Post by Andre on Jul 14, 2011 9:37:32 GMT -5
This FG game session begins towards the end and close to nightfall of day 13 of Autumn Dark ("November" to use real earth terms) in the year 351 AC - this FG game sessions ends on the night of date (day) number 16 of that month.
The heroes found themselves responsible for 1500 human refugees freed from Pax Tharkas ... while some of the refugees were hunters and warriors (particularly both the men and women of the plainsmen barbarians) many others fell into the category of the elderly or the very young , slowing the movement rate of the refugees as a whole... the hunters were able to gather a certain amount of food for the refugees but food shortages seem to definitely be a potential problem. Also of concern was the possibility of the red branch of the dragonarmy that had been stationed in Pax Tharkas.. possibly all 10,000 of them and as many as five possible red dragons (Ember and Flamestrike were last seen locked in a pitched battle - perhaps only one of them survived? Bringing the number of red dragons down from six to five if this is the case) might be in pursuit of the refugees to recapture their slave labor force... the heroes triggered the gate blocking mechanism before leaving Pax Tharkas - given that the dragonarmies are returning from their attempt to conquer the elven city of Qualinost to the "wrong" side of Pax Tharkas they will have to climb over the fortress to get to the refugees since the gates are now blocked, buying the refugees some time- exactly how much time is uncertain.
The heroes struck out into the Tharkadan (aka the Kharolis) mountains refugees in tow.. and were ambushed by what were initially twelve draconians... three draconians at a time somehow fused together, merging in a disgusting mass of flesh until four much larger draconians - each one 10 feet tall - stood where four draconians used to be.. it would appear the Black Robed wizards .. or perhaps the newly revived priests (clerics) of the dark gods..perhaps even both working together.. are finding new and disgusting ways to put their draconian (dragon-man type humanoids) to use ..
The draconians made a point of targeting Serinda, presumably because the former allies of the heroes turned traitor .. Sangrias, eaten by Draug.. and Azcot whose current whereabouts are unknown after the heroes defeated him then let him live ... appear to have told the dragonarmies that Serinda is the most dangerous among the heroes , no doubt due to her ability to destroy many foes with a single blast of icy magic.. the merged draconians got lucky, showing uncanny ability with their arrows as they attacked from high above the heroes on icy cliffs, and managed to penetrate Serinda's magical defenses several times, nearly killing her... Forman happened upon the draconians and fought to aid the heroes, joining their group and witnessing miraculous healing for the first time as Rin lay hands upon Serinda's wounds making them fade away (in game terms used a cure spell)
On day three of their trek through the mountains the heroes come across hill dwarf tracks... the heroes leave the refugees in the hands of Christania, Laurana, Gilthanas and Moons Shadow (see the "important NPC's" section of the forum for information on these people) and instruct the refugees to continue along the Old South Road until they reach the end of it (see the attached map below)... the heroes travel to area "7" on the attached map and encounter a small settlement of hill dwarves.
The hill dwarf leader, Stenkast, suggests that the heroes locate the mountain dwarves and somehow convince the mountain dwarves to take the human refugees in, adding that a hidden dwarven city beneath a mountain will be a tough defense for any pursuing dragonarmy to get past... unfortunately given the dwarfgate war that took place between hill and mountain dwarf centuries ago the hill dwarves cut off contact with the mountain dwarves and consequently have no idea where the mountain dwarf kingdom of Thorbardin is, though Stenkast notes that Skullcap.. the former wizard's stronghold belonging to the once powerful now presumably dead Black Robe Fistaldanius ... is supposed to hold the information that would lead to finding the mountain dwarves (Fistaldanius was involved in the dwarfgate war centuries ago)...
Stenkast also directs the heroes to an area full of honey suitable for food for the refugees (area 10 on the map) and a valley full of game with a stream flowing through it that would be a good temporary refuge for the refugees until the location of Thorbardin can be discovered (area 20 on the map).
Forman insists that the hill dwarves involve themselves in aiding the human refugees and that the hill dwarves involve themselves in the fracas with the dragonarmies in general... Stenkast, being as stubborn as a typical dwarf, refuses... Forman goes to apply pressure on a nerve ending (or some kung-fu thing of that nature
) on the dwarf but Serinda acts first (in game terms beat Forman on the initiative roll), capturing Forman in a Resilient Sphere spell in an attempt to keep the peace... Draug comes to Forman's aid , first poo-ing on Stenkast's cabin (after the hill dwarf - rudely mind you as dwarves tend to be - repeatedly warned Draug not to ) and then tripping Stenkast , unintentionally sending Stenkast beard-first into the poo.. a brawl erupts between Stenkast, Stenkast's two dwarf warriors and Draug (non-lethal subdual damage combat)... given Draug's damage reduction resistance to non silver weapons Draug is able to beat the two dwarf warriors senseless and starts harassing Stenkast, perching on his head and so forth while Forman insults Stenkast for the dwarf's refusal to get involved ... Serinda joins Rin and Zane , walking away from the entire fracas... Draug then pops Stenkast's shoulder out of his joint (DM note - the player asked if this would be considered a violation of good aligned behavior given that they planned to heal Stenkast right away afterwards magically, the DM said it wasn't a violation) and Draug starts hollering for Rin to come give Stenkast "aides"... Rin and Zane walk in, observe the chaos that has occurred while they left, and Rin magically heals Stenkast... given that this is the first magical healing the dwarves have seen taken place in over 350 years the dwarves are awestruck - Stenkast agrees to send one of his dwarves as a guide to assist the others (but still refuses to let the human refugees stay with his hill dwarf settlement). Draug tries to apologize to STenkast who will have none of it - Draug then "marks his territory" , peeing on a hill dwarf cabin.
The heroes wisely decide to make camp for the night some distance away from the hill dwarf settlement.. (at this point I'm continuing the recap with stuff mentioned on the forum RP - see the threads :
whatifdragonlancedm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=forumroleplay&action=display&thread=818
whatifdragonlancedm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=forumroleplay&action=display&thread=835
whatifdragonlancedm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=forumroleplay&action=display&thread=836 )
Their dwarven guide, Grist Coppertoe, is given the disks of mishakal to read and becomes the first dwarven priest( cleric) of Reorx to walk the land in over 350 years .. Serinda and Rin magically teleport themselves away to area "3" on the attached map planning on charming the leader of the dragonarmies in an attempt to turn him and his dragonarmies back.... meanwhile Zane, Draug and Forman make plans to go on foot, along with Grist, to where the human refugees have most likely stopped (the end of the Great South Road on the map below).
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