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<blockquote data-quote="Chimera" data-source="post: 2853407" data-attributes="member: 2002"><p>Pre-game write-up of how Lawrence, Samsel (and Neiri) arrived in Freetown.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The Caravan Trip North</p><p></p><p>Your character(s) left Freeport with the caravan on the 25th day of Peace (10/25). The caravan itself consisted of wagons and merchants from four different merchant companies, plus a number of independent merchants and travelers. Roughly 60 heavy wagons, 300 horses and approximately 300 people made up the caravan at the start.</p><p></p><p>The Merchant Companies being: The Freetown Merchant Company, Wayne Merchantile (based in Gotham, yet with bases and storefronts almost everywhere in the Central and South regions), The Far Road Merchant League (a loose confederation of merchants in the South) and the Freeport Merchant Shipping Company.</p><p></p><p>Given the length of the trip and the difficulties of the Upland Road, it is a usual practice for these groups to band together for the trip.</p><p></p><p>Traveling along with you and the caravan were a significant number of civilians and persons of note, including Prelate Raven of the Brenn Shrine Sect and Master Jentenda. She is traveling north to seek out a couple of new students that she has detected.</p><p></p><p>The caravan traveled the roughly 150 miles to Arundel in 12 days, stopping twice in small towns for trading purposes and rest. Two days were spent in Arundel, offloading the last of the Freetown cloth and loading the wagons to near breaking with fine Arundel wines.</p><p></p><p>The caravan left Arundel on the 10th of Storms (11/10), headed north on the Upland Road.</p><p></p><p>On the 19th of Storms (11/19), the caravan arrived in Kinet, spending one full day of rest, trade and preparation before heading out on the 21st for the dangerous 330 mile journey to Freetown. From here, only 50 wagons, 260 horses, a few dozen mules and approximately 240 people continued on the journey.</p><p></p><p>As the caravan moved northward into the Southern Uplands, there were signs that you were in for a rough time. Formian scouts were sighted a number of times, though they never approached the caravan. It was remarked that they had never been seen in this region in such numbers, leading to a lot of fear and speculation about the safety of the caravan and/or the town of Kinet.</p><p></p><p>Three days out from Kinet came the first trouble. A bridge crossing a medium sized river was heavily damanged, requiring a couple of days of hard work to make it safe for passage. During this time, a young Ranger who had been scouting ahead for the caravan failed to return.</p><p></p><p>Another three days of travel, slowed down by a day of heavy rains and a road that was made almost impassible by the rutting of heavy wagon wheels in the mud, brought the caravan well into the western end of the Southern Uplands. Here the caravan was brought to a halt when the bridge over a small, flooded river was found to have been completely destroyed, probably by Trolls. There were washed out tracks indicating the passage of a large number of creatures eastward, but it was no longer possible to ascertain what kind of creatures or how many.</p><p></p><p>The next day, while the caravan group attempted to build a new bridge, a lumber party was attacked by three Trolls, resulting in two men dead and two others being carried off before reinforcements could reach them. Another scout failed to return during the afternoon.</p><p></p><p>With this, security for the caravan was tightened. No one wandered out of sight, no one scouted alone. The lumber party was heavily guarded.</p><p></p><p>The following day saw the bridge mostly completed. At least, sufficient to get the heavy wagons across mostly unloaded. It was expected that the next morning would see the crossing, with much of the goods having to be carried across by hand. Of course, many people objected to this task, the word “Pack” being thrown around quite a bit.</p><p></p><p>That night, a large group of Trolls raided the camp under cover of darkness. Eight people were killed, along with three horses. One wagon was heavily damaged and one person and two mules were carried off screaming into the darkness. Although most of the Trolls were killed, the event caused several merchants and a number of people to turn back toward Kinet. (5 wagons, 30 horses, 30 people)</p><p></p><p>The next morning, the complaints magically ended and the people of the caravan worked hard to get the trade goods and wagons across the river as quickly and efficiently as possible.</p><p></p><p>The remaining 45 wagons and roughly 195 people continued on the journey north.</p><p></p><p>Later that day, the caravan was attacked by four or five large spiders. Eight to ten feet long each, they phased in and out as they seemingly attacked at random, moving through the caravan, biting both men and horses. When two of them were killed, the rest seemed to disappear. Unfortunately, three men and two horses were killed and many more wounded, sorely taxing even Prelate Raven‘s resources and abilities.