Month: Oct 2022

The Wall Guard

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Welcome to Tuesday night NPC special where we look at the wall guard. It’s been a few weeks(?) some time any way since I played around with artbreeder and there is an influx of new pictures to modify. So be sure to check it out! Tonight we look at Wall Captain Hou, an image of his daughter (for reasons yet to be disclosed..) and the wall guard that spoke to the party lastly before they descended. I may create a few more of them for later on but that wont be for tonight. So sit back, enjoy and feel free to use these portraits in your own campaign!

The Wall Guard

241TuThWaGu

The more I look at the portraits created in artbreeder the more I forget that I used to never use this tool. Being able to describe someone and have a face to put to the name and description to show to a party member is awesome.

However… Captain Hou definitely looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger…

Wall Captain Hou
Captain Hou’s Daughter
Wall Guard Gin Seng

Thanks for joining me tonight for a few portraits. Don’t forget that tomorrow night is plot twist night where I hope to shock the RPG world with a revelation!! But its probably already obvious to my awesome readers so it wont be any surprise. Regardless don’t forget to come back for it and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Atop the wall

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Welcome to another Monday-plot night where this week sees the party arrive at the all and, well, it’s not looking good. Atop the wall they find themselves looking out across a warzone there the injured lay dying from both sides. Whilst the party investigate what’s happening they are attacked by a mysterious creature that vanishes as quickly as it appears. Can the party provide a glimmer of hope and act as a beacon from atop the wall to rally the bastions of humanity under one banner? Well this week we find out.

Atop the wall

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As the party arrived at the wall the first thing that they noticed was the sheer lack of people. For such a crucial point in the defence of Ryokughan it was shockingly unmanned. A head appeared at the edge of the wall twenty feet above the ground before calling out. “Princess Kyoko is here! Reinforcements have arrived!” the voice was overcome with emotion before several others echoed with joyous cries of relief.

“Kyoko. I don’t think our message hawk arrived here safely. They believe we have more reinforcements for the wall” Takeo spoke in a hushed whisper to Kyoko and the party. “How did you want to handle this?” he added looking from Kyoko to the party who were in fact the reinforcements.

After a few moments a platform was lowered over the side and the party, the princess and the spy were lifted atop the wall. Despite the low numbers of people on the wall they all were veterans. Heavily armed, armoured and trained they carried themselves with a martial poise that was lacking in many. As they rushed towards Kyoko they greeted Takeo and the party, the exhaustion on their faces replaced by joy and relief.

“Before we continue the pleasantries I believe I need to have a word with you lady Kyoko” a particularly grizzled and hard man said from a nearby door to a small tower. “There is something that is of great urg…” he began as he held up a fist and listened to the quiet that his signal instilled. “It comes!” the wall captain roared as every single soldier drew their weapons and surrounded the party and princess.

In a moment of chaos clouds of shadow-smoke appeared around the wall in sporadic bursts. Soon the sound of steel clashing, grunts and combat rang out around the party as the unknown adversary launched itself at the walls defenders. After a few moments the creature disappeared and the shadow-smoke dissipated soon after.

“To your posts. Prepare for combat!” roared the captain who eyed his men and women closely, inspecting for wounds. Finding one he pulled them aside “to the infirmary,” he said with a sigh as the realisation set into the face of the woman in front of him. “you’ve been stung. You won’t be seeing battle again until you’ve recovered” he added as he clasped the soldiers shoulder.

“yes sir!” the soldier barked obediently as with a great deal of sadness she handed over her weapons in resignation to the captain before retreating down a nearby set of stairs. As she disappeared into the bowels of carved and fortified stone.

“We are hounded by a creature that does not kill, it barely wounds but what it touches quickly dies. Normally at the hands of the victims allies.” the captain said as he grabbed a helmet and moved to the wall. “Those unfortunately enough to get injured by it recover after some time. Normally after heavy sedation. Some don’t and they choose to live on the outside of the wall so that in their condition they can still benefit their brothers and sisters.”

“What do you mean wall captain Hou?” Kyoko asked as she moved over to the wall before clasping a hand to her mouth.

“They go mad. Their blood boils and they cant detect friend from foe. They will kill anything in sight. Lethally trained warriors who can’t tell friend from foe and who have a lust for blood that a demon would envy. I haven’t seen it before. Our healers can only sedate and hope that their spirit is strong enough to fight the affliction. If they can’t resist then they spend their final days ripping into our enemies and serving us in their death.” the captain said with great reverence as he saluted a human who stopped pacing by the base of the wall, bloody froth covering its mouth.

After a moment the human, one a warrior that defended the wall turned and charged away from the wall, picking up a crude looking sword as it charged headlong into a mass of charging Spirit folk. The brutality in which the warrior cleaved into the fey creatures was outstanding and hard to watch. But that wasn’t only sight on the other side of the wall. Dozens of injured and dying lay strewn about the battlefield on both sides. Humans, those afflicted as well as the minions of The Shadow, all of them calling for help or crying out in pain or fear.

