Justicar's Bastion - Eagle Elf [Updated 5th Dec 06]

[PieAndDragon]

Biavor

Derris was glad to be out of Junnis. Although it contained many interesting people and had many opportunities for danger and excitement, the teeming masses and the yearnings of his elven blood kept him wanting to travel the roads of the Free Cities and beyond. His mood was grim these last few weeks, after a letter arrived from the military with no news of the whereabouts of his beloved. In fact they had placed a bounty on her head, and had the gall to ask the noble to pass on any information he had to them. For now he kept quiet and listened to his companions chatter.

Several opportunities for work had been presented them, his illustrious companions attracting the desperate and dangerous like dwarves to a gold rush. Rumours of an obsidian obelisk rising out from the desert struck a matched the nightmares of Sam and the desert warrior had been desperate to take others with him. Lack of known reward, a journey across the Inner Sea and the dangers of desert heat had hindered interest from the rest of the group.

The Enjant Adventurer’s Guild had been pleased after the success of the last adventure. A man named Yaberk of Enjant was now their main contact with the Guild, an older priest of Stars who had spent time learning their names and faces. When no name for their group was forthcoming, he had suggested the Company of Rifter as an appropriate appellation until a more suited name presented itself. Ra had been made the leader and the nomad second in command. Derris would have to find an appropriate name for a daring band of adventurers, and maybe some sort of heraldic device which their foes could come to fear.

Yaberk also informed them of a possible task which the Guild had reserved for them. The forest town of Luzern in the Tronewald was under some kind of curse, they would have been paid fifteen hundred gold to travel north to Trondale and receive more instructions on how to investigate. But the money was not enough to lure the Company of Rifter away from their chosen tasks. Derris was on his way home to Biavor!

Their first planned stop was at the Algen Keep, home to nobles of Biavor friendly to the De Marco family. Sir Harold Algen, with whom Derris had played as a child, had sent a letter requesting the half-elf and any companions pay a visit, with the possibility of some sort of hunt to be performed as a favour. It would do all and sundry good to pay call to high society such as the Algen Family, and it would be good to move in such circles once more.

Their second planned stop was at the village of Turvin on the edge of the Forest of the Lakes. One of Ra’s superiors had asked him to investigate the appearance of a strange halfling bearing the holy symbol of Hesak, god of Murder. There were strange happenings around the village and likely dangers from the forest. The lure of a rustic village and goodly folk to aid was the most likely cause for his companions eagerness to aid the priest of Sun.

But there was another reason they had left Junnis. According to their saviour Masym, the Wardens of the Tarnished Ones were looking for escaped prisoners, with some escapees from the Justicar's Bastion vanishing during the night. Groups of gnomes and other agents were on the look out, and the servant of Fire was not staying in the city any longer. He was off to work with dwarfs in Lundhek, and if the powerful summoner of fire didn't think the Jewel of the Innner Sea was safe, then neither did the Company of Rifter.

Their overland travels had so far taken them though the Free Cities of Tar-Tellik, Enjant and now Highsun, with no signs of the great dangers to supposedly walk the dangerous routes they traversed. From here they would enter Biavor and a couple of weeks should see them to Algen Keep. The Company of Rifter were in high spirits, swapping tales and getting to know each other, firm friendships forming between the companions. Only Layla was quiet, afflicted by some sort of malaise, rarely talking or taking an interest outside of her environment.

Derris enjoyed the next part of the journey, entering his homeland and crossing lands he was familiar with. He showed them a tavern at Marnsuel which he remembered from his youth, and pointed out many other sights from his glorious nation. Verdant green pastures full of livestock, friendly peasants at archery butts and dark haired beauties of elven blood were among just the many delights of his homecoming.

Here the deeds of the Company of Rifter would begin in earnest, he could feel it in his heart.

 

[PieAndDragon]

Bear Hunt

These lands made Burc uneasy. Full of leafy glades and backward farmers. They were ruled over by elves and it showed, the peasants toting bows and none of the taverns serving a good ale. Everywhere Burc went he was taken for a typical dwarf, with jokes about beer, beards, height and gold. It was enough to take an axe to them all! It wasn’t likely he would find the answers to his quest in this land, but he would at least keep his eyes open and learn what he could.

