Welcome to Karnstown - Group 3, Session 1
from the game session held on 05 January, 2022
General Summary
It has been a few days since the trial of the few remaining poachers that were brought back alive, and the party has been relaxing and enjoying the hospitality of a gracious village before moving on to something else. That something else appeared one morning during breakfast in the form of a young woman with a plea for help. Maretta Colifer introduced herself as the wife of the young Wayne Colifer - the livery stable owner that was caught up in the poaching ring. Maretta explained that she needed to get herself and her two young children out of Spirit Lake as there was nothing left for them here. She asked the party to escort her to Karnstown - a journey of about two weeks - where she had family ties and would be able to start a new life. The party agreed.
The next day, it was an unusual group that set out on the road to Karnstown. The party had fit a tentlike cover to the poacher-merchant's wagon which the Spirit Lake elders agreed to let them keep. Gambit the Goblin Alchemist and Tom the Halfling Bard were seated on the driver's bench of the wagon while Kleone, the Halfling Druid rode inside. Dhraangg, the Half-orc Champion sat astride his newfound companion named Roach: the horse that he originally "borrowed" from the livery stable for the final chase-down of the poachers has apparently bonded with him. Tied off to the wagon were two ponies used by the little folk in the poacher chase; the village elders also decreed the party was entitled to these. Following along were Maretta and her two young children, Shayn and Gwindy - all riding in another wagon loaded with the various kitchen and household goods that Maretta was salvaging from her life in Spirit Lake.
The first week or so of the journey was uneventful. Evening camps were set up along the road, usually in clearings that had obviously been used by others in the past for the same purpose. Traffic on the road itself was quite sparse; apart from the regular stage coaches that barreled past them on their course between Karnstown and Dryad's Falls, there were few others on the road in either direction.
This changed a few hours after turning south at the junction with the Four Rivers - Karnstown road. The road itself was narrow and surrounded by denser forest than any of them had seen in their earlier travels in the Feywood, and up ahead, it was blocked by what appeared to be a wagon that had suffered some sort of accident. One wheel had detached; the wagon was tilted precariously. Two humans stood looking at the wagon and the axle that was now dragging on the ground. And, at least at first glance, the pair didn't look capable of repairing the damage themselves.
But before any of the party could approach to ask for help, Kleone's caution caused him to send Bubblebone, his Leshy Familiar, into the forest to ensure that this wasn't some sort of deceptive trap. Kleone linked his senses of sight, sound, and smell to the the familiar and sent it flying into the trees. And sure enough, in rather short order, Bubblebone/Kleone had detected two hidden folk - one on either side of the road - each with a readied shortbow as they stared intently at the place where Dhraangg would encounter the pair on the road. Whether the two simply mistook the leshy for a typical Feywood resident, or had the discipline to maintain their cool prior to the impending ambush, neither reacted to Bubblebone's appearance despite them both clearly being aware of it.
Kleone quietly conveyed this information to Dhraangg, who slightly altered his approach toward the two standing in the road beside the disabled wagon. Instead of an offer to assist, Dhraangg's opening greeting was "Y'know... you'd have an easier time fixing your wagon if you got your two friends to put down their bows and come out to help you." As he did this, he was casually sliding one hand up and down on the shaft of the Orcish Necksplitter blade he had drawn, and was doing all he could to ensure his facial expression was one of determination and confidence.
This "greeting" did more than simply startle the pair of humans in the road as it was delivered with as much intimidation in his voice as Dhraangg could muster. Apparently, it had the desired effect. As the woman of the pair glared at Dhraangg, her expression revealed anger, but tinged quite significantly by fear at the sight of the impressive former gladiator. After a few seconds of simply staring/glaring at the half-orc, the woman bolted to the side of the road and disappeared through brush. The older man that had been assessing the wagon with her took this as his cue to also depart abruptly; he vanished into the brush on the opposite side of the road. Clearly this group of bandits decided that they would rather live to rob another day rather than risk facing the half-orc and his companions who clearly were more than simple travelers on the road.
The group waited a few minutes to see if an attack would materialize, but all they could hear was the ever-receding sound of people moving through the undergrowth. And so they set about assessing the wagon that was still blocking the road. Searching it, they discovered that it's "cargo" was merely rocks positioned to enhance the precarious balanced look of the wagon. Hidden by the driver's bench, so as not to be visible to the party as they approached, were two loaded crossbows waiting for their owners to simply grab them and fire. In the compartment beneath the driver's seat, they discovered a pouch of coins, a vial of some bright red liquid, and a few unremarkable tools that any wagon teamster would carry. The two horses that were "pulling" the wagon were clearly in bad shape - emaciated and mistreated.
Unhitching the horses and providing them some feed from the party's stocks, Dhraangg managed to move the wagon off the road - further damaging it as he did so to ensure it would never be reusable. WIth no sign of a follow-on attack by the bandits, the party finally resumed their travel on the road south to Karnstown.
The remainder of the trip was uneventful, and finally they crested a hill and caught sight of the city wall and gate. They had made it to Karnstown.
The next day, it was an unusual group that set out on the road to Karnstown. The party had fit a tentlike cover to the poacher-merchant's wagon which the Spirit Lake elders agreed to let them keep. Gambit the Goblin Alchemist and Tom the Halfling Bard were seated on the driver's bench of the wagon while Kleone, the Halfling Druid rode inside. Dhraangg, the Half-orc Champion sat astride his newfound companion named Roach: the horse that he originally "borrowed" from the livery stable for the final chase-down of the poachers has apparently bonded with him. Tied off to the wagon were two ponies used by the little folk in the poacher chase; the village elders also decreed the party was entitled to these. Following along were Maretta and her two young children, Shayn and Gwindy - all riding in another wagon loaded with the various kitchen and household goods that Maretta was salvaging from her life in Spirit Lake.
