#says my cannibal halfling i used to play in D&D

[totally-not-deacon]

Sometimes wanna write a protag that is an absolute horrible piece of shit, no redemption arc, and they, the baddies, win at the end of the day. Just all around fuckin evil and loving it.

Ngl I've held back partially cause I'm afraid folks will think I'm endorsing their terribleness.

I just wanna write a horrible, no-good Thalmor main character hahaha

[thedeadhandofseldon]

Okay, I promised @a-dabblr the Tale of the Semi-Intentional Beach Therapy Session from my D&D campaign, and for the first night in a while I have the will to actually tell it, hwæt:

Our beloved half-elf bard-fighter is a pirate and revolutionary; her immediate backstory is that her captain and the rest of the crew were all murdered and their boat sunk by shadowy attackers in the midst of a massive storm and she was the sole survivor, cast adrift. This canonically occurred exactly a week and a half ago at this point, and she’s been Repressing All The Feelings.  Now the party is at this ancient archdruid NPC’s secret house in a tiny cove, and our pirate follows the archdruid when she slips away from the breakfast table into a shrine that turned out to be a memorial to the archdruid’s party, who all died in a terrible war they lost a thousand years ago. So those two got to have a long conversation about grief, and how sometimes there’s no way to make sense of the loss and all you can do is take the next small step in front of you, and keep your head above water and try not to drown, and how eventually you’ll get to a place where you don’t feel overwhelmed by the loss all the time. And then they had an argument about trying to overthrow the evil empire, because that’s what the archdruid’s party died attempting and failing at, and these characters have very different responses to “what is that next small step in front of me when all my friends have been murdered?” But the pirate actually acknowledged her feelings and started to deal with them! It was great! (Also the player told me I made her cry afterwards, but like... in a good way. So we’re living up to one of main reasons our party plays D&D, honestly).

Our dwarf rogue should have all sorts of issues, since he’s a mess and his player very much did make part his story about the discrimination the player faces in real life, but the player doesn’t like going there with RP. So instead he learned to swim, wandered off into the woods for a bit, discovered his psychic powers by cutting open a coconut, and declared himself the Fruit Ninja. But the eternal loner is actually talking to the rest of the party and making friends now, so there’s that.

Our grung druid has been having an ongoing crisis of faith since he ran away from his druidic fungus-worshipping monastery to join the party. So he got to get hauled up a cliff by the archdruid, who is herself a giant in his religion, and taught some minor druidic magic. And also got the personal support of his equivalent of the pope basically saying “nature isn’t bound up in the specific little rituals you feel like you’ve abandoned, it’s all around you in the world, and you’re on the right path towards being at peace with nature even if your particular religious elders are assholes about it.”

And of course the tale isn’t complete without discussing the nonsense that our dragonborn warlock idiot pulled. I’m torn between awarding inspiration and smacking the player in question with my copy of the DMG. This warlock was formerly a barbarian warlord chieftain whose crimes were many, various, and vile; then he was nearly-assassinated, deposed, and accidentally staggered into the Feywild to make a deal with an entity he cannot remember. He spent the first three sessions of the campaign glamored as a female elf, and only lost that when the old archdruid showed up and yanked it right off his scaly self. He also can’t swim, and this is a nautical campaign, so uhhhh anyway. He explained that he didn’t think they’d trust him as he was (despite the rest of the party not knowing anything of his backstory), and got dragged into the water for swimming lessons along with the dwarf, nearly drowned when his pseudodragon familiar divebombed his head, and eventually started using his tail to swim “like an iguana.” (Can iguanas swim? I wouldn’t know). So that was all very funny and light and a good time. Then, he noticed our pirate looking upset on the beach and came to comfort her.

