The End:

Secretary's Notes:

Iolo races forward to join the enemy. Group moves forward, some staying at spellcasting range, others charging to melee. Kosmas stays back at bowshot range. Enemy prepares for battle with spellcasting.

Battle commences. Nikostas struck by arrows and spells and brought to choking helplessly on his hands and knees. Astos tries and fails to heal Nikostas. Leusa slips off the horse and runs over to the Group's side of the battle.

Group fights on for a few moments at a standstill. Astos finally manages to heal Nikostas; Nikostas gets back up. Nikostas heals himself further. Nikostas and Astos move toward Anthoon and Iason (fighting Iolo and Thrastos). Leucas and Kypros stop spellcasting and move forward to engage Nik and Astos. Kosmas continues shooting arrows from the hilltop, hitting Nikostas but not penetrating his armor.

Iolo and Anthoon wound one another in the legs and fight from the ground. Thrastos cuts off Iason's arm. Iason retreats. Thrastos moves to engage Kypros and Leucas (fighting Nik and Astos). Iolo wounds Anthoon further from the ground, disabling his legs completely. Iason unites with Leusa and manages to cut her bonds (ahem). They run forward and clumsily drag Anthoon away from Iolo.

Iolo tries and fails to heal himself; asks Nikostas to parley; Nik refuses. Moments later, Nik is hit by an arrow and hurt. Iolo is still on the ground incapacitated. Nikostas offers parley; Group appears to hesitate, then continues to attack.

Nikostas moves forward and cuts Kypros's leg out from under him. Astos fights Leucas; neither man succeeds in hurting the other further. Leusa heals Anthoon and Anthoon returns to battle, wounding Thrastos with a javelin. Nikostas leaves Kypros and charges Kosmas on the hilltop. Leusa heals Iason and he returns to battle, charging Thrastos with an Ironhanded left fist. Iolo is still trying to heal himself, and failing.

Thrastos cuts off Iason's other arm. Insisting that he is someone called "The Black Knight", Iason attempts to kick Thrastos. Kypros, on the ground, heals himself partially, but is still unable to get up and fight.

Iolo finally manages to heal himself, and gets back up.

Kosmas and Nikostas trade attacks; Kosmas nearly smashes Nik with his mace, but Nik dodges out of the way. Nik returns with a sword cut and slices Kosmas's abdomen. Nik's sword is poisoned; Kosmas feels faint from poison. Nik attacks again and maims Kosmas's arm; Kosmas's mace falls to the ground. Kosmas gives up on attacking, trying only to defend.

Leucas has his hand sliced off by Astos, but continues to fight.

Leusa attempts to run forward to tackle Iolo. Iason notices this and tries to body block her.

Kypros attempts to attack Thrastos from the ground, and manages to grind dirt into his own eyes. Kypros is slain by Thrastos. Thrastos turns to fight Anthoon, who has charged him.

Iolo slays "No Arms" Iason. Iolo punches Leusa.

Thrastos wounds Anthoon in the leg, opening an artery. Anthoon collapses and bleeds to death momentarily.

Nikostas stabs Kosmas again in the belly. Kosmas falls to the ground, vomits, and dies.

Iolo and Thrastos grapple with Leusa. Leucas continues fighting with Astos. Nikostas runs back to (what is left of) the battle and calmly invites Leucas to surrender. Leucas continues slashing ineffectually at Astos. Astos stabs Leucas in the gut. Leucas dies.

Coming soon: the adventures of the Kingless Territory Group, at kingless.blogspot.com.

End of the Long Long Road:

Secretary's Notes:

Group attempts to interrogate prisoner (named Admeder). Antenor and two companions arrive. Interrogation goes slowly, a clumsy scene involving the capture, escape, recapture, and eventual release of two more of the original gang. Iason cuts off one of Admeder's fingers and he is persuaded to take the Group to Nikostas's camp. Group travels north (45 minutes) to campsite to find Nikostas and crew have fled. Group releases Admeder, Antenor and companions go back to Thaios, Group make camp themselves and sleep until morning.

Kosmas attempts to track Nik and crew in the morning, but cannot find the trail. A long period of searching fails. Group is bamboozled. Iason goes out alone, finds the trail, and returns to sneer at Kosmas. Group resumes pursuit and travels all day. Toward the end of the day, Group sees a figure watching them in the far distance. Group concludes this is someone from Nikostas's band.

