News:

- Chubby Dwarves are low fat.
- Pippen accused of getting drunk and feeling Merry
- Mexican Hobbit corrupted by One Ring. Known as Smiegel

Main Menu

Session 15.1 - Journey to the Forest Keep

Started by fraz, March 12, 2005, 11:54:37 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

fraz

[Saturday 01 January 05]

Characters:
Arlen Galentia T'Saequal: half-elf male bard [1st lvl] [fraz]
Mirri: fen'neko female barbarian [1st lvl] [Jim M.]

Sap/Delver?s Moon +18 (season of spring)
Arlen prepares to leave the island elven village that is his home in search of adventure.
Mirri decides to accompany him in order to protect/watch out for him

the elves have suggested that they should follow the river westward
this river will turn north and then, in the depths of the forest, it meets with a river coming eastward
the two rivers merge in what is called a "tidal pool"
north of this is a human established east/west road
somewhere westward on the road is a human fortress/keep
eastward on the road, out on the plains beyond the forest, is a human settlement

Arlen & Mirri ferry across river and head west through woods without any concern or clear plan

Sap/Delver?s Moon +19
cont following river westward
hear sounds of combat ahead
Mirri scouts ahead (while Arlen quickly strings his bow) and sees combat between 2 different types of lizard-men type creatures
several larger green lizard-men are fighting with several smaller lizard-men
the liz-men wear raggedy clothing
they do not wield weapons, but instead fight with tooth and claw
Mirri waves Arlen to join her and they watch from behind foliage
the larger liz-men slowly win the fight
lone surviving smaller liz-man flees on four legs
the two surviving large liz-men are too injured to pursue
they look about quickly and then disappear into the water
Mirri & Arlen creep away and give the area a wide berth as they cont to follow the river down stream

End of Day:
river is banking northward
Arlen writes down encounter in his journal

Sap/Delver?s Moon +20
cont following river

Sap/Delver?s Moon +21
overcast
cont following river
loud river rapids
stench of death is noticeable in late afternoon
find a large (9' tall) dead armored humanoid (with thick tusks) half submerged in edge of river
body is partially eaten and rotting
there are some signs of weapon inflicted wounds
refill water skins in river upstream from rotting body

descend hill next to falls
discover clearing with humanoid bodies scattered around area
also an overturned cart (on side) and a small stone structure/building on the far side of the clearing

approach bodies cautiously
they are possibly human, but hard to tell now due to decay
some are larger than human sized (up to 7' tall)

Arlen & Mirri approach an enclosed pen
there are rotting horse carcasses within
there are also two humanoid figures feasting on horsies
they turn and attack w/ battleaxes!
they are ugly humanoids in loincloths
they have no eyes!  just flesh where their eye sockets would be!  Ugh!

Arlen fires off an arrow, but misses
five mins of close combat follows
Arlen draws his longsword and sings a song of Inspire Courage
Arlen is unscathed and eventually strikes down his opponent
Mirri is severely wounded and enters barbarian rage
she finally kills her opponent with spear

Arlen searches around quickly for clean rags or bandages, but can find nothing
he notices shiny metal in doorway of building/structure
returning to Mirri, he helps her away from diseased corpses to woods
as they pass building, Arlen sees gold coins on ground inside
they move into woods and Arlen uses some bandages from his satchel to treat Mirri's wounds

as Mirri rests, Arlen investigates abandoned building
he collects 120 gp!

Sap/Delver?s Moon +22
overcast
rest in woods near river
Mirri smells smoke
Arlen leaves camp to investigate
after walking for a couple of hours he finds nothing and turns back
he becomes a bit lost, so he heads towards the river and is able to return to camp

Sap/Delver?s Moon +23
head NW away from river

Sundown:
find road
follow road at night for a few hours
see lights ahead
stop and camp, deciding to approach in daylight

Sap/Delver?s Moon +24
Arlen and Mirri approach the keep

As the road approaches the keep, just within bowshot, it begins to zig-zag. There are five turns in all. Overall, the road approaches the keep from the east, and the keep is situated atop a broad mesa. Approaching the keep, the road swings about to the northern face of the keep, then abruptly stops; there is a twenty-foot chasm, spanned by a wooden bridge. The entrance to the keep is closed. There are no guards in sight, although torches, spaced about twenty feet apart, burn in sconces atop the thick wooden walls of the keep. To the side of the gate, there is evidence that the inhabitants have been trying to reinforce the wooden walls with stonework. It appears that they have run out of stone for the job, and the wall is only partially completed.

Arlen hails the keep
after a long wait men with loaded crossbows emerge, followed by their captain
meet Capt Coris
Arlen intros himself and Mirri
he explains that they are searching for shelter and provisions
capt greets them graciously and welcomes them in
he escorts them thru fort to tavern/inn
talking on the way
things are not going well here
they can only offer shelter and perhaps some bandages and salves
they have no provisions and have been living off what they can catch and gather in the wildlands

capt orders three ales from the tavern-keep
Arlen sips his while Mirri laps cat-like at hers
cont conversation w/ capt
Arlen describes their journey from elf-wood in the south and the battle at the riverside campsite
capt tells them that the blind creatures are grimlocks
Mirri asks about west lands
capt explains that west is very dangerous
mountains, orcs and giant-kind too
he advises Arlen & Mirri to head east to town of Gorna
and asks if they can bring word of the fort's status to the folk there
Arlen agrees and capt says he will prepare a missive for Arlen to deliver to the church of Pelor (god of the sun, "The Shining One")
Arlen recalls that his father once told him that Pelor is the most common of the human deities
capt eventually takes his leave, asking them to meet him at the gate in the morning
Arlen & Mirri are welcome to stay overnight in the inn
they are alone there (aside from the tavern-keep who sits half-asleep in the corner
Arlen updates his journal as he sips at his ale
they retire to their inn rooms for the evening

Sap/Delver?s Moon +25
overcast
rise early
speak w/ tavern-keep over bite of breakfast
tavern-keep describes Gorna and the plains that Arlen & Mirri will pass across to get to the town

meet very large man, Brescht, at gate
he describes their route east to Gorna
he asks that they keep look out for some of their missing comrades:
an elf, two dwarves, and a human
Gorna is about 14 days away to the east
Arlen & Mirri have no more rations and will be forced to hunt/gather food along the way (so the journey may take them even longer - ugh...)

