# Karianna's Tales of a Mercenary Company - Updated 21/3, 29/3, 5/04, 14/04, 07/05



## karianna (Mar 16, 2007)

Hi all,

I've just started a campaign and so I thought I'd post up the part 1 of the 1st sessions notes.  The notes to begin with are filling in a bit of background etc, but the action will not be far away!

In the world of Athatar the mercenary company 'The Diplomats' is one of the many outfits that are paid to keep the borders of the Railon Empire safe.  At present a small group of that company is stationed outside the hamlet of Perma in the far eastern provinces of the empire.  This particular group contains the usual group mix of soldiers and a small unit of four scouts who are often given the thankless task of 'going to go check that situation out'.

The Scouting unit consists of:

Soloman - A Human Warmage from the Empire
Gwaeryn Silverstorm - A 1/2 Elven Scout, a Skirmishing veteran
Thoven Gellantara - A 1/2 Elven Fighter, recently added to the unit to add some muscle
Maximillan - A Human Druid with his companion Klaxo, a Badger.

-----------------------------------------------------
Day 1 - End of Spring - Year 565 ER (Empire Reckoning)
-----------------------------------------------------

Yawning, Solomon crawled out of his tent and nodded to his fellow scouts gathered around the morning campfire.  Thoven, the tall brawny soldier who had joined the scouting unit some six months ago grinned silently at him and pointed to the iron pot that usually held the morning’s coffee, Sol noted that it was depressingly empty.  Next to Thoven leaning up against some barrels stood the languid figure of Gwaeryn, he waved silently back at Sol but continued to stare out into the distance.

“Where’s Max?” Sol growled
A few seconds later a familiar Badger was snuffling at Sol’s feet, firm evidence that the Druid wasn’t far away. 
Sol eyed Klaxo suspiciously “Where is he Klax?”

The Badger’s beady eyes looked up at him briefly and then turned at the arrival of the Druid.  Maximillian (aka Max) was a wandering nature priest who had attached himself to the unit only a couple of months previously.  The rest of the unit still wasn’t too sure about what to make of his pet Badger, but the Druid was extremely capable in the wild.

“Heh, I think Sol was gonna burn the Badger Maxo” Gwaeryn chuckled.

Soloman had something of a reputation for blasting anything that irritated him. It was usually his first and last solution to almost all problems, the militaristic training of a Warmage had left little room for the softer skills in life.  Max proceeded to give a sad and reproachful look at Sol.

“Don’t worry Max, we all like the little bastard, just not sure he likes us” Sol stared hard at the Badger.
Max began to speak in response when Gwaeryn quickly held his hand up for silence.

“Rider coming - “Looks like an imperial officer of some sort…” he murmured, 
“Oh and here’s the Sarge with the whippersnapper in tow”.

Sergeant O’Grady was a grizzled veteran of ‘The Diplomats’ and was marching towards the entrance of the camp whilst dragging along their latest Lieutenant, a young 4th son of some nobleman back in center of the Empire.  Lieutenant Nylar was evidently struggling to put his sword belt on.

“Need some help there Lieutenant?” Sol barked out
"Um quite alright thank you Private" Nylar stuttered back
“GO MAKE ME MY COFFEE PRIVATE” thundered back the Sergeant.

----------------------------

The rider was met at the edge of the camp by O’Grady and Nylar.  The entire camp of soldiers suddenly got a lot quieter and Gwaeryn pricked up his delicate Half-Elven ears in order to try and catch some of the conversation.

Gwaeryn quietly relayed what he could hear to the others:

“Village….. found something after storms…. check it out … things moving in the dark... ”

The rider immediately spun and took off back down the trail and the camp resumed its normal activity as the Sergeant strode meaningfully towards the four scouts.

“MORNING CUPCAKES” The booming voice of the Sarge washed over the group, he marched into their area and wordlessly accepted a pewter mug of coffee from Sol.

“You lucky lads have won yourselves some free R&R!" he beamed

Receiving not a single smile in return he continued "Apparently that big storm a few days back seems to have rattled up something over in Perma, go see what they’re moaning about and get back here ASAP.  Do not spend anytime drinking in their tavern, flirting with their daughters or anything else stupid, you got me?”

A chorus of “Yes Sirs” rang out from the group
The Sarge nodded “Right, get it done"
"Oh and kiddies they don't send an imperial messenger for this sort of job, something's up, make sure you get back alive to report to me what that is.” and with that parting shot the Sarge headed back across the camp.

"F%$k^n great" Sol spat out "here we go again".

----------------------------

Comments, Criticism etc more than welcome!


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## karianna (Mar 21, 2007)

And here is the next part - Kudos to all of the other SH authors out there, I didn't realise how hard this was.  Hopefully it's not too terrible for my first attempt 

------

The four scouts left the encampment on foot with little fanfare, receiving only a couple of grim nods from the palisade guards as farewell.  The group promptly turned to the east and surveyed the expanding grasslands ahead of them.  The rays of the morning sun gave the grasslands a particularly aesthetic golden appearance.

“Nice day for a walk” announced Max, promptly setting off ahead with Klaxo in tow.  Gwaeryn followed quickly but headed out slightly to the right leaving Thoven and Solomon walking together along the thin trail that snaked through the knee high grass.

“I’m still not sure about this whole ‘shiny bait’ idea Sol” stated Thoven
“It’s a perfectly sound plan my friend, you are the biggest after all” Sol grinned back at him.

Thoven only grunted in response and started the day’s walk with his usual plodding pace.  The group travelled on without incident for another couple of hours with Max and Gwaeryn making periodic sweeps of the terrain ahead.  Finally Max came to a stop and let the Thoven and Sol catch up to him.

