... almost like being there ...
Our band continues to be...
Kalik, halfling initiate of Avoreen;
Vesper, (NPC) human fighter, henchman of Kalik;
Milik, halfling sorcerer;
Kendradell, female half-elf bard & initiate of Lydia <absent
this week>;
Marcus, half-elf acolyte of Hieroneous;
Tarqualan, high elf mystic;
Nubo, gnome thief-psionicist <absent this week>;
Piotr, suloise human mercenary;
and finally (reintroducing);
Talon Bloodfist, dwur initiate of Clangeddin.
[26th of Coldeven, 589]
After spending much time debating their next move, eventually the group decided to brazen it out and visit the town, hoping to blend in with the large number of mercenaries already inhabiting the town before them. Piotr hastily manufactured a set of armbands for the group (having started life as a tailor's son) so that they would at least look a little more like mercenaries, and less like a circus troupe...
Once in the town proper, they spent most of their time dodging bar brawls and trying to eavesdrop on various conversations. By this method they learned that the assembled forces were expecting to leave town in about a week's time, but that it was still unknown to most whether their destination lay in the Shield or Bandit lands. Given that the possibility existed that the Shield Lands might be the target, Marcus urged that they return to warn the knighthood, and most of the rest of the group concurred.
Once back in Critwall (again), Marcus passed on what he had learned
to his superiors in the knighthood, and learned that this only confirmed
the work of others. He did learn, however, that a similar army was gathering
near the tip of the Riftcrag in the Bandit Kingdoms, under the Silver Sword
on a Black field banner they'd seen before. It was expected that the two
armies would clash somewhere east of the Ritensa in the Bandit lands, somewhere
along the northern border of the Shield Lands.
While the knighthood planned to beef up patrols in the region, no overt
military action was planned. Of the two (soon-to-be) depopulated keeps
the group knew about, Elias' Vasten Fortress was deemed the easier of the
two to breech. To make themselves somewhat less conspicuous, they boarded
Kendradell's cat in the city and left it behind.
Communication with Nikolai (who had since returned to their keep in Perrenland) confirmed that there was soon to be a great battle in which Elias would take part, that the gems he held were somewhere in his fortress, and that Mirella had spent the past month in an arboreal city, communing with a group of grugach (!) and waiting for a sign of some sort... Nikolai also announced his engagement to the Countess Dianetta, and while his friends were all invited to the wedding, it seemed unlikely that they would be able to pull themselves free of their current problems in time to make the journey...
After finding yet a third means across the border into the Horned Lands, and taking a route circuitous enough to avoid meeting up with the army on the march, the group finally returned to the now mostly-deserted town of Vasten. While trying to decide on their next course of action, Nubo suggested that perhaps even small as it was, the town might support a guild of 'nightcrawlers' that might know of a means into the fortress.
After paying a hefty sum for the information, the party entered the catacombs beneath the town and made their way through the sewage discharge from the keep into the dungeons beneath. After slaughtering the guards and sneaking through one dormitory full of sleeping soldiers, they found their passage blocked by a pair of guards too distant for surprise or melee to defeat; Tarqualan, however, could reach them with his spells, and he dominated both and ordered them to both ignore the group and to return to their beds, to sleep the rest of the night away...
As they reached the top of the stairwell the guards had blocked, they caught sight of a distinctly non-human head through the window of the door at the top of the stairs; Milik's knowledge of such things was only great enough to identify it as some type of devil. Using his magic again, Tarqualan successfully banished the beast, but this unfortunately caught the notice of it's fellow devil and his two human companions. A brief melee ensued as Marcus, Talon, and Piotr made short work of the remaining trio, but it was increasingly unlikely that their latest battle had gone unheard....
[4th of Planting, 579]