"Murder, Lies and Civic Duty." a Pathfinder Campaign Journal

[Kid Jake]

Since my M&M campaign journal has slowed down a bit, I thought it might be a hoot to post another campaign I've been running for the past few months with a different, yet oddly similar, group of players. We've already had about a dozen sessions so more should follow when I get a chance to write them up.

Spoiler: Kavos

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An elderly, human, Lawful Evil priest of Asmodeous. He's the brains of the operation.

Spoiler: Gandil

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A well intentioned madman, Gandil believes he's the hero of our story and hilariously still thinks he's Chaotic Neutral. He's a human and a straight fighter.

Spoiler: Westbank and the Story So Far

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Westbank is a small village in a geographically unique location. Bordered on the northwest by amountain range, west by a massive lake, to the south and east by a powerful river and the north by an impenetrable forest. The Duke's men wanted to seize Westbank's former seat of power, the Blackstone Keep nestled high in the mountains as an unassailable garrison against the growing rebellion and sent Kavos and Gandil to assess the situation and make the transition smoother...

Instead, Kavos and Gandil noticed the out of control bandit population that such an isolated area spawned and decided 'Us Too!' ransacking what few merchants attempted the dangerous journey but were missed by the other bandits. They thought they had a pretty good thing going until one got away, noticing the Wandering Duke's seals on their armor.

Several days later they bushwhacked a bounty hunter carrying their faces on a wanted poster. Realizing that they're now wanted men and likely to be hunted down by both the Duke (for compromising his position) and any rebels in the area (for being a-holes employed by the Duke) they decide to ditch their fancy armor in favor of whatever they can scrounge from stolen loot and take refuge in the only place they know hasn't received word of their crimes (because they themselves killed and robbed everyone that could have brought such information) the unsuspecting village of Westbank.

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We open up with our nervous deserters arriving in the small, unlucky village of Westbank; their previous actions being nothing personal, they're now going to beseech their unaware victims for aid. They aren't quite sure how they're going to go about that yet, but they're nothing if not optimistic.

Both Gandil and Kavos are on edge, unsure of how their presence will be greeted after the village has been so long without visitors. They realize that their arrival is nothing short of suspicious, but they're left without a choice in the matter. They whisper amongst themselves to keep their stories straight when suddenly-

"Lords and ladies!" a booming voice calls out behind them and they each feel a grip like iron crush their shoulders. "We haven't had visitors in damned near a year! Damned good to see new faces son, damned good!"

They spin out of the grip and turn around to find themselves face to face with a towering half-orc in dressed leather armor and sporting a two-handed sword nearly as large as himself strapped to his back. A shiny bronze badge of office is pinned to his chest and they realize with a start that he's the town's sheriff.

Kavos and Gandil exchange glances and Gandil quickly asks if there's a place in town they could stay, pantomiming being very sleepy. The big orc nods and mentions that they have an inn for visiting merchants and such, he apologizes that it isn't very fancy but at least it beats sleeping under the stars.

The overfriendly half-orc decides to show them the way and asks how they managed to make it past the bandits without an entourage, he points out that he's lost good men to those bastards.

Kavos smiles and explains that they must have gotten lucky, they didn't see anyone the whole trip. The orc agrees that they must be damned lucky and points out the rustic inn that serves the town's visitors. Gandil excuses himself and runs inside, but Kavos takes this opportunity to gauge the town a bit.

Kavos makes his introductions and the big orc shakes his hand, introducing himself as Sheriff Longarm. Kavos asks if there's anything he can do to help and Longarm laughs, saying that there's plenty of trouble to go around if they're looking for work.

Kavos says that they're always looking for work and then casually steers the conversation to the town's feelings towards the Duke. He discovers that most people in town don't feel strongly about him one way or the other, they resent his lack of involvement in their problems; but have never had enough contact with him to really hate him. Longarm does warn then not to broach the subject with Father Adrian, their local priest of Pelor, because he has a deep and abiding hatred for the Duke and will rant for hours if given the opportunity.

Kavos listens intently and probes a bit deeper, trying to find the people in charge. The town's leadership is apparently made up of Sheriff Longarm, Father Adrian (their sole religious figure apparently) and a retired farmer who's known as Elder Hadran. Kavos finally decides that he's pressed the sheriff enough and excuses himself to rent a room.

The inn is modest, but clean and comfortable. Gandil's already settled into his room as Kavos approaches the innkeeper, a plump little woman with graying brown hair, who introduces herself as Mrs. Boddan. She seems desperate for the business and tells Kavos that a night's lodging is 5cp, she's shocked when he hands her a gold piece in payment. She asks if there's anything else she can do for him and he asks for a tailor's services.

She explains that while the town doesn't have a tailor anymore she does a bit of sewing here and there. She apologizes and says that while she'd love to make Kavos something, all she has is a bit of linen. She says that people used to collect spider-silk from the forest which made wonderful tunics and robes, but nobody's been willing to risk the forest in months.

Kavos's interest is peaked and he says that he'll look into getting some. Her eyes widen a bit and she warns that the woods are a death sentence nowadays. Kavos tells her that he appreciates the worry, but he'll be fine.

After settling into his own room, Kavos goes to Gandil's to bring him up to speed. Kavos tells Gandil to get to work while he visits Father Adrian in hopes of finding an ally against the Duke. Gandil grins darkly and gets out his writing implements.

Spoiler

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Kavos heads to the temple of Pelor and finds an older man tending to it. The man's face is clearly marked with vicious scars and he wears the raiments of Pelor's priests; he walks with a gnarled black wood staff although he doesn't seem to actually need the support.

Kavos and Father Adrian exchange pleasantries for a bit before Kavos starts prying about the history of the town and the Duke's influence here. Father Adrian doesn't seem to enjoy this subject, but obliges anyway. He explains that the Order of Pelor has been integral to this town since its founding a century ago, but that he's all that remains now. He explains that when the Duke and his fellow rabble-rousers overthrew the Iron King and divvied his lands 40 years ago that his order was murdered for trying to stay out of their battle. He points out that it's impossible to know whether it was the Duke or the Iron King's men who actually committed the atrocity, but he blames the Duke for instigating it regardless.

Father Adrian also touches on the senseless feud with their sister village Eastbank up-river that has cut off river traffic and most of their commercial fishing for the past 15 years. He explains that the locals are rather mediocre farmers and that ever since Eastbank cut off their trade they've been withering.

While the two of them are talking, Gandil slips into the temple and interrupts. Apologizing to Father Adrian but insisting that he must speak to Kavos. Father Adrian understands and excuses himself, returning to his duties.

Gandil hands Kavos a letter with the Duke's seal on it and Kavos quickly reads over it. The letter implicates Sheriff Longarm in a conspiracy to displace the townspeople in order to house the Duke's soldiers.

Kavos goes over it a time or two and congratulates Gandil on a convincing forgery. Gandil's happy to see his work appreciated and pockets the letter for now. They then head out to find their patsy.

They find Sheriff Longarm sitting on the front porch of his office as the sun goes down, eating his dinner and apparently settling in to stay late. He stands up when he sees he has visitors and Kavos says that they're looking for work if Longarm still needs their assistance.

Longarm snorts and says that he needs more assistance than they'll ever know. He mentions that he's got thefts all along the northern farms that are making their current shortages absolutely unbearable; he's got several disappearances along the river and lake which are rightfully making people uneasy and even reports of grave robbers.

Kavos tsk-tsks sympathetically and offers to assist him in a night patrol if he'd like. He's thankful and says that he was planning an all-nighter anyway, he points out that his deputies would normally help him but they're strictly part-time and they're busy with their crops.

Kavos and Gandil understand completely and suggest investigating the disappearances along the river. Sheriff Longarm agrees but says that so far they've stumped him.

As they walk along the river towards the last disappearance Kavos asks about the crops and if there's any going through a particularly hard time. Longarm laughs and admits that he's not much of a farmer so he couldn't tell them. He says that he was part of a merchant's entourage a few years ago and was lured away with the promises of fast gold and easy living. He shakes his head and says "I can't believe they managed to tell me that with a straight face."

They ask where he's from and he says that he grew up near the capital of Lone Gate; he points out that THAT was easy gold and easier living. They continue making small talk as they follow the river and over the course of a few hours he points out three farms that have reported missing farmhands. He also mentions that they've been losing the occasional chicken or dog for at least as long as he's been around.

Gandil notices that each affected farm is barely a stone's throw from the river itself. Kavos takes a closer look and discovers that each of the places with missing farmhands has a gently sloping bank which makes access to the river easy.

They patrol for a bit, but neither Longarm nor our deceptive protagonists find whatever it is that they're looking for. They exchange a few glances before Kavos asks "Why don't we check out the forest?"

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Playing on Longarm's helpful nature the PCs manage to convince him to help them gather some silk for Mrs. Boddan. Longarm thinks its a silly idea because the local spiders have went crazy and there's nobody to actually sell it to, but since their investigation is a bust it seems about as good a use of their night as any.

The forest is a good hour's ride out of town and it's nearly midnight by the time they saddle up Longarm's horses and find their way to the forest itself. The woods are unnerving, spider silk hangs in thick sheets among the treetops making the forest unnaturally dark and still. Since they don't want to spend the night climbing trees, they decide to head into the forest itself for some lower hanging silk.

Gandil draw his masterwork Broadsword and Longarm draws an ornately fashioned falchion, Kavos casts light onto his trusty quarterstaff.

It only takes a few minutes of searching before they find almost 6 ft of webbing being tended to by a spider the size of a dog. They decide to lure it away from its web before they attack and Longarm taps one of the thick strands with his sword to get its attention. When the spider investigates Gandil takes a solid swing at it but misses and Kavos watches the whole ordeal amused. The spider lashes out and bites Gandil, but doesn't manage to make it past his leather armor.

Longarm takes a swing at the spider as well, but the cramped conditions throw him off and it takes him a few seconds to pry his sword out of the webs. Gandil tries again and takes all of the spiders legs off the left side of its body. It hits the ground and Kavos finishes it with a swift strike to the head.

Longarm and the PCs exchange nervous glances and Kavos starts to gather web until Gandil grabs his arm and tells him to listen. A violent rustling sound is growing louder and without any further warning half a dozen spiders the size of cats leap from the treetops in an uncharacteristic display of arachnid comraderie.

Kavos casts Spiritual Weapon and a ghostly blade slices through the first spider effortlessly; Gandil takes out a spider of his own and Longerm kills one before cleaving through a second. More than a dozen more rush from every direction.

Kavos casts Obscuring Mist centered on himself and suddenly it's hard to see your hand in front of your own face. Gandil grins evilly and pushes Longarm directly into the path of the oncoming spiders, the orc falls to his knees amid the rushing swarm and eats almost a dozen AoO's trying to stand. Half of them do nothing, unable to penetrate his armor. Most of the rest only succeed in doing laughable damage to the orc but a few manage to poison him and he takes about 4 points of strength damage.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sheriff Longarm shouts in a rage.

"Oh my gods, are you alright?" Gandil answers. "I can't see anything with this fog!"

They hear Longarm cleave through several more spiders and decide they better make this fast. Kavos has his spiritual weapon strike Longarm for non-lethal damage (they're trying to avoid leaving visible stab wounds) and Gandil uses his broadsword like a baseball bat, coming down on the back of Longarm's head viciously.

Longarm might be naive, but he's not stupid and spins on his heels to deal with these traitors. He cleaves halfway through Gandil's chest and drops the spunky fighter with a single bloody blow (he critted with a power attack and dropped Gandil to -5), Kavos casts Command: Fall onto Longarm and the orc fails his will save.

While Longarm struggles to regain his feet with a swarm of spiders trying to drag him back down Kavos snatches Gandil by the feet and pulls him further into the mist to heal him. By the time a severely wounded Longarm manages to find the huddling pair he's caught in the face with the flat of Gandil's broadsword again. The mist causes Longarm to miss his return blow and Gandil decides to drop his weapon and wrestle with the big orc.

Longarm pretty much manhandles Gandil despite his new strength penalties, beating him half to death barehanded. Kavos attempts to assist his partner but two of the spiders bite through his robe easily and he quickly loses enough strength that his robes are suddenly weighing him down.

Just when it looks like justice might be served however, Gandil manages to bullrush Sheriff Longarm into the larger spider's web and makes his way back to the panicking Kavos. Gandil spends several rounds searching for his dropped weapon before Kavos decides he's had enough of this crap and releases a burst of negative energy that drops several of the smaller spiders and nearly drops Gandil. Before Gandil even has time to ask what the hell that was Kavos unleashes a second burst.

Once again, Kavos manages to find and stabilise his partner before he passes on and they wait out the effects of Obscuring Mist nervously. When everything clears and they can see once more they find Longarm corpse sprawled on the ground and halfway wrapped in spidersilk, several of the smaller spiders laying nearby.

Gandil stuffs his forged letter into Longarm's breast pocket, gathers up all the silk he can without disturbing Longarm's crime scene and throws Kavos over his shoulder, returning to where they tied their horses.

Kavos convinces Gandil that it could be dangerous to return to the village in their current condition and they make camp so that Kavos can regain his spells. Because they're so close to the forest Gandil decides to keep watch in case more spiders appear, so he builds a massive fire to keep animals away and takes a seat near the sleeping Kavos.

Most of his watch is uneventful, but while no spider appears their camp site does draw the attention of several wolves who watch intently from the forest. Gandil makes some noise and swings a torch over his head, but the wolves simply sit and watch him. Every few minutes another wolf joins the growing pack until after about 3 hours there are almost twenty of them.

Gandil still hasn't woken up Kavos, but he's decidedly uneasy about where this is going; but just as unexpectedly as the wolves gathered their ears perk up and they disperse.

