Spoils of Victory

The party had defeated the oni, Kimandatsu, rescued Ameiko and Ulf, and found the lost ancestral sword of the Amatatsu family, Suishen. It seemed their work at Ravenscraeg was done, save for the matter of hauling all the loot back to Kalsgard. Between Ameiko, Ulf, and the other prisoner, Lute Haggersly, they now had more people than horses, and there was no sign of a stable at Ravenscraeg. So the party decided to split up, with Shinjiro, Nicki, and Sawyer staying behind to gather all the swag by the front door, while everyone else went back to town to fetch one of Sandru’s wagons. After all, what could go wrong?

Luckily, nothing. The trip back to Kalsgard was uneventful, and Ameiko had a tearful reunion with Sandru and Koya. Lute continued to shower them with thanks, and promised to return with a reward for all of them. They’d been careful to keep mum about their upcoming travel plans around the Rimerunner’s Guild factor, for there was little chance he would keep his mouth shut. Sandru ordered his men to unload one of the wagons, and the next morning everyone set out for the return trip to Ravenscraeg.

Everything there had also been quiet. The trio left behind had done a little exploring, including following the path that led out the back of the fortress, but found nothing of interest. Sandru quickly rigged the block and tackle to lower everything down to the ground without having to make dozens of heavily loaded trips up and down the stairs. With the hall emptied of anything of value that wasn’t nailed down (as well as a few that were), everyone set off back to Kalsgard.

Near the end of the first day’s travel, they were passing through an isolated stretch of road when a Fireball suddenly went off above their heads! There were lots of clumps of trees and bushes, as well as several boulders, which could all conceal potential attackers. Sure enough, a woman stepped out from behind one of the rocks and cast Hold Person on Sawyer, freezing the big fighter in his tracks. Zhustin reacted quickly with an Acid Arrow against the unknown cleric, then moved to put some distance between himself and the rest of the group. From behind the party, another woman appeared, and summoned a trio of giant spiders, which charged at Bella and Sandoval. A leopard came charging out of the brush, slashing at Sandru with its claws, while an arrow whistled out of a grove of trees, flying well over Sawyer’s head.

This looked to be a well-coordinated ambush, and Koya cast a Bless to help where she could, while Ameiko began to sing an inspiring song. Marie cast a Paryer of her own, then rushed into the trees where the arrow had come from. She found an elf readying another shot, but he dropped his bow as she approached and swung at her with a longsword. On the opposite side of the wagon, a drow stepped out of some underbrush and slashed at Shinjiro with a rapier and dagger. The monk took exception to this action, and slammed the drow back with fists and feet.

Sandoval decided to ignore the spiders, and rushed towards the cleric, pulling out his net as he ran. He heaved it forward, and it settled over her, entangling her in its folds. Zhustin had moved far away from where the action seemed to be, but suddenly a burly dwarf stepped from behind a boulder directly behind the young wizard. He swung his mighty warhammer, and Zhustin found himself rocked back on his heels. Knowing he couldn’t afford to trade blows with this fighter, he took a step back and cast a Color Spray that left the dwarf stunned … for now.

Nicki decided to focus on the spellcaster who had summoned the spiders, and fired off a Scorching Ray, that elicited a scream of pain. But she didn’t fall, and instead responded with a Scorching Ray of her own. The flames engulfed Nicki, but he seemed to shrug them off with little damage. Marie and the ranger were engaged in a quick-moving battle, but neither seemed to be able to land a telling blow; the ranger’s form seemed blurry, making him that much harder to hit.

Bella, meanwhile, was bottled up by the spiders. They weren’t doing much damage, but they were keeping her from attacking their master. Spivey managed to confuse one, but in its confusion it was still just as effective at blocking Bella’s movements. The cleric attempted to cast a spell, but Sandoval’s net hampered her movements, and the spell fizzled. Fearing that the woman wizard could be their biggest threat, Koya cast a Silence on the area in which she stood. Before she had a chance to run out of it, Sandoval fired off his Wand of Scorching Ray, and she fell to the ground in a smoking heap.

Shinjiro and the mystery rogue had been trading blows, each dealing out significant damage and then coming back for more. Spivey decided to do what she could to help Shinjiro hang in longer, and cast a Cure Light Wounds on him. That might have been the inspiration that he needed, because his next flurry took the drow down. He then shifted his focus to the cleric, who had managed to close with Sandoval despite the encumbrance of his net, and had opened up a nasty, bleeding wound on the bard. Shinjiro unleashed a brutal flurry of blows that sent the cleric flying through the air, neck broken.

