Month: Oct 2024

Mascalar Valley Clearing

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A short and easy one tonight with a pile of barrels that are prepared to do an unknown, yet anticipated large amount of damage in the Mascalar valley clearing. That is if the Party can’t stop it or buy enough time for the scouts to do so. But its not just a simple encounter as there are dozens of places to hide this week for both the party and the enemies.

So sit back, grab a coffee, and let’s explore tonight’s Map!

Mascalar Valley Clearing

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Mascalar Valley Clearing – Created in Inkarnate.

The trees give a good amount of cover for those sneaking towards or hiding near the barrels. There are bushes growing in several places, their seed originally deposited by mammal or bird none are quite sure. But they provide a mid-height wall where one can hide behind. Depending on the approach there is cover from multiple directions which can be used by the party or their allies, or against them. Perhaps both at the same time.

Three layers for the bottom were used in grass alone with different sizes, hues and brightness levels to get the effect I am mostly happy with. The dirt consists of two darker layers and a lighter layer to try and indicate that there is traffic in certain areas around the barrels and clearing. The barrels were hard to get looking stacked but, it will do.

Flooding the area with trees and bushes to compliment the grasses was the aim here as it gives some level of tactic and for only a few assets it gives depth without feeling too flooded with detail that will detract from the combat and the party.

Thanks for joining me for another map making night. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to finish off the week strong with the encounter stat-blocks and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Artifice and Arson

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Tonight the blend of artifice and arson come together in a foul concoction as a group are found within the valley hauling barrels into place. Will the party be able to stop them in time just as the gentle creatures make their passage through the valley?

So let’s grab a coffee, our fire fighting buckets and make haste to protect the valley!

Artifice and Arson

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Clearing of Preparation – Created in Nightcafe.

As the party rushed along the barely functional path behind the scouts that that returned with news of a hostile force moving equipment into the valley. Racing ahead with the small amount of light a tiny driftglobe tied to the the belt of one of the scouts they made quick progress despite the unsafe conditions of their flight.

Eventually the scout stopped and a clicking from a nearby shrub drew their attention to where some scouts were waiting. Approaching they ducked just in time to witness a dozen men carrying barrels of material into a large, stacked and ordered pile.

“That should be the lot now.” one of the men said as they placed the barrel down. “Now just like the last one, once the signal is given move as far away from the barrels as possible as you wont have much time before this place is a smoking, burnt hole.”

“Yeah. Those black-cloaks don’t do much fighting but they sure know a thing or two about blowing stuff up.” another replied with a murmur of agreement.

Jovi looked towards the party. “We may be able to work out how to stop what they are doing. But we will need a distraction. That’s where you lot come in. We aren’t much fighters and if we can stop those barrels from…”he paused. “doing whatever they are going to do. Then we need you to help us out. Can you give us enough time, or simply take them out so we don’t have to worry about them?”

Before the party could respond a bright vial was produced from the cloak of one of the men. The glass vial seemed to glow like fire as he pulled out a stopper and lay it on its side above the barrels. “Alright. We have a few minutes before that drops out and hits the barrel. You know the drill. Get out of here!” the larger man called out.

“I guess that’s our queue.” Jovi said as he and the scouts moved forward, blending into the shadows.

Thanks for joining me tonight as I continue to grow this adventure. Don’t forget that the next few days I will add more onto this adventure, so make sure you come back each night this week to stay up to date. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Jovi of the Dusk Scouts

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Jovi of the Dusk Scouts is introduced pretty early on in this weeks adventure. As the point of contact for the party to investigate the Mascalar valley and as the guide to these protected lands of the Musca Empire.

So let’s gear up, grab a coffee to go and get ready for a hike!

Jovi of the Dusk Scouts

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The valley was quiet yet covered in smoke as the party walked a small game path down into the valley. Their guide, Jovi, was a member of the kings elite scouts and confidently walked through the trees, bushes and logs. Stopping only to check a track or broken fern as they pushed deeper into the valley.

