#Xolkin

[marimo-art]

Here's my Dice Shame secret santa art! :) I got to participate in a little one over on the Invictus server and my giftee was the lovely DM, Jo herself. So here we have a small compilation of some of the many, many NPC's she's played. From left to right we've got Bee, Xolkin, Prango, Whim, and in the back is Toran.

[stuff-and-such-art]

This is Xolkin being Xolkin as requested by Alex N. They're playing "up and down the river" and Xolkin keeps cheating.

[a-d-n-d-journal]

Game Session #9

Characters:

Bakunawa, dragonborn paladin; copper scales, chainmail, a shortsword and shield

Zastu, dragonborn rogue; white scales almost completely covered in a hooded cape and mask, leather armor, short bow and shortsword + dagger

Rysiel, half-elf druid; simple clothing and leather armor, scimitar

Teir, tiefling warlock; vibrant gold skin and black hair w/silver highlights, horns, hooves, expensive-looking clothes and leather armor, carries a dagger as his only (physical) weapon

Introducing...

Mirri in the wind, Tabaxi;

Noteable NPCs...

Sydiri Haunlar, human (Chondathan) fighter; brunette, chain shirt, dagger, shortbow, wooden club

Alara Winterspell, human (Rashemi) fighter; deceptively light and warm head wrap, chain shirt, dagger, shortsword

Kaelen Zam, human (Illuskan) fighter; bald, small handlebar mustouche, chain shirt, dagger, greataxe

Torem Breck, human guard (fighter); spear and shield

Xolkin Alassandar, half-elf leader of the "Seven Snakes"; charismatic and handsome; scimitar and dagger

Kella Darkhope, human (Chondathan) spy for the "Seven Snakes"; crossbow, shortsword and dagger

Morak Ur'gray, dwarf innkeeper of the Nightstone Inn

Hiral Mystrum, human (Tethyrian) priest of Lathander (has no actual magic)

Zephyros, cloud giant; windswept white hair, wispy white bear, billow purple robe with gold stars

We had a short game this one, which is good because I was so tired... It was also our first game without any fights! (Probably because what we did was not explicitly part of the module.) I was able to address a few things I had been waiting for, and the players got some stuff done too.

When the party wakes, they've each gained a level and Rysiel's magic dragon skull provides him the ability to understand and speak the Giant language. Teir's brush with death leads him to become even more dedicated to the Raven Queen, and he takes a level in Cleric. As they prepare for the day, Rysiel, Bakunawa, and Teir find that their gold is missing. It comes out that Zastu did steal their money and they have a really good chat about that. Everybody's families are fucked up and they're all trying to prove themselves in their own way. Zastu ends up giving the money back. Teir gives Rysiel a token—an empty glass vial—for having a more messed-up family than his. Rysiel tries to share his magic dragon skull, but Teir declines (for more reasons than the fact that it won't fit over his horns), and Zastu is squiked-out (because dragon skull, dragonborn... yeah). Then Rysiel gives Zastu 5 gold (because he doesn't know what to do with it anyway). During the awkward silence that follows, Teir spends a moment in contemplation, checking for undead with one of his new abilities. Torem—the guard who stayed behind in the fort during the rescue—notices how acid-pocked their armor is, and offers to outfit them in some new leather or chainmail from the guard's supplies. Bakunawa gets a new Chain shirt, and Teir gets one as well (having been suddenly divinely inspired to wear heavier armor...), while Rysiel takes a set of Leather armor because his druid oath prevents him from wearing metal. Soon the party starts talking about what to do about their current situation. They can't just leave Xolkin and the Black Network in Nightstone, they're bad! But they also don't want to endanger the newly returned villagers—a valid concern. They discuss a few different ways they might isolate the bandits, including getting the villagers to act as a distraction. Morak enters the fort without knocking, showing how comfortable he is with the place. He looks preoccupied, but the first thing he says is how terrible the acid scarring is (and then asks how the party is doing with the related emotional trauma). They brush off his question, and ask what's going on. Morak has quite a bit to say, but first—a letter came back for Zastu from her contact. (She didn't share it with the group, but I posted to them publicly by accident already...)

"We're impressed you're still alive, and that you've managed to scrape together a few coins, but we think you can do better.

p.s. If you piss off the Zhentarim, we don't know you."

She's not happy with the response and it shows on her face, but she brushes it off. Morak starts off with a request... Several people died during the giant attack, and the subsequent capture by goblins. Many of them were his friends, and he's worried about notifying their loved ones.

The Tressym that has been following them around belonged to his friends—Melantha and Lathan Xelbrin—until a boulder crushed their house and them in it. Their son Miros lives in nearby Goldenfields—if they might take the creature to him and let him know of their passing.

Darthag Ulgar used to run the Lionshield trading post, until he was eaten by giant rats (the party interrupted that party with a fatal spell that killed everyone and splashed their guts all over the wall). His ex-wife runs a similar shop in Triboar—a little farther out from Goldenfields—and would want to know of her ex-husband's death.

Semile Southwell was a chicken and pig farmer until she was flattened by a rock. Her brother lives in far away Bryn Shander, Icewind Dale—if they might tell him of her death.

Morak segues into what he's learned of the happenings in the wider world. Xolkin received several messages back late the previous night, one of them reporting several giant attacks on frontier settlements like theirs. Something has stirred them all up, and they're starting to encroach on 'normal-sized people' lands. It's a scary time to live through, especially following that business with the dragons a couple years ago. He tells the party that Xolkin has offered the services of the Zhentarim mercenary group for free—well, in exchange for using their village as a base. He knows of their bad reputation, but he feels like they don't really have a choice. Without the support of a noble like the late Lady Velrosa Nandar, they wouldn't be able to afford any protection (and they've already been attacked once!). Teir fidgets as he resists offering his family's support—he's trying to distance himself from any of that responsibility. Morak continues to explain how much he doesn't want to accept the Zhentarim into his village (but they're already here). He mentions that Xolkin told them that there's a Sternhelm and several Stalwarts (ranks in the Zhentilar army) on their way—some of the best-trained fighters around—and they alone cost 20 gold/day. He seems to be pleading for the party to help with the situation (while cautioning them as to what they might be getting into)... At the same time, he suggests prudence. Seek allies. He tells them about the Harpers, a goodly group of spies and spellcasters who were instrumental in the recent struggle against the dragons. They're always looking for strong adventurers, and they're diametrically opposed to the Zhentarim. The other option is the Lords' Alliance, their allies. Teir's ears perk up—he's heard of them, or more specifically: Lady Laeral Silverhand of Waterdeep, one of their members.

The party discusses, thinking it might be a good idea to head to Waterdeep to seek the help of Lady Laeral, using Teir's connections to get an audience. How would they get ahold of the Harpers? Well, they're spies, so it's not easy, but they are everywhere... Morak tells them a little bit about Bryn Shander (part of a ten-town coalition in the cold, heavily fortified), Goldenfields (a walled farming settlement in the frontier, supplies the coast with almost all its soft fruit), and Triboar (a loosely laid-out trading town). They decide they might find more opportunities in Triboar. "One more thing..." The cloud tower with the wizard hat, the one that the elves mentioned to Zastu the previous night, it's show up again and it's making Morak really nervous. Would they mind checking it out?

It's at this point that Teir, Rysiel, and Zastu notice that Bakunawa has snuck out during the discussion. (Sneak roll: 16 without modifiers, passing the Passive Perception of everyone). The three of them panic and start searching. Teir goes outside and sends his raven flying around the fort, and then Nightstone. The Raven takes its time, eventually returning to communicate that it did not find "the big scaley one" (talking to a raven is difficult) He then goes in and checks the den and library, remembering to go up the ladder. Rysiel goes upstairs to search, eventually coming across the chest that Zastu had opened but not looted (due to a magic flying sword). Zastu checks the roof and the environs of the fort. Since they haven't found Bakunawa yet, they decide to surreptitiously search the village. Rysiel turns into a panther and starts tracking Bakunawa by scent. They're able to make their way up to the town square and across to the inn. Villagers give them alarming looks, and Teir tells them that this is his "seeing-eye panther". Despite the fact that he is not very convicing (roll:6), and not acting blind at all... It works concerningly well (rolls:3,4,17), except for one lady who gets up and leaves VERY QUICKLY.

Rysiel's nose detects that Bakunawa didn't go much farther, and that Xolkin and his crew were here (a fact they already knew). He leads them outside again, but loses the scent. During this time Teir's spectral raven is flying around outside. It sees the bandits (sans Xolkin) moving toward the drawbridge, but has no way to identify them or communicate back to Teir what's happening. Once outside, Teir does send his raven to do another round. Now the bandits are on the roof of the two towers flanking the bridge. Hiral, the Lathandar priest, sees them hiding outside his temple and comes to talk. Teir convinces him that they're just out for a walk(?) and manages to one-up him in religious history. Or something. He goes away. Teir looks through the raven's eyes and sees Bakunawa laying in a meadow with blood around him. Xolkin is walking across the bridge, wiping his sword. He goes up one of the towers and sends away the bandits posted there so he can speak to Kella alone.

