Meet 7, Adv 8, 1/15/22

“So what’s the plan?” Hisvild asked, glancing at the kids and trying to ignore Ingrid’s cries on the other side of the doorway.

“That’s what we’re going to figure out,” Darius replied. The Fighter pointed to Vulwulf and said, “Want to help us spell it all out?”

“Honestly, shouldn’t we just punch something in the face?” The druid asked. “I feel that winging it and maximum violence is most likely the best direction we could go in.”

The party all disagreed. “Those that fail to plan, plan to fail.”

Shim pointed at the kids and asked, “Want me to Prestar…prestinger…prestigretche…Damn it, do the gnome snap the fingers thing to clean them?”

“You’d only get about half,” Thalin noted. “And dat would leave a big ring of dirt all over.”

“Oh for the love of Frigga,” Darius was going to drag a barrel of water over when Hisvild stopped him.

“That’s all the water we have left. And don’t take it the wrong way, but if your plan goes poorly…”

“Good guess,” Eoghan muttered.

Hisvild continued, not hearing the Ranger’s comment, “then we’re going to need that water.”

“Understood.”

“I can make more,” Vulwulf offered, and taking out a 2 gallon bucket, called on Idun to form a spring which burst from the ground, allowing the druid to fill the bucket from it three times, adding it to the water barrel, and then using the last 2 gallons to stay in the bucket. From there, soap was given out and Hisvild directed the kids to get cleaned, older kids first then the younger ones.

While all this was going on, we also cut up some cheese store we had, handing it out as everyone got clean, trying to ignore Ingrid’s fading cries on the other side of the door. From there we began to figure out a plan on getting out of here. Shim kept the kids occupied with a few games of “duck duck goose.”

Hisvild knew where the crack in the back of the wall was that went through the 10’ and emerged on the other side, but it was too small for him, in fact it was too small for 3 of the kids as well (the half-orcish kids that were about 9). Plus sending them through the crack alone and unattended to emerge in the Open Market seemed like a terrible idea. Shim volunteered to go with them, and then worked on cutting up his leather thongs into a dozen 3’ piece to help tie the other 11 kids together when he was going to take them.

Hisvild needed to lead us to the crack to show Shim where it was, so that was part of the plan. We would then most likely run back for the fence line with the Blue Flowers Orphanage and try to get a ladder from the supply shed here to cross in that way. But we’d have to hold off Stavern and the other 3 Practicals while doing so. So we were boiling the plan down, separating it into manageable pieces with which we could then make decision as we went along. Could we plan for all the variables? No, but we could try to account for the obvious ones.

The lynchpin was the first part – the blast door here in the basement. Could we open the door through a variety of spell use that Vulwulf was hoping to accomplish, and do it without setting off the alarm? Everything else came from that point – whether it was successful or not and whether it triggered the alarm or not. Shim cast Mage armor on Hisvild, the 3 kids that were going to go with him, and what he deemed the 3 kids that were going to be at the back of the “train” that he was going to lead to the wall and through it. The half-orc was doing a great job in identifying what the plan was and that we were hoping to fire it off sometime shortly after midnight.

Ingrid’s wails had devolved over time to just some low moans and whimpering gasps. When Hisvild’s alarm spell triggered 1 ping, and then a second, the group grew silent as Stavern the dwarven Practical and most likely another came down the hall and then came down the stairs. The dwarf was still hoping to entreat Hisvild to just open the door. He promised that they were going to get in some time. The Underthane was coming. His actions were needlessly hurting Ingrid and the others here. It sounded like the Practicals had hurt (not killed) others here in the Sunrise Rabbits in hopes to getting the Taskmaster to open the door.

But it was here, while he was waxing long, that Tidra grew tired of his prattling and made an offhand disparaging comment.

“Excuse me, Hisvild,” Stavern asked with measured slowness and artificial calm, “Is there someone else in there with you?”

“Umm…”

“Speak up, dear. You are there. Do you have a name?”

The party was staring at Tidra, mouths agape, eyes wide. Thalin put his head in his hands. Vulwulf was staring at his plans scratched out painstakingly in the grit on the floor and slowly wiped one foot over them, smearing them away. Darius might have been whispering, “what the fuck?”

Tidra, realizing that maybe she might have made a mistake, thought quickly and decided not to supply her real name. “Sandra,” she replied.

“Sandra, huh? Well, you got IN there, didn’t you?” There was a grunt and a wail as Ingrid was most likely lifted off the ground. “Take her away,” Stavern whispered to another Practical with him. “So it’s safe to assume you are planning on getting OUT of there, isn’t it?” He paused and then said, “Hisvild? This is on you. You better hope no kids get hurt. Because I’m going to hurt someone.” He then marched back up the stairs very fast and went somewhere, voice calling out to the other Practicals.

“Wow.” The party looked over at the Half-orc Fighter who was rubbing her chin. “Sandra, huh? She really fucked this up.”

“This is why I don’t like plans,” Vulwulf said, swinging his staff around and glancing at the blast door.

“We needed to plan,” Darius said.

“All our plans end up with, fuck it, let’s just fight,” the druid retorted.

“Not all of them,” Shim offered, bringing his line of kids together. “Besides, this is on Sandra. Let’s make sure that she’s the one to blame.”

The alarm on the door binged a few times and we heard Stavern call out, “Damn you, Hisvild! I want those kids!” We then heard a body fall and the scent of oil grew very strong. Some whimpering followed and then some crying, a fearful voice begged, “no” and then the dwarf commanded, “Light him up.”

