All things must come to the end, and such is the case with the weekly summaries of the Dungeons & Dragons games I run at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't already aware of these two games, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube or jump to the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog to explore the story of Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing, and/or go over here to read the tale of Colonial Caerdia: Blossom Fall.
While I've enjoyed retelling these stories over the past year and a half, I've found that it takes up a large amount of my time every week - in fact, it reached a point where I was spending more time writing up the recaps for the games than I spent actually planning the games. So, though it saddens me that I'll no longer have a continuous record of the events in the games, I've decided that my time could be better spent elsewhere.
That said, the games will still be continuing, so perhaps I might periodically throw up a more concise summery of what has occurred in the story. We'll see what happens.
In the meantime, to fill the gap in your D&D entertainment, I offer you this new filmed D&D game that's also being put on by the Devil's Bench. For now, it's just a pilot, but it goes well, who knows what it could become? Either way, it's certainly something fun to watch.
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Sunday, June 23, 2019
Blossom Fall, Episode 22
Colonial Caerdia: Blossom Fall is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't already familiar with this series, you can find the beginning over here.
You can find the previous episode here.
24th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
When last we left our heroes, they were split up, and Vala had just opened a door into a room containing a dozen goblins. She now hopefully mentions the name "Gyaka", hoping that the goblins might lead her to the goblin who stole her money, but she doesn't stick around to hear the answer. She runs back the way she came and, seeing Jojen, Flint, and Luna coming down the hall to her right, dashes towards them, yelling at the top of her lungs about goblins.
Vala's cries bring I'Un and John bursting out into the hall as well, and I'Un kicks open the door across the hall that leads to the courtyard, finding it overgrown and with a chasm cutting through it. While the yelling has caught the attention of Vala's friends, it also brings goblins out of come of the rooms along the side of the hall, even as the ones chasing Vala show up, shooting arrows at her. Flint cleverly casts a spell that makes it too dangerous for the chasing goblins to follow up the hall, allowing the group to kill off the goblins from the rooms and to pick off some of those that are chasing.
The battle seems to be going well, until more goblins show up from in the courtyard and knock Flint out, making his spell vanish. I'Un and Vala rush to hold off the goblins chasing Vala while the others painstakingly work to save Flint and slay the new goblins. They manage to kill all the goblins but one, which runs off into the courtyard. As everyone regroups, they can hear it off in the distance, yelling.
The group has a debate - stay and rest, or leave? Half want to stay, the other half want to leave, and they eventually decide to leave - but I'Un insists they leave through the secret passage he's sure is in the library. However, as he and John sneak ahead of the others, they hear a lot of goblins coming from around the corner. They run back to the group and Jojen guides them all into one of the small rooms off the side of the hall, closes the door, and casts an illusion to make the door look like part of the wall.
They huddle down and wait... They hear the goblins go rushing past, then, after some time, some of them come back. They hear doors opening and closing, then... silence. Jojen volunteers to stay awake for the next eight hours so he can keep the illusion up while everyone else gets some rest. However, after four hours, the door is opened by a goblin. Jojen quickly crams the creature an instructs it to inform its fellows that everything is fine and there's no one in this room, then wakes everyone else to get them to leave.
There is once again an argument about the path of exit. I'Un tries very hard to get them to go for the secret passage, but the front door seems safer to the others, so they head that way - seeing the goblin Jojen sent off disappear around the corner. Jojen and John sneak ahead to the end of the hall where John hears the goblin speaking to other goblins near the entrance, telling them about how it found a room behind a door that looked like a wall, but it was okay because there was no one there. Suddenly, the secret passage in the library sounds like a much better idea.
They rush that way, luckily avoiding the eyes of goblins, and shut themselves in the room. I'Un rushes to the statue where he went through a secret passage in his home temple and... it's a different statue. His attempts to open it are unsuccessful. As Jojen is getting frustrated, I'Un and Vala search for some way out - and Vala discovers that I'Un's statue did indeed have a secret passage, but it has a different latch. They rush inside and down into the tunnel, almost forgetting to close the statue behind them.
After following along the tunnel for a while, it opens out into a chasm - seemingly the same one running through the rest of the temple. They can see the tunnel continuing on the far side of the chasm. Frustrated, but feeling they're safe enough for now, they settle down to get the rest they need.
It's getting well into the night by the time they're ready to go again. They begin making plans for making their escape from the temple.
And that's the end of this week's game session. While the game is continuing on, this is also where the recaps of the game will be ending. To read more about it, you continue to this blog post.
You can find the previous episode here.
24th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
When last we left our heroes, they were split up, and Vala had just opened a door into a room containing a dozen goblins. She now hopefully mentions the name "Gyaka", hoping that the goblins might lead her to the goblin who stole her money, but she doesn't stick around to hear the answer. She runs back the way she came and, seeing Jojen, Flint, and Luna coming down the hall to her right, dashes towards them, yelling at the top of her lungs about goblins.
Vala's cries bring I'Un and John bursting out into the hall as well, and I'Un kicks open the door across the hall that leads to the courtyard, finding it overgrown and with a chasm cutting through it. While the yelling has caught the attention of Vala's friends, it also brings goblins out of come of the rooms along the side of the hall, even as the ones chasing Vala show up, shooting arrows at her. Flint cleverly casts a spell that makes it too dangerous for the chasing goblins to follow up the hall, allowing the group to kill off the goblins from the rooms and to pick off some of those that are chasing.
The battle seems to be going well, until more goblins show up from in the courtyard and knock Flint out, making his spell vanish. I'Un and Vala rush to hold off the goblins chasing Vala while the others painstakingly work to save Flint and slay the new goblins. They manage to kill all the goblins but one, which runs off into the courtyard. As everyone regroups, they can hear it off in the distance, yelling.
The group has a debate - stay and rest, or leave? Half want to stay, the other half want to leave, and they eventually decide to leave - but I'Un insists they leave through the secret passage he's sure is in the library. However, as he and John sneak ahead of the others, they hear a lot of goblins coming from around the corner. They run back to the group and Jojen guides them all into one of the small rooms off the side of the hall, closes the door, and casts an illusion to make the door look like part of the wall.
They huddle down and wait... They hear the goblins go rushing past, then, after some time, some of them come back. They hear doors opening and closing, then... silence. Jojen volunteers to stay awake for the next eight hours so he can keep the illusion up while everyone else gets some rest. However, after four hours, the door is opened by a goblin. Jojen quickly crams the creature an instructs it to inform its fellows that everything is fine and there's no one in this room, then wakes everyone else to get them to leave.
There is once again an argument about the path of exit. I'Un tries very hard to get them to go for the secret passage, but the front door seems safer to the others, so they head that way - seeing the goblin Jojen sent off disappear around the corner. Jojen and John sneak ahead to the end of the hall where John hears the goblin speaking to other goblins near the entrance, telling them about how it found a room behind a door that looked like a wall, but it was okay because there was no one there. Suddenly, the secret passage in the library sounds like a much better idea.
They rush that way, luckily avoiding the eyes of goblins, and shut themselves in the room. I'Un rushes to the statue where he went through a secret passage in his home temple and... it's a different statue. His attempts to open it are unsuccessful. As Jojen is getting frustrated, I'Un and Vala search for some way out - and Vala discovers that I'Un's statue did indeed have a secret passage, but it has a different latch. They rush inside and down into the tunnel, almost forgetting to close the statue behind them.
After following along the tunnel for a while, it opens out into a chasm - seemingly the same one running through the rest of the temple. They can see the tunnel continuing on the far side of the chasm. Frustrated, but feeling they're safe enough for now, they settle down to get the rest they need.
It's getting well into the night by the time they're ready to go again. They begin making plans for making their escape from the temple.
And that's the end of this week's game session. While the game is continuing on, this is also where the recaps of the game will be ending. To read more about it, you continue to this blog post.
Friday, June 21, 2019
Lark's Landing, Episode 72
Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.
You can find the previous episode here.
8th-9th of Waning Fall, 1AL
Patrick has just crumpled to the floor, unconscious and bleeding out from a double-handed axe blow from Logan, who appears to be quite delighted by this circumstance. The rest of the 3rd Watch leap into action, taking out Logan before he can do any more damage. Extang pours a healing potion into Patrick while Logan is securely tied and placed on the floor with the immovable rod inside his armor. This done, they settle down to wait through the night so Patrick can remove the latest curse Logan has clearly gotten himself entangled with.
When Logan wakes up, he immediately begins struggling to escape, but his efforts seem futile - so he refocuses his attention on breaking his armor so he can wriggle out of it. He succeeds on breaking the first strap while T'Zaric has flown out of the castle's tower to investigate a campfire - which turns out to have one humanoid-looking person cooking their lunch, which doesn't seem to be a problem, so he returns to the tower. When her turns his watch over to Quib, he informs the bard of the fire, then heads off to sleep.
Out by the fire, an elven ranger named Somolor sees a strange shape fly out of the castle, hover over him, then fly back to the tall, central tower. So he packs up and goes to investigate - using his magic to allow him to jump his way up onto the balcony, where he skulks around the outside, observing the strange happenings within, wondering about the context.
While Quib is guarding, Logan manages to break another strap, but Quib hears it and rushes over. Bound hand and foot, all Logan can do is try to headbutt Quib as he adjusts the positioning of the immovable rod so Logan is once again immobilized. Frustrated, Logan begins subtly working at the ropes binding him.
When Quib hands the watch over to Extang, he tells him about the broken armor, which Extang uses his magic to mend. He's more active in his watch, going out onto the balcony and hopping down to the roof, but doesn't see anything concerning since Somolor proves adept at avoiding him. Then, as he's returning to check up on Logan, he walks in just as the ropes snap.
He casts a spell, sending fire to burn Logan and waking the others, but Logan deactivates the immovable rod, jumps up, and hurries out onto the balcony - where he drops the item over the edge. Angered that someone would throw away a magic item, Extang charges at Logan, throwing him from the balcony and jumping off after, casting featherfall on himself so he can slowly drift down to the ground.
In response to this, Patrick, still half-asleep, uses his cloak to try to teleport to the ground - and misjudges by a lot. He appears in mid-air, crashing to unconsciousness not far from where Logan does the same. Quib also runs out, jumping off the balcony and featherfalling himself for a safe descent.
T'Zaric is left alone in the tower until Somolor runs in, demanding to know what's going on. T'Zaric says it will take to long to explain, learns that Somolor has some healing magic, and requests that the elf lets him carry him down to the ground to heal his friend. Somolor agrees, but part way down, Quib tells the two of them to drop, assuring them he'll cast featherfall on them. T'Zaric tries to reinforce this by telling Somolor to jump down, but Somolor doesn't like the look of that fall and is very uncertain about these people. Once again invoking his jumping magic, he leaps off of T'Zaric and back onto the balcony. T'Zaric follows after, apologizes, and convinces the elf to come down again - but this time, part way down, T'Zaric turns himself into mist, allowing Somolor to fall. Quib catches him with a spell, and he drifts down to the ground beside Logan - who he heals.
As Logan wakes up, Extang breathes poison in his face, taking him out again, and instructs Somolor to revive Patrick instead - which he does. Patrick makes sure Logan is stable, then they all get back to completing their rest. Extang spends the remainder of his watch trying to enlighten Somolor on the situation.
As evening falls, they're feeling at least mostly refreshed. Patrick removes the curse afflicting Logan, and Quib says Logan is never allowed to have an axe again. Quib then teleports up into the tower, where T'Zaric slept, bringing with him a diamond ring they found. The two of them agree that saving the petrified Fiaeorri is worth more than the rather high value of the ring, and they crush the diamond into dust so Quib can use some of it to turn Fiaeorri back to flesh and blood - but it doesn't work.
Now turning their interests to the orb in the tower's hidden attic, which T'Zaric believes can be used to control the castle's movement, the entire group is brought back up into the tower. Patrick, upon hearing T'Zaric's recounting of what interacting with it was like, volunteers, and finds himself touching what he believes to be the very large and slow mind of the castle. After a few interruptions, in which he discovers that time is passing far faster than he thinks, he spends six hours communing with the consciousness.
While this is going on, Extang tries to determine a way to save Fiaorri, arriving at the conclusion that he must somehow return her soul to her body from the cursed axe. Quib wanders lower in the tower, finding that he recognizes the lowest level. Seeing no orcs, he makes his way to the library, then to the baths - where he takes a bath before returning to the others.
Patrick emerges from his reverie imparting the information he received as he interprets it. The castle is hurting and wants someone to take care of it, and to be repaired. The group accepts this information, but decide to sleep through the night before moving onward, as it's been a really rough day and they'd like to fix their sleep patterns.
And that's where this week's game session ends. While the game is continuing on, this is also where the recaps of the game will be ending. To read more about it, you continue to this blog post.
You can find the previous episode here.
8th-9th of Waning Fall, 1AL
Patrick has just crumpled to the floor, unconscious and bleeding out from a double-handed axe blow from Logan, who appears to be quite delighted by this circumstance. The rest of the 3rd Watch leap into action, taking out Logan before he can do any more damage. Extang pours a healing potion into Patrick while Logan is securely tied and placed on the floor with the immovable rod inside his armor. This done, they settle down to wait through the night so Patrick can remove the latest curse Logan has clearly gotten himself entangled with.
When Logan wakes up, he immediately begins struggling to escape, but his efforts seem futile - so he refocuses his attention on breaking his armor so he can wriggle out of it. He succeeds on breaking the first strap while T'Zaric has flown out of the castle's tower to investigate a campfire - which turns out to have one humanoid-looking person cooking their lunch, which doesn't seem to be a problem, so he returns to the tower. When her turns his watch over to Quib, he informs the bard of the fire, then heads off to sleep.
Out by the fire, an elven ranger named Somolor sees a strange shape fly out of the castle, hover over him, then fly back to the tall, central tower. So he packs up and goes to investigate - using his magic to allow him to jump his way up onto the balcony, where he skulks around the outside, observing the strange happenings within, wondering about the context.
While Quib is guarding, Logan manages to break another strap, but Quib hears it and rushes over. Bound hand and foot, all Logan can do is try to headbutt Quib as he adjusts the positioning of the immovable rod so Logan is once again immobilized. Frustrated, Logan begins subtly working at the ropes binding him.
When Quib hands the watch over to Extang, he tells him about the broken armor, which Extang uses his magic to mend. He's more active in his watch, going out onto the balcony and hopping down to the roof, but doesn't see anything concerning since Somolor proves adept at avoiding him. Then, as he's returning to check up on Logan, he walks in just as the ropes snap.
