For More Than Glory

[Memnus]

Fleck smiles and excuses himself, taking his walking stick and wandering to the outskirts of the camp. Trusting the woodsmen and trackers to be able to find him if need be, he carefully combs the area, occasionally kneeling to grab a leaf or flower and gently tuck it into a pocket of his vest. He remains out for most of the day, and finally returns at nightfall, barely acknowledging the others as he retires under his cart.

 

[firehorse]

Valdir looks oddly as Fleck shudders and pulls away at the friendly gesture. Then shrugs and shakes his head as the gnome trots off to find Lalyn.

He looks upward among the trees. 'How beautiful they are, better than I remember. If I could but sing the trees into communion so they would agree to grow into shapes that could accomodate us both. But, that is not my chosen path this life.'

Shrugging again, Valdir finds a tall tree with boughs that are strong even far from the ground. Climbing it, he finds a suitable set of boughs high up that give him a good view of the areas of the forest for a great distance from the camp. Here, he starts manually coaxing branches through bending and weaving into a stand. 'We will likely be here a while, so I might as well set myself up with a suitable resting place.'

After several hours of the painstaking work, mainly due to wishing no harm on the tree, Valdir stands with hands on hips and surveys his work. After a few minutes he nods his head approvingly of his new stand. Climbing back down and then up again, he retrieves his equipment from the cart, including a extra quiver of arrows he made during his long stay in Mittendien. Once this is done, he sits to rest and survey the land around him for several hours, taking in all the sounds, smells, sights and even the feel of the caress of the breeze on his face. "Know your surroundings, completely." his instructor used to say "That way, if something is out of place, you shall know immediately."

 

[Emiricol]

Update: The party received their first war information. The elven druid, Lalyn, had a scout report that a band of some ten orcs had holed up in the caves of a rocky spire some 5-10 miles away. The party advanced, and used the fog so prevalent in Lorlynia in that area at that time of year to launch a morning raid, when most of the orcs would be asleep.

Care was required especially because reports had it that the orcs had at least two hostages, presuably elven or half-elven but not confirms.

Using the fog and a couple judicious Obscure Vision spells, the group was able to get up the rocky trail leading into the caves of the rocky spire, and Delwin was able to sneak up on the lone senty and slay him silently. They then snuck into the cave, and despite a lack of complete silence, avoided alerting the occupants through a rough door at the back of the cave.

At least, until the barty rogue declared the door trap free. On opening it, a metal place set above the door on the other side - a simple metal plate - fell off, arousing the cocumpants within! So much for surprise...

 

[Delwin]

The Scout FMTG

Valdir and Delwin left the others to get a look around the area where the orcs were hiding out.Valdir had collected some stones to use as markers for Delwin.Valdir would take to the trees, Delwin just off the path would head to the general area and look for the stones that Valdir left to mark his movements.Delwin moved swiftly through the woods, cautiously watching for possible orcs moving around as he neared the contested land.Delwin made his way without event and came upon Valdirs mark.Delwin called out the bird whistle they had discussed while at the camp.He waited a moment as he saw Valdir coming out of the woods off the path.
"How was your journey?I noticed you beat me here."
Delwin smirks.
"I noticed some smoke there, and perhaps a treacherous pathway which appears to be blocked. Did you notice any thing from up top?"
Delwin pauses,
"Maybe I should scout the perimeter and I will meet you back here.Just remember the call if you find trouble."
Delwin heads off into the woods yet again.

 

[firehorse]

Valdir hears Delwin's attempt to imitate the bird whistle and smirks. "Tis a good thing it is unlikely that these orcs are woodsmen." Then he stops in midthought. "Wait, many of them are reputed to be excellent woodsmen. I may have to revise our signalling system."

Returning from his glance at the orc hideout, he deftly hops down from the trees near Delwin. Walking up to him he grins again at the first statement. "Why yes, I was wondering if I would have to go back and pull you out of some hole or something." Winking, he continues in a more business-like tone. "Yes there is a fire burning up there, inside a cave at the top of the hill. The only unblocked, and likely untrapped, path winds up about half a mile. We will need to find someway to obscure ourselves if we wish to make it up there unnoticed. There are other paths, but they have been blocked and likely trapped. There may be another way, although more treacherous, on the opposite side. Maybe you should check that out since you are more adept at finding traps than I. I'll go back and watch the main entrance for patterns in their behavior."

Then, remembering his earlier concern, "by the way, some of these orcs are woodsmen, so refrain from using that whistle. Normal orcs might not notice, but woodsmen would."

 

[Delwin]

Delwin scouts the whole perimiter,Coming to the conclussion that Valdir was correct in his findings.It would be rough but the party could with some concealment penetrate the hillside.Delwin returned to the spot where he had met with Valdir and waited for the elf to return.This time Valdir snuck up on Delwin and somewhat startled the rogue.
"Do you have to do that?Announce yourself before you startle the daylight out of me.Well I search the perimeter and the path you saw is the best one ,and should'nt be to bad if we can somehow conceal ourselves.We have seen enough lets head back to meet up with the others."
They started back to meet the others and relay the information to the party.They also managed to work on the signals a bit.Delwin not being quite the woodsman as his friend worked extra hard at it till Valdir nodded his aproval.

 

[Emiricol]

END OF ADVENTURE UPDATE (Campaign Journal at www.the13kingdoms.org will be updated shortly)

The party was informed of a nearby orc encampment in caverns within a stone spire, and the Druid Lalyn's animal spies led him to believe the orcs had prisoners. The party scouted out the place, then crept in at dawn, slaying the lone sentry quietly and easily.

