The Sudden Sea –Session 18

[Night of May 21/22 – Anomin vs. Calliope and Interrogations]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened January 22, 2024.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

Yggsday, May 21, 56 I.C.

Night

In the barn in Pedino, Anomin shook off the last of the paralytic poison from the trap protecting the wooden box in the hayloft.  She took the heliograph out of the box and stashed it on her person before transforming back into her crow form.

Anomin flew back to the house the teens reported to, attempting to be quiet, but she landed heavily [rolled terrible on her Stealth check].  Luckily no one seemed to have heard her.  She fluttered down to an open window and snuck inside.

Having better luck indoors, Anomin landed silently on the floor.  She then first transformed back into a human and then into her cougar form.  Now that she could see clearly [neither her crow nor human forms can see in the dark], she realized she was in Calliope’s bedroom with Calliope asleep in the bed.

Anomin moved as silently as the big cat she was over to the door.  The door knob proved to be a challenge to open with no thumbs [she spent 3 Hero Points to improve her roll from complete failure to just a success].  The knob unexpectedly squeaked when Anomin turned it, waking up Calliope.  Anomin hunkered down as Calliope looked around in the darkness.

After a tense moment, Calliope started quietly getting out of bed, carrying a large dagger.  In response, Anomin attempted to crawl under the bed, but Calliope kept the dagger between her and Anomin, apparently able to track the cougar's movements.

With no better option, Anomin swatted at Calliope with her claws retracted to avoid murdering the woman.  Anomin hit her hard in the ribs, probably breaking one or two, and stunned Calliope.  Calliope shook off the stun and tried to catch her breath, one hand holding her injured side.

Anomin followed up with a pulled punch to Calliope’s vitals, knocking the woman unconscious but breaking no additional bones.

Anomin immediately took advantage of Calliope being unconscious to go search the rest of the small house, especially the floor in the corner of the living room.  It took Anomin some time [5 minutes and another Hero Point] to locate the well concealed compartment and lift the floor boards covering it.  Inside was the journal she had seen Calliope making notes in.

Anomin pushed the journal around a bit with her paws until she could get a bite on it and lift it out.  She then padded back to the bedroom window and awkwardly and noisily pushed it the rest of the way open before jumping out through it.

Anomin padded quietly to the edge of Pedino with only one barking dog any the wiser to her presence.  Once past the edge of the village, Anomin set the journal down and returned to her human form.  She secured the book on her person and then shifted back into crow form for the long flight back to the caravan.

In the Caravan Camp

The captured and tied-up bandits, 2 human women and 1 human man, were sat down on the edge of the camp.  Tharduk and Kadruth stood aside to discuss how they were going to question the captives.  While they did this, Inserrant started singing and playing her zills, ostensibly to entertain the caravan guards, but really to hide her casting her Mind Control spell on the captives, giving them the command to “Tell the Dwarves everything.”

Once Tharduk and Kadruth approached the captives, the captives were completely ready to spill the beans on anything the dwarves asked about.  The dwarves learned:

• They do work at the nearby farm to the northwest as cover and for food.
• They are part of the Green Hand.
• They use a heliograph to forward information in the morning to guys at the Watch Rock, so the ambush people know what to expect.
• The Watch Rock is a formation in the hills to the south of the County Road, next to a rock that looks like some guy's nose. 
• The leader of their team was not here now.

That piece of information prompted Islo and Sorvia to immediately go looking for their leader.

The captives continued to tell the dwarves everything:

• They gave the 5 names of people they know in the Green Hand, including themselves and their leader, Nikos.
• They gave a complete description of the other person and where to find them - at the hill fort where ambush guys are from.
• The hill fort holds 40 to 50 people. 
• They provided a description of the fort and its whereabouts.

Tharduk was also able to pick out [using the Conversation skill] that in addition to the hill fort, the Green Hand have their own town hidden in the hills south of the County Road, past the Keramidi cross road.  Kadruth asked why the captives were working with bandits and learned the entire Green Hand were once farmers in areas of County Modon that are now under the Sudden Sea.  As they fled the rising waters, merchants kept swindling them or used thugs to outright steal from them with no repercussions.  Eventually they had enough and formed the Green Hand with the intent of raiding the merchants in kind.

Tharduk and Kadruth indicated they were done questioning the captives to Inserrant, who used her high levels of Mind Control to muddle the captives’ memories of the questioning.  The captives were now convinced that Kadruth used some unspeakable dwarven torture devices on them, so horrible that cannot stand to think about it or remember details.

Out in the Grasses Surrounding the Camp

Islo and Sorvia went back to the blind and followed the tracks of the captives when they approached the blind.  It wasn’t hard as they seemed very confident they would not be seen.  Following the tracks along their approach, they found where a fourth set of tracks split off from the group.  These tracks were a little harder to follow, indicating that their leader had some skill.

At a certain point, the leader had stopped, possibly when the trap in the blind had gone off.  He seemed to be serious about not being seen nor tracked after this point.  They lost the tracks for a bit and spread out to reacquire them.  Islo found a spot where the leader stopped for a bit.  It was near the edge of the camp, close to where the captives were questioned, possibly close enough to hear what was said.  After this the tracks moved away from the camp and Islo and Sorvia lost them again.  The two rangers spread out again, but had no luck picking up the trail again.  Failing to reacquire, they returned to camp.

Back in Camp

Kadruth cast his Force Wall spell and placed it around the captives to hold them in.  When the rangers returned to the camp, the group shared information.

Third Watch

Anomin finally returned to the caravan.  She was able to locate the campsite due to the camp fires.  She shared the  information she had acquired and produced the journal for Kadruth to look at.  While Tharduk brought Anomin up to date on the captives and what they had spilled, Kadruth looked over the journal.  It was in some form of code, but he was fairly certain the first column was a notation of date and time, suggesting the journal was a message log.  He will need some time to attempt a decipher.

Anomin, having been up most of the night, went to sleep and Kadruth covered her watch.

End of session

Commentary

[I think I mentioned that I was awarding Hero Points to the players for turning in their session notes.  If I hadn’t mentioned that, I was doing so.  This helped me greatly when it came time to write the blog entries as they recorded things important to them and their characters that I might have missed.  It also meant I could spend more time running the game and less time writing down what was happening.  I believe the complete rules for the use of Hero Points is in the Pulp Hero genre book from Hero Games.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign

Last session: Session 17

Next session: Session 19

The Sudden Sea –Session 17

[May 18 to 21 – Caravan Guard Work, Lights, and Prisoners]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened January 8, 2024.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

Magusday, May 18, 56 I.C.

Tharduk returned to the Merchant Guild with Anomin in crow form.  Tharduk used Guild records to track down the ownership of the farmstead at Pedino, a village west of Mouzaki.  It used to be a waypoint for caravans before the Sudden Sea submerged most of the County.  Pedino officially owes loyalty to the Yorgos, Baron of Mouzaki.

While at the guild, Tharduk went fishing for the next caravan to head west to Grizano.  He wasn’t able to get the information [with all the raiding, the Guild is keeping tighter leash on that information] but he didn't alert anyone that he was looking either [just made his Conversation roll].

