Pilgrimage on the Railroad

Pilgrimage on the Railroad was the first session of the PolUK D&D campaign, inaugurating Chapter One: the Relic Hunt. The adventurers were tasked by Brother Parvus, custos of the Order of the Brothers and Sisters of Many Ways in Swiety Janusz, with checking up on a way-priory along the Ways of Saint Avandra in the middle of the Kalnozeme Confederacy's territory.

The tavern and the friary
The adventuring party, for reasons of their own that weren't ever quite made clear, find themselves in a tavern in Swiety Janusz as the city is abuzz with excitement over the inauguration of a new superior of the Many-Wayed Brothers. They, however, are not bothered, and as the procession files by and they conclude they cannot see what all the fuss is about, they decide to go back in and return to drinking. As Aethelred and Skirgaila strike up the beginning of a conversation over a cup of water and ale, respectively, they hear that the new custos might well have work for them. As he wants to pay, the human fighter finds his purse gone. The culprit, Ander, a good-hearted Halfling thief, uses it to pay for a room at the tavern and gives the rest to a beggar. Aethelred does not notice this, though Ander keeps his distance rather timidly. In the meantime, Skirgaila is striking up conversation with a rather ugly barmaid, who he, under the influence of his drink, believes is quite stunning. Striking out, he retires, followed by the rest of the party - although Aethelred is forced to sleep in the barn.

The next morning, the three take breakfast together, joined by Rellim. The breakfast is quite hearty, consisting of sausages, mash and bacon. Not being familiar with the concept of cutlery, Skirgaila attacks the meal with his hands. Not satisfied with this, Aethelred tries to teach the barbarian some table manners by producing a fork and showing how it's used. Skirgaila then, to much hilarity, attempts replication with his greataxe, leaving a huge dent in his plate and a sausage catapulted right through the common room. The rather prejudiced bartender asks him to pay up (he had previously made borderline racist remarks about savages). Meanwhile, Ander has attempted to steal from Skirgaila, who notices it but misplaces it as a friendly gesture. The group decides to go to the Friary of St. Avandra to obtain some work.

At the Friary, they are greeted by the doorkeeper, Brother Silentius, a hulking goliath of little words. After a brief pause, the party are led into the chapterhouse, where they meet Brother Parvus and Knight-Prioress Inga. The latter's presence causes some tension with Skirgaila, who recognises her as a converted Kalnozeme - this leads to a brief altercation. Brother Parvus then tells the party that the Ways of Saint Avandra are part of his sacred duties and that he is concerned that he hasn't heard from the Way-Priory nearest to Swiety Janusz. He is particularly worried about a holy relic kept at the Way-Priory and asks the party to keep a lookout. With his blessing, they leave.

Following the Waystones
The party quickly recalls that the Ways of Saint Avandra are marked by Waystones, huge standing stones with arrows on them pointing the direction of the next Waystone. The problem is that these stones are a beloved target for Kalnozeme raids, and from the second Waystone onward, the path quickly disappears. Using their knowledge of the area, Skirgaila and Aethelred figure out that the Way-Priories hug the mountains on the west side of the hills, so as not to lead the pilgrims right across Kalnozeme lands. With this information, they track the next Waystone.

As they return to the next Waystone, they notice the day is getting on, and decide to pitch camp. As they sit around the campfire, Vertigorn, having wandered the hills since the death of his family, stumbles upon the camp. Skirgaila, who is on watch, fails to notice this, but Aethelred, from his tree-tent, does, screaming "orc! orc!" and alarming the party, leading to several ready actions liable to do serious damage to the half-orc. Vertigorn offers his name and his father's name to Skirgaila, however, leading to a flash of recognition which causes Skir to call for the rest of the party not to shoot him. They agree that Vertigorn is allowed to sleep just outside the camp - which he does, eventually, after some very annoying fake snoring.

The next day, they break up camp (without any breakfast-related mishaps), with Vertigorn joining them. They pick up the track of the Waystones easily until terrain gets a little rougher and they have to find their way across. Their Survival instincts lead them totally off-direction, until they pass by a ruined watchtower, where a trio of impertinent goblins makes an inpromptu entry by rugby-tackling Vertigorn, who spends the ensuing encounter lying flat on his face as a result. Meanwhile, the rest of the party makes easy pickings of the offending two goblins, who soon find the business end of Aethelred's two swords. The third, gripped by cowardice, runs away down the hillside, but with the party closing on him, makes the mistake of wanting to go too fast, ending flat on his face in a delicious blast of irony. The others make short work of the little guy as Vertigorn gets to his feet.

The party decides that a vantage point would make it easier to find their way, and scramble up the tower. Through sheer acrobatic skill and a national 20, Ander stands on top of the tower for quite a while when Aethelred and Skir finally reach it, looking all smug and asking what is taking them so long. This is a mistake, as Aethelred then tries to slap Ander, but he misses and realises it isn't quite a good idea. From the top of the tower, the party spots the Way-Priory, or what is left of it, in the distance.

The ruined Way-Priory
As the party approaches the ruined Priory, they hear the sound of chanting monks coming from it. Drawing closer, some in the party realise that it's not a natural sound (except Skirgaila, who vehemently maintains it is). They are soon proven right as they catch 4 Kenku skulking around the ruins, leading into a combat encounter in which, despite the Kenku's annoying mimicry and penchant for stealth, they make short work of them. The encounter ends as Vertigorn snaps the legs of the last Kenku and sends it bowling in two parts across the courtyard.

As the dust settles, a voice behind the party says "well done, very impressive."

Awards

 * Most Valuable Player: Aethelred
 * Most Valuable Role-Player: Ander
 * Best Moment: Skirgaila's attempt to eat a sausage using his battleaxe.