the clerk would not budge an inch, promising only that the master would be informed of their wishes, and that they would be contacted at their lodging when he became available. Seeing they would learn nothing more from the man, the two left; Gabriel told Gestlin of his suspicions as they returned to the square.

Magnifico, along with Brother Mendel, had borrowed Gestlin’s wagon intending to take the dragons on a street-tour of the city in advertisement of the show he intended to perform that evening, expecting someone would stop him and tell him where he needed to go to obtain proper permission for such an event. The spectacle drew throngs of onlookers immediately—a dragon of any kind was a rare sight indeed—and they were stopped by the city guard, who were rather less informed regarding administrative matters than Magnifico had hoped. They instead turned the wagon about and headed in the direction of the city’s arena, followed all the way by a crowd of the curious. But when they arrived, they saw that the arena was vacant—an off day—and the playbill indicated no shows to be performed therein this day. Then they continued to the town hall, crowds still following, and begged an audience with the city’s masters. The audience was granted, and they discovered that permission to perform at the arena would be ludicrously expensive, especially on such short notice as this, but as the administrators were eager to disperse the crowd, they settled on a permit to perform in the market square in the evening for five gold marks; between the Magnifico and Brother Mendel, they gathered and paid the fee, and went their way, expecting to recover their money and much more.

Dane spent the day relaxing at the Crimson Mug inn, listening, carefully and discreetly, to the conversations amongst the soldiers and mercenaries drinking and eating there throughout the day. As afternoon approached, the rest of the Heroes began to trickle in from their business in the city to join him. Rainald told of his findings at the port authority. Gabriel and Gestlin told of their experience at the guild-hall. Magnifico and Brother Mendel were the last to arrive at the inn, and as they did, they informed the others of “the show”; Rainald volunteered to help manage the crowd, and there was talk of enlisting Gestlin’s magical talents for the performance. (Also, they discussed the need for a collapsible “stage” to be added to the wagon for future occasions such as this.)

Some time later, a well-dressed man claiming to be Hagen Berd arrived at the inn and found the Heroes at their corner. They invited him to their table and asked what business he might have done with Lord Wallace, and when he might have seen him last; he, in return, asked many questions of them, about what they knew or didn’t know, but in turn revealed little, raising much suspicion regarding his motives. Then, a very drunk man at a table across the room spotted the man and waved in a friendly manner, calling out his name as “Valorus”; the man who had claimed to be Hagen Berd quickly excused himself and left the inn in a hurry, ignoring the drunk man’s attempts to get his attention.

Gabriel left immediately after, and discreetly followed behind “Valorus” as he hurried down the street, constantly looking over his shoulder. Gabriel observed as he met with a man garbed in the uniform of a Templar Knight, who then escorted “Valorus” back to the Aldenard guild-hall before leaving him there. Meanwhile, back at the inn, the others bought the drunk man another drink and attempted to coax from him more information about this “Valorus” fellow and what he might have been up to; he didn’t know him well—just drank with him sometimes—but he did confirm that it was not Hagen Berd they had spoken to. This man, a furrier by trade, had been commissioned on a number of occasions to make fur coats for Master Berd’s many mistresses, though he had never met him in person, nor knew any more of his dealings.

Some time later, Gabriel returned and shared his discovery, and Dane began to put the pieces of the puzzle together: Lord Wallace had a long-standing grievance regarding the appointment, against his many objections, of the royalist Lord Fordham as regent of the Caithnesser kingdom on the Huallapan world after the Crusade’s end, and there had been no love lost between them since; also, the Templars had not much of a presence in Caithness until the appointment of the late Bishop Zabka, a Templar agent, to the Archdiocese of Photius, and could gain much standing both in Caithness and the Otherworld through collusion with Lord Fordham, and the rebel Lord Wallace’s popularity could interfere with their backing of the more sympathetic royalist barons. Between the two factions, there was certainly plenty of motivation to do Lord Wallace harm. But “the show must go on,” and so, the Heroes discussed what to do next.