Teir and Zastu sneak and follow panther-Rysiel back around the village and to the break in the bridge to the fort. They climb down and swim across the moat and then take the long way around the village to avoid the drawbridge. At the edge of the forest—where they camped briefly the night before—they formulate a quick plan. Teir edges closer to Bakunawa's body, pretending to be some rando with his cloak up (and fooling no one, but staying out of crossbow range), and casts Spare the Dying at range (normally a touch spell that causes a dying creature to become stable, but ranged due to his cleric grave domain). Nothing happens. Rysiel transforms back into a half-elf, and then into a warhorse in anticipation of carrying away Bakunawa. Teir approaches Bakunawa and casts a new spell (for him)—Cure Wounds—which would be maximized due to a cleric ability. Unfortunately, nothing happens. The warlock makes a medicine check (20) and realizes that their companion is dead-dead. Wasting no time, he investigates Bakunawa's pockets, ostensibly searching for some sort of personal effect to return to...? Well, they never did find out who's important in Bakunawa's life. It's around this time that Sydiri comes across the drawbridge riding Bobble. The bandits on the towers leave her alone. She joins up with Teir, and they meet with Rysiel and Zastu. Sydiri asks to join the party, saying that she never really planned on being a guard forever, and with the death of Lady Velrosa Nandar, well... Adventuring has some appeal. They discuss riding arrangements for a while, and Teir casts Guiding Hand to figure out how to get to Triboar. Unfortunately, the spell points the shortest distance in a straight line—north—which leads directly through the forest. They decide to follow the road south and loop around the forest until they follow the hand.

It's about this time that an ominous shadow appears above them—a great cloud with a great tower, topped with a whimsical wizard's hat in blue with stars. It follows them until they crest the hill south of the village, then a long incline of cloud stairs descends toward them, landing at the ground. The party is understandably very nervous. Minutes pass, until they hear the sound of music floating down. A medium-sized figure comes strutting down playing a lyre. As the figure gets closer, the party sees that they are a cat-like creature (Tabaxi) in robes. They introduce themselves as 'Mirri' and invite them up to the tower, assuring them safety and telling them that the owner of the tower would like to meet them. The party goes up the stairs... When they reach the top, a cloud giant appears from a landing high above them and floats down to greet them. He introduces himself as Zephyros, and the party members introduce themselves as well (Rysiel shifts back to half-elf form, and Mirri comments on his 'cleric' magic). Zephyros invites them inside, apologizing for his lack of accommodation for little people. A blue curtain hangs over the entrance wafting gently in the breeze, and when they cross through, the air stills and warms to a comfortable level. There's a small bed rool and unlit campfire with cooking pot in one corner of the massive one-room tower floor. Giant glass orbs hand from chains in each of the six corners, and a massive stone desk takes up one wall, and that's it. There are no stairs, but a hole in the ceiling reveals a second floor a hundred feet above them. This is high even for a giant, for Zephyros stands around 25 feet tall. Zephyros asks them not to go to the second floor or the aerie (as the grphyons are not well-trained), and then tells them how he's been so excited to meet them...

So, if you haven't figured it out... Bakunawa's player has decided to roll up a new character, and that is Mirri in the Wind!

Spells cast:

Bakunawa:

Paladin abilities: None used

Spells: None cast

Mirri:

Spells: None cast

Rysiel:

Druid abilities: Wildshape x2 (Panther, Warhorse)

Cantrips: None cast

Spells: None cast

Teir:

Cleric abilities: Eyes of the Grave

Cantrips: Spare the Dying

Spells: Cure Wounds

Rituals: Guiding Hand

Slots: 0/2 Warlock 1/2 1st Cleric

Killcount:

Xolkin (presumably) killed Bakunawa this game.

Treasure looted:

From Lady Velrosa Nandar's chest:

velvet sack containing 180 sp (money used to pay the guards)

a silk pouch containing four gemstones

and a silver jewelry box containing three beautiful gold necklaces

From Bakunawa's body:

Tinderbox

Lamp

Lantern

waterskin

4 rations

3 torches

hemp rope

dagger

[tontontonberry]

So our goblin-loving asses started a new D&D campaign. This time Vel is the DM! Very exciting! Our lovely cast includes:

Nemeia, tiefling bard, so smol u think she’s 12, big on adopted families, can Vicious Mockery your ass into next week. Palilai, half-elf monk, string bean, full of book learnings, zero practical experience, wants to Know Things, super polite! Miri, elf druid, so fucking done, herbalism kit full of weed, cranky mom friend.

They meet on the road. Nemeia and Palilai immediately decide to travel together, inviting Miri along as well. Miri: these smol cinnamon rolls are going to die someone needs to keep an eye on them, guess it’ll be me.

They get to a walled town on a river called Nightstone. Place is empty as fuck, giant rocks everywhere, church bell ringing like crazy?

They investigate! Goblins are ringing the church bell for funsies. The gals act unthreatening and the goblins share that they got no idea what happened. The town was empty when they got there, so

They take care of some horses, not noticing the goblin frantically hiding in the hayloft until riiiight before they go to sleep for the night. He is Frighten. Nemeia and Palilai try to be reassuring, but he ends up booking it.

They follow him into the inn, only to find a different goblin bleeding out on the floor from a crossbow wound. Nemeia heals her! Her name is Sark and the other goblins hiding in the inn carry her off.

The lady who shot Sark , name of Kella, is hanging out in a room with a rock-hole punched through it and she’s got no idea what happened with the town either. She deigns to stay where she is.

The gals find a villager! She’s nearly dead under rubble, but through the power of emergency first aid and healing magic she is stabilized! Still unconscious, tho.

Some mercenaries Kella was waiting for as an escort arrive. Soon after, some orcs come rushing up! There is a Battle. Palilai almost dies, only to be revived and then kick an orc in the face so that he died. Baby’s First Murder. She has a bit of a breakdown.

The orcs managed to kill one of the mercenaries, and almost kill three others. When the gals find healing potions on the orcs, they promptly give them to the near-dead mercenaries. Their generosity is met with confusion.

After a short rest, Palilai, Nemeia, and a mercenary going by her last name Varcona go out to find some food. Palilai and Nemeia make soup! Varcona is taken aback by how willing they are to make nice things for the rest of them even though they’ve barely met. They search the trading post as well, seeing that the goblins had already gone through it, but! There are two healer’s kits set out with a bloody crossbow bolt laid across them. Sark and company apparently left a thank you! Nemeia is delighted. Varcona is baffled.

Meanwhile, Miri abhors social interaction.

Each of the three gals is paired with a mercenary for watch that night. There is general chatter about where they’re from and where they’re going. None of them really has a set destination in mind. Nemeia is paired with Varcona and ends up gushing about her precocious little brother who she is Very Proud Of. She found him herself! Adopting everyone ever is how her family do. She also shares her family’s determination to be kind in an unkind world.

Morning comes, and the mercenaries made porridge for breakfast! The gals go off to do dishes, which goes surprisingly fast thanks to Nemeia’s Prestidigitation. They come back and are given their bowls, only for Varcona to trip on her own feet and wipe out spectacularly. The bowls are broken and Nemeia gets landed on. Whoops!

After breakfast, they head out to check for any more survivors or supplies, and to try to reach the keep. They find a winged cat! After much coaxing and offering of tasty tidbits, it takes up residence on Nemeia’s shoulder, hidden by her hair.

Periodically, Vel asked us to roll Perception checks. The results were…not great. We noticed nothing.

As we reached the bridge to the keep and started debating how to get across the broken part, Shit Got Real.

Varcona grabbed Kella and held a knife to her throat, demanding that the three gals be allowed to leave immediately! Said gals are Confused and Concerned. Miri demands answers. Varcona says that they’d tried to poison them that morning with the porridge! The mercenary leader, Xolkin, tries to talk Varcona down, telling her to not throw everything away for nothing, to think about what she’s doing! He even calls her by her first name, Keth.

Nemeia, deciding that she trusts Keth over the other mercenaries, pulls out her rapier and casts Dissonant Whispers on Xolkin, though he succeeds on his saving throw and doesn’t feel the need to run. Miri storms up to Xolkin and gives him five seconds to explain what’s going on. Two mercenaries try to shoot Palilai, only for her to catch the bolts in her hands and break them. Two others take swipes at Miri, one of them managing to hit her. Nemeia is underestimated and not aimed at.

Perception checks continue to be called for. We continue to notice nothing.

Kella rolls a natural 20 on an attempt to stab herself free of Keth. Nemeia’s Cutting Words keeps the damage from being too dire, but Kella is no longer a meat shield and Keth is bleeding freely. Xolkin goes to strike Miri when suddenly -

ZWING

- a crossbow bolt strikes him in the wrist! From hiding, fourteen goblins appear! Prominently placed is Sark, crossbow held in front of her.

“I missed.” She says, and fires again. Kella gets hit in the shoulder. Revenge!

The goblins declare this town is theirs and the mercenaries should gtfo before they get pincushioned. There is a tense moment as Xolkin weighs the odds, and then they make a break for it, leaving behind their horses and most of their gear.

Sark and company are, quite deservedly, pleased with themselves. Turns out they never actually left town. They snuck around, rolling well on stealth as we rolled poorly on perception, eavesdropping on the mercenaries and their plans, and when the time came they came onto the scene like Big Damn Heroes.

