The Westerlands

Session 9: The Road to Riverbend
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Where we left off…

Our heroes have successfully defeated the bandits who were plaguing the trade road between Stillford and Riverbend. In doing so, they also rescued the missing members of the Bridgefort garrison and have retrieved an interesting box of gears addressed to one, Ipswitch Cogsworth in Riverbend.

Recap

The party sets out with their new member, Daethin Moonshadow leading the way, his keen ranger eyes scouring the horizon for danger. Each member of the group takes up their usual flanking positions around Hof’s wagon. As they travel, the land changes gradually from the rugged canyon lands around the fort to tilled farmlands of gentler contours.

As the party makes their way past fields planted with spring crops, the ground beneath them suddenly begins to shake. Looking about they do not see the cause of the tremors until it bursts up from the soil beneath their feet. A pair of young ankhegs blast up out of the ground, hoping for an easy meal. Unfortunately, the giant insects picked the wrong prey. Unlike wandering cattle, our heroes are equipped to fight back. After a brief skirmish with the ankhegs and a couple minor burns from their acidic saliva, the group is once again on its way.

Soon, the great Aeluhar River appears in the distance, unwinding like a great blue ribbon, and the path ahead leads straight towards a city on its banks, dominated by the massive towers flanking Riverbend’s locks. The city is a noisy boomtown, overgrowing its borders. Achelus Azuri, the Waykeeper of Riverbend has ordered a number of public works projects designed to improve access to the city. The party enters the town by the bridge below the locks and looks to the east, where a matching span is under construction on the locks upper end.

As Hof pulls into the docks district, the party meets briefly with the permitting office to square away the hand off of Rhys’ goods. The clerk at the office informs them that they were expected some time ago, and that the river captain who has been awaiting their arrival has grown quite impatient. After arranging temporary storage for the cargo, the group heads to the docks, where they meet a man who looks remarkably like Rhys, but thinner and with a much more neatly kept beard. He introduces himself as Rhys’ brother, the captain of the vessel which will take the goods down river. Having successfully completed their escort mission, he pays the party, and they head into town to find an inn.

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Session 8: Bandit Camp Resolution
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Where we left off…

The party has just defeated Alexei, the undead leader of the bandits who have been plaguing the road to Riverbend. After defeating the bandit leader, they successfully broke into the bandits’ strongroom before barricading themselves in Alexei’s chambers for the night.

Recap

Personal Spoils

Our heroes come across a number of interesting items among the contents of the bandits’ strongroom. Included in the riddled chest is a box of gears and other mechanical bits addressed to Ipswitch Cogsworth in Riverbend. The other crates contain mostly trade goods with a few valuables thrown into the mix.

Lanna takes the bandit leader’s flaming longsword for her own, and the group peruses his journal, which appears to chronicle a journey from Westholt in Cydon, where he was a soldier. As Alexei traveled, he slowly gave in to madness, and eventually undeath.

Wakeup call!

The party is awoken unpleasantly as their hobgoblin prisoner enters the room through a secret door, backed by several human bandits. At the same time, several other bandits begin to break in the main door to the chamber where the party is held up. Our heroes divide their attention between the two groups of invaders, and after a brief, but intense battle manage to first dispatch the hobgoblin and his minions, followed by the bandits pushing over the barricade.

The last of the bandits to fall is a spellcaster, who wears an unusual pair of black gloves. Later investigation reveals them as Gloves of the Starry Sky, which Rayne can use to convert spell energy into magic bolts of force.

Retrieving the Guard

The party decides to follow the now-revealed secret entrance, which leads up to cave containing a wagon and several cages. Within the cages, are a number of prisoners, including the members of the Bridgefort garrison, who the party was originally sent to find.

After freeing the prisoners, the group piles the injured into the wagon along with the crates of goods retrieved from the bandit lair and hitches it to Lanna’s “rented” pack horse. They then set out along the trail back to Bridgefort, arriving without incident later that evening.

