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The Durnhill Conscripts
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7276666" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 01: RECRUITMENT DRIVE</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: <p style="margin-left: 20px">Galen Thorne, human paladin 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Syngaard, human fighter 1</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 8 November 2017</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>Syngaard was on his way to his favorite tavern - the Black Wyvern, where he used to work as a bouncer before he got his present gig - when he saw the old Dougal place was back in business. <strong>Old Dougal</strong> had died some months back and the inn bearing his name closed down; now it was apparently back open, and under new management, too, for the sign outside no longer read "Dougal's" but rather bore an image of a misty ale glass and the words "The Enchanted Flagon." Deciding to give it a shot, the burly fighter altered his course, crossing the street to check out the new place.</p><p></p><p>Stepping inside, Syngaard saw it was doing very well for itself - the place was packed, with busty waitresses gathering up orders and bringing them to the crowded tables. There was a crowd two deep at the bar, so he opted to grab a seat at the sole remaining table while that was still an option - after all, the bar maidens could take his order at the table just as easily.</p><p></p><p>The table sat six, and four of the seats were already taken: a young, well-groomed man with flowing hair; what at first looked like some chubby little girl until Syngaard belatedly noticed her figure - a halfling, then; a man wearing a hood and sitting quietly, looking around at the crowd with interest; and an elf in wizard's clothing. Syngaard plopped himself in the fifth seat and nodded to the others in a wordless greeting.</p><p></p><p>"I say, mind if I sit here?" asked a voice belonging to a young man, pulling out the remaining seat at the last table. The others looked at the newcomer: a young man with blond hair, wearing metal armor and with the symbol of Hieroneous painted on his shield. He smiled down at those seated around the table.</p><p></p><p>"By all means," replied the well-groomed man, rising up from his seat as he spoke. "And with you, we have our quota." He spread his arms as if in benediction, and all at once the sounds of the busy tavern ceased as all but those around this one table vanished.</p><p></p><p>"An illusion," surmised the hooded man, pulling back his hood to reveal a tousled head of brown hair and pointed ears identifying him as an elf.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard sprung from his chair as if shocked, his hand moving to the hilt of the morningstar he wore on his belt. The paladin, halfway through his sitting motion, sprang to his feet as well, looking about in surprise. The halfling merely looked around, to verify everyone else was truly gone, whereas the elf wizard stared at the standing man, apparently another practitioner of the arcane arts, in admiration for a high-level illusion performed with admirable attention to detail.</p><p></p><p>"My name is <strong>Skevros</strong>," said the well-groomed man by way of introduction. "Please, take your seats, and I will explain." Syngaard and the paladin looked at each other warily, then back at their host, and cautiously reseated themselves.</p><p></p><p>"I am the chief advisor to His Highness, <strong>King Leornic the Third</strong>," Skevros continued. "I have been instructed to gather a force of adventurers to work indirectly for the king, to perform those missions that need to be done for the benefit of the Kingdom of Durnhill...but discretely."</p><p></p><p>"Missions?" echoed Syngaard. "Paying missions?"</p><p></p><p>"You will of course be compensated by the king for your work," replied Skevros.</p><p></p><p>"How much?" pressed Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"We'll discuss remuneration in a moment." Syngaard didn't press the matter, mentally trying to figure out if "remuneration" meant what he thought it should. "I believe introductions are in order. You, sir: your name?"</p><p></p><p>"My name is Galen Thorne," replied the paladin. "I am a paladin of Hieroneous."</p><p></p><p>"And you?" prompted Skevros, looking to the wizard at Galen's left. The wizard responded merely with his name and no further information.</p><p></p><p>"I'm Orion Nightsky," offered up the halfling woman, and likewise declined from detailing her profession - although the leather armor, numerous daggers, and the set of lockpicking gear at her hip gave the others a pretty good idea of how she made her living.</p><p></p><p>"I am Kaspar Hardstrike," said the other elf at the table. "I have completed my initial training at my temple and have been sent out into the world to do good deeds. It would seem as if this path was foreordained."</p><p></p><p>"Indeed," smiled Skevros, pleased to see that at least one of his adventurers was agreeable to his new role.</p><p></p><p>"Name's Syngaard," said the bald fighter, seeing everyone looking at him questioningly. He offered no further information.</p><p></p><p>"Syngaard what?" asked Orion.</p><p></p><p>"Just 'Syngaard'."</p><p></p><p>"Very well then," said Skevros. "Here are the details of your first mission. There have been a series of bandit attacks on caravans traveling out of Durnhill. We believe the bandits - a band of goblins - have their base of operations inside the boundaries of the kingdom to the north. Normally, we'd send in our soldiers to root them out, but doing so in this case could be seen as an act of war. Hence, you five will be joining a pair of caravans departing tomorrow morning, in two different directions. With any luck, at least one of the caravans will be attacked by the goblins, in which case you will fight them off and track them back to their lair to take care of the rest of the band."</p><p></p><p>"How much are we getting paid for this job?" asked Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>"A bounty of 10 gold pieces for each bandit slain, with an additional 100 pieces of gold to be paid for the eradication of the entire group. And, of course, any treasure you might find at the bandits' lair is yours to keep." Syngaard nodded appreciatively at the amount.</p><p></p><p>"I have some things to aid you," Skevros announced, reaching into a leather satchel and passing out five simple iron rings. "You will each wear one of these." he said, passing one ring to each of his new adventurers. "They are not magical, but they will allow me to track your progress." Surprisingly, each ring fit perfectly, making the more thoughtful of the bunch wonder just how much of this whole setup had been planned out beforehand. Surely Skevros hadn't simply decided to build his adventuring team of the first five people to wander into a closed tavern?