RC: Jalpiar - The Hunt

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On any given day, the Commons Marketplace would be a very busy place, today was no different. In fact, it might be a little busier than normal. The sound of Lord Jorgen Von Arnim’s trumpet blast echoed through the market, causing all activity to come to an abrupt halt. The High Minister of the council rarely made an appearance in the Commons section of the city, but when he did the crowd paid attention. Taking up position on the central platform, Jorgen began to address the throng.

“My fellow citizens, as you may know, it is that time of year when my father goes off into the country side for his annual hunt. This year, he has chosen to persue the rumors of a bear that has killed several hunters in the small forest north east of the city. I am seeking a small band of mercenaries or would-be adventurers to accompany him on this hunt. He is getting old and I fear that this hunt will be too much for him. I offer 150 gold to anyone willing to take up this task for me. If you are interested, come and see me at the City Council building.”

 

After finishing the speech, Lord Jorgen returned to the Inner Keep where the governmental buildings were located and waited to see if anyone would show up. After waiting for a short period, he went outside to discover that a small crowd had gathered. After looking over the faces of the gathered adventurers, he explained that this job would be most assuredly boring and only those interested in an opportunity to “baby sit” an elderly hunter for some quick cash need to follow him into his private office. Five members of the gathered crowd entered; Thrimmel, Robidolian, Aust, Syanne, and Khaira.

Lord Jorgen introduced the five to his father who was sitting in a chair in the office, sulking about needing an escort. Upon seeing the two elven females, he did perk up and agreed to have the five accompany him to Chalsem Wood. He informed them that he would be at the east gate at dawn. After leaving the office, the five were met by Lord Jorgen who gave each half of the agreed upon fee for their services. Lord Jorgen also set up the five with rooms at an inn frequented by adventurers, the Purple Worm.

Dawn arrived to find Sir Harold Von Arnim waiting at the east gate for his five escorts. The gate guard had been given strict orders to not let Sir Harold out without his escort. Travel on the first day passed without much incident. There was one point when both Robidolian and Thrimmel thought they saw something, but upon investigation, there was nothing. Sir Harold explained that he knew of a hunting lodge located a short distance into the wood that they could use as a base of operation. It was situated in a small clearing, and had a well with fresh water. When they arrived, they decided to set up a watch through the night.

Robidolian took first watch and he had no more than got a fire started when an arrow whizzed by his ear and stuck into the door frame. He called to the others for support, and took up a defensive position. Thrimmel emerged from the lodge and the two moved toward the location where the arrow was fired from. Meanwhile, as the others were looking out windows toward the action, Sir Harold decided to slip out a rear window. He didn’t actually want to have an escort, and took this opportunity to leave. Aust decided to check up on the old gent, and discovered him gone, one of the rear facing windows opened. Syanne and Aust followed his tracks a short distance, but lost the trail when it left the clearing and entered the woods. Robidolian and Thrimmel found a crude lookout post a short distance into the woods near where the arrow came from. Thrimmel climbed up and surveyed the area. In the twilight, he could only make out the basic lay of the land. The wood was about 10 miles across with two other clearings. One was about 7 miles North-North-West containing a grouping of standing stones while the other was about 8 miles north east.

 

Thrimmel keeps his bow drawn, with an arrow ready to fly.

"I'd rather die looking for him, than be excecuted by the guard when we go back to New Jarla without him. We should get going, the sooner we find him, the better.

I certainly hope his son is paying double for having to actually hunt his father...

Robidolian, do you have any tracking ability? We could certainly use it right now."

Thrimmel begins to edge into the woods where the tracks leave the clearing, attempting to look for broken branches, crushed foliage or anything that would betray Sir Harold's path of flight.

"Well I can't see as well in the dark as the elves, but at least we have the full moon."

 

Looking curiously up at the moon Syanne addresses Thrimmel.

"Since you were the one who saw the approximate location of the clearing, maybe you should lead the way."

Syanne begins to enter the woods as well.

"I'll walk beside you to aid in your vision, if you don't mind. The sooner we find out what happened to our abscondered keep the better."

[ October 05, 2002, 00:30: Message edited by: Xenecor ]

 

Aust looks around abit, and mutters slightly to himself, "Good think I wasnt tired .."

He sets off after Syanne and Thrimmel, slowly, scanning the ground, watching to see if he can spot anything they miss.

 

Yes, I can track some...but if the old man doesn't want to be followed...remember, he may be sixty, but he's also and expert tracker. If he tries to cover his tracks, my feeble skills won't help much. I still don't understand why he left us while we were under attack. I also wonder why we couldn't find the one who left us the new "ornament" in the door.

 

During a search of the area around the cabin, an elven ranger approached them, emerging from her hidden location. Her name was Elstarius and she was searching for a missing person who was last known to be heading for this wood. Since the party was also searching the wood, she joined them, thinking that the two may be connected. After conducting the search of the area around the cabin, the party, having found Sir Harold’s footprints, followed his trail until they came upon a well-worn hunting trail. At this point, they lost Sir Harold’s trail. They moved north following the hunting path, thinking that Sir Harold might have gone off to track the bear himself. After traveling a few miles, having past another hunting trail, they came upon a small clearing. Located in the clearing was a small hillock containing the den of some creature. With the night wearing on and no sign of Sir Harold, the party turned back and returned to the cabin. During the night, Khaira noticed some creature moving in the trees to the south of the cabin, but, having no means to illuminate the area and determining that it was not making hostile advances, she merely informed Aust of the situation when the shifts changed.

