T w e n t y S i d e d

Thordek and Enoch explore the square. They walk over to the south gate, where the strange guards with the solid (eyeless) metal helmets stand. Enoch cannot sense anything evil or demonic about them.

Thordek shops, looking for better armor in the square or anything else he might find useful. He eventually orders a set of banded mail. They don’t have any ready to fit a Dwarf just now, but the smith can size a set for him. It will be done in two days.

As he looks around the shops, he sees a great number of soldiers assemble and lead Skeeve away, into the Keep.

Eomer goes shopping for the things he lost, including a lock-pick set and a compass. He starts trying to gather information, specifically about traveling papers.

Eomer ends up talking to a rough-looking guy at a “pawn” shop, who also sells “used” (probably stolen) items along with handy “Locksmith Tools”. This guy is obviously connected to the criminal side of the city. Eomer drops some coin and gets some information.

He learns that travel papers were instituted when northerners started “leaking” in. Ever since Fort Bolland fell, people have been showing up, telling various stories in an attempt to gain travel papers and go south where they might cause trouble or simply flee the island. The pawn shop owner “knows some guy” who can forge membership papers for the Mage’s Guild. This, Eomer gathers, is very difficult. Despite this he’s never made a counterfeit set of travel papers that worked. Somehow the soldiers always spot the fakes, and nobody can figure out how.

In the midst of discussing this he sees Skeeve pulled into the keep.

He also learns that papers are definitely needed for going south. If he needs some, he could go to the magistrate, who has been known to give foreigners travel papers. He also learns that in order to leave this island they will need to reach the southernmost city, which is the only major port still in operation. The other major port was Fort Boland, which was recently conquered and isn’t in any shape to engage in any sort of commerce just yet.

Finally, Eomer learns the address of a contact on the northern side of the city who is somehow connected with what is left of the resistance.

Once Skeeve emerges from the keep, the party (minus Beck) meets out front. Skeeve explains what is going on, and also stops at the tailor shop to see if the tailor was really making his robes.

Skeeve tries to convince them that the group should go see Noreeno quickly. They head to the keep, leaving Beck to sleep.

They return to Noreeno’s office. Noreeno introduces himself, and then explains the Zone of Truth again. Glamn casts it, and Noreeno begins his questions. He gets their names, makes sure they are not working for the Lormanites, and gets some background.

Finally he offers them a chance to ask him some questions, under the zone of truth.

Eomer asks Noreeno about his position as magistrate. The party has sort of sensed that Noreeno’s loyalties are a bit out of alignment with the Alidians, and he seems to be willing to work against them. Noreeno explains that he was appointed magistrate by the Queen when the city fell a year ago.

“Queen who?”, Thu’fir asks.

Noreeno is surprised, “Queen Alidia. Our leader. Anyway, she appointed me to this position when we took over the city. I’ve run it since then. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I have my own agenda. My loyalties lie not with the Alidians or the Lormanites, but elsewhere. I have my own goals, which is why I’m asking for the services of outsiders like yourselves.”

Eomer asks about Endo. Noreeno hasn’t heard the name, but when Eomer describes a large bald monk with tattoos on his chest Noreeno’s eyes light up. “So! You know him?”

Noreeno explains that yes, Endo was here. Endo was caught trying to sneak around the town. They managed to capture him,but not until he managed to kill several guards. He stood his ground so that his companion might escape. Noreeno then asks the party who Endo was traveling with.

When they explain that they don’t know he is very irritated.

He then returns to the subject of the job he has for them. He can’t discuss the particulars of the job in town, but he admits that the job is dangerous, but he wouldn’t ask them to do it if he didn’t think they could pull it off. This job must be done by outsiders. In exchange for this job, he offers them six sets of travel papers, a membership to the Mage’s Guild for Skeeve, and information on where they can find Endo.

Eomer asks what Endo was trying to do. Noreen explains that he doesn’t know. He’d wanted to interrogate Endo himself, but the Alidian soldiers took him south directly without giving Noreeno a chance to intervene.

They talk a bit more. Eomer and Noreeno make another side deal: If Eomer can find out who Endo’s companion is, Noreeno will reveal how they spot fake travel papers.

Noreeno reveals that he can’t describe more about the job while in town. He points out Vale Calma on their map, and gives them a location where they should meet him, at dawn, in two days.

Eomer asks about the soldiers in masks. Noreeno replies that they are the Queen’s elite guard. They take orders from her only and he has no idea how.

He then asks, “What is the Queen like”?

“She is quite vicious. Everybody who rules over this island has to be vicious. Anyone who isn’t, won’t rule long.”

