Today is Easter, so those of us with families and loved ones miss the game. This includes Tim (Antok Six-Hearted) and Mike (Kellin). The rest of us all crawled out from under rocks, and have nothing better to do: Chris (Gruul), Chuck (Galen), Paul (Marik) and Bruce. Bruce grumbles that he could be spending this time turning images from the web into Sparks. Everyone else ignores him.
Galen takes 35 points of damage. Marik takes 42 points of damage. Gruul sees the way things are going and buries his head in the sand. He takes 12 points of damage. Then he stands up and yells, "Woohoo!" He takes 47 points of damage.
Gruul, Galen and Marik convene a meeting to discuss their plans for the war. They mourn the fact that they have nothing that looks like cavalry. Finding some would be very helpful against the heavily-armed phalanxes they expect the thrux to field. Their initial idea completely bypasses the commonplace notions of soldiers mounted upon horses or riding graau and go straight to grayfeather storks. They already know that there are still several storks living around the flutes at Nan Ro Nan: one of the gatherers Gruul sent out to Dith Lun was killed by a stork attack, and the survivors were more than willing to tell the tale of what had happened. Galen proposes that the characters kill several storks, then take the bodies to Mournful Sara to be animated as flying zombies. They would be ridden by bauskers hired from Doorway City, and could be used to drop javelins and large stones on troop concentrations.
The others think this is a great idea, but that it doesn't go far enough. Marik has heard stories about grayfeather stork chicks. In particular, he's heard that the things are as cute as two-meter-tall carnivorous birds can be, but that they have down that can cut like razor wire. He thinks that a few of these, properly motivated, could break up a party of armed men like so many ninepins. Gruul asks, "What's a ninepin?"
Galen, ever the student of Garden geography, points out that arrogance is one of the central personality traits of ruling thrux. Based upon this, he concludes that the thrux will probably send their army through the Augurn Plains so they can destroy the rushufarr tribes along the way. Marik indicates that he's known this for a long time, and that in fact he spent quite a lot of time traveling among the rushufarr settlements to warn them of the impending attack and to persuade them to take appropriate defensive action. He offers a different idea. The only bridge across the upper Zhen Trau River suitable for military operations is at the thrux citadel of Spearhead's Bridge. The thrux must cross the river to reach the Augurn Plains and Nircharstal, so losing the bridge would create a major obstacle for their efforts.
Gruul listens to this plan and nods with approval. He suggests that the thing to do is to wait until after the army crosses over before destroying the bridge. The Augurn Plain is fairly barren, so the thrux will need the bridge to maintain their lines of supply. A hungry army is much easier to defeat than a well-fed one.
Marik has quite a lot of information on Spearhead Bridge and the Zhen Trau river. The river is about 400 meters wide and very slow-moving at the bridge crossing. The bridge itself is constructed of stone spans supported by heavy stone pilings. Its longest unsupported span is about 30 meters long; it takes advantage of two low-lying islands near the Augurn bank of the river. The actual roadbed is wooden and 10 meters wide across the entire length of the bridge. There is enough wooden construction in the bridge that it could be burned. The pylon bases are made of large blocks of fitted stone. They are 3x12 meters, and sink down several meters into the riverbed. Each base supports two 2x2 meter stone pylons.
The conversation swiftly turns to the important question of how to actually destroy the bridge. Marik tells the others, "I could make a 30-meter diameter Rain of Fire that does 2d-2 per round!" The key problem with this plan is that even though it would destroy the roadbed, this is the easiest part of the bridge for the thrux to replace. Destroying the stone structural elements or the stone pilings would be much harder for the thrux to recover from. The characters determine that Stone to Earth cast upon a piling would be effective, but extremely costly. They conclude that a magical Earthquake cast upon the base of a piling would be the best way to go.
There is much agreement that any "special ops" in the thrux territories will need to be run by the characters.
Gruul mentions, "If the thrux are going to start moving in about thirty days, then this is the time to start calling in all the irregulars Marik arranged. We need to send someone around with writs or some kind of authority to start gathering soldiers." All agree. The irregular forces are raised. The population of Nircharstal is set to obtaining pitch, food and any other military supplies. And clay pots. Gruul wants to make sure that the city has enough clay pots that even if they aren't useful, the thrux will look around and say, "Look at all these clay pots! What the fuck!"
Keeping the Spearhead Bridge plan in the backs of their minds, the characters pack up for a quick journey to Doorway City to talk to Mournful Sara. Gruul wants to try and hire some undead monsters from her to give over to Marik's spymasters. He hopes that they will be able to kill some thrux and Gua Far leaders when the thrux army isn't around to stop them. For their part, Marik and Galen are interested in buying up all the potions they can get from Calchithra. They also want to see if they can buy any Zombie or Stone to Earth scrolls from Mournful Sara.
