#lord albrek

[swtorpadawan]

Tanno Vik & BioWare Choices

There’s seriously nothing you can do to stop him, here. 

This is one of most annoying parts of the game.

[thefox1982]

The Life and Death of Iarno Albrek

Albrek was a mage within the Lords' Alliance in which he served for many years with an unremarkable record. He had a reputation for being arrogant and prideful. Albrek remained close friends with Sildar Hallwinter throughout his service and up to Albrek's disappearance while working in the low lands north of the sword mountains.

When tasked to investigate if there was a case for fraud against Harbin Wester, Albrek discovered evidence toward the location of the lost mines of Phandelver. Without notice Iarno Albrek vanished.

An individual named Glasstaff engaged a company of bandits called the Redbrands to work for him on a secretive criminal enterprise. He had long coveted stories of a great magical power that had been lost when history had swallowed up the Wave Echo Cave. Shortly after engaging their services Glasstaff orchestrated a coup amidst the Redbrands; taking power and executing the company's officers and all who were loyal to them.

Glasstaff was contacted by a mysterious figure named The Black Spider to whom he swore allegiance. The bandit leader's responsibility were to keep the village of Phandalin under his control and to report on the arrival of any outsiders who might threaten The Black Spider's search for the Wave Echo Cave.

When his hideout was raided under the orders of Sildar Hallwinter it was revealed that Glasstaff was indeed Iarno Albrek.

Albrek was accused of many crimes and of broken oathes. He died in custody under mysterious circumstances. The cause of his death is disputed and the following are popularly speculated: Silenced by his master, The Black Spider. Assassinated by the Zentarim (if zhey exeest at all). The judgement of a wrathful deity. Hobbits. The revenge of a former employee left for dead. The revenge of the family of one of his victims. Suicide. A risky attempt to escape. Food poisoning. The latter being rarely discussed for fear of a life time ban from the Stonehill Inn.

It is agreed that never having been judged and found guilty of his crimes Iarno Albrek had escaped justice. Sildar Hallwinter continues to investigate the curious circumstances of his death.

[rollingourinitiatives]

27th of August 2018: Session 6.

Characters and Alignments:

Styx - dragonborn barbarian. chaotic good.

Nikias - human fighter and sailor. chaotic good.

Reyna - half-elf cleric. neutral good.

Amaris - high elf wizard. chaotic good.

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

Noteable NPCs:

Sildar Hallwinter - human warrior, friend of Gundren Rockseeker.

Harbin Wester (fake) - a bugbear in disguise.

Iarno Albrek - human wizard.

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

Elsa - gossipy barmaid at Stonehill Inn.

Noteable moments:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The group prepare to head for Wave Echo Cave.

Inspiration Rewarded: 

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

Amaris.

[deathtaxesdragons]

Lost Mines Of Phandelver : 7 - Escape The Hideout

Our heroes:

Euphemia “Mia” Tosscobble, the Halfling Rogue,

Count Erspell, the Elvish Mage,

Kui-Kui, the Human Noble Fighter,

Dave, the Human Folk Hero Fighter,

& Eorlund Granitefella, the Dwarvish Cleric

Glasstaff is dead, Mia is unconscious and possibly still under the effects of a charm spell and the group needs to escape the Redbrand hideout.

Kui-Kui volunteers to carry the halfling, as Eorlund took point. Stumbling upon Glasstaff’s lab, Erspell hunted around for anything of interest, finding various ingredients and unfinished invisibility potions. Dave found a note to Glasstaff from a 'Black Spider', the note was instructions for the Redbrands to attack adventures and keep the town in check. The note also revealled that Glasstaff was Iarno Albrek, the Lord's Alliance member Sildar had tasked the group with finding.

Checking the door to the next room, Dave heard the voices of several Redbrand's. Most of the group wished to leave them there but Eorlund wouldn’t have any of it, he demanded that the Redbrands be wiped from the sword coast, kicking in the door so hard it swung open killing one of the men on the other side.

With Eorlund deciding the plan of attack for them, the rest of the group jumped into action, Erspell sending out his trusty sphere of flames, Dave with his bow and Kui-Kui put down Mia and started swinging his greataxe, instantly slicing two of the thugs in half.

Having interrupted their game, Dave collected the wagers left on the table. Eorlund satisfied with the fight, woke up Mia in hopes that Glasstaff’s influence had subsided, much to Erspell’s relief it had, Mia was back in control again.