Failing at the Guild, Tharduk next went to the regular hiring area for caravan guards and asked around who was hiring.  He eventually tracked down Attor Cerdicson, the leader of the next caravan to leave Mouzaki for Grizano.  He was able to convince Attor that Tharduk’s group were serious bounty hunters with all the capabilities needed.  Once Attor was certain that he will not need to pay Tharduk or his group of bounty hunters, he stated that they will need to bring their own supplies and will fall under the authority of the caravan guards, led by Vagn the Lion.  Attor introduces Tharduk to Vagn and they discuss capabilities.  

Once Vagn was satisfied, Attor started writing up a contract for Tharduk to sign on the group’s behalf.  At this point Anomin whispered into Tharduk’s ear, reminding him to add a clause where the “bounty hunters” were free to leave once they captured bandits.  Tharduk brought this up with Attor and they haggled a bit before Attor agreed to include the clause.

Once Tharduk signed the contract, Attor told him the caravan would be leaving within a week.  Tharduk would need to check in at 4:00 PM each day until told the caravan was ready.  Tharduk’s team would then need to assemble the following dawn with the caravan.  They shook hands and parted.

Afternoon

Tharduk met back up with the adventurers and informed them they had a caravan to use as bait.  Kadruth discussed the details with Tharduk and then worked out placement of the adventurers, especially himself, along the caravan for optimum attack capability.

The adventurers then spent a total of one gold coin buying manacles, rope, and food for four days.

Freysday, May 20, 56 I.C.

4:00 PM

At the regular check-in, Tharduk was told that the caravan would be leaving the next day at dawn.

Yggsday, May 21, 56 I.C.

Dawn

The adventurers arrived as the caravan assembled.  The caravan consisted of 9 wagons with 2 caravan guards on each wagon followed by Vagn and his lieutenant on horseback.  The adventurers situated themselves on the wagons as follows:

• Sorvia was on Wagon 1
• Kadruth and Anomin on Wagon 5
• Tharduk and Inserrant on Wagon 7
• Islo on Wagon 9

7:00 AM

The caravan left Mouzaki, taking the County Road west to Grizano.

Midday

The caravan passed the village of Pedino.  The adventurers saw that it was an extended farmstead that sat north of the road with multiple crop fields around it.  People could be seen weeding the fields.

Afternoon

Several hours later, Anomin happened to notice a signal light come from Pedino [made a very high Perception roll].  Turning quickly, she caught the return signal in the hills ahead, off to the left.  She whispered to Kadruth, asking the dwarf if she should fly off and investigate the light back at the farmstead.  He said yes and she immediately flew off, back towards Pedino to try and find the source.  Sorvia had also noticed the return signal from the hills ahead and gave a bird whistle signal that alerted the rest of the adventurers...except Inserrant, who wasn’t paying attention [made a terrible Perception roll].

Late Afternoon

The caravan arrived at the regular campsite for this route, which was marked with boundary stones.  The area inside was officially County property, separate from the barony it resided in.  While things were being set up, Islo and Sorvia scouted the area around the campsite.  In addition to signs of other caravans using this site, they also found a blind for observing the campsite just north of the campsite.  Islo set up a spike trap in the blind and Sorvia concealed it.  The trap was designed to injure but not kill and to pin the target in place.  They then returned to the campsite and informed the other adventurers about the blind and where it was located.

Tharduk asked Kadruth for a prayer to bless the campsite and he agreed to do so.  Kadruth’s blessing generated a feeling of safety that seemed to relax the caravan drivers.  The caravan guards set up watches while the adventurers kept their own.

An Hour After Sunset

Anomin arrived at Pedino and looked around.  There were 7 houses, 3 large barns, and a smattering of out-buildings of various types.

She deduced 3 possible locations the heliograph could have been discretely used from: one of the barns and two of the houses.  She checked the barn first and found nothing amiss.  Inside were several draft horses, some cattle, and some goats with hay up in the hayloft.

With nothing incriminating found in the barn, she flew over to the  first house, looking for an open window.  They were all closed until one opened and a person climbed out.  Anomin followed that person discreetly, nearly losing them as they headed over to the barn Anomin had just investigated.

Back At the Campsite

During the first watch, the trap Islo and Sorvia set in the blind went off and someone there cried out in pain.  Islo and Inserrant, on watch for the adventurers, immediately headed out to investigate, bow and xill at the ready.  Tharduk and Sorvia were awoken by the cry and readied their weapons.  Kadruth slept soundly.

Islo reached the blind first and found three humans in the blind, one pierced in the leg by the trap.  Islo whipped out a bolo and entangled one of the free humans with it.  He then shot the other one in the stomach with his bow before any of them could react, leaving that person unconscious and bleeding.  The humans immediately surrendered.

Tharduk woke Kadruth before heading out to the blind, taking rope with him.  He tied up the captives and brought them back to the campsite where Kadruth healed their wounds.

Back at the Barn

Anomin followed the person back to the barn, where they entered through a side door.  Anomin flew around the barn and found an opening she could squeeze through.  Inside the barn, she discovered that the person she had followed was a teenage boy who was hugging a teenage girl up in the hay loft and both were giggling.

After a moment the girl got up and opened the hayloft door to peer out.  The boy walked up behind her, wanting to continue but she told him to stop, a message was coming in.  Anomin glided around so she could see as well and caught the tail end of a flashing light out in the far distance, likely the same hills south of the County Road from earlier in the day.  The girl pulled a heliograph out of a nearby box and used a candle to reply.  She put away the heliograph and made a note on a slip of paper from the box before closing and latching the box.  She stating, “We need to tell Calliope.”  The boy, dejected, agreed.

Anomin made her way out of the barn as quietly as she could and then followed the two over to one of the smaller houses.  The girl knocked quietly and they were let in.  Anomin flew closer and found a window she could peek through.  While she could not hear what was said, she could read their lips enough to get the idea.  She saw a woman older than the teens receive the message and read it.  She then stated that the message would need to be passed along and she dismissed the teens, making the boy wait until after the girl left so the two would not “get up to anything”.

Once the teens left, the woman went over to a corner and did something on the floor that Anomin could not see from the window.  She then walked over to the lit candle holding a book she was not holding earlier and made some notes in it.  She then put the book back and burned the note from the girl with the candle.

After learning what she could, Anomin returned to the barn to steal the heliograph.  Up in the hayloft she turned human to open the box and take the heliograph.  The box was trapped with a needle covered in a paralytic poison, paralyzing Anomin for nearly 10 minutes [thanks to her unusually high Constitution - anyone else would have been paralyzed all night].

End of session

Commentary

[The PCs are learning how the bandits work and have prisoners.  Will the prisoners talk?  I didn’t want to stop in the middle of the action like this, but it was well past our stopping point for the night so we had to.]

[I tried something different when writing up these notes this time.  First I just typed up my notes as is, which are fairly sketchy as I’m busy running the game.  Then I embroidered the notes from the players on that, which seemed to spread the whole thing up.  Previously I have multiple source documents open and combine them as I go, which involves switching back and forth.  This time I just layered text and made modifications to my notes by adding the details the players captured.  That seems easier.  I’ll keep doing it this way for a while to verify.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign 

Last session: Session 16

Next session: Session 18

The Sudden Sea –Session 16

[May 17 – Shopping, Shares, and Commissions]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened December 18, 2023.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

Hernesday, May 17, 56 I.C.

