CAMPAIGN: Queen Arkwyn's Crown (D&D5e)

"King's body? They took it?" he says. He looks uphill with a grim grin "Right then! More running!" and he begins to jog uphill in the direction Hyne indicated

Hyne, of course, follows after. He casts a healing spell to close the wound before it starts to open further.

Cure Wounds: 1D8+3 => (8 + 3) = 11

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

Hyne and the paladin run up the hill. The dwarf quickly falls behind, but doesn't stop. He has more stamina than he has speed.



The men are easy to track. Their haste and their heavy load left marks that even someone without Hyne's skill would probably have noticed.



If they had been moving with greater care, they might have hidden their tracks much better. The soil here is not good for footprints, and the underbrush is the sort that springs back into shape easily rather than breaking when trampled.

After only a few minutes of pursuit, Hyne comes upon the corpse of the king. He is pressed loosely against the uphill side of a small tree with one arm pinned underneath and his legs splayed awkwardly. His funeral robes are twisted and disheveled, and his head is bare. The large brown sack is laying discarded on the ground a half dozen paces further up the hill.

The three men are nowhere to be seen.

When the paladin catches up he swears, "By Pelor's Red Beard!"

Hyne looks around while catching his breath after heaving his way up the hill. He returns the swear, "By Ehlonna's leaf covered loins, this might be a trap.."

Perception: 1D20+3+2 => (6 + 3 + 2) = 11

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

Hyne looks around alertly. He doesn't spot any trap. There are scrape-marks on the hill leading from the empty sack to the kings body. There are not any obvious ambush-points close-by, but further off in all directions there are plenty of places where the three men could have slipped away.

Heeding Hyne's words, the paladin looks around suspiciously.

"I don't see anything... A trap baited with a king! There's a thing!" he chuckles nervously.

The mountainside seems very quiet. The ruckus from the procession and the guards is still audible below, but only faintly.

"I hope I was wrong.. Let's bring the body back before it becomes a trap."

He carefully searches around the body to make sure there's not any surprises, regardless.



If nothing interrupts them, he will roll out his bed roll and start pulling the body onto it, suggesting, "We can use the blanket to carry him."

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

The only unpleasant surprise hiding underneath the bulk of the king's body is that his arm has broken nastily under his dead weight and the bone is poking out a bit now. No blood though, as he was apparently embalmed before the procession even started. The King is still wearing his ceremonial gold chain, and all of his rings are still on his fingers.

The paladin helps Hyne get the King's body situated on the bedroll so they can lift it.

The King was a big man, with massively muscular shoulders and amrs, and a broad belly from years of feasting. As they lift him they both get a sudden appreciation of how very strong the three men must have been to carry the body up a steep hill at such a fast pace.

"Hold up," says the paladin. "Where is his crown?"

Hyne is dismissive of the concern for a variety of reasons, "Ah, does it matter?" He points over to the sack, "Perhaps it's still in that?"

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

The paladin puts his end of the bedroll down carefully, then runs over to examine the sack.

"Nothing"

He then returns, looking all around.

"No sign of it"

He picks up his end of the King again, ready to go.

"I've heard that it is magical."

Hyne watches behind him as they descend the incline, carefully feeling his footing, "Exactly how magical is this crown rumored to be?"

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

"Well... I don't rightfully... know..." says the paladin, breathing hard.

"Supposed to be very... powerful, but... nobody ever told me... what it does"

"...I did hear that.... he never took it off..."

"Couldn't've been that powerful... if it didn't save his life."

"My name is.... Oxnar... can't remember if I... introduced myself... back in camp... or not."

As they get close to the bottom of the hill, nobody is waiting for them. It seems that all the guards attention is still being focused in the direction that the main body of attackers fled.

Hyne puckers his face between words, mincing his speech as the Oxnar does, and talking quicker during longer stretches in sentence, "They must.. think it is worth waging war over." He adjusts the leverage on the heavy load.

He returns the introduction with his own name without second thought, "Hyne.. I recall-" he winces a bit stepping down, "that you introduced me to the idea of.. devout women."

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

Oxnar laughs "Yes, Indeed!... The Finest!... The Divinest!"

When they reach the bottom of the hill, Oxnar begs, "Let's rest for just a moment, then we can carry his majesty over the level with a bit more dignity"

A lot of people are standing around outside their wagons now. Some are working on righting wagons damaged when they clashed together.

It looks as if about half the guards are still present, and they have a couple prisoners.

Erato Borodobur is standing near the edge of the treeline, and when he spots Hyne and Oxnar he begins walking towards them.

Hyne allows the time to rest and lets himself fall back after helping to gently set the king down.

He glances over his shoulder, then mutters, "No rest for me, it looks like."

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<TheGiz> oh hai doggy, oh no that's the straw that broke tjhe came baclsb

Erato gawps in amazement to see the king's corpse. He snatches off his stovepipe hat and bows his horned head a little in respect. "You found him, eh!? The Duke and half his lot are out trying to chase those Jenn buggers down to get him back!"

"Hyne here spotted some of them running off a different way" explains Oxnar. "We followed till we found his majesty."

A couple of the remaining guards are now heading over towards them.