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The Band of Four (The Village of Oester)
- Thread starter Hairy Minotaur
- Start date
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Ed Cha said:LOL. So Geran is a bandit leader?
I wonder how you will incorporate Hetnar into your game. That will be interesting...
Well this way Geran gets to play the same roll he has in the adventure, just tweaked a bit.
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Tharhack returns to the center of the bandit camp. Rebrey is loading up three sacks with as much food as he can stuff in them. Alriand is rummaging through tents looking for anything of value. Xanoniel is tending to the body of the dead halfling.
"He was so brave." Xanoniel starts "Geran kept beating Roplin and asking him who he told about him."
"Geran must've gotten paranoid, or Roplin wanted more money." Tharhack answers Xanoniel.
"Oh no, Geran kept asking, who did you tell old man." Xanoniel replies. "and Roplin kept telling him, he had no where to go. That the Hamlet wasn't safe anymore."
"Well, when we get to Thumble we can ask what happened." Tharhack answers, as he's weaving in and out of tents.
"What are you looking for?" Xanoniel asks.
"The tent of either the youngest boy in this camp, or the tent of the new guy." Tharhack tells her. "Since I couldn't find any evidence of who Geran's benefactor is from his papers, I'm hoping that someone wrote about Geran meeting with his benefactor, or boss." Tharhack then leaves to re-ransack the tents Alriand just went through.
Rebrey returns to the campfire with the halfling child and the kobold. Making sure they are both close to fire for warmth.
"Oh, a baby, can I see it?" Xanoniel pleads with Rebrey.
"Sure, can you keep an eye on that for me too?" Rebrey answers pointing at the kobold
"What are you going to do with the kobold?" Xanoniel asks.
"I don't know Tharhack insisted we bring it back to Thumble with us. Maybe you should ask him what he wants with it." Rebrey replies
Xanoniel leaves Rebrey to find Tharhack. Alriand finds mostly clothes and crossbow bolts in the six tents she's searched thus far, not finding any gold her frustration results in her ripping the next tent off of the ground, and tossing clothes and sleeping bags through the air. Tharhack sighs and decides to start with the lone tent remaining, which is the furthest from the fire and also the most shoddily made. Opening the tent flap Tharhack finds a young human male probably in his teens, peeking out of his sleeping bag and looking up at Tharhack.
"Don't kill me please, I didn't do anything, I was hiding here the whole time," says the boy.
"How about I let you buy your freedom?" Tharhack responds.
"But I don't have any money." answers the boy
"It's not money I want." Tharhack says while ripping the tent off the ground and flinging it through the air, then flexing some to put an exclamation on his point.
"What do you want then?" Answers the boy
"I want to know where Geran got his money from, who he answers to, and what he was trying to accomplish by arming a small band of kobolds." Tharhack responds
"I think he got his money from the hermit." replies the boy
"A hermit? What do you mean?" Tharhack asks
"Well, he was old and always dressed in nasty looking robes, most of the guys thought he was some crazy hermit, but after he'd leave, Geran would pay us all." Answers the boy
"Did this hermit ever say anything?" Tharhack asks
"No, he just follow Geran into his tent and stay for maybe an hour, and then Geran would come out with our money, we always thought the hermit must be pretty sly to sneak past all of us. 'Cause we never saw him leave, he was just gone." answers the boy
"When did this hermit show up? Every 2 days? Every 3 or 4?" asks Tharhack
"It wasn't very often maybe once a ten day." answers the boy
"What were they trying to accomplish by funding this little troupe?" Tharhack demands
"Geran always called it step A in a journey to kingship. He tell us over and over again that every destination is reached by first taking small steps before you can be in a full sprint." answers the boy
"Did Geran ever mention where this hermit came from?" Tharhack asks
"No, he never talked about him." replies the boy
The sound of a child cuts through the pause in conversation as Xanoniel approaches with the halfling child, the boy squirms nervously on the ground. Tharhack tells the boy to start running and to not stop until the sun sets, for if they meet again Tharhack will send him on a journey to meet death. The boy doesn't hesitate as he sprints out of the camp and into the woods behind his tent.
"Aren't you afraid that he'll meet up with Geran?" Xanoniel asks
"I hope so, I'm not afraid of Geran. Then next time we meet I will squeeze the weakness out of him one drop at a time." Tharhack replies.
"I shall like to see that." Xanoniel states "What are you planning on doing with the kobold?"
"I plan on teaching the halflings a valuable lesson." Tharhack answers "I think it's best we get moving though, if Geran wants to chase us, let's get him started running early."
