Last Friday, D&D!
Dave (Harn) isn’t around until, like, 10pm. So we’re without a cleric until he shows.
Gallick has decided he wants to be a Paladin of Horus, like Sekhet, and with the XP he got from the last adventure against the Vampire, he’s third level (!)
We’ve got a Belt of Giant Strength, which I took, a wand of Hold Person, which Erendill took, a +3 Kopesh sword, which I gave to Gallick. Since I’ve trained him, he knows how to use Egyptian weapons and mercurial weapons, but not normal bladed weapons.
Outfitted with the +3 Kopesh Sword, normal chain and shield, Gallick is pretty bad-ass. I roll stats for him, using 3d6 instead of 4d6, since he’s not a heroic PC, but rather a former peasant NPC.
There are a couple of adventuring opportunities open to us, but when we discover Harn has been kidnapped, all other options evaporate.
Gallick’s service as my squire is arduous for him, not unlike boot camp. He wakes up every day at 4 am, and works continuously until 9pm. Because he’s an idiot (Int 4) I’m forgoing his arcane training. He won’t ever be Maktah, he’ll just be a Paladin of Horus.
He must, of course, shave his head. This is, for me, primarily ceremonial, as my people long ago learned the virtue of proper hygiene. But the peasants of Albion are ridden with lice and other mites, and the shaved head makes it easier to deal with the lad. When he volunteers, he’s basically a pasty-faced, freckled lad. A few days after beginning the training, he’s showing some muscle, and is deeply tanned. My people consider physical labor a virtue, and Gallick’s days are spent helping Ogsbod with the new Keep, helping the peasants plant and sow crops, things like this. I send him for one hour’s study per day with Harn, so he’ll gain some appreciation and knowledge of his people’s religion as well as mine.
One day, Gallick returns from his hour of study with Harn, drunk. I chastise him and walk over to Harn’s temple to explain to my friend that servants of Horus are forbidden from drinking alcohol. But Harn is not there. There are signs of struggle. I’m greatly vexed and grab Gallick. He’s still kinda fucked up and doesn’t remember what happened. I chastise him and tell him punishment is forthcoming, but I don’t have time to administer it immediately. I tell him to get our horses ready, and those of the other party members.
Glim, Anya, Erendill, and Lady Halfrid gather, and Anya tries to follow the tracks left by the kidnappers. She’s got Track, but she’s not a ranger. We follow the tracks for two days before we realize that we’ve lost the trail, and have been going in circles. Anya did the best she could, but it wasn’t enough. We return to town.
Glim and I go to the local tavern. Glim asks if any strangers were recently seen in town. He learns that some people had come through, dressed as yeoman (I make a Janice Rand joke at this point that only Craig appreciates. :) but acting like noblemen. Hmmm…interesting. Relevant to something, surely, but not this.
I ask which of the many hunters, trappers, and furriers who sell game to the tavern is the best. The innkeep responds, but hesitantly, and is clearly hiding something. I press him to be honest and explain the urgent need.
“Well, there’s this one ranger, he’s really good. But he’s not exactly sociable.”
“I care not for his demeanor, his service is required.”
“He won’t want to go.”
“I shall compel him. What is his name?”
“Grignack, he’s a half-orc.”
Of course, his name’s not Grignack, it’s something like Granack, but I hear Grignack, which is a reference to Galaxy Quest. God, we’re geeks! Grignack is sleeping in the stables.
I enter the stables and compel him to help us. He’s pretty reticent, I offer payment, he will accept none. He hunts and ranges and provides food for the peasants, but asks for nothing but lodging in return. Being a Paladin, I try and appeal to his better nature. We go back and forth, I make what I think are some pretty compelling arguments. He joins us, though I’m not sure why.
Grignack is a Matt Ranger which means, when he shows up on the scene at the Temple, he can tell that several humanoids dragged Harn off, he was unconscious, they have clawed feet. Bigger than Kobolds. Could be Orcs.
He grimly leads us off. He grouses that he’ll probably be expected to fight when we get there. I explain that all he has to do is lead us to Harn. Then he’ll be released from his duty.
We travel for several days, beyond the bounds of Lady Halfrid’s demesne. One night, as we camp, we fight a roving troll. We’re at the boarders of a bad-ass swamp. We kill the troll, no problem. Halfrid suggests that rather than fighting in the nude, I’d benefit from a chain shirt I could sleep in. Point taken.
