Session 3, Longmire and arriving at Frosthaven
Paldegora
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Session 3 – 2022-12-23
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Sorry I’ve been silent for a few days! Busy busy busy… More tasks with the Adventurers Guild and the tria…er..some legal issues. I’m sure it will all be cleared up soon. Oh, what am I telling you all of this for. Forget what I said and lets get back to the story. Hmm, oh yeah, on the road from Udenvale to Frosthaven.
The road gently climbed higher as they progressed, walking in the cold and slightly drizzling rain. They spotted a person mounted on something, in the road in the distance. they move off the road and got out of sight. Cal-El began making his way forward, using the brush on the side of the road for cover. Eryn looked behind them and looked deeper into the woods, attempting to see if they were about to be ambushed. Xor moves forward but kept back so as not to draw attention to himself or to Cal-El. Cal-El moved even closer and saw a man, cloaked, sitting on something. Before him is something white but he can’t make out exactly what it is. Looking at it some more, he started to think it might be something about the size of a cat. He snuck up even closer and could finally make out that it is a guy sitting there and before him is a stick, or maybe a sword with a white cloth tied to it. He appeared to be sitting on a box or a stump. Cal-El moved further down and looked carefully for any other people but saw no one else. He finally broke cover and stepped out into the road with his hands up. The man raised his hands, palms up, in the international sign for parley. Cal-El indicated that he can’t talk, and the man asked him to have everyone else come up. Cal-El signaled for the others to come up and signaled as best he can, to lower or sheath their weapons. Eryn moved forward under cover and searched the woods again, she still didn’t see anyone. The group lowered their weapons and moved forward still about 20 feet away.
The man had some stumps set up for them to sit on. He motioned them to come forward and sit. Cal-El tried to spie a blow gun but didn’t see one. Everyone sat and he started talking about the cold weather and how he would like to be inside where it’s warm and dry but business is business. He accuses the group of killing the girl, Jade, for stealing from them. He also accused us of killing Roderick and Erick. Apparently, Erick came riding up to him and was barely able to speak before turning into a tree stump, frozen. He said that he was apparently poisoned. He suggested it was bad but also wouldn’t mind getting his hands on some of it. Again, he accused us of using this poison on them. Eryn indicated that they had thought that he might have been the one to poison the man further back. If he didn’t do it and we didn’t do it, then someone else is out here taking them out. The banter went back and forth and nothing the Company said seemed to sway his opinion. Eryn seemed to think that it didn’t matter as he wanted our stuff or wanted our service or he just wanted to kill us.
The man did finally issue an ultimatum that took the form of three options..
1. The group joins his crew and helps him with this big score that they’ve messed up by killing his people, and since they killed his sneak, then, pointing to Eryn, that one there can take her place. He’ll cut each of us in for a quarter share. And the difference will be to cover for his losses. 2. The Company pays him for his losses, full compensation for the two guys they killed and the sneak. And then everyone goes their separate ways never to cross paths again. 3. They just kill the Company right here.
He raised his hand and, running out of the woods was a large group archers and bandits. They rushed out and surround the Company, weapons drawn. Xor pointed out that the offer was, after accusing us of something we didn’t do, is to force us to work for him or pay a sort of fine. Francesca said that she won’t do it because we didn’t kill those people. Symon asked him, “Who have you pissed off that has this kind of power?”. He pointed out that obviously he is afraid of someone and needed us to ally with him to help protect him from whoever this enemy is. He pointed out that basically, whoever this person is, they killed one of these persons right under their noses and they never even saw them. He refused to budge from his position. Symon asked who he worked for and what was this big score he mentioned. He pointed out that the members Company are not bandits. The man said, “You’re not bandits? Well you could have fooled me!”. To which Symon replied, “Well apparently your are easily fooled!”. The man laughed and had his men start bringing out the bodies of the people killed. Accusations continued and tensions grew as the man again demanded that the Company choose one of the three options. He said he is cold to which Francesca replied that she did not kill anyone and will not submit. Eryn stood up and at about the same time, the whistling sound of arrows flying into the group came from further out into the woods. Men charged out of the woods around the bandits. One appeared to be a visible leader, ranger type. He came in with his sword and attacked one of the bandits. A rather large barbarian type came out of the woods and attacked another.
