It Lives!

Last night, we re-convened the Midnight campaign. In the grand scheme of things, not a lot happened, but it was an introductory session, anyway.

To recap the night's festivities...

Athael, captured and imprisoned in the Toblar garrison, was rescued. In the process, both Kedrin and Mr. Chocolate (ahem) were also rescued. Seamus, the legate who had been interrogating Kedrin, was defeated during the rescue, although he managed to escape.

With their allies in tow, Herger and Bridie retreated to their rendezvous location to await Merikai, Angus, and Arin, who had caused a distraction in the nearby village of Toblar. After a brief discussion, the three left to track down a slave train that had passed through the village not long ago, as it seemed likely that it was the very same one that had passed through Rasha's village some time before.

With Arin, Angus, and Merikai gone, the remaining party members journeyed in a southwestern direction, heading back to the Keep of Shadows. On the eighth day, the group came upon the remains of an orcish supply caravan that had been waylaid by mysterious horsemen. In their investigations, a unit of orcs and worgs came upon them, and a fight ensued. The heroes were victorious, and the orcs were defeated.

That is where the game ended, for the time being.

The next game is scheduled for 2/18/06, 7pm-12am. I expect the group will return to their Keep, and we will determine which direction the game will go. Currently, the following subplots bear further expansion, depending on what the group decides to do:

The Ghosts of Ghallaigh Keep
As was touched on in the original campaign, the Keep of Shadows his home to several ghosts. All but one of these ghosts are members of the Ghallaigh clan, a Dornish family who fell into tragedy when the Shadow rose up nearly 100 years ago. The one ghost who is not of the Ghallaigh family, Tolbert McFare, managed to contact the heroes and asked them to aid him in setting the souls of the ghosts (incluing his own) to a peaceful rest.

As it is, this plotline has yet to be fully explored, but it may bear more investigation in the coming sessions.

Search for Family
This plot, which is really two plots, involves Herger and Bridie specifically.

Herger's family escaped the orcs who enslaved Herger...or so he believes. When he returned home, he found that they were gone, and it looked as if they had left in a hurry. As far as he knows, they might've gone east to find family in White Cliff.

As for Bridie, her grandfather is a prisoner of the Shadow, and all signs indicate that he was taken to Theros Obsidia (which is, to put it lightly, a BAD PLACE). Finding him, much less rescuing him, would amount to a monumental task.

The Masking of the Keep
This is what Athael had alluded to. What will it take to mask the Keep in an illusion that is strong enough to deceive the minions of Izrador? Only time will tell, but it may involve a little bit of elbow grease on the part of the heroes.

Rumors and Portents
By now, you've all heard about (and seen the results of) a mysterious band of horse-riding raiders who are victimizing the Shadow's supply and troop caravans. Perhaps this group could provide you with information, or at least, direction, if you could ally with them.

More to Come?
As Mr. Chocolate/Koko and Kedrin become more closely bound to the fate of the party, their pasts and goals will doubtless have some effect on the turn of events. This is, of course, up to them. Mr. Chocolate's past has been defined, but who knows what sort of life Kedrin lived before being captured by Seamus and tortured at length in the Toblar garrison?

Of course, I haven't really discussed where I would like the game to go. If it goes on long enough, I'd like to see the heroes head south eventually. There is a lot of adventure to be had in southern Erenland...but we can talk about that when you get there.