The Band of Four (The Village of Oester)

[Hairy Minotaur]

The Band of Four (The Hamlet of Thumble)
After persistent clamoring from my players to do one of these, I have broken down and written their trials down in a more permanent form. We had a long break prior to GenCon and only restarted the campaign after GenCon was over. The players were on the road and I had a small town with just the bare bones fleshed out. I got The Hamlet of Thumble at GenCon and inserted it as this small town. After making some adjustments to fit the storyline. This is their story.

Alriand - is a female elven rogue, whose greed is only overshadowed by her loyalty to the gnome, and fear/respect of the 1/2 orc.

Bimbar - is a male gnome fighter, what he lacks in strength he makes up for in annoying his enemies in a fight. (deceased)

Rebrey - is a male human fighter, the quiet one of the group is also the most dangerous.

Tharhack Bonepounder - is a male 1/2 orc Cleric of Kord, who loves his muscles and his name, and loves showing people how he got that moniker.

Gothmog - is a male grendal fighter, lacking in intelligence, but wise beyond his simple speak.


The party had been traveling for five days after leaving the town of Innscord. Taking a little used road to the East, the party hoped to avoid regular patrols and organized bandits. They hear the river long before they see it. Up ahead along the South side of the road they see three small children playing, thinking them far too young to be playing in the open with no obvious supervision, Tharhack approaches the children. He finds, to his shock that although size wise they seem like human babies, they are in fact much more mature than that. Two boys and a girl, the tallest boy introduces himself as Owecyrr, who is awed by the biggest person he's ever seen. Upon hearing those words Tharhack breaks into his "showy" routine of displaying his muscles. Owecyrr mightily impressed asks if he's here to see Opeeindy the mayor. The party decides they'd like a break from the road and agree to follow Owecyrr to the mayor's house.

Walking along for twenty minutes the party learn that the children are halflings, and they they've never seen an elf or a gnome for that matter, they tease Bimbar about the size of his nose and Alriand about the size of her ears. They ohh and ahh over the size of Tharhack. This doesn't sit well with Alriand and she makes an effort to learn the locations of each child's home (for later use). They reach a bridge spanning a nice sized river that seems to be flowing rather quickly. Two halflings stand on guard as the party approaches. They seem very weary of the 1/2 orc and ask that the party halt in the middle of the bridge. Bimbar converses with the guards. He tells them about their travels and about meeting the three children who are escorting them to the mayor's house. The two guards still don't like the looks of things so Bimbar offers in good faith to let the guards hold onto his longsword and shield (this is a favorite tactic of Bimbar as he is proficient in neither and uses neither in combat) this gesture finally brings the guards to a more friendly attitude. They tell the party about some trouble the Hamlet has been having recently with some annoying creatures who come in the middle of the night, yapping like small dogs. They steal, and set small fires and cause the whole town much grief over the loss of sleep. The Hamlet has dubbed them "yappies" and would like nothing else than to be rid of them. They urge the party to see the mayor at once.

Bidding the two sentries farewell the party is led past two house on the left. The first house looks to be the hamlet's carpenter, the second structure appears to be the jailhouse. The gnome makes sure he remembers that house, in case he has to bail Alriand out. Tharhack appreciates the presence of might in this small town and makes a note to investigate the jailhouse later. The party then makes a left after the jailhouse and stops at the only house on the right side of the block. Owecyrr explains that this is the elder's house, the mayor of their town. The party knock on the door and are greeted by a balding older halfling. After pleasantries are exchanged he invites the gnome and human in but is distrustful of the elf and 1/2 orc. Bimbar asks Opeeindy, who asks that he be called Opee as he likes that sound of it better, about this "yappy" problem. Opee tells him that they have been coming for almost two weeks now but in the beginning it was once every 2 or three days. However for the last three nights they have come and caused some minor damage and stolen small things here and there. No one knows where they come from and no one in the Hamlet has been able to engage any of them, so they do not know who they are or what they might be. Opee mentions that they might get more information from the sheriff Rillkep, and that a girl named Cora claims to know where the "yappies" live but no one in town believes her. Bimbar asks for directions to Cora's house and for a warm place to stay the night. Opee says that Bimbar and Rebrey may stay in his house, but that the giant and the elf might find better accommodations elsewhere perhaps Daigren's house. Bimbar mulls over this news and tells Opee that they party will look into the "yappy" problem for him.

