Nothing like starting off an D&D adventure with a valiant rescue and some orc-hewing to engage players and get them excited about subsequent gaming sessions! Subsequent in this case being the next day!
For your edification:
Brent: G'leric, a gnome wizard, and his familiar, G'at the bat
Spencer: Eric, a human paladin, and his mount, Zeeb
Kirby: Krispy, a human fighter
Elliot: Lance Dallas, an elf druid, and his familiar, Lionel
As the last session's recap was reread today, a couple of things were brought to the attention of the scribe...the 'e' in Eric is in fact supposed to be pronounced like the 'u' in 'uh'. Uhrik, is how you say it, the paladin says. And, he also notes, there's supposed to be a k at the end. To simplify things for the DM (and everyone else in the party, really), the paladin changes the spelling to Urik. Or, it is Urick?
And...the fighter wishes the readers to be aware that her last name is Crunch.
Le sigh.
Last session's ending consisted of a sound defeat of orc raiders and rescue of one important personage, Ricard Damaris (how important? The PCs are unaware as of yet). They have agreed to set off for the Free City of Greyhawk to escort Damaris back to his establishment, The Drunken Dog Inn. The DM reminds the players that the rescue and resolution also took an hour, max. It is still the same day, and thus, any spells cast do not return, hit points do no renew, and equipment used must be accounted for. Oh yeah, they all lament.
Urik casts Cure Light Wounds on Lance, and as they begin the two-mile journey back to Greyhawk, Ricard sends a backwards glance towards the destroyed caravans. He wonders if they ought to let the Able Carter Coaching Company about the salvageable goods, and asks the party if they might be willing to take on the task of notifying the company. The party agrees.
After about 25 minutes on the River Road, heading northeast, farms and houses begin to dot the countryside and it is obvious the travelers have reached the outskirts of the Free City of Greyhawk. Soon after, a stone gate bars further passage into the city, with a lone guard stationed at the post. Here, the adventurers' friendship with Ricard Damaris begins to produce benefits, as the guard, upon seeing Damaris seated upon Zeeb, becomes cordial and opens the gate immediately. The guard (named Mark) notices Ricard appears pale and frail, to which Ricard freely admits the trouble on the road to Greyhawk. Both gentlemen lament the upswing in similar caravan attacks in recent weeks.
Lance is questioned for a hot minute as he attempts to enter the city with a really, really big lion by his side. The druid explicitly guarantees, upon pain of death, that Lionel will not maim any good citizen of Greyhawk.
A Knowledge: Local check for the druid moments later reveals that the party has entered on the south side of the city, and that they are traversing through the Slum and Thieves' Quarters, otherwise known as the Old City. Remember, ol' Lance is 150 years old (elf-life), and frequently visited Greyhawk back in the day...but even he concedes the city has changed greatly in the three or four decades since he's been here. Another several minutes of walking along the main thoroughfare (Ricard informs the party that Greyhawkians refer to this street as "The Processional") brings the party to another gate and another guard. This one, Ricard does not appear to be on a first-name basis with, but nevertheless, the party enters into the New City. It is midday, and the streets are thronging with businessmen, shoppers, and the general populace doing their thing. The stone gate behind, now closed, appears to be the dividing line between a poorer, dirtier side of Greyhawk and its cleaner, safer, better-kept half. Every city has their Ivory Towers on the hill as well as The Dark and Slimy Underbelly...as they say.
The Processional soon opens into a large clearing, where many vendors selling goods of all types are crammed in, hawking their wares for the many buyers passing through. Ricard tells the players this is Low Bazaar, or the Petit Bazaar. Minutes after this, Ricard indicates a left turn onto Horseshoe Road. With great flourish, Ricard announces that they have arrived to the River Quarter, the liveliest, most colorful and entertaining part of Greyhawk. The players marvel at Ricard's jocularity and enthusiasm, seeing as he was near death not an hour ago. Another right turn onto The Strip leads to another right turn onto Cargo Street, and the players completely observe the fact that this is the Rodeo Drive of Greyhawk. Bright awnings and shop signs run the length of the road, advertising all types of goods for the travelers who have the right amount of coin.
Within minutes, a wooden sign hanging out over the sidewalk catches the players' attention. A silhouette of a dog, up on his hind legs, appears to be dancing? juggling? stumbling? is positioned under the printed words The Drunken Dog Inn. It is a slow lunch hour inside with only a couple of patrons seated at tables inside. A lone, grayhaired woman is tending bar, and a younger woman is wiping down tables and chairs and they both look up at the sound of the party's arrival. The younger woman especially is glad to see Ricard and she rushes over and inquires as to what's wrong with her boss.
The minute the DM mentions the barmaid, the paladin's player makes a reference to the Dorkness Rising Gamers movie and asks, "Is the barmaid hot?" To which the DM makes no response, as she temporarily lost hearing in both ears. The grumbly gnome wizard expresses mild concern at the pets being tied up outside (hello? really? a giant lion and a horse?), and instructs G'at to keep watch over them outside. Let's remind our readers that G'at...is a bat.
Ricard expresses a great desire to rest and heal in his private quarters and invites the party to dine with him later that night at his Lord's Table, which judging by the map of the Inn the party was given upon arrival, is in quite the place of honor. He leaves with instructions for the staff to locate rooms for the party, should they wish to lodge there. Again, the mention of the cleric Riggby, his upcoming funeral, and potential scarcity of lodgings enters the conversation.