“We have tried to recover our wounded or dead and we started to lose more men than we saved…” a wall guard said from next to the party. Nodding towards the captain who pulled on a helmet and drew a magnificent longbow as he climbed a nearby watch tower. “He lost his daughter. She was a fine warrior and led the last recovery mission. She was cut down by a Oni.” The guardsman nodded towards a banner that stood high amongst the bodies, rocks and toppled trees. “She lies somewhere over there. Some men swear they have seen her moving about the battlefield but I think they are just seeing things.” he sighed. After a moment he ran off down the wall to continue to guard as creatures started to reach the wall.

Thoughts.

A few things for this week. A creature that attacks by teleporting which aims to spread an affliction – a blood rage if you will. Those afflicted by the blood-rage affliction who cant shake it being amongst the dead and rubble of the battlefield fighting non stop for their last few days. And lastly, a missing daughter to the captain. All of which can help drive action from the party. But what will they do? Maybe Wednesdays post will help us tease that out.

Thanks for joining me tonight. This week looks to be a big one with a few different roads to follow but its all leading up to what’s approaching at the end of this month. So don’t forget to come back each day this week to find out what’s in store for the party and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Road to the Wall

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Welcome to the 7th last (I believe) end of week writeup!. This week we followed the party along the road to the wall as they were attacked by creatures after the dragons tears items. Despite the ferocity and unrelenting creatures they came out on top and perhaps learned a thing or two about the items they carry.

As always portraits are created in Artbreeder and the normal wonderful tools like Kobold-fight-Club, Inkarnate and D&D Beyond are used frequently.

Road to the Wall

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Black feathers caught the wind currents under the dark ominous clouds and caused the large winged creature to soar above the ground far below. Beating its wings it looked down below at the group travelling along the road. It’s keen eyes picked out everything. From the colours of their clothes to the wear and tear on their cloaks not a detail was missed. That was until the hilt of a blade, the tip of a staff and the glimmer of an amulet glimmered from under cloth.

The resulting burst of radiance in the creatures view caused it to reel with pain. It wasn’t just its pain it was feeling but also its masters and its desires were simple. Don’t let them reach the wall.

Tucking its wings in the creature dove down the wind now aiding in its rapid descent as it plunged. Noticing movement from its left and right two of its brethren also had been urged downwards. However, their descent was halted as a bolt of radiance shot up from the travellers, connecting with the torso of the creature next to it. The tangled mess of skin, flailing limbs and gore tumbled down towards the earth as the creatures dove onwards.

Too late did the creature realise as the blades, limbs and bolts piece and shred their flesh that these motes of radiance were too much for them. Even as they began to flee shredded wings flapping in a panic they were cut down no far from where they made their foolish attack.

As the radiant light burnt through its flesh and it lay in a pool of blood and gore the power the Shadow had leant it all those years ago evaporated with the last beat of its heart.

240WeDaFo

The Dragons Tears items were phenomenal. With a single command word they shed bright light as if a miniature sun had been captured and forged into a item. The sun is something that the party had not seen in days and the further they travelled in this direction the more certain they were that they wouldn’t see the sun for quite some time.

“It wasn’t always like this” Kyoko said from beside them as she walked, the unseasonal browning leaves crunching underfoot. “These parts of the Harimasu lands were always green and rich with life. Now with the Shadow spreading its influence further east it looks like the life is being stripped from the earth.” Kyoko’s voice was melancholy but the bright light from the items the party carries seemed to bring mirth back to her face.

“Legend has it that the weapons were so powerful that the Shadow couldn’t stand to be in their presence. Alone it fled to the mountains to get far enough away from them that it wouldn’t feel their light upon its dark skin.”

The party looked at the items in thought. Surely they were stories told to make the people of these lands feel brave enough to face the horrors that crept in the dark. As a shower of sparks signalled that Takeo had finished building the fire as what they believed to be night descended upon them. Once he had finished with the fire he produced a pot and some rations and foodstuffs to get a meal going.

Nightfall…

As the fire flickered and licked at the empty pot the shadows cast from the creatures that gathered around it for warmth. The smell of stewed meat and vegetables caused the creatures to salivate but that wasn’t reason that they were here. The driving pressure, the urge and the desire to appease their master had lead them here and here they waited until they were sure. Their master was a strong one, clever, fast and wise. But his master was even more so and it was he who was giving the orders.

“Wait until we are sure they carry the light. Then we attack and make sure none find the light ever again” their master had instructed them. The largest creature crooned as she received scritches under its massive jaw.

A brief flash of light, then a pulse. A bigger burst of light that seared the eyes of the nocturnal creatures gave them all the information they needed. As a group they charged, whooping, cheering and howling with excitement as they closed into their prey. They just hoped that they would last long enough to be fun for the pack.