"He was so brave." Xanoniel starts "Geran kept beating Roplin and asking him who he told about him."
"Geran must've gotten paranoid, or Roplin wanted more money." Tharhack answers Xanoniel.
"Oh no, Geran kept asking, who did you tell old man." Xanoniel replies. "and Roplin kept telling him, he had no where to go. That the Hamlet wasn't safe anymore."
"Well, when we get to Thumble we can ask what happened." Tharhack answers, as he's weaving in and out of tents.
"What are you looking for?" Xanoniel asks.
"The tent of either the youngest boy in this camp, or the tent of the new guy." Tharhack tells her. "Since I couldn't find any evidence of who Geran's benefactor is from his papers, I'm hoping that someone wrote about Geran meeting with his benefactor, or boss." Tharhack then leaves to re-ransack the tents Alriand just went through.
Rebrey returns to the campfire with the halfling child and the kobold. Making sure they are both close to fire for warmth.
"Oh, a baby, can I see it?" Xanoniel pleads with Rebrey.
"Sure, can you keep an eye on that for me too?" Rebrey answers pointing at the kobold
"What are you going to do with the kobold?" Xanoniel asks.
"I don't know Tharhack insisted we bring it back to Thumble with us. Maybe you should ask him what he wants with it." Rebrey replies
Xanoniel leaves Rebrey to find Tharhack. Alriand finds mostly clothes and crossbow bolts in the six tents she's searched thus far, not finding any gold her frustration results in her ripping the next tent off of the ground, and tossing clothes and sleeping bags through the air. Tharhack sighs and decides to start with the lone tent remaining, which is the furthest from the fire and also the most shoddily made. Opening the tent flap Tharhack finds a young human male probably in his teens, peeking out of his sleeping bag and looking up at Tharhack.
"Don't kill me please, I didn't do anything, I was hiding here the whole time," says the boy.
"How about I let you buy your freedom?" Tharhack responds.
"But I don't have any money." answers the boy
"It's not money I want." Tharhack says while ripping the tent off the ground and flinging it through the air, then flexing some to put an exclamation on his point.
"What do you want then?" Answers the boy
"I want to know where Geran got his money from, who he answers to, and what he was trying to accomplish by arming a small band of kobolds." Tharhack responds
"I think he got his money from the hermit." replies the boy
"A hermit? What do you mean?" Tharhack asks
"Well, he was old and always dressed in nasty looking robes, most of the guys thought he was some crazy hermit, but after he'd leave, Geran would pay us all." Answers the boy
"Did this hermit ever say anything?" Tharhack asks
"No, he just follow Geran into his tent and stay for maybe an hour, and then Geran would come out with our money, we always thought the hermit must be pretty sly to sneak past all of us. 'Cause we never saw him leave, he was just gone." answers the boy
"When did this hermit show up? Every 2 days? Every 3 or 4?" asks Tharhack
"It wasn't very often maybe once a ten day." answers the boy
"What were they trying to accomplish by funding this little troupe?" Tharhack demands
"Geran always called it step A in a journey to kingship. He tell us over and over again that every destination is reached by first taking small steps before you can be in a full sprint." answers the boy
"Did Geran ever mention where this hermit came from?" Tharhack asks
"No, he never talked about him." replies the boy
The sound of a child cuts through the pause in conversation as Xanoniel approaches with the halfling child, the boy squirms nervously on the ground. Tharhack tells the boy to start running and to not stop until the sun sets, for if they meet again Tharhack will send him on a journey to meet death. The boy doesn't hesitate as he sprints out of the camp and into the woods behind his tent.
"Aren't you afraid that he'll meet up with Geran?" Xanoniel asks
"I hope so, I'm not afraid of Geran. Then next time we meet I will squeeze the weakness out of him one drop at a time." Tharhack replies.
"I shall like to see that." Xanoniel states "What are you planning on doing with the kobold?"
"I plan on teaching the halflings a valuable lesson." Tharhack answers "I think it's best we get moving though, if Geran wants to chase us, let's get him started running early."
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Tharhack tells Alriand and Rebrey to prepare to leave, he figures about six more hours until they get to the Hamlet. Rebrey lugs the sacks of salted meat and bread onto his back, seeing this Xanoniel offers to carry the halfling child to the Hamlet for Rebrey. Alriand thoroughly disgusted at the poor bandits tosses some things onto the fire, creating a smelly black smoke before the fire is smothered. Tharhack reties the kobold to his waist and gathers up Roplin to carry him back to the Hamlet. He then stuffs the papers he found in Geran's tent into his backpack and the party heads downstream staying close to the river.