</p><p></p><p>"I'm sure these will also come in handy," he said, passing a pair of glass vials to each adventurer. "They are <em>potions of cure light wounds</em>, since you have no healer among you."</p><p></p><p>"Given sufficient study, dedication, and prayer, I will one day be able to channel Hieroneous's healing energy through my hands," remarked Galen. He grabbed his two potions and stashed them in a belt pouch, adding "...but not for some time."</p><p></p><p>"You will report to the marketplace tomorrow at sunrise, to join your respective caravans," announced Skevros. "Galen, Kaspar, and Syngaard will be assigned to one wagon train heading north, and the others to a second one heading east. Now then, does anyone have any questions?"</p><p></p><p>"I do," replied Syngaard, pointing a meaty thumb at Orion. "If we're gonna have a prosti-tot in our group, any chance we could upgrade to a full-size model? I'm not one of those pedicures what gets off on little kids." His off-hand remark caused Orion to stand up on her chair, red-faced with anger, with a dagger in her hand ready to strike out.</p><p></p><p>Skevros raised a calming hand to fend off the halfling's impending attack. "Miss Nightsky is an adventurer, just like yourself," explained Skevros. "I believe you will come to value her worth on that front in short time."</p><p></p><p>Syngaard rubbed his bald head in confusion. "So she's like, what - the cook?" he asked, trying to figure out why else a band of adventurers would be bringing along a woman. This didn't do anything to endear him to the angry halfling, and Skevros decided it would be best for the group to disperse until sunrise the next morning.</p><p></p><p>On the way out the door, Syngaard looked in admiration at the longsword belted at Galen's hip, then looked over at Kaspar. "Where's your weapon?" he asked. The elf wasn't even wearing armor, merely a pair of loose pants and overshirt, with sandaled feet and his hooded cloak.</p><p></p><p>"My hands are my weapons," replied Kaspar matter-of-factly.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard let out a grunt of laughter. "Man, are you ever in for a world of hurt!" he admonished.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>The caravan guarding job was pretty easy so far, Syngaard mused from the back of the lead wagon. They'd been traveling about an hour or so and now had forest on either side of the wide dirt path that served as a road. The bald fighter kept his eyes darting to the trees on the left of the road, while at the wagon driver's side, Kaspar did the same to the right. Behind them in the other wagon, Galen was to be focusing on both sides of the road, although his attention was continually being diverted to the rear wagon driver's daughter, who sat behind him.</p><p></p><p>A sudden furtive movement caught Syngaard's attention, and a beady-eyed, green face popped out from between the trees. Another did so at his side, and then another, until a trio of goblins had emerged from the shadows of the trees. "Goblins!" called out the fighter as he leaped down from the wagon and rushed the nearest, his morningstar gripped in his right hand.</p><p></p><p>Mere seconds later, Kaspar spotted a similar trio emerging from the right side. Each held a morningstar and a javelin, and had their ranged weapons ready for throwing. Calling out a warning, he slipped from the wagon and raced to the nearest combatant.</p><p></p><p>Belatedly, Galen noticed that combat was starting without him. He smiled an apology to his conversation partner and slipped the longsword from its scabbard, then leaped into battle.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard was the first to strike - and the first to strike out, as his goblin foe easily ducked underneath the fighter's weapon. But the grinning goblin had a morningstar of his own, and he had much better luck - not to mention a larger target - and the points of his little weapon went crashing into the side of Syngaard's leg, causing him to expel a stifled grunt of pain. At the same time a pair of goblin-sized javelins came flying at the fighter, one of them striking true.</p><p></p><p>Both wagons came to a halt, the drivers not wanting to leave their protection behind and race forward into what could easily be an ambush up ahead. They leaped down from their wagons and cowered among the horses.</p><p></p><p>Over on the right side, Kaspar was demonstrating admirably that "weaponless" did not mean "defenseless." He sent an open-fisted punch into one goblin's nose, causing it to gush forth in a torrent of blood. Then he was able to turn and face a second goblin who was rushing to the attack. The elf monk easily dodged the hurled javelin, then readied himself for the morningstar strike that would soon follow.</p><p></p><p>The third goblin on the right saw Galen's approach and made for him. He got in a low swing that ducked under the paladin's shield and crashed painfully into his knee, but Galen was able to return the attack in kind with his longsword, causing the goblin to undoubtedly swear all kinds of nastiness in its home tongue. But a couple more slashes with his sword brought the goblin down; then, seeing Kaspar had already dropped one of his foes and was dealing handily with the other, Galen dashed between the wagons to go lend a hand to Syngaard.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard, by that time, was in dire need of a helping hand. He was now fighting off three of the pesky goblins, and was concentrating his attacks on the first one he'd attacked, who - despite having been hit several times by the bald fighter's much-larger morningstar - simply would not drop. Worse, yet, all three goblins were pressed up in formation around the beleaguered fighter, smashing at him from all directions. Galen's sudden arrival, accompanied as it was by a battle-eager roar, caused the nearest of the goblin bandits to divert his attention to this new threat. This allowed Syngaard to finally slay his initial foe, leaving a single goblin for him to fight.</p><p></p><p>Galen and Syngaard finished off their foes at about the same time, and as soon as Syngaard's enemy dropped lifelessly to the ground he dropped to his knees, fumbling at his belt for one of the healing potions he'd been given by Skevros. He drank it down greedily as Kaspar ambled over, having easily dispatched his own two bandits using only the strength of his muscles, the quickness of his reflexes, and the knowledge of where to strike. A quick looting of the bandits' bodies turned up only their weapons and armor, but they figured the goblin javelins were about the right size for Orion to use, so they kept them. Then it took some encouragement to get the two-wagon caravan to continue on without their protective escort, but Galen explained that the bandit menace had been dealt with and the merchants had nothing further to fear. They continued on their way with worried glances all around.