Pre-Campaign Session Summary 1 and 2

[avisarr]

For this campaign, I'm going to be "soloing" each of the players a little bit before the main campaign gets started. As it turns out, Greg and Steve ended up meeting on the road and their solo sessions ran together. So, they two of them have had a little bit of adventuring. This is all "pre campaign" stuff. It provides some background flavor, but that's it. The real campaign still doesn't start for about 2 months.

However, I'm going to faithfully keep of journal of this campaign and I'll be doing it AS we play. So, it'll be more detailed and more timely. Steve wrote this one up and I edited it. So, here's the first bit of play in the new campaign.



Pre-Campaign Session Summary - Greg (aka Hugh) and Steve (aka Soris)

The following is a summary of the first two solo sessions that were played out prior to the campaign. These are pre-campaign sessions to get two of the players familiar with their characters and give them a little background (and let them travel south down to where the campaign will be starting).


Session 1

Hugh de Hadron, a young soldier in the service of the Arkalian Mounted Regiment, shocks his superiors at his knighting ceremony when he refuses to accept Barrinor as his god and denounces his faith. The young knight leaves Strathon the next morning and travels south.

After two days of travel, he enters the town of Sterling. There is a guild house of the Regiment in town, and Hugh enters in hopes of sanctuary for the night. Hugh finds that the ranking officer is a fellow knight and an acquaintance. Hugh is welcomed and enjoys good food and good company. Awkward questions are answered. Hugh is bound for the southlands to seek his fortune and is partly on a quest to find himself and his faith.

He leaves the next morning and follows the main road south. He camps for two or three nights without incident. On the 3rd day southbound he sees a fire in the distance near the road. He approaches cautiously. He sees three orcs and what appears to be a human body near a brightly colored wagon and small campfire. He charges the leftmost orc and misses, dismounts and promptly chops the leg off of the first orc. He turns and kills the second orc with a mighty blow. The third and largest orc, which is only just now in position to fight, swings and misses. Hugh swings and doesn't connect. The orc muscles a shot past Hugh's defenses only to see his sword clang off Hugh's stout scale mail. Hugh returns fire and nearly decapitates the orc who falls in a heap like so much midden.

Hugh checks the area and finds one set of footprints not belonging to the three dead orcs. He hurries to the unconscious human's side and finds a weak pulse. He's alive, although just barely. Hugh roughly bandages the man's wounds: head, stomach, and thigh. The thigh wound is oddly colored and seems to be festering. Hugh drags the bodies of the orcs upwind of the camp. He finds several sacks of goods the orcs were intending to steal from the human. He does a quick inventory and places valuable items in a drawer in the wagon. He returns outside to cook a meal over the fire and wait to see if the injured man regains consciousness.

Shortly thereafter, a lone figure appears north of the camp. Hugh stands at the ready, shield up and hand on sword hilt. The stranger sees Hugh react, and holds up his open palms to show he is peaceful. He approaches with Hugh's permission to within 30ft. The stranger introduces himself as Soris Polrit, a half-elven Battle Mage, on his way south to seek his fortune. He admits to having some crude skill at healing and offers aid. Hugh gladly accepts. Soris attends to the injured man. He casts the 'Detect Poison' cantrip and discovers the wound to the man's thigh is poisoned, as well as a small patch where the large orc's sword had glanced off Hugh's armor. He cleans and rebandages the wound. He determines the two other wounds are superficial. It's the poison that is source of the problem. Soris also discovers a symbol on a patch on the man's garment and a matching symbol on a signet ring on the man's hand. In Inedka, it reads "Unveiling Eye."

He relates the new information to Hugh. Soris also believes he knows of a remedy for the poison. He sets off down the hill in hopes of finding a small quantity of a local flower that may be used as a partial antidote. As luck would have it, he soon stumbles upon a large patch of the very flower he is looking for. Soris carries an armful of the flowers back to the camp and immediately makes 30 doses of the antidote. Enough for two treatments, twice a day for 15 days. Although not a cure, the treatment will greatly slow the poison. He is satisfied they will find a healer before they run out.

Hugh and Soris, finding each other agreeable and mutually useful, decide to travel south together. Soris eats while Hugh stands watch. Soris scouts the camp and discovers three sets of tracks not belonging to the dead orcs. Two large and one smaller, heading to the south. Soris inventories the wagon and rolls the bodies of the orcs. He finds enough poison on the blade of the largest orc to take a small sample for later identification. Soris gathers 6 gallons of water, before turning in for the night. Hugh awakens Soris for his turn at watch.


Session 2

Soris meditates to regain his spells and begins his watch. Nothing occurs and the two travelers break their fast, load up the wagon, and change the unconscious man's dressings. Soris successfully patches the wagons broken wheel. They travel two nights south without incident. On the third night Soris falls asleep on watch. Luckily there was no encounter that night, and Soris lived to confess his lapse to Hugh the next morning. Hugh was somewhat forgiving, and advised it not happen again.

About mid-day a traveler on horseback is spotted headed up the road northbound. It turns out to be a courier on a high priority run. He didn't stop to talk.