Jovi – Created in Nightcafe.

It had been a few days of travel by foot after they had left the horses. The king had pushed to make the expedition as stealthy as possible to try and ensure that their presence was unknown. The scout detachment had moved ahead of them to prepare for the parties arrival but to also begin checking for what ever was causing the mass damage in the valley.

Jovi waited for the party at a particular broken plant that he had stopped by. “This wasn’t broken by a creature of the valley. Evidence that there are people here. Best be on your toes as we move towards the rendezvous site.” he said as he pointed at a boot print that had crushed a fern into the soil. His confidence in pointing out the little things on the path told tales of the amount of time he had spent in these woods.

As they continued deeper along the path the party grew more aware of the changes. A thicker smoke was pushing through the tress now and the smell of singed soil and burning leaf matter was stronger. Eventually the camp ahead of them appeared with a small group moving around and moving branches to conceal the last few tents that had been constructed around a low smokeless fire.

As Jovi approached several men and women rushed forward and a shimmering cylinder appeared that concealed the passage of the party and Jovi towards the camp. “Welcome back captain. The camp has been set up and we have spotted the first of the rekuldor have been seen on the other side of the pass. However, we have seen evidence of others in the valley so I believe it’s safe to say that we are not alone.” a young woman in the same scouts outfit reported.

“Well, we have support now. These are the adventurers that the emperor has deemed suitable to help us with this endeavour. They have proven themselves useful so far but until we know what we are dealing with we are dealing with too many variables that could interrupt the migration.” Jovi responded, a pointed look to the party indicated that he expected them to provide some input.

Thanks for visiting tonight where we continued on with the adventure for the week. Don’t forget that each night this week we will continue to expand this adventure. So don’t forget to come back daily to stay up to date and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Ruined Migration

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This week the party bear witness to a ruined migration as the legendary megafauna of a kingdom are interrupted in their migration by large burning craters appearing in the valley that they have crossed since the beginning. A mystery to solve, a rare opportunity to bear witness to the birth of a kingdoms system of commerce and a villain who thinks they can get away with it.

So let’s grab a coffee, grab some binoculars and watch the drama unfold!

The rekuldor’s have migrated through the Mascalar valley for centuries and their passing has given birth to the thriving Empire of Musca who’s commerce is solely based on the migration of these large fantastic beasts. However, when a series of fiery craters has appeared it threatens the migration of these creatures and the miracle that their passing gives to the people of Musca.

With the success of the Empire in peril they call to aid, someone to help shepherd the gentle giants and in protecting the creatures, to also uncover the origins of the craters. But as the Empire moves its pieces into play and gold changes hand the same is happening in an opposition to the prosperity of the Empire. Will the hired adventurers be enough to protect the creatures and put a stop to the hostile forces invading the lands?

Ruined Migration

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Mascalar Valley – Created in Nightcafe.

The kingdom of Musca was gearing up to celebration migration season. They had anticipated this event for the last five years and as the last of last migrations supplies were running out it was arriving at an opportune time. As the main city of Musca prepared their artificers, smiths, wagons and workforce in anticipation of the migration of the Rekuldor the scouts of the arm were pushing into the Mascalar valley to secure it and to ensure nothing was wrong.

Emperor Isbolg looked through his stack of paperwork and despite the near dire straits they were heading towards the migration held his empires future in the balance. He and the council had planned it perfectly, nearly to the month of when their supplies of Rekuldorite, a rare durable metallic ore with blue sheen, were to run out. However as the creatures who gave the ore its namesake passed great masses of this ore could be found where they trod.

His sages had investigated it once, the creatures fed upon the rocks, plants and minerals in the Muscalar Valley and some alchemical process took place within their body. Their leavings was this ore, a versatile material that was seen as more precious than gold or platinum but it was more durable than steel. But the creatures only migrated once every ten years and their passing always corresponded with a burst of luck and prosperity for the kingdom.

