GM Ukyo's Rise of a Hero campaign arc

Game Master Ukyo

"Xion!! Are you ok?"

he reacts slowly, eventually looking up at you, "Huh?"

It'll take a minute but eventually he'll shake it off, by then Derbin is there too.

"It worked m'lord, I sent a message across the room!" Then he looks around, "Well ah, it sort of worked I guess..." and he grins despite himself.

Derbin looks shaken up a bit, but he covers it with gruffness, "Well don' be blowin yerself up boy, yer mot'er'd kill me if'n ya do!"

"Well done! Not pretty, but well done." He'll say as he claps him on the back.

Xion grins, "Thank you m'lord..." then he sobers up, "We need brass m'lord, iron and gold won't do, we need a stronger metal, and lots of it."

He continues, "I would say it'll take 3 pounds of brass per box, which will allow you to send written letters between the two. I'm hoping to get a range from here to Port Haros, but that may be too far."

forgot to include that part

"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Try testing between here and the Megalos home, if he's ok with it."

He nods, "Yes m'lord" and reaches for a broom.

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A few hours later Remus shows up with Dominus Leander's taxes. As usual Anthony and the Consigliere check in the supplies. Things are running smoothly.

Your just about to break for lunch when Octavia arrives, she's brought with her 15 units of iron, 125 workers (100 slaves, 25 civilians) and the ship captain for a merchant hauler. She also has a letter from the Doukas.

Komis Von Andronicus,
Our situation here is dire at best. our supply lines from the mainland are being harried by pirates. Please replace all stone and zinc taxes with as much food as you can supply for the foreseeable future. Wood we still need in as great a quantity as you can manage. I regret that I can offer little to no assistance to you at this time.

With Natasha's blessing,
Doukas Kosmas Faunus Von Anesti

"Well, this is fortuitous." He calls a meeting of his heads. "We're going to expand the wood mill, we need to increase our output of food.
We'll need to distruibute the workers according to current skill, quarry workers vs farmers, and split the slaves equally between the farms and the quarry. Our Doukas needs our support, and we will give it in wood and food."

He'll draw letters to the Hippotis and the mill foreman and to all the Dominii regarding this new missive from the Doukas.

Then he will discuss his ideas regarding the orcs and trapping to Octavia, and ask her opinion on the matter.

Letters drafted and messengers sent. You sense no disagreement from among your personnel.

Octavia nods as you explain her idea, "I like it!" she says enthusiastically, "It's much better than what I had in mind, which was to hire Salbaticans!" and she snorts at her own suggestion, "With your permission, I'll go talk to them at once!"

Remus will stop you in the hall on your way to dinner, "M'lord might I speak with you, it's a matter of urgency."

Assuming you agree.

"I believe you have a spy in your midst m'lord. I recognized one of the slaves that arrived today from Caratos, he's a master manipulator and cold blooded killer, when I knew him he went by the name Xersis Florence."

"Well, that's very dire news. Where is he now? How do you know him?"

He frowns at the memory, "We worked for the same man, scumbag, I cut strings as soon as I could," and he sighs, "I can kill if need be, but this guy enjoys it. You may remember hearing gossip about the Dematicus house, that was his work, gruesome."

You'll recall rumors when you were about 12, one day a wealthy merchant's house was treated to a bloodbath, everyone inside was murdered brutally. You obviously don't know the details though.

"I will take no risks with that kind of reputation. Lets go get him."

The two of you will head down to where the slaves are being kept until it's decided who's going where. (you grab some militia on the way?)

The militia guarding the slaves salute as you arrive, "May I assist you m'lord?"

"Bring out the slaves and line them up, please. I would have a look at them. I need another seneschal for the children."

Tertius and Derbin should do, but I want Remus to hang back out of sight until they're lined up, in the open.

They'll be lined up quickly, while that's happening Tertius has a quiet word with one of the guards who then positions himself in case anyone tries to run... Tertius takes up a similar position.

Most of the slaves look as if they're recovering from a bout of malnourishment but they're healthy. The guards get concerned just as they finish and then go back through the "formation" counting... finally one of them, a corporal, will turn to you, "We're missing one m'lord."

"Of course we are. Question the slaves, private. Derbin, we're on alert. Tertius, please see to the search of the town, while I handle the castle. Remus, you're with me. Make sure he isn't one of the ones still here, please."