“RRRAAAHH!!!!” someone shrieked and cried out on the other side of the door up the stairs into the Orphanage as they were set ablaze.

“This is on you!”

Eoghan had his bow out, pointing at the blast door. “No more time, Let’s go.”

“Wasn’t that one of our plans?” Shim asked

“Pretty sure setting someone on fire at the stairs didn’t make the list,” Darius commented, sling out and bullet loaded.

Hisvild unlocked the door and it sent out a chiming throughout the building, and we could hear more calls on the other side of the door as Stavern called out, “They’re making a run for it!”

The group gathered together and we could hear a Practical on the other side of the blast door calling to them. “I see what you did,” he shouted, “Chain is open! Come on!” Shim and Thalin both cast a fast spell, summoning a Barbaric Elf armed with a pair of sickles and then a troglodyte.

“Oh gods! The smell! Open the door!” Amidst the reek of vomitous decaying fish coming from the Trog, Hisvild shook his head and twisted the door open.

Tidra fired her crossbow a split instant before the Practical shot his. He took a bolt and ignored it, the Elf got knocked on his ass. And then a follow-up shot when, Tidra shooting the door and the Practical then knocking another person down.  The screaming in the Temple was heartrending as whoever it was was burned alive. And Thalin could see fire, fed by creeping oil, making its way under the door. “My friends! We need to go!”

“Roadblock here,” Darius pointed to the armored dwarf as Eoghan fired at it. Twice. Both shots having little effect. “I think we need to rethink our plan a bit,” the Fighter slung a bullet as the party made to advance. Vulwulf called to Idun to enchant his staff into a Shillelagh.

The Practical continued to shoot into the room and Shim and Hisvild kept their line of children back. The reek of the Trog was terrible and we did what we could to close to the Practical, who was methodical as he picked his targets across the room. Arrows and bolts and slings flew and his heavy plate deflected most of the possible damage aside. Shim and Thalin had their summoned monsters push closer, getting to melee range. Meanwhile the fire continued to spread, getting into the chamber. The kids were frantic and we had to dislodge the dwarf. Eoghan was shooting arrows at a terrific pace, grumbling at the dwarf’s ablative armor.

“Idun,” Vulwulf pointed back to the fire and called on his goddess, “Let’s use that to our benefit. Animate Fire!” And the flames rose up into a 4’ simulacrum of a burning version of Vulwulf. It moaned wildly and ran on tottering burning legs in the party’s direction.

“Well…that’s new!” Tidra watched it run closer, before taking aim again and firing another volley of bolts. The dwarf was getting wounded at this point and had backed up to the stairs. Swapping to his hand axe, he climbed up the stairs backwards, holding the elf and troglodyte easily at bay. Plus in his position, he held the high ground, choked the narrow exit, and prevented the group from engaging him at more than one at a time.

“We’ve got to shake him,” Darius called out, swapping places at the front door and letting sling bullets soar. “If another Practical comes, they’ll just rain crossbow bolts down on us.”

“Working on it,” Shim called out. He pointed to the Elf, “You, Get up there. Get him out of the way!” The Trog and elf were fighting up the stairs, cutting and slashing. Eoghan took advantage of the shift in battle and drew back, letting an arrow fly.

Straight into the back of the elf, punching into its head, and killing it outright (fumble, critical hit friend, triple damage, d6+1, 7 x 3 = 21 damage).

“What the fuck man!?!” Shim called out as the Practical smashed his axe down and slew the trog. The fire elemental had gotten into the fight at this point and also took an axe blow but not before singing the dwarf.

Wrapping his sling around his wrist, Darius pulled his shield into place and bitched, “I fucking HATE doing what I’m about to do.” And then he ran into the stairwell and holding the shield over his head, tried to buffet, rush, and shove his way past the dwarf. The two of the struggled in the stairwell under the billco doors and Darius could hear another Practical running up, calling out, “Hold them! Hold them!”

“Idun! Let’s raise the temperature a bit on that dwarf. Heat Metal!” Vulwulf’s spell went off and the Practical began to grunt as his armor started to grow warm, really warm.

And then hot.

“We’re not going to make it!” Darius growled as his shield was stomped upon and kicked hard. “Can’t that go any faster?”

Shim had dragged his line of kids closer and then called out another spell, shooting it into the air past the fighter and Practical. And a 280’ lb, 6’ tall, giant toad appeared, landing with a hard thud. “Grrrrooooakk!” Its tongue flashed out and wrapped around the practical, dragging him back a few feet and then bit him.

“Toad!”

Darius burst up as the other Practical arrived, shooting him at point blank before the toad turned to engage him. The heat metal was getting smoking hot and the dwarf was hurting, taking some damage. He threw himself away from the fight and rolled into the snow, making his armor hiss and pop, forcing him to constantly turn in the cold slush to avoid taking any further major damage.

We hit the stairs hard, climbing up to join the fight. Thalin called out another spell and an armored hobgoblin appeared, joining the toad in the fight against the new Practical. Eoghan kept up a withering barrage of arrow fire where he could and Tidra alternated between her dagger and crossbow. At one point she took out her rope and went to try and truss up the dwarf with the smoking armor but the two of them ended up wrestling on the ground, more hit points slowly frittering away. Vulwulf joined the melee and Darius kept moving back every couple of seconds to send another pair of sling bullets to smash against the Practical.

