Session 34 - Taken Captive

General Summary

Ivan attempted to grapple the mystical feather away from Munkh, but was struggling to do so with how powerful Munkh was. Alena tried to hold back Lada whilst getting the foreigner, Wojciech, to pull Ivan off Munkh. The two of them together proved too much for Ivan, and he was dragged away from Munkh, allowing Munkh escaped into the wilderness. At the same time, Lada used her mystical persuasion to charm Alena into obtaining the feather for her. However, by the time Alena was off to obtain the feather, Munkh had already escaped to the nearby river, so Alena ended up searching around fruitlessly. Munkh felt satisfied that he had obtained the feather, and hid it in a secret pocket to feel its warmth.
However, the rest of the night did not end uneventfully. Munkh, and the rest of the party, with the exception of Ivan, heard the sounds of many hoofbeats early in the morning, while it was still dark. Fearing the Kochmaki, Alena quickly put out the fire, and Munkh ran back to the party to warn them. Wojciech hid by climbing into one of the nearby trees. However, their efforts were in vain. The Kochmaki had arrived, and knew the party had been there by the smell of smoke still rising from the fire.
Having woken up at this point, Ivan saw that the party had no chance of dealing with the Kochmaki; they had horses, so they could outrun them. They had many scouts, and thus could find them. And they had numbers, and thus could kill them. So when the Kochmaki told the party to throw down their weapons, Ivan did so. Alena still wanted to fight them, of course, so Ivan had to grapple her oslop from her, which only really worked because she was surprised by this action. When the Kochmak interpreter asked if the party knew of the surrounding cities, Ivan gave only vague answers, but ones that were true. He hoped to either convince the Kochmaki to attack certain cities, or to avoid their attention entirely, so they passed the party by. However, this attempt backfired, and the Kochmaki decided that Ivan and the others knew the surrounding area. The bound their hands, told them to leave their equipment, and took Lada, Alena, and Ivan with them.
Munkh and Wojciech, who had remained hidden, decided to follow the Kochmaki army from a distance, collecting the discarded equipment along the way. The three party members that were captured were questioned, and Lada continued to remain quiet, while Alena continued to be aggressive. Ivan gave the man a little, but irrelevant, information. Ivan also tried to get to know the guards, by playing a game of chess with them. But perhaps he won the game a little too easily. The next day, Lada was taken from the group. In addition, the Kochmaki were attempting the cross the river. This pushed forward all the plans of the party; if there was a chance to escape the Kochmaki, this was the moment. Munkh and Wojciech sneaked into the town, to try to pose as ferrymen. Ivan told Alena that he would cause a commotion at the river so she could escape, while he went to retrieve Lada.
However, the Kochmaki were prepared, too. Munkh and Wojciech couldn't get close enough to where the army was crossing to make their plans before Ivan had to instigate his. And with their hands tied the river was too difficult for both to swim down the river...until the life of Lada was threatened by their captor. Alena and Ivan quickly ceased their resistance with that threat.
Munkh and Wojciech started to rush towards the commotion, but with soldiers between them and the rest of the party, the risk was too high...
The party's survival hung by a thread.

Report Date

06 Aug 2023