Three Hundred Years - updated 09.02.2003

[carpedavid]

Introduction:

Three Hundred Years is a campaign set during the 300-year war between the Empire of Avengard and the Empire of Terrel on the world of Trinis. The story begins shortly before Avengard invades Terrel and should take the characters (and their descendants) through the most tumultuous years in Trinidic history.

The characters are all Terrelian nationals or are from lands allied with Terrel, and, shortly after the campaign begins, are conscripted into the Terrelian army. They are given officer's ranks due to their skills, and, when the logs begin, have taken over two Avengardan airships.

Cast (in order of appearance):

Nym - A valley elf fighter/wizard who is eager to find adventure, but not to join the army.

Laurel - A wood elf ranger/rogue from the wood elven territories of the great forest, Thra Fez. She has come to Terrel to find adventure.

Erendil - A valley elf archer who is eager to defend his country from the terrible Avengardan Empire.

Danklar - A human priest of Dominus, the sun god, who initially joined the party to help reclaim an abandoned Dominisian temple from undead. After the war broke out, his priorities changed, and he stayed with the party to help defeat Avengard.

Shoji - A half-elven monk from the oriental country of Fang Yo. He was wandering the world in a quest to improve himself, and saw the war as a great opportunity to practice his martial skills.

Taminnyd - A human wizard whose guild was destroyed by advancing Avengardan forces. He has vowed revenge against those who killed his guildmaster.

Scarlet - A human barbarian from the Nettle Woods who was hired by Taminnyd to defend him.

Dew - An elven Terrelian fighter who enlisted in the Terrelian army in an effort to defend her homeland.

Wrayce - A druid encountered by the party as they adventure through the Nettle Woods. He joins the party initially to help them defend the woodlands, and then decides to keep their company permanently.

Quara - A female human archer who has grown up in the Terrelian army. She is assigned to accompany the group on their newest quest.

The World of Trinis
You can learn more about the world of Trinis by visiting the campaign website at: http://www.thehumanproject.org/trinis.

 

[carpedavid]

9.28.02 - Session 1, Part 1

After having salvaged what they can from the Red Dragon, Laurel, Nym, Erendil, Shoji, and Danklar begin flying the captured Unicorn and Displacer Beast back to New Charleston. Danklar captains the Unicorn with Avengardan prisoners tied up in the keep, and Laurel pilots the Displacer Beast with the remaining Terrelian troops.

As they fly through the dark night, the firestorm on the horizon creeps closer, the sound of thunder rolling through the air. Nym keeps looking though the spyglass at the horrific battle. As far as he can see, Avengardan and Terrelian airships bombard each other with fireballs, lightning bolts, and ballistae. The Avengardans are pushing the unprepared Terrelians back at an alarming rate. Within a week, the front will reach the Nettle Wood. Within two, it could reach the capital.

As the group solemnly watches the fighting in the distance, a Terrelian command ship appears out of the darkness. "Halt!" booms a voice across the shadowed gap between them, "Stop your ships and prepare to be boarded." Laurel struggles to control the air spirit bound into the Displacer Beast. Before today, she had never piloted an airship, and it takes all of her concentration to bring the ship to a stuttering halt. The command ship nimbly pulls alongside and a heavily armored human man whose insignia identifies him as an admiral, steps off the deck and gracefully floats over. A small squadron of soldiers, who all have their weapons drawn, follows closely behind him.

"Who is the commander of this ship?" the admiral demands as he lands on the deck of the Displacer Beast.

Shoji looks around at his companions, hoping that one of them will volunteer. Erendil takes a step backward and looks at his shoes. While technically the captain, Laurel is busy keeping the ship steady. Nym is nowhere to be seen. "I guess I am," Shoji steps forward and salutes.

"Why are you flying Terrelian flags on an Avengardan ship?" the admiral hisses.

"Uh, well, we captured them after they attacked our troop transport, the Red Dragon," Shoji offers hesitantly.

"Really," the admiral's stare drills into Shoji's head, "Then where is the Red Dragon?"

"Um, well, sir, you see, we had to scuttle it and use its parts to repair these two ships. It wasn't airworthy anymore," Shoji replies.

"Hmm." The admiral considers this for a moment, and then his countenance relaxes. "You've done well," he says as he looks around at the group of adventurers, "These ships may be very valuable to us in the future." After pausing for a moment to think, he asks, "Do you have any standing orders?"

"No," replies Shoji

The admiral nods his head. "Very good, then," he says as he motions to one of his guard. The soldier turns and flies to the command ship, then returns a moment later with a large silver scroll tube. "You'll take these orders to the ground commander at New Charleston," the admiral instructs as the guard hands the tube to Shoji. "We can't trust magical communications not to be intercepted, so you'll save me a great deal of time," he says, looking pleased for the first time.

"We will do our best, sir," says Shoji.

"Go with Dominus' grace," the admiral smiles. He turns to his guard, and flies back to the command ship. After a moment, the HMS Intrepid pulls away, and the Displacer Best and the Unicorn resume flying though the inky darkness.

More to come...

 

[carpedavid]

9.28.02 - Session 1, Part 2

Taminnyd entered New Charleston under the cover of darkness. The advancing Avengardan forces had attacked the wizard's guild of which he had been a member, killed his guild master, and stole the guild master's spell book. He had barely escaped in the ensuing chaos, and was frightened for his life. After hiding in a barn until daylight, he hitched a ride with a fleeing farmer, and arrived in the frontier town several hours after sundown.

The Terrelian army was busy fortifying the town - digging trenches, building watchtowers, and erecting a defensible wall. The merchants were busy boarding up their shops, and most of the inns had closed down, despite the influx of refugees from the surrounding countryside. After much looking around, Taminnyd finds the only open inn in town - the Golden Centaur.

At the same time that Taminnyd is on his flight to New Charleston, Scarlet notices the firestorm far on the horizon. Having made her home deep in the Nettle Woods, she hears little news from the civilized world, so she sets off toward New Charleston to find out what's going on.

Upon arriving, she sees a town in chaos - the military is fortifying the town, shopkeepers are boarding up, and the residents are in a panic. Finding the only open inn, she asks the barkeep about what is happening in the north.

"The evil Avengardans have invaded us," the obviously frightened man replies, "They caught us with our pants down, and they've been pushing our navy back at an alarming rate. You had to have seen the army fortifying the town - it looks like they're going to try to make a stand here." Scarlet pays the man for a drink, while she tries to decide what this means to her.

Taminnyd noticed the wild looking woman enter the Golden Centaur - she was the only person that looked unworried, and she had a bastard sword strapped to her back. While he considered himself well versed in the magical arts, he knew that his martial skills were sorely lacking. He needed someone who was good with a blade if he was going to find those that killed his guild master, and the wild woman looked like a good choice.