</p><p></p><p>"Okay, so anybody got any tracking skill?" asked Syngaard. He'd spent much of his life in cities, venturing into the woods only deep enough to bring down a few squirrels for supper with his sling. Of course, there was that cabin he'd built years before, but he didn't like dwelling on that...and it was all in the past, anyway.</p><p></p><p>"I do not think much skill will be needed to track these bandits back to their lair," replied Kaspar, indicating the spoor left behind by the goblins. These were no wilderness-based rangers, capable of passing through a forest while leaving no trail; these were roughneck goblins giving no thought about concealing their passage. Backtracking the way they'd come came as no problem for the adventuring trio.</p><p></p><p>Soon enough, they'd found what was surely the goblins' base of operations: a squat, stone keep in a clearing of the forest. There was a fence of wooden posts off to the right and what looked like the opening to a cave further back, but of immediate concern were the two goblins atop the roof of the three-story keep and the trio of goblins spaced around it at ground level.</p><p></p><p>"Bit of a fight here," surmised Galen, whispering to the others. "We can take the ground troops three on three, but I don't like the idea of being shot at from above."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, me neither," replied Syngaard, "especially since the elf's got no way to attack at range." They whispered plans between themselves for a short while, then took up their designated positions. Kaspar and Syngaard headed to the right, hidden from view by a stand of trees and then by a series of large boulders. Syngaard would climb up on the largest boulder, from where he could take out one of the ground sentries with his sling; in the meantime, Kaspar would scout out the pen to see if there were any surprises along those lines. Goblins were rumored to sometimes raise worgs or dire wolves as war-beasts; if that was the case, better they find that out now. Galen, in the meantime, would position himself between two trees and snipe at another goblin ground sentry with his shortbow. The best part of the plan was that in their positions, Syngaard and Galen would each be visible to only one of the five goblins they'd spotted thus far.</p><p></p><p>After gaining their individual positions and waiting long enough for the others to get where they needed to be, the three moved when it felt like the time was right - they had no way to signal each other without making the other goblins aware of the attack. With any luck, they'd surgically strike at two of the goblins, leaving only one on the ground to deal with as a trio.</p><p></p><p>Sadly, it didn't work out that way. Syngaard climbed up onto his boulder perch with his sling, took careful aim, and let fly. The round stone hit true, but it was a glancing blow at best. Surprised, the goblin looked about for his attacker, sighted Syngaard at once, and let fly with a javelin - which dealt more damage to the fighter than his stone had done to the goblin. Enraged, Syngaard grabbed up his morningstar and charged, thinking he'd be able to do more damage to the goblin with his hand-held weapon than with a series of sling stones.</p><p></p><p>And he'd have been right - if he could actually connect with his morningstar. But these accursed goblins were so much shorter than the people Syngaard had fought before, it threw off his aim something fierce. Worse yet, his melee with the goblin alerted the closest other ground troop, who rushed over to help gang up on the bald fighter. Fortunately, the third one was too busy being sniped by Galen to interdict. The paladin missed with his first shot, and then the goblin returned fire with his javelin, striking Galen with practiced ease. With a snarl, Galen dropped his shortbow, grabbed up his shield, unsheathed his longsword, and moved in for the attack. It was just as well, for that idiot Syngaard was once again being outnumbered by goblin foes he couldn't seem to hit.</p><p></p><p>Kaspar had moved stealthily to the pen and peered over the back wall made up of a series of large boulders. To his surprise - and relief, and disgust - he had found not a dire wolf pen but a simple latrine, covered with swarming flies. Holding his breath, he made his way over to the others, glancing up at the top of the keep as he did so, eager to see if the sentries posted above were attacking from their perch above. But the sentries were no longer in place; apparently, instead of taking advantage of their near-unassailable position they had gone inside the keep, no doubt to gather whatever forces were there to come rushing out to attack the assailants.</p><p></p><p>Syngaard finally managed to slay the goblin he'd winged with his sole sling stone shot, but at the cost of several painful hits he'd taken himself, and he found himself woozy and the world blurring back and forth out of focus. But Galen had slain his own goblin foe by then, and now Kaspar stepped up to take on the one who was dealing Syngaard so much pain. The fighter gratefully stepped back and swigged down his last remaining potion, allowing the unarmed monk to take down the goblin he'd been unable to best with a hefty morningstar. Then, the ground forces dealt with, the trio healed up with their potions and crept up to the tower's sole door.</p><p></p><p>There was an arrow slit on either side of the door, through which the group could see a sole goblin with his back turned to the door. This was their favorite type of foe: one oblivious to danger! Several hurriedly whispered strategies were suggested and discarded; the oblivious goblin stood before the door, and thus the arrow slits weren't positioned to allow an arrow - or a sling stone - to hit the target at such an angle. "Got it!" whispered Galen suddenly, spilling the contents of his waterskin out onto the ground. He then filled it with a vial of oil he took from his belt, and positioned the tip through the arrow slit. He then gave the skin a good squeeze, spraying oil into the room. Lighting a tindertwig, the paladin dropped it through the slit, where it ignited the oil.</p><p></p><p>Had the spray of oil actually made it as far as the goblin, it might have been a fairly good plan. But the tactic merely caused a flaming patch of oil on the floor behind and to the side of the goblin, who turned in surprise at the smoke and heat. In exasperation, Kaspar gave the door a tug to try to force it open, and almost conked himself in the face since the door wasn't even locked. Glaring at his companions, the monk sprang into the room, slaying the goblin with a flurry of blows. "I think we'll relieve you both of the burden of coming up with the combat plans," he said, turning at the sound of pounding feet coming from the stairs in the corner. Belatedly, Galen and Syngaard raced into the room and took up combat positions. As each goblin came to the bottom of the steps, he was faced with three heroes attacking it all at once in a combined operation. But there were only two of them - the two sentries from the rooftop, as it turned out.