So I was originally supposed to do an update for the Star Wars game. Unfortunately the party died or were incapacitated and then arrested by the Republic. They raided the Sith tomb and...well...I thought they were much better prepared for poison gas. Surprise.
Then these weird Dark Side creatures I found in the books possessed two of the four remaining. The two gunned down their buddies and then killed themselves. Campaign over.
Now they have broken up. Instead of a giant, unwieldy group of seven, I now have a concise party of four and it is wonderful. They decided to break up after the absurdity that was the last session of the Star Wars game so that they could maximize their ability to have fun.
Half decided to go play in another Star Wars game a friend of ours is running and the other half decided to play in my fantasy setting The Dual Throne.
The game starts following the Inquisitor Terrian Vahe as he looks to find the hired muscle the Kings Inquisition had hired to help him root out those that would aide the King's enemies as they amass at his borders. His Majesty's Inquisition is a secular force in the Kingdom of Damocles and they put their loyalty to the King beyond any deity.
They met up at a tavern. I couldn't think of anything that everyone would be welcome at...
They hunted down suspects and publicly behead them for there transgressions against the king. It was really quite the spectacle, I think Terrian enjoyed being able, nay encouraged, to cut loose and act like a bona fide crazy person and personally cut the heads off of nobles who betrayed their king. One such noble got away, in fact, she is the wife of one of the Governor-Generals (called "Jarls") of the Border Fortresses to the Eastern part of the Kingdom. She ended up catching wind about her compatriots disappearing and she skipped town back to her homebase, Roses. Her name is Lorena Bede.
She seduced the guard assigned to keep her in her room, tied him to a bedpost and took his uniform; she walked right out the front door without anyone noticing, stealing the nearest carriage and heading straight for home. The party berated the City Guard for their incompetence for a full five minutes and then left in a huff, racing to try and beat her to the fortress.
Random Encounter:
12 Orcs. All dead in five rounds, no casualties (well, one horse).
Really it's incredible what a well placed fireball can do.
Upon arrival to the castle they request that the Jarl Tull Bede grant them an audience so they can discuss his loyalty and his activities in these recent months. The Jarlessa Lorena Bede is there and joins them about halfway through the dinner, unflinching and playing the dutiful wife brilliantly and without so much as flinching at their presence.
Terrian knows that the Jarl is powerful and dangerous; angering him would not be the most intelligent thing possible, so he decides that simply accusing the Jarlessa of being a lying bitch at the dinner table would probably net them about a hundred musketballs right in the face. When he catches a lie he just smiles and nods, putting it on some mental checklist for later. It was an hour and a half of talking at the dinner table which I did not plan for. I did have notes on the pretty much everything they were asking and it was fairly easy to improv the whole thing, but it was just so civil. This is my "BLOOD AND GUTS AND BLOOD" group and even they were surprised at their focused and measured approached to capital punishment.
They search the castle and talk with the Jarlessa's personal aide who doesn't suspect treachery from his mistress.
What follows is important, but incredibly boring, so I'll just sum it up. They discover that a local orc chieftain may be in cahoots with the Jarlessa and they convince a caravan to just pack up and go and that they'll protect them.
This part was supposed to be a boss fight, but Inquisitor Vahe scored a crit on the first round and struck the chieftain down. They find a note with directions for a messenger on the back and no signature. They set up camp and are trying to figure out what to do.