Alriand and Tharhack decide to visit the jailhouse while Bimbar and Rebrey are in the elder's house. They meet Rillkep coming out of the jailhouse. He seems very shocked to find them here and is about to call the guards, when the children who led them to the elder's house walk by and wave and say "good-bye" to Alriand and Tharhack as they pass on their way back down the street. Rillkep asks what their business is in town. Alriand explains they are going to solve the "yapper" problem themselves and he'll be out of a job. Rillkep explains that he knows this town better than anyone and it is his job to solve this mystery and he would appreciate it if they would let him do his job. Tharhack asks if Rillkep or his men have detained any of these "yapps" Rillkep advises no but they will soon enough. Tharhack asks if they've killed any, again the answer is no. Tharhack tells Rillkep that maybe his men need more training and more muscles (as he poses for the sheriff). Rillkep tells him that his men are more that capable of defending the town. Alriand then asks why the town needs defending, why can't they all just move? Obviously someone doesn't want the halflings here, they should all leave. Rillkep gets agitated at this and asks that the elf move along before she's arrested for loitering. Tharhack then tells Rillkep that he could train his men on how to best use their bodies, and purify their spirits. Rillkep asks that Alriand take the smelly one with her. Tharhack Then tells Rillkep that his "booger" frame and weak insults do not impress Kord and he (Tharhack) will show Rillkep the power of Kord when next the "yippees" attack.

Bimbar and Rebrey arrive at the end of Tharhack's statement and try to calm things down a bit. Alriand tries to wander off but notices a halfling trying to hide behind the sheriff's building and listening to the whole conversation. She sneaks around and startles the halfling. Alriand puts a blade to his throat and threatens his life. She asks what he doing and why. He explains that he knows where the "yappies" come from as he found a set of tracks leading back to the river away from the farms. Alriand eases her grip and lowers her blade. The halfling explains that his is Wilby and he is Rillkep's assistant. She asks him why Rillkep doesn't investigate his claims of tracks. Wilby explains that he did tell Rillkep and is not sure why he's chosen to ignore him. Alriand lets Wilby go and apologizes for causing him to soil himself. She walks back around to the front of the sheriff's, where Opee has joined the chaos and quieted down Rillkep. Alriand explains to Bimbar that they should get some dinner and some rest if these things attack tonight. The party agrees and Bimbar explains what he has garnered for sleeping arrangements for the evening. Alriand agrees to sleep in the barn immediately. Tharhack advises he'll patrol the streets tonight as Kord will keep him strong throughout the night. Besides someone has to do "booger's" job.


session 2 to come.........

 

[pogre]

Hey, your story needs a Title.

Who knew? - a game only 20 minutes from mine!

Looking forward to seeing The Hamlet of Thumble played out.

edit: tell your players who are bugging you to write the story hour!

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Hey, your story needs a Title.

Who knew? - a game only 20 minutes from mine!

Looking forward to seeing The Hamlet of Thumble played out.

edit: tell your players who are bugging you to write the story hour!

Whoops, Thanks! I added one.

 

[Ed Cha]

Great stuff! The elf is hilarious. I'm curious to find out what kind of trouble she gets into in Thumble.

I also like the gnome who has to watch over her and half-orc who's always flexing his muscles, too. It sounds like you've got a very funny group together.

I loved the dialogue with Sheriff Rillkep! You've done a great job of bringing these characters alive.

Keep up the good work and let us know how this progresses.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Session 2

The party regroups in a field on the other side of the street opposite the sheriff's building and next to the elder's house. Tharhack suggests that this town needs better defenses and intelligent ones at that. Bimbar advises he's going to go and speak with this Cora about what she knows and why the adults don't believe her. Rebrey decides he's had enough for one day and bids the party farewell until later as needed. Alriand announces she's going to scope the town out for a good hiding spot in case the "yippies" come a calling. Tharhack decides to join her, rationalizing that if she can find a spot so can the creatures. Bimbar heads off to Cora's house and Rebrey heads off to get some grub.

