Revisit Grblin Warcamp

Freelancers Tavern felt a little close this morning.   Peb had convinced Lorcan, Hanno, and a new recruit, Fulo, to take a mission in the sewers the prior day, and they'd returned smelling like it.  Lorcan had taken over the baths and refused to yield.  Everyone else bore the consequences.  Tomtom had just shrugged and Arnari was at the Three Rivers Bardic Competition.

Minji, Maghris, and Leafshadow, their noses offended, did not need to spend much effort to get Dominic and Aranel to join them in seeking a mission from Tomtom.  They went up to his office, which smelled better than the tavern, and took various seats.  Leafshadow looked at the weapons.  Minji kept a wary eye on Tomtom's dog, Bucky.  Tomtom had stacks of papers on his desk, half-organized.

Leafshadow asked, "How long til Arnari is back?" and Tomtom shrugged.  "3-4 days?" he guessed.

"I have 4 missions for you," he said confidently.  "First one:  Pirates Dream, Maghris, please be careful.  Hippogryph eggs… actually, you can handle gryphon eggs; Minji has a gryphon.

"Re-check the grblin war camp.  Recently, Maghris checked their cave; this is a follow-up.  Hopefully you will go, see it's abandoned, then come back."

Maghris said, "I remember that," as if doing so was a surprise.

"Last mission," Tomtom continued, "find Klepperich's boss.  A little bit of questioning revealed, his boss is Siddi."

Aranel closed her eyes, then opened them.

Aranel:  do you need me to talk to him?
Tomtom:  probably not; he might not have good feelings for you at this point.
Aranel <sadly smiling>:  we can always fix that
Tomtom:  there are 2 different bases that Wymar got out of Klepperich:  one in the Trade District by the bars, one in the Trade District in the west edge of the city.
Maghris:  I'm up for anything.  We did a flyby [of the warcamp] before we left, but not much.
Aranel:  more interested in Cliffshadow.
Minji <nose wrinkled>:  I'm more interested in getting out of town!  I've not done either pollution or grblin scounting.
Aranel:  is Maghris okay with pollution?
Maghris:  let's not do pollution
Aranel:  if Minji wishes to go out of the city, the grblin recheck would be okay.
Minji:  I have never seen grblins before!

So the re-check it would be.  The Freelancers left Tomtom's office, gathered their things, and started the long trek to Marshfork.

Travel was without incident; other than Minji, the Freelancers were on foot, although Dominic brought Bee-opatra, who flew nearby, happy when she got to do bee things.  It took 2 days to get to Cliffgate, through gentle fields and downslopes from Cliffshadow, and variable weather; and there they stayed at The Sleepy Dog inn.  They continued the next day in nicer weather, but mid-afternoon, a sparkly peacock gryphon approached, with two pegasi.  The three dropped down onto the road next to the walking Freelancers, and Minji circled down on Chin-gu.

It was Arnari, of course, with Nohea and Valan, returning to Freelancers Tavern from the Bardic Competition.  The Freelancer spent some time exchanging news, during which Arnari was pleased to have been away from Freelancers Tavern when the sewer mission participants introduced new and uninteresting smells to the place.

"How did the Bardic Competition go?" Aranel asked, curious. "It went well," Arnari assured her, "the songs were well-received."  Then, she grimaced.

Nohea smirked, then loomed over the much shorter bard, looking very protective, while Valan shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.  Arnari leaned on Nohea a little.  "I'm extremely grateful," she said, looking at everyone through her lashes, "to have Girl Friend chase off the skeezy Dean!"  Nohea flexed at everyone, and everyone laughed.

But they all had their own destinations, and soon parted on their separate ways.  They weren't far from where they'd met Arnari before Aranel pulled out her shamisen and worked on improving herself on it.  Leafshadow rolled his eyes and perhaps muttered something about a banjo.

The Freelancers took another couple days to reach Three Rivers, and stayed at the no-longer-crowded inn The Mule's Rest.  Then another couple days' travel westward to Marshfork where they would stay at The Cantankerous Goose.

Along the way, Maghris divulged to the others how, when he'd been there with Manu and Lorcan, they'd planted a rumour of Freelancers kidnapping children.  The others were taken aback, although Leafshadow seemed prepared to believe it, and Dominic was disappointed.  Once they were in the tavern at The Cantankerous Goose, Maghris tried to keep an ear out for rumours, but he discovered all he got was side-eye from other patrons.  Dominic was also listening, and he heard about merchants repeating strange stories of the Freelancers.

The next morning, Maghris wanted to check in with the Mayor before heading up to the place of grblins.  The others did not want to take the time, but Minji pointed out "Some of us have not met him yet," so off they went to find the Mayor.

Casimir Lightforger, mayor of Marshfork, was happy to see the Freelancers, and especially Maghris!  Minji asked him, "So, has anyone been out [towards] this area, or just in case?"  The Mayor said, "This is just checking, in case; but some of the far-ranging hunters have seen grblin tracks."

