12:04 Ken (GM): Everyone ready for revolución?

12:05 Syviis: Elfmode standing by

12:06 Doc: Rod is ready to discuss what the hell just happened

12:07 Ken (GM): The council of lords of Oakway are all “You can totally recruit the savages under your banner, so long as they are not OUR problem anymore”

>shoves banner of the South at Rod

>runs away

Otherwise you guys got some hard evidence on the Big Bad, who both Darden the Elf Necromancer and Lord Marshall Geofferson were colluding with

12:12 Joush M.: I don’t think we saw anything that implicated other people, but our current plan is to gather some of the refugees and head north?

12:14 (To Joush M.): Syviis scraped a clue out of the mess just after you left. A keyed piece of magic stone that was part of the savage communication circle

12:13 Doc: gather them and make them stop being destructive burdens on society first

>Come with me if you want to live

Syviis doesn’t want to put hungry and tired people in the line of fire, but surely we can meet with the people and ask for leaders, volunteers, etc.

12:14 P.P. A.: >Syviis doesn’t want to put hungry and tired people in the line of fire

Neither does Suðri

good thing we don’t need to do that

we’re just raising an army of gypsyelves and Scorned so people don’t have to die at the frontlines

12:15 Doc: The rest can be camp followers in our Army Of The Useful or be persecuted

12:18 Ken (GM): “Army Of The Useful or Be Persecuted” ? lol

12:19 Syviis: So long as the nobles realize they aren’t completely off the hook either… [Syviis writes scathing post on Tumblr]

12:19 P.P. A.: >elf tumblr

12:19 Doc: There will be three categories of refugees:

1) capable of fighting if trained and equipped

2) incapable of fighting but willing and able to assist in non-combat roles

3) leftovers who are on their own

12:20 P.P. A.: >“Today a human misgendered me!”

12:20 Syviis: [lol]

12:20 Doc: camp followers are a vital part of any army and should outnumber soldiers like ten to one

12:20 Syviis: [Whats elvish for “REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”?]

12:21 P.P. A.: “TREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”

Gray just continues the plan to wait until all the humans are weak before eating their hearts.

Scorned Conspiracy is in Phase 2

12:21 Ken (GM): well, truly, all this is speculation until you actually recruit the Savages to your banner

12:21 Doc: @ppa wew

12:22 Suðri Skornbrekker: “So,” Suðri wipes the sweat off his forehead, “now we have to go and turn that rabble into an army, and see who comes to beat down our pseudo-rebellion?”

Gray looks around the courtyard at the manor house and considers. “Domo Tenon, is there a place we can collect supplies, a wagon and clear up the matter of the back pay owed to us?”

12:24 Doc: (btw if none of these soldiers are joining us we’re keeping their weapons)

12:25 Syviis: We should also secure accounts or authorization for equipment supply for the army…but we can deal with that once they’re on board / running screaming.

Tenon , the minordomo nods to Gray’s request “Yes I do believe we can now easily settle out simpler things such as ‘pay’. Allow me a short while to arrange what I can?”

12:29 Gray: “Aye, take the time you need. We will give you a list with what we require.” He tells the man, then after a pause. “I’m glad things didn’t come down to violence between us.”

Bomrek and the Dwarven Soldier get to talking, bonding over their shared military background.

The Dwarven captain will get his men organized; you do have some immediate volunteers who will march with Roderick and his already-proven Dwarven allies Bomrek and Suðri

12:30 Roderick: “Paying to raise an army is a more complicated matter, but it will need to be settled before any real action can be taken. If they agree to take up arms, it would be wise not to send them searching for supplies.”

12:31 Syviis: “Knowing our numbers will be key.”

12:31 Suðri Skornbrekker: “It might be good to have some tents ready, unbuilt, so the volunteers would immediately have something to do.”

Roderick nods. “It can wait until we’ve negotiated with their leaders, in any case.”

Gray nods in agreement with Roderick. “It will be slow going, preparing a large body of people to move and collecting the resources they will require.”

12:34 Syviis: “Do not the Human lands have generals we could recruit for some of this?”

Roderick smiles wryly. “It would certainly be convenient if we had access to a trained military commander without any other obligations,” he says, hoping he’s laying the sarcasm on thick enough.

Ken (GM) Within the hour Tenon arranges whatever he can; a cart is pulled out of a barn, and led by a fine horse; A chest is pulled from storage, and has been packed with several valuable items that Tenon believes have some material worth. He explains a large volume of coin may have changed hands recently, but most has been sent back up into Grayhold proper, to the High Lord Jadeite. Tenon has scrounged up silver candlesticks, some jewelry and fine dressings Geofferson had squirreled away, as well as a set of fine bone plates and gold-plated flatware. There are some vintage jugs of wine as well.

