The Band of Four (The Village of Oester)

[Hairy Minotaur]

Conceding to Daigren's assertion that the dead body was that of a kobold, Rillkep tells Wilby and another halfling standing nearby to pick up the thing and bring it back to the jailhouse. He then tells Tharhack, Bimbar, and Rebrey that they are not welcome to follow him. Turning his back to them he waves off the crowd telling them the situation is under control, and to please return to their day's work. Most of the men turn to leave, but a lot of the children stay to admire Tharhack and to hear him retell his story of how he beat back the beast. Making sure to embellish it more and more as he retells the story Tharhack is more than please to tell the children. With most of the women waiting around to tell their children to hurry along. Rebrey notices that Rillkep didn't make it very far towards the jailhouse, as he seems to be in a heated argument with a halfling women a block south of the well. Rebrey walks around behind a house near the intersection to try and hear what the conversation is about. He's able to make out that the woman has lost someone or something, and is upset that Rillkep has yet to find it. The woman leaves Rillkep standing on the road as she runs off back to the North past the well, and into a house on the corner of the next block. Looking back at Rillkep, Rebrey watches him shuffle along head down towards the jailhouse. Rebrey returns to the well as the last of the crowd is breaking up around Tharhack. Rebrey tells Bimbar that he'll have to go talk to the halfling girl Cora by himself as Rebrey wants to check on something else first, and if he gets done with that then he'll meet Bimbar at Cora's house. Tharhack asks to come along with Bimbar to meet Cora, and Bimbar agrees.

Sprinting along the riverbank Alriand makes her way north towards the last house in the Hamlet. After watching Bimbar, Rebrey, and Tharhack break up she hurries along river's edge. She reaches her goal, the last house, and circles around to the North away from the Hamlet. Creeping up to the only north facing window Alriand peers inside and sees no movement. Listening she hears someone in an adjacent room rummaging through some drawers and cursing aloud. Alriand makes her way to the front door and places a gold piece on the porch next to the door. She then moves to the shed, dropping a gold piece every 8 to 10 feet along the way. Once she reaches the shed she looks back to the house to make sure she wasn't followed, then begins clearing off the dirt and debris from the hiding place of the chest she'd found last night. Digging the chest up she leaves it alone to sit in the shallow hole. She then hears the front door open and she rolls herself over to the far side of the shed staying low to the ground in a small patch of tall grass. A halfling emerges from the house and walks off in a northeasterly direction towards a small group of trees about 200 yards away. Alriand then watches as he meets a tall man, probably human, although Alriand cannot tell from this distance. The tall man appears to be in armor though as his head is pointed and she cannot see any outline of hair. They talk for about ten minutes before the halfling makes his way back to the house. The tall man however slips away unnoticed by Alriand. The halfling climbs the couple of steps up his porch and stops suddenly, noticing the gold piece he bends down to pick it up, and gives out a loud shout. Alriand then puts her plan into motion.

 

[Ed Cha]

That works for me.

This has been one of the best experiences of my DM career. Of course by next year The Village of Oester will be out. I could run that and you can stop by and play the succubus?

Glad you are enjoying it and thanks again for the compliment!