"Excuse me," Taminnyd says as he taps Scarlet on the shoulder, "I was wondering if your services were for sale?"

Scarlet looks at Taminnyd suspiciously, "What kind of services did you have in mind?"

"The Avengardans destroyed my guild, killed my guild master, and stole his spell book. I need a bodyguard, and I saw the blade on your back."

"Oh," Scarlet relaxes, then says with a smile, "what kind of compensation are you offering?"

The Displacer Beast and the Unicorn cause quite a commotion as they fly into New Charleston. The sight of Avengardan ships near the town is compounded by the erratic nature of Laurel's improvisational piloting, though after the party sets the ships down and tosses out mooring ropes, the soldiers manning the airship docks quickly determine that they are not faced with an invading force.

As they disembark, the dock commander meets the party. Shoji holds out the scroll case to him, "We're here to deliver these orders."

"Who are these orders to be delivered to?" the dock commander inquires.

Obviously not you, Shoji thinks as he discretely withdraws the scroll case. "Um, they’re supposed to go to the commander of the troops here."

"Oh!" the dock commander snaps to attention. "I'll show you to General Talvyn right away," he stutters, and, without waiting for a response, begins walking quickly through the dockyard. The stomach flu that Nym has been suffering from begins acting back up and he returns to the ship. Laurel, Erendil, Shoji, and Danklar sprint after the dock commander, dodging horses, carts, and people as they wind their way through the worried throngs of refugees, residents, merchants, and soldiers. He leads them to the town green, where a complex of military command tents has been erected, and, after speaking briefly to a guard, ushers them into a large tent.

Hunched over a large table that is covered by several inches of parchment, papers, and scrolls is a slender but powerful human man clad in chainmail. He looks up at the group entering his tent, irritation evident in his expression.

"General Talvyn, sir," the dock commander says as he salutes.

"Yes, lieutenant?" he sighs, an air of resignation evident in his voice.

"Orders from the front, sir."

"Oh. Very well, bring them here," he sighs again as he resumes studying a map. The dock commander looks over at Shoji excitedly, and, after rolling his eyes, Shoji walks over and hands the scroll to the general. Talvyn takes the scroll tube and opens it without looking up. "Hrmmm. Yes…yes… ah, good," he mumbles whilst reading the scroll. Upon finishing, he looks back up at the party, and finally addresses them directly, "Do you have much magic among you?"

Shoji takes a mental stock of his companions, then replies, "No. Not really."

Talvyn grumbles, and then asks, "Do you need a new pilot?"

Laurel, who up until this point had been content to let Shoji deal with the military commanders, interjects, "Oh, absolutely!"

Talvyn looks slightly surprised, but continues, "Very well, then. I can spare you one pilot. But I cannot spare any wizards. There have been thousands of people fleeing here from the front, I'm sure that you can find a wizard among them. At any rate, your new orders are to find and recruit Brannaugh Proudclaw, the Keeper of the Beasts for the Nettle Woods."

"How do we find him?" Erendil asks.

"Look for bears - lots of bears," replies Talvyn, "Unfortunately, he's very hard to scry, so your best bet is to find someone familiar with his area of the woods." He turns back to studying his maps, and in a dismissive tone, says, "Report back here when you're finished. I'll have more for you to do."

The dock commander turns back to the party, and ushers them out. As they're leaving the tent, he says, "I noticed that your ship, the Unicorn, needs a lot of repairs. I can have some of my men work on it while you're gone, if you want to leave it here. I'm sure that the general will want your ships to be as airworthy as possible." The group agrees that this sounds like a good idea, and they bid farewell to the dock commander as they head into the town to find suitable candidates to join their party.

After having amicably settled matters of compensation, Scarlet and Taminnyd have kicked back and relaxed at the Golden Centaur, resting themselves in preparation for beginning their journey to find the man than destroyed Taminnyd's guild. They are in the middle of a mug of ale when they see a group of adventurers who are all wearing military insignia enter the inn. They watch as the pretty wood elf, the oriental monk, and the human cleric all head to the bar. The elf with the bow on his back begins to look around the room, staring at each person intently. After a moment, he walks up to their table.

"Greetings," Erendil says cheerfully as he looks at Scarlet and Taminnyd. "We're looking for people good with the magical arts."

Taminnyd groans inwardly, and surreptitiously slips a pinch of powdered lotus root out of his bag. As Scarlet replies, "I can assure you that I have no magical abilities," he quickly chants an arcane phrase under his breath.

Erendil's pupils dilate briefly as he feels an overwhelming sense of love and affection for Taminnyd well up inside his chest, but he shakes off the feeling a second later, and looks unhappily at Taminnyd. "Please don't do that," he says with a frown.

Taminnyd rolls his eyes, inwardly cursing the failed spell, but asks, out of a morbid curiosity, "Why, exactly, are you looking for a wizard?"

"We're seeking to defeat the evil Empire of Avengard, and defend our homeland. We need a wizard to assist us."

The mention of Avengard stirs Taminnyd's stomach. The memories of the massacre and his flight to New Charleston are still fresh in his mind. "Perhaps we could mutually aid each other," he offers.

"What do you have in mind?" asks Erendil.

"The advancing Avengardan forces destroyed my guild and killed my guild master. I wish to track down the man who was responsible for this and bring him to justice."

"I think we could assist you in that endeavor," Erendil replies earnestly.

"What kind of compensation are you offering," asks Scarlet, who is not terribly keen on becoming involved with people who have ties to the military.

"You would certainly be paid normal military wages," Erendil assures, "and anything you would need, we should be able to provide."

Taminnyd turns to Scarlet, and the two converse in whispers for a moment. "Ok," replies Taminnyd, "we'll join with you for now."

"Excellent," Erendil replies happily, "Do you need to retrieve anything before we set sail?"

Taminnyd looks at Scarlet, who shakes her head, "No, we can leave from here."

Erendil introduces the new companions to Laurel, Shoji, and Danklar, and then explains their current mission. Upon hearing the name of Brannaugh Proudclaw, Scarlet mentions that she is familiar with him, and could probably lead the party to the area of the forest that he normally inhabits. All agree that this sounds like their best bet, so they return to the ship to begin their journey as soon as possible.

When they return to the ship, they see two things. One, Nym is hanging over the rail, trying not to get sick on the soldiers hastily repairing the Displacer Beast. Two, a pretty young elven woman in a soldier's uniform is standing by the gangplank. She introduces herself as Dew, and hands over her orders to accompany the party. All readily welcome her, except for Taminnyd, who looks at her suspiciously, and asks, "What good are you to us?"

