Lands of Mystery, Day 1

## Synopsis:

A motley crew of various Adventurers gathered in the Crossroads, taking shelter in the tavern as a distant thunder-storm approached. The Barkeep gave cryptic warnings about the thunder, claiming "First the thunder rolls, then the hooves."

Shortly after the party had all made introductions, Markrgrl spotted an incoming Centaur warband, and the Crossroads Defenders sounded their warhorns.

A bloody battle against the Centaurs later, Astrae had managed to befriend a simple-minded Centaur youngling. The Centaur followed Astrae due to her kindness, and revealed his tribe's plight:

Some weeks past, Goblins had occupied his tribe's homelands, chasing them out with twisted machines and turning their home into an Oil-Refinery.

Forced to survive in the harsh plains, the Centaur Elders knew they had too many mouths to feed. The Elders chose to send the Tribe's weakest and least desirable Centaur to regularly attack the Crossroads, hoping that they'd either miraculously bring back some supplies, or at least weed out the Tribe's weakest fighters to strengthen the rest of the herd.

The Party decided to approach the Goblins to try to negotiate a peaceful solution with the Centaurs. Salarya took the lead during the negotiations, requesting to meet their Foreman. She managed to convince the Foreman to accept the Centaurs' weakest as cheap labor, to which the Foreman eagerly agreed. Astrae was angered by this suggestion, telling the Foreman to "Enjoy your operation while it lasts."

Once outside the Goblin-borders, Salarya proposed the Party could speak to the Centaur Chieftain to convince him to send the herd's strongest warriors to the Goblins, rather than the weak laborers that were promised. The Warriors could then chase the Goblins off their lands.

Astrae was angered by Salarya's double-crossing attempts, equating it with the manipulative Nobles and politicians she grew up with. After a heavy debate, the party split up, Salarya returning to the Crossroads to seek out clues by herself.

The rest of the party returned to the Goblins, attempting to seduce the Foreman and convince him to vacate his employees from the site, and return the land to the Centaurs. The party humored him, but the Foreman still remembered Astrae's earlier threat, and attempted to kidnap her.

After a short struggle, the Foreman ended up as the Party's hostage. By knifepoint, the Foreman was forced to fire his employees, sending them back to their homes and abandoning the Oil-Refinery. The Foreman was allowed to live, so long as he'd never seek petty revenge against the party.

When the Party returned to the Crossroads, Salarya revealed all the clues she had uncovered in the meantime. She had discovered who the main-Goblin behind the operation was, where his lair was, how to get to it, as well as uncovered several of his officers, of which The Foreman was one.

After a long day, the party all returned to the tavern for drinks, before sleeping till the next morning... *(To be continued next week.)*

## Party-Experience:

* Today: 350xp
* Total: 350xp

## Trivia:

* The very first session saw the return of an NPC from the Pirate Mini-DDO, when Rumika summoned The Bull to help translate the Centaur-language.
* **Player-Characters this session**: Astrae, Markrgrl, Mei-Li, Renheim, Rumika, Salarya.