Marie and the ranger were still swinging at each other, to little effect on either side. Sandru took out one of the spiders with an arrow, while Nicki killed the other two with a pair of Scorching Rays. Bella, free at last, dashed into the trees to help Marie. Nicki also shifted his focus, and sent one of his pet Flaming Spheres to scorch the ranger. Bella scored a pair of painful strikes, and Marie followed up with a mighty blow from her mace, and her opponent finally fell.

Just as it seemed the party might be getting the upper hand, the dwarven fighter shook off the effects of Zhustin’s spell, and charged after the wizard again, bellowing a battle cry. His hammer found its mark, and Zhustin saw little birds circling his head. Sawyer rushed to the little guy’s aid, with Koya giving him a little Bit of Luck to help out. The two fighters began bashing at each other, while Zhustin took a step back and fired off a volley of Magic Missiles in retaliation. Shinjiro joined the fray with another devastating flurry of blows that overwhelmed the sturdy dwarf’s defenses, and he too collapsed in a bloody heap.

With everyone down, the party began to search the bodies. These didn’t seem like your ordinary band of brigands – they seemed to be an experienced group of adventurers. They had nothing on them that identified them, but the question was left hanging: how had they known that anyone would be passing through this lonely stretch of wilderness, and why had they set up such a well-planned ambush?

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Upon their return, they found Ulf waiting for them in the caravan yard. He’d looked at what he could reuse from Sandru’s caravan (precious little), and worked out what they’d need to buy, how large a crew they’d need to hire (arctic-born Erutaki, not the “warm-blooded southerners” who’d brought them this far), the supplies they’d need, and what-not. All in, it could be done, but would cost at least 15,000 gold. When the party picked themselves up off the floor, they thanked their lucky stars that they’d found as much loot at Ravenscraeg as they had.

They next morning, they found Lute Haggersly waiting for them when they got ready to leave. He presented them with a handsome arm-rings (for which they thanked him while mentally counting up how much cash they could get for them). As a shareholder in the Rimerunner’s Guild, Bella though he’d be a good one to ask about “their” ship. “How do we go about claiming title to the Aril’s Hammer?” she asked bluntly. Lute gave her a blank look, so she continued. “Since we now know it wasn’t really stolen, it should belong to us as weregild for being attacked. We want to sell it to raise money.” Lute blanched. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. The other Guild factors are already petitioning the King to force you to return everything you got at Ravenscraeg. If you start demanding the ship, too, things are likely to turn ugly.” Bella was unconvinced, and Nicki though he had the solution. “What if we show them this as a demonstration of what we saved them from?” With a flourish he pulled Kimandatsu’s rotting head out of a stained burlap sack. Maggots writhed in its eye sockets. Lute gave a choking shriek, and dashed away. “Give me that thing!” snarled Sawyer. He snatched the head away from Nicki and hurled it into a nearby cesspit. “I refuse to spend one more night sleeping in the same room as that stinking piece of meat.”

Worried they might be under some time pressure, they decided to waste no time converting their loot into cold, hard cash, most of which immediately went back to Ulf to start hiring help and laying in supplies. They had no trouble finding buyers for most items, but Oathtaker proved to be a problem. Merchant after merchant refused to even consider buying the big club. Finally Nicki took one aside and turned on the charm: “What’s the deal here? Why would you not want such a rare and powerful item?” The shopkeeper looked around to make sure no one else was listening, then lowered his voice. “The word’s out – anyone who tries to buy this thing will have trouble with The Hill.” He nodded towards the center of the city, where a low hill rose, topped by the castle of the King.

The group took a break from their selling spree to pay a visit to Fynn Snaevald. They knew the old man would be anxious to know that they’d succeeded in concluding his blood feud with the thieves who had stolen Suishen from him. When Sandru heard they were going to visit Fynn, he begged to go along. So far, he’d had zero luck trying to get anyone in Kalsgard to even taste the bog nuts they’d been hauling since Sandpoint (“Maybe it’s the name,” he mused), but he was sure Fynn would be different. “I’m sure a trader with his exotic tastes will appreciate their unique flavor.” He had Koya bake a batch of bog nut cookies, and wrapped them up in one of the scarves from their load of Sandpoint textiles, and everyone set off for Fynn’s.

As expected, Fynn was excited nearly to the point of stroke to hear of all the team’s adventures, and his eyes teared up as Sawyer unsheathed Suishen for him. He ran his hand gently over the blade's delicate engravings, then returned her to Sawyer – a deal was a deal. Sandru unwrapped the bundle of cookies and offered them around, then waited expectantly as Fynn took his first bite. Unfortunately, the merchant found the spice disgusting and could barely conceal his revulsion: his mouth puckered and he set the cookie down after only one bite (although he was far too polite to say anything). Sandru’s face fell in disappointment. But then Fynn’s eyes fell on the cloth in which the cookies were carried. He picked it up and examined it closely. “Where did you get this?” he asked excitedly. Sandru explained that it was from Sandpoint, and that the patterns were common there. “This motif is very ancient, going back to early Thassilonian times,” Fynn enthused. “I’ve seen it on some ancient relics, but never on fabric, and never so faithfully reproduced. Thassilonian designs are quite the fashion among the wealthy right now – I know any number of people who would love to have draperies or upholstery like this.” Within a few minutes, Sandru had negotiated the sale of his entire shipment of “rare and historic weavings” (at a far higher price than he’d ever imagined). He happily split the proceeds with the party.

