Before we left the last conflict, I obtained a light crossbow and a dozen bolts from the fallen orcs.
Sensing that the mood is about to get really ugly, Kaelaah looks to Jasmalus to respond to what appears to be a genuine grievance…
…if this is all that is coming, they would do well to head south right now…only death waits here…
"Things're tough all over, m'lad." addressing the scarred man...
"But it's times like these which offer up a heapin plate of hot and steamy glory...."
She starts to struggle with the rousing pep talk as she catches Kaelaah's look. "Though... on the other hand, you could always just skip town."
Be of good cheer, my friend! We are not great in number, but the goodness of the Everlight follow us and provides strength and wisdom to overcome our foes! Temperance and patience in all things brings justice and peace!
Diplomacy:
Share your concerns with us, that we may provide the greatest assistance possible in this time of your need!
"What have been your most pressing issues?" Fernand asks, before thinking about what could follow. "We may have to improvise, but I see no reason why we can't help where we can."
-Posted with Wayfinder
The party heads to the common room of the Bloody Axe Tavern. Run by Stout Bootblack, a dwarven leathermaker, it is said the ale is used to tan the leather before being served. As you enter, the place is full and the ale is quite good.
As you have a hot meal and dwarven ale, you blow off some steam after the long trail. Despite the defenses, Malik insists on staying the night, refusing to risk the open road after the recent brush with orcs and orog.
You hear carousing outside, then realize the post is the subject of another raid. The same orog and a band of human bandits are attacking the outpost. Knocking on the door with a heavy fist is your nemesis, the orog from the trail. "I'm back to finish de job!!"
"Or you can stay in the buildin as we burn it down ya skulkers."
Fernand
Kaelah
Dolleen
Amarisa
Enemy
ORDER
Fernand
Amarisa
ENEMY
Party
I move to the center of the tavern and cast Bless. (+1 to attack rolls, and +1 saves against fear effects).
Just as the orog begins speaking, Fernand grabs his rapier from the bar beside him and darts over to the window to get a better look at group of them. Careful to avoid any bolts or arrows, he quietly leans his head into the opening to get a view without being fired upon or noticed.
Fernand runs to the window and throws open the shutter. Firing out will be a little difficult, but the cover from outside will be very good. The noise of opening the clanky window remove any doubt that someone is liable to fire out.
A blessing fills the air. The sound of battle outside is fierce, centered on the tower in the center.
The orog readies his large axe and dares all comers to try him.
Party up now in any order
Fernand notes that he only has a moment before the orog becomes informed of his presence. He turns and motions to the tavern wench near the rack where his quiver and bow are hanging, hurriedly asking her to toss them to him...
for plus
Moving towards cover, Kaelaah prepares for the door being opened.
…Life sure is interesting up here on the frontier, I hope now they realise that this Fort is lost…
Dolleen wipes ale dribble with her sleeve, and scowls at the door.
"Oy thugly. You gotta come into the bar for a proper brawl."
She grips her staff, and imbues it with a grumble and smack. She clucks her tongue at Jimbli and points to the left of the door, while she heads to open it.
I center myself (5 foot step) in front of the doors, and prepare a bolt in my crossbow. I cast Shield of Faith upon myself (+2 AC for 2 minutes).
Fernand strikes a glancing blow, and the orog grunts.
The sound of loud hammering by the front doors is heard. The doors shake a bit for a while. Fernand relates what he saw as large wooden stakes being hammered into the ground in front of the doors. Opening them will now be difficult. Fernand sees the orog rush down the street to attack the tower. The two thugs waiting outside are sheltering by the doors.
Party to go
They are trying to trap us in here! Barkeep...is there another way out of this building? I start looking for an alternate exit...
Perception:
As soon as Kaelaah realises that the doors have been blocked, he looks round frantically like Amarisa...
...could we get out through the windows?
"Ack! Bring me some buckets, and I'll turn on the tap!"
Dolleen wiggles his fingers, and spritzes out some water to illustrate her ability to the barkeep.
"'Course even if it works we'll prolly just die from the smoke."
She then steps up to the door, and prepares to whack at it with her imbued staff.
The barkeep looks surprised.
"They locking us in? We got the one door. Let's bust out."
The window can allow one out through the shutters.
I put my shoulder to the door:
Strength:
Kaelaah charges against the door in an attempt to assist the barkeep, "Let me help...we need to get out of here!!!"
The assault on the pegged doors yields little to be positive about. The doors are firmly wedged shut.
Fernand looks for an angle, leaning out the window to take a shot at the bandits while they have hammers in their hands...
for
He then hops onto the sill and slips out the window to engage them.
His shoulder throbbing from his encounter with the unyielding door, Kaelaah moves to the window...looking out of it, he checks for enemies...