12:37 Ken (GM): [and as an aside, most of the trained military commanders likely died on the battlefield when the blast hit ]

12:39 Doc: On the other hand, one of them caused the blast

12:40 Ken (GM): fingerguns

Gray stays out of the conversation between Roderick and Syviis, though he’s somewhat surprised to hear the human mage is a trained logistician. The towering brute works to help with the preparations instead, studying the case then nodding to the man Tenon. “I cannot judge the value of such things myself but no one can say that you haven’t done your best to discharge your obligation to the militia and to aid this cause. Thank you.” He studies the items before putting them back wrapped carefully. He picks up the supplies of the group and hunts down a large tarp and some poles for a field tent, then tries to replenish their store of food, loading things onto the cart.

12:41 Syviis: “I forget you’ve trained for this, Roderick. I know you’ll do amazing!”

[So long as we don’t blow them all up :P]

12:43 Roderick: “Training them to fight will be more difficult. Fortunately, I happen to know some of the most skilled and experienced soldiers in the realm.”

Ken (GM) the Minordomo assists, and scrounges up Geoffersons never-used Field Marshalls tent. A finely sealed weatherproof thing, twenty feet to the side, and measured posts to go with it.

Gray seems surprised by the sheer grandeur of the expensive tent and high quality material, loading the tarp and line and poles carefully into the cart.

He adds: A keg of black powder, somewhat depleted from their adventures in the south. Ingots of lead for casting balls. A keg of beer, a barrel with grain for horses (or people), salted beef and dried peas. The work he does is utterly prosaic, but takes care of the small details. Roderick seems focused on the larger picture.

Syviis stays off to the side, reviewing her books and notes from the vile warlock, hunting for details and clues, wishing she had the physician here to help but knowing she needs to learn on her own as well.

12:49 Ken (GM): [so thats got your hauling covered, and you seem to have been paid in fine goods. Theres twenty men at your disposal from the guard, all of them trained footmen, crossbowmen, and musketeers. Each of them armed and ready, packing their own things to quickly accompany you all]

12:49 (To Syviis): EEELLLLLF LOOOOOORE

12:49 Syviis:(To GM) rolling 3d6 vs 12 (3+5+3)= 11

12:50 (From Syviis): beat by 1!

12:51 (To Syviis): So the fellow you killed was one of the old-school Lords of Night; the elven men and women who believed sorcerous supremacy would lead to Elven domination of the world. The circle of folks who followed him were all fabled to be spoopy masters of the dead. Spirit raising, channelling, and even resurrection of corpses. How much of that was true or speculation, you cant say for sure.

Suðri Skornbrekker is conversing with the Dwarven soldiers alongside Bomrek

12:50 Gray: “Memory, assist Syviis if you can. Please.” The beast ask, sending the raven winging over to the elven woman as she reads though the books and notes recovered from the room with the God’s Eye.

Syviis beams happily to have the fascinating raven assisting.

Roderick nods in appreciation of the sergeants who have agreed to accompany them. Their faithful service to Grayhold will be remembered and rewarded.

12:53 Syviis: “Memory, some of the tales I know of the Lords of Night say they dabbled heavily in Necromancy. So far we’ve seen Death powering their spells…but I wonder if you know of any tricks we might employ to survive Undead if they show up.

12:54 (To Syviis): Memory is not up to date on her Elven politics much either, but she does confirm a few things. It is possible to have mastery over the deceased; using their vessels channel spirits captured from the other side. It’s a kind of possession, and can get wildly out of control if not mastered. Breaking the veil between worlds is like digging holes in a dam; Too much pressure on the other side

Gray has a few thoughts about getting people to join them. It’s easier to recruit people when they see you have beef and beer, and enough to share.

12:56 Memory: “raised spirits are terrible things; souls unbound from flesh but captured in a vessel are not bound by the normal limits you have. Their bodies can exert themselves far beyond mortal means. And if a powerful enough spirit is captured in a meager enough vessel, there is a chance it might break free…” She ruffles her feathers in unease “You have battled ghouls before, and seen how the desiccated bodies are easy to alight with flame or tinder. The longer a body is possessed, the more fragile the flesh becomes, tainted by the magic at work. The flesh burns away, animated by magic more and more, until all that is left is a mage’s will binding the soul to this world as an ethereal spirit.”

“Syviis, Roderick, be wary of using your magical talents frivolously. You could cause chain reactions that might consume you”

12:59 Syviis: “Will we be able to find the mage controlling a ghoul by examining their soldiers and the links of magic?”

1:01 Memory: “Possibly, now that you have come so in tune with the Ways, you might very well be able to see their signatures worked in the aura directly”

1:01 Syviis: “Let’s hope we are lacking in practice by the end of this,” she smirks

Gray nods in agreement as he works, the brute frowning thoughtfully as he considers that. He takes a moment to look around, especially at the nobles. Making sure none are possessed or ridden by a spirit.

