The Roads We Secure - Derthaad - 26/10/21
Nov 3, 2021 17:37:03 GMT
Grimes, Celina Zabinski, and 1 more like this
Post by Derthaad on Nov 3, 2021 17:37:03 GMT
~excerpt from Derthaad's ledger
Week 44, 1498
1st of Uktar
Well, Marpenoth ended quite nicely: ok expedition, great findings and mediocre performance for Liar's Night, but at least the children got candies.
The latest expedition that me and my companions participated was one given by OMTC. Started from Drover's Yard and was to protect a caravan filled with smoke powder to Stoneleaf Quarry. Glad to see that comrade Kavel will be joining us. "Comrade" - his preferred form of addressing his fellow adventurers - I've been called comrade by him more times than everyone else in the City Watch combined. I always enjoy Kavel's company. He's not the smartest but he is earnest. He is the type of person that you can lean on and will never leave your side no matter how dire the situation and would gladly throw himself through death's door if it meant helping his comrades. Dwirhian and Celina have also joined the lot among Tayz and Kelne, the former 2 will play a great part in the conclusion.
At Drover's Yard we are met with Hecate, our employer, along with her sisters, Jocaste and Irene. They inform us of the situation in which bandits have been attacking their caravan while on route to Stoneleaf village. The attacks mostly happen after Hugging Rocks, on the northern perimeter of Turning Fields forest. The forest seems like a suitable place for bandits to roam thanks to the natural cover and possible ambush points provided by the trees. Oddly enough, I haven't heard many rumors of similar incidents happening before, and this kind of attack seems to be recent. In fact, it seems to corelate with the inception of these smoke powder caravans. The smoke powder is used by the miners in Stoneleaf Quarry to dig through the stone at a faster and cheaper pace. 'Faster and cheaper' is a trend that, in the course of this endeavor, I have learned is quite predominant when it comes to OMTC and their work ethics. This trend may also be the reason as to why, when carrying such volatile cargo, OMTC has not requested the watch for an escort. Hecate has promised us 100g each if we deal with the bandit situation and get the cargo safely to Stoneleaf Quarry. That is 600g for one transport, which is way more expensive than commissioning the watch for an escort with double the men. I feel that this is mostly a request coming directly from Hecate and her sisters rather than the OMTC.
Our escort lasted almost 2 days and we had to camp for the night at Hugging Rocks. However, here's another example of OMTC's questionable ethics. On our way to the quarry, a little over the half way mark when is was evening with about an hour away from sunset, we come across an inn. Normally, one would seek lodging at the inn, eat up, feed the livestock and then sleep and wait for next morning. We did all of that with the exception of the sleep part. On the cheap side of OMTC's 'faster and cheaper' work ethic, we did not seek lodging at the inn as to save money. We had to camp near Hugging Rocks for the night. On a road crawling with bandits escorting a caravan highly prone to said bandit attacks. "Faster and Cheaper" - OMTC.
On our short stay at the inn, which felt like it was trying so hard to mask the "fast and cheap" that it basically became the embodiment of it, I approach the barkeep regarding the bandit issue. His response can be translated into one word. One concept that I always despised - bureaucracy. Whatever information I wanted to get out of that barkeep was immediately abandoned. I instantly knew there was no way to try and get more without causing a scene and my mood was soured enough to make me lose all the patience required when dealing with such people.
Our camp at Hugging Rocks was thankfully undisturbed. In the morning, I found tracks that were not there when we arrived, and Dwirhian found a plaque with the inscription "You're barking up the wrong tree! Leave now!". Hecate interpreted it as the bandits trying to scare us off.
Of course, the inevitable happened, we were ambushed.
The ambush was as one would expect: a barricade in front to stop the caravan, behind which were bandits with torches and archers along the sides to shoot at us. Due to the size of the main wagon, which was at the end of the caravan, and the relatively narrow road, it was impossible to turn the caravan around in a timely manner and thus the bandits had no reason to block our retreat. The party split, was relatively ok, Tayz and Kavel took the north flank while the rest went to the front to try and protect Hecate who was near the front wagon. It left me to try and deal with the fires. Oh yeah, the bandits threw their torches and flaming arrows to set the carts on fire to try and detonate them.
At some point during the fight, I heard Dwirhian yell "Everybody stop! Tell me what the fuck is going on! Or I’ll start punching people!" The fight was grinding to a halt. What happened? What explanations was Dwirhian after? Pieces started to arrange themselves, the last of which was the bandits' behavior. After I put out the fire, I spiked two of their archers. To do that I had to get line of sight. Their line of sight. The archers were not stopping me or Jocaste from putting out the fire, nor to retaliate. Why are they hesitating? Also, when questioned by Dwirhian, the three sisters were a bit fidgety. Something is clearly off here.
Some answers are required, NOW!
"Okay. Tell us what the hell is going on, or I am gonna fire bolt this cart and blow all of us sky high!"
The sisters turned out to be three hags from hell. Bet you didn't see that one coming.
