Session 08

Unwelcome Guests
The session began as it had last left off, in the middle of the Cult of the Dragon raiding camp in the foothills of the Endscale Mountains. With the wizard Lachlan still encircled in a hazing ritual of torture among the red cultists, the rest of the party looked on feeling confident the event would just have to play itself out. Most of the large crowd from the earlier mercenary brawl had dispersed, but as the sky darkened to night there were still plenty moving about. The party lingered in the general area between the mercenary and cultist areas along the main path through the camp and debated their next moves. They decided to head to the base of the north cliff wall where the inner guard tower sat atop on a ledge, and a rope ladder hung down for access.

The plan was to pose as a guard shift change, being able to get a good vantage point of the camp from the tower. On their way between the tents Cadmus and Barlo noticed three groups of guards converging around them. They tried to warn the rest of the party discreetly, but in an instant they were encircled. “Stop! Those are the intruders,” said the scrawny guard Cadmus and Rachen dismissed not too long before. Their hands were bound in rope and they were paraded through the camp back towards the leader’s tent.

Knowing when Rachen’s backpack was searched Rufus would be discovered, Cadmus and Rachen met each other’s gaze and launched into a brawl of their own. Cadmus yelled at Rachen, blaming him loudly for getting them caught, and the two rolled on the ground near the edge of a tent as the guards watched and the cultists around hollered. Cadmus tried to wedge himself between the backpack and Rachen and caused the pack straps to snap. As they rolled and kicked up a cloud of dirt Cadmus used his elbows to shove the backpack under the nearby tent. All the while Rachen was yelling and causing the biggest scene possible.

Eventually, the guards who were watching Cadmus and Rachen stepped in and broke them up, reclaiming their rope leads and continuing the slow stroll to the back of the camp. A growing crowd yelled, chanted, and threw trash at them as they walked - but none seemed to notice Rachen no longer had a backpack. Inside the tent, Rufus luckily found himself alone but with no means of disguise and so decided to stay put and occasionally look out from under the tent. He would observe and wait for an opportunity. The parade of captives in the camp had caused the group of red cultists around Lachlan to find something else more interesting, and the wizard finally was relieved of his short knife.

Lachlan followed the red cultist group and saw his friends being tied to the prisoner posts in the wide open area in the back of the camp next to the monk Leosin, and noticed the lack of a Rufus carrying backpack. Guards had gathered up their cultist armor and weapons and were taking them to the leader’s tent, but there was definitely no backpack. Lachlan grabbed an empty jug from the ground and began pretending to get very intoxicated and stumbled around looking for Rufus. Now both tied to prisoner posts, Leosin gave his apprentice Marcus a disappointed sigh, but told him and his friends not to worry. Before the tied up group had time to question the master monk, more guards returned and freed Barlo. Two of them led the barbarian into the leader’s tent.

Inside, Barlo was tied to the central wooden post and sat back down. The purple robe wearing human female entered, introduced herself as Frulam Mondath, and motioned to one of the two guards. This guard stepped forward and punched Barlo a few good times in the face, and when he was done and Barlo slightly bloody she asked, “Who are you?” Barlo responded simply, that he was Barlo. She then asked, “What are you doing in my camp?” To which Barlo gave another simple answer, pretending to be nothing more than a barbaric half-orc simpleton.

Next, Frulam returned Barlo and had the other half-orc, Cadmus, brought into the tent. The same process occurred, but Cadmus spoke eloquently and insisted he was a member of the Red Sun. Of course he was in Greenest, and he plead to have other mercenaries in the company vouch for him, specifically his mate Laphroaig. Frulam conceded and sent one of the guards to find this mercenary by name. During this time Rufus thought he heard Lachlan calling his name drunkenly, but he couldn’t pinpoint where and never saw the wizard, and so he tried to move stealthily between tents towards the sound.

In the next cultist tent Rufus found empty he entered and found a strange piece of skin written upon with blood and decided to roll it up and put it in the backpack he was now carrying. Unable to ever get a good field of view among all the tents, Rufus decided to go about the groups last plan and climb to a higher vantage point. So, he slowly set out to reach the northern cliff wall of the camp. Laphroaig and his guard escort returned to the leader’s tent and as Cadmus had hoped vouched for him as a Red Sun mercenary of many years. Satisfied, Frulam allowed Cadmus to go free, when the cleric asked if his brother half-orc barbarian could come with him. For he was a simple orc who followed Cadmus’ lead, and the Wearer of Purple agreed.

The two half-orcs leave the tent and head back towards the cultist area, which Lachlan sees and heads to rejoin the half-orcs shortly after. The guards next come and take Rachen, who after a severe beating in the leader’s tent tried to taunt Frulam that they are merely part of a vanguard force coming to take the raider’s camp. Frulam sentences Rachen to execution in the morning, but also tells one of her guards to double the patrols and guards on duty. Marcus the monk is next brought to the leader’s tent, and after the same sequence of beating and question says nothing. Frulam also sentences Marcus to death in the morning the same as Rachen and the half-elf - Marcus’ master Leosin.

Rufus to the Rescue
After climbing to a good hidden vantage point high among the rocks of the northern cliff face Rufus examined the camp slowly in detail. Eventually he spotted Lachlan, Cadmus, and Barlo among the fire light moving away towards the other side of the camp, to the outskirts of the black cultist area. He watched them sit at the edge of a fire shared by two black cultists, and knew this was his time to rejoin them - before they left. As quickly and quietly as he could he climbed down the cliff and started darting around and under tents, hiding among barrels, carts, and crates strewn about. Just before he reached the middle path through the camp again he came upon a group of two kobolds at the back of a red cultist tent.

One kobold was holding what looked to be the end of a spear keeping the side of the tent raised, as the second kobold was underneath the opening on all fours dragging items out of the tent. Rufus leapt into action and stabbed the standing kobold in the neck from behind, and as the body fell onto the kobold on the ground Rufus drew his shortsword. A moment after the second kobold’s breath was knocked out by the falling corpse, Rufus severed its head with his blade. He pushed the kobold bodies and junk under the tent and hoped the darkness would hide the mess until morning - at which time he hoped to be gone. In the tent Rufus stripped the dead kobolds and donned the least bloodied pieces, including a hooded cloak.

Back at the prisoner posts, Marcus and Rachen asked Leosin why he was not worried about being executed at dawn. The master monk casually said he had a concealed blade in his belt, but that he was not yet ready to leave. Leosin told them he had more to learn, and that now was as best a time as any. He began yelling and screaming like a madman that he wanted to see Rezmir or Frulam. It was not long until guards came from the cave, beat him, and dragged him back to the cave.

Nearby around a black cultist campfire, Lachlan, Cadmus, and Barlo discussed how they could free their friends when Rufus came out of the shadows behind them. He stayed discreetly behind them as they talked, so to not attract too much attention to a lone kobold wandering the cultist area of the camp. While Leosin was in the cave and there was only a single guard around the remaining prisoners, the rest of the party came up with the plan “Operation Kobold Dagger Drop”. Rufus quickly and quietly circled around the wide open prisoner area and out of the guards sight. When the guard had his back to the posts, staying in the shadows of the fire lights around he moved up behind the posts and nimbly dropped his dagger into the hand of Marcus.

Rufus continued on quickly through the open area towards the leader’s tent, and with the extremely light guard posted he couldn’t resist the opportunity. It was getting late at night, so most of the guards must have been asleep he thought. He ducked behind the leader’s tent along the northern cliff wall, and once ensured he was out of sight he slipped under the tent, but over the thick line of white powder he observed earlier. Inside, he quickly looked over what he thought was the most important items, the documents open on the central table. Among the many papers with numbers all over, were two letters that stood out as significant.

One was written to Rezmir the Black by someone named Lord Severin the Red, and the second was a freshly written reply from Rezmir. Without reading them he rolled and stuck them into his pack and debated on trying to open the large metal chest. His friend’s weapons were likely inside, but they could easily be replaced and Rufus did not want to risk lingering any longer than needed. The halfling rogue slowly lifted the tent and ensured the coast was clear, then hoped back out and over the white powder just as he had come in. As soon as he did so, a magical Alarm spell began sounding and he cursed.

Marcus had quickly cut himself out of his bonds with Rufus’ dagger, and had tossed the blade to Rachen who did the same. It seemed as if only a minute or two after Rufus had skirted by that two guards returned from the cave dragging an unconscious and bleeding Leosin. They tied him back up to the post and did not notice the two humans were free, but holding their arms as if they were still bound. Then, as the two were exchanging looks as to when they should make their move, the Alarm sounded and two of the guards left the prisoner posts, leaving only one. Chaos started erupting as guards came running from the cave and from around the camp towards the leader tent, and other cultists came out of their tents wanting to see what was happening.

The humans took their opportunity, one leapt up and strangled the lone guard unconscious as the other cut Leosin free. Rachen being much stronger tossed the half-elf monk over his shoulder and Marcus propped up the guard against a pole. The two of them quickly moved away from the leader’s tent and its distraction towards the darkness and the area Rufus had come from. It was not long until Rachen and Marcus came upon the tent with the other camp prisoners, and they were motioned in to find the rest of their party members - except Rufus. Rufus had quickly bolted when the Alarm spell went off, and was hiding behind rocks in the northern crevice near the watchtower rope ladder.

And so the session ended with Rufus stranded on the opposite side of the camp than the rest of his rejoined party, hiding and watching guards search the area for what caused the Alarm, for him.

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