“Klaxo and I are running across very little wildlife out here, it’s unusual for this sort of expanse of grassland.”
“Maybe Klax just scared them all off” Sol managed to keep a straight face.
“No I don’t think so, but…..” Max leaned down towards Klaxo who was pawing at his nose in some discomfort
“He says he can smell death”

Sol waved frantically in the air at Gwaeryn who promptly jogged back.

“What is it?” 
“The Badger smells something dead, not too far off” Sol shrugged
“Righto.......” Gwaeryn looked over at Max
Max looked over at the Badger “He’s quite adamant about it”
“Give me a turn or so, see what I can see”

Gwaeryn scampered off some fifty yards and then promptly disappeared in the waist high grass, not even a trace of his passage could be seen.  Max promptly headed off on an alternative route and with Klaxo also managed to disappear in the grass entirely, leaving Thoven and Sol to wait it out.

---------

Gwaeryn peered cautiously through the grass a scant foot or two away from the large area of freshly dug up soil.  The stench was quite strong in the air now and Gwaeryn noted grimly that the site could hold at least a dozen bodies.  He scanned the area for the last time when a small splash of red colour attracted his attention; some tiny scrap of cloth was caught up on a dirt clump in the middle of area.  He was about to start heading in when the grunt of the Badger warned him the Max was backing out.  He slowly began his retreat back to the waiting pair and some minutes later all four had rejoined back on the main trail.

“Mass grave by the looks” stated Gwaeryn, “Some red cloth caught up in the middle of it as well, was about to head over there and go grab it”.
“It smells like old death, doesn't make sense” mused Max
“Could be lots of dead villagers, lets go dig a bit and see what we can find” Sol replied

“You’re digging” the chorus came back from the others

The four turned and started to head back towards the freshly dug earth and promptly spotted four figures standing roughly where they were heading to.

“Sloppy Gwaer” growled Thoven as he loosened his blade
Gwaeryn shot him a filthy look as once more he and Max melded into the grass
“Slow advance eh Thoven” Sol started to bring his imprinted arcane power to the forefront of his memory.

Thoven hefted his heavy shield and started to advance towards the four figures, Sol followed shortly after making sure he was concealed by the bulk of the fighter ahead of him.  Another fifty or so paces and the opposing figures had still not moved.

“Um, Sol?”
“Yeah?”
“I can see the sunlight shining through them”
“They do look rather bony don’t they”
“What did the Sarge say about skeletons Sol?”
“Your Morning Star Thov, use the bashing weapon” sighed Sol
“Ah right”

-----

Both Max and Gwaeryn had snuck their way back to their previous positions and could clearly see four Skeletons standing silently in the breeze.  Short curved scimitars hung from their bony fists and battered metal shields were attached to their opposing forearms.

-----

“Hail” Sol cried out
“Sarge never said they talked Sol”
“First time for everything Thov”

A great clash of metal on metal rang out over the grasslands as the four skeletons banged their scimitars against shields in the mockery of a living salute.

“See?”
“I can feel you smiling smugly Sol, quit it already” growled Thoven in response

The skeletons exploded into a lurching run towards the pair.  Thoven planted his feet firmly in the ground and waited expectantly with morning star and shield raised.  Behind him Sol rapidly incanted and a streaking bolt of energy hit the first Skeleton sending fragments of its skull flying about the grass.  Its legs attempted to continue running for a brief moment and then it promptly collapsed.

With a roar Thoven stepped up to the first skeleton to arrive and swung a devastating blow at its mid section, but to his dismay the bony creature stumbled over and Thoven watched his Morning Star go flying out of his grasp and sail off somewhere into the grasslands.

“Of all the %^$%#” he crouched behind his shield and frantically started to pull out his sword as blows started to rain down upon him.  Due to good fortune and plenty of strong armour, Thoven avoided any real damage and with a growl of effort was able to thrust the skeletons back a step

“Anytime now guys!” he yelled.

----

Max and Gwaeryn however, were still looking anxiously at the four holes which had been torn out of the earth in front of them and began to cautiously advance towards the red ribbon in the middle.

----

Sol who was still behind Thoven by several yards barked out a separate series of arcane words and this time a small sizzling ball of acid flew towards the battling group.

“DUCK” roared Sol.

Thoven felt the acid ball take off a few hairs of his sword arm as the ball shot past and caught a skeleton in the bones of its throat and it crumpled to the ground.

Thoven grinned as the odds began to swing in his favour.  He in turn swung mightily at the Skeleton on his right and forcibly ripped out its ribcage with his blade.  The skeleton tried to remain standing but it was a hopeless task with its upper torso gone and it too fell to the ground.  Thoven then easily parried the attack of the next skeleton and squared up to the last remaining one.

Sol, seeing that Thoven had the upper hand decided to save the rest of his day’s Arcane powers and drew out his light mace and charged to Thoven’s side.

“I’m coming up on your right” he warned and promptly tripped and bounced off the back of Thoven’s armoured form.  Thoven grunted in surprise but still had the presence of mind to fend off another swipe from the skeleton in front.  Thoven followed up that fend by stepping forward and clattering through the legs of the skeleton, sending it down to the earth.  He looked behind him bemusedly.

“Yeah yeah tin can, laugh it up” Sol picked himself up, “Now where did those other two get to...?"

-------

Next session is tomorrow night and I imagine a Rogues gallery entry will start up soon.

As always comments, suggestions and criticism more than welcome!


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## Mahtave (Mar 21, 2007)

Good start, I like the interaction between the scouts.  So far Sol is my favorite.


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## karianna (Mar 21, 2007)

Mahtave said:
			
		

> Good start, I like the interaction between the scouts.  So far Sol is my favorite.




Thanks!  Oh and you just made Sol's player very happy .  Next post will be up in a couple of days, but I'll throw up the Rogue's Gallery entries before then, see what you make of how Sol was built.