That night, to celebrate, they went for dinner at an inn in the Fire Quarter called the Whistling Fox, recommended by their own innkeeper for its excellent entertainment. Sure enough, a handsome female bard was singing that night. Her copper-gold hair was shot with a few strands of gray, but she sang poignant Ulfen sagas, and while the party understoodd little enough of Old Skald to follow the lyrics, the emotion she wrung from the songs touched them all.

When she finished, she rose and approached the party. “I was hoping you would come here tonight. Would you please join me for some private conversation?” She led the party into an adjoining room which had already been set with places for everyone, along with bread and cheese. They innkeeper brought in some pitchers of ale and flasks of wine, nodded respectfully to her, and closed the door behind him.

“Let me introduce myself,” she began. “My name is Thyrie Tarnalsdottir, and I am High Skald to King Sveinn Blood-Eagle. The King has asked me to speak with you, because you’ve placed him in a bit of an uncomfortable position, and he would like me to see if we can find a mutually beneficial solution to his dilemma.

“On the one hand, he is extremely grateful to you for unmasking the … thing that had been masquerading as Thorborg Silverskorr, and for eliminating both her and her ring of assassins. He had had his suspicions about the Rimerunners’ Guild for some time, but had no idea what was really in control of the Guild, or of their links to the Frozen Shadows.

“On the other hand, most of the principals of the Rimerunners’ Guild also had no idea what Silverskorr was doing behind the scenes, and are innocent of the crimes she and her minions committed. They are wealthy, powerful citizens of the kingdom, and the King needs their support. In their view, the valuables that you found at Ravenscraeg are Guild property, purchased with Guild funds – that is to say, their funds. They are demanding that you return all that you found there, or else be arrested as thieves.”

It didn’t take long for the import of this to sink in; without the proceeds from the Ravenscraeg loot, the party would be hard-pressed to pay for the expedition across the Crown of the World (and Ulf had already begun spending much of it). Nicki began arguing their case. “Silverskorr was acting on behalf of the Rimerunner’s Guild, and that makes the others accessories to her crimes. I’m sure that the courts would find that we were within our rights to take what we did, and that they have forfeited any claim they might have to the property.”

Thyrie laughed. It wasn’t a threatening laugh, but one of pure amusement. “The ‘courts’? You mean the King and his thanes, many of whom are the very Rimerunner’s shareholders bringing the charges against you? Yes, I’m sure that if you ignored the King’s offer of compromise and threw yourself on the mercy of ‘the courts’, that they would give you all that you ask, and almost certainly not drop you into the deepest dungeon cell below the King’s castle.

Nicki started to sputter in protest, but Thyrie raised her hand. “There may be a solution here. The King has heard that among the Silverskorr-thing’s belongings was a large magical club.” She was clearly referring to Oathtaker. “The King has heard something of its powers, and thinks it would be wise to keep it in the safety of the royal armory. He has also heard that there was a break-in at the Rimerunners’ Guild recently – a break-in which was never reported. The Guild partners are not including whatever was stolen from their guildhall in their list of property to be returned to them, but the King believes that it might have included some ledgers and minutes of Guild meetings. If he had possession of those papers, he might be able to convince the Guild partners that they should have been aware that Silverskorr was misusing Guild funds and that their failure to act makes them complicit in her actions. He might be willing to have that conversation with them, and to persuade them to drop their claims against you, if the magical club were turned over to him for safekeeping. In fact, he’d also be willing to guarantee you safe passage to the borders of his Kingdom, something which I think you’ve learned is far from assured in these dangerous times.”

A number of lights began to dawn on the party (at least among the less dim). The difficulty in selling Oathtaker. The mysterious ambush. The offer of a “Get out of town free (and soon)” card. They had something the King wanted, and they’d overstayed their welcome. The group quietly conferred while Thyrie stepped outside. Most were happy to take the King’s offer, but Nicki still didn’t like being railroaded into giving up Oathtaker for free. “We should just overthrow the King and take over the kingdom!” Ameiko quietly cleared her throat. “Um … that’s exactly what we are going to do – just not this kingdom.”

The PCs earned 1,886 XP, and are now at 35,605 XP and have reached level 7. They need 51,000 XP for level 8. We won’t meet this Sunday, but will resume again on the 30^th.