On Monday, April 4, 2016 at 1:10:40 PM UTC-4, Will in New Haven wrote:
We played at Elm City Games https://www.facebook.com/ElmCityGames/?fref=ts which is a really good place with lots of room. There have a large collection of board games etc that you can play or, as we did, you can run an RPG there. I'd been to their grand opening and played Sushi Go there but this was the first time we had
played an RPG there.
Two regulars and one new player who happened to be at the games place.
Simon played an Elf who knows song magic and also has a bow and sword. Faerveren.
Rick played a priest, Father Murphy
Jean played a knight, Lady Kara.
They were hanging out at one end of the village, waiting for a wedding to start. Most everyone else were at the other side of the village doing some heavy drinking. Faerveren wasn't that happy around drinkers, Murphy had to stay sober in case the
senior priest got too drunk to perform the ceremony. Lady Kara was representing the Baron and decided getting wasted wouldn't help matters. Boton, NPC, a large local guy, didn't want to start drinking so early that he would pass out before the wedding
and Walder, NPC, a hunter, didn't like crowds.
They heard a commotion over where the party was going on but ignored it. Then it really erupted in noise and they were heading over to see what was going on. A pre-teen brat ran by and yelled "The Kentaurs ran off with the bride," with more excitement
than alarm.
When the group reached the area of the party, they saw many people down, some injured, some passed out, and Father Andrew was healing someone. The Mayor pointed to them and yelled, "go after her." He pointed down a woodland path. As they headed out,
the Mayor added "try not to start a war."
Faerveren and Walder took the lead. Lady Kara, in her best suit of plate, could keep up for awhile as long as they didn't sprint. Murphy chugged along and Bolton puffed and huffed but managed. It was no problem for the Elf or the woodsman to track
drunken Kentaurs.
They reached a clearing where a man and a Kentaur lay on the ground. A quick look told them that the man was the groom Gustaf and that he was dead. The Kentaur was still breathing. The Elf healed the Kentaur enough to keep him from bleeding out while
the woodsman read the tracks. The four Kentaurs had left this one here and run on. Gustoff had come upon him and they had fought. There was a brief discussion and they decided to continue on. If a bear or tiger got the unconscious Kentaur, too bad. They
continued their pursuit.
By the way, the Elf and not the Priest had healed the Kentaur because the Faceless God will not heal heathens and he will only accept the worship of Humans and, in recent centuries, Hobbits.
Moving at a decent pace, they were, according to Walder and Faerveren, gaining some ground on the Kentaurs. As they approached a curve in the trail, Walder spotted an ominous shape in the trees on his side of the road. He pointed it out to Faerveren and
they signaled the others to stop. The two scouts qickly determined that the shape was a monster spider in hiding.
Faerveren signaled to the others to put in the ear-plugs he had given them and then unshipped the small mandolin he had at this side. Soon the sound of the song/spell "Enter Sandman" wove through the forest air. Soon after that, it was joined by the
crash of Bolton falling asleep on the trail. He had failed to stop up his ears. However, the huge spider was also asleep and Lady Kara and Father Murphy did not need Bolton's help slaying it.
They awoke Bolton, with a few jocular comments, and moved on. It was rather late in the afternoon when Faerveren held up his hand to stop his comrades in their tracks. He heard the deep voices of Kentaurs just a few yards away. He signaled again for his
companions to plug up their ears, with a glare at Bolton for emphasis and began to prepare a spell.
Unfortunately for him, and for the chance of capturing the miscreants without bloodshed, a Kentaur mage had heard _them_ and quickly moved to make their approach more difficult. Since "Open Pit" works quicker than "Enter Sandman," Faerveren found himself
dropping into a six-foot pit before his preparation was complete. Walder managed to avoid falling into the pit and the rest of the group was not in the area it covered. All of them heard a shout from a human woman and the sound of a blow and Lady Kara
led them around the pit and into the clearing. There they saw three Kentaurs in wedding finery and one in a suit of plate, the latter yelling at somebody. They noted at this time that they had been following the tracks of _three_ Kentaurs. A Human girl
was lying on the ground. One of the unarmored Kentaurs had a stone in his hand and, just as they entered the clearing, made a sharp downward gesture with it. Behind them they heard a crash and then Bolton shouted "expletive deleted."
Lady Kara boldly ran at the Kentaur in plate but one of the unarmored Kentaurs intervened. Walder shot at the magician and did him grave harm. Lady Kara met the intervening Kentaur and hit him with her warhammer and he fell. The Kentaur in plate yelled "
Stop this madness" but the last of the other Kentaurs standing went after Lady Kara and hit her, although his sword did not harm her through her armor.
Having leaped from the pit, Faerveren ran into the clearing and shot the Kentaur struggling with Lady Kara. He did not fall but another blow from Lady Kara's warhammer and an arrow from Walder put him down. The Kentaur in plate yelled (and he probably
had said this before) "Spare my wounded and take the damn girl." Lady Kara looked around at the situation and said "Agreed" and the Kentaur moved to the nearest of his fallen companions. Faerveren went to the magician, although he had no power to speak
of left himself, and checked his pulse. He was dead. Around his neck was an amulet that Faerveren realized was a device to hold Power. Without further ado, he confiscated it.
The other two downed Kentaurs had survived but neither Faerveren nor Father Murphy was in a position to offer healing and, frankly, neither wanted to. The girl, who was indeed the stolen bride, was so drunk that she could not walk and was in worse shape
after Walder foolishly mentioned the fate of her intended. It was a subdued but not unsatisfied group that retrieved Bolton from his pit, told him to carry the weeping, cursing girl, and returned to the village in the twilight.
--
Will in New Haven
https://sites.google.com/site/gloryroadrpg/home
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