#Harbin Wester

[wolfman-al]

Drew some Dungeons and Dragons NPCs from the basis campaign "Dragon of Icespire Peak" that my players have encountert by now. Harbin Wester is the mayor of the village of Phandalin, he is a useless, opportunistic coward, in short a politician. He is also the questgiver of the campaign. Linene Graywind is the weapons and armour dealer in the village. Elmar Barthen is the Trader of supplies in the village. Ander and Thistle are the assistants of Elmar. Their race and gender and how they look like is not described in the campaign bok, so I decided to describe them as a female halfelf and a very buff halfling. The characters belong to Wizards of the Coast, thisis merely my interpretation of them.

[quillowisp]

From my Phandelver and Below: Shattered Obelisk handout pack on Etsy.

This is Harbin Wester's family Crest. The colors are kind of obnoxious, but I figured that fit the character, at least how I read them

[dooblewoop]

wip of my high elf bard who invented the d&d equivalent of 2000s punk rock. she plays air guitar and got the paladin addicted to drugs cause she was curious what would happen. she’s a spoiled asshole and I love her.

[adventurous-adventures]

10 November 2024

It has been decided that the title of this session is: Autism

We've leveled up to level 6!

Zain makes a powermove, giving Raven 1 level in Barbarian.

"Yep Alex keep slurping it up" - Zain (not a sex joke)

"There was so much cream in there." - Alex (definitely a sex joke)

"Twas not." - Alex. "That's what she said." - Zain

"Silence in the crunch" - Georgie

*points to Zain* "Autism." - Mick

Lara: *puts a rock on the table. Mick: "Sex"

Georgie wore their dice tray as a hat.

After the successful quest at Axholm, Raven and co. Go to Harbin Wester's house for the payment.

Tweed rips open Harbin's door. (Georgie rolls a slutty 20)

The party has earned 250 gold pieces. They go to the Blue Lions' weaponry to retrieve the silvered weapons.

There are still 2 side quests left: the dragon barrow sword and the brainwashed orcs quest. There is also the side quest to go back to the mountain and kill the wererats.

The party head to the stonehill inn to meet Don John.

Lara makes a suggestive hand gesture to Georgie (Georgie was shaking their dice tray full of dice.)

Her mouth was full of water. Zain tells them to swallow. Lara gets banished to the kitchen.

Don John is spotted at a table. Raven approaches him alone. He didn't need much persuasion as Don agrees to help Raven and the party with killing the wererats.

Raven remembers the Dwarves at the mine and suggests to head to the miners' exchange.

Don John meets the ghosts for the first time.

Zain remembers the group talking about the claylight (fleshlight made of clay).

Zain keeps playing meme soundboards.

Zain is probably gonna enjoy the sex jokes when he starts running his campaign.

more meme soundboard sounds.

There is a receptionist.

James Charles jumpscare.

Alex has a schizo moment (he has two NPCs interacting with one another.)

Turns out the Dwarves are out at Stormweadow hills which is past Neverwinter wood. Harmonoia suggests undertaking the quest with the woodland manse and Don John agrees with that decision.

Don John decides to go to Barthens to grab a bottle of wine. Harmonoia goes to get it as Don John is too drunk to get there.

Harmonoia grabs a bottle of Merlot wine and hands it to Tweed.

More sex jokes. Featuring Georgie getting their "dick" out of Alex's mouth.

"Well Kid, I hope you can see." - Raven

Dhampnir don't need to breathe.

"Long story short, Alex has no gag reflex." - Mick

"I never said that!" - Alex

Georgie was gonna put a pen...inis mouth.

When the party reaches the hunting lodge, there is a huge fortress nearby.

Harmonoia rings the bell. An old fella pops his head out. Turns out he is one of Falcon's staff.

The party is invited into the lodge.

When the party enters the sleeping barracks, Raven feels a sense of familiarity.

"I prefer my Orcs alive." - Dewdrop

Falcon appears and is quite attractive according to Harmonoia.

Falcon mentions that the Orcs have stick figure creatures travel with them. Harmonoia is able to remember hearing tales of blights and how they are created.

The spellcasters seem to take residence of the stone manse in the woods.

Raven hears the noise of a dragon's wings...

Raven leads the party outside and he spots Cryovain approaching them.

Cryovain vs the party 2...to be continued.

Other exciting news! Zain is planning on running a sequel campaign to this one.

[hidefdoritos]

DND Advice Required:

I'm running "Dragon of Icespire Peak" as a newbie DM. My players refused to accept Townmaster Harbin Wester's canonical cowardice, choosing to rip the door off his house and drag him outside. I invented an emergency NPC named Ishmael to stop them. Ishmael is now the de facto acting mayor, but doesn't like it yet.

Harbin Wester could get a cool new bravery arc and take his rightful place again.

Ishmael could be elected Townmaster and end up enjoying it. Maybe even a little too much. Maybe setting up a cool backstab for the party (though that requires me to plan).

The absent priestess of the city (don't have the module with me to check her name) could come back from Neverwinter and go "OH NO" and take on leadership with a religious twist.

Big Al Kalazorn (from Butterskull Ranch) could come into town with my PCs and decide that people aren't too much more complex than cattle. (Unrelated: One of my players hit on him very openly while he was still tied up, and Al was very into it. They're together now.)

Tibor Wester (Logging Camp owner) could come to town and run for Townmaster against his cowardly brother. It just comes down to characters and timing.

[historiasdehernas]

Canções de Briga e Bebida: Episódio 26 e 27

Aventura: A Mina Perdida de Fandelver

Episódio 26: Folhárvore

O grupo decide começar sua viagem até Folhárvore para encontrar o Tesouro de Mirna e o dragão Venosso, antes de partirem o grupo faz algumas compras no Empório do Barthen mas são surpreendidos por uma estranha situação. Sildar e Halia discutem a plenos pulmões no meio da rua, pois Halia Espinheiro enviou Iarno "Cajado de Vidro" Albrek para Pax-Maxima, a cidade-prisão, para onde são enviados os inimigos do Rei. Halia também tirou o posto de burgomestre de Harbin Wester e transformou os bandidos da Escória Vermelha em seus soldados.

    Os aventureiros deixam a cidade sabendo que Halia é agora a nova burgomestra de Fandalin e iniciam sua viagem a Folhárvore. O grupo passa uma semana na estrada mas finalmente chegam até a aldeia de Folhárvore no Bosque das Folhas Dourados. É uma aldeia abandonada e em ruínas, a mata parece ter tomado conta da aldeia e suas estruturas já estão em ruínas. O grupo atravessa a aldeia inteira até que Blanco é capturado por uma estranha figura, o captor revela ser Reidoth, o druida responsável por aquela parte do Bosque e que acha que Blanco não é um druida de verdade, pois de acordo com Reidoth o pequenino não aprendeu através dos meios naturais e sim de livros em um pergaminho, nunca teve um mestre da natureza para ensina-lo e julga o halfling por viver na cidade com os “amigos do metal”.

