Escape from Clearwine

1622, Dark Season,12

Luckily, lunch wasn't too hard to come by

 fter the decimation of the Lunar Slave Farm guard, Herculon and his gang had no time to inspect the premises much, whata with the escaped wizard who would quickly come back with reinforcements.  They just took the time to locate the body of Jaya, and headed back the way they came, through the old tunnel.  The Ernalda priestesses, with help from Yanioth Brandgorsdottir, make sure their traces are not visible, and offer the party shelter in a small shrine, 10 miles east of Clearwine.  There the party performs the rites for Jaya, in the way of the sun warriors.  They lament and get drunk and tell brave tales to remember her by.
Martulo is in a bad state.  He has become bitter and low on confidence.  He has lost one leg from the knee down, and is in dire need of healing.  But news from the Ernalda spies is not encouraging.  The Lunars are in an uproar, and are sparing no effort to find the attackers.  A desciption has been sent out, patrols are manyfold, and movement along the imperial roads is all but impossible.  On top of that, Ilduvu Illuviu is on the lookout for them.  There are patrols at every guard house, Chalana Arroy temples in all surrounding towns are being guarded, it seems the empire has a rather good idea what is going on.  Meanwhile, Sharkan, a traveler from Corflu, has arrived at the shrine.  He is one of the riverfolk, and a student of Sa'ar, and has been sent by the Zola Fel priest when he detected the disturbance in one of the River Voices.

ur adventurers decide to travel into the wild, bad weather notwithstanding, north through the foothills towards the old haunted ruins, and further north towards the Creek.  AT one time theye spot several flying shapes, they estimate it to be a griffin and some wyrms, possibly with riders.  IT is quite possible the have been spotted now.  They walk around the haunted ruins, trying to stay out of trouble, and easily find some game and a place to sleep.  During the night, the camp is attacked by a smilodon, who manages to take a rather large bite out of Daerius' arm before getting stabbed in the head and running off.  Daerius stares at the dangling flesh on his forearm, and intends to continue without too much interruption, but in the end is convinced to accept some healing.  The party then continues north, all the way to the Creek, but they run into a set of tracks heading northeast.  As it started snowing, the tracks must be very fresh, and they determine it must be a raider party of Broos.  Giomanach immediately commands the party to hunt the vile beasts down, much to the frustration of Herculon, who wants his feeble brother in safety before getting into fights left and right, seeing how Martulo would slow them down if they need to run.  Giomanach does not intend to listen, however.  He runs off, angrily, and Herculon has to physically restrain the wizard.
After much shouting and clasping of heads, Giomanach finally comes to his senses.  The racket they have made has alarmed the Broo party, however, and just as Herculon intends to let go of Giomanachs neck, they see a wave of vile Broo coming over the nearest hill at a steady pace.
Sharkan immediately enters a frenzy, all worked up, he leaps into the charging pack of Broo and is attacked by several of them.  Herculon and Daerius take care of the threat without too much trouble, and Sharkan impressively holds off three attackers without going down.
After the fight the party decides to make it straight east, rather than following the river to the imperial road guardhouse at the ford.  They run into a small local caravan, trying to make it to Jonstown in the dreadful weather.  They hook up with the traders, despite the reservations they have.  When they are sharing the evening meal, a Triceratops thumps into view, and charges towards the assembly.  Several of the party run for their life, while the annoyed dinosaur tramples their dinner and rams into the cart in the process, before running off.
The party decides to leave the imperial road again, and keeps heading east, towards the Lunar Slave market of Pimper's Block.  There they set up camp for the night, and double watch, but the hard travel of the last few days take their toll, and both Herculon and Sharkan fall asleep during the watch.  When the horses start winnying, they awake in the last minute, and sound the alarm.  A group of Lunar guards is approaching them, and intends to take them by surprise, but this turns out very badly for the inexperienced Lunar troops very quickly, and a Red Moon sorcerer and a commander teleport out before the party has a chance to reach them.  There is now no doubt they have been spotted, between Jonstown, Swenstown and Prax, and not much is said when they decide to pack their gear, before dawn breaks, and continue their trip.  Maybe the weather in Prax will be better, and traveling will be safer...