Captain Tiberius is pleased to see his men returned relatively unharmed, and after dispatching them to the infirmary, thanks the group of adventurers for their deed, well done. After debriefing the captain on the mission, the party retires to the dining hall, where over several ales, Daethin agrees to join with the group on their travels.

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Session 6: Infiltration
You like dags?

Day 7: Mar-20, Thieve’s Camp Exterior

Having successfully secured the exterior of the bandits’ encampment, the heroes bound their surviving hobgoblin captive before depositing him unceremoniously in one of the tents while they decided his fate. Kit and Eleanor wished to interrogate the prisoner and hopefully bring him to justice at the hands of the local authorities. Daethin recommended offering the hobgoblin the choice of immediate execution or release (stripped of all gear) on the condition that he provide the group with information on the remaining foes. Rua’Lanna found herself struggling with one of the classic paladin dilemmas… (The most famous being whether to gloriously charge the red dragon and almost certain death head-on, or to provide pragmatic leadership as part of a better thought out strategy) to reconcile her righteous hatred of all things evil with her code of honor forbidding the summary execution of helpless opponents.

While the rest of the group debated their captive’s fate, Kit snuck into the tent to attempt an interrogation. While she managed to significantly improve the hobgoblin’s attitude, she was unable to pry any useful information out of him. A subsequent attempt by Eleanor and Rua’Lanna met with even less success. In the interest of time, the party decided to leave the captive bound in the tent while they moved in to clear the rest of the stone ruin. So, placing any potentially dangerous or valuable objects in Daethin’s bag of holding, the party made their way inside.

The interior of the crumbling ruin was devoid of furniture. However, the building was obviously still occupied. The party determined that the barking they had heard during their previous battle originated in one of the interior rooms of the building. Attempting to determine the nature of the canines making the racket, the party attempted to peek cautiously into the next room. As soon as they cracked the door, however, the obviously hostile pooches forced them to immediately close it again.

As the group debated the best way to clear the guard dogs from the next room, a bandit unleashed the hounds so that they could deal with the focus of their attention. The dogs rushed around the exterior of the building to attack the party through the open front door. Once the group turned to face the pooches, their master then burst into the room to attack from behind. Fortunately, a well-placed color spray from Rayne and some excellent swordplay made short work of the dogs and their master.

Upon entering the room serving as the dogs’ kennel, the party saw an example of their opponents’ brutal nature. The room was full of bones and partially devoured carcasses in various stages of putrification. Daethin was able to determine that the bandits likely disposed of any meat-like products (including humanoid victims) by feeding them to the dogs.

In the room beyond the dogs’ lair, the adventurers discovered an open trap door and set of stairs leading down. Following the stairs, they found themselves in a basement filled with equipment and the bandits’ spoils.

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Session 5: Sneaky, Sneaky...

Day 6: 3/19, Turimor Hills

Having made their way to the bandit stronghold, our heroes decided to retreat to a sheltered location to plan and prepare. Daethin sniffed out an offshoot of the canyon where the group could set up camp and wait for cover of darkness. The party set up camp and took 8 hours to rest before beginning their infiltration.

At about 12:30 that night, the companions returned to within sight of the gate. After some deliberation on how to procede, Daethin and Kit once again scouted ahead. Under the cover of darkness, Kit was able to approach to within easy bowshot of the tower guard. She made effective use of one of the makeshift sleep bolts, given to her by the pixie, Mustardseed.

Daethin and Kit were then able to approach the gate and quickly neutralized the other guard who was warming himself by a campfire. Once both sentries were out of commision, the two advance scouts returned to the others in preparation for the next step.

Beyond the pallisade, the adventurers discovered a box canyon occupied by a low, stone ruin. An expanse of open field stood between the party and the crumbling outer wall of the structure.

Once again, Kit and Daethin scouted ahead. Beyond the ruined wall, they discovered a cluster of large hide tents surrounding another campfire where several human bandits and a pair of brutish looking hobgoblins were warming themselves.

The heroes decided to turn the tables on the unsuspecting brigands. They established a perimiter around a gap in the wall, which made an ideal choke point. Daethin and Kit spread caltrops around the edges of the gap and Rayne readied a Caltrop spell to fill the remainder when the enemy approached. Daethin then backed away from the wall and called out, questioning the hobgoblins’ machismo in order to provoke a reaction.

