The Unseen Servant forums

thirdkingdom wrote:Seneschal Beorthmac

It takes a half hour before the Seneschal is available to see the adventurers. "Well," he says, "you were right. They were certainly planning on hijacking the shipment of gold ore. Since they are new to this region, and were not wanted before you apprehended them, we're willing to pay you a bounty of 1000 gold for the lot of them. The leader, the one they call "The Boss", and his two lackeys will be executed, of course. The others have been turned over to Red Sky for use in the mines. Let them work off the debt they would have stolen. There is," he looks down at his papers, "the issue of a woman named . . . Casfrea, one of the Boss's lieutenants. We were informed by several sources that she was offered employment by one of you. It is concerning to me that a brigand, who may have committed terrible acts of violence, may escape consequences. Can you offer a guarantee that she will not cause any trouble?"

Telemachus replies, "Casfrea was kidnapped as a child and forced to serve the bandits. She was brainwashed, to be plain. She has no love for her former slave-masters. I am teaching her the ways of civilization and she's already proven to be an adept student. She is of no threat to the Barony and I will personally vouch for her conduct.

As for the other bandits, normally I care not whether they live or die but the one they call The Boss did give us valuable information on the location and disposition of the rest of their gang. I would hope there's some value in that. If he's executed despite being forthcoming with details, it hampers our ability to negotiate with future captives. Might I respectfully request you commute his sentence and send him to the mines with the others? You can still execute the lackeys."

thirdkingdom wrote:Madam Fleur

Fleur has found one horse archer looking for work. "You're going to need to give me more time," she says, "I can't just pull a handful of horse archers out of my ass." She also informs Telemachus there are two temples in Junction that may be of service: Sarnis, the goddess of the river, is the main deity of this region, although Manifest maintains a smaller presence in town. There is also a temple about nine miles east, the shrine to Sabeth. He is the god of the woods of these parts, and may also be of some help."

"Why, Madam Fleur! I am disappointed to hear that your ass is not as resourceful as it first appeared upon engaging your services." The mage gives her a wink. "Take what time you need, and thanks for the details on the local churches."

Beorthmac

The Sensechal frowns. "I would rather keep their leader imprisoned in the Baron's dungeons than send him north to work the mines. It is always best to keep a leader separate from their followers in defeat, to reduce hope and the chance of a rebellion. Let me think on this."

Thirdmonth, Eleventhday
Junction

The day is a clear, beautiful spring day.

thirdkingdom wrote:Beorthmac

The Sensechal frowns. "I would rather keep their leader imprisoned in the Baron's dungeons than send him north to work the mines. It is always best to keep a leader separate from their followers in defeat, to reduce hope and the chance of a rebellion. Let me think on this."

Telemachus

"I trust your judgement on this matter, Seneschal. Thank you for considering other options. To be honest, anything short of execution would work for our purposes."

Once the party collects the reward and takes their leave of the Seneschal, Telemachus calls on the priests of Sarnis.

sulldawga wrote:

thirdkingdom wrote:Beorthmac

The Sensechal frowns. "I would rather keep their leader imprisoned in the Baron's dungeons than send him north to work the mines. It is always best to keep a leader separate from their followers in defeat, to reduce hope and the chance of a rebellion. Let me think on this."

Telemachus

"I trust your judgement on this matter, Seneschal. Thank you for considering other options. To be honest, anything short of execution would work for our purposes."

Once the party collects the reward and takes their leave of the Seneschal, Telemachus calls on the priests of Sarnis.

Thirdmonth, Eleventhday
Junction

Before heading off to explore the next hex Telemachus visits the temple of Sarnis. It's just north of town, on the banks of the river. It's largely open to the air and elements, at least the parts that he can see. A large wooden structure -- all roof supported by thick wood posts, with no walls -- is build on the bank. A path of stones leads from there down into the water of the Sarn, worn smooth by water. A half dozen men and women in robes of blue are arranged along the bank, performing some sort of religious ceremony as the sun begins to peak over the eastern horizon. There are a number of small outbuildings, enclosed, arranged around the perimeter, and it is from one of those that an officious-looking woman emerges and buttonholes Telemachus before he can walk go any further.

"Can I help you?" she asks, "services to Sarnis don't start for another hour, and the priests are conducting their morning ritual. I am Annath, the Speaker of the House, tasked with interacting with the public." When Telemachus explains what he's looking for she frowns slightly. "A commune with Sarnis is not something that is taken lightly," she says, "the priests do not normally prepare this spell, and we may only speak with Sarnis but once per week, so it carries a heavy price. We normally ask for a donation of 500 gold, paid in full. I will see if we can arrange the casting for tomorrow morning. Let me know where you are staying and I will send a message to let you know if we can cast it on the morrow." She takes down Telemachus's information. "I should let you know there are several restrictions. You may ask three questions of Sarnis -- or rather, the head priest will ask them. The answers he receives will be "yes" or "no". Finally, while Sarnis is a mighty god, he is not omniscient. He is most knowledgeable about questions that relate to the river, the land that it touches, and the places that it flows. Keep that in mind when composing your questions."

