Session Recap - 26 October 2007

From Loranon

Session Recap
26 October 2007
Start Date	12 May 1332
End Date	16 May 1332
Adventure Locations	Dormantown Area, Dormantown
Previous Session	19 October 2007
Next Session	9 November 2007

Participating Characters

Bisquick, Fagan von Feld, Alan Bree, Malic Citrate

Contention over the Forshantir

This session began with contention over the Forshantir. During the battle with Moro, the artifact burned itself out of Malic's backpack and landed on the ground. After Moro was defeated, Fagan picked up the Forshantir.

Fagan:

I don't think we have ever seen the Forshantir react so violently before.

Alan:

He must have been really evil.

Fagan:

He must have. Something happened. Did you see that? Those spirits weren't just in our minds. They were here in this world. We need to figure out what is going on.

Alan:

We need to figure out how to use them as allies; that would be pretty cool.

Fagan:

(laughs) That was truly opportunistic of us. That polar bear didn't stand a chance.

Malic:

May I please have my Forshantir back? You seem to have put it in your backpack. And that is not where the Forshantir lives.

Fagan:

I… I was just going to carry it for awhile.

Malic:

You took my shit; give it back.

Fagan:

I… I… It's the party's.

Malic:

I am the protector of the Forshantir. I have protected it where Rosa was unable to. It has never left my possession.

Alan:

And it's a noble job you've done.

Fagan:

You have. I'm… I'm just worried. It's clearly grown out of control. Did you just not witness what I saw? It was coming to life!

Malic:

I did. And if only I had been holding it, I could have harnessed the power.

Fagan:

It seemed like it fell out of your pack so blazingly on fire.

Malic:

All I needed was a protection from energy spell memorized and we would have been good to go, sir.

Fagan:

This may be true… I think that we should try to share this burden. I appreciate your concern but this feels like a burden that all of us should bear, not just you.

Malic:

I think you are being a dick about this. Give me back the Forshantir.

Bisquick:

I think Malic Citrate is most well prepared to carry the Forshantir.

Fagan:

I agree. But do you not think that I am well prepared?

Bisquick:

I think that he has just had it for such a long time.

Fagan:

He has. Don't you remember what Elanora said? It takes such a great toll on the person who owns it.

Bisquick:

There may be some nuances to protecting the Forshantir that you're just not used to.

Alan:

I have a question; what happened to the last artifact that we gave to Fagan?

Malic:

Yeah, what happened when we gave you the Life Pendant of Dira?

Fagan:

Er… what happened to the Life Pendant of Dira was because I was slain in battle… Somehow I came back to life and dark energies consumed it.

Bisquick:

Really. Where did these dark energies come from?

Fagan:

I don't know! I don't know! I don't know anything about this stuff.

Bisquick:

So. So far there are dark energies associated with you.

Fagan:

I do not know what is going on.

Bisquick:

I don't think we want to have this already corrupted dirate in the hands of someone who is associated with dark energies.

Fagan:

You don't trust me?

Malic:

As the holiest person here, it is my responsibility to guard the Forshantir.

Bisquick:

I do not trust you, Fagan…

Alan:

Okay. Let's look at this tactially. Fagan, you are on the frontline a lot, in the line of fire, you are up there, you are fighting. Uh, if you were to be downed and someone were to grab it, they could be off with it before we could catch them.

Fagan:

That is true…

Alan:

It may be better if someone in the backline held onto the Forshantir.

Malic:

Someone who isn't so fast as you.

Fagan:

Very good. I say it is held by someone with great strength of will.

Malic:

It does take much strength of will to carry this burden.

Alan:

I don’t doubt it.

Fagan:

I am merely worried. Elanora's words… She even said that its powers corrupt the wielder. I'm worried for you, Malic.

Alan:

Have we seen any signs of corruption in Malic?

Fagan:

We haven't. But she said… she said… we have to trust her! She's the only one that knows anything about this.

Malic:

The last time we trusted here we got thrust into the Forshantir again!

Alan:

Yeah, and she wasn't exactly a knowledge expert on the Forshantir.

Fagan:

This is true. But I can't help but think this is dangerous.

Malic:

I do not deny that the Forshantir is dangerous.