Nemeia rushes to Keth’s side and heals her. Miri still wants to know What The Fuck is Happening. Also Nice One, Goblins. Goblins preen at her praise.

Keth, somewhat in shock and being aggressively cuddled by Nemeia, explains that the mercenary group was actually members of the Zhentarim. Nemeia has never fucking heard of them. Palilai knows that their public face is of an elite mercenary company. Keth explains that they are Shady As Fuck. They do the Murder and Stealing Thing. And in order to be able to spin whatever story they wanted about what happened in the town, the three gals had to be gotten rid of. Also they stan the goblins (the usual ideal scapegoat) and that was inconvenient.

Keth, now having nowhere to go, is Shaken. Nemeia promptly insists that she stay with them. And later she can introduce her to her family! Palilai is also very earnestly welcoming. Miri is welcoming in a standoffish way. Keth is Moved. Miri wants to know why she decided to side with them over the Zhentarim. It can’t just be because they were nice. Keth says there was a reason, but she doesn’t feel up to explaining it right at that moment. Miri finds this acceptable.

Now that they have added Keth to their party, they decide to investigate the keep. The goblins help them cobble together a ramp over the broken bridge, and that’s where we had to call it a night!

 Vel offered us some juicy insights as we were packing up.

The goblins literally never left. They hung out on the side of town we weren’t on and Sark and co informed the others about the cinnamon rolls and their standoffish chaperone. And they also eavesdropped on the Zhentarim guys’ plans for offing the three gals. They rolled Really Well on stealth and even as the difficulty class for noticing them kept dropping, we just kept rolling shittier on perception. WE WERE IN A REALLY INTENSE AND DISTRACTING SITUATION, OKAY.

If Xolkin had been able to talk Keth down from holding Kella at knifepoint, he would have told her that it’s okay, she’s still part of their group. She just needs to off those three right now to prove they can trust her. Oh, and they can undo the bandages on the unconscious villager and let her bleed out. : )

Every time the Zhentarim (other than Keth) struck up conversation with a gal about her family or what weapons she liked or where she was going? Gathering intel to make fighting them easier and also making sure that no one would notice them going missing. : )

Keth didn’t hear about the poisoning plan until after she’d been on watch with Nemeia and she was like what the FUCK.

Keth deciding to help them instead of letting them get killed was, yes, in part because Nemeia and Palilai were so nice to her. But it was also because they were nice even when it wasn’t easy. It was because of Nemeia having a whole family of people who chose to be kind and hadn’t been killed off young. She wanted to believe that kindness could exist in this world without being snuffed out. KETH MAKES ME EMOTIONAL. PROTECT HER.

The Zhentarim attacked Palilai and Miri first because Miri struck them as dangerous and they’d seen Palilai kill a man. Also the only person to hear Nemeia describe Vicious Mockery as “I can boil someone’s blood by insulting them :D” was Keth. Nemeia is perpetually underestimated because she is so smol and floof.

 Nemeia has fucking adopted Keth I don’t make the rules.

Nemeia: She has had a hard life! She had to be so brave to help us! She needs gentleness! She needs to be protected! (ง •̀_•́)ง

[infinitecampaign]

Chapter 1: A Great Upheaval - The Keep

Session 4 - 4/13/2017

Town of Nightstone

Stocked with supplies found at the store, Ancharox, Baluran, Craig Purple and Valtyr head to the keep on the south side of town. They walk up to the bridge that separates it from the rest of the town and realize it’s been torn apart by a boulder that lies in the moat below. Baluran ties a rope around his waist, and magically assumes the wild shape of a feline. He runs and jumps across the bridge, but suddenly stumbles and falls to the water below. He manages stick to the edge though, and climbs the steep incline to make it to the other side. He ties the rope, and the rest of the party crosses over easily. 

The party walks up to the gatehouse, and push the door open. Before them are the two big doors to the keep, but the whole area is oddly quiet. The building has been hit hard by the falling boulders as the right side is half way destroyed. 

Valtyr calls out for anyone. One of the double doors opens slightly and a armored male human guard peeks through. Behind him a female guard also peeks through. They nervously answer, and question the party about what they want and what they are doing in the town. The guards look very beat up and distraught. The party explain that they were in town answering the request to clear out raiding goblin parties, and instead found the town destroyed, and proceeded instead to eradicate the invading goblins. The guards discuss for a minute, and then proceed to open the doors. Without the knowledge of the guards though, Baluran, still in feline shape, decides to climb the side of the keep, and heads to the roof. 

Inside the building the party finds two more guards standing next to the dead and battered body of a female noble human laid out on a large table. The guards give them the grim news that the body is that of Lady Velrosa who died of injuries sustained from the boulder attack. The party is dismayed by the news but proceed to get more information about the boulder attack. The guards explain that a couple of days ago the town was surprised by a large flying castle that came down from the clouds and started heaving boulders from above destroying everything it could. The keep was targeted first and then the town. The inhabitants meant to run to the keep to save themselves but finding the bridge destroyed they had to run to the hills. The rest of the guards also ran off, and they haven’t heard anything from them since. They continued telling how the castle floated down to the ground where they say a few giants float down and pick up the obsidian stone that was originally in the town square. And once they had it they floated back into the castle and flew off. The party was well versed in cloud giant knowledge and realized that the guards were not exaggerating or being untruthful about what they saw. 

The party decides to scope the keep, with the guards closely beside them. Once upstairs from the windows the guards become alarmed when they see a group arrive in town on horse back, and they can’t tell who they are. At the same time the party scopes Lady Velrosa’s room. They also notice a chest and a fancy sword hanging above the doorway. 

They all decide to head back to town, but Baluran decides to try to grab the sword after casting Detect Magic, and realizing it is in fact magical. Before he can grab it though the sword magically flies off the wall and attacks him. The elf decides to run for it, hauling ass through the keep, out the door and successfully jumping back over the broken bridge. As the sword attempts to chase the elf down it’s caught by one of the guards who is very unhappy about someone trying to steal from the keep. 

The party and the guards agree though to put that behind them, and instead go find out who the intruders are. 

They silently head back to the town square to find seven men still on their horses. The one that presents themselves as their leader is Xolkin Alassandar, and he demands to see Kella since they’ve lost track of her. The party and the intruders begin to argue about why they are here when they are suddenly interrupted by the invading cries of an orc party.  The party manages to close the town gates and position themselves in the fortified walls, and begin to rain arrows on the orcs. Incredibly though, from the forest in the distance a large band of elves on horse back charge the orcs from behind. The orcs look back in terror and run away south of the town. The elves run up to the town walls, and call out to the party: “You’re welcome!”, and they all laugh and gallop back to the forest. The party, together with the other intruders, look at each other, and wonder about the deus ex machina moment. 

After opening the gate again and pillaging the dead orcs, the party is surprised by a bloodied kid stumbling in from the north. The run up to the kid, and attend to its wounds. After a moment the kid tells them about a cave up north where his family and others are being held prisoner. They had originally escaped the town from the attack, to find refuge in the caverns only to find evil beasts that took them prisoner. The party decides to head north and try to help. 

Party is now level 3!

[riffandrabble-blog]

Carrion Journal Entry #7

From the perspective of the PCs in our D&D game of Storm King’s Thunder, here’s some insights into their experiences. From our Human druid, Carrion:

Written in Druidic

Surely North is loved by fate. I was jolted from the fringes of sleep by the thundering of hooves. A group of horsemen found to be of the Zhentarim had arrived. At the time I had hoped it was some kind of military force here to render aid. However upon speaking with them, it was obvious they had other plans for the deserted town and could not be trusted. Just as things were about to unravel, a bronze dragon plummeted from the skies and collided with the temple tower. It was my first time seeing a dragon and I cannot impress enough upon how enormous they truly are. Clobbering the tower didn't seem to phase it. Upon landing it immediately took the offensive against the Zhentarim scoundrels. I sprung into the fray eager to demonstrate my allegiance. Despite our best efforts, their leader Xolkin Alasandar managed to flee with a woman. We did manage to capture one, Bray, and learned the woman, Kella, had been tasked with infiltrating the town.

After the battle Felgolos still seemed suspicious of us, at least until he recognized North. They seem to have quite the tale between them, but right now I'm too tired to press my curiosity . We've relocated to the Inn and with Felgolos standing guard I can finally find some shuteye.

[ladysilverstone]

Character Nicknames

So, my adventurers tend to rename things during combat because they either can’t remember the enemy’s name or they don’t like the name so they come up with something better. Some of my favorites so far:

Xolkin- became “Zyrtec,” the allergy medicine

Kella-became Kellogg

Morak- tic-tac

[nightstoneheroes]

Hoofdstuk 1: Big Trouble in Little Nightstone

Morgalf en Galla Guappa staan op een kruispunt. Links naar Waterdeep, rechts naar Daggerford en rechtdoor naar Nightstone. De heren besluiten naar Nightstone te gaan. Galla Guappa herinnert zich dat dit een uurtje lopen zou moeten zijn.