He casts a spell, sending fire to burn Logan and waking the others, but Logan deactivates the immovable rod, jumps up, and hurries out onto the balcony - where he drops the item over the edge. Angered that someone would throw away a magic item, Extang charges at Logan, throwing him from the balcony and jumping off after, casting featherfall on himself so he can slowly drift down to the ground.
In response to this, Patrick, still half-asleep, uses his cloak to try to teleport to the ground - and misjudges by a lot. He appears in mid-air, crashing to unconsciousness not far from where Logan does the same. Quib also runs out, jumping off the balcony and featherfalling himself for a safe descent.
T'Zaric is left alone in the tower until Somolor runs in, demanding to know what's going on. T'Zaric says it will take to long to explain, learns that Somolor has some healing magic, and requests that the elf lets him carry him down to the ground to heal his friend. Somolor agrees, but part way down, Quib tells the two of them to drop, assuring them he'll cast featherfall on them. T'Zaric tries to reinforce this by telling Somolor to jump down, but Somolor doesn't like the look of that fall and is very uncertain about these people. Once again invoking his jumping magic, he leaps off of T'Zaric and back onto the balcony. T'Zaric follows after, apologizes, and convinces the elf to come down again - but this time, part way down, T'Zaric turns himself into mist, allowing Somolor to fall. Quib catches him with a spell, and he drifts down to the ground beside Logan - who he heals.
As Logan wakes up, Extang breathes poison in his face, taking him out again, and instructs Somolor to revive Patrick instead - which he does. Patrick makes sure Logan is stable, then they all get back to completing their rest. Extang spends the remainder of his watch trying to enlighten Somolor on the situation.
As evening falls, they're feeling at least mostly refreshed. Patrick removes the curse afflicting Logan, and Quib says Logan is never allowed to have an axe again. Quib then teleports up into the tower, where T'Zaric slept, bringing with him a diamond ring they found. The two of them agree that saving the petrified Fiaeorri is worth more than the rather high value of the ring, and they crush the diamond into dust so Quib can use some of it to turn Fiaeorri back to flesh and blood - but it doesn't work.
Now turning their interests to the orb in the tower's hidden attic, which T'Zaric believes can be used to control the castle's movement, the entire group is brought back up into the tower. Patrick, upon hearing T'Zaric's recounting of what interacting with it was like, volunteers, and finds himself touching what he believes to be the very large and slow mind of the castle. After a few interruptions, in which he discovers that time is passing far faster than he thinks, he spends six hours communing with the consciousness.
While this is going on, Extang tries to determine a way to save Fiaorri, arriving at the conclusion that he must somehow return her soul to her body from the cursed axe. Quib wanders lower in the tower, finding that he recognizes the lowest level. Seeing no orcs, he makes his way to the library, then to the baths - where he takes a bath before returning to the others.
Patrick emerges from his reverie imparting the information he received as he interprets it. The castle is hurting and wants someone to take care of it, and to be repaired. The group accepts this information, but decide to sleep through the night before moving onward, as it's been a really rough day and they'd like to fix their sleep patterns.
And that's where this week's game session ends. While the game is continuing on, this is also where the recaps of the game will be ending. To read more about it, you continue to this blog post.
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Blossom Fall, Episode 21
Colonial Caerdia: Blossom Fall is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't already familiar with this series, you can find the beginning over here.
You can find the previous episode here.
23rd-24th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Having driven off the harpies, our group of adventurers slay the big slime thing that really seems to want to eat Flint. It leaves behind a pile of bones and detritus, but I'Un and Vala, fighting over what treasure they may find, don't manage to find anything interesting. The group gets back up on the stairs and continue the climb as it twists and turns up into the mountains. Then the stairs stop...
They look around for any signs of the path continuing on, but find nothing - though Jojen spots something flashing higher up to the south east. Flint casts a spell allowing him to speak with animals and finds a squirrel that, when asked about a cave, says there's one to the south east. So, following a trail Jojen picks out, they continue in that direction, heading for whatever is flashing. They eventually come within sight of a building that I'Un finds very familiar, as it looks much like the home he grew up in. However, it's late, so they bed down for the night.
In the morning, they continue on. Vala and John scout ahead, discovering a crude hide flag sewn with metal discs flapping above the archway of the outer courtyard. They're about to start scouting around the outside of the building when they're called back to the others. Flint is going to try to talk to an animal to make scouting safer. However, before he finishes casting the spell, a group of five goblins comes out of the temple, spots them, and turn to rush back inside.
The group charges after them, not wanting them to escape and alert other goblins to their presence. I'Un and John are the fastest, and they manage to catch up to the goblins and kill them as they're getting into the main building. The others arrive, panting, and they take a breather to determine what to do next. I'Un begins to note a number of subtle differences to his temple; some of the statues are different, there's a giant chasm running through the middle of the grand dojo, and there's a plaque on the outside claiming that the temple is full of heretics that the first Emperor of Drovinaar has said are okay so long as they keep their religion inside their own walls. At Jojen's request, Flint is able to determine that the plaque is around 3000 years old.
They continue into the temple, following I'Un's memory - as it does appear to have the same layout as the temple he grew up in. They move cautiously into the training room, keeping their eyes open for goblins, but they don't see any. Under I'Un's direction, they find their way to the library, which Jojen, John, and Luna are left to search while the rest follow I'Un to the grandmaster's office.
A search of the library finds no books, but in the desk drawer they find a broken clay tablet with writing on it. It speaks of something attacking and someone being sent away to protect something called the Theragat which was on her back and very important to keep out of the wrong hands, and would need someone to collect it when it when it returns to liquid form upon her death. Not fully understanding this, but guessing it's important, they carefully wrap it up and bring it down the hall to the rest of the group in the grandmaster's office.
As they arrive, they find Vala holding another clay tablet, with I'Un looking at it - but as they enter, Vala drops it in response to I'Un saying it was too dangerous to let the others see it. However, I'Un needs the information on it - which speaks of something he's never heard of before called the Theragat which has locked something away, but has images and text that makes him believe it is talking about the tattoo on his back and how to manipulate and move it. The nimble monk catches it as it's about to hit the floor and hugs it to his chest, keeping the others from seeing it - though Vala, having seen the tattoo before, has been able to connect the image on the tablet to the tattoo.
Jojen, John, and Luna share the information on the tablet they found, but Jojen and John are quite irked when I'Un insists the contents of his tablet are too dangerous for him to share. John calls Jojen out into the hall, and they make a plan to steal the tablet while I'Un is sleeping if they have to. But first they attempt and fail to get information out of Vala, and make another attempt to convince I'Un to share the information. When the monk still refuses, Jojen turns to leave, saying he's returning to the settlement, but Flint casts a spell on the room bringing emotions back to a reasonable level and convinces everyone to talk it out. They don't really progress much further, and Vala gets bored and wanders off to check a couple of the nearby rooms - returning after finding one with a sleeping goblin she killed.
Since Vala is interested in finding treasure, I'Un leads him and John back to the storage room off the training hall, while Jojen stays behind with Flint and Luna to do a thorough search of the grandmaster's room, turning up nothing before following. In the storage room, the only useful looking item they find looks like some kind of silk dress that appears to be magical. They flip a coin for who gets it, and John wins. He sits down to identify its properties with I'Un, while Vala, bored once again, wanders off into the training hall. Finding nothing interesting, she opens a door to one of the smaller training dojos, finding a group of goblins inside.
And that's where this week's game session ends. Check back in next week to find out what happens in Episode 22.
You can find the previous episode here.
23rd-24th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Having driven off the harpies, our group of adventurers slay the big slime thing that really seems to want to eat Flint. It leaves behind a pile of bones and detritus, but I'Un and Vala, fighting over what treasure they may find, don't manage to find anything interesting. The group gets back up on the stairs and continue the climb as it twists and turns up into the mountains. Then the stairs stop...
They look around for any signs of the path continuing on, but find nothing - though Jojen spots something flashing higher up to the south east. Flint casts a spell allowing him to speak with animals and finds a squirrel that, when asked about a cave, says there's one to the south east. So, following a trail Jojen picks out, they continue in that direction, heading for whatever is flashing. They eventually come within sight of a building that I'Un finds very familiar, as it looks much like the home he grew up in. However, it's late, so they bed down for the night.
In the morning, they continue on. Vala and John scout ahead, discovering a crude hide flag sewn with metal discs flapping above the archway of the outer courtyard. They're about to start scouting around the outside of the building when they're called back to the others. Flint is going to try to talk to an animal to make scouting safer. However, before he finishes casting the spell, a group of five goblins comes out of the temple, spots them, and turn to rush back inside.
The group charges after them, not wanting them to escape and alert other goblins to their presence. I'Un and John are the fastest, and they manage to catch up to the goblins and kill them as they're getting into the main building. The others arrive, panting, and they take a breather to determine what to do next. I'Un begins to note a number of subtle differences to his temple; some of the statues are different, there's a giant chasm running through the middle of the grand dojo, and there's a plaque on the outside claiming that the temple is full of heretics that the first Emperor of Drovinaar has said are okay so long as they keep their religion inside their own walls. At Jojen's request, Flint is able to determine that the plaque is around 3000 years old.
They continue into the temple, following I'Un's memory - as it does appear to have the same layout as the temple he grew up in. They move cautiously into the training room, keeping their eyes open for goblins, but they don't see any. Under I'Un's direction, they find their way to the library, which Jojen, John, and Luna are left to search while the rest follow I'Un to the grandmaster's office.
A search of the library finds no books, but in the desk drawer they find a broken clay tablet with writing on it. It speaks of something attacking and someone being sent away to protect something called the Theragat which was on her back and very important to keep out of the wrong hands, and would need someone to collect it when it when it returns to liquid form upon her death. Not fully understanding this, but guessing it's important, they carefully wrap it up and bring it down the hall to the rest of the group in the grandmaster's office.
As they arrive, they find Vala holding another clay tablet, with I'Un looking at it - but as they enter, Vala drops it in response to I'Un saying it was too dangerous to let the others see it. However, I'Un needs the information on it - which speaks of something he's never heard of before called the Theragat which has locked something away, but has images and text that makes him believe it is talking about the tattoo on his back and how to manipulate and move it. The nimble monk catches it as it's about to hit the floor and hugs it to his chest, keeping the others from seeing it - though Vala, having seen the tattoo before, has been able to connect the image on the tablet to the tattoo.
Jojen, John, and Luna share the information on the tablet they found, but Jojen and John are quite irked when I'Un insists the contents of his tablet are too dangerous for him to share. John calls Jojen out into the hall, and they make a plan to steal the tablet while I'Un is sleeping if they have to. But first they attempt and fail to get information out of Vala, and make another attempt to convince I'Un to share the information. When the monk still refuses, Jojen turns to leave, saying he's returning to the settlement, but Flint casts a spell on the room bringing emotions back to a reasonable level and convinces everyone to talk it out. They don't really progress much further, and Vala gets bored and wanders off to check a couple of the nearby rooms - returning after finding one with a sleeping goblin she killed.
Since Vala is interested in finding treasure, I'Un leads him and John back to the storage room off the training hall, while Jojen stays behind with Flint and Luna to do a thorough search of the grandmaster's room, turning up nothing before following. In the storage room, the only useful looking item they find looks like some kind of silk dress that appears to be magical. They flip a coin for who gets it, and John wins. He sits down to identify its properties with I'Un, while Vala, bored once again, wanders off into the training hall. Finding nothing interesting, she opens a door to one of the smaller training dojos, finding a group of goblins inside.
And that's where this week's game session ends. Check back in next week to find out what happens in Episode 22.
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Lark's Landing, Episode 71
Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.
You can find the previous episode here.
8th of Waning Fall, 1AL
The 3rd Watch have found themselves split up, with T'Zaric closed away in the secret attic room he found, examining some type of orb, Extang attuning to an item on the top floor of the tower, along with Patrick and Logan, and Quib and Fiaeorri running down to the next level of the tower, chasing an orc, only to find an additional six orcs waiting in the room below. The orcs swarm in of Fiaeorri and Quib, some of them summoning up magical spears to attack as well. Back upstairs, Extang knows he's almost finished bonding with his item, but he, Logan, and Patrick also spot some movement out on the balcony. Extang sticks to his work, but Logan and Patrick head down the stairs, responding to a call from Quib saying he and Fiaeorri were surrounded.
T'Zaric, only having heard a muffled call, makes his way out of the secret room to investigate what is happening. He arrives just in time for the tower's doors to swing open, followed by orcs rushing into the room to attack him and Extang, also accompanied by floating spears. He begins fighting back, as does Extang, who has finally finished bonding to the magical bracelet. They navigate around the room, often with the help of spells, allowing for some fireballs, but the orcs are relentless. T'Zaric goes down to a lucky blow, and the orcs move in on Extang, pinning him into a corner.
Down below, the fight is going fairly well, in spite of overwhelming odds. Quib has most of the orcs dazed, but more orcs have been coming up the stairs - one on a dire wolf, and another big orc on a dangerous, ice-breathing winter wolf. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that they are fighting for their lives. Quib, hearing fighting upstairs, is able to break away from the fight to discover where T'Zaric and Extang are and is able to revive T'Zaric, then teturns below when he sees that T'Zaric and Extang clearly have the situation handled.
T'Zaric and Extang do seem to have the situation in hand, with all but one of the orcs getting killed off, and Extang using the magic bracelet to start the last one turning to stone before the two of them head down the stairs to join the others - where they find that Fiaeorri has climbed up on the back of the winter wolf beside to slay it, ignoring the hits coming from the huge orc astride the wolf. As they watch, Fiaeorri swings around the orc to drive her rapier into the skull of the wolf, and it crashes to the ground.
Over on the stairs, Patrick is glowing with radiant light and holding back the orcish reinforcements, but there's only so much one person can do. He falls, but Logan is quick to get to his side to revive him. Extang then turns Fiaeorri into a dire wolf and Quib into a t-rex - cramped in this small space. With the extra endurance of these creatures, the group take down the orc chieftain and finally clear the room of orcs. Silence falls, and it seems no more reinforcements are coming.
Fiaeorri, heavily wounded, makes her way back upstairs to the glass cabinet and the treasures within. T'Zaric similarly goes upstairs, heading straight for the orb. He tries to pick it up and... loses himself, becoming - or believing he's become - something much larger, feeling quite lonely and distressed with some sort of itchy, filthy pests running around inside him and hurting him, but also with a hint of hope that something has been found to end this problem.
