06-Weekend – An adventurer is born

Weekends I hope to be able to bring in the best elements looked over during the weekend and produce a rough outline for the next adventure!

Through the storm

thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Hi all and welcome to the end of week writeup!

This past week we were sent to find the missing brother of Colin Turp, Paul. Paul had taken a job from “Father” and with the promise of enough gold to feed them for months he darted off without a second thought for the volatile weather in the region.

I will follow the same format as last weeks writeup as my mind on the weekend needs structure. Soo let me know if you look like the format, or hate it and let’s roll on with the nights write-up.

Bracken Hollow part 2

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Upon reaching the town after investigating the woods for the cause in the bad weather, and encountering a half-ogre and his pet bear amongst other beasties, the party are greeted by a worried Carline.

She explains that she had just come from the Broken Tankard, Colin had come back from the north after a failed attempt to find his brother who became lost in the storm. Carline explains that he had been attacked by some wild animal, silent in the storm as it had hit him from behind.by luck it had latched onto his fur cloak and taken off with it instead of him. If the party notice that Colin in the tankard and see the wound it looks remarkably similar to the giant owl talons that they had encountered to the east.

Colin goes to get out of bed and almost passes out. He mumbles that he must find his brother, that he cant be trusted alone with the family on the hill, no one can. He begs the party to find his brother and bring him back. If they are too late and he is indeed dead he asks them a grisly favour, to bring back his body so it’s not left near the house.

The storm appears to be quieting down again but it’s still looks like it will begin to build once more. The snow and winds are extreme but manageable. On the way they may get lost (see below table) but regardless if they do as they pass the first check they run into troubles on their way to find Paul.

Paul was working on the fence between the McFasters and the family on-top of the hills property, the promise of more gold than he could make in a few seasons of farming outshining the risk of working alone in bad weather near the manor. Exhaustion and fatigue causes him to miss with hid hammer, shattering his left hand. As the weather worsened he blacked out from blood loss and the cold awakening to find himself miraculously healed but sealed in a crypt somewhere. As he tried to escape large powerful wolves attacked driving him back to the safety of the cold stone.

Areas and places of note

The Broken Tavern – The three dwarven owners, Milly, Billy and Ned offer hot food and drink before they leave for free as a favour for helping Colin, they also offer warm cloaks and supplies just in case.

The Road – A long thin road that snakes its way up north towards the manor on the hill. It passes along a fence line that separates the McFasters from the manors land. Scattered tools, blood and a tangled mess of footprints and drag marks litter the snow where the party find the site where the accident happened

The Graveyard – following the drag marks and many sets footprints the party find the graveyard to the east of the manor. A stream cuts the road in half and the trail seems to cut through the frozen stream instead of the bridge. Several tombstones can be seen when it’s not snowing with two buildings that look to be in decent repair.

People of Bracken Hollow (in this adventure)

Carline Winters

Despite her quick to flair dislike and crash tongue when around Father she genuinely appears to want to help Paul. Once the party have spoken to Colin she will approach the party to also ask them to help find Paul. She will offer them a tidy (50gp and a bag of gems worth 300gp) sum of coins and gems if they agree to help.

Colin Turp

Colin’s wounds are not life threatening but they do prevent him from searching for his brother.

Paul Turp

Because of how much Paul wants to impress and be like his big brother he drives himself too hard and doesn’t always think straight. In this case it cost him a broken hand. Or did it.

Environment and running the adventure

As the party leave colin, the dwarves offer them assistance. Warm food and drink with thick fur coats. If they take up this offer they will be protected from the extreme cold until the following morning, as long as they don’t get lost in the blizzard.

The weather will be lightly snowing but not a full blown blizzard until they find the site where Paul injured himself. Once there and the wind picks up roll on the random “lost” table and resolve effects.

Keep rolling decreasing the lower end of the success variable by 1 each time they fail until they succeed. Success wil trigger a wild wolf encounter (encounter 1) and the party will see a trail or blood amongst the drag marks towards a shadowy set of buildings on top of a short hill, the graveyard.

The party will notice a old wooden bridge over a frozen river, the drag marks (DC14 survival check or DC16 perception) will go over the river, not the bridge. If the party go over the bridge the first person will have a DC 12 dex saving throw or the wood will break and the character will suffer 2d6 damage from falling through the bridge, no damage on a success.

If they cross the frozen river its 10ft wide and is a thin ice and frigid water hazard. Play it as such.

Once the party are at the grave yard the drag marks are harder to see as the snow is thicker and there is a bunch of wolf paw prints around (DC12 survival to notice wolf paw prints, DC14 to follow drag marks). The drag marks go to a smaller building to the south west of the graveyard while a more frantic set of human footprints run towards the larger building to the north. The door is wedged closed, if they call out then Paul will open promptly and let them in before a grave wolf and three wolves appear suddenly as of waiting for the party to open the door. If they dont call out and try to break down the door its DC14 strength check however as they attempt or once the Wolves will rush to engage.

On the way out of the woods they are ambushed by giant snow owls (see stat blocks below) as the wind begins to pickup (blizzard begins). After the fight they travel for a few hours – the blizzard making it rough to move through and as the wind dies down (still extremely cold but no snow) they see a half-ogre and brown bear (If they didn’t encounter them in the cave that is) has followed them and then they are in combat.

Once the Wolves are dealt with the party will head towards the larger building finding it closed but not barred or locked. Upon entering two dead wolves are on the ground, vines having strangled them and bound them to the floor. Inside a large portrait of three raven haired people, two are standing proudly behind a young woman. A moment later a voice speaks from the corner of the room “I don’t know what this is…who are those people and why do I look like her”. Katya appears and she is the splitting image of the young woman in the portrait. There are three caskets in the room, two with lid on, one empty. The words underneath say “Kristoff Poleski” ,”Jessica Poleski”, and (you guessed it) “Katya Poleski”.

Encounter map

Encounter Balancing

Encounter stat-blocks

Random table

Lost in the blizzard.

Resulteffect
1Party end up going in a loop for half an hour – roll for an exposure check (as per extreme cold) and roll for random encounter.
2Party go a little off track, roll for an random encounter (d20)
3-4The party find tracks which leads them further north (+1 to next roll, roll on random encounter table)
5+Party follow the trail of bloodspots and through the snow and wind they can see a few buildings on top of the hill. As they take a few more steps forward so do the beasts that have find their prey amongst the storm (Wolf encounter)

Random Encounter table

Result (d20)Encounter
1-9Nothing of significance is encountered – to build tension perhaps a deer or the like stumbles onto the track at the same time the party does
10-14One Giant snowy owl appears just as it swoops down to attack the smallest party member in the group – attempting to fly off with them.
15-17A giant lynx (Crag Cat) appears, it is currently feasting on a stag but looks up at the party daring them to approach it and its meal.
18-19Two wolves appear, one is nursing a hurt leg that upon closer inspection has thorny vines wrapped around it, the wound looks recent and painful.
20Three wolves appear

Well that’s it for the week. If you want to look into the sections in a bit deeper depth then I would suggest looking through the Monday-Friday content for last week where the topics above were explored in a bit more depth.

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

The town amongst the snow

thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Hi all and welcome to the end of week writeup!

This past week we investigated the request of the priestess from Daye and the party was requested to go seek out a powerful priestess in a small village about two days north called Bracken Hollow. This is the end of week summary and writeup of what

I will also try to group the content like many other simple d&d adventures out there – so if you like how its formatted let me know!

