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Message: <blockquote data-quote="PHDungeon" data-source="post: 4998111" data-attributes="member: 86320">Game Session #1Here's the quick summary to fill in any holes that can't be deduced by the PC journals.The heroes travelled north to Fallcrest in pursuit of the murderous Randall Flagg.Backstory:SpoilerBella's patron, a local crimelord from the city of Grimsburg named Victor Starke, had recently hired Flagg for his sagely expertise (the nature of which I will not say right now in case my players happen to look at this). When Starke one of his men to check on Flagg's progress, Flagg brutally killed the man, and may also have set fire to his home before fleeing Grimsburg. Now Starke wants him and has sent Bella to hunt him down.End SpoilerThey arrived in Fallcrest and started knocking around town looking for clues. They discovered that Flagg had arrived in town a few days earlier in the company of a merchant from Diamond Lake name Belebar Smenk and several of Smenk's mercenaries. However, Flagg apparently killed a pair of prostitutes at the Lucky Gnome. He then fled back to the Inn where he'd been staying, gathered his things, broke into Belebar's room and looted Belebar's strong chest. As he was leaving the Inn he was confronted by the Innkeeper and the Innkeeper's eldest son. Flagg brutally killed both of them as well and then fled town.Once the heroes learned of these events they stepped up their detective work. They went and spoke with the wife of the dead Innkeeper at the Cliffwatch and checked out the murder scene. They learned that Flagg had killed the pair with his bare hands and even devoured some of their flesh. The widow was terribly distraught.Next they went to the Blue Moon tavern where they heard Smenk was hanging out. There they found Smenk and learned that Flagg had stolen a bunch of money from him. They also learned that Smenk had a mining charter for an old silver mine near Fallcrest and that he and his mercenaries were planning to go run the resident kobolds out of the mine, so that he could get it operational. Finally, the learned that after the long winter the town was desperately low on ale, and the local tavern keepers were all impatiently waiting for a shipment to arrive from the dwarven town of Hammerfast. In fact the kegs ran out while they were at the Blue Moon and that sent Smenk and his drunken men off drunk through town (causing trouble) to find another bar.The next day they discovered that a dwarf had arrived in town with news that his caravan had been hit not far outside Fallcrest by an orc warband, and that the orcs had managed to slaughter the dwarves and steal all the ale kegs, which were the primary items being shipped. The tavern and Innkeepers got together and pooled their money for a reward and a town meeting was held. Lord Markelhay addressed the crowd and explained that with orc warbands in the area he couldn't afford to send out the militia to track down the stolen ale, but he would offer a bounty on orc ears and their was the reward for the return of the ale.A pair of brothers, both local hunters volunteered to lead men to get back the ale. As it turned out, the brothers hated eachother and each formed their own band. The heroes decided to join up with Brand Skinner, the younger brother and help him and a couple others who joined him. The next morning they set out.They investigated the site of the wrecked caravan and then tracked the orc band to ruined monestary up on a high rocky tor. They orcs had fortified it with a wooden watch tower and had a commanding view of the countryside. The heroes also figured there were at least 20 orcs left in the warband. In the woods nearby they found Lyle's band (Brand's despised brother) waiting for nightfall to close on the tor. The heroes decided to negotiate with them and make an alliance. Lyle and Brand were both hesitant because of their hatred for eachother, but the heroes convinced the two brothers that the orcs were too numerous and dangerous to take on independently.In the end they joined forces, and waited until just before dawn the next day, as they figured the orcs would have been drinking all night and thus would be vulnerable. This proved to be a good assumption, for the sound of the orcs' boozing could be heard all night long.The two human warbands made their way up the narrow trail to orcs camp and there they attacked the foul creatures. It proved to be a nasty skirmish, but thanks to the heroics and skills of the PCs most of the casualties were on the orcs side. Lyle's band lost three men.There was some hostility between Brand and Lyle after the fight, but Lyle's band was too weak to do much, so cooler head prevailed. The ale (along with many pair of orc ears) was returned to Fallcrest and the rewards collected.The PCs now plan to head north, for that's the direction Flagg was seen headed. They have recruited Brand to help them since he knows the local geography well, and is a capable tracker.</blockquote>

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