A BARDS TALE - Session 4: "A Bard walks into a bar...." or "Don't go off first appearences!".

 21/6/23

13th to 16th Day of Rainmoot: 1492 

Mission:                                                                                                                                          Find Our Lady's Heart

Campaign:                                                                                                                                    Tales from the Bard

Location(s):                                                                                                                                AMN: Caravasar (Trademeet), Mere

Present:                                                                                                                               Dramos Ethrane, Niall Tharivol, Ragul-Nur, Roscoe Tosscoble & Talila Watercup Plus Mule

13th:

After helping Dasan with his introductions the group purchased a 10 gallon water barrel and 5 days worth of rations for the journey to Mere. Roscoe kept presenting Niall with arrows. He eventually asked and Roscoe told him he could mend minor items, an arrow being one of them.

It was late afternoon when the 4 departed Trademeet. They made good time and set up camp a little way off the road. Niall went hunting to ensure they had a decent meal and not one based on trail rations they carried. After 2 hours he came back with a rabbit and a wild turkey. That would be enough fresh meat to supplement them for the next few days. Roscoe and Ragul-Nur would take the night watch. During the first part of the watch but near to change over Roscoe woke the camp as he had seen a fore about 1 mile away.

14th:

Niall went to investigate. He found a camp, on a slight hill. There were at least 4 guards posted that he could see and a further two patrolling between the static posts. They looked in size and silhouette as human kind. He could not make out anything else so he went back and told the others what he had seen. They decided to approach and find out more.

They stopped near to the camp but far enough away not to be spotted. Niall again crept closer, he could make out that they were armed, well equipped and their shields had a vertical split design, blue on one half and black on the other.

He returned and Dramos remembered that there was a mercenary company called the Dusk Blades who had a similar shield design. They had a reputation for hard fighting and even harder to gain entry into the elite band of mercenaries. They decided to approach at dawn. They manged a short rest and moved into the open to approach the camp. Niall got the attention of the guards. He was surprised to see the camp almost broken and men now fully dressed.

A group of 10 men formed a shield wall two me deep. A voice shouted out

Voice: "State your business".

But it was Roscoe who stepped forward.

Roscoe: "My name is Niall Tharivol, we mean no harm."

Voice: "Drop your weapons and approach".

Roscoe: "Could we agree that we leave our weapons sheathed, and our arms raised high as we approach?"

Voice: "That would be acceptable".

As the group did as they stated archers formed up on either side of the shield wall.  When they stopped a gap appeared in the shield wall and a tall man with a long beard stepped into view. He carried a wickedly large two handed sword.

Abner: "My name is Abner Keane, Captain Abner Keane. I command here. What do you want?"

Roscoe: "We have heard that their are Orcs afield and we seek safe journey with yourselves if you are travelling to Gulluvia?"

Abner; "We may be at that, you're welcome to travel at the rear of the column, camp near us and share an evening meal for we have plenty".

Roscoe: "We thank you for your kindness Captain."

14th & 15th:

The remainder of the journey was without incident and the group parted company with the mercenaries when they arrived at the trail to Mere. Mere was a scant 3 hours along the trail. The village was hidden from view in a secluded valley nestled amongst rolling hills. Roscoe was telling them snippets about the Gulluvia, the area and the village, village life and other mundane things.

Roscoe: "Gulluvia: A ruthless place filled with terror, especially to a young halfling like Roscoe.  The Lady D’Hmis rules the barony with a firm and unforgiving hand. To gain supreme rulership of the tiny barony it is rumoured that she poisoned her husband and killed her step-daughter, Argenta.

Dead Mule: A little shire and a  once peaceful place. Named by a group of Dwarven miners who settled here after their only pack mule died. Soldiers often camp outside the shire and do not welcome visitors. No one seems to know why they are here, but the soldiers often terrorise the surrounding area.

N’Sau: This small farming village is so small that there is no inn or tavern. There is a small general store which doubles as a tavern, of sorts, meeting hall and store.

Thorold: This lovely village prides itself on the fact that it breeds the best thoroughbred’s horse in all Gulluvia specifically for the Barony. Appears lawful but is just as chaotic as Gulluvia itself. The mayor is related to the Baroness and follows her laws and orders to the letter. The village is large and boasts 3 taverns, a general store and 2 smithies.

Mere: This tiny village is inhabited by halflings, though Humans, Elves and Dwarves abide here too. The village is also under the protection of Gulluvia, but because of its location, the Baroness has little to do with the village until time to pay its taxes. Which is every 3 months. Escaped prisoners and slaves who make their way here are given aid to enable them to travel northward to Amn. Mereians say nothing of this fearing it would increase the presence of Gulluvian soldiers. The village has 1 tavern, and a general store.

Velders: Under the protection of Gulluvia, though this does Velders little good.  The Gulluvian guards fear the Wealdath Forest to the south. There is a trading post in the centre of town. Orcs and Goblins have been known to raid outlying farms.

Misty Swamp: NO one knows exactly what lies behind the veil of ever present mist that hovers over the swamp. Some old timers say that Dwarves who make Anterian Brandy live in the swamp near their secret inf=gradient, the swamp water. Others whisper of an evil wizard living there in a massive tower of black stone. The only thing people who live near the swamp will agree on is that most magic users and Elves had best stay clear of it or they will find that their magic spells will not function properly.

