The Bandit's King

The Bandit's King
Date	10/7/23
Storyteller	Zoro
Tier	Trainee, Severe
Player Characters	Siltmean the Craftrat, Kagari, Wrax
Rewards	300 xp, 1400 gp
Result	Success
Author	Siltmean
Downtime	14

Log

The Plot

• Infiltrate bandits
• Claim we left Onadbyr due to violence against goblins
• 10 gold offering to leader
• Wrax brings alcohol as backup
• 3 days inside
• Return by the 4th day or escorts assume us captured
• Undead only move at night, don't get caught
• Will be escorted there by stronger associates, clearing undead for us

  The First Night

• Greet gate guards
• Lie works
• Boat sent across river for us
• Get accepted into Fort Soledad
• Called "Nods" because we were accepted by Gilfoil Snapshank, the elvish leader, who nodded
• Shown around by Edgar Haz, orc, person to speak to instead of leader
• Taken to "Information Center"
• Most information about fort lost in last cataclysm
• Wants to know if any of us can read/write in Fey or Necril, none can
• Meet Dennis Rock, Gnome
• In charge of investigating the undead situation
• Shown layout, will be described at end of report
• Find out undead do attack, sometimes they just stare, but attacks can get bad
• "If we're lucky, they'll just stare at the walls for the night. If not, well, don't be unlucky."
• Intelligent undead can also lead tactical operations against fortress
• Sometimes undead don't stop, attack all night
• That's when the losses come in
• Forbidden room in center of courtyard, some sort of crypt
• One person inside, stairs leading down
• Too risky to investigate for now
• Bandits organize raiding parties, take from nearest villages
• Gilfoil tries to avoid killing, has history with bad bandit bosses
• Old bandit group killed own as often as others
• Gilfoil, Edgar, Dennis, others fled from there
• Speak to Dennis Rock, advises we study up on undead using his "library"
• Everyone suddenly running at bell
• Dinner at 6 sharp, be there on-time or get nothing
• Called to yard after dinner
• Night will be dangerous, so says scouts and people with minor future-sight "portents"
• Apparently thing inside crypt originally protected place when Edgar, Gilfoil and others first hid here
• If things get bad, he will come around with a pot with black covering
• Don't pull red slip
• Get escorted to wall duty, all-hands on deck
• Fight for our lives all night
• Edgar comes around with pot
• We each draw
• All white tags
• Dwarf down the row pulls white with red end
• Everyone abandons wall, goes to courtyard
• Watch big orc we never saw emerge from crypt
• Carrying iron sarcophagus adorned with gems
• Horribly evil feeling from open mouth of it
• Dwarf sticks hand in, disintegrated with a scream
• Black fog washes over area
• Undead gone for the night
• "With Gendrick's sacrifice fort Soledad stands another night. There will be no watch. Go get some rest, all of you."
• When a horde this big happens, it usually happens again for another night or two
• Undead only get this bad when something stirs them up like a large group fighting their way through
• Oops

The Second Day

• Go through morning drills, mostly focused on coordination
• Bandits are very well coordinated
• Go speak to Dennis during free time
• We're "Potters" now
• Learn sarcophagus is similar to disintegration spell
• Don't touch sacrifice during process, you'll be disintegrated too
• No idea what to do with it, was already here when they got here
• No idea how to use without sacrifice either
• I trade location of Lancaster for secret peek at his other marked locations
• Only noteworthy spot is where our escorts are holed up, also marked as safehouse for them
• Go to stables next
• No longer stables, used as storage
• Wrax notices floor is slanted
• Ground at far end sounds hollow
• Possible alternate way into crypt?
• We fake sleeping through dinner, gives us 1 hour to work with
• Sneak into stable, find bricked up hole under cart
• I can take apart in 10 minutes, same for putting it back together
• Gives us 30 minutes to investigate
• Orc guarding sarcophagus was never seen at dinner
• Likely doesn't leave
• We take opening down to crypt
• Rows of stone sarcophagi, iron sarcophagus at end of crypt doesn't match anything else
• Find escape tunnel at end collapsed by 30-40 feet of rock, deliberately done
• Investigate iron Sarcophagus
• Chained shut, evil feeling almost draws us toward mouth
• Chains shake, something alive inside
• We leave, know all we need to know
• Now need to plan escape
• Undead horde tonight, not good night
• Should die down tomorrow?
• Have to escape tomorrow
• Associates will leave without us if we don't return by fourth day

The Second Night

• Same thing, undead hordes unending
• Tonight will be worse, almost certain use of sarcophagus
• Wrax suggests writing letters to our loved ones, just in case
• He writes letter to his family
• Kagari writes letter to Onsen Hiroaki
• I have no family around
• Just tell my business partner at the Mechanic Shop if I don't make it back
• Fight for our lives, pot comes around as expected
• White tag for me
• White tag for Wrax
• White tag with red for Kagari
• We're not sacrificing Kagari
• Book it, take our chances in the escape
• I take lead as we move through bandits to second floor
• Kagari sees Edgar and Gilfoil speak in background
• Edgar sacrifices self to protect the people
• Four people needed to open gates to get boat
• Boats are no go
• River is 10 feet away from furthest point of fort
• Have to jump into river infested with undead fish
• Run for lives through undead hordes
• 6 hour run to safehouse
• Won't be easy
• Wrax takes expeditious retreat potion, makes it to water and across 40 foot river with ease
• Potion makes him keep going
• I swim across no problem with diving suit
• Kagari barely makes it, struggling to swim across
• I throw rope, help pull Kagari across
• Heal up, run to join Wrax
• Wrax powers through undead
• Kagari and I try not to draw undead attention
• Results for all of us are mixed
• Keep healing Wrax with potions
• He just barely pushes through, we make it back to the associates
• We survived, reported back to council later

The Layout: Fortess is large, well defended with four towers and walls to shoot from. Entrance is a kill-box of a set of barred gates and arrow slits all over. To left is the first tower and blacksmith. Mostly blunt or slashing weapons, piercing weapons useless against undead. North of there is a hallway people sleep in, and beyond that is another tower with sleeping areas. To the right of that is the mess hall and kitchen everyone eats in at 6 pm sharp, leaving the walls undefended. Further to the right is the third tower, and a massage parlor or something similar. South from there is a hallway with rest areas and Dennis Rock's study area, as well as a set of stairs down to another storage room. Further south from there is another armory with a focus on the armor itself. Left from that final tower is the hallway leading back to the entrance. From the left and right hallways are doors to the courtyard in the center, where Gilfoil resides. South courtyard has the stables, north courtyard has the crypt area we never looked at closely.