"I'm very good with a blade," she replies, unfazed.

"Hmm," Taminnyd grumbles, "We'll see."

As the party boards the ship and chooses sleeping quarters, they discover that the new pilot is already on board. Taminnyd asks him about the capabilities of the ship, and the young human man eagerly begins explaining every statistic available on the ship. Taminnyd immediately regrets his question, and walks away after a few minutes.

The mooring ropes are tossed off, and the ship lurches up into the air. The pilot places his hands on the command console and smoothly guides the ship up out of the dockyard and into the early dawn sky.

More to come...

 

[carpedavid]

9.28.02 - Session 1, Part 3

While most of the party members try to catch a few hours of sleep, Scarlet remains on deck, assisting the pilot in trying to navigate the Nettle Woods from the air. Never having been on board an airship before, Scarlet is a little bit frightened, a little bit excited, and a little bit frustrated. Many of the landmarks that she is familiar with look completely different or are hidden entirely from the air, so she has to rely more than she'd like on her instinct.

After a few hours of sailing east, though, she feels that they've arrived in the right place, and she goes below deck to wake her companions. They emerge rubbing their eyes and yawning, except for Nym, who is wracked with intestinal cramps, and chooses to stay below deck.

"Ok, I think we're here," Scarlet informs them, as the pilot takes the airship down to treetop level. Rope ladders are kicked off the side, and Scarlet, Taminnyd, Laurel, Shoji, Erendil, Danklar, and Dew climb down to the forest floor. The Nettle Woods take their name from the thick bramble and thorn bushes that dominate the underbrush, and the party finds movement in the area to be painful.

"Ok, now what?" asks Shoji.

Scarlet shrugs, "I told you I could get us to the general area he inhabits. I've never actually met him though, so I don't know where exactly to find him."

"Didn't the general say something about looking for bears?" Taminnyd suggests.

"Right," Laurel replies, "I'll look for bear tracks, everybody stay here." The group watches as she begins looking through the underbrush. As she searches, she moves in an ever-widening spiral, and after about an hour, finally finds telltale signs of bear activity. "I found tracks," she says as she returns to the group, "Follow me."

The early morning sun filters through the leaves as the forest wakes up. As the group follows the bear tracks, they see birds foraging for worms and squirrels scampering amongst the oak, maple, and pine trees. After an hour of slow movement through the woods, Laurel finds more tracks joining the first. As they continue, the number of tracks increases, until she finds over thirty different sets of tracks, all heading west. "I think we're getting close," she says quietly.

"What are we going to tell Proudclaw?" Taminnyd asks Shoji.

"What do you mean?" Shoji replies, confused.

"To get him to join the fight," Taminnyd says impatiently.

"Oh. I think we'll tell him that the woods are in danger. If Avengard defeats Terrel, they'll have no problem marching through here."

Taminnyd is less than pleased with Shoji's answer. "This man has no concern for the civilized world. We'll need to do better than that," he says in a dismissive tone, "perhaps you should think before you speak." As he moves away from Shoji to walk next to Scarlet, Shoji decides that he really doesn't like the new wizard.

"Wouldn't it be funny if we end up getting ambushed and eaten by bears?" Shoji quips, as Laurel notices that the tracks suddenly scatter in different directions. She stops, and looks at Shoji with a horrified expression. Around them, thirty very large brown bears suddenly emerge out of the brush and trees.

Taminnyd backs behind Scarlet and fumbles with his bag of spell components as the bears begin to move in closer. Suddenly, a short dwarven man steps out from behind one of the bears. He has a wild look about him, with twigs braided into his fiery red beard, and mud encrusting his brown leather armor and wooden shield, and double-headed battle-axe. Around his neck, though, he wears a braided circle of vines - the symbol for Shara, the goddess of nature.

"What ye be doin' in my woods?" the dwarf demands, eyeing the group suspiciously.

Shoji speaks for the group, "We're looking for Brannaugh Proudclaw."

"That'd be me," he replies, now eyeing the group even more suspiciously, "why're you lookin' fer me?"

As Shoji and Proudclaw speak, Laurel cautiously approaches the nearest bear. She moves slowly and deliberately, trying to demonstrate to the bear that she means no harm. It sniffs at her and then hangs it's head, allowing her to touch it. Laurel scratches it behind the ears, and it flops over contentedly.

Shoji continues, "We've been sent by the Terrelian army. Avengard has invaded Terrel, and the army needs your assistance."

"I got no use fer th' world o' men," he says grumpily, "Why should I be bothered t' go an' help 'em?"

"Well," Shoji thinks for a moment, and then replies sincerely, "The Avengardans want to see Terrel destroyed - all of it. They would have no compunction in burning down the Nettle Woods and killing off all of the animals here. Your bears would be killed off, I'm sure."

Proudclaw considers this before speaking, "Well, I can't have m' bears bein' hurt. When d' they need me?"

"As soon as possible," Shoji replies

"Well, I can't leave now, I got's somethin' I have t' finish 'fore I leave."

"What is it that you need done, perhaps we can help?" Taminnyd interjects.

"There be a group o' kobolds been huntin' my bears. They moved into an ol' forge up a ways. That's where I was headed when I met you."

"Well, we would be happy to help you," Taminnyd replies, "When we're done, we've got an airship that can take you back."

"An airship! I ain't gettin' on one o' them. My feet stay on th' ground." Proudclaw thinks for a moment, then continues, "Tell ya' what. You take 'care of th' kobolds, an' I'll go find your army."

Shoji, Erendil, and Taminnyd look at each other for confirmation, then shrug. "OK," they say in unison.

"Now, these ain't no ordinary kobolds," Proudclaw warns, "they's got magic an' a holy man with 'em. Ain't like no kobolds I ever seen."

Scarlet looks at her ward with concern, but Taminnyd responds, "That's fine, we'll have no trouble with them."

"Aright, then, Greatpaw here," he points at the bear whose belly Laurel is currently scratching, "will take you t' th' forge, but no further." He walks over to Greatpaw and scratches its head, then leads his other bears into the woods. As he disappears into the forest, Taminnyd and Scarlet notice the head of a gigantic bear emerge from the top of the trees. Taminnyd looks on in shock as the giant bear begins to head west, toward New Charleston.

He is startled out of his shock as Shoji says to him with mocking glee, "See! I told you it would work."

More to come...

