February 16, 2020 - The Prince of Thieves

Day 1: Day 2: Day 3: Day 4:
 * Everyone was found relaxing in the tavern when Guts came to Saki, saying that the goblin, Treesh (Sock) escaped the camp
 * She was heading back to some other camp or group
 * Afraid the goblin would alert others to the town and sack it, Saki gets others to help find Treesh
 * Party of Saki, Guts, Bradak, Horus, Wick, Archie and Mira started on their way after the goblin
 * Saki thought to use a shortcut to try and cut off Treesh if she were going to the mountain pass
 * Saki wanted to keep it a secret from the rest of the party that didn't know about it by having them blindfolded, but nobody complied
 * Saki finally conceded and showed everyone the shortcut: a magical tree that acted as a portal to the mountain pass (originally from a pair of seeds planted)
 * The party goes on through, cutting a couple days from their journey
 * Mira mentions that she has a particular spell, called Pass Without a Trace, that could help the party stealth better
 * Most of the party encourage her to prepare that spell, so she reluctantly starts to meditate and study the spell
 * (Spoiler, she never used it)
 * Horus and Bradak start to explore the pass before everyone else and find an outpost with more of the fey-touched elves
 * They both agree to take them out easily with arrows and bolt, but there were more than they anticipated
 * After taking down two fighters and a mage, another mage and an unseen archer disabled the two adventurers with confusion
 * Archie and Saki show up in time to take out the remaining enemies
 * Saki stabilizes the archer, only to turn around and torture him with a rat and a bucket to weed out information (ended up working)
 * Forcing the rat to escape the bucket by burrowing into the elf
 * We learn that the camp that Treesh might be going to is actually a fortress belonging to a being known as Caimac, the Prince of Thieves
 * We head out of the mountain pass to some hills and plains before camping
 * Before the day even starts, the party is ambushed by a small band: a bugbear, a hobgoblin and a goblin riding a worg
 * The party takes swift care of them without too much trouble
 * Their long rest is interrupted and have to settle with a short rest
 * Saki succeeds in asking Mira to calm the worg down after capturing it
 * Saki wants to train Guts to ride it like the goblin rider before
 * Mira agrees to tend to the monster as she is the only
 * Wick decided to wander on back to the camp, leaving the rest to journey on
 * All of the sudden, Sienna catches up to the party as she knows about the portal as well
 * She exclaims to Saki about going somewhere with Guts without consulting with her
 * She also lets us know that she saw Treesh on the way, but did not capture her
 * Treesh ran past Sienna, farther down the road or to the side, out of sight
 * Along the way we come across a peculiar woman traveling the opposite direction
 * Elf-like with no pupils or irises with the name Clover
 * Clover said she actually visited the fortress we were going to not too long ago, pointing us in it's direction
 * Saki takes a liking to her; they both shared some Arcane (drugs) and she proceeded to read some people their fortunes
 * Telling Saki to look out for danger
 * Mira's efforts were going to be paid off soon
 * We learn a bit more about the tastes of this Prince and bid her farewell
 * Heading out further, eventually make camp at night
 * Saki and Sienna spy someone with a lantern beating it down the road
 * Saki goes to see a headless rider upon a large, black horse
 * She uses mage hand to try and move their stuff off of them, but end up leaving them be
 * Sienna takes over with navigation after Horus is not that interested in the area
 * (Nat 1) After a few hours, the party realizes that they are no longer on the road they were following
 * Saki manages to find our tracks and lead us back to the road, not an eventful day
 * We make it a couple more miles before settling in for camp
 * The party finally happens upon the fortress of the Prince of Thieves
 * After much convoluted discussion, the party mostly agreed to form a wandering band of entertainers, The Traveling Troubadours
 * Saki and Sienna as dancers, Archie the manager, Mira the secretary/treasurer (?) and Horus and Bradak as bodyguards
 * The worg is tied up with some ropes and pitons with Guts watching and waiting for everyone to return
 * The party moves to the gate, seeing guards on top of the wall and in the front
 * Apparently the groups name was being used by another group that had been here already (oof)
 * Trying to entice the guards to let us in, Saki decides to strip and entertain the guards while Archie plays along with music
 * Successfully, one of the guards decides that Caimac would like to see this, however, the bodyguards needed to leave their weapons outside
 * Saki pulls them aside and explains that the quiver she has can hold a large number of items, like a Bag of Holding
 * Bradak and Horus comply by putting most of their weapons inside of the quiver, but share a couple of daggers within their sleeves without the guards knowing
 * The group enters the main gate into a courtyard like area with a variety of people wandering around
 * While waiting to be summoned into the main building, the party strikes conversations and orders drinks to pass the time
 * The guard returns after some time and invites everyone to see the Prince
 * Entering, the setting is a lively lounge with many people dancing and drinking
 * Everyone spreads out to get a feel for the atmosphere
 * Caimac, the Prince, ushers us in front of him to witness the "entertainment" we offer
 * Saki and Sienna proceed to strip down and entice the Prince while Horus and Bradak help by picking up their clothes to not be in the way (grabbing the quiver)
 * The Prince is impressed by their show and askes Sienna and Saki to sit upon the arms of the throne
 * Caimac then asks the group some personal questions, such as where they came from and where else have they been
 * Saki and Sienna not seeming to know what to say, Bradak tries to make a distraction by boxing Horus in the jaw and claiming he stole his coins
 * Caimac calls to have them take the trouble outside and not bother anyone else
 * Horus was deeply confused about the situation, but started to catch on
 * They left the main building with Sienna's and Saki's equipment, leaving Archie, Mira, Sienna and Saki with the Prince
 * Mira tries to step in and say that the group was her idea, forming a business and wandering the land for profit
 * She mentions that she was from another continent, to which the rest of the party also confirmed they were as well
 * Things turned south as the Prince started to charm people and shackle the rest, deciding to keep them for some time

