Chase Through the Lightwood (5th of Bloom, Rose: 47)

Reeling from the midnight attack by a half-ogre hunting party, the adventuring group moved immediately to deal with their casualties.

Ma'yah rushed to where her small companion - the pseudo dragon named Dru - had been struck down by the wicked ax of a half-ogre. Its body was tiny, frail, bloodied, broken, and devoid of life. Well, nearly all life. Siegride, Cleric of Isthmeira, reached out and sensed a spark of life still within the little creature, and she urged Isthmeira to heal the wounded dragon. Infused with divine energy, Dru's eyes slowly opened, looked into the face of Ma'yah, and a small spark of its consciousness entered Ma'yah's mind telepathically to feebly ask - "God?" - before it passed out.

Meanwhile, Siegride had more bacon to fry. The three NPC's that the party had been escorting through the woods were fodder for the half-ogres, and she healed them back to health as well. Nakin, the 11 year old son, survived the attack and had just witnessed his family get mowed down in some serious carnage; terrible memories that will formatively influence his entire life. Nakid was elated to see his mother, Larissa, brought back to consciousness (perhaps not so much her two other male companions) yet he was very happy to see his mother. He insisted to his mother that they had died in the attack and that Sister Siegride had brought them all back from their journey of death (as he saw this first-hand), but the boy's anxiety was summarily dismissed by his mother's insistence that she just blacked out.

The party didn't have much time. Elan the Ranger was convinced that the forest was occupied - that there were other hunting parties - and that they needed to vacate their camp immediately. Their position would be revealed from the horn that was blown during the attack, their light sources, and the abundance of scents in this area. They needed to flee into the wilderness immediately! Larissa told Elan that she and her family had been hiding out in a cave no more than three miles from here, and it was decided that the party should go there. Pulling all of their gear together and still mostly unarmored, the party rushed to gather up their equipment and gear and head out scrambling into the night.

DM's Note: I evoked Chase Rules during this scene (DMG 252) which put restrictions on the PC's for using a Dash action without incurring Exhaustion Points; a random process for interruptions and obstacles found during the chase; and setup a process for the party to evade their pursuers in the wilderness. Light conditions were "darkness/heavily obscured" forcing the human members of the party to 1/2 their movement rates unless they had a source of illumination which would also reveal their position. With the Ranger in the lead and this being Elan's favored terrain, their usual 1/2 movement rate was increased to full, and there were no bad weather conditions. They cleverly produced a hooded lantern to create a focused light source to aid in their run, and I had created a moving landscape for the chase with dungeon (woodland) tiles. The characters encountered obstacles on the terrain that also slowed their movement, and cold, wet, swampy regions to help evade their scent. Overall I thought that the process was tedious and the Chase Complications Table on DMG 254 was completely intolerable by the 3rd round (the party was consistently being attacked by random woodland creatures) and I abandoned using it; should I consider a chase scene in the future, I think I'd create my own Complications Table. Meanwhile, four worgs were in hot pursuit of the party through the midnight forest and were in the lead of two half-ogre hunting parties who moved considerably slower and had less bonuses to their Perception rolls. In the chase, the worgs (intelligent creatures that gain Advantage on Perception checks like this and move at 50'/round) intermittently caught up with the party. There were skirmishes and the worgs were individually dispatched as they gained ground on the party. Eventually the party dispatched the last of four worgs and took up hiding places in the forest; the Chase Rules allow for hiding quarry a means of escaping their pursuers by rolling DEX (Stealth) checks at the end of the round. If the DEX check was higher than the Passive Perception of the pursuer (which in this case was true three rounds in), they escaped. The half-ogre hunting parties were unable to find the party in the darkness.