------------------------------
Notes:

1. Brannaugh Proudclaw has several levels in a custom prestiege class, which can be found here: Keeper of the Beasts

 

[carpedavid]

9.28.02 - Session 1, Part 4

Laurel finishes petting Greatpaw, who lazily rolls onto his feet, and begins lumbering off into the woods. The party tromps after him, happy that his massive bulk serves to clear a convenient path through the underbrush. They wander for about twenty minutes, and then the bear stops in his tracks and begins to growl. Laurel sees two humanoid figures moving toward them through the trees. She steps in front of Greatpaw as she points out the figures to her companions.

As they draw their weapons, the party gets a closer look at the creatures. Their leathery skin is pulled taut over emaciated bodies, revealing naught but bone underneath. Their eyes are darkened hollows; their mouths, gaping maws, out of which pour swarms of flying insects. As the creatures move closer through the thorny underbrush, the swarms of insects that infest their bodies fill the air with a horrible buzzing.

Taminnyd moves behind Scarlet as he pulls a thin golden wand from his belt. Shoji moves up to the first of the creatures and delivers a blow to its midsection. To Shoji's horror, he pulls his hand back covered in flying spiders, which he hurriedly brushes off. Scarlet moves up to the other creature and slashes at it with her bastard sword. Her blade cuts deeply into its weathered flesh, but does not fell the creature.

Dew moves to flank the abomination of nature that Shoji is fighting, and her own blade deals damage to it. It ignores her attack, and swings at Shoji with a bony fist. The blow itself does little damage, but the swarm of insects infesting the creature's body pours out of its mouth and follows its fist. Shoji screams as he covered in thousands of bites, each of which immediately begins to swell and burn. He immediately feels his muscles seize and constrict as they are eaten away by the poison as it seeps into his body.

As the swarm returns to its shelter inside the creature, Taminnyd lets loose with a blast from his wand. Three golden bolts of light fly from its tip and slam into the creature Scarlet is fighting. Insects are blown clear from the blast, and the creature lets out an audible groan. It takes revenge by sending forth its own swarm, which engulfs Scarlet. She, too, feels the pain of a thousand burning needles as the spiders sink their fangs into her skin. Her sword drops noticeably as her body is weakened by the poison.

Scarlet falls back as arrows from Erendil's bow slam into the creature in front of her. Laurel moves up and fells the creature with a blow from the Oakenblade, a sword passed down through her family for over three thousand years. Shoji moves away as Dew continues her attack, narrowly missing as the creature dodges her blade. This time, the creature turns and hits her with its fist. The flying spiders swarm over her body, biting at any exposed skin. Unlike her companions, though, the only effect the poison has on her is to cement her resolve to destroy the unholy creature.

Dew never gets the chance to fulfill her desire, though, as golden bolts jump from Taminnyd's wand again, and blast the creature off of its feet. The insects inside the creature scatter to the winds, leaving an empty husk behind. A cry from behind startles her as Shoji stumbles, his body weakened further as the poison continues to eat away at him. A second cry from Scarlet follows, and a third as Laurel spots two more creatures lurching toward them.

This time, however, a man in green robes is slashing at one with his scimitar. "Die, you abominations," he screams, "leave this forest at once!" His blade slashes through the leathery hide of one creature, but is not enough to destroy it. The creature turns and hits him ineffectually, but the flying spiders engulf him, and he yelps as he is bitten.

Erendil moves through the brush to get a better position, and lets another arrow go, slamming into the creature attacking the stranger. Dew steps forward and slices at the creature just hit by the arrow. Her strike is powerful and slices the creature in twain, but not before she is swarmed by spiders again. Taminnyd uses his wand a third time, and damages the other creature as Laurel steps in and finishes it off. Once again, desiccated husks lie at the party's feet.

"Thank you for your help," gasps the stranger, fighting the pain of the poison eating away at his body.

"You're welcome," Laurel replies, "what were those things?"

"Abominations of nature," he replies, "other than that, I have no idea." Once he catches his breath, he continues, "What are you folks doing out here? And why do you have one of Proudclaw's bears?"

"We're here to defeat a group of kobolds that are hunting these bears," Taminnyd interjects. "We met with Proudclaw and are taking on this task for him."

"Oh," he nods his head, "I hadn't heard about that, but I'd be happy to help. I'm Wrayce. Where are you headed?"

The group introduces themselves to their new companion, and explains that Greatpaw was leading them toward an abandoned dwarven forge that has been adopted by the kobolds as their new stronghold. Wrayce offers to lead them to the forge, and the party accepts, inviting him back to the airship to heal before they assault the forge.

Laurel sadly scratches Greatpaw behind the ears, and tries to explain to him that he should get as far away from the area as possible. The giant brown bear nuzzles her for a few minutes and then lumbers off, crashing through the underbrush as he goes.

Now without a bear companion, the group returns to the airship. Nym is still hanging over the railing, and waves weakly to his companions as they climb the rope ladders to the ship. He notes with some amusement that the wizard seems to be having a hard time pulling himself up, and looks especially winded as he reaches the deck of the ship. He is also happy to hear that the bear was left behind. Bears equal bad, he thinks to himself while he watches the treetops grow smaller as the airship moves gently into the late afternoon sky.

More to come...

 

[carpedavid]

9.28.2002 - Session 1, Part 5

After much discussion, the party decides that they are too weak to assault the forge in their current condition, so they return to their quarters to nurse their wounds for the night. As the light of Dominus breaks over the eastern horizon, Wrayce and Danklar call upon the spirits and the gods to help heal their companions. Shoji, Scarlet, and Wrayce all have much of the damage done to their musculature by the spider poison restored.

After the whole of the party is up on deck, Wrayce directs the pilot toward the abandoned forge. The pilot keeps the ship low, coming within a few feet of the treetops as they sail along, until they come within view of the forge. A wooden wall, about twenty feet high, encircles the grounds of the forge, which forms a rectangle about eighty feet long by sixty feet wide. Four watchtowers stand at the cardinal points along the wall, and inside the wall are two small wooden buildings and a set of smokestacks, from which billow black clouds.

I wonder if we can use the ballista to take out those buildings, Taminnyd thinks to himself, but is disappointed to find that the way in which they are mounted prevents them from firing at a steep enough angle.

Erendil directs the pilot to bring the ship in low, just above the northern wall. As the ship gracefully descends, he, Shoji, and Wrayce all prepare to rappel down onto a narrow walkway that runs along the interior of the wooden wall. As soon as the ship pulls into position, the archer, the monk, and the druid/sorcerer jump off the side, their fall only slowed by a slender rope. Laurel, Dew, and Danklar are next to disembark, though they elect to use rope ladders instead. Scarlet and Taminnyd leave Nym on board, and climb down to meet their companions.

As the party surveys the scene, they are surprised as two large ogres poke their heads out of trap doors on the walkway. At the same time, the doors on the two wooden buildings open and four kobolds run out into the open yard. Great, Danklar thinks to himself, we get caught unprepared again.

