A motley crew investigates – part 2

Continuing the adventure from part 1, our adventurers met in the busy marketplace of Toran, fought a woman who chopped off her arm in mid-air to escape. We now turn our attention to the boy who was blasted for 5 points of damage by our Vakeros Warrior-Mage. We have:

• Gorwinson (Sommlending Knight of the Realm), who searches for the truth of his father
• Teague (Buccaneer of Shadaki), a treasure-looting pirate who also doubles as a human shield
• Gnarly (Dwarven Gunner of Bor), who uses his Bor Musket for diplomatic purposes
• Silent Dove (Kai Lord), seeking to redeem the obviously misunderstood Kraan of the darkside
• Chi (Vakeros Warrior-Mage), who seeks to destroy what little control and sanity I have

Before we continue, my friend corrected me on his character’s name. He’s supposed to be Gnarly, not Gimli as I previously wrote. He even sent me a picture (drawn on his iPad), stating in no weak terms that I was to post it here. I said I couldn’t really post it as drawn, that I have to do something…

I mean, that’s just a little… I’m trying to keep this family-friendly… But he would have none of that. Oh what the hell. I give you Gnarly, the Dwarven Gunner:

He said, if anyone asked, that’s a mushroom. I asked him why didn’t Gnarly wear any pants. He said his starting equipment only had chainmail waistcoat and a helmet. “Pants” is not listed, so his dwarf wasn’t wearing any. I couldn’t really argue with that…

The White Lion’s Inn

So back to our injured boy. Dove managed to stabilise the boy’s injuries and stave off any further murderous attempts by Chi. Some coins were found in the clenched fist of the boy, which Teague recovered quickly (“That be mine, mateys”).

“What’s your name?” asked Dove.
“Fillian.” said the boy. I had to think fast. If you remember, Fillian’s the name of the NPC druid in my Plants versus Zombies game.
The boy was strong enough to remember that he was in the White Lion’s Inn, but everything after that was forgotten.

“We go to White Lion’s Inn then,” said Gorwinson.
“I note down the boy in my backpack,” said Gnarly.
“You can’t put him in your backpack!” said Dove and me at the same time.
“Why not?” said Gnarly.
“I’m handing him over to the authorities.” said Dove. Gnarly grumbled, and erased “Boy” from his backpack items.

The marketplace crowd parted hurriedly, since they just witnessed a theft, a teleportation fight scene, and a corroding severed arm. The party arrived at the White Lion’s Inn, and this is where I played my DM card. I prepared a slip of paper for each of my friends, each containing information only known to the reader. I advised them that they should keep that information to themselves at least for a while, but they were free to share it with the group. I told them to just read, and wait for my cue before reacting. I wanted to see what kind of dynamics would occur, and what my friends would do to role play that.

A young knight came into the inn, saw Gorwinson, and after hesitating a little, went straight to him.

“Is he pretty looking?” asked Gnarly.
“Is he wearing plate armour?” asked Teague.
“Does his armour fit me?” asked Gnarly.
I ignored their questions…

And gave my friend playing Gorwinson a slip of paper. In summarised form:

The young knight’s name was Jared. He’s an apprentice knight. His mentor, Kramer, and him were sent to look for Count Gerrich. They were then to escort the count back to Holmgard. The count’s estate was south of Toran.

En route, they were attacked by “black hooded ninjas”, and both of them were captured. Somehow he managed to flee and arrived in Toran. Jared asked Gorwinson, a fellow knight, to help.

I wrote that if he agrees to help, then say “Of course I will go to Count Gerrich’s estate!” or something similar. My friend doesn’t have to agree too. Just say something anyway.

I also said a pirate with a peg leg approached Teague. “Aaarrr, I be recognaizing fella sealegs if I do be blind” I was making up pirate talk as I went. Teague played along (“Aaarrrr”). I gave him a slip of paper too.

He’s Captain Kirk. He said there’s a rumour of a treasure map that a certain Count Gerrich possessed. He wanted you to go retrieve it, and perhaps form a mutually beneficial partnership.

“And don’t go no thinking ’bout slippin’ away with de map like some slimy eel. I be watchin’ ye.”

Aaaarrrr.

“Ohoho…” Teague grinned. Teague be happy, as be me. I mean, so was I. Aaarrr.

To Gnarly:

In Bor, there was talk of some upgraded version of Boom Powder, created by a certain fellow D. Dallus. This Dallus person was last heard to be employed by a Count Gerrich.

To Chi:

There’s a rumour that Count Gerrich has a certain magic item, a compass. This compass is reputed to reveal your heart’s desire.

Little did I know that this “heart’s desire” would spell destruction of my sanity at the end of the game’s session…

Gorwinson indeed agreed to help, and I gave the cue for the others to respond. I was expecting some kind of cacophony, but I was mistaken. It was dead silence for 3 seconds. Oh well.

You will note that I didn’t tell you what I gave to Dove. Well, that’s because during the game, he didn’t say anything about his secret. So none of the other friends knew what it was. I respect Dove’s decision and so I’m not talking about it here. You’ll have to read about it in the next series. For what it’s worth, the information’s not pertinent in the current session. But I find it interesting that Dove held it back anyway…

The party decided to go to Count Gerrich’s estate to find out what happened. Each of them were holding a piece of the puzzle. Only Gorwinson revealed his reasons to go to the count’s estate. The rest were biding their time…

The proprietor of the White Lion’s Inn was mentioned that he left the inn early that morning, leaving a young man in charge. The proprietor fit the description of Gorwinson’s grandfather. The young man let slip that usually the proprietor always kept a dark blue signet ring with him, but he never wore it on his hands. The proprietor left in the direction of the southern gates of Toran.

Chi was frustrated that there were no barmaids to fondle.

Up next, an ambush by black hooded ninjas.