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From the Journal of Rorrim Gamah
We set out to Wolfpoint fortress to turn in the bounty immediately after getting the cart from the strange camel merchant, Crazy Hassan. We chatted with the bandits for a time, and they revealed that they hadn’t been at the banditry business for very long at all. They were in fact runaway slaves from Cheliax, which might actually explain why they were wanted alive, and why the bounty was so high, despite the fact that they hadn’t really done much as criminals. We ended up gagging them again after a while, though. They got annoying.
It wasn’t long after that, while continuing our trek down the mountain road, that we ran into a goblin ambush. We had the dogs guard their former masters while we dealt with the greenskins. Greil and his new...friend...performed admirably using the spear that my dad had made for him. The hardened plates on this eidolon, “Venator” as Greil calls it, seem to deflect blows quite well, and the strikes that did land didn’t seem to hurt him much. I fought alongside Greil, slipping my blade into the goblins’ backs whenever I could. Some call that fighting dirty; I call it winning. My brother, Dongrun, tried to get in on the action, but...Well, he tried to climb up one of our horses and then jump into the fight while screaming “Alekegger!” He ended up landing on one of the poor dogs. Ah, well. We still love him. Tribin helped us by telling us of goblin weaknesses, allowing us to finish them off quickly (he still needs to work on his delivery, though. I feel like I’m in a lecture). Leo used his new powers to manipulate the plants around us to trip the goblins up, and also let them have it with his bastard sword. The goblins were soon slain, and we began going through what few possessions they had. Most of it was worthless except as scrap except for some weapons and armor that their leader carried. Also of note were two signet rings. Leo told us that one was from a minor noble house, but the other bore the crest of the House of Thrune, the ruling family of Cheliax, quite possibly the most powerful family on the continent. None of us could really believe it, but after examining it closely, Leo and Dongrun assured us that it was genuine. We’re still not sure what to do with it. A reward for its return could be nice, but we’re talking about a family that worships the powers of Hell, here!
We packed away our loot, and we continued on our way until nightfall. We set up camp, and we figured that we ought to set watches, because that’s what adventurers do in the books we’ve read. As we sat around the fire, eating and joking and getting a bit sleepy, we heard something approaching. We got ready in the event that it was something unpleasant, but we soon saw that it was just an old human. Well, that’s what we thought at the time, but it turned out that he was quite a bit more than that.
We invited him to our fire and got to talking. We explained that we were turning in the bounty on the bandits on behalf of our village. He was quite interested by the fact that such young beings had taken to adventuring. He seemed quite pleased with our enthusiasm, though he seemed to have doubts about getting such a young start. He introduced himself as Grey, and he informed us that he was part of something called the Pathfinder Society. He explained that Cheliax, and thusly our home of Isger, were somewhat hostile to Pathfinders. When I asked why, he said that the Pathfinder’s mission was to seek out artifacts and preserve their stories and the stories of the world. “You see, young master, Isger is under the thumb of Cheliax, and the Chelish prefer a certain version of history. The Pathfinders are interested in the truth, and so we are not particularly welcome here,” said Grey. By this time, my brother and our friends had gone to sleep. Grey and I were the only ones talking. I told him about our adventures so far. He seemed very interested in my love of stories, and gave me a massive tome, Volume XI of the Pathfinder Chronicles. Grey told me to seek out the Pathfinders when I’m older, as they could always use talented and clever storytellers.
Grey left the next morning, bid us all farewell, and told us that he would be heading up the road and into the mountains. More than that he wouldn’t say. I wonder what could be so interesting up there for a man that’s seen so much. At any rate, we got under way once again. We were soon off the incline and onto the portion of the road that follows the banks of the Conerica river. We continued on our way to Wolfpoint, helping a half-orc get his cart out of the mud before coming around a bend and seeing the line to pass through the fort’s checkpoint. It seemed that everyone was required to pay a fee to pass. The fee was assessed in accordance with the cargo being carried. When it was eventually our turn, we explained that we wished to enter the fort to collect a bounty. The officer at the gate said that, as a matter of procedure, we would be charged fees for a cargo of exotic slaves which would then be repaid on top of the bounty. Tribin asked the officer for a written voucher just to be on the safe side. We paid the fee, passed through the checkpoint, and then crossed the drawbridge to the fortress. We got quite a few stares, and if we weren’t posing as Greil’s squires at the time (with Venator on he looks like a fully grown human in black armor) somebody might have accosted us.
