Session 14 Summary

[David Roomes]

Session 14  Summary

The Player Characters  (aka the "Heroes")

Winlock – orc/dwarf barbarian, wearing heavy chain mail armor and wielding a big war hammer
William – the party's wizard, human male, robed and armed with a broad array of spells
Belkor – the dashing human swordsmen/mariner wielding twin scimitars
Listig – the elven thief/archer equipped with several different enchanted arrows


The Current Non Player Characters

Halimir, an elven ranger, who has fought along side the party for several game sessions now. A red shirt NPC, but a damned lucky one so far...



Having finished their business at the tomb, the party loaded up the three sarlang steeds and began the journey back to Riverfort. After many days of adventuring in the humid swamp, they were very much looking forward to a hot meal and a hot bath back at Endroad Keep. They were also looking forward to seeing the progress that had been made on the repairs of Endroad Keep.

Their route would take them near two orcish encampments that had been marked on the map they had obtained from the witch's minions. The first was a lone tower. The second was the large camp which they had sacked several weeks ago (and which the orcs and other minions has promptly recaptured).

The party approached both of these stealthily, but it was no needed. They found the aftermath of battle at each location. Bloated corpses... orcs, saurian, human brigands and the like. They had been dead for 2 or 3 days. The party assumed that this was more evidence that the witch's minions had turned on each other when she died and the charm spells have collapsed.

When they finally reached Endroad Keep they were met with a shock. The place was utterly destroyed. The keep was nothing but a pile of smoldering rubble. All of the buildings and fields around it had been burned. Nailed to one of the charred wooden beams, they found a wanted poster with their names and faces. It said the "Knights of Endroad Keep" (as the party had been calling themselves for weeks) were "wanted" for "theft of the King's property". A 10,000 gold coin reward was offered for information leading to the arrest of the criminals.

The party explored a bit further and came across a farm which hadn't been torched. An old man outside of the farm recognized them and welcomed them and brought them into the farmhouse. There were many others in the home, refugees from the other burned out farms.

The villagers fed the party and explained what had happened. An army of "soldiers in black" had come in an armada of ships and taken control of Riverfort. Endroad Keep was razed. The duke and his family and all of the duke's officers had been imprisoned. This army had sent patrols to the nearby villages. Hundreds of them were out searching the countryside for the player characters. The entire region was being "occupied" by a portion of the Anquaran army, which the locals were calling the "Black Guard". The officers of this Black Guard had even dispatched a ship to Willow Bay to treat with the Duke and inform him not to interfere with this occupation lest it lead to full scale war between Anquar and Mercia.

The party ate their meal and thought on these revelations. The situation had changed drastically while they had been out adventuring in the swamp.

The party decided to leave Jesara, the girl they had rescued, with these farming families. They knew her father and they assured the party that they would get her home.

William sent a message to the captain of the Cloudhawk. The Cloudhawk was still moored off the coast of the swamp far to the south, waiting on the party to return from their assault on the teleport gate and the witch.

William asked the captain to move the ship and meet them at the first drop off point (which was half way up the swamp coast). The captain replied that they had been bordered and searched by several "black ships", but they had been let go.

The party travelled, by sarlang, through the swamp one more time. They stayed fairly close to the coast, but not within sight of the water. They travelled quickly and quietly, thanks to the large reptilian steeds.

When they were just a few hours from the rendezvous, they became aware of a large group of armored men moving south (on a parallel course) further inland. This group was following a trail. A quick recon by the two elves verified that it was a group of "Black Guard" soldiers. Approximately 15 of them, including a robed and masked wizard and one of the giant armored warriors. After a few moments of observation, Listig also noticed that there was movement about a hundred meters ahead of the group. He moved closer and saw a stealthy individual, with long blades and bow, moving ahead of the group. This person's cloak was the same color as the foliage and shadows around it and he was difficult to make out. Listig eyed the cloak with envy. He wanted that cloak.

The two elves returned to the party and the party opted to avoid contact. Outnumbered 3 to 1, this was not a fight they wanted. They quickly made their way to the rendezvous point and found the Cloudhawk waiting for them. They asked the captain about his provisions, The captain indicated that their supplies were very low. He had not expected to be out this long and they were just about to the point of venturing inland to hunt.

The party said they would take care of it. The two elves ventured in to do a couple of hours of hunting. Listig did well, bagging a rabbit and a young wild boar with his time. After finishing the dressing the kill and wrapping the meat in the hide, Listig became aware of a soung. There was someone else moving through the swamp near him. This other person was very stealthy. Listig moved quickly into the brush. The two began a game of cat and mouse, evading and pursuing. Both listening, moving and listening again. Listig and this other person was both experts in stealth. Listig moved behind a large tree and waited. When he heard the other person coming, he activated his invisibility ring and slowly began to move.