NPCs – 237TuWiotDa

Kyoko Harimasu

Kyoko has come with the party to aid them in drawing the Ice queen out and coordinating the troops on the wall as the others head to the south to meet the Toshio-family head on and prevent the wall from being attacked on two fronts.

Environment and running the adventure

Dragons Tears Items – 240TuDrTeIt

Map – Encounter with Shadowlands Mastiff

Made with Inkarnate.com

Creatures

Now the giant vulture in this instance of it looks like its not that strong but having a few ambush the party could be an interesting way to start us off. It will hint to the party that they are being watched or at least searched for.

The mastiff is part of the night time encounter, a few of these could be quite the challenge for the party. In fact this is especially so if they attack a party member who is isolated and drag them off into the darkness to be… well… eaten.

The Quasit is a funny one. I use these critters are comic relief normally but they can be quite dangerous in groups. The shape change will play havoc with the party (especially with the Paladins divine sense only picking up a fiend nearby where there is clearly a toad, centipede or a roosting bat. Could be a way to harass the party without causing them any real danger by having a few of these creatures playing tricks on the party.

Aftermath…

The party move on for another day of walking before the wall is seen on the horizon. Although they have bested all that has been thrown at them so far they fear the worst still lies ahead of them.

Thanks for joining me once again. As we draw closer to the end of our long trek along the Road to the wall we find our parties on the precipice of danger at every turn. Next week we find ourselves at the wall and perhaps its not as dire as it seems, perhaps its worse. Don’t forget to come back each day this coming week and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

One-shot challenge – Avian Raiders

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Welcome to a what-ever Saturday where tonight I am looking excitedly at Avian Raiders.

This is a one shot generated using a tool I stumbled up on today – Goblinist RPG Tools and the random encounter it gave me for 4 level 7 characters. Now use at your own risk Goblinist looks like it doesn’t have all the security certification that’s out there so user discretion is advised.

Before we get into the one shot let’s go over some ground rules.

I will try and stick to 30 minutes, the same as my other challenges. The one shot also has to have the basic elements of an adventure (what I cover weekly):

  • Plot
  • NPCs of note
  • Twist or secondary hook
  • Extra Stuff
  • Stat block

The extra stuff normally being a map may be a bit tough to do in Inkarnate so I will see what I can flesh out within the 30 minutes. So without any more chatter let’s see how we go with the one shot.

Time started: 10:11pm

Avian Raiders

The rattle of the pottery that lines up against the edge of the warehouse was the first sign that trouble was afoot. The hired guardsmen of the wealthy merchant, who also owned the dairy and mill, looked around more alert now and drew their werapons as they stalked the outside of hte e wood clad building.

As the moments went by the very ground shook as a horrifying screech boomed down from the hills where the flocks grazed. Spooked the guardsmen run but only after hearing the screech echoed many more times. In the morning the guardsmen returned top find the warehouse ransacked, not a valuable item was left or a scrap of food remained within. Other than frantic hard to read footprints the only trace these the raiders left were seven large feathers

Plot

The party is hired, sought out in fact, by a wealthy merchant. The merchant believes that a giant bird had raided his warehouse at command of the local herbalist. The only proof that he has that it was her is an argument that they had where she threatened to unleash the wrath of nature upon him and, seven large feathers.

The herbalist has been established in the growing village for many decades and provided the village with many tinctures, balms, salves and other potions that has saved many lives. However over the last few months the forest where she gains many of these items is slowly being cut down. The merchant has been expanding his land to get more grazing farm-land to produce more milk, meat and cows for trade. The herbalist has warned the merchant that his greed will be the downfall of the town and that she wouldn’t let him destroy the city for selfish means.

The party need to talk to find out who or what attacked Samwells’ warehouse and bring them to justice. Sam urges the party to check with Jane as they may find that their investigation is over before it rally has to o begin.

NPCs of Note

Samwell Goldfellow – a young ambitious merchant who has done exceptionally well at his trade. Starting a small general store a few years ago he has built up his empire to control the generation of grains, milk and meat (mostly) in the village of Tollenbrooke. But this wealth has left him paranoid and afraid of his efforts being taken from him. To prevent his paranoia taking over he has armed guardsmen, paid thugs from around the village, guard his warehouse an, dairy and mill to ensure nothing happens to his business.

Ironbark Jane – as she has been called for years, is a forest gnome who is fiery rather than timid. She has been in Tollenbrooke for many years and most parents of the current generation of townspeople remember Jane from their childhood and swear by her cures and potions. Seen as a bit of a town mystic and holy-woman the town will rally to her defence and aid unprovoked if they believe that she is threatened. To this effect Samwell’s actions to try and remove her (as competition and a blocker of his progress) have been met by boycotts of his business which eventually see’s him leaving Jane alone.
However lately Jane has been finding that the forest that she tends nearby has become more and more sparse and that Samwell’s bordering farmland seems to grow with each passing week. Jane has also seen strange omens and markings in the forest which she has warned Samwell about but her advice falls on deaf ears.

