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.
15th of Waxing Fall, 0AL
While the 3rd Watch, along with Stor's recently recovered mother, rest in the cellars of a collapsed temple - with kobolds chipping at the stone overhead - Stor takes some time to examine the strange metal rod with a button on the end that he'd found. Upon pushing the button, the rod releases a blast of magical cold energy, nearly hitting one of his friends. He is excited at the possibilities for this new and magical weapon.
When they wake up, they head back to the bar's cellar, arriving just in time to see Fiaeorri coming down. They introduce her to Hammer and Stor's mother, and catch her up a little on their adventures. However, as they're talking, Fiaeorri spots Dugg trying to follow her down the trapdoor a moment before he's caught by the bar's alarm system and teleported away. The group realize that they can get Dugg to help them sneak back out and Fiaeorri sends him a magical message asking him to buy a round of drinks for the bar.
After a few minutes, Stor peeks out of the trapdoor and sees Dugg attempting to find enough money to follow the instructions, so he tosses some coins over. With Bardroy distracted, everyone sneaks out into the bar - though it takes Hammer several tries. Hammer is very unimpressed with the quality of construct Bardroy is.
They briefly discuss what to do next - they've saved Stor's mother, but they still have to retrieve the idol for the lizardfolk. However, led by a suggestion from Dugg, they decide that first they would like to try out the strange game again.
Logan volunteers to stay outside and run the controls - keeping anyone else from causing a problem - and the other six insert their coins and vanish, entering the game world while out in the bar the few early-morning patrons cheer and call for the big screen to be lowered.
Aided by Logan - who wasn't given the already known information about the game's functions, so he has to experiment - they begin fighting their way through the rooms. In the first room, they fight the same spindly, round and rectangular metal creatures Fiaeorri and Extang had faced on their first time in the game, which are quickly dispatched by a fireball from T'Zaric.
The group moves on to the transition room, where Logan, from outside, uses the controls to show them which door will take them forward in the game rather than exiting it. During the transition to the new room, those outside the machine watch as, drawn on the parchment, a little figure with a broom sweeps up the debris from the previous room.
In the second room, the 3rd Watch find a castle-like room with two suits of armor, each holding two swords, stand on a rug in the middle of the room. Fiaeorri tries to take one of the swords, but it seems firmly set in the armor's grasp. Slightly concerned by this, Dugg fires two arrows into the suit of armor - which crumbles to the ground, but leaves the swords hanging in the air. The swords - all four of them - then attack of their own accord, while the suit of armor marches into battle. Even the rug comes to life, wrapping itself around Fiaeorri and trying to smother her. They manage to blast and smash their way through the enemies, though Fiaeorri comes out of the rug looking a little rough from sharing the damage that was done to it - luckily, Logan manages to heal her a little with one of the game's buttons.
In the third room, they face more - and tougher - creatures similar to the ones in the first room. Hammer appears to develop a competitive need to prove his superiority to all these constructs they're fighting. In the fourth room, they face a golem made of clay, which nearly kills Dugg's giant badger, Laverne, in one blow - luckily, the badger is able to escape.
In each room, they pause to collect the money and items that remain amongst the skeletons of previous challengers of the game. After this room, they try to take a brief rest to heal up a little, but move on when writing appears around them to inform them that the game will kick them out if they continue to be inactive.
In the fifth room they face down another golem, only this one is made of stone. Outside the game, Logan quickly explains the controls as he understands them to Stor's mother, then presses the green button to enter the game himself, joining his friends. Though the golem places a spell over the group, slowing several of them, it is soon dispatched and the 3rd Watch move on to the next room.
In the sixth room, they face two cobras made of iron and four bronze bug-like creatures, all nearly as big as humans. The constructs are once again defeated, but during the fight one of the bronze creatures releases a blast of electricity into the group - most of them shake off the damage, but poor Laverne, just barely clinging to life, is instantly killed by the blast.
With Lavern's body in tow, they move on to the next transitional room. They're beaten and battered, and they're running low on spells, but Bardroy had told them that the farthest he'd ever seen anyone get in the game was the seventh room. The group is determined to beat that high score, so they prepare to move on.
And that's where this game session comes to an end. What new danger will these adventurers face next week in Episode 38?
Friday, September 07, 2018
Monday, September 03, 2018
Choose Your Story
It’s easy
to think of stories as universal concepts, because a story is a story. Isn’t
it? But it really isn’t that simple – because it’s become clear, as we’ve
developed more mediums for telling stories, that the enjoyment we get out of
any particular story varies depending on the platform used to deliver it.
Pick a book
that’s been turned into a movie. Any book. With very few exceptions, the book s
always considered to be better than the movie. This generally comes about in
one of two ways: either the movie as accurate to the book, and just doesn’t
measure up, or the movie is actually quite good, but is rife with inaccuracies
that make a well-read viewer furious.
The same
can be said while translating into other mediums. Audiobooks are common now,
but even still, there are some stories that are preferable to be heard aloud –
in particular, those told skilled storytellers. Video games also need to have
the story adapted for them to be enjoyable – and even within that sphere, there’s
variety in what the story needs to be like based on the type of game delivery.
This means
that those who create stories must be aware of the needs of the delivery they
intend. A book can be extremely detailed and complex – with an added depth
granted from being able to see characters’ thoughts. A story designed to be
told aloud requires simplification and a pacing designed to hold the audience
captive, because they can’t go back to re-read details they missed. A movie can
have much of the complexity of the book, but it needs to be paced faster – and the
depth of knowing what characters think is limited to what can be shown in
facial expressions. Video games need a story that is simple and interactive, as
the focus is more on the journey through the story than the details themselves.
For each
medium, the story must be crafted carefully to meet the requirements of the
audience. Does this mean you can’t present the same story on different platforms?
Not at all. However, it does mean that you can’t pull a story from one medium
and plug it into another and expect it to work – it needs to be altered and adapted
to fit the appropriate style of storytelling.
Keep this
in mind whenever you are crafting a story. If you find it isn’t working out the
way you thought it would, consider switching the medium before scrapping it.
As for when
you’re enjoying an adaptation of a story you love, remember that sometimes
changes are necessary for the sake of entertainment. Besides, you already know
the story – isn’t it better to have a new story? Sit back and enjoy the
entertainment without the expectation that it be exactly the same as the story
you already know; treat it as a new story and you may find yourself more
satisfied with your entertainment.
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, September 02, 2018
Lark's Landing, Episode 36
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.
14th of Waxing Fall, 0AL
Free of the strange and dangerous game located in the weird bar that, for some reason, exists in an ancient sewer system, Stor turns his attention to the mission of rescuing his mother. The trapdoor that leads the way to where he believes she is rests behind the bar, but Bardroy - the mechanical barman - informs him that only employees are allowed behind the bar, and when he's asked to check in the cellar for them he says he isn't allowed to go into the cellar unless to bar's owner asks him to.