The tactic worked like a charm. One of the hobgoblins and a bandit quickly rose to investigate. When the hobgoblin spotted the smirking elf, Daethin beyond the wall, he attempted to close to melee range. Unfortunately for him, Rayne’s Caltrop spell hit the mark and the brute stopped short as he came up lame. Rua’Lanna immediately followed-up by rushing in and rending the hobgoblin to within an inch of his life with her mighty longsword.

Having made their presence known, the companions engaged the enemy wholeheartedly. Rayne let loose with a couple wildly aimed bursts of her newly learned acid arrows. Unfortunately, they did more damage to the already ruined building than to her intended target.

Feeling the glorious rush of victory in her veins, Rua’Lanna charged headlong into the fray, only to trip over one of the lines supporting the tents, which caused her to fall on her face. Rushing to her friend’s aid, Eleanor closed with the enemy brandishing her silver morningstar. Meanwhile, Kit crept around the far edge of the outer wall, hoping to find the opportunity to use her sneak attack.

Rua’Lanna’s reckless charge had apparently alerted the occupants of the tent over which she tripped. At the very least, it convinced them to come join the fun. Two more hobgoblins burst out of the tent and immediately went after Eleanor and the downed Lanna. However, Eleanor was not easily subdued and she made quick work of one of the hobgoblins, splattering his cranial matter all over the outside of the tent with her trusty morningstar.

Daethin and Rayne had also joined the party at this point. The former loosed his arrows with blinding speed and devastating results. Rayne, in turn, once again cooked up a bandit flambe with her Flame Ray.

However, the battle was not finished just yet. As Eleanor laid low one of the hobgoblins, a bigger, meaner brute stormed out of one of the other tents weilding a massive two-handed axe. Thinking quickly, Eleanor once again made deft use of a Hold Spell, stopping the beast in its tracks and allowing Daethin and Lanna to swiftly remove him from the picture. Rather than eliminating him completely, the heroes managed to subdue the axe-weilding hobgoblin allowing them to bind him for future transport and questioning.

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Session 4: Bandits!
Out of the ambushes, comes an elf!

Day 5, 3/19, Forest’s Edge: The party set out in the morning from the town of Forest’s Edge. The wooded countryside soon gave way to rugged hills and canyonlands. The road followed alongside the Amber Rush, which dropped away into a gorge carved away by years of erosion. The group passed the ruined keep of Rushwatch, which marked the northernmost end of the canyon known as Aelric’s Gap. Hemmed in by a cliff on one side and a precipitous drop on the other, the escorts kept a keen eye out for potential ambush.

As the party rounded a bend in the road, they noticed a wagon blocking the trail ahead. Suddenly, several arrows thunked into Hof’s ox cart, catching the group by surprise! The bandits had taken positions on the cliff-top and behind the cover of the blocking wagon. Dropping his whip, Hof took up his bow and quickly dispatched one of the ambushers.

The party engaged their adversaries with ranged weapons and spells. Eleanor Daystar managed to eliminate the other cliff-top sniper by combining a magically-summoned weapon with a well-placed Hold spell. She then coerced one of the remaining bandits from behind the barricade using Command. The unfortunate brigand snapped out of the enchantment just in time to meet his end on Rua’Lanna’s sword. Having lost all but one of his companions, the final bandit fled into the hills to the south.

After a cursory search of the corpses, the group cleared the roadblock over the edge of the gorge and piled the corpses onto the back of the wagon for delivery to the proper authorities. They then continued down the road until they arrived at the outpost keep, Bridgefort.

The travelers were greeted by the fort’s chamberlain, Content Not Found: Wadsworth, who ordered the bodies taken to [[:Brother Matthias]] and who notified the fort’s captain, Content Not Found: Tiberius-npc of the group’s arrival. Tiberius met with the group later that evening, at which time, they were introduced to a young, elven ranger named Daethin Moonshadow. Tiberius informed the heroes that Brother Matthias had recovered a map from one of the bodies, which he surmised led to the bandit’s holdout. He requested the group’s assistance in eliminating the threat and informed that a portion of his garrison had recently been captured while on patrol. His reduced numbers prevented him from taking care of the situation himself.

