Adventure Log #65

CHARACTERS

Estryellia-Sorcerer-Newly come of age
Garu-Elf Ranger-One armed elf archer
Ming Hao-Monk/Former soldier of The Red/Roscoe’s wife.
Karieen-Last priestess of Chaldisaya-Future wife of the Emperor of Deserata, referred to as "the intended"
Roscoe-Hobbit-Toughest hobbit in the world/Ming’s husband.

(This adventure takes place at 2:00am in the morning before the actions of the last adventure.)

Ming, Roscoe and Gaur retreat back to the walls of the manor house because it’s been determined that the defenders cannot hold the ridge of the hill any longer. As they enter they see Jkenna Jun directing the shoring up of the defenses of the manor. They can tell by the faces of the soldiers none expect to leave the place alive.

The trio binds their wounds as best as they can awaiting the next attack. They see a former comrade a Manthootian female named Kimi and the bard Fione. The last time they saw Kimi she was living in Mountain Vale, trying her hand at investing in the local economy. She tells them that she is in Sylvia’s Rest escorting Van Maug (the widowed lady of Mountain Vale) to Jkenna Jun's wedding. She rode ahead to make sure that things were in place for the visiting party and the comfort of Van Maug who is six months pregnant.

They ask her where the party is and she tells them that she left them a day ago to the north traveling the trade road. They ask who is in the party and learn that Kenna Alexander (Jkenna Jun's cousin) is leading the party with an honor guard of half and alt of troops (about 200 men). After commenting that Kenna Alexander has obviously brought enough men to guard his ego they hit upon a plan.

They know that besides from being a “blow hard” he is a staunch supporter of the royal family, but not a great friend of Jun’s. They decide to tell Jkenna Jun about Alexander’s position. Jun questions Kimi about where she left Alexander and where they should be camped. They figure he should be about an hour away from the manor in the highlands. Jun hastily scribbles a note to Alexander telling him to come as fast as possible to their aid. Jun gives the note to Kimi and tells her that it’s important that they arrive no later than 4:00am.

That gives the group about an hour to get to Alexander and get his “honor guard” moving. They manage to slip out of the Manor and head towards the South. Roscoe takes the lead. They encounter a rebel patrol and several of the group are hurt but the patrol is taken care of.

Eventually the trade road begins to rise up into the cliffs that surround Sylvia’s Rest. About 120 years ago when Sylvia’s rest was built it was the major port of The Death Master Absolum’s realm. Expecting an attack from the south Absolum had a small keep built at the top of the cliffs over looking Sylvia’s Rest. The trade road goes through its courtyard and taxes are collected there. Unless one is a mountain goat there is no way around the keep (there are game trails up the cliffs but they take hours to traverse).

Because Sylvia’s Rest is a thriving port the doors to the keep are always open…except tonight. The gates are closed and they know from traveling the road that there is a small court yard and then another set of gates. They see some soldiers on the walls but for the most part they ignore the party. Some yelling elicits a few arrows from the guards.

The party decides that Fione will create a diversion and Kimi, Gaur, Roscoe and Ming will climb up the wall and control of the south side of the keep. Only Ming is able to quickly scale the tower and she draws the guards. Gaur comes up second and on Ming instructions goes down into the tower to try to let the others in. When he reaches the bottom door her finds that it’s both bolted and locked. Upstairs Ming is fighting the captain of the guard and two of the common Altmen.

Outside of the walls Fione had used his pipes to summon some rats which prove to be only a minor annoyance to the soldiers. Most of the men on the wails are crowding towards the tower where Ming and Garu are fighting. With a yell Ming takes down the Captain of the Guard but goes down seconds later just as Roscoe gets to the top of the tower. Roscoe trades crossbow fire with the remaining guardsmen while Garu takes on the others.

Kimi gets to the top of the tower but is gravely injured blood flowing from several wounds. The fight continues but the guards don’t receive any reinforcements so the superior fighting skills of the party eventually carry the day. The rebel altmen surrender. Fione uses what little healing he has to save Ming.

It’s now 3am and time is of the essence. They talk to the captured guards and find out that there aren’t any other troops in the here and that Kenna Alexander is camped a quarter of a mile from the keep. The party decides to hold the keep just incase any other rebels are nearby while Kimi heads to where Alexander is camped.

Kimi limps into Alexander’s camp and tells him the story. He calls his escort half an alt (200 men) from their beds and details his alt leader to follow along the road and meet him at the manor. With that he and several of his mounted lieutenants head to the manor.

The party left at the keep are busy wedging the gate mechanisms open when Kenna Alexander and his horsemen gallop through. They are heartened by it because it means that Kimi got through but it’s made mention that counting Kenna Alexander there are only six riders. Twenty minutes later the first of the 20th Alt (the Royal Black Alt) come marching up. They detail a few men to assist the party then march towards Sylvia’s Rest; they are soon followed by another hundred men. The party binds its wounds and waits for dawn. At 8am. Karieen wakes to find Jkenna Jun planting a kiss on her forehead. He smiles and loyal altmen fill the room looking for the plotters. Part of The Dark Future has been defeated for now.