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The rest of the night passes without incident and the next morning Kavos heals them both up and uses Mend to repair Gandil's armor where Longarm struck him. They make their way back to the town and immediately go to Father Adrian, both of them play the part of traumatized victims of the spider horde and claim that they were separated from Longarm last night and only now found their way clear of the forest.

They're very convincing and Father Adrian heals Kavos of his poison before flagging down a young woman in the street, he asks that she tell Looman that something's happened to the sheriff and to gather the deputies; in the meantime he's going searching himself. Kavos and Gandil offer to show him where they last saw Longarm (being such good samaritans and all) and he accepts their offer graciously.

By the time they arrive at the forest they're prepared to give the performance of a lifetime, but what they find causes them to gasp in surprise: Not only is there no sign of the sheriff, but there's no sign of spiders or their webs around the entrance at all.

Gandil whispers to Kavos that wolves must have gotten the body and after only a cusory glance finds some tracks that confirm his suspicions. Gandil tells the priest about their run-in with wolves last night and that this entire area was filled with spiders yesterday, hesuggests that it might be dangerous out here if the wolves are THIS active. Father Adrian agrees and says that he'll gather the deputies and any woodsmen he can lay hands on before advancing any further; he urges the PCs to come back with him, but they want to investigate this further and say that they'll be fine.

After Father Adrian leaves to get a search party the PCs start freaking out in ernest since not only does this ruin their plans, it makes them look suspicious. Gandil follows the wolf tracks as best he can, but soon notices that there's a second track; a heavy hoof print that seems to be guiding the wolves.

This only confuses them further, but they notice that there's no blood or drag marks on the ground so it stands to reason that whoever's taken him has him on the horse. They continue following the trail and as they do so they notice several wolves watching them curiously from the sidelines, Kavos casts Cause Fear on one and although the effect fails all of the wolves melt into the forest to avoid further attacks.

They pick up the pace and finally burst off of the trail and into a large clearing with a radius of about 50ft. There are two dozen wolves sitting patiently in well-ordered lines, apparently waiting for the PCs to arrive. They glance nervously at each other and make noise and aggressive gestures, but the wolves don't seem to be impressed; if anything they seem...amused.

A cracking sound can be heard beyond the clearing indicating that something massive is approaching. Gandil and Kavos quickly consider fleeing, but doubt that they'll get far. Finally the brush parts and a massive equine figure appears. Pure white save for the numerous scars and boils that pockmark its skin and standing well over a head taller than any horse has a right to, it's a unicorn and it's single twisted horn stretches neary 2ft from its skull menacingly.

"You have received our invitation." the creature says in a deep, hollow voice as it strides forward. Its neck is thicker than any two of the wolves torsos and its heavy hooves trample obstructions in its path effortlessly.

Kavos backs up several steps and Gandil squeaks "Yes...yes we did. That's why we're here all right."

For a moment it simply glares at them as if reconsidering its position.

"We watched you kill the orc and we thought...these could be useful." the unicorn says with a vacant tone.

"Y...y..your spiders killed the sheriff?" Gandil asks nervously.

The creature roars and digs at the ground with one massive hoof. "Not ours! Not our spiders! They belong...to him. The usurper. The abomination. The spider shepherd." it growls in disgust.

"He killed us..." the unicorn says, shaking with rage. "He killed us, until we're all that's left."

Seeing the unicorn's emotional display Kavos smirks to himself and realizes that he might be able to take control of this situation. "How can we help?"

Gandil also sees an opportunity and puts a hand in front of Kavos to slide in before him. "What do we get for helping you? We have very powerful enemies coming after us and we need safe haven."

The unicorn glares at them further. "The manflesh wants the orc and we want their disgusting shepherd dead."

Gandil nods "Alright, alright. We give you this thing's head and you give us back the orc's body?"

"Squash the spiders! Squash the ettercap! Do this and we will give you the body. We will let you continue with your lies. But make them scream? Make them scream...and we will stand by your side!" the unicorn says.

"Alright, we'll get right on that. Just one question...what are ettercaps again?" Gandil asks.

The unicorn snorts in disgust. "They walk like men, but they're just bugs. They love their spiders just as we once loved our brothers. Where an ettercap lives, nothing else may."

"Where can we find it?" Kavos asks.

"It lives in our holiest grove. He defiles it with his evey wretched breath. Our grove can be found to the east, just follow the webs." the unicorn replies.

"But why us?" Gandil asks. "You seem pretty capable."

"We have something that you need and we have lost enough beasts to the spiders. We will lose no more...not when we have manflesh to die for us." the unicorn states plainly.

"I thought that unicorns were the good guys." Gandil says, a note of genuine shock in his voice.

"The good die young," the unicorn says with a snort and a shake of its massive head, "We're what's left." and with that, it turns and pushes its way back into the brush along with its wolf entourage.

Kavos nudges Gandil "We need to go back to town and resupply, that half-orc gave us a hard enough time on his own."

Gandil snorts "I say we ditch the crazy animals and don't come back. I don't think that unicorn plans on letting us leave alive regardless of what we do."

Kavos shakes his head. "We need allies and we need Longarm's body, we've got to see this through."

Gandil sighs and nods his head in agreement "Alright, I guess so..." he starts and then perks up. "Hey, what if we get on the ettercap's good side? I'd imagine that wolves are easier to kill then bug people."

Kavos grins. "You know, that HAD crossed my mind."

[Twelvetrees]

Well done. Eagerly awaiting more (of either journal, because both are amazing). How do you deal with the PC's decisions to change direction mid-adventure so well?

[Kid Jake]

Heh, thanks. My DMing motto is 'Welp, let's see where that leads.'

I never try to guess what the players are going to do ahead of time, instead I roughly plan out the first half of a situation just to get them rolling and then sit back and see what they try to fill in the rest of it with. I've usually got an idea of the big things that are going to happen around them (which are also subject to change if they're bold enough) and just try to push them to their logical conclusion based on how the PCs respond(or don't).

[Kid Jake]

Alright, I've been having a devil of a time dodging a three year old long enough to write this thing, so I figured I'd go ahead and post the first half of the second session while I've got it typed up. The rest (and more) should follow before too long.

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After their meeting with the unicorn, Kavos and Gandil hightail it back to town to prepare for their coming confrontation with the ettercap. They drop off their gathered silk with Mrs. Boddan and grab a quick bite to eat before they seek out Father Adrian.

Father Adrian has gathered up Sheriff Longarm's deputies in front of the temple of Pelor and the three men are squeezing into their scalemail and strapping longswords to their sides as Father Adrian explains that they have to gather a search party and scour the forest for the missing sheriff. The deputies seem lost without Longarm's guidance but Father Adrian assures them that Elder Hadran is gathering the farmers even as they speak.

Kavos tells Father Adrian that they lost the tracks and had to come back and Adrian sighs in disappointment. Gandil draws Adrian away from the fumbling deputies and asks what he knows about creatures in the forest, specifically about things large enough to take the sheriff.

Father Adrian says that the town has been plagued by creatures from the forest for years, Kobolds; Dryads; Unicorns... all manner of strange creatures have been reported over the years but ever since the druids disappeared they lost contact with the forest. Father Adrian mentions that the forest has been becoming steadily more dangerous for years and at this point he can only think of a single man that could still be said to be intimately familiar with the forest.

Gandil presses for more information about the man and discovers that his name is Jonathan Lark and he's a ranger from the tiny village of Briar's Pass nestled deep in the forest itself, he comes by every month or so to trade meat and furs for whatever he can carry home. As hard as Westbank has fallen recently, Briar's Pass has been devastated. It's whispered that they have been under siege by nature itself.

Gandil naturally wants to seek out this ranger to make their lives easier, but Kavos doesn't want to spend a day traipsing about in a spider and wolf infested wood just to find a man that'll charge them to go traipsing about a spider and wolf infested wood for them. Kavos convinces Father Adrian to send one of the deputies to Briar's Pass to ask for the ranger's aid and Horace (a short, thickly built man in his mid 30's with a flat face and several prominent missing teeth) volunteers without a second thought.

Since they already know where Sheriff Longarm is going to be, their only goal at this point is to keep the search party far away from their dealings with the unicorn until they can set the body up convincingly. To this end, Gandil spins a story about losing the sheriff's trail far further north in the forest than they ever went.

They gather up the farmer posse that Elder Hadran assembled in the street and begin to lay out their plan. Most of the farmer's aren't too keen on the idea of storming the forest and several mutter that the fool orc brought it on himself. Several others ask what they're paying Sheriff Longarm for if they've got to go save him.

Kavos attempts to appeal to the farmers' civic spirit, but they lose almost half the group to apathy and fear before Father Adrian steps in with tears in his eyes and shouts that "Curtis Longarm would gladly lay down his life for ANY one of you! You won't even spend an afternoon to make sure that he's still alive?"

The remaining citizens are shamed into staying and shout taunts at the backs of their neighbors, calling them cowards and saying that the sheriff wouldn't abandon them. When it's all said and done the deputies are left with about 10 men with more courage or pride than common sense.

The deputies divvy up the farmers into several groups and draw a rough grid in the dirt to give everyone an idea of where they'll be searching. A tall, gaunt young man with thick red stubble and sharp features, who the locals call Looman, suggests focusing their search on the southern portion of the forest; reasoning that scavengers wouldn't have dragged a corpse as far as Gandil claims they did and the fact that Gandil tracked them so far north without finding Longarm's body might mean that the sheriff is alive and wounded somewhere along the trail.

Gandil starts to argue but Kavos congratulates the young man on such an insightful theory and suggests that Gandil and himself will focus their attention there. Looman suggests arming the farmers with any blade they can get their hands on and clearing the brush to be safe, but Kavos assures him that they'll make do without any farmers. Kavos smiles and explains "We don't want to stretch the search party too thin."

The final deputy, an older; balding gentleman by the name of Devon agrees that it makes sense not to stretch their resources any further than necessary and the matter is settled. As preparations are finalized, Father Adrian calls for everyone to wait and rushes into the temple; returning shortly with a wooden box which he places on the ground and opens.

Inside are a variety of potions and Adrian hands several Cure Moderate Wounds and Delay Poison potions to each group; he hands out almost the entire supply and refuses Kavos's offer of compensation, saying that Curtis Longarm is a dear friend of the town and himself and he only wants to see the sheriff returned; alive for healing or dead for burial.

Gandil takes this opportunity while everyone's gathered here to leap onto a barrel and loudly exclaim that "You have no need to worry citizens of Westbank, until we find your sheriff you're all under MY protection!"

The crowd cheers and Gandil leaps down amid them, drawing daggers from hidden nooks and crannies within his armor and handing them out to the lightest armed. I called shenanigans at this point but checked my copy of his character sheet and yep, he'd listed half a dozen daggers hidden on his person for some reason.

The under-armed denizens of Westbank beam with gratitude and Gandil drives them out of town and on a wild goose chase, shouting words of encouragement and slogans that should appear in sports drink commercials the whole time.

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It's evening by the time Kavos and Gandil make their way to the forest and Kavos casts light to keep them on track. They head east, where the webs get thicker until Gandil calls a stop and points out about 8 of the cat-sized spiders inexplicably traveling as a pack. He suggests that Kavos try to communicate with them and find out where the ettercap is.

Kavos just stares at Gandil for a moment before deciding that he just doesn't have the time to explain what's wrong with that plan, he settles on snapping his fingers and saying "Wouldn't you know it, I don't speak the language." Gandil suggests casting a spell to learn their language, but the exasperated priest just says that he can't because Asmodeous hates multi-lingual people.

Gandil's backup plan involves stabbing the spiders to death with his bastard sword but Kavos doesn't want to risk a confontation with the spiders if he can help it, so he enacts Plan C. He summons a dog and has it entangle itself in their webbing. While the spiders swarm over the helpless creature Kavos and Gandil sneak past as quickly as they can.

They discover a large, dog-sized spider and a pair of the smaller cat-sized ones spinning a new set of webs further up the trail. Kavos casts Cause Fear on the largest one and it instinctively flees, unsure of why the aging cleric terrifies it so. Gandil calls out for the other two spiders to surrender and take him to their leader.

I can't tell if he's joking, so I let him roll a Diplomacy check as a standard action, he rolls pretty well and gets a total of 21. His opponents roll to resist and as it turns out, they're still spiders so they respond by trying to eat his face.

Gandil's bastard sword flashes quickly and the first spider dies attempting to reach Kavos. The second spider attempts to bite Gandil but fails to penetrate his armor and is sliced cleanly in half.

They press further into the forest and nearly walk into the communal web of what looks like dozens of spiders, nearly everything is saturated with webbing. Gandil points out that there were other paths back where they came, but Kavos doesn't want to backtrack when it looks like they're getting so close. Gandil suggests impersonating an ettercap and demanding safe passage that way.

Kavos decides he doesn't want to trust his life to any plan that Gandil devises and instead tells Gandil that he's got a plan that will minimize their injuries and clear out the spiders in one fell swoop.

Gandil is really into this plan, despite the fact that Kavos answers his repeated questions as to how this is going to work with "Don't worry about it, I know what I have to do; just trust me." He doesn't even seem that concerned when Kavos reveals his part in it.

Essentially Kavos instructs Gandil to walk into the middle of the webs and make a lot of noise and movement. Which Gandil did. Which resulted in Gandil being swarmed and bitten by roughly 30 spiders of every shape, size and color that either of them had ever seen before. Once Kavos was satisfied that Gandil was being bittne by ALL the spiders he channels negative energy over the area; wiping out the smaller ones instantly and severely wounding everything else; Gandil included.

Gandil tries to dive out of the kill-zone, only to discover that he's become entangled in the webbing so instead his flails helplessly at his bonds while several nightmares worth of spiders continue pumping poison directly into his system. Naturally Kavos launches another area attack. killing more spiders and causing Gandil to loudly question why they're friends.