Telemachus

"Annath, I have questions about the land just on the other side of the river, and the lake therein. Does Sarnis know these places?"

thirdkingdom wrote: *Just north of the lake the adventurers discover a door of oak banded in rusted steel, set into a rock outcropping. The door is man-sized, or perhaps a little larger, and has no evidence of a lock, keyhole, or knob. It also cannot be opened manually -- at least, not without greater effort, but doing so will likely destroy the door.

As the others inspect the door, Feargus approaches and runs his fingers lightly around the cracks of the door. Assuming it doesn't come to anything he will step back and say, "Yeah, I'd love to crack this like a walnut shell...but we have work."

Back in town
Feargus spends his time at The River's Edge meeting everybody he can - mostly focusing on people passing through who may have word of the surrounding world. At some point, he will even ask the barkeep if they'd ever consider hiring him to perform while he's in town.

sulldawga wrote:Telemachus

"Annath, I have questions about the land just on the other side of the river, and the lake therein. Does Sarnis know these places?"

Annath

"I cannot guarantee it, but it sounds likely."

Thirdmonth, Eleventhday
Hex 73.47

After potentially arranging some priestly assistance the adventurers leave again. Their day is truncated between visiting the temple of Sarnis and returning to Junction in the afternoon. Which, perhaps, is a good thing, because it means the sun is low in the sky and the temperatures cooler when they encounter the giant bees. Their nest appears to be a hole in the ground, perhaps 5' in diameter, amongst the exposed roots of an ancient beech tree. At least a half dozen bees can be seen around the entrance to their nest, moving sluggishly in the cool evening air. If they notice the adventurers they do not seem to mind, because they continue to wander about seemingly aimlessly.

A low thrum can be felt as much as heard, the beat of giant bee's wings within their lair.

Newton keeps his voice low as he warily watches the hive

"Well, at least we know where they are. The question is do we do something about this now or return better prepared? I would say return later."

Aldus pulls out his sheaf of notes. "We should definitely come back later. I've made some notes and have some ideas on who we might prepare ourselves." He pulls out a crude sketch of what looks like a combination barrel-wheelbarrow. "For the smoke, you see? You fill the barrel with excelsior and set it alight, and cap it down, just like a beekeepers smoke-pot. The smoke drives the bees into the hive and makes them torpid. Then, since it's a ground nest, maybe we pour boiling oil down there?"

Gardo

"If they make honey and wax, won't that boiling oil mess it up? Can't we just pick them off after using some of this smoke?"

Aldus: "They make honey and wax, but they make dead soldiers, too. I wouldn't be too eager to crawl down that hole, myself."

Feargus

Pulpatoon wrote:Aldus: "I wouldn't be too eager to crawl down that hole, myself."

Keeping his voice low as not to agitate the bees, Feargus says "Allow me to make a suggestion then. I have with me 3 flasks of oil. We light them and toss them into the hive. Now we will almost certainly pull the entire hive out on top of us but at least we won't be climbing down there. Once they come pouring out, they will also be a nice fat target for a fireball and arrows from our men."

Newton looks unsure

"If we did that, I have more oil here in my saddle bags. I have no idea how many of these things are in that nest, perhaps hundreds! We'd have to pull all the men back to maximum bow range for safety. Possibly even further for the infantry"

Telemachus

“We’d be destroying lots of valuable honey if we toss flaming oil down there, not to mention we have no idea how big the hive is and how many bees we’re facing. Let’s mark the spot, get some smoke pots, and come back prepared. That being said, I can cast a Sleep spell now on the ones we can see and we can kill a few while we’re here.”

Feargus
“That makes sense. Smash a few now, rinse and repeat with smoke pots later.”

Feargus shrugs his shield off his back and readies his mace.

Telemachus utters a few words and waves a hand. The bees outside the entrance to the nest all fall asleep. It is relatively easy to dispatch them as they slumber.

The adventurers return to Junction.
Thirdmonth, Twelfthday
Junction

Madam Fleur informs the adventurers over breakfast that she should have candidates for recruitments by the time the companions return from the day's exploration. "I also found buyers for the bee stingers. They will sell for 10 gp apiece, provided they are harvested intact from the carcasses."

Feargus

Madam Fleur informs the adventurers over breakfast that she should have candidates for recruitments by the time the companions return from the day's exploration. "I also found buyers for the bee stingers. They will sell for 10 gp apiece, provided they are harvested intact from the carcasses."

“Well that’s something. I wonder what they are used for? And hey, its a good thing we remembered to harvest them this time too. How about their honeycomb. Can you find a buyer for that too? We may be bringing a large load of it in soon.”

Feargus will see to getting at least 20 large sacks and 20 empty bottles or flasks to keep with the mercenaries for gathering honeycomb and honey.

The_Wanderer wrote:Feargus

Madam Fleur informs the adventurers over breakfast that she should have candidates for recruitments by the time the companions return from the day's exploration. "I also found buyers for the bee stingers. They will sell for 10 gp apiece, provided they are harvested intact from the carcasses."

“Well that’s something. I wonder what they are used for? And hey, its a good thing we remembered to harvest them this time too. How about their honeycomb. Can you find a buyer for that too? We may be bringing a large load of it in soon.”

Feargus will see to getting at least 20 large sacks and 20 empty bottles or flasks to keep with the mercenaries for gathering honeycomb and honey.

Madam Fleur

"The buyer is an alchemist, so I'm assuming she's using it for some sort of alchemical . . . thing."