Episode Seventy-five - Diplomatic Action

General Summary

Locked in a room of Castle Rend, which was old and crumbling, the Champions of Destiny watched on as the sky shifted through the holes in the roof above them. Waiting, they realized that the room was once, in ancient days, used for sparing. Given the line of orcish equipment against the wall, it had since been repurposed as such for the orcs. The room had then come to serve the heroes as a defensive position, as they waited and braced for a potential attack from the orcs below. A distant growling and shouting was a content reminder of the threat on their lives and it filled the soundscape between the falling of stone and an indistinct moaning from somewhere in the castle.
In the room with the heroes, but off to one side, rested an unconscious redcap on a stretcher. Lying next to him was a decapitated Kelaryn, drenched in dried blood and never to be seen alive again. Among the pair, lying on the floor, was a dead cat-person whom had been restored to life by Annabelle but in vain. In the opposing corner was Pinna, the local wizard, she was attending a young boy whom Annabelle had knocked unconscious. Among the heroes, as each of them found a moment to rest, was a bound orc chieftess and her axe just off and to the side. Lying under the axe was a sword that was once held by an orc caster that Aldrich put down. As the group rested, the weight of a seemingly everlasting two minute battle had beset them and drove them near to the edge of exhaustion. Settling, time passed and an hour flashed by.
With the last rites of Kelaryn Stonehammer complete, the remaining heroes surrounded the orc chieftess and discussed what steps to take next. As they talked it became apparent, through conversation, that Annabelle and Sol wanted answers. Turning to the orc, Annabelle then lead a line of questioning.
"Why did you take Pinna?" She asked as she sat on the floor before the orc.
Dropping her head low, Chieftess Bonebreaker Dorokor looked utterly disappointed as she remarked, "we took Pinna as a tool of negotiation, blunders were made however. Pinna has since agreed to speak to the town on our behalf but I think that hunt has lost its quarry. On the subject of the blunder, I'll say this, the fire was a tragic accident. The fact that my orcs looted has been seen to, by way of their heads being removed, and her coin has been returned. Further more I have payed Pinna for the damages and exchanged all the coin for platinum from my coffers so that she can carry it more easily. She seems satisfied with this."
Annabelle then looked to Pinna for conformation and the young wizard seized the moment to nod and smile happily. She then held up a bag of coin and let loose the knot. Showing its contents, she displayed a bag filled with roughly forty platinum. As the young boy awoke, the very boy Annabelle had struck unconscious, Pinna took to carting for him as they watched Annabelle continue. A willingness to parlay was established between Annabelle and the orc and then the orc began to explain.
"When he was just Ruling Master, a month ago now, Saxton took my most trusted warrior by force. You met him, he wielded the runeblade just there." Dororkor remarked as she motioned to the blade in the corner.
She continued, "with Oregg Steeltwister in his charge, Saxton ordered a meeting between the two of us. He gave many false words and brought along a host of warriors. This started the mistrust between us, which you caught the heavy hand of in my orcs' refusal to parlay, but we made a deal none the less. He offered me a sum of gold to kill the Baron of Bedegar and his family. At first I refused, not wanting to get involved in the toils of humanity but as I have taught my warriors, there is only war and only those whom fight stand a chance at winning."
With a smile she remarked, before pausing, "low may you know now, I had a plan and thus I have that one."
She pointed then to the boy in the corner, who was being doted on by Pinna. They saw that he had once again gained consciousness and seemed stable. Clad in a well-made, though worn and torn vest, he presented the fashion of a highborn. His fine shoes, though mud covered, and thick pants, though cut and filthy, suggested that he could have been, but no longer was, of nobility. Annabelle then turned and asked the orc about her plan and the boy.
"I spared his life," she remarked as an air of wit passes over her, "the life of Edmund Bedegar, and stole him away to ensure a backup plan in case Saxton gave more false words and stabbed me in the back. Saxton has stabbed me in the back and I have a plan for that too but there is, however; a full story to the plot that got us here, should you want to hear the fine detail before you hear my plan and my deal."
She then looked to each member of the company, curious to know whether they'd like to hear the whole story or just her plan for the road ahead. Annabelle was the first to reassure her that she wanted to hear everything, Sol immediately chimed in after her. They were curious to know how Lord Saxton fit into the entire situation and what the orc wanted of him.
"To know Saxton is complicated, even for the most intelligent among humanoids but I have learned from the child. I have learned that his plans have no end and his enemies have no secrets. I have learned that he will kill for his goals and will bribe for his wants but most importantly I know his deepest desire, it is kindred in my heart. Saxton, above all else, wishes to rule all that he longs for, his thirst is for power and his heart is set upon conquest. He became Ruling Master of Sundabar, gaining the favor of the Dwarves and then positioned himself as its only capable leader in times of defense."
Taking a breath, Dorokor looked to the boy as if attempting to remind herself of all he'd told her, then she continued. "With regency, Saxton could gain the heirless title and claim the Barony of Bedegar as his own. Positioned as regent, I was hired and he had the city gates opened in the dead of night and then using a hired archer, I think his name was Faldric, Saxton had the gates to the barony opened. We stormed in, captured that Tabaxi and a few captives that didn't survive the journey, and killed all else though many soldiers survived. When I found Edmund, I devised the plan in the moment and took him then and there. It is through Edmund that I have learned of Saxton and I need not hear it from a bird that he is now Lord of Sundabar, soon to be ruler of all-else."
With another breath Dorokor relaxed a little, you can tell that she felt wiser for having shared her knowledge and further that she seemed glad to have it fall on intelligent ears. Not wholly satisfied, Annabelle prompted her for more.
