Campaign Updates: All Three

Some brief updates on the three campaigns I'm currently refereeing:

Barrett's Raiders

Advancing northward, the characters saw evidence of both the remnants of the last Warsaw Pact push westward and the entrenchment of NATO forces along the Baltic coast. Just east of Goleniów, they made contact with a reconnaissance team attached to something they identified as "Task Force Saber," an amalgamation of surviving elements of several US Army forces in the area. Headquartered Goleniów, the task force consisted of about 600 men and vehicles. Its mission was twofold: aid the partisan forces of the Polish government-in-exile and cover the retreat of the NATO units heading for Germany.

Lt. Col. Orlowski decided the characters should make their way to Goleniów for rest, resupply, and a sharing of intelligence. He worried somewhat that they'd be dragooned into joining Saber, but he hoped he could argue that he and those under his command were answering call to pull out of Poland and, therefore, could not remain there. What he found in Goleniów were friendly and helpful US soldiers, keen to render them whatever support they required. After months behind enemy lines, warm food, soft bed, and hot showers were welcome.

Michael, the CIA field agent who'd been traveling with the characters, wanted to make contact with the task force's own intelligence apparatus. He was soon in a meeting with Major Rachel Sturgess. After an exchange of code words to demonstrate authenticity, Sturgess told Michael that he's fortunate he spoke to her first. She explained that the situation back home was very fraught and that members of his service were no longer trusted, owing to their support for "President" Broward. Though she herself was loyal to the Joint Chiefs, she cared more about the fate of their country than political disputes. She urged Michael to hide his CIA connections and to pose as a Pole to avoid being arrested upon reaching Germany.

Orlowski also had a meeting, with Col. James Kettering, commander of the task force. They shared information and it soon became clear that Kettering had no interest in keeping the characters in Goleniów. He wished them well in their journey, explaining they had and his men would be bugging out toward the end of October. For now, they had to remain here, especially in light of recent reports that a Soviet general, former commander of the Baltic Front, had reportedly got hold of a MADM (medium atomic demolition munition) and may have been planning to make use of it. Orlowski, of course, knew a little of this, but he hesitated in revealing more – at least for now.

Dolmenwood

Clement of Middleditch had wanted to become a knight since he was a small boy. He'd set off in search of adventure to achieve that goal, in the process acquiring several traveling companions – Waldra the woodswoman; Falin the breggle cleric; and Alvie the young thief. Over the course of their time together, the one thing Clement most desired was a lord worthy of his service, someone to whom he could pledge his loyalty and who, in turn, would make a true knight. He eventually concluded that the lord he most wished to serve was, in fact, a lady, specifically the Princess Snowfall-at-Dusk, the youngest daughter of the cruel Cold Prince. 

Clement had briefly met the Princess at the very start of the campaign, when he and his companions had reunited her with the ghost of her lover, Sir Chyde. She resided in the realm of Frigia within Fairy and getting back to her was nigh-impossible, thanks to the innumerable wards placed on that otherworldly realm centuries ago by an alliance of mortals. Nevertheless, Clement and his friends found a way to bridge the gap, albeit briefly, during which time he hoped to convince Snowfall-at-Dusk to become his lady. 

What they found was that the Princess's tower was besieged by elves under the command of the nobleman, Uncounted Sighs, who believed she (and Sir Chyde) were somehow responsible for the appearance of crookhorn raiders within Fairy – a rare example of intrusion into the elves' domain from the mortal side of the barrier. Snowfall-at-Dusk asked Clement and the others to prove this was not so and help to lift the siege. If he did this, she would consent to take him as her vassal.

Investigating the matter, the characters learned that the crookhorn had entered Fairy through a previously unknown means: a magic portal that connected Frigia to the domain of Lord Malbleat, a breggle lord of decidedly unpleasant reputation. Closing the portal, the characters then took evidence of what they'd discovered to Uncounted Sighs, who asked them to swear to its truth. Having done so, he and his army departed and Princess Snowfall-at-Dusk took Clement on as her "eyes and ears in the mortal world." She then tasked him to travel to Lord Malbleat's domain and discover just how and why he'd created this portal and, if possible, put an end to his meddling in Fairy once and for all.

House of Worms

With the Kólumejàlim less than a month away, the characters are scrambling to locate the inscribed golden disc that can identify Kirktá as a child of the decease emperor. Without it, Kirktá is just a minor priest of Durritlámish from a minor clan in eastern Tsolyánu. With it, he is a candidate for the Petal Throne – or at least a publicly recognized scion of the mighty Tlakotáni clan, with all the rights and privileges associated with that exalted rank. It's really for this reason that the characters want to locate the disc: it's a golden ticket to a better life for them and their clan mates through Kirktá.

The characters' investigations initially seemed to hit a brick wall. No one they talked to, either at Kirktá's original Red Sword clan or the Temple of Belkhánu, had much information to offer them. Their only leads were a high priest back in Sokátis – two weeks travel from Béy Sü – and a scribe within the Court of Purple Robes in the imperial citadel of Avanthár. The scribe was close and more likely to know something, but getting to see him would be a challenge. Avanthár is not a place one simply turns up to unannounced or without a powerful sponsor.

Fortunately, the newly-revealed Prince Táksuru, whom the characters had helped years prior, was willing to assist them. Though himself a candidate for the Petal Throne, he had openly expressed his hope that the characters, including Kirktá, would support him in his bid to become the next God-Emperor of Tsolyánu. He made arrangements for the scribe, Makésh hiVriyón, be brought to Béy Sü to speak with them about events more than 20 years prior, when Kirktá was first placed with his clan as a hidden heir.

Makésh proved unhelpful. He feigned ignorance of the knowledge they sought and displayed a confidence in his own inviolability bordering on arrogance. As a member of the Court of the Purple Robes, he could not be harmed or forced to testify to anything without the involvement of someone of very high station. However, when he left the characters, Nebússa shadowed him back to the marketplace, where he observed Makésh enter the workplace of Kautélu huGurudrá, a moneylender and member of the Copper Door clan. Makésh never left, suggesting he'd made use of a hidden exit.

Nebússa and his minions then kidnapped Kautélu and interrogated him, with Keléno using ESP on him during the interrogation. It soon became clear that Makésh was an agent of a woman named Ki'éna, whom the characters do not know, and Prince Dhich'uné, whom they do. Though many unanswered questions remained, at least they had a better sense of who might be behind their current problems.