When we last left the party, they had, well, they had pretty much become rather alienated from the authorities and townsfolk of Swallowfeld. Possibly with hopes of at least doing some good and to save the Warden’s nephews that had been taken by the goblins, they set out to follow the tracks. They had found the goblin compound and had begun their exploration/raid of it and that’s where we’ll pick up after the break.
This is probably going to be a bit more abbreviated than many of the session write-ups. Not because little happened but because the last session was almost three weeks ago, I’ve put off writing this until now, and it is getting late on a Friday night. We had a full table with all players in attendance and a bit of a twist near the end of the session that I think kind of threw the players…mwah ha ha!
Although the party began their exploration and raid on the goblin compound with a good deal of stealth, it was too good to last for long. The maze of tunnels, traps, and nets hindering their progress combined with many goblins scattered throughout soon meant it was a full on fight. Goblins were soon swarming from nearly every tunnel that the party had or was passing through. It was pretty clear that they could easily get separated and surrounded by the little bastards’ numbers. That was exactly what had started to happen as the party began to make a fighting retreat. Unfortunately, that fighting retreat was turning out to be easier said than done.
Before they could either escape or be overwhelmed, however, a familiar voice called out to them. It was Aerlium, the “imp” that they had freed previously. Aerlium and Thalimor had a short discussion and a bargain was struck between them. In exchange for the information that the party had uncovered regarding the location of Cynric’s Folly and a rough sketch of a map for where they believed it to be, Aerlium would turn over Thalimor’s ring (the one that Danu had given him and that had been stolen from him previously) and the imp would turn over the children in the state that they were currently in. In addition, Thalimor got Aerlium to promise that he would order no attacks on Swallowfeld, the other settlements, or any of the peoples of the Lonely Coast for at least nine days. Thalimor and the party would also be granted safe passage out of the goblin compound.
With the agreement in place and the information shared, goblins delivered the charred and partially eaten bodies of the three children that had been kidnapped. The party gathered up the bodies in some blankets and retreated from the compound. No goblins tried to stop them so Aerlium, at least so far, seemed to be true to his word.
It was decided that despite the cold welcome they might receive in Swallowfeld (some were concerned that they might have actually been officially banished), they needed to return the bodies of the children and report on the armistice that they had brokered. So they headed back to Swallowfeld and as they got closer, they also decided that Godric and the Temple of VĂ©len of the goblin danger. Circling around to the other side of the village, Bay and Thalimor took their leave from the others to head to the Temple.
Pounder decided that he’d go into Swallowfeld first and alone just in case they had actually been banished or the like. He took up the sack with the bodies and started into the village. He was quickly spotted by a child who ran straight for Wardseld Keep. Not really sure how he would present the dead bodies, Pounder set the sack down and continued walking, reasoning that it would be better to explain what had happened before the bodies were seen.
About a dozen guards, led by Feng, soon came out of the Keep and surrounded the paladin. At this point, Todd and I went out on the porch to continue this part since no one else in the party could hear what was said, they could only see what happened.] Feng came up to Pounder and said that he was either the most foolish or most stupid person that he had ever met to come back after what he had done. How could Pounder think he could come back to the village after murdering the child, Kettilwig?!? Feng then hit Pounder in the back of the head with his club, knocking him out, and the guards began to drag his body to the Keep.
All the rest of the party knew from what they saw was that Pounder had been apparently arrested in a somewhat violent fashion. Once the guards were in the Keep, they headed into the village and retrieved the sack with the childrens’ bodies from where Pounder had left it. They then headed over to Teza’s Trading Post to see if they could get some information on what was going on. Teza’s guards, however, would not let them in and, after apparently checking with her, indicated that Teza had no interest in speaking with them.
As they turned to leave, Feng and a large number of guards were approaching them. The party indicated that they’d like to see the Warden and Feng had no problem taking them to see him. At the Keep, the party met with the Warden, Feng, and quite a few guards. They handed over the sack with the bodies and explained that the children had already been killed before they had reached the goblin compound. They explained what they had encountered, its location, and the short armistice that Thalimor had brokered with the leader of the goblins.
This, of course, led to the question of where Thalimor just happened to be since he wasn’t with the rest of them. It was explained that he and Bay had gone off to the Temple to warn Godric and the others of what had been happening and the possibility of future goblin attacks. After that information was shared, the Warden ordered some guards to go to the Temple.
The conversation then turned to the topic of Pounder. It was explained that he had been arrested for the murder of Kettilwig and would be executed in the morning. The paladin’s companions, of course, protested his innocence and asked when the child had been killed. It was earlier that day and since Pounder had been with them the whole day, it was pointed out that he couldn’t be the killer. The Warden, however, pointed out that nothing they said could be believed AND there had been numerous witnesses who saw Pounder take the girl from the Keep.
Dismissed by the Warden, Isenthorne, Magnus, and Osric headed for the Wolf’s Head Inn. All conversation stopped as they entered and it is pretty clear that they aren’t really welcome. Osric offers to buy a round of drinks for everyone and starts to ask both Kettle and Saewig questions about what had happened. The pair answered but were clearly put off by the interrogative tone…they weren’t the ones chumming around with a child murderer. Fyrmund, however, was still pleased to see Isenthorne and hoped that they could have dinner that night.
It was learned from the various conversations with the innkeeps and suitor that after the party had left Swallowfeld that morning, Pounder had come back and went to the Keep. He took Kettilwig from Caedden and left the Keep with her. Numerous people saw this happen. The half-orc, apparently, took her into the woods and brutally murdered her; Kettilwig’s screams could be heard in town. By the time the soldiers arrived, Pounder was gone. No one believed the party’s claims that Pounder had been with them the whole day and so couldn’t have done it.
Having also gotten the general location of where Kettilwig’s body had been found, the remaining trio of the party set off to investigate. The location turned out to be the very spot where they had briefly paused in the woods just north of the village that very morning. There was quite a bit of blood on the ground and trees in the area. Tracks were in abundance as well but with all the traipsing about earlier in the day and then again by the soldiers investigating, Isenthorne was unable to discern anything from them. She did, however, notice that there were rather a lot of spider webs in the trees. Higher up they were quite thick and reminiscent of the webs that had covered the stockade just that morning. Isenthorne decided to climb up a tree to investigate.
Meanwhile [and more time has passed for these two], Bay and Thalimor had hustled along to the Temple. Before reaching the Temple, they could hear horses galloping from behind them. The pair ducked into the woods just in time to not be spotted by two soldiers riding by. This concerned the pair…the only place the soldiers could really be headed would be the Temple.
They decided that things were looking desperate enough that Bay would try and beseech aid from his fey patron, Danu. So when they reached the area of the Temple, they headed down the steep path to Prayer’s Point and the sea. Bay called out pleaded for Danu to come aid him but there was no response.
Climbing back up to the top of the cliff, they decided that they really didn’t want to go to the Temple while the soldiers were inside. So, instead, they looked for a place to camp for the evening a short distance off of the Cliffway. As they settled down, they could hear and eventually spot one of the two soldiers riding back in the direction of Swallowfeld.
[And that’s pretty much how the session ended…the party split up, Isenthorne climbing a web infested tree, and Pounder scheduled to be executed in the morning. I’m sure I’ve probably missed some stuff given how long ago this session was…one should also do a session write-up while it is still relatively fresh in one’s memory. đŸ˜‰
I really, really, really have no idea what might happen next. We’ll just have to see.
No beer notes this time…I’m not sure I even remember what we sampled…way too many beers since then.]