T'Zaric turns himself invisible and tries to sneak behind the bar, but as he lifts the trapdoor, Bardroy notices him and the room's lighting turns red. T'Zaric blips out of existence and the lights return to normal. T'Zaric finds himself standing outside the Bar's entrance. He magically alters his appearance and walks back in. He's surprised when Bardroy welcomes him back.
They continue seeking a way to get into the bar's cellar. Through questioning Bardroy, they learn that the bar was built in year 25 of Gnerstic Reckoning, 3739 years ago, and that the bar's owner hasn't been seen in well over 3000 years. After a few tries, they give up on starting a bar fight, realizing that even though all the patrons are at war with each other, they know there's no point in fighting in here. They attempt asking Bardroy if the bar needs any new employees, but the construct insists he's been fine on his own all these years, and that the bar will post a sign when help is required. Extang talks to Bardroy about a bar-wide competition, but gives up on the idea when he realizes it won't get Bardroy out from behind the bar. Logan pulls out his warhammer and takes a swing at the bar, only to get teleported outside. T'Zaric, having returned to his original appearance, manages to convince Bardroy that the old owner of the bar is clearly dead and he, T'Zaric, is the new owner - however, Bardroy requests the appropriate paperwork before T'Zaric is permitted to take charge.
Frustrated, the group - minus Fiaeorri and Dugg who are happily drinking at the bar - consider leaving in search of another way to get below the sewers. But first, Extang attempts to cast a spell on Bardroy to slow him down long enough for everyone to sneak past - but gets teleported out right before the spell finishes. They're just attempting to reorient themselves in the sewer when T'Zaric notices a group of Kobolds entering through one of the bar's other doors. He goes back into the bar and befriends them and convinces them to try to convince someone else to play the strange game by the wall - but no one is interested.
Extang follows T'Zaric back in to ask some lizardfolk about other ways to get into the tunnels below the bar. Most of them don't believe there is anything further down, but one had seen someone sneak through the trapdoor behind the bar before. He thanks them and shares this information with T'Zaric, who asks his kobold friends about other paths below ground - they say that they had some access through their temple, but that it had recently collapsed and they were working to dig their way in. The give general directions on how to get there, but warn that one of their tunnels recently collapsed as well and that the whole army is up in arms.
The 3rd watch realize that the path behind the bar might be the only way to get below, so they return to figuring out a plan to get past, but can't come up with any ideas until T'Zaric asks the lizardfolk how the person who snuck past Bardroy before had done it, and learns that it was done while the mechanical man was distracted getting drinks.
Eager to save his mother, Stor immediately pays a large amount of money to buy a round for the entire bar. While Bardroy is shuffling to and from the counter, filling drinks, they sneak over the bar and down through the trap door - though Logan gets spotted and teleported out a couple times before he makes it in.
Down in the cellar, they find a massive hole in one wall and rubble filling most of the room. Pressed up against the rubble is a very large stone chest. T'Zaric tries to open it from a distance with his summoned magical hand, but the lid is too heavy for it. Stor, having determined that there were no traps, joins him in opening it.
Inside there is a tall figure made of metal on wood, with empty eye-sockets that begin to glow red as the figure comes to life, demanding to know who they are and where this is. They talk for a while and learn that this is a sentient construct named Hammer who had been made during year 555 of Gnerstic Reckoning to help defend a city of Copperspire during a rebellion of the less intelligent lower-classes against the highly-intelligent ruling elite. An explosion was the last thing Hammer remembers, and he would like to know who won during the rebellion.
The 3rd Watch don't have any answers for him, other than telling him how long he's been asleep, but they suggest that he may find answers if he joins them. He does so readily, insisting that he take the lead to protect those behind him, as was his job with his squad.
With a new member in tow, they head off through the tunnel, which leads them to another rubble-strewn cellar. The hole continues through the far side, and there's also a much smaller tunnel of similar design on the right wall. Stor, who is the only one who can easily fit through that space, makes his way through to scout ahead. He finds another rubble-filled cellar with three green-brown worm-like creatures almost as big as him. He quickly retreats, guessing that they probably made these tunnels and worried about what made the bigger tunnel.
The group continues on until they reach a fork in the tunnel. They continue to the right, down a long winding tunnel, until it breaks through into another cellar - this one with another big worm-thing in it, though still not big enough to have made these tunnels. It charges at them with alarming speed for such a creature. It's tough to fight, as striking it causes a spray of acid, but they manage to take it down. Seeing where Hammer's metal plating has shined up from the acid, T'Zaric uses a simple spell to clean up the rest of his metal plating.
Feeling a bit worn down, they decide they need to take a short break, but they don't feel entirely safe here. They retreat to the first cellar to rest and treat their wounds, before returning to the worn-corpse. In the cellar beyond it, Stor finds some coins and a strange metal rod with a button on the end that Extang believes is magical.
The tunnel goes through another of the cellar's walls and continues on, so they follow it until it comes to another cellar that it seems to have sheered the corner off of before continuing on, widening just at the end of their vision. Seeing the cellar as having a hallway and doors, they head into it, believing they may have found what they're looking for.
They head into the first room and find a hollowed section of a log filled with coins and gems. They are immediately suspicious of it, but can't find any traps. T'Zaric uses his magical hand to lift some of them from a distance, but nothing seems to be hazardous. So, they dump the treasure into their bag of holding and take a look around the room to see if they can determine who put this treasure here. They find clawed footprints on the floor and surmise that this must be the treasure troves of one of the swamp's warring factions.
They move on down the hall to the next door, which reveals a pool of a green slime - now they're certain they're on the right track, as they were told that the kobolds grow their green slime below the collapsed temple. They move on around the hallway's corner and head down to the end of the hall - where there's a closed door on their left, and an open doorway on their right.
Stor goes on ahead to peek through the open doorway, but as he arrives, a spiked tentacle grabs him and pulls him into the room. The others rush in to help, and find themselves fighting either a garbage mound, or something within the garbage mound. They cast their spells and hack away while the creature bites at them with a massive mouth and lashes at them with tentacles - or, when someone is impaled upon the spikes of its tentacles, bashes them against the wall.
The monstrous creature is felled, though many wounds were taken in the process. However, they feel they must press on. Extang ties his light-producing gem to his forehead and opens the last door into a larger room with a huge pile of rubble in the middle. As he enters, a dark figure drops behind him from above and puts a knife to his throat, demanding to know who they are and what they're doing here.
