09/06/2025 – Gryff’s Pub – Alma’s Mercs

Summary

Last session, Alma’s Mercenaries made the monastery their beachhead and learned the desert itself was speaking. Near midnight, howls rolled from Kelmarine and echoed off the southern peaks. Daxhi, Alma’s disheveled gnoll-hunter, listened like a priest at vespers and later said the cries were messages to the Carrion King. One thread, though, balked at the chorus: Kelmarine’s leader refused to kneel.

At dawn, the company breached the last unopened chamber—the east nave. A rope-and-hair chandelier of gnoll skulls hung above overturned pews; in the rafters, a papier-mâché nest pulsed with pugwampis. The gremlins dropped the skull-lustre to crush the vanguard. Guile snapped up from cover and nailed a cackling gremlin to the beams; Thorak whipped a loose gnoll skull into another and shattered it. A towering pugwampi swaggered out with a sun-spiked morningstar, drifted down on some charm, and met Koo’s bastard sword; the tengu priest split him straight down the middle. The spoils: a masterwork morningstar of Sarenrae and a loose silver bangle that later proved to be a feather fall charm. Back at the Sultan’s Claw oasis, Koo spread Eloias’s Tarokk deck for Alma. The Queen of Cups flashed with Alma’s own visage for a heartbeat—omen enough for extra coin and trust.

Alma tasked the party to scout Kelmarine. Through Alma’s precious spyglass, they marked bonfires and heard a thin scream rise and die. East of the ruin, they found fresh gnoll tracks. In a sandstone gully Fawn tried diplomacy, but the gnoll spokesman raved of chaos and his master, a blue-skinned warlord named Kardisuane. Steel answered. Ithacan’s knuckles cracked teeth; Koo and Guile drove the pack back. Reinforcements hit hard in the open desert. Thorak’s hammer broke one; Fauna’s salves stood fallen friends back up; Koo’s killing stroke sent another sprawling. They dragged an injured gnoll to camp.

Daxhi’s interrogation was rough as sand. The captive babbled of Kelmarine’s new order: Kardisuane, a blue-skinned warrior with a great axe, ran pit-fighting in the temple and courted bandits, bugbears, even a harpy and an ogre. A giant black mamba haunted the northeast ruins; flying scouts watched the skies. Out west, a burrower waited beneath fallow fields, and prisoners were made to sprint its gauntlet for sport. Kardisuane and the Carrion King were rivals, and a ‘witch’ from the Carrion King’s tribes whispered on the edges. Alma let Daxhi keep the captive—alive and secured—while he preened with a captured gnoll flail-pole and promised to teach the brute a few words of Common.

Next day, intending to spark the fields, the party instead spotted six gnolls marching a chained man under a man-catcher. They cut across the scrub, broke the line, and freed him—then the earth heaved. A five-limbed maw erupted, tendrils plucking gnolls into a grinding ring of teeth. Fawn’s chant dropped others into sleep; Thorak and Guile kicked the slumbering jackal-men into the pit while Koo hauled the prisoner clear. He named himself Andrus of the Lions of Sarenrae; others of his band were dead or missing, and one bard had escaped into the wastes. With Andrus safe, the monastery secure, and Kelmarine’s dangers sketched—the shrine, the northern tower, the fields, the pits—the company readied their next bold move toward the heart of the ruin.

OUTLINE:

Night at the Sultan’s Claw, Omens Over Kelmarine

Camped at the Sultan’s Claw oasis, the party woke to hours of gnoll howls.
Daxhi listened and later said the howls were messages to the Carrion King; Kelmarine’s leader refused to comply.
Alma outlined her plan: secure the monastery as a base, then scout Kelmarine.

The Nave Cleared: Pugwampi Ambush and Relics Recovered

In the monastery’s eastern nave, pugwampis cut a chandelier of gnoll skulls to crush the party.
Guile pinned a gremlin to the rafters with a bolt; Thorak smashed one with a hurled skull; Koo bisected the chieftain.
Loot secured: a masterwork morningstar of Sarenrae and a silver featherfall bangle.
Back at camp, Koo’s Tarokk reading showed the Queen of Cups briefly as Alma, earning favor and extra pay.

Eastward Probe: Failed Parley and Running Battle

The party tracked gnolls and attempted parley in a sandstone gully.
The spokesman ranted about chaos and Kardisuane; fighting erupted.
Reinforcements arrived; a fierce melee left multiple gnolls dead or fleeing.
An injured gnoll was captured and brought to the monastery.

Intel from Daxhi, the Shape of the Enemy

Daxhi’s interrogation revealed Kardisuane, a blue-skinned axe-wielder, ruled Kelmarine.
Allies in town included bandits, bugbears, a harpy, an ogre; a black mamba prowled the northeast ruins.
A burrowing horror beneath the western fields devoured prisoners forced to ‘run for freedom.’
Kardisuane and the Carrion King were rivals; a witch served the King’s tribes.
Alma allowed Daxhi to secure (not harm) the captive; he claimed a gnoll flail and promised to teach the gnoll basic Common.