</p><p></p><p>There were a dozen filthy animal skins scattered along the ground floor of the keep; belatedly, Syngaard realized they were sleeping furs for the bandit troop. The group did a quick head count: six dead at the caravan, three more on the ground here, the lone guy by the door, and now the two rooftop sentries - that was a full dozen! "We earned our hundred gold!" crowed Syngaard, already working out how he'd spend his share. In addition, Galen had unearthed a stack of stolen goods from previous caravans, which the group reasoned counted as theirs, as per Skevros's dictates. And each of the skins had hidden a small pouch of coins, neither holding much but, amassed, becoming a respectable sum. All in all, there was probably close to a thousand pieces of gold of value between the coins and the stolen goods.</p><p></p><p>"Let's check out upstairs, just to be certain," cautioned Kaspar. Syngaard took point, leading the way up the narrow stairs. Galen went next; despite Kaspar's demonstrated combat prowess, it still seemed somehow wrong to allow an unarmed and unarmored combatant to go into danger before the two wearing armor and wielding shields.</p><p></p><p>As it turned out, their celebration of a job well done was premature - for the second level of the keep was the domain of the bandit's leader, a battle-hardened hobgoblin. Syngaard was surprised to find that combat wasn't quite over yet, but he grinned at the thought that finally, he was up against an opponent his own size; no more of those stunted goblins dodging easily under his blows! He swung his morningstar for all he was worth.</p><p></p><p>It wasn't worth much, as it turned out; the hobgoblin caught the attack with the hilt of his longsword, deflecting the blow to the side and then stabbing his blade into the side of the fighter's torso. Syngaard staggered back in pain, stunned by the ferocity of the hobgoblin's attack. Behind him, Galen got in a good stab with his own sword, but seeing Syngaard so near death, he made a combat decision for the group. "Fall back!" he cried, pushing Kaspar back down the stairs. He dragged Syngaard behind him by the shoulder, and the wounded fighter didn't complain - it was all he could do to stay on his feet. He stumbled awkwardly after Kaspar, with Galen retreating behind him. "Faster!" goaded the paladin, feeling the hobgoblin just behind him.</p><p></p><p>The trio jumped over the dead bodies of the goblin bandits they'd slain as they raced to the front door, the hobgoblin just behind. However, Kaspar had instinctively figured out Galen's strategy, and upon reaching the outdoors once again took a stance at the right of the door. Galen readied himself to the left of the door, and Syngaard, seeing his new companions so readied and unable to do much himself, decided he could at least serve as bait. He took a few steps straight from the door before turning around and doing his best to raise his weapon, which now seemed to weigh at least twice what it normally did.</p><p></p><p>"Is that all you got?" he croaked, raising his shield in a ready position.</p><p></p><p>The makeshift strategy worked; the hobgoblin focused his attention on the near-dead fighter who was barely standing, allowing Galen and Kaspar to attack him from both sides as he exited the keep. Both strikes hit, and then for good measure Kaspar sent a rock-hard blow crashing into the back of the hobgoblin's neck, causing him to topple face-first into the ground. He didn't get back up.</p><p></p><p>"<em>Now</em> I think we're done," the monk announced.</p><p></p><p>"Good," replied Syngaard before crashing to the ground himself. But he was merely unconscious from blood loss; Kaspar was able to bind his wounds and wake him back to consciousness.</p><p></p><p>"Are you able to travel?" he asked the scar-faced human. Between the three of them, they'd consumed all of their six healing potions during and between the various fights.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, I'll be fine," replied Syngaard. "Let's go back and get paid."</p><p></p><p>They weren't able to gather up all of the trade goods, but they did pocket all of the coins and the easily-carried items; they'd have to come back later with a cart or wagon or something to gather the rest.</p><p></p><p>"I dare say," said Galen. "That was quite a battle. I don't mind admitting it, but I wouldn't have minded one bit if that elf wizard or the halfling had been with us. To share the burden, as it were."</p><p></p><p>"I would've," replied Syngaard. "Then we'd be splitting the swag up five ways instead of three. We made it - that's what counts."</p><p></p><p>"Let's see if we can make it back to Durnhill in one piece," suggested Kaspar, allowing the wounded fighter to lean on his shoulder during the trek back home.</p><p></p><p> - - - </p><p></p><p>That was our first adventure, and what a harrowing start it was! I rolled like crap the entire night; it seemed no matter what die I used, it failed me in a big way. Logan, in the meantime, was rolling hot all night. He'd not only continue to hit us with his blasted goblins - despite Syngaard and Galen both having an AC 16 - while Syngaard floundered around getting low single digits on whatever d20 I rolled, but when I did hit I'd do lousy damage and his goblins were dealing 5 and 6 points of damage at a time. With 13 hp (more than any of the other party members), I figured Syngaard should be the "meat shield," but those 13 hp don't go very far under those conditions.</p><p></p><p>Finally, in desperation, I "subcontracted" my die-rolling out to Harry, who wasn't having any trouble at all hitting goblins with his monk's attacks. When it was Syngaard's turn to attack, I had Harry roll for me, and when it hit I reached into my pocket and gave him a dime. He ended up earning another ten cents a few minutes later; had I thought of this tactic earlier in the game I'd have been a few cents poorer but Syngaard would have made a much better first impression; as it was, he ended up staggered (0 hp) no less than three times in his initial outing.</p><p></p><p>Vicki didn't make it to the session because she was packing for a trip with Dan's sister the following day, which was kind of a shame because I had wanted to see her expression when Syngaard spouted out his sexist views about female adventurers. Joey didn't come either, probably because he still hadn't come up with a name for his elf wizard. (Once he finally does I'll have to edit this first post to at least get his name in.)