    Depois disso o druida aconselha o grupo a matar Venosso e que os ajudará chegando como o elemento surpresa da batalha. O grupo então vai até a torre do dragão e percebe que a câmara está vazia a não ser pelo baú do tesouro em um dos cantos da sala, mas quando chegam até o baú, Venosso se revela estar se escondendo na abóboda do lado de fora da torre onde se esconde, ele os aborda a respeito do que vieram fazer na aldeia. O grupo conta de seus planos e Venosso os diz que Reidoth foi quem matou as pessoas da aldeia pois elas serviam ao dragão e diz que se matarem o druida, ele os deixará copiar o mapa, mas se partirem da aldeia sem atacar Reidoth ele mesmo os caçará. Assim o grupo deixa a torre do dragão para decidir como irão agir.

Episódio 27: O Druida impiedoso

    O grupo se reencontra com Ivan e Yolanda para decidir o melhor curso de ação, diversas ideias são botadas a mesa e o fato de que os dois seres, tanto o dragão quanto o druida estão mentindo, o dragão mente sobre quem causou a destruição da vila e o druida mente sobre ajuda-los a enfrentar Venosso. O grupo decide então tentar fazer os dois se encontrarem. Venosso não abandonaria seu tesouro facilmente e Reidoth segue o grupo mesmo sabendo que eles estão tentando manipula-lo.

    Ao subirem a torre acompanhados de Reidoth, o druida e o dragão tem uma conversa intensa mas Reidoth decide deixar o dragão matar os aventureiros como punição por tentar manipula-lo. A batalha entre o grupo e essas duas forças começa, por alguns instantes os heróis se dividem, com metade deles atacando Venosso e a outra metade atacando Reidoth.

Venosso da poderosos golpes e sopro venenoso enquanto Mialee e Balthasar tentam ao seu máximo segura lo. Reidoth transforma Ivan e Algacir em ratos antes de sair da torre e Blanco decide que é melhor desistir de tentar enfrentar os dois seres ao mesmo tempo. Balthasar utiliza suas técnicas de combate e milagres concedidos por Ristaran, (o deus da tempestade) para dar trabalho ao dragão, Blanco e Ivan revezam seus golpes na fera e Mialee surpreende o grupo com uma incrível bola de fogo que acerta em cheio Venosso.

    Depois de muitos golpes Venosso tenta fugir pelo teto da torre mas Balthasar acerta uma flecha em cheio no pescoço do dragão que cai como um meteoro de volta ao chão. O grupo vasculha e pega para si o tesouro do dragão, nele encontram também o Mapa da Caverna das Ondas Trovejantes, enquanto estão saindo da parte de cima da torre eles encontram Reidoth com um dos pés de madeira em cima do peito do cadáver dracônico, com fúria Algacir e Blanco vão pra cima do druida mesmo depois do grupo os avisar que aquilo era uma péssima ideia.

    Reidoth é implacável, desfere magias poderosas nos dois aventureiros e acaba por matar Algacir mesmo com os pedidos de clemência de Balthasar, Blanco consegue fugir da torre mas Reidoth o alcança e o fere com uma magia solar poderosa, antes de cair inconsciente Reidoth ainda sussurra no ouvido do pequeno que Aiga estava desperdiçando poder com ele e que ele não passava de um "Rato da cidade". O grupo recolhe Blanco e o corpo morto de Algacir e vão em direção novamente a aldeia de Fandalin.

    A viagem é quieta e cheia de pesar, o grupo entrega o corpo aos goblins da Tribo Boca Escarpada que recebem o cadáver do Cavaleiro Prateado e dizem que "Ele foi um goblin que foi longe demais da caverna", os goblins o enterram junto dos outros membros da tribo que morreram e o grupo segue viagem até Fandalin para decidir qual seu próximo passo.

[thefox1982]

The Sleeping Giant

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=thelsamar&client=ms-android-h3g-gb&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9wL2w94raAhVnIcAKHSETDRIQ_AUIESgB&biw=360&bih=560

This rundown tap house is a dirty, dangerous watering hole at the end of Phandalin's main street. It was frequented by Redbrand thugs and operated by a surly female dwarf named Grista. Grista left after a pair of elven sourcerers began making trouble in the pub, murdering and maiming honest patrons with their Eldritch powers. Fortunately for the town Harbin Wester, aided by Sildar Hallwinter, drove off these evil elves, fought a band of Redbrands and brought them in for questioning. The story is disputed on various points.

The Sleeping Giant, as it is initially found, is a single story building, built in the remains of an existing structure that stood at the time of the fall of Phandelver and Old Phandalin. It does not have any windows set into the walls and only a great front door in the front and a smaller door to the rear leading to the privy. A teared roof had originally been designed to let in some natural light during the day, however lack of cleaning has lead this to be covered by soot and dust.

The interior currently consists of a large common room, with a long bar, a fire place, and lots of small tables and stools. Both the bar and floor boards are rough hewn and of poor quality. The floor boards creak under foot. To the rear of the building are two other rooms; a small office/living space and a store room. The partitions are also of poor craftsmanship.

The current stock is of low grade; many barrels and stoneware jugs focused less on the journey and more on the efficiency to get the drinker to destination fucked.

A DC 10 stone cunning check or a DC 15 history check will reveal this location to be of dwarven architecture, and a bares runic inscriptions of being the establishment of a brew master. The cost of repairing this tap house to a working state would be 2200gp with an additional 10% of earnings each year as tax to Neverwinter.

Levelling up the building involves excavating down. The original structure was mostly beneath the ground and remains there.

Although made of stout dwarven masonry this public house is an establishment and not a fortification.

[adventuresofdroop]

You Can’t Go Home

Hours later, the cart came to a stop in a derelict control station similar to the one they had just departed. Exiting the long-ago rotted away wooden doors, they saw that they were indeed in a familiar stretch of the Sword Mountains.

Carefully making their way over to the entrance to Wave Echo Cave, Ander did some reconnaissance and spied out a small army of many, many bandits, a couple of spectators, and something Daskan eventually recognized as a death slaad.

Thanks to their stealthy approach, they were able to get the drop on this force. Sha’shi’ summoned another fireball to deal with most of the bandits immediately, while the rest of the party charged forward and focused down the spectators. The slaad was a little more troublesome, but it was never able to unleash its full horrors before Ander and Ser Winstrock quickly dispatched it.

Forcing their way through the barricade at the entrance, they proceeded warily, expecting further waves of enemies within. They eventually met with resistance, but after a few trigger happy spells and crossbow bolts, the party discovered they were fighting the dwarves!

The Rockseeker brothers quickly came to greet them and reported on what had been happening. Uncertain who had sent this force to take the cave, they did know whoever it was must be connected with beholderkin to command the allegiance of the spectators and a death slaad.

Before providing any reward, the party was beckoned deeper into the mine toward the forge. On the way, Nundro pointed out the repaired water wheel; the disruption caused by the tour group infiltrator was more shocking and disorienting than it was permanently damaging.

