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Kingmaker Session 2

After our victory against the bandits, but fearing Kressel’s ability to quickly muster more bandits and strike against Oleg’s, we headed back to the trading post. We were ambushed by a pair of wolves on the way; they were quickly killed. We traded in our goods (selling many on consignment) and re-equipped. We also studied our options, first by reading the local wanted posters.

Wanted: Bandits The bandits in the Greenbelt need to be shown their activities will no longer be tolerated. There will be a reward of 400 gold coins paid to the adventuring company deemed most responsible for a major reduction in bandit activity.

Wanted Dead or Alive: Kobolds in the Hills The Sootscale Kobolds dwell in a cave somewhere in the Kamelands. Normally not a problem, they have been riled up by something lately; Find their lair and ensure that the Kobolds aren’t going to continue to be a threat. Diplomacy may be possible.
Once the Kobold activity is under control, the Swordlords will send 800 gold coins to those deemed responsible for the deed.

Wanted Dead: Tatzlwyrm Hunt and slay this rare predator and bring Oleg a mountable head for his trading post. If the head is undamaged, Oleg will pay up to 600 gold coins for an admirable trophy displaying such a feat of hunting.

Wanted Dead: Tuskgutter Every Greenbelt hunter has a story about Tuskgutter. Vekkel Benzen, a retired hunter, lost his leg to the vicious pig a year ago. Vekkel has promised his masterwork longbow and six magic arrows to whoever can kill the monster pig. Deliver Tuskgutter’s head to Oleg’s.

We also got the following leads:
* Alchemist Becon wants Fangberries from 55 mi SW of trading post. He will pay 25% discount on potions in the following month.
* Svetlana will pay 250 GP for Moon Radishes to make her soup. Located about 16 mi south.
* Oleg will pay 1000 GP for the return of Svetlana’s wedding ring.
* Shrike River Crossing is haunted where Davek was killed by the Stag Lord; he drowns his victims.
– A merchant revealed that Bandits frequent the Thorn Bridge Ford and Shrike Crossing [revealed as true!]
– A gold mine is due south about 40 miles

We met Kreston Gueress, a Brevoy Lieutenant with about 6 men reporting, who set up as garrison for the trading post. Hopefully the first of a wave of soldiers; he expects engineers and the rest of a troop to come in a month or two. Kreston is interested in finding a traitorous ex-watchman named Falgrim Sneed. He’s wanted alive for betraying his duty, sleeping with a nobleman’s wife, and being scum.

We decided to continue our efforts against the bandits. We decided to use the captured wagon as a false merchant wagon (to be bait) and to ride toward the bandit infested river crossing. Along the way we were ambushed by a giant trap door spider who had a bandit in his larder… including a map of a claw tree. We detoured to test the treasure map and recovered a wizard’s gear.

We then reached the bridge, where 4 bandits waited. We played concerned merchants and steered toward the ford–but a bear was fishing. At that, we turned back to the bridge to engage the bandits. Before we could trick them, a band of riders at our rear blew a horn alerting their confederates. We rushed forward and engaged the three on the bridge, quickly slaying them. We crossed the bridge and set up a defense using the wagon to block the bridge. Our archery was poor but cautioned the pursuing bandits–led by a double riding Kressel. They rode forward near fearlessly; at 100′ 4 bandits dismounted and unlimbered their longbows, while Kressel and her rider raced forward. Color spray leapt out, stunning the rider, arrows struck Kressel, and Sonja leaped into battle and cut her down with her greatsword. The remaining bandits reconsidered on seeing their leader fall and mounted to flee north. Two escaped…

Our prisoner confirmed some rumors. He also added the following:
– The Stag Lord’s fort is a castle at Tuskwater Lake where the Shrike flows in
– The kobolds are at war with the mites
– He and his men sought the elk temple north of the thorn river camp, but never found it.
– Falgrim Sneed lives in the Stag Lord’s castle.

We headed back in the direction of the moon radish patch. Along the way we found a rickety bridge [mid hex with “Thorn River” written on it]. At the moon radish patch Ambario spoke with kobolds; we traded 7 short swords for the right to harvest radishes. He also arranged for us to speak with Chief Sootscale and Shaman Tartuk in 3-7 days.

We returned to Oleg’s trading post, dumped off consignment goods, and rested for the night. Then we set off in the direction of the kobolds. When we camped the next night (about 20 miles from our destination), wolves struck in the night.

Our Loot List

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Games Roleplaying

Kingmaker Session 1

We’re playing through the Kingmaker Adventure Path. I’m playing Arndor– see the previous post (Kingmaker Arndor Background) for his story.

The first session began with our characters riding out to Oleg and Svetlana’s Trading Post. This became our base of operations, for our charter to bring peace and prosperity to Brevoy’s borders.

