In which our heroes find themselves forced to pick sides far earlier than they had intended…
So they had several missions on their plate, and decided to do a little strategic planning:
Steal package for the Rebellion
Rescue a prisoner for Priestess Reya
Raise a flag over an outpost for the “mystery crew”
Track down the missing Giants
Meet the leader of the Forge in their swamp base.
The mission to steal the package for the Rebellion was close and easy. In return Sima told them that the “mystery group” was a new faction, recently started, with a foreign/outside influence. She suspected that Marin Ving was involved with them. It wasn’t much of a clue. But it was something. Her next task involved “eliminating” a government Spy named “Charmer” that she claimed had infiltrated the Forge. Hmm. They’d have to see for themselves what they thought of “Charmer”.They didn’t have a lot of leads on the Giants, so they figured they’d continue with their rounds and then see if any leads turned up. They hadn’t been to the swamp yet, so they decided to head there, meet the leader of the Forge, and see if there were any signs of the missing giants while they were there.
They immediately stumbled upon a makeshift Orc outpost at the entrance to the swamp – apparently intent on waylaying travellers. Will figured it would be a show of good faith to the Forge to clear them out, and so they ambushed the Orc ambush.The leader of the Forge turned out to be a half-elf named Hasdrubal, who had taken to living in the swamp due to half-elves being decidedly unwelcome in the City. He seemed a decent enough sort – straightforward and to-the-point. He thanked them for dealing with the Orc bandits, and invited them to look around the camp for a bit before coming back to discuss potential jobs.They investigated Charmer – the potential spy they had been sent after. He gave nothing away in speaking, but when Will snuck off to look through his things he found a Dominion Officer’s signet ring in his belongings. Showing this to Hadbrubal was sufficient for him to have Charmer taken prisoner and order an investigation.Looking around further, they noted a very large palisade in the back of the outpost. When they approached to see what that was about, the guards told them to “stay way from the prisoner”. Prisoner? Singular? Then Dawn noticed a huge face peeking out. The Forge had a giant as a prisoner! They immediately protested to Hasdrubal, and he said the giant was a “raider” they had caught skulking outside the fort. He did allow them to speak with the giant, upon which they discovered he was one of Marduk’s missing kinsman! Hasdrubal was skeptical, but agreed that if they vouched for the giants behavior they would be allowed to escort him home.Marduk was overjoyed to see his lost friend, and after briefly speaking with him told them more of the story. It seems the giants had all escaped from someone called “The Maker” who had given them “Bad Medicine” and the “Bad Place”. Apparently some of the giants had been attacked by forces working for “The Maker” attempting to re-capture them. Will strongly suspected that this “Bad Medicine” was why these hill giants were particularly thoughtful, talkative and prone to trade… relative to most of their kind. They promised they would look for the “Bad Place” and try to find and rescue the other giants.
Next they travelled to the outpost named where Cafrain had wanted them to switch out the flag. It turned out to be a small outpost manned by ~ten soldiers . But Will was pretty sure if they waited until Dusk he could get in, swap the flag, and get out without being seen. He snuck in without issue, as at home in the dark as ever. And that’s when everything went sideways.
As Will was climbing the observation tower, he heard angry voices. He stopped to look in a window, and what he saw made his blood boil. Several guards were alternately interrogating and beating a woman in rags. All thoughts of consequences went out the window. Will shot a fire arrow into the air as a signal to the others, and then the Sting in the Twilight went to War.The torches in the room went out, and before they could even register what was happening the soldiers found themselves seemingly besieged by stinging insects.And then came the blades in the dark…. Unable to see, disoriented, in an enclosed space, and completely unprepared, the soldiers never knew what hit them. Will going full dark fey is not a pretty sight.
Outside Dawn and Glory let loose on the archers manning the walls while Blaze stormed the front gate. They weren’t sure what was happening with Will, but if he was calling for help then the cavalry was coming!
The archers focused their fire on Glory, but once Blaze reached the top of the wall they had bigger concerns…When they had finished dispatching the soldiers, they discovered that the woman Will had rescued was the very friend they had been sent to rescue by Priestess Reya… Both that mission and the “shadow mission” had targeted exactly the same outpost. That seemed highly unlikely to have been a coincidence.
While they had left no obvious survivors, it was unlikely the Protector would simply accept the loss of the Outpost. Sooner or later the trail would lead to them. They were no longer a neutral party. But Will had spent much of his young life making his way around cities where half the guards and/or underworld were out for his head. It wasn’t going to phase him now.They quickly returned to town to report their missions. Sima was actually *disappointed* that they had Charmer arrested rather than killed, and questioned their “commitment to the cause”! She wanted them to storm and capture a fortress for the Rebellion next. But at this point they had decided the Rebellion wasn’t really worth their support either.Cafrain was pleased that they “raised the flag” at the outpost. When confronted she admitted to knowing about the prisoner, but had simply been “curious to see what they would do”. The “mystery faction” were “The Masks”, and they followed Misaye the Goddess of Mischief. Their leader was apparently a man named “Vando Klarn” who claimed to be a herald of Misaye. They weren’t quite sure how they felt about that. But then her next request cemented their opinion. She wanted them to plant documents to frame the popular Innkeeper of the Merry Remorhaz. She thought that doing so would cause the Protector to over-react in arresting and punishing the Innkeeper and thus turn public opinions further against him. At this point they decided that the Masks were in love with Chaos for its own sake – regardless of who got hurt. None of them were particularly put off by chaos and hijinx, but this was too much.
But the worst news was when they went to check on Priestess Reya. Rose told them Reya had been arrested and was being taken to away to prison as they spoke!
They ran to catch up, just in time to see the Guards “accidentally” allow Reya to “escape”, and pull out their weapons to “recapture the fugitive”. In for a penny, in for a pound. They cut loose on City Guards in broad daylight in the City.
Glory hit the majority of the patrol with a new trick she had just picked up – a chilling, clawing fog of inky blackness. And just to lay it on thicker, Dawn followed up with sticky strands of webbing – preventing them from stumbling out of the morass.
Will and Blaze charged in to help Reya with the stragglers, while Dawn and Glory finished off the patrol they had tied down.After finishing off the guard, Rose beckoned them to follow her, and led them to a back alley and a sewer entrance. From there they followed her through a winding path to a hideout maintained out of the Lord Protector’s view.Reya told them the Lord Protector had gone truly mad. She had merely complained to the Protector about a stock of food being confiscated, and he had ordered her “arrest”. And she was certain the guards weren’t acting on their own initiative in attempting to arrange her “accidental” death. She wanted them to recover the food from a Dominion outpost, as it had been intended to feed poor folk in the City who still desperately needed it.
So their attempt to remain neutral and carefully scout out all the various factions and the political situation had gone completely up in smoke. They were now hunted. They were now fugitives. The only groups they still trusted were the People, the Forge, and the Giants. But at least they knew where they stood.
3 responses to “The Lost Valley: Armed and Dangerous”
atcDave
Will is proving to a be a strong character, distinct and appealing in renders. I particularly like how you bring out his size difference, he is smaller than everyone!
The giants, again a size perspective thing, are also very well done.
And I loved your use of black and white for the black out action.
He’s shorter than everyone. But he’s got a big personality and easily fills space. I think it helps that he’s young. Using ‘boy’ or ‘teen’ to describe him makes it easier for the AI to believe he’s smaller too. It thinks of him as a child. So do many folks. Until they get locked in a room with him when he’s ticked off anyway.
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