The party informed Tiberius that they would have to consult with Hof, as they did have a timeline to keep. Upon speaking with the driver, they managed to convince him that a safe passage was more important than a timely one. With Hof’s approval, the group restocked their ammunition from the keep’s armory in preparation for the mission ahead. Before bedding down for the night, Rua’Lanna used her “feminine powers of persuasion” in order to secure a pack-horse to transport the party’s gear in the morning.

Day 6, 3/20, Bridgefort: The expanded party set out early the next morning. They left Hof and the wagon behind at the fort and back-tracked to the site of the previous day’s ambush before heading into the hills, following the trail left by the fleeing bandit.

Around mid-morning, the heroes were once again ambushed by a group of bandits. The enemy lept from behind boulders and low-lying scrub. The more lightly-armored bandits fired at the group from a distance, while several thugs, armed with longswords charged the surprised adventurers.

Daethin was injured early on before taking refuge behind his wolf, Scar. The ranger’s animal companion made effective use of his trip attack, allowing Kit to move in with a sneak attack. Rayne finally had the opportunity to unleash her Flame Ray, as she barbecued one of the bandits where he stood. Meanwhile, Eleanor utilized a different kind of magic, summoning a giant celestial bee to harrass the bandits with its sting. Once again, the bandits were no match for the heroes and the survivors soon fled the scene. One of the fleeing brigands was brought down by Rua’Lanna’s longbow, while the other was spurred onward with a jab from behind delivered by the summoned bee.

Aided by a fresh set of tracks, the companions continued toward the base of the lone mountain looming on the horizon. By mid-afternoon, the surrounding hills had grown steeper. The trail led into the narrow confines of a rocky canyon. Kit and Daethin took point, scouting ahead in order to prevent yet another ambush. Then, upon rounding a bend in the trail, the two scouts spotted a wooden pallisade barring the path. A rough guard tower peered over the top of the wall where a bandit sentry kept watch. The heroes had found the bandit’s nest at last!

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Session 3 Recap:
The Road is a B.I.H.

Day 3, Mar-17, Stillford

4:00PM After making arrangements to have Robert’s final work displayed over his favorite seat in the Sleeping Goose, the group headed over to the festival to purchase supplies for their journey before turning in for the night.

Day 4, Mar-18, Farm-to-Market Road

8:30AM The group set out toward Riverbend with Hof and the wagon. The weather was brisk and typical of this time of year. After a couple hours of travel, the group spotted a pair of harnessed cart horses standing by the side of the road and, further on, a wagon lying partially in the roadside ditch. When the party investigated the crash, they discovered a pair of imps harrassing a young wizard imprisoned in a cage.

The party confronted the imps who put up a strong fight. Eleanor was poisoned in they fray, but the heroes eventually managed to destroy one of the imps and drive off the other. Upon freeing the mage, who introduced himself as Aloitius of Balthazar’s Emporium of Arcane Accoutrement, the party learned that he had been fleeing from bandits who had accosted him in the Streamwood. While careening down the road, Aloitius had lost control of his wagon and crashed into the ditch. He suspected that the collision caused some of the magic items to misfire, resulting in the unexpected summoning of the imps. He thanked the party for their assistance and promised them a friends and family discount should he ever run into them at a B.E.A.A.

Continuing along the road, the group reached the edge of the Streamwood without further incident. The ancient forest was bathed in a lush green light as the sun filtered through the dense canopy. The road behind soon disappeared among the twisted sentinels of the ancient trees.

In the midst of the forest gloom, the heroes were stopped short by a booming voice, which called for them to halt and pay a toll. A shadowy, cloaked figure stepped out from between two large trees beside the road and blocked the way ahead. The brigand identified himself as, the Mighty Mustardo, Bandit Lord of the Forest.

