The Lesser of Two Evils…
I would be interested in any feedback you would be willing to give on my adaptation of Old One's campaign world and on my writing style. I've done a fair bit of writing and even have some work published, but being on the same forum as Old One, Sagiro, Piratecat and Wulf Ratbane tends to make one feel the pressure. Thanks for reading.
Kyndalyn lead the others south along the road quickly while trying to stay alert for an ambush. Approximately a mile south of town they came across the wagon. The oxen lay dead in their yokes, apparently poleaxed. It was obvious, even at a distance, that the wagon had been hastily ransacked. Sacks of wool lay scattered about the rutted roadway, giving credence to the notion that the wagon was indeed that of Marcus the shepherd.
Without waiting for prompting from Kyndalyn, the party spread out to look for signs of Marcus, his wife, Ilyessa or their attackers. Krase was the first to find anything of significance when he spoted a cluster of tracks leading to the west. They definitely were not human, most likely Gnoll. He called Kyndalyn over to confirm this.
Meanwhile, Rhys had taken a look in the wagon and determined that it had been looted for anything of value. Speaks With Stone followed Jitterbug and her keen nose to a nearby thicket where he made a grisly discovery: The corpses of Marcus and Ilyessa. He knelt down hoping that he was wrong with the incantations for his healing spells hovering behind his lips, but he was too late. Shaking his head grimly, he informed the rest of the group.
Upon hearing the news about Marcus and Ilyessa, Kyndalyn's eyes narrowed and he looked to the west. He balanced his desire for revenge against the safety of young Rhys and Krase. Without waiting for his decision, Krase told the group that they should hurry to catch the Gnolls and set off following the tracks. Without a word, the rest of the group headed west.
As they follow the tracks, Krase notices that the prints of two of the Gnolls seem close together and stay at a constant distance apart, as though they are carrying an object between them. He doesn't mention this to the group.
They followed the tracks for close to two miles when they heard some barking and growling noises as they neared the top of a hill. Cautiously peering over the hilltop, they spied a pair of Gnolls circling a lone barbarian. As the Gnolls moved to attack the barbarian, he let out a cry of rage and rushed one of them with his battleaxe.
Kyndalyn, Krase and Rhys all let fly with their bows and managed to fell one of the Gnolls before it joined the fray. Krase then charged forward intent on bringing his shortswords to bear on the Gnoll, the barbarian or both. As Krase approached the fight, Rhys lined up a careful shot that whizzed just above Krase's shoulder and struck the remaining Gnoll in the back. A chop from the barbarian's great-axe insures that the Gnoll won't rise again. Krase stops just in front of the barbarian and they eye each other suspiciously.
A shout from Kyndalyn in the barbarian tongue told the enraged warrior that he stood little chance if he wished to fight the four of them. The barbarian took a step back and lowered his great-axe all the while giving a disdainful sneer at Krase's puny shortswords.
The rest of the party approached the tense standoff between Krase and the axe wielding warrior of the western wilds. Kyndalyn, hoping to break the tension before any further blows were struck, asked, "Isn't it a little late in the year for a Coritani to be on this side of the river?"
The barbarian smiled and replied in broken imperial that he came seeking the Glynden Council. "Why exactly do you seek the Glynden Council?", Kyndalyn asked in return.
"I bear a message for them," said the barbarian.
Kyndalyn replied that he was one of the council members. The barbarian looked at each of the party members in an attempt to determine if Kyndalyn spoke the truth. Seeing no signs of duplicity and being outnumbered in any event, he cautiously handed over a scroll of imperfectly cleaned vellum with a few stray bits of hair still clinging to it.
"It's not a scroll, it's a squirrel," Rhys quietly joked to Krase. But Krase was in no mood for humor and his eyes did not flicker from the fixed gaze he held on the barbarian. The barbarian stared back contemptuously at the hunter, showing that a skinny town boy with a couple of overgrown cooking knives was of no concern to him.
Kyndalyn finished reading the scroll and, with a worried look on his face, informed the others that they would be going back to town immediately. The barbarian would be accompanying them but Krase would carry his weapons. Krase protested that they should continue chasing the rest of the Gnolls whose tracks went further westward. Kyndalyn informed him that the Gnolls would have to wait for another day.
As the barbarian handed his axe to Krase, he informed him that the axe had belonged to his grandfather and that, should any harm or disrespect come to it, it would be revisited tenfold upon Krase's person. Krase gritted his teeth, but true to his heavy-on-action/short-on-thinking personality, no witty comebacks were forthcoming.
As they approached the town gates, Kyndalyn told the rest of the party to take Ilrath (which they had discovered during their hike was the name of the barbarian) to Nan's tavern and wait there for himself and the rest of the Council. He then gave orders to the gate guards to take a detachment of men to recover the wagon and bodies from down the road. That done, he began making his way through the crowd seeking the other councilors.