Twist and secondary hook

Jane offers to show the party to the place she was seeing the omens in the forest. If not she draws a highly detailed map which is written in the way a herbalist would try and find a route (listing out plants, trees, natural landmarks from a gnomes perspective). Once there the party find that there are large claw marks in the trees and dirt that indicates that there was something large and clawed in the forest not long ago. Further on they find a smashed clay pot and congealed white substance inside that reeks (turned/off milk). Taking it back to the town they notice that are guardsmen acting erratically at the warehouse. When they approach the guardsman he requests that the party help him bury a cow. When they either refuse or accept he goes on to frantically explain that he found it this morning when it didn’t show up at the dairy. Believing he could personally find the raiders he searched for the beast and found it dead and half eaten. He fears the repercussions from Samwell and wants the party to help him.

Investigating the corpse they find a large feathered arrow in the beast (under its body and pressed along the ground.) there are large clawed tracks around the corpse as well as several more large feathers however the tracks look to be a many legged creature that has between six and eight legs.

When they return back to the village they are just entering the town with the evidence that they have found that night and they hear a blood curdling screech from the hills.

Extra Stuff’s

Map of the farmstead and wheat crop.

Original found at Inkarnate.com

Fight-night

Created at Goblinist.com

Thanks for joining me tonight. Unfortunately this took a lot longer than what I had hoped to. WordPress seemed to want to time out and not register entire paragraphs of typing for upwards of 10 minutes at time so I had to do it in short bursts or hope that all the words I was touch-typing were accurate.

But it did give me time to work on a map whilst I waited for the words to load so enjoy that – made in Inkarnate as always.

Tonight’s encounter is relatively simple. Hobgoblins and their tamed owlbears (terrifying thought) attack the town and raid it because they wanted to. The owlbears were pushed out of the dwindling forest and trapped and tamed by the hobgoblins before they were used to attack the human town. Not super complicated with no dark master behind this one just a standard night-raid.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for the end of week write-up and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The trouble with beacons

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Welcome to a Friday #fight-night where tonight we are looking at some of the stat blocks that we can use for this weeks encounter. Now the trouble with beacons is simple, they literally signal to anyone who is looking for it (or not) that something is there. Now these magic items, the Dragons Tears, all have very strong beacon like abilities and especially since the minions of The Shadow are looking for them too. This week we have two planned encounters and another stat block that could be bit of fun.

As always the stat blocks are created in Tetra-cube (can’t leave the game table without it) but the rest is up to me (or from DND core books).

The trouble with beacons

240FrThTrWiBe

Now the giant vulture in this instance of it looks like its not that strong but having a few ambush the party could be an interesting way to start us off. It will hint to the party that they are being watched or at least searched for.

The mastiff is part of the night time encounter, a few of these could be quite the challenge for the party. In fact this is especially so if they attack a party member who is isolated and drag them off into the darkness to be… well… eaten.

The Quasit is a funny one. I use these critters are comic relief normally but they can be quite dangerous in groups. The shape change will play havoc with the party (especially with the Paladins divine sense only picking up a fiend nearby where there is clearly a toad, centipede or a roosting bat. Could be a way to harass the party without causing them any real danger by having a few of these creatures playing tricks on the party.

Made with Inkarnate.com

Thanks it for tonight. Don’t forget to come back this weekend for the end of week writeup, and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Road To The Wall

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Welcome to a bonus Thursday where tonight I have a map for us to use for this weeks encounter, well one of them. This is the map for yesterdays Dark footsteps encounter as the party continue their journey along the Road To The Wall. But it can be used in a few different encounters by making some small adjustments which Inkarnate makes easy for us to do.

Road To The Wall

240ThRoToThWa

Nice simple update tonight as I look at the map for one of the encounters for this weeks adventure.

As always created in Inkarnate and relative straight forward with passing through a bit of a forested area.

Made with Inkarnate.com

Thanks for looking at tonight’s map but don’t forget that tomorrow is fight night were we look at the beasties which we are encountering. Also don’t forget as the weeks draw to a close we come closer to the end of the yearly adventure and I am excited for what comes next so don’t forget to stay tuned. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Dark Footsteps

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Welcome to another Twisted Wednesday here with me. Tonight we are looking at the party as dark footsteps follow them along the shadow-drenched roads as they make their way further towards the wall. As they move closer to the wall the days seem shorter as the sun is constantly hidden behind thick clouds that cast the entire western lands in shadow.

Dark Footsteps

240WeDaFo

The Dragons Tears items were phenomenal. With a single command word they shed bright light as if a miniature sun had been captured and forged into a item. The sun is something that the party had not seen in days and the further they travelled in this direction the more certain they were that they wouldn’t see the sun for quite some time.

“It wasn’t always like this” Kyoko said from beside them as she walked, the unseasonal browning leaves crunching underfoot. “These parts of the Harimasu lands were always green and rich with life. Now with the Shadow spreading its influence further east it looks like the life is being stripped from the earth.” Kyoko’s voice was melancholy but the bright light from the items the party carries seemed to bring mirth back to her face.