Notes

• This is the first time Rainald’s illiteracy actually reared its head in-game
• Brother Mendel’s player was late this session, or he might have gone with Rainald earlier; worked out anyways, since he’s an integral part of the traveling dragon show (that keeps getting bigger every time we stop)

Dramatis Personæ

Brother Mendel (Herodian)
Dane Sardock (Winston)
Gabriel Auditore (Rigil Kent)
Gestlin the Unpredictable (CommJunkee)
Magnifico the Clown (Herodian, for Feste)
Rainald North-Hammer (Gigermann)

Of Pirates and Soldiers

14 Apr 2014

With little time to think things through before the ambushers repositioned themselves, Gabriel and Rainald got a long running start and launched themselves as far out as they could into the river. Gabriel, the best swimmer among the Heroes, executed a perfect dive and made quickly for the shore, while Rainald entered the water rather clumsily, and had a bit of a hard time getting himself sorted before he finally made progress toward the riverbank. Gestlin, holding an Exploding Fireball, and Dane, his bow, scanned the shoreline for clear targets; they could see little but shadows for the trees and undergrowth that veiled the enemy’s movements. Gabriel reached the shore well before Rainald, and hauled himself into the long grass that dominated the land here, creeping forward as quickly as the terrain would allow, in an attempt to get a view of their attackers; he slid behind a tree and activated his Elvish Hunter’s Cloak, making him practically invisible in the shadows there. He could see the enemy just ahead, moving together as a unit, as a “voice” commanded them to form a shield wall; Gabriel could make out crossbows in the rank behind the shields and spears—these were not mere brigands, but trained soldiers. As the enemy was forming up, Gestlin saw just enough through the trees from his elevated position on the ship, and let fly the Explosive Fireball he had been holding; it landed amidst the formation, but the enemy was undeterred—disciplined; this would be no easy fight. Gabriel attempted to sneak around to the flank of the formation as quickly as he could through the slog of mud and swamp-grass, but was miraculously spotted by the “Voice,” who alerted the formation to his presence. Meanwhile, Gestlin cast Walk on Air upon Rainald, who, as he swam furiously forward, found himself climbing out of the water. Rainald pushed back his initial shock, got to his feet, and charged forward, just above the height of the tall grass. Brother Mendel crafted a Complex Illusion, making himself appear larger and louder, wreathed in flame, swearing Doom upon the ambushers, but the enemy took little notice of the display, being focused on the fighters before them by their commander. The “Voice” alerted his men to the presence of Gestlin, now high in the air and closing, as a result of another Walk on Air spell; another Fireball was loosed down upon the formation, but the soldiers held fast, firing their crossbows as they had opportunity, passing empty weapons to the rear as loaded weapons were passed forward. Gabriel, having arrived at the flank of the formation, found himself engaged with enemy spearmen while tangled in a nasty thicket that proved itself the enemy’s ally; Gabriel took a bodkin-point through his cuirasse, but struggled on. Rainald finally joined the fray, and after pausing to take a bolt or two in his shield, charged over the formation, intent on hitting the crossbowmen to the rear. Rainald and Gabriel both spotted the “Voice” emerging from the trees behind the formation, a giant of a man bearing a massive greatsword; the enemy’s captain spotted Rainald flying over his shield-wall and recognized him, calling out his name in surprise. But Gabriel and Rainald did not yet recognize the man in return; Gabriel continued to struggle through the thicket as Rainald spiraled down from above to the rear of the formation. The enemy captain took a receiving stance, demanding the Heroes lay down their weapons or face death. Gabriel attempted to attack the man, but thanks to the enemy thicket, he not only failed to connect, but caught a heavy blow to the ribs that dropped him to the ground. Perhaps it was something in the way the massive soldier swung the greatsword with such grace that caught Rainald’s attention, for he was reminded that this mountain of a man before him was an ally of Wallace from the Huallapan Crusade, Sir Rodham Malfoy. As Gabriel crawled out of the greatsword’s range, bleeding profusely and clinging to consciousness, a very confused Rainald and desperate Sir Rodham continued to posture and threaten one another until Rainald, in a moment of clarity, demanded to know what all this was about before the former-allies ended up killing one another for no good reason. When Sir Rodham declared that he was after the ship’s cargo, Rainald understood the situation, and offered to parley; Sir Rodham agreed, and commanded his men to stand down, then Rainald bellowed, “PARLEY!” for the others’ benefit—Brother Mendel was levitated halfway across the river at that point, and Gestlin was about to cast Walk on Air on Dane, who had yet to even lay eyes on the enemy.

