Wherein a New Adventure Beckons…

A month has passed since the orcish attack on Castle Defiant was repulsed.

The response to Finn Sardock’s request for aid from Caithness was (relatively) prompt: lumber, laborers, and additional soldiers have arrived via a Gate, one presumably created by his and Arn’s former master, Gestlin. To Finn’s dismay, no additional instructions from Lord Kerin or his heir, leaving young Master Sardock in an ever increasing role of responsibility as regent for the absent lord.

To Haruki’s great surprise, his elder sister, whom he thought slain, accompanied the reinforcements, bringing with her surprising tales of her survival. She is surprised (and probably a little suspicious) that her brother has accept Finn as his new daimyō, especially when it seems that Sardock does not understand what this means.

Reconstruction continues, with many of the damaged buildings of the surrounding village and the stonework upon Defiant being restored to functionality. During this short period, a dwarven warrior who names himself Brumrumli Barrelfoot has joined the company, quickly proving himself to be a more than capable warrior. Morale among the people of Defiant has cautiously grown.

• Some days earlier, a patrol with Arn, Lan-Fan and Thorn encountered a small orcish scouting party that seemed to be part of a much larger band. With this in mind, Finn leads a larger patrol with them, Brum and Zistral to seek out this band.
• They eventually locate the orcs who are already engaged in a pitched battle with unfamiliar humanoid figures. Aiding the orcs is a giant that many of the warband recognize from the assault upon Defiant and a second group of orcs are moving to reinforce the first. Finn issues quick commands, complimented by Brum’s tactical expertise, and the warband rushes forward.
• Their arrival catches the orcs by surprise and the warband shamelessly abuse this with Arn first hurling an explosive fireball at the leader of the orcish reinforcements while Zistral charges the giant. A fierce battle quickly ensues but it goes very poorly for the greenskins and their giant companion.
• In the aftermath of the battle, the warband take stock of those they have just assisted. These are clearly desert people and they have many casualties, including a spellcaster of some sort who killed himself to cast a spell. The sole woman present (who bears enough resemblance to the dead man to hint at a familial relationship) is the only one present who speaks any Anglish and even then, just barely; she and the other survivors react strangely when Finn offers her water – his intent is to weave a language borrowing spell so he can converse properly, but withdraws this at their reaction. She does identify herself as Ammerah el’Iyana bint Al’Dafar, and Finn, who has a weakness for ‘dusky beauties’ is quite entranced.
• After much gesturing and halting explanations, the warband learn that these people – they call themselves Fa’iel – are seeking out the master of Defiant, which Finn grudgingly acknowledges to be him (for the time being.) They need assistance to free themselves from the tyranny of their master and were actively seeking out ‘One’ and ‘Two’ of Three casters, with Finn being among these and Arn another – they actually have a scroll with the latter’s image! The Third was meant to be her slain brother…
• Ammerah’s other brother, Rashid ibn Al’Dafar, fell during the battle but was not slain and, with the warband’s assistance, is restored to consciousness, at which point he takes over the conversation, using his sister as a translator. In gratitude for Zistral’s heroic charge against the giant which saved many of the Fa’iel from being slain, he presents (through Finn which everyone presumes to be a cultural thing) a spear the centaur recognizes as an ancient weapon of legend for his people. Rashid then notices Lan-Fan and is almost immediately entranced by the tiny but fierce young woman.
• Finn readily agrees to assist them, impressing Brum in the process, and the warband escort the wounded back to Defiant where they can further hash out the specifics and welcome the Fa’iel more properly. Once there, Yusuf is pressed into service as a translator – although Finn utilizes a weave to borrow the former gladiator’s Arabic language.
• After discussing briefly with Ser Malfoy, Finn agrees to lead his warband to meet with the Fa’iel leader to discuss this matter further principally out of hopes of forming an alliance with them against the orcs. Zistral, now with the weapon of legend for his people, announces he must tell the other centaurs that it has been found and will rejoin them later

Player Notes:

• CommJunkee took over as GM for this adventure arc, which resulted in Ronnke needing a character hence Brum the dwarf. Loki also brought in Lan-Fan, who is Haruki’s older (but much, much smaller) sister. Mel opted to continue her hiatus.
• Since we’re livestreaming our games every Saturdays (6:00PM Eastern) at Ronnke’s Twitch channel and then later uploading the stream on the YouTube channel, we’ve decided to dial back on the extensiveness of the recap to just the overall outline.