Thundering hooves

Vogir grinds his back heel into the dirt and adjusts his grip on his magical longbow.

The battle raging below, though fraught, seems under control. Orestes, Indigo and the new dwarf are handling the remaining ‘Dark riders’, leaving he and Zavia to watch for whoever’s approaching.

He’d assumed it was just the two unencountered ‘Dark riders’ but the crescendoing volume of the hoof beats was making him less and less sure.

Vogir’s earlier confidence has become a distant memory.

Who’s rushing toward them?

Can his martialistic friends finish their opponents before more enemies arrive?

A feeling of dread washes over him.

The clever ambush they’d set to kill a couple of the ‘Dark riders’ now seems more of a trap for themselves.

Vogir’s sweaty palms force him to readjust his grip yet again.

Help from above

Vogir nocks another arrow and releases it into the melee below. These ‘Dark-riders’ don’t seem so tough. (Especially when he can pick them off from range, atop a cliff-face.)

They were chasing two, but have attracted five of the lizardy bastards. Not really a surprise, as they’d not only pursued them but alerted them of their presence.

Still, five vs. five weren’t too scary odds.

Orestes, Indigo and the newly joined dwarf; Mjoorvitnir were handling the hand-to-hand fighting, while the gnomess; Zavia and he played interference.

True, his arrows weren’t bothering the Dark-riders too much and Zavia’s illusions were being breached…

Still, the battle was definitely going their way.

Two or three of these ‘relentless’ dragon-borns were already down and even the terminally reckless Orestes was still on his trotters.

Vogir’s smile falters though as he hears the thundering sound of horses hooves approach from the distance…

A battle well thought

The Blue prince: Narcissus continues to flap his wings, even as he steadies his breathing. Should he hold his position, high above his aggressors or should he dive into his secure den?

It’s only been a few moments since the attack began but already his personal guard’s been devastated.

Even one of his devils has been dismissed.

Still, his other troops will already be on their way to help.
...

His troops that are all currently positioned half-a-mile away, spread between all the towers.

It’ll take them too long to get back!

And, if they leave their defensive positions, the advancing orc horde will have an easier time breaching the cities defences.

…

Now Narcissus understands the mercenaries timing.

They had depended upon his arrogance.

He had allowed them into the heart of his kingdom.
Into his very throne room, while the majority of his soldiers were too far away to defend him.

…

Clever little monkeys!

…

With the keen eyes of a flying predator, Narcissus looks down at the mercenaries again.

He sees at least one bow slung over one of their shoulders.

Injured as he is, he can’t risk one or two lucky shots.

Premature attack? You must be a stupid!

Never in all his thirty years, has anyone had the audacity to strike at him. Other than squabbles with his brother and sister, he’s never been so much as pushed!

Flapping his mighty wings, Narcissus holds himself aloft in the upper area of his domed throne room.

It was difficult to tell at first but it appears to be just the five mercenaries that entered with the orc criminal: Morten’s head.

No support from the human vermin in the hall.

Despite his generous reward, the idiot half-orc attacked him!

Not just attacked him but hurt him. Really hurt him.

In front of his mother!

Down below, he can see his Dragon-born soldiers, his Black-cloaks and even his Devils being beaten.

Without support, they won’t last much longer.

His mother’s magic mirror is currently pointing directly upward and therefore mostly useless…

Still, whenever he blasts the treacherous orc, he seems to receive some sort of backlash.

The tiefling also seems somehow immune to his lightning.

Looking down, Narcissus assesses his current predicament…

The orc warrior is impressive but relies on swords.

The tiefling paladin… Another melee fighter.
The wannabe black cloak monk is irritating but mostly unarmed.

The tall, thin shaman seems lost and confused. Probably the first that will fall.

Finally the tiny Halfling…

What is he doing by his throne?

And could they be connected to the advancing orc horde?

…

Of course they are…

Powerful and skilled as they are, they must be the leaders!

But why attack before the horde arrived?

(T)orc of war

Dokan finds himself in a strange situation. Surrounded by friendly orcs and a trusted ally of their new chief.

Orestes: Chief of the Broken lance tribe.

