PLA Session 5: Onward to Marshtown
After wrapping up their affairs in Crossfield, the party sets course for Marshtown and the ruins amid the red forest.
Heinz stands before the door of the Iron Circle headquarters.
Out of all the places in the city, you’re bound to be here, Elias. And if you’re not here, then that friend of yours will know where you are.
He knocks on the door. A cloaked man answers.
“If you’re another one of those… Oh, never mind. Come in.”
The man moves aside. Heinz steps in. The cold silence of rumor and contract surround him as he makes the way up to the Marshal’s office. Knocking on the door, it’s not long before Gundo greets him — as well as a familiar face.
“Elias! There you are! Where the hell have you been!?”
The man runs a hand through his hair, gesturing at a parchment in front of him. “Negotiations with a particularly stubborn and specific merchant from the capital. Nothing important, but nothing I can just walk away from either."
Heinz nods, before updating Elias on everything he’s missed out on. He considers all of this for a while, surprised at just how much has happened.
“I see… Well, it seems the lot of you seek some more interesting work. Can’t say I blame you. In fact, I’d like nothing more than for you to go ahead and investigate those ruins you heard about in the forest. Gundo here told me about a similar rumor out in the Marshlands — some kind of ancient ruins hidden deep in the forest." Probably a good place to start looking.”
“But what about you? We’ve been waiting around to see when you’d join up with us again!”
Elias sighs, lowering his head. “About that… I’m probably gonna be stuck here for a while. Gundo’s already made it clear there’s more work for me to do.”
“Damn straight,” Gundo interjects. “And more than enough to keep him busy, I’ll make sure of that.”
“And when can we expect to catch up with you, Elias?”
“I’ll meet up with you all when I can. I may be your boss, but Gundo’s mine.” He glances at Gundo sourly, the halfling just grunting in reply.
Heinz sighs, nodding. That’s that, I guess.
“I see. Well, when we meet again, then. We’ll be heading out soon, I reckon.”
And he turns to head back the way he came. To deliver the news to the rest of the party.
Back at the Perching Crow, Heinz updates the party on Elias’s situation. Dahlia and Quinn both take the news reasonably enough, but Kurt seems flabbergasted at the very concept.
“Negotiations!? What kind of merchant demands so much of the great Elias’s attention that he cannot spare us, his loyal followers, a visit, brief at least?”
Heinz just shrugs. “It’s not just the merchant, though. It seems that Gundo’s roped him into other work — so it’s not his fault, really. I hope Elias will find some time to send a letter out for us before we get too far from the city, though.”
“Or else… what,” Kurt asks, in a small voice.
“Nothing bad, Kurt. I’m just curious as you are as to what he’s been up to — if he’s really that busy, we can’t blame him. It gives us some time off, at least.”
Kurt nods absently. “Time off. Yay.”
“By the way, Kurt, where are the other two?”
Kurt blinks. “Uh, oh, yeah! Ms. Dahlia went out to settle her debt with the blacksmith for her barding — I think she said it was scale mail.”
“And what about Quinn?”
“Hmm… I didn’t see him come down from his room yet. So he’s either sleeping up there still or he snuck off to do something by himself.”
Heinz shrugs. “He’ll find his way back to us. I bet a Dragonborn like him could track us just by smell, or at least with that magic he has. One or the other, doesn’t matter.”
He stretches his shoulders, gazing around the room. There’s no one here. It seems business is slow for them. I guess the festival people all prefer a more clean and cozy environment, but Elias paid for us to be here, so whatever.
The main door opens, as Dahlia leads inside, a wagon behind her bearing the barding from the blacksmith. Damn, that’s a lot more armor than I was expecting, Heinz thinks, as she looks at him.
“Get out here and help. One of you. I need to put this on Ash.”
Heinz springs up, quite possibly quicker than even his springy friend Kurt. “I can help. Just show me what to do, Ms. Dahlia.”
As he steps up to the door, he looks back to see Kurt holding a box of matches, running up the stairs. Whatever… I wasn’t here, I didn’t see it, I’m not responsible for what he does.