In the morning, the party awoke to discover one of the horses missing, it was Sir Harold’s horse. Following the tracks left by the horse, the party moved back off in the direction of the standing stones that Thrimmel has seen before. After a short distance, the tracks were no longer noticeable, but the party continued to travel toward the clearing. Again, they came upon the small hillock, and this time when Khaira began to approach, the party was startled by a shriek emitted by two strange cat-like creatures that emerged from the den, The fur on their faces looked as though it had been peeled back to reveal the musculature beneath. This gruesome sight along with the shriek, caused Thrimmel, Elstarius, and Syanne to retreat back down the trail for a mile or so. Robidolian decided to also move back down the path to remain at a distance to use his bow, but soon found that he could not see the creatures from the trail. Khaira and Aust merely observed the creatures to see if they would attack.

Robidolian, having returned to where the trail met the small clearing, decided to move around the creatures to the west, traveling in the wood for concealment. Meanwhile, Thrimmel, Elstarius, and Syanne returned to the clearing and immediately attacked the two creatures. Syanne dropped one with a quick arrow shot, and the battle was on. Another creature emerged from the den during the initial attack, but the party proved to be too much for the creatures. During the final moments of the battle, Aust was mauled by one of the creatures, and knocked unconscious, but Robidolian quickly reacted, administering aid to him. Khaira entered the creatures den, and discovered a pouch hidden in the larder. It contained one gem worth about 100 gold, 2 platinum pieces, 13 gold pieces, and 25 silver pieces.

Each party member receives 200 experience.

After regrouping, the party continued on to the clearing with the standing stones. Once there, they found both bear and horse tracks. Robidolian followed the tracks to the northern edge of the clearing while Syanne checked out the formation of standing stones. Located in the center of the circle of stones was a low earthen mound. On one side of the mound, a cluster of shrubs partially hid a 4 foot long lizard-like creature that was green in color. Scattered in the dirt nearby she could see coins glittering in the mid-day sun. Not wanting to lose Sir Harold’s trail, the party decided to avoid any confrontation with the creature, and moved off to the north in pursuit of Sir Harold and the bear.

The tracks continued off to the north east, crossing the trail again. When the trail crossed a small creek, the horse tracks ended, but the bear tracks continued in two directions, north and east. While the party was pondering where to go next, Aust spotted a large spider coming out from the trees. He immediately called out to the others while casting a Ray of Frost, in his haste he missed. The spider’s attack was successful. Two more of the large arachnids also emerged from the trees, and the party was in a fight once again. The spiders proved to be more resilient to the parties attacks, but the party again proved to be more than a match for the spiders. One factor in the parties luck proved to be that the elves in the party were immune to the poison of the spiders as it merely caused paralysis. A search of the area led to the discovery of a camouflaged pit where the spiders stored paralyzed victims and the area where they disposed of used up bodies. Inside the pit, they discovered Sir Harold and his horse , neatly wrapped in spider silk. Aust, Elstarius, and Robidolian determined that one of the previous victims was the ranger that Elstarius was searching for. Syanne was able to neutralize the poison causing Sir Harold’s paralysis and did the same for his horse.

Each party member receives 300 experience.

After pulling the horse out of the pit and burying the remains of the ranger, the party decided to follow the creek south east. Sir Harold had explained that he was in the process of engaging the bear when he was attacked by the spiders, but he had managed to wound the bear. Unfortunately for him, his spear became lodged in the bear’s shoulder during the battle and he was unable to fight off the spiders succumbing to the poison. A short distance downstream, they came upon another game trail heading south south east. A small pool of blood with a trail of more leading along the path caused the party to follow the game trail. The trail connected to another one heading north/south, but the blood trail headed into the wood eastward. The party continued to follow the blood trail. After moving through the wood for another mile and a half, they again came upon the creek. They could see another trail leading off to the north just on the other side of the creek. Again following the trail, they moved north for a short distance when Robidolian stopped and fired an arrow into the wood.

The arrow struck the goblin he was aiming at, but did not kill it. The goblin called out in goblin and returned fire. This goblin ranger proved to be a tough opponent for the party, but succumbed to the onslaught of arrows fired by the party. The goblin ranger did manage to wound Robidolian severely with one of his arrows before falling. Robidolian, noticing that the goblin ranger used a superior bow, rushed toward where the goblin fell, and was assaulted by a shower of javelins thrown by the approaching goblin troop. He fell to the ground and the party rushed to the attack, killing the goblin troop in short order. Syanne managed to cast a healing spell on Robidolian just before the last hint of life left him. A search of the goblin bodies yielded 45 gold pieces, 20 javelins, 5 suits of studded leather armor (one a masterwork set), 4 morningstars, one masterwork short sword, one masterwork mighty composite shortbow +2, and a quiver of 19 arrows with special barbed tips.

