Difference between revisions of "Act 2"

Revision as of 08:41, 4 October 2017

Orange is the new Suck

Map of Barren Cliffs Camp

The Act 2 opens up roughly 6 months after the Siege of Fairhaven. The Protagonists have been interned in the Barren Cliffs Refugee Camp that has been built near Koda City along with the other Fairhaven refugees.

During their stay there Harlan Underford and Rando DeButt have created an underground smuggling and hustling network known as the Cousins. They have managed to establish contacts on the outside of the camp, and devised a way to pass messages as well as contraband in and out of the city. Harlan's work duty was in the Loundry which gave him access to certain tools and chemicals.

Zorry Feathermoon has been secretly working as the Camp healer, and growing various medicinal herbs and fungi, while at the same time hiding her magical powers from the camp authorities. Her tent-mate Seraphina Goodbarrel turned out to be another magic user on the down-low and the two became fast friends. Together they expanded their operation and have gained many supporters among the prisoners. Since they both had work duty in the kitchens, and Zorry was able to produce food and water via magical means, they became an important source of nutrition. Many inmates were grateful for her help and offered their services and skills in various areas. Some helped with distribution, while others like Torban worked as security detail. The group was very secretive and protective of their healer and had no official name, but some started referring to it as Followers of Feathermoon. The group was not affiliated with the Cousins but had friendly relations with them especially since Rando was trying to convince Zorry to use her alchemical knowledge to improve the Cousins alcochol brewing operation.

Koda Guards

Bilbido Tastyflute had a work duty in the wood shop where he spent time making flutes and other contraband for the cousins. Same goes for Takklinn Thunderbottom who provided the Cousins with shivs and other makeshift tools when he was not working in the stone quarry.

On the other side of the camp, a barbarian named Gazzpatcho Talbot was using the survival skills he learned during his long hermitage in Westmarch woods to help refugees mend wounds and heal minor illness with help from his best friend Trevor Corey.

The conditions in the Barren Cliffs have been harsh and unforgiving. The prisoners are worked hard, and kept malnourished. Any individuals of high status (nobles, political leaders, etc..) or mystical power (mages, clerics, etc..) have been separated from general population and either transferred offsite, executed or worked to exhaustion in the quarries.

Whip it Good

Asor Er'Hanu

The life in the camp is interrupted when Garrison Commander Asor Er'Hanu (more commonly known as Mr. Garrison) calls for an unexpected assembly. It turns out that one of the prisoners, Tassan Rylo was found in possession of contraband: a custom made shiv, likely made by Takklin or one of the few other crafters in the camp. Tassan is publicly tortured and whipped by Paldeen Er'Awitar while the entire population of the camp is forced to watch.

When the inmates react with cries and jeers, twenty of them are punished by being dug into the sand up to their necks and left outside for the night.

Afterwards, the heroes visit Tassan and Zorry helps to heal and tend to his wounds. Harlan tries to find out who snitched but ends up with no reliable leads. Seraphina flirts with guard Esho Er'Wardo in order to secure a potential ally who will turn a blind eye to minor infractions or provide her with intel.

In the meantime Gazzpatcho tries to secure alcohol for Trevor Cory's midnight rave. He manages to locate a prisoner named Johann Lahey who appears to be a minor distributor from Block F.

The Art of the Deal

Ikky the Imp materializes in the temp of Zorry Feathermoon with updated paperwork. He laments her position and the way it impacts his side of the deal they were supposed to make. Zorry is torn between taking the deal in exchange for help getting out of the camp, and being wary of what such deal would cost her. She orders Ikky to reveals himself to Seraphina, so that the Warlock used to dealing with extraplanar beings can help her decide on the best course of action.

Seraphina coaxes Ikky to aid them in exchange for a future favor. The Imp leaves but not before dropping Samuel's Scroll. Zorry makes some ink and re-establishes communication with Samuel who has survived the siege. She learns that the city was taken, but that Westmarch has not fallen yet, and that there is some sort of resistance fighting the undead menace. Upon learning about the camp Samuel promises to dispatch a rescue force. While he can send enough ships to carry most of the refugees back to Westmarch, he has no fighting men to spare. Therefore the heroes must somehow find a way to liberate the camp before the ships arrive, as the sailors won't be able to lay a siege to the fortified encampment. Samuel also reveals that Crud DeButt has survived the siege, but now goes by William for some reason.

