Kingmaker: Ep. 6 – Gongaii

The company steered three days south from Otto’s trade post into the wind-scoured Pohan foothills, aiming first for the watchtower that guarded the Stag Lord’s fort. Keston, captain of Otto’s guards, refused to spare veterans but the ranks swelled with two fresh blades: Axe, a dour dwarf woodcutter hungry for better work, and Galen, a farm-raised tracker with a mule named Bill. The plan: take the tower at dusk, keep the fort blind, and avoid the undead-soaked slopes the last adventurers had roused.

Galen crept alone through brittle grass and reached the stone, peering through a slit into a ground-floor barracks—two rough sentries, a rack of bows with a single longbow among them. A loose conversation downhill tipped the guards; the oak door cracked open and a man called, go home. Galen answered with an arrow through the slit and scrambled, but two axemen swept around the base and cut him down. As arrows rained from above, Izzy rounded the tower and dragged the ranger back with a hasty draught while the others pushed the ascent.

Then the breach. Axe strode to the door and hacked a gap, just as Adder’s red-etched blast smashed the portal inward in a storm of splinters. Yohei’s pistol cracked; the bandits’ bruiser, Big Pete, reeled, and Axe felled him with a single burying stroke. The remaining four men inside threw down weapons at once. Two outside archers melted into the dark down-slope, loosing a few last arrows before slipping away.

Overhead, Tacho had freeclimbed the wall to the crenellations. He kicked the iron brazier and spilled the signal powder; a white-blue plume roared to life and the kitchen below caught. Smoke billowed up the trapdoor as he hurled himself down into a hammock his friends braced and landed whole. In the entry, Yohei lowered a grisly lantern to Big Pete’s mouth; a thin, gray wisp fed a green flame to life. The prisoners shrank from it. One lied about a spyglass and paid on the spot; the rest were bound and hauled outside before the fire gutted the place.

Under questioning, the captives yielded everything of value. They gave the current password to the fort and the secret countersign used when sniffing out infiltrators. They warned that the fort squats atop a desecrated abbey: approach anywhere but the road and the earth breaks open, the faithful dead rise, and the ground itself becomes the Stag Lord’s ally. If pressed, the bandits will release an owlbear. Of their master, they confessed the reliable tell—he wears an elk-helm of power and cannot pass up a drink.

Lana of the trade post seized the moment to demand her stolen wedding ring; the bandits admitted gremlins from beneath an ancient sycamore in the Narlwood had robbed their haul. With captives leashed to Bill, the party camped miles away, returned at dawn, and collected both the bandit bounty and a stout reward for toppling the tower. A night of ribald songs at Keston’s expense won Lana’s friendship and Keston’s grudge. With stolen bandit gear, passwords in hand, and a cask-heavy plan to exploit the Stag Lord’s vice, the company set their sights on infiltrating the fort and ending his reign.

OUTLINE:

South to the Foothills, A Plan to Blind the Fort

• Departed Otto’s trade post with two fresh recruits: Axe the dwarf and Galen the ranger with his mule Bill.
• Chose to seize the watchtower northwest of the Stag Lord’s fort at dusk to avoid the undead-choked approaches.
• Galen scouted the tower, spotted guards and a single longbow on a rack, but a warning shout from within spoiled stealth.

Alarm at the Tower, Fall and Rescue

• A sentry opened the door and warned them off; Galen answered with an arrow through a slit.
• Two axemen flanked the tower’s base and dropped Galen; Izzy reached him and revived him with a quick draught.
• Arrows from upper floors raked the hillside as the group advanced under fire.

The Breach, Big Pete Falls, and the Tower Burns

• Axe hewed a gap in the oak door; Adder’s crackling blast blew it inward.
• Yohei shot the bandit bruiser Big Pete; Axe finished him with a crushing stroke, prompting four bandits to surrender.
• Tacho climbed to the crenellations, kicked the brazier, and scattered signal powder, igniting the kitchen; he leapt down to a braced hammock as smoke billowed.
• Yohei’s grim lantern consumed Big Pete’s soul, panicking the captives; one lied about a spyglass and was executed.

Prisoners’ Truths and New Threads

• Captured bandits divulged the current fort password and a countersign used to flag suspected infiltrators.
• Shared critical intel: the fort sits on a desecrated abbey; undead rise if one approaches off the road; in a siege the owlbear is loosed; the Stag Lord wears a potent elk-helm and never refuses a drink.
• Lana pressed them about her wedding ring; they confessed gremlins under an ancient sycamore in the Narlwood had stolen it from their loot.

Back to Otto’s, Bounties and Bad Blood, A Bold Plan

• Marched three captives back to Otto’s, earning coin for bandits and the razed tower.
• Keston promised to ‘rehabilitate’ them; the party warned caution.
• A raucous night of songs mocking Keston won Lana’s friendship and Keston’s enmity.
• The group prepared disguises and plotted to exploit the Stag Lord’s vice for drink, aiming to infiltrate the fort with passwords and casks.

NPCs:

• Big Pete: The tower’s burly enforcer whose end came in a shot and a cleave. Even in death he was pressed into one last, eerie service.
• Bill the Mule: Galen’s patient pack-mate and the strongest back in the party. He hauled gear and prisoners alike without complaint.
• Keston: Noble-born captain of Otto’s guards, sent south in penance and determined to make converts to the faith of Ra. He paid the bounties, promised ‘rehabilitation,’ and took offense at a night of songs at his expense.
• Lady Kremenko: Tarkanian noble funding settlement and exploration of the Swordlands. Her expedition’s shadow falls over every deal at the trade post.
• Otto: Keeper of the trade post and the goods that keep expeditions alive. Practical, long-suffering, and grateful to see bandits delivered and a tower destroyed.
• Owlbear at the Fort: A caged terror reportedly unleashed when the fort is pressed to the wall. Few who have seen it up close talk about it after.
• Svetlana “Lana”: Otto’s wife with a bard’s heart and a sharp tongue. She demanded her stolen wedding ring and later joined the revels, becoming an ally of the company.
• The Stag Lord: Bandit-king of the Swordlands, masked by an elk-helmed visage and propped up by drink. His fort sits upon a desecrated abbey and his temper is as unpredictable as the undead that guard his hills.

