Rise of Drekis: Chapter 1 Episode 02

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==Synopsis==
Elaine and her party continue to follow the tracks they found heading south along the coast until they find the Alma crashed on an iceberg with its crew stranded. Elaine and her party build a raft and ferry the crew to safety. The crew explain that there was a fight between the Drekisian soldiers and the mercenaries over whether or not they should land in Whiteshore. The Drekisian soldiers win but lose their captain. The cleric of Mathis, Mother Ilse, takes charge and has the boat go back to Bon' Theris in order to exercise a demon who she claims is possessing the queen of Drekis. The crew also inform Elaine of a light at the top of the mountain in the middle of the island. 
Elaine and a detachment search for a way up the mountain and find one. There they run into a soldier coming down the mountain and capture him. He tells them there are 6 soldiers up on the mountain serving as lookouts and the rest of the soldiers, including Mother Ilse, are at the main camp to the east of the mountain. The next day, Elaine, Willa and 5 other soldiers hike up the mountain and a fight with the scouts up there begins. 
==Recap==
===Day 4 (900 rations): Discovery of the Alma===
5 May 1516: Elaine finds footprints where the polar bear was shot and follows them. The party follows the trail for about an hour along the cliffside overseeing the ocean, when they see a rather large iceberg with a beached ship on it. On the iceberg around the ship she sees 5 people. Elaine suspects this ship is the Alma and calls out for Captain Euclid, who was the captain of the Alma. The people on the iceberg reply that the captain is injured. The iceberg is 150 feet away from the cliff, so Elaine decides to return to camp and come back the next morning to build a raft and ferry everyone to land. 
Back at camp, things have been going really well. Elaine informs them of the wrecked ship and explains her plan to build a raft. Amongst her soldiers there are 4 who are fishermen and have some experience with boats who volunteer to build the raft. Willa, being a fletcher, has experience working with wood and volunteers to craft a couple of oars. Elaine then buries the soldier who approached the camp and got shot by arrows. She then gives the short sword to the spearman who did the most damage to the bear. Her name was Marta.
===Day 5 (875 rations): Blizzard===
Elaine and a party of 9 return to where they found the shipwreck of the Alma. By the time they get there, the weather has gotten worse as the snowfall gets heavier and heavier. Despite this, Elaine continues with the plan and a raft begins to be built. The weather continues to get worse and Elaine decides to stop building the raft. Instead she has her men build a makeshift lean-to against the cliff. The weather turns into a full-on blizzard that lasts for the rest of the day and in the morning the weather is pleasant. Interestingly, the show hasn’t piled up despite all of the snowfall the previous day. 
=== Day 6 (850 rations): Rescue of the Alma & Mysteries Revealed ===
The party disassembles the lean-to and finishes making the raft. The raft works well and they are able to ferry everyone across. A crew member of the Alma named Steve tells Elaine they have been stranded there for 45 days. When the captain arrives on the island, it is clear his injury is going to be fatal. Elaine leaves the raft behind and returns to camp with the crew of the Alma, successfully rescued. 
Back at camp, Elaine reads the captain's journal. In the journal, the captain writes that on day 2 of the journey to Whiteshore there was a lot of arguing coming from below decks. When he goes to check it out, he is reassured by Kel Syra Shohan, the knight in charge of the 7th Mixed Infantry, that nothing is wrong and he should mind his own business. On the 3rd day it was pretty clear there was a major disturbance going on below decks. The sailors overheard conversation relating to whether or not this landing should be made. Kel Syra Shohan has been very insistent that orders are orders and wherever or not you like it, this is what we are here to do. After that there are no more entries in the journal. 
After reading the journal, Elaine goes to talk to Steve again. Elaine asks him to explain what happened to the boat and what happened to the soldiers on it. 
