The Ballad of Bloodmarch Hill

Game Master Joana

Mahath flushes at Agrit's implied accusation, but doesn't rise to the bait. "We came by to have you look at those items I mentioned." He pauses for a beat, and then adds "But Marikel and I can leave the two of you alone, if you'd like."

The dwarf's about to say something before Mahath interjects. Dorn then does a double take at his last sentence. "'You two' who? What in the blazes are ya talkin' about, wizard?" He then turns to Agrit. "There'll be no 'pick', lass, we're just needin' a bit o' help with these items. Now will ya help us or not? This one," he throws a thumb toward Mahath, "will pay ya for yer troubles if ya be needin'. It's the least he can do," he concludes, nodding and grinning.

"But Marikel and I can leave the two of you alone, if you'd like."

Agrit responds with a black look. "It's not that armor he's wearing, is it?" she asks Mahath, jerking her thumb at the dwarf's studded leather.

I think Marikel was carrying the armor from the tomb the last time we saw it. And Dorn needs to present the hammer for inspection.

"Aye, it is. And this hammer." He pulls it out and lays it on the counter.

Marikel looks between the others but at the mention of armour he coughs politely.
"My apologies if we're disturbing you, Miss Agrit. We came across a suit of giant sized half plate armour that shrank when I tried to put it on."
Marikel pauses a moment and frowns.
"It was Mahath's suggestion. But he speaks highly of your ability and knowledge in these matters."

"Shrank, eh?" Agrit asks with interest. "Sounds handy. Bring them inside, and I'll have a look." She looks at them sharply. "I don't suppose you'd trust me with them if you left them? Liable to take some time, and I don't like hoverers. Mahath can stay and keep an eye on me for you; I'm used to him being in my way."

If you want to go on and have a chat with Tyari while Agrit's identifying, you can, Marikel.

Marikel smiles at Agrit.
"Of course Miss Agrit."
He nods to Mahath, still smiling, and takes his leave.
"There's a prickly one."
Marikel makes his way back to the white church, deep in thought, and looks about for Tyari Varvatos.

Mahath raises his eyebrows at Marikel. Clearly, he is unwilling to cross the feisty dwarf. He leans to watch Agrit work, keen to figure out what he missed when he tried to pierce the enchantments and suss out their power.

Mahath takes his leave and heads back toward Sanctuary. Outside the House of Wonders, he spies Alicia heading in his direction.

Dorn leans in near Mahath just before he takes his leave. "I'll be outside if ya be needin' me, lad," he says under his breath, nodding. Once he makes his way outside, he pulls out his knife, finds himself a good piece of wood before finding a solid tree to sit up against. "Make yourself comfy, Reaver, we might be here a while," he tells his favorite bird as he begins to whittle.

Marikel's frown vanishes and a genuine smile crosses his face when he sees Alicia. He hides it quickly and gives her a wave as she approaches.
"Miss Alicia. How have your investigations gone?"

Alicia waits until she is nearer to Marikel before responding. "Said to check with a dwarf. Came to talk to Agrit, but maybe Omast would work too. You?"

Marikel nods.
"Little miss Zola said she heard talk of a fort by Gorewillow. We might have a chance to find him after all. But I don't know of anyone who is acquainted with the areas beyond Trunau."
Marikel looks to the church.
"I was going to update Miss Varvatos about our findings."
Marikel looks to Alicia, then at his feet.
"I was going to tell her everything. After all... I may not come back."

Marikel continues into Sanctuary where he finds Tyari closing and locking the door to the damaged storeroom.

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Agrit and Mahath carry the armor and hammer into the House of Wonders, where the dwarf sweeps a scum of clutter of her worktable with a clatter. She incants the familiar cantrip to detect magic auras and examines the equipment and concentrates for several seconds. "Nine and a half hells," she remarks. "This is something special, isn't it? The interlacing auras and effects.... I wonder...."

Alicia, going into Sanctuary with Marikel, toward Agrit, where you'll meet Dorn and Reaver outside, or to look for Omast?

Alicia grunts a reply to Marikel, tenderhearted as ever, and continues on her way to find Agrit.

"Nine and a half hells," she remarks. "This is something special, isn't it? The interlacing auras and effects.... I wonder...."

Mahath beams when Agrit declares this. I would have felt foolish if it was simple and I'd missed it... But he quickly wipes the smile from his face and refocuses on the task at hand.

Alicia heads toward the House of Wonders and spies Dorn waiting outside, whittling.

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Inside, Agrit focuses on the armor. "This is the simpler of the two so we'll take it first. Let's see... enhanced first, nothing special there; makes you a little harder to hit. What's this? Divine magic; a cleric had a hand in crafting this.... oh, that's nice. Once a day, the wearer can double in size for half a minute or so ; I suppose that's where the re-sizing effect the priest mentioned comes in. Stronger, sturdier, tougher, and resistant to damage. Short period of time, but it could certainly turn the tide of a battle."

+1 half-plate automatically resizes to match the size of its wearer. Once per day on command, the armor can bestow upon its wearer theh effects of righteous might for 5 rounds. The wearer's alignment determines the DR gained from the ability: a good wearer gains DR 5/evil, an evil wearer gains DR 5/good, and a neutral wearer chooses which DR to gain the first time she activates this ability -- once chosen, it cannot be changed.