Aurelius and Orestes are starting to discuss their immediate future when the entrance to the tent opens up and the hulking Bodan strides in.

‘I am here to pay homage to my new chief!’

Bodan was named after his father: Konan, a great, savage warrior and Bodush: The evil human sorcerer that infamously killed hundreds of orcs in the battle that destroyed the Broken lance clan. Scores of children were killed that day. Children that would never be avenged.

As the mighty Bodan bows, a diminutive gnome is revealed behind him.

Gauss smiles nervously as they’re both ushered to sit with the others.

Ale flows and soon the conversation turns to war.

War against Thereanthor and war against the Blue prince.

Orestes speaks of the possibility of leading his new army against the Blue prince…

‘Outrageous!’ squeaks the gnome.

‘This was never part of our plan. You would alert Thereanthor of our machinations and bring ruin to us all!’

The gnome looks to the others for support but finds none.

Bodan is already smiling at the prospect of battle. 
‘For so long, I have battled alone. Killing Dragon-borns and Black-cloaks wherever I could. But always small scale for I lacked any support. Now though, perhaps I can cause the accursed Thereanthor more trouble…’

Votton and Elige nod in agreement and Gauss looks horrified.

‘No! I forbid it!’

At this, Aurelius looks annoyed.

‘You ‘forbid’ it do you? Although I appreciate what you’ve done for us, never forget who and what we are. We are the Broken lance clan. We are warriors born. We are reunited at last and we have a strong leader. We are your friends but we are not your servants.’

Gauss cowers under Aurelius’ gaze before the grizzled orc continues.

‘The Blue prince now knows for certain that there is a gathering of the orcs. A large gathering. If we all flee, he or his bitch mother will hunt us down… If a large number of us fight though…’

Aurelius stops as he considers the situation but Gauss interrupts.

‘What you’re offering is a distraction while we evacuate the camp? This actually isn’t a bad proposition. Let me broker it with my superiors.’

And with that, Gauss leaves the tent.

Bodan laughs. ‘I like the little fellow but surely the Gnomes opinion has no baring on what we’re going to do.’

‘No’ agrees Aurelius, ‘But it doesn’t hurt to keep our friends contented’.

Orestes looks at his two generals, his human and tiefling friends and the orcs in his tent.

His orcs.

All told, he’s got over four hundred orcs willing to fight for him.

Willing to die for him!

Should he risk them in a battle against the Blue prince or should he lead them to the safety of Mount Sneafang?

He hasn’t even been officially crowned yet but responsibility already feels heavy on his brow.

I mist you

Lost in the darkening forest, Indigo tries to retrace his steps. He’d been foolish to pursue the orc. He’d assumed he’d just be able to turn around and find the mossy clearing again.

He’d not considered the confounding mist.

Now he’d not only lost the orc but his teammates as well.

Still, he was pretty self-sufficient and he would eventually find his way out.

He was concerned about the others though and wondered if they’d found the magically shrouded orc camp.

Unable to see the wood for the cheese

After a brief moment of indecision, the monk Indigo sprints into the undergrowth after the orc warrior. Knowing his memories are suspect, Indigo can’t let the orc wander off alone. He may be a friend and, in his current state, he’d be easy pickings for the various groups of orc hunting mercenaries currently searching these woods.

Meanwhile, still hidden behind some foliage, Charlie Stilton tries to calm his breath while he wracks his brain for answers.

He didn’t just appear here but, for the life of him, he can’t remember the journey or any of the people in the clearing.

One of them had called out to him though, as he ran…

They knew his name…

They weren’t cursing it or shooting arrows at him…

And, as he watches them recover magical item after magical item from the bodies of fallen adventures…

He desperately wants a share of that loot!

Taking a deep breath, Charlie Stilton stands up and walks, in what he hopes looks like a confident manner, back into the clearing.

The other adventurers look around, momentarily losing sight of the monk.

Those few seconds are critical though, as Indigo is lost to them, swallowed up by the same eerie mist and darkness that now holds the unknown orc.

Another fine moss you’ve gotten yourselves into

Standing in the smoldering mess of blackened moss and trees, the adventurers look around at each other.

