Here's a little timeline I put together to help me grok the coming and goings from Vaul:Zorroroaster wrote:My head hurts.
April 27, 9:30 am: Bertram's party returns to Vaul. IN: Bertram, Krysta, Galen, Abi, Martin, Constance, Ulf, Seadu, Mokata, Bromric
April 27, afternoon: Ulf, Bertram, Galen, and Seadu take prisoners to the keep. Hobgoblin boasts of attack coming in "less than two weeks hence."
April 28, morning: Lug's rescue mission leaves Vaul. OUT: Lug, Valorei, Varas, Niles, Ruwyn, Dorvar, Marge, Baxtaw, and the mercenaries Zirina, Mormoth, and Jord.
April 30: Demon Bromric's expedition leaves Vaul? OUT: Bromric, Martin, Constance, Abi, Seadu, Mokata
May 1, 10:00 pm: Orrin, Rhodri, and Kennit return to Vaul.
May 2, 9:50 am: Remus returns to Vaul.
May 2, before 1:30 pm: Remus meets with the Archduke, agrees to investigate the hobgoblins.
May 2, 1:30 pm: The Finger explodes.
May 2, 6:10 pm: Archduke Vaul addresses the town, announces coming attack
So, from the morning of April 27 until the morning of April 28, everyone but Orrin, Rhodri, Kennit, and Remus are in Vaul. Lug's group leaves on the 28th, and by May 2, everyone but Lug's group is in Vaul.
Something else I noticed while putting this together: Ulf, Bertram, Galen, and Seadu are the only ones other than the Archduke's men who know about the coming goblin army before May 2—although the PCs might have shared that knowledge.
The Archduke's meeting with Remus took place in real time before the hobgoblin prisoner spilled the beans about the coming attack, but the order is reversed in game time. I wonder if the Archduke still wants Remus to scout in the "updated" timeline?
Also, Blavern, the captain of the Ducal Guard, told the adventurers "don't go too far" on the afternoon of the 28th. One of them is planning on leaving two days later.