The sun quickly reaches midday, it's warming rays help ease some of the chilliness of the morning. Xanoniel sings to the halfling child and to some birds which perch upon her shoulder. The bandit's clothes that Xanoniel wears are too big and constantly fall down to her shoulders, causing Rebrey to stop several times having difficulty walking. Once Xanoniel's shirt fell past her shoulders and Rebrey tripped falling into the frigid water. The party however makes great time and after five hours of walking can see the smoke rising from chimneys in the Hamlet. Realizing they'll have to cross the river at some point, Tharhack asks if they want to wait until they reach the bridge to cross or cross through the water before that. The party votes 3-1 for using the bridge, with Rebrey the only river vote.
The party reaches the northern most farm a half hour later and can see halfling children playing along the river bank on the other side. When they see the party trudging through the grass on the opposite side, they run back to the Hamlet cheering "They're back, They came back"
"Ugh, I forgot how much I hate half-a-lings." Alriand states.
"Halflings are a curious race, their only downfall, other than that they have a great respect for life. You could learn a thing or two about patience Alriand." Xanoniel replies
"The only thing I'm going to learn from a half-a-ling, is what time dinner is." Alriand answers.
The party reaches the wooden bridge and finds Denbel, Randill, Opee, and Sheriff Rillkep waiting for them.
"Where's Bimbar? We found his sword and shield. We wanted to return them." Denbel asks
"He's dead, died wiping out your yappy problem. Keep the sword and shield, Bimbar never used those anyway."
"Roplin? Where'd you find him?" Rillkep asks
"In a bandit camp being tortured, the bandit leader killed him before I could save him though. I brought his body back for a proper burial." Tharhack answers
"Roplin was a thief and a murderer. We found the knife he used to kill Durac after searching his house. He claimed it was planted but I figured him out good. Took him to jail, but he somehow broke out." Rillkep answers sticking his chest out trying to act impressive.
"I think he may have been right, look at these papers I found on Geran the bandit leader." Tharhack says handing the papers to Opee. Rillkep tries to look over Opee's shoulder to get a look at the papers, Opee just hands him each page after he's done with it.
"So, what's your take on this?" Opee asks Tharhack
"Well, I think Roplin figured out where his weapons were going, he tried to kill the deal with Geran. Geran set him up for murder hoping to discredit him and anything he might tell you. Either Roplin escaped or Geran helped him, then once out of town Geran tortured Roplin to find out all he told you before he left town." Tharhack answers.
"heh, idiots." Alriand says to herself.
"Rillkep, make sure Roplin gets a proper burial. While I don't know if I believe Tharhack's story, it does cloudy the picture enough." Opee says to Rillkep.
By now a large gathering of halflings has formed just beyond the bridge, everyone is trying to get a look at the bloody body in Tharhack's hands, the kobold tied to his waist, and Xanoniel.
"I think we should bring this child home." Rebrey says to Xanoniel. They head towards the gathering of Halflings.
"My baby!" a shout comes from the crowd as a halfling woman pushes her way through the crowd and sprints to Rebrey and Xanoniel. Perythea runs out and takes Lalee from Xanoniel, she hugs and kisses on her child who clings to her mother. Perythea then gives Rebrey and Xanoniel a kiss on the cheek and runs back into the crowd, heading for home.
"What are you going to do with that?" Rillkep asks Tharhack, pointing at the kobold tied to his waist.
"Watch." Tharhack strides to the other side of the bridge and faces the crowd. Alriand moves to north after the bridge, looking for a way to make an unseen getaway. However she's halted by a group of halfling children who all want to see a hero and touch a hero.
"Good people of Thumble, this is your yappy." Tharhack says as he lifts the kobold off the ground, dangling it for all the town to see, and eliciting gasps and wows from the crowd. "You have nothing to fear from an enemy that you know, these are weak pathetic creatures. They only know cowardice."
Tharhack then begins to untie the kobold, causing the group of halflings to take a couple steps back. Tharhack gets the kobold untied and lets it fall to the ground. The kobold quickly gets up and takes off in one direction, but stops when it sees a wall of halflings. It runs in a different direction, but again it stops in it's tracks. It looks around and sees it's surrounded by halflings. It falls to the ground and begins to whimper.
"I wonder what it's doing," a child next to Alriand asks her.
