This wrapped up the "get back to the adventure and find a new thread to get the group interested in reintroduction adventure" for the group. I think it went well and it wasn't a banger as far as XP gathered, but it did remind the party how to play again at the table and got them invested in the world they had been away from for almost 2 years.
Follows:
The majority of the day ended up with you talking to the kids who had been saved, many of them telling the story of your heroic rescue of them to every adept, acolyte, handmaiden, valet, cleric, and clerk who stopped in to check on the group. It was both wonderful...and a bit humbling. To hear about your derring do from the eyes of a child at many times brought goose bumps to your arms. There were other conversations, especially with Patron MacBorren, but at the end of it all, it was just another thing to deal with. Even Eoghan's wolf, Grin, was a welcome addition to our stay, the Ranger showing the kids the lupine's mostly effective tricks and watching Grin go wild with the other dogs, wolfhounds, and full blood wolves the Ecclesiastic Compound had on hand.
We rested well and slept soundly, feeling that tomorrow, the representative from Gorok will arrive and they will inexorably make their way here. We need to be on our toes and mentally ready for them.
Around 3 in the morning, Grin's incessant nudging against your chest let Eoghan know the wolf needed to go pee. Scratching himself idly, he donned cloak and wandered the halls to the inner courtyard where the wolf bounded into the snow to sniff at every tree and bush he could to find one to relieve himself at. The air was cold, the night was still, and the breeze was almost still; just a hint of crispness brushing his cheek. Looking up past the spires of the Cathedral, the stars were bright, almost blinding. The Constellation known as the hunter, Uller, was situated right over the western end of the sky, his belt cinched tight. Eoghan looked down to Grin, giving him a low whistle when he felt a presence behind him. Before he could turn he smelled lilac and gooseberry faintly on the wind, and what sounded like Saoirse, his departed wife, whispering, "Be careful today, Lummox." Eoghan whirled around, not seeing her but convinced she had been real.
But his eyes did pick out a brown and white rabbit, peering at him from under a brush. And then it turned and disappeared into the foliage. "Er...Come on Grin," he said, rubbing the wolf's ruff. "Let's get back to bed." And he did, lying down again, staring at the ceiling and rubbing his ear, trying to get the same feeling of his lost wife's presence once again before exhaustion took him at long last once more.
We awoke the next day feeling much better, compliments of Hospice as well as the Ecclesiastic’s interest in having their lower order personages work on healing the party as well. We stayed with the kids and Hisvild, making sure to have 3 of us on hand at all times. Two templars watched the door to this wing of the manor house we were in, a further ward against unwanted visitors.
The Clerical Guild was a compound composed of 7 large main buildings, with the Cathedral being the centerpiece of it all. The children were fun, delightful, and curious. The feeling was that they would be able to be reintroduced to their families properly after the next few days had passed and the potential issue with the Gorokian dwarves would have ended.
The days passed slowly. At some point word had reached us that the Underthane Ambassador from Gorok and his retinue had arrived in the city. Then later on they went to the Sunrise Rabbit’s Orphanage and then eventually made their way here. Being visiting royal level dignitaries, they were received accordingly and a banquet at the Compound was put together. Finally, a request had come for a variety of people to show, including the people who were at the inquest the other day…and the party and the 14 kids.
We discussed it at length and decided no. The kids would not be brought forth. We would go; Brading, Hisvild, and the Templars would cordon off the area and prevent anyone from coming in. So we took knives at best and made our way with care to the 2nd dining room and entered.
Patron MacBorren, Chancellor Dovecote, Magister Fortenhouse, Esquire Fungarson, 6 other members of the Ecclesiastic Council, and the 4 Practicals were all here waiting. In addition were 4 other dwarves: Underthane Hylf Tworock with a gentle smile and knowing eyes, Master of Arms Okar an older dwarf who had seen many years of combat, the Librarian Hofning a soft looking rotund dwarf with a jowly face and small teeth and big gums, and Seer Froki a blind older drawn old looking dwarven cleric who was quiet yet seemed to miss nothing.
