#even if the gap between him and first place (ken) is miles wide

[girlnadian]

despite what you might expect i think mizz also ships kenifies #fujo

[a-d-n-d-journal]

Game Session #3

Due to a scheduling conflict, we had to delay our game by a week, but that’s okay!

Thanks again to Rysiel’s player for taking notes!

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 doesn’t use them

Resuming where we left off last time…

Bakunawa and Rysiel stand on top of a guard tower at the southern end of Nightstone, surveying the ruined village. Many boulders have fallen and destroyed many roofs. They discuss exploring the rest of the village, particularly the windmill on a hill to the west, and the (probably empty) trading post in the village square.

In the darkening twilight, Rysiel spots a torch appear on the roof of the fort across the water. (Teir rolls well too, but I forgot he was on the ground, and couldn’t see over the palisade) A humanoid (maybe two) figure walks in front of the light, and Rysiel calls down to Teir and Zastu.

Teir wastes no time in deploying his spectral raven. His eyes go blank as Zastu mutters about how he’s always doing that. The raven flies over the water and over the roof of the fort, and he catches sight of a human-looking guard wearing chainmail and a helmet, carrying a spear. Then his sight goes dark, as he realizes that vertical distance counts against how far he can sense through the raven (100 ft.).

The raven automatically moves back into range, and Teir spies from a slight further distance out. He recites back to his companions all that he sees and hears. The party discusses getting the guard’s attention, and Bakunawa fumbles around for a torch… Until Rysiel waves it away, casting Produce Flame. (The players briefly wonder if they have to roll any dice, but I wave the need to do so for most story-related stuff)

Rysiel waves the flame about for a moment before tossing it into the air.

Teir’s eyes roll back again to watch the guard through the raven’s eyes. The guard notices the flame, and they turn back to the stairs to the roof, shouting for their companions to join them. Within a few seconds, four guards stand on the roof, pointing and gesturing toward the tower with two people on top.

The party confer with each other on what to do, but decide to put the responsibility on Teir. The tiefling fetches some ink and parchment from his bag and writes a note:

“Hello! We are Waterdeep adventurers. Might we enter the keep for the night?”

He then gives it to his spectral raven, who holds it tightly in one semi-intangible talon. Teir gives it instructions: Drop this off on the roof where it won’t blow off, at a safe distance from the people there. Don’t allow them to attack you, but wait for a response and bring it back.

The raven drops off the rolled-up parchment, and the guards pick it up. As they deliberate what to do, the raven flies back into range of Teir’s ability to use its senses. He describes to the party what he sees: “There’s a building built around the top of the (broken) bridge, probably a barracks, though one of the them is smashed by a boulder. The walls around the fort are wide enough for people to walk along safely, and there’s a yard between them and the fort itself. They’re littered with boulders, and a few people lie crushed beneath them. The fort has a few boulder-holes in it too. Almost one entire corner is taken out. The roof has a parapet, and a small structure with stairs inside. The flag is purple with a stylized raven holding a rose.”

Something twinges in Teir’s brain. The symbol seems very familiar, and that’s not the right one for Nightstone… The other party members don’t notice.

When the guards are done arguing, they decide to write back. After a brief bit of humour while they look for something to write with (inside the fort), and something to write on, they leave the rolled parchment for the raven to bring back:

“YEE, cOm Ovar Hav ROpE? WEll kEch Et OR Ya kEn jumpb Et nO bEa pla wOOd big Enuff fEr hOl”

…the guards are literate, but only just barely.

Teir has some immediate anxiety. He can’t climb a rope at all! What if he falls?  Bakunawa and Rysiel descend the ladder in the guard tower and have an idea… The ladder is quite sturdy and appears to be long enough to cross the 15 ft. gap across the broken bridge.

They smash the fastenings keeping the ladder in place, and awkwardly take it out of the tower, carry it through the break in the palisade and over to the bridge, finally laying it across the gap. Even with the (relatively) stable ladder in place, Teir still has trouble crossing (he uses Inspiration to roll again and not fall).

Four human guards (two women and two men) wait for them on the far side. They are impressed with the ingenuity, but waste no time asking about the state of the village.

Teir takes the lead again and tells them that many goblins (and a couple worgs) lay dead, but they haven’t finished exploring the village. Everyone introduces themselves (the guards are Sydiri, Torem, Alara, and Kaelen), and lead them inside.

