Grand Duchy 48

Grand Duchy of Adventure

Session 48
February 12, 2015

Helping the Horses

Nytdain 1st of Yarthmont

Camping in the Ruins

Iris had convinced the Company to stop and camp in the ruins of Lumm despite the fact that there

Ruins of Lumm

were several hours remaining and the weather was perfect for traveling. Marcel spends time working with his three boys, showing them the way to set camp and make sure everything is done correctly and efficiently. 

After camp is set, Griffin wants to head out onto the Moor and do a little scouting to make sure the Iron Ring slaver camp isn't too close. He rides out away from the camp.

Enjoying the Evening

Back in camp, Marcel shares some wine around with his fellow travelers and leads the group in traditional Traladaran songs and dances. Everyone is in good spirits and Marcel enjoys being the life of the party. Later he gets to work cooking up a good stew for dinner.

Griffin heads back to camp and joins Marcel and some of the refugees in a friendly game of cards. The stakes are nothing more than piles of rocks and everyone has fun. Marcel and Griffin lose all their pebbles to one of the Traladarans traveling with them. Everyone is able to relax and have good time throughout the evening until the entertainment is interrupted by the loud whinney of approaching horses. 

The Fairy King of Horses Begs a Favor

The white horses in camp immediately become agitated and everyone sees an approaching herd of horses led by a large black stallion. The Fairy King of Horses! The horses quickly approach camp and Loshad, the Fairy King, assumes his centaur form. He approaches peacefully with his hands up. His demeanor is surprisingly gentle and polite. He greets the Grey Company as friends and inquires about the destination of the white horses. When he is reminded they are going to the Elves of Rifllian, he seems at ease. 

Many of the refugee followers of the caravan hide and only watch this exchange from a distance, being superstitions and scared of this mystical being. Seeing the Grey Company commanders treating with him as an equal only elevates their opinions of the mighty Grey Company. 

Loshad, the Fairy King of Horses

The Fairy King explains that there is a camp nearby of slavers who have not only Human and Goblin prisoners, but HORSE PRISONERS as well! He has observed the slavers, both Human and Goblin, mistreating the horses and other prisoners. He says that he tried to free the horses a few nights ago when they traveled onto the moor from the hills to the north, but the slavers hobble their horses at night, preventing them from running. He said he was able to communicate with the horses from a distance and convinced them to be unruly and not travel any further, hoping the slavers would abandon them and move on. 

This plan backfired and the slavers began treating the horses even worse. They have camped in a hollow between a handful of jutting rocks, just a few hours north of Lumm. Loshad agrees to help if the Grey Company would help him free the enslaved and mistreated horses. 

Eager to take the fight back to the slavers and hoping to catch that elusive yellow wizard, Golthar, the Grey Company agrees. The Fairy King of Horses does ask the Company if they would be willing to free their current horses, which they decline do to. He seems ok with this and they move on to make plans.

The Fairy King of Horses draws a map

Making a Plan

The Fairy King draws a crude map in the ground and initial plans are made to assault the slavers using a three prong approach. Marcel will lead one group with Draven, Iris and two of his young followers in a ground attack from the west while Griffin will take Ree, Remar and Rood (the 3rd of Marcel's apprentices) and climb the rocks to the east to provide missile support. The Fairy King will signal the attack with his horn and lead his horses in from the south, charging into the camp to create discord and split the camp.

Using stealth and the darkness provided by a moonless night, the Company approaches the camp and prepares to make their assault. 

Cast of Characters: 

Garrett "Griffin" Constantine, a Thyatian rogue of a gambler from Penhaligon rolled by +Arne Jamtgaard 

Marcel Maas, a homely but sincere wielder of spears aspiring to cooking greatness commanded by +Christian Blouin 

Draven Rickart, a Thyatian Acolyte of the Church of Karameikos ministered by +Jason Packer 

and +Jason Woollard as The DM

Grand Duchy 47

Grand Duchy of Adventure

Session 47
January 30 - February 11, 2015

Across the Moor

Moldain 28th of Flaurmont

Crossing the River

The next morning comes with no further incident, though Griffin is still a bit tired from being woken up in the middle of the night. The intense heat of the previous day seems to have gone away, though it still proves to be warm. A cool breeze blows in off of the river and the sound of many birds fills the air around Misha’s Ferry.

