Session 42 – Captives of Fortune

Written by KoshcheiBessmertnyi

General Summary

The main party settles down for the night on the outskirts of Neverwinter Wood. Adrie, Brandon, and Aster are inside their tent, while the rest sleep under the stars on the wet grass now that the rain has ended. Balam settles into a deep slumber, but Glitterstem hears his companion Theobald muttering to incomprehensibly himself in languages the gnome cannot make out. At one point, the sorcerer rises, and walks away from the camp, toward the river. Kicking the cat slightly, Glitterstem indicates with his hands that he is following Theobald, but Balam merely turns over, and continues sleeping.
Theobald walks purposefully along the edge of the woods, while the gnome struggles to keep up with the larger man. He still cannot make out Theobald’s ramblings – some of it sounds draconic, but most of it is in languages Glitterstem has never heard before. He also does not recall Theobald ever acting this way – the sorcerer traffics with in powerful magics, and must at times secrete himself, but the gnome has never seen him acting so irrationally in public. When he attempts to ask him where he is going, Theobald either answers curtly in a strange tongue, or ignores his companion.
At one point, Glitterstem sees a large dark shape making its way toward Theobald from just inside the tree line. He attempts to envelop it in vines and thorns, but the creature easily brushes them aside, and charges Theobald. It is a huge owlbear, much larger than the ones the Company encountered on route to Xibalba. It barely misses the human with its claws, but take a large chunk out of his shoulder with its beak. Just able to keep his feet, Theobald reels back and retreats, but his retreat is covered by Glitterstem, now in the shape of a dire wolf, as well as two others he has summoned. The owlbear attempts to fight off the canine assault, not always successfully, as Theobald slings magical force from a distance. Soon, its mate comes to help out, though it is roasted on route by Theobald’s ball of fire. The mate manages to dispose of one of the summoned wolves, but the other two finish the hybrid beasts.
As soon as they have fallen, Theobald proceeds without delay, to the river. Once he has arrived, he enters the water and begins to swim across – toward the Salamander. Glitterstem is ferried across by the remaining wolf, though it vanishes halfway across the river. Finally, they arrive without incident, and climb up onto the deck by a rope ladder. Glitterstem – the slower swimmer – must search for his companion, and finally locates him in the main cabin. Theobald has dumped the contents of the ship’s treasure chest onto the floor, and is now luxuriating on the pile of coins, petting the disks, and whispering to them. In short order, Theobald falls asleep on top of the pile.
Glitterstem is unsure what has brought on this “dragon sickness”, which he has never witnessed before, but he feels that he must move fast. He sneaks back into the room with a bucket, and begins to fill it with coins. The sounds of the silver coins hitting the iron bucket wake Theobald, who opens one eye and peers at the gnome, who, having his senses about him, creates an illusory pile that obscures the bucket. He explains that he was just cleaning the deck, and retreats with roughly 100 coins. Changing himself into a giant frog, he swims down to bottom of the river, and secures the bucket there, before returning to the Salamander, and falling asleep himself.
The next day, Theobald wakes with his mind mostly cleared. After finding Glitterstem, he explains that he experienced a similar phenomenon before – when his arcane powers first became manifest, and he nearly burned down his room as a result of the uncontrollable anger he felt toward his father. He is not sure why the force within him is acting up again – perhaps it is a result of the previous night’s battle with the dire wolves, perhaps it is just the stress of the situation the party finds itself in. At any rate, his clan’s reputed ancestor – the brass dragon Shargarez, was a master of hundreds of languages, and had a great love of treasure as well. The fact that the party had abandoned the treasure on the Salamander unattended as it dealt with the bijzweijn, Enkidu’s departure, and then the vicissitudes of goblin and orcish diplomacy struck him the previous night as an extremely irresponsible act. He couldn’t sleep, and the blood of the dragon that flows in his veins apparently took over.
To avoid further problems in this vein, the duo spends most of the rest of the day and night after waking dealing with the remaining treasure. After redividing the hoard into three parts (including the two of them and Miletus, with Enkidu having left, and the orcs already having taken Humbaba’s share), they look for a suitable places to secrete the rest. Glitterstem hides his underwater, along with the 100 guilders he lifted before. Theobald secretes his share as well. Along with Glitterstem, he then buries Miletus’ his share on shore, and creates a coded map that notes its location.

