We began by decoding the orders we found on the soldier in the carriage. It said:
“The elves of Shaitam will not surrender and will not meet us in battle. No matter, we shall harvest whatever of their forests we can and burn the rest. Push the line forward slowly but surely. Use the civilians to clear the land and the soldiers to protect them.”
We discussed potentially warning the elves versus saving Scriggs. We decided to tell Flutt via our ring of Zooming and warn Enna’s family in Shaitam. We prepared a super convincing cover story that we are supporting the Shaitam mission by being in the capital. A couple of us will impersonate military commanders/members and the rest are civilian supports (guards/mercenaries). We will forge some orders in the same code. Our message is essentially “Scriggs is the key to Shaitam” – they are supposed to give him to us.
After forging this genius plan, we realized we were still standing around guiltily in the middle of the road surrounded by bodies. We threw all the bodies in the carriage, and Enna instructed the horses to run away, preferably on back roads and into the wilderness. We continued south whistling with our hands in our pockets. We found an inn and secured a couple of rooms and dinner, once again pretending that Kiiv was a dangerous prisoner.
We did a long rest. We forged our orders. Orla attuned to the snazzy red robe we’d found on the dead guy, and it turned out to be a Robe of Scorching, which she immediately claimed. Kiiv attuned to the hat of disguise so he could wear it in future. Kestyn overheard some gossip that the dead nobleman and his retinue had been found in a small town.
Enna used “animal messenger” to send a warning to her family in Shaitam. We also Zoomed with Flutt and told him to warn people on his end. Kiiv donned the hat of disguise and Orla got her makeup done, and we were off again on our Scriggs recovery mission. After traveling all day, we found another inn and splurged on a fancy suite. Our servant told us there was going to be a big trial in Barhold soon of “traitors against the world.”
After a breakfast of local bacon and pastries, we hit the road. We got our papers and disguises and stories in order and approached the entrance to the walled city of Barhold. Gulden presented our fake orders and everyone lied convincingly except Kestyn (aka Nyk), who forgot his fake name and most of his details and had to pretend to be drunk. He got thrown in the drunk tank and took a nap.
The rest of us found a midlevel inn called the “Bottled Djinn.” We noticed a bunch of shockingly vague placards advertising a big trial for “crimes against society.” After asking around a bit, we find out that political prisoners are kept in Blossington Castle, so we headed there and showed our fake orders. The commandant refused to release Scriggs but invited Nedlug to attend his special seating at the trial. Seizing the moment, Whipp, Orla (invisible), and Enna (as a mouse) went to the bathroom and concocted a plan to make contact with Scriggs. Orla and Enna set off to wander the prison and miraculously find a map and the area with heavily guarded prisoners. Orla devises a brilliant plan to communicate with the prisoners using tiny mouse-delivered notes that read, “Are you Scriggs? Y/N.” They find Scriggs’s cell; will our plucky heroes find a way to release poor persecuted Scriggs? Tune in next time to find out!
Respectfully submitted,
Whipp
Party Experience Before Session: 234,232XP
Experience Earned:
Party Experience After Session: 245,232XP
Needed For Level 8: 7 * 34,000XP = 238,000XP
The party reaches level 8! But will need to resolve their current activities and rest to gain the benefits of it.