Heinz quickly steps out, following Dahlia down the road a bit to the stable-yard where her horse, Ash the noble gray Andalusian, is kept.
Meanwhile… Kurt rushes up the stairs, eagerly clutching the matches. If he really is still sleeping, Quinn’s gonna get a surprise!
He knocks gingerly on Quinn’s door, third on the left. The door hinges open, even at his gentle touch, revealing a room empty of the Dragonborn he seeks. Upon the desk of noble oak, he sees a compass atop a map, depicting some building unknown to him in the city. A parchment beside the map reads, in precise, unerring Common:
Quinn Argentis,
Report to the above location in Crossfield by 6:00 AM sharp on the first day of Eleasis. You will receive great knowledge, well worth the single hour I require of you. Heed my words: you stand to know more about the Age Before than any other mortal alive.
A scribbled note on the bottom of the page, in Quinn’s familiar, jagged Common:
Just an old friend of mine. Don’t worry for me. I will be back before you know it.
Kurt grabs the parchment, before heading back down the stairs. It looks like Quinn won’t be joining us either. But at least he’ll be back.
Once Ash is properly outfitted in her gleaming scale mail barding, and after Dahlia takes her for a test walk up and down the street to ensure a good fit, Heinz and Dahlia return to the Perching Crow, their wagon behind them. As they reach the door, however, Dahlia spots a dwarf walking along the road, short and lean and mature for a Dwarf, with green eyes, black hair, tanned peach skin.
Clad in chain mail, a blue shield bearing an eye symbol, and a warhammer, they seem unremarkable enough; an adventurer, at best, but a gleaming badge, a shield-shape of silver bearing a hammer symbol, catches Dahlia’s attention most of all. That badge, it’s military, but I can’t figure out their rank… Something to do with smithing, I guess.
Dahlia pauses for a moment, noticing the Dwarf has met her gaze. She decides to walk a bit closer, before saying, “Dwarf… I noticed the badge on your chest-plate there. You’re a military officer, I take it. And what rank would you be?”
The Dwarf looks up and down the street, seemingly looking for something or someone, before saying back. “I’m Noll. A blacksmith, but you probably guessed that already. I’d be a ‘private’ or a rookie in your terms.”
Heinz looks back. “Good to meet you, Noll. I’m Heinz, that’s Dahlia, and the horse is Ash.”
Noll looks at the horse, blank-eyed for a moment before Heinz continues, “You said you’re a blacksmith, right?”
“Yeah. Learned it from my father, who learned it from his father, and so on and so forth. A long line of smiths, and I hear my great-grandfather used to be one of the chief royal smiths for the King before he passed.”
Heinz’s eyes widen. “Interesting. Do you think you could make me something? Kind of like a hand-wrap, but made of metal, maybe with some spikes or a ridge or something to make it hurt.”
“A… hand-wrap? Why would you want that to hurt? And what are the spikes for?”
Heinz shakes his head. “Sorry, I meant like, kind of a gauntlet, but just around the knuckle area to help me punch. I’m a brawler, so a good band of metal around the fingers or something might help me pretty well.”
Noll gazes at him for a moment, before nodding suddenly. “I see, I see! You mean to say a pair of ‘brass knuckles,’ though I guess they don’t need to be made of brass. People usually prefer steel, maybe with a bit of brass for the color if you’d want. But yeah, I could definitely make that. I usually make gauntlets and armor and weapons, but some knuckles aren’t outside my experience.”
“Nah, just the steel would be fine. I prefer durability over aesthetics. And how much would that be?”
“Well, free, if you find me the materials. Just some leather and steel would be fine.”
Heinz nods, looking down as he considers the idea for a moment. Dahlia clears her throat, before asking Noll a question.
“Is blacksmithing all you do? I’m sure you’re great at your job, but usually there’s a story along with it.”
“For now, yes. I just arrived in town and I’m looking for some gold for a roof over my head and some food on the table. Same as you, I reckon.”
Dahlia takes in Noll’s reply, and Heinz asks, “You know, we’re out a companion as of right now — our boss is wrapped up in some work — so maybe you could come along and help us.”
Noll looks up at him. “You know, I think that’s a good idea. Maybe I could be of some use to you all.”