Which is how my players, without any input from me, got into a conversation about their backstories and also cannibalism. Because this awkward dad dragonborn used to be an awful person, and now he’s trying to be better and find a place to belong in the world. So he’ll absolutely let this 20-something half-elf pour out her insecurities about what she’s doing, but then he’ll try to relate by telling her about when he thought he was doing the right thing, and finding your path in life. And THAT is a story that revolves around terrorizing the countryside with senseless violence and culminates in eating halflings. And the dragonborn doesn’t really understand why the entire party is now acting like he’s mildly dangerous and insane, after all it was par for the course in his culture and he doesn’t do it anymore!

So. Yeah. That happened. The general shock-and-disgust wound up being played for “what the **** is wrong with you?” laughs instead of horror, but it was a lot.

And at that point I made them go fight some sea spawn and blunder into the elvish version of Congress, because I decided we’d had enough deep and revealing discussions for one session.

[ravenofsigurd]

The God Of Heroes

Lore for Michael Flanagan's D&D setting

 In their mortal life, the person who would end their existence retaining the title of the God of Heroes, was known as Alektos Fastfoot, the Demi-God offspring Gond, God of Crafts and the Princess Paloma of the dead Kingdom of Acroptis. After being exiled by the murderous intent of their Grandfather, the King of Acroptis, Minon, Alektos found their infant self and mortally wounded mother in a Hafling village where the Princess died and the baby was taken in by a kindly Halfling family.  Enraged by the exile and murder of his lover and the exile and attempted murder of his child, Gond cursed the land of Acroptis so they could not use or retain memory of skills to use any technology, even fire was denied them causing most of the people to slowly die out, the land to be overrun by monsters and the few survivors to devolve into savage, bestial creatures.

 Alektos stood out amongst the village, not just because they were a human in the midst of Halflings but because their royal blood showed through in their dark brown skin and obsidian coloured hair of tight curls, a contrast to the pale, loose curled halflings. They also stood out in their strength, that seemed to exceed that of average humans, and their long human limbs meant they were swifter in movement that all others in the village, earning them the name 'Fastfoot', both a reference to their speed and a play on the name of their adopted family, Proudfoot,  Despite being raised as a girl, Alektos felt no need to conform to the expected gender roles of village tradition and nobody felt the need to force them into said roles, them being human and the halflings being an easy going people who conformed to traditional roles out of habit and laziness rather than a strong desire to keep society a certain way, favouring the idea of contentment and full bellies over any kind of ideology. Alektos would wear both feminine and masculine clothing depending on mood, making most garments themselves, as they found they had an affinity for weaving and tailoring.  Upon reaching their teenage years, Alektos became increasingly uncomfortable and annoyed with being referred to as 'girl', believing their actions and interests indicated that they were not a girl by halfling standards and by the same token neither were they a boy.  Alektos was heard to say on many occasions, 'Men are copper, women are tin and I am bronze.'

 As Alektos grew older, they found with little effort they could learn any craft skill well, from cooking to woodwork, basket making to weaving but their favourite was smithing.  After only a year of apprenticeship, they made the finest bronze in the village. Their rate and quality of production was such that the village had all the tools and weapons they could need, as such Alektos spent much time with travelling traders, trying to sell their backlog of bronze goods.  Through their interactions with the traders they got to hear of foreign crafts, the fine bronze of the Crannog Gnomes on the Winged Isle, the great engines of the  people of Archimedian, the clever mechanisms in the counrty of Daedalon, the fine of the cloths and weaving of the Arrack people and the enchantments put on crafts at the University of Hecathen.  Alektos was fascinated by these tales and resolved that the skills to make wonders such as these were ones that they should learn.  Forging themself a short sword and spear and bidding farewell to their Halfling family,  Alektos left with a trading caravan having secured their passage in exchange for working as a guard.  

 They travelled to all the lands and learned all the crafts they desired and learned them well, weaving the finest cloth, forging the finest bronze, designing ships and siege engines, devising cunning contraptions and imbuing many of these fine crafts with arcane properties.