Kavos shouts that Gandil should drink some of the potions that Adrian gave them and discovers that Gandil has actually already given them away to farmers as a sign of goodwill/bravado. Kavos asks Gandil why in the nine hells he'd do something like that and Gandil shouts back (no longer enjoying this plan) that he didn't think Kavos was going to use him as bait.

Kavos naturally hits him with a third and final burst of negative energy, dropping the remaining spiders and throwing Gandil into the negatives. After making sure none of the spiders are still moving, Kavos uses up almost all of his healing spells putting Gandil back together. Gandil is horrified to discover that Kavos didn't prepare anything to heal his poison and that he's barely stronger than the frail cleric in his current state.

Kavos is now violently opposed to the idea of backtracking, reasoning that things will only get worse with the addition of time and they press onwards despite their sorry state.

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They run face first into several more groups of spiders before finally pushing through the webs and into a large clearing. They see an ogre sized creature that appears part man and part spider sitting on the ground cross legged and playing with the cat sized spiders like pets. Four of the dog sized spiders nuzzle close to it contentedly while two spiders nearly the size of horses perch in the trees menacingly, standing guard over their disturbing master.

The ettercap stops playing with its pets as the pair enter and as it turns around to face them each of its spiders bristle protectively.

Kavos holds up his hands and shouts "I come in peace, we only wish to speak with you."

The creature chitters angrily, "What you want?"

"We share a mutual enemy," Gandil says theatrically "The dastardly unicorn has something of ours and is blackmailing us into killing you and your spiders!"

The ettercap hisses and springs to its feet, its spiders likewise becoming agitated.

Kavos waves his outstretched hands and makes calming noises. "No, no, no. We aren't, don't worry. I respect your kind and would prefer if we worked together rather than fight aimlessly."

The ettercap's brow furrows and it chitters "Stupid nosy horse. Always bother me...always want me gone."

"The unicorn isn't all you have to worry about," Kavos says as he steps forwards, "There are people coming, men who want to destroy your home."

The ettercap makes a sound disturbingly close to smacking its lips and says "Me like men, let men come."

"No," Kavos says firmly "There are too many coming for you alone to handle."

"Me not alone!" the ettercap says, legitimately confused as it strokes its pets again.

"Yes and with your cunning, my friend's might and my magic; we can protect your home, keep your spiders fed and destroy all of our enemies." Kavos say soothingly.

"What you want me do?" the ettercap asks suspiciously.

Kavos smiles "Only what you've been doing: Protect your home. Together, let's kill the unicorn!"

The ettercap seems shocked and a little terrified at this suggestion "Nonononono, horse too big, too mean! He squish! He squish!" The spiders seem further agitated by their master's fear.

"We know where he is!" Kavos shouts to be heard over the raving monster, "We can ambush him, take him off guard and you won't have to worry about him ever again. In fact, me and my friend will handle him; you just take care of the wolves."

The ettercap makes that same smacking sound again. "Horse meat is good meat. Wolf meat is good meat too..."

"And you can have all of it, just help us kill that unicorn." Gandil adds.

The ettercap nods, "Spider need time. We make big web, horse not squish in web."

Gandil raises an eyebrow "I don't...you mean you want to trap him?"

The ettercap nods.

"Good idea..." Kavos says with a nod.

The ettercap points to the trees above. "We make big web. Stupid horse don't see spider, spider catches horse."

Kavos grins. "My name is Horace and this is my friend Longarm, what is your name friend?"

The ettercap tilts its head and says "Bassa."

"So we have a deal then, Bassa?" Kavos asks.

The ettercap nods. "You bring horse here?"

The pair nod devilishly. This situation might just resolve itself.

[razorfloss]

Wohoo more kid Jake. I love your journals they are always entertaining.

[Kid Jake]

Wohoo more kid Jake. I love your journals they are always entertaining.

Thanks Always glad to hear I've got a fan.

[Kid Jake]

Alright, now for the second action packed part of our second session.

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They agree to give the spiders a night to build their trap and decide to head back to town to rest. On the way out however, Kavos notices a long black wand in a refuse pile and asks Bassa if he can have it. Bassa doesn't care so he leaves the grove with a shiny new wand of Magic Missile.

When they arrive back at Westbank they're surprised to find that Looman and his men have already limped back home, having been attacked by both spiders and wolves during their search. Luckily, everyone still seems to be in one piece.

Kavos generously uses the remainder of his healing on Looman and the party and is thanked profusely by them. He claims that it's his duty as a follower of....Pelor? Yeah, Pelor sounds right. He and Gandil then retire to their rooms for the night, assuring the townspeople that they intend to continue the search at first light.

They wake up early and run through their morning routines quickly so that they can make good on their promise and get their business concluded before the townspeople get nosy. They ride out at a full gallop and discover that the spiders of the forest let them pass unmolested.

They check out the ettercap's grove before they do anything else and find it mostly deserted, looking around they discover a thick web up above, brimming with spiders. They grin, realizing that the trap is set.

They then backtrack to the unicorn's grove which is also empty, although they get the strong feeling of being watched. For close to an hour all is deathly silent before the unicorn appears, flanked by three wolves.

"We do not see the ettercap," the unicorn growls. "Where is its head?"

Kavos straightens, "I will not desecrate my hands with that filth. We've gotten rid of the majority of the spiders, your clearing is safe to return to. Where is our sheriff's body?"

The unicorn smirks. "We will not desecrate ourselves with the orc-flesh," it mimics, before getting deadly serious. "Your orc for its head. That was the deal man-flesh. THAT was the deal."

Kavos bristles slightly, "The ettercap is dead, do we really have to drag his body here? Can't I just show it to you?"

"Once we gloat over the ettercap's corpse, you may have your orc." the unicorn says flatly. "Go fetch it."

"I will not be treated as a beast of burden!" Kavos shouts.

"Then what manner of beast should we treat you as man-flesh?" the unicorn asks, narrowing its eyes.

"None." Kavos growls, tightening his grip on his staff.

Gandil sees that this is escalating quickly and suggests the unicorn sending wolves to fetch Longarm's corpse while they show the unicorn the dead ettercap. The unicorn stares at him for a moment and then nods, saying that he will have his wolves drag the orc's body to the edge of the forest, once he sees the ettercap he will tell them which edge.

Kavos and Gandil look at each other and then Kavos says "You're a creature of good. You know what I've done... How do I know I will not end up with the same fate as the ettercap? Your behavior is too suspicious for my liking."

The unicorn's eyes twinkle at the mention of it being a creature of good. "As you say, We are a creature of good...what reason should one such as you even have to doubt our word?"

"I've heard that unicorn's are good judges of character," Gandil says, trying to get on the thing's good side. "Even if you don't trust Kavos, you can see that my heart is pure....er."

"There is blood on both of your hands man-flesh." the unicorn says, "but there is so much blood in this world...it tends to get on everything."

"Come with us unicorn," Kavos says. "Come with us and see the ettercap's corpse with your own eyes. You are a powerful creature, surely you aren't afraid of an old man."

"Lead on." says the brutish unicorn. "But be warned, we are the last for a reason. Attempt to deal with us as you did the orc and we will feed your remains to the forest."

As they walk, Gandil probes the unicorn as to why it and the ettercap can't live in peace. The unicorn seems irritated by his questions, but it seems irritated with everything.

The unicorn explains that the ettercap and its spiders consume everything they find and that no ecosystem can support their behavior for long.

"How old are you, unicorn?" Gandil asks, genuinely curious.

The unicorn shudders. "Too old," it says remorsefully. "Too old to sire...too old to bring us back."

They reach the grove and the unicorn glances around suspiciously. "Where is the aberration?" it growls menacingly.

"Further down this way." Kavos says, striding into the grove and heading to the trees on the far side.

The unicorn and its wolven entourage continue a little further before they hear "Stupid horse! Stupid horse!" as the ettercap chitters joyously from the trees. A thick web drops and encases the unicorn and all three wolves. The unicorn roars in rage.

"You brought this on yourself unicorn!" Gandil says smugly, drawing his sword. "We knew you planned to betray us all along! The ettercap told us everything!"

Kavos is about as confused by Gandil's ranting as the unicorn is, but he too readies his staff.

The ettercap dances around laughing joyously. "Horse meat! Wolf meat!" it chitters before turning around, drooling expectantly as it faces the party, "Man meat!"

"Wait, what?" Kavos sputters before both he and Kavos are entangled in a web of their own.

"Why Bassa?" Gandil shouts mournfully, "I believed in you! What about all those stories of the unicorn's treachery, was it all a lie?" the semi-delusional warrior wails, turning back to the unicorn. "We're sorry unicorn, he tricked us! We never should have doubted your gentle good graces!"

Gandil rolls a bluff check with a meager +2 bonus to see how convincing he is and rolls a natural 20. The unicorn rolls his sense motive with a respectable +14 and....rolls a 1. They pull the wool over his eyes by the skin of their teeth and I inform the PCs that rather than devious, he only thinks they're idiots. Gandil declares this a thorough success.

Swarms of cat-sized spiders, almost a dozen dog-sized spiders and a pair of the horse sized spiders leap from the trees and mob their victims. One of the large spiders bites Gandil, wounding him noticeably and pumping its strength draining venom into his veins. Another of the large spiders leaps onto the unicorn and does the same, the smaller spiders attack everyone equally and everyone takes a few minor cuts and scrapes; Kavos is noticeably weakened by the assault and Gandil feels his strength waning as well.

"Unicorn!" Gandil shouts. "The only way that we have a chance is if we all work together! I believe in you unicorn!"

The unicorn kicks out once and the massive, intimidating spider that was Bassa's ace in the hole takes almost twice its hp in damage and explodes in a shower of gore. Kavos and Gandil suddenly realized that they nearly backed the wrong horse.

"Bassa, you fool!" Kavos shouts, unleashing a burst of negative energy that drops all of the cat-sized spiders in the area at once. The rest are in various stages of injury.

Gandil tries to charge the backstabbing ettercap in a fury, but can't break free of his webs. If anything he feels like he's stuck even worse.

The ettercap is suddenly terrified, having lost so many spiders so fast. It eyes the massive unicorn on one side and the PCs on the other and decides that this is too rich a meal for its blood. It begins frantically clambering up the web. The last horse-sized spider sinks its fangs into Gandil and he feels his strength wane drastically.

The unicorn bucks once and the strands of webs attached to it burst effortlessly, it charges towards Bassa but finds that the ettercap is beyond its reach. One of the wolves frees itself as well and launches into one of the smaller spiders viciously.

Kavos uses Command: Fall on the ettercap, but the creature resists the attempt now more terrified than ever. The ettercap disappears into the foliage above, the unicorn roaring in rage. Kavos shouts "Bassa, you lying wretched creature!"

The unicorn glares at the PCs battling with the swarm of spiders for their very lives. "We should leave you for the spiders you love so much." it growls, making no effort to assist them. The freed wolf approaches Kavos with a low growl as if angered by his (supposedly accidental) betrayal.

Kavos quickly scans the tree tops, sensing their impending doom if he doesn't do something fast. Seeing the barest rustle among the leaves he casts Hold Person and hopes for the best. (Pretty sure ettercaps aren't affected by Hold Person, but I wanted to see what buying another round or two would do for them so I let it slide. Maybe he had a little elf in the wood pile way back when.)

Gandil gives a mighty roar and flexes his bulging muscles...however the webs are unimpressed and he trips, entangling himself further.

Half a dozen cat-sized spiders flood out of the bushes and onto the web, the large spider hisses angrily. The unicorn smirks and raises a hoof as if to help. "What will you give us man-flesh? What will you offer in exchange for mercy?"

"The ettercap!" Kavos shouts, pointing into the trees. "Please!" the elderly cleric begs.

The large spider bites into Kavos painfully, driving him to his knees.

"I have him held unicorn! Save us and vengeance will be yours!" Kavos entreats. Several more of the smaller spiders bite Kavos, wounding him further and poisoning him so badly he can barely hold his head up. The unicorn continues glaring, weighing their lives vs his blood lust.

Kavos casts spiritual weapon and sends it above him to strike at the ettercap while it's held immobile. A spider takes an attack of opportunity and Kavos is left with a single point of strength. Gandil lashes out with his sword and slays one of the spiders menacing Kavos.

The unicorn touches Kavos with his horn and the elderly priest feels the poison cleansed from his system. The damage is already done, but it doesn't progress. "Kill the ettercap man-flesh and you may leave this grove alive."

"With the orc?" Kavos asks desperately.

"A deal...is a deal." the unicorn concedes.

Kavos casts Summon Monster, chanting to his dark master while Gandil takes out some of the spiders menacing him.

The unicorn is too busy watching the ordeal in the trees, its breath held in anticipation. Gandil shouts "Free me from these webs unicorn and I can aid in capturing the ettercap. I have a wondrous item which allows you to strike a target from a range greater than any mere blade would allow. It's called a shortbow. Surely you've heard of such a device unicorn!"

Kavos finishes summoning a flock of eagles directly next to the treachorous Bassa, he goes all out casting Magic Missile from his wand, screaming for his eagles to kill and directing his spiritual weapon to strike the ettercap as well. Bassa takes a considerable amount of damage, but he's still breathing and Kavos has only a single round more to do his thing.

The unicorn rushes beneath the trees, ignoring Gandil's pleas for assistance and stares up at the dangling ettercap like a kid waiting up on Christmas eve to murder Santa Claus.

"Dammit unicorn!" Gandil shouts pushing against the webs with everything he has and finally bursting them with a tremendous display of strength. Gandil runs up behind the unicorn, staring at the dangling ettercap as well.

