Darklands: Seige of Castle Schauffelin

This is part of The Darklands story.

After telling her tale to the King, the Church and anyone else who would listen, Liore was tasked with simple clerical duties while authorities looked into the matter. Days passed but she heard no word about her allies left behind in the monastery. Her persistent questioning began to draw the ire of the castle officials often leading to her expulsion from the premises.

It struck her as odd then that one day the King of Denmark summoned her to accompany the soldiers "Zubon Ratkiller", "Rakuno Shardim" and "Augratin Nerdly" to hunt the robber knight Felix Schauffelin. He said her previous experiences made her ideal for this task, but something felt very off. She shared her doubts and her recent past to her new company, whom she learned were also all out of favor with the court for various reasons.

Still, Rakuno was a man of honor and led the party to their goal defeating a few of Felix's thugs on the way. At the robber knight's castle for the first time the party was denied entry, so Zubon suggested laying seige to starve him out. After setting up camp out of bow shot a large group of scum came out of the castle trying to break the defensive line. They mostly failed, but Rakuno was cut down in the skirmish.

Two groups of bandits then tried to resupply the castle and only once both were denied did Felix himself and his last man-at-arms come forth. Liore's fear of having been sent here to be "erased" proved true as the robber knight decapitated her before Augratin shoved her spear through his face.

Spear to the face would count as mortally wounded right?

Darklands: Graves of Vengeance

This is part of The Darklands story.

Through another horrible blizzard Tobold and Liore make it to their destination and are rewarded by the Medici for their trouble, using the coin to buy gear and to get new members "Lani Yammob", a 25 year old travelling merchant (and thief) and her companion "Grinmir Grudgely" (wrong spelling for Grimnir - apologies!), a hunter/soldier of 35 years. The Medici had also asked the team to take care of a robber knight in the area and they make that their first stop.

Tobold decides to try use the "Be invited in then kill the host" method he heard from the tales of the two that died at Hoxter, and it works on robber knight Hans Behaim. Alas, the "killing" of the robber knight does not go so smoothly without proper gear and Tobold receives a fatal blow before Grinmir and Lani can finish Hans off.

Enraged, Liore then leads the team back to the nearby hamlet of Hoxter (who were obviously in league with the robber knight), against her companions wishes and demanded vengeance for all the dead. She got her wish, eliminating the evil cultists with ease and then burning their village. They then went to the altar where Liore challenged the resident demon to combat.

Pretty close to "Get off my lawn!"

The beast accepted, and swiftly tore Lani and Grinmir into pieces before Liore could cudgel it to death. With a scream of rage, Liore vowed to destroy all these unholy abominations and all those who worshiped them.

Darklands: Jewel of Leipzig

This is part of The Darklands story.

After another run in with giant spiders (tough bastards), the team managed to catch a caravan to Frankfurt which saved some travel time, but their destination to find the Tarnhelm was still a fair bit away. After slaying some mercenary bandits, they once again heard the trumpets of the wild hunt but to their surprise they weren't the prey this night. Instead it was a strange Holzfrau woman. Unable to let this stand Stubborn (and by proxy everyone else) leapt out from hiding to confront her pursuers, a pack of four hellhounds who were laid low.

No in-game pic so I guess she looked like this?

They then came across the castle of robber knight Adolphus Schedel and tried to use the same robber-knight murdering tacting they used in the past. Unfortunately Adolphus had heard of this and when the team burst into his room he was waiting with a bunch of armored guardsmen. The team still saw victory through the difficult combat with Belghast slaying the robber knight, but Astalnar got axed to death in the melee.

After taking out some anger on random thieves and another pack of wild hunt hell hounds, as well as running away from more Schrats trying to get into Ravanel's pants (maybe the same persistent Schrats as before) they team finally reaches Leipzig where Schulz Wenzel bids them farewell to return to his duties elsewhere. While in town they recruit "Jewel the Healer" a 25 year old nurse and crafter as well as pick up another bounty hunting mission for the local robber knight Wenzel Linck. Boy there sure are a lot of these clowns.

Darklands: Oh, look at the time

This is part of The Darklands story.

By the time the team reaches the site West of Aachen where they were trying to catch the witches high sabbat it is Febuary 3, two months too late (I only learned how to look at the calendar then) and were only welcomed by a pair of giant spiders instead. After dispatching them, an annoyed Ravanel decided to search for local work instead and got a task to kill the robber knight Wichmann Baldung in the North, joined by Schulz Wenzel (I didn't realize they had names). It is an easy job, Ravanel even manages to scare off Wichmann's lackeys with sinister threats since her speech ranking is getting pretty high.

Only when it works.

Back at Koln they got another job from a foreign trader to look for the magical helm of Siegried called the Tarnhelm last seen South of Leipzig, so without wasting a beat the party marched back East through the dragon's territory stopping only at a local tower they hadn't been to before. The peasants here wore faces of hardship and abuse and knowing that her old bishop friend wouldn't have stood for this Ravanel marched to the gate to demand an audience.