The one on the ground had finally dropped his hand axes and slumped over exhausted. “That’s it,” he moaned, “I’m done.” He was bleeding horribly, bruised and battered, a lesser being would have been dead and it appeared that he would be of little use in the near future. This allowed the party to redouble their efforts on the last Practical. Somewhere we suspected that the last two Practicals, Stavern and the female dwarf, had just run out the front door and were running around to try and join the fight. “Get them up here!” Thalin called down to Hisvild and Shim, the two of them herding the line of kids to the stairs and up them.

The last Practical tried hard, and Vulwulf, Tidra, and Darius were taking the brunt of the attacks after the Hobgoblin had been slain. “Hooray!” Shim called out as it ‘popped’. “I fucking hate Hobs.” But a well placed series of final sling bullets had the dwarf choking and then falling over, hands raised and signaling his defeat. “Thor’s Balls!” he swore, “there was NO way we suspected we’d have to face anything like you guys.” He looked over at the other Practical who was also trying to catch his breath, “Don’t have to like you, but you have our respect.”

“Let’s go!” Hisvild started to run the kids off and the party followed, Thalin leading with his bow out. “I’ll get you to the back wall, show you where the crack is, and then what’s the plan?”

“Shed? Ladder, maybe?” Darius pointed ahead. “Let’s go. Go people!” The party started to run off coming to the back end of the complex when the other two Practicals had finally turned the corner and yelled out for us to “Stop!” They lifted their crossbows and intended to fire. Darius pulled out the Molotov cocktail he had made from the flask of oil and looked back. “Someone light this! I’ll sling it at them!”

The party struggled to get the oil lit as they ran on, flint and steel flashing. But the Practicals did fire…and both bolts hit. Striking Vulfulf and Eoghan! The Ranger was struck full on in the chest…but the bolt only slightly penetrated his armor (Critical, triple damage…rolled a 1 x 3 = 3 damage!). “Damn I thought I was a goner!”

The oil lit and Darius at extreme 220’ range, used every trick he knew to generate range, lift, and trajectory, and let the flask of oil fly at the charging dwarves. It sailed up, tumbling end over end as it did, striking the apex before tilting over and then finally…striking Stavern in the chest and covering the dwarf in burning oil.

“Hell of a shot, kid. That was one in a million.”

“Stow it, Han,” Darius turned and ran on. “They shot first. Let’s get out of here.” They ran off into the snow after the line of kids, looking back and watching behind them as they hit the wall. Hisvild pointed out the crack (we would never have found it on our own), and it was indeed narrow and small. Shim went first, coaxing the kids to stay linked up and to follow him. He was given curt instruction to not let them out of his sight and to get them through the Bazaar and eventually to Sergeant Barrim at the Wall Guard.

“We need to go, now!” Vulwulf called back and the party then turned and ran north along the east side of the Orphanage, watching west to see if the dwarves would arrive. We were running on, Thalin taking the lead. “I’ll acid splash the front gate,” the spellsword called back. “No time for the ladder. Let’s just get to the street.” He put on a burst of speed, feet flying below him. As we ran, we could hear the dwarven Practicals slowly gaining ground. Eoghan was the first to find himself breathing hard, panting as he ran. He pushed on and ignored the growing burn in his lungs. Tidra was plodding along, heavy footfalls hitting as she tried to go faster but her armor and arms were heavy enough. Even Vulfulf was running slow, the half-orcish druid had taken numerous painful wounds during the fight.

We turned around to the front and pressed on the speed to make the gate.

Shim had led the kids through the crack, slow and patient, promising to help them out. “Candy! That’ll help you guys! Come on, almost there!” Once on the other side, he quickly took stock of where he was and noted the kids were all cold and shivering badly. He took off the thongs and told them to hold hands and stay together. He led them through the back of the bazaar until he found someone selling second hand blankets. The heavyset merchant was surprised at the gnome and his passel of kids and had his wife get a half dozen blankets together (2 kids per) where they were wrapped around the freezing children. The fast talking glib gnome managed to escape much of the follow-up questions and got the kids out of the area and the wondering questions, making for the street.

Where the city watch was located. And they stopped him, taking him and the kids immediately to see Sergeant Valad, especially when he produced the writ we had for this adventure.

Thalin had hit the gate first, and fired off a bust of acid at the lock. It steamed and smoked and he had to wait for the acid to finish its job before he could line up another one. Meanwhile the group was right there and the 2 Practicals turned the corner and fired again, this time barely 150’ behind, hoping to stop the group. Thalin’s second spell weakened the internal lock enough to break it open and the party, Hisvild, and the three older kids, all hit the street and then proceeded to head off to the west, looking behind them nervously as Stavern and the other Practical got to the gate with a slow jog. The dwarf rubbed his chin and gave the group a begrudging nod, before closing the gate and then wrapping the chain around it again. The other Practical took out a new lock and locked the gate as some people in the street were wondering what was going on.

“I have a feeling that whoever is left in the Orphanage is about to have a terrible day,” Darius mumbled. Trying to ignore his numerous hurts and juggling his seriously depleted sling bullet bag he sighed. “Let’s go.”

Shim had a brief but pointed conversation with Sergeant Valad, the Half-Ogre in charge of this area of the watch. He convinced him of the kids’ origin and that they were heading off to the Wall Guard and West Gate to meet up with Sergeant Barrim. Deciding to be a part of this, the Half-Ogre had a 6 count of his city guards go with the gnome and the 11 children, heading off to see this matter moved forward and find out what was exactly going on.