"It's getting ready to attack, they have deadly claws. Their bite is venomous poison. This one here killed Bimbar single-handedly, ripping his heart out from his chest and eating it raw. Then it fouled the body with it's own excrement." Alriand says to the children huddled around her. "If I was you, I'd run back to your homes before it comes to get you too." Alriand slaps her hands together and the children jump up and run screaming away to the north.
The screaming children alarm the crowd as Alriand shrugs her shoulders and turns to the north heading up to Roplin's house and his buried treasure. Tharhack ignores the children and walks over to the kobold.
"We wiped out their home. Most of them were killed, but if they ever should come back, there will be nothing to fear." Tharhack says as he rolls the kobold over with his foot, and picking it up by the neck. "Now who wants to pet it?"
At first no one moves, but then Diargren emerges from the crowd and goes up and slaps the kobold around some. Then he tells everyone else to come and get some too. At first it's a trickle but after a while most of the Hamlet has slap or punched the kobold into unconsciousness.
The sun quickly reaches midday, it's warming rays help ease some of the chilliness of the morning. Xanoniel sings to the halfling child and to some birds which perch upon her shoulder. The bandit's clothes that Xanoniel wears are too big and constantly fall down to her shoulders, causing Rebrey to stop several times having difficulty walking. Once Xanoniel's shirt fell past her shoulders and Rebrey tripped falling into the frigid water. The party however makes great time and after five hours of walking can see the smoke rising from chimneys in the Hamlet. Realizing they'll have to cross the river at some point, Tharhack asks if they want to wait until they reach the bridge to cross or cross through the water before that. The party votes 3-1 for using the bridge, with Rebrey the only river vote.
The party reaches the northern most farm a half hour later and can see halfling children playing along the river bank on the other side. When they see the party trudging through the grass on the opposite side, they run back to the Hamlet cheering "They're back, They came back"
"Ugh, I forgot how much I hate half-a-lings." Alriand states.
"Halflings are a curious race, their only downfall, other than that they have a great respect for life. You could learn a thing or two about patience Alriand." Xanoniel replies
"The only thing I'm going to learn from a half-a-ling, is what time dinner is." Alriand answers.
The party reaches the wooden bridge and finds Denbel, Randill, Opee, and Sheriff Rillkep waiting for them.
"Where's Bimbar? We found his sword and shield. We wanted to return them." Denbel asks
"He's dead, died wiping out your yappy problem. Keep the sword and shield, Bimbar never used those anyway."
"Roplin? Where'd you find him?" Rillkep asks
"In a bandit camp being tortured, the bandit leader killed him before I could save him though. I brought his body back for a proper burial." Tharhack answers
"Roplin was a thief and a murderer. We found the knife he used to kill Durac after searching his house. He claimed it was planted but I figured him out good. Took him to jail, but he somehow broke out." Rillkep answers sticking his chest out trying to act impressive.
"I think he may have been right, look at these papers I found on Geran the bandit leader." Tharhack says handing the papers to Opee. Rillkep tries to look over Opee's shoulder to get a look at the papers, Opee just hands him each page after he's done with it.
"So, what's your take on this?" Opee asks Tharhack
"Well, I think Roplin figured out where his weapons were going, he tried to kill the deal with Geran. Geran set him up for murder hoping to discredit him and anything he might tell you. Either Roplin escaped or Geran helped him, then once out of town Geran tortured Roplin to find out all he told you before he left town." Tharhack answers.
"heh, idiots." Alriand says to herself.
"Rillkep, make sure Roplin gets a proper burial. While I don't know if I believe Tharhack's story, it does cloudy the picture enough." Opee says to Rillkep.
By now a large gathering of halflings has formed just beyond the bridge, everyone is trying to get a look at the bloody body in Tharhack's hands, the kobold tied to his waist, and Xanoniel.
"I think we should bring this child home." Rebrey says to Xanoniel. They head towards the gathering of Halflings.
"My baby!" a shout comes from the crowd as a halfling woman pushes her way through the crowd and sprints to Rebrey and Xanoniel. Perythea runs out and takes Lalee from Xanoniel, she hugs and kisses on her child who clings to her mother. Perythea then gives Rebrey and Xanoniel a kiss on the cheek and runs back into the crowd, heading for home.
"What are you going to do with that?" Rillkep asks Tharhack, pointing at the kobold tied to his waist.
"Watch." Tharhack strides to the other side of the bridge and faces the crowd. Alriand moves to north after the bridge, looking for a way to make an unseen getaway. However she's halted by a group of halfling children who all want to see a hero and touch a hero.
"Good people of Thumble, this is your yappy." Tharhack says as he lifts the kobold off the ground, dangling it for all the town to see, and eliciting gasps and wows from the crowd. "You have nothing to fear from an enemy that you know, these are weak pathetic creatures. They only know cowardice."
