#wrenville

[adventureswithdnd]

Campaign Prequel

So I’m trying to start DMing. I built a huge map and started trying to nail down the details of all of the locations, the history behind the continent, etc. My fiance, Dave, also plays RPGs and has taken an interest in the world I’m building. He agreed to join the campaign and even run through a couple of small solo sessions with his character so I can get better at running combat, developing the world, and role-playing as NPCs. 

We’ve spent two hours so far with his character, and I want to recount what just happened. He’s playing a human cleric named Leona (yes, modeled on the LOL character). She starts the campaign as an acolyte, having lived on the top of a mountain for five years with a religious sect, training to become an elite class of warrior known as a Solari (it’s a southern matriarchal kingdom near a desert and they all worship the sun, so I was’t terribly creative with this name either). 

Leona failed her final tests to become a Solari, but the council who live on the mountain (Mt. Crulevi) have told her to leave but return in one year to retake the test. She collects her possessions and a few days’ rations and leaves. She descends a series of steps that have been carved into the mountainside towards the gate that marks the edge of the sacred grounds. Upon exiting, she stops to pray at a stone statue outside the walls. The statue, which is of the goddess Iomedae, has been vandalized, both of the arms crudely broken off. A couple of guards are inspecting the statue, one in tears. Leona, unable to notice any clues left by the vandals, leaves and heads for Meridia.

The road from Mt. Crulevi to Meridia heads first due west, towards the Copper Woods. A few miles later, after completely descending the mountain, Leona approaches a crossroads where she will head south to cross the Solusridi (a long river controlled by the Solara kingdom). As she nears this crossroads, small homesteads exist closer together until she reaches the outskirts of a small village named Wrenville.

By one of these outer houses, Leona sees a group of children playing in the mud with a handful of stone statues. She nears them and asks to see their statues. One of the children holds up his toy: it’s a small stone effigy. She can tell it’s a deity of some sort, but she does not recognize it (possibly because it is caked in dirt and mud).

Leona casts “create water” over the child to try to rinse off the effigy. The child, unhappy at the scary use of magic, begins screaming and the other children just watch in horror. Leona calms the children down enough to ask about the statues they’re holding. They don’t provide a lot of answers, except that the statues show up every day.

One young girl gives Leona a small statue, a stone figure holding an ax. She rinses it off in the now-larger puddle of water but still does not recognize the figure. She pockets it for later research and gives the small girl one gold piece, which she drops in the mud but picks back up to place in her pocket.

Walking further into the settlement, Leona notices many of the houses have the same effigy on their doorsteps: a black statue crudely carved out of obsidian. She picks up one of the statues but again does not recognize it right away. Near the center of the village, she runs into a man who is tending some livestock and chickens and asks him about the statues. At first, he is hesitant to answer, but finally responds that the effigies show up by dawn every morning. They don’t know who brings them, but they don’t dare to find out. When Leona presses him on this final answer, he ignores her and walks off. She sets down her items near the center of the town to rest for the evening.

Later, a couple of adventurers returning from the Copper Woods spot Leona. Recognizing her as a Solari (and presumably a religious zealot), they do not appreciate her presence in the town and repeatedly threaten her to leave. She begrudgingly walks down the road but circles back to keep an eye on the small settlement from a nearby grove of trees off the road. She wants to see who is leaving the effigies.

Leona stays awake all night. Just before dawn, she hears a rather loud scuffling and grunting nearby. She moves closer to inspect the sound. She spots a hunched figure in a large black cloak moving from house to house. It reaches into a basket under its cloak and sets a small stone statue on each doorstep with a grotesque, misshapen hand.

Leona approaches it, drawing her sword and casting “light” on her sword to make it glow. The figure eventually spots her, and as it looks up, Leona sees its dark, gaunt face under the hood. The creature runs for the woods, easily losing Leona in her heavy armor. Leona decides to wait another day. She wants to confront this creature and find out why it creates these effigies.

Before resting, Leona casts “know the enemy” and asks her deity, Sarenrae, about the creature she just encountered. The goddess informs her that it was a flue hag that harasses these villagers, leaving effigies on their doorsteps every morning to scare them. It sometimes changes the type of deity it carves to hint at an upcoming event, such as leaving a deity of death the day before it murders a resident. 

Leona spends most of the day sleeping and praying. When she wakes up in the early afternoon, she wanders into the town to find food. She walks into a bakery and asks the baker behind the counter if she could help him bake bread for the day, as she worked as a baker back on Mt. Crulevi. At the mention of the Solari, he refuses to let her step behind the counter, but he hands her a roll of bread and advises her to “leave and I won’t tell anyone you were here.” She takes the bread and agrees. 