Bracken Hollow part 1

205BrHo1

The high priestess of Chauntea in Daye, Sister Lizbet, impressed with the party and what they had accomplished, rumoured to or not, requested that they go to Bracken Hollow, a town a few days travel to the north east of Daye in Amn and to search for another priestess of Chauntea who was rumoured to be more powerful than she and to bring her to Daye. During the travels into Bracken Hollow the party met with a few travellers who warned them of Bracken Hollow and its general dislike to strangers – particularly from the family who lived in an old manor atop a hill towards the north of the village, and warned the party to not outstay their welcome how ever long it is.

Walking upwards into the sleepy village of Daye the party are greeted by farmsteads overlooking paddocks filled with crops or beasts, two the north east as dense forest could be seen in the distance as the road crept steadily upwards.

Entering the town there was very little. A small stable with may hitching posts lay at the centre of the village, a large water trough and nearby well the only visible water source for horses and people alike. To the left (west of the stable) lay a tavern, The Broken Tankard, which in the dwindling light provided by the setting sun looked like the only place of warmth and hospitality. To the north, about mile away on a hill was a pinpoint of light and smoke amongst a sea of tall, slender pines who had shed their needles already – unusual for the season.

Areas and places of note

The Stables – A small set of covered areas in the centre of the town. Big enough to house about eight horses if some are hitched just outside of the small roof that provides cover from the elements. There is no stable boy but there is clean fresh water at least if sans-food for the beasts that would be spending the night there.

The Broken Tavern – A brightly lit two room, double storied building that boasts three rooms for rent, two singles and a double room. The meals are hearty and of the land but cost a bit more than what the party is used to ranging from 1 silver for basics to 10 silver for something that is likely to fill you up for half a day or more. Despite the price the quality cant be doubted and the three dwarven owners, Milly, Billy and Ned are ferociously proud of the food and drink they serve in their tavern.

People of the Broken Tankard

Carline Winters

A bard for the Broken Tankard she takes her artform very seriously and is well liked in the village. Despite her generally pleasant nature and mood she has a special kind of dislike for the man who calls himself “Father” who lives in the manor upon the hill. Carline boasts not three or even four but half a dozen songs and ballads that make fun of the man and even call him a monster that preys on the villagers. She is the only person to have reportedly seen “Father” angry after a particularly vulgar sonnet she sang about him and his wife. She wasn’t seen for a few weeks after that incident but returned to sing for the Tavern but that sonnet was never heard of again.

Colin Turp

Colin is well liked in the village and is the only full time farmer who spends more time on other peoples farms and property than his own. He is friendly, welcoming and knows how to calm a situation down without it getting out of hand. The biggest concern for Colin is his younger brother, Paul, who gets himself into trouble more times than not and is much to trusting of people.

Paul Turp

Paul idolises his older brother Colin and when he isnt looking after the family farm, which his now deceased parents gave to him and his big brother, he is chasing after his brother Colin trying to help with what ever job his brother has agreed to do. Paul tries to help his brother out by looking for work and taking almost any job offered, which has landed them both in hot water before when they accepted a job near the manor on top of the hill, mending a fence that the man who goes by “Father” believed was encroaching upon his property. Only by Colin’s quick wits and diplomacy were they able to avoid something that the villagers had only whispered about behind closed doors.

“Father”

Father’s actual name is, apparently, Greg but he insists everyone calls him father. Always present with an intense smile on his face that would make a Devil shy away he is almost too friendly to everyone he meets as he pries about their reasons for being in ‘his village’. He lives with his Wife, “Mother”, and daughter, Katya, in the mansion at the top of the hill to the north of Bracken Hollow.

The Bracken Hollow woods – rumoured to be the gathering place for fey and other creatures from the fey wild the Bracken Hollow woods are relatively small in size but deep with a few cave systems within its twisted roots and sudden drops. Those who adventure within will need to be on their toes as its not just the environment within that could kill a man.

Environment and running the adventure

As the party enter the village an unusual cold change in weather has swept through the village, many blame the fey that reportedly live in the forest to the East but there is growing whispers, hushed or otherwise, that the family who live on top of the hill are responsible.

This cold snap brings about changes in the weather conditions. When the party arrive it is cold, but not extremely so and they are offered a change of clothes (for 5 gold pieces each) if they are wearing clothes not suited to the cold climates. The following morning you should determine the weather affect in place (d6 roll on the below random table) and for each 1d4+3 hours after that roll the dice again. On a 3-6 the weather gets worse and on a 1 or 2 the weather lessens.

The party should attend the Tavern, the only place to stay for the night. Upon entering the tavern they are treated poorly by the villagers within, looked upon as if they were bandits until Milly, the Matron of the tavern comes and pretends to rough them up a bit. Afterwards the villagers get back to their jovial nature. The party find themselves at a large table with Colin and Paul when the doors open again and this time a crazed man walks in. The music from Carline changes from a merry jig to something that is brash, abrasive and seems to openly mock the newcomer who asks Milly for a bottle of wine to go. The man then seems very interested in the party and tries to pry all information from them about their reasons for visiting Bracken Hollow. Paul steps in and fumbles, revealing what the party has told them that they are here for but Colin tries to cover for his brother and the party explaining that they are heading through the town and staying for a night or two. After the man leaves with his wine the party hear about the strange weather patterns that are happening and the two reason that they believe its occurring. The strange man called “Father” and his family or the fey in the woods are upset about something and have turned spiteful.

If the party go into the woods then the weather should be snowing (stage 5). They find a cave after some while which looks like it was lived in recently, there are some dead strange looking deer within that have a fey-like quality. The weather begins to get worse. If the party stay in the cave they find themselves unwelcome visitors to an half-ogre and his pet brown bear (stats below).

On the way out of the woods they are ambushed by giant snow owls (see stat blocks below) as the wind begins to pickup (blizzard begins). After the fight they travel for a few hours – the blizzard making it rough to move through and as the wind dies down (still extremely cold but no snow) they see a half-ogre and brown bear (If they didn’t encounter them in the cave that is) has followed them and then they are in combat.

After getting back to the village they find that Paul has gone missing when going to help “Father” with a problem with his fences.

Encounter stat-blocks

Random table

Weather table.

ResultWeather affect
1Cold but not extremely so
1-2It’s begun to rain hard and its still cold, but nothing an additional coat can’t fix.
3-4It’s now dropped in temperature dangerously, its extremely cold and still raining.
5It’s now snowing and extremely cold.
6Blizzard (Extreme wind, snow and cold)

Well that’s it for the week. If you want to look into the sections in a bit deeper depth then I would suggest looking through the Monday-Friday content for last week where the topics above were explored in a bit more depth.

Don’t forget if you like this format let me know, I am still trying to work out what works best being both functional and aesthetically pleasing and if you like the content and use it I would love to hear how it goes!

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

A Legacy of Hunger

thebrazenwolfe1 Comment

Tonight we begin our 11 month long campaign with the party entering the seaside town of Daye. This month we investigated a legacy of hunger and the darkness that trade can bring into a family.

As with usual 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 8052! 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 – Crimson flags on a pale shore. 201MoCrFl

As the rising sun touches the sails over the docks a shimmering sea of red greets those who rise with the sun. Long masts on beautiful ships sail into port with strange and terrifying creatures carved into the richly coloured wood.

The people seemed to flow across the decks as they tended to great rippling red sails, silken rope and barrels of good. Yet only the captain of a ship had their face not covered by a white mask. As they dock great planks were lowered to the piers below and crates, barrels and cages were taken off the shift and lowered to the docks as the masked sailors moved surefooted across the wooden planks to take their cargo into warehouses and storage.