</p><p></p><p>For the next seven days, the caravan made good progress down the northern slope of the Southern Uplands and across the plains. There were a few minor events and two fatalities, but by this time, Master Jentenda and Prelate Raven had taken charge of the group and were quite quick to respond to trouble. Several small rivers had to be crossed, but there were no more complaints about having to pack goods across.</p><p></p><p>The first fatality was due to some kind of vampiric plant just off the road. It was noted with some surprise that something of the like might be expected near the ruins of Sanctuary, but that was a good 50 miles away. This fueled even more rumor and speculation about the safety of the Upland Road with regards to future trips.</p><p></p><p>The second fatality was due to another Troll attack. Three trolls attacked during the night and were quickly dispatched, though not before they managed to tear a guard limb from limb.</p><p></p><p>Several other times, a lone Troll or Phase Spider was sighted, but either ran off or was blasted out of existence when it approached too closely to the caravan.</p><p></p><p>Just after this second fatality, a very strange group approached the caravan from the south. (9th of Rains, or 12/9)</p><p></p><p>Three tall, dark haired men in furs; two short, olive skinned women in silk robes; and two very short and curious creatures.</p><p></p><p>These last two looked from a distance to be three year old Human children. When they got closer, it was seen that they were adult creatures with pointed ears and large hairy feet. One of them was wearing leather armor and carrying a short bow and a short sword.</p><p></p><p>Using magic to bridge the language gap, as none of them spoke a word of Ithri, it was determined that the men were of a people called the Skojan and had come from a cold, mountainous region. The women were of the Han people, from a hilly tropical region. The small ones, calling themselves “Hobbits”, claimed to have come from different places. The armed one claimed to have come from his homeland, while the unarmed one claimed to be an escaped slave.</p><p></p><p>How had they arrived in the Wild Lands, of all places?</p><p></p><p>It seems that, approximately a month ago, an “Event” of an uncertain nature had occurred, resulting in strange rifts or portals opening in a number of places, all leading to one particular area of the Southern Uplands. The two Han women and one man had been inadvertently sucked into it. The armed Hobbit had deliberately walked into it.</p><p></p><p>The three barbarian men, however, told a more disturbing tale. They had been part of a group of eleven men who had been tracking a band of over 200 “Gorgs” through the mountains. They describe these Gorgs as being roughly 10 feet tall humanoids with a nasty disposition. When the rift/portal opened, the Gorgs quickly crossed over to the “new lands”, so their group followed.</p><p></p><p>On this side of the rift, the Gorgs spotted the group and attacked. Three of the men fell while the rest escaped. </p><p></p><p>Spending a couple of days scouting around, the Gorgs, led by perhaps a half-dozen “Gorg Maga”, green skinned Gorgs with magical powers, split into five groups. One group of 20-25, each led by a Gorg Maga, went in each direction, Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast. The remaining Gorg stayed where they were for a few days before heading up a small river. The barbarians followed them as they found the Upland Road and destroyed a small bridge before heading further east.</p><p></p><p>The barbarians remained in the area of the destroyed bridge, waiting to see if any traffic came up or down the road. The three Han and two Hobbits came along and joined the group, as did a strange dark skinned man in a loincloth, carrying a stone headed spear.</p><p></p><p>During this time, they had their first encounter with Trolls, which the barbarians had never seen before. Five of their number and the Han man were killed or carried off while the rest fled for their lives. The strange man with the spear ran off in another direction and was never seen again.</p><p></p><p>It was a number of days later before they returned to the road to find the bridge rebuilt and signs of a large caravan having passed by. They decided to follow and catch up as quickly as possible.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The three skojan are Kornov (a foul tempered warrior), Markov (A Skald, or Bard) and Ebo (A Tracker, or Ranger).</p><p></p><p>The two Han are Madame Lau and her “servant” Lin Wu. They are “Wu Jen”, which appears to be another kind of Wizard. Madame Lau is very haughty and domineering. She doesn’t appear to see anyone else as an equal.</p><p></p><p>The Hobbits are Perrin Took (the armed one) and Neiri (Brad‘s PC).</p><p></p><p></p><p>Continuing North, the caravan entered the Vasta region. No Trolls, Spiders anything else of danger was sighted for the next 6 days, allowing the caravan to relax a bit and morale to improve.</p><p></p><p>However, on the 16th of Rains, all that changed. The first Ankheg popped up out of the ground just a few feet from the caravan and spit acid directly into the face of a draft horse. While the beast was quickly dispatched, quite a bit of chaos was created by the horse’s agonized thrashing.