Kensing

Choosing a Ruler and Building a School

The party decides that they need to solidify Etine Tarris’s power and find a location for the school.

Our story begins back in the jail cells in Arness castle. We decide to keep Harcourt under wraps so that mob justice does not take him out. They decide to disguise him as a wounded soldier, take him to Etine, try to convince her to let him come with him. The troops around the castle cheer on the group as they head to Etine, and thank them. When asked why they are there, Smoth hints they were hired by a ‘lost son’ of Arness.

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An Unlikely Ally
How do we redeem a tainted soul?

The party stands there for a moment soaking in the information, Harcourt kicked out of the capital, the wizards having turned against him. With a quick discussion the group decides now is the time to act.

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Killed in Silence
Nothing like death on the cusp of dawn...

The group flies into the city and decides to meet with Corwin’s contact. When they meet with him they tell him about their plans to enter into the castle. It is going to be enacted mostly by Smoth who will continuously set off the alarm and turn invisible. Smoth tell’s Leutenant Hevel to notify the Countess as to why the alarm is going off sporadically, and have her let the guards know that it’s a common occurance.

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To the rescue!!
A child must be saved from the evil clutches of the Werewolves
  • Before Corwin will get the party past the Devereux guards, he asks for a favor. Countess Taris’ son, Derek (4 years old), has been taken hostage by Devereux henchmen and is being kept in a manor outside Arness. The party must rescue him before Corwin will help.
  • Fin shapeshifts into a sparrow and flies to the manor to scout things out.
  • Unable to find the boy outside or in any of the rooms with windows, Fin flies into an empty room and turns into a rat. He finds nothing but dire wolves and humans (probably werewolves) hanging around the house.
  • Luckily, the wolves did not smell Fin and he was able to make it out. But not before he overheard some of the humans talking about what sounded like Derek (I think “little bastard” was the term used): ”...wonder if he’ll catch anything the first time out?”
  • This made it seem like Derek was not at the manor anymore, so Fin shifted back into sparrow form and flew into the woods in search of Derek. Unable to locate the boy, he turned back to report to the party once it got dark.
  • While Fin was scouting, Shun decided to get to know Corwin a little better. They mostly talk about politics and Shun discovers that Corwin actually thinks highly of Duke Harcourt. He doesn’t believe that Harcourt kmows what the Devereux’s have been up to. Corwin also talks about his hatred of Smoth’s father and how he’s the root of all Kensing’s problems. Since Smoth is not “Smoth”, he keeps his mouth shut, not wanting to start any trouble with an ally.
  • Shun with help from the others finally convinces Corwin of Harcourt’s wickedness and Corwin pledges his men to our cause when we need them. Bonus!
  • When Fin returned, the party decided to have Fin continue scouting in Eagle form and have the rest of the party wait on the fringes of the woods in case the boy came back.
  • In a clearing in the woods, Fin sees 6 humans in loin-cloths eating a deer. One of the humans is a child.
  • Assuming it must be Derik, Fin swoops in and grabs the child before any of his under-dressed companions can react.
  • The child is reluctant to go. (The party thinks he’s already been turned into a werewolf by the Devereux’s) He struggles and causes Fin to lose his grip. The impact from the fall injured the child most severely, but Fin was able to heal him.
  • After regrouping, Keldon teleported everyone back to Arness. Since they had a few extra people along this time, Smoth and Fin had to travel in the Bag of Holding.
  • After the trip, both of them said it didn’t smell all that bad…
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Clearing the Mine and Rescuing Corwin

After defeating the guards outside of the mine, the party calls one of the workers over to discuss the situation. The man’s name is Vareth and after thanking everyone, he explains that there are still some mine bosses inside, but the main muscle is already defeated. Also, Corwin Flase, the previous captain of the guard in Arness, has been sent to work the mine in a recently reopened mine shaft. Vareth tells the party that the people assigned to work in that shaft have vanished, and only the biggest troublemakers get sent to work there.

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Return to Arness

After taking the two orphans to meet with Freka, the clan heads to Arness via the feather spell. Soldiers look suspiciously at the party as they walk through the gates; Smoth immediately hides his scabbard. A mace-wielding soldier asks the group’s business in being there in a very rude fashion. Eventually, he lets the party pass and they head to the temple of Boccob.

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Tragedy in Nent
Harcourt gets the better of Heironeous

With Spring beginning, the former conscripts recruited by the party had plenty to do in tending to the crops and helping make Cranford more defensible. At this point, the adventurers had a couple of options. They could further investigate the rumors of the ruined tower to the north. This could provide a defensible base of operations for the planned resistance. But based on the rumors Smoth heard, it seemed a little too risky at the moment. Another option was to try to find some willing orphans to take back to Freka where they would learn the ways of the druids. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long and it was something that needed to be done, so the party agreed to pursue this course.

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Drafting an army

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.

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Crafting Items, and Connecting with the Past

After Defeating the Naga the party returns to the city, the last ingredient needed for crafting Gloves of Dexterity aquired.

The party returns to the leatherworker and manges to sell the entire Naga’s body for 300 gold, as it is in perfect condition. While there Keldon decides to purchase his own set of gloves for a lesser version of the Gloves of Dexterity than Fin and Smoth are having crafted.

With all the shopping and gathering business concluded, Asherok teleports us back to her house in the small village, and there in the basement Smoth and Asherok begin to work on the 3 pairs of gloves that are needed. During this time the rest of the party takes a long needed rest, except for Findail who spends every available moment scrying on the far away jungle. Eventually he starts asking Keldon to view the jungle with him, so that they might teleport there.

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Shopping and Racist Gnomes

Keldon awaken his senses to realize more potential that was previously un-tapped, after spending time meditating and praying to Lirr. He then casts slay living into his ring, which seeps into his ring in the form of a black cloud. Smoth then slips the ring on his finger.

Ashaurok takes the clan shopping for various items via teleportation. They teleport into a cold, walled city that is much more metropolitan than the ones they had recently visited. Ashaurok takes the group to a gnome alchemy shop where they sell their items with ease. Finn then has his gloves embroidered with the outlines of various animals that inhabit nature. Smoth has a wolf-head embroidered on his gloves. While the gnome is willing to provide the gloves, he says that he will need poison from a Naga. Knowing full well that Nagas tend to live in evil underground places, they decide to seek out some sea caves.

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