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## karianna (Mar 24, 2007)

*Rogues gallery*

Right the 1st character is posted in the Rogue's gallery, and because of the one popular vote, it's Solomon first .  See my sig for the link.  I'll be posting the next part of the story tomorrow.  In the latest session my Fiancee took over the role of the soldier Thoven as the regular player was away.  She enjoyed her first session of D&D and certainly adding a different way of dealing with problems as you'll get to read soon!

EDIT:  Hmm, my sig doesn't appear at the bottom of every post, so here's the link:
The Scouts

EDIT 2:  Right I've posted all of the scouts now, enjoy


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## JollyDoc (Mar 28, 2007)

I'm enjoying the read so far.  I like narrative tales much more than just journal accounts.  If I might offer one small criticism.  I'm kind of a grammar snob (maybe because I frequently make my own share of mistakes), so I would recommend proofing each update before you post it, both with SpellCheck and eyeball.  That way you can see how the words flow to an objective reader.  Also, I wouldn't capitalize things like Skeleton or Heavy Shield.  Spell names are iffy.  I tend to go back and forth, and ultimately just end up relying on descriptive text rather than say "so and so cast Fireball."  Other than that, you're off to a great start!  I'll keep reading!


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## Zaruthustran (Mar 28, 2007)

I too enjoyed this intro to a new story hour. With just a few seemingly throwaway sentences (including the rogue gallery) we already know quite a bit about the setting: the Empire enforces compulsory military service, is somewhat corrupt (the incompetent Lt.), and resorts to mercenaries for protection of its borders (despite the mandatory service). I love it!

-z

PS: I read Sol's rogue gallery entry, and he only has one feat (Improved Init) that's not a class-given feat. As a human, shouldn't he have two?


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## karianna (Mar 28, 2007)

JollyDoc said:
			
		

> I'm enjoying the read so far.  I like narrative tales much more than just journal accounts.  If I might offer one small criticism.  I'm kind of a grammar snob (maybe because I frequently make my own share of mistakes), so I would recommend proofing each update before you post it, both with SpellCheck and eyeball.  That way you can see how the words flow to an objective reader.  Also, I wouldn't capitalize things like Skeleton or Heavy Shield.  Spell names are iffy.  I tend to go back and forth, and ultimately just end up relying on descriptive text rather than say "so and so cast Fireball."  Other than that, you're off to a great start!  I'll keep reading!




Wow!  Truly humbled that you'd post on my humble beginnings!  I've been avidly reading through your story hours the last 3 days and not getting much else done .  Definitely more than happy on the criticism, like I said this is first time for me and there's only one way to improve and that's to get feedback!

I _think_ the spelling errors are maybe the differences between UK/New Zealand English and US English?  At least my two spell checkers that I use aren't coming up with any warnings, is there a checker that writers regularly use here? (I use MS Word and Firefox as my checkers).

The grammar/flow thing, totally fair comment and to me the hardest thing to get right!  I've got a couple of people reading my posts before I send them up, but I think I'll start getting my linguistics 'grammar dragon' sister to start looking them over as well 

Thanks again, there's nothing like getting feedback on your SH!   Oh and I'll continue to watch Savage Tide with interest, it's a big shame about Anwar though


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## karianna (Mar 28, 2007)

Zaruthustran said:
			
		

> I too enjoyed this intro to a new story hour. With just a few seemingly throwaway sentences (including the rogue gallery) we already know quite a bit about the setting: the Empire enforces compulsory military service, is somewhat corrupt (the incompetent Lt.), and resorts to mercenaries for protection of its borders (despite the mandatory service). I love it!
> 
> -z
> 
> PS: I read Sol's rogue gallery entry, and he only has one feat (Improved Init) that's not a class-given feat. As a human, shouldn't he have two?




Thanks for de-lurking!!  Very nice to get feedback as a new writer!  Great spotting on the missing feat BTW, he did actually select the extra one but he's still deciding if it was a good choice (I'm being a bit lenient and allowing people to change feat and skill choices before they hit level 2).  The group is all pretty new to D&D so much is being added and then discarded in the first few sessions.  I'll edit and update his feat once a final choice has been made


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## JollyDoc (Mar 29, 2007)

karianna said:
			
		

> Wow!  Truly humbled that you'd post on my humble beginnings!  I've been avidly reading through your story hours the last 3 days and not getting much else done .  Definitely more than happy on the criticism, like I said this is first time for me and there's only one way to improve and that's to get feedback!
> 
> I _think_ the spelling errors are maybe the differences between UK/New Zealand English and US English?




Whoops!  Totally missed that you were posting from the UK!  Guess I'll have to start reading in my best Southern english accent


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## karianna (Mar 29, 2007)

*The hamlet of Perma*

Right, it took awhile to try and weave the various role-playing encounters into a comprehensible SH post, but hopefully this comes across right .  I've got the notes written up for the 2nd part of the session after this and there's certainly plenty intrigue, horror and action.

------

Max and Gwaeryn were actually not far away, strolling towards them with their heads bent together in an animated discussion over something that Max held in his hand.

Max held out the small red ribbon, “Klaxo managed to grab this before it blew away.”
“Yeah, the little sneak grabbed it before I’d even seen him!” Gwaeryn looked suspiciously at the Badger.
“Well of course, he’s at one with nature, you could learn a great deal from him you know.” replied Max.

Sol interrupted with a loud cough “Nice of you boys to help out.”
“Ah yeah sorry about that, but we needed to make sure that no more of those things were crawling out.” replied Gwaeryn.
“Besides,” added Max “it looked like you guys were handling it OK.”
Thoven gave a huge grin “Not sure what the Sarge was talking about with that bashing nonsense, swords work just fine against those sacks of bones!  I guess I should look for the morning star though, Sarge would not be happy if I lost that.”
“Well it’s nice that you ladies have bought us back a pretty red ribbon, but was there anything else actually useful?” asked Sol, a slight sneer was evident in his expression.
“Not on the surface,” Max replied “I guess we could dig a little and see.”

