Company of the Random Encounter ('complete' 14 Nov 2004)

[Lazybones]

Greetings Capellan and crew:

Just finished page 1 (still in Amberdale, part 20), and I wanted to offer a preliminary comment.

I like the tone of the story, a good mix of action, drama, and humor. I don't know why it is, but the tales about young would-be heroes who manage to get into all kinds of trouble without thinking seem to make the most entertaining story hours. You don't want to see things fall into the category of DM-vs-players (not that I get this impression from your story at all), nor do you root for a TPK, but when the players just barely manage to survive despite some bad decisions (like not checking the last door for traps, rushing into battle outnumbered, or setting fire to the cat in the web), it can be marvelously entertaining.

So thanks for the story (you've saved me from a deathly boring afternoon at work); I look forward to getting caught up in the tales of the CotRE.

 

[Capellan]

Glad to hear you're enjoying it, Lazybones. We at the CotRE aim to please, and our rates are very reasonable

Just to let everyone know (both of you ), there will be an update tomorrow. I'm trying to update all three of my story hours twice a week, at the moment, and it's CotRE's turn again.

 

[Thomas Hobbes]

Pishaw. I'm sure there's more than 2 of us. Even if we don't post, Capellan, we're reading avidly. But whilst I'm here, I'll tell you one of the many things I like about your story hour(s): you update them frequently. Speaking as someone who also reads Sepulchrave's and PirateCat's story hours, this is like a beam of light in the darkness.

 

[Capellan]

"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 8

Briar shakes his - or rather, her - head.

"Not with the hunters in the room, I don't." she mutters, "So, are we going to try my idea?"

After a rapidly whispered conversation with Elspeth, via the earring, the others agree that Briar's plan has the best chance of success. After all, it's worked on them for the past few weeks.

"Marble's not happy about it." the ranger reports, "But I've persuaded her that it's in her best interest." The sour tone in which this is delivered leaves no doubt as to Elspeth's opinion of their charge.

"How is she?" Ming Li asks, carefully.

"Scared out of what little wits she has."

"Of you or them?"

"Both." The ranger gives a short laugh, "But right now, more me than them."

As they speak, the male bounty-hunter returns, giving his companions a brief shake of his head as he does so. With a quick, suspicious glance at the adventurers who are still in the inn, he returns to the table with his two companions, and they begin to confer in quietly.

"I think our friends know we're up to something." Macwood remarks, after calmly ordering a drink from the inn's serving girl, "Tell Elspeth to get the girl ready, then leave town. She should let us know when she does. We'll wait a couple more hours, then leave and catch up to her."

"How are we going to get away without being noticed?" Ming Li asks.

"We aren't." Briar grins, as she guesses Macwood's plan. "In fact, we make it really obvious that we're leaving."

The halfling gives a half nod,

"They'll watch us, but when it's clear that we didn't leave with the girl, they'll have to decide whether to risk following us, when we could be a diversion to draw them away ..."

"Or stop and ask around town." Briar finishes, "I think they'll do that, myself. They'll find out about Elspeth and Marble eventually, but we should get a few hours' head-start."

"Very well." Ming Li frowns, "But where do we go? It is one thing to leave on a journey; another to choose a destination."

"Let's start by heading north." Briar suggests, "That takes us toward Duvik's Pass. At least if we go that way we may be able to join up with the others for extra protection against the hunters."

With the plan's details agreed, it is put into action. Within a few hours, Marble's lustrous red hair has been cut brutally short, then dyed dark brown. Then the adventurers slip out in two separate groups: first Elspeth and Marble, then the others. The ruse seems to work, giving them the head start they were looking for, but none of them believes it will last for long. Briar, in particular, is confident of the hunters' skills.

"I recognise them." The rogue explains, after her group catches up with Elspeth and Marble. It's possible that the hunters would also recognise her, now, for she has doffed her male disguise, and - though her style of dress hasn't much changed - her feminine form is apparent, "I never actually met them, but I heard about them. They're among the best. If they're sent after you, you're going to be caught."