As usual, the characters hear from the local Zatulph drunkard on their way up to the Sours. As usual, he calls out, "Y'all are still gawna get yerrselfs fuckin' killed up there!" to them, in spite of the fact that he has seen them visit Mournful Sara several times before with no visible ill effects. Gruul asks the fellow, "Can you do that in a positive sort of way? Here's a yellow clavar." The man briefly complains that his favorite flelling-run bar closed down, to which the characters scoff.
The characters discuss their business with Mournful Sara's lieutenant, the Blood-Walker Abbek Choff. He seems fairly happy to see them, and becomes steadily happier when Gruul tells him, "We're interested in purchasing some zombie monsters. Something that can follow orders, be humanoid, and be devastating in combat against a human-type target. We want to go a bit upscale beyond just the simple zombie, or even the armored zombie." Skull-spirits are mentioned. Everyone becomes very, very interested, especially because the enchantment to create a one-use spirit costs only 40 energy and can be done quite cheaply. Abbek indicates that the biggest cost is in finding appropriate skulls. He quotes a price of 200 clavars each, with a 100 clavar credit for any skulls the characters can bring in. He has eight of the things in stock and available for sale. Gruul buys them all.
The characters ask Abbek Choff what else he has available. He indicates that he also has three armored zombie ghulkraws available. They are expensive to find, assemble and animate, and cost 5000 clavars each on a rental basis. This price includes a 2000 clavar deposit that he will refund if the characters are able to return the ghulkraws in functional shape. If they are able to return just the armor, that's worth 1000 clavars. From his tone, the characters sense that most of the ghulkraws Mournful Sara's people rent out are not returned in "functional shape", and that Abbek Choff does not particularly expect that these will be either. Remembering how well Igway Rufo's armored zombie ghulkraws did when the characters were fighting him, they swiftly turn over the money.
The characters are prepared to head back down to Doorway City when Abbek Choff makes them an unusual offer. He indicates that they have been very reliable customers, surprisingly so compared to the usual lot that look to Mournful Sara for help. In light of this, he offers to hire himself out to them as a magician. He points out that he has some very special dietary and environmental restrictions, and that he has no intention of getting closer to actual combat than absolutely necessary, but feels that he has quite a number of magical assets even so.
The characters waste no time in negotiating terms. Abbek Choff is unwilling to accept money, as he has little use for the stuff. The characters point out that the thrux are surely well-equipped with enchanted items, that that all manner of things are likely to be available as gleanings from the battlefield. They agree to give over 10,000 clavars worth of magical items from anything they manage to take from the thrux forces after the battle is won. He will be based out of either Parcyclus Castle or Nircharstal, and will provide various forms of magical support.
Abbek Choff explains that he needs the characters' help to get out of Doorway City, because at one time he was known to the rulers there. From there he can use a wagon to get to Nircharstal. Gruul asks, "Will you need any heavy robes to shield out the light?" Abbek Choff responds, "Strangely enough, I already have a sizable wardrobe. And all the perfume amulets I need." He also indicates that he will be bringing along a pair of zombies as porters.
The characters return to Doorway City and immediately head for the market at the Electors' Plaza. Along the way, they are able to learn that the local political situation has improved rather substantially in recent days. The standoff with Prince Gufteng has stood down, largely because both sides ran out of money. Even better, Yaggo's recent stop at Firesky was very much the commercial success that his previous stops at Aeldrine and Eafa were not. There are now a lot of Venturer merchants around Doorway City with money and new goods to sell.
The first thing on the characters' shopping list is magic to destroy bridges. Marik hits up the Ecularium, the Zullkreftsskul and various independent traders. He is able to find:
He buys every single one of them. The characters also investigate other spells. In particular, Galen is curious about the chances of creating a Volcano in the Garden. He learns that this will not work, but that the Spawn Flute spell is functionally very similar. It works just like Volcano, except that its prerequisites Earthquake and 6 Water spells. He decides that he would really rather not create any more flutes around Nircharstal than absolutely necessary.
The characters find that in the cessation of tensions the bausker healer Calchithra's business has almost returned to normal. Her stock is a bit more limited than normal, as she has recently been occupied mostly in making potions the military was interested in. She has a whole vat of leftover Chiron potions, but not so much of anything else. The characters buy the entire vat (30 doses) for 3295 clavars, including a 15% discount for bulk purchase. Other items in her stock include a single Ephialtes potion (700 clavars) and three Agni potions (500 clavars each). Gruul buys all of them.
