Session 4

Date: 10/5/2014

Attending: Jake, Justin, Joey, Chris, Aaron

Absent: Dave – grades due Monday and was behind (see special note below)

Start Time: 7:05 p.m.

End Time: 10:00 p.m.

XP awarded: 305 – 330; bring each up to 600 – leveled up at end of session reverts XP to zero

Game time elapsed: 10 days

Enemies Defeated: 3 goat men (50 xp each) in combat; untold number in story (see Notes)

Notes:

Master Shake having gotten away scot free, the party re-groups back at base camp. Thomas volunteers the group for forward scouting duty to put distance between them and Captain Narl among others. Fyn gets ill and spends the duration of this time away from the group.

While scouting they meet a gentleman named Valen dressed in an odd assortment of clothes and travelling with a walking stick. Thomas identified the poncho he wears as being a peasant style in the Kingdom of the Isles of Mist, but the wide brimmed hat as being from another region entirely. Valen chats pleasantly with the group, warns them about goatmen mercenaries up ahead, and demonstrates the magic abilities of his staff (Northern Wanderer’s Staff). He seems unconcerned with both the soldiers and the dragon and merrily continues on his way.

The group reports in, and Bajol purchases a short sword from Green stag member Colm. Striking up a conversation with the stoic Greymoorian (whose name proves to be Bruce), Bajol realizes that Bruce is quite skilled with weapons. Bajol arranges with Thomas to have Bruce and a spellcaster Kellen transferred into Black Badger. Bruce and Kellen begin instructing the party in the ways of combat and sorcery.

On their next foray into scouting they find a wooden cabin on top of a hill, manned by 3 goatmen mercs. The party slays them, and discovered that this is Meditation Shack #3 built by Abaer. There were notes and journals stored in the cabin, but the goatmen had burned them to start the fire, much to Grigor’s dismay. They interrogate and release the surviving goatman, who informs them that there are 600 goatmen mercenaries moving through the hills to join with a merc band at the base of the Dark Necromancer’s Tower.

Heading back Thomas finds a way to report directly to Karl. Karl lets the group know that he had secretly arranged for a column of 1,000 troops to reinforce them by marching through the Dragon Wastes. He sends a runner to have a portion of these troops rush to support for an attack on the goatmen.

Fyn is approached by Karl and sent to the column with orders to give to Trevor, the mage leading the troops. Fyn rides through the hills and crosses the mountains, abandoning his horse along the way, and successfully reports to Trevor. Trevor, impressed, is quite cordial with Fyn. Fyn takes the opportunity to ask Trevor about his father and the Marquis Daedalus. Trevor identifies the elder Sosyl as a “hatchet man for the crown”. As for the Marquis, he tells Fyn that the Marquis is rarely seen at court, is a political and magical power broker, and has been active for generations. He also tells Fyn that his opinion is that the Marquis is not human. (Note that this took place in a short session before Session 5 on 10/12/14 at which point Fyn was awarded xp to put him on par with the group and allow him to level up.)

Meanwhile Karl’s troops travel for days through the hills. The relief troop of 180 (the rest still marching) arrives with Trevor (and Fyn) just as they (Karl’s troops) catch the Goatmen in two adjacent valleys. Black Quad and Green Quad (and thus the party) are sent into one valley and the rest into another (including Fyn). The party’s troops head into the valley to do battle, when a huge storm cloud boils up as if from nowhere, (Bajol sees a large figure riding it – later identified by Trevor as the Dark Necromancer) and the valley fills with dense fog that limits visibility to 5 feet. The battle occurs in the fog, and Black Badger circles up on Thomas’ orders and stays still – slaying any goatmen who approach. Thomas leads a few forays into the fog, first returning with a wound Justarius, then reporting Colin dead, then not returning at all. Kellen breaks away and flees into the fog. Bruce is wounded. Suddenly a horn sounds – Karl’s group have won the day in the other valley and entered this one. The fog is lifted (dispelled by Trevor) and the party realizes (along with all of the other valley’s troops) that only Black Badger is standing on the whole field of battle. They are immediately treated as heroes by all.

Sifting through the dead they find Colin’s body and Thomas still alive but his arm shattered. The party amputates the arm and gets him to a healer. Narl is also found, trapped under bodies and wounded, and a debate occurs on whether or not to quietly kill him. The party decides to let him live and takes him to a medic. After much searching and asking no sign of Kellen is ever found. Session Ends, but party levels up to level 1 – trading in XP per instructions.