</p><p></p><p>Logan used a full-sheet D&D tile for the tavern, a Paizo "Woodlands" Flip-Mat for the caravan battle, and a "Giant Lairs" Flip-Mat for the keep location. (He used a cardboard keep I had built for our first campaign as the bandit headquarters, plopping it down over the campfire.) That last Flip-Mat has a cave entrance, which Logan has mentioned is the site of our next adventure.</p><p></p><p>By the way, I thought splitting our team up among two caravans was a good way to separate those players who were running PCs for this initial adventure from those who didn't show, given that all five PCs needed to be introduced at the beginning. Next adventure, those who show up will have their PCs go load up the bandit treasure onto a wagon and then go check out that cave while they're there. It may be the same group of three or it might be a different mixture, but that's the way this whole campaign was set up from the get-go.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7276666, member: 508"] [b]ADVENTURE 01: RECRUITMENT DRIVE[/b] PC Roster: [INDENT]Galen Thorne, human paladin 1 Kaspar Hardstrike, elf monk 1 Syngaard, human fighter 1[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 8 November 2017 - - - Syngaard was on his way to his favorite tavern - the Black Wyvern, where he used to work as a bouncer before he got his present gig - when he saw the old Dougal place was back in business. [b]Old Dougal[/b] had died some months back and the inn bearing his name closed down; now it was apparently back open, and under new management, too, for the sign outside no longer read "Dougal's" but rather bore an image of a misty ale glass and the words "The Enchanted Flagon." Deciding to give it a shot, the burly fighter altered his course, crossing the street to check out the new place. Stepping inside, Syngaard saw it was doing very well for itself - the place was packed, with busty waitresses gathering up orders and bringing them to the crowded tables. There was a crowd two deep at the bar, so he opted to grab a seat at the sole remaining table while that was still an option - after all, the bar maidens could take his order at the table just as easily. The table sat six, and four of the seats were already taken: a young, well-groomed man with flowing hair; what at first looked like some chubby little girl until Syngaard belatedly noticed her figure - a halfling, then; a man wearing a hood and sitting quietly, looking around at the crowd with interest; and an elf in wizard's clothing. Syngaard plopped himself in the fifth seat and nodded to the others in a wordless greeting. "I say, mind if I sit here?" asked a voice belonging to a young man, pulling out the remaining seat at the last table. The others looked at the newcomer: a young man with blond hair, wearing metal armor and with the symbol of Hieroneous painted on his shield. He smiled down at those seated around the table. "By all means," replied the well-groomed man, rising up from his seat as he spoke. "And with you, we have our quota." He spread his arms as if in benediction, and all at once the sounds of the busy tavern ceased as all but those around this one table vanished. "An illusion," surmised the hooded man, pulling back his hood to reveal a tousled head of brown hair and pointed ears identifying him as an elf. Syngaard sprung from his chair as if shocked, his hand moving to the hilt of the morningstar he wore on his belt. The paladin, halfway through his sitting motion, sprang to his feet as well, looking about in surprise. The halfling merely looked around, to verify everyone else was truly gone, whereas the elf wizard stared at the standing man, apparently another practitioner of the arcane arts, in admiration for a high-level illusion performed with admirable attention to detail. "My name is [b]Skevros[/b]," said the well-groomed man by way of introduction. "Please, take your seats, and I will explain." Syngaard and the paladin looked at each other warily, then back at their host, and cautiously reseated themselves. "I am the chief advisor to His Highness, [b]King Leornic the Third[/b]," Skevros continued. "I have been instructed to gather a force of adventurers to work indirectly for the king, to perform those missions that need to be done for the benefit of the Kingdom of Durnhill...but discretely." "Missions?" echoed Syngaard. "Paying missions?" "You will of course be compensated by the king for your work," replied Skevros. "How much?" pressed Syngaard. "We'll discuss remuneration in a moment." Syngaard didn't press the matter, mentally trying to figure out if "remuneration" meant what he thought it should. "I believe introductions are in order. You, sir: your name?" "My name is Galen Thorne," replied the paladin. "I am a paladin of Hieroneous." "And you?" prompted Skevros, looking to the wizard at Galen's left. The wizard responded merely with his name and no further information. "I'm Orion Nightsky," offered up the halfling woman, and likewise declined from detailing her profession - although the leather armor, numerous daggers, and the set of lockpicking gear at her hip gave the others a pretty good idea of how she made her living. "I am Kaspar Hardstrike," said the other elf at the table. "I have completed my initial training at my temple and have been sent out into the world to do good deeds. It would seem as if this path was foreordained." "Indeed," smiled Skevros, pleased to see that at least one of his adventurers was agreeable to his new role. "Name's Syngaard," said the bald fighter, seeing everyone looking at him questioningly. He offered no further information. "Syngaard what?" asked Orion. "Just 'Syngaard'." "Very well then," said Skevros. "Here are the details of your first mission. There have been a series of bandit attacks on caravans traveling out of Durnhill. We believe the bandits - a band of goblins - have their base of operations inside the boundaries of the kingdom to the north. Normally, we'd send in our soldiers to root them out, but doing so in this case could be seen as an act of war. Hence, you five will be joining a pair of caravans departing tomorrow morning, in two different directions. With any luck, at least one of the caravans will be attacked by the goblins, in which case you will fight them off and track them back to their lair to take care of the rest of the band." "How much are we getting paid for this job?" asked Syngaard. "A bounty of 10 gold pieces for each bandit slain, with an additional 100 pieces of gold to be paid for the eradication of the entire group. And, of course, any treasure you might find at the bandits' lair is yours to keep." Syngaard nodded appreciatively at the amount. "I have some things to aid you," Skevros announced, reaching into a leather satchel and passing out five simple iron rings. "You will each wear one of these." he said, passing one ring to each of his new adventurers. "They are not magical, but they will allow me to track your progress." Surprisingly, each ring fit perfectly, making the more thoughtful of the bunch wonder just how much of this whole setup had been planned out beforehand. Surely