Alan:

We are all responsible adults here. Malic is probably the best person to hold it, simply due to his great strength of will. We should let him hang onto it and just monitor him closely. If it starts to seem like he is becoming corrupted, we'll do what we have to. But he's fine; he seems fine. He is fine to bear this burden.

Malic:

I think the Forshantir's helping me heal people better.

Fagan:

You… You're drawing on the Forshantir's power?

Malic:

No! I mean…

Fagan:

You must resist it! It's dangerous! I mean, if it weren't for Patrick Stempilos, I would have asked Rosa to send it off to be destroyed!

Malic :

Rosa lost it once before! She was unable to bear the burden!

Fagan:

We should have destroyed it! I am loathe to do it because there is some good in there. Patrick still lives!

Malic:

And the satyr.

Fagan:

The satyr too! Alright… I want you to be careful though.

Malic:

Like I haven't been careful before?

Fagan:

No. No, I have no doubt that you have. It's just that it is a dangerous artifact. It is ripe with evil power.

Malic:

Stop talking like my parents. You sound just like they did about wizardy.

Fagan:

I just wish you would be a little… Wizardy is different than a dark artifact of an evil god of slaughter! I'm sorry I doubted you. Here, take it. I just want you to be careful.

At some point during the arguing, Bisquick approached the unconscious Aranessa and kicked her, screaming, "Vile wizard!" As he continued to kick her repeatedly, the rest of the party moved to intervene.

The Half-orc Enclave

As the party traveled back to Dormantown, they came across a small wooden fort with an active forge. It turned out to be populated by the half-orcs that had been exiled from Dormantown by Nicoli Aserteak. From the walls, they shouted down to the party that one of them could enter the fort.

Alan entered the fort (after removing all of his items of value). The half-orcs inside were armored in high-quality breastplates and wielded stylized greataxes. The residents of the fort also included women and children. Alan was taken to an older, rough-looking half-orc drenched in sweat from working the forge.

Krush Half-man:

Who are you?

Alan:

I am Alan Bree, bard and adventurer.

Krush Half-man:

And how may I help Alan Bree today?

Alan:

My comrades and I were intrigued. We heard the sound of clanging. We thought maybe there was a blacksmith and you certainly look very smith-like.

Krush Half-man:

I would inded be a blacksmith, armorsmith, weaponsmith, worker of metal.

Alan:

I see that your friends have very impressing looking armor and weapons. We were actually interested in purchasing some of your make.

Krush Half-man:

Well, I don't really have much for sale. I am still arming and armoring those that are here… Do you have metal or food?

Alan:

We don't really have any with us but we could acquire these things.

Krush Half-man:

I'm not really in the need of gold at the moment. Trade has been rather poor coming out of Roriport.

Alan:

It certainly has, with the winter taking a toll on the whole region.

Krush Half-man:

We survived.

Alan:

I see that; very impressive. Do you have any sort of speciality?

Krush Half-man:

I am an expert smith of masterwork weapons and armor, but as I said, I am still working to equip those that are here.

Alan:

But if we were able to bring food and raw materials to you, would you be willing to craft armaments for us?

Krush Half-man:

There may be a possibility. I am definitely overworked here, but if you were to make a good offer, I could provide my services.

Alan:

As you may know, there is likely an orc invasion coming.

Krush Half-man:

The armies of Gruumsh will march across this land.

Alan:

Are you a worshipper of Gruumsh?

Krush Half-man:

I am not a worshipper of the human gods… You may have noticed that all of the people hear bear orc blood.

Alan:

I did… It did… I… Yes, I did notice that.

Krush Half-man:

Most of our mothers were raped by orcs. But the humans we lived with also rejected us. The only faith we have is in the steel we wield. The armies of Gruumsh will march across this land. Gruumsh has demanded it. Gruumsh's conquest will conquer.

Alan:

And yet, the inhabitants of this region feel the need to defend themselves.

Krush Half-man:

Who is going to defend this land!?

Alan:

Anyone who will take up arms to do so.

Krush Half-man:

You will find no organized defense here. Each of these settlements is each it's own; they only look out for themselves. They care not for each other. Each group on its own will not be able to stop the armies of Gruumsh.

Alan:

That is what makes us weak…

Krush Half-man:

Pffft. Yes, indeed, the division of the defense is what makes us weak.

Alan:

But if we were to stand together?

Krush Half-man:

That time is past.

