In this campaign, we played The Dark Tree First Edition, set in the world of Slain Giant's Shield. The game was GM'd by Jim.
Chapter 1: To War
Day 1: 11/16/09
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War has broken out in the nation of Renölm Sech to the East. The nomadic race of dwarves living there have conquered the City-State and are raiding the towns and villages.
As citizens of the nation of Mezhen, every able bodied man and woman has been called to duty. Five people from the village of Little Mezhen (just ten miles south of the City-State) have been taken from their homes by the Conscription Agents. They were taken to the City-State to the north.
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The next day, they arrived in Mezhen and started training. They were assigned to Sergeant Kothvan’s squad. Thirty days passed as they were trained. They learned some basic fighting skills. They were given equipment and uniforms. Those five people are:
Attrina, trained as a woodswoman
Sohlost, trained as a priest of Nozhomo
Nematzvet, trained in several skills (Vagrant)
Rowan, trained in Sorcery and Spellcraft
Zhovoa, trained as a mercenary
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The training period was over and these five people joined the Mezhen army. That very day, the army was sent into Renölm Sech. They marched for only ten miles before they ran into a contingent of dwarves. Sergeant Kothvan’s squad was put in the front with many other squads.
A squad of eight dwarves approached the Mezhen line and was soon decimated. Kothvan ordered his people to gather up, receive healing and form a line again. There were more dwarves coming.
Day 2: 11/26/09
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After defeating the advance patrol of dwarves, Sergeant Kothvan and his squad line up and prepare to attack more dwarves. Eight of them walk down the road and stop in a line. They are holding strange tubes. The Mezhen soldiers charged them. One dwarf fell to the ground dead.
But then, the dwarves pointed their tubes at the attackers. They each squeezed a small lever. Suddenly loud bangs and plumes of smoke erupted from the tubes. To their amazement, the Mezhen soldiers found themselves hurt and bleeding. They looked at all of their comrades. Some were actually dead. Sergeant Kothvan ordered a retreat.
They managed to escape, but were completely separated from the army. They healed their wounds and walked back to the bridge towards Mezhen. Then they left the road and traveled to Little Mezhen. They planned on trying to evacuate the villagers.
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Instead, they found that the remnants of the army were already there. With the help of Sergeant Kothvan pulling rank, they managed to speak with the commanding officer. He said that the dwarven army was camped on the hill to the south of Mezhen. They planned on attacking the hill from the south and bringing the fight to the enemy from behind.
He ordered Sergeant Kothvan to find a unit rejoin the ranks. He ordered the other five to utilize the aqueduct connecting the city with the river to get behind the walls. The Mezhen army wants the secret of the dwarves strange and powerful weapons. He expects that by the time they enter the city, the dwarves will have breached the walls. Their mission is to acquire some of those weapons.
The group spent some time in the town of Little Mezhen honing their skills (spending experience points) after which they hit the road. They arrived at the entrance to the aqueduct without any trouble. They climbed inside and walked to the end where it entered the city.
It was too dark to see anything, but they did encounter six dwarves guarding the entrance. They fought in the dark. Two dwarves were thrown into the water by a sorcerous wave of water. One drowned, but the other escaped into the city. Another dwarf escaped down the tunnel. The others were slain by the soldiers.
Day 3: 12/20/09
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D Company exited the aqueduct and entered Mezhen’s East Gate Plaza. They climbed out of the the pool that the aqueduct emptied into and climbed into the plaza. They saw one dwarf running towards the city’s southern wall where he carefully placed a package. There were three dwarves standing guard. The soldiers of D Company charged the enemy.
In no time, they had slain their enemies. However, Sohlost fell in battle, shot to death. They examined the package and felt it getting warmer and starting to hiss. They threw it away and jumped into the pool of water. The package exploded and they were all mildly injured.
The explosion caused the wall to crack. They looted the weapons, ammo annd money from the bodies. At that moment, the wall groaned and a section of it crumbled. The dwarven army was waiting outside. As soon as it fell, they poured into the city. D Company grabbed the body of their fallen comrade and fled into the aqueduct.
They traveled back towards Little Mezhen. They saw the Mezhen field army fighting dwarves on the hilltop across from Mezhen. They also saw the dwarven army entering the city.
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They arrived back in Little Mezhen and handed the weapons and ammo over to the commanding officer. They revived their companion and healed their wounds.
D Company purchased some new equipment and received orders to help escort townspeople to Lejoch to the west. They were assigned to a group of twenty. They left town and traveled west for the rest of that day, that night and into the next day.
