Session 45 Game Recap On her turn, the mage cast fireball, Ron tried to counterspell and the mage counterspelled the counterspell. The fireball went off, taking Ron, Urd, and Cassius to the brink. The fireball killed Roger, Ron’s undead horse. The mage then did something with a ring (only Rurrick saw the effect) and drained the minotaur furthest away of 14 hit points while healing herself. Urd ran up to the mage, scoring a critical hit, doing around 39 points of damaging and killing the mage in one blow. He then went after the minotaur fighting Cassius. On the minotaur’s turns, one charged Ron and attempted to gore but missed, the other whacked Urd with it’s greataxe. The remaining Dree soldier attacked a Dravens guard. On Rurrick’s turn he called lightning on the minotaur fighting Ron (leaving it with 1 hit point). The guards flanked the remaining Dree soldier and skewered him. Ailekk downed one of the minotaurs and left the other barely alive, which Cassius finished off. Just before she died, the mage yelled out “We’ve found them.” The moment combat was over, the party could hear faint undead voices in the sewers below echoing “We’ve found them” through the sewer tunnels. Cassius and Ailekk looted the mage’s corpse for her rings (2), Rurrick grabbed the magical collars off the minotaurs. Urd was moving to toss the corpses through the grates when he could see some of the dead bodies starting to twitch. With that, he uncorked the eversmoking bottle to fill the city streets with smoke and they fled south. Fleeing south through the city, by the edge of the city itself, they could hear cries in the streets and people looking for them. As they were traveling briskly and arguing/discussing what to do next, Urd got hit in the side of the head by a small rock. Off in an alley a small figure was beckoning him to come over and saying in Thieves’ Cant, “This way. Come over here.” In the alley the party could make out Lindal and Eldon, the halfling brothers who had gone with Bigmug and Twigg. Both we wearing rags, and looked beaten, battered and bruised. Eldon was wearing a chain shirt that was much too big for him, and wielding a shortsword and wooden shield. Behind them in the alley they could see the old Tiefling woman they’d seen with the slavers in the streets the day before, behind her was Givg, the over-sized dwarf woman and “lady friend” of Biff’s. Further down the alley a hooded, masked, and cloaked stranger seemed to be looking out. Lindal said, “Quick, follow us.” and the party ditched their horses and begun fleeing through the alleyways towards the southern tip of Grand Dree. The party had to cross major streets twice, and could hear off in the distance, “Find Raffolk’s killers! Bring them to justice!” and similar shouts. At one point they heard, “They’ve issued an open bounty on them! Everybody find them.” The group finally made it to a small, quiet square on the edge of town and were able to convene for the first time, without being in a straight line. The figure and the Tiefling were looking out past the buildings of Dree, where there were giant overgrown fields and several large undead patrols. Having a moment to stop, the party could now see Eldon wasn’t doing so well. The halfling knight/paladin was missing part of an ear, and eye, and looked pretty scarred up. Lindal looked in slightly better shape, but somewhat shaken from their harrowing experience. Urd said, “Do you have a plan for escaping?” looking at Lindal. Givg walked over and said, pointing at Urd, “Biff said you have to make it out alive, maybe for the safety of Bonehammer. You are not allowed to die.” then she pointed at Kalrithni and said, “And she said she would be going wherever he goes,” then pointing at Cassius. The Tiefling, who had been talking with the figure, turned around and said, “Let me introduce myself. I am Kalrithni Shadowhorn.” She took off an amulet around her neck and tossed to Cassius, “I am Cassius’ true aunt.” she said staring at Ron. The amulet bore the crest of the Shadowhorn family. Ron recalled meeting Kalrithni many years ago, maybe 3 decades, just a few years before Cassius’ birth. She had been a member of the Indrasian army, but was captured and enslaved during a skrimish with raiders. According to official Indra reports, she was labeled as enslaved or dead. Ron said, “I do seem to remember you Kalrithni, how have you been the last several years?” To which she responded, “I spent two decades as a slave, for