Rescue at the Fields, The Sand-Maw Feeds

The party intercepted six gnolls escorting a chained man with a man-catcher.
As they freed him, a five-tendril sand-maw erupted; Fauna put gnolls to sleep.
Sleeping gnolls were shoved into the maw; the captive, Andres of the Lions of Sarenrae, was rescued.
Andres confirmed pit fights and missing comrades; one bard had escaped.

NPCs:

Alma: An elf merchant-princess tasked to resettle Kelmarine. Regal, pragmatic, and always flanked by scarlet-clad guards; she pays well and expects results.
Andrus: A battered fighter of the Lions of Sarenrae, hauled to the fields and rescued by the party. He fears comrades yet live in the pits.
Kardisuane: Blue-skinned warlord of Kelmarine, axe on his shoulder and pits in the temple. He gathers gnolls, bandits, bugbears, and worse beneath his banner.
Daxhi: A feral gnoll-hunter and scout who stinks of the wilds and trophies his kills. He speaks Gnoll, interrogates without mercy, and covets gnoll leaders’ flail-poles.
Eloas: A deceased seer whose Tarokk deck now guides the party. His legacy still nudges fate from beyond the firelight.
The Carrion King: Gnoll overlord in the southern mountains. Receives nightly howled messages; his witch-servant meddles from afar.
The Herbalist Priest: An elderly caravan cleric-herbalist who claimed the monastery’s lab. He brewed a rare ointment that restores wounds and cures blights.

ITEMS:

Alma’s Spyglass: A precious family instrument she loans at camp for scouting the ruins.
Eloas’s Tarokk Deck: A mystic deck that answered Alma with the Queen of Cups, hinting at rule and abundance.
Featherfall Bangle: A loose silver bracelet that gentles a fall once each day; found on the pugwampi’s upper arm.
Gnoll Leader’s Flail: A triple-headed flail, symbol of pack authority among the gnolls; Daxhi prized one as a trophy.
Morningstar of Sarenrae (masterwork): A finely wrought sun-spiked mace reclaimed from the pugwampi chief; truer to the hand than common steel.
Ointment of Restoration: A rare salve from the monastery lab, able to mend grievous hurts and cure blights.
Pugwampi Daggers: Small, wicked blades better suited to gremlin hands but useful in a pinch.

LOCATIONS:

Kelmarine: A ruined market-town turned stronghold. Bonfires, screams, and pit-fights stain its heart.
Northeast Shrine and Ruins: Crumbling stonework haunted by a giant black mamba; shunned by the gnolls.
Northwest Watchtower: A lone tower on a foothill, seen lit by night fires; a vantage with unknown occupants.
River by Kelmarine: A sluggish silted ribbon that once fed trade and now marks the ruin’s edge.
Sarenrae Monastery: Ruined hilltop monastery overlooking Kelmarine; now the party’s base. Home to a pugwampi nest, a skull chandelier trap, and a hidden alchemy lab.
Sultan’s Claw Oasis: Intertwined palms like a giant hand, the caravan’s camp, and place of midnight omens.
The Western Fields: Fallow, pockmarked fields hiding a burrowing horror beneath the sands; site of cruel “races.”

FACTIONS:

Kardisuane’s Holdfast: Kelmarine’s current regime of gnolls, bandits, bugbears, and worse bound by a blue-skinned warlord.
Carrion King’s Gnoll Tribes: Southern packs who howl messages nightly; served by a desert witch and rival to Kardisuane.
Lions of Sarenrae: A mercenary company devoted to the Dawnflower; broken in Kelmarine, a few captives remain.
Road Bandits and Sell-swords: Drifters and killers who found a home under Kardisuane‘s coin and cruelty.

QUESTS:

Clear the Monastery: Purge the last infestation and secure a base for Alma’s resettlement push. Complete.
Rescue the Lost Lions: Andres was saved, but other members of the Lions of Sarenrae may still live in the pits or cells.
Scout Kelmarine: Survey forces, leaders, and hazards before any assault or infiltration.
Tame or Bypass the Fields: The burrower in the western fields makes approach perilous; find a way past or use it to the party’s advantage.
Unmask the Witch’s Role: Identify the witch serving the Carrion King and her designs on Kelmarine.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

Fauna: A samsaran skald and hedge-witch who speaks with ritual confidence. She blessed blades, shouted challenges, in the field she felled gnolls with slumber and saved lives with salves.
Guile: A masked pit-fighter with a short sword, shield, and a ruthless edge. He pinned a gremlin to the rafters and battered gnolls off their own spears, declaring he’d fought in the pits. Deadpan bravado masks a calculating brawler.
Ithacan: A vishkanya monk whose crackling fists and venom make every strike count. He broke a gnoll leader’s face in the wash and later stunned foes before feeding them to the sands. Calm under fire, he moves from parley to violence in a blink when words fail.
Koo: A Tengu priest of Bast who fights like a holy duelist with a bastard sword. In the nave he split the pugwampi chief in two and, later, carved through frenzied gnolls while shielding allies. His victory caws rally the line when things turn dire. He read Alma’s fate as the Queen of Cups.
Thorak: A hard-charging fighter who swaps crossbow for warhammer without hesitation. He cracked skulls, hurled a gnoll’s skull to lethal effect, and helped boot sleeping jackals into the waiting maw. A steady hand when the line buckles.