The fight now ceased, Rainald told Sir Rodham that there was no cargo to speak of aboard the ship, but that he could see for himself; Sir Rodham demanded they disarm, but when Rainald swore an oath that the man would not be harmed, he relented and sent his men to fetch a boat, and to bind Gabriel’s wounds—Gabriel would remain ashore as a hostage.

Sir Rodham Malfoy was a landed knight of Donlis, and Lord-Commander of the Iron Lancers, who had proven themselves very capable during the Crusade against the Vasa. But he was dishonored after the last battle of the Crusade, when he ordered his men to come to the aid of Lord Wallace as he had promised, in defiance of orders given by Krandall Marsden, Lord of Donlis and Lathan Redbeard, Lord of Redhall, to remain in the village of Tooktook. Afterward, Lord Donlis swore that there would be dire consequences, and upon their return to Caithness, Sir Rodham was stripped of his titles and lands. Destitute, living with his family at a monastery, Sir Rodham returned from a hunt one day to find his wife and young son murdered, hanging from a tree. Sir Boris Marsden, son of Lord Donlis, had hung a distinctive coin ’round Sir Rodham’s wife’s neck as a taunt; Sir Rodham hunted down and killed Sir Boris, stringing him up on a tree by his own entrails. Now an outlaw, Sir Rodham and his Iron Lancers lived on what they could take from the river.

The disgraced knight told his tale of woe as they rowed over to the ship, continuing as Rainald and Captain Finn showed him to the hold. He “claimed” the small amount of trade goods there, and Finn agreed that it wasn’t worth fighting over and allowed Sir Rodham’s men to take it. Their “business” concluded, the Heroes told Sir Rodham of their mission to find Lord Wallace, and he admitted he had not seen him pass through this way, but agreed that if he did encounter him later, he would see him returned home. Rainald then promised Sir Rodham that after they found Lord Wallace, or what had become of him, they would return to help Sir Rodham restore his good name and get his revenge, and if they could not, that Lord Wallace would undoubtedly take him in.

Seven days later, after the ambush in the Donlis swampland, the Gleaming Endeavor arrived at the confluence of the River Smoke and the River Conn, far inside the Megalan border; the next stop in the Heroes’ journey, Craine, the largest city in Western Megalos, lay just ahead. They berthed the ship at the city’s docks, and paid the usual fees; along with taking on fresh provisions, there was regular maintenance that needed doing, which would take a few days. Gabriel had clearly been to Craine before in his travels; he made a few recommendations on which tavern they should hit first—they made for the Crimson Mug, an establishment frequented by soldiers and mercenaries. Gabriel would join them later, as he needed to take Cometes out for a ride, to stretch his legs. (The others were not aware that he intended to ride past the home where he grew up, here in Craine—Gabriel had never spoken of it.)

The Heroes, and the crew of the Gleaming Endeavor, spent the better part of the day drinking and relaxing, listening to rumors and stories told by the other patrons. A Megalan mercenary staggered over to the Heroes’ corner table; the man took issue with Gabriel, obviously Megalan, hanging out with all these backstabbing Caithnessers—he said something about a raid into Caithness, or by Caithness, and someone getting killed by Caithnessers. Brother Mendel began to defuse the situation with drink(s), as usual, but as the inebriated soldier continued to try to pick a fight, Gestlin caused him to Sleep instead. Perhaps feeling somewhat sorry for the man, some silver was passed to one of the nearby prostitutes, and Rainald carried the sleeping fellow upstairs to her room, leaving him there in her (bored, as he was unconscious) company. A bit later, some other Megalan soldiers at a nearby table were talking about a situation brewing in Al-Wazif, and Bannock in particular, that created an undeniable opportunity to retake the city for Megalos; Rainald brought a round of drinks to their table and joined them for a while, coaxing out the details, as he was “looking for mercenary work.” Meanwhile, there had been a couple of minstrels playing on opposite sides of the room, but during a break, Magnifico took advantage of the lull to play and sing himself, a new song he had written about the deeds of Lord Wallace; the song was well-received by the patrons, drawing calls for more, and more than one round of free drinks, but this time, no accounts of encounters with Lord Wallace here. Then, as the day drew down, the Heroes and the crew made arrangements to lodge for the night, eager for a night in a bed that didn’t sway with the waves.