Each party member receives 500 experience.

 

Elstarius examines the studded leather armors. Then she says, "Am I allowed to wear one, or is it one size too small?"

OoC: Wilderness Lore is +7 now.

[ October 11, 2002, 23:35: Message edited by: S Goddess ]

 

Khaira runs her fingers over the masterwork armor, careful not to drool. She lifts it up and askes, "Anyone mind if I take the masterwork studded leather?"

 

Since Goblins are small creatures, no-one in the party can wear any of the armor. The Masterwork Studded Leather will fetch a pretty penny if sold however.

 

"It's a shame it doesn't fit you, Khaira. I'm sure you'll be just as happy to sell it, won't you."

Syanne walks over towards Aust and hands him the longbow that Robidolian gave her.

"Maybe this will cure your incessant indecision in battle"

 

Robidolian pulls back on the shortbow he nearly paid for with his life! "Perfect pull. Perfect arc." He continues testing it. He pulls one of his arrows from his quiver and notices that it is too long. "Hey, Aust. You may as well take these, also. They won't fit a short bow." Robidolian eyes the barbed arrows that the goblin ranger had been using. "Anyone mind if I use these?"

 

After a brief respite, it was decided to continue on toward the clearing. When the clearing was in sight, Khaira moved off into the wood to scout the locale. In the clearing was a crude barricade formed into a rough circle composed of fallen trees. In the center she could see two goblins one tending a fire, and the other tending to the wounds of the bear. Even though everyone could use some rest, they formed a plan and decided to finish off the bear and its goblin cohorts. Sir Harold, Khaira, Syanne, and Thrimmel moved to the eastern edge of the clearing while Aust, Robidolian, and Elstarius waited a short time and them began to move up on the barricade. The latter would cause a distraction, attacking with bows, while the former would move up from the rear to engage in a melee assault, gaining surprise from the distraction.

As Aust, Robidolian, and Elstarius moved up, the goblin tending fire, noticed their movement, and began to fire arrows at them. They returned fire, but neither was having much success. The other goblin continued to tend to the bear. Once the two sides were engaged in missile fire, the other s began to move up toward the barricade and were able to reach it before being detected by the other goblin. After noticing the other group approaching from the east, the remaining goblin cast a spell on the bear and it began to awaken. All the while, Aust, Robidolian, and Elstarius continued to trade off missed shots with the other goblin.

Khaira led off the attack on the bear by missing with an arrow followed by Sir Harold scoring a critical hit with a javelin. Thrimmel was able to disrupt the casting of a spell by hitting the goblin caster with an arrow, while Syanne pelted the bear. At this point, Aust had moved off to the south, and Robidolian decided to charge the goblin that was pinning them down with arrows. His first attack missed, but forced the goblin to drop his bow and take up his sword. Meanwhile Sir Harold chose this moment to charge in on the bear. Even in its weakened state from Sir Harold’s earlier attacks near the creek, the bear was able to rear up and score two massive blows on Sir Harold, causing him to stagger back. Robidolian scored a massive hit to the head of the goblin archer, caving in its skull with his morningstar. The goblin caster then cast an Obscuring Mist spell, blanketing the area with a thick fog and reducing visibility to a mere 5 feet. With the reduced visibility, the others decided to move in and attack with their melee weapons. Syanne managed to thrust her Longsword through the throat of the bear, killing it instantly and Sir Harold scored another critical hit on the goblin caster, dropping her as well.

A search of the area and goblins produced a small trove of coins, gems, and equipment; 150 gp, 450 sp, 5 gems (bloodstones worth 50 gp), one long sword, one masterwork scimitar, one masterwork longbow, splint mail, hide armor, two large shields (one wooden, one steel), one quiver of arrows 20 remaining, two potions (one blur, one cure moderate wounds), one wand (similar to ones used by priests of Simberal), and two scroll cases (three scrolls total: one with two barkskin spells, one with one warp wood spell, and one with three flaming sphere spells.

Each party member receives 500 experience points.

 

"One bear and six goblins dead. Time to go home." Robidolian sighs with satisfaction. "If no one objects, I think I'll keep this steel shield." Robidolian winces as he remembers the near-dying blow he took from the goblin ranger. "I think I'm going to get some breastplate armor as well..." he muses.

 

The journey back to New Jarla was a quiet affair with very little in the way of excitement. For some reason, there were many patrols from the City Guard roaming the country side. When the party finally reached the city, they were greeted by Jorgen Von Arnim, the High Minister. He was pleased that his father, Sir Harold Von Arnim had returned in one piece. As promised, he gave each of the party members the second half of the payment for their services, and seeing another "babysitter", Elstarius, he offered her the entire fee of 150 gp.

The High Minister needed to return to his office and was unable to hear the tale of the hunt, but asked the party to join him for dinner in three days so they could let him know how the trip went.

Having a fair amount of equipment to try and sell, they traveled off to the Commons Market where Thrimmel was able to use his diplomacy skills to help them get the most for the equipment and gems they were selling. In all, each party member received 310 gp proceeds from the sale of the unusable items.

(anyone wishing to purchase items may do so for the usual fees)