1:05 (To Gray): Spirit Vision The furtive little wisps you see scatter at your approach and seem to keep a good distance from you now. They sip at the shadows here and there, mostly on the more wary looking guards or tired looking servants at work. The Nobles are clean, their shadows drawing no pests.

1:06 (To Roderick): You’re feeling an intense warmth from the sword at your side. It feels like smug satisfaction and Pride welling up from below

1:07 (To Suðri Skornbrekker): The men being organized to attend you seem to have a few dwarven styled habits; their dried meat rations are being packed in loose clean sand like a dwarves and they all seem to be in the habit of tooling their gear with hand-etched bits of decoration to keep the hands busy in downtime. You see a few crudely imitated dwarven runes for camaraderie, brotherhood and valor. How odd

Gray seems satisfied with whatever he sees, though his attention may unsettle the nobles.

Suðri Skornbrekker notices a few things and approaches some of the human soldiers. “Hail! Where are you from, if I may ask?”

1:11 Ken (GM): “Well met [dwarven word for fellow soldier]! Oakway myself, born and raised. Many of us lived here all our lives!”

1:13 Suðri Skornbrekker: “Hm, is our Dwarven culture that pervasive here?” he asks with a curious smile and points at some of the soldiers’ dwarven-like self-made markings on their stuff.

1:17 Ken (GM): “Oh! Well, our Captain has worked with us for many years. He expects nothing less from us than our best!” Hoorah! rises up from the ranks automatically, as they dont even look up and continue to pack

Suðri Skornbrekker laughs heartily. “Hah, that makes me happy. When I joined the human army, I always found it a bit strange how everyone was just handed the same bland weapons—it’s your blade and barrel, your life is going to depend on it! It’s going to be a part of you, so it ought to have a personal touch like that, a bit of your soul etched into it!”

1:22 Ken (GM):[ seems like there is a benefit from mixing ranks between men and dwarf?]

1:23 P.P. A.: [>that feel when ad-libbing your cultural background with what the DM throws at you :D]

Roderick thinks quietly about how to pitch this idea to the Scorned, then turns to Gray. “Gray, do you have any thoughts as to how best to get the refugees on board? I had planned on simply presenting them with the stark reality of their situation, then offering them a way out of it.”

1:31 Gray: “They need a place to settle, to put their young, elders and weak. Appeal to their need for a home and they will follow you. The strong will serve you to provide for their people. The wanderers are different. The Ro-Haern will need to be given a reason not to simply leave on their own. They know how to travel, and live without a homeland already”

1:33 Syviis: “I would point out the unnatural and viral magics our opponents have been using. Traveler or Settler, nobody wishes to see the perversions we’ve seen and the threats we’ve faced.”

1:34 Ken (GM): [“Hey, heads up guys. Tentacles are bad, m’kay? So if you get offered some spooky dark powers in exchange for tentacles, dont do it, m’kay?”]

1:35 Syviis: [Convincing the Japanese Schoolgirls will be a hard sell.]

Gray nods in agreement with Syviis. “People have a right to know of the horrors that stalk the land.”

Ken (GM) The heat of the day presses in, the still boiling out all around you. Even here at the court, the weather clings to you like an unkempt lover, wild and untamable at the same time. As you prepare to set out, the sun blazes even through a clinging gray sky overhead. The city is a hazy mess over the hillside, and the sound of it sometimes suddenly reaches you here.

1:39 Ken (GM): [so, Vhats ze plan?]

1:41 Joush M.: Head back to Oakway and hit a pawnshop to sell our big chest of loot. Then the refugee center where we will put up our recruiting center?

1:42 Doc: Sounds good to me. We can also pick up any stuff we might have left behind.

1:43 Joush M.: Anybody got a shopping list? Gray has a few things to pick up

1:44 Doc: a few hundred pikes and muskets would be nice

1:45 P.P. A.: For himself, Suðri is covered as long as someone keeps supplying ammo, food, and drink

1:46 Ken (GM): Bomrek got this all sorted out time before last with the Dwarven merchant contacts of his. That said, you might abuse the privilege of their services in town, considering his rapport with them

Gray pauses in Oakway when the others are eating a quick meal in the city, taking advantage of being able to get real food, to check the merchants. Looking for someone that can sell him a harpoon and some strong line.. preferably a very large harpoon. They seem likely to encounter large game again.

1:49 (From Fiss): Hey man, I gotta help out with a car emergency. Ded battery. Not sure how long it will take, probably an hour or so

1:50 (To Fiss): Ahh shit, kay.

1:50 Ken (GM): [Assuming direct control of Syviis while Fiss tends to a thing]

1:51 Fiss: [back in a bit folks, sorry!]