Wanneer de mannen dichterbij horen ze een “bong….bong….bong….bong…” dit geluid blijft door gaan en wordt luider wanneer ze naderbij komen. Morgalf en Gall concluderen dat dit niet goed is. Is er een noodgeval? Ze weten het niet zeker. Wel zien ze dat de poort open staat, er misschien wel 60 sets voetsporen heen en weer lopen vanuit het noorden naar het dorp en de brug naar het citadel kapot is.

Ondertussen staat er een Wood Elf druid te kijken aan de rand van Ardeep Forest. Morgalf en Galla Guappa zien haar en lopen naar haar toe. “Hey, weet jij wat hier aan de hand is? Is er hier iets gebeurd?”. De Elf, Denwyn Gingerroot, haalt haar schouders op en zegt: “Geen idee. We hebben wel meer Goblins gezien de laatste maand maar ik kwam eigenlijk ook gewoon kijken wat hier aan de hand is”.

Denwyn lokt een vogel, fluistert iets, en de vogel vliegt weg. Na ongeveer tien minuten komt de vogel terug, en Denwyn stelt dat er ‘mensen of tweevoeters’ in het dorp zijn. Ondertussen gaat de kerkklok maar door “bong….bong….bong….bong…”. De helden gaan voorwaarts. Denwyn schiet met een welgeplaatst longbow schot het touw van de kerkklok kapot. Eindelijk stilte, wel hoort hij vanuit de kerktoren “What the fuck Flik, het touw is slap”. Galla is ondertussen voorzichtig gaan kijken en ziet dat het hele dorp bezaaid is met grote stenen, gebouwen zijn geraak, er liggen doden en twee Worgs zijn een dode hond aan het opeten.

Denwyn springt vervolgens in één keer bovenop de vier meter hoge wachttoren, schiet een pijl en raakt een van de Worgs. Het beest schreeuwt het uit en beide Worgs stormen richting de poort. Uit de kerk en andere gebouwen komen vijf Goblins gestormd en deze beginnen de party te bestoken met pijlen terwijl de Worgs tot de dood vechten met Galla Guappa. Denwyn schroeit Worgs en Goblins weg met haar Moonbeam, Galla zit in close combat met zijn warhammer en Morgalf houdt de groep in leven en lanceert de ene na de andere sacred flame. Op een gegeven moment komt er een human fighter met pike uit een huis gerend en samen met deze versterking worden de Goblins gedood of op vlucht gejaagd.

Deze fighter is Andwyn, een huurling in de wacht van Nightstone. Hij vertelt de party over een bombardement door reuzen, er werden stenen uit de wolken gegooid. De dorpelingen konden niet meer schuilen in het citadel en zijn dus naar de Dripping Caves gevlucht. Toen bijna iedereen weg was zijn de reuzen het dorp ingestapt en is de Nightstone van zijn plek op het centrale plein weggehaald en mee de wolken ingenomen. De Goblins kwamen niet veel later en zijn begonnen met plunderen. Andwyn heeft dekking moeten zoeken, hij is misschien fearless maar zeker niet dom. Een pack Goblins zou z’n dood betekenen.

De vier vegen Nightstone vervolgens schoon tot iedere Goblin dood of gevlucht is. Ze plunderen het een en ander, er is toch niemand die kijkt, en komen Kella tegen, een vrouw die schuilt in de inn. Hoogtepunt van het schoonvegen van Nightstone: Galla en Andwyn die op de rug van een in een paard veranderde Denwyn een aantal Goblins kapot maken.

Wanneer ze uiteindelijk met z’n allen over de kapotte brug springen zien ze vier guards. De guards zaten afgesloten van de rest en weten duidelijk niet wat ze moeten doen. Lady Nandar is tijdens de aanval van de reuzen geraakt door vallend puin en ligt opgebaard op een tafel in het citadel.

Tijdens deze rustige momenten is één ding duidelijk. De Bulk van Nightstone, Andwyn, heeft een oogje op de graatmagere veganistische Denwyn. Denwyn weet de vreemd fysieke menselijke paringsrituelen voorlopig nog te weerstaan. Maar hoe lang nog? Die trapezius en biceps zijn namelijk prachtig ontwikkeld.

Onder leiding van Andwyn (die weet dat er meerdere ingangen zijn) gaan de vier direct naar de Dripping Caves om de dorpelingen te halen. Na 20 minuten lopen komen ze op hun bestemming aan en tot hun verbazing zien ze een Ogre een modderbad nemen in de grot. Het beest zit te zingen: “Nog in bad. Mod-der-bad. Warm bad. Nog is blij.” en let nergens op. Uit de grot wordt ook een Goblin stem gehoord die het over “vers vlees” heeft.

De party rusht Nog, die maar één keer kan slaan met zijn greatclub (Galla Guappa ontwijkt deze klap sierlijk), en legt de Ogre om. Vervolgens komt Thog uit een hoek gerend “AAARRGHHH LIEF NOG!” en de 2e Ogre stormt woedend richting de party. Een aantal Goblins komt ook uit verschillende gangen gerend.

Het volgende gevecht gaat moeizaam. Galla Guappa kan ondanks de steun die hij van Andwyn krijgt niet alles ontwijken en krijgt een gigantische klap van Thog. Galla ligt stervend op de grond, maar Morgalf weet hem gelijk te healen. Ondertussen houdt Andwyn zich staande en schiet Denwyn wild atletisch om zich heen. Thog gaat neer en wanneer de laatste Goblin weg rent terwijl hij luidkeels “boss Hark, boss Hark” schreeuwt druipt de party af. Iedereen is gewond en uitgeput, het doorzetten van de aanval zou te veel van het goede zijn.

De volgende ochtend wordt de party wakkergemaakt door zeven ruiters die voor de poort staan. De leider, een half elf met een flying snake op zijn schouder, zegt dat ze bounty hunters zijn die op zoek zijn naar een stuk Zhentarim tuig genaamd Kella Darkhope. Galla doet de poort open en wanneer de ruiters binnen zijn claimt de leider, die zich inmiddels geïdentificeerd heeft als Xolkin, Nightstone voor de Zhentarim. Omdat de dorpelingen nog gered moeten worden, en ze geen zin hebben in een gevecht met zeven ruiters, besluit de party het maar even zo te laten. Ze komen over een paar uur wel terug met enkele tientallen burgers en pakken Nightstone dan wel terug. Galla heeft ondertussen een zeldzaam moment van hersenactiviteit en saboteert de valbrug met een dolk.

Eenmaal aangekomen bij de Dripping Caves zien de helden dat de Goblins een barricade hebben gebouwd. Een paar pijlen schieten langs Denwyn’s hoofd wanneer ze om de hoek de grot in kijkt maar vinden verder geen doel. Denwyn weet via haar beestenvriendjes drie andere ingangen te vinden, een nauwe verticale gang, een grote verticale put vol vleermuizen en een smalle horizontale gang. Ze verandert in een Das en hobbelt de gang in. Na honderd meter loopt ze bij een splitsing een gang in, kijkt om en ziet een olieachtige substantie naar haar toe stromen. Linke soep, Denwyn verandert terug in haar eigen storm en probeert over de substantie, die ze identificeert als Ooze, heen te springen. De Ooze weet haar echter te pakken te krijgen en begint haar langzaam te verteren. Nooit zou ze de Bulk van Nightstone mogen ervaren.

Galla Guappa, Morgalf en Andwyn zitten ondertussen buiten te wachten. Wanneer het Galla allemaal te lang duurt, loopt hij de gang in en tot zijn grote schrik ziet hij een door zuur aangevreten elvenlijk liggen. Denwyn is hierdoor geraakt. Ze was zo lekker.

De party besluit vervolgens door de vleermuisgrot naar binnen te gaan. Ze komen er ook achter dat de dorpelingen onder in deze 30 meter diepe put liggen. Ze binden al hun touw en kleding aan elkaar en springen stuk voor stuk naar beneden. KRAK, SMAK, SPLET. Ze raken alle drie gewond maar gezien dit de E.R. onder de avonturiers is weten ze zichzelf zonder moeite weer op te lappen. Gebroken arm? No problem.

De dorpelingen kunnen nooit naar boven klimmen, ze zijn te zwak en de opening is te ver naar boven. De enige optie is langs de barricade die de Goblins op hebben gericht. Morgalf, Andwyn en Gall Guappa besluiten de Goblins te rushen. Na een kort maar fel gevecht hebben ze een opening geforceerd en begeleid ze de dorpelingen naar buiten. Galla wil de rest van de grot uitmoorden. Andwyn overtuigt hem dat dat te risicovol is, ruim 20 dorpelingen zijn veilig naar buiten geleid en moeten zo snel mogelijk terug naar Nightstone.

Tot hun grote geluk is de valbrug nog steeds open. Een Zhentarim guard probeert ze weg te sturen. Nightstone is een Zhentarim basis, de dorpelingen zijn niet welkom. Morgalf grijpt in. Hij cast Thaumaturgy, de lucht om hem heen wordt donker en hij maak even duidelijk wie de baas is. De Zhent stapt aan de kant en durft de party niet meer aan te kijken.

Samen met de dorpelingen gaan ze naar het citadel. De guards hebben een touwbrug gemaakt en wisten het citadel te verdedigen tegen de Zhentarim. In het citadel sluit de Dragonborn paladin Dracan zich bij hen aan. Dracan is tijdens de aanval van de reuzen bewusteloos geraakt maar is weer op de been. De guards worden gemobiliseerd en enkele dorpelingen krijgen armor en wapens in hun handen geduwd in een poging de Zhentarim straks te intimideren met een overmacht.