"Is there some reason they would be after you?" Elspeth asks. Briar grimaces,

"I was accused of betraying the guild. I didn't, but the ways things happened, I was going to have a hard time proving that. And treason to the guild is not a charge you can survive without iron-clad proof that you're innocent."

Ming Li interrupts, pointing a stern finger at Marble as she does so,

"I think it is time you told us everything." She says, quietly but firmly, "About this item you sold. Clearly these hunters could not be cheaply hired. Explain - in detail - what occurred."

Marble sighs, looks set to argue, then catches the hard looks on the faces of the other adventurers. Realising that they are not to be put off again, she relates her tale,

"This guy brought me a large jewel, worth a great deal of money, which he wanted me to fence. He told me it was his, but that he didn't have the contacts necessary to sell it." Hearing Ming Li snort at this, Marble shrugs, "Yeah, it wasn't a very likely story, but I wanted to believe it. The commission on the sale would finally let me buy this beauty." She pats the finely-crafted rapier by her side, "So I didn't ask too many questions."

"How much was it worth?"

"I sold it for two thousand -"

"You got two thousand gold and you only offered us ten each?" Elspeth looks indignant.

Marble waves off the complaint,

"I didn't get all of that - just a seller's commission." She rubs at the back of her neck, "Like I said, I sold it for two thousand ... but as for what it was worth ... probably four or five times that."

There is a long, low whistle from Macwood.

"I'd thought maybe we could get the thing back, and see if offering to return it would buy off the hunters. It's possible they've just been told to get it back, rather than kill everyone involved. But we're never going to be able to afford to buy back something like that."

"You're dead." Briar shakes her head at Marble, "Unless ... who did you sell it to, anyway?"

"An adventuring wizard. I don't remember his name." Martble admits miserably, "About all I could tell you is that he travelled with an obnoxious priest of Heironeous. A loud-mouthed braggart."

"Kyrnyn."

Everyone looks at Macwood, who repeats himself,

"Kyrnyn. That's the priest she's talking about. I came to Amberdale with him ... never met a more boorish and conceited individual. He's the only one she could mean."

Briar runs a hand through her hair,

"Do you know where Kyrnyn and his friends were going after they left Amberdale?" she asks, "Maybe we can find them, ask them to return the jewel."

"They will not return it." Ming Li states the obvious. "Not when it is so valuable."

"Then maybe we don't ask them." Briar pats her pouch of thieving tools. The monk looks pained.

"I cannot condone theft -"

"It's not really theft." Briar assures her, "After all, we'd only be doing it so that the rightful owner got it back."

"And to save our lives." Elspeth adds, none-too-subtly.

Ming Li sighs, and nods, allowing herself to be won over by the logic. Seeing this, Briar turns to Macwood and repeats her question,

"Do you know where Kyrnyn and his friends were going after they left Amberdale?"

The halfling nods, and points north, his mouth twisting in amusement.

"We're already on our way there. They were going to Duvik's Pass."

 

[Capellan]

"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 9

If the four adventurers had hoped for a warm reception in Duvik's Pass, they are disappointed. The other Company members are fully occupied, whether it be that they are recovering from the disease that recently swept the area, assisting in the treatment of those still sick, or simply honing newly-acquired skills and enjoying the good life.

Only Twinkle, never one to be content with sitting still for a while, evidences any interest in assisting them. For a time, it seems like the addition of the gnome to their ranks will engender a false sense of bravado in the group. There is reckless talk of ambushing the bounty hunters, and facing them in combat, but in the end the plan is abandoned as too risky, particularly in light of the lack of healing magic available to them, with the Padre fully occupied tending the sick and Sirdros still back in Amberdale.

Returning to their original plan in coming to the town, Macwood heads out to the various inns and taverns of Duvik's Pass, seeking word of Kyrnyn and his adventuring company. The arrogant Priest of Heironeous proves easy to track: his boastful and bullying nature makes him widely remembered, though little liked.

