Come the 5th of May, a Thursday, the party heads out on a brisk, nearly cloudless day, with a fresh wind blowing hard out of the south and only high stratus clouds to be seen. There is nary a sign of rain. Moving south along the road out of Stavanger, the party sees some preparations to the defenses of the city, mounds of earth and ditches being built by labor gangs. As they progress south, for the first two miles they encounter a spattering stream of refugees who are moving north along the road with their belongings, about thirty families altogether. Then, nothing.
The road is empty by the second hour. Steadily you near the crossroads between Hole and Verdelen, to the south (and beyond Verdelen, Egersund). Reaching the crossroads, you find yourself facing a large number of guards who are commanding a gang of laborers to hastily construct a palisade surrounding a small post that is there.
Naturally, a group of three guards will see you moving south along the road and will lift themselves up from their rumps to come speak with you. The largest one, apparently a commander in the King's army, raises a hand and says, "God be with you, travellers."
45 comments:
I'll raise a hand as well.
"And also with you."
"Where are you travelling to, my friends? I warn you that the forest to the south is dangerous just now and that the wayfarer's inn at Seal Mountain is closed. There's been attacks all along the road."
Looking back at my companions-
"So we've heard. We've crossed arms with them once before, and were headed to one of our properties to check on it, and to see how best we could apply ourselves in this crises. We have much to lose, and so many have lost so much already."
[Oops]
The guard's face changes from concern to suspicion. "Crossed arms with WHOM?" he asks, his voice turning hard and officious. "What do YOU know about what's threatening the region?"
"I know they're some sort of awful beast-men, devils or worse. Folks are all up and down the road trying to get away from them, and I don't blame them in the least. Us and some scant farmers are about all that made it away alive from the evil things."
"We're only lucky the Lord has seen fit to deliver us from evil, and now we're hoping to be delivered as far from it as possible. We'd heard that folks were guarding the road, and hoped we'd have safe passage through."
"But you fought them," says the commander. "You said so. Crossed arms, that's what you said." He gives a nod to one of the two men who is with him, who then turns and goes trotting off towards the other men. These are about twelve hexes away.
"I think you better come along with me and see the Captain," says the commander to Pandred.
Alrighty then.
I'll go ahead and comply.
[Not wanting to get our stories tangled, I demurely follow Pandred's lead and narrative, looking downcast in glassy-eyed ignorance until spoken to].
[Out of the frying pan into another...]
For the record I've got my leather armor on, sword (and dagger) on my side and quarterstaff in hand. Shield, bow, and quiver are on one of the donkeys with my pack. Also I've currently got 21 HP; Engelhart, the last I see you casting Cure is on the 3rd. Alexis and Engelhart, would it be possible for me to get a Cure sometime between then and now? I've got 9 points that could be filled.
You know, in case that particular information becomes relevant in the very near future.
(Don't you "narrative" me! Everything I said is -technically- true. Just most of the details are missing. Haha)
I'm only down 4, but if that heal had some extra juice I wouldn't mind topping off at all.
Since you don't want to kill the two guards and make a run for it [heh, heh], I will haul you up in front of the captain. You're surrounded by a troop now of about fifteen guards, this being about half the number of guards present, overseeing the labor.
The Captain speaks. "My name's Hagen. My second tells me that you've fought these creatures face-to-face. I'll let you know that none of us has ever seen one, that describing everyone else that I know of. How is it that you know what they look like and yet you live?"
[sorry about the wait. I've been working all day, right into the evening, doing what I can. I've only gotten onto a computer just now, since about 10 this morning. I've been texting on my phone, but I've never been good at that]
"Luck alone, sir. We chanced upon a very small number of them, fewer than ourselves. From the stories we'd heard, others faced them in far greater force. I would not face such odds for all the gold I could carry: they are a terrible foe indeed."
"They are frogs who walk as men do, with terrible claws and a pair of horns. They leap in just the same way, soaring through the air unnaturally. It was only the blessing of our Lord that carried that terrible hour for us."
(I'm okay with continuing this exchange as our spokesman, but if anyone thinks I'm misrepresenting us, please feel free to say. I'm not -trying- to get us into more trouble.)
"Frogs, you say. Never heard of humanoids that were frogs. Did you kill any of the evil things?"
"Four, all that we faced. We fled the area thereafter."
"Excellent! Show us where."
"It was not terribly far, though I am loathe to tread there again. Is it possible that my company could continue on while I take you? We have property down the way that we intended to visit, and I would hate to keep us on the road any longer than necessary."
