#tales of the doomvault

[draumrfold]

Doomvault: Raise the Dead

I feel my consciousness return to me, my eyes are already wide open. I try to focus, and I take in the room around me. It’s a large dank chamber, with a few undead and weird creatures I’ve never seen before. Sensing panic in the back of my mind, I try to move for my quarterstaff only to find I can’t move at all. I struggle, wiggling with all my might, not moving a single inch.

My body tingles, and I feel weaker like energy is leaving my life force. I need to find a way to get out of this and find my companions. The crazy man we found in the crypt must have come to, followed us, and overtaken us somehow. The last thing I remember is fighting giant spiders that were half phasing in and out of our plane.

Hours pass, the horrors roam around the shrine that holds me captive, never getting near thankfully. I’ve given up trying to wiggle out of this, and instead focus of meditating, conserving my Ki, stroking my life force as I feel it slip away from me. If I don’t figure a way out of this then I will die. What an end, I think sarcastically to myself.

I hear the heavy doors smash open and a group of adventurers enters the chamber. I watch them take out the monsters one by one. The smallest of the group, a halfling by the looks of him makes his way up to my prison. First, he tries to walk right up to me, a magical barrier throws him backward. His next attempt is to use some kind of magical portal, which works until he is blasted backward again. By this time the rest of the monsters have been defeated, and the group comes over to my prison. I hear them talking about how to get me down. It takes them quite a while, and with a lot of failures mixed in. Eventually, though they knock over a pillar and I feel the bindings lifted.

I fall to my knees, swallowing for breath. I’ve never been in the need of rescuing, and these people clearly are not my companions. The small one comes up to me and introduces himself as BoBo, extending a hand. I take it and when I open my mouth I think I introduce myself but babble comes out as well. Shock. I’m in shock. I must have been up in that thing longer than I thought, I sit back on my heels and try to collect my thoughts. Another of the companions comes up to me, Ashah, and offers me her waterskin, I accept it,  cautiously, thankingly, and slowly sip from it. Again I try to talk and more babble comes out. Less crazy though I think. Still not really coherent. I take a moment and try again. “Where am I?” I manage. They inform me I am in something called the Doomvault.

BoBo comes back towards me, I’m still sitting on the ground, and he sits in front of me explaining how it sounds like I’ve been plane shifted. Which means I have no idea where  Maelin or Aura is or if I’ll even see them again. I really hate that freaking wizard! He said something like this was possible! I hope he falls into one of the tears himself. I am utterly annoyed, and now I find myself in a room with people who I don’t know or trust. Nor do I know whether they are deserving of trust.

For now, I will travel with them, fight with them, aid them, the best I can until we are out of this hell hole. Then I will have to figure out how to get back to my plane I guess. 

In the next chamber, we find a red wizard. These are apparently very evil people here. There is also something called the Red Keep that they keep mentioning. I’m not really sure of any of this so I try to just lend my fists the best that I can. We also learn that something called “The Lynch” is attempting to become a God by use of siphoning the life forces of victims who are held as I was in Shrines of Binding.  

The chamber after that holds not only monsters but also a piece of shit of a halfling, this creature felt compelled to not only insult my honor but also touch me...needless to say, I broke his nose. If I knew my new companions better I wouldn’t bother holding back, but I am trying to stay on their good side, and losing control is often not how one should do that. I notice the high elf, I believe his name is Talrean, looking at me after that interaction; if he has something to say he should just say it. I decide to ignore him and continue on with the party into the next chamber.

Here we face the same monsters we’ve seen in the previous chambers when we start work on releasing the creature trapped within the Shrine, Talrean tells us that this is a Yaun-ti, they are a vial race and we should kill it. Which is exactly what we do after some debate. He was a formidable opponent I must admit. I am finding I am more powerful on the plane than the last, I feel a stronger connection to my Ki, and when meditating, Ki flows within me more in harmony, which is then translated to battle by not only my quick and devastating attacks but also through my flowing swift movements. Maybe I was meant to come to this plane. 

While we were resting Bo Bo had some very strong alcohol, which made him extremely drunk, it was quite a sight! He led us through to the next room. He was able to sense how many foes were waiting for us, which considering his drunken state, was very impressive. He also attempted to hit on the female half-elf we rescued. I liked her, she seemed very capable. She didn’t stick around though, which is fine, she probably made it out ok. She seemed to know where she was going. 

This place seems like a never-ending maze of chambers and hallways I was bringing up the rear when I hear BoBo from the front in a very drunk voice “Maybe we should just go home?” Is that even an option for these people? They seem very intent on their goal of clearing the place. In front of us, I see why BoBo made that remark; we encountered yet another being I’ve never seen, it was called a Flesh Golem.  We end up not having to battle it and I watch as the others speak with the man that was in the room. He has a skeleton key and a tey to turmoil which we take from him. The golem stays where it is, unmoving, the entire time we are in the room. Someone in the group surmises that there must not be a control rod around to control the Golem. 

