Expedition: Fingers/Treasure of Yoldessi Plains- 30 Aug 2021

[Marullus]

Fingers leads a group to investigate treasures of the three maps found in the records of Kelyr Clelland, Steward to King Farthegn, and also look for the tower location revealed by the shade of Aslyn the Red, wizard prince of the Yoldessi Plains.

• Fingers
• Bandy
• Markd
• Hengist
• Winnie
• Jimmy, the horse guard (NPC)
• Sprinkles (Fingers's Dog) (NPC)
• Mrs. Dash (Winnie's Dog) (NPC)
• Mitch the pony (NPC) - Bandy
• Buttercup the mule (NPC) - Hengist
• Elmer the mule (NPC)- Fingers

[Zhym]

What's our standing with Allmond? If we offer the same terms as before, do we need to roll?

And can we bring Franken on the same terms as before? We did give him a decent bonus for a non-combat horse tender, I think.

[Marullus]

You always check morale at the end of the expedition to see if they'll ever adventure with you again. Then you need a new recruiting roll to get them on the next expedition. If your experienced-and-equipped friends don't want to come along you can go recruit new NPCs, but you only get a number of rolls based on CHA, total.

End of Expedition: Allmond [2d6] = 5 Franken [2d6] = 9

Allmond can be requested.
Franken declines coming again.

Allmond can be asked.
Franken decided you guys are too risky and went back to guard duty.

[Zhym]

And we wasted a 50 gp tip on that ingrate!

I'll Allmond's re-hiring it up to Rusty, since it'd probably be Winnie's total it would count against if she does the roll. We should probably get someone new to tend the mounts, though.

[Rusty Tincanne]

A much more sober Winnie attempts to recruit Almond, the cleric, for Fingers expedition. She feels good she is already helping. Sheesh. I hope this to roll better! Oh. She can only do this if he is level 3 or less, by the way, because she is level 4.

Winnie also tried to hire a soldier to watch over the mounts.

[Zhym]

He was 3rd level when we hired him originally. He might have leveled after that last expedition, though.

[Marullus]

Allmond is level 4, so Winnie is fine to roll.

CORRECTION: Winnie doesn't have a Friendly relationship with the church of Baudh.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Winnie's sheet is updated. She had good meals x21 days, so she has +2 on all saving throws x3 days.

She brought 10 large sacks and 2 small sacks. She has a compass, so hopefully we won't go astray. She also has quill, ink and parchment. She also has her dog, Mrs. Dash, with her.

Her current encumbrance is 63 pounds, though almost half of that is food. Are folks offering up their animals to carry packs so we move faster?

Let me know if she should try recruiting some hirelings to watch all the mounts.

[Zhym]

Stocking up for Fingers:

21 days trail rations x 1.5 (for Sprinkles) = 30 days x 6 sp = 18 gp
21 days feed x 6 cp = 12 sp, 6 cp

Total: 19 gp, 2 sp, 6 cp

Fingers also has 3 days of +2 on saving throws.

We should hire someone to watch the mounts, yes.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Winnie goes to the mercenary encampment or the guards' barracks and tries to sweet talk someone into coming along to watch the mounts. (The guy that went with Finger's last time, if possible.) As usual, it doesn't take her long, and in the end she has to let several others down nicely. I'm sorry everyone. We can only take one (or two) of you along. There just aren't that many mounts to care for. She leaves the hired muscle with instructions of where and when to meet the group.

Recruiting Hireling [2d6-1] = 9-1 = 8
Recruiting Hireling [2d6-1] = 3-1 = 2

Just in case Fingers wanted two, I rolled for another.Recruiting Hireling [2d6-1] = 3-1 = 2
B0th will have +1 morale, and her base morale for retainers is 10, if that matters.

Is that 3gp/month? And we provide the food, but not the backpack and bedroll?

[Marullus]

Franken conspicuously avoids Winnie's entreaty, finding himself busy with some tent pegs in the encampment.

Her charm and pleasant demeanor wins over several other younger men, however, and Jimmy agrees that going into the unknown with a bunch of people wishing to risk their lives so he can stand alone in the wilderness and guard their mules for 3gp per week sounds like a good deal.

House rule is per week, not per month. For your expected route, pay two weeks up front (6gp) and then buy his food.

