Episode 1 - Via Bathura

Played 2 February 2015

It is autumn and the caravan season is winding down on the Via Bathura, which heads out north-west from the great city of Parsantium through the rugged lands of the former Imperial province of Valkania. Northbound caravans at this time of year risk catching the first of the the bad weather and all that brings with it: flooded out river crossings, landslides, the grinding unpleasantness of the cold and rain as a caravan crosses the orc-troubled wilderness. Few further expeditions north are planned this year, and the seasonal mercenaries have moved on looking for other work, further south or in the city itself.

So when the hiring agent Famagustas posts an advertisement in the usual hangouts, requiring caravan guards ready to leave for Loranto next morning, the response is somewhat lukewarm. After Famagustas has weeded out the usual complement of known criminals, drunkards and overambitious farmboys, the putative hirelings are down to four:

• ·         Nimeria, an Urskovian warrior woman (barbarian played by Lucy Mounsher)
• ·         Open, a tiefling magician (wizard played by Alex Hegazy)
• ·         Olrik, a dwarven follower of Herriki Veinfollower’s “Way of the Open Hand” (monk played by Wayne Furmidge)
• ·         Kam, a vanara priest of Hanuman (cleric played by Richard Green)

It has to be said that when this odd group is presented to their new employer at the Northern Caravanserai outside Victory Gate, he is not that impressed (“a talking monkey and a dwarf who throws cutlery?”). But then what did he expect, mounting an expedition at this time of year and at such short notice? He hires them on, for 1gp per day plus a 35gp completion bonus.

The employer is Lucinius, a Parsantine merchant who is taking a small mule train to Loranto, to follow up what he calls an “important business opportunity” which cannot wait till next season. As well as the PC hirelings the caravan will include Lucinius’s bodyguard, a taciturn Urskovian called Lodvik, and the muleteer Berko. Additionally, and rather to Lucinius’s surprise, a friend has asked to accompany the caravan at least some of the way – this is the bard, Aris (guest appearance by Theo Britton).

As Lucinius takes the new hirelings out to the mule train, he is approached by a young woman who introduces herself as Amira; she has heard that he is hiring, but was not in time to approach him through Famagustas. She says she has been working as a bodyguard for the children of the Marfisi family but has personal reasons to wish to travel to Loranto. While Lucinius is apologising that she is too late and he has hired as many people as he has budgeted for, a sudden commotion erupts. Two gnolls come charging through the caravanserai, murderous looks on their faces (another appears to have already got into a fight a little further away). One attacks Berko, the muleteer, as he prepares the animals for departure, whilst the other charges straight at Lucinius, ignoring Amira, who was a more obvious target.

A short fight ensues in which the gnolls are disposed of by the caravan guards (and Amira, who has joined in). Lucinius joins in with some magic, though Open does not believe he is a proper spellcaster – more likely a rogue who has picked up some tricks. However the brutes were not killed off quickly enough to save Berko, who took a spear through the neck. Lucinius, who is clearly very eager to depart, canvasses those present to see if they have any animal handling experience. To his relief both Nimeria and Amira volunteer that they have , and Amira is taken on as a replacement for Berko. Aris, meanwhile, arranges for the Guild of Mourners to collect the unfortunate muleteer and return him to his family for burial.

Before the caravanserai’s own guards arrived to deal with the aftermath, Kam searched the two gnolls fought by the party. As well as rifling their pockets for small change, he finds both are carrying small twists of parchment which retain a few grains of what he suspects to be White Lotus. This is an addictive drug, but its effects do not tally with the gnolls’ deranged behaviour. Furthermore, he suspects that Lucinius may have recognised one of the gnolls.

The caravan sets off, and after crossing the agricultural lands which lie immediately outside the city, by nightfall reaches the outer walls of Parsantium's domain. Beyond lies the County of Etressia, outside the city state’s direct control but an ally, ruled by Count Timitos, whose family has controlled Etressia for three generations and who has a reputation as a competent general. While the guards amuse themselves at one of the rough inns in the gate town, Olrik provokes a brawl for amusement (or, as he claims, “training”) while Aris entertains the crowd with coarse jokes and parlour magic. During this little interlude, Kam, who has been pressing their employer for more details of their intentions, goes to the stables with him, where he is shown a carefully wrapped package holding a brilliant blue powder – this is ultramarine, a rare mineral extract used in the preparation of the most expensive paints. Lucinius explains that this has been difficult to get hold of recently, owing to an unexplained disruption of its supply along the Silk Road, but though what he describes as “an unconventional source”, he has been able to obtain some. If he gets this to Loranto before the supply difficulties are resolved, the artists there will pay a pretty penny for it. He is wary of travelling on the Lorantine ships which control the sea trade in the eastern Corsair’s Sea, so he has mounted the mule train as to get to Loranto before the weather closes in.

A couple of days of relatively uneventful travel through Etressia follow. There is a reasonable amount of traffic heading in the other direction, as the last caravans of the season head in to Parsantium, but going north-west the traffic is light. For the third night, the mule train stops at a ramshackle caravanserai operated from a semi-ruined Imperial era temple, and known as Lubzug’s Wayside Inn after its half-orc owner.

The party hire a side chapel converted into a bay offering rude living accommodation. The other guests are some female Bathuran pilgrims and their dwarf bodyguard, travelling to Parsantium, and a group of four rather rough looking types who are outward bound like the party. During the evening meal – cooked by Lubzug’s ancient mother-in-law at a fire pit hollowed from the old altar dais – the leader of this group approaches the party. While the others look like run-of-the-mill dockside toughs, Sanjar is a smallish and quietly spoken Sampuran man with a smiley demeanour, but his conversation is rather cryptic and not exactly friendly. He describes his trade as “recovery specialist”. He displays a badge depicting a peacock – the symbol of the Pavone family – and says that one of the party (“you will know who you are”) has upset his employer and needs to return to Parsantium to sort things out. At this stage, he says, it might be possible for that to happen without causing too much pain, but if the miscreant and their friends make too much resistance, things might not go so well. He suggests that the person concerned present themselves to him before the morning, to avoid unnecessary unpleasantness, and no-one else need get involved. He then goes back to his own bay.

The guards discuss this strange incident. After a little prompting two of them admit there may be reasons why the Pavone family are after them, though several of them also think that Lucinius seemed a little shifty during the whole incident, and has made his excuses and retreated to the bay with Lodvik. Kam, it seems, has stolen some trifle from the clan, whilst Amira is a minor aristocrat who has taken flight because her Pavone step-father was trying to marry her off to his unpleasant cousin. Kam tries to engage in conversation the tough who is guarding Sarjan’s bay, to wheedle information from him, but an attempt to cast charm person is brushed aside and results in Sarjan being summoned. During the exchange that follows, however, Kam is fairly sure than Sarjan isn’t very interested in the monkey priest, suggesting that he is not the party member being hunted.

Between them, the party decides that they are not going to wait around while Sarjan plots his strike against them, and move to pre-emptively attack. They advance across the transept of the derelict church towards the bounty hunter’s bay....