In brightest minds, in blackest ops. No good is it if the body flops

3rd Sun’s Day of Fall, Aldrick, Talingarde: Disguised as Captain Varning and two of the guardsmen the Nessian Knot found an outlying farm putting all but a single child to the sword and then burning it the ground. They left behind Captain Varning’s family crest ring. Assuming the guises of passing big game hunters they returned to the Lord Dalliance and allocated rooms. The Nessian Know learned more of Mama, who cooks the beef stew every week in honor of her two sons who used to serve the garrison. They heard rumors of their own nefarious deeds outside of town and that night searched the inn’s basement to after much, much and a good deal more searching they found the secret passage to the Tower of Balentyne. They entered through the Dwarven Vault where they found 12 bottles of elven wine and nearly a years worth of garrison rations. Brand silently entered the armory and smithy above the vault before finding the nearby room of Captain Varning. Here he stole the dead captain’s treasure and extra uniform.

3rd Mitra’s Day, Lord’s Dalliance, Aldrick, Talingarde: The Nessian Knot forged two notes, one to Kathleen Mott from Captain Eddardly begging her to come to the Lord’s Dalliance tonight, so that he might worship her in his arms. They asked she come at 9 bells and a quarter. Similarly they sent a note to Captain Eddardly as if from Kathleen Mott, begging him to meet her at the inn at 9 bells and a half. Then using their rings of disguise and Captain Varning’s uniform impersonated Eddardly reserving a room at the Dalliance. Kathleen Mott sent a response implying a forbidden love. The Nessian Knot then spent the day uncovering the alchemist in town who had enough arsenic to poison the entire tower. When Kathleen Mott arrived, she was ambushed by Brand who stunned her with his martial prowess. Ulmaticron and Brand then faked her suicide, murdering her in cold blood with a knife in her bosom. Meanwhile, the Woodstick disguised as a simple peasant ran to the Tower yelling about murder most foul. When Eddardly arrived he turned pale and screamed, he was nearly catatonic when the guardsmen arrived. Captain Mott was so enraged that he slew Captain Eddardly and was sentenced to Brandescar Prison.

3rd Two’s Day, Tower of Balentyne, Talingarde: Disguised as servants, the Nessian Knot infiltrated the Tower of Balentyne and over the next three days learned that Tassitus takes his meals in his room. He is gruff and dismissive, two guards are stationed outside his room at all times. They also learned of Father Donagan the garrison’s cleric, who is jovial and loved by all. They learned the name of the fourth Captain, Barhold. On the third day, Brand made a pretext to visit Mad Martin the master of the rookery. He then stunned Mad Martin and threw him from the ramparts much to distress of the ravens. Ulmaticron then forged a note for Father Donagan seemingly written from a possessed but ashamed Captain Varning who asked the priest to come help him the next day.

3rd Wedded’s Day, the Wilderness, South of the Tower, Talingarde: Disguised again as Captain Varning, Ulmaticron ambushed Father Donagan, with the rest of the Nessian Knot. Grumblejack decapitated one of the acolytes with a single blow, while the other fell to the Woodstick’s rapier. Father Donagan attempted to use spell craft to defeat his foes only to fall before the might of the Nessian Knot. And the plot to topple Talingarde continues, the party has used 9 days of a possible 28 days to bring the Tower of Balentyne to it’s knees.

Sowing the Seeds of War!

Thorn Manor, Old Moor Road, Talingarde: Having completed the training and forging of the Nessian Knot, Adrastus Thorn was ready to start the downfall of Talingarde. Adrastus told the Woodstick, Ulmaticron and Brand about a plan to bring war to Talingarde and topple the followers of Mitra. They would deliver weapons and armor to Sakkarot Fireaxe, a bug bear chieftain, and his hordes who were gathering near Lake Tarik. With these armaments Sakkarot would unite the barbarous humanoid hordes (note: hordes not whores, Woodstick!) for a push into Talingarde. The Nessian Knot would travel by longship, the Frosthamar, captained by a berserker named Odinkirk. Due to Odinkirk’s inflexibility at bending the knee to the Asmodians, Adrastus ordered his and his crew’s death. The Nessian Knot was then to infiltrate the Tower of Balentyne, kill it’s commander, and throw open the gates for Sakkarot’s hordes. They were then to break the clay tablet that Adrastus had given them.