We sat and ate and conversation flowed around. The dwarves were…different. The Underthane was friendly and listened, but it was obvious he had an agenda. Okar found most everyone at the table disgusting and barely held himself in check. Hofning was effusive and simpering, and gave off a wanting vibe that turned off most people who engaged with him.
And Froki was silent. She seemed like she could speak, she just seemed to choose not to. One of the serving wenches accidentally spilled Eoghan’s mug while serving it and had to get the ranger a different one, sorry and apologizing while trying to clean his pants.
Eventually as the meal progressed and the matter of the children and Lathandar came up, the Ecclesiastic Council backed the party in not allowing the dwarves to meet with the kids. They asked who, made offers of coin, tried to entreat us, discussed, and wrangled as much as they could. But the party was firm.
It was during all this that Froki had a ball of yarn in her hand and at a sad nod from Hylf, stretched out a single thread as the Underthane lamented, “We so wanted to meet with the children. It’s important in ways you don’t understand. They are outside the skein, not tied to the world we live in. We brought many barrels of good Gorokian beer here, but only one of them had been laced with a paralytic additive. So what if we instead SWAPPED that barrel with the untainted one before we sat down to eat?”
And then the thread broke and the great skein twisted, and somewhere in the past…that indeed had happened. And the entire party was sitting at the table frozen and aware, yet unable to move.
Except somehow…Eoghan. He glanced down at his mug, and remembered that the wench had spilled his an hour earlier..and he had gotten a drink from the next cask when it was tapped. He signaled to Grin to stay still and played possum himself as well.
The entire room was paralyzed – except the Underthane and his 3 followers – even the Practicals had not been spared. Okar had a butter knife in his hand and swiftly assured Hylf the room was indeed secure. Hofning was digging an old tome out from a hidden pocket under his shirt. Hylf was rubbing his chin. “We have 3 more right? Without the kids? So we need one to leave the shit pit.” He glanced at the 4 councilors who had judged at the inquest and said, “I know the vote was close on the disposition of the Font. So Froki, what if TWO OF THEM VOTED to have the Font here on Clerical land?”
And Eoghan watched as Froki drew another thread out…and then yanked it hard. And the great skein warped again and somewhere in the past, Magister Fortenhouse could not convince the council that he deserved a third chance to look over the font and it was released to the Clerics.
And it appeared here in the room with a sudden outrushing of air. Hofning dropped to one knee and gasped. “Beautiful. So beautiful.”
“Get Lathandar’s essence and now,” Okar ordered and drawing out the tome, he read in the back how to open a secret compartment in the heart of the fountain, and then doing so, drew out a pulsing orange get the size of his fist.
“I have it!” He gazed at it deeply, eyes boring into it. “I have a piece of a god in my hands.”
“Enough. We need the kids.”
Hylf was nodding. “I hate this place. We should have burned it down a century ago when we were here.” He scowled at Vulwulf. “That one has been pissing me off all night. Okar, kill it and Froki figure out how we can get the kids. Save 1 thread to get us home.”
Eoghan figured it was time. He ordered Grin to attack, the wolf bounding up and racing at Okar who was storming up to the Half-orc to slay him with a butter knife. Froki pointed at Eoghan, “Lathandar is with THAT one!” Hofning was screaming and Eoghan slammed into the fat dwarf, knocking the gen aside where it hit the ground and SHATTERED. “NO!!!!!!!!!””
And then the ranger had his dagger out in one hand and grabbed the ball of yarn in the other. Froki had a death grip on a single thread and to Eoghan, the thread seemed like steel and did not break or cut. He stabbed out, noting that his dagger was now silver for some reason. Grin had a grip on Okar, but the dwarf was able to avoid most of the lupine’s bites.
Hylf was running around the table to join the fight and Froki had her free hand stretch out like talons and rended the ranger in his gut, digging her sharp nails deep.