The first week or so of the journey was uneventful. Evening camps were set up along the road, usually in clearings that had obviously been used by others in the past for the same purpose. Traffic on the road itself was quite sparse; apart from the regular stage coaches that barreled past them on their course between Karnstown and Dryad's Falls, there were few others on the road in either direction.
This changed a few hours after turning south at the junction with the Four Rivers - Karnstown road. The road itself was narrow and surrounded by denser forest than any of them had seen in their earlier travels in the Feywood, and up ahead, it was blocked by what appeared to be a wagon that had suffered some sort of accident. One wheel had detached; the wagon was tilted precariously. Two humans stood looking at the wagon and the axle that was now dragging on the ground. And, at least at first glance, the pair didn't look capable of repairing the damage themselves.
But before any of the party could approach to ask for help, Kleone's caution caused him to send Bubblebone, his Leshy Familiar, into the forest to ensure that this wasn't some sort of deceptive trap. Kleone linked his senses of sight, sound, and smell to the the familiar and sent it flying into the trees. And sure enough, in rather short order, Bubblebone/Kleone had detected two hidden folk - one on either side of the road - each with a readied shortbow as they stared intently at the place where Dhraangg would encounter the pair on the road. Whether the two simply mistook the leshy for a typical Feywood resident, or had the discipline to maintain their cool prior to the impending ambush, neither reacted to Bubblebone's appearance despite them both clearly being aware of it.
Kleone quietly conveyed this information to Dhraangg, who slightly altered his approach toward the two standing in the road beside the disabled wagon. Instead of an offer to assist, Dhraangg's opening greeting was "Y'know... you'd have an easier time fixing your wagon if you got your two friends to put down their bows and come out to help you." As he did this, he was casually sliding one hand up and down on the shaft of the Orcish Necksplitter blade he had drawn, and was doing all he could to ensure his facial expression was one of determination and confidence.
This "greeting" did more than simply startle the pair of humans in the road as it was delivered with as much intimidation in his voice as Dhraangg could muster. Apparently, it had the desired effect. As the woman of the pair glared at Dhraangg, her expression revealed anger, but tinged quite significantly by fear at the sight of the impressive former gladiator. After a few seconds of simply staring/glaring at the half-orc, the woman bolted to the side of the road and disappeared through brush. The older man that had been assessing the wagon with her took this as his cue to also depart abruptly; he vanished into the brush on the opposite side of the road. Clearly this group of bandits decided that they would rather live to rob another day rather than risk facing the half-orc and his companions who clearly were more than simple travelers on the road.
The group waited a few minutes to see if an attack would materialize, but all they could hear was the ever-receding sound of people moving through the undergrowth. And so they set about assessing the wagon that was still blocking the road. Searching it, they discovered that it's "cargo" was merely rocks positioned to enhance the precarious balanced look of the wagon. Hidden by the driver's bench, so as not to be visible to the party as they approached, were two loaded crossbows waiting for their owners to simply grab them and fire. In the compartment beneath the driver's seat, they discovered a pouch of coins, a vial of some bright red liquid, and a few unremarkable tools that any wagon teamster would carry. The two horses that were "pulling" the wagon were clearly in bad shape - emaciated and mistreated.
Unhitching the horses and providing them some feed from the party's stocks, Dhraangg managed to move the wagon off the road - further damaging it as he did so to ensure it would never be reusable. WIth no sign of a follow-on attack by the bandits, the party finally resumed their travel on the road south to Karnstown.
The remainder of the trip was uneventful, and finally they crested a hill and caught sight of the city wall and gate. They had made it to Karnstown.
The session ended here.
Rewards Granted
The party collected two crossbows and a dozen bolds that were abandoned by the two bandits in the roadway. The compartment beneath the driver's seat in the wagon also held a few crude tools common to anyone who relied on a wagon, but there was also a pouch of assorted coins - 14gp, 52sp and 80cp. Also, small box contained a vial of a bright red liquid substance which had been wrapped in cloth to cushion it .
The party also took the two emaciated horses along with them - adding a few more equines to their already unusual caravan.
The party also took the two emaciated horses along with them - adding a few more equines to their already unusual caravan.
Missions/Quests Completed
The party successfully escorted Maretta Colifer and her two young children from Spirit Lake to Karnstown. In fact, they did so without striking a single blow, despite being accosted by a band of highwaymen deep in the forest along the road.
Character(s) interacted with
The party escorted Maretta Colifer and her two children along the road from Spirit Lake to Karnstown - two and a half weeks on the road with, as Dhraangg put it, "more liittle people".
While they never came to blows with the highway bandits, Dhraangg got a very good look at two of them - good enough that he'd remember them if he saw them again. The same is true for Kleone, who got a good look at the female dwarf archer hiding in the woods as part of the ambush. Unfortunately, nobody got a good look at the face of the fourth bandit... all Kleone saw was the back of a sandy-haired half-elf.
While they never came to blows with the highway bandits, Dhraangg got a very good look at two of them - good enough that he'd remember them if he saw them again. The same is true for Kleone, who got a good look at the female dwarf archer hiding in the woods as part of the ambush. Unfortunately, nobody got a good look at the face of the fourth bandit... all Kleone saw was the back of a sandy-haired half-elf.
Comments