After clearing out the break room, Erspell heard what sounded like large creatures yelling in goblin. Checking the door at the other end of the room, The Count was able to find out that there were three bugbears in a room, yelling commands at another unknown person. Not wanting to fight them, but wanting to save their victim, Mia suggested taking the uniforms of the thugs they had just slain and trying to deceive the bugbears. Donning disguises, Erspell banged on the door yelling that Glasstaff been killed and the murderers were still in the hideout. Believing them, the bugbears rushed out towards Glasstaff’s room. Kui-Kui entered the room to find out the bugbears captive was a small scrawny goblin who fainted at the site of the human. Feeling sorry for the creature, Kui-Kui picked up the goblin to take him to safety.

Making their way back to the entrance, Mia heard more shouting to the north. Wanting to investigate, they found themselves in a long straight corridor. Thinking it looked suspicious, Erspell noticed a few cracks on the ground. He then told the group that it looked like there was a pit trap across the floor but they could avoid it by shimmying along the wall. Mia, Erspell and Dave crossed it without any problems. Eorlund, unfortunately, lost his footing and fell onto the trap, but with reflexes that defied physics, he was able to quickly jump clear of the trap. Kui-Kui, still worried about the goblin, stayed behind to make sure it would be ok. After a few medical checks, the goblin was bandaged up and Kui-Kui let him know he was free to go. Not needing to be told twice the goblin ran out of the hideout.

Exiting the trapped hallway our Heroes entered a mausoleum with three sarcophagi, each with a skeleton propped up on them. Dave went to check the coffins for any loot but as he reached his hand out, the skeleton started creaking and turned its head towards him. Looking Dave up and down, the skeleton saw the Redbrand uniform and returned to its original position. Realising the skeletons won’t attack the group while they are wearing their disguises, they started looking around the room finding a few small trinkets. Checking the exits of the room, they couldn’t hear anything behind the door to the north side of the room, but the door to the east of the room they could hear more voices.

Behind the door, they found two Redbrand standing guard in front of two makeshift cells with three prisoners inside them. The group informed the Redbrand's that Glasstaff had been killed and the two guards ran out the room, claiming they knew joining was a bad idea. Euphemia picked the locks of the cells and managed to gain the trust of the prisoners, finding that they had been taken by the Redbrands because one of their family refused to help the thugs.

While Mia was talking to the prisoners, a bugbear entered the room from the north door. As he did so, the skeletons turned towards him and started to advance. the bugbear said the word “Illefarn”, at which point the skeletons returned back to their ready states and did not attack. Erspell was able to pick up what this word was as the bugbear left the room through the south exit, paying the group no mind as they were still in uniforms.

Telling the prisoners to stay where they were, so they could check if there are any more bugbears to the north, Euphemia and Dave went up and found the Redbrand’s armoury, which they quickly cleaned out, taking many crossbows, javelins, swords and quivers of arrows & bolts.

On their return, they gathered the prisoners spoke the phrase to the skeletons to allow them through and quickly made their way out of the Redbrand hideout hopefully to never return.

Is this the last of the Redbrands? Who is this Black Spider that was mentioned in Glasstaff’s note?

The adventure continues…

[chronicles-of-kats-dnd-game]

Band of Idiots Session 6: The Investigation Begins

•From the surrounding woods emerges a frightened wood elf, having heard the loud sounds of combat and murder that had just occured. Introducing Ash's character, the cleric of Jerry, Moorvi!

•Moorvi is frightened by the party (and bullied by Fin) but her eyes widen as she sees a big fluffy owlbear sitting on the ground. She sees that a creature of Jerry trusts the party, and so she trusts them more as well.

•The three devotees of Jerry become instant best friends, and Moorvi joins the party!

•The party heads back to the Townmaster's hall for their reward. They pass by Sildar on his way out of the townmaster's office, and interrogate him for exposition after collecting their reward.

•Sildar tells them that he had someone he was supposed to protect, and that the one time he went off alone, he didn't come back. He tells them that he feels he has failed his duties as a knight, and he would search for his dear friend Iarno Albrek as long as it would take. He says that he has searched almost everywhere, but has found no trace of him. He asks the party for help.

•The party agrees, after first teasing him about losing his boyfriend.