The Lunar Slave Farm

1622, Dark Season, 1

The party lacks focus... (c) David Dunham

From Whitewall, the travel to Orlmarth territory is quick. The sorcerer's magic enables the party to keep running at a Leopards speed, and they arrive in Clearwine at sunset. The party get a Room in the Ram's Head Inn in Clearwine, and drink more than is good for them. They meet a Thane, Osric, who is also drinking heavily, and complaining about the Lunar oppression in general and the decadence of the Seven Mother Cultists in particular. The party make some good acquaintances and spend a heavy night.
The next day, at a a dying Red moon, the party starts investigating, but it is as if their spirits have left them. Nobody takes any initiative, and before noon, already they are sitting in the Inn, drinking the local wines, ciders and ales rather than preparing a plan of attack. Some of the party members find nothing better than pretending to be in the wine business in order to get some free drinks and samples, and they particularly annoy Alembic Curcuricson, a local major wine trader, with their drunken talk. It takes until the evening before they think of having a meeting with the Ernalda High Priestess, and by then their minds are less than clear. Still, the High Priestess recognizes their quest and tells them the story of the Colymar Council, and the banishment of Benava Chan and Kallai Rockbuster. That night the party goes to bed in a sombre mood. The Orlanthi still are reluctant to spring into action, although a full day has passed, and Jaya of Yelorna is getting restless.

Some secret information from an ancient tome...

The third day of the Dark Season, and a black moon rises. The party seems to be paralyzed with indecisiveness and unable to act. Herculon is ready for action, but without a plan. Raiko and Daerius further investigate the business opportunities the wine trade offers, without finding out much useful information. By nightfall, the party is once again in the Inn, a silent mood has taken over the heroes. Jaya, however, refuses to wait for a battle plan, and feels she must act. She manages to sneak up to one of the guard towers around the Slave Farm unseen, and attempts to surprise the guard. For several heartbeats it looks as if she is going to kill the three guards, but then bad luck hits, and she drops down, bleeding to death. With her last breath, she invokes her power of Yelorna, and makes sure what she has learned is transmitted to the rest of the party. This information, as will later become apparent, is the difference between life and death.
Alarmed by their vision of Jaya dying, the party finally springs to action. They learn of the earlier purpose of the Slave Farm site: a Issaries trading compound. They find an underground tunnel to the Slave Farm and manage to get in unseen. The second they are spotted, they find themselves in a large cave, and through the exit overhead several Lunar soldiers are preparing to open a large trellis, behind which the party can hear shrieks and furious howling. Before the Lunars manage to open the door to the monsters' lair, Giomanach manages to holdfast the locking mechanism, making it impossible to release the beast without powerful dispelling magic.
The party now quickly escape the cave through the opening, and after some brutal killing, they have managed to make a foothold for themselves. The building nearby has a balcony, on which a class of Lunar students is preparing a Lune spell. As more and more guards pour out of the door, and Herculon, Raiko and Daerius go butcher style, Giomanach is having a hard time keeping the troops channeled. Still, they manage and seem to start getting the advantage, when out comes a full Lunar Sorcerer. This fellow turns out to be a serious threat, and Giomanach exchanges a few spells, but the guards prove to be no match for the brutal combat experience of this party, and before the Lunar Mage can do more damage, he finds himself opposing five furious opponents. The Mage shapeshifts to his Griffin form, and, after looking Giomanach in the eye with a look full of revenge and hatred for a few seconds, flies off beyond reach.

Posted with Blogsy - (c) Rudy Boeynaems 2012

The road to Greydog Village

1618. Sea Season.Fertility. Fireday

Characters partaking:
Brian Boru, a drifter without tribe, played by David
Xaldin from the Orlmarth - Colymar Tribe, played by Anthonius
Ragnar from the Orlmarth - Colymar Tribe, played by Maximus
Kemal from the Hiording - Colymar Tribe, played by Dominique
Ranath, a Lhankor Mhy student, played by Ben

Grey Dog Village

his rather improbable group of companions met in Clearwine and they decided to travel north to Old Man Village and beyond, each for their own reasons.  The one thing most of them have in common is their desire to live a life of adventures, to get rich and powerful or die trying.  The exception to this is Ranath, a wanderer from the Sages, always looking out for more knowledge, a commodity more valuable than gold when offered to the right person.  They prepare to leave Clearwine under a spring sun, after several days of trying to find a job that pays well there.  The plan is to travel to Old Man Village first, and try their luck there.  Maybe a trader is looking for an escort, those types always have good coin.  Maybe they can trick an old acquaintance into some Orlanth hospitality.  Or maybe Eurmal the trickster will look unto them favourably and let some riches come their way.  The future is unknown, but violence is always an option, and life is short, so, on Fireday, the party head for Old Man Village, following the road alongside the Nymie river.  Past the Black Spear clan grounds and the Colymar Wilds, where ancient spirits roam and elves reign supreme, and no man who has not made a pact with Tarndisi may enter the Wilds on punishment of death.