Fernand tries to move through the window through the narrow opening left by the heavy shutters, but he slips and falls prone at the base of the inn. The two thugs rush up to attack the rogue as the sorcerer rushes to the window.
One thug tries for Fernand's kidneys, the other moved quickly to flank the fallen hero.
The thugs run off after striking the fallen rogue and the orog and his forces withdraw with the tower hopelessly afire. The garrison prepares to abandon the post and make haste back to the previous fort, or all the way to Greatwall.
Malik insists on you getting on the road to move to your next destination. As you approach the river to ford it, you notice two wagons of orcs crossing the river. This time you have complete surprise!!
Turning the tables on the eight orcs and a single orog leader, the fight is quick and decisive as you catch the orcs by surprise in a vulnerable time. Two wagons are captured with military supplies and 1000gold pieces worth of ingots. Malik mentions that with the orcs moving war materials in this area, that is bad news. The orc captives reveal nothing and Malik gets the caravan underway.
After the ambush Jasmalus quickly approaches you with a solemn look and studies you.
"I have been withdrawn and secretive, but I had my reasons. The death of my brother and other events have force my hand--and I reveal myself. My brother is not Jetero, that is a lie. My brother was Jasmalus and he was the merchant. I am a special Taldan agent reporting directly to the king. I was to pose as my brother and secretly scout the borderlands and track orc movements.
In my small book here, I have all my military notes. It points to one conclusion: Moving troops and supplies in the dead of night our enemies have set up a secret base within Taldor itself. The raids have covered up the plot to set up a strong point in our very lands.
Someone has betrayed my position with the Taldane command, and the orcs attacked my brother SPECIFICALLY. Only a few knew of my ruse, and it means a TRAITOR IS IN OUR MIDST!!
I cannot deliver this book myself. You must visit one of the king's scouts in the area named Jeremiah at a safehouse and deliver this book to him."
As you travel to the spot on the hasty map drawn by Jetero, you find a pair of rocks in the river that lean against each other forming the inverted 'V' on the map. You hear a rustling in the bushes, and fearing the worst, you rush with weapons drawn to confront...... a six year old human child with thin brown hair in a ponytail that is scared to death.
Kaelaah, approaching the child cautiously whilst also making reassuring sounds and gestures, reaches out into the ether…and looks for evidence of magical effects…
…careful…careful…is this what it seems? what if the child is scared of something that is still nearby?
Perception:
Diplomacy:
You look frightened child... I hold out my hands toward the child... Come to me, you are safe now.... What is your name? How can I help you?
Suddenly, a shadowed humanoid figure crashes the bushes seeming out of nowhere. Its jagged teeth flash in the moonlight as it sweeps away the brush with the mighty stroke of a heavily muscled tail. Beneath a reptilian set of scales mighty muscles ripple and its forked tongue hisses with glistening spit. Before you realize it, it has a bowstring pointed at you at point blank range.
Clearly you are at a disadvantage.
"Unhand the girl, Banditssess!!!"
Diplomacy:
I smile most charmingly at the reptilian countenance glaring at me. We mean no harm. Who are you? Would you harm the child if we unhand her? Perhaps we can reach a solution here, that will meet everyone's needs... Would you care to break bread and talk?
The little girl smiles and runs up to the reptilian creature.
"Mr. Iggy!!" He keeps his bow in his left hand as he definitely scoops up the little girl, but the arrow stays cradled between his left fingers and the bow.
The reptilian responds: "I told you to call me Jeremiah." At the point you recognize the name as the agent you were supposed to meet and show him the notebook.
Taking Sarah Jean's hand in his own, he beckons for you to follow him and leads you down a well disguised trail, into a thicket of thorns, and to a well maintained cabin. Once inside you see the small but warm light in the hearth by a fireplace and a chubby woman in a green gown. She smiles at you and nods at Jermiah as the girl runs up to the woman. A group of many small children appear and pepper Sarah Jean with questions and excitedly point to you.
He motions you to two low benches and reads the journal you provided him. A few of the group remind you of the urgent warning of the Sergeant that sent you to kill all lizardfolk as traitors on sight.
The lady Alexia introduces herself as a devotee of the Green Religion and devout priestess of nature. Jeremiah, she explains, is probably the premier ranger ever to take service under a Taldane King. His forays across the river into enemy lands have formed the basis of almost all maps and intelligence over the years.
Jermiah nods, and says: "I agree with Jetero, there is a traitor in the mix. A secret base and a traitor, both of which must be dealt with, or Taldor's enemies can launch a crippling blow here that will pave the way for a second front. On Taldor cannot hold. Do you have any clues??"
Dolleen scrunches her face as she looks at Jeremiah, not hiding her suspicion - she'd always preferred her enemies to look like enemies, and allies to look like enemies.
"Like what? Ya got a name to this traitor?"