Wanneer de party het via de brug het dorp weer in gaat worden ze direct door Xolkin geconfronteerd. Hij sommeert de dorpelingen, de party en de wacht het citadel over te geven en het dorp te verlaten. Dit is Zhentarim grondgebied! Morgalf probeert het trucje dat hij eerder gebruikte opnieuw maar Xolkin is niet onder de indrukt. De Zhentarim leider plaatst zijn troepen in een gevechtslinie, pakt een flesje en drinkt deze leeg. Dracan stormt naar voren en geeft Xolkin een gigantische klap die zo hard was dat hij door midden had moeten splijten maar er gebeurt helemaal niets. Galla Guappa doet het zelfde maar zonder resultaat. Andwyn probeert het maar zijn pike komt niet eens door de onbedekte huid van Xolkin heen.

Al snel komen ze tot de conclusie dat ze Xolkin niet aan kunnen maar zijn troepen wel. Een voor een worden de andere Zhentarim afgeslacht en al snel blijf Xolkin als enige over. De guards grapplen hem. Galla grappled hem. Dracan grappled hem. Andwyn probeert over zijn gezicht te schijten. In de eerste instantie lukt het niet maar wanneer Xolkin Andwyn’s kringspier met zijn tanden uit zijn reet scheurt explodeert Andwyn’s anus in een fontein van natte brokjesdiarree. Iedereen behalve Morgalf begint te kotsen en Xolkin begint zachtjes aan kwetsbaar te worden. Dracan ramt door op Xolkin’s hoofd en schreeuwt “ik neem je moeder en zus tot ze uitscheuren!” Xolkin reageert met een zwakke “Alassandar….” En blaast zijn laatste adem uit op het moment dat zijn hoofd door de Dragonborn tot pulp geslagen wordt. Andwyn’s kringspier wordt vervolgens feilloos hersteld door Morgalf.

Nightstone is weer vrij. Morgalf, Galla Guappa, Andwyn en Dracan zullen altijd welkom zijn. Een beloning kunnen ze op het moment niet geven maar wel wordt er gevraagd of ze Miros Xelbrin de Tressym van zijn ouders wil brengen en hem willen vertellen dat zij tijdens de aanval van de reuzen om zijn gekomen. De party zegt ja en bereidt zich voor om naar Goldenfields te gaan.

[dm-jack]

The Politics of an Empty Town

So the party rid the town of Nightstone of goblin looters (and reached level 2). The only people left alive were a handful of guards in the keep and a single woman who claimed to be a mere traveler. Everyone else had died or fled to a goblin-occupied cave network (unbeknownst to the villagers).

The group took a break before riding out to save the villagers...when they heard the sound of hooves. Had they remembered to close the drawbridge? It didn’t matter, for the simple traveling woman was greeting a group of strangers at the open drawbridge.

The group’s paladin has had dealings with mercenaries before. He immediately recognized the strangers as Zhentarim. (An unscrupulous group of mercenaries and more - seeking wealth, power, and influence.) ...and not just any group of Zhentarim, but a group of ill repute known as The Seven Snakes.

The paladin whispers all this to his new comrades...and they’re immediately conflicted. The group is still rather tired. They aren’t certain that they’re up to another fight - let alone 8 trained mercs (7 snakes + a clear ally) against their six.

The tiefling girl slipped away the moment she had a chance as the human noblewoman stepped forward to greet the newcomers. The Snakes’ leader introduced himself as Xolkin...and that they have come to claim this land as the newest Zhentarim outpost.

At this revelation, the tiefling leaps out of hiding, pours all her remaining magic reserves into a spell, and attempts to curse the Snakes (lowering their ability to land attacks and avoid attacks). The spell fizzled. No effect.

The group immediately grabs the impulsive girl, forces her to apologize, and attempts to talk the mercs down from violence. They manage to talk the mercenaries out of just killing them all...but the mercenaries will not budge on their mission. They ask who here represents the town.

The dwarf sorcerer steps forward, having stolen the deed to some Nightstone land earlier speaks up, “I represent the town!”

...

To this, Xolkin draws his sword, points it at the injured sorcerer, and asks sweetly, “Do you object to our claim?”

The dwarf invites them in.

What ensues is a series of negotiations regarding the Zhentarim’s need for more people to run a town, how the townspeople need a leader, the few living soldiers have no one to follow, and peace is discussed. The Zhentarim will own the land, but any people willing to join them, will be allowed to keep their former belongings and resume their former duties.

The group handles negotiations well...but will the townspeople accept new masters? It cannot be helped. The party isn’t in much of a position to make demands. Only to get the Snakes’ word that the people may regain some semblance of normalcy if they return.

By this time, the day is getting late. The party is exhausted. They decide that they are in no position to attempt the goblin caves yet this day. They must rest or they are surely rushing to their own graves.

The party and Snakes each post their own watches...but after a mere hour or so of rest, the watches spot trouble in the distance. An orcish warband numbering over a dozen is riding directly for the town. The party debates what to do. Some of their members are drained of magic - only able to cast basic cantrips. They were able to heal up, but they’re far from able to handle rampaging orcs. They decide to do as they did the previous evening.

The party will fortify the church, hide if they can, and attempt to bottleneck any orcs there.

[marimo-art]

More Dice Shame doodles that i never posted! Some old and some new. I always forget to share these over here too. I tend to just post them on the discord when I'm done doodling...whoops.

[stuff-and-such-art]

It’s some beloved NPCs! All of these were requests from friends in the Dice Shame discord. Toran was requested by Rowanoak, Mugdool by AlexN, and Xolkin by Yami! Beautiful boys they all are, and I’ve never realized how many men npcs Jo plays until now. Featuring my favorite color three times by accident!

[stuff-and-such-art]

More work doodles about Dice Shame. 🙂

[a-d-n-d-journal]

Interlude 5-6

Characters:

Zastu, dragonborn rogue; white scales almost completely covered in a hooded cape and mask, leather armor, short bow and shortsword + dagger

Rysiel, half-elf druid; simple clothing and leather armor, scimitar

This is a small interlude that I had Zastu and Rysiel play out, in order to figure out how they rejoin their companions and what resources they bring with them.

Zastu leaves the bandits and their leader, sneaking away east, and then turning south to rejoin Rysiel. She finds the half-elf druid in person-shape, hanging out with the tressym, who is watching them from a cautious distance. Zastu explains the situation, but Rysiel doesn't seem very concerned about Teir or Bakunawa. That inconsiderate warlock killed a chicken right in front of him! And he didn't even eat it! How rude! Rysiel wanders over to the south-western part of the village--still out of sight of the bandits--to collect the horse he's adopted and named 'Bobble'. He briefly wonders where the second rooster--named Jest--has gotten to, but remembers that they left him in the fort. "Bobble needs help to protect their loved ones! Don't you have anyone in your life worth protecting?" Zastu asks, suggesting that the bandits would not treat the animals in the village with respect. Rysiel considers this, and thinks nostalgically of home (Eberron). He nods and agrees to help. He also starts to open his mouth to suggest they try to bargain with the bandits regarding equipment, but shuts it as he realizes that almost definitely would not go over well at this point.

Zastu holds up a battle axe she grabbed from a slain orc on the way over. "This will probably work for one of the guards, but there's better stuff in the cart over there…" "Yeah, stay here and look after Bobble," Rysiel says, and sneaks away without waiting for a response. But Zastu is a rogue, not a farmer, and doesn't feel the same way about horses as Rysiel. Plus, she's supposed to be the sneaky one here! How dare he suggest she stay behind! Zastu sneaks off after Rysiel. The two of them easily avoid being spotted by the four remaining bandits, who are tending to their own affairs. Rysiel glares at Zastu as she catches up with him, but they both remain silent. In the cart are all the goblin weapons that the bandits collected early that morning--short swords, a couple shields and clubs, short bows, and a few quivers with arrows. The equipment stolen from Baku and Teir hasn't been added yet. Rysiel grabs a short sword and a club, sticking them in his belt, slings a quiver and a short bow over one shoulder, and grabs a shield. Pantomiming, he suggests that Zastu can't carry much--or at least that's what she thinks he's doing. Still carrying the 2-handed axe, she slings a quiver over her shoulders and stuffs a shortsword in her belt. Then they both duck away and behind some houses before they're seen, making their way back over to Bobble.

