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written by Fiznarthian Ooglenook (played David Pettit)

Chapter 2

Game day 1/26/2019

Morning the next day…

Kromnak Mor makes rat stew for breakfast out of the remains of our adversaries from last night, along with rocks and grass, yuck, blagh.

Were on the path to Ol’Shire from M’Ka it a about a 3 day two night journey.  It is in the Fall of the year so it’s pretty cold at night.  It is quite foggy this morning and it was a damp cold night. As we travel we discuss what we will do when we reach Amara.  When we reach the ruins we will scout the parameter up towards the north without reveling ourselves.  We can, hopefully, enter through a break in the wall that is depicted on the map. It looks like a short shot through the ruins to the cliff and the path to the cove from there.  We will make use of the Circlet of Protection to travel through the ruins without being set upon by the ghosts. We think the best time would be around 2pm to try this. We don’t know if it will still just be two guards but we will have to trust to luck.

Second night on the road

Its gray and drizzly as we continue along the trail making camp before full dark.  While Tholin and I gather wood and make a fire, Kromnak Mor catches two rabbits with his animal trap, and cooks them, so we have a good supper.

We settle on the same order for watch this night as last: Kromnak Mor, Tholin, and me, Fizzle.  We make it through the night without incident. Unknown to me Kromnak doses through his watch and Tholin tries to catch a snake.  Which he finds poisonous. It bites him as he tries to get rid of it in the bushes, but he is OK. Later on my watch I hear what sound like an agitated snake in the bushes, but nothing comes of it.

Battle some bandits

After a restful night (for some more than others) we continue on our way.  As we make our way along the path we approach some boulders. Ever vigilant, Tholin becomes aware that, what turn out to be brigands, are hiding in the rocks.  He warns us not to make any sudden moves and tells us of this. Kromnak untrained in the fine art of subtilty immediately draws is axe and says “where!”, giving away that we have detected them.  Barbarians, what are ya going to do? The brigands stick two arrows in Kromnak’s mighty (this is for you Tim) bicep, which we all know is no way to stop a barbarian. Now extremely, shall we say irritated, Kromnak hurls one of his throwing axes at one of the archers, it was a mighty throw and cleaves the air with its vicious furry, but, alas, misses.  Not to be outdone Fizzle and Tholin put a bolt and an arrow each into one of the archers knocking him back of his perch and killing him. Kromnak leaps forward and taking a dagger in the thigh, splits the smaller of the three asunder with one mighty blow of his axe. Whish slice splat, and we are left with only one adversary. Seeing his comrades stuck and sliced, or possibly having  forgotten something important elsewhere, this one starts running away. Fizzle, that’s me, takes a shot with his crossbow and sticks a bolt in the fleeing brigands posterior. Tholin attempts a long shot but hits a protruding bolder and the arrow goes wild narrowly missing Kromnak, who quickly throws a javelin and skewers the runner, pinning him to a tree. Fizzle heals Kromnak Mor with Cure Wounds, and the fight is over.

We search the bodies and find 2 Silver and 4 Copper.  I find a silver woven basket, which I use as a hat for now.  Tholin finds a woven hair net with pearls and Kromnak fines 13 gold teeth.  One of which fits a gap in his teeth. He and I each take 2 copper and Tholin takes the 2 silver, promising to give us each 6 copper more when he gets the silver changed.  Kromnak replaces his shredded loin cloth with a pair of pants, that sort of fit, from one of the attackers.

Ol’Shire

We move on from the ambush site and come to Ol’Shire around 4pm.  It is not much to look at perched on the edge of the Briarstone cliffs.

Kromnak Mor accosts the first villager we meet and asks him where the bar is, this treatment scares him so much he wets himself, but does manage to point north.  Kromnak tosses him aside and heads that direction. We follow. Kromnak seeing two building in the indicated direction one with a Bowel on the sign the other with a bed.  He chooses the one with a picture of a Bowel on the sign. I’m not sure what logic that is but oh well. We get in the door just in time to see him sit down demanding Beer from the older gray haired lady (Her name is Morgath) keeping the place.  She provides us with a bowel of stew each, guess that’s why there’s a bowl on the sign, who knew. Kromnak says “This isn’t beer” shoves it aside and leaves. He heads across to the building with the bed sign to try there.