Downstairs, the rest loot a fair amount of treasure from the orcs, including a probably magic greataxe which is given into Logan's care, as well a magical, glowing shortsword that has caught Quib's eye. Then they head back upstairs to use Extang's bracelet to access the cabinet - where they find Fiaeorri pressed up against the glass, gazing covetously within, and made entirely of stone. They rush to her side, trying to find what could have caused this, and find that though she is stone, there is blood running from a wound gashed in her arm. Patrick heals this, but he's used up all his spells and there's nothing else he can think to do to help her currently.
Noticing the absence of T'Zaric, Extang hops up into the room above and finds him with his hands pressed against an orb on a stand, staring into the orb, but not moving. He pulls T'Zaric away, who manages to snap out of his reverie. They return to the others, open holes into the cabinet through the stonework, and fetch out the various treasures held within. They each sit down with an item they believe to be magical, learning their secrets and their properties.
However, none of them are paying attention to the fact that Logan has gone back to the room downstairs, alone, and is bonding with the axe without having any idea what it may be. An hour passes, and the group hear a strange sound, like metal being dragged along stone. Scrape-thump. Scrape-thump. Scrape-thump.
Logan appears at the top of the stairs, dragging the axe behind him. He takes the haft in both hands and swings it around, bringing the blade down on Patrick, who crumples to the ground.
And that's the end of this week's game session. Find out more next week in Episode 72.
You can find the previous episode here.
8th of Waning Fall, 1AL
The 3rd Watch have found themselves split up, with T'Zaric closed away in the secret attic room he found, examining some type of orb, Extang attuning to an item on the top floor of the tower, along with Patrick and Logan, and Quib and Fiaeorri running down to the next level of the tower, chasing an orc, only to find an additional six orcs waiting in the room below. The orcs swarm in of Fiaeorri and Quib, some of them summoning up magical spears to attack as well. Back upstairs, Extang knows he's almost finished bonding with his item, but he, Logan, and Patrick also spot some movement out on the balcony. Extang sticks to his work, but Logan and Patrick head down the stairs, responding to a call from Quib saying he and Fiaeorri were surrounded.
T'Zaric, only having heard a muffled call, makes his way out of the secret room to investigate what is happening. He arrives just in time for the tower's doors to swing open, followed by orcs rushing into the room to attack him and Extang, also accompanied by floating spears. He begins fighting back, as does Extang, who has finally finished bonding to the magical bracelet. They navigate around the room, often with the help of spells, allowing for some fireballs, but the orcs are relentless. T'Zaric goes down to a lucky blow, and the orcs move in on Extang, pinning him into a corner.
Down below, the fight is going fairly well, in spite of overwhelming odds. Quib has most of the orcs dazed, but more orcs have been coming up the stairs - one on a dire wolf, and another big orc on a dangerous, ice-breathing winter wolf. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that they are fighting for their lives. Quib, hearing fighting upstairs, is able to break away from the fight to discover where T'Zaric and Extang are and is able to revive T'Zaric, then teturns below when he sees that T'Zaric and Extang clearly have the situation handled.
T'Zaric and Extang do seem to have the situation in hand, with all but one of the orcs getting killed off, and Extang using the magic bracelet to start the last one turning to stone before the two of them head down the stairs to join the others - where they find that Fiaeorri has climbed up on the back of the winter wolf beside to slay it, ignoring the hits coming from the huge orc astride the wolf. As they watch, Fiaeorri swings around the orc to drive her rapier into the skull of the wolf, and it crashes to the ground.
Over on the stairs, Patrick is glowing with radiant light and holding back the orcish reinforcements, but there's only so much one person can do. He falls, but Logan is quick to get to his side to revive him. Extang then turns Fiaeorri into a dire wolf and Quib into a t-rex - cramped in this small space. With the extra endurance of these creatures, the group take down the orc chieftain and finally clear the room of orcs. Silence falls, and it seems no more reinforcements are coming.
Fiaeorri, heavily wounded, makes her way back upstairs to the glass cabinet and the treasures within. T'Zaric similarly goes upstairs, heading straight for the orb. He tries to pick it up and... loses himself, becoming - or believing he's become - something much larger, feeling quite lonely and distressed with some sort of itchy, filthy pests running around inside him and hurting him, but also with a hint of hope that something has been found to end this problem.
Downstairs, the rest loot a fair amount of treasure from the orcs, including a probably magic greataxe which is given into Logan's care, as well a magical, glowing shortsword that has caught Quib's eye. Then they head back upstairs to use Extang's bracelet to access the cabinet - where they find Fiaeorri pressed up against the glass, gazing covetously within, and made entirely of stone. They rush to her side, trying to find what could have caused this, and find that though she is stone, there is blood running from a wound gashed in her arm. Patrick heals this, but he's used up all his spells and there's nothing else he can think to do to help her currently.
Noticing the absence of T'Zaric, Extang hops up into the room above and finds him with his hands pressed against an orb on a stand, staring into the orb, but not moving. He pulls T'Zaric away, who manages to snap out of his reverie. They return to the others, open holes into the cabinet through the stonework, and fetch out the various treasures held within. They each sit down with an item they believe to be magical, learning their secrets and their properties.
However, none of them are paying attention to the fact that Logan has gone back to the room downstairs, alone, and is bonding with the axe without having any idea what it may be. An hour passes, and the group hear a strange sound, like metal being dragged along stone. Scrape-thump. Scrape-thump. Scrape-thump.
Logan appears at the top of the stairs, dragging the axe behind him. He takes the haft in both hands and swings it around, bringing the blade down on Patrick, who crumples to the ground.
And that's the end of this week's game session. Find out more next week in Episode 72.
Saturday, June 08, 2019
Blossom Fall, Episode 20
Colonial Caerdia: Blossom Fall is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't already familiar with this series, you can find the beginning over here.
You can find the previous episode here.
17th-23rd of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Our group of adventurers are looking like they are ready to spend some time at their settlement, with a number of them helping out. Then I'Un talks to a number of them, proposing the idea that they could make themselves a cart that will allow them to transport more of what they find while out exploring. The others seem to like this idea, but none of them have carpentry skills, and there's some debate about how the cart will be moved - and it's also debatable if it will be of any use at all without roads cut through the forest.
I'Un and Jojen seek out Jojen's friend Woo-die, wondering if he's able to help with the cart, but the hairy orc is still only shaky on his carpentry skills. He and Silence have shifted their work from the now completed temple to a house for Lord Krandig.
John and Luna make their way out to the farmlands, hoping to secure a beast of burden, and are disappointed when the farmers inform them that the production of food for the entire settlement is more important than helping a handful of people carry treasure, and none of the animals can be spared. However, while there, they meet a very dirty dwarf named Flint. Remembering that they found a book that might be written in dwarvish, they bring him back to meet the others at the tavern.
Flint skims through the book, explaining that it seems to be a record of crimes, complains, and arrests an a village called Egnehst. However, the last pages talk about refugees coming in, claiming to have been driven from their homes by hordes of monsters. The final entry talks about such a horde being spotted descending on Egnehst, and a decision being made to seal the tunnels. Wondering if there may be people to rescue, Jojen examines the text and determines that it was written around 2000 years ago.
They turn their attention back to the words, and get Flint to read them some of the end, and find something that catches I'Un's attention - mention of someone coming to the village from the Temple of the Redeeming Fist up on the mountain. That is the name of I'Un's, back on the continent they came from, but he never heard of there being another one. They decide that this is where they're going, and invite Flint to join them.
The next day, the six head out. They follow the river out to the plains and past the ruined stone village to the base of the mountains, where they find the river being fed by a waterfall. Looking around, they manage to find some ancient and worn steps leading up the side of the mountain. They follow these until they reach a point where the waterfall has worn away all but a narrow ledge of the stairs - and some shadowy, bird-like creature on the far side that begins to sing in a voice so charming that some of them care about nothing other than getting to her. The rest are instantly on guard.
Some of them make their way past the waterfall to attack what turns out to be a harpy, however Flint falls down onto something squishy in the river that begins trying to absorb him into its body. Then three more harpies come down from above, joining in the cliff-side battle. In spite of difficulties, three of the harpies are killed and the fourth flies away. Down below, Flint has managed to escape from the giant jelly cube that is intent on eating him by scrambling up the cliff face to rejoin his friens on the stairs.
And that brings this week's game session to a close. Come back in another week to find out what happens in Episode 21.
You can find the previous episode here.
17th-23rd of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Our group of adventurers are looking like they are ready to spend some time at their settlement, with a number of them helping out. Then I'Un talks to a number of them, proposing the idea that they could make themselves a cart that will allow them to transport more of what they find while out exploring. The others seem to like this idea, but none of them have carpentry skills, and there's some debate about how the cart will be moved - and it's also debatable if it will be of any use at all without roads cut through the forest.
I'Un and Jojen seek out Jojen's friend Woo-die, wondering if he's able to help with the cart, but the hairy orc is still only shaky on his carpentry skills. He and Silence have shifted their work from the now completed temple to a house for Lord Krandig.
John and Luna make their way out to the farmlands, hoping to secure a beast of burden, and are disappointed when the farmers inform them that the production of food for the entire settlement is more important than helping a handful of people carry treasure, and none of the animals can be spared. However, while there, they meet a very dirty dwarf named Flint. Remembering that they found a book that might be written in dwarvish, they bring him back to meet the others at the tavern.
Flint skims through the book, explaining that it seems to be a record of crimes, complains, and arrests an a village called Egnehst. However, the last pages talk about refugees coming in, claiming to have been driven from their homes by hordes of monsters. The final entry talks about such a horde being spotted descending on Egnehst, and a decision being made to seal the tunnels. Wondering if there may be people to rescue, Jojen examines the text and determines that it was written around 2000 years ago.
They turn their attention back to the words, and get Flint to read them some of the end, and find something that catches I'Un's attention - mention of someone coming to the village from the Temple of the Redeeming Fist up on the mountain. That is the name of I'Un's, back on the continent they came from, but he never heard of there being another one. They decide that this is where they're going, and invite Flint to join them.
The next day, the six head out. They follow the river out to the plains and past the ruined stone village to the base of the mountains, where they find the river being fed by a waterfall. Looking around, they manage to find some ancient and worn steps leading up the side of the mountain. They follow these until they reach a point where the waterfall has worn away all but a narrow ledge of the stairs - and some shadowy, bird-like creature on the far side that begins to sing in a voice so charming that some of them care about nothing other than getting to her. The rest are instantly on guard.
Some of them make their way past the waterfall to attack what turns out to be a harpy, however Flint falls down onto something squishy in the river that begins trying to absorb him into its body. Then three more harpies come down from above, joining in the cliff-side battle. In spite of difficulties, three of the harpies are killed and the fourth flies away. Down below, Flint has managed to escape from the giant jelly cube that is intent on eating him by scrambling up the cliff face to rejoin his friens on the stairs.
And that brings this week's game session to a close. Come back in another week to find out what happens in Episode 21.
Lark's Landing, Episode 70
Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.
You can find the previous episode here.
7th-8th of Waning Fall, 1AL
To escape a a dangerous battle, the 3rd Watch have teleported themselves out of the castle where they were surrounded by orcs - however, they all teleported as pairs in different directions into the night. They all hear the howl of wolves, and know that the orcs and their dire wolves are out seeking them.
Patrick and Logan simply decide to run, continuing to the north, which was the direction they teleported out of the castle. They run until the castle is long out of sight and they find an outcropping of rocks where they settle down to hide.
To the southeast of the castle, Extang and Quib also decide to run, but they decide to run all night to get back to the white house of rock, which they believe to be the most sensible place to go and where the others are sure to head. It's an exhausting journey, but they make it - finding Ruby the giant firebeetle in excellent health and locking themselves in before going to sleep.
T'Zaric carries Fiaeorri up into the air, and they begin a slow and silent circuit of the castle - however, the rest of the 3rd Watch are gone by the time they arrive near them. They widen their circuits, but still find no signs of their friends. The howls of the wolves eventually die away, with still nothing found. Suddenly, T'Zaric gets a magical message in his mind from Patrick, telling him he and Logan are safe and where they are, though they haven't heard from the others. T'Zaric and Fiarorri make their way over to them, Fiaeorri using her shorter range messaging spell to determine when they get close, and the reconvene. They set watches - though the leave one watch empty rather than allowing Logan to take a turn - and sleep into the day. Then Patrick contacts Extang and, learning that he and Quib are back at the white house of rock, the groups heads there to rendezvous and recuperate - pointedly giving the castle a wide berth.
Upon arriving back, deep into the night, they send a message to the council back in Port Noble to update them on their situation before heading to sleep. In the morning, Extang heads out to connect the mote he previously dug to the river - but as he gets closer to the river, he spots the shape of the castle on the far bank. He makes his way back to the others, telling them, rather nervously, what he's found. They had been planning to rest longer before tackling the castle, but they've decided that they can't risk it with the castle right here. They're ready to attack - all except Patrick, who wants to offer the orcs a chance for peace.
The other's aren't keen on this idea, but Extang pulls out his cards to do a reading - which tells them that offering peace is a good, noble, and honorable thing to do. So, they decide to let Patrick try, but they prepare for the worst. T'Zaric will go along with Patrick, ready to teleport him to the the balcony of the castle's tallest tower, where they will be met by the others - who will be flying up there either as or on the backs of giant eagles.
The eagles and their riders depart, getting themselves into position. As they fly above the castle they spot eight orcs down below, patrolling the castle's rooftop. They begin circling the tower, waiting to see the results of Patrick's efforts.
Patrick and T'Zaric approach the castle, remaining as far as they dare. Patrick amplifies his voice and makes his peace offering - the clear reply is a volley of javelins from the orcs on the roof. As Patrick passes out, T'Zaric grabs him and teleports up to the tower balcony as planned, where the eagles drop off Fiaeorri and Quib as they swoop down at the orcs - four of which remain to fight while the rest head through doors into the towers. Quib revives Patrick while the others cast spells down at their enemies. Javelins from the orcs make Extang lose his concentration on the spell keeping him and Logan in eagle form - luckily Quib is quick enough to cast featherfall on Logan, who has quite a long drop below him. However, in spite of their difficulties, they take down the orcs.