Morning

Tharduk completed his shopping (and selling off loot).  Kadruth was able to purchase some inexpensive leather armor for his legs, finally gaining complete armor coverage of his body.

Next the adventurers split the money they had earned.  This included: the money earned from defeating the wendigo, delivering the mail to Nomi and back, and scouting the Mikro Dasos; money tipped to the group from Lady Michelakis; sale of the bear skin and wendigo claws; and the County Modon and Freegate coins found in the Nicobar manor.  Each member of the group received 24 gold coins with 26 gold coins, 5 silver coins set aside for group expenses.  Sorvia immediately gave Tharduk 4 gold coins to invest for her.

Tharduk held onto the Silverloc and Imperial coins.  Spending freshly minted Imperial coins in the Syrak Alliance, a part of the empire that broke away during the Goblinoid Invasion would draw the wrong kind of attention.  Tharduk felt he could easily exchange the Silverloc coins for local coins at the Merchant’s Guild.

With money in their hands, both Islo and Sorvia were interested in learning what it would take to establish a settlement away from Mouzaki and the enormous refugee camp surrounding it.  As no one knew, the two asked Tharduk to look into it as he seemed to have the best contacts in Mouzaki.  The group then split up to do some shopping.

Tharduk and Islo tracked down an armorer to craft some things from the Nemean Lion’s pelt.  They find Timo Galouni, who is very interested in working with the lion pelt.  After some negotiations they reach an agreement:  Timo will fashion 2 sets of full leather armor, a set of armor for the arms for Sorvia, an archery arm cover [for Islo], a vest made of the Mane for Inserrant, and a shoulder piece for Kadruth.  In exchange, Timo gets to keep the scraps, keeps one of the claws as a deposit (and so he can cut the pelt), and he will be paid 150 gold coins, due June 17, when the work is done.

Islo and Tharduk next tracked down a weaponsmith to turn six of the lion claws into 3 daggers and 3 skinning knives.  These will make a set of “membership knives” for the group, making the group recognizable.  The weaponsmith requests the right to display the blades as they are completed, which Tharduk agrees to.  The blades will be ready by June 17th as well.

After that, the two went to the Merchant’s Guild so Tharduk could exchange the Silverloc coins at the best exchange rate.  He was able to get one 25 gold trade bar and 24 gold coins minted in the various members of the Syrak Alliance [essentially the local currency].

Islo and Tharduk then met up with Sorvia and Kadruth to work out some good locations for a settlement inside County Modon.  Tharduk was able to learn while at the Merchants Guild that the application fee to file for a settlement permit was now 10 gold coins.

Mid Afternoon

Kadruth, Sorvia, and Islo went to the Sheriff’s Office to meet with Sheriff Raptis and discuss their bonuses and the Green Hand bandits.  Sergeant Greenpike was at the front desk with the Nemean Lion claw they gave her mounted in a wooden base.  The sergeant was using it as a letter spike.  She waved the adventurers back over to Sheriff Raptis’ office.

After knocking and being told to enter, the three adventurers entered the sheriff’s office.  Sorvia provided the sheriff with a bottle of wine.  The sheriff accepted the bottle and told her he had good news and bad news.  The good news was that the Count was willing to consider services rendered [meaning clearing the Mikro Dasos of monsters] as good enough reason to rescind the wanted poster for Sorvia’s ward/trainee, Kailor.  The bad news is that they are no longer going to be paid a bounty for the monsters killed.  The adventurers felt that was fair [or at least as fair as they were going to get] and accepted the deal.  The sheriff said it would take a day or two before the wanted posters for Kailor would be pulled.

Interested in the rising bounty on bandits, they asked Sheriff Raptis about it.  The sheriff confided that the bandits were getting organized, organized enough for it to be concerning.  The bandits were collecting weapons from the guards from every caravan they hit, enough now that they were well armed and might be growing in numbers.  Ideally, the Count wants as many of them captured alive as possible, especially their leader, Paraskevi the Green.

The adventurers then asked about what caravans had been hit.  The sheriff told them several caravan masters led caravans from Mouzaki west to Grizano along the remains of the County Road and then south, overland to the small town of Gelanthi, on the border with the Grand Duchy of Mercia.  Viktor Xanthopolous has been most hit, losing three caravans in the last two weeks.  Sarlic Rodorson only lost one of the two caravans he’s taken out and Asta Bonehammer, a dwarf new to the area, took one caravan through that was attacked, but Asta and her guards fought off the bandits and made it through.

Tharduk knew and had met with Viktor Xanthopolous and knew he underpaid his guards, so it was no surprise to Tharduk Viktor had lost 3 caravans.  He had heard of Sarlic Rodorson but never met the person.  Tharduk was of the opinion that Bonehammer was a cover name for a dwarf traveling without the blessing of their clan.  He wanted to speak with the caravan masters and thought he might find them over at the Merchant’s Guild, so the three adventurers said their good-byes to Sheriff Raptis and left.

Sorvia bolted off to the Merchant’s Guild to find and interrogate the caravan masters but was stopped at the entrance.  Not being a member of the guild, she was not allowed in.  She waited outside the doors until Tharduk finally arrived and complained she was not being allowed in.  Tharduk explained that was correct.  He then went and talked to the front clerk.  Once he established he was a member, by displaying his guild badge, he chatted with the front clerk about the bandit situation.  The clerk asked if Tharduk was pro-Green Hands or anti-Green Hands.  Tharduk said "against" and was let into the guildhall.

He asked around the guild to get a better picture of the bandits and the caravan masters.  He learned that Asta’s caravan was still traveling south and not due back for a week or two, Viktor was looking for funds to put together another caravan but was having trouble finding anyone willing to trust him, and Sarlic Rodorson was still out with his second caravan, the one that was not attacked, at Grizano.

Tharduk also learned that the Green Hand bandits take almost everything from the caravans except the lives of the people.  Most of the shipments are basic goods and some foodstuffs that Mouzaki can produce.  With the promising crops planted and growing now, Mouzaki should have plenty of food to trade.

Tharduk spent the rest of the afternoon reading through available guild reports on the bandits.  He was able to learn that the bandits hid in the tall grasses that flanked the road, standing up just past the Y-intersection in the road [which led south to the town of Keramidi] to demand the turnover of all goods, weapons, and armor.  Often there was a fight that triggered even more bandits to appear plus an unknown number armed with bows and slings that stayed hidden in the tall grass.  After a certain number of guards died, the caravans usually surrendered.  The caravans then turned around to return to Mouzaki and never saw where the bandits went with their loot.

During this time, Tharduk noticed a guild posting discussing lumber deliveries both from the Tsepi Forest and the Ygro Dasos.  That stood out to Tharduk due to the huge refugee camp surrounding Mouzaki.  These postings indicated a lot of timber was entering Mouzaki but no housing was being built for the refugees who lived in impromptu shelters and tents.

Late Afternoon

When Tharduk left the guildhall, Sorvia was still waiting, trying unsuccessfully to talk with the guildhall guards.  The two of them exited the town and went to the group’s favorite drinking place to meet up with the others and share information.

With that information, Kadruth assisted Anomin in analyzing attacks [used Deduction].  Anomin [rolled a 3] and deduced that the bandits were watching the road from one of the farmhouses along the road and probably using a heliograph to signal ahead.  All signs pointed to a camp in the hills north of the road, probably the hills adjacent to the Sudden Sea.  The Green Hand might also have a long term lair in the hills south of the road, but neither Anomin nor Kadruth had any idea where.  Kadruth recommended that if the group followed a caravan, the adventurers needed to stay hidden.  Sorvia wanted to find out who owned the most likely farmhouse.

