Not everyone likes this sort of woolgathering and thought process but I find it to be an integral part of the game and helps shape the party members and how they interact with one another.
Write up follows:
While looking through the charnel house that the basement entrance room had become, the group then turned their attention to the three doors on the south wall. We know there were “persons” behind at least 2 of them, and the thought went to setting them free or not. There was much spirited conversation before we at concussed that we should at least look – and then go to the vault upstairs and use the key we got of Ixitch to check the safe.
Barb was the primary speaker and we learned that there was a figure in there, Abarin Codsdottr, we was at the mercy of Ixitch and Malven “The Keeper” (The necromancer) who she referred to as master. She was terrified and kept her eyes closed on command. The room was a seraglio with cushions and bedding and pillows. Three stout 4 poster beds were here, one with a half orc girl in her early 20’s badly scarred and beaten, sporting burns and chained to the wall by manacles and a set of neck chains.
The next bed a catatonic dwarven female also bound but wearing a muzzle and lying in her own filth. The last was a human female dead about a week in a state of undress from torn clothing.
Crap.
After getting Abarin to understand we’d be back in a minute the party discussed feverishly the need to NOT leave these women behind. Brading was firm that they were ALL coming, Barb wanted to save Abarin, and Darius wasn’t sure about the dwarf being catatonic and moaning. We have to go and leave, and its 9 hours or so to the woodcutter’s cottage, and then what? Drag them with us? Where do we bring them?
These were real concerns but Brading was firm that it was the right thing to do. We tried to put a blindfold over the dwarf’s eyes but she was keening and screaming terribly so we stopped. Abarin said she’d been here 7 months or so and was from Stivil, her father was Cods Smithson. The dwarf was named Gersy and had been here about 3 or months and the reason she was screwed up was she had been forcibly taken and raped by The Keeper’s ghouls during the New Year’s Eve celebration.
Ugh, fucking shit.
Ok. We had Shim Ray of Frost both sets of Abarin’s chains and then smashed them from the wall. Her job was to calm Gersy down and we’d be back in an hour or less. We left there and discussed the problems ahead of us at length until we arrived at the vault. We opened the secret door and then noted that much of the tradesgoods had been taken – as well as the horse from the shed! Most likely Gerry Rockbottom.
But the safe was still closed so Will Murder used Ixitch’s key to open the lock…and succeeded! It was filled with thousands and thousands of copper commons as well as a smattering of nobles, bits, and even crowns. There were two bags with some fancy stones within. We guessed over 150 lbs of coin so we divvied it up amongst everyone and then trooped back down to the basement.
The thought was that we were most likely running against the clock before someone from Paxian would be showing up and we wanted to be very gone from here before then. So we went back to Abarin and Gersy who was much better. Gersy was staring at Brading, the only other dwarf in the group and was crying. Brading called to Heimdall, begging for Virtue for her and she sighed and then passed out.
We freed the two of them and went out to the basement and then main entrance hall upstairs. Meanwhile, the last room had a male figure in it calling out. Rygar Halfman. Darius freed him, a mostly orcish (small bit of human) young man of about 14 or so, badly beaten with rope scars around his neck. Said he started out as a linkboy and valet in training for Ixitch before Nardolen the druid took a fancy to him and used him often for her depravity – been here about a year and a half.
We all got upstairs, then outfitted everyone with the bug out bags, some spears and helms, made sure to all be ready. Shim had everyone get together and then hit the entirety of us with a prestidigitation spell, cleaning everyone – which we needed. So it was by 2 that we left Ixitch’ Manorhouse behind and made our way north and west, back to the Hills and hopefully to the Bloodtusk Hobgoblin camp.
It took us the better part of 4 hours to get there and Will Murder spoke of our efforts and the passing of Bad Tom and Elsa Ire. Meanwhile Abarin, Gersy, and Rygar were going to be an issue for us. Rygar had some sort of serious training from what we can tell and Gersy had the Nightengale effect on Brading.
We slept well and the next day we left and continued on our way to the place marked on the map where Ixitch and Big GO would meet up at neutral location – hoping to find something that would lead us back to Big GO. Will Murder took a bag of coin as his share for the efforts at Ixitch’s stronghold and from the many thousands left, Darius put a decent handful of coins in Rygar’s pouch and told him his charge was to take the 2 women safely to Stivil and make sure they were reunited with Abarin’s father.
He wanted to meet up with Darius after but Darius played is close to the chest. Meanwhile Barb did the same with Abarin, giving the half-orcish girl a stipend of coins and telling her to go home and take care of Gersy who would need it.
By this time we had gotten to the barrier between Canaslan and the rest of Rand and there was 5 inches of snow beyond the border. So we made sure we were well covered and then stepped out – and it was cold – maybe mid 20’s, biting wind. We trudged on, Eoghan and Barb guiding us through the snow for hours and hours until we passed the highway on the map between Erylond and Falcor’s Rise – and it was about a half mile before we arrived at the spot on the map.
We gave Rygar our best, Darius gave him the Cat Pillow he had been carrying from home from his mother’s living room as a token for him to remember the group, made sure they were gone, and then approached the house with care. Tall A’Frame style woodcutter’s cottage with an attached stables that would house 2 steeds. No smoke from the chimneys, shutters tight.
We approached from the east to minimize being seen. No one had been here recently and the wood bid outside had barely a day and a half of wood in it. All was locked up tight. Door was Ironwood, shutters were reinforced – not typical. We lifted Shim to look through the soffits on the stables and he saw some owl sign – two stalls, 3 bales of hay, pretty clean, 1 saddle and nothing else.
As for the house, no one had been here for a week plus so we used Ixitch’s key – and damn if it didn’t open the door! Woodcutter’s cottage had no root cellar, all joints and boards were flush and tight, 1 main room with a loft. Loft had some boxes but were empty although one had coins at some point in it. Kitchen had no food but 4 bottles of Forgewhiskey and a stoneware jar of Stonepiss Beer – seating for 6 – bowls and mugs were simple wood.
The fireplace had two piles of wood nearby, one with red waxy coating, the other blue. Shim began scraping the wax off one of the logs and the spell on it flared, filling the room with BRIGHT red light blinding three of us, before a blazing rune appears in the air and broke apart.What the hell? Signal logs? Since the rune never left the room, we guessed we were ok. We were going to stay here tonight, light a fire and toss a signal log in it, hopefully attract the Big GO and then retreat to Falcor’s Rise for a few days, returning where we would rely on Barb and Eoghan to follow the tracks back to wherever Big GO was.
The next morning, Deathmonth the 7th, was crisp and cool and we threw a blue log on the fire while Darius and Eoghan went outside to see which way the rune flashed off to the west – and the flash blinded Eoghan again. Lol.We left the cottage, locked it up, covered our tracks and made our way back to the Highway and then Northeast another 3 hours to Falcor’s Rise. A walled city deep in the original Randari territory, they subsist on trades with various Randari semi-nomadic tribes and take a dim view to fighting inside the town with most fines being 5 commons first offense and then expulsion afterwards.
We had a rough time getting in since Eoghan’s wolf was not trained and barely followed his commands, struggling to even sit when prompted. Eventually it required leashes, collars, and even a muzzle which Barb was willing to help with even though the animal almost snapped at her. Once done we made our way through the gates and entered Falcor’s Rise.
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