•Iarno recommends that they see Daran Edermath, a retired adventurer that lives in town. He says that he would do it himself, but that the rivalries between their alliances would make things awkward, as this was an official Lord's Alliance mission. The party accepts, and leaves to be on their way.

[meonlyred]

The Story So Far: Part 2

Transcript of our D&D game written by our DM Amy: Character Art by meonlyred or dreambled

Early the next morning, as our dear lovable losers sat having a hearty breakfast and discussing what their next plan of action was, the young half-dwarf bard and Mara’s bedmate Fera presented the group with a job opportunity that could again net them some tidy profits. They were introduced to the enterprising Dwarf miner Gundren Rockseeker and his bodyguard Sildar Winterson. He laid before them the very simple, trivial, could not POSSIBLY go wrong task of escorting a cart of mining supplies to the small village of Phandalin located south of Neverwinter with the promise of good pay. Taking a moment to talk it over, and considering the success they had working together the previous days, the group decided to stick together and take on the job, what could it hurt to earn a bit more gold?

After an uneventful week long trip on the High Road, the group arrived at the Triboar Trail, the path that leads to Phandalin. It was here they encountered a turned over, bloodied cart they recognized as belonging to Gundren and his men and were set upon by a Goblin Ambush! After defeating most of the

goblins and taking one as prisoner, they were able through torture to get a hint as to where Gundren had been taken.

Choosing the play the heroes, the band of adventurers hid the cart of supplies and trekked their way to the Cragmaw Cave Hideout. They fought their way through, located the battered and beaten Sildar Winterson, and took out Klarg the bugbear leader. Upon completion of this daring task, the group brought Sildar back to Phandalin and began making plans for their next step. After spending the next day investigating the goings on in the town, the group with the assistance of Sildar made the choice to take on the Redbrand Ruffians in their hideout which was located under the dilapidated Tresendar Manor located on a hill overlooking the village. After a run in with several of the members of the bandit group, meeting with a strange creature known as a Nothic which they allowed to feed on some of the Red Brands, and rescuing a young goblin child being held by a group of bugbears, the group cleared out the cavern and found evidence that Gundren was being held at an old castle taken over by the Cragmaw Clan. Though unfortunately a strange magical user managed to escape. They believed him to be a wizard known as Glassstaff and that he was behind some of the incidents taking place, Sildar believed him to be Iarno Albrek, a former member of the Lords Alliance.

Showered with cheers of joy and jubilations and hailed as heroes by the towns people, the group enjoyed a brief night of drinking and respite, Mara getting cozy with the local Zhentarim contact and guildmaster of Phandalin Miner's Exchange Halia Thornton. Following on leads they gathered from the hideout, the group headed out the following day in search of the castle where Gundren was held.

Although they found Gundren, it was also here they ran into another bugbear calling himself King Grol of the Cragmaw Clan, proclaiming this dilapidated castle as his own. They overhead King Grol speaking to a female dark elf, plotting and planning something to do with an individual named Black Spider. The dark elf it turns out was a changeling in disguise! After defeating this group, they healed Gundren and returned him to Phandalin where they discovered more about what he had been planning in this area. The group learned of the Spellforge located in Wave Echo cave and the Phandelver Pact that had been made many centuries ago, and how the members of this pact have been defeated by a vast orc horde. The wizards of the pact, in a defying act on their death bed, collapsed the cave and sacrificed themselves in order to seal off the Spellforge so that it would not fall into the wrong hands. They learned that the individual named Black Spider had found out about the caves and made plans to take over this spellforge himself, but were still yet unsure why he desired this. Gundren it turns out had located the entrance to this long lost cave with the help of his two brothers that were now missing.

They set out that evening, following what information they had from Gundren and the townsfolk in search of anymore signs of the mysterious Black Spider. Their crusade took them to the ruins of Conyberry and the lair of a banshee named Agatha,  to Old Owl well where they faced off in a near fatal battle against a Necromancer who was raising an undead horde for "science" reasons, though there was some evidence he was in service to the Black Spider. They then found themselves in Wyvern Tor, the old nesting area to a group of vicious Wyverns now occupied by a Orc tribe known as Red Arrow under the leadership of a large Ogre. After a strenuous battle, Corrin managed to land the killing blow on the ogre gaining the loyalty of the orcs who chose him as their new chief. They learned the tribe had been

recruited by Black Spider to seek out the entrance to the Wave Echo caves as well as pilfer old sites along the Sword Mountains for anything valuable that may have been left behind. Seeing value in having an army of orcs on his side, Corrin ordered the tribe to the newly liberated Cragmaw Castle where he said he would come for them should they be needed.

