7th of Thirdmonth, 1526 H.E.
The warrior, Garrick Valthorn, the Mystic Artemis, the Dward Pendrek Stonehand, and the Elves Araned Threeoak, and Rulo Suras had joined the Gonzoria Adventurers guild after returning from their expedition to the tomb of Saint Bedevere two weeks ago. After selling off their loot they decided that they would need to mount another expedition if they were going to be able to have enough coin to keep operating in the city.
After consulting the Basic Tier mission board, the party decided to take the following job:
Mysterious Raiders!
Posted by: Balin Huntinghall, Baron of Honey Hill
A group of raiders have been attacking farms west of Honey Hill and then fleeing into the Southeast part of the Hagwood. They seem content to steal livestock, crops, and tools for the time being but a few people have been killed in the raids. Because they attack under the cover of darkness no one has been able to get a good look at the attackers and none of the attackers have been killed or captured so far.
I require a party of adventurers to gather some intelligence on their camp and capture one of their
members for interrogation if possible. I need to know the number of raiders and the nature of the
raiders if possible and the location of their encampment.
I will pay 500 gold crowns for the information and 100 gold for each captured raider up to a maximum
I will pay 500 gold crowns for the information and 100 gold for each captured raider up to a maximum
of 3 individuals.
They took the posting to the counter for Basic Tier members and had the receptionist Alina set up their
contract.
Alina recommended they hire some supporters for the job. She recommended Kaelys Smyte because her
cooking and survival skills would be helpful for the job.
The party hired Kayles and Melira Vollolis who specialized in engineering. They also purchased some
The party hired Kayles and Melira Vollolis who specialized in engineering. They also purchased some
healing potions and rations from the guild stores.
As they were traveling on the Honeyhill road the party was attacked by a large pack of a dozen giant rats. Rulo managed to put eleven of them to sleep and Garrick dispatched the remaining rat. After that they made it to Honeyhill without incident.
At Honey Hill they spoke with several individuals including Father Martin of the Church of the Blessed Saint who offered them a job clearing out the rest of Saint Bedevere's tomb. The told the priest that they would be happy to help after finishing their current job. They also spoke with the priestess Holly Thistledown at the Temple of the Holy Mother. They borrowed a hand cart and some empty barrels from the priestess because they planned to try and draw out the raiders while posing as lost merchants.
They had only made it a short distance in the woods when they heard a commotion ahead of them on the game trail. Moving off the trail into cover they spotted a wounded doe running at full tilt along the trail towards the edge of the wood. Shortly after two wild looking human women came running along after the deer bows in hand.
The pair of women exited the woods but a few moments later they came running back along the trail with equal haste.
The elves decided to ambush the women for questioning. Araned managed to tackle and subdue one of the women and after a brief struggle he subdued her. Rulo missed her tackle and her target immediately drew steel and attacked her. Rulo managed to give the woman a stout blow to the head with the pommel of her sword but it was not enough to brink her target down. Eventually Kaelys managed to get behind the sword wielding women and bring her down with a blow to the back of the head from her frying pan. They quickly subdued the women and Araned carried them both out of the woods over his shoulders.
It took them only a few minutes to rejoin their companions but they were worried that the commotion of the fight might draw the rest of the raiders out. Their captive that was still conscious told them they were members of the "Wildwood" clan from the north and that they had been raiding farms for food. She warned them that their leader Rognvald would come searching for them shortly as the rest of the raiders were camped not far off and no doubt heard the fighting.
Indeed a few minutes later a band of seven armed raiders emerged from the edge of the Hagwood. A large warrior in the center of the party seemed to be giving them orders. The warrior of the party formed a line to face them.
The large warrior stepped forward and declared himself as Rongvald of the Wildwood clan. He demanded to speak with the parties "Chief". Artemis and Araned stepped forward. Rongvald demanded the return of the women. Artemis said they would exchange them for two other hostages because they needed to take someone back with them to be questioned by the Baron of Honeyhill. Rongvald refused to turn any of his companions over but said he would speak with the Baron or one of his men if they came to speak with him. Rongvald explained that his clan was driven out of the North by the demon worshiping "Blood Crow" clan and that they only raided the farms for food. Artemis said she would not accept anything other than an exchange of prisoners and that if Rongvold didn't like it she would set her elf on him while gesturing to Araned. Without hesitation Rongvold drew his sword and said "Very well as you have chosen your champion I will accept this duel and let the fates decide". Araned gave Artemis a confused look but drew his sword.
As Araned squared off with Rongvald he immediately realized that he was outmatched. Rongvald had the moves of a much more experienced warrior. The exchange was brief. The northman quickly landed two buffets with the flat of his blade to Araned's head and the elf dropped to the ground unconscious.
Before he could celebrate his victory the Northman chief started to stagger from an unnatural fatigue. He turned and look to see his warrior falling to the ground just before he too fell to the ground in a magical slumber. With everyone's attention focused on the duel Rulo had managed to cast her sleep spell unnoticed.
The party quickly tied up the raiders and roused them from their slumber. Rongvald was furious at their "Alfar" trickery saying they had brought dishonor to themselves by interfering with a duel to change their fate. Being properly secured there was little the Northman could do other than complain and hurl accusations but that didn't stop him from doing just that all the way back to Honeyhill.
It was dark by the time the party reached Honeyhill and the party was stopped by the Sherriff and a small patrol. The Sherriff summoned the Baron after securing the prisoners in the town's small blockhouse, the Barron asked the party what they had learned. The Baron then asked them to stay the night at his manor. He also had them bring along the Northman woman Ingi who had been the most cooperative of their captives. After a rich meal Ingi was quite willing to talk about her clan's plight. She informed the Baron that after being driven out of their homeland that their "Jarl" Svartgir had brought six fully manned longships with twice that number of non combatants south with them. They were camped on a strip of land with the Red Devil river to the west and the the High Kingdom mesa to the east. The Baron realized that a few hundred Northmen had set up a camp just ten miles away and requested that the party inform Count Waldo on their return to Gonzoria. The party agreed and set off the next morning.
DM Notes: This was my second session of my BECMI Dungeon and Dragons campaign "Dungeons of Gonzoria". Due to some extremely successful sleep spells combat was fairly limited during the session but there was quite a bit of roleplaying which made for a fun session.
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