They had been welcomed at the Algen Keep, spending a couple of nights enjoying the hospitality of their hosts. Now they were escorting Lord Algen, an old human, through nearby woods on the hunt for a man-eating bear. They were to protect the old lord but he seemed unhappy with their company, already giving them the slip yesterday afternoon. It had been down to Burc to track the old man on his horse, hoping he would survive the night in the woods without them. Only by rising early did they find him snoring noisily among the fallen leaves, merely grumpy when he awoke to them cooking breakfast for him.

The old lord had found the tracks of the bear, and together with Burc they had tracked the beast. Of the others, few had much woodcraft, Snarf able to set snares and catch small game. So it was down to a dwarf that they were kept safe out in the wilderness, proving to them that he wasn’t just a typical dwarf. There was more to him than axe, beard and ale.

Two giant spiders had attacked them earlier in the day, the pets of a pair of long-limbed spider like beings known as ettercaps. There was a brief fracas with a pit, and Burc was barely fast enough to reach their foes, but his companions quickly slew the spiders and forced the ettercaps to flee into the dark woods. They didn’t linger as they had a killer bear to catch and an old man to protect. Derris seemed to get along reasonably with the old man, Lord Algen knowing the noble from when he was a young halfelf lad. Age didn’t improve those of elven blood, or so it seemed.

Burc had his head to the ground when he hear the terrifying bellow of the bear. When he looked up, a massive brown bear was bearing down on him, Derris, Sam and Lord Algen. The sound of chanting filled the air and he could make out goblins to the left and right. A horse-eagle cross appeared beside them, engaged by Sam while the others fought off the bear. A blow from the bear took down Lord Algen’s horse and the old man fled to the trees to the left, blood pouring from his shoulder.

Shouts from the warlock behind them announced the approach of more foes, a glance behind revealing the white and black of giant badgers guided by goblins. Krunk and the warlock would have to deal with it themselves, as the warriors had their own troubles. Hurried prayers from Ra were keeping those fighting boosted, but it was no easy fight. With a final bellow of pain, the bear fell, bearing wounds from axe, rapier, blade and eldritch fire, with even a lance puncture from the old lord. The echoes of its death were not finished before another foe appeared from nowhere, a massive wolf the size of a horse summoned by nature magics.

Derris went down, unmoving, below the wolf, and another eagle-horse joined the first. Burc, Sam and Snarf formed a desperate front-line, hoping from some sort of respite from their companions. A pained scream from behind them confirmed the worse, the enormous badgers with bloodied claws leaping over the warlock’s corpse to where Krunk awaited, snarling at their new foe. Burc heard the thrum of a bow from where Lord Algen fled, but he was too busy trying to stay alive to spare time to protect their charge. Snarf was frothing at the mouth and flailing from the ground at his wolf foe, both bleeding from grievous injuries. Beyond their foes, Burc made out a old goblin female in thick animal furs, summoning down the forces of the land and guarded by another badger.

A rolling ball of fire bounded toward Ra, the priest narrowly avoiding the mass of flames which followed him around the battlefield. More incantations from the goblin shaman followed, Burc throwing aside her spell but Sam grimacing in pain as his armour started to glow red-hot. Shouts for healing magic from behind them confirmed that Krunk suffered from badger-and hot armour alike. Then a lucky blow brought down a eagle-griffon, and another blow caused the wolf to fade from view, back to whence it came. Krunk fell to the badgers behind them, but their foes had lost heart. Another eagle-griffon appeared before the goblins as they backed away. An arrow from Lord Algen, still alive, slew one badger, and the hippogriffs were cut down by dwarf, nomad and berserker, their wounds closing to Ra’s prayers. Running feet was the last they heard of their goblin and badger foes, leaving corpses strewn across the woodland glade.