They once again returned to Phandalin and spent the night conferring on the events over the last couple of weeks. During their previous trip Gundren had managed to gather a team of miners and sent them off to the entrance to the Wave Echo caves to make sure they had a way in, and explained that doing so could take a few days. Knowing they had some time before acting on the next part of their plan, the group decided to head off to Thundertree, where they had heard of strange happenings taking place.

Upon Arrival in the Thundertree ruins, they found it to be overran with wisps, undead and spiders, a sense of foreboding and dark energy enveloped them. After carefully making their way through the overgrown crumbling buildings and facing off against a few of the creatures here, they came upon a large decaying tower and witnessed a battle taking place. Strange individuals in black and red cloaks were attacking the building and being held off by a single female elf who seemed to be commanding the plants and trees themselves. After lending her a hand, they learned that the druid named Reida was trying to protect a Hippogriff that had taken up nesting in this area from a Wyvern cult that wished to sacrificed the rare magical creature to increase their own power. Reida was exhausted and injured after strenuously defending her feathered friend Vesper and her 3 young for weeks, seeing the wearyness in her eyes the group volunteered to get rid of the cult.

After setting out and finding the cultist group gathering on the edge of the ancient village, a large epic battle broke out. The group took on many cultist, the wizard leading them, and his wyvern. Several members of the group were badly injured and things had began to look bleak, until Reida came flying in on Vesper and attacked the Wyvern before summoning two treants to aid the group. Together they were victorious in wiping the cult out, and spent a night recouping with Reida in the tower. Before leaving she granted Maras request for 3 of the Hippogriff feathers as a boon for the groups aid. The foreboding feeling was already fading away from the area, and Reida promised the area would soon heal from the dark magic the cultist had brought to it.

Our band of scamps, which were rapidly becoming an experienced adventuring troop, made their way back to Phandalin ONCE AGAIN were Gundren announced they had an opening to Wave Echo cave ready and they would proceed at the party's behest. Corrin trekked out that night to Cragmaw Castle seeking out his newly acquired orc Tribe, promising to meet the group at the cave entrance early the next day. Upon arriving at the castle Corrin was shocked to see some 200 orcs setting up camp outside the castle walls. As he made his way in he was greeted with salutes and orcs shouting words of respect. He also noticed they had taken to painting his likeness in crude drawings on the castle interior. Here he spoke to Brughar, a high ranking orc within the Red Arrows that the others seemed to look to as 2nd to Corrin. He was given a band of their 15 best warriors to take with him in the exploration of the Wave Echo cave. He spent the night resting at the castle and having a drink with Brughar, then headed out to meet his comrades.

That morning the group was quite surprised to see Corrin come marching in with a large group of orcs covered in red war paint, but Sildar who was there accompanying Gundren seemed quite excited at the idea of fighting along side some orc warriors. As collected and prepared as they could be, our heroes set off into the depths of the cave, making their way carefully through the dark halls. Immediately they found the remains of Gundrens brother Tharden at the camp he and their 2nd brother Nundro had setup when first scouting the cave entrance. Some signs of the previous inhabitants and battle that took place long ago were still evident as well. They faced off against a varying collection of odd creatures, suchs as an ocher jelly and  several undead, a weird poison fungus room, and a wraith which had long been trapped in a storage room. They came upon an odd Spectator calling itself Domo, and referring to them as Master. Domo was apparently a long forgotten servant to a wizard who had worked at the spellforge many years past crafting various magical items for him and his people. Domo was left behind in the chaos and destruction of the final battle that had been fought in the caves, waiting patiently for a master to return to him so he may continue on with his task.