Gundren explained that they had made great progress in restoring the forge; they could now permanently imbue basic enchantments, but had reached the limit if what they were able to achieve without an arcane expert with more knowledge of the kind of magic powering the forge.

Each of the party members was given either an enchanted piece of armor or could have one of their pieces of equipment imbued.

Sedoris confessed at this point that her mentor, Elanil Reylamin, was just such an expert of the arcane. This was why she had been sent north to find the forge. This scholar was based in Waterdeep to the south.

The party seemed shocked by this revelation, though mostly by the fact that she had concealed her true intentions when she first joined the company. Sedoris was able to smooth over this conflict with a heartfelt speech about her newfound sense of belonging and family.

[author’s note: sadly, despite being a bard, it was not delivered in song as this gif would suggest]

This was underscored a day later when the group chose to return to Phandalin to check in on their mansion. When she saw what was her bedroom, the first time she could ever say that in her life, she was temporarily overcome with a wave of emotions.

Everyone else was very pleased with the progress on their home base. The furnishings and decorations were very much to their liking, but they spotted the glaring oversight that was a lack of bathrooms upstairs.

[author’s note: it was actually the DM not paying attention when building the map, but it fit so well to the in-game story to have the corrupt townmaster take the blame]

They departed having left instructions that this be rectified in their absence.

While in town, they learned that an election was soon taking place due to some unrest surrounding the behavior of the townmaster, Harbin Wester. He stood accused of embezzling and using his position to enrich himself. The owner of the Stonehill Inn, Toblen, was running for the office. Ander and Winstrock in particular enthusiastically offered the endorsement of JBI.

Enraged by the possibility that the funds they had given this man for their renovations may have been misappropriated, Sha’shi’ led a charge to the townmaster’s hall. There was no answer to the knock at the door, so Ander picked the lock to let them in.

Harbin was indeed present and seemed oddly nervous about their intrusion rather than outraged. They questioned him about the ongoing scandal, whereupon Harbin became extremely defensive and tried to quickly shoo everyone out the door.

They decided to return only a short time later, again ignoring the locked door. Upon exploring the house, they found Harbin hanging by his neck from a rafter in a bedroom upstairs. No evidence of the money remained and there was nothing of value left in the house.

Reporting this news to the rest of the townsfolk at the inn, it seemed the election was now moot. Several seemed to think Harbin had escaped justice by taking the coward’s way out, but most were just relieved that they could soon get on with their lives.

On their way to check on their newly-restored manor, they noticed activity around the old Sleeping Giant (formerly a Redbrand hideout). Knocking on the front door, they were greeted by their new neighbor, Thirselda Opalmantle, and her husband, Gorfouc.

They had just moved to town — as had many others since the discovery of Wave Echo Cave had kicked off a boom in Phandalin — and were restoring the building to use as a brewery and taphouse. They had heard rumors that the adventuring party was back in town and would be heading south. Thirselda begged Winstrock to help her: apparently her brother, Bossuk, has a chronic gambling problem.

He refused to come north to Phandalin. She hadn’t heard from him in a while and feared he might be in trouble again. Could the party check on him and deliver a message asking him to come to Phandalin? They agreed, and were thrilled to receive a promise of free beer upon their return.

Before setting off for Waterdeep, the group decided to check on some more old friends in town.

Sister Garaele was most grateful to hear of their rescue of her fellow Harper, Lorabella, in Yartar. She eventually revealed that she was concerned for another Harper agent in Waterdeep who had not reported in for quite some time. It turns out this agent was none other than Sedoris’ mentor, Elanil Reylamin.

Quelline Alderleaf was concerned that her son, Carp, was trying to sneak off to the woods to feed the owlbears. He speaks of nothing but helping the adventurers, and dreams of being a druid himself one day, just like Daskan.

 Ander and Daskan tried to convince Carp that he was still young and should be patient but continue his studies, but they also talked to his mother to say that she should nurture this gift rather than try to crush it. Perhaps he should spend some time with his other druid friend, Reidoth, who lives nearby in Thundertree.

Finally, the team decided to depart after spending the night in their newly renovated mansion.

[odinspattern]

Search history: Lilli!

It was harder to narrow down than I thought!

Rhymes to keep remembering gnomish kinship terms

Top ten jerks in Desarin Valley (trying to get some leads on finding Harbin Wester)

Why can’t forest gnomes be sad?

Sexy words in any language

Unicorns how to take them down

[thelastarchangelaskblog]

Inconveniencing People

@rebaobsessions and @thechaoticwave deserve all the recognition for the work they put in. <3

...do you want to find out how to inconvenience people with sixty nails and three hammers? Takes place right after the conversation Tony and Bob had about what to do about a certain townmaster.

D&D Campaign RPs

**

(Read more.)

Tony and Bob are standing outside the Townmaster's - one Harbin Wester - hall at a time that is far too early for Tony's taste but was necessary for this.

Bob: So... I distract, you sneak and loot and maybe nail doors?

Tony: Sounds like a plan. (He pats at the bag where all the incriminating [and falsified] sheets of paper are.) Let's be quiet to start with.

They appear to have gone unnoticed entering the building, and Tony quietly closes the door behind them.

Tony: Okay, that door over there is where Mr. Wester's office is. I can't tell you if he's here or not at this time. But that other door over there is what we'll investigate, and then I can figure out which door we want to nail shut. (Tony says "Mr. Wester" like it's a disease.)

Bob: Do you want to split up for this or go together?

Tony: Why don't you wait right there in case he is up. I'll check this door out.

Bob: Sure thing.

Tony carefully heads over to the other door he only briefly noted in his earlier visit. He hopes it's not locked, which it is not. Tony turns the knob, checking whether it's a pull-or-push door. He's seen Rhodey accidentally push instead of pull one too many times. (And done it himself as well.) 

Inside are a couple of unoccupied cells. This appears to be Briarbane's town lockup.

Tony: Huh. (He sounds slightly disappointed.) I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this... Shouldn't there be any guards?

Tony steps inside the room, checking over his shoulder to see if Bob is still standing out there. He had been extremely surprised on accidentally calling him Bob earlier that morning and not being told that wasn't his name. 

Bob stands guard. 

There's nothing really of interest in the cells. 

Tony is very disappointed. Honestly, he wasn't sure what he'd expected but it wasn't this. Well, it did at least confirm his decision to not put caltrops at Wester's feet.

Tony: I'm surprised there aren't beds in here. Not that there's likely to be much crime here. And even if there were they'd probably get off just for knowing someone.

Tony steps back out the lockup, giving Bob a small wave. 

Tony: So, absolutely nothing of interest in there beyond some cells. Nailing doors shut was your idea. Should we do the front door, office, or the lockup?

Bob: I would suggest locking the lockup up, but we might need it... We could throw him in, too, maybe.

Tony: ...Nah, I'm not that heartless. Maybe if he did something worse…  Locking the lockup up sounds like a terrible idea. What if they need it for the Redbrands? ...The ones we didn't kill, that is. I think there's still one missing his boots.

Bob: Unless he's managed to pick two locks, yeah.