Suspecting that things were not as they seemed, the heroes chose to speak with the figure, offering him praise and enquiring as to what sort of tribute would appease him. The figure’s request for the ordinary-seeming signet won by Kit in the bar brawl back in Stillford further deepened the groups’ suspiscions.

Eleanor, ever the wise cleric, noticed that Mustardo’s responses to questions seemed a bit delayed and that before he spoke or moved, a ripple of light would occasionally play across his figure. Deciding to take a chance, she called out the illusion for what it was.

Upon being called out, Mustardo decided that he was dealing with a higher caliber of travelers and decided to reveal his true nature. The illusory image vanished and a small, gossamer-winged fey appeared sitting on a branch over the road. The pixie introduced himself as Mustardseed. As the party talked with the puckish sprite, they discovered that he had developed an insatiable desire for glittering trinkets and all things shiny.

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Session 2 Recap:
The Cure

Day 2, Mar-16, Sleeping Bear Trail

2:30PM After dispatching the monstrous spider, the party cleared the remainder of the webs from inside the cabin, hoping to find some trace of Fritz. Unfortunately, the only person they find is the dessicated corpse of the cabin’s former resident, a reclusive artist named Robert. Along with Robert’s body, the group uncovered some coins, the artist’s final painting along with his artisan’s tools and a scroll of Charm Monster. The group packed up the scroll and the coins, but left the rest to collect on the trip back.

3:30PM As the group continued toward the lake, they entered a clearing full of berry bushes where a hungry black bear was grazing and blocking the path. Rayne smartly suggested that the party bang on their shields, shout and try to look big in order to drive the bear off. Their combined efforts to intimidate the beast convinced it to seek quieter forage away from the trail.

5:00PM At last, the party reached Sleeping Bear lake and spied the cave that was supposed to contain the moss they seek. After Kit’s calls hoping to draw out Fritz raised no answer, the party decided to venture cautiously into the cave. Scouting ahead, Kit discovered that what appeared to be a forked passage was in-fact a massive pillar just inside the cave mouth. As Kit rounded the pillar, she discovered an ogre, waiting in ambush for the party to come around the pillar in the opposite direction.

After a quick withdrawal to warn the group of the ambush, kit snuck back in and attempted to backstab the waiting beast. Unfortunately, the ogre’s hide armor was too thick for Kit’s rapier and the strike went astray. Fortunately, her cry quickly brought the others to her side. A blast of Flame Ray from Rayne and some swipes from Rua’Lanna’s longsword were followed up as kit ran the ogre through from behind. Rua’Lanna suffered a pretty hefty blow from the ogre’s greatclub, but the adventurers were ultimately victorious.

After the battle, the party discovered the body of Fritz along with a cloak of resistance, silver morningstar, hunting horn and a semi-precious quartz piled in with the remains of the ogre’s victims. The party collected the moss they were sent to find and then gave Fritz a proper burial in the custom of Ehlonna. Once Fritz was put to rest, the party set up camp for the evening.

Day 3, Mar-17, Sleeping Bear Trail to Stillford

8:00AM The party set out in the morning to return to Stillford. They stopped briefly at the artist’s cabin to collect his last work and continued towards town. The group was temporarily delayed at the stream-crossing when they stumbled upon a pair of orcs, most likely looking for easy prey. The group dispatched the orcs quickly from a distance before continuing the rest of the way to town uninterrupted.

2:00PM The group arrived back in Stillford. They delivered the silkmoss to Eilnys at the shrine. They informed Eilnys of the tragic end of Fritz, the Errandboy and of their discovery of Robert, the Artist’s death by spider. Eilnys thanked them for seeing to the proper burial of Fritz and informed them that the ox should be ready to travel in the morning.

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Session 1 Recap:
The Job

Day 1, Mar-15, Stillford

The adventure began in the Sleeping Goose Tavern in the town of Stillford. The spring festival is in full swing after a harsh winter. There are rumors of bandits on the road and extra hungry animals in the woods.

