1. Are you willing to defend the ideals of Aroden and Iomedae and drive the forces of evil back?
2. Do you know how to swing a sword, cast a spell, or shoot a bow?
3. Are you willing to follow orders and die for the cause, if needed?
After you answered affirmatively, you signed your name and were escorted to the barracks and provided with a basic traveler's kit and rations for a week. Now two weeks later, you find yourselves on the front lines of the Crusade, cold and hungry, caked in mud and dirt and blood. From the original 50 soldiers attached to your unit, 10 have died in combat with lemures and other fiendish creatures (low-level threats) that are able to bypass the wardstones. By the quality of the recruits to your right and left, you can tell mercenaries, ruffians, and even criminals form the ranks. You are not sure if you can trust your fellow soldiers to guard your back in battle.
Present Day:
1st of Arodus 4713
The forty soldiers of your unit are gathered outside the city gates of Kenabres on a cold and rainy day. Your commander, Sir Lorian Durth, addresses you all and standing next to him is a figure you do not recognize: a tall male human clad in heavy plate armor, wearing a red tabard typical of the Mendevian Crusaders, and carrying a cavalry helmet in his left hand. Sir Lorian speaks, "Crusaders, it appears we have a special request from High Command. If your name is called, please report to Sir Ilivan of Nerosyan, who will brief you further. The rest of you, back to the front lines we go." The tall human unfurls a scroll and begins to speak in a loud authoritative voice, "Windi McConnell, Sarela Falrin, Jericho Darkleaf, and Tippy Fullbottle, report to me." You can tell Sir Ilivan says the last name a little with disgust. The rest of the unit marches away, leaving the four of you with Sir Ilivan.
A very muscular one-eyed half-elf steps into view from the ranks of the soldiers when his name is called. He has a bastard sword on his left hip, a morningstar on his right hip, a dagger on his boot, and 3 javelins on his back. He is clad in lamellar armor, which is covered in grime, but it does not seem to bother him. He walks with purpose, even though during his time with the unit, he has many derisive remarks and jokes about his one-eye. Yet no one in the unit was more aware of his surroundings than he. He looks at Sir Ilivan and remarks to himself, I will prove him and all other doubters wrong. "Darkleaf, here, sir."
Windi is tall with her long blonde hair pulled back in a messy knot. Her slender frame is hidden under blood caked scale mail. when she arrived at Kenabres riding on the back of a cart her armor was prestine. Now the only thing that shines is her silver angelic ankh, the holy symbol of Sarenrae, that she keeps polished. Her scimitar hangs in it's dirty scabbard but she tries to keep the blade clean. She carries a morning star and hand ax, but those like her armor, are covered in chunks of flesh. Windi stands tall and if she had been able to bathe you would see that she is quite beautiful.
"Doesn't seem to happy to be here" Windi thinks to herself as she stands at attention in front of Sir Ilivan. She nods her head at the one eyed man to her left. Then absently rubs her wrists and waits for further instructions.
At no point on his journey to the Crusade was Tippy ever pristine. People who are pristine stand out in places like Mendev (and most other places, too), and Tippy never stands out.
He hadn't known what to expect when the group of Starstone Brewers had set him on that riverboat and paid his fare to Mendev (with a little extra to make sure the captain put him off there and nowhere else). Meeting Jericho certainly hadn't been on the agenda, but he found himself enjoying the company of the one-eyed muscle man. Running aground on a shipwreck midstream, only to have his lifeboat veer off course and crash him onto demon-infested shores was definitely not top of his list. If it hadn't been for the angelic archer woman, he would surely have died. So his journey didn't go as planned, except he did end up where he intended after all, so it could have been worse.
He was certainly pleased to hook back up with Jericho in Kenabres, but accompanying him on his day, Tippy found himself quite accidentally enlisted in the Fifth Crusade. While never his first choice, enlisting would probably be worth big points in his bid to become a good person-the Brewers would probably approve.
After about the fifth day, Tippy was prepared to gut the next Starstone Brewer he met! Maybe he could claim the Brewer was demon-possessed--nobody would blame him then. Still, while was probably one of the most unlikely of Crusaders, once he equipped himself with a pair of cold-iron daggers, he was not ineffective, and he and Jericho made a good team. Being called back from the front line was a welcome change, nonetheless.
Hearing Jericho speak starts Tippy out of his reverie. Perhaps they are about to be discharged already. Tippy watches their new commander hopefully and eagerly.
