Post date: Mar 3, 2008 3:58:58 AM
Employed orcs are generally happy orcs. The orcs following Drokalar have been busy building walls around Troll's Bridge for the last several months, but they are done now. Idle orcs are hard to control and cause trouble and now they have a walled in area to cause trouble in. A group of these orcs is digging tunnels into the cellars of several establishments and robbing them.
Antagonist(s)
Several of Drokalar's followers, orc warrior 1 (5)
Protagonist(s)
The Company
The sewers of Troll's Bridge
Elgin Tarcik's House
The Smoking Pipe
The company is eager to get out and find adventure. They are aware that one of the town's protectors, the paladin Elgin Tarcik, has not been seen since he slew Aleric Gorkan and Elán went missing.
The company decides to check out Elgin's house to see if he is there, leaving the tavern less well protected. They are distracted by someone running through the sewers, which they enter to investigate.
While tracking what they believe to be orcs, the company finds evidence that they have been digging their way into the cellar of The Smoking Pipe.
The company also happens across the destroyed ward sphere that was placed in the center of the town by Blarsimodimus to help keep Elgin Tarcik in Troll's Bridge after he fell from paladinhood. The company knows what the ward sphere did, but not why it was put there or that it was destroyed by Senafar Illamaesa while rescuing Elgin from his fate.
Having tracked the orcs to a secret door leading under the town's walls, they encounter Drokalar waiting at the top of the pit in Tanglewood. He has no intention of harming the company and intends to diplomatically convince them to return whence the came.
The company returns to Elgin Tarcik's home and enter it when they discover that the lock to the back door is broken. Besides a lingering illusion of the state of the room when Elgin was last there, the house is completely empty. Apparently the lights that had been seen from the window was an errant firefly.
Upon exiting Elgin's house, the company hears a commotion in the street that passes in front of The Smoking Pipe. The company arrives to find its patrons hastily exiting the tavern indicating that orcs have invaded the cellar.
Zenda is entering the cellar to face the orcs as the company arrives. She takes out three of the eight orc invaders, but falls to the survivor's blows as the company arrives to weigh in for themselves.
Zenda is slain and there is much lamenting of that. After the funeral when Hurley has gone to the cellar to retrieve some more wine for the wake, the ghost of a young Zenda is sitting on a keg of ale awaiting him. Gathering the company, she reveals to them that she will not pass on until she knows what happened to her husband Manty. She requests there assistance in discovering this.
The orcs that attacked The Smoking Pipe supplies 7 suits of studded leather (sold for 87 gp, 5 sp), a masterwork suit of studded leather (claimed by Moonstraddle), 7 falchions (sold for 262 gp, 5 sp), a masterwork falchion (sold for 187 gp, 5 sp), 23 javelins (sold for 11 gp, 5 sp), a masterwork javelin (sold for 150 gp, 5 sp) and 100 gp to the company. The 100 gp is donated the Zenda's family as blood money. The company will sell or claim the rest of the gear (787 gp).
The evening's adventure was worth 300 XP to each character. To make bookkeeping quicker, I've done the selling of equipment that wasn't claimed by anyone and divided the treasure evenly among the characters. Charlie Anvil, the master smith who owns Black Anvil Smithy where the equipment was sold, insisted that Moonstraddle take the best of the studded leather if she was going to claim one.
Allotment goes like this: 157 gp, 4 sp to each character except Moonstraddle since she "claimed" the masterwork studded leather. Moonstraddle has the armor plus 69 gp, 9 sp.
I'll be including "Quotable Quotes" in these comments for each gathering. This month's is as follows:
"I bet they're playing with the paladin!"
--Chartreuse MacStride to Moonstraddle after talking to the troll and realizing the little people ran back through the sewers to get away. They entered the sewers after getting distracted while trying to determine if Elgin Tarcik (the paladin) was still in his house.