Kavos realizes that he isn't going to kill the ettercap this way and directs a final nova attack (eagles, magic missile and spiritual weapon) to attack the trees supporting Bassa. He just barely deals enough damage for the limb to snap and the ettercap to be dropped onto the forest floor below.

Bassa strikes the ground hard and groans, attempting to stand up. The unicorn comes down with its considerable mass and squashes the squealing creature like a bug, its milky blood flowing freely from its wounds. The unicorn comes down a second time and it ceases squealing.

Gandil stares at the creature's corpse and kicks it once himself for good measure, the unicorn rolls around in the gore, rutting like a beast and generally turning the corpse into a fine paste. Gandil lands kicks of his own where he can as a sign of friendship.

Kavos collapses unconscious, finally realizing the extent of his wounds.

"Despite your treachery, our will is done. The ettercap will poison our forest no more." the unicorn states, once it's had its fill of carnage. "Our wolves will bring the orc to the grove."

A pack of wolves rushes into the clearing, chasing off what's left of the now docile spiders and dragging Longarm's corpse. One of the wolves is dragging the orc's massive falchion as well.

"The orc's blade was enchanted, we can smell the magic in the steel." the unicorn says. "The trophy of your kill will be your reward for bringing the murder of our brothers to justice."

Gandil smiles, "Thanks. You know unicorn, we make a pretty good team. You should aid us in the battle against the Wandering Duke, you must see that they are going to trample through this forest."

"We will think on it." the unicorn says genuinely. "The forest is not as mighty as it once was and us....we are too old to care. But a favor for a favor? Yes. Yes, that we can do. When we have need again, we will send for you. In return, we will answer your call when you need us most."

Gandil gathers up Kavos as the unicorn and its entourage disappears into the forest and the cleric tells him that he must wrap Longarm in the webbing before they go, Gandil grins and does as he's bid.

Kavos asks Gandil to carry him, however Gandil assures him that he'll be back once he gets their horses. Kavos points out that they're a good ways away and he's all but defenseless at the moment, but Gandil still doesn't want to actually carry him; citing it being bad for his back. Gandil suggests that Kavos should summon a horse or something and ride that sucker out of here.

The argument goes on for longer that it really should, but eventually Kavos convinces Gandil to piggy back him to the edge of the forest before he's crushed under the weight of his own skeletal system. He simply suggests that it'll look really badass.

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They arrive in town and Gandil sweeps Kavos off his horse so that he can march into the town square dramatically. The townspeople are aghast at the shape that they're in and the deputies have already gathered there along with the requested ranger. Deputy Looman shouts that he told them they needed to stick together, but he's silenced by the rest.

Kavos tells a harrowing story of stumbling upon their lair and doing battle with the mighty ettercap, he plays up Gandil's bravery and claims that after Gandil singlehandedly slew a score of monstrous spiders he struck the ettercap down with a single blow of his sword. Kavos sighs and says that because of his own weakness Gandil was unable to search the clearing after the battle and so they returned to Westbank.

The entire search party, all of the assembled farmers, the three deputies and the ranger set out at once to search that clearing. Father Adrian leads the two of them into his temple where he tends to Kavos's wounds offering prayers to the sun god and thanks to the hapless heroes.

Kavos asks where Elder Hadran is and Adrian explains that the elder is calming the fears of the people. With the sheriff missing their imaginations are running wild. Kavos suggests that Adrian have Elder Hadran call a town meeting so that they can put some of their fears to rest. Father Adrian agrees that it's a good idea and within a few hours almost every citizen of Westbank is assembled in front of the temple of Pelor.

Once Elder Hadran (a man who looks to be in his 70's with a full grey beard and bright blue eyes) calms down the crowd, Kavos dramatically drags himself before them. Gandil makes a show of offering a strong, supporting arm. They repeat their false tale of bravery and heroism for the assembled crowd.

Gandil shouts that the people of Westbank no longer have any cause to fear, because they've slain the beast responsible for their troubles in the forest and if any other beast should rear its head, he'll slay that one too!

Every gasps and murmurs among themselves as the story progresses and all in all there's considerable uproar. As the excitement grows the crowd gets louder until the ranger and deputies return, bearing a body wrapped in a simple cloak. The crowd goes deathly silent.

The ranger is a tall, dark haired man in a green, muddy cloak with a large bow slung over his shoulder. He holds up a hand for silence as the visibly grieving deputies lower their former boss to the ground.

"We found Longarm," the man referred to as Jonathan Lark calls out, motioning to the body. "It looks like he found his way into a nest of spiders." the ranger says bluntly. Several people break down into tears, everybody seems shocked.

"Where are his next of kin?" Gandil demands. "They have to be informed!"

"He's not a local..." Father Adrian says with a pained sigh. "His family is more than 80 miles away."

Kavos winces theatrically and says that he and Gandil would gladly journey to tell them. Gandil demands that Elder Hadran take the body somewhere private because it's upsetting the villagers.

Father Adrian obliges and removes the body himself, showing surprising strength for a man of his age and stature. Elder Hadran dismisses the meeting, urging everyone to go home. They murmur fearfully as they go.

Elder Hadran sighs and asks that the PCs join him in his home.

They oblige and after shaking Jonathan's hand and thanking him for his service they meet the Elder in his home. Hadran invites them in and bars the door as they enter. He invites them into his sitting room and motions to a pair of comfortable chairs, taking his place in his own well worn seat. The PCs do as they're bid.

"Don't think me cold gentlemen..." Elder Hadran says with a pained sigh., "But we have a problem in this town and I hope that you might be the solution."

Kavos raises his brow curiously. "How can we assist?"

"The people are terrified, our protector has been slain by beasts and our troubles seem to multiply by the day. We need a sheriff to maintain order and set people's minds to rest..." Elder Hadran says, trailing off hopefully.

"Who do you have in mind?" Gandil asks innocently.

"W-would one of you be interested in the job?" Elder Hadran asks, "We don't have much to offer you, except accommodations and a modest wage. Once trade starts back up though, we'll have more to offer."

Kavos and Gandil glance at each other.

"Five gold per week, plus a house, food and whatever you can find in the sheriff's office." Elder Hadran offers desperately.

"What you really need..." suggests Gandil "Is strong leadership in this town. Wouldn't you agree? A sheriff can only do so much after all."

Both Kavos and Elder Hadran look at him questioningly.

"Your people don't seem to have anything in the way of organized leadership, if you want things to change then you're going to have to take charge of this situation. You need a mayor, and I nominate Kavos." Gandil says.

"No, please..." Kavos responds, shaking his head and waving his hands. "You're getting ahead of yourself Gandil. I'm sure that Elder Hadran would make a fine mayor."

Elder Hadran seems to consider the idea. "Truth be known, we've never had a real mayor before. Folks mostly do what they will and I just do what I can to make sure nobody goes too hungry..."

Gandil smiles and leans forward in his chair, "Don't you think that this town needs strong direction? Why don't we ask everyone else? Why don't we hold an election? A mayor could really coordinate our defenses, I know that you've had more than your share of loss this year."

Elder Hadran nods, "A mayor may do this village some good... If you're serious about taking on that sort of responsibility then I'll spread the word. Although we only really have a few dozen homesteads and about 30 people about town. Not many citizens to draw on."

Kavos and Gandil look at each other with smiles plastered on their faces.

"Spread the word." Kavos says, "If you'll have me, I'll lead this town to greatness."

Elder Hadran looks pleased and holds out his hand to Gandil, Longarm's bronze star shining from his palm. "How about you young man? Will you be our new sheriff?"

Gandil stares at the star and feels a rush of genuine emotion knowing that these people were depending on him to save them. He takes the star wordlessly and pins it to the front of his armor, a single manly tear falling down his cheek. "I'll do it." he finally says. "I'll make Longarm proud."

[GorinichSerpant]

Wow, these people aren't even pretending to be good guys (to the audience that is), do all of your friends come in pairs of smart-guy and gun-ho-guy?

[Kid Jake]

It seems like it. I think it's a necessity, two smart guys would step on each other's plans and two gung-ho guys would invariably stage a desperate last stand against the entire town 15 minutes into play.

I've pointed out that they're ridiculously similar to my other group a few times, though interestingly enough I didn't know either of these guys until we started playing Pathfinder. They hired me to run some sessions for them a few months back, so neither of them would have to do it for a change, and we've had a regular game ever since.

[Arc-Royal]

How often do y'all play? I absolutely love this story so far, and I can't wait for more to read!

[Kid Jake]

We were meeting about once a week, but some stuff came up that threw us off. Hopefully we'll return to a once a week or so schedule, but in the meantime I've still got quite a bit of material left to write up. I meant to already have another session posted last night, but McCrow from my M&M game convinced me that it'd be more in keeping with the spirit of the holiday to hang out with him and drink a fifth of tequila instead.

I'll try to have the third session up by tomorrow.

[(Un)Inspired]

Ai ya!

You've hooked me again KJ

[Kid Jake]

Ai ya!

You've hooked me again KJ

Heh, I strive to please.

[Kid Jake]

Alright, so I've got another half of a session written up and figured that I should go ahead and post it. Hope you enjoy.

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It's been two days since the death of the ettercap and recovery of Longarm's body and the entire town is alive with gossip over their new sheriff. Gandil reminds them that gossip is ugly business and should be avoided, but that just means they're just more careful about doing it in front of him.

Both Gandil and Kavos have been given townhouses in exchange for their service. Gandil's house is, fittingly enough, Longarm's old home and while it's comfortable enough; Longarm didn't have much in the way of possessions so it's rather spartan. Longarm's enchanted Falchion hangs over the fireplace rather than across Gandil's back, openly he says it's to honor the fallen sheriff; but it seems more like a trophy.

Kavos's home once belonged to the town's largest merchant, but the man disappeared nearly a year ago on an emergency supply run and hasn't been heard from since. Kavos asks around about the man and realizes he recognizes the description as being one of their victims. The merchant's home is more comfortably furnished.

Gandil has decided to keep Longarm's deputies on as part-time help and they're amiable enough to the idea of working under a new boss, especially since none of them want the job; having seen what happened to Longarm. Complaints have been flooding in ever since Gandil was officially sworn in, almost two dozen in the last day alone, everybody wanting to make sure that Longarm's investigations didn't die with him. Disappearances along the riverbanks, massive thefts near the forest (everything from tools and food to barn doors) and of course everyone wants something done about the bandits scaring trade off.

Kavos has spent the last two days ingratiating himself to the farmers; using Purify Food to help extend the life span of their past harvest and Create Water to make sure their current crops grow strong. He keeps up a mask of humility and quickly finds himself a popular man about town.

Gandil keeps doing the math and wondering why he's not seen any sign of the Duke's men yet, Kavos insists that this is a good sign since it gives them time to secure their power here. In fact he suggests they visit their upriver sister village of Eastbank to help diffuse whatever feud the two villages have going. Gandil agrees, figuring that a good chunk of Westbank's troubles would disappear if they could open up a little river traffic.


Before they go, they stop in at the temple of Pelor to let Father Adrian know where they're going. They find the aging priest downstairs with his head in his hands, the naked form of Sheriff Longarm lies peacefully in front of him; a familiar piece of paper upon its chest. Gandil approaches Father Adrian and asks what's wrong.

"It would appear," Father Adrian says with a deep sigh, "That Curtis received some...unsettling news before his death."

Gandil feigns surprise. "Oh no Father Adrian, what was the news?"

"The duke's men are intenting to turn our village into one of their outposts...and Longarm was being paid to set it up." Father Adrian says, a look of absolute despair on his face. His eyes harden and he shakes his head. "No, no they won't. I'll see to that."

Gandil asks to see the letter and Adrian hands it to him. Gandil fakes reading it and asks Adrian what he has in mind. Father Adrian replies that he's never preached open treason, nor will he, but he will be dead and buried before Westbank bends its knee to that man.

Gandil quickly suggests holding a town meeting to tell Westbank about their former sheriff's betrayal. He asks Father Adrian if there are any other towns in the area that can be allied with. Father Adrian mentions Briar's Pass in the forest, though they're worse off than themselves, and Eastbank upriver, though they've had bad blood for years.

"Over what?" Kavos asks.

Father Adrian shakes his head. "Who knows? People get into fights, which lead to feuds, which lead to petty spite. They closed off the river traffic with ridiculous tariffs and have been lording it over us ever since."

Gandil proclaims that they will unite the towns and drive off the Duke no matter what the cost. He suggests holding the elections at the town meeting tonight.

Kavos is less than eager, saying that he'd already promised to check the riverbank patrols tonight and wants to get to the bottom of whatever's happening along the water. Gandil draws him to the side and asks what's wrong with him, that the sheriff's betrayal and impending doom and such is JUST the boost Kavos needs to take the election.

Kavos reminds him that they have obligations that have to go before politicking for votes, finding out what's eating their constituents is a good place to start. Gandil barely manages to keep his voice down to a reasonable level as he points out that he's consistently put his neck out to put Kavos in a position to run this town and that if they lose the election that they themselves suggested that they're not getting another chance.

Kavos grudgingly agrees to go to the town hall.

It's just before sunset when the last of the important residents of Westbank file into the modest town hall for the meeting. The PCs allow Father Adrian to break the news of Longarm's treachery. Nobody knows what to think.

Gandil leaps up onto a chair and delivers a short, rousing speech about how him and his partner are here to change things and protect this town from all comers. That Pelor himself guided them to their new home and that they won't allow any harm to come to it. He ends by striking his most patriotic pose and shouting "Remember, a vote for Kavos is a vote for freedom and the Westbank way!"

Father Adrian agrees and voices his support for Kavos, most of the farmers seem to agree as well. Several however are very vocal in their disagreement, they say that if the military showed up then their problems would sort themselves out.

