Difference between revisions of "Pregmere: Of Caravans and Escape Plans"

Latest revision as of 10:24, 2 January 2007

About the Saga

The Blackrazors have broken the siege at The Lea, and now decide to take the fight to the giants. They ambush a supply caravan and rescue the giants' human slaves.

Timeframe

• Greyhawk Date: Patchwall 9, CY 590
• Real World Date: November 23, 2001
• Read other Blackrazor Guild Sagas

Cast of Characters

Notable Quotes

“I don’t care what the voice in your head says, because the voice in my head says to kill him.” -- Kalib, to Baldwin (K’Zograh), discussing prisoners and cursed magic items

What Has Come Before

The Blackrazor guild of Obsidian Bay, the Pomarj, has returned to Geoff to help fight the good fight against the giant-kin that has overrun the devastated country. They’ve been tasked by the Grand Duke to assist with the fight against the giants who have besieged The Lea, and they have been battling their way across the countryside to get there. While traveling through the thick underbrush of the countryside, the Blackrazors have encountered several warbands of hill giants, ogres, and orcs, and have picked up a member of the local Steelstormers guild as a traveling companion. Together they finally arrived outside of their destination, only to see it surrounded by a large army of orcs and ogres led by hill giants and a few fire giants. Attacking what seemed to be the leaders of the humanoid forces, the Blackrazors defeated the giants and scattered their followers, effectively ending the siege. Weary from battle, the Blackrazors entered the walled town to the cheers of the residents and forces within.

The Saga

Patchwall 9, CY 590

Walking into The Lea, the Blackrazors were met by both the local leader of the Grand Duke’s forces, Lord Gilead Olis, and the leader of the Steelstormer guild contingent, Cooper Madlough. The leaders welcomed the adventurers, offering them places to rest and refresh from their arduous fight. Lord Olis commanded that provisions be brought to feed the warriors, and time was given for their rest. “We will meet tomorrow to discuss our current situation and any news you may have brought. We welcome your aid in freeing this oppressed land.” The Blackrazors took advantage of the offered hospitality, and barely noticed their surroundings as they ate, rested, and generally took care of their own for the remainder of the day and night.

Patchwall 10, CY 590

The party woke and met with Lord Olis, Cooper Madlough, and the rest of the leaders present at The Lea. They informed his Lordship that they were sent by the Grand Duke himself to help in the breaking of the siege here at The Lea. Lord Olis thanked them for their skill and bravery, and then asked them what they planned on doing next. To his surprise, the Blackrazors stated that they were not off to seek their fortunes elsewhere just yet. For reasons they wished to keep to themselves, and in part based upon the Grand Duke’s promise of land and titles, the Blackrazors decided to remain in The Lea for awhile, aiding Lord Olis as best they could. Lord Olis welcomed the adventurers’ aid willingly. “To date we have been hard pressed, and have barely the troops and supplies necessary to repel attackers. We can, therefore, offer little to assist you in bringing the fight to the giants. But that said, we can of course act as your staging ground, and provide protection and supplies to you between your forays into the wilds of Geoff.” The Blackrazors accepted this offer, not sensing (or ignoring) the Lord’s obvious relief that the BRs would be adventuring outside of the town he is trying to protect.

At mid-day the Blackrazors met with Lord Olis’ advisors, sharing information about the giant forces they’ve all faced. The party explained what they’ve seen and learned in their trip to The Lea, and the advisors provided even more information about the local giant forces, particularly those in the old Geoff town of Pregmere. The advisors provided a map of Pregmere that detailed the positions of some giant forces and some human slave quarters. Rumors were shared about the sky gods, and the Blackrazors heard that the sky gods may be 40 to 50 feet high, with white hair and beards, and flowing robes of light. All tales told of the sky gods flying continuously during all reported encounters. More rumors about Pregmere were discussed as well, including talk of vampires. This lead the Blackrazors to speculate wildly, talking even of vampire giants!

