April 10, 2019 Session

Setup

The previous session had ended with the party killing off the orcs left behind to guard the escape of the kidnappers in the wee hours of the morning. Everyone returned to The Reluctant Pig and had an eventful night of sleep.

The city of Highbridge remains in the hands of The Hate Incarnate, led by the as yet unseen Prophet Ezekiern and most visibly represented by the detestable Brother Pelliton. The people live in fear of the Hate Incarnate, whose few numbers are supplemented by The Resistence, an anti-Polonian Empire group that has welcomed the Hate Incarnate with open arms.

The Hate Incarnate has offered a reward from a particular orcish lieutenant of the Ancient Dominion of the Unending Lands that has caused trouble in the lands around the city recently, although Brother Pelliton has vowed to collect the head of this orc himself.

The party awakes to the bells tolling and horns blowing that announce the Hate Incarnate‘s mandatory morning worship of Lathander. That is quickly followed by a series of raised voices in the Farthing Yards as Kelmen Longbottom’s friend Joc attempts to rally a rescue party to go after Pinna.

Making Plans

Corliss calms down the crowd of motivated constables and angry citizenry and convinces them that their mission is likely to end poorly. Joc quickly changes tactics and asks if the party - a group of well-known and storied folk heroes - would lead the rescue mission instead. The party agrees to take on the mission - alone! - and wanders off into town to do some pre-mission shopping. A smaller group of exceptionally motivated citizens decides that action must be taken immediately and heads out on their own.

Over the River and Through the Woods

The party is fully prepared by mid-morning and heads out, with Hurodash attempting to follow the tracks of the kidnappers, but mostly following the muddy tracks left by the citizen rescue party. As the hours and miles pass, dead folk from Highbridge are found in the mud alongside the trail or pinned to trees. Large, thick crossbow bolts are lodged in their bodies.

Towards mid-afternoon the party is attacked by a few bolts from a spot in the woods, but a fireball and then some skillful roguery from Ser Shadow and Rhagal dispatched the would-be ambushers without issue.

Have Fun Storming the Castle

The party arrives at Castle Rend just as night falls and hastily constructs a plan. With Rhagal and Corliss disguised as orcs, leading Yornan and Hurodash in chains, the castle defenders open the doors and let the party into the yard within. Meanwhile, Ser Shadow circles behind the castle and climbs the wall in an inconspicuous location.

A battle ensues, orcs die - some after being toppled from castle walls - and the party takes the upper hand, even as reinforcements trickle out of the castle’s main tower. Corliss looks to serve up the coup de grace in the form of a fireball before realizing at the last moment that the last orc to appear - Bonebreaker Dorokor, the Ancient Dominion lieutenant for which the Hate Incarnate has offered a reward - holds Pinna in his arms with a knife at her throat.

After everyone stands around to be entertained by a schoolyard-style showdown between Hurodash and one of the more ornery orcs, a negotiation begins. Dorokor offers Pinna and the Castle in return for help getting snuck into Highbridge so that they can try to kill off the brown-robed clerics of the Hate Incarnate. The party weighs the relative douchebaggery (i believe that was the metric) of the Prophet Ezekiern, Brother Pelliton, and the rest of The Hate Incarnate against Bonebreaker Dorokorand the Ancient Dominion of the Unending Lands. They decide against the Hate Incarnate and agree to a deal with the details left to be decided. Dorokor welcomes the party into the tower for the remains of the evening’s feast.

Sightseeing

Rhagal points out that he had seen a vision of the place and wanders into an abandoned temple on the main floor of the tower. Both Rhagal and Yornan identify an ancient and well-worn statue as being of Lathander. An interesting contraption, made of a stone beacon suspended between petrified trees that reach up through the ceiling, is located behind the statue.