Gandil singles out the ringleader "And what makes you think they want [i]you[/]?" he shouts. "Elves will work for less than half of what you do and be happy for the experience. Do you want to compete with elves for your jobs in your town?"

This rant is completely out of the blue, both for me and the farmer so we're collectively shut up. I do however make a note that should they ever go to elven lands I'm having the elves speak spanish.

Gandil continues with this line of paranoid thinking and several more of the townspeople think that maybe military involvement isn't such a bad thing. Gandil makes a big speech about how the town is meant to be so much more than a simple outpost, that the people here are supposed to live their lives with complete freedom away from the Duke's influence. He then calls everyone calling for military involvement a bunch of wusses who don't deserve their land.

A few more people think that maybe the Duke wouldn't be so bad. A fat, older man stands up and introduces himself as Yard; he's one of the more vocal farmers in favor of military involvement and says that he's tossing his hat in the ring for mayor; he tells the people that he hopes reason will prevail here.

Kavos walks over to Gandil and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Gandil," the elderly cleric says softly. "Shut up."

Gandil turns a little red in the face but sits down and tries not to look so angry.

Kavos says that he's worked for the Duke before and that he's seen what the Duke's men do when they move into a town. He stresses that they don't allow you to live your lives as you see fit, you become their property; doing what they want, when they want and any dissension is punished severely. He stresses that once the Duke's men are here, they're here for good.

Father Adrian sides with Kavos and a shouting match breaks out between the two factions, Elder Hadran moves to calm everyone down; suggesting that the meeting convene until the following night. The crowd gets even more raucous and Kavos finally shuts everyone up by casting Silence onto the whole crowd, just barely missing himself.

Everything goes deathly silent and Kavos says in a loud, firm voice "We don't need this bickering! We need a solution." Everyone glances at each other, no longer trying to shout and Kavos dismisses the spell, urging everyone to use their heads and not give into panic.

Elder Hadran calls for the vote and it's a 70/30 split in favor of Kavos and freedom. The losing party storms out, shouting curses and insults at the opposition.

Kavos calls for order and says that his first act as Mayor will be to re-open trade with the outside world no matter what the cost. Gandil takes a horse and sets out for Briar's Pass since it's the closest settlement. Meanwhile, Kavos invites the remaining farmers to lodge complaints to him directly; the dominant worries are about the thefts on the northern farms which stress their already thin resources and the disappearances along the river; Kavos assures them that he will personally see to the capture and destruction of whatever's responsible for the disappearances.

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Gandil arrives in Briar's Pass around midnight. It's a small, mostly abandoned settlement nestled deep within the forest. A thin coating of web still covers many of the buildings and at this hour th eonly man walking about is the ranger, Jonathan Lark, who found Longarm's body several days ago.

Gandil hails the ranger and the man approaches with a friendly nod, a simple wooden pipe hanging from his lips. "Don't get many visitors out this way." he says bluntly. "You boys need something else?"

"Westbank is in trouble." Gandil says matter of factly.

Lark takes a drag off his pipe "Well that sounds like Westbank's problem sheriff, I'm sure you folks can handle it."

Gandil shakes his head. "We need Briar's Pass to stand with us. The Duke is coming to take over this entire area!" he says excitedly, showing the forged letter he took from Father Adrian.

The ranger glances at it and motions for Gandil to follow him over to what appears to be the local inn. He takes a seat on the front porch and puffs his pipe while he reads over the letter. "Well that's an entirely other kettle of fish." he says, chewing on his pipe absently.

"Help me get the support of this town so we can keep them free from the Duke's treachery!" Gandil insists. Quickly adding "But let's not involve the rebels, I hear they've been killing people too...so we probably shouldn't trust them."

Lark nods and says "Sure, I'll bring it up. But this ain't much of a town anymore, only a little over two dozen of us left that the spiders or starvation didn't get.

Gandil raises his eyebrow and suggests that the people of Briar's Pass join them in Westbank. Lark nods again, saying that that's not a bad idea; though he does wonder if Westbank can fit all of his people. Gandil assures him that they'll find a way and invites the ranger to ride with him to Eastbank to spread the news.

Lark accepts and the pair ride through the night and across a bridge to the thriving waterfront community of Eastbank.

It's morning by the time they arrive and Gandil is a little shocked by the difference between Westbank and here. Here the buildings appear brand new and everything is bustling, the troubles on the road don't seem to affect this place at all since most of its business comes by river anyway.

Gandil asks Lark who he should talk to about settling their disputes and the ranger explains that Eastbank has always been ran by the merchants and as such Bryce Haverston, local leader of the mercantile guilde, is the man, or rather dwarf, to speak to. Gandil agrees, but decides to test the waters first to see how the town feels about the Duke.

He spends an hour or two chatting people up and finds that the general consensus is that the Duke's policies are pretty good for business, unlike the people of Westbank or Briar's Pass these people are actively rooting for the Duke.

A little disheartened, Gandil and the ranger seek out the merchant leader. Bryce is a busy dwarf and the guard at his office says as much, although with a sly grin the guard does suggest that for 20 gold he might be persuaded to go on his break.

Gandil grabs the man by his collar and drags his face down to the bronze star on his chest "I am Gandil, Sheriff of Westbank and I DO NOT pay for a man's ear!" he says with all the authority he can muster. The guard suddenly realizes that his scams may be exposed and steps aside with a slight grin.

"O-o-of course. I'm sure he's expecting you." the guard says meekly.

Inside they find a middle aged dwarf sitting at an ornate desk piled high with paperwork. Mr Haverston has an intricately braided grey beard which reaches his navel and thick glasses which would almost look comical if not for the perpetual scowl etched into his face. Dwarves have a well earned reputation as shrewd businessmen and underhanded negotiators.

"Your guard attempted to extort me for a moment of your time. Is this how you treat outsiders, dwarf?" Gandil asks brazenly, puffing out his chest.

"Really?" the dwarf asks simply, glancing over his glasses at his visitors. He sighs and casually opens his drawer, drawing out a small bell which makes a sing-song chime when struck. A well dressed young man rushes into the room and stands at attention, a delicate looking sword hanging at his waist.

"Have the outside guard beaten and sodomized, then take him upstream and throw him in the drink." Bryce says, returning to his paperwork. "If he returns, cut off his feet and do it again."

Gandil stands in shocked silence as the young man hurries off and the sounds of screaming can be heard beyond the door.

"Isn't that a little extreme for a little extortion?" Gandil finally chokes out

"Extortion?" Bryce asks. "Oh, no stranger, you've misjudged me. He wasn't punished because of his little scheme, however inappropriate. He was punished because I paid him for a simple job and he chose to ignore his responsibilities. That's the same as stealing directly from my coffers."

"Now," Bryce continues, looking up at the humans in his office. "What do you want? Since you're here and you've alerted me to my security's failings, I'll listen to what you have to say." the dwarf says, removing his thick glasses and rubbing his temples.


"I am the newly appointed sheriff of Westbank and I have come to alert you to some of my findings which have come up during the investigation into the death of my predecessor." Gandil starts.

"Whatever you've found, you're out of your jurisdiction. If one of my men had something to do with it, we'll deal with it internally." the dwarf says with a bored sigh.

"Nothing like that." Gandil assures him. "I have reason to believe that the Duke is coming to occupy the towns in this area. Yours being the most valuable, I'd imagine." To drive the point home, Gandil tosses the incriminating letter over to Bryce.

Bryce barely glances at it before shaking his head and tossing it aside. "A simple forgery."

Gandil's stomach tightens. "What?! You mean someone framed Westbank's former sheriff? Lark, have a looksee."

"Someone in Westbank is playing a prank, I'd imagine." the dwarf says annoyedly. "But then Westbank has always had a discipline problem." Bryce adds with a satisfied smirk.

The ranger retrieves the letter and glances over it again, but having never seen the Duke's writing before he has no way of confirming or denying Bryce's claim. Regardless, he doesn't seem so convinced that it's a forgery.

"How dare you tell me that this is a forgery?" Gandil growls. "Don't you know that NO eyes are sharper than mine! To insult this letter is to insult my very being dwarf! Your town is going to be taken from you and your business divided up among other, more agreeable merchants. Most likely elves."

The dwarf's mouth sets angrily, but it does cross his mind that he may have judged the letter too hastily. Especially considering the enormity of its contents. "Give me the letter and I'll have my man look at it." Bryce concedes, extending his hand. "He's more intimately familiar with forgeries of this kind."

Gandil thinks quickly and shreds the letter in front of him. "If you can't trust what you see with your own eyes then no amount of convincing will help. If you aren't willing to save this town, then you're going to lose it." Gandil shouts, turning to leave and glancing back dramatically to mutter "You aren't the leader I heard you were."

The dwarf rings his bell again and the same well dressed young man rushes in once more, apparently have reentered from a back entrance. Bryce looks at him and says "Put the guards on alert, if you see anyone suspicious poking around then skip the sodomy and move straight to the feet."

The young man bows. "At once sir!" and rushes off.

"I appreciate the warning." Bryce says to Gandil and the ranger, slipping his glasses back on. "Though if I find that you're lying to me then I will test the veracity of your claim concerning your eyes. Surgically."

As Gandil and the ranger exit the building they're caught by Bryce's right hand man who hands them a bag containing 100 gold coins in payment for exposing a potential security breach. Gandil in turn gives the coins to Lark and tells him to get what he can for the citizens of Briar's Pass; the ranger is impressed with Gandil's generosity and they part ways.

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Meanwhile, as Gandil is using his charm to trick the locals into hating the Duke, Kavos has been working on keeping Westbank in one piece. Kavos discovers that during the last year an untold amount of livestock has disappeared along the river bank as well as several farmhands, all within a stone's throw of the river or lake.

Kavos heads to the last farm hit, owned by a man named Jessup who's eldest son disappeared just last month while trying to calm down the cows. Jessup appears old and broken, almost like a phsyical weight is on him. He looks like an old man despite the fact that he's not yet 40.

Kavos asks what time his son disappeared and finds that it was some time after midnight. Jessup's eyes well up with tears as he explains that the cows were riled up by something and his boy went out with a few hands to calm them down, but never came back. Kavos places a hand on his shoulder to comfort him and says that as the new mayor Jessup's son is his top priority.

Jessup breaks down in tears and Kavos asks if there's anything he can do for him. Jessup just says that if he gets his boy back he'll have everything he needs. Kavos excuses himself, to leave the man alone with his grief; however drops a purse with 25 gold coins by the door to help out the grieving family in the meantime.

Leaving the house Kavos notices that the property slopes gently down into the river, making a perfect entry/exit point. Kavos kneels down in the mud and searches, though for what he doesn't know. After almost an hour, and a ruined robe later, he thinks he's found it though; a large fish-like scale too high up the bank to have simply washed up. It's old and seems to be decomposing, but at least he knows that they aren't imagining things now.

Kavos sighs as he looks out over the water and summons a dolphin to take a glance down below. It doesn't take but a second before the dolphin appears extremely agitated by something upriver and Kavos orders it to bring it down. The dolphin takes off like a loosed arrow through the water as Kavos scrambles back up the bank to pursue much slower on foot.

The dolphin engages something in combat, but Kavos doesn't know what; only that there's violent splashing up ahead. Almost as soon Kavos arrives, he realizes that the dolphin is no longer making noise and the water appears stained with blood. Kavos sees a glimpse of movement heading downstream towards the lake and sprints after it, though is utterly outpaced by them.

Kavos finally makes it to the lake and surmises that it's where the creatures live, gritting his teeth, gripping his holy symbol tightly and wishing he had time to think of a better plan, Kavos leaps into the lake and flounders about; feigning weakness and inviting the creatures to come for him. Apparently the surprise dolphin attack freaked them out however, so there's no sign of them.

Kavos swims back to shore and catches his breath, realizing he has absolutely no idea what they are; having only barely saw their wake. The lake is massive and he has no idea how they're going to battle whatever calls this its home.

He heads back home in his soggy clothes, taking note of every farm along the way. He counts eight that are as close to the bank as Jessup's and while you can see each farm from its neighbor's, there's no way to survey them all at once.

Kavos sighs. He knew they should have been focused on this.

[Kid Jake]

Alright, here's the second half of the third session. I hope you all enjoy.

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Back in Westbank Kavos and Gandil meet up swap what they've learned about the surrounding area, Kavos describes his encounter by the river and Gandil mentions his visits with Briar's Pass and Eastbank. They send for the ranger once more and once he arrives Gandil makes a formal introduction.

Kavos shows Lark the rusty scale and asks if he knows what would leave such a thing.. The ranger mulls it over but admits that he's never seen it before, the water isn't his specialty. He mentions stories of catfish larger than boats and fish that can walk on land for as long as he can remember, but he's never seen either firsthand. He's quite intrigued.

Kavos offers to show the ranger where he picked up the scale, but Lark asks him to just tell him so that he can do his thing without someone standing over him. Kavos agrees and gives him directions to Jessup's property before rounding up Gandil's deputies and organizing an all night watch at the end of the river to find out exactly what they're dealing with.

When Kavos turns to give Gandil his marching orders he discovers that the impulsive warrior has already left town once again, leaving no mention of where he's going. Kavos sighs and decides to set up camp along the river to help the deputies himself.

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Gandil finds himself in the unicorn's grove, though it seems to be abandoned. He shouts for the unicorn several times but doesn't receive any answer. Thinking on his feet, he gathers up some leaves and brush and quickly sets them on fire. He manages to keep the blaze under control and within fifteen minutes the unicorn emerges from the brush accompanied by a pair of wolves and an old black bear.

"Why do you seek us manflesh?" the unicorn asks wearily. "We have no need of you at this moment."

"No, but I have need of you unicorn!" Gandil shouts excitedly. "I have come to ask if you know of a fish monster in the lake of Westbank? It is terrorizing our people, and as their hero, I won't stand for it!"