One of the kobolds that exited the western building unravels a scroll, and begins to chant in a high-pitched, squeaky language that sounds like dogs barking. She finishes quickly and a ball of hellfire erupts in the middle of the ledge where all of the party members happen to be clustered. Laurel manages to dodge most of the blast, though everyone else takes the full brunt of the kobold sorcerer's fireball.

Erendil eyes the ogre closest to him, and becomes very worried when he begins shaking his battleaxe in a furious rage. The ogre's eyes dilate, and spittle flies from his mouth, then he plants his axe blade in Erendil's chest. Laurel is faced with the other raging ogre, but unlike her companion, manages to dodge its blade.

Shoji, Laurel, and Wrayce climb down from the wall to face the oncoming kobolds as Danklar calls upon the power of Dominus to silence the one that loosed the fireball. Scarlet pushes past Erendil as thoughts of blood and battle fill her head. Feeling herself gloriously loose control, she slashes at the ogre with her bastard sword, cutting deep into its mottled flesh.

Erendil climbs down from the wall, pulls out his bow, and sends an arrow into the other kobold from the western building, hitting it just below the bronze symbol of Creos Rex emblazoned on its chest. Dew takes on the other ogre, slashing and cutting it, sending ochre blood everywhere. Still smoking from the fireball, Taminnyd climbs down and sends golden bolts from his wand into the kobold sorceress.

The sorceress begins squeaking in her high-pitched dog language, but is frustrated when she realizes that no sound in being made, and throws up her hands in frustration. The two kobolds from the east building close on Shoji, Laurel, and Wrayce. The first one, wearing plate mail emblazoned with the silver moon and stars of the Church of Nox, and carrying a short sword, attacks Shoji but misses dramatically. The other, wearing studded leather and carrying a hand axe, chops at Laurel, just managing to damage her.

The ogres continue their assault on Scarlet and Dew. Both women are hurt badly, but manage to return the blows. Dew fells the ogre attacking her, and she drops off the ledge to engage the kobolds. Erendil moves to find a better position than directly under a combatant ogre, but misses his shot at the kobold cleric. Taminnyd hits the kobold that Erendil missed with three bolts of energy from his wand, as the kobold sorceress moves out of the silenced area.

Laurel, Shoji, and Wrayce exchange blows with the kobold fighter and paladin, and all end up the worse for wear. Scarlet and the ogre continue their battle, but, in a lucky strike, Scarlet manages to disembowel her foe, ending the exchange once and for all. She climbs down from the wall, and Taminnyd dashes behind her. Erendil unleashes two arrows from his bow: the first misses, but the second strikes the kobold cleric right in the neck, felling him on the spot.

From his hiding place behind Scarlet, Taminnyd targets the kobold sorceress with a fireball of his own. After the blast, all that is left of the spellcaster is a charred and steaming carcass, and Taminnyd grins from ear to ear. Dew steps into the battle with the two remaining kobolds, and she, Shoji, and Laurel finish them off with minimal injury to themselves.

Feeling pleased with his initial fireball, Taminnyd sends one into the eastern outbuilding, blasting it to pieces. He reveals a ten-foot wide staircase that descends into the underground forge, though Laurel and Erendil shake their heads in irritation. Danklar, badly hurt from the fireball, climbs down off of the wall and joins the party in searching the bodies.

"Let's go back to the ship and rest for a few days," Taminnyd suggests as he sifts through the ashes of the dead sorceress.

"I'd rather push on," Erendil replies.

"Yeah," chimes in Shoji, "if we leave and come back, they'll just end up reinforcing themselves."

"I'm all for moving on," Laurel interjects.

"I'm going to need to go back to the ship," Danklar says, wincing as his charred skin crackles as he moves.

"I'll take care of him," Wrayce replies, and he and Dew carry Danklar back to the ship.

Taminnyd watches the only members of the party with access to healing magic walk back toward the ship, and replies bitterly, "All right, let's go."

Next session: more kobolds, an unexpected foe, character death, and stealing an Avengardan general's airship...

 

[carpedavid]

10.12.2002 - Session 2, Part 1

"Hey guys, wait for me!" shouts Nym, as he climbs down from the airship. "I'm feeling a lot better now," he continues, passing Danklar, Dew, and Wrayce as he runs across the body-strewn battlefield.

The group welcomes him back, and then turns their attention to the darkened stone staircase. Nym pushes up to the edge and peers down into the inky black depths. "It's hard to see anything," he comments, "there don't appear to be any torches down there. Does anyone have an easily concealable light source?"

Taminnyd pulls a copper coin out of his belt pouch and grumbles out a light cantrip. "Here," he tosses the coin to Nym, "try this."

Erendil turns to Taminnyd and asks, "Would invisibility be useful? He could scout around without being detected."

"What use is a bumbler in the dark?" Taminnyd says with disdain, "I'd much rather save that for myself. With this group, I'm going to need it."

Ignoring the exchange behind him, Nym begins down the stairs. He notes that the construction is impeccable - it seems as though each of the ten-foot wide stairs is carved out of a solid block of granite, the walls are as smooth as glass, and the ceiling is almost imperceptibly arched.

Laurel notices Nym set off, and grabs Shoji. They hurry after Nym, and the rest of the group takes notice and follows. At the bottom of the stairs, a corridor leads off to the left, and Nym peaks around the corner only briefly before setting off down it. Laurel and Shoji shake their heads, amazed that Nym survives despite his heedless nature.

The group follows him, though, and they pass a giant set of iron double doors on their right before the corridor empties out into a small chamber. On the far wall are two standard-sized doors, and Nym pauses only a moment before moving to the one on the left. Laurel, Shoji, and Taminnyd all flinch involuntarily as he throws the door open and marches in.

Taminnyd and Scarlet follow Nym through the door into a small bedchamber. The floors are covered in refuse and trash, and two small cots have been pushed together into one corner. Nym is already digging through the contents of the room when Taminnyd and his guardian enter behind him.

"Hey," he calls to Taminnyd. "Take a look at this," he says as he pulls a crumpled piece of parchment from under one of the cots.

Taminnyd uncrumples the parchment, looks at the morass of squiggles and arcane symbols, and quickly casts read magic. The squiggles and symbols re-arrange themselves before his eyes, with a few separating themselves out by emitting a dim blue glow. He sighs disappointedly, "Unseen servant and floating disk." He shakes his head even as he stuffs the parchment in his belt pouch, "Nothing special."

After watching Taminnyd and Scarlet disappear, Laurel decides to explore the other door. She checks around the edges of it for wires or switches, and then closely examines the handle. Deciding that the door is free of unpleasant surprises, she opens it and steps through, finding another bedchamber.