Alektos faced many obstacles in their travels from bandits to monsters to tyrant warlords, forcing them to use their skills in craft to incline to the martial, making for themselves arcane armour, an enchanted shield and the sharpest sword not made by gods that never lost it's edge. These adventures and mishaps lead Alektos to realise that all the great crafts in the world were worth nothing were they not used well.  A sword was simply a piece of metal until it was wielded by a warrior, and Paladin and Tyrant alike could wield a finely made sword.  Alektos concluded that their crafts should be used as tools with which the right crafters could make a better world, and so spent their days making weapons for heroes and the armies of the just, making swifter ships so that food and riches could be more easily brought to the poor and refugees move swiftly for the places of war and disaster.  They became a great hero themself, slaying evil monsters, leading uprisings against Tyrants, gaining the admirations of many peoples, and the love on many as well as proposals of marriage from two Kings,  But Alektos was never know to have a lover or spouse, preferring the platonic and sibling love of their friends and allies.  

  Monarchy was almost thrust upon Alektos themself  after the reclamation of the land of their birth.  When the Fire Giants caused the great mountain n the Isle of Wokklen to erupt and devastate the land, Alektos and several other heroes lead the evacuation of the island that after several years of the eruption continuing would one day sink into the sea.  The refugees were lead to the border of Acroptis where Alektos vowed to enter the cursed land and remove the curse making it possible for the Wokklen's to settle. The hero knew that they could use no technology, not even fire, but relied on the curse being there to punish those who hurt them, hoping that meant the knowledge of crafts would not leave their head, especially since the curse could only be lifted with their return to the palace they were born in, in the nation's capital at the centre of the land.  Alektos left their weapons, armour and tools, going forth in tunic, sandals with a bag of bread, fruit and dried meat. After the first day of travel, Alektos' tunic, sandals and bag had disintegrated into their component parts, the bread broken down to grain and salt and yeast and the dried meat softened and bled as is it had never seen fire. Naked and only able to carry what fruit would fit in their arms, Alektos journeyed for a week to the capital, mostly avoiding but sometimes having to come to bare handed blows with monsters and the feral Acroptians until she came to the rubble of the capital, for when technology was taken, so were masonry and architecture, causing in one day all buildings to collapse.  Picking their was though the piles of once cut rock, Alektos found their to the rubble of the palace and there found a winged, red dragon.  The dragon sat atop pile of nuggets of precious metals and uncut precious stones, the treasure of the nation, the shaping of crafts worked upon is removed. Alektos despaired upon initially seeing the dragon, knowing in their starved and exhausted state with none of their arms and armour they had gone from little chance of slaying the creature to no chance. Alektos had slain dragons before, but none so big and old and had only done so with those others with careful planning and cunning devices.  Then they saw the horde, and rage filled the heroes heart. Here was another monster, picking at this dead land like a carrion bird at a carcass, not enough that her father destroyed this culture and people with their crafts and songs and stories to spite one man, now this beast would stop the building of something new and great for a people who had all stolen from them.  Unacceptable.  They strode forward, naked and dirty and bloody and cried, 'You, foul lizard, are intruding in my home,  I am Alektos Fastfoot, Dragon slayer, Pegasus tamer, master artificer,smith and enchanter and heir to the last King of  Acroptis and you will leave my birthright be!'

 The Dragon was shocked to hear human speech and language, having only met the feral locals for decades now, but after it's shock it refused to leave threatening to kill Alektos.  Alektos called it a coward before the gods, saying the god's watched their deeds as their father was Gond and should the dragon kill and unarmed, naked mortal the gods would curse it.  So the dragon took the form of a naked human man, and agreed to duel via wrestling for ownership of the land.  The duel lasted a full day and night with neither giving ground, until Alektos found an opportunity to use an arm lock taught to them by a Monk of Yondalla that put the dragon in such pain it begged for mercy. Conquered the dragon agreed to leave the land and carried Alektos back to the refugees at the border in a matter of hours so the news could be given that settlement could begin.  