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While traveling, D Company and their twenty townspeople were attacked by ten orcs. The townspeople fled the road to the north. Six orcs chased them. D Company was attacked by the other four orcs. In no time at all, D Company had slain the orcs. The ran north and found that two orcs and all twenty townspeople were dead. The orcs were busy feasting on the dead people and didn’t see them approach.
Rowan cast a spell to fling a corpse at each of the orcs. Zhovoa cast a spell to ignite the corpses on the mental plane. The bodies landed on the orcs. They imagined that they were burning to death and each died instantly.
D Company returned to the road and found that another group of soldier escorted townspeople were coming along. They joined the group and continued to the west. They found the crossroads, but the signs were smashed. Sohlost prayed for a miracle and received one. He knew that Lejoch was on the northern road and Tesach was to the South. They finished their journey to the city.
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D Company was ordered to the village to the west, Mos, to order the villagers to get into the safe walls of Lejoch. They walked to Mos and entered the village, which was strangely encircled by a 8 foot high wall. The gate was locked behind them.
Five guards approached them and said that they were locked in the city. If they wanted to leave, it would cost them G4000 apiece. To stay, they would owe G100 per month for protection taxes. They found a tavern just down the street. In the alley next to it, they were stopped by a soldier from their same battalion named Kech.
He said that he has been trapped in the village, but joined the guard at the Masters’ house in the northeast corner of the village. He said that he had a plan to get out.
Kech said that he is posted in the foyer of the Masters’ house every day and into the evening. He will let them into the house. They are to get into the basement to steal dynamite that the Masters have for some reason. Then, they are to meet him at the southeast wall of the village. They will blow up a section of the wall and escape. There are five masters in charge of the city and they control about three hundred loyal guards. The guards are content because they enjoy bullying the villagers.
Rowan suggested that they steal the dynamite, blow up the house and take control of the village. He thinks that they can announce to the guards that they are the new masters. Things will continue as they did before, but they will send word to Lejoch that there are three hundred soldiers in Mos that are not cooperating. They should be helping fight the enemy.
Chapter 2: Refugees
Day 4: 3/8/10
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D Company decided to use Kech’s plan. Once night had fallen, he let them into the Masters’ house and directed them to a plain door in the extravagant foyer. He had no knowledge about the rest of the house. He only knew that the dynamite was in a basement.
The soldiers went through the door and fought their way to a secret passage that led to the first basement, a storage room. The dynamite was not here, but the found a staircase that led them down to a dungeon. After dispatching the guards there, they went down to a third basement where they found the dynamite. They escaped from the house and went to an inn to get some food and rest before meeting Kech.
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At dawn, they met Kech at the south eastern wall of Mos. They blew up a large section of it and fled the city.
Kech decided to stay with them and they all traveled back east to Lejoch. They stopped not far from the city and found that it was already under siege. While deciding what to do next, they were found by a 200 man dwarven patrol that chased them into an underground warehouse not far from the city. The dwarves dynamited the entrance, trapping them inside.
Most of the wares inside had been destroyed by time, but the did meet up with Sergeant Kothvan and five other soldiers that had sought refuge here.
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Kothvan told them that Lejoch was lost and that the entire nation was as well. The Mezhen Army could not defend the land anymore. He advised them to flee to the neighboring nation to the west of Zhetzvech. They all climbed out of a small hole in the ceiling and went their separate ways.
D Company fled west over several days. At one point they left the road to allow the Sajen Army to pass by. They did not speak with anyone, but apparently they were coming to the aid of Mezhen to fight back the invasion. They also passed through a few abandoned villages, finding nothing of worth, just empty homes.
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D Company arrived in the city of Anjelm, Zhetzvech. They spoke with a guard at the gate. He told them that they have been seeing a lot of refugees from the Mezhen Army, but not too many civilians. He advised them to enter the city and find work. Anjelm will accept refugees as long as they do not cause trouble.
Inside, they found a job posting board with only one job left. They met with the man that had posted the job. His name was Chakor and he owned a silver mine. He claimed that his rival, Jo, had sent a lot of Clay Golems into his mine to stop production. He wants them to clear it out. He will pay G6.00 per day, which is G1.00 more than a common daily wage. They can start tomorrow.
D Company spent the rest of the day selling loot, buying supplies and resting. Unbeknown to them, Kech sneaked away while they were busy. They did not notice his absence.
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D Company walked to the mine, entered and promptly slew nine humanoid clay golems, each with four arms and two long swords. In the final chamber of the mine, they were attacked by another clay golem. This one, though, was the size and shape of a small dragon. With a little difficulty, they slew this one as well.