Extang and Logan search the orcs for treasure, then turn back into eagles to fly up to the tower's balcony, where the others have disappeared inside. In the tower, there are stairs leading down, a battered desk and chair, empty bookcases, a pile of ash, and a glass display case. The display case immediately attracts attention, as it's filled with various treasures. However, Quib identifies the glass as an ancient material known as dragon glass, which is believed to be indestructible, and there is no way of opening it or otherwise getting inside. However, they do quickly notice that there is no glass on the back, against the stone wall, and they believe they can access it from the balcony surrounding the tower.
Extang pulls out a magic bracelet that, after using a spell it has the ability to cast, will allow them to change the shape of stones, hopefully allowing access to the display case. However, he needs to take an hour to get in tune with the item first. So, he settles down to do that, while the others begin scouring the room for anything else of interest - and Quib takes a quck trip down the stairs to find an empty bedroom. They find nothing until T'Zarinc, flying along the ceiling, notices the catch of an extremely well-hidden trapdoor. He opens in up and flies into a little attic room with nothing other than a strange orb resting on a pedestal. He touches it, but nothing happens, so he settles down to ritually cast a spell to detect good or evil forces.
However, before the the spell is done - or Extang has finished with the bracelet - Fiaeorri hears the distinctive noise of someone trying to be quiet on the stairs. She begins sneaking down, but retreats when she finds a pair of orcs coming up the stairs, silently signaling the others. Quib, Patrick, and Logan all position themselves by the stairs with Fiaeorri, and they pounce when the orcs come into sight. One of them, driven by Quib's spell, charges into the room and is slaughtered, while the other turns and heads back down the stairs. Fiaeorri and Quib give chase, with T'Zaric closing the trapdoor to the little attic room so he can examine this orb in private.
As Quib and Fiaeorri round the corner of the stairs into the room below, they discover that that room is now full of orcs.
And that's where this week's game session comes to an end. Check back next week to find out what happens in Episode 71.
You can find the previous episode here.
7th-8th of Waning Fall, 1AL
To escape a a dangerous battle, the 3rd Watch have teleported themselves out of the castle where they were surrounded by orcs - however, they all teleported as pairs in different directions into the night. They all hear the howl of wolves, and know that the orcs and their dire wolves are out seeking them.
Patrick and Logan simply decide to run, continuing to the north, which was the direction they teleported out of the castle. They run until the castle is long out of sight and they find an outcropping of rocks where they settle down to hide.
To the southeast of the castle, Extang and Quib also decide to run, but they decide to run all night to get back to the white house of rock, which they believe to be the most sensible place to go and where the others are sure to head. It's an exhausting journey, but they make it - finding Ruby the giant firebeetle in excellent health and locking themselves in before going to sleep.
T'Zaric carries Fiaeorri up into the air, and they begin a slow and silent circuit of the castle - however, the rest of the 3rd Watch are gone by the time they arrive near them. They widen their circuits, but still find no signs of their friends. The howls of the wolves eventually die away, with still nothing found. Suddenly, T'Zaric gets a magical message in his mind from Patrick, telling him he and Logan are safe and where they are, though they haven't heard from the others. T'Zaric and Fiarorri make their way over to them, Fiaeorri using her shorter range messaging spell to determine when they get close, and the reconvene. They set watches - though the leave one watch empty rather than allowing Logan to take a turn - and sleep into the day. Then Patrick contacts Extang and, learning that he and Quib are back at the white house of rock, the groups heads there to rendezvous and recuperate - pointedly giving the castle a wide berth.
Upon arriving back, deep into the night, they send a message to the council back in Port Noble to update them on their situation before heading to sleep. In the morning, Extang heads out to connect the mote he previously dug to the river - but as he gets closer to the river, he spots the shape of the castle on the far bank. He makes his way back to the others, telling them, rather nervously, what he's found. They had been planning to rest longer before tackling the castle, but they've decided that they can't risk it with the castle right here. They're ready to attack - all except Patrick, who wants to offer the orcs a chance for peace.
The other's aren't keen on this idea, but Extang pulls out his cards to do a reading - which tells them that offering peace is a good, noble, and honorable thing to do. So, they decide to let Patrick try, but they prepare for the worst. T'Zaric will go along with Patrick, ready to teleport him to the the balcony of the castle's tallest tower, where they will be met by the others - who will be flying up there either as or on the backs of giant eagles.
The eagles and their riders depart, getting themselves into position. As they fly above the castle they spot eight orcs down below, patrolling the castle's rooftop. They begin circling the tower, waiting to see the results of Patrick's efforts.
Patrick and T'Zaric approach the castle, remaining as far as they dare. Patrick amplifies his voice and makes his peace offering - the clear reply is a volley of javelins from the orcs on the roof. As Patrick passes out, T'Zaric grabs him and teleports up to the tower balcony as planned, where the eagles drop off Fiaeorri and Quib as they swoop down at the orcs - four of which remain to fight while the rest head through doors into the towers. Quib revives Patrick while the others cast spells down at their enemies. Javelins from the orcs make Extang lose his concentration on the spell keeping him and Logan in eagle form - luckily Quib is quick enough to cast featherfall on Logan, who has quite a long drop below him. However, in spite of their difficulties, they take down the orcs.
Extang and Logan search the orcs for treasure, then turn back into eagles to fly up to the tower's balcony, where the others have disappeared inside. In the tower, there are stairs leading down, a battered desk and chair, empty bookcases, a pile of ash, and a glass display case. The display case immediately attracts attention, as it's filled with various treasures. However, Quib identifies the glass as an ancient material known as dragon glass, which is believed to be indestructible, and there is no way of opening it or otherwise getting inside. However, they do quickly notice that there is no glass on the back, against the stone wall, and they believe they can access it from the balcony surrounding the tower.
Extang pulls out a magic bracelet that, after using a spell it has the ability to cast, will allow them to change the shape of stones, hopefully allowing access to the display case. However, he needs to take an hour to get in tune with the item first. So, he settles down to do that, while the others begin scouring the room for anything else of interest - and Quib takes a quck trip down the stairs to find an empty bedroom. They find nothing until T'Zarinc, flying along the ceiling, notices the catch of an extremely well-hidden trapdoor. He opens in up and flies into a little attic room with nothing other than a strange orb resting on a pedestal. He touches it, but nothing happens, so he settles down to ritually cast a spell to detect good or evil forces.
However, before the the spell is done - or Extang has finished with the bracelet - Fiaeorri hears the distinctive noise of someone trying to be quiet on the stairs. She begins sneaking down, but retreats when she finds a pair of orcs coming up the stairs, silently signaling the others. Quib, Patrick, and Logan all position themselves by the stairs with Fiaeorri, and they pounce when the orcs come into sight. One of them, driven by Quib's spell, charges into the room and is slaughtered, while the other turns and heads back down the stairs. Fiaeorri and Quib give chase, with T'Zaric closing the trapdoor to the little attic room so he can examine this orb in private.
As Quib and Fiaeorri round the corner of the stairs into the room below, they discover that that room is now full of orcs.
And that's where this week's game session comes to an end. Check back next week to find out what happens in Episode 71.
Saturday, June 01, 2019
Blossom Fall, Episode 19
Colonial Caerdia: Blossom Fall is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't already familiar with this series, you can find the beginning over here.
You can find the previous episode here.
10th-17th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Having barely survived the nighttime attack on them, our group of adventurers are determined to get through the rest on the night unscathed. John carefully leads the way up into the half-collapsed stone hut up the ladder and determines that there are no more enemies up there - and no exits other than the hatch in the floor. The others follow and they bed down, managing to complete their rest with no further complications.
After they wake up, they make their way back down to the lower areas and I'Un nearly dies from the mold spores as they pass through the mold-filled room. They spend some time considering ways to get into the flooded lower levels, but eventually decide it isn't worth the trouble and they head back to the settlement.
On the second day out, as they are following the river across the plains, they hear a lion roar from up in the air. Within moments, they are set upon by a chimera. After the beast's dragon head breathes fire on them, they seek refuge in the shallows of the river while fighting it. They take a decent beating, but eventually the beast is brought down by John. They hack various parts off the chimera and finish the journey home, arriving ton the 16th of Waning Spring.
They spend some time around the growing settlement, learning that not much has been going on since they left apart from the government being officially put together. They arrange to get some tanning done and I'Un talks to Glavel about getting a position as one of his advisers - something Glavel is willing to accept, however he points out that I'Un would no longer be able to go out on his excursions with the rest of the group since he could hardly advise if he wasn't around to do so. I'Un is surprised and disappointed by this. He goes off to ponder his religion, his goals, and his place in this world.
Vala, wanting to get her leather armor studded, goes to see Norra the blacksmith. When she discovers that the forge isn't ready yet, she tries to bully Norra into providing her with metal that doesn't exist - and finds herself carried off to see Glavel, who warns her that such behavior in the future will get her into considerable trouble.
As night falls, Jojen is looking to stir up some trouble. He uses his magic to disguise himself as John and skulks around the general shop, looking for a good place to start a fire. However, the shop's guards spot him and tell him to leave - and, when he doesn't, begin to beat him up. Jojen doesn't care, as he knows that John is set to take the blame, until one of the guards makes a comment about him being a tricky bard, and Jojen realizes that his illusion has been seen through. He calls for them to stop, explaining that he was just trying to cause some trouble for John, and says he'll be willing to go and asks them to pass on that John was lurking around. They agree to let him go, but won't blame someone who wasn't there. They add that if he leaves immediately, with no more trouble, they won't mention that he was there. Not fully believing them, Jojen wanders off out of the settlement.
The next day, Luna heads out and offers to help Norra with building the forge, while John heads out looking to help people around the settlement. Vala apologizes to Norra, and also signs up to help with the construction. Jojen finds himself at the grave of his lost love, praying for guidance.
And that brings this week's game session to an end. Check back next week to find out what happens in Episode 20.
You can find the previous episode here.
10th-17th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Having barely survived the nighttime attack on them, our group of adventurers are determined to get through the rest on the night unscathed. John carefully leads the way up into the half-collapsed stone hut up the ladder and determines that there are no more enemies up there - and no exits other than the hatch in the floor. The others follow and they bed down, managing to complete their rest with no further complications.
After they wake up, they make their way back down to the lower areas and I'Un nearly dies from the mold spores as they pass through the mold-filled room. They spend some time considering ways to get into the flooded lower levels, but eventually decide it isn't worth the trouble and they head back to the settlement.
On the second day out, as they are following the river across the plains, they hear a lion roar from up in the air. Within moments, they are set upon by a chimera. After the beast's dragon head breathes fire on them, they seek refuge in the shallows of the river while fighting it. They take a decent beating, but eventually the beast is brought down by John. They hack various parts off the chimera and finish the journey home, arriving ton the 16th of Waning Spring.
They spend some time around the growing settlement, learning that not much has been going on since they left apart from the government being officially put together. They arrange to get some tanning done and I'Un talks to Glavel about getting a position as one of his advisers - something Glavel is willing to accept, however he points out that I'Un would no longer be able to go out on his excursions with the rest of the group since he could hardly advise if he wasn't around to do so. I'Un is surprised and disappointed by this. He goes off to ponder his religion, his goals, and his place in this world.
Vala, wanting to get her leather armor studded, goes to see Norra the blacksmith. When she discovers that the forge isn't ready yet, she tries to bully Norra into providing her with metal that doesn't exist - and finds herself carried off to see Glavel, who warns her that such behavior in the future will get her into considerable trouble.
As night falls, Jojen is looking to stir up some trouble. He uses his magic to disguise himself as John and skulks around the general shop, looking for a good place to start a fire. However, the shop's guards spot him and tell him to leave - and, when he doesn't, begin to beat him up. Jojen doesn't care, as he knows that John is set to take the blame, until one of the guards makes a comment about him being a tricky bard, and Jojen realizes that his illusion has been seen through. He calls for them to stop, explaining that he was just trying to cause some trouble for John, and says he'll be willing to go and asks them to pass on that John was lurking around. They agree to let him go, but won't blame someone who wasn't there. They add that if he leaves immediately, with no more trouble, they won't mention that he was there. Not fully believing them, Jojen wanders off out of the settlement.
The next day, Luna heads out and offers to help Norra with building the forge, while John heads out looking to help people around the settlement. Vala apologizes to Norra, and also signs up to help with the construction. Jojen finds himself at the grave of his lost love, praying for guidance.
And that brings this week's game session to an end. Check back next week to find out what happens in Episode 20.
Friday, May 31, 2019
Lark's Landing, Episode 69
Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.
You can find the previous episode here.
7th of Waning Fall, 1AL
Spurred onward by the bold knowledge that orcs were fleeing from them, the 3rd Watch decide to press on into the castle. The first descend the stairs they found into the lower regions of the castle, where they're surprised to find a number of dead orc not killed by them - and killed before they ever found the castle, as far as they can tell. They press on down the corridors, finding a room full of barred cells that Extang and Quib recognize. Something about this place fills Logan with dread and he begins looking everywhere for brains on legs.
They know that there's an entrance into a secret room on the far side, but they can't find a way to open it. Extang teleports through to open it, and they retrieve their immovable rod that has been holding the hatch shut. They head back out, exploring down a tunnel, finding another room with a summoning circle, then a room with statues of dueling wizards in opposite corners. While some of the others attempt to figure out what's going on, Logan gets bored and blunders through the room, dragging along Patrick who tries to stop him. As he crosses between the stone wizards, a blast of fire fills the room, spilling out into the halls and burning everyone.
After this, they advance with far more caution. Extang is able to mar the runes enchanting the statues, allowing them to pass through into the passages in beyond. After a little more exploring, they come across the corpses of some monsters that they did kill, and they realize they're close to the area where they were first transported down into these dungeons. They decide that they want to go back to the upper levels, but they need to rest and treat their wounds first, so they retreat to the secret room to do that. Then they head back up and quietly head across the wide hall in the direction they had seen orcs fleeing. They progress through two rooms and out into a hallway with multiple branches and more rooms. They find a room that looks like it had some kind of meal that had been interrupted, then progress down a hall towards a door in a curved wall, with a stone circle containing the image of a flame above the door.
Everyone else backs off while Extang begins ritually casting his detect magic spell, but before he finishes it, the door opens. The orcs inside seem a little surprised to find them, but several of them charge out of the room to attack anyway - and someone in the room sounds a horn that echos through the hallway and brings more orcs charging in from behind, surrounding them and trapping the 3rd Watch in the hallway.
