Session 2: The Adventure Begins... Part 2 Report

General Summary

The party spent some time blowing off some steam by way of mid-day drink and merry-making in the Singing Sorcerer, and met a new ally, Deidelhair Teine, before proceeding East.
Into the noon sun the party trekked, searching for the shipment of Dwight's Ember Ale. The Forest grew thickly along both sides of the well-worn West Road. Troubling was that the shipment never arrived, but more troubling was the thought of who (or what) had waylaid those shepherding the goods to Thornvine. The search efforts of the party were soon rewarded for after only a few short hours of searching, Glim sighted an overturned cart and massive long on the northern side of the way near an unusual and rocky hill. While the entirety of the formation could not be seen through the trees, the remains of a campfire were obvious, as were a pair of tents, pitched against the interior of some the hill's boulders.
Assuming a conflict was likely, Harrigan and Aerendel broke off and sought cover within the heavy treeline, moving around the outcropping and away from the party. Krindle twitched a bit and loaded his crossbow, fight backwards with the bolt facing the trigger, but quickly recognizing his error and righted the seating. Father Brenan strode forward in confidence, though unsure of what lay behind the hill. Ashton loosed his trusty halberd from its shoulder sling in a fluid motion, and spun it a few times in anticipation, setting his grip. At that moment, a hooded man with a crossbow, loaded but pointed at his feet, stepped out from behind the edge of the waylaid cart. "Can I help you all?" the man asked quickly, speaking with a decidedly Shonturian accent.
"Ah, I see we've found you!" said Father Brenan warmly, offering his hands in an open gesture. "Dwight has sent us to help retrieve the shipment." The man's eyes flitted quickly to the largest of the party who had drawn his massive greatsword. Ruperts thick shoulders shuddered under his armor in eager anticipation. Landrey quickly stroked his mustache with the rear of his hand, first to the left, and then to the right, straightening a number of sweaty strays in the process.  
"Thank you for the offer, but y'all are gonna need to move along. No help needed here." The man took a cautious step backwards. Harrigan and Aerendel pressed further towards the hill, noting that it was not nearly as rocky as they had initially thought. It seemed as if narrow, but navigable, paths were spaced into the sides of the rock face, as if to encourage people to climb it. Nevertheless, the brash rogue failed to realize he stepped on a large dry limb which broke with a sudden audible "crack."
Glim stepped forward, "Listen," he said directly, "you are either the rightful owner of these goods are not. Are you willing to accept our --- Father Brenan interrupted the gnome, "Come let us help you, clearly this cart is in need of repair. We can assist you."
The man smirked. "Y'know, for a bunch of weak-willed women, you run your mouths kinda reckless dontcha?" The man half-tumbled, half-run back toward the hill, and took a position against some crates and barrels that had presumably offloaded from the cart. As most of the party took cover against the cart, Ashton ran and hugged the edge of the hill itself. Landrey and Krindle each peaked out from behind the cart and fired at the man, Landrey with his crossbow, and Krindle with his fire bolt spell. The tongue of flame made contact with the mans soldier and a puff of smoke went up along with a grunt. He lowered himself into his covered position, but returned fire, burying a bolt into the wood of the cart's underside.
Ashton, with his back to the stone looked to Father Brenan for a signal. Brenan caught his eye, but looked back at the crossbowman. Turning to Rupert, Brenan quickly cast a spell and a renewing vigor flowed into the big fighter. A look of frustration crossed Ashton's face. And closing his eyes briefly he prayed, only loudly enough so that he could hear, "Father of Justice, grant my revenge." The paladin then ran out into the opening in pursuit of their enemy. As he cleared the near edge of the hill, he was not ready for what met him. More than a dozen men, crossbows at the ready, stood in the center of an earthen depression and along the ridge of the hill. About half of them immediately fired at him. A pair of the bolts bit into his flesh, one missing the armor on his arm, and another piercing through a thinner piece of leather near his hip. Ashton retreated behind the edge of the hill. Father Brenan immediately called on the power of Shinhalla to staunch the wounds which were already bleeding profusely. Ashton nodded in silent gratitude at the older man. The paladin acknowledged this was not the first time that the codger had kept him in the thick of the fight.  