Islo went to the Old Rangers and gave them money: 15 gp for their use and 5gp to stash for Islo.

End of session

Commentary

[I decided to incorporate the day names that I use in other campaigns into Crendia, the campaign world this campaign takes place in.  When I first ran a campaign in this world, I was creating too many other things to keep track of by me and the players, so I kept the real world calendar.  With this group, I’ve used these day names in multiple campaigns, so they are familiar with them and it helps maintain suspension of disbelief.  I probably will not change the month names this time around as those are harder to do, but it will likely happen in a future campaign.]

[The day names being used are: Sunday, Moonday, Hernesday, Magusday, Thorsday, Freysday, Yggsday.  I might adjust the deities days are named after to map better to the campaign world, but that is a low priority.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign 

Last session: Session 15

Next session: Session 17 [Not yet typed up]

Working on a New Novel

I started working on a new novel and it is consuming most of my writing time right now.  My goal is to get at least the first draft done as quickly as I can so I can send a copy to my dad while he is still with us.  He's entered hospice care, which is when they do their best to keep the patient comfortable until the end.  This happened after either his chemo or his stage 4 prostate cancer triggered another stroke.

On the plus side, he has come back from those events somewhat and so I have more time than I thought I would at the end of January.  Still have no idea how much time that is, so I am somewhat prioritizing getting the outline done so I can start the actual writing.  I'll post more update on that as I have them.

As to the session notes, those will continue at a sporadic level as a result.  I want to try for twice a month as a minimum, but I'm not certain I can meet that.  Either way, I'll have Session 16 of the Sudden Sea campaign up in the next week.

Later!

REMINDER: PDFs of my OD&D clone, Adventures in the Green, are available for purchase on DriveThruRPG.com.  See the specific links in the sidebar under Downloads.

The Sudden Sea –Session 15

[May 12 through 16 – Unexpected guest and return to Mouzaki]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened December 18, 2023.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

May 13, 56 I.C.

Pre-Dawn

Aware that someone is approaching the camp, Anomin cougar-screamed to wake the deeply sleeping adventurers and failed.  She was more successful in causing the whoever was approaching to pause.  This allowed Sorvia to circle around them and take the approacher by surprise.  Sorvia tackled the person, who screamed in surprise like the little girl she was.  Sorvia tied up the girl who protested that she had a message the entire time.

Once Sorvia was done, she turned the girl over - it was Morvia, her ward/apprentice.  Moravia explained that Sorvia’s other ward/apprentice, Kailor, was wanted for poaching the count’s animals.  Once untied, Moravia pulled out a wanted poster for “Kailor the Elf”, wanted alive by Count Constantin for poaching in the Count’s Preserve [a hilly area west of Mouzaki that used to be Baron Yorgos’ Preserve].  The bounty being offered was 20 gold pieces.  Moravia explained that Kailor would go off with some old guys and come back with food to cook.  Sheriff Raptis came around asking for Kailor and Morvia told him she did not know where he was.

Sorvia introduced Anomin to Morvia.  Anomin changed from cougar form to human and asked Morvia when she last saw Kailor.  That was 6 days ago.  After the sheriff came by and the posters went up, Moravia headed south to find Sorvia, which is how she got here.

By this time Islo was awake and had heard most of the story.  He had an idea who the “old guys” were and where they might be holed up.  There is a place in the northern end of the Tsepi Forest that abuts the hills of the preserve where the retired rangers tended to hang out.  Islo would lead the group there to see if Kailor was hiding out.

Day

Once everyone was awake, rested, and had eaten breakfast, the group resumed walking back towards Mouzaki.  The day was otherwise uneventful and as the sun was setting they made camp in the Onomastike Hills [the border between the Barony of Nomi Pediades and the Barony of Mouzaki].

May 14, 56 I.C.

The group made it another 10 miles before rain rolled in from the east.  Islo and Sorvia searched the area for a place to shelter and Islo located a small abandoned fort.  The fort had a single tower with a dry ground floor large enough for the entire group to take shelter in.  Tharduk and Anomin looked around the fort and determined it had been abandoned for a long time.  Anomin flew up to the top of the tower.  The tower would have a great view of the forested valley if it hadn’t been raining.  She can occasionally just see the areas being logged in the forest to the north, but not the logging camp itself.

The rain lasted through the afternoon until it petered out in the early evening.  The adventurers set watches and during the second watch Tharduk and Kadruth heard something hunt and kill some prey down in the forested valley, but it never came close to the old fort.

May 15, 56 I.C.

The party continued marching to the northwest, exiting the Onomastike Hills and entering the branch of the Tsepi Forest outside the Ladon River valley.  Islo led the group through the forest to the area the retired rangers used.  He didn’t know exactly where they were, so Sorvia used her tracking skills to locate a well concealed campsite.  Islo used a birdcall not native to the area to announce the group and was immediately answered by someone on watch.  Islo presented himself and the older human on watch greeted him with, “Hey Ears!  Come on in.”

The inside of the camp was neat and held several older humans who all knew Islo and called him Ears.  Islo explained why he and the group are there and Kailor was sent for.  After a couple minutes Kailor showed up [he is a “young” elf, about 50 years old but looks slightly younger than Morvia, who is an 8-year-old human].  Kailor admitted to working with the retired rangers to hunt for food to share with people in the refugee camp around Mouzaki.  During their last hunt Woodfoot’s foot came off while the Count’s men were chasing them and Kailor had to cover for Woodfoot.  Woodfoot [a retired ranger who lost a foot back in the day] vouched for Kailor, stating the Count’s men would have captured him if Kailor had not helped.  Sorvia asked how much hunting the old rangers had been up to and they admitted to taking 5 deer in the past month.  The Count seemed sore about that, using his ability to put lavish meals on his table as part of his show of wealth.  Due to scarcities, those deer would fetch 2 gold each if sold.

Options were discussed on how to get the warrant rescinded.  It turned out some of the blank forms Tharduk took from the secret rooms in the Nicabar house included pardons, but they would need the Count’s seal.  Anomin pulled out the shiny thing she had taken from the desk in the other room just after Viktor Nicabar had been killed and asked, “Like this?”  Tharduk looked it over and it was a replica of the County’s Seal.  Tharduk handed it back and said, “That would do it, but maybe it’s not the best idea in the Count’s own city.”

The retired rangers offered to catch replacement deer from the forest if the adventurers could negotiate a deal with the Count.  That sounds promising and the adventurers decide that negotiation is the best path.

The adventurers spend the rest of the day at the camp.  Islo shared stories of the creatures they group had fought and killed, omitting the troubles inside Nomi entirely.  Tharduk kept asking about how the campsite was set up, what the watches were, and so on, earning him the nickname “Ballbuster” among the retired rangers.  Sorvia spent part of the day completing her map of the Mikro Dasos.

May 16, 56 I.C.

Sorvia left her spare rations with Morvia and Kailor at the ranger camp with strict instructions for them to stay at the camp until she sent for them.

