Session 7 – The Brotherhood of Baghtru

General Summary

The party proceeds to the edge of the woods and beyond, discussing a plan of action after their return to town, and wondering about the connection between the goblins and the crow, which appears to be a free agent, perhaps connected to (or being) a spell-caster in Claymore. A strong wind begins to blow across the snow-covered landscape. Off in the distance, a running figure approaches them from the direction of the woods, and hails them. It is Dradauf the hobgoblin, who looks to be unarmed. He approaches Enkidu, and utters something about Nugast (in goblin) as he presents the ranger with a wrapped bundle. Inside are four mushrooms – three red-capped, one grey. Glitterstem believes he has seen these mushrooms before in the Old World – the red ones possess curative powers, while the grey one increases climbing prowess. As a discussion ensues over the accuracy of his fungal knowledge, five burly humanoids charge out from behind a clump of trees, and in no time, set upon the party with spears and clubs. Enkidu identifies them as orcs, and they seem to have some special animus toward him. Dradauf produces a stone hand-axe from his vestments, and joins the fray – on the side of the party!
Though Enkidu and Theobald sustain minor wounds, the battle ends fairly quickly. Enkidu, Miletus, and Dradauf dispatch their foes with frightening effectiveness, Theobald manages to put one to sleep, and Glitterstem supports the effort while keeping attention away from himself. Dradauf scalps the vanquished orcs, while the attempt to awaken the sleeper in order to take him prisoner nearly ends in his death – he shows little concern for his life, and refuses to surrender. Glitterstem barely manages to keep him from bleeding to death. With hand gestures, Dradauf indicates that it would be a good idea to burn the bodies, and bids farewell to the group. As the wind dies down, the party builds a fire, while Enkidu tracks the orcs, to see where they came from, and what their motive for attacking might be. He quickly discovers that they appear to have been running along the edge of the woods for a while, and have probably come from a ways away. All were travelling light, not carrying food or tradable items of any kind. All the orcs display broken bone tattoos, and appear to have tribal tattoos cut or burned away. This suggests that they belong to the Brotherhood of Baghtru – an independent order of warriors and marauders that has a fortress atop of Mount Hotenow. As the bodies burn, the party attempts to manufacture a sled to drag the surviving orc back to town, but without much success. Four goblins, led by Brood, emerge from the woods, telling the party that Dradauf had been hunting in the forest, overheard cries, and alerted the rest of his band. They help the party burn the bodies (saying they don’t want to be seen as in any way connected with the massacre), and to manufacture a sturdy sled for the remaining orc. When asked about the crow and who their contact in town is, Brood indicates that the party members already know the answer to that question. The party then proceeds to Claymore with no further incidents.
As the first order of business, the party delivers the captive to the arsenal, where Beyert is presiding. The orc is too heavy to drag up into the tower, and he is placed in Beyert’s office and shackled. Beyert is concerned about the orc attack, though he wonders whether any useful information might be forthcoming through the use of torture. He states that the order of Baghtru is not involved in raiding human lands, and is not a major political player or party to the Goblin War. He does not know what force, if any, stands behind them, and is concerned about a possible outbreak of hostilities with the goblins and about what that might mean for the town’s livelihood, although he believes that as things stand, the real decision-maker in the town won’t let warmongers carry out an attack. When Theobald inquires as to whom the real decision-maker is, Beyert unexpectedly states that it is Meerlinda, and the party proceeds to visit him next.
Unlike their previous visits, they are ushered into Meerlinda’s office immediately. Meerlinda listens to Theobald’s tale attentively. Like Beyert, he treats the orcish attack seriously, and is interested in keeping a close eye on the captive to prevent a repeat of the fiasco with Mim. He also doesn’t know of any specific entity that may be in cahoots with them, and he confirms that messengers have in fact been sent to Neverwinter to investigate the Firehands group, but have not yet returned. He is open to Theobald’s idea about a sorcerous presence in town, though he offers no direct indication of who it might be, saying that he has every confidence the party can easily discover that for themselves. He also wants no moves against the goblins, though he is clearly uninterested in renegotiating the treaty or supplying them with large amounts of nails, or weapons, as this would be easy to discover by the town’s enemies. The meeting ends with Meerlinda expressing a clear interest in a further use of the party’s services, and inquires as to their lodgings, so that he can contact them soon. The party proceeds to purchase victuals at the Coster, and then retires to Glitterstem’s loft to rest up and heal.

Report Date

01 May 2015