Finding Branod (Session 3) - Erntenir 23, 888 F.S.

In the Woods near Gaddor’s House
When Gaddor wakes up, the party questions him and finds out that he was hired by House Vollis to kidnap Branod. It becomes somewhat apparent that Gaddor is simply a mercenary. Gaddor offers information on the whereabouts of Branod if the party agrees to let him go. Estenel offers Gaddor’s release, predicated on two conditions: that he freely give the location of Branod and how he is being guarded, and to agree to forfeit seeking vengeance upon the party. Violations of these conditions will result in the party approaching House Vollis and informing them that the party was informed by Gaddor himself that he had been hired by House Vollis to kidnap Branod. Gaddor agrees to these terms.

At Gaddor’s House
Gaddor takes us back to his house. We enter into the house, through a secret entrance in a hallway, and back to a room with a cell. Branod is there. We stock up on provisions in Gaddor’s kitchen, then head out of his house.

In Blackstone
We return to Blackstone and meet with Esken. He is grateful. However, we have no hard evidence of a link between Branod’s kidnapping and House Vollis. Branod offers 5000 copper for hard evidence between House Vollis and the kidnapping of Branod. We decide (with not-so-subtle hinting by Branod) to pursue Gaddor’s half-orc lackey (Brunnel).

In the Woods near Gaddor’s House
We head back to the battle site and pick up Brunnel’s trail. We follow it east until it comes to a spent campfire. Continuing on his trail, it heads down into a dead-end-ish valley. Flick starts looking around for a cave entrance. He spots a group of bushes that could possibly hide a cave entrance. After turning invisible and flying over to the group of bushes, Flick spots a door built into the hillside and hears voices beyond the door.

Secret Hideaway: East of Gaddor’s House
We all approach the door. Estenel casts Gift of Tongues and understands the people beyond the door. They appear to be caught up in some sort of table game. Flick opens the door, which lets light into the once-dark inner room. Being invisible, he heads into the room. One of the people inside yells “Go alert Cabra!”. We light a torch and head into the entry room before they are able to run off and get reinforcements.

Sophia enters the room and gets stuck by two arrows. Yukon enters the room with a lit torch. One of the doors in the room opens up and a large wolf enters the fray. There are three goblins in the room. After a couple seconds, Yukon notices two hobgoblins entering the room as well.

The fight continues. In the end, the party wins. Yukon is bleeding badly. Estenel is unconscious. We are about ready to haul our wounded back outside when one of the doors opens up in the entry room. Into the room comes a goblin and a half-orc. More combat ensues. Yukon passes out while buffing Sophia. How noble.

In the end, the only entity of the goblin faction that is still standing is the half-orc. He tries to run out of the room, to the outdoors. Flick and Sophia give chase. The half-orc drops his shield in order to beat feet faster. Flick is still flying, catches him, and drops the half-orc.

We take an accounting of the dead foes. The half-orc that we killed inside the entry room is Brunnel (Gaddor’s butler). We rest in the entry room until everyone is conscious. Sacking the place, we find a chest in the corner of the room. Flick tries to pick the lock and gets stabbed with a poison needle. Yukon neutralizes the poison.

Loot Gained:

Two of the shortswords carried by the hobgoblins are fine quality.

253 copper pieces, 41 silver pieces, 9 gold pieces, 3 gems: 8 cp, 8 cp, and 80 cp value

Fine quality clothing is in the barrels (religious vestments)

a small gold idol of an elf maiden (50 cp value)

some tapestries

370 cp

14 javelins

A note from Cabra to Degarn dated yesterday concerning making raids on local caravans.

10 Ways to Grill a Giant (Session 2.5)

The following exchange of information was done via e-mail in between gaming sessions. I've attempted to sort the messages in chronological order.

Yukon says:
When we question my former drinking buddy (read "Gaddor"), I want to know where the half orc is heading, was it him that cast the illusion, and if not then who. Where is the hostage, what is holding him, how many and what, specifically mages, and what they are likely to do with him out of the fight. Also does he have any connection or knowledge of the goblin stuff we were hearing about up north.
If he cooperates I say we take him to town and turn him over to the guards since we have lost the speed element anyway. If he doesnt, I say Sophia can remove whichever parts of his body she wants and I will heal him so he has to live that way.

