Wagons Ho!

Taking the time to finally relax on the journey back to Darabin, the party chatted and slept, taking the time when they camped to have a look around the area for signs of life, with Torban and Solstice finding and harvesting some ingredients for future brewing exploits. As the wagons finally rolled into town, they were surprised at how busy it seemed. While Darabin sat on the main road from the north to the the trading towns in the south and many people passed through regularly, even to the party it seemed like there was an unusual number of wagons and wagoneers in the town. As they pulled up to the Sleeping Dragon inn for a much needed drink, it was suggested that leaving a wagon full of gold outside the least reputable pub in Darabin was perhaps 'unsafe' and that seeking the aid of Khuzal to store their newly acquired wealth would be beneficial.
Khuzal greeted them warmly and poured some of his own supply of Hillbrew ale, discussing at length the group's adventures in the mines of Khardruketh. When asked about the extra traffic through town, Khuzal happily told them that the additional tolls he'd collected would be very useful, but that he didn't know what the wagons were carrying, just that they had come from Oar's Reach on the northern coast. Agreeing that somewhere secure was certainly a good idea for their new wealth and weapons, Khuzal sat back and suggested that the newly finished bunkhouse within the grounds of the militia barracks would suit their purposes. Torban and Art traded potential deals back and forth, unwilling to part with before Khuzal finally suggested a flat fee of 15 gold a week for 8 weeks. Seeing this for a good deal they paid Khuzal the money and went with him to view the building. All smiled broadly as they surveyed their new lodgings, the bunkhouse being far larger and better equipped than they had thought. The next few hours saw the group settling into the new building and unloading their supplies. Happy that they'd got everything where it needed to be the group went back to the Sleeping Dragon and found a booth to wait in. As Jakkar spoke to the barman, asking after Dorgan, Dandellion stepped up on the bar and began to sing and dance, entertaining the strange mix of locals, farmhands and wagoneers with his gyrating and hip swivelling up and down the bar.
As the party sat and drank they observed the new arrivals to town, seeing that many stayed in small groups, obviously parts of smaller wagon companies brought together to transport the loads from the north. Looking up from his pint, Jakkar saw Dorgan sneak in via the back door of the pub. Locking eyes Dorgan immediately went straight back out the door he'd just come through. Bolting from the booth, Jakkar and Solstice gave chase into the alleyway behind the pub. Looking frantically left and right they saw Dorgan disappear round the corner and ran after him. Morhphing into dirte wolf form Solstice began to gain on him, ignoring the cries of alarm and screams of panicking townsfolk as the huge wolf tore down the back alleys of town. Finally arriving at a small, ordinary looking house Jakkar hammered on the door, demanding to be let in. With Solstice scratching the door and Jakkar shouting, finally Dorgan opened the door and ushered them in, imploring them to be quiet.
Asking why he'd run from them, Dorgan looked scared and finally told them that he'd sent two of his guys, kids basically, to Tagarten in search of information for them and that a few days earlier he'd received a package. As he presented them with the box, Solstice caught the unmistakable smell of decay from the box. Dorgan showed them the contents and both Jakkar and Solstice were shocked as they saw two complete sets of thumbs, ears and eyes in the neatly velvet lined box. Angrily questioning what they'd gotten him into, Dorgan told them he was leaving town as soon as he possibly could. Solstice immediately felt bad for him and offered to help Dorgan in his quest to leave by buying his house from him if he would come and see them tomorrow at the barracks. Taken aback somewhat Dorgan hesitated and then agreed to come and see them. Returning to the tavern the two adventurers related the news from Dorgan to the rest of the party. Dell became quiet and looked at the rest of the group. "Don't ask me how I know this, but that box was a warning sign. Some of the criminal gangs in the north send those things as warnings to others to keep their eyes and ears out of other people's business." Growing ever quieter as he related this, the rest of the party wondered if he might want to talk to someone professionally about it.
Returning the bunkhouse, the group were surprised to find dinner being cooked. Warmly greeted by a small, rotund goblin in a cook's apron who introduced himself as Vuln, the group settled round the dining table as Jakkar suspiciously eyed the goblin, while Dandellion observed him carefully, watching his gait and mannerisms to better allow himself to disguise himself at a future time. The hearty stew Vuln produced for them amazed them with how good it was. Vuln explained that he had once been saved by Khuzal and since then had taken on the duties of barrack's cook and that was the only thing he truly loved to do. Satisfied with their meal the group retired to bed and slept.
Waking early, the group set to sorting out more of their equipment before one of the junior militia guards knocked on the door, politely asking if they were expecting anyone. Seeing the familiar form of Dorgan at the gate, Solstice ushered him into the bunkhouse and sat him down. Seeing that he carried most of his possessions in two large bags, Solstice again reiterated her offer to buy his house, at which he politely said that he was going to his mother's to hide and they could have the house as he wouldn't be coming back. Pressing him for information on the 'dead drop' near the Giggling Goblin he told Solstice that it would be likely impossible to find without information from the bandits who had used it as the drop could have been anywhere, in a wall, under a tree bowl, anywhere. Solstice pointed out that the bandits the original information had come from were now dead and Dorgan just shrugged. Furtively looking around, Dorgan asked if the party would be willing to help him out on his travels. Producing a small box of glass vials Dell's eyes lit up as he realised he was looking at a small poisoner's kit. Eagerly taking advantage of Dorgan's desire to leave as quickly as possible, Dell argued him down to 650 gold pieces for Drow, Kaba serpent and Taggit poisons and some healing potions. Amazed at their good fortune, the party bid Dorgan best wishes on his travels and watched him leave.
Later that day Torban paid a visit to Delbin to sample the beer which had been brewing. Seeing that the shop was looking quite bare, Torban asked what had been going on and Delbin explained that many of his supplies had been bought up by the wagoneers. Referring to some of them in less than favourable terms it was clear that Delbin was glad of the business, but less keen on how the wagoneers behaved in the shop with a few things missing and many things bumped, bashed or otherwise mishandled. As Torban and Delbin sampled the beer Delbin apologied that the cask was also one of the things which had been bashed along the way by various curious customers and the temperature upstairs in the shop was very changeable. Torban wrinkled his nose, unhappy with the quality of the brew. Delbin seemed astonished as it was some of the finest beer he'd ever tasted, but Torban was unrepentant, insisting that the whole batch be thrown away as unworthy of the Hillbrew name. Thinking quickly Delbin convinced Torban to allow him to gift it to the Manticore's Tale tavern, one of the higher end inns of the town to act as a loss leader for subsequent brews. He was sure that the beer would go down well there with all the wagoneers staying there. Satisfied by this idea, Torban sat down with the little gnome and bartered a good deal on the various stones and gems the group had accumulated, eventually earning them nearly four thousand extra gold from Delbin who smirked that he had better start selling some more things as he was now very short on ready cash. Expressing his desire to do more brewing Torban was disappointed that Delbin could offer no more space in the shop and decided to find an alternative space to brew his wares.
On his way back to the bunkhouse Torban stopped off at Krammond's forge and spoke to the old dwarf about repurposing his warhammer into a mash paddle. Initially horrifed at the suggestion of reworking such a fine weapon into a paddle, Krammond only needed to hear the name 'Hillbrew' to convince him of the rightness of this particular job and agreed to do the work for a few pints of the famous beer. Krammond was in such a good mood at the prospect of Hillbrew beer that he gladly bought the remaining weapons and armour from the group for a princely 230 gold.
