The Roads We Secure - 26/10/2021 - A Kavel Perspective

Get Hype!

Yeersh!

I have one goal - create an Iron Strong Company here in Kantas.

I had heard of a Mysterious Mountain in these parts, and because I am mountain-born, and hence very strong, I just assumed this mountain would be home to fellow strength enthusiasts, people who train, because strength comes first!

I was mistaken about that mountain.

But there was another mountain in Kantas, nearer to Daring Heights, the Sunset Spyre. And it is fixed in place, it does not move, just like mountains shouldn’t! There is a quarry there, in the town of Stoneleaf.

Iron Strong maths tells us: Quarry + mountain = strong people! So, I was excited.

Unfortunately, I had heard the road to Stoneleaf was infested with bandits. I was waiting for an escort mission to Stoneleaf, where I, along with fellow adventurers, could clean up the road. Finally I found a suitable mission!

The OMTC trading company runs an export business to and from Daring Heights and Stoneleaf. Someone from the OMTC had put up the following note around town:


I was interested!

I ran to Drover’s Yard.


Drover’s Yard

Despite my haste, my blue dragonborn friend from the City Watch was there before me, comrade Derthaad. More comrades joined us. There was the tall high elf, Dwirhian. Celina, the red tiefling shop owner. And also my aarakocra comrades Tayz, and halfling polymorpher Kelne. The team today was heavy with spellcasters - this was not uncommon.

It turns out comrade Dwirhian got into a spot of trouble with the City Watch a while ago. Something to do with gambling. She claims she was innocent of any wrong-doing. Perhaps comrade Derthaad could speak for her? Comrades aren’t just for strength training and adventuring. They should stand up for each other too.

Before our employer met us, the magic-users were helping each other. Derthaad has a magnifying glass he uses as an investigator, but it’s cursed. Tayz knew a spell to remove curses, so he did so. Derthaad was appreciative. I guess this was a better solution than the one I would have proposed; smash the cursed item. Curse removed. But then Derthaad would need a new magnifying glass, and I don’t know how much they cost.

A young, human woman appeared in the yard, this was Hecate Weatherwane, our employer. She worked here at the Drover’s Yard Distribution Centre. Hecate and her sisters were employed to carry mining material to the Stoneleaf quarry, on behalf of the OMTC.

100gp was promised to all of us. This was the largest offer I’d had since adventuring. We were to guard the Weatherwanes’ three wagons from bandits. We were warned the wagons were carrying smoke powder, a flammable substance.


Stoneleaf Bound

It was a strange road through the Stonegate. Patches of paved reddish stone road, and then dirt. And this pattern would repeat itself.

The front caravan was driven by Hecate and her shire horse. It had a white tarp covering the load. Celina and Kelne flanked it. I could see Celina being mischievous back where I was by the third wagon.

The shabbier wagon behind Hecate’s was steered by Irene, the middle sister, fronted by a pair of donkeys. Dwirhian and Tayz accompanied Irene.

Lastly was the larger of the wagons, managed by Jocasta, the eldest sister. A red bull pulled the rear wagon, and Derthaad and I walked alongside.

Derthaad was asking a lot of questions about the bandits to Jocasta. There was something on my mind, so I asked Jocasta, “why all this explosive material? Are the quarry workers not as big as me? Are they not strong?”

“There are definitely big’uns like you up there, but it can be more efficient to extract stone with explosives”, the elder sister replied. This made sense, but I began to have my doubts about Stoneleaf being a haven of the strong.


The Halfway House

It was late afternoon by this point, and we stopped at the Halfway House. It was an OMTC run tavern A place for the Drovers to stop and rest.

Celina and Kelne knocked back a few drinks. Dwirhian and Derthaad were interacting with the other patrons and the bartender. Apparently no one knew about bandits. This couldn’t be true, our employers had hired us to protect them from bandits. The bartender was clearly speaking from a company script, so as not to dissuade travel on this road. He need not tell his lies, my comrades and I were soon going to smash the bandits dead, it would soon be a fact that there were no bandits on the road.


Huggers’ Rock

Back on the road. When darkness was close, we stopped to rest at a place known as Huggers Rock.

The team took watches. I had the last watch with Dwirhian, who was also part of the previous watch. Elfs only need half the rest as other races. If I only needed four hours instead of eight, I could use the extra four hours productively for other things, like more strength training.

During my watch, I kept myself busy by doing heavy club drills with my maul. Good for rotational mobility. Dwirhian was checking the perimeter. She was standing near a bush, when she called me over to come look at something. It was a small wooden plaque, with the following carved into it, “You’re barking up the wrong tree. Leave now”. I was still a very novice woodcarver, but I could tell the engraving was skillful.