They briefly discuss what to do. They want to leave the village, but in order to keep Bobble with them, they're going to have to go out the front gate since the horse can't climb the scaffolding of the southern bridge. The tressym sticks around to watch them from the roof of a house. They decide to ride Bobble and position her behind the temple, which sits beside the gate at the western end of the town square. They watch as the bandits load their companions into the cart (on top of the goblin loot--they don't want to open any wounds, but they don't care if they wake up with messed-up backs), fetch two plow horses and hook them up. Xolkin and Kella each enter a guard tower and lower the drawbridge, causing it to clank loudly. Slowly, the bandits lead the cart across. Rysiel, guiding Bobble, bursts out of their cover and gallops across the lowered bridge, just avoiding the cart as it pulls off the other side. The two bandits get their crossbows out, but seeing the horse veer off to the south, they decide not to shoot. Rysiel and Zastu continue along, mounting a hill to the south, and stopping just beyond the crest of it so they can watch the bandits and the cart trundle north across the open grass and into the forest. After about ten minutes, they double back and enter the forest behind them. Rysiel uses his druid skills to guide the horse through the sparse brush without getting caught or risking behind seen. They continue for about a half an hour before the cart can't fit any further. The bandits stop and dump five bodies into a shallow depression. Before leaving, the two thieves spend a few minutes rifling through pockets and bags, but are disappointed to come away with only a few things (though a shiny gemstone and a solid gold holy symbol they find might make this lame task worth the effort). Rysiel and Zastu stay pretty far away, waiting another 5 minutes or so after the bandits leave before approaching their companions. As they wait, a curious feeling passes over them, as if they're being watched. Rysiel remembers the tressym, and looks around for it, but doesn't see it. Zastu is pretty sure she saw it crawling through some thorns, but Rysiel dismisses the idea. He suddenly realizes he can get some minor payback on Teir for killing that chicken. The druid approaches the bodies, looking down to fish out his water skin and uncap it, but when he looks up he sees something strange--there's a rooster, looking exactly like Jest (the one they left in the fort) pecking at the face of one of the guards. The guard (Kaelen) starts to stir.

Treasure looted:

Short sword x2

Shield

Wooden Club

Greataxe (2 hands)

Shortbow

Quivers (15 arrows x2)

[a-d-n-d-journal]

Game Session #5

Characters:

Bakunawa, dragonborn paladin; copper scales, chainmail, a longsword and shield

Zastu, dragonborn rogue; white scales almost completely covered in a hooded cape and mask, leather armor, short bow and shortsword + dagger

Rysiel, half-elf druid; simple clothing and leather armor, scimitar

Teir, tiefling warlock; vibrant gold skin and black hair w/silver highlights, horns, hooves, expensive-looking clothes and leather armor, carries a crossbow and a hand-axe but tries not to use them

For this game, Bakunawa’s player was at my place, while the others were remote (Teir and Rys-boy are roommates, so they play from the same place). Unfortunately, our guest-star from last game wasn't able to make it.

The battle of the orcs is still in play, but within a round or two, the players (and the remaining bandits, Xolkin, and Kella) are able to handily defeat them. From her perch on the windmill, Zastu fires her shortbow at the back of Gurrash, the orc leader—he lets out a guttural scream as he falls and promptly dies. The guards continue across the ladder and broken bridge, and start firing their crossbows at the remaining orcs from the break in the wall, killing at least one of them. Xolkin and Kella team up and take out the last orc harassing them with twin blade flurries. An Agonizing Blast from Teir kills another orc, and Bakunawa's sword decapitates the very last one.

Our adventurers gather together, joined by the guards, to take stock of their injuries. Everyone seemed to come out pretty okay! One of the guards—Sydiri—exclaims over having shot the one-eyed orc in his remaining eye. Rysiel is still in panther form, but the dragon skull on his head marks him as a creature they know. People are still uneasy, especially Xolkin and Kella, who try to ignore them. Meanwhile, Xolkin and his crew check over their three fallen comrades, and discover one still alive (the other two are cut in half), and stabilize him so he won't die. They bring him back to the inn and disappear for a while.

Rysiel suddenly remembers a strange sound coming from the house he leapt upon during the fight. He can't talk, but the others follow him over, since they haven't figured out what to do next. In his panther form, Rysiel smells out a feline scent within the rubble of the half-demolished house, eventually catching sight of a winged cat. One of the guards pipes up to tell the others that Rys-panther probably found the Tressym which belonged to the elderly couple there. (Who had moved to Nightstone at the request of Lady Nandar to be the village's notary) Rys-panther tried to encourage the Tressym to come out of hiding, but unfortunately the poor creature was too frightened by the predator. When provoked, the tressym let out a long hiss, and escaped through a small crack, flying up onto the roof and over the peak. Bakunawa climbed the rubble up to the roof and tried to lure it back with some chicken, but it didn't work, sending it bounding away to perch on the palisade encircling the village. Eventually Teir remembered something about their impressive intelligence and tried talking to it. Curious, the tressym flew back over to the house and started mewing. The adventurers, with the aid of the guards, started searching through the rubble and quickly found the crushed remains of the tressym's owners. The sad creature started mewing sadly, and the others decided to leave it to mourn in peace. Rsy-panther stuck around at a respectful distance, hoping to console or otherwise form a bond with the orphaned tressym.

Teir asks the remaining three adventurers to accompany him to the graveyard to investigate a vision he had in a dream, which he (correctly) believes came from his patron—The Raven Queen. At the village graveyard they find an above-ground crypt with the Nandar crest on the door—a golden fox with a rose in its mouth—but Teir sees a raven—a clear sign. The party briefly ponders how to get into the sealed structure. Zastu zones out for a moment, but Bakunawa pokes her and asks for her crowbar—an obvious solution. The paladin's muscles open yet another door. Inside is a simple wooden coffin with the Nandar crest again, and very sparse decoration upon the walls. Bakunawa hefts the crowbar again and gets started on the coffin, but before he finishes cracking the lid, they all hear a dreadful and ominous voice… "Velrosa…? Dear…? Is that you?" It calls out faintly. So faintly, the adventurers aren't sure they heard anything. It repeats. And repeats. Being the only woman, Zastu answers, pretending to be Lady Velrosa. An apparition of a middle-aged human man appears, full of arrows. It's the late Lord Drezlin Nandar! Bakunawa drops the crowbar and pulls out his sword. Zastu's ruse works for a moment, but then it doesn't… The specter grows angry and attacks! Teir manages to get off a crackling Eldrith Blast from behind Bakunawa. The energy flashes through the air and splashes against the translucent enemy, scoring a direct hit. The specter tries to reach for Bakunawa for some necrotic damage, but the paladin evades it and counters with an incredible Divine Smite, blasting the undead thing to dust and ending the combat before even Zastu can react. Teir checks the Nandar crest and sees that it is a proper fox and rose, while Zastu checks the coffin for loot (and finds none).

Meanwhile, the restless guards start looking through the rubble of demolished houses for survivors or bodies, uncovering and setting aside those they find.

Next, the adventurers moved on to the house with the door full of glyphs warning of a terrible demise. Teir recently learned "Detect Magic" and wanted to try it out, and the mystery was too much. Upon casting the spell though, he quickly discovered that the glyphs were only writing, but there was at least one source of magic within the house. Unfortunately, the build-up and hype upon approaching the house was too much for the rogue, and she refused to pick the lock on the door or shutters. Bakunawa picked up the slack though and he grabbed a discarded axe from an orc to break down the door in two heavy chops. The door shattered anti-climactically. Inside, Teir was drawn immediately to a solid gold holy symbol of Asmodeus—the patron devil-god of the Tieflings—a fact he kept to himself, as it seemed obvious at a casual investigation that the place had housed two Tieflings. His Sense Magic also uncovered a healing potion while Zastu searched via mundane methods and came away with a healing kit.