1:51 Joush M.: Good luck

1:52 P.P. A.: \o

Ken (GM) the city is still in a state; many people have vacated the streets, excluding the merchants plying their wares from their shops. Everyone seems to be in a rush to get what they need and get home, out of the heat and away from the chaos. The panic from before has subsided some, but there is a fearful air about

Ken (GM) You have your pick from the merchants you meet; their goods move slowly and those out to purchase have quite the selection. Fresh handfruit, haunches of roast rabbit and river water-cooled ale are up for the taking.

1:57 Ken (GM): Gray speaks with a few smiths and crafters, and settles eventually on a bowyer who seems to specialize in large wild game; elk horns adorn his doorway, and his shop is packed with pelts and exotic furs. The barbed and hooked spear that gray describes can be fashioned and the grizzled old man who binds the lead to the shaft works diligently in the heat. Coin changes hands, and a quiet nod of respect passes between the beastman and shopkeep

1:58 Joush M.: Now I’m hungry…

1:58 Suðri Skornbrekker: “I would suggest hosting a small feast to lighten the mood, but that would be too wasteful, and too much to organise.”

Gray test the weight of the weapon and nods his respect to the man, looking around the shop with approval before the towering man adds it to the weapons and equipment at his back. He nods as he returns to Suori. “Sausages and sauerkraut and beer, as much as we can buy fast, would go far to getting people to listen.. but might be under the dignity of a nobleman” He glances to Roderick.

2:03 Ken (GM): [buy food > gib to peeps > get peeps under banner?]

2:03 Roderick: “We aren’t trying to recruit noblemen,” Roderick nods.

2:03 Joush M.: It’s a lot easier to get people to listen if you offer them food. It’s how church works

2:04 Suðri Skornbrekker: “I do think we should bring some food, but it will become a problem is there is not enough, or if a brawl breaks out as they fall over each other to grab something.” He looks darkly at his own lunch, mulling that one over

Gray nods in agreement. “We do it right or not at all?”

2:07 Suðri Skornbrekker: “Even if we had enough, we would need more people to quickly produce the food and set up tables and such,” he muses, stroking his beard.

2:07 Roderick: “Such a problem may be an opportunity. It would illustrate their position, that they have been reduced to squabbling over table scraps.”

Gray nods. “We’ve got soldiers enough to secure a food line, I think.” He frowns a touch at Roderick’s words. “Better to show them we are organized and supplied well enough to provide food. A leader that does that is someone to follow if you don’t have anything else.”

2:09 Doc: How many mouths would we be needing to feed?

2:11 Joush M.: >The heroes stop to figure out if they can get enough bratwurst, mustard and sauerkraut to feed a small army

2:13 Ken (GM): [the refugee camp is nearly as big as the city; hundreds if not a thousand or more people gathered in the fields in the last weeks. ]

[this isnt just a few folks and a barbecue]

2:16 Joush M.: Call it 500 pounds of sausage at.. is $3 a pound fair? We would need to grab a few street vendors or day laborers without anything else to do, but we could get them to help cook for us. Is Oakway a big enough city that we can find a storehouse with enough to sell to make it up?

2:21 Ken (GM): …!!!

~frantic perusal of books~

2:22 Joush M.: Sorry! I didn’t mean to turn this into a story problem

2:23 Ken (GM): hey no worries; just realized its a hole in my knowledge actually

2:24 Doc: “how do you feed an army” is a worthy story problem tbh

2:24 Ken (GM): math works out to about 3$ worth of foodstuffs a day for status -2 food, per person

2:24 Syviis: [here for a few minutes, of course I’m the only one with plans today (gaming) and everyone else is dragging their heels]

2:24 Ken (GM): as you can see fiss, the silly humans are doing rations math again

2:25 Joush M.: Bratwurst and sauerkraut and beer is status -1 or -2 rations, depending on how German a person is

2:25 Ken (GM): hah

2:25 Syviis: One thing Syviis might be able to do immediately, but also as part of our training plans, is teach survival. An army that can march and live partially off the land can’t hurt, and a few easy skills to master and share could dramatically help people’s hunger and frustration on the down-time.

2:25 Joush M.: Syviis training forage parties, good idea

2:26 Syviis: [“Yo, Humans, this is how you hunt Elk like an Elf.

Step 1, leaves.

Step 2, sneak.

Step 3, don’t stink.”]

2:26 Joush M.: Should also help with instilling some basic ethics in forage parties, given we won’t be in hostile territory

2:26 Syviis: Can also help for medicinal herbs, etc. Not a huge impact, but definitely a positive one.

