Campaign Updates: Closing In

This past week, all three campaigns made significant progress toward resolving – or at least advancing – the current plans of the player characters. In the cases of both Barrett's Raiders and the Dolmenwood campaign (which, I have just noticed, does not have a distinct name), it's likely that their focus will soon shift to other matters. That's true in House of Worms, too, though the shift is not so much in focus as it is in intensity. Things heated up in a very significant way this way week, as you'll soon read.

Barrett's Raiders

Major Hunter sequestered herself in the officer's tent, scouring through the requisition and inventory forms that Lt. Cody had recently acquired, hoping to find evidence of anything obviously suspicious. In the end, it became clearly that the records were so poorly maintained that almost everything within them could, in the right light, appear suspicious. Even so, Hunter eventually concluded that there had been a deliberate effort to conceal some kind of malfeasance by the base's logistics personnel. In fact, the most suspicious forms were all personally endorsed by Captain Tolen, whereas the majority of the others were signed by his assistant, Lt. Bennett.

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Orlowski set out for the DCAZ with Sgt. McLeod in order to meet with Sarah McBride, a former Richmond city councilor, who was identified to them as a leader amongst Fort Lee's civilian refugees. McBride was an older woman and, initially, she was none too pleased to see Orlowski. She explained that lots of military officers had been to see her to "assess the situation" and "seek solutions" and nothing had come of it. Orlowski made no promises that he could effect any improvements, but he did sincerely wish to know what was happening in the DCAZ.

McBride then explained that the biggest problems were ones of benign neglect rather than malice. General Summers and his officers weren't lording it over the civilians, let alone abusing them. Sure, there were incidents from time to time, but, with the exception of the recent death of Corporal Ramos, they rarely got out of hand. Mostly, Summers was too hands-off and allowed problems to fester instead of dealing with them directly. She suspected it's because he'd rather do nothing than risk creating a PR disaster through error. 

Orlowski then questioned her about whether there was any black market operating in the DCAZ and whether they might be trading in anything dangerous, like weapons and ammo. McBride said that, of course, there were illicit goods being traded, but she added that none of them were dangerous. Further, she had the impression that at least some of these goods were being passed to the refugees by Army personnel, either out of genuine concern or just a desire to make a profit somehow. Orlowski took note of all this and returned inside the fence of Fort Lee.

Having completed her examination of the logistics records, Major Hunter then began the process of interrogating any even remotely involved with the missing supplies, starting with Specialist Darrell Huxley. Huxley, Lt. Cody had learned earlier, was a local. Hunter used this to grill him about the times the supply truck he drove got flat tires. Eventually, she made him admit that Captain Tolen had provided him with extra supplies "off the records" to be picked up by a high school friend of his, Denny Lagrange, who'd then pass them on to others in the area who needed them. He didn't want anyone to get into trouble, least of all Tolen, whom he said is "a good guy." Hunter then suggested to Orlowski and others that they might now need to approach Tolen and others in logistics to get to the real bottom of this.

Dolmenwood

Having rescued the scholar Farnham Ribblemead from the catacombs beneath Shadholme Lodge, the characters regrouped in Sir Clement's pavilion on the nearby Festival Field. Sir Clement had come to the conclusion that, in order to prevent Lord Malbleat from succeeding at the necromantic ritual he was planning on the next evening, he had no choice but to attempt a rescue of the young woman held at Redwraith Manor. The woman, Emelda Wishorn by name, was essential to Malbleat's plans. By spiriting her away from the manor, he could foil those plans. This was an eminently suitable task for a noble knight such as himself and he urged his companions to join him in it.

Everyone but Marid agreed to assist him. Marid claimed it would be better if he stayed on the Festival Field and keep watch over Ribblemead. The others thought this was a very good idea, since they did not want the old man to fall back into the hands of Malbleat or his servants. The rest then headed north along the Manor Road in order to reach their destination. They had previously passed Redwraith Manor on their way to Shadholme Lodge and found it an ominous and uninviting place, with a black, wrought-iron fence and a forbidding gate. The place looked even more uninviting in the small hours of the night. Of course, the cover of darkness this time afforded made it much more likely that they could approach without being spotted by Malbleat's guards.