Draven and Remar finish up with a little bit of minor healing for the folks that had sustained more serious injuries the previous evening. Everyone is all healed up and at full strength. It is going to take many hours to get all the horses and wagon across the river, easily half the day, and the whole day would not be out of the question. After a quick bite to break the fast, everyone quickly gets to work on preparing the horses, wagon, gear and raft for the crossing.

Griffin lets Stephan and the Susikyn homesteaders take the lead in organizing the horses, while he and the Grey Company focus on security on both sides of the river. Most of the team moves early to the other side of the river, particularly Marcel and his squad, and Iris and Ree. Burik takes tail-end charlie, and Griffin lends help as needed with either watch or horses, since he has skills for both.

Marcel bumbles around for most of the day but the whole thing is going a bit over his head. He hangs around for a while but his presence doesn't appears to be making things better. He decides to take a step back and observe the others who seems to know what they are doing, sitting on the sideline, chewing on a twig. 

Despite the good weather, the river crossing does not go as smoothly as desired and the event takes nearly the whole day. Once all the people, horses and wagon are across the river, there are only a few hours of light left remaining. It was thought that some travel could have been managed, but Marcel had mistakenly began setting camp just up the hill from the ferry and by the time the group was ready to move, too many supplies had already been unloaded. Stephan seems a bit perturbed but his anxiety is soothed a bit by Griffin when he tells him that he believes that the weather should hold for at least a few days. 

A Pain in the Ass

As camp is being set up, Griffin, Draven and Marcel are doing a walk around the perimeter, talking about some logistics for the upcoming trek across the moor, hoping to get everyone on the same page. As they walk past some of the horses, Griffin notices something wrong with one of them. He goes over to check and sees a large leathery protrusion on the horse’s flank. The horse stomps it’s feet a few times and shakes it’s head, snorting a few times. Griffin steps to look closer and sees that it is the folded wings of a stirge attached to the backside of the white horse. Griffin quickly does a scan of some other nearby horses and sees a few more stirges as well, all attached and sucking the lifeblood out of their horses!

With nothing but a mace and a calling that precludes bladed weapons, Draven feels certain that he has little to offer, but points out the other stirges to his compatriots. He readies his mace anyway, with hope that he can bludgeon one of the stirges if they choose to take flight rather than being slaughtered on the horses’ backs.

Some hope that Chardastes and D’jaea are on speaking terms right now, that my healing gift might take root on the horses once we purge them of the blight of the stirges.

Griffin mutters something about “rain pouring”, then stomps off. He returns a few minutes later with Stephan. He points to the stirge. “Normally, I’d just slice ‘em off and stomp on them, but I want to make sure whatever we do doesn’t hurt the horses.” Or their sale value, of course. “Got any suggestions?”

blood sucking Stirges

Marcel is most exasperated by this turn of event. “I think that we have to piss them off so that they come off and think that it is their own idea.” He use his long fingernail and pokes at the base of the head to see if he can get one to let go. 

Griffin slaps Marcel’s hand away from the feasting stirge, making the horse flinch. “Dude, hold on a minute. Stephan? You must have seen this before - is that the best way to get them off?” He turns back to Marcel. “I don’t want to hurt the horses if we don’t need to. If we hurt their coats, they might be worth less when we get to Rifflian!”

Marcel thought that Griffin meant not to skewer them in place with his spear. Seeing that his sense of initiative is unappreciated, he backs down and looking to Stephan. 

Stephan frowns when he sees the blood-sucking creatures affixed to the horses. “Yea, that’s a problem,” he sighs. “Happens every time. These damned things breed on the moor. Can’t get away from ‘em. I sure never thought we’d have to deal with em the first night. You can get these little ones off pretty easy. The bigger ones can be a bit of a problem though. Here, lemmie show ya.” He steps up grabs one with his thumb and forefinger right at the base of its skull. “Ya push up, like this, with your thumb muscle, here on the left side. That stops it from swallowing the blood, makes it easier to pull out. Then hold the horses flank where the sucker goes in and slide it out.” He carefully removes the stirge, which immediately begins thrashing in his hand. “Next ya gotta kill it. Snap its neck, cut it, stomp on it. Whatever, though I suggest you move away from the horses before doing it, otherwise it might spook ‘em even more. These things have some sort of numbing toxin in their beaks. Sometimes the horses don’t even feel ‘em there. Usually they get worked up when they see one on the next horse’s ass!” He clenches and twists his wrist which produces a wet snapping sound, like breaking a carrot in half. The stirge’s wings stop immediately and he tosses the thing aside. He moves to the next horse and begins the process of removing the parasite. 