Symon casts Shield and backed away from the main area facing to closest group of archers. Rawling moved quickly away, to a group of his own men and drew a sword. Xor charged him and hit him. Cal-El moved quickly toward him and missed his first swing but killed him on his second attack. With Rawling dead, Eryn shifted to one of the bandits and fired twice, hitting once. Angelique fired at one of the bandits and hit it. Symon waved his hands around and yells, “I’m going to cast my instant death spell if you do not surrender now!”. No one seems to fall for it as they continue firing and attacking. Bruno and Dan Longmire were attacked and returned the attacks. Francesca got hit by Bandit 4. Archer 1 hit Dan. More people showed up and attack Rawlings men. They were more of Dan Longmire’s people. The battle soon ended with no deaths on the part of the Company, or it’s new allies. Several of Rawlings people were captured due to Symon’s Color Spray spell. Cal-El, Eryn, Xor make sure they are all tied up.
The new group of people they met were exiles from Frosthaven. They were charged with some sort of crime and punished and then exiled. Dan Longmire is their leader and Bruno was the big guy that charged in to help. Dan had been punished for talking back to Sir Charles, the Mayor of Frosthaven. His punishment was the removal of his shield hand and then exile. Bruno lost his tongue and was exiled. Dan’s sister, Shea, was jailed for healing a little girl that was severely injured when a runaway wagon ran over her. Using magic of any kind is illegal in Frosthaven. Dan’s and Bruno’s punishments and banishments stemmed from what happened to Shea. The larger group of exiles was camped nearby. Dan sent his people back to the camp while they continued talking. The Company gave him their background and what they had experienced getting here. He didn’t know who might have killed the three from Rawling’s group. Xor looted Rawling’s body finding about 20 gold, a nice short sword, and a note. The note read, “Rawling, You and your bunch quit fucking around and get on with it! Theo!”. The rest were searched and more coins were found but that’s about it.
Symon asked Dan who this Theo character was. He told us that Theo worked at the prison. He was in charge of all of the guards there. Symon asked if he new if Theo was an unsavory character. Dan said that he never cared for Theo or his boss, the warden, Warden Blackmoore. Of course, Sir Charles loves him. The Company returned to Dan’s camp. Dan took care of the three that were captured. They weren’t going to be killed, but told to leave the area and never return. Symon asked if Dan knew Elmer Salister, which he did, said everyone knows Elmer, said he was a good guy, said he doesn’t live in Frosthaven but north of there. Came in for supplies from time to time. Symon asked if he knew an Alister Finch which he indicated that he didn’t. The conversation came back around to the Mayor. Dan told us that Sir Charles was not a bad guy but that something changed about a year ago. They heard he had found something and every since then, he’s been a different person. He told us that his idea of justice was no longer tempered with mercy. He followed the letter of the law. If you step out of line, he takes nothing into consideration. You suffer the consequences. All Dan wants is to get Shea out of prison and take these people and go south. Dan offered to pay us to help him. Eryn asked what Shea’s sentence was, Dan said she was sentenced to life. He also told us that her magic comes from nature, she’s a Druid. Symon let Dan know that the group is on a mission to escort someone and that it starts soon. They will only have a few days with which to possibly help her. Dan said that if nothing else, try to let her know that he is out here and will not leave until she is free.
As everyone got back to Dan’s camp, he showed them around and they met some of the other exiles and ate. Angelique met a priest of Ahn, Samu. He has no power with which to help these people as Ahn is not with us. He asked if she would help him heal some of the people hear. As she talked to him, she found out that he was missing a brother priest named Rogard. He said that they claim he assaulted the CaptaIn and is in the prisons at Frosthaven. He said that Rogard was on a sacred mission to recover an item to help understand what to do to get Ahn to hear them. Rogard had something that was sacred to the Ahn followers. Samu does’t know what happened to it but Rogard is in prison. He asked that if Francesca is going into the town, that maybe she could find him and return the item to us. She assisted Samu in healing for a while.
