Book 1: Act 4 - Against the Stag Lord

Enter the Stolen Lands, a wilderness claimed by nobles, bandits, and beasts alike. Into this territory the fractious country of Brevoy sends its emissaries, tasking them with subduing the lawless folk and deadly creatures that have made it a realm of savagery and shame. Beyond the last rugged frontier stretches the home of voracious monsters, capricious fey, wily natives, and bandits who bow to the rule of a merciless lord none dare defy. Can the our heroes survive the Stolen Lands, bring their dangers to heel, and lay the foundations of a new kingdom? Or will they just be one more fateful band, lost forever to the ravenous wilds?

A Paizo Adventure Path

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Re: Erastus 7th: Returned to Oleg's Trade Post

Post by Vardaen » Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:27 pm

I was told you wanted to take the corpse to the Trade Post so you had proof of his death. Then you'd take him to the river after.
Svtelana runs over, "The Stag Lord is dead? Amazing! I knew from the moment you folks came into the fort that you were going to be heros!" She helps Lem down, "I think this calls for a celebration. I'll get Oleg and see what I can whip up for you all to eat." She hurries off into the building.

Kesten finish his drill and let's his men relax as he hears the shouting news about the Stag Lord. "Most excellent work! We'll have to send word to the Swordlords at once, first thing in the morning." He clasps hands with those that will, "My congratulations to you all."

As you dismount Colban arrive and you greet the man with smiles and well wishes. He then take notices of Akiros and Auchs. The large man Auchs is known to him and he takes a few steps back worried. "What's he doing here?"
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Re: Erastus 7th: Returned to Oleg's Trade Post

Post by Trogdor » Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:56 pm

"These two turned on the Stag Lord and helped us defeat him," Cal says. "It was nip and tuck, and their assistance may have made the difference. I promised them we'd give them a pardon for their banditry if they helped us." He gives the Kesten a look that says, we had little choice, and shrugs. "For what it's worth, Colban," he adds, "I intend to include you in that pardon as well."

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Re: Erastus 7th: Returned to Oleg's Trade Post

Post by Vardaen » Tue Sep 11, 2012 10:13 pm

Colban nods, "Alright. I can't fault a man for reforming." He looks at Cal and gives him a strange look. "I'll take care of your horses." He unhitches the horses and takes the rest of them into the stables to unsaddle them and feed and water them. He clearly doesn't want to be around Auchs.

Auchs for his part doesn't seem to catch on to any of this. He's looking around the fort, "Heard a dis place, seems smaller than the others said. Easy pickings." Akiros sighs, "We don't do that any more Auchs, remember that, we've gone straight." Akiros nods to Kesten and offers his hand, "Akiros, pleased to meet you."

Finally Oleg arrives, "Well well well look what the cat dragged in, and with good news I hear."
During your five days on the road you'd have learned the following about the Bandits, and Akiros and Auchs.


Ayles Megesen: Ayles is a soft-spoken man
whose calm demeanor should not be taken
for passivity—Ayles enjoys the act of torture
the most among the bandits, and often
spends hours after a fight “exploring”
surviving victims.

Cragger Kench: A former cutpurse,
Cragger was beaten senseless by the Stag Lord
for drinking a bottle of his liquor, and his
injuries have left him a little dim-witted—
although not so dim-witted as Auchs.
Dirty Jeb Megesen: Ayles's younger
brother, Dirty Jeb likes to think he
got his nickname for his penchant
for fighting dirty, when in fact the
moniker stems from his aversion to
hygiene.

Falgrim Sneeg: Falgrim Sneeg is an
older Varisian with graying hair and an unruly beard. A
former mercenary, he possesses an unnerving calm in the
face of violence.

Fat Norry: Behind only Auchs in size, Fat Norry
somehow never seems to lose weight despite the hard lives
the bandits live. This rotund bandit is rarely seen without
some sort of food clutched in a greasy hand.

Jex the Snitch: The least popular with the men but
perhaps the Stag Lord's favorite minion is this aptlynicknamed
man. His penchant for reporting the other
bandits' mistakes to the Stag Lord is likely to earn him a
shallow grave before much longer.