Not trying to split the party, but hoping to open up the option if we want to take it. Obviously if we want to stay together with the guards (assuming we get a choice) feel free to voice your patriotic fervor.
[I'm still following your lead, no I don't think I'd care to become separated.
Regarding cures, I'm all tapped out for now. I really meant it when I said that our journey was a bit ill-prepared.
But time was a pressing concern and realistically we'd need a whole three more days to get into immaculate condition. We couldn't afford to wait that long, here's hoping we can get some healing while on the road.]
[Englehart - this exchange is happening on the 5th. The last time I can find you casting a Cure was on the 3rd, on Embla for 5 points. The 4th was the day we went to talk to the Apothecary (I'm pretty sure), and now it's the next day. Did I miss additional castings, or were we so busy with other things we couldn't get to it?]
[Ah, I see it now, you're right!
But I did cast Cure on Embla on the 4th, it was just deferred from the 3rd (where it was illegal) to the 4th, mentioned right about the first few comments.]
Alright, I've got a Cure on hold. I'll cast it when we get something in the way of privacy, no need to tip our hand further.
Embla, Pandred & Lothar, what is your Hp total? I'll probably deprioritize Lothar on the basis of his having a lot more Hp than either of the ladies.
I've got 21/30
I've got 12/16
Might ask Captain Hagen if any of his need healing as well. No point in wasting any potential goodwill now.
Nay, Pandred, I don't wish to be outed as a spell-caster. Not without good reason.
[Any cultural sensitivity that I might wish to take into account here, Alexis? How well-regarded is the church in these lands, generally speaking?]
The Captain will show some dissatisfaction with Pandred's answer. "I asked where, sir, not an evaluation of the distance, nor a suggestion on what I should do with the information. I will repeat the question. Where did you encounter these creatures?"
[I am off today, so I will be available until 8pm EST. I will be checking up on the campaigns continuously while working on projects. I suggest players take advantage and help move the campaign along.
[Engelhart, clerics are HIGHLY respectable. I suggest you shout out your clericalism to everyone that you meet. I am guessing, not sure, but you are not wearing vestments, yes? If you are, I should be corrected on this, as you will be much regarded if people know what you are]
"South shore of Store Stokka, during the storm."
"Good. Then let's go. All of you!" says the Captain, who turns to the commander. "Send a runner to the next picket on the south road; fetch back a troop to continue the work here. We'll leave ten men to continue this and we'll take twenty with us. I want to leave in an hour."
"Yessir."
And so the organization begins.
Was it obvious that the "all of you" included us?
Oh yes! The Captain was talking to Pandred, in reference to Pandred's suggestion that just Pandred go along while the rest of you continued on your way. Since all of you fought the things, all of you can come along.
I should make it clear - apart from Oddsdraken, who is, the other followers are or are not with you?
They are all with us, I believe. Bergthora, Valda, and Fjall are for certain, I don't think Embla would have changed her mind about Petar and Willa since the last post. How are they taking our sudden change in fortune?
[I guess we've finished our talk about whether or not to tell someone... Maybe this will work out better than if we had gone straight to the Burghermeister. We won't have to tell anyone about the book for a while at any rate]
[Ah, there you go, Alexis, expectations needing calibration and all.]
*Engelhart snaps to attention and interrupts curtly - in hearing distance from the rest of the party*
"Pardon my companion's vagueness, Captain Hagen, but verily we can point but the vaguest of directions."
"We, the present company here assembled, were out camped on the shores of the Store Stoka, a few days ago, on an elk hunt. Things were already looking scant as regards game when, as the second day came to a close, a great deluge, one taking such biblical proportions forced us back to camp."
A wild night was spent, our company all huddling around a dying fire and praying that the morning deliver us from our own foolishness in pressing on the hunt despite the weather turning."
"As we made our way back to Stavanger, soggy and miserable, these... devils - for I know not what else they might have been! - chanced upon us. Arrayed as we were for the hunt, they found us not without recourse and, ferocious and hell-bent with bloodlust that they were, God somehow saw it fit that we manage to beat them back until they lost their nerve and retreated the same way they appeared: with great bounding leaps, such that the Devil himself seemed to keep them aloft".
*sign of the cross*
"This is, alas, the whole telling of the tale. After our return, some of us had come down with fever and the rest were bruised and broken to match it, and our time was spent in secluded recuperation. It was not until recently that we learned the full extent of the troubles befalling our land".
"Many among our own fellowship, some of us still on mend, are only here to deliver on the promise made to each other that should any of us be forced to leave on any account the relative safety of Stavanger, the others would not fail to accompany him or her in such perilous times."