As the people move across the streets their presence, odd mannerisms and appearance start to cause a commotion across the port town of Daye and soon enough word travels of the animals, items, goods and strange foods that the new ship has brought in. The people are welcoming of the excitement and the traders are accommodating despite never removing their masks or gloves.

After a few days reports of strange occurrences of things being moved in houses and shops as well as shadows drifting over roofs and walls. As more of these sightings occurred the people started look for something or someone to blame and curfews were places upon the masked traders to both protect them and rarely their movements through the night.

201TuKyHa & 201TuHu

Kyoko sighed as she looked across the table as the two men from the Daye city watch left her cabin through the ornamentally carved door. She had anticipated some resistance at first but being openly welcomed then having the proverbial doors slammed in her face was not expected.

“what do we do captain?” Hurane asked, his masked face distorting his normally smooth voice. “We came here to trade and establish new trade routes for the betterment of our people. If we can’t do that then we must find somewhere else.” He said with genuine concern.

Pressing her index fingers to her temples she pondered her next action. The city guard had come just after noon and placed restrictions and curfews on her people leaving the ships within an hour of dusk and dawn which is when many people are out and about on the streets wanting to experience new sights and delights. The curfew would not just make it hard to do business it would nearly make them staying here impossible. Looking over the papers that were left here, reports of sightings of figures in the night and items being moved or disappeared it sounded like the guards were accusing one of her people of being the culprit.

“find out what you can from our troupe. If we are responsible we will deal with it and clear our name. If we can’t handle this we will be left with no choice but to leave and I don’t think we can afford another endeavour like this again” Kyoko said looking through the papers again. Hurane saluted to her and went to leave the cabin to begin his questioning. “And Hurane, if no one talks, let’s get the Lotus involved, we can’t fail here.”

As Hurane left Kyoko sat back on her chair and had a look over the occurrences. It wasn’t just reports of a thief, it looked to be searching for something specific based on the reports. Maybe it wasn’t a person but a thing. She looked at the book her father had left her that contained stories of warriors from this continent that visited her home land years ago. Warriors that defied the Oni and fought against the spirits in the swamp to free entire villages. Perhaps she could find such warriors in their home land, maybe a party of adventurers is what she needs.

201WeDaMiFa

Dark tendrils of mist crawled down the wall as the lantern light left the room and ascended the stairs of the two story house. As the tendrils touched the floor it rose to take the shape of a hunched humanoid. Glowing pits for eyes snapped up on a neck that twitched and  shook erratically as it watched the last of the light disappear up stairs.

Skitter-slinking across the floor it moved through the room picking up items, raising them to its face where it inhales their smell in deeply before putting them back not quite in the same space. The mist that clung to its form obscured its face and most of its details but it seemed unhindered by the dark cloak that clung to it.

As it picked up a trinket from a mantle place it inhaled deeply causing wafts of blue light to float from it. The creatures body shook uncontrollably in what could only be described as ecstasy  as the blue energy touched its face. Cupping the anchor medallion in both hands it inhaled deeply and grain by grain the talisman disintegrated in a trail of blue light and disappeared into the mouth of the creature.

“what in bloomin heck!” A loud voice said as the click of flint and tinder sounded from the stairs. As the spark of flame moved towards the lantern the creature whirled around and spotted the interloper. Jumping to the wall of the house it skittered up the wall at freakish speed. The sound of a man shrieking, a dropping lantern and shattering glass was the only sound as the creature climbed into the shadows of the the room. Slowly as it stared down at the man with its glowing pits for eyes it could smell the fear from the human as it stared at its eyes. Slowly its body turned to the same dark mist that surrounded its body and it drifted through the wall, two faint embers of its eyes the last thing to disappear.

201ThSeBr

Kyoko watched as the hawk soared above the boat and and head out towards the city, she wondered what it would be like to be born with the gift of flight. Sighing she turned away and strolled down the plank to go check on the stalls where her peoples wares were being sold, regrettably a lot slower now that they had restrictions put upon them, she only could hope that the creature, or person that was the source of their restrictions.

Hurane walked up to her, clasping his forearms behind his back as he looked over ships and the people discussing price on food, craft and other items. “The morning Lotus has bloomed. If one of ours is responsible they will find out” he said leaning closer to her to ensure that the message was hard to intercept. The masks her people wore helped to also protect the words Hurane spoke to her. But also protect their identities, the people of this city were not ready yet to see who they were behind the masks.

“I noticed. Let us hope they can find what is causing the distress of the good people of Daye and we can begin to rebuild the relationship needed to establish this trade route. “Have you any leads yet?” Kyoko asked as she looked towards the masked man she had grown up with.

“Sadly no Kyoko, we don’t have a lead. Every trader, sailor and officer has been questioned and they all swear their loyalty and deny any involvement in the disturbance. Apologies Kyoko” Hurane spoke with a tinge of regret in his voice.

“Well let’s hope the lotus blooms and we find what’s causing our grief”

The wind filled the wings of the bird as it flew high in the sky its keen eyesight gazing down upon the blue waters, the red railed ships and the thatch covered houses that covered the ground like a maze. The houses were built as needed without much foresight into where the next would be built. This evidently caused the alleys and pathways between houses to be erratic and suddenly end, a maze of mudbrick walls and thatch covered roofs. Very different from where she is from.

Noticing something different from the sea of thatch, mudbrick and rough stone street she flew down in broad circles looking around her as he descended for any signs of danger. Seeing no danger she landed on the roof and picked up the object that was shining on the roof and held it in one claw so she could look at it closer. It appeared to be a medallion or talisman made from metal, or so what was left of it gave that appearance. Noticing the faint taint of magic from it and the way that it was damaged concerned her, in her experience magic items were very difficult to break and finding one damaged as such concerned her. Deciding that it was worth notifying Kyoko she flew off with the hook shaped metal trinket.

Environment and running the adventure

As the party enter the city they are greeted by the salty and fishy smelling docks that flank the single road into the town. The houses are made from sandstone and wooden roofs with thatching to weatherproof them or mud brick and a rough patchwork of straw for their thatching. The roads are erratically built and designed with no uniform height, width or length between one house, the next and ab dead end at the ends of the street. Only by following the crowd so they make it to where the street vendors and trade ships sell their wares.

The party would notice that a large number of elegantly dressed people wearing masks walk the streets and man stalls in front of large red sailed ships that are moored at the docks. Some city guard appear to be arguing with one such man who complies with their demands until they got to remove his mask. The man pleads loudly and sobs for the guard to not do so.

If the party step forward the guard would question their motives aggressively but a friendly unmasked woman quickly approaches and helps the masked person back to their feet and stall. She introduces herself as Kyoko Harimasu, the captain of the red fleet and she thanks then for stepping in explaining that her people wear masks based oaths they took before they survived in this land. She mentions the hungry gull is likely the best and most affordable tavern-come-inn around.

If the party doesn’t help the masked man Kyoko will intervene and then loudly introduce herself to passer-by

That night regardless of where the party stay they may (DC12 perception check or passive perception) to notice some one watching them closely from outside. If they investigate they find someone quickly disappearing into the roof and darting up into the roof. If they choose to chase then use the chase rules from Fridays encounter.

Encounter – The Chase

I want to entertain the feature of the dungeon master guide again, the chase.

When the chase begins you establish a few things. The distance between the pursued (quarry) and the pursuers, the position of them and the lead pursuer and any immediate hazards or obstacles

The lead pursuer is who ever is closest and may change per round depending on who is closest.

The position will be important for this adventure as we will have vertical distance as well as horizontal distance which affects sight amongst other things.

