Adriana’s Diary – Part 5

Kingmaker Diary – Part 5 (August 4, 2018)

Day 22 – northwest of the fey (Pharast 17, 4710)

The morning begins with Ulgan receiving a gift of a few berries from Tyg-Titter-Tat. She thought the story was so sad. Then we head out with the two of them to disarm the traps, which takes us through a lot of forest all day.

The 2 fey show us 4 traps and explain how to find and disarm them. After that they get too bored, and from noon onward we start finding and disabling the traps ourselves.

Carax finds the first trap pretty quickly—with his foot—and is badly hurt. Gannokh's and Ulgan's healing powers keep Carax from dying while we free him. We keep our distance from one another as we continue and find more traps; unfortunately, Ulgan finds one with his foot too. At dusk we find a dead roe deer that stepped into a trap not long ago. Ulgan takes it along and we head back to the horses and Johann for the night. Grilled venison that evening is a change of pace.

Day 23 – northwest of the fey (Pharast 18, 4710)

We keep exploring the area on foot, looking for traps, while Johann stays with the horses again. We find a few more traps, and Carax destroys them with lots of little acid arrows. He also casts a special magical armor spell on the bear and himself every few hours.

After we've already found 6 traps and evening is drawing near, we also come across a brown bear that seems to have been caught in a trap for some time. Amos can't calm it, but then I put it to sleep so we can free it from the trap, which works. Amos and Ulgan heal the bear and leave it a ration, which it actually eats once it wakes up, before slinking away.

After Carax has eaten through this trap with acid as well, we return to Johann and make camp. Carax wakes us during his watch as an unnatural fog rolls in. We take up positions by the campfire, and Amos thinks this could be the wolves with the big white winter wolf again. And so it is: he leaves us a frozen, torn-off human arm and slowly walks away again. After a brief discussion of what this is supposed to mean, we go back to bed.

Day 24 – northwest of the fey (Pharast 19, 4710)

We set off again to explore the last stretch of forest with the traps. This time no one gets caught, and Carax can disable another 5 traps.

Since it's well past noon, we set off toward Oleg's, but still want to explore the area west of Oleg's Trading Post. Late in the afternoon we see 2 mounts on the plains heading toward Oleg's, but can't make out how many riders they are carrying.

We travel on and in the early evening see 3 large figures on the plains, towing a covered wagon, coming our way. After some discussion we decide to take a closer look, but from the cover of a forest about 2 km away. Gannokh wants to make use of that advantage to be on the safe side.

Amos looses the first arrow from atop the rock, and the 3 large humanoid creatures charge with their clubs. A fierce fight breaks out, Amos conjures up a thick fog, arrows and magic missiles fly, Ulgan brings down the first of the 3. Unfortunately, Bruin, Stagmere, and Gannokh take heavy hits, and in the fog we can only hear the last two being struck. Amos, Carax, and Ulgan defeat the last 2, so we come out of the fight badly injured but victorious.

On the covered wagon we find 2 dead men and 2 dead horses. We salvage a fair amount of cargo and various items, including a spellbook and an enchanted staff; only Amos stays at the edge of the forest, tending to his bear. I go over and see the pain in his eyes. With my hands resting on Amos and Bruin, I help our animal companion with my words. Afterward we find a campsite, and some of us lie down to rest injured.

Day 25 – on the way to Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 20, 4710)

We start the day with a prayer to Erastil, as Gannokh tells us about today's holiday (day and night are equally long) and takes out his book. A lovely day spent exploring the area and bringing along the covered wagon with all the stuff, with nothing else of note happening to us.

In the evening we reach Oleg's Trading Post, where several people are sheltering. The 2 horses we saw from a distance are here too: a trapper who turns out to be Niguel McKaren, with 2 small bears in a cage on his pack mule. Luckily Amos has stayed outside with Bruin, who certainly wouldn't have been happy. Jhod is still here too, as is Kesten with his 3 soldiers.

We talk to Niguel, the trapper, who assures me, convincingly, that he marks his traps with yellow ribbons. I buy his 2 bears for 110 gp, with Gannokh contributing 10 gp. Then I go outside to Amos with them and Ulgan, while the others keep talking to Niguel. Unfortunately, Amos says the little bears have little chance of surviving without their mother. Releasing them right here is not an option. In the end we go to Oleg's Trading Post together with Amos and Bruin.

Once Amos has settled the little bears in the shed and seen to their initial care, a conversation among the men develops at the table, which I follow from a distance. Amos makes it clear to Niguel what he thinks of him and his traps, and everything has been said, but things briefly escalate to Amos attempting to throw a punch, though he had kept his emotions well under control until then. Gannokh stops him, but Svetlana is disappointed in Amos. Calistria would be proud of Amos's vendetta.

I try to smooth things over too, but Niguel, honest and simple as he is, doesn't really understand the situation. Gannokh gives his word, I manage to persuade Amos to take Bruin outside right away, and Ulgan gives him gold for his traps. In the end, with Amos's apology and his talk with Svetlana as well, we all manage to get the situation under control.

