Colonial Caerdia: Lark's Landing is a story being told through a 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I'm running at a local hobby shop called the Devil's Bench. If you aren't familiar with this ongoing story, you can follow this link to Once Upon a Tabletop on YouTube to hear the start of it or read the brief summary I wrote when I switched from video to blog.
You can find the previous episode here.
5th-6th of Waning Fall, 1AL
We left the 3rd Watch in dire straits last week, with three of their own fireballs having blasted a round room full of orcs - two of which hit parts of their own group, resulting in the cloud-formed T'Zaric falling to the floor, unconscious and turning back into his half-elven form. Two orcs are still standing. However, Quib is quick on the ball, using his magic to revive T'Zaric and finish off one of the charred orcs, wile Fiaeorri rushes in to take out the last one. Panting and worn out, they loot the corpses and take short break - after some chastising of T'Zaric who has no idea why he's being told off.
Determining the T'Zaric needs some time to figure out what's going on in his head, he and Fiaeorri decide to spend more time puzzling over the strange mechanism on the door while the rest head upstairs to continue their exploration if this castle. In the charred room, they have three ways to go - up some stairs, or through a door to either side. They choose the door to their right and follow a long hall down to a library, where they encounter four orcs around a bonfire made of books. Extang, wanting this to be over quickly - especially since Quib goes ahead and gets mobbed by the orcs - drops a fireball in the library, while the intelligence-lacking Logan charges forwards, unleashing all his might to smite one of the orcs attacking his bird-like friend. Partick, horrified by Extang setting books on fire, summons up a sleet storm that puts out the fires and deals considerable damage to the orcs. The orcs are finished off, ant the group moves on into the library, hungrily perusing the books.
Most of the books are in a language they can't identify, but they do find a number in languages they understand - primarily encyclopedic or historical in nature. They also find a number of spell scrolls, some blank books, and one particular blank book that appears to be magical. They decide to spend some time in the library, but first Extang checks the three doors leading out - finding a room full of shelves, tables, and broken glass, a hallway - with an orc patrol just passing - and a room full of steaming baths. A lone orc appears to be taking a bath.
Extang decides to attempt to be chummy with the orc, intending to get into the bath and chat with him - hoping that by pretending that's he's supposed to be there he'll get along fine with the orc. Unfortunately, the orc has other ideas and charges at him, swinging the axe he had beside the bath. However, it doesn't land a hit before getting killed.
The group take their break, and Quib attempts to identify the book - but finds that it's beyond his understanding. He does figure out that he can magically bond with it, however, so he requests the extra time to do so, hoping that doing so will reveal its secrets - which it does. He come to understand that this is Raim's Book of Secrets - an artifact that once belonged to a god. However, in attempting to glean secrets from the book, he finds his mind coming under a great deal of psychic pressure.
Once learning of the book, the other briefly discuss if they should tell T'Zaric about it, as he worships Raim. They decide it's probably a good idea, but they have more exploring to do first. While Quib and Extang are dealing with Logan, Patrick heads off ahead and opens the door to the hallway - right in the face of an orc patrol. Acting reflexively, he casts a spell that blasts them away from him - as well as making a sound loud enough that it can probably be heard throughout the entire castle - before retreating to his friends' sides. The orcs are killed quickly, but not before one of them opens the door on the other side of the hall and shouts something in.
They decide it's time to retreat, and run back to the hatch and the secret room below, closing the hatch and locking it shut with their immovable rod. They cower below for a bit, waiting for orcs to attack from anywhere, but when the orcs don't come they settle down for a good long rest, hoping that things will have calmed down when they venture out again.
And that brings this week's game session to an end. Check back next week to find out what happens next in Episode 67.
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