Group makes camp, sleeping in armor and keeping double watch in case of an ambush. Group is awakened by two wolves; wolves do not attack but only circle the camp howling and prevent sleep. Kosmas shoots many many arrows, eventually wounding one of the wolves and causing them to flee.

Next morning group resumes pursuit. Toward the end of the day, Anthoon notices some strangely shaped rocks ahead on a hilltop. Moments later, the Group is under fire from two bowmen. Bowmen shoot the pack horse, wounding it and causing it to fall. Group charges bowmen. Bowmen keep shooting; horse is killed. Bowmen run. Group continues pursuit. Iason and Kypros are in the lead and recognize Nikostas and Iolo as the bowmen. Kosmas shoots arrows at Nikostas, managing to hit him three times, wounding but not stopping him.

Group pursues Nik. and Iolo over a few hills. Nik and Iolo are shouting. Group chases Nik. and Iolo over a hill to find Leusa astride a horse, apparently tied up, and Thrastos and Astos armed for battle.

Closing the Gap:

Secretary's Notes:
The Group wakes and breaks camp, leaving the guides behind. Group goes into town, crossing the bridge, and looks for the market and then the docks seeking a guide to Sebasos. Group becomes lost in the more upscale part of town and makes a nuisance of themselves. Group does remove their armor at the insistence of a constable. Shopkeeper finds a boy to escort the annoying Group to the local Troizen Army recruiter, Antenor. After some probing, Antenor accepts the group as sincere and offers them limited support in their mission.

Group takes wanna-be-soldier kid as guide, and follows a weak lead from another kid into the rough part of town. Group spreads money around freely attempting to get information about Nikostas and crew. Group eventually garners some information confirming their targets have been in town. Notably, the group concludes that the one-armed man from Nikostas's crew was in that part of town and talked with one Thrastos, local gang leader, at a dive called The Wine Hole.

Group visits The Wine Hole to speak with Thrastos, waiting most of an hour for him to show up. Thrastos does not show up. Kypros gets drunk and makes an ass of himself. Group continues wandering the neighborhood spreading money around and seeking clues about the one-armed man.

Group returns to The Wine Hole to seek Thrastos again. He is present and speaks with the group. Thrastos refuses to disclose the nature of his conversation with the one-armed man (Astos). He does imply that he can find the location of Nik & crew and provide it to the group, for a large price. Thrastos advises the group to meet him at the Wine Hole again at 9 PM.

Group leaves and returns to a previous contact (gambling hall), getting news that Nikostas himself was in town and spoke with one Lampus, a rich merchant believed to have ties with Sebasos. Group also gets uncertain evidence that Nik & crew are stationed to the north of town.

Day is fading. Group returns to Antenor, saying they may get Nik & crew's location soon. Antenor offers himself and two friends as reinforcements; all agree on a plan whereby Antenor & co can be contacted quickly. Gear is stashed at Antenor's.

Group returns to the rough part of town, which is much livelier at night. Group attempts to gain more information from street contacts, to no avail. Group returns to The Wine Hole, which is crowded with people. Anticipating directions to Nikostas, they send their guide to get Antenor & co. Entering The Wine Hole, Anthoon mistakenly believes that he sees Nikostas inside; the Group retreats from the tavern and some comic blundering ensues. Kosmas and Anthoon eventually resolve confusion, return to the tavern, and sit down with Thrastos & companion. Kosmas pays Thrastos a gold piece; Thrastos says Nikostas and crew are in the tin mines southeast of town. He offers to escort them to the exact location, but withdraws the offer at the mention of Antenor and company.

Group leaves The Wine Hole and waits outside for Antenor. Group notices persons in the tavern keeping an eye on them, splits up and checks for activity out the back door of the tavern. Thrastos and companion come out the front of the tavern; three more men emerge from the back. All are armed and armored.

Argument ensues at the back of the tavern between the new men and Kosmas and Iason; weapons are drawn and combat commences. Kosmas immediately clubs his opponent in the head with his mace, so violently that he is decapitated. The other two men are daunted and flee. Everyone at the front of the tavern runs to the back, creating a crowded, confusing mess. The Group routs the opposition; most escape, but Kosmas breaks one man's leg and he is captured. As Thrastos runs away, he shouts at someone wearing a beggar's cloak who joins him in running away. Group conjectures that it is Nikostas or one of Nikostas's men.