 The refugees wanted rule to go to Alektos as their rulers were killed in the initial eruption and the land they would now live in belonged to Alektos, but Alektos refused,championing the ascension of their friend and fellow hero, the Dwarf Hespicus, who slayed the king of the Fire Giants as the giants pursued the refugees, insisting the Alektos launch him from a ballista, striking the giant king with his great stone war hammer in the face while airborne, killing the giant instantly and causing it's subjects to flee in fear.  Hespicus made a good and brave king, inviting immigrants of all races to join his fledgling nation, and Alektos stayed with him on his council for many years, rebuilding the cities, ridding the country of  monsters and forcing the feral folk, now turned to cannibalism and far beyond rehabilitation away from the civilised places to live in the remote woods, swamps and mountains, action that pained Alektos seeing these folk as innocent victims of their Grandfather and Father's malice. They did make attempt to rehabilitate a male they captured, calling him Hope, however most called him Mutt and thought of him as Alektos' pet as his behaviour never got much better than that of a captured wolf.

  As the years past and grey started to sneak into the obsidian of Alektos' hair, they and some other heroes became aware of an alliance of Giants who were massing to invade the land of the Gods. Despite the resentment Alektos felt to their father for deciding punishing their Grandfather was more important than protecting their Mother, Alektos knew the Gods were essential to the order of the universe, eliminating them would lead to a chaos that the forces of Entropy could use as a opening to end all life.  As the Gods were completely oblivious to this threat, Alektos went forth to make an alliance of their own, finding all the world's heroes, both Alektos' past friends and enemies, bringing them together to form an army that would stand between the Giants and the Gates of the Gods. When the battle was met, whatever trickery was hiding the Giant army from the God's was dispelled and the Gods came to fight along side the heroes defeating the Giants after Alektos personally killed their General in single combat and then went on to expose the agent of Entropy that manipulated the army together.  For arranging the defence of the Gods and for their acts of skill and bravery in the battle with the Giants the Gods agreed that an appropriate reward would be to raise Alektos to Godhood.

 And so did Alektos Fastfoot become the God of Heroes.  After their ascension Alektos was able to become truly genderless as they had always in their deepest heart of hearts desired. King Hespicus renamed the capital city of Acroptis, Alekopolis in honour of his risen friend and build one of only two Temples ever built to the God of Heroes, the other being in the Feywild, placed their so that the path to it would be a gauntlet that only Heroes could pass.  Hespicus himself made a pilgrimage to the Feywild Temple, bringing the items Alektos has utilised most in their heroic career, the Winged Isle Bronze Sword, Arcane Armour, Enchanted Shield, Helm of Invisibility, a spear that when thrown would become a lightening bolt and a knife made of a tooth of a tunnelling desert creature that devoured arcane energy, so the knife could cut through any arcane shield or defence. Brought there each was placed on a statue of Alektos, line the walls of the temple and guarded by a Fire Elemental in a brazier in front of each statue.

  Alektos chose to stay away from their father, creating their own divine forge where they learned to work adamantine and made weapons and tools, not for the Gods, for that was their father's domain, but for heroes in as rewards for great acts or to help them in their time of greatest need. Alektos first tried to use their godly power to help the feral folk of Acroptis, return them to sanity and civilisation, but the best that could be done was to remove the curse of Gond from them, allowing them to make tools and light fires.  Alektos came to some of them in their Godly visage to gift them fire in the hope that it would be the first step in the formerly cursed people developing themselves back to what they once were.  For 1000 years, Alektos would appear to heroes and potential heroes, some they would guide, some they would push appearing to them only a touch more androgynous than they had been as a mortal, but still as a human of dark skin and hair.  Only once did they appear as anything other that that, when they appear as a Goblin. Alektos was aghast at the hubris of the Hobgoblins creating a slave race and was enraged when no other Gods would intervene, and so appeared to a young he-Goblin, Mzznit, who would be the first hero of the Goblins. Mzznit had existed only as a slave told of his race's creation as slaves and that they were literally less than all forms of life, so Mzznit was awed when confronted by a divine entity in the form of a Goblin who gifted him a sword of adamantine and told him to free his people. And so he did. Many Goblins went off to form feral tribes and engage in banditry imposing Hobgoblin power structures with  mean Goblins in charge, but many followed Mzznit's  example and made villages and towns where they could live peacefully.  Mzznit became a great hero of the age and a faithful Acolyte to Alektos whom always ensured that Mzznit only see them in Goblin form.  