Alan:

Is it? Why must that be?

Krush Half-man:

We were cast out of human settlement for our blood. Why would we give up our blood for them?

Alan:

I too know something about prejudice, sir. What if I could convince the settlements to stand together?

Krush Half-man:

(laughs) You? A little gnome? Adventurer? (laughs) We here are but a couple dozen. We will not be able to stop the armies of Gruumsh.

Alan:

Not alone.

Krush Half-man:

No, not alone. But they will come.

Alan:

They will come wheather we do anything or not. We need to get every preperation we can!

Krush Half-man:

(laughs) You are a funny little gnome. No, I don't think you understand. We were exiled. I, myself, had lived in Dormantown for over 20 years. I had done nothing to rouse their suspicision over those 20 years, and yet, because of the blood that throws through my veins, they cast me out. I served that town with everything I had. Yet, now, I am out here in the wilderness. These are the foothills of the Spikeshroud Mountains, the very mountains where those of my blood are gathering their strength. The armies of Gruumsh will come.

Alan went back to speak with the other player characters who revealed that the clerics could pump out quite a bit of food with their spells. After some discussion, they decided to continue on to Dormantown.

An Intended Short Stay in Dormantown

The party's arrival in Dormantown was much celebrated. The people were much more lively than during the Winter of No End.

The party took a quick stop at a number of shops to sell off what they could. The party intended to leave the town after selling off some loot, but they were repeatedly halted at the gate as they tried to leave.

Celiso Stops the Party at the Gate

Celiso Fogantos:

Hey, wait a second!

Celiso runs up to the party.

Celiso Fogantos:

Hey, I got back from Roriport; I thought you guys would like an update about what is going on up there.

Alan:

Absolutely. What's going on up there?

Celiso Fogantos:

Well, it is a mess. I definitely had a hard time there. There are a couple interesting notes there. First off, the place is in chaos. The people there are starving and there is lots and lots of infighting going on. Apparantly, just as I had arrived there, Callie's Coterie had ousted the trade guild and are now in what control there is. The town is in shambles. From what I could tell, there hadn't been a trading ship there in some time, though Callie's Coterie has taken control of the old trade guild warehouses, so whatever items of value are there are now in the hands of the thieve's guild. But that's not the most important thing. The thing that I wanted to make sure you guys knew about was about this man there. He was looking for objects made from bright red crystal and it reminded me of that pendant thing that came out of Fagan's chest back in the ice fortress. The way that he was talking about it, he was definitely looking for any kind of necklaces made of that material or any kind of freestanding crystals.

Fagan:

What did he look like?

Celiso Fogantos:

He was very dire looking. He was some type of warrior type; he wore black full plate.

Fagan:

Was he bald?

Celiso Fogantos:

Uh, he had a helm on, so I couldn't see. It was a black helm with numerous spikes.

Fagan:

Did he have any symbols resembling a crazy man laughing?

Celiso Fogantos:

No, I didn't see any of that type of imagery on him. Anyway, I tried asking around about him, but everyone was real hush-hush about it and I definitely got attacked that night. Either this guy's got some connections or something's going on. I just wanted to mention that if you're wearing that pendant out in the open among the people of Dormantown, that guy's eventually gonna hear about it. There's so much strange shit going on in the world the last couple weeks though but that town is messed up.

Alan:

You know, we know that you're pretty good in a fight. We're actually getting ready to go on up to Stormkeep and…

Celiso Fogantos:

Stormkeep? Stormkeep, no way. They have locked themselves in and aren't dealing with anyone on the outside. They sent out a warning to all the communities at the end of the winter that stated that no one could come in or out. The messenger that came here, one of those deep dwarves from Clan Flamebullion even said that they kicked out the deep dwarves. There's still a contingent of them up north of the Wolf Claw RIver dealing with the orc patrols up there.

Alan:

We were thinking of sneaking north and messing with their supply trains.

Celiso Fogantos:

Uh… okay. Yeah, I have no idea where they're being supplied from. Um, like I said, there hasn't been a whole lot of trade going out of Roriport. Callie's Coterie isn't even opening those warehouses for trade. They're locked down tight. I tried to sneak in one of the warehouses to see what they had in there, but I almost got caught and had to run away.