“Legend has it that the weapons were so powerful that the Shadow couldn’t stand to be in their presence. Alone it fled to the mountains to get far enough away from them that it wouldn’t feel their light upon its dark skin.”

The party looked at the items in thought. Surely they were stories told to make the people of these lands feel brave enough to face the horrors that crept in the dark. As a shower of sparks signalled that Takeo had finished building the fire as what they believed to be night descended upon them. Once he had finished with the fire he produced a pot and some rations and foodstuffs to get a meal going.

Nightfall…

As the fire flickered and licked at the empty pot the shadows cast from the creatures that gathered around it for warmth. The smell of stewed meat and vegetables caused the creatures to salivate but that wasn’t reason that they were here. The driving pressure, the urge and the desire to appease their master had lead them here and here they waited until they were sure. Their master was a strong one, clever, fast and wise. But his master was even more so and it was he who was giving the orders.

“Wait until we are sure they carry the light. Then we attack and make sure none find the light ever again” their master had instructed them. The largest creature crooned as she received scritches under its massive jaw.

A brief flash of light, then a pulse. A bigger burst of light that seared the eyes of the nocturnal creatures gave them all the information they needed. As a group they charged, whooping, cheering and howling with excitement as they closed into their prey. They just hoped that they would last long enough to be fun for the pack.

Thoughts

I know, another night ambush. When you have dealt with parties that are strong and capable as long as me then there isn’t much that dissuades them. Not to mention they all have darkvision now.

These creatures are more-or-less wargs but with a shadowy touch. Fast and brutal in a pack they should provide a bit of a challenge but not enough to be lethal. The idea behind this is to build up tension rather than to would or hamper the party. Tension can be just as much of a tool in our kit as any website, book or physical device.

Tension for us is really bringing the adventure to a close. It’s building some hype to the fight to come and the increase in number of encounters does just that.

Thanks for joining me tonight to get a bit more of a glimpse at the creatures that lurk in the dark. Tomorrow we will hopefully have an encounter map for this weeks two encounters, potentially more. So don’t forget to come back each day this week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Dragons Tears Items

thebrazenwolfe1 Comment

As we move closer to the end of the campaign I don’t foresee having many more NPCs of note joining us for every weeks encounters. So for tonight I wanted to release the Dragons Tears Items that I worked on a template for last week with some slight tweaks. So enjoy!

Dragons Tears Items

240TuDrTeIt

Dragons Tears Items – Melee

Made at D&D Beyond
Made at D&D Beyond

Dragons Tears Item – Ranged Weapon

Made at D&D Beyond

Dragons Tears Item – Wondrous Item (amulet)

Made at D&D Beyond

Thoughts.

Tweaking the bonus to hit and damage to be all the time was just to make the weapon feel more versatile outside of this specific campaign. Having the damage be activated rather than all the time and only when shedding light means that there is a decision to be made. Stealth or no stealth. The non-optional beacon effect of the light them a target for the minions of the shadow, undead, fiends or creatures in general and that could be enough of a deterrent to not use it all the time.

The ranged weapon didn’t get much tweaking. I know how strong guiding bolt is but granting permanent damage boost on a ranged weapon felt too strong. The three times a day (resetting on dawn) is thematic as well as should make the use of the ability something they save, or risk being caught without an ace up their sleeve.

The wondrous item wasn’t changed too much if at all as the provision of darkvision, the light effect AND the advantage on being charmed should be powerful enough.

Thanks for joining me once again when we look towards Ryokughan. Tonight we looked at some magic items that were gifted by the Harimasu family to defeat the Shadow. Well that’s the hope at least. Tomorrow we look at further advancements as the party travel towards the wall so it aims to be a good one. Don’t forget to come back each night this week to stay up to date on the content here and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Mote of Radiance

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Well it’s the second last month of the Brazen year-long content arc and we are finally off to have audience with the Ice Queen… Again.. This time however eyes high above the roads and plains spot the party from miles away like a bright mote of radiance as they travel towards the wall. But is ancient ancestral weapons forged by dragons and elves and the desire to repay the Ice Queens hospitality enough?

Mote of Radiance

240MoMoORa

Black feathers caught the wind currents under the dark ominous clouds and caused the large winged creature to soar above the ground far below. Beating its wings it looked down below at the group travelling along the road. It’s keen eyes picked out everything. From the colours of their clothes to the wear and tear on their cloaks not a detail was missed. That was until the hilt of a blade, the tip of a staff and the glimmer of an amulet glimmered from under cloth.

The resulting burst of radiance in the creatures view caused it to reel with pain. It wasn’t just its pain it was feeling but also its masters and its desires were simple. Don’t let them reach the wall.

Tucking its wings in the creature dove down the wind now aiding in its rapid descent as it plunged. Noticing movement from its left and right two of its brethren also had been urged downwards. However, their descent was halted as a bolt of radiance shot up from the travellers, connecting with the torso of the creature next to it. The tangled mess of skin, flailing limbs and gore tumbled down towards the earth as the creatures dove onwards.

