Category:Birds of a Feather

This ran along side Chaston coming to Wehnimer's Landing, the return of Brieson and was right after Return to Sunder. It involved the Rooks vs. Icewall Bandits and Heist of the Dawn Rose as a joint story for Icemule from GM-Retser and Wehnimer's Landing from GM-Kenstrom with assistance from GM-Auchand, GM-Masteform and GM-Galene. It was right after the opening of the Frozen Brambles hunting area in March 2016. It ran from March 17th-July 2016. It was followed by the events surrounding Oantal and the Sacred Fury then Hibbits Hoft arc in October 2016 as it pertains to Icemule Trace.

NPCs

Nihala Winterberry
Jorshan and his Airship, The Revenge
Protelan

Startled, Protelen awoke from his peaceful, dream-filled, slumber to the sound of someone ravaging his door. Rising to his feet he murmured, "What does this fool want?"

Striding across the barren, cold floor of his bed chambers he reached the window to watch the figure.

Glancing out he smirked before whispering, "If he only knew what I have in store for everyone, he would be kneeling before me!"

A maniacal laugh burst forth, followed by a longer more drawn out one, followed by another, and another which ended with a cough.

Glancing slowly around to make sure no one was watching, he slowly climbed back in bed with the intent of finishing his beauty sleep.

-Retser-
Quest Guru
Icemule Guru
Halfling Guru

(I'll just post this here for lack of anywhere better... a whole lot of people witnessed the same events)

Sirs,

On the Day of the Huntress, 14th of Olaesta at approximately 6 pm I did witness the following:

A Dark elf who was dressed like a Fop and acted like a bit of a dandy came into the square, talked about himself a lot and announced that he would was hosting a party "right now" in the Mayor's office. Nyatherra, who appeared to be with him, added that they had redecorated. I asked him if the Mayor knew of this and he stated that he and the Mayor were close friends and that the Mayor had sent him a private letter insisting that he make himself at home.

He went on to say that he would be hosting a gala in the Arcane Burrow of Icemule Trace the next day and that we should all come to celebrate "Him".

He finally wandered off since nobody seemed to want to attend his party in the Mayors office.

Archales went to the Mayors office to check on things and reported that things were amiss. I went up there to find a pile of burnt dog bones and Winston's bed half-burnt. The bones did not belong to Winston though since he was wandering around the area.

After some inquiries I learned that this dark elfs name is Protelen.

Regards,

Militia Captain Khristal Zalian

Nihala escaped captivity and confronted Protelen at his Gala.

Jorshan was brought along in the shadows where he assassinated Protelen and dragged him off to his airship.

Jorshan stated that he will be transporting Protelen to a safe place where he cannot escape.

The Gala ended quietly, a little too quietly....

WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? Find out next time on the days of our gemstone lives!

-Retser-
Quest Guru

Early this morning, Mayor Nihala has issued a warning to all citizens and allies of Icemule Trace! It has been discovered that the Icewall Bandits have risen once more and a number of criminal activity and various heists have been committed in the last few weeks. A string of homes and shops have been robbed and within the last two nights alone, the Glowing Zircon gem shop was robbed and then set on fire, while the local Travel Office and Bank were also robbed. A number of heroes were able to thwart the bandits from their attempt on the bank, and only a few made off with some coins and valuables collected from workers, but no vaults were breached.

It was also reported that among the human and half-elven bandits, there were spotted heavily armored and trained arctic titans, and the presence of a mysterious leader who many have called the One-Eyed Knave has been hinted at. None have seen this new figure yet so no information has been confirmed.

In 5113, the Icewall Bandits consisted of hardened criminals who had broken free of the Icewall Penitentiary under the leadership of the ex-warden, Kubilew. While it is unclear what Kubilew's fate is, there is no question the Icewall Bandits, in whatever form they now take, have returned and seek to turn the misfortune of Icemule citizens into their profit.

Mayor Nihala has cautioned everyone to be on high alert, travel in groups, and securely protect their belongings. Additional guards have been posted at various locations throughout town.

To Mayor Nihala and the Citizens of Icemule Trace:

The last few weeks I have heard and read reports of increase banditry in Icemule. Just over the weekend reports came to me of bandits dressed in white with mask looking similar to those that are worn by the Brotherhood of Rooks out of Wehnimer's Landing. These events coincides with the increase of activities from the Brotherhood of Rooks in the Landing. According to reports your town seems to be on the footsteps of war with the local Ice Giant clans over missing giants of the clan which is believed to be caused by the activities of these masked outlaws. A few days ago we found a barge protected by the Rooks which contained a few captured Ice Giants which we assume are some of the missing and also shows the connections between your bandits and the Rooks. After discussion it is believed that the bandits of your town are either an extension of the Brotherhood of Rooks or working with them for unknown reasons that will cause troubles for both of our towns.

