Triften's game: Session n+4A - 3/14/2007

Now down two people, the party finally arrives at Innsmouth, a fishing town located on the south edge of the Judham Swamp. At midmorning, Terrence and Jared head into town to gather information. Despite terrifying a few townsfolk into thinking that some horrible plague of monsters may or may not be currently attacking, they find out several useful pieces of information:

• The road through the swamp is in disrepair but their oxen might be able to ford the marsh in that area.
• There are lizardfolk in the swamp.
• The Black Talon is preparing to push into the swamp to drive out the lizardfolk who came down out of the mountains to live there.

The party decides they'd rather march through a Black Talon encampment than get their carts stuck in a marsh filled with lizardmen and who-knows-what-else. While on the road, heading ENE, towards the encampment, it is decided that they will pretend to be pilgrims heading towards a shrine in the mountains. Using incredible bardic knowledge and the study of the arcane, they remember that there is indeed a Shrine of Tyvia, Goddess of the Spring, in the nearby mountains. During the few days of journey, the carts are repainted, costumes are donned, and a lone lizardman is spotted watching them from the swamps.

Upon arrival at the camp, the party is questioned about their plans and their ruse works perfectly. A little too perfectly. After passing through a massive Black Talon encampment and surviving to tell the tale, the carts are now headed up a steep, winding, and bumpy mountain road. Despite having no one available skilled in animal handling, the party makes do with sheer Charisma.

As night falls on the mountain road, the party is attacked by a pair of wolf skeletons. They are dispatched in relatively short-order (from what I remember) allowing the party to continue towards the Shrine.

The road follows over hills and valleys before heading up the side of a mountain to the Shrine. With a backdrop of a beautiful mist-filled valley, the roughly two-story, round building is surrounded by a chill fog. The mountain road continues past the Shrine, curving around the mountain to head west. The party splits up at this point, with some going to scout ahead on the road and a lone Holostarchander investigating the Shrine.

The road appears to head west out of the mountains.

Holostarchander discovers that the interior of the shrine is coated in ice. Ascending the stairs, he sees that the spring itself is almost completely frozen over, with only a trickle of water coming out to run down the series of intricate channels (those not filled with ice) and out of the building. Holostarchander's reward for giving the ice a few taps with his staff is an assault by a baby white wyrm. The wyrm blind-sides him with a flurry of claws, teeth, and angry bulk, knocking Holostarchander out immediately and cutting short his yell of "Aaa-!"

Jared, having stayed with the carts, hears this and races into the shrine to see the wyrm dragging Holostarchander's limp body towards its nest. Jared, feeling either insane or selfless, attempts to tackle the dragon, yelling the whole time. Somehow, Jared manages to not get torn to shreds before the rest of the party arrives. The party surrounds the furious lizard and its members experience varying degrees of success. Flacco gets in several good sneak attacks, Kurako does consistent damage with her longsword, Jared remains ineffectual until right before the end of combat by landing the killing blow, and Terrence sings (I think.) The party emerges victorious but still frostbitten, regular bitten, and clawed.

Triften's Game: Session n+1

(This will be edited to correct mistakes as my notes are crap.)

Most of the party is hungover after a night of heavy drinking and grumbling about the Black Talon. Jared wakes first and, using a piece of wood, jams the door to Stetta's cart. Meanwhile, Holostarchander decided hang himself upside down in hopes of inducing a vision to provide guidance for the party. He awakens, inverted and numb, with a splitting headache.

Terrence awakens to find himself in Stetta's strong embrace. Fight-or-flight instincts kick in when Stetta informs Terrence that he has made her a real woman, causing Terrance to fling himself, screaming, at the stuck door. Jared watches and listens from outside. Eventually, Terrance free's himself from Stetta's den of iniquity and retreats to the near-safety of his own cart.

After Terrence's screaming quiets down, Holostarchander regains feeling in his limbs and begins his own bout of screaming. (I can't remember who helped him down from his suspension.)