The next chamber has the most foes we have encountered thus far. Including a powerful mage called an Evoker. Our battle lasts what feels like for hours. BoBo does manage to get himself into quite a few pickles though, first, he is surrounded by undead after being beat on pretty badly. I tried my best and stunned 3 out of my 4 targets. He is whisked away by Galadin, to what I assume is safety as I didn’t see him for the rest of battle. One of the undead manages to shake off my blows and turns its attention to me. Talrean runs his dagger through it and destroyed it, he nods, as though I should be thankful, and motions to the other enemies. I give him a look back as though to say “no shit, we have bigger problems” and leap into my next attack. 

While we might have won the battle, we also lost a friend. BoBo while he was whisked to safety, he also gave his life protecting his friends. I don’t think I have ever felt so many emotions from the others as I did in that chamber. All was quite as Ashah took BoBo to the previous chamber, I hear Malidin shout in rage, and as I come out of the hallway I see him pummeling the flesh golem into the ground. Then turn to see Ashah chanting and setting up a ritual. I take a place on the steps of the destroyed shrine and watch, staying quiet, and giving them plenty of space. I suddenly feel very out of place, as though I am intruding. 

Ashah sets out three candles before she sets to work. Galadin comes over and pleas for BoBo to return to us. One of the candles ignites.  Then Talrean takes a small horn from his belt and grids in up, as well as one of the bottles of strong potion that had made BoBo intoxicated earlier, and mixes the two together, asking for BoBo to return. Another of the candles ignites. Galadin goes over to Malidin, and convinces him to come and speak as well. He has few words to say, but perhaps they are the most powerful. The third and final candle ignites. A moment passes and BoBo awakens coughing.

I am relieved to see BoBo still lives, we move into the hallway for a long rest to recover from the ritual and battle.    

[jaebird88]

Putting aside the fact that, as the DM, I have the ability to alter a published adventure to suit whatever is necessary, I do have to make one serious complaint about how WotC wrote in certain encounters.

Within the Doomvault, there are rooms which contain cells that hold various monsters of varying sizes and quantity. While some do fit within the squares in conjunction to what is drawn on the map, there are more where they either spill out or force me to stack tokens. All because certain cells were not drawn large enough for the chosen monsters.

I’m sure I can rearrange monsters to better fit within their confinements, but it still seems to me like something that could have been addressed before Tales from the Yawning Portal saw print.

[bladekuroda]

DM Tales from the Yawning Portal: Filler + Dead in Thay prologue

Upon returning from White Plume Mountain, the party met up with Elisande once more to report their findings. Satisfied with their work, she dismissed the party so that they could go get some rest. Over the course of two weeks, the group did some various things.

Lan tried to find a suitable partner for Blackrazor to no avail. He did keep him relatively satisfied on crabs in the meanwhile. 

Quibble set up a free healing station, basically. He almost got into some trouble due to a lack of permit, but it was handled without issue. Lan and Crow both assisted with setting things up with him. 

Jennoa followed up with Shun about the assassin that tried to kill Magnolia. Apparently the hit was put out by a Thayan due to rumors that a noble in Reckless Abandon having some connects to a masked lord of Waterdeep perhaps. She also went on a bounty adventure with Gylikos where they tracked their quarry into the sewers below Waterdeep. They almost ran into the Xanathar but managed to get away before much could happen.

Mudd learned more about the material plane and met a female aaracockra barbarian by the name of Clarr whom she got along with very well.

Crow tried to get people some gifts... it didn’t work too well. Quibble tried to help him out a bit.

All the while, the party picked up on a couple rumors of their own. Ones involving Thay. In particular, the Thayan Ressurection, which was a resistance group within Thay working to overthrow the current hierarchy. 

Eventually, Jericho called the group to do a favor for him. A friend of his was opening a magic shop soon and needed some help moving stuff around. He sent them on his behalf. Unfortunately when they arrived to the place, it was in complete disarray. The shop had been ransacked, and there were several shriveled bodies.

Quibble walked over a fallen tankard, only to have it shapeshift into a black... mimic thing. More objects in the room turned out to be this strange undead mimic of sorts. And in the back room, they found a larger creature made of the same material, along with an undead beholder. They also found Jericho’s friend, dead.

As soon as they were all taken care of, the party suddenly found themselves being transported elsewhere.

Into Thay.

There, the leader of the resistance, Syranna, greeted them. Other members of Reckless Abandon were also present, including Elisande, Erynnia, Shun, Jericho, Vincentio, and a few others.