They see the wreckage of the barracks first-hand as they walk by. Inside the fort, the entrance hall is strewn with rubble. The right-hand side (west) is completely smashed, as is the left-hand side further in (south-east). Stairs to the second storey on the right, past the smashed-in kitchen, and past that a door sits open to the den. To their immediate left is a dining area, where (most of) a table lays with the body of Lady Velrosa Nandar. Teir never met her in person, but they had exchanged a few letters. She was his main reason for coming out this way.

The party asks the guards a series of questions, trying to ascertain what’s going on. The guards, for their part, are mostly in shock, and don’t ask many questions.

Early that day, a great shadow appeared over the village, and boulders started raining down. There was nowhere to take shelter (one of the guards waves at the demolished corner of the fort—ostensibly a reinforced structure two storeys tall), and no time besides. The shadow resolved itself into a great cloud, atop which a giant castle sat. When the boulders stopped falling, several cloud giants emerged, and took the great black stone—which gave Nightstone its name—from the center of the square, back to their castle. Then they drifted off to the east.

Presumably fearing a counter-attack, the residents of Nightstone fled north, leaving the draw bridge down. After some brief confusion regarding the elves that live to the north, they (we) find out that they probably took shelter in the bat caves about a mile away, not in elf territory. Sometime between then and when our adventurers showed up—the goblins arrived to loot the empty village.

They also find out a bit about the backstory between the Nandars, Nightstone, and the elves. Apparently, it used to be that nobles from Waterdeep and surrounding areas would come to Nightstone to hunt in the surrounding Ardeep forest, until the elves started to object to the intrusion to their lands and the forest which sustained them. They nearly wiped out the fledgling Nightstone until Lord Drezlin Nandar was able to broker a peace in exchange for ceasing all hunts. Unfortunately, Lord Nandar died a year ago, and Lady Nandar was looking for some help with negotiations, until she was crushed by a boulder.

The conversation peters off, and the adventurers ask if they can stay there for the night. The guards agree, and Zastu takes off in exploration of the fort. The remaining three consider fetching Kella from the inn to bring her to the relative safety of the fort. Teir, still shaken by his near-fall crossing the ladder over the hole in the bridge, flat-out refuses to go. Rysiel volunteers, as his darkvision gives him an advantage in the twilight, and Bakunawa goes with him for support.

Zastu discovers the library and den, and immediately calls Teir over. Four overstuffed chairs sit atop woven and bear-skin rugs, and the heads of animals line the bottom of a balcony attached to a second-floor landing. Zastu spots a dragon skull amongst the deer and goat, and shudders. A ladder securely fastened to floor and landing leads up. The dragonborn doesn’t find anything interesting, seeing only books and scribing materials, but Teir finds the books on poetry and flowers fascinating. He tells the mostly-illiterate rogue that the poetry is erotic, just to get a rise out of her. (+inspiration for RP)

Since the den’s second floor doesn’t connect to the rest of the fort, Zastu decides to find another way up, heading back into the main hall.

  Meanwhile, Rysiel and Bakunawa head straight to the inn (Bakunawa has a scare at the ladder, nearly falling into the moat [uses inspiration]), but realize they didn’t take the road straight up (north) on their first trip, so they missed the trading post. A circular blue shield, emblazoned with a stylized lion, sits above the door. Bakunawa recognizes it as the symbol for a well-known trading company but says nothing. They hear a small ruckus inside and prepare for a fight. Rysiel manages to stealthily peer inside and spots a goblin (Jilk). The sounds they hear seem to be coming from it alone. In a surprise attack, Rysiel summons a small blade made of ice, which streaks toward the unsuspecting goblin and pierces his heart. The Ice Knife explodes, spraying ice around the front entrance of the shop. The goblin dies immediately.

(I switch back to Zastu and Teir while Rysiel and Bakunawa’s players look at the adventuring gear table for loot at the trading post, but we’ll continue that part here)

Curious about giants since their conversation with the guards, the two look for books on giants, but find only a couple pamphlets about growing vegetables and skinning rabbits. They aren’t particularly interested in the mundane equipment the trading post has to offer, and only take a healer’s kit, and some rope, pitons, and boot cramps for climbing. Though, Rysiel does find a nice purple handkerchief with Nightstone’s golden fox and rose.

