Conquering the Barbarian Altanis: Session 151
Adventurers
| Character | Race | Class | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heran Marod | Human | Cleric level 4 | Bearded, aging man with shaved head. Follower of Umannah, the Sun God, The Radiant Death. |
| Belegar Grimlisnev | Dwarf | Fighter level 3 / thief level 3 | 4’6”, 150 lbs; white hair; bronze eyes; pale blue skin tone; very hairy. Observant, dependable. |
| Dalkanarion | Human | Fighter level 6 | A youthful specimen in full strength, full of purpose, bluster, and eagerness to prove himself. |
| Tikatu | Human | Druid level 3 | A dirty little ma with dark and dirty skin, wearing loincloth with no back. “What will be, will be” is his favourite aphorism. |
| Amari | Human | Ranger level 1 | Black hair that shines blue. Scarred like a gladiator. |
| Tobias Lindflags | Hobbit | Thief level 3 | A sixth-born son standing to gain nothing from inheritance, so he set out to make his own fortune in the world. |
| Somniel | Elf | fighter level 1 / Magic-User level 1 | An elf of ambivalent age suffering from mild amnesia. |
| Ambros | Human | Cleric level 6 | Follower of Aniu, Lord of Time. |
| Ignaeus | Elf | fighter level 5 / Magic-User level 4 | A slightly weathered looking elf with dull blonde hair and chiseled features. Seeks wealth and knowledge. |
| Heinrik | Human | Magic-User level 1 | Muscular mage with short blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. |
| Mepheus of Hephaestus | Human | Cleric level 1 | Miniature Dalkanarion with curly black hair, close-cropped beard, dark eyes and even darker hairs. |
| Seren | Human | Ranger level 2 | Beardless and blinkless ranger. |
Longrass 18th, Earthday
Dalkanarion, Heran Marod, and Belegar Grimlisnev packed their belongings. Having retrieved as much treasure as they could from the Windowless Tower, the adventuring company of over twenty members disbanded. Aforementioned trio gave up their treasure shares in return for keeping the mystical Egg of Desire.
“We should head straight to the Cedarwade Keep” Heran and Dalkanarion reasoned. Thus, they decided to follow along the Ghinarian Hills along the southern side. This would take them straight through the Altanian hunting grounds. At the same time, it would allow them to reach their destination three times as fast compared to traveling all the way around.
Adventurers judged this to be the risk worth taking.
Longrass 19th, Fireday
“Watch!” Belegar pointed at a slow moving mass of men several hundred yards away from the party. Adventurers hid in the scrub and bushes, and observed patiently.
It soon became apparent that the man had unnatural gait. They looked more like they were dragging themselves along than walking normally. Amongst them were four men on horseback. Two were dresses in dark black robes, while other two had grimy dark cloaks thrown over chain shirts.
Foul band marched towards south east, same direction the party had arrived from. Adventures hid and waited until they judged that the danger has moved far away. Then they proceeded onwards, until nightfall.
Adventures made a cold camp. The summer was merely two days away, and the sky was clear. Grass was fresh, vibrant, and soft. Dalkanarion, Belegar, and his two retainers Vragni and Sindri, laid down to sleep. Heran Marod took the first watch.
“YAAAA!”
“AAAAGH!”
“RRRRAGH!”
Roaring and yelling woke everybody up. A dozen Altanian barbarians had overran the adventures in a blink of an eye. Heran cast Light to see the opposition better. Vragni was brutally hacked to death. Belegar took several powerful blows and was brought down, bleeding profusely.
Dalkanarion bellowed, drawing attention to himself. He was surrounded and beaten up without any mercy whatsoever. The mighty myrmidon had slain only a single barbarian before succumbing to their relentless assault.
Heran tried to flee by untying the horses. Alas, horses broke off in total panic and galloped off into the darkness. He was promptly beaten up by two Altanians. Sindri fled for his life, sprinting away from the hills.