The adventures left the forest and headed to Mouzaki, about 7 miles away.  Once there they split into two teams.  Sorvia, Kadruth, and Islo were on one team to go and make a report to Sheriff Raptis and get paid for that job before asking about the warrant for Kailor.  Anomin, Inserrant, and Tharduk made up the other team and they were to go to the Post Office to deliver the return mail from Nomi and get paid for the delivery contract.

On the way to the Post Office, Anomin made a side stop at the Job Board to see if any new jobs were available.  She saw that the bounty for the Green Hand had increased to 2 gold per bandit and 200 gold for the leader.  The pay for caravan guards traveling west to Grizano and the western parts of the County had gone up due to the Green Hand bandits being successful.  There was an announcement from the Count that new settlements must be approved before being settled and there was Kailor’s bounty.

The Post Office group went straight there.  Inside they went over to the Bounty Desk on the left, ignoring the long line at the main desk.  They noticed people looking at them and whispering, eventually working out it is because they had the mail crate.  The clerk at the desk accepted the crate and had Tharduk sign the delivery form to accept payment [so the Post Office can prove they paid on the contract and to whom].  The clerk left and came back with a small pouch containing 9 gold coins.  He then asked if the adventurers were interested in taking another contract, either back to Nomi or over to Grizano.  Tharduk asked if he needed an answer immediately and the clerk said it could wait a week.  Tharduk thanked him and said he needed to ask the rest of the group first.  The trio of adventures then left the Post Office.

Once outside, Tharduk said he wanted to find a buyer for the cyclops wool, bearskin, and wendigo claws.  Anomin and Inserrant agreed to go with the dwarf.  Being a professional merchant, Tharduk was able to locate a buyer for the bearskin and the six wendigo claws he had, making 3 gold and 5 silver in total.  Tharduk wanted to get the best price for the wool, so it took longer to find a buyer.

Meanwhile, Sorvia, Kadruth, and Islo went to the sheriff’s office. Sergeant Greenpike was sitting at the front desk and greeted the adventurers with, “Hey!  I think I have wanted posters for you.”  She then winked and said, “Don’t worry about it - they were marked as cleared a couple days ago.”  [Fantasy cop humor.]  The adventurers explained they completed the scouting mission to the Mikro Dasos and would like to see the sheriff.  Sorvia then put one of the Nemean Lion claws on the sergeant’s desk as proof.  Sergeant Greenpike sent a messenger to let Sheriff Raptis know they were there.

Once escorted into Sheriff Raptis’ office, Kadruth handed the sheriff one of the bottles of mead he had purchased on the way out of Nomi, which perked the sheriff up.  The adventurers then handed over their written report and map of the Mikro Dasos [this is a copy, Sorvia kept the original].  They also handed over a sodden bag full of various animal parts from the monsters they killed as part of the job, including the head of the bear and the head of the Nemean Lion.  The sheriff was both impressed and disgusted with the smell.  He quickly summoned someone to take the bag for cleaning.  Once the bag was gone he had another person take a marker to the bursar and retrieve the reward money.

While they waited for the reward money, Sheriff Raptis asked questions about what they had seen in the forest.  He also shared information, explaining that the Green Hand bandits were getting very successful, having robbed 3 of the last 4 caravans from Mouzaki following the Trade Road west.  He also mentioned that now refugees were trying to establish towns of their own on lands belonging to others.  The Count felt this was to avoid taxes and had to establish laws on creating settlements.

The runner returned with the 10 gold for the report and 30 gold for the map.  Sheriff Raptis told the adventurers that they’d need to come back tomorrow for the monster clearing bonus.  Sorvia took this as a good time to ask about the situation with Kailor.  The sheriff looked a bit uncomfortable about the topic and stated that the bounty was set by the Count who was angry about the poaching.  Sorvia asked it was possible to negotiate a pardon and Sheriff Raptis agreed to inquire.  He would have some form of answer when they returned tomorrow.

Sorvia, Kadruth, and Islo then left the sheriff’s office.  Not having a plan for what to do next, they went over to the police bar to drink and discuss.  While there they work out about half the patrons think they are still wanted for something, but the barkeep was not among them.  Even so, after a while they left and headed to the group’s favored drinking place in the refugee camp outside the town.

Roughly at this time Tharduk found a buyer for the cyclops wool.  He got a price of 70 copper per clove, for a total of 420 copper.  [A fair price.]  This group then left the town proper and headed over to their favorite drinking establishment in the refugee camp.  There they met back up with the rest of the group.  Tharduk started telling the tale of the group’s adventures to the other patrons and did a good job at it [made his Oratory roll by 4].  As a result, the group received several free drinks each.  [Note: this is at a refugee bar, so maybe not the highest quality drinks, but earnestly sent.]

End of session

Commentary

[So I’ve started working on the outline for my second novel.  This is consuming most of my writing time right now and will for most of this year.  I’d like to get the first draft done while my dad is around to read it.  I don’t know how long I have, so there is some urgency on my part.  I will continue to post session notes to this blog, but I can’t promise what schedule I’ll be able to keep to.  We will see how it goes.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign 

Last session: Session 14

 

Next session: Session 16

The Sudden Sea – Session 14

[May 11 and 12 – Anomin finds the goods]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened December 11, 2023.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

May 11, 56 I.C.

Evening

While Sorvia, Tharduk, Kadruth, and Islo were at the Crossed Arrows, watching Inserrant perform on the stage, Anomin continued her exploration of the Nicabar house and the secret passage she had found in it.

Anomin, in crow form, found herself in a small dark room and thought she was in a closet.  Listening, she heard someone walking on the other side of a wall.  Unable to see anything, Anomin returned to her human form and then switched into her cougar form, which could see in the dark.

What Anomin had thought a closet was actually a small furnished room with no windows and a trapdoor as the only exit other than the secret door she had entered through.  Anomin took some time to quietly search the room.  On one side was a cupboard with two barrels beside it.  On the other was a set of bunkbeds with a chest at their foot and a side table with a lantern and some gnomish matches.  Anomin checked the barrels and found one was water and the other wine.  The cupboard contained drygoods and iron rations.  The chest held 4 sets of clothes: a set of male peasant garb, a male city guard uniform, a set of female peasant garb, and a female city guard uniform.  Under a false bottom in the chest Anomin found a small coffer and a bag of coins.

Anomin turned back human again and pocketed the coffer and the bag of coins [with some minor fumbling due to the darkness].  Anomin then returned to cougar form and started investigating the trapdoor.  She was able to open it and found a shaft descending deeper than the first floor with hand grips on the side.  Anomin sighed.

Anomin turned back into a human again and searched the table for the lantern and matches.  She found them with little trouble and lit the lantern while pocketing the rest of the matches.  She then turned into a crow, picked up the lit lantern, and flew down the shaft in a corkscrew path.  The walls looked sound-proofed.

Arriving at the bottom of the shaft, Anomin discovered it connected to a small passage.  She followed the passage a ways until it ended at a different shaft going up.  She climbed up the passage to another trapdoor with a hook on the wall adjacent to the built-in ladder.

With some slight difficulty, Anomin hung the lantern on the hook and landed on the top rung, where she listened for a couple of minutes.  Hearing nothing, Anomin carefully switched back to human form and cracked open the trapdoor.  The trapdoor opened in a small area surrounded by stacks of crates.  She climbed out of the shaft and looked around and up.  She appeared to be in a warehouse, probably outside the town walls.