Beyond the scout lay the first cavern, empty. At the back, a rough door from lashed branches. Delwin, the party's semi-rogue, failed to note the brass tin set atop the door on the far side, and on opening, it fell to the stone floor creating a heck of a racket, waking up the four orcs on the far side. The party did not hesitate, however, and slew them all before they could even grab their weapons, save one which they bound. After several minutes of looking about they found the poorly concealed doorway out - really just a narrow crack that led to a rough stone tunnel. The tunnel led some 40' back to another crack.

Stepping through the crack - which took some patience - Rolf was immediately fired upon by nearly half a dozen orcs with bows, who were hidden on the far sideof the chamber behind rough-hewn wooden barricades. Obviously the leader group, such as it was. It was enough to wound Rolf. The rest of the party slowly made their way through the crack as well, Argus taking an arrow directly to the chest that nearly proved fatal. However, within half a minute the party was through the crack into the chamber, and advanced across the caltroped open ground between the orcs and the crack. Kirran Blessed the party, Fleck put many of the orcs to Sleep, and the rest of the party slew the orcs without much further trouble.

Beyond the orcs lay their supply chamber, which included a poorly built wooden prison that contained three elves. An elf man and woman yet lived; their companion, wounded some two weeks before, had died two days earlier.

The party rescued the surviving elves, looted the orcs, and burned the bodies. Mission accomplished, much loot gained, elves rescued - a god day! And they only came close to losing two of their number doing it.

===================

Back at camp, Lalyn arranged a celebration.

 

[Memnus]

FMTG Downtime: Winter to Spring

Fleck spends one more week at Lalyn's camp, but as time wears on, he grows bored, and realizes that he will probably not get anything done, here. Taking his wagon, he sets off soutward again, trying to retrace the group's path to the river (coast?). Once there, he arranges transport to his family in the Silver Hills, but does not remain there long. He sends a simple message to Lalyn's camp, hoping it will reach the others: The name of a tavern in Solinburg, a date in the spring, and his signature. Soon, he and his cart are once again on a ship bound for Mittendien.

Once in Mittendien, he spends the next few months as a travelling alchemist, living out of his cart, making just enough money from his wares to survive. He rides from town to town, looking for certain people, asking questions, and staying just out of trouble.

When the appointed date arrives, he is found in the Dragon's Wing tavern in Solinburg, sitting at a table with paper strewn about in front of him. Notes are scribbled seemingly at random on them, and the largest appears to be a map of the kingdom with X's and dates scrawled in various places.

While the group trickles in, he is quiet, checking and making notes, occasionally referring to the map, and very much ignoring the cup at his elbow. Once it seems that everyone is there who is going to be, he speaks. "I don't imagine any of you have heard of Tilarmo's Bane? That's its name among Ulruz refugees. To others, it's known as the Betrayer's Blade, if it is known at all. Every few years, it comes out again from wherever it hides, toys with a few people before it gets disposed of again. I think it's appeared again.

"The Betrayer's Blade is never the same twice, always changing its form. Each time it appears, it's different, but usually of comparable power. This time, I think I've figured out, that it's a dagger of some sort. And it seems to have something in mind." He points out a few spots on the map. "Three months ago, a home was broken into here, but nothing was taken. The guard was found dead of dagger wounds that shouldn't have been fatal, but bled him to death anyway. Two weeks later, in Dumeldein, a house of the same family was similarly attacked, and nothing taken except the dog's life, in a similar fashion. Then here, here, and here. It's looking for something, but I don't know what."

He thinks a bit, then seems to come back to the present, and a gleam enters his eye. "This blade embodies powerful magics of both Transmutation and Enchantment schools.... my two strongest areas of study. If we could find it, not only could we stop its rampage, but imagine if we could learn from it, harness some of its power...."

 

[crystorix]

Rolf spends the rest of the winter helping slay scores of orcs with Valdir et al. and learning what he can from Lalyn, but by the time Fleck's letter arrives, he has begun to get restless. He wishes to return home, and Fleck's missive provides the perfect reason.

Arriving at the tavern, he listens patiently to Fleck's entreated, but looks less than thrilled. "I must say, Fleck, that this blade sounds like more trouble than its worth."

 

[Rish]

Kirran spends a few days longer in Lalyn's camp than Fleck, but with the gnome's departure he becomes even more aware that he is out of place. Lalyn's ways, while friendly, are too unfamiliar for him to be comfortable, and elvish accents make him keenly conscious of the heavy Mittendeinish accent to his Tradespeak. He takes a day or two to putter around the camp, trying to decide whether or not to stick out the winter, and finally gathers his things and sets out alone (excepting whatever help he needs to traverse the elven lands to the coast) for Mittendein and home.

He spends most of his time in Solinburg proper, preferring to stay within city walls for the duration of winter, living by gambling, doing odd-jobs, or lending a hand at a local brewery depending on his mood. Periodically he makes discreet inquiries to acquaintances he made during his last extended stay in the city, requests for the location of certain persons or details of recent events. So it is that during the spring thaw he hears of Fleck's arrival despite leaving camp before the message arrived. On the appointed day, he wanders into the tavern with a hollered greeting for the bartender and a wink of thanks for a nondescript man leaning against the bar.

He listens to Fleck speak, and grins at Rolf. "More trouble than it's worth? And you didn't have that to say about hordes of orcs? My friend, your priorities are badly in need of rearranging." He flips his wooden coin, catches it, and displays Felicitas' laughing face to Rolf. "Besides, if we're lucky, there'll be no problem at all." He seems blithely unaware of the double-edged meaning of his words.