pneumatik's WotBS 1 - The Scouring of Gate Pass

[Rhun]

Hollister nods. "And the extra horses will allow us to maintain a brisk place, and stay ahead of pursuit." The, the wizard turns his attention to searching the area. Not the greatest at searching himself, Hollister nonetheless lends a hand and eye in searching the brigand's camp.


Search check = 11, which is enough to add a +2 to aid another.

 

[pneumatik]

Searching the Camp

The party tosses the campsite. In one tent you find a lock-less chest with 1,000gp in it. In another you find a pouch with 200gp in rubies and four notarized sheets of paper. Each sheet claims to be redeemable for 100gp at any Ragesian fort. In the pocket of a pair of someone's pants Lytha finds a relatively-new-looking key. She also finds two small glass vials full of an oily liquid nearby wrapped in the same person's clothes for protection. In that tent and a third the party also finds two burning torches lying on bedrolls. It's immediately obvious that the torches burn without being consumed or producing heat. Scattered throughout all the tents are a handful of mundane-looking daggers and shortswords.

While most of the party searches the campsite, Torrent's over by the cave with the sleeping person. "Hey. Hey!" she says into the cave. "Hey! Wake up!" She rattles the cave's locked gate. "Anyone got any ideas on how to get in here? I think this guy's dead, though, so no real hurry."


[sblock=loot]Loot found so far:

• Eight light riding horses with saddles, etc.
• Six tents
• 1200gp
• 400gp in Ragesian military debt claimable at any Ragesian fort
• 4 daggers
• 3 shortswords
• 2 forever-burning torches
• 2 vials of some type of oil
• 2 saps {S1,2}
• 2 light crossbows {S1,2}
• 2 morningstars {S1,2}
• 1 MW greatsword (Kathor)
• 1 Composite longbow (Kathor)
• 1 shortsword (Kathor)

Assuming you also took anything that looked valuable from Renard:

• 1 MW Composite Longbow
• 1 MW spiked gauntlet
• 1 MW chain shirt
• 1 MW cloak
• 1 MW helmet
• What looks like a potion of some sort
• 1 armband worth 40 gp

[/sblock]

 

[Arkhandus]

Liiros Tivaniel

Liiros takes anything valuable-looking from the jerk who kept shooting him and evading his sword, carrying it for the group-division later. At the camp, he helps look around for loot, and says "I would not leave them any weapons.....if they know what's good for them, they'll go back to Ragesia and sell their remaining armor to live off of until they find honest work. Leave the bank-notes," after seeing what the others turned up.

"Does that key from the bandits....who have the gall to presume themselves less-deplorable mercenaries.....go to the gate? Or no?" the heavily-armored elf asks.

[sblock=ooc]Search was 12.
1d20+4=12

Sorry I wasn't active for a few days and didn't respond sooner.[/sblock]

 

[pneumatik]

Torrent shrugs. "I guess it's worth a shot." Lytha brings the key over to Torrent, who takes it. She uses it in the lock and it opens with a click. The aged gate squeals as she pulls it open. She hunches over and takes a couple of cautious steps into the small cave. She grabs an ankle of the man and shakes it. "Wake up. Wake up." No response. She backs out of the cave. "Well, it looks like we have a dead body wrapped in an old sheet in a little cave. Creepy. What do you guys want to do with it?"

 

[Arkhandus]

"Well, I'm hellishly tired and in no mood for grave-digging. Plus we have to get on with our mission and reach the first destination along our path, so we can rest properly and prepare for the next leg of the journey. The man was probably an innocent tender of this.....place.....or other bystander who may've been inconvenient to the bandits' efforts at, well, banditry, so they killed him like the heartless knaves they are, to keep him quiet. I say we drag the poor fellow out of there and cremate him, it's as close to a proper burial as we can afford to give him under our time constraints. We'll take everything of value in this camp and leave on these horses, besides the bank-notes, while the unfortunate fellow is cremated. I don't think he's elven, so you should probably say a few words for his departed soul, Torrent," Liiros replies in a weary tone, since nobody else is chiming in.

With that, the exhausted, sore, bloodied, and still irked elven squire trudges over to the cave/alcove and starts dragging the corpse out to a spot where he could burn safely without any trees or shrubs catching fire.

