Session 4

You awaken in the pre-dawn to the sounds of locals being rousted from their homes. Peeking down from the rented second-floor hostel room, you see 40–50 locals (humans and halflings, plus one or two elves and dwarves) gathered in a small courtyard. They're under the watchful eyes of a half-dozen Tvordal dwarves. Showing decent military discipline for a small group in hostile territory, they are under the direction of a grizzled veteran you'll learn is named Sergeant Willem.

Most of you decide to sneak out on the back stairs. Barrax (a Kjerholt dwarf) instead heads down to the hostel's main room, where he encounters a couple of the Tvordal dwarves. The Tvordalers (also just "Dalers") are puzzled seeing a "Holter," but since he's clearly not military they don't pay him much mind.

The rest of you slip down the exterior stairs and hide to watch the goings-on—all except Brother Simon, whose curiosity gets the best of him and is spotted. He dashes off around the corner, then changes his appearance to look like a drunkard. Two soldiers in pursuit haul this drunkard back to the group in the courtyard.

Meanwhile, Barrax gets his stuff from the room and saunters outside to hang out near a couple of the soldiers. As you all look on from your various vantage points, Sergeant Willem (whose forte is clearly not public speaking) declares to the crowd that a Tvordal outpost was attacked this past night by "saboteurs and assassins" or something to that effect. The culprits are "known to be holed up nearby." He demands to know their whereabouts or there will be "repercussions."

Odysseus tries to slip over for a closer look, but is spotted. He takes off with one of the soldiers (Herst) in pursuit and leads a merry chase for a number of blocks before finally giving Herst the slip.

Back in the courtyard, Willem repeats the demand a couple more times. Aside from murmurs of fear and muffled outrage, the crowd says nothing. Even so, Brother Simon notices a young halfling woman who appears more conflicted than everyone else—it's clear to him that she knows the saboteurs. He urges her to stay mum; his support strengthens her resolve.

When nobody speaks up, four residents are hauled onto a low stage (really just a patio), joined by Willem's second-in-command, Rolf. While that's going on, Keech sneaks back up to your recently-vacated room. It offers a commanding view of the courtyard—and of Willem, on whom Keech draws a bead with his pistol.

Over on the stage, one of the Kilkorin residents has his arm laid forcibly across a stool while Rolf stands with his sword at the ready. Willem gives one last urging to the crowd, then looks to Rolf—just then, a shot rings out! Alas, Keech's bullet ricochets off Willem's shield. Chaos erupts!

Willem commands his squad to find the sniper, so the Tvordal dwarves break into two-person teams to check the surrounding buildings (including the hostel). The crowd is pretty much ignored at this point (the Dalers think they're being attacked by the same partisans that they've been hunting) and takes the opportunity to flee in all directions. Brother Simon follows the halfling woman (Emra) and offers his help to the resistance members (dropping his disguise and introducing himself in the process). Though hesitant, Emra agrees to pass the offer along. Brother Simon then heads over to Claes Bakery for a tasty breakfast.

Back in the courtyard, one of the Dalers spots Keech and takes a shot, but her bullet misses as well. Keech flees down the back stairs again. Unfortunately, the Dalers know where he is now. Willem and Rolf sprint to the base of the stairs—but Keech makes a brilliant acrobatic leap off the stairs and runs off. Willem and Rolf follow in hot pursuit, a couple of the Daler soldiers a little ways behind with Barrax tagging along. Odysseus, returning from his own escapade, ducks into the shadows as he sees the chase at the other end of the street.

The dwarves are too close for Keech to lose them simply by running, so he ducks into a narrow alley and tries scaling the walls. He almost makes it to the roof, but is betrayed by a brick that crumbles in his hand. Keech plunges back down to the alley to land, senseless, at the feet of the Tvordal sergeant….