Later that same afternoon, Hugh spots two wagons making their way northbound with two dwarven brothers aboard. The dwarves relate their tale... they were attacked a day ago further south, by a band of orcs SEVENTEEN strong! They lost a wagon and several members of their traveling party. Only the two dwarven brothers survived. Hugh and Soris offered safety of the camp to the dwarves, who politely declined and expressed a desire to continue north as long as time and light permitted. Hugh inquired as to their foodstuffs and a trade was happily commenced. The dwarves were willing to trade a nice hunk of venison in exchange for some beef.

The travelers find a nice hill to camp upon. Hugh scans the area and takes the first watch. Soris sleeps. During the night Hugh noticed a glint of metal coming from beside the next hill to the south of the camp. A single humanoid was walking across the base of the next hill to the south. Hugh was soon able to identify it as an Orc. He shouted, "HEY! UGLY!" at the Orc. It turned and charged him. Hugh strode down the hill and attacked. Several blows were exchanged and ended with Hugh striking off the leg of the beast. He returned and woke Soris for watch duty.

On the road the next morning, they came across a burned out wagon and the remains of two dwarves and a human, as well as several dead orcs. They left the area quickly after determining nothing of value was left behind.

That night the fun began.

They made camp on another hill. Hugh took the first watch and saw nothing. Soris relieved him. Hugh had only been asleep for a few hours when Soris distinctly heard a loud but distant belch come from the south. He stealthily moved to the south side of the hill where they camped. He watched as a large humanoid figure slowly meandered toward their hill. The humanoid came to a stop next to a tree which it promptly, and lengthily, urinated on. It reversed course and went back from whence it came. A short time later three humanoids came from the same place. They approached the camp at a leisurely pace. Soris woke Hugh.

The three came close enough to be identified. Two orcs and a goblin. Hugh and Soris are convinced these are the three that left the tracks discovered near the wagon in the first camp. The three soon are close enough to see the wagon and begin to spread out across the hill. The orcs to the left and right of the goblin. Without a word of warning the goblin began chanting and gesturing. Soris quickly fired off a magic missile which struck the goblin in the chest. The goblin flies backward and down the hill, with a cry of pain. As Soris released the missile he was bitten on the calf by a large snake which had suddenly appeared at his feet. The goblin regained his feet and charged Soris. Hugh meanwhile, attacked and killed the orc on the left. He saw Soris surrounded by three opponents and ran to flank the goblin.

The goblin attacked Soris and blooded him. Soris feebly counterattacked, his long sword glancing off of the goblin's armor. The snake missed and chomped so hard it broke a fang. The second orc wasn't quite in position yet. He appeared to be drunk! The goblin again swung and scored upon Soris knocking him unconscious. Suddenly Hugh's swordtip burst through the breastplate of the goblin! He had come up behind the goblin and ran him through just as Soris fell. The conjured snake disappeared in a puff of magical vapor as the goblin died.

Hugh turned to face the remaining orc. He was quicker and struck first. Hugh succeeded in wounding the drunken orc, but had a hard time getting it to die! It was on the ground and gurgling, but just wouldn't let go. Apparently the alcohol consumed by the orc contributed to its unusually fortitude.

Hugh found Soris lying unconscious in a puddle of his own blood. He patched Soris up as best he could. Luckily Soris wasn't poisoned. Soris was in and out of consciousness the rest of the night. The next morning, Hugh rolled the bodies and found several items of interest. One being a sack with berries inside. He showed them to Soris who identified them as battle field healing berries! They each took and ate one. Soris cast a minor healing spell on himself and felt better immediately. Our heroes took inventory and tended to the still unconscious man in the wagon. They left the area as soon as they felt better.

A short while down the road they came to the village of Farigan. Hugh negotiated for two rooms and baths for the night and asked for the location of a healer or priest. Having obtained rooms and directions he and Soris met with the town healer, a priest of Sorrath. The priest, a humble and likeable fellow, ushered the adventurers in and tended to the poisoned man. It would be the next morning before they would know if the man would be saved.

Hugh and Soris left the wagon, its contents, and its owner with the priest and took their leave. Soris took a bath and had a meal while Hugh went to the town watch and told them of the orc activity they encountered to the north. The town watch was rightly appreciative of the information.

Hugh came back to the inn to find Soris finishing his meal in the common room. Hugh again asked the inn keep for directions, this time to the general store, or anyplace where they could unload various items obtained from the road. They met with a general merchant and sold the excess equipment and things they acquired on the road. Hugh and Soris return to the inn where Soris turns in for the night and Hugh gets a bath from the friendly innkeeper's daughter!

The next morning the two adventurers found a message had been delivered for them... the poisoned man had regained consciousness and awaited them at the healers.

[Soris Polrit]

Hmmm...Seems like we're missing something. OH! Session #3 perhaps? 

It would be nice for folks to know how Hugh and Soris got from the old man recovering in the temple to Oliff and Aruzmathel finding them battered, but alive, on top of that hill. 

Some interesting things happened there. I'll post it later today when I get home from work. If I can find the file! 

Cheers