"Thus, recognizing that you're adamant about taking us back to a place we'd rather sooner forget about, I, as a man of the cloth, and one who has seen enough suffering lately, urge you: keep your guard while going about the wilds, these creatures thrive on dampness and the wetland and are endowed with the Devil's own cunning!"
"Father, I understand that it was probably a difficult night for you. But the country is up in arms; perhaps they had a camp nearby to where you were. We've had a devilish time tracking the creatures, they seem to leave no trail the dogs can understand. And yes, I've no doubt that it will be dangerous. But I'm under orders to investigate every encounter, and you're the best tale I've heard these past two days. Show me the spot, and we'll take it from there. Bringing you all along, well, that's just insurance. What any of you might remember seeing the place again could make all the difference."
Well, I'm not going to put up a fight. I'll lead them towards the campsite by the lake when they are ready to move out. I don't think there's much point in trying to send off the men-at-arms at this point. We're as likely as not to run into more frogmen now and they may well be needed. How long will it take to move thirty people and two donkeys to the lake from here? I imagine we'll have to blaze a new trail coming from the crossroads instead of from Stavenger.
It's only 4 miles from where you are to the lake camp. Where, precisely, do you intend to take them, in keeping with Engelhart's story?
Due west until we hit the lakeshore, then south around the point, stopping wherever the stream enters the lake as the "battle site", unless a more likely location for an ambush pops up first.
Lothar, you know as a ranger that it will take about two seconds to realize that a battle never took place recently at a given spot. And it is highly likely that a ranger will be a part of the twenty-man scouting party that Captain Hagen will take.
You're going to have to show him an actual combat site if you don't want to be caught out.
Oh what a tangled web we weave...
Were there any reported frog attacks anywhere near our proposed route? If there were (though I doubt it) I'll head for that.
Apart from that slim chance, given there isn't an actual battle site above ground (unless we make one ourselves when we arrive, and I don't mean the easy way), I don't have a whole lot of options that won't piss off Captain Hagen one way or another. Perhaps Engelhart should pray we are attacked by frogs on our way. So once we reach the camp site I'll head towards the ravine where the big frog statue is and then claim I've lost the trail when we get there. Perhaps the statue will make them excited enough that they won't mind my being "lost," though there is a pretty good chance they'll notice the barrow on the way if I'm remembering the geography correctly.
[Hello, Rock. I see a Hard Place moved in just across the street recently]
[Well, shit.
I hemmed my tale as best I could, with no actual casualties to track down and no definite location, plus a time-window several days old, all liberally drenched in storm water to boot.
Are you sure about your 2-second prognosis, Alexis?
Neither me nor my character is an outdoorsman, I did the best I could conceive of.
I hope the party understands that I'm trying to straddle both camps here: Actively pursuing the problem at hand with a warband at our back while avoiding taking direct responsibility at the same time.]
If they don't let us go after we find the statue someone's gonna have to fess up, I think. Either way, it seems our adventuring days around Stavenger are limited.
Sorry, Lothar, no, no frog attacks you could know the location of to take him to.
Engelhart, I'd like to stretch the possibility, but this is May, in a Norwegian forest, with dead leaves on the ground, in a somewhat muddy and wet lowland. A single turned foot would leave a track that would last weeks; a battle tears up the ground quite a lot.
I'll take it as you leading him to the lake camp, yes?
[Lothar: You're onto the right idea. We do want them to find the barrow to try and put an end to all this... the doors are still there to be tackled!
If you wanted to mislead all the way, a site close to a stream or in other way clearly below the watershed level, liable to become flooded on as storm such as the one that passed, could be the ticket. ]
[Also, probably important: I'm having a lot of fun.]
Yes, to the lake camp first, then up towards the ravine with the stone frog in it.
Also, before we're jumped or anything of the sort, I cast Cure Light Wounds on my companions.
I rolled a total of 6 points but wish to abstain from doling them out just yet because Embla hasn't checked in yet with her Hp total. My priority is getting everyone's totals levelled across the board to fighting shape, which will probably mean that nothing will be left for the Ranger.
It's a bit of a bummer. I'd hoped the rains we left under would do more to conceal our tracks, and therefore our story. Didn't mean to commit us to anything, but c'est la vie.
I'd like to, during preperations if possible, have Oddsdrakken help me change into my Plate.
I honestly hope we DO get ambushed on the way, but I doubt we should be so lucky.
You'll have to use those points up somewhere, but I'm good with waiting to see how many Embla needs. We can assume they were distributed as you wanted before an actual combat occurs.
The next post is up.
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