Tharhack then begins to untie the kobold, causing the group of halflings to take a couple steps back. Tharhack gets the kobold untied and lets it fall to the ground. The kobold quickly gets up and takes off in one direction, but stops when it sees a wall of halflings. It runs in a different direction, but again it stops in it's tracks. It looks around and sees it's surrounded by halflings. It falls to the ground and begins to whimper.
"I wonder what it's doing," a child next to Alriand asks her.
"It's getting ready to attack, they have deadly claws. Their bite is venomous poison. This one here killed Bimbar single-handedly, ripping his heart out from his chest and eating it raw. Then it fouled the body with it's own excrement." Alriand says to the children huddled around her. "If I was you, I'd run back to your homes before it comes to get you too." Alriand slaps her hands together and the children jump up and run screaming away to the north.
The screaming children alarm the crowd as Alriand shrugs her shoulders and turns to the north heading up to Roplin's house and his buried treasure. Tharhack ignores the children and walks over to the kobold.
"We wiped out their home. Most of them were killed, but if they ever should come back, there will be nothing to fear." Tharhack says as he rolls the kobold over with his foot, and picking it up by the neck. "Now who wants to pet it?"
At first no one moves, but then Diargren emerges from the crowd and goes up and slaps the kobold around some. Then he tells everyone else to come and get some too. At first it's a trickle but after a while most of the Hamlet has slap or punched the kobold into unconsciousness.
Ed Cha
Community Supporter
LOL, Perythea says, "My baby!", grabs her kid, and then runs back home. Not even an offer of pie. That's hilarious.
Poor Roplin getting tortured like that and we didn't even get to see his grumpy side. I hope he recovers.
Alriand is a piece of work. Half-a-ling? Great stuff!
Poor Roplin getting tortured like that and we didn't even get to see his grumpy side. I hope he recovers.
Alriand is a piece of work. Half-a-ling? Great stuff!
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Alriand, unimpressed by Tharhack's little speech, leaves the happy gathering and makes her way along the riverbank to Roplin's house and his shed. She passes Durac's house and comes across two human men loitering in front of the next house beyond Durac's. Alriand strains an ear to listen in on their conversation.
"this is going to be the easiest job we've ever done boss."
"like taking money from a corpse"
"Did you see they way you had them eating out of your hand boss?"
"Four more days in this hellhole and we'll be set for months."
"Do you think there's enough time to do this next house?"
"lets not push our great luck anymore than we've already done. Besides we need to make it back to the well, before the midgets return."
Having waited long enough, Alriand strolls out into the yard between the two homes. The two men, both short for humans, are placing table settings and candelabras into a large sack. One of the men is thin a wiry while the other one is very muscular with broad shoulders. Alriand, who was walking straight for the two men, changes course and heads over to a tree about twenty feet to the right. Making it to the tree Alriand squats down and watches as the thin man puts on a pointy deep blue hat, then fits on a long gray beard. The stronger man stands in a sack of the same color as the hat, bends down and the thin man climbs up onto the strong man's shoulders. The strong man reaches down and lifts the sack which Alriand now determines is a robe. The thin man puts his arms through the sleeves and a ten foot tall wizard appears. Amazingly they coordinate their walking to appear as an elderly human. The "wizard" walks between two house and disappears behind the right one.
Tharhack clears the crowd off of the kobold, and tells the halflings to remember this if ever the yappies come back again. The crowd cheers and claps as they wander back up the main street of the Hamlet, some even break out into song. Opee and Rillkep, who's carrying the body of Roplin, walk past Rebrey and Xanoniel.
"Thank you both for helping us end the attacks by those creatures. It means a great deal to me, and to this whole community. If there's anything I can do to make your stay any more comfortable, please let me know." Opee says to Rebrey and Xanoniel
"Rhubarb, I so love Rhubarb. Is there somewhere I can get some?" Xanoniel asks Opee, but before the mayor can answer "Oh, and strawberries. I love strawberries, so perfect this time of year. Don't you think?"
"Why yes, in fact I was just going to see the best pie maker within a hundred miles, I'm sure she would love to make you a pie." Opee answers
"Oh no, I like them freshly picked. The taste is much better." Alriand says with a big smile.
"OK, I'm sure we can accommodate that as well." Opee laughs.
"Is there anything I can get you my good man?" Opee asks Rebrey.
