Coia: 01 - A Rude Awakening

General Summary

Our scene opens at dusk on a cool spring day in a small grassy clearing at the base of the western portion of the towering Cocker mountains. The air is crisp with the faint aroma of fresh cut timber, overturned earth and the evening meal almost ready for serving.   As most of you regain consciousness and survey your surroundings, you find yourselves divided among a trio of cramped, newly constructed wooden jails, stripped of your possessions, your weapons, your armor. For some of you this is an all too familiar feeling. For others, without the protection of your steel and leather, the fear of death is becoming tangible.   While the sun is still above the mountain peaks to the west, you have just enough light to vividly display the tragedy before you. Three 5ft x 5ft wooden jail cells, arranged in a line, each overcrowded with three individuals. Clearly these structures are not meant for long term confinement, but they are sturdy nonetheless.   In the first wooden jail are what look to be three human males, but only two of them appear to be moving. It’s not clear if the third person is still unconscious, or worse, dead.   In the center cell, the half-orc barbarian, Moose Knuckle, begins to rise to his feet. His face is partially covered with dried blood and from the very few cuts you can see on his body it’s likely that only some of that blood is his. Next to the barbarian another half-orc starts to awaken. As he rolls over you see the articles of clothing left on him, a small leather apron and stout boots, are those often worn by a blacksmith. Lastly, stuffed into the corner of this prison cell, we see Sszardan T'Sarran, a dark elf of child-like proportions compared to these two half-orcs. Sszardan is awake and alert, but clearly shaken by the recent ordeal that landed him in the cell.   Occupying the last wooden jail are the rest of our unfortunate group. Emis Faralei, the half-elf, is leaning against his cage wall trying to assess just how dire a circumstance he has gotten himself into this time. On the ground but still breathing, we see the half-elf Nicodemus. From the laceration on his pointed ear and dried blood in his hair, it’s obvious he took an unexpected blow to the head just before blacking out and being dragged to his cell. Finally, Nym Lenore, a wood elf, is calmly sitting in lotus pose, his eyes closed, his breath steady, waiting.   About 20-30ft. away you can see the campfire where a spit holds a chunk of meat that crossed into the well-done territory about 10 minutes prior. Next to the fire, a small creature about 3ft tall, stands with its back to you, fixated on the food. Squinting your eyes to block out some of the campfires’ interference you can see what looks to be a Mane creature. With its pale bloated skin, nearly hairless, and crawling with maggots, it currently doesn’t look to be an active threat.   Occupying the fourth corner of this deadly square you can see a pair of Wretched creatures. They evil monsters are the feeling of wretchedness, personified. They have pudgy bodies on two legs with huge leach-like mouths. Something has their attention and curiosity, as they scratch at the ground near of pile of debris.  

POW camp escape

  The group is able to successfuly pick the locks on their cages and escape, without alerting the Mane or Wretched and find a pile with almost all their belongings. Nicodemus is dismayed to discover that a book of great value to him is missing. They are joined by some prisoners from the nearby town of Altherstab: Madashlak Bohdon (a blacksmith) Udamis Uuthrak (a carpenter) and his son Unefi.   They sneak past the creatures and head east but are quickly stopped by the site of another campfire. There is a fairly well constructed animal skin tent near the fire and they see another Goblin seated on the far side of the fire. But there doesn’t appear to be anyone, or anything, else around. They attack the goblin which alerts the Goblin Boss inside the tent to come out and join the fight.   The group is able to kill the goblin and goblin boss but after the skirmish is over, Udamis and Unefi look visibly shaken. As best they can tell, Altherstab is at least 15 miles southeast out of the mountains. As eager as they are to make sure their family is safe, it is likely too far to travel now as night sets in. The group makes camp for the night to set off and speaking with Udamis reveals the story of the attack on Altherstab.   Descending from the perimeter mountainside in the dead of night, a goblin horde at least 20 strong, surprised the sleeping village. But even in broad daylight, the simple famers and tradesmen would be no match for a war party that size. Some were slain but most, like us, were captured. A lucky few were able to escape and hide in the nearby forested hills south of the village.  

The Ashes of Altherstab

  The following morning, the group travels to Altherstab and find the charred remains of the homes and shops. You cautiously walk into a clearing from the north, into the Old District section of the village. This is where most of the shops, and the only tavern, used to be. All you see before you now are the charred remains of a once pleasant and thriving community. To the west of the town center they find Paki Serepet the old tavern owner, sifting through her legacy.   “Looks like I’ll have to start over again. Bastards broke every one of my plates. I’m sorry Nicodemus but it looks like all the books you wanted were burned up too.” She hid in the cellar when the fighting started but had to make a dash for the woods when she smelled smoke and knew her establishment was set to flame. While in the cellar she heard a couple soldiers talking, but she couldn’t make it out. It was another language, maybe goblin. The way they were moving around the bar and smashing things, it was almost as if they were searching for something.   Continuing south to the Moon Garden section of town where most of the villagers lived, we find a dozen or so homes are still standing and we see movement near some of the intact houses. As we search the area, we stumble upon a Hobgoblin and the Hobgoblin Captain. We attack and kill the goblin, while questioning the captain about where the villagers are. He reveals that the women and children are being held about a days’ journey north into the Cocker mountains. Nicodemus finds some written orders that he claims tell us to go to Beresko. Agreeing to help rescue the town, the we decide head north in the morning.