At that, Kurt steps out of the door to the Perching Crow just some thirty feet away, currently on fire as he runs up to the group. Heinz sighs before tackling Kurt to the ground and snuffing out the fire.
Heinz straightens up, dusting himself off as he spares Noll a small smile. “We might be a band of misfits, but I think you’ll find your fit here. We’re good of heart, at least.”
Kurt brushes the sweat from his brow. “Oof, thanks, Heinz. I thought I was toast! But wait, who’s this new companion we have? We’re almost the same height!”
Noll just waves. “Hello. I’m Noll. Nice to meet you.”
Kurt nods. “Yeah, I’m Kurt. And look at that — almost the same name too. We’re basically brothers!”
Noll just nods slowly in response. After a moment, the group heads inside for a final rest before they head out on the road.
“And that’s about all we heroes have been up to since we arrived in the city yesterday morning,” Kurt says, after recapping the party’s journey to Noll thus far.
“Interesting… That’s quite a lot,” Noll replies, thoroughly impressed by the “heroic adventures” Kurt has narrated.
Meanwhile, Heinz and Dahlia are gazing at a map of Paralla, wondering just where the ruins they seek may be. “Well, hmm. There’s not any red forests that I can see, but there’s some kind of ‘lost dungeon’ out west of Marshtown,” Heinz says. “Maybe that would be a good starting point?”
Dahlia gestures over at Kurt. “We should probably ask him, if anything. His homeland and all.”
Heinz calls out for Kurt to join him at the table, pointing out the ‘lost dungeon.’ “This seems a good place to start looking for the ruins we seek, Kurt. Do you know anything about the place?”
Kurt tilts his head. “Well, I know there’s some kind of shrine or ruins out there. And I do know where that red forest is, but I don’t know where it is exactly. Like, I could lead you to the forest, but not to the ruins. But I’d really rather not, to be honest.”
“And why would that be?”
“I… Well, it’s a long story.”
“And I’m listening.”
Kurt takes a breath, looking at Heinz, Dahlia, and Noll in turn. He gulps, stepping closer to Heinz as he lowers his voice. “I was… banned from Marshtown.”
Heinz immediately shares this with the rest of the group, provoking Dahlia to ask a question of Kurt.
“What made you deserve that? A ban from the whole city?”
Kurt looks down, taking another breath. “That’s a long story, but I will share that… I was imprisoned and let free, only to be exiled from my homeland. I’ve been forced to wander the land after that, and I’ve never thought of home the same since.”
Dahlia seems content with that answer, turning back to Heinz as they begin discussing the details of their journey. After about an hour of preparation, the party is all set and ready to head off. And so they do, with the morning sun still overhead.
Day 1 (Eleasis 1) — Morning, just outside Crossfield
After a few hours of travel over the grassy plains outside the city, west along the road leading towards the Marshlands, the party comes to a strange sight. A campfire beside the road, complete with wagon and tents, except for one key thing — life. The five people here are all laying dead around the fire, bodies mutilated by some unknown hand.
The first to step/look closer is Kurt, who decides to search the tents. Heinz tags along, searching the bodies. Dahlia heads up the road with Ash to see if she can find who did this. Noll just stands guard at the other end as Kurt and Heinz make their search.
As soon as his gaze falls over one of the victims, Heinz is hit with a darkly-familiar sight; a triangular eye with bony protrusions. The mark of the Devout!? Here!? No. No, no. No, no, no!
He heads back to the wagon, sitting down as he processes this realization. It’s a long few minutes before he even realizes Kurt followed him, let alone has been trying to get his attention for who knows how long.
“-einz! Heinz! Hey, wake up!”
“Yeah, I’m here, Kurt. Don’t get bent out of shape. Just thinking.”
Kurt nods, noticing Noll looking in. “I found this note on one of the bodies.”
Kurt grabs the note, unfurling it as he extends it to Heinz. In a neat, curling hand, the note reads as follows:
Deliver the prisoner to the Realmstriders in Rult. Balthazar’s been looking for him for quite a while. Report to the Captain for payment and further orders.
