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Rel's Faded Glory Campaign (Thank You Old One!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 854" data-attributes="member: 99"><p><strong>Desperate Flight for the Fodor</strong></p><p></p><p>A short while later, they stopped for the night. By then they figured that the two gnolls that escaped their ambush had found one of the other patrols and therefore the game was up. They didn't sound the horn again. In the morning, Speaks cast more of his healing magic and brought the party up to nearly full strength.</p><p></p><p>During the day, while they walked, they assessed their distance from the Fodor. They estimated that they were still around three days walk if they had no more run ins with the gnolls. They knew how hard they had been pushing themselves and how close to exhaustion they had been. They assumed that the gnolls must be in similar condition. They decided to make a forced march for the river, stopping for only a few hours here and there for rest.</p><p></p><p>They marched throughout the day and stopped for several hours when darkness fell (Note - this is the northlands in autumn. Darkness falls early and night is long.). In the middle of the night they started out again with the Druid in the lead. His affinity with nature was such that he could always find the easiest path, even in darkness. After a few more hours, they stopped in the pre-dawn darkness to rest a bit more. By the sounds of the horns in the distance, it seemed that the gnolls were still pursuing but were still nearly a day's travel behind them.</p><p></p><p>At dawn, they once again forged ahead. Near noontime, they stopped at a cluster of boulders to take a quick lunch of some of the last of their supplies. As they stood by the rocks, Rhys glanced over at the boulder near Krase. It blinked.</p><p></p><p>Rhys let out a cry but even as the words left his lips, a lanky humanoid shape that was all arms and legs shot out and grappled Krase, cutting his skin with bony protrusions on it's limbs as it attempted to encircle his neck. With apparent ice water flowing in his veins, Rhys raised his crossbow and shot the creature right through the head (Natural 20, confirmed critical, over 20 points of damage - Note - Rhys has Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot). Krase hastily unwrapped the thing from his torso and flung it to the ground, giving it a swift kick for good measure.</p><p></p><p>It turned out to be what was called a Choker in Imperial lands. Ilrath indicated that his people called them Rock Worms and complimented Rhys on killing such a swift and deadly creature. Rhys took but a moment to accept the compliment before he was hunting around for any treasure the creature might have (I swear, if he was any greedier I'd think he was a peck).</p><p></p><p>Rhys found a small hole at the base of the rocks. He wriggled inside and was able to locate a handful of coins and a pair of spiked gauntlets. He managed to get out of the hole without getting stuck but it was a close thing (GM Note - This was a total brain fart on the part of the player. He has the Mage Hand Cantrip but in never occurred to him to use it. Instead he risked being attacked if there had been another Choker down there and got very dirty. Getting attacked and getting dirty are two of the things his character hates most.)</p><p></p><p>Ilrath asked to look at the gauntlets and noted that they bore the forge mark of Wulfrax the smith, a Brigantes weapon maker of some renown. Rhys shrugged and put the gauntlets in his sack.</p><p></p><p>The group marched on through the afternoon. The fatigue was beginning to take its toll when they stopped at sundown. The whole group was tired but with the sounds of the gnolls horns far in the distance, they felt that their forced march was working. They agreed to rest for just a few hours and hike through the rest of the night. Ilrath indicated that they should reach the banks of the Fodor by morning.</p><p></p><p>And he was right. At mid morning the party broke through the treeline to find the impressive sight of the mighty Fodor before them (in my campaign this river is approximately the size of the Mississippi - that's roughly a mile across [or 1.6 kilometers] for those of you from outside the States). Ilrath took a moment to get his bearings and said that they should head north a bit to where he left his canoe.</p><p></p><p>A bit later, from the vantage atop the riverbank, Ilrath spotted the cluster of willows where he had camouflaged his small boat. This clump of trees was just over a hundred feet from the riverbank across a grassy mud flat (being fall, the river was considerably below its springtime levels when the snow melts from the surrounding mountain chains). Fishing in the waters near the shady roots of the trees was a large brown bear.