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.
1st-5th of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Eventually, a large gathering grows at the Spring Festival as the survivors of the Spring Blossom gather to determine the future of their settlement's leadership. There are many presentations made, and a number of arguments, and our heroes actively engaged - bringing up the importance of establishing some sort of defensive system as well, though they don't particularly like the idea of tax system being needed to pay for it as many of the presenters seem eager to establish a monetary system.
Throughout the presentation, Jojen uses small illusions to emphasize or ridicule what a speaker is saying. This causes a bit of trouble when I'Un is up presenting the need for the strong to be in charge of the settlement, as the monk has noticed Jojen is the source of the trouble and rats him out because he won't stop. Jojen responds to this by casting a charm spell on I'Un, and suggesting that he perform the drunken dance that he's been practicing - which I'Un does very badly.
After the presentations are done, people begin discussing which options they like best and preparing for a proper vote. Our group of heroes, exhausted by all the politics, head off home for a bit of a rest - except for Jojen and I'Un. As the charm spell wears off, I'Un becomes aware of what Jojen did and lures him out into the woods, where he punches him and warns him to never mess with his head again. It may have ended there, but Jojen strikes back with his spells, and an all-out fight begins. I'Un ends up leaving Jojen in the woods, unconscious, and informs the priest Glavel that he's there before heading home.
After he wakes up, Jojen spreads the word about how I'Un attacked him and is extremely dangerous, unpredictable, and completely unsuited for leadership. He emphasizes this point more subtly when he puts on his festival performance that evening, which everyone in the group has returned for. After that, the vote takes place for what their political system will become, and they all head off to bed.
The next day, Jojen storms off early in the morning, wanting to avoid I'Un. Vala also heads out to seek the results of the vote, and discovers that a suggestion she made won - a system that, instead of using a council of one type of person or a monarch, has an adviser from each of the suggested councils to support a single leader. In this case, that leader is the young priest, Glavel, who doesn't particularly want to lead, but he is willing to accept the responsibility since a lot of people seem to want him to.
Back at their home, Luna urgently informs the others that she needs to get away from the settlement. When questioned, she explains that her 24th birthday is coming up on the 5th of this month, and in the temple she grew up in dragons always come to lick people on their 24th birthday. I'Un and John decide that it would be a very good idea to not have a dragon come to their settlement, so the three pack up and head inland for the grasslands where a dragon might have an easier time landing.
Seeing the three leaving the settlement, Vala, who has caught up with Jojen, suggests going after them. Jojen grudgingly agrees, but only so long as they are sneaking and not officially "with" them. They travel up the river for two days, Jojen and Vala keeping out of sight. At the edge of the woods, they come to the plains and see a couple of creatures that look like a cross between birds and deer eating a bear.
Jojen casts faerie fire on John and I'Un over by Luna, lighting them up with non-magical flames in an attempt to draw the creatures' attention to them - which succeeds. They battle the vicious creatures and take them down, though Jojen has to revive I'Un when he falls unconscious to the claws of one of them. After a brief feud between John and Jojen over the faerie fire, the group settles down for the night.
The next day, they make their plans for the potential arrival of a dragon coming to lick Luna. They settle on Luna staying here by the edge of the woods, with Vala electing to stay with her to deal with whatever comes, while the others choose to hide some distance into the woods - close enough to help if needed. They wait out the day and the night...
The next morning, Luna finds a gold coin with a platinum sickle imprinted on it balanced on top of the egg she carries everywhere with her. She pockets it and settles down to wait for dragons to come. After a while, she notices the egg beginning to rock a little. Then she hears a cracking sound.
And that's where this week's game session ends. Find out what's inside the egg next week in Episode 15.
Friday, April 26, 2019
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Lark's Landing, Episode 64
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
The 3rd Watch have a late start to the day in the dark hallways beneath the castle they found. On their first foray out of the strange room that brought them down here, they took the hall to the right. This time, Fiaeorri suggests heading to the left. They Head down the tunnel, where they find a door to their left, leading into a large room with a door just visible on the opposite wall at the far end of the room. Extand sends his bat familiar in to check out the room - only to have it killed as some sort of strange rain begins.
In spite of having seen the rain, the floor isn't wet and there's nowhere in the ceiling for it to come from. They wait for Extang to ritually cast a spell to detect magic, and he can see that the ceiling is magic. They begin discussing what to do about this, but they don't get far before Logan charges across the room. The rain starts again, but he makes it to the door and opens it before being knocked to the ground. T'Zaric teleports across to the hallway beyond and manages to toss him a rope and pull him out of the rain.
The rain, which seems to switch between different types of elemental damage, vanishes without a trace. They begin considering other ways to get across the room when Fiaeorri runs out into the room, triggering the rain again and falling down halfway across the room. Patrick runs out to save her, and also falls down. T'Zaric trows a rope to Fiaeorri while Quib runs out and teleports himself and Patrick out of the room to the hallway with T'Zaric. Fiaeorri grabs the rope and is pulled in by Logan and T'Zaric. Seeing that he's the last one on this side of the room, Extang teleports halfway across the room and runs the rest of the way out.
Relatively safely on the other side, they continue through twisting and branching tunnels, often deciding which way to turn with the flip of a coin. They find a room with three creatures that look like floating brains with beaks and tentacles, which promptly attack. Then three more attack from behind, grabbing Patrick. Quib and T'Zaric rush to the rescue, but Quib's spell makes the creature holding Patrick run away - dragging Patrick with it. Partick is so terrified he bursts into a radiant light that hurts all the creatures close to him, but himself as well.
The creatures are slowly eliminated, and the room searched - revealing only rotted wood and rusted metal debris. They backtrack to take another route, and find another room with a summoning circle on the floor. Further up, the hall turns, but Extang notices some magical runes along the base of the walls using his detect magic spell. T'Zaric flies down the hall alone to scout ahead. Just as the corner behind him gets out of sight, something triggers. Suddenly, a big metal ball comes roaring down the hall and crashes into him. He dodges the brunt of the blow, but it still hurts a lot. He books it for the end of the hall, where he can see a magical portal and a corner to dodge around. He gets hit again as the ball crashes by again before he makes it around the corner. He sees the ball pass by one more time before the portal vanishes.
