IC XIII

[thirdkingdom]

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Yarthmont 13-14, AC 1000

In the morning Cathae helps herself to more of the party's rations. Shepherd of the land she may be, but the druidess has no qualms about eating her fill of smoked meat. She bids the party farewell, and heads of to the north, towards the Forgotten City.

The adventurers break camp and leave. Around mid afternoon they hit the main east-west trail and find their wagons undisturbed. Hitching the draft horses to them, they set off to the west, towards the Duke's Road. The night passes peacefully; the only incident of any interest is Mursley's mastery of an enchantment that enables one to fade from the sight of mortal man.

The following day passes without incident as well. It is mid-afternoon by the time the adventurer's come across the intersection of their trail with the Duke's Road. Heading south, Severi's keen elven sight spots an inordinate number of crows circling in the distance. He judges their presence to be roughly in the same location that the party had surprised the group of brigands on their way north, many days ago.

[Alethan]

Rhys the Traveler

Rhys shakes his head and clenches his teeth, "If those brigands came back and ambushed more merchants, they will have to answer to the Dannedd Blaidd, and it has no ears for silver-tongued bandits to twist."

He turns and glares at the two bandits in the party and eyes them coldly. "Should the need arise, you will help us bring them to justice." It was not a question.

He begins heading in the direction of the crows, straining to keep from kicking his pony into a gallop.

[thirdkingdom]

The two former brigands look scared shitless, and hold up their hands to protest their lack of involvement in any recent bandit shenanigans.

[Wyzard]

Severi Silvertongue, Elf

Severi scoffs under his breath, but elects to follow Rhys. "I'm willing to look, but I need to return to town before we go on another bandit-hunting expedition."

[Alethan]

Rhys the Traveler

"It is on our way, we should at least check it out," Rhys calls over his shoulder.

[thirdkingdom]

The adventurers move forward, cautiously. The Duke's Road bends sharply to the left, around a gentle rise, and on the other side the companions find five bodies in the road. Two of them are gnomes, three human, and all wear green cloaks and red vests, colors easily recognizable as belonging to one of the gnomish clans of Highforge. A wagon lies overturned next to the road, a dead horse still tethered to it.

It seems as if the violence has occurred this day, and probably no more than four or five hours previous.

[Wyzard]

Severi makes a search of the bodies and the wagon.

[thirdkingdom]

Severi makes a search of the bodies and the wagon.

The wagons and all the bodies have been completely stripped of all valuables. Severi can tell that the dead had been carrying some wealth; the humans all have fingers with pale bands where rings once lived, and all bear the tell-tale sign of cut money-purses. The drover's seat of the wagon has been torn up, revealing a hidden compartment that is sadly empty of all contents.

[Alethan]

Rhys the Traveler

Rhys indicates all of the hirelings should stay back so as to not mess up any tracks.

Then he examines the bodies closely to see if he can tell what was used to kill them. Are there cuts on the bodies? Are the cuts clean, as if from sharp weapons? Or ragged? Or were arrows used? If so, he examines the fletching.

Finally, he starts circling the camp to see if he can tell where the attack may have come from and what direction the attackers may have gone.

Obviously, others can join in the above to speed it up

[Grognardsw]

Aquar, cleric

Aquar says a prayer for the dead. He gathers the bodies for a funeral pyre.

[Wyzard]

Severian, Elf

Severian perches on the upper part of the flipped wagon, looking disconsolate.

"You're all going to lecture me about right and wrong if I suggest that this is not our problem, aren't you?"

[thirdkingdom]

Rhys the Traveler

Rhys indicates all of the hirelings should stay back so as to not mess up any tracks.

Then he examines the bodies closely to see if he can tell what was used to kill them. Are there cuts on the bodies? Are the cuts clean, as if from sharp weapons? Or ragged? Or were arrows used? If so, he examines the fletching.

Finally, he starts circling the camp to see if he can tell where the attack may have come from and what direction the attackers may have gone.

Obviously, others can join in the above to speed it up

Three of the five bristle with arrows; the other two appear to have been cut down with blades. The fletching of the arrows is remarkable normal. It looks as if the bowyer used raven's feathers.

Rhys is unable to find any tracks, but Anohir does. A dozen men or ore, heading east, heavily laden.

[Alethan]

Severian, Elf

Severian perches on the upper part of the flipped wagon, looking disconsolate.

"You're all going to lecture me about right and wrong if I suggest that this is not our problem, aren't you?"

Rhys the Traveler

"We were tasked with clearing the lands in this area of marauding orcs who were attacking merchants. We have tracks of possibly 10 orcs or humans heading east after they've just slaughtered a group of merchant travelers. Right or wrong is kind of irrelevant at this point; this is about getting a job done. It is about seeing it through to the end."

"If it's wealth you're after, " he adds, "they are obviously heavily laden. There isn't anyone to return it to," he points at the dead bodies, "so we keep what we find. Plus maybe get ten more ears for bounty."

[Wyzard]

Severi, Elf

"We have gained wealth sufficient to sit and digest for a week or two. But I concede that the continuing viability of the merchant trade is a cause for concern."

Did I get enough sleep to restock my spells? If so, then Severi will quit bitching and get with the program.

[shaidar]

Mursley, MU

"I agree we should check this out, it would be useful to know if this is orcs, the same bandits as before or a new group. We don't necessarily have to engage them"

Yes, interested in whether we were able to regain spells as this will make a big difference to any encounter

[MonsterMash]

Thurgan, dwarf

"10 isn't too many for a group this size to take on. And there is plenty of loot by the look of it so lets go after them".

[chap126]

Anohir, Priest

It would probably be wise to attack in a spread out formation as it's obvious they have some archers in their midst.

What's the terrain here? Forest? We could use trees as cover for a ranged ambush.

[thirdkingdom]

Severi, Elf

"We have gained wealth sufficient to sit and digest for a week or two. But I concede that the continuing viability of the merchant trade is a cause for concern."

Did I get enough sleep to restock my spells? If so, then Severi will quit bitching and get with the program.

Yeah, the spellcasters are good. This is actually the end of the second day after the Forgotten City.

[thirdkingdom]

Anohir, Priest

It would probably be wise to attack in a spread out formation as it's obvious they have some archers in their midst.

What's the terrain here? Forest? We could use trees as cover for a ranged ambush.

The discovery occurs in hex 59.0 in this map: viewtopic.php?p=35909#p35909 . The trail heads east. Please note that I use standard mapping conventions with my maps, so North is always up (I also need to update the map to show the Forgotten City and the Cursed Tower). The terrain is moderately dense virgin forest, with little to no undergrowth and the trees spaced every twenty feet or so.

Like this:

[Grognardsw]

Aquar burns the bodies.

"Aye, let us seek justice for these slain."