Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 39 [RPG]

[Moonday, 15 Sarenith 4708 A.R. continued]

As they organise their packs for a planned departure to the Cinderlands the following morning, Goldcape proposes waking up before dawn so she has time to visit Longtail’s grave first.  In addition, Anorak wishes to do some final shopping.  Ralph replies that it’s dangerous to linger in Korvosa any longer than necessary, since it’s clear that both Red Mantis and Gray Maidens are looking for them.  For his part, Yraelzin offers no opinion, though he does test out his pack and staggers under the weight.
 
[Toilday, 16 Sarenith 4708 A.R.]
 
It’s an overcast morning as Ralph, dressed as The Reckoner, climbs to the roof of his safehouse and speaks to Majenko.  The house drake does as requested, and makes the flight over Eodred’s Walk, returning with news that Gray Maidens are still keeping the area under surveillance.  The group discuss what to do, and decide that it should be safe for Anorak to enter the markets alone since he’s only been involved with one battle against them, and it ended almost immediately in a ball of fire!  Using Rocky for transportation, they drop him off a few streets away and he finds that Phaeton Skoda at Hedge Wizardry has a good selection of spells for copying.  Meanwhile, the others fly over to the Temple of Pharasma.  There, Goldcape arranges for Longtail’s name to be added to the Temple’s records and for a headstone to be built.  She’s then led to the numbered plaque denoting the grave of what is no longer an unnamed vanara, and leaves flowers.
 
Once everyone is back together, the Harrowed Heroes set off, leaving a troubled city behind in the hopes that a solution can be found elsewhere.  Flying on the back of a juvenile roc is far from comfortable, as the wind is biting and the constant need to hold onto straps to avoid a deadly fall is stressful.  But, it’s definitely faster than walking! Mile after mile passes by as Rocky flies over the Korovosan hinterlands—farms, ranches, and open country.  Goldcape suggest following the road from Korvosa to Harse to ease navigation—a good plan in theory, but then she accidentally ends up following a side track for several miles!

Just as she and The Reckoner realise the mistake, they spot a curious sight below: a wagon half-on and half-off the track, its horses dead, and no passengers to be seen.  The Reckoner shouts for Rocky to circle the scene, and even from a height of fifty feet, the masked vigilante notices multiple pairs of feet poking out from under the wagon.  He motions to Goldcape that they should land and investigate.  The experienced adventurers are ready for anything as they land several yards away and dismount.  They can tell immediately that it’s not corpses laying under the wagon—or rather, it is corpses—animated ones of the type that can only be undead!  From the wicked nails, dangling tongues, and hairless flesh, the undead are immediately recognised as ghouls.  Goldcape quickly nocks an arrow to her new magical bow and lets fly, destroying one immediately.  Yraelzin continues a long-running argument about who is the better marksman, as he wounds another with his underwater crossbow.  But the priest of Razmir makes a mistake by getting close enough that another ghoul can leap out and bite him in the shoulder!  Fortunately, The Reckoner is there to smash the monster into fragments of bone and flesh, and Yraelzin suffers no further injury.  A search of the wagon turns up the household goods—furniture, clothing, dried food—of a family that, most likely, was probably fleeing Korvosa’s plague and took a fatal wrong turn.

Once back in the air, Goldcape has Rocky backtrack until the turn-off to the main road is found.  More miles pass by until Rocky begins to flag and the decision is made to camp for the night.  Despite the wrong turn, the group have reached the outlying ranches and farms of Harse in just one day!  But then events take a shocking turn.  As they’re sitting down to dinner, a trio of hippogriffs appear in the sky, heading west.  Concerned they could carry Gray Maidens or other agents of the Queen, Goldcape and The Reckoner race over to Rocky and give chase.  Once the roc takes to the air, two things become immediately clear: the hippogriffs are much faster than Rocky, and they bear no riders at all.  

Nonetheless, The Reckoner suspect they might be carrying a message about them to Harse, and nocks an arrow.  Goldcape is aghast at the thought of killing such an innocent, majestic creature, and tries to spoil The Reckoner’s aim by having Rocky veer suddenly.  But The Reckoner’s arrows fly true, and he manages to bring down one of the hippogriffs as the other two speed away. 
 
Goldcape is angry and appalled, and has Rocky land near the campsite.  The Reckoner trudges the several hundred feet away to where the hippogriff crashed, and searches its body for a scroll case or hidden capsule—but there isn’t one.  Meanwhile, Goldcape persuades Yraelzin to give her a pouch full of coins and then hops back onto Rocky and takes to the air—southeast, toward Korvosa!  Yraelzin explains that Goldcape intends to buy a magical scroll to bring the hippogriff back to life.
 
As the sun begins to set on the Harrowed Heroes first day of travel, internal dissension is having an effect.  Can the Harrowed Heroes find the cooperation necessary to succeed, or will Queen Ileosa’s reign continue unchallenged?

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GM's Commentary

This was a travel session that started well and ended badly.

The wrong turn wasn't really a big deal, but I do enforce the "Getting Lost" rules from the Core Rulebook because they provide some additional value to the Survival skill (and occasionally, how long it takes to get someplace matters).

The wagon with the ghouls was actually just a random encounter, though the players at the time were worried it was remains of the Soldado family (who had fled Trail's End for Magnimar).  That'd be pretty dark even for me!

The hippogriffs were also a random encounter.  I rolled on the table, it told me hippogriffs, and I couldn't think of any particular encounter set-up for them, so I had just had a few of them flying high up in the sky in a randomly-rolled direction.  I assumed the players would just shrug and keep going on their way, but in gaming, you just never know what can happen!  The Reckoner's player suspected them of delivering messages on behalf of the Queen, and attacked and killed one!  This led to a heated real-life argument between The Reckoner's player and Goldcape's player that forced me to call the session to an early end.  Unfortunately, it would be a harbinger of inter-group difficulties that would recur frequently throughout Chapter Four.