G'leric turns to the bartender, who seems to be three minutes away from going postal, as it were. She's old, grouchy, and generally not the best face to put at the bar to bring in the customers. Perhaps it's why she's on the slower dayshift. The bartender barks at the younger woman to take the players to the available rooms. G'leric is quite fixated on two things as they survey the available rooms:
1. Is there a secondary exit? (after all, he claims to the wide-eyed barmaid, we "might have angered some people recently")
2. His boast of "I hit an orc today." While this is old hat info to the other party members, the barmaid appears to be impressed.
Bethel, the barmaid, describes that the room to their left has windows that open up to the back of the inn, and escape would be possible if one were to leap to the roofs of the other structures, some five or six feet below. Otherwise, she laments to the frowny G'leric, the only true exit is out the front door. The other room across the hall provides an excellent view of the busy Cargo Street; and thus, the boys take the back room and Krispy gets the front one to herself. At this point, the fighter can't even anymore and disappears into her room for some R & R.
Alerting the Able Carter Coaching Company to the ransacked caravans on Greyhawk's outskirts is priority numero uno on the other players' list. Bethel informs them the company is located in the Artisans' Quarter of the city, south of where they are now. In addition to this task, G'leric has the notion of also finding a potion shop. How lucky for them that Hauld's Apothecary is just down the street. The friendly, portly chemist is glad to check his stores for healing potions for the players, and while he's in the back, G'leric uses the free moments to interrogate the paladin, wanting to know (just out of the blue) what Urik's dad does (A painter, Urik replies). There must have been other impertinent questions too, enough to impel Urik to declare, "Hey, man, you just can't be arrogant." Hauld returns before the beefy 180-pound paladin smacks the three-foot-tall wizard around...and ends up charging what G'leric feels are exorbitant prices for healing meds. Hauld does not budge, despite G'leric's haggling, as he knows someone, somewhere in the River Quarter will certainly pay what he's asking.
The party heads south and comes to the open-air market known as the Low (or Petit) Bazaar within minutes. A Knowledge: Local roll by Lance causes him to remember that since today is Waterday, the crowds might be a bit thinner (or...watered-down perhaps?) than if it were, say, Starday, when most Greyhawkites have the day off, the crowds would be quite large. At any rate, the party comes away with several treasures:
1. Lance: dark green robes (light, for summer wear)
2. Urik: a pound of chicken jerky
3. G'leric: cheaper healing potions (the gnome is naturally miffed he paid higher prices at Hauld's)
Several yards from the Petit Bazaar, Lance sees the familiar orange shield/black wagon wheel symbol of the Able Carter Coaching Company. The men enter into a fairly spacious room where a wooden counter that runs the length of the entire office separates customers from the employees. A door is closed at the back of the room. Two men are present, one at the front counter and one seated at a desk near the wall. Both men are working, shuffling papers, pushing pencils, etc.
Lance asks to speak to the boss, and the man closest to the counter introduces himself in a no-nonsense fashion as Thalivar, the ACCC's owner. The other man is Garvent, he says. As the party recounts their adventures of the morning and the state of the destroyed caravans, a successful Spot check allows most of the players to note that Garvent has slightly inclined his head towards the conversation, as if he is trying to listen, but not wanting to look like he's listening in.
Thalivar is very interested in what the players have to tell him, and the players have all kinds of questions for him as well. It's a rather good exchange of information until things grow uncomfortable for G'leric, who then says he's a member of the City Watch...which is the WRONG thing to say, apparently. Thalivar totally goes off on the tiny wizard about the incompetence of the city's police in regards to this matter. However, later, it's revealed that G'leric's Bluff check did not outdo Thalivar's Sense Motive check...so Thalivar knew all along the gnome was lying, but he just really wanted the group to know what incompetent boobs the Greyhawk PD are.
After Thalivar calms down, more discussion ensues. And especially interesting is the little tidbit offered when Lance mentions the wyvern retreating towards the north at Zagig's bridge. Thalivar asks if the wyvern was heading to Castle Greyhawk's ruins? The party is not familiar with that place and can't answer correctly, but the hushed, awed way Thalivar mentions it seems pretty significant. Urik takes the opportunity to enlighten the party quickly on rumors he's heard, about the return of old demigods and revenge upon the citizens of Greyhawk. Oooo. Thalivar then states these caravan/cargo attacks have quadrupled in the last few weeks and the merchant class of Greyhawk is beginning to panic. That this is a rather serious situation is obvious to the party, as they listen to Thalivar urgently summon Garvent to retrieve as many coachmen as he can find, the idea being any available ACCC employee may hasten to the bridge to salvage what is left.
And then, G'leric wastes no more time and cuts right to the heart of the matter, inquiring: what would you give us if your problem was solved? Thalivar tells them in addition to the three carriages from today, there are three others that have not been recovered, and if roughly 85% of *those* goods can be returned to ACCC, there is a 4,000 gp reward in it for the recovery team. Thalivar also claims if the party returns in a day's time, he will have accurate inventory lists ready for the adventurers to take with them.
It seems as good a time as any to undertake a noble quest such as this and unlock the twisted myriad of Greyhawk's secrets.
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