Group returns to captured man and begins to interrogate him while they wait for Antenor.

Dogs Love Sausage:

Secretary's Notes:

Group continues toward Tychaia, noticing that the trail has become that of only two men, one of them perhaps wounded. Group concludes there was a falling out between Nik & crew, and the two men are part of Nikostas's gang.

Smoke from Tychaia is visible when Kypros notices two figures walking in their direction, one supporting the other. These prove to be Pheneus (Leusa's brother) and his friend, returning to their village. They explain they were attacked by Nikostas and crew, Pheneus crippled, and Leusa kidnapped again. Apparently Leusa persuaded Nikostas not to kill the men and allowed them to escape to Tychaia. P & T take group to the site of the battle, where they pick up on the trail of Nikostas going in the opposite direction, away from Tychaia, toward Thaios. Pheneus confirms that N & Co. are headed to Thaios and then to Sebasos, at least according to what he was told by Leusa.

Group presses on toward Thaios, following Nik's trail, attempting to push the pack horse and increase their pace, with some success, though increased fatigue. Group reaches a small village that confirms Nik & crew passed by without stopping. Group makes camp shortly thereafter.

In the early morning shortly before dawn, Leucas sounds the alarm. Group is attacked by several jackals. Kypros is double-teamed, and jackals tear off his breechclout in three successive attempts to bite his nuts off. Kypros displays impressive leaping ability as he avoids these efforts at amateur circumcision. Anthoon decides he likes Kypros a little better. Group slays several jackals, the remainder flee, and only the horse sustains notable injuries. Horse breaks free of restraints and is chased and eventually soothed by Kosmas.

Group continues for a few hours and encounters another village. After an initially hostile reception, the Group hires two men from the village to act as guides to Thaios, intending to gain ground by travelling through the night. The seven men travel through the day and into the night. Proceeding through the hills, another band of jackals spots them. The jackals hesistantly consider attacking until one of them is wounded by an arrow from Kosmas, at which point they flee.

The guides show some troubling lack of confidence, but sometime after midnight the Group arrives at Thaios, a town of eight or nine hundred people. All seven men make camp together and sleep for the night.

Dead Grog:

Secretary's Notes:

Group wakes alive and unbetrayed. Travel resumed toward Anzion. Further evidence of Nikostas & Co's passage obtained at small village.

Ambush by bandits a couple of hours past village. Bandits attempted to negotiate toll for passage; Kosmas initiated battle instead. Leucas badly injured by arrow, but not maimed. Anthoon javelins largest warrior in the head, killing him. Bandits flee. Ring with precious stone obtained from large warrior. Group's pack horse flees during battle; Kosmas spends two hours tracking and recovering the animal.

Group continues on. Kosmas spies Nikostas on a hilltop, insists on searching for him. No Nikostas nor evidence of Nikostas is found, however, straggling bandits are following the group. Insults are shouted, revenge for "Grog" is sworn by now-smaller band of bandits. Bandits avoid engaging group directly.

Group reaches Anzion, modest town of about 200 people along the Thannes river. Most of the town is on the far side of the river. In town, Group hears of passage of Nikostas and crew. Two days earlier they had arrived and coerced a farmer to take them across the river. Anzion residents are angry and resentful, but did not pursue the offenders. Group sleeps at a farmstead for the night.

Kosmas picks up the trail of Nik & Co and group resumes pursuit. Kosmas finds a campsite, at which the trail becomes confused. Group concludes that Leusa escaped from campsite and fled, pursued by N & Co sometime later. Group follows trail and becomes lost, eventually making their way to a village. They find that Leusa did escape and made it to this village (no name), home to her brother Pheneus. Pheneus, Leusa, and one of Pheneus's friends left the village and headed northwest to the town of Tychaia where Leusa can be protected. Group continues to follow this trail of Leusa, soon finding evidence of Nikostas on the same trail, presumably in pursuit of Leusa.

Group encounters travelling merchants headed to Tychaia. Iason buys a jug of whiskey. Negotiations for sale of Grog's ring are attempted, but Iason notices some surreptitious signaling between the merchants, and the offer of 15 silver pieces is rejected.