As soon as he finishes the note, he folds it up, cramming it in his pocket as he rushes outside. “We need to leave. Now.”
Kurt follows him with a jolt, and Noll follows along after that, albeit a bit reluctantly. As soon as Dahlia returns, they get Ash hooked back up to the wagon before Heinz takes the reins, driving the wagon ahead. For the next hour, Heinz stares at the road ahead, knuckles white as he grips the reins, his gaze distant.
Dahlia taps him on the shoulder after a while. “Hey. Kurt told me you were worried about something earlier. He said you shut down after you saw something on the people.”
Heinz just shakes his head. “Nothing much. Apparently, they were a caravan carrying a prisoner for the Realmstriders, then they were attacked by some mysterious forces. I also saw this strange symbol on their heads.”
“Hmm… I’m not sure why they’re involved in this, but I recommend we keep our distance.”
“Same here.”
And so, the party continues down their path, onward through the grassy plains.
Morning → Dusk
Towards the end of their travels for the day, the party spots a pair of Goliaths stumbling down the road towards them. From just a glance, Heinz suspects they’re drunk; they barely seem able to stay on their feet, let alone walk a straight line.
The younger of the two, and the shorter by a good margin, is the first to reach the party, looking down as he bellows out, “Oi! You four! *hiccup* …I got a challenge for ya!”
Kurt’s interest is thoroughly piqued, as he sticks his head out of the wagon. “What’s your challenge, great Goliath?”
“Well… *hiccup* …some wrestling was my idea. I got a reward for ya and everything. If you manage… *hiccup* …to beat me, that is.”
The Goliath looks at Kurt with a grin, and the Grung hops out of the wagon, squaring up to contest him. One step, two steps, three, and Kurt rushes forward, ducking beneath a swinging arm to trip the Goliath. “That’s round 1 to me!”
Round 2 doesn’t go as easily for Kurt. He dodges more or less the same, but the Goliath is a bit quicker on his feet, snatching Kurt up before long. “Not so fast, little fr- OW!”
He drops Kurt, waving his hand in pain as Kurt’s poison prickles away. A second later, he’s on the ground again, Kurt victoriously planting his foot on the Goliath’s chest. “That’s a victory to me, I believe, Mr. Goliath!”
“Yeah, yeah, keep your pants straight and… *hiccup* …gimme a second.”
The Goliath gestures for the other one to hand him the reward: what looks like some hastily-rolled up cloth and a medallion. The two Goliaths then wish the party a good journey before stumbling along again, leaving them to find camp for the evening.
Before long, Heinz finds a nice clearing, blocking the wheels of the wagon before beginning to set up camp. Thankfully, they already have some firewood in store.
After getting an Epic Stew cooked up, and after ensuring the perimeter is secure, the party spends some time sharing some scary stories around the fire, as well as asking some questions of each other before turning in for the night. (For simplicity’s sake, I’ll just put a brief summary of each player’s story below, as well as the questions/answers after that.)
SCARY STORIES:
Kurt: “Long ago in the forest, there was a hiker — the hikiest hiker to ever hike, in fact. But one day, he heard a weird sound, looking up to see a dark sky, and back to see the trail wasn’t there anymore. After finding an abandoned cabin and letting himself in to try and rest, the man saw weird paintings on the wall; in the morning, the paintings were replaced by… WINDOWS!”
Heinz: “Long before the creatures of this land, the Ka’zak, were their own species, there was an old forest by an area known as the Singing Hills, for rumor had it you could hear a shrill note in the air there some days. Nevertheless, three barbarian brothers from the northern tundra were caught in an unexpected blizzard one day, soon forced to take shelter in the shadow of three large boulders.
One brother brought wood and camp materials, setting up camp before he heard a singing above the storm. He suddenly left, saying he’ll return soon. Next, the middle brother heard the voice, leaving as well despite the younger brother begging him to stay. The youngest brother sat tending to the fire, before hearing the voice as well. He hears some crunching in the distance as a young woman sits next to him — “join your brothers, dance with us,” she said, but he just ignored her, sipping honey-mead from a chipped flagon.