I'll play the demon seductress, but I WON'T be wearing a wet t-shirt, okay.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Rebrey comes up to the house of the halfling woman he followed, the smell of wildflowers fills the air. Rebrey thinks that this house is the only house he's seen and the only house he can see that has a garden in the front of it. He walks up the path and to the door. Before he knocks though he tries to listen at the door, hearing the voices of children, and unable to make anything intelligible out, he knocks on the door. A middle-aged plain looking halfling woman answers. Rebrey notices she's been crying, eyes are bloodshot, cheeks flushed, and there's even a wet trail down the right side of her face from a tear. She tells him she's sorry but she has not baked any pies, and to please call again tomorrow. The face of a small child peeks out from around the waist of the woman and peers up at Rebrey. Rebrey tells her he saw her argument with Rillkep, and would like to offer his assistance in finding whatever of hers that's been lost. The halfling looks into Rebrey's eyes for a second before succumbing to tears and dropping to her knees, the child standing next to her gives a hug and then tells Rebrey that Lalee is missing, and they can't find her. Rebrey asks who Lalee is, the child says that's his sister. The halfling woman sobs harder, Rebrey picks her up off the floor and brings her inside to the dining table. He fills a glass with water and sets it down in front of her. He kneels next to her and asks if he can ask her some questions, she doesn't have to talk she can just nod her head yes or no. The woman agrees, Rebrey asks if Lalee is missing, The woman nods yes. Rebrey asks if Lalee is her daughter, the woman nods yes again. Rebrey asks if she can hold up how many fingers for how many days she's been missing, woman holds up a single finger. Rebrey asks if she told Rillkep about Lalee, the woman nods yes. Rebrey asks if he can see the place where she thinks Lalee was last known to be. The woman nods yes, and gets up and leads Rebrey into a small room with a single crib. The cribs stands against a wall adjacent the only window in the room. Rebrey walks into the room, not knowing what he's looking for, he checks out the crib, then checks out the window. Reaching the window, Rebrey notices there are scratches or maybe claw marks along the base of the window and a couple of inches below the window as well. Rebrey opens the window and notices the same marks on the outside of the house. "It's the yappies, I know it, but he won't even go looking for her." The woman cries from behind Rebrey. Rebrey tells her he will find her child, and gives her a hug before leaving. Rebrey walks outside and starts to make his way back to the well, when a child comes running out from the house and stops him. The child asks if Rebrey is really going to find his sister. Rebrey assures him that he will. The child asks if maybe Rebrey can find the witch who keeps coming to his dreams. Rebrey asks why he thinks he needs help from his nightmares. The child says that the ugly witch keeps asking him what the hamlet is doing about the yappies problem. This last statement strikes Rebrey as very odd. He asks the child's name, and the name of his mother. The child says his name is Arthur and his mom's name is Perythea, Arthur asks that Rebrey hurry as his mom didn't make any pies yesterday, and he misses his mom's pies very much. Rebrey tells Arthur that the next time he sees him he'll have Lalee with him.

Bimbar comes up to Cora's house and sees a family of three. He walks up to the father and asks for permission to speak with his daughter. The man ushers his wife and a little girl into the house, then asks what business Bimbar has with her. Bimbar says he understands that Cora has told some people she found where the "yappies" live, and he'd like to ask her about that. The father tells Bimbar that Cora has told Rillkep all she knows about that and all it's caused is grief to his daughter. Bimbar tells him that with all due respect Rillkep apparently doesn't want to investigate Cora's claims, Bimbar explains that's irresponsible. Bimbar tells the man that if he believes that his daughter is telling the truth then it's his duty to ride the back of Rillkep until he investigates those claims. Bimbar then explains that all he's trying to do is help Rillkep back investigating these claims himself. If Cora is mistaken then he has nothing to worry about, if she's telling the truth then she's saved the whole town. Evengard thinks about Bimbar words for a moment, then nods and motions Bimbar to follow him into his house.

 

[Ed Cha]

Have you seen my new avatar? It's the demon seductress I was talking to you about. I'll show the cover with her on it very soon in the Publishers Forum.

Rebrey seems like a character that actually has shown some sympathy among the PCs. I'd be curious to know how his interaction continues to develop within the hamlet.

It sounds like Bimbar's investigation is putting the party on track for the adventure soon. Please tell me how p. 29 goes. There is always something surprising that happens there. One player at Gen Con had a very fun and creative solution for getting out of that little conundrum! That was a great game.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Have you seen my new avatar? It's the demon seductress I was talking to you about. I'll show the cover with her on it very soon in the Publishers Forum.

Rebrey seems like a character that actually has shown some sympathy among the PCs. I'd be curious to know how his interaction continues to develop within the hamlet.

It sounds like Bimbar's investigation is putting the party on track for the adventure soon. Please tell me how p. 29 goes. There is always something surprising that happens there. One player at Gen Con had a very fun and creative solution for getting out of that little conundrum! That was a great game.

I love your new avatar that's great. Who did the art?

Yep things are starting to move along now, and yes I am excitedly awaiting that encounter

 

[Ed Cha]

I love your new avatar that's great. Who did the art?

Yep things are starting to move along now, and yes I am excitedly awaiting that encounter

Storn Cook did it! He really captured her very well and it is already one of my favorite RPG pics.

I've attached an interior picture that is in sketch right now for this being:

http://www.openworldpress.com/1b.html

You seem to do an excellent job handling separate encounters for your group. I try to recommend not doing this as it can be a challenging task and cause a diversion of interests for the party. How do you manage to do this so well during your games? Do you take players aside each time or do you play it out in front of the entire group?

I've also posted some links to tips on DMing and playing in an evil campaign here at the Web site:

http://www.openworldpress.com

You might find those articles interesting for your particular game.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Storn Cook did it! He really captured her very well and it is already one of my favorite RPG pics.