Their passing, the migration, was a kingdom held secret and they had done well to conceal it for as long as they had. As the Isbolg finished his musings the doors to the office burst open and the leader of his scouts burst in. “My Emperor, the Mascalar valley is in ruins. Pits of fire, craters like something split the earth open litter the valley.” he reported. Taking a deep breath he continued noticing the concern on his lieges face. “It gets worse. The calamity is growing. Each day there are more craters, more fire. I fear that the Migration may be at risk if it continues.” he ended.

Isbolg thought for a moment. “I need to secure the valley, rally the first and second battalions to secure the passages in and out. I will also need something more discrete. Send for the head of the Musca guild – I will need a group of adventurers to come and secure the Rekuldor and ensure their safety. The Dusk Scouts can back them up but I fear that we have spies in the court and that we have enemies trying to stop the migration.” After he was done speaking he summoned his messengers and requested the presence of several people, the last few days leading up to the migration were about to get very busy.

Thanks for visiting tonight for something new. When I asked my youngest what I should write this weeks ‘story’ about he had… a rather vicious telling of death and destruction. Well I am bringing the destruction and hopefully the adventurers and prevent the death part. Don’t forget to come back each day this week as we continue to expand this adventure, and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Unusual House Pet

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This week I continued with the creating a shortened Zine, something that fits on a single A4 sheet of paper with just enough information to set the scene, plot and hook with some NPCs sprinkled through that it could be used in any system.

I think its still working well so without any further waiting I present Unusual House Pet, in the short format, as a fun one-shot to assist GMs when they need a night out of the books whether you run Pathfinder, Open Legend RPG, D&D or any other RPG System.

There is references to the blog nights which are D&D centric (regarding Friday night’s Stat-blocks) but this adventure can be used system agnostic more so than my regular Zines. As always Kobold fight club can be used to quickly balance an encounter for Dungeons and Dragons and Tetra-cube provides the stat-blocks for many of my D&D creatures.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, Unusual House Pet, and that your rolls are made with advantage.

Unusual House Pet

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Tortue Farmland – Created in Nightcafe.

The party take a job from a nobleman, Tyson Blackmane, to find his daughter’s missing pet, a young manticore, offering a reward that would indicate it’s a small domesticated animal but they are only provided that it responds to the name of Samsone but not what it is. At the same time a large creature, a manticore Alpha, is hunting in the Tortue Farmlands (the city nearby) and some people suspect that it could be the Blackmanes who have a history of collecting unusual house pets. The Young manticore is not the thing hunting the sheep near the city nor the few beggars who have gone missing, but there is a fear that it is.

Seeking out the owner, Anzia, to see if they could get more information from her they had a great deal of difficulty in locating her. Many of the servants and house guards misled them and when questions apologised letting them know that they assumed she would be there. Eventually a nanny took them to a hallway where a large gallery housed immaculate, rare weapons and armours from several decades and centuries. Many portraits showed a well armed and trained man standing in military uniform. 

The party was then shown to see Anzia who was sitting down and having tea. Anzia Blackmane proved to be a more commanding and charismatic version of her father who held herself like she knew how to hold a sword as well as the tea cups she held currently. “Do come in, I do hope you are making good progress in finding my Samsone, it’s hard to brush his long fur especially around his pointed ears, whiskers and long twitchy tail. I do fear for his safety as my servants have reported that a beast has been seen in Tortue and it’s a fondness of cute animals – to devour that is. I do worry about my little kitty.”

The party investigated the pile of dead sheep and saw, from the corner of their eye, that the door to the barn closed and a large amount of noise could be heard from within. Approaching the barn carefully they quickly find a large cat-like creature trying to hide in the hay bales within. However it is quickly revealed to be a juvenile manticore wearing a sky blue collar with an “S” emblem. The party had found Samsone. As they pondered what to do, they hear large wingbeats from above and a menacing growl that shook the ceiling of the barn, suggesting a huge creature nearby. Anzia Blackmane’s pet was a young manticore and there was something outside that this creature evidently feared.

