Refit and Resupply

In the town of Jewel Bend, Gil got himself cleaned up at an in called The Boat Race for a meeting with the local baron. The servants at the inn busied themselves in cleaning up and mending his clothes and gear so that he would be presentable.

An honor guard led Gil to the town hall to meet Baron Arngrim, son of Thodrek the Half-Handed, a dwarf of no small age and experience. With him were his officers: General Osvald Moerersson, Captain Folco Bandaris, Captain Joseth Galman, and Father Vestar of the Brotherhood of Battle. Gil introduced himself with his full noble title as the son and heir of the Grand Duke of Geoff (something the rest of the party does not know about), and related the story of their plight.

The Baron was certainly willing to help, but a few details needed to be hammered out. Sending a sortie out across the river to attack the humanoid army was not feasible but there were two reasonable crossing points some miles away, one upstream and one down. While the upstream one would be significantly closer, it was plagued by a pride of displacer beasts on the Pomarj side of the Jewel and clearing it out was not a significant priority (since it inconveniences the humanoids more than the defenders of Ulek). So they opted for using the downstream crossing some 5 miles distant. The city would do what it could to absorb and repatriate the refugees as well as settle the wild men down in a suitable area. Supplies and services could be obtained by the free company of adventurers as needed.

Gil was taken back across the river and made his way back to his companions. Meanwhile, Tesrae and Kendrick alternated catching naps while waiting out Gil. Their cover hiding behind a small rise was nearly broken by a small patrol of humanoids who apparently had to relieve themselves on the other side of the small hillock. Fortunately, the two heroes and their horse remained quiet enough to avoid detection.

With Gil back, they returned to the refugees as the sun began to rise. News of the crossing to safety raised the spirits of the former slaves. Reaching the area of the crossing, the heroes encountered a picket line of smartly camouflaged halflings, sent out by Captain Bandaris, keeping a watch out for any humanoid patrols or hunting parties. The town's river warden, Warden Randoll had mustered a number of small boats and a few barges to get people across. With a fairly wide river, getting everyone across was a job of more than just a few hours. But on the other side, spirits rose again and the last few miles of walking seemed a pleasure. In fact, the cavalry met refugees on the road bearing extra horses and a few wagons as well as fresh water and food.

Entering Jewel Bend, they found inn servants, priests, and others able to tend to the incoming crowd, dispatching some to rest and food at the inns and other dispersed to any place that had room to put them up. The heroes, exhausted after a long march and sleepless night, retired to The Boat Race for much needed rest.

Over the next couple of days, the band of stalwarts took care of resupplying themselves and buying more and better traveling equipment. Tesrae had Icar's suit of full plate (masterwork quality) adjusted and refit for her. Gil and Kendrick spent much of the time arranging to sell off various objects looted from the slaver stockade. They also bought suitable horses (including a war horse for Tesrae) for the road ahead. Among the objects found at the stockade (but kept) were a wand of knock spells and an encyphered note outlining the location of a hidden treasury. It included a cryptic reference to needing Blackthorne's talents, but what that means, the party does not know.

Before the heroes set out on the road again, they met with the baron to discuss things going on in the Pomarj. The baron is confident in his ability to hold the river against the humanoids, but there have been troubling reports of larger mobilizations. The heroes were able to confirm that there are Hextorite missionaries about that are much better organized and trained than the typical humanoid tribes. The baron's men had heard rumors that they are directed by some orc known as Turosh Mak, about whom little other than exaggerated story is known. Gil also sent out letters to his home in Geoff and to Safeton, though both will undoubtedly be long in arriving.

Returning to the Pomarj side of the river, the heroes set out at a faster pace than marching with refugees had allowed. After a day and a half of riding, as camp time was nearing, they encountered a large caravan encampment ahead. Gil scouted it out, determining that it was not a slave caravan, though clearly in league with the slavers. The cargo seemed to be mainly trade and outfitter goods including cloth, iron, and whale oil that Gil tried to light as a diversion as well as irregular attack on supply. Already pushing his luck in a well-guarded camp, Gil's attempt was noticed and he was chased from the scene and the fire put out before it had a chance to really catch (though he spoiled two barrels of whale oil nevertheless).

Giving the camp a wide berth as they traveled on in the morning, the heroes resolved to return to the stockade to see if the hidden treasury could yet be plundered. The weather started turning ominous with gusty winds, humidity, heat, and overcast skies. As tunder rolled in the distance, Gil thought he stared hearing extra echoes from the thunder on some peals. Soon, Kendrick and Tesrae began to hear it as well. Unsure what that meant and wanting to get out of the coming storm, they searched for and found a cave big enough for them and their horses, hopefully high enough to be above any expected flash flood line.

As the rain poured over the next hours, they even began to hear deep rumbling laughter along with the storm and more cracks and bangs. None of the party members took the risk of scouting out what those sounds might be, though the theory of giants throwning rocks around was raised as well as the behavior of the storm god, Procan.

Eventually, the storm, a tropical storm blowing up from the seas south of the Pomarj, blows itself out in 36 hours after depositing over a dozen inches of rain, leaving the heroes to slog through mud and new streams to continue back on the road.

Edit: Hard to believe we forgot about her. But the Baron was happy to intern Markessa, held prisoner by the heroes, indefinitely as necessary. He will be recording testimony of the former slaves to use against her if every officially tried.

