Adventure #12 - In the Name of the Law

General Summary

Adventure #12 - In the Name of the Law 5/10/24
Players: Karl: Erberk Torunn Seth: Gimp Chris: Dimple Nackle
Synopsis: Erberk, Dimple, and Gimp all sit together at the bar in The Elderflower, discussing some business. Dimple is running a sale at his shop "A Gnome's Solution", selling potions of Cure Light Wounds for 40gp, and Erberk haggles to get an even better price. The two go back and forth for a time, and eventually settle on 115gp for 4 bottles, and in return Erberk will hone Dimple's leatherworking tools for free two times. While they do their business, the Elderflower gradually becomes more busy, much to Pappy's delight; his 2-for-1 special is really taking off, and in no time the tavern is packed shoulder to shoulder with patrons double fisting tankards. Even Ernie on stage is enjoying the festivities, holding 3 tandkards in each hand and leading patrons in sloppy shanties. Meanwhile, Bobblin once again promotes his Mystery Meal by cramming a spoonful of it into Erberk's mouth against his will, which energizes Erberk in a curious way.
As Dimple reaches into his pocket, he notices that the 115gp he just received suddenly isn't there anymore. He then begins to check the ground to see if he dropped the coin purse, and then alerts the party that his money is missing. They scan the crowd of patrons in hopes of finding a pickpocket, and after a through search they find a cloaked figure actively pulling gold pieces and jewelry from the pocket of an unsuspecting patron, and stowing it in their own cloak. Dimple jumps into the air and nimbly leaps from one patron's shoulder to the other like stepping stones towards the pickpocket, and Gimp uses his pure strength to push through the crowd to do the same. Erberk, however, takes a more creative approach; with a vague sense of where the pickpocket is, Erberk reaches over the bar, grabs Bobblin by the collar, and throws him headlong over the crowds in hopes of hitting the thief with the projectile goblin. Instead of hitting the thief, Bobblin crashes into the center of a tavern long table and smashes it in half, sending half of the food and drink flying in all directions and the other half cascading inwardly all over Bobblin. Needless to say, the commotion catches the attention of all nearby patrons, including the thief, who takes notice that Gimp and Dimple are in pursuit, and books it towards the nearest exit. Dimple climbs up on Gimp's shoulders as Gimp plows his way through the crowd, and Erberk gestures to Lionel Brownfoot across the tavern to block the door, which is misconstrued as flirting. Shortly, "Dimple on Gimp" apprehend the thief; Gimp holds the thief in a headlock, while Dimple dumps an entire bottle of Drow Poison down his throat, knocking the pickpocket unconscious. Gimp pulls back the hood and reveals that the thief appears to be an adolescent, and Erberk and Lionel join them. After some discussion, they decide to bring the thief to the Town Guard barracks, lock him up in a jail cell, and let him sleep off the poison and interrogate him in the morning.
The next morning, Pappy sends a summons that the thief has woken up and is ready for questioning, and the party arrives simultaneously at the barracks. Once inside, the party sees the young teen sitting awake in the corner of the room hugging his knees and glaring at the party. The party makes an initial attempt to question the teen, but receives only silent glares in response. Erberk then begins to talk in length about various types of corporal punishment in front of the teen, including finding a large stick and spanking him with it, and the teen spits at Erberk's feet. Erberk makes a motion as if to attack the boy for his insolence, and Pappy holds him back and pulls him outside to go looking for a big stick as a distraction. Meanwhile, Dimple takes the opportunity to go to the front desk and claim his missing items from the clerk after all the stolen goods have been processed. At the same time, Gimp tries to give the boy a chance to open up, and makes him an unusual offer; he opens the jail cell door, and offers that if the teen can get past him, the teen can go free. The teen agrees, and then with supernatural agility, the teen feints and spin-moves around Gimp, who falls for hard for the trick and topples over on the ground as the teen runs out the door.
Meanwhile, Pappy and Erberk walk together, Erberk holding a suitable large stick he found in the woods, and they hear the door of the town guard barracks slam open. Looking over, they see the teen running at full speed across the plains, and they give chase; Erberk huffs in his full-plate armor as fast as his dwarven legs can carry him, and Pappy sprints like a gazelle, reaching the teen in the distance and tackling him to the ground. Erberk catches up to find Pappy grappling the teen, and Erberk immediately starts walloping the teen in the butt repeatedly with his newly acquired spanking stick. Dimple and Gimp arrive at the scene, and halts Erberk's relentless spanks. Gimp receives the teen, and offers him freedom once again, and the teen kicks Gimp brutally in the groin, causing him to keel over. As the boy attempts to run, Dimple readies a bomb in his hand, and Erberk tackles the boy, once again holding him in a grapple. As Gimp recovers, he demands that Erberk stand down and tries to pull the teen from his grapple. Both Gimp and Erberk fight over the grappled teen, Erberk demanding that this boy get the justice he deserves and that the town guard is failing to do their job, and Gimp, as co-Captain of the town guard, orders Erberk to stand down, to cease meddling with town guard affairs, and to hand over the boy. Erberk refuses, and in response Gimp punches Erberk brutally in the face, knocking out one of Erberk's teeth. As Erberk reels from the blow, the teen gets up and runs to hide behind Gimp. Erberk rises with a fury, chugs two full health potions, and wields his warhammer and shield, ready to fight Gimp. Pappy holds up his hands and calls for peace, but Erberk feels too angry and affronted that the co-captain of the town guard not only set a criminal free multiple times, but also had the audacity to punch a paladin of Torag in the face, and demands for justice. Seeing that words are getting nowhere, Pappy pulls out a rope, ties it on himself and the teen, and then guides the teen back to the jail, and this time the teen willingly follows. Alone in a field with only Dimple looking on, Erberk and Gimp spit venomous words at each other, and eventually Erberk sheathes his weapons, declares that he is going to file a complaint with Helga, the other co-Captain of the town guard, and storms off.