Anomin pulled up the lantern from the hook in the shaft and set it aside.  She quietly closed the trapdoor and snuffed out the lantern before turning back into a cougar.  She picked up the lantern’s handle in her mouth and started looking for an exit.

Anomin quickly found an open door with two guards standing next to it.  She bolted past the guards and one called for her to come back before the other asked, “Do you really want that to come back?”

Once out of their line of sight, Anomin paused and looked around.  She was in the small warehouse and brewing district to the north of Nomi, near the apple fields, bee hives, and fields of flowers.  She turned human again and then switched to crow form so she could fly back to the Crossed Arrows, taking the lantern with her.

Several minutes later she landed in an alley near the Crossed Arrows and returned to her human form.  She then returned to the Crossed Arrows and found the other adventurers inside.  She quickly explained what she had found.  She and Sorvia left the group at the table to go upstairs to their rented room.

Once in the room, Anomin pulled out the two bags and the coffer.  Looking at the coffer first, it was locked with a high quality lock.  Anomin went back downstairs to get Tharduk so he could open the lock.  Tharduk pulled out some tools and set about disassembling the lock, taking time to do so.  It resisted him for an hour before he gave up.  [He took an hour of extra time for the +3 bonus but still failed the roll.]

The trio switched to examining the bag from the chest.  Inside it were four pouches, each marked with a different crest.  Of the four, the only one Anomin recognized was the one with the County Modon crest [the principality she lived in].  Inside it was a mix of gold and silver coins totaling 50 gold coins, the majority in gold.

They opened another bag and it had the same amount of coins, but these were stamped with the portrait of the Emperor of Crendia, Orion I.  A third bag contained coins Tharduk recognized as minted in the Free City of Freegate, a major trade city far to the northwest and not part of the Empire.  The last bag contained coins from the Kingdom of Silverloc, once part of the Empire but now independent, mostly.  Anomin then opened the bag from under the bed.  It contained 15 orbs of raw gold that Tharduk estimated were worth 10 gold coins each.

Now very curious about what was in the coffer, Tharduk returned to it and worked hard to unlock it.  This time he was successful!  Inside were trade bars, larger units of money that the Merchant Guild used to settle debts between chapters or to move large amounts of wealth.  The coffer contained 10 bars worth 100 gold coins each and 20 worth 50 gold coins each.  Tharduk started hyperventilating slightly.  This was not only a large amount of money, but in very suspicious forms for a merchant to have stashed away.  Anomin was of the opinion that they should give the gold orbs to The Sheriff with an explanation of where they were found.

By this point, Inserrant had finished her performance.  She collected tips worth 13 gold.  She and the rest of the group headed up to the rented room where Anomin, Sorvia, and Tharduk explained what Anomin had returned with.  The group discussed what to do with the money.  The Imperial coins would be suspicious to spend anywhere in the Syrak Alliance [the other break-away part of the Empire, of which County Modon was a part of] as people might think the adventurers were spies in Imperial employ.  The group decided they would need to exchange the coins for local coins when they could.  All agreed that the gold orbs were too dangerous to hold onto having likely come from the illegal mine.

The following discussion was about who would take the gold orbs to The Sheriff.  Anomin suggested that The Sheriff really liked her, but they would need to wait until after he had his coffee in the morning.  She understood it was really important The Sheriff get his coffee, even if she didn’t understand why.  The group decided that the two dwarves, Tharduk and Kadruth, would take the orbs over to The Sheriff in the morning with Anomin following.

May 12, 56 I.C.

Over breakfast, the group of adventurers agreed to meet at the tannery outside town if things go bad for any reason.  After they finished eating, Kadruth and Tharduk left for the sheriff’s office with Anomin unobtrusively following them as a crow.

At the sheriff’s office, Kadruth and Tharduk walked in through the front door and one of the deputies waved at them in greeting.  Kadruth stated they needed to speak with The Sheriff and the deputy pointed out The Sheriff at an adjacent desk going over some papers and taking notes.  When Kadruth and Tharduk walked over to him, The Sheriff greeted them with, “What interesting things do you have for me today?”

Tharduk started by asking if there was a more private place they could speak.  The Sheriff wasn’t having any of it and responded, “This is my office. We are surrounded by my deputies: what do you think would happen?"  Anomin’s response was, “A misunderstanding.”

Tharduk started explaining what Anomin did the previous night.  The Sheriff interrupted with, “Wait. You’re admitting to what now?”  In reply, Kadruth thunked the bag of gold orbs onto the Sheriff’s desk.  Intrigued, the Sheriff opened the bag and looked inside.  "I understand your trepidation," he said, closing the bag.  He quietly listened to Tharduk tell [mostly] the whole story.

"Are you leaving town anytime soon?" The Sheriff asked.  Tharduk stated the group was leaving immediately after lunch.  "So I have to wait till after lunch before taking these to the baron," The Sheriff replied.  “You should definitely be out of town when I do that.”  The dwarves agreed and they and Anomin left the Sheriff.

Tharduk, Kadruth, and Anomin went back to the Crossed Arrows and relayed the conversation to Sorvia, Islo, and Inserrant.  Inserrant stated she wanted to go confront the ne’er-do-wells at the Courageous Plate about nearly kidnapping the two dwarves when the group first arrived in Nomi two weeks ago.  Tharduk and Kadruth were good with this but Kadruth suggested they do so on the way out of town.  Everyone agreed.

The group of adventurers settled their accounts with Hira and left the Crossed Arrows.  They walked across Nomi to the Courageous Plate.  They received several friendly waves along the way over from townsfolk that recognized them for helping put out the fire at the Michelakis house.

Arriving at the Courageous Plate, they found a handful of people sitting at tables out on the veranda.  Inserrant asked the dwarves if any of these people were part of the near attack.  Tharduk and Kadruth looked the people over and saw no one they recognized.  Kadruth answered, “Nope.”

When the adventurers entered the Courageous Plate, the entire bar went quiet.  Clearly there were people in here who recognized the adventurers.  Kadruth walked right up to the table Theodore Damaskis had once guided he and Tharduk to and sat down at it.  The rest of the adventurers followed and sat down.  Tharduk and Kadruth looked around and recognized several faces in the crowd.  The bartender was also looking very pale.

Eventually a server came over to the table and asks if he could help the group.  The adventurers ordered drinks and then quietly drank them in the silent bar.  The adventurers then paid for their drinks and Kadruth bought 3 bottles of mead for the trip.  The adventurers then strode out, daring anyone to say anything.  No one was brave enough to do so, looking into their drinks and otherwise avoiding any eye contact.

The adventurers left Nomi through the Brewer’s Gate and headed northwest to the Ygro Dasos forest and the Onomastike Hills.

That Night

The group was several miles into the forest and at the edge of the hills when they made camp.  During third watch, Sorvia heard the rustling of people approaching the campsite...

End of session

Commentary

[So we did not play for a month between the last session and this one for a mix of reasons, most revolving around the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November.  My wife and I did an Orphan’s Thanksgiving where we invite friends in the area that can't have Thanksgiving with their families for various reasons to have Thanksgiving with us.  The week before we had to do shopping for food and a deep cleaning of the house.  The day itself was a huge pile of food and friends and some boardgames but mostly conversations with friends.  Afterwards, my wife and I were exhausted so the following week we did boardgames instead of me running the Sudden Sea.  I forget why we skipped the week after that, but we did eventually resume plate for this season.]

