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(009) Return to Ket

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 7:29 am
by waysoftheearth
waysoftheearth wrote:
With the Hobgoblin blockade having been turned over in the night, the party makes a bee-line for Ket.

Overland you came, and overland you intend to return -- but not before heading off along the west road first, just in case your goblin hirelings at the ruined tower might be watching.

...

Once out of sight of the keep, you swing around to the north and set out across the undulating heath, bearing packs heavy with your hard won treasure.

The day is cool and blustery, but you set a pace to keep warm, and to hustle those with the heaviest loads or shortest legs.

(1d6)

Not long after midday you pause for a breather and a bite to eat. The grey clouds have given way to a rare spot of afternoon sunshine, and away in the distance you can already see the haze of smoke rising from Ket. You take your victuals and a refreshing draft in the lee of a low rise, sheltered from the wind. Spirits are high, even if shoulders a sore under the load of the riches you bear. So, after surveying the surrounds for any sign of pursuit or other company, you soon continue your march...

(1d6)

You make relatively good time throughout the early afternoon, hacking a swathe through the heath where necessary, and avoiding the deepest thickets. There are a couple of modest rain showers along the way, but as late afternoon approaches the clouds are gathering so thickly that the daylight is failing prematurely.

In fact, the last of the day is almost gone and a steady rain beginning to fall as you reach the cultivated flats about Ket.


You are perhaps half a mile from the town walls. By the failing light you can see farmers bringing in animals from the fields around, and a couple of merchant carts apparently delayed at the town gate...

What to do?

(009) Return to Ket

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:51 pm
by waysoftheearth
eris wrote:
"I think we need to send a man or two ahead, without much in the way of treasure on them, to see what the hold up at the gate is." Olaf says, "Remember the goblins seem to have a lot of sway here in Ket."

(009) Return to Ket

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:06 pm
by waysoftheearth
tombowings wrote:
"I am weighed down my little coin and have nothing of worth on my person save the set of scrolls I always carry on my person," says Flewellen, stepping forward. "Who else will join me?"

(009) Return to Ket

Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:54 pm
by waysoftheearth
verhaden wrote:
Mads the Fair

"I'd like to accompany you, but I'm afraid my face might be too recognizable, though the name I gave was false." Considering for a moment, he says "We might be able to grease a few wheels with some coin, if we run into problems."

(009) Return to Ket

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:03 am
by waysoftheearth
waysoftheearth wrote:
Flewellen and Mads approach the town gate while the rest of you hang back beyond the fields, trying as best you can to shelter from the rain among the low scrub.

...

It is a wet and gloomy dusk by the time the two Men reach the gate, and the last of the wagons are being hurried through.

"C'mon, c'mon" urges one of the two visible guards as he waves the two of you on, "We're closing up fer tha night,"

As you reach the gate proper, all three of you hop out of the rain under the great arch of the wooden gate, which is at that very moment being walked through a slow, wide arc by two more grumpy looking fellows, and is only moments away from being fully closed.

"Well now," the first guard addresses you fully as he rubs some warmth into his hands and looks you up and down "Who have we here, and what be your business in Ket?"

(009) Return to Ket

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 9:59 pm
by waysoftheearth
verhaden wrote:
Mads the Fair

Mads smiles and says cheerfully "My cousin and I are trying to get out of the rain!" He extends a hand. "Name's Deardorff." When the guard doesn't take his hand, Mads laughs awkwardly and coughs. He leans in. "This boy here is from out in the sticks--family's a bunch of mud farmers. Thought I'd introduce him to civilization and get him a woman."

(009) Return to Ket

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 10:51 pm
by waysoftheearth
tombowings wrote:
Being out trekking all day, Flewellen does look at bit muddy. "My name is Klindik the Mudder," Flewellen begins. "Long have I saved every copper of my wage to enter these wall. You do deny me now, Sir? For I, a humble and week man, wishing to take a little piece of the happiness here for my own. What threat I am to one so well off and so well armored? Please, allow a kind mudder passage."

(009) Return to Ket

Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 11:26 pm
by waysoftheearth
waysoftheearth wrote:
The guard looks you both over critically, it's not clear whether he's buying your story, but eventually he says, "Go one then," indicating with his thumb that you should get through the gate before it is fully closed. "And mind you don't go putting that axe into anything but lumber," he says to Mads in particular.

The heavy gate is pressed shut with an ominous thud as the two of you hop through, and four men at arms deal with putting an enormously heavy timber bar across it.

Within is a muddy but cobbled courtyard surrounded by a gaggle of haphazardly arranged single story buildings. All look gloomy and dark in the rain, though you see the warmth of yellow light in a few windows. There is nobody to be seen on the dark streets, for everyone is indoors sheltering from the rain.

(009) Return to Ket

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 12:02 am
by waysoftheearth
eris wrote:
...and the rest of us are still standing out in the rain! [img]images/smiley/wink.png[/img]

"Well, *that* didn't go like I hoped." Olaf grumbles, "Those two went inside and left us hanging out here in the cold."

(009) Return to Ket

Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 12:23 am
by waysoftheearth
verhaden wrote:
Mads the Fair

Mads looks back towards the closed gate and feels his stomach drop. Whispering to Flewellen "Well, Klindik," he says, "I guess we're on our own until morning. Ket's a piece of work, I tell you. We might as well go look for a room and see if we can't glean some news."

If Flewellen is willing, Mads will try to find a cheap inn to stay at--but nothing too rough, given that he wants to keep a low profile. He would prefer to stay clear of the establishment they left from at the start of the journey.

Mads would also be interested in shaving, just to put some distance between the man the hob's saw at the blockade and the one they might see around town.