In the village center, she meets a couple of young mothers (named Rylee and Aubriella) washing laundry with water from the settlements’ well. They do not recognize that she is a Solari soldier, and they happily invite Leona to help them with their chores. Leona asks about the effigies again, particularly about the creature that leaves them. The women are extremely reluctant to answer her questions. The villagers believe it is bad luck to talk about the flue hag, and that talking about it publicly could seal one’s own fate. Leona stops pressing them about the flue hag and, after helping the women wash their children’s muddy clothes, she asks if there is a candle maker in the town.

They point her to a small shop on the first floor of the home of Samuel Chandler. Upon entering the store, a bumbly little man walks from the back room and asks how he can help her. She asks if he has a candle, a nail, and a frying pan. Puzzled, the man replies that of course he has candles, and he can probably find a nail in his shop, but that he can’t help with the frying pan.

He shows her his stock, which includes simple pillar candles. Leona purchases a candle that burns for 8 hours. Samuel also convinces her to purchase a candle he has been experimenting with making. He says he has purchased a rare spice called Cinnamon from a distant land and has started scenting his candles with it. He also enthusiastically explains that his wife has started flavoring her baking with the spice and that it has helped make a lot of her food, especially the pumpkin pie she makes, even better. Leona agrees to purchase one of his new candles.

Leona eats a set of the rations she took from the kitchen on Mt. Crulevi and settles in for the night. She sets up the candle on her metal canteen with a nail driven into the candle so it should fall after the wax melts in six hours. This works, and she wakes up shortly before dawn. The creature is quieter this time, and it is only about 80 yards away when Leona finally hears it scuttling from house to house.

Leona removes her armor, hoping to be able to keep up with the creature if it tries to escape, and draws her sword. The flue hag fails to hear her approaching, and Leona charges but misses terribly. the flue hag’s aura of misfortune affects Leona, and for several rounds, she swings her sword over and over, missing every time. The monster lashes out, attempting to bite Leona, and instead stumbles, falling onto the ground. Her basket of stone effigies spills out over the dirt.

Leona casts “fire bolt” at the flue hag, but realizes that the monster is resistant to fire. Leona slashes at the monster again and again. She makes eye contact with a small child in the window of one of homes. They’ve been awoken by the fighting outside and are too curious to keep from peeking outside. “Help!” Leona screams at them. The child’s face disappears.

They continue fighting for a short while, but the monster’s searing bite and sharp claws are too much for Leona. The cleric casts “cure light wounds” once, but the monster bites Leona’s arm, and she is critically injured. She collapses to the ground, just as she hears a door open and a loud voice shouting “Get back!” Everything goes black.

[adventureswithdnd]

Campaign Prequel Part 4

The next leg of the solo campaign I’m running with my fiance:

The ferry pulls up to a dock on the east side of Meridia, just outside of the city’s walls. The passengers, exhausted from the travel and on edge from the recent fight, scatter, disappearing into the sprawling city.

Berinon, the ferryman, recites a paragraph in a sarcastic tone. “I hope that you all enjoyed your travels along the beautiful Solusridi. The next time you plan to journey, please consider our tax-payer funded services...”

Leona catches up to Malkyn to tell her goodbye. Sybbyl glares at Leona before pulling her younger sister along, heading straight for the inner city. Leona and Akari pause for a moment, and Variel uses this time to talk to them. He compliments Leona on fighting bravely against the Gripplis earlier that afternoon.

“I hope our paths will cross again,” Variel says, bowing slightly.

“I’m sure they will,” Leona replies.

Variel smiles at the two of them, but especially Akari, and walks away. When he’s out of earshot, Leona leans over to Akari. “Are you interested in him?”

Akari laughs. “He’s like, a hundred years old.”

The ferry dock lies just north of a small plaza with a large fountain dedicated to the deity Iomedae. Looking around, Leona and Akari decide to try to find food before they head into an inn for the night. In the morning, they’ll need to catch another ferry across the Solusridi to the northern island of Meridia, where the School of Healing is.

They head toward the city center, to the west, passing through the remains of what were once the city’s walls. The walls were broken down a few years ago, when Meridia’s population began rapidly growing and there was simply not enough space to accommodate the new residents inside the walls. The more wealthy residents bought their way in, to safety, while those of lower socioeconomic status were left outside. Now, Meridia keeps guards posted around the city’s outskirts, patrolling, questioning anyone who may not be a citizen of Solara.

Leona and Akari head down main roads and cut through back alleys, heading due west until they find some larger buildings. One is a tavern called “The Shining Raven.” Once inside, they see long wooden tables on either side of the hall. Most of the patrons are dwarves; in fact, it’s like all of the dwarves in Meridia are in this tavern. In the back of the hall, however, there is a crowd gathered of people of many different races. Leona and Akari head straight there.