</p><p></p><p>From this point on, signs of Ankhegs grew much more common. Upturned soil and barren patches littered the landscape. For the most part, the Ankhegs avoided the caravan, but that didn’t help morale. Occasionally, wagon wheels or horses would get stuck in a patch of loose soil, slowing the caravan.</p><p></p><p>On the 20th of Rains, the caravan reached the Vasta Road and turned toward Freetown. A day later, it reached the ford over the Vasta river. It appeared that everything was home free. Six more days to Freetown.</p><p></p><p>For the next three days, the caravan maintained strong discipline and a fairly rapid pace. No one was allowed to wander away, everyone kept weapons on alert. The occasional Ankheg surfaced near the party and one young woman and a couple of mules were killed. There were signs that another group had been in the region, hunting Ankhegs, as single Ankheg bodies, obviously dissected, were found in several locations along the road.</p><p></p><p>Then on the 25th of Rains, all hell broke loose. The ground under one of the lead wagons, filled with Arundel Wine barrels, gave way and the entire wagon; horses, men and all, fell into a deep hole. Running to give aid, it was seen that the hole was a deep pit filled with plant material….and several score of Ankheg young. As the men and horse screamed in terror, the young swarmed over them. Two guardian Ankheg lept from side tunnels and attacked. </p><p></p><p>Master Jentenda quickly ran over and did the only merciful thing, blasting the hole repeatedly with balls and bolts of flame. When she was finished, the last of the cooking oil was poured down the hole and set on fire. The caravan was stunned.</p><p></p><p>But that wasn’t the end of it. While everyone was still trying to figure out what was going on, perhaps a score of Ankhegs surfaced in the immediate area and attacked. Sitxteen people and 14 horses were killed in the chaos, with another two wagons being completely destroyed.</p><p></p><p>On the 28th of Rains, the caravan limped into Freetown, having lost three wagons (of 45), 37 people (of @210), 26 horses and a half-dozen mules.</p><p></p><p>Your characters spend the rest of the 28th helping the caravan and at the subdued “blow off” party at the Brown Mug.</p><p></p><p>You have the 29th and 30th to explore Freetown, rest and relax.</p><p></p><p>We start the game on the 1st of Freedom</p><p></p><p>General consensus is that the Upland Road will have to be abandoned. This caravan lost far too many people, besides the horses and goods. Between the Trolls, Spiders, Ankhegs and now, stories of Gorgs, the road is simply too dangerous for travel. This is a major concern for the caravan elements from the two southern merchant companies.</p><p></p><p>++</p><p>Your characters were 1st level when you left Freeport. </p><p>They’re 2nd level when they reach Freetown.</p><p></p><p>++</p><p>Prelate Raven stays in Freetown for a few days to consult with the local Shrine clergy and help to celebrate the Spring Equinox. It is known that she will be headed for Gyretown next, then further north.</p><p></p><p>Master Jentenda left Freetown on the 29th, headed for Gyretown.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Chimera, post: 2853407, member: 2002"] Pre-game write-up of how Lawrence, Samsel (and Neiri) arrived in Freetown. The Caravan Trip North Your character(s) left Freeport with the caravan on the 25th day of Peace (10/25). The caravan itself consisted of wagons and merchants from four different merchant companies, plus a number of independent merchants and travelers. Roughly 60 heavy wagons, 300 horses and approximately 300 people made up the caravan at the start. The Merchant Companies being: The Freetown Merchant Company, Wayne Merchantile (based in Gotham, yet with bases and storefronts almost everywhere in the Central and South regions), The Far Road Merchant League (a loose confederation of merchants in the South) and the Freeport Merchant Shipping Company. Given the length of the trip and the difficulties of the Upland Road, it is a usual practice for these groups to band together for the trip. Traveling along with you and the caravan were a significant number of civilians and persons of note, including Prelate Raven of the Brenn Shrine Sect and Master Jentenda. She is traveling north to seek out a couple of new students that she has detected. The caravan traveled the roughly 150 miles to Arundel in 12 days, stopping twice in small towns for trading purposes and rest. Two days were spent in Arundel, offloading the last of the Freetown cloth and loading the wagons to near breaking with fine Arundel wines. The caravan left Arundel on the 10th of Storms (11/10), headed north on the Upland Road. On the 19th of Storms (11/19), the caravan arrived in Kinet, spending one full day of rest, trade and preparation before heading out on the 21st for the dangerous 330 mile journey to Freetown. From here, only 50 wagons, 260 horses, a few dozen mules and approximately 240 people continued on the journey. As the caravan moved northward into the Southern Uplands, there were signs that you were in for a rough time. Formian scouts were sighted a number of times, though they never approached the caravan. It was remarked that they had never been seen in this region in such numbers, leading to a lot of fear and speculation about the safety of the caravan and/or the town of Kinet. Three days out from Kinet