Syranna explained to them the situation in Thay, and how there was now an opportunity to deliver a massive blow to Szazz Tam by destroying the phylactries of some of his elite liches within the Doomvault. Those present agreed to assist.

She told them the various entry points in which she could send them. Our main party chose the Far Realm Cysts to be where they were to begin sowing chaos for the Red Wizards. Elisande and Eryannia were headed to the Ooze Grotto. Jericho, Shun, and Vincentio decided to head to the Abyssal Prisons.

After questions were asked and everyone was set, they took their glyph key and set off through one of the black gates.

When we next meet, the party will dive into the heart of Thay. The Doomvault. It’s one hell of a dungeon. A mega dungeon one might say. I hope Reckless Abandon will be ready.

[xt1erminator-blog]

Fails of the Yawning Portal

Ok, so it’s not really that bad, however...

This past weekend I got my hands on my copy of the eagerly anticipated Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition hard cover adventure compilation, Tales from the Yawning Portal. It is a collection of 7 “classic” adventure (dungeon romp) modules, modified/converted/streamlined for D&D 5e, and is published by Wizards of the Coast.

I recommend searching for reviews online, as this is not my review. The purpose of this post is to document some of the shortcomings of the layout and design elements of this otherwise great book. I’ll say this now before I forget: Ultimately, it’s things like this that have me concerned for what’s to come with future WotC products (not to mention D&D Beyond... that’s a whole other can of worms for another day).

Item 1: The introduction to The Yawning Portal, and complete lack of map/layout of this legendary establishment.

I remember plenty of classic (1e and 2e) source books and modules that always had amazing, detailed maps that really gave you a sense of adventure and excitement back in the day. You could easily have a picture painted in your mind of where you were, what magnificent place you were presenting to your players. Why is it that over the years, maps and artwork have declined in quality and presentation?  Is it to make room for more words or something?  Lame, if so. The same can be said for D&D’s artwork in general I guess, although I found that the majority of 4e artwork was pretty cool.  Not that 5e artwork is awful, it’s just not very epic I find.  Where are the Parkinsons and Easleys and Elmores of today hiding?

Getting back on topic here, there is a complete absence of a map of The Yawning Portal in the introduction section of this book.  I suppose, one could say “So what? Go Google it and I’m sure you’ll find one.” Example:

That’s great, however I believe in having an essential piece of art like this in the book proper. Or, at least the damn sign for the place, seen in at least a couple of classic pieces of art (the cover of the Avatar Trilogy’s third book, Waterdeep for instance, the classic cover with Midnight and Kelemvor in the scene):

I know that none of the adventures in this book have anything to do with Undermountain and The Yawning Portal, but it would have helped for newcomers not familiar with this great building to see something of its unique layout and that huge 40 foot well that so many have descended down and never returned from. The written description is... okay, I suppose.  Here are some photos of the intro in the book (starts halfway down on the right side page). Pretty conservative if you ask me.

Item 2: Teeny, tiny maps - Was there supposed to be a magnifying glass included with the book purchase?

I was starting to enjoy reading through this book, and I stopped reading page for page somewhere half way through The Sunless Citadel adventure, and proceeded to flip through to check out the rest of the book at a glance.

What I saw as I perused through the book made me throw up a little.  Just a little. Nothing major, no worries... I’m ok.

Now, before I continue, I want to share that my career is based around helping run and manage a print shop. It’s my industry, my trade, my craft. I notice things in print products that others tend not to spot and call them quality issues. Most times I am being very picky, because I tend to demand that my shop’s work is the best it can be.  That goes for layout, source image quality, final printed quality and any bindery finishing work done on a piece.

Tales from the Yawning Portal, as I have said before, is a decent book. I’m very happy it was released and I have some “new” content to implement into my campaigns. I very rarely play anything out “by the book” and just borrow sections or bits and pieces and tear them apart to suit my needs.

However... the maps in this book in particular are absolutely, mindblowingly, godawfully some of the worst presented maps in a printed publication. Team Voltron or whatever they’re called (check out a recent video about them here) need someone to tell them that what they’re doing is... not good. I am not sure where they get the encouragement and approval from supporting what they think is good design and layout.  It’s evident in most of the 5e books to date (I own most of them) that in each I can say that they spend far too much time with long, drawn out story and area descriptions, and less time on visual aids for running the game such as decent sized maps, and more relevant artwork.

While 4e was a really bad iteration of Dungeons & Dragons, what they did right (from what I can see in the few books and several Dungeon magazines from that era that I read), is they had artwork down, maps nice and easy to read and were clear and concise, and the writing of the adventures and source books was not only superior in terms of typeface choice and layout, but it didn’t seem drag on and make me wonder “when is this section was done, how much more of this do I have to endure...”