In the last adventure, Tolman had run off with the horn and was making noises with it to try and lead the potential hunting parties away from their position. In the darkness of the deep forest, Tolman was witness to the worgs racing past his position and towards the party's camp, and he heard the shouting grunting voices of the half-ogres trying to keep up with their worgs, but eventually, the earth began to shake with the pounding steps of an enormous bipedal creature. Into the night, he saw an enormous giant - some 15' in height - crushing his way through the forest behind the half-ogres, smashing trees and throwing obstacles out of his way. (A running giant actually moves at 40', faster than the half-ogres, so the giant was keeping pretty good time). Tolman hid and kept to the outskirts, making sure to keep a lot of forest between him and the giant until they passed. He sneaked off into the darkness to rendezvous with the party and dispatch the worgs.

Out of the chase, the party traveled another three miles to the cave Larissa had mentioned. It was by a riverside. The party regrouped, healed, and recuperated, sleeping through most of the morning. Tolman read another entry from his Diary of Correspondence from the enigmatic Twyst who'd taken refuge in the city of Shyn-Bhokerdown:

Twyst writes that there was a ship called Gentlemen’s Agreement moored in the harbor. It landed here from Sphant. Been there for just under a day before it set sail east. Interestingly, my sources tell me it was chartered from the Erenlands, and Aymes Parish no less. My sources even saw three half-people! Mariners! The quartermaster was seen showing an infinite level of compassion and took on women and men and children before leaving the harbor. What good folk, people from the Parishes.

During their watch in the morning, a wandering, lost traveler encountered their camp near the cave. It was a red-haired woman who was exposed to the elements and apparently hungry. In removing her cowl and exposing her face, Llewellyn the Bard immediately recognized her. It was Correllyn, Ward of House Brionne, the very woman who invited Llew to the Urbane Assembly in Rhackdalia- his Bardic College.

Correllyn revealed that she was traveling in the river to avoid the half-ogre hunting parties and got lost; she explained her desperate escape from the City of Rhackdalia; how it seemed that the citizens of Rhackdalia were being "smoked out" of the city rather than the opposing forces laying siege upon the Wall; that her House waited patiently for reinforcements from Floreth that never came, all the while three black ships bearing mercenaries harbored to escort the families of House M'lhan and M'horovia off the island, and they shuttered up their district of the city; that, in losing hope, she eventually fled the city although others that she knew stayed to help fight for it. House Orlante remains in Rhackdalia out of pride and honor; Matron Rhetta and Kater, Julliane, Nessy, Hildegard. Further, Elil of House Efrix-Finchey stayed to fight although most of her House fled (DM's Note: Elil is the NPC that joined the party on the Raid on Fenwater Abbey; Kater of House Orlante was Siegride's go-between for ferrying private messages to Matron Khandice House Hawthorne). Correllyn also suggests that the Urbane Assembly has been dismembered, its noble band scattered into the winds of war. She asks for the party's protection and escort to Shyn-Bhokerdown. The party agreed and they set off to the city.

It was just a full-days march to Shyn-Bhokerdown from the cave. They didn't encounter any hostiles, just a lot of refuge camps on the outskirts of the city. Lost people and their families were holed up in tents and make-shift sheltered; some were begging in the streets. Intermittently, women would approach the party for food, monies, prayers and healing from Sister Siegride (who they recognized as a cleric), assistance for their children; some also praised the Dwarves for heading the bonds of their ancestors and coming to save them from the giants again! (Which, of course, isn't happening, but it looks good on paper - the Dwarves were heavily revered and celebrated by many as they approached town). Compassionately, the party surrendered a few traveling gems to their escorted NPC's; in town, Larissa, her family, and Correllyn, Ward of House Brionne, thanked everyone and took their leave of the party.

I've prepared a map of Shyn-Bhokerdown.

As the party pressed further on into Shyn-Bhokerdown, the level of despair became even more apparent. Lines of people formed around the harbor who're unwilling to leave as not to lose their position to board a vessel off of the island; people were camping in line; masses were huddled along the walls of houses and commercial buildings; the place reeked of bad water and sewage problems. It was just then that a guardswoman named Saille approached the party and snapped to attention, crying: "Sister, it's imperative that you come with me at this moment!"