An Honor-Retriever Stops Malic at the Gate

As the party finished their conversation with Celiso, Malic Citrate is grabbed from behind. A deep dwarf grappled him as the rest of the party drew their weapons. The assailant spoke to Malic.

Honor-retriever:

Duerana is looking for you.

Malic:

What was that?

Honor-retriever:

Duerana Flamebullion.

Malic:

Ohh. Her. That sucks. She with the honor-retrievers?

Honor-retriever:

She leads the honor-retrievers.

Malic:

Fuck… Are you with the honor-retrievers?

Honor-retriever:

That I am.

Malic slammed his head back into the face of the honor-retriever. As aggression action began, numerous townsfolk rushed forward to aid the beleaguered hero of Dormantown. They separated the honor-retriever from Malic and threatened him with daggers, pitchforks, clubs, and rocks.

Honor-retriever:

Your time is coming. She will return. She will retrieve the honor that you took.

The honor-retriever stood, dusted himself off, and walked away.

Rosa has Some Things to Share at the Gate

As the party headed out of the Dormantown north gate again, they were stopped by Rosa De'Elemon. She rushed up and hailed the party.

Rosa De'Elemon:

Wait! Wait!

Fagan:

Hello, Rosa! How are you?

Rosa De'Elemon:

I heard that you were in town and I had to speak with you before you left.

Fagan:

We were just about to. We've been kind of busy. I'm sorry we didn't take the time to see you.

Alan:

What is on your mind, Rosa?

Rosa De'Elemon:

I wanted to make sure you knew what was going on in the world.

Fagan:

Please tell us.

Alan:

Yes, we've been out of communication.

Rosa De'Elemon:

Like I said, I've been in constant sendings with my fellow Pelorites in Kandor. I just wanted to make sure you knew what was going on. I hadn't sent you any sendings yet, obviously, because there hasn't been any threat coming to Dormantown. However, if you hadn't heard, there's been an increase in the number of orc patrols.

Fagan:

Have the come below the Wolf Claw River?

Rosa De'Elemon:

Not very much, no.

Fagan:

Any word from Perc?

Rosa De'Elemon:

I have not heard from Perc, no. Concerning the situation in Kandor, House Tyrell has taken his carg armies into Nomandi. Supposedly, the idea is that he was invited into the country to quell the peasant uprising that was going on there. Nobody knows for certain what is going on, but he hasn't clashed with any of the main settlements in Nomandi yet but he is definitely headed to where the peasants had taken over. Other news of Kandor, Kansama is rejecting all refugees. Anyone who tries to cross the border is being killed if they are caught.

Fagan:

These are dark times, indeed. Any word from the Church of Pelor?

Rosa De'Elemon:

Like I said, we have various agents embedded into the resistance groups. But the resistance is nothing. No one is truly resisting this army of House Tyrell. Is everything okay with you? And the things that you possess (glances at Malic)?

Fagan:

The Forshantir recently emitted these strange incorporeal shades…

Rosa De'Elemon:

Really?

Fagan:

It felt like they were draining our physical and mental abilities when they touched us.

Rosa De'Elemon:

Well, I don't know what to tell you about that. As long as you are in possession of it, evil cannot be done at a greater rate, so I accept it in your hands. But if you ever want to try to destroy it for the greater good, I'm sure we could figure out something. We couldn't take it to Kandor, but I'm sure we could find some other way to do it.

Malic:

We are looking for weapons that will allow us to better fight the incorporeal undead. Where could we find such armament?

Rosa De'Elemon:

I can craft that for you. It just takes time and money based on which weapon you want to enchant.

At the Gate, the Party is Stopped by Iladan

As they finished up their conversation with Rosa, after commissioning the construction of a truedeath crystal, they tried to leave again. Before they could leave, Iladan Crestwillow ran up to the party to speak with Fagan.

Iladan Crestwillow:

Hail, heroes!

Malic:

Yo, mountaineer, man of the earth!

Iladan Crestwillow:

Hi, I was asked to give you a message if you were to show back up in town.

Fagan:

Me?

Iladan Crestwillow:

Yes, you, Fagan. Ritter says he's going to come back to kick your ass.

Fagan:

Uh, what?

Iladan Crestwillow:

A gleaming, halo-adorned man named Ritter von Feld came into town, asked some questions about the von Feld family. He asked questions about you, and if you had been seen recently and then he went off, supposedly in search of your family.

