Dragon Warriors - Session 2:8

Escape from Glissom (15^th May 2013)

The Dragon Warriors

Aethelfrith – Thane

Sir Erich of Barton – Knight (NPC’d)

Hillson – Warlock (NPC’d)

Nazir al Khalid – Barbarian

Solaran – Elementalist

Karban Telos – Sorcerer

A Quick Getaway (Day 16 (96) – dusk)

The Reavers saw that although they outnumbered their foe, the magical attacks were causing them quite a bit of discomfort. As the mages were situated on the docks, two of the better armed pirates decided to jump to the docks to take out the spell casters to even up the odds a little. Just as the two pirates leapt overboard to the wharf side, the grille above the cargo hold gave way and one of the pirates lost his balance and dropped into the hold. This gave the party on board just the space they required to take on their opponents more easily and it also allowed for Aethelfrith to leave the fray to try to protect the spell casters who were now about to be sorely pressed.

The battle on the boat raged on with Sir Erich, Nazir and Hillson trading blows with the pirates whilst the spell-casters on the dockside just managed to get off a few more deadly spells before battle was joined on the wharf.

The toll of magic and melee began to tell on the pirates still aboard the ship as they began to fall one-by-one to the steel of the brave warriors and the eldritch battering they had taken from the sidelines, but not before they had injured each of the three adventurers on board the ship. Hillson’s magical cures managed to keep Sir Erich alive on more than one occasion.

Meanwhile, the last of the pirates on the ship managed to climb out of the hold and back onto the deck. On the dockside, Aethlefrith, Karban and Solaran combined their attacks to take out the first of the well-armed Reavers.

The last pirate on the ship ran for the side and jumped onto the wharf beside his last remaining comrade. This did him no good as he had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. A combination of magic and steel accounted for him swiftly, but the last standing pirate managed to cut down Karban, knocking him unconscious. Nazir, who had seen the last pirate on ship jump overboard, decided to run down the gang plank and help his companions with their fight at the dockside, and he arrived just in time to strike the killing blow on the last of the Reavers.

Aethelfrith called for Solaran to run to the tavern to collect their crew whilst he whistled overboard to attract the attention of the awaiting pilot.

It took only a few minutes for the pilot to set up his tow ropes and get his crew on-board the cog to guide her out into the harbour, but that was all that was required to drag the bodies of the Reavers on-board and have the crew clamber into the rigging to set the sails for when they breached the harbour walls.

Just as they hit the calm waters of the Bay of Glissom, just outside the confines of the harbour break waters, Aethelfirth looked back and saw about half-a-dozen people had appeared on the dockside and were waving and gesticulating at them. Guessing that they were the Guaires and Reaver representatives who were due to make their escape by sea he chuckled lightly to himself.

A Passage by Sea (Days 16–29)

As soon as the harbour mouth was cleared, and the guide ropes from the pilot had been cast adrift, Solaran used the last of his magical powers to summon a wind from the calm evening air to push the cog out into the bay waters away from pursuit and towards a new destination for adventure.

The following day, the winds picked up and the ship’s going was good, but the third day had the small cog battling high waves coming from directly ahead. Unfortunately all the good distance they had travelled the previous two days was for nought as the captain recognised a landmark to their east and reckoned that although they had sailed a good 40 miles, the storm had pushed them back to within just a few miles of Glissom again.

The next week or so saw the return of the calm weather, and equally calm winds. The Elementalist’s magic allowed them to make good headway when combined with the steady rowing provided by the crew and companions. On the fourth day they passed a merchant vessel that was also heading away from Glissom and on the fifth they passed a Glissom naval vessel heading back to its home port.

On the tenth day, the wind finally began to pick up. They had covered about 100 miles so far by the reckoning of their captain, and the stronger breeze should now start to get them closer to their destination. This proved to be a good wind and they managed to cover another couple of hundred miles according to the landmarks that the captain was able to pick out on their brief forays back to the coast to gather their bearings.