Dokan recognises Orestes but no one else. Who are the others? Some of them look familiar but he can’t place them.

Something’s definitely wrong here but he can’t discern what it is and so keeps his sword held ready.

The monk: Indigo is less affected but still, slightly disorientated.

Only Zavia and Orestes feel that they are mentally unaffected by the strange plant creature.

They were, unfortunately, too slow to prevent he halfling and the half-orc from fleeing into the surrounding forest.

Perhaps affected by the heat from the flaming oil, the eerie, white mist covering the ground seems to momentarily dissipate.

Several corpses are revealed. Orc-hunting mercenaries by the look of their equipment. They can’t have been dead for more than a few months as they aren't completely covered in the strange moss that seems to be everywhere in this part of the forest.

After a few minutes of mutual reassurance, the four adventures cautiously help themselves to whatever they can find.

Watching from his hiding place, Charlie Stilton wonders who everyone is, how he got there and, most importantly, how he can get his hands on that stuff.

Piggog the orc though, continues to run from the chaotic encounter. Whoever those strange people were, they were no help to him and his quest to rejoin his ancient tribe: The Bone crunchers!

The Blue Prince: Mid-series catch-up (Episode: 2)

Leaving his erstwhile teammates: Indigo and Orestes behind to explore the woods, Dokan and the diminutive Zavia rode on towards Khajag.

Khajag, as far as they knew was just a mining town. A profitable, diamond mining town but just that. Recently though, it has been bequeathed by the tyrant Thereanthor to one of her four children: Narciss.

As they journeyed on, a leather clad, Halfling called out to them from behind. He seemed cocky but not threatening. 

After he’d managed to catch up, the Halfling introduced himself as ‘Charlie Stilton’ and invited himself along for the journey. He was originally from Fewham and had followed after the adventurers as he’d lost confidence in the protection the ‘captive’ dragon: Sybille had giving the town.

They arrived at the outskirts of Khajag about a day-and-a-half later. Just farming outposts but, weirdly, worked by human slaves overseen by kobolds.

Some of the kobolds, the bigger ones, rode upon strange dog-like mounts.

The kobolds gathered in number before approaching Dokan, Zavia and Charlie Stilton. They overtly threatened and insulted the gnomess Zavia but she refused to let herself be provoked and eventually the three adventures were shown to the town’s outer ‘wall’.

A gatehouse, complete with an iron portcullis stood astride the main road into the town. It was stone-built, ornate and impressive. What was most odd about it though, was that there were no walls on either side. Rather a shimmering field of blue light.
Tall stone towers interrupted the sheets of crackling energy at regular, mile wide intervals. Each one manned by a Black cloak and a couple of blue Dragon-borns.

After a brief conversation with the Black cloak atop the main gatehouse, Dokan, Zavia and Stilton were allowed through the gate to meet with Narciss himself.

As they walked toward the newly built palace, Charlie Stilton and the others noticed how poorly treated the humans were. Everything in the burgeoning town of Khajag had been built on the whipped backs of the human slaves.

The central palace was huge in relation to the town itself. Grand but overblown. It was made mostly of white marble but had domes and decorations of vivid blue.

After dealing with a few underlings, the adventurers were surprised to be shown directly into the blue prince’s throne room§. Here they found the young dragon talking lazily to one of his mother’s Black cloaks. The room itself was colossal and, at its zenith, the domed roof reached over 50’ high!

Despite this, the dome was supported by highly decorated ribs at the circumference of the room rather than interrupting columns. Each rib denoted one of the many races of Fissa, their intertwined bodies and faces in expressions of painful subjugation. At the very top of the dome, where the ribs met, was a huge, decorative, stone boss. A boss that showed Narciss breathing lightning at the hairless monkey races.

After making them wait for a few minutes, the young dragon uncurled himself from his specially made throne and summoned the three adventures forward.

Although still young, he was already the size of a large horse but when he spoke, his voice was like a rasping whisper. Like wind over gravel.

The young Dragon told them that he’d ‘ordered them here to help stamp out a large and illegal gathering of orcs. Possibly in their thousands’.

He explained that ‘He could get help from his mother, the tyrant queen, but her troops would take weeks to arrive and he’d elected not to wait’.

