Kingmaker Session 16

In this session the party gains a new settlement. They also find a foxy allie and take out a massive owlbear that had rampaged over the land. Keep reading for the details !

An Audience With Howlet

Howlet is a bandit that the party spared on their raid of the staglord’s fort. He was tasked by Smith with helping out the kingdom and joining it again once the time is right. He was given the special code phrase “I saw the smoke signal” as a way to identify himself.

As it turns out, Howlet and Akiros (a good lieutenant of the staglord) had established a small outpost on the other side of the lake that they planned to offer as a foothold for the kingdom. Unfortunately, their past had caught up with them.

Beaky, a female owlbear that the staglord had enslaved was the mate of a giant owlbear that laired to the south east. He has gone feral without his mate and took out his anger on the settlement.

Akiros was lost in the assault. His body dragged back to the beast’s lair. Howlet asked the party to retrieve the body so he can have an actual funeral. They accept.

Friends Along the Way

On the way to the lair, the party decided to finally visit the other male fox they learned about from an encounter with a lone half fey sorceress. They found him talking with Lindsy. Lindsy for her part was very happy to see the group since her host had been talking up a storm.

Jinchi is a Fox man who used to be part of a traveling bard troop. Sadly, his troop was jailed when they attempted to do a show in Pitax. He was the only one to escape. Now he is surviving in a run down hut here in the Stolen Lands.

He offers the group a deal, he will give them a buff in exchange for them fixing up his Hut. The group agrees and gets to work.

Gregile and Hiru discover that this man was cursed. They use their occult knowledge to remove the hex. Smith and Rox work together to fix up his table and house. Smith crafting and Rox gathering materials. Stetson waters his garden.

All in all, the group was able to earn his favor, granting all of them a +2 AC bonus for their quest!

The Beast’s Lair

When the group arrived at the Beast’s Lair, Rox used his survival skills to examine the cave. He discovered that the cave was infested with Purple Caps. These hostile mushrooms feasted on anything that the owlbear left behind and they would likely attack the group if they entered. Rox was also able to scout out an alternate entrance.

The alternate entrance was overgrown. Gregile took a look and saw that there was a shambler resting within. He also saw that an unlucky wizard had already fallen to it. The group decided to take on the shambler instead of the shrooms, Gregile and smith preparing attacks for the shambler.

The group dispatched of the shambler in short order. Gaining some treasure from the fallen wizard, including a greater staff of air!

With the way clear, the group was able to squeeze deeper into the cave, ending up in the main chamber of the beast.

Parlay With the Owlbear

Stetson had kept a feather from Beaky, the Beast’s mate. He tried to use the feather and his animal empathy to talk him down.

Unfortunately the beast’s anger proved to great. His sorrow from seeing all that remained of his mate quickly turning into primal rage.

The beast proved to be no push over. Unleashing a frightful screech that debilitated everyone, and made Hiru panic. Thankfully, the party was able to rally after this hard start. Delivering powerful blows to the beast and healing his relentless assault on Rox. Eventually putting the Beast out of his misery.

The body of Akiros and other bandits killed by the beast where there in its lair. The group took Akiros’ sword and body. Heading home

Owlbear Chair For +1 Scare

The group decided that it would be a waste to leave behind the body of this mighty beast. It was decided that they would take the Beast’s body back with them to create a mighty Owlbear Chair. The Chair would use the cords of the beast to create a mechanism that would allow for the chair to send out a fearful roar just like the owlbear.

The Name of this mighty artifact would be… The Owlbear Chair For +1 Scare. The first of many legendary artifacts the group would create and find for their kingdom no doubt.

Friends On the Way

While traveling back, the group passed by Jinchi once more. Impressed with the group and not wanting to live in his dumpy hut anymore he asked the group if he could join them in their kingdom. He promised to provide the group with buffs. The group agreed and the fox helped carry the beast’s corps back home.

Green Gripe

Howlet was overjoyed to see that Akiros would be given a proper rest. Smith also gave Howlet Akiros’ sword.

With the quest complete, Howlet gave the group reports of his experiences while building the settlement. One Interesting piece of information was the group learning about a goblin village to the east of the beast’s lair. These seemingly peaceful goblins whore clothing made of plants and carried around plants as well.

Howlet said that they where never hostile but they did invite him to join their cult. He refused as he got a bad feeling from them.

Conclusion

With the kingdom safe and Akiros laid to rest, the party can peacefully tend to their kingdom and assist Howlet’s settlement in rebuilding. What future threats will the Stolen Lands throw at the party? Find out, next time!