 Though prayers and conversations with heroes, Alektos began to notice patterns in gathering of monsters that seemed similar to the gathering of Giants orchestrated by the forces of Entropy,  These gatherings were ones Alektos could not perceive, only hear reports of them, leading Alektos to concluded that the same thing that hid the Giants was hiding these forces.  Alektos tried to bring this to the attention of the Gods, but they did not give consideration to their concerns, and Alektos began to search for a way to ensure victory without the gods. Alektos became increasingly aware of magic in their Godly form and had followed the flow of magic back to it's source, the primordial energy of  creation,  Now, daringly, Alektos tried to alloy this energy with adamantine, producing crystals.  Alektos made many thousands of these crystals,but found that they were so powerful that a mortal could only handle one at a time and so the crystals were set in weapons that Alektos gave one each of to their followers, Mzznit had made alliances with the aloof Forest Tieflings whom he convinced to pray to Alektos to be allowed to fight in the coming conflict and so they too received the crystal set weapons and became an army waiting for Alektos. The Tielfings having a knowledge of magic rivalled only by Elves and Dragons, built a temple to the crystals with a vault to keep all that Alektos had forged.  The spells and enchantments on the Temple would test the character of the people who entered and gift the worth with a crystal set weapon.  Alektos was not limited to a single crystal, being a God, and so made a breastplate, grieves, vambraces, helm, shield, sword and spear all from the crystal, shaped like glass.

 Alektos would not wait for the threat to be at the gates and so lead a pre-emptive strike against the enemy with the army of heroes and Tieflings and their crystal enhanced weapons.  In the charge the army not only found terrible creatures but a creature of Entropy, a God-like creature that predated creation itself, and this creature Alektos faced alone, The duel shook heaven, earth and underworld stirring the Gods,  By the time the God's arrived at the battle Alektos' army had routed the minions of Entropy and the Elder God lay slain beside the broken body of Alektos, their armour shattered, spear splintered and sword broken.  All that remained of Alektos was the flesh of their mortal body.  Mzznit, raged at the Gods for their complacency costing the universe one so great and selfless as Alektos.  He and several Teiflings took Alektos' body to the Feywild Temple to burn it upon a pyre, and in that Temple the Ashes of the Hero God are kept.  Alektos did not die in vain, galvanised by their grief the Gods fought alongside the followers of Alektos in a war lasting 500 years, keeping the forces of Entropy from the world.  But when the war was over the Gods reverted to complacency, the Tieflings made the deal that cursed their race and Alektos' crystals were forgotten, but still, in the Feywild is the Temple of the God of Heroes, waiting for new pilgrims to prove themselves.

[danddorks]

Chelastian Campaign #5.b - Battle at Karloff’s

As the party rests, Tohmoh’s unseen servant reports that Sheriff Chaney is gathering a small army to rise up against the party under the charges of plotting to murder, assaulting an official, and treason. The party discovers an empty mine tunnel and plan on going up there, dealing with Chaney later.

Our returning PC’s are:

Sir John “Ducky” Mallard, level 3 Human Paladin who has sworn the Oath of the Ancients. Son of Duke Mallard, Ducky was sent to the Diamond Hills mercenary guild as a silencing tactic.

Tohmoh the Damarrion, level 3 Human Warlock with Cthulu as a patron. Joined the Diamond Hills mercenary guild as a way to gain power while helping others.

Marrow, level 3 dhampir Bard, as played by @the-pantsing-panda

Rohss, level 3 Half-Elf Ranger, guardian of the forest.

Aiyiri, level 3 Khajit Fighter with a two-weapon fighting style, former assassin.