Griffin moves to the opposite side of the herd and commences stirge patrol.

Need Moor Flowers

In all, about 10 stirges were removed from the horses. Upon removing the stirges, the wounds begin to bleed considerably. Taras instructs everyone to staunch the wounds with a handful of mossy mud and then asks if anyone has any type of knowledge of the certain plants that are found in the moors. Iris says she is familiar with the plantlife of the Moor. Taras explains that a certain combination of plants grown locally will not only help heal the horse’s wounds and stop the bleeding, but it will help keep the stirges away. “I was going to start looking for the stuff necessary once we got traveling across the moor, but since we just crossed the river today, I haven’t had the time,” Taras says. “While everyone else works on camp, I am going to go looking. We need a fair amount. Will any of you help me?” he asks.

Burik and Akaios look at each other and shrug. Remar likewise says he would be no help looking for marsh plants and stays in the camp. Iris is eager to join Taras, hoping her knowledge of the area will help. “Well, we better get going, there won’t be much of a moon tonight! We will need torches or other means of light,” he glances at Draven and Remar as he says this.

Griffin shrugs. “I’ll give it a try - maybe I picked up a few things from Eran.

Marcel figures that he would be making a great torch bearer for this expedition, assuming that he considers the camp to be secure in the absence of so many of the company's members. He grabs a torch and unsheathed the light on his shield: "Just call me sunshine... The bearer of light. I'll keep my head up while you guys sift the mud."

flowers from the Moor

Griffin, Iris and Marcel join Taras and Bahaznic for a walk out onto the moor. Griffin helps to look for the necessary plants but is unable to locate any, though he does narrow down several places that the plant is NOT growing, at least. Marcel spends most of his time shedding light on the search and making sure the group stays close enough together to be defensible. Iris, on the other hand, proves to be quite useful out on the moor and finds quite a bit of the necessary foliage. After about an hour of searching Taras proclaims that they have enough of what they need and leads the group back to the campsite. 

Once back at the camp, he begins putting together a concoction from the plants that were gathered and then applies them to the horses wounds. “They should be better by the time we get to Rifllian. I hope,” he mutters.

The rest of the dark, moonless night passes quietly and without incident and everyone except Griffin sleeps well and is ready and rested when the sun rises in the morning. Griffin is groggy and tired as he is most mornings, though this morning seems a little more severe. 

Nytdain 1st of Yarthmont

To Lumm

As the new day wakes from darkness, it is clear immediately that it is going to be a good day. The sun warms the air and the morning mist that covers the moor dissipates almost immediately. 

Marcel whips up a pot of his famous stew chock full of “Traladaran spices” that he had collected the previous night while out with Taras and the others. He mindlessly hums the tune of the Fairy King of Horses as he goes about his business with the precision of a highly disciplined soldier.

Draven rises and realizes that it is the first day of Yarthmont, dedicated to Chardastes the Healer.

Spends some time going over some of her books, as do Ree and Remar, while the others begin preparing the horses for the drive. 

Griffin looks over his map and checks the weather, hoping that the perfect weather holds and they can make good time today. He thinks that they should be able to make it to the ruins of Lumm or even farther if everything goes as planned. 

The camp is broken down quickly and the horses are readied for the drive in a timely fashion. Taras says the stirge wounds are looking good and he reapplies a fresh coating of his herbal concoction  to them. Everyone else does their part to keep things moving along and for the most part, things go well. And though it has been clear that Iris actually likes horses, she continues to struggle with her share of the horse duties. She does not work well with the animals and sometimes it seems as if she would rather just let someone else take care of her duties. She moves slowly when working with the horses and gets things wrong even after being told and shown how to do things over and over again. The Thyatian girl gets exasperated more than once and nearly walks away from her job several times but always comes back and often times heard apologizing to the horses she was working with, always being as diplomatic as possible with them, as if they could understand her words. 