At the other end, the group sees the portal open and the ball go rushing past three times before the portal closes again. Pressing up against the wall in the direction T'Zaric went, Fiaeorri is able to make magical contact with him, learning that he's very badly injured, but still alive. She gets him to describe the halls and doors around him, and he offers to teleport back, but she suggests another option first, believing there may be a way to circle around and meet up with him. The group tries this, but upon the layout of the pathways being different than they expected, they head back and get T'Zaric to teleport over to them after all.
They then return to the path that they'd just explored to open a door to the new room, where Fiaeorri immediately sees a large number of what are probably pit traps covering the floor. Extang enters the room, poking around with his 10 foot pole hoping to trigger any traps without getting hit. Fiaeorri tries to guide him, but he doesn't see what she's trying to point out, so he falls into a pit-trap - but his belt of feather-falling lets him safely drift down, and his magical boots make it easy for him to jump out again. He combs the entire room, falling into many pits, but also finding the safe places. He also stumbles upon a pressure-plate that flares radiant energy through the whole room, hurting him and Fiaeorri - who backs out of the room. Extang finishes the job, with a clear safe path to the far door marked, then rejoins the rest of the group in the hallway.
There, they take a brief rest to tend their wounds - though Extang takes the time to re-summon his familiar, as an owl this time. They then move through the room, to the hall beyond, with another debris-filled room behind one door, and a huge, marble-floored room behind the other. They carefully enter this room, seeing another door on the far side, and to their left a huge pair of metal doors. In the center of the doors is inset a large ruby, surrounded by seven rings of stones, each carved with a variety of symbols and able to be turned. Below this whole structure is engraved in draconic, "Left to right, middle to top, reverse the bottom, then press and stop."
Most of the group immediately set to figuring out this puzzle, but Patrick takes a look around the rest of the room and finds a secret door. He needs to get help to find the mechanism for opening it, and then they decide not to open it right away - well... most of them do. Extang opens the door himself, and finds a dusty room filled with benches, a number of empty glass jars, and with various strange tools hanging from the walls. On a table in the middle of the room sits a large skull with a single large eye-socket, and a gaping, sharp-toothed mouth.
And that bring this week's game session to an end. Return next week to discover what happens in Episode 65.
You can find the previous episode here.
5th of Waning Fall, 1AL
The 3rd Watch have a late start to the day in the dark hallways beneath the castle they found. On their first foray out of the strange room that brought them down here, they took the hall to the right. This time, Fiaeorri suggests heading to the left. They Head down the tunnel, where they find a door to their left, leading into a large room with a door just visible on the opposite wall at the far end of the room. Extand sends his bat familiar in to check out the room - only to have it killed as some sort of strange rain begins.
In spite of having seen the rain, the floor isn't wet and there's nowhere in the ceiling for it to come from. They wait for Extang to ritually cast a spell to detect magic, and he can see that the ceiling is magic. They begin discussing what to do about this, but they don't get far before Logan charges across the room. The rain starts again, but he makes it to the door and opens it before being knocked to the ground. T'Zaric teleports across to the hallway beyond and manages to toss him a rope and pull him out of the rain.
The rain, which seems to switch between different types of elemental damage, vanishes without a trace. They begin considering other ways to get across the room when Fiaeorri runs out into the room, triggering the rain again and falling down halfway across the room. Patrick runs out to save her, and also falls down. T'Zaric trows a rope to Fiaeorri while Quib runs out and teleports himself and Patrick out of the room to the hallway with T'Zaric. Fiaeorri grabs the rope and is pulled in by Logan and T'Zaric. Seeing that he's the last one on this side of the room, Extang teleports halfway across the room and runs the rest of the way out.
Relatively safely on the other side, they continue through twisting and branching tunnels, often deciding which way to turn with the flip of a coin. They find a room with three creatures that look like floating brains with beaks and tentacles, which promptly attack. Then three more attack from behind, grabbing Patrick. Quib and T'Zaric rush to the rescue, but Quib's spell makes the creature holding Patrick run away - dragging Patrick with it. Partick is so terrified he bursts into a radiant light that hurts all the creatures close to him, but himself as well.
The creatures are slowly eliminated, and the room searched - revealing only rotted wood and rusted metal debris. They backtrack to take another route, and find another room with a summoning circle on the floor. Further up, the hall turns, but Extang notices some magical runes along the base of the walls using his detect magic spell. T'Zaric flies down the hall alone to scout ahead. Just as the corner behind him gets out of sight, something triggers. Suddenly, a big metal ball comes roaring down the hall and crashes into him. He dodges the brunt of the blow, but it still hurts a lot. He books it for the end of the hall, where he can see a magical portal and a corner to dodge around. He gets hit again as the ball crashes by again before he makes it around the corner. He sees the ball pass by one more time before the portal vanishes.
At the other end, the group sees the portal open and the ball go rushing past three times before the portal closes again. Pressing up against the wall in the direction T'Zaric went, Fiaeorri is able to make magical contact with him, learning that he's very badly injured, but still alive. She gets him to describe the halls and doors around him, and he offers to teleport back, but she suggests another option first, believing there may be a way to circle around and meet up with him. The group tries this, but upon the layout of the pathways being different than they expected, they head back and get T'Zaric to teleport over to them after all.
They then return to the path that they'd just explored to open a door to the new room, where Fiaeorri immediately sees a large number of what are probably pit traps covering the floor. Extang enters the room, poking around with his 10 foot pole hoping to trigger any traps without getting hit. Fiaeorri tries to guide him, but he doesn't see what she's trying to point out, so he falls into a pit-trap - but his belt of feather-falling lets him safely drift down, and his magical boots make it easy for him to jump out again. He combs the entire room, falling into many pits, but also finding the safe places. He also stumbles upon a pressure-plate that flares radiant energy through the whole room, hurting him and Fiaeorri - who backs out of the room. Extang finishes the job, with a clear safe path to the far door marked, then rejoins the rest of the group in the hallway.