The first wave of orcs is cleared fairly quickly, giving the group a bit of maneuvering room and opening a path for retreat, but more monsters come rushing in to replace the fallen. The battle is getting rough, but doesn't seem to be going too badly, until more orcs arrive from their retreat route - riding dire wolves, on one on the back of a large white wolf with a painful icy breath. Quib manages to stun some of the orcs and wolves, and T'Zaric is able to take out a number of them with a fireball, but it doesn't seem to be enough. Patrick falls unconscious, and the 3rd Watch decide that it is once again time to retreat. Extang calls this out and gets himself to Quib's side, and Quib teleports them out of the castle. Logan revives Patrick, who, seeing T'Zaric grab Fieaorri and teleporting away, uses his magic cape to teleport himself and Logan out into the dark of night.
And that brings an end to this week's game session. Come back next week to find out what happens in Episode 70.
You can find the previous episode here.
7th of Waning Fall, 1AL
Spurred onward by the bold knowledge that orcs were fleeing from them, the 3rd Watch decide to press on into the castle. The first descend the stairs they found into the lower regions of the castle, where they're surprised to find a number of dead orc not killed by them - and killed before they ever found the castle, as far as they can tell. They press on down the corridors, finding a room full of barred cells that Extang and Quib recognize. Something about this place fills Logan with dread and he begins looking everywhere for brains on legs.
They know that there's an entrance into a secret room on the far side, but they can't find a way to open it. Extang teleports through to open it, and they retrieve their immovable rod that has been holding the hatch shut. They head back out, exploring down a tunnel, finding another room with a summoning circle, then a room with statues of dueling wizards in opposite corners. While some of the others attempt to figure out what's going on, Logan gets bored and blunders through the room, dragging along Patrick who tries to stop him. As he crosses between the stone wizards, a blast of fire fills the room, spilling out into the halls and burning everyone.
After this, they advance with far more caution. Extang is able to mar the runes enchanting the statues, allowing them to pass through into the passages in beyond. After a little more exploring, they come across the corpses of some monsters that they did kill, and they realize they're close to the area where they were first transported down into these dungeons. They decide that they want to go back to the upper levels, but they need to rest and treat their wounds first, so they retreat to the secret room to do that. Then they head back up and quietly head across the wide hall in the direction they had seen orcs fleeing. They progress through two rooms and out into a hallway with multiple branches and more rooms. They find a room that looks like it had some kind of meal that had been interrupted, then progress down a hall towards a door in a curved wall, with a stone circle containing the image of a flame above the door.
Everyone else backs off while Extang begins ritually casting his detect magic spell, but before he finishes it, the door opens. The orcs inside seem a little surprised to find them, but several of them charge out of the room to attack anyway - and someone in the room sounds a horn that echos through the hallway and brings more orcs charging in from behind, surrounding them and trapping the 3rd Watch in the hallway.
The first wave of orcs is cleared fairly quickly, giving the group a bit of maneuvering room and opening a path for retreat, but more monsters come rushing in to replace the fallen. The battle is getting rough, but doesn't seem to be going too badly, until more orcs arrive from their retreat route - riding dire wolves, on one on the back of a large white wolf with a painful icy breath. Quib manages to stun some of the orcs and wolves, and T'Zaric is able to take out a number of them with a fireball, but it doesn't seem to be enough. Patrick falls unconscious, and the 3rd Watch decide that it is once again time to retreat. Extang calls this out and gets himself to Quib's side, and Quib teleports them out of the castle. Logan revives Patrick, who, seeing T'Zaric grab Fieaorri and teleporting away, uses his magic cape to teleport himself and Logan out into the dark of night.
And that brings an end to this week's game session. Come back next week to find out what happens in Episode 70.
Friday, May 24, 2019
Blossom Fall, Episode 18
Colonial Caerdia: Blossom Fall is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't already familiar with this series, you can find the beginning over here.
You can find the previous episode here.
10th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Our group of adventurers have just rescued a goblin, who introduces herself as Gyaka. Upon questioning, she tells them that she and her tribe came from the mountains and used to live in the lower regions of this place, but they flooded them when they were attacked by these strange plant creatures. As far as she knows, she's the last one left. The group decides to bring her along, and I'Un is considering taking her on as a disciple. She seems very happy to follow them, after their display of strength. However, the only shiny things she knows about were collected by her chief and are in the lower levels.
The group very much wants to go after these treasures, but Jojen convinces them that they should finish searching this level first. They proceed to do so, finding various patches of dangerous mold and a battered old wooden chest that bites back. Jojen goes off alone in a couple places, finding some silver that he pockets, as well as a magical golden ring that he keeps to himself.
They pause in their exploration to sleep and recover from some of their wounds, and wake up to find Gyaka gone. They can't find any trace of her, so they carry on. They find a room full of the dangerous mold, but, following Jojen's lead, go through anyway to access a hole on the other side, a few of them getting briefly sick. The room they find beyond the hole has a ladder going up to a trapdoor - but when John opens it, he closes it again immediately when he sees more of the plant creatures there up above. Not wanting a fight, they tie the handle of the trapdoor to the ladder with some rope and head back out, with a bit more sickness happening because of the mold.
They take a short rest by the fountain to recover from the harm of the mold while Jojen and Vala check out another set of rooms through another hole, where they find a fair amount of gold coins. Vala, who is holding all the group's money, goes to put it in her pouch - and finds the pouch missing. Jojen suggests that Gyaka may have taken it, but Vala believes John may have stolen back the coins that were stolen from him in the first place. John shows that he doesn't have the coins, which convinces Vala that the goblin was responsible, but stabs John in the foot when he proceeds to insult her about letting the money get stolen.
Frustrated, they decide that they do want a fight after all. However, the stairwell to the lower levels a flooded to the ceiling with a murky water that they decide they want nothing to do with, so they go back through the moldy room. However, they're now feeling so weak from the mold spores that infected a number of them that they want a nap before engaging the enemy. The bed down to sleep, setting watches. Unfortunately, Vala isn't paying much attention on the second watch - being distracted by her lack of wealth - and doesn't notice the rope fall as it is cut, or the plant-creatures that come silently into the room and attack everyone.
With almost the entire group groggily waking up, it is a desperate fight. They very quickly decide to retreat, but I'Un gets taken down and Jojen has to decide to save himself or save the monk - and he chooses the monk. They still begin moving towards the way out, but the tide of battle turns when Luna sends fire spraying across the creatures. Jojen, affected my spores breathed out by one of the creatures, passes out, but the rest are able to clean up the battle and Luna rushes to his side to treat his wounds and keep him from dying.
And that's this week's game session ends. Come back next week to find out what happens in Episode 19.
You can find the previous episode here.
10th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Our group of adventurers have just rescued a goblin, who introduces herself as Gyaka. Upon questioning, she tells them that she and her tribe came from the mountains and used to live in the lower regions of this place, but they flooded them when they were attacked by these strange plant creatures. As far as she knows, she's the last one left. The group decides to bring her along, and I'Un is considering taking her on as a disciple. She seems very happy to follow them, after their display of strength. However, the only shiny things she knows about were collected by her chief and are in the lower levels.
The group very much wants to go after these treasures, but Jojen convinces them that they should finish searching this level first. They proceed to do so, finding various patches of dangerous mold and a battered old wooden chest that bites back. Jojen goes off alone in a couple places, finding some silver that he pockets, as well as a magical golden ring that he keeps to himself.
They pause in their exploration to sleep and recover from some of their wounds, and wake up to find Gyaka gone. They can't find any trace of her, so they carry on. They find a room full of the dangerous mold, but, following Jojen's lead, go through anyway to access a hole on the other side, a few of them getting briefly sick. The room they find beyond the hole has a ladder going up to a trapdoor - but when John opens it, he closes it again immediately when he sees more of the plant creatures there up above. Not wanting a fight, they tie the handle of the trapdoor to the ladder with some rope and head back out, with a bit more sickness happening because of the mold.
They take a short rest by the fountain to recover from the harm of the mold while Jojen and Vala check out another set of rooms through another hole, where they find a fair amount of gold coins. Vala, who is holding all the group's money, goes to put it in her pouch - and finds the pouch missing. Jojen suggests that Gyaka may have taken it, but Vala believes John may have stolen back the coins that were stolen from him in the first place. John shows that he doesn't have the coins, which convinces Vala that the goblin was responsible, but stabs John in the foot when he proceeds to insult her about letting the money get stolen.
Frustrated, they decide that they do want a fight after all. However, the stairwell to the lower levels a flooded to the ceiling with a murky water that they decide they want nothing to do with, so they go back through the moldy room. However, they're now feeling so weak from the mold spores that infected a number of them that they want a nap before engaging the enemy. The bed down to sleep, setting watches. Unfortunately, Vala isn't paying much attention on the second watch - being distracted by her lack of wealth - and doesn't notice the rope fall as it is cut, or the plant-creatures that come silently into the room and attack everyone.
With almost the entire group groggily waking up, it is a desperate fight. They very quickly decide to retreat, but I'Un gets taken down and Jojen has to decide to save himself or save the monk - and he chooses the monk. They still begin moving towards the way out, but the tide of battle turns when Luna sends fire spraying across the creatures. Jojen, affected my spores breathed out by one of the creatures, passes out, but the rest are able to clean up the battle and Luna rushes to his side to treat his wounds and keep him from dying.
And that's this week's game session ends. Come back next week to find out what happens in Episode 19.
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Lark's Landing, Episode 68
Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.
You can find the previous episode here.
6th-7th of Waning Fall, 1AL
After stealing Raim's Book of Secrets, T'Zaric makes his way north until he reunites with Patrick, Fiaeorri, and Logan. They are a bit concerned that he has the book, and admits to taking it without permission, but he assures them that he's just checking it out while everyone is resting.
They wait until the middle of the afternoon when two giant eagles suddenly start bearing down on them. They begin attacking them, but then the birds arrive and turn out to be Extang and Quib. Quib is very angry about the book having been taken from him, but T'Zaric happily and willingly hands it back.
The 3rd Watch then form a plan to head back to the white house of rock and wait while Logan and Quib recover from their lasting injuries while T'Zaric flies out every day to keep an eye on the doings of the orcs in the castle. They set out, only travelling until evening before making camp for the night, hoping to get back onto a more regular sleep routine. However, while Logan - his mind still functioning at a fraction of what it once was - is standing guard on the second watch, he suddenly notices a castle about 100 feet away from their camp that wasn't there before. It certainly looks a lot like the castle the group was in before.
Curious about the castle and the warm light emitting from the open drawbridge, he goes to investigate. He arrives and looks inside, seeing four orcs - who also see him and rush in to attack. Logan responds by imbuing his weapon with thunderous power to do as much damage as he can to his assailants, as well as making a loud noise that wakes up all of his allies.
Startled into wakefulness, and confused by the nearness of the castle, the rest of the 3rd Watch quickly determine that Logan is missing - and that he's most likely one of the figures fighting in the castle entrance. They charge in, Patrick and and Fiaeorri in the lead aided by a haste spell from Extang. While the battle begins outside the gate, it soon flows into the hallway inside as more orcs arrive. It's a hard battle, and even the heavily-armored Logan takes some severe hits, but eventually the battle seems to die down - though not for too long, as Extang - the only one left outside - takes some hits from above - either the wall or one of the towers. He alerts the others and T'Zaric flies out, drawing fire and, in doing so, learning the location of the assailants. He launches a fireball through an arrow slit in one of the towers, seeming to end the fight for now.
He returns to the others, where they spend their brief respite collecting coins from the dead using their magic to heal their wounds - but they don't believe this is over yet. Patrick wants to flee, but most of the others want to press on. Fiaeorri begins setting traps to hinder those chasing them should they choose to flee.
Then they spot a group of furtive orcs dashing across the far end of the hall. They head up to investigate, Fiaeorri in the lead, but the orcs are out of sight by the time they get there. Fiaeorri scouts down the route the orcs came from, finding a hall, a room with smashed bed frames and chests, and a room filled with tables and benches with a door leading to stairs heading downwards.
And that is where this week's game session ended. Check back next week for Episode 69.
You can find the previous episode here.
6th-7th of Waning Fall, 1AL
After stealing Raim's Book of Secrets, T'Zaric makes his way north until he reunites with Patrick, Fiaeorri, and Logan. They are a bit concerned that he has the book, and admits to taking it without permission, but he assures them that he's just checking it out while everyone is resting.
They wait until the middle of the afternoon when two giant eagles suddenly start bearing down on them. They begin attacking them, but then the birds arrive and turn out to be Extang and Quib. Quib is very angry about the book having been taken from him, but T'Zaric happily and willingly hands it back.
The 3rd Watch then form a plan to head back to the white house of rock and wait while Logan and Quib recover from their lasting injuries while T'Zaric flies out every day to keep an eye on the doings of the orcs in the castle. They set out, only travelling until evening before making camp for the night, hoping to get back onto a more regular sleep routine. However, while Logan - his mind still functioning at a fraction of what it once was - is standing guard on the second watch, he suddenly notices a castle about 100 feet away from their camp that wasn't there before. It certainly looks a lot like the castle the group was in before.
Curious about the castle and the warm light emitting from the open drawbridge, he goes to investigate. He arrives and looks inside, seeing four orcs - who also see him and rush in to attack. Logan responds by imbuing his weapon with thunderous power to do as much damage as he can to his assailants, as well as making a loud noise that wakes up all of his allies.
Startled into wakefulness, and confused by the nearness of the castle, the rest of the 3rd Watch quickly determine that Logan is missing - and that he's most likely one of the figures fighting in the castle entrance. They charge in, Patrick and and Fiaeorri in the lead aided by a haste spell from Extang. While the battle begins outside the gate, it soon flows into the hallway inside as more orcs arrive. It's a hard battle, and even the heavily-armored Logan takes some severe hits, but eventually the battle seems to die down - though not for too long, as Extang - the only one left outside - takes some hits from above - either the wall or one of the towers. He alerts the others and T'Zaric flies out, drawing fire and, in doing so, learning the location of the assailants. He launches a fireball through an arrow slit in one of the towers, seeming to end the fight for now.
He returns to the others, where they spend their brief respite collecting coins from the dead using their magic to heal their wounds - but they don't believe this is over yet. Patrick wants to flee, but most of the others want to press on. Fiaeorri begins setting traps to hinder those chasing them should they choose to flee.
Then they spot a group of furtive orcs dashing across the far end of the hall. They head up to investigate, Fiaeorri in the lead, but the orcs are out of sight by the time they get there. Fiaeorri scouts down the route the orcs came from, finding a hall, a room with smashed bed frames and chests, and a room filled with tables and benches with a door leading to stairs heading downwards.
