Warlords of Knottinglund Episode 01 The Burning of Nottamun Town

Two hundred years ago the Taurian men of the Minotaur Empire left Knotinglund in the hands of the Knots a people who had served as their mercenary enforcers against the native Druidfolk. Since that time the Knots have enjoyed nearly unprecedented prosperity and good fortune with only the occasional Duridfolk or Goblinkin raid. They have traded with the other goodfolk of the island and have become the envy of many of their neighbors but they are not a united people. What true wars they have endured have been at the hands of the seven kings who rule the kingdoms of the Knots although even these have not amounted to much. None of the kingdoms are willing to risk large scale warfare their lives are so comfortable. The occasional earldom or border shire will change hands but capitals are never threatened. Of all the kingdoms of the Knots Goldfeld is the richest not only in terms of physical wealth but also in terms of the value of the land. Located in the middle of Knotinglund it has the best farmland on the island. It is truly a breadbasket.

Manton son of Randolf Earl of Highhill looked out onto the plain from his hilltop fortress. It was the first day of the Winter Solstice in the 858th Year of the Law. Nottamun Town, some ten miles from the fort, was burning. So late in the year it might have started accidentally but no one had shown up asking for aid. It might have been started by a goblin raid but with over fifty Fyrdmen and a dozen Thanes in the town that seemed unlikely. Raids of that kind had not been seen for over a century. Not in the kingdom of Goldfeld especially. The Druidfolk had not been seen for decades and then only rarely. Perhaps in some of the wilder kingdoms they might have been able to make such a raid but not in these civilized lands. Turning to a Huscarl to his right he said "Gather my Thanes in the hall". The Huscarl nodded his head and turned to carry out the Earl's command.

Looking at his gathered Thanes, Manton's heart sank. Fat, old, incompetent, and far too comfortable armed with little more than symbolic weapons that had never been drawn in anger. Now they were bickering about why Nottamun Town was on fire. "Maybe they haven't called for help because they have it under control. They have the river right there running through their town after all!" said Beornwald a particularly self important Thane. "Under Control! How can you say it's under control? Look outside, you can see the fires even from this distance!". It was Adelric, Manton's son. He had come in with Anwen and Beatrix, two other younger Thanes. Perhaps the only Thanes in Highhill capable of carrying out their martial duties. "Let us go find out what is going on father" Adelric continued. "Ha! None of you have the experience required." interjected Beornwald. "Then I should charge you to investigate the matter for me" Earl Manton replied. "B, but my lord, my family is here for the Yule feast. My home is bursting with guests. I can't just leave them at this..." Beornwald trailed off looking at his shoes. "Then it is settled. My son, the priestess, and the young bard will go. Find out for me what is behind this tragedy and see if you can't help any survivors," the Earl commanded. "Yes father" Adelric replied then he and his companions turned to leave.

The three Thanes set out together on the road to Nottamun Town. As they approached the town they encountered no one.

A small section of Nottamun Town lays on the south side of the Nottamun River where a few houses still stood.  Across the river the larger part of the town was ablaze.  The gatehouses were on fire and as they approached they could see signs of conflict.  Weapons, helmets, and shields lay on the ground.  Pools of coagulating blood filled the furrows and boot prints where two shield walls had clashed.  The one thing missing was the bodies.

The watch tower was empty.  Many of the weapons stored there had been removed from their racks.  More signs of conflict were found at the top of the tower but no bodies there as well.  From the top of the tower Anwen thought she saw movement in the water.
 

As they moved towards the river armed figures started to emerge from the water.  They were not men but they were once men, now just skeletal remains marching toward the three Thanes.

 Adelric charged a group crossing the bridge.  Three Skeletons charged towards Anwen and another three towards Beatrix the bard.

 Adelric and his horse cut down two of the skeletons on the bridge but as he turned on the third a gigantic skeletal Minotaur came charging through the smoke.

