Beneath Two Suns...Again

Things are exciting for our Greyhawk adventurers...so much so that the DM misses playing the game herself.  Thankfully, her husband (G'leric) volunteers to run game for awhile...and with it being a sort-of-crazy time of year, he opts to run an old campaign...Beneath Two Suns. Remember the horrible, self-involved Princess Nadima from about four years ago?  Yeah, well, she's back!

The first gaming session for the new DM was supposed to be rather uneventful.  Players were rolling characters and establishing initial storylines, and this is what your scribe has for you so far...

- A human cleric, played by Heather, known only right now as #4791.
- A half-elf Hexblade, played by Emily, also unnamed at this time.
- Shinta, a human sorcerer (Daniel).
- Dante, an elven Ranger (Elliot)
- Abuther, a half-elf Barbarian (Spencer)

However, you know how these things go.  The players rolled up their characters rather quickly...and the DM made the snap decision to...let...the...game...begin.

A little city background: The DM informs the party about the planet on which they live - Kregan. Due to the presence of two suns, Kregan is on a 32-hour day. The mingling of the solar lights provide a soft, colorful hue upon the inhabitants of Kregan, but do not be fooled.  This is an environment that thrives on tyranny and oppression.  Our campaign takes place particularly in the city of Zenicce, and there is no sharper, more severe example of this cruel subjugation.  For twenty out of the thirty-two hours of the day, scores of slaves are herded into marble quarries, where they work hard and long under the watchful eye of malicious overseers called rappa.  The rappa look like man-vultures and wield weapons of pain, all to keep these shackled slaves in line.  As if these nasty creatures weren't enough, the slaves are also guarded by four-foot-tall, six-armed hairy little men called oaks.  However, manpower for the toilsome quarry work comes in all forms, and there are just as many rappa and oaks slaves as they are humans.

And why these hapless slaves need so much watching over is unclear...the layout of the city of Zenicce is water-based and maze-like at its best.  Inhabitants of the city travel through waterways and canals from one "island" to another.  This type of layout makes escape incredibly difficult for any motivated slave...but it does make their capture incredibly easy for the guards, who then subject the near-escapee to torture, to be witnessed by the other slaves.  There are no outer walls here in Zenicce, and no sense of central authority as each "island" is ruled by a family of importance.  "The Codifex" is the title given to the most prestigious family in the Great Assembly, and they in turn rule the entire city of Zenicce.  Of course, it is well-known that the gaining of the Codifex title is synonymous with cruel manipulation and treachery.  Slaves are branded with the letter of the ruling family who owns them, which makes their discovery and brutal return that much more sure and hopeless.

And of course, as it turns out, our ragtag party of players are part of a slave crew on a barge back into Zenicce.  They are exhausted not only by a long day in the quarry, but by the despair that has become a constant in their lives.  There is always talk of rising up against the oppressors, but most days it seems like a dream.  There are rumors that escape is possible if the guards are distracted, and vague stories circulate all the time about those brave few who have attempted it.

And now it appears the planets are about to align, because unbeknownst to our adventurers right now, their time for freedom and overthrow have come!

The barge carrying our players glides effortlessly through a curtain of lush green ivy.  An enormous, ornate letter 'E' is secured to one of the trunks of the tree as they pass through...the mark of the House of the Estercari.  Sidones, the head of the House, is also the Codifex for the city of Zenicce.  A noble-looking young woman with several guards await on the jetty, watching the barge as it comes closer to its port. 

The silence is suddenly shattered as cries of rappa and men alike rend the air, along with the clanging of weapons against each other.  The party turns and sees chaos has erupted on the barge behind them.  Rappa slaves have revolted against their overseers, and that barge soon scrapes by them and lurches to a halt onto the shore, at which point the rappa slaves overrun the noblewoman and her guards.  Everyone on our party's barge is thrown into panic as well as cries of, "Noble flesh!" ring out from the man-vulture slaves as they viciously grab at the Princess.  And at long last, the DM asks the ever-important question: what do you do?

There is some discussion, and the DM remembers that for next time, he ought to emphasize real-time group talk.  After all, time is important and the players can't always take ten minutes to hash it out with each other.  Not to mention backtrack and rescind decisions already made, etc.  Anyway...

The party agree to watch the fallout of the ensuing chaos...except the unpredictable half-elven barbarian, who decides to attack a guard, bringing to fruition the rumors about taking advantage of distracted guards.  The guard, who obviously didn't think his day would go like this, ends up Stunned, and takes a bit of barbarian-punch-to-the-face damage.