When we arrived, Oleg told us about bandits who made quite a nuisance of themselves. We decided to ambush them when they arrived on schedule the following morning. Haps led five of his men into the fight; they fell to terrible spells and deadly blows. We took their cloak pins, interrogated the two men we’d captured, and set off to the bandit camp.

There, Egg-Shen crept around the camp and silently gathered information on Kressel’s men. We were outnumbered, but struck with the advantage of surprise. After pressing hard, Kressel fled into a hollow log–but did not emerge from the far edge. We pursued her into the log and found a passage to a cave/chamber below. Stannis climbed down the ladder–and was struck by two deadly axe blows, falling unconscious. Arndor pledged her safe escape if she allowed him to treat their fallen friend. She accepted, and we let her walk from her camp while we treated Stannis.

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Kingmaker Arndor Background

Concept sketch for Arndor [Background: Rostlander]

Family History
– Our family was influential in Rostland prior to the conquering.
– Descent had long passed through the female line; family legend had it that our foremother Hildirid was Iomedae’s older sister.
– When the barbarian conquerer Choral defeated the forces of Rostland, the Earl and Marchioness of Skaklis burned under the assault of his dragon allies, along with most of our family’s troops and retainers
– In the aftermath of that terrible defeat, the family’s heir was Gunnolf (a young man). He went into the woods for refuge, found a wood wife, and returned with a half-fey daughter
– Generations later, our family is still not large or wealthy; the best part of the land was seized and distributed among the barbarian’s followers, leaving us a hardscrabble remnant of our former estate

In My Day
– Arndor is the third child; his older sisters are Sigrun (the heir) and Katla (her spare).
– Our mother Estrith, married a local landowner, Ingebrit. She is the Marchioness of Skalkis… or at least what remains of it
– The powers of our foremother (the fey) spark in Arndor; the old woods magic has awakened
– The family was raised with tales of our ancient glories, careful stewardship, and ties to the land.

Arndor
Arndor is young (17), raised with the obligations of the nobility, but unlikely to ever inherit or exercise power. As a child, Arndor had little patience for studies–his ramblings were indulged, with servant’s whispers that his grandmother’s sap flows through his veins. His sister Sigrun will inherit the obligations and responsibilities of rule; as third, there is little chance Arndor would have to put learning to use. For the last four years he’s grown increasingly impatient; too noble to apprentice to a craftsman, but not bookish enough to be useful in administration. The path of knowledge doesn’t seem to be his; he has no talent for book learning.

For the last three years, he’s been a landless country lord, dependent on family. He has begun to circulate on his own and develop his own friends, many also superfluous sons and displaced nobility. These friends call him focused; what’s in front of him is what he pays attention to. He’s cultivated a reputation for wanderlust, so he can wander the woods (out of sight of spies), and show up unexpectedly at the houses and estates of allies without comment. So far, he’s all talk–moody, impatient with the world, not willing to understand the realities of modern Brevoy.

As a noble without an inheritance, Arndor wants to make his mark on the world. He desperately wants to restore the seized lands of Skaklis to his mother’s domain. He is cautious, knowing that the barbarians would seize the scraps of land left to his family if they were found guilty of treason. It is hard to wait, though, given the strange disappearance of House Rogarvia and the relocation of rule to distant Port Ice. Truth be told, Arndor needs bold allies to help restore his family and prosper in the looming civil war. To be worthy of such allies, Arndor needs to develop his powers, his heritage, to be a valuable ally.

Arndor values directness and bold speaking, considering weasel talk Issia’s vice. He’s quite vulnerable to pleas of having fallen on hard times; while he’s never been wealthy enough for extensive charity, he tries to aid and support any who suffer under Brevoy or Issian oppression. He’s confident that if the yoke of oppression was removed, starvation and privation would be a thing of the past. Despite that… he was raised in Iomedae’s church, and believes the righteousness is the correct path. While he’d be tempted to use demonic or infernal allies, he wouldn’t–the blazing glory of Iomedae demands their destruction.

Dressing with casual elegance, antique silver buttons flashing down the center of his jerkin, Arndor knows that his family’s wealth is quite limited. He carries himself as best he can, but patched trousers and a torn but carefully mended cape of forest green with his family’s coat of arms are the glories he calls his own. Buckskin boots lace high for careful forest travels. He often hunts with Bjorn, the manor’s kennel master, hawking or running the hounds to bring back meat for the table.

Not at all fond of cold, Arndor is particularly unhappy with snow and slush. In decorating, he has an irrational dislike for pottery, especially porcelain and clay fired–probably due to one too many childhood mishaps. Conversely, while his fellow nobles don’t appreciate them, Arndor is a fan of shepherd’s pipes. He also has a taste for lemon–its mere scent can jolly him out of a funk. He also whittles habitually–he’s not particularly good, but it calms him. He’s not good at math, particularly formal math for exact answers, but he’s estimates quite quickly. While he’s not a fast or strong reader, he does know over 1000 years of his family history–as brute force memorization.