They offered to leave the horse with the exiles for which they were thankful. They discussed some of the items to be identified and decided to identify the short sword. It’s a costly endeavor but a necessary one if these items do turn out to have special capabilities. There was some colored sand in a bottle that Symon recognized as a component in the Color Spray spell he used earlier. He took that. He was curious if he would be able to buy spell components in Frosthaven. Dan told him he could but he would have to be careful doing that. His friend Madam Kirra has a shop for selling spices for cooking. Her sister was caught smuggling and is in the prison. Xor asked how big the prison was. Dan told us it used to be a warehouse but was converted some time back to be a regional prison. It’s pretty big. Eryn asked how long Sir Charles had been in charge. Quite a while, he answered Xor asked how many guards were in the prison, Dan thought it was a tight group of about 10 people. Warden Blackmore has been there for quite a while to, before the changes in Sir Charles. Rogard showed up about the same time Sir Charles seemed to change. Maybe it had something to do with him or the item he was carrying. Dan mentioned another contact, Cassandra Green. She is Shea’s best friend. Cassandra has been the town blacksmith since her father passed.
They set up a watch and Cal-El and Xor traded of watches and the party turned in. Eryn removed her armor and made sure she got a good night’s rest. The evening quietly passed. In the morning, Symon casts the identify spell on the short sword and it is magical. We decided that it’s better than a regular short sword and he suggested we call it a Short Sword Extreme or a Short Sword +1. We decided to hold off on identifying the dagger as we only have one more pearl left.
Dan invited us to breakfast and asked if we’d thought about helping him. Eryn asked if he had any suggestions on a tactic we might use to get her out. Should we perhaps bribe Warden Blackmoore? He told us that would be a very bad idea and would get us thrown into prison. Dan suggested talking to Madam Kirra. Her family has been there a long time. Her father used to run that place when it was a storehouse. She just knows things that other people don’t. Symon asked if Kirra could get word back to him should we have to leave with our caravan before we get a chance to get in there. He told him that Cassandra can get word to him. Symon told him that we will do what we can, given the limited amount of time we’ll be there. Dan gave us a note to pass on to Shea. The note said something like, Hope your okay, I’m fine, I’m going to get you out, we’ll be together again and we’re going to get out of here. He folded it and sealed it with his signet ring. He handed it to Symon and told them to read it to her, if nothing else, and show her the stamp so she would know it’s from him. He thanked us. He said he spoke harshly about Frosthaven but Sir Charles is not a bad person, he’s just become misguided. He’s not evil, he’s just lost his capacity for mercy. Eryn asked if Sir Charles was married and had a family which he answered yes. Bruno came up and slapped Eryn on the back and grunted. Eryn told him it was a pleasure meeting him and wished him well in his future. Dan escorted the Company back to the road.
We continued on our way North to Frosthaven. Eryn put the note in a secret pocket inside her boots. She has secret pockets and folds in her boots and the sleeves of her armor. After some time, we came to a cliff, a kind of overlook, with large rocks lining the road to prevent people from falling over the edge. The road turned east and began snaking down the cliff to the bottom where they could see a bridge over a river leading into the town of Frosthaven. The town is bigger than Three Points, Munvale, and Udenvale. The party began winding their way down. They approached the bridge where there were two great big signs. They read as follows.
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Welcome to Frosthaven Enjoy your stay!
Magic is forbidden in Frosthaven under penalty of death or life imprisonment!
Magic items are forbidden and must be registered and checked at the constable’s office.
Murder will result in being publicly hanged!
Smuggling is unlawful and will result in public hanging or life imprisonment.
Theft will result in being publicly hanged, imprisoned, or maimed!
Manslaughter is punishable by life imprisonment and or maiming and being exiled.