Too late did the creature realise as the blades, limbs and bolts piece and shred their flesh that these motes of radiance were too much for them. Even as they began to flee shredded wings flapping in a panic they were cut down no far from where they made their foolish attack.

As the radiant light burnt through its flesh and it lay in a pool of blood and gore the power the Shadow had leant it all those years ago evaporated with the last beat of its heart.

Thoughts.

This week we start the journey north-west, towards the wall that the Harimasu family had patrolled for years. With enchanted weapons and items the party are more than a match for anything they have fought previously and even now the minions of The Shadow don’t stand a chance. This week is to demonstrate this power and boost the players ego’s a bit at their newfound power.

The reason for it is a simple one. We want them to feel powerful heading towards the wall and so sending small ambushes on they way to the wall is on the menu. So this week is creatures attacking from everywhere and we need to make sure that they all fit the bill for fiend, fey or undead. Next week and the week after we hit the walls and beyond and take the fight to the yuki-onna.

Thanks for joining me tonight to look at the plot for this weeks adventure. Don’t forget that Monday is just the start of the week and that we have more content planned. It goes without saying, don’t forget to come back each day and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Shadow of the Lómipilu

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Tonight as we head further closer towards the conclusion of this yearly adventure with The Shadow of the Lómipilu. This month is a level 8 adventure so our party of adventurers should prepare a level up sometime around talking to the Emperor.

As with last time Pages 1, 2 and 3 are content pages, the description, flow, random tables, etc. and such that you’ve previously seen.
Page 4 contains all NPCs and portraits to help the DM describe them and a bit about them to help play them out.
Page 5 will be stat blocks and map(s) – all that D&D encounter goodness that you want.

Now I will assume you have read the entire post which has had some bits modified over the months content. Now including the original content, and some bits added this is a smaller than normal length, only just making 10247! words long. I really do appreciate the time you take to read through these end of month adventures.

All Maps were made in Inkarnate using their Pro license, Art was created in Artbreeder and the statblocks were created in Tetra-cube AND the balancing of encounters is a mixture of experience and the guides found at Kobold Fight Club.

Don’t forget to come back next week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Part 1 – A Shadow Within the walls – 236MoShWiWa

The familiar sights of the city were a welcome blanket of comfort for Kyoko, Hana and, although he would never admit it Kuang. As the party moved down the streets the busy merchants, artisans, guards and farmers stopped and cheered for the return of Kyoko. At the intersection of a busy street where their was a five feet wide line of red bricks that ran the length of it, perpendicular to the one they were travelling on Kyoko turned with a bright smile and looked in the direction of a massive tree.

The tree was ancient. Easily taller than the majority of the buildings around the city and Kyoko searched for when she returned home. In fact it was the first thing she always checked. Amongst the branches of the tree was a strip of red cloth hanging from a branch, fluttering in the wind loosely. Kyoko turned to the party, still smiling and walked closer. “I feel like a drink in celebration of returning home.” and amongst the cheers of those on the streets around her she head down a road to a the Jade Cup.

The Jade Cup was a well known establishment in Heavens Reach providing good food and drinks to the public. As Kyoko ordered a round of drinks for the table a cloaked stranger sat down next to the party.

“I am sorry Lady Kyoko for interrupting your return to the capital but I hoped you had remembered the training.” the stranger spoke softly as he looked nervously around the room.

“I saw the warning.” she said looking around the room, mimicking the stranger. “So what news do you bring Takeo?”

Takeo leaned in, nodding with a smile to the party. “It’s been some time my friends,” he said before leaning in closer to the table. “I can’t confirm it but there is something in the castle that I can’t detect nor find. I spoke directly to it and discovered no taint, no malicious intent but it intercepted your letters to me and somehow got to the vault before I could. There is also something else in the castle, something that eludes me still.”

“So what do we do from here?” Kyoko asked as she drank from her cup.

“Trust only those you rode in with” Takeo said as he stood from the table and stumbled towards the door. The performance he put on as being drunk and being asked to leave was impressive, but perhaps not his most believable one.

“Well. It’s not quite the welcome I was anticipating, but it’s not the first time we have had this situation.” Kyoko said. “So are we up for a bit of a witch hunt?”

236WeSpMa

“Now,” Takeo began as he walked down the halls of the castle, “the creature is likely posing as a servant, a guard or part of your family…” Takeo added as if almost an afterthought. “we must be careful of what we reveal here as to not give away us being aware of it.” He took a breath after checking around a corner for others. “Likely someone it has killed. I dare say that it wont risk being exposed by wearing the form of someone it may have the chance of being in the same room as.”

“But if it was able to so convincingly deceive you how will we tell it apart from the others?” Hana asked, her voice still sounding uncertain of itself.