There, they take a brief rest to tend their wounds - though Extang takes the time to re-summon his familiar, as an owl this time. They then move through the room, to the hall beyond, with another debris-filled room behind one door, and a huge, marble-floored room behind the other. They carefully enter this room, seeing another door on the far side, and to their left a huge pair of metal doors. In the center of the doors is inset a large ruby, surrounded by seven rings of stones, each carved with a variety of symbols and able to be turned. Below this whole structure is engraved in draconic, "Left to right, middle to top, reverse the bottom, then press and stop."
Most of the group immediately set to figuring out this puzzle, but Patrick takes a look around the rest of the room and finds a secret door. He needs to get help to find the mechanism for opening it, and then they decide not to open it right away - well... most of them do. Extang opens the door himself, and finds a dusty room filled with benches, a number of empty glass jars, and with various strange tools hanging from the walls. On a table in the middle of the room sits a large skull with a single large eye-socket, and a gaping, sharp-toothed mouth.
And that bring this week's game session to an end. Return next week to discover what happens in Episode 65.
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Blossom Fall, Episode 13
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.
33rd of Waxing Spring - 1st of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Continuing on their journey home, our group of adventurers begin to plot for the potential robbery of the general store being established by the tiefling, Atsnid. John and Leshanna talk a bit about her history, revealing a bit about her past and the problems with her unstable memory. I'Un goes on a mission to find mushrooms, and begins collecting and eating some. Luna tries to find flowers, and has some trouble the first couple days, but finally manages to put together a bouquet which she gives to Jojen, apologizing for accidentally burning him in a previous fight. Jojen says he accepts the apology, but he intends to subtly throw the flowers as soon as he can. Unfortunately, he's a bit overeager to be rid of them, and throws them straight up into the air immediately.
They get a bit turned around on the journey, but when they reach the river they get back on track heading home. When they reach the cave they'd found on their first venture, they discover that there are some people mining in it, and they have a shouted conversation with them over the river. Then they push on through the night to make it the rest of the way home.
Over the next few days, John recruits Leshanna to help him with collecting river stones to make a floor in his house. Luna, in anticipation of the upcoming festival, goes off alone to practice dancing. Jojen returns the navigator's kit to Opal and checks in with Silo, Lord Krandig, and Woo-die. Vala arranges for Jojen to cut a gem for Atsnid in exchange for cutting a gem, and he subsequently cuts another gem in return for some adventuring gear. I'Un also pays a visit to Woo-die, trying to get a bit of information about Jojen's past and how the part-orc came to be in his current condition, gaining only fragments of information. Woo-die's parting and secretive advice is to not eat the mushrooms, which considerably alarms I'Un.
The first of Waning Spring rolls around, the day of the Spring Festival. Jojen awakens and feels something cold resting on his forehead. He grabs it in alarm and finds himself holding a platinum coin with a gold inlay of three blades of grass. He immediately recognizes the symbol of Fauma, his goddess and the goddess who is celebrated by today's festival, but he is quite alarmed by its sudden appearance. Where did it come from, and who could have left it on his head?
He rushes out to find Glavel, turning aside Luna who had heard his distress. He finds the priest in his lean-to by the temple, as well as I'Un, and asks about the coin. I'Un and Glavel are quite interested, but neither of them have ever heard of such a coin. They do, however, detect traces of magic from it, so Jojen spends an hour determining that it has a one-time use of casting a spell to identify magical properties. This only sparks more interest into why he's been given it, and for what purpose. Jojen isn't sure, but he does reveal a little about his past - that his mother and grandmother were priestesses of Fauma, and that today is his birthday.
As he's talking, the rest of the group - all ready and prepared for the festival - come out of the woods and join in the anxious conversation. They're all bemused by the coin, especially when Jojen and Vala put their heads together and determine that the coin should be impossible to make, with the platinum and gold appearing to be the same metal. Luna happily informs them that the symbol on the coin represents the wife of her god.
Believing that they've discovered all they can, the group heads towards the festival, where they are mobbed by a group of children who hand the seashells as tickets for the games they've arranged for the festival. I'Un, disturbed by this coin, hands his shells off to Jojen and goes off to the tavern to be alone - and to share his idea for brewing with mushrooms with his brewing buddy, Kendrik.
The rest of the group go off to enjoy the various games - paying their seashells to enter, and occasionally winning prizes - some of which appear worthless, while others appear to be quite valuable. However, there is still a much-anticipated part of the day coming up for the group; the open forum on the political future of their little settlement.
However, that's where this week's game session comes to an end. Find out what happens next in Episode 14.
You can find the previous episode here.
33rd of Waxing Spring - 1st of Waning Spring, 0 AL
Continuing on their journey home, our group of adventurers begin to plot for the potential robbery of the general store being established by the tiefling, Atsnid. John and Leshanna talk a bit about her history, revealing a bit about her past and the problems with her unstable memory. I'Un goes on a mission to find mushrooms, and begins collecting and eating some. Luna tries to find flowers, and has some trouble the first couple days, but finally manages to put together a bouquet which she gives to Jojen, apologizing for accidentally burning him in a previous fight. Jojen says he accepts the apology, but he intends to subtly throw the flowers as soon as he can. Unfortunately, he's a bit overeager to be rid of them, and throws them straight up into the air immediately.
They get a bit turned around on the journey, but when they reach the river they get back on track heading home. When they reach the cave they'd found on their first venture, they discover that there are some people mining in it, and they have a shouted conversation with them over the river. Then they push on through the night to make it the rest of the way home.