"A secret base? What makes you think this? Okay, we've seen orcs massing...and been attacked a few times too...but nothing here suggests anything more pernicious than the fact that if you cannot defend your borders...", Kaelaah pauses, realising that his attitude isn't helping..."I'm just saying that we've hardly seen any Taldan soldiers...these lands have been abandoned...irrespective of traitors, spies or secret bases...the war is surely lost"
Be of brighter outlook, my comrades. Surely we noticed something about these attacks that might present a clue, either as to the identity of a traitor, or the location of a secret base. Jeremiah, the orc raids seemed to be led by an Orog creature. It was much larger than the other orcs, and appeared to be much stronger and smarter as well. The presence of such a foe must be a rarity in these lands - are you aware of where such a creature might originate, or be located?
"Aha! That's where they got all the smarts from? Or at least learned they oughta scoot before we get warmed up." She smacks her palm with her staff - so sadly devoid of any good battle scars. "This traitor is teachin'em to not to fight like a stampede of piglets, eh?" She grins devilishly. "We hit em at home, and this time they've got nowhere to run!"
"I don't think an orog is clever enough to leverage secrets," Fernand comments, after a long moment of thought.
"Jeremiah, you are first lizardfolk we have seen thus far. How long have you been holed up here?" he asks.
The little boy Luke enters and speaks:
"Mr. Iggy, what about the scar-faced man that visits you? I saw him meet with the pig-faced people and a woman with pointed ears and dark skin. The scar-faced man called her a drow. Anyway, I followed him to find out what living in a big fortress was like and I happened upon their meeting. I know the lady doesn't want any Leaves Dropping, so I kept it to myself."
Jermiah speaks to Luke, "That is very serious to say about Sergeant Krayquer Luke."
Luke says: "They talked about everything being secure at the mines."
"Mr. Iggy is right, Luke. That is quite serious. You're not telling a tall tale, are you?" he asks.
To Luke, and Jeremiah: Perhaps you can lead us to the place where the dark-skinned woman was meeting with the "pig-faced" people? It is the strongest clue we have at the moment as to the location of a possible secret base.
The lizardman ranger seems to get thoughtful.
"What do you know of this Sergeant Krayquer? He is the one who has been passing me my orders lately."
Sergeant Krayquer recruited us in Greatwall. He was sort of portly, and had a large scar on his face. He advised us in no uncertain terms that we were to kill any lizardmen we encountered on our journey. I presume he was referring to you, Jeremiah? If he was once on your side, it appears he has been swayed to play a different game within this war, using us to be the anonymous party to eliminate you. If Krayquer is now meeting with the enemy, then he is undoubtedly providing them information detrimental to us all! Please aid us in finding him and those he now confides in.
"It seems likely that Krayquer has another paymaster then - he was adamant about not suffering any of your kind to live. I'll say it again, these lands are surely lost but if we are to buy time to allow folk to escape south...and maybe to allow Taldor's forces to regroup...then we must find the truth of what is occurring here", Kaelaah is quite downbeat about the prospects of influencing the war but, seeing what is at stake and the folk scratching a living whilst under the shadow of war, he will help.
The lizardman ranger gives what appears to be an unblinking stare.
"He suggested you kill lizardfolk on sight? After telling me to stay in place here and possibly meet up with Jetero?"
You do not know if he is being ironic when he says:
"So, when looking for traitors, having Sergeant Krayquer give an order to kill all lizardfolk on sight when the primary agent of the king is a lizardfolk did not seem the least suspicious?"
The lizardfolk ranger rubs Lukes head and smiles:
"You may have leavesdropped your way into saving Taldor young boy. I need to swim up the river to Greatwall immediately. You need to get to Jetero and tell him the boy thinks they mentioned the mines. Cragson Mines may be the location of our enemies, I suggest you spy on that site at the very least, or take it out at the very best."
Jeremiah packs quickly and heads to the river leaving you to meet up with Jetero.
As Jeremiah makes his way to Greatwall, you take your leave of the remote orphanage for wayward boys run by a druidess and a lizardman ranger and rendezvous with Jetero.
He mentions: "I should have warned you your contact was a lizardman. I didn't know you were told to kill them. With Krayquer outed, you will have to go the Kragson mines and scout around. At the very least, we need to get good intelligence on the forces there."
Heading to the mines, you arrive at what looks to be a collapsed mine. The main entrance seems quite collapsed and dangerous. At the top of the hill are many (about a dozen) buildings associated with the mining operation.
Approaching the mine a shimmering appears and a small celestial figure with a bright halo is there to greet you.
"I am a patron spirit of Taldor, exercising my magic at the request of the king. A divergent group of similar adventurers drawn by chance to this pivotal timeline need your aid. You will journey with them to help save Taldor."