Game Session Three

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010
Players / PCs

• Jeff Faller / Brother Lothar
• Ray Holding / Elsbeth
• Jeff Koch / Kirill Andrayson
• Heather Koch / Selah
• Paul Reinwald / Durvil Otterson
• Ed Auran / Ixilplix "Ix" Windrunner
• DM: Wes Robinson

My last post ran on a bit, so I'll make this one much more succinct and to the point. In fact, I've had a few players complain that my posts are too long... So brevity is best I suppose.

We start where we left off last time, with the group attempting an early morning ambush of the bandit camp. Our cover is blown though as a bandit out relieving himself spots Durvil and his horse "sneaking" through the bushes to get into position. A yell awakens the camp.

Groggy bandits come pouring out of tents to join the fray. Blows are traded back an forth but the heroes win the day. Not without cost though... Brother Lothar nearly joins Cayden Caileen in the great bar in the sky...but Selah pulls him back with her healing magic. She also ends up administering to the majority of the group. Seems nearly everyone took a bit of a bashing.

All the same, the majority of the bandits are vanquished while the remainder are taken prisoner. But they eventually rue that decision...

Loot is phat for the effort, but Svetlana's wedding band is nowhere to be found. After questioning the remaining bandits it turns out that a group of mites attacked the camp a few days back and took a bunch of treasure away to their sycamore tree, 12 miles to the south of the camp.

A few other nuggets of information are gleaned from our talkative survivors:

• The bandits pay tribute to the Stag Lord, who by all accounts is a mountain of a man. (Brother Lothar has absconded w/ 6 bottles of his "green liquor")
• The Stag Lord is also a drunk.
• Their camp is located NE of the Tusk Water.
• The password (last time anyone checked that is...) was "By the bloody bones of St. Golmorg, who wants to know?"

On the way home the group encounters a famished (and just plain damned mean) Owlbear. The massive creature rips into the easiest food source, which unfortunately turns out to be the bound prisoners...4 of them are killed outright before the party can gather their wits and counter attack.

Owlbears are what are called "Apex Hunters", meaning that they are top of the food chain, and generally clear out an area and call it home. There's a reason they're the top too. All fur and feathers, beak and claws, the monster proves too much and the party retreats.

All told, 5 horses and 4 prisoners are lost. This thing was HUNGRY! (Oh, and did I mention PISSED?) Twitch and Minion are the sole survivors.

Exhausted, the group finishes the journey the next day and finds themselves at Oleg's Trading Post, just as a cadre of soldiers arrive. Seems that the plea for reinforcments has not fallen on deaf ears. 4 of the soldiers, including an engineer named Gregor, are to stay on permanently.

A priest of Erastul has also traveled with the soldiers with the intent to make Oleg's his home as well. His name is J'Hod Kafkin and he's willing to trade his services for ours...He's searching for a lost temple of Erastul located somewhere in the Greenbelt. The only thing known about the temple is that it has a guardian that was supposedly set to keep intruders at bay. An herbalist and healer, his services will be a welcome addition. No offense Selah.

And that's where we ended it. The soldiers leave on the 10th of Pharast, and we'll pick it up on the 11th of Pharast.

Loot:

• 321 sp
• 90 gp
• Silver Earrings 150 gp
• Wooden Music Box 90 gp
• Polished wooden box w/ 6 (now 4) bottles of the Stag Lord's Green Liquor (very tasty)
• Krestle's masterwork handaxes
• Studded leather armor
• potion w/ healing properties
• 4 daggers
• 115 gp
• Masterwork chain shirt
• leather armor x 8
• long bows x 8
• 156 arrows
• 8 short swords
• 80 gp
• 64 days of hard tack
• 4 horses
• 1 mule (Brother Lothar has named him Cayden's Ass)
• 1 cart

Experience: 620

Funny nugget:
Kirill "Why do you insist on calling me a barbarian."
Durvil "Because you wear rabbits as armor!"

Defending the Fort

Game Session Two

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Players / PCs

• Jeff Faller / Brother Lothar
• Ray Holding / Elsbeth
• Jeff Koch / Kirill Andrayson
• Heather Koch / Selah
• Paul Reinwald / Durvil Otterson
• Ed Auran / Ixilplix "Ix" Windrunner

DM: Wes Robinson

Day two at the fort / trading post brings Ixilplix with a "Pop" of magic...appearing out of thin air, as mages are wont to do. Much ado is made about how we're going to handle the bandits that are due the next morning.

Ideas abound. Durvil struggles to take the lead in planning, as cavaliers are wont to do. But the party is still trying to gel and everyone wants to get their idea in edge-wise. After nearly a full day of discussion and a bit of looking about the old fort itself a plan is agreed upon.

Oleg would rather that we didn't duke it out with the bandits on the inside, he's afraid that we'll do even more damage. But unfortunately, inside is about the only logical place to spring an ambush. There isn't a tree around for miles and the ramshackle building stands atop a small rise, so the choices are rather limited.

The idea then is to have Elsbeth watch for their approach from atop one of the towers. Everyone else, minus Durvil, will confront the bandits when they get inside. Brother Lothar and Selah will be in plain site, standing with Oleg and Durvil will be watching from the back wall and then repel down the outside to his waiting horse once the bandits are inside.