Griffin tries to help Iris in her struggles with the horses, although he’s confused by her difficulties. He just seems to know what’s going on with the beasts as they stomp and whicker and neigh. Still, Never turn down a chance to rescue a pretty girl, as Dad always said.  He stays nearby her as they get things ready for the day.

the white horses

Iris listens to Griffin’s instructions but she seems uncomfortable whenever he moves close to help her with something. Several times, she tells him that she understands and thinks she has the hang of it before moving away from him. Eventually, Griffin gets the hint and backs off a bit.

Once they get rolling, however, he grabs his crossbow and takes point, moving far out ahead of the herd. His mind keeps trying to guess the next step for their foes, Golthar and the Iron Ring. Another ambush? Something else? He chuckles grimly. No wonder I had trouble sleeping last night. Can’t get my brain to turn off. He tries to focus on the task at hand, scanning the moors as they move out on the ancient road towards Lumm and Gnome’s Ferry.

But Griffin’s mind keeps slipping back to the bigger picture. What had the half-Orc said? Golthar was part of a group of slavers called the Iron Ring? Connected with Fort Doom?  He’d said “He will find you and follow you directly to where he wants to go!”

What does that mean? Where does Golthar want to go? Griffin thinks back over the past few days. The wizard’s plot ransacking all the homesteads was to find that damned tapestry. He had the needle. The tapestry is a map. So Golthar wants to get to the place the tapestry showed them. 

So, should we turn around and head the other way? Golthar will follow us anyway, and either try to kill us or steal the tapestry and needle back.  Is there any way to use that? Lure him into a trap? Where could they do that?

In the meantime, what to expect, and how to plan for it? Hide the tapestry and the needle. Separately.  Easy.  What else?  The half-Orc said that Golthar had gone to Kelvin to gather more. How many could there be?

And what was that about a camp on the moor?  Griffin trebles his efforts to detect anything out of the ordinary as they continue their way along the road to Lumm.

It is a good day for travel, perfect in fact. Everyone seems to be in wonderful spirits and the horses seem to cooperate quite well. Great time is made across the moors and even the wounded horses seem to be doing better. Just a few hours after lunch, the caravan comes across the ruins of Lumm. Iris seems excited to once again return to the ruins though some of the Traladaran’s in the group seem a little uneasy approaching. Stephan brushes his kinfolk off as being superstitious. “It’s nothing more than a few stones in a field,” is his only comment. Iris proclaims that it is a wonderful place to camp, even though there are several good hours of daylight left for travel.

Notes

Special thanks to +Muton Z. over at Virtual Tabletop Gaming for his work on the GURPS Dire Stirge, which I have used as the basis for the bloodsucking pest in my game as well!

Cast of Characters: 

Garrett "Griffin" Constantine, a Thyatian rogue of a gambler from Penhaligon rolled by +Arne Jamtgaard 

Marcel Maas, a homely but sincere wielder of spears aspiring to cooking greatness commanded by +Christian Blouin 

Draven Rickart, a Thyatian Acolyte of the Church of Karameikos ministered by +Jason Packer 

Iris Varda, a Thyatian explorer and historian searching for answers and adventure guided by +Alex Safatli  

and +Jason Woollard as The DM

Grand Duchy 25

Grand Duchy of Adventure

Session 25
July 29, 2014

An Audience with the King

Soladain 3rd of Flaurmont, 1001AC

Finding the Table Rock

The Grey Company follows its newest member, Iris, across the Moor to where she claims to have found the "Table Rock." The group crests a short rise and peers down into a shallow dell below to see a large boulder balanced upon one tiny little base. If anything nearby was to be thought of as a table, this was it.

The Table Rock

While everyone worked on pitching a camp nearby, Marcel spent some time examining the rock. He walked around it then climbed it all the way to the top. From the top of the rock, he could see the entirety of the dell, about 1/2 mile across and 1/4 mile wide, though he could not see beyond the bordering ridges. He noted several possible approaches into the dell and quite a few places to hide in low spots, behind bushes and even a few stands of trees here and there. 

After singing his song of tribute to the Fairy King of Horses, Marcel finally climbed down and started helping with the camp, mainly cooking up another batch of his Moor Stew. Iris politely declined any of Marcel's stew and instead ate dried rations from the homestead and some berries she had picked earlier that day while traveling.