[I may have given the PCs too much money during this session.  Part of it was balanced by the fact that some of it would be dangerous to spend as it might draw unwanted attention.  On the other hand, in the past I’ve been stingy with handing out treasure and I’m trying to avoid doing that again.  That said, this isn’t D&D, so there will not be thousands and thousands of coins.  The local economy is copper-based so the treasure they have represents a lot of buying power, but where are they going to spend it?  Plus, several have dependents they need to take care of.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

Sudden Sea Landing Page - Links to all the write-ups for this campaign

Last session: Session 13

 

Next session: Session 15

The Sudden Sea –Session 13

[May 4 to May 11 – Survey conclusion and cautiously back to Nomi]

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a week.  This session happened November 13, 2023.]

[This adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, two years after the appearance of the Sudden Sea.  The PCs are refugees seeking a better life through adventuring.]

 

Player Characters

Sorvia of Stavros – female human ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Tharduk Lavabreath – male dwarf glassmaker from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, had a glass shop in County Modon that is now underwater, literally

Kadruth Worldbender – male dwarf priest, serving He Who Protects, from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Anomin – female human shapeshifter, from lots of places, most recently County Modon

Islo Redgrass – male elf ranger, local to County Modon (village of Stavros in particular)

Via Roll20

Inserrant – female human musician, player of zills (finger cymbals) and singer

 

Spring

May 4, 56 I.C. (Imperial Calendar)

In the morning, the adventurers took an inventory of the claws and fangs they were able to harvest from the bear and Nemean Lion they had killed during the night.  Due to their interrupted sleep from the creature attacks, they slept in a couple hours so everyone would be fully rested.  During the day they scouted and mapped more of the forest.  The forest seemed more peaceful.  At the end of the day they made camp and set watches.  The night passed without incident.

May 5, 56 I.C.

The party resumed mapping and surveying the forest.  They reached the southeastern most reach of the forest and could see the Dowr Gwernan, the river that was the official border with The Shires, about a mile away.  Sorvia very much wanted to bathe and suggested the group push on to the river.  The rest of the adventurers were amenable and shortly the group was setting up camp next to the river.  Everyone washed and refilled their waterskins with clean river water.  The night was quiet.

May 6, 56 I.C.

The adventurers moved around the southeastern arm of the forest to avoid backtracking and resumed their survey when they got back to the main body of the forest.  At the end of the day they made camp in the forest.

During first watch, Islo heard the sound of a very large bird flying over the forest, arriving from the west and leaving to the northeast.  Without seeing whatever it was, he felt it might have been either a roc or a really big manticore.  He shared this information with Tharduk and Kadruth when they took the second watch, but neither dwarf heard anything unusual that night.

May 7, 56 I.C.

The adventurers continued scouting and mapping the forest.  The forest was very lively on this day and Sorvia and Islo were able to supplement the group’s store of food by hunting and gathering as they went.  The night passed without incident.

May 8, 56 I.C.

The scouting of the forest worked its way up the western edge of the forest.  When they were on the edge of the forest they could occasionally see herds of sheep grazing on the plains to the west.  Some of the largest sheep were the same size as the smallest sheep in the cyclopses’ herd.  The group camped in the forest and the night was quiet.

May 9, 56 I.C.

The adventurers wrapped up scouting the forest, observing more sheep herds to the west during the day.  At the end of the day they made it back to the Mesta River, the border between the Wet Marches Barony and the Barony of Nomi, where they refilled their waterskins.  They set up camp and watches, but the night passed without incident.

May 10, 56 I.C.

The adventurers forded the Mesta River and marched north towards the town of Nomi.  Just as they could see the town on the horizon, they stopped walking and made camp.  Uncertain what their status might be here, Sorvia set up snares and tripwires around the campsite.

The adventurers spent some time discussing their options and decided it would be smart to have Anomin fly ahead and contact The Sheriff to see how things lie.  Anomin agreed with this.  Before she flew off, Inserrant asked Anomin to pick up a copy of her (Inserrant’s) wanted poster if one was available.

Anomin flew off in her crow form and quickly reached the town.  She flew around and above the town to see if anything peculiar was going on.  She could see the partially burned Michelakis house had started repairs and that the townspeople seemed to be going about their business normally.  Anomin then circled down and landed on the roof of the Post Office, across the street from the Sheriff’s Office.  She observed the Sheriff’s Office for a while.  The ground floor was lit up but not the upstairs and there were a couple of deputies standing on the ground floor veranda.

As it looked safe, Anomin flew down to the main doors of the sheriff’s office, landing on the veranda railing.  The Bounty Board was to the left of the doors and she quickly looked the board over.  None of the posters she could see were for the adventurers, so she flew inside the office and landed near a deputy she felt she recognized.  The deputy saw her fly in and was about to shoo this crow out of the office when Anomin clearly asked to speak with the sheriff.  This caused all activity in the office to pause for a moment.

The deputy called out, “Sheriff?  There’s someone here to talk with you.”

The Sheriff called back, “Who is it?”

“A crow wearing a necklace,” the deputy responded.

The Sheriff could be heard to curse mostly under his breath and then called out, “Send her in.”

Anomin flew into the office the deputy gestured at - the door was open.  Inside she found The Sheriff sitting behind his desk, staring at her.  She landed on the back of a chair facing the desk and asked how things were.  In response, he laid out a proclamation from the Baron.  Anomin read it and the proclamation stated that Viktor Nicabar had been discovered to be a criminal and traitor and his property was officially confiscated by the baron.

Once Anomin finished reading the proclamation, The Sherriff shared that the baron found the map Anomin had turned over quite interesting, particularly the gold mine that by rights belonged to the baron.  The baron fixed that issue, which amazingly cleared up all the land disputes in that area.  Agni Michelakis now had more or less complete control over the lumber business per her inheritance, even if the baron claimed the part of the land with the mine as confiscated property.  Anomin asked if he still had any of the wanted posters as Inserrant wanted a copy of hers.  The Sheriff opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out copies of the wanted posters and gave Anomin the one for Inserrant, folding it so she could carry it as a crow.

The Sheriff then asked if they found anything in the Mykro Dasos.  She gave a summation but left out the cyclopses.  When The Sheriff asked if they could confirm the rumors of giants stealing sheep, her response was, “Nope.  No giants.”  The Sheriff stared at her but couldn’t read a crow’s facial expressions and let it go.

After polite goodbyes, Anomin flew out of the sheriff’s office and then out of town, making her way back the the encamped adventurers.  Back in camp she handed Inserrant her own wanted poster, which listed her as Lady Zill with a minor reward.  Anomin then shared everything she had learned and heard in town.  The group decided it sounded safe to enter Nomi the next day and planned to do so.

The rest of the night passed quietly.

May 11, 56 I.C.

After breaking camp, the adventurers walked the last five miles to Nomi and entered the town through the County Gate [so-called as it was the starting point for the County Road the extended east from Nomi].  Sorvia wanted to get copies of the wanted posters for the group as souvenirs, Kadruth wanted to speak with Agni Michelakis, and the return mail to Mouzaki needs to be picked up, so the group splits.  Tharduk, Islo, Sorvia, and Anomin went to pick up the mail.  Kadruth went to go speak with Agni, hoping for a reward for helping the family out recently.  Inserrant went to the Crossed Arrows to see about making some money singing at the inn.

