[2/7 and 2/14]
Session 2 added a pair of characters for the evening; a wizard Alastair and a half-orc fighter, Thakk. We were also minus Jenna.
The day began with the 5 PCs transitioning from watch to making breakfast and getting the caravan ready for the day. As agreed, Dory’s group would path find today… and it didn’t go so well.
The PCs guarded the caravan and subtly investigated the bishop’s unspoken concerns, identifying the mule laden with pay and other cues, amongst their duties to keep an eye out for ambush. Just before noon, a dozen goblins ambushed Dory’s scouts a few hundred feet ahead of the caravan. Abilo was killed in the first volley, but the PCs immediately raced to the rescue, quickly turning the tide. Several goblins were ensorcelled into sleep, and the others slain during their retreat.
The PCs threatened and asked the goblins why they ambushed them; the goblins claimed the territory was theirs. In the end the goblins agreed that the caravan was too deadly and they wouldn’t mess with it again, and they’d pass the warning on to their people. The PCs sent them home.
In the afternoon, Thorum joined Dory’s group in searching out trails, but had difficulty navigating. While he was out front, the remaining PCs guarded the backtrail. In late afternoon, a couple of PCs heard a humanoid slip behind them; they hid just behind a ridge of a hill and kept an eye out for pursuit. Which came in the form of bandits!
The bandits were strung out very widely; a few were killed and the rest fled.
[Session 2 end / begin Session 3] PCs: back to 4 – Jenna, Bastra, Lucas, Thorum
After the skirmish, Jenna and Thorum went ahead and sought a defensible dry campsite, as it had begun raining. They found a great location along an undercut hillside, which provided cover from the rain.
After dinner, they settled in for the night. The PCs split watches, with Thorum settling deep into meditation. A large group of bandits struck in the night, though the keen vision of Bastra had the PCs in motion while the bandits were still strung out and crossing the stream.
The battle was hard fought; the bandits successfully killed one of the donkeys and wounded a few others. Over the course of the fight Dory was badly clobbered, and Thorum took some blows that had him wobbling, but the caravan managed not to lose any people and only the one donkey.
Bastra incapacitated one of the bandits with a hyponotic effect. Under interrogation, thought detecting and threats led the caravan to understand that the whole bandit fighting gang had fallen; a few dependents had been left a few hours west to convalesce from sicknesses.
In the twilight of false dawn, Bishop Sten got everyone up and told them that if they pushed, they should reach the fort by nightfall. The PCs led the way, making their way down to the River Grevelingen, and making good time through the afternoon. In later afternoon they spotted Fort Augustaberg ahead, and verified that it was still in friendly hands. Then they doubled back and led the caravan to the gates, where the Bishop was recognized and the caravan welcomed inside.
Captain Marjan thanked them, and the supplies were promptly taken for inventory. The Bishop paid each of the escorts the agreed on 10 guilders per day, plus a 10 guilder bonus for successfully escorting them with so little loss against such danger. (So each PC was paid 40 guider.)
Several items were rapidly revealed. The nature of the devastating disaster that befell Base Town (and will make supplying the fort much more complicated going forward) — the shearing of Nalatan Hall (of Mount Nijmegan), the hall plummeting a mile down the mountain and crushing Base Town, then burying it under triggered avalanches. Half of the fort’s population is on site (at Base Town) digging for survivors.
[End Session 3]