"You speak of the locathah and their pets?" the unicorn asks. "Weak and stupid, ruled by their bellies, much as the ettercap. They have lived there far longer than your breed. They are no threat."

"No threat? Unicorn, they are eating our people." Gandil says irritably.

"Oh, well yes." the unicorn says "We mean they are no threat to us."

"Unicorn, I'd like your advice on how to remove these creatures before they devour the town." Gandil says. "Perhaps to unicorns and bears these things are no threat, but to manflesh like myself they are quite troublesome."

The unicorn seems confused. "The same way to remove any threat, manflesh." the unicorn states plainly. "You find their home and..." the unicorn paws at the ground violently, tearing up the forest floor. "Stomp them out."

The unicorn puffs loudly. "Break the males, kill the females and crush the eggs to make sure there are no more." it offers, as close to helpful as it's ever gotten. "However..." the unicorn says as an afterthought, "The locathah are weak and subservient. Crush only the strong and the rest will bend knee to save the lives of their brood."

Gandil nods, that makes sense. "But how do we get down there unicorn? We don't breathe water."

The unicorn shakes its head, "The water is beyond our domain. Surely there is magic that can aid you in such a simple task."


Gandil ponders but can't think of any. "Do you know of any such magic in this area, unicorn?"

"The town within out forest has a mage, the stench of his magic reaches us no matter how far we roam into these woods." the unicorn says with contempt.

"I'll remove this mage!" Gandil enthusiastically volunteers. "Would that please you unicorn?"

The unicorn's eyes glint evilly. "Yes...remove the stench and our transaction is fair."

Gandil nods, "In exchange for this service I want your cooperation, I want full command of your animals from this moment on!"

The unicorn glares at the 'little' human for a moment. "Remove the mage, and we will answer your summons the next time you call rather than leaving you to the whims of the forest."

"Good enough!" Gandil responds with a wave of his hand, whistling as he saunters out of the forest.

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Rather than head back home to Westbank, Gandil decides to make the trek to Eastbank once more and speak with Bryce. He's riding along comfortably when out of nowhere a hail of arrows strike his horse, slaying it outright and depositing him on the ground with a painful thud.

He glances around and sees eight bandits emerge from the bushes along the road, 4 of them have their bows cocked while the rest are sporting longswords. All of them are smiling viciously.

"Put down y'er weapons and give us y'er valuables." the closest one growls, he's a large man covered in tattoos and scars. Gandil takes him for the leader.

Puffing up his chest and resting his hand on his bastard sword, Gandil calls out "You dare try to rob the Sheriff of Westbank? He who has slain the mighty ettercap? He who has tamed the wild unicorn? Lower your swords cowards, or you best be ready to kill me and anyone who comes to investigate my death." he growls menacingly.

Half of the bandits look nervous and like they might flee, one's sword shakes so bad he lowers and Gandil is feeling pretty confident until one of the archers says "Wait a tic. He's the new sheriff? He's seen our faces, we gotta kill him now!"

The bandits mutter their agreements and the tension seems to leave them.

Gandil's mouth slowly gapes open and he gives a hearty "Shhhiiiiiii-" but is cut off by several arrows appearing in his chest as three of the four swordsmen charge him. He parries their blows and with a mighty roar strikes the leader so hard that the man falls into two bloody piles at his feet. Spinning his blade around he drives it directly through the heart of a second swordsman who dies with a wordless scream on his lips.

The archers open fire once again and Gandil suddenly realizes he's getting woozy from blood loss. The last swordsman with the fortitude (or appendages) to fight drops his sword and tackles Gandil, pinning the warrior's weapon to his body.

Gandil struggles but the smaller man just barely manages to keep him occupied as the archers drop their bows, draw their daggers and charge into the fray. They alternate between holding him down and sticking him like a pig and we fade to black as the nerveless swordsman off to the side says "Hey...he's the sheriff. Maybe he's worth something!"

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It's been more than a day since Kavos has seen Gandil and he's starting to get irritated when a boy flags him down holding a letter. The kid explains that some guy from the forest gave him a copper piece to deliver this to the mayor.

Kavos nods, tossing the kid an additional silver for his trouble and opening the letter. It takes him several tries to read all the way through because the writing is, quite frankly, atrocious but the gist seems to be that if he ever wants to see his sheriff again; he'll bring 500 gold to the edge of the woods at midnight.

Kavos rolls his eyes at his partner allowing himself to be captured by such a low class thug, but nevertheless returns home to fetch the gold and freshen up. After all, the mayor can't look like he's been sleeping in the mud all night can he? He fetches the spider silk robe from Mrs. Boddan at the inn and is amazed at how light and resilient the garment is, not to mention fashionable. He then eats a simple meal and naps for a few hours until the moon rises high in the sky.

Figuring that this is his queue, he gathers up the pouch of gold and heads to the forest as instructed. He sees six of them standing there, forming an intimidating half circle with their newly elected leader (the loud mouthed archer from before) in the center.

The leader is no longer carrying his bow, but is carrying the former leader's longsword and a black leather bag strapped to his hip. He holds up a hand to Kavos and calls out "That's far enough. Let's see our gold."

Kavos sneers. "Do you take me for a fool? How do I know he isn't dead already?"

"You don't!" the leader snaps. "Now throw me the gold and we'll back away. Then you're welcome to your little boyfriend."

Kavos smirks. "I've got a better idea." he says, uttering a prayer and summoning a Lemure into their midst.

"Y-you'll never find him if you don't give us the gold!" the man shouts, obviously terrified.

"You'll tell me where he is." Kavos laughs as the Lemure snatches the man, "Or the fires of hell will consume you all."

These guys had no desire to deal with a mage and turn to flee, with a flick of his wrist Kavos casts Hold Person on the furthest one and causes him to seize up mid-stride.

Just to make sure they know he's not playing around, he summons an infernal stallion to chase the remainder away.

He snatches the black bag off the leader's hip while his Lemure tears the man to shreds and glances inside, his eyes widening at what he finds.

Gandil's severed head is inside, his own bronze star stuffed into his bloated, gaping mouth.

Kavos shrugs, ties the bag to his hip and binds the held bandit before he regains mobility. He looks around and finds that he's alone once more, the other bandits either mauled by diabolic summons or fleeing into the night. The held bandit finally comes to with a loud start.

"I never wanted to kill your friend!" the bandit shouts, the second he recognizes his position. "I wanted to run when he said who he was, and I tried to get them to just ransom him back but-"

"Shh..." Kavos says, comforting the bound bandit with a pat on the head. "He can be replaced, though my master is less forgiving of losing pawns than I am. Tell me, where can I find the rest of those responsible for his death?"

The bandit has tears running down his eyes as he says "I don't know, we just set up along the road every week or so, we don't really talk 'bout ourselves though, the boss don't like it. We just do what he says."

Kavos raises an eyebrow, intrigued. "How much does this boss pay you?"

"N-n-nuthing." the bandit says, obviously unhappy with the deal. "He just tells us when to expect someone and says that him lettin' us keep our heads is all the payment we need."

"That doesn't sound fair, now does it?" Kavos asks. "What if I told you that I could pay you 500 gold a week for a little information? Does that sound fair to you?"

The bandit raises his head and turns around, a look of shock on his face. "Yeah, yeah!" he says excitedly. "That sounds too good to be true!"

"Yeah," Kavos says, burying up to the hilt of a knife into the man's now exposed throat and allowing his blood to spill freely. "It is."

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Kavos watches the man bleeding to death for almost a minute before he places a hand on the man's back and casts Cure Light Wounds. It stabilizes the man and Kavos checks his condition, figuring that the guy isn't going to be too hard to handle with most of his blood left behind.

Kavos binds the unconscious, half-dead bandit to the back of his horse and rides back into town in the dead of the night. He locks the bandit in one of the town's cells and then heads to the temple of Pelor to inform Adrian of what's happened.

Father Adrian wakes easily and Kavos explains what's transpired, though he spins the truth a bit. He tells the priest that he'd sent Gandil to Eastbank and used a Status spell to track him, when it triggered that he was in harm he rode off to find him and found several bodies. He gives Father Adrian Gandil's head for safekeeping and tells him that NOBODY is allowed to speak with the remaining bandit until he's had a chance to interrogate him.

Father Adrian says that it pains him to have lost a second sheriff so soon but says that he'll prepare the funeral rites for Gandil as fast as he can. Kavos nods and takes Gandil's star out of his mouth before leaving the temple.

It's almost 4am when Looman is roused from his sleep by the river, he looks up to find Mayor Kavos standing over him. The badge of office falls into his lap and Kavos says "Congratulations Looman, you're the new sheriff."

Looman snorts, still half asleep and asks what happened, if Gandil pissed Kavos off.

Kavos answers that "Gandil got himself into trouble. Deep trouble."

Looman looks a little more alert and mutters "Seems to be going around..."

Kavos instructs him that he's not to leave the village without support and Looman says that you couldn't pay him to nowadays.

Before Kavos can make his way back home, he's stopped by Jonathan Lark who's gathered up quite a few of the scales in a jar, Lark tells him that he's been hunting his entire life but has never seen whatever these things are before in his life.

Kavos rubs his temples and explains that Gandil died tonight and he'd like to go home and get some sleep. If the ranger is disturbed by this news it doesn't show as he offers to place traps in the river to bring whatever's down there to the surface.

The elderly cleric agrees that traps would be a good idea and tells Lark that the deputies are his to command until this thing is brought in. He then warns the ranger not to take the roads if he travels alone, but Lark assures him that he's got nothing to fear from bandits.

Lark then asks if Gandil ever got around to mentioning his deal to bring in the inhabitants of Briar's Pass and Kavos says that it's on his to-do list. Kavos assures him that he'll do what he can about securing accommodations for anyone who wants to come, but that the murderous fish monsters and bandits are his top priority. He then excuses himself and goes home for as much sleep as he can grab before morning.

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Kavos hits the ground running when he wakes up and figures up that he could place about 9 people in the space the town has left. With a little more figuring he discovers he could put up about 20 houses with the gold he himself has left. It's pricey, but he can't think of a better way to ingratiate himself with the locals.

After giving word that the bandit isn't to have any visitors and gathering up his gold for the trip, Kavos sends after Looman to escort him to Eastbank.

They find the town as bustling as ever, though Kavos notices a rather heavy guard presence and wonders if this is Gandil's doing. He searches the town for carpenters and finds a friendly man with a clean shaven head and deep laugh lines named Geralline that comes well recommended. Kavos lays down well over a thousand pieces of gold and describes to the man what he wants; houses and a new market place.

Geralline is ecstatic over this oppotrunity, though he does seem disappointed that he has to travel to Westbank to earn it. They finalize the deal however and Geralline says that he'll gather his men and head to Westbank in the morning.

Kavos leaves him to it and searches out Bryce to meet this man himself. He discovers Mr Haverston's office guarded by a large man in superbly polished plate armor who inquires on Kavos and Looman's business here.

Kavos says that he's looking to formally re-open trade between Eastbank and Westbank and the guard nearly laughs, saying that merchants avoid Westbank like the plague; stating that "You people have nothing to trade and nothing to see."

Kavos furrows his brow and decides to low, claiming that Westbank is once again producing spidersilk and that if anyone wants it they'll have to go through him from here on out. The guard's attention perks at this and he tells Kavos to wait a moment as he heads into Bryce's office, returning shortly saying that Mr Haverston is interested in a shipment of silk if Westbank can guarantee safe delivery.

Kavos says that he will only negotiate with Bryce directly because there are more matters to discuss than just spider silk, however the guard says that Bryce was adamant that he not be disturbed.

Kavos glowers and identifies himself as the Mayor of Westbank and tells the guard that however angry Bryce would be for a disturbance, he would obviously be angrier at the guard for destroying such a lucrative business opportunity.

The guard wavers and steps to the side, Kavos being so damned persuasive.

Kavos and Looman Stroll into the office and Bryce Haverston glances up from his stack of papers. "And you are...?" he asks, returning his attention to the documents which need his immediate approval.

"Kavos Dasgrograv, Mayor of Westbank and faitfhul servant of Pelor." Kavos says with a slight bow. "And this is Sheriff Looman."

Bryce stares at the two of them for a moment and then rings his faithful bell. Once his man arrives, Bryce sighs and says "Deal with him like you did the last one and the next time I'm disturbed boy, it's going to be YOU that winds up floating down river." the aging dwarf growls as his assistant visibly pales.

"I've already been subjected to one of your sheriffs this week." Bryce says, returning his attention to Kavos and Looman. "What is it you want?"

"That would be Gandil." Kavos says with a sad shake of his head, "Ran into some bandits on the road, poor lad. But I'm here to discuss us, not him. I'm proposing a business venture: our town is harvesting spider silk and we would love to trade it with your fine city."

"Is that it?" Bryce asks with a grunt. "You could have saved a lot of trouble by just-"

"Not quite, we'd also like to contract one of your merchants in the meantime." Kavos interrupts.

Bryce smirks and nods saying that he's got the perfect man in mind.

Kavos seems pleased and asks what the man sells.

Bryce smiles and answers "Whatever he can scrape together before he's banished to Westbank. Now, I trust you will see yourself out." the dwarf says, returning to his work.

They leave the building and notice that a different guard is on duty now, shorter and stockier than the last man. Kavos tells Looman to hang back a day and escort the carpenters when they're ready; he assures Looman that he'll be alright by himself. He claims he has to commune with nature for religious purposes.


Once he's separated from Looman, Kavos rides to the forest grove of the unicorn; finding the beast waiting among the grove with a sizeable entourage of wolves and a handful of bears. It appears to be expecting someone.

"Not the manflesh we were expecting..." says the unicorn, narrowing its eyes.