He also explained his frustration with his scryers. ‘For some reason, despite numerous reports of orc sightings, they cannot locate them’.

Narciss ordered the three adventurers to ‘Go out to Fasel wood. Find the orcs and kill as many of them as possible’.

It was only then that a wretched looking human clerk shuffles forward and presents Dokan with a scroll with a reward list on it…

Ten gold pieces worth of diamonds per confirmed normal orc grunt killed but larger amounts for ten particular orcs, who are known troublemakers.

Five thousand gold pieces worth of diamonds for known troublemakers: Morten, Ragnar, Knut. Aurelius, Unger, Harang, Stig and Viggo.

Ten thousand gold pieces worth of diamonds for Bodan and Auzoux. Two especially dangerous orcs. Orcs who are inspiring their kin toward open rebellion.

After they were dismissed by the young dragon prince, Dokan, Zavia and Charlie Stilton had a quick look around on their way out of the town/city.

The main entrance to the main diamond mine was located at the far edge of the town but still within the confines of the blue energy shield. It was unsurprisingly well guarded, as were several other building.

The trio of adventurers also saw the humans being openly mistreated by the kobold overseers. Dokan, Zavia and Charlie Stilton did nothing to prevent this though as it would have caused direct conflict with the Dragon-borns and Black-cloaks.

As they were escorted back to the main gate, Charlie Stilton, on viewing the shimmering blue energy field, asked one of the nearby kobolds what the shields did. Happy to explain, four of the kobolds dragged over a human slave and threw him through the barrier.

The translucent blue field didn’t prevent him passing through it but his electrified body was quite dead when it fell on the other side.

From one of the nearby doorways, a woman wailed in despair. Her husband had been killed just as a cruel example.

Slightly disturbed but unwilling to kill the culprits, Dokan, Charlie Stilton and Zavia headed out and away from Khajag.

They made camp that night at the edge of the forest. In the morning, they headed in.

It was late that afternoon when the Halfling cleverly noticed a pit trap. Not that wide but spiked at the bottom and deep enough to prevent easy escape.

The diminutive Charlie Stilton and Zavia found themselves somewhere to hide while the well-armoured Dokan triggered the clanking bell alarm.

After a few minutes a huge black scaled dragon-born arrived. He was wary due to the ongoing bell and flanked by two humans. A well-armoured warrior and a mysterious looking sorceress.

These three were the survivors of the mercenary group Dokan had fought on-route to ‘saving’ Lady Sybille from the Black cloak tower near Fewham.

They had proved themselves tough and now it looked as if Dokan was facing them alone. Mallyx, the dragon-born signaled his human teammate forward but he was surprised by a sneak attack from the well-concealed Charlie Stilton.

Realising it was a trap, the black dragon born and the sorceress rushed to help. The battle was closely fought and Dokan looked in trouble until the little Gnomess, illusionist: Zavia managed to fool the Dragon-born into stepping onto his own pit trap.

Down he fell, soon followed by his underlings.

Zavia sealed the pit with an illusionary but unassailable metal lid, effectively trapping the three mercenaries. It was a simple matter then, for the rogue and the paladin to finish them off with crossbow bolts and daggers.

After a brief rest, the three adventurers stripped the mercenaries of all their valuable equipment and searched to area. They found dozens of pit traps and, eventually, Mallyx’s camp. Tents, a prepared but unlit fire and a wagon containing a hundred and sixty eight severed orc heads. The bodies were to be found dumped down a natural, open pit.

Despite the distasteful nature of the campsite, the three adventurers decided to stay there overnight and to look for Orestes and Indigo in the morning.

The Blue Prince: Mid-series catch-up (Unseen footage)

Waking from their night’s sleep, the four adventurers debated what to do next.

The half-orc: Orestes, naturally wanted to follow the magical orc letter and head towards the nearby ‘Fasel wood’. Dokan however wanted to follow the raven’s mysterious invitation to the diamond-mining town of Khajag.

Indigo sided with Orestes but Dokan dug his cloven heels in. The three of them argued for over half-an-hour but no redress could be found.