Unlike the other chamber, this one is impeccably clean. Laurel notes a broom in one corner, neatly tucked away behind a barrel of trash, while two cots sit against opposite sides of the room. Her own search turns up nothing, and she shakes her head in disappointment as she steps back out into the hallway and closes the door behind her.

"Well, I guess we go through the big doors," says Erendil, who had been covering the hallway with his bow.

"Great!" exclaims Nym who comes bounding out of the bedchamber and starts walking quickly back down the hallway. He gets almost to the doors before the rest of the party can react.

"Wait!" Erendil warns, "let Laurel search those doors for traps before you open them."

Nym pulls his hand away from the door handle and grins sheepishly, "Ok."

Laurel gently pushes Nym to the side as she begins her examination. The doors themselves are twenty feet tall and made of cast iron. They are intricately decorated with scenes of dwarves working at forges interspersed with the hammer and chain symbol of Arial, the god of the forge. Unfortunately, the intricate metalwork created numerous locations for traps to be hidden, so Laurel takes her time in searching the door. Her examination pays off, though. After a few minutes, she detects a dagger blade carefully hidden near the door handle. A moment later, the dagger trap is expertly disabled, and Laurel steps back, pleased with her work.

"Now we can go in," Nym decrees happily as he pushes past Laurel. The group cringes again as he opens the doors, swings them open, and steps through. In front of him, they can see a massive chamber, illuminated by a large forge on the right side of the room. Running the length of the left wall are workbenches covered in scrap metal. On the right wall, a large quenching pool sits between the door and the forge. In the middle of the room, right in front of the forge, sit six anvils, arranged in a semicircle.

Beyond the anvils is a wooden table, where two kobolds appear to be playing cards, and on the floor next to them is a giant bear, hogtied and bound in chains. Nym halts as he spots the kobolds, but the roar of the forge is nearly deafening, and they give no indication that they have noticed the party. Taminnyd pulls his wand from his belt as Nym looses his, and they both unleash bolts of golden energy at the same time. The kobolds are knocked off their seats as the magic missiles hit them, and they begin yelling to each other, their dog-language barely discernable above the noise of the forge.

Shoji pushes past the two wand-bearers, and dashes further into the room, swinging his sling as he goes. He stops just before the anvils, and lets one stone fly, which arcs across the room, but bounces harmlessly off the table. Laurel moves up to where Shoji is standing, and decides to keep her bow stashed, in favor of her swords.

Taminnyd lets another three bolts fly, and they all slam into the chest of the kobold nearer to the party. His lifeless form slumps to the ground, his chest charred and smoking. Scarlet moves into the room, positioning herself between the remaining kobold and her ward. Erendil moves into the room as well, and lets and arrow fly, catching the remaining kobold in the shoulder.

The kobold pulls a bow from his back, and attempts to return the arrow to Erendil, but aims too high, and the arrow flies harmlessly over Erendil's head. Nym unleashes two more bolts from his wand, eliciting a squeal of pain from the kobold archer, then moves into the room. Why is the floor sticky? he wonders as he moves up in front of Scarlet.

Shoji puts his sling away and dashes at the archer, and swings a fist hardened from years of hitting wood, stone, and steel at the kobold's head. Unfortunately, kobold does not get added to the list of things that have hardened Shoji's fist, and Laurel moves into position to attack.

She takes a mighty swing that just misses slashing open the kobold's belly. The momentum of her swing twists her around so that she can see the area on the far side of the forge. Her jaw drops, and a wave of terror washes through her body as she sees a large, winged, red, reptilian form emerge from the shadows.

"Dragon!" she screams as it opens its jaws and sends a blast of hellfire racing toward her.

More to come...

 

[carpedavid]

10.12.2002 - Session 2, Part 2

Nym realizes, with chilling horror, why the floor is sticky. "Oh gods, we're all going to die," he screams. As the gout of dragon flame rolls toward the terrified Laurel and Shoji, the thick pitch covering the floor ignites, setting the whole chamber ablaze.

Shoji spots the dragon fire rolling toward him, and manages to shield himself from the brunt of the flame. Laurel is frozen in terror, and barely flinches when the orange and red cone of flame washes over her. The kobold that they were attacking is incinerated, leaving only a blackened, smoking husk behind.

Taminnyd moves into the chamber, avoiding the flaming floor, and lets loose with three bolts from his wand. They dart across the room, and slam into the side of the dragon. Scarlet moves up to shield Taminnyd, and Erendil moves to get a better line of sight, but narrowly misses. Nym pulls out his own wand and lets loose with two golden bolts, which hit the dragon squarely in the side of the head.

Shoji feels the flames lick at his body as he dashes out of the burning area and dives for cover behind the captive bear. Laurel follows right behind Shoji, dives for cover as well, and winces as her charred skin crackles like wax paper when she hits the ground. She looks at the chains holding the bear captive, digs out her lock picks, and starts trying to free the bear.

The dragon shakes off the effects of the magic missiles to the head, and charges Nym. As it crosses the chamber, the wind from its wings causes the fire to spread, engulfing Nym at the same time that it clamps its jaws down on his shoulder.

Taminnyd, horrified by the blood that spurts between the dragon's jaws, turns and runs out of the chamber. Now safely hidden behind the large iron doors, he takes a deep breath and casts mage armor on himself. Scarlet runs directly into the flames, screaming incoherently at the top of her lungs as she flanks the dragon and takes a large chunk out of its tail.

Erendil thinks about moving into the flames, but decides that doing so would be very unpleasant, so he fires off two arrows at the dragon. The first finds a chink between the dragon's scales, but the second bounces off harmlessly. Nym rips his shoulder from the dragon's grasp, and slashes at the dragon's snout. With his weakened arm, though, he barely manages to miss slashing himself.

Shoji sees Nym in danger, and braves the flames as well. His light footing allows him to get to the dragon, but his attack fails, and he suddenly becomes very worried. The dragon bites deeply into Nym's midsection, drawing a huge gout of blood, and Nym goes limp. It turns its attention to the barbarian behind it, and swipes at Scarlet with its spiked tail, catching her firmly in the chest.

Even above the roar of the bellows, Taminnyd hears the impact of the dragon's tail on Scarlet as he steps back into the room. From the safety of the doorway, he lets loose with his wand yet again, sending three golden bolts into the dragon's hide. Scarlet, having just had the breath knocked out of her, tries to slash at the dragon, but misses.

