Session 17: Fire at the Forge¶
Date: Monday, April 25th, 2022 @ 9:00 PM CT
Audio: MP3 (2h46m)
- Skip recap: 2m30s
Synopsis¶
We began with the party splitting up. The first party, consisting of Pasha, Tiran, and Gadot, rode off at high speed to the Ironstone Forge, where something was reportedly going down. When they arrived at Cauldin's Point, a worried Weslan Stillwater approached them on horseback, followed by his men. He pointed towards the horizon where black smoke billowed over the treeline in the direction of the Forge. The gang hauled ass down the road towards the smoke.
Meanwhile, Wolf and Sah-Sauj remained behind to investigate the nearby camp and quietly crawled through the underbrush to get nearer. A single guard sat at a campfire as the rain poured down. Wolf and Sah-Sauj spotted a wagon, some horses, and a handful of tents encircling the campfire. As Wolf closed in, he noticed that the guard was sleeping and recognized him as Freeney, the bandit who had robbed him of his cigars a year ago. Though Freeney was in a drunken slumber, a light shone from a tent near him. He was not alone.
The duo approached the horses and wagon, and Wolf discovered that the reins were not damaged as Jerry had claimed in his lawsuit. They decided to go into the actual camp to collect more evidence. Wolf snuck close to Freeney and quickly subdued him. However, Sah-Sauj stumbled on a rope anchoring the tent with the light inside.
Miles away from the camp, the other group arrived at the Ironstone Forge, which was a roaring inferno. The group quickly headed to the main house, where they heard Sophia calling for help somewhere inside.
Clank began bashing down the front door to the burning house while Tiran attempted to scale the wall. Before he could do so, his trusty robot broke down the door. Tiran ran inside and looked around. The place was falling apart, so he had to be quick as the fire consumed the wooden inner structure. He followed a trail of blood up the stairs and into his mother's bedroom.
Sophia lay unconscious on the floor with a bloody ball-peen hammer in one hand and a leather bag in the other. A dead bandit with a ball-peen hammer-shaped hole in his head laid beside her. The house rumbled beneath Tiran's feet as black smoke billowed upstairs. He grabbed Sophia, opened a window, and jumped out as Pasha cast Feather Fall on him from below. The house collapsed into a pile of burning rubble as he touched the ground with his mother safe in his arms.
Weslan Stillwater's healer poured a potion of healing down Sophia's throat, and she regained consciousness long enough to tell them that Jerry had come for Ramona. The gang headed for the stables, where they found a corpse in a puddle of its viscera. A wide of blood led down to the river behind the Forge.
They saw Ramona lie motionless by the water at the river, covered in slashes and pierced with countless arrows. Tangled between her sharp horns were the entrails of her victims, yet she wasn't moving. Lying against a tree stump was a fading Burron Piquette, who lamented that Wolf wasn't there to see his handiwork and then unceremoniously died. Stillwater's healer gave a potion of healing to Gadot, who was able to stabilize Ramona with it.
Back at the camp, the guard woke up from Sah-Sauj's stumbling. She tried to deceive him by imitating Freeney but was unsuccessful. As the guard got ready to exit the tent, Wolf and Sah-Sauj prepared to knock him out, which they did in a coordinated strike. With the guards dealt with, they searched the camp for clues. Eventually, Wolf found a wanted poster for Jerry and Jim. They were wanted for murder in Kleftmon, dead or alive, with a 500 gp reward each.
While getting ready to leave, Sah-Sauj recognized one of the horses as Tiran's missing steed, Percheron. They tied the horses to the wagon and left for the Forge.
When they arrived there, Wolf showed Weslan Stillwater the wanted poster that he found. Stillwater told him to hang on to it and present it to the magistrate. He also told Gadot to see him in his tent afterward.
Sophia told Tiran that she was leaving for Kleftmon and packing whatever remained of her stuff in the morning. The Forge was gone. As everyone tucked in for the night, Sah-Sauj discovered with Ramona's help that the wand given to her by Bhreia had healing properties. Tiran gifted Percheron to Sah-Sauj, who thanked him but immediately renamed the animal Harry. Harry the Horse.
In the morning, Jim tried to make a deal with Wolf after he dumped his friend's corpse next to him. He told Wolf that he could give them money, but Wolf replied that he already had all of his money.
The party set out on the road to Cauldin's Point, where Wolf told Tiran that he felt guilty for everything because he had lost his temper after finding Ramona. Tiran said he knew exactly how he felt since he was still angry about his family business' destruction.
Upon arriving at the Survivors' Camp, the party brought Jim and Jerry's corpse to the magistrate. After presenting his evidence, the magistrate dropped the charges against Wolf. Wolf was also paid 1000 gp for the bounty on the captives. And, as a show of gratitude, the magistrate wrote deeds for both Ramona and Harry the Horse.
Afterward, you visited Weslan Stillwater in his tent. He provided a complete map of Marram to Gadot and helped break down travel costs, equipment, and which route to take. He handed a silver medallion with the Aldarion Unlimited logo to Gadot, which would grant the company's favor when presented.
Finally, he told you that it would be a good idea to start a company, which would help with the many liability issues involved in being an adventuring group. And perhaps obtain a bounty hunters' license as well.
And that's where we left off.