came the first trouble. A bridge crossing a medium sized river was heavily damanged, requiring a couple of days of hard work to make it safe for passage. During this time, a young Ranger who had been scouting ahead for the caravan failed to return. Another three days of travel, slowed down by a day of heavy rains and a road that was made almost impassible by the rutting of heavy wagon wheels in the mud, brought the caravan well into the western end of the Southern Uplands. Here the caravan was brought to a halt when the bridge over a small, flooded river was found to have been completely destroyed, probably by Trolls. There were washed out tracks indicating the passage of a large number of creatures eastward, but it was no longer possible to ascertain what kind of creatures or how many. The next day, while the caravan group attempted to build a new bridge, a lumber party was attacked by three Trolls, resulting in two men dead and two others being carried off before reinforcements could reach them. Another scout failed to return during the afternoon. With this, security for the caravan was tightened. No one wandered out of sight, no one scouted alone. The lumber party was heavily guarded. The following day saw the bridge mostly completed. At least, sufficient to get the heavy wagons across mostly unloaded. It was expected that the next morning would see the crossing, with much of the goods having to be carried across by hand. Of course, many people objected to this task, the word “Pack” being thrown around quite a bit. That night, a large group of Trolls raided the camp under cover of darkness. Eight people were killed, along with three horses. One wagon was heavily damaged and one person and two mules were carried off screaming into the darkness. Although most of the Trolls were killed, the event caused several merchants and a number of people to turn back toward Kinet. (5 wagons, 30 horses, 30 people) The next morning, the complaints magically ended and the people of the caravan worked hard to get the trade goods and wagons across the river as quickly and efficiently as possible. The remaining 45 wagons and roughly 195 people continued on the journey north. Later that day, the caravan was attacked by four or five large spiders. Eight to ten feet long each, they phased in and out as they seemingly attacked at random, moving through the caravan, biting both men and horses. When two of them were killed, the rest seemed to disappear. Unfortunately, three men and two horses were killed and many more wounded, sorely taxing even Prelate Raven‘s resources and abilities. For the next seven days, the caravan made good progress down the northern slope of the Southern Uplands and across the plains. There were a few minor events and two fatalities, but by this time, Master Jentenda and Prelate Raven had taken charge of the group and were quite quick to respond to trouble. Several small rivers had to be crossed, but there were no more complaints about having to pack goods across. The first fatality was due to some kind of vampiric plant just off the road. It was noted with some surprise that something of the like might be expected near the ruins of Sanctuary, but that was a good 50 miles away. This fueled even more rumor and speculation about the safety of the Upland Road with regards to future trips. The second fatality was due to another Troll attack. Three trolls attacked during the night and were quickly dispatched, though not before they managed to tear a guard limb from limb. Several other times, a lone Troll or Phase Spider was sighted, but either ran off or was blasted out of existence when it approached too closely to the caravan. Just after this second fatality, a very strange group approached the caravan from the south. (9th of Rains, or 12/9) Three tall, dark haired men in furs; two short, olive skinned women in silk robes; and two very short and curious creatures. These last two looked from a distance to be three year old Human children. When they got closer, it was seen that they were adult creatures with pointed ears and large hairy feet. One of them was wearing leather armor and carrying a short bow and a short sword. Using magic to bridge the language gap, as none of them spoke a word of Ithri, it was determined that the men were of a people called the Skojan and had come from a cold, mountainous region. The women were of the Han people, from a hilly tropical region. The small ones, calling themselves “Hobbits”, claimed to have come from different places. The armed one claimed to have come from his homeland, while the unarmed one claimed to be an escaped slave. How had they arrived in the Wild Lands, of all places? It seems that, approximately a month ago, an “Event” of an uncertain nature had occurred, resulting in strange rifts or portals opening in a number of places, all leading to one particular area of the Southern Uplands. The two Han women and one man had been inadvertently sucked into it. The armed Hobbit had deliberately walked into it. The three barbarian men, however, told a more disturbing tale. They had been part of a group of eleven men who had been tracking a band of over 200 “Gorgs” through the mountains. They describe these Gorgs as being roughly 10 feet tall humanoids with a nasty disposition. When the rift/portal opened, the