Tertius and Derbin salute and depart quickly, the militia currently guarding the slaves (all but one) immediately ready their shields and don their helmets, the one that didn't does quickly when the corporal chews his ass out. (You'll recognize him as one of the ones that still receives special attention from Derbin)

As you and Remus go through the group he shakes his head, clearly frustrated... You'll get about half way through when a shout is raised from the castle! As you turn towards the castle you'll see one of the cooks running towards you.

Titus will run toward the cook.
"What is it?"

He pants heavily the way a man not used to running does, "Demitrius dead... Men in the kitchens... Had... a woman... with them..." and he puts his hands on his knees, gasping for air!

Who is demetrius?
Titus will run to the castle, see whats going on himself as he can't understand the cook, and doesn't have time to let him catch his breath.

You get to the castle and every militia is on high alert, you'll find Derbin in the great hall yelling for a search of the entire castle, "He do be 'ere, we's find em!"

You'll see a guard covered in blood but it doesn't look like his own.

"Tertius be in da kitchens m'lord, seems dae killed a slave boy, an da prison warden's hurt mighty bad, prolly gonna die too."

Right about then the Priest of Xenon shows up growling at the guard that he's not a healer, they rush him straight down to the dungeons.

"Did he take Mrs. Marinos and her men with him?"
He'll only wait a second for an answer, then head to the kitchens.

"An da thiefs down dere too." he spits in disgust, "Killed one'o em."

You'll find Tertius searching the kichens, there's a slave boy kitchen hand dead on the floor, he still has a pot clutched in his right hand with a bit of blood and hair on the edge where he clunked someone in the head.

Tertius frowns as he sees you, "Can't figure out which way they went from here, four exits and it doesn't appear they used any of them." you can tell he's frustrated.

Titus will cast Dain's blacklight on himself and check the shadows...he'll include Tertius for greater cost if possible.

You'll see a bright "X" painted on a section of wall above a table, you'll notice the table has been moved recently (there's a dirt smudge where they leg usually rests on the ground, the leg is off by about half an inch). The "X" wasn't visible in normal light.

no second target option, but there is a distance option which doubles the range from 40' to 80'

he'll investigate the X

You'll see a cleverly disguised activation button in the center of the X, without blacklight your certain you'd have never found it... Likely the criminals used it for the same reason, the only question would be how they knew.

When you push the button the wall slides back and away revealing a cut stone passageway. The dust has been disturbed by many feet but only recently.

I'll assume your going to follow the passage. And that Tertius is with you.

There are steps leading down and then a long hallway. There are plenty of spider webs and even signs of rodents and the like. Everything has been disturbed though recently. After about half an hour you'll come to a dead end of rough stone, not the same as the stone that the walls of the tunnel were made from.

I'm assuming Dain's is still runnin'...
He'll cast it on Tertius, too and try to get past the stone (push, pull, look for a switch, etc.)

Casting the spell on Tertius is easy enough.

When you touch the stone you'll notice no dust on it at all, and if the stone had been in place the entire time there'd be no way for dust to get into the tunnel. There's some loose wet dirt on the stone along the edge, and it's heavier than anything your combined strength can move, plus it looks like it's settled into place. You dig a bit at the base and it's sitting about three inches into the softer earth. Someone, or more likely a group of someones, rolled this into place to prevent chase.

as a note, my previous post I stated it took you 30 minutes to reach the end of the tunnel, that is ammended to 15 minutes

I guess we'll head back then. He'll take tertius, each grab a horse, and head to the Marinos estate, heading in a straight line as muc has possible to stay off the road.
He'll leave orders to scour the castle grounds and the town.

By horse, but off the road, pushing hard, you'll get there about an hour after dark. You'll see lights from the majority of the field hand homes and from the main building. I'll assume your continuing to use dains black light so you'll see three pairs of two field hands on guard, in a circular pattern walking along the wall, as well as another two at the main entrance. You'll startle the gate guards at your approach and they'll hail you, "Who goes there so late?"

"It's the Komis. Act like I'm not here. I believe your young Dominus is in danger. Where is the steward?"

In the strange purple glow of your spell you can see confusion, turn to surprise, turn to suspicion... "The Komis here in the night by himself..."

The other guard shakes his head, "It's possible, I hear he does strange things all the time," then he realizes you can hear him and jumps slightly, "er ah, m'lord, will you dismount and come close that we may see your face?" and both of them grip their spears more tightly, their knuckles lightening.

