Tuesday, May 24, 2016

(Hackmaster) Burning Trogs Rule! #39: Red Arrow

The following Trogs had been to the wedding of Lady Arlene Harlan in Califon, and were scheduled to meet up with the rest of their group back in Celsior:
Zorin Redrock - Gnome Titan Fighter.  Veteran of the Barbarian Wars, and hero of Marakeikos due to the retaking of Frandor's Keep.
Cecelia Darkspruce - Half-Elf Fighter Cleric of Sif.   Her previous sorority girl-styled ways had been hardened by weeks travelling the dusty trails of the Northern Mer Kasp completely alone, desperately trying to get back to Celsior.
Gwendalyn Lorax  - Half Elf Druid.  Her trials alone in Mer Kasp did not last as long as Cecelia, but they were equally intense and damaging to her psyche. 
Terval Sit - Half-Elf Mage
"Whitey"  - Albino Halfling Priest of Yondalla.   Zorin's sidekick.

9th of QuaDec 1135, Califon
The wedding attendees left for Celsior.

13th of QuaDec 1135, Celsior
After a rainy, miserable ride, they arrived in Celsior.  Trogs HQ was in a celebration with the other active Trogs:
Janus Redrock - Gnome Titan Priest of Pangrus.  Cousin of  Zorin Gnome Titan of loose morals and  a hero of Marakeikos.
Coreena Ruddledater- 9 year old halfling torchbearer.
Ramsa - Mute Halfling Fighter - Gwen's Protégé.

As well as the Nubian warrior, Mutumbo, his wife Nina, and their baby Takem.  With beams of sunshine finally cracking through the clouds, they had finally begun pealing back the boards barricading the building during the religious war.  New paint had been purchases and the HQ was being cleaned!

1st of HepDec 1135, Celsior
Over the past month, Cecelia and Zorin had received a formal invitation to dine with Baron Desmond.  Everything in the barony and the kingdom seemed to be going much better, despite no one knowing the fate of the still missing King.

They also learn that numerous merchants are funding groups to combat the pirate/slaver issue on the Mer Kasp.

On night, in the bar, Gwedalyn got a Pixie-Fairy friend, Tywuelyn (Pixie Fairy Infiltrator), who became her side-kick.

With the world a bit calmer, they decided to check out the merchants hiring and sail to Akorros in Barthey for the most profitable jobs.

13th of HepDec 1135, Akorros, Barthey Empire.
The Trogs arrived in Akorros.

Most inquiries for employment led them to Arthur Highwright, a prominent merchant.  He had  lost a LOT of money recently, and was paying gobs of gold for experienced warriors to act as his guards. 

He was out of the city right, but was expected back soon, so the Trogs decided to enjoy the city while they waited for him. 

Zorin:  It looks like Akorros hasn't been touched by recent strife and the people are very friendly and the place seems like a major center

17th of HepDec 1135, Akorros.
On the fifth day of their stay, they travelled back to Highwright's office to check on his return. 

Some kind of ruckus was coming towards the city from the east.  The Trogs went back to the inn for their mount and tried to check it out.  While riding against the tide of fleeing townsfolk, they came upon two hill giants wrecking the place.  They were quickly slain, but Tywuelyn flew up above the buildings to see a HUGE army sacking the city.

Janus:  There are many goblin desert wolfriders flooding through the streets, we'll try to avoid them if we can,  Gwen says that there are about 100 of them.   We ended up fighting a group of 10.  One of the wolves rended my thigh grievously.  Blood is going everywhere.  Whitey staunched the bleeding, still going to need some bedrest or a better spell to get much better.

Now we've got some bugbears to deal with.  A spear came at me, I fell off my pony

The rest of the group beat the bugbears.  They woke me and strap me to the saddle of the pony.  We need to get out of this city and to somewhere safer.  We've gotten to the docks.

Zorin:  After riding around trying to find a way out of the town we came upon the mayor and reserve unit.  He put us under General Schlepprock.  He orders us to the docks to secure that area.

When we get to the docks everything is in chaos.  The General order us to secure a boat.  The boat heads out for Barthey City.

After a few hours, we come across the Barthey navy battling some pirates... (and giving us cover to escape).


Here we have the Burning Trogs acting practical.  Looking for practical employment (caravan duty) appropriate to their skill-set (mid level characters), looking to impress a potential employer who would probably give a small advance in good faith to ensure his caravan gets through. 

And I had to throw in a humanoid invasion. 

Writing up this actual play also forced me to make a decision as to where to place Akorros.   My fantasy geography originally failed by placing it as the nearest port Barthey City.  Unfortunately, I had already set up a smaller port two days hard ride from the capital when they complete the Desert Nomad storyline.   On top of that, there was no way a major humanoid army would make it across even half of Barthey, lawlessness and communication problems aside.  Akorros is officially located on the far northeast corner of Trebeizond very close to the border with the Parthian Empire.  Given the boat they seized to escape, it should not effect the timeline by too much.

But first, who is this General Schlepprock, why did he essentially use his command to secure a boat to escape, despite the Trogs initial successes (save Janus' injuries), and why did Zorin omit from the journal entry, an essential descriptive detail about the General?

Gnome-Titan, General Schlepprock.

Next:  #40  "General" Schlepprock

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