Much more relaxed, Dorokor, with cunning less hidden in her eyes offered more, and she offered the truth. "My plan begins with my wishes. I wish to return the boy to human society but I do have secret wishes for him. My hope is that he reveals Saxton's treachery. I want nothing more then the downfall of that lying devil but I can't help the boy past the sword training I've given him. Likewise, I wish to return my orcs to their tribe and leave this place. Civilization is not for them. However, they won't give up this nice stone house so easily. There are rooms we haven't faced in our haste to prepare for Saxton, so they'll need incentive as they'll likewise need a reason to keep listening to me. So, there's a deal to be made if you're interested in making one but know that it is time sensitive as my orcs will likely return soon ."
"How many?" Arion demanded.
"About ninety or so, assuming some losses on their hunt." She started then continued, "But its no matter, there is a deal to be made."
"What deal?" Aldrich pondered aloud.
The two dabbled into a back and forth on their mutual hatred for Saxton and even jumped quickly to the idea of a future partnership, involving their working together to defeat the lord in a joint battle but Arion quickly intervened; stating matter-a-factly that he had no interest in fighting alongside and orc horde. The chieftess retorted in mild agreement that they'd stepped to far ahead anyway.
When asked by Annabelle what she wanted going forward, the orc rubbed her chin for a moment and then seemingly crafted a plan in her head then and there and then revealed it. "Its simple, they respect displays of power, they always have. They need to see that I came out ahead in these negotiation and that you know I am better then you. Of course, I won't have you show it if I can spare you the indignity. Instead, I can show them with a display of power."
"So here's the deal, you give me an item of power, something worthy, and I will show it to my orcs. I will tell them of its legend and its capability and prove to them that I alone am worthy of it. Playing it up, I will boast my triumph and order them back to the tribe, to once again rest beneath the shadow of the Nether Mountains."
"What kind of item, a magic item?" Sol asked.
They all then discussed items capable of satisfying the deal but in both the beginning and the end, Sol offered his Wand of the War Mage. Accepted informally, Aldrich cut the orc's bonds so that the deal could be made formal.
"Then let us formalize this deal with the handshaking of your kind," Bonebreaker Dorokor offers as she got to her feet and offered her hand to Annabelle. Accepted by the healer, Dorokor remarked, "take the boy. Take the girl. Take this stone house too, if you wish. Walls are for keeping cattle and pigs. We care not for such things you can have it. But help this boy find safety so that he may kill Saxton. He is too treacherous to lead men, and too weak to survive his lies. If you agree to this, the White Tusk clan will return to the hills in the north and trouble you no more."
They shook then and the orc departed the room. Bonebreaker Dorokor stepped out into the entry hall and bellowed an order into a great horn from her side. The orcish summoning drew forth orcs up from the depths of the fortress and she wielded before them, the Wand of the War Mage. In orcish she claimed, "I have achieved victory and great triumph for the White Tusk this day. I have gained more then this hall could offer from theses human who want so much from so little. What we have gained pays ten-fold and we are made stronger! Follow me now as we celebrate, back to our home, back to our tribe!"
With her proclamation finished, Bonebreaker Dorokor leaded the orcs out of the fortress and into the woods south as a host of orcs, likely a hundred, emerged just then to greet her. They all then follow her around to the north of the fortress and departed, likely for their home.
Looking then to the boy, the heroes watched him stand and brush himself off. He was unsteady and Pinna seemed to assure his footing as he readied himself. Emerging first with an apology, the boy seemed then to take on the posture of a baron.
"What is your name?" He asked of Annabelle
"Annabelle," she responded meekly.
Edmund looked her in the eye then and with full lungs made a declaration. "I do not hold Bedegar Keep. I have no army. I am young but I am my father’s son. I am now the Baron of Bedegar, and I owe you my life. This may be a curse but it is the only blessing I possess as I now rightfully possess my father's title. So, allow this to be my first act as baron. Kneel. And hand me your mace, a symbol they will know and respect, as I know they will also respect your sensibilities."
Annabelle then handed him her Mace of Disruption, the one recovered by Aldrich in the depths of the drow temple below Olostin's Hold. With it in his hand, he clasped it with two, unable to wield its weight.
The light of the mace faded in Edmund's hand as he lifted it. Controlling the weight, Edmund tapped the mace on her shoulders, his hands trembling slightly from the weight of it, and he declared, "arise, knight of Bedegar. I invest you with this castle, too, just as the knights of the good kings of Netheril held it in the elder days."
His haphazard ceremony concluded, the boy became a little less formal as he returned the mace to its owner and asked, "well Dame Annabelle, you are now my privy council. What shall we do?"
After a brief discussion it was all but decided to leave the castle and return to the village of Gravesford come the morning of the 5th of Flamerule. As they waited for night to fall from that afternoon onward, they spoke to the redcap and learned that he was born of blood, born from The Enchantress. The Enchantress, he claimed, was one of the voices inside Aldrich's head. With his motives out and the truth learned, that redcaps are indeed born of the blood they crave, Arion chopped the creature's head off and place it in his morbid bag of heads and boots.
Come the early morning, before the first light, the group set out and encountered floating lights on the road. Looking to them as they passed, they saw the lights had entrapped the kenku from their earlier travels through the Forest Rend. Adorned in a beautiful green and purple robes, no longer buying gems and jewelry nor selling strange potions, the bird-person was instead cowering away from the lights. In his book of monster, Arion then learned that the lights were will-o-wisps but was lured into their trap anyway. Fighting the four wisps and the tree blight the wisps were drawing the heroes towards, the heroes put up a valiant defense of the kenku. Unfortunately, inspired by their bravery, the bird-person rushed into battle and got itself killed. After the tree got ahold of both Aldrich andArion, they were able to hew it down and claim victory.
All the while they trees had been laughing at Aldrich's missteps and once at Annabelle's. As those two members urged the party away, to Sol's agreement, a goblin stepped forth and greeted Arion as, the Savior of the Butts. GukGak, recognized Arion from the Lost Dungeon of Rickedness and offered to watch the caste for free for his worship and to meet by town's edge in the case of incident.