The other person came into view. It was the cloaked individual he had seen a couple of hours earlier acting as vanguard to the black guard group. The man had his bow out, arrow knocked and drawn and it was clear he was looking for a target. He moved very quietly through the brush.

Listig drew an arrow and lined up a good shot and fired. The arrow struck the man in the middle, going right through the stomach. The man was knocked onto his back, dropping his bow.  Listig fired again as the man regained his feet and then a third time, using a Winter's Bite Arrow and struck him in the thigh. Ice flowed up the man's torso and froze his left foot into a frozen puddle. Listig finished him off with his sword. The whole combat had been silent. With a smile, Listig pulled the cloak off of the man and put it on. He then dragged the man back to the ship.

Halimir also returned with a couple of kills. Between the two of them, they had hunted up enough food for several days. The party told the captain to set sail for Freeport with all possible haste.

At the ship got under way, William cast a Detect Magic spell over the equipment from the dead man. The cloak glowed as did several of the arrows. He decided to spend more time on the gear and identify its property. While William worked on the magic items, Listig and the others stripped the armor from the dead man. The armor was quite unusual. It was made from woven cords of something. It wasn't leather. It was smoother and more spongy. Possible some kind of treated plant materials. In any case, this woven armor was fascinating. Listig, Winlock and Belkor spent some time testing it. They determined that it was stronger and tougher than Listig's leather armor, but would be considerably quieter to move in. Surprisingly, it also resisted fire quite well. Listig put it on. He is now wearing both the armor and the cloak of the dead man.

William concluded his studies and informed the party of the nature of the magic items. The cloak gradually alters its color to match its environment. The change is slow and subtle, taking about a half a minute, but the effect is continuous. The cloak provides excellent camouflage. The arrows were more interesting. The dead archer had six arrows with wicked barbed heads made from some sort of coppery alloy. When knocked and drawn, the head becomes white hot. A vicious weapon. One that would continuing inflicting damage unless the target took the time to pull it out. And those barbs would make that all the worse.

There was one other magic arrow. It was unusual in that instead of a bladed hunting tip, it had a faceted crystal with a sharp point. William called it an "arcane disruptor arrow". When the crystal head impacts a hard surface and shatters, it unleashes a pulse of "anti magic" that extends out in a sphere several meters. This pulse of energy will temporarily disable any magic item, spell or magic effects. It will also make the affected area a "mana dead zone". These effects are all temporary. [DM Note: Yes, it's an mini-EMP arrow...]

The ship had a four day journey ahead of it.

On the first day, William contacted the Duke of Willow Bay with a sending spell (25 word limit) and asked the situation there. The Duke replied that a Black Guard "general" was in his office, two ships in the Bay and they were "negotiating".

On the second day, William contacted the Duke again and informed him that they were on a ship heading to Freeport to speak to the King and asked if the Duke could send a message to the King letting him know of their arrival.

The Duke informed him with a return message that he would try to "dispatch a rider or ship" but due to the military tension in Willow Bay, it might not be possible.

On the second day, William contacted a former associate, a friend to the wizard whom William had been apprentice. This man was something of an "uncle" to William. William sent a message to him via spell to let him know that the party was coming to Freeport and that they may need assistance. The uncle responded that he would be ready to aid them.

On the third day, the ship sailed around the southern tip of Mercia and began the final leg north toward Freeport.

On the morning of the fourth day, the lookout in the crow's nest of the Cloudhawk spotted three black sails on the horizon, to the south (behind them). Over the next few hours, the three ships continued to close the distance. Belkor, being the mariner of the group, was able to tell that these ships were moving much faster than they should have been able to given the wind conditions. No doubt some dark magic granted them unnatural speed.

The three black ships continued to chase the Cloudhawk toward Freeport, getting closer and closer. By the time the Cloudhawk entered Freeport Harbor, their pursuit was only a half hour behind.

They found a free pier and docked. The gang plank hit the pier and the party rushed off the ship.

And that's where we ended it.  Next session, we pick up here.

The party is a half hour ahead of three Black Guard ships. They don't know yet how they are going to get an audience with the King. They aren't even sure what they should tell him. Do they tell him about the Talisman of Dreams? Do they seek military assistance?

The party is also not sure what to make of the three ships chasing them. Obviously, it's the Black Guard and they want the Talisman. Are they going to come and discuss "terms of the occupation" with the King as they did with the Duke in Willow Bay? Will they attack? Will they simply chase the party around the city and try to kill them for the Talisman they carry?

Lots of questions. We'll get the answers next session.