FRC Session 5…Dru’s Day Out

The last session ended somewhat tamely compared to some prior ones. The party had headed to Floshin Estate to see if they could find out anymore information about Caill and/or his death as his body had been found near the estate. They were greeted by an elf before catching even sight of any building that might be part of Floshin Estate. The elf didn’t seem too pleased at their arrival but did share some information, showed them the location where Caill’s body had been found, and granted them permission to camp on Floshin lands. Bran took first watch but the elf suggested that they would face no dangers while camping and Bran took him at his word, the halfling went to sleep.

This recap is from Muse. Todd would not be playing with us anymore as he was moving out of town so I came up with something that seemed fairly appropriate for Bran’s departure. My GM comments are in [brackets and italics]. There are, potentially, some spoilers for the old Dungeon magazine (Issue #26) adventure, “The Inheritance,” even if many (if not most) of the details aren’t quite as written in that adventure.

the session begins as the party wakens from their slumber.

the party quickly discovers that both Bran and their elven visitor are gone. Strik also makes a more startling personal discovery. All of his money is gone, including the few coins he had been holding as part of the group’s cash resources. In it’s place he finds a note, written in Bran’s hand, that says, “Sucker…so much for providing good security. Love, Bran.”

Dru meanwhile alerts Adran, that she had a conversation with the elf last evening while everyone else was sleeping. She relays what she has learned. His name is Saeros and he serves the Lord of Floshin Estates. While Saeros did not know much of the current history of Cagair Keep, he did provide quite a bit of knowledge regarding its history.

Migdhal Yar is the name given by the dwarves who built what is now called Cagair Keep. It means Western Outpost or Sunset Outpost. It was constructed in the days of ill-fated Phalorm and when the dwarves thrived in Thaltekhth, under Mount Illefarn. Their underground passages connected Migdhal Yar to their main holdings. The dwarves delved into areas that they should not have and in the end, the dwarves had to collapse many of their tunnels, including most of those below Migdhal Yar, to defeat and prevent whatever it was that they unleashed from reaching Thaltekhth or the surface world.

They only partially succeeded. To this day, Thaltekhth remains cursed and inhabited only by the Beldarakin, the dwarven word for “treacherous ones.” It has been whispered that these Beldarakin even have interbred with orcs.

Preoccupied by their underground battles with whatever it was that they unleashed, the dwarves did not heed the call of alliance when the People of Ardeep [aka elves] and others of the Kingdom of Phalorm went to battle. Her armies defeated, Phalorm fell. The People withdrew and Delimbiryan, the human kingdom of Phalorm, fell to petty squabbles. The grand experiment of a united kingdom of Elves, Dwarves, and Humans failed and has even faded from memory with the passage of time.

Migdhal Yar remained unoccupied for centuries until Caill Dafad took up residence. Humans claimed it was haunted. It is not haunted; it is something different. Something still dwells below the keep, deep in the tunnels carved by the Dwarves. Something that patiently waits to be released. It can seep into the dreams of some with which it has an affinity or those who reach out to it. It is something warped and alien and from beyond our realms. It is something that should not be released.

[Ah…the power of a little googling and browsing some old Forgotten Realms books to come up with what is, I’m sure, from a FR canon perspective, a total and complete bastardization of FR lore. 😀 ]

When she inquired if he felt the Beldarakin could be responsible for the attack on Caill and what knowledge he had of Caill Dafad he replied that he did not believe that the Beldarakin are responsible. Caill’s will said it was orcs and the Beldarakin are dwarves…treacherous, traitorous, and dishonorable dwarves but still dwarves.

Regarding Caill, he knew that Caill married a girl from the Daggerford area and that he did visit the Lord of Floshin Estates once after becoming lord of the keep. From what he learned from his Lord afterwards, Caill wished to only be left alone and their conversations were strained and forced. Caill was guarded in responses even to simple social niceties. Dinner conversation was largely composed of awkward conversations as Caill was reluctant to be engaged.

[I wonder what that was all about. Was Caill just shy and socially awkward or was he nervous about something else?]

This raised many concerns in his Lord’s mind but they had no issues with Cagair Keep and had no further contact with its lord.

They have not had any contact with Lady Hawke. Nor has she been invited to visit Floshin Estates. When Dru inquired as to why that was, he replied that Resident does not mean rightful ruler. His Lord will wait to invite the rightful occupant of Cagair Keep once the parties have settled their differences.