"A strong mead." Rebrey answers
"Well, you're also in luck. We're going to have a marvelous feast this evening. A celebration for all of guests. You'll also have to come and watch the great Balrin, he's a wizard you know, and a giant one at that." Opee says excitedly
"A giant?" Tharhack chimes in
"Oh yes, he's easily three halflings high." Opee replies
"Well, that should definitely be worth seeing." Xanoniel claps
Opee leads Rebrey, Tharhack, and Xanoniel up the main road, following the retreating crowd. Rillkep heads to an awaiting Wilby, who helps Rillkep carry Roplin to the graveyard.
Alriand hears the approaching halflings and sprints up the riverbank on her way to Roplin's house. While running along the riverbank Alriand can still easily make out the form of the faux wizard hanging around the well as the returning halflings come to greet him. A sly smile escapes her lips as she bounds past the last house before reaching her destination.
"this is going to be the easiest job we've ever done boss."
"like taking money from a corpse"
"Did you see they way you had them eating out of your hand boss?"
"Four more days in this hellhole and we'll be set for months."
"Do you think there's enough time to do this next house?"
"lets not push our great luck anymore than we've already done. Besides we need to make it back to the well, before the midgets return."
Having waited long enough, Alriand strolls out into the yard between the two homes. The two men, both short for humans, are placing table settings and candelabras into a large sack. One of the men is thin a wiry while the other one is very muscular with broad shoulders. Alriand, who was walking straight for the two men, changes course and heads over to a tree about twenty feet to the right. Making it to the tree Alriand squats down and watches as the thin man puts on a pointy deep blue hat, then fits on a long gray beard. The stronger man stands in a sack of the same color as the hat, bends down and the thin man climbs up onto the strong man's shoulders. The strong man reaches down and lifts the sack which Alriand now determines is a robe. The thin man puts his arms through the sleeves and a ten foot tall wizard appears. Amazingly they coordinate their walking to appear as an elderly human. The "wizard" walks between two house and disappears behind the right one.
Tharhack clears the crowd off of the kobold, and tells the halflings to remember this if ever the yappies come back again. The crowd cheers and claps as they wander back up the main street of the Hamlet, some even break out into song. Opee and Rillkep, who's carrying the body of Roplin, walk past Rebrey and Xanoniel.
"Thank you both for helping us end the attacks by those creatures. It means a great deal to me, and to this whole community. If there's anything I can do to make your stay any more comfortable, please let me know." Opee says to Rebrey and Xanoniel
"Rhubarb, I so love Rhubarb. Is there somewhere I can get some?" Xanoniel asks Opee, but before the mayor can answer "Oh, and strawberries. I love strawberries, so perfect this time of year. Don't you think?"
"Why yes, in fact I was just going to see the best pie maker within a hundred miles, I'm sure she would love to make you a pie." Opee answers
"Oh no, I like them freshly picked. The taste is much better." Alriand says with a big smile.
"OK, I'm sure we can accommodate that as well." Opee laughs.
"Is there anything I can get you my good man?" Opee asks Rebrey.
"A strong mead." Rebrey answers
"Well, you're also in luck. We're going to have a marvelous feast this evening. A celebration for all of guests. You'll also have to come and watch the great Balrin, he's a wizard you know, and a giant one at that." Opee says excitedly
"A giant?" Tharhack chimes in
"Oh yes, he's easily three halflings high." Opee replies
"Well, that should definitely be worth seeing." Xanoniel claps
Opee leads Rebrey, Tharhack, and Xanoniel up the main road, following the retreating crowd. Rillkep heads to an awaiting Wilby, who helps Rillkep carry Roplin to the graveyard.
Alriand hears the approaching halflings and sprints up the riverbank on her way to Roplin's house. While running along the riverbank Alriand can still easily make out the form of the faux wizard hanging around the well as the returning halflings come to greet him. A sly smile escapes her lips as she bounds past the last house before reaching her destination.
Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Ed Cha said:Ah, Balrin.
This was one encounter I was really looking forward to. I moved the "Balrin" encounter to the Hamlet however, as I wanted to "play" with this guy much more than the original encounter.
I'm also going to stick the "ogre spirits" in as well for some neat little foreshadowing.
This has been a most excellent adventure Ed, can't wait for 1B.
Ed Cha
Community Supporter
Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying the book and getting a lot of use out of it. The next book "World of Whitethorn 1B: The Village of Oester" is currently in layout and should go to the printer soon. It will be available in stores in the next few weeks.
Again, I really like the way you've adapted "World of Whitethorn 1A: The Hamlet of Thumble" into your campaign. You've managed to capture the spirit of the NPCs very well and yet add a lot of your own innovations such as adjusting the Balrin scheme and adding the very cool hoar fox encounter.