12 rounds of combat, 9 rounds of chase/flee/pursuit. You guys did over 110 damage to 2 boss level dwarves, and they did over 90 damage to you guys including summoned dudes. But, you did it, you got the kids out. Now let’s see what happens. Either this Saturday or the next will finish this short adventure.

Meet 6, Adv 8, 1/8/22

We had a fun one shot at year end and took a few weeks off for the holidays before coming back to the midpoint/2nd half of the 1st adventure. They know what they have to do and now are on the path to try and get the kids out of the Orphanage and away from the Gorokian Mountain Dwarves.

Follows:

We had some time to come up with a plan and for the better part of an hour, we discussed various options on how to get into the Sunrise Rabbits Orphanage, and do it in such a way that we would be undetected. Meanwhile Thalin reshuffled his spells a bit and the group talked about options. Go with the guards? Rappel down the wall? Go in through the sewer? Split into 2 groups? Couldn’t we just ring the front bell? How would we get the kids out? Could we find the two kids that Sybil had spoken to somehow and maybe convince them to show us the passage through the wall?

It took some time but we figured the best bet was to go to the Blue Flowers Orphanage and hopefully appeal to the Headmaster Jori to allow us to climb over the adjoining fence and make our way to the Chapel at the Sunrise Rabbits. We made sure we were outfitted with arms and armor. The thought was to bring Grin, but Eoghan eventually decided the mostly trained wolf would not accord us the “sneakiness” we were looking for, so the lupine was placed in his room for now, the Ranger sure that he would have to clean the place up when this was all over.

From here we made our way to the Gate where we had some discussion with the Wall Guard and Sergeant Barrim. We had learned what had occurred 3 days ago and also learned that the Practical had been released back to the Orphanage about a day later. So we deduced 4 Practicals, and maybe Hisvild, Ghalen, and whatever staff was on site. We implored the Sergeant to speed us on our way, the Wall Guard agreeing to have an escort bring our armed bunch through the streets and leave us at the Blue Flowers. The idea was that we’d speed through the town without having to explain to the populace our gear, and by not taking us to the Sunrise Rabbits or tarrying after delivering us, we’d attract less possible attention from the Practicals if they were watching.

The Sergeant mustered a 4 count to escort us through the street, eventually leaving us at the Blue Flowers, wishing us well, and then returning to their post at the Wall. We rang the bell and the Practical here escorted the kids playing outside into the building and hoped to get Jori for us. Feeling happy and good about what we were doing, Shim decided to flop back and make a “snow gnome” imprint, waving his arms and feet accordingly. Tidra thought it was cute and used her shield as a shovel and half buried the gnome in the melting slush from his head to his chest. Helping him up she laughed and helped him brush the worst of the snow off, but much of the wet had gotten under his layers and was soaking against his undergarments and bare skin.

Jori came out to meet us and he and Darius got into a conversation. The Fighter laid out a very simple version of what we hoped to do and our desire to get into the Sunrise Rabbit without being seen. Was it possible she could help? She mulled it over and decided to help the group, opening the gate and ushering us inside and to the building. She had us hang up our wet clothes and on seeing Shim’s state, asked one of the maids, Ingrid, to get something that would fit the gnome so he doesn’t freeze in his skin.

While all this was going on (and Shim was getting naked behind a changing screen) we asked about the two younger kids Tholding and Helga, wondering if they were here. She was loath to give up any info yes or now as the kids had been removed from the home and separated to the other 5 orphanages. We understood and then asked about possible secret ways in? She did confirm that there was an escape tunnel here at this Orphanage that ran across the main street and exited in the park, but she had no idea of any other place. Tidra and Vulwulf were once again wondering about rappelling down the wall with rope or spell but that was discarded. Along with 3 other plans that relied on invisibility as an option.

As Ingrid returned and was helping Shim get dressed, taking his wet clothes away to be laundered, we settled on the idea of climbing over the adjoining wrought iron fence near the back of the property and then crossing the Courtyard to the building proper. We would need a ladder. And that would require the aid of the Groundskeeper, Bjorn.

Damn it all to Hel. Someone has once again touched my tools. Not asking a lot, if you take a shovel. Put it back. Seventy Three winters should stand for something at the very minimum. Maybe respect? Courtesy? Baldur knows there’s precious little of it these days. If they need something done, I need to be able to get my tools without wondering if they are in poor repair or missing from where I left them.

Ingrid went off to get him for Jori, and the party once again went over their plan. They wanted to get the kids and get them out. Darius thanked the Headmaster and the two of them settled on the idea that not only was this exciting in its own way, but there should be another date, a proper one, in their future.

Bjorn arrived, the older male giving the party a once over before learning from Jori that he would need to set up the ladder at the back of the property and help this group get over the 10’ iron gate.

What in Hel’s name is this? Are we helping adventurers now? Are they going to go crazy and kill one of us with an axe or maybe set the other Orphanage on fire? Damn it Jori, you’re thinking with your nethers right now while making moon eyes at the moron in the moustache instead of saying Loki damn no to this foolhardiness. And what the hell is with this one, giving me the side stare? You got some moxie boy. Challenging me? Here? In my youth I beat panty wasted twits like yourself.

“Yes, Headmaster,” Bjorn answered and left with a gruff turn.

“Wot’s wit dat guy?” Eoghan asked, his accent getting a bit thicker. “He was givin’ me some serious stink eye.”

“Eoghan, you have to stop needlessly pissing people off,” Darius shrugged. “I don’t know what it is with you.”

“It’s not me, I swear.”

“Sure it isn’t. Sure it isn’t.”

