Subotage

Coordinating their actions with the sudden snagging of the barge mid-river, the two young Assassins screw their time-release devices directly onto the underside of the Spinning Jenny’s hull. It’s a difficult underwater task, but the Witch bestowed ‘water-breathing’ potions make it eminently possible and they’ve drilled for this mission in more ways than one. The very act of securing these two delayed release items in place, alerts the passengers above but all they need is about half a minute.

The small screw holes consequently allow river water to seep up onto the barge’s flat bottom but at a rate unlikely to alarm or much reduce the ferry’s buoyancy or speed. The screw holes though, are merely a precursor of what’s to come.

After a thumbs up gesture to each-other, the two Assassins release their grips from under the hull and allow the current of the river to carry them clear of the boat. Although still underwater, they can see their Witch air-support exchanging magical bolts of energy with an eagle. An eagle who’s obviously the Halfling Druid shape-changer they’d been forewarned about.

Flaming crossbow bolts also continue to rain down on the barge from their teammates on the Agentian side of the river. Their plan is working, despite a few wrinkles…

The armoured knight is in the water but somehow not drowning and striking surprisingly fast towards the far side, where their leader; Danté is standing.

Exchanging looks, the two submerged young men gesture frantically to each other. Should they continue to drift to safety or chase after the man they know as; Fortu?

Just then a terrific splash pulls their attention. The Druid-eagle; Liga Bur has taken a flaming bolt from one of their teammates’ crossbows and fallen into the water.

Then, just as the timer was set for, the two bombs under the barge explode! Their upward facing charges, momentarily lifts the barge up off the water and blasts two huge holes in the flat hull, sending wooden splinters into everyone standing nearby. 

The horses shriek as they rear and strain against their tethered reins, the two dogs struggle to obey their master’s instructions and Rifkin and the Ferry-woman; Jane are injured. Only the sturdy Dwarf-priest; Banaal, his stubborn Mule and the huge, black Warhorse seem unfazed.

The two submerged Assassins grin and high-five each-other.

Nothing could go wrong now!

D&D is Confusing and Difficult to Schedule

Last weeks session ended up mostly being about finishing off the complicated, multiple combatant, river crossing encounter. Good fun but exhausting. It ended with Fortu, Liga Bur and Banaal doggedly hunting down the badly injured but invisible and cunning; Danté. Fortunately for the Party, Banaal’s magical cloak gives him the ability to become ethereal and therefore see other invisible, ethereal creatures. I took that to mean that he could therefore see ALL invisible creatures.

After reading the rules however, I discovered that it doesn’t actually allow for that.

So, as a group, do we decide to double down on my error and allow all invisible characters and creatures to see each-other for the remainder of the campaign or accept Banaal’s observation of Danté was just a strange (possibly god given) glitch in our shared fantasy?

As for the next session, are any of you, all of you free for the morning of any of these weekend dates?

July

Saturday the 4th

Sunday the 5th

Saturday the 11th

Sunday the 12th

Saturday the 18th

Sunday 19th

Let me know if and when you’re available in this month as soon as you can and I’ll get to work building the next set of glue and cardboard traps encounters.

Thanks boys for the quickie response. Sunday the 19th of July is our mutually selected game-date. Now, will it be another massively complicated and overblown combat encounter or maybe just a talky-talky one? I’ve got four weeks to think about it and then four days to actually write something down!

The Three Debt Arrears

Gazing at the gleaming longsword in his hand, Chape examines the perfect blade, exquisite hilt and customised blue leather grip. It’s a beautiful sword. A weapon forged by a master craftsman. An artisan working in unison with a specialist wizard. Although he’d seen many magical weapons before, he’d never dreamed of ever actually owning one. 

Tearing his eyes from the fantastically expensive, gifted sword, he looks to the faces of his equally dumbfounded brothers.

“These swords could save our parents’ farm. We could pay off all their debts and have plenty left to replenish the livestock and even buy some extra adjoining land from our neighbours…”

Chape’s words trail off and his brother; Locket takes up the thought.

“The sale of just ONE of these swords could do that!”

Ringo’s the one who finishes the thought though. 

“Selling these gifts would be an insult to Rifkin and his adventurer friends. Our wages are already covering the loan interest repayments and we’ll eventually find a way to cover the original obligation.”

Circling back, Chape, claps both his identical brothers on their sturdy shoulders.

“Agreed. Although he referred to it being a ‘small gift’, we all know there’s nothing small about it. We show our gratitude to Rifkin, Liga Bur, Banaal and Fortu by guarding them with our lives. We’re already keeping the farm afloat with our three regular wages. When one of us eventually gets promoted to Sargent, we’ll slowly, but surely pay back that outstanding balance.”

Smiling broadly, all three of the brothers raise their shiny, new, enchanted longswords into the air and, for a joyous moment, forget about their current responsibilities and shout out their childhood battle cry…

“THREE FOR ME AND ME FOR THREE!”

Bitter Sweet Lullaby

 

Sitting alone on his bed in the Knot wave inn, illuminated only by the light of a dimmed lantern, Fortu cradles the silver music box on his lap and listens to the gentle tune until it winds down to silence.

The Witch; Megarna had teased him with information about his mother and tried to use it to distract him from his mission for Lord Urdurel. He’d distrusted the woman when he’d first met her pretending to be a fortune teller back in Scarborough and he trusted her even less now.