In the end the evening winds down with lots of conversation. Niguel doesn't leave, Kesten reports from Restov and hands over the 400 gp, along with word of another reward of 800 gp for a tatzlwyrm's head. Even though Kesten knows where I come from, in a way we share the same fate, and I believe him when he says we'll both keep our origins to ourselves.

Day 26 – a day off at Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 21, 4710)

Carax asks us to spend the day here, which we do, since he wants to learn a few things from the new spellbook, which requires 7 hours of intense concentration. A cold, uneventful day passes, with Niguel leaving, Amos tending to the 2 little bears, and Svetlana working with Amos on a pen so the 2 bears would stay in the care of the 2 of them.

Unfortunately, Svetlana only has 24 rations for us, which together will last us just 4 days. But that shouldn't stop us from setting out again, a trip that is also supposed to take us to the dead ogres, since Amos simply left Kressle's magic weapon there.

Day 27 – southwest of Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 22, 4710)

The snow is almost gone and we set off again. After a good 6 hours we reach the spot with the dead ogres, but we can't find the axe anymore. There are wolf tracks, including those of a large one.

We continue south and meet our 2 fey friends late in the afternoon. It's nice, and we talk with them for quite a while. They tell us again about the great bear surrounded by death at the temple to the south, about the Snow Queen, who is more than a winter wolf and lives farther south among old stones at the source of the Thorn River, and about the tatzlwyrms, which may be far to the south as well, beyond the Dusk and the Skunk River, past the boggards. Boggards are large frog creatures; I've never heard of them. There is also the great boar to the south, a loner roaming a sizable territory. In the end the 2 are kind enough to show us a ford across the Thorn River in their forest, so we can head south.

It's not that easy, because I slip into the water at the ford and my riding horse is swept away by the current. Luckily it makes it to safety, but Amos still has to fetch it from the other side of the river. Not even Amos manages it, so we leave my stubborn horse on the far bank and make camp right there.

Day 28 – the fey's secret Thorn River ford (Pharast 23, 4710)

This morning Gannokh goes to the other side to get my horse across the ford. It's not easy for him either, but he manages it in the end. So we set off and spend the rest of the day exploring the area, crossing plenty of forest.

Day 29 – southeast along the Thorn River (Pharast 24, 4710)

We decide to follow the Thorn River to the bandit camp, since according to the two fey there may still be a few people there. It takes us all day to reach the camp. Amos approaches the camp under cover, with me following at a distance, but there is no one left. Gannokh drags the dead away so the smell isn't quite as strong anymore.

Day 30 – southeast along the Thorn River (Pharast 25, 4710)

In the morning we discuss whether hunting or exploring makes more sense. Even though Johann and I have little left, we keep exploring the area, since the others are still carrying more rations.

We head north along the Thorn River and find an old wooden bridge over the river at a gorge. Amos stays out of it, but the attempt with my horse fails. It falls 20 feet into the river. Unfortunately, it resurfaces many meters farther downstream, already dead.

So we stay on the northern side and explore the area with one horse fewer. Nothing else happens, so we make our next camp.

Day 31 – hills south of Oleg's Trading Post (Pharast 26, 4710)

We keep exploring the area, which is now very rugged. Hills, gorges, cliffs, but no water at the bottom, make it hard to get the horses along the trails. I spot a cave entrance high up on the opposite side, and Ulgan sees it too. With ropes, Amos, Gannokh, and Ulgan set off to climb down into the gorge and back up to inspect the cave. Carax and I initially stay up on the other side, which makes Gannokh very annoyed. Usually so intent on being honorable, in his rage he even resorts to an insulting jab at my origins—wouldn't have thought it of him. Carax too is reduced to his origins and called a coward who is failing to fulfill our shared mission—because this cave is supposedly part of it too. Amusing, though, that Gannokh has yet to put a single line on the map himself. Apparently, literal interpretation—of Erastil's teachings and their exceptions, among other things—is reserved for the preachers themselves. But no one has appointed Erastil or Gannokh as our leader so far. Which certainly won't happen, either.

After a steep shaft, Amos finds a larger cavern and a stone that glints gold, with a vein of it running through it. Apart from that, there are lots of bats and the old bones of a smallish humanoid figure. They come back, and I carefully climb back across to Carax and Johann as well. The rest of the day passes without further incident, and there is still tension between Carax and Gannokh, which I can understand.

During the night Gannokh raises the alarm. Orcs are shooting arrows at us, and the ground seems to have become slippery. I summon my lights, and the first orcs to charge are brought down by arrows and sleep. No more come closer, but flaming arrows from the orcs come flying in. Amos, Bruin, Ulgan, and Gannokh then circle around toward the distant orcs standing in my lights. This goes badly for the orcs, as heavy blows bring them down one after another. With magical help, a sudden, brief downpour, Carax puts out the fire by the large tent, then the one by me as well. The battle ends in victory for us, though Ulgan still wonders where the shaman is who must have cast the slipperiness.