Winged Vengeance (Day 30 - night)

Unfortunately, the start of the second week at sea saw the return of the doldrums, and an encounter at sea with a winged assailant. Just after dusk on the fourteenth day of leaving Glissom, the lookout in the Crow’s Nest, Karban and Nazir spotted what they thought was a flying horse. Karban, whose eyesight seemed to be the best that night spotted that it also sported a rider. Suddenly a great bolt of energy leapt towards the small cog. Nazir, who was directly in its path, just managed to jump out of its way in time and it struck the deck in a huge shower of sparks and energy.

The rider guided his very ugly flying steed to within a few yards of the boat to gloat before flying off. A parting shot from Karban missed the winged assailant as he headed off south to report on the cog’s whereabouts.

Dragon Warriors - Session 2:7

Raid on a Pirate Ship (8^th May 2013)

The Dragon Warriors

Aethelfrith – Thane

Sir Erich of Barton – Knight

Hillson – Warlock (played by a temporary replacement to cover holidays)

Nazir al Khalid – Barbarian

Solaran – Elementalist (NPC’d)

Karban Telos – Sorcerer (NPC’d)

A Deal is Made (Day 15 (95) – evening)

After being briefed by Sir Erich, the rest of the party agreed that some profit could be forthcoming in their relationship with Antonio Guaires. He was due back that evening for their answer to his proposal. In the meantime, Toby had returned and offered them some information; the Scorchers were no longer the hot news they used to be – rumours running around the docks revealed that nothing had been heard from them for a few days now, so perhaps they had been fully dealt with. There was now more tension in the docks area as the Scorchers had left a power vacuum and the bandit chieftain was nowhere to be found – he was either lying very low or had left the city. They sent Toby off again with instructions to do more of the same, and to find out who this Antonio Guaires was in the scheme of things. The party passed the remaining hours preparing for their meeting with Antonio later that evening.

When Antonio Guaires arrived the party took him to their private room. He seemed well-disposed towards the party and suggested that even though they had had a run-in a few days previously it would not sour what could be a very profitable business relationship. Sir Erich asked him what the job was that he required them to do and he ran it by them. It involved taking possession of a scroll case and package from a friar who would be delivering it to the pirate queen The Bloody Bitch as a gift from the Guaires family. Antonio’s mother, the matriarch of the Guaires clan, ruled with an iron fist, and embarrassing her publicly in front of powerful players would be the goal of this venture. He could then increase his own esteem when he produced the goods as a goodwill gesture to the same potential piratical allies. He gave them all the details of the hit but mentioned there should be no links between the party and himself as he wanted to remain anonymous in this venture and he wanted his strong-arm to remain hidden from view – they had wiped out the Scorchers, got away with murder in broad daylight and thus remained a dangerous enigma to the rest of the family after all.

The party asked what their remuneration would be in this deal, but Antonio only offered that they could salvage what they could from the raid as long as he got the main merchandise undamaged. The party agreed to his terms grudgingly and bid him adieu until the same time the following evening when they would have what he required.

Double Cross (Day 16 – early hours)

As soon as he had left the inn, the adventurers set about making plans for the smash and grab raid. They did not like the deal at all and rethought it through. Why bother grabbing the required merchandise from very likely powerful magic-wielding foes and well-armed bodyguards when they could just raid the cog for its value whilst the deal was made between the Reavers and the Guaires family? They decided they would attempt to double-cross Antonio Guaires in an attempt to build their own riches. If the raid to steal the boat failed, they could always fall back on their original plan and attempt to snatch the merchandise as requested; their reasoning being that they wanted to whittle down the defences on the boat so it could not sail before attacking the main party – no-one would be the wiser.

The adventurers headed out into the cold, misty night in search of a crew for their potential new ship. They searched many of the dockside taverns before finally coming across a Captain Jim Cookson; a down on his luck captain who had just lost his last ship to the Reavers. He was up for revenge and the party’s deal of helping them sail away after a raid appealed to him. However, after a little thought and putting two and two together he realised this would involve stealing a pirate ship – he was even more intrigued and agreed to raise a crew for the cog involved as well as the pilot to tow the ship out of the harbour confines. He demanded 70 florins a week for his part in the deal, but with 150 florins up front to hire a crew and smooth the way. The adventurers agreed to this and a deal was struck; he would await them in the Dockside Tavern from just after noon until he was called for, and the pilot would heave-to by the dock about the same time too.

