Session 17 Notes (4/22/11)

Varony, Malarous 2nd, 868 ID

The surviving PCs have successfully fled the loss of the Hud Horrn, and they meet up with Lt. Hoary and various survivors (approximately 100) by the north bank of the Midge Creek, where Hoary begins to organize a fording of the shallows. Hoary sends Doorjamb off on a side trek, and the PCs form a perimeter while the refugees cross the Creek. Wafflar Drull approaches Langston after being rejected in accompanying Doorjamb to Tarndim. Once the PCs cross the Creek, camp is made on the far bank, and watches set.

Verne, Malarous 3rd, 868 ID

The priestess Bethrys Othen and her servant Everett Tasker ride to Hobfast in the escort of a dozen Eidolorn soldiers, as word of a stream of Tarndim refugees has made way (via runner) to Floivin Keep. Othen is appointed by Conniff himself to ensure that wounded refugees are looked after. Upon arrival, she meets with Captain Reckon while Everett takes the horses to be stabled. He needs her to immediately look in upon an injured dwarf, Odd Jon Stuckle, who came crawling into the village that morning with a nasty arrow wound. She heals him without much problem.

Meanwhile, the PCs and refugees en route from Hud Horrn encounter a strange orc fishing on the West bank of the Udders Well. He seems peaceful enough, so the PCs let him on his way. Lt. Hoary then asks them to head over to Cheeky's Hollow and evacuate Odd Jon and Vishlag. The archer Langston volunteers to go it alone, but Hoary orders Mudgol, Slab and Luz to go along. When they arrive at the Hollow, they find Vishlag the door guard dead with two ichor-stained, nasty arrows stuck in his chest. He has been dead for time enough that his eyes are glazing over, though no scavengers or crocs have picked over the body. The PCs search the Hollow but find no trace of Odd Jon aside from a gutted crocodile and the food samples he was preparing. They do find one more of the arrows within the central cave. They flee to Hobfast.

Upon arriving, they find Odd Jon at the village, speaking with Lt. Hoary who has just arrived and a priestess. The PCs are introduced to Bethrys Othen and her servant Everett. Odd Jon tells the PCs that the Vishlag had been assassinated by an unseen assailant in the Tooth Marsh. Though he was able to escape, he himself was shot while fleeing, but the poison upon the arrow did not seem to slow him. The reunion is interrupted shortly after when Captain Reckon and Lt. Hoary are summoned to convene with Grandmother Hosspotch. The PCs split up. Bethrys remains to tend to any more wounded among the refugees. Langston and Luz scout out the shrine to Crake, finding that the druid Frynne Hosspotch, whom they suspect works for the Score, is no longer in attendance. Mudgol and Slab wander off to trade some items and acquire some pearls with which to identify things they've acquired. Mudgol is hit upon by the jeweler Madame Tralla, before her husband angrily intervenes.

Later in the evening, all of the PCs convene at the Crimson Harpy for drinks. The innkeeper warns Mudgol that any of his foolish antics will not be tolerated, and the Undecided decides against getting himself violently inebriated. Not the case for Luz, Slab, Odd Jon and Langston, who drink until the piss is build up behind their eyes. Bethrys takes a table to herself, but is soon joined by the thankful and admiring mayor of Tarndim, Blake Bauerkroft who pays her many a compliment for her services with the refugees. After a few hours in their cups, Lt. Hoary and Captain Reckon arrive, stone faced, to find most of the troop drunk off their rockers. With the help of Wafflar Drull, Everett Tasker, Blake Bauerkroft and several men of Tarndim, the group is carried off stubbornly to the barracks. Bethrys and Everett remain in a complimentary room at the Harpy, Everett standing watch outside her door. Bethrys plans to hold a dawn service for all the fallen of Tarndim and Hud Horrn.

Essel, Malarous 4th, 868 ID

In the morning, Mudgol and Slab manage to wake up in time to attend Bethrys' service, along with about 200 other refugees and villagers. It turns out her memorial is technical but long winded, and many of the crowd drift off before she's finished, including several officers of the Eidolorn. Everett attempts to console his mistress, but even he gets a crack in. Eventually, the rest of the PCs awaken from their drunken haze. Odd Jon geysers vomit over the party, nailing Mudgol and several others, but they are all brought out for a debriefing with Reckon, Hoary and Blake Bauerkroft at the barracks. Hoary and Reckon, using the maps provided by the PCs from the Haunted Horrn, have determined that with the loss of Tarndim, Hud Horrn and (probably) Cedarway, that there is a strange triangulation happening in the Northwest quadrant of Floivin Province.