Surprisingly they were allowed in, and it became clear that the dread lord here was a bad guy. He even has the word "dread" in his title. Unlike the robber knights he doesn't let the team stay overnight though, instead kicking them out to the nearby forest for the evening. Undeterred the team scales the walls at midnight using Astalnar's dexterity and with Belghast and Stubborn's combined strength they manage to overpower the dread lord and his posse, ending his reign of terror. Violently.

Darklands: Lothar of Bar

This is part of The Darklands story.

After resting up in the hamlet the team proceeded East into the forest where the robber knight kept his base. Apart from an empty cave and some misguided brigands the journey was pretty smooth. Ravanel and Bhagpuss decided to try the same technique Bishop Syp had used before, walking up to the gate and asking for food and shelter. Proving she was an excellent student, Lothar let them in again and offered a room for them to spend the night.

Two handed swords hurt.

Sneaking out and finding him alone was almost too easy thanks to Lyle's tracking skills, however it turned out that he was a much harder adversary than their first robber knight. Even with five of them, Lothar managed to wound all of them with his sword skills and in one fell stroke slew his most dangerous opponent, Bhagpuss.

Enraged at his mentor's demise Jeromai went berserk and with a combined team effort managed to bring the big man down. As before the yellow bellied thugs fled upon the sight of their dead leader leaving the team free reign on looting the place, and then setting it on fire in Bhagpuss' memory. Feeling the loss, the Schulz of Kolberg agreed to stay on the team awhile longer which was welcome news.

The sombre trip back to his hamlet was only interrupted by a pack of wild boars who were easily slain and turned into a delicious, revitalizing dinner.

Darklands: Providence

This is part of The Darklands story.

Bhagpuss insisted on travelling North East as that's where he felt the town of Goslar was. It was surprisingly difficult to find a map or reliable directions Ravanel realised and now more than ever she missed Syl, her gypsy friend. Fortunately the bishop had taught her well in talking her way out of tolls so entering other towns and random road tax enforcers (other than those employed by the church) were easily convinced to let them by.

There were much fewer bandits while following the road, and those that did show up were easily dispatched of by the soldiers Lyle, Jeromai and Bhagpuss. There was even a wandering merchant caravan they managed to sell some loot to. Eventually they reached the northern sea, and entered a friendly little hamlet called Kolberg.

The Schulz of the town, who acts as their leader, informed them they were headed the wrong way. Pointing out where Goslar was on the map (I seriously only found it then). However since they had already come this far he asked if he could use their help in solving a problem they were having. A problem by the name of Lothar of Bar, the robber knight. In addition he offered to come along to assist the team in putting an end to this evil sinner.

Sounds like a bad guy.

They agreed without hesitation.

Darklands: Walram of Teck

This is part of The Darklands story.

Given their current track record of assailing strongholds and being severely out-manned and out-equipped by Walram's men most of Bhagpuss's suggestions involving combat were immediately thrown out the window, yet the team agreed that they couldn't just in good conscience leave this evil man alone now that they stumbled across his lair. The bishop then had an idea. It was crazy. It was dangerous. They all agreed to it.

The guards must have been surprised to see the group march up right to the castle gate. More so when Bishop Syp requested food and shelter. Walram was so curious that he accepted, letting the team dine with him that evening and giving them a room to spend the night in. And when they slept, he planned to kill them.

Possibly Walram.

Bhagpuss is not one to be caught unawares though, and after waiting for their guards to leave for patrol the group snuck out of their quarters and followed Gypsy Syl quietly to where she figured Walram's private quarters were. The robber knight was alone but still armed. The bishop suggested he surrender, but Walram had other ideas - charging at the team with his two handed sword in a fit of rage.

He easily knocked out the elderly bishop and sent Ravanel to the floor with a well placed kick, making the world go white with pain. When she regained her vision she only saw two figures left standing. It was Bhagpuss and his blade rammed deep into Walram's chest. After a moment, the robber knight collapsed to the floor dead. Beside him lay Gypsy Syl, a fatal wound to the abdomen being her undoing. Ravanel cried as she closed her friend's eyes for the last time.

Darklands: Divine Intervention

This is part of The Darklands story.

After visiting a second town just as dull as the first, the party continued their journey into the wilderness. While walking through a forest Gypsy Syl signalled everyone to a stop, having detected an ambush up ahead. Bishop Syp took the initiative an in a bellowing voice drove the fear of God into their would be assailants, causing them to flee before they even drew their weapons.

Don't mess with Syp!

Further in the forest the team was then beset by giant spiders as Ravanel tripped on a web! Knowing the danger they were in Syp used his divine powers to pray to Saint Perpetua for aid. His prayers were answered as the team was suddenly transported past the eight legged monstrosities. From their new location Bhagpuss spotted another castle in the distance so they made their way there without any more encounters. As they approached though, they all could feel something was wrong.

This castle was far more foreboding than the tower from before. The armed men patrolling the grounds and the walls wore the mark of mercenaries and thieves. There were no peasants that lived nearby, not anymore. Those that did were probably robbed and killed by the same thugs now residing here. Gypsy Syl recognized the tattered flag lazily billowing in the wind. This was the home of Walram of Teck, the robber knight.