I get so annoyed when people imply that using pre-written adventures is somehow lazy or not creative. It takes a lot of work and creativity to do it RIGHT! The "World of Whitethorn" series makes it easier for GMs because there is so much detail. However, this level of detail, I believe, only enhances the GM's ability to be even more creative and expand upon ideas in even greater detail to establish a living and breathing world of personalities and plots.
Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to see how you handle the ogre spirits! Keep us posted.
Again, I really like the way you've adapted "World of Whitethorn 1A: The Hamlet of Thumble" into your campaign. You've managed to capture the spirit of the NPCs very well and yet add a lot of your own innovations such as adjusting the Balrin scheme and adding the very cool hoar fox encounter.
I get so annoyed when people imply that using pre-written adventures is somehow lazy or not creative. It takes a lot of work and creativity to do it RIGHT! The "World of Whitethorn" series makes it easier for GMs because there is so much detail. However, this level of detail, I believe, only enhances the GM's ability to be even more creative and expand upon ideas in even greater detail to establish a living and breathing world of personalities and plots.
Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to see how you handle the ogre spirits! Keep us posted.
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Hairy Minotaur
Explorer
Rebrey, Tharhack, and Xanoniel are led by Opee up the main road. The crowd in front of them stops. The party sees what appears to be a halfling on top of the well, as they get nearer to the crowd and well however, they see that it's really a very tall human with a long gray beard. The beard falls down to the man's waist which is still higher than the tallest of halflings standing between the party and the man.
"Balrin I presume." Tharhack asks Opee while pointing at the tall man
"Yes, Oh you should've have seen him pull coins from the ears of the children. They do love his show." Opee answers
"Well, he must be some kind of wizard to be that tall. Amazing" Xanoniel remarks
Alriand runs up to Roplin's former house and disappears behind it. She makes her way to the shed and uncovers the treasure chest. Opening it she finds all the gold untouched as just as pretty as she left it. Alriand strains to pull it free from it's tomb, she manages to get it out of the hole, but she realizes she'll never be able to carry it anywhere as it's just too heavy. She kicks the chest a couple of times but that only results in her jamming a toe. She then starts scooping out the gold and loading her backpack up with gold. Filling half of her backpack up, Alriand then reburies the chest. Hiding it even better than it was before, Alriand throws the now weighted backpack over her shoulder and starts down the road towards the well.
The rest of the party watches the magic show intently, Balrin seems to be able to do all kinds of card tricks and sleight of hand tricks. The halflings, especially the children, ooh and ahh and clap heartedly after every trick. Unimpressed and bored with the show, Rebrey makes his way around the crowd and heads to Perythea's house. Opee brings Xanoniel some rhubarb and strawberries, freshly picked this morning. Xanoniel dives in getting her hands and mouth red stained and sticky. Tharhack makes his way over to Opee.
"Excuse me, but is there a shrine or a small holy place where you worship at?" Tharhack's question takes Opee aback.
"Well, er yes there is. Why do you seek it?" Opee responds
"I need to find consecrated ground, in lieu of my own deity's temple this while have to work. I must seek his advice on a matter." Tharhack answers
"Well, ok, if you go up to the well, then face due east, and start walking you will eventually come to our shrine of Penella." Opee says
"Thank you." Tharhack starts off
"But please leave it as you found it. I fear it is far too small for you to fit in." Opee pleads
"I promise not to go inside, the ground it stands on is all the room I'll need." Tharhack answers as he's walking away from Opee.
Rebrey passes Alriand coming the other direction and gives her a nod as he walks up Perythea's path and knocks on the door. One of the children answer and Rebrey asks to see Perythea. She comes to the door still holding Lalee.
"Thank you so much, I'll never be able to repay you." Perythea says choking back tears.
"Thanks, is all the repay I'll need ma'am. Just doing what's right. By the way, we found this doll with the kobolds as well." Rebrey holds it out for Perythea, but Lalee reaches for it. Rebrey hands it Lalee who snuggles with it on her mother's shoulder. Rebrey asks how Lalee is doing and if there's anything else he can do for her. Perythea declines, and Rebrey gives her a smile and takes leave of her.
Rebrey gets to the end of the path, and is flagged down by the same son as before.
"Mister hero, I have a message for you from Raziel." The boy says in almost a monotone.