Flight to Freedom

Action in Greyhawk continued with the party of adventurers leading a rag-tag group of former slaves and wild hill men through humanoid occupied territory. Making an overland trek through the Drachensgrab foothills, their eventual goal is freedom across the Jewel River in the Duchy of Ulek.

Kendrick, Tesrae, and Gil led the way, doing their best to steer around humanoid villages and other trouble. The heat of the day, this being late high summer, was oppressive with temperatures reaching about 100 degrees. Many of the children were carried, but there was little relief for the adults, many of whom had been undernourished for weeks, and the adolescents too big to be carried. The march was forced to stop and wait out the worst of the heat during the mid-days along the march.

One late morning, during a light rain that did little to break the heat for long, the heroes noticed a predator flying overhead that appeared to be draconic in nature. Tesrae reacted quickly by directing the refugees to find cover to get out of the rain. A couple of the refugees became worried about this sudden change, but Gil did his best to persuade them that it was really nothing to be concerned about. Kendrick, kept his eye on the flying creature as it clearly turned and started flying in the direction of the column of travelers.

As the draconic creature got closer, they identified it as a wyvern and it was clearly coming in for prey. Kendrick, still not having properly trained with his longbow, made a lucky shot at the wyvern at considerable distance. Tesrae, using the oversized bow taken from the slavers' ogre lieutenant, also pierced the wyvern's hide. The refugees, now clearly seeing the danger of the wyvern, broke out in panic, a few trying to flee on foot but most cowering under whatever cover they had.

Gil tried to take the fight closer to the wyvern itself by flying forward and interposing himself between the predator and the ground party. The wyvern lashed out with its claw as it neared to try to carry Gil away as a prize, but although it bruised the man, it failed to grasp him. Gil fairly squirted out of its grasp like quicksilver. Undaunted, the wyvern continued in its path toward the warriors who had already pricked its hide. Gil did manage to get a wicked slice at the wyvern as it passed, doing more damage than was immediately apparent.

Kendrick was ready for the wyvern as it neared. With a mighty leap and a little luck, Kendrick managed to just grasp onto the creature as it flew 15 feet overhead. The wyvern probably had a chuckle to itself as its prey went right for its clutches. The monster's whip-like stinger tail lashed forward, catching Kendrick and injecting its venom. Kendrick felt his insides turn inside-out with the sickness of the extremely virulent poison.

Gil again flew to press the attack and Kendrick, daringly, shifted his hold on the wyvern to grasp at and foul a wing. Luck again smiled on the monk as he interfered with the wyvern's ability to fly, driving them both into the ground. Gil dove in with his sickles and finised off the beast. With the aid of Gil's first aid, Kendrick survived the poisoning but was left feeling ill for the remainder of the day.

Tesrae rounded up the fleeing refugees, who were now both terrified by the brush with the monster and buoyed by the heroic actions of the adventurers. Kendrick particularly seemed to have won much respect from the hill men. The column pressed on.

After the third day on the road, it became clear that the children were reaching the limits of their endurance, particularly the adolescents who were too large to carry. The heroes gave up all use of horses for the walk in favor of rotating the older kids on and off the remaining mounts.

Bob Arby, near the middle rear of the column rode forward one day to warn of approaching horsemen. A group of smartly organized and heavily armored humanoids, flying the banner of Hextor the Lord of Tyranny, rode up from behind. Gil and Tesrae went to meet them with Kendrick, hidden from view, watching for hostile moves. The apparent leader of the Hextorites, a man with at least some orcish blood, rode forward to ask who led the rabble and what their business was in these lands. Gil, with all the politeness he could muster seeing that the three heroes were clearly outnumbered by 2 to 1, responded that they were leaving the area and bluffed up a story that the ex-slaves were his own. Mollified by that, the Hextorite just demanded that the way be cleared so that his men could ride through. Gil and Tesrae willingly complied and the horsemen rode through without incident.

Finally, as the terrain softened into heather-covered hills rather than scrub covered rocky outcroppings, they were certain they were nearing the Jewel River valley. Tributary streams were now becoming fairly common. But there were yet other obstacles.

Cresting a hill, the heroes noticed a line of dispersed gnolls striding through some tall grasses ahead, banging their swords on their shields. Other gnolls, clustered a distance away were armed with bows. It appeared that they had come upon a hunting party of some sort. Sure enough, before long, large birds were taking to the air ahead of the bush-beaters, only to fall prey to the archers. Rather than risk the gnolls, the adventurers led the refugees on a route around the area that gave the gnolls wide berth.

On the close of the 5th day of the march, evidence of the river could clearly be seen in the distance, perhaps half a day ahead. Forgoing sleep, Gil, Kendrick, and Tesrae, on horseback, pushed ahead to scout out the area. This turned out to be a good idea as they found an army encampment/shanty town of humanoids on the near side of the river at the bend. On the far side was a fortified town. The immediately surrounding territory was clear cut with easy visibility for a couple of miles.

Under cover of darkness and hiding well, Gil expended his magic power to fly over the river, noting that, at about 1/3 of a mile wide and with a lot of flowing volume, the Jewel River was not really fordable and probably wasn't for miles. He decided to seek in the fortified town for help. Gil landed and revealed himself to a local patrol of dwarven infantry. He related his story about leading refugees out of the Pomarj and that was enough to send his concerns up the chain of command. Gil met with a lieutenant, Ulfgar by name, who then arranged to get Gil cleaned up at an inn for an audience with the baron and general in charge of the town.