Gorgs quickly crossed over to the “new lands”, so their group followed. On this side of the rift, the Gorgs spotted the group and attacked. Three of the men fell while the rest escaped. Spending a couple of days scouting around, the Gorgs, led by perhaps a half-dozen “Gorg Maga”, green skinned Gorgs with magical powers, split into five groups. One group of 20-25, each led by a Gorg Maga, went in each direction, Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast. The remaining Gorg stayed where they were for a few days before heading up a small river. The barbarians followed them as they found the Upland Road and destroyed a small bridge before heading further east. The barbarians remained in the area of the destroyed bridge, waiting to see if any traffic came up or down the road. The three Han and two Hobbits came along and joined the group, as did a strange dark skinned man in a loincloth, carrying a stone headed spear. During this time, they had their first encounter with Trolls, which the barbarians had never seen before. Five of their number and the Han man were killed or carried off while the rest fled for their lives. The strange man with the spear ran off in another direction and was never seen again. It was a number of days later before they returned to the road to find the bridge rebuilt and signs of a large caravan having passed by. They decided to follow and catch up as quickly as possible. The three skojan are Kornov (a foul tempered warrior), Markov (A Skald, or Bard) and Ebo (A Tracker, or Ranger). The two Han are Madame Lau and her “servant” Lin Wu. They are “Wu Jen”, which appears to be another kind of Wizard. Madame Lau is very haughty and domineering. She doesn’t appear to see anyone else as an equal. The Hobbits are Perrin Took (the armed one) and Neiri (Brad‘s PC). Continuing North, the caravan entered the Vasta region. No Trolls, Spiders anything else of danger was sighted for the next 6 days, allowing the caravan to relax a bit and morale to improve. However, on the 16th of Rains, all that changed. The first Ankheg popped up out of the ground just a few feet from the caravan and spit acid directly into the face of a draft horse. While the beast was quickly dispatched, quite a bit of chaos was created by the horse’s agonized thrashing. From this point on, signs of Ankhegs grew much more common. Upturned soil and barren patches littered the landscape. For the most part, the Ankhegs avoided the caravan, but that didn’t help morale. Occasionally, wagon wheels or horses would get stuck in a patch of loose soil, slowing the caravan. On the 20th of Rains, the caravan reached the Vasta Road and turned toward Freetown. A day later, it reached the ford over the Vasta river. It appeared that everything was home free. Six more days to Freetown. For the next three days, the caravan maintained strong discipline and a fairly rapid pace. No one was allowed to wander away, everyone kept weapons on alert. The occasional Ankheg surfaced near the party and one young woman and a couple of mules were killed. There were signs that another group had been in the region, hunting Ankhegs, as single Ankheg bodies, obviously dissected, were found in several locations along the road. Then on the 25th of Rains, all hell broke loose. The ground under one of the lead wagons, filled with Arundel Wine barrels, gave way and the entire wagon; horses, men and all, fell into a deep hole. Running to give aid, it was seen that the hole was a deep pit filled with plant material….and several score of Ankheg young. As the men and horse screamed in terror, the young swarmed over them. Two guardian Ankheg lept from side tunnels and attacked. Master Jentenda quickly ran over and did the only merciful thing, blasting the hole repeatedly with balls and bolts of flame. When she was finished, the last of the cooking oil was poured down the hole and set on fire. The caravan was stunned. But that wasn’t the end of it. While everyone was still trying to figure out what was going on, perhaps a score of Ankhegs surfaced in the immediate area and attacked. Sitxteen people and 14 horses were killed in the chaos, with another two wagons being completely destroyed. On the 28th of Rains, the caravan limped into Freetown, having lost three wagons (of 45), 37 people (of @210), 26 horses and a half-dozen mules. Your characters spend the rest of the 28th helping the caravan and at the subdued “blow off” party at the Brown Mug. You have the 29th and 30th to explore Freetown, rest and relax. We start the game on the 1st of Freedom General consensus is that the Upland Road will have to be abandoned. This caravan lost far too many people, besides the horses and goods. Between the Trolls, Spiders, Ankhegs and now, stories of Gorgs, the road is simply too dangerous for travel. This is a major concern for the caravan elements from the two southern merchant companies. ++ Your characters were 1st level when you left Freeport. They’re 2nd level when they reach Freetown. ++ Prelate Raven stays in Freetown for a few days to consult with the local Shrine clergy and help to celebrate the Spring Equinox. It is known that she will be headed for Gyretown next, then further north. Master Jentenda left Freetown on the 29th, headed for Gyretown. [/QUOTE]
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