The actual encounter is simply the discovery of a suspicious person on a roof, a chase and then either questioning them or trying to work out who they were based on some queues given during the chase.

If the chase continues on the rooftops then a dexterity check(dc10) would need to be made per movement action taken, dash or otherwise, if failed then the roof collapses and the creature has their leg stuck (prone) until they can pull themselves free (dc10 strengths check).

Guards will be alerted if the party or their quarry is loud. They may try and intercept the party on the roof of they are discovered. On the roads the party will be encountered with intersections where every round roll a dice.

On a 1 there is an intersection where the path to the left is a dead end after 15 ft and the right continues 15ft to the right then turns forward again (left turn to head in the same direction of their quarry) 2-3 the path continues forward with no blockage and on a 4 the path to the right is blocked after 15ft but the left path is unblocks and after 15 ft the path turns right to follow the quarry.

On the road they may find drunken citizens, thugs/thieves, startled citizens who shriek for the guard when they see the party or a group of guards who try and stop the party.

The idea here is the classic Street chase to find information on a lead to the creature and the missing items.

After the encounter:

If /Or when captured the person is revealed to be a robed boy with a mask identical to the Red Fleet merchants. When questioned he will take them to Kyoko who will explain that the boy was one of her people who wanted to confirm that the adventures weren’t the cause of the mysterious sightings of ghostly figures in the town. She explains the situation with the town, how to the guards and their towns people have started to distrust the masked people and who they are. She explains that she believes it’s a creature to that seeks trinkets or things of little magical power and takes them. Kyoko and the party to help locate the culprit and stop further attacks and robberies, she would offer them something of their choosing from the traders private stash, gold or a trip with them when the party and the fleet is ready back to her home continent.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

A hunger that lasts

thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Welcome to the end of the week write-up. Admittedly last nights post on preparation was me telling myself that I’d recover and feel better today to do a full day of writing but alas that didn’t come to pass.

But todays woes is just more work tomorrow but I wanted to leave a bit of something here to tie us adventure enthusiasts over for a bit longer. So let’s have a look at a monthly roundup.

Eternal Hunger

The quiet port town of Daye located about 60 miles southeast of Athkatla are greeted by a sight that stills the hearts of many. dozens of magnificent ships carried across the water by large sails the colour of the red dragons from the bards songs. As large boarding planks are lowered to the docks the town guard are greeted by many humans wearing red robes and white masks that hide all facial features. Soon a captain of the fleet emerges, Kyoko Harimasu, a mask-less fair human who Greets the town guard and the officials with genuine respect in a deep bow. Kyoko introduces her fleet as merchants from beyond the Moonshae Isles who wish to establish a trading post in Amn and Daye is their first stop.

After a few days people are charmed by the friendly merchants and sailors and amazed at the wares that they have brought, magic. Talismans, amulets, fetishes and all types of good luck charms that people start to swear have helped them in their lives.
The popularity of the magic talismans however brought about reports or strange figures on streets and rooftops of the thatch houses. One night a sailor came down stairs expecting a stray kat to have entered an open window to find a disembodied figure floating mid air clutching at an item he bought from one such stall. The creature spooked and floated off through the wall leaving the man’s good luck charm dissolved as if dipped in acid.

This is where the party arrives, just as things are heating up and as curfews and trading restrictions are placed upon the kind and well mannered people from across the waves.

This is an adventure tailored as an introduction to a year-long campaign which aims to expose the party to d&d content inspired by the Oriental Adventures (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement) from 2001.

The adventure will be broken up into three parts, Introduction, Exploration and investigation and then the final confrontation

I will add parts 1, 2 and 3 when I write them tonight and tomorrow but hope this will sate your reading hunger for now!

The Brazen Wolfe

The Famished

thebrazenwolfeLeave a comment

Welcome to the end of the week where I bring you the final version of that weeks adventure. This week we look at the final confrontation between the Party and the Gaki (…unless it was slain by a silvered weapon already in which case just look at the final writeup).

So let’s look into this week’s write up.

The hungry Ren

203WeHuRe

_Part 3: The Rens ship_

Note. If the party managed to defeat the Gaki already with a silvered weapon then see conclusion and adjust slightly.

Once the party sit down with the priestess and Kyoko after being chased by the Gaki more information is revealed and Kyoko confirms that its a spirit creature from her home land and likely has inhabited one of the merchant families. She asks Hurane and Takeo to go find the family to report back to her. She advise the party to talk to Lee Ping, their alchemist come Priest, so that they can have their weapons blessed.

They find the way to Lee Ping easily enough and find his room, on a messy Ship, cluttered with no trace of him except the bubbling cauldron. Astute characters (DC 15 perception) would notice a man walking up behind them using his hands and legs to crawl over and around the stuff that is strewn across the ground. The figure will talk to them if they walk or approach the cauldron. Lee will talk in a shamanistic way, focusing on his task of creating a batch of blessed liquid silver for blessing their ships, doors, windows and the trinkets that they sell.

After leaving the party can do what they want but they are unable to find Kyoko, Takeo or Hurane. If they check Kyoko’s cabin they find a note about the Ren family probably being the family in question.

The party may also happen to stumble upon the ship and note that it looks run down and that there is shattered mirrors on the docs next to the ship.

Once entering the ships deck they are greeted by shambling crying women, Hana and Saki. Hana breaks out of her trance and tells the party to run and that her grandfather had grown to strong and that they were in danger and they must leave the ship.

The fight that commences should be straight forward with the lair actions and the Gaki engaging in combat as per its Stat-block.

After the combat is over the party can rescues Kyoko, takeo, Hurane and the Ren family.

The Ren family will explain that they were in financial trouble back home and that they were visitied by their grandfather’s spirit who offered to help in exchange for a favour. They agreed and when they realised what was going on he had grown to powerful and had taken over the ship and Hiro.

They thank the party and offer them a favour that is within their power. Its also revealed that they are Vanara, a monkey humanoid race from across the ocean.

Thats it for this week. Make sure to come back next week for some more content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Flight through the streets

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Happy Sunday all, thanks for stopping by to have a look at our weekend write-up which has been worked towards all week.

This week we looked at what the reason is the creature is seeking out certain items and we met it, well, the party will have. So let’s look at how to play out this adventure!

Hungry Mists

202HuMi

_part:2 hunger pact_

The party find themselves being escorted back to their accommodations by Takeo. He wears his mask constantly when around people and answers questions directed at himself in a way that he gives information but never fully answers the question. Insight check (DC14) would reveal he is hiding things but not lying in what he is saying.

The other mission he has is to plant a lesser charm of tracking on the party. Passive perception 15 will notice the attempt and if he is called out on it he said he thought the party dropped the good luck charm and was giving it back.

That night the party are visited by the creature once they are asleep. If in separate rooms elves, those with passive perception of 14 or higher will awake to something in the room but it wont reveal itself unless that party member has something magical on them (items). If they do wake up due to the passive perception a dc12 charisma saving throw is required. If they pass they notice the creature, on a fail they don’t notice the creature but have an uneasy feeling of being followed or watched.

When it finds a magical item it will begin to feed, this process wakes up the party members in the room and they see a creature inhaling blue, green or red dust motes from something it holds in its hands.  Once the party wake up the creature will turn into its mist form and disappear through the ceiling or wall.

This happens twice more that night and on the third attempt the creature will lash out (attack roll) at the nearest player.

DM decision. Let the party go another night where they are visited again and if they interrupt the feeding again it will attack again. This depends on what the party want to do the following day and what other plans you have. When the party realise the creature is targetting magical items then have that day or the next day be the birthday ceremony and gift awarding for the priestess of Chauntea.