Thinking he recognizes the voice, Stor calls out, "Mom?" and hears in reply a very surprised, "Stor!?" The knife is lowered from Extang's throat, and the group move on into the room. Stor expresses to his mother that they have much to talk about when they get home, making it clear that his memories of his past are restored, but there is an element of the past that others in the group insist upon talking about immediately - finding Stor's mother to be alive has sent T'Zaric into a crisis, for he had experienced her death in Balasar's memories - the same place where he'd seen Balasar give the order to burn down T'Zaric's childhood home with his father inside. It was why he's killed Balasar - but if Stor's mother was alive, could T'Zaric's father be alive, too? Had he killed Balasar for nothing?
Once her memory is drawn to the time when she and her husband had sent Stor on ahead to the Noble's Lark, she explains that they knew they were being tracked by an assassin - and a very good one, at that. Because they needed to survive to reunite with Stor, they had befriended a couple on the road, fed them a story, then made them up to look like themselves and left them at the inn. Then Stor's parents had made themselves look like they had been disguised as themselves and had made their mistake.
This seemed to coincide with their experiences in Balasar's memories, but it made T'Zaric realize he hadn't actually seen his father die. His remorse earns him some forgiveness, at least from Extang.
With one of their missions complete, they make camp there for the night so they can recover from their wounds before heading back to the bar. They fall asleep to the tap-tapping sounds of the kobolds that are working to dig into the collapsed temple from above.
And that brings an end to this game session. Stop by next week to find out what happens in Episode 37.
You can find the previous episode here.
14th of Waxing Fall, 0AL
Free of the strange and dangerous game located in the weird bar that, for some reason, exists in an ancient sewer system, Stor turns his attention to the mission of rescuing his mother. The trapdoor that leads the way to where he believes she is rests behind the bar, but Bardroy - the mechanical barman - informs him that only employees are allowed behind the bar, and when he's asked to check in the cellar for them he says he isn't allowed to go into the cellar unless to bar's owner asks him to.
T'Zaric turns himself invisible and tries to sneak behind the bar, but as he lifts the trapdoor, Bardroy notices him and the room's lighting turns red. T'Zaric blips out of existence and the lights return to normal. T'Zaric finds himself standing outside the Bar's entrance. He magically alters his appearance and walks back in. He's surprised when Bardroy welcomes him back.
They continue seeking a way to get into the bar's cellar. Through questioning Bardroy, they learn that the bar was built in year 25 of Gnerstic Reckoning, 3739 years ago, and that the bar's owner hasn't been seen in well over 3000 years. After a few tries, they give up on starting a bar fight, realizing that even though all the patrons are at war with each other, they know there's no point in fighting in here. They attempt asking Bardroy if the bar needs any new employees, but the construct insists he's been fine on his own all these years, and that the bar will post a sign when help is required. Extang talks to Bardroy about a bar-wide competition, but gives up on the idea when he realizes it won't get Bardroy out from behind the bar. Logan pulls out his warhammer and takes a swing at the bar, only to get teleported outside. T'Zaric, having returned to his original appearance, manages to convince Bardroy that the old owner of the bar is clearly dead and he, T'Zaric, is the new owner - however, Bardroy requests the appropriate paperwork before T'Zaric is permitted to take charge.
Frustrated, the group - minus Fiaeorri and Dugg who are happily drinking at the bar - consider leaving in search of another way to get below the sewers. But first, Extang attempts to cast a spell on Bardroy to slow him down long enough for everyone to sneak past - but gets teleported out right before the spell finishes. They're just attempting to reorient themselves in the sewer when T'Zaric notices a group of Kobolds entering through one of the bar's other doors. He goes back into the bar and befriends them and convinces them to try to convince someone else to play the strange game by the wall - but no one is interested.
Extang follows T'Zaric back in to ask some lizardfolk about other ways to get into the tunnels below the bar. Most of them don't believe there is anything further down, but one had seen someone sneak through the trapdoor behind the bar before. He thanks them and shares this information with T'Zaric, who asks his kobold friends about other paths below ground - they say that they had some access through their temple, but that it had recently collapsed and they were working to dig their way in. The give general directions on how to get there, but warn that one of their tunnels recently collapsed as well and that the whole army is up in arms.
The 3rd watch realize that the path behind the bar might be the only way to get below, so they return to figuring out a plan to get past, but can't come up with any ideas until T'Zaric asks the lizardfolk how the person who snuck past Bardroy before had done it, and learns that it was done while the mechanical man was distracted getting drinks.
Eager to save his mother, Stor immediately pays a large amount of money to buy a round for the entire bar. While Bardroy is shuffling to and from the counter, filling drinks, they sneak over the bar and down through the trap door - though Logan gets spotted and teleported out a couple times before he makes it in.
Down in the cellar, they find a massive hole in one wall and rubble filling most of the room. Pressed up against the rubble is a very large stone chest. T'Zaric tries to open it from a distance with his summoned magical hand, but the lid is too heavy for it. Stor, having determined that there were no traps, joins him in opening it.
Inside there is a tall figure made of metal on wood, with empty eye-sockets that begin to glow red as the figure comes to life, demanding to know who they are and where this is. They talk for a while and learn that this is a sentient construct named Hammer who had been made during year 555 of Gnerstic Reckoning to help defend a city of Copperspire during a rebellion of the less intelligent lower-classes against the highly-intelligent ruling elite. An explosion was the last thing Hammer remembers, and he would like to know who won during the rebellion.
The 3rd Watch don't have any answers for him, other than telling him how long he's been asleep, but they suggest that he may find answers if he joins them. He does so readily, insisting that he take the lead to protect those behind him, as was his job with his squad.
With a new member in tow, they head off through the tunnel, which leads them to another rubble-strewn cellar. The hole continues through the far side, and there's also a much smaller tunnel of similar design on the right wall. Stor, who is the only one who can easily fit through that space, makes his way through to scout ahead. He finds another rubble-filled cellar with three green-brown worm-like creatures almost as big as him. He quickly retreats, guessing that they probably made these tunnels and worried about what made the bigger tunnel.
The group continues on until they reach a fork in the tunnel. They continue to the right, down a long winding tunnel, until it breaks through into another cellar - this one with another big worm-thing in it, though still not big enough to have made these tunnels. It charges at them with alarming speed for such a creature. It's tough to fight, as striking it causes a spray of acid, but they manage to take it down. Seeing where Hammer's metal plating has shined up from the acid, T'Zaric uses a simple spell to clean up the rest of his metal plating.
Feeling a bit worn down, they decide they need to take a short break, but they don't feel entirely safe here. They retreat to the first cellar to rest and treat their wounds, before returning to the worn-corpse. In the cellar beyond it, Stor finds some coins and a strange metal rod with a button on the end that Extang believes is magical.