2:26 Ken (GM): so if you guys scrounge up approximately say 5000 gurp$ you can distribute 1 day of food to the huddled masses. Give or take

2:27 Joush M.: Humm, how much can we trade for? That’s 1.5 pounds silver… Maybe Rod can negotiate a discount on account of promising to help with the refugee problem

2:28 Ken (GM): there is also the hurdle of convincing the people of oakway to feed the refugees

2:28 Joush M.: Also, holy shit, one candlestick might be able to feed these people for a day. Fucking nobles *shakes fist*

2:28 Ken (GM): and convincing the refugees to accept it

2:29 Joush M.: Makes sense. Gray was trusting the Scorned at least to be willing to come once they smell food, and listen to the guy with the shiny armor and no shit on him (that’s how you tell he’s king)

2:29 Ken (GM): Rod wiped today, right?

2:30 Joush M.: Same way he shaves. With Fire

2:30 Doc: ^

2:31 Ken (GM): dont miss

or fart

Gray checks the Box Of Treasure for something made of more or less pure silver and about the right weight. “It’s an expensive plan. What do you think Roderick? Do you want to try and feed the people, or do you want to address them directly? The logistics involved in getting them fed are daunting, but it would go a long way to building good will.” His big rough hands dig through the treasures, testing the metal with small bites “We should also find an person that can judge the value of these things and help us convert them to coin. I have no idea the worth of these plates, though they are beautiful.”

2:38 Syviis: “Wealth in these human lands mean very little to me. Please take my share of the treasure.”

Roderick thinks hard. “If we feed them for free, they may come to expect it. This is not charity. We are not offering them a peaceful, easy meal. We are offering them the chance to fight for a place at the table.”

2:39 Gray: “It’s not about the free meal. It’s about showing you can provide for them. It’s about showing that if they follow you and do what you ask you can make food happen.”

2:40 Roderick: “Exactly. We can’t provide for them. We can only help them provide for themselves.”

2:40 Gray: “If they follow you then you will have the resources of a thousand able bodied people at your disposal. Command them wisely and you will have little trouble keeping the people fed”

2:41 (To Roderick): The feeling of Pride is welling up again in your sword. The Fae thing seems to agree with your sentiments of liberty and sovereignty, very very deeply

2:41 Gray: “Command them poorly and they won’t eat and your army will evaporate like dew in the summer sun”

Roderick nods “My concern is that the subtlety of that point may fail to come across.”

2:43 Gray: “Trust me. We Scorned are stupid but we know the cost of a free meal and a man that ask nothing but loyalty in return”

2:44 Suðri Skornbrekker: “I would be against this plan of feeding them all, now. We have limited resources, and if they expect more from us than we can offer them in the long run, the plan is going to backfire.”

Gray hefts a candlestick, judging it’s weigh at about two pounds and tossing it gently to Suðri. “That’s about two hundred and fifty silver marks worth. We need that every, single, day if we are to raise and feed an army”

Suðri looks at Gray. “That may well be, but there are many among them who might lack that noble spirit, or are less patient. Rovers, or women with children to feed…”

2:46 Gray: “Nobody’s patient when they are hungry. If we can’t feed them and lead them to food we have no business asking for their loyalty”

2:46 Suðri Skornbrekker: “Well,” he strokes his beard and muses, “I am mainly concerned about the logistics, though. Getting everything set up in an orderly fashion, making them listen to Roderick instead of fighting over the food, things like that.” He looks back at Gray, thinks for a moment, and nods to his sentiment.

Gray smiles a touch. “You’ve got twenty milita. I know a lot of things, and one of them is that you can keep discipline and order in a food line with that”

2:49 Roderick: “The question is whether we want an ‘army’ which constantly has to be kept from breaking out into food riots or one which marches for the future.”

2:50 Gray: “It’s easier to think of the future when you know where your next meal is coming from, and trust the leaders to see as long as you work hard your family eats tonight”

2:51 Suðri Skornbrekker: “Now that I think about it, though… ‘This is the first and the last free meal you will get from us,’” Suðri says in a dramatic voice, “‘but follow us, and you may earn your own livelihood again, with your own sweat and blood.’ I am warming up to that sort of thing, but I will leave the decision to Roderick—he is the military leader, after all.”

2:51 (From Syviis): actually going now, sorry, back soon I hope, if not you know how to elf

Roderick thinks. “Perhaps if we can afford to purchase weapons as well…”

Gray nods. “Let’s go see if there is an armory at the burned out Timberkeep intact enough to provide them. We are the Milita, and can requisition those reasonably… if not perfectly legally”

2:54 Gray: “Beyond that, we don’t know our resources. The treasure chest is impressive, beautiful even, but I’ve no kenning of the value of these things”

2:56 Ken (GM): [righto, so to the Keep then to requisition arms?]

2:56 Joush M.: Sure. Unless anybody else has a better idea?