At this point Kyoko, Takeo and Hurane know of the creature and will answer questions from the party, but not what drives it. They dont know what it is exactly  only that it is a spirit from their home continent and it will feed on magical items to sustain its driving hunger.

After the priestess ceremony where she is awarded a magical necklace Kyoko will ask the party to try and persuade the party to join Kyoko for dinner, so she can watch over her as she believes the creature knows of the amulet and since it’s been denied meals the last few nights it will be aggressive.

The party can approach the priestess how they will but she wont leave until after she has conducted the dusk ceremonies. As they leave the temple with night falling the creature tries to attack the priestess but it keeps shying away at the last moment. Hurane or Takeo arrive and lead the Party to Kyoko’s ship where upon the creature won’t enter the main cabin.

IF the party fight and kill the creature (with anything other than silver) then a dark mist like cloak falls to the ground and a badly hurt Red Fleet merchant from the Ren family falls to the ground.

If killed by a silver weapon then the mist gets absorbed into the silver of the weapon and its gone.

Well that’s it for tonight, part 2 in our 3 part adventure for this month.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Upward comparison

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Welcome to a Brazen Wolfe Tabletop random thought post tonight.

It’s not news to me that I procrastinate on my hobby, I recognise this and can tell when I do so. One of the many factors, which is most apparent to me tonight is upwards comparing myself to others in my hobby circle, particularly warhammer where a few members in my group have won local painting competitions, been features in the Games Workshop article’s for their painting as well as winning actual tournaments in Australia.

Now I consider myself a decent tactician and general. I generally have a positive win rate and make my opponents really fight to take the win from me but when it comes to painting I find myself incomparable with my gaming peers.

To be completely overt, I started painting miniatures in 2017 (poorly, base colours only, no layers or shades or highlights..) and have worked up to paint some miniatures I am actually Proud and happy to call my own work, but looking at the sea of unpainted miniatures, knowing what I want them to look like and also seeing what my friends can accomplish with the same size model, same tools and same amount of time I get dissuaded very quickly even if I can stand on equal (well equal enough) grounds with them on the battlefield.

Well this year I want that to change, I hope to kick-start my painting journey with the help of some absolutely fantastic painters this year where I hope they will be able to teach an old Wolfe new tricks. For me being able to look at a piece of art work, because thats the level of painting I consider my friends at, and be inspired instead of being dissuaded will be my biggest hurdle this year.. that and 200 skaven rats (or a certain lord of gluttony from Slaanesh I want to paint and paint well this year).

So my goal is to ramp up my painting and when I finish a model use the weekend posts to upload what I have accomplished, with the help and guidance of some very talented hobbyists locally.

This is currently what I could consider the best model(s) I have painted to have as a benchmark. Each I probably sunk half a day on to get to this state.

Stay tuned for updates in the future.

Don’t forget, as always, to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Taking in the town

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Welcome to part 1 of the write up this weekend. The weekend is dedicated to wrapping up the content from the week into an adventure for us to playthrough.

Tonight let’s explore the first part of this by looking at it from a dungeon master lense.

Sightseeing

201SaCS

_part 1: entry_

As the party enter the city they are greeted by the salty and fishy smelling docks that flank the single road into the town. The houses are made from sandstone and wooden roofs with thatching to weatherproof them or mud brick and a rough patchwork of straw for their thatching. The roads are erratically built and designed with no uniform height, width or length between one house, the next and ab dead end at the ends of the street. Only by following the crowd so they make it to where the street vendors and trade ships sell their wares.

The party would notice that a large number of elegantly dressed people wearing masks walk the streets and man stalls infront of large red sailed ships that are moored at the docks. Some city guard appear to be arguing with one such man who complies with their demands until they got to remove his mask. The man pleads loudly and sobs for the guard to not do so.

If the party step forward the guard would question their motives aggressively but a friendly unmasked woman quickly approaches and helps the masked person back to their feet and stall. She introduces herself as Kyoko Harimasu, the captain of the red fleet and she thanks then for stepping in explaining that her people wear masks based oaths they took before they survived in this land. She mentions the hungry gull is likely the best and most affordable tavern-come-inn around.

If the party doesn’t help the masked man Kyoko will intervene and then loudly introduce herself to passer-by

That night regardless of where the party stay they may (DC12 perception check or passive perception) to notice some one watching them closely from outside. If they investigate they find someone quickly disappearing into the roof and darting up into the roof. If they choose to chase then use the chase rules from Fridays encounter.

If or when captured the person is revealed to be a robed boy with a mask identical to the Red Fleet merchants. When questioned he will take them to Kyoko who will explain that the boy was one of her people who wanted to confirm that the adventures weren’t the cause of the mysterious sightings of ghostly figures in the town. She explains the situation with the town, how to the guards and their towns people have started to distrust the masked people and who they are. She explains that she believes it’s a creature to that seeks trinkets or things of little magical power and takes them. Kyoko and the party to help locate the culprit and stop further attacks and robberies, she would offer them something of their choosing from the traders private stash, gold or a trip with them when the party and the fleet is ready back to her home continent.

Week that’s it for tonight, the parties introduction to the in plot and NPCs as well as a chase seen on rooftops and streets in an unfamiliar town.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more content and as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Beneath the waves… Part 3

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You may notice that today isn’t Sunday but it’s the end of week writeup…

Unfortunately I had overcommitted my time on the weekend, between house work, hobby (painting Warhammer miniatures) and having a game with them I just ran out of time and brain capacity.

So let me make it up to you and post the writeup tonight and see if I can make it up to you with a special preview of something I want to do as part of end end of a year and the holiday season.

Crests and Troughs

This week we are using the following content produced over the week.

  • Plot(s): 13MoTE – The Emissary + 13MoKF – King Felris
  • NPC(s): 13TuAV – Astrid Volcanius
  • Twist: 13WeRT2 – ‘Rip Tide 2’: Mutual Benefit
  • Map: 13ThMa1 – DMG ship map 1.
  • Encounter: 13FrDSK – Deep Coral Knight + 13FrSw – Sea Wolf

So with that in mind let’s look at the writeup.

The door rattled abruptly as someone knocked on the door. Dusk shook his head not having been long asleep. Grabbing his axe the old dwarf stumbled to the front door, nudging his party members awake as he walked past their bedrolls in the room that they had been given to stay in.

Opening the door the dwarf was greeted by the familiar face of Rafnir from underneath a hood.

“Sorry to wake you, can we come in?” Rafnir said, looking around the streets as if checking for something or someone.

“Aye,” Dusk said standing aside before his thoughts caught up with his sleep deprived brain “We?” Dusk added looking around the doorframe before Astrid strode past him, both of them drenched from the rain.

“Sorry to intrude master Dwarf, we needed somewhere to talk and thought we would catch two fish in our net” Astrid began as she shook her hair free of the hood.

“We need your help, and can pay for your assistance if coin is needed.” Rafnir began after greeting Mike, Ray and Zander.

“Well, I won’t say no to coin” Zander began before being cut off by Mike and Ray.

“What do you need friend” The paladins chorused.

“We need you to help us stop Blake before he revives a war ship fuelled by an arcane artefact that has ripped the souls from the sea elves” Astrid said, digging through the room before settling on a bottle of rum that she found. Dusk stared as his rum was consumed but shook his head as a familiar tingle returned to the base of his skull – the Raven Queen was listening and needed him to.