* * *

Figuring it will be until the end of the day when the orcish garrison awakens from their slumber at the fortress, Miletus opts for the path of least resistance. He makes his way down Baghtru’s Staircase the same way he was carried up, hoping he can make it all the way down before any pursuit begins. Given his current state, it is slow progress, as he must frequently rest to clear his head. As insurance, he looks for nearby caves where he can take shelter and possibly hide from pursuers.
After four hours, he manages to reach the cliffs overlooking Arame Pond – a place he knows well. Miletus ponders taking the plunge, but thinks better of it – he is too high up, and in his condition, it could turn out quite badly. At this time, he hears the sound of orcish voices a short ways off. They seem to have picked the right direction, and made their way down much sooner than he expected. If he does not jump, he could descend into a nearby valley. He saw villages there on the way up that he was told belonged to orc clans that used to be unaffiliated with the Brotherhood. They seemed abandoned, but it’s not clear if they really are. With a quick eye, he finally spots a small cave where he can take cover a bit off the tiered path, and makes for it. The orcs’ dire wolf apparently fails to find his scent, and the pursuers continue down the Staircase without spotting him. Once he is sure they are gone, Miletus descends into his meditation. It has been a long, hard day, and he needs to recover his strength if he is to have a chance at survival.
When four hours have passed, his awareness returns. The orcs have not come back, so he emerges, and continues down the Staircase. Once having reached the bottom, he turns to the northwest – Glitterstem’s bird told him that his companions are camping somewhere north of the old Dire Wolf hunting encampment. Miletus proceeds along the edge of the woods, but as he approaches the encampment, he hears voices – apparently human, not orcish, along the edge of the woods. He tries to hide, but here, his luck fails him, and the humans’ dog picks up his scent. The men call out to him, and quickly surround him. Miletus chooses not to resist, figuring that he falling into their hands cannot be as bad as being recaptured by the Brotherhood. The people turn out to be from Claymore – Harpers, to all appearances. They seem to be a search party sent by Claymore’s new Harper rulers, led by Predicant Lorenz. They say that they were sent to investigate the encampment as a place of interest – this is where the beasts used in battle against the New Wyrmmoors Colony were once kept. On the way, they say they ran into an orc search party – presumably Miletus’ pursuers – and dispatched them. Miletus tells the men that he has just escaped from the Brotherhood, and is searching for their companions, but once the men learn of his identity, they say they will take him back to town to speak with the Predicant.
The way back to Claymore is long and difficult. The men offer to build a stretcher for him, but Miletus opts to walk under his own power. The path is made dangerous by the close location of the Brotherhood’s advance base a few leagues from town, so the Harpers cannot risk getting too close. Some goblin marauders seem abroad as well – the Harpers exchange some fire with them, but otherwise proceed toward their destination. Along the way, Miletus learns that the new administration has inaugurated a more aggressive policy toward the natives – one which the Besters always found too risky – hence, a colonial advance party that dares to strike so deep into territory now controlled by the Brotherhood.
Finally, by mid-morning of the next day, the party arrives at Furriers’ Gate – still damaged by fire, Miletus notes. He is taken to the Arsenal, where Predicant Lorenz is presiding in Tain Beyert’s old cabinet. Lorenz charges Miletus with conspiring, along with the rest of the Company of the Horse Pelican, to betray the colony, and aid the orcs in their violation of the Treaty by supplying them with weapons. He does not accept Miletus’ explanation – that he has escaped from the Brotherhood, and seeks only personal gain – Lorenz says that he does not find the story credible. He also says that he learned of Miletus from Alferd Bester right after his arrival, and he charges that Bester’s ineptitude and failure to keep the Company from traveling to the frontier (which Miletus does not deny) stemmed from the fact that Bester was in cahoots with the Company as well. In the end, after Miletus turns over the sticky substance taken from the bijzweijn, the Predicant tells him he will be detained, though he offers that his old lodgings above the Apothecary’s can serve as the site of his detention.
After he is taken to the shop, he sees that the building is surrounded by armed Harpers. He has a brief conversation with Balint, who is surprised to see him back, and then is visited by Lainnel Coronnim, who ministers to his wounds, and tells him that he, along with the rest of the party’s friends in town, are going to be used as hostages, and that they will become expendable if Miletus does not cooperate with the new authorities. She opines that Bester was likely tortured for information, and says that no one has seen him since the takeover. After she leaves, the Predicant returns, and says that he would like Miletus and his companions to lead a foray back to Xibalba to discover the sources of the drow’s power (he learned of them from Bester as well). He would like Miletus to draft a letter to his companions, suggesting that course of action, and indicating that he, Lainnel, Balint, Kasmyr, and Kasmyr’s daughter Nysa are all in fine health. He will have this letter delivered by Balint’s enchanted messengers.