Tony: With what? His fingernails?

Bob: He might be so desperate that he's broken the bars, too, I don't know

Tony: If he were that strong he would have managed to lay a hit on Rhodey.

Bob: Anyways, I suggest that we sleuth more before we start nailing any doors, the sound will probably wake our beloved townmaster up.

Tony: Sure thing. (He glances towards the office.) Let's see if he's up or not. It'd be for the best if he only thinks one of us is here if he is in there.

Bob: At this hour? He probably sleeps until noon.

Tony: ...You have a point. (He rubs at his eyes.) I'd still be asleep at this time. Be my guest. (He waves at the door.)

Bob heads towards the door and eases it open. Nobody's inside, the office is dark.

Tony: Anyone in there? (He looms over Bob's shoulder.)

Bob: Nobody inside.

Tony: Awesome. Let's take a look at his desk and see if there's anything interesting in there. We might run into something about the mines or Cragmaw Castle.

Bob heads over to the desk and takes a look-see. Tony follows after Bob, looking at the other drawers that Bob isn't investigating. Tony finds some papers indicating that more than one townsperson had repeatedly complained about the Redbrands. They were shoved into the bottom of a low drawer; looks like Wester was doing his best to ignore the trouble.

Tony (muttering): Of course. That doesn't surprise me at all. Find anything, Bob? (He's looking through the other drawers, and finds a really nice quill pen. Tony considers the pen and then shrugs and pockets it.)

Bob: Want to take the ink, too?

Tony: Sure. (He also takes the ink.) Find anything here? (He straightens to look at the other papers on the desk.)

Bob: I don't see anything, but feel free if you want to take a look.

Tony: Hm. (He looks himself.)

Tony: Well, guess this guy isn't that terrible for how poorly he thinks of orcs… I can't blame him too much for not wanting to go up against the Redbrands considering there was a wizard at the helm. Anyway...we found what we wanted to... So, what door? (He does go back to the lower drawer, taking out the evidence that Wester ignored the town's complaints about the Redbrands. Maybe there's something he can do with it.)

Tony looks for a blank sheet of parchment, and finds one. Tony slides back to sit in the chair, pulling out his stolen quill and the ink bottle, contemplating what he might want to do with this new information… It takes a few minutes, but Tony finally decides to abandon the fresh sheet of paper and instead go for the complaints, finding blank spaces on the papers to write on.

“Best place this with the others.”

“Why can't they stop sending these?”

“What am I supposed to do about this?”

“Ignore it and it'll go away.”

Bob: Time for a talk, while you write?

Tony: Which door do you want nailed?

Bob: Well, I do want to talk to him but I don't want to trap us as well.. What do

Tony: We have windows. (He looks at Bob.) You can fly. I'm not nailing any windows shut.

Bob: Yeah, but then the dearest townmaster can also climb out.

Tony thinks back to Wester and how acrobatic he seemed.

Tony: ...Really.

Bob: I don't know, I've never met him face-to-face

Tony: ...I'll nail the windows down here shut. I don't think he can climb down two stories. So, we're not doing the lockup. Should we lock him out of his office since he doesn't seem to be doing his work?

Bob: Sure. Very poetic, too.

Tony: So some nails for the windows in here so he can't get in... Well, I'm not locking myself in... What if I jam a chair under the knob so he can't open it? But that wouldn't work here. (He's looking at the door.) Okay, nails for the windows, then nails for the door. Bob, you're on the guy.

Bob: Hells yeah. Nail us in, and I smash the windows. Best found-date. Ever.

Tony: …  Okay, first of all, that's not what I said. Second of all...it's your found-date? Is that like a birthday? Is it your birthday and you didn't tell us?

Bob: We just acknowledged them briefly in the monastery, they're not usually this fun.

Tony: So it's definitely your birthday, which means I have the dubious honor of being the first to wish you Happy Birthday. Have a piece of candy. (He pulls out his jar of rock candy.)

Bob: Thank you, Tony. (He takes a piece and puts it in his mouth)

Tony: Going back to the first point...I never said I'd nail us in. I specifically said I'm not locking myself in.

Bob: You can go out, and nail me and the townmaster in

Tony: The townmaster isn't even here! And even if he were here, he'd go out the moment he noticed someone nailing him in!

Bob: I thought he slept here..

Tony: Do you see a bed in this office.

Bob: But since the door opens like this, you can nail the windows while I nail this door, and then smash the window. ...No

Tony: What's the point of nailing the windows shut if you then smash them open.

Bob: I thought he couldn't climb up here.

Tony: ...This is the first floor. We're on the ground. He can't climb up anywhere.

Bob: Oh wait. YEah!

Tony just stares blankly at him.

Bob: Whoops?

Tony sighs, rubbing at his temples.

Tony: Okay, how about...how about we nail this stuff up around town while everyone else is still asleep and then do the door? Maybe you'll be more awake by then.

Bob: Okay, yeah. Plan good.-- I mean good plan

Tony rearranges the papers on the desk to look like no one was here (hopefully) and then closes the drawers and sets the chair back. Tony kindly doesn't say anything about Bob's goof-up.

Tony: Okay, these just need to be scattered around. Nowhere too close to each other. Make sure they're on ground-level so folks can read them. (short pause) Make sure they're at eye-level. Not actually on the ground. We're not looking for ants to read these.

Bob: Gotcha

Tony: ...Tell me what eye-level is. Better yet, show me.

Bob: Eye-boop level

Tony: At one point that may have made sense but it makes no sense right now. What is eye-boop level.

Bob goes to boop Tony, then pauses and lifts his finger so it's even with Tony's eye. Tony lurches back. 

Tony: No booping the eyes!

Bob: That's not a thing?

Tony: It's not!

Bob: Okay. Um, well, this level?

Tony: That is definitely an eye-level, but not everyone's going to be as tall as me. Try your own eye-level.

Bob: My own, or slightly lower?

Tony looks down at all 5'2" feet of Bob.

Tony: Your own. Your own eye-level being with your feet on the ground.

Bob: That makes sense, yes. Paper time now?

Tony: I am so glad that makes sense. Yes, paper time now. Here's your half.

Bob: Sweet. Paper Time!

Before they leave, Bob scratches an angry face on the front of the townhall.

Tony sighs, but does go off in a separate direction to put his papers up. He gives Bob a hammer and nails before he leaves. Tony finds various odds and ends to put the sheets of papers up. He puts the evidence of him ignoring the Redbrands right outside the townmaster‘s house.

Bob goes around the town, hammering the papers in. Before each paper, he rechecks that he's on the ground, traces his eyeline to the place where he's supposed to nail and then hammers the nail in. After all the papers are gone, he flies back to the townhall, keeping an eye out for anywhere the townmaster might be sleeping. They meet back up at the hall easily enough.

Bob notices that the second floor entrance is via a flight of stairs at the back of the house, instead of being accessible from the main area.

Bob: Tony, I know how to get onto the second floor. Do you want to come with, or..?

Tony: Hm, no. I’m gonna get started on these windows and the door. I’ve said all I can to him. You do know that you could have flown up there?