The Camp of the Fireaxe, Lake Tarik, the North: After a long journey along the coast and into the icy rapids of the Tyga, the Frosthamar, laden with crates with a flaming axe on them, reached a large encampment of bug bears, goblins, and free roaming polar bears, scattered around a rickety pier stretching into to the frigid waters. With Grimjack translating, the Nessian Knot was able to make contact with Sakkarot, a massive, highly intelligent bug bear bearing an enormous flaming axe, who commanded his hordes to honor (rather than eat) his guests. After feasting on a titanic dire boar, Sakkarot summoned the Nessian Knot to his yurt and questioned them on their motives for betraying Talingarde. Brand rambled ecclesiastic about being a weapon of Asmodeus wrapped in a meat puppet. Ulmaticron indicated that as an inquisitor Asmodeus was a more rewarding deity, and the Woodstick likely betrayed that he was in all actuality a spy of the Mitrans. Sakkarot would grow his horde over the next two weeks but would not be able to keep them in an idle state for more than four. The Nessian Knot had a month to topple the Tower of Balentyne.

Hidden Cove, Lake Tarik, Talingarde: Odinkirk and the Frosthamar delivered the Nessian Knot to the Southern shore of Tarik, upon which the Knot fell upon the captain and his crew. A pitched battle commenced with the raging Odinkirk grievously wounding Grimjack before the rest of the party could bring him a cold death. After restoring Grimjack they put the Frosthamar to the torch.

2nd Free Day* of Fall, Lord’s Dalliance, Aldrick, Talingarde: Leaving the monstrous Grimjack in the forest outside the town, the Nessian Knot disguised as simple laborers infiltrated the town, gathering at the only inn, the Lord’s Dalliance. Through the wit and guile of the Woodstick (surprising, we know) much rumor was gathered including:

• Surprisingly for xenophobic Talingarde, a gang of dwarves lead by the grouchy Barnabas are repairing the Tower of Balentyne. The tower is actually of ancient dwarf make. Barnabas can drink anyone under the table.
• Tassitus, the creepy magister, is working on something in his tower…something unnatural that was recovered in the North.
• Captain Varning is leading another patrol out of town tomorrow for 4-5 days. Most think that this is just an excuse for him to get out of drudgery around the tower and to go galavanting around.
• Mad Martin tends the rookery in the watchtower. He loves his ravens and is very eccentric.
• Lord Thomas Havelin is the most honorable and capable commander of the tower. If he can’t do it no one can.
• How did the ugly Captain Mott get and keep his wife, the most beautiful woman in town, Kathleen Mott?
• Captain Eddardly is handsome, gallant, and unmarried.
• There are about 100 soldiers in the tower.
• Mama’s beef stew is served every Mitra’s Day to the entire garrison at the Tower of Balentyne. Mama is a local legend for her cooking.
• The Lord’s Dalliance allegedly got it’s name because it used to be a brothel with a secret tunnel to the tower.
• A traveling theatre troupe is coming to a do a performance for the garrison next Thank’s Day.

The Nessian Knot then bought rounds of beer for Barnabas and his work gang, before offering them whiskey that they had “liberated” from the Frosthamar. Back in the dwarves quarters the Nessian Knot watched the dwarves crew drink itself into oblivion, except Barnabas who wanted to wrestle. Brand escaped several pins before putting Barnabas in a resounding slumber with a stunning fist. Woodstick stole the dwarves map of the Tower and then the Nessian Knot fled the inn and their assumed identities.

2nd Satyr’s Day, North of the Tower of Balentyne, the North: Captain Varning’s patrol was met with two felled trees one in their path and one behind them. The Woodstick sank a goose-quilled shaft deep into the captain’s side, while Brand and Grumblejack ambushed the front of the party, and Ulmaticron sealed their only avenue of escape while ushering them into the afterlife. Grumblejack smote the trees and earth around Captain Varning and his mount with great fury but could not smite the gallant soldier (Aside: I rolled a 3 on a d20..5 times…in a row. That happens 1 in 3,200,000 times). Brand used his lethal strikes to break the bones and burst the vital organs of the captain’s nearest men. The Woodstick struck exposed targets with hemorrhagic results. Ulmaticron used his arcane powers to destroy and suck life from the guards he killed. In the end, the Nessian Knot still stood and the patrol lay dead and dying around them. Time to make use of Captain Valentyne’s poor reputation and begin to break the Tower of Balentyne...

*The Mitran Week: Sun’s Day - Mitra’s Day - Two’s Day - Wedded’s Day - Thank’s Day - Free Day - Satyr’s Day