“Do you think there could be more, Dwirhian? We haven’t missed any more of these on our travels, have we?”, I asked my more observant comrade. Unfortunately, neither of us knew.

In the morning, Derthaad found footprints near where Dwirhian found the plaque. We showed the plaque to the sisters. Hecate informed us that the plaque was nonsense. It was a ploy to confuse and scare off adventurers, so that the caravans were easier to raid. She mentioned there were more than ten bandits and the leader was a magic-user.

When comrade Celina took a look at the engraved writing, she swore she recognised the writing, but simply could not place whose it was. I guess to comrade Celina’s misfortune, she must know some hostile types.

After some travelling, we were merely hours away from Stoneleaf. The Sunset Spyres were clearly visible in the distance. But, so too were bandits who emerged from both sides of the road, hidden in the brush. Three to the left, three to the right, and five barricading the road. We had been ambushed.


Ambushed On The Road

Tayz engaged the opposition quickly with his claws, while Celina assaulted the bandits with hurled magical apples and her dancing rapier. I ran towards an archer with my chakan-poleaxe, whilst Dwirhian ran to protect the sisters who were now bunched together to the right side of Hecate's lead caravan.

A tall, hooded, leader emerged up front between the barricade of five. He seemed around my height, which was a little odd since he also appeared to be firbolg. If he was a firbolg; then he was on the shorter side. The tall man moved towards the sisters. Dwithian attempted a spell to blind him, the leader was indeed proficient in magic, as Hecate had warned, as he shook off the effects of Dwirhian’s spell.

I managed to get to one of the flanking archers before they were able to let loose an arrow. For people who had the drop on us, they were slow to press any advantage. I swung my poleaxe and missed. The archer ran away.

The barricade team all had torches, and now joined their leader who had moved towards the sisters. The torchbearers threw their torches at Hecate’s wagon. A lot of misses, but a couple set alight the top of the tarp. This could be very bad.

Making matters worse, the left flanking archers, who weren’t loosing arrows at us, also had torches and attempted to set the middle wagon on fire. This wagon too was beginning to see it’s tarp take flame.

Kelne backed up Dwirhian at the front, and with her divine magic small, cherub-like beings attacked the firbolg and accompanying bandits. I was too far from the front as I chased down my fleeing archer. Tayz too was in pursuit, as he cast a grievous wound inflicting spell on the archer. If this archer made it alive to the front where his friends were, he’d have the problem of facing Celina and her dancing rapier. One bandit lay grievously wounded in front of her.

Derthaad, standing near the middle cart had a solution, in his magical repertoire, for the lit tarp. It’s as if he just commanded the flames to vanish, and they were gone. He didn’t stop there though. As soon as the wagon was rendered safe, he blasted the two archers that lit the vehicle with his twinned Mind Spike spell. The two archers fell to the ground, their minds pierced by psychic pain. At that moment, I caught up to the archer Tayz hit from above with a magical blast, and smashed him in the chest with my chakan-poleaxe. The archer was downed.

Kelne’s guardian cherubs had disappeared. It seems the firbolg had cast something and Kelne’s concentration on the spell was shaken.

Hecate pulled a fancy dagger hidden within her clothes and tried to thrust it at the firbolg. The other sisters put out the fire on the first wagon’s tarp.

Dwirhian attempted another spell on the firbolg, but again he was too powerful and could not be manipulated by the spell's effects. One of the bandits moved to attack Dwirhian. But, instead of assaulting her, he shoved her and seemed to say something. Was this a silent spell with a touch requirement? I couldn’t tell from where I was. I had to get to the front. But, at that moment, comrade Kelne turned himself into a giant ape, and with his new imposing size separated the firbolg and his bandits from our employees.

“Stan?!” I could now here Dwirhian say.


Stan… The Spoon Thieve From the Basement in Honor Lane With The Cultist?

“I know someone called Stan!” I thought to myself as Celina, Tayz and I carried on assaulting the bandits, as we made our way to the front. Dancing rapier, Spiritual Weapon and a vicious chakan were causing a great deal of distress for these bandits.

“Everybody stop! Tell me what the fuck is going on! Or I’ll start punching people!” shouted Dwirhian. Oh no. Diplomacy had crept into my battlefield. Booo.

“Dwirhian! These are the hags that ate my mates, and who were going to eat me before you rescued me from the cultists!” Stan said in answer to Dwirhian.

Oh! Now I remember! Stan was the spoon thief, and Dwirhian did save Stan. I was there too. The cult leader was confronted by me and Dwirhian, and rather than face us, he said some cowardly words and took his own life.