The Freelancers nodded, then headed out, angling slightly towards the northwest and the Little Brother River.

Dominic led the others, with Maghris helping, and Minji soaring above on Chin-gu.  Aranel soon pulled out her shamisen again.  She was playing it pretty well, but it absorbed her attention.  Leafshadow didn't notice much that was abnormal for a forest; he did notice elk tracks.  Minji, from above, heard the faint sound of the stringed instrument, but was watching the landmarks and saw they were heading towards the initial "grblin cave."

Late in the day, Dominic and Maghris found a good camping location near the Little Brother River.  <Narrator voice:  this is a geographical retcon, in session it was Big Brother River.>  They determined their watch order, ate dinner, and settled for the night.

Minji took first watch.  It was quiet for the most part, but she heard a wolf howling in the distance; it wasn't deep enough to be a dire wolf.

Aranel took second watch.  It was similarly uneventful, howls were far away and she could not tell the size of the howling creatures.

Maghris and Leafshadow took third watch.  Maghris took this opportunity to comb out the brambles in his fluff, and didn't notice any wolf howls.  Leafshadow heard, early on in the watch, a very quiet-but big flapping.

Leafshadow:  like a dire bat, doesn't seem like?
Maghris:  we saw evidence of giant bats, when we were here last.

Dominic took dawn watch.  There wasn't a lot for him to hear, but he was listening for howls or bat noises and did hear, far off, some flapping.  Bee-opatra snuggled up to him, as she had been all night.

The next day was much like the prior, but the ground was more forested and hilly as they approached the mountain spur.  Aranel continued to play the shamisen.  A bit before noon, Dominic and Minji spotted a pair of giant elk a ways ahead of them.  The Freelancers navigated around, and Aranel stopped playing and put the shamisen away.

That evening's watches were much the same, with quiet flapping, and wolf howls echoing oddly off the mountains.  Dominic heard an owl hooting, close by; or perhaps an owl gryphon, further off.  <Narrator voice:  this is a bit of a retcon because the caves were further away than played in the session.>

On the afternoon of the third day, they were finally nearing the cave, and the Freelancers took counsel.

Maghris:  let's approach, and stay hidden in the trees.
Minji:  let's observe activity!
Dominic:  let's come from downwind.

They agreed to meet back at the campsite if they got separated, and then did their level best to do all three things.  However, these particular Freelancers weren't really all that woodsy.  Leafshadow got caught in the brambles, and made kind of a rawr sound; Dominic started helping him, but stepped on a branch.  Minji, mounted on the bald eagle gryphon, but walking on ground, was definitely not used to it; she bonked her head on a branch and swore loudly.

Dominic had just noticed wolf and grblin tracks in front of the cave when the sound of a deep belling howl echoed out of the entrance.  Another howl answered from deeper within.

Dominic:  we are under time pressure; we should run away.
Aranel:  you think you can outrun a wolf?
Dominic:  no, I do not.

A quick debate ensued, in which Dominic pointed out that, from the tracks, there were at least 8 grblins.  The Freelancers decided to back off, carefully moving downwind.  Minji flew up on Chin-gu.  Aranel found herself watching over her shoulder; she hadn't ever experienced this kind of danger before.  Someone stopped her from walking into a sapling, and a couple more howls sounded behind them.

The howls sounded closer, and Aranel stepped on another branch.  Maghris got some brambles this time.  Then, Minji circled back over the cave, just as two grblins mounted on dire wolves emerged.  "HelLO!" she called down, "can you see me?!"

They saw her all right!  The dire wolves gave chase, and the grblins pulled out shortbows!  One shot at Minji, the arrow going wide.  The other shot at the bald eagle gryphon, and the arrow pierced Chin-gu's leg.  Chin-gu circled them, then fled west.

The other four Freelancers heard the receding howls, and after half-hour of silence, made their way back to the campsite, as agreed.  It took them until late evening to get there, and Minji was waiting for them.

The Freelancers made camp and also some food.

Maghris:  thanks for leading them away, Minji.  Would not have made it without you!
Minji:  seems like the right thing to do
Maghris:  next time, we pre-plan.

Aranel looked at Maghris, head tilted, like he'd spoken an alien language.  Maghris did not notice, as he cast healing word on Chin-gu.

Dominic:  we should not stick around here.
Maghris:  I am tired, but willing to move.
Dominic:  we should go back to town.
Maghris:  it's late!
Aranel:  the grblins move around in the dark better than we do.

Dominic cast about, unhappy with this camping spot, hoping to at least think of some place with limited egress.  He remembered finally, a place that did not look that comfortable, but was between two large boulders and more defensible.  "Let's go there," he urged the others, "I'll set up snares."

They moved, grumbling about the necessity, and came to a sheer cliff blocked by a boulder, with another boulder kitty-corner.  They made camp as best they could, and Dominic used his rope to cast snare in front of the two available openings.  Then they passed out, except for Minji, who had first watch.  It was quiet.

