Goodspeed's Good Men Episode 2

Suit Up Everybody - (Keith GM, 8/7/13)

The good men cross into Dorthonian territory, and make their way through the wilderness (And past several burned bridges from the Orc Wars), making it to the clearing that Kalias' manor resides in. Surveying the scene, they notice a tall Dorthone knight knock on the door to the mansion, and enter.

Wasting no time, Door or Window charges through the field (As stealthily as possible), and vaults through the window. Thomas the Decent quickly follows.

Inside, the pair overhears two men talking, and quickly try to see if they can find any sort of treasure. Door or Window theorizes that someone with a mansion like this must have some wealth, so the two set about finding where it is. Door or Window discovers the door as a knock is heard on the door, but cannot find a way to open it.

As the knight answers the door, Thomas jumps across the hall back into the room with the vault door. He quickly finds the location of the vault combination, behind a set of five fake books, and Door or Window sets about cracking it.

The Knight answers the door to find August and Abraham asking for Kalias, saying that Mountainbeard sent them. As he escorts them into the dining hall, where Kalias is waiting, he says for the pair to "collect their friends", indicating that he was aware the two other members of the party were already in the mansion. Before anything can be done, a loud Clicking and Clacking can be heard, and the vault door opens.

The group, along with Kalias, enter to see Door or Window marveling at the beauty of the vault. Gold piled to the ceiling, and treasures from dozens of kingdoms (Some of which Abraham cannot even recognize) lay in the vault. Kalias calmly closes the door, and resets the lock.

"Part of this money will be your reward for helping us."

Abraham speaks up. "Help you with what? Does this have anything to do with the Col'm Shar?"

The knight smiles, and takes of his helm, revealing his long blonde hair to be a wig.

"I see you are already up to speed. My name is Palanir, and I need your help"

"Six months ago, my group, the Col'm Shar, attempted to overthrow the government of Dorthone. Things had deteriorated to such a point that we felt that, without a change, Dorthone would collapse, and it's people would be in ruin. Due to certain…outside interference…we failed. Queen Thedra still controls the Kingdom, and because of our actions, things have gotten worse. Traffic into and out of the kingdoms is tightly restricted, and the people are starving, and weak. I need you to help me get our group back together, so that we can fix what we helped destroy."

"There are five members of our group missing. I need you to help me find three of them."

"Why only three?" Abraham asks.

"Because I don't know where the other two are. Beiro, our cleric, was taken by a dangerous man, and hasn't been seen since. I fear he may be dead. Madyrn, our hunter, is currently tracking him."

"The first is Colour. Our holy man, especially after Biero went missing. Since our failure, he has been keeping low. He's been using a false name, Eld, and has gone into hiding at the Temple of Eternal Spring. It's a temple dedicated to the god Corellon…a few days travel southeast from here. Getting to him will be risky, as Dorthone has really increased patrols around the heart of the forest, and they do not welcome outsiders."

"The second one is Wrothgar, our leader. This one is actually easy, as I know exactly where he is and how long he's been there. Wrothgar never was much for subtlety. After our failure, he refused to take our loss sitting down. He was determined to come back with a bigger force than we could provide. He marched into the Mountains of Misplacement, to find the refugees…elves that fled the destruction of the war, and the problems that appeared afterwards. But where Wrothgar is not subtle, our enemies also know where to find him. I've heard rumblings that there are orcish warbands looking for him in the mountains. Rumor has it that there is a bounty set that, whatever group can bring Wrothgar in dead or alive, will be granted ownership of Muscle Tower. That is a very high honor for the orcs, so there are many out there looking to win the Wrothgar lottery."

"The last one will be the hardest to find. Manthwe, our ranger. Even before the events at Dorthone, he was ready to leave the group. He's given up on war, on killing, on violence. Which is why we need him the most. He was last seen in the town of Halton, heading north. There's a rumor of a village, the north, near the shores of Taern, founded by retired adventurers. A place where men and women can put away their weapons and leave a simpler life. I believe that is where you can find him. But he represents the greatest threat to those that wish to stop us…he represents peace. And as such, I believe he is being hunted by a very dangerous man."

Questioning whether or not Wrothgar and Manthwe can get along, or who they should go after first, occurs from the group.