The other three scouts promptly looked over at Klaxo who stared evenly back at them.
“You know Max?  I think we’ve finally found a use for your Badger.” Thoven grinned at Max and added a resounding thump of his mailed fist on the back of the druid.
“Shall we?”

-----

The group stood around the area where the skeletons had crawled up from, keeping a careful eye on their surroundings while Klaxo used his powerful claws to dig into the earth.  After a short time the badger had clearly had enough, wrinkling its nose in distaste at the putrid smell of death.  Max moved through the areas that Klaxo had dug out and peered into sections of churned up earth.

“Well there are a couple of bones and some rags and it definitely smells pretty awful, but I don’t see anything else useful.”

A moment later Gwaeryn hissed “We’ve got company, one humanoid.”
“Yeah and he’s not moving very straight either, looks like Sol dancing when he had that one ale to many last week.” Thoven flashed a smile in Sol’s direction and received a dark scowl in response.
“We’ll go out and meet it.” Sol decided.

----

The group quickly discovered that the wobbling figure appeared to be that of a rather drunk elderly farmer.  Stepping forward Sol called out “We mean you no harm old timer, are you from Perma by any chance?”  The old man stopped, swayed a little and peered bleary eyed back at Sol “Wha! Who are yoush, Can’t a man drink in shome peesh en quiet round ere?”

A thoroughly frustrating and yet amusing interrogation followed with Thoven desperately trying to hold in his laughter whenever ‘Pappy’ referred to Sol as “Thwat young wolf cub” or “My new beshtt fwend”.  Eventually the group managed to extract out of the farmer that the village of Perma was unscathed, the red ribbon belonged to a little girl named Polly and that a farmer called Galron was the default head of the Perma community.  A further line of subtle questioning about the pit and its ancient skeleton guardians only drew shrugs and looks of disbelieve from the old man.

“I can taksh ya to da village if ye loike.” the old man took another swig from his flagon.
“Oh yes please, Sol would love to hear more of your stories Pappy!” Thoven cried out with fake sincerity, beaming happily at Sol.

The old man started to weave off back towards the village dragging Sol by the arm with him.  Sol delivered a venomous look back at Thoven as Pappy started up yet another drinking story.

---- 

Hindered somewhat by the slow pace of the stumbling old timer it took several hours to reach the outlying fields of the hamlet of Perma.  The four scouts took in the sight of ordinary farmers working in the fields and started to relax slightly, everything indeed seemed to be normal.  As the scouts approached the hamlet proper they could quickly see that it composed of only a large water mill and several small dwellings scattered randomly around a communal hall of some sort.  There did not seem to be many people moving amongst the buildings until with a large bang a group of three men quickly came out of the communal hall and headed directly towards them.

The leader of the three men was a middle aged man built like an ox with the ruddy features of someone who’d lived his whole life outdoors.  He was flanked by two fairly sizeable fellows who were a coupler of steps behind him, the expressions on their faces clearly nervous at the idea of having to approach the group.  All three wore rough farmers garb and had simple cudgels and tools hooked into their belts.

Without any preamble the lead man spoke “I’m Galron, I see that you’ve found Pappy.” he levelled a long steady stare at the elderly man.
“Heh, besh be going now.” and with a loud belch, the old timer quickly sidled off towards one of the small dwellings.
“I’m Gwaeryn and these are fellow scouts of our company, Sol, Max and Thoven” Gwaeryn responded politely.

“Well state your business then.” Galron’s flat tone indicated that honeyed words would not impress him overly much.
“We received an Empire report that this village was under some sort of attack or at the least that the storm a few days back has caused some trouble for your village.” replied Gwaeryn.
“As you can see there’s no trouble here and any damage from the storm is long since repaired, it happens every year.” Galron shrugged, but Gwaeryn had noticed a slight hesitation in the farmer’s response.

“Everything is peaceful and quiet, just the way we like it.” he added, looking pointedly at the heavily armed Thoven
“Ah well, you’ll have no trouble from us.” replied Gwaeryn smoothly. “Is there a place we can stay overnight?  We’ll take our leave first thing in the morning.”
Galron jerked a thumb over his shoulder “You’ll find lodging in the community hall, speak to Thayla.”

Before the farmers could turn and leave, Max stepped forward holding the red ribbon in his hand “Sorry to interrupt, but we found this child’s ribbon on the way in, I hope she’s not missing?”
The man to the right of Galron sighed “That’s my daughter Polly’s favourite ribbon, she’s always running off here and there, it serves her right if she’s lost it, might teach the fool girl a lesson.”

Max leaned further forward “Ah, and where are all of the children?...” At this Thoven internally winced, he hadn’t even noticed that there were no children about, which was certainly unusual.   His hand slowly crept down towards his sword hilt.
“They’re in the mill getting their schooling of course.” growled Galron. “Now if you don’t mind we’ve got work to be attending to, good day.”  With that the dour man led the other two away.

“Oh well that all seems OK then.” Thoven once more stood at ease.
“They don’t have schools for farmers kids Thov.” Sol gave him a withering glance.
“That’s generally true,” added Max “they’re usually helping their parents work as it’s a hard life out here.”
“Well, I’m keen to go and check out those lodgings and see if any of the locals are any friendlier.” Gwaeryn headed towards the large structure where the farmers had come from.


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## karianna (Apr 5, 2007)

This part of the session was full of frantic fun , I won't spoil it by saying anymore, I hope you all enjoy!  Next session is tonight and I still have the 3rd part of last session to write up, so plenty more material coming.