The tunnel goes through another of the cellar's walls and continues on, so they follow it until it comes to another cellar that it seems to have sheered the corner off of before continuing on, widening just at the end of their vision. Seeing the cellar as having a hallway and doors, they head into it, believing they may have found what they're looking for.
They head into the first room and find a hollowed section of a log filled with coins and gems. They are immediately suspicious of it, but can't find any traps. T'Zaric uses his magical hand to lift some of them from a distance, but nothing seems to be hazardous. So, they dump the treasure into their bag of holding and take a look around the room to see if they can determine who put this treasure here. They find clawed footprints on the floor and surmise that this must be the treasure troves of one of the swamp's warring factions.
They move on down the hall to the next door, which reveals a pool of a green slime - now they're certain they're on the right track, as they were told that the kobolds grow their green slime below the collapsed temple. They move on around the hallway's corner and head down to the end of the hall - where there's a closed door on their left, and an open doorway on their right.
Stor goes on ahead to peek through the open doorway, but as he arrives, a spiked tentacle grabs him and pulls him into the room. The others rush in to help, and find themselves fighting either a garbage mound, or something within the garbage mound. They cast their spells and hack away while the creature bites at them with a massive mouth and lashes at them with tentacles - or, when someone is impaled upon the spikes of its tentacles, bashes them against the wall.
The monstrous creature is felled, though many wounds were taken in the process. However, they feel they must press on. Extang ties his light-producing gem to his forehead and opens the last door into a larger room with a huge pile of rubble in the middle. As he enters, a dark figure drops behind him from above and puts a knife to his throat, demanding to know who they are and what they're doing here.
Thinking he recognizes the voice, Stor calls out, "Mom?" and hears in reply a very surprised, "Stor!?" The knife is lowered from Extang's throat, and the group move on into the room. Stor expresses to his mother that they have much to talk about when they get home, making it clear that his memories of his past are restored, but there is an element of the past that others in the group insist upon talking about immediately - finding Stor's mother to be alive has sent T'Zaric into a crisis, for he had experienced her death in Balasar's memories - the same place where he'd seen Balasar give the order to burn down T'Zaric's childhood home with his father inside. It was why he's killed Balasar - but if Stor's mother was alive, could T'Zaric's father be alive, too? Had he killed Balasar for nothing?
Once her memory is drawn to the time when she and her husband had sent Stor on ahead to the Noble's Lark, she explains that they knew they were being tracked by an assassin - and a very good one, at that. Because they needed to survive to reunite with Stor, they had befriended a couple on the road, fed them a story, then made them up to look like themselves and left them at the inn. Then Stor's parents had made themselves look like they had been disguised as themselves and had made their mistake.
This seemed to coincide with their experiences in Balasar's memories, but it made T'Zaric realize he hadn't actually seen his father die. His remorse earns him some forgiveness, at least from Extang.
With one of their missions complete, they make camp there for the night so they can recover from their wounds before heading back to the bar. They fall asleep to the tap-tapping sounds of the kobolds that are working to dig into the collapsed temple from above.
And that brings an end to this game session. Stop by next week to find out what happens in Episode 37.
Monday, August 27, 2018
Honestly
Why is it that we encourage so much dishonesty in our
society? We hypocritically spout that honesty is always the best course of
action, but we turn around and punish honesty – and reward dishonesty.
Let’s take the familiar story of the child breaking a vase.
If the child admits to breaking the vase, they are most likely going to get
into trouble. If the child lies about breaking the vase, and get found out,
they are most likely going to get into trouble. So, the best solution available
is to learn to lie really well to stay out of trouble, because, from the child’s
perspective, that is the only possible way of avoiding getting in trouble.
But it’s not as simple as just truths and lies. We then get
trained to hide things about ourselves that we think others will judge us for.
This behaviour is encouraged by the teasing that occurs when we reveal our
interests. You like what team? You
play what game? You like what? So we learn to hide and be
dishonest about what we like – and maybe even join in with teasing others for
what they like.
Going in even deeper, we discover that being honest in any
social situation is, in fact, rude. Are you ready to go home before the party
is over? Wait until you have an appropriate opening. Did you hate the food you
were fed? It would be rude to tell the person who made it, so lie. Did
something upset or hurt you? Hide it. How are you feeling? It doesn’t matter;
be cheerful and happy.
Everywhere you turn, you’re expected to lie. Unless
everything in your life fits into a specific box, you have to lie. But, don’t
do that! Be honest. Honesty is the best way.
Why do we do this? Why do we train people to be dishonest
about everything, yet expect them to be honest? Most of us don’t have that much
to hide, at least not that’s actually worth hiding. Sure, it would be a
dramatic shift, but wouldn’t it be nice to see a world where honesty is
actually valued?
The biggest concern with a world like that is that people
would constantly be getting offended by the truth – as if the whole world is
going around secretly hating everyone they interact with. There may be an
element of truth in that, but if there is, I think it’s inherent in this
society built on dishonesty. We put so much faith in this judging of others
that our entire outlook on the world is inherently negative. And, can we trust
it when other people say they like us? Of course not, because if we didn’t like
someone, we wouldn’t tell them to their face.
If we were to strip away the dishonesty, and really practice
what we preach, there would likely be a massive shift in our entire world
views. Our outlooks could turn from inherently negative to inherently positive.
It would take a lot of work over several generations, but if
we taught acceptance and encouragement rather than teasing, and if we taught
honesty – both delivering it and expecting it – we could, perhaps, finally
practice what we preach.
Honesty is the best policy. Honestly.
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.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
Lark's Landing, Episode 35
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.
14th of Waxing Fall, 0AL
Having just saved a couple of lizardfolk from a band of small lizard-creatures known as kobolds, the 3rd Watch begin bargaining to be let into the swamp - apparently outsiders aren't allowed, and there is a war going on between multiple factions. However, in the middle of this conversation, they are interrupted by the surprising arrival of two more of their companions.
The gnome ranger, Dugg, had been tracking his friends for days after finding a note left for him by Fiaeorri. Riding upon his trust badger Laverne, he caught up with T'Zaric - who had been following the party at a distance - just in time to witness the end of the battle. T'Zaric promptly asked him to to accompany him to the rest of the group in a friendly manner, and to lend him some support if it was needed. Dugg, uncertain of the reason for this strange request, said that he would do whatever he believes is right.
So the two arrive, to the particular shock and dismay of Stor and Extang. After a brief conversation, in which T'Zaric says he wants to come along and help the group, Extang determines he needs more time to process his feelings, and Stor insists that, unlike some people, he doesn't murder people for revenge. It's an uneasy peace, but T'Zaric is permitted to rejoin them.
The lizardfolk hesitantly agree to take them to their village, where their shaman will determine if they are worthy to help with a problem they've been having in return for allowing them in their lands to find Stor's mother.