"We will work out the differences between Wrothgar and Manthwe. I think I can resolve it. As for who to go for first, Manthwe is in the most danger, but he is also the best hidden. Colour is close, I would start there. Get him back here, and we'll go from there"

"Here's my other question" Door or Window interjects.

"You have this massive fortune. Why not use it to help Dorthone directly?"

Kalias is quite for a moment. "I have my reasons. But Dorthone is difficult to get anything into."

Negotiating a "per diem" of 800 gold, (300 of which Door or Window pockets as a handling fee), the group head out for the Temple of Eternal Spring.

The path through the heart of the Dorthone woods is not nearly as dangerous as Kalias had made it out to be. The group finds tracks from patrols, but never encounter any issue…

Until they arrive at the Temple.

Outside the temple are roughly a dozen dead Dorthonian knights. A priest is tending to the bodies, while two soldiers look on.

Abraham and August approach, seeking to determine what happened to these knights. Door or Window, and Thomas, look on, noticing dead and injured priests in the temple, and the soldiers with blood on their swords.

"Outsiders aren't permitted in these woods by the Queens orders."

The soldiers draw their weapons, and engage in a fight with the two. Meanwhile, Door or Window and Thomas sneak into the temple, and notice the priests of the temple bound and gagged. Freeing one of the order, they quickly ascertain the situation.

"A squad of Dorthone soldiers arrived and took one of the clerics of the Temple, a man named Eld. But he didn't go without a fight. The soldiers that stayed behind attacked us in retribution, and tied us up. I fear them, they are outside this temple now."

Door or Window soothes their fears. "Don't worry about them. They are being taken care of. Where were they taking this man?"

"Back to Dorthone. They left about an hour ago."

Door or Window and Thomas quickly leave out the same window they came in, and run off right as August is questioning the incapacitated knight.

"We were under the queens orders. We just came to collect a criminal. The Lieutenant knew who we were looking for."

"Did you kill these priests?"

"Yes, under or…"

August cuts him off with his blade.

The two mount onto their horses and quickly catch up to the half-orc and tiefling. The two, in a deft display of acrobatics, smoothly jump onto the galloping horses, and the party makes their way down the road to catch up with the squad.

Catching them in their sights, Thomas quickly jumps off and obtains a higher vantage point in the trees, while the other three ride on.

They realize the danger they are in. 15 Dorthonian soldiers, and 10 Dorthone rangers, surround a lone elf. He is blindfolded, gagged, and bound in iron shackles. The goal is to free him quickly. Failure will likely mean the death of the Good Men.

Thomas nocks a pair of arrows, and lets them fly, disabling the two guards that are leading the elf.

August and Abraham, on horseback, charge into the crowd. Door or Window jumps off, and in a flash, has the shackles off of the Invoker, Colour.

In a quick breath, Colour lets out a hymn to Corellon, and a massive blast of light erupts on the battlefield, searing a large swath of the division. August lets loose a blast of flame, causing several others to flee in pain. Terror waves through the ranks, as the elves realize that Colour is free. Several flee.

In a boisterous command, Door or Window yells at those that still wish to fight. "We could slaughter you all here. But, what are we boys?"

The rest of the group answers, in unison: "Good Men!"

The rest of the elves drop their weapons, and flee.

The men introduce themselves to Colour, telling them that Palanir has sent for him.

"Tell us, have you heard anything from Wrothgar or Manthwe?"

"Wrothgar, no. No word. But I did receive a letter from Manthwe from Halton. He said he was giving up the life, and going off to leave in peace."

In hearing that Manthwe's life is in danger, Colour agrees that he needs to be rescused. When asked about him and Wrothgar coexisting, Colour reiterates: "We need to find Manthwe"

The group pick over the bodies for any valuables, storing a set of Dorthonian uniforms (For everyone except August. Though the one for Thomas is a size too small), and agree that it is time to Suit Up.

Loot:

800 gold from Kalias for the travels
450 gold from dead Dorthone soldiers
3 sets of Dorthone uniforms.
Food and provisions from the Temple of Eternal Spring
One set of iron gauntlet shackles.
Roughly ten feet or so of chain.
Access to Kalias' vault (Note, stricter security measures are being implemented)

Quote of the Night: "I'm a ranger though. I'm nimble."

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