ITEMS:

• Grim Lantern: A shrunken-head lantern that drinks souls to burn a green witchlight. Yohei fed it Big Pete’s last breath.
• Healing Tincture: A precious draught capable of dragging the fallen back from the brink in the wilds.
• Longbow from the Tower Rack: A single well-made bow salvaged from the watchtower’s stores before the blaze took the rest.
• Passwords to the Fort: The current entry word and the countersign used when betrayal is suspected, taken from captured bandits.
• Signal Brazier and Powders: The tower’s beacon and metal salts that flared white-blue; one last flare started the fire that ended the tower.

LOCATIONS:

• Fort Drazen: A southeastern stronghold on caravan routes, rumored in recent merchant talk.
• Narlwood: A tangled forest of old growth and older secrets on the Swordlands’ edge, home to gremlins under an ancient tree.
• Otto’s Trade Post: A palisaded square of commerce and refuge on the frontier, headquarters to Keston’s guards and the settlers gathering around it.
• Pohan Foothills: Wind-kicked ochre hills riddled with gulches and scrub, where every approach is seen from a mile away.
• Stag Lord’s Fort: A bandit bastion raised atop a desecrated abbey where the earth itself wakes the dead if one approaches off the road.
• Tarka: The northern city sending trade, recruits, and faith into the Swordlands.
• The Old Sycamore: A gnarled giant with hollow heart and gremlin lairs beneath, said to be where Lana’s ring disappeared.
• The Watchtower: A squat, four-floor stone tower on a high hill, its beacon used to alert the Stag Lord’s fort. Now gutted by fire, its signals silenced.

FACTIONS:

• Faith of Ra: The stern, sun-touched creed Keston preaches, promising order and penance on this frontier.
• Giants of the West: Rumbling powers whose business is best left undisturbed, if one knows what’s good for them.
• Hobgoblin Clans of the East: Disciplined foes the Stag Lord orders his crews to avoid.
• Keston’s Guard: Tarkanian soldiers tasked with keeping caravans safe and the post standing, faithful to Ra and quick with the noose.
• Lady Kremenko’s Expedition: The noble-sponsored push to map, tame, and claim the Swordlands in the name of Tarka.
• Otto’s Trade Post Community: Traders, settlers, and hired guards trying to plant stability in the Swordlands’ soil.
• Stag Lord’s Bandits: Loose crews knit by fear, ale, and plunder, answering to antlered authority and cruel lieutenants.

QUESTS:

• Bring Bandits to Justice: Capture raiders menacing Otto’s and collect the bounty.
• Find a Safe Approach to the Fort: Circumvent the undead-choked ground around the fort and choose the right moment to strike.
• Infiltrate the Stag Lord’s Fort: Use disguises, passwords, and the Stag Lord’s thirst to get inside and end his reign.
• Recover Svetlana’s Wedding Ring: Track the gremlins beneath the Old Sycamore and return Lana’s ring.
• Secure the Trade Pact with a Trophy: Deliver the Stag Lord’s body to cement a regional deal and open safer trade.
• Seek Reinforcements from Otto’s: Appeal to Keston for aid against the Stag Lord.
• Topple the Watchtower: Seize or silence the Stag Lord’s lookout to blind the fort.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Adder: A Shabti who bends raw force into lancing, red-edged blasts that tear doors from hinges. His power comes at a personal cost he bears with clenched teeth. He shattered the tower’s entrance at a stroke, turning the surrender that followed into a certainty.
• Ashla: An Aasimar fighter with the bearing of a fallen guard and a halo she can coax to life. She led from the front up the switchbacks, eager to punch through the door and take the tower before the fort could react. In the aftermath she made sure prisoners were bound, gear was secured, and the next step pointed toward the Stag Lord.
• Axe: A dwarven woodcutter turned fighter, as solid as his name. He clashed axes on the climb, hacked an opening in the tower door, and cleaved Big Pete like a storm felling a rotten tree. Simple tools and stubborn purpose make him the wedge in any breach.
• Galen: A human ranger fresh from the furrows with a shortbow, a pitchfork, and a mule named Bill. His quiet stalk to the tower lit the fuse; he risked death under twin axes, then rose again to limp from the fire with Izzy’s help. New to blood, quick to learn, he has a knack for finding both danger and the way out.
• Izzy: An Oread devotee of strange depths whose weathered, stone-cracked skin and pewter holy torque mark him as otherworldly. He moved decisively under fire, dragging Galen back from death and later kindling a soul-light no bandit will soon forget. He favors grim pragmatism in service of chaotic, inscrutable powers.
• Tacho: A human fighter and poacher, all whipcord strength and reckless nerve. He climbed straight up the tower to the beacon, kicked a brazier into a white-blue bloom, and leapt to a waiting hammock as smoke rolled out. Destruction in the right place at the right time suits him fine.
• Yohei: A Kitsune gunslinger and practiced gossip who smiles like a cardsharp and prays to Stiletto Jack. His holdout pistol speaks softly and decisively; his grim lantern drank Big Pete’s soul and silenced lies. Quick to costume and quicker to act, he already has a con in mind for the fort.