Session 11: Befriending the Feys

in which the group explores the southern reaches marked in their exploration charter and befriend the prankster feys


Scouting the Stag Lord's fort
The adventurers set out early at a good pace with their kobold guide. It was easy following the Shrike River towards the Tuskwater Lake, and although their path was blocked from time to time by gullies and small canyons, the kobold was able to choose the correct path to overcome those obstacles without losing much time. In the evening they saw in the distance the Stag Lord's fort.

The fort was an almost ruined structure consisting of one main stone building with half-collapsed ceiling surrounded by three wooden towers, standing atop a hill. A narrow path of hard-packed earth winded up the hillside approaching the fort, a path 30 feet wide, 300 feet long, offering no cover to anyone approaching the fort. The remaining hillside surrounding the fort was a swath of hill devoid of shrubbery save for isolated thorny vines, though periodic large boulders provided better cover for a stealthy approach.

The adventurer's made camp one mile away from the fort and waited for dusk. While Cardot and Am stayed with the horses and the kobold, Kii and Gam'el'Gar approached the fort, their low-light vision helping them navigate the dark landscape without any problem. They stayed in the cover of the vegetation surrounding the fort's hill, approximately 300 feet (100m) from the fort, and started moving around the fortification, keeping always in cover. From that distance, they could hear laughter and the sounds of discussions coming from inside the fort, and they also noticed that each of the wooden towers had one guard, though apparently they only paid attention to the main path approaching the fort, with hardly a glance to the surrounding hillsides.

The Stag Lord's Fort

After two hours spying on the fort, Kii and Gam'el'Gar returned to camp, and the group decided to go back to Oleg's to better prepare for an assault on the fort. They were worried by the letters from Kii's cousin warning them of the impending arrival of some mercenaries... they had to hit early if they wanted to have the upper hand! Still, some extra help would be advisable, so they would try to approach the feys again to try to ally with them.

The Fangberry Thicket

As the area where the kobold had seen the fangberry bushes was not too far from their way back to Oleg, the adventurers explored the area and found the fangberry thicket in a small canyon.

While Am and Gam'el'Gar kept guard with their bows prepared, Kii and Cardot started collecting the berries. The process was very difficult, because they had sharp thorns that pierced their gloves with ease... To make matters worse, a swarm of spiders assaulted Kii and Cardot and soon they were running for their lifes... Am and Gam'el'Gar attacked the swarm with torches, and with the use of the Burning Hands wand of Kii and a couple well-placed torch sweeps, the group managed to defeat the spiders.


The Rickety Bridge

Further to the north, the adventurers found an old wooden bridge that spanned a 20-foot deep gulch through which the river Thorn flowed. Kii crossed the bridge alone to test its strength and, though the bridge resisted, it groaned and cracked, so the adventurers decided not to cross it with the horses. This meant that, in order to cross the Thorn river to the east, they would have to use the fords situated approximately 12 miles upriver (the first bandit camp the adventurers had attacked) or 12 miles downriver (a bit upstream from where the Thorn River met the Shrike).

Because of this, it took them a bit longer to explore the area surrounding the bridge, but they were lucky and did not meet any further obstacle to their exploration, and reached the Thorn River bandit camp in the evening, with enough time to relax and prepare camp, after several nights sleeping on wet and windy ground. During the night, Gam'el'Gar was the target of more of the feys' pranks.


Befriending the feys

In the morning, the adventurers saw very dark storm clouds approaching. Gam'el'Gar estimated that they could hit them a bit before reaching the feys' lair... A short discussion ensued in which they decided to risk the trip and luck smiled on them, because they reached the feys' lair shortly before high winds and heavy rain announced the storm arrival.

Near the lair, the adventurers decided they had to accelerate their contact with the feys and decided to spend one Cure Light Wounds potion each as a gift to the feys. Cardot, who had already befriended them also helped by pulling out the best beer he had ever brewed... he almost could not help consuming it himself!

So the adventurers left the gifts (beer, candies, small trinkets and the magical potions) at the base of the feys' tree, and this time the feys were so pleased by the gifts that they showed themselves to the adventurers: Tyg-Titter-Tut (an excitable grig, with the upper body of a beautiful maiden and the lower body of a cricket)  and Perlivash (a butterfly-winged dragon). They were both the size of a cat and chatted excitedly among themselves and with their new friends.