-----------

The four scouts pushed their way through the swing doors and entered into a large common room.  Crudely built tables and benches were scattered over a straw covered floor and in the far corner a tethered goat bleated plaintively at them. [As an aside Max's player blurted out,  'Wicked I have speak with animals memorised!' cue much laughter]  Opposite the group a stick thin middle aged woman stood behind a large plank of wood supported by two barrels.  Stairs headed up to the next floor and they could see the mill in the distance through a narrow corridor that exited the building behind the woman.

The land lady beamed at them “Why hello there, I’ve been expecting you, my name be Thayla, now what can I get yea?”

Thoven strode forward with a smile and quickly introduced the group and arranged the hire of the two rooms upstairs and some basic meals.  After exchanging further pleasantries with Thayla, the four scouts headed up the stairs to inspect their lodgings.

Gwaeryn immediately began a pain staking search of the room he was sharing with Thoven and after a few minutes made a grisly discovery.  He quickly summoned everyone into his room and flipped over the mattress of one of the crude cots.  The underside of the mattress was almost completely covered by a large dark stain.

“I don’t know about you guys but I’m not sleeping here tonight.”
Thoven leaned over and took a look at the mattress "That's OK, I have a sneaking suspicion something might happen before we get to sleep."
Sol raised an eyebrow “Charming….”
“Yeah it’s amazing how people can spontaneously erupt into a shower of blood while sleeping.” Gwaeryn replied caustically.

At that moment a call came out from below, “Food is ready m’dears!”

Sol looked at the others and quietly added “We’ll discuss this in private later.”
“I’m not touching their food.” hissed Gwaeryn
“It’ll look suspicious if we don’t Gwaer.” replied Sol
“Tell her I’m not feeling well, I’m going to sneak out and take a look at the mill.”
“Very well,” Sol turned to the druid “Max, let us know if that food is off will ya?”
Max stared grimly at the mattress “Oh I think I’ll be checking very carefully.”
Gwaeryn leaned over to Thoven and with a wink whispered "We could always try the food on Klaxo first."
Thoven looked back at Gwaeryn in disgust but couldn't help letting a small smile slip out.

Gwaeryn waited upstairs while the other three scouts headed back down the stairs and joined Thayla at one of the tables for their meal.  Thayla was full of chatter, asking the three scouts about their travels and paying particular attention to Thoven who apparently ‘reminded her of her own son’.

----

While Sol was carefully asking Thayla about Polly and the children’s school in the mill, Gwaeryn snuck down the stairs and tip toed his way down the corridor behind the bar.  Quickly spying that there was no one visible around, he broke cover and ghosted across a couple of fields before reaching the mill.  Over the next couple of minutes he carefully crawled his way around the building, taking into account all of its features.

The mill stood some 30-40 feet high with a large set of barn doors at the northern end and a set of wide doors embedded up high on the south wall.  Attached to the east side of the mill was a large water wheel that was slowly being rotated by the flowing waters of the river.  Satisfied that all was well, Gwaeryn slid his way along the western wall and around the corner until he reached the main doors.  Kneeling quietly by the doors he carefully listened out for any activity inside the barn.  Hearing nothing he took a deep breath and gently eased one of the doors open just wide enough so he could sidle in.

He took his first step inside, peering into the gloom when something smashed heavily into his chest knocking him back outside of the building.  Eyes watering from the blow Gwaeryn struggled to his feet his jaw dropping as a putrid figure lumbered out of the barn.

----

Back at the common room several burly farmers had arrived from the fields giving the group open stares as they headed off to another table.  During the meal, Thoven was starting to extract some information from the talkative Thayla, apparently the wayward child Polly was a half elven orphan that the village had found wandering in the fields several years ago.  Sol was about to continue this line of questioning when Max gave out a large yawn and swayed slightly in his seat.

“Oh the poor dear must be tired from his day’s walk,” announced Thayla patting him gently on the shoulder “why don’t you go and take him on upstairs.”
Sol looked over at Max, as a nagging suspicion started to enter his thoughts.  He quickly got to his feet and lifted the rapidly fading Max out of his chair.
“It’ll be alright, I’ll just take him outside for some fresh air.”  Sol’s intense gaze spoke volumes to Thoven who also rose to his feet.

The two men half carried and half dragged the now unconscious Max out the back corridor while fending off the growls and pawing of the extremely agitated badger.
“Quit it Klaxo we’re trying to help!” Sol growled, he glanced over to the burly solider “Thov, it must be some sort of sleeping draught, check Max’s herb kit.”

“Um I think we’ve got another problem, Gwaer’s in deep %^&$.” replied Thoven pointing over to the mill.  Sol peered into the distance and spied Gwaeryn with his back to the river trying to fend off what looked to be an unarmed farmer.

“What do you mean?  The peasant isn’t even armed!” Sol cried dismissively.
“Exactly Sol, Gwaeryn has just cut off its left arm and it’s still coming at him.”
Sol looked up again to see the distant figure of Gwaeryn battling what was evidently not an ordinary farmer “You’re…. not kidding, go help him out I’ll throw Max under this water trough and make sure nothing gets to him.”

Thoven set off on a dead run towards the mill while Sol turned around and eyed up the wild looking badger sitting astride the comatose form of Max.  “Ah c’mon Klax, let me move him will ya!”  The badger made a strange growling noise in response.  Sol sighed, “One of these days Klax, you and I are going to have a serious talk about your place in this squad.”

----

Despite having hacked off the creature’s left arm and removing what should have been a vital organ or two, the battle was not going well for Gwaeryn.  The monstrous thing just continued to advance, seemingly without care for its injuries.  It had also managed to land one heavy blow cracking several of his ribs.