Sneaking onto the manor's grounds was not easy. There were several patrols, as well as an expanse of open ground between the fence and the closest part of the building. Alvie is a thief who possesses a sprite-wing cloak, which gives the wearer near-invisibility and Waldra, as a hunter, is good at hiding herself. That left just Falin and Sir Clement, both of whom wore plate armor and were both louder and slower. So, Alvie lent Falin his cloak, while Sir Clement made use of a philtre of invisibility he found in the alchemy lab beneath Shadholme Lodge. After some near misses with guards, all four made their way to the manor.

The most obvious way in was through an enclosed garden. However, the garden was occupied by an elderly breggle who seemed to be engaged in some kind of experimentation with the plants and flowers within. Fearing something sinister, they avoided the garden. Instead, Alvie climbed in through an open window and unlocked another door. The characters then spent some time, avoiding guards and other inhabitants of the place while they looked for stairs going down (on the assumption that there must be a dungeon beneath the manor). Eventually, they found the stairs and, after a stealthy fight against several guards, made their way into the basement.

Their assumption was indeed correct. There was a secret prison beneath the manor. All of its cells were empty but one, containing a young woman, who identified herself as Emelda Wishorn. Using keys obtained from one the guards, they freed her and explained they were here to rescue her. Emelda was confused by this; she also showed signs of being drugged. So, Falin helped her out of her cell and told her they would take care of her. She agreed to come with them.

House of Worms

Rumors were spreading throughout Béy Sü in the aftermath of Prince Eselné's speech. The Temples of Karakán and Vimúhla were solidly – and publicly – behind him, as were the Temples of Avánthe and Dlamélish (due, no doubt, to Princess Ma'ín's support of Eselné). Meanwhile, the Temples of Belkhánu and Sárku opposed him. The other temples and the great clans of the city sat on the sidelines, many of them hoping that the prince's rhetoric was just that and he did not truly intend to break the millennia-old Concordat and wage war on the Temple of Belkhánu. 

Unfortunately for them, Eselné was not bluffing. He sent for Grujúng to lead the cohort (400 men) of the First Legion to attack the temple just before dawn the next day. Joining Grujúng were his clan mates and comrades of many years, all of whom wish to be present during this historic event. Kirktá worried that Grujúng had been chosen to lead the attack so that, should thing go badly, he could be used as a scapegoat. After all, he was a member of a small, unimportant clan from the eastern empire, with no noble lineage or history. For his part, Grujúng's attitude was "In for a qirgál, in for a káitar." He was already too deep into what was happening to worry about the consequences. He'd either be a hero or take the high ride on an impaler's spike. 

Grujúng was given strict instructions: kill them all. No one could be allowed to escape, since there was no way to know which priests were secretly part of the cult of the One Other. Everyone within the temple, no matter their station, must die. Grujúng had no problem with this and planned accordingly, splitting his men into two main groups – one attacking the front and one attacking the rear of the temple. Others were arrayed outside its walls to deal with any priests who attempted to scale them to safety. (There was also a second cohort, not commanded by Grujúng, whose job it was to deal with anyone attempting to flee into the underworld.)

The frontal assault met with strong resistance, while the rear assault met barely any at all. The rear group also contained a small group of skirmishers, led by Nebússa but also containing Kirktá, Chiyé, and Keléno. They were tasked with plundering as much as possible from the temple's library and treasury before anyone else sacked the place. Kirktá was worried that, when the temple was finally razed by Prince Eselné, he would not care whether he destroyed priceless artifacts or not. Plus, he was still unsure whether or not what he had been told about his role in the succession was true. If it were, he might need these items.

Inside the temple, what soon became clear was that it was largely empty but for a few fleeing priests and those who were at the front of the temple defending it. They suspected that they'd been given advance warning about the attack and fled earlier. Their suspicions were confirmed in the library, when they encountered Míru, the priest of the One Other they'd met previously. He was alone in the library and told them, "They're all gone – many of them to Dhich'uné, who offered them sanctuary. He claims he's 'upholding the Concordat as tradition dictates,' but it's just another ploy to advance his own cause." He then added, "I knew you'd come, Kirktá. I've set aside a few things for you here," pointing to a collection of artifacts. Then Chiyé shot him with the excellent ruby eye and tossed him into Kirktá's chest of the topaz god (an extradimensional container) for safekeeping. They grabbed the artifacts and prepared to leave the temple.