PDF adventure – Unusual House Pet

Unusual House PetDownload

Thanks for joining me today for another Zine this year. This is a condensed version of the Zine, but I hope the format works and is good to look at! Please feel free to leave comments if this format is appealing – so make sure to grab a copy of the PDF.

Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it.
I hope you don’t miss a thing so come back daily in the coming week and year. This is so you can experience the creation of the next adventure as it evolves and shapes out. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Prison of Gesig

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This week I continued with the creating a shortened Zine, something that fits on a single A4 sheet of paper with just enough information to set the scene, plot and hook with some NPCs sprinkled through that it could be used in any system.

I think its still working well so without any further waiting I present The Prison of Gesig, in the short format, as a fun one-shot to assist GMs when they need a night out of the books whether you run Pathfinder, Open Legend RPG, D&D or any other RPG System.

There is references to the blog nights which are D&D centric (regarding Friday night’s Stat-blocks) but this adventure can be used system agnostic more so than my regular Zines. As always Kobold fight club can be used to quickly balance an encounter for Dungeons and Dragons and Tetra-cube provides the stat-blocks for many of my D&D creatures.

So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, The Prison of Gesig, and that your rolls are made with advantage.

The Prison of Gesig

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Gesig’s Lord – Created in Nightcafe.

The party discovered that their saddlebag had been mixed up with the Prison of Gesig, leading to demonic chaos in the city. Despite their efforts, they lost Fylaine while battling various demons. The commotion caused panic among the city’s people, creating a moment for the party to blend in with the fleeing crowd, but also more prey for the demons. The seal on the Prison weakened with every delay, adding to the urgency of their quest.

The bag pulsated and surged with a life of its own as they ran towards the temple where Fylaine could be seen fighting a few demons from the steps to its front door. As the paladin saw them she pushed back on the last demons that were harassing her and rushed towards the party brandishing her resplendent great sword. However, before she could reach them the bag burst forward out of the grip of the adventurer holding it and a large form pulled itself out from the bag. The demon snarled at the paladin and the party as it finished pulling its wings, tail and bulky form through the bag’s portal. The general of the Gesig demon legion was free.

PDF adventure – The Prison of Gesig

The Prison of GesigDownload

Thanks for joining me today for another Zine this year. This is a condensed version of the Zine, but I hope the format works and is good to look at! Please feel free to leave comments if this format is appealing – so make sure to grab a copy of the PDF.

Next time you get a party together consider running this adventure and I hope that you enjoy it.
I hope you don’t miss a thing so come back daily in the coming week and year. This is so you can experience the creation of the next adventure as it evolves and shapes out. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Magnifico’s Stone Golem

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The creatures simply known as Magnfico’s Stone Golems are something desired by many and, sadly, few are able to actually defeat them. Imbued with the same magical strength of a normal stone golem these smaller variants are just as lethal – but more numerous.

So let’s sit down, grab a coffee as we roll into tonight’s encounter!

Magnifico’s Stone Golem

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The small creatures are about the size of a gnome, perhaps two and a half feet in height, weighing about the same as a adult dwarf and about as strong and robust as one as well. Armed with magical attacks, resistance to magical effects and immune to damage not made with a magical weapon it renders most armies null and void. However for those few in possession of an enchanted blade these things are little more threat than an average orc.

However against an army of ordinary soldiers these creatures are more than a match and the casualties of the creatures made from flesh and blood would be in the dozens if not hundreds. They will attempt to magically slow a target where possible adding to the potency of their combat prowess.