Skevros hadn't simply decided to build his adventuring team of the first five people to wander into a closed tavern? "I'm sure these will also come in handy," he said, passing a pair of glass vials to each adventurer. "They are [i]potions of cure light wounds[/i], since you have no healer among you." "Given sufficient study, dedication, and prayer, I will one day be able to channel Hieroneous's healing energy through my hands," remarked Galen. He grabbed his two potions and stashed them in a belt pouch, adding "...but not for some time." "You will report to the marketplace tomorrow at sunrise, to join your respective caravans," announced Skevros. "Galen, Kaspar, and Syngaard will be assigned to one wagon train heading north, and the others to a second one heading east. Now then, does anyone have any questions?" "I do," replied Syngaard, pointing a meaty thumb at Orion. "If we're gonna have a prosti-tot in our group, any chance we could upgrade to a full-size model? I'm not one of those pedicures what gets off on little kids." His off-hand remark caused Orion to stand up on her chair, red-faced with anger, with a dagger in her hand ready to strike out. Skevros raised a calming hand to fend off the halfling's impending attack. "Miss Nightsky is an adventurer, just like yourself," explained Skevros. "I believe you will come to value her worth on that front in short time." Syngaard rubbed his bald head in confusion. "So she's like, what - the cook?" he asked, trying to figure out why else a band of adventurers would be bringing along a woman. This didn't do anything to endear him to the angry halfling, and Skevros decided it would be best for the group to disperse until sunrise the next morning. On the way out the door, Syngaard looked in admiration at the longsword belted at Galen's hip, then looked over at Kaspar. "Where's your weapon?" he asked. The elf wasn't even wearing armor, merely a pair of loose pants and overshirt, with sandaled feet and his hooded cloak. "My hands are my weapons," replied Kaspar matter-of-factly. Syngaard let out a grunt of laughter. "Man, are you ever in for a world of hurt!" he admonished. - - - The caravan guarding job was pretty easy so far, Syngaard mused from the back of the lead wagon. They'd been traveling about an hour or so and now had forest on either side of the wide dirt path that served as a road. The bald fighter kept his eyes darting to the trees on the left of the road, while at the wagon driver's side, Kaspar did the same to the right. Behind them in the other wagon, Galen was to be focusing on both sides of the road, although his attention was continually being diverted to the rear wagon driver's daughter, who sat behind him. A sudden furtive movement caught Syngaard's attention, and a beady-eyed, green face popped out from between the trees. Another did so at his side, and then another, until a trio of goblins had emerged from the shadows of the trees. "Goblins!" called out the fighter as he leaped down from the wagon and rushed the nearest, his morningstar gripped in his right hand. Mere seconds later, Kaspar spotted a similar trio emerging from the right side. Each held a morningstar and a javelin, and had their ranged weapons ready for throwing. Calling out a warning, he slipped from the wagon and raced to the nearest combatant. Belatedly, Galen noticed that combat was starting without him. He smiled an apology to his conversation partner and slipped the longsword from its scabbard, then leaped into battle. Syngaard was the first to strike - and the first to strike out, as his goblin foe easily ducked underneath the fighter's weapon. But the grinning goblin had a morningstar of his own, and he had much better luck - not to mention a larger target - and the points of his little weapon went crashing into the side of Syngaard's leg, causing him to expel a stifled grunt of pain. At the same time a pair of goblin-sized javelins came flying at the fighter, one of them striking true. Both wagons came to a halt, the drivers not wanting to leave their protection behind and race forward into what could easily be an ambush up ahead. They leaped down from their wagons and cowered among the horses. Over on the right side, Kaspar was demonstrating admirably that "weaponless" did not mean "defenseless." He sent an open-fisted punch into one goblin's nose, causing it to gush forth in a torrent of blood. Then he was able to turn and face a second goblin who was rushing to the attack. The elf monk easily dodged the hurled javelin, then readied himself for the morningstar strike that would soon follow. The third goblin on the right saw Galen's approach and made for him. He got in a low swing that ducked under the paladin's shield and crashed painfully into his knee, but Galen was able to return the attack in kind with his longsword, causing the goblin to undoubtedly swear all kinds of nastiness in its home tongue. But a couple more slashes with his sword brought the goblin down; then, seeing Kaspar had already dropped one of his foes and was dealing handily with the other, Galen dashed between the wagons to go lend a hand to Syngaard. Syngaard, by that time, was in dire need of a helping hand. He was now fighting off three of the pesky goblins, and was concentrating his attacks on the first one he'd attacked, who - despite having been hit several times by the bald fighter's much-larger morningstar - simply would not drop. Worse, yet, all three goblins were pressed up in formation around the beleaguered fighter, smashing at him from all directions. Galen's sudden arrival, accompanied as it was by a battle-eager roar, caused the nearest of the goblin bandits to divert his attention to this new threat. This allowed Syngaard to finally slay his initial foe, leaving a single goblin for him to fight. Galen and Syngaard finished off their foes at about the same time, and as soon as Syngaard's enemy dropped lifelessly to the ground he dropped to his knees, fumbling at his belt for one of the healing potions he'd been given by Skevros. He drank it down greedily as Kaspar ambled over, having easily dispatched his own two bandits using only the strength of his muscles, the quickness of his reflexes, and the knowledge of where to strike. A quick looting of the bandits' bodies turned up only their weapons and armor, but they figured the goblin javelins were about the right size for Orion to use, so they kept them. Then it took some encouragement to get the two-wagon caravan to continue on without their protective escort, but Galen explained that the bandit menace had been dealt with and the merchants had nothing further to fear. They continued on their way with worried glances all around. "Okay, so anybody got any tracking skill?" asked Syngaard. He'd spent much of his life in cities, venturing into the woods only deep enough to bring down a few squirrels for supper with his sling. Of course, there was that cabin he'd built years before, but