Zorry and Seraphina tell the news to Harlan and Bilbido, and the crew decides to get Rando involved (especially since he deserves to know that his brother is alive). Rando is glad to hear this and suggests to stage a smaller riot a week before the rescue flotilla arrives to test the camp defenses and see how quicklyu it can get reinforcements from the city.

A man named Grayson approaches Rando and Harlan asking for help. He reveals he is Fynwell native and a relative of Lord Rigel of Brass Lion Society. He knows that the Cousins can contact people on the outside, and he promises that if they find a way to smuggle him out of the camp, he will send back a ship to break out any Cousins that manage to sneak out of the camp. The Cousins agree to aid him, but he has to give them time to formulate a plan.

Gazzpatcho meets with Johann Lahey who reveals he obtains his supplies by stealing from the Cousins. He promises to reveal the location of the hidden stash if the barbarian agrees to give him half of the booze he loots. Gazzpatcho agrees and sets out to raid the Cousins' stash that same night. He passes by Bilbido Tastyflute who appears to be followed by a Shady Guard. Gazzpatcho decides to bravely ignore this, and focus on his mission of petty thievery.

Bilbido notices he is followed and uses magic to turn invisible (as is his custom during dangerous encounters). The guard looses his trail and is visibly enraged by this. He removes his mask revealing elven features, which seems unusual as most of the camp guards are Deep Folk.

Gazzpatcho manages to loot large portion of the supplies in the stash and return to Johann Lehy unnoticed. He stashes his share of the booze in his tent.

The Mighty Dorks: A Sportsball Film

In order to "improve morale" in the camp Mr. Garrison announces that a friendly game of Kelosi will be held between the guards and the Farihaven "guests". The game will give the refugees something to look forward to, and will give the guards a chance to blow off steam. Outside guests will be invited for the exhibition game allowing the leaders of the camp showcase how well it is being run and provide occasion to make money betting on a sport spectacle.

The prisoners are tasked with recruiting and training their own team. Naturally Cousins step in to coordinate the process as it provides them with abundant opportunities. Controlling the team and having the ability to either decisively win or throw the game gives Rando leverage with his outside contacts who will be betting on the game.

Fairhaven Marlins

Consequently Rando becomes the coach and Badger the assistant coach. Together they recruit five most healthy, athletic and willing prisoners to form the team:

• Vessak Feltdam - dockhand
• Dyer Sneckbel - 45 year old half elf
• Gurard Tuskind - 40 year old dwarf merchant
• Oldan Binyear - 32 year old human blacksmith
• Zinis Kausom - 28 year old human dockhand

Harlan uses scraps of material stolen from the laundry to sew together a Fairhaven flag which he uses to inspire the newly formed team during their first training session. To keep the team mates motivated and in peek condition the Cousins promise protection, as well as access to contraband food rations and other contraband. The protagonists decide to name the team Fairhaven Merlins (after the official state fish of Fairhaven) and that their team chant is going to be "Boioioioing!".

In between training sessions Rando suggests that the game would be a perfect occasion to stake a mini-riot to test the camp defenses, and see how they react to organized resistance. The Cousins are secretly briefed on the plan, and told to agitate the crowd during the game, and provide some resistance initially, but to eventually lay down arms and stand down. They are also told not to bring contraband weapons to the game as those will likely be confiscated, and to secure their secret stashes to prevent them from being compromised after the test riot.

Kelosi Match

The training goes well, and the morale of the team grows. Few days before the game Zinis Kausom dies in a quarry accident. It is unclear if this was one of the usual "quarry accidents" which often happen to problem prisoners, or a real thing. There are some rumors that the quarry crew break through the cliff wall into some sort of cave system and encountered some unknown monster. That said, there are no witnesses.

The same night Vessak Feltdam gets a visit from some of the guards who strongly suggest he should consider throwing the game. They persuade Vessak so hard they manage to break his arm in the process, making him unable to compete.

Upon hearing the news, both Binyear and Tuskind decide not to participate in the game fearing for the safety of their families. Dyer is still willing to play, despite the danger. The Protagonists go to visit Vessak and meet Gazzpatcho Talbot who is there trying to mend his arm. With Zorry's help they manage to set the man's broken bones to ensure it will heal properly. Upon learning about the game, Gazzpatcho offers to play on the team. They are also able to convince Trevor Corey to be a crowd agitator during the game.

The heroes discuss the matter and decide they should all take part in the game. They decide to keep Dyer out of the game for his own safety, especially since all of them have extensive combat experience, whereas Half Elf simply happens to be a spry and nimble rogue.