Notice I have not stated that the maps themselves are awful.  The maps are really good. I like Mike Schley’s style, although I wish it was darker/more evil looking at times and not so... cartoonish I suppose would be the word for it. But the colour selection is not optimal in this case, as when they are reduced so drastically, everything gets super muddy. Here are some photos of just some of the offending map sizes printed in this book (standard size d20 show for scale):

Pretty tiny for such detailed environments, right?  Now, check this out:

I believe this is the only map in the book that is afforded such vast real estate on the pages. I find it extremely odd why Team Voltron (I’m holding them mostly accountable since they are responsible for final edits in layout and content presentation) didn’t opt to do this for all of the major maps, and at least take up a good portion of one full page for the smaller maps so people can read them. BUT OH WAIT. It dawned on me after thinking about this most of the day today. Let’s go check out Mike Schley’s "Prints” store website.  Ah ha! This makes perfect sense I suppose. Why give customers who paid $50 USD ($66 CDN dollars where I live) decent, readable sized maps in the book itself - let’s let them figure it out for themselves and they can just buy digital files from Mike’s site for $15 USD and print them out however they see fit.

That’s cool I suppose, but just doesn’t justify to me why Team Voltron put these in the final printed book.  Also, Perkins! Mearls! Didn’t you guys see the final draft of the book before it went to print? Storm King’s Thunder also contained smaller size maps, but it was done well, combining the choice of very high contrast colour combinations in the printed maps with the brighter white paper than is usually found in most of the other 5e WotC hard covers.  Really helps that stuff pop, and looks to be far better for imaging. Anyhow, I’ve spent more than I wanted to on this post, enjoy the rest of the map shots I took:

Oh! I almost forgot! This one bit is definitely classified as a rant: The map for the friggin’ DOOMVAULT - ONE PAGE DEVOTED TO THIS?  The biggest, baddest assed map in the whole book and it gets one single page? If someone can make out the legend, let me know what it says please.

I love D&D, I love WotC (for the most part... Team Voltron... smarten up for your future releases!), and I hope this is one of the few posts I have to make about stuff like this.

-runDMsteve

[draumrfold]

Doomvault: Kiss of Death

We’ve stopped to take a rest, finally. I feel very drained of Ki, after BoBo regained some consciousness he managed to construct an illusion that provided shelter for us, a safe place to rest. I do wish it was a bit more spacious, I would like to try and keep a good amount of distance between myself and these people, as to not further intrude on their kindness. Throughout our rest I could hear Maliadin softly chanting prayers, luckily I was able to block him out and focus on my own balance for my meditation. I also am able to fully sleep and fully recover from having my life force sucked from me. I feel within myself my full strength return. 

When we are finally ready to set off again, BoBo informs us part of his soul is missing. His friends don’t even question what needs to be done, so we all set off to perform a ritual of some kind to restore him. Magic isn’t my strong suit, but the idea of being able to spit a soul is fascinating, just as is how one might put a soul back together. So while I’m not thrilled at the idea of spending more time in this place, I am very intrigued to witness this ritual. 

We used what they are calling a “Black Gate” to get to the chamber they needed to perform the ritual in. Using the gate was a sensation I’ve never experienced before, it wasn’t like when I was shifted in the plane tear, this place has so many secrets to learn. In the chamber, we had to wait while BoBo reverse engineered the ritual when he was done he hopped up on to one of the stone slabs in the massive chamber. He held the scroll out to Talrean who looked less than enthusiastic that the burden had fallen to him, but accepts the scroll. BoBo lays back on the stone and enters a trance state, soon into Talrean’s reading of the scroll we can see BoBo astral projected soul floating above him and slowly it drifts down on to his body and re-merges with his body. 

BoBo slowly opens his eyes, and motions for Talrean to step closer, Ashrah also takes a step closer, when suddenly they both let out gasps and retreat- curing BoBo and his noxious gases. BoBo sits up laughing, and joking, all was once more good it appeared. BoBo I am learning is something of a jokester, which while amusing, there is also a time and a place. I am not sure being stuck in a dungeon after dying and putting one's soul back together is that time or place. 

We continue on to the next area, I have lost track of not only time but also how many chambers and hallways we’ve been through. I merely follow the group, somewhere near the back. It seems Maliadin did not find solace last night as he has gone from leading us to being in the back with me, if not trailing behind us. 

While I trained and studied I never really got into the whole worship thing, perhaps that is why I never truly felt at home in the Temple. I’ve tried prayer and worship, for whatever reason it just doesn't seem to click with me, not the way my studies of death have. Maliadin, in my humble opinion, could greatly benefit from meditation, and inner reflection, as I have found all true inner growth will make you feel uncomfortable, disturbed, or scared for a little while, and that’s ok, the feeling will pass. However Maliadin has seemed to give into fear and pain, he lets death have power over him, rather than embracing and accepting it. As long as he does that, he will never be the mighty warrior he projects to be. 