Trudging on the group came upon the Forge Room, being guarded by Glassstaff and a large Golem that had been created using the magic of the forge. It was there they learned that Black Spiders intent was to create an army of magical golems. After a long strenuous fight in which one of the orcs perished, the golem was defeated and Glassstaff was subdued as requested by Sildar, so that he may meet justice at the hands of the Lords Alliance. They continued on to where they found a room that Black Spider had holed up in with two more Golem Guards. After a brief conversation and an attempt to reason with him, the group battled him and his golems fiercely. Diago managed to get the upper hand, restraining him and taking him out. Here they found Gundrens other brother alive but in poor condition in a small room that had been turned into a cell. Now having liberated the Spellforge from Black Spiders control, Corrin sent the orcs back to Cragmaw and returned with his colleagues to the inn in Phandalin where they got drunk and celebrated their victory. Sildar, feeling a kinship with Corrin who reminded him of himself when he was younger, gave Corrin a cloth Lords Alliance badge and offered him a place in their ranks, which he agreed to. It was early the next morning when Mara received a letter asking for her presence in Neverwinter from none other than the mysterious bard Fera.

[lostjournalarchives]

Daenzukrius of Beckonshire - Entry 2 pg. 3 (Day 4)

We decided to retire to Phandalin’s lone Inn, Stonehill.  Sildar had graciously booked us rooms while we unloaded our cargo at Lionshield.  While we made our way over there I asked Sildar if there was any more information about Phandalin that might help us in our quest.

He mentioned not having visited Phandalin much before, but he may know someone that could help us. A nobleman by the name of Iarno Albrek of the Lord’s Alliance is supposed to be upholding order within Phandalin.  He had heard rumours that Iarno went missing sometime back, and said he hopes to find him to ensure the protection of Phandalin’s people is being upheld.

As we entered into the Stonehill Inn we found Grimmdong and Dave already deep into drinking, I’m glad they found friendship so quickly.  If we are to go on this quest to find Gundren I fear we’ll need all the help we can get, so Skro’Tum and Dave are welcome additions.

Skro met us, just as we passed through the door, a grimace on his face.  While talking with the owner of Lionshield Coster he discovered Phandalin was being terrorised by a bandit group calling themselves the “Redbrands”.

This furrowed Sildar’s brow, as Iarno was supposed to be upholding order in Phandalin.  Perhaps something had befallen Sildar’s companion.  Yet another thread to tug was presented before us, it would seem.

Still tired from the days before I stepped past the rowdy duo at the bar, sliding a gold piece their way to enjoy.  I found one of our rooms and locked the door behind me.  I hope they let me sleep tonight.

[angrilyeverafter]

Lost Mine Of Phandelver Session 2

Session 2 recap of my slightly modified Lost Mine Of Phandelver campaign.

With Klarg dealt with and Sildar rescued, the party finally made their way to Phandalin, eventually rolling into the frontier town during the early night. At Sildar's recommendation, the group stopped at a local tavern called the Stonehill Inn, its proprietor a human in his late twenties called Toblen Stonehill. The party took up a table as Sildar ordered drinks and food, and gossiped with some of the locals. The mood was sombre at best when they entered, and through some talking the party found out why; a group that calls itself the Redbrands set up shop a few months back, and due to a lack of any sort of police force they were free to extort Phandalin to their hearts content. Upon his return, Sildar expressed some concern over these Redbrands, revealing his reasons for travelling to Phandalin didn't entirely consist of aiding Gundren. An agent of the Lords' Alliance, Sildar had set out to discover the fate of a colleague of his, a dark bearded human wizard by the name of Iarno Albrek. Sildar explained that Iarno had been sent out and was expected to arrive in Phandalin about two months ago to establish a base of operations in the small frontier town and to begin work on taming the lawlessness surrounding the lands. However, having not heard word from Iarno, the Alliance grew concerned and Sildar volunteered to go out and discover what fate befell his friend. Now though, Sildar believes these Redbrands may have something to do with Iarno's disappearance, and wishes to aid the townsfolk in part to find out if there's any merit to his suspicions. After some more talking and eating, the party retired for the night. In the morning they set out to run a couple of errands; they delivered the rocovered Lionshield Coster goods, meeting the proprietor Linene Graywind, and delivered their cargo to Barthen's Provisions, meeting Elmar Barthen. The party conversed with Barthen for some time, explaining to him Gundren's fate, though ensured the shopkeeper that they'd rescue him. After some buying and selling, the party made their way to the townmaster's hall. There they met Sildar once more, who was busy setting up a small corner for his work for the Lords' Alliance. They also met the townmaster, a short, fat, tanned man, with a swept over mop of blonde hair by the name of Harbin Wester. Thoroughly terrified of the Redbrands, Harbin explained that he dared not speak out against the ruffians for fear of retaliation. Ashamed by his cowardice, Harbin told the party that if they could deal with the issue and drive the Redbrands out, he would give them 200gp. Likewise, Sildar offered the party 200gp as well, for information regarding Iarno Albrek, with an additional 100gp if they capture the Redbrand leader alive. Upon leaving the townmaster's hall however, the party were accosted by a small group of Redbrands. Harsh words were shared before it inevitably escalated to violence. The small group were cut down with ease, and wanting to make an example of these thugs, the party barged their way into the grimy taphouse the Redbrands frequented, a dingy establishment called the Sleeping Giant. A force much larger than the previous one, the party had some trouble against the gang of Redbrands, though through perseverance they prevailed, cutting the last down as two fled in terror. With a taste of what the Redbrands had to offer, the party sought out assistance. Though still relatively beaten and bruised, Sildar was happy to offer his help, as little as it would be, and after some asking around the party called on a half-elf by the name of Daran Edermath, a retired adventurer. Fed up with the way the Redbrands treated the townsfolk, Daran needed little convincing to join the party in taking down the ruffians. The party then made their way to the Tresendar manor, its basement the known hideout of the Redbrands and their leader.

