Difference between revisions of "Act 1"
(→Meeting with Richard) |
(→The Ambush) |
||
| Line 52: | Line 52: | ||
== The Ambush == | == The Ambush == | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[File:Ambush.jpg|thumb|Ambush]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | While traveling back to [[Fairhaven]] the party was ambushed by highway bandits who blocked the small bridge crossing. The party found themselves surrounded. Kylee and Bilbido attempted to negotiate with the bandits, while Harland hid in the bushes to mount counter-ambush. He started tracking picking off stray bandits one by one with well timed sneak attacks. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The bandits were led by a huge individual who was standing on the bridge and appeared to be about 8 feet tall and wearing a hooded cloak. As it turns out, it was two people: a small Gnome standing on the shoulders of a large human. The gnome was able to snatch Kylees gold purse and get away. The purse contained the remaining money that she owed to the other members of the party, payable upon completion of the job. The large human punched the team's horse in the face, knocking it out, before he escaped as well. | ||
| + | |||
| + | During the brawl, some of the bandits dropped, and destroyed one of the crates, getting singed by the resulting explosion. Butters and Kylee were able to take on most of the attackers head on, dispatching several of them out right. Zorry used the confusion to shape-shift into a horse form. The bandits did not expect a horse to be hostile, and she was able to knock several of them by surprise. In the meantime Bilbido and Harland worked from the shadows, relying on stealth and sneak attacks, though eventually both were taken out of action. Bilbido was knocked out by a Half Orc bandit, while Harland ended up caught in a snare trap set up by the attackers. | ||
| + | |||
| + | After the bandit leaders escaped, and several of the mooks died, the rest of the bandits fled the scene. One of them was captured and iterrogated revealing he works for [[Rando DeButt]]. The party voted whether or not to spare his life. Harland voted to let the bandit go. The rest of the party agreed it would be too dangerous. Butterscotch slit his throat with a dagger. | ||
| + | |||
| + | After looting the bandits, and throwing the bodies into the river, the party cleaned up, and resumed their journey. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Upon arriving at the city gates, the heroes decided to split the party. Kylee and Bilbido were chosen to ride on the cart because they could use their tradeswoman experience, and personal charm respectively to talk their way through the gates. The rest of the party was to follow behind, and intervene and try to rescue as many crates as possible in case of a scuffle. | ||
| + | |||
| + | The groggy guards at the gate were uninterested in the cargo, until [[Captain Horsepuncher]] showed up. He noticed that the horse had a black eye, and the cart showed scuff-marks in places where it was hit by crossbow bolts. He tried to solicit a bribe, until the heroes mentioned [[Rando DeButt]] at which point he immediately backed off. As the team departed he gave them a few tips on how to punch a horse so that it won't show which was kinda disturbing. | ||
== A Rando Encounter == | == A Rando Encounter == | ||
Revision as of 11:43, 23 May 2016
Contents
- 1 The Introduction
- 2 The Journey
- 3 A Day in Fairhaven
- 4 Meeting with Richard
- 5 The Ambush
- 6 A Rando Encounter
- 7 Party at the Seagull
- 8 Dinner with Richard
- 9 Search for Lord Aiden's Mansion
- 10 Exploring the Mansion
- 11 Count Drakenhoff Encounter
- 12 Captive Audience
- 13 Exploring Lord Aiden's Study
- 14 Forest Encounter
The Introduction
The story starts in a tavern in the Dockside district of Fynwell where Kylee O'Ren is recruiting mercenaries for her mission. The only people who answer her flyers and show up to the meeting are Butt Butterscotch, Bilbido Tastyflute, Harlan Underford and Zorry Feathermoon. Kylee explains that she has been contacted by old family friend Richard Oddenheim who needs assistance securing and transporting some Ancient Artifacts out of Fairhaven.
The protagonists, meet, greet and introduce themselves. Bilbido then performs a song titled "When You Send Me Carrier Pigeons". Patrons of the tavern agree it is an excellent cover of Yoland Swaginson hit single, "When You Send Me Ravens". Every one gets their advance pay (half of the agreed upon sum) and make travel plans.
The Journey
The company books a trip to Fairhaven on the Royal Seagull commanded by Captain Bethany Rogers. While en-route, the ship becomes enveloped in a magical mist that limit it's visibility and then fired upon by a hidden ship.
The projectiles which crash on the deck turn out to be barrels full of bones, which become animated skeleton warriors. While the crew is busy fighting with the undead threat, the enemy ship emerges from the mist and prepares for boarding. Bethany identifies the enemy ship as familiar merchant vessel The Kraken, however it's crew appears to have been replaced by the living dead. One notable addition to the ships silhouette is a massive trebuchet mounted on the back deck. It's hull also appears to be filled to the brim with human bones.
The boarding crew is composed mostly of skeleton warriors accompanied by a few Wights. The heroes are able to keep the deck clear by liberal use of the Thunderwave spell. Most of the Wights are dunked into the brine before they reach close combat range.
The party members without access to deck-clearing spells fight their way to the balista, and use it to damage the sails of The Kraken. With it's sails ripped to shreds, the undead ship falls behind and the Royal Seagull is able to get away.
The enemy ship appears to be commanded by a Squidface, a mysterious Mindflyer wearing pirate garb. During the encounter he briefly manages to mind control both [[Barbarian|Kylee O'Ren] and Bethany Rogers. Kylee experiences a vivid hallucination during which she re-lives the horrific murder of her parents, and passes out.