Jimmy, the Horse Guard

Level 1 Fighter
Stats: STR:16, CON: 13; DEX: 8, CHR:8, INT:7, WIS:7
[1d8+1] = 5+1 = 6

Jimmy.png (48.06 KiB) Viewed 3759 times

HP: 6 / 6

Studded Leather (AC 7)
Billhook (Thac0 17) [1d10+2]

[Alethan]

Bandy loads up Mitch the pony with three weeks of trail rations and a week of oats in case there is a shortage of grass for Mitch to eat. He also replenishes his supply of arrows and large sacks.

He thanks the Frogmorton family for their hospitality once again when he leaves to meet up with the adventure party.

21 days x 6sp = 12gp 6sp
2 quivers of arrows = 10gp
8 large sacks = 1gp 6sp
Bandy likewise has 3 days of +2 saving throws.

Everyone please make sure your character has 4-8 large sacks in their inventory, ok?

[Zhym]

Fingers just got his arrows and his dog blessed.

He also has...a whole bunch of good meals. He's been in town since 26 July, had good meals through August 30. That's, what, five weeks, for five days of +2 to saves?

[DavetheLost]

Buttercup, the mule, can carry quite a bit more. Hengist has loaded her with 100 lbs, So she has another 100 lbs at 120' movement. Makes sense for us to load food, etc on to the pack animals while travelling.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Winnie welcomes Jimmy as the group gathers for departure, introducing him to the others, the dogs, and the pack animals he will be carrying for. I don't know if any of them need special care, so ask the others about that. Fingers and I will care for our dogs, so don't worry about them.

When Heingst offers to have Buttercup carry her pack, she accepts the offer. She loads one large sack with her food, bedroll and her large sacks, then hands it to Heingst. She strokes Buttercup's neck in thanks her for her generosity.

[Marullus]

31 August 2021
You varyingly set out towards the White Tower no later than 31 August, together or separately, to meet at the Golden Scales Tavern as agreed.

Please subtract the 5gp fee. Also, read below.

This location is located across the river (via the Frogmorton Ford) and north, then east, around the ruined city of the Yoldessi Plains. A wagon with a company of 20 knights on horses departs Frogmorton Ford each morning, providing safe escort from Gaul's surrounds to the White Tower.

Please advance two days from Gaul (which includes the time to walk to Frogmorton Ford) each time you take this trip. As it is escorted, there is no encounter roll.

The soldiers take payment of 5gp for safe transport for each round-trip (paid going out, free coming back). Please clearly annotate that you pay this when you travel, otherwise travel is an Expedition with normal encounter chances.

You see a stone keep rising before you...

As you ride along the dirt road, the east-west river running off to your left, you see the White Tower's keep rising on a swale of high ground before you, looming above the river. There is a Round White Tower, rising like a shining beacon at its center, at least 50' high and 30' across, overlooking the surrounding lands. Surrounding this is a stone curtain wall about 10' high, hemming in the bustling keep and and its other buildings, protecting them from the still-harsh wilds that surround this place in every direction. A square tower rises on each of the four corners of the wall, each one squat and 30' high, measuring 40' on each side. The movement of soldiers, gleaming in their armor, can be seen through the open windows on the top floor of each tower. There is little doubt of the security of this place.

Besides the 20 mounted men who ride with your wagon, you have seen occasional mounted patrols during your trip, especially as you've gotten closer to the keep. A small area surrounding the keep (about two bow-shots in each direction) is tilled and plowed, some intrepid peasants working to get crops in, grown, and harvested before the winter.

The double-doored gate is opened as your wagon approaches, admitting you to the large Keep's interior. Most of the area is currently a split-rail paddock housing horses. Directly in front of you, on the way to the white tower, is a ten foot statue of the handsome Lord Commander Bremen, carved of white marble. It is holding the Warhammer of Baudh and looks sternly across the yard, watching those who arrive.

A heavy iron door is visible at the base of each of the four towers marking the corners of the keep. The white tower itself stands in the center, welcoming the Baudhic pilgrims who come from Gaul to pay homage. An inviting two-story building stands against the south wall - an inn with light spilling from the windows and the sound of laughter within.