“I was hoping our friends or Lady Liz would be of assistance there.” Takeo said smiling at the party as he approached a grand double door.

“Fathers through there isn’t he?” Kyoko said as she smiled and walked towards the door. “It’s been months since I have seen him.” she added as she pushed on the door.

“Remember what I said my lady.” Takeo said as he pushed the doors open for the princess.

The room on the other side of the doors was flooded in light, airy and had was almost serene. The dozen or so guards, members of court and family and the assistants at the castle all knelt in front of an kind faced man who sat at the top of a dais. As Kyoko entered the room the man looked up and his face broke out into an enormous smile. “Praise and thanks to the ancestors, you have returned safe and with companions I see. Takeo and Lady Lizbet have explained that you are the reason that I have my daughter safe at home.”

The emperor said to the party. “You have my sincerest thanks. If we were meeting upon better times I would have you dine with me for a week in celebration and you would want for nothing. But alas I have restricted the banquets until we can sort out our supply lines with the wall.” he emphasised the situation with a loud sigh. “We are having trouble sending supplies and food up there. When ever we do the caravans and their guards are ambushed and the brave men and women fighting back The Shadow go hungry.”

“Father I am sure that my new friends here would be able to assist us. They have bested a Laelóng, defended me from the Yuki-onna that has allied herself with the traitorous snakes the Toshio family. And they brought back my cousin safely home. I am sure that investigating the happenings with our supply lines is child’s play to them at this stage.” Kyoko said with a broad smile towards the party.

The emperor smiled. In fact he beamed. “Hana. It has been far too long.” he said as the quiet young woman moved from behind the party. “If I had known what was happening to you I would have sent troops to rescue you from your corrupt husband.”

“I dare say that she would have joined us sooner or later” a voice cut across the tender moment between family members as the rustling of feather and the slightest gust of wind sounded from outside an open door. A short, slightly hunched man stepped forward and guards rushed to intercept him.

“Halt!” The emperor called as he stood and moved down the steps to his dais. “I dare say that if you engage that man in combat you cant hope to win.” he said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “It’s been some time Master Fukiyomo. What dark tidings do you bring?”

The old man smiled. “You know me too well it seems. Unfortunately armies of spirit-folk are ambushing your caravans, but it sounds like you have a plan for that.” the man said as he nodded to Kyoko, the party and Takeo. “But I also believe that we have more to worry about from our neighbours than what comes form the walls at this stage. A sizeable force is marching through the Kunagi ranges as we speak. Slowed down by the collapse of some of the large peaks I will add.” the man nodded respectfully to the group again. “But on this way none-the-less.”

The emperor moved down to a map of the lands as his war council positioned more wooden blocks on it to represent the new information. “Are you sure of this Master?” Takeo said as he stepped forward towards the table, noticing that there was a lot of dark coloured blocked near the wall, about two days ride from here.

“I saw them attempting to clear the rubble from your battle with the Laelóng myself,” he paused as he rested heavy on the hilt of a cane-sword. “As I chased down a Lóminau. One who is without Shadow. A demon of the shadow fell.” The court hummed with the panicked murmur from those who had attended the court. “But I lost it when I felt the presence of a Shadow born. And witnessed it being felled by a party of foreign heroes. So I went to pick up where I left off but could not find where the creature had gone to.” his statement causing a different type of murmur to spread through the room. One of disbelief and awe.

“It seems daughter, that we have much to catch up on. And I expect that Takeo also will want to have words with his master too.” the emperor gravely stated.

Areas and places of note

The City of Heavens Reach – an enormous, rich and cultured city that has just about everything that anyone could want.

Environment and running the adventure

Now the thoughts on this are quite simple. The creature that is providing the advice or intelligence is providing miss advice believe what they are saying is true. They are either a secondary or first information provider and either believe what they have been told or believe what they saw or heard or experienced fully.

This means that under the effects of a Zone of truth, or highly insightful people (insight checks) that they appear to be telling the truth. They believe it to be true and so it is. Now this form of unwelcome Truth is something that the party can have issue with as it is pretty powerful. The player and the DM know that what is being said is a lie – but for all intents and purposes there is truth in what is being said. In fact they don’t just say its true they believe it completely.

This can make some tricky situations where the truth is farfetched. Like flying pigs. If someone believes that what they saw was definitely flying pigs and all attempts to detect lies, coerce the truth out of them or otherwise will result in the one result. Flying pigs. But the Party know there isn’t flying pigs but they cant convince the creature who believes in them is that they aren’t real.

In conclusion

This really comes down to belief. If the belief is strong enough then conventional methods of separating truth from lies becomes impossible. This leaves us, the DM, on a rocky road. How do we set up our encounter that there are situations where there is this moment of unwelcome Truth but it’s fair for our players?

Simply enough – make everyone’s version of the truth different from one another except for one element. Perhaps one person saw flying pigs, another saw flying cows and another flying sheep. All of them saw something flying but what else did they see. Perhaps they noticed that there was a particularly high pitched sound could be heard as the creatures flew by. Or that there was a smell of rotting eggs and ta trail of slime from a swamp could be found the following day where they saw the flying animals.