I've attached an interior picture that is in sketch right now for this being:

http://www.openworldpress.com/1b.html

You seem to do an excellent job handling separate encounters for your group. I try to recommend not doing this as it can be a challenging task and cause a diversion of interests for the party. How do you manage to do this so well during your games? Do you take players aside each time or do you play it out in front of the entire group?

I've also posted some links to tips on DMing and playing in an evil campaign here at the Web site:

http://www.openworldpress.com

You might find those articles interesting for your particular game.

Assistant DM!!
I have a guy who I DM in a high level campaign help out. It works out great for both of us. Everyone gets to play their part and the asst. DM gets to learn on the job slowly (he does the store bought modules good, but if the part deviates from the path, he has difficulty keeping it together. This way the pressure is off him and he can come to me with any questions. Hopefully once this campaign gets into the mid-levels he'll be confident and I'll get the chance to play a character again.)

I did look at those tips and they were a help, as were the tips found at the back of The Hamlet of Thumble. Are you keeping/adding those into The Village of Oester?

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

The halfling runs over to his shed and throws off the wood and dirt covering the chest. Throwing open the top, Alriand hears the halfling scream "thief!" and covers up his chest again. Alriand watches as the halfling man storms off to the South in a half-jog half-limp. She waits until he's passing the well, then gets up and runs to his front door. Finding the door locked, she whips out her lockpicks and goes to work on the lock. After two tries she gets it open. Running through the house until she finds the bedroom, she opens the bottom drawer on the dresser. She places the knife she got from the halfling she killed under the clothes in the drawer. She then leaves the house the same way she got in, dropping gold pieces from the halfling's treasure cache all along her path. Reaching the front door, Alriand then takes a left and heads to the river bank, then heads south along the bank until she reaches the mid point of the field south of the halfling's house. Taking out a ration she sits down on the grass and proceeds to watch the show about to unfold.
Bimbar is led through Evengard's house to his daughter Cora's room. With Evengard standing by, Bimbar questions Cora about the location of the "yappies" home, how she found it, and about how long it would take someone to reach this place. Cora tells Bimbar that she can lead him there. Her father immediately protests and tells her he's not letting her do that, it's far too dangerous. With a good mental map in hand, Bimbar takes his leave of Cora and Evengard and goes to round up the troops. He gathers Rebrey and Tharhack, who decided some rest and prayer was needed this morning, Bimbar tells them of his conversation with Cora. Rebrey tells them of the missing child, to which Tharhack is very concerned about and demands to leave immediately. The trio agree and set out to collect the fourth member of the team.
After searching for an hour they find Alriand sitting in a field on the northside of town. Alriand resists going initially, claiming she entering her resting time and would need at least another hour before she was ready to go. The men decide to leave her there and after getting halfway to the bridge over the river, Alriand curses and gets up to follow them. Just as they reach the bridge they see Rillkep and another halfling exit the jailhouse with the other halfling continuously waving Rillkep to keep up with him as he heads back north through the town. Reaching the bridge Bimbar asks the guards for his weapon and shield back, as he's off to end the "yappy" threat Denbel explains that they misplaced it, but assures Bimbar that they'll find it for him tonight, and it'll be there for him in the morning. Sighing Bimbar tells the guards that if the "yappies" get by him because he's weaponless, he hopes that the guards are armed well enough to protect the Hamlet. The guards stare at each other as the party heads off over the bridge.
Reaching the other side they head north along the river's edge for about half a mile and then head into the woods. After trudging about for two hours they hear guttural sounds coming for somewhere to the right of their locations, they also hear what seems to be voice speaking in common, coming from the same direction. Conferring with each other the party decides to ignore the sounds and continue on their present course. As midday approaches the party stops for lunch, Alriand decides to go and climb a tree to get a better look of the forrest in the direction they are heading. After walking for about ten minutes she comes up on a wretched old woman picking through a bush looking for berries. Alriand freezes and hides behind a tree, watching the woman until she's sure the woman didn't see her. Alriand silently makes her way to behind the woman. Placing her dagger at the back of the woman's neck Alriand clenches the pommel tighter, but just before she's about to strike the woman begins to turn and look behind her. The visage on the woman's face startles Alriand and she misses the woman's neck. The woman lifts her staff above her head and tells Alriand to stay back or she'll curse her. Alriand beats her to it and gives the woman some choice curses of her own before slashing out and cutting into the woman's left shoulder. Screeching the woman begins to shrink, her skin turns black and as she's shrinking her irises grow bigger. Her arms turn into wings and her mouth forms a beak. Suddenly there is a small black bird standing where the old woman just was. Flapping it's wings it takes flight. Alriand wings her dagger at it as it rises over her head and manages to clip a wing. Flapping in obvious pain the bird is unable to gain any more height and takes off to the North only five feet off the ground. Alriand tries to throw another dagger but as she's pulling it out of her belt, her grip loosens and she ends up flinging it behind her and into a tree. The bird uses this chance to double time it away from Alriand, and into the cover of the woods.