Over the next few days, John recruits Leshanna to help him with collecting river stones to make a floor in his house. Luna, in anticipation of the upcoming festival, goes off alone to practice dancing. Jojen returns the navigator's kit to Opal and checks in with Silo, Lord Krandig, and Woo-die. Vala arranges for Jojen to cut a gem for Atsnid in exchange for cutting a gem, and he subsequently cuts another gem in return for some adventuring gear. I'Un also pays a visit to Woo-die, trying to get a bit of information about Jojen's past and how the part-orc came to be in his current condition, gaining only fragments of information. Woo-die's parting and secretive advice is to not eat the mushrooms, which considerably alarms I'Un.
The first of Waning Spring rolls around, the day of the Spring Festival. Jojen awakens and feels something cold resting on his forehead. He grabs it in alarm and finds himself holding a platinum coin with a gold inlay of three blades of grass. He immediately recognizes the symbol of Fauma, his goddess and the goddess who is celebrated by today's festival, but he is quite alarmed by its sudden appearance. Where did it come from, and who could have left it on his head?
He rushes out to find Glavel, turning aside Luna who had heard his distress. He finds the priest in his lean-to by the temple, as well as I'Un, and asks about the coin. I'Un and Glavel are quite interested, but neither of them have ever heard of such a coin. They do, however, detect traces of magic from it, so Jojen spends an hour determining that it has a one-time use of casting a spell to identify magical properties. This only sparks more interest into why he's been given it, and for what purpose. Jojen isn't sure, but he does reveal a little about his past - that his mother and grandmother were priestesses of Fauma, and that today is his birthday.
As he's talking, the rest of the group - all ready and prepared for the festival - come out of the woods and join in the anxious conversation. They're all bemused by the coin, especially when Jojen and Vala put their heads together and determine that the coin should be impossible to make, with the platinum and gold appearing to be the same metal. Luna happily informs them that the symbol on the coin represents the wife of her god.
Believing that they've discovered all they can, the group heads towards the festival, where they are mobbed by a group of children who hand the seashells as tickets for the games they've arranged for the festival. I'Un, disturbed by this coin, hands his shells off to Jojen and goes off to the tavern to be alone - and to share his idea for brewing with mushrooms with his brewing buddy, Kendrik.
The rest of the group go off to enjoy the various games - paying their seashells to enter, and occasionally winning prizes - some of which appear worthless, while others appear to be quite valuable. However, there is still a much-anticipated part of the day coming up for the group; the open forum on the political future of their little settlement.
However, that's where this week's game session comes to an end. Find out what happens next in Episode 14.
Friday, April 19, 2019
Lark's Landing, Episode 63
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.
4th-5th of Waning Fall, 1AL
Patrick and T'Zaric, having decided that it was too dangerous for their friends to go to an orc-inhabited castle all by themselves, follow the odd trail of the rest of the 3rd Watch and find themselves, in the middle of the night, reconvening with the rest of the group at the castle's drawbridge just as Fiaeorri creaks open a door... then gets pulled inside by something.
The group rushes through the door, finding Fiaeorri already pretty beaten up by four orc - but the tide of battle quickly turns and the orcs are cut down and subsequently searched for treasure - revealing a collection of several different kinds of coins.
The room the battle dragged them into has some battered chars and a broken table, but also a door on the far side. Logan peeks through this and finds an empty room with some destroyed chests and some broken, mattress-less beds.
Feeling ready to go on, they head back out into the wide, well-lit hallway. They know the doors across from them lead to some sort of kennels, but they aren't concerned with that right now, as the canines inside lack the thumbs required for opening doors. However, further up the hall there are four double-doors to investigate. Fiaeorri moves ahead of the group to carefully listen at and examine each of these. Finding nothing, Extang follows behind, sending his bat familiar inside each room to scout - the first room on the left is a large room with mostly damaged and destroyed benches, chairs, low tables, a tarnished mirror on one wall, and double-doors at the far end. The next rooms on both the right and left are smaller, but similarly attired rooms, both with double-doors at the far end. The final door on the right leads into a hall with a double-door at the far end, and a door to the right.
Determining there are no hidden enemies, the entire group heads into the first, larger room. Extang asks for some time to ritually cast a detect magic spell, which they give him while they wander around the room, checking the new doors for sounds from the other side and to ensure it isn't trapped, and searching for anything valuable. When the spell is done, Extang says that he can detect some magic from the new doors - which Quib promptly attempts to push open. The doors don't open - however, the doors they came through slam shut and Extang sees a flare of magic shoot through the whole room, then vanish.
Quib rushes across the room and flings open the doors - discovering a dark, dank hallway beyond, which is definitely not the hallway that was there before. He tries the other doors again, but they still don't open, and nothing changes. They're no longer certain where they are - or if they're even on the same plane of existence. Taking a gamble, T'Zaric teleports himself 500 feet straight up and finds himself above one of the castle's towers - though farther from the castle's entrance than where he estimates they were inside. Gauging the distance, he believes the group is below ground level, and he teleports back down to report this.
Relieved that they're at least still on the correct plane, the begin very carefully exploring this new, dark, dank place. They choose to go right down the hallway, which carries on for some time before turning left at an open doorway to a room. The room is empty, but there's a circle of odd markings on the floor. Extang's detect magic spell has worn off, so he wants to cast it again, and T'Zaric wants to take the time to use a magical scale that allows him to cast a spell to detect particularly good or evil beings - so, the group pauses.
However, partway through the spell, they are attacked by flaming-eyed, fire-breathing dogs coming from further down the hall. The 3rd Watch leap into battle, fighting back, and find, coming out of the darkness, two more enemies. These green floating heads have one eye, but they have four smaller ones on eye-stalks sprouting out of them from which they shoot beams of magic. Though it is discovered that the hounds are immune to fire, and Logan and Fiaeorri get temporarily paralyzed by the beams from the floating green creatures, the battle is won and everyone survives.
