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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greenfield" data-source="post: 7023241" data-attributes="member: 6669384">It started off well, if you understand "well" to mean a deep hole in the ground.The party arrived in Shadowed Valley, after a long, hard trek across the high northern plains in the middle of winter.  I rolled for weather effects using the table in the DMG and rolled a series of days where the best was a 72 and the worst was a 97.  (High numbers equal harsher weather).As the finally crested the ridge that borders the valley, they saw an odd scene below:  Two mounted soldiers with lances, along with a third rider who appeared to be in charge, were riding down a number of unarmed people at the edge of a small farm community.  The riders were wearing matching livery (surcoats with matching crests).  The party watched as took one mounted pass at the footmen.  One rider missed his target, the second ran his man clean through with the lance.The Paladin of Freedom charged his horse straight down the hillside, while the others followed the road which took a number of switchbacks to manage the steep incline.By the time they reached the bottom, two of the footmen were down.  The third rider had fired a bolt of flame from his hand, wounding the third unarmored person.  That man fled, taking cover near a small shed.The party Cleric, when he got in range, cast Detect Undead and got an immediate positive.  But it takes three rounds to narrow things down so you can tell who.  The Paladin of Freedom didn't want to wait.  He rode in and blocked the way of the man in charge.  Man in charge orders him aside with a terse explanation:  "They've broken their chain.  They need to be put down."  Before it was done the Paladin of Freedom had tried to unhorse one of the soldiers and ended up engaging both of them briefly.  By the time the last footman fell it had been revealed that the footmen were undead in some form.  The commander started to threat the wounds of his men, including one who had been mauled by one of the Wights.  He looked at the Paladin of Freedom and told him, "I'm going to dress these wounds.  If you're still here when I'm done I'm going to arrest you."The Paladin of Freedom, Sir Pax, stayed around, and the leader ordered him to surrender his weapons, he was under arrest.  Sir Pax refused.  The leader, seeing he was outnumbered and that both of his soldiers were wounded, acknowledged that he couldn't perform an arrest by force, but pressed ahead.  He asked who the peopel were and why they were here.Sir Pax said they were here to free the people from their oppressor.  He also gave his name.  The officer declared that Sir Pax was declared an outlaw, and that he would be hunted down.He was finally informed at one point that the party were a Free Company, nd he was shown a copy of their charter.  He saw the various royal seals on it and acknowledged that they had the right to bear arms in this land, but that that was not the same as refusing a lawful order to stand clear while the guard performed their duty.  He also explained that some Undead, when they spawn, have control over their "children".  If the Necromancer controls the first of the line, then he controls, indirectly, all that follow.  But id some undead in the chain of command is killed then the children below that are cut loose and out of control.  They need to be put down for the safety of the community.  The party had almost allowed this party of unconrolled Wights to run loose through this farm community.  They would have killed everyone, and then there would be even more Wights to deal with.After the soldiers left, dragging the remains of the fallen Wights behind them, people began to come out of hiding.  Sir Pax had been warned that, if he surrendered then he'd be given a fair trial.  If he had to be hunted down his trial would likely be at the tip of a lance.One of the villagers told the party that the lord held public court on Fridays, and that anyone could appear to make complaint, plead a case or make a request.  They suggested that this was the PC's best chance.  The villagers also asked the party to leave.  They didn't want to be accused of offering aid or shelter to an outlaw.  They flatly didn't want any more contact with the lord's men than they had to have.  They wanted to be able to honestly say that they had ordered the party to leave, and that they didn't know where they were.When last seen the party was going to leave the valley and camp in the woods beyond.  One PC was going to go to the castle and try to defuse things.  Oddly, not the Bard with the good Diplomacy check.  By the book, Wee Jas is big on Law, on maintaining order.  Even if those people had been, well, people, soldiers acting in the lord's service had a legal right to kill them, if they found cause.  Without regard to Good or Evil, the Law was on the side of the soldiers, not the party.Next week should be quite the bit of fun.</blockquote>

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