“what do you need us to steal, we are not that stealthy and don’t know how we can do to stop Blake from getting his magic whatsit” Dusk said as he ferreted for his pipe instead of lamenting over his rum.

“We need you to steal the magic whatsit” Rafnir said bluntly.

“The one that rips souls?” Zander asked rubbing his chin with his left hand in absent minded thought.

“yup” replied Rafnir stairing at the party.

“Blake, as in Sir Blake the ruler of this city?” Mike asked

“The one and the same” Astrid said placing the empty bottle of rum on the bench.

“And he plans to use this magic thing in a warship?” Ray asked, his oath of conquest itching to foil the plans of war whilst on his watch”

“Yup, a big one. Big enough that he won’t need more than the one” Astrid replied as she strutted over to Dusk, passing him a hip flask from under her cloak.

Dusk grinned as he recognised the smell of dwarven mead, “When do we leave?” the old dwarf said as he pocketed the flask and started to strap on his armour.

“As soon as you are ready. We are taking the Gallant Swallow” Rafnir said as he moved to look out the window. “Make sure you bring a hoods, no one can know what we are doing.” The party nodded as they ferreted out their hooded cloaks. “Oh, there is one more thing,” Rafnir said as he looked at the Party getting their equipment ready. “The Prince will be joining us.”

As dawn rose on the second day the party stood on the deck of the Gallant Swallow, it’s tall dual masts catching the breeze as the party made good time out to sea.

“I did not expect to be heading home so soon without peace brokered, but here we are” Prince Sellis spoke as he walked up next to Mike, who, was looking a bit sea sick standing at the bow of the ship.

“Well perhaps it is not the peace you sought,” Mike paused as he repressed the urge to hurl what ever meagre food he had left in his stomach over the side of the ship, “but it will prevent war and if this artefact is the cause of this sickness of the soul then I am glad that we can help you out.” Mike finished, sipping a bit of water from his waterskin to quell the urge to hurl.

“we are not long for my city now,” Prince Sellis said, looking over the edge of the swift ship at the Rays, shark and other sea creatures that his person guard rode on the bellies of. “Then hopefully with the wizards magic and this ship we will be able to rid my city of the curse on their soul and prevent the sickness growing in yours” the prince said as he clapped the paladin on his shoulder and strode to the back of the boat.

As Ray, Dusk and Zander walked up to Mike to make sure he was coping the urge overcame the man and this time his resolve was weaker than his constitution, which was not much considering the vomit that streamed from his mouth over the side of the bow”

“Ah lad, you are not built for the sea yet but you get used to it, trust me, I was on a boat for weeks travelling from and avoiding the Black Steel vessels as I fled my homeland.” Dusk spoke solemnly looking over the waves at something that wasn’t there.

“Guys, I don’t think that should be there” Mike said gesturing over the side of the boat at the stains of blood that were flooding the water “Prince Sellis! Your people. There may be trouble!” Mike said, as he and the others quickly tightened the strap of a magical belt that the ship captain, Astrid, had given to them.

“Rafnir! Astrid! We’re going over!” Ray called as he gripped his shield in one hand and the potion that Petrel gave them in the other. As he dropped over the edge of the boat they drank the potion as if they had rehearsed it, knowing that they each had the counter potion and Rafnir had a few as backup as well made the task easier. The moment they finished the bottle their skin itched, there was a pain on their neck and each of them, not just Mike, vomited into the water as their insides changed. Once the vomit had cleared each of them felt the cool sea water on their newly created gills as they sank into the water.

Touching the belt buckle they slowed their descent into the water by their will and were able to move in any direction by mental command. The wonder of the belts and the potions was short lived as the battle scene in front of them took them by surprise.

Sea elves dressed in some kind of black Coral armour were darting out of a wall of sand that had been stirred up in a great wall of bubbles, water and murkiness. The elves riding seal-like creatures that had the head of a wolf and bodies similar to the seals that they saw at port darted in and were lancing some of the elves and animals the prince had brought with him. The royal guard however were giving as good, if not better than they were getting. Trained for for this type of combat they and their mounts worked as an extension of their own bodies, attacking when the enemy exposed themselves and defending not only them selves but their mounts and fellow guards.

“Look out!” The mental link of the belt shouted in the minds of those wearing the linked pairs, no sooner then the cry of alarm had cone out had a black seawolf and a lightly armoured elf charged through their scattered formation before swimming out of reach faster than the party could retaliate. Luckily Ray had caught the spear on the shield and had deflected the blow easily enough.

“There will be more of them” A voice sang from above them as the prince floated down to join them. Clad in bright coral armour that shone as if it had never basked in the light before. A cheer went up from the guard as their prince emerged and the started pushing into the wave upon wave of their aggressors.

A war cry seemed to bubble through the water as four mounted coral clad nights darted from below the party, Ray knocked aside one attack, Dusk took the attack to his forearm but the head of his axe parted and blazingly hot wave of boiling water washed over the attacking elf and his wolf, causing them to falter. Zander drifted behind Mike as an invisible shield of force bubbled up around him and he used his control over wind to push him away from a counterattack of the attacking sea elf. Mike parried the head of the spear before his counter attack removed the head of rider and mount, the magical blade seeming to cut through water and armour as if there as nothing there.

The party moved to surround the prince who shouted to the attackers begging for their cease of aggression, and when he was attacked he would fling pulses of water outwards with a flick of his wrist to push the attacking elves away and batter them and their mounts. Another pass from the seawolves and Deep Coral Knights saw another knight drop, this time Dusk brought his divine magic to bear and speared one elf through the chest whilst the magical blade of Ray, Vexing Thorns, cut the wolf to chunks of flesh as three twisting vines of rusting metal wrapped around it and tugged tightly.

Short blades of shell spun in the water into the side of Ray and Zander as lightly armoured warriors swam from the sand cloud, the blades managing to find gaps in armour and catch the sorcerer off guard. As the warriors clashed into Ray his shield took many of the blows before Dusk summoned his spectral weapon to float in the water beneath the elves which silenced one of them before they were able to react to the spell. Zander shot out two chromatic orbs of magic that smashed into the head of one of the remaining seawolves which cause its rider to drift in the water momentarily before swimming towards the party drawing a blackened longsword.

The princes guard had pushed back and were approaching the cloud of sand and bubbles, as they neared it the bubble net and sand ceased and King Felris swam next to the largest shark the party had seen as well as a writhing eel that was the size of a horse. The shark and Eel darted towards the royal guard as King Felris swam towards his son, the prince.

“Son, why do you bring war to our doorstep. We came here to silence the surface dwellers, strike a blow against them so we can learn how to undo their magic and rid our people of this curse.” The king spoke with anger and determination, his hand moving in grand arcs gesturing to the party, the ship and the elves. “What good can you do bringing them here?”

“Father, your highness,” the prince corrected, “These people are here to remove the artefact that poisons our waters. They are here art my request to undo what their people had done previously and I trust that once they have removed it we will be able to work together to understand the artefact and identify the cure for our peoples curse.” The prince looked to his father, conviction in his eyes, “You once said to me that to not at least try and make peace is the sign of a warmonger, not a king. I am here seeking peace and an end to war and this curse”.

The king swam their for a moment before signalling his people. His people immediately disengaged and swam to his side, the king looked to the ship, to the guard who had now swam to join the Party, to the prince and the surface dwellers who were here.

“You have one tide, if they can not remove the cursed item then their life and the city is forfeit.” The king spoke, a semblance of his once calm and merciful heart shining through. “If they are unable to find a cure for this sickness we have no choice but to continue to take souls so that we can survive and our race endures. This is the barter, take it or we will have war.” The king spoke with cold savagery as he gripped onto the side of his Giant shark as it swam back into deeper waters.