Leona, in her armor and with a weapon at her side, easily pushes past people in the crowd, but Akari cannot fight the throng of people and, somewhat disappointed, goes to find a seat at a table. Pushing closer to the wall, Leona sees that the crowd is around a message board. As she watches, jobs are occasionally posted, and every once in a while, an arm will extend from the crowd and grab a flyer. Leona scans a few of the ads and grabs one that catches her eye. She tucks the paper into her bag and goes to find Akari.

A waitress stops by, and Leona and Akari order some food and ale. Akari picked a seat beside a couple of dwarves who are passionately talking about something. Leona leans over to the one beside her. “Do you know if they have any of that red dwarven ale here?”

The dwarves look at each other. “I’m betting not. The Lormount dwarves would never ship their red ale this far west.”

Leona asks the waitress when she stops back by, but the woman confirms that there is no red dwarven ale in the tavern, despite the abundance of dwarves themselves. Leona and Akari spend some time chatting with the dwarves beside them as they eat. Leona stops the waitress one more time as she passes by to ask if she knows where a good inn is located.

“All the inns are just outside the city walls,” the waitress explains. “Inside the walls got to be pretty full when all the people started showing up. So some business folk started building inns outside the walls to accommodate ‘em. Just head due east and you can’t miss ‘em.”

Leona and Akari thank the waitress and head out to find an inn. Following her directions, they find a dense collection of signs just outside the walls on a main road. On the right side of the road, the signs all beg the reader to choose the Morning Sun Inn. On the left, the signs all suggest staying at the Songbird’s Nest instead. The two travelers head left.

Inside, they are greeted by a woman who steps out from a backroom, flour coating her apron. “One room or two?” she asks without greeting.

“One,” Leona answers.

“One bed or two?”

“Um, two?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” The woman disappears into a different room. As Leona looks around, she notices a lot of dirt tracked in on the floor and hears the sounds of many footsteps on the second floor over her head. The innkeeper reappears, Leona exchanges payment for the key, and the two head upstairs to get a good night’s rest.

As they’re preparing for sleep, a flash of light catches Leona’s eye. She looks up at the window just in time to see a bright ball of light fall straight down towards the earth dead to the south. Leona goes to the window to try to see where it landed, but her view of the horizon is heavily obscured by other buildings in the city. She makes a mental note of the strange citing-- a meteor, she assumes-- although she has no time to investigate on this journey. Maybe another day.

The next morning, the two set out quickly for the ferry. On their way, they pass through the market square, which is buzzing with activity. Without much time to spare, they stroll briskly by the market stands of fresh crops, just-butchered meats, and hand-woven textiles.

Watching the crowd around her, Leona decides to follow the flow of people north toward a large tent that has been set up. It has heavy, black sheets that conceal the wares inside. As they get closer, they realize that there is a massive line forming to get into the tent. A guard, posted outside, allows only a person or two inside at a time as previous buyers dash away to avoid being questioned by the growing crowd.

Leona turns to Akari and asks if they could spare time to check inside the tent. But Akari eyes the line with concern. “I really think we should catch this ferry if we can,” she says. “I want to make a good impression at the school.” Leona tries to convince her but quickly gives in, and the two of them hurry to a nearby dock. The take a ferry across the river to the north island.

Unsure of how to get to the School of Healing, Leona and Akari head toward the Temple of Light. They have to fight a crowd of people who just departed from the morning’s service, however. (It’s Sunday.) They stop someone on the street to ask for directions, and soon, they find their way to a long, rectangular building with a sign that states “School of Healing.”

Walking through the entry room, they are greeted by a middle-aged woman who introduces herself as Helewys. As Leona and Akari explain their reason for being here, the woman’s face grows cold and she simply nods along. “It is interesting that you have journeyed such a long way. However, we have a strict policy. All prospective students must visit the school with their guardians-- most likely their parents-- no less than one year in advance. Then they need to submit an application for acceptance. It seems that Akari here has done none of those things, and as such, she simply cannot be admitted.”

At this, Akari bursts into tears. Leona has her walk back into the entry room to collect herself while Leona speaks with Helewys, who, despite Leona’s best efforts to convince her to admit Akari (including recounting the night Akari saved Leona’s life), is adamant.

Finally, the woman says, “You believe that Akari is a capable healer?”

“Of course,” Leona replies.

“And I take it you would do anything to help prove your friend’s worthiness to be accepted into this school?”

Picturing another journey to find an obscure medicinal plants, or a week seeking out the most disease-riddled residents of Meridia to try to heal, Leona answers, “Yes, of course.”