After their meeting, the Blackrazors took some time to really look at The Lea. Due to the siege, and the conditions of presently living anywhere in Geoff, the town was suffering. Some of the party decided to help the town, seeing as they are currently occupying it. Tanevir ordered 40 redshirts and a guild smith from Hochoch to be brought in to help with the protection and operation of the town. Tanevir, Kalib, and Erilar each donated 2,000 gp to help replenish supplies and provisions for the town. Troll-Greggor asked two Knights of the Fist from OB to come and join the defense force. Kalib similarly requested some of the low-level priests from his cathedral to Trithereon on the Pomarj to come aid in the healing and upkeep of the townsfolk and forces present. He also brought Brand and Val in to help with patrols. Most of this travel was accomplished with teleportation spells cast by Tanevir and various guild mages.

At dusk that day, the party decided it was time to begin investigating Pregmere. Tanevir went out on a scouting mission, teleporting out to Pregmere, flying invisibly once there. He saw the structure in the center of town known as the “black house.” He also saw a caravan being loaded with the products of the farming that the human slaves have been forced by the giants to do. He investigated the black house further, and found derro inside. He was able to enter the structure, and saw the derro possibly dealing with the giants for slaves. At the very least he saw derro forcing some humans down a passageway inside the black house, a tunnel that seemed to lead a great distance underground. On his way out of town, Tanevir noted that the humans loading the caravan seemed to be different from the slaves, as if they may have been free and working with the giants. Also, he noted that the caravan was far from being ready to depart. He teleported back to The Lea to reported what he had learned to his guildmates. It was decided that tomorrow the party would head out towards Pregmere, again entering the fray with the giants overrunning Geoff.

Patchwall 11, CY 590

The next morning, the party met another visitor to The Lea, the strange fighter know to most as Mr. Happy. It seems that a few days prior he lost a poker game to a powerful mage, and when he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) pay his debt, he was teleported to The Lea. In discussions with the BRs, boasts were made, and when he insisted that he could defeat Troll-Greggor in melee combat, the Blackrazors did the obvious (for them): they set up a pit-fight. Bets began to fly as the redshirts were arranged to stand as the outline of a 50’ square, the pit in which this fight would occur. D’klar bet Kalib that the new guy wouldn’t last 3 rounds. Erilar, overhearing the wager, made the same bet with Tanevir. Erilar also bet Kalib that Troll-Greggor wouldn’t even get hit. Everyone in the party bet Mr. Happy that he would lose to Troll-Greggor. The combatants entered the ring, and the fighting began. Troll-Greggor activated an item, and Mr. Happy took the opportunity to attack. Before he could close, however, Troll-Greggor used his great reach to hit Mr. Happy, hurting him and effectively ending his advance. Then, Troll-Greggor began to phase, and while adjusting to his shifting, missed his attack on Mr. Happy. Mr. Happy launched into a furious series of attacks, but couldn’t seem to hit the phasing and dexterous Troll. Troll-Greggor, however, was able to land a few hits on his opponent, doing some serious damage. Mr. Happy found it impossible to hit Troll-Greggor, but did have enough stamina to last well into the fourth round. He lost the fight, but did manage to spoil some of the party’s bets. As Troll-Greggor deactivated his magic item and walked out of the ring the party’s clerics rushed in to heal Mr. Happy (and to collect their winnings).

After the fight was over, Mr. Happy was healed, and all monies had changed hands, the party decided to head out on its mission to Pregmere. Mr. Happy asked to join the adventurers, and the BRs welcomed him to join them on their foray against the giants.

Patchwall 13, CY 590

After two days of thankfully uneventful travel Northward over the plains of Geoff, the Blackrazor adventuring party arrived outside of Pregmere. The party consisted of Taneivr, Kalib, Troll-Greggor, Erilar, Baldwin, Gideon, and Mr. Happy. From their vantage point, they saw the caravan that Tanevir had scouted making ready to leave town, loaded with its provisions. They watched as it headed down the southwest road out of Pregmere, and they presumed it was headed towards the leaders of the giant-kin forces located in what was once the Geoff town of Pest’s Crossing. The caravan consisted of three wagons, with a fire giant, a few ogres, and a handful of humans on each wagon. The party moved out along the road and waited for the approaching caravan to get away from the town, entering the range of their ambush.