After a while, the woman just got up to leave, and the youngest brother continued to ignore the singing, until sleep claimed him at last. In the morning, he found his brothers bloodied outside, the tracks of a foul beast trailing into the distance.”
(Upon hearing the conclusion of this story, Kurt suddenly had to excuse himself, heading to the wagon for a moment before returning with a fresh pair of pants. It was a really scary story, according to him.)
Dahlia: “Once upon a time, a young farmer came to inherit a small parcel of land in the countryside — for a time, everything was good in his humble life. Blessed with bountiful fields and a family not long after that, the young farmer enjoyed his life. But each year, the lordship comes, seeking his dues. The farmer pays his dues, continuing to work. And year after year, the work takes its toll. His wife grows sick, yet the lordship still comes. His fields grow thin and dry, yet the lordship still comes. One day, the young farmer decided enough was enough, encouraging the townsfolk to fight back against the lord for their own. And in a storm of hooves and bloodied blades… yet the lordship still comes.”
Noll declined to share a story.
QUESTIONS/ANSWERS:
Kurt (asking Noll): “What were you doing before you came to Crossfield?”
Born to a blacksmith farmer in the Kingdom of Keltara, Noll was trained in the art from a young age, joining the military like his father. Though, even after years of work, he was unable to secure a promotion for himself, relegated to support staff even after great service. Eventually, he grew sick of it, setting out to travel the world, see its sights, and grow stronger before returning home.
Dahlia (asking Kurt): “What are the details of your imprisonment? How long were you there?”
“That is a question.”
Though reluctant to share, Kurt eventually says that he was caught escorting a group of slaves to freedom. After spending six months in that prison, he endured much the same treatment as the typical Grung slave, even as he nurtured a faith in a deity that fought for liberation in an age long past. After escaping using his newfound powers, Kurt formed a revolution to set other slaves free. The revolution was put to a swift and simple end, and Kurt was exiled after that to wander the Lands Beyond.
Noll (asking Heinz): “About the wagon earlier… why’d you react like that?”
Heinz is silent for a while, opening and closing his mouth as he struggles to find the words. Eventually, he just says he recognized the symbol on the bodies and would like nothing to do with “them,” before taking a swig from his flask and asking to leave it at that.
Heinz (asking Dahlia): “Where were you born/raised?”
“Does it matter?”
She ultimately considers it for a while (hesitant to share), before saying Redshield, a border outpost of the Free Alliance.
After that, the party turns in for the evening, and Heinz and Kurt spare a moment to figure out their gifts from the Goliath — a set of Wraps of Unarmed Prowess (obviously for Heinz) and a Medallion of Thoughts (which Kurt keeps for himself, even though the very notion of Kurt being able to read thoughts now proving to be a very scary one for Heinz).
Day 2 (Eleasis 2) — Morning, entering a rocky valley
As they begin their first half of the day’s travel, Heinz takes some time to go over their plan.
“Since we’re heading for Marshtown, our first task is to make sure you don’t get seen. You’re small, yes, but most people would notice you at a glance, from what I suspect. Are you still able to do that Disguise Self trick from before?”
Kurt shakes his head. “Nope. It was a single-time use thing. But maybe we can try the trench-coat plan: I stand on Noll’s shoulders, wearing a big coat?”
“Too obvious. I have a better idea.”
Heinz takes out the bag of holding, opening it to Kurt as it vacuums him inside. Immediately, Heinz feels a more peaceful and quiet atmosphere around him now, as if a great weight has been lifted off of his shoulders. Finally, I can breathe easy! Well… if I could just leave the little bastard in there.
He opens the bag of holding again, as a deluge of water surges out, Kurt surfing the wave as it spreads their equipment everywhere. And it’s all water-logged! Damn you, Kurt!
Heinz rushes towards him, but Kurt just ducks behind Noll, deciding to spare a use of Detect Thoughts on Heinz.
Goddamn it! This is so fucked! I can’t believe I left the little bastard alone in there!
Kurt continues to hide behind Noll as Heinz slowly calms down. And after drying their equipment off as best as they can, the party sets off once more, their path leading from grassland to a shallow rocky valley.