When we come to face our next enemies Maliadin has fallen so far behind us that I of all people have to lead the charge. I’m uncomfortable with this because I still don’t know the extent of these peoples powers, nor do I know if they will have my back. Trust and loyalty is earned, I recognize I must give them a chance, but I am also cautious about it. 

When we enter the chamber a mage casts a poisonous gas over us, through my training, I have become immune to such things, it would appear my comrades have not, however. I know there is a wall of enemies in front of me, so I take a running start and with all my might I rush into one, knocking it backward and causing a disruption to their wall. I manage to get outside of the gas and unleash a series of blows into the foe in front of me. The other enemies circle around me and I find Ashrah next to me, I assume the others have found their way into the room, blocking a path to safety, I do the only thing I can think of that might give me an advantage in this situation. I start a booming chant in a voice that is deeper than what I should be capable of making, this eerie chant strikes fear into most of the enemies around me, as well as Talrean and Sylvanna. This gives me not only me but all of us an advantage that we’re able to defeat everything and release a Dark Elf. I’ve never seen so many different kinds of elves in one setting before. 

In the next chamber have a similar fight and I see a beast so big and ugly, I’m told that it is an Orc. I don’t think we have Orcs on my plane, I’ve never seen or heard of them before and this one looked very fierce. I am told they are not that intelligent of beings so BoBo came up with a very easy way to communicate to it not to attack us. It went well enough, he looked diseased but wished for no help and he went on his way. 

It also occurs to me that we’ve watched every other being we have rescued (that was friendly) drift off through the white doors, without having to open them. I too was rescued, so I go over to a door and cautiously step through the door to the other side, astonished, I step back through. Cursing all the elven sware words I know in dismay. Why does this stuff keep happening to me? First plane shifting now I can walk through doors. Ashrah says she can’t sense any curses, and I can feel my Ki and lifeforce, nothing seems out of place. I then purpose that this would mean I am able to traverse anywhere in the dungeon, which means I could take us right to the phylactery chamber, and save us all some time and energy. Unfortunately, the others explain to me why that wouldn’t work, and I’m a bit disappointed that this weird power cannot be of more use. 

In the final chamber that had a Shrine of binding in it, and after the fighting, we see the creature has become a zombie and put it out of its misery. We also take a short rest here, where BoBo tries to tell me jokes. I don’t really find them amusing, but I appreciate the effort. We (BoBo, Talrean, Sylvanna, and I) end up having a really odd conversation about Humans, then Tea, or rather the lack of tea, and finally the subject of pets, which I actually felt comfortable enough to introduce them to Sly- I really need to find some proper cheese for her, doubt this will be the place for that though- they are all rather astonished I keep a mouse in my pocket. It can’t be that strange. Perhaps pets aren’t as widely accepted on this plane. I’m kinda surprised she was able to plane swap with me as well as she has. I haven’t observed any difference in her behavior. BoBo, upon learning I have a pet, offers me a ring of Animal Influence so I might communicate with Sly. While part of me would love to accept such an amazing gift as to further my research, another, stronger part of me feels it is not practical for me to have such a thing, and I politely decline the ring, at least for now. Maybe I will barrow it later when I have time to record and properly interview Sly, I’ll have to think about it. 

After the conversation and our short rest, I do feel more at peace and in balance with these people. As though our Ki are aligning. Something I never really felt with Maelin and Aura. Perhaps another sign this is the plane I am truly meant to be on, or at least these are people I was meant to meet. Off of one of the last monsters we defeated we find some Bracers of Defense that the group says I can have, I am humbled they would allow me to have anything we find here. 

We continue on through the chambers, and face down more mages, zombies, and yetis, it's very tiring work if I’m honest, but we’ve rested enough that I am able to keep my Ki up, also Maliadin has decided he’s done moping and has caught back up with and is fighting as normal now. I am very glad the pressure is off of me to lead us into battle. I did fine, admittedly, but moving forward it’s probably best for either Galadin or Maliadin to lead us. 

We enter the phylactery chamber, finally, this is what everyone has said is our goal. I am very happy to finally be here. There is no immediate danger from what we see, and start work on entering the small temples, after we get the first one open, we see BoBo be flung out of the temple and into a large pit of a tar-like substance. Which is of course home to monsters, a giant eye emerges from the tar pit after we’ve pulled BoBo out, and unleashes this incredibly painful sound that knocks me unconscious. 

While I lay there unconscious I feel life and death all around me, the flow of Ki in perfect balance, with my mind I reach out and touch the life flow and feel breath come back to my body and my eyes open. I pull myself up with help from my quarterstaff. “Well, that’s fascinating,” I think to myself. 

