Farm RaidersFarm RaidersIntroduction
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Dalethorpe is a small, sleepy village somewhere in the Iron Realms, a long way away from Kings and Rings and Thrones. Its’ population of 76 is poor, but generally content. Most farm either sheep or apples (both moderately famous locally), but the town also had a wizard, smith, leather-worker, bowyer and a fletcher, and three druids who wander the forests nearby. The wizard Carus, smith Odiran and sheriff Alreth form the nearest to a council that the village has.
Cheesy Fudge Further up the valley lies Dalethorpe Abbey, dedicated to the local deity Calera. The monks generally keep to themselves, though sometimes they show up on market days to trade their skills and crafted products for local produce and foodstuffs. The local noble, Sir Arvin Rigsworth, lives in Rigsworth Keep near the head of the valley. He seldom comes near the village, occasionally sending his sheriff and men to collect taxes in kind, usually food and supplies. These are light, but the villagers dislike and distrust Sir Arvin; ironically, if he showed up more and taxed heavier, they’d probably like him more.
Each of the PCs has some experience with Dalethorpe, having either visited here during your training or resupplied here travelling through. None of you has ever ventured north as far as the Abbey or Keep, however. Now, for whatever reason, you are travelling through in a group, and plan to overnight at the Falcon and Hawk for mugs of cider and Hesplen’s excellent lamb roast dinner. Yes, fudge with extra cheese, you all know each other and are travelling together!
This time, however, the normal harmony of Dalethorpe is disturbed. As you talk to Hesplen, he explains that three of the outlying apple farms have been ransacked and their people killed. Arleth, despite being well past his best, and the three willing amateurs he called his “militia”, had started patrolling at night, searching for whatever bandits had caused this. All four disappeared without trace four days ago.
Since then, another two farms have been destroyed – even more comprehensively – taking the number of missing to fourteen. No-one has seen the culprits.
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As they gathered at the bar, sampling mugs of cider or water according to their preference, the six travellers glanced around curiously. The dozen or so farmers and villagers gathered in the inn seemed subdued and unhappy, and their conversation appeared fearful from their body language.
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Their order filled, the genial landlord Hesplen leaned across the bar and answered their questions as they asked them, explaining the recent events and Arleth's disappearance. As Kry'Ojenix and Tallan continued to question him, the assassin Ozymandias's attention wandered to a nearby table where two burly merchants were deep in quiet conversation. Mimicing the voice of his noble (and rather stuffy) companion Lord Brellmone, he expressed some deeply insulting opinions as to their appearance and sexuality.
The two glared around, but as Brellmone wasn't speaking at that point, the effect was lost and they had no means of mis-identifying him as the source of the comments. Grudgingly, they returned to their drinks.
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Brellmone and the dwarvish battlemage Kry'Ojenix continued to extract details from Hesplen about the attacks, while the elvish vampire Tallan slipped outside, noticed only by Ozymandias. Letting her perceptions spread out, she listened to the various heartbeats of the villagers of Dalethorpe; all normal, human, vigorous... tempting. Not fancying a torch-and-pitchfork party, she closed off that line of thinking.
Night was falling as the lady vampire shifted into her bat form and fluttered into the sky, heading for the nearest of the attacked farms.
It was only a short flight across the darkened landscape before the vampire was circling over the blackened ruins of a small farm. Heaps of rubble and ash marked where the buildings and shed around the farmyard had been, and pale humps in the nearby pasture revealed where the farm's sheep had been slaughtered. Tallan focussed her senses, listening for heartbeats, but there was nothing above the size of a rat. Descending, she surveyed the scene, this time calling on the war-lore she'd been taught before her Change.
It was immediately obvious that whoever had attacked the farm had done so from several directions, and with intelligent efficiency. That said, the damage done was utterly excessive to that needed to break into and rob the farmhouse; all the buildings had been deliberately and completely destroyed. Something else was odd about the ruins, and it took her a moment to spot what. There were no bodies, nor any signs that people had died and been removed. Even a trace of blood, even cooked to gravy, would have been perceptible as night gathered around the scene; but there was none. As she turned to leave, a glitter caught her sharp eyes. A small pouch of silver coins, the upper surface of leather burned away, lay in the rubble, where normal bandits couldn't have failed to find it. She shifted briefly to human form to collect the coins, then thoughtfully took to the air and headed back to the village.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party was arguing with Hesplen. "You can't wander around outside the village at night!" he was saying, horrified at their plan to camp near the farm they judged most likely to be attacked and wait for the bandits. "Look what happened to Arleth! Wait til the morning, friends, I beg you!" Rolling his eyes, Ozymandias the assassin assumed Hesplen's voice and scattered a few more rude comments in the direction of the punters. As the aggrieved customers swarmed around the bar and the argument started, the party slipped out of the door and made for the stables to collect their mounts.
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Shortly afterwards - rejoined by Tallan - they were gathered outside the door of the farmhouse owned by one Gregor. Heavy wooden shutters closed the door and windows securely, but light could be seen between the boards and sounds of conversation came from within. Hammering on the door and demanding entrance brought no results, despite Lord Brellmone making quite sure they knew his name and rank. A crack in one shutter allowed them to see that the farmer and his family were all human and terrified, so the party called to him that they were going to guard his farm and try and intercept the bandits. Leaving the dwarf Kry'Ojenix on guard near the front of the farmhouse, the others went round the back and into the farmyard, a rough square of various sheds and a barn joined by a 5' plank fence.