He was forced to roll backwards to avoid the powerful swings of the zombie and now found himself hard up against the river.  He looked to the swift running water for escape but quickly realised that he would be turned into pulp by the turning water wheel.  Gritting his teeth he stepped forward and drove his scimitar deep into the zombie’s belly, but his cry of triumph was short lived as a mottled grey fist crashed into his temple sending him deep into blackness.

Thoven saw Gwaeryn drop to the ground and with a cry of anguish sprinted across the remaining distance.  Moments later he reached the zombie and with a scream of rage split its skull in two dropping the zombie to the ground.  Thoven frantically scrambled to the inert form of Gwaeryn, mumbling “no no no no no” under his breath.

----

Sol had finally managed to convince Klaxo to move Max under the water trough, he was now fighting his second battle with the badger as he tried to wake Max up.

“Look it’ll be a gentle tap to the face, I mean be reasonable” Sol gave the badger a stern look.  Klaxo, already wild with concern for the druid simply lashed out at Sol with his razor sharp claws.

“Water from the trough it is” Sol replied and proceeded to douse the sleeping druid and the furious badger with water from the trough.  Max rose to a kneeling position and promptly threw up all over the ground in front of him.  Sol hauled him roughly to his feet.

“Klaxo’s trying to rip my leg off and Gwaeryn has probably been smashed to pieces, we’re going this way NOW.”  Sol ran towards the mill dragging the still groggy druid with him.

----

Thoven was frantically trying to wrap bandages around the head of Gwaeryn, tears of frustration welling up as he realised there was nothing that his meagre skills cold do.  Twin trails of blood continued to flow from the nose and mouth of the unconscious skirmisher as Sol shoved a very pale looking Max down next to them.

“Please Max, fix him, he’s dying!” Thoven pleaded with the druid.
Max felt like death warmed up but steadied himself and grabbed two handfuls of earth casting it all over the form of the dying scout.  He followed this up with a quick prayer and watched the still form of his companion carefully.

To the profound astonishment of both Thoven and Sol the bleeding stopped and visible pops could be heard as bones knitted themselves back into shape.  Gwaeryn quickly leapt to his feet feeling full of energy, spying the others around him he cried out “Beware there are zombies around!”

Thoven reached out and patted him on the back a smile of relief on his face, “Yeah Gwaeryn we know, we know.”
Sol gently lifted Max to his feet “Your little prayer was nothing short of miraculous, remind me to be nice to Klaxo for the next week”
“The healing power of nature in the spring is indeed miraculous.” replied Max modestly “I think I’ll change my poison detecting technique though.”
Sol grinned back at him “Oh I don’t know Max, your warning was pretty clear, now, lets kick open those doors and see what else is inside that mill.”

The four scouts prepared themselves briefly and headed towards the double doors but as they got close they could clearly hear the voice of a little girl singing from inside the mill.

“Pretty little knights coming out to play, pretty little knights, they all run away!”

“OK, this is getting a little creepy,” Thoven looked over at the others nervously. “do we have to go in?"


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## Son_of_Thunder (Apr 5, 2007)

OOOOOOooooh! Me likey!

Thanks for sharing.


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## karianna (Apr 6, 2007)

Son_of_Thunder said:
			
		

> OOOOOOooooh! Me likey!  Thanks for sharing.




Thanks for reading!!  It's been a lot of fun writing this adventure up and having people pop in and read it is a great motivator


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## Son_of_Thunder (Apr 10, 2007)

*Bump!*

Hey,

Let's have an update


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## karianna (Apr 10, 2007)

*Next Update*



			
				Son_of_Thunder said:
			
		

> Hey, Let's have an update



Will be up tomorrow night my time and boy did a big tough group of adventurers struggle with an 8 year old girl


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## Son_of_Thunder (Apr 12, 2007)

*Bump*

Patiently awaiting update


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## karianna (Apr 12, 2007)

*Sorry!*



			
				Son_of_Thunder said:
			
		

> Patiently awaiting update



Sorry had to work late yesterday (new job, yay for me, not so good for the SH).  Our next session is tonight so it'll probably be tomorrow night


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## karianna (Apr 14, 2007)

*The party vs an 8 year old girl*

Finally managed to get this part written up, needless to say, my players were not happy by the end of this session  

----

The four scouts stood indecisively outside the large set of doors leading into the mill.

Sol turned to face the others “Soooooo, who’s good with kids? “
“Don’t look at me,” snorted Gwaeryn, “Thov?  You’re good with people right?”
Thoven gave Gwaeryn an incredulous look, “Um, noooooo, I just hit people, remember?”
Sol looked at Max who simply shook his head.
“Fine then, I’ll talk to the little brat.”

Sol stepped forward towards the closed doors. “Polly, are you there?”
“Yes stupid face, why are old people so stupid anyway?”
“What happened to you Polly?”
“They kept telling me what to do, I hate them!" Her voice suddenly took on a sly tone, "but they do what I tell them to now...”
Sol looked over at the others, who shrugged helpless back at him, Sol continued in his most placating tone. “Well parents can be tough, but we’re just here to help, everyone’s very worried about you.”
“You’re just like them and you hurt my friend!”

Sol thought back to the zombie that had nearly ended Gwaeryn’s life, his face darkened. “Have you got the rest of the children there with you?”
“Not telling, you’re a stupid dunderhead!”
“Now come on Polly, if you expect me to talk to you like an adult, you have to give me some answers.”

There was a pause followed by some giggling, then her voice floated back out “I think you need to play with my other friend.”
Gwaeryn leant over to Sol and whispered fiercely “I’d rather fight those things out here than in there with her.”
Sol nodded tersely in response and called out “Sure Polly, we’ll play with your friend, send them on out.”

----

The party took several steps back and readied themselves.  Thoven stood at the front of the doors, with his shield raised high in preparation for a physical assault while the others arranged themselves in a loose semi circle behind him.  It wasn’t long before one of the doors swung open slightly to reveal the living corpse of another unfortunate farmer.