 

[DeGlove]

Hmmm, I can't help feeling that at the the warlock shouldn't have died (that made it... 5 deaths in 4 sessions?). close wounds stopped the badger from completely mashing him, but the front line was taking too much of a battering to stop and staunch his wounds

 

[The Invisible Man]

You shouln't worry about deaths to much as you are doing the best you can. We just need to get the party mix right, we have a party of 8 and only one cleric, its not supprising that we are taking casulties.

 

[PieAndDragon]

At this stage, the party are

Burc Bugrit, Dwarf Ranger 1 / Fighter 2 of Lundhek, Lawful Neutral
Derris De Marco, Half-elf Swashbuckler 3 of Biavor, Chaotic Good
Laucien, Elf Druid 3 of Yandaris, Neutral Good
Layla, Human Beguiler 3 of Biavor, Chaotic Good
Ra of Etrial, Human Cleric of Sun 3 of Aloreas, Lawful Good
Samson “Sam” Tisiphone, Human Fighter 3 of the Najas Desert, Chaotic Neutral
"Snarf", Razorclaw Shifter Barbarian 3 of the Beholder Lands, Chaotic Neutral
Xarban, Human Cleric of Mirakiln 3 of the Yeteker Empire, Lawful Evil

 

[PieAndDragon]

You shouln't worry about deaths to much as you are doing the best you can. We just need to get the party mix right, we have a party of 8 and only one cleric, its not supprising that we are taking casulties.

To be honest, at the size of party you are, the mix has very little to do with how many deaths you get. Two deaths have resulted from criticals, two from party members being out on their own and one from a failed save (heat metal). It's been dangerous , but thats the way my players seem to like it. There tends to be more of a body count at lower levels too

 

[PieAndDragon]

Krunk Departs

This hunt had cost the Company of Rifter dearly. The journey back from the fight with the bear had been a quiet affair, saddened by the loss of two staunch allies. Derris had survived again, only stunned by his fall, but the wounds of Krunk and Zorbaka would not heal. The halforc had left monies for some sort of druidic ritual known which may bring him back to life. Ra knew little of such magical matters, having faith that Sun would answer his prayers in the manner needed. Snarf had taken much of the skin of the beast, for what only knows purpose.

There had been a brief fright when armoured knights on horseback accosted them. They were lead by a Lord Fernier, owner of the lands they were hunting on. After some angry shouting and with some fast-talking from Derris, the old lord had agreed to pay restitution to his peer and the knights had let them be once more. Ra was unsure whether Snarf would have willingly given up his parts of the bear, which Lord Fernier had wished to claim for his own. Matters of state and material wealth concerned the young priest little, living primarily for the glory of the Radiant One and to bring justice to his foes.

Ra was unsure what path the Radiant One wished him to follow. In Junnis, after Rifter’s burial, he had been invited to the High Hall of Light, a temple independent from the main church. There he had been taught secret prayers by Zuuntiak, a gigantic many-legged lizard priest of Sun, rumoured to be head of the Inquisition of the Sun. Ra would need to be careful with his actions in the future, as the Company of Rifter were being watched by beings near and far.

When they returned to Algen Keep, the family were delighted to see their Lord still alive and well. A feast was thrown in their honour, the paltry sum they were promised was given over, as well as the hunting rights to lands which the Algen family actually owned. Under the direction of Derris, they spent the next few days searching for a buyer for the hunting rights and looking for a nature priest to perform magics upon Krunk’s body. A rich merchant bought the rights and at a small stone circle they found a halfelven druid to perform the reincarnation.

Krunk’s new form was that of a female gnome. Although glad to be alive, the former half-orc was visibly distraught and unsure of his new body. Midday the next day he announced he was leaving, returning to the Free Cities to find his former master and seek a new path in life. With the warrior-mage gone, only Ra, Derris, Sam and Layla remained of those who escaped from the Justicar’s Bastion. They had a feast that night to commemorate the passing of Zorbaka and wish Krunk well in his future endeavours.