Kavos realizes that the unicorn must have spoken to Gandil that fateful night and says that "Gandil's dead unicorn, he won't be coming any longer. I have other things to discuss however, things you will not like."

"Such as?" the unicorn asks.

"I have people moving into my town and I have need of wood, your forest is the most convenient source. There are also creatures in the lake which attack us in the night, if you have sovereignty over them I suggest you order them to stop or they will be dead very soon." Kavos says, more confidently than he feels.

"The locathah of the lake are yours to do with as you please." the unicorn says dismissively, "The wood however, has a price..."

Kavos raises his eyebrow questioningly.

"The other manflesh offered to rid our forest of the magic stench. Go to the forest town and remove the mage and its experiments, however you can." the unicorn demands. "Do this and you may harvest the outskirts of the forest...within reason."

Turning to one of the wolves the unicorn barks "Elfflesh! See that the manflesh does not overstep its boundaries."

The wolf nods and disturbingly stands upright, shifting into the form of a young male elf as it does so.

"This one is called Ibaeli. It came to us to learn the ways of the forest." the unicorn explains. "Now it will watch you, to ensure you do not take more than is owed."

Ibaeli steps forward and stares Kavos in the eye. "I've heard of your evil acts." the young elf growls.

"And...?" Kavos asks.

The young elf seems taken aback. "What?"

"They will continue, Ibaeli. Until such a time as I no longer feel the need to perform them." Kavos says, leaning forward mencingly, despite the fact that the elf has several inches on him. "Do we have a problem?"

"I...guess not." Ibaeli says, no longer so sure of himself.

Kavos turns to leave the forest and a massive ape leaps from the trees to land before him with a bestial grunt it tries to stare him down though the aging cleric simply sidesteps it. Kavos smirks at the creature and continues on. "Bring your pet Ibaeli, you'll need him."

[razorfloss]

great so far shame about Gandil. He seemed the most likable and less likely to stab you in the back

[Kid Jake]

I didn't want to do it, but he specifically asked for a lethal, vicious world and I couldn't think of a better opportunity to demonstrate. I offered to let the unicorn reincarnate him for a quest, but he wanted to try out a spell caster instead.

[GorinichSerpant]

I'm sure that any one of your campaigns would make wonderful thrillers at this point.

[(Un)Inspired]

Time for a M&M crossover.

[GorinichSerpant]

Time for a M&M crossover.

So either two vary confused spellcasters who everyone assumes to be supers with odd powers and robes(or just robed lunatics if divine magic doesn't work on different planes)or an equally confused super and a somewhat less confused super that everyone assumes to be at least demi-gods?

[Sartharina]

I wouldn't expect the Mayor of Eastbank to last long if he's in the same area as McCrow, Fanboy, or Michael.

[(Un)Inspired]

Well you gotta squint your eyes a little and blur your vision when it comes to comparing the two parties power levels.

[Kane0]

I'm liking this, sounds like you guys are a fun bunch to game with!

[Kid Jake]

I'm sure that any one of your campaigns would make wonderful thrillers at this point.

I'll try and post any other games I run that go more than a few sessions.

Time for a M&M crossover.

Heh, not exactly the same thing but McCrow's player made a unicorn character, based on this unicorn character, for our Warriors and Warlocks game...if we ever manage to put it together. He liked the idea of a lunatic last unicorn, though his interpretation is...differently crazy.

I wouldn't expect the Mayor of Eastbank to last long if he's in the same area as McCrow, Fanboy, or Michael.

Yeah, it's hard to translate the power accurately from one system to another; but Fanboy is immune to bullets and able to throw a mid-sized sedan into orbit; Michael is an infinite encounter that regenerates 100% of his health every round and McCrow...well, he'd probably fit right in.

I'm liking this, sounds like you guys are a fun bunch to game with!

Thanks

[Grim Portent]

What's this? A Kid Jake thread with evil unicorns, bandits becoming mayors, social strife, wicked men working to the good of their communities out of a twisted sense of ownership?

Fantastic! Marvelous! Fetch me my reading monocle and a tumbler of finest brandy, I have some reading to do!

In more sensible words, this is a very good read so far, dark and humorous, with pragmatic evil PCs who're more than outclassing some NPCs while being outclassed by others. I envy your players.

[Kid Jake]

Thanks, always nice to get my ego stroked.

They're a fun group and one of the few I've seen that plays evil right, Kavos is the single most responsible PC I've ever came across who's basically just evil because Asmodeous gets s*** done and Gandil's characters are all delusional or extremists who believe in their own terrifying righteousness.

[Kid Jake]

Alright, here's the first half of the third session. Enjoy.

Spoiler

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We pick up the following morning, Ibaeli and the gorilla accompanied Kavos back home and the secretive mayor writes them off as being nothing more than a pair of bodyguards he acquired in Eastbank, citing the deaths of two sheriffs in less than a week as being a good sign they were needed. The people understand, though the sight of the wild elf Ibaeli and his hairy friend still draws heads wherever they go.

Kavos goes to Elder Hadran and asks the old man if there's been any news since he left. Elder Hadran reports that Looman arrived early in the morning with several carpenters from Eastbank who ignored the locals and went directly to work forming the foundations of their projects. Looman also reports that the traps have been set up by the mouth of the river.

Kavos mentions that Looman makes an alright sheriff and Hadran sighs. Kavos raises an eyebrow and Hadran says "Speaking of sheriffs....they found Gandil's body in the forest. It was tossed behind some bushes stripped bare."

Kavos excuses himself and heads to the temple to pay his last respects to Gandil's corpse, finds it and its severed head laying on a slab next to Longarm. Father Adrian is standing there with his sleeves pulled up around his elbows with a scalpel in one hand and needle and thread nearby.

Father Adrian moves in front of Gandil's corpse quickly and says that Kavos shouldn't be here, that he hasn't finished preparing Gandil for viewing yet. Kavos shakes his head dismissively saying that he's seen worse and that this isn't his friend anymore just an empty vessel, but that he appreciates Adrian's concern all the same.

The two clerics sit there awkwardly over Gandil's corpse for a moment before Kavos says that he actually came here to talk to Adrian. The priest asks what he needs him for and Kavos explains that he intends on questioning the bandit he captured and would like a little assistance.

Father Adrian seems surprised, but agrees. Tell Kavos to give him time to wash up and he'll meet him at the jail. Kavos agrees and uses this opportunity to send for Looman as well.

They all meet up about half an hour later in front of the jail and head inside. The bandit appears withered and dehydrated from such severe bloodloss and can barely hold his eyes open. Kavos casts Create Water over the bandit's head and a veritable deluge crashes down, waking him up but good.

"What do you have to say for yourself, scum?" Kavos demands.

The bandit glances around, terrified. "What do you want? I done told you that it wasn't the one what killed your friend. I wanted nothing to do with it!"

"Who leads these bandits?" Kavos shouts through the bars.

The bandit stammers before finally answering "Big John leads these bandits. He's the one you should be going after."

Kavos glares at the bandit like a predator about to strike, "Tell me where he is and maybe I will."

"I don't know!" the bandit wails. "He offered me a job in an Eastbank tavern, said if I passed his little test he'd make me one of his guys. Since I'm pretty sure you killed everyone he sent but me, I don't think I passed the test."

"I don't care if you're the one that made the killing blow." Kavos explains. "You were willingly affiliated with the group that murdered our sheriff and in my eyes you're just as guilty. Do you have any evidence that would sway me otherwise?"

"I don't..I mean we don't..I mean.. We're highwaymen! We don't keep evidence!" he shrieks pleadingly.

Kavos turns to Looman and asks what the proper way of dealing with Criminals in Westbank was, prior to Kavos assuming leadership.

"Hell..." Looman says with a shake of his head. "Local? We usually just kicked 'em around some and turned 'em back loose, unless of course someone got killed; then it's a hanging. But this fella from Eastbank? I say we use him as bait on the river."

Kavos smiles, "Of course. Interesting. We will let Pelor decide his fate. If he is truly innocent then he will be protected."

The bandit's cries turn from pleading to threatening, he begins shouting that "You people don't know who you're dealing with! My friends are going to burn this whole damned town down!"

"You have no idea who you're dealing with. Do not speak unless spoken to!" Kavos shouts, casing Cause Fear and smiling as the suddenly terrified bandit screeches, curls into a ball in the corner of his cell and cries.

Kavos dismisses everyone back to their duties and walks with Father Adrian back to the temple. Adrian doesn't seem to disapprove of his methods though he does point out that Pelor isn't traditionally a god of judgement. Kavos says that Pelor doesn't have to judge him, only punish him. Father Adrian smiles slightly and excuses himself once they get into the temple, saying that he has much work to do but will send when he's ready to perform Gandil's service.

Kavos watches Father Adrian head back downstairs to tend to his lost sheriffs before walking over the the altar of Pelor and resting a hand on it. He decides that he's had enough of Pelor and wants to drive his presence from this place. He mutters a prayer and casts Desecrate, however he's surprised to find that this wasn't a Consecrated area to begin with and the aura of corruption spreads over the altar unopposed.

He glances around to make sure that nobody noticed what he done and then smiles and exits the temple, meeting a parishioner on the way in he nods his head and pleasantly says "Pelor grant you strength."

Spoiler

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Kavos finds Ibaeli and the gorilla lounging by the river and tells the young druid that he's ready to deal with the unicorn's nuisance now. Without another word, Ibaeli gathers his things and follows Kavos, eager to prove himself to his brutish master.

The trip is uneventful, several times they discover wolves following them in the forest; though the wolves seem to smirk when Ibaeli notices them, almost as if they know him and are looking out for him. Briar's Pass itself is as dilapidated as ever and it looks like they just stopped caring.

Kavos and Ibaeli head to the Inn to ask around about the wizard they're after. The only two people in the place are a strange pair. A human and a halforc, each in handsomely fitted armor who seem to be serving themselves and discussing which of the town's women they find least repulsive. The human wears a large shield across his back and a longsword at his waist, while the orc wears an ornate greatsword on his back.

Kavos introduces himself and his traveling companion and they do likewise, momentarily giving up their tasteless game. The human's name is Bartan while the half-orc is called Rutgard.

Kavos asks if either of them know of a wizard in the are and Rutgard shakes his head, saying that no wizards live around these parts. The man known as Bartan however nods and says "Remember? That coot Rambalt is some sort of magic user, that's probably who they want."

The half-orc disagrees and says that wizards are, by and large, useful people; whereas Rambalt is a waste of good food and the two of them begin debating this new topic with gusto.

Kavos interrupts them again to ask where Rambalt actually is and the half-orc says that the idiot barricaded himself in the shack on the northeast border of town when the spiders came through.

They head where directed and find a shack that's just as descriped, four battered walls that look barely large enough to house a man; let alone a supposed wizard's ego. Kavos knocks on the door.

It takes several moments and another knock, but a thin; wiry man with peachfuzz hair and thick glasses eventually opens the door barely a crack. "Afraid I'm busy at the moment, not safe I'm afraid." he says with a chipper inflection. "Maybe next week."

"Afraid not," Kavos says, barely able to get the end of his staff inside the door in time to keep it from closing. "I need to speak with you now. I'm the Mayor of Westbank and I'm constructing homes for the people of Briar's Pass. May I come inside?"
Rambalt glances over his shoulder nervously. "Erm...I..I suppose." he finally says, unleashing the various locks and latches on his side of the door and allowing the PCs entrance. As he opens the door they can see that his plain, utilitarian clothes are soaked in blood and gore and that he's wearing thick gloves up to his elbows covered in the same. The shack has two chairs, a bed and a chamber pot; but not much else. However there is a door leading down into what is presumably a cellar which is barred and chained shut.

"To be honest, it might be better if I stayed here." Rambalt says sheepishly. "My experiments make me a rather lousy neighbor at times."

"What sort of experiments?" Ibaeli asks, his eyes focusing. The gorilla senses its master's irritation and glowers as well.

"I'm attempting to create a hardier; more expendable security force to help counteract the local bandits." Rambalt explains. "We've lost enough good men, no sense in losing more you know...." he adds with a sigh. "However so far they've proven...less than cooperative, although that might just be the nature of my test subjects."

"Abomination!" Ibaeli shouts in disgust.

Rambalt staggers back a few steps stammering. "I-i-is it abominable to save lives? Is it abominable to h-h-hope for a better future?" he asks, holding up his hands defensively.

"Show me these experiments, manflesh." the angry druid demands.

"One of them is umm...resting." Rambalt responds, looking at his shoes.

"While I disagree with Ibaeli's disgust, I do believe that people have a right to know what sort of projects you're working on. They could be dangerous after all." Kavos says with a frown. "Show us."

Rambalt looks at his uninvited visitors for a moment and then sighs. "Give me a moment to make sure it's safe..." he says, slowly removing the bolt and chains so as to avoid making noise and motions for his guests to stay upt. He slips downstairs as quietly as possible and for several moments there's no sound.

Suddenly however there's an indignant roar and the rattling of chains as Rambalt stumbles back upstairs breathlessly. "Alright, he's ready for company"

Kavos steps downstairs after Rambalt nervously, followed by Ibaeli and the gorilla. the 'cellar' is many times larger than the shack itself and has half a dozen tables and workstations set up around it. Several staffs, wands and rods hang upon the wall and a massive bookshelf seems equally stuffed with strange volumes and magical scrolls..

A strange, massive figure better than 8ft tall and made of clay is laid upon one of the tables, but only half finished. It's obviously supposed to be in the shape of a man; while a pair of arms narly the size of rambalt himself and made of wrought iron rests on another table.