2:57 Bomrek: “We best not be handing out pistols to elves; they’d liable blow their own face off as soon as ours”

2:57 Roderick: “Perhaps it would be better simply to meet with as many elders as we can, and try to gain their support without any such displays.”

2:58 Gray: “We can always go for food and a rally later”

[For now, the keep? Or the camp?]

Roderick nods. “Precisely, and we would know that those who agree without such an offer will likely be more reliable.”

Suðri Skornbrekker looks to Roderick: “that might be wise. We talk to them first, then discuss the idea of the food with them, towards the end of our negotiations, after they have otherwise agreed.”

3:01 Roderick: “We have enough men to feasibly offer order and guidance to an army, should they wish to join it. Perhaps that is all we will need.”

Gray chuckles. “You have to feed an army every day, Roderick. Speeches and grand vision may fire the soul, but unless you can promise food they will have to look to their own needs rather than your cause.”

3:03 Roderick: “And the only way we will be able to supply them is if they serve well.”

3:04 Gray: “That said.. they’ve their own food at the moment, their own cooks, their own people. If we can talk to their leaders and get them to join all the parts are there. You ‘just’ need to lead them to the resources so they can keep following you.” He wrings his clawed hands, scratches idly at himself “A better picture of the situation in the Camp might help us understand our best path forward. There? Or to the Keep for weapons first?”

3:06 Roderick: “To the camp. We’ll know what we need, then.”

Gray heads to the camp, bracing himself for murderous, Dark-worshiping elves and the very real danger of hungry Scorned like him.

3:08 Ken (GM): to the camp!

Ken (GM) The smoky stench thickens as you head for the gates; the walls of Oakway are heavy slabs of timber, some full lengths of tree stuck deep in the earth and founded with stone roots. Scorched trails of black char rake the gatehouse here and there, still issuing wisps of gray smoke. The road is torn up, cobblestones strewn about. Blood mars the streets and broken quarrels stuck in the gate belie the violence that transpired here mere hours or even minutes ago. The gate is still closed (a block of wood a foot thick barring it from this side) and the guards at the door seem weary and hot in the sun, their metal helmets glinting in the light. Nearby, the streets are quiet; only your group and the cart you pull trespass here.

When you reach the end of the street, the guards take notice of you from this side and call out! “Halt! Who goes there?! This gate is closed!”

3:13 Gray: “Grayhold Militia escorting Lord Roderick. What happened here?” Gray is a towering figure, chainmail hood pushed back and horns gleaming in the summer sun as he stands there, too warm in surcoat and armor but it’s good to make a solid, battle ready impression today. He looks to the guard, steady and trying to be unthreatening with the spear and shield at his back and a sword at his side, one hand on the reins of the horse that draws the cart loaded with supplies and covered tightly with a tarp.

Ken (GM) There is some muttering up on the guardhouse before they call back down “Lord Roderick and the Militia? The Southland men?”

3:18 Gray: “Aye. Suðri the Dragonslayer is here.”

Suðri Skornbrekker salutes the guard, sweating under his armour that he put back on when they decided to approach the camp.

3:21 Ken (GM): LOTS of muttering at that one

“Dragonslayer! Hail! Why do you come this way?

The gate is barred; there was an attack on the wall and the savages have been sent home to their mud huts!” *chuckling from the men, and a brighter sound to their voices*

3:23 (From Syviis): back, I owe AMA…

3:23 (To Fiss): Y’all are headed to the camp to talk to dude finally. You’re not feeding or arming anyone yet

Gray lets Suðri reply as the men talk to him. Trusting the dwarf to handle the men as he looks around a moment, the brute’s expression thoughtful and sniffing the smokey air.

Syviis looks around for damage, seeing if the air is full of the same shamanistic magic, or if this is different.

3:24 Syviis: [any time she hears ‘attack’ she immediately suspects Magic….she’s been hanging around the Dwarves too long, lol]

3:25 (To Syviis): There are stains of magic up and down the walls. All the scorch marks in particular. Looks like the gate was open and the attackers repelled back. You also see some of the blood on the ground is magic tinged. Puddles of it here and there.

3:26 (To Gray): Scent, Spirit Sight There was a battle here. Gunsmoke, powder, blood, urine, sweat. Panic and hatred. The little impish things hide here in the dark around you, leeching off the anger and fear of the place. The guardhouse tower is cloying with them

Syviis mutters: “I long to see magic used for peace again…. I fear I am becoming jaded.”

Gray nods to Syviis and speaks softly. “Aye.. The guardhouse is thick with shadowy spirits. I think they’ve had a very hard time of it.”

3:27 Suðri Skornbrekker: “Well,” he lifts his helmet to let some fresh air to his head: “we’ve come to try and find a solution for the …’savages’. Sir Roderick over there,” he points to him, “had the idea of, uh, trying to recruit them for a makeshift army and lead them around to fight rebels, so they don’t fight each other, or you, or us.”