The road to Turvin saw them pass near to the Royal Zoo of Biavor, through the city of Shar and onto the tall spires of Corelane. Two days north from there and they arrived at Turvin, an isolated hamlet on the edge of the Forest of the Lakes. Their horses were taken by the mayor, a ruddy-faced man named Barnabas Revland. Ra visited the old gnarled dwarf who served as their cleric of Sun, but he could tell them little of the mysterious halfling or the symbol of Hesak he bore. A couple of hours mingling with the smallfolk turned up some more information.

A woodsman has disappeared, children have seen glowing pretty butterflies, few people are sleeping well and local merchants are withdrawing contracts. But most interestingly, two travellers were seen at the inn last night, a halfling and a human. A servant from the inn told the Company of Rifter that the two had pulled a heavy handcart and paid double to be left alone. That evening Ra and his companions agreed to help the mayor, looking to find a way to stop the lights and noises coming from the woods. They decided not to request any payment from the poor farmers, and agreed to work alongside two others the mayor had recruited.

The next morning the Company of Rifter entered the woods with two new companions in tow. Xarban is a heavily armoured human from the Yeterker Empire, a freed slave wielding a massive axe. The second, Laucien, was an elven nature priest, seeking to aid the village from the forest dangers which are harassing them. With their dwarf tracker keeping watch, they reached a grove in the wood where a handcart lay. As they searched the bushes, Ra heard a strangled shout, as their new elven companion was seized by a bush and two small green creatures attacked them

The thorns thrown from the creatures caused deep wounds in some of Ra’s companions, but the bushes put up more fight than the fey, who quickly fled into the trees. The axes and swords of the rest of the Company soon stopped the flailing and lashing of the bushes too. Burc knew them as splinterwaifs, sinister beings who could command the plants and turned their victims into shrubs for the forest. A quick search of the cart tunred up the bloodied body of a gray halfling and a cold iron symbol of Hesak. They had been transporting nearly a hundred pounds of cold iron ore into the forest. This would need further investigation and Ra knew that Sun had sent him on this path for a reason.

Whatever was at the source of Turvin’s problems, Ra doubted the temple fathers of Sun would approve.

 

[PieAndDragon]

Dragon of the Forest

He was glad to be far away from the many-eyed masters, among woodland glades and farmland so different from his blasted homeland, seared by years under the yoke of destructive gazes. Although the strange lights and noises of this woodland were different, Snarf would rather hear those than the cracks of whips, wails of despair and grunts of pain.

Snarf was jerked from his reverie by the roar of an angered beast, leaping to the ground as a burning green gas filled the air, sending searing pain where it touched bare flesh. Coming quickly to his feet he made out a green draconic form, no longer than a human, assaulting him and his packmates. Derris, one of his most valued allies, fell before the onslaught of fangs, claws and wings, leaping to engage his foe alongside dwarf, nomad and axeman, with the druid attempting to shoot the dragon from among the trees. Severely outnumbered and outmatched, the dragon fought doggedly before taking to the air and fleeing, wounds pouring blood, into the forest.

End of Session Four

 

[PieAndDragon]

The silence after the dragon’s defeat lingered for several moments, before several voices broke it at once
“We survived a dragon attack”
“That thing must have a mound of treasure, everyone knows they do”
“It was green, did you see that, a green dragon!”
As his pack-mates clustered around the Sun priest, begging for his healing touch, Snarf watched the dwarf looking thoughtfully over the area where the dragon had ambushed them. Burc sniffed at some leaves, fingered prints left by the dragon, and started off into the forest, muttering about a dragon trail. In recent weeks, the berserker had watched the tracker carefully, picking up tips and tricks where he could, sure he had the natural senses and keen scent to pick up trails better than most.

A few hundred feet into the forest, Snarf watched as the dwarf admitted defeat, punching an offending tree with his gauntlet. The dragon tracks lead back to a small grove where it had landed, and they lacked the skill and means to follow a trail in the sky. Dismay turned to alertness as a high-pitched voice called out from among the leafless trees, each word following quickly after the next.
“What are people like you doing in the forest”
“Hunting a dragon” called back Derris, always willing to let others hear his voice, “a green we injured a short time ago. Do you know of it”
Krunk listened as the creature danced a verbal match with Derris and Layla. It knew of the green dragon, Rynskald, and was willing to lead them to it’s lair. All it wanted in return was a recipe book from the dragon’s hoard, needing little coaxing to help them. It was far from a friend of the dragons, claiming to have lost loved ones to its fangs and claws.