fter only a few hours of travel, the party run into a Lunar 4 horse cart guarded by Lunar Guards and a Lunar dignitary, which is under attack from a gang of Trollkin lead by a Cave Troll.  The Lunars are getting a beating, and things are looking grim.  Already some of the nasty Trollkin are picking up loot from the cart and running of with it, but the party decides to side up with the Lunars and they manage to attack the Trollkin gang by surprise.  The ferocious attack leaves two Trollkin dead, the others scared and ready to run, so the Cave Troll has to make a statement.  Instead of using his sling, he grabs his huge mace and charges forward.  The young Orlmarth called Ragnar facing him stands his ground, and at first manages to parry the furious Uz warrior.  The damage dealt by the Troll is way beyond what the unarmed adventurers can expect to withstand, but before things get out of hand, Ragnar manages to masterfully dismember the huge Troll with a sublime blow.  This totally discourages the remaining trollkin, and they attempt to scatter off.  The party finishes off a few more trollkin, and Brian the homeless takes one of the trollkin into captivity, intending to use him as a slave.  A thing bound to not go down well with the Uz, should they ever find out: only Uz are allowed to have trollkin slaves.  The dead cave troll is carrying a valuable bronze set of armor, a great prize indeed, and the party decides to take it along in order to sell or exchange it in Old Man village.  Some of the companions recognize one of the Lunar guards, standing behind the cart and out of harms way: it is the Lunar Tax Collector detached to the court of King Kangharl of the Colymar.  

Reaching Moon temple

The dignitary is not grateful for the rescue at all, and refuses to pay a good compensation, as Orlanth customs prescribe.  To add insult to injury, the party members understood they were hired as protectors, but the Lunar laughs them off.  Instead of a reward he gifts the party a trinket, a woodcut depicting a Temple of the Reaching Moon.  Only Ranarth is mildly interested by the object, and starts drawing the outlines of the temple into his drawing book.  The others are disgusted by the Lunar's avarice and decide to separate ways and take the ferry to Old Man village, in the hope that old feuds there might have been forgotten or at least that hospitality takes precedence.  But no such luck.  They manage to make a good deal with the local armorer and leatherworker, who agree to make them 4 sets of lammelar bronze on cuirboilli armor, one set per week.  After that it's back to everyday life, only a few coins left in pocket, only odd jobs that pay next to nothing, it seems the only option is to accompany the young Lhankor Mhy, he has good coin, he is generous enough, and everyone knows these Sages have a way with money.  Ranarth intends to travel to Grey Dog Village, where a small temple led by several Sages will allow him to make an informed decision on what way to travel next.  His fellow party members agree, and they start travelling west towards the Starfire Ridges.  Their trip is uneventful, until they reach the source of the creek they were following.  They disturb a deer drinking, and soon find out there was a predator looking to make that deer his lunch.  The party can see the hunter's shape moving swiftly through the high grass across the creek, but are unable to make out exactly what they are up against, until the sabertooth cat bounces onto the bank and leaps across towards the non-suspecting Lhankor Mhy cultist.  Xaldin attempts to shield the sage but looses his footing when jumping into the shallow creek, and Ranath gets some first hand experience on Sabertooth hunting methodology.  It takes tremendous trouble to drive the powerful beast away, and it is Kemal's trained lynx that finishes the predator off.  Ranath is in a bad state, bleeding to death, and so far healing magic to staunch the bleeding has proven ineffective.  Only just before he passes away into the Realm of Ty Kora Tek, does Brian succeed in stopping the bleeding.

The party have little choice but to make a stretcher and carry Ranath, on the brink of death, all the way to Grey Dog village to the Lhankor Mhy temple there.  The attending priest performs some powerful healing magic on Ranath, and after a long night he wakes up in the morning, feeling much better.  He discovers the loss of all his money, a considerable amount of silver, but finds the temple priests very cooperative.  He and his companions spend almost two weeks training and practicing, mostly paid for by money leant to them by Kemal of the Hiording.