He remarked that the dealings of “Breeders” are of no concern unless they threaten his Lord’s holdings. The lord of Cagair Keep posed no obvious threat and made no overt threats to Floshin Estate. They are aware of the potential for great danger from Cagair Keep given the history of Migdhal Yar but that it is not their place to act against it unless that danger presents a threat to Floshin.

Dru then inquired if he knew the location of the secret entrance to the tunnels beneath Cagair Keep and he replied that if the secret entrance is one that the dwarves of old constructed when they built Migdhal Yar, then he doubted that either Dru, her companions, or any but a few living today could find it or open it from the outside.

She also inquired if he knew what exactly the dwarves had unleashed, but neither his Lord nor he knew what was unleashed by the dwarves of Thaltekhth in their diggings and that if any did, they have not shared that knowledge with him or his Lord.

(Throughout the conversation, Saeros made many references to “Breeders”. A derogatory term that some elves have used to refer to the younger races, especially humans, half-elves, and half-orcs (dwarves are not included in this group as they are considered an elder race). Elves that use this term generally do not think much of these other races and have more than just a bit of a superiority complex. Dru does not use this term and did not want to upset her companions, so she made every effort to not to use the term, replacing it with people or human as much as she could.)

Considerable time was spent discussing the party’s next move. We know we have a limited amount of time to fulfill the terms of the will, however we still do not have any solid idea of what we are up against and a full blown attack would be foolhardy and unwise.

We decide to send two people to request a parlay with Lady Hawke.

There is some discussion on who those two people would be. It is decided that Luther and Strik would go, while Dru would watch from the trees. Rory would take Adran back to Daggerford where she would keep him safe. Adran makes a request to know what Lady Hawke looks like, as Strik has suggested she might make a good choice as a possible bride in order to fulfill that pesky “bearing an heir” clause to the will.

[I’m not sure RJ was really thrilled about that idea. He and I both immediately thought about Queen Hemlock from the Myth Adventure series.]

The party sets out, but midway through their journey, Strik and Luthor spot a cave high up on the ridge with smoke coming out of it. Luther and Dru are adamant that we have little time to waste on investigating a fire in a precariously located cave. Adran suddenly pulls rank, stating these are his lands and we are honor bound to assist him in investigating and clearing his lands.

[Okay, this is a bit tongue in cheek but ha! There’s that old saying that no DM’s plan survives first contact with the PCs. Well, this time, the tables were turned! 😉 ]

Luther and Dru find themselves outvoted and Rory quickly traverses to the top of the ridge to attach a rope to a tree, before lowering it down to us. We climb to the top of the ridge, about 200ft away from where the cave would be. We had noticed from below, that there appeared to be a rope that dropped down in front of the cave and sure enough, a large stone contained a rope attached to a spike.

Because of her stealthy nature, Dru will head to the rope and attempt to investigate things. She heads to the ridge as the party moves up slowly, staying back about 100ft. As she disappears over the edge of the ridge, 60ft to the left of her, 4 orcs charge out of hidden foxholes. Two make their way towards the party, while two detour straight towards the rock and rope from which Dru now dangles and begin to try and sever the rope.

Strik shouts…”Get off the rope!!”

Dru doesn’t hesitate to slide down the rope quickly and land at the mouth of the cave.

Meanwhile the party attacks the orcs.

Strik uses the element of surprise to shove one of the orcs to the edge of the ridge. The orc loses his balance and plummets to his death, while Luther and Rory attack the oncoming second orc and fell him. Adran rushes forward and quickly casts sleep on the two orcs who are trying to cut the rope, but due to his haste he is only able to drop one of them. Strik tries to use his previously successful shove attempt to push the other orc off the ledge but he is wise to this and holds his balance. Strik calls him a coward for attacking an elf and the orc hollers…”ELF??” and looks at Adran, perhaps with a hungry excited gleam in his eyes, as a larger orc rushes towards the party.

[I think Strik tried to taunt the large orc…half-ogre…by calling him a coward for attacking an elf but it backfired as it only goaded the half-ogre into focusing its attacks on Adran and only Adran…or maybe that was Strik’s plan all along.]

Dru meanwhile finds herself face to face with two orcs of her own. One in full plate and one wearing chainmail and an eye patch. Eyepatch places a hand on Plate and begins to murmur something while Plate stares at Dru.

Dru decides that the odds are not in her favor and as she goes to climb up and out of the cave, Plate calls her a coward and then states…”I only wish to talk” which earns him a glare from Eyepatch. Plate expresses his displeasure by shouting in orcish at Eyepatch, who shuts up.

