Clan Rumbleseed, played 4.18.20 IRL (in real life) and 10/24/2121 IG (in game).

• Miraeg Dunn (Jonathan) Leader, Performer, Mechanic.
• Ivo Flynt (Imre) Support, Gunsmith, Engineer.
• Cagroot Hopstrider (KC) Skirmisher, Brewer, Delver.
• Thoreson Grimeater (Anders) Berserker, Chef, Healer.

Return to Lebrim Manor

The Fellowship was granted a mudwagon coach and two Sinlayan guards to smooth out any misunderstandings that might arise along the way. They prepared to return to Lebrim Manor by loading up on a few tunnel supports and excavation supplies, as well as some pitch and torches, equipping themselves at the baron’s expense in town before resting and heading out fresh as the cooling ashes of the baroness were collected from the pyre. The trip was uneventful enough.

Baron Lebrim

Dusk was falling as the Fellowship arrived. Much to their surprise, the burned skeleton of the manse was a work site with a mass of peasants handling excavation. Some rough guards challenged them, and were surprised to hear they had the Marchionesse’s authorization in writing to return and excavate the site. They took the Fellowship to Baron Lebrim.

The slender young baron was sobered by their story and their admission that they detonated explosives in his basement while he was not home. As he introduced them to Magistrate Lyrin and they noticed Justicar Trays in the background, along with more soldiers and justicars, they began to suspect that the narrative wasn’t coming together in their favor.

Magistrate Lyrin thought bandits were behind it, but with the admission that the Fellowship detonated a bomb, that clarifies some of the puzzles the investigation was wrestling with.

The Baron’s Story

According to Lebrim, he went on a hunting trip on his lands with the visiting nobles, but on the way back his horse threw a shoe, so he sent them ahead and took his time gentling his horse back. Upon his return, the house was in flames and everyone was missing; in town, emissaries from the families of those who were missing awaited word of their fate.

This story did not match well with the dwarven account of an empty house with corpses that had been dead for days, but rose to fight, and wild tales of echoes and heartbeats and ghosts. The magistrate promised to dust for brittlestone to see if any traces were present. Cagroot had a chilling moment as he looked into the baron’s eyes and saw the flat soulless eyes of a cave moray staring into his soul. Then the baron smiled, and the moment was past.

Camp Cooking

Fed up with the frustrating questioning, Thoreson reacted towards the smell of the spitted deer cooking on spits to feed the guards and work crews. He bustled in to the cooking area and told the  people they were cooking the deer wrong, then he expertly adjusted the cut of the meat on the hot spit and added custom spices and vegetables in the carcass, creating a mouth-watering treat out of the gristly corpse. While most of the peasants were overawed and frightened by the dwarf among them, an old woman named Hetty thought he was great (and she was basically in charge.) The spiced venison was a hit with the workers.

As he returned to where the rest of the Fellowship was answering questions first to the magistrate then to the justicar, he smelled an underground predator, cave pouncer, boiling. You never boil cave pouncer–and you also don’t find them on the surface. He investigated, and found a foolish peasant cook who insisted it was cream of bunny stew. Disgusted, Thoreson left him to it and returned to the Fellowship.

Independent Verification

Not only was the magistrate questioning each of the Fellowship, his justicar duplicated the work so they could cross-check the stories. They also dispatched a couple riders to Rennet Hall to verify the story on that end as well. The Fellowship was generally cooperative, except Ivo, who ran out of patience with the questioning as though their word was questionable or their story would change.

By the time the Fellowship had a chance to have a private conversation in grim tones about what to do next, it was almost midnight. Justicar Trays continued monitoring them from a distance, unobtrusive and everpresent.

Into the Foundation

In the pre-dawn bustle, the dwarves approached the foreman, Carwyn, and offered him beer in exchange for a chance to look through the rubble in the foundation. Reluctant, Carwyn allowed them access, as long as they didn’t get him in trouble with Baron Lebrim.

Thoreson and Cagroot looked for monster sign in the rubble while Ivo and Miraeg questioned Carwyn. Carwyn explained that there had been no corpses found, and he didn’t have specialized skill; he was a carpenter, not an engineer, so he wasn’t much help on discussing structural issues. In the foundation, the corpses were gone; the fire could not have reduced their bones, the bodies would still be in the rubble, so their absence was a mystery. The area of the cellar with a hole going deeper was still buried under the collapsed sitting room.