Somewhere before noon Elsbeth calls out that 5 riders are approaching, which is about what we'd expected. They get to the gate, spy the two newcomers, Selah and Brother Lothar and immediately become a little suspicious. But Oleg and Selah claim that we're guests, that seems to mollify the leader, and things get down to business.

That's when the trap is sprung. Durvil opens the action by charging the man waiting with the horses just outside the gate. But before he can set spur to horse the leader opens fire and the bandits charge into the courtyard, surrounding Selah and Brother Lothar. One of their blows falls on Lothar just as Ix pops up from behind a building and lays down a sleep spell...which also happens to catch the drunken monk.

But the spell also affects all three bandits and this is the turning of the tide. The leader of the bandits fairs poorly against a raging Kirill and once Durvil gets going he shows his horsemanship by stopping his charge inches shy of skewering a shaking bandit.

In the end we get 4 captives. The deliberations about what we're to do w/ the captives once their questioned is a heated affair. Durvil wants them dead, and quotes the charter as proof. Kirill is not sold on their deaths though, while Selah and Brother Lothar are basically against it. Ix and Elsbeth are willing to go either way.

Durvil gets his way early on though and clumsily hacks one of the bandit's head from his shoulders. The others turn white at the display and instantly turn repentant. We learn that the bandits are a day and a half to the south. Just head to the river and follow it north and we'll find their camp.

Oleg and Durvil are not impressed though and hang another bandit to prove their displeasure. One of the remaining bandits swears his fealty to Oleg and is taken on to help out around the trading post. The other is dispatched...he's just too much of a liability.

We take off immediately for the bandit camp, in the hopes that we can quell the threat and win the reward. (1000gp in trade credit for the return of Svetlana's ring and 400 gp for getting rid of the bandits in general.)

But of course nothing is simple with this group, and more arguing ensues. Durvil insists that we take our time and explore as we make our way south. The charter backs up his stance. But the rest of the group, Kirill and Brother Lothar especially, want to head south to the river with all speed. Their argument is that the bandits pose a very real and imminent threat to Oleg and Svetlana. Unless they are wiped out, the trader and his wife will always be in danger.

So it's put to a vote and we head south post haste. The first night is spent at the edge of the forest, out on the open plains. It passes peacefully though... The next day we parallel the forest heading south and the country starts to turn hilly. This is where we hit the river...and an old wooden bridge.

After some deliberation we head north along the river to the edge of the woods just as dusk falls. It's decided that Elsbeth and Kirill should move through the woods while the rest of us wait at the edge of the woods. A quick reconnoiter shows that the remaining bandits number somewhere around a dozen and are led by the strange woman who wields twin hand axes.

In the center of their camp lies a small ruin, where the leader stays, which is surrounded by a few ramshackle tents. We decide to move against them in the early morning. This way we can see. Our plan is to have Durvil come in from one direction, attracting most of their attention, while we come in from the other. And as luck would have it, he's spotted heading towards his position. The game is afoot!

And this is where we stop. Here are a few photos from the night. Wes is really putting a ton of effort into the props...and it shows! Really amazing stuff:

The bandit camp...

Durvil's spotted...

Help Wanted postings...

Oleg's Trading Post...

Day One

Game Session One

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Players / PCs

• Jeff Faller / Brother Lothar
• Ray Holding / Elsbeth
• Jeff Koch / Kirill Andrayson
• Heather Koch / Selah
• Paul Reinwald / Durvil Otterson

DM: Wes Robinson

The first session was brief really. Mostly just players and DM getting used to each other at the table again. We are playing the Pathfinder rules set and the campaign Kingmaker. In a nutshell, it's a basic "old school" hex-based romp. Fun!

Day one:

The characters have answered the Sword Lord's call to arms and have gathered at a manor house in order to get a crack at colonizing the Greenbelt, which is a wilderness located to the south of the country of Brevoy. Many adventurers from Restov and the surrounding area have answered the call. But only a few are chosen.

An old crone is called forward after the Sword Lord addresses the motley gathering. She tosses the bones and selects 5 from the gathered throng. The rest are dismissed.

A writ is handed over with brief instructions on how this is to take place. Results are expected, and if they are not met, the writ will be rescinded and the offer withdrawn. A regular schedule of dispatches from Oleg's Trading Post are expected.

The main threat in the area is the Stag Lord...a self proclaimed leader of a large bandit horde. This is to be the party's first task. Rid the area of the bandit threat.

Two teamsters Kingston and Dadffyd lead the group (along w/ two wagons) to the south. The weather is mild and the journey nondescript.

Once there, we meet the proprietor of the Trading Post, a bear of a man named Oleg. He welcomes us to the shabby, run-down establishment. Seems that the place is run by only he and his wife Svetlana.

The group is told that the most immediate threat is a smaller group of bandits that have been harassing the Trading Post and demanding monthly payments. In fact, Oleg has lost his wedding band to the group for just such an outrageous demand!

This will be the first order of business. In two short days a small coalition of bandits will show, demanding the monthly payment. The plan is to have a bit of surprise in store for them...For now though, unpacking and planning are paramount.

More soon.