While the others set about helping Khuzal with militia training, in return for the services of Vuln as caterer,Torban set off to the farms to the east to renew his acquaintance with Draema. Remembering how friendly she had been during the incident with the ogres he felt that she might be open to discussing the use of her brewing facilities for making beer as well as her usual cider. Trekking up into the farmland Torban arrived at the orchard and was warmly greeted by Draema, almost uncomfortably warmly for the usually dour and taciturn Torban. Swiftly moving the conversation from flirtatious to business Torban explained that he needed brewing facilities and Draema eagerly showed him the cellar under the farmhouse where her brews were made. Satisfied that the cellar was suitable Torban and Draema settled on the price of the use of her cellar for fifteen percent of the barrel price for the beer. Happy with Draema's skills as both a brewer and a negotiator, Torban returned to the bunkhouse.
Meanwhile Solstice and Jakkar decided to go and see Dorgan's house, feeling very pleased about their new abode. As they approached the house they saw the door open and various belongings being thrown from the doorway. Angered they approached the house and demanded to know who was in their property. The middle aged woman who appeared in the door looked them up and down, evidently unsure of who they were and said "I'm Vera, the owner of this rental property." Sensing that she was telling the truth, both returned to the bunkhouse and resolved to never take a known thief at their word again....
A couple of days passed, with Torban paying another quick visit to Draema to check on his beer and being very satisfied with the initial phase of the brewing, and the group discussing the idea of returning to the Giggling Goblin to try and locate the long disused dead drop and then make their way into Tagarten to try and locate where Dorgan's men may have met their end. The signature of the killing was definitely of the northern shipping gangs, according to Dell, the taking of the eyes, ears and fingers meant simply "Eyes shut, ears deaf, fingers off."
Deciding that they needed more information on the goings on in town, the group politely interrupted Khuzal's breakfast, complimenting him on the bunkhouse and sought to question him on the wagoneers and their cargos. Khuzal said that he knew little of the cargo, he'd briefly inspected some of it, but worked stone was not something he was that interested in, although the tariffs for transporting it through town were rich pickings. Thanking him for his time, Torban decided to ask Vuln if he could help. Vuln grinned broadly as he was asked to cook for the group and related his own tale of being rescued by Khuzal and how the knowledge of him being the barracks cook allowed him to freely wander round town to purchase stock for the stores. He agreed that the number of wagons coming through was unprecedented and that he was surprised that they were transporting stone, particularly as it was said that it had been shipped in.
After eating a hearty meal from Vuln the party decided to head into town to one of the many wagon parks which had sprung up. Looking around Art thought that they all looked like pretty hard working labourer types, while Jakkar was certain that they were all from the northern ports. Eventually seeing one of the wagoneers knelt by a wagon on his own, the sweat on his brow and swearing from his mouth indicating he was trying to fix some part of the wagon, the group wandered over. As he looked up, obviously unhappy at the interuption to his work, Torban introduced himself and looked at the wagon. Seeing some damage to the axle, Torban summoned a little power from his gods and proceeded to mend the damaged axle. Amazed at both the magic and his good fortune, the wagoneer introduced himself as Erig and thanked Torban for his help. Surprised at the group's interest in his work Erig was nonetheless happy to tell them that he was indeed from the northern port of Oar's Rest amd that the job they were on was a special job. When pressed by Solstice he said it was an unusual job to be transporting the big, grey stones on the wagons, but that the pay for taking it all the way to Tagarten was definitely more than the usual jobs he did because of how long the journey was. As to who had ordered all the stone, he neither knew nor cared. Asking whether anyone else could help them, Erig pulled a face and said that he owed them a good turn, so they should heed his advice and steer clear of the wagon leads. They didn't like questions.
Taking a few moments to have a look under the canvas covering the stone cargo, Torban recognised one of the carved symbols on the stone, but couldn't place where. Solstice however immediately recognised the symbol as being identical to one on the life stealing ring which Art now had in her possession. Acting quickly, Torban decided that defacing the symbol could do no harm and struck it with his axe. As he lifted the axe back from the strike he saw that the symbol was undamaged, which was more than could be said for his axe, a great rent having split the axe blade. Turning as they heard an angry shout from one of the wagon leads, the party attempted to strike up a conversation with the surly looking man who was angrily shouting orders at Erig due the lateness of the morning. Torban stepped forward and tried to placate the man, even offering the services of the group as escorts for the caravan but was rudely rebuffed. Further attempts to be friendly from Solstice only seemed to anger the man further.
Taking their leave of the wagon park, Torban and Solstice pointed out the symbol they had seen on Art's ring and she identified it as a symbol for death. Deciding that they must warn Khuzal, the group sent Dell to begin packing so that they could try to follow the wagons south. Entering Khuzal's office, Torban began by saying that they had found something which was dangerous to the town. When asked what by Khuzal, Torban's evasiveness and Art's similar efforts only seemed to anger Khuzal, until Art drew out the symbol they had seen. Though a simple soldier, Khuzal knew enough of old ways to recognise the symbol, agreeing to their request for horses and writing a note to the owner of the town livery to loan some horses at a discount as it was militia business. Solstice assured Khuzal that they would warn him of anything dangerous which they might find.
With Torban and Dell returned to the bunkhouse to ready their gear, and Vuln excitedly making packed lunches for them, Solstice, Art and Jakkar headed across town towards the livery. Entering a crossway between a group of houses, the group stopped when a crossbow bolt thudded into the ground next to them. Seeing a couple of figures emerge from a doorway, Art angrily challenged them as Solstice sought to calm her down. As Jakkar began to move to the east towards the livery, more wagoneers stepped into view, with men appearing on the roof tops. The men's clothes marked them as wagoneers, though the party didn't recognise any of them. With the leader of this little band ordered the three adventurers to go back, Art's anger only grew at what amounted to little more than school yard bullying tactics and stepped forward. Giving them a final chance to turn around and forget about getting their horses, the lead wagoneer smiled as drew his sword and shouted to his comrades to attack.
If the wagoneers were expecting an easy fight, they were mistaken. As crossbow bolts whipped past her, Art spun and launched three shining bolts of energy at the various attackers. One shot blew the nearest crossbowman off his perch, a sickening thud ending him as he hit the ground. Two more blasts ploughed into two of the cudgel wielding thugs in the alley. Charging forward, Solstice morphed into her bear form and immediately bit a huge chunk from one of thugs. Jumping onto a nearby low roof, Jakkar sent arrows flying into the thugs nearby. Peppered by crossbow bolts the three adventurers launched arrows, claws and thunderous blasts of energy into the thugs, even as more of them appeared with heavy crossbows. As Jakkar's arrows found their marks and slew another of the thugs, Solstice proceeded to bloodily tear two of them to pieces with her bite and claws. Shouting at his men to retreat, the wagoneers fired a final volley at the adventurers in reply to another blast of energy from Art and scurried away.
The fight had lasted mere seconds but left the three adventurers badly wounded and with little clue as to what had just happened. Quickly searching the corpses and finding only a light crossbow, heavy crossbow and twenty silver coins for their trouble, they returned to the bunkhouse without the horses....
It was fair to say that Torban and Dell were surprised when they saw their comrades walk back into the bunkhouse, surprised and concerned. As Art stormed off in a huff, Solstice decided to relate the details of the fight that had just occurred. Torban insistently asked if the wagoneer who had helped them, Erig, was amongst those who had attacked and was relieved to hear that he wasn't. As Art began to calm down, Dell suggested to her that they should demand satisfaction from the wagoneers! As the others finished packing supplies for the intended journey Torban healed Art and Jakkar of their wounds and the party discussed whether to tell Khuzal what had happened. Deciding that it would be best if they did share the details they left the bunkhouse and began to walk to Khuzal's office but were met with the sight of Khuzal striding towards them. The nervous looking militia man next to him pointed out Jakkar, Art and Solstice and Khuzal asked "Do you want to tell me why you're dropping bodies in my town?" Sensing that honesty was the best policy, the group explained that the wagoneers had laid an ambush and tried to intimidate them. When they'd refused to be intimidated the wagoneers had fired first and in defending themselves several of the wagoneers were slain. Khuzal nodded along as they told the tale and then told them that it was lucky their story agreed with that of the militia man and some witnesses. Even though the party couldn't recognise any of the attackers, Khuzal still felt that their plan to try and trail the wagons south might be worth it, so he bade them to go talk to the livery stableman again. Geln was a friend and would sort them out. Khuzal even chuckled when Dell promised not to accidently kill the livery stable owner.