Sarela hadn't ever really shown a proclivity for martial combat. She'd learned to use the longsword when she was training to be a priestess of Iomedae, but her talents had lain more along the diplomatic and divine prayer route. Still, when Iomedae had told her to sign up for the crusade in a dream, she'd gone the next day. At first, some among her unit had looked at her as though considering making advances, but her healing had saved enough of them in the past two weeks that she was now better viewed as a fellow soldier, and less as a woman. She'd also used the longsword katas she'd been taught to further encourage and exhort her comrades to better stand in battle.
She'd always been good at reading others, and she could tell that Sir Ilivan wasn't pleased with whatever assignment he'd been given. Still, she'd signed up and had to obey orders, so she stepped forward when her name was called. "Sarela Falrin, reporting for duty," she said as she saluted Sir Ilivan.
Oblivious, I'm afraid.
Sil Ilivan grunts his displeasure, "So you four are the rookies I was sent to organize...such a waste of my skills. I should be on the front lines not babysitting initiates. Well, let's get this over with. It seems the higher-ups...actually I think it was Queen Galfrey's idea...well, whomever it was, they believe that specialized squads may be more effective than large military units. And it seems in your four, we have a scout, infiltrator, healer, and front-liner. So you're gonna get the special missions. The demons are not the only enemies Mendelev is facing. Cultists have sprung up all over the countryside and criminals and thugs are taking advantage of our focus on the demonic invasion to loot and pillage the surrounding areas. So, here is where you four come in. Two weeks ago, an envoy of dwarven diplomats from Highhelm set to arrive in Kenabres to discuss the ongoing trade and price of cold-iron weapon shipments disappeared. Scouts sent to search for them also disappeared three days ago. As you can imagine, the importance of trade of cold iron is supremely important to the future of this Crusade. If we cannot find these diplomats, Highhelm will not be pleased and may cut off future supplies. We cannot allow this to occur! From the reports we received by messenger pigeon, the last reported location of the scouts was Black Cougar inn, two days' ride SE of here. Your mission is to ride there, learn any intelligence possible, pick up the scouts' trail, and find the dwarves. I have procured riding horses for you. Don't take them into battle. They will get spooked. Any questions?" Sil Ilivan looks anxious to be done with the lot of you.
"How many dwarves and how many scouts?"
Tippy pauses uncomfortably, glancing at the others.
"Uh, sir."
"How many dwarves and how many scouts?"
Tippy pauses uncomfortably, glancing at the others.
"Uh, sir."
"Oh...right. Three dwarves....from the Stonehammer Clan and their retinue, I imagine. Three scouts were sent but did not report back. I hope you meet a better fate."
"Me, too," Tippy replies almost softly enough not to be heard.
"With all due respect I didn't come here to dawdle around searching for bandits. I came hear to slay demons."
Of course Windi said nothing of the sort instead she feigned enthusiasm stating. "thank you sir for trusting us on a mission if such import. The traders and rangers will be found and the rabble dealt with. The light illumine you." The last part is added with sincerity.
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"Is anything known about possible enemy movements in the area, sir?" Sarela asked, wondering if the knight had an idea of what they might encounter.
"Me, too," Tippy replies almost softly enough not to be heard.
Jericho smirks at the halfling's comment, which his keen ears easily pick up. The halfling had been quite a companion to date. "We will do our very best to stay alive, Sir Ilivan, and we will find the dwarven delegation and bring them safely to Kenabres. We will not let you down." The ranger seems ready to start the journey.
"Is anything known about possible enemy movements in the area, sir?" Sarela asked, wondering if the knight had an idea of what they might encounter.
"The path to the inn does not cross into the Worldwound, only borders it, so you should not run into any fiendish threats or at least none that you can't handle. May the light guide your path as well. Now get going and find those dwarves. Kenabres needs its cold iron shipments." Sir Ilivan pauses just enough to see if there are any more questions. Ponies are brought for you to ride.
Tippy eyes the ponies skeptically, but with little choice, he vaults into the saddle, more through his natural athleticism than any degree of horsemanship.
Sarela walks over to the ponies. She's a completely inexperienced rider, and she eyes the horses with some trepidation, but she is able to climb into the saddle with only minimal difficulty. Once saddled up, she salutes Sir Ilvan and prepares to ride off.
The party mounts the ponies and waves goodbye to Sir Ilivan, who waves back and then heads into Kenabres. He yells "I'll be at the Knightly Gale, when you have news." You recognize that as the name of a local tavern in town.