Topper Red: Topper Red was a struggling street poet
from the city of Pitax. He fled that city when an affair turned
sour, and eventually joined the Stag Lord's ranks while
romanticizing the thrilling life of a lawless brigand.

Akiros Ismort: Of the three lieutenants, Akiros is the
least satisfied with his lot in life—but that's nothing new
for him. Simple farmers in a proud rural area in Taldor,
Akiros's parents wanted nothing more for him than life
as a protector of the town—as a paladin of Erastil, no less.
Every moment of Akiros's life was spent in preparation
for his acceptance into the order, yet not one month after
he achieved his parents' dream and became a paladin,
Akiros fell in love with the married daughter of one of his
hometown's wealthier merchants, a woman named Rosilla.
The affair ended all too soon when Rosilla's husband found
out what she'd been up to and threatened to divorce her.
The thought of losing the life of luxury was too much, and
she told her husband that Akiros had raped her. Furious,
he took Rosilla to the temple of Erastil to confront her
attacker. The young paladin was flabbergasted, but when
Rosilla took things too far by spitting on him and publicly
denouncing him as a rapist, a heretofore unknown rage
woke in Akiros's heart. All of his repressed frustrations
and anger poured out in one powerful blow, and with that
blow he snuffed out Rosilla's life. As she crumpled to the
floor, Akiros knew his life had been snuffed out as well.
He turned on Rosilla's dumbfounded husband and killed
him as well, and with the temple guards still in shock, he
fled the city. He barely made it out of Taldor, stowing away
on a merchant ship bound for Mendev. Akiros switched
ships dozens of times as he fled north, losing himself in
the River Kingdoms, living as a bandit, a vagabond, and a
criminal, and growing to enjoy his newfound rages.
Eventually, his wanderings took him into the Stolen
Lands—he'd heard of the Stag Lord, and still unsure of
where he needed to be in life, he sought this new liege
out. Akiros has been with the Stag Lord's bandits for only
a few months, but already his commanding presence has
earned the Stag Lord's favor—Akiros is now considered to
be the second-in-command of the fort, much to Dovan's
displeasure. Ironically, Akiros has come to the realization
that life as a bandit is even more hollow than life as a
paladin of Erastil, and when the PCs make their attack
on the fort, he sees in them an opportunity for a new life
and, perhaps, redemption.

Auchs: Auchs is as simple as Akiros is complex. A
lumbering lummox of a man, Auchs is simpleminded in
everything but cruelty. He loves the sound of sobbing and
screaming when the sounds aren't coming from him, and
gleefully crushes and pummels bandits and prisoners alike
according to the commands of his fellow lieutenants or the
Stag Lord. Illiterate, the only word Auchs can spell is his
name—and not even then, since Dovan took perverse glee
in telling him that “ox” was spelled “Auchs.” He's traveled
with Dovan for the past 6 months, after the smaller man
saved him from being killed for starting a deadly brawl
in a marketplace in Daggermark, and is rarely found far
from Dovan's side—although he is taking an increasing
liking to Akiros, much to Akiros's annoyance.

Dovan from Nisroch: Until Akiros usurped the role,
Dovan was comfortably the second-in-command of the fort.
Secretly pleased with the Stag Lord's alcoholism, Dovan has
been actively encouraging the man to drink, for as long as
the Stag Lord is in his cups, more power over the bandits
rests in Dovan's hands. Dovan himself is a mystery to the
bandits—a dark, tattooed figure with an obvious taste for
pain and cruelty. All they know of him is that he claims
to hail from Nisroch. In fact, Dovan hails from Ustalav,
where he grew up amid the horrors of the Widow's Boudoir
in Caliphas, a brothel that specialized in mixing sexual
fantasies with murder. When he discovered that he was on
the menu for a particularly violent evening, Dovan gathered
his things and quietly fled town, spending the next several
months enjoying all the decadences and freedoms the River
Kingdoms had to offer. After a close call with a press gang,
Dovan “recruited” Auchs by saving the huge man from a
brawl Dovan engineered. Dovan often grows tired of Auchs's
simpleminded sounds, but is just as pleased with how well
the oaf takes to torture—and the security his friendship
brings can't be denied.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Re: Erastus 7th: Returned to Oleg's Trade Post

Post by Phlale » Thu Sep 13, 2012 5:19 pm

Arenhal smiles slightly at Oleg, and then leans into the wagon, pulling the helm out with both hands. "It would seem that the Stag Lord's last visit will not cost you any profits, Oleg."
"I will always return."
-Shinjo

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Re: Erastus 7th: Returned to Oleg's Trade Post

Post by Trogdor » Thu Sep 13, 2012 6:34 pm

"Very good news, Oleg," Cal replies. "The Stag Lord is dead and his gang of bandits is broken. For a time, at least, the Greenbelt should be safe. If that isn't cause for celebration, I don't know what is!"