Erendil sends an arrow flying directly at the dragon's neck, and his aim holds true. The arrow slices through muscle and sinew, burying itself deep within the dragon's artery. Shoji, still dancing around in the flames, pounds his fist against the dragon's hide, but feels nothing give. Laurel finally picks the locks holding the bear captive, and she struggles to help it free from its chains.

The dragon, now severely wounded, turns and begins to move toward the doors. Both Scarlet and Shoji manage to get in blows as it turns its back on them, but then it limps over to Taminnyd, and, with a look of desperate determination in its eyes, grabs him in its jaws and crushes his rib cage; Taminnyd drops, unconscious, to the ground. Scarlet follows the dragon, and with her mighty sword, cleaves its tail nearly in twain. Erendil, now only a few feet away from the dragon, buries an arrow right between its eyes. The dragon collapses, blood pouring from its wounds, as the fires around it slowly die out.

More to come...

 

[carpedavid]

10.12.2002 - Session 2, Part 3

Shoji, covered in soot, stumbles out of the fading fires, pulling Nym's mangled corpse behind him. He begins to shake as the adrenaline of the fight wears off, and the realization of what happened sinks in. He bends down, and, with trembling hands, closes Nym's eyes. "May the spirits welcome and comfort you," he whispers.

Erendil takes a small vial filled with a red liquid from his backpack, and, realizing that he can do nothing for Nym, pours its cinnamon-flavored contents down Taminnyd's throat. Taminnyd opens his eyes, groans, and groggily stands up.

Laurel emerges from the smoke and flame leading the bear that she had freed. "It's Greatpaw," she announces to the group as she gently scratches it behind the ears. She stops short when she sees Nym. "Oh dear gods," she says, turning away in horror. She squeezes her eyes shut and makes a silent prayer to Ehryssa for Nym's soul.

Taminnyd looks at Nym's corpse, shrugs, and dashes over to the area behind the forge from where the dragon had emerged. He grins in anticipation as he eyes the dragon's horde, but, after digging through the pile of rusted chain mail, broken swords, and bent plowshares, and finding only a few gems, he turns away in frustration. "There's nothing good here," he announces, the disappointment evident in his voice, "let's go."

Erendil wonders if it would be possible to lodge as many arrows in Taminnyd's head as he did in the dragon's, but keeps the thought to himself. He and Shoji carry Nym's body back out of the forge and up to the ship while Laurel leads Greatpaw to freedom.

The flight back to New Charleston is quiet and solemn. Laurel spends the time bandaging Greatpaw's wounds, while Erendil and Shoji discuss what to do for Nym. By the time they land, the front has moved to within a few hours of town, and the city is in chaos. Erendil arranges to bury Nym's body, an acolyte of Proudclaw arrives to claim Greatpaw, and Laurel is summoned to General Talvyn's command tent.

"You did well in recruiting Proudclaw," Talvyn congratulates Laurel.

"We lost one of our party in the process," Laurel says angrily, "we ended up having to fight off a dragon."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Talvyn replies. His face wrinkles and his shoulders sag slightly as the emotional burden he is under becomes evident. Laurel frowns, but her anger subsides somewhat, so she motions to him to continue. "There is a prison in Avengard where the Emperor sends those that he personally hates. It's a dark pit, carved into the Serpent's Knot mountains. They call it 'Áit ar Chúl Éaga', which, in their old language, means, 'the place behind death.'" He rubs his forehead, the stress visible on his face, "It's the most horrific place on the planet, I'm told.

"At any rate, we had a spy in prison in Redburne. We were negotiating with the Avengardan government to trade him for one of their spies, but then they decided to invade us. The latest information we have is that he was transferred to Áit ar Chúl Éaga." He hands Laurel a set of papers, "We need you to break into the prison, retrieve our man, and return him here. His name is Edmon of Willoughby, and a description of him is in the papers I gave you. If you need a cover story, there are forged orders directing you to deliver a prisoner. Use one of your crew as a stand in, if need be."

"Why can't we just forge papers that order his release?" Laurel questions.

Talvyn stares at her for a second, "Maybe I didn't explain well enough. Nobody gets released from that prison. Ever. Even after they've been slowly tortured to death."

"Oh," Laurel says quietly.

"We'll be providing you with a small squad of soldiers who are trained in close quarters combat. They are not," he says gravely, "expendable." He motions to one of the guards at the tent entrance, and, after a few seconds, six young soldiers march in. They salute the general and Laurel, then present themselves for inspection.

"Hagamus of Arios," the squad leader, a young dwarven man in plate mail, introduces himself.

"Millicent of Blackrock," says the second in command - a young human female who wears a breastplate.

"Don't you mind what they say about the people from Blackrock," Talvyn interrupts, "Millicent is a good soldier. Quite stable and dependable."

"Thank you, sir," Millicent replies, blushing slightly.

The general motions for them to continue, and the next solder, a human male in plate armor, steps forward, "Ian of Brownfield."

A male lizardman and a human male, both wearing plate armor, introduce themselves as Lethlas Miller and Randolph Thatcher, respectively. The last to present himself is an elven male in studded leather armor. "Sebastian of Illya," he says with a lazy grin.

"Very well, Sebastian," the general says brusquely, and the elf steps back into line. "Take both of your ships," he continues, addressing Laurel, "You have permission to fly Avengardan flags once you're behind the front."

"One last thing," he says as he goes back to studying battle plans, "You leave immediately."

More to come...

 

[carpedavid]

10.12.2002 - Session 2, Part 4

Laurel walks back to the ship in a daze, her new squadron of soldiers in tow. So much had happened recently that she hasn't had the chance to absorb it all. Within the space of a week, she had watched the two greatest nations on Trinis go to war, had become captain of an airship, had fought a dragon, and had watched her friend, Nym, die. Now she and her companions have to sneak into Avengard and stage a prison break. She shakes her head, trying to fight the fuzzy feeling filling her skull, and realizes that she needs some sleep.

As she reaches the ship, she sees a young, athletically built, redheaded, human woman standing at the base of the gangplank. She holds a longbow by her side, and snaps to attention when Laurel approaches.

"Um, at ease?" Laurel offers, hesitantly.

"Thank you, sir," the woman replies, as her posture relaxes almost imperceptibly. "I've been assigned to your ship, sir," she says as she holds out a scroll tube, "here are my orders."

Laurel gives a cursory glance at the papers, and then hands them back. "Welcome aboard," she says, motioning the archer to follow her. We're going to need a bigger ship at this rate, Laurel thinks to herself. "Everybody," she says when they step on deck, "this is Quara." She turns to the archer, "Quara, this is Erendil, Shoji, Taminnyd, Wrayce, Danklar, Scarlet, and Dew."

"Oh! Right," she turns to the soldiers who have lined up behind her, "Everybody, this is Hagamus, Millicent, Ian, Lethlas, Randolph, and Sebastian."

