Gundar's Farm

The tale of Gundar Ironheart is a strange one. Once a brigand working on the edges of civilisation, he made the strange choice to help an elf, Syllia, secure a farm they had inherited.

Original

Approached by Syllia for protection in exchange for a one-tenth share of the farm she has inherited.

Battered ex-brigand who has worked out in the sticks for some time. Not averse to Highriver. Small town deep in the Dragonback mountains, run down defences. Many men are away on a ware against the Crimson Legion.

Headed to Highriver Inn. Got directions to the Great Hall and booked rooms. They are lockable! Made it to the Great Hall, and we were granted entry on the presentation of Syllia's tally stick.

Made our way to the farm through a fair valley. The guard who was escorting us told us of brigands and monsters roaming the hills. Apparently there was tale of a dragon in these parts. We approached the farm from the south to find it ransacked and occupied. Paid our escort to watch our mules whilst we dealt with the issue. We crept toward a sentry and slept him with magic after he proved resistant to distraction.

We entered the farmhouse through the barn, and encountered two more brigands. Syllia slept them both but that proved to be the end of her magic. Entered the hearthroom of the farmhouse and brawled with two brigands within. This drew the attention of their friends outside, but we managed to block the doors to bottleneck and dispatch them. All the brigands were dead, and as a warning, we hung a body from the northern gate. Syllia, grateful, offered to split the farm half-and-half given Gundar's hard work. The new owners took the time to heal the wounded guard dog, and Gundar named him Hannibal.

The next morning, an old friend of Gundar's named Aldaval rocked up. He was under the impression that Gundar was the sole inheritor of the farm, and intended to collect on old debts. The satisfy Aldaval, Gundar offered him half of the next 18 months of the farm's proceeds if Aldaval helped Gundar and Syllia retrieve the missing livestock.

We fished the previous owners out of the well to prevent any poisoning, and followed the bandit tracks north. Wound our way into the highlands, where we were ambushed by a grizzly bear. Syllia used her elf-magic to charm the beast into leaving us alone. Carried on following the tracks.

Came across a large stone circle. Talked to the wolf tamers there, and they informed us the bandits had come through here. Arranin, the chief druid, offered us his medicaments and blessings. We swore to steward our farm responsibly. Carried on along the trail. Soon after, we ran into a pack of wolves. Aldaval got our horses away safely and we tackled the wolves in small groups. It went well thanks to all the magics being cast.

Found a seemingly abandoned bandit encampment. Gundar sussed it was likely an ambush, but was caught unprepared by a volley of arrows. Aldaval burned a bandit to death, and Syllia charmed the remaining 2. They told us the boss had taken our livestock to their new base, built in an ancient dwarven shrine. We freed the bandits' prisoner, an elf called Erilador. Gundar went upriver with him whilst Syllia and Aldaval returned home to guard the farm.

The river expedition team ran into a camp of ogres, and had to wade the water to avoid them. As they grew near the suspected location of the shrine, one of the ogres caught up with the group. Erilador failed to charm the beast, and the mule bolted. Gundar eventually slew the ogroid with a mighty mace blow. As the pair recovered their mule, they met a strange wizard named AElnoth. He agreed to help us in our business at the shrine in exchange for safe passage to Highriver.

Outside the shrine, AElnoth slept four bandits and Gundar dispatched them. We hitched the horses and looted their camp before heading into the shrine. We fought our way towards the main hall past two guards, and came to face to face with the orc chief Gorthun Barr lounging with a huge retinue in a defiled shrine of Gavorgan the Guardian, Forgeguard of the dwarves. We beat a tactical retreat due to the overwhelming odds. We formed a bottleneck, and managed to slaughter all of Gavorgan's retinue. However, we were badly injured in the fight, and had to flee before facing the chief and his wolf.

Remaining forces: 6 archers, 3 orcs, 1 wolf (dire?), and the Chief.

Efdil, a wolf tamer, ran into us out in the wilderness. He healed us and guided us back to the druids' circle. On our way from there to the farm, we were attacked at the last moment by a roc. We managed to drive it off without losing any of the livestock, and made it home safely.