he didn't like dwelling on that...and it was all in the past, anyway. "I do not think much skill will be needed to track these bandits back to their lair," replied Kaspar, indicating the spoor left behind by the goblins. These were no wilderness-based rangers, capable of passing through a forest while leaving no trail; these were roughneck goblins giving no thought about concealing their passage. Backtracking the way they'd come came as no problem for the adventuring trio. Soon enough, they'd found what was surely the goblins' base of operations: a squat, stone keep in a clearing of the forest. There was a fence of wooden posts off to the right and what looked like the opening to a cave further back, but of immediate concern were the two goblins atop the roof of the three-story keep and the trio of goblins spaced around it at ground level. "Bit of a fight here," surmised Galen, whispering to the others. "We can take the ground troops three on three, but I don't like the idea of being shot at from above." "Yeah, me neither," replied Syngaard, "especially since the elf's got no way to attack at range." They whispered plans between themselves for a short while, then took up their designated positions. Kaspar and Syngaard headed to the right, hidden from view by a stand of trees and then by a series of large boulders. Syngaard would climb up on the largest boulder, from where he could take out one of the ground sentries with his sling; in the meantime, Kaspar would scout out the pen to see if there were any surprises along those lines. Goblins were rumored to sometimes raise worgs or dire wolves as war-beasts; if that was the case, better they find that out now. Galen, in the meantime, would position himself between two trees and snipe at another goblin ground sentry with his shortbow. The best part of the plan was that in their positions, Syngaard and Galen would each be visible to only one of the five goblins they'd spotted thus far. After gaining their individual positions and waiting long enough for the others to get where they needed to be, the three moved when it felt like the time was right - they had no way to signal each other without making the other goblins aware of the attack. With any luck, they'd surgically strike at two of the goblins, leaving only one on the ground to deal with as a trio. Sadly, it didn't work out that way. Syngaard climbed up onto his boulder perch with his sling, took careful aim, and let fly. The round stone hit true, but it was a glancing blow at best. Surprised, the goblin looked about for his attacker, sighted Syngaard at once, and let fly with a javelin - which dealt more damage to the fighter than his stone had done to the goblin. Enraged, Syngaard grabbed up his morningstar and charged, thinking he'd be able to do more damage to the goblin with his hand-held weapon than with a series of sling stones. And he'd have been right - if he could actually connect with his morningstar. But these accursed goblins were so much shorter than the people Syngaard had fought before, it threw off his aim something fierce. Worse yet, his melee with the goblin alerted the closest other ground troop, who rushed over to help gang up on the bald fighter. Fortunately, the third one was too busy being sniped by Galen to interdict. The paladin missed with his first shot, and then the goblin returned fire with his javelin, striking Galen with practiced ease. With a snarl, Galen dropped his shortbow, grabbed up his shield, unsheathed his longsword, and moved in for the attack. It was just as well, for that idiot Syngaard was once again being outnumbered by goblin foes he couldn't seem to hit. Kaspar had moved stealthily to the pen and peered over the back wall made up of a series of large boulders. To his surprise - and relief, and disgust - he had found not a dire wolf pen but a simple latrine, covered with swarming flies. Holding his breath, he made his way over to the others, glancing up at the top of the keep as he did so, eager to see if the sentries posted above were attacking from their perch above. But the sentries were no longer in place; apparently, instead of taking advantage of their near-unassailable position they had gone inside the keep, no doubt to gather whatever forces were there to come rushing out to attack the assailants. Syngaard finally managed to slay the goblin he'd winged with his sole sling stone shot, but at the cost of several painful hits he'd taken himself, and he found himself woozy and the world blurring back and forth out of focus. But Galen had slain his own goblin foe by then, and now Kaspar stepped up to take on the one who was dealing Syngaard so much pain. The fighter gratefully stepped back and swigged down his last remaining potion, allowing the unarmed monk to take down the goblin he'd been unable to best with a hefty morningstar. Then, the ground forces dealt with, the trio healed up with their potions and crept up to the tower's sole door. There was an arrow slit on either side of the door, through which the group could see a sole goblin with his back turned to the door. This was their favorite type of foe: one oblivious to danger! Several hurriedly whispered strategies were suggested and discarded; the oblivious goblin stood before the door, and thus the arrow slits weren't positioned to allow an arrow - or a sling stone - to hit the target at such an angle. "Got it!" whispered Galen suddenly, spilling the contents of his waterskin out onto the ground. He then filled it with a vial of oil he took from his belt, and positioned the tip through the arrow slit. He then gave the skin a good squeeze, spraying oil into the room. Lighting a tindertwig, the paladin dropped it through the slit, where it ignited the oil. Had the spray of oil actually made it as far as the goblin, it might have been a fairly good plan. But the tactic merely caused a flaming patch of oil on the floor behind and to the side of the goblin, who turned in surprise at the smoke and heat. In exasperation, Kaspar gave the door a tug to try to force it open, and almost conked himself in the face since the door wasn't even locked. Glaring at his companions, the monk sprang into the room, slaying the goblin with a flurry of blows. "I think we'll relieve you both of the burden of coming up with the combat plans," he said, turning at the sound of pounding feet coming from the stairs in the corner. Belatedly, Galen and Syngaard raced into the room and took up combat positions. As each goblin came to the bottom of the steps, he was faced with three heroes attacking it all at once in a combined operation. But there were only two of them - the two sentries from the rooftop, as it turned out. There were a dozen filthy animal skins scattered along the ground floor of the keep; belatedly, Syngaard realized they were sleeping furs for the bandit troop. The group did a quick head count: six dead at the caravan, three more on the ground here, the lone