They journey into the treacherous lands of the swamp, grateful for their guides who seem to know all the safe paths. They periodically have to stop and wait in silence while a patrol of kobolds or strange frog-people go by.
After about two hours - during which Fiaeorri catches Dugg up to speed on the events of the last few days and Extang tries to understand why T'Zaric murdered Balasar - they arrive in a hut village filled with suspicious lizardfolk and are led to a particular building that hoses the shaman. After explaining the situation, the shaman declares that she will commune with Pagslas to see if these strangers are worthy. Fiaeorri, excited to find another worshiper of Pagslas, asks if she can help, and awkwardly joins in a strange dance around the fire.
The shaman declares the 3rd Watch to be worthy, and tells them that an important religious idol of the village has been stolen - a statue of a fly. It was taken from them by the kobolds they are at war with, and they have been unable to retrieve it. She also tells them that the recently collapsed temple they described as the location Stor's mother was is in kobold territory - it was collapsed by a trap set for the kobolds, and the area is currently swarming with the creatures. However, there is a way in from beneath, through a trap-door in a cursed room of peace - but they have to get past the guardian. Both the room, and the place where the kobolds are believed to be holding the idol are in a network of tunnels that are being fought over by the various factions.
The 3rd watch head down into the tunnels, magically lighting their way. They identify them as being an old sewer system, built with large, white stone blocks. The lizardfolk in the area aren't particularly helpful - tending to pointedly ignore them - but they do learn which general directions lead to the kobold and bullywug territories, and a rough direction that leads towards the 'cursed' room - apparently all directions can eventually lead them to the room.
They head into the tunnels, going towards the kobold territory. As they approach the first intersection beyond where the lizardfolk patrol, Fiaeorri spots a trap on the floor. They skirt around it, taking one of the narrower tunnels, but as they arrive at the next intersection they're spotted by some kobolds. The 3rd Watch charge into battle, quickly taking down the front lines, but there are more kobolds rushing in and these ones are tougher. Then T'Zaric drops a fireball down the tunnel, and the blast does more than kill a few kobolds - it collapses the entire tunnel in front of them!
With the battle over, they retreat from what remains of that tunnel and continue on their way - with Extang falling into one trap, and Fiaeorri spotting another - until the path forward is blocked by rubble. They turn to one side, heading down a tunnel that seems slimier than the others. This one is also blocked, but there are two tunnels carved through the stone walls and into the dirt on either side. From the left, they hear voices speaking an unfamiliar language and footsteps coming closer. They retreat into the tunnel on the right to hide, and find that after a turn it comes to a dead end with slime containing what Dugg believes to be some type of egg.
They douse their lights so they can hide and wait for the footsteps to pass. Those who can see in the dark can make out the shapes of a pare of fish people marching along - then Logan shifts, causing his armor to clank, drawing the attention of the fish people - who charge in. Stor meets their charge and quickly dispatches both of them. Searching their bodies, Fiaeorri finds some odd coins in the shape of gears with a staff on one side, a blank book on the other, and a hole in the middle.
They head down the other rough tunnel, but come to a main thoroughfare of these fishy folk. After a failed attempt to impersonate one with magic, the 3rd Watch retreats to the main tunnel and head back the other way. After another intersection - trapped to the left, collapsed to the right, though with another carved tunnel to one side - they find something strange up ahead. While the tunnel is blocked by rubble, there is a doorway to the left - which seems very odd in a sewer system. There is a brass door with a stone sign on it that forbids entry in several languages - based on the construction and anvils carved on it, Stor guesses the sign is from the Drovinaar Empire they heard about before.
They go through into a bright room of incredibly different design - the walls have more brickwork, as well as copper, brass, and glass decorations. The room is filled with tables populated by lizardfolk, fish-people, kobolds, and frog-people - all intermingling, in spite of whatever differences they may have. They look up when the adventurers come in, but then return to their drinks.
On the far side of the room is a bar manned by some metallic being. On the wall to there right is a strange metal box with a flat panel inset with a number of semi-precious stones, as well as a picture of a gold gear-like coin with an arrow pointing to a slot. Rising out of the back is a glass panel with a sheet of parchment behind it, and up above is a sign reading, "Win 10,000 Gold Pieces!"
Without a second thought, Fiaeorri drops a coin in the slot and promptly vanishes, with the 10,000 on the sign above becoming 10,001.
A cheer goes up from all the creatures at the tables as, on the parchment behind the glass, an ink drawing of what something recognizable as Fiaeorri scribbles into existence. At prompting from the patrons, the metal man behind the bar pulls a lever, and a larger version of the screen lowers to cover one of the walls as four odd, monster-like creatures are added to the drawing.
Logan perches on a table to watch, while T'Zaric and Dugg go and order drinks from the bar - then Dugg places a two-gold bet on Fiaeorri. Stor also approaches the bar for a drink and to ask some questions about the machine, but only learns that no one has ever run and the actual rules of the game have been lost to time. He also learns that there is a trapdoor behind the bar that is for employees only, and he believes that is the direction he needs to go to save his mother.
Back at the machine, Extang puts another gold coin in, and sees "Select your option" written on the screen. He starts by rolling a pearl that's in a bowl-like depression (Fiaeorri, who has found herself in a strange room with a pile of skeletons - one of which has a fancy-looking red cloak - and being attacked by four metallic creatures, suddenly feels a tug in her mind trying to convince her to move in a certain direction), seemingly with no effect - but the writing is still on the parchment, so he presses the green jade button - and vanishes!
Seeing this, Stor and T'Zaric rush over to the device, now seeing the moving drawings of two of their friends, battling creatures. They begin inserting coins and pressing buttons. The marbled black onyx button adds another monster to the fight, though its texture changed as it did so. The red-orange topaz button causes brilliant, artistic fireworks to burst across the parchment (Fiaeorri, Extang, and the monsters inside are all blinded for a few seconds), and the yellow quartz allows T'Zaric to use the pearl to select one of his friends, allowing him to heal some of Fiaeorri's wounds - but then the quartz turns purple.
The battle is completed, just as Stor adds another coin. They see the drawing-Fiaeorri take something from one of the skeletons in the room, then she and Extang leave through the one door in the room. They appear in another room with two doors - on labelled "Continue" and the other "Exit". Since he's already put in a coin, Stor hits the only button he and T'Zaric haven't pressed yet - the green jade - and joins the others in the strange room (where there are no labels on the two doors they see).
T'Zaric rolls the pearl in the direction of the door labeled "Exit". All three of the adventurers in the game follow the nudge they feel and go through the door, reappearing beside the machine to disappointing groans from the spectators. Fiaeorri is sporting a fine new cloak she found inside, but after that strange experience she really needs a drink, so she heads over to the bar.
