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