guy by the door, and now the two rooftop sentries - that was a full dozen! "We earned our hundred gold!" crowed Syngaard, already working out how he'd spend his share. In addition, Galen had unearthed a stack of stolen goods from previous caravans, which the group reasoned counted as theirs, as per Skevros's dictates. And each of the skins had hidden a small pouch of coins, neither holding much but, amassed, becoming a respectable sum. All in all, there was probably close to a thousand pieces of gold of value between the coins and the stolen goods. "Let's check out upstairs, just to be certain," cautioned Kaspar. Syngaard took point, leading the way up the narrow stairs. Galen went next; despite Kaspar's demonstrated combat prowess, it still seemed somehow wrong to allow an unarmed and unarmored combatant to go into danger before the two wearing armor and wielding shields. As it turned out, their celebration of a job well done was premature - for the second level of the keep was the domain of the bandit's leader, a battle-hardened hobgoblin. Syngaard was surprised to find that combat wasn't quite over yet, but he grinned at the thought that finally, he was up against an opponent his own size; no more of those stunted goblins dodging easily under his blows! He swung his morningstar for all he was worth. It wasn't worth much, as it turned out; the hobgoblin caught the attack with the hilt of his longsword, deflecting the blow to the side and then stabbing his blade into the side of the fighter's torso. Syngaard staggered back in pain, stunned by the ferocity of the hobgoblin's attack. Behind him, Galen got in a good stab with his own sword, but seeing Syngaard so near death, he made a combat decision for the group. "Fall back!" he cried, pushing Kaspar back down the stairs. He dragged Syngaard behind him by the shoulder, and the wounded fighter didn't complain - it was all he could do to stay on his feet. He stumbled awkwardly after Kaspar, with Galen retreating behind him. "Faster!" goaded the paladin, feeling the hobgoblin just behind him. The trio jumped over the dead bodies of the goblin bandits they'd slain as they raced to the front door, the hobgoblin just behind. However, Kaspar had instinctively figured out Galen's strategy, and upon reaching the outdoors once again took a stance at the right of the door. Galen readied himself to the left of the door, and Syngaard, seeing his new companions so readied and unable to do much himself, decided he could at least serve as bait. He took a few steps straight from the door before turning around and doing his best to raise his weapon, which now seemed to weigh at least twice what it normally did. "Is that all you got?" he croaked, raising his shield in a ready position. The makeshift strategy worked; the hobgoblin focused his attention on the near-dead fighter who was barely standing, allowing Galen and Kaspar to attack him from both sides as he exited the keep. Both strikes hit, and then for good measure Kaspar sent a rock-hard blow crashing into the back of the hobgoblin's neck, causing him to topple face-first into the ground. He didn't get back up. "[i]Now[/i] I think we're done," the monk announced. "Good," replied Syngaard before crashing to the ground himself. But he was merely unconscious from blood loss; Kaspar was able to bind his wounds and wake him back to consciousness. "Are you able to travel?" he asked the scar-faced human. Between the three of them, they'd consumed all of their six healing potions during and between the various fights. "Yeah, I'll be fine," replied Syngaard. "Let's go back and get paid." They weren't able to gather up all of the trade goods, but they did pocket all of the coins and the easily-carried items; they'd have to come back later with a cart or wagon or something to gather the rest. "I dare say," said Galen. "That was quite a battle. I don't mind admitting it, but I wouldn't have minded one bit if that elf wizard or the halfling had been with us. To share the burden, as it were." "I would've," replied Syngaard. "Then we'd be splitting the swag up five ways instead of three. We made it - that's what counts." "Let's see if we can make it back to Durnhill in one piece," suggested Kaspar, allowing the wounded fighter to lean on his shoulder during the trek back home. - - - That was our first adventure, and what a harrowing start it was! I rolled like crap the entire night; it seemed no matter what die I used, it failed me in a big way. Logan, in the meantime, was rolling hot all night. He'd not only continue to hit us with his blasted goblins - despite Syngaard and Galen both having an AC 16 - while Syngaard floundered around getting low single digits on whatever d20 I rolled, but when I did hit I'd do lousy damage and his goblins were dealing 5 and 6 points of damage at a time. With 13 hp (more than any of the other party members), I figured Syngaard should be the "meat shield," but those 13 hp don't go very far under those conditions. Finally, in desperation, I "subcontracted" my die-rolling out to Harry, who wasn't having any trouble at all hitting goblins with his monk's attacks. When it was Syngaard's turn to attack, I had Harry roll for me, and when it hit I reached into my pocket and gave him a dime. He ended up earning another ten cents a few minutes later; had I thought of this tactic earlier in the game I'd have been a few cents poorer but Syngaard would have made a much better first impression; as it was, he ended up staggered (0 hp) no less than three times in his initial outing. Vicki didn't make it to the session because she was packing for a trip with Dan's sister the following day, which was kind of a shame because I had wanted to see her expression when Syngaard spouted out his sexist views about female adventurers. Joey didn't come either, probably because he still hadn't come up with a name for his elf wizard. (Once he finally does I'll have to edit this first post to at least get his name in.) Logan used a full-sheet D&D tile for the tavern, a Paizo "Woodlands" Flip-Mat for the caravan battle, and a "Giant Lairs" Flip-Mat for the keep location. (He used a cardboard keep I had built for our first campaign as the bandit headquarters, plopping it down over the campfire.) That last Flip-Mat has a cave entrance, which Logan has mentioned is the site of our next adventure. By the way, I thought splitting our team up among two caravans was a good way to separate those players who were running PCs for this initial adventure from those who didn't show, given that all five PCs needed to be introduced at the beginning. Next adventure, those who show up will have their PCs go load up the bandit treasure onto a wagon and then go check out that cave while they're there. It may be the same group of three or it might be a different mixture, but that's the way this whole campaign was set up from the get-go. [/QUOTE]
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