Glim stepped out from behind the cart and a magical blue glow enveloped him in an instant. Raising his shield, he carefully crept forward into view of the crossbow-wielding bandits, daring them to attack him. Landrey ran out from behind the cart to the far side of the opening, suffering another volley of bolts, but managing to seek some protection behind the other side of crates that also protected the leader of the band. Krindle loosed a magic missile which found purchase on the leader's chest, unobstructed by the crates and barrels. At this moment, Harrigan steeled himself and quietly (he thought) crept up the backside of the hill. As he cleared the rim, four crossbow bolts came straight at him, two of them piercing through his leather armor. As did Ashton, he quickly returned to cover out of line of sight. Aerendel would not be so weak-willed in her approach to this fight. Uttering a quiet word, she disappeared and reappeared at the top of the hill, next to one of the bandits. In a measured stroke, she sunk her blade in the belly of the nearest man, spraying yellow-tinged liquid on her breeches in the process. She pressed forward, engaging another two of the men who looked somewhat shaken at her inexplicable appearance and efficient dispatch of their companion.
    As the party pressed into the cove of the hill, the bandits fired again, and then took up their blades. Some of the bandits were unable to fire at Glim, and the others missed entirely. A number took position on the near ridge and reloaded, preparing to fire again, directly down into the melee. Once Rupert moved into the mouth of the opening, and Ashton joined him, the battle turned decidedly. With a long two-handed swing, the greatsword separated a bandit's head from his shoulders. Gore spattered the rock face. The blade of the halberd ended another instantly, and Ashton used the momentum to swing into another, knocking a second to his knees. Landery, mustache twitching, capitalized on the moment, cutting a swath across the kneeling man's throat. Krindle killed another with his trusted fire missile. At the rear of the hill, Harrigan wheeled around to the north and found a line of sight to the back of one of the men with which Aerendel fought. Harrigan found the man's kidney with a well-placed arrow, and Aerendel stood against only one foe. With a loud keen that seemed to come from her soul itself, the elf opened the bandit from nipples to navel, his entrails sliding forth as the body fell and then rolled off the back of the hill toward Harrigan.  
The battle was soon over, but not before the remaining bandits all trained their shots upon the gnome wizard, impaling him and sending him to the dirt, his lifeblood pooling into a vermilion puddle. The bandit leader tumbled off behind the hill, along with a few of his men, but all but one were prevented in their exits by a combination of missiles, magic, and crushing blows.  
Upon examination, the party discovered that this band had been a detachment of soldiers heading for Norbel to join the invading forces of Shon-Tur. Under the leadership of one Cooper Balington, now slain, the group defected after they arrived in Norbel shortly after the Crepitus Magnum. With no chain of command to provide structure, they returned west looking for resources and a way to return to the Silent Marches. They had waylaid the merchant, a man who the party had found, bound and gagged, during the combat.  
Father Brenan was the first to assist the short man, who was struggling mightily against his tethers. He immediately began swearing at the group in a brash Lionsmanian accent. As Harrigan began assessing the crates and goods the bandits had removed from the wagon, the man grew more incensed. He spouted warnings and threats. "Release me now, ya feckin' idiots! Do you know who I am?!?" He motioned toward his pocket with his head in a jerking fashion. Father Brenan removed a sheaf of fine parchment from the mans breeches. The parchment was a combination of a letter of introduction and a merchant contract authorizing the holder, one Fessle Ballishier, to trade under the authority and protection of the Merchants' Alliance, also known as the Red Traders. Earendel and Harrigan were not impressed, but Glim looked up, aghast. He had been tending to the wounds of his fallen gnome comrade. His thoughts drifted to memories for a moment but returned to his healing work.  
"Tell me why we don't gut him as well. There's already evidence of a robbery," offered the impish rogue with a smirk, half-kidding.
"Don't you know who I am?!" shouted Earendel to the merchant who was receiving very cautious assistance from Father Brenan. "You are hardly in a position to threaten us!"
Ashton was stoic and silent, but Rupert drew his greatsword again and took a step toward Fessle. "Want me to put him down, Harry?" the fighter inquired.
Father Brenan scanned his companions, quickly, attempting to assess the best way to calm the situation. "This man may be a bit of a churl, but he he has likely had a bad few evenings, and we can hardly have the weight of the Merchants' Alliance as our enemy." The older man had not experienced the power of the Merchants' Alliance directly, but their reputation was known to all in Shadowspeak. Harrigan nodded in silent agreement, but Earendel seemed unfazed.