Cogs and Wheels (Day 16 – dusk)

The companions returned to their inn for a little rest before they headed out at dawn to keep watch on the pirate vessel. They wandered up and down the dock area, calling in at various inns and establishments enquiring after prices for a passage to Thuland, dropping off a package to Albion, and so forth so that suspicions would not be raised. Throughout the day the pirates on-board the cog came and went on a variety of errands, stowed cargo and generally prepared the ship for a dusk sailing. The party kept an eye out on developments but soon lost track of how many Reavers were left aboard at any one time. They gathered there were approximately a dozen or so Reavers on the ship, a tough proposition.

They waited until almost dusk before two of the better equipped Reavers left the ship and made their way up the thoroughfare towards the Guaires family’s allocated meeting point. The party seized their opportunity and made directly for the cog as soon as the Reavers were out of sight and earshot.

The warriors of the party ran straight up the gang-plank and jumped onto the deck whilst the spell-casters hurled wizardry from the wharf at the better armoured warriors on the poop and fore decks. This caught the Reavers by surprise, and before they knew it, one of their crew members was on the deck bleeding from a mighty stab wound from Aethelfrith’s new short sword. Two others were hurt in the fray before they could shake off their surprise and mount a stiff defence of their ship.

A flurry of blows and magical missiles caused further injury to some of the pirates but they fought back well, injuring Sir Erich in the process. The magical attacks began to take their toll on the Reavers however, as first the magical sword of Aethelfrith downed another pirate and Sir Erich’s great axe cut down one of the better armoured pirates. A further flurry of blows and magical attacks reduced the defences further as Nazir felled a pirate with his new magical morning star. The pirates would not give up their ship that easily though and renewed their attacks, pinning the warriors on board back against the gangplank. Aethelfrith called for a shield wall to be formed. Nazir and the warlock Hillson quickly joined him whilst Aethelfrith fended off three pirates on his own to buy them some time. The full force of the Reavers now joined the fight – the warriors on board were outnumbered by more than two to one now, but the three quick kills meant that the odds were not any worse. They just hoped they could finish off the Reavers on board before any reinforcements could be forthcoming.

Dragon Warriors - Session 2:6

In which Councillor Brannon Byrne is Murdered (1^st May 2013)

The Dragon Warriors

Aethelfrith – Thane

Sir Erich of Barton – Knight

Hillson - Warlock

Nazir al Khalid – Barbarian

Solaran – Elementalist

Karban Telos – Sorcerer

Arrested (Day 12 (92) – late evening)

Solaran, Sir Erich and Aethelfrith knocked on the wooden door of the Councillor’s house. As they expected, they received no reply. They called his name a few times before they decided to shoulder open the door. Upon entering the gloomy passageway beyond the main door, they held their torches aloft calling the councillor’s name. Again they heard no reply. They advanced into the candle-lit study and saw the councillor lying upon the floor in a pool of half-congealed blood. They quickly studied the body and found that he had been stabbed; the knife was still in the wound. They looked quickly around the study, but could find no reason for the break-in. The study was in its usual state of untidiness but nothing appeared to have been taken.  Solaran found his amulet on a workbench and placed it quickly back around his neck just as the party heard voices coming down the entrance corridor.

Four men-at-arms advanced into the chamber and demanded that the occupants lay their arms to and step away from the body. A fifth person was just visible in the shadows beyond the soldiers. The sergeant examined the body making mental notes, and then he proceeded to look around the chamber. Whilst he was looking at the evidence before him the fifth member of the guards’ party encouraged them to arrest the three adventurers on the spot as it was obvious they were guilty. By now he had advanced further into the chamber and all three adventurers realised it was the bandit chieftain from Worsted – this was obviously a set-up. The councillor had been deemed to have double-crossed the bandit chieftain (the argument the party had witnessed upon their immediate arrival in Worsted supported this) and the party had wiped out his lucrative set-up in the forests.

The party were asked to accompany the guards to the watch tower as they were accused of murdering the councillor. They accompanied the guards gladly as they had nothing to hide.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party back at the safe house became a bit restless as their companions had not returned after a few hours. They decided to take a trip to the councillor’s house to see what might have happened. When they arrived they found that the councillor’s house had been cordoned off and four well-armed guards had been posted outside. Their enquiries led to nothing as the guards were very tight-lipped. The party decided to cut their losses and made their way to a tavern across the street that was still plying its trade at that time of night. They questioned the denizens of The Golden Goose, a very upmarket establishment, over a few very expensive drinks and found out that there had been a murder and that the perpetrators had been carted off to the local watch room under heavy guard.