And that is where this week's game session ended. Check back next week for Episode 69.
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Blossom Fall, Episode 17
Colonial Caerdia: Blossom Fall is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't already familiar with this series, you can find the beginning over here.
You can find the previous episode here.
9th-10th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Having defeated the plant-creatures below the ruined stone-hut village, our group of adventurers sets out to explore this strange underground locale they've found themselves in. They start by following the wide corridor to the left, pausing when they come to a four-way intersection with a sputtering, scummy fountain that's leaking into a stairwell leading down. Something appears to be splashing in the fountain, but what it is can't be seen. After seeing an indent in the water with nothing in it, Luna casts a spell allowing her to see invisible things - and there is Salmon, the tiny dragon, playing in the disgusting water.
While Luna retrieves Salmon and begins fashioning a collar, the others turn their attention to the one door leading off of the intersection. After determining it isn't trapped, Jojen charges right in, with I'Un on his tail, and begins finds himself infected by some sort of mold growing in the room, which also contains a stone desk and chair. I'Un drags Jojen out, then goes back in himself, also getting infected by the mold, but he emerges with an ancient book that was in the desk - that none of them can read. Luckily, he and Jojen both kick the infection fairly quickly.
The group now splits up, with most of the group heading back the way they came to explore the other direction of this wide corridor. Jojen, however, is more interested in to one branch of the intersection that isn't collapsed, so he heads that way - with Luna following after him. They find a door, and the rest of the corridor collapsed, so turn back to join the others. As they walk, they have a heart-to-heart about why Jojen hates tieflings, and they find that Luna has many of the same issues with her own people.
They rejoin the others, who went through one door to find a room with a collapsed rubble, and are now investigating a hole in the wall further down the corridor. They all make their way through the hole, into what may have once been a bedroom. they proceed through the door, make their way down a hall, and find themselves in a room half filled with rubble and a door leading to another room beyond - where there are more of those moldy plant creatures. They fight and kill them, and take a nap in the room beyond - after I'Un finds an interesting amulet.
They then move on, returning to the wide corridor and taking the right branch at a T intersection where the way forward is blocked. They find another door, going through to find what may have once been a shop, where Vala finds a collection of strange triangular coins. They continue on, finding the next doorway blocked by a pile of rubble, and going through the next one into another shop-like place. This one doesn't appear to have any treasure in it, but there is a hole in one of the walls - from which distressed sounds are coming.
The group squeezes their way through, finding another shop-like room with four of the plant humanoids on their mold mounts attacking a goblin woman who is fending them off with a club-like walking stick. The group rushes in to help, slaughtering the mold-creatures and rescuing the goblin, who is very grateful and thanks them for their help.
And that brings an end to this week's game session. Check back in a week to learn more of this tale in Episode 18.
You can find the previous episode here.
9th-10th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Having defeated the plant-creatures below the ruined stone-hut village, our group of adventurers sets out to explore this strange underground locale they've found themselves in. They start by following the wide corridor to the left, pausing when they come to a four-way intersection with a sputtering, scummy fountain that's leaking into a stairwell leading down. Something appears to be splashing in the fountain, but what it is can't be seen. After seeing an indent in the water with nothing in it, Luna casts a spell allowing her to see invisible things - and there is Salmon, the tiny dragon, playing in the disgusting water.
While Luna retrieves Salmon and begins fashioning a collar, the others turn their attention to the one door leading off of the intersection. After determining it isn't trapped, Jojen charges right in, with I'Un on his tail, and begins finds himself infected by some sort of mold growing in the room, which also contains a stone desk and chair. I'Un drags Jojen out, then goes back in himself, also getting infected by the mold, but he emerges with an ancient book that was in the desk - that none of them can read. Luckily, he and Jojen both kick the infection fairly quickly.
The group now splits up, with most of the group heading back the way they came to explore the other direction of this wide corridor. Jojen, however, is more interested in to one branch of the intersection that isn't collapsed, so he heads that way - with Luna following after him. They find a door, and the rest of the corridor collapsed, so turn back to join the others. As they walk, they have a heart-to-heart about why Jojen hates tieflings, and they find that Luna has many of the same issues with her own people.
They rejoin the others, who went through one door to find a room with a collapsed rubble, and are now investigating a hole in the wall further down the corridor. They all make their way through the hole, into what may have once been a bedroom. they proceed through the door, make their way down a hall, and find themselves in a room half filled with rubble and a door leading to another room beyond - where there are more of those moldy plant creatures. They fight and kill them, and take a nap in the room beyond - after I'Un finds an interesting amulet.
They then move on, returning to the wide corridor and taking the right branch at a T intersection where the way forward is blocked. They find another door, going through to find what may have once been a shop, where Vala finds a collection of strange triangular coins. They continue on, finding the next doorway blocked by a pile of rubble, and going through the next one into another shop-like place. This one doesn't appear to have any treasure in it, but there is a hole in one of the walls - from which distressed sounds are coming.
The group squeezes their way through, finding another shop-like room with four of the plant humanoids on their mold mounts attacking a goblin woman who is fending them off with a club-like walking stick. The group rushes in to help, slaughtering the mold-creatures and rescuing the goblin, who is very grateful and thanks them for their help.
And that brings an end to this week's game session. Check back in a week to learn more of this tale in Episode 18.
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Lark's Landing, Episode 67
Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.
You can find the previous episode here.
6th of Waning Fall, 1AL
Having taken a rest in their secret room down below the castle, after Patrick having alerted the entire building to their presence, the group that has gone out tell T'Zaric and Fiaeorri about their findings. T'Zaric is very interested in the Book of Raim that Quib has bonded with, but he accepts the group's decision to not give it to him as they don't know what's going on with him right now. It doesn't help when he briefly becomes his smoky self in an attempt to negotiate for the book to be given to "the vessel", but even that part of him accepts no as an answer.
The talk turns to safely getting out of the castle. Between T'Zaric, Quib, and a magical cloak Patrick found, they believe they are able to teleport everyone out of the castle, but first they need to know where the ground is so they don't accidentally teleport themselves into the ground. The best solution they have is to go back to the library - which had windows - and they want to do that anyway to retrieve more books.
T'Zaric gets sent ahead to stealthily scout the way, with Quib going with him up into the circular room to point the way. However, when they open the door, they discover that there are orcs already waiting for them - and orcs begin pouring down the stairs and into the room from the other door as well.
Hearing the ruckus up above, Patrick grabs Logan and tries to teleport out - but he miscalculates the height and merely injures them, which means it is now impossible to get everyone out. Extang and Logan rush up to join the fight, and Extang turns them both into giant apes to hold off the orcs. They whittle down the numbers, but there are so very many of them, and more coming.
T'Zaric flies back down the trapdoor, grabs Fiaeorri, and teleports out - aiming high in the air to make certain they make it safely. He lowers her to the ground, then begins flying back towards the castle, guessing from positioning that his friends are in the central tower - but he isn't certain he'll arrive in time to be of any help.
Patrick and Quib work towards keeping everyone alive, and Patrick comes up to join the fray - but the ape forms are whittled down, and the group is starting to get hurt. Desperate for an escape, Quib pulls out one of the spell scrolls they found and makes a passage out the north wall of the tower. Beyond appears to be some sort of overgrown greenhouse - but there are still orcs between them and the hole. So he casts a spell, dazzling nearly all the orcs in the room, and Patrick as well, before running out - followed by Logan and Extang pushing the dazed Patrick ahead of him while hitting the room with a fireball as he reaches the exit, incinerating most of the remaining orcs - but not all. Those that remain close in on him - with more rushing in from the door - and take him down to unconsciousness.
T'Zaric arrives back at the castle just in time to see his friends emerging through the wall into the space below the glass dome - and to see a gigantic bird rising from the overgrown foliage below the broken glass covering the greenhouse area. He hits it with some magic missiles, drawing his friends' attention to his presence, but the bird doesn't even seem to care. It shuffles over to the group, unable to spread its wings in the space, and takes Partick down with a snap of its beak while slashing a talon across Logan's armor.
Quib revives Extang, apologizes, than grabs Patrick and teleports up onto the roof beside T'Zaric. Terrified of this enormous bird and acting purely on instinct, Logan jumps into the air and casts a spell that blips him up onto the glass above - which cracks, but doesn't break. Extang staggers to his feet, blasts the circular room with another fireball, clearing out the remaining orcs inside - though there are still more coming - and runs back down the trap door, closing it behind him and barring it with the immovable rod.
Up on the roof, Quib says he's going back for Extang and T'Zaric offers to go along. Patrick is revived and Quib casts featherfall on him and Logan, telling them to regroup with Fiaeorri and get away from the castle - which they do. Then he teleports himself and T'Zaric down into the secret room below the tower, where they need take a good long rest before they're able to teleport all of them out and join the others, who have stopped to wait a couple miles away.
While Quib and Extang are sleeping, T'Zaric stealthily swipes Raim's Book of Secrets from Quib - then vanishes.
And that's the end of this week's exciting game session. Where has T'Zaric gone and what will Quib and Extang do when they wake up to discover the missing book? Find out next week in Episode 68.
You can find the previous episode here.
6th of Waning Fall, 1AL
Having taken a rest in their secret room down below the castle, after Patrick having alerted the entire building to their presence, the group that has gone out tell T'Zaric and Fiaeorri about their findings. T'Zaric is very interested in the Book of Raim that Quib has bonded with, but he accepts the group's decision to not give it to him as they don't know what's going on with him right now. It doesn't help when he briefly becomes his smoky self in an attempt to negotiate for the book to be given to "the vessel", but even that part of him accepts no as an answer.
The talk turns to safely getting out of the castle. Between T'Zaric, Quib, and a magical cloak Patrick found, they believe they are able to teleport everyone out of the castle, but first they need to know where the ground is so they don't accidentally teleport themselves into the ground. The best solution they have is to go back to the library - which had windows - and they want to do that anyway to retrieve more books.
T'Zaric gets sent ahead to stealthily scout the way, with Quib going with him up into the circular room to point the way. However, when they open the door, they discover that there are orcs already waiting for them - and orcs begin pouring down the stairs and into the room from the other door as well.
Hearing the ruckus up above, Patrick grabs Logan and tries to teleport out - but he miscalculates the height and merely injures them, which means it is now impossible to get everyone out. Extang and Logan rush up to join the fight, and Extang turns them both into giant apes to hold off the orcs. They whittle down the numbers, but there are so very many of them, and more coming.
T'Zaric flies back down the trapdoor, grabs Fiaeorri, and teleports out - aiming high in the air to make certain they make it safely. He lowers her to the ground, then begins flying back towards the castle, guessing from positioning that his friends are in the central tower - but he isn't certain he'll arrive in time to be of any help.
Patrick and Quib work towards keeping everyone alive, and Patrick comes up to join the fray - but the ape forms are whittled down, and the group is starting to get hurt. Desperate for an escape, Quib pulls out one of the spell scrolls they found and makes a passage out the north wall of the tower. Beyond appears to be some sort of overgrown greenhouse - but there are still orcs between them and the hole. So he casts a spell, dazzling nearly all the orcs in the room, and Patrick as well, before running out - followed by Logan and Extang pushing the dazed Patrick ahead of him while hitting the room with a fireball as he reaches the exit, incinerating most of the remaining orcs - but not all. Those that remain close in on him - with more rushing in from the door - and take him down to unconsciousness.
T'Zaric arrives back at the castle just in time to see his friends emerging through the wall into the space below the glass dome - and to see a gigantic bird rising from the overgrown foliage below the broken glass covering the greenhouse area. He hits it with some magic missiles, drawing his friends' attention to his presence, but the bird doesn't even seem to care. It shuffles over to the group, unable to spread its wings in the space, and takes Partick down with a snap of its beak while slashing a talon across Logan's armor.
Quib revives Extang, apologizes, than grabs Patrick and teleports up onto the roof beside T'Zaric. Terrified of this enormous bird and acting purely on instinct, Logan jumps into the air and casts a spell that blips him up onto the glass above - which cracks, but doesn't break. Extang staggers to his feet, blasts the circular room with another fireball, clearing out the remaining orcs inside - though there are still more coming - and runs back down the trap door, closing it behind him and barring it with the immovable rod.
Up on the roof, Quib says he's going back for Extang and T'Zaric offers to go along. Patrick is revived and Quib casts featherfall on him and Logan, telling them to regroup with Fiaeorri and get away from the castle - which they do. Then he teleports himself and T'Zaric down into the secret room below the tower, where they need take a good long rest before they're able to teleport all of them out and join the others, who have stopped to wait a couple miles away.
While Quib and Extang are sleeping, T'Zaric stealthily swipes Raim's Book of Secrets from Quib - then vanishes.
And that's the end of this week's exciting game session. Where has T'Zaric gone and what will Quib and Extang do when they wake up to discover the missing book? Find out next week in Episode 68.
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Blossom Fall, Episode 16
Colonial Caerdia: Blossom Fall is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't already familiar with this series, you can find the beginning over here.
You can find the previous episode here.
9th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Having recently tussled with gnolls, our band of adventurers - while searching for treasure - find in one of the only fully-intact stone huts that remains a hatch leading down into... somewhere. They head down into a dark, angular stone room with a door, an exit into another room, and a hallway leading up to more doors. John and Vala are interested in exploring up the hallway, but before they can get very far, Jojen and I'Un open the door, discovering a very wide corridor running to the left and right, with another door on the far side. And strange, hissing little green humanoids with animals as big green animals.
At the sight of these strangers, the creatures charge in to attack. I'Un and Jojen immediately retreat, back up the stairs to the surface, feeling that the group isn't ready for a fight. The other three, however, decide to stay and fight. Vala finds that the small plant-like creatures go down fairly easily, but is surprised when they get back up, their wounds closing. Luckily, with Luna's magic, they discover that the creatures wounds stay open if they've been burned.
Though this discovery gives them an edge, they are still carrying wounds from the last battle. When Luna goes down, they decide it's time to retreat, pulling her up the stairs with them, leaving two enemies behind. They make it out, slamming the hatch shut and putting a heavy rock atop it. Vala and John then both assault Jojen, angry that he left them to die and didn't help in the battle. I'Un had at least come to help with the retreat, and he was heavily wounded.
The group, irritable and beat-up, settle down for a good long rest that takes them into the night, during which Jojen makes a brief prayer that he be delivered from this group that so readily turns on him without any provocation whatsoever.
