Interlude: On the road to Oathheath
General Summary
Theolin, Eisenheim, Mandrakus, and their new companion "Star" mount up on their new steeds and take the Emperor's Highway west towards the city of Oathheath. After a brief stop in the city of Bywick to get a night's rest at a small inn and few supplies, the adventurer's take to the road again. By the traveller's estimation the journey to the former outpost now turned city would take about three weeks. While traveling, the adventurer's have no trouble finding and foraging for food, being so close to the Old River, one of the three great rivers that flows through the kingdom.
One night after making camp, Star is attacked during his watch; a burlap sack is thrown over his head and he has become a victim of an attempted kidnapping. The other warriors awake, and find their new companion being drug away from the camp by four attackers.The battle to Star is over almost as soon as it began with the abdutors being quickly slain. Mandrakus while searching the bodies finds a wanted poster with Star's face on it. The poster claims the halfling is wanted for murder.
Star explains that his real name is "Alistar" and he was travelling to Oathheath himself to seek refuge with the thieve's guild reported to be in the city. He continues his story that he was from Arindel and that he has been wrongly accussed of the slaying of a minor lord within the kingdom's capital.
The adventurer's strike out into the night to find where the bounty hunters might have come from. After searching the countryside, they find a small camp but with nothing but more supplies to confiscate for their own use. The warriors head back to their own camp, resume watches so everyone else can rest.
The second week of travel brings them to the town of Hyhill, a town not far from the banks of the Old River that sustains itself mostly on the trade of fishing. There Alistar decides to procure getting facial tattoos from a local fisherman and shaves his head to alter his appearance. The group replenishes some supplies, and return to their travels.
With only a few days left to travel before reaching Oathheath, the group come across a band of armed people on horseback that looked to be following the adventurers. Fearing another group of bounty hunters, the warriors approached cautiously and they hail the armed riders. They can see that the strangers on horseback are all wearing studded leather vests, carrying bows, and some sort of edged weapon in scabards. They are all uniformed in brown cloaks. A woman with red hair looked to be the leader of the band, her tied behind her in a large braid. She has a small wooden shield strapped to her arm bearing the standard of a black wolf's head.
The woman introduces herself as Holly Huldane, and she is the captain of a band of rebels dubbed the Freedom Riders. After some tense conversation, the group reveals to the captain that their destination is Oathheath, and their seperate orders of business there all seem to converge with a Zylistanni man named Farrakhan. Holly invites everyone back to the camp of the Freedom Riders, as she has quite the story to tell them.
Holly informs the warriors that her and her men were once the guard that served the baron of Oathheath, Vanth Blackwulf. A year ago, the young baron had been deposed by his uncle, Zane Highmoor. The usurper achieved his coup by emptying the city's coffers to hire a band of an order of sellswords of ill repute, known as the Black Talon. The mercenaries outnumbered the city guard, and those who were not slain were rallied by Vanth to flee the city on horseback.
In the months that followed, the now dubbed Freedom Riders under the command of the deposed baron fought a guerilla battle with the Black Talon in the foothills outside of Oathheath, in hopes to retake the city. The effort had not gone well. The Freedom Riders suffered even more losses, and needed to replenish their supplies. Weeks ago, Vanth took a few men with him on an expedition to regain a long lost relic that he was sure would help him retake Oathheath. He had not since returned.
Eisenheim considered the quest he and Theolin Windsplitter embarked on for the throne to be fulfilled. The pair were to travel to Oathheath to assertain why the baron there had not paid their tribute to the throne. Now that they knew the information, they could turn around and head to Arindel. Theolin needed to find out more, and wanted to aid the Freedom Riders in retaking the city, and freeing the people their from the yoke of the userper and his band of sellswords. Mandrakus was ready to enter the city on his own if necessary, using the power of his religious standing to try and gain entry. Alistar needed to find sanctuary, and for that he needed to find this man Farakhan.
Holly beseeched them to find Vanth Backwulf, and agreed that seeking out Farakhan could provide them with information as to the whereabouts of the deposed baron. She told them the Black Talon were allowing no one to enter the walled city, and that no one was allowed to leave. The gates were constantly watched, and the grounds persitnently patrolled. She knew of a way into the city, and that was through the sewers that ran underneath Oathheath.
All agreed that the sewers might be there best bet for infiltrating the city. While Eisenheim agreed, he did not see the point of find Vanth Blackwulf at all, but instead sneaking into the city and assasinating the usurper, and the job would be done. Little did he think that without Vanth, there would be no noble to restore, but yet he was insistent. The group decided to retire for the rest of the night, taking advantage of the accomodations and hospitality offered by Holly and her Freedom Riders.
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