* * *

The inhabitants of the tent, along with Balam, awake to find Glitterstem and Theobald gone. Balam vaguely recalls being kicked by the gnome as after lying down to sleep, but has no idea why the two left. Theobald especially was expected to handle negotiations with the goblins, should they turn up, as he speaks their language. Aster does as well, but he is less familiar with the Dire Wolves, and is unpracticed at diplomacy.
The tracks of the pair, imprinted into muddy ground, are easy for Balam and Adrie to follow – they lead northwest along the edge of the woods. Based on the map (that Theobald has now carried off), they are probably heading back toward the Owlbear village of Talon’s Gate – from prior conversation, the party members recall that Theobald and Glitterstem were there recently, so perhaps there were loose ends to tie up. Until they return, the thing to do is to stay put and wait for the Dire Wolves to show up, though there is no guarantee that they will. On the off chance that there is another egress nearby from which they may show up, Balam, Adrie and Brandon go off in search of a cave or other entrance to the Underdark, leaving Aster at their campsite, guarding their tent. Before departing, Adrie tries a trick she learned from Glitterstem – she summons a bird, and gives it a message for Rolf at the Triboar Trading Company in Triboar. The message warns him of an impending attack on the town by the Brotherhood.
A cave is located within a mile or two as the sun heads toward the horizon. It may lead down far below, but the back entrance seems to be blocked by debris. As the trio attempt to remove the boulders and dirt to unblock it, a scouting party of orcs shows up from the forward base. After asking Balam what they are doing there, and expressing surprise at the fact that they are heading toward the woods, and not toward Claymore, as expected, the orcs relate that there are armed bands of humans on the prowl nearby – something that has never happened before. One of them seems to have dispatched some orc messengers from the main base at Mt. Hotenow. Why the main base sent out messengers is not clear – the mountain is understaffed at the moment. At any rate, the party should beware of the humans.
Worried for Aster, the trio returns to their campsite, only to find the halfling gone. Several sets of goblin or goblin or goblinoid footprints lead toward the forest. The party follows them, and soon sees a lone figure seated on a wolf standing near the entrance to the forest. It sounds like the mounted goblin from the previous night, and by all appearances – its strange dress and hairstyle – it seems to be a shaman. Adrie’s attempts to befriend the wolf end in failure – it seems like the creature is capable of some sort of speech. The parlay with the goblin, who seems like he’s fond of the harangue, is difficult, as no one in the party speaks his language. He makes a shaking gesture, apparently asking for the promised rattle. He also indicates that he is interested in metal daggers as tribute, and succeeds in soliciting a dagger from everyone. Adrie’s and Brandon’s attempts to snatch the daggers back leads to derision from the goblin, which actually hurts despite the absence of a shared tongue. Resigned to their fate, the three allow the mounted goblin to convoy them into the forest.
Once inside, nearly a dozen goblins appear from behind trees, including two large hairy ones. They conduct the party two or three leagues through the woods, until they reach the Toothymaw village at the confluence of two rivers. Along the way, they seem to treat the mounted goblin with a measure of disrespect.
The village is made up of fairly well-built wooden longhouses, Balam notes, and appears to house two to three hundred goblins. The party is led to the central longhouse, where D’kuger, the hobgoblin chieftain of the Dire Wolves, receives them. D’kuger addresses the group in an archaic form of elvish. He asks where the promised shamanic accoutrements belonging to Nugast are, and after being informed that they are with Glitterstem, who is running another errand, he settles for the tribute of daggers that has already been given. He asks why the party has come, and after being told that they come to trade, he indicates that he is really only interested in metal weapons and armor, that will allow the Dire Wolves, who in his telling are surrounded by enemies, to defend themselves. After Adrie pledges 12 suits of mail, D’kuger reveals that Aster is at a nearby (though unspecified) location, where he is conversing with the tribal elders. Then he calls for a banquet, and the entire village gravitates into the longhouse for the festivities.
At the banquet, he promises to pay for the armor with items of equal value. The tribe does not appear particularly wealthy, to Balam, but the chief does display some items that seem to originate from Mictlan, as well as from the colonies. Adrie expresses interest in medicinal herbs, and D’kuger shows off Nugast’s collection, but says that the party would be better off using such things under the guidance of a real shaman. He also reveals that a new shaman is in fact on the way – from Xibalba. In response to questions about his relationship with the ingoeth, he says that of course, his people do not trust them, but given the pressure by the Brotherhood and the colonists, they have no choice but to turn to them for protection. Nugast, the old shaman, trafficked with them, and brought the iron-eating beasts from the Underdark. In the end, it led to the slaughter of the goblins at the hunting encampment, but still, D’kuger would rather have ingoeth advisors close, where he can keep an eye on them.
The chief insists that the visitors stay through the end of the banquet, and then rest with the Dire Wolves during the day. He returns them the tent that was taken from Aster, but says that the halfling would be free to go as soon as he has the promised armors.

Report Date

31 Mar 2018