While I studied the Way of the Long Death I remember reading a story from what I thought at the time was a wack a loon monk who claimed he had mastered death it’s self and was able to feel life forces and the Ki that flowed not only within himself but within others as well. My master thought this guy was really onto something, and so together we would meditate feeling the Ki within us, sensing our life forces and life forces of others but never being able to feel death or to be able to manipulate the Ki of others. This is the first time I’ve been able to sense death, truly feel its power, and the true power of life. The flow of Ki is reinvigorating. I guess that monk wasn’t as crazy as I thought. I will have to review the notes I made on his work later. If only there was a way to let my master know the progress I have made. He would be so excited, I hope one day to at least be able to send a message to him. 

The creature continues to knock me unconscious, and I continue to harness the power of death and I end up running weird circles around the temple, that Talrean has decided to perch on. Weird ass elf. I sprint in, punch and attack, and run back to safety because by this time I’m just assuming I’m going to be knocked out. The next time I awaken it’s to Ashra shoving a health potion into my mouth. I mumble that if she had just waited a moment I would have come to on my own. She shrugs and helps me to my feet. We clear out the rest of the floors of the phylactery chamber without any problems. 

Upon finishing our work a vision appears before us, a crackling human, who is just talking crazy, he opens a portal and pushes us all through. While we are going through the portal I hear from somewhere beside me Talrean cursing him for not rewarding us properly. What an odd time to be concerned with such things. This also means I’ve been plane shifted, yet again. I doubt it to home. I will just have to wait and see where we land. 

[draumrfold]

The Doomvault, the place I now find myself.

[draumrfold]

Way of the Long Death

When it was time for me to set out on my own journey I wondered the lands aimlessly, meditating and looking for guidance. One evening I found myself stepping into an Inn. I make my way up to the bar and order some dinner. The barkeep is human but seems nice enough. He at least doesn't stare at my ears or ask why I am bald. Maybe in his time as a barkeep, he’s learned its better not to ask such things.  

The inn was quiet, not a lot of travelers, those who were there weren’t exactly talkative so not a lot of talking was going on. I looked down the bar and noticed a traveler, similar to myself, robes of the deepest black, his head was bald like mine but covered in symbols and markings, he looked worn and tired, like the barkeep he too was human. I eat in peace, and as I get up to leave he says to me, “What order are you from?” It’s obvious what I am, my hands and feet wrapped, and my quarterstaff at my back. 

I give a small bow, and reply, “Until recently, I studied as a disciple of Saint Sollars,” he nods. 

“A noble order. You are a fierce fighter then.” I’m not sure how to respond at this so I just give a small nod. “What brings you so far from home?” 

“I’m not sure that was my home,” I respond. “I guess you could say I have had a complicated life.” He smiles a little. 

“Ah, yes, haven’t we all. Come join me for a drink, let us recant some tales.” As it would turn out neither of us had many tales to tell. As I had just set out on my journey and was a Scholar of the Way of the Long Death. He did thoroughly enjoy telling me all about his research, it was all quite fascinating. “Where are you staying tonight?” He asks me. I tell him I had planned to rent a room here, and he insists I come to stay with him. It was the least he could do for a fellow monk. I reluctantly agreed. 

His home on the outside looked perfectly normal and modest, the inside though reeked of decay and rot. the place was littered with scrolls, vials, and dead creatures. He apologizes for the mess and shows me to the spare room, which was mostly free from all clutter. I cracked the window open to let fresh air flush out the stale air. The next morning he asks if I would mind helping him out with a new experiment, that he just needs a second pair of hands. I agree, curious to see if anything he has shared with me is actually true. 

Needless to say, one experiment led to another and eleven years later I found myself finally setting off on the road again. The scholar taught me all that he knew in the Way of the Long Death. While I never developed his taste for dead creatures or animal torture, uh, I mean experiments..., I did gain a new perspective on death and the state of being dead; to expire in service is one of the most profoundly holy experiences a living being can hope to enjoy, I no longer fear death, but embrace it. I’ve gained a better understanding through the meditation of my parent's murder and my sisters passing. 

From that embrace, I have found new power and abilities to manipulate Ki not only within myself but also within others. I hope to continue to grow these abilities as I travel onto my next adventure.  

[bladekuroda]

DM Tales from the Yawning Portal: Dead in Thay part 1

Here we go, straight into the Doomvault. An assault onto a Thayan mega dungeon. What could possibly go wrong?

Well they were greeted by a bunch of undead, as they appeared in the Warren of Eyes. The zombies were little issue for the party though, especially after Quibble completely demolished a number of them while channeling his divinity. When they explored further in, they found something considerably more challenging.

