[ARCHIVE] 01 - New Arrivals in Malforten

[Vargr1105]

Alias hands over his broadsword and all four of his daggers.

ooc: darn it! i should not have made a Lawful Neutral assassin.

[moorcrys]

Embiri hands over his staff and dagger. With a wink he says,"If you're relieving me of my weapons, perhaps you would like to relieve me of the burden of my backpack as well. It has been a long walk and I would be glad to be rid of it for a time."

[Dogma]

Tomas unbuckled his long sword and hands it over. "Careful with that now, 'tis very sharp," he says with a wink. He then hands over his short bow and quiver of arrows.

"This isn't a very good beginning for interesting story. Not to many epics begin with the heroes being disarmed by the town people they've come to protect. Quite embarrassing it is, in fact. Probably have to rework this part a bit."

[Blazeguard]

Filibert meekly places his bow, quiver of arrows, and dirk in the open sack.

[Mondego]

Yorick unbuckles his sword belt and hands it to one of the men with the burlap sacks. “Take good care of those. I expect to get them back in the same pristine condition”.

[mithrandir138]

I am assuming that Vax also surrenders his weapons freely.

The man says: “Thank you for your compliance. I assure you, you will get your weapons back as soon as you leave town. If you fine fellows prove yourself worthy of our trust, this will not be necessary in the future.”

One of the men that was concerned about Alias and Vax seems more at ease now that they are unarmed and walks over to Filbert’s donkey and takes the bridle. He strokes her cheek and says: “We’ll have to take this one into custody, too. We’ll make sure she’s fed and cleaned.”

Map and key: viewtopic.php?f=62&t=1079

The party is led between the houses marked 2 and 5 on the map. Your chaperones do not speak a word as they lead you. As they you walk the path, you start to smell aromas of food being prepared, it smells like potatoes and sausage. Unfortunately, this pleasant smell is interrupted quickly by the stench of wet dog and feces coming from the dog kennels that you see behind the house marked with a 2. You see and hear dogs barking loudly as the party passes, then you hear a gruff “SHADDAAAHHP” come from the house. The dogs stop barking instantly, and one of them lets out a whimper.

As you reach a point where you can see the front of the houses you are walking between, you notice that house 5 has barrels stacked on the front porch and both houses have crude signage. The sign on house 2 says “Mathonwy’s Kennels” and the one on house 5 says “Rope and Barrel”.

The smell of food has now overpowered the stench now that you are entering the area marked with a 3 on the map. In the middle of this area you see a well with a large bell hanging on the side of the wooden pulley system used for lowering the bucket. There are several people observing the party in this place, and you see three men talking next to the well.

You notice that one of the men is very tall and he is wearing a chain hauberk, but the other two men are wearing normal clothes. This contrast make it apparent to you that most of the guards/militia have been wearing plain-clothes, and most appear to be merely ordinary townsfolk with crude weapons on their sides (few of them seem to be comfortable with their weapons and it is kind of awkward.) You now are more aware of why this place needs your help.

You notice that the large building marked with a 1 on the map has a chimney with smoke coming out of it and it has a sign that says “The Empty Flagon.” The building marked with a 4 is a small but well fortified log structure with a metal grate for a door. Just behind it, you can see a large dying oak with a noose hanging from one of its branches.

For Alias only:

You can see odd purplish dots on the ground underneath the tree, and they seem familiar to you.

You are led to the three men. The man in the hauberk is tall and thin with a thick beard and shoulder-length hair with braids on either side. (see attachment) As he approaches the group you notice he has a slight limp. He dismisses the other men he was talking to and says:

"These are our mercenaries!? " He stops himself, realizing he is being rude. He tries to smile, but you see he is faking it, and as he talks you see his anger rise. "Welcome to Malforten. We are glad that you have come to our aid. As you are probably already aware, a gnoll named Gritznak has been terrorizing our village.