Some eyes are harvested from the green creatures, identified as spectators with the help of Quib's former-master's notes, and T'Zaric and Extang return to casting their ritual spells. Extang's spell reveals that the circle of runes on the floor are magical, though their magic is dormant, and of the school of conjuration. He and Quib then put together their heads and are able to work out that this circle can be used to summon creatures from multiple planes of existence, though they have no idea how to make it work.
Patrick suggests that they could really use some sleep, and everyone agrees. They make their way back to the room that first brought them down here, close themselves in, and bed down for the night. When they wake up, T'Zaric, with his uncanny sense of time, is able to tell them that it's late in the morning.
And that's where this week's game session comes to an end. Join us next week as the 3rd Watch continue their explorations of this castle in Episode 64.
You can find the previous episode here.
4th-5th of Waning Fall, 1AL
Patrick and T'Zaric, having decided that it was too dangerous for their friends to go to an orc-inhabited castle all by themselves, follow the odd trail of the rest of the 3rd Watch and find themselves, in the middle of the night, reconvening with the rest of the group at the castle's drawbridge just as Fiaeorri creaks open a door... then gets pulled inside by something.
The group rushes through the door, finding Fiaeorri already pretty beaten up by four orc - but the tide of battle quickly turns and the orcs are cut down and subsequently searched for treasure - revealing a collection of several different kinds of coins.
The room the battle dragged them into has some battered chars and a broken table, but also a door on the far side. Logan peeks through this and finds an empty room with some destroyed chests and some broken, mattress-less beds.
Feeling ready to go on, they head back out into the wide, well-lit hallway. They know the doors across from them lead to some sort of kennels, but they aren't concerned with that right now, as the canines inside lack the thumbs required for opening doors. However, further up the hall there are four double-doors to investigate. Fiaeorri moves ahead of the group to carefully listen at and examine each of these. Finding nothing, Extang follows behind, sending his bat familiar inside each room to scout - the first room on the left is a large room with mostly damaged and destroyed benches, chairs, low tables, a tarnished mirror on one wall, and double-doors at the far end. The next rooms on both the right and left are smaller, but similarly attired rooms, both with double-doors at the far end. The final door on the right leads into a hall with a double-door at the far end, and a door to the right.
Determining there are no hidden enemies, the entire group heads into the first, larger room. Extang asks for some time to ritually cast a detect magic spell, which they give him while they wander around the room, checking the new doors for sounds from the other side and to ensure it isn't trapped, and searching for anything valuable. When the spell is done, Extang says that he can detect some magic from the new doors - which Quib promptly attempts to push open. The doors don't open - however, the doors they came through slam shut and Extang sees a flare of magic shoot through the whole room, then vanish.
Quib rushes across the room and flings open the doors - discovering a dark, dank hallway beyond, which is definitely not the hallway that was there before. He tries the other doors again, but they still don't open, and nothing changes. They're no longer certain where they are - or if they're even on the same plane of existence. Taking a gamble, T'Zaric teleports himself 500 feet straight up and finds himself above one of the castle's towers - though farther from the castle's entrance than where he estimates they were inside. Gauging the distance, he believes the group is below ground level, and he teleports back down to report this.
Relieved that they're at least still on the correct plane, the begin very carefully exploring this new, dark, dank place. They choose to go right down the hallway, which carries on for some time before turning left at an open doorway to a room. The room is empty, but there's a circle of odd markings on the floor. Extang's detect magic spell has worn off, so he wants to cast it again, and T'Zaric wants to take the time to use a magical scale that allows him to cast a spell to detect particularly good or evil beings - so, the group pauses.
However, partway through the spell, they are attacked by flaming-eyed, fire-breathing dogs coming from further down the hall. The 3rd Watch leap into battle, fighting back, and find, coming out of the darkness, two more enemies. These green floating heads have one eye, but they have four smaller ones on eye-stalks sprouting out of them from which they shoot beams of magic. Though it is discovered that the hounds are immune to fire, and Logan and Fiaeorri get temporarily paralyzed by the beams from the floating green creatures, the battle is won and everyone survives.
Some eyes are harvested from the green creatures, identified as spectators with the help of Quib's former-master's notes, and T'Zaric and Extang return to casting their ritual spells. Extang's spell reveals that the circle of runes on the floor are magical, though their magic is dormant, and of the school of conjuration. He and Quib then put together their heads and are able to work out that this circle can be used to summon creatures from multiple planes of existence, though they have no idea how to make it work.
Patrick suggests that they could really use some sleep, and everyone agrees. They make their way back to the room that first brought them down here, close themselves in, and bed down for the night. When they wake up, T'Zaric, with his uncanny sense of time, is able to tell them that it's late in the morning.
And that's where this week's game session comes to an end. Join us next week as the 3rd Watch continue their explorations of this castle in Episode 64.
Sunday, April 07, 2019
Blossom Fall, Episode 12
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.
29th-33rd of Waxing Spring, 0 AL
Having recently fought some giant crabs, and some water, out group of heroes takes a break to recuperate and harvest some crab meat. As they are preparing to head on their way, they discuss that they should probably stick closer to the treeline to keep Jojen away from the water - as he appears to be prone to drowning. Jojen insists that he has no problem with the water, while wandering over to aggressively stab the ocean with his rapier. I'Un and John try to manhandle him away from the ocean, which makes Jojen decide to go for a swim to prove that there's nothing to fear.
Jojen wades out into the ocean... and suddenly gets caught in an undertow and pulled under. It takes Vala and I'Un to drag him out again. This time Jojen doesn't resist being carried away from the water.
The group continues following the coast for the rest of the day. By evening, the beach has slowly faded away, to be replaced by a steady incline and cliffs dropping down to the ocean. They make camp well away from the cliffs and John cooks the crab - very badly as it turns out, which is quickly apparent to Vala who is very angry about John trying to poison her, though her attempts to stomp on his foot fail.
