After leaving the group of Orcs, the party begins to make their way east towards Korloth. While their travel through the forest was mostly uneventful, a hulking creature seemed to be following them (or at least traveling in the same direction). Thankfully the group was able to keep their distance and did not have to confront the creature.
As they exited the forest, and continued their travel along a well worn dirt road, they came upon a group of four men in armor searching through a wagon, while two people lay on the ground. The group claimed that they were simply exorcising their right to claim a tax for the use of the road. Tiyeri was very suspicious, and the conversation quickly lead to a prolonged fight. The fight lasted longer then either side probably would have expected, if only because for a time it seemed like no one could land a solid blow. Finally, with a bit of luck and Barwell’s anger, the group was able to dispatch the four men. They quickly helped up the couple, who checked their things, and set about on the road through the forest, undisturbed at the prospect of meeting an owlbear. In addition to finding a number of coins upon the bandits, they also located four semi-precious stones, a Dark Grey Stone, a Milky Pink Crystal, a chunk of Amber, and a cut Green-Yellow Stone.
With this detour completed, the group quickly found themselves at the gates of Korloth. Barwell noticed that for a major trading hub it was very strange that no one was waiting to get in. A conversation with the guards quickly reveals that there were some gruesome murders that locked down the city. When the party mentioned that they were looking for a group of Orcs, the guards immediately sent for more guards to escort them to the Captain. After peace bonding their weapons the guards escorted the party to the barracks, where they met an older guard with elaborate armor, Gregor, the captain Jon Lukas, and a man who spoke many languages with blue hair named Arlain. During their discussion they learned that the orcs (and one of the elves) had been killed, their eyes removed, their possessions taken, and their innards placed into rune-like shapes.
Realizing that the sword was now gone, the party agreed to help in hopes that they would located this missing family heirloom in the process of the investigation.
Comments
9/6/12
The elves have proven more helpful than I first thought. With their help, we have secured a token from an Orc female that should help in the retrieval of the sword. As we were walking through the forest however, Jako heard a strange noise that Barwell and I were able to kind of narrow down that it might be an owlbear. Our trek was uneventful and while on watch I thought we might have had an altercation. Luckily, it was just a rabbit. If I wasn’t so jumpy because of the owlbear, I would have smelled it from far away and might have been able to shoot it for the pot. Fortunately, the others were asleep. They would not let me live that down.
9/7/12
Sleep was normal; however Barwell informed us that he might have seen the owlbear that we heard earlier. I could practically smell the anticipation to fight it on him; yet he acted as if it were not the case. We made our way out of the forest and came upon a road and decided to follow it. Jako and Barwell both swore that they could see the city from there. We still had about a day and a half trek; I think they were just joshing me. A little ways down the road Jako and Barwell noticed a group of people and as we got closer we noticed there were a couple people on the ground. I could tell right away that the men standing were highwaymen but they tried to act as if they had authority. After going back and forth we engaged them and after a tough launch, we managed to down one before the leader decided to turn tail and run, this of course after he saw one of his fellow bandits get half his face chewed off by Barwell. Ahh… is it bad that his rage is what drew me to him? So fierce! If only he had been born Catfolk… where was I? Oh yes, Jako and Barwell manage to dispatch the remaining 2 underlings with relative ease as the leader is making considerable headway on his escape. At the last possible second, I unleash a massive sleep spell and manage to knock him unconscious. While the boys dispatched the final member I healed the couple that was hurt. We gave them 10 gold that we found and wished them well. Before leaving, the man decided to share a little secret as he throws a trout in Jako’s face! The look of disappointment on Barwell’s face was also a classic.