Session #1

 

Our first session of the campaign was structured around Sigrun and Agnir’s move to the Giantdowns.  We used a GM emulator to structure the adventure and give us basic clues to what was happening and when.  The Castles and Crusades core books provided greater detail on the encounters through the use of random monster tables, treasure, and XP gained.  Anything not governed by those two elements was decided on by the two players.  It was a short session done over three hours while preparing dinner.

The weather was unseasonably warm the week of the journey; perhaps why Agnir and Sigrun decided it was time to travel.  The family, six freeman farm workers, and our two heroes gathered up their belongings to make the journey.  Three wagons were packed to the brim with tools and supplies, but most of the party made the trip on foot with the livestock.  The caravan set out early in the morning, traveling East a short distance through Romiene Province before turning south once they crossed into Hidaele Province. 

Romiene and Hidaele are covered in moors with few settlements.  The people here are mostly Anurian (human subtype), descendants of the colonist that came with Roele when he sought to conquer the Rjurik kingdoms.  They are a hardy people but distrustful of outsiders and they chose to remain hidden from the Rjurik caravan making its way south and east.

The caravan found a deserted campsite around mid-day.  Nothing of value remained and it was too early in the day to rest so the party moved on.  Late in the afternoon, one of the farm hands discovered a discarded pack near the side of the road.  There appeared to have been a brief struggle and tracks led off to a group of rocks nearby.  The pack contained food, water, some cooking utensils, and bedding.  The only interesting item within the pack is a letter agreeing to provide supplies and support as outlined in a previous letter.  The names and signatures on the letter are unknown to our heroes, so it is placed to the side as our heroes go looking for the owner.

The trail led straight to the monster’s den nestled within a rocky outcropping a short distance from the trail.  A group of five Giant Spiders ambushed the traveler and dragged him back for cocooning.  He’s no longer alive, but the spiders were not ready to give up their meal and attacked our heroes.  In the confined space, Ingvar used his shield to great advantage to protect himself and the druid.  Kaya used her Magic Stones spell to dispatch several of the spiders, before switching to her spear and killing a fourth.  Ignvar killed the last with his broadsword, but both heroes succumbed to the effects of poison after the final spider is slain.  They laid paralyzed but otherwise healthy until Agnir finds them an hour later. 

Agnir stopped the caravan for the day to let our heroes rest and recover.  Sigrun tended to the wounded while the farm hands settled the animals in for the evening.  Agnir’s trepidation on moving to the Giantdowns deepened, and he donned his armor.  He spent a restless night awake and looking for danger.  Agnir knows that in the morning the party will be in the Giant’s Fastness – the last province in Dhosone before the Giantdowns.

A late morning start gave the heroes some additional rest.  On their eastward journey, they spotted another abandoned campsite.  It seemed that our party was following someone else – maybe the traveling companions of the man killed by the spiders.  All that’s lost when the trail terminated at a ravine with a broken bridge.  The ravine was shallow enough to get the humans and the livestock across, but not the wagons.  Rather than looking for a different crossing site, Agnir directed the team to repair the bridge.  It will took the party the rest of the day to do so.  While they are repairing the bridge, another party appeared on the opposite side traveling west.

A Rjurik family of settlers fleeing from the Giantdowns appeared on the West side of the ravine.  A few days ago their homestead was attacked by Gnolls.  They sought safety with another family close by only to be attacked again.  They chose to flee westward to Dhosone to seek help and get away from the fighting.  The news increased Agnir’s anxiety, but it was too late to turn back.  By now, Lief Stoutspear’s sons know that Agnir abandoned his farm and his chieftain.  Lief’s sons and Ryurik tradition will not look kindly to that decision.  The Giantdowns still remains the lesser of two evils, and so the party will camp here for the evening. 

Around midmorning the caravan crossed the bridge and into Lemnjohen province in the Giantdowns.  Not long after arriving, the party was attacked by a Gnoll tracking party.  Two Gnolls were killed quickly by Kara, a third was killed by Ignvar, and the fourth one fled.  With in minutes, a frightened Rjurik youth emerged from behind a rock.  The Gnolls had been pursuing him for the last few days.  He is from Bjorlangen, like the party encountered the previous day, and tells the story of how the families and farms there were overrun from the North by the White Witch’s army.  The settlers were forced south into the barrows to escape the raiders.  Many Rjurik families are still trapped there, unable to flee farther south into Elven lands or East to Midjarna province.  He pleads for help and Ignvar and Kaya promised to do what they can to rescue those families.  Agnir pushed the caravan to resume its journey, and the youth chose to travel with them.

In the late afternoon the party arrived at Old Fort Lemjohen.  A party of 6 skeletons attack them.  In a spirited fight, Kaya and Ignvar defeated the ancient dead.  Sigrun believes these dead warriors are from the Barrows to the south.  The arms and armor are neither Anurian nor Rjurik but something much older.  Among the artifacts the skeletons were carrying was an Expertly Crafted Spear.  Even after centuries entombed with its previous owner, it has a keen edge and balance.  Kaya took possession of the spear as she prefers to use one in battle.

The Old Fort lemjohen gates were barred and soldiers posted to the walls.  Ignvar asked to speak to the fort’s commander, but the sergeant refused.  Rebuked, the party decides to find Sigrun’s childhood home.  Near dark out, they stumble onto to the remains of the farm.  It’s comprised of some rotting timber buildings and a few overgrown sodden structures.  There’s a well, and it’s in a surprisingly good state of repair.  It will take a few months, but the farm can be brought back to life.  Wearily, our party settles in for the night and we end the session.