A small but skilled group is assembled to scout ahead to the Skunk Pass in the Vernal Wall, for fear of some greater force preparing to assault Floivin. The Score is believed to have organized and manipulated various humanoid tribes (Blooded Lash, Blood Eagles, Skull Collars) that they simultaneously attack several communities, throwing the now weakened Eidolorn guard off their balance. Captain Reckon promotes Lt. Hoary to the rank of Captain, and then Hoary promotes Langston to lieutenant and appoints him head of the task force, to assemble a group of 10 for the journey. Langston, Mudgol, Slab, Luz, and Odd Jon are joined by Bethrys and Everett, as well as Wafflar Drull, who is deputized by Langston as the first act of his newfound rank. They decided against recruiting the last two slots, but while doing some last minute shopping at the Swampers' Swap, Belgin Hosspotch announces to Slab that he will be accompanying them, as Grandmother has a vested interest in what's playing out.

The nine set out later in the morning, skirting the coast of the Well until they find safe crossing at the Midge Creek. En route, various slithering things shy away from them, afraid of throwing down, and it occurs to the PCs that they may have 'outgrown' several entries on the random encounter tables. Using Belgin Hosspotch's fancy spyglass heirloom, they trek straight to the north over the uneven terrain of the Skunk Ridge, until the evening sets in. They discover a pair of hills that are occupied by an enemy force, bugbears in fact, but after some scouting attempts (one of which nearly ended up in Slab getting shot by a crossbow bolt), Lt. Langston decides it best to avoid a confrontation. The group travels off, makes a blind camp well away from the humanoids' hills, and sets up watch.

Ivric, Malarous 5th, 868 ID

In the morning, the recon force sets forth to the mouth of the Skunk Pass, which cuts through the Vernal Wall to the Shark Dunes beyond the Valley. Belgin spies a ghastly 'road sign' on the Western face of the mountains, and the party travels to find a group of human, dwarf and goblin skeletons and corpses strung up with rusted manacles and pitons, spread eagled. Disgusted, Bethrys, Everett and Slab cut down the humans and dwarves, and build a cairn for the victims out of the rocky debris strung about the pass. They proceed through the pass, and discover a fork. They travel West, and then uncover a horrific sight...several picket lines of skeletal figures that mark the beginning of a war camp. Apparently, an unknown force has moved into this side of the pass to hide and organize. The PCs make out men in dark armor, pens of shambling, quiet humanoids, a small tent village, and several skeletal-horse drawn sarcophagi of large size. They also spy a dark-skinned giant covered in pale bear furs, with a bone headdress, and two hands that end in bandages...

PCs: Bethrys, Langston, Luz, Mudgol, Slab

NPCs

Everett Tasker (human male): A well-spoken teenager with sandy blond hair, green eyes and clerical vestments. He also carries a fine longsword by his side. Everett is a glorified altar boy and servant of the Cathedral of Blades, who accompanies the priestess Bethrys Othen on her journeys.

Hethuh (orc male): An orc expatriate of Sothos Karr, he is encountered by the PCs, Lt. Hoary and the Hud Horrn refugees as they traveled the shoreline of the Well to Hobfast. Wears a wide brimmed hat, well maintained leather breeches and a red cloth vest, and speaks in a strange accent. Hethuh is a fisherman by trade, and hides out in the Tooth Marsh.

Madame Tralla (halfling female): Sells jewelry and gemstones at the Swampers' Swamp. She's a middle-aged halfling woman who wears gypsy-like, colorful raiments and bears a strange attraction to taller men of various races. She actually seemed to take a liking to the half-orc Mudgol, though whether this is a ruse to improve her sales or not is unknown. Despite this supposed preference for tall folk, Tralla is in fact married to an obese halfling merchant of the Hosspotch family, who also works out of the Swap and pays close attention to his wife's flirtation.

Millea the Unwed (human female): A soot-faced girl who escaped the Hud Horrn. Her father was a miner serving under Vigsyd, and he was not heard from again after the attack of the Blooded Lash. She's not unappealing for a teen brunette with a few warts, and Mudgol seems intent on bringing her on as his 'apprentice'.