Merchants and Marauders: RPG Session 3

General Summary

"I'm going to take this away from you now..."
"But what did I do?"
"You know what you did."
"No? I don't?"
~He rolled 3 natural 20's in a row is what he did.

Dramatis Personae

Heroes of the Story:

Gúrda Thérun, a Frost Dwarf druid from the wild North;

Geort Adanar, a human paladin, on the run from his past;

Melé Alkabahar, a human avenger, seeking work; and

Daz Dromégar, a human bard, searching for help with a task.

In the wilderness:

Assorted brigands that prey on travellers between Freebrook and Plainér Town; and

Flora Fardaker, wife of the Magistrate and avid rider, currently being held for ransom.

In the Freebrook Magistrate's Manor:

Magistrate Ignelsio Fardaker, a portly civic leader; and

Dómaté Dat, a fastidious yet clumsy scribe.

At the guardhouse:

Captain Aslgar Scherni, the stern leader of the local guards.

At The Dargin's Den:

Emet Kaldas, an innkeeper of little respect and less diligence; and

Peri the Barmaid, the barmaid forced to make up for him.

In the main market square:

Sari Fehaz, owner of a well-known local brewery; and

Darúkk Zaymil, florist and good friend of Sari.

At the Plainér Mines:

Kalir Fodrég, Foreman of the Mines and not the most diligent worker; and

Dom Aslkir, his hard-working scribe.

What Happened

Having espied the firelight of the encamped bandits in the distance, the four adventurers began to make their way stealthily towards the encampment, trying not arouse suspicion. There, they noticed that the bandits had a pair of white drakes guarding their large tent. Geort, using his knowledge of his old "friends" The Dragon Heresy, was able to deduce from this that they must have been involved as well in some capacity.
Unfortunately, Melé stepped on a dry twig and it cracked, alerting the drakes to the party's presence in the tall grass around their campsite. They then roared out an alarm and attacked. Although the party made quick work of the drakes, the half-dozen bandits inside joined the fray, severely injuring Melé. It was a well-placed Flame Seed spell from Gúrda that dispatched the bandits and a few quick slices from Daz that got rid of the drakes.
Due to the spell, however, the tent was now ablaze, and Geort heard a cry from within. Leaping heroically (or perhaps foolishly) into the burning tent, Geort found Flora tied to a chair, with the flames slowly growing closer to her. Melé joined him when he didn't instantly return, and between the two of them, they freed Flora and made off with a chest of the bandits ill-gotten gains. Flora thanked them profusely for their help, although Daz and Gúrda were astounded at the amount of money that the bandits had.
As the tent smouldered and a small rain began to fall, the adventurers took Flora back to town, asking her if she discovered anything interesting while she was there. She heard the bandits talk about someone in Plainér Town providing the drakes and someone in Freebrook supplying the payment. This confirmed Geort's idea that the Dragon Heretics had, in fact, escaped captivity and had made their way to the countryside.
Arriving back in Freebrook, the Magistrate Ignelsio and his wife had a wonderful reunion, and he gifted some extra money from his own personal stores to the party, as well as promising to give a good word for them to the captain. Graciously accepting this token of his gratitude, the four made their way to the Dargin's Den Inn for a good night's rest. While there, they began to learn about their various stories, like that Gúrda was thrown out of their village when they were young, as well as produced a name for their group: the Drakeslayers!
Before heading to bed, Daz finally got the chance to talk about his predicament to the party. His musical troupe, he explained, had also been captured by bandits while travelling through the Deranti Forest. He had hidden out of sight and was able to escape alive, but he wasn't sure if his troupe members were also still alive. Melé, sympathetic, said that she would do what she could to help, and the other two members agreed that once they were done with this business with the cultists and the marauders, they would help him out.
The next morning, everyone in the party, except for Daz, went to see if the Magistrate had indeed given his word to the Captain of the local guard. Not only had he done that, but he had also given the Captain permission to send the party to search for the Dragon Heretics in Plainér Town. This permission was given in the form of a writ of intent, and the party snatched it up, with the promise of more money if they were able to bring these cultists to justice.
While the rest of the party was at the guardhouse, though, Daz learned from another guard that the local scribe had been poisoned. Knowing that there were only a couple of people in town rich enough to procure that poison, he tracked down Darúkk Zaymil. Daz tricked Darúkk into confessing by "casually" mentioning the events of the past few days and asking if he knew about it. Gauging his reactions, Daz quickly realized that Darúkk was getting very nervous about something, and when Daz mentioned that there might be some rather poisonous flowers in Darúkk's shop, Darúkk ran away.
By this point, the rest of the party arrived to see Daz running after Darúkk. After a short chase through the streets of Freebrook and into one of Sari Fehaz's warehouses, Melé was able to tackle the merchant to the ground. After some coaxing via warhammer and direct threats, Darúkk admitted that the pair had been planning this attack for weeks and the four turned both merchants into a local guard.
Afterwards, the Drakeslayers took off for Plainér Town, which involved a day's long travel overland across the Gratic Plain. Arriving at the outskirts of the town at nightfall, the group decided to spend the night in the wilderness nearby rather than exhaust themselves trying to reach the town that day, and they rested peacefully that night.
Going into town in the morning, Geort remembered that Plainér Town was famous for its marble mines, and so the cultists may have been hiding down there. The four arrived at the mines in the morning, only to find that the Foreman hadn't bothered to show up yet that morning. Talking to Dom, the Foreman's scribe, they learned that a section of the mine had been recently closed off due to a strange screeching and roaring coming from the depths. Deciding that this may lead them to the cultists, they agreed to help, getting permission to go into the mines from the Foreman.
Travelling through the blocked tunnels, the four came upon caves, dead-ends, and even an underground pool, but nothing dangerous. Finally, they found a caved-in area and dug it out, revealing a passageway. A loud roar was heard inside, and after a short travel down into the depths, they came upon a large cavern containing some dead bodies. They were about to leave when Gúrda noticed movement behind a stalagmite, and the group watched as a small blue dragon head rose from behind it, roaring in challenge...

Campaign

The Return of Xernar

Protagonists

Gúrda Thérun

Daz Dromégar

Geort Adanar

Melé Alkabahar

Report Date

07 Jun 2018

Primary Location

Freebrook

Secondary Location

Plainér Mines