Session 10
Month 6, Weeks 3 and 4
The party takes two weeks to “do their own things.”
Galswintha + henches add to their repertoire. The Grim Fist party rings arrive, and Galswintha’s foresight becomes evident - she ordered extras, and the extras are needed.
Vulfelind pays for combat training for Almalinda; commissions exceptional armor for her henches; ; and re-interviews her henches to find out what they want in life (which the Judge kind of, ah, stumbles through).
Lanthechilde hires a sage of history, and gets a map of the old dwarven highways, and cross-references the party’s notes. “Pegasus Peak” (Galswintha named it, it stuck) turns out to be a dwarven mountain fastness, long since lost. The sage has a pet theory that a wizard (long after the dwarves left) cross-bred hill giants and apes for slaves … and that this is what collapsed civilization in that entire area.
Chlodomer pays Amarante as a sage to study the stars for the party; sends Grizzba and Grace to study at their “guild”; pays for Galagunde and Agalinda to register and study at the Illusionist’s Guild; and sits down with Haramer to plan out a small mercenary company for long-term employment. After further discussion, Chlodomer and Haramer decide to hire them as henches - four fighter-1 squad leaders as Haramer’s henches, each with four heavy infantry mercenaries as their henches. They start by looking for mercenaries and fighters, and then offer them longterm hench employment (with the usual mercenary pay + treasure shares). When they have their small force, Chlodomer Chlodomer upgrades their gear to plate and two quality spears (+1 to hit), and has colored livery and a banner made. At Galswintha’s insistence, he also gets them expensive, quality boots.
Month 7
Galswintha points at the ancient dwarven keep, “Pegasus!” Lanthechilde points at the wilderness between, “Ogres!”
The debate is never really in question, but Lanthechilde does manage to hold out for Galswintha filling out her entire available repertoire first.
That takes a month, during which the party adds one more wagon, 20 crossbowmen, 20 light infantry, and 10 medium cavalry; mirrors and military oil for everyone; and maps and other gear. Chlodomer’s heavy infantry are de facto in charge.
They set aside funds for six months, just in case.
Month 8, Week 1
Their first encounter is almost immediate: adventurers from Atanung (along with a large retinue of suspicious-looking mercenaries) who suspect the highway is clear, and are following the Grim Fist’s trail to Orléans to make sure … and they’re almost there!
Our heroes don’t really mind - no harm in some mercantile competition, after all - when Amarante makes her Theology roll and asks the other adventurers why they’re all wearing Belial’s Blessing (a Chaotic religious symbol).
Wrong question! Four adventurers, six bands of brigands, and their brigand leaders attack.
Chlodomer charges the front rank, ignores a dozen spear thrusts, and slaughters everyone within reach in a single pass. Then Haramer’s heavy infantry march through the hole and start laying about them … and crossbows pepper the back rank. Brigands begin fleeing almost immediately. The two enemy fighters close in on Chlodomer, Thorismund and Ingunde flank and support him, and he slaughters them in short order as well.
The enemy mage manages to sleep some infantry before Grizzba, Vulfelind, and Lanthechilde descend upon him and stab him to pieces. The priest doesn’t even get that much - Team Cleric stomps him into the dirt before he can draw breath.
Then everyone switches to ranged weapons for the stragglers. And then it is over.
They find the usual coins and gems upon the enemy, but they also luck out on the NPC party’s gear!
With Amarante’s help, they suss out two rings of protection +1 (Vulfelind and Lanthechilde), a quarter-moon shield +3 (twin to Chlodomer’s, goes to Shadagrunde), bracers of mastadon hide (AC 6, Galswintha), an elven sword +1 (Lanthechilde, who lends her short sword +1 to Harberic), and a war hammer +2 (unknown providence, Shadagrunde).
A ring with a ruby eye sigil, a potion (also tasted by the alchemists, and still unknown), and a set of leather armor remain unknown, and go into the party bag.
The next day, they spot the same giant hawk from their previous trip, and Veneranda casts speak with animals to call to it. They chat for a while, and the hawk decides it really likes Veneranda … and that’s that.
They miraculously avoid a nest of pit vipers, say hi to their grizzly bear friend again, reach the point where they can see what Galswintha is calling Pegasus Peak, and turn off the highway. They make it roughly a mile into the forest when they come across a tall hill. A small stream runs nearby, and there is an easy path around the hill, but …
Three wyverns are crowded around a pegasus corpse at the top of the hill.
Shadagrunde starts to suggest going around. Galswintha and Vulfelind declare their attack, loud, clear, and in stereo.
The rest of the party starts to argue with them, a bit excessively, and lose their round - the wyverns are surprised, so the first round ends up being Galswintha, Vulfelind, and their henches alone.
A bless precedes a fireball and three concerted magic missiles, and the first wyvern dies before it can blink. Vulfelind and her fighters drop arrows into the second fireball victim, dropping it. And then Baldaswind, her tigers, the war dogs, and a giant hawk descend like the Lady’s Fist upon the last.
There is a moment or two of respectful silence.
Chlodomer finally clears his throat, “Right. Don’t hurt the pegasus. I think we’re clear on that, now.”
Close by, they find the wyvern’s nest, surrounded by a litter of broken shells, and decorated with a small handful of gems, fur capes, and jewelry, and a bright, eye-catching dagger.
Amarante identifies the dagger, a curved slashing blade from a distant kingdom and marked with a pair of goblinoid faces in gold and silver, as a dagger +2, +3 versus beastmen (Galswintha).
Careful examination reveals the relatively tiny hoard to be easily worth 30,000 gold or more … of which a third is a single, facet-cut, flawless blue diamond.
Day 8
The party and their small army avoids two bands of roving ogres, and sees signs of more, before getting close enough to Pegasus Peak to just make out the vast, shattered iron doors into the mountain fortress, as the sun is setting, and decide to make camp.
Night falls as the first watch takes over …
Session End Notes
The wyvern fight was the most focused I’ve seen Galswintha’s player during a combat scene - she usually tolerates the combats so that she can get to talking to Grizzba or buying fantasy footwear. Someone murdered a cute animal, though? She played that fight to win.
It helped that this was the first session she had fireball in, of course!
Current XP total awaiting return to civilization: 37,800 (includes gold, which has already been split). Not as much as it looks like, when the henches are accounted for.