Well that’s where we leave it tonight. There is at least one more adventure in it where the party can decide if they retrieve the artefact and risk its magical backlash and then decide if they wish to look into ways to undo the curse for the sea elves, which may include obtaining historical records from Sir Blake and his library.

Apologies once again for the day late writeup, but I hope it was worth the extra days wait!

Don’t forget to tune in for the 25 days of Dice-ember and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Beneath the waves… Part 2

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Sunday is here and I am beginning this write up way to late in the evening for what I was hoping to achieve today, but let’s see what water I can wring from the stone that is my mind today. This week we explore more of the troubles that are happening around Arciryas, above the waves, upon them or beneath them deep in the ocean depths.

I hope to provide two writeups to fill in the gaps for this week. A brief glimpse into the mind of our sorcerer, Zander, and how they met up with the alternative protagonist of this arc, Rafnir whilst escorting the wizard to Arciryas. The second write up, well, you will have to read to the end to find that one out.

Waking up to pale sand and blue skies.

The waves crashed softly against the shore causing Zander to wake up. He had had that dream again, the great blue scaled wings beating down upon his village sending embers, smoke and screams into his face. Closing his eyes he relived the night mare that had plagued him since it was his reality, the day his world was ripped apart and sewn together into the abominable thing it is now. 

Dragonborn, kobolds and men ran between houses kicking doors down and dragging men, women and children into the streets and into cages on the back of wagons. Zander stood over the bodies of a few kobolds that had tried to take his elderly parents into cages, the spear stuck in the chest of one of them as it twitched and struggled to fight to live.

The great blue dragon hovered overhead watching the man with interest. Unlike the others he hadn’t fled or cowered but instead stood for what was his. Xthalar was amused, perhaps this one could be his toy. Sending a message to one of the Dragonborn under his influence he landed on the roof of a warehouse, the sound of wood complaining and threatening to buckle under his weight was lost to wind as a fresh Chorus of wailing from the captured began as the wagons began to travel out of this town.

Zander paused as he wrenched the curved scimitar from the hands of a dying kobold as a dragonborn in scale mail, made from blue dragon scales by the look of it, strode towards him like a man with a purpose.

Shouting a battle cry the dragonborn charged forward, his clawed limbs leaving furrows in the earth. Zander readied himself, the axe of the raider glinting menacingly in the sunlight was enough to shake even a hardened soldier let alone a bounty hunter. As the dragonborn swung at Zander he rolled under the blow, landing in a crouch he slashed out at the legs of the warrior, the dragon scale scale mail shimmered as the unfamiliar blade glanced off the overlapping armour without making a scratch. Cursing Zander threw a handful of dust in the face of the dragonborn as the warrior swivelled his reptilian head around. The warrior raised the head of the axe and blocked the majority of the dust before it could impede his vision. Striding forward he began chopping and thrusting the head of the axe as if testing Zander. Retreating and parrying where he could, the man lost ground, the onslaught of the much more experienced and better equipped warrior evident. As Zander back touched a wall he parried the axe head, sending it into a beam that supported the warehouse’s roof.

Taking his opportunity he lunged at the larger heavier warrior, cutting frantically at the warrior who had abandoned his axe. The blade seemed to bounce off the mail as if it was designed to polish armour instead of cut through flesh. With a quick flourish the dragonborn pinned the flat of the blade between its two armoured bracers and spun the blade out of Zander’s hand. The blade that plunged into Zander’s shoulder seemed to move in slow motion, cutting through air as it sailed towards his collar bone. As the blade bit through the cloth of his tunic it nicked the bone before plunging into his chest. A headbutt followed the attack which landed Zander on his back.

As the soot and embers fell like snow Zander lay on the ground staring at the blue sky below – he didn’t need to turn his head to know his parents had been stuffed into the back of a cage and were soon to be shipped off to some unfathomable place. Cursing out loud tried to pull the blade from his chest, but the blade bit into his collar bone as he tried to remove it.

“Little sparrow how you fret over your death. Why do you still try to fly when your wings are clipped, broken and limp” A voice crackled over him like thunder over the desert.

“I must get up. I need to save my family” Zander wheezed through his gritted teeth, his consciousness must be fading a the sky appeared to be falling, a wall of blue coming to crash down on his head.

“But you can’t little sparrow. Your wings are clipped” The voice mused in his head seeming to delight itself on his broken from.

“I am not clipped. I just need more power.” Zander spat, the blue sky seeming to stop above him, dark clouds forming a horrible leering reptilian face above his head.

“What will you do with power little sparrow, you have no home, no family and you can’t fly” the voice taunted

“I will watch them burn, all of them. I will cause them a thousand deaths more painful than what they attempted to do unto me. They will regret the day they did this to me” Zander roared at the ground.

“Be careful what you wish for little sparrow” the voice rumbled like thunder from the dark cloud above his head. Zanders vision blurred at the edges as his consciousness began to waver from the pain. The Dragon like cloud seemed to roar as the sound of a thunderclap exploded above his head and pain and darkness flooded his senses.

Xthalar opened his maw, a pulsing energy filled his throat before pouring over his teeth as the sound of a thunderstorm exploded from his gaping maw. Directing the energy at the dying human beneath him he imbued the man with a curse, and power, a dragonmark. As the lightning shot over his fangs and thread its way through the mans body a shimmering tattoo like mark of power burn through the mans clothes writhing like a dragon in flight. After the power left his body Xthalar looked down at the human. The blade had melted fusing with the tattered remains of the mans clothes. reaching down and using two of his claws like delicate instruments of healing rather than the tools of murder and death as they were intended to be he carefully gripped the ruined blade and ripped it out with a flick of his massive claws.

If the man lived he would be imbued with a fraction of the power of the storm, if he lived Xthalar mused before stretching his great wings and taking off to look over the new servants he had acquired.

Moving to the bucket of water near where the five of them slept Zander washed his face, washing away the sweat and feeling of soot from his feverish skin.

Later that morning the party left the hermit Petrels hut and began to make their way back to Arciryas. The old man was a endless source of knowledge and seemed to have a profound understanding of the sea elves which the party questioned him on extensively as they made their way back to the city. About a day away from Arciryas they ran into an old acquaintance, Rafnir the half-orc Sailor who spoke of dark magic, danger and a warning that Arciryas needed to hear.

(Read more here 12MoDoA and here, 12ThMa1)

Entering the city

The city appeared to be busy, the roads into the city were flooded with people leaving the large gates; moving through the streets and alleys of the houses beyond the walls of the city, and soldiers from patrol entering the city, some grim and determined whilst others were merry and seemed giddy with excitement.

As they approached one of the gates into the city a guard stepped in front of them blocking their way “Alright, what do we have here hmm? Mercenaries here to profit from the cities current issues or are you looking to our fair city with malcontent in mind?” the guard said with a malicious grin, his question laden with the mischief of a bored man seeking excitement.

“Laddie, best you move aside. We have word to bring to Sir Blake and you are in the way” Dusk said, stepping forward. Mike and Raynor flanking him like a set of imposing bodyguards.

“All travellers must submit to a search, especially those displaying hostility to the city of Arciryas. Guards, detain these men” the man stammered out, the look of boredom turning into fear tinged with anger.

“Now boys, these adventurers are escorting me back to Blake on business. You would do well to let us through as we are in quite a hurry” Petrel said, pushing through the armoured warriors.