Bob: True enough. Meet here again when we're done, or do you want to go back to the group when we're finished with our business?

Tony: I’ve got something to do which might take up more time, and I really don’t want to have anyone fussing over me. So you have your conversation with Wester and please tell me exactly what happened.

He takes the remaining nails back from Bob as well as the hammer.

Bob: Good luck to us both, then.

Tony: Remember, tell me everything!

Bob throws him a thumbs-up as he starts towards the stairs. Tony sneaks back into the main house to get started on nailing the windows shut from the inside before he moves to the office door. Tony gets started on nailing one shut as Bob gets up to the second floor. Bob tries the door handle, but finds it locked. So he flies back down to Tony. 

Bob: The door is locked, help please?

Tony has just managed a nail in one window.

Tony: Is it? I’ll give it a shot. (He pulls out a lockpick.)

Tony steps back once the lock clicks open, gives Bob a thumbs up, and then sneaks back down.

Bob: Thanks!

Tony continues his task of nailing the office shut.

Bob slams the door open and steps in. Astonishingly, that's not enough to wake the townmaster, who is asleep in the bedroom. Bob is amazed at this fool not stirring from the noise. But, taking advantage of the slumber, he scans the room.

It's a relatively fancy bedroom, for such a small town and small-time politics. Nice bed, a small desk and stool, but it looks like it's more for getting ready in the morning. There's a small pitcher and a dish for water on top of it.

Bob gently opens the wardrobe, revealing clothes. Bob takes them anyways and dumps them outside the floor and onto the stairs, closing the wardrobe as he does so.

The townmaster wakes the fuck up. Slamming doors is permissible, but his clothes....the indignity

Tony (downstairs): He’s probably confusing the hell out of that guy.

Townmaster Wester: What? Who are you?! My clothes!

Bob: Oh great, you're up. Seriously, how the hell do you not wake up from a door slamming, but you wake up from clothes theft?

Townmaster Wester: What are - who - what's going - my clothes!

He tries to scramble out of bed but gets tangled in the sheets. The man's an unruly sleeper.

Bob: Haaaa, no. Stay down. So, I was told that we need to have a little chat.

Wester goes white.

Townmaster Wester: Are you - you're not - one of the Redbrands?? But I haven't done anything to you!

Bob: I'm not a Redbrand, no. Dangerous, though, yes.

Somehow Wester goes whiter.

Bob: So... (He somehow gives the impression of smiling.) Someone told me that you're a racist.

TW: Huh....?

Bob: Oh boy. Orcs? Does that ring a bell?

Townmaster Wester: But how do you - are you spying on me?

Bob: As if you're worth time spying on.

Townmaster Wester: Then how....how...

He's clutching his blankets protectively.

Bob: That's not important. However, I thought you should know that some beings really don't appreciate your attitude towards them.

Townmaster Wester: Are you here to....

He swallows nervously. Bob casts Delusion, planting the image of an orc glowering at TW from behind him. He jumps and presses himself against the headboard of the bed, looking too scared to say anything.

Bob: See, that. Why'd you do that?

Townmaster Wester: Because you're threatening me!

Bob: No, I just wanted to talk to you. Whenever did I threaten you?

Townmaster Wester: When you broke into my house! You said you were dangerous!

Bob (shrugging): It was urgent. Okay yeah, fine, but I'm not going to hurt you. Don't worry about that.

Townmaster Wester relaxes slightly.

Bob: I'm still curious why you reacted like that to the orc, but not to me..

Downstairs, Tony has moved on to the second window

Townmaster Wester: It - it just appeared out of nowhere! Without even a sound!

Bob: Cool. Technically, I did that too, only with sound..

Townmaster Wester: What do you want from me?

Bob: Ideally, for you to stop being racist and to do you job.

Townmaster Wester: But...I do do my job.

Bob: You sit there and wish for things to go away, I wouldn't exactly call that "doing your job."

Townmaster Wester: They do go away! It's a small town, people work things out!

Bob: Cool. So, still not doing your job.

Bob shifts so that the Townsmaster can't see the image of the orc, then lets the illusion fade away.

Townmaster Wester: Are you.......from Valsgarde?

Bob: Sure, we can go with that. Why do you ask?

Townmaster Wester: ...You're not here on official business, are you?

Bob: You're pretty much an official, I have business with you, boom: official business.

Townmaster Wester: That's not what I meant!

Bob shrugs.

Bob: That's the answer you're getting.

Townmaster Wester: What do you want me to do??

Tony has figured out how to nail windows shut and is moving on to the door.

Bob: Do your job properly. Stop being a racist, speciest person that pays others to kill innocents for you. You know what, I don't even think you have that much gold.

Wester says nothing.

Bob: Where are you keeping the gold?

Townmaster Wester: It's - it's in the safe, under the wardrobe. It's just tax money.

Bob: Yeah? How much are you taxing the people?

Townmaster Wester: Only what it takes to pay the Queen's tax collectors!

Bob: Okay. But if the people say any different, I’m coming right back here.

Tony has never nailed a door shut before but he seems to be doing okay. It doesn’t really want to open anymore. He keeps hammering. Townmaster Wester is just waiting to see what Bob does next.

Bob: So! Nice chatting with you, I hope you keep the lessons in mind. See you around. 

Bob takes the handle of the door, but before he completely closes it, he casts Darkness, plunging the room into an inky black. Then he shuts the door completely.

Tony and Bob hear a cry of surprise as the door is slammed, again. Tony startles slightly at the sound after having heard nothing for the last so many minutes. Shortly after Tony hears the slam, Bob appears, radiating gleefulness.

Tony: Sooo...I take it went well?

Bob: I think it did, yeah.

Tony: Fill me in later. (He hammers in one last nail.) I think this is good to go. We should head out before folks investigate.

Tony looks a bit like he wants to test the door.

Bob: Yeah, I think we’ve nailed out this pretty well.

Tony’s head rapidly turns towards Bob. He looks absolutely delighted.

Tony: You did not just hammer that out!

Bob: Well, just tooling around.

Tony (grinning): Well, since we’ve pinned this we should get out.

Tony pushes at the door, pulling at it to test that it’s nailed shut.

Bob: Before we screw anything up, yeah.

Tony seems satisfied that the door won’t give unless someone thinks to batter it down.

Bob: Sweet. C’mon, let’s bolt before anyone finds out and goes nuts.

Tony: Don’t want to shear in Mr. Wester’s misfortune.

They’re still throwing puns at each other as they leave the building.

Tony: Well, you can join up with the others. (He looks up at the sky.) They’re probably up and have seen my note by now. I’ve got something to do so... (He shrugs.)

Bob: See you? I’ll tell the others.

Tony: Actually, don’t tell them anything. (He winks.)

Bob: Uh, okay. Sure… 

Tony: It’ll be fun! But, yeah, see you!

Tony heads off, looking pleased with himself. Bob goes back to the Redbrand manor, a little bit confused but still gleeful.