Told him he werent no damn bumble.

GM says:
He has no idea where the 1/2 orc is heading. He has the hostage. If you let him go, he'll tell you where.

Sophia says:
Well for starters, who does he work for? What are the reasons for the raids and why did he kidnap Branod? What are we getting in trade for getting involved? Sophia gets dibs on his room! Good house to stay in!!!!!!!!!!

OOOOOOOOOO That's right! When we're done questioning him: off with his gaint head

Flick says:
Why did he take the hostage in the 1st place?

GM says:
Gaddor was paid by house Vollis.

Yukon says:
"Its time for Sophia to remove his manhood before we let him go. I'll patch him.
That grumpy ole dwarf I used to partner up wit sez that once a giant's lost his nuts, they cooperate."

{Mike cast compel truth on this guy, and then mind rape him. Or we will get diddly out of him}

Estenel says:
Have Sophia threaten to turn him into a barrow. While she’s doing that, Estenel will cast Compel Truth on him. If he refuses to talk (I’m guessing he’ll be concentrating on trying to *not* talk), Estenel will cast Mind-Reading on him as Sophia et. al. are badgering him for information on why he kidnapped Branod and where he is now being kept. These two pieces of information, I’m guessing would be at the forefront of his thoughts.

Sophia says:
if oger (I think he means "giant") has him, then why? How many people is the 1/2 orc going to bring back? When they can't find their missing guy ("missing guy" = Branod, I think) because we've got him, what are they going to do? Whose plan was it to take him (main leader guy)? (okay... he definitely means "Branod") How much is the ransom (I need some cash HA HA! )? Each answer I do not like, he loses a finger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (insert evil laughter here)

GM says:
1. Because he was paid to.
2. Has no idea where the 1/2 orc is going.
3. House Vollis.
4. He was paid to take him prisoner, not ransom him.

Sophia says:
If Branod is a prisoner, how long was Gaddor going to keep him and what was he going to do with him? After all, Gaddor can't keep Branod forever. If Gaddor is being paid for this gig, would he, for the right money, jump to the other side?

Estenel says:
Sounds to me like this giant is a mercenary. I don’t think he’s on anyone’s “side” except his own… it just so happens that House Vollis was his most recent paying gig.

Last question as far as I’m concerned: where is Branod being held now and how is he being guarded?

GM says:
If he tells you, will you let him go?

Sophia says:
How many people are guarding Branod, and where? But I still get his king size bed... I mean, giant sized bed. I think we should hold up in his house and send a rider back to town and bring brother (whose brother?) and whatever help he can bring.

Estenel says:
Yes, I will tell Gaddor that if he tells us where Branod is being held and who/what is guarding him, then we will let him go. And, I will tell Gaddor that House Vollis will not learn of this exchange by any of our means, provided we all go our separate ways. Estenel will tell Gaddor if we so much as get wind that he is seeking revenge on us, we will go to House Vollis and tell them of what we have learned here.

Estenel's internal monologue: The way I see it, Gaddor is just a merc. He is most likely really horked off that we eliminated this job for him. But, I'm going to bank that he is more afraid of the prospect of one of his more powerful employers (House Vollis) finding out that their anonymity has been compromised.

GM says:
He agrees to those conditions.

The Goblin King (Session 2) - Erntenir 20, 888 F.S.

Background: Lord Futenmoth has sent us up to Hronn to investigate why the winters have been so cold lately. He has reason to believe that it has something to do with some active volcanoes on the island of Hronn.

Port City of Schnorking
After putting down the mutiny, Captain Pepper agrees to take us where we want to go. We arrive in the port city of Schnorking on the Island of Hronn. We take a couple days to recover from sea sickness. We are here to investigate why it is that it’s been so cold lately. Thoughts are that it has something to do with volcanic activity in the area.

Estenel gets an appointment with the Mayor of Schnorking to discuss any volcanic activity in the area that may have to do with the cold weather experienced lately. The mayor is a hobgoblin. He would like Futenmoth to send troops to help squash organized raids on his borders.

Their heraldry is a gold snowflake imposed on white and blue, so apparently they are organized. The raiders are a mix of human and wolfens. They have mages among them. Thy are led by someone called The Horned King.