He has us held hostage! He demands tribute to leave our village intact! We have attempted to find his hideout to take him by surprise and capture him ourselves, but we have failed on every attempt. This has only made matters worse. Each time he brings his putrid lot into my town, he raises his requirements! Soon, we will only be working to merely stay alive, with no profit or quality of life for the people of this town!”

He lowers his voice and gets closer to the group: ”What’s worse, is that he must have spies among us. Gritznak seems to know our every move, and the last time we were planning a search party to find his lair, the group was mysteriously ambushed along the way by Gritznak and his crew.

The Lords in New Aenoch seem to be too busy fighting their wars to the west and south. Those damned affairs have consumed most of Outremere’s veteran warriors, and they do not have the any to spare! They have, however, offered a bounty to assist us. Should you bring Gritznak to us or kill him, the reward is 500 gold pieces. If you put an end to him, you must bring us his head. There is a catch - the Lords did not trust that the bounty would be safe here in our village. I have been given a token to give to the persons who put an end to Gritznak’s evil. This token must be presented to a Lord of New Enoch to collect the reward. You are, of course, entitled to any valuables that you collect from Gritznak’s lair, as well. "

As he inspects the group, he says: “I have to be honest, this journey will likely be the end of some or all of you. You do not look like the type of fellows that can finish this task. But, you are all we have, and I have no choice but to put what little faith I have in you.” He shakes his head in disappointment.

“The horses and wolves that his party rides are always wet when he arrives here. His forces must ford the Drunderry close to the village. In the past we have tracked his party, and they seem to always come from the north. It is getting late, and you are welcome to stay the night in our town, but I wouldn’t be offended if you did not keep us company. We are quickly approaching another due date for a tribute, and our stocks are low. The colder months will be upon us, and we cannot afford to lose more supplies.”

[Vargr1105]

After hearing the doucheb...I mean, our employer speak, Alias moves to take a look at the tree.

[mithrandir138]

After hearing the doucheb...I mean, our employer speak, Alias moves to take a look at the tree.

LOL -- Yeah, he is kind of a douche - here's the flavor from the module:

"He resents the characters’ arrival, as he believes that he and the militia can win against the gnoll, given time and planning. Eryl is confrontational and not a little derisive of the characters, and doubts they will be able to accomplish what he has yet to do."

Now, on to your inspection of the tree. Vargr, give me a WIS check, I wouldn't normally do this, but since you have amnesia you need to make a roll.

[Mondego]

“How large are Griznak’s raiding parties?” Yorick asks. “And how long before the tribute is due?”

[max_vale]

Vax had shaken his head upon the looks he recieved due to his orcish blood; thinking to himself; I'm surrounded by 7 other people; most of whom in better armor and certainly better armed and it's ME they fear?

Nontheless, he surrendered his staff, hammer and sling peacefully and made sure that his holy symbol of Sem'reh was prominently visible on his chest.

Upon being taken over to the militiaman and given the 'ringing endorsement'; Vax smiled at the man and responded with; "Perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to judge on appearence sir; few would look upon me and know that I can call upon the power of Sem'reh." With a glance towards his companions; he added; "In addition; my companions here are all well skilled and able to handle themselves in any number of dangerous situations."

After hearing about the attacks and the likely presence of a spy in the town's midst; Vax frowns and thinks for a moment. "Perhaps we could make a plan to publicly state that we intend to travel in one direction to try and find this Gritznak and his band....and then actually take a different route known only to the 8 of us. If the Gnolls arrive at the publicly stated location; we could attemtp to ambush them and hopefully learn more from a captured soul or two. Thoughts?"

[mithrandir138]

“How large are Griznak’s raiding parties?” Yorick asks. “And how long before the tribute is due?”

Eryl answers: "The numbers of his cohorts appear to have lessened, as he does not see us as a threat. He has also changed-up his schedule. He sometimes comes early, sometimes late. I would guess he would be here in the next few weeks. He likes to keep us guessing! Unfortunately, he is a calculating foe!"

