The Village of Herensk, Barony of Willip, Kingdom of Ras-Prythax
To His Lordship, the Viscount Wilfrick of Verbobonc,
After many days travel, I have finally exceeded the boundaries of your domain!
Thanks the fine logistics of Herr Grassl, the merchant I wrote of previously, we have safely arrived in Willip.
I expected the borderlands with dreaded Wyrmnal to have a more distinct line of demarcation, but all I can see are rolling farmland and the occasional copse of woods.
My issue of fraudulent toll collectors has been resolved by an overwhelming response by the Church of Akana, holy and righteous do they extend law and order across the Barony. In fact, high priests ardently execute the duties of religious leaders and magistrates, priests make up the bulk of the military, with a few select paladins and properly decorated holy warriors serving as officers.
Baron Xanthan Butrain does rule over the day-to-day affairs of his people, but the Church administrates all duties related to the protection of the northern border. The caravans wares were inspected and makeshift manifest scrutinized so no weapons would leave the Ras-Prythax to aid the northern heathens.
Herr Grassl has hired an additional six armed guards for entering Wyrmnal, raising the total to thirteen, if I'm so inclined to include my unpaid and untested skills to the roster.
With a clean inspection by the priests, we departed Willip for parts north. We encountered fewer and fewer clerical patrols, and it was not until a half-day's travel past a village called Herensk that one of the new caravan guards, a wiry fellow named Hardox, informed me that we were already well within the borders of the Wyrmnal.
If he had not said that to me, the three javelins piercing the side of his horse would have granted me the clarity of the situation. Hardox's horse fell over, dead, pinning Hardox beneath its body. The raiders threw another barrage of ill-aimed javelins and charged down the hill.
I ask his Lordship not to inform Master Mork, my riding instructor, that upon the first instinct to dismount and protect the caravan (and the helpless Hardox, I feel head over heels off of my horse, Mary, and landed poorly on my shoulder. Upon regaining my composure, I noticed most of the other guards were firing crossbows at the raiders at point-blank range before engaging in melee.
Without any such support around me, I moved in front of Mary, ducked under wild sword swing, and ran my sword across the marauder's stomach. He was doubled over in pain when I struck him in the back with a blow so hard I could hear some sort of bone break. I raced back over to Hardox and slew yet another attacker with a lucky strike that pierced his piece-meal armor.
Within just a few short moments, the attackers fled back from whence they came. Hardox was rescued from beneath his horse, given a swig of some liquid that allowed him incredible recovery, and was forced to be one of the walking guards for the remainder of my stay with the caravan.
The other guards, who all believed I was a clueless traveler, are now convinced that I am some travelling sellsword.
While I am amazed with the alacrity I could take the lives of two viscious men, I am grateful that my two acts of murder are considered necessary under the defense of commerce.
I fear it will not be my last defense in these lands.
Your Servant,
Elsderth Millbottom
GM Notes: The trip to Wyrmnal for Elsderth will take a bit longer than first expected. This portion of the world is one that I barely explored 30 years ago, and with the transition to a new map in 2001, I have not properly documented this area since.
Fans of Greyhawk might know of Willip as a port on the Nyr Dyv. However, in my "new" Epic of Aerth world map, Willip takes the place of a Hamburg without the benefit of the Elbe. The VerWillip is a lazy, shallow, but navigable river that works west to a narrow port in the Duchy of Markovia.
With that fact changed, and an odd theocratic judicial system, it's only proper to have the State Church (Akana) protecting the borders against the vikings of Wyrmnal.
As I'm writing this to fill in the blanks for a campaign that finished long-long ago, with a new NPC as a narrator, it is only fitting to note that I used Meatshields to generate Hardox and the five new guards, if I need them later on.
I also made a few rolls for Elsderth. To get off the horse? A one, which I realized after the story was written was GREAT for skill rolls in 2nd Edition. Those 5e games are getting to me!
Next: #5 - Entering Wyrmnal
To His Lordship, the Viscount Wilfrick of Verbobonc,
After many days travel, I have finally exceeded the boundaries of your domain!
Thanks the fine logistics of Herr Grassl, the merchant I wrote of previously, we have safely arrived in Willip.
I expected the borderlands with dreaded Wyrmnal to have a more distinct line of demarcation, but all I can see are rolling farmland and the occasional copse of woods.
My issue of fraudulent toll collectors has been resolved by an overwhelming response by the Church of Akana, holy and righteous do they extend law and order across the Barony. In fact, high priests ardently execute the duties of religious leaders and magistrates, priests make up the bulk of the military, with a few select paladins and properly decorated holy warriors serving as officers.
 |
| High Lord Gregory Harkorn is the highest ranking military official in Willip, reporting only to the Archbishop, and, on some days, Baron Xanthan. |
Herr Grassl has hired an additional six armed guards for entering Wyrmnal, raising the total to thirteen, if I'm so inclined to include my unpaid and untested skills to the roster.
With a clean inspection by the priests, we departed Willip for parts north. We encountered fewer and fewer clerical patrols, and it was not until a half-day's travel past a village called Herensk that one of the new caravan guards, a wiry fellow named Hardox, informed me that we were already well within the borders of the Wyrmnal.
If he had not said that to me, the three javelins piercing the side of his horse would have granted me the clarity of the situation. Hardox's horse fell over, dead, pinning Hardox beneath its body. The raiders threw another barrage of ill-aimed javelins and charged down the hill.
I ask his Lordship not to inform Master Mork, my riding instructor, that upon the first instinct to dismount and protect the caravan (and the helpless Hardox, I feel head over heels off of my horse, Mary, and landed poorly on my shoulder. Upon regaining my composure, I noticed most of the other guards were firing crossbows at the raiders at point-blank range before engaging in melee.
Without any such support around me, I moved in front of Mary, ducked under wild sword swing, and ran my sword across the marauder's stomach. He was doubled over in pain when I struck him in the back with a blow so hard I could hear some sort of bone break. I raced back over to Hardox and slew yet another attacker with a lucky strike that pierced his piece-meal armor.
Within just a few short moments, the attackers fled back from whence they came. Hardox was rescued from beneath his horse, given a swig of some liquid that allowed him incredible recovery, and was forced to be one of the walking guards for the remainder of my stay with the caravan.
The other guards, who all believed I was a clueless traveler, are now convinced that I am some travelling sellsword.
While I am amazed with the alacrity I could take the lives of two viscious men, I am grateful that my two acts of murder are considered necessary under the defense of commerce.
I fear it will not be my last defense in these lands.
Your Servant,
Elsderth Millbottom
GM Notes: The trip to Wyrmnal for Elsderth will take a bit longer than first expected. This portion of the world is one that I barely explored 30 years ago, and with the transition to a new map in 2001, I have not properly documented this area since.
Fans of Greyhawk might know of Willip as a port on the Nyr Dyv. However, in my "new" Epic of Aerth world map, Willip takes the place of a Hamburg without the benefit of the Elbe. The VerWillip is a lazy, shallow, but navigable river that works west to a narrow port in the Duchy of Markovia.
With that fact changed, and an odd theocratic judicial system, it's only proper to have the State Church (Akana) protecting the borders against the vikings of Wyrmnal.
As I'm writing this to fill in the blanks for a campaign that finished long-long ago, with a new NPC as a narrator, it is only fitting to note that I used Meatshields to generate Hardox and the five new guards, if I need them later on.
I also made a few rolls for Elsderth. To get off the horse? A one, which I realized after the story was written was GREAT for skill rolls in 2nd Edition. Those 5e games are getting to me!
Next: #5 - Entering Wyrmnal
No comments:
Post a Comment