[vorpahlsword]

Redwood Shire Adventure #1

Redwood Shire D&D

After establishing an adventuring party origin story, we began playing with the Essentials Kit Adventure, the Dragon of Icespire Peak. Here’s what happened!

Hail and well met:

Kingslin Song (wood elf bard)

Chester Earthchisel (hill dwarf druid)

Thunderstone Waterbear (goliath wizard)

Once upon a time, the goliath wizard, Thunderstone Waterbear, and the hill dwarf druid, Chester Earthchisel, fatefully arrived in Neverwinter with little money to their name, seeking adventure. As the wood elf bard, Kingslin Song, was performing at the Unicorn’s Tail (one of the few Neverwinter pubs with no cover charge), Thunderstone and Chester sought rest and merriment there. 

Soon after Kingslin’s show finished, all three struck up a conversation with Yaroo the cheesemaker, who sought help getting back his magical butter churner. Since it was stolen, his business and his family have sunken into poverty with no hope of battling the mass-produced dairy from Dairy Heir Inc.

The adventurers struck out to steal back the magical butter churner from Dairy Heir Inc. and return it to its rightful owner. Once they snuck inside the extravagant corporation of dairy, the adventurers encountered dozens of butter churners in one room. Thunderstone was able to use his knack for magic to determine which one was enchanted with celestial butter blessings, and they absconded with it. One guard stood in their way, but was convinced to let them go if they could beat him at a game of cards and dice. Thunderstone and Kingslin worked together to con the guard during the game, and Chester darkened the skies, threatening a downpour, ensuring this wouldn’t be a “best two out of three” situation. They returned the magical butter churner to Yaroo, and secured their status as a notable adventuring party.

Hearing there was less competition in a small frontier town south of Neverwinter, they then traveled to Phandalin, seeking glory, fortune, but most of all, adventure! Upon arrival in town in the early evening, they headed to Stonehill Inn to rest and earn some money to pay for their stay. Kingslin had them covered with (nat 20 performance) the most crowd-pleasing adventure song you’ve ever heard. The Bugbear’s Demise told of a terrorizing bugbear who was calmed only by a young girl’s friendship. Just as the bugbear began to understand how to battle his destructive instincts, the townspeople who were already too distraught by the bugbear’s crimes, killed him anyway, despite the girl’s pleas to spare him.

Kingslin slapped her hat down on the stage, and collected more money that night than any other night in Neverwinter, and Toblen, the innkeeper and his daughter Senara, welcomed her and her friends back at no cost (you know, except more performance). They also hinted that folks were fearful of a dragon a few had seen in the last month. 

Meanwhile, Thunderstone, who idolized the ancient gnome wizard Fazwazin Nelfazzle, made friends with some lamenting gnomes, who danced to Kingslin’s music despite their woes. They were worried about their extended family in Gnomengarde: Warryn, Ressa, and Cloister. They hadn’t heard anything in two weeks from them except that one gnome had died. Thunderstone and the rest of the party agreed to help them by canvassing the place and reporting back that their family was safe.

Chester caught the eye of some teenage dwarves who overheard he was part of the crafter clan, Crag Control. One young dwarf, Azdeth (who had a young female puberty beard with questionable braids), got the courage up to approach Chester and asked him for advice on how she might join Crag Control. He told her of course, and explained that Crag Control is mainly responsible for grand feats of enormous architectures. When she offered that she carved toys, mainly, he suggested that she could still be useful in crafting the friezes and moulding details they often need. He agreed to stop by her home in the northeast of Phandalin to take a look at her toys and choose a few to take back to his clan as a portfolio submission.

The next morning, the adventuring party stopped by the job board they had heard about at the inn, and found that Gnomengarde was a destination they could complete another quest for a decent sum. They went to Harbin Wester’s, the townmaster, home, and told him they were off to grab some gadgets for him from Gnomengarde to help defeat the white dragon. Wary but amenable, he passed a roughly sketched map describing how to get to Gnomengarde through the crack of the door, and they set off.

Splitting the journey into two days, the first night past uneventfully, and the next morning, the three arrived in the waterfall cove of Gnomengarde’s entrance. They found the gnome’s mushrooms, and opted not to disturb the beautiful garden, Chester emphasizing that the more impressive nature was the cove, which the stone itself naturally crafted. “Plants get all the glory from druids. Stone, now that’s real nature.” They could tell they’d have to climb up to get to any of the cave entrances, so they started shouting greetings.

Two guards (Pog and Ulla) appeared and immediately suspected them of being shapechangers. They protested, and Chester protested a little too vigorously (nat 1 persuasion) that they weren’t shapechangers--they were EXPERT SHAPECHANGER KILLERS! Which caused Ulla to shoot magic missiles at Chester. Thunderstone and Kingslin calmed the gnomes down, explained they were here to help, and vouched for Chester. The two guards let them into their hold, and told a tale of what had happened in the last two weeks. Korboz, their king, had gone mad and captured his husband-king, and had become obsessed with killing ‘shapechangers.’ The guards were ordered to kill shapechangers on sight, and they have no idea what a shapechanger looks like (they had spent a lot of time attacking the giant mushrooms the last few days). Pog and Ulla told the adventurers that of the three gnomes on their list, Warryn and Orryn had both already been eaten by the shapechanger (according to Korboz), and they directed the party to speak to Fibblestib and Dabbledob in the workshop.

[quillowisp]

From my Phandelver and Below: Shattered Obelisk handout pack on Etsy This is a flyer made by Harbin Wester who is panicking as he usually does

[tomerasange]

Chapter 5: Hungering in Battle

I was once told in the time of the arena that the greatest weapon in battle is not the sword and shield, nor the bow, nor the spell. In times of desperation and domination, anyone can truly use the art of fear to strike at the hearts of the enemy. To see a violent adversary fall without so much as a swing of the blade is the only true way to save them, my teachers would wax. It has come to my attention I may have inherited more of this teaching than I initially bargained.

As we struck out back toward Phandalin, I could feel whatever injuries I had sustained begin their healing process. We returned to Lionshield Coster, confirmed our findings, and over the course of a day transported the goods back to Lineen. I should clarify that, in transporting these goods, I elected to take very small parcels. Forbid the thought that I injure or aggravate my frame in menial tasks rather than the heat of battle.

I looked over at my two companions, Aurora deftly handling smaller boxes with light materials with her agile fingers and Urnig shouldering crates of heavy produce, and felt a glow not held for some time. Certainly, I had friends in Silverymoon, but this was unlike anything I could encounter in the streets of the North. This was a shot in the arm, an invigorating adventure.

And so, we were paid for our services, seeking to return to the Stonehill Inn on a job well done, when a crowd began forming around the town square. I stared off into the distance to try and determine the source of attention. Unable to see above some of the villager’s shoulders, I weaved through the river of churning bodies to try and get a better view of scene. Only too late did I realize the reason for their gathering was horrific.

