Friday, November 29, 2019

Mercenary Companies of the Dark Country

What follows is a list of mercenary companies for use in my Dark Country campaign. All present here have seen action in play in some form or another (posts coming soonish). The prices are for Matt Colville's warfare rules.

The Badgermen/Badder's Boys
Seasoned Medium Crossbowmen
Cost to Hire: N/A (Indefinite contract with Bishop Notker the Unshaven)
Leader: Unknown (Formerly Badder)

These ruthless mercenaries have long served as the enforcers of Bishop Notker throughout the bishopric of Lychgate. Often times they have served as guards in the various villages in the bishopric, including Nightwick.  Recently their number was greatly diminished at the Battle of Vollage, and a few of their number were integrated into the Howling Kommandos. However, a small core may have made it to Lychgate to continue the legacy of the company, and their commander may still be alive somewhere in the Witchwood. 

The Company of the Goose
Green Light Crossbowmen
Cost to Hire: 185 (370)
Leader: Gunther, an oracular goose

A group of Realmish peasants from a small town whose lieutenant is believed to be gifted by the God of Law with the ability to interpret the divine will of St. Gunther, a local goose.  As geese are "ornery beasts given to bellicosity and a warlike spirit," the lieutenant immediately realized the creatures desire for them to head to the Dark Country to enjoy the martial lifestyle.  They were trained in crossbows as part of the levy system used within the realm. Gunther's ability in battle has yet to be determined.

The Corbies
Regular Medium Cavalry
Cost to Hire: 365 (740)
Leader: Sir Gaunt of Fatstaff

This band is a group of knights, squires, and sergeants who dress in all black, blacken their armor, and among the knights have gilded hounskulls over their black bascinets (in appearance of a beak). They have a reputation for not taking any prisoners if a man should take up arms against them but allowing those peasants who do not fight to walk away free.  Rumor says this has caused a schism between the Sir Gaunt of Fatstaff and his lieutenant, since the Corbies never make money from ransoms. Gaunt of Fatstaff is a wiry man of dower countenance, great seriousness, and great ability.

The Brown Company
Regular Light Infantry
Cost To Hire: 160 (320)
Leader: Fulk (Usually mispronounced)

There are few bands of cutthroats and murderers more base but reliable than the Brown Company. Originally formed by the remnants of other mercenary companies in the Borderlands, the Brown Company has fought in battles from Karse to Cuccagna. They are most used to serving as a forlorn hope, but have taken notably few casualties in their time. Fulk is a rough man who loves a good fight, and is known for constantly challenging his lower officers.

The Middle Sons
Green Medium Infantry
Cost to Hire: 160 (320)
Leader: Adolfus the Lesser

This newer mercenary company is composed almost entirely of the lesser sons of mighty nobles.  Not given an inheritance and thrown out into the world to make their own fortunes, they are a sour and caustic lot. Adolfus the Lesser constantly complains to the empty sky about his father, Adlofus the Greater, and his cousin Adolfus the Younger. More interesting perhaps is his lieutenant, Agnes the Loon. She is a woman obviously dressed as a man - with fake bear made of sack cloth. She attempts to maintain the charade despite her compatriots using her real name. She seems to do this out of a perverse desire to emulate fantastical romances.


The Rays of the Sun
Regular Medium Archers
Cost to hire: 395 (790)
Leader: Blind Notch

The Rays of the Sun are an extremely religious company of Archers who only take contracts against those they perceive as the enemies of the God of Law. Despite their name and heraldry they are not Solarists but instead view the Plane of Fire as a creation of the God of Law to shed light upon His enemies. Their leader, Blind Notch, was blinded while contemplating the son, but if told by his lieutenant the range of the enemy can kill a man by muscle memory alone.


The Company of Devils
Regular Light Cavalry
Cost to hire: 220 (440)
Leader: Ramwold Redface

The Company of Devils use devil-men as their mascot though they have never seen one in real life. They are known for immense brutality and the use of hooks fashioned in the likeness of those used by the minions of hell, but shortened for use from horseback. They occasionally moonlight as man catchers. Ramwold is a rowdy son of a bitch who resents his time man catching, but keeps doing it due to the advice of his lieutenant known as Doghead, who knows how their bread is buttered.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

FLGS Nightwick Abbey Session 9: In the Lady's Demesne


Characters Present
Ermel the Dagger - Karslish Human Ranger 3 (and writer of the recap)
Adran Wildedagger - Karslish Human Rogue 3
Flint Lichtbringer - Dwarven Paladin and member of the Order of the Elk 
3Lucius Winterfell - Fair Changeling Warlock Hexblade 3
Arcturus - Dwarven Rune Knight 3

19th of November
The gold skull talks! His name is Edric! there are other pieces of him and none of us know this happened except Lucius. We furnished the house! We are now living in a rich burger class of dwelling! We go to the Abbey! We navigate ourselves back to the chasm and I fall in! Oops! Anyway Arcturus obligerates a door and uncovers cultists! Fight of them! Then five more!

***FIGHT IT OUT!!*** 13 dead cultists

We slew them mightily and then Arcturus decides to open up another door and there are nine skeletons!

