Keep on the Borderlands - The Path of Evil - Session 10

Day 6 – Burg Liechenstein

"So” Lucien asks “Talmark, Kord, Malandir... should we go back to the cave and recover the goods left behind? If that is our course of action, we should first check with representatives of the company where the missing supplies came and pin them down for a reward, maybe even negotiate the use of a wagon and horse for the endeavor."

If the items are unmarked and therefore free salvage I think we should review the Burg rules regarding trading herein -- My guess is we would de facto be, "merchants," for the timeframe that we are selling/trading and Master Jurgen would require his 5% fee or tax on any deals we make. We should check with him to see if there is a writ, license, or some other official recognition of being authorized to trade/sell and obtain that.

If we are instead going to the Castle, I actually think we are fairly well stocked for that as-is."

Lucien voices that Talmark should get both potions so he has the ability to heal himself on the fly.

Lucien considers Mandalin. He thinks to himself, we should invest no resources in him that would be better suited on a Chelaxian warrior of good birth and standing.

 

Kord turns to Lucien “Remember, the crates and sacks were marked with an image of a blue lion.

I had a look at them and I estimate they are about 50 man days worth of provisions, probably worth 50gp if we were to try to lug them here. But they are probably more worthwhile as provisions to keep the party well supplied in the cave.

 

The blue lion image is the mark of the Lionshield trading company, an old family owned trading house. They have a warehouse in Canorate, Molthune and regularly bring goods to the Burgy where they trade with their counter parts from Elidir and Logas in Isger and Senara and Egorian in Cheliax” adds Kord.

Malandir regards the humans thoughtfully. He doesn’t care that they are wary of him and are reluctant to share their meagre haul....he hasn’t earned anything, yet, so expected nothing. And besides he’ll teach soon enough about the ability to use guile and stealth to reap even greater rewards.

"If you have won, through strength of arms and divine blessing, the stores at the cave, why leave them for another to secure? I can help you to better assess what is of value, but don’t ask me to barter with merchants over a fair price...they seem to dislike my Drow heritage and my demeanor, the maggots.

As to more lucrative exercises, I like the idea of plundering caravans and returning most of the goods for a reward.....perhaps these two acts could secure the funds to furnish more men and better equipment in your company?

And with regard to spying out new locations and marks, I think you will find me ideally suited to your purpose. So if you insist on a piece of paper to bind me in contract more than my sworn word, I expect an equal share of future spoils....and the right to kill any good cleric, paladin or knight who falls into our power...after you have interrogated them, of course."

Malandir extends a black gloved hand to grasp the forearm of each of his new companions……..

Lucien considers the elf's demand and offer of partnership, "I will need to revise the contract if we are to... "accept' you as an equal partner, that part is trivial and I am sure you are well versed enough in this world to recognize our faith and the requirements for abiding by contracts.

Regarding the eventual disposition of certain clerics or knights, demands about rights require a position of strength to capitalize on -- and I am not seeing that here.

You must understand that while we have no driving interest in securing their safety in general, there may be circumstances that arise wherein it is in the best interests of a long-term plan to spare the very life you are intending to claim rights to. Or instances where the reasoned likelihood of discovery would preclude ending said life.

So long as we understand one another in those regards, I can commit that for the most part we can accommodate your visage being the last these clerics and knights can focus their last eyes on. It will be placed in the contract.”

Kord looks at the elf and laughs “Hahaha. Elf we have no love for good paladins nor clerics. I think you’ll find you are in the company of like-minded beings, well in that regard at least.”

Malandir nods “Very well, the ending of good clerics is a proclivity of mine, and not fundamental to our agreement. I see in the dark where you cannot. My bow can pick out a foe in a swirling melee. My skill with locks and tracks and underground places are, I suspect, greater than yours. I look at the three of you and your hired muscle, and I see that you have need of my skills, which will be proven soon enough. My bow and blade, my knowledge and skills, are at the disposal of your band for fair recompense. I would consider the opportunity to kill good clerics and their faithful a boon.”

Lucien offers his hand “Your confidence is inspiring, Malandir. I am sure you will prove your value in short order. Like you, I am of the mind we should obtain a wagon and recover the cave spoils.”

Kord extends his and they shake on this initial agreement, with a binding written contract to come in due course, of course

Malandir suggest that they keep some goblin weapons to use as props for taking out a caravan. Kord informs Malandir that they had already sold them unfortunately but they could keep some future weapons captured.

They discuss the option of fortifying the cave. It is an excellent idea, agrees Kord. “Does anyone have any Craft Woodworking, Knowledge Engineering or Profession Engineering or some such skills” enquires Kord, “They would be very useful to either do the work ourselves or to hire some tradesmen to help. We could supervise the tradesmen better if we were skilled.”

Malandir suggest that he has Knowledge Local, which will help them to find the Caves of Chaos and Cragmaw Castle, and Knowledge Dungeoneering, which could help to fortify Cragmaw Caves.

[DM’s Note: I find it hard sometimes to get real value out of the knowledge, craft and professional based skills so I generally tend to give them a broad meaning.]