Eventually we were brought to the commanding officer (though all the regular soldiers we asked for directions didn’t seem to thrilled about mentioning him at all) and we explained our purpose. Things went downhill quickly. He admitted that the tieflings resembled the description, but he acted sceptical, asking us why else we thought that these women were the Hell’s Bitches. Eventually, he had two of his officers take them into custody, and told us to spend the night at the fort’s tavern while he confirmed “the veracity of our claim.”
We are all now entirely sure that this guy and his officers are intent on robbing us of the bounty and trying to claim it for themselves. Several of the rank and file soldiers confirm this at the tavern later on; in fact, they tell us that we would hardly be the first bounty hunters it’s happened to (they were a bit drunk at the time). In the meantime, we decided that we ought to get a room in the event that the greedy commander tried more violent ways of keeping us from getting the bounty. Unfortunately, all the rooms had been bought up by a caravan from Druma. Tribin and Greil informed us that the Drumish practice a belief system in which the accumulation of wealth is the highest virtue. They also dress all in white, and wear gloves to avoid direct contact with “non-believers.” They sound like fun, don’t they? After hearing this, my brother Dongrun gets an idea. The rooms aren’t very expensive for us, what with our loot from the goblins and Hell’s Bitches, so Dongrun offered them 3 times the price of the room. The lead Drumish did not speak to us at all, merely nodded and instructed his subordinates to take the coin and clear out the room.
With a room secured, we walked back down to the common room to get a meal. As we ate, Dongrun suddenly seemed to get an idea. He ordered a massive round of ale for the soldiers in the common room, and got them talking. Turns out that many of them aren’t getting paid enough, or on time. The commander and the officers on the other hand seem to get richer by the day. Around this time, Dongrun started telling the men about Alekegger, explaining the consumption of ale and the doing of deeds for great justice. After hearing all the wonderful things about Alekegger, the soldiers (now incredibly inebriated) decided that they weren’t going to put up with this treatment anymore. They gathered outside Wolfpoint, and then laid siege to their own fortress. We decided to follow along, because we sort of felt responsible for the whole thing. The soldier’s numbers and knowledge of Wolfpoint’s layout allowed them to quickly overwhelm the officers and capture the commander. We arrived in the commander’s quarters just as he was being bound.
“You’re all mad! They’ll hang you all for treason!” he cried.
“Only if they hear your version of the story,” answered Greil. Tribin mentioned something about “Infamy points,” but I didn’t quite catch it.
With the commander in chains, I decided to unlock his chest and go through some files he apparently didn’t want anyone to see. Not only was he cheating his men, he was withholding revenue from the tolls from the capital. More than enough evidence to get him hanged, while simultaneously turning the mutiny into an act of patriotism. The soldiers thanked us, and we retired to our room for the remainder of the night.
The next morning, we awoke to find the fortress running pretty much normally. The soldier’s de facto leader (what with all their officers in jail) presented us with the bounty, and wished us well. Incidentally, I think it was the same soldier that posted the wanted poster back home. We set out with two less passengers to the next town down the road. Tribin and Leo’s dad had instructed us to deposit the bounty at a bank which he had dealings with. The gold would be much safer there, and of much more use. Rather than keeping and carrying the gold every time the village needed something, they could keep it in the bank, without having to worry about bandits stealing it all on the road.
Re: The Ale-kegger Saga (A Pathfinder Campaign Log)
Originally Posted by Flickerdart
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