Introduction

The heroes, a Rogue and a Cleric, were living in the Kingdom's Capital looking for opportunities as new adventurers. They found a flyer looking for brave adventurers to lend a hand at the Keep of the Borderlands, far to the West.

The keep's surrounding area is a vast wilderness, that needs constant patrolling to protect the population as they try to expand the borders of civilisation.

Our heroes accepted the call to action, alongside the promise of 2GP each upon arrival at the keep, and set out on their journey westward!

The Wagon

As they left the Capital, the roads were busy, merchant caravans and other folk going about their business on horseback and carts dominated the scenery for a few kilometres, but after a while the traffic dwindled, and after a couple of days they were travelling on an almost deserted road.

As they approached the Keep's area the road became a narrow Trail, and the wilderness dominated the scenery. Not long after that they stumbled upon an abandoned wagon.

One of its front wheels was broken and the wagon was tipped over it. They could see the ground around it had been recently disturbed in an unusual way. The Rogue tried to make some sense of it, but it was the Cleric that found some clues, several footprints were spotted. Some made by simpler boots and shoes, like the ones used by merchants, while the other set was made by heavy boots, the likes one would see used by soldiers or brigands.

One set of footprints stood out, however. They had a rather flourished P imprinted on the heels.

Once that observation was noted, the duo proceeded to investigate the wagon's contents, and while it had been looted clean, it seems that the bandits missed a small bag of gold, that the party gladly took into their possession.

The Loud Hunter

Further ahead, the party spotted a regal elk a few metres from the trail, just behind a thick bush. The animal fled as soon as it noticed the two characters, after which they heard a loud curse coming from the bush. Clearly there was someone there.

The Cleric called them out, and after a few seconds a white-bearded dwarf emerged from the vegetation, with a heavy cross-bow at hand. He was flustered with the PCs from startling the elk, but after a few exchanges he introduced himself as Haldryk the innkeeper at the Keep, and also an amateur hunter.

The area was his "secret" hunting grounds, and he asked the characters for discretion, offering some gold in exchange. Finally, he invited them to stay over at the Inn once they reach the keep.

Bandits on the Bend

As they continued their journey, they could see the Keep cresting over the horizon, it wouldn't take them too long to arrive. However, as they approached a bend on the road, sided by two boulders, an intriguing figure emerged from behind one of the boulders.

He was wearing green and white clothes, a rather lavish travelling cape and heavy boots. He introduced himself as Pral and announced a robbery, demanding their weapons and gold.

The Cleric replied with determination that he'd rather kill the bandit instead, at the same time that he noticed movement in the surroundings. As Pral whistled, three other bandits emerged from hiding, and we rolled initiative for the first time!

Fighting the Bandits

Pral took the first swing at the Cleric, who effortlessly deflected the attack, then the Rogue climbed up on one of the boulders at the same time he readied his shortbow and fired an arrow at one of the bandits, inflicting a great deal of damage.

The fight continued as the other bandits closed on the Cleric, and another fired their hand crossbow and missed the Rogue.

At some point Pral attacks landed on the Cleric, as well one of the Bandits, and the PC was in dire situation. He was able to deflect a couple more attacks after casting Shield, but soon enough he dropped unconscious to the ground.

By that time the Rogue had already climbed down and dispensed a flurry of attacks with his shortsword and dagger, causing great damage to the bandits leader, who was bloodied. He also managed to administer a Potion of Healing to the Cleric, who was back on his feet.

Finally, the Rogue was able to kill Pral by slitting his throat. As they saw his leader dropping dead, the two remaining bandits threw their weapons to the group and fled the scene, each one took a last hit but neither dropped to the ground.

Before leaving the scene, the heroes looted the bodies. The Cleric noticed the flourished P stamped on Pral's boots — the same mark spotted on the footprints at the abandoned wagon. Even though the bodies didn't have anything of value on them, one of the fleeing bandits unintentionally revealed their secret cache as he darted away. In there they found a good pack of gold and one magic item — the Clothes of Mending, a set of clothes that magically mends itself against daily wear and tear, and that also grants the wearer advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks.

Arrival at the Keep

The two heroes arrived battered and bruised at the keep, and were greeted by Bartho and Gala, the two guards at the entrance. As part of their screening, they validated the job flyers and gave the characters a quick explanation about the keep, and recommended them to go to the Inn and Tavern next.

They wen to the Inn first, where they met Haldryk again. The innkeeper seemed to have just arrived from his hunting trip. He was friendly and offered a private room for the PCs for the price of two beds in the common room, which they accepted gladly.

Then, they went to the tavern, The Drunken Dragon, where they met Umbrusk the tavernkeep, with a broad smile and disposition to offer a good chat. They went over the menu, ordered a bottomless soup and learned a couple of rumours:

• "Bree-yark" is a goblin phrase that means "we surrender!"
• Kalista, the keep's blacksmith, doesn't forge weapons anymore

That's where the session ended.

Players & Characters

• Cleric Level 1 - Cian
• Rogue Level 1 - Matheus