Jared grants Stetta the day off, suggesting she have a picnic with Terrance, before wandering into town to find an apothecary who might provide a love potion. Terrence desperately searches for alcohol, finding that Jared has moved or emptied all of the stashes. Jared finds an apothecary who asks for a rather high price for a love potion and decides to convince the rest of the party to chip in for it to help smooth over the dynamics.

While Jared is gone, Terrence impersonates Jared to try and convince Stetta that Jared is also interested in sleeping with her. When Stetta sees Jared, after he returns from his trip to the apothecary, she lets him down easy and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

Jared recovers from the kiss and pitches his idea to the others regarding the love potion. The rest of the party is skeptical.

(There may or may not be a session break here.)

At this point, it is nearly mid-afternoon, and Serpentia is nowhere to be found. Flacco and Kurako take a look around in the nearby grove of trees (druids have a habit of wandering off you know) and Kurako discovers Serpenta's snake by itself. The snake is sluggish and lethargic. The twins attempt to sell the snake (rocks nearly fall) but eventually just return to camp with it to show the others.

Before the discovery of the snake, Terrence bumps into Steve in town. Steve also dresses up (wink-wink, nudge-nudge) and has a small traveling act, so Terrence suspects that Steve has stolen Serpenta away from their show.

Regardless, the show must go on and the troupe has already reserved a section of the marketplace in which to perform. After setting up the tent (and having someone with the Use Rope skill check over the work) and getting ready to start, two small birds fly into the tent. The birds alight on Prima's shoulder and, speaking in Serpenta's voice, deliver a message explaining that Serpenta was kidnapped by the Black Talon and being carried off, possibly northward but she is unsure. She provides information regarding the possible location of King Ordna's wizard who might be able to help them. (I can't remember what the second bird did, but it might have told off Prima and Donna.)

The show is excessively average and after the crowd clears out a number of soldiers remain (I think they may have been from another tavern excursion by the twins.) Thinking fast, someone unties the shoddy ropework, collapsing the tent. Thinking homocidally, someone else lights the tent ablaze. In the ensuing havoc, the party is able to slink away into the night, heading northward.

Triften's Game: The First n Sessions (n ≈ 3)

(This will be edited to flesh out events.)

The story begins in the capital, unimaginatively named "Talwar". The party has been performing together for a few months.

(Jared's vision happens here, correct?)

(Something happens causing them to head down the road after a couple shows. I believe it may have involved pissing off a Black Talon officer.)

The party heads down the road towards the coast. Portsmouth-on-Lides is known to be a little more cosmopolitan and more appreciative of the arts. Along the way, the party spots an ambush up ahead. A small group of PCs circles around and surprises one of the bandits. The rest of the bandits had heard the PCs' approach and stepped aside, leaving "Deaf Gilroy" to be found. After 3 bandits are taken down, their leader, Rigg, flees, leaving a 4th bandit to be captured. The party gives the bandit quite a scare and, in return, receives information on where to find Rigg.

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The party stays in a small village along the road for a few days to hold a couple of shows. Earnings are mediocre compared to the city but passable considering the locale. (NOTE: This may have occured before the bandit encounter.)

Farther up the road to Portsmouth, the party encounters a regiment of Black Talon marching down the road. Taking up the whole road. Demanding the party clear off the road. The oxen, being oxen, move slower than the Black Talon would like and so one set of carts is unceremoniously shoved off the road. Thanks to the sloping terrain, the cart ends up listed a little over 45 degrees. The oxen are used to pull the cart upright once again and, after a bit of swearing, the party continues toward the coast.

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It is night when the party arrives in Portsmouth, so they convene on a tavern and get in some heavy drinking (getting sloshed on the slush fund). Flacco has an encounter with some dishonest folk who attempt to drug her. Luckily, Kurako has her back and keeps anything bad from happening. Terrance gets especially drunk and is carried back to camp by Stetta. Stetta and Terrance kiss. (This statement in no way implies that a particular party initiated the contact, just that it happened.) Upon return to camp, everyone heads to their carts, except for Terrance, who is carried into Stetta's.

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Additionally, somewhere in all this, it was established that five consecutive days of the week are: Odinswag, Throggsday, Freersday, Gundersog, and Gundersoth.