Party Roster:
Balinor, 9th level Northerner fighter, 86 hp, played by Joel
Morty, 7th/6th human fighter/thief (bard), 74 hp, played by Jay
Robynne, 5th level woodsman, 38 hp, played by Rhonda
Bodkin, 4th level dwarven fighter, 36 hp, played by Katherine
Tarplin, 8th/5th half-elf druid/mage, 30 hp, played by Alan
Leo, 3rd level human Nevronian cleric, 19 hp, played by David
Morhion, 2nd level Northerner Nevronian cleric, 18 hp, henchman of Balinor
(Events of 12/4/04 in Charlotte; Game world May-July 2192)
The party had just grabbed all the treasure from an ancient crypt of Thim, god of herdsman and herd animals (frequently worshipped by Kharg tribesmen), and decided to bring the loot back to civilization before exploring further. Recall that we had just found the legendary artifact, the Bridle of Farin, and several highly magical bits of gear on a skeletal horse and rider, collapsed inside the crypt likely some eight hundred years before.
Many questions remained unanswered. What did this have to do with the King of the World incidents? How did the Kharg get into this crypt normally? Was the loot massively cursed? How would the denizens of the area react to us running away with the treasure?
First we needed to deal with the immediate problem of our “guide”, Boss. Could we trust him? What should we do?
It was a calculated risk, but we really didn’t have a lot of options. Boss admitted that we would soon find out who he was, and that although he had committed some crimes in his life, he had been wrongly found guilty of murder. He claimed that the other crimes were minor, and that he has been working to prevent war in Rog. Hopefully the help he has given plus presumed innocence of the serious crime would prevent any awkward moments with Deputy Balinor trying to arrest him or something.
We were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and look into the murder charge. In addition, we paid him for three more days of time in the mines, and with an additional 250 gp, he revealed that fifty unaffiliated bandits (with little to no magical support) were waiting to ambush us when we exited the Argo Forest side from the caves. This was quite helpful, and in addition, Boss would discourage the various shifty occupants of the cage from wandering into the crypt, at the risk of their souls.
Continue reading “Balinor/Morty/Tarplin (BMT) Adventure #3: The Black Rider”