As soon as the agreement is spoken, Helewys draws a dagger and forcefully plunges it into Leona’s stomach. She cries out in disbelief and shock, but suddenly realizes what Helewys is doing. “Clever,” she mutters. Then louder, Leona calls for Akari’s help. Akari does not come into the main room, so Leona staggers back toward the main door. “Akari, a little help?”

Akari sees Leona, then the dagger, then the blood, and immediately starts panicking. “What happened?” she shrieks. Leona sinks down to the floor, wincing.

“Just patch me up, okay? I’ll be fine.”

Akari is shaky and takes several minutes to calm her own nerves. Then she reaches into her backpack and pulls out the box from her shelf at home in Wrenville. When it’s open, Leona can see that it’s a collection of medical supplies Akari has managed to gather together. In a few minutes, Akari has removed the dagger and stitched up the wound. She gives Leona a couple of small elixirs from vials she has stored in the box-- one to heal the wound itself, one to ease the pain.

Helewys steps from the doorway, clapping her hands slowly. “A bit slow, but still well done, overall. I think you have earned yourself conditional acceptance to the School.” Leona and Akari get to feet.

“What conditions?” Leona asks.

“Well,” Helewys begins, “there is the matter of the tuition, 10 gold pieces per year and 5 up front.”

Akari’s face falls suddenly, but Leona reaches into her pockets. She hands Akari 15 gold pieces. “Write to me if you ever need anything, money or help or otherwise,” she tells her. “And I’ll visit you every year.” Akari brushes away tears and thanks Leona.

“Come, Akari,” Helewys interrupts. “I’ll show you to your room.” The woman’s eyes meet Leona’s, almost challenging.

“Send letters to Nearon. That’s where I’m going next,” Leona continues. Akari promises to do so. Leona wraps Akari in a hug and the two say a final goodbye.

Back on the streets outside, Leona heads to the Temple of Light. Inside, there are statues dedicated to all the deities of light and the sun. Iomedae’s is the largest and stands before the eastern window. (Services take place in the early morning, usually ending when the sun rises between Iomedae’s hands, stretched overhead.) She says her belated morning prayers in front of a statue of the goddess Sarenrae, then heads south to the docks to seek out a ship to Nearon.

She spots the dock master's office and walks inside, where a sleepy man sits reading a book behind a desk. “Excuse me. I was wondering if there are any ships to Nearon today.”

He sets down his book slowly, looks at a schedule to his left, and then back to his book. “Yes,” he replies simply.

When it is clear this is all he plans to say, Leona adds, “When are they leaving?”

He repeats the motion, staring at the schedule longer, then states, “One in three hours, one at 1 PM, and another at 5 PM.”

“Where could I find the one that leaves in three hours?”

Again, the same set of actions. “The West Port.”

“Where is the West Port?”

This time the dock master does not move. “The West Port,” he says tersely, “is the westernmost port.”

“And how do I get there?”

“Go to the row of docks. Go west. It’s the last one on the westernmost part of the island.”

Satisfied, Leona thanks him and leaves. She follows his directions and starts heading west, following the road in front of the Queen’s Palace. Looking up at one of the spire’s, she notices a woman standing in a window, a long braid of red hair draped over her shoulder and running down to her hip. The woman looks out over the city but suddenly looks down, making eye contact with Leona. She smiles and steps out of sight.

Leona continues down to the West Port, where she spies a small wooden building and a group of people, mostly humans and halflings, milling around the dock.

She walks up to one of the halflings. “Excuse me. Could you tell me who the captain of this ship is?” She gestures to the boat docked beside them.

“Why,” the halfling replies, “that would be me. Captain Fenwick, at your service. Are you on your way to Nearon with us?”

“I am,” Leona says. “Do I give you your payment now?”

“Oh, no, take care of that inside.” He points to the wooden building. Inside, Leona finds another halfling who appears to be the mother of Captain Fenwick. She tells the woman she is here to pay for the journey.

“You must be the captain’s mother,” Leona says. When the halfling woman nods, she continues, “You must be so proud of him.”

“Indeed I am,” she responds. “Gives a lot of halflings a much better life than they would have here, that’s for sure.”

After she’s settled up, they walk outside together. “Would you show me to my bunk?” Leona asks.

“Me?” the woman laughs. “Oh, no, let the cabin boy take care of that.” She waves at someone in the crowd. “Walter? Could you show this young lady to her bunk?”

“Right away, ma’am.” The person who walks over is an adolescent elf wearing sailor’s garb that is obviously way too short for him. He is a ridiculous sight, but he kindly helps Leona find her bunk and goes back to loading goods onto the ship.

Leona sets down her belongings and goes to the deck. She looks out over the city of Meridia, eager to begin her long journey. In her heart, she knows she’ll come back here someday, and she’ll have to wait until then to check in on Akari and to uncover the secrets of the city.