Session/Game: Marches 3e #21 Date:
June 10, 2001
Campaign Date: Rep 9 –
Quoct 9, Imperial Year 469
Characters:
Kronin, dwarf, fighter-10/ dwarven defender-2,
LG Dave Hanley
Angus “Mr Fabulous” McNasty,
gnome, illusionist-8, CN Dave Nelson
Sarissa Lin, human, monk,
level 8, LN, Charles Tillinghast
Gabriel Leadfoot, halfling
thief –6/ ranger -1, NG, Mike Miller
Whitefire, human rogue-1/ wizard-10, CN Charles
Fleurie
Brother
Frankie, cleric level 5, LN, cohort
Rannos, human fighter, level 11, CG, Bob LaForge
Sir Ostler, human, cleric, LN, level 9, Joe Fryar
Log:
Rep 9 – Rep 30
The heroes attend to various
matters following the death of the green dragon, deciding to all rejoin for the
Autmn Equinox festival at Blacksword.
Ostler makes preparations to build his monastery within the Old Wood and
does his best to make sure the elves of the wood can survive the Winter. Both Mr. Fabulous and Whitefire make visits
to Countess Flavia, but only Angus is fabulous enough to persuade Flavia to
give him the feif of Heathton. Gabriel
and Sarissa check up on several places within Storm Eagle county including the
dragon’s lair and Stormburg. Kronin
does some smithing. Both Rannos and
Whitefire collect their taxes from their loyal servants and Brother Frankie
prepares for the festival.
The Autmn Equinox festival
starts at first light, and is a long, somber ceremony in the chapel presided
over by Brother Frankie. Many were
bored and Rannos could be heard snoring at one point. Angus, on the other hand, was a model participant with his eyes
continually glued to all of Frankie’s actions.
Following the ceremony, the party starts. The heroes reward themselves for a year of doing Bor’s work and
remember fallen heroes like Issac and Garl.
The revelry is interrupted
by the arrival of Mother Superior Gleeza and her three inquisitor
bodyguards. Sarissa chats with Sir
Wallace, one of Gleeza’s more caring assistants while she offers the heroes the
titles of “Deputy Inquisitor” and delivers a message to Ostler from Archbishop
Daas. Mr. Fabulous offers Gleeza and
her companions a place to rest in the church overnight and the heroes sleep on
the offer.
Quoct 2
The heroes take the
offer. Ostler informs the heroes about
the message from Archbishop Daas that asks them to travel to Mant to
investigate whether the Count there is guilty of heresy or not. The heroes say farewell to Gleeza and
Wallace and make preparations for their trip.
The heroes travel to
Baltburg, where they employ a riverboat to take them downriver to Mant.
Along the way, the heroes
pass a toll blockade set up by soldiers loyal to Goldhaft. The blockade is manned by three particularly
large hill giants as well. As the
heroes pass, they attack the giants manning the blockade. During the attack, Sarissa kills three
soldiers on the shore in a frenzied fury of fists and feet and Angus creates an
illusion of Mother Superior Gleeza flying around and raining hot, flaming death
on the blockade barracks. Two giants
are also defeated, but the last giant escapes, permanently polymorphed into a
toad. Sarissa takes a soldier captive,
and he reveals that he was under the command of Sir Tarpon who managed to
enlist the help of the giants. He
mentioned Sir Richard of Goldhaft had visited as well. The heroes let him go free once they had
asked their questions.
The heroes arrive in Mant and
ask for an audience with Broderick, the count of Mant. Broderick reveals again that he is not the
hereditary ruler of Mant and that he was chosen by the former Count over
Gunther, the former count’s flesh and blood.
Broderick discusses Goldhaft with the heroes, and Broderick’s cannon
priest, Father Juiceman tells Broderick that the heroes are in fact on a
mission for the Inquisiton. Broderick
won’t hear any of what Juiceman has to tell him and insists that the heroes
stay for dinner. During dinner, Gabriel
excuses himself and starts exploring the manor house. He finds druidic artifacts lying in plain sight in the
library. Gabriel also catches a sight
of the quiet man in the shadows.
Gabriel takes a glance at the quiet man and runs. Later after dinner, all the heroes return to
the library to collect the druidic items only to find the quiet man gone. However, on checking the heroes do turn up a
serious offense to the church, The Meditations of Stygian the Euthanatos. The heroes immediately decide to apprehend
Broderick only to find him waiting for them in ambush. An extended melee develops between Broderick
and his formerly shape-changed lizardman cohorts. However, an inspired move by Sarissa to flank the evil Count and
a well-placed stunning blow kept the heathen from escaping and allowed the
crusaders of Blacksword to prevail.
The heroes clean up the
traces of paganism in order to present it to the Archbishop as proof of guilt
on the Count’s part. The constable is
summoned and put in temporary stewardship of the County. Cannon priests of Bor arrive to attend to
the party’s wounds.
The party hires another
riverboat to travel up the Great Mant river to visit Archbishop Daas. After an extended wait, Daas finally has the
time to see the adventureres. Daas
greets the party, although a bit coldly, and is pleased with the evidence. He has the the heroes destroy all the
cultist artifacts. He then asks for a
servant to bring out the heroes’ reward – 10% of the property belonging to Count
Broderick. A little smalltalk ensues,
and just as the players begin to ask Archbishop Daas about the quiet man, that
very same unspeaking man in the ceremonial armor of Bor enters the room with
the heroes’ gold. Daas is surprised to
find that the characters know the quiet man, then insulted that they don’t seem
to take his word that his servant has been at his side each and every day for
the past three months. Daas rudely ends
the interview.