Aranel's watch was also quiet.  No wolf howls or flapping.  Maghris and Leafshadow took the next watch, and they'd barely settled into it when suddenly, a grblin was hanging upside-down in the air in front of them, caught by Dominic's snare.

Maghris yeowled, and the upside-down grblin shot him with their shortbow, so Maghris yeowled louder.

• Another grblin, mounted on a dire wolf, cussed out the snared grblin in broken Trade for getting too close.  They shot at Leafshadow, but missed, the arrow shattering on the stone over the nekomata's shoulder.
• Leafshadow drew a daggar and stepped up to stab the snared grblin, but they were wiggling too much and the rogue missed.
• Dominic, awakened by the howling, stayed prone, but cast an uplevel'd animal friendship on the two dire wolves.  It worked on the dire wolf without a rider.
  • Dominic invoked starry form of the archer, the starry arrow hurtling towards the cursing grblin.  It hit, killing the grblin by burning away their head and chest.
• Maghris tried to look past the wiggling snared grblins for others.  Seeing nothing, he shot at the grblin with his light crossbow, but missed.
  • The artificer sent Mr Zircon past the grblin to look for others, but the homunculus did not see anything.
• Minji stood up and sent a leafy-green eldritch blast at the snared grblin.  The force hit them like a piñata and they died, dropping to the ground.
• Aranel stood up, taking up her shamisen, granting bardic inspiration to Leafshadow.  She also cast dancing lights out next to the dire wolves.

The dire wolf whose rider died ran off.

• The charmed dire wolf moved so he could see Dominic, and also saw his rider dead on the ground.  He nosed at the body and whined, then backed off.
  • <Narrator voice:  thus we see the first cast of guilt in the game, a canine ability.>
• Leafshadow was in a position to attack the dire wolf, but would not because it was charmed.
• Dominic stood up and approached his friend the wolf, pulling some food out of his pack.
  • The wolf took the food and did not attack Dominic, but was clearly confused because its person was dead.
• Maghris had his light crossbow ready, and had Mr Zircon widen his search for others.  Still nobody.

Aranel had her dancing lights follow, but there were no other grblins.

Leafshadow, suspicious of the dire wolf, waited cautiously while Dominic continued to convince the creature it was his friend.

Minji, uninterested in canines, searched the two grblin bodies.  She found 130sp; one had a really nice set of bone dice, and the other had a pinky-fingernail sized bloodstone worth 50gp.  They each had a scimitar in poor condition plus a shortbow and quiver with arrows.  Also, they had skull-and-scimitar patches.  She told the others about these discoveries.

Dominic was busy trying to convince the dire wolf to be his friend.  He coaxed it to lay next to him, which upset Bee-opatra, who cuddled next to him on the other side.

The next morning, Dominic convinced the dire wolf to help carry people back to the town.  It did, although Leafshadow opted to ride pillion on Chin-gu instead of hanging out with the canine.  Accompanied by the creature, the Freelancers had zero problems getting back to Marshfork.

On the other hand, the Marshfork watch spotted the dire wolf coming, and sounded the horns.  A great hullabaloo rose up, until they realized it was the Freelancers returning.  Even so, a squad of the watch met them at the gate just in case, and then the Mayor showed up.

Casimir <eyes wide>:  so, that –
Maghris <cheerfully>:  we found some grblins!
Casimir <fretfully>:  so, grblins in that cave.
Aranel:  2 fewer!
Casimir:  2 fewer, that's good.

The Mayor pressed his lips together, then told the squad, "Keep watch on wolf."  He turned back to the Freelancers.  "Come to my office."  Dominic admonished the dire wolf to stay, and they went to the Mayor's office, where he paid them 150gp each.  As they waited, he composed a missive to Arnari, requesting Freelancers to clear out the cave.

And on that note, they left for Cliffshadow almost immediately.  It was already a close call when the dire wolf was alone with the watch.  They did take the time to sell off the scimitars for 5gp, and the shortbows for 20gp each, and the bloodstone.  Leafshadow took the fancy dice.

The return to Cliffshadow was less comfortable than most trips up the road through Duquesne.  Despite their desires, the Freelancers avoided staying in Three Rivers as Dominic began the long project of training the dire wolf not to bite people.  He made frequent use of the speak with animals spell for this purpose, and thus found out the dire wolf's name was Grgnack.

The storms were picking up, and Grgnack was less bitey by the time they got to Cliffgate, on the Celebration of Periastron.  They went to The Sleepy Dog inn, and Grgnack could be stabled, although carefully, so got to spend the holiday there, where travellers were occupied in the tavern preparing minor jump scares on each other to see who could get others to spill the most drinks.

Two days later they reported into Tomtom, who was happy to hear of their success, and collected the 10% Freelancers cut, and "Omigosh, a dire wolf!" and Tomtom and Bucky were gone, down to the stables, where Bucky and Grgnack had a good butt-sniff, and Tomtom easily avoided any bites.

• Leafshadow →lvl2!
• Aranel →lvl3 Glamour Bard!