Sir Connor (Day 13 – early morning)

The guard appeared before the doors to their cells with a bucket of gruel and proceeded to ladle the grey mixture onto soft leaden plates for the accused. He started to push them through the slits under the doors designed for such purpose when a familiar voice was heard from behind him. The guard produced his set of keys and unlocked each of the cells containing the companions. They rubbed their eyes in the bright morning light and followed Sir Connor out of the gaol and into his office. The smell of freshly baked bread and spicy sausage greeted them upon their arrival. He bade them to eat their fill and explained what had been happening over-night. He was well aware that they were not guilty but had to show that protocol was being followed. He asked the party how they knew about their accuser and they explained that he was the bandit chief out for revenge on both the councillor and themselves. He put out an order for the bandit to be tracked down at the address he had given the watch and detained, which was snapped to immediately. He said he would keep them in for another day or so just to make things look the part and then set them free due to lack of evidence.

Back at the safe-house, Toby returned at his allotted time. He had no further information for them, so the rest of the party set out for the prison to get an update on the situation. The scenario was explained to them in detail, and Toby was sent off to try to look for the whereabouts of the bandit chieftain just in case he could find out something that Sir Connor’s guards could not.

After the discussion, the party that were free to go headed out to do some investigating of their own. Hillson went looking for details on the monks of Worsted, whilst the others set about selling the treasures that the party had accumulated over the last few days. Nazir walked around the docks under the guise of gaining some steady employment but really looking for rumours of what had transpired recently. He heard nothing that the party did not already know.

As the bells of the church of the new religion tolled for compline, Sir Connor called into the cells and let the party go. The bandit chieftain had fled town and so there was now no witness to link them to the murder and thus no-one to pin the blame on except the chieftain; presumed guilty by his absence and the testimonies of the three adventurers being cross-referenced with what was heard by the denizens of The Golden Goose.

A New Hideout (Day14)

The party met up again at the safe house later that night but realised that they would need to move on if they did not want to run the risk of being found by any of their enemies. They gathered their belongings and headed for a nicer part of town where they booked into a new tavern for a bath and some rest and recuperation. They found a neat tavern in the richer district, close to the gaol in which they had recently been held. They informed Sir Connor of where they were now staying.

The following morning, they gathered their treasures and headed out to find a blacksmith who could make some decent plate armour for Sir Erich. They soon found a master armourer who could do the job for them but the armour would take five days to complete. They paid over 600 florins up front for the armour and said they would pay the rest upon completion. The smith said that was a fair deal and set about making the mail.

After placing the order for the armour, the party returned to their new tavern hide-out and began to settle in for a night of feasting and roistering whilst they laid low waiting for Sir Erich’s armour to be completed.

During the course of the evening, Aethlefrith and Karban took part in a game of Mubbly-Peg – This tavern game is a contest between two players who throw their daggers at their feet in order to see who can get closest without cutting themselves. Aethelfrith won the initial contest but when he opened the floor for any takers none were willing to take on the seasoned warrior. Karban was another prospect entirely, and a local sailor relived him of several silver florins. Hillson also became a few florins richer by betting against his friend!

Whilst the frivolities were taking place, Sir Erich was approached by a hooded man. Nobody else noticed the hushed conversation going on between the two shadows in the corner of the tavern whilst there was a fun distraction going on.

A New Ally? (Day 15)

The following morning, after the party had broken their fast and they had recovered from the night before, Sir Erich asked the party to return to their own common room, as he had something to tell them. Sir Erich explained that he had been approached by Antonio Guaires (the third member of the Scorchers coven in the final underground chamber who had escaped from the party’s clutches). He mentioned that he was a member of a small faction within the family that was not happy with the way things were being run. The family were not as united as many supposed and he was fighting to carve out a new niche for himself. He had seen how the party had handled themselves in that fight and was willing to take them on as his strong arm.