what that’s worth.” Ron said, “Oh, so the reports were true then.” She nodded and the figure keeping an eye on the patrols turned around and walked into the midst of them. “There are three patrols, each with 50+ skeletons and human troops. I suggest those who are the quietest and fastest come with me. We’ll make a distraction, then flee.Urd and Ailekk both volunteered. Urd, Ailekk, and the figure ran out into the middle of the field, baiting the group to the south by attacking and then led them to the north towards two other groups. They then fled west towards the treeline, leading all three patrols away from the rest of the party. Kalrithni said, “Time to go.” and took off as fast as she could, with Ron on his broom, and the rest of the group behind them. Ailekk, Urd, and the Figure led the party into the woodline, using guerilla tactics to harry their pursuers. They continued to harass them until they could see a green dragon coming down from the sky, and the Figure said, “Time to go.” The other group traveled about an hour south/southwest of Dree then paused and took a short rest. Ailekk talked to Rurrick via the sending stone to find out where they went, and met back up with them. The party decided to flee south stealthily for an hour, making sure to be as careful as possible while moving. Ron got a natural 20 on his stealth check, and traveled with the party on his broom, being sure to point out every mistake/misstep the other party members were making. After that, Urd, Ailekk, and the Figure stayed behind while the party continued to travel south. Ailekk and the Figure got in trees, while Urd hid behind a tree trunk, all making themselves aware of potential pursuers. There in the night, they noticed there were some hardwoods, some pines, and several dead trees. The whole wilderness is blighted by something. The grass, which should be green and lush was instead yellow/reddish, as it would be in the fall. The trees, while alive, just weren’t healthy. After waiting for 30-40 minutes, they decided they were safe and jogged off south to join the rest of the party. The party traveled through the night, until sunrise, with Ailekk, Urd, and the Figure now being exhausted and on the cusp of getting even more exhausted. The party was just north (according to their maps) of the Shranglorn River and Dierial Dree beyond it. They decided to rest and that it would be most prudent to skirt the city and the main roads, sticking to the hillsides/mountain wilderness on their way to Bonehammer. As day greeted them the Guards, Ailekk, Givg, Eldon, and Rurrick offered to sleep outside of Ron’s Hut. The Figure, Cassius, Urd, Ron, Lindal, and Kalrithni all opted to sleep inside the hut. Post-Game: Making Camp The figure is wearing a mask. They can tell by her voice she is… well a she. She has on leather gloves. [DC Check]. Lindal and Eldon look a year or two older than the last time the party saw them, which was two weeks ago. Eldon is missing an eye and part of an ear. They both look rough. Kalrithni looks tired, but more resolved than the others. Givg looks outright excited. You all notice that she does have manacles on, albeit the chains on them are gone. She walks around, pretending to help organize camp, but you can tell she’s not much of an outdoorsman. However, the satchels on her waist and sack across her back hold a remarkable amount of equipment, and it looks like Bif made sure she was well equipped. She has extra bedrolls, blankets, candles, rations, water skins, and all sorts of other things. Each of the NPCs have tales to tell if asked/approached. Lindal & Eldon Lindal, golden haired halfling rogue (or bard?) who is a local folk hero. Eldon is his stoic brother, a knight of some kind. The two have fought in several of the same battles as the party. Lindal tells the story of how he, Eldon, Twigg, and Bigmug were ambushed on the road. Twigg made duplicate copies of herself with some strange magic and escaped. Anna was overhead as a giant eagle and swooped down to help them. More soldiers from Dree were on the road and were coming fast. Anna warned them that the party was coming to meet up with them. Bigmug insisted they draw the advancing Dree away from the party, as well as Dravens. It took them a while to make it through the mountains, no longer having a road to follow. Twigg found them a few days later, helping them along. When they made it to the mining camp southwest of Grand Dree, Bigmug was exhausted. They