The Blackrazors attacked the caravan. Tanevir began with his soon-to-be trademark Wall of Thorns spell, enclosing the lead wagon, effectively cutting off one of the fire giants and stopping the progress of the caravan. Erilar opened the combat by loosing a number of arrows into the giants and ogres on the last wagon. Mr. Happy threw five daggers, landing critical blows with two of them, ending the lives of some of the caravan’s ogres. Tanevir let loose a Chain Lightning blast on those trapped within the Wall of Thorns, killing the ogre and the humans there, but unfortunately not hurting the giant there very much. D’Klar and Kalib flanked the giant from the middle wagon and laid into him with fierce blows. Justiceseeker was pleased with this battle, and whispered into Kalib’s head that the humans here were all murderers and should taste steel as soon as was possible. Troll-Greggor killed the fire giant on the last wagon with his claws, and moved towards the ogres. The fire giant trapped in the Wall of Thorns threw a rock at Troll-Greggor, and when it hit, the rune on it detonated, dispelling the Haste spell he had cast upon himself. Gideon reached out with his mind, discovering a new ability, and caused a Brilliant Blast of energy that killed a number of the humans surrounding the two free wagons.

At this point, the humans still alive broke ranks and ran for their lives. Baldwin decided to employ a spell he’d recently learned, and unloaded with a Fireball that killed the fleeing humans. Tanevir cast Hold Monster on the remaining Fire Giant. Baldwin saw a human trying to hide under the middle wagon and quickly cast Colorspray on him. “He’s my prisoner!” Baldwin proudly exclaimed.

The battle over, and the caravans now in the possession of the Blackrazor guild, the party began to gather its loot. The wagons were filled with foodstuffs, tools, and supplies, which they decided to take back to The Lea, and a large amount of gold coins, which they of course kept for themselves. The treasure they found on the bodies of the fire giants included some platinum coins and a large diamond. The magic items they found consisted of two wands and two scrolls. One of the wands has the rune for Charm on it, and Kalib quickly took that and broke it in two in the name of his god, Trithereon. Baldwin claimed the other wand, which was shaped like a lightning bolt. The party gathered its new prizes and headed back towards The Lea, happily riding the wagons pulled by horses instead of walking for once.

On the trip back the party began to discuss what to do with the prisoners they’ve taken. Kalib was upset with the Charms and Holds used to keep the giant and the human captive. Kalib broke the Hold Tanevir had on the Giant. Frustrated by this, Tanevir slew the giant outright, tossing its body off the wagon only after removing its eyes. When arguing with Tanevir, Kalib heard another voice in his head, actually the voice of Gideon’s psycrystal Simeon, urging him to maintain his position and see that the Charms were broken. Unsure of just who this new voice was, Kalib named it “Bob.” During this interchange, Troll-Greggor was affected by a strange affliction, making him feel slower, weaker, and less healthy. He chose not to tell anyone in the party about it, though. Kalib then turned his attention to Baldwin’s prisoner. While arguing that they should question him and not kill him, Baldwin seemed to feel pain every time he said “I” or used his own name. Confused, he looked at his new wand, saw the word “K’Zograh” written on it, and felt compelled to use that as his name instead. In the meantime, Kalib slew the prisoner.

“K’Zograh disagress with this.”

“I don’t care what the voice in your head says, because the voice in my head says to kill him.”

“K’Zograh is K’Zograh.”

The party took the rest of the two day trip to puzzle out just what was going on with their mage.

Patchwall 15, CY 590

When the party finally arrived back in The Lea, they turned the wagons and provisions over to Lord Olis’ men, and reported on what they had found out about the giants’ farming and shipping ventures. Lord Olis himself pulled the Blackrazors aside and confided that there had been problems with the redshirts that had been left at The Lea. It seems that, in appropriate Blackrazor style, they had been drunk in public, had not been pulling their weight around town, and had also killed two chickens. “They chase the chickens around, catch them, kill them, and then seem perplexed when they don’t get up and run around anymore,” the Lord explained. Tanevir and Kalib apologized and promised to look into it, while Troll-Greggor made comments about drinking on duty and the pitfalls of spilling beer. The party signaled to Falgar to teleport in with a crossbow for K’Zograh ne’ Baldwin and to take the gold they’ve recovered back to the guildhall in OB. The party then spent a few days recuperating in The Lea.

Patchwall 17, CY 590

Troll-Greggor awoke this day to feel his strange affliction affect him again. He brought this to the attention of the party clerics, who tried to heal him but had no effect. D’Klar and Kalib tried Cure Disease and Remove Curse spells on him, also to no avail. Kalib finally cast Restoration on Troll-Greggor, and some of his vitality returned.