As long as we have a common element of truth we can always turn it into a logic puzzle or test to se how good of a detective our parties are. Then its up to us when we hand them a bone such as a “I didn’t see a pig. I saw a dragon covered in slime flying and grabbing animals from the farms below.”

Notable NPC interactions.

Kyoko Harimasu – Kyoko’s return home is overshadowed as she receives a warning signal from Takeo as she enters the city. Following through with the agrees process with her spy she uncovers that the shadows taint has even spread into her home. Now she asks the party to help expel this darkness from Heavens Reach Castle.

Captain Kuang Ping – Happy to be home Kuang is a bit more relaxed, however quiet and a bit reserved. Feeling guilt for doubting the party and betraying the trust of Kyoko he hides his secret shame and does his best to make up for it in his own way.

Sasha (Hana Toshio-Harimasu) – Happy to be home and safe Hana is a more vibrant person and is quick to step into the affairs of state where she can. However as she has been with the enemy for a number of years, even married to one of the families that has betrayed them and march upon their gates, reportedly, she isn’t trusted with much.

Takeo – On the hunt for the creature that thwarted him in the castle Takeo appears calm but highly alert.

Despite his hunt he welcomes Kyoko, Kuang, Hana and especially the party back with open arms and acts as their guide around the castle.

Encounter

Now in order for this week to go smoothly we need to have a few things ironed out. In fact we need to know exactly what the end goal of the month is and for me that’s easy. I want the party to find, confront and then defeat the creature that is so well accustomed to lies and illusion that its existence is in fact one. But how do we confront an illusion. This is the question we need to answer tonight by the following.

  1. Strange happenings
  2. Illusion
  3. Mirrored espionage

Strange happenings

For our party to be truth seekers we need them to have leads. Takeo, Kyoko or even the members of the household may come forth (indeed a few of them will) and advise that they saw other members of staff different ones, acting strangely. The common denominator is that all of them cant remember who it was. but give a generic explanation that they feel as though they were friends and remember them at dinners and festivals.

Each person though, when questioned more, had a jade serpentine bracelet on their right wrist. The party can either ask the question outright or if they are a bit stumped we can assist. To assist the party the second person they question would look uncertain and come back to bring it up that they remembered something that stood out. The jade bracelet. They would explain that the Jade bracelet normally was reserved for a certain level of staff as a symbol of their favour from the emperor.

When finding the member of staff, the keeper of Jade, who is responsible for these bracelets is the next step. Once there they show off the five bracelets they have – as they are returned and stored in a chest every night at which point the party can investigate them.

Illusion

The Jade bracelet is our first clue. One of them is an illusion and DC 15 investigation or arcana check will see through it. Those with witch sight or the ability to detect magic can tell that all of them have an enchantment placed upon them but one of them has a strong illusion magic placed on it.

The Keeper of Jade goes into panic mode and wants to raise the issue with the emperor. The party can let it happen at which point it makes the third step harder or they can urge them to remain quiet – Something that both Takeo and Kyoko would have mentioned to them.

The Jade Bracelet that is missing and an illusion (its a rusted copper ring with fell writing inscribed into it) belongs to a member of staff who deals with serving food, primarily to the emperor and family.

When the person is questioned about the bracelet, if they are, they snap out as if coming out from a trance and become extremely disorientated. Upon questioning they cant remember the last two weeks. They remember walking into the library to take a scholar there some food and that’s the last thing they remember. The staff member has flashes of dream like memories of conversations with new staff where parts of the memory are disjointed or blurry.

As part of this dream memory they distinctly remember that one of the staff had their shadow shift and stir as if a candle was flickering on the other side of them but there was nothing there. The staff of house show the party to the library and to where the new staff reside.

The library has an entire book shelf cast in illusion which is only broken by DC 15 investigation or arcana check. Once broken the party realises that he books are either missing or strewn around the shelf and floor. The illusion is powerful enough that physical interaction from our seekers of truth doesn’t break the illusion.

The staff quarters has no illusion on it.

Mirrored Espionage

During their investigation a successful DC17 perception check will reveal that they are being followed by someone who knows how to tail them. This person (creature) wears an ordinary face of a member of staff. In fact they may have spoken to this person already who came to them to report something odd or out of the ordinary that was completely different to everyone else.

If confronted the creature will move swiftly but in a calculating way through the halls and the party will lose track of them in a door way. The doorway wont be to anything in specific but I would maybe have it lead to a lesser family members room who wont take kindly to being interrupted or questioned.

If not confronted they will tail the party for the rest of the session unless they go to the library – at which point it will hurriedly leave.

After the encounter:

The party can do what they please, but to head back into the village of Lanidaye will help drive the story forward. Whether it is to buy supplies or say farewell the village should be provided as the suggestion from Jason and the other NPCs.

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