As I neared the front of the crowd, I took in a scene so vile and heartless, it made my skin run cold and eyes well in concern. The body of the woodcarver Thel Dendrar had been strung up in a tree, his face bloodied and throat cut in disrespect. No amount of retribution could justify the state of the corpse. I could determine no amount of anger or malice did this; this was sheer indifference through the sieve of mob rule.

Suddenly, a projectile was thrown at the body. A heap of dirt chucked into the air hit the body square, and the whole of the town gasped in agony. To see their friend, their neighbor treated in such a manner was too much for some to bear. I was very nearly sick at the sight. Some took to fleeing back to the safety of their. In a fit of anger, I grabbed the nearest townspeople. “Why hasn’t the guard been sent for? SEND FOR THE GUARD!”

“Sir, I don’t know what you’re saying. We don’t have a guard.” We don’t have a guard.

I felt that members in the crowd had eyes trained on me, no doubt these Redbrands. I released the denizen and marched off towards the townmaster’s hall. This charade had gone on long enough for my liking, and I was going to see justice be done.

Aurora and Urnig followed after me, tailing behind as I came to the front door of a large stone building in the middle of town. Nailed to the door was a paper detailing the orc problems but no appeared to be home. I pounded on the door, in hopes a footman or maid were in the foyer to, at the very, very least, invite me into the building in anticipation for an audience with the head of the town. Yet no one came to the door.

In a very uncharacteristic move, I burst the door down and took in the scene. Across the room of marbled tiles and high side windows, two Redbrands stood above a figure, only turning to me because of the sudden commotion I had caused. I could see the figure was a short Human of roughly middle-age, held hostage on the floor. One of the Redbrands said, “Move along. This doesn’t concern you.”

I drew my sword and pointed it with purpose. “I’ve already given you a chance by ignoring your actions in the marketplace. You will not get a second warning,” and I charged blindly into the fight.

Aurora and Urnig were no doubt blindsided by this turn of events but still managed to summon their magic. Aurora charged with a strike of dissonant strings and Urnig welled up his lightning. At least this is what they told me occurred. In the heat of battle, I felt no others in the room but these two men and my anger.

I cut into one of the men who attempted to return a blow from his sword. My buckler held true. “You won’t leave here alive, you know that?” He tried to fluster me, but my mixed emotions of anger and pleasure derived from combat arrived on my lips as a taunt. “Try me, bitch.”

I felt a cool wind as Urnig attempted to summon up, from what he later told me, a contraption of metal evisceration, but to no avail. Instead, he brought himself into the air, aloft on wings of golden fury, and dove at the other Redbrand. Surely, I hoped he knew he could do that before today.

Having a distraction readily available in the form of a flying Urnig, I grabbed at the Redbrand’s shield and made a stab with my rapier. In a desperate act of self-preservation, he dove his head out of the way, and I attempted another swing of the blade to cleave at his neck. This time, he swung his shield in protest, knocking my blade away. He grinned directly in my face.

In that moment, I could feel the words of my past.

Fear is your greatest weapon.

I curled my fingers into a monstrous form and held the rapier like a madman, a man possessed to my emotions. My eyes no longer deep and jeweled, now vicious and icy. I stared this man back, and choked, “My...blade...hungers.”

The Redbrand suddenly saw his doom, along with his other conspirator who in the melee looked on while dueling Urnig. They both drew fear in their eyes, and the man I dueled with fled my person entirely. I took another wild swing, but it completely missed, as my strokes took on a trance. The middle-age man later confided I resembled a wild fae, whose only interaction I have seen was through artworks, in which the hero staring upon that which lies beyond the veil knows he is mortal.

Urnig chained his fellow in lightning and his face disintegrated in an instant. Aurora, who had held back throughout this fight, took a swing of her rapier towards the fleeing bastard. He ran head first in her attack. In a moment of clarity, I subsided my act of chaos to draw my bow. In times of battle, I have often found myself in a moment of remorse, a small prayer to their soul. I felt nothing as the arrow flew, striking the Redbrand in the back, killing him instantly. As he fell, Aurora whipped her rapier through the air, slicing the cape off of the man’s shoulders, catching it with a flourish and stowing it in her pack.

The middle-age man shook with fear, having just survived a quite traumatizing event, no doubt. I came down from my possessed seance, deeply breathing inward so as to refresh my body’s composition, and turned to face my companions, only to see Urnig, having very well topped his moment with the face of the wolf. He had drawn a knife and began to chop at the limbs of the Redbrands, quartering their limbs and gutting their intestines. I later found out from Aurora he was planning on feeding the meat of the soldiers to Thel’s family, as a token of equivalence. I remark in this moment that I do not, nor will ever, support the actions taken by Urnig when it comes to violence.

The man stared on, aghast. “What are you doing?! You’re draining blood everywhere! It’s inhuman!”

I took him aside as Aurora pleaded with Urnig not to force a widow and her child into cannibalism. “Our sincerest apologies for the scene, my good man. He get excitable. Before we start, I must introduce myself. Tomera Sange of Silverymoon. Perhaps you’ve heard of my family’s work? Now that we have time enough, I must ask what has been happening in this town?” He composed himself. “Well, young man, my name is Harbin Wester, and I’m the town master around these parts. To be perfectly honest, all this started about a few weeks on. Rumors say it’s that blasted Glasstaff. He came to this town without warning and somehow convinced the town guard to lay their weapons down! Now, these once fine men are calling themselves Redbrands and causing odd chaos in the streets!”

So, the town guard are now the Redbrands. “Where do these types like to roost?” “Well, they congregate at the Sleeping Giant, a taproom down the main road to the east, but they also hold up in Tresendar Manor. It’s the well-off structure just beyond the town proper. Old place hasn’t had any tenants for years until they took it. It would be of great help if you were to aid us, seeing how you stopped those two from what they had in mind.” “Of course, sir. I do have one question, before I take my leave. Why haven’t you sent for a militia, or a battalion from Neverwinter? If you are in such a great distress, why haven’t you asked for helped?” Harbin thought about it for a moment, and continued with a sense of dignity. “To be perfectly honest, we’re a small town. We’ve gotten by on our own before, and we're not about to give up now. Even if we sent for help, who’s to say our call would be heard?” I admired his honesty. “You are a brave man, no doubt.” I pressed on. “However, bravery in this case will get you killed.”

We took our leave, allowing Harbin to ruminate on his situation. Aurora convinced Urnig to spread the body parts he had thus collected into the woods for the forest animals to feast on, and we pressed on back to the Stonehill Inn, not a soul left on the streets.

The tavern had a somber yet jittery atmosphere, as our arrival spooked some of the patrons. We took our place at the bar to relax after the day we were forced to partake. For years, I do not recall a day as stressful nor as taxing as today. Certainly, I have had hard days, but not since I was a younger lad, not even so a man.

As I looked at the barmaid, I could see her rearranging the spirits. One bottle in particular caught my eye. A red, oh, a sweet full-bodied red as deep as the carpeting of a king’s court. I called for the barmaid and laid down three gold for a drink. As the glass came into vision, I clasped it gently, swirled it, sniffed it. This will do.