Notes

• Magnifico’s player was out this week; the character was taken up by Herodian in his stead when called for
• Rainald was using a default Swimming skill of 8, and I had little confidence that he would make the swim in any reasonable amount of time (if at all), but I was committed to the action already; as it turned out, after swallowing some water and 5 seconds of flailing about, he managed to get moving in spite of it. He will be getting a point in Swimming this time, though—not suffering that again
• All the party members (except Gestlin, who is new) had received a Hunter’s Cloak, a gift from the Elves of Harkwood in the latter days of Book I; these are not self-powered, so they require FP expenditure on the part of the weilder to activate
• Gabe’s player had a really bad day at the dice, combined with some regrettable choices in his angle of approach; he was at ½-¼ Move/Dodge for the entire fight, and made a lot of bad rolls on top of that, to add insult to injury. C’est le jeu
• Once again we really should have backed off and evaluated the tactical situation rather than charge madly and disorderly into the fray—it could easily have gone far worse, and Sir Rodham is no joke with that greatsword. On the other hand, if we had beaten them soundly and/or killed Sir Rodham, it really would have been a shame, in retrospect, given the sympathetic nature of his story. In any case, I still want to know if Rainald could have beaten him in single combat…we may do a test-fight later, just to see

Dramatis Personæ

Brother Mendel (Herodian)
Gabriel Auditore (Rigil Kent)
Gestlin the Unpredictable (CommJunkee)
Magnifico the Clown (Feste)
Rainald North-Hammer (Gigermann)

Of Comedies and Tragedies

7 Apr 2014

The Heroes arose early the next morning, and were treated to a generous breakfast meal by their host. After they had eaten, Master Cray bade them ask of him what they would; the only thing they could think to need beside the ship already provided was a decent map covering the lands they were to journey through. A servant fetched a purse for Master Cray, and they left straightaway for the Simonton docks, to a well-known mapmaker there. Once some suitable maps were procured, Master Cray escorted the Heroes to the Gleaming Endeavor and introduced them to the captain, a gruff, grey-haired man called Finn, with whom they made arrangements for the immediate loading of their things. Most decided to sell their horses, though Gabriel would not part with Cometes (to none’s surprise); Rainald decided to leave his very-strong horse, Greyfell, with Master Cray, to keep until their return. Captain Finn was already informed about Gestlin’s wagon, though it was a bit bigger than he was prepared for; they decided to remove the wheels and axles, and lashed it to the deck. Captain Finn was not informed of the presence of the two dragons before, and balked at the idea of bringing them along; he insisted they be caged, but Magnifico soothed his fears with some circus tricks to prove their discipline, and the Captain relented that they should be kept on a leash instead, sleeping atop the wagon as usual. The Captain introduced his crew, including Shaun, Tully, and two dark-skinned fellows, brothers, named Bombatta and Zuba; he had to let some of his people go to make room for his passengers, and insisted that any among the Heroes who were able should help out—Rainald volunteered without hesitation, having quite a bit of experience with small sailing vessels; the others all followed suit as well, offering whatever service they were good for. They immediately went to work helping with the loading of provisions and such, including a deer or two for the dragons, and were under way before noon.

That evening, the Captain invited the Heroes to his cabin for supper, and as they ate, he discussed the particulars of the journey: he expected around two weeks before they would reach Craine, in Megalos, where they would take on provisions, though they would stop along the way for fresh water and such. He then inquired about the Heroes’ mission, and what his part was expected to be; they decided they had nothing to hide, and told him of the facts known regarding Lord Wallace’s disappearance. Captain Finn suggested that Lord Wallace might have been taken captive by Wazifi slavers at the Sa’azaraq Straits, though none were aware of any ransom demands, which suggested Wallace might be keeping his identity secret.

