The Cedarspoke Debt

Detailed below are the exploits of Farnorin and the group of adventurers he brought together to pay off his debt to the Cedarspoke Scholar's Guild.

Hook

After the heroes of the land gave their lives to protect the world, who will protect the lands they once did? Whispers of evil from sanatoriums, raiders in forests and power hungry wizards stir in the aftermath. Which brave adventurers will answer the call of the land?

Session 1 - 26/04/2022

Farnorin arrived at The Pickman's Rest in Rockdale to find a number of unusual looking individuals there. After a few slightly awkward introductions, the group were all introduced to each other. All in all, there were five members - Farnorin, Oxana, Caio, Himari, and Hollyhock. They each agreed to try and pursue a few adventuring contracts together, and split the profits.

Moments later, a gang of tax collectors from Cedarspoke arrived at the tavern, and requested Farnorin come with them for failing to pay his debts - a noted change from the agreement Farnorin had established with them previously. The barman, Gregor, requested that the group take the matter outside, and it was there that a fight kicked off after Farnorin refused to go with the tax collectors. The tax collector's thugs and hounds were dispatched remarkably swiftly by the group, and the head tax collector was captured alive. Unfortuantely, the party were barred from The Pickman's Rest for causing such a distrubance.

Upon interrogation, the headman revealed that there had been a change of management at the guild, so not only was Farnorin's debt due far sooner than originally agreed, but it had also had an intrest rate applied to it. Farnorin's debt now stood at three hundred and fifty silver pieces. As the party were gagging the tax collector so they could not cause any more trouble, a stranger, later revealed to be Il Cuithe the Minstrel, approached the party. The bard had seen the altercation and heard mention of Cedarspoke, which led to him offering the group a contract for escorting to him to a few locations en-route to the town. He sought passage to Sanctuary and then on to Lord Ironhurst's manor, who was his patron. The group agreed to the contract, with a deposit of five gold pieces.

The journey started that very evening, after Caio had said farewells to the family he had in Rockdale. On the road, shortly before night fell, the group came across an overturned cart. Hollyhock righted the cart, freeing the three individuals trapped beneath: Bit Barden, a dwarven merchant, and their two companions, one orc, and the other human. Bit explained that their cart had been attacked by goblins a day prior, and the three of them had been trapped there since then. Farnorin healed the human of their broken rib, and was promptly rewarded with a little silver and an antidote - a crate of which was what the merchants had been carrying when they were attacked. The two travelling parties camped together that night for the sake of safety in numbers.

The merchants set off the next morning, and told the adventurers to look up the Finch Guild when they got to Sanctuary. They accepted the shipment as a loss, and told their saviors to salvage whatever they could for themselves if they chose to go after the goblins.

The group chose to track down the goblins to their camp, which turned out to be little more than a circle of tents with a rickety palisade gate at the "entrance". After approaching quite stealthily, the adventurers dispatched the guards at the gate, and then went on the face the goblin tribe's deputy boss, Big Krutz. After a brutal battle in which both Hollyhock and Oxana were badly wounded, the group defeated Big Krutz and his lackeys. Strangely though, upon a search of the camp, no alchemical supplies were found.

Session 2 - 03/05/2022

Himari and Farnorin healed Oxana and Hollyhock whilst Caio refocused. The group then pottered around the camp, with some members taking guard posts in case the rest of the golbins returned. Hollyhock identified some of the tracks on the trail as that of an ogre.

The group returned to their camp to find that same ogre attacking Il Cuithe the bard, hanging him up in the air. The ogre seemed docile in a strange way, but still set his goblin entourage upon the adventurers. After it was defeated, and after apologising to the minstrel, they struck camp and set off on the way to Sanctuary again.

The party eventually arrived at the city to see the famed walls glowing with the last light of the day. In the queue for the gates, the party were approached by a shady looking gnome peddling a crate of alchemical supplies - a crate emblazoned with the Finch Guild's emblem. Farnorin came straight out and accused the gnome of theft. Luckily, Hollyhock floored the gnome as he tried to run, and a nearby Knight of Sanctuary quickly arrested the wrongdoer, after a small confusion regarding Caio.

When the minstrel entered the city, he, along with the party, was swamped by fans. They escaped the crowd, but the bard was spiked in the process. Hollyhock carried the bard to the inn he had mentioned as being "good for locals". The Old Bastion Inn turned out to be the classic boozer, simple but friendly. Cat was deemed to be inappropriate for entry, though Hollyhock managed to sweet talk the bartender, a intemperate dwarf, into letting the bear in. The group brought a room, and Himari checked the bard over once they got to their beds. Il Cuithe had only been knocked unconscious, nothing worse. As she took her armour off, Hollyhock noticed she had also been pricked.

The group headed downstairs as the pub was starting to come alive, and Hollyhock asked the bartender about where she might have sustained the spiking wound from. He didn't know much about poisons, but did mention a local gang called the Rock Roughers. The party spent the night with a few drinks, until a loud knocking from upstairs let them know the bard was awake.

Session 3 - 17/05/2022

After an attempt by Farnorin and Hollyhock to open the door, it was finally revealed that Caio was the one with the key, and thus Ilkeuth was liberated from his room. After Caio pressed him to be honest with the party, Ilkeuth explained that Countess Viamark is a noblewoman who also wants Ilkeuth's services, and is clearly willing to poison for it. The adventurers agreed to act as a security detail for Ilkeuth's performance in Sanctuary for an extra fee. In order to be fresh for the next day, they agreed to head to bed. In Oxana's case, this was after prying Himari away from the gambling table downstairs.

The next morning, after patching themselves back up, the party set off for a wander around town and some lunch. Before setting off, Oxana grabbed a drink, and Hollyhock checked with the bartender as to where they might track down a half elf child on the run.