“George, you best do what the old wizard said. I haven’t got the time to play around” Rafnir said, walking towards the gathering of people with a bag of goods from a nearby store. “I too need to see Blake with grave tidings”

George, presumably, looked between the old wizard and the most notable sailor and, if rumour had it, most highly decorated soldier in Arciryas’s recent history before snapping his attention back to the party. “My apologies my lordss,” he stammered, “please, come. I believe Sir Blake was heading towards towards the docks”

(you can read more here 12ThMa1)

Moonlit waves

(read more here, 12FrGS)

After the plans had been made with Blake, Rafnir and Petrel the party had gone back to an inn within the city and rested. As dusk fell they made their move to the docks, greeting as many soldiers and people as possible and loudly announcing how they were to be solely responsible for holding the docks until morning, as per the plan to reveal as many as the infiltrators as possible.

As they walked along the docks, Mike now having found his sea legs and no longer falling on the slick stone pavement, the party split into two groups, Mike and Zandar took one end of the docks and Dusk and Raynor taking the other. A few lights danced on the water as rowboats bobbed up and down on the waves on their approach to the piers. As the party watched the boats come in they heard the some unusual splashing of waves on the dock near by, drawing their weapons of choice they prepared themselves for what they had been preparing for.

The first of the tide warriors slunk forward, sticking to the edge of the water and seemed to move silently out of the water, moving as slick as oil on water. Mike and Zander, turning the corner after looking around the Block and Tackle were greeted by spears flying towards their heads, quick thinking from Zander saw a shimmering shield of force shatter one of the spears whilst, somehow, Mike managed to catch the other one mid flight and hurl it back at the attacker sending it back into the water with it’s own weapon impaled through its gut.

“Time for that Signal” Mike said as he drew Sky Chariot and charged into a group of three warriors who had emerged from the water.

Etching some arcane runes in the air with his hand and speaking arcane syllables Zander walked forward making sure to not catch his ally in the ranger of his spell. A blade slashed from his left, barely missing his cloak as he released the spell. The enormous clap of thunder boomed out from him, the Sea elf’s face had just finished raising his blade to swing down again at the sorcerer before the force of a thunderclap smashed into his form, pushing him into a building and causing organs to rupture from the concussive force.

On the other side of the docks Dusk and Ray had just returned from checking the old warehouse when they heard the boom of thunder. Drawing their weapons they started to run towards the origin of the noise when four figured pulled themselves out of the water, their backs to the paladin and cleric rushing towards them as the sudden eruption of noise had served as a distraction to the infiltrators. as Dusk met the first of the sea elf in combat the scaled elf had just turned around when Dusk’s axe bit into his stomach, sending his broken and bleeding body onto the pavers beneath his feet, alive, barely.

Ray was not so lucky, as he brought his blade down one of the tide warriors swords raised to meet his, stopping it from beheading one of the sea elves. Gritting his teeth Ray urged his blade to split, rust flakes floated through the air as the swords magic activated splitting the blade into three thorny vines of rusting steel as they swarmed down the blade of the interloper, biting into the flesh of his arm and then torso before retracting back to form sold steel again.

“Come on yer elven bastards!” Dusk called as he barrelled into another elf pushing him away from his allies as he summoned on the divine magic of his patron. As the giant spectral crow cawed, its beak splitting open to form a giant axe head, the already wounded sea elf had no chance to move or defend himself as the beak-blade bit down into his chest, snuffing the rest of his life.

Mikes armour rang with the sound of metal on metal as swords, daggers and spear heads tried to find the gaps in his plate. His blade found the neck of one elf before he carried the momentum of the blade and buried it into the torso of the next elf.

“Zander! how many more are there!” Mike called, something heaving smacking into his flank.

“A bit busy Mike!” Zander called, a multicoloured orb splitting into two as it flew through the air, one exploding into acid on one of the Sea elves the other connecting with the shoulder of another who was about to try and run Mike through with a spear – a wave of fire consuming his exposed flesh and sending the elf to writhe on the ground. “They keep coming!”

Flashes of light from the other side of the pier drove Ray and Dusk to try and push through the 7th and 8th warrior that had appeared behind them, Dusks spiritual weapon cutting at exposed necks and shoulders, keeping a few elves at bay and off the backs of the two warriors.

“Dusk, we need to get to them,” Ray spat as he caught a trust of a blade on his shield, “the docks a beginning to feel a bit crowded!” He yelled, looking towards the floating lights that signalled the rowboats were getting closer to shore, friend of foe he was not sure.

“Aye old friend, I am not ready to join my lady just yet. The hateful bitch will never let me hear the end of it” Dusk spat as he brought forward the magic of his axe and a wave of fire splashed out like a wave of water on the Elf that managed to cut at his exposed forearm. “The boys may need my healing too!” Dusk breathed out, catching a spear in the head of his axe and with a twist shattering the coral shaft, sending splinters flying through the air.

“Screw this,” Zander spat, running forward he grabbed Mikes shoulder, “hold on!” he called as he spat out a magical incantation, his dragonmark burning bright like lightning as another boom of thunder erupted from his position. As mike brought his sword down it connected with thin air, Zanders magic having teleported them to the other side of the dock and close enough to Dusk and Ray to see a wave of sea elves crash upon the paladins shield. “Ray! Dusk!” Mike called, as he began the charge at the attackers.

“For Arciryas!!” A voice boomed from just behind them as sailors and soldiers got off rowboats, their boots in motion the moment they touched the pier and speeding towards the sea elves – noting that they were attacking three humans and a dwarf who appeared to be single-handedly defending the docks.

Turning around for a moment Zander and Mike saw a dozen or more figures run from the boats and clash with the sea elves where were exceptionally quick on their feet to give pursuit of the Sorcerer and paladin.

A burst of black magic rushed forth from the mass of bodies surrounding Ray and Dusk, inky black tentacles retreating back within the folds of armour of Ray. Mike didn’t know if he liked Rays connection to the forgotten god, or the powers that it granted him but in this instance the magic did seem to come in handy.

The remaining fight didn’t take much longer. Pincered between the immoveable force of divine magic, the shield and blade of Ray and the magic and enchanted blade of Zander and Mike the sea elves were quick to fall. A pile of moaning or split bodies lay at the feet of the party and even as they ran to meet the other soldiers and sailors they made quick work of what ever elves were left attacking the men.

“Thank you lads, thanks for coming to our aid” Ray said, a bit out of breath as he pushed a portion of his magic through his body to heal the few wounds that got through his defence. “Do any of your men need healing?” Ray asked looking to the sailors and soldiers.

“Already on it” Dusk said, sealing a cut on the forehead of one of the soldiers before tending to another. Mike joining in lending some of his oath driven magic to heal the wounds of the newfound allies, “we were too late for some of the boys though” Dusk said, not daring to look towards the several bodies that were dead on the stones.

“Are you men alright?” called a voice, turning towards the city a group of six guard ran towards them.

“Yes, thanks to this party of adventurers” The captain, judging by his attire and way he commanded those around him, said. Extending a hand towards the newcomers who looked at it puzzled for a moment before taking it and shaking it once.

Zander frowned, a few of the guards appeared to be acting peculiar. The guards were exchanging glances between themselves and a few of the sailors and soldiers from the party they just assisted in driving off the sea elves. Remembering what Rafnir had said he went to call out a warning before blades sang from scabbards and the group was on the defensive from both sides as many of the Sailor sand soldiers were cut into by their own men.

Zander, expending the last of some of his control of magic let forth a gust of wind that pushed and battered those he had noticed to be hostile, the winds moving around and ignoring his allies and the friendlies. “For the living!” He