Slain by Elf

Making our way along the snowy mountain pass isn't a simple matter. The footing for our horses is treacherous in places, requiring us to look out for hazards and guide the horses around them regularly.

'Salvador, as you've just arrived to the session, you can make the next survival check.'

'...can I take 10?'

'Yes. What does that give you?'

'10.'

'Great, the first bad decision of the day.' And the result goes as you'd expect, for a 7th-level party getting a 10 on a skill roll. A patch of snow is thinner than it looks, with sheet ice underneath. We have to react as our horses skid and slide.

Salvador fails his reflex save, but tries to recover. 'I'll use my 1/day Blessing of the Gods to reroll my reflex saving throw of 10 to get... 7. Dammit!'

'The gods really don't like you, Sal.'

Our ride up to and along the mountain pass will need to be swift. We are given light warhorses, along with wands of healing. 'Use these on the horses when needed. If you push them too hard, they will just collapse.'

'Then let's stick to riding them. Plus, if we push them, we risk losing an arm.'

'Ha, that was quite funny for you.'

'Thanks.'

'In fact, that was very funny for you!'

'Huh. That went from being a compliment to insult pretty quickly.'

Evading capture by the paranoid king's guards, we are accompanied north to a friendly lord's lands. After welcoming us, the lord makes a request of us in these unsettled times.

'I need some adventurers to ride hard and fast in to the mountains and along the pass, calling on each guard post to check for signs of possible Ragesian incursion. Can I count on you?'

'You have my axe!'

'Brewswain, you don't have an axe.'

'I know. He has it. I'm asking for it back.'

'Are we initiativing?'

We need to sneak in to a guarded house in the middle of town. It makes sense to wait until night to do so, which means we have to be quiet. We sneak closer to the house, but how do we avoid the guards? Which way are we approaching from? 'Do you want to put yourselves on the map?' says the GM.

Yes, yes we do. We place our miniatures on the map, inside the house. 'Well, that was easy.'

'Can I gather some information with an investigation check?'

'Sure.'

'Right. What do I want to find out?'

As often happens when an encounter is imminent, a map is drawn on our battlemat. As often happens when a map is drawn on our battlemat, the drawing skills of the GM are criticised. 'Why isn't the path straight?'

'Artistic licence.'

'Maybe we should adapt our plan. We could go up and say that we could design and build a better path for them.'

'I dunno, I quite like that it's not straight. I'd probably suggest more of a zig-zag, with levels and a water feature.'

'That sounds okay, though. There could be a nice fountain in the middle.'

'Actually, yeah, now you mention it. I can picture that.'

'This is sounding good. We could resign from adventuring and become landscape gardeners.'

'Landscapes & Gardens, coming next year from Wizards of the Coast.'

Our audience with the king didn't go quite according to plan. Our general lack of charisma, and the presence of Thrak, leads us to have a warrant issued for our arrest. That doesn't sound like a good situation, particularly as 'arrest' is something of a euphemism at this moment, so we flee the city.

Heading north, we find we don't get too far before we are trailed by soldiers and a flying beast. Not liking our chances at fighting outnumbered and out-beasted in open area, we look for options.

'We could go off-track, maybe try to set up an ambush', says Salvador. 'Perhaps we are far enough ahead to give us time to dig a big hole?'

'And find some slate, or other flat rock, in to which we can carve our names, years of birth, and the current year, to save our pursuers some time? That sounds like a plan that might not actually go wrong.'

There are rumours that Ragesian diplomats are in Bresk influencing the king in his decision to sign the non-aggression pact with Ragesia. Perhaps it is in our interest to learn what we can about them.

Salvador asks around the city for information on the Ragesians. He learns that some people believe there may possibly be some Ragesian diplomats in Dassun.

'Sal, gathering information works best when you don't just talk to other members of your own adventuring party.' To be fair, the skill works better when you roll above a 4 too.

We make it to Bresk, where our diplomat prepares for his audience with the king, hoping to change his mind about making a non-aggression pact with the enemy.

To help our diplomat, we go to court to speak with the proxies of the lords and ladies of the land, those who are in a position to influence the king's decision. There are quite a few of them, and we only have a day to see them all, so we split in to two pairs. Myself and Salvador see some of the proxies, Aggar and Thrak see the others.

By the end of the day there are two proxies left to see, and one timeslot to see them in. Who will see who? 'This is the last pair of meetings', says Salvador, who has been keeping notes for us. 'One of them is with a smart businesswoman...'

'Right, so we're not letting Thrak anywhere near her.'

'...and the other is sympathetic to the Shahalesti, those pointy-eared bastards.'

'And maybe you shouldn't go to that meeting. I think we've got our scheduled decided.'