[mithrandir138]

"Perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to judge on appearence sir; few would look upon me and know that I can call upon the power of Sem'reh." With a glance towards his companions; he added; "In addition; my companions here are all well skilled and able to handle themselves in any number of dangerous situations."

max_vale, give me a CHA check (for diplomacy). Eryl kinda resents the party, let's see how you do.

I swore I wouldn't do a lot of skill checks, and here I am doing two at the first of the adventure

[mithrandir138]

Vargr, Alias sneaks away from the party for a second to observe the the purple things underneath the tree. As you get closer, you realize these things are a special type of mushroom.

Assassin-specific knowledge:

These are known as Hangman Spirits. They are not eaten, but are prized by assassins and the like for making mild poisons. The poison is easy to make. Simply take the stalks, ground them up, boil them, scrape the froth, allow the residue to dry, and one has a powdered poison.

Hangman Spirit Poison: For the poison to activate, it must be ingested or enter the bloodstream through an open wound. It is often placed in drinks or applied as a paste to daggers or arrows. It causes 1d2 points of damage and paralysis for 1d12 hours unless a constitution save is made, in which case the subject experiences nausea and sleepiness for 1d6 hours instead.

Special rules: A character has a 5% chance of exposing himself to a poison whenever he applies it to a weapon or otherwise readies it for use. Additionally, a character who rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll with a poisoned weapon must make a DEX check (saving throw) or accidentally poison himself with the weapon.

[mithrandir138]

Vax fails to curry favor with Eryl. However, the following exchange took the attention away from the rest of the party to let the Assassin-type adventurer slip away to inspect some mushrooms -- These guys aren't the most well-trained militia men, but there are a few diamonds in the rough (unfortunately -- or fortunately for Alias -- they are not present)

Eryl scowls at Vax and says: “If we did not judge by appearances here in the frontier lands, we would die! We encounter bandits disguising themselves as mere travelers every other week! It is obvious that you have orc in your bloodline, and it surely isn’t a distant relative. Your kind has brought unspeakable horrors to the folk of Outremere. Furthermore, your deity is the protector of thieves and con men, is he not? This also gives me pause! So, pardon me if I do not give you the benefit of the doubt on our first meeting! I just .... ” Eryl stops abruptly, and takes a deep breath and calms his speech. "No... I do not apologize. I just can't drop my guard until I know I can trust you. These people require protection, and they look to me to provide it."

Eryl turns and begins to walk towards the Empty Flagon to cool his head. The other men follow. “As I said, you may stay tonight free of charge if you wish, I will make arrangements with Kerrywyn. I will be in the tavern awaiting your answer.” You hear him murmuring in hushed tones to the men who are walking with him.

[Mondego]

After the militia members are far enough away Yorick addresses his companions, “I don’t like being unarmed and surrounded by these idiots. Thoughts on dining in the tavern and then departing to find Griznak tonight? I do like Max’s plan of setting a trap for the Gnoll.”

[Blazeguard]

Filibert pipes up, "Why don't we accept their invitation and let everyone think we are spending the night and then sneak away after dark. That way we could maybe foil the spy here, if there is one. I would suggest telling no one that we are planning on leaving. We have no idea who we can trust right now so bringing anyone into our confidence is a risk."

[Dogma]

Tomas replies to Filberts suggestion.

"The only problem with that plan, my good Filbert, is that the town militia now holds all our weapons. We'd have to ask for them back before we snuck away, which might tip off who ever the spy is. And I don 't relish the though of running around in the dark unarmed...particularly when there are bandits about."

[NJWilliam]

In a voice calculated to not be heard outside of his group of companions, Arot says,"The task and reward are clear, and the longer we stay, the more time we give a spy to inform the gnoll. I say let's see about a quick meal if we must, get some rope, get our weapons, and get on with it to the North."

[Vargr1105]

While his companions chat Alias takes the type to pick up some mushrooms, humming a jesty tune while he does so.

"Dum, de, dum...de dum, ha-rum..."

[jdluna]

"We are not completely defenseless, there are a few of us with magic." "I do think we need to get out of here."