It was decided that since they were expected to be awake at midnight, for some to start sleeping now, even though it was early. When midnight came, Marcel was already on the top of the rock, humming and whistling in anticipation. The Company was all awake while Marcel stood on one foot and whistled the summoning tune. He kept up his tune for an hour, but Fairy King of Horses did not show. The only thing he had to show for it was a stubbed toe gained while trying to balance himself on the uneven surface of the Table Rock.

Disappointed, Marcel climbs down and has a few ideas as to why the Fairy King of Horses did not make an appearance - namely certain non-believers in the Company. He is then reminded that the Traladaran legend stated that one must balance and whistle 3 nights in a row before the Fairy King of Horses would appear. Disheartened anyway, Marcel climbs into his bedroll and goes to sleep. Griffin has a bit more difficulty falling asleep after the ruckus on the top of the rock, but fortunatley, the group had no specific plans to head out early and it was planned for everyone to be able to sleep in plenty.

Lunadain 4th of Flaurmont, 1001AC

The Ruins of Lumm

The ruins of Lumm

The next morning the Company decide to explore the nearby Moor and do a little hunting and foraging. Around noon, Iris spots what appears to be the Old Moor Road. Sure enough, the group follows the remnants of this ancient road and eventually come to the ruins of an abandoned Traladaran village, which Iris says is named Lumm. She had been her before, studying the ancient Traladarans and their
culture. While looking around the ruins, which are nothing more than flat spaces and the occasional outline of a rock foundation, the remains of a recent campfire are discovered. Curious, the Company searches the area and some tracks and a second nearby fire pit are discovered. It is determined that possibly up to 10 or more people recently camped here. Marcel finds some potential boot prints on the north side of the ruins, but no other details are discerned. Marcel attempts to tell about what he knows of the ruins and the ancient Traladarans of the Moor, but Iris seems to relish every opportunity to correct him and explain the true nature of the ruins. Undaunted, Marcel proclaims that "not all learning comes from books!"

With the day growing long, the group heads back toward their camp at Table rock. There, Marcel cooks dinner, and again, Iris passes on his meal, preferring to eat other rations. At midnight, Marcel climbs to the top of the rock and begins whistling. He instructs his companions below to join hands and circle the Table Rock. Griffin and Draven join hands, though Iris just stands uncomfortably to Draven's right, merely feigning participation in this elaborate ritual that Marcel has concocted. Again, an hour or so goes by with Marcel whistling and now doing some elaborate one-legged dance complete with wild arm waving and hopping. Alas, the improved ritual again produces no Fairy King of Horses. Marcel is more direct with his accusations of why the ritual failed to work, singling out "those that did not hold hands" but is again reminded that it is only the second night of waiting. Sure that the next night will produce results, the Company beds down for the rest of the night.

Gromdain 5th of Fluarmont, 1001AC

Refugees

The next day, the Company decides to stay closer to the camp and Table Rock. In small groups and individually, they range out, not ever going more than a few miles from the dell, looking for food, hunting and watching for any signs of horses or other travelers. Griffin does spot some tracks of some sort of large cat, probably the mountain lion they have heard on previous nights. 

Later that afternoon, a band of 8 people are spotted headed over the ridge and toward the camp. Upon closer inspection, they appear to be Traladarans and in quite bad shape. They are wounded, dirty and worn folk, barely able to lift their feet when they walk. They are greeted by Marcel and Draven and it is learned from the groups leader, a man named Conrad, that they are refugees from Hokol. They are welcomed into the camp and they tell of their story of escaping from their home when it was attacked and burned by the Goblins. They fled into the woods and became lost trying to find their way to safety while still avoiding the Goblins that seemed to be everywhere. The wandered for some time in the Dymrak across the river and south of Susikyn until they came to the river and the Moor. They have been foraging in the Moor for some time but have finally reached the point that the felt they needed to return to the homesteads and seek out help from others.

Iris seems considerably put out by the inclusion of this group of Traladarans and moves her bedroll a good distance away from the camp, spending her time that evening alone. Griffin goes to speak to her and notices her studying from a magical tome, a Grimoire similar to the one he has seen Ree and Remar both study from. 