Quara stares at the assembled party, then looks for designation of rank among them. Dew, she notices, ranks below her own sergeant status, as does the new squad of soldiers, but she gets a bit confused when she sees that both Shoji and Erendil also bear the rank of captain. Ok, so whom do I report to, she wonders as she looks around. By Chironex's blade, she sighs to herself, this is going to be confusing.

"We've got new orders," Laurel explains to the party. She relates all that the general had told her, and then asks for reactions.

"How are we going to get through the front?" Erendil asks.

"I don't know," she answers, "But I really hope that they've got something planned."

Each of the group looks at each other nervously before they split up to prepare. Taminnyd looks over his spell book, Shoji meditates, Erendil preps the crew, and Laurel prays to Ehryssa to give her guidance. After a few minutes, a messenger boards the ship and notifies them that they are to lift off. He gives the pilot a map of their route, and informs them that several ships will be accompanying them to provide cover while they force their way through the front.

"I'll take command of the Unicorn," Erendil offers.
Shoji shrugs, "That's fine with me."

"Ok. Who else goes with me?" Erendil asks. Danklar, Dew, and Wrayce accompany Erendil to the Unicorn, and the ships prepare to leave.

As the mooring ropes are cast off, the ships lurch upward, eager to be back in flight. The pilots bring the ships back under control, and turn them to the north in a steep climb. They are met at the apex of their ascent by three other ships, which fall into formation behind them. Erendil and Laurel order the Avengardan flags to be raised, and the five airships begin sailing toward the front.

Laurel peers over the edge, watching the soldiers in the dockyard grow steadily smaller. The mid afternoon sun makes her squint, and she can barely make out the town below. After only a few minutes in the air, the ships pass over the forest, and the front becomes clearly visible in front of them. Everyone aboard both ships holds their breath as they near the storm of ships, ballistae, fireballs, and lightning bolts. Every few seconds, another broken hull falls out of the sky. The sound of the battle is deafening, the flashes of magic blinding - each of them can feel the shockwaves pounding against their bodies.

A few seconds before they plunge into the maelstrom of ships, their escorts begin firing shots that just barely miss them. Laurel can feel her hair singe from the heat of fireballs exploding in the air beside the ship. Then, a giant bear rises out of the forest below them. Towering over the treetops, the bear begins swatting at Avengardan ships with a colossal paw. Its claws, the size of trees themselves, tear through the hulls of the ships in front of them.

A second later they enter the storm. The pilots push the maneuverability of their ships to the limit as they dodge other ships, falling debris, fireball blasts, ballistae bolts, and the paws of a giant bear. Their escorts break off, and join the larger battle as they push through the cloud of ships, and then finally emerge on the other side.

Everybody breathes a sigh of relief, followed by a wave of nausea, as they realize that they are now in Avengardan territory, and separated from the country that they are trying to save. They are now on their own - with no hope of rescue if their luck turns against them. Laurel shudders inwardly at the thought, and then offers a silent prayer to Ehryssa.

As the front gradually fades into the distance, the group begins to see masses of Avengardan ground troops below them: tens of thousands of soldiers setting fire to farms and razing villages. After about an hour in the air, an Avengardan flagship approaches them. It signals to them to stop, and Laurel nervously orders the pilot to bring the Displacer Beast to a halt.

The HMS Darklorne pulls alongside the Displacer Beast and tosses out grappling hooks to secure the two ships together. Laurel, Shoji, and Quara look at each other nervously. Taminnyd fumbles in his belt pouch for a pinch of bat guano. Archers line up at the rail of the Darklorne, bows at the ready, while a group of plate-mail clad soldiers gracefully fly over to the deck of the Displacer Beast.

Following the soldiers is a middle-aged human man who wears the insignia of an Avengardan general. Standing over six feet tall, powerfully built, with sandy-blond hair and ice-blue eyes, he exudes a commanding aura. "General on deck!" one of the soldiers announces.

"Well, well, well," the general says in a thick Avengardan brogue. As he steps forward, his soldiers form a semicircle behind him.

Everyone on deck freezes, unsure of what to do. Shoji inwardly asks the spirits to give him guidance; Tamminyd stares at the general, sure that he's seen him before; Quara tries to stay out of sight, sure that if she has to talk, she'll blow their cover.

Realizing that she's the only one who could possibly affect an Avengardan accent, Laurel steps forward and salutes the general. He examines her intently, for a moment, then emits a small "hmph." He narrows his eyes, glares at her, and says, "It occurs to me that the battle is that way," he points to the south, "and your ship appears to be heading that way," he points to the north with a flourish. "Would ye care to explain that?"

Laurel takes a deep breath, then, in a brogue that's almost too perfect, replies, "Aye, we've been ordered to transport a prisoner, sir."

"Is that so," he continues, "Let me see your orders and the prisoner, then."

"Aye, that," Laurel continues as she turns to Quara, "Be a good lass and fetch the papers from me quarters and the prisoner from the hold."

Quara nods and hurriedly scurries below deck. She grabs the papers from Laurel's quarters, irons from the hold, and then searches frantically for someone to play the part of prisoner. She stumbles into the galley where she finds the squad of young soldiers.

"What's going on?" Hagamus questions.

"No time to explain," Quara responds, "We need someone to act like a prisoner. You'll do."

Hagamus looks startled, but nods to his superior officer, and removes his sword belt and shield. "Well, then, you'd better make it look good," he says, then closes his eyes in preparation.

Quara takes a deep breath, then punches Hagamus square in the face, collapsing his nose. He falls to his knees as blood pours down the front of his battle-scarred uniform, and then Quara delivers several more blows. Pulling him to his feet, Quara whispers, "I'm sorry."

"It's for the best," Hagamus mumbles through rapidly swelling lips, while Quara locks the manacles around his legs and wrists. She half-carries, half-pulls the beaten dwarf up to the deck, whereupon the general looks at her impatiently. Quara shudders inwardly as she drops the "prisoner" at his feet. She solutes, then hands him the written orders.

Everyone winces as the general kicks Hagamus in the ribs before stooping over to examine him. The normally stoic dwarf manages to rile himself enough to spit in the general's face, and gets a gauntlet to the jaw in response, which sends him sprawling.

The general turns his attention to the papers, reads through them thoroughly, and then hands them to Laurel. "Well, your prisoner is very convincing," he smiles, "but your papers are an obvious forgery." His smile fades as he turns to his guards, "arrest them."

Woo! Only two months behind. I've nearly got the final part of session 2 done, and am hoping to have the remaining sessions caught up by the beginning of January, since we're not playing in the interim.