During the watches in the night, I'Un discusses goals with Jojen. Then, on Vala's watch, to get revenge on John she steals a pouch of money from him while he's sleeping. John doesn't notice until halfway through the next day, when he spots Vala carrying the pouch, however she refuses to give it back and snatches it away when John tries to grab it. When John tries to push Vala off the cliff, to the ocean hundreds of feet below, I'Un and Jojen intervene - with I'Un sneakily stealing the pouch. The argument calms a little, and ends when I'Un shows that he now has the pouch, and says that he will be holding onto it for now. It is, after all, the pouch of strange coins they found in this land that they had agreed to keep separate for now, to divide up later.
They continue on for the rest of the day and camp that night. When they continue in the morning, they find the coastline curving in to the east, and the cliffs getting lower until - a little ways into the afternoon - they find themselves on the edge of a swampy marsh. They begin discussing their next direction. Vala is adamant about not going into the marsh, reminding the group of the dragon they heard about that lives in a swamp inland to the north. Jojen wants to make sure they return home for the Spring Festival and the political forum intending to be held then.
They are suddenly interrupted by three giant toads leaping out of the swamp and landing amidst them. I'Un quickly throws Vala on top of one of them, just in time to be grabbed in the toad's mouth - which he takes advantage of by attacking the softer inner-tissue. Jojen works to support his friends, while John goes after one of the toads, and Leshanna hacks away at the third toad as it grabs Luna in its mouth.
The battle doesn't seem to be going too badly until I'Un is swallowed by the toad holding him. Between Vala stabbing at the toad's head, and I'Un pummeling its insides, the toad is killed. I'Un crawls out just in time to see Luna get swallowed. The group converges on the two remaining toads, managing to kill them, but Luna is still inside one of them - and she hasn't been showing signs of fighting for some time. Leshanna slashes a cut into the toad's stomach as I'Un crawls inside - then drags Luna out through the hole Leshanna made. Luna is on the edge of death, but John is able to stabilize her.
This fight confirms for them that they don't want to go into the marsh. They decide to set a course straight north, through the woods, before heading back west to their camp. On their second night, they camp near a small hot geyser they came across - though far enough not to be sprayed. During a shared watch shift, I'Un approaches Vala, asking her to keep a secret as a friend. Vala has trouble with this concept, but eventually agrees, in exchange for being given the pouch of coins to hold onto. I'Un then reveals his back, showing a remarkable tattoo that appears to be at least somewhat magical. I'Un explains that protecting this tattoo is why he has to stay alive - why he hid in the barrel on the ship rather than helping to save it - and that it's the greatest secret of his order. He doesn't fully understand what it is, but he knows he has to keep it safe from those who would abuse its power.
And with that, this week's game session comes to an end. Check back in two weeks to find out what happens in Episode 13.
You can find the previous episode here.
29th-33rd of Waxing Spring, 0 AL
Having recently fought some giant crabs, and some water, out group of heroes takes a break to recuperate and harvest some crab meat. As they are preparing to head on their way, they discuss that they should probably stick closer to the treeline to keep Jojen away from the water - as he appears to be prone to drowning. Jojen insists that he has no problem with the water, while wandering over to aggressively stab the ocean with his rapier. I'Un and John try to manhandle him away from the ocean, which makes Jojen decide to go for a swim to prove that there's nothing to fear.
Jojen wades out into the ocean... and suddenly gets caught in an undertow and pulled under. It takes Vala and I'Un to drag him out again. This time Jojen doesn't resist being carried away from the water.
The group continues following the coast for the rest of the day. By evening, the beach has slowly faded away, to be replaced by a steady incline and cliffs dropping down to the ocean. They make camp well away from the cliffs and John cooks the crab - very badly as it turns out, which is quickly apparent to Vala who is very angry about John trying to poison her, though her attempts to stomp on his foot fail.
During the watches in the night, I'Un discusses goals with Jojen. Then, on Vala's watch, to get revenge on John she steals a pouch of money from him while he's sleeping. John doesn't notice until halfway through the next day, when he spots Vala carrying the pouch, however she refuses to give it back and snatches it away when John tries to grab it. When John tries to push Vala off the cliff, to the ocean hundreds of feet below, I'Un and Jojen intervene - with I'Un sneakily stealing the pouch. The argument calms a little, and ends when I'Un shows that he now has the pouch, and says that he will be holding onto it for now. It is, after all, the pouch of strange coins they found in this land that they had agreed to keep separate for now, to divide up later.
They continue on for the rest of the day and camp that night. When they continue in the morning, they find the coastline curving in to the east, and the cliffs getting lower until - a little ways into the afternoon - they find themselves on the edge of a swampy marsh. They begin discussing their next direction. Vala is adamant about not going into the marsh, reminding the group of the dragon they heard about that lives in a swamp inland to the north. Jojen wants to make sure they return home for the Spring Festival and the political forum intending to be held then.
They are suddenly interrupted by three giant toads leaping out of the swamp and landing amidst them. I'Un quickly throws Vala on top of one of them, just in time to be grabbed in the toad's mouth - which he takes advantage of by attacking the softer inner-tissue. Jojen works to support his friends, while John goes after one of the toads, and Leshanna hacks away at the third toad as it grabs Luna in its mouth.
The battle doesn't seem to be going too badly until I'Un is swallowed by the toad holding him. Between Vala stabbing at the toad's head, and I'Un pummeling its insides, the toad is killed. I'Un crawls out just in time to see Luna get swallowed. The group converges on the two remaining toads, managing to kill them, but Luna is still inside one of them - and she hasn't been showing signs of fighting for some time. Leshanna slashes a cut into the toad's stomach as I'Un crawls inside - then drags Luna out through the hole Leshanna made. Luna is on the edge of death, but John is able to stabilize her.
This fight confirms for them that they don't want to go into the marsh. They decide to set a course straight north, through the woods, before heading back west to their camp. On their second night, they camp near a small hot geyser they came across - though far enough not to be sprayed. During a shared watch shift, I'Un approaches Vala, asking her to keep a secret as a friend. Vala has trouble with this concept, but eventually agrees, in exchange for being given the pouch of coins to hold onto. I'Un then reveals his back, showing a remarkable tattoo that appears to be at least somewhat magical. I'Un explains that protecting this tattoo is why he has to stay alive - why he hid in the barrel on the ship rather than helping to save it - and that it's the greatest secret of his order. He doesn't fully understand what it is, but he knows he has to keep it safe from those who would abuse its power.