Zavia, the newly joined gnomess, wisely decided to keep her own council. She didn’t know these three well enough yet to try and influence their decisions.

Realising that Indigo and Orestes weren’t going to change their minds, Dokan decided to head off to Khajag alone. It was only then that Zavia made up her mind.

Two groups of two seemed fair to her and Dokan was at least heading toward a promise of gold.

The four adventures split up. Orestes and Indigo to search the forest and Dokan and Zavia to journey to Khajag and the Blue prince…

The Blue Prince: Mid-series catch-up (Episode: 1)

Finding themselves hustled out of the Inn they were staying at in Fewham by the landlord: Proper John (Vogir and Rudha-an had apparently already left.), Orestes, Dokan and Indigo made their way to Lord Rician’s manor house and demanded entry.

The visibly present town guards shadowed them but didn’t approach.

A small Gnomess: Zavia also joined the party as she was being hustled out of town as well. In fact all the adventures and mercenaries recently invited into Fewham to help save the Lady Sybille from the Black cloaks, were being ‘asked’ to move on.

After the aged servant’s initial refusal, Dokan and Indigo were begrudgingly allowed in to ‘discuss’ their complaints.

Lord Rician was rude and dismissive and, after asking the two adventurers to leave, called his guards. Despite Indigo’s pleas for calm, Dokan drew his sword and attacked Lord Rician. Although no match for Dokan, Lord Rician was able to defend himself for the few moments it took for two of his guards to arrive.

Indigo then decided to nip matters in the bud and, in a blinding whirl of action, killed both the guards and the aged clerk.

Indigo’s brutal flurry had the desired effect though, and Lord Rician immediately surrendered. He paid Dokan double what he’d originally offered the party to save his ‘daughter’.

Leaving the next day, in their own sweet time, the gnomess Zavia decided to join them, although they hadn’t the faintest idea what to do or where to go.

During the journey to the next major crossroads, Dokan spied a raven apparently following them.

He shot it with his crossbow and, confirming his suspicions, it disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Making camp at nightfall, Zavia noticed smoke in the distance. Climbing up a tree, she realized that it was another camp nearby.

The stealthy monk: Indigo went to investigate while the other three of them prepared to defend their camp. Zavia proved herself adept with useful illusions.

Indigo noticed a group of orcs creep past him but carried on to their camp. Once there he discovered two young orcs on guard. He stepped out, unarmed and offering peace but, unprovoked, the two orcs still attacked. It was only due to his generosity that they lived beyond that moment.

The other group of orcs moved through the trees to the Party’s camp. There, after a short, shouted conversation, they discovered Orestes was one of them. An orc.

After a brief negotiation, the orcs offered to share some of their food in exchange for the mutual defence of a shared camp.

In the morning, the leader of the young orcs took out a piece of parchment, tore it and passed half of it to Orestes. Magically both halves repaired themselves and Orestes was able to read the entire message. It was in Orcish but the phrasing was odd, wrong. It was far too slick. Too savvy.

Despite being asked not to, Orestes showed it to his teammates…

CALLING ALL ORCS!

Are you sick of living in fear?

Fear of the Dragon?

Fear of the armies of Man?

The time is upon us brother.

The time to reunite the sundered tribes.

The time to reforge the great hordes of our forefathers.

Come find us in the heart of Fasel wood.

Help us reclaim what is ours.

In the name of Gruumsh, help reclaim what should be yours!

Do not share this information with men, elves or dwarves.

Do not confide with any that would see us oppressed.

The band of youthful orcs left in the direction of a nearby wood and the party continued on to the crossroads.

On the way Dokan noticed the raven again. ‘Was it the same one’ he wondered and he shot it with a crossbow bolt, just to be sure.

Again it disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Arriving at the crossroads about a day later, they found a large wooden signpost. Its arms pointing in five different directions.

1) Fewham: Back the way they came.

2) Winterhaven: Back towards where a lot of them had originally started.

3) Stonefang: The land of the dwarves.

4) Gon Dulat: The largest city within weeks of traveling and….

5) Khajag: Apparently a recent but wealthy settlement.

It's here the raven reappeared in the treetops and it swooped down to perch atop the crossroads sign.

