Restitution By Steel

The dagger and sheath of a noble

Current Campaign: The Knights of Eaton

Episode 08: "Restitution By Steel"

Year: 1754 Winter

Location: Kandorr City, Balthas

PCs: Borric Simonson Margaret Kelleck Simon Aylay Windsor Tasselhof Kelleck Zorn of Greendale

NPCs: Alva Cromwell Aron Rosemurk Croyd Simonson Grespin Kelleck Marshall Cozann Malingasi Wyzchyk

Previous Episode: "Contempt"

Next Episode: "Rousing Erelaan"

Previous Campaign: The Thuzuulan Heresy

The knights join forces with Croyde's old allies to eliminate Aron Rosemurk and retake Kandorr City.

Story

Act One: Reconciliation in Balthas

The party treks out of Stout Weald and south towards Balthas. They travel light and quick and make it to Balthas within the week, whereupon Mayfn departs from the group in order to track Croyde. The group splits the plunder and disunites; Dane and Jasten leave for Larkos, Simon lodges at The Boar's Head, and Jimmy the Hand enters the city where he is caught pickpocketing a city guardsman and is killed on the spot.

With Garn and Dylim properly healed in Barleystoke, Grespin's team reunites with Margaret's and they travel to Balthas to seek out Drake's team. They arrive in Balthas, which is being fortified against the potential attack from Argonheim, and outside the city they meet up with Croyde's own retinue. Simon joins the group and reports on Drake's misfortune in Stout Weald and recounts their poor treatment by the lords of Balthas. Afterwards he presents his share of the plunder of Azedoma to Croyde and Borric. Croyde's appraiser estimates the value of the objects and Simon is granted a plot of land of equal value in Greendale and the remainder is sent to Lady Deslaine as repayment of the debt owed her.

Croydd's elite troops camped outside Balthas make the lords of that city nervous and he uses their apprehension to demand audience with Lord Malingasi. Malingasi complies and Croyd brings Tasselhoff and Simon along with his bodyguard to the assembly; there he chides the gathered lords for their treatment of Drake and Tasselhof and demands compensation for the insult. Malingasi complies and orders the council assembled to collect their payment for delivery by the next full moon two weeks. In the meantime Croyd's retinue is welcomed into Balthas on the condition that his troops assist in the fortification of the city. Croyd agrees and the group enters Balthas and are welcomed to Malingasi's manor at Grey Chapel.

Act Two: Infiltrating Kandorr

During their residence they receive reports from Kandorr from Croyde's loyalists and spies and so devise a plan to infiltrate the castle and assassinate Aron Rosemurk and his soldiers and capture their own cousins who were accomplices to the coup. They spend the next two weeks plotting out their attack and preparing for contingencies. Croyde organizes his hit squad and charges Borric with leading the vanguard team—which consists of Margaret, Simon and Tasselhof —and appoints Mayfn and Dylim as captains of the alternate teams. They are equipped with the finest armor and weaponry from Croyd's armory and Lord Malingasi lends them two magical weapons from his arenal: the Guiling Gem, a quirked power-stone of limited uses; and the shortsword called Lunger due to its ability to hurl itself at a chosen target. He advises them that after they succeed they should seek refuge with a loyalist landowner in Greendale named Zorn, who has been readying his forces and awaiting a signal to assault Kandorr.

The hit squad makes it way back to Larkos and meets up with Cromwell, who provides them transport on his smuggling caravel Wave Cutter. They sail at dusk, skirting trafficking lanes and avoiding Kandorr's warships until they reach the shores of Greendale. The squad pilots to shore and the Wave Cutter sets sail back to Larkos. Disguised as peasants, they trek north to Kandorr until they reach the outskirts of Kandorr City where they hide in the forest until nightfall.

Borric leads the squad to the cemetery on Dunfrey Hill where he scratches out a signal upon a tomb wall. An hour later they are met by the Wyzchyk, the cemetery's ghoulie delegate. Borric promises to turn whatever victims his squad captures over to the ghoulies. Wyzchyk silently leads the squad down into the narrow passages of the Dead Realms, beneath the stone walls of Castle Kandorr and out into the royal mausoleum. The squad waits until the midnight bell tolls and emerges from the mausoleum disguised as royal guards.