A few hours later, as they follow a high pass along the valley wall, they spot a figure leaning against a rock up ahead, clutching what appears to be a chest wound of some kind. Kurt rushes up to them, using Lay on Hands to try and heal the wound; his hands glow against the man’s shoulder, but it doesn't seem to work. The man just swats his hand away.
“I don’t need glowing hands! I need help!”
Dahlia steps up to ask the man some questions, as Heinz dashes off to the wagon. She asks, “How did this happen?”
The man shakes his head. “I was ambushed by highwaymen along the road. I was just minding my own business, walking along the road here, and next thing I know, there’s a knife in my gut and more than a few hands rummaging around in my belongings!”
Heinz returns from the wagon with a med-kit, moving forward to administer care to the man, pulling up his shirt to reveal the wound. Or what he was suspecting to be a wound, but in truth is nothing more than bare, unharmed flesh.
Heinz feels a chill run through him as the man stands to call for help. He tricked us. Real bad.
He looks up to see some 10 or 15 bandits atop the outcropping above the path, and he narrowly dodges an arrow aimed directly for his head before rushing down the path, meeting several thugs in combat. And so, the party begins combat!
After the fight, during which Heinz throws a couple of the bandits off the path into the valley below and Kurt nearly gets thrown off himself, the party eventually emerges victorious, licking their wounds as they take some time to search the bodies. In the end. Heinz finds some spare change on the thugs, as well as a set of thieves’ tools each, and Kurt spots some vials of poison on each of the scouts, as well as a shiny scimitar they each were wielding (a bit heavy, but normal-looking).
Kurt decides to taste-test the poison, quaffing a whole vial right in front of Heinz before wiping his mouth. “That’s just basic poison, ugh. And crappy shit, too.”
Heinz just stares at him, dumbfounded at what Kurt just did. “You just… What the fuck.”
“Remember, silly? I’m a grung. Poison doesn’t work on me.”
“Yeah. I forget that a lot. Humans don’t tend to be immune to poison.”
He steps over to the others to discuss their plans with the highwaymen. “We can’t just leave them here, right? Either that or we bring them to the authorities.”
Kurt steps forward. “No, we’re not doing that. Marshtown’s a place home to Grung that don’t like visitors at all. They treat their prisoners and slaves cruelly, and trespassers worst of all. They don’t deserve imprisonment there. They don’t deserve that.”
He pensively stares into the distance, westward along the road reaching towards the marshes of his home. Heinz binds the wrists and ankles of one of the scouts, before waking them up. He stares down at them, his eyes gleaming.
“If I see you or your friends again, I’ll make it my personal vendetta to bring you back here and leave you with your friends down at the bottom of the valley. I don’t think you’d like that very much, right?”
The scout shakes their head. “Of c-course not.”
“Then I’ll let you and the others free. As long as you honor your end of the bargain.”
The scout nods, hurriedly waking their other companions before they head down the road, southeast towards Crossfield. Heinz leaves the decoy thug at his rock for an eternal rest, scribbling the following note before leaving it in the thug’s shirt-pocket.
Here’s what happens when you jump caravans.
With that, the party turns to head off, beginning the second half of their march today. And as the sun shines down on them, the party feels the wind pick up around them for a moment, carrying the scent of distant flowers and forest, the promise of new lands and adventure. Even in this moment, the road ahead feels like just a step on their greater path, a small piece of the tale to come.
Author’s Note:
And so, the journey (officially) begins! This session was filled with moments of fun, reckoning, and tense combat! Most of all, though, I wonder how returning to his hometown will affect Kurt… it’s been many long months since he was banned from Marshtown for starting a rebellion; he escaped from prison after being caught helping slaves escape. A noble ideal, if not for the tyrannical hand of the gold grung and their High King.
I always like to put a few twists in when they begin traveling (the abandoned wagon), as well as a fun NPC encounter or two (the drunk Goliaths). These not only help cement the shifting nature of the world around them, but also the importance of simply taking some time to have fun — after all, that’s the entire point of the game for me.
As always, I’m excited to see how the campaign continues, and what secrets lie in wait in Marshtown and the Ruins of the Red Forest!
Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day!