"I don't believe I've met the Raziel before. What's the message?" Rebrey asks
"Come closer, I have to whisper it." The boy motions for Rebrey to bend down. The boy puts his hand up to his mouth, and blows yellow dust into the face of Rebrey.
Choking and gagging Rebrey falls to the ground. He tries to reach for the child but the blurred vision from the dust in his eyes makes it difficult for him to see much of anything.
"Tell your tree swinger that this little hex is only the beginning. I will torment her for the rest of her days." The voice was an elderly woman's but Rebrey was sure it came for the direction the child had been standing.
Rebrey manages to vomit, which clears his throat and enables him to breathe again. He rubs and wipes his eyes the bast he can, and finally is able to see the young boy laying unconscious in the street. Rebrey staggers over to the boy and checks him for breathing. Finding the boy still breathing, Rebrey sits on the road next to the boy and tries to tear up enough to wipe the burning sand like powder from his eyes.
"Balrin I presume." Tharhack asks Opee while pointing at the tall man
"Yes, Oh you should've have seen him pull coins from the ears of the children. They do love his show." Opee answers
"Well, he must be some kind of wizard to be that tall. Amazing" Xanoniel remarks
Alriand runs up to Roplin's former house and disappears behind it. She makes her way to the shed and uncovers the treasure chest. Opening it she finds all the gold untouched as just as pretty as she left it. Alriand strains to pull it free from it's tomb, she manages to get it out of the hole, but she realizes she'll never be able to carry it anywhere as it's just too heavy. She kicks the chest a couple of times but that only results in her jamming a toe. She then starts scooping out the gold and loading her backpack up with gold. Filling half of her backpack up, Alriand then reburies the chest. Hiding it even better than it was before, Alriand throws the now weighted backpack over her shoulder and starts down the road towards the well.
The rest of the party watches the magic show intently, Balrin seems to be able to do all kinds of card tricks and sleight of hand tricks. The halflings, especially the children, ooh and ahh and clap heartedly after every trick. Unimpressed and bored with the show, Rebrey makes his way around the crowd and heads to Perythea's house. Opee brings Xanoniel some rhubarb and strawberries, freshly picked this morning. Xanoniel dives in getting her hands and mouth red stained and sticky. Tharhack makes his way over to Opee.
"Excuse me, but is there a shrine or a small holy place where you worship at?" Tharhack's question takes Opee aback.
"Well, er yes there is. Why do you seek it?" Opee responds
"I need to find consecrated ground, in lieu of my own deity's temple this while have to work. I must seek his advice on a matter." Tharhack answers
"Well, ok, if you go up to the well, then face due east, and start walking you will eventually come to our shrine of Penella." Opee says
"Thank you." Tharhack starts off
"But please leave it as you found it. I fear it is far too small for you to fit in." Opee pleads
"I promise not to go inside, the ground it stands on is all the room I'll need." Tharhack answers as he's walking away from Opee.
Rebrey passes Alriand coming the other direction and gives her a nod as he walks up Perythea's path and knocks on the door. One of the children answer and Rebrey asks to see Perythea. She comes to the door still holding Lalee.
"Thank you so much, I'll never be able to repay you." Perythea says choking back tears.
"Thanks, is all the repay I'll need ma'am. Just doing what's right. By the way, we found this doll with the kobolds as well." Rebrey holds it out for Perythea, but Lalee reaches for it. Rebrey hands it Lalee who snuggles with it on her mother's shoulder. Rebrey asks how Lalee is doing and if there's anything else he can do for her. Perythea declines, and Rebrey gives her a smile and takes leave of her.
Rebrey gets to the end of the path, and is flagged down by the same son as before.
"Mister hero, I have a message for you from Raziel." The boy says in almost a monotone.
"I don't believe I've met the Raziel before. What's the message?" Rebrey asks
"Come closer, I have to whisper it." The boy motions for Rebrey to bend down. The boy puts his hand up to his mouth, and blows yellow dust into the face of Rebrey.
Choking and gagging Rebrey falls to the ground. He tries to reach for the child but the blurred vision from the dust in his eyes makes it difficult for him to see much of anything.
"Tell your tree swinger that this little hex is only the beginning. I will torment her for the rest of her days." The voice was an elderly woman's but Rebrey was sure it came for the direction the child had been standing.
Rebrey manages to vomit, which clears his throat and enables him to breathe again. He rubs and wipes his eyes the bast he can, and finally is able to see the young boy laying unconscious in the street. Rebrey staggers over to the boy and checks him for breathing. Finding the boy still breathing, Rebrey sits on the road next to the boy and tries to tear up enough to wipe the burning sand like powder from his eyes.
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