Assault will result in imprisonment or being maimed and exiled.
It is unlawful to unsheathe a sword, knock an arrow or draw any weapon within the city proper! Violators will be fined, have all weapons confiscated, and spend a week in the stocks.
Trespassing will result in being fined and spending 60 days in jail and exiled.
Public drunkenness will result in being fined, 30 days in jail, and/or a week in the stocks.
Begging is illegal and is punishable by 10 days in jail and banishment.
Destroying public or private property will result in being jailed, fined, and require full restitution.
All visitors are required to register before entering the city proper.
Signed, Sir Charles Gregory, Lord Mayor and Constable of Frosthaven.
Make it a great day!
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At the entrance of the bridge are two “sort of” guards. One looked to be about 16 and the other is much older. They approach and the boy welcomed us and identified himself as Joey and the older man said his name is Sam. He pointed out the sign to make sure we took note of those. The boy was thrilled that we might be adventurers and wanted to know if we were here to solve the missing chicken mystery. The older man told him to stop talking about the chickens. The kid goes on and on about the missing chickens that are apparently missing from everywhere. Symon told him that we are here on business. The old man made them register in a book. He repeated that they’d have to give up any magic items at the constables office. Better not try and smuggle any in. They got the location of the constables office from him. They could see a good distance through the town and on the other side, they saw a couple of guards on horseback leading a wagon out of the other side of the city. The wagon was decorated with very gaudy and bright colors. It’s a very big wagon. They asked the older man about it and he said it was a Gnome passing through. They won’t let him stay as Gnomes are just too strange and generally full of magic. They don’t want him here and were escorting him through and out of town. The guards watched a bit as the wagon rolled off down the road and after a bit, they came back into town.
From this vantage point, they saw quite a bit of the town. They saw the prison near the center of town with some buildings around it like a stable, another set of stables, the inn possibly, a market section, a building that looked like a temple, and on the North Western side was a big mansion. They can also see a lot of buildings where people live throughout the town. When asked, they told Symon that the Dog Butt is the inn where they’ll want to stay. Seeing his confussion about the name, they qualified it as a nick name for the Doggered Butternut. The sign is pretty worn so it looks like it reads as the Dog Butt. Angelique signed in as Francesca. She said she had a scroll to turn in as well. We also learned that potions must be declared as well so Xor reported his healing potion. He gave us a document to turn in at the constables office with our items, pointed out where it was, and sent us on our way. He said it’s kind of bad around here now but didn’t used to be that way. Everything changed when that crazy guy came through here. They arrested him for being a beggar or something. He’s one of those people that covered they eyes, ears, and mouth. Francesca recognized that as the sign of an Ahn follower. She determinesd they must be talking about Rogard. When they arrested him, he was very docile but then he heard that Captain Murdock found a book or something on him and took it from him and that’s when he went wild and tore up half of Murdock’s face. He wound up in prison for life for that one.
The Company headed across the bridge and past a couple of other guards that appeared more serious and more like official guards. They continued into the town. They followed the road around and into the center of town toward the constables office. They approach the building, near the hanging tree. The people passing them looked normal and seem to be going about their daily business, mostly unarmed. They did pass more guards. They passed Rogers Mercantile, and to the south is the Dog Butt Inn. There were clothing stores, wood working shops, just about anything they might need but no potion shops. There were two guards in front of the building where they were supposed to turn in the items. Eryn approached them and the guards told us that if we were checking our equipment, we should go to the entrance on the left side of the building to the desk sergeant. As they started around that side, Cal-El went around the other side and worked his way around the building. He saw the tree and got a good look at the prison. As they walk up to the door on the side of the building, the door opens and a uniformed sergeant stepped out and asked if he could help us. They told him that they just arrived and that they were told that they were supposed to report hear and turn in some items. He told them his name was Sergeant Harris. He had them follow him into the office and turned to head back in.
Well, that was a long segment. I need to take a break and stretch my legs. I’ll be back later.
Don’t forget to turn open the recorder.