As the party walked back through town they felt how quiet it had now become with the departure of the fifty or more wagoneers. Feeling thankful to not be further accosted, they reached the livery stables and were greeted by Geln. Art set her mind to getting a good price on some horses, picking out four good horses and a fine pony for Dell. Haggling over the price earned a sly grin from Geln as they eventually settled on 550 gold for the animals. Spitting into her hand and shaking firmly, Art sealed the deal and the party set to naming their new steeds. Torban mounted Findus, Jakkar took Lucky, Solstice took Mort, Dell vaulted onto Jollyjumper and Art sat astride Mr Ed.
After briefly returning to the bunkhouse to collect travelling kit and several substantial packed lunches from Vuln, the party mounted up and left via the eastgate of the town in an effort to conceal the direction of their travel from any remaining wagoneer spies. After riding for a short distance the party detoured back to the south and made their way through the woodland before settling down to camp for the night. Seeing a well used camping area just off the road with a fire already lit, they took the time to rest, enjoy the fine potted meats and bread Vuln had gifted them and see to their spells and recuperated from the events of the day whilst chatting to some of the other travellers on the road. One family related that they had seen some wagons about half a day ahead and were making their own way north to Orebin, to find work within the foundries or Valleycove with the fishing fleets.
With the night passing uneventfully the party set back out at dawn and soon spotted the dust trail thrown up from the road indicating a number of wagons ahead. The next couple of days passed slowly as they trailed the wagons down the mostly straight route between Tagarten and Darabin. Eventually they crested a hill and saw the familiar site of the 'Giggling Goblin' tavern. As they approached slowly, they saw the usual sprall of tents and wagons outside for those too poor, too miserly or too untrusting to leave their wagons outside and take a room in the tavern. Deciding to head into the nearby forest and camp there, the party set up camp and Dell then set out towards the Goblin. Approaching as inconspiculously as he could, Dell set about investigating some of the wagons nearby. As he checked them he found several contained stone similar to that which they sought, but he couldn't tell if it was the same stone. Peeking in through one of the windows he saw a number of wagoneers who were from the north, but none that he recognised from the time in Darabin.
Returning to the camp, Dell and his friends settled down and began to observe the tavern...
As the various members of the party took turns to watch the tavern they saw the comings and goings of the many patrons of the Giggling Goblin, families, traders, other wagon trains, but none seemingly attached to their quarry. Later into the night as the others rested, Torban saw two wagoneers attend to the horses and secure the covers on the wagons. Relaying this to Art before he settled to sleep, Torban was oblivious to the gentle scratching of a quill and ink on his face as the little tiefling drew a pair of what she knew were called spectacles on Torban's face. Finally getting tired and bored, Art left Jakkar to watch the inn and chuckle a little at Torban's new look. His mirth ceased when he saw a figure he recognised come out of the inn. With dawn approaching, the lightening sky showed the face of one of their ambushers clearly as the man walked to the wagons and roused the sleeping wagoneers before returning to the tavern. Swiftly waking his comrades, the party prepared their breakfast as they watched the wagoneers enter the tavern for their own. Eventually they saw a large group of wagoneers mount the wagons, over a dozen in all and begin to pull away from the inn. Mounting their own horses, the party followed behind at a discreet distance, warily stopping now and again to keep the distance open and hoping they weren't spotted. After a few hours and almost within sight of Tagarten itself Solstice and Jakkar spotted the wagons turning down a large camping trail off the road. With the trail unfamiliar to all in the party Dell trotted forward and examined the trail seeing it was well used and obviously not a new trail. Unsure what to do, the party simply waited to see if anyone came by who might look like they could help. Seeing an orc lumber crew riding atop several wagons of newly hewn timber, Solstice began to ride alongside them and asked if they knew anything of the trail. The chief woodsman seemed to enjoy the novelty of the conversation and happily shared that trail was certainly not new and was a cut through to the road to Medabin which bypassed Tagarten itself. Useful to cut a journey's time and avoid inspections by the militia he chuckled. Thanking him for his time Solstice returned to the party and they began to make their way slowly down the trail.
After a short time Jakkar saw fresh sets of wagon trails, only an hour old or so and cautiously moved to the edge of a clearing. Peering intently he finally saw two wagoneers hiding in the bushes. Sensing an ambush Jakkar quietly relayed his fears to his friends before dismounting from his horse. Dell and Solstice followed suit, wondering what to do as Art fed her horse from the saddle. Bored of the waiting game Torban dismounted and strode forward to where the path split. Unshackling his belt and hitching down his britches, Torban contentedly emptied his bladder as he glanced left and right and saw more men hidden in the underbrush. Returning the party Torban confirmed their fears that this was probably an ambush. Whilst some in the party suggested retreat Dell decided that a stand was required and launched an arrow into the nearest wagoneer he could see, slaying the man instantly.
As shouts issued from the woodland and more wagoneers came into view they heard a voice call out "You were warned back in Darabin, now you die!". Loosing more arrows, Jakkar and Dell retreated into the cover of the woodland as Solstice's shots found their mark, injuring one of the bandits. Jakkar followed her shot and added his own, killing the man. Art and Torban suddenly realising how outnumbered they were as a hail of bolts landed amongst them, Torban's armour saving him but leaving Art with a deep wounds in her arm and leg. Sensing that retreat meant death Torban charged forward, unleashing a bolt of bright energy into one of the heavy crossbowmen. Seeing this Art summoned her magicks and sent a searing cluster of bolts into two of the crossbowmen who had fired on her. Feeling her wounds draining her energy, she quickly drained a healing draft and sought a new target. Dell and Jakkar took turns to rise from the underbrush, loosing arrows at anyone they could see as Solstice saw bandits charging towards Torban on the right of the clearing. Communing with the forest spirits she pulled heavy vines from the ground, entangling one bandit as she too charged forward and morphed into a huge brown bear.
Rapid shots from Jakkar saw the deaths of two more bandits before he saw Torban thrown to the ground by a flurry of blows but knowing that his friend was still alive by the sound of thunder and exploding head of one bandit. Crossbow bolts rained down amongst Dell and Solstice, wounding both. Fending off blows, Torban managed to swig a healing draft, choosing his moment. As the bandit's leader towered over him a sudden ringing filled the air as Torban unleashed a shattering spell, blood pouring from the bandit captain's nose and ears. Seeing the bandit captain reel backwards Art hurled more scorching rays at the man and his thugs.
As Dell and Jakkar continued to pick off the wounded bandits, a wounded and angry brown bear barrelled into one of the crossbowmen, ripping his stomach to shreds. With the tide beginning to turn, Torban and Solstice set about the bandits with renewed vigour, bandit captain and bear trading blows in a vicious battle of claw and sword. As the captain beat the bear backwards Jakkar landed shots on him, even as he himself was wounded. A series of blows caused Solstice to return to her natural form, but before the bandits could capitalise, Torban unleashed more shattering energy into them, driving them back long enough for Solstice to unleash a blast of poisoned air at the bandit captain and morph back into a bear.