When they are all up an about again, Luna cries out in alarm - Salmon, the tiny dragon that hatched from her egg, is missing! The last time she saw it was before the battle. Wanting to find the little lost dragon, and interested in killing the last two of those green creatures so they can explore the region more, the group once again descends below ground.
Call though they might, there is no sign of Salmon. What's worse is that when they head out into the wide corridor, they find another group of those green creatures - and these ones have been waiting for them. They attempt to strategically funnel the creatures through the doorway, but they don't fall for it - and one of them releases a cloud of spores that poisons Vala and Luna. So, they charge into battle - luckily, this time they know to use fire and, after a tough battle, they come out victorious.
And that's where this week's game session comes to an end. Come back week to find out what happens next in Episode 17.
You can find the previous episode here.
9th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Having recently tussled with gnolls, our band of adventurers - while searching for treasure - find in one of the only fully-intact stone huts that remains a hatch leading down into... somewhere. They head down into a dark, angular stone room with a door, an exit into another room, and a hallway leading up to more doors. John and Vala are interested in exploring up the hallway, but before they can get very far, Jojen and I'Un open the door, discovering a very wide corridor running to the left and right, with another door on the far side. And strange, hissing little green humanoids with animals as big green animals.
At the sight of these strangers, the creatures charge in to attack. I'Un and Jojen immediately retreat, back up the stairs to the surface, feeling that the group isn't ready for a fight. The other three, however, decide to stay and fight. Vala finds that the small plant-like creatures go down fairly easily, but is surprised when they get back up, their wounds closing. Luckily, with Luna's magic, they discover that the creatures wounds stay open if they've been burned.
Though this discovery gives them an edge, they are still carrying wounds from the last battle. When Luna goes down, they decide it's time to retreat, pulling her up the stairs with them, leaving two enemies behind. They make it out, slamming the hatch shut and putting a heavy rock atop it. Vala and John then both assault Jojen, angry that he left them to die and didn't help in the battle. I'Un had at least come to help with the retreat, and he was heavily wounded.
The group, irritable and beat-up, settle down for a good long rest that takes them into the night, during which Jojen makes a brief prayer that he be delivered from this group that so readily turns on him without any provocation whatsoever.
When they are all up an about again, Luna cries out in alarm - Salmon, the tiny dragon that hatched from her egg, is missing! The last time she saw it was before the battle. Wanting to find the little lost dragon, and interested in killing the last two of those green creatures so they can explore the region more, the group once again descends below ground.
Call though they might, there is no sign of Salmon. What's worse is that when they head out into the wide corridor, they find another group of those green creatures - and these ones have been waiting for them. They attempt to strategically funnel the creatures through the doorway, but they don't fall for it - and one of them releases a cloud of spores that poisons Vala and Luna. So, they charge into battle - luckily, this time they know to use fire and, after a tough battle, they come out victorious.
And that's where this week's game session comes to an end. Come back week to find out what happens next in Episode 17.
Friday, May 10, 2019
Lark's Landing, Episode 66
Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.
You can find the previous episode here.
5th-6th of Waning Fall, 1AL
We left the 3rd Watch in dire straits last week, with three of their own fireballs having blasted a round room full of orcs - two of which hit parts of their own group, resulting in the cloud-formed T'Zaric falling to the floor, unconscious and turning back into his half-elven form. Two orcs are still standing. However, Quib is quick on the ball, using his magic to revive T'Zaric and finish off one of the charred orcs, wile Fiaeorri rushes in to take out the last one. Panting and worn out, they loot the corpses and take short break - after some chastising of T'Zaric who has no idea why he's being told off.
Determining the T'Zaric needs some time to figure out what's going on in his head, he and Fiaeorri decide to spend more time puzzling over the strange mechanism on the door while the rest head upstairs to continue their exploration if this castle. In the charred room, they have three ways to go - up some stairs, or through a door to either side. They choose the door to their right and follow a long hall down to a library, where they encounter four orcs around a bonfire made of books. Extang, wanting this to be over quickly - especially since Quib goes ahead and gets mobbed by the orcs - drops a fireball in the library, while the intelligence-lacking Logan charges forwards, unleashing all his might to smite one of the orcs attacking his bird-like friend. Partick, horrified by Extang setting books on fire, summons up a sleet storm that puts out the fires and deals considerable damage to the orcs. The orcs are finished off, ant the group moves on into the library, hungrily perusing the books.
Most of the books are in a language they can't identify, but they do find a number in languages they understand - primarily encyclopedic or historical in nature. They also find a number of spell scrolls, some blank books, and one particular blank book that appears to be magical. They decide to spend some time in the library, but first Extang checks the three doors leading out - finding a room full of shelves, tables, and broken glass, a hallway - with an orc patrol just passing - and a room full of steaming baths. A lone orc appears to be taking a bath.
Extang decides to attempt to be chummy with the orc, intending to get into the bath and chat with him - hoping that by pretending that's he's supposed to be there he'll get along fine with the orc. Unfortunately, the orc has other ideas and charges at him, swinging the axe he had beside the bath. However, it doesn't land a hit before getting killed.
The group take their break, and Quib attempts to identify the book - but finds that it's beyond his understanding. He does figure out that he can magically bond with it, however, so he requests the extra time to do so, hoping that doing so will reveal its secrets - which it does. He come to understand that this is Raim's Book of Secrets - an artifact that once belonged to a god. However, in attempting to glean secrets from the book, he finds his mind coming under a great deal of psychic pressure.
Once learning of the book, the other briefly discuss if they should tell T'Zaric about it, as he worships Raim. They decide it's probably a good idea, but they have more exploring to do first. While Quib and Extang are dealing with Logan, Patrick heads off ahead and opens the door to the hallway - right in the face of an orc patrol. Acting reflexively, he casts a spell that blasts them away from him - as well as making a sound loud enough that it can probably be heard throughout the entire castle - before retreating to his friends' sides. The orcs are killed quickly, but not before one of them opens the door on the other side of the hall and shouts something in.
They decide it's time to retreat, and run back to the hatch and the secret room below, closing the hatch and locking it shut with their immovable rod. They cower below for a bit, waiting for orcs to attack from anywhere, but when the orcs don't come they settle down for a good long rest, hoping that things will have calmed down when they venture out again.
And that brings this week's game session to an end. Check back next week to find out what happens next in Episode 67.
You can find the previous episode here.
5th-6th of Waning Fall, 1AL
We left the 3rd Watch in dire straits last week, with three of their own fireballs having blasted a round room full of orcs - two of which hit parts of their own group, resulting in the cloud-formed T'Zaric falling to the floor, unconscious and turning back into his half-elven form. Two orcs are still standing. However, Quib is quick on the ball, using his magic to revive T'Zaric and finish off one of the charred orcs, wile Fiaeorri rushes in to take out the last one. Panting and worn out, they loot the corpses and take short break - after some chastising of T'Zaric who has no idea why he's being told off.
Determining the T'Zaric needs some time to figure out what's going on in his head, he and Fiaeorri decide to spend more time puzzling over the strange mechanism on the door while the rest head upstairs to continue their exploration if this castle. In the charred room, they have three ways to go - up some stairs, or through a door to either side. They choose the door to their right and follow a long hall down to a library, where they encounter four orcs around a bonfire made of books. Extang, wanting this to be over quickly - especially since Quib goes ahead and gets mobbed by the orcs - drops a fireball in the library, while the intelligence-lacking Logan charges forwards, unleashing all his might to smite one of the orcs attacking his bird-like friend. Partick, horrified by Extang setting books on fire, summons up a sleet storm that puts out the fires and deals considerable damage to the orcs. The orcs are finished off, ant the group moves on into the library, hungrily perusing the books.
Most of the books are in a language they can't identify, but they do find a number in languages they understand - primarily encyclopedic or historical in nature. They also find a number of spell scrolls, some blank books, and one particular blank book that appears to be magical. They decide to spend some time in the library, but first Extang checks the three doors leading out - finding a room full of shelves, tables, and broken glass, a hallway - with an orc patrol just passing - and a room full of steaming baths. A lone orc appears to be taking a bath.
Extang decides to attempt to be chummy with the orc, intending to get into the bath and chat with him - hoping that by pretending that's he's supposed to be there he'll get along fine with the orc. Unfortunately, the orc has other ideas and charges at him, swinging the axe he had beside the bath. However, it doesn't land a hit before getting killed.
The group take their break, and Quib attempts to identify the book - but finds that it's beyond his understanding. He does figure out that he can magically bond with it, however, so he requests the extra time to do so, hoping that doing so will reveal its secrets - which it does. He come to understand that this is Raim's Book of Secrets - an artifact that once belonged to a god. However, in attempting to glean secrets from the book, he finds his mind coming under a great deal of psychic pressure.
Once learning of the book, the other briefly discuss if they should tell T'Zaric about it, as he worships Raim. They decide it's probably a good idea, but they have more exploring to do first. While Quib and Extang are dealing with Logan, Patrick heads off ahead and opens the door to the hallway - right in the face of an orc patrol. Acting reflexively, he casts a spell that blasts them away from him - as well as making a sound loud enough that it can probably be heard throughout the entire castle - before retreating to his friends' sides. The orcs are killed quickly, but not before one of them opens the door on the other side of the hall and shouts something in.
They decide it's time to retreat, and run back to the hatch and the secret room below, closing the hatch and locking it shut with their immovable rod. They cower below for a bit, waiting for orcs to attack from anywhere, but when the orcs don't come they settle down for a good long rest, hoping that things will have calmed down when they venture out again.
And that brings this week's game session to an end. Check back next week to find out what happens next in Episode 67.
Tuesday, May 07, 2019
Tales from Heroes for CF 2019
On April 27th,
it was once again my great pleasure to be part of Heroes for CF, a wonderful
event where we play Dungeons & Dragons for the entire day to raise money
for (and awareness of) Cystic Fibrosis. In previous years, we were limited to
24 players by the space we were in, but those two years were so successful (we
raised over $10000 between them!) that Jeremy, the mastermind behind this
glorious event, decided to take a leap of faith and expand.
So, this
year, we changed locations, allowing us to run 11 D&D tables instead of our
previous 4. We ended up with 59 players and we raised $11750! Amazing, right?
We were very happy. In fact, out event got so much interest this year that we
even had a surprise visit from one of the founders of Cystic Fibrosis Canada
who had heard what we were doing and came to check out our event and say
thanks.
Before
going on, since part of this event is about raising awareness of Cystic
Fibrosis and May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month, I’d like to direct your
attention over here where you can learn more about this genetic disease and why we fight it.
For year 1
and year 2 of this event, I gave a near play-by-play of the events that
transpired at my table. This year, I feel like it would take too long to give
such a detailed accounting, so I’ll limit myself to a description of what makes
this event so special, as well as a few highlights.
This year’s
event, we ramped up the level of interactivity possible between the tables.
That has always been one of our goals with Heroes for CF; people can play
D&D at home, or with a group somewhere, any time, and if there’s no
interaction between tables, you’re just doing what you could do anywhere in a
noisier environment.
In our
first year, to make the event special, we introduced Cry Havoc – a reward for
raising a certain amount of money that allows a player to summon a random
encounter upon another table. This has been extremely popular, and has
continued to thrive every year. Last year, we had all the players existing in the
same universe and, at the end of the day, brought them all together for a final
grand battle. While fun, having so many players at one table proved to be quite
unwieldy, and we discovered that some of teams wanted to turn against the other
teams – a situation we decided we didn’t want, because D&D isn’t balanced
for player-vs-player combat, and would be even more unbalanced by the power-up
cards sold at the event for fundraising. More importantly, while some players
would find such an interaction to be fun, others would have their fun spoiled
by it.
So, this
year, we decided to cater a bit more to the players with a competitive edge by
making the event a competition between teams to see who could collect the most
gold from within the 11 dungeons. However, to make thing more interesting, the
day was divided into 3 sessions of gaming – and between each session, players
could choose a different dungeon to go to. What one group changed in a dungeon
stayed changed for the groups that followed them – and, yes, players could
leave traps for other players. In addition, the teams were permitted to trade
with each other between the sessions, allowing them to trade the miniquests
they were provided for three random dungeons, as well as any magic items they
found, and even the gold they were saving up to try to win. Oh, and each dungeon
had a super-powerful boss living in it.
As you can
guess from that description, this ended up being a very exciting event. One of
the interesting occurrences was that, in spite of the ability to switch tables
between games, I ended up with the same team for the whole event. The only
difference that really made for me was that there were fewer surprises for my
players as the day progressed. For the players... well, it’s hard to say. They
certainly didn’t find as much gold as some of the other groups (though, to be
fair, there was a lot of treasure they missed because they didn’t bother
searching rooms, or decided they would come back later and didn’t), but they
did complete all three miniquests and kill the dungeon boss. So, here are some
highlights of what happened at my table.
My group of
players came into the game with one of the miniquests in hand and immediately
set out to Press the Big Red Button. They actually did a remarkable job of
making a b-line for the exact room they needed to go to. There were a couple
interesting occurrences along the way, my favorite of which was when they found
a statue worth 500 gold, took it from its stand and – after determining that
they didn’t want to carry it through the entire dungeon – left it in a doorway
for a future group to find. Once they found the big red button, they spent a
good 45 minutes solving the puzzle that would allow them to actually press the
button, which they did a fantastic job of – the hold-up was caused by some
uncertainty brought on by one of the clues. After succeeding in the miniquest,
they continued on their way – calling a Cry Havoc to summon a young white
dragon on another table. Coming up on the end of the session, that table
returned fire with their own Cry Havoc – summoning a troll and three goblins
that my players elected to run from due to the purple worm (my boss monster
that was roaming and destroying my dungeon) that arrived in the hallway at the
same time. They got away just in time for one of the players to pick up a
trapped item that blasted him with fire just before the session ended.
The group
returned for the second session having traded for a quest to end the civil war
that was going on between the orcs that lived in the dungeon – a war that has
been ongoing since the purple worm ate the previous king. The players started
off by returning to the area they were exploring before, where they found
themselves fighting some orcs with a giant worm hole filling the hall between
the two groups. One of my players jumped across the hole, hoping to cut down
the orc on the far side and land safely – unfortunately, they ended up hanging
into the hole by their fingertips. My players, not to be dissuaded, soon had
two more of their number similarly hanging into the hole from attempting the
same stunt. They did eventually kill the orcs and continue on their way, but it
was touch-and-go for a bit. Then they got into a fight that some of them thought
was a waste of time, so some of them wandered away while their allies fought
alone. Just as the battle ended, the purple worm arrived – right under the feet
of one of them. With the help of one of the purchasable power-up cards the worm
was delayed for enough time for the player to get out of danger. Though one
player did end up swallowed, they defeated the powerful monster and claimed the
crown that was stuck in the worm’s teeth. At this point, they had only 15
minutes left, but they also had a brilliant idea. They gave up their crown
(worth 500 gold) to crown one of the orc leaders and bring an end to the civil
war, thus receiving 1000 gold for completing their quest – just in time.
