Newcomers and Bounties - Intro Quest
General Summary
Island Newcomers
Session 8 - Intro Quest
The next morning, The Bard Winslow was inspired by his new compatriot, and made his way through the proper channels to begin plying his bardic trade of song once more along the harbor of the dock-born city, with a new epic tale of what had just happened. April signed up for a course alongside Squeeks for the next month. There was no word from Ashera, and nothing to drive April or Winslow to leave Boardwalk so they both whittled away the days until, at the end of the month and some days, a ship arrived carrying some people new to the island. April was consumed by the course that she had signed up for at the beginning of the month with the Guild of The Planks to learn even more tricks with her Tailor's Kit and some history of the Island from locals. The deck held not one but three adventurers from far off lands. The first: Orla The Ranger, a forest gnome ranger that was known for finding solace in the company of animals far more than other humanoids, the second; Hideo - Z000, a Warforged Samurai whose vocal components were damaged during his creation, and the final; Urkall "Goodwill" Neekrath, his adoptive brother, a Tiefling who is indeed the only one that can understand the strange mechanical sounds coming from his brother and translate them to speech in the common tongue. Fortune smiled on Winslow that day, as he, quite literally stumbled upon these folks as he was practicing his tunes along the dock of Boardwalks harbor after clearing through the bureaucracy of the Guild. The duo was more than happy to have a guide, new to this land, and Winslow was happy to show them to the markets and share some common tales of the land. While at the market, the new group saw the bounty board outside of the Merchant's Guild Hall with two bounties: A high value Hobgoblin target named “Hobbers” by the locals, and a druid whose interests have extended beyond the scope of beasts of the island, specifically Griffon, as the party would find out. This bounty drew the attention of an Orc Cleric named Grothar Dro'Uun. Grothar saw reason with Goodwill in that the 4 of them could have a better outcome of success as calculated by Hideo and their steamy sounds of speech. Orla, however, did not find herself with these four, she instead found herself talking to the stabled horses with her forest gnome gifts, the nearest animals that she could speak with, and heard gruesome tales of a winged beast in the North that the horses were afraid of. The horses begged for her to help as they have met none other that even care to ask as of late. Orla purchased one of the stabled goats and rode it north immediately thereafter. Winslow, Grothar, and the Brothers left in the morning, determined to seek out this, Farthis The Songbird, and take the payment that comes with his defeat, or his capture. Orla stopped some time in the evening to camp, but she had a headstart on the others, so when the others left rather early in the morning, she, a late sleeper, woke just as the others had started their approach to her camp along the road. After some conversation, they decided to accompany each other as long as it is with the cause of helping others (Orla’s condition). The six of them venture off into the Feylight Forest, it seems the druid took shelter within after the Faerie Dragon had left the forest, and had killed several people with his yet to be discovered wolf companions and griffon mounts.
Overwhelmed and Overprepared.
Session 9 - Intro and Bounty Quest
Orla didn’t make it to the druid’s hillside shelter, though, she was pivotal in tracking the Griffon’s movements through the woods (windswept branches, some droppings, talon marks) until they finally came to a clearing that formed a near perfect circle in the heart of the forest. As the party entered the clearing, a pack of Wolves was headed straight for them from across the way. These wolves seemed very organized and were clearly led by a much larger wolf, Orla surmised. She had no interest in hurting the animals of the forest though and so left with her goat. A fellow passerby Salochin Nesuhal , a Halfling Rogue with Monk skills saw the gnome ride off on the goat, made some inquiries, then hurried off to help the party dispatch the beasts, but not before the dire wolf let out a deafening howl echoing deep into the woods. Salochin took a moment to investigate his surroundings for additional wolves, but there were none. The party notices a satchel fastened around the dire wolf, Goodwill opened the pouch therein and within they found some magical, what Goodwill perceived to be, druidic components, on the right track then. The Griffon could then be seen in the sky to the North, so they stayed here awhile (short rest) and Goodwill left an eye to the sky while the Griffon continued to fly North. They began travelling North after their quick respite, eager to face this winged monstrosity. The sun was setting and the light was filtering dimly through the leaves of the trees that hadn’t fallen yet. They look up at a sheer hillside, a singular giant rock protruding from the ground, shaped smooth on the faces rests with the Griffon atop it’s peak. Taking too long to plan how to deal with the Griffon, the party is ambushed by wolves that were coming from the depths of the forest after the Dire Wolf’s howl. The party steps forward and attempts to throw a beartrap attached to some rope (Sarlochin’s thought was to climb the rope after it springs on the griffon’s talon), emphasis on attempt. The trap missed, springs shut with a resounding clang. The Griffon was spooked by the sound, and flew up and off and away to a place the party was not able to see. The party knew it had to climb the side of the mountainous rock before the griffon returned, and so they began to hammer in pitons and climb. Once atop the mountain, the party begins to place traps of their own in strategic places in the nest that the Griffon had made, then they hid. About 30 minutes passed and not one, but two Griffon began landing and on the back of the second was the Druid Farthis the Songbird. The party that could use range were able to get a surprise round, and the druid was nearly dead before the Griffon had even landed. After landing it was chaos, one Griffon saw Winslow hiding behind Farthis’ tent and dove down to eat the poor, poor bard. The other Griffon, the one that was mounted by Farthis, landed in the heart of the nest, and set off a trap but to no avail. Goodwill, took a moment to cast a Twinned Spell Chromatic Orb at the sorry druid. Attempting to mount the Griffon and flee, the druid fell, dead, and the party was left with just the winged beasts. In the end, they were both slain, and after some components were harvested from them Goodwill took to his painting supplies, and the party rested. As part of that rest, Goodwill painted a glorious picture of that Griffon Carcasses capturing the dark nature of their victory in a beautiful cascade of auburn, crimson, and the dusky colors of the waning day and as Goodwill’s paints came to life on the page, his brush strokes as violent as the battle hours ago, he finally finished with a masterpiece level of art - the subject, the corpses of the griffon and Farthis - which Goodwill used as a way to turn in the bounty, and later sold to a ship captain for a handsome profit.
Feat players Winslow "The Wise" Placeholder, and newcomers Orla The Ranger, Hideo - Z000, Urkall "Goodwill" Neekrath Placeholder, and later Salochin Nesuhal .
Amd Grothar Dro'Uun.
Amd Grothar Dro'Uun.
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