Marikel clears his throat and waits for Tyari to turn around.
"Good day, ma'am. If you've a moment to spare, I've some news. We've found something. Something terrible. It's my fault. I need to put things right."

Tyari's eyes widen, and her hand goes unconsciously to the hilt of her sword. "Marikel, what? What is it?"

Marikel takes a breath.
"In the caverns under Trunau we uncovered a magic stone that appears to animate the dead. But we had to give it to a greedy villain in exchange for the life of the Sawyer girl who he kidnapped. We think he's taken it to the Mindspins to give to his employers. I'll be leaving in the next few days in pursuit, but we've little to go on."

"A villain? Who-? What-?" she responds. "What's going on, Marikel? Tell me everything."

Hearing footsteps, Dorn looks up from his whittling and notices Alicia heading straight for Agrit's. "Hello, lass! If I were you I wouldn't go in there. Agrit doesn't want anyone in there but Mahath. Somethin' about 'not likin' the rest of us' or somethin'." He shrugs. "Just warnin' ya. Although, they've been in there a while so they might be pretty close ta figurin' 'em out. Not sure how long it takes ta use magic ta figure somethin' out, but, there ya go."

Alicia scowls at Dorn, drawing up short just outside the door to Agrit's. "Thanks for the warning," she says, and barges in anyway.

Dorn lets out a light chuckle. "Oh that lass just cracks me up," he mutters to himself as he goes back to whittling.

"Now, this spell," Agrit remarks to Mahath as she rummages in a cabinet, "you haven't bothered to learn. Not flashy enough for you, I expect." She retrieves a dusty bottle and a battered stein and sets them on the table just as Alicia opens the door. "We're closed!" she snaps at the girl.

"Yeah, yeah," Alicia retorts as she breezes into the shop. "Hey, Mahath."

Turning her attention to Agrit, she says, "Giants. What do you know about them? There any legends about them living around here?"

As if noticing that she was interrupting something for the first time, Ali adds, "Oh! Please don't let me interrupt. I'm sure this isn't life-threateningly important information I'm asking about or anything."

Agrit pointedly turns away from Alicia to Mahath. "Friend of yours, is she?"

"Um... Yes?" he replies hesitantly, looking back and forth between the two strong females.

Agrit grunts. "Can't say I see the attraction. Giants aren't like ants, girl: you don't have to wonder if you have them. Most of them live in mountains or caverns. Only ones who might feel at home in the badlands are hill giants, but the orcs wouldn't have any around here; maybe the only useful thing a person can say about orcs. Now, mind if I finish casting a spell to examine this hammer? Or do you want to ask me if there might be an infestation of dragons under your bed?"

"No dragon-infestations, but what do you know about a hill giant named Uskroth?"

"Uskroth?" She stops still a moment. "He's an old bogey-man. Not for the dwarves; he fought the humans, the crusaders of Lastwall, and united all kinds of creatures in his army. Not just hill giants but orcs and ogres and even the undead. He was chieftain of the Heart Eater tribe when the orcs breached the Sunwall almost five centuries ago. They say he carried Minderhal's own hammer, Aggrimosh, the Hammer of Unmaking, which he used to forge the races of giants."

"Know where the Heart Eater tribe were settled? Maybe in the Mindspins?"

"Most likely," the dwarf shrugs. "Hill giants never really settle down, do they? They wander here and there; who knows where you'll find any of them at any given time? They say there's some in the Blood Plains. But, aye, if I were looking for the Heart Eaters, I'd look to the Mindspins."

"Thanks," Ali says, descending into silence.

After a pause, she adds, "No historical forts or caves they were known to live in there?"

"A villain? Who-? What-?" she responds. "What's going on, Marikel? Tell me everything."

Marikel sighs.

"Marikel," Tyari answers, "you did all you could do. You saved a child's life. You kept your word. What else could you have done? You could have fought this Gorewillow instead of accepting his conditions, but whether you won or lost, the councilor's daughter would still have been in danger. Now she's safe and can no longer be used as a pawn. You did the right thing."

"Now, how can we help you? What do you need? Do you want me to send Brantos with you?"

After a pause, she adds, "No historical forts or caves they were known to live in there?"

"In the Mindspins? Not that I've heard. You could ask Omast Frum -- he's lived here longer than I have -- but take what he tells you with a grain of salt. He'd rather spin a fanciful tale than admit he doesn't know something," Agrit grumbles.

Alicia grunts and goes looking for Omast without a word.

After the door closes behind Alicia, Mahath belatedly says "Um, so, see ya later then."

"Now, how can we help you? What do you need? Do you want me to send Brantos with you?"

Marikel clenches his jaw.

"That shouldn't be necessary. We're not even sure where we're going. An old fort in the Mindspins is where we'll start. Do we have any maps of the area?"

"I'm sure we do," Tyari muses. "Let's check the library."