Although raising his crossbow again, Dokan didn’t fire and the nervous looking raven finally spoke…

‘Ad-veenturoors! Youu Arr all CAW-dialy enviited to tha proviince of Khajag to aiid tha Blue prince with a triiviial but preesing mat-ter. Thaare’s gold to be made. Aaaaand plenttee of it!’

With two possibilities and unsure what to do, the Party made camp.

He thinks it’s all over…

Sitting in the anti-chamber between his office and his private rooms, Lord Rician sighs with relief.

A servant tends to the gash to his neck but it isn’t serious. He had been lucky…

Lucky?

Two of his guards lie dead on the floor of his office as well as one of his most trusted clerks.

Those two adventurers had also swindled him out of 2,400gp worth of gems…

Swindled?

In fairness, it had been he who had swindled them in the first place. He’d known that they would baulk when confronted by a young dragon rather than a young woman.

He had also known that she’d probably have to save herself at that point. A task that was easily in her power. There isn’t much that can stop a dragon.

Still, he’d settled the matter with the adventurers and could finally relax.

Ordering one of the clerks nearby to fetch a quill and some paper, Lord Rician prepares to write the commiseration letters to the families of the dead.

Dirty, rotten, lawyer

At last Indigo gets his day in court.

That’s the way to do it

Taking in the group of adventurers in front of him, Vogir sighs deeply.
It was a good plan. A plan that he himself would have considered, had the opportunity presented itself.
These five brigands have been waiting here, just outside the scope of the Black cloak tower, in the hopes of wresting the rescued Sibylle from the undoubtedly wounded arms of whichever group was successful.
It wasn’t just a good plan.
It was a VERY good plan.
Thankfully Rudha-an’s insightfulness, coupled with his own cynicism had lifted the veil of deception from his teammates eyes.
Rudha-an’s spirit panther was about to spring.
It wouldn’t be alone.

Dead friends with benefits

Riding back from the pine forest, Vogir feels his heart lighten.
Ghanash has gone on to the afterlife he so craved and has no need for any of his old weapons and equipment.
The deal he’d made with the traveling trader was poor, but it was better than nothing and his spare horse was still under a greater strain than she’d been on the way out.
Magical armour and axes weigh much less than even a fifth their value in gold.
Once back in town, Vogir seeks out Dokan, Rudha-an and Indigo to give them their share.
He could cheat them now, but frankly he’s not really interested in gold so why bother?
Unsurprisingly, he finds them all in the local tavern run by Linnea, a blond-haired, overly friendly, middle-aged widow.
The others find her fussing a little annoying, but Rudha-an seems to be loving it.
“Well boys, set up the drinks while I divvy this all out.”
The others smile and drink to the Dragon-born's memory as Vogir hands out his gold.

Dokan gets 10pp, 3,868gp, 2sp and 5cp.
Indigo gets 10pp, 3,868gp, 2sp and 5cp.
Rudha-an gets 10pp, 3,868gp, 2sp and 5cp.
Vogir gets 10pp, 3,868gp, 2sp and 5cp.

Three stooges

The dark haired Eyulf smiles as he sips the red wine in front of him.
“Do you think those three adventurers will give Dovmont much trouble?”
The hunch-backed and grey Rhold bares his yellow teeth in response. “Unlikely. There were only three of them with no magical support. Their only healer is a Paladin and I hobbled him with that cursed sword!”
Staring through his crystal glass into the roaring fire of the living room, Eyulf falls silent for a moment. “This little wheeze of yours has served us well for the last few years. Tricking small groups of idiot adventures into facing a much larger force than they had prepared for, having them killed and taking their stuff but…”
Rhold smiles again. “What’s wrong old friend? Do you have one of your ‘bad feelings’? Don’t worry. Not one adventurer has returned in all the years we’ve been doing this. Dovmont’s Redshirt clan has never failed us. ”
Eyulf’s smile slips now though. “But these three were part of a larger group. A group that was able to kill that sea serpent. What will we do if they get help? What will we do if they return?”
Rhold’s smile falters a little. “They will not survive, but even if they do, we have my guards, my magic and your knives. Trust me, we’ll be fine.”