On the day of the game the heroes decide to have Tastyflute play the mounted position. Zorry buffs him with magic to make sure he does not drop the ball, seeing how the bard is the least agile of the group. The guards play dirty and foul a lot. Some of them also brought knives and both Zorry and Harlan get stabbed during the game. Despite the lack of familiarity with the game, and the dirty play style of their opponents, the heroes are able to score a decisive win. Because they have followed the rules and played a clean game, the result is indisputable.

A Bug's Life

After the game is over, there is a lot of commotion in the audience. The natives, guests and guards are upset about the result, having likely lost a lot of money on what seemed to be a sure bet, while the prisoners are invigorated by the victory. Thanks to Cory Trevor shouting obscenities at the guards, the situation quickly erupts into violence.

The guards stationed in the tower at the center of the camp are quick to respond and sound the alarm horn, which calls for reinforcements from the Guard Compound including four horse drawn chariots. The guards try to control the crowd but are severely outnumbered. Some heroes including Gazpatcho and Harlan join the fray and manage to take out at least one of the chariots. Zorry and Tastyflute on the other hand try to direct the civilians away from the fighting and make sure there is as little collateral damage as possible.

Seeing the tide is turning against them the tower guards light the beacon on top of the tower, which the heroes note is probably used to signal the Koda City garrisons in order to send troops to quell the riot. They also sound the alarm for the second time which puts the entire camp in the state of emergency with more guards piling out from the compound.

When this is not enough, Mr. Garrison gives the order to sound the alarm for the third time. The tower guards seem hesitant to do this, but comply and sound the horn again. This signals the compound to release the camp's ultimate defense weapon: one that the prisoners have not seen or anticipated before. The compound gates are flung open to reveal a gigantic, elephant sized mutated fire beetle with a shielded troop palanquin on top. The beast appears to be controlled by one of it's riders who seems to be psionicaly attuned with the monster.

photoshop pic of the beetle here ^(?)

The creature is almost invulnerable to conventional weapons, and seems to be capable of spewing fiery substance from the glands below its head. After dozens of rioters are set on fire and suffer severe burns the prisoners finally lay down their arms and stand down. The prisoners who participated in the fighting are quickly apprehended, disarmed, and send to spend the night in "the hole". The rest are ordered to disperse and return to their assigned quarters.

The Cousins note that the tower in the center of the camp is pivotal to the camps defense as it is both used to sound alarm and to signal the city. They also note that the reinforcements from Koda do not arrive till the end of the day. This means that during the real riot the tower needs to be taken and controlled to prevent sounding of the alarm, and lighting the beacon.

The Princess is in another Castle

The day after the riot more troops arrive at the camp. Mr. Garrison calls for an assembly during which he scolds the "guests" for their violent outburst. He then informs them that Princess Dione, who has been a gracious guest of the Emir of Koda has arrived at the camp and will address them.

The princess is led in under armed escort. She appears unharmed and in good health, but rather sand and tired. She recognizes Bilbido Tastyflute in the crowd and gives him a hug. She whispers to him that she is held prisoner at the castle and in need of rescue. Then she is ushered toward the central square where she gives a prepared statement to the crowd, in which she urges them to comply with local authorities and avoid violence. She tells the crowd she is a guest of the Emir and that she is diligently working with the Koda government on a re-settlement plan for Westmarch refugees. She is then quickly ushered off the stage and out of the camp.

Mr. Garrison forces the prisoners to stand in the assembly square for the rest of the day without food or water. Those unable to stand are whipped or taken away to be punished elsewhere. In the evening, Mr. Garrison returns and demands the leader of the riot to step forward and reveal themselves. When no one steps forward he orders a literal decimation.

The leader of the Cousins Rando DeButt then steps forward and accepts the blame for starting the riot. Mr. Garrison decides to make an example out of him. Rando is severely beaten and then strung up and hanged from the guard tower by hands and feet so that he would die slowly out of thirst and starvation over the course of the next few days. His body is to remain there as a remainder to any future rioters.

Rando survives the ordeal thanks to Seraphina who uses her invisible sprite to sneak him food and water when the guards are not looking.

Assassin Greed

Duel Shock

Prison Break

Bodak Yellow

Murder Hobos

House of Exposition

Royal Backdoor (aka Tomb of Horrors Lite)

Wedding C rashers

Landed in Westmarch