We thanked Jori and had her lead us to the Gymnasium where we bundled up again and walked outside in the cold, heading for the back corner of the Courtyard where it shared a fence and wall with the Sunrise Rabbits, the elder Groundskeeper already had a 12’ ladder up in place and placed against the crossbar at the top of the 10’ fence. He was just putting some old blankets to use as padding in place.

“This is my ladder,” he said, addressing Eoghan as the Ranger went to move or adjust it. “Mine, ok? Something happens to it, it’s my responsibility.”

“I hear ya, I was just hoping to help out.”

“I’ll hold the bottom and adjust it, ok? Don’t want anyone to get hurt. Safety is no joke.”

Watching Bjorn go to the underside and brace it there, Eoghan shrugged and tossed out, “You got it, Buddy,” with a heavy dose of disdain.

“Damn,” Tidra, Vulwulf, and Shim all muttered.

“Not cool, Eoghan,” Darius offered.

“What?” The ranger was half way up and looked down at the frowning Bjorn and then back at the group. “What?”

“Just go,” Bjorn growled and Eoghan sighed and climbed up to the top. Once there he balanced himself, lowered himself down, and dropped to the other side. Vulwulf went next but misjudged his step and fell with a clang on the other side, groaning as he rolled to his feet. “Careful, lads.”

Thalin followed and the elf also slipped, getting lightly wounded. Shim followed next and the gnome was able to get down without injury. But Darius had his hand caught in the rope and got a back strain and Tidra decided to jump down but slipped at the top and slammed face first into the snow, Darius slowing her fall by catching 1/3 of the half orc fighter.

Once we were all situated, it was decided that rappelling down the wall was most likely a terrible idea as the 10’ fence kicked most of our asses.

Bunch of amateurs. Hope to Hel they didn’t damage my ladder. Shame that first shifty eyed looking untrustworthy fellow didn’t fall off and get hurt. That would have brought a smile to my face.

We stayed along the fence line, heading north until we drew even with the Chapel. We then ran across to the chapel wall and listened. It was mostly quiet within, nothing was definitively heard. As for getting it, we’d have to break a shutter free and that might make noise, as well as an unwelcome breeze. We decided to stay low and follow the walls around to the front. It was fairly quick going and we made it to the front of the building, no one was outside. We decided not to try the front door as we would need a key and didn’t want to chance it yet. We figured we’d go back and look for another possible way in.

We followed the wall back along until we came to the chapel again and then kept going. There were offices and then the jut out that was the dining room. It was here that a set of billco style cellar doors were situated, a chain and lock upon them. We cleared off the snow and Thalin used one..and then a second Acid  Splash spell on the lock, eventually weakening it enough for us to pop it open and loop the chain off the handles.

We looked down. Twelve steep steps, 12” high, 9” deep, let down to narrow landing and a heavy metal blast door was here. No handle on this side to open it. Ok. We guessed that this door would lead to the furnace section of the basement – the same place the kids had been last time. We came out and Vulwulf gave thought to possibly stone shaping the frame around it, but it would take time and no guarantee it would work. But an idea.

We closed the billco doors and then wrapped the chain back around it for now. We decided to enter through the shutters at the southwest window of the Chapel for now. We made our way back there and noting that it was pinned in place and firm to the wall, Vulfulf called to Idun and warped one of the shutters until it popped free and swung open. Alright. We used a knife to cut the paper over the window aside, lifted it up, and everyone one at a time, rolled into the Chapel and stayed quiet.

Once inside we used a leather thong to tie the shutter closed again, while Thalin and Darius checked the altar. Vulwulf went up and down each pew. Tidra and Eoghan split up and took each wall looking in the alcoves, and Shim was at the front exit, noting that we could hear a few dwarven voices not too close and not too far away. We hoped to find a cache or secret area under the chapel, maybe the kids were in there? But 10 minutes had us together and sure there was no such thing. “If there was one,” Darius posited, “It wouldn’t be easy to find.”

As for the dwarves, anything real was hard to make out, but some complaint about Ghalen and Hisvild was made out. Eventually they geared up and made their way to the front door, unlocked it, and went out to patrol, locking the front door behind them.

With 2 Practicals out now, we felt it was a good time to risk entering the hall and moving with haste to Hisvild’s office at the end of the long main hall. We hoped we could convince him we were effectively on his side and maybe get some help to get out of here. So we hit the hall and moved south, keeping our pace steady and maintaining the same speed Tidra could go without the half-orc fighter needing to run and make unnecessary noise. We could hear dwarven voices UP one set of stairs and we kept on to the office in question, and then dashed in after pushing the door open.

The place had been trashed.

It was obvious that someone had thrown the office apart looking for something, actually revealing a small wall safe that had been crowbarred open. But if they had found what they were looking for, there was no sign they had done so successfully. We surmised they were looking for the keys and then thought it was worth maybe check the downstairs doors to see if Hisvild was actually down there.

We were lucky so far (great rolls!!) and no practicals had come back in yet OR gone down to this level to look around. So we left the office, crossed the hall, and went down the steps, Tidra and Vulwulf taking the back weapons out in case we were spotted.

We knocked on the door and heard the Taskmaster tell us to “Fuck off.” We had a brief back and forth until he was assured we were who we were and not the Practicals. He had the kids. They’ve been there for almost 3 days. They have food and water for maybe 2 or 3 more. Need help. He decided (another great roll) to trust us and unlocked the door letting us in. Once inside we locked it back up and cast another alarm spell on the door.