Siegride obliged and was lead to a mob of people who had gathered around a scene where the city's guard had captured a male and had him on the ground, kneeling, at spear point. The mob was crying for his execution; others were crying for mercy; some were just interested in the craziness. The guards were attempting to resolve a domestic dispute and demanded that Siegride play the role of Adjudicator in the absence of the Magistrate.

DM's Note: Clerics in Floreth (any denomination) can play both "judge and jury" either at the request of a Magistrate or in the absence of one. Based on their feelings surrounding a prisoner, their divine intuition, and investigation of the facts, Clerics can wield a life or death decision over prisoners held by the State. Siegride had encountered this before in her training from 3rd to 4th Level along the Wall in Rhackdalia.

The mob was going crazy. They pleaded for the Sister to Adjudicate and that it was her duty to do so. The guardwoman who had the male at spear point explained that this man was Jacob Nherby, a cattleman, and the property of a woman, Easther of House Easley, 2nd Daughter of Maureen (obviously from Rhackdalia City). Easther stood nearby and called for Jacob's death! Jacob was caught stealing the remaining possessions from this woman and her children - monies, food, necessities for survival, and a ceremonial weapon that belonged to House Easley. Stealing from a House is a criminal offense, but a man stealing a weapon is (historically) a capital offense (DM's Note: the players may remember that males sporting weapons is a relatively new cultural concept in Floreth, whereas that right was traditionally reserved for women).

When Siegride asked, Jacob Nherby was barely in a frame of mind to respond, but said that he was desperate - everyone, everywhere in this town is desperate - and he wanted to flee, get away, before things got really bad here. He did say he was sorry for taking the stuff but was just trying to survive.

When Siegride yielded her verdict of MERCY, half the crowd went in uproar and the woman Easther of House Easley had to be held back at spear-point by the guards to keep her from rushing Sister Siegride. Completely surprised at the verdict, Jacob Nherby groveled and left the scene, fleeing into the city. Meanwhile, pulling the guardswomen aside to speak with them, Tolman was able to learn one of them was the guard he was to bribe to get a key to a house outside of the city left for him by Twyst, and after a polite monetary exchange, Tolman was in possession of the key.

***

That's where the party left off.

Here's just a few more tidbits to prep for the next adventure.

The guardwoman Ghandia gave Tolman directions to the house. Leaving the main area of the city, the company made their way to a modest townhouse on the outskirts of Shyn-Bhokerdown, away from much of the commotion. It was a private residence, two-stories in height and narrow, three rooms, and a wash basin; like most of the city, its water supplies come from nearby wells in neighborhoods, and water was retrieved from those wells (and a number of refuges were mingling near the water well to retrieve water for their own families).

The townhouse has a fireplace and is warm, dry, and well-stocked; Twyst apparently left plenty of food and cookery stuffs. There's a bed in each bedroom and it would be the first time in Cycles that the party would have a safe, dry, comfortable place to sleep.

Twyst wasn't there. It couldn't have been unoccupied for very long. Tolman consulted his Diary of Correspondence and found another entry made during the 5th of Bloom while the party was traveling across the countryside:

In the interest of keeping up my ever-diminishing skillset, I practiced a bit of the art today. I fetched a number of interesting trinkets: a jeweled bracelet; a flute; a rusty butterknife - I thought of you, friend - and a chunk of coral carved into the head of a gull. Imagine that. Some loon sat there along the side of the dock and found a perfectly good chunk of coral then took the time to carve away the excess to expose its core essence: the head of a trash bird. Fuckers.

And ...

Things are dire here. Time to depart. I've secured passage to Sphant on a schooner called the Courageous. The quartermaster - she is the blackest of souls there ever was - but she listens to a bevy of coin. She's apparently a smuggler so we have something in common, and she keeps a few secret spaces in her holds. It's all I could manage. I boarded the boat this afternoon. It's cramped and smells like a latrine, but it's just a day or three to Sphant from Shyn-Bhokerdown. Anyway, fair travels, Friend.

The party rests in the evening of the 5th of Bloom, Rose: 47. And that's where we'll pick up next time.

R