Still, she’d been surprisingly bold, considering her age and obvious frailty. It’s almost as if she’d wanted him to strike her down…

A knock on the door announces Rifkin’s presence before he enters their shared room, giving him time to wipe his eyes.

Fortu only recognises the artfully crafted music box from his dream, but the music? It stirs up something deep inside of him; Comfort, warmth… Love.

Could these three raised relief portraits truly be of him as a baby, his wild haired, gypsy mother and his handsome father?

Dwarvine Intervention

Everything happened so fast and Captain Lynchin mentally curses himself for lulling so completely. He’d been warned of a possible attack but years of small town complacency had dulled his instincts and now, because of it, his friend lies dead. Poor Freddie; the ferryman barely got the chance to realise what’d happened to him, before he’d crumpled to the shingle covered ground, blood gushing from both his belly and back. The Assassin had literally appeared out of thin-air and driven his shortsword all the way in through his kidneys and out through his guts. The self-same grinning Assassin, who now stands, fully revealed, over Freddie’s still life-blood leaking corpse, laughing manically!

Ordering his four men to attack, they too are immediately ambushed and assaulted by three more of the lying-in-wait, invisible Assassins. Captain Lynchin bares his white teeth and draws his Longsword to join the fray before his (caught flat-footed) men are also slaughtered, but then… A miracle!

All of his men and all four of the, now revealed, Assassins are bathed in a wide circle of golden light. A glow that merely warms him and his men but somehow, causes the Assassins to writhe and scream in agony, giving him and his men the chance they need to finish the job.

Soon all four of the Assassins on his bank are dead and Freddy revenged, but the battle is far from finished. Looking over at the Spinning Jenny, Captain Lynchin sees that the barge is already on fire and taking barrage after barrage of flaming crossbow bolts from the opposite side of the river. 

The Dwarven war-priest Banaal makes momentary eye contact and gives a curt nod of affirmation, as he simultaneously summons a deluge of water from above to extinguish the oily, burning canopy above, before turning his attention to the remaining Assassins on the Argentian bank.

It’s only then that Captain Lynchin realises that it was the Dwarven priest that had saved his life; his life and the lives of all four of his men. That the only reason he’s not lying dead beside his friend; Freddy, is due to the Dwarven priest; Banaal’s divine intervention!

Dante’s Ravine Hideaway

Leading a battalion of sixty well armed and armoured men, the slate haired and stone faced; Captain Ash closes in on the location garnered from the local (but barely tolerated) Thieve’s guild by the surprisingly helpful adventurer; Fortu. 

The camp had supposedly been in a ravine, just a day-and-a-half’s ride North from the Capital and the adventurers’ intel had proven itself to be accurate, as two of Captain Ash’s outriders had triggered defensive warning traps.

Near fatal defensive warning traps!

More serious, their element of surprise was gone.

Lord Urdurel’s orders were clear though; there’d be no turning back at this point. Pressing on cautiously, Captain Ash leads his men further down the valley, until they come within sight of the Assassins’ tree hidden camp. 

On foot now with shields raised, they circle the camp and simultaneously advance from three directions, with two of his trusted sergeants commanding the other two twenty man squads, but the resistance they expect, doesn’t come.

His soldiers encounter a few more defensive traps but no people; no servants, no Assassins. Despite it only being two days since they’d been given this ‘secret’ information, the camp was empty. By the look of the place, the Assassins had left in a hurry, but despite it only being recently abandoned, the mission, his mission, was still an abject failure.

Worse; where had all the Assassins slunk off to, what were they planning and who were they currently attempting to murder?

Captain Ash scowls.

“Someone warned them we were coming. Someone high enough up in our government and party to our internal military messages. The only possible conclusion is that there’s a spy high up in the inner circle. A traitor…. Lord Urdurel is not going to react to this news well.”

Finaghan Begins Again

Lounging in the back-room of the (formerly secret) bar, his feet still casually up on the desk, the head of the Stowanian Thieves’ guild, watches the Dwarf, the Halfling, the demi-Elf and the armoured Human walk back up the wooden stairs and out of his (now compromised) hideout.

It had taken Finaghan decades of lying and scheming to claw his way up to being named head of the Cottis Thieves’ guild. Dante’s recent splinter group of Assassins though, had rapidly become a painful thorn in his side. A thorn that the four Adventurers had kindly volunteered to tweeze out for him. Not just offered, but paid him fifty gold pieces for the privilege!

A paltry sum considering, but the feeble bribe still tickled him.

Dante had always been… difficult, arrogant, always chaffing against his authority, but with the resurgence of the Witches, his attitude had shifted into something much more… condescending. It hadn’t been long before the older man had poached a large slew of his Thieves’ guild minions for his competitive Assassins’ guild. Nearly a quarter of his members!

A loss in number that had greatly diminished his influence and the guilds’ power. Mostly though, it was a personal and professional slight that Finaghan couldn’t let stand.

Allowing Fortu and his adventurer friends to take care of this… problem, also overcame the sanction against guilds working openly against other guilds.

Finaghan smiles. Losing a lowly lookout and having to establish a new base of operations, is a small price to pay for getting rid of ‘old-man’ Dante. With him gone, most of his traitorous ex-Thieves’ guild members will come cringing and scurrying back.

He might even allow them to rejoin… after a certain amount of grovelling and an additional ‘buy-back-in’ fee.

Shouting over to one of his trusted barmen, Finaghan calls out.

“Bring over a fresh bottle of rum. The best we have; I feel like pre-celebrating a certain forthcoming victory!”