Against her flight instinct, Dru lowers herself back to the cave mouth.

The battle above still rages as Luther and Adran focus on the new bigger orc and Strik and Rory focus on the other orc. Rory finally is able to run thru the orc with her rapier, sending him to his death. Luther shoots an Eldritch blast at the remaining orc, but misses as he is concerned about Dru and rushes to try and find out what is happening. He ties a rope to the spike and drops the rope over the edge of the ridge.

Back in the cave, Plate begins to question Dru, asking her who she is. Dru gives him her name but not much else. He asks why he shouldn’t kill her and she replies because she had made no attack on him and had in fact tried to leave.

Plate was not pleased with this answer and attacks, trying to shove Dru out of the cave, while Eyepatch begins to cast a spell. Dru is able to hold on, but the spell by Eyepatch hits her full on. An inescapable feeling comes over her, forcing her to flee by the quickest means possible. As she leaps from the mouth of the cave, Luthor’s rope is there and she uses it to flee, sliding down the rope. However, Plate and Eyepatch aren’t finished with her yet. They both attack. Plate delivers a near fatal strike, while Eyepatch casts another spell, forcing her to let go of the rope, and drop the remaining 30ft, where she then lies unconscious from her wounds.

[I think that Eyepatch initiated the attack and not Plate. I suppose that the quickest way down wasn’t actually the rope if you know what I mean.]

Luther watches in horror as Plate appears on the rope and begins to climb down towards the prone elf. The others are still battling the remaining orc and luckily Rory once again fells an orc with her rapier. The party rushes to Luther’s side and they all try and fell the orc before he can reach Dru, but their attacks are unsuccessful. The orc reaches Dru and as he stands over her he yells, “Throw your weapons over the side and have the spellcasters step back!”

[I think Strik initiated this dialogue and actually asked what it would take to keep Plate from killing Dru.]

Strik shouts back, “If we do as you say, will you spare her?”

The orc agrees and as soon as their weapons hit the ground, he picks up Dru and runs off with her.

The party knows they must find Dru and decide to try and get information from the sleeping orc. Adran ties him up, as Strik repels down to retrieve their weapons. The orc awakens and tries to break free, so the party trusses him up like a thanksgiving turkey as Strik approaches.

The half-orc flips the now tightly trussed orc onto his stomach and begins to interrogate him. The orc is less than forthcoming with any useful information and proceeds to curse and threaten Strik, saying he will drink his blood, and more disturbingly, nibble on his toes!

Strik takes a rope and ties it to the orc’s bindings and then and uses his boot to put all his weight on, and drive the orc’s face into the dirt, laboring his breathing.

He gives the orc one last chance to tell them where Plate has taken Dru. The orc again refuses and tells Strik to “Go F@ck Your Mother!”

Strik then asks him how he wants to die, giving him 3 options. The orc still maintains he will die drinking Strik’s blood.

Strik asks him his name and as the orc replies “Grock”, drives a knife through the base of the orc’s skull, killing him instantly.

Not wishing to tarry longer and lose the trail, the party quickly searches the area for clues. They find 4 hidden fox holes and woven grass suits that the orcs used to lie in wait. As they know, this is very unusual behavior for orcs. A search of the bodies reveals nothing either.

Strik heads down to the cave to search for clues. He finds the cave empty (the party is unaware of Eyepatch as they only saw Plate). A quick search yields some dirty bedding, a few half-skinned squirrels and a rope tied to a rock above a hole in the back. A more thorough search of the bedding reveals the torn, shredded remains of one of the Hawke’s Roost tabards, but little else. [Hmmm….]

They quickly descend and set off to try and follow Plate’s trail. To their surprise [and relief], it appears he is making absolutely no attempt to hide his trail from them.

They follow his tracks to the edge of a copse of trees, where they find a piece of Dru’s cloak, with a message written upon it.

“Send the half-orc, alone”

The others keep watch as Strik follows a trail of pieces of Dru’s cloak.

He has traveled about 60ft when he comes to a small clearing. There he finds Dru, trussed up and hanging by her feet over a set of spiked sticks, with Plate holding the rope.

(I was not able to get all of the conversation that happened, Thomas and Tim get to going rapid fire and it’s hella hard to keep up with exact dialogue, so I will paraphrase as much as I was able to get down.)

Plate asks why we are here. Strik explains we are just passing through. A conversation ensues with Plate making several references to raping and killing Dru. This angers Strik greatly and he vehemently opposes Plate, warning him he will do no such thing.