Dell and Art hurled arrows and blasts of energy into the remaining crossbowmen as Jakkar pulled back his bowstring and let a arrow fly into the melee in the centre. His aim true, the bandit captain fell to his knees then slumped down, his chest pierced. Unable to loose another shot as he bow somehow became tangled in his cloak, Jakkar hurriedly scrambled up a nearby scree cliff to try and get a better vantage point. Still peppered by crossbow bolts, Solstice and Torban held the centre as Torban blasted the bandits back with thunderous energy. Disembowling one of the bandits, Solstice rushed to the nearby cliff and clawed her way up to the crossbowman there. Suddenly alone in the melee, Torban was unable to fend off all the blows directed at him and landed heavily as he crashed to the ground unconscious. Panic filling them, Jakkar and Solstice hurled themselves from the cliffs, Jakkar summoned magical energy to travel almost faster than possible. As Solstice began to force the bandits back once more with teeth and claw, Jakkar pressed the ring of spell storing to Torbans head and channelled the spell of healing which Torban himself had placed there mere days ago, pulling him back from death's embrace.
Rolling to his knees Torban slammed his palm into one of his attackers, unleashing intense necrotic energies. The screams of the bandit echoed round the clearing as his skin almost desicated and sloughed from the wounds in his body. With only one crossbowman left, Dell shouted an order for him to surrender before seeing Jakkar pull back his bowstring once more and shoot the man through the eyes...
Breathing heavily, the group took stock of the battle and how close they'd come to losing one of their own and then began to search the bodies. Finding only a scimitar, dagger, some damaged armour and 45 gold pieces on the wagoneer captain and strangely mundane pickings to some eyes on the dead wagoneers, it fell to Dell to explain that this was typical of the wagoneers he had known at the circus. Hardy men, usually well armed and with pride in the trade, they would fight to the death to protect their cargo, but we frequently not rich or evil men. Taking the captain's armour, Torban swiftly cast a restorative spell on it, whilst the others moved the bodies off the track into the nearby woodland. The bodies would not be hidden for long, but certainly enough time for them to leave the area. As Jakkar donned the newly repaired armour, Torban set about healing himself and Art before following Dell down the left hand path through the trees. Sighting two carts, Dell was relieved when he saw no more wagoneers. As the party spread out Jakkar located the remaining wagons before turning to see Torban stood atop one wagon, swinging his warhammer at the stone within it. After landing several mighty blows Torban sat back and firmly declared that the stones were somehow special as he had barely knocked a few chips from the stones.
The group of adventurers discussed at length the options available to them, Jakkar wanting to be rid of the stones as soon as possible, even suggesting dumping them in the nearest river, but Torban advised caution as none of them knew what effects such an act could have given the dark magic potentially involved. Finally they decided to hitch up their horses to the wagons and drive them to Tagarten in the hopes of discovering more about the stones there. As the rode the two miles to the town, they were relieved when the other users of the road paid them no heed and arrived late in the afternoon at the gate to the south ward. Art and Solstice had both informed their comrades of the geography of their home town, the north gate being barred to almost all bar the richest or most powerful of the town who lived in the northern ward.
As they approached the southern gates and rode through the ramshackle tented town which had seemed to grow on the outside of the town itself they concocted a plan to say that they had found the wagons abandoned, but soon dismissed the idea and decided to simply tell the truth and hope they were believed. Just as they reached the main gate into town a guard turned and shouted at them to halt. Cursing their luck Dell thought the worst until the guard asked Art whether it was indeed her. Blinking in surprise Art recognised her old friend Geltan and remembered their many scrapes and adventures as youths in the east ward. As Jakkar and Solstice fought each other to give the most convincing explanation of how they found the wagons, the young man Art remembered seemed slightly overwhelmed and looked to Art for confirmation of either story. Art reassured him that they had indeed been attacked in the forest and had taken the wagons following the death of their attackers. Believing his friend's story Geltan bade them wait half and hour until his guard shift was over and he'd escort them into town. Long years of knowing the man convinced Art that he was telling her the truth and she agreed to wait. Just as he turned to leave Dell ran over and excitedly asked about any incident of people being found with missing fingers or other body parts. Visibly shocked by the question, Geltan knelt by the young gnome and urged him to be quiet, telling him that there had been incidents and that he would explain later.
As his shift ended Geltan mounted the lead wagon with Art and directed them into town. As they drove Art asked after his family and Geltan said that his father was indeed alive, but melancholy. Reminding Art of their shared experiences with Gul'Trag, one of the bosses of the east ward crime gangs, Geltan then shocked her by saying that Gul'Trag was dead. Killed by a new gang who had come into the town seemingly from nowhere, Gul'Trag's empire had fallen to a gang of northerners who had then set about attacking the other gangs in the town and extorting money from businesses and people alike. The town was a mess and his own father had been hurt by the gang when he tried to stand up to them. At Art's request Geltan directed the little convoy across the river to the dwarven yards and the stone cutter known as Morg. Taking his leave Geltan warned Art not to go near the Manticore's Tale inn as the new gang had taken that for their head quarters, displaying the head of Gul'Trag outside as a warning to others.
Torban stepped off his wagon and looked around the yard picking out the oldest looking dwarf there and introducing himself. Morg returned the greeting and listened to Torban's story of how they came to possess the stones. Grinning Morg said he'd be happy to test out their seemingly enchanted stones. Sitting back a few minutes later, Morg was convinced of two things, first he needed a new stone splitting wedge, secondly the stones were indeed enchanted and he wanted nothing more to do with them. Torban slightly embarressed gathered up the remnants of the broken wedge and using his mending skills to fix it and gave Morg some gold for his trouble. Morg agreed to look out for any similar stones and keep it quiet. Inquiring as to how he could find them the party said they had hoped to stay with their friend Gorvan. Morg grinned and said that he did indeed know Gorvan, the wily old goat, and instructed one of the young dwarf apprentices to escort them to Gorvan's warehouse.
Knocking politely on the door, the party were soon welcomed in by the loud old man. As they were taken up to Gorvan's office, his warehousemen brought the wagons inside the warehouse. Pushing drinks into his friend's hands Gorvan eagerly listened to their adventures since winning the mine at Khardruketh, becoming concerned as they related the story of the seemingly enchanted stones which were now inside his warehouse, but assured them that as 'friends in need' he could help them locate someone with some knowledge of these things and store the wagons for a while. In return he related the sad tale of the new thugs in town and how they had threatened both him and young Mara's businesses, attempting to burn down one of his warehouses and assaulting some of Mara's workers when she refused to pay up. Talk of visiting Mara seemed to cheer him, Gorvan thinking that it would certainly boost her morale. As Gorvan got considerably more drunk his venhemance towards these new northerners became stronger, stating that the drow wizard who seemed to lead them was a sadistic brute who only left the Manticore's Tale in order to hurt people. As the hour grew late Gorvan suggested that the group all retire to his house round the corner where they could recuperate...
One by one the adventurers woke up and made their way down to the dining room of Gorvan's house, the smells of cooking bacon and fresh bread drawing them to breakfast, all except perhaps Gorvan himself who appeared somewhat later than the rest and evidently the worse for wear thanks to an evening of trying to keep up with Art's drinking. Torban took pity on him and quickly prepared a medicinal tonic for him. As he slowly recovered his wits he arranged for a guide to take them to Mara's house. Led there by the young boy, the party announced themselves to Mara's men and were shown to her office. As they stepped inside, Solstice and Art saw Mara look up from the letter she was reading with a look of shock on her face and simply asked them "What's a peep hole bra?". As Solstice hung her head and Art simply giggled they both looked at one another and whispered "Letter from Barb?". The party listened as Mara read Barb's letter: "Dear Mara, I trust this finds you well and looking as ravishing as ever. Happy to report the mine has been secured though the place had been overrun and trashed by Orcs; we found some of your retainers but only bits and pieces. We managed to delve deep enough to come across some other trivial infestations which have been exterminated; I look forward to showing you some of the trophies - not least the dragon scale peephole bra I've forged myself! It seems that Khuzal's militia team is not really up to much as none of them seem to want to see me in it. I can only assume its for fear of losing control. We recently had a small group of men who entered the mine through the main entrance. One of the militia alerted me and when we confronted them (militia lads were scared shitless!) they had some thoroughly suspect story about looking for shelter (it was a clear night). I let them camp with the militia at the entrance and tested their quaffing skills while subltey gleaning info . Seems like their guide was a northerner, but the rest were from the south, all of them were elves, but they drank well enough (sadly). Reminded me of a lot of soldiers I've known. Pretty sure they tried coming deeper into the mine, but they never found the secret door (which I have booby trapped) and I can't be arsed to repair that rope bridge. Got the lads to dig a few "bear pits" around in case they came back and the next night we found a baby owlbear (of all things) in it! Mother hasn't shown up so far - I'm either going to tame it or make into boots! I have sent for my clan to join me and will send word with the first shipment of material we produce when they have arrived. Once the mining operations are running smoothly I'll send my mother along to meet you as I hope to rejoin the others. Please remind them to leave there intended destination with you should you see them, if possible please could you provide a small advance on the profits as thanks for our labour in returning the property to its correct owner?