 

[pneumatik]

"I think that's as good a plan as any," Torrent says. She steps next to Liiros and gives him a hand moving the body. As the two are pulling the dead man out they see a grey cat, also dead, curled up next to him. It's difficult to pull the body out of the cave without knocking any of the many small jars over. Liiros steps deeper into the cave to lift the man's shoulders and head over a jar. Once further into the cave he sees what looks like the pommel of a very simple sword. The rest of the sword is covered with old jars. Removing it without breaking any of the jars will require care.

Once he body is on the ground outside the cave, Torrent says, "Okay, lets make you presentable." She unwraps the sheet from the body, then holds it up with both arms. In the light you can see simple images faded with age, many of which you recognize as depicting old myths. She folds it up and places it to the side before starting to arrange the dead man in a dignified position for cremation. She finds that he was clutching a scrap of paper with writing on it. Reading it out loud, she says, "Please don't let me death be in vain."

When Torrent speaks the old sheet - really a shroud - glows with a warm light and regains its original vividness, but only for a moment. Those with strong religious faith feel closer in tune with their deity's beliefs. You think that were you in possession of the shroud it would help you maintain this better understanding of your deity. You would also be able to focus the energy released by the shroud when it glowed into a weapon you were carrying.

 

[Thanee]

Lytha

“Hmm... interesting. What could he have meant with that? Seems like he was up to something important. Maybe he wasn't actually one of the bandits?” Lytha wonders.

 

[Arkhandus]

Squire Liiros Tivaniel of the Aquilline Cross

"Of course he wasn't one of the bandits. As I said, he must've been some innocent bystander that the bandits slew, probably when he protested their trespassing here or whatever heinous deeds they were up to. Still, that shroud is most unusual..... Do you wish to safeguard it yourself, Torrent? It seems like something we should hold onto until someone else takes over the dead fellow's duties here, whatever those duties were. In any case, his cat may as well be sent on in the same funeral pyre as its master." Liiros says.

He heads back into the cave/alcove and carries the dead grey cat out, setting it down outside. "We'll lay the cat to rest beside its master, once he's ready for cremation. I'll gather material for a funeral pyre in a moment."

He heads back inside the cave and takes one last look around, then in curiousity, tries moving some of the urns momentarily so he can remove the sword without breaking them. He'll return the urns to their proper place afterward, and examine the sword.

"Wonder if this belonged to the dead fellow, or if it was something he was trying to hide from the bandits, a relic or artifact of his faith like that shroud, perhaps? We should probably safeguard it as well, until we can return to Gate Pass and find a new caretaker for this place," the elf mutters.

 

[pneumatik]

Liiros takes the sword out of the cave and examines it. It's a primitive greatsword. It's basic design is functional and it's clear that it's seen plenty of use in the past. The crosspiece is unadorned and heavily nicked. The handle is long enough for two hands and is wrapped in a simple leather strap. It's scabbard is made from two long pieces of thick tough leather stitched together with coarse twine.

And it's heavy. Even for its size and simple construction it weighs more than it should. Still, it's a usable but utilitarian weapon. It's extra heft may even make it more effective.

Torrent helps build the funeral pyre. It consists of firewood the mercenaries had collected supplemented with their clothes and other belongings. She places the arranged dead man and his cat on it and douses them with the mercenaries lamp oil. She stands at the foot of the pyre and begins to speak.

"While it will get the job done, it's hardly the type of funeral service anyone would hope for. We know almost nothing about this man, and what we do know is more confusing than enlightening. The pyre was hastily built. We have no marker to leave, and even if we did we wouldn't know what name to put on it. I'm a priestess of Osprem, god of the ocean and sea travel. He doesn't look like a sailor and we're about as far away from the ocean as you can get. But his soul will still go to a peaceful rest.

"The scrap of paper he was holding said, 'Please don't let my death be in vain.' I think if we're to gain anything from his death it's to learn just how much we can accomplish. Ever since this adventure started on New Year's Eve in the Poison Apple things have gone wrong. We've lost group members and gained new replacements. We've spent more time looking for the lost scrollcase than we have actually getting it out of the city. Yet here we are. We have the information we need and we're on our way to the Fire Forest. Don't forget what we have done despite the challenging circumstances. Let it inspire you to do more in the challenging circumstances to come."

She motions to Hollister. He makes an arcane motion and the pyre beings to burn. The flames create a great heat that reddens your face while the winter wind cuts into you from behind.

 

[Rhun]

As the pyre burns, Hollister again sinks deep into the folds of his heavy cloak. "We should get under way. The brigands will be free of my webbing by now."