The group reconvenes, discussing this fascinating game and the possibility of winning the now 10,006 gold by playing it. Bardroy, the machine tending the bar, tells them that he's seen at least seven rooms in the game, though there may have been people who got farther that he didn't see. They consider playing the game again, but they must also weigh that decision against the missions they are on.
And that's where the game session came to an end. Come back next week to find out what the adventurers do in Episode 36!
You can find the previous episode here.
14th of Waxing Fall, 0AL
Having just saved a couple of lizardfolk from a band of small lizard-creatures known as kobolds, the 3rd Watch begin bargaining to be let into the swamp - apparently outsiders aren't allowed, and there is a war going on between multiple factions. However, in the middle of this conversation, they are interrupted by the surprising arrival of two more of their companions.
The gnome ranger, Dugg, had been tracking his friends for days after finding a note left for him by Fiaeorri. Riding upon his trust badger Laverne, he caught up with T'Zaric - who had been following the party at a distance - just in time to witness the end of the battle. T'Zaric promptly asked him to to accompany him to the rest of the group in a friendly manner, and to lend him some support if it was needed. Dugg, uncertain of the reason for this strange request, said that he would do whatever he believes is right.
So the two arrive, to the particular shock and dismay of Stor and Extang. After a brief conversation, in which T'Zaric says he wants to come along and help the group, Extang determines he needs more time to process his feelings, and Stor insists that, unlike some people, he doesn't murder people for revenge. It's an uneasy peace, but T'Zaric is permitted to rejoin them.
The lizardfolk hesitantly agree to take them to their village, where their shaman will determine if they are worthy to help with a problem they've been having in return for allowing them in their lands to find Stor's mother.
They journey into the treacherous lands of the swamp, grateful for their guides who seem to know all the safe paths. They periodically have to stop and wait in silence while a patrol of kobolds or strange frog-people go by.
After about two hours - during which Fiaeorri catches Dugg up to speed on the events of the last few days and Extang tries to understand why T'Zaric murdered Balasar - they arrive in a hut village filled with suspicious lizardfolk and are led to a particular building that hoses the shaman. After explaining the situation, the shaman declares that she will commune with Pagslas to see if these strangers are worthy. Fiaeorri, excited to find another worshiper of Pagslas, asks if she can help, and awkwardly joins in a strange dance around the fire.
The shaman declares the 3rd Watch to be worthy, and tells them that an important religious idol of the village has been stolen - a statue of a fly. It was taken from them by the kobolds they are at war with, and they have been unable to retrieve it. She also tells them that the recently collapsed temple they described as the location Stor's mother was is in kobold territory - it was collapsed by a trap set for the kobolds, and the area is currently swarming with the creatures. However, there is a way in from beneath, through a trap-door in a cursed room of peace - but they have to get past the guardian. Both the room, and the place where the kobolds are believed to be holding the idol are in a network of tunnels that are being fought over by the various factions.
The 3rd watch head down into the tunnels, magically lighting their way. They identify them as being an old sewer system, built with large, white stone blocks. The lizardfolk in the area aren't particularly helpful - tending to pointedly ignore them - but they do learn which general directions lead to the kobold and bullywug territories, and a rough direction that leads towards the 'cursed' room - apparently all directions can eventually lead them to the room.
They head into the tunnels, going towards the kobold territory. As they approach the first intersection beyond where the lizardfolk patrol, Fiaeorri spots a trap on the floor. They skirt around it, taking one of the narrower tunnels, but as they arrive at the next intersection they're spotted by some kobolds. The 3rd Watch charge into battle, quickly taking down the front lines, but there are more kobolds rushing in and these ones are tougher. Then T'Zaric drops a fireball down the tunnel, and the blast does more than kill a few kobolds - it collapses the entire tunnel in front of them!
With the battle over, they retreat from what remains of that tunnel and continue on their way - with Extang falling into one trap, and Fiaeorri spotting another - until the path forward is blocked by rubble. They turn to one side, heading down a tunnel that seems slimier than the others. This one is also blocked, but there are two tunnels carved through the stone walls and into the dirt on either side. From the left, they hear voices speaking an unfamiliar language and footsteps coming closer. They retreat into the tunnel on the right to hide, and find that after a turn it comes to a dead end with slime containing what Dugg believes to be some type of egg.
They douse their lights so they can hide and wait for the footsteps to pass. Those who can see in the dark can make out the shapes of a pare of fish people marching along - then Logan shifts, causing his armor to clank, drawing the attention of the fish people - who charge in. Stor meets their charge and quickly dispatches both of them. Searching their bodies, Fiaeorri finds some odd coins in the shape of gears with a staff on one side, a blank book on the other, and a hole in the middle.
They head down the other rough tunnel, but come to a main thoroughfare of these fishy folk. After a failed attempt to impersonate one with magic, the 3rd Watch retreats to the main tunnel and head back the other way. After another intersection - trapped to the left, collapsed to the right, though with another carved tunnel to one side - they find something strange up ahead. While the tunnel is blocked by rubble, there is a doorway to the left - which seems very odd in a sewer system. There is a brass door with a stone sign on it that forbids entry in several languages - based on the construction and anvils carved on it, Stor guesses the sign is from the Drovinaar Empire they heard about before.
They go through into a bright room of incredibly different design - the walls have more brickwork, as well as copper, brass, and glass decorations. The room is filled with tables populated by lizardfolk, fish-people, kobolds, and frog-people - all intermingling, in spite of whatever differences they may have. They look up when the adventurers come in, but then return to their drinks.
On the far side of the room is a bar manned by some metallic being. On the wall to there right is a strange metal box with a flat panel inset with a number of semi-precious stones, as well as a picture of a gold gear-like coin with an arrow pointing to a slot. Rising out of the back is a glass panel with a sheet of parchment behind it, and up above is a sign reading, "Win 10,000 Gold Pieces!"
Without a second thought, Fiaeorri drops a coin in the slot and promptly vanishes, with the 10,000 on the sign above becoming 10,001.
A cheer goes up from all the creatures at the tables as, on the parchment behind the glass, an ink drawing of what something recognizable as Fiaeorri scribbles into existence. At prompting from the patrons, the metal man behind the bar pulls a lever, and a larger version of the screen lowers to cover one of the walls as four odd, monster-like creatures are added to the drawing.
Logan perches on a table to watch, while T'Zaric and Dugg go and order drinks from the bar - then Dugg places a two-gold bet on Fiaeorri. Stor also approaches the bar for a drink and to ask some questions about the machine, but only learns that no one has ever run and the actual rules of the game have been lost to time. He also learns that there is a trapdoor behind the bar that is for employees only, and he believes that is the direction he needs to go to save his mother.