Having noticed that both the Doorway City militia and Prince Gufteng's legions are releasing soldiers, the characters decide to see if they can hire up some professional help. Gruul is rather partial to gaurmen axemen, so he heads over to Prince Gufteng's territory and hires ten axemen, paying a 600 clavar hiring bonus to each of them (most of this money goes to buying them appropriate equipment). He tells them that their first job will be to escort a heavily-cloaked man and two zombies to Nircharstal.
The next item on the characters' list is the Rain-Making Amulet. They had originally loaned it to the Electors as part of a tax payment. The original understanding had been that the amulet would be returned to them upon the cessation of tensions. The characters decide rather unilaterally that tensions have ended (at least for Doorway City) and that the time has come to get the thing back. They find that it is now one of a variety of artifacts held in common by the Electors. Though the Magister Primus of the Ecularium has been appointed as primarily responsible for managing the use of all these items, it has been given over to a Sangorn aristocrat named Dalway Telf, an agent of the Electors' Council. The characters get the idea that he was once an Ecularium student, but that he learned Administration and Mathematics during his time there, not magic.
A small amount of investigation convinces the characters that Telf will be found on any of several plantations out along the Garden Wall, using the Rain-Making Amulet to irrigate fields. He will be accompanied by one or two bodyguards. Gruul listens to this and complains, "This guy is Johnny Apple-Rain, and he's using our property to do it!" Gruul is tremendously upset.
The characters find Dalway Telf out at Longshadow Hold, a Sangorn-owned plantation that seems to employ primarily bausker agricultural workers. They find him sitting on the porch of the main house. His two bodyguards stand nearby. They are clearly not expecting trouble: though they look like sturdy-enough fellows, neither of them is armed with anything more substantial than a long knife. The characters are able to strong-arm Telf into giving up the amulet without any real trouble, though to say that Telf is deeply upset would be an understatement.
The characters walk away with the Rain-Making Amulet. The congratulate themselves on the way they handled the situation with no casualties and only the promise of violence.
Galen, Gruul and Marik return from Doorway City to find Nircharstal gearing up for war. The militia are assembling slowly, the citizens have established storehouses and are doing their best to stock them with food and clay pots, and several rushufarr families have sent representatives to say that they are also preparing for the thrux invasion.
Galen tells the others that they need to gather up all the forces they can, and that means they will need the help of Shochunstal. The others agree. Galen takes up the Circlet and Saber of Nircha and the three characters travel to Shochunstal to roust out the Steadsman's men.
They are rather disappointed by what they find. They are unable to get an audience with the Steadsman, who has shut himself up inside his keep. They are also unable to see any indications that the people of Shochunstal are preparing for much of anything at all, except possibly a time of continual political oppression.
Galen manages to speak to Holder Bala Taften, the head of an aristocratic family he knows to be loyal to the memory of the Firstman and the ideal of a resurgent Faian nation. The characters speak to him at his town house. As before, they are shocked by what he says. He gives no indication that he will step away from the rather unpromising line the Steadsman has put out, and in fact professes his sincere love of and loyalty to the Steadsman as the only legitimate ruler of the Faian nation. This performance continues until his eldest son Rugo Taften leads the characters into the basement of the house (on the pretext of taking them "upstairs, to the guest rooms") and into an area he describes as being Scrywalled.
Rugo Taften tells the characters that the Steadsman has recently taken some measures to counteract what he (correctly) perceives as creeping disloyalty among the aristocratic class of Shochunstal. He has hired five foreign magicans and a gang of foreign mercenaries. The magicians are all skilled in scrying magic, and spend their time keeping tabs on those aristocrats who are known to have inappropriate nationalist aspirations.
The characters' reaction is simple and direct. They propose simply killing the Steadsman and everyone else they find in the Steadsman's Keep, then picking a new ruler from among the loyal aristocracy. Rugo Taften tells them that he cannot accept that solution. He and his father want to ensure that the Steadsman is legitimately deposed, and that a successor is picked from among the thirty Holders of Shochunstal according to the correct procedures. He explains that if the Steadsman is simply killed by Faian nationalists, this will make it difficult for many of the Holders to select a nationalist aristocrat to replace him. Without the backing of the full Council of Holders, the new Steadsman will not be able to muster up the full military might of Shochunstal, which will not help anyone in beating back the thrux.
Rugo Taften tells the characters everything he can about the Steadsman's household and his new mercenaries:
He promises to provide the characters with a man of the Steadsman's Keep. He indicates that he and many other local folk know their way around the place, as it has traditionally been used as a public building.
Each character gains three experience points.