They found a cavern filled with slime, and eyes could be seen all around the room, staring at them. Before long, a beholder revealed itself and attacked. Two of its eyestalks were maimed beyond use. All in all, no one really got hurt too bad. The Beholder did a pretty good job of keeping the party under control, but wasn’t actually able to harm them for the most part. And the party had trouble hurting it.

Shortly after the combat broke out, it stopped to ask what they were doing there as they didn’t look like Thayans. Jennoa, who was currently charmed by the creature, gave up the whole deal. Once it learned of their plans, it offered a truce. It fetched a spare glyph key and demanded the party give it some attunements. It wanted revenge on the Red Wizards, as well as to leave and return to the underdark. After some debate, the party went ahead and transfered what little key attunements they had.

The beholder initially had trouble going through any of the gates. It had apparently been cursed by the wizards to keep it from being able to escape its area. Quibble was able to remove that curse, and then off it went.

After it left, they found a white gate into the Prison of Filth, and passed through. It was literally a garbage dump on the other side. Complete with a family of otyughs. They demanded food, which Crow conjured up some fake food to give them. The distraction didn’t last long and they soon turned on the party. It wasn’t until after one of the young was killed that the fighting came to a  halt. Gylikos managed to intimidate the family to stand down lest the rest of their young be slaughtered. Crow helped with him having a fear spell up affecting most of them.

In the next room, the found 20 skeletons. They were just standing there. They couldn’t figure out what the skeletons were doing, but they were chilling around, watching them as they moved about the room. When they came across a contact stone, they were able to get in touch with Syranna. She had some news from one of the other teams; the one that had gone to the Abyssal Prison sector. They learned there was some sort of life restoring necromantic magic in the Master’s Domain, and that there was an area called the Temples of Extraction, which weren’t actually temples but were some sort of research facilities. They also informed her that a Beholder was on the loose somewhere now.

Nearby, in another room, they found a summoning circle. They felt they shouldn’t mess with it, though, and  left it be. As they lacked the proper attunements to go beyond the Prison of Filth at the time being, the backtracked and headed into the Lake of Madness zone. There, they met an Aboleth. Delphina polymorphed into a huge giant crab... and snapped it in two. Literally. 

With that threat taken care of, they explored a little further and found a room filed with colorful lights and a number of undead. It was then that we ended for the evening.

So far the assault is going... okay. I’ll have to see where they go next. And what secrets they’ll learn.

[draumrfold]

Half Haven: The Elf That Was On Fire

The early morning light drifts into my room, I’ve woken at the crack of dawn to see the sun just starting to ascend into the sky, I take this time to find my center and meditate on all that has happened recently. While I am meditating the ground starts to shake violently, which I find quite alarming, it lasts for about a minute or so. When it stops I head out to check on everyone, apparently earthquakes are quite normal and there is no need for concern. This plane of existence is very odd. 

After realizing everyone was fine, I went downstairs and ordered us all breakfast. They also had tea and coffee, it was delicious, it’s been quite some time since I had had either. Honestly, I find indulging in tea and coffee more enjoyable than drinking ale. Last night was well deserved and amusing and it looked like everyone else had a great time...there are just better ways for me to spend my time. 

After we had all eaten our fill we set out for the Bard’s College. BoBo seems very hesitant on fulfilling his promise he made me, but I don’t press him on it. However when we arrive at the College, we are denied access because only students and alumni are allowed to enter, and BoBo is neither of those. To say I am disappointed in BoBo would be an understatement, I keep this to myself though, because now is not the time, later I will talk with him about it. Maybe there is more to the story, but that seems doubtful knowing what I do so far about BoBo. I turn my attention so finding another solution and ask BoBo if he knows of any public library or places that would have information on plane shifting. He leads us to a small shop that sells parchment and ink, I’m starting to think we are wasting our time when a nice little old lady appears behind the counter. 

Turns out she use to be a pretty good mage and is able to offer some very useful information on plane shifting. She tells us that: 

The plane we are currently on is guarded against plane shifting by a divine barrier. 

 The Doomvault must have been a demi-plane with multiple connections or a nexus of sorts. 

Tells us of a realm of doors/realm of sigils, which connects to all planes.

We will need a powerful spellcaster to cast the spell “Plane Shifting” in order to send me back to the right plane.  However the Divine Barrier is what is going to stop me from going back, we have to find a way to bring it down or to get through it. Otherwise, I’m pretty stuck here. 

At the end of our discussion, she tries to banish me, despite saying that I didn’t wish to be banished, but it kinda worked? At least for a few seconds. However, I was in the strangest of places. It was a black room, with a man, who looked up at me and said “You’re not dead,” I looked back at him and said, “Ya I know, I’m lost and now confused,” he replied “Good luck with that,” snapped his fingers and I was back in the shop. 