The party began discussions about returning to Pregmere. It was decided to send in some folks on a spy mission to find out more about the giants in Pregmere and what they might have planned. K’Zograh bravely volunteered to stay at The Lea. After some finagling, he agreed to loan Kalib his ring of Chameleon Power so that Kalib could go into Pregmere in disguise. Gideon, who has some skill at disguise, agreed to accompany Kalib. Tanevir (flying and invisible) and Troll-Greggor (using his shadowdancer abilities) agreed to provide support to the spies. Teleporting out to Pregmere, Kalib and Gideon infiltrated a slave quarters and talked to a woman named Irdan. She told them of life as a giant slave, and informed them that they’d have to speak to Flerd, the leader of the human slaves.

The next morning Kalib and Gideon went out with the slave farming forces and slowly worked their way over to the field where Flerd was working. That night they returned to his slave quarters with him. They talked to him, and found out that there were about 300 human slaves in the town. Kalib cursed and vowed to Trithereon to free the slaves. Gideon echoed his desire, wishing to free his enslaved countrymen. The Blackrazor and Steelstormer began to formulate an escape plan. They snuck out of the quarters, met up with Tanevir and Troll-Greggor, and teleported back to The Lea.

Patchwal 19, CY 590

The Blackrazors put into motion their plan to free the slaves of Pregmere. They teleported in Sven, Luc, and Moraim. Sven transformed into an Earth Elemental, Tanevir and K’Zograh Polymorphed into Umber Hulks, and under the guidance of the dwarves, they began to dig a tunnel from a spot out in the Geoff plains to locations directly under the town of Pregmere. They tunneled under the surrounding fields, and guided by Lord Olis’ map, into all of the slave quarters.

All of this excavation took five days to complete. During this time Troll-Greggor was afflicted again, but Kalib continued to maintain him with Restoration spells. Rangers were sent out to keep an eye on the giants around Pregmere, including Val and Brand and three ‘Stormers. They returned to tell of seeing the giants dealing humans to the derro.

Patchwall 23, CY 590

On the evening of the fifth day, the break-out occurred. The Blackrazors entered the slave quarters from the tunnels they’d dug. They escorted the slaves out to the plains without alerting the giants. At this point, most of the party and the rangers guarded the freed humans by the mouth of the tunnel as Sven, Luc, Moraim, and the umber hulks colapsed the tunnels, effectively covering their tracks. Tanevir and K’Zograh then reverted to form, and Tanevir teleported out Sven and the dwarves.

Tanevir, Troll-Greggor, and Kalib then went sneaky and entered Pregmere to cause some havoc. Tanevir teleported in, and Troll-Greggor carried Kalib and shadowwalked in. Once in, they entered the black house to try to rescue the prisoners the derro had purchased from the giants. They entered without being seen, and were able to get the slaves on the first level into their portable hole to easily carry them out. They were noticed eventually, however, and Tanevir was hit by one of the derro guards. Kalib quickly threw up a Wall of Ice to block off the largest group of derro nearby. Troll-Greggor attacked the derro guards on this side of the Wall of Ice, missing one, but rending another in two. He then reached out and slew the one he missed with a mighty claw attack.

The derro were not to be easily blocked, however, as one of their savants brought down the Wall of Ice. Their second savant tried to Charm Troll-Greggor, but failed to do so. Tanevir tried to cast Feeblemind on the derro savant, but his attempt failed, or was blocked somehow. Troll-Greggor used his magic spear to Cause Fear in the derro guards near him, and three ran cowering. He killed the closest of them, then moved and killed the derro savant leading this group of underdwellers. The second savant threw up an Inertial Barrier, protecting the remaining derro as they fled the room. Tanevir tried to use his signature Lance of Disruption spell on the escaping derro, but missed. Kalib picked up the portable hole filled with slaves and cast Dimension Door to leave the scene. Tanevir teleported out, and Troll-Greggor picked up his spear and shadowsteped away. They rejoined the rest of the adventuring party and all the freed slaves at the mouth of the tunnel. All that was left was to get the slaves safely back to The Lea.

Experience

Not available.