</p><p></p><p>"This is all you, nature boy." Said Krase, giving Speaks with Stone a slight shove in the right direction.</p><p></p><p>Speaks gave Krase a slight glare at his impious reference to the beautiful crafting of the earth mother. Nonetheless, he agreed that this situation was "all him". He gave orders for Arc to guard Rhys (Arc doesn't seem to comprehend the "stay" command very well) and headed out across the mud flat. The rest of the group moved upstream to put the clump of trees between themselves and the bear.</p><p></p><p>Speaks approached the bear slowly (not that he had a lot of other options with the mud sucking at his boots) and with care. As he got closer, he discovered how large this bear really was. Far bigger than the black bears that roamed the forests near Glynden. The bear swatted a fish out of the water that landed twitching and bloody on the riverbank. The bear eyed Speaks suspiciously as though he might try to steal his catch.</p><p></p><p>Speaks calmly emoted that he wished no harm to the bear and made his way toward the cluster of willows. The bear watched but didn't move toward him.</p><p></p><p>Once among the willows, Speaks quickly located the canoe that was overturned and tied to the trees. He untied it and with some effort turned it over. It was a dugout and very heavy. Beneath it he found a pair of paddles. With some effort, and having to put his feet in the icy waters of the Fodor, he got the boat in the water. He climbed in and paddled upstream a short distance to where the rest of the party waited. He couldn't help but notice that the canoe rode quite low in the water.</p><p></p><p>Just about the time the group was reunited, they heard the horn of the gnolls in the distance. They estimated them to be around a day's travel behind them. Plenty of time. Or so they thought.</p><p></p><p>Ilrath explained that the boat could only carry two people at a time because more weight than that would swamp the boat. It took roughly an hour to paddle across the Fodor. Doing some quick math, Rhys declared that there was no problem: It would take only five hours to transport the four of them. "But there are five of us." Said Speaks and all eyes turned toward Arc. That would mean seven hours - cutting it awfully close to when the gnolls would arrive.</p><p></p><p>There was some talk about trying to stand and fight the gnolls again like they did on the ridge. Ultimately they decided that even gnolls were not dumb enough to attack in such small numbers again. This time would be the bulk of their group. They must try to make it across the river or resign themselves to the fact that they may die fighting the gnolls.</p><p></p><p>Ilrath offered to stay behind to hold the gnolls off while the rest of the group paddled to safety. This idea was vetoed for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that Ilrath was the most adept at paddling the canoe. In a moment of un-barbarianlike clarity, Ilrath came up with a plan. He ordered Rhys into the boat while explaining that they could make it in fewer trips if they left most of their gear on the far bank.</p><p></p><p>He and Rhys took off across the river while Speaks, Krase and Arc began walking down stream so that Ilrath wouldn't have to waste effort correcting for the current. When Ilrath arrived with Rhys on the far bank, he removed everything but his clothing and gave it to Rhys. He then returned to the eastern bank of the river where he loaded Krase aboard along with almost all of the gear Speaks carried. With Krase paddling too, they made good time to the western bank where Krase was dropped off along with Speaks' possessions. Once again, Ilrath returned to the eastern bank.</p><p></p><p>What the party hadn't counted on was that by walking downstream, they were backtracking and moving in the direction of their original trail, which the gnolls were following. As the canoe came to rest on the eastern shore, the gnolls emerged from the trees on the riverbank, some 150 feet away. Neither Ilrath nor Speaks were armed or armored.</p><p></p><p>Speaks urged Arc into the canoe and calmed him as much as possible as Ilrath pushed them off the mud flat and into the river. A score of gnolls were attempting to run across the flat as fast as possible but the mud slowed their progress to a crawl. In desperation they threw a few javelins which landed harmlessly in the water. Moments later the canoe was safely out in the river and the gnolls could only shake their furry fists in frustration.</p><p></p><p>It took all of Ilrath's skill at boat handling (which wasn't nearly as much as the rest of the party seemed to think) to keep the boat from swamping with such a heavy load. Fortunately, Speaks was able to keep Arc calm the entire trip and they paddled their way to safety on the western side of the Fodor.