He would have already dismounted and moved the horses to get them out of sight from the road, and gotten close enough for them to recognize him. Sorry, didnt think I needed to spell that out...he's not going to shout at these guys, ffs.

I didn't assume you were shouting at them, but I did assume you wouldn't approach armed (and poorly trained) men in the dark without determining if they were a threat. Their range of vision is about five-ten feet, the sun is fully down but the moon hasn't risen yet. You on the other hand can see clearly up to 40 feet. It's not unreasonable to think you'd be outside their range of sight.

They peer at you as you come closer, studying your face, "I think it's him." one of them says. The other nods, his face saying he's less certain, he shrugs, "Ok then, take him to the Dominus, I'll wait here."

The guard sets his spear against the wooden post and gestures towards you, "Come with me m'lord." and turns, heading into the compound towards the main house.

Is Tertius coming with you, or staying with the horses?

He'll ask Tertius to get the horses to a barn or out of sight, and then get back to the house quickly and try to stay out of sight. This is all under the assumption that if they were coming here, we would have beaten them here on horseback.
Titus will then go in with the guard.

The guard will knock on the door and waits for a response before entering, "Dominus, the Komis is here to see you Sir." he says, then steps out of the way so you can enter.

As you step into the room you'll see the Dominus sitting in the living room, which has since been put back to looking like a living room instead of a mock throne room. He sets down a book as you enter and the steward rises and bows, along with Megalos' daughter.

The Dominus pulls back a blanket showing that he's still wearing heavy bandages, "Please forgive my rudeness m'lord for not rising," and he'll wince as he tries a seated bow.

"A trained assassin infiltrated my castle and freed your mother and the men in my dungeons. As obsessed as she was I believe they may be headed here, and that once more you are in danger. Please get to an interior room and lock the door, if possible. Tertius and I will fight them if it comes to that. Please, move quickly, but keep the lights to a minimum. I don't want any indication anything is amiss or that anyone has been alerted. Go!"

Titus will lower the light in the room to normal night lighting, and stay out of sight. When tertius gets back he'l lask him to covre the back door, but to also try to stay out of sight.

the Dominus looks considerably healthier than the last time you saw him, but is by no means ready for quick movement. The Steward says, "Do you want me to go get some additional field hands to help?"

Megalos' daughter helps the dominus slowly to his feet and they slowly make their way to the back rooms.

Tertius will arrive shortly, "The horses are seen to." and then he takes his post in the kitchen which is also where the back entrance is.

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Hours will pass by quietly without incident...

We'll remain till morning.

All is quiet with the rising sun... The Dominus will get up and make his way slowly into the house again, "M'lord will you have breakfast with me?" and he grins, showing a bit of the boyishness still.

The kitchen staff will prepare enough food for you and Tertius also.

"Of course. Well, perhaps they just fled back to Caratos..."

The Dominus shakes his head, "I hate to say it m'lord, but I don't think so. My mother isn't likely to give up. If she didn't come here then it's because she has a bigger goal in mind."

Breakfast will be along the same lines as what your used to in the castle, though a little simpler... They use wood burning stoves and regular pots and pans, no runic magical enhancements here like at the Megalos estates. The young Dominus may still be hurt, but his appetite is healthy again, he eats two full plates.

"Well, then I hope you're prepared to have guests for a while, or prepared for a trip back to the castle."

You can tell he's both scared and determined at the same time as he responds, "M'lord if you wish to place militia here I would prefer that. But these people here depend on me, please don't ask me to leave them." You can see he fully recognizes the danger he places himself in, and yet he is resolute.

"Very well. I'll have some men temporarily assigned here, then. Don't be suprised if some of them are orcs, though."

His eyes go wide, as well as the stewards and the girls, "Orcs m'lord?"

"Yes. One of the northern Orc tribes has decided to work alongside us. Hopefully they will also become Caratosians, but right now they've agreed that it's mutually beneficial to work with us. The chieftain Grush has become a friend of mine over tha last few months, and I trust him to honor his word. They will also help us against the clans that raid us. None of them save Grush are ready for milita duty right now, but in the future, don't be too suprised to see them along side our milita."

The steward takes the standard old man approach (too much change, this is bad) but Megalos' daughter nods thoughtfully and the Dominus actually smiles, idealism clear in his voice, "Orcs and Caratosians working together, that sounds like what we're all about!"

So what are your plans at this point? Will you stay and send Tertius to the castle, or leave Tertius here and go yourself? Or both go?

I'll go back and get men, then come back and relieve him.