 

[Hairy Minotaur]

Upset that another creature survived her attack, Alriand with draw her misfired blade from the tree behind her and returned to camp. Arriving at the camp as the men are getting ready to head on. Bimbar asks if she saw anything of interest ahead of them, replying that there's nothing but trees as far as you can see, Alriand starts off into the woods first. She gets two steps in before a twig snaps behind the group, and a couple of birds take flight from a tree in the direction of the sound. In unison the party draw their weapons and take defensive stances. Alriand watches the birds closely as they fly off to the East, while the rest of the party fan out and watch the foliage in front of them, and listening for any other sounds to come from the bushes. They hear steps coming towards them, Alriand not wanting to see the old woman or the shapechanging halfling again, fires off a preemptive strike with a dagger. It whizzes into a bush and lands somewhere in the middle of it's tangle of branches and leaves. Tharhack upset with Alriand's cowardice, strides forward into the brush. The rest of the party hears Tharhack stomp around and swat away some branches but still no appearance by anyone or anything. After a few tense moments of complete silence, Bimbar calls out for Tharhack but hears no response. Alriand looks around for a nearby tree to climb, spots one and makes her way over to it. Then Tharhack's voice booms from the brush telling Bimbar that he's found the culprit, stepping back into sight Tharhack holds a small halfling child in his arms. Bimbar recognizes it as Cora. Cora tells Bimbar that she knew he'd mess the directions up and get lost, so she came out to lead "big nose" to the "yappies" home. Realizing that he's going to catch hell for this he asks what the other members of the party think they should do with Cora. Tharhack and Rebrey feel that she needs to be taken back to her home before they press on, Alriand advises that they just leave her here. She obviously can find her way around the woods without their help, and it's not their fault she walked out here. Bimbar considers all the replies and states that he wants to get to the kobold home as soon as possible, and at this point the fastest way to do that is going to be allowing Cora to lead them there. Tharhack and Alriand groan and moan about that decision for their individual reasons. Rebrey gets behind Bimbar's decision reminding the group about the halfling infant that's missing, Alriand argues that he can't even prove the kobolds have the baby. Rebrey tells her that he knows what he saw and he will prove his hunch correct once they arrive at the kobold's place. Tharhack says if Cora is coming along then he wishes to carry her and be her protector, not missing another opportunity to flex to emphasize his point.

Walking another hour Cora tells Tharhack that the "yappies" home is real close. Alriand scouts ahead, and comes back a couple minutes later confirming that there is a small mound ahead. Bimbar asks if she made a check of the perimeter for any kobolds. Alriand says no, and heads off to go do that. Bimbar asks Cora when was the last time she was here. Cora answers two days ago, Bimbar asks her is she saw any of the "yappies" coming and going from their house. Cora says she saw four of them, they left in that direction (pointing to the North). They wait for Alriand to come back, she states that there are no kobolds within fifty feet around the mound. Bimbar checks the position of the sun and surmises that they probably have about four more hours of sunlight, and since the kobolds seem to be most active at night, they had better get in, and get in deep before the kobolds know what hit them. The party agrees, and they head toward to mound. Tharhack stops Rebrey and asks him if he would like to receive a blessing from Kord to help with the coming battle. Rebrey asks what that means. Tharhack tells him he would like to cast Aid on Rebrey for the coming battle. Rebrey agrees and Tharhack casts the spell and happily flexes afterward.

 

[Ed Cha]

An assistant DM! Where can I get one of those? You're so lucky!

I'm not sure if I'm going to continue including GM Tips at the back of each product. I want to, but I always seem to run out of space. I'm going to try to make the margins and font size a little larger this time to accomodate people who thought the text was too densely packed in for The Hamlet of Thumble.

I like how you've portrayed Cora, but remember she turns out to be quite strong-willed and feisty when she has to and yet deeply tied to the tranquility of the forest culture.

The players better watch out for Raziel. She's got some tricks up her sleeve. They should also remember GMs are encouraged to have NPCs progress in level on subsequent visits in any World of Whitethorn adventure setting.

I really love this Alriand character and Tharhack cracks me up! Great stuff here. It's making me really look forward to re-starting my game in early October. I'll also be running a demo game at Neutral Ground next Wednesday using The Hamlet of Thumble, so that should be fun, too.