Fessle finally wriggled free and seemed to calm a little as made his way back to the alcove where he had been laying. He retrieved a key from the body of, what appeared to be, his former companion. "You weren't even the one in charge!" accused Earendel, still fuming.
"I assure the lot of youse, I was and am the fuckin' one in charge," the merchant said coolly, not even turning around. He now walked to the cart to assess the damage to the wheels and axle. "Help me get this fuckin' cart to Thornvine, and youse will be properly paid." While the group failed to reach consensus, the party ultimately decided to assist the merchant, and led the cart back into town, Rupert pulling the cart in place of a draft horse.
Back in town, the party delivered the cart, Rupert slightly worse for wear. Fessle promised payment in a few days' time after receiving on the shipment from the University. The group took their leave of the diminutive loudmouth and headed back for the farmers who had previously requested assistance through Old Man Whitley. The first stop was the Stetson farm.
        The Stetson sisters, Bellinda and Bertha, were very grateful to see the party approach, having already heard of their strength in combat from their fellow oat farmer. The larger and more masculine of the two, Bertha, had a fresh wound on her led that was bleeding through a linen bandage. Ashton strode forward and laid his hands upon her leg, calling forth for the healing power of Remantil. The wide-shouldered woman blushed slightly and offered a wordless courtsey to the paladin in response. After a brief, but tense, exchange about payment, most of the group headed north into the field, with Landrey staying behind to attempt "comfort" the sisters. As they entered the dense oats, only Ashton and Earendel spied the source of the disruption: additional blight spirits. Without hesistation, two of the plant-creatures loosed deadly spines at them, severely injuring the elf. The paladin attempted to brush off the pain, but the damage was real enough. The party was able to fell the blights quickly, but not before two more appeared and additional spines were loosed.
Back at the Stetsons' hut, Landrey requested something to drink as he eyed Ballinda lasciviously. It had been a long time since he lay with a woman of any beauty. Landrey stood in their small home, already imagining taking off his small clothes while the unattractive sister watched. He didn't care. Suddenly, he was shaken free of his waking slumber. "Was there something else I could get you? Here is your herbal tea." The blond woman stared at him expectantly. She even motioned for Bertha to leave. Landrey's mustache twitched in lecherous anticipation. Hesearched his memory for something witty to say... A double-entendre... A straight-forward pass... A crass joke... but nothing came to mind. He stood there for at least a minute, saying nothing, furious at himself for his inability to access his charm. A minute passed. Another. Ballinda continued to look him over as if waiting for the blond half-elf to DO something. Before he knew it, someone was knocking on the door. His companions had returned victorious. "Well," Ballinda said, her face falling, "it was nice meeting you anyways." She left the thatch-roofed hut to speak with the rest of the party.
Wasting no time, the party headed to the Feola farm, where they made short work of a pair of small twig blights that were harassing the child-run farm. The most challenging part of the experience was when Krinle, who had become overly-focused on a caterpillar crawling by, that he loosed his flame bolt into the exposed wooden rafters of the farmhouse. While the fire did not burn for long, the Feola children nearly lost the dilapidated and damaged farmhouse they called their home.
      The final farm needing assistance was the Eastman Cousins farmstead. Easily the most impressive of the farms, paired teams of laborers worked gathering oats while the trio of cousins, the apparent owners, lazed on the second-floor balcony. They would not grant entry to the group, but did point them toward the well around the side of the estate house as the source of the disturbance. Despite multiple, much larger, blights emerging from the well, the companions utilized their strength at range, and felled the beasts without breaking a sweat. They collected their fee, a pouch of gold dropped from the balcony, and returned to the Singing Sorcerer Inn in Thornvine proper.
The party sat and drank and rested as the faithful barman, Dwight Tuttlemen, brought them there preferred favorites. Earendel sat along, quite miffed at the way the Stetsons' had behaved, and Harrigan and Glim debated the fate of the Shon-Turians who had taken control of the winery. The party rested, briefly, in preparation for their late dinner at the University that was to be held this very evening. It had been an interesting journey thus far, but it was only just beginning...

Missions/Quests Completed

The Party completed the quest from Dwight Tuttlemen, Barkeep of the Singing Sorcerer, to return the various shipments of drink to his stores.   The Party completed the quest to eliminate the various Blights that were harassing the oat farmers of Thornvine: Old Man Whitley, Bellina and Bertha Stetson, the Feola children, and the Eastman Cousins.