Fagan:

So Ritter's been around? Do you know where he went?

Iladan Crestwillow:

He went off to the north.

Alan:

(mumbles) Fagan's going to get his shit pushed in my Ritter.

Malic:

(laughs)

Fagan:

He took off to the north? To Roriport?

Iladan Crestwillow:

Uh, he was going along the northern road. He was going on and on about responsibility and about you not being the orderly son. And how dispicable it was of you not going off to save your family. I didn't really want to listen to him anymore…

Fagan:

Well, he is a giant stick in the ass…

Iladan Crestwillow:

Aye, paladins generally are. He was pretty much glowing while he was here, so I'm glad that he left.

Fagan:

He's a giant tool. But he's my giant tool. So I try and look after him.

Iladan Crestwillow:

He was travelling around with the Drunkards of Loranon.

Fagan:

The what?

Iladan Crestwillow:

The Drunkards of Loranon; it's an adventuring company.

As the conversation ended, Fagan von Feld convinced the party to go ahead and spend the night in Dormantown.

The Cockblocking of Fagan von Feld

The party settled down for the night, and Fagan mentioned that he was going to spend some time away from the party this evening.

Fagan:

I am going to spend some time with Alyse.

Malic:

No… Don't split up. We could be attacked.

Fagan:

No, I am going to spend time alone with Alyse.

Bisquick:

No you're not; I'm also going to spend time with Alyse.

Fagan found Alyse at the forge, which still hadn't seen any us since from before the Battle of Dormantown. Fagan brought up a conversation about Krush Half-man.

Fagan:

Do you know Krush Half-man?

Alyse Goldenhair:

Yes, I know him.

Fagan:

What do you think of him?

Alyse Goldenhair:

Well, he was a really good guy. I mean, he and my father competed for business but there was still so much smithing work to be done in town that they both had plenty to do.

Fagan:

Do you know anyone in town that Krush was close to?

Alyse Goldenhair:

He was always kinda a gruff kind of guy. That's probably why there wasn't very much public outcry when Nicoli sent all of the half-orcs away. I don't remember anyone he was close to.

Fagan:

I met him out in the wilderness.

Alyse Goldenhair:

Oh?

Fagan:

Yeah, he's become a little bit jaded. Given the lack of smiths, we were hoping to recruit him. Do you know anyone that would be willing to help us?

Alyse Goldenhair:

I don't really know anyone…

Fagan:

I suppose I should be talking to Nicoli.

Alyse Goldenhair:

The mayor was the one that exiled him.

Fagan:

I know.

Alyse Goldenhair:

The mayor's never had love for the orcs. It was his opposition to orcs which is what galvanizied the citizenry to elect him. He was definitely anti-orc from the beginning. It was one of the first things he did after he became mayor.

Fagan:

Unfortunately, we don't have very many options left. The winter has left this town in ruins.

Alyse Goldenhair:

Well, I mean, what are you going to try to do?

Fagan:

We need to try to band together before the orcs in the north come down.

Alyse Goldenhair:

I mean, how many half-orcs are there?

Fagan:

Well, only a couple dozen. Well, I just don't know what to do. We have to get some sort of support.

Alyse Goldenhair:

The citizenry is afraid of them… Most of the people in town think we should all leave. Even if they're not letting us get past Jaliveth, that won't be bad; the elves are not going to let Jaliveth fall. Nicoli sent people to Selatrath.

Fagan:

What happened?

Alyse Goldenhair:

The message… the message that Nicoli is telling us is that elves are keeping their forces close at hand. The elven queen has made proclamations that what is going on in Kandor is not their concern. I mean, he's got demon armies, and no one is moving against him. Kansama is not moving against him. Nomandi is not moving against him. And the elves of Elvareen are not moving against him, but the queen has made proclamations that what he is doing is wrong and that he should stop. He's got demons in his army....

Fagan:

He's got worse than demons.

Alyse Goldenhair:

I don't know what we are going to do. I mean, the mountains are inbetween us but they say he's entered Nomandi. It's nothing to come around the north of the mountains and come down into the Freelands.

Fagan:

But then they would have to go through the orcs. But I doubt that they would have much of an impact against the army of House Tyrell.