Back at the camp, Marcel and Draven share the Company's business on the Moor. They talk about the Fairy King of Horses and find that Conrad and his people share different ideas on how to summon the elusive horse spirit. Later that night, Marcel organizes everyone (except Iris) into an elaborate ritual designed to garner the attention of the Fairy King of Horses. Upon the suggestion of Conrad, Marcel decides he needs some candles, but there are none to be had. He settles for asking Iris if he can use her lantern, despite it being out of oil. Reluctantly, Iris agrees to let him use the lantern and she rejoins the group, though watches from a distance. Marcel also takes two apples from his pack, as Conrad says that they are vital to calling the Fairy King of Horses. Marcel puts everyone in their place, arranges the apples, lanter (with burning twigs inside) and himself, on top of the Table Rock and, for the third night in a row, begins his summoning ritual, beginning to believe himself a mighty sorcerer, calling upon mighty arcane powers. Iris scoffs at his elaborate act and stifles a laugh under her breath.

The King Arrives

This time though, Marcel's summoning ritual does something. The sound of horses fills the air and shortly several large horses appear and ring the small valley. A large black horse reveals himself in a magical beam of moolight on the highest point of the nearby ridge.

Excited by this development, Marcel calls out to the horse and the black beast begins to approach. The other horses remain on the surrounding ridge, taking up positons spaced equally around the dell. As the horse gets closer, it motions with its head for Marcel to climb down, which he does so without hesitation. Everyone else stands nearby, speechless, watching the large black horse approach. 

Marcel and Iris both begin to move toward the approaching horse, but he snorts and stamps his feet, indicating to them to stay where they are. No one moves as the horse covers the remaining ground to the Table Rock. When it gets closer, it appears that the horse bears some type of adornments around its neck and back, some type of cloth and metal finery of some sort. The massive horse then passes behind the Table Rock and as it appears on the other side, it has undergone an incredible change. In the place of the regal black horse now stands a tall and muscular Centaur, half man and half horse. It is clearly the same beast as the decorations previously seen are still present on the creature. It rears up on its powerful hind legs and swings a long, sharp axe through the air over his head threateningly!

The Fairy King of Horses is a sight to behold!

He demands to know why "these Humans" have come to his Moor. Marcel engages him and begins going on and on, telling him that they have come to learn the location of the ruins of Xitaqa. Before even listening to their request, the Fairy King of Horses tells Marcel and his companions to immediately release their horses from "slavery." Marcel quickly moves to release his mount, Pepito, and urges the others to do the same. Reluctantly, the others release their horses, hoping that the bonds they share with their animals will be strong enough to ensure that they stick around. Unfortunately, once freed, the horses all move away and run up to join the other horses on the surrounding ridge-line. 

Marcel asks again about Xitaqa and the Fairy King of Horses responds that he will share the information the Company asks for but only if they do something for him first. He demands the heads of Bailakask and Kalkask, two Werewolves that have been enemies of the horses and Centaurs (and the homesteaders, as well) for many years. He gives very specific directions to the lair of the Werewolves and even adds some tactics in dealing with them, suggesting a night assault when most of the pack will be out hunting, then lay in ambush for the rest to return in the morning. 

When the converasation is over, the Fairy King of Horses steps up and puts his hand out toward Marcel. Mistaking this as an offer to shake hands, Marcel reaches for his hand. The Fairy King pulls his hand back and stomps his heavy horse hooves. "NO! Do not touch me, Human," he shouts! "Give me the apples!" Stunned, Marcel hands the apples over and the Fairy King of Horses gallops off into the night, his entourage following.

Tribute for the Fairy King of Horses

Continued on GDA26 - Werewolves on the Horizon

Cast of Characters: 

Garrett "Griffin" Constantine, a Thyatian rogue of a gambler from Penhaligon, rolled by +Arne Jamtgaard 

Marcel Maas, a homely but sincere wielder of spears aspiring to cooking greatness, commanded by +Christian Blouin 

Draven Rickart, a Thyatian Acolyte of the Church of Karameikos, ministered by +Jason Packer 

Iris Varda, a Thyatian explorer and historian searching for answers and adventure, guided by +Alex Safatli  

Remar Umerus, an Alphatian battle mage that escaped forced service in the Thyatian army, conjured by +Ben Lipe and currently in NPC mode. 

and +Jason Woollard as The DM