Hench: Amadayo, Mahin, Madrof, Eggie, Jalen, Jerod, Beyza
Something clicked with the party about the Millon situation that was briefly visited last session. They were convinced that the wives and daughters of Mayor Chester Ricks were abused or imprisoned or… something. They returned to the agricultural town to check in with the Mayor’s butler Jeeves, who advised them again that it would take quite some time to get onto the Mayor’s schedule to be seen. They asked after the women who were unable to meet with anyone at this time and left still convinced that the Mayor had his family chained in the basement.
The reward was still on offer for information about the whereabouts of his daughter Maisie or her return to Millon. She had been kidnapped after being introduced to the court at Lord Valestrian’s Castle. Rumors so far pointed at the nobles growing frustrated with Ricks for not pulling the trigger on any potential matches. Seems they felt the low ranking noble was punching above his weight.
The party tooled around Millon for a bit, meeting the local baker named Martha who sold goods off of her back porch. They paid handsomely for everything she had in stock and custom orders for the next day due to Eggie the Henchman’s insatiable hunger curse that he picked up from Tampering with Mortality. Jokes about Thinner were made, the youngest player didn’t get them, and we moved on.
They decided to investigate Maisie’s last known whereabouts, somewhere between Valestrian and Talston. On their way back to Talston they passed by a small roc lair that they’d seen before. Cracaryn was trying to make friends by offering various foods, this time a freshly baked meat pie, but the protective male of the mated pair wasn’t havin’ it. The elven ranger left the pie and fled, hoping the dive bombing roc didn’t catch him. Evasion was successful and they carried on.
On their way to Valestrian from Talston, they made a point of being very thorough, checking for potential ambush points and mapping them out for future use. The disappearance happened months ago so they knew they couldn’t track for it, but they could at least try to find likely sites and see what they could put together from there.
There was one perfect ambush spot that they located where the road ran straight through a thicket of trees. They spent a lot of time there poking about, picking up fresh tracks that led beyond and behind the southern end. They split into two groups to charge around the trees and come at… whatever… was back there, rushing up on a Wolf Nomad (notMongolian) horse archer who had been camping there. He was mounted and prepared to fight, but he was alone, so they chatted and eventually Gwendolyn was able to bring him on as a henchman.
Beyza had some information about the local area where he’d been roaming for a while. There were press gangs out from Blackhold, the seat of Eros Tyring, scooping up anyone not nailed down by other duties. The Lord Valestrian also had recruiters hiring mercenary companies and adventurers en masse. The nomad didn’t think the press gangs would give the party much trouble but he warned them anyway. Tensions were high in the area and rumors were that the Bloodletter had actually marched out of Bellport towards Loch Lucerne Castle with an army.
The group continued towards Valestrian, where they’d never been, arriving later in the day at an idyllic medieval castle with tall spires and well-maintained fortifications. They joined a queue to enter the low walled town supporting the fortress where they witnessed a significantly higher presence of troops at the gate.
The troops seemed to be efficiently and politely searching wagons and enforcing tariffs and gate guard type things, right until they pulled a wagon driver to the side and beat him to unconsciousness, carrying him and his wagon away into the town after discovering a hidden compartment. The party exchanged uneasy glances, with Luther the paladin shrugging and commenting, “That’s what he gets for smuggling” or something to that effect. Lawful doesn’t mean Good or Nice.
They had a short interview with the corporal on duty where they learned that they could talk to Mike at the Red Lantern if they were looking for work and were otherwise ushered in with a firm warning to not cause any trouble. Once they entered town, Gwendolyn made a point to find a small shop where they could ask some questions. They ducked into a cobbler’s shop and when asked who ran the store it was clear to me that it had to be Mom and Pop from Seinfeld.
Once again I made the mistake of displaying my professional level voice acting skills by adopting a pitch perfect imitation of some old lady. They had a short chat wherein they learned the people of town, usually pretty chipper, were tense and irritable due to the heightened militarization from Valestrian and his vassal Tyring. War was brewing and no one was happy about it. They also learned that the description of Maisie sounded like a northern lower noble girl who had been to town but left a while back. She was apparently popular with Lord Tyring at court.
Gwendolyn also noted to the old woman that she had a hole in her roof, but never fear, the benevolent bard would have it taken care of post haste. She made a point to hunt down the local thatcher Benn, who was an irascible old man who nevertheless knew his business. She paid for roof repairs to the shop and Cracaryn for some unknown reason threatened the old thatcher, who was not intimidated at all and reciprocated by gesturing with his cane and throwing them out of his shop.