Cagroot found a charred bit of monster meet and some carmelized slime–proof enough to satisfy an expert, but the ignorant humans were unlikely to find it compelling. He had a dizzy moment, hearing the heartbeat again, and sensing Baron Lebrim’s eyes flicking open. The dwarves responded to Carwyn’s plea that they take off before he was reported to the baron for letting them poke around, against orders.

The Woodsman’s Bounty

Hetty was waiting for them, and she had Elyes the woodsman with them. She heard about a story he told, and made him tell the Fellowship as she punctuated the story with swats from her wooden spoon. Elyes confessed the stew was not rabbit meat, he found a creature and used its meat. It’s all protein, right?

Elyes led the Fellowship into the woods a short walk, up the shoulder of the hill overlooking the mansion. There was a cave entry in the hill, and inside is where he found the cave pouncers, ambushing one with his shortbow. The Fellowship approached Justicar Trays (who had followed them) and asked him to go in with them; Elyes was not willing to go in. The justicar agreed, and the Fellowship lit torches and headed into the vent.

Under Lebrim’s Hills

The woodsman had butchered a couple cave pouncers just inside where the cave opened up; he shot them from ambush. The Fellowship continued deeper in the chasm corridor, and they were attacked by cave pouncers. They boldly slew the ambush predators, who were first repulsed to follow up with another attack.

At the end of the deep corridor, they found a pit that dropped over sixty feet down (they tossed a torch and measured.) The pit stank of cave pouncers, and something worse; and Cagroot felt that damned heartbeat throb again. This time, in this context, it clicked and he realized part of what he was feeling.

As a delver, he knew of feardrinkers, horrible spidery monsters that were slow and weak but manipulated mood and infected victims with echo fever. That’s what he and Ivo had suffered from at Lebrim Manor the first time, and what twisted in him now; but it had merged with something else. Feardrinkers were symbiotic predators, working with super predators to make prey sloppy and fearful, easy pickings; they were content with carrion and leftovers. Cagroot felt the pale, empty eyes of a feardrinker somewhere below. But the echo fever was twisted through something else; the fear drinker had found a partner, and it was somewhere below.

Next Steps

The Fellowship had not brought climbing gear, and they were not sure this was the moment to go after what was below; no one knew where they were, and the justicar was with them. They withdrew, resolved to arm up and return with gear to drive this threat away from the surface and clear their names.

They earned 2 Ledger (deferred until they could Tell the Tale.)

Clan Rumbleseed, played 4.11.20 IRL (in real life) and 10/22/2121 IG (in game).

• Miraeg Dunn (Jonathan) Leader, Performer, Mechanic.
• Ivo Flynt (Imre) Support, Gunsmith, Engineer.
• Cagroot Hopstrider (KC) Skirmisher, Brewer, Delver.
• Thoreson Grimeater (Anders) Berserker, Chef, Healer.

Grim Dawn

As morning light filtered through the trees, they prepared themselves to heft the corpse of Baroness Elenor Rennet back to Rennet Hall. Carrying it all that way, or dragging it, seemed unpalatable. They remembered her carriage, and a horse, in the stable. Miraeg and Ivo headed to the stable, and Cagroot went into the servant quarters to look for some basic supplies for the day’s trip.

Die Laughing

Cagroot was startled to find a badly injured masque attendant sprawled in a chair at the table, masked, trickling blood, and surrounded by empty wine bottles. The drunk and dying man slurred at Cagroot to tell him a joke so he could die laughing; Cagroot quickly thought of one, and the man chuckled at the edge of death. Summoning in Thoreson for his healing abilities, Cagroot eased the man down, and Thoreson staved off death, bandaging the still-bleeding circular hand-sized cuts on his torso from a vicious alien attack.

Cagroot’s sharp senses also heard a sound under the cupboard, so he flipped it, further terrifying a human child who had been hiding there since the incident. Miraeg took over dealing with the child, gently breaking the news that his mother was dead, resolving to take the sober child to safety.

The Long Road

Supplied with food, drink, and passengers, the dwarves rigged up some sort of connection between the horse and carriage, and stowed the corpse, lashed to the luggage rack. Thoreson kept the nobleman alive. The road back to Rennet Hall was long, but they did not get lost or run into curious humans who would likely react poorly to their young, injured, and dead passengers.

It’s a Party

Twilight approached as they rolled up to the outskirts of Rennet Hall, debating how to break the news. Thoreson was sent ahead to talk to Casic, the butler. He noticed tents pitched on the grounds with heraldry for the entourages of several nobles, visiting for the harvest festival that was about to begin. Heraldry indicated that both Marchionesse Kreshka and Count Vandov were present. As Thoreson approached the back door, Casic was ejecting some servants for misbehavior; she was supervisor of the staff, handling all the preparation for the party.

Thoreson took her aside for a brief update that she took with a measure of stoicism common to war time. Of course Rennet Hall would take care of Sir Marl and Jimmy, the child. She sent the dwarves around to a back gallery with the corpse, and met them there to prepare the body somewhat. Baron Rennet came to view his wife, bordering on unresponsive. He also called in his wife’s uncle, Lord Nyalt Terragnis, who brought along his priest, Father Reginal Baird.

Friends Like These

Terragnis wasted no time suggesting the dwarves were handy at solving a problem that they likely caused, and noting they could have visited Lebrim Manor and inflicted this damage before coming here appearing innocent. He also rebuked the dwarves for destroying a noble’s house, regardless of the context; it was not their place to interfere with the rulers of human lands.

Baron Rennet dismissed Terragnis’ concerns, and the dwarves managed a heroic feat of diplomacy and even temper in the face of the old man (humans age so quickly!) and his accusations. The baron was left alone with the body, and the dwarves were invited to stay under his roof for the celebration as it transformed into a wake. On the back lot, woodsmen began building a pyre, the best method for disposing of the unclean dead with decorum and a measure of surety.

Networking

Miraeg met the Marchionesse and her husband in the hallway as they headed to their suite. Kreshka was still somewhat wan and using a cane as she recovered from being stabbed through the torso at her wedding ceremony, but she was pleasant enough to Miraeg even though she seemed worn down and overshadowed in an unhappy marriage. Harking back to their conversation months ago, Kreshka noted she had not shaped the Count into a palatable partner yet.

Ivo secured maps of the lands from Casic, and hunched over them, determined to suss out what dwarven territory would be underneath Lebrim Manor, so they could see what underneath problem burrowed up to afflict the surface and make sure they were not liable or affected by the corruption. Visualizing the three dimensional layout, he determined that the Tayga family lands, first generation territory under the entry to the Delve, was below Lebrim lands.

Thoreson and Cagroot began cultivating a buzz, consoling themselves under the shadow cast upon their host’s hall.

The Wizard

A large black raven flapped up to their window, and they let in the shape-shifting wizard, Master Delter. He spotted them and checked in with the esteemed guests before visiting the host. They filled him in on their strange story of assaulting the risen dead of Lebrim Manor, and he was disturbed by their story.

They took him to the baroness’s body, and his examination revealed there was no brittlestone in her wounds or her aura. That was unsettling, as brittlestone is the main component of almost every form of reanimation of the dead. The unsettled wizard concluded this was a mystery that needed solving.

The Ritual

As they discussed the matter back in their guest room, Cagroot saw a spectral woman in the corner, and he hurled his mug at the figure as it vanished.

Since Cagroot was part of the mystery, Master Delter conducted a peculiar magical ritual to get a better look at what haunted him, creating a circle of rare components and candles, and delving into the dwarf’s energy. Once the ritual was well begun, the candles burned high and snuffed out, and after a moment of silence the room returned to light with a new and awful rotten stink hanging in the air.

In that moment, Cagroot had dropped into a filthy forest of intestine-like squirming tree things, and seen the spectral woman he had glimpsed a couple times now, calling to him silently but trapped by some invisible force and drawn deeper in, away from him. He carried the stink of that place back out to the waking world.

He recognized the spectral woman. It was Baroness Elenor.

A Dark Fate

Master Delter concluded that some supernatural force had devoured the baroness’s spirit, and when Cagroot’s spirit touched on that supernatural force and was infected by it at Lebrim Manor, her spirit had somehow escaped into him, where it would not be digested. She was between, unable to move on but unable to come back.

At breakfast, Fr. Baird approached the dwarves, having heard about the investigations of the night before. He explained he was sympathetic to their situation, and asked them to accompany him to see the baron, and the Fellowship agreed.

Casic took them to an audience with the baron to explain the situation. Rennet demanded to know if she was still suffering, and of course she likely was. Apparently her uncle had demanded the ashes be returned to their home town of Azarumme. But physical remains were often key to resolving unfinished business. Rennet secured Fr. Baird’s cooperation in securing the baronesses real ashes and sending other ashes home with her uncle.

When Rennet married the baroness, as part of the arrangement he agreed to refurbish the Gilded Tower, a mausoleum built in the Painted Valley long ago and allowed to lapse into ruin decades ago. The Terragnis family had dealt with ghosts for many generations, and they built the Gilded Tower in part to serve as a door on a doorway, controlling access both ways; if she could be freed anywhere, he would want her freed there, her suffering ended as swiftly as possible. He also was given a measure of agonizing hope that perhaps she could come back somehow, if she was not truly gone. He would do anything he could for her, now that it was too late to fulfill his promise to restore the tower in her lifetime.

A Message

The Fellowship had other responsibilities before bearing the baroness’s ashes to a mausoleum. They needed to get word back to Dunn Hall about the potential threat to the Tayga family holdings, and to update Torala Dunn on their activities. In addition, Ivo was determined to get back to the ruined foundation of Lebrim Manor and see what else they could discover about the threat there before time erased more traces.

It would take 3-4 days to get a message the long way around to the entrance to the Delve if the humans took a message, and one of the dwarves would have to leave to take the message via the back way they used to leave their lands. Master Delter offered to carry the message as the crow flies, he could get there in a day–but he would need payment in strange spell components from their deep lands. After some consideration, Ivo agreed to pay him his peculiar fee, and the wizard took their message and flew away.

Baron Rennet had no authority over Lebrim lands–but Lady Kreshka could authorize their expedition to the ruin.

Miraeg Tells a Story

Nobility created barriers to conversation, so Miraeg tracked down Hen, Lady Kreshka’s agent. He asked for an audience, and got an invitation to the lunch table with other nobles trying to be close to the marchionesse.

Not wanting to be blunt or overheard in his request to excavate the Lebrim Manor foundation, Miraeg spun a story about digging for threats, and Kreshka was grimly amused. All by herself, she had the bright idea of authorizing them to take a look at Lebrim Manor, from an architectural standpoint of course, and she had some authorization papers drawn up and signed. Lebrim Manor was in her lands, and she could give them permission to be there and interfere with a noble’s holdings.

That afternoon, the remains of Baroness Elenor Rennet burned on a pyre as the Fellowship prepared to go digging for answers.

Clan Rumbleseed, played 4.4.20 IRL (in real life) and 10/15/2121 IG (in game).

• Miraeg Dunn (Jonathan) Leader, Performer, Mechanic.
• Ivo Flynt (Imre) Support, Gunsmith, Engineer.
• Cagroot Hopstrider (KC) Skirmisher, Brewer, Delver.
• Thoreson Grimeater (Anders) Berserker, Chef, Healer.

What’s Been Going On?

In the seven months since the last adventure, the dwarves were busy with various projects.

• Miraeg was summoned by his aunt, whose health was failing. Her time to die was drawing near. She was instrumental in teaching him stories and songs as a performer, and as her memory was failing, he performed for her the material she taught him. He also used his expertise with machines to keep her life support machinery optimized until it was no longer needed.
• Ivo spent time reinforcing the Deep Wall, one of the fortifications in the Lower Delve. He served there during his First Fifty and it was pleasant to be among those charged with defending the reach, whose perspective was perhaps clearer on certain issues than those safely entrenched up above. He supervised the critical cannon maintenance.
• Cagroot invested in networking and study with some of the clan alchemists, continuing his life-long fascination with their art. His family insisted he become a brewer, but he had always been enamored of the alchemical arts, and he may yet master their secrets for himself. In the meantime, nobody parties quite the way alchemists do, and his brews were welcome mediums for experimentation.
• Thoreson took on some secret messenger work for the Archon of the clan. Due to his success in dealing with the topsiders in the celebrated wedding (where he also happened to save Lady Kreshka’s life) he was allowed to satisfy a current Sinlayan noble fad for dwarven delicacies. He took loads of candied mandibular treats to the surface, a confection he called “elf noses” (and some of the elite versions had a point you could squeeze so the top peeled open, called “sneezers.”) He carried confidential messages back and forth on these trips as well.

Expedition to the Various Gardens

In the background, Torala Dunn continued his negotiations and jockying for position in the upcoming joint venture for Rumbleseed to send a new expedition into the Various Gardens. Their haphazard rush to snatch territory for each family of the clan created complications at the Delve access point that have only magnified over time, so breaching this new territory was to be a joint venture with agreed-upon articles of cooperation. The Dunn family had a seat at the table, and would have a delegation in the overall expedition.

Torala’s nephew Felvis, Miraeg’s cousin, considered himself a shoo-in for the position. An experienced delver, he was confident enough that he was getting in a lengthy hunting trip before Torala headed to Powder’s Rest for the Council meeting, since he would be too busy with the expedition for recreation later.

Supper with the Patriarch

Torala invited Miraeg and his friends to supper, where he usually had a dozen or so dwarves enjoying table fellowship. Over the course of supper, he explained he was headed to Powder’s Rest for the Council deliberations on the expedition to the Various Gardens, and the final roster would be revealed in three weeks, at the Palegate Festival.

An old friend had reached out to him and ordered three casks of a specialty vintage of wine (Torala was a skilled vintner.) Torala had been friends with Baron Jer Rennet, they went to war against goblins together. Torala was also friends with Jer’s son, they hunted together occasionally. Humans age so fast he lost touch for a bit, but now he got a request from Baron Henrik Rennet, great-grandson of Jer. The baron was throwing a harvest party, apparently it was that time in the weather cycle on the surface. Torala was sending wine he laid in the year Jer Rennet was born, 136 years ago, and it seemed a fitting exchange with his friend’s descendant. Besides, occasionally reinforcing friendships with allies was a critical peacetime activity, because when war comes it’s too late to make friends.

Normally Felvis would handle such a trip–Miraeg was quick to catch the drift, and offered to take the shipment. There was some clarification that this wasn’t a negotiation, no promises were made, but the service would be considered in assigning the Dunn faction participation in the Various Garden expedition. Miraeg was honored to handle the task as Torala’s shield, and Ivo smoothed the way diplomatically so everyone was on the page with no awkwardness.

To Rennet Hall

The paths between the surface hall and the Delve were mostly steep and narrow stairways, unsuitable for pack animals. The dwarves shouldered the casks and supplies and stoically undertook the three day trip through fairly safe territory. They arrived at Rennet Hall without incident in the late afternoon, noting that the hall looked somewhat like an inhabited tinderbox. It was pleasant to see the minotaur skull mounted over the doorway from a hunt almost a century ago, recalling that Jer’s son teased Torala about missing out on a good adventure. None of the current residents had been alive when that hunt happened, and it was already legend for them.

Servants were preparing the hall for a big party, and they were awed and respectful to the visiting dwarves. Baron Rennet swung out to meet them on his crutch, and was awkward but respectful, not quite sure how to handle them (as dwarves were not common visitors to his hall.) He invited them to stay for the celebration in three days, and they agreed.

The Butler

The discomfort soon eased. Rennet’s butler, Casic, saw to it that they settled themselves. As Thoreson deposited his live puppy-sized rollingbugs in the root cellar, to be prepared for the feast later, Casic took the opportunity to reveal a potential problem. The baron’s wife, Elenor, went to a celebration at a neighboring baron’s estate. She was over a day overdue. The baron had a difficult year, and loved his wife deeply, and to send out a search party would be to admit something was wrong. Casic asked the dwarves to follow the Outer Road to Lebrim Manor, about a day’s walk, because Elenor should be there or on the road back.

Baron Dav Lebrim just inherited his father’s title and lands, so the masquerade ball was a title-warming party as well as celebration for the summer’s end to the hostilities with Vandov, as well as a harvest celebration.

Thoreson swore he’d protect the baroness and see her home, and Lynn Casic was relieved; she would owe him one. He formalized the agreement by marking her hand with a circle of his blood, because favors are a solemn thing for dwarves.

The Baron

When Thoreson returned to the others, they were reflecting (in their native language Dirit) on the oddities of human culture (they burn wood!) He told them they’d go after the baroness tonight, not even resting overnight. They would “tour the local countryside.” But the cook insisted they stay for supper, and they agreed.

Over mealy human food with inoffensive drink, they chatted with the baron. Ivo asked when his new leg would arrive, and the embarrassed Baron explained the crutch was pretty much it. He lost his leg to Vandov horsemen in the summer battles, when he took an arrow to the knee. Shocked, Ivo promised to make him a prosthetic. The animated conversation that followed got the baron excited about the prospect of a fitted chitinous mechanical limb, and grateful for their promised gift.

To Lebrim Manor

As the human day wrapped up, the dwarves set out on their hike, weary from their long day but not exhausted. Navigating the surface was strange and difficult under the open sky, and they lost half a day trying to keep the wagon tracks humans call a road separate; the raiding with Vandov resulted in many signposts being defaced, so the “outer road” was not easy to follow.

They arrived as dusk was settling in, noting that there were no lights on in the manor and the decorations for the party appeared neglected. Circling the perimeter of the house first, they saw a stable, a guest house, and a pond in the back. They checked the stable, finding a number of dead horses. What killed them? Maybe poison, hard to say with surface creatures; no visible wounds, anyway. One terrified horse was still alive, and they left it alone. They did see three carriages parked behind the stable–the baroness probably didn’t leave.

Rain fell from the sky. Rather than check the guest house, they headed into the manor itself. An eerie silence saturated the main hall, and they looked to see where something bloody had been dragged from the dining room to the kitchen; something had gouged the door frame, also, and the manor was redolent with the stench of the dead and corruption. Miraeg and Ivo checked the dining room, while Thoreson and Cagroot checked the kitchen.

Leftovers of the Feast

Costumed revelers were sprawled around the dining room, and a mass of rats helped themselves to the remains of the meal on the table. Miraeg leaned in to inspect one of the revelers to try and figure out what happened to him. The corpse snatched his wrist, and a mass of the dead sprang to their feet with impossible energy.

Ivo fell back and blasted away with hollow tip and explosive rounds, and Miraeg blocked the doorway, battering away at the shamblers. As the corpses lunged for them, the rats swarmed off the table, pouring between the shamblers’ legs and springing up onto the dwarves in a frenzy.

The dwarves flung the rats off and leaped out of the way as Cagroot charged in, chewing up the incendiary beetles he kept under his beard so he could spray a gout of flame like a breath weapon, immolating the vermin before they could follow up. More shamblers hammered into the Fellowship’s flank from the kitchen, and Ivo scooted down the hall away from the melee, expertly flicking more rounds into his gun and continuing to blast the shamblers.

The Fellowship battered the shamblers down with minimal injury, and checked to make sure the baroness was not in their number. (They saw a portrait of her and the baron at Rennet Hall, painted in happier times.) They rested to catch their breath and tend their injuries.

The Cellar

Ivo heard an intermittent, almost aggressive heartbeat. No one else could hear it, and he assured himself there was nothing in the walls, using his expertise as an engineer. Wary, the Fellowship went into the kitchen, and saw something had previously burst out of the cellar below (because of course there was a cellar below.)

The Fellowship descended the stairs and saw a gooey mess of corpses and rancid wine in the cellar. Maybe something was stirring in one of the kegs in the basement, also. They needed to know if the baroness was here, but they also knew that disturbing the dead might provoke some of them to rise. Ivo was prepared to toss a grenade and be done with it, but he had evaluated the house’s structure, and it was a risky prospect–the hall might come down with them in the cellar. Then they could not know for certain that the baroness was dead. What if she was not among the corpses?

The Baroness

Using his combat training as a skirmisher, the ultimate lightfoot, Cagroot carefully stepped between the rotten dead, studying each. He found the baroness, then carefully returned to the others and reported back. Still, if they didn’t return her body, it was hearsay; would collecting jewelry be enough? They grimly agreed it would not.

Cagroot once again stepped through the corpses, this time to retrieve the body gently without arousing any attackers; a heroically difficult undertaking at long odds. He managed to get her in his arms, but before he could rise, the dead sprang up! He was sprayed in the effluvium gluing them to the floor, and surrounded by deadly danger.

Cagroot relied on his reflexes and strength, hurling the baroness’s body out of the scrimmage and scampering clear somehow. Miraeg slapped the baroness’s attacks aside, swept her up, and pounded up the stairs as Ivo hurled the lit grenade into the swarm of shamblers. The explosive detonated with a deafening crash, and the manor trembled and collapsed as the dwarves sprinted out. They swiftly pummeled the baroness’s corpse into passivity, then bundled it up.

A Glum Night

The dwarves hunched in the nearby woods under the pouring rain. Several of them had heard the intermittent heartbeat after Ivo mentioned it, but now Ivo could hardly feel it. Only Cagroot was troubled by the heartbeat. In his dreams, red and wet, something squirmed.

(3 Ledger, deferred until they can Tell the Tale.)

Clan Rumbleseed, played 3.28.20 IRL and 3/25/2121 IG.

• Miraeg Dunn (Jonathan) Leader, Performer, Mechanic.
• Ivo Flynt (Imre) Support, Gunsmith, Engineer.
• Cagroot Hopstrider (KC) Skirmisher, Brewer, Delver.
• Thoreson Grimeater (Anders) Berserker, Chef, Healer.

Wedding Preparation

Lady Kreshka, Marchionesse of Sinlaya was to marry Lord Santeel, Count of Vandov, to unite their families. Border skirmishes between their domains had gone on too long, and a wedding was the way to end the fighting. The Sinlayans won the concession of having the wedding with their allies, the dwarves of Rumbleseed, in Dunn Hall. Miraeg was in charge of making sure everything went smoothly.

Of course, everything didn’t go smoothly. The hall steward, Dobbis, was a self-important toady managing the hall to keep him out of the way. He didn’t order the specialty mandibles Thoreson planned to use for the main dish, so Thoreson expertly substituted glazed carrots. The beverages special-brewed for the human palate were a day late, since the shipment was too late to ride the macropede across the chasm between Powder’s Rest and Dunn Hall.

Miraeg was practicing the puppet show and music for the wedding with Ivo’s help as his shield. They were interrupted by Elder Priest Murinor, who had gotten nowhere dealing with Lady Kreska as she struggled with cold feet and insisted on backing out of the wedding. Miraeg had a conversation with her, wary of her rapier as she armed up in her dress and considered cutting her way out of the deal, taking her frustrations out on her dressing dummy. Miraeg offered words of wisdom, noting that if you set issues of free will aside, you could be a craftsman to construct a marriage relationship, shaping your partner over time. Mollified enough to be resigned to her fate, she gave up thoughts of escape.

Guests Arrived

Cagroot had some close calls getting the beetles to carry the alcohol down the curving stairs to the hall, and barely got the barrels stowed in the hall before the groom’s party arrived. He greeted Lord Santeel, Count of Vandov, who was somewhat condescending. Daynell, the Count’s vixen agent, was somehow both flirty and insulting, but Cagroot wasn’t interested in responding to either attitude. Cagroot also greeted other guests, including the wizard Master Delter who arrived as a bird with his raven familiar, and Lady Litiska, an elven princess ally of Vandov.

Ivo set up the seating to evenly mix the limited delegations from each faction, thinking they would not be able to escalate and make plans and start fights if they were isolated from each other. The elven princess Lady Litiska (and her more diplomatic agent Nevesti) flatly refused to go by the seating cards, which Ivo had painstakingly hand-lettered. Ivo caved, and the guests sat wherever they wanted–predictably isolated by faction. The dwarves suspected the elves might be planning something underhanded.

Right before the wedding started, Lady Kreshka’s agent Hen got in a heated argument with the Vandov agent Daynell. When Thoreson shooed them away from the kitchen, the fight escalated to drawn steel in the hall. Ivo intervened, but Hen pushed past him to assault Daynell. Miraeg interrupted the fight, and the Count insisted Hen be removed. The dwarves managed that tricky issue as Ivo stepped up and offered to stand in as Lady Kreshka’s guard, in Hen’s place. Lady Kreshka agreed, and Ivo was delighted to escape puppeteer and musician duty.

The Wedding Commenced

Miraeg sweated through running a subtly satirical puppet show of two humans finding love, without the aid of a partner to run the other puppet. Then he played a musical piece using mechanical assistance. Exhausted, he was pleased to step back as the Elder Priest completed the handfasting between the sneering count and the grim marchioness.

As the handfasting was completed and the legality became binding, magical darkness plunged through the hall, so the only light was the dimly magical glowing of fossilized carapaces in the quartz streaks of the walls. Still up on the stairs, Cagroot gusted a flaming breath out to push the darkness back somewhat, and in that ruddy smear of light Ivo spotted a sleek figure diving down through the central column of the hall. He managed to snap off a couple shots, and the unnaturally lithe target dodged one of the bullets as the other one sent bursts of blue sparks off her supernatural defenses.

As the intruder leaped at the wedding party, Miraeg snatched a loaded dynamo from the torso of a mechanical puppet and jammed it into the dimly magical quartz, his force of will bridging between the stored energy and mystic residue; the magical darkness was dispelled, and Cagroot leaped down from the landing to try and tackle the intruder.

The intruder managed to flip around and over the dwarves, stabbing the startled bride through the back with a killing strike. The assassin sprang up the stairs, into the hall’s corridors; but there was only one way out.

Thoreson was wheeling the dessert cake into the room as the assassin struck, and he raced over to the bride and managed to preserve her life force so the killing strike was crippling instead. Cagroot and Ivo raced to the top of the stairs to keep the assassin from escaping. Cagroot managed to spot the ripple because of his delver training, and he blasted another jet of flame at the distortion, slathering the elven assassin in flame. Together, Cagroot and Ivo captured her.

The clan was especially grateful for not only avoiding embarrassment of a successful assassination, but capturing the assassin–alive. They got 4 Ledger.

Played 3/21/20 IRL, 3/20/2121 IG.

• Cagroot Hopstrider (KC) Skirmisher, Brewer, Delver.
• Thoreson Grimeater (Anders) Berserker, Chef, Healer.
• Miraeg Dunn (Jonathan) Leader, Performer, Mechanic. NW Warclub, animated legs.
• Ivo Flynt (Imre) Support, Gunsmith, Engineer. NW Falkata.

Event Planning

Torala Dunn, patriarch of the family, operates Dunn Hall. A local human ally has rented the hall for a tense marriage to ally two skirmishing domains. Before inviting the humans to travel to the hall, Torala summoned his nephew Miraeg to take some of his friends and go flush the bandits out of a local ruin overlooking the road, prone to hosting bandits who prey on trade.

Miraeg took Ivo, Thoreson, and Cagroot with him. They first borrowed a pack of four grubblies and a cannon to haul out into the wilderness in support of their assault.

Offroading

After traveling through the night, they approached Griffinwatch Ruins. They left the road, knowing it would be watched, and guided the grubblies and cannon through the dense forest. They were delayed by going the long way around some nesting wildlife, and had to course-correct near the riverbank to get close enough to fire on the ruins with the cannon. In the final approach, they were spotted by scouts, who used birdcall signals to summon reinforcements. Grimly aware that they would soon be assaulted, the dwarves fell back to the river bank and set up the cannon on some boulders that would protect their flanks, herding the grubblies around behind the rocks to minimize their danger. No one wanted to explain to the handlers that they lost grubblies on their expedition.

Bandit Assault

Growing bold, a couple dozen bandits advanced on their position. In the rear, the two bandit leaders arrived with reinforcements. Darveen, a hard-bitten scoundrel with a history of piracy, and Carroway, a swordsman wizard assassin, led these mercenaries who turned to banditry in these hard times.

Ivo fired the cannon, wiping out a swathe of them, and the Fellowship boldly charged the approaching bandits. Tearing through them with brutal force, the dwarves knocked back the first wave. As Carroway led a flanking team of skirmishers around towards the cannon, Cagroot hurled a firebomb that torched the wizard and most of his troops.

Darveen called for the bandits to withdraw, and the dwarves let them–but set up the cannon to take aim at the ruin. They pounded a number of shots at the tower until it collapsed. Satisfied they had driven the bandits out and made their point, they packed up and headed back to the clanhome.

Conclusion

Torala Dunn was pleased by their efforts when they Told the Tale, and offered Miraeg the honor of becoming his Pick. Now a dwarf of some stature, Miraeg offered Ivo the honor of becoming his Shield.

With the road secure, the wedding could commence–and Torala wanted the Fellowship to make sure everything went smoothly.