Ever yours,
Barb Onyxgart
(and Winnie the Hoo as we have name the owlbear cublet)"
Needless to say Dell was uncomfortable at the news of the owlbear, baby or not, but the whole party were glad of the news from their friend. As they speculated about the soldiers Barb had mentioned, Mara finally let out a loud sob and told them how glad she was to see them. As Torban comforted the young girl, she began to recount what had happened in town with the gang of thugs. As Torban heard of the threats against Mara, the beatings her staff and friends had suffered and the exploitation and violence to which the people of Tagarten were being exposed, his anger grew and he promised Mara, through gritting teeth, that he would deal with the thugs. As she calmed down, Mara asked her friends what had bought them to the town. As they explained about the wagons, the stones and the strange rumours from the north Mara thought about it but could offer no help on the origin or symbols on the stones. Solstice asked if Mara could send a reply to Barb and inform her of the group's whereabouts and that they could be contacted at Gorvan's house. Taking their leave the party headed towards the market. As the approached they got a feeling of unease. Many stall holders looked at the heavily armed group with fear until Torban showed them his clerical symbol and approached a young blond lady stallholder selling pies. As he politely asked about the flavours of pies he grinned as he was told that the steak and ale pies contained none other than Hillbrew ale. Eagerly buying five pies and leaving a tip, much to the girl's delight, he then began to ask about the gang. The girl begged him to stop and be careful, the fear in her voice obvious. Thanking her for the pies Torban returned to his friends and told them what he knew. Seeing no sign of the gang, the group walked through the market to the Nodding Boar trading post. As they walked in the half orc owner asked that they were looking for and politely asked Dell to leave when he answered back. Jakkar told him of a few of their adventures and vicious carpets. Amused by this, the owner pointed them towards some bodkin arrows and a healer's kit. Happily buying thirty bodkins, enough hunting arrows to replenish their supplies and a healer's kit they bid the Boar goodbye and made their way to the Magic Table Emporium, which Art remembered a little from her childhood. As they entered, the old elven owner came forward and claimed to recognise Art. Remembering his name as Velack Traine, Solstice began to negotiate with him for potions. Slightly scatter brained, Velack began to pull potions from the stacks of items. As they considered the items on offer, Velack seemed unimpressed with the spell book they offered in return but perked up when they mentioned the dragons parts they had harvested. Eventually coming to a deal the party took five healing potions from the old elf and left as heard shouts of alarm from the marketplace. As they headed in Torban saw two thugs angrily threaten the young girl on the pie stall. Stepping between them he uttered an incantation, calming their humours as he told them of his love for peace and pies. Agreeing that he must really like pies the two thugs moved off a little way and Torban walked towards a female tiefling who seemed to be threatening another shop keeper. As he demanded to know who she was he listened to another thug swear at and question why the two he'd distracted hadn't got the money from the pie stall. Suddenly sensing a swing coming to the back of his head Torban shifted his weight and rode the blow. Seeing this happen Jakkar immediately shot the perpetrator as Sol morphed into a bear and charged towards two shocked thugs. Torban unleashed a blast of radiant energy into the tiefling only just before she hurled several magical missiles into him. Falling backwards he saw another tiefling appear and took more magical shots to his body. As Art made her way behind two stalls, the rest of the party saw a tall, thin Drow step out and shout and incantation. The three bolts of energy which formed above him suddenly disappeared, prompting him to curse loudly. Seeing a chance, Art immobilised one of the wizards with a spell. As the thugs retaliated and rained blows on Solstice, Jakkar swiftly despatched one before Solstice latched her jaws onto the other one and tore his skull apart. Lunging across the marketplace, her claws then tore open the belly of a ganger with a bow, his screams echoing across the market. Swiftly downing a healing draft Torban let loose a blast of thunderous energy, blasting the tiefling wizard into the stone floor of the market and smashing the thug next to her backwards. Seeing the wizard was dead Dell launched two arrows into the thug with pin point accuracy, punching through his chest and skull with devastating effect. As the rest of the gang started to run Art spoke a familiar incantation and the remaining wizard suddenly felt her limbs freeze as she hit the floor, spasming slightly in frustration. As a cheer went up from the stall holders, Torban stepped forward and began to tie their prisoner up...


As the crowd continued to cheer Dell picked up a tune on his piccolo, accompianied by dancing from the buxum young lass he had his eye on. The cheering changed to a momentary silence as Sol reverted to her humanoid form in front of everyone. Art and Torban both stood facing the captured wizard as Solstice and Jakkar began to search the deceased thugs for loot. Dell proudly announced to the crowd that the group were appreciative of their praise and would help them to deal with any future problems with the gang and that should they be needed they resided in the Hazy Moon inn.
Shouts from the surrounding streets drew their attention as the militia began to enter the market square. Feeling time was of the essence Torban cast a zone of truth about the gang wizard and began to question her. Jakkar and Solstice noticed that both wizards had matching jewelled necklaces and began to argue that they might be sending stones before finding a bag of coin on the dead wizard and throwing it to the stallholders with a kind word. As the militia filled out the market the party held their arms up in surrender. Geltan rushed to Art and began hurredly asking questions which Dell and her were only too happy to answer with grins on their faces. The militia sought to restore order in the market, somewhat shocked that someone had even taken on the gang, let alone killed a number of them. The sergeant of the militia approached Torban but paused as he heard him interrogating the tiefling wizard before him. Sweat beaded the tiefling's brow as she tried to resist Torban's questions, but she felt compelled to answer. Torban knelt by her and listened as she told him through gritted teeth that the drow mage who had fled the marketplace was indeed the leader of the gang and that they would be returning to Manticore tavern where they were living and keeping their stolen spoils. She chuckled as she told him that the gang was still large enough to kill all of them and that their orders were to kill anyone who opposed them. She knew nothing of the stones and why they were being transported and gloated as she admitted that there were more magic users in the gang's ranks. As Torban felt his spell waning he finally managed to tease the name of the drow mage from her, Omanan Zoland. Asking the significance of her necklace she merely said it helped with her spells. Torban smiled as he asked his final question and inquired whether she liked the pies from the market. She hissed back that they were dwarven flavoured shit then shook her head violently as her senses became her own once more.
Torban turned to the taciturn sergeant and commended him on his men before handing the prisoner to him and offering his services to help in any further interrogations. The sergeant nodded and said he would check with the watch commander. Torban offered the necklace to the sergeant, but he returned it to Torban simply saying that he thought it would better in his custody. As the militia searched the gangster's bodies Jakkar gently tapped a militiaman on the shoulder and indicated the bag of coins he had just pocketed and suggested it was better returned to the market stall holders. Gathering their things the party went to leave the market, but paused as the young girl selling the pies ran up and kissed Torban. Torban cast a quick spell and the girl blushed as the very ground seemed to vibrate around her before running back to her stall.