I downed it immediately and slammed another three gold to drain the bottle. Handing the glass back, I stood up and bid my companions a good night before my inhibition ruined my reputation. This amount of wine in the system would doubtless be enough to send me off to sleep.

As I walked up the steps to my room in a state of drifting, legs befuddled, Sildar came into view. He seemed ready to partake in a wash, given he wore only his light underclothes and held a rag in hand. “Ah, Tomera, my dear boy. So sorry I was occupied today. Held an audience with Townmaster Wester, and, well... the matter with Thel and the town. It took all I had to escort these people safely to their homes. Anyway, I was hoping before to set out tomorrow I could discuss something with you. You seem tired, so I’ll leave it at that. Have a good night,” and he walked past.

As he walked off, I followed his form, only slightly, noticing how the years of travel and battle etched his body like a sculpture. I really did have a bit too much to drink.

I lay my head down upon my bed, having somehow shed my gear from my person in a state of looniness, and fell into a troubling sleep which gave way to an absence of dreaming.

[ang-the-referee]

Dragon of Icespire Peak Campaign Diary #1

DOIP Spoilers within

Ultimately, instead of my original plan, I've gone with a third option for running DOIP based on this edit suggested by u/bashamguy, which changes the white dragon to a storm dragon (blue dragon), and the majority of the Talos-worshipping orcs are the dragon's servants. I've renamed the dragon Rhitthinnar instead of keeping the more white-dragon-sounding name of Cryovain.

We were missing our Paladin for the first session, so I gave the party (Sorcerer, Barbarian, and Rogue) one of the sidekicks (Kwan, who I made into a celestial warlock) for their first quest to round out the party in case they went to the Dwarven Excavation. They chose to go to Umbrage Hill instead, where they were able to talk down the manticore attacking the midwife's house.

I feel pretty strongly about making clear that the Talos cult is a specific orc group, so I changed the midwife to an elderly orc woman named Adabraza, who worships a generic earth-mother type goddess. (I'm using a mis-mash of deities, and she worships something closest Greyhawk's Beory.)

Interestingly, I rolled for Rhitthinnar's location during this time, and he was in the region of where the paladin would have been, so at the start of the second session, when everyone ran into each other in the tavern back in Embree, the Paladin and a few of the other sidekicks (Gallandro and Talon) he'd been traveling with escorting a caravan from New Perlicam to Embree, were telling stories about the dragon they ran into on the road here.

The now assembled Level 2 party of Sorcerer, Barbarian, Rogue, and Paladin opted to check out the Dwarven excavation.

I seeded a couple of other dungeons here, by having the reason they needed to see the dwarves being that Harbin Wester wanted information on where the orcs may be based out of, and where the town could evacuate to in case of emergency. The orcs seeded both the Holyrood (The Shrine of Savras in the DOIP book as written) and the ruins of Castle Corvallis (Castle Cragmaw from LMOP, but completely rekeyed), so the party will probably be checking those out next instead of Gnomengarde.

The party made pretty short work of the ochre jellies, and the combats felt pretty good for the level they were at (although I staggered the two jellies in the temple room), but I think the Investigation/Perception DCs to find the secret rooms was a bit high for a low level party. If I were running it again and really thinking about it, I'd have the dwarves come in after the main temple jellies were taken care of and help the party case the place -- they've canonically already found one secret door, so if the party couldn't find them, I'd have the dwarves find them instead so they could explore more of the dungeon. (As is, I just let the party take 10 to eventually find the doors, since there's no real time crunch in this dungeon.)

Instead of having the dwarves have run from the jellies, I had an orc scout wander into the excavation, and the dwarves hide (down the hidden corridor they found), and the orc died to the jellies, as a bit of foreshadowing.

We stopped before the party completed the dungeon, so we're finishing it up next session.

Probably need to work on keying Castle Corvallis for Levels 2-3 before the next session in case the party finishes up early in the Excavation and heads back early before setting out for the Castle ruins. I've got a rough draft of a Level 3 key for it, but I may need to adjust things.

Anyway, things are a bit awkward but I think going mostly well so far.

I like the layout and vibe of the Dwarven Excavation, but really dislike how much of it is hidden behind DC 15 checks and would definitely alter it in the future.

[rollingourinitiatives]

27th of August 2018: Session 6.

Characters and Alignments:

Styx - dragonborn barbarian. chaotic good.

Nikias - human fighter and sailor. chaotic good.

Reyna - half-elf cleric. neutral good.

Amaris - high elf wizard. chaotic good.

(DM/NPC) Natalia - human paladin. lawful good.

Noteable NPCs:

Sildar Hallwinter - human warrior, friend of Gundren Rockseeker.

Harbin Wester (fake) - a bugbear in disguise.

Iarno Albrek - human wizard.

Daran Edermath - retired adventurer. Member of the Order of the Gauntlet. Styx’s adopted Uncle.

Elsa - gossipy barmaid at Stonehill Inn.

Noteable moments:

Finding Iarno Alberk in the town master’s hall, speaking with the fake Harbin Wester. 

Capturing Iarno Albrek and learning more about the Black Spider, who is revealed to be a female crow (Amaris becoming visibly upset by this).

Iarno Albrek is in the custody of Sildar, who is now taking him to the Lords Alliance to face judgement on his crimes.

Before leaving Sildar offers the title of Cloak to both Reyna and Nikias. They accept, now making them official members of the Lords Alliance also.

Returning to Edermath’s place and realising that with the fake Harbin Wester dead and the real one not fit to return to his role just yet, questions would likely be asked if the public went without a town master. After much convincing (and teaching Styx) that it is important to keep the repercussions of their actions in mind rather than just killing and hoping the problem would eventually sort itself out, Edermath helps the group come up with a plan to buy them hopefully enough time to visit Wave Echo Cave without arousing suspicion on the town master’s whereabouts. Styx, Natalia and Reyna work on faking a letter explaining that Harbin Wester has urgent business to take care of in Neverwinter City, while Amaris and Natalia head to the inn to spread rumours of his sudden departure, knowing the gossipy barmaid Elsa will likely latch onto the rumours.

The plan goes slightly pear-shaped when Amaris and Nikias decide to get drunk, and end up naked in the streets.

Whilst trying to get the two drunks back to Edermath’s, Reyna falls down a well whilst trying to retrieve their clothes. Styx is increasingly annoyed and upset about the situation.

Styx goes to get Natalia to help him get Reyna out the well. They all return to Edermath’s.

The next day, Nikias is hungover. Both Styx and Natalia are annoyed.

Styx and Nikias talk. It’s awkward. Like, really awkward (thanks, Elsa!)

Natalia - with some help from Styx - tries to get Amaris and Nikias to apologise to Reyna. It only half works, as Amaris feels she’s lying by apologising (which she doesn’t like), and Nikias manages to apologise briefly. But, it’s something.

The group prepare to head for Wave Echo Cave.

Inspiration Rewarded: 

Each session one character is awarded a point of inspiration by the DM to use at some point during the next session. For this session, the inspiration point was rewarded to:

Amaris.