Real World Info
This session was played on June 22, 2009, featuring Hamish the Dim, Larissa, Pog and Rama-Tut. They were accompanied by the hirelings Alain, Bernard, Charles and Dennis.
Summary
Hamish returns to Malinbois with Lem, a newly-fledged acolyte of The Boss, in tow. Together with Pog, they visit the wooden skeleton of a shrine that Hamish is paying to have built around The Boss's petrified form. There they meet Rama-Tut of House Aubergine, who has come to visit his brother Immortus' grave, and Larissa of Trianoma, a scholarly priestess who's come to learn more about this weird new cult. Hamish brings news that Rainier d'Ivernesse is returning to the Ghost Tower with a dozen men at arms; figuring that the young noble will be ill-disposed towards those who looted his ancestral home, the party decides to leave for greener pastures. Lem remains behind to tend to The Boss, expressing worry that Rainier may not be pleased to see a shrine dedicated to the man who attempted to use his infant son as a battlefield hostage.
A couple of days' travel brings our heroes to Eastkeep, a fortress at the edge of the Ruined Vales, where Glantrian troops guard against incursions from that magic-tainted land. The party checks their weapons at the gate and visits the tavern within the keep's walls. There they bribe the barkeep for rumors about the area and recruit four weak-willed young men to act as cannon fodder in their first venture in this new area: an exploration of the so-called Caves of Chaos.
The caves are a few hours' walk away in an overgrown valley. The first cave explored is full of severed heads and skulls; amongst them is an orc sentry, poking his head through a hole in the wall so as to hide in plain sight. Colin spots him, however, so the party is not entirely surprised by the rush of orcs that approach from two directions. Alain is killed in the rush and Bernard is rendered insensate. While Larissa pulls Bernard back to the entrance and tends to his wounds, the rest of the group lays down a patch of burning oil on one flank, crisping a few orcs, while cutting down several others. The surviving orcs pull back behind the flames. Fearing that they might be overwhelmed by a second rush of orcs, the party retreats before the oil burns out.
The party returns to Eastkeep with a sack full of ears cut from the heads of dead orcs, which they turned in to the castellan's advisor, the elf Marianne, for a 3gp bounty per pair. Larissa speaks with the keep's chaplain, Father Michel, about matters spiritual, while the rest of our heroes settle in at the bar to drink away their spoils and to spread the word of The Boss.
Losses & Loot
The party killed a dozen orcs and lost a single hireling. The party obtained 24gp in bounties; each PC's share comes to 3gp.
For creatures defeated and treasures earned over the course of the session, each PC received 23xp, while the surviving hirelings each received 11xp.