~*~

Inserrant arrived at the Crossed Arrows and spoke with the owner, Hira.  Hira quickly and correctly recognized Inserrant but kept a neutral expression when she asked Inserrant what she needed.  Inserrant started with, “We're back.”

"Are you going to cause any trouble,"  Hira asked.

“We haven't yet.”

"There was a lot of excitement the last time you were here."

“We were more a victim of the excitement really.”

Remembering Inserrant was a singer, Hira asked, "Do you want to work tonight?"

“Of course.”

The two settled down to terms and when Inserrant needed to be performing.

~*~

On the way to get the mail, Tharduk and Sorvia wanted to go to the Sheriff’s Office.  While Tharduk and Sorvia went in, Islo and Anomin waited on the veranda, Islo reading the various wanted posters to Anomin.

Inside, Tharduk and Sorvia spoke with The Sheriff, asking if there were any possible rewards for the people they captured the last time the adventurers were in tow.  The Sheriff, slightly apologetic, stated that the adventurers had captured the arsonists before an award was posted, so there wasn’t any now.  He suggested the group stop by the next time they are passing Nomi and he might have something for them.

Sorvia asked if she could get a copy of the wanted posters the baron had posted for the group as mementos.  The Sheriff reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a stack, stating the reward had been rescinded before his deputies got around to nailing up the posters, so Sorvia could take what she wanted.  Sorvia also wanted to interrogate Seraphim but The Sheriff informed Sorvia that Seraphim was being kept in the baron’s jail, not his, so she was unavailable.

Once Tharduk and Sorvia were done speaking with The Sheriff, the group crossed the street and went into the Post Office to pick up the return mail to Mouzaki.  They were given another two-foot cube crate, but this one was heavier that the one the adventurers previously delivered.

Having done what they wanted, the four adventurers went over to the town well to wait for Kadruth to find them.  While there they read the Nomi job board but found nothing that interested them.

~*~

Kadruth arrived at the Michelakis household.  Clean up from the fire was complete while repairs were just getting started.  Kadruth found the foreman and asked to speak with Lady Michelakis.  The foreman sent a kid as a runner to get the butler.  After a couple minutes the kid returned with a note for the foreman.  The foreman read the note and then had the kid take Kadruth over to “the other building.”

The kid led Kadruth down the street south and then east along the street inside the town walls to a narrow building.  The kid knocked on the front door and a servant answered.  The kid explained that Kadruth was here to see the Lady.  The kid then discretely coughed at Kadruth, who took the hint and tipped the kid a copper.

Kadruth was led into the house by the servant to a waiting room at the back.  While waiting, Kadruth noticed that the back of the house was much wider than the front.

After a few minutes, Agni Michelakis arrived, along with a couple bodyguards.  Kadruth stated he was just there to see how the Lady was doing after the mail incident and the fire.  Agni told Kadruth she was still surprised that her business partner, Viktor, had been such a snake in the grass.  The baron publicly confiscated all of Viktor’s property as a result of the revelations under Viktor’s house.  This included a large part of the logging area and the mine she did not know she once had.  Apparently Viktor had been secretly running the mine for over a year, producing gold for at least half that time.  No one really knew how much gold Viktor had extracted but speculation was that it had been significant.

In the past week, the property markers in the forest had been re-surveyed and it was discovered the markers along her property had been moved.  With the markers replaced back to their correct positions, all the land under contention was decreed hers by the baron.  The person who had contested the property confessed to being paid by Viktor to file the claim, but swore he had not moved the markers.  The baron had not rendered judgment on that yet, but Agni suspected the baron would be confiscating some of the man’s land as punishment.

Once the two had finished discussing the outcome of things, Agni handed Kadruth a small pouch with coins in it as a gift for helping put the fire out so quickly.  Kadruth thanked her for the gift and bid her good day.

Kadruth then went looking for the rest of the group, eventually finding them at the town well.  The group waited for Inserrant there for about half an hour before deciding to go look for her at the Crossed Arrows.

At the Crossed Arrows they found Inserrant waiting.  They went to a table and shared what they had learned.  Kadruth took this time to see what kind of gift Agni had given him and found the pouch held 18 gold coins.  Inserrant explained she had a gig to perform at the Crossed Arrows that night and asked that the group spend the night in town before heading north back to Mouzaki.  The group agreed and rented the large room upstairs again for the night, with Kadruth covering everyone’s dinner and the room.

Later That Night

Curious about things at the Nicabar residence, Anomin told the rest of the group she was going to check the house as a crow while everyone else listened to Inserrant's performance.  The other adventurers were fine with Anomin doing this, being too comfortable back in town after camping for two weeks to follow her.

Anomin flew over the town to the north end where the Nicabar place was located.  There were a couple guards standing watch at the front and back entrances.  Some of the window blinds were up and some were not, with no smoke coming from any of the chimneys.  The house felt empty to Anomin.

Seeing an opportunity, Anomin flew down through the largest chimney and exited it in the kitchen.  There was light dust on everything in the kitchen and some food left out had gone bad.  Anomin checked the pantry and cold room and found both mostly empty.

Anomin decided to check the rest of the house out, looking for Viktor’s bedroom.  She eventually found it on the third floor at the far end of the house from where she started.  She searched the bedroom, looking for secret or hidden compartments.  She found a hidden compartment in the bed headboard that held a sword!  One of the side tables had faint scratch marks on the floor near it.  Anomin turned back into her human form and moved the table, finding a trap door underneath it.  Anomin turned back into a crow and investigated the trap door.  It seemed locked and she suspected that there was a latch on the other side, which would be appropriate for a quick escape.

Already down on the floor, Anomin next looked under the bed.  There she found a movable panel.  Pushing the panel up, she found a hidden compartment.  She also heard footsteps approaching the room from the hallway.  She climbed up into the compartment, which contained a small bag, and listened.

She heard two people enter the bedroom, one asking the other if they had found something.  “Not yet,” was the reply.  Anomin heard the two people discover the trapdoor and attempt to pry it open.  Suddenly there was the sound of wood splintering and a cry from one of the two as the trapdoor suddenly gave way and that person fell with a loud thud!

Anomin heard the fallen person climb back up and state he was injured.  The other helped him out of the trapdoor and back out of the bedroom.  Anomin held position until she heard them start descending the stairs and then climbed out of the hidden compartment.  She removed the small bag, which jingled slightly with the sound of the many coins inside.  She then dragged the bag out from under the bed.

Once out from under the bed, Anomin turned human again and put the small bag in one of her belt pouches.  She then turned back into a crow and descended down through the now open trap door.  It descended a single story to a hidden passage along the eastern side of the house, ending at the backside of a secret door.

Anomin opened the secret door and stepped through, finding herself in a dark closet in the adjacent building...

End of session

Commentary

[The front half of this session went quick as the PCs finished scouting the Mykro Dasos forest.  The second half, back in Nomi, took more time.  We stopped before Anomin finished her investigations as it was getting late.]

[Random fact determined this session: the major export from the Shires to other principalities is food wagons.  Think “fantasy food trucks” and you are spot on.]

Sudden Sea Adventures

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