They ask if it this job they have to do is immoral. Noreeno replies, “It depends on who you ask. Certainly if you ask people in town they will think it is immoral.”

Thu’fir asks about horses. Noreeno says they are hard to come by, even for him.

They bid each other good day and the party leaves.

Thordek returns to the smith and asks if he could have the armor done tomorrow. He drops in an extra 46 gold and the smith promises it by tomorrow noon.

As evening approaches, Eomer heads to the north side of town, stealthily, to someone who is a member of the Lormanite resistance. The place is in a shabby house, around the back, past the pigs, and down the steps to the root cellar. A kid in his 20’s seems to run the place. He is scarred and shifty. He seems to be running a safe-house of some sort, where fugitives from the north might hide. Eomer begins bribing information out of him.

The kid talks a lot, lies a lot, is distrusting and untrustworthy. Nevertheless, Eomer manages to drag a good deal of information from him. He learns the following:

• The Monk (presumably Endo, although he never gave his name) was here a few days ago. He was with some skinny kid in his late teens. They hid for a day and headed south.
• Endo seemed to know all the passwords and locations of resistance members, even though he is a foreigner here, and isn’t the sort to get involved in politics or wars like this.
• The location where they will meet Noreeno is known to have a lot of ruins.

Eomer returns to the Inn. They have a free day to spend in town, and then they must head off to Vale Calma to meet with Magistrate Noreeno and find out what job he has for them…

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

It’s morning. All were up late and trickle into the tavern around nine. Beck is very hung over. Eomer explains what he saw. He wants them to split up, try to get papers, try to find out about Endo. He explains about the soldiers with the helmets and asks the cleric to see what he can discover about them.

They break up to go to work, and Beck goes back to bed. Skeeve heads to a tailor and requests a fancy robe with his insignia, trying to get gossip in the meantime. His old robe is burned and damaged from acid, and he needs to replace it. The shopkeeper is very free with the gossip, telling Skeeve all sorts of gossip about people in the Bazaar, but not relating anything interesting or useful to their quest.

The shopkeeper tells him that a 10% discount is available for members of the mage’s guild. Skeeve produces the membership they recovered from Vormoth.

The tailor is very receptive but is disconcerted by the name on the membership. He promises to have this ready as soon as possible. He is suddenly going out of his way to get the order done quickly. He promises the robe will be done by afternoon, not tomorrow as he said earlier.

Skeeve is unnerved by this. He’s worried that Vormoth is famous, and the shopkeeper has spotted him as an impostor. Skeeve tips him 30g, trying to get him not to say anything about who he is.

Skeeve leaves the shop and looks for a place where someone might be interested in the staff. He finds a small place with lots of fancy canes and sticks, most without magic. The large man behind the counter is nodding a bit. Skeeve hands him the staff and he notices that this is a Lormanite staff. He explains that the Lormanites (the wizards up north) used to make staffs all pointy and evil like this. He pays 500 gold for it. As he is handed the money, Skeeve sees a shadow fall on either side of him. The shop keeper backs away. Skeeve wonders who has just stepped up behind him, but it must be someone imposing. Activity has more or less stopped all around, and the usual chatter of the area has stopped.

“Conjurer Vormoth”, comes a voice of authority from behind him.

He slowly turns around and sees a huge group of soldiers. Two full groups of soldiers (fourteen total) have spread themselves out behind him. They stand in such a way that no fireball could hit more than three of them and Skeeve could not draw a line from himself that intersects with more than one soldier. Apparently these men are familiar with fireballs and lightning bolts, and have dealt with wizards before.

Nevertheless, the men look worried. They all have their hands on their swords. Several of the younger men look like they may piss themselves.

Skeeve now realizes the shopkeeper didn’t think he was a fake: These people really do think he’s Vormoth, and are treating him like a very dangerous threat.

The commander speaks again, “Come now Vormoth. You don’t want to start trouble here with all of these people about. Be reasonable and come along with us.”

Skeeve waves his arm saying, “No, no, no. You misunderstand. I am not…”

As he waved his arm, the men flinch, as if expecting a blow. He can see there is really no good way out of this, so he agrees to go with them. They lead him (without laying a hand on him or disrespecting him) over to the keep, and up to the magistrate on the second floor.

Magistrate Noreeno shuts the door behind him. The office of Magistrate Noreeno is large and elegantly furnished. There is a large bookshelf on one side of the room, filled with a variety of books. There is a set of double doors, (which are open at the moment) which lead out onto a balcony overlooking the merchant’s square. Wind blows gently in, stirring the curtains while voices from the square drift in from below.