Arlen & Mirri leave fort traveling east on road
they spend some time gathering food in the woods during their journey

Evening:
as camp is set up off north side of road, the pair hear marching and guttural speak from road
a small company of orcs (8) passes west on road
Arlen & Mirri hide, but Arlen is not very well hidden
an orc seems to look directly at him as they pass in a hurry
afterwards, Arlen & Mirri move across to south side of road (in case the orcs return to search the woods for them)
they head east for a bit before setting up a new camp

Sap/Delver?s Moon +26: Pre-dawn
orcs come back and stop and beat bushes
are they searching?
there is some fighting and squabbling, so Arlen & Mirri sneak away east
they get on road for speed and flee double march eastward

Early Afternoon:
collect some food in woods
snack and cont on

Near End of Day:
discover another large campsite roughly 30 feet across (from the road to the forest) and about 100 feet long along the road
it appears that this is a type of rest area for caravans
the campsite is littered with dead rotting bodies, though
cont on quickly along road
camp south of road at night
Mirri keeps watch

Sap/Delver?s Moon +27
light snow falling
light blanket of snow covers all

Mirri notices splash of red off thru trees
they find a dead (armored) man leaning against tree
surrounded by blood on snow
bite mark in shoulder
self inflicted wounds in ears?
also: it appears that he was pulling the bandages from his bite wound (possibly re-opening the wound also)
there is a plain looking, but bright silver colored dagger in his open outstretched hand

blood and tracks are very fresh on the new snow here
this seems to have happened very recently
the man seems to have no other weapons or equipment
the whole scene is very disturbing and both Arlen and Mirri are too wary to disturb anything
they decide it best not to touch the dagger or anything on the man

Arlen hears growling
a cougar approaches
the party backs off
cougar approaches the body and sniffs at it
cougar turns and leaves
party begins retreating slowly from area following the dead man's tracks northward

Arlen briefly sees vapor/mist nearby in falling snow
Mirri doesn't see this tho
Arlen (with arrow notched on bowstring) calls out: who is there?  show yourself!

but soon they hear orcs approaching on road from west again
they can here sounds of sudden fight
orcs seem to be fighting the cougar
Arlen and Mirri briefly consider attacking the orcs now while they are distracted and vulnerable
however, there seem to be more orcs this time
suddenly they hear orcs approaching on the road from east too!
time to leave!  they flee

cont following tracks northward
Arlen briefly sees vapor/mist in falling snow again
but Mirri still doesn't see this

the tracks are now becoming obscured and disappear
Arlen and Mirri flee north and then eastward
they spend a little time foraging

they soon come to the foot of a small cliff
climb up and find an abandoned cabin
the snow is lighter here
the door and shutters are wide open and there seems to be no-one home

investigate perimeter first: nothing of interest
Mirri enters cabin first
it seems deserted
Arlen joins her inside

there is a cold hearth
straw from beds is strewn about
some blood stains on walls
there are several scorch marks on the walls as well and all of the furniture is broken (used to be a couple of tables and several chairs)

they consider staying/resting overnight
there is an interior door in back of room
Mirri opens door while Arlen stands ready w/ bow and arrow
suddenly, a wild human leaps out at Arlen
Arlen fires an arrow - grazing the madman
madman has dagger!  he stabs Arlen in left shoulder with silver colored dagger!  [6 points!]
AAAKKKKK!  Arlen falls to the floor severely wounded!
Mirri takes madman down with spear thrust

Mirri drags madman outside as Arlen pulls himself up against a wall
Mirri notices golden ring on madman's finger and silver colored dagger in hand
Mirri returns and treats Arlen's wounded shoulder w/ salves and bandages
she tells him of the ring and dagger
very odd about the dagger... it seems to be identical to the silver colored dagger that the fallen man by the tree had - is there some kind of connection?

Mirri investigates the storage room where madman was hidden while Arlen starts fire in hearth
the room is rank... madman has been living/hiding in here for days maybe
Mirri removes some untainted food rations and a barrel of water

Arlen rests and then goes out to investigate madman
he casts detect magic:
golden ring: magic
silver colored dagger: non-magic

Arlen takes the ring
it is a ring of gold with an inlaid stripe/band of silver colored white platinum

Arlen looks around and notices magic aura coming from mantle over hearth in lodge!
he enters the cabin and investigates
after removing a stone from the mantle he finds 5 vials of liquid hidden in a compartment
2 red vials
3 blue vials

Arlen stashes the ring in his belt pouch and takes the vials
he sits next to the hearth to rest
Mirri recovers the silver colored dagger and well-made leather sheath from madman for Arlen

Arlen explains the use of coins to Mirri and divides up the 120gp (60 for Mirri, 60 for himself)
Mirri wants nothing to do with the magic items (or the dagger), so Arlen keeps them
he hopes to discover their properties later
nothing