Alriand takes off in a jog weaving north through two dozen or so houses, trying to lose Tharhack who manages to keep up with her long enough to yell slow down before the elf is lost to the fading sun and the play of shadows across the Hamlet. Tharhack quietly curses the elf and changes his tactic to pacing the main north-south road in the Hamlet keeping a sharp eye on the farms to the East and for any sign of disturbances. Many of the halfling children stare out their windows as the large 1/2 orc makes his way up and down the road.

Bimbar arrives at Cora's house, which is two houses north of the Opee's house. He knocks on the door and is greeted by a middle-aged male halfling who introduces himself as Evengard. Bimbar asks if Cora is available, Evengard explains that his daughter is getting ready for bed and asks what this is about. Bimbar apologizes for his late calling, but Opee told him that Cora might have some information he might be interested in. Evengard advises that Bimbar might try again in the morning and bids Bimbar goodnight. Bimbar then makes his way out to the middle of the road and waits for Tharhack to come back around again. He tells the 1/2 orc that he's heading back to Opee's for some food. Tharhack waves him off and goes into a muscle show again as he tells the gnome to go and get strong, as Bimbar will be needed to carry the bodies of the defeated back to the jailhouse.

Alriand makes her way to the bank of the river and starts working her way north looking for signs of tracks coming out of the water and into the Hamlet. After searching for two hours and only finding some birdlike tracks she decides to swim across the river and try looking on that side. She makes her way to the second most northern house in the Hamlet and heads out across the river. She easily traverses it and reaches the other side in a couple of minutes. She starts searching the ground when she hears a conversation coming from in the woods some twenty feet from the river bank. She makes her way to the tree line and listens to what sounds like a one sided conversation by someone speaking common. They sound as if they're enamored with something in their possession. Alriand Makes her way closer without making a sound she reaches the edge of a clearing. Her elvish eyes help her to make out the shape of a small humanoid, probably halfling sitting on a downed log in the middle of the clearing. The halfling appears to be stroking a small dark shape in it's hand. The object is giving off a faint green glow that illuminates the face of the confirmed halfling who looks to be a young adult. Greed takes over and Alriand makes her way behind the halfling along the edge of the clearing and takes out her sap. She then makes her way out into the open trying to sneak up on the halfling, she gets a little more than half way there and she gets sloppy. The sound of the twig breaking snaps the halfling out of it's trance and it whirls around while standing up to meet it's attacker. trying to think fast on her feet Alriand calls out that she thought she had found a "yepper" but now realizes her folly and apologizes for startling the halfling. The halfling scrams out "NO! You want Drogy's pretty rock! Well, you can't have it!" and he charges Alriand. Drogy's charge misses the elf and she sidesteps the halfling and only gets in a glancing blow from her sap onto his right shoulder. Drogy moans in pain and grabs his shoulder while kneeling onto his left knee. Alriand collects herself and regroups to attempt a blow that will knock Drogy unconscious. She reaches back to swing her sap when the halfling grows to the size of a giant, his jerkin bursts apart, his shoes split, and his pants become shorts. Drogy's arms grow to the size of branches and his head becomes a mockery of humanity as his mouth becomes a toothy maw. Cursing silently Alriand decides now would be a good time to get out of there. She turns to run, takes one step and the fist of the beast slams against her back. Alriand falls forward and rolls to a stop ten feet away against the downed log. The wind knocked out of her, Alriand makes her way to her feet, on the opposite side of the log as the beast. Drogy then makes his way towards Alriand and picks up the downed log and swings it over his head, bringing it crashing down next to Alriand. Counting her blessings, Alriand sprints to the river and dives in, swimming as fast as she can to get to the other side. She reaches the half way point and looks back but does not see the beast anywhere behind her. Then from the banks of the river behind her (from the Hamlet side) a volley of arrows fly over her head and land in the water just beyond her position. Thinking that some halflings from the bank have spotted the beast and it's in the water, and it's close to her, she takes off swimming for the shore again. She gets a quater of the way to the bank and another volley leaps from the tall weeds around the river bank, only this volley is aimed at Alriand. One arrow finds purchase as the rest fall short. With an arrow sticking out of her shoulder, Alriand calls out to stop shooting at her. She then hears some muffled barks, almost like small dogs.......... almost like "yapping." Realizing it's the "yappies" shooting at her she heads north against the stream trying to get away from her new attackers. She swims most of it underwater. She comes ashore just north of the northernmost house in the Hamlet and drags herself out of the water and flops down next to the house on the North side. Her ears perked for any sound she reaches into her belt pouch and pulls forth a potion of healing and drinks it all. She puts the empty flask back into her pouch, stands up and hears.