Satisfied with what he’d been told, and noting Magnifico’s appearance as an entertainer, Captain Finn suggested he entertain the crew for the evening. Atop the aft-castle, Magnifico played out the story of the Heroes’ adventures together before and during the Huallapan Crusade, greatly embellished for dramatic effect, enhanced as in the old days by Brother Mendel’s magical illusory illustration. The Captain and the crew were greatly impressed, such that they were excited to be a part of this new adventure alongside them.

Several days later the Gleaming Endeavor arrived at the river-town of Donlis toward the evening, and stopped there for the night. The Heroes decided to take their ease at a somewhat-higher class of establishment this time; Magnifico had a plan to do some entertaining there, and win the crew a free round of drinks. He strode brazenly up to the tavern’s proprietor and announced his intentions; though the man was disinclined at first, Magnifico smooth-talked him into allowing him to entertain the patrons. Once again, Magnifico played out the Heroes’ story, with Brother Mendel’s illustration, and now with the crew of the Gleaming Endeavor to cheer him on as well—he even worked the crew into the story, though they were not originally there. But Magnifico had a hidden agenda; he made certain to focus on Lord Wallace’s participation in their adventures, such that someone who might have seen him recently might recognize him—and so it was, that one of the tavern patrons declared that he knew that man, Wallace. Again, at the end, Magnifico’s talents were rewarded with the praise of his audience, and many rounds of drink as he had intended. Rainald took the occasion to speak to the man who had said he had seen Lord Wallace, and extracted his story: this man was among the crew of the barge that Lord Wallace had taken from Simonton, and had been with him for some weeks, before the barge turned back at Bannock, as was their schedule—the barge was not seaworthy, and could not cross Keyhole Bay—he last saw Lord Wallace at Bannock, and had heard nothing more since.

After a pleasant evening, the Heroes and the crew returned to the ship and set sail once again. Downriver of Donlis was a vast, shallow swampland, treacherous to navigate without a local guide, but the Captain had oft sailed these waters and knew them well. A day or so later, a body was spotted in the reeds near the riverbank, shot in the back with arrows, and not long dead by the look of it. They fished the body out of the river, and Brother Mendel cast a spell to Speak with the Dead, learning only that the dead man’s boat had been attacked from the riverbank by a hail of arrows before he had perished. Though piracy in these parts was not unusual, they normally let go their prey, taking only the cargo—the Captain agreed they should be wary, and all donned their armor. Soon after, they spied a column of smoke in the distance, and as they crept carefully forward down the river, they came upon the burning, half-sunk wreck of a riverboat—it bore a harpoon stuck deep in the rear quarter, the line cut. Seeing no sign of ambush, they continued past the wreck. Ahead, Brother Mendel and Gabriel spied what appeared to be rope below the water’s surface spanning the width of the river—a trap, meant to tear the rudder from the ship’s keel, by Gabriel’s reckoning. Captain Finn acted quickly, commanding the crew to drop the anchor and bring the ship to a full-stop; the ship strained at the line and drifted with the current, swinging ’round astern to rest a few paces before the trap. Gestlin charged up a large Fireball and blasted a log on the bank where the ropes were attached, throwing spray and splinters high into the air. Magnifico commanded Primus and Secundus to fly, and they circled wide overhead. The others scrambled about the deck to face their invisible attackers. Then, as Gestlin charged up another Fireball, someone spotted movement some distance ahead in the trees along the riverbank—men approaching, undoubtedly the pirates—and they all prepared to do battle.

Notes

• Winston was AWOL this week; fortunately Dane wasn’t truly needed, though he definitely will be next time
• Cometes is Gabriel’s Animal Ally, an exceptional white horse—obviously he would be going along no matter what; similarly, Gestlin’s wagon is a signature item (literally?), and would not be left behind
• Magnifico’s player ended up rolling a “5” for both performances, plus assistance bonus from Mendel; needless to say his story was well received. The combination of Magnifico’s storytelling and Mendel’s illusions hails from the Book I adventures; anytime someone needed to be told what happened before, we’d break out the “newsreel footage”
• There was a bit of discussion at the end about how best to clear 20yds of river to the bank, to get the fighters to land to deal with the enemy; Gabriel is an excellent swimmer, but Rainald is most definitely not (he’s at default), as is Radskyrta. At the end, we were prepared to jump as far as we could to get some distance, but success is far from certain—maybe a better plan will emerge before next session