The dry hilltops danced with fire.
Throughout the heart of the mountains the humans called the Garnet Peaks, great bonfires had been kindled atop the ridges overlooking the southern plains of Solamnia. There thousands of warriors had gathered -- hobgoblins in armor dyed scarlet, thick-thewed bugbear berserkers, goblin worg riders and skirmishers and archers, and the scaled ones as well, who often towered over the rest. For so long they had fought each other, tribe against tribe, race against race, engaged in the endless test of battle, feud, and betrayal. But tonight . . . tonight they stood together, hated enemies shoulder-to-shoulder, shouting together as brothers. And they saw that they were strong, and together they danced and sang and shook their blades at the smoke-hidden stars overhead.
"We are the Kulkor Zhul!" they shouted, and the hills shook with the thunder of their voices. "We are the Knights of Takhisis! Uighulth na Hargai! None can stand before us!"
One by one the tribes fell silent. Armor creaked as thousands turned to look up to the Place of Speaking. There, a single champion emerged from the assemblage and slowly climbed the ancient stone stair cut into the side of the hill. A hundred bright yellow banners stood beneath him like a phalanx of spears, each marked with a great red hand. The warriors holding the banners chanted battle-prayers in low voices as the champion ascended.
On the hundredth step he stopped and turned to face the waiting warriors. He was tall and strong, one of the hobgoblin chieftains, but dull blue scales gleamed along his shoulders, and jutting horns swept back from his head. "I am Azarr Kul, Son of the Dragon!" he cried. "Hear me, warriors of the Kulkor Zhul! Tomorrow we march to war!"
The warriors roared their approval, stamping their feet and clashing spear to shield. Azarr Kul waited, holding his hands aloft until they quieted again. "The Queen of Darkness has shown us the way! She has taught us honor, discipline, obedience -- and strength! No more will we waste our blood fighting each other. We will take the lands of the elf, the dwarf, and the human, and make them ours! Under the banner of the Dark Queen we march to victory and conquest! Remember that you stood here this night, warriors of Kulkor Zhul! For a hundred generations your sons and your sons' sons will sing of the blood spilled by your swords and the glory you win in the nights to come! Now, my brothers -- to WAR!"
If this sounds familiar, check out the Red Hand of Doom. I have wanted to run this well written module for years and finally I have a good group of gamers to slaught.. I mean play along with. Originally, I planned to run this with the Pathfinder rules but one of my players convinced me to run it with 2nd Ed. Which I have not played in about twenty years or so (back when I was a kid really). But I did look over the rules and it seems to be a much better fit, and so far its been good.
First session was character creation, back stories, and brainstorming. Our cast so far was as follows:
Human Male Cavalier lv 0 whose name I cannot currently recall
Elven Female Cavalier lv 1 named Chiara Snowmantle
Human Male Myrdiam Fighter lv 1 named Reece
Irda Male Wizard lv 1 currently unnamed
Kender Female Handler lv 1 named Catchstar Drunkensquirrel
Half-Elf Male Ranger/Healer lv 1 named Morrolan the Bastard
Minotaur Male Berserker lv 1 named Rath
There were two others as well but they ended up dropping before the first play session and we gained another player at the second session.
Gnome Male Tinkerer lv 1 aptly named Tink
I'm still shaking my head. *sigh*
Second Session: Roll Initiative!
So we did a little roleplay and filled in some of the character backgrounds and worked in the new Gnome into the group. A few people couldn't make it so we end up with:
The Mercenary Group:
Reece the Myrdiam Fighter
Rath the Minotaur Berserker
Morrolan the Ranger/Healer
and the Knightly Group:
Lady Snowmantle the Elven Cavalier
Baeldwyn the Human Cavalier
Tink the Tinkerer Gnome
The Mercenary group had received orders to assist Townspeaker Norro Winston in ridding the area of bandits. He had signed a contract stating the village of Drellin's Ferry would pay 500 steel for each warrior sent, half now and half upon completion. The three warriors sent also had contracts in which half the steel received would be sent back to the Mercenary group and they keep the other half for payment. Meaning they won't be paid until completion... assuming they survive, mwahahahahaha.
The Knightly group had been tasked by Lord du Fordread to assist the townspeople in dealing with the bandits as well. Lady Snowmantle received room and board at the Lord's dwellings and asked to assist as repayment. Also asked to watch over the greenhorn squire, who had been told that he must first be tested and found true before becoming knighted. They were both instructed to take the Tinkerer with them. Immediately before the Lord loses patience with the gnome and/or said gnome blowing up the entire manor with his latest defense scheme.
Combat!
I had the two groups of three coming towards each other on a three way intersection on a well traveled road. As they came into sight of each other, they noticed several figures hiding in the bushes. Having stopped and drawn their weapons, a hobgoblin stepped out and warned them to drop their arms or suffer a cruel death. They declined so a band of eight hobgoblins with various arms stepped out to do combat!
The mercenary group had little trouble on their side in disposing their foes. The elven ranger, not knowing the campaign, had chosen hobgoblins as his favored foe and was having a competition with the minotaur as to who could slay more. Reece had suffered the only injury with an arrow to the back as he had maneuvered to flank another hobgoblin.
A few yards away the knightly group had a little more difficulty in taking down their opponents. Armed with lances but lacking steeds of any sort made combat a little awkward. Baeldwyn did defend his companions quite bravely, taking 4 hitpoints of damage out of his 5 hitpoint total after taking out one of the hobos with a running charge and placing his lance deep into its chest. Tink managed to down one of the hobgoblins with a well placed shot from his slingstaff and the group ended up taking it prisoner. One of the hobgoblins ran back to the nearby farmhouse for reinforcements. Another archer and three mangy wild dogs ran to the attack. They didn't last much longer either.
After combat quotes- "Oww! That hurts!" -Reece after the Bastard did 3hp damage trying to remove the arrow. "The arrow says Push, not Pull!" the group teased.
"My shields need more meat!" -Tink, referring to the young knight's lack of HP.
We finished up with the groups coming together and realizing they share the same goal at the moment. They stripped the dead hobgoblins of their gear and examined the farmhouse. Inside they found the five victims of earlier attacks and Baeldwyn insisted that the 350 some steel be returned to the merchant's family. The weaponry of the merchant's guards however was taken in as loot. They arranged the bodies in a respectful manor and then burnt down the farmhouse as a funeral pyre. And then they proceeded into the small town known as Drellin's Ferry.