The priestess Anwen fell before the spears of the three skeletons who charged her.  Things were looking dire for the Thanes.

Adelric moved to cut off the skeletons that cut down Anwen and the Minotaur gave chase.  Beatrix destroyed two of the skeletons attacking her then ran to help the priestess.  

Adelric and his Warhorse attacked the Minotaur destroying the beast.  The skeletons attacked him with their spears but could not get through his defenses.  

 Beatrix rushed over to heal Anwen while being chased by another skeleton but even though the skeleton wounded her she was able to get Anwen back on her feet.

Anwen called forth a spiritual weapon and destroyed the skeleton chasing Beatrix with magic and sword.  

Together the Thanes destroyed the remaining skeletons.  After the battle Anwen began examining the destroyed skeletons.  She noticed that the weapons wielded by the human skeletons were ancient and of Druidfolk design and that every one of the skeletons wore and iron torc of Druidfolk design.  The torcs were freezing cold to the touch but the Thanes took a few of them to return to Highhill.  

Upon returning to Highhill Adelric and Beatrix took the Minotaur skull to Earl Manthon while Anwen went to track down Gosbeorth the Sage to see if he knew anything about the torcs.  Anwen did not find Gosbeorth at home but after she re-joined her companions they found the old sage at the alehouse.  Gosbeorth confirmed their suspicions that the torcs were crafted by the Druidfolk.  Strangely the torcs, which had appeared freshly forged, had already become badly rusted as if they were about to crumble to dust.  Gosbeorth suggested that the magic used to craft them must have been very powerful.

Later that night Manthon called his Thanes before him again.  Beornwald accused the three thanes of making the story up but the Earl dismissed him.  He then charged the three with locating the Druidfolk who were responsible for the attack.  

Note:  This is part of a Prequel campaign for another Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition campaign I hope to start in the Summer of 2019 which is inspired by Game of Thrones and the Wars of the Roses.  I'm currently conducting a few mini campaigns to establish a history of events in my players minds.  The setting is an island I've designed called Knotinglund which is very heavily inspired by English myths and history.  The Knots, featured in the early campaign are a kind of cultural analog to Saxons, Vikings, and Normans.    

Simple Encounter Board

I've been kicking around the idea of doing a small encounter board for my D&D and other RPG games.  Most of my RPG encounters take place over a small area compared to the amount of space needed for a war game.  Most of the time I set up my RPG encounters on a 4x4 foot war game table or larger.  I wanted something smaller that I could place on my gaming table instead of off on another table.
 

I picked up a 33x50" Ready Grass Vinyl Mat from Woodland Scenics and a 20x30" poster frame from Walmart.  I think I spent about $20.00 U.S. on the project but I don't have the exact figures. 

 I laid the cardboard poster backing from the frame on the grass mat then traced the size.  After cutting the mat I was mostly done. 

I used some tacky glue to glue the mat down to the cardboard backing then placed some heavy books on and let it set for a couple hours.  I recommend against using a water based glue for this to prevent warping.  I did have some slight bubbling with this but that worked out okay because the board looked more natural with the slight rolling surface rather than if it was perfectly flat.   

Looks pretty good with terrain and figures on it.  Just exactly what I was hoping for.  The frame separates it nicely from the table and I think it might prevent dice from rolling onto the board so easily. 

I plan to make several more of this for different types of terrain including one with a flat black surface for laying down dungeon tiles.   

Miniature Update 11-30-17

 Just posting some miniatures I've painted lately.  I'm trying to get some monsters painted up for my D&D games.  First up is this Reaper Bones large fire elemental.

A Reaper; Rust Monster, Clay Golem, and Efreet as well as a Dungeon Delvers Basalisk.  I'm hoping to get more done soon. 