[jamiesdndcamp-blog]

Arriving at Phandalin

The Party or whats left of it arrives at Phandalin, Radagast has decided he has had enough of the adventuring for now and takes refuse at the Stonehill Inn, in the center of Phandalin while the rest of the party looks for information. 

Quite quickly they release that the town has been over run by a want to be mob boss by the name of Glassstaff and he has taken up home in Tresendar Manor. They are joined by Judas’s brother Jesus Firebreather a Jamaican monk and a Human Fighter from Thundertree Called Tripz who wields a great short and longbow.

The Party heads to the Manor through the secret entrance in the wood’s the knowledge given to them by Glassstaffs lackeys which go by the name of Redbrand. They find the tunnel and head down a long dark narrow corridor, greeted by a telepathic creatures which just emits pure evil madness. after a short conversation with the beast they think it’s best to end this evil being once a for all. The Nothic was strong though, wasn’t so simple for the party, Jesus being downed by his Rotting Gaze. Talwin managed to jump across the gauge in the middle of the floor making it just to the other side so they could fight the beast on two fronts. After multiple attempting trying to shoot arrows at a creature hiding in three quarters cover he finally falls. noticing the Nothics treasure stored away everybody quickly rushes to declare it their own, finding a magic long sword called talon which before belonged to the owner of this manor. The Fighter takes it and decides to be a sword and shield Fighter instead of a great big sword fighter.

Exploring the rest of the manor they find only a few more things of interest apart from the Redbrand thugs, one of which was a rat hiding in an alchemy room which disappeared once slain. letters addressed to Glassstaff’s real Identity Iarno Albrek, one of the Lord Alliance members which went missing. Sildar will be upset to hear this news. A group of bugbears which a goblin slave is all that remained in the manor there was a ferocious battle took place where only the Ranger Highwind was left standing while Talwin the Rouge was badly hurt and the other two unconscious. The last bugbear persuaded to give away information about Wave Echo Cave and Cragmaw Castle in exchange for his life.

[meonlyred]

The Story So Far: Part 5

Transcript of our D&D game written by our DM Amy: Character Art by meonlyred or dreambled 

The trip to Waterdeep was mostly uneventful, aside from a brief run in with some Etten. They were in awe of the city and its large, magnificent architecture. Most had never been to a city as large as it before and were taken aback with how crowded and busy its streets were. They followed Vibeke closely through the maze of streets to Waterdeep Castle, and the section of which the Lords Alliance called home. They were reunited with their old ally Sildar, and introduced to Oskas Belovar, Seneschal of the Alliance. They told her their version of events and were informed that Iarno “Glassstaff” Albrek had been killed in his cell before being dismissed. Taking the advice of Vibeke, they made their way to a very stately inn called The Knight's Rest and booked several costly rooms for their stay. They took some time to relax and enjoy the lavish bathhouse and other amenities provided by the inn before heading out to The Mad Crow Tavern for some drinks. While there they were approached by a strange Gypsy woman who gave them a card known as the The Throne, which she proclaimed was a promise that a keep for their own was waiting to be claimed. She also warned them of a stranger that was following them and watching them. Diago, being quite learned in the skills of subversion and subterfuge, began taking a scan of the room and noticed a man who stood out. Confronting him, and with Lark’s use of a subtle suggestion spell, he admitted to being hired through proxies by a man known only as Basilisk to watch out for her and keep track of her movements. Not being one to face down a formidable group such as our heroes, he agreed to leave and never come back. It was then that Vibeke walked in to join them for a few more drinks, and did her best to assure Lark that while in this city, she had the protection of Vibeke and her friends. The night ended with Diago, Corrin, and Vibeke returning to the bathhouse for a nightcap, though only Diago was willing to join her in her room.