Once they revealed their true nature, we and the "bandits" have formed a truce to deal with this new threat. We killed two and, thanks to Dwirhian and the "bandit" leader by the name of Tiny Tim, incapacitated one, Hecate herself. We didn't get much in terms of spoils, but, whatever treasure the group has gotten it was split amongst them. I was happy that I finally have a lead for an investigation - a hell hag fit for interrogation. We learned that Tiny Tim and his gang, T4, are a group of locals from Stoneleaf Village that have been ravaged by the hags. Apparently there was a cult led by these three that kidnapped people and fed them to the hags. One of the bandits, Stan, was saved from these three by my friends on that blasted spoon quest.
I asked their leader a few questions about these hags, but he didn't know that much more than I did. For some reason, the caravan always delivered the smoke powder to Stoneleaf Quarry. This means 2 things. Either OMTC knew about these hags and what they were doing, or the hags simply infiltrated themselves into OMTC and kept doing the transport as to not arouse suspicions. The latter seems more plausible, since the hags could simply capture some members of T4, and when they would retaliate the hags could simply shift the blame on them since they were, in a way, bandits. Although, not entirely true; they were people who have, in some way stolen goods but it was only petty things and only to survive, nothing more. I could see the sincerity in their eyes as they explained themselves, they wouldn't be the type of people that would steal something as big as 3 carts of smoke powder for some nefarious reasons. I also could tell that they were clearly uncomfortable around me since I was after all from the City Watch. I assured them that unless they did something that would harm the lives of innocent civilians, they were fine. They were actually kind enough to provide us with an escort back to Daring Heights, or somewhere near the outskirts of it.
All in all, I now have a hell hag to interrogate.
Side note: I held a ghost-themed performance for the kids at Thea's Refuge orphanage during Liar's Night. I even bought them some sweets to enjoy. However, I think I should have offered the sweets after the performance. Maintaining the attention of a hall filled with hyped-up kids is pretty hard.
Ongoing investigations:
Hell Hags of OMTC - NEW Investigation! - high importance due to a solid lead
Yuan-Ti and Shadowfell portal - On Hold! - until new investigation is completed.
Jack and the Modrons - Archived! - until further Modron activity
2nd of Uktar
Found this interesting flyer on my way to Port Ffirst. Will have to ask a certain apple vendor about this.
Attached notes:
Week 44, 1498
1st of Uktar
Well, Marpenoth ended quite nicely: ok expedition, great findings and mediocre performance for Liar's Night, but at least the children got candies.
The latest expedition that me and my companions participated was one given by OMTC. Started from Drover's Yard and was to protect a caravan filled with smoke powder to Stoneleaf Quarry. Glad to see that comrade Kavel will be joining us. "Comrade" - his preferred form of addressing his fellow adventurers - I've been called comrade by him more times than everyone else in the City Watch combined. I always enjoy Kavel's company. He's not the smartest but he is earnest. He is the type of person that you can lean on and will never leave your side no matter how dire the situation and would gladly throw himself through death's door if it meant helping his comrades. Dwirhian and Celina have also joined the lot among Tayz and Kelne, the former 2 will play a great part in the conclusion.
At Drover's Yard we are met with Hecate, our employer, along with her sisters, Jocaste and Irene. They inform us of the situation in which bandits have been attacking their caravan while on route to Stoneleaf village. The attacks mostly happen after Hugging Rocks, on the northern perimeter of Turning Fields forest. The forest seems like a suitable place for bandits to roam thanks to the natural cover and possible ambush points provided by the trees. Oddly enough, I haven't heard many rumors of similar incidents happening before, and this kind of attack seems to be recent. In fact, it seems to corelate with the inception of these smoke powder caravans. The smoke powder is used by the miners in Stoneleaf Quarry to dig through the stone at a faster and cheaper pace. 'Faster and cheaper' is a trend that, in the course of this endeavor, I have learned is quite predominant when it comes to OMTC and their work ethics. This trend may also be the reason as to why, when carrying such volatile cargo, OMTC has not requested the watch for an escort. Hecate has promised us 100g each if we deal with the bandit situation and get the cargo safely to Stoneleaf Quarry. That is 600g for one transport, which is way more expensive than commissioning the watch for an escort with double the men. I feel that this is mostly a request coming directly from Hecate and her sisters rather than the OMTC.
Our escort lasted almost 2 days and we had to camp for the night at Hugging Rocks. However, here's another example of OMTC's questionable ethics. On our way to the quarry, a little over the half way mark when is was evening with about an hour away from sunset, we come across an inn. Normally, one would seek lodging at the inn, eat up, feed the livestock and then sleep and wait for next morning. We did all of that with the exception of the sleep part. On the cheap side of OMTC's 'faster and cheaper' work ethic, we did not seek lodging at the inn as to save money. We had to camp near Hugging Rocks for the night. On a road crawling with bandits escorting a caravan highly prone to said bandit attacks. "Faster and Cheaper" - OMTC.