Hisvild and the 14 “saved” children were indeed here. They were dirty, tired, strung out, and worried. But the kids were very tight with the Taskmaster and stayed closed to him. We learned that some of the household staff had moved some water and food stuffs into here during the chaotic first day. As for the kids, he had used some rope and opened a dimensional pocket that could only be seen if you were right under it and looking up. The kids were hiding in there and avoided being found by the Wall Guards when they came, or the Practicals when they were looking as well.

Once the place was safe, Hisvild and Ghalen had a bit of an argument and the Taskmaster came down here, locking the door behind him, and decided to wait it out, not trusting the Practicals or the Underthane to do what was best for the kids. Stavern, the lead Practical, then started abusing and hurting the staff, Ghalen as well, hoping to get Hisvild to open the door and let the kids free. He has refused but he is running out of ideas.

There is the escape door but the billco doors are locked. Not anymore. Ok, that helps, but when that door is opened, it will alarm the entire temple as to its breach and the Practicals will come. He also does not have a key to the front gate so they would be stopped there. And he would most likely be shot.

Any spells? He’s almost out – three Alarm spells and 1 firefinger. Where’s his spellbook? In his office and he suspects the dwarves have it and most likely destroyed it and his room. We agreed. Once again we thought about using the Stone shape spell, but based upon the thickness of the foundation stones, Vulwulf suspected we would need the spell twice. And he had only one left.

The thought was to open the door, alert the dwarves, and maybe entice two of them to go out that way. Then we could run through the Orphanage and out the gymnasium door to the back and maybe find another way out. There were lots of variables and Ghalen’s name came up to rescue, but he was placed on the “if we can get to it” side of the equation for now. Kids first. And they were going to stay with and follow Hisvild – in their now shorter life experiences, he was one of the only 2 people (other than the others in this room) that they knew, knew had their best interests, and wanted to keep them safe.

By this time, Stavern had come to the door (the alarm spell alerting us, as well as how many were approaching). The dwarf was blaming Hisvild for this mess, it was time to come out. The Lesserthane was going to be here soon and it was pointless now. They’d take all the kids, and still pay top coin for them. Just open the door. It’s on you. Just do it. You like Hilda, right? She works here, you’ve been friends for years. She wants you to open the door. If you don’t, I’m going to have to break her leg. Please Hisvild, don’t make me break her leg. That would be cruel. Don’t be like that. Hisvild. Hisvild? Look what you are forcing me to do. Thanks, this is on you, I don’t want to do this, but you are making me do it.

And then Hilda gave a horrible scream, the Orphanage nurse howling as her shin was busted with a hammer and Stavern was just disappointed. So disappointed. You made this happen, Hisvild. You did. You are cruel. He then walked back up the stairs, leaving Hilda crying in agony and pain at the bottom of the steps, leg broken, her wails cutting through the door and making the children upset. Hisvild upset. The party upset.

“That’s pretty damned dark,” Tidra muttered after we were sure the Practical had gone.

Meet 5, Adv 8, 12/11/21

The party headed off to the Wall Guard and met with Sergeant Barrim where they explained who Darius actually was and what the party had been doing in regards to Shala Planters and by a larger stance, the Sunrise Rabbits Orphanage. It took some time and the gruff sergeant wanted to have Darius come and explain his part as well. We were in a tenuous situation with the royal guard as we had been less than forthcoming and not exactly honest at the beginning of our interactions with him.

After making sure he had safe passage through the streets, Darius eventually left the Adventuring Guild and made his way to the Wall guard where he further expanded upon the story. We were told to return to our home for now and to avoid issues. Things in town are a bit weird since the Canaslan Streams of Mithril had gotten into the bar brawl and there was a general air of concern.

Darius and Vulwulf had some words about the half-orc’s “help” and we also wandered around, getting some information as to what had happened with Dosgbody McGuin and Devin Scrivener. Shim purchased a new cloak and Tidra grabbed a shield. We saw some shows, spoke with some people, and eventually made our way home. An important part of everything that had happened was Sergeant Barrim flat out asking us about the Sunrise Rabbits and what had been going on – and the party opted for full disclosure and honesty. We told the fantastic tale of kids being “saved” and how the former Temple of Lathandar was involved.

It was going to take some time, but a Writ of Concern was going to be sought after and eventually the watch would get involved to go in and hopefully find the kids. We suspected that we had burned the bridge we had with Hisvild just then.

Things with the Streams of Mithril came to a head over the next day or two as Dosgbody was found guilty and had a hand removed that evening. The Scrivener family had then braced the Streams of Mithril later on and the next day, the Scrivener home had burned to the ground. The Streams of Mithril had left shortly before that, checking out of the Wooly Rhino, but it was unconfirmed if they actually left through the gate given the fire and the excitement at that time. Local adventurers feel that they were being unfairly targeted and should be left alone. Scrivener family had been described on many occasions as incendiary and argumentative.

Darius had gone on his date with Jori from the Blue Flowers Orphanage and she had reported to him some of the troubles the Sunrise Rabbits had fallen to. The watch had indeed come and some 40 to 50 children were being removed and relocated to the other orphanages for now. A search was put in place and no “missing” children had been found. Hisvild, Ghalen, and the staff and Practicals seemed furious at the interruption and were barely civil or helpful. The party felt even more that we had burned our bridge there.