While the adventurers take a moment to decide on what to do next (deal with Xolkin and the bandits, or go find the villagers?) The guards take a break after digging out a crushed halfling man to come over and ask for help with the bandits. They're very nervous about them, and do not trust them at all. The adventurers agree. They already know that the bandits have retreated to the inn with one of their injured, while two of their dead lay neatly (though somewhat in pieces) just outside. They have the guards cover the side and rear exits—Alara and Kaelen at the western door, Sydiri and Torem in the kitchen—while they go in through the front. Teir uses Thaumaturgy to blast open the double-doors at the front of the Inn. Within the main common room, the bandits are on edge, but otherwise hide their surprise. They stand around a long table, upon which one of their own lies unconscious and wrapped in bandages. Xolkin steps away from the head of the table to confront the adventurers, and Kella steps into the shadows near the stairway. "What do you want?" "We want you to leave this village," Bakunawa replies, taking the lead. Xolkin shakes his head, hands resting on his weapons. "Can't do that. Nightstone belongs to the Zhentarim now. But maybe we can come to an understanding…" "Not a chance," Bakunawa interrupts. "I know your kind—unscrupulous mercenaries running protection rackets—this village has owners still." "I'm tired of this Holier-than-thou attitude coming from the Burning Dawn. You think you're better than us because you follow the rich in their caravans, protecting their princesses? You take their money all the same. Besides, all I see here is you, and us, and you have no claim…" Xolkin says. "I knew Lady Velrosa, she was kind to the people here, and protected them against the elves to the north. I have a much better claim than you, and I won't let Nightstone fall to the Black Network!" Teir shouts. "Ugh, you nobles are so… Ugh, just Shut Up. You go around claiming everything because of money, forgetting the elves that lived here before the humans came." Xolkin eyes the adventurers—not one of them is human, but, then, his own half-elf heritage is obvious as well. "We're going to ask you again, leave Nightstone," Bakunawa demands. He takes his sword out. Xolkin points a dagger at them. "No." "Ooooh, a dagger, so scared." Teir mocks, and snaps his fingers—his Thaumaturgy slams the door to the kitchen shut and make loose items rattle. The bandits fan out around the common room expertly. "Oooh, a Teifling Warlock, how scary," Xolkin scoffs, "and predictable—the rich demon taking the shortcut to power." Teir flares in anger and the doors start slamming open and closed rapidly. One of the bandits loses his nerve, and fires a crossbow bolt, hitting Teir squarely in the shoulder. Teir reacts, automatically covering that bandit in hellfire. The bandit falls, screaming. Xolkin springs forward yelling obscenities about how much he hates the rich, slashing Teir twice with his scimitar and dropping the Teifling in seconds. With his third attack, he stabs at Bakunawa—who tried to interject his shield but failed—with his dagger, but doesn't get through the paladin's armor. From the side entrance, Guard Alara knocks open the door and attacks the bandit there with her spear, but the bandit dodges as he senses the door move. Unfortunately for him, Guard Sydiri is right behind the other door (to the kitchen), and jumps in to score a deadly hit with her own spear, spilling blood. Bakunawa gets to retaliate against Xolkin with his sword, gaining Advantage as Zastu distracts the bandit leader from around the corner of the door; but the bandit leader seems to shrug off the direct slash from the sword. Zastu takes the opening, scoring her own hit (with sneak attack damage!), but Xolkin is only concerned with attacking. Kella drops her crossbow to respond to the closer threat, brandishing her shortsword against Sydiri. She attacks twice, dealing sneak attack damage and knocking the guard into unconsciousness with the pain and blood loss. One of the bandits in the middle of the room shoots a bolt at Guard Alara, scoring a hit. Guard Kaelen steps into the room and tries to help, but his spear fails to find its mark. (Teir succeeds on a death save) Xolkin focuses on Bakunawa for an entire round, missing with his first scimitar attack, but scoring hits on his second and a crit with the dagger. The already injured paladin falls unconscious. (Bakunawa succeeds on a death save with Inspiration) Guard Alara tries to attack the bandit near Kella, but misses. A second bandit fires a bolt at her, causing her to lose consciousness. Seeing the second of her companions fall (not to mention two guards), Zastu retreats, using her action to disengage, her movement to get around the corner of the building, and her bonus action to Stealth (hide) outta here. Kella slices and dices the remaining guard, Kaelen, knocking him unconscious as well. Torem stands near the door from the kitchen, just in time to see this all happen, and books it out the back door. Xolkin stands over the two adventurers he knocked out. "I tried to avoid this you know." He raises his voice. "I'm not an unreasonable person! Hand over your weapons and your gold, and I'll let you leave unharmed." No response from Zastu or anyone else. (Teir fails a death save with Inspiration) (Bakunawa fails a death save) "You could have joined us. Really, you didn't do too badly, you were just outclassed," Xolkin motions for one of his mooks to bandage take care of the one bandit who fell to Teir's hellfire. He motions for another, to come over with more bandages. "I'm not going to kill you, or let your friends die. If you don't come get them now, good luck finding them later." He gets to work on bandaging Bakunawa and Teir while Kella looks after the three guards lying at her feet. One of the three bandit mooks standing helps her. (In D&D mechanics, this is a stabilize action; all characters are at either -1 or 0 HP right now) Xolkin, full of confidence after his victory, doesn't bother to investigate around the corner of the building. He's assumed that Zastu has run off somewhere, but she's listening in: "I want someone with Yasheira and Silifrey until they regain consciousness, and since no one should be alone while that weird-looking dragonborn is out there, stay in pairs, leaving only two teams…" "Don't forget about that fourth guard, and the druid was a wild cat last I saw him," Kella reminds him. Xolkin nods. "Right. Keep your guard up. Let's get these bodies into the cart outside." "The cart with all the weapons and shit from the goblins?" One of the bandits asks. "Yeah, is that going to be a problem?" Xolkin glares. "No, just makin' sure. We takin' the orc's stuff too?" "Yes, but don't worry it right now, or about emptying the cart, we'll take a couple of the plow horses from the stables and hook them up. After that I want Dorn and Dona to take them to the forest and dump these losers somewhere. Maybe the orcs or goblins will take care of them. Maybe the elves, but I don't want any more lives on our hands." "And don't forget their weapons and gold," he adds.

Spells cast:

Teir: Eldritch Blast, Hellish Rebuke Bakunawa: Divine Smite (technically not a spell, but it uses up a spell slot)

Killcount:

Bakunawa: 1 orc, 1 Specter Teir: 1 orc (the bandit isn't quite dead, but he doesn't know this) Zastu: 1 orc Rysiel: 0

Treasure looted:

Healing kit

Healing potion

Gold symbol of Asmodeus

32 gp and 17 sp

STOLEN:

From Teir:

Light Crossbow

Bolts x20

Handaxe

Purse (??? gp, sp, cp)

Three-Dragon Ante playing cards (extra loot)

Gold Asmodeus Symbol (extra loot)

(they overlook Teir's dagger, a small knife, and both potions and antitoxin)

From Bakunawa:

Longsword

Shield

Javelin x5

Shortbow

Arrows x20

Purse (??? gp, sp, cp)

Gemstone (extra loot)

From Kaelen, Alara, and Sydiri:

Spear x3

Shield x3

[a-d-n-d-journal]

Game Session #4

Characters:

Bakunawa, dragonborn paladin; copper scales, chainmail, a longsword and shield

Zastu Qqs, dragonborn rogue; white scales almost completely covered in a hooded cape and mask, leather armor, short bow and shortsword + dagger

Rysiel, half-elf druid; simple clothing and leather armor, scimitar

Teir Maccailleach, tiefling warlock; vibrant gold skin and black hair w/silver highlights, horns, hooves, expensive-looking clothes and leather armor, carries a crossbow and a hand-axe but tries not to use them

Guest starring...

Xolkin Alassandar, half-elf bandit leader; rougishly handsome, vibrant green winged snake on his shoulder, leather armor, scimitar and dagger

Kella Darkhope, human probably-not-actually-a-monk; blonde, weilds a crossbow

I had a friend help me out with the NPCs, and it worked out well. We'll probably do the same again later. For this game, I was at Bakunawa's player's place, while the others were remote.

The party wakes to the sound of a rooster crowing in their barracks. After a few seconds of disorientation, Teir shoots it with Eldrith Blast, spraying rooster guts and blood all over the nearest bunk (which is thankfully empty). Zastu tries to run away from the guts and blood, but runs directly into a guard coming to wake them. A group of people has entered the village! The adventurers rush outside into the brightening gloom (the sun has barely risen) to see if they can make out anything. Unfortunately, the walls of the village are in the way and they hear the crank of the drawbridge being raised. Teir sends his spectral raven into the village to scout, but the newcomers are too far away for him to see through his raven's eyes. The raven returns with vague information--its not very good at human things--counting eight peoples and seven horses, with one of the peoples being the same blonde one from the inn. The adventurers retract the ladder and go back inside to deliberate, though Zastu stays outside to keep watch. Inside the fort's study and lounge, Teir convinces Rysiel to check out the skulls mounted on the space the landing creates between the first and second floors. Rysiel, being a half-elf, is the only one of the part who lacks horns, and wouldn't it be great if he tried one on? Only the dragon-skull fits though, and it looks pretty cool! It works well as a helmet, seeming to fit his head just right, and he has the sense that he feels more protected (but he's not sure how) Bakunawa doesn't try to hide his disgust, and Rysiel tries to remove the skull... But it just slides around his head a bit. It doesn't get stuck on his ears or anything, but... He can't take it off. The half-elf lets out a half-hearted curse. They got back to discussing what to do. Time passes. They can't stay holed up in the fort forever (though there is food available). The people on the other side... Maybe they're nice? And they're going to figure out the ladder trick if they wait long enough... A rooster crows. Rysiel points at Teir accusingly. "Don't kill this one!" Teir puts up his hands. "Fine! But make it stop!" A rooster crows again. And again. And again, before Rysiel finds it behind a chair and picks it up. A rooster stops crowing. "I shall name him Jest," he declares.

Eventually they go back outside (leaving Jest behind) and Teir sends his raven out again. The sun is brightening the sky now. The newcomers are looting the village, going in and out of the trading post and the inn, checking out the stable, and gathering up the weapons the goblins had (shortbows, arrows, scimitars). Zastu reports the dying screams of a couple goblins. The adventurers place the ladder back on the gap in the bridge and cross to the other side. They cross into the village, and a shadow moves off to the side. Within a few seconds, they are met by a rougishly handsome half-elf, standing with Kella and six other ruffian-looking people. The leader looks them up and down, his eyes lingering on the paladin. Teir tries to greet them, but is interrupted. "What are you doing in my town?" The leader sneers at the Tiefling in noble's clothing. The rest of the conversation goes downhill from there. The leader introduces himself as Xolkin, and claims Nightstone for the "Black Network". The gears turn in Bakunawa's head. He knows of the Black Network through his mercenary connections. He tries to claim the town for the "Red Network", but Xolkin calls his bluff. Two of the bandits disappear and reappear to their sides, flanking them. Teir decides it's a good idea to send a 'warning' blast near one of them. But the others ready their crossbows, and they outnumber our adventurers, so eventually they negotiate an exit.