3:28 Ken (GM):

“Uhhh…Okay then. So….you lot will be needing through then?” The gaurd seems just, befuddled.

3:29 Suðri Skornbrekker: “We would appreciate it. Could you give us the directions to wherever their leaders or elders or whatever dwell?”

The Guardhouse man points his gauntlet “Just head right up the road here, they took over the farmhouse with the waterwheel. …And don’t let the rovers cut your purses!”

The winches are pulled and chains clank as the heavy timber bar rises slowly out of the way of the gate, which shudders and squeals on it’s hinges out of your path.

The first thing you notice is the smell; it hits you like a blow, a wall of human filth and sweat and tears and blood and god knows what else. Its like being in a slaughterhouse manned by devils. As much a flavor on the air as a wind.

The noise comes next; hundreds of yelling, screaming, crying, laughing, manic voices rising up out of the camp.

Tents of riotous colors, heavy pelts on poles, shacks cobbled from wood scavenged from the fields. Its like a squashed little city and its full of hungry scared angry faces, red skin, yellow gimlet eyes, horns, tails, scales and pointed ears; all alike in they are every possibly way, not from Oakway. Beyond the gate is utter chaos.

3:34 (To Gray): Its an incredible sensory overload, but there is also a riot of the spirit things slinking about. They seem to be clinging to the people, invisible, sucking at their dark hatred and fears, growing fat like angry leeches of magic.

Roderick nearly gags and lowers his visor to hide his disgust

3:35 (To Syviis): Here and there is magic of all flavors. You notice in the crowd the horned people, red skinned ones, and those with golden eyes all have a tangible and visible aura. Some honed to an actual talent-capable wizard, others murky like a smell or color smeared over them. One in every ten, at least, seems magic-talented

3:36 Syviis: “Is it strange that I much prefer these smells to the blood-soaked land?” smiles behind her face-mask

Suðri Skornbrekker ‘s face contorts in disgust. He follow’s Roderick’s example

Ken (GM) the crowd keeps a distance from the gates; over a short ravine moat bridge and back at least twenty yards from the towering walls. The camp is a massive thing starting directly after that though, right into the fields. Your group steps through the gates, which then immediately rock back in place after you pass. BOOM BOOM

Gray pauses a moment, steadying himself and shaking it off hard before he goes slowly forward. The beast wary and attention searching. Eyes bright and alert for dangers that could so easily hide in such a twisted place. He makes for the mill. “Too many people afraid in such a small place.. and fear.” He glances back and nods as the gate closes. “It’s wrong they are treated like this. They are desperate!”

Syviis’s smile fades as she realizes how right Gray is. She keeps a closer eye on the eyes watching them.

3:39 Roderick: “There’s nowhere else for them. Yet.”

Ken (GM) the militia men form up around you, pikes up and ready, muskets and crossbows inside by the cart.

“Orders sir?” the Dwarven captain asks “I’d like to keep the crowd at pikes length, but we might be slow getting through that way. Too many bodies to drop and step over…” he trails off the last bit

3:42 Doc: (we didn’t bring the cart full of treasure, did we?)

3:43 P.P. A.: (uh… I hope not…?)

3:44 Ken (GM): [the unassuming locked wooden chest in your cart? yeah, right under Gray’s butt]

3:44 Doc: Well, It should be fine in that case. We’d need to leave it guarded, anyway, better to have those guards with us

3:46 Roderick: “Just look imposing. We’re not here for a fight and nobody in this crowd should be eager to pick one.”

[Did he just say that?]

3:47 Ken (GM): From the crowd, a familiar voice calls out “WellLOOOKEEE HEEERE! If it ain’t the HEROES OF the SOUTH” his caterwauling voice rolls up and down with sarcasm, as a Rover in a bright red silk shirt strides out of the crowd. He has a massive gold ring in his right ear, and a long elven rapier at his hip. A hat, nearly three feet wide, bounces as he strides into view

3:48 Gray: “You survived. I should complement Falkirk on his work.” He says with a thoughtful expression.. watching the huge hat a moment. “I hope you’ve learned to treat women better”

“Nice to see you again too big guy” the half-elf says, flourishing off his hat and bowing deeply. His open shirt lets you see a bright scar on his chest, right over his heart, with a glowing rune of lime green light overtop of that. “The Witch Queen awaits your arrival” and he shines you a big toothy fanged grin

DUN DUN DUN

3:51 Doc: who is this guy

3:51 Joush M.: Say what you will, Horsa gave that guy a BADASS dueling scar

3:51 Ken (GM): 😀 😀 😀

3:52 Joush M.: [A half-elf rover. A party member at the time fought a duel with him because he was kind of a dick and asking for it and nearly killed him]

3:52 Ken (GM): critical hit, right in the vitals, knocked him out in a round

3:52 Joush M.: Great session Ken. Thank you. I hope I didn’t bog things too much in the middle talking about how many food trucks we’d have to hire?