The days passed and we returned to what menial work was available to us. It was on the 20th, 3 days later, that we had some more information come our way. On a trip to the GRSAG, we had been given the opportunity to infiltrate the Sunrise Rabbits Orphanage and if there were any children with in, get them out. The place had been locked up and the Guards no longer had legal recourse to enter the establishment. So they guild had been hired to get a group to somehow onto the property and inside.

We took the job, and at 120 gold crowns, it was well worth it to do so. It was now 9 AM on the 20th and the party was going to get together and come up with a plan to enter the grounds of the Orphanage. Who is an enemy within? Hisvild? Ghalen? The Practicals? We would need to be careful and swift.

Meet 4, Adv 8, 12/4/21

The group had a few hours to pass the time until we were to meet up with Hisvild and try and get Shala out. We went through a number of plans, settling on splitting the group in 2 parts – 1 being Darius, Thalin, and Eoghan and head in to effect a meeting to see some kids, waiting for an opportunity to head to the basement, and the other being Vulwulf, Shim, and Tidra being representatives appointed by the Adventuring guild and coming here to demand entrance and return of the girl.

However, in our talk around the town, it had been learned that a bar brawl out at the Wooly Rhino had turned deadly. A Canaslan Adventuring Band named Streams of Mithril had gotten into a fight and during it, a local scribe, Devin Scrivener, had been hurt during the conflict. The dwarf, Dogsbody McGuin, had at one point drawn his axe during the combat and even though he used the flat of it to defend himself, struck the Scrivener in the head and he died a few hours earlier. For now Dogsbody is in the stocks and a tribunal had been set up to find out the matter and decide on punishment.

We had spoken with various adventurers around town and at the guild during our morning and the feeling is that even though Streams of Mithril might be a Canasalan group, it’s still wrong what’s happening to Dogsbody. The other argument is that he drew a weapon during a bar brawl. If he used a mug, or a chair, or his fists, It would not have escalated as far as it did now to the potential removal of his hand, but it did and he did and he needs to pay the consequences.

The party noted these instances, knowing that the world spun on even without their direct attention or participation, and solidified their plans.

Meanwhile….

Hisvild, Taskmaster of the Sunrise Rabbits Orphanage, was idly pushing a loose stylus across his desk with an absent finger, chewing on his bottom lip.

“What has you in a tizzy?” Ghalen Artek, Headmaster of the same establishment, asked. He slid a chair back and lowered his form gingerly into it. “You’re as welcoming as a Sifian adherent who suffered a “C” on his latest temple treatise.”

The taller man frowned, eyes flicking up as one of the Practicals walked by in the hall, heading to check on the children in the main lecture hall. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Didn’t you break a piece off last night with that git from Grymeria?” The half-elf gave a partial smirk and bobbed the desk once with his fist. “Let me guess, she was dead from the waist down?”

“Nothing like that or of the sort.” Hisvild let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back, eyes closed and head tilted up. “Just…have things on my mind.”

“Relax,” Ghalen’s expression softened. “I know it’s hard. I do. But we’re doing good work. We are.”

“Frigga’s Frozen Ass, Ghalen? Are we?” He pointed absently at the floor. “We have almost a score of kids that have been cut from the great skein languishing in our basement because returning them to their family means dooming them to Bedlam and madness.”

“What should we do then? Let them die?”

“No, no. We talked about this.”

The half-elf nodded his head. “Yes. We did. Exhaustingly. Through a number of candles and even more pints of oil, we burned the light to find our way.” The pointed one finger down and tapped the desk with it firmly. “This is the way. Damn it man, we save kids. Whether from starvation, slavery, abuse, abandonment, or even now, from ordination…there is no higher purpose in what we do than to save kids.”

Hisvild sighed, seeming to deflate. “I know that, you pompous prick. I know. But that’s only half of what we need to do.”

“What is the third tenant of Baldur?” Ghalen asked.

The Taskmaster frowned. “When a job is too great for one to accomplish, many hands and offered help is always welcome.” He blew out a short breath. “Seems rather self serving of you to espouse that banal claptrap when some foreign Underthane is looking to take the kids off our hands for 50 fucking crowns a piece.”

“Think I’m doing this for mammon?” The headmaster stuck up his middle finger tall and firmly. “Fuck you. Fuck your misplaced righteousness. The kids need help. There is no one within 30 fucking leagues who knows ANYTHING about Lathandar, and for a dozen years plus, how many thousands of kids images have flashed across the font as a warning and we did not have the wits to understand how important it was? How many kids did we let…die?”

“But seriously…”

Ghalen stood up, straightening his shirt, smoothing his sleeves again. “Listen. The Underthane has access to books that had been plundered from this temple. He had bankrolled 4 Practicals for us, genuinely feels horrible for the plight of the children, and is also willing to make reparations to us for the children. Once the funds come in, we keep half to improve the lot of the other children here, and use the other half to bring succor as a donation to the families whose sons and daughters they have lost.” He fixed his gaze on Hisvild’s. “And through whatever grace the Norns can give us in this, with all good luck, the Gorokian Dwarves will help correct the children and return them to us to eventually come home.”

Hisvild said nothing for a minute, eyes haunted, before looking up and asking, “And do you believe that? Really? Do you believe that is the case?”

The half elf tilted his head, slowly smiling and replied. “I have faith, my friend. That’s all we sometimes have in difficult days.” He made his way to the door, the hall teeming with running children. “It’ll work out. You’ll see,” and then he left.

Still seated, shoulders pressed against the hard back of the chair, the Taskmaster shook his head slowly and glanced out the window. “Faith doesn’t solve everything. Sometimes you need to take action.” He patted his pocket, assuring himself the keys were still in there and stood up. “Hmmph. I’ll bet that little fucker was in the room when I with Ms. Ilcinder.” He strode out of the office, head still filled with worry for what was to come.