"Heroes of the Ghost Age" Book 1 The Reaving of Raven Hill: Chapter 1 To Catch a Rat. Part 1. A Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Campaign

Hero's of the Ghost Age

Book 1: The Reaving of Raven Hill

Chapter 1: To Catch a Rat
(Part 1)

It was already late September and just a few short weeks away from leiunium Cereris the fasting day honoring the goddess Ceres.  Tragedy had fallen the town of Raven Hill.  Not only was the town overrun by rats again but someone had stolen the idol of Ceres from her shrine.  

There was no doubt among the townspeople as to who was to blame.  During the spring Lord Roufus Ravenhill hired the rat catcher Gunther of Fellberg to rid the town of it's rat problem. In an amazingly short period of time Gunther had managed to rid the town of rats but when he went to Lord Ravenhill to receive his fee Lord Ravenhill tossed him a single coin and told him to get out of town.  Infuriated by this Gunther vowed that he would have his revenge on the town.

To make matters worse a particularly powerful goblin tribe had been southern farms under the protection of the town.  Lord Ravenhill and the town guard had been hard pressed to keep them at bay.  Melvin the Magnificent, a wizard who lived just outside the town, suggested that Lord Ravenhill entrust the recovery of the statue to his student and Lord Ravenhill's ward Lady Lydia Lydell and some other individuals from the town.  Melvin suggested; Efisio Battiatus a recently arrived paladin of Minerva, Flint Frostbeard the towns dwarven smith, the halfling Petunia Thistledown, and Falkrune a dwarf mercenary.  Lord Ravenhill was uncertain about Melvin's suggestions but he didn't have much of a choice.

    

The meeting was held at the town's keep.  The keep had one floor of stone but the remaining levels were constructed of wood.  Lord Ravenhill was suppose to complete the keep in stone but never had citing shortfalls of money though the townspeople largely agreed that this was just another example of Lord Ravenhill being a cheapskate.  

The individuals Melvin had suggested met with Lord Ravenhill around mid day at the keep.  Petunia had brought a pie along for the occasion. Lord Ravenhill, flanked by his two hounds, stood and said "A Tragedy has befallen us.  As you know the rat infestation has gotten out of hand.  No doubt the work of that no good rat catch Gunther of Fellberg.  He has been seen lurking around the town at night.  Some say he's been releasing the rats including some monstrously large specimens.  That however is not the worst of his crimes.  Last night the idol of Ceres was stolen from her shrine and eyewitness accounts point to Gunther as the perpetrator."  Lord Raven hill paused for a moment eyeing the assembled group with doubt.  He shook his head.  "Melvin the Magnificent suggested I gather you lot to deal with this problem.  I don't know why but I'm not one to argue with the wizard..... I'd do it myself of course but the town guard and I have been tied up chasing rats and dealing with the goblins who have been raiding the southern farms.  I need help and I suppose you will have to do."

Lord Ravenhill got up and moved towards the door calling his hounds to heel.  Before exiting though he picked up Petunia's pie inhaling the aroma "Ah still warm" he said with a slight smile.  Without another word he left.

Without much else to go on the party decided to visit the shrine of Ceres which was located outside of town in the farm lands.  There they found that the idol was indeed missing.  Some of the offerings seems to have been disturbed as well.  After searching about the structure for a little while Efisio found a set of boot tracks heading off into a field of grain.  

The followed the tracks across the field to the edge of the Raven Wood.  Just inside the forest the tracks came to a shallow stream but seemed to end abruptly.  On the opposite bank a single large rat track could be seen in the mud.  It was large enough to be a man's foot print.  The rest of the bank was too rocky to pick up the immediate trail.  After searching for some time they managed to pick up a trail of man sized foot tracks.  Strangely the tracks seemed to have been left by an individual walking on two legs instead of all fours.  It was getting late.  "This looks like a good place to camp" Flint said.  They set up a camp and divided watches.  Petunia climbed a large oak tree because she did not feel safe on the ground.  

  

"We're under attack!" shouted Efisio.  Three goblins had rushed out of the brush and attacked the paladin of Minerva while he was on guard.  Lydia, Flint, and Faulkrune awoke with goblins attacking them.  Flint took a nasty hit before he was able to get to his feet.  