You head down a well-traveled road NE, the chill in the air signaling the coming of fall soon. The countryside is mainly hills and open fields, with the occasional trees or bushes. The next few hours, you pass some travelers on the road, most hailing you and asking you how far is Kenabres. Through normal conversation, you divine that most of the people on the road are making the trek to Kenabres for Armasse, the annual festival set to take place in 2 weeks. Traditionally, the day was an opportunity for scholars and priests to come together to study the lessons of history from wars past, since Aroden’s death, this holy day has become more about training commoners in weaponry, choosing squires, and ordaining new priests. It is day of competitions and celebration, perfect for boosting warrior morale.
The next hours on the road are monotonous and you pass the time in chit chat with each other or in quiet reflection. What you do find odd is that you see no guards, no soldiers, no militia...basically no military presence on the roads whatsoever. It seems the Crusade has indeed drawn of all Kenabres' attention.
Near nightfall, you see a cloaked figure approaching you, accompanied by two small children, who grasp at the cloak. By the shape of the figure, it is almost clearly female. As she approaches you walking in the middle of the road, she stops 10' away from you and you hear a female voice say "Alms for the poor...please." The children, a boy and a girl of about 5-6 years old each, look despondent and their eyes are red and swollen, as if from crying.
During the ride Windi rides quietly with her new companions.
Upon seeing the cloaked figure with the two children she calls out "please remove your hood so that I may see who is in need." She rummages through her coin purse and produces two silver pieces but waits to see if the woman complies before doing anything more.
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There is a soft clicking sound from Tippy's direction, but he uses the pony's flank to keep the travelers from seeing the cold iron dagger release from its spring-loaded sheathe under Tippy's right coat sleeve.
Sarela smiles and says, "Oh, please do. By your voice, you must be quite a lovely woman. Tell me, have you had a hard journey?"
Darkleaf hops off his horse and walks toward the woman with a gold coin. "Are you and your children alright miss? We can help, if something is amiss." The ranger allows the cleric's words soothe the woman, while he holds the gold coin in hand.
The female figure reluctantly removes her hood to reveal a middle-aged woman in her late 40's. He face looks bruised with a swollen upper lip and black and blue bruises on her left and right cheeks. "Much thanks, strangers. I don't want to involve you in my problems...but..." She breaks down in tears in Jericho's arms. A few minutes later, she composes herself. "I am Magda and these roads are not secured. I was traveling the road with my husband and my children when we were set upon by bandits. They asked us for treasure, which we of course did not have. They killed my husband in front of me and took our wedding ring! Then they slapped me around before letting us go. And they did this....all in front of our children!" More crying follows. "We would appreciate any help you could provide us."
An abundance of caution notwithstanding, Tippy eventually shoves the dagger back into its sheathe. "Where did this happen?" Tippy asks angrily.
"About four hours ago, along this eastern road. These bandits told me they attack with impunity and that no one would come investigate my husband's murder. They let me and my children live only by the mercies of the gods."
"They'd probably relish the opportunity to rob a helpless halfling traveling alone."
At the sight of the bruised woman Windi gasps and jumps down from her pony. "you say these men, these murderers, did this too you after taking all that you had. That they weren't content with your possessions, but needed to harm you as well, " Windi spits. "By the light we will bring you justice, by the light we will."
She turns to the halfling and asks "what exactly do you have in mind?"
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"I go alone up ahead, you three hang back within shouting distance. Cowards like that would avoid a group of four well-armed, mounted travelers, but an itty-bitty defenceless halfling...they'll at least want my horse."
"I probably will even give them the stupid thing."
Sarela listens to the woman's story and plea, and feels the tug at her heartstrings for the woman's troubles. However, they couldn't go out of their way to hunt bandits. If Tippy's plan didn't lure them to the group, they might not be able to help with bringing the bandits to justice.
"Do you think the bandits will still be in the same area? They could have traveled a decent amount of ground in four hours."
"I think the first group of people we came out here to help would have looked like they had a good deal of money, and banditry is as good of a reason they disappeared as any, so worth looking into."
Tippy hops down from the pony, removes anything that would identify it as belonging to the military, and reluctantly clubs back up. He misses his hair, and pulls his cloak to look a little askew.
"Yes, that sounds like a good plan. How far in front of us will you ride and this woman said that they attacked her four hours ago, although that was traveling on foot. And what will we do about her, we cant just leave her and her children out here alone. Do you have a place to go, where were you headed?" her last question was directed to the woman.
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"Sounds like a good plan, Tippy. We can all see at night, if there is moonlight. And don't worry, I won't let anything bad happen to you!"
Jericho gives the widow and her children 10 gp.