Meanwhile…the first group had headed back to the Orphanage, just before 12, advising Shim and the other 2 to give them a 10 minute head start. Once there the Practical Stavern Shephard was surprised to see them again but let them in. Once inside the waiting room they hung up their cloaks and soon met with Ghalen and Hisvild. Darius then went into practiced speech about how he never had a chance to meet the kids and wanted to do that before any donation could be met. They were then taken to Hisvild’s office/classroom where two of the younger ones were brought in. Some light conversation followed.

Shim and the two half-orcs showed up next and demanded entrance, producing the paperwork cosigned by the watch and the GRSAG. This drew the attention of the Practicals who then went and got Ghalen. The Headmaster and Stavern went to go check out this matter, leaving Hisvild and the other 3 together for now. The Taskmaster sent the kids away, led the three men across the way, and then down to the basement.

They entered the larger chamber where the furnace was chugging away…and a good 15 count of kids were currently languishing. We were introduced to Shala, the young half-orc was pleasant and loquacious. Hisvild impressed on her that these were friends and we were going to take her out and home. The other kids wanted to know if they could go too, but were told that was not the case for now. We managed to look over the font swiftly, nothing to see for now, and then made our way out to the stairs and with the use of an Invisibility spell, snuck up and followed Hisvild slowly to the front door, pretending all was good for now.

Meanwhile the others had made some noise and Ghalen had them brought in. Cloaks were hung up and Shim tried to impress on the Headmaster and Practicals that they were looking for this girl. Was seen here. Playing outside. There was disbelief on both sides, half truths and outright lies. Some threats, veiled, did follow, and we were given a brief audience before we were soundly told that we were wrong, there was no such child here, and it was time to leave.

The other group was getting their cloaks back on, and given the snow outside and the cold, they did spy a small child sized cloak on the rack – and took it (it was Shim’s). Once outside they left and made their way sedately towards the main gate. Once safely far away, Shala was visible again and she was excited about the adventure she was on and possibly going to see her home and family, even though she had no memory or concept of them.

It was at the gate that things got a bit weird as the Wall Guard noted we were leaving with a child. Darius tried to continue his nobleman’s son routine, glossing over much of what they were doing. The girl was very talkative and some of what she was saying was raising some eye brows. So Darius did what he always did, he threw money at it; hoping that would solve the problem. They were eventually allowed to pass through and made their way north towards the Planter’s family. Not realizing that the Wall Guard had dispatched someone to follow them.

The others were ejected from the Orphanage, Shim pissed that his damned cloak was taken. Outside they hoped that the others had been successful and they had provided enough of a distraction. On seeing Hisvild at the end, the Taskmaster wizard looking pleased behind Ghalen’s back, they had high hopes. They also made their way west, heading for the gate.

Darius, Eoghan, and Thalin had made it to the Planters where they had Darca Planters, Shala’s mom, meet the child. She was overjoyed and the girl was unsure, but gave a weird warbling tale about her adventures the last 3 days – not knowing anything before. To Darca, it was presented that the girl was found wandering without memory and the Sunrise Rabbits Orphanage had taken the lost waif in. And the Vanguards of Ragnarok had gotten lucky in finding her. The story held enough water to smooth over any discrepancies. We were thanked and then we took our leave, heading north some more for the Adventurer’s Guild to present our completed writ and arrange the completion of the job.

Meanwhile at the gate, they had been stopped again. Some conversation followed and talk about Shim;’s writ and our job with the watch to find lost children came up. That’s when the Gate guard had us taken to the side and joined Sergeant Barrim for a side conversation. Missing children, it was the local watch’s job to uncover. But something just passed through the gate that had them concerned. A dandy named Darius Diamondcutter just came through with a 4 or 5 year old half orc girl who had said she had been in a basement and he was taking her from the Orphanage to get her a skill. A trade. And he bribed the guards which immediately set off the protocols to release the Wall Rats.

The Wall Rats are the local royal thieves guild and they work with the Wall and Royal Guards to help track down dissenters and maintain peace and order. Sergeant Barrim is concerned that this Darius is taking the child to a whorehouse to indoctrinate her early and young to eventual work there.

It was here that Vulwulf was doing most of the talking about how we didn’t know them, that was terrible, and what a shitty thing. Sergeant Barrim wanted to hire the group to find this Darius Diamondcutter and bring him in and back for questioning. Well, sure, go to the GRSAG and we’ll look into taking the job. Great, need to get pimps and scum like that off the streets.

We made our way through after more reassurance, learning that 3…or maybe more? Wall Rats had been dispatched and were tracking Darius at this moment in time. We then went north and headed for the Adventurers Guild, hoping to catch up with the party there.

The others had gone up to see Pha-iyr Carom and presented the job as completed. It was also suggested that they forego the money the Planters family had given and wanted it returned to the family. Pha-iyr said he would do what he could and thanked the party for a job well done. We left and downstairs met up with the rest of the party who let them know that Sergeant Barrim wanted to meet with Darius as he was suspected for trafficking children and possibly running a nascent brothel. “How the hell did they get THAT idea?!” Darius wanted to know, aghast at learning this.

“It’s a mystery to me how that happened,” Vulwulf assured him. “Who knows how these things get so out of hand?”

The party suggested he stay here for now and they would go off and back to the Wall guard to try and get this matter resolved.