Session 13 – The Company of the Horse-Pelican

Written by KoshcheiBessmertnyi

General Summary

Upon returning to Claymore, Glitterstem and Enkidu are contacted by Bester, and their comrades. After recounting the information gleaned from their expedition, Bester places the colony on alert, and begins to prepare for the inevitable conflict. Since New Wyrmmoors is militarily unprepared, and since the Brotherhood of Baghtru appears to carry out only isolated attacks on far-lying farmsteads, he declares a moratorium on all contact with natives beyond the frontier for fear of provoking war prematurely, and giving the enemy access to Ulthos technology. Theobald objects, opining that it would be useful to continue contacts with the goblins, but Bester nixes these objections by pointing out that the Brotherhood has now likely seized the goblins’ secret weapons, and shows every indication of doing so in the future. He adds that the goblins are also likely to blame the colony (and the party specifically) for the butchery of their people, even if the shaman Nugast remains alive. Theobald acquiesces, and abides by the ban, but encourages the Claymore authorities to prepare for war on the orcs’ terms, by manufacturing metal-less weapons, and training defenders in their use. He recruits Enkidu to act as a consultant in this matter, and some manufacture and training does take place, but on the whole, Elst and his people are not impressed by the tactic of going native, and cite their prior record of success against the natives in favor of going about the war preparations the old-fashioned way. Bester orders Claymore’s troops, and any volunteers, to help with the effort of resettling homesteaders to keep them out of harm’s way, and building fortifications (a project in which Enkidu’s brothers from the Order of Telperion take part), and he then returns to Neverwinter to recruit an army from Ulthos.
Meanwhile, in Claymore, the transition of Amando’s apothecary’s shop to new ownership is finalized. Theobald succeeds in having Vess reduce the interest rate from 5% to 4.75%, and Amando’s 15 year, 7,000 guilder loan now belongs to a group of five investors, including Glitterstem, Theobald, Enkidu, Miletus and Balint Vosberg. In addition to the 76 guilder monthly repayment for the next eight years, the group is also liable for the 30 guilder monthly rent, as the building itself belongs to the Zhentar Trading Company. As per earlier agreement, the Order of Telperion grants Enkidu 200 guilders start-up capital for a regional base. The store is also to be enlarged by having an addition built above the upstairs bedroom, as well as into the basement, and it is to be used as a domicile for all the partners except Balint, who waives any right to the use the premises as a domicile in exchange for a verbal promise from Glitterstem to accompany him on an expedition to study the horse-pelican in the spring, despite the fact that the pond it frequents lies beyond the frontier (and would therefore technically be a violation of Bester’s orders). After some debate, the group amends Balint’s initial suggestion, and the new company is named Horse-Pelican Remedies. Over the next three months (plus the lucrative intercalary period just before the New Year), the company generates a 50 guilder profit for its investors. Lainel Coronnim, the elven priestess, brings a housewarming gift for the reopening of the store, and is a frequent visitor, spending time with Theobald and teaching him elvish.
The intervening period witnesses various activities on the part of the investors. The plan to search for Amando in Shining is rejected on account of his likely awareness of having left behind an unfinished letter stipulating he is going there, and a certain unwillingness to deal with more Harpers. Balint continues his research into the horse-pelican, but he also undertakes a mission spying on the Brotherhood in animal form in exchange for the rest of the partners accompanying him to seek out the horse-pelican at the height of spring. He finds that the Brotherhood numbers roughly 100, but is receiving missions from other Black Flame clans. He also finds human prisoners, presumably the farmers seized in the winter, as well as rust monster young – rustlings – who have grown. Miletus, having signed all the documents, leaves, most likely for Neverwinter, where he has unfinished business at the Temple of Corellon, where he was initially recruited by the Firehands. Theobald moves into Amando’s old room, and aside from the day-to-day running of the store, undertakes a study of herbalism and potion making. He also spends a significant amount of time at a farmstead outside of town where Enkidu and his fellow Rangers are setting up a fort to be used for defense and forward operations, where he initiates a study of the orcish language with Enkidu. The half-orc splits time between the fort and the store. He initially attempts to seize lumber used in construction of the fortifications for the store enlargement project, and, when he is rebuffed by workers clearly more fearful of the Company than of him, he finds another way to procure it. When in town, he rarely spends his nights at the store. Likewise, Glitterstem oversees the day-to-day operations at the shop, but also spends time outside town in Enkidu’s company, exploring the terrain, and familiarizing himself with Gethenian flora and fauna, exploring the locale for a possible future resettlement of his people from Livewood. Toward the end of this period, the rest of the Rangers pack up and leave, indicating that, though they wish Enkidu to remain behind, they are forced by the changing political climate to withdraw. War is breaking out between pro- and anti-Elrkönig forces back in Ulthos, and there are rumors that Avandra – the elvish colony in the south of the Sword Coast, may be supplying the Brotherhood with metal.
At the end of the first week of Grazing, company members (minus Miletus, who has not yet returned) secretly set out in search of the horse-pelican. Shortly after leaving town, they espy a large shape flying overhead. Balint asserts it is their quarry. Travelling through the night and briefly encountering a few more of the mosquito-birds fought the night Amando fled in the woods, the group arrives at Arame bond on the border between Neverwinter Wood and the Crag foothills. The pond is fed by a waterfall, and Theobald believes he saw this pond in his vision back at the goblin encampment. A majestic horse-pelican again flies over them, and lands on the water. An arrow launched from near the waterfall falls in the water, near the magical beast…

Report Date

08 Aug 2018