I bebopped to the Seinfeld bass line in my head as they made their way to the Red Lantern, where Gwendolyn took the stage to sing for the large crowd of mercs and adventurers while the others talked to Mike who sat at a table recruiting folks for Lord Valestrian. He offered them employment for their henchman wages based on level, which was just insulting apparently, and when pumped for more lucrative opportunities mentioned that he needed recon on well, everyone. He was paying for solid intel on Lucerne, Talston, Deinwick, and/or the Bloodletter, Baron Heinrik.
The group was interested but were still focused on their mission to save the princess, so they scared up the information that Blackhold was west of Valestrian and there was a road out of Blinton, a small town known for their prized horse stock. They were convinced that Tyring had abducted or seduced Maisie and wanted to verify that for the reward from Millon. Off to Blinton.
They arrived with no issues to the small town, which they didn’t really spend a lot of time investigating. They hit up the local recruitment post for Blackhold and noticed a wagon being loaded with young men and escorted along a road to the west. The party approached the platoon’s sergeant and asked if they could go with. The sergeant looked them over and snickered at Luther, the paladin of Heironeous, before shrugging and departing. They took this for consent and traveled with them.
Blackhold was a small keep with a curtain wall and defensive towers, relatively new construction that reminded the group a lot of Riverstride, the seat of Lord Issac de Molay. The people that they passed were pleasant enough, but a few things stood out. First, Cracaryn the elf was getting dirty looks. Not that uncommon, but Gwendolyn noticed these were a little more intense, a little more hate-filled, than usual. Second, the holy symbol of Hextor was prominently displayed, the less cuddly half-brother to Heironeous. They don’t get on.
The troops and conscripts continued on to a barracks, leaving the crew to figure things out for themselves. They visited a local inn called The Arrow, where they confirm the populace is all in on Hextor and that the Lord Tyring has a new wife. They’re convinced that it’s Maisie and decide to make an appointment at the keep. In busier settlements the rulers have quite the waitlist, but smaller areas like Riverstride and Blackhold are more accessible, particularly since both rulers make a point to be available to the locals.
Luther just can’t be around these cats and said he’d camp out at one of the mercenary campsites that all towns in Oberholt have. The party joined him in solidarity, but nothing weird happened overnight. They arrived for their appointment and apparently beat the rush because they’re seen quite promptly.
In a great hall eerily similar to Issac’s, Eros Tyring, a young woman fitting the description of Maisie Ricks, and a dignified man in black and silver robes greeted the petitioners as they’re introduced. Tyring and the robed man displayed the clenched fist of Hextor on their armor, but Tyring did all the talking. He was large and fair-haired, with the confidence that comes from a lifetime of being better than everyone around you. He welcomed them courteously and accepted that they wanted to pay their respects to the Lord. He offered them employment which they declined and having verified that Maisie was here, they dipped. Luther tried to goad Tyring with some slapstick disrespect of property but the young Lord grinned knowingly and let him go.
On the surface, Blackhold was not the den of evil that it was rumored to be. But the undercurrents had them suspicious af. The group traveled back to Valestrian and decided to scout towards Lucerne to the north, but not before forcing me to reprise my role as Mom, the old lady cobbler. Dicks.
The party was stopped on the road by a patrol of cavalry flying Lucerne colors. They were bloodied from recent battle and claimed they were looking for remnants of the Bloodletter’s army who they had just “kicked the shit out of”. They were turned away and decided to report this new info to Mike at the Red Lantern.
They were paid a little for this pretty generic and unverified information, but at least learned that Mike was legit in what he was offering. The group determined from here to head back to Millon and notify Mayor Ricks of his daughter’s whereabouts. The crew had pretty uneventful travel, noting that the rocs were still at their lair. Cracaryn was determined to make these rocs friendly or die trying.
More big orders at Martha’s and a visit to Jeeves had them finally get a meeting with the Mayor, where they informed him of Maisie’s new situation. The Mayor was very unhappy, swearing to lodge a complaint with Lord Valestrian, but this did not affect the party’s pay. They were rewarded what they were promised and couldn’t help but ask about his many wives and daughters. He chuckled and spun a wand between his fingers. The family members were fabricated by magic, a show for the peasants. Only Maisie was his true family. He liked the party and asked them to keep that secret for him. Who knows what they’ll do in the future.
They took their money and bounced, heading back to their favorite town of Talston to end the session, but not before Cracaryn bought 2 or 3 whole cows and strung them out for the rocs. The giant birds were being awfully territorial and chased the party off but seemed to enjoy the meat delivery.
Musings:
This was a departure session for our table. Usually it’s a big discussion about how they can make the most money, but they’re good souls who were genuinely worried about Maisie and the girls. They opened up some of the map that we’ve had zero interaction with to this point which was interesting. It’ll be cool to see if they focus on that interior section to the east rather than some of the frontier work they’ve been more used to. Undoubtedly fewer dungeons, but political tensions and rumors of battles could certainly be taken advantage of by enterprising young adventurers.
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