And with that, this week's game session comes to an end. Check back in two weeks to find out what happens in Episode 13.
Saturday, April 06, 2019
Lark's Landing, Episode 62
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.
3rd-4th of Waning Fall, 1AL
The 3rd Watch is setting out to continue securing the area around the white stone building so the new settlement, but Patrick - irritable an unhappy about not being able to save everyone - opts to stay behind, and T'Zaric flies off to do his own thing. Fiaeorri leaves Ruby behind with Patrick and the other four head off - first going to the cave that's an hour away that T'Zaric mentioned having dangerous-looking creatures residing in it.
Reaching the cave, the group stand near the pool while Extang sends his snake familiar inside, magically observing through its eyes. The familiar gets a ways inside the cave before the ground begins to tremble, then something bursting out of the ground kills it. Around the same time, a large, stony-skinned creature bursts out of the ground outside the cave, leaping into the air and piling into Quib and Logan.
It is a strange fight for the group, with the tough creatures frequently retreating into the ground, making it hard to fight them. Fiaeorri keeps to her word to not use Renn in this fight - sticking to her bow to prove that the sentient sword holds no sway over her. However, after much maneuvering, and waiting for the next eruption of dirt, they manage to slay the beasts.
Fiaeorri does a cursory sweep of the cave, looking for anything that was missed when earlier members of the 3rd Watch cleared lions out of this cave, but finds nothing more interesting than the child-like drawings on the walls that depict monsters destroying cities and people fleeing. On their way out, they take a brief rest while Fiaeorri sets a trap on the cave entrance.
They briefly head back to the white stone building before setting out towards the castle T'Zaric had spotted. They find the river and follow along it, keeping their eyes open for a good place to cross. As evening begins to fall, they are surprised by an enormous crocodile that comes charging out of the water - but Extang quickly banishes it to another plane of existence long enough for them to get away.
They camp for the night and continue on in the morning, crossing the river with a magical whistle of flying and boots of jumping. After a few more hours of travel, they come to a copse of trees where they can see the castle in the distance, as well as a small group of figures outside it.
Deciding to wait until nightfall, the group makes camp for the rest of the day while sending Extang's familiar - re-summoned as a fluffy white bat - to fly over the castle and report back on its findings. The bat returns, relating the hexagonal shape of the castle with a tower at each point, as well as a taller tower in the middle. There are also two semi-circular courtyards on either side of the central tower - one covered in glass with a hole through it. Though there is no moat, there is a lowered drawbridge at the front of the castle, and outside is a group of five orcs.
Throughout the day as they rest, those on watch occasionally see the orcs on guard change, but other than that the day and night pass uneventfully. Around midnight, they go into action. First, Fiaeorri and the bat do stealthy circuits of the castle, finding no other entrances other than the drawbridge at the front. There are still five orcs outside, bu Fiaeorri is so confident in how well hidden she is that she takes a peek inside - seeing a long, torch-lit corridor with doors off to either side, and a trap that is extremely obvious to her well-trained eyes.
She retreats and regroups with the others, and they hatch a plan to take care of the five orcs outside the castle. Extang magically digs a pit while Fiaeorri and Quib work to conceal it, then the four hide in the woods while Extang uses the light from his magical gem to attempt to lure in the orcs. After some time, they see that their plan appears to be working. Four orcs are attempting to sneak up on the trees - two fall in the pit, and the group attacks, quickly killing the two above ground and moving on to finish off the two in the pit. However, there were five orcs, not four...
Fiaeorri sneaks in ahead of the others, though with them close enough behind to support her if needed. The final orc seems to be watching the castle as much as the direction of the trees, but Fiaeorri manages to sneak up on him without trouble. Unfortunately, Renn, unwilling to be stabbed into something, once again thwarts Fiaeorri's attempts to attach the creature, and her second attack glances off its armor. Her friends rush in to finish it off, but not before the orc begins to cry out. Fiaeorri drags the corpse over to the side of the castle, where Extang quickly buries it with his magic.
They wait, but no more orcs come out, so they head in - Fiaeorri warning the others of the trap, then disabling it. She then tries to see under the first big double-doors on the right, but is only able to see dirt and dry grass, so the bat familiar is sent crawling underneath. Extang, watching observing through its eyes, can see what looks to be an L-shaped stable, with very large wolves in the stalls that wake up and start paying attention to the bat. Extang instantly blinks the familiar into its pocket dimension, then brings it back at his side, telling the others what he saw.
Fiaeorri turns her attention to the smaller door on the other side of the hall. This one has no such spaces to peek through, so she very carefully and quietly eases the door open to peek inside... but, apparently the hinges haven't been oiled in a while, and she hears a grunted, "Huh?" from inside.
And that brings an end to this week's game session. Find out what's behind the door in two weeks in Episode 63.
You can find the previous episode here.
3rd-4th of Waning Fall, 1AL
The 3rd Watch is setting out to continue securing the area around the white stone building so the new settlement, but Patrick - irritable an unhappy about not being able to save everyone - opts to stay behind, and T'Zaric flies off to do his own thing. Fiaeorri leaves Ruby behind with Patrick and the other four head off - first going to the cave that's an hour away that T'Zaric mentioned having dangerous-looking creatures residing in it.
Reaching the cave, the group stand near the pool while Extang sends his snake familiar inside, magically observing through its eyes. The familiar gets a ways inside the cave before the ground begins to tremble, then something bursting out of the ground kills it. Around the same time, a large, stony-skinned creature bursts out of the ground outside the cave, leaping into the air and piling into Quib and Logan.
