Lost Lands: Grimmsgate IC

[Ghostfoot]

The stay at the Horse and Tinker is pleasant enough, if a little unsettling at the lack of other patrons. The bartender mutters about bandits on the roads preying on lone travelers, and few enough knights and guardsmen to keep them in check.

Nevertheless the next few days prove remarkably uneventful. There is a common story of roving bandits and robber knights harassing vulnerable travelers but whether by luck or due to the size of your group you are not accosted by any ne'er-do-wells. The occasional famer or herder with pigs on their way to a local market, one or two armed caravans of merchants (none as large or well-guarded as yours), a small group of travelling dwarven crafters, and periodically the howling of wolves in the forests reminding you that nature encroaches on civilization (or vice versa) and that the lands out here remain only partly tamed.

About the most alarming situation is when, one day, several large winged shapes can be seen circling in the distance several miles ahead. Your mounted guards ride cautiously ahead, and return to tell of signs of battle ahead. By the time that you get near the flying shapes are long gone, and you come across a scene of recent violence. A log barricade lies smashed to one side of the old paved road and a couple of broken swords lie among splashes of blood on the stones. A makeshift campsite on a small rise overlooking the road similarly destroyed with great gouges in the earth and several arrows peppering the area. Whatever happened you missed it, and very possibly it was to your benefit! In any case there are no signs of anyone or anything remaining in the vicinity.

It is only much later that day, when you encounter a group of elves traveling from village to hidden village, that you learn a flight of wyverns had been sighted in the area. Dragon-like beasts but with the aggressive temperament of a cave bear and limited intellectual capacity of an ogre, the creatures are known to often come down from the northern Cretian Mountains in groups this time of year to hunt for easy prey in the lowlands. In this instance the elves inform you a group of brigands had been waylaying passers-by but seem to have had the unfortunate situation of choosing an elevated place to base themselves to observe the road. And so it seems the ambushers found themselves horribly exposed to attack from the air!

Counting yourselves lucky to have avoided both brigands and wyverns, your caravan continues onward towards its destination, and several days later reaches the small city of Mirquinoc, known as an odd, fey-infested place as it cohabits the site of an ancient crossroad where the borders to the fey realm are weak and permeable.

The Free City of Mirquinoc stands at the tip of a range of hills that mark the geographical edge of the Gaelon watershed, locally known as the Keelstones, which run 15 miles wide and roughly 50 miles in length. The King’s Road skirts around the edge of the hill line to the south, at a mile’s distance.

The walled city comes upon travelers unexpectedly since it is not marked by any of the milestones along the road. The walls are uneven and the towers are crooked, but it is obviously quite a busy place, with peasants bustling about.

Spoiler: Map - Free City of Mirquinoc

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Map Key:
1. City Gate.
2. Druidic Enclosure.
3. Druid Spire. A 100-foot-tall sharp, conical tower grown from the living bedrock of the city. Precipitous stairs spiral up around it to the top, where there is a small academy of druids. The academy hauls supplies up to the top using cranes and winches.
4. Old Crossroad Market
5. Great Fane of Narrah
6. Grimalkin Square
7. Mummer’s Meade
8. Fortnight Square
9. Citadel (the “Freehold”)
10. Temple of Telophus
11. Temple of Oghma
12. King’s Road Inn
13. Tower of Iolphezar
14. Thieves’ Guild
15. Greentwine Inn
16. Ryhan’s Jewelry
17. Armorers and Smiths

The uneven walls and crooked towers of the town bewitched with unearthly and uninvited guests grows steadily larger until its gate appears ahead. A guardsman stands on either side, leaning enough on their pikes to almost conceal their apathy, but their bored eyes giving them away completely. A momentary glance at the travel-weary wagons and guards was all that duty required before the guards quickly looked away — nothing to see here.

You spy the telltale flicker of a sprite between the men, a creature fancying herself the gate’s true guard. The fey were always just beyond sight. Whether it was some spell they cast on themselves or if the winged mites could leap so fast a man’s eye just couldn’t follow, like a fly darting about.

Nearby, two wooden signs dangle on thin iron chains so the fey won’t knock them down (as you've heard they did with just about anything from time to time). One sign read, “Drawing steel or iron weapons in the city is forbidden.” The other advised, “Ignore the Sprites.”

A female watch captain stands just beyond the gate. Her stance firm, her hand on her sword hilt and her head held high as she watches the morning stream of wagons roll into town loaded down with local produce or trade goods brought up by horses weary from their journey on the King’s Road. Her gaze danced from one wagon to the next.



Your caravan makes its way inside the gates of the small city and pulls up at the King's Road Inn. Here your duties end. The merchants set about with their wagons preparing to ascend to Old Crossroad Market to trade their wares. Lucius Palejohn gathers yourselves and the other guards about to distribute the payroll, everyone happy to be well remunerated for a thankfully incident-free journey. The other guards quickly disperse to the taverns and markets of the town to relax and spend their pay before no doubt looking for their next gig on the roads of the region.

With your own pouches bulging with coin you consider your next move. Your ultimate destination, the backwater village of Grimmsgate, still lies some 3 weeks travel to the northeast, in the wilderness well off the main thoroughfare of the King's Road.

The markets of Mirquinoc are here should you wish to equip yourselves with anything for the next stage of your journey, Old Crossroad Market being located on the rise in the center of the city with the defensive citadel rising to the east. Bordering to the west of the market are the Temple of Telophus (Lord of Crops) and the Great Fane of Narrah, The Lady of the Moon.

Spoiler: payroll

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Everyone gets +19gp pay for playing at being caravan guards.

If you want to do anything specific, please do, otherwise next post I'll move us on again as you travel alone for the next part of your journey.