Clearwine Fort

1618. Sea Season. Stasis. Freezeday

Characters partaking:
Aylwin from the Orlmarth - Colymar Tribe, played by Philip
Blanka from the Ernaldori - Colymar Tribe, played by Bram
Gunnar 'the devoted' Gunnarson from the Hiording - Colymar Tribe, played by Gunther
Hjotra from the Hiording - Colymar Tribe, played by Dominique
Ulic Qel-Droma, a Bagnot resident from Tarsh, played by Alexander

The Starfire Ridges: the Upper Ridges

he adventurers enter stage in Clearwine Fort, Nymie Valley.  The lowlands of the Nymie Vale have good farmlands but much of the better farm land is claimed by the Ernaldor clan. Ancient standing stones can be found throughout the valley, many are associated with the goddess Orane who found shelter in this valley. Sacrifices to Ernalda are made by the clan priestess at Orane’s Loom. The flanks of the valley are very fertile, the soil is clay and limestone, which makes for exceptional wine.  The Nymie Vale was once an important settlement of the Empire of Wyrms Friends and the remnants of the draconic empire can be seen throughout the Vale. Chief Colymar defeated the draconic guardians of Clearwine Fort and shattered their power over the Vale when he settled the valley with his Black Spear Clan, but many ruins are still avoided by the locals.  The village of Clearwine is filled with farmers, crafters and petty traders. The streets are mostly mud, only the road up to the sacred hill was paved in stone; another road was paved with wooden planks. Pigs, sheep and even cows wander through the village, accompanied by their herders.

lanka's aunt and uncle used to be important people in the Ernaldori clan, but have lost most of their influence since Kangharl Kadragusson became king instead of Leika Ballista.  This Colymar king is a thane who allied with the Lunars to seize the tribal kingship. Although few support his Lunar associations, he is still respected as a warrior and warleader. Kangharl is also increasingly feared by his enemies, who call him “Blackmoor” (an ancient slur against those kings who serve foreign overlords). The son of Kagradus Korlmhysson of the Taraling clan, Kangharl served his uncle King Kallai Rockbuster as thane and warleader. He was exiled following Starbrow’s Rebellion in 1613, but returned in 1615 to seize the tribal kingship from his kinswoman Leika Ballista.

he party is confronted with a crime: a gang of robbers entered the Longhouse of Blanka's family and stole various valuable heirlooms and a large amount of silver coins.  The gang was described to consist of some goblins, ducks and humans.  Blanka's uncle tried to fight off the robbers, but got wounded gravely doing so.  The Lunar guard seem to be doing very little effort to solve the crime.  Blanka gathers some information, but seems uninspired to help his family members.  Instead, during a visit to the White Grape Inn, they run into a gentleman who offers them a job.  After some haggling they agree to transport a cart full of goods to the village of Grey Dog.  Grey Dog village is the clan center of the Grey Dog clan, belonging to the Malani tribe.  The Malani tribe are not the Colymar's best friends, but this has not overly worried the adventurers.  They meet the next dawn, and leave for Grey Dog Village.  The weather is cloudy but dry, and the party travels expeditiously.

uring a short break, they notice a bear with cubs entering the clearing they are sitting in.  The animal notices them, and it gets nervous quick.  Aylwin decides it is time to go and drives the cart out of the clearing fast, the other party members clinging to the side of the wagon.  The rest of the morning the travelers enjoy the surroundings, and they fail to notice a band of robbers trying to set up ambush until one of them is noticed.  The party opens fire, and soon it becomes apparent that the band of robbers is bigger than initially expected, but it is too late to flee.  Through some very effective magic and ranged fire they manage to subdue the robbers, and win the fight.  Now what to do with them?  Carry them to Black Spear tula?  The facts happened on their lands.  Hand over the robbers to the Lunar authorities?  They would surely end up in one of the Lunar slavefarms.  Maybe they need to find out more...

New campaign featuring the Ernaldor

(c)2000 David Dunham - King of Dragon Pass - www.asharp.com

A new campaign is in the making: we had ourselves a demo game, and there was much rejoicing.  The main players will create a character from the Ernaldor clan, based in Old Man Village or Clearwine.  There will be a few off and on players that have some more liberty making a character, but they'll get out less as a consequence: the events are geared towards young Orlmarth seeking their luck in adventuring instead of sweating in the fields.
The year is 1618.  Temertain has become Prince of Sartar only a few years ago.  The colymar king is a Lunar string puppet.  The Orlanth temples are under Lunar control, and if not for Orlanth Adventurous and the traveling priests, the cult would be in a bad state indeed.  The only free Orlanthi are now in Hendrikei, where Broyan has become king.  What way will fate take our merry band?  North into Tarsh and Lunar?  South to join the free men? East into the wastelands? Or westwards, to discover lands unknown?