stayed there for a day, then decided to head northeast, towards the inner dragon territories of Dree. In a skirmish on a road to the north, Eldon had been captured. Lindal assured Twigg and Bigmug he could free his brother on his own. Then went back to rescue him, he was captured as well. In an interrogation room, Lindal admitted to knowing the party, and being friend of theirs. This brought much celebration amongst the slavers, who seemed to think this increased their value by quite a bit. It was then Kalrithni approached them in their cells at night and asked if this was true. When they assured her it was, she asked for a detailed description of Cassius. They gave it to her, and she broke them out just hours later. Lindal looks at the party, “I was a fool. I was a fool for believing I was prepared to be a hero in these lands. I was a fool back in Dravens. I’ve been a fool.” Eldon slaps him on the back, now missing an eye and a what looks like part of his ear, “Not to worry brother. The path to glory is paved with a road of missing body parts. Some ours, some theirs.” Later in the night Lindal cries himself to sleep. Kalrithni’s Tale She looks long and hard at you. Her skin is wrinkled, her horns worn and cracked. Her face is covered in scars, and she grins, displacing a mouth filled with double rows of teeth. What is your relationship to Cassius? “Cassius and Mathius Shadowhorn are my nephews. Their mother is my half-sister, of course, she is not a Tiefling. She is also not the woman who raised them. Their mother is also my half-sister, I am the one who brought them to her to raise as her own.” What do you do? “I was a soldier of Indra. I was an escort on a diplomatic mission, we were attacked. Most of my fellow soldiers were slaughtered. They sold me into slavery because as a Tiefling, I’m quite valuable. I was a slave for over two decades, but I fought to earn my freedom legitimately. Eventually I did. I became a slaver, been doing it for over a decade now. I help free the ones I can. I act inept just often enough as to not arouse suspicion. I have contacts in the Church of Tamara, whom are closely aligned with Bahamut. I work with them to smuggle slaves out of Dree whenever possible. It’s not much, but it’s all I’ve got.” She produces a symbol Tiamatt from around her neck and presses a small button on the side, it opens up (really a locket) and on the inside is a symbol of Tamara. She says, “When a world of darkness surrounds you, sometimes you must keep your light hidden." Why did you help us escape? “Cassius is my blood. He is my nephew. I’d do anything for him." Who is that woman? “I shouldn’t be divulging the secrets of others. When she is ready, she’ll reveal herself." Why did you free Lindal and Eldon? “I wasn’t going to. When I heard they knew Raffolk’s Slayers, I knew they knew Cassius. I was going to approach you with just me and my companion, but I figured you would be more likely to trust us if they were with me. I certainly wouldn’t have trusted me." What’s up with the name Gurrock? “I made that name up for Cassius. I called him Gurrock the Butcherer of Slavers. I spread stories about him. I helped him hide his true name. Some of the battles he fought against slavers and raiders attacking Indra earned him a fearsome reputation, even before… even before something happened. I didn’t want him to get discovered." [Urd hears the name “Gurrock” and he’s heard the name before. Slavers and raiders sail into Bonehammer regularly to recruit for their raiding parties. Gurrock was a Tiefling warrior who was talked about amongst the sailors.] The Others Givg Givg won’t say much, aside from that Bif asked her to make sure the party reached Bonehammer. He was very adamant that whatever was going on was not only important, but important enough that he considered his homeland at risk. He wrote out a note for Urd, to help him find the right people in Bonehammer amongst Bif’s clan, the Goleborn. He also mentioned that, if they had time, they should visit the “Cranky Cleric’ Temple in northwest Bonehammer. Bif thought that the cleric would like to meet Cassius (he runs a temple of Bahamut). The Mysterious Figure Won’t talk to the party, unless some of them helped make a distraction. Then she will talk to those people and those people alone. While she seems capable, she walks with a very mild limp. While she can hold a bow and wields a shortsword and dagger, there is a slight tremble to her hands when at rest. The