Thoven reacted swiftly, stepping forward with a powerful strike to the creature’s torso, hacking out a large chunk of its rotting flesh.  A split second later an arrow buzzed in from where Gwaeryn stood and buried itself into the zombies arm.  Sol and Max then stepped forward in tandem and flanked the zombie, scoring with minor blows to its body.

A living opponent would have had reason to panic at this stage but the zombie simply swung a powerful fist at Thoven, who met the blow with a hastily raised shield.  The three scouts then pressed home their numerical advantage and quickly hacked the zombie into pieces.

“That wasn’t so bad, what’s she playing at?”
“Not sure Sol, not sure,” Thoven eyed up the slightly ajar door, “only one way to find out though, I vote we go in there and get her.”
Sol flashed a grin back at him. “Fair enough, you’re going first though.”

----

Thoven swung the slightly ajar door open and strode into the mill with the others rapidly deploying behind him.  Gwaeryn immediately shot off to the left and dove behind some hay bales while Max and Sol stood behind the big fighter and calmly assessed the layout of the mill.

Shafts of sunlight illuminated the thousands of dust particles in the air, giving the interior a surreal glow.  The floor was covered in straw and several hay bales were scattered around the sides of each wall.  At the far end of the mill a wooden ladder extended up to a narrow catwalk which housed a small corner room.  The door to the room was shut and nothing else stirred in the place, but Sol grimly realised that there were plenty of places for a little girl to hide.

Gwaeryn began to move forwards stepping slowly from hay bale to hay bale while simultaneously Klaxo scurried across the floor, snuffling at the straw as he passed.  Sol turned and raised an eyebrow at Max who only gave an enigmatic smile in return, which turned into a look of horror as the ground beneath the exploring badger’s feet suddenly gave way.  Klaxo disappeared from view, although it was clear that the badger still lived judging from its extremely loud screeches of pain and anger.

----

“Klax” screamed Max as he started to head straight for the pit that the badger had fallen into.  Sol quickly grabbed the druid by the back of his robes and yanked him back, “he can dig his way out remember!  Besides, we’ve got other things to worry about”.  True to his words, the door of the small room on the catwalk exploded open and a dark armoured figure leaned around the door frame and fired off a crossbow bolt at Gwaeryn, who yelped in surprise and promptly ducked behind the nearest hay bale.

Sol and Thoven were about to advance on the catwalk when their worlds became enshrouded in pure darkness.  Thoven immediately dropped to the ground and started to crawl forwards, while Sol cursed under his breath, “that annoying little $%$%”.  Sol rapidly incanted and the magical darkness was lifted revealing the slightly comical sight of the fully armoured fighter trying to crawl his way across the floor.  Sol rolled his eyes, “oh do get up ya big lummox, you look ridiculous.”

In the meantime Max and Gwaeryn were being pinned down by the rapid and accurate fire of the crossbowman.  Gwaeryn was able to hurriedly fire off an arrow or two from his small hunting bow, but he knew he needed a one in a million shot to strike their well hidden opponent.  To Max’s relief a shower of dirt flew up underneath the catwalk to reveal a bloody and thoroughly enraged badger who promptly started to claw and bite into the ladder in a mindless frenzy.

Back in the middle of the mill, Thoven had managed to get to his feet and raised his shield high to ward off any incoming crossbow bolts.  He once more continued his advance with Sol cautiously following behind him.  The pair made steady progress up to the pit when Polly’s voice rang out from the room above.  “You’re scared of me you big fat dummy, go away!”  For some reason the words had a strange power over Thoven, who simply turned and ran at full speed straight back out of the mill.  Sol seeing that his cover was gone, dashed towards a hay bale just managing to avoid a bolt that skipped across the floor behind him.

Gwaeryn and his opponent once more traded shots with scout’s howl of pain indicating that he was losing the shooting war.  From his new position Sol conjured a small ball of fire in his hand and threw it towards the doorway above.  However, in his haste he’d gotten his aim horribly wrong and the ball of fire splashed against the ladder, which immediately began to burn.

Max yelled out “Sol, Gwaeryn’s a pincushion, we’ve got to get out!”
“That’s right you poop heads, go away!” Polly’s voice called out once more from the room above.
“Shut up you little #$%$#!” Sol yelled back, but he motioned for the others to beat a hasty retreat.

Racing from hay bale to hay bale, the three remaining scouts managed to exit the mill without being shot.  Max then let out a loud whistle and moments later a smoking, bleeding and somewhat peeved looking badger charged out through the gap and snarled at the world in general.

Gwaeryn clutched at a crossbow bolt lodged into his side and gasped “We can’t get up there, he’s too good!”
“She’s also been given some sort of divine power,” responded Max “not a good thing in one so young.”
“Really?!” snarled Gwaeryn, “I hadn’t noticed.”
“Enough!” barked Sol as he frantically looked around for the big fighter. “Ah there he is by the river, let’s grab him and regroup at the inn.”
Gwaeryn picked up the head of the zombie they’d hacked of earlier, “Yeah and this time they’re going to provide some answers.”


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## Son_of_Thunder (Apr 16, 2007)

*Hurray!*

Thanks for the update. You write very entertainingly.


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## BLACKDIRGE (Apr 17, 2007)

Excellent stuff, Karianna.

You have a nice narrative style, and I really like the dialogue between characters. 

Keep em' coming.

BD


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## karianna (Apr 17, 2007)

*Thanks!*



			
				BLACKDIRGE said:
			
		

> Excellent stuff, Karianna.
> 
> You have a nice narrative style, and I really like the dialogue between characters.
> 
> ...




Wow, very kind of you to drop by and give words of encouragement, so thanks .  I look forward to seeing your books come out in print.  Maybe then my fiancee will understand why I was reading about Yuguloths


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## karianna (Apr 17, 2007)

Son_of_Thunder said:
			
		

> Thanks for the update. You write very entertainingly.