The bandits escort them to the two towers flanking the drawbridge, and let it down... But the adventurers are just over halfway across when they hear a faint rumbling coming from the north and the forest in the distance. They wait as the sound becomes louder. Suddenly, a small horde of orcs burst from the treeline! The adventurers stare at them dumbly for a moment as they run toward them. "Do they look mad?" Teir asks. "They look mad," Zastu replies. "Yeah, but are they running toward us, or away from something?" Teir insists. "At this point, I don't think that matters, let's get back inside," Rysiel says. They run back inside and burst into the watchtowers to raise the drawbridge. Startled, the bandits don't resist. Xolkin demands to know the meaning of this, but his face hardens at the mention of orcs. He orders his people up the ladders in the towers and onto the roofs. The orcs very quickly arrive at the end of the road near where the drawbridge had rested briefly. Those atop the towers can hear the rough orcish being spoken as two of the orcs, dressed in war and ceremonial gear the others lack, shout and point at the bridge and towers. One of them is quite huge, and many arrows pierce his flesh and armor. They don't seem to bother him much.

The disbelief of the bandits and adventurers causes them to hesitate. By the time they realize they should be raining arrows and bolts on the orcs, the small horde starts to fan out and explore the bank of the lake/moat. As the orcs slowly surround the village, the bandit group disperses to keep an eye on them. After about ten minutes, the orcs are spotted swimming across the moat to the broken bridge between Village and Fort. The boulder that took out the bridge has also taken out many of the protections to prevent stuff like this, so the orcs start climbing. The bandits take up a formation inside the village with orders to shoot on sight, but there isn't much cover. The adventurers hang out on the bridge, raining down a few attacks before retreating. Rysiel casts Ice Knife, killing one orc outright and knocking it off the scaffolding, while injuring two others. Seconds later two more heads pop up over the edge of the bridge and get an Eldritch Blast and an arrow to the face. They keep coming.

On the fort-side of the bridge, the guards have retracted the ladder and start shooting their own crossbows at the orcs. The seconds pass slowly. For a moment, the adventurers are able to kill the orcs as they come up in twos and threes. Then one makes it past the edge of the bridge into the village and is struck down by a bolt from one of Xolkin's bandits. A second orc follows, moving at an incredible speed (orcs have 'Aggressive' as a bonus action, allowing them to move at-speed toward an enemy they can see; that means, if they don't attack, they have Move action for 30ft, Dash action in lieu of Attack for another 30ft, AND Aggressive for 30ft, making a 90ft DASH IN ONE ROUND) The orcs start to pour in.

The guards aren't doing a very good job of shooting them in the back, either. They're just poor peons... Then they spot a strange-looking orc rest against the embankment on the far side, squinting at them with one eye. The embankment is too steep to climb, but he manages to prop himself up and is weaving his hands in rough gestures. Suddenly! A glowing spear appears in mid-air next to one of the guards! And attacks! The guards try to fight back, but the spear seems impervious, so they start shooting at the orc spellcaster.

The bandits fall back, shooting their crossbows. The adventurers also fall back, leaning on their strengths: Zastu climbs the hill on which the windmill sits, and shoots her shortbow. Nearby, Teir has retreated between a house and a field further back, shooting Eldritch Blasts. Bakunawa casts Shield of Faith and tanks 3 and 4 orcs at a time as they reach him. Rysiel disappears behind a house, and appears on the roof as a Panther with a dragon skull still on his head, growling in defiance. The orcs pour in. There must be about ten of them now... A dozen... And a hulking form comes through the break in the wall, charging at Xolkin and the bandits. Gurrash is full of arrows, and he doesn't care. He shouts in a roar that rivals the panther, and the orcs are bolstered. Then he swings his greataxe and cuts a bandit in half. Other orcs crash and overwhelm the humans, but they're still dying. Some of the bandits turn and run. Another one is cut to bloody pieces. A bright green line of acid splashes through the line of orcs from atop the hill. Zastu wipes her mouth, embarassed, and disappears into the windmill. Xolkin quaffs a thick, viscous liquid and steps forward with scimitar and dagger. Two orcs fall to his blades in seconds. Bakunawa draws a few of the orcs into another field, lightening the pressure on Xolkin's forces. Rice-panther leaps and pounces, ripping into Bakunawa's foes, the two of them working together for the advantage. Another bandit dies, but so do three more orcs. Four take their place. Zastu reappears from a window within the windmill, and starts shooting arrows (stepping around the two goblin corpses inside). Teir manages to take out another orc from an incredible distance, and a bandit pops out from the same house Rysiel disappeared behind--and fires his own crossbow. Another of Xolkin's bandits drops, and another runs, shooting behind him. Xolkin himself goes toe-to-toe with Gurrash, nimbly avoiding most of the big orc's attacks, and dealing his own. The two of them exchange blows at a faster rate than the others, and the orc's blows could cut a man in two without trying. Bakunawa and Rysiel are suddenly free, and the paladin moves into position. A long gout of fire bursts from his mouth, hitting five orcs in a line. None of them fall right away, but the bolts of Xolkin's remaining bandits find them and put them down. Rysiel pounces in and out, taking out another before Bakunawa is swarmed--Xolkin and the others starting to fall back again.

Meanwhile, at the bridge, the one-eyed orc spell caster has stayed behind the others, directing his spectral weapon to attack the guards. The guards retaliate, shooting bolt after bolt into him, but he just laughs. The guard, Sydiri, lines up a shot, betting if she could just shoot out his other eye... The bolt flies, and she succeeds. The floating spectral spear disappers as the orc screams in pain. The other guards shoot a couple more bolts, but half of them miss as the orc totters back and forth over the bridge. Then he takes one wrong step... And falls from the bridge, hitting the rocks beneath the surface of the water. He thrashes for a moment, and disappears. The guards cheer, and rush to put the ladder back in place, so they can go help. Torem crosses and Alara stumbles a bit on the rungs, not falling, but slowing their progress.

The orc forces are dwindling. There are eight of them left, including Gurrash. Two bandits are drastically wounded, and try to retreat while a third ducks in and out from behind a house, still uninjured. At some point, Kella appeared, shooting her own crossbow into the mess. Xolkin is bleeding, but he seems fine, protected by the magic of his potion. Four of the remaining orcs surround him. Gurrash looks about ready to fall apart, but his anger has shifted to the paladin and the panther who had just taken out so many seconds before, and he can still swing his waraxe. Three orcs are in front of the boss, but the paladin's armor aborbs their hits, then Gurrash pushes them aside to get at him, taking a chunk out of his hide. But Gurrash is on his last legs--Bakunawa's sword swings, and the big orc stumbles back--but he's still standing. Teir--somehow--blasts one of the orcs around Bakunawa and Rysiel, and Zastu's arrows continue to soar their way. In a flurry of bladework, Xolkin stabs and slashes at the orcs surrounding him, dropping three of them in two seconds. Only one left.

---At this point, it was after 11pm, and people had to sleep, so we wrapped up with 5 orcs still standing, including Gurrash--

Spells cast:

Rysiel: Ice Knife, Druidcraft Teir: Eldritch Blast (lots) Bakunawa: Shield of Faith Orc spellcaster: Spiritual Weapon

Killcount:

I kinda lost count of who-killed-what... 3 goblins died from the bandits, before the adventurers arrived--two in the windmill, and one in a tower 16 orcs died from the adventurers, guards, and bandits

Treasure looted:

Shortbows, arrows, and scimitars from the goblin corpses

One cursed/magical dragon skull

Left behind:

Who knows???

[tontontonberry]

The Pizza Valkyries

Nemeia: Bleeding-heart musician who is absolutely going to destroy capitalism and the ruling class.

Mhiri: Stoner that pretends she’s not nice and adopts owlbears as her children.

Palilai: Inexperienced academic with anxiety and an occasional thirst for blood.

Jalyt: Jack of all trades on sabbatical from her Very Important Destiny in a different franchise.

Keth: Got swept up by the rest of them and is like “well this sure is happening.”

Also starring:

Iastivar: Sir Sauntered Off Into The Sunset Five Minutes After He Showed Up

Maddox: His head got cut off, but he’s better now.

Resmyra: Local cryptid that ignores most questions.

Zephyros: Book uncle that could blow you up but would rather you just left, please.

Lady Nandar: Sometimes you eat your tormentors to deal with your trauma, and that’s okay.

Xolkin: Local criminal who wishes you would stop calling him and not following his directions.

Hark: It’s easy to eavesdrop when you’re only at elbow height.

Nincy: A Good Big Sister

The Dapifer: Got eaten and had it coming.

“The Dapifer”: Identity thief whose arrival means murder is coming.

The Herald: Not smart enough to realize that someone approaching you wordlessly while acting out of character means you’re going to die.

Luda: Mom’s here; also don’t worry, she already sewed the head back on.

Hiral: Very fresh cleric, very Anxiety.

Daphne: Accidentally gaslit by universe, but is now like “Mom, can you please not hulk out indoors for fuck’s sake.”

Ulixes: Wannabe Assassin’s Creed

Vavna: Sweet old grandma who gives you weed.

Thizari: Pays attention at worst possible times.

Kadri: Not shy to call dibs on loot.