We were making preparations to land at Whiteshore, it was clear that there were arguments occurring between the Drekisian captain and the mercenaries. There had been tensions rising and as everyone came out to see Whiteshore in the morning, the cleric, Mother Ilse, said something to the knight, and the knight walked up to the captain and said to turn back to Bon’ Theris. The mercenary commander, a man by the name of Yak, drew his sword and leveled it at the Drekisian captain and said that they were contracted for this thing and we’re going to do this thing whether you like it or not. When Yak drew his sword, Syra Shohan drew her sword and all the sudden there was fighting. We sailors got out of the way. Yak was killed, Syra Shohan was wounded, and a bunch of soldiers on both sides were injured. In the end, the mercenaries surrendered and the Drekisian soldiers won out, but they still told us to turn around and head back for Bon’ Theris and we did. However, while the knight and soldiers were arresting and tying up the mercenaries, a second scuffle broke out. A bunch of sailors died, a bunch of mercenaries and soldiers were killed, Syra Shohan got pushed overboard into the sea with her armor, Kel Heidi Seaki was killed, and there weren't enough people to steer the ship. We were down to just 5 of us and the captain was wounded. It takes more than 5 people to operate the vessel. We tried to get to Bon’ Theris but we got pushed out to sea and ended up down here. When we saw the island we tried to turn towards them as best as possible, but got stuck between some icebergs. A week later, when things freed up enough that we could move again, when we got close to shore, we ran aboard another iceberg which then rotated, lifting the ship up and that's where you saw us. We have been floating around the island since then in some sort of island-sized gyre. The surviving knights, mercenaries, and conscripts took the remaining long boats and went to shore. We stayed. We didn’t want anything to do with them. Last heard count: the cleric (4th lvl), 2 of the younger knights (4th lvl), 20 soldiers (0 lvl), and 10 mercenaries (2nd lvl).
Steve also explains how they can see a light near the top of the mountain. Elaine asks why they didn’t join them and Steve tells her the captain said, “We shouldn't throw our lot in with mutineers. The queen will send someone to find us.” Steve also explains how, once Kel Shohan died, Mother Iles took charge and spearheaded the whole thing. She talked about the corruption of the Drekisian empress and how she consorts with monsters and demons and will bring everyone down to hell with her. Elaine assures Steve that the Empress is not like that and her being here is proof of that. Steve also explains that the 10 mercenaries were taken unwillingly without their arms and armor.
Elaine then talks to the rest of the crew for more information and learns what the Cleric of Mathis was telling the sailors. Her pitch went like this: The queen is working with demons, conversing with monsters, dealing with dark and evil forces, and that the goodly Drekisian kingdom was quickly turning into an evil empire and you don’t want to be party to the upcoming terrors and horrors.
===Day 7 (825 rations): Searching For a Mountain Trail===
Elaine, together with Willa , Gregor, and 9 soldiers, make their way towards the mountain to find a path up to the light at the top. On their way, they find another set of ruins. From the ruins, they spot a switchback trail that leads to the top of the mountain. However, this trail is further to the east, within sight of the light at the top, so people might see them if they go that route. Elaine decides to look for a path up the mountain on the west side, out of sight of any possible lookouts. There she finds the same narrow path they found a few days ago. Elaine chooses to return to the ruins and go up the eastern tail instead. 
On her way to the switchback trail, Elaine finds tracks that go toward the trail up the mountain that comes from the east side of the island in the direction of the ocean. Near the base of the mountain, the party set up camp and Elaine takes Willa with her to scout the trail. When they get to the trail, they hear someone coming down. Elaine ambushes the single soldier and knocks him unconscious. They then carry him back to their camp a few minutes away. 
Elaine talks to the soldier, who seems convinced that the queen of Drekis has been taken over by a demon and they need to go back to Drekis to save her. He tells Elaine that the rest of the soldiers, including Mother Ilse, are at the main base to the east and he and 6 other soldiers were stationed at the top of the mountain to find and signal someone to save them. Elaine tells the soldier that they will take care of it and go to the top of the mountain to bring the rest of the soldiers down here so everyone can meet up with Mother Ilse. Elaine decides to rest during the night and hike up the mountain the next day.
===Day 8 (789 rations): Fight vs Scouts Begins===
Before heading up the mountain, Gregor asks Elaine if she thinks there is any truth to what the soldier said about the queen being possessed by a demon. Elaine tells him that it is more likely that the cleric was possessed than the queen, who has the most powerful people on the continent protecting her. He agrees.
Elaine takes Willa, 3 spearmen, and 2 bowmen up the mountain with just armor and weapons. After 5 hours of hiking, the party makes it up to the top and sees a mine shaft with a scout on top. The scout doesn't appear to see them. Nearby, they can hear the sound of trees being chopped down. Elaine leaves Willa and 2 bowmen to keep eyes on the mine shaft as she goes searching for the lumberjacks with 3 spearmen. Elaine comes across 2 people carrying a log and charges them.
Combat Begins: Squad vs Scouts
* Willa and her bowmen shoot the scout on top of the mine shaft and knocks them unconscious (0 HP remain).
* Elaine shield rushes one of the soldiers knocking them unconscious (0 HP remain).
* The other soldier carrying the log disengages back to the mine shouting "they're here!".
* Elaine and the spearmen follow him to the mine.
==Experience==
No experience this episode.
Category:Rise of Drekis Episodes
Category:Rise of Drekis