Session 1

Date Played: January 15, 2000


Lunadain, 1^st of Nuwmont, 1,000 A.C.

Chow-Lin, Markus, and Eric all arrived in Specularum for the Millennium Celebration. Eric spennt the night with his parents in the Rampant Griffon Inn, a well-to-do establishment. Markus and Chow-Lin stayed at the Crown of Halav Inn. Not much occured on this first day except the characters’ meeting.

Gromdain, 2^nd of Nuwmont, 1,000 A.C.

The party met at the Crown of Halav and decided to check out the celebration in the city during the day. Becoming friends in the foreign environment of the city, the characters remained with each other for dinner at the Inn. The crowds at the Inn had grown, and the party was forced to share a table with three Thyatians from Biazzan, named Mortico, Capricus, and Liselle. After some pleasant dinner conversation, the Thyatians retired from the table and Markus wandered into the crowd of the common room. Markus met with Portio Vorloi and accepted an offer for work. Portio then met with the others at the table and he explained that Lord Fortunato Vorloi’s prize white Ylari horses were stolen the other day by brazen brigands who assaulted a stable near the north gate.

Portio allowed the characters time to discuss and then led them through the city streets to meet his master, Fortunato Vorloi, at the Rampant Griffon Inn. The situation was discussed and plans made to recover the horses. The characters learned that the only way the thieves could have gone would be the Westron Road, rarely patrolled and leading off into the wilderness of western Karameikos. Lord Vorloi suspected the Radu family of having something to do with the theft but he had no proof. Thus the characters were needed to do some investigating for him. The Lord Vorloi offered the party 100 gp each for the recovery of his horses (50 gp in advance, and 50 gp upon completion of the job). The party agreed to the deal and left to get some sleep at the Crown of Halav Inn. But first, the men of the party decided to pay a visit to the ostler in charge of the horses when they were stolen. So Chow-Lin retired early, requiring her rest to memorize her spells for the morning.

Markus, Eric, and Portio headed off to the north city gate. Once they passed through the gate, Portio arranged for the gate to be kept open for them to re-enter. The party then talked with Ostler Furlo about the events of the night. The ostler claimed not to have seen much in the dark. He said that there were at least half-a-dozen men in dark green or blue cloaks who easily beat the stable boy into submission and fled with the Lord’s horses, 3 guard’s warhorses, and 5 riding horses belonging to other patrons. The stable boy was beaten further for his lax behavior (it was he who left the outer gates unlatched), and sent to clean the stables. The ostler was in danger of losing his business if unable to locate the horses before his patrons return from the Millennium Celebration.

Once they had questioned Furlo, Markus, Eric, and Portio returned to the Crown of Halav. Portio bid the men good night and left for his own dwelling in the city. The Inn, being crowded, had but one room for the two men to share. During the night, Markus noticed a masked and cloaked man outside the window peering in at them. Markus opened the window and gave chase down the alley. However, upon finding the man, he ran into at least three more men, similarly dressed and bearing daggers, in another alleyway. Markus thought better of his actions and ran off to get help. The masked men gave chase, but managed to evade capture at the hands of the city guard patrol that Markus stumbled upon. Escorted back to the Inn, Markus was allowed entry by a barmaid and returned to his room. Sometime later, Markus and Eric heard more noises from the alley, this time from a group of alley cats. Eric ensorcelled one of the cats to become his companion, and the cat, named “Golden-Eyes,” agreed to the friendship. Golden-Eyes remained on watch by the window for most of the remainder of the evening (much to Markus’ dismay as he is allergic to cats).

Tserdain, 3^rd of Nuwmont, 1,000 A.C.

