Run Date: January 17th, 2023
PCs
Karthalion: Lv1 Ranger
TAG: Lv2 Rogue
Change of Plans
My third player was busy working an extra shift today. The other two discussed their plans and went over the current location and availability of their (growing) stable. TAG had some empty space so her player pulled her back to Riversmeet to join in today's session. Karthalion folded in just fine since his exploration always looped back to the city. After choosing the characters, we had some discussion about various hooks as well as some side stuff (life, games, etc). All in all, we burned a bit of time just chatting.
Once ready, the PCs decided they wanted to investigate the full moon murders. It's been a few months since the last party did some detective work resulting in a culprit being burned at the stake. Unfortunately, a couple months after that event, the murders started up again. I originally had a Patron running the plans by me, but she's since drifted elsewhere. Anyhow, the PCs gathered up their gear, double-checked their supplies, and started heading up the road.
I tossed some dice to see if anything interesting would be happening along the road. It was a day each to Cathorp then Alfstead (where the burning took place). Needless to say, the party never made it.
About halfway on the road to Cathorp the PCs discovered a splintered wagon and several bodies. They were cautious, expecting an ambush or for whatever hit the wagon to still be nearby. As they approached, the two spotted a smattering of goods; armor, weapons, a pair of man-sized statues, and a slew of coins. TAG focused her examination on the bodies while Karthalion examined the statues. Upon examination, TAG discovered that the people were wealthy merchants and began picking some pieces from the corpses. She spotted the horrific claw and bite marks and warned Karthalion to keep watch. She also picked up and opened a small scroll case containing some coin and a treasure map.
Karthalion busied himself with the statues, and noticed some film across the hands and mouth of the grisly stone. The players immediately put two and two together, but not before the statues animated and attempted to maul Karthalion. The two decided to split instead of fighting, and I pulled out the Chase rules to give them a run.
The PCs won initiative, resulting in their initial chase lead being set to 60. Karthalion managed to dodge a quick claw as he disengaged as well. I read the rules aloud, both to help myself and to keep things transparent. It's good to have everyone as close to the same page as possible, and I don't mind pulling back the curtain.
The first legs of the chase were fairly even. Neither TAG nor Karthalion were particularly athletic people, moreover they were trying to outrun something that didn't breathe. As the gap closed, they took advantage of a pair of Snap Opportunities to try and make space. Karthalion fired a chip shot while TAG attempted to flash bang (rogue skill, I forget the name) the statues. Unfortunately for them, my rolls were on fire. During the second Snap, Karthalion apologized to TAG and split off, throwing himself into some brush and hiding. Meanwhile, the statues ran TAG down, forcing an engagement.
TAG dueled with the creatures as best she could. She landed several blows and even counterblows. and Karthalion even popped out of his hiding place to offer support fire. His shot should have flown wide, but TAG is a Nüra, and blessed by Fate: exchanging a miss for a crit that took down one of the statues. Afterward, TAG survived another wave of attacks and forced an opening through a minor exploit to fence the statue back. She used the gap to begin rushing back to Karthalion's position. The statue took more hits while catching up, but TAG's luck held out long enough for one last strike. This time she attempted a Major Exploit to tumble behind the creature and backstab it. Success saw the blade grind through the stone surface and shatter its glass heart.
TAG immediately dropped to her knees to catch her breath while Karthalion examined the now-rubble. He failed to identify the cause of their animation, but floated questions regarding how the merchants even got the things for transport. With a short rest out of the way, the pair gathered up some dropped belongings and headed back to the wagon. To their luck, nobody else had come along to pick it clean.
We spent the next chunk of time going over the various items strewn about and sorting out what would be taken and left. Among the goods were a box sealed with wax (later revealed to contain massive leather and an ivory horn), a small keg of coin, a treasure map, a couple crates of weapons and armor, and a smattering of small gemstones. As was wise, the two decided to head back to Riversmeet and forget about all that murder nonsense for the time being.
The two borrowed a wagon to return and pick up the extra stuff they'd hidden, but alas someone else had discovered their hiding spot over the couple days it took to get back. The pair didn't mind it, though, and planned their next few days (leading into Downtime). TAG was left to find buyers for the pricier items, and dropped off her wealth at the local bank. Karthalion, meanwhile, planned out his training regimen.
Rewards
8 XP
1655 gp/ea (after sales)
Afterword
I feel like this is the first time I really had an "old-school" experience; from the random merchant/gargoyle wagon and hefty haul to ignoring the original reason the party departed. I guess my rolls for the night were on fire for both sides.
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