We from the Landing can not see our neighbors and friends fall victim to the schemes of these bandits. I pledge to you Mayor Nihale, that the Landing stands with you and the citizens of Icemule Trace against this group of outlaws. While we will do what we can to disrupt their plans inside our own town we will aid you in anyway we can. I have asked the militia to send up reports of recent Rook activity and intelligence we have on the Rooks while also sending a few men to help teach your militia how to defend against the Rooks. I also like to have a meeting as soon as possible to discuss how our two towns can better work together to bring this threat under control.

Yours,

Puptilian Peregrinus
Mayor of Wehnimer's Landing

Three nights ago, the ice giants near Icemule Trace warned that there would be war on the town if someone didn't get to the bottom of who was taking members of their tribes away. The "white shadows" were taking their people, they said, and they demanded an end to it.

They gave the adventurers three days, and last night was the deadline.

People first talked to Kobrog, the Knave, a towering cyclops who leads the Icewall Bandits. He wasn't at all happy to hear about it, claiming the region was theirs, not the Rooks'. They weren't working with the Rooks at all in this, at least according to Kobrog (and if you took a look at this massive guy, you'd at least want to believe him very, very much). In fact, they seemed pretty annoyed at the prospect of unrest among the ice giants.

That's where matters stood this evening when a group of people from the Landing and Icemule Trace made their way to Olbin Pass to catch a Rook. These Rooks, unlike their Landing counterparts, dressed in white cloaks and moved silently through the snow. We managed to catch one Rook alive, though not without killing about a dozen others, and questioned him. The young and terrified Rook had some interesting things to say about what they were up to in the frozen north:

- The Rooks were capturing ice giants with poisoned darts and shipping them to Jantalar.
- He was promised a good deal of silver for a few weeks' work catching giants.
- The giants were, he believed, meant as slaves for combat in the fighting pits of Jantalar. He referred to them as going to "the pits," and when we asked him to clarify, he said "to fight...I think?" He was young and frightened, and it's not yet certain if that part was accurate.

Despite the pleas from the young Rook to let him go home to the Landing to escape with his sister, the adventurers brought him to meet with and explain to the ice giant chieftain what was happening. Surprisingly (and not without some evident disappointment from the other ice giants), the chieftain was satisfied enough with the answer to forgo a war. Kobrog and the Icewall Bandits were also present at the meeting, and they heard the Rook's story as well. Kobrog crushed his head like a grape, so that was the end of him.

It was not, however, the end of hostilities. It could be the beginning of new wars, in fact, as Kobrog dispatched some of his marksmen to the Landing to take out the Rooks. Looks like both Icemule and the Landing may be the battlegrounds for some very nasty turf wars soon!

--- Lauren, Lylia's player

Re: Titans and Traitors and Rooks. Oh my! on 06/29/2016 12:02 PM CDT

Last night was pretty chaotic, and I spent a fair bit of it running back and forth, but here's what I know:

- A number of Icemule residents were killed by arrows from the shadows.

- The ice giants that headed to the Landing never hit town; their target was a trio of black barges on the Locksmehr River near Voln.

- Like the other barges, these proved to contain green-veined ice giants, but these were anything but frozen; they were angry.

- Rooks guarding the barges were pretty cranky too, especially when adventurers started to set them on fire.

- The giants and Rooks fought one another as much as they did the adventurers.

- An ice giant chieftain appeared, and while I didn't catch all the discussion, the gist of it is that if the Rooks showed themselves near his people again, he'd be angry -- and we wouldn't like him when he's angry.

- A halfling then appeared from the shadows. An envoy of Kobrog, the Icewall Bandits' leader, also known as the One-Eyed Knave, the halfling told us Kobrog would be willing to discuss matters on his home turf tonight and only if adventurers came without weapons in hand.

Last night marked the "official" end of the Birds of a Feather storyline with Wehnimer's Landing and Icemule Trace. However, as with most of my storylines, while there is a specific "bookends" the tale does indeed carry on, since things tend to have a lasting effect, or ripple.

For the next month activity will be lighter, they'll be some sprinkled nights of RP, some NPC stuff, some events planned, etc, but the next storyline "Eyes of the Dawn" kicks off beginning of August and you're going to appreciate this downtime, hehe. Buy deeds.

That said, I would love some initial feedback on the Birds of a Feather storyline. I'll post in Landing and Icemule folder, no need to reply to both, just one.


1. Did you enjoy Birds of a Feather, and were there any specific things you liked?


2. Was there anything about the storyline you did not like?


3. Is there anything you feel could have been added/was missing in this storyline?


4. Did you like having two towns intertwined in a storyline?


5. Any other thoughts or suggestions?

-GM Kenstrom-