FIRE!!

Tharhack yells out for water buckets and every able body to a location of a field near the north of town. A halfling shouts out "yappies! I sees them! there in with the chickens!" Rillkep comes running up with Wilby shouting commands to the group of people trying to put out the fire to come to Borendil's to help repel the attackers. Tharhack runs up to Rillkep and tells him that the "yappies" are already in the town and they need to keep the fighting men in the town for defensive purposes. Rillkep argues that the "yappies" are obviously trying to steal the chickens and the fire was a diversion. Tharhack asks how "booger" could possibly come up with that idea, it is so blatantly obvious, that he (Rillkep) must've started the fire. Rillkep then orders Wilby to arrest Tharhack on suspicion of arson. Wilby reaches for Tharhack's hand when Tharhack breaks into a pose and chants something that to Wilby makes the 1/2 orc's muscles seem even bigger than they were before. Wilby gets shaken and backs away from Tharhack. Tharhack tells Rillkep that if he wants him arrested to do it himself, but he'll have to catch him as he plans on single handily removing this "yappie" threat. Tharhack then heads south back down the main road. Wilby tells Rillkep "you want him arrested? YOU go arrest him." Bimbar and Rebrey arrive to help put the fire out, as Alriand watches the events from relative safety, keeping one eye on the raging bonfire and another on the river bank.



session 3 to come.

 

[Ed Cha]

That elven rogue just doesn't stop getting into trouble! She's lucky to still be alive.

The run-in with Rillkep is too funny. You've got him down well.

I can't wait to hear what happens next!

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Session 3

Tharhack makes it all the way to the end on the main road without incident. He turns around and sees some small figures crossing the intersection up ahead of him, one of them turns to face Tharhack and it's red eyes glow in the dark of night. Excited that he gets to pound something, Tharhack takes off after them. He makes it up to the intersection and loses track of them, thinking they headed for the river Tharhack takes off in that direction. He makes it to the river's edge and sees nothing. He pauses to listen and hears a faint sound in the water six feet away from him. Tharhack cries out to Kord for strength and leaps at the spot where the sound came from, and where a small ripple is in the water. His fists find purchase with something and he pounds it twice with his fists before easily grabbing it out of the water. The creature appears to have once been a turtle but is unrecognizable at this point. Dejected Tharhack returns to shore and heads back into town flexing his muscles along the way.

Bimbar and Rebrey help the remaining halflings (those that did not go to the chicken coop) contain the fire. A middle-aged halfling named Daigren introduces himself to Bimbar and Rebrey, he tells them he used to swing a mean sword back in the day. He mentions that whatever is plaguing the Hamlet is probably caused by that witch woman out in the woods, "she's not all there, I think she's an arrow short of a full quiver." Daigren invites them to his house in the morning to discuss that matter further. Rebrey advises Bimbar that sweeping the surround forest is going to produce the best results, in terms of finding out what's going on, he thinks that with every halfling having their own opinion it's going to be hard finding the truth. Bimbar tells Rebrey that he'll go talk to Cora in the morning if Rebrey can take Tharhack with him to see Daigren, Bimbar says he has a special job for Alriand. Rebrey agrees as the companions watch Rillkep and the posse return empty handed from the nearby farm. Rillkep gives the adventures an annoyed look before grabbing Wilby and moving off to the opposite side of the street and commences to argue wildly with Wilby, and storming off to the South.