Magnifico’s Stone Golem – created in Tetra-cube

Thanks for joining me tonight as we look at a small stone golem. While weaker than several other creatures of its CR it will pose a challenge for several parties, but not all. Don’t forget that more content is on the way tomorrow and also don’t forget to keep an eye out for the Zine when it comes out this weekend. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Magnifico Vault

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A cave adventure tonight with fun use of shadow and light when exploring the Magnifico Vault. Trying to get the blend between natural rock and made stone wasn’t the hardest thing wit this quick map tonight – trying to get scale of the rocky cave walls was more difficult and, I think, the overlapping cave walls did that.

So sit back, grab a coffee, and let’s explore tonight’s Map!

Magnifico Vault

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Magnifico Vault – Created in Inkarnate.

The cave entrance would appear to be like any other cave. The stone was remarkably flat compared to other caves that the party would have gone to especially when leading to the statues. Well in this case the platforms where the statues were found. A truly astute dwarf of stone mason may make out the worked stone around the statues and how it leads up to the wall itself.

But the wall is not as the party would remember with a gaping hole beyond. A cavern that has been worked to be smooth by an expert mason or via magic awaits them. One cavern wall is slabs of stone mortared together and forming a man-made wall to the ceiling, the other side is rough stone encroaching into the worked area. A large statue in the front end is an imposing figure looking at a large glowing sigil in the stone.

In the centre of the circular magical stone slab lay a intend that looked like a helmet would be resting in the stone itself – but its missing.

Several rock layers were used to get it looking… ok. Some parts are a bit rougher than I would like but a lot of that was only revealed post flattening of the image to a single layer. Three or four layers were used to get the flooring to the right texture and the rest is pretty easy. I love using light as a way of emphasising parts of maps and hinting at something more than meets the first glance.

Thanks for joining me for another map making night. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to finish off the week strong with the encounter stat-blocks and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Switch and Lift

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The party are dismayed to find that the vault is not all its made out to be as they realise they have been the victim of a switch and lift. The vault lay open before them, dozens of tiny golems attack ferociously and somewhere nearby someone has the key to calming the creations.

So let’s grab a coffee, put on our runners as we may need to get out in a hurry!

Switch and Lift

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The party looked at the wall in the cave where they found the statues and looked at something new, a gaping hole in the wall. Something similar to acid had eaten away at the craggy stone wall that lay behind where the silver statues had been when they were last here. Movement could be heard beyond and the sound of steel leaving scabbard came from Captain Claud.

“We are not alone it seems and it’s as I fear. Someone else bet us here.” he said as he moved to stand next to the party. “Be prepared for traps, guardians, large bears. Magnifico was known for many things but one of them was not kindness for those who snooped amongst his belongings.” Almost on queue the sound of something walking towards them from the opening in the wall. A kind of heavy footstep and scrape.

Slowly the figure of a three foot statue stumbled forward, the stone features on its face an expression of joy as it moved with animated life. “Gods, its one of his golems.” Claud murmured as he stepped backwards. “Don’t provoke…” he began a moment before the creatures eyeless face looked at him and skittered with unnatural speed at the party. Blade like stone appendages extended from the clublike firsts of the creation as it rushed forward to attack.

The golems were nearly endless, there had to be something, a failsafe of some kind that would stop them from attacking. Whoever had got here earlier must have it and they would be surely directing the constructs. However despite the feeling of being watched the only thing they managed to catch a glimpse of was a shadow at the edge of their vision before another golem rushed at them.

The creatures were not overly strong but they were well made, durable and relentless. After the second dozen of the constructs had rushed at them they began to realise that perhaps, there were too many for the party to be able to deal with. Pushing inside the room where they rushed from they could see a similar melted hole that had been cut into the roof, an exit point with sloughs of melted stone, rock and dirt piled down underneath. But the sheer number of golems in the room standing motionless, surging under the hole and gradually creating a ladder of each other bodies and the ones that were heading towards them still was impressive.

A wave of movement told them that danger was behind as Captain Claud launched several alchemist fire vials behind them, sealing them between the golems and the sticky fire. “I am sorry about this but I can’t have anyone else getting those golems. If we can’t control them then I will have to bury you with them until I can get a mage to come and pacify them. I wish it didn’t have to come to this, truly, but I’ve got no choice.” he said with little to no sincerity.