Dylim's team scales the walls of the inner citadel, eliminates the evening guard, and open the gates to let the other teams inside. The teams split up and infiltrate the castle interior, circumventing warding spells, disabling castle security and neutralizing patrols along their search-and-destroy mission. Borric's team reaches the empty, dimly-lit throne room and make for the king's chambers when they are startled by Rosemurk, who is seated upon the throne fully-geared—wielding a staff in one hand, a wand in the other and encased in war armor. Rising, he stamps the ground with his staff and a blinding sun flare fills the room. Shielding his eyes, Borric hurls "Lunger" for Rosemurk's heart but misses his mark. The dagger pierces the sorcerer's shoulder and he drops the staff.

Rosemurk's elite guard force their way in but Margaret plants herself in front of the doors and hacks at them while Tas picks them off with his arrows. Three guards fall.

Rosemurk arcs his wand and a rolling ball of fire swirls at Borric, but the prince is saved when Dylim shields him from the blast. The force knocks Borric onto his back as Dylim's incinerated frame collapses to its knees and crumples into a smoldering heap. Simon blasts Rosemurk with a stunning spell and he tumbles off the dais, dropping his wand and falling onto dagger in his shoulder. As he lurches up from the floor he is clearly stunned and Borric is upon him, gripping the dagger and dragging it down Rosemurk's side, slicing the armor's leather fasteners. Rosemurk's chestplate swings open, but with a deft turn he draws a blade from his boot and plunges it deep into Borric's side.

Mayfn's team arrives from the other side of the throne room's access point, surrounding Rosemurk's elite guard. Dylim's team, led by Margaret, presses the enemy from their side and an all-out melee erupts in the narrow confines of the hall. Tas turns his focus back to Simon and Borric. As Borric fumbles in his pouch for the powerstone, Rosemurk twists the knife with one hand and kneels to reach his wand with the other. Borric cries out in agony and Simon heals him from across the room—the spell restores his strength but does not allay his pain. As Rosemurk reaches his wand and lifts it, he is shot through his elbow and he drops it again. He howls a curse and Borric slams the powerstone deep into his chest.

The gem only seems to empower the sorcerer. He rises and with a gesture his wand and staff fling themselves into his hands. He stamps the ground and his staff emits a powerful heat blast that scorches Borric and knocks all the throne rooms occupants onto the floor. Having dispatched with Rosemurk's guards, Margaret and the others race into the throne room only to be confronted by the sorcerer restored and increased. He hovers above the ground and the air crackles with a terrible energy. Simon kneels over Borric and is healing him when Rosemurk shouts a spell and the room fills with white hot light. A bone-shaking blast knocks them all unconscious.

Act Three: Garn's Restoration

Simon awoke, dazed, and discovered he was lying outside. As he pushed himself into a kneeling position he could see the citadel aflame and a gaping hole where the sun window and balcony once were. He took in the scene: Tas and Borric lay unconscious and Mayfn was carrying Margaret from out of the moat. Only two other men from the teams were accounted for; the rest had been killed in the blast. He spied a smoldering mass near him and he poked at it with his staff; it was a scorched boot with Rosemurk's mangled foot inside. Mayfn scrounged up the remainder of their kit and applied healing balms and salves where he could and within minutes the group was up and moving back into the woods. They meet up with Zorn, who rallies his forces and Croyde's allies and marches upon Kandorr. As they arrive at the city wall they easily push past the disabled security measures and finally arrive at the inner gate. Zorn's arrival is a signal to loyalists to overthrow the existing government and they surround Rosemurk's allies and deliver them to Borric. Margaret spends the rest of the week rounding up Rosemurk's people, securing the castle, and readying for Croyde's arrival. Croyde rides into the city the following week to great fanfare. He reinstalls Garn and agrees to absolve the Cozann for any wrongdoing so long as they recognize Garn's legitimacy—the exception being Marshall Cozann, who is executed without trial or fanfare—to this end Croyde hosts a weeklong celebration and holds a ceremony to reward his loyalists with status and wealth and to permit the Cozann to publicly pledge their fealty to young Garn.

Meta

Game notes

• played Fall semester, 1991

Plot Points

• blank

The Dead

• Marshall Cozann
• Jimmy the Hand (A. Mater)
• Aron Rosemurk
• Dylim

Points Awarded

• 3 points for all

Season Pool

• 33 points