Back at the machine, Extang puts another gold coin in, and sees "Select your option" written on the screen. He starts by rolling a pearl that's in a bowl-like depression (Fiaeorri, who has found herself in a strange room with a pile of skeletons - one of which has a fancy-looking red cloak - and being attacked by four metallic creatures, suddenly feels a tug in her mind trying to convince her to move in a certain direction), seemingly with no effect - but the writing is still on the parchment, so he presses the green jade button - and vanishes!
Seeing this, Stor and T'Zaric rush over to the device, now seeing the moving drawings of two of their friends, battling creatures. They begin inserting coins and pressing buttons. The marbled black onyx button adds another monster to the fight, though its texture changed as it did so. The red-orange topaz button causes brilliant, artistic fireworks to burst across the parchment (Fiaeorri, Extang, and the monsters inside are all blinded for a few seconds), and the yellow quartz allows T'Zaric to use the pearl to select one of his friends, allowing him to heal some of Fiaeorri's wounds - but then the quartz turns purple.
The battle is completed, just as Stor adds another coin. They see the drawing-Fiaeorri take something from one of the skeletons in the room, then she and Extang leave through the one door in the room. They appear in another room with two doors - on labelled "Continue" and the other "Exit". Since he's already put in a coin, Stor hits the only button he and T'Zaric haven't pressed yet - the green jade - and joins the others in the strange room (where there are no labels on the two doors they see).
T'Zaric rolls the pearl in the direction of the door labeled "Exit". All three of the adventurers in the game follow the nudge they feel and go through the door, reappearing beside the machine to disappointing groans from the spectators. Fiaeorri is sporting a fine new cloak she found inside, but after that strange experience she really needs a drink, so she heads over to the bar.
The group reconvenes, discussing this fascinating game and the possibility of winning the now 10,006 gold by playing it. Bardroy, the machine tending the bar, tells them that he's seen at least seven rooms in the game, though there may have been people who got farther that he didn't see. They consider playing the game again, but they must also weigh that decision against the missions they are on.
And that's where the game session came to an end. Come back next week to find out what the adventurers do in Episode 36!
Monday, August 20, 2018
Constructing Family Trees
You know what’s a crazy project to work on? Fictional family
trees. It’s extremely time-consuming, but also fascinating and educational. In
many ways, it changes how you think about generations and time.
Take the tree I’m working on right now, for example. It’s
for a character who is the 9th individual in their line of
succession – although they are only the 7th of their name. So, I
figured I needed at least 9 generations, and that it would be somewhere in the
range of 400-500 year time-span. Boy was I wrong.
After building out the main family line – oh, and by the
way, family trees just keep getting bigger and bigger as they branch off! – I started
putting in the years, and tracking the line of succession, and I ran into a
massive snag. If a parent lived a long and full life, their child wouldn’t be
ruling until they were seniors! Not only that, but there was the potential that
the seat of leadership could pass over an entire generation. On the flip-side,
a shorter-lived ruler with no heir could result in their sibling inheriting –
meaning that two people in the same generation could hold power, meaning that –
unless I rebuilt the family tree – I had to steal that position from a whole
other generation.
Well, I eventually sorted the whole mess out, balancing the
leadership and generations, and was amazed to find that my 9 generations all
fit snugly in a blanket of 200 years. Only 200! Through this, I learned that
generations squeeze far closer together than I had ever anticipated – if only
because I didn’t sit down to do the math ahead of time.
And remember how I said the family tree just grows and
grows? I was erring on the side of keeping family sizes small, even going so
far as to end entire branches. Yet, over the span of 200 years, a family that
started with one couple grew to have 63 individuals in it (including spouses)!
So, naturally, now I’m off to finish naming 63 people, and
giving them all birth and death dates. And all I can say is, thank goodness for
noble households who like to pass on names through the family.
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.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Lark's Landing, Episode 34
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.
9th-14th of Waxing Fall, 0AL
It is only the morning after T'Zaric murdered Balasar and fled into the jungle, but the 3rd Watch have no time to rest. Stor's father, Varis, whom the entire group had experienced Balasar murdering in his memories, showed up at the door - half disguised as a friend of Extang's, with a broken arm, and looking about ready to pass out from exhaustion, but very much alive.
Varis informs Stor that his adoptive mother is in danger and needs his help. The two of them had gone out seeking treasure troves, and had found what looked to be a ruined temple in a swamp filled with lizard-creatures. Upon entering, the building had collapsed, separating the two. Varis had seen Stor's mother alive through the rubble, but his arm got broken during the the fruitless attempts to dig through. Knowing Stor could probably help, he'd rushed home, not even bothering to sleep.
The remaining members of the 3rd Watch, Extang and Fiaeorri, agree to help, but they believe they need a little more help. While Varis goes off to have his injuries tended to, Stor and Fiaeorri ask around for someone to help, and recruit Logan - a paladin of Epesta. Extang, meanwhile, obtains Naldor's last healing potion.
Before setting out, Fiaeorri takes a trip out to the edge of the jungle to leave a note for Dugg, hoping he can catch up with them. While there, she bumps into T'Zaric! She's happy to see him, and invites him on their adventure, but after talking about it they agree that the others probably aren't ready to forgive him for killing Balasar. So, they decide he should follow them from a distance instead.
With that, the 3rd Watch sets out, with T'Zaric sneakily following behind and Fiaeorri helping to keep attention away from him. They travel quickly, as Stor knows the first part of the route, which takes them past the white stone building where they have a couple of goblin friends. Of course, that may be another problem, because apparently there are harpies nesting on top of the building, and Stor is worried about his friends.
On their third day out, they come to the familiar field of long blue grass, though now it is smaller due to the people from the settlement harvesting it. They continue on, and as they draw near the white stone building, they note that there are indeed a large number of harpies around it. Stor convinces the others that they can't just leave the goblins there, but no one really wants to fight these creatures, so Fiaeorri is sent to sneak ahead and check on the goblins.
She makes it pretty far, but as she rounds the corner, she finds a harpy on the ground outside the door, who looks up at her and shrieks. Stor and Logan rush around the corner to help Fiaeorri, and that harpy is quickly killed - but the others have been alerted, and they swarm in to attack. Extang, lagging behind the others, catches a brief glimpse of a harpy diving at something back in the tall grass before he's set upon by two more harpies. Not wanting to stay separated from his friends, he vanishes with a spell to appear by their side.
The battle is rough, and full of strange occurrences. Shortly after one of the harpies begins singing - briefly charming Stor - there is a massive explosion from back around the corner from where they came. Once the battle is complete, they are certain there were more dead harpies than they killed, and one side of the building is blackened and charred. Extang looks into this - though Fiaeorri claims the explosion came from a trap she set - but he doesn't find anything other than some specks of blood where he's pretty sure none of his friends were fighting.
