We opened the session with a chat about Paladins. They're a pretty powerful class, but have some harsh restrictions on their conduct. In particular, they're not supposed to associate with characters of evil alignment. Of course they can still do it, but this may result in a "poor" rating which may lead to longer training times.
That said, we had some downtime updates. Derrick the Assassin befriended a banker in the village called Tiffany, who is also a Thief. Zelda the Fighter explored some lands to the north. But then, an unexpected development: the village of Ristoro A, between Borgogazze and Trilo, has been raided by Orcs! Güsta the Fighter witnessed this as he was traveling to Borgogazze and hastily made it back to tell the news.
The Orcish raid has resulted in increased military presence in the villages around Borgogazze. The troops are defending, mainly. The players go see Giorno the Lieutenant to ask him what they can do to help. He seems uninterested in getting too personally involved, but suggests a reconnaissance mission to the north of Ristoro A to gather information about the orcish force. How many are they, where are they camping, and what are their defenses? He grants the party a small force (7 spearmen and 6 crossbowmen) to help them safely accomplish the mission.
So, Zelda the Fighter, Sir Goldborn the Paladin, and Green Gary the Druid make off to Ristoro A with the troops. It is Nov. 30. Once there, they talk to Frederick, the interim Lieutenant who is supervising all the extra troops that came to defend the already half-burned down village. He is singularly unhelpful. The party just makes off for the hills to the north. They come to a forest, and Green Gary casts Talk with Animals with a magpie. It flies off and returns after two hours from the northwest, this means there are orcs in that direction at about 20 miles distance. The druid is not able to speak to her anymore however, so everyone returns to the village, rests, and goes to the forest again with the spells refreshed.
The party finds the same magpie again (2 in 6 chance)! She tells the druid that she had found a whole village full of Orcs! She counted about 200, defended by two watch towers and other defenses. The village lies in northwestern direction and the terrain between is mostly forest. So, the party starts trekking Northwest. They travel 7 miles because of the rough terrain, and they stop and camp in some flat territory. Unfortunately they bought only 2 days worth of rations, so they'll have to go back! They do so, and on the way they notice a tiny fort, a moathouse in the forested hills.
The moathouse seems deserted but the drawbridge is up. The party shouts for human inhabitants, and one of the trees in the ruined building turns around and speaks to them! They can't understand it but he seems angry. It's not extremely mobile though, and the party retreats safely.
They make it back to Ristoro A, then to Trilo, and think about what to do next. They decide going back to the dungeon of Ashes Island might be a good idea, and during the next few days they will try to convince some of the soldiers to come with them, as well as to convince Giorno to allow this.
The session covered four days of game time and next session will be on Dec. 8, so the characters have four days of downtime to do whatever they want. Sir Goldborn will provide healing services to the soldiers of Ristoro A and go back to Trilo in time. Green Gary will set up orc traps to the north of Trilo. Derrick will start flirting with the banker/Thief Tiffany.
This was a quiet session with no XP earned. However, we did learn a lot about the world and the importance of logistics. What will our heroes do next? Let's find out next time!
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| The region immediately around Trilo, with the party's explorations. |
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