Alriand pulls the arrow out of her shoulder and holds onto it for safe keeping. She then spots a small shed about twenty feet away from the house she's hiding behind, which looks like it'll have a better view of the river than where she's currently at. She sneaks over to the shed, and checks the door. *locked* since her "tools" are in her backpack by the river bank where she originally swam across, she looks around on the ground nearby for something she can use to pry open the shed door. She spots a spot where some freshly dug earth has been disturbed, under the North side of the shed. She brushes the top layer of soil away to find some old wood placed on top of a dirt mound. With her hands she digs away at the dirt and finds nice sized wooden chest which is unlocked. She does a quick check for traps and then opens it up to reveal the most gold she's ever seen in one place at one time. Deciding she would be unable to take the whole chest much less all of the gold, she pockets as much as she can fit in two handfuls into her pouch. Then she replaces the chest and the dirt and wood exactly as she found them. Suddenly feeling much better about the night at this point she strolls back into town whistling a little tune as she approaches the remains of the fire which has Bimbar, Rebrey, and a halfling poking the embers with sticks. Bimbar asks where she's been all night. Alriand tells him that she saw some of the little buggers down by the river's edge and she went to go investigate. Rebrey noticing the arrow in her hand, inquires about her odd choice of weapons since she does not own a bow. Quickly thinking up a lie, Alriand says she found it by the river, maybe it came from the "yippsters" she didn't know. Rebrey asks where her backpack is. Alriand gets agitated and tells him she had to drop it to chase after the little creatures and it better be by the river when she goes to get it. Alriand storms off, and Rebrey tells Bimbar that he has a bad feeling about this. Bimbar brushes the comment aside and tells Rebrey that he'll have a chat with Alriand tomorrow.

Tharhack returns to the scene of the fire and states that he chased a group of the red eyes into the river, but they eluded him after that. Tharhack says he will walk the perimeter of the Hamlet searching for any sign of the beasts. He takes his leave of Bimbar and Rebrey and heads off to the East.


more session 3 to come tomorrow......

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

the rest of session 3

Tharhack makes his way along the only East-West road in town. He passes the last of the farms, and heads off the road to search the ground just outside of the last row of corn. It doesn't take him long to spot some tracks coming out of the corn, too small to be adult halflings, and unlikely that they belong to children since they are so fresh. He follows the trail with his eyes and spots a small cluster of trees some fifty feet away to the East. Pumping himself up with a Kord's blessing and an aid spell, Tharhack clenches his fists and walks confidently towards the trees. The glow of morning is beginning to show in the eastern sky and Tharhack knows that time is against him. He picks up his pace, and as he reaches the halfway point he notices some movement. Two small figures are running out from the trees headed in the opposite direction of Tharhack. Breaking into a sprint Tharhack races through the trees and into an open field. The small legs of his quarry can't match the long strides Tharhack is taking, and Tharhack knows he will catch up to them. The beasts soon realize this as well, they head for what appears top be a small graveyard, and duck behind some headstones as Tharhack reaches the beginning of the graveyard.

With great respect for the dead, Tharhack bows and asks any spirits present for permission for Kord's messenger to be allowed to remove the two pests along with any others that may be hiding among the headstones. With no answer or physical response from any ghosts Tharhack proceeds into the graveyard. He hears the barking whispers of his prey "talking" to each other from behind headstones that flank the path that leads through the graveyard. Theorizing that he can only get one at a time he choses the one on the left first. The beast on the right however spots him moving up to his buddy and calls out while standing up and running away from the scene. The one in front of Tharhack though freezes and covers his head as a fist the size of it's head rains down from above like a meteor. It only took one hit but Tharhack made sure with his next blow that if this thing were to ever come back as undead it would need a replacement head first. Looking up for his companion, and not spotting it anywhere, Tharhack retrieves the body of the beast and heads back into town, flexing all the way, as the first rays of the morning sun create a long shadow of a very proud 1/2 orc.

Alriand stomps and pouts her way to the river bank where she left her backpack, and retrieves it. Checking to make sure everything is in it's proper place and nothing's been taken, she dumps all of her new found gold into it. Closing it back up she decides to pay the house of Owecyrr a visit before calling it a day and makes her way south back towards the mayor's house.

 

[Ed Cha]

You know, you've got a knack for descriptions, Hairy Minotaur! I like the way you described things here. You should consider writing at some point.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

You know, you've got a knack for descriptions, Hairy Minotaur! I like the way you described things here. You should consider writing at some point.

Whoa, I thought my wife posted on here for a second.

I'm just lucky to have a group that really likes to roleplay their characters, which is helped by a lot of flavor text and conversation. Combat is a lot more imaginative if they can't accurately tell what they're fighting. (it's never 3 kobolds, it's always three small skinny dog like creatures with long thin tails. They don't so much as run towards you, they more skip and hop their way to you). Plus I force all the clerics to voice/act out all their turning attempts.