It is a strange fight for the group, with the tough creatures frequently retreating into the ground, making it hard to fight them. Fiaeorri keeps to her word to not use Renn in this fight - sticking to her bow to prove that the sentient sword holds no sway over her. However, after much maneuvering, and waiting for the next eruption of dirt, they manage to slay the beasts.
Fiaeorri does a cursory sweep of the cave, looking for anything that was missed when earlier members of the 3rd Watch cleared lions out of this cave, but finds nothing more interesting than the child-like drawings on the walls that depict monsters destroying cities and people fleeing. On their way out, they take a brief rest while Fiaeorri sets a trap on the cave entrance.
They briefly head back to the white stone building before setting out towards the castle T'Zaric had spotted. They find the river and follow along it, keeping their eyes open for a good place to cross. As evening begins to fall, they are surprised by an enormous crocodile that comes charging out of the water - but Extang quickly banishes it to another plane of existence long enough for them to get away.
They camp for the night and continue on in the morning, crossing the river with a magical whistle of flying and boots of jumping. After a few more hours of travel, they come to a copse of trees where they can see the castle in the distance, as well as a small group of figures outside it.
Deciding to wait until nightfall, the group makes camp for the rest of the day while sending Extang's familiar - re-summoned as a fluffy white bat - to fly over the castle and report back on its findings. The bat returns, relating the hexagonal shape of the castle with a tower at each point, as well as a taller tower in the middle. There are also two semi-circular courtyards on either side of the central tower - one covered in glass with a hole through it. Though there is no moat, there is a lowered drawbridge at the front of the castle, and outside is a group of five orcs.
Throughout the day as they rest, those on watch occasionally see the orcs on guard change, but other than that the day and night pass uneventfully. Around midnight, they go into action. First, Fiaeorri and the bat do stealthy circuits of the castle, finding no other entrances other than the drawbridge at the front. There are still five orcs outside, bu Fiaeorri is so confident in how well hidden she is that she takes a peek inside - seeing a long, torch-lit corridor with doors off to either side, and a trap that is extremely obvious to her well-trained eyes.
She retreats and regroups with the others, and they hatch a plan to take care of the five orcs outside the castle. Extang magically digs a pit while Fiaeorri and Quib work to conceal it, then the four hide in the woods while Extang uses the light from his magical gem to attempt to lure in the orcs. After some time, they see that their plan appears to be working. Four orcs are attempting to sneak up on the trees - two fall in the pit, and the group attacks, quickly killing the two above ground and moving on to finish off the two in the pit. However, there were five orcs, not four...
Fiaeorri sneaks in ahead of the others, though with them close enough behind to support her if needed. The final orc seems to be watching the castle as much as the direction of the trees, but Fiaeorri manages to sneak up on him without trouble. Unfortunately, Renn, unwilling to be stabbed into something, once again thwarts Fiaeorri's attempts to attach the creature, and her second attack glances off its armor. Her friends rush in to finish it off, but not before the orc begins to cry out. Fiaeorri drags the corpse over to the side of the castle, where Extang quickly buries it with his magic.
They wait, but no more orcs come out, so they head in - Fiaeorri warning the others of the trap, then disabling it. She then tries to see under the first big double-doors on the right, but is only able to see dirt and dry grass, so the bat familiar is sent crawling underneath. Extang, watching observing through its eyes, can see what looks to be an L-shaped stable, with very large wolves in the stalls that wake up and start paying attention to the bat. Extang instantly blinks the familiar into its pocket dimension, then brings it back at his side, telling the others what he saw.
Fiaeorri turns her attention to the smaller door on the other side of the hall. This one has no such spaces to peek through, so she very carefully and quietly eases the door open to peek inside... but, apparently the hinges haven't been oiled in a while, and she hears a grunted, "Huh?" from inside.
And that brings an end to this week's game session. Find out what's behind the door in two weeks in Episode 63.
Monday, April 01, 2019
Dissecting World Building
The
creation of just about any fictional works – be it book, short story, movie, or
game – begins with the world building. Certainly, some need less than others; a
real world setting requires less than a fantasy setting, but world building
still needs to be done to create a convincing world for any story to take place
in. A world is a huge thing though – and the idea of building one can be
daunting.
So, how do
you tackle building a world without investing years in it? Well, the first part
is to remember that you don’t actually need to create a whole world – you just
need to make enough of it to make it look like you have. Like the
two-dimensional facades stereotypically used for movie sets, all you need is
what the audience will see – plus a little bit extra to hint at so they think more had been done.
Take
characters, for example. Each character you intend to present needs to be well
thought-out and designed to be realistic, but you only need to make the
characters that will be part of the story. Creating the entire population of a
city would be tedious an exhausting, so how do you make it seem like the rest
of the world still exists? Throw in a few names, and references to events that
take place outside the story. It could be as simple as a character commenting
on a paper written by someone notable – you don’t have to worry about the
identity of the person, or what the paper says, beyond what the commenter needs
for their line. The details don’t matter – the fact that someone was given a
name and did something noteworthy that has nothing to do with the story makes
the world feel more real.
The same
works for places, and is even easier. Just make up a place name, like Drexa’s.
The characters a talking, and someone comments on something that happened at
Drexa’s, or perhaps suggest it as part of a list of places to go. The reader
has no idea what the place it. A restaurant? A club? It doesn’t matter, because
the characters know, and it makes the world feel bigger than it is.
When world
building, it’s important to keep to the essentials. What’s important to the
story? What do you, as the writer, need to know to maintain consistency within
the story? If you aren’t going to use it, don’t worrying about making it – all you
need is a hint; enough to make the world seem like it has more depth.
Of course,
if you enjoy building the world and want to go ahead and flesh out every little
detail, go ahead and do that, too! Just keep in mind that, if you start to get
overwhelmed by the size of your creation, you can always step back and do less.
There’s a reason for the saying, “Less is more.” If you ever find out you don’t
have enough, you can always add more later – just make it one little piece at a
time and, before you know it, you’ll have a healthy little world of your very
own, ready for whatever use you put it to.
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.
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