The next day, we’re deep in the swamp. Grignack leads us to a grating in the middle of a collapsed Fomorian fortress, older than the swamp itself. Grignack takes off. We sped some time trying to lever the grating open, it’s jammed shut. We probably should have taken Glim’s advice and gone back to get some of the fat off the burned troll and used it as grease.
After muscling the grating open, we find a deep well, with six heavy, knotted ropes made from vines descending into the deep. We begin descending.
We find the lower level of the Fomorian fortress, it’s in disrepair, the floor’s in about 3 inches of water, moss everywhere. And lizardmen! We kill one with a single arrow, and Sekhet boldly strides into the next room.
Well the thing with Lizardmen is, they have pet alligators. Several alligators surround me, and I get chomped into unconsciousness. Gallick survived longer than I did, but failed to take any Lizardmen down due to bad rolling.
Halfrid gets chomped. She dies. Dead dies. Shit. I go down, Gallick goes down. Mark makes the point that if I had a fucking dagger for Christ’s sake, I’d have been able to attack with a light weapon even while grappled. Point taken. Maybe spiked gauntlets though.
Dave shows up. Hallelujah! Harn comes forward, shackled, with two Lizardmen guards. The lizardman leader dude calls out, and the Lizardmen stop attacking. Dave Jesch has Erendill (always followed by either Craig or I saying ‘the Mariner’ for obvious reasons since it’s pronounced the same but spelled very slightly differently) cast burning hands on one of the Lizardmen, obliterates him. We lament our poor tactics, had I not rushed forward, we could easily have taken these guys.
A Lizardman shaman shows up, and has Harn unshackled. He was abducted to cure their ailing shaman, which he did over several days. Harn convinces the shaman to convince the Lizardman leader dude to stop attacking us *again* after having already stopped once. In spite of Erendill’s attack, they stop. Erendill backs off.
Harn rushes forward to the Lady, only to find her dead. With the Luckblade drained of wishes, we’re screwed. He heals me, I heal Gallick. The Lizardmen want to take everything of value off Halfrid, we treat to get her chain and flaming weapon back, since they’re heirlooms. We trade some other stuff, but I’m not paying attention, Gallick and I bind up the Lady like a mummy, and carry her out.
Grignack is waiting for us. I don’t speak to him. Sekhet privately blames him for contributing to what happened. Had he done the right thing, he’d have been with us and Halfrid might still be alive.
Anyway, we go back to town. The Lady’s Fomorian midwife is inconsolable. Hoddenhill is left without a ruler, the Lady left no heir. The people weep for her passing. With her gone, the Prince Regent will send one of his men to administrate the area and the only place in the Weald where people were treated decently and had a chance to make something with their lives will pass into memory.
Sekhet is determined not to let this happen. For whatever reason, he cares about these foreigners, having lived with them for about 6 months, and does not want to see them come under the heel of Prince William.
Sekhet has no legal claim to the Barony, but he’s willing to be the Heir Presumptive if the people of Hoddenhill wish it. He goes around, asking the town’s eminent citizens if they’d support his claim to the Barony. They all say “No, fuck off, we’re all doomed.” This frustrates Sekhet. He goes to the old noblewoman whose son we saved when he was kidnapped in an earlier adventure. She owes us a favor. “No, fuck off, there’s nothing I can do, you’re an idiot,” is the response. Hm. He goes to the Fomorian midwife, she’s killed herself in grief. Hm. Sekhet, after having pleaded with the people, gives up. The Prince has an army and can wipe them out and they’d rather die slowly under his rule than quickly in rebellion. None will follow Sekhet, even though he was the Lady’s greatest Knight, even though he has the support of all her close advisors, because he’s a foreigner.
Fuck ‘em. Sekhet goes back to Orthanc. He thinks about consulting the Oracle, but she indicates that perhaps I should wait until I have something important to ask. Ok, fuck her. I draft a letter to the Prince stating my intention to assume governance of Hoddenhill, knowing he’ll reject my claim, but figuring it won’t hurt to try.
The Prince’s men arrive in Hoddenhil and ask to take the Lady off so she can lay in state in the Capital. Harn and Anya go with them, and they’re in the capital. Harn has his ear to the ground, watching to see if there are any powerful noblemen who oppose the Prince. There appears to be none.
They’re at the Capital, Sekhet and Gallick are alone with the Oracle at Orthanc. That’s where we left things.
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