On our short stay at the inn, which felt like it was trying so hard to mask the "fast and cheap" that it basically became the embodiment of it, I approach the barkeep regarding the bandit issue. His response can be translated into one word. One concept that I always despised - bureaucracy. Whatever information I wanted to get out of that barkeep was immediately abandoned. I instantly knew there was no way to try and get more without causing a scene and my mood was soured enough to make me lose all the patience required when dealing with such people.
Our camp at Hugging Rocks was thankfully undisturbed. In the morning, I found tracks that were not there when we arrived, and Dwirhian found a plaque with the inscription "You're barking up the wrong tree! Leave now!". Hecate interpreted it as the bandits trying to scare us off.
Of course, the inevitable happened, we were ambushed.
The ambush was as one would expect: a barricade in front to stop the caravan, behind which were bandits with torches and archers along the sides to shoot at us. Due to the size of the main wagon, which was at the end of the caravan, and the relatively narrow road, it was impossible to turn the caravan around in a timely manner and thus the bandits had no reason to block our retreat. The party split, was relatively ok, Tayz and Kavel took the north flank while the rest went to the front to try and protect Hecate who was near the front wagon. It left me to try and deal with the fires. Oh yeah, the bandits threw their torches and flaming arrows to set the carts on fire to try and detonate them.
At some point during the fight, I heard Dwirhian yell "Everybody stop! Tell me what the fuck is going on! Or I’ll start punching people!" The fight was grinding to a halt. What happened? What explanations was Dwirhian after? Pieces started to arrange themselves, the last of which was the bandits' behavior. After I put out the fire, I spiked two of their archers. To do that I had to get line of sight. Their line of sight. The archers were not stopping me or Jocaste from putting out the fire, nor to retaliate. Why are they hesitating? Also, when questioned by Dwirhian, the three sisters were a bit fidgety. Something is clearly off here.
Some answers are required, NOW!
"Okay. Tell us what the hell is going on, or I am gonna fire bolt this cart and blow all of us sky high!"
The sisters turned out to be three hags from hell. Bet you didn't see that one coming.
Once they revealed their true nature, we and the "bandits" have formed a truce to deal with this new threat. We killed two and, thanks to Dwirhian and the "bandit" leader by the name of Tiny Tim, incapacitated one, Hecate herself. We didn't get much in terms of spoils, but, whatever treasure the group has gotten it was split amongst them. I was happy that I finally have a lead for an investigation - a hell hag fit for interrogation. We learned that Tiny Tim and his gang, T4, are a group of locals from Stoneleaf Village that have been ravaged by the hags. Apparently there was a cult led by these three that kidnapped people and fed them to the hags. One of the bandits, Stan, was saved from these three by my friends on that blasted spoon quest.
I asked their leader a few questions about these hags, but he didn't know that much more than I did. For some reason, the caravan always delivered the smoke powder to Stoneleaf Quarry. This means 2 things. Either OMTC knew about these hags and what they were doing, or the hags simply infiltrated themselves into OMTC and kept doing the transport as to not arouse suspicions. The latter seems more plausible, since the hags could simply capture some members of T4, and when they would retaliate the hags could simply shift the blame on them since they were, in a way, bandits. Although, not entirely true; they were people who have, in some way stolen goods but it was only petty things and only to survive, nothing more. I could see the sincerity in their eyes as they explained themselves, they wouldn't be the type of people that would steal something as big as 3 carts of smoke powder for some nefarious reasons. I also could tell that they were clearly uncomfortable around me since I was after all from the City Watch. I assured them that unless they did something that would harm the lives of innocent civilians, they were fine. They were actually kind enough to provide us with an escort back to Daring Heights, or somewhere near the outskirts of it.
All in all, I now have a hell hag to interrogate.
Side note: I held a ghost-themed performance for the kids at Thea's Refuge orphanage during Liar's Night. I even bought them some sweets to enjoy. However, I think I should have offered the sweets after the performance. Maintaining the attention of a hall filled with hyped-up kids is pretty hard.
Ongoing investigations:
Hell Hags of OMTC - NEW Investigation! - high importance due to a solid lead
Yuan-Ti and Shadowfell portal - On Hold! - until new investigation is completed.
Jack and the Modrons - Archived! - until further Modron activity
2nd of Uktar
Found this interesting flyer on my way to Port Ffirst. Will have to ask a certain apple vendor about this.
Attached notes:
HAVE YOU SEEN MY WIFE?
Name: Celina Zabinski
Hair of starlight fire, skin of wintery embers, eyes that have captured my heart.
Any information you may have would be greatly appreciated — and a small sum will be given to anyone whose information proves fruitful. Please write to Sammy Plumbstead at the Four Fair Winds in Daring Heights.
Name: Celina Zabinski
Hair of starlight fire, skin of wintery embers, eyes that have captured my heart.
Any information you may have would be greatly appreciated — and a small sum will be given to anyone whose information proves fruitful. Please write to Sammy Plumbstead at the Four Fair Winds in Daring Heights.