A stout cleric stand beside the desk, and two soldiers are posted in the door, guarding the door. The other soldiers return to their rounds, looking relieved.

Noreeno is surprised, “You are not conjurer Vormoth.”

“No, I’m not”, Skeeve admits.

The Magistrate rolls his eyes, “I just had a terrified shopkeeper in here telling me stories about how he’d just seen Vormoth here in town.”

“Yes, I used his mage’s guild membership. To get a discount.”

“How did you come by the guild membership for Conjurer Vormoth?”

Skeeve shrugs, “Well, I killed him.”

Noreeno is very impressed by this, “Killed him? I see. Well, well done. I assume you’re here for the reward?”

Skeeve pauses for a moment, and then answers, “Yes. That’s why I’m here.”

Noreeno replies, “I see. Well, in that case I just need to ask you a few questions. Just as a formality you understand. This won’t take long. So, while we talk, Galman is going to make sure neither of us can tell a lie. Then I’m going to ask you some questions. “

Galman the Cleric casts Zone of Truth.

“First question. Now, I can tell the answer to this just by looking at you, but I have to ask anyway: Are you with the northern army, the Lormanites?”

“No.”

“Of course not. Are you employed by them? Gathering information? Mercenary? Spy?”

“Nope.”

“Ever in the past?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so. I just had to ask, you understand. Just routine. Next question….”

“Okay.”

“Ever killed any Alidian soldiers?”

“Um. Yes?”

Noreeno becomes very stern. The Soldiers at the door looked angry. There is a long moment before Noreeno speaks again. He turns to the soldiers at the door, “Gentlemen, would you please leave us alone for now?”

The guards smile and leave. It is a safe guess that Noreeno is about to dispense a little off-the-books justice and wants them out of the room.

Once the door is shut Noreeno turns to Skeeve. “I don’t care.”

He elaborates, “It’s a shame they heard you say that of course, but no harm done. I don’t care if you killed soldiers getting here. I’m sure you didn’t provoke them?”

“No.”

“Of course not.” At this point Noreeno has Skeeve tell about the fight, how it started, and where it happened. He seems satisfied once he’s heard it. “This is not a big deal. Let’s just continue with the questions. How many people are you travelling with?”

Skeeve doesn’t want to tell him, but he can’t lie and doesn’t want to refuse to answer, “Six.”

“Very good. You’ve done good work, and despite the unfortunate run-in with our forces, you’ve done the Alidian army a great service. You’re entitle to the reward. You earned it.”

Noreeno then hands Skeeve 2000g.

Noreeno then tells Skeeve that he is in charge of issuing Travel Papers. He offers six sets of travel papers if Skeeve and his party will do a job for him. He asks that Skeeve find his friends and bring them in.

Skeeve agrees. They bid one another good day. As Skeeve leaves, Noreeno calls in the captain. He gives instructions that Skeeve and his friends are free to travel the city but they are not allowed to go south.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

They are north of Crossway, standing on the wooded hills looking down on the city. They can see the city is guarded by a massive wall to the south, but on this side they can easily slip in.

They watch the movement below as they discuss how to enter unseen. They know this city is controlled by the Alidians. They want to avoid the attention of the soldiers. Last time they met Alidian soldiers was in the wild. The soldiers demanded to see the party’s travel papers (which they didn’t have) and then assumed they were mercenaries. A battle ensued. Although they won that battle, the odds would surely be against them here in town with hundreds of soldiers about.

They know they must not attract attention. With their backpacks, they will stick out quite a bit in the crowd. Their armor and weapons will make them even more conspicuous.

Eomer plans to go into town to test things out. He wants to wait until dark and hide in the shadows, but the others think they have a better chance if they just hide in the crowd during the day. They debate for a while on the merits of each plan. Finally they decide to separate and slip in among the crowd, since traveling in a group would certainly attract attention. Eomer points out a large tower on the south side of the city. They agree to meet in front of the tower if all goes well.

Enoch and Thordek enter together. They develop a cover story where Enoch is a traveling healer and Thordek is his bodyguard. Eomer and Beck will also enter together. The other two will follow seperately.

This city is a hub of activity. The north side of the city is the housing district. Narrow, winding streets snake between the rows of small homes. On the southern side of the city is the shopping bazaar. It is a large circle of shops situated near the tavern. There is a large stone keep overlooking the shopping district. The south side of the city is guarded by a massive wall with a single wide gate, which stands open during the day. A score of Alidian soldiers stands watch at the southern gate.

They melt into the crowd easily as they slip into town one at a time. Nobody gives them any trouble.

