This was held in the 'wastelands' of the Siberijan Steppes - something of a
misnomer given the lush foliage of the location. We were there to investigate
rumours that something in the area was scaring the Swarm and anything that
scares the Swarm is worth investigating.
As the Draken and the Narod Rodina were camping alongside our hosts the
mercenary camp was fairly empty. There were a few mwmbers of the Lion Azure and
the Merchant Militia, a couple of independents, and we also had some newcomers
to the camp - the Silveroak were camping with us and we were joined by a couple
of members of the Caliphate, apparently just an advance party and we should
expect more of them later.
There seemed to be Swarm everywhere. Some were scouting, some were looking for
fights, and some just seemed to be in a hurry to get past us. The camp was
attacked many times, often by overwhelming forces. Despite the numbers we killed
it was purely the sterling efforts of the healers and medics that prevented us
from suffering significant casualties. Many times attacks on our camp were
broken up by counterattacks from the viper camp and we returned the favour many
times by helping clear their gate of the vermin that were attacking it. There
were definitely some signs of panic amongst the Swarm and apparently there was
even panic amongst the lower denizens of the tunnels - illithids and similar
fabled creatures.
There were also attacks by Nything cultists, though as at Fayre these seemed to
be mainly targetting the Viper camp.
There were three women walking around, known as The Three Sisters. Very
powerful, they threw Guard of the Lions clear across a glade, they seemed to be
on a mission to deal as much damage to the Swarm as possible. There were many
rumours about who they were though most seemed to agree they had been created by
accident in a Swarm ritual. They seem to be linked in some way to a box that was
found in the Swarm area. Later there were more rumours that the Sisters and/or
the box were draining the land of magical power, specifically healing magic.
Just to add to the confusion there were some friendly Swarm though it was hard
to tell them from the others. These seemed to have shaken off the normal ways of
the Swarm and were helping to fight against their previous brethren.
Peasants in the area were suffering badly from having so many Swarm in the area.
Many people, including a lot of the traders, were willing to help out with
supplies.
A major Swarm tunnel entrance was found and investigated, though at the cost of
more than one life.
There were some rabble rousers wandering around trying to work people up against
the Jhereg but they didn't seem to have much support outside of the peasants.
Other than the Silveroak the Algaia seem to have got their internal problems
under control - they all seemed a lot happier.
On the second night there were sounds of fighting from inside the Viper camp,
strange lights and sounds filled the air. It was pretty obvious something big
was happening. Once it had all calmed down again the Viper camp was sealed off
and it was impossible to find out what had happened. All the rumours agreed on
one point, that King Harriata was gone, but the rest was hazy - either he'd
fallen fighting the Nything; he'd fought the Nything and then been taken by the
gods; he'd failed the gods and was being punished; or even that he was the
Nything.
On the third day a large multi-factional force went into the tunnels to clear
them out. There were few details available but they came back victorious having
inflicted serious casualties on the Swarm in what appears to have been a major
fight.
Sorry to say there's only one photo but there is a map of the camp
Name |
Role |
Notes |
|
Rosalie |
Alchemist |
Gypsy |
|
Ushi Ryo-oshi |
Warrior |
Provost |
|
Rizon |
Warrior |
Archer |
Fayre 1105 |
Home |
Renewal 1105 |