Tallan the vampire went across the farmyard and took cover behind a toolshed, from where she could see both the farmhouse and the barn. Rative the priest of Air climbed into the barn's hayloft, which looked out onto the yard and offered the bonus of keeping watch from bed. Ozymandias, aided by a Spider Climb from Kry'Ojenix, climbed atop the barn and settled at the eastern peak, watching that face of the property, while Lord Brellmone and the warrior Gamaros went into the barn itself to sleep. Inside, they found a cart, but no horses; Gregor was obviously fallen on hard times.
 DM Note: Guards and Wards actually takes 30 minutes to cast, so I've moved this action back here. |
Tallan called on a magical ability born into his family and placed Guards and Wards on the farmyard. While most of the effects were lost, all the doors in the farm became magically locked, and the door to the farmhouse disappeared under an illusion of the neighboring wall.
Time passed...
Several hours later, Kry'Ojenix and Tallan both began to hear noises coming from the west. While K resolutely held his position at the farm door, Tallan
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moved to where she could see over the fence in that direction. Her superior night vision picked out five humanoid figures gathered sixty yards or so from the western fence. Their heartbeats were humanlike, but far too fast. With swift hand signals, she transmitted this to Kry'Ojenix and Ozymandias, as well as Restive through his window. Kry'Ojenix cast another Spider Climb and ascended to the farmhouse roof, from where he commanded a good view across the whole area. Restive, Lord Brellmone and Gamaros emerged from the barn as Brellmone cast Bless to enhance the party's fighting spirit.
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From the far side of the farmyard, Tallan released another of her abilities, a Fireball. In initial appearance it looked exactly like the sorcerer spell, and all watched with interest to see how well it worked. However, as it burst against one of the human forms, it expanded into a very small blast of flames, and from what they could see had little or no effect on the attackers. However, it did light them up very nicely. They were clearly not human; though they had once been. Some were clad in shreds of mail, and bore swords, while others wore rags of farmers' clothing and had only their claws. Reddened, horny skin covered them and spikes protruded from their joints, but recognizable human faces added a touch of horror to their appearance.
Tallan followed up with an arrow from her longbow, which drilled straight through one of the creatures. The whole party paused to see what would happen. It wobbled for a moment and then crumpled to the grass. Everyone leaped into action!
Gamaros sprinted for the fence opposite where the demons were now approaching, while the two priests Brellmone and Rative spread out behind him to provide support, Rative casting a Curse on the approaching foe. Brellmone scored with his sling. Kry'Ojenix remained steadfastly where he was, constantly scanning, sceptical that there was only one group of attackers. Ozymandias flung a shuriken from the roof, attempting an assassination but merely grazing one of the four demons as they reached the fence. Two engaged Gamaros while the other two went to vault over; one fell back with one of Tallan's arrows in its' face and was enveloped in Restive's inherent Blade Barrier. Like Tallan's Fireball, this was a modest version of the spell, but added to the damage from the arrow it was quite enough to kill the demon.
| DM Note: By the rules, Assassination can't miss, but I'm sorry, a 00 means something has gone wrong! When you're attempting it with missiles into melee, someone's copped it... |
Ozymandias hurled another shuriken, uncaring of the increasing numbers of his comrades gathering in the target area. The glittering metal star thudded into the fence inches from Gamaros, causing that warrior to start and mutter a curse. The one attacker who had made it over the fence now sprinted across the farmyard brandishing a sword, and Lord Brellmone moved to intercept it, his sword drawn and a prayer to Nolat God of Swords on his lips. A thrown knife from Rative whistled past him and scored a red line across the demon's belly.
Ozymandias had improved his aim and wounded Gamaros' foe, but this was a temporary improvement; his next throw sent a steel star deep into the fighter's thigh, shattering the femur. Ablaze with agony and covered in blood, Gamaros considered balancing himself on the fence in order to continue the fight, but thought better of it and let himself fall to the ground, as the demon leaped the fence and threw itself at Rative. The priest braced himself, then ran it smoothly through.
Across the farmyard, Lord Brellmone and the last demon were trading cut and parry, evenly matched. As they circled, Tallan followed Ozymandias' example and launched a missile into combat, in her case though dropping the demon with one shot.
Rative stuck his sword in the ground and knelt next to Gamaros, a Cure Light Wounds spell at his fingertips to mend the warrior's wound. As he did so, a cry from Kry'Ojenix atop the farmhouse siezed everyone's attention; "Incoming!"
Tallan shifted to bat form and flew up to the roof, flowing back to her usual shape as she landed and raising her bow. Sure enough, another group of five attackers lurked at the edge of her night vision. Swiftly, she nocked and shot until they were out of sight, then lowered the bow and regarded the results; two corpses and a demon nailed to the ground by its' leg. "There's your prisoner," she said with satisfaction.
Session Date: 29th Dec 2015