The sisters were looking back and forth between each other and us. I had time to pause and think… I realised we had been lied to. As I thought that, the three sisters turned into hags, and I could have sworn I recognised one of them from the basement eating Stan’s comrade.


Switching Sides

I looked at the beaten bodies of what I now realised were unfairly labelled ‘bandits’. A lot of the beating came from me... to be fair, Tayz and Celina were doing it too!

I looked up at Tayz in the sky and exchanged an embarrassed look of recognition. He immediately switched targets and released a very powerful Guiding Bolt at Jocasta. It hurt her.

Celina had a plan A and a plan B. Plan A was to persuade Hecate, now very visibly a night hag, to stop fighting. Celina was determined to be paid 100gp somehow. But, as she soon realised there would be no 100gp for each of us, I was pleased to see plan B enacted - she launched her dancing rapier at Jocasta, piercing her sides.

Hecate and Irene retaliated on Dwirhian, both hitting her with spells that left her incapacitated. Jocasta hurled a very nasty spell at Tayz in the sky, but he successfully shook his mind free from its grasp.

While the former spoon thief, Stan brought Dwirhian out of her magically set slumber, Kelne the great ape decided to also join in with attacking Jocasta. He had to lean over Hecate to reach Jocasta, which he did, as he brought a mighty hammerfist down on top of her head, killing her instantly. I like great apes.

Derthaad twinned his Mind Spike spell again, hurting Hecate, but killing Irene. Of all the damaging spells I’ve seen, something about Derthaad’s psychic magic puts me off. I’ll take a Fireball to the chest anytime, but the psychic spells; I don’t want any part of them.

The firbolg leader cast a spell I’ve seen Dwirhian do in the basement where we met Stan. The firbolg magically held Hecate trapped in place and urged us to, “finish her off!”

Dwirihian obliged… partially. She knocked out Hecate with her staff, much to my disappointment and to the firbolg too.


Clearing the air

The firbolg rushed to magically aid his comrades who were smashed to within an inch of their lives by, lets just say, ‘several members of the team’. Kelne, Tayz and Dwirhian helped the firbolg leader with their own magical healing.

It turned out that this firbolg was called Tiny Tim. His group was known as Tiny Tim’s Team’s Turf, or T4. With his hood down, Celina recognised him. They live in Stoneleaf. They ambush travellers to and from Stoneleaf, but their objective isn’t to menace people, but to confront the hags. Their plaque was a warning for our own good.

Despite our hostilities towards T4, they were good sports and accompanied us, and City Watch member Derthaad’s prisoner to Stoneleaf. The cargo in the caravan was nevertheless intended for the workers at the quarry, so we dropped that off at the quarry.


Stoneleaf - Promised Land of the Strong?

… unfortunately when we arrived at Stoneleaf, although the individuals at the quarry were strong, I wouldn’t say they were strength-enthusiasts. Despite Stoneleaf being a mountain town, the way of the iron warrior was no more common here than it was in other areas of Kantas that I had been. Well, except for Fort Ettin perhaps. I had failed to find promising iron-strong members in two mountains on Kantas, but I had at least started my own strength gym in the right place.


Back to Daring Heights

The journey to Stoneleaf required us to stay over for a night and the journey there was much longer than travel from Daring Heights to Port Ffirst. T4 kept us company. Tiny Tim taught me some of his wood carving skills, and Dwirhian even joined us for lessons.

Kelne and Celina split a keg of the smoke powder. Tayz took a wand of pyrotechnics off of Irene, and we pawned a couple of heart stone gems that the sisters had on them. We split it five ways. Derthaad said he was content with his prisoner, Hecate, as a prize for his troubles. So, the rest of us took 40gp each. Not quite the 100gp the hags ‘offered’ us, but it was at the very least real gold, as opposed to their lies.

Tiny Tim did not know why the hags were running a legitimate transport business, but they didn’t see any good in allowing them to continue. Hecate wasn’t confessing anything to us. Hopefully comrade Derthaad can learn more when he has her in custody in Daring Heights.

On the journey back to Daring Heights, Celina persuaded all of us, except Dwirhian to come visit her shop in Port Ffirst. So we made plans to do so. Not sure why Dwirhian wouldn’t join us. I hope it’s not because she has a gambling problem in Daring Heights. If she does, there’s probably only so much Derthaad can do for her in regards to the City Watch troubles she had.

I was feeling the unease that T4 had around me, in light of all the smashing I did to some of them. To my delight, when they saw me swinging my maul and practicing rotational mobility, they were intrigued. So, we found some graspable branches near the road, which were heavier at one end, and I taught them some mobility drills. They took to them well, and we parted on good terms. Though my journey to Stoneleaf to find strength enthusiasts was not successful. I did manage to spread the way of the iron-strong to a few individuals.