Deliver us from Egil

Whilst nursing their injuries and recounting the more and more exaggerated stories of the sea monster they’d killed, the Party find themselves in a temporary calm.
Those that knew Egil, feel a deeper understanding of their stoic ex-kinsman.
They all want to be gone from this freezing, barren place; Egil’s homeland, but they are forced to wait until they hear more news about the sea monsters driving away all the herring.
Ghanash however finds himself fascinated by the hardship these humans endure and yet complain little, if at all. The Humans he had known up until this point, even the ‘heroic’ ones seem to whine about most everything.
Dokan wastes no time in discovering the local vendor of magical trinkets. He is invited by the grey and hunched Roald to come by his shoppe the next morning.
The local Lord is also entertaining one of the neighboring nobles: Vidar. A large and bearded blond man, dressed entirely in black. He’s well into his middle-years but he still stands tall and broad.
Rodha-an is content to drink and eat the free food supplied by the grateful locals. He does win the confidence of the Innkeeper though. Linnea likes a man with a good appetite, and it seems to her that the Shaman could do with putting on a few pounds.
Indigo is absent a lot of the time. He has discovered the library of the town leaders and spends his free time buried in the ancient tomes.
Vogir however seems to literarily have disappeared. No-one’s seen him in days.

Fort to the end

OK, let’s see what we’re facing...

Our target is a well built rectangular wooden fort. I’m guessing it’s about one hundred feet along the longest sides and maybe sixty feet at its most narrow?
It’s surrounded by a ten foot patrolled palisade and it seems there is a construction inside the wall since the guards can be seen over the palisade..
The palisade has two gates in the centres of the two shortest walls on opposite sides of the fort. These gates are fortified and have small guard towers on either side.
Do we know how tall these towers are?
The sturdy wooden gates open outward.
There are eight buildings inside.
The one near the north gate seems to be the troop's quarters. They are in two lines along the road in between the gates.
There are at least ten regular guards, but that’s including their commander and an accursed black cloak.
The road passes in the west while there is forest on the other sides.
There's about a fifty foot distance from the palisade to the forest's edge.
Carts normally seem to enter at one gate and leave through the other after being loaded or unloaded by the people that are with the cart and just supervised by a guard.

There also appears to be a kind of quick response group stationed there to protect the roads near the fort. Ten mounted fighters who control the roads and pass the fort on two regular passes throughout the day and stay there over night.
Annoyingly these cavalrymen don’t were helmets and are well known and easily recogniseable by the men in the garrison.

The fort act as an intermediate storage facility. The are carts bringing and taking stuff. They mostly supply troops that are passing through and get re-stocked when necessary.
The fort is simple though. A wooden construction and no moat or slope to worry about.

I still think fire’s our best option. If we could get Indigo in somehow, he could stealthily poor oil on the thatched roofs . In fact he could set the fires AND help open the gate..
Then it would be a simple matter for archers shooting fire-arrows into the fort to light the place up.
Wooden fortifications are always susceptible to fire. A few buckets of water and damp leather are no match for burning oil and bloody mindedness.
As the fire spreads, those living inside would be forced to flee, thereby allowing us to take them prisoner or kill them.

Our main problem though is still the matter of getting in...
Do any of us have any abilities that would help?

As for the problem of not destroying what we’ve come here to get. We don’t have to target every building. The guard house and one or two others would do.
I’ve thought about what Orestes had said about their fire defences. They are very unlikely to be keeping the wood damp as that would lead to it rotting.
And regardless of that, it would distract at least a few of them.
Interestingly, as the garrison is so lightly defended, there should only be six or so defenders initially as at least a third of them will be asleep preparing for or recovering from the night shift.

I also think we all now agree that it’s best for us to strike fast during the day, between the cavalry passes and be gone before they return. Killing them can wait for another day.

Of our assets, we have the five of us and the possible support of about 15 untrained men and women. Frankly I’d rather we left them behind to protect their settlement.

We don’t have any belfries, battering rams or catapults and using ladders would prove disasterous. Mining’s out as we don’t have any Dwarves and we haven’t got time for a siege

So unless anyone can offer a better suggestion?