On our way out of the shop, we ran into Talrean. “Glad you’re not dead,” I say to him. He randomly disappeared upon our arrival into the city yesterday. “It takes a lot to kill me.” He replies. “That remains to be seen,” I say flatly. 

Our conversation is interrupted by Galadin who stole Ashrah’s parchment and was running down the ally with it, while she shouted “Stop that thief,” Talrean raised his bow and threatened to shoot him. Of course, Guards happened to be walking by and came to check out the commotion. Maliadin managed to talk our way out of trouble. 

After leaving the ally and the guards we headed over to see the Hero’s of Easthaven monument in the Nobel district of the city. It was very peaceful. The monument is in a section of the city known as “The Hanging Gardens” flowers, and gardens, and magical plants were everywhere. I thought about how Maelin and Aura would have loved to see this place and would have loved to inspect each and every plant. Hopefully, they aren't dead, they seem like good people, and I would like to see them again even if they annoy me and aren’t most useful in fights. Even if it’s just to recount this tale to them. 

While we were at the monument and everyone was paying their respects I decided to wait patiently and meditate, the Ki here is strange, it all seems to flow strongest from on top of BoBo’s statues head. It would be wildly inappropriate to climb on his statue so I just sit in front and make due. 

“Sir Bradford is a Knight from Thrallia. He was sent to East Haven by his father who thought some time out of the city would do him some good as well as teach him the lessons he needed to be a successful leader”

Not long after we see Brightclaw appear in the sky with two riders. The Princess and Sir Bradford approach, the princess explains she's here to drop Sir Bradford off with us and she is on her way to see her father. Sir Bradford has a quest for us. Sir Bradford is the Prince of Thrallia (& the Princesses brother) and will be joining us as backup on our quest. He outfits us with war horses that are fully equipped. 

We set out for a Giants outpost our mission is to gather intelligence. I find it rather strange to be sending a party made up of mostly heavily armored people to gather intelligence when it seems more of a job for more sneaky people, but this is what the party has decided to do, so off we go. The day’s travel is fine, we rest at the same camp where we encountered the Man, Pig, Bear sighting which admittedly gives me pause but we have BoBo’s hut for protection. 

The next morning arrives and Sir Bradford makes some kind of attempt of conversation with me but in the end, fails or gives up, I’m not sure. It seems like he has something on his mind, but he asked the weirdest question about my master’s wisdom. I don’t think I’ve ever considered him wise is the thing. Crazy, interesting, obsessive, a little too invested in death sure, but wise? Mmmm. I’m not so sure. He did know a lot, and his research was top notch, but there is a difference in being intelligent and wise, I would definitely say my master was intelligent. He was a far cry from the Monks at the monastery, the council that ran it was made up of the most diplomatic, most honest people in the monastery. I would say they were wise, but maybe not so much my master.  

On our ride we notice the grass growing rather wildly, and Talrean seems to think it is growing at a rapid pace. At one point it’s so tall that I take my quarterstaff to see if I can cut it down so I can see. Vines entangle it and myself and throw me from my horse on to the ground. We end u facing several monsters all the while I am stuck on the stupid ground entangled in poisonous vines. The vines tingle kind of like acupuncture, it’s a bit relaxing after a while. When I am finally released most of the creatures are already dead and there is just one left. Thankfully this party is pretty good at fighting. I rush over to the last creature and with Talrean’s help we put it down. With the defeat of the creatures the grass resides and is back to normal, we continue on our journey. The rest of the journey is uneventful, thankfully. 

When we arrive outside of the Giant’s outpost Sir Bradford tells us that this is as far as his scouts have made it, and reinforces that he is here to serve as back up. That his “adventuring skills” do not compare to ours, that he is better at running a city and fighting on front lines. Talrean then compares running a city to adventuring like it’s the same thing. I give him a look of what an idiot, which Sir Bradford shares with me. 

It is soon revealed this is a terrible idea in general. We run into the problem of we have no idea where we are going and can’t really sneak around, nor do we know specifically what kind of intelligence we are looking for. In the end, we’re put into a position of having to figure out a distraction so we can all make it across a hallway and into another door without being seen. Talrean decides to attempt to distract them and/or self-sacrifice in order to cause a distraction. I don’t see exactly what he does but there is shouting and smells of smoke and fire. I do hear him shout for us to run, it’s then that I am faced with a critical decision, what he’s done is incredibly stupid, but I also hear my master's voice floating in my head.

He’s reading from a scroll from one of his many friends “To expire in service to its principle is one of the most profoundly holy experiences a living being can hope to enjoy.” It is with this that I see Talrean and I have something in common, both of us have mastered the fear of death, and use it to our advantage in our own ways.