Dragon Warriors - Session 2:5

In which Mary and Edith are Rescued (24^th April 2013)

The Dragon Warriors

Aethelfrith – Thane

Sir Erich of Barton – Knight

Hillson - Warlock

Nazir al Khalid – Barbarian

Solaran – Elementalist

Karban Telos – Sorcerer

The Skulls in the Sewers (Day 11 (91) – very early hours)

The darkness beyond the doors was impenetrable beyond a few feet either side of the open door. The party members each grabbed a torch to light their way and took a look at what was before them. The sewer ran to both the left and right of them. The left hand tunnel angled slightly down towards the docks and the right hand passage led back up into the city. The constant drip-drip of water and the scurrying rats or maybe worse could be heard above the breathing of the adventurers as they stepped into the grease slicked, ankle deep water and headed back towards the city along the slime emblazoned tunnel. After a short while, the party noticed an indent in the wall on the left up ahead. They approached it cautiously and saw that it was actually a short side passage that ended in double doors.

The party headed up the short passageway and listened at the wooden double valves. No light was being emitted between the doors and the frame and no sound could be heard coming from within. The two lead fighters cautiously opened the doors and filed in slowly. Their torches flickered on the walls of a small ante-chamber that held a table on the right hand side, a few unlit torches in wall brackets, and a door opposite the one they had entered. The room was unadorned except for the table and the bowl upon it which was bookended by two large stone skulls. The party lit the torches in the sconces to grant them better vision and a place to return to if their torches were extinguished.

The party thought nothing of the room, so made their way to the door opposite. Aethelfrith, however, took a closer look at the skulls and shivered; he was tempted to smash them but decided not to as the party wanted to move on. Sir Erich pulled open the set of doors opposite their way in and was stopped in his tracks by a prickling of the hairs on the nape of his neck. He turned round just in time to see the stone skulls raise themselves up from the table and rush to strike anyone within reach.

Almost as soon as they had left the table, Nazir swung his mighty axe and smashed one to smithereens. Karban, a crack shot with his bow let loose a shaft that pinged off the second skull, shaving a few shards of stone from the brow. The skull flew towards Sir Erich, who had opened the doors, and blasted him with a sheet of flames from its eyes. This onslaught did not last long though as Nazir again smashed the animated rock skull to pieces with his great axe; he certainly had developed a hatred for flying stone since his mishap in the basement of the Scorchers’ lair.

Rescued

The party swiftly exited the room and entered a short corridor that extended in the darkness to end in a set of doors at the end and on the left hand side. They approached the doors and listened at each of them. Aethelfrith could hear the movement of chains and muted voices from beyond the portal on the left and guessed this might well be a prison cell. Hillson listened at the other door but what he heard was forgotten about when the fighters kicked down the door behind him.

The three fighters stormed into the room taking the two guards inside by surprise. A swift melee ensued, but the guards never really stood a chance and were hacked down mercilessly by Sir Erich and Nazir. The two girls in the room gushed praise at their rescuers and Hillson, the warlock, searched the guards’ pockets for the keys to the chains that held them to the walls. Edith mentioned that the Scorchers had somehow found out where she lived, had burst in and taken the pair of them captive. This surprised her as the last time she was chased by the Scorchers (when she was rescued by the party) they were baying for her blood. Once the girls had been released, the party stripped the guards of their valuables, and Aethelfirth handed Mary his bow; just in case. A quick discussion ensued about whether to open the last door; Karban betting the rest of the party that the last door probably only contained a store room. Aethelfrith wanted to carry on exploring but Sir Erich prompted for caution. Hillson was about to warn them that he had heard voices beyond the portals last time he listened at them but did not get the chance as Nazir, never one to hold back, advanced upon the doors and kicked them open. Solaran, meanwhile, returned to the ante-chamber that held the skulls to guard the room and warn of any approaching enemy aid from their rear.

Final Encounter

The fighters poured swiftly into the large living hall. Inside was a large fire pit, walls draped with tapestries similar to those they had seen in the large basement room in the Scorcher’s lair, and a bed, desk and chest ensemble across the way by the opposite wall. At the far end of the room, getting to their feet from chairs around the table were three figures; one in black-enamelled mail armour, one in flame coloured flowing robes, and a third dressed in a rich travelling cloak, boots and armour, who quickly backed away from the other two and put his hand to his belt as if ready to draw a sword.