And thank you for your support and patience, I know it can get annoying, most of us constantly wait for BD's next demon or Gargoyle episode <looks meaningfully at BD >


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## Son_of_Thunder (Apr 24, 2007)

*I'm still here!*

just lettin ya know i'm still here!


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## karianna (Apr 25, 2007)

*No session*

There was no session last week hence the lack of update, should be one coming up this Thursday/Friday though


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## thegingerninja (May 3, 2007)

Enjoying it so far!  Subscribing...


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## Son_of_Thunder (May 4, 2007)

*Wherefore art thou update?*

Karianna,

Still here.


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## karianna (May 4, 2007)

*It's coming!!*

Unfortunately there's been a lack of playing due to the group being spread halfway across the globe, but I do have an update ready and you'll see it tomorrow


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## karianna (May 7, 2007)

Hi all,

Major apologies for the lack of regular updates, a large gap in our gaming sessions and some OOS/RSI problems had forced a bit of a slowdown.  As I'm trying to nurse my arms a little, this is a pretty short post, but that hopefully means I'll post other parts to this session in the next couple of days .


----------------

Gwaeryn stormed in through the back entrance of the inn and grabbed the nearest villager by the throat, slamming him roughly against the wall.

“Where the %^$* is Galron, peasant!”
“Over here soldier, please put him down!”

Gwaeryn released the man and marched over to where Galron was sitting, glaring savagely at the rest of the villagers on the way.  He kicked a stray stool out of his way and forcibly smashed the severed head of the zombie down on the table in front of the head farmer. Galron lurched back in horror and more than one scream could be heard from a group of villages huddled in the far corner.

Gwaeryn leant over and snarled “You’d better talk, NOW!”

At this point the rest of the scouts had come in through the back entrance and coolly eyed the rest of the cowering villagers.  Seeing Gwaeryn in full ranting and raving mode, Thoven leaned over to Sol.

“Do you think it’s best to let Gwaer handle this?  He seems a little…. upset.”
Sol shrugged “As long as he doesn’t start butchering them, I’m inclined to agree with his approach.  We need answers and I’m certainly not in the mood for diplomacy.”
The big man gave a sigh and started over to the table. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t kill any of them then.”

While Max and Sol kept a careful eye on the villagers, Gwaeryn continued his verbal assault on the head farmer with Thoven standing impassively beside him.  The clearly frightened man farmer started to speak in halting sentences.

“We tried to warn you away, she said she’d kill the children if we tried to interfere!  She came back from those ruins changed, possessed I tell you!  She killed several of us with some dark power and then turned those poor souls into those foul creatures!  She has the children!  Did you manage to stop her?  Do you know where the children are?”  Galron finally let his gaze rise hopefully towards Thoven, avoiding any eye contact with the still visibly irate Skirmisher.

“Bah!” spat Gwaeryn, shoving his face scant inches away from the farmer, “You should have told us from the start you sniveling fool!  And no, the little b*&^h isn’t dead but I’m sure she’s planning on making the rest of you go to an early grave!”  He promptly threw his hands up in disgust and stormed off past Sol and Max. “I’ll keep an eye out on that cursed Mill, Sol, you can sort these idiots out.”

“Thanks” Sol responded dryly, he turned to Max “I’m guessing we need to stay the night in order for you to recuperate your powers yeah?  Max nodded back at him, his face still unnaturally pale from the poison that had afflicted him earlier.  Sol noted that Klaxo was still winding around the druids legs, alternatively making mewling noises followed by deep angry growls.

“Oh and don’t let Klaxo and Gwaeryn near each other, they’re liable to burn the whole village down.”
Max managed to give a wane smile in response, “Klax will be OK soon; he’s just in a state of shock, poor little guy.  Not so sure about Gwaeryn tough, a near death experience can send a man over the edge.”
“Poor little guy my b&^%ks” muttered Sol as he strode towards the table where Thoven was still standing over a now sullen looking head man.

“So then Galron, here’s what we’re going to do.  My men are clearly injured and we need to hole up in here until dawn breaks and the Druid over there can apply some of his healing arts.  Get everyone and I do mean everyone into this building with whatever supplies they need for the night as soon as possible.”

Galron simply nodded in acquiescence and rose from the table, “We’ll do as you say soldier, but will you try to save the children, I don’t doubt that Polly will slaughter them as soon as she can!”
“We’ll see in the morning headman, if we survive the night that is.”  Sol turned to the big fighter. “Usual sit tight drill eh Thov?”
The big man smiled back at him “Careful there Sol, you’re starting to act more like the Sarge each day, you might get promoted or something.”
Sol visibly shuddered, “End up dealing with crap like this every day?  No thanks my friend, no thanks....”


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## Son_of_Thunder (May 8, 2007)

Thanks Karianna. It was good.


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## Murasame (Aug 15, 2007)

*Update? 0_0*

Pweaaase???      lol


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## karianna (Aug 15, 2007)

*Apologies all*

Hi all,

Unfortunately my gaming group fell apart and won't be joining back up again for quite some time, so there's no more story to be told .  I did try to find this thread to inform everyone but could no longer find it on the boards (it fell of the first two pages and I could no longer access it?)!

I've considered trying to wing the story on from here, but to be blunt I simply don't have the talent (I relied on the session events to weave a story).

Thanks all for your kind support!  I hope to return some day with the tales of a new adventuring group


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## karianna (Jan 14, 2015)

Hi all,

For any lurkers on this thread - I've hauled the beginnings of this tale and am throwing it into a Google doc where I'll be attempting to turn it into something that is a little more polished (I'm signing up to a writing group.).  If you'd like to follow along, then please PM and I'll get you added.


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