"Aye," a grizzled taven-goer hawks and spits, making his opinion clear, "That loud-mouthed fool were here a week before the plague hit us. Figures that by the time we would have been willing to put up with his boastin', he was long gone."

"Do you know where they were headed?" Macwood signals for another ale.

"Whole damn town knew, he brayed about it so much." The old-timer shakes his head, then unleashes a malt-and-barley-laden belch, "They were on their way t'Newkeep, so he said."

"Newkeep? Is that anywhere near Oldkeep?" the Halfling quips, feeling very proud of his wit.

"Aye, it is." The joke passes completely unnoticed, "Know it, do ye?"

"Actually, no." Macwood back-tracks, "So where is this Newkeep?"

"It's about a day's travel from here. Take the road east out of town, and ask the folks you meet on the road. They'll tell ye when yer getting' close, though you'd have to be as short-sighted as ye are statured to miss the place: it's right by the road."

"Short jokes. How marvellously funny."

"Thank'ee."

Seeing that his sarcasm was as wasted as his earlier attempt at humour, the bard returns to discuss his findings with the others. It is quickly agreed that the best option is to follow the other adventurers, though quite what they will do when they find them is still being debated.

"We certainly can't afford to buy the jewel." Elspeth grouses, the contents of her money pouch as always a matter of import.

"And we can't just fight them for it." Macwood shrugs, "As obnoxious as he may be, Kyrnyn's not actually evil. He can't be, for Heironeous to put up with him."

"We can work it out when we actually find them." Briar suggests, pointedly checking the conditions of her thieving tools as she does so, "There are other options than fighting."

"Yeah, we're really sneaky." Twinkle announces, in an inordinately loud voice. Several locals look over at the adventurers, and the gnome blushes, "When we want to be."

"We should wait to make the decision." Ming Li says, firmly, "Other options may come to hand, and we are yet to find the adventurers, in any case."

Reaching an agreement to defer their decision until it actually needs to be made, the five adventurers and their increasingly nervous client set off for Newkeep immediately, rather than wait for the morning. They make the journey at a brisk pace, wanting to retain any lead they might have built over the bounty hunters, and stop for only a few hours overnight. Fortunately, the village proves as easy to find as Macwood had been told, and by noon of the next day they have reached their destination: a cosy collection of thatched cottages, clustered around a small stone bridge.

"So where's the keep?" Macwood grouses, still sore over the failure of his attempted joke with the village's name. "They should've called it Newkeepless."

Marble screams in horror.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad -" the Halfling breaks off, realising that no-one is listening to him. This in itself isn't that unusual, but the reason for their distraction most definitely is: a hulking, two-headed giant has emerged from behind one of the cottages, a massive tree-trunk held in one hand as a crude club.

 

[Lazybones]

Interestingly enough, my NWN group just went through a conversion of "Something's Cooking" last week. I pointed a few of our players to your thread so they could view a different take on the material.

Your campaign takes an interesting approach to the problem of high player turnover from session to session. For the most part, it's handled smoothly in the story.

Of course, if everyone showed up en masse one week, you'd have chaos on your hands...

 

[Capellan]

Actually, it is pretty much chaos with 5 or 6 of them

I limit each game to a maximum of 6 (at least at the moment). Anyone after that who was available to play gets first crack at the next session.

What monster did the NWN game use for the golem? I couldn't quite bring myself to use the Calzone Golem in the module-as-written; hence the 'Kettle Golem' encountered here.

 

[Lazybones]

What monster did the NWN game use for the golem? I couldn't quite bring myself to use the Calzone Golem in the module-as-written; hence the 'Kettle Golem' encountered here.

The "calzone golem" was created using the earth elemental model, IIRC.

http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/modules/data/1063333567754.shtml
http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/creatures/data/1063336087027.shtml

 

[Capellan]

"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 10

Fortunately for the adventurers, who are in no way prepared to face a giant, the enormous creature turns away from them, stooping to snatch up a fully-grown cow with its free hand. Without a backward glance, it strides away, its feet and trailing club uprooting fences and knocking over walls as it makes for a forest to the north.