Krase, Rhys, Speaks and Ilrath strode past the gawking onlookers to Nan's and told Nan that the council would be needing to hold a meeting there that night. Nan grudgingly agreed but not without loudly complaining about the revenues he would be losing from the festival crowd. He enlisted the aid of Krase in rolling out one of his kegs into the street from which to sell beer to the crowd.
Rhys meanwhile poured a couple of mugs of beer for himself and Ilrath. Ilrath appreciated the beverage and commented that it was less gritty than he was used to.
After a bit, Kyndalyn showed up and asked the others to take Ilrath upstairs to one of the vacant rooms and to stand guard outside until he was called for. Krase, certain that the shiftless barbarian would attempt escape told Kyndalyn that he would stand guard below the window. Kyndalyn told him that he doubted that would be necessary, but Krase stalked outside all the same. Rhys and Speaks took Ilrath upstairs and placed him in one of the several private rooms that Nan rented to travelers.
In short order, the rest of the Council, comprised of Father Thomas, Boss Brathwaite and the four heads of the castellans, Cassuvius, Jucadius, Octorus, and Nacalius were assembled in the common room. Without preamble, Kyndalyn read them the scroll given to him by Ilrath"
Glynden Council,
We have brought battle to your people many times in recent years. We think you must have no love for us. But we ask for your help anyway.
The Orcs of the Blackpeaks have banded together in numbers like we have never seen. They are bringing battle to us in a vast horde. They have shown in the past that they can battle even in winter. We may not stand against them. In spring, most of the tribes may be gone.
But then you will be next. That is why you should help us stand against them now. If you do not help us, we understand. But they will drive us into your lands across the Fodor. And when we see you, our warriors will know that they lost their homelands because you would not stand with them.
If you will help us, we will not cross the Fodor again. Ever. This is our vow.
I am Hrongar, Chief of the Coritani
From their post outside the room near the top of the stairs, Rhys and Speaks could hear the discussion fairly well. Likewise for Krase who had stationed himself outside the front door to the tavern.
The counselors immediately began talking loudly back and forth in a cacophony of voices until Cassuvius bellowed, "Quiet!". Then, "What shall we do?"
Nacalius was strongly against helping the barbarians and was quickly joined by Jucadius. Nacalius lost his brother when Aquae Sulis was raided by the Coritani several years ago.
Brathwaite quickly pointed out that helping them now can assure no further attacks in the future and that would be good for Glynden. He also voiced that if the barbarians could be kept at bay, some of the mines to the west of Glynden could be reopened.
Nacalius and Jucadius were quick to point out that they had no reason to trust the word of the barbarians and the point of whether they keep their word in the future is moot if this whole thing were a ruse to draw out their defenses and then crush Glynden. Father Thomas said that Uncle Claudius probably has magic that could ascertain whether Ilrath is telling the truth. Kyndalyn stepped outside and sent Krase to fetch Uncle Claudius.
Cassuvius pointed out that if the story is true, the orcs may make worse neighbors than the barbarians. Especially if the orcs are laying siege to Glynden in the spring, just as the crops need to be planted. Kyndalyn interjected that if the tales of his father and uncle are to be believed, he would far rather share a border with the barbarians than the orcs.
During this discussion, Krase was on his way back to the tavern with Uncle Claudius in tow. As they walked, Krase explained that if Uncle Claudius had any trouble getting the truth out of Ilrath by magical means, he would be happy to apply more primitive measures to the barbarian. Uncle Claudius assured Krase that that would not be necessary. Shortly they arrived back at Nan's.
As they entered, Krase went to Kyndalyn and offered to scout across the Fodor River (*Note: This is my name for the large river that separates the barbarian lands from the rest of the Northlands - It is a different name than that used by Old One*) to determine if the barbarians were setting up a trap. Kyndalyn thanked Krase for the offer and said that he would take that into consideration, all the while giving Krase a scolding look that said that he shouldn't be eavesdropping. Krase was seemingly oblivious to this criticism.
Kyndalyn then sent Krase back outside and gave Uncle Claudius a quick rundown of the situation. Uncle Claudius then went upstairs to use his magic on Ilrath.
Kyndalyn then rejoined the councilors at the table, saying that it would take the guard several weeks to be ready to travel. They were not an army, they were guardsmen. They also needed to do some weapon and armor maintenance that had been somewhat neglected during harvest time. As he began to talk of the supplies that would be necessary, Nacalius burst out that he could not believe that this was even being considered. These were the same barbarians who have put to ruin nearly all of the surrounding towns in the last 20 years. When Octorus voiced his opinion that they should at least consider all of their options, Nacalius stood up in outrage and went to storm out the door.
Krase heard this outburst and did not intend to let Nacalius (who was voicing many of the opinions that Krase shared) leave the meeting so easily. He braced his foot against the door to prevent Nacalius from opening it. Unfortunately for all concerned, the door opened inwards. So, while Nacalius had no trouble whatsoever opening the door, he did trip over Krase's outstretched foot when he tried to walk through it. Nacalius floundered around in the dirty street for a moment before standing and screaming at Krase with incoherent rage. He then stalked off into the evening with the gathered crowd hurrying to get out of his way.
