The Red Crow is a custom campaign created for Solasta by Artyoan. It is set in the same world, and begins in the eastern Snow Alliance around the same time as the Wildlings were having their adventures in the Lost Valley and The Hero and the Kat were treking to the Northern Alliance. The Company of the Crooked Coin has just completed their first mission together, and has gone to the Roaming Boar Tavern to celebrate.
Its always the unexpected that gets you. Marcus had long since grown accustomed to taking the twists and turns of Fate in stride – always trying to take advantage of them rather than wasting energy fighting them. But this… this was a bit much.
It had all started so well! They had ended a bandit gang, outed a corrupt mayor, received a good reward, and made it through it all as a completely green party unscathed. So they decided to celebrate their success at the local tavern – the Roaming Boar.
It was a good night. Too good. None of them remembered quite how it had gone. But they all remembered waking up in the morning. Face down in the ashes of the burnt out husk of the former tavern. Thankfully no-one seemed to have been hurt. But they were arrested. Jailed. And unable to mount a credible defense because they had no memory of what might have actually happened..
In prison they were only given one alternative to imprisonment. The Snow Alliance was at war with Gallivan. Able-bodied combatants were desperately needed. “Volunteer” for a year of service, and they could work off their sentence. So off they were sent to Old Worthon Point – a mustering crossroads of sorts. There they would meet a dwarf named Gunthik, who would be their commander until they were released from service.
It could be worse, thought Marcus, as they began their journey. There was certainly plenty of chaos and opportunity in a war zone. The others didn’t have *quite* the same attitude to the situation.
At the crossing they found a small military camp, where they met a few of the other “recruits” and were introduced to Gunthik.
Gunthik was *very* clear that he would tolerate no slacking or insubordination. He didn’t care whether it was murder, theft, or insanity that brought you into his service. Just that you did as you were told without “regressing to old habits”.
In order to take their measure, he wanted them to accomplish two tasks in this area. Once they had completed those to his satisfaction, they would be continuing on to operate in the nearby city of Valenskald.
First, there was a gang of bandits operating near the area at Bhorn’s Crossing, accosting travellers. His scouts had seen at least six, but there could easily be more. These were to be dispatched, in any manner of their choosing. They could take a few other recruits with them, or remain operating as a squad of four. That was an easy decision for Marcus. He already had some idea how his company worked together, but did not know and had little reason to trust the other “recruits” just yet. He would prefer to get to know them better before relying upon them in combat.
The second task was to retrieve a ceremonial sword from Bhorn’s tomb – somewhere down in an old, abandoned borrows complex nearby. Marcus questioned ransacking old burial chambers, but Gunthik told him that nobody had bothered maintaining the place for centuries, there were ceremonial swords all over down there, and shouldn’t be more than the odd skeleton or two at worst inside.
The bandits turned out to be a relatively straightforward. They had a fortified encampment not too far off the main road, and were on the lookout for merchant caravans and not stealthy assault patrols.
Bjorn rushed in to attract to the attention on the ground, with Tiana hitting from the side as he drew heat.
Marcus and Shea picked off snipers from behind.
They found a note on the leader from a man named Ridley directing them to step up operations “so they could be a proper guild”. It also mentioned meeting at a rendezvous spot in Valenskald. Marcus pocketed this information to show to Gunthik later.
Back at camp Gunthik was pleased with their success so far, but reminded them they had only finished half the job. As they were replenishing supplies and preparing to sleep for the night, they were approached by a mousy dwarven woman named Penelo. Penelo said she was a historic researcher who had been chased out of Born’s tomb by unexpected zombies. She said she would pay well if they could recover her notebook, and may be able to give them some assisstance if they couldn’t find what they needed in the barrows.
The entrance to the barrows turned out to be blocked by an odd assortment of bears, ravens, and a Dryad. It was not at all clear why they were preventing entry to the barrows, but they had to get through.
Inside was old, musty, and as advertised occupied with roaming skeletons and zombies. And, contrary to Gunthik’s assurances, these were not the simple odd skeleton. Skeletal warriors. Ghouls. A zombie Ogre. Even a skeletal sorcerer at one point. But no ceremonial swords. So they pressed on.
In one area they found an oddly well preserved marker for someone named Ivaro. When Marcus brushed away the dust for a closer look, a spectral wolf appeared! Looking expectant and with every bit the demeanor and attitude of an overgrown pet. They weren’t sure what to make of it, but it seemed friendly enough and followed them as they continued exploring.
They eventually found Penelo’s notes, near an ominous door that refused to open. They felt a cold chill and heard what sounded like a woman’s voice keening behind the door…. and decided that perhaps they didn’t need to look *too* carefully right here right now.
Continued exploration led to the discovery that further progress was blocked by locked doors. Shea attempted to work past the mechanisms, but she said they were more than simple locks and she wasn’t sure what might be activated by attempting to bypass them. So they returned to Penelo to see if she could help out in return for her notes.
Penelo was overjoyed to get her notes back, and in return gave them a skeleton key which she said opened *most* of the doors in the tombs that she had tried it with. She thanked them and hurried off to return to the city with her notes. They spent another night at camp, determined to press on and complete their trial the next day.
The key did, in fact, open a door to allow them to progress further down towards what they assumed was Bhorn’s tomb. They met a ghostly warrior guarding a particularly fine entryway. He seemed confused and only half able to communicate, and rambled confusingly about a priestess setting them long ago to watch for a Red Crow as part of a ritual. Marcus tried talking the spirit into believing it had already fulfilled its mission. It looked hesitant and confused, but allowed them to pass.
Unfortunately, in the tomb beyond were a number of other foes not so easily dismissed. Skeletal warriors, spectral warriors, a skeleton sorcerer, and a Mummy!
Ivaro dived into the fray right along with them, proving essentially immune to the specters’ ghostly touch while still occupying their attention.
Fortunately Shea soon discovered that Mummies are, in point of fact, remarkably flammable. And she went to town as Tiana danced and dodged keeping it occupied.
When they approached the main sarcophagus after the battle, Ivaro grew excited and wagged his tail. He gave Tiana one final spectral lick before happily dissolving in front of the coffin – apparently at his master’s side once again.
As advertised, it was not difficult to find a rusty ceremonial sword in the tomb. But as they took it they heard the sound of a door opening elsewhere in the tomb. They carefully made their way to the sound, only to meet an un-nerving elven man calling himself Cerulean. He was apparently the head of House Emberheart – an elven craftsman guild. He briefly spoke with them about the tomb and their purpose there. As to his own reasons for being there, he merely said “curiosity”. He seemed to already know they were headed to Valenskald, and asked them to deliver a letter for him there in a tavern. He paid well, so they saw little reason not to oblige.
Gunthik gruffly acknowledged their success when they reported back, and was surprised to hear how much stiffer the opposition in the tomb had been to what he had indicated. He said as recently as a a few months ago his scouts had found it largely empty, or he would not have sent them inside. He had heard of Cerulean, but had never met the man in person. He had no objection to their delivering the letter. At any rate, their initiation a success he told them to rest up for the night and then they would continue on to Valenskald in the morning.
They all wondered what lay in store for them there.
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