Back in town the party met with the Mayor Osric and Giselle; Carroc eventually came in, rather heated, and had a spat with Arion whom had little patients for town politics. Differing to Annabelle the situation was eased and talks were had. The party informed the fellows there that Edmund was in fact the rightful Baron of Bedegar and Edmund proved such with his signet ring. The town council members were also informed that Annabelle was named dame and given possession of Castle Rend. As they left, Carroc even offered to give out of pocket if the heroes were ever in need of aid, despite his dislike for Arion. Once gone, that very argument caused and argument between the party that Aldrich calmed. After the argument, they discussed moving forward.
Though they thought they would find a moments peace, there came a knock at the door. In strode Willoughby Twobuckle who told them he was a Cog of The Clock, an official member of the local thieves guild established in Olostin's Hold. Twobuckle told them that he was always a thief but after his recruitment into a secret group that he became a thieves' thief. Beloved, he was trying to set the world right, one stolen item at a time. He told them, mostly after they figured it out as he alluded to it, that he was also a member of the Harpers as well. He told them that he was doing his best to recruit members for the Harpers from The Clock after he learned of their agenda. Their agenda of course, that which he found himself assisting them with, was their battle against Saxton. Naturally Saxton, whom stood as a shadowy figure to the Harpers, was unapproachable by the The Cloak. Unapproachable but simply a force to be opposed as his intentions were to institute law on an otherwise lawless road. As these highwaymen, law was to be avoided at all cost for The Clock but it made them into guerillas. Graduating to spies for the Harpers, these thieves had learned a thing or two that Twobuckle wanted to share with the company.
He told them that Sir Hanz Pelliton knew of Castle Rend and was preparing to attack the castle. He told them that Pelliton likely didn't know that the orcs were no longer there, but that if he learned that the Champions of Destiny had been to the castle; he'd stop at nothing to kill them, especially after they killed his brother. He also informed them that Pelliton would be hard up for them and the town that betrayed his brother the Blood Knight.
"So, yeah, I figure you folks got about a week before that pigstain Pelliton shows up at your new castle or whatever. His army ain’t big but Saxton has some… nasty friends. You know what a gnoll is? Well you’ll see."
"We've met them," Aldrich offered.
"Anyway, the word is out there about you folks and the castle in the forest. And Saxton ain’t exactly popular. I know a couple of companies of foot used to work for the old baron will probably come by to help. But it wouldn’t hurt to find a few hundred more friends who can fight and take orders. Oh and you’re gonna have to kill Pelliton, too, you know that right? ’Cause he’s coming for you personal."
He added further, "Pelliton can get into your castle. We don’t know how exactly, but we know he got it from Saxton and we think Saxton got it from an elf that has taken residence in the Hall of Four Ghosts and raided the old magic items found there."
After an exchange of glances between them and a discussion of their enemies, Sol lead the group to the assumption that the Star Knight was likely in the possession of a Scroll of Teleportation. Afterward and as Arion joined the other in wanted to stay in defense of the town, the Champions of Destiny were introduced to Danuethian.
"I'm sorry, you look remarkably like the person I'm looking for, as I am in fact searching for a fellow by the name of Lord Arion of House Deepwinter, Lord of the Deepwinter Estate in Waterdeep."
After being inform that his mark was found, he continued, "ah, very good. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Danuethian, an ambassador of the sylvan people of Nordahaehirl, you may call it Nord, as I think most humans would prefer. I have been sent on a grand expedition to find you and to allow you very unique access to our peoples."
Further on they learned that Danuethian the wood elf ambassador had come to establish relations between House Deepwinter and the Wood Elves of the High Forest. He came per the suggestion of Banrion to his people, whom the Champions of Destiny had saved from a coven of hags. His intentions were to head south to look for Arion in Olostin's Hold and failing that the Deepwinter Estate, hoping to polish up on human culture in Gravesford first. He then offered a unit of troops within four days as he learned of the party's need of them, thanks to the Elven path and his sending stone to make the request. He told them that his ultimate hopes were to eventually formalize a treaty between their peoples and against their potential enemies which Arion had told Banrion of and become true allies there after.
Together, the party made the decision to call on both the local troops and the elves and would have them muster beyond the town's hill and in the castle respectively. With that business settled, the group had a letter composed to Pelliton's troops from Bedegar under Edmund's hand before they rushed off to greet a giant at the edge of town. Across the bridge the storm giant stood to greet them and met them halfway.
The pale, purple-gray skinned giant that had just walked up strolled directly toward Annabelle. His emerald eyes rested softly upon her as his white beard blew gently in the wind. Like a walking stick, he strode forth with a bent greatsword in hand as his naked knees stretched forth from beneath his tunic and scale armor. His plumage seemingly scratching at the sky, he stopped at a distance that would seemingly render him safely far enough away as to not pose a threat but to be heard and spoke softly, though his voice carried like thunder through a storm cloud.
"Hello little one, I am the kindly Lord Oomund of the sky fortress far, far in the clouds above. The prophecies told of your arrival and I have come to greet you."
Greeted he stated, "the patterns have shown that you will need aid in your battle and I offer it. A few of my own, and myself of course, can be bothered to leave our defense for a short time should you need it."
"That would be most helpful," Annabelle replied.
"Then it is settled, let the relations between our neighboring fiefs begin. I must return but we will be here when needed. Goodbye for now and good luck in your days to come."
The storm giant held his sword aloft and was struck by a lightening that propelled him into the sky. Consumed by the clouds, the giant disappeared as the heroes returned to town. As Arion set off to have the two bodies, that of the cat and companion, buried; the group split up hoping to find some calm before the coming storm. arion gets the bodies buried at the church