Captain Voess, level 2 Half-Orc Barbarian, and pirate. Also member of the Diamond Hills mercenary guild.

Rorimac “Rori” Bracegirdle, level 2 Halfling rogue, and a member of the Dauntless of Silverstring City

Our Companions, who don’t feature in this game, are:

Fred, a devotee to the Mallard family who admires Ducky and most polishes armor

George, a more grumbly fellow who washes boots and sharpens swords, and has a fine word to say about being essentially a manservan

We are introduced to the PC for a player who also may not make it every game:

Ulfric Stormcloak, level 1 Dwarven fighter, smithy of Sapphire Lake Town.

Marrow and Rori appear from tunnel. Rori screams at Tohmoh, declaring him to be a cannibal warlock. The party out of character debates whether a human eating a halfling would be considered cannibalism, considering their different races. It was decided that if two creatures share skintypes and intelligence levels, it’s considered cannibalism. Therefore, a dragon can eat a salamander and it isn’t cannibalism, but a human cannot eat a halfling, dwarf, or elf without it technically counting as cannibalism.

Tohmoh then clears his name once Rori reveals his captor’s name had been Johmbo. Tohmoh isn’t surprised. His “grandpa” went crazy a long time ago, and the family had disowned him. Tohmoh was the only one to follow in Johmbo’s footsteps and unwittingly dedicated his life to the same god. As he begins to realize that his devotion might drive him just as mad as his grandfather, Tohmoh also decides to start being more selfless and make his legacy better.

We also, as a note, discover that Voess loves cats. In fact, as he realizes that Aiyiri is part feline, he slowly gets closer to her, wanting to “pet the kitty kitty.”

Voess: Voess love kitty kitty.

Rori lets the party know that Karloff has a place he calls home, and it’s located somewhere above them. He then begins leading the party to it.

- MEANWHILE -

Ulfric Stormborn, of the Sapphire Lake Town, has been exploring the mines. Although familiar with the local lore, he has always felt like the mines couldn’t be barren, and has spent a few days searching for any gems.

He stumbles into a large room that is encircled by the lake. On both sides of the cavern are waterfalls, which pour sixty feet down into a pool. The pool then continues on through the mountain. Although Ulfric is aware that he’s too far up for the lake to be pouring downwards, he doesn’t thinking too hard on the fact. There is a safety fence built out of rope and iron bars.

The room has a small alter in the corner, barrels of rotten fruit and vegetables, two large bookshelves with a collection of encyclopedia's and historical records from 100 years ago, and a large firepit in the center. Ulfric hears someone approaching and ducks behind the barrels, rolling an 18 to Stealth.

None of the party sees Ulfric as they enter. Ducky and Tohmoh go for the books, seemingly unimpressed by their perfect condition and collectors value. Voess goes for the fountain because it sparkles and books bore him. Marrow opens a few barrels to confirm that the food is rotten, which Aiyiri could smell before the lids came off and which overwhelmed her senses after.

Aiyiri stumbles to the side of the “room” and peers over the rope. She notices a small, pink lizard skittering around, slowly climbing up. As she warns the others, a purple lizard jumps up over the rope barrier, giggling.

The creature is described as a lizard that would stand 5 foot tall on it’s hind legs, with a distinctly dragon appearance if a dragon was drawn by someone who loved flowers. It’s wings more resembled a butterfly’s than a dragon’s, and it’s scales sparkled, like glitter.

It’s a faerie dragon, not that the party succeeds any of their Nature checks.

The party is hesitant to attack the creatures, aware of Karloff’s Charm and mind-control trickery. They decide to try and tame it. Ducky succeeds, offering the dragons food from his bag (the player was actually completely unaware of the Faerie Dragon, so this was delightful).

Another dragon appears, also purple in color, but more glittery, appearing pink in certain lights. Tohmoh tries to offer it food, but Ulfric ruins the moment by attacking, surprising everyone by his sudden appearance. Aiyiri tries to eat the dragon, and then argues with it about taking her food. It winds up casting a spell and making her give it the food it knows she’s hiding.