"That's strange." Ming Li frowns.

"Really, I hadn't noticed." Macwood assumes an air of boredom, "Giants roaming the streets are quite the every day event, in these parts. One might even say passé."

"Not that." the monk points, "Look at the way the villagers are reacting."

The others do as she says, realising that the monk is correct. The villagers' reaction to the events is quite unusual, indeed. Several men and women have gathered around the damaged fences, and appear to be making preparations for repairs, while other locals calmly continue with their day to day lives. A few people - notably the owner of the cow - look shaken or angry, but the majority seem to treat it as an inconvenience, at most.

"I was joking." Macwood grumbles, under his breath. "What sort of lunatics actually treat giant attacks like this?"

"They should meet the filthy beast with spears, and spiked pits to trap its feet." Elspeth agrees, a savage gleam in her eye.

"Actually, I was thinking more in terms of running in terror, screaming for us to save them."

Ming Li holds up her hand, quieting the others.

"We should speak with them, and find out what is occurring." She suggests, "And learn if they have seen the priest, Kyrnyn."

The others agree with this idea, they drift over to the nearest group of commoners: the ones working to repair the fence. As they draw near, the eldest villager - a grey-bearded man, but one whose shoulders and arms still bulk with muscle - straightens up, massaging the small of his back. As he does so, he turns, and his eye falls on the approaching Company members.

"Bah." He hawks and spits, lip curling in disgust, "More adventurers."

"Yeah, he's met Kyrnyn."

Ignoring Macwood's muttered comment, Ming Li addresses the man, introducing herself and her companions,

"We are seeking a priest by the name of Kyrnyn." She explains, "And had been told he came this way."

"He did." The man spits again, "Him and his friends rode in a week or more ago, full of 'emselves and sayin' as how they were going to put an end t'some evil wizard livin' in ruins, out in the woods." He shrugs, "Nobody uses the ruins, so the wizard was welcome to 'em, if you ask me. But the High 'n' Mighty adventurers didn't agree."

"Told he'd met Kyrn-ow!" Macwood hops on one foot, holding the other and glaring at Briar, who looks back innocently.

"You didn't want the wizard killed?" Ming Li frowns, "If he was evil -"

The man shrugs,

"Evil 'e may've been, but 's didn't come into town every day and knock down our 'omes or steal our cattle." He points at the wake of destruction left by the giant, "That creature's been comin' t'the village every day since those 'adventurers' went off after the wizard." He looks as if he's about to spit again, then changes his mind and settles for a derisive snort, "That priest o' yourn probably woke the beast up wi' all his boastin', got hisself killed, and left us to live wi' what 'e stirred up."

"You could try to fight it." Elspeth suggests, looking eager about the idea, "Enough of you, armed with bows and spears, could bring it down."

"Aye? And would there be anyone left t'bury what was left of us, if we did?" the man waves his hand dismissively, "You should talk to Malwick. He's mad to kill the beast to, ever since it killed his da. O' course, if his da hadn't been fool enough to shoot it, he'd probably not have lost his fool head."

"You're just going to let it keep attacking your homes?" Ming Li is having trouble grasping the man's attitude.

"Look, lass." The man gestures, "It comes, it takes a cow, it leaves. We repair anythin' it knocks over, and keep on livin'. The way it acts, I'd say it's as small in the mind as it is large in the body. Sooner or later, it'll forget where we are, an' stop comin' here."

"Riiiight." Macwood's tone makes it clear what he thinks of that idea, "Where's this Malwick live?"

The old man points out the house - a small, stone cottage with wooden eaves - and returns to fixing the fence, while the adventurers move on, hoping to get a more helpful response from this Malwick.

 

[Capellan]

"Something's Cooking" and "The Ettin's Riddle" (WotC Free Adventures) - Part 11

The man who answers their knock is a taciturn half-elf, quite burly in stature, with close-cropped hair that reveals a bad scar in his scalp.

Malwick - for this is he - exhibits no pleasure in seeing the adventurers at his door, but there is a gleam of interest in his eyes when they mention the giant.

