01.0 Carlton Blacks Mercenary Company

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Carlton Blacks Mercenaries

Company members:-

Krachtig (Vervalsing Voorwerp de Meesten Krachtig)  – Gnome Illusionist/Thief
Taran – Half Elf Fighter/Priest of Mannnanan Mac Lir, cousin to Carinne
Carinne Rhianne Talynnart – Half Elf Ranger/Mage, Cousin to Taran

Taran and Carinne set out from their village to meet up with Carlton Blacks mercenary company who they have signed up with.  

We were hoping to depart our village with another cousin Galvish but he had a dose of the clap and needed to heal up before he could ride a horse again.

Their journey will take them to Specularum and they decide the safest and most cost effective way to reach their destination is to sign up as caravan guards. They have no trouble finding a trader needing some strong arms to help guard his wares on the long journey.  On the back of one of the wagons is a Gnome with a very long name, he says we can call him Krachtig for short, I prefer Terry.

As we wend our way through woodlands and scrub ground we are halted by the lead ox drawn wagon, some trees are blocking our path.  The lead guard goes to investigate together with Taran and Carinne, arrows are fired in the general direction of the caravan and Gnoll voices are heard and footsteps retreating.

We gather several of the guards together (including the Gnome) and head into the forest, easily tracking the Gnoll footprints.  We come across six of the Gnolls in the woods waiting for us, some arrow firs and hand to hand combat make short work of them.

We rejoin our caravan and after some time come across a smoke plume further on the trail, the guards rush up to the site and come across another group of wagons, some of which smolder away.  Apparently these farmers were moving to new land and were ambushed by Gnolls, they managed to fight them off but not before taking casualties on both sides and having 4 girls abducted by the departing creatures.

Two of the people who perished in the raid did not appear to be farmers, their wagon seems to have been targeted and their daughter amongst those girls missing.  A securely locked strongbox sits in their wagon, much in excess of those used by farmers.  The husband and wife were known as Joss and Linda whilst the missing girl is Amber.

The party resolve to track down these creatures and rescue the children.  Tracks are followed by our esteemed ranger into the woods and a campsite is eventually found, they have sentries posted on the trails leading into the camp – we decide to waylay these sentries with missiles, four warriors are armed with bows whilst a cocky gnome sneaks around behind them with the words “we can’t all miss can we”.  A barrage of arrows later sees one slightly injured gnoll and a panicking gnome just casting a spell in time to knock them out.

We then sneak into the camp and make for the large tent where we see two large gnolls and the girls all trussed up.  Carinne takes out the two gnolls with one spell causing them to fall into a deep sleep, we help the girls out of there and start making our way back to the caravan.  It is not long before a commotion is heard behind us and the sound of Gnolls barking, we hurry through the dark forest trying to find a defensible position against a pack in excess of 20.  We reach a ridge and lay a fire line using oil to help wound the creatures and give ourself enough light to fight by.

Soon half a dozen break out of the forest and charge towards us, a flaming arrow ignites the oil burning several of them, missile fire is exchanged before the last of them rush towards us in melee combat, the flashing swords of Taran takes one creature down before we notice Terry is being accosted by another of the monsters, the gnome has not been noted for his fighting prowess so Taran runs over to help him out.

The party are then nearly overrun by more of the beasts and blood is shed on both sides before we emerge triumphant. We hurry back to the farmers and our caravan with the girls who are happy to be reunited with their families, all except Amber who has lost everyone dear to her. One of the farmers wives vows to take her in and with careful questioning we learn she has kin in Specularum and they may be of high rank.

It is not long before the Gnolls raid the caravans again, once more carrying off two girls including Amber again, it is becoming apparent that she is being targeted by someone or something, as in her earlier conversations she mentioned having to leave her home in a hurry.

We run after the creatures but have to slow down when we lose their tracks in the darkness.  We eventually regain their trail and once again come upon another encampment, this time after a long wait we enter the camp stealthily and slay the sleeping creatures, all goes well until too much noise is made slitting the fabric of one tent and the half dozen gnolls that are left awake and attack with a fury, several wounds are taken by us but we manage to kill the last of them.  We had taken the Gnoll chief captive and put him to the question, he reveals that this was just a war band and a tiny fraction of the main force and that a bald man with black eyes had commanded them to steal the child away for him, he looked kinda old but wasn’t that old it seems.  We question him further but he knows little, we thus release him and he runs away with his tail between his legs.

We once more get back to the caravan and determine that on our arrival in Specularum take her to the baron in charge.

Once we arrive at the gates a messenger is dispatched to let the Baron know one of his kin is here, on our way to the main palace we are swarmed by some toughs, ourselves and the guard manage to fight them off and we are escorted to a block house to wait for more guards to arrive.  Soon the honor guard of cavalry pitch up and we have a grand escort to the palace.

After much waiting and hasty grooming we are presented to the Baron who informs us of the plot to abduct his cousin Amber.  It transpires that the girls father had thwarted an evil wizards plans and he had vowed revenge against him.  The wizard is Kerrigan Blacksoul.

We are rewarded by the Baron and have honors bestowed upon us, including a shoulder chain noting our valor and heroism.

As part of the battles with the Gnolls some treasure was found and identified and due shares given to those who helped us, added with the reward money and pay from the caravan we have:-
776 GPs
Potion of Extra Healing in a steel flask
Bead of Force