They
actually were aiming for a different table for the final session, but returned
to mine when someone else got the one they wanted first. Then they bought the
final quest off another group for 500 gold. This run of the dungeon was pretty
tame, as there was no longer a purple worm rampaging through the place, and the
orcs were mostly in one place, sorting out their politics far more peacefully
than before. Because of this, the players were able to make a pretty accurate
map of the complex while searching for the location they needed to find for
their final quest. However, they were focused on making that map so they could
get around quickly and neglected to gather treasure along the way. They did
eventually solve their quest – after intimidating orc into helping them find
the location they needed – but they didn’t have much time left. They did manage
to win some money in a very challenging race against a satyr, which they won on
the first attempt with full marks – something I didn’t think was possible!
Then, right at the end, they were getting into a fight with a pair of creatures
holding a golden mask. The fight had
barely started when the end of the session was called, and one of the players
asked if he could grab the mask right before they were teleported home. I
allowed him one roll – and he rolled a natural 20, which is pretty much a guaranteed
success. So they left with the mask in tow.
Though they
didn’t win the event – or win the duck prize (don’t ask) – my group of players
and I all had a lot of fun, which is a win in my books. What will next year’s
event bring? I don’t know exactly, but as we continue to learn from these
events, we continue to improve them, which means to me that next year will be
even better.
Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.
Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.
If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.
Sunday, May 05, 2019
Blossom Fall, Episode 15
Colonial Caerdia: Blossom Fall is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't already familiar with this series, you can find the beginning over here.
You can find the previous episode here.
5th-9th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
When last we left our heroes, it was Luna's birthday and her mysterious egg was hatching. The egg continues to hatch, revealing within a very tiny dragon, of a light red that is nearly pink, and with wings shaped and patterned like a butterfly. It licks Luna's hand, and she giggles in delight.
Waiting off in the woods, I'Un hears this, but through his fear of impending dragons, misinterprets what he's hearing as pain and destruction. John, however, recognizes the sounds as happy and brings the group hiding in the woods out, where they meet this strange little dragon.
After getting familiar with the little creature, as well as feeding it and eventually naming it Salmon, they decide to continue on along the river, seeking the ruined village they heard about being on the southern branch. Along the next several days, they follow the river east and cross over with the aid of magic and rope to follow the southern branch, where they find a large log spanning the river. They elect to use the log to cross onto the northern side of the river before continuing along.
As they progress, they begin to see mountains off in the distance - and then they spot a wisp of smoke in the air. John and Vala scout out ahead, finding - after four hours - a village of stone, igloo-like huts. On the other side of the river. They backtrack, regroup, re-cross the river back at the log, and arrive back at the village of the 9th of Waning Spring - spotting some strange flashes from up on the mountain as the approach.
John and Vala once again scout ahead, with John pausing at the edge of the village while Vala continues on amongst the ruined buildings, seeking the source of the smoke. She finds it - a fire in an open square, surrounded by five gnolls cooking some unidentified meat. Vala reports this back to the others and, after some debate, they sneak in, fanning out behind several buildings to surround the gnolls. They attempt to frighten the creatures with a magical roar, resulting in the gnolls spreading out to search for the source.
Vala steps out to greet them, allowing the rest of her friends to remain hidden, and battle commences. It may have gone quite well, except that I'Un targets the leader of the group and manages to get himself surrounded. As it is, they pick off the gnolls and revive the fallen I'Un. They search the gnolls, finding some strange coins and a couple of items that may be magical.
And with that, week's game session comes to an end. Check back in another week to find out what happens in Episode 16.
You can find the previous episode here.
5th-9th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
When last we left our heroes, it was Luna's birthday and her mysterious egg was hatching. The egg continues to hatch, revealing within a very tiny dragon, of a light red that is nearly pink, and with wings shaped and patterned like a butterfly. It licks Luna's hand, and she giggles in delight.
Waiting off in the woods, I'Un hears this, but through his fear of impending dragons, misinterprets what he's hearing as pain and destruction. John, however, recognizes the sounds as happy and brings the group hiding in the woods out, where they meet this strange little dragon.
After getting familiar with the little creature, as well as feeding it and eventually naming it Salmon, they decide to continue on along the river, seeking the ruined village they heard about being on the southern branch. Along the next several days, they follow the river east and cross over with the aid of magic and rope to follow the southern branch, where they find a large log spanning the river. They elect to use the log to cross onto the northern side of the river before continuing along.
As they progress, they begin to see mountains off in the distance - and then they spot a wisp of smoke in the air. John and Vala scout out ahead, finding - after four hours - a village of stone, igloo-like huts. On the other side of the river. They backtrack, regroup, re-cross the river back at the log, and arrive back at the village of the 9th of Waning Spring - spotting some strange flashes from up on the mountain as the approach.
John and Vala once again scout ahead, with John pausing at the edge of the village while Vala continues on amongst the ruined buildings, seeking the source of the smoke. She finds it - a fire in an open square, surrounded by five gnolls cooking some unidentified meat. Vala reports this back to the others and, after some debate, they sneak in, fanning out behind several buildings to surround the gnolls. They attempt to frighten the creatures with a magical roar, resulting in the gnolls spreading out to search for the source.
Vala steps out to greet them, allowing the rest of her friends to remain hidden, and battle commences. It may have gone quite well, except that I'Un targets the leader of the group and manages to get himself surrounded. As it is, they pick off the gnolls and revive the fallen I'Un. They search the gnolls, finding some strange coins and a couple of items that may be magical.
And with that, week's game session comes to an end. Check back in another week to find out what happens in Episode 16.
Friday, May 03, 2019
Lark's Landing, Episode 65
Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.
You can find the previous episode here.
5th of Waning Fall, 1AL
As the 3rd Watch continue their adventure, they find themselves split in deciding what they want to do next. So, while Fiaeorri and T'Zaric are focusing on solving the puzzle wheel on the huge doors, the rest explore the secret room. There isn't much to be found there. Quib climbs the narrow ladder and begins to open the hatch at the top, but retreats the moment he hears gruff voices from above. Extang then, with Logan and Quib close behind, opens the door on the far end of the secret room, which opens up into a large room filled with barred cells and hallways going off to either side. Extang traipses out to investigate the cells, but finds himself being charged by a madly flailing orc. He retreats to the doorway, but the sound appears to have attracted another orc, as well as some spiky, hunched, one-eyed humanoid creatures - three from each of the hallways to the sides.
Quib stuns the three spiky creatures to the left while Extang promptly retreats to the doorway, where Logan takes up a defensive position, and prepares to attack anything that gets near. He does so when the first orc follows him, which collapses to the ground in the flames of his magic. However, as if falls, there's a shimmer in the air beside it and a brain on four stubby legs appears. It rakes its claws across Logan's armor, then releases a screech that causes him to go slack, swaying where he stands.
Terrified by this little brain, Extang releases a fireball, which kills the brain, but also takes down the other orc - which causes another brain to appear. When Logan fails to recover from whatever it was the first brain did, he and Quib drag Logan back into the secret room and close the door, where they are met by the rest of the group coming to see what is going on. No matter what they try, Logan isn't snapping out of his dazed state.
Not wanting to risk more interactions with those creatures on the other side of the door, Extang and T'Zaric re-open the door, blasting the area beyond with fireballs and killing everything out there. After a search of the caves, and harvesting the eyes from some of the creatures, all attention is turned back to Logan. Patrick is unable to do anything for him and suggests rest as the only possibility. They strip Logan's armor and settle him down to sleep, but before they join him, they go to perform a couple last experiments on the door in the other room, where they have discovered that pressing the ruby in the center of the wheel seems to produce magic to harm them, and also seems to block their magical attempts to bypass it. T'Zaric hears a mysterious voice suggesting that they are missing a piece of the puzzle.
Fiaeorri is the first up after they have rested, and she wakes up Patrick who she had asked to prepare his spell for speaking with the dead. They have a brief conversation with the big skull in the room, hoping to learn about the puzzle door, however it doesn't seem to know anything about it, and ends up informing them that it is a beholder and that they should be worshiping it.
During the conversation, Logan wakes up - and while he's recovered a little, he appears severely lacking in intelligence, to the point where he doesn't seem to understand language. They tie a rope around him for his own safety. Then T'Zaric wakes up, and he's returned to his old half-elven appearance, can't seem to fly anymore, and he seems to have lost a good chunk of his memory.
After much concern and puzzling, the group decides to ascend the ladder into the room above with the orcs. Fiaeorri goes up first, flinging open the hatch (she's angry because T'Zaric no longer seems to share her passion for killing) to see a room with eight orcs in it. Quib pops up, attempting to dazzle them with his magic and only stunning one of them, before dropping back down into the room and pointing up the ladder and saying there are bad things up there.
Fiaeorri decides that this was, perhaps, not the best idea and also retreats, covering the opening with an illusion - which is destroyed a moment later as Logan stupidly sticks his head up through it, who is followed by Extang who rushes up to blast the orcs in the room with a fireball. The orcs close in on them, attacking, and two of the orcs begin casting spells. Patrick tries to heal his friends while T'Zaric... T'zaric, after a moment of inaction, turns back into his smoky state and flies up into the room, releasing a devastating fireball that finishes off half the orcs, but also hits himself and all of his friends, the fire billowing down into the hatch below. The startled Logan falls down the stairs while Fiaeorri rushes back up to help.
Extang, hoping to duplicate T'Zaric's impact, and figuring that if one of them is risking hitting friends it's fair to reciprocate, sets off another fireball - though he aims it so it doesn't go down into the room below. Once the fire and smoke have cleared, two of the orcs are still standing - and T'Zaric has fallen from the air, unconscious, and returned to his half-elven form.
And that's where this week's game session ends. Join us next week to discover how all of this will turn out in Episode 66.
You can find the previous episode here.
5th of Waning Fall, 1AL
As the 3rd Watch continue their adventure, they find themselves split in deciding what they want to do next. So, while Fiaeorri and T'Zaric are focusing on solving the puzzle wheel on the huge doors, the rest explore the secret room. There isn't much to be found there. Quib climbs the narrow ladder and begins to open the hatch at the top, but retreats the moment he hears gruff voices from above. Extang then, with Logan and Quib close behind, opens the door on the far end of the secret room, which opens up into a large room filled with barred cells and hallways going off to either side. Extang traipses out to investigate the cells, but finds himself being charged by a madly flailing orc. He retreats to the doorway, but the sound appears to have attracted another orc, as well as some spiky, hunched, one-eyed humanoid creatures - three from each of the hallways to the sides.
Quib stuns the three spiky creatures to the left while Extang promptly retreats to the doorway, where Logan takes up a defensive position, and prepares to attack anything that gets near. He does so when the first orc follows him, which collapses to the ground in the flames of his magic. However, as if falls, there's a shimmer in the air beside it and a brain on four stubby legs appears. It rakes its claws across Logan's armor, then releases a screech that causes him to go slack, swaying where he stands.
Terrified by this little brain, Extang releases a fireball, which kills the brain, but also takes down the other orc - which causes another brain to appear. When Logan fails to recover from whatever it was the first brain did, he and Quib drag Logan back into the secret room and close the door, where they are met by the rest of the group coming to see what is going on. No matter what they try, Logan isn't snapping out of his dazed state.
Not wanting to risk more interactions with those creatures on the other side of the door, Extang and T'Zaric re-open the door, blasting the area beyond with fireballs and killing everything out there. After a search of the caves, and harvesting the eyes from some of the creatures, all attention is turned back to Logan. Patrick is unable to do anything for him and suggests rest as the only possibility. They strip Logan's armor and settle him down to sleep, but before they join him, they go to perform a couple last experiments on the door in the other room, where they have discovered that pressing the ruby in the center of the wheel seems to produce magic to harm them, and also seems to block their magical attempts to bypass it. T'Zaric hears a mysterious voice suggesting that they are missing a piece of the puzzle.
Fiaeorri is the first up after they have rested, and she wakes up Patrick who she had asked to prepare his spell for speaking with the dead. They have a brief conversation with the big skull in the room, hoping to learn about the puzzle door, however it doesn't seem to know anything about it, and ends up informing them that it is a beholder and that they should be worshiping it.
During the conversation, Logan wakes up - and while he's recovered a little, he appears severely lacking in intelligence, to the point where he doesn't seem to understand language. They tie a rope around him for his own safety. Then T'Zaric wakes up, and he's returned to his old half-elven appearance, can't seem to fly anymore, and he seems to have lost a good chunk of his memory.
After much concern and puzzling, the group decides to ascend the ladder into the room above with the orcs. Fiaeorri goes up first, flinging open the hatch (she's angry because T'Zaric no longer seems to share her passion for killing) to see a room with eight orcs in it. Quib pops up, attempting to dazzle them with his magic and only stunning one of them, before dropping back down into the room and pointing up the ladder and saying there are bad things up there.
Fiaeorri decides that this was, perhaps, not the best idea and also retreats, covering the opening with an illusion - which is destroyed a moment later as Logan stupidly sticks his head up through it, who is followed by Extang who rushes up to blast the orcs in the room with a fireball. The orcs close in on them, attacking, and two of the orcs begin casting spells. Patrick tries to heal his friends while T'Zaric... T'zaric, after a moment of inaction, turns back into his smoky state and flies up into the room, releasing a devastating fireball that finishes off half the orcs, but also hits himself and all of his friends, the fire billowing down into the hatch below. The startled Logan falls down the stairs while Fiaeorri rushes back up to help.
Extang, hoping to duplicate T'Zaric's impact, and figuring that if one of them is risking hitting friends it's fair to reciprocate, sets off another fireball - though he aims it so it doesn't go down into the room below. Once the fire and smoke have cleared, two of the orcs are still standing - and T'Zaric has fallen from the air, unconscious, and returned to his half-elven form.
And that's where this week's game session ends. Join us next week to discover how all of this will turn out in Episode 66.
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