Dwarrowdeep #15

It was two days after the attack of darkness on the thaig, and the curfew was still in force, which made our heroes worry when Lorca had not returned from his meeting with his Surface Dwarf merchant contact. Their fears came true when they received word that he and his contact had apparently been poisoned at a tavern, but a search of the premises revealed no trace of the poison or the perpetrator. Bertil was able to surmise that they might have been drugged by the same poison that killed the two dwarven guards; he was able to stabilise Lorca, but his contact succumbed to the poison.

That night, while Lorca laid in a coma, our heroes received a messenger from Lord Durrow, who braved the curfew to bid them and The Foxes to come to the King's Hall fully armed as soon as curfew broke. A suspicious Boggart followed the messenger back, and confirmed that he had indeed come from the King's Hall (see PC profiles here).

The next morning our heroes and The Foxes arrived at the King's Hall as requested, and learned from Lord Durrow that Captain Gauldrin had demanded he give the order for movement between the quarters of the thaig to be restricted so that an effective search for the "demon stones" could be conducted. Lord Durrow had asked to have the night to ponder the issue, and asked Captain Gauldrin to prepare the order for him to sign the next day, but he feared that the latter will force the issue with arms, and had therefore asked the party and The Foxes to help him arrest Captain Gauldrin instead.

Before the adventurers have had a chance to discuss the issue, Captain Gauldrin arrived with six armed gaurds and the order to be signed. The gathering of so many armed men in the King's Hall made the tension rise. The Foxes decided to literally sit the conflict out and sat by the side of the hall with their hands away from their weapons. Lord Durrow ordered our heroes to arrest Captain Gauldrin for treason for attempting to seize power, while Captain Gauldrin asked his men to arrest Lord Durrow for impeding investgation of the attack. Bertil and Boggart stood down, while Zunn fled with Lord Durrow deeper into the hall, and barricaded themselves inside Lord Durrow's chambers.

Boggart asked Gauldrin his plans, and the latter declared that he would close the passages between the quarters of the thaig, and have his men conduct a search of all dwellings for the demon stones or evidence of collusion with demonic forces. Boggart then offered the adventurers as independent observers to legitimise the searches, which Gauldrin accepted. Meanwhile, Lord Durrow was able to negotiate amnesty for Zunn by surrendering himself, and he was taken into custody.

The search began at the High Gate quarter, and our heroes were given permission to search the barracks. There in the chest belonging to one of the slain guards they found a letter written in Gauldrin's hand, which read:

"Execute the plan at noon on the first day of Cloudreach. Show this letter in my hand as proof of my order."

Our heroes kept the letter, but decided against revealing it to all.

The next day the search began at the Quarters quarter, where most of the populace dwelled. When some of the common folk protested against the searches, Gauldrin ordered them to be tied up and left outside their homes as an example to others who would resist.

This did not sit well with Boggart, a Ferelden Freeman, and he cut one of the dwarves free in front of Gauldrin and the guards. Seeing him do this, Zunn and Bertil followed suit. The dwarven guards looked silently at their captain as this happened, until Gauldrin announced that as the adventurers were independent observers of the search, their suggestion to free the inhabitants after their dwellings had been searched would be taken. There was a collective sigh of relief, but all the tension were too much for The Foxes, who told our heroes that they would secretly leave the thaig that day.

That night, Gauldrin asked the party to eat with him as the guards made camp at the plaza. The strain of the events of the past few days told on the captain, and he expressed his frustration at the lack of result from his search... before he fell over - their dinner had been poisoned. Our heroes too began to feel their strength ebb from their limbs...

Channeling a healing spirit, Bertil was able to purge the effect of the poison, but it was clear that the place was too dangerous. Leaving Sergeant Fimar in charge, Captain Gauldrin made his way back to High Gate, accompanied by a few guards and Boggart.

Prepping and Running the Game

The game was a natural extension from the events of the last session.

As I did not know which faction the players will side with during the first scene of the session, I could not plan the session in detail. Rather, I decided to just react to what the PCs did. This worked out well as the players rose to the occasion and did unexpected things like trying to flee with Lord Durrow and "embedding" themselves into the search process. Then as I described the scenes they asked me questions which helped me add details and vignettes, which resulted in the high point of the session (and perhaps the whole campaign) when Boggart defied Gauldrin in the presence of his men.

There was not a single combat during the session, but I think the players enjoyed the role-playing and the mystery.