DF Khoramandu Sea, Session 71 - Heading for Home
Due to the coronavirus lockdown, we once again played remotely using Hangouts. I don't use a VTT; when I need to show the battlefield, I use paper maps and minis, and point a webcam at the table.
Session Date: Thursday 2 July 2020
Party roster:
Miao Miao, cat-folk swashbuckler, 411 points (PC)
- Jenkins, human servant, 204 points (NPC Ally)
- Brother Warian, human monk (initiate), 204 points (NPC Ally)
Sir Yvor Gryffyn, human knight, 347 points (PC)
Davin Emberwood, human wizard, 342 points (PC)
Childerbert "Bert" Ingoberger, halfling locksmith (thief), 287 points (PC)
Hemmu Gahrol, half-orc knight, 275 points (PC)
Adam Aesalor, half-orc wizard, 257 points (PC)
Location: Borderlands between the Kingdom of Ioscany and the Wilds of Pyrrhon.
The party had two choices for leaving the keep and returning to Marsh Hall. They could accompany a wagon heading North-East along the old road, around the outskirts of the great Umbradaan Forest, and thereby re-enter Ioscany. They would still have to walk, but the wagon would carry their baggage. As a result they would make a better mileage, but they would be returning to Marsh Hall by a longer, more circuitous route. The alternative would be to hike South-East by themselves, skirting past the fens, then over the hills and back into Ioscany by the more direct path. In that case they would have had to carry all their gear (and loot!) themselves, and the terrain would be harder going. They decided to accompany the wagon.
The PCs purchased what few healing potions were available (2x Minor Healing, 1x Greater Healing) for sale in the keep. Only the NPC allies thought to make any preparations for the journey, with Jenkins buying two sacks full of food (84 lbs of rations). The PCs made no thought to outside gear for camping and the like; I think that everyone assumed that someone else, or the caravan would take care of it*. Hopefully it will be an uncomfortable awakening for the PCs (only one of whom has any Survival skill), rather than a truly dangerous experience.
The first day of journey was uneventful, and the weather was mild. They made good progress with the wagon and didn't sleep too badly through the night.
On the second day, the party was ambushed by savage beast-folk. Thankfully Bert was able to spot movement ahead and signal everyone to stop. Consequently even though the enemies were close, the wagon was able to stop before it was surrounded. The party were not surprised, and the PCs had time to ready themselves and form up around the wagon. Hemmu of course ignored this and charged the nearest enemy, even though she wasn't berserk.
In spite of such undisciplined behaviour, the party made short work of the aggressive beast folk. Davin recognised the goat-people as Caprinids; a savage bestial folk known for eating human flesh, and for being part of an invading force that destroyed the neighbouring kingdom of Perior.
There was debate of what to do with prisoner and casualties, with Bert and Miao winning out that the wounded should not be slaughtered, but instead treated and set free. This was much easier said than done, as the caprinids were aggressive, did not speak the common tongue and appeared unused to fleeing or surrender.
Later that night, as the party maked camp, they witnessed the unusual spectacle of three of the world's five moons in the sky together. A most disconcerting occurrence, for it is not normal to ever see more that two at any one time. Deep in the forest, a goat-like braying could occasionally be heard. The merchant Locan shuddered with a comment that the caprinids were being noisier than they normally were. "What foul festival did we avoid this night," he wondered. His companion looked at Miao and Bert...
---
Last week the players decided they want to stop briefly at Marsh Hall, before heading to the capital of Phessio for some big city action. I decided to game out the journey at least in part, rather than skip it, as I need some time to prepare for their destination. Also I may have one or two possible distractions before they get there.
* I had originally said "caravan", but I changed that for both OOC and verisimilitude reasons. It seemed to me that the keep is a military settlement on the edge of the wilderness, not a city on a major trade route. It will need regular resupply, but it won't warrant large caravans. The OOC reason is that I wanted any encounters in the forest to be a skirmish rather than an army of hostiles attacking a wagon train full of NPCs. So I retconned it, and the PCs found that the caravan they had been expecting was a single wagon.
The PCs purchased what few healing potions were available (2x Minor Healing, 1x Greater Healing) for sale in the keep. Only the NPC allies thought to make any preparations for the journey, with Jenkins buying two sacks full of food (84 lbs of rations). The PCs made no thought to outside gear for camping and the like; I think that everyone assumed that someone else, or the caravan would take care of it*. Hopefully it will be an uncomfortable awakening for the PCs (only one of whom has any Survival skill), rather than a truly dangerous experience.
The first day of journey was uneventful, and the weather was mild. They made good progress with the wagon and didn't sleep too badly through the night.
On the second day, the party was ambushed by savage beast-folk. Thankfully Bert was able to spot movement ahead and signal everyone to stop. Consequently even though the enemies were close, the wagon was able to stop before it was surrounded. The party were not surprised, and the PCs had time to ready themselves and form up around the wagon. Hemmu of course ignored this and charged the nearest enemy, even though she wasn't berserk.
In spite of such undisciplined behaviour, the party made short work of the aggressive beast folk. Davin recognised the goat-people as Caprinids; a savage bestial folk known for eating human flesh, and for being part of an invading force that destroyed the neighbouring kingdom of Perior.
There was debate of what to do with prisoner and casualties, with Bert and Miao winning out that the wounded should not be slaughtered, but instead treated and set free. This was much easier said than done, as the caprinids were aggressive, did not speak the common tongue and appeared unused to fleeing or surrender.
Later that night, as the party maked camp, they witnessed the unusual spectacle of three of the world's five moons in the sky together. A most disconcerting occurrence, for it is not normal to ever see more that two at any one time. Deep in the forest, a goat-like braying could occasionally be heard. The merchant Locan shuddered with a comment that the caprinids were being noisier than they normally were. "What foul festival did we avoid this night," he wondered. His companion looked at Miao and Bert...
---
Last week the players decided they want to stop briefly at Marsh Hall, before heading to the capital of Phessio for some big city action. I decided to game out the journey at least in part, rather than skip it, as I need some time to prepare for their destination. Also I may have one or two possible distractions before they get there.
* I had originally said "caravan", but I changed that for both OOC and verisimilitude reasons. It seemed to me that the keep is a military settlement on the edge of the wilderness, not a city on a major trade route. It will need regular resupply, but it won't warrant large caravans. The OOC reason is that I wanted any encounters in the forest to be a skirmish rather than an army of hostiles attacking a wagon train full of NPCs. So I retconned it, and the PCs found that the caravan they had been expecting was a single wagon.
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