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Re: Erastus 7th: Returned to Oleg's Trade Post

Post by Vardaen » Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:31 pm

Auchs flicks a bugger off his finger, "Did someone say dinner? I could eat a horse." You don't doubt the man would actually do that if given the chance.

Oleg's attention is temporarly distracted by Auch but he quickly returns to the rest of you. "What excellent news Arenhal, because I couldn't a ford another visit from his thugs." His quip might sting a bit but Oleg let's the truth be the truth. "Well why don't we get you all unpacked and fed and you can tell me over dinner how it went, I'm certain you are tired from the ride."

Over the course of the next hour you get settled in, the wagon and horses are handled and unloaded, the corpse is left outside the fort to keep it from stinking the place up too bad. You learn that Jhod remains at the Temple of Erastil but came back once for some supplies so he should be fine. You manage to get washes up and find places for Akiros and Auchs to bed down. Svetlana is busy cooking and the smells drive you all crazy. You prisoner is thrown in the midden pit for the time being as its the only place with a bared cell like structure.

So it is that you find yourselves standing around the pit with Kesten. The noble has spent most of his time dealing with Falgrim since your arrival and he wants to settle things with you.

Kesten says, "Congratulations fellas, you've managed it. I am more and more pleased to have met you four. Tomorrow I'll be taking Falgrim to Rostov to stand trial. I will be taking all of my men with me to guard Falgrim along the way. I can arrange for you each to be rewarded with a masterwork weapon, a fine blade or bow, or whatever you like. Just tell me what you'd like before I leave. I can also carry word of the Stag Lord's defeat for you to whomever you wish me to."
Image

I've already awarded the XP for this. Feel free to let me know what Masterwork Item you want, and just put it on your sheet now so we dont' forget.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Re: Erastus 7th: Returned to Oleg's Trade Post

Post by Trogdor » Fri Sep 14, 2012 8:52 pm

"We'd certainly appreciate you carrying our message about the Stag Lord's defeat," Cal replies, "and certifying that we did, indeed, kill him. We've got an appointment with an angry spirit that wants its revenge on the Stag Lord. And for that, we need the Stag Lord's body. Anything we can do to settle the restless dead in these lands is something I'm all in favor of."

"Oleg's should be safe enough while you're gone," the sorcerer adds, "even with you taking all your guards with you. We'll probably be hanging around the trading post. And with the Stag Lord defeated, it should be fairly quiet for a little while."
Cal will take a MW dagger.

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Re: Erastus 7th: Returned to Oleg's Trade Post

Post by Vardaen » Fri Sep 14, 2012 8:56 pm

Kesten nods, "Not a problem. We call all certainly vouch for your success. I agree silencing the living dead is a good idea." You talk a bit about what sort of weapon you'd like takes place and Kesten assure you that you will have your reward for Falgrim's capture. "I'll probably be gone little over a week, perhaps longer, but when I return I'll have your rewards."
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Re: Erastus 7th: Returned to Oleg's Trade Post

Post by Trogdor » Fri Sep 14, 2012 9:37 pm

"I don't have much use for weapons in a fight," Cal muses, "being a sorcerer and all. But you know what I would like? A really fine boar spear." He smiles at Kesten. "We had a nice boar hunt during our explanations, and I promised Valen that some day I'd rebuild a ruined hunting lodge we found. When that day comes, I'd love to have a fine boar spear to go hunting with."

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Re: Erastus 7th: Returned to Oleg's Trade Post

Post by Vardaen » Fri Sep 14, 2012 10:15 pm

Kesten nods, "Now that is a fine idea. I know just the man to make you one." He looks at Valen and the rest, "What about the rest of you, do you want boar spears as well, or something else?"
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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