</p><p></p><p><strong>NEXT: Arrival in the Lands of the Coritani</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rel, post: 854, member: 99"] [B]Desperate Flight for the Fodor[/B] A short while later, they stopped for the night. By then they figured that the two gnolls that escaped their ambush had found one of the other patrols and therefore the game was up. They didn't sound the horn again. In the morning, Speaks cast more of his healing magic and brought the party up to nearly full strength. During the day, while they walked, they assessed their distance from the Fodor. They estimated that they were still around three days walk if they had no more run ins with the gnolls. They knew how hard they had been pushing themselves and how close to exhaustion they had been. They assumed that the gnolls must be in similar condition. They decided to make a forced march for the river, stopping for only a few hours here and there for rest. They marched throughout the day and stopped for several hours when darkness fell (Note - this is the northlands in autumn. Darkness falls early and night is long.). In the middle of the night they started out again with the Druid in the lead. His affinity with nature was such that he could always find the easiest path, even in darkness. After a few more hours, they stopped in the pre-dawn darkness to rest a bit more. By the sounds of the horns in the distance, it seemed that the gnolls were still pursuing but were still nearly a day's travel behind them. At dawn, they once again forged ahead. Near noontime, they stopped at a cluster of boulders to take a quick lunch of some of the last of their supplies. As they stood by the rocks, Rhys glanced over at the boulder near Krase. It blinked. Rhys let out a cry but even as the words left his lips, a lanky humanoid shape that was all arms and legs shot out and grappled Krase, cutting his skin with bony protrusions on it's limbs as it attempted to encircle his neck. With apparent ice water flowing in his veins, Rhys raised his crossbow and shot the creature right through the head (Natural 20, confirmed critical, over 20 points of damage - Note - Rhys has Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot). Krase hastily unwrapped the thing from his torso and flung it to the ground, giving it a swift kick for good measure. It turned out to be what was called a Choker in Imperial lands. Ilrath indicated that his people called them Rock Worms and complimented Rhys on killing such a swift and deadly creature. Rhys took but a moment to accept the compliment before he was hunting around for any treasure the creature might have (I swear, if he was any greedier I'd think he was a peck). Rhys found a small hole at the base of the rocks. He wriggled inside and was able to locate a handful of coins and a pair of spiked gauntlets. He managed to get out of the hole without getting stuck but it was a close thing (GM Note - This was a total brain fart on the part of the player. He has the Mage Hand Cantrip but in never occurred to him to use it. Instead he risked being attacked if there had been another Choker down there and got very dirty. Getting attacked and getting dirty are two of the things his character hates most.) Ilrath asked to look at the gauntlets and noted that they bore the forge mark of Wulfrax the smith, a Brigantes weapon maker of some renown. Rhys shrugged and put the gauntlets in his sack. The group marched on through the afternoon. The fatigue was beginning to take its toll when they stopped at sundown. The whole group was tired but with the sounds of the gnolls horns far in the distance, they felt that their forced march was working. They agreed to rest for just a few hours and hike through the rest of the night. Ilrath indicated that they should reach the banks of the Fodor by morning. And he was right. At mid morning the party broke through the treeline to find the impressive sight of the mighty Fodor before them (in my campaign this river is approximately the size of the Mississippi - that's roughly a mile across [or 1.6 kilometers] for those of you from outside the States). Ilrath took a moment to get his bearings and said that they should head north a bit to where he left his canoe. A bit later, from the vantage atop the riverbank, Ilrath spotted the cluster of willows where he had camouflaged his small boat. This clump of trees was just over a hundred feet from the riverbank across a grassy mud flat (being fall, the river was considerably below its springtime levels when the snow melts from the surrounding mountain chains). Fishing in the waters near the shady roots of the trees was a large brown