"Yah. 'tis an Ettin." He spits, "Beast killed m'father. I been looking to settle wi' it ever since. You fixin' t'kill it?"

"Really, we're interested in finding out what happened to the adventurers." Ming Li feels a need to be honest about the group's intentions, "We'd prefer not to fight the creature at all -"

"But we will if it gets in the way." Elspeth interrupts, her tone making it clear that she is as eager to fight the giant as Malwick seems to be.

"Beast looks t'be comin' from the ruins o' Oldkeep." Malwick crosses his arms, "Same place as those adventurers went. I'd say they went in its gullet, like enough." He pauses, and gives his visitors an appraising stare, "Y'think ya got what it takes t'kill the beast?"

"I've never lost a fight to a giant, yet." Macwood boasts. Which is true, as far as it goes.

Malwick looks unconvinced, but eventually he shrugs.

"I'll take ya t'see the ruins after dark, t'night. Beast might be asleep then, and we can git the drop on it."

Briar frowns,

"Would a creature with two heads ever need to sleep?" she wonders, but no-one else seems to care.

"If nothing else, it will make it harder for it to see us." Elspeth grips her bow, "All we need to do is get in sight of it, then hide and start shooting. By the time it finds us in the dark, it'll be dead."

"I don't want to fight a giant." Marble whines.

"You won't have to." Briar rolls her eyes, "Our young, uh, page here isn't up to a fight like this, Malwick. Can we leave ... him ... in your home while we're gone?"

The half-elf looks doubtful,

"There's nah bed for visitors." He grumbles, "Nor food for 'em, neither."

"We'll make sure he is fed." Twinkle pipes up, digging in her pack. She produces a rather crushed-looking bundle. "Scones from the inn at Duvik's Pass." She beams, "A little stale and battered -" at this, a shower of crumbs falls from the bundle, "- but still good."

Macwood nods vigorously,

"And he can sleep in the attic. He'll be quiet as a mouse and never stir." The Halfling promises, with a sharp look at Marble, "No-one will ever know he's there."

Marble looks sullen, but she gets the message, and nods a glum acquiescence. Malwick, looking no more cheerful, agrees to the suggestion and admits her to his home.

That night, with Marble bundled up in the attic, under stern instructions not to move for anything - "Just cross your legs." is Macwood's helpful suggestion - the five adventurers set out for the woods, led by the taciturn Malwick.

The half-elf, dressed in leather armour and carrying both a spear and a bow, certainly seems to know his woodcraft. He silently leads the group across the fields and into the forest, easily tracking the giant's footprints in the bright starlight. Once under the canopy of trees, he continues with the same surety, his sharp eyes finding sign's of the Ettin's passage, despite the gloom.

Eventually, the group comes in sight of the remains of Oldkeep: a semi-circle of tumbledown ruins, facing a half-collapsed tower.

"No sign of the giant." Macwood observes, eyes straining to catch sight of anything in the darkness.

"Only place big enough to hide him is the tower." Elspeth murmurs, pointing it out. "The ground floor looks like it is still pretty much intact, and the grass in front of the doors is flattened. All of the other doors are still grown over."

"I could sneak up and take a look through one of the windows." Twinkle suggests, then blinks as five pairs of incredulous eyes are turned upon her. "What?"

"You actually mean it." Macwood sounds surprised.

"Of course." Twinkle pouts, "I'm good at sneaking and hiding, you know." She catches the looks being exchanged by the others and pouts still further, "What, you thought I kept hiding because I was scared all the time? Well, maybe a little. But also because I'm good at it."

"Okay." Briar nods, "It's a good idea. Certainly one of us should go. We may know he's in the tower, but it's big enough that we don't know where he is inside it, and what else we may find there. Taking a quiet look would be a good idea."

There are answering nods of agreement, and then Twinkle advances, moving stealthily from hiding place to hiding place. The gnome is every bit as good at this as she claims to be, and in less than a minute she is with a few feet of the tower.

And that's when things go wrong.