Mary and the sorcerer Karban swiftly entered the room and let loose their arrows at the druid figure. Edith and Nazir followed quickly, the barbarian throwing his dagger at the fire mage. Sir Erich and Aethelfrith made straight for the guardsman whilst Hillson, the warlock, ran back up the corridor to get help from their last spell wielder with any power left.

The Scorcher mage hurled a huge pile of magical rocks at Aethelfrith but he managed to dodge them successfully. Edith returned the favour in kind at the guard facing down Sir Erich and Aethelfrith, but she was more successful and her magical spell hit him square in the chest, felling him instantly. Karban was again successful with his bow and felled the fire mage. Now that the two fighters were freed from their combat they quickly advanced on the last remnant of the Scorchers in this lair. He was still backing away with his hand ready over where he would wear a sword. Sir Erich yelled for him to surrender but the richly dressed opponent made no move to change his stance. Sir Erich hit him with the butt of his axe, and Aethelfrith stormed in and also hit him with the butt of his spear.

The last Scorcher made a bee-line for the door taking massive hits from all three fighters but seemingly shrugged all the damage off. Solaran launched a fire ball at him but missed, as did Edith’s attempt at slowing him. The last line of defence, Hillson the warlock, cast his Phantom Warrior spell at the last survivor but again he just shrugged away the damage.

This last ditched attempt by Hillson slowed the Scorcher just enough so that the three fighters could catch up with him again. Sir Erich and Aethelfrith both hit him with the butts of their weapons and Nazir tried to grapple him, but all three attacks proved unsuccessful. The Scorcher managed to shrug off their strikes, cast a blinding thunder-flash spell, and disappeared down the corridor to the skull room. Whilst the warriors tried to blink away the afterglow on their retinas and regain their eyesight, the rest of the party gave chase back to the sewer but the Scorcher seemed to have disappeared into thin air; there was no sign of the well-dressed Scorcher and no tell-tale splish-splash of feet running rapidly along the sewers. He had escaped.

The Safe House (Day 11 – rest of the day)

The party quickly rummaged through the room for anything of value and left the underground warren as quickly as they could. They swiftly returned by a roundabout way to the safe house and locked themselves in their private room for sleep, rest and recuperation.

Toby knocked on the door towards the end of the morning to find out how it all went and was pleased to see Mary and Edith were there safe and well. He asked what the party would like him to do next, so they asked him if he could find out who the well-dressed Scorcher was and what the news was on the streets about their raid. They also gave him Nazir’s chainmail to sell as he had taken the rather nice black-enamelled hauberk from the dead guard in the final battle for himself.

At dusk, the warlock’s powers came back to full strength, so he set to healing as many of the party as he could. At the end of the session, everyone’s cuts and bruises had been salved except for the very worst ones that Nazir had suffered.

Their guide returned later that night with some cash from the sale of the armour but, alas, he had no news about who the well-dressed scorcher was, although he suggested it might have been a member of the Guaires family.

The party settled down to the drinks that Karban offered them for his failed predictions of the contents of the final room and stayed well out of sight of the main clientele of the inn that they were staying in. Karban’s powers returned at around midnight, so he healed the last of Nazir’s wounds.

The Word on the Streets (Day 12)

The following morning, after a restful sleep, Toby was sent out again to try to hear the word on the streets. Mary and Edith decided that things were too hot for them to handle, so decided that they would leave the area for a while whilst they considered what to do next; they needed somewhere to stay as Edith’s old house was now known to the Scorchers. Luckily the old house was rented so it would be easy to just leave and move on to another rented house elsewhere in the city.

Later that morning Toby returned to tell them that his hunch was correct – the well-dressed man was most likely related to the Guaires family and that they had made a bitter enemy if he was. The party decided to lay low for just another day before they would leave their safe-house inn and head out to find gainful employment.

Just as they settled down for afternoon tea, a rap on the door was revealed to be a messenger from Councillor Brannon Byrne. He wanted to speak to Sir Erich, Aethelfrith and Solaran about an important matter. He had some news for them and wished to see them at ten of the clock that night.