Abbadon Woods: This is a desolate place inhabited by evil beings, but was once believed to be filled with unicorns, elves, faeries and other fair creatures. Many adventurers have journeyed into the woods, but have never returned.

Merefall Hills: These ugly, hills form a protective shield for the people of mere from the effects of the misty swamp. Most folks don’t venture into the hills except to hunt for healing herbs.

Thunder Mountain: Always shrouded with thunder clouds, hence its name. The Dwarven ruby and silver mines dot its slopes."

In the centre of the village was a building with a large annex. Roscoe pointed out that this was built for visitors intending to stay who were larger than a Halfling.

The tavern was called the Beautiful Onion Tavern. Entering the tavern they encountered the jovial, not at first, host.

Host: "You're Barred....Bard! Last time you were here a fight started"

Roscoe: "A misunderstanding Rudibert purely a misunderstanding".

Roscoe was putting on his finest voice as a female halfling appeared followed by a 2nd, younger female halfling.

Llewella: "Hello Roscoe, back again. Been away awhile and brought guests, paying guests with you. Shut up dear and offer these travellers whose throats must be parched and dry, a drink. First one is always free.

Rudibert: "Yes dear.....no dear......of course dear. Arwella get our guests some wine or ale or whatever they wish".

The young, pretty female halfling came closer and spoke directly at Roscoe whilst talking to them all"=.

Arwella: "We have Onion wine,  carrot wine, parsnip wine, cabbage wine, potato wine and of course ales to match. May I say the onion wine is very potent this year."

Niall: "I'll try an Onion Wine if I may, thank you."

Niall tried the wine and commented that it was very good. The group organised rooms and then went to see Toby Tosscoble the blacksmith.

They could hear the smith at work before they saw him. Metal striking metal then a pause, the process repeated a few time before they eventually walked into the smithy itself. Toby was twice as wide as Roscoe with thick arms but roughly the same height.

Toby: "Um, yer back. Been far. Busy. Whatya want?"

Roscoe: "Well we bumped into a friend of yours in Trademeet, Caravasar of old, and he asked us to find something called My ladies Heart.

Toby cooled down the horse shoe he was working and took a package off a shelf. The package was square and wrapped in a parchment.

The parchment was actually a map. It was a map of the palace. The cube that was wrapped up had 6 different designs on the faces.

Toby: "Said that was a map too. Map to where though. Although that one there looks like the trail out of the back of the valley  that leads to nowhere in particular.

THE CUBE

THE MAP

THE MAP

Roscoe: "Some bits of the parchment have been destroyed, can't make out what's there."

Toby: "Well whatya expect being in here with all this heat. I thought it was just a protective covering!"

The group headed back into the village and Dramos asked Roscoe if anyone in the village had a library of sorts. He directed Dramos to the village school. There Dramos met 'Old Mother Hubberd'. She had some school books but they mainly covered agriculture, plants and herbs nothing that would help him. Showing the aged halfling the cypher she said she had no knowledge of what it meant.

That night they partook in an evening meal and a large quantity of Onion wine.

16th:

They got up late! They all had thick heads except for Roscoe. The Onion Wine made their heads feel like a spongy onion and their breath reeked of onion.

They stocked up on food, filled the water barrel and set off. Toby pointed out the north trail out of the valley and said his goodbye's to them all.

It took 3 hours of hard climbing to get to the top of the ridge. The path then descended down into a valley running north east. They were surprised to find an overgrown road. In places the weather had stripped away the covering and they could see it was a well made and constructed road. 

Ragul-Nur: "Definitely the work of Dwarves, a good sturdy well made Dwarf road."

They could see vultures circling some way ahead on the trail down the valley. They decoded to investigate.

After an hour or so they cam round a corner and could see a figure standing next to a wagon. Braced up against the rear wheel, sat down, was another figure, they could not see any features as the figure had a hood pulled up which covered their face.. They watched as the standing figure drew a long thin blade and thrust it upward into the sitting figures neck.

Niall: "Hey, what's going on stand still!"

As he spoke Niall had knocked an arrow and was taking a bead on the hooded figure The figure stood still and raised it's arms to shoulder height stretched out to the side. Dramos moved up and uttered a spell, keeping it ready to unload if needed. Ragul-Nur moved up alongside Niall and Roscoe kept the mule calm.

Niall moved up and the figure lowered their hood.

Talila: "My name is Talila, I came across this man. As you can see he has 4 Goblin arrows in him. He asked me to save his wife and 2 children who have been taken by the Goblins."

Niall lowered his aim when he saw the figure was a female Elf. From the clothing a Wood Elf.

Introductions were made and even though he tried Ragul-Nur failed to heal the wounds of the dead human male.

The trail was easy to follow. The Goblins had taken no method to cover them or disguise them.  Niall bent down and informed the others that 1 set of footprints were large, larger than a human or Elf. But he could not identify what had made them.

Near nightfall but still light enough to see the trail of the Goblins led them to a box canyon. At the head a cliff face. They could make out a winding path that lead to a platform some 50 or 60ft above the ground. Off to the right they could make out a cave entrance. From the cave entrance a stream flowed. Niall an Talila investigated. They returned and told the group that there was an awful stench of death and decay coming from the cave mouth but that they could hear the sound of falling water, possibly from a waterfall inside the cave.

As night began to descend they formulated a plan.

PLAYER INFORMATION:

Experience after session 4.

Money left at end of session 4.