Bethany on the other hand falls under the control of the Mindflyer and manages to heavily damage the ship's balista, before she is knocked unconscious by the heroes. The first mate Steven LaCase is grateful that the heroes managed to incapacitate her before she hurt anyone, and before the crew noticed anything.
A Day in Fairhaven
Upon arriving in Fairhaven, the party split up to attend personal business.
But Butterscotch visited the Fairhaven Temple of Tempest. Kylee O'Ren went shopping and ended up at the Jerk Blacksmith. Harlan Underford established contact with Dirty Dirk, local Thieves Guild member and gathered intel about the local crime underworld.
Dirty Dirk revealed information about the three prominent local gangs, and their leaders: Rando, Smiling Sullivan and Cutthroat Jim.
The party then re-convened at the Nice Blacksmith and haggled over equipment prices.
Meeting with Richard
The heroes left Fairhaven to meet with Richard Oddenheim at his archaeological dig site located in the forest few hours of travel away from the city. Instead of excavations however, they found an abandoned hut in a forest clearing.
Zorry is able to use her ability to speak to animals to confirm a human male was seen entering and leaving the hut in the last few days. Fearing an ambush, the heroes carefully examine the hut, set up a defensive perimeter and attempt to enter inside to search for hidden passages. Suddenly Richard Oddenheim appears out of thin air and demands to know what their business is in this area.
Upon seeing Kylee, he remembers that they were due to meet here, and invites the heroes to follow him inside Richard's Fancyplace, his private extra-dimensional mansion. He proceeds to explain the delicate nature of his mission. He shows the team a stockpile of crates, filled with strange artifacts, but he is reluctant to speak about their source or nature. He does mention that while they have immense historical and cultural value, their mere existence is are politically inconvenient for the current rulers of the land. If they were to fall into the wrong hands, it would create a lot of trouble for all the parties involved.
Because of this he has arranged for the artifacts to be smuggled from the country in order to preserve and study them. The teams mission is to transport the crates from the hut, to specified drop-sites in Fairhaven.
To ensure that the artifacts are not discovered, Richard magically seals the crates. Any attempt to open the crates, or break the seals will cause the contents to be destroyed in a flash of magical light.
The party is given a map of drop-sites in the city, and provided with a horse and carriage they can use to transport the crates. The carriage can take up to six crates at a time, so they will have to take at least a dozen trips to transport them all. Upon delivering the crates to the drop locations, they are told to contact Rando DeButt who will handle them from that point on. They are told to meet him at The Wedge tavern.
The tricky part of the mission appears to be getting the cargo through the city gates. Richard warns the team that the guards like to perform random searches and solicit bribes from merchants. He insist that the guards must not open any of the crates. He leaves the logistics of getting the cargo through the gate to the protagonists.
The team loads the cart with six crates and after a short rest departs for the city. They arrange to arrive at small hours of the morning when the guard presence at the gate is sparse, and everyone is tired and ready for a change of guard. Harlan Underford attempts to disguise the crates and make them look very unimportant.
The Ambush
While traveling back to Fairhaven the party was ambushed by highway bandits who blocked the small bridge crossing. The party found themselves surrounded. Kylee and Bilbido attempted to negotiate with the bandits, while Harland hid in the bushes to mount counter-ambush. He started tracking picking off stray bandits one by one with well timed sneak attacks.
The bandits were led by a huge individual who was standing on the bridge and appeared to be about 8 feet tall and wearing a hooded cloak. As it turns out, it was two people: a small Gnome standing on the shoulders of a large human. The gnome was able to snatch Kylees gold purse and get away. The purse contained the remaining money that she owed to the other members of the party, payable upon completion of the job. The large human punched the team's horse in the face, knocking it out, before he escaped as well.
During the brawl, some of the bandits dropped, and destroyed one of the crates, getting singed by the resulting explosion. Butters and Kylee were able to take on most of the attackers head on, dispatching several of them out right. Zorry used the confusion to shape-shift into a horse form. The bandits did not expect a horse to be hostile, and she was able to knock several of them by surprise. In the meantime Bilbido and Harland worked from the shadows, relying on stealth and sneak attacks, though eventually both were taken out of action. Bilbido was knocked out by a Half Orc bandit, while Harland ended up caught in a snare trap set up by the attackers.
After the bandit leaders escaped, and several of the mooks died, the rest of the bandits fled the scene. One of them was captured and iterrogated revealing he works for Rando DeButt. The party voted whether or not to spare his life. Harland voted to let the bandit go. The rest of the party agreed it would be too dangerous. Butterscotch slit his throat with a dagger.
After looting the bandits, and throwing the bodies into the river, the party cleaned up, and resumed their journey.
Upon arriving at the city gates, the heroes decided to split the party. Kylee and Bilbido were chosen to ride on the cart because they could use their tradeswoman experience, and personal charm respectively to talk their way through the gates. The rest of the party was to follow behind, and intervene and try to rescue as many crates as possible in case of a scuffle.
The groggy guards at the gate were uninterested in the cargo, until Captain Horsepuncher showed up. He noticed that the horse had a black eye, and the cart showed scuff-marks in places where it was hit by crossbow bolts. He tried to solicit a bribe, until the heroes mentioned Rando DeButt at which point he immediately backed off. As the team departed he gave them a few tips on how to punch a horse so that it won't show which was kinda disturbing.