Marrow is hit by it’s purple, glittery gas and almost runs over the edge. Rori dives to hide in the firepit.

The battle ends as Tohmoh and Ducky calm the dragons down. One dragon offers safe passage, and the other promises answers. Before the party can claim their reward, Karloff appears. He stomps, and stamps, and, like a child throwing a tantrum, screams about them ruining his plans.

He Charms Voess, then tries to stand back and let the Half Orc do his damage. Ducky sees Voess entering a rage, and challenges him to a duel in order to protect the others.

Aiyiri doesn’t listen -- she strikes at Voess, missing her first attack and landing her second. Voess ignores Aiyiri and charges at Ducky. Ducky hits him hard, but he hits Ducky harder.

Ulfric and Tohmoh go after Karloff, both recognizing that he’s the real source of trouble and not Voess. Ulfric lands a powerful attack, and Tohmoh misses with an Eldritch blast.

Karloff attacks them with lightning, then starts running for the door. Marrow and Ulfric take opportunity attacks, weakening Karloff severely. Marrow then tries a spell, and fails.

Ducky and Voess swing at each other again, with Aiyiri deciding to take a step back. 

Aiyiri: “I don’t care. This isn’t my fight.”

Ducky will remember that...

Anyway, Ducky hurts Voess again, but Voess rolls critical. He digs his axes into Ducky’s chest, cutting straight through his breastplate, and leaving Ducky struggling for life.

Tohmoh sees this and comes to his friend’s rescue. He jumps in and casts Dissonant Whispers, sending such pain into Voess that he flees. Ulfric then, not emotionally attached enough to be distracted by Voess, lands the killing blow against Karloff.

Karloff, dying: “I... failed?”

Rori appears with a potion of Cure Wounds to help Ducky, who also lays hands on himself (must be nice, being a paladin). With everything calming down, the party turn to the biggest surprise -- Ulfric. The Dwarf explains what he was doing up there, posing the question, at the same time: “Who owns the mine? They tell me you can’t. I want to.”

As he’s explaining, he spots some ruby and digs it out. He tucks it away into his pack, and the player, in the face of potential fortune, forgets that Ulfric intended to use it to prove the mines weren’t barren. Marrow collects the encyclopedias, because he understands the value of knowledge.

He still doesn’t read them, though...

The Dragons answer some questions. They reveal that Karloff was a doppelganger who had come into town shortly after the real Karloff. He had taken on Karloff’s identity and learned how to cast magic by reading Karloff’s journals. The real Karloff had met his fate at the hands of the basilisk, and was one of many statues residing in the bowels of the mine.

They also reveal that Rohss made it home safe, and the mountains are home to a tunnel into the Underworld that the Mages had been digging for reasons unknown to the dragons.

One of the dragons, named Cupcake, falls to Ducky’s natural 20 Animal Handling roll and joins them as a companion.

The party, with Voess helping Ducky, head back down. Ulfric uses the fact that Sheriff Chaney lost a bet during a card game to him in order to talk Chaney and his mob down from attacking the PC’s. There is also a debate triggered about whether or not Karloff really “owned” his cave, and if he did, does Ulfric now own it by law of battle. 

Him and Chaney IC argue about it, while everyone else OOC argues about it. I’ve never seen property law become such a touchy subject in a D&D game before...

Oh, the party also explain to the mob that Karloff is dead, which helps to calm it down. They view Chaney as overreacting a bit, and disperse. 

Chaney allows them to stay at the inn. After Chaney explains that Victor the innkeeper had been beheaded “for justice”, Ulfric decides he now owns the Seahorse. Chaney tells him he only needs to find the deed, as Victor had no next of kin, and Chaney doesn’t really care what happens to it.

Nobody seems disturbed by Chaney’s obvious lack of compassion, nor his overuse of the law in order to kill. One player has to leave to pick someone up from work, so the PC’s make their way to the inn, where they fall into a troubled sleep.

-End-