Meanwhile Tholin and I gather some information from conversing with the old women while we eat our stew.  We are not the only travelers to come through Ol’Shire recently. Some unsavory characters have passed through at least twice once going North with “someone on a stick” and once South, just a dark robed “magical” figure.  After this we head out to find where Kromnak has gotten to.

We enter what passes for an Inn in this town, and have an ale each, Tholin and I.  We hear much the same story about a dark robed figure that we heard from Morgath. About a day ago a dark short robed figure came through with 3 other persons, all tattooed the same way.  The short one sounds like the dwarf leader of the group, Kednar. During the cores of this the proprietor of this “fine” establishment discovers I am a Cleric and wants me to bless his ale.  Which I agree to do for two rooms. Inspired by the tails of hijinks from my elders as a boy, I turn away from him produce a little “holy water” from tap of my waterskin. Then sprinkle his ale barrels making the appropriate gestures and words. He seems happy with this. I feel only a little guilty.

Finishing our ale we leave.  It turns out Kromnak after drinking three ales, stirring up the drunk, and filling the proprietors head full of clap about Drizzle, went out to sleep under a tree where we find him.  We decide to go check out the cliffs edge where I pick up some shards of briarstone.

We head over to the stable, I thought just to check it out, and Kromnak ever on the lookout for an opportunity try’s to put one over on the boy guarding the stable.  Kromnak manages to convince the boy, with appropriate help from us, that the Mayor has authorized us to take 3 horses form the stable for our journey. In the course of persuasion, at some point, the kid wets himself.  I think I’m beginning to see a pattern developing in Interactions with Kromnak and the general public. Anyway we end up with 3 horses. Swayback used up horses but beggars can’t be chooses, right. So you’d think we owe Kromnak Mor a big thanks, right, well just wait.

Now we have to ride the horses, well Tholin and I are experienced riders but Kromnak is not.  He tries to mount and the horse side steps and he ends up on his butt on the ground, he, he. Tholin and I mount up no problems.  “We will ride slow so you can keep up leading yore horse Kromnak”. This is a huge joke to us until a passing villager yells out that we are stealing horses.  Instead of trying our story on this villager Kromnak, man of action that he is, whacks his house on the rear and starts to run North out of town. The house bolts turns and runs back to the stable, and now the whole town has heard and is out to get us, so Tholin and I have no choice but to galop (more of a quick trot with these old horses) out of town North as well, passing Kromnak on the way.  The towns folk concentrate on us as we have horses and Kromnak manages to pass unnoticed after running away.

Tholin and I manage to outdistance the townsfolk before we stop and they give up and turn back.  We settle in to await the arrival of Kromnak Mor. Meanwhile Kromnak having been passed unnoticed by all the villagers chasing us carefully creeps on through the tall grass after us along the road.  As a group of villagers approaches he hides in the tall grass to let them pass. Unfortunately they see a foot and he has to improvise. Cutting his forehead he jumps up and says the brigands who took the horses bashed him on the head and headed back to town and they should hurry to catch them.  Which, amazingly, they do leaving Kromnak to continue on his way.

A second group approaches and bolstered by his previous skill (blind luck) he decides to bluff his way past.  Now this is a recipe for disaster if I ever heard of one but… you guessed it, he pulls this one off too. Spinning the same story and asking for copper for new pants, which he gets!  They also leave him to go his way and he catches up to us where we are waiting. We move further off the road to make camp. Where once again Kromnak comes through by getting two goats with one javelin throw.  Dinner is served, yum roast goat on javelin spit. Kromnak fills us in on his adventures along the road while we eat. Tomorrow the ruins of Amara await.