The widow happily accepts the money. "We have no supplies and no food. I did not have any plans for the night. I guess, go hungry until the morn and then continue traveling to Kenabres. With this gold, we should be able to survive for a few days, until I can find job to support my children. If you see those bandits, please exact vengeance for my husband, Reginald." The woman thanks Jericho for his generosity with tears in her eyes.
They need to stay far enough back to not be noticed. Given that they have horses, they could probably stay a hundred feet back and still make it to the battle with a double move.
Sarela nods in agreement with Jericho. "It's fortunate we do. Most humans can't see in the dark as well as I can. We'll stay back a bit. I know Sir Ilivan said the horses wouldn't do well in combat, but they should get us close to it. We'll give you a head start of around a hundred feet, and then follow you."
"I cannot see in the dark as you can, but I should be able to follow one of you just fine. " Windi adds.
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Jericho ponders, "Under the light of this moon, I can see as well as the day. However, I am not trained with these horses or ponies you speak of. I will follow behind Tippy, hidden in the shadows, and will cover him with my javelins and blade, if need be." The half-elf winks at the halfling and hands the reins of his mount to one of the aasimars.
Once they are ready, Tippy heads forward alone, using his cloak to keep his daggers out of sight. His wrist sheathes make soft clicking sounds as he nervously releases and stows the daggers hidden within, then he realizes how much spin they make in the quiet of the night, and forces his hands to be still.
Twenty minutes into his walk, Tippy sees four men approaching, one of them wielding a torch. By this time, the sun has gone down and only the moonlight lights up the dark lonely road. In a creepy tone, one of men yells out, "Hey, little boy, whatcha doin' on the road all alone at night? Don't you know what happens to little boys alone at night?" Tippy hears the men laugh among themselves, as they continue to approach. They look like brigands, unshaven, with short swords at their sides, wearing grime covered leather armor. The four of them are currently 30' away and approaching quickly.
Jericho is in the nearby grasslands, ducking low. He is pretty sure at this distance, without sunlight, he is pretty safe from discovery from the four humans. The other two party members are waiting over the hill on their horses for Tippy's signal.
"Oh, please, sir," Tippy replies in his best frightened little boy voice, "I've been trying to find me mum and brother and sister. Some brigands just attacked us and killed me da, and I got all lost. Can you help me find me mum, please sir?"
Tippy will slowly back away once the men get within 30 feet. He wants to make sure these are the same men (or at least that they're scum) before taking any action.
He keeps his hood pulled low.
"Some brigands?! Bah, these roads are our territory! Who's intruding on our turf and stealin' our silver and gold?! Answer me boy! What did they look like?! And stop moving! Don't make me hurt ya!" The four thugs approach, anger clear in their voice, hands on their swords. You see some stains of dried blood on their boots and cloaks.
Jericho waits patiently for Tippy's signal to engage, his sword gripped in both hands (if in charging range). If not, he waits with javelin in hand.
"I don't know. I wasn't there. Were they you?"
Tippy continues to back away, angling closer to Jericho's position.
"I don't know...we've killed quite a few people on this road. And ya ask too many questions boy. It's time we grabbed you and made you tell us all ya know and why ya keep yer face from us. Grab the bastard!"
The men, short swords drawn, move to grab Tippy.
Tippy slides off the pony right at them and his dagger is revealed. He brings it up right at the man's groin.
"One twist of my blade and your buddy is pissing from a nub, now drop your weapons and back the hell off!" Tippy barks to the others.
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Tippy isn't being quiet, that's for sure.
Once the men pulled out swords and approached Tippy with harm in their eyes, Jericho prepared his javelin and let it fly as soon as Tippy attacked! "Leave that boy alone or die!"
Tippy catches the man coming to grab him by surprise and stabs him in the thigh area, severing his assailant's femoral artery! The man screams in pain as he collapses to the ground, clutching at his thigh, but the wound is too deep and he passes out. The other scream "Holy sh*t!" and the anger in their eyes toward Tippy is plain to see. As they approach, one of them catches a javelin in the ribs from the grass area. Another scream of pain, as the man falls down to one knee, almost dead. The noise of galloping horses is heard as Windi and Sarela ride over the hill into view, spurred on by the thugs' screams. Tippy can clearly see an Oh we're screwed look on their faces now.
Round 1: Thugs
The two fresh brigands see one of their men down, one severely hurt, and two knights suddenly ride into view. They run for their lives as a full-round action, moving 120' at the end of the round. The severely injured rogue drops his sword, drops to his knees, and covers the deep wound in his ribs with his hands, and whispers to Tippy, "My wound is bad..."