02 September 2021

A brightly-lit establishment of sturdy log planking, the Golden Scales of Justice Tavern is alive with activity of those visiting the White Tower and the off-duty soldiers who serve in the military companies here. It offers both food and lodging, as well as a steady cadre of buxom and bawdy women who frequent a table by the stairs to the rooms above, entreating the lonely soldiers if they'd 'like company.' Furniture of sturdy pine, fashioned from the woodland to the north, provides ample accommodation. Beyond the plain furnishings, the room is adorned lavishly in oil-painted canvases which decorate each wall. Most notably, behind the bar is an oversized portrait of Lord Commander Bremen valiantly standing atop the hill and brandishing his glowing, magical sword as he leads an attack upon cowering ranks of skeletal undead. On the far wall, above the long-tables used by most of the soldiers, is a panoramic painting showing Lord Commander Bremen leading a Halfling, a knight, a cleric -- all of whom look disheveled and fearful -- and a cowled and slinking warrior who hides his face to conceal sigils of a divine curse, into a resplendent temple, a pit trap open beside them.

The proprietor, a wide-shouldered and dark-bearded dwarf with only one eye, the other covered by a patch, glowers behind the bar. His serving wenches are much more personable and serve any orders requested.

Your party gathers, making any last minute arrangements before setting out.

Map contents will be posted shortly.

[Zhym]

Do our blessing bonuses start now, or when we left Gaul?

[Marullus]

When you leave the White Tower. All travel between settled locations is "town."

[Rusty Tincanne]

As they travel, Winnie catches up with each person in the group. She is surprised to find that Bandy worships Beith and encouraged him to visit the settlement on the west side of Gaul. She asks Fingers if Sprinkles can do any tricks, and if so, can he teach Mrs. Dash. I just love it when they roll over and shake paws!

Her knowledge of local lore is impeccable, having listened to every tale told or sung by Keenan the White for the past 2-3 weeks. She easily connects various dots and asks Markd and Bandy for some details about their past adventures at the tower of Markd's god. She has the good sense not to ask about the falling out between them and Bremen, and hopes it isn't foolish to be traveling with the man Bremen named a latrine after, Though it is a nice latrine, she thinks.

5gp deducted

[Marullus]

You compare what items of interest you found in each of the sector maps contained in Kelyr's collection.

Map #1: The Royal Tomb.
The royal family of the Yoldessi Plains had a manor house within the outer edge of the city limits, the house re-constructed during King Farthegn's reign. Beneath the manor is a family crypt where the Kings and Queens were known to be entombed. The map also shows a secret exit which the nobles could use to escape beyond the boundaries of the city in the event of a siege, but which you could now use as a hopeful means of ingress. While the Royal Crypt was well-known, what intrigues you is the notation of a secret chamber, hidden by King Farthegn, which contained the remains of his heroic grandfather, King Trygve. Kelyr's records show two years of work by the royal goldsmiths on a "tribute statue" to King Trygve.


Map #2: The Northern Observatory
On a clifftop in the highlands, this observatory is the northernmost point in the kingdom, with a cliff drop-off to the river below, and overlooking the tundra/plains on the other side of the river. This was a wizardly retreat reserved exclusively for the Royal Astronomer and his apprentice, a position which was manned for centuries. During Kelyr's tenure, two of the astronomers passed away, each time requiring almost four months of the royal goldsmith's labors to craft their burial tributes, which then were shipped to the reclusive location. His notes also indicate that almost a year was spent by the goldsmiths and gemwrights fashioning new astrological viewing scopes, oracular working tools, and laboratory equipment of pure gold for the new Royal Astronomer. He also has a cryptic note about needing them to share their protections from the winter's cold.

Map #3: The King's Mine
Located along the southern mountain edge, the map shows a mining town of stone buildings, the source of the King's gold. The entrance to the mine proper is located nearby and, as the excavated stone provided plentiful building material, you suspect it might be more intact than other constructed buildings in the Yoldessi Plains. You note that the town has several protections designed to shelter it from stone giant incursions. The most significant item of interest, though, is that there is a secret chamber denoted beneath the central administration building, designed as "safe rooms." Remarkable as a human construction, the excavated chambers include two underground stories, with enough room for the miners to inhabit and outlast any siege with the lower level being used for storage of all golden bullion in-transit to the royal goldsmiths and "items for defense against the giants."

Planning Map:

Gaul Map - Aug 2021 v4 - Fingers.png (101.58 KiB) Viewed 3729 times