  Back and the fort, Zastu finds Lady Nandar’s room upstairs. Beautiful tapestries and paintings of landscapes adorn the wall, and a decorative sword sits above the doorway. A huge feather bed dominates the room, with a large chest (sans lock) sits at its foot. Luxurious wolf pelts soften the ground, and four large wardrobes sit against the wall. Zastu peaks inside and finds that each one holds a season’s worth of the latest fashions. She turns back to the chest and notices the lack of a lock, but, when she opens it, the sword handing over the door animates and swoops toward her. Her quick reflexes prevent a surprise round, and she uses her action to duck and dash out the door, slamming it shut behind her. She breathes a sigh of relief at the quick escape, just as Teir comes up the stairs. (+inspiration for RP)

“What’s going on?” He asks, just as the animated sword starts banging on the closed door.

“Nothing,” Zastu answers.

Teir, being much smarter than Zastu thought, interrogates and berates Zastu for trying to raid the recently deceased Lady Velrosa Nandar’s private room. Meanwhile, the sword continues to strike the door haphazardly. Cracks start to appear, and soon the door splits, and the sword is seen through the hole.

Teir stops trying to dress-down Zastu and bolts for the stairs—but it’s too late—the sword has made a hole large enough to fit through and is coming for them both! (roll initiative!)

The warlock searches his brain for information to help the situation (arcane roll), but while he can recall a bit (animated objects are susceptible to anti-magic fields, do not rest, and cannot be “reprogrammed” or fooled by anyone but the original owner/caster), none of it helps.

Teir fires a crackling bolt of Eldritch blast over his shoulder, but misses, and he continues down the stairs.

The sword tries to attack Zastu, but it misses.

The rogue flees down the stairs after Teir.

At the bottom of the stairs, Teir manages to get his hand-axe ready as the sword appears around the corner landing of the stairs. A second Eldritch blast hits it and causes it to wobble in midair.

As the one closest to the animated weapon, Zastu baits it forward so that Teir flanks it on one side. The sword slices at her, dealing a fair bit of damage, but Zastu retaliates with her short sword and dagger, hitting it with a quick one-two (inflicting sneak attack damage), knocking it to the ground. Teir notes the crack in it, and declares it “dead”, as an animated object’s magic is tied to its physical form.

  The guards approach from the dining area, demanding to know what’s going on. Somehow Zastu manages to convince them that nothing out of the ordinary has occurred (bluff roll for-the-win), but one of them gives her some side-eye (perception roll tied), but doesn’t say anything. She asks them for some help regarding her wound. Do they have any healing potions, or supplies? But they don’t. Zastu pulls out the kit she found at the halfling’s house, but realizes it’s an herbalism kit, not a healing kit.

  Over at the Nightstone Inn, Rysiel and Bakunawa discover that Kella is not in the room they left her in—she’s not in any of the rooms! Rysiel uses a bit of survival know-how and realizes that none of the beds have been disturbed—they conclude that Kella must have left shortly after they did, not even sticking around long enough to rest.

The two of them shrug to each-other and decide to return to the fort. They haven’t explored enough of Nightstone to be confident searching for her.

Once at the fort, the two of them relay their story about the goblin at the trading post and finding Kella missing. Rysiel also remarks on the horse, “Bobble”, which he left to graze on the other side of the ladder+bridge. The guards start at the knowledge, they’re less bothered by the fact that Rysiel’s adopted a horse, and more concerned by the fact that the villagers didn’t take the time to bring those horses with them. They must not have gone far.

“The caves?” The Bakunawa recalls.

The guards nod.

“We should get them and bring them back. If the giants have what they wanted, they shouldn’t be coming back?” Teir suggests.

“Wait, where did the goblins come from?” Zastu asks.

The guards give a blank look for a moment, then: “Oh no…” They moan in shock. “It was probably those same caves…”

  The party lays down to rest for the night in the barracks, and the guards share their food. Teir casts Unseen Servant to serve them and make things nicer.

Zastu has a dream about the chest she left back in Velrosa’s room, and the other party members each have their own dreams…

Spells cast:

Rysiel: Produce Flame, Ice Knife Teir: Eldritch Blast x2, Unseen Servant

Killcount:

Bakunawa: 0 Teir: 0 Zastu: 1 flying sword Rysiel: 1 goblin (Jilk)

Treasure looted:

Healing kit

Purple handkerchief

Half a climber’s kit

Left behind:

a goblin’s shortbow, arrows, and shortsword

almost everything in the empty trading post