Alyse Goldenhair:

(changing the subject) Well, I could tell you something that we could do…

Alyse hinted at wanting to give Fagan a massage and asked Fagan to get rid of Bisquick. Bisquick agreed to leave but started looking through the outside window into the room. After Fagan closed the blinds, Bisquick punched through the window. Alyse screamed as Fagan tried to deal with the situation.

Fagan:

Bisquick!

Bisquick:

Who?

Fagan:

Kladunk! Kladunk! Kladunk!

Alyse Goldenhair:

Oh my gods! What did your friend do!? He broke my window!

Fagan:

He's an idiot!

Bisquick:

(shouting from outside) Dude has crabs!

Alyse Goldenhair:

Oh my gods! I don't understand. What is his problem?

Fagan:

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. (casts mending on the window)

As the window was mended, Bisquick shattered it again.

Alyse Goldenhair:

(in tears and visibly shaking) What!? Can you get him to stop?

Fagan:

I will deal with it.

Fagan walked out of the house and confronted Bisquick.

Fagan:

DWARF!

Bisquick:

Don't shit where you eat.

Fagan:

What?

Bisquick:

That's all I got to say. Don't shit where you eat.

Fagan:

Go to The Strong Boar.

Bisquick:

Don't shit where you eat. That's all I got to say.

Fagan:

GO. TO. THE. STRONG. BOAR.

Bisquick:

Don't shit where you eat.

Fagan:

Go to The Strong Boar. DWARF, GO TO THE STRONG BOAR.

Bisquick:

Human, don't shit where you eat. That is all I have to say.

Fagan:

Okay, you've had your say.

Bisquick:

Alright.

Fagan:

Now go!

Bisquick:

Alright.

Bisquick left enroute to The Strong Boar. He stayed there until Fagan went back inside Alyse's residence and then hurried back. However, Fagan was able to hear the clanking full-plate as Bisquick came back. Fagan apologized to a very flustered Alyse once more and headed outside. Fagan spotted him and confronted him. As Fagan called out to Bisquick, the dwarf ran off.

After Fagan re-entered the building, Bisquick proceeded to throw numerous rocks at the residence. Fagan confronted him again. The orphans started to wake up and come out into the street from all the noise.

Fagan:

Kids, please go back to sleep.

Orphan:

What's going on? Are we under attack?

Fagan:

No, no, we're not under attack. Some silly prankster thinks this is funny. I'm going to go take care of him.

Alyse Goldenhair:

Kids, please come back inside.

The kids went back inside.

Alyse Goldenhair:

(to Fagan) The kids are kind of scared. I'm going to have to make sure they're alright tonight. If you can just take him back to The Strong Boar, we would appreciate it. Bye.

Fagan:

I understand. Bye.

Fagan confronted Bisquick outside The Strong Boar.

Fagan:

Listen, Kladunk. You are going to stay the fuck out of my life and I'm not going to use your back as a sharpening stone for my sword.

Bisquick:

That's good, because it'd probably make a terrible sharpening stone.

Fagan:

Yeah, it probably would cut into your flesh pretty quickly. It wouldn't sharpen my sword very much and just cause you extreme amounts of pain.

Bisquick:

I don't like these threats man.

Fagan:

I don't like what you just did.

Bisquick:

I did not in any way threaten your life and you think it is perfectly okay to threaten mine? You can deprive me of sleep if you want, but I don't think threats are going to get you anywhere. I don't really think that is appropriate. Now, if you'll excuse me, I was gonna go get some whores.

Fagan took a swing at Bisquick and a short fight broke out between the two heroes of Dormantown. The rest of the sleeping party heard the commotion and moved to break up the fight. Fagan stalks off to one of the other taverns and drowned his sorrows with a lot of booze. Alan was able to pacify the guards that came to investigate the scene. He told the officer that he would work out the problem with the two individuals.

Alan found Fagan at the tavern and Fagan drunkenly relayed the story to Alan. Alan agreed that Bisquick's behavior was unbelievable but convinced Fagan to attempt making up for Bisquick to make everything seem okay for the people of Dormantown.

Forshantir Dreams

In the night, Malic Citrate dreamt.

A man stands before you. He has a blocky frame and knotted muscles. His skin is ruddy, as if blood sweats from his pores. "Rmylii Flamebullion. It is time."