The Crimson Mountains- Episode 1

This page is a plot journal covering the first session of The Crimson Mountains campaign, played on 1/17/16. This was the first ever BSB session. Notably, main character Ser Darius Straton was absent from this session.

This was the "pilot episode" of The Crimson Mountains, and primarily consisted of introductions to characters, the barbarian attack on Ironside village, and a tense situation in the foreign quarter of Stoneshade.

Previous Session: None

Next Session: Episode 2

The Iron Keep
The inaugural session for By Steel and Blood began with a beautiful Friday morning in Stoneshade. Nilos Kallistratos, having recently come of age, was approached by his father, the Thane of Blackwall, Kain Kallistratos II. Kain told Nilos to attend the daily council sessions with his retinue, and also told him it was time to look for a wife, and he had someone in mind: Helgrid Nereus, the daughter of Thane Nereus of Sea March. Nilos understood it was his responsibility to agree.

Nilos later attended sword training. As his usual trainer, Ser Darius Straton, was predisposed, he instead trained with the much more hostile Ser Zanther Mason. Ser Mason scolded Nilos for using a rapier, an heirloom given to him by his deceased mother, and insisted he used a properly weighted sword. The two sparred, but the bullish Ser Mason would not fight with honor, knocking down Nilos repeatedly. The two traded words about their differences in ideology, with Zanther insisting violence is equivalent to power, as "the age of sword and axe is upon us." Nilos, however believes problems could be solved through diplomacy and means other than violence.

Council Meeting 1
In the Iron Keep, Nilos attended the first council meeting with his father, where he discussed with Executor Mason, Praetor Fenris, Imperator Reinhold, and Inquisitor Caius. The six men discussed the Sons of Aquinas issue first off, with Mason and Reinhold insisting it was the best option to hire the mercenaries, while Fenris spoke against it and Caius warned of angering the Gold Legion. Caius informed the council that not only would the Sons of Aquinas arrive in the next few days, but that Beric Alexius of the Gold Legion was sending a detachment led by Tolmend Oklend to compete with them for contracts in the city.

The council was then visited by Praetor Pelagius of Sea March, representing Thane Nereus. He informed Thane Kallistratos of Nereus' demands for Blackwall to deport Bruxian refugees escaping the civil war, and shutting down the border to prevent infiltration by the dangerous Vassili cartel. Peasants associated with the cartel had recently been hanged in Sea March for the murder of a noble couple. Nilos spoke up on this issue, stating that a less severe solution must be reached after an investigation. Kain insisted that border control was being handled well by Baron Ferris Alexius in Nubardum and the Gold Legion was doing their job on that contract. Pelagius, frustrated, left for the night, but not before telling Kain that his son's betrothal to Thane Nereus' daughter could not occur unless their demands were met. After the meeting, Kain appointed Inquisitor Caius with leading an investigation in the foreign quarter, and to bring his son Nilos along with his honor guard so he could begin to interact with the people he will one day rule.

The Foreign Quarter
Nilos, along with Caius, travel into the foreign quarter with an armed guard, including Ser Zanther Mason. Inquisitor Caius explains his backstory to Nilos, and the two then meet with the Bruxian refugee Hilde, one of the 200 sages of the Doctrine of Gaiax who fled Pox Vassili to care for refugees in Stoneshade. Hilde and Nilos exchange words, and Hilde explains her actions for the betterment of her people. Nilos explains he is interested in helping her and the refugees. Hilde points out that the refugees are at great risk of violence because of the lack of guards in the foreign quarter, and have already come under attack by a pair of druids earlier in the day. Nilos strikes a deal that he will ensure the Sons of Aquinas are hired to police the foreign quarter when they arrive, as long as Hilde reports all intelligence to Inquisitor Caius to prevent the presence of dangerous cartel members.

However, things go sour in Hilde's makeshift hospital/temple when Ser Mason discovers a cache of hidden weapons, which Hilde insists are not her people's. In the hospital, Nilos is introduced to the Bruxian alchemist Suleiman, who had set up shop there to practice his art and provide healing services. Caius warns Nilos about the expertise of Bruxian alchemists which inlude dangerous explosives. Fearing Suleiman's work could fall into the wrong hands, Nilos confiscates all of Suleiman's chemicals, hardware, and work.