Rewards Granted

1288xp

Missions/Quests Completed

Quest of Fate Continued, Subquest Forging Fate Continued, Sidequest The Siege of Castle Rend Continued

Notes

Notable Party Damage:

• Aldrich has a horrible burn scar on the left side of his neck in front of the ear from an azure fire elemental summoned by Seldra Tylmarande. His armor and shield are extremely claw marked from many Lizardfolk. His shield has a large fist shaped dent in it from when he was crushed by a Sacred Statue.
  Noted Effects: Horrible Scar (Neck). You are disfigured to the extent that the wound can't be easily concealed. You have disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks and advantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks. Magical healing of 6th level or higher, such as heal and regenerate, removes the scar.
• Annabelle has a noticeable bend in her scale armor about the stomach where she was crushed by a Sacred Statue.
  Noted Effects: None
• Arion came from Arda with a scar that won't seem to heal.
  Noted Effects: Minor Scar (Head). The scar doesn't have any adverse effect. Magical healing of 6th level or higher, such as heal and regenerate, removes the scar.
• Sol has tear marks across the back and chest of his shirt, as well as down the sleeve, from the claws of lizardfolk. He has a burn mark on his cheek where a water droplet seared his flesh.
  Noted Effects: Minor Scar (Left Cheek). The scar doesn't have any adverse effect. Magical healing of 6th level or higher, such as heal and regenerate, removes the scar.

Report Date

30 May 2021

Primary Location

Gravesford