The party learned of a group of officers in Harcourt’s army, who came to town and were collecting conscripts from the various towns. They discussed for a good while about what their plans were in terms of a resistance against Duke Harcourt, with them not really deciding what the best course of action would be. Ultimately they decided that the soldiers should be disposed of, and the conscripts freed of their duties. They attempted to wait along the path out of town for them, but they did not leave that day. Smoth attempted to force the brand to work on the two hooded figures in the inn of the group, but nothing happened. They decided to follow along behind once they did finally leave town, and did so.

Shun and Keldon waited along the road to pose as mercenaries, with Findail disguised as their pet dire panther. Shun hailed them to stop and chat, and offered them some pastries. The officers politely declined, and said they had to be on their way. Shun inquired whether Harcourt was a good man to work for, and they said yes. He asked whether they still had their souls then, and they seemed very confused. “Carry on then.” said Shun. He waited a few seconds, then drew his halberd and attacked.

There was a long and protracted fight, one caster was killed, the other turned into a toad. The two soldiers that were with them, turned into werewolves as a sort of last ditch effort to survive, but they were ultimately killed. One of them used the phrase ‘A Devereaux never surrenders’, which Smoth remembered as being a minor house, known to him locally. The conscripts with them were basically scared out of their minds after seeing their superiors killed in horrifying ways, but everyone managed to convince them to calm down, and that their intentions were good. They said they were just citizens interested in halting the efforts of Duke Harcourt, in committing to an unnecessary war, and messing with the minds of casters. They all seemed very scared, but also somewhat curious, and wanting to DO something.

On one of the werewolves they found a letter, which described the efforts of both him and the writer, to go conscripting in order to maintain their good graces with the Duke.

The conscripts were all convinced to go back to Cranford while they waited for some kind of coherent movement to form, and Fin decided to help with the imminent planting. He had a few spells to cast, including some kind of plant growth, which helped enrich the soil and improve crops. He also went around to some of the nearby communities, and tried to help out at different locations.

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Experience

Defeated conscription gang – CR 8

8	2400xp
9	1800xp
10	1500xp

No harm to a single conscript – Story Award – 250xp each

xp/person:

8	850xp
9	700xp
10	625xp

1/2 XP for Keldon, due to player absence.