After a few moments of opening scroll cases, she pulls out a rolled parchment. "Here we are. This shows the positions of Lastwall's fortifications in Belkzen since the defeat of the Whispering Tyrant. They all ended in the Mindspins on the west." She points to the colored lines on the map. "Here is the Sunwall, Harchist's Blockade, and the Hordeline. There were forts every fifteen miles, which was how far an armored soldier could march in a day before needing a secure place to rest. If you're looking for a fort in the Mindspins, it would be at the western end of one of these lines."

"The westernmost fort in the Sunwall is known as Heliu's Folly, after the disgraced captain under whose command it burned. Lastwall abandoned the fort rather than rebuild, but the stone fortifications may still be standing and defensible enough for the orcs to occupy."

"The westernmost fort in Harchist's Blockade would be about here," she moves her finger down to the green line just south of the River Esk. "It was called Fort Redlake because a variety of crimson algae grew on the surface of its moat. It fell with the rest of the Blockade in 4482."

"And here would be the closest fort, at the western end of the Hordeline, just south of the source of the Kestrel." She points to the purple line a little north of Trunau. "It's certainly the quickest and safest journey. To travel to either of the northern lines, you'd have to cross the Skittermounds, which would be deadly this time of year, or take a ferry down the Esk, then up the Kestrel."

She thinks a moment. "You say you made the exchange with Gorewillow in a cave by the river? If he was heading to Harchist's Blockade or the Sunwall, he'd have to avoid the Skittermounds as well. He could have taken a boat down the Kestrel, then either a ferry up the Esk to Redlake or the Flood Road toward Heliu's Folly."

Map

Dorn sees Alicia coming back out of the House of Wonders.

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"You expecting any other 'friends' to drop by," Agrit asks Mahath, "or can I go ahead and cast the spell now?"

Taking a moment from his whittling, he grins as he sees Alicia exiting, noticing that she seems mighty determined to be somewhere. "Where ya headed, lass?"

"To see a dwarf," Alicia replies without slowing down.

Mahath opens his mouth to reply to Agrit, then stops himself. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised to see Gorewillow push his way in and make demands of Agrit. He just shrugs.

Chuckling as he watches her move at a determined pace, "Boy that lass makes me laugh. 'To see a dwarf'. That's a good one. Doesn't she see that I'm right here?" he comments to himself as he shakes his head at her silliness while grinning. He returns back to his relaxing whittling as he continues to wait for Mahath.

"Eh, well, you best lock the door anyway," Agrit instructs as she pours a dark liquid out of the dusty bottle into the stein. "This spell has a limited duration; I don't want to spend it listening to another of your friend's lips flapping." She stirs the wine with a bedraggled feather she selects from an assortment in a quill holder, then tosses the drink down with a grimace.

Marikel's eyes go wide as he looks over the parchment.
"Tyari, this is amazing. This is just what we need. Where did you get this? Do we have any more records of this area? Did crusaders kill Uskroth? I have to show this to the others."

"Tyari, this is amazing. This is just what we need. Where did you get this?"

She smiles at his enthusiasm. "It's a copy of a map back in Vigil. It seemed appropriate to bring a reminder of Lastwall's record in Belkzen when we came to re-establish the church here." Her smile fades as she looks back at the map. "It's a reminder of why the people of Trunau were unlikely to trust us: a record of our losses. The Hordeline was supposed to protect Trunau. When it fell, the army retreated to safety, but the people of Trunau chose to stay and defend their homes. Why should they listen to us now, when we failed to help them then?"

She smiles at him again. "We've made great strides, however, thanks mostly to you and Brantos fighting alongside the Trunauans. Perhaps they'll really begin to see us as friends and neighbors instead of outsiders."

"Do we have any more records of this area?"

"I'll have a look through the library and see if there's anything else that could be helpful."

"Did crusaders kill Uskroth?"

"We're not really sure. The story was that he died in battle, but the crusaders never found his body. From what you've discovered, it sounds like his followers carried the body away and buried him, but there's no record of who might have had a hand in his death. Perhaps an arrow or a spell fired from a distance, or maybe just an accumulation of wounds which finally killed him. I'm sure someone would have claimed the title of giantslayer if there were any evidence for it."

Agrit turns her attention once again to the hammer. "Hmm, you are something special, aren't you?" she murmurs. "Magically enhanced ... packs an outsized punch ... automatically resizes to suit its wielder ... it can make its wielder grow ... or its target shrink...."

+2 impact warhammer that automatically resizes itself to match the size of its wielder. Once per day as a full-round action, its wielder can use the hammer to cast heightened enlarge person (Fortitude DC 23 negates); this effect lasts for 20 minutes. Whenever the wielder confirms a critical hit against a creature of the humanoid type, the target creature must succeed at a DC 23 Fortitude save or shrink by one size category, as by heightened reduce person; this effect also lasts for 20 minutes.

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Getting breathless from trotting up and down Bloodmarch Hill, Alicia puffs into The Killin' Ground. A makeshift memorial holds trinkets and offerings in memory of those who died here at the hands of the half-orc saboteurs, but the quiet aura of solemnity which encircles it isn't hampering the conviviality of the crowd taking a break from rebuilding and repairs. Omast Frum is holding court with some Patrol members at his usual table.