As the party is split up, they each have their own adventures...
 * …To Be Continued…

The Bodyguards
Being ushered out by the guards, Bradak and Horus try to make their way to the entrance, however, they don't seem to recall which direction to go in the palace. After getting lost after a few minutes, the guards find the two and start making their way to apprehend them. After skillfully hiding within the crowd of people and between hallways, the bodyguards find a door leading to a side entrance to the courtyard. Trying to decide on a plan to leave, Horus asks if Bradak can find the dandy he was flirting up earlier to help us leave the fortress. Instead they find her suitor rolling dice with other inebriated individuals. Bradak saddles up and starts to throw dice with his own rules in mind and wiping off the table. The others seem impressed, letting Bradak slip in and ask them for information about the towers, the other means of escaping. He learned a ladder led to the top, but not much else. He bribes them to make a commotion to distract some of the guards around the tower so the two could sneak in.

An explosion is heard from within the palace, giving Bradak a sign that it was time to go. He informs Horus about what's going on and they both move to the tower. A few guards exit the tower to see the what was going on while the bodyguards let themselves in. They quickly block the door with a bookcase and table so no one enters after them. Bradak sees a javelin and goes to tie some ropes at the end to make a haphazard zip line to the outside of the fort. Climbing the ladder to the top, Horus creaks open the hatch to spot two guards at the top talking to the guards locked out of the tower at the bottom. Stealthily making their way up, Bradak and Horus shove the unsuspecting guards off the edge. Wasting no time, Bradak launches the javelin off into the distance and they both jump off to escape the fort. However, Bradak does not leave unscathed as two poisoned tipped arrows sink into him. Horus leads them back over to where the group left Guts and the worg, finding them unharmed. Waiting to see what happens, they the two agree to stay until dawn for any signs of the rest of the band making it out alive. If not, then they would go back to the village for reinforcements.

The Band
In #the-band Sienna, Saki, and Archie down in the depths of Caimac's dungeon escaped. It was wrought with psychotic torture, to include but not be limited to: imprisonment, skinning alive, and tongue cutting. Sienna having wild shifted into a direwolf attacked and chased down a guard with Archie. Who was hideously laughing while sprinting from a power squat. This guard would be the one that Saki tortured. Not wanting to let her own wounds go, tortured the guard until they had to absolutely leave. Encountering a witch to help them along to escape. Entering Caimac's parlour Saki was silenced by Caimac through mysterious circumstances. Archie, having had enough began to cry like a bitch for their freedom. Fortunately the witch was kind enough to create a diversion for them to escape. Almost unscathed. Sienna the direwolf down had to be dragged along as Archie and Saki use Acrobatics, Stealth, Investigation, and Slight of hand to get through the gate. Making it back to guts.

Mira
After Horus and Bradak were ushered out, and Archie and Sienna were dragged away in cuffs, Mira and Saki were left alone with Caimac. Saki offered her Name, her ability to love, and offered herself to be a killer for him on the condition that Caimac wouldn't kill anyone in the party and they would be released from his fort. Intrigued, Caimac accepted the deal and allowed Saki to walk out. When Mira turned to follow, Caimac stopped her, and when pressed, said that while he did agree to release the rest of the party, he never specified when. Still dominated by Caimac, Mira was to follow Caimac around and serve his guests.

Being forced to follow him upstairs to a more private room, Mira was put on drink duty. There Mira was approached by a woman who asked her why she was there. After explaining the situation, the woman clearly sympathized but said she could not risk doing anything to help Mira in case she angered Caimac. Instead, she gave Mira a sleeping mask, promising that Caimac cannot steal her dreams.

Eventually, two guards rush in to speak to Caimac, and after eavesdropping Mira learns that not only is there havoc in the fort, but Treesh is there and will identify the people in the party that killed Kree. Then they mention that there are people looking into the goblin and worg that are waiting outside the fort, and panicked, Mira bursts in, demanding that they leave the worg alone. Caimac snaps at her to shut up but before he can do anything else, and explosion reverberates through the building. Caimac leaves Mira with the guards while he goes to investigate. Bored, Mira attempts to steal something from Caimac's desk but is immediately stopped. Recognizing the opportunity she has, Mira decides to sprint away from the guards, grabbing a box off of Caimac's desk as she goes, and then throws herself out the window.

As soon as she hits the ground, she casts Pass without a Trace (told you it would be helpful) and makes a run for the exit. There is mass chaos in the fort, and she is hit by an arrow on the way out, but successfully escapes the gate and sees Saki, Archie, and Sienna also running out towards where they had left Guts.

They meet up, and immediately head back to town. On the way, Mira opens the box to find about 10 miniature animals made of turquoise that move around and make tiny noises like their full size counterparts. Instantly in love, Mira carefully stores her new prized possession in her bag.