But he could feel lots of different paths, lives, choices, and branches stretching back as he gripped the yarn; the entire wend of the skein barely visible as he struggled. In one of them his wife and kid were alive as he did not go with his dad on the hunt that night. But in the here and now, there was a faint glimpse of a rabbit and he wondered, which of his friends might NOT have succumbed to the drink. And that was Thalin.
And the elf, somewhere in the past, realized that he would much prefer a glass of wine instead of the beer. And suddenly, Thalin was able to move!
Okar and the wolf were still fighting when Thalin called out a magic spell – and a giant toad appeared by the Man at Arms and proceeded to attack him as well. “What the hell?!” Using his knife he was now forced to fight the wolf and the toad. Eoghan took another slash along his side and Hylf was running up to the fight. He snatched up a serving tray and smashed the ranger with it in the head. “Let the yarn go!”
Froki was spitting and snarling and Eoghan had another flash…who else might not have succumbed? And that was Shimlagesh.
And the gnome, somewhere in the past, had eaten so much sugar during dinner, that it diluted the effects of the alcohol and he was no longer paralyzed.
Between him and Thalin, they called out again a pair of spells. And the gnome had a Troglodyte appear and join the fray with a pair of javelins. And Thalin had a 3’ tall demonic manes appear. The stupid creature looked around and charged Okar – who was not set on 3 sides. The Trog stabbed at Froki and Eoghan was slashing as well. Okar was frustrated with a lack of a real weapon. And Hylf was now using the tray to slam the ranger in the throat, making him gag and slump over, but he refused to let go.
The dwarves were getting desperate, the combat was ranging all over the room, dishes and food was spilling about. Something had to give. And Eoghan, STILL holding the yarn ball, had another flash of who might have not succumbed. And that was Darius.
And the fighter, somewhere in the past, hadn’t drunk nearly enough and was able to move, no longer paralyzed! So he took out his sling and then reached over, grapping the heavy crystal salt and pepper containers from the table. Loading them and getting ready to let fly.
Meanwhile Thalin and Shim AGAIN called out a summoning, and this time a snarling laughing gnoll appeared and an orc…in fact, a specific orc. Thon! Who was unsure why he was here, dropped the bag of flour he had been toting, and on Thalin’s order, launched himself at Froki who had now torn Eoghan’s face open. She staggered from the hits, Okar was holding his own.
But Hylf? Taking careful aim at the Underthane’s codpiece, Darius spun the salt container until the sling was whining loudly and then launched it – where it cracked the nobledwarf straight in the groin, exploded, and dropped him to his knees with a screaming keening wail.
The battle was shifting rapidly, Thon hitting the Seer with a debilitating blow and she howled in frustration, yanked the thread she had been holding, and somewhere in the past…the dwarves decided NOT to make the trip to Erylond. And the 4 of them disappeared, appearing back in Gorok somewhere.
The rest of the people in the room slowly were able to move again. The party was thanked for their efforts, Thon and the other summoned creatures were released and sent back to where ever they came from. The gem pulled itself back together and was whole again. Feeling guided by Lathandar, Eoghan returned it to the font and closed the secret compartment without knowing how he did it. He also glanced down, his dagger had changed to a 20” silvered steel short sword and had marking to Lathandar on his hilt and pommel; the words “Dawnblade” written on both sides of the blade inside the fuller.
The kids were safe, we were thanked for our efforts. We were also paid the 20 crowns eventually for doing our job. The next 3 weeks were going to be busy with fixing up the Orphanage, hiring new people, and training them. The group was invited to participate and we agreed. And at the end of it, Eoghan seemed to have a renewed purpose, hearing in his ear, “You did real good, Lummox,” as if spoken from his wife. And just outside the chamber, a small rabbit was staring at the ranger, and seemed to wink in his direction.
And there we go, the end of the Little Rabbits, Lost Lambs. A few of you went up, and for the next 3 weeks, this group is going to be busy and not available. We will be picking up with the other characters and it will be another town adventure – but with considerably more possible combat and exploration. Avg xp for this one was about 1600, avg xp for the next adventure will be in the 3k to 3.5k range.
