Battle at Steel Springs
Castle Kalaman
You set off bright and early in the morning on the 12th day of the campaign (2nd day of Yurthgreen)—about an hour after sunrise. The walk back to Kalaman is 24 miles—eight hours at a normal pace, getting you back to Kalaman around 3 hours after noon.
The trip from Wheelwatch back to Kalaman is uneventful. On your return to Castle Kalaman, Merituuli notices that the castle is unusually quiet. When you all report to Marshal Vendri’s office, an aide informs you that the marshal is away from Kalaman and shares the following facts:
- After the characters left Kalaman, the city council got word that a contingent of Dragon Army troops had broken away from the larger force.
- Tired of measured steps, members of Kalaman’s leadership—spurred by Lord Bakaris—demanded Kalaman’s military ride out to seize a victory.
- With Marshal Vendri away leading troops further west, Governor Miat approved the strike.
- Lord Bakaris and his son are leading the attack. Darrett is serving under them.
- They plan to ambush the Red Dragon Army near a crossing of the Inkwater called Steel Springs, thirty miles west of Kalaman.
The aide knows nothing more, but before the characters leave, the aide discreetly slips them a sealed note signed by Darrett that reads as follows:
If you all seek out Governor Miat, he’s busy conducting other business with the city’s guild leaders and won’t be available for hours. Even if you do end up finding him, he isn’t a military leader; he doesn’t understand your concern, and can do little now that the troops have already been sent.
The aide in Marshal Vendri’s office does at least lead you over to a table where a very large map is glued to the surface. She hands you a parchment, some ink, and a quill and shows you where Steel Springs is. She points out the most efficient route.
That’s when it sets in. The journey is 30 miles!
You just spent the last 8 hours traveling 24 miles. If you don’t take a long rest, you’ll be taking levels of exhaustion.
On your way out, as you make your way through a hallway one level down to get to the main staircase, behind you, you all hear a familiar woman’s voice shout, “Modri!” followed by two men’s voices of “Miss! Come back here!” and “You dare run!?”
Before Modri can barely turn around, he’s veritably glomped by Lady Michelle—and despite her size, the strength of the knight she used to be is still definitely present. “Modri! You’re back!”
She’s dressed very nicely—a dress that a former colleague of yours bought for her. “I was just turning in some paperwork—mounds of it, really—”
“Miss! You’re coming with us!”
“Oh, do shut up and know your place!!” Lady Michelle says, turning to the guards and giving them guards a death-glare that means she means business. They back off but keep their hands on the hilts of their swords, grumbling about ‘entitled nobility’.
Lady Michelle’s death-glare instantly melts and turns into a bright, happy smile when she turns back to Modri. She gives him a much more civil hug, welcoming him ‘home’, so to speak. “I knew you’d come back to me! Let me look at you! Oh, my! That shield! How impressive! If I weren’t mistaken, I’d say those are the scales of a dragonelle—you must have met a captain or higher! How exciting! You killed them, right? You ground them into the dus—ahem . . . I mean, you vanquished your dishonorable foe! You simply must to tell me all about it!”
She backs off and looks him up and down, making sure he’s not injured. Satisfied, she turns to the rest of the party. “Sir Artanis,” she says, giving him a curtsy, “Ms. Hunni, Mr. Merituuli, Apprentice Coltan, I’m glad to see you all safe and returned to us as well. I don’t believe I’ve met your friends . . .”
Wyhan’s
When Hunni checks in with Wyhan about her membership in the Mages of High Sorcery, Wyhan informs you that her contacts have not gotten back to her, yet, and that she will send you a message as soon as word arrives.
As for Arlo, she raises an eyebrow at the idea that he’s been denied permission to join. “Great changes are in motion,” she says, “and those that cling to incorrect beliefs and ‘rules’ do not only themselves a disservice, but perhaps doom us all. If you are interested in membership, I shall ensure you are tested just the same as any other. Pass the test—if you can—and any who refuse your membership shall find themselves . . . disciplined. Their appeals to ‘rules’ shall not so much fall upon deaf ears, as . . . fall dead at the feet of those who really rule.”
“We cannot afford to discriminate—especially in light of the current climate—than we could afford to let some half-cocked human wizard walk around casting spells willy-nilly without membership. Kender you might be, but a mage you are nonetheless. Refusing you membership is tacit permission for you to perform magic without the yoke of rules that weighs upon all of us.”
“. . . Just to be sure, kender, I did not drop, lose, or discard anything in this shop, so for your own sake, make sure that you didn’t accidentally . . . ‘find’ . . . anything of mine you haven’t paid for. Now, if neither of you wants to buy anything, stop wasting my time and get out.”
Wyhan is, if nothing else, a snooty and condescending asshole.
As Arlo begins walking out the door, he finds himself unable to leave. An object in the breast pocket of his vest seems to be immovable past the lintel. He turns around to find Wyhan’s amused, if cold visage staring him down.
Rolling her eyes, she snaps her fingers and a potion vial full of a shimmering blue, effervescent liquid flies up, out of his pocket. It rockets back towards a display table; and just when you think it will explode upon impact, it instead dexterously whips up and settles gently back down to where it originally was.
“Off you go,” she says, making a shooing motion. Both Arlo and Hunni find some unseen force seemingly pick them up and deposit them outside her shop and the door shut behind them.