The mayor (Ybilaron the Hobgoblin) gives us a writ to take to Storzem, a local horse trader, to give us the best prices possible as we look to get some horses for land transportation.

Sophia buys a map of the Island of Hronn. We go to a higher class part of town and come to a large manor house with a stone wall and an iron gate. We ring the front bell. After a few minutes, the butler comes to the gate; it’s an ogre. He says we can wait for Storzem to return in the afternoon. We wait in the guardhouse. There’s another ogre there. After an hour, a litter arrives. A dwarf gets out of the litter; it’s Storzem. He’s willing to sell us horses for 1200 copper apiece. We decide against horses and decide to walk to Blackston on foot and figure out faster transportation later.

Town of Blackston
Two days later, we arrive in Blackston. We talk to Marlot, a half-elf that is a mercenary in Blackston. He is not concerned about the raids, as Blackston is well-defended and the raids are not bothering them. Blackston has been hired by caravans to provide guards.

In general, Blackston doesn’t seem to be concerned by these raids; the noble here hasn’t seen anything significant in size... nothing he’d considered a standing army.

Marlot has heard of the noble’s son (Branod is his name) that was taken (or killed) by raids between Schnorking and Blackston. He says we should talk with Esken who is the brother of the noble who lost his son. He is staying at the Bear Claw. There is a half-orc behind the bar. Estenel tells him why we’re looking for Esken. He brings Esken to meet us.

Valenta is a competing house in Schnorking. They betrayed Branod’s caravan, giving the raiders information on when and where the caravan would be. One of Esken’s guards was with the caravan when it was attacked. He saw Branod taken alive by goblins who were led by a strong human. Esken, however, has the word of a guard against the honor of a well-respected house in Schnorking. Branod was taken about a week ago.

Sorzem is the most powerful house in Schnorking. Valenta and Colnet (Esken’s house) are neck-and-neck with being #2, and Valenta would like to see the house of Colnet fall to a distant third.

In the Wild, east of Blackston
The guard (who has a broken ankle) directs us to the scene where Branod was kidnapped. Sophia begins tracking to see if he can find evidence of where the perpetrators might have gone. Yukon scribbles runes on the ground, trying to divine the location of Branod. Sophia finds tracks of the attacking party; it took off to the north. We follow Sophia’s lead. After half an hour, we notice some smoke coming from the forest.

Flick hushes himself and sneaks up toward the smoke. He finds a house built into a hillside. There are no windows in the house, and smoke is coming out of the chimney. We take up positions around the house; Estenel creates the sound of horses out front. The owner of the house comes out. He’s a big human. We talk with him, introduce ourselves, tell him our story of why we’re here, and end up getting invited inside. His name is Gaddor. He has dealt with goblins in the area from time to time. He turns out to be an excellent host.

Gaddor’s House
Gaddor’s house is richly decorated, based around a large table. Brunnel, a half-orc, is his attendant. Gaddor says he used to have guests more frequently when the mines in the area (copper and silver) were running more strongly. Gaddor gets ripped and offers to come along with us to kill some goblins. The night wears on, we drink until we’re silly. Estenel entertains our host and then passes out.
We go to sleep. Yukon and Flick sleep in. Estenel and Sophia get up and start looking around the house. We find Gaddor in the main hall, with breakfast on the table. We eat breakfast, then head out in search of goblins.

In the Woods near Gaddor’s House
We get to an area in the woods and Gaddor stops, saying that Brunnel told him the goblins would be here. It seems... odd. Sophia doesn’t trust Gaddor and tells him to get to his knees. Gaddor refuses. Sophia takes a swing at him. Gaddor says, “You are going to pay for that. FIRE!!!” Arrow fire then comes down upon us from the bushes. We enter combat with Gaddor and his ambush. It is then, well after the fact, that a light in Estenel’s head comes on, recalling that the story was that Branod was taken captive by a group of goblins who were led by a large, strong human. hmmm...

Gaddor guts Sophia in one swing. The goblins close in on us. In the end, we knock Gaddor unconscious and fell several goblins. The remaining goblins and Brunnel run for the house. After a couple minutes of being unconscious, Gaddor grows to 20 feet in height and has the musculature of a giant. We tie him down to the ground and prepare to question him once he wakes up.