***FIGHT IT OUT!!*** 9 dead skeletons

Broken bones. We collect 20 gold worth of precious metal plates from the table the skelemans were around. Arcturus kicks open the door the cultists were behind. There are stairs down and we go down them! Down there a scabbish wall with a black void hides within a sharp couple of rooms that are essentially safe room.s Lucius tries some magic things on the wall to no avail. We leave the safe room and go in the direction of voices which lead us to 6 devil-men who talk with us creepily before we engage! And then 10 more cultists

***FIGHT IT OUT!!*** 6 dead devil-men, 10 dead cultists.

After a rough start we prevail and uncover a chest with 1500sp and a potion of yellowish gold, also 2 [suits of] splint mail. We leave!

XP per Person
473



FLGS Nightwick Abbey: Session 8: Evil Takes Shape



Characters Present
Ermel the Dagger - Karslish Human Ranger 3 (and writer of the recap)
Adran Wildedagger - Karslish Human Rogue 3
Lucius Winterfell - Fair Changeling Warlock Hexblade 3
Arcturus - Dwarven Rune Knight 3

12th of November [1395]
It's very cold in the Dark Country now so with the hardened ground there is more travel. A third of the townspeople of Nightwick are gone logging. We deal with the leper [sic] house belonging to the party now. We go to the Abbey! We go to the west [sic] tower and open door to the left. Lucius finds demon statues and nobody's what it means. We continue on to a large room with non-structural columns and alcoves. There's saintly depictions in the alcoves and one giant alcove with a depiction of the spherical God of Law but warbly and ruined.  One of the alcoves has a silver altar that Lucius takes and another has 200 silver pieces in their stone altar. We enter double doors and it's a spherical room! We have reflections and a couple attack us!

***FIGHT IT OUT!!*** 2 dead

They are vanquished by us and we leave the sphere room to enter another room with graphic depiction of a mouth on the floor and a sky in the ceiling. There are deer monsters!

***FIGHT IT OUT!!*** 6 dead

Dead deer, but there are more deer down this other hall! Seven of them.

***FIGHT IT OUT*** 7 dead

A hard-fought battle won and there are yet more noises in a door. There are piles of garbage with animl things under them!

***FIGHT IT OUT*** 5 dead

We killed the garbage beasts and found a trap pit and got across it. The room contains glass vials and a gold skull with ruby eyes. Then we found stairs to the second level of the Abbey! Then Adran finds another trap and disarms it. After an encounter with some baddies we turn back and hightail it back to Nightwick.

XP Per Player
515



Friday, November 1, 2019

FLGS Nightwick Session 7: Osculum Obscenum


Characters Present
Ermel the Dagger - Karslish Human Ranger 3 (and writer of the recap)
Adran Wildedagger - Karslish Human Rogue 3
Flint Lichtbringer - Dwarven Paladin and member of the Order of the Elk 3
Lucius Winterfell - Fair Changeling Warlock Hexblade 3*

Arcturus - Dwarven Rune Knight 3*

29th of Shocktober
Prperations for the Halloween Muster are underway; no attacks from baddies just yet.  A noble wants to, rumor has it, setup a village in the ruins next to the Witchwood [Vollage]. Bad time to do it, since winter is arriving. But that doesn't concern us! Off to the Abbey! It has been raining so the evil kudzu is retreating because of the cold weather. We descend into the East Tower! We find a room full of broken furniture and deer velvet sheddings. The velvet is glowing and the room is breathing. Adran inspects a scab and it sprays him. We use the only other exit, a door that leads to a long hallway. We open a double doors and there are a bunch of 8 mites bowling!

***FIGHT IT OUT!!***

We mopped them clean. Then everyone but me picked up rocks that make them remember someone else's memories and age a year afterwards. Then we go to another door that leads to a bat squeaking and a door encrusted with bat guano. Adran lights the door on fire and we move on to the next door which leads to the room with MUNG written on papers and then the dancing room where we fought sparring skeletons. After that we find a room full of rusted weapons covering 1000cp. Adran collects it. We go back to the bat guano pre-room after it had burned.  In the post-guano room there is about 180 gold worth of silver slag which the two dwarves collect. The next door leads to a closed-off room that Adran explores and triggers a trapped lock. He finds a quicksilver potion and 250 silver pieces. We found ourselves in familiar territory so we go back to the sitting room and enter the door that was mysteriously a scabe beforehand which leads to stairs and a hallway that leads to more stairs and a door. Another room full of broken furniture and antler felt goop. The next room has the offending deermen in it.

***FIGHT IT OUT!!***

Six dermen down. We open a door into the sphincter room. We close the sphincter door and bar it closed. Unfortunately there are baddies!

**FIGHT IT OUT!!***

After killing 4 time ran out and we left the Abbey!

Monsters Killed
8 Mites, 6 Deer-men, 4 Cadaverites

XP Per Player
250



* I let the two people who died from being lost in the dungeon remake at the same level they were (though with the base xp) because the lost in the dungeon table was triggered by my own physical malady.