They followed their invisible guide through the forest, guided by thrown rocks, shaken branches and the occasional tiny arrow. The dwarf and druid suspected their mysterious friend was a pixie, a small winged fey with many powers, famed for playing tricks and duping unwary travellers. It would take a wily creature to dupe a creature such as Snarf, bought up among treachery and hatred, trusting of only a loyal few.

When their guide indicated the bushes which covered Rynskald’s lair, a quick plan was drawn up, using the nature magic of Laucien and prayers of Ra to protect the nomad, who would lead the assault on the beast’s lair. Sam’s passage was broken when vines lashed out from a mass of vines and leaves, trying to wrap around his neck and trap his limbs. The rest of the undergrowth came to life, snatching at those nearest the desert warrior, binding arms and legs in tangled grasps.

Snarf wrenched himself free, crashing through reaching roots and grasping branches. Around him his companions struggled. Sam slashed at the living green with his blade, cutting off any reaching vines which got in his way. Burc cut at it with his axe, and the druid moved up to aid, barely caught by the vines. The rest of his packmates were either entrapped or their magics ineffective against such a foe. The plant served its purpose as Rynskald made himself known, the whoosh of wings shortly followed by a familiar burning of acidic fumes.

The berserker avoided the worst, taking cover among the vines and tangles which sought to entrap him. His companions bore the brunt from the wounded dragon, moving awkwardly from earlier wounds. Snarf made out a faint aura covered the wounded nomad, who turned in a rage upon his new attacker. As the dragon twisted in midair, four feet of dwarven steel cut a hole in it’s chest, sending the beast to the ground where it twitched and then lay still. Exultation at their victory overtook the berserker, his sword scything through a mass of vines to cut through the centre of the living plant, stilling roots, branches and grasping bushes all around.

With a quick study of the fallen dragon, Snarf’s hopes of dragon-hide armour were crushed. Perhaps there might be enough for a ferret or toad, but the amount of scales needed for one of his kind would require a far larger dragon corpse. He reached for his dagger still, hoping to take the skin from the beast while the others ransacked it’s hoard. The cries and whoops from within told him that the haul was a good one. After a few hours, Layla had catalogued and valued their find, but Snarf’s attempts had been less successful. His dagger was blunted, and the few twisted scales removed from the dragon were hardly credible as those from a green specimen. Dusk having fallen already, the Company of Rifter bedded down among the coins and other treasures of Rynskald, hoping the dragon had no other family which would visit during the night-time hours.

The night was filled with bright lights, strange noises and almost constant laughter, the presence of fey creatures unmistakable. When morning finally came, Snarf helped to distribute coins, gemstones, books and other goods. The dragon had gathered an array of treasures, desert incense mixing with reams of paper, the marble bust of a horse’s head occupying pride of place alongside exquisitely made halfling slippers made from raven feathers and satin. Soap, dyes, armour, crossbows, an elven tapestry and bolts of silk rounded out the hoard. Of greatest value were three items of magic, robes of different patches, finely made gloves and a horn covered in murals of giants, the powers of each yet unknown. Derris was keen to experiment but warnings from priest and enchantress of curses for the unwary blunted his keenness.

For a glistening pearl, their pixie friend guided them back to the path, and they returned to the hamlet of Turvin. Assuring the mayor they would still deal with the threat, the decision was made to make haste to Corelane, fabled city of spires two days south. Snarf’s thoughts were filled of the wealth which he had helped win. What would such riches buy? What would an escaped slave like him do with the wealth of a dragon’s hoard?

 

[DeGlove]

Thanks

It's been dangerous , but thats the way my players seem to like it.

At least in this campaign death can be more of an 'inconvience' than a terminal event