Longrass 20th, Spiritday
Ambros turned around in his bedroll. He rolled left and right, sweating profusely. He had a dream most disturbing. He saw bloodied Dalkanarion and Heran Marod dragged into the hills and then into some dark hole. Naked and bloodied, they were sacrificed to the Bull God. Ambros felt powerful presence of Chaos, so powerful his whole body convulsed, waking him up.
Illustration by MLord.
Without any delay he gathered all the adventurers currently in the smoldering ruins of Hara. These were Tikatu the pygmy druid, Amari the Amazon ranger, Tobias the robber, Somniel the elf, Ignaeus the elven hero, Heinrik the muscle mage, Mepheus of Hephaestus, and Seren the watchful ranger.
Ambros quickly shared his disturbing dream. Adventurers agreed that it was most likely a premonition or vision. The Patriarch General and Justice Supreme of Kingdom of Hara was adamant that Dalkanarion must be saved. He was too valuable, both for adventurers, but also for the Kingdom of Hara.
“Uh, we think you should go speak to the Queen. Isn't she an Altanian?”
“Yes, I shall do so.”
Ambros returned several hours later, joined by Decarili, the Captain of Queen's Guard. He learned that Altanians in his dreams were of the Bull God tribe, same tribe the Queen hails from. She gave Ambros a small pouch, asking him to deliver it to the Matriarchs of the tribe for her. Decarili will serve as the guide. Bull God tribe used to roam the Ghinarian Hills, but in recent years they seems to have taken a liking for caves and deep, dark places.
“Patriarch General! The castellan asks for your immediate presence at the citadel!”
A filthy, flea-infested man stood before Ambros and Marlon.
“I bring a message from the Grand Wizard Klekess Racoba!” he spat as he spoke, showing his rotten teeth “He demands surrender of the city or we will take it by force!”
Ambros turned to Marlon “You are responsible for the defenses. I trust you to take care of it.”
“Yes, High Priest.” Marlon's response was as swift as his sword beheading the messenger.
Ambros and adventurers packed up and left in hurry. They decided to follow the trail to Midway, ford the river, then follow the trail towards Ahyf, but take the right turn at the junction, so called Pilgrims' Pathway.
That was the plan.
Warmshade 1st, Airday
”...” Amari signaled to Seren to watch ahead. Large wooden box was propped up by an unstable branch wedged between two stones. Beyond it were several boulders right next to the overgrown trail they were following. Three ogre heads were peeking above the boulders, looking at the rangers hopefully.
Ignoring the traps, adventures began peppering the ogres with arrows and sling stones. Ignaeus released an arrow, hitting the left eye of one ogre. His second arrow landed true too, hitting the right eye of the same ogre. The beast fell down.
Other two ogres closed in. Seren took the brunt of the attack, while Tikatu and Tobias attacked from the sides. But it was Muscle Mage Heinrik who did true damage to it with his trust staff. “Why spend magic when you can spend sweat?” He smashed ogre's head wide open like a watermelon.
Other ogre nearly killed Somniel. Ignaeus and Mepheus of Hephaestus made a short work of the monster, hacking and bashing it to death.
“Hey, how about we check their lair? We have been here months ago. Dalkanarion and crew can wait few more hours...”
Ignaeus led the party to the ogres' lair. Investigating it resulted with the party finding 769 silver pieces, 1279 gold pieces, one pearl, one platinum pin with opal, and a necklace of electrum beads on a heavy thread. They also found owlbear droppings, left some of their own, and promptly fled the lair.
Warmshade 2nd, Waterday
“Pilgrims' Pathway” sun bleached wooden plank read. It was evening. Somniel was barely keeping up with the party, slowing them all down. Ahyf was seven leagues away. Windgod Temple some fifteen leagues up hill. A tribes' lair was who knows where.
Will adventurers escort Somniel to safety? Or leave him to fend on his own? Will they rush to the peak of Ghinarian Hills? Or take some other route? Every day is precious, and every day represents an irreversible decision...
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