As he darted away the golems surged onwards towards them, however something else happened. A rope was flung down from the hole in the ceiling and a woman’s voice rang out. “Quickly! Climb while the captain has gone. You don’t have long before they send people to investigate this hole.” a shadow of black leather could be seen at the entrance to the hole in the roof, and a way out of the trouble they are in.

Thanks for joining me tonight to look at the next part of this adventure ark. Don’t forget to come back the remaining days this week as we continue to grow this adventure and conclude it, on Friday. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Cloaks and Cudgels

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Not everything is straight forward in this work and we know that best when we are adventuring beyond the walls of the tavern and out there on the streets, in the caves or in the dungeons is where cloaks and cudgels are most often to be found. Tonight is no different where we meet the Captain of the guard a bit more and get a glimpse of another interested group in what the party found.

So let’s sit down, grab a coffee and keep our eyes peeled and ears focused!

Cloaks and Cudgels

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The party left his office and he stood and paced nervously. He had tried to win them over with the kings reward but he was not quite sure if it had convinced them to take him to the location where they had found the statues. He had another plan up his sleeve though, one that he was sure would work.

Opening the window shutter in his office he waited and watched as the party got to the front door. Just as the messenger nearly collided with them. “Captain Claud!” the messenger called out urgently. “The dark wizards are making a move on Magnifico’s vault!”

Claud suppressed his mirth, the messenger was a middle man, one that had to believe what he had been told. “Speak up man. Someone get this man a drink!” he bellowed as he rushed over, making sure to catch the eye of the party as he knelt next to the man and offered him a drink.

“I heard from my contact via the sending stone that they had seen the Dark Arcane, that group that have been causing trouble in the city heading off to the south. He believes that he has reason to believe that they are after Magnifico’s vault not that its been uncovered.” the man paused to drink from the cup of water. “He said that they were on the way there now, something about knowing the location from tracing one of the statues.”

Guard Captain Claud Flay – Created in Nightcafe.

Claud knew that his plant in the group would pay off. But he always had another plan up his sleeve and this meant that he may be able to convince the adventurers to take some of the city guard with them to the vault. “Where are they now? Can we track them and stop them before they get to the vault?” he asked the messenger.

“I don’t know. The sending went quiet and I haven’t heard anything since.” the messenger replied.

“They may have found him. If we can rescue Steve in the process of stopping them we will, he is a valuable asset to the cities watch.” he turned to the party, “I implore you, can you lead us to the vault. If what the messenger is saying is true, what Steve told him, then we may not have much time to follow them. I hope you can take us to the vault to stop these arcanists from getting access to the magical artefacts and weapons within the vault. If not, a map or anything will suffice if we can get there before or just after they do.”

Captain Claud wasn’t the only one with spies and Steve played an exceedingly dangerous double game. After initialising the contact with the messenger Steve reached out to his second employer, the Crimson hunter.

Jessica Fridea – Created in Nightcafe.

Jessica Fridea listened to the report from Steve, the double informant, and she grinned. It wasn’t every day that one of her hunches would pay off and now she had a massive score to settle. The Vault of Magnifico was something that people had been searching for for decades, and now an adventuring party may be the ones to take her to it. If she could tail them she could prevent the king or any secondary, tertiary or other parties in getting involved. As she stood at the outskirts of the city she waited for the next move.

It wouldn’t be long until either the guards or the party themselves would make their way out, this was the main gate in and out of the city and she had watchers posted on the other gates. If they left the city she would know and then her order would be able to finally get their hands on the treasures of Magnifico.

Thanks for visiting tonight to meet some NPCs for this week. Hopefully the twist later this week isn’t already revealed but I think it should be a surprise for most! So don’t forget to come back daily to stay in the know and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe