Prymptown Courier v. 3 no. 5

[v. 3 no. 4 is either missing or never existed.]

PRYMPTOWN COURIER
Vol. 3, No. 5 (October 2000)

EDITORIAL

Tardiness has often been a subject of these editorials, but never forgetfulness.  That's because, despite routinely being months behind, I've always been good at remembering what happened in past sessions.  Oh, certainly I have not exhibited total recall, as my players can attest.  They have dutifully informed me of details I have missed or gotten wrong, and I can only wish they'd do it even more often.  There are details that seem important only to me (because I invented them), and details that are important to them because of their vested interests in their characters.  The campaign write-ups should have both.

This somewhat leads into the current situation.  There were two major...discrepancies with the last write-up.  The first discrepancy is that I jumbled up details from the 23rd session with the 22nd session, and vice versa.  I'm not even sure which parts are in the wrong write-up, but I know there are discrepancies with the order the events really happened in.  I'm not too worried, though, as I think everything works as I have it arranged now.  The second discrepancy is that I plumb forgot to introduce the new PC who debuted in that session.  Before hunting around town for Snake, the PCs met with Vicarus Philip Petrok to inform him of the situation as well as to seek his advice and assistance.  Petrok could not spare much manpower for the search, but he did spy a watchman eavesdropping at the tent entrance.  The watchman was Brek, and Petrok ordered him to go with the Band of the Grinning Gargoyle and help them anyway he could.  Brek did accompany them, and at the slaughterhouse he guarded the rear the whole time.

And that is the untold story of Brek.  Or is it...? 

This issue is also dedicated to my co-worker, Joyce, as I forgot to get her anything for her birthday this year.  What bad luck that it falls on the same day as Tammie's!

PLAYER NEWS

There's been enough turn-over in the party in the last few sessions that it might be time to explain what's happened to all the players.

Barada's player has officially quit the campaign.  Since marrying and moving up north over a year ago, he had only managed to make it to one session. 

Enlock's player is still with us, though we compete with his workplace for his weekends, and he has missed a recent game session or two while in Florida for business reasons.

Alexander's player has always had difficulties joining us, since he lives the farthest away.  He has persevered, however, and made the three-hour drive for many game
session.  He does complain, with some truth to his words, that we don't drive down to play at his house often enough.

Perpegilliam's player has alternated between high enthusiasm for the campaign and deep frustration with it -- once having threatened to quit the campaign.  Luckily, he's
on the upswing again now, and has maintained an excellent attendance record.

Andel's player has left us, at least temporarily, to go become head chef in a restaurant in Arizona.  Hopefully, he will return in a few months to amuse us more with his over-zealous PC. 
He played up through the 25th session before leaving, so Andel's activities in the next few write-ups did come from him.

Gabriel's player, formerly Abraham's player, has abandoned the campaign.  He's a born-again powergamer now, and can no longer tolerate the campaign's slow pace and low magic.

Vladamir's player shocked us by actually missing a playing session just recently, seeing as how he has always been the most dedicated player in the group.  His attendance rate has
now dropped to 99%.

Hristo's player is more of a part-time player, but also the one who plays in the largest number of ongoing campaigns. 

Brek's player -- now the player of a druid named Maldrik – is a new guy, but shows promise attendance-wise.

Dargog's player has moved away to Colorado, and seems unlikely to come back to play.

For those who remember Ragnar, his player has completely dropped out of contact with us.  At the time brand new to the group, Ragnar's player had come to us from online gaming, and presumedly has returned to his first love.

And speaking of love -- in case anyone else hasn't heard -- Tammie and I are married now!

TWENTY-THIRD SESSION
Cast:
Enlock, Neutral Good male Oerdian apprentice (1st level magic-user).
Alexander Petrok, Lawful Neutral male Oerdian templar of Zilchus (2nd level paladin variant). 
Perpegilliam Brown, Chaotic Neutral male Hairfoot Hobniz cutpurse (3rd level thief, NPC today).
Andel Mooriv, Lawful Good male Oerdian acolyte (1st level cleric of Pholtus).
Barada, Neutral male Flannish mercenary (1st level fighter, NPC). 
Vladamir Kostitov, Lawful Good male Oerdian minor trickster and agent of Prymp's Laird (2nd level illusionist).
Hristo, Neutral Good male Wesevud ("Central") Noniz ex-town watchman and rogue (1st level fighter/1st level thief). 
And introducing...
Brek, Neutral Good male Oerdian man-at-arms (1st level fighter).

Coldeven 24, 581 CY.  Moonday. 

The sun did not shine.  Dawn had not yet come to Prymp. 
The clouds were a dark grey blotting the sky.  A light fog cast a gauze-like veil over the town, and the fields south of town where a host of evil awaited.  They were out there --
an army of Provincial soldiers thousands of men strong.  Like enormous ghosts, large silhouettes could be seen off in the distance, just a mile away.  There were men out there, and
there were horses, tents, and probably large siege engines. 
The streets of the Old City had never been more silent.  Many blocks looked deserted, with homes boarded up by their owners cowering inside.  The markets were deserted. 
Only a second glimpse revealed the homeless, huddled in alleys or scurrying off the streets as anyone approached.

The New City was different.  The wails of the doomed souls locked between the Old City's walls and the Provincial Army could occasionally be heard.  How many hundreds of citizens
remained out there?  Too horrible to guess. 

Then there was the Dock District.  The slender street that spanned the width of the docks was overflowing with people.  Perhaps two hundred souls had already arrived, intent on abandoning Prymp by ship or boat.  There was such a logjam of human bodies that almost no one was
getting to the ships on the docks.  Some people were jumping into the water and swimming to the boats.  There were Town Watchmen on the docks, trying to prevent this
mass exodus. 

And finally, there was the camp of the defenders.  From the west side of town, the trumpeting of horns and the beat of drums cut the silence of the Old City, and gave the panicked
people of the New City and Dock District pause.  And in response to the growing rumble of sound, a clear bass note sounded.  It reverberated through every home, every street,
every body.  It was a horn mounted on the parapets of Prymp Keep.  It was the horn, Sensinag.  Every citizen knew it.  It was last blown six years ago when the Kingdom of Nyrond
sent its navy to destroy Prymp's docks.  Now it was blown to prepare for civil war.

The soldiers at the defenders' camp ended their drilling, as officers rounded them up.  But the Band of the Grinning Gargoyle was not interested in any of that.  They were
pressing Philip Petrok for the execution of the brigand prisoner, Demonkos.  Judgement was swift, and the method swifter.  Demonkos -- the closest thing to an arch-nemesis
the Band ever had -- was hung by his neck until dead.

The Town Watch -- now an army -- bulged with the results of recent conscriptions.  Virtually every slave in town had been forced into service.  Others were forced off the streets
by press gangs.  Others were idealistic volunteers, risking all for their home town's independence.  Others were mercenaries, too long unemployed anyways, and hoping to
pick the scraps off any soldiers they kill.  Almost to a man, the soldiers were Oerdians.  One hundred half-orcs were forced by the press gangs into the army.  Half that number in
dwarves volunteered.  And then there were the 300 men from Porton and Shargallen -- men who had come to defend this town so that their towns would not fall next.  There was fear
in the eyes of these men.  Fear, or dread.  Rumors abounded that a whole legion had laid seige to Vecheld Gesto, and there was clearly no legion here to defend against them.  Prymp's
army was only 1,000 men strong.

But the morning's fog had bought the defenders ample time to organize.  Now they stood in their divisions.  The slaves and the poor had almost a host of 240 skirmishers, or velites. 
They would have to rely on their padded armor for protection, and clubs, dagger, and the like for weapons.  Twice that number, the main body of the army, made up the principes. 
These men were protected by studded leather armor and large shields, and wielded broad swords and crossbows.  The oldest men formed a host of 120 spearmen in leather armor. 
The richest of the soldiers stood by their warhorses, squires at their reins.  There were only 60 cavalrymen, clad in either brigandine or chainmail.

The camp was enormous, almost as large as the town.  Portions of the New City's pallisade as well as some wooden shacks had been dismantled and used to make a crude fence
of stakes to mark out the boundaries.  Also marking the perimeter was a trench six feet wide and four feet deep.  Some of the stakes were set in the trench, facing outwards.  Besides
the soldiers, the camp was staffed by about two hundred men and women.  Laborers, tailors, cooks -- Hershel, from the Grinning Gargoyle Inn was there, serving the troops and
bragging about his adventuring party!

The drums began again, and unit leaders came forward to break the divisions into units.  But then, there was a thunderous explosion!  There was a bright flash to the
south, and even through the morning fog could be seen clouds of smoke lit from within which billowed up to the sky.  Many soldiers had covered their heads or ears, and the many
horses which were frightened needed up to four men to hold them still.  And then it was over.  The strange occurrence seemed to have originated from behind the enemy lines.  The
Grinning Gargoyle Band waited for word of what had transpired, and sure enough rumor soon began spreading through the camp that the Ahlissan Fist -- Prymp's other
adventuring party -- had succeeded in destroying the Province's gunpowder supply meant for the coming battle. 

Now the heroes took this time to get into positions for the coming battle.  Enlock adjourned to the Tannery District to man his defenses alongside the townspeople.  Barada , who
had so long resisted joining the town watch, had now joined them as a footsoldier.  Alexander, who had trained for this moment, was given  a warhorse and put in charge of a unit
of 20 cavalrymen.  Peri went into hiding, hoping to avoid combat in the coming conflict.  Andel and Vlad mounted the curtain wall around the Old City, ready to aid in the last-ditch
defense of Prymp if it came to that.  The soldier, Brek, was assigned to accompany them and defend the spellcasters should they join the battle.  Hristo went to find his thiefly
trainer, Tilwich Tourmaline, and found the Noniz packed up and ready to leave town.  Hristo intercepted his mentor and learned the older gnome planned to seek a safer clime in
Benkend to the distant east.  Hristo agreed to accompany him on the spot, and left town without leaving word to the others. 

And then the battle began.   

The intensity of the fighting reminded many of them of Skull Keep, though none of them had seen anything on this scale -- ever.  There was fighting as far as the eye could see -- a
vast plain of writing, struggling life flinging itself on death.  Both Hextor and Nerull were collecting their due both from the defenders and the besieging army of evil.  The defenders
threw themselves into the first wave of Provincials, mostly footsoldiers with spears, but could only hold their ground as lines of soldiers constantly pivoted in attempts to flank the
defenders.  A unit of defenders led by a soldier named Pontiv was particularly effective at breaching enemy lines, and yet still the attackers came.  When the Provincial cavalry was
ready to make a charge, it was Alexander's unit which rode to intercept them.  The charge quickly devolved into a chaotic melee, which might have ended in the loss of Alex if Barada
had not been there guarding his back. 

And then came the first thunderous boom of a canon.  But it was not from the battlefield.  The Port Gun was being fired onto the bay.  On the other side of town, the blockade had
turned into a rear assault, with galleys passing close enough to the docks to douse them in Oerdian Fire.  It was not long before the fire had spread into the Dock District.

Atop the curtain wall, south of the fire and north of the battle, Andel saw all this, and knew what he must do.  He calmly knelt to the ground, closed his eyes, and began to pray his
most fervent prayer ever to Pholtus. 

And Pholtus listened. 

Vlad, a Pholtite in name if not practice, looked away with disbelieving eyes.  What he saw was a brilliant beam of light streak down from the heavens, and illuminate Andel.  Then a beautiful, gleaming man descended the light and spoke to Andel.  He would end the conflict and save Prymp, but Andel
would have to sacrifice a magic item more powerful than a potion or scroll to the chapel of Pholtus within or month or Andel would die.  He accepted, and the angelic figure was
now armed for battle with a flaming sword. 

On the battlefield, divine intervention arrived in a blur of motion overhead, streaking into the enemy ranks, and then appearing as a warrior in shining white armor who was
cutting down soldiers left and right with its flaming blade.  The appearance of this new warrior bolstered the morale of the defenders, and -- after less than a half-hour of fighting,
the battle was over.  The Provincial army had been routed from the field, and were fleeing back to their camp one mile south of town.  The shining warrior had mysteriously
vanished without a trace.  Rumor was already spreading on the battlefield that the warrior had glowed with the light of Pholtus.  Yet still the thunder of cannonfire could be heard
from across town.

Vlad was already racing north to the docks to see what could be done, with the soldier Brek at his side.  The fire was raging beyond all control, and it appeared the whole of the
Dock District was gone, save for the easternmost docks at which Prymp's naval ships were docked.  In a desparate action, several cogs were setting sail to take on the blockade
of cogs and galleys sailing Provincial flags -- which the Port Cannon was having minimal success at hitting.  Vlad managed to bluff his way into passage on one such ship for
himself and Brek.  Enlock too was on his way to the docks for the same purpose, but too late and too cautiously to make it aboard. 

The blockade was not sitting motionless.  Ships were staying well out of range of the Port Cannon, with a few ships making closer passes in order to renew their attack.  Vlad watched
eagerly from the fore of the ship, and could see that the destination of the ship he was on was to intercept one of the fleeing cogs.  Vlad used Phantasmal Force spells to block the
craft beneath him from a flanking attack by a galley with illusionary curtains of flame.  When they reached the enemy cog, boarding planks were put over the side, and the
defenders attacked -- with Brek near the lead!  However, bowmen were waiting for them on the boarded vessel.  Vlad just barely reached cover in time to save him, and Brek chose
to jump over the side to avoid the missile ire.  Encumbered by chainmail, Brek was quickly dragged underwater.   

After an unsatisfactory conflict, Vlad's vessel pulled away and limped back towards the remaining docks.  Unknown to anyone, though, Brek was not dead.  The battle against the
blockade had been witnessed from the water level by mermen, such as those who had attacked Renspa's pirate ship months earlier.  Brek was caught in a net, and dragged across the
waves to where more mermen were waiting.  One with a trident shook it in Brek's direction, and asked in the Oerdian tongue for him to explain himself.  When Brek was silent, the
merman became furious and said Brek must be a pirate to have fallen off a pirate ship.  Brek seemed to hear voices in his head, telling him to say, "I'm not a pirate!" -- but he
ignored them and remained silent.  Brek was impaled with a trident and died.  He died as he had lived; quiet and misunderstood.

Back in the defenders camp, and other places in Prymp, there
was rejoicing.  The enemy army had been repulsed, and a
god was on their side!  But this rejoicing was tinged with
fear and doubt, for victory had not come easily.  Hundreds
were dead, and hundreds more were without homes to
return to now that the Dock District had burned.  Nothing
of the Dock District remained -- not Hogan's Hostel, the
Rusty Bucket Tavern, Peri's favorite house of ill repute, nor
even the former headquarters of the thieves' guild.  Luckily,
the fire had been stopped before entering the Warehouse
District to the east or the New Market to the west, and the
stone curtain wall had saved the Old City to the south. 

Perhaps worst of all, the Provincial army was not gone.  They
had been turned away back to their base, but the siege was
long from being over...

TO BE CONTINUED

ABOUT HEX U2-85
The free town of Prymp is located here.  It is the third
largest city in the South Province.  Outside the town walls,
farms stretch for 5 miles.  Several windmills stand near the
town, and are independantly owned. 

The Lantern Road is a paved road that runs east 110 miles
to Dargvonesa.  This 40' wide road is not repaired, and some
of the pavement stones have been broken up to be used in
local housing.  West of Prymp is the Burgas Road.  This dirt
road is 15' wide, and is so named because it fords Burgas
Creek.  Burgas Creek meanders northwesterly for 10 miles
from a spring to the bay.  It is shallow throughout, and is no
deeper than 3' deep near the bay.

Flora:  1) wheat 2) oats 3) barley  4) grape vines  5) olive vines 
6) rose bushes
Fauna:  1) human farmers  2) martens  3) deer  4) heron  5)
geese  6) ducks