bear. "This is all you, nature boy." Said Krase, giving Speaks with Stone a slight shove in the right direction. Speaks gave Krase a slight glare at his impious reference to the beautiful crafting of the earth mother. Nonetheless, he agreed that this situation was "all him". He gave orders for Arc to guard Rhys (Arc doesn't seem to comprehend the "stay" command very well) and headed out across the mud flat. The rest of the group moved upstream to put the clump of trees between themselves and the bear. Speaks approached the bear slowly (not that he had a lot of other options with the mud sucking at his boots) and with care. As he got closer, he discovered how large this bear really was. Far bigger than the black bears that roamed the forests near Glynden. The bear swatted a fish out of the water that landed twitching and bloody on the riverbank. The bear eyed Speaks suspiciously as though he might try to steal his catch. Speaks calmly emoted that he wished no harm to the bear and made his way toward the cluster of willows. The bear watched but didn't move toward him. Once among the willows, Speaks quickly located the canoe that was overturned and tied to the trees. He untied it and with some effort turned it over. It was a dugout and very heavy. Beneath it he found a pair of paddles. With some effort, and having to put his feet in the icy waters of the Fodor, he got the boat in the water. He climbed in and paddled upstream a short distance to where the rest of the party waited. He couldn't help but notice that the canoe rode quite low in the water. Just about the time the group was reunited, they heard the horn of the gnolls in the distance. They estimated them to be around a day's travel behind them. Plenty of time. Or so they thought. Ilrath explained that the boat could only carry two people at a time because more weight than that would swamp the boat. It took roughly an hour to paddle across the Fodor. Doing some quick math, Rhys declared that there was no problem: It would take only five hours to transport the four of them. "But there are five of us." Said Speaks and all eyes turned toward Arc. That would mean seven hours - cutting it awfully close to when the gnolls would arrive. There was some talk about trying to stand and fight the gnolls again like they did on the ridge. Ultimately they decided that even gnolls were not dumb enough to attack in such small numbers again. This time would be the bulk of their group. They must try to make it across the river or resign themselves to the fact that they may die fighting the gnolls. Ilrath offered to stay behind to hold the gnolls off while the rest of the group paddled to safety. This idea was vetoed for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that Ilrath was the most adept at paddling the canoe. In a moment of un-barbarianlike clarity, Ilrath came up with a plan. He ordered Rhys into the boat while explaining that they could make it in fewer trips if they left most of their gear on the far bank. He and Rhys took off across the river while Speaks, Krase and Arc began walking down stream so that Ilrath wouldn't have to waste effort correcting for the current. When Ilrath arrived with Rhys on the far bank, he removed everything but his clothing and gave it to Rhys. He then returned to the eastern bank of the river where he loaded Krase aboard along with almost all of the gear Speaks carried. With Krase paddling too, they made good time to the western bank where Krase was dropped off along with Speaks' possessions. Once again, Ilrath returned to the eastern bank. What the party hadn't counted on was that by walking downstream, they were backtracking and moving in the direction of their original trail, which the gnolls were following. As the canoe came to rest on the eastern shore, the gnolls emerged from the trees on the riverbank, some 150 feet away. Neither Ilrath nor Speaks were armed or armored. Speaks urged Arc into the canoe and calmed him as much as possible as Ilrath pushed them off the mud flat and into the river. A score of gnolls were attempting to run across the flat as fast as possible but the mud slowed their progress to a crawl. In desperation they threw a few javelins which landed harmlessly in the water. Moments later the canoe was safely out in the river and the gnolls could only shake their furry fists in frustration. It took all of Ilrath's skill at boat handling (which wasn't nearly as much as the rest of the party seemed to think) to keep the boat from swamping with such a heavy load. Fortunately, Speaks was able to keep Arc calm the entire trip and they paddled their way to safety on the western side of the Fodor. [B]NEXT: Arrival in the Lands of the Coritani[/B] [/QUOTE]
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