The battle was hard fought especially since neither Flint nor Faulkrune had their armor on.  Efisio battled three of the goblins but he had help from Petunia who fired her short bow from the three she was in.  Eventually the goblins were dispatched and the party drug their corpses further from the camp.  During Lydia's watch the mage sent her owl familiar Luna to get a better view of the area.  What she saw disturbed her.  A large two headed dog was dragging a pair of goblin corpses away from the pile the party had made and headed off to the north with them.  

The party continued to follow the rat man trail to the north until they came to another stream with a very overgrown bridge.  Across the bridge was an overgrown paved road which continued north.  Though they couldn't find any more tracks the party continued to follow the road until they came upon some runes.

A man stepped out from a ruined door way.  He had a large sack over his shoulder that seemed to be writhing with a dozen or more small creatures.  The man spoke "Well I guess that cheap bastard Lord Ravenhill sent his finest to find me.  You can tell Lord Tightpants that he can have the statue back from a mere 200 gold coins."    

Efisio attempted to parlay with the man "Gunther, what if we could pay you what Lord Ravenhill promised you in the first place.  Will you return the statue and remove the rat infestation?".  "No deal!" shouted Gunther then he tossed the bag onto the ground.  Rats came swarming out of the bag.  

The paladin charge through the swarm and pinned Gunther to the ground.  The rest of the party came to Efisio's aid and they managed to kill the rats and capture Gunther. 

"We're taking you back to face some justice!" Efisio snarled.  Gunther just laughed.  As they were dragging Gunther back to town suddenly the rope went slack.  On the ground was nothing more than a pile of clothing.  "What's that!" Flint shouted.  A large rat scurried off into the underbrush carrying a small pouch in it's mouth.  Gunther had escaped.  

Uncertain about what Gunther was and concerned about the two headed dog the party decided to visit the home of Melvin the Magnificent, Lydia's instructor, to see if he could had any knowledge that could help them.  

Melvin lived in a small house just outside of town in the Raven wood.  Oddly his home seemed larger on the inside that the outside.  "I believe you are dealing with a Wererat" Melvin explained.  "What's a Wererat?" Falkrune asked.  "Well it's rather like a Werewolf but not quite so powerful.  A wererat is a human infected by a strain Lycanthropy that turns one into a rat man".  "How do we kill it?" Lydia asked.  "Well I'm afraid normal weapons will have no effect on such a creature.  You must use magic or enchanted weapons" the old wizard explained.  "Can't you come with us to help us catch Gunther?" Efisio asked.  "Oh no.  No, no, no.  I'm not much for adventures.  They make one late for tea" Melvin chuckled.  "Well do you know where we can get some enchanted weapons?" Falkrune asked.  "I do know of a tale.  There was a Knight named Balin who had a tower no far to the North.  He died more than fifty years ago.  He as said to have owned several enchanted weapons that he used to drive the undead from Raven Hill.  He was also said to have been buried in his tower.  It was frequently visited by pilgrims for some time until the undead returned to area.  No one has ventured there in some time." the wizard explained.  

Melvin turned and rummaged through a chest near the table he was sitting at.  " I do have this small dagger.  It's enchanted but not terribly powerful".  He placed it on the table "You may borrow it".  Petunia snatched the dagger off the table quicker that anyone could see.  "Oh it's beautiful!  Can I have it?" she asked.  The mage nodded "Very well".  Petunia drew the small blade and raised it above her head triumphantly.  "I shall call you Aculeus!" she said with glee.  

End Part 1

Notes:  This is the first part of my new Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition campaign "Heroes of the Ghost Age" set in my group's home brew setting of Tellus.  We've finished the first adventure and the party is almost third level but there were so many images I decided to split the report up into three parts to make it easier.  Also the game took three sessions to complete so this is roughly where the first session left off.