And with that, the onslaught begins.  Shinta the Sorcerer casts Scorching Ray on a guard who has come to his friend's rescue, #4791 casts Obscuring Mist to further add to the frantic chaos, and the Hexblade picks up a weapon from a fallen guard.  The players can see five feet in front of them, which is enough for Abuther the Barbarian to Bull Rush another guard and knock him into the water.  Decent Listen checks allow the players to hear a scream of "But I'm Princess Nadima!" over the rappa slave cackle.  Obviously, the princess is in danger, and the group is further motivated to find a way to remove the chains that bind them.

Enter a Charm Person spell by the Hexblade.  Her smooth, sweet talk soon convinces the guard to hand over the key and remove the chains (this particular interlude includes the DM's hilarious imitation of the acquiescing rappa guard...clackclackclack Yes, we're pals clackclackclack).  Meanwhile, the cleric has moved through the mist, and can now see the Princess struggling with her abductor-prisoner.  #4791 casts Confusion and the prisoner stops attempting to manhandle the woman.  All of a sudden, there are shouts of RUN! RUN! RUN! and the party now evacuates the barge, which has run up ashore.  All of the party now emerges from the mist and sees prisoners running willy-nilly.  The princess, who obviously isn't paying much attention to her surroundings, still struggles and screams frantically.  The adventurers rush to her.

Hexblade: Hey, we're here to help!  Are you alright?  (This is directed towards Princess Nadima, to no discernible calming effect).

Sorcerer: *slaps princess*

That works.  She stops fighting and shrieking against her Confused, yet bemused rappa guard.  And then she says...

"You may incline to me."

In Zenicce, the custom of "inclining" is ages-old, and usually reserved for snobby nobles to keep their inferiors in their place.  It is truly characteristic of Nadima, being a noblewoman, to haughtily tell others beneath her that they may incline to her...she means they may bow to her.  It's no surprise to the party that she does this, but considering they just saved her life...

The party now see guards coming to assist Nadima, and in a bit of quick-thinking, Hexblade Girl casts another Charm Person on the princess...and she and Nadima are now fast friends.  And Nadima prevents her guards from inflicting punishment on the party...in fact, they are declared heroes!  Nadima instructs her personal guards to purchase the heroic slaves (our party, mind) and "take care of them".  This seems like good news!

However, the group's newly thieved (or acquired?) weapons are stripped from them as they are escorted into a room that is locked the moment they enter.  The person who seems to be in charge refers to himself as Najini, and he brings clothes for the group to change into instead of their tattered quarry uniforms.  And, then...a bit of a shocker as another grimy-looking man appears with a brand of an ornate letter 'E'.  It would seem that "purchase these slaves and take care of them" is Nadima-speak for "buy them and mark them with the brand of Estercari".  The party is squirming and on the verge of resisting the brand when the grimy-looking man whispers to them, "I am Glowag.  Do not resist this.  The day will come."  In this moment of duress, the party forgets to do a Sense Motive check.  It's slightly unclear if he's friend or foe...but he seems encouraging.  So, the party glug the high-alcohol wine, grit their teeth, and suffer the branding process.  The cleric inquires about wound dressing and antiseptic.  The notes here have no record of the answer, and #4791 not only bristles at the whole lack-of-hygiene thing, but at the apparent show of domination/branding/ownership thing.  She has a hard time biting her tongue...which is perhaps what landed her in this slave mess in the first place.

Soon after, the locked door opens and the group is informed that the princess wishes to see them. Some of the party members muse on this.  It seems a big deal...perhaps she will apologize to them and order the brand somehow removed?

Ahhhh, no.  The DM launches into at least five minutes' worth of PHYSICAL description of Princess Nadima, who is seated upon a plush velvet cushion with muscle-y bodyguards all around her.  The party members stare for several minutes at the hugest of these protectors...Huge Giganto seems to be an appropriate moniker.

The princess asks, "Why did you rescue me?  Is it because I'm the most beautiful woman in the world?"  And the collective jaw of the whole party drops at this woman's a.) audacity b.) lack of gratitude and c.) self-conceit.

Before any member of the party can formulate a response that wouldn't get them killed, there is commotion in the princess's sitting room.  Armed slaves burst in and begin to attack the multitude of guards.  The group quietly decides to step to the side and let the two groups duke it out on their own.  Huge Giganto dies.  Soon, the victorious slaves shout to our spectating party, "Come! Join the revolt!"  There's about a split-second of hesitation before Hell yes, we'll join the revolt! Our brave players waste no time in grabbing Princess Nadima and some longswords.

And that, friends, is the very exciting end of what was expected to be just a low-key gaming session.