After departing Hilde's place, Nilos' guard is attacked by a rowdy crowd who throw rocks from windows. In the ensuing altercation, everyone escapes okay, however not before Ser Zanther Mason kills an unarmed Yurican man.

Druid Obedia
Meanwhile, the Druid and Acolyte Obedia was lectured by the Archon Plexipus, who re-introduced him to fellow senior Acolyte Azariah. Together, the duo were given a mission to enter the foreign quarter of Stoneshade to investigate the presence of the refugees and possibly the Doctrine of Gaiax. There, Obedia confronted a Bruxian woman operating a clinic, whom he intimidated and insulted. Obedia was then pick-pocketed by the young thief Tye, who stole his crossbow. Obedia responded by attacking the young Yurican man, Cyrill, who he implicated in the crime. By drawing his sword in public, Obedia caused an outcry which led the conflict with the raucous crowd to escalate. Obedia was finally talked to stand down by Azariah, after knocking out Cyrill and another beggar woman.

In the High Temple of Tagrimus, Obedia was scolded for his actions in the foreign quarter earlier in the day by Archon Plexipus. The defiant Obedia insisted he was doing what was best for the abyss, and questioned the Archon's position as embodiment of the god Tagrimus' will. Azariah luckily intervened and stopped the heated situation from escalating, after Plexipus slapped Obedia twice and insisted he leave his chambers.

Roc of Ironside
The young Roc of Ironside, began the day by working at his Grandpa Bernard's smithy. Roc declared the intention with his grandfather to move on to bigger and better things in life, wishing to leave Ironside behind. Bernard wouldn't have it, insisting that it was Roc's duty to take over the smithy and become a master blacksmith like his deceased father wished him. Roc was then visited by his distant cousin Marisa, who asked Roc to make horseshoes that evening for her father, who was leaving town the next morning for Targe to become a career mercenary and make a better life for his daughter.

In Ironside, Roc and Bernard's shop was visited by members of the Sons of Aquinas mercenary group, who were passing through town that day on their way to set up camp in Stoneshade. Two soldiers asked Roc about his work, and he was then visited by none other than Regional Director of Operations, Col. Rhys Sighard himself. Rhys inquired about Roc's work, and got a good laugh out of dicking with the young man and making fun of Blackwall smiths. Roc offered to make a sword for Rhys who laughed it off, showing his engraved and bejeweled blade as a mockery of Roc's skills, before leaving the insulted young man behind.

That night, Roc attended a sermon by Ironside's local Viscount Kleon. During the sermon, he was bugged by Marisa, who wanted her dad's horseshoes. The service was interrupted by a villager running through the church door and collapsing with three arrows in his back. The church was besieged as Roc escaped into the night through the back door, followed closely by Marisa. He saw a row of archers with flaming arrows on a hill top, who set the temple aflame. In a nearby house, Roc witnessed the murder of a villager in their bed by a man wearing furs with facepaint and wielding a hand axe. He narrowly escaped this man along with three others by staying to the shadows and covering the distressed Marisa's mouth. But Roc's cover was soon under pressure, and he was forced to attack one barbarian with a rock. He managed to kill the man, but not until he took an axe to the foot, slowing him down and leaving a blood trail. As they continued, Marisa ran off to her home to make sure her father was okay, and Roc witnessed as two barbarians burst out of her home, grabbed her, and pulled her inside, as he saw her father imprisoned inside. Roc left the two for dead as he continued on to his Grandpa's shop. There he met Bernard safe and sound, who gave Roc his father's Bowie knife. Bernard then told Roc to go to Stoneshade, get help, and bring them back to defend Ironside. Bernard then armed himself with two farming scythes, and heroically fought off multiple barbarians, killing many and rolling heads with impressive hidden fighting ability. After bandaging himself, Roc fled southward, and from a distance, watched his grandfather get pelted with many arrows and die heroically after being executed by the barbarian warlord Ourea. Everything is this paragraph, of course, was a single unedited Steadicam long take.

Some Great Lines

 * "You're the disgrace, you're old and bald!" - Druid Obedia, to Azariah after scolding him for breaking the code.
 * "No throwing knives in the house!" - Roc, to Bernard, in the middle of a barbarian raid.
 * "This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship." - Nilos' final lines to Hilde, after raiding her hospital and confiscating alchemical equipment.