Deciding that they wanted to try and find more magical items the party found their way to Ogtans's emporium. While they walked Art began to examine the twin necklaces from the tiefling wizards. The stones appeared cheap and not apparently magical. Approaching they saw an uncharacteristically technicoloured and garish building, the scent of incense filling their noses even before they'd entered. The human shopkeeper, dressed in rich robes, introduced himself as Ogtan. Offering the necklaces to him, Torban summised that they might be spell focusses before telling Ogtan how they came to have them. Ogtan's demenour changed and he quickly handed them back, saying he wanted nothing more to do with those necklaces. When pressed he admitted that he had paid the gang off and didn't want to risk any reprisals from them.
Torban thanked him for his honesty and began to look round the shop. The rest of the party asked after any healing potions and poisons. Ogtan's reply that he had both things that could help heal and make people sick seemed evasive to some people, but they persisted and were offered a tincture to make people ill. The fact they wished to buy all of his stock of the 'potion of purging' surprised Ogtan and a deal was struck for 30 vials of the black liquid for 60 silver pieces. As the party then eagerly looked for more things to buy, Torban suggested that they leave as most of what he'd found was simple spell components and very basic items and he had his suspicions that this particular store was not so much arcana as merely a joke shop.
Making their excuses and leaving the party made their way to the Hazy Moon. Taking a booth, the party settled down and Dell went to the bar and spoke to the proprietor. A few patrons began to point out the group and the barman realised that Dell and his friends were the warriors in the marketplace and promptly presented them with a free round of ales from the Nine Sister's brewery. Chatting back and forth the barman said that the gang had not yet visited the tavern yet.
Over the ales the party discussed a plan to poison the gang in their hideout using the potion of purging. Suggesting that a small test was in order the party stepped outside and Dell popped the cork off a vial. Both he and Jakkar sniffed the liquid and recoiled slightly. The smell was familiar and quite unpleasant. Art decided to take one for the team and dipped her finger into the vial and tasted the liquid. She was immediately seized by a strong urge to vomit but managed to fight down the urge. After a couple of deep breaths she felt fine. Returning to the tavern they spent some time finishing their drinks and returned to Gorvan's office. Walking in Solstice came to a sudden stop, recognition halting her as she saw her father and brother inside the warehouse speaking to Gorvan. Cathall saw his daughter approach and addressed her in his usual stoic way, both surprised to see her and ordered at the same time. Her brother was far less reserved and began waving at her, ceasing with a disapproving look from her father. Cathall looked at the stones and as he turned and angrily demanded to know where the stones were from Solstice suddenly realised that she was seeing something in her father she'd never seen before, fear. The party swiftly explained how they had come into possession of the stones, their suspicions about them and the number of people who had died in the process.
Cathall thought quietly for a few moments and then looked at the group. He asked them if they knew what the symbols represented. Seeing no recognition from them he told them that the symbols were those of Kadaris the Arch Mage. The party absorbed this information in sudden silence. The evils of Kadaris were known to all in Torovan, the great cost to defeat him three hundred years before seen as the beginning of the end of the current kingdoms. Asking Cathall if there were any sites nearby associated with Kadaris, he replied that he would consult with the master of his order on this. Attempting to ease the tension, Dell related the story of the market place fight before Cathall and Carfaren took their leave, cautioning the party to be careful and keep quiet about the stones.
Settling down with Gorvan, the party discussed what they knew of the gang, Gorvan saying that he was unaware of the drow's name and seemed relieved when Torban assured him that their connection to him was not known. Gorvan's attitude changed to one of mild horror when they showed him the vials of black, viscous liquid. The party's attitude changed as he related a story regarding the liquid, or 'Elixir of Shaart' as he referred to it....
Deciding that action was required and seeing that there were still some hours in the day the party decided to visit the militia barracks to try and enlist the help of anyone trustworthy there. Talking as they walked across town it became apparent that Art and Solstice both knew a little about the Manticore tavern, but not much beyond the basic layout. Further discussion came round to the idea of Solstice wild shaping into a dog and sneaking into the tavern. Solstice was not terribly pleased by this idea, particularly when it was pointed out that no one knew if the tavern served dog! As they approached the militia guards at the barracks Jakkar proudly announced that they were adventurers and sought the guard captain. Rudely rebuffed by the surly guard, Torban's approach was gentler and he pointed out that the group were responsible for the fight in the marketplace. On hearing this the guard inquired whether Torban was the dwarf who had helped the pie seller. On replying yes to this Torban was delighted to realise that the guard happened to be Karisha's cousin. Disappearing inside the barracks for a few minutes, the guard returned with a bleary eyed Geltan and the senior man from the morning, who Torban and Jakkar recognised as a Sergeant of the Guard. As soon as Torban quietly asked him if he would be willing to let them take on the gang, Sergeant Dramman ushered them into his office. He recounted the tale of the gang's arrival in town and how they had cemented their position by disposing of the previous gang, hurting a number of his men including Geltan's father and even going so far as to kill three of his men. Giving his blessing to any effort to deal with the gang he took out a small slate and drew a map of the layout inside the tavern. Dell explained the plan to incapacitate the gang if they could and Dramman promised that if the party could notify him a few hours before anything happened then he could place men he trusted in suitable places to stop any of the gang getting away. With the Sergeant's blessing given the party swiftly left and returned to the Hazy Moon to stay for the night.
Taking breakfast quickly the party prepared to head for the Manticore tavern and observe for a while. Dell crated up the purge potion and procured a couple of leeks to disguise the crate, a slightly confused tavern owner none the wiser as to why a gnome needed leeks at seven in the morning. Leaving the Hazy Moon the party headed across the market, seeking to confirm that no gangsters were brave enough to enter it today. Torban blushed slightly as Karisha ran over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and enquired as to where they were going. Torban simply told her not to worry.
As they went to the bridge into the Eastgate district they noticed the many people crossing in the opposite direction into the market district but spied two men who didn't seem to be moving anywhere. As Jakkar settled on the apex of the bridge Torban began to walk across. One of the suspicious men pointed at Torban and then both of them immediately began to walk away, getting lost between the myriad close packed buildings. Torban spoke to one of the workers at the nearby sawmill who cautiously whispered that he wanted no trouble. The party cautiously made their way to the Manticore's Tale and took up position about sixty feet away, observing two men guarding the front door and seeing that the outside of the building corresponded to the map Drammon had drawn.
Jakkar moved so that he was out of sight of the guards and carefully made his way past the privvies to the small door from the bar and peeked in through the window. Looking in he saw a number of people who were obviously members of the gang and a couple of tieflings dressed similarly to the spellcasters they had fought the day before. As Jakkar moved back to the party, Dell employed his skills to sneak around the back of the building, expertly sliding below a large window before coming to the back door of the kitchen. Taking time to observe through the kitchen window, he saw a barman and barmaid and carefully timed his next action. Swiftly moving the locking bar on the door with his tools the door creaked open slightly. Seeing the barman and maid had moved out of sight he darted into the kitchen and began uncorking the purging potions and pouring them into the one pot of stew he could see. Hearing the barman and barmaid's voices just outside the kitchen doors from the bar he swiftly dumped a bottle of his Drow poison into the mix and moved back outside. Retreating to the rest of the party they moved back to observe the front of the tavern and soon saw one man burst out of the bar door. Breathing heavily, the man began hawking up ropes of thick bile into an adjacent bush and then leaned against the doorframe....
Dell fist pumped the air as he heard the distant sound of heaving from the tavern doorway as Art and Solstice prepared to move forward. The heaving man jerked backwards violently and dove through the doorway as Jakkar's arrow embedded itself in him. His warning shout died in his throat as a point in the centre of the room suddenly darkened and spewed forth a cloud of the thickest fog he'd ever seen. Anxious to keep surprise on their side the party rushed forwards, Art loosing a hail of firebolts into the doorway and finally killing the man Jakkar had wounded. Solstice hurriedly distributed some goodberries as Dell took up overwatch and Jakkar loosed two shots on the men bursting from the main door of the tavern. As one of the them fell, an arrow in his thigh, Jakkar realised too late that the men seemed to be running away from the tavern, not towards them. Solstice ran to his side and screamed at the men to run, which they duly did. Torban moved towards the downstairs window and felt the impact of the glass exploding over him as bolts of energy slammed into his armour, a grinning tiefling inside the window. Art moved round towards the side of the tavern, diving for cover as a hail of crossbow bolts erupted from the upstairs windows. Realising the danger Dell vaulted up onto the overhanging roof over the privvies. Recovering from the blast of energy Torban sent his own blast of shattering energy into the bar, the bell like ringing intensifying as he completed the incantation and the tiefling collapsing as blood ran from her shattered eardrums. Dodging behind Torban and Solstice, Jakkar threw open the door to the privvies, intent on setting fire to one of them but realising that his meagre tinderbox and the damp rags inside were never going to achieve the goal. As the criminals in the tavern recovered their wits and weapons more of them appeared from the fog inside and peppered Torban's armour with bolts as another hail landed near Art from the upper windows. Her returning firebolts were better targetted and her assailant ducked back into the window clutching his shoulder. Dell expertly leapt through one of the upper windows, moving quickly through the empty room to the door and throwing it wide open. The four bandits who turned to face him seemed unconvinced by his insistence that they should run downstairs, even less so when they heard the sound of an angry bear appear from nowhere. Grinning foolishly Dell turned and bolted back out the window, his circus skills aiding his escape. Torban and Solstice advanced on the large broken window into the bar, Torban sending a bolt of brightly coloured energy through it and into the one bandit who seemed to be shouting orders and Solstice morphing into her ursine form. Torban and the bandit captain began to trade blows as Solstice latched onto him with her jaws and the two of them began to drag him through the window frame as Jakkar began to pick off bandits through the window, carefully aiming past Torban and Solstice.
Meanwhile the bandits on the upper floor had the better of it, one leaning through the window and slashing at the retreating Dell as his comrades sent a flurry of bolts at Art, wounded her. Sending more firebolts in reply, Art began to hug the side of the building to ward off the worst of the barrage, unaware of the intense fight occurring on the other side of the building as the bandits and their captain traded blows with Torban and Solstice, one particularly unlucky bandit over reaching and being dragged to the ground by the bear. More bandits began to crowd the window, threatening to overwhelm them so Torban let loose a thunderous blast of energy, hurling several of them backwards and killing one of the bandits outright. Jakkar's point blank shooting found its mark in the captain, forcing him to recoil as one of his comrades found the weak spot in Solstice's defenses causing her to loose concentration on her barkskin. Lunging forwards the captain also found his mark and Solstice shouted out in pain as her bear form dropped.
Sneaking past a large window on the other side of the building, the occasional crossbow bolt winging her, Art failed to notice the Tiefling wizard on the other side until it was too late, magical missiles arcing into her through the window as she came into view. Cursing loudly Art returned her own magics, flaming balls of light bursting against the wizard's flesh. Screaming the wizard disappeared into the fog heading for the stairs. Taking a chance Art then unleashed a wave of thunder into the fog in the hopes of finishing the job.
Jakkar shouted as he fouled a shot badly and retreated towards the main door. Without his support Torban and Solstice felt the desperation of their position and both launched thunderous blasts against the window and bandits within, bodies explosively hurled back into the room and lying unmoving. As more bandits emerged from the fog and charged Torban and Solstice a shot from above slashed through the top of one man's head, a small whoop of gnomish delight indicating its source. A pause of a breath gave Solstice the opportunity to assume bear form again as Torban saw a cluster of men advance towards the tavern doorway. Shouting his incantation loudly Torban directed his hand towards a point in the fog and a bell like ringing grew in intensity. Unable to fully see the men from his position, the sound of screams and two sudden, violent whelters of blood told him he'd found targets for his anger.
The fear of the few remaining bar patrons and staff became outright panic as Torban's cloud of fog suddenly disappeared and a huge bear pounded through the bar area, seemingly drawn to the sound of magical energies being unleashed from the rear of the building. As Art recoiled from the blow struck against her as she opened the kitchen door, she thanked her gods for the healing draft which had no doubt saved her life and sent a volley of flaming bolts into the thug inside. Blugeoning her way through the kitchen door Solstice slammed a barmaid into the wall before grabbing the bandit hiding there, his clothing almost burnt off by magical energies and proceeded to shake him vigorously in her jaws. Art threw the door open from outside and watched her friend finish the bandit who had just wounded her. As Solstice barreled back into the bar area Art tried in vain to calm the bloodied and screaming bar maid, only narrowly dodging the tankards hastily thrown at her head.
Torban and Jakkar burst into the bar area with Torban yelling at the patrons to run as he himself ran to the stairs. Hearing a shout of pain from Dell, Torban realised his friend was alone and facing who knew what up there and pounded up the stairs. Rounding the top of the stairs Torban saw a bandit take aim at him, dead to rights, before the dull click of an unloaded trigger. Seeing the bandit hurl the crossbow away Torban threw himself into the man as Jakkar sprinted up the stairs, snapping a shot into the man and killing him. Dell suddenly appeared in the corridor, phasing into view in front of Torban and Jakkar and proceeded to start locking one of the doors, the dull clicking of his picks drowned out by the sound of an angry tiefling hurling abuse and accusations of cowardice up the stairs and the noise of a bear clawing its way up the narrow stairwell. Dell quickly shouted "Give me a bit and I can lock them all in" as Torban opened the door to his left, immediately having to dodge blows from the bandit within. Trading blows back and forth, Torban shouted for support and was rewarded with the form of Solstice slamming through the door and mauling the bandit within. As Dell continued to lock doors Torban moved past him and cleared the last of the rooms on the left of the corridor. Seeing it empty he moved back up the corridor, finding Jakkar listening at one of the remaining doors. Motioning that he couldn't hear anything Jakkar moved away and quickly healed Dell even as the young gnome unlocked and opened the door. The sword strike he received cut deep and he threw himself down the corridor as Torban threw himself into the room beyond, taking on both the bandits within. As Jakkar managed to place a few well aimed shots past Torban, the dwarf was sent to his knees by a crippling blow. Anger turned to thunderous energy and the bandit who had hit him slammed back into the wall dead, burnt hair from the lightning blast smoking from his scalp.
The sound of the locked door at the end of the corridor being wrenched open turned the rest of the party's heads just as a hail of magical energies burst into the corridor and slammed into Solstice. As another heavily armed bandit began to trade blows with the bear a gutteral voice, unmistakably Drow said "Ah, it appears to be one of Fieryan's little whelps". Dell lunged into the bandit captain, then realised that he was on the opposite side of the man to all his friends, with only a short length of corridor and a window for company. Torban continued to fight for his life in the adjoining room as a Tiefling and a Drow stepped into the corridor and hurled blasts of energy at Solstice. Jakkar and Art tried in vain to shoot past the huge form of Solstice before Jakkar abandoned his bow and threw himself down the corridor towards the bandit captain, landing devastating blows before himself being hurled backwards unconscious by a combined blast of flaming rays and bolts of magic from both Drow and Tiefling. Art ran to his side and pushed a goodberry into his mouth and then stood over her friend and hurled three bolts of flaming energy into their three assailants. The drow recoiled in pain as the bodkin Dell shot into him buried itself deep, his look of pain and anger forcing the young gnome to hurl himself out of the window and hold on by his finger tips. Sensing his friends being pushed back down the corridor Torban shifted position and loosed off a thunderous blast, managing to hit both the bandit assailing him and the tiefling in the corridor. A sudden beam of moon light in the otherwise dim corridor seemed to burn the flesh from the bandit captain and he fell to ground dead. Dell vaulted back through the window, charging towards the drow wizard, just as Jakkar knelt up and loosed two arrows down the narrow corridor. Though badly injured, his aim was still true, his arrows taking both the tiefling and their ultimate quarry, Omanan Zoland, in the throats. Jumping over the now downed wizards, Dell threw himself into the nearby room just in time to save his friend Torban and slay the final bandit.
An eirie calm swept over the corridor, the last dying gasps of the bandits fading to stillness. The party looked to one another, realising how close they'd come to not making it out alive, Jakkar's near fatal encounter with the wizards forefront. Slowly regaining composure, the party set about searching the wizard's quarters, opening chests and satchels. A dull glow in the fireplace indicated that something had been burnt there very recently, the remains now unrecoverable. Unearthing a large amount of coin, there were also some scrolls, potions and a jet black ring. Taking caution to make sure it wasn't the same as the cursed ring in their possession, the party were happy to realise that it was not and swiftly pocketed it.
Shouts of alarm, dismay and anger echoed up to them and they returned downstairs to find Sergeant Drammon remonstrating with a growing crowd. As his men held people back he quickly talked to the party and explained that the owner of the tavern, whilst possibly complicit in the gang's activities was stirring up anger at the damage done to his tavern, but worse, the party had injured some bystanders. Thinking quickly, Torban addressed the tavern owner and the crowd, urging calm and swiftly handing out parcels of coin from the gang's loot. Granting the tavern owner thirty gold pieces soon bought his silence in the matter and a huge bag of silver for the injured patrons equally assuaged their hurt.
Assured by Drammon that he and his militia could deal with any further clearup and thanking them for doing what he had been unable to, the party wearily began to trudge back across town towards Gorvan's. Even though the sun was yet to reach noon, the party felt exhausted and knew it would take a few days to fully heal from their battle...
As they approached Gorvan's warehouse Solstice seemed to stiffen. Sensing this the party looked towards the building and saw Gorvan speaking to Cathall. Getting closer Solstice felt the eyes of her father on her, surveying her battle torn state, his discomfort obvious but strangely not the sense of disapproval Solstice had expected. Mistaking Cathall's mood for something unsupportive, Torban loudly announced how Solstice had been responsible for the deaths of many of the bandits and praised her combat prowess. This only seemed to discomfit Cathall further. Torban took Gorvan to one side and asked if he could get word to Mara that the threat of the bandits had been dealt with. Gorvan happily said that he would. Cathall sought permission from Gorvan to use his house for a meeting with the group and then led the group back to the townhouse. As he walked he gently spoke to Solstice, telling her awkwardly how proud he was of how she had grown. Silence followed as they approached Gorvan's home. Once in the more familiar surroundings and the gentle clutches of Gorvan's housekeeper who insisted on presenting them with ample food, and repeated attempts to clean their wounds, Cathall settled and began to carefully relate the story of the Order of the Martyred King to them. Formed in the years after the Summoning, the order was charged to hunt down relics and artefacts associated with Kadaris. The years had not been kind to the order, the three centuries since the Summoning had seen the numbers in the order shrink, but he, Carfaren and Solstice's own mentor Fieryan were all part of the order. This was why Cathall had been so against Fieryan's involvement with Solstice. He had not wanted the life of the order for his daughters, but he now saw that Solstice's abilities seemed to exceed any expectations he may have had and his own seemingly meagre abilities.
When asked the purpose of the cursed stones Cathall admitted he had no idea what their intended destination was or why they would be going there, but he was certain that they should be taken somewhere safe. It was at this point he told the party of the Aedon Hold, a small fortress maintained by the order to the north of Darabin, for the purpose of storing and hopefully destroying artefacts associated with Kadaris. The ensuing discussion went back and forth until the party agreed to take the stones to the Aedon Hold. Solstice asked her father to provide them with supplies for the journey and to send word to the fort ahead of them. Cathall said that he would inquire to the master of the order about supplies but that any word sent to the fort would likely arrive after them anyway, so he would get the master of the order to provide a letter to them to prove who they were. As he went to take his leave Cathall turned to Solstice and asked if she would come back to her childhood home for a while to see her mother and have tea. Solstice said she would consider coming if there was time before they left.
The next day was taken up with tending to wounds, mending armour, honing weapons and taking stock of the ammunition they had expended in their recent fight. Artasia spent time identifying the properties of the black ring they had taken from Omanon and found it was a ring of resistance against the necrotic arts. The additional items they had found were some scrolls, one of which Torban took to study and some 'cast off' armour of chain, the buckles and straps on it specially arranged to allow the armour to be donned or doffed with rapidity. Seeing that they needed more arrows and bolts for their weapons, Dell and Jakkar visited Greln at the Nodding Boar and bought more arrows from him, including the last of his bodkins. Solstice and Torban were directed to a dwarven blacksmith named Beldan, who pondered Solstice's request for studded leather armour without metal studs and advised her that she would need to find some suitable hide or dragon scale for him to use. Solstice silently rebuked herself for having been so eager to sell the dragon parts they'd previously obtained. Torban however found two sets of plate mail in the armoury to catch his eye and was easily convinced to part with the nearly 3000 gold pieces and part exchange many of the party's captured weapons in return for a finely made set of dwarven plate mail.
Meeting back up at the Majestic Table the group heading inside to an enthusiatic welcome from Velack Traine, the elven owner of the shop, who was evidently very pleased with the demise of the gangsters. As the party sought more items for their journey Velack was able to find them a potion of sleep and some potions of healing. It was only when Torban asked him to examine the spell focuii they had obtained from the teiflings in the market that they stumbled on a stroke of luck. Recognising the jewels on the necklaces as cheap paste facsimilies and the work of Ogtan, who he cursed mightily under his breath, Velack took the jewels to his counter and hit them with both with a hammer. As he returned to the group, palms open, the glint of diamonds shone through the paste dust. The small quantity of hidden diamonds was gratefully taken by Torban.
Their final destination before leaving the town was the militia barracks. Sergeant Dramman was delighted to see the little group and offered them drinks and his agreement to step up patrols of the local areas for any suspicious gatherings of people or strange cargos. Inquiring after the tiefling prisoner they had taken the Sergeant agreed to let them see her and apologised that some of his men had been over exuberant in their questioning of her. Taken to see her Torban used some healing magics to ease her pain a little, her bruises fading a little, and offered his condolences for the loss of her fellow tieflings in the market and the tavern. In return she told them she knew nothing of Kadaris and would want nothing to do with something associated with the dark one. She told of how Omanon had hired her and her bandit fellows while they were plying their trade in the lands of the Brandug to the south. Together they had moved north, seemingly with the purpose of coming to Tagarten, though the specific purpose Omanon was working towards was a mystery to her. She related that Omanon would receive letters sometimes, but would burn them without her being able to read them, though when drunk he sometimes said that they did everything "For the blood and the blade" and some sort of 'order' but she shook her head when asked if she knew anything more than that of the order, but knew that Omanon held ill will towards it. Torban thanked her for her help and promised to speak to the Sergeant on her behalf. She merely laughed and said she regretted that any word he put in would likely fall on deaf ears due to her many crimes. Torban admitted that this was probably true, but said he would try anyway. Returning to the sergeant Torban was as good as his word and appealed for some level of clemency. Sergeant Dramman promised to do what he could.
Deciding to leave the city as soon as possible and head to the Aedon Hold, the party prepared the wagons and their belongings as Solstice visited her family and spoke to Cathall once again, telling him of the gangster's interest in the Order of the Martyred King and cautioning him to be careful. He promised to be careful and keep the family safe. Solstice finally showed him the symbol of the blood drop and rapier they had obtained some time ago. Taking a hasty rubbing of it, Cathall promised to inquire with the master of the order if it was familiar to anyone.
Returning to Gorvan's, Solstice mounted the wagons with the rest of her companions and they set off towards the Giggling Goblin once again, feeling strangely renewed and refreshed...