Far back against the wall is a creature that once may have been a man, but seems to be cobbled together from different men and even races. It flails against a collar recently placed upon its neck and attempts to free itself violently, seemingly more concerned with killing Rambalt than its own life. In fact, it's so singleminded that as they watch; it breaks its own neck with a mad rush forward and falls to the ground without another sound.

Rambalt rushes forward in tears, grabbing the creature by the head and cradling it like an overgrown infant. "No, no, no, no, no....not again. Not again!" he wails over his creation between gasping sobs.

Ibaeli soundlessly shuts the door to the shack, letting neither Kavos nor Rambalt know what he's doing. He's growing visibly angry at this man playing god.

"All I have to work with are these damned bandits!" Rambalt laments, releasing his failed experiment and collapsing back onto his haunches. "They're too unwieldy and temperamental while they're alive. Spending a few days rotting on Bartan's handcart doesn't make them any easier to work with."

"How long would these monsters take to finish?" Kavos asks, immensely intrigued.

"If I had quality parts? I suspect less than a month. Maybe even a couple of weeks." Rambalt says, shaking his head. "But I have need of surgeons, when all I can hire are butchers..."

"Do you know that your magical stench plagues our forest?" Ibaeli asks with a low growl.

Rambalt seems surprised and sniffs the air. "I know that people don't sit next to me at the tavern...but I didn't realize it had gotten that bad." the pathetic little mage says obliviously.

Ibaeli lunges forward, becoming a wolf as he does so. Kavos moves to cut him off screaming that the elf isn't to hurt this man, however he's too slow to stop the gorilla from sidestepping him and grabbing Rambalt by the throat as he attempts to crabwalk out of harm's way.

"You don't need to kill him!" Kavos shouts, "Your master only wanted him to leave and I will bring him to Westbank. The forest will be pure once again!"

The gorilla holds Rambalt by the neck as Ibaeli starts sniffing around the room with his wolf senses. He smells where Rambalt's corpses are kept and growls at the locked door intently.

"Release him!" Kavos demands again. "I will do your master's bidding, but I will not let you kill this man."

Ibaeli barks for the gorilla to kill him.

As soon as the gorilla flexes to tear open Rambalt's throat Kavos unleashes the spell he'd been readying and hits it with Command: Fall. Rather than murdering Rambalt, the gorilla takes its turn to leap face forward onto the ground. Rambalt rushes to the wall the second he's free and snatches a staff, spinning around and gripping it tightly as an aura of perceptible cold springs up around his weapon.

Seeing that Rambalt is now armed, Ibaeli charges him but is held off by the plucky mage's staff.

This is the point where Ibaeli's player says that he wishes he'd wildshaped into a gorilla so that he could speak with them. I point out that gorilla's can't talk and he calls BS, citing that he's seen Planet of the Apes and they seemed to have a pretty good grasp of English.

Kavos rushes towards Rambalt's storage closet and throws open the door. "Iabeli, look!" he says, indicating only an orc and half-orc who seem to have been slain in battle before being brought here. "No animals! He's not threatening your master's domain!"

Ibaeli pulls away, sniffing the air. The only smells he can find are those of rotting flesh and strong chemicals. Rambalt cradles his staff as he presses his back further against the wall.

Kavos takes Rambalt by the hand and drags him towards the exit. "I'm bringing this man back to my town Ibaeli. He isn't harming the forest and there's no reason for you to object to this!"

Ibaeli growls as the two of them leave, but makes no further move to stop them. Once they're upstairs Kavos leads Rambalt to the inn for a drink and laughs nervously as he says "Druids, right?"

Rambalt gives a nervous laugh of his own and nods.

"Let me set things straight." Kavos explains. "I am not opposed to your experiments and I can offer you shelter, unimpeded research and any necessary resources. All I ask is that you continue just as you're doing. This is a step up Rambalt, believe me."

"What about the druid?" Rambalt asks nervously.

"I'll worry about the druid." Kavos assures him.

Rambalt asks if someone could bring his things to Westbank; the iron arms alone represent more than a year's work in wages and effort. Kavos nods and says that he'll hire someone, he suggests that Rambalt wait until Ibaeli leaves and then pack his things. He then hands Rambalt a key and instructs him where to find Longarm's old house.

They hang around town for a bit and hire out Bartan's handcart and services for the day and then Rambalt asks Kavos to stop by his house with him before heading back to Westbank. Kavos is a little nervous about complying, but doesn't want to seem rude.

Once they're sure that Ibaeli is no longer here (though to their horror he's stolen the clay golem by using ant haul on his gorilla) Rambalt rummages in his belongings for a moment before returning with an old, rusted iron rod. He hands it to Kavos and says that it's one of his more useful tools; but he'd like for him to have it for saving his life.

"Uhh.....thanks" Kavos says unconvincingly, taking the rod.

Rambalt tells him to press it against the desk and as Kavos does so the wood splinters and rots before his eyes until a tower shield sized hole is simply missing from the top. Rambalt explains that it's a rod of Ruin and that he's used it in the past to clear debris during explorations; he apologies for the appearance but explains that its entropic energies give it a rather lackluster appearance.

Kavos expresses genuine gratitude for such a useful tool and decides to help Rambalt pack his things.

Spoiler

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It takes several hours for Ibaeli and the gorilla to drag the clay golem to the unicorn's grove but they find the unicorn waiting for them all the same. The unicorn makes a distasteful face as the golem is dragged before it.

Ibeli quickly tells the unicorn what's transpired. The unicorn seems quite impressed that Ibaeli went to such lengths to please him.

"This clay-man reeks of the mage's magic." the unicorn growls. "Did you kill it elf-flesh?"

Ibaeli shakes his head. "No, it was never alive to begin with. A failed experiment of the wretched wizard. There was another made of sewn together manflesh, but we didn't think you would want that to spoil the grove."

The unicorn nods. "You have done us a service...Ibaeli." it says, awkwardly using the elf's name. Reaching down, the unicorn appears to bite a snake amid the foliage which strikes the great beast's face several times with its venomous bite as the unicorn shakes it savagely. On the third shake the snake is replaced by a leather belt which the unicorn tosses at Ibaeli's feet.

"You serve the forest and the forest rewards you elfflesh." the unicorn says with a tinge of pride.

Kavos interrupts this tender moment by stepping into the grove, having followed the trail left by dragging a clay sculpture more than a mile. "The wizard is taken care of, he is not dead but I am moving him out of the forest. The deal is done, may I harvest my trees?"

The unicorn nods and says that Kavos may take what he needs and then adds "Iabaeli has proven himself a worthy wervant of our realm; we ask that you assist him as he surveys your town. We have been long removed from the affairs of men and would know more of you if we are to be...allies."

Kavos agrees and adds that he's evacuating the people of Briar's Pass so that the unicorn can reclaim that portion of its forest. The unicorn says that it will see once the manstink is gone.

Kavos nods and says that he believes their deal is done, however the unicorn gets a glint in its eye and says "Oh, before we forget."

Kavos braces for an attack as the unicorn jerks its head, signaling for a great brown bear to emerge from the brush carrying a battered and bloody piece of chest armor. Kavos relaxes a bit. The bear drops the armor and the unicorn flips it face up, revealing the image of two fullsized mirrors facing each other but blank; the symbol of the Wandering Duke.

"Several creatures tried to pass through our realm." the unicorn says, absently stomping on the tattered breastplate. "Do these belong to the one who seeks you?"

Kavos nods. "Yes. Yes it does."

Ibaeli asks what happened and the unicorn says "They tried to use our forest to hide their presence, our wolves watched them and they struck one with an arrow." the unicorn growls low at this. "There were twelve such creatures with arrows and armor and cutting blades. Now there are only filled bellies and refuse."

Kavos asks where these men came from and the unicorn describes the northern border of the forest, the absolute edge of the unicorn's territory. Kavos asks if he can take the armor and the unicorn seems eager to be rid of it.

"How do you propose we establish this alliance unicorn?" Kavos asks.

"This realm is ours, it always has been, it always will be." the unicorn says bluntly. "If strange manflesh trespasses, then it will die. Stand with us and you are not strange manflesh."

Kavos agrees, much preferring the unicorn being on his side than against him and assures the unicorn that if the forest needs him, he will heed its call. The unicorn in turn promises to alert Kavos if any other soldiers follow. Kavos thanks the unicorn and says that he must leave now, his town must be warned.


Meanwhile, while Kavos and the unicorn speak, Ibaeli settles down next to an older, matronly druid in the form of a great shewolf. Her name is Yara and Ibaeli remembers her being an elderly halfling in her natural form.

"Do you ever get the feeling that unicorn doesn't care for us being in its forest?" Ibaeli asks.

Yara laughs and says that it's just his way, she explains that he was never meant to lead the druids; he never actually studied among his people's priests. She points out that he was one of the protectors, the warriors meant to keep the priesthood safe. She mentions that he was always taught to be wary of the outside world and that that training is all he knows; the other unicorns, the ones felled by the ettercap, were the open minded ones. The ones actually equipped to deal with the outside world instead of just squash it to keep it away.

Ibaeli asks why they would follow him if the other druids know that he's not fit to lead. Yara answers only that their kind has always venerated the unicorns and that it's the hope of the druids that this one can be taught to lead.

Ibaeli excuses himself as Kavos disappears beyond the grove and approaches the unicorn, asking what his mission is now that the mage is gone. The unicorn tells Ibaeli to get acquainted with the town of men and see if they are a threat to the forest. If they are, he wants to know how best to raze them to the ground.

Spoiler

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Kavos calls an emergency meeting the second he arrives in town, having Elder Hadran, Father Adrian and Sheriff Looman all use every ounce of their authority to drag in the town as fast as possible.

Ibaeli hangs around the front of the town hall, making small talk as the locals files in; probing for how safe they feel and what they think of recent events; just trying to get a feel for the town's condition. Unsurprisingly, the whole town is on edge having lost two sheriffs in as many weeks and finding out they're about to be taken over. When Ibaeli finally tires of questioning townspeople he goes to the townhall as well, noticing Rambalt has slipped in without him noticing and that the sheepish mage refuses to make eye contact ouf of fear.

Ibaeli snatches Rambalt by the scruff of the neck, his clawlike nails digging painfully in the book worm's flesh. "I need armor for my gorilla and you're the man to do it." Ibaeli growls low.

Rambolt flinches and grits his teeth before nodding his head ever slightly. " I th-th-think I can do that." he murmurs. Ibaeli tells him to make it top priority and Rambalt says that he'll have to have a fitting for the gorilla at this home since he didn't bring any of his stuff with him.

Before Ibaeli can extort the poor mage any further Kavos stands upon the raised stage and loudly proclaims "The Duke is coming!" holding up the bloody armor for everyone to see. "We all know why he's coming - thanks to Longarm's letter. The Duke is a slimy rat and will do anything to take this place we have built. He will do one of two things, he will either try to sow dissent and take it quietly while we bicker among ourselves or he will invade by force. The outcome will be the same; he will destroy your way of life."

Kavos paces about the stage. "I know enough of the Duke to know that he will attempt to turn you against me. He despises leadership which bows to the will of the people. So that each of you may have peace of mind, I will bare my soul to you."

Kavos casts Zone of Truth centered on himself. "I did not forge the letter Longarm was carrying, nor did I kill our sheriff, I did however assist in slaying the ettercap which controlled the spiders. I became your mayor honestly, I never interfered with the votes and have given this town my all ever since my election. I am not employed by the Duke or the rebels though the Duke may claim otherwise. I beg you to understand this." he says, cleverly avoiding his actual involvement in most things through technicalities.

"What brought you here to begin with?" Yard the dissident from before asks.

Kavos almost stammers but then smiles and says "I needed a new home and when I found this town, I knew it would be perfect."

The townspeople seem impressed and after a quick Q&A session that deepens Kavos's cover story (and makes even those formerly for a military presence question the Duke's intentions now that blood has been drawn) he asks that everyone return home, except for those looking for work.

A handful of tradesmen stick around and Kavos explains that he needs people to go into the forest to the north and collect as much spider silk as they can find. He stresses that spiders are neither to be killed nor approached, only their silk is to be collected. Only three tradesmen stay behind when they hear the job.

Kavos explains that he's worked out a trade agreement with Eastbank and while several of them curse and spit at the mention of Eastbank they all seem desperate enough for the coin that they still agree. Once that's settled Kavos approaches Elder Hadran and has him work on setting up the traders that they have to deal with incoming merchants from upriver; Hadran is understandably impressed.

As Kavos is finished with the minutiae of the trade agreement he exits the town hall and slams right into Deputy Horace who's running towards him excitedly. Grabbing Kavos by the collar he leans in and whispers "They caught something!"

Kavos's eyes widen. "At the river?" he asks, receiving an affirmative nod from Horace. "Alive?"

"They've been watching the traps for days and one of those ugly monsters swam RIGHT into it! The damned thing's kicking up a fuss, but it' still alive." Horace says excitedly.

Kavos glances around the town for a moment thinking. This might be bigger than silk exports, he muses.

[razorfloss]

ahh loopholes you love them when you use them and hate them when the are used against you

[(Un)Inspired]

What a great update. I kinda like Father Adrian and Kavos getting along.

Kid Jake, have you heard of the Burning Hate btw? I'm just saying...

[Kid Jake]

ahh loopholes you love them when you use them and hate them when the are used against you

I only wish I could have thought of more incriminating questions, I thought it was hilarious the way he sidestepped them. I'm pretty sure he's accidentally taken a level in a Politician PrC.

What a great update. I kinda like Father Adrian and Kavos getting along.

Kid Jake, have you heard of the Burning Hate btw? I'm just saying...

They've got a lot in common actually, where the town is concerned they're willing to do whatever it takes to keep it safe. I am surprised that Kavos basically brings him into every decision though, it's pretty ballsy.

And no, I'm not sure what that is off the top of my head.