Thinking room

After getting undressed, Vogir slumps down into his bed, pulls up his covers and tries to think things through.
Politics.
He hates politics.
The whiney self-importance of men who speak of change, while usually just feathering their own nests.
Despite this, he does understand the implications of acting against the Sheriff.
Hadn’t his own Father acted in a similar way?
Unlike the Sheriff however, Armando, had eked out his own Father’s fortune for as long as he could.
Though not a strong man, he had cared for his people and protected them to the best of his ability.
The Sheriff obviously doesn’t share that sentiment.
Thinking about his monster-race teammates, Vogir starts to worry.
Dokan, Orestes and Ghanash seem straightforward enough.
Perhaps too straightforward?
They didn’t even consider keeping the gold or, better still, handing it back to the people it was ‘stolen’ from...
Even the Human Rudha-an seemed indifferent to the plight of his own people...
Not a traitor to his race but certainly uncaring.
Although it choked Vogir to admit it, the small army they’d encountered would have pulled the town apart looking for the gold he’d advocated taking.
The whole ‘slaughter-a-whole-town-so-the-others-will-pay-their-tribute’ seems a little shortsighted though.
Slaughtering ‘willing’ taxpayers just because the tax wagons are being robbed is plain stupid.
OK, it’ll scare the neighbouring towns into paying, but if they’re being robbed as well...
Vogir strains his brain some more and thinks about the people recently met and the information he’s garnered from the others.
It is apparent that there are at least four factions involved here.
The Dragon and his Black-cloaks.
The Sheriff and his men.
Rob Inwood and his gang of cutthroats.
And a ‘possible’ underground resistance.
Certainly they all have their own agendas but how do they relate to each other?
The Dragon’s motivation is clear. Keep the people down and gather gold for it’s own selfish ends.
The Sheriff is a typical toady Lord. Keen to retain his position and wealth regardless of the suffering of others.
Rob Inwood appears, not to be a hero of the people, but at least he does attack the Black-cloaks. A villain then, but at least a thorn for the Dragon to deal with.
And finally, the Underground resistance... Certainly no army and definitely incapable of standing openly against either the Sheriff or the Black cloaks...
Still, they’d be worth helping.
If he could find a way in…
The strange and unnecessarily mysterious Indigo seems to have some twisted agenda of his own, but to what end? He’s obviously no friend to Rob Inwood but is he a friend to the people?
The Minstrel, Alan A’ Dale seemed to be against Rob Inwood AND the Sheriff...
Unfortunately he didn’t seem to like the Demon Dokan either.
Little Jen, the blacksmith’s daughter was thrown into jail for standing up to the tax collectors. But apparently she escaped...
Perhaps her Father is a man worth talking to?
Also, there was another one... Fry. He escaped at the same time.... And his frail old mother claimed that he regularly leaves money for her...
Vogir smiles.
These two stood up to the Sheriff, escaped prison AND still care for their parents.
It’ll definitely be worthwhile speaking to both Big John AND widow Artack.
And what of the Maid Demarion?
She owes them her life... She seemed intelligent... She seemed to know something about the tattoos and gold bracelet…
The one that now rests in Vogir’s satchel.
Perhaps she might help... If asked nicely?

Is there anyone you can trust?

As they ate a very welcome dinner in the comfort of William Indigo's place, Dokan mentally looked at the people he had found himself with. Could he trust any one of these creatures?

Alan A'Dale had joined him in revenge against InWood's bandits and seemed to have good reason to do so. Yet he had turned pretty quick and tried to blow him up.

Of those who he had travelled from Gilderock with, Ghanash and Ruddha-an had fought bravely and seemed trustworthy - so far.

Vogir, however, who had appeared capable and upstanding, had turned around and insisted they become thieves. Hardly and glory in that. He had gone down in his estimation hugely.

Orestes had just laid stiff on the floor as the rest of them faced the onslaught of the bandit leader Knife. He would reserve judgement on him until it was clear why he had cowered on the floor.

And then there was William. Despite the fact that he had fought by his side bravely, Dokan's instinct was still telling him there was something very wrong about this guy.

Only time would tell - as usual.