Inside, Jucadius continued to oppose the idea of sending troops to help the barbarians, especially in the absence of any proof that it wasn't a trap. As if in answer, Uncle Claudius returns from the upstairs and proclaims that the story is true, or at least Ilrath believes it to be the truth.
Talk then began in earnest about what preparations would be required to get the guard ready to move. Kyndalyn also wanted to spend a few days preparing the defenses in case of a Gnoll attack or a barbarian double cross. Cassuvius feelt that because the barbarians are in desperate straits and not the most patient of people to begin with, immediate action of some kind is merited. Brathwaite agreed with this heartily, already counting the silver ingots that could be pulled from the mines near Aquae Sulis. Kyndalyn also agreed that immediate action would be preferable but would not compromise the safety of the town for speed.
They ultimately agreed that an advance group should be sent to the Coritani at once to act as emissaries and a show of good faith. Kyndalyn relates Krase's offer that he go and do the scouting. Ultimately, the entire party was asked to participate. All of them were capable fighting men (as had been proven recently) and none were in the guard. Jucadius especially thought this a marvelous idea because it would get that meddlesome druid out of his hair (Speaks' backstory involved some run ins with some of Jucadius' men who were torturing a farm animal. Speaks intervened and threatened to call the wolves out of the hills to hunt down the men).
The party agreed to travel with Ilrath back to the Coritani. They set about buying provisions and supplies for the trip. The council assigned them the following duties in order of importance:
1. Detect any plans of betrayal among the Coritani or other barbarian tribes.
2. Get oaths from as many of the tribes as possible that they will never again raid across the Fodor.
3. Determine if the Orcs are as much of a threat as the Coritani indicated.
4. Aid the Coritani in withstanding the Orcs until Kyndalyn's guards arrive.
The party was also provided with 2 potions of Cure Light Wounds, A Quall's feather token of a bird that can carry a message about what they find back to Uncle Claudius and ten masterwork ammunition for each missile weapons that they carried.
All of Glynden turned out to see the party off. The village council (with the exception of Nacalius who was nowhere to be seen) shook hands with each member of the group (but not Ilrath). Isabeau, still grieving the loss of her parents is absent, but sent word via the Cassuvius family that she is thankful to Rhys that he helped avenge her parents.
As the group is gathering near the town gate, a callused hand gripped Krase's shoulder. He turns and saw the forge-wrinkled face of Jaffray the Blacksmith. He said, "Come with me a moment, lad."
They stepped aside from the growing crowd into the relative seclusion of the niche between the guard tower and the city wall. "I've something to tell you, boy. It's a secret held by many of the town and I tell it now only because we're in desperate need. I tell you because of who your grandfather was."
"Years ago when the legion was recalled to the empire, a group of us mustered out. For various reasons, we decided to settle down here and in the surrounding towns. Despite the fact that we had protected the town for many years, we were not quickly accepted as fellow citizens. First of all, every last one of us was born and recruited in the heart of Emor. It was our folk that conquered these lands from the barbarians that were the forefathers of the townspeople. But that isn't the main reason they were slow to accept us. None of us had any real training or skills outside of being in the legion. We hadn't any training in the skills that were valued by the people of Glynden.
So we got together and decided that we needed to make sure that we would have someone to go to when times were bad. We formed a sort of "Brotherhood" and called it the Iron Auxilia. We agreed to contribute a portion of whatever money we earned to the group with the understanding that anybody who fell on hard times could take money out of the pot to get back on his feet. You may recall a few times when folks around town who had a misfortune were able to recover quickly. Remember when Titus Didius had his barn burn down? Remember how quickly he was able to get it rebuilt?
Anyhow, we have a meeting once a year to find out how much money is left in the Iron Auxilia chest. That's right, you guessed it: The Legionnaire's Wake. A member of the group retrieves the chest from a secret place in the countryside and brings it to the Wake. This year, Marcus was bringing the chest. All that money was stolen by those damned accursed gnolls.
If, as you journey to the west, you should come across any more of the gnolls, see if you can recover our money. It represents thirty years of savings and the memories of a lot of our brothers."
As the party made it's way west on the old, overgrown road to Aquae Sulis, Krase halted them about half an hour outside of town.
"Blood of Kord!" cried Ilrath, "I know you townfolk are soft, but you need to rest already?!"
"No." said Krase coldly. "We need to talk." He then explained about the Iron Auxilia and the stolen money. The group agreed that if the opportunity presented itself to recapture the chest from the Gnolls, they would take it. But they also agreed that it was not their primary mission and they shouldn't delay themselves excessively attempting to hunt down the Gnolls.
NEXT: Westward HO!