1372c Year of Wild Magic, Day 15, Month of Eleint (September)
(ed. Retcon - to ease Greg, the Forest Gnome, Tehtow's entry into the game we shortcut through the RP of the PC's meeting with Wooley the not-as-dumb-as-normal raven, ally of Kuiper. He is now spreading word through the shire about Jelenneth's abduction and the existence of bandits in the area to the other wardens/allies of the rangers)
Continuing their quest to rescue Jelenneth at the behest of the wizard Towser, Kuiper and Oleanne lead Mautilis, Hawkeye, Felisin, and Houra to the raven in the Thornwood, which has communicated with another ranger, Shiraz, in Eelhold, a dam on the northern part of town (?). (ed. yep)
We also meet a female gnome, Tehtow, a fellow guardian of Heranshire, who serves as the forward emissary to the gnomes in the area. They have no information as to Jelenneth's whereabouts, but Kuiper is very concerned with the lycanthropic son of a local farmer that has very recently decided to go on a rampage of sorts. Kuiper had been aware of the problem of the son, Maxim, becoming a werebear, and in all the time he's had to prepare for this inevitable rampage, Kuiper surmises that two 10 pound nets and calm words will subdue the beast, a genius plan to which our party eagerly agrees – the caveat: we are under oath to do no harm to Maxim in the process of subduing him. There is no reward for this side mission, but we feel obligated to assist.
Tehtow and Oleanne (who was irritated at how loud we were as we traveled) are able to track the werebear to the head of Hogbrook, a tributary to the Churnett river that flows from the Thornwood. Hogbrook is so named because of the farmers that once upon a time led their pigs to feed on the acorns at the risk of encountering the indigenous orcs, among other demihumans. The tracks show that the werebear has most likely drank from the stream and traveled south into the Thornwood. The party decides to camp overnight, keeping watch. Felisin uses what appears to be a cookie sprinkle named Sparky to help. We forget we have a raven with us that could prevent an ambush, were that to occur. (ed. Wooley wasn't with you, still spreading word to the edges of the shire) Unlikely. Mautilis removes his armor and sleeps in a tree.
To everyone's surprise, we are attacked in the night by a large group of bloodthirsty orcs. Despite the initial scramble, our heroes manage to overtake the enemies. The orc carrying an unmarked metal shield, who appears to be the leader, sees this and begins to call out to his troops as if to halt the battle. Mautilis valiantly, and nakedly, sacrifices three hit points of his leg to take out the leader, who is immediately stabilized by Hawkeye and Houra with the intention of holding him for questioning. Another orc that had appeared later in the battle was also in stable condition, yet we decide to leave him behind. Kuiper, upset that death was necessary, suggests we search the bodies. We notice the large wooden shields they carry have a symbol of a skull with two arrows through each of its eyes, unknown in these parts. Houra and Mautilis take the silver swords – they may prove useful against lycanthropes. Mautilis eyes the carneliian-encrusted gold broach that Hawkeye removes from the orc leader.
It begins to rain that night and continues on into the morning; Oleanne is upset that these orcs were able to travel through the Thornwood unnoticed, what with all these guardians about, and sets off to investigate further. She asks us to continue on with Kuiper to subdue Maxim the werebear, to which we agree. There is some confusion as to how best to transport our new prisoner as well as what to do with the spoils of the battle.
How will our intrepid heroes find the girl that they had previously vowed to protect?
From whence do these orcs hail and are they part of a bigger
plan?
When will Oleanne learn Common and stop being so mysterious?
Whatever became of the prisoner in Milford? (ed. sent to Baldur's Gate for trial last you saw)
Where is the raven? (ed. doing bird stuff)
But
really, *who* is carrying these nets? (ed. Susan)
Is Towser really paying us
enough, because I did not sign up for this stirge/bandit/orc/werebear
stuff? How does the pony feel about all this? (ed. consistently complacent)
Is the pony the actual
mastermind behind the plot to foil our heroes' noble quest for very
little gold?
Find out next time in...
“Mautilis finds a better way to not get ambushed in the night particularly if there's a werebear roaming about in said night.”
(escort should be stricken through)
You skipped the orc's face being lit on fire, while wearing a helmet.
That was pretty wonderful
I feel like the recap overstated the helpfullness of having a naked guy mauling the guy we wanted to keep alive.
Session Loot Recap:
Golden Carnelian brooch (appraised by Hawkeye at 1250gp)
2 (M) Silver Longswords
4 (M) shortbows
4 (M) battleaxes
4 (M) Splint Mail
6 (M) Large Wooden Shields with orc symbol
1 (M) Medium Metal Shield no symbol
27 SP
EXP - Party Rewards
Fought off orc night ambush with Kuiper, Oleanne and wolves (9 dead, 1 prisoner): 150 EXP
EXP - RP and Individual Goals
Maut: 25 EXP for valuable exp gained about the trials of fighting naked during night ambushes
Houdra (or is it Houra/I'm confused): 25 EXP for RP during orc interrogation/transport
Tatertot: -5 EXP for being a tree-climbing forest gnome with no points in climb.