The party met in the common room of the Inn for breakfast. Chow-Lin had memorized her spells for the day (magic missile, burning hands, sleep) and so had Eric (animal friendship, speak with animals, entangle, locate animal). Portio caught up with them midway through the meal and began discussing plans for equipping the characters and sending them on their way. Arrangements had been made with Portio in the case of an unfortunate accident befalling any of the characters (he will alert respective family members of untimely demise and send belongings on to said persons). A man would be posted at the Crown of Halav Inn two days after the party leaves. This man was to await the return of the characters with the horses (secret password: FALCON). Portio then explained that he had arranged for the party to purchase supplies at a local shop, even though the shop should be closed for the celebration. Eric departed after his prayers and headed to see his parents at the Rampant Griffon. He bid them farewell and hoped to meet them back here soon. Once the characters reassembled at the Inn, they headed for the shop and purchased several supplies. By roughly 9 am, the party finally headed out the city gate and down the Westron Road.

Along the road, the party encountered a troop of armed men from Radlebb Keep to the west. The Keep is the next nearest settlement along the Westron Road and they reported seeing no one along the road matching the description of the horse thieves. Continuing on the road, the party made a discovery at the end of the day. Along the side of the road, the characters managed to spot a horseshoe of foreign make near a break in the trees. The ground nearby was compacted as if by a large number of beings passing by not too long ago. Eric tried to determine if it was the horses by casting locate animal, but the animals were either beyond his range to detect or not located here at all. The characters decided to bed down for the evening and began making plans to set up a watch for the night.

Important NPCs (in order of appearance)

 Portio Vorloi:  Fun-loving agent of Lord Fortunato Vorloi; very helpful chap, especially within the boundaries of Specularum; he seems to know quite a few people (Thyatian).

Fortunato Vorloi:  A Thyatian Lord of the Vorloi family of Specularum; he is a man in his late 50s who dresses very well and seemingly has quite a lot of money; his daughter, Lucia, is a stunning young girl of no more than 16 years.

Ostler Furlo:  Thyatian man in his mid 30’s with brown hair and long moustache; he works the stables outside the north gate along Westron Road.

Other Important Information Learned by the Party

The city of Specularum and the area south of the city was once all owned by the Marilenev family. When the Duke arrived in Traladara to make it his Duchy 30 years ago, the Marilenev’s were the first and only ones to oppose his “peaceful” takeover. For this action, Lord Marilenev was executed and the family lands stripped of all but their ancestral home and the meager nearby Marilenev village. Lady Magda is now enraged at her family’s condition.

Horses are not permitted in the city of Specularum in order to promote cleanliness. There are several ostlers who operate stables at the city gates for servicing mounts.

The coins of Karameikos are the copper piece (kopec), silver piece (crona), and gold piece (royal). Electrum and platinum coins are not minted here, so any found are of ancient or foreign make.

There are four major families in Specularum, two are Thyatian and two are Traldar. The Thyatian families are the Karameikos and Vorloi families. These are the royalty of the region, both being the largest in the city. The Traldar families are the Radu and the Torenescu clans. These are powerful in their own right, but relegated to lesser royalty by the Duke. A fifth family, the Marilenev family, was a powerful Traldar clan that fell in power with the coming of the Karameikans. The Radu and Torenescu fight amongst themselves constantly, forever trying to bring the Vorloi between them. The Duke’s family remains out of the infighting, but gets involved when the other families go too far.

The Black Eagle Barony lies on the western border of the Grand Duchy. Baron Von Hendricks rules this land with an iron hand, enslaving the populace and meting out his own brand of justice. The Duke cannot go against him at this time because he is family and such is frowned upon by his religious and personal beliefs. In the meantime, the atrocities at Fort Doom continue unchecked. Of particular note is Von Hendricks’ court wizard, Bargle the Infamous. This man is feared throughout the Barony for his depravity and magical experiments.

The Gnome Caravan makes its way to Specularum in early spring to trade metals and crafted goods. Dwarves do not live in communities in the Duchy, but many elves make the forestlands their home. There are two elven tribes in Karameikos: the Calarii (high) elves and the Vyalia (grey) elves. The former lives in the central Radlebb Woods and Dymrak Forest and the latter lives in the forests of the eastern border by Thyatis. Halflings sometimes migrate to Karameikos from the western Five Shires, but they must cross near the Black Eagle Barony to do so. Karameikos is plagued by many lycanthropes and undead, especially vampires.