3:52 Syviis: Wondering about the fangs there.

3:53 (To Syviis): Your magic senses kinda light up on him. Big time

3:53 Ken (GM): nah dont worry bout it Joush; I didnt realize how polarizing and debatable the refugees would even be!

3:53 P.P. A.: I barely remember him, but it’s been a year already

3:54 Ken (GM): remember just before the first ever dragon attack? The rover who was bullying a village into being his personal stomping ground?

3:54 Doc: no discussion about refugees would be complete without casual bigotry

3:54 P.P. A.: of course

3:54 Ken (GM): [roving madness] [points at blog]

3:55 P.P. A.: though logistics and propaganda also have to be well-planned

3:56 Joush M.: Witch Queen sounds awesome. I can’t wait to meet her

3:56 P.P. A.: Ahh right, now I remember Falkirk getting mad for needing to save this guy

3:56 Joush M.: Roderick, set your beard to maximum seduction

3:57 P.P. A.: hearing “Witch Queen” Suðri is already wondering how much of the camp they need to burn down if this is another evil Darkness-touched elf cultist or something similar

3:57 Doc: It doesn’t have a variable seduction setting, so it’s always on full

3:57 Joush M.: Ahh, I thought the wax allowed you to adjust it between Villainy and Seduction.

3:58 P.P. A.: 4 points again, or 3?

3:58 Ken (GM): 4! of course!

4 hours of play and debatable moral standings? awesome rewards for awesome people

3:58 P.P. A.: also that feel when it’s really hot and nasty in here so I can empathise with Suðri in his hot armour in the sun, at least a little

(and with Gray and probably Rod for that matter, unless Rod’s fae-armour is magicooled)

3:59 Joush M.: Could be a witch queen and an a vicious ogre running the camp. Make us pick who we want to support in a bloody fight to get the refugees on our side.

3:59 P.P. A.: >tfw can’t let out the hot day’s accumulated heat because if I open the window all kinds of insects will swarm inside, attracted by the light

at least I have an AC I can turn on for an hour or so before bed

4:00 Joush M.: Ahh.. so hot. Maybe it’s time for a point of tempature tolerance, but I feel like Gray’s would mostly be low temperatures, not hot

4:00 P.P. A.: same

4:00 Ken (GM): I will remind you guys, this rover is also Aachen’s brother

4:01 Joush M.: Oh, fuck

4:02 Ken (GM): 😀

4:03 P.P. A.: How /are/ we going to feed them even if we make an army out of them though? Ask the nobles to hunt all the forests empty, or plunder any unattended fields?

4:04 Doc: “Ask”

Rod implied a threat earlier when he said it would be unwise to leave an army like this wanting for supplies

4:04 P.P. A.: those quotation marks were implied

4:05 Ken (GM): >use elves to summon natures ally

>eat summoned allies

>repeat

4:05 P.P. A.: but I mean the nobles might not have that much of a surplus either

4:05 Doc: Not really even necessarily an implied threat

4:05 Joush M.: Naw, we should be good for surplus

4:05 P.P. A.: depending on how many of their serfs died in the war

4:05 Joush M.: There’s an army that ah…Isn’t coming home

4:05 Doc: ^ this is a good point

4:05 Joush M.: The food that was planted for them should be available for harvest

4:06 Ken (GM): true, its not all from oakway tho; lots of empty homes up North in the Kingdom

4:06 Doc: The economy is already geared for war, And now most of it is surplus

4:06 P.P. A.: Hm, true. At least the reserves will be full

4:06 Joush M.: Keeps like TimberKeep should have reasonably deep granaries we can raid too

4:06 P.P. A.: it’s another question if there are going to be shortages later this year, or next year, if fields are left fallow because so many young men died

4:06 Joush M.: By spring we will hopefully have somewhere to settle these people

4:07 P.P. A.: but that’s not for us to worry about just yet

4:07 Joush M.: So they can plant

4:07 Ken (GM): Hell, you might have sold them all directly into demonic slavery by next spring. No sense in plotting out that field yet

4:08 Joush M.: Ha! Good point. If they bother us too much we can always just let Roderick do his KILL EVERYONE trick again

4:08 Doc: But yeah the nobles should recognize that it’s better to finance this army than to leave it to realize “hey we’re an army and we need financing”

4:08 Ken (GM): ROADTRIP TO THE KILL EVERYTHING MACHINE

catch you guys NEXT WEEK

DUN DUN DUN

4:10 P.P. A.: \o