Stor finds the doors to the building held shut from the inside, but after he announces that it's him, the goblins Ilk and B'yeta throw open the doors and fling themselves on him, each accusing the other of threatening to eat them if the harpies stayed much longer. Of course, a horrible stench comes out with the goblins. Stor chastises them for not keeping the place clean, but the goblins insist that the smell is coming from the secret room where the 3rd Watch had locked up half a dead lion weeks ago.
Extang is fetched to open the door, and they clean up the mess - then Extang locks Balasar's magical greatsword in the room, figuring it was the safest place for it until a worthy wielder was found. They stayed there for the night, then continued on to the east in the morning.
After passing Grubfrub's old goblin camp, they come to a wide river, rushing down fresh from the mountains. With the aid of various magical items, they cross without much difficulty, and continue on across the savanna beyond. By the time they make camp, the mountains to the south have disappeared and there are trees on the eastern horizon - not jungle trees, either - but the droopy sort of trees they would expect to find in a swamp.
In the morning, they press on. About halfway through the morning, they spot a humanoid-sized shape on the edge of the swamp, being mobbed by a bunch of smaller creatures. Thinking it may be Stor's mother, they rush in to help, only to find that it is in fact a battle between six human-sized lizard-people and a much larger group a smaller lizard-creatures. Stor and Extang decide that they will help the larger creatures in the hopes that they can get on the good side of some of the locals. Fiaeorri and Logan come along, though both would have been content to sit and wait out the battle.
It's a tough fight, if only due to the sheer numbers of the smaller creatures - some of whom have magic. However, eventually they come out victorious, with two of the lizard-people still surviving. Said lizard-people take a step back, brandishing their spears defensively and glancing from each other to the four members of the 3rd Watch. One of them quietly begins hissing.
And that's where this game session ends. Discover what happens next week in Episode 35.
You can find the previous episode here.
9th-14th of Waxing Fall, 0AL
It is only the morning after T'Zaric murdered Balasar and fled into the jungle, but the 3rd Watch have no time to rest. Stor's father, Varis, whom the entire group had experienced Balasar murdering in his memories, showed up at the door - half disguised as a friend of Extang's, with a broken arm, and looking about ready to pass out from exhaustion, but very much alive.
Varis informs Stor that his adoptive mother is in danger and needs his help. The two of them had gone out seeking treasure troves, and had found what looked to be a ruined temple in a swamp filled with lizard-creatures. Upon entering, the building had collapsed, separating the two. Varis had seen Stor's mother alive through the rubble, but his arm got broken during the the fruitless attempts to dig through. Knowing Stor could probably help, he'd rushed home, not even bothering to sleep.
The remaining members of the 3rd Watch, Extang and Fiaeorri, agree to help, but they believe they need a little more help. While Varis goes off to have his injuries tended to, Stor and Fiaeorri ask around for someone to help, and recruit Logan - a paladin of Epesta. Extang, meanwhile, obtains Naldor's last healing potion.
Before setting out, Fiaeorri takes a trip out to the edge of the jungle to leave a note for Dugg, hoping he can catch up with them. While there, she bumps into T'Zaric! She's happy to see him, and invites him on their adventure, but after talking about it they agree that the others probably aren't ready to forgive him for killing Balasar. So, they decide he should follow them from a distance instead.
With that, the 3rd Watch sets out, with T'Zaric sneakily following behind and Fiaeorri helping to keep attention away from him. They travel quickly, as Stor knows the first part of the route, which takes them past the white stone building where they have a couple of goblin friends. Of course, that may be another problem, because apparently there are harpies nesting on top of the building, and Stor is worried about his friends.
On their third day out, they come to the familiar field of long blue grass, though now it is smaller due to the people from the settlement harvesting it. They continue on, and as they draw near the white stone building, they note that there are indeed a large number of harpies around it. Stor convinces the others that they can't just leave the goblins there, but no one really wants to fight these creatures, so Fiaeorri is sent to sneak ahead and check on the goblins.
She makes it pretty far, but as she rounds the corner, she finds a harpy on the ground outside the door, who looks up at her and shrieks. Stor and Logan rush around the corner to help Fiaeorri, and that harpy is quickly killed - but the others have been alerted, and they swarm in to attack. Extang, lagging behind the others, catches a brief glimpse of a harpy diving at something back in the tall grass before he's set upon by two more harpies. Not wanting to stay separated from his friends, he vanishes with a spell to appear by their side.
The battle is rough, and full of strange occurrences. Shortly after one of the harpies begins singing - briefly charming Stor - there is a massive explosion from back around the corner from where they came. Once the battle is complete, they are certain there were more dead harpies than they killed, and one side of the building is blackened and charred. Extang looks into this - though Fiaeorri claims the explosion came from a trap she set - but he doesn't find anything other than some specks of blood where he's pretty sure none of his friends were fighting.
Stor finds the doors to the building held shut from the inside, but after he announces that it's him, the goblins Ilk and B'yeta throw open the doors and fling themselves on him, each accusing the other of threatening to eat them if the harpies stayed much longer. Of course, a horrible stench comes out with the goblins. Stor chastises them for not keeping the place clean, but the goblins insist that the smell is coming from the secret room where the 3rd Watch had locked up half a dead lion weeks ago.
Extang is fetched to open the door, and they clean up the mess - then Extang locks Balasar's magical greatsword in the room, figuring it was the safest place for it until a worthy wielder was found. They stayed there for the night, then continued on to the east in the morning.
After passing Grubfrub's old goblin camp, they come to a wide river, rushing down fresh from the mountains. With the aid of various magical items, they cross without much difficulty, and continue on across the savanna beyond. By the time they make camp, the mountains to the south have disappeared and there are trees on the eastern horizon - not jungle trees, either - but the droopy sort of trees they would expect to find in a swamp.
In the morning, they press on. About halfway through the morning, they spot a humanoid-sized shape on the edge of the swamp, being mobbed by a bunch of smaller creatures. Thinking it may be Stor's mother, they rush in to help, only to find that it is in fact a battle between six human-sized lizard-people and a much larger group a smaller lizard-creatures. Stor and Extang decide that they will help the larger creatures in the hopes that they can get on the good side of some of the locals. Fiaeorri and Logan come along, though both would have been content to sit and wait out the battle.
It's a tough fight, if only due to the sheer numbers of the smaller creatures - some of whom have magic. However, eventually they come out victorious, with two of the lizard-people still surviving. Said lizard-people take a step back, brandishing their spears defensively and glancing from each other to the four members of the 3rd Watch. One of them quietly begins hissing.
And that's where this game session ends. Discover what happens next week in Episode 35.
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