The next morning, Pappy approaches both Erberk and Gimp separately for a cup of elderberry tea and a chat. Pappy explains that he feels the ordeal that transpired between Gimp and Erberk was Pappy’s own fault for focusing all his attention on the work of setting up a town, but not doing the work of setting up a system of rules and laws to abide by. Pappy believes both Gimp and Erberk’s hearts were in the right place, but with no laws or boundaries to define consequences for crimes and who should enforce them, the situation quickly unfolded into a dispute about personal interpretations of what the law should be. Wanting to correct this, Pappy asks both to join him in a council with others to help create rules and laws for the town to abide by, along with clearly defined consequences for breaking them. Erberk is willing to let things go and move forward with defining laws, as long as Gimp pays the 10 gp cost to have Dimple replace the tooth that Gimp knocked out of Erberk in the fight, which Gimp agrees to. Then, seeking to make the best of the scenario, Erberk returns to his forge and expertly crafts a mithril replacement tooth for himself, one that has a small refillable compartment inside capable of storing/releasing a tiny dose of any potion that can take effect for a single round of combat. After completion, Erberk brings the replacement tooth to Dimple to surgically implant, and Dimple offers him choices for anesthesia; Drow Poison for 75gp (which renders the consumer unconscious), Pappy's Moonshine for 0gp (which if consumed in excess can also technically render you unconscious) , or nothing at all. Flabbergasted by the added cost of the surgery and insistent for the best and most expensive option, Erberk loses his temper, and demands that Gimp pay the extra 75gp, claiming that it should have been included in the total cost of the surgery, and that he will not under any circumstances settle for anything less, in the name of justice. At first, Gimp flatly refuses, in which Erberk responds with wild threats of taking Gimp to court (which doesn't exist in Aberystwyth yet) and threatens to call upon the inquisition of his fellow paladins of Torag against Gimp until justice is served. Pappy has a private word with Gimp, and eventually Gimp agrees to provide him with Drow Poison for his surgery, as long as Erberk is punished for assaulting the teen with a stick. With the Drow Poison provided, Dimple performs the oral surgery flawlessly in his shop "A Gnome's Solution", and Erberk awakens with his mithril tooth in place.
Later that day, Pappy approaches Erberk with a list of consequences for the actions of all that had taken place. Pappy explains that it's important to show the town that no one is above the law, and that everyone should be held accountable for their actions, including themselves. The proposed list of actions and punishments are as follows:
1. For knocking out Erberk’s tooth, Gimp has paid 85gp for replacement surgery, at Erberk’s request.
2. For the theft of over 100gp and running from the law, the teen is sentenced to one year of indentured servitude. Since no parent or guardian is present, Gimp has stepped forward to take responsibility for the boy, to see that his work is done, and to be held accountable for his actions. This is a special circumstance for a minor; should the boy run or commit another crime during his punishment, the punishment time will reset and he will spend his sentence in prison. This punishment has commenced, and will end May 15th of next year.
3. For the assault of a minor, Erberk shall receive 15 spanks publicly with the very stick he spanked the boy with. These spanks shall be administered by the boy he assaulted.
4. For being an accomplice to the assault of a minor, Pappy shall receive 15 spanks publicly from the same stick. These spanks shall also be administered by the assaulted boy. After Erberk reviews the list of crimes and punishments, he agrees to its terms and asks when and where the punishments will take place, and Pappy informs him that it will be at the center park outside the Elderflower at high noon.
The following day, word spread and the entire town gathers outside to witness Aberystwyth's first punishment of crimes. While the crowd settles in, Dimple goes around like a hot dog vendor handing out spanking sticks he found in the woods to everyone in the crowd, a souvenir to the historic event. Helga, who officiates, calls the crowd to quiet and formally addresses Pappy and Erberk, their crimes, and their punishments. She then calls out the teen to administer the spanks, and he timidly comes forward, and Helga hands him the spanking stick. Helga then calls out Erberk to receive his punishment, and he steps forward with reserved dignity and bends over, assuming the spanking position. The teen then administers 15 solid spanks upon Erberk, who keeps a stoic expression for all but one of the hits, and then walks away with wobbly knees, doing everything in his power to hide the fact that he nearly got spanked into unconsciousness. Helga then calls Pappy forth, and he too receives 15 solid spanks, and walks away with a very sore rump. Helga addresses the crowd, concluding that the punishments have been fulfilled, and that this day marks the start of formal and established laws in Aberystwyth. She also announces that an open council will be held to all who wish to participate to develop the laws and rights for their town. The meeting adjourns, and Erberk asks Helga that he be allowed to keep the spanking stick as a reminder of his actions, and Helga agrees, as long as he forges a new spanking stick to replace it for future use in public punishments. Erberk agrees, quickly brings the stick home, and then joins Pappy back in the clearing. Erberk and Pappy walk towards the tavern with their arms around each other's shoulders for support, and Pappy announces to the crowd that drinks are on him, and the crowd cheers with delight as they head into the Elderflower.

Report Date

10 May 2024

Primary Location

Aberystwyth