Through the conversation Strik learns that Plate wants vengeance upon Lady Hawke.

Strik sees an opening for a dialogue and tries to get Plate to at least release Dru from danger. Plate does not buy the plan, stating…”I don’t believe you” He then let’s go of the rope, dropping Dru towards the spikes as Strik can only watch. Luckily the orc catches the rope, stopping her descent.

He goes on to explain the reason he wants vengeance on Lady Hawke, while revealing a bit more information on the Lady herself.

Lady Hawke betrayed his tribe after they killed Caill Dafad. She had promised them a great pillage. All they had to do was take the keep. As his men plundered and pillaged, she caught them with their pants around their ankles so to speak [and literally for those doing some raping], and slaughtered many of his men. [This seemed to really upset Plate…attacking an enemy while they are raping and pillaging is quite dishonorable. Go figure…he is an orc after all.]

When questioned by Strik, Plate reveals that he knew of Lady Hawke from previous dealings with her. Both she and her men, and he and his are from an area called The High Moor. She is a human bandit and he wants her heart.

Strik acknowledges that we share common goals that they could help each other. When he inquires as to what forces Plate has, it is learned that the orcs that the party had just killed were all that remained of his tribe. There is only he and one other now.

Strik says they will help since we have an interest in routing her from the keep and he begins to bargain for Dru’s life.

Plate tries to get Strik to kill Dru. When he won’t, he encourages Strik to then breed with her.

Strik declines based on his moral code and tries to strike a new bargain. Plate does not at all understand Strik’s reluctance. [Its pretty clear that Strik isn’t much of an orc.]

He hands the rope that supports Dru to Strik. As Strik raises Dru higher, Plate steps behind Strik with his axe drawn. He expresses his disappointment as Strik pushes the spikes aside and lowers Dru to the ground.

Strik lays out a plan to camp there for the night and then parlay with Lady Hawke in the morning to gather information.

Plate tries to claim his spoils, (to rape Dru all night long) to which Strik once again vehemently and angrily tells him, absolutely not.

Strik tells Plate he can have Lady Hawke’s heart as his spoils, the party just wants the keep, to which Plate angrily replies that he will take what he wants. [Didn’t he say, however, that he wasn’t interested in keeping the, um, keep?]

Strik then tries to find out why the orcs were there in the cave in the first place. He learns that they were there to try and trap [and kill] Lady Hawke’s men.

Plate and Strik then begin a discussion over who is the leader of the new “tribe”. [Plate, right?]

Strik makes to leave with Dru to retrieve the rest of the group. Plate demands he hand over Dru, which Strik does reluctantly and watches as Plate fondles her before throwing her over his shoulder. Strik hurries to get to the rest of the party and announce the agreement and plans that have been made as Plate follows. Strik announces to the party the bargain that has been struck. Many in the party are bewildered by this.

Plate is still fondling Dru and wants to rape her and asks who else among the party wants a turn. Strik, again very angrily tells him there will be absolutely no raping at all, to which Plate sneers that he will so enjoy killing Strik when this is all over. Strik responds that Plate is welcome to try.

It is at this point that they learn that Plate’s name is Thokk. They return to the small clearing to make camp.

Thokk is still upset and a bit petulant that he cannot eat, kill, or rape Dru. He is seated by the fire, holding the still unconscious Dru face down in his lap, stroking her back. It is at this point that Dru wakes up and tries to move. Thokk pushes her back down and holds her in place. Luther hurriedly speaks to her telepathically, reassuring her that they are nearby and letting her know the situation.

Tempers escalate and both Strik and Thokk become quite angry. Dru, hearing the angry voices and feeling in a rather precarious position, fearing for her safety, calls out to Strik, “It’s ok, I’m OK, I’m OK, please calm down.”

Tensions ease reluctantly and everyone settles down. Thokk still maintaining his hold on Dru.

As the hour grows late, watches are set and suddenly Thokk sets Dru down and walks off. The party watches him leave, waiting until his footsteps fade and then quickly huddling up to talk quietly and make plans.

The party is having a tough time deciding on a ruse good enough to get us into the keep. Finally Adran has a brilliant idea. Send Dru, the only full-blood elf, to the keep with greetings and an invitation to Lady Hawke to join them for dinner at Floshin Estates in a few days. They bandy about a few more ideas, but none seem to have the success chance that Adran’s plan will have. The night passes and in the early morning hours, Thokk returns and shouts, “Wake Up!”

