Session 25, April 30th 2016

the story so far...

Session 25, April 30th 2016

Postby James » Sun May 01, 2016 9:17 am

Nuzyael 2nd TR 723.
The following morning, the party takes stock of their injuries and casualties to the villagers. Grinden required some magical assisted healing, as did Albanus.
The party decides to stay one more day, recovering and resupplying, leaving Munt on the morning of the 3rd. Taking the western trail, staying off the main road, the PC's travel north. The trip is slow due to late winter/early spring weather... rain, heavy fog and cold.

Nuzyael 4th -
Looking for a suitable campsite after a long, cold day, Viktor hears the sound of horses coming fast behind them, the party takes cover in time just as a group of riders come into site. Albanus recognizes the Traitor Vanidor leading the group, which consists of 4 more elves and a restrained human. Albanus believes it's none other than Prince Arren, second son to King Arren and second in line to the throne.
As the riders go past the party decides to act and charge out. 2 Riders are felled by arrows from Albanus, a crossbow bolt from Grinden, and a hand axe thrown by host.

Prince Arren takes advantage of the confusion of his kidnappers and grabs the harness of his horse, forcing it in the Morsindar leading it. They get tangled and slowed because of it. Vanidor and the other 2 elves, slow and get turned around to meet the charge. The combat is swift and bloody, with all the elves going down. The Prince is freed of his bonds, bodies hidden, and the party moves off to find a suitable camp for the night.
The Prince is unharmed, but he has a stone collar locked about his neck, Grinden believes it to be psudostone and is unable to remove it. The prince informs the group that this stone nullifies his ability to use his Dryni powers.
After some debate, it's decided that Grinden will escort the prince top Arketh, which should be held by Rethemi legion, and then take ship. The remainder will continue north to scout Tormau’s lands and try to find out what is going on.

Nuzyael 5th -

The group take their separate leaves and head off. GM Note: Albanus, Viktor, and Xhost utterly fail in observation and stealth rolls... really it's grotesque. I've never seen so many rolled "1"s.... except by me in a game of World in Flames.
The party blunders out into the open and is immediately spotted by farmers... the party continues, following the trail as it passes through a small wooded area. Viktor & Albanus notice movement in the woods and spot archers, Xhost, not so much as arrows are shot at them. Behind the archers, the party spots 4 Gargu-khanu (Hobgoblins) charging at them. Viktor charges the archers, as Albanus takes on the gargu. Viktor losses control of his mount as he rides by a gargu, slashing it and continues at a full gallop, Xhost is hit by arrows and Albanus is attacked by all 4 Gargu.

The battle is short and bloody, with Albanus and Xhost going down. Viktor, more than 500' away finally gets control of his mount, is about to head back when he sees a group of horsemen coming his way. He decides to flee. After riding all night, and most of the following day, Viktor manages to lose his pursuers.

Meanwhile our 2 immortals wake up to find themselves naked and chained to a wall in a dungeon. They are hanging on the wall, with the ground a foot below their feet. They are not sure how long there have hung there, but after some struggling, they realize that they can't get free. At this point a group of guards walk in escorting an elder gentleman. He is well dresses, obviously noble. On his breast is the arms of Tormau. Behind him is a massive, scared Hobgoblin. The beast walks up and grabs their heads in turn looking directly into their eyes... it does not need to look up to do this.
The well-dressed man introduces himself as Denyl Lynnaeus, Earl of Tormau. He questions the two, asking who they are and their purpose. Xhost is a smart ass, which earns him a sword in the guts and disembowelment... The Earl turns to Albanus and tells them he knows of their nature. He also states that his ally (gesturing to the Hobgoblin) remembers them spying on them at Quiso 2 years before... Albanus denies this, which earns him a swift and brutal beating.
The 2 prisoners come in and out of consciousness, they are unsure of how much time has passed, when the Earl visits them again. Once more he asks his questions, and once more is met by silence of flippant answers. This angers the Earl, he looks at both men in the eye and states that their pain will continue for a very long time. The Earl orders his men to "bag them", at which point heavy leather bags are placed and locked over the prisoners heads. They can't see, and hearing is muffled.... then the beatings start.

Nuzyeal 8th -

After laying low and healing up a bit, Viktor decides to head back towards the ambush to see if his companions were "killed" and left or captured. Once again fate is cruel, with peasants spotting the paladin. Viktor, sticks to the tree line, confidant that he is hidden and not been spotted... he is completed blindsided by 2 charging knights that crash through the trees at him. The battle is swift, fate merciless, with the end result of the mighty paladin being cut down... his life’s blood soaking into the dirt.

GM's Note - it was a good session, with much salt and laughter... incredibly bad rolls, really bad rolls on the players part, while I rolling in the open had my usual evil luck, rolling high, with plenty of crits. Post-game discussion was interesting as we debated whether to continue with this campaign... if Viktor had survived, the chances of recovering Albanus & Xhost would have been hard, but not impossible. With him dead, the chances are nil without GM intervention and the use of a NPC that happens to be handy and helps them escape. I did toy with the idea of one of the Navehans helping, but the secondary mission of the group was the capture or killing of Saval and his sister. The Navehans have been protecting those 2 for whatever purpose the church has... so that means of escape would have been unlikely. The topic switched to starting a new game with 1st level characters. Tharda Rising has been going since 2009, and a change may be needed. I told the group if that's what they wanted, I would move the game off Harn to the mainland. Tharda Rising would be put on hold, to such a time we decided to get back to it. Having 2 immortal tortured for , months, years would have an interesting effect on their psyche... and the madness rules in the DM's guild are pretty good. :twisted: In either case I told them I'd go with their decision, so this week they are all looking over their players manual, checking classes and races. Since I plan to move the game onto the mainland, I told them they could play whatever race they want, even Tieflings and Dragonborn if that what they wanted. We'll see what happens
User avatar
James
The GM
The GM
 
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:43 am

Return to Tharda Rising Chronicles

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests

cron
Hosted by Freeforum.ca, get your free forum now! TOS | Support Forums | Report a violation
MultiForums powered by echoPHP phpBB MultiForums