Tyg-Tiiter-Tut

 They told them that they were much nicer than "the nasty bigginses that used to live in the Thorn River camp". Tyg-Titter-Tut even played her little violin while swinging to the rythym... the night went on with plenty of jokes, stories from all the participants and in general a pleasant feeling... even the heavy rain and strong wind seemed to avoid the adventurers' camp.

Perlivash

 Cardot convinced the feys to help the adventurers explore the Stag Lord's fort, even playing some pranks on their occupants. They agreed that they would meet in the nearby radish patch in a few days, after the adventurers had prepared at Oleg's for the days to come.

The following morning, the sky was crisp blue, the smell of the wet forest invigorated the adventurers... they had managed an alliance with two unlikely parties, the feys and the kobolds... would that be enough for their assault on the Stag Lord's fort?



XP:
- 100 (exploring the Fangberry Thicket hex)
- 100 (exploring the Rickety Bridge hex)
- 1000 (befriending the feys Tyg-Titter-Tut and Perlivash)
Total this session: 1200XP
Total campaign: 18,380XP

Loot:
- Fangberries.
- Spent 3 Cure Light Wound potions to befriend the feys.

Time Passed:
- 4 days.
The time now is 14th Gozran (April), in the morning. The group is at the feys' lair.

Extra Buildings

Buildings errata:

Barracks (6 BP):Defense Modifier +2; Unrest –1.
Exotic Craftsman (10 BP):1 minor item, +1 Economy, +1 Stability.


Non-City Buildings
Presented below are additional buildings and improvements that can be build outside of cities. Please note that constructing any of these improvements takes the place of the "build a farm" action in your kingdom turn.
Please also note that Camps, Farms and Mines are mutually exclusive - you can have a farm OR a mine OR a camp in a hex. None of these improvements represent a single building in a 12-mile hex. It's not just one farm, or just one mine, or just one camp. Building means you have devoted the primary physical and human resources of that hex to the activity of farming (farm), mining (mine) or logging (camp).


Lock: (8 BP). A lock allows ships to traverse along height differences in a river. A Lock turns three hexes of unnavigable rivers navigable and provides a +2 Economy bonus.
Terraforming: Instead of building a farm hex, you can convert a forest hex into hills or a swamp into grassland. This takes 6 months and costs 24 BP. You could also plant a forest in a grassland or hills hex for the same cost. You continue to gain the benefits of a camp during terraforming, but at the end of the terraforming it is destroyed.

Hidden wrist sheaths

You can try to draw an item hidden in the wrist sheath as a Move (normal wrist sheath) or Swift (spring-loaded wrist sheath) action during your turn by passing a DC10 Dexterity check.
You'll have a +1 bonus to this check if you have Sleight of Hand trained (i.e. it is a class skill with ranks). You'll also get a +1 bonus for each 2 full ranks you have in Sleight of Hand.

If you fail the check, then you'll need a Standard action (this is normal for a hidden item as mentioned in the Sleight of Hand skill).

If you fumble (you roll first a 1 and then fail the roll in the confirmation check) the item will fall to the ground. In the case of a spring-loaded sheath, after rolling a 1 you also need to pass a DC10 Luck check. If you fail this check, then the spring is broken. Until you repair the spring with a DC15 Crafts(weapons or traps) check (or paying 1/4 of its value to an artisan) it will count as a normal wrist sheath.

Finally, these sheaths give a +2 to your Sleight of Hand check to hide a weapon (this is taken from the item's description).


Masterwork Wrist Sheaths
Remember you can also have a masterwork wrist sheath. They cost an extra 300gp (or 100 gp ? check with JL )but they'll give a +2 to the Dexterity check to draw the hidden weapon.

Wearing wrist sheaths in the open
You can decide to wear the wrist sheath in the open (i.e. not hidden under your sleeves, etc.). In this case, you don't need to roll for a regular wrist sheath, and a failure in the check for a spring-loaded one means you'll need the normal Move action to draw the weapon (instead of the Swift).