We meet up with our new party members at the edge of town – they are three hours late and looking pretty bad. All three of them are hung-over and Rick is still rather beat up from the pit fight yesterday. Caradryan and Creeg exchange words and threats before a truce is called – I shall have to keep an eye on those two. That night: Caradryan tests his healing skills on Rick and miraculously doesn’t kill him!
Day 430 (the next day)
Ambushed by goblin band. We slaughter them, obviously.
Battle Records: Nivak = 1 kill at 19 damage. Lillay = 3 kills, 1 at 17 damage.
Day 432 (2 days later)
We think we have reached “The Meadows”. There is a modest, but obviously well made house in the distance. Nivak goes off alone to check it out. That night: It is evening before Nivak comes back. He was spotted spying on the house, but he did get us the necessary information – it’s not Schultz. Caradryan decides that the homeowners can provide more information and possibly a place to stay for the evening. I think this is a bad idea, but Caradryan insists. Caradryan and Varthlokkur are able to get directions to Schultz’s house and buy the homeowner’s silence with 5 Gold.
Day 434 (2 days later)
We have found Schultz’s property. There is one horseman patrolling the outer grounds – after spotting us, he rides off without any acknowledgement. About 20 minutes go by and we go through a passage only to find Schultz and his 45 (plus?) guards in position in front of the house. We are caught off guard – did he not have only five guards when he left Krugenheim? Caradryan attempts to talk the jeweled belt off Schultz and fails miserably. We have no choice but to advance and take a defensive stance. It is our fiercest battle to date and we barely survive. Towards the end of the battle, Schultz escapes from the fray, but no one is able to follow him right away. We kill all of Schultz’s “army” save his two archers who surrender when they realize they are the only ones left and Schultz has abandoned them. We question the prisoners, discover a stable behind the house with an obvious blood trail (Schultz was badly wounded before he escaped the battle), two missing horses, and then discover that I am the only one in our party healthy enough to ride a horse (Nivak’s our other horse-rider, but he’s nursing some semi-serious wounds). Fortunately, when pressed, one of the prisoners admits to having this skill as well. Schultz now has approximately 15 minutes on us. Varthlokkur and I double-up on one horse and the horse-riding prisoner doubles-up with Creeg on another. The rest of the party stays behind. Schultz did nothing to hide his trail, so it is easy to follow in the beginning. As we go on, though, it becomes more difficult and we actually go off it for a short bit. The prisoner bargains for his life and his gear by showing us where to pick it up again. Shortly, we see Schultz about 100 yards out. He and his companion (supposedly his cook) reign in their horses and Schultz tries to negotiate his life and freedom with bribes of money. His top offer is only 300 Gold and besides, our mission is the jeweled belt, which he is not offering, so I decline. We charge in and quickly “subdue” them both, but not before Schultz lashes out on our prisoner and stabs him very badly. Our prisoner is bleeding out fast and we do not think we can move him yet or even get him back to Caradryan fast enough if we could. I have watched Caradryan’s doctoring before, so I take a chance and am luckily able to stop the bleeding. Thank Myrmydia! We take the jeweled belt off of Schultz (must not forget that!) and rejoin everyone back at the house. In our absence, Caradryan had to perform emergency field surgery on Rick who had fallen in battle. The surgery was not successful and Rick died “on the table”. We camp out here at the former Mr. Schultz’s house for the night.
Battle Records: Caradryan = 3 kills, total killed “on the table” = 4. Nadon = 4 kills, 1kill at 18 damage, charged Schultz with 19 damage after Lillay was taken down in battle. Lillay = 12 kills, 2 kills in 1 turn, 1 kill while on the ground & on her back, 1 kill at 20 damage, killed the Kislevite & 2 out of 3 horsemen, stopped the bleeding & subsequent death of a prisoner. Ilmarian = 5 kills. Nivak = 2 kills. Jezeg = 4 kills, 1 kill at 27 damage. Varthlokkur = 2 kills, 1st kill was not until the tail end of the battle with the 1st horseman, killed Schultz. Creeg = 7 kills. Rick = 3 kills. Enemy’s “Friendly Fire” = 2 kills. First battle to end in surrender and prisoners (2 enemy archers). Most Fate Points used in one battle (to date): 7 (Lillay = 2, Ilmarian = 3, Jezeg = 1, Varthlokkur = 1).
Day 435 (the next day)
Decide to stay another day here to rest up. Need some recovery time before we hit the road.
Day 436 (the next day)
We’ve loaded up as much loot as we can onto the 9 horses Schultz was kind enough to leave for us. There’s a lot we have to leave behind, but that can’t be helped. We’re on our way back to Krugenheim to catch the boat to Altdorf.
Day 438 (2 days later)
Attacked by mutants. We slaughter them all and Nivak gets to add more ears to his collection.
Day 439 (the next day)
That night: We’ve arrived at Krugenheim, but think it’s best to camp outside town for the night.