Eomer and Beck work their way through the masses, which, as they get closer to the square, seem to be pushing away from the market toward the outlying houses . The market is beginning to empty as the people start heading towards home. Eomer finds that the keep where they are all heading to is covered with Ailidian soldiers. This is their base of power in the city, and the party has agreed to make it their meeting point! He waits for the rest outside the market rather than head to the keep.

Thordek and Enoch walk into town together. It is late afternoon, and by now many businesses are closing. The crowd is moving against them as it is moving towards the houses to the north and away from the businesses to the south. They see the keep as they walk through the square. The people here are mostly closing up shop. They make their way to the keep which is crawling with soldiers. They decide to head over to the church nearby. Enoch does his cleric thing, praying to Pelor.

Eomer spots them as they enter the church and decides this is the new meeting point. As the other members of the party approach, he silently indicates they should head there.

Eomer and Beck watch the soldiers at the gate as they wait for the rest. One group of soldiers marches out from the gate and relieves the group there. They note six scattered soldiers different from the rest, not being relieved from duty, wearing plain heavy armor. These soldiers do not move. Their helmets are solid metal, with no holes for eyes. The fronts of the helmets are stamped with the now-familiar symbol of the Alidian army:

The other soldiers seem very well organized as well. They travel in groups of 7. They do not spend time chatting or sitting around. They walk the streets alert and ready for action. People seem to give the soldiers a lot of room.

Once the rest of the party has assembled in the church, Eomer and Beck join them. They share their observations about the city and discuss their next move. Skeeve notes that one of the guards in any group always has a magical aura around him.

Thordek and Enoch will continue traveling together, sticking with the cover story they developed. Beck suddenly announces that he also has a cover story:

“I’m the new drunk in town. And I’m going to get started on my cover story right now.” He then marches over to the tavern and does exactly that.

Skeeve takes a room. The rest of them secure rooms at the inn. As evening draws in, they get meals and Thu’fir goes to the tavern to keep an eye on Beck. He seems to be a quiet drunk and doesn’t cause any trouble.

They all have the first nice bed they have had in a long time. Thu’fir wanders to the tavern and listens carefully, hearing nothing of interest.

Enoch spends the evening working on translating his book. He manages to translate the next section.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

The night passes, Thu’fir doesn’t notice anything. Skeeve wakes and Thu’fir goes to sleep. In the late morning Skeeve hears some noise around them, to the northeast. The sound comes closer then stops. He suggests to Eomer when he wakes that they might be being followed.

Morning comes, they eat quickly and set out early. They head southwest and come upon a pond. It is directly in their line of travel but is small enough that they can go around it without losing much time. They note a stink in the air. The musky smell doesn’t seem to be coming from the water, which seems wholesome enough. Skeeve skips a rock across the pond.

They hear a crashing in the woods about 50 yards behind them. They can see treetops swaying in the wake of something large headed their way. They decide to walk across the water. Enoch casts water walking again, and five of the party members begin running over the still surface of the pond.

Skeeve wants to stay and see what this thing is. He considers climbing a tree, thinks better of it, and instead jumps into a good covering bush.

An Ettin emerges from the woods. The massive creature stands at nearly fourteen feet tall. In one hand he holds a massive club, which is itself longer than any of the party members. He screams at them in some incomprehensible speech. Once it realizes it cannot catch them, it turns away in disgust. Pouting, it smacks a nearby tree with its club, nearly uprooting it.

The Ettin starts sniffing. It smells something nearby. Skeeve casts fly and soars out of the bushes, heading for the other side of the pond.

The Ettin is enraged by this. He is on the opposite side of the water from them now, and making all kinds of angry noises at them and standing in the mud. Skeeve drops a fireball on his head and angers him more. They have a laugh at him and move on.

Thu’fir explains to them that the Ettin was not likely following them, but that they had stumbled into his territory.

They can now either go south west where it is more open or go south which is a little more tangled. They choose the way that is more open. They head south from here. The land here is more open and they are making excellent time. They eventually come to an open, treeless field. A stream divides the field in two. Across the stream they see another Ettin. They decide to go around, rather than getting into a fight with the beast.

They travel a bit more south. As they move into late afternoon they come across a major city, obviously Crossway.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.

I’ve noticed this week that it is taking a long time to get the notes from the previous session translated. I predict this is be a regular thing. We have our D&D sessions on Sunday nights. By the time the session is over, it’s too late to get started on the notes. During the week I spend my evenings on the next session. Heather is busy as well, so in many cases we may not have the notes up until the following Saturday.

Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.