As they are enquiring of the provisioner of what timber is available they notice a caravan will be leaving for the north west passage in an hour. Heading for Cettigne. [DM’s Note: It is normal practice for the caravans to signal via a crier that they are intending to leave so that others may join the caravan for the journey and thus they can offer each other mutual protection from the wilds.]  

Kord says “Come on let’s hurry and get some lumber and join this caravan. We can drop the lumber off at Cragmaw caves in relative safety and fortify it as best we can and then we can go from there to explore the Caves of Chaos. It’ll only be about ½ a day’s travel from the Cragmaw to the Caves of Chaos and we’ll be able to scout it out first and use Cragmaw as a base. What say thee?”

Kord looks at Freemont “Get the men ready.”

 DEW

Keep on the Borderlands - The Path of Evil - Session 9

Day 4-6 – Burg Liechenstein

Lucien seethes at the Captain, but controls his outward appearance. Better to not show any emotion - give him no reason to be guarded against... eventualities.

Walking away with Talmark, Lucien grumbles a bit at their sparse take from the outing. "Resources provide opportunities just as much as happenstance, without one, we would need the other."

He thinks to himself, this could be a long endeavor indeed with barely above subsistence earning.

“Come on Talmark. Let us go to the blacksmith and see what we can get for these weapons.”

At the Minotaur Blacksmith they meet Berowalt. Despite his rough appearance, Berowalt turns out to be surprisingly courteous.

As they enter the door he greets Talmark and Lucien with enthusiasm.

“Good morning to you my good fellows. What can old Berowalt do for you today.”

The Minotaur is a typical blacksmiths work house. The building itself is about 20-foot-high and has a 5ft parapet upon the flat roof. The lower floor is occupied by a forge, bellows and other items. Scanning the room the characters note that the smithy is used to shod horses and mules, weapons are made, armour repaired and other types of smithing and armouring are undertaken. Berowalt has two assistances. In the workshop there are various pieces of equipment being made or are ready for use including 2 long swords, a mace, a suit of man-sized chain mail and 11 spears.

Lucien and Talmark explain that they had been hunting monsters and had killed a tribe of goblins and liberated their weapons, which they would like to see if the smith would like to buy.

“By the blessing or Irori my friends of course I would. Metal is hard to come by here and it is in great demand. If they are man size weapons I can put them into good order and sell them to needy defenders of either the caravans or the Burg and if they are something else then I can use them for scrap metal, melt them down and re-use them.”

They open the canvas roll containing the various weapons that they had taken from the goblins. Berowalt carefully goes through them and says. “Look they’re all a bit small, excepting this morning star. I’ll give you 2.5gp for each of the 11 small short swords, 3.75gp for the small long sword, 7.5gp for the each of the 7 small short bows and 4gp for the medium morning star. That’ll come to a total of 88gp. How does that sound my good fellows?”

[DM’s Note: Effectively Berowalt will give ½ the value of a medium sized weapon and ¼ the value of a small weapon as per pages 142 and 143 of the Core Rule Book.]

Later, when he is alone, Lucien's thoughts turn towards more felonious options... turning on a small caravan ourselves sounds profitable; we'd need to ensure we could blame a monstrous attack, plant evidence and such, maybe return the goods to the caravan company for a reward...? We could not sell them anywhere nearby without arousing suspicion, so it would have to be a return for reward. We'd really need to establish more trust and a reputation here first - but it is an intriguing idea. If Malandir proves himself trustworthy, perhaps gaining his input on drafting the plan, his take on precautions to mitigate eventual discovery...

The characters have now liquidated most of the loot from Cragmaw Caves with the exception of the small statue (which they haven’t appraised yet) and the two potions (which Lucien and Kord identified as being potions of Cure Light Wounds).

Total value as follows:

110gp: bounty from collecting ears

  50gp: reward for saving Sildar

  88gp: from selling liberated weapons

  32gp: in coins looted from the bodies of the monsters

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270gp total

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Total xp earned was 4,020 with Talmark, Lucien and Kord each receiving 730xp and each mercenary receiving 365gp.

It takes Lucien casting two Cure Light Wounds on the 4^th day and Lucien and Kord both casting two Cure Light Wounds on the 5^th day, together with the men at arms resting to get the party totally healed. Lucien and Kord take the opportunity to lord it a bit over them about how the priests of Asmodeus take care of the men of True Spear Mercenary Company.

"True Spear, we regret that we both have not the resources or arts in sufficiency to have healed you all up during the battle, but be assured, your continued health and safety is a definitive portion of our concerns.”

We both are praying and working towards having the resources to do better by you all. Where we could let time and rest take its course, instead we are ministering to your wounds now, and providing divine healing.

Per, do not think your bravery went unnoticed. You are an example to your fellows, and you will be first."

On the morning of the 6^th day the party are ready to adventure again.

The following table provide an overview of finances so far.

Just so the characters know, NPC personalities are rolled on a random table which has 20 personality types. NPC’s generally have between 1 and 3 personality types, depending on a random roll and the nature of the NPC’s (ie major NPC’s have more personality). NPC personality traits are only revealed to the characters as they become known through interaction. Thus there is a 1 in 20 chance that, for example, a character such as Captain Knight Wallache, is Dishonest. It’s difficult to tell if an NPC is dishonest until they rip you off.

DEW