The party fills him in on the plan. Dru will approach and make contact and try and determine what we are dealing with. She will use the name Saeros, just in case Lady Hawke does attempt to visit Floshin. The party is banking on the knowledge gained from Saeros who stated that they had had no contact with her.

(at some point Im not sure when…Thokk also mentions that the priest must die) [Yes, he did, in reference to the other orc that had been in the cave with him.]

They all set off and the party plans to wait 200 yards from the keep in a small copse of trees while Dru goes inside.

Dru approaches the keep taking careful note of her surroundings.

She notes that the land closer to the keep shows signs that is has been recently cleared. She can see two watchtowers as she approaches the gate, each containing 2 guards.

A guard calls down to her, asking who she is and what she wants.

She relays that she is Saeros, from Floshin Estates and that she brings tidings and an invitation for his Mistress.

The gate is opened and she is ushered inside where 4 guards await her. What she sees is a the main two story building in the center of the complex with a smaller building to the right, and a bit larger building to the left. As she draws closer, she spots two more watchtowers in the rear of the complex, each holding 2 guards a piece. Combined with the guards she has seen so far, this makes at the least a dozen guards. She also spots a well, and a smaller building, adjacent to the main building, behind one of the other buildings.

The guards lead her to the main building, and through it’s doors.

Inside is a large hall with two fireplaces near the front, each bearing a door behind them, two sets of stairs towards the rear and a large table. A large banner bering the golden talon hangs between the staircases. The room is clean, well taken care of, not threadbare or run down at all. There are no windows in this room, but there is another door further into the room.

One guard leaves (I don’t recall if it was up the stairs or thru the door). He returns 5 minutes later and asks if Dru would like some refreshments. Dru initially refuses. The guard then asks about her travels, if she encountered any issues or troubles. She assures them that she encountered no trouble and was well armed if she would have. She then says that if the offer still stands, some refreshment would be nice.

The guard leaves to return with a platter of bread, cheese, meat and a goblet of what is obviously watered down wine.

She takes one small tiny sip to be polite before setting it aside and instead picking up a bit of cheese and bread.

As more and more time passes she inquires of the guard if she called too early in the morning for his Mistress. He remains stoic faced and she asks his name and what brought them here to the keep.

He replies in a rather surly manner that that’s her business. Sensing she will get nothing more from the guard, she simply affects the demeanor of Saeros, becoming stoic and silent, trying to appear haughty.

Some long minutes later a door opens at the top of the stairs and down descends a woman. She is not pretty or comely in any manner. She appears to be 40, with long stringy hair, an eyepatch, and many scars on her face. [Also armed and armored]

Her greeting is nothing more than a “what do you want?”

Dru extends the greeting from Floshin and an invitation to dinner.

When asked when, she says in 3 days. Lady Hawke tersely responds, “3 weeks.”

Dru tries to finagle more information on why her Lord’s invitation is being refused, to which Lady Hawke replies because she is too busy. Dru tries diplomacy, saying surely her business could wait one single evening. What could be so important that she would slight her Lord? Could it not wait one evening?

Lady Hawke has apparently reached the ends of her patience and tells Dru she is too nosy and orders her guards to remove Dru from the premises.
Dru brushes them aside and walks out of the main building and through the gate.

[Lady Hawke did say what was so important that a dinner with the Lord of Floshin Estate would have to wait. She pointed out that these lands were overrun with bandits and orcs and she had to see to that. Dru pressed on the three day “demand” and that’s when Hawke reached the end of her patience.]

She knows that the guards are watching, and she hopes the party is too.

Her plan is to keep walking until out of sight and meet up with the party where she wont be seen.

She is but 40 ft outside of the gate when she hears one of the guards call out…

“hey elf…one more thing”

As she turns to face them, she sees them raise their crossbows at her…. [And fire off the bolts.]

and that is where we ended. whew! Dru certainly had quite the adventure!

[Yep, that’s where we ended. A good amount of backstory was learned, a bit more about Cagair Keep, more about Lady Hawke, and even a trip inside the keep. A pretty productive session.

I wonder just how much damage all those crossbow bolts might do to Dru. 😉

Beer Log: Using our hit, miss, crit, and fumble rating scale, below is what we sampled this session.

• New Holland’s Incorrible: Courtesy of Andrew. A pretty good sour ale. A hit.
• Fiddlehead’s Mastermind: A solid Imperial IPA that is a definite hit.
• Cigar City Brewing’s White Oak Jai Alai: A crit without a doubt! This beer is one of my favorite beers…period! My sharing some of this with the group says something about my dedication to beerlanthropy. 😉