Guards Your surviving three guards are named Cecil, Hussal, and Katherine. They seem, while not completely relieved, they are happy to be out of Grand Dree. Cecil makes the comment, “Once we get back home, if I ever hear anyone tell me Grand Dree is an amazing place again I’m going to stab them in the fucking eye.” A sentiment that Hussal and Katherine wholeheartedly agree with. Downtime [Meta: You guys lost your tail quite effectively. Even if you hadn’t, Urd would have noticed with that natural 20 on his perception check.] As you travel through the hillsides and mountain foothills of the Kiernard mountains, Kalrithni leads you all further south. While the journey on the main road would have been faster, everyone seems in much better spirits to be as far away from Dree civilization as possible. The next evening, just before dark the party sets off again now rested and travels for 8 hours mostly at night. The next day in the morning, you are climbing in the distance and can see Dierial Dree from a distance, it looks as run down and miserable as Grand Dree, but smaller. There are the occasional flying creatures in the sky, which Kalrithni takes note of. As you travel Ron hovers on his broom up the sides of the mountain, Kalrithni looks a little jealous as she huffs and puffs up the mountains. Ailekk feels the cool mountain breezes and feels energized by the winds, only the occasional other creatures in the air remind him that he isn’t free of Dree quite yet. The guards, Lindal, and Eldon all march in silence, ready to be out of the foul lands. Givg seems happy as well, although she isn’t very used to heights, and it seems to be the one thing they’ve encountered so far that makes her a little nervous. She constantly travels on mostly her hands and feet, and does her best to hug the side of the mountains as she goes. Rurrick sees several flying creatures, and does his best to study each [Patrick, at 8th level Rurrick picks up all flying forms of the appropriate DC that are native to forest & mountain environments]. Cassius trudges up the mountains, and Urd not far away. Urd is getting noticeably more excited. After months away, surrounded by undead, cultists, and every other danger he looks truly excited for maybe the first time since they all met. The Figure stays on the periphery of the group, preferring to scout ahead whenever possible. Occasionally the party will lose sight of her, only to realize she is above them on a ledge, scanning, or even behind them. In the mountains on the second day of fleeing the party encounter some undead wolves and dire wolves. The fight isn’t that rough, and your group makes quick work of them. Everone in the party seems martially proficient, except the guards from Dravens. By the end of the second day, you are on a precipice overlooking rolling hilly plains, dotted with the occasional tree. Urd recognizes this as the north side of Bonehammer. While the northern plains are populated and largely controlled by the Eurik, tribal humans indigenous to northern Bonehammer, this is his home. Even looking behind them, the party can see clouds and storms behind them, with a dark sky looming over Dree. In front of them to the south in the evening light are clear skies, and a gorgeous sunset to the west as the sun goes down off the Kiernard mountains. Decision Time The party took 2 days to Flee Dree by taking the safer and less traveled mountain route. They will now be entering Bonehammer. Castle Bonehammer is where the royalty of Bonehammer reside, Eurik and Orcish families who have joined as single families reside there. Urd will have some contacts in Castle Bonehammer, but the Sahiva clan (as well as Oron’s clan the Goleborns) are not a royal clan of Bonehammer, just a royal clan of the orc people. To visit his contacts, the party will need to travel further south to the orc controlled lands. I have some questions. Where does the party want to go? How are you traveling there? Fastest route or less traveled route? As you go are you avoiding other groups of travelers or greeting them? If you come across settlements are you going in or avoiding them entirely? Is the party traveling with speed or stealth in mind (you can’t do both)? Is there any roleplaying you’d like to explore, questions to ask, and anything else i’ve forgotten? I’m sure we’ll do some roleplaying at the beginning of next game, but I wanted to firmly put the whole Dree experience behind you guys, you’ve earned it.