They awoke and enjoyed a large breakfast buffet before setting out on a series of errands. Mara made her way to the Emerald Enclave in hopes of finding help for the Kryptgarden Forest, and also in hopes of understanding the effect the forest had on her. The leader of the enclave, Miyalin, a sun elf with bright platinum blonde hair and sparkling forest green eyes, told Mara she saw something special in her and explained what it was her people stood for. She initiated Mara into the Enclave and gave her the title of Springwarden, placing a pin of a stag head on her cloak to signify this position. She also told Mara she felt a presence was with her.

Vibeke took Lark, along with Pip and Shiloh, to the grand market where they went clothes shopping to help Lark attempt to blend in better with the group. Pip managed to sneak off and made his way to his a scroll shop and then off to the zoo.

Diago, wanting to know more about the people watching Lark, made his way to the docks and a ran down tavern known as the Sea Dog Saloon. There he made contact with a man known as Vice who lead him to a series of hidden tunnel in the mountainside, and the lair of a tiefling women known as The Lady of Shadows. She promised Diago information if he competed in her fighting pit. Agreeing to do so, Diago did well in the first several rounds before facing off against her champion, a large black dragonborn known as Kova. Though he did well, Kova managed to beat Diago. The Lady was still content with his performance however, proclaiming it was one of the most entertaining matches she had seen in a while. She told Diago that Basilisk was a well-known and yet elusive leader of an assassin ring. He only worked for the wealthiest of clients, only hired the most skilled fighters, and always worked through proxies, it was because of this that he had managed to stay in business for over two decades. She agreed to put more feelers out to figure out what he was planning for Lark, and to try and get Diago’s name to him as a potential hire on.

Corrin had been asked to returned to the Lords Alliance HQ in order to further discuss the situations they had found themselves in over the last two months. Being a Confederate to the Lords Alliance, it meant his word carried slightly more weight for the Seneschal. Putting on his best soldier display, he entered into the Seneschal’s office. But instead of being greeted by Ser Belovar, he was face to face with a dark elf man. The dark elfs stark white, wavy and almost curly hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and his piercing red eyes seemed to look right through Corrin. Assuring that he was an ally, he introduced himself as Valixsys before proceeding to sternly interrogating him about his group of friends and the things they had been involved in. Corrin learned that Fera, known to Valixsys as Kraya, had 10 months prior been to the Underdark city of Menzoberranzan where she had stolen several artifacts of great importance. It was not long after that 3 children from House Baenre, the first house of the city, had taken off. These three children were the eldest daughters Aunren aka Black Star, Drada aka Black Blade, and the youngest child of the house Neznor aka Black Spider. He also told Corrin that after their break in at the Tower of Knowledge in Neverwinter and their visit to the dig site, the individuals there had been affected by some kind of magic which wiped their minds. Oschon only having had his memory of the night erased, while those at the dig site had their minds destroyed. Corrin was adamant they had no idea about any of it, agreed to return the next morning. Valixsys stated there was a way they could potentially aid him and the Lords Alliance with their investigation.

The group gathered again in the dining room of the Knight's Rest Inn, shutting the door and speaking softly should there be any prying eyes or ears about. They discussed the days events and Corrin revealed to them what he had been told by Valixsys. The others were shocked and just as confused as Corrin had been, and it became apparent they were potentially being watched or followed. Mara, remembering what Miyalin had said to her before about a presence being with her, took out her emerald pendant and had Pip try to identify it. He was able to detect the presence of scrying and protection magic on it. Feeling unsettled, the group turned in for the night, Lark switching rooms to join Pip, and Mara taking first watch.