10PM: Defeated Bors and Jax and their friend in the Sleeping Goose after they accosted the waitress, Phoebe. Fortunately, they were let off the hook because she was Silas, the constable’s sister. Their adversary’s unnamed friend ran off. Jax was knocked out by a color spray from Rayne and Bors was severely injured by Rua.

After the fight, the heroes spoke with the well-dressed stranger in the corner. The stranger introduced himself as Rhys. He hired the group to escort a wagon of ale to the town of riverbend, paying them 200g and promising a potential bonus at the completion of the mission. The heroes first had to look into his sick ox.

Day 2, Mar-16, Stillford to Sleeping Bear Trail

8:30AMThe heroes visited the village shrine and met the priestess. She told them that she was missing an ingredient for healing the ox. She had sent a local boy, Fritz to fetch the ingredient, which she identified as silkmoss. She told the group that it is white, stringy and grows in caves by Sleeping Bear Lake. The priestess gave the heroes 2 potions of cure mod wounds.

The group told Rhys they were headed to fetch the ingrediant and that they would return by the following evening.

11:30AM The heroes set off along the Sleeping Bear trail.

1PM They successfully crossed a river with a washed out bridge by enlarging Eleanor and having her carry the heroes and their gear across.

1:30PM The heroes encountered a rat swarm. They bypassed it by throwing Rua’s rations for the day into the woods beside the trail as a distraction.

2:30 The heroes came across a cabin in the woods. After observing the cabin from the outside, they determined that it was infested with spiders. They built a fire by the front door to smoke them out. Upon opening the door, two swarms of spiders spilled out of the building. 1 came out the front and attacked the heroes while the other spilled out the chimney and disappeared over the back of the building. The heroes entered the house, carefully clearing the webs as they went. After clearing approximately half the cabin, they noticed a large, mama spider on the wall above the chimney. Session 1 ends as a cliffhanger.

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Previously, in the Westerlands...

Introduction:

The Renewal Festival

You find yourselves in the village of Stillford, a small hamlet in the foothills of the Cloud Peaks. Stillford rests along Farm-to-Market road that runs from the fertile Amber valley in the North to the town of Riverbend to the Southwest.

Stillford receives its name from the Ironstone brewery that sits alongside Stillford Creek on the South edge of town. The brewery is run by the dwarf, Werias Ironstone. It has been in his family for generations.

Stillford is a small town with only the most basic of amenities. The town square is dominated by an ancient oak tree. The Sleeping Goose Inn and Tavern, the mayor’s residence, lockup and general store ring the square. A small joint shrine to Ehlonna, goddess of nature and Pelor, the sun god lies across the street. The shrine is run by Eilnys Silverhair, an elven priestess and her assistant, Mildred.

Stillford is unusually bustling at the moment. The month of Chloria (March) represents the start of spring and the reopening of the trade roads. The residents of Stillford are currently celebrating the festival of Renewal. The local Druid circle has arrived to preside over the various rites and rituals that will assure a successful planting season. At the end of the festival, the Farm to Market Road will officially open and the trade season will commence.

It is late evening and you find yourselves in the Sleeping Goose. A stooped and weathered old man stands behind the bar and a young, buxom waitress tends to the customers. Most of the patrons are local farmers, but there is also a group of caravan drivers seated by the foot of the stairs and a well-dressed, portly fellow in the corner by the fire.

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Welcome to your Adventure Log!
A blog for your campaign

Every campaign gets an Adventure Log, a blog for your adventures!

While the wiki is great for organizing your campaign world, it’s not the best way to chronicle your adventures. For that purpose, you need a blog!

The Adventure Log will allow you to chronologically order the happenings of your campaign. It serves as the record of what has passed. After each gaming session, come to the Adventure Log and write up what happened. In time, it will grow into a great story!

Best of all, each Adventure Log post is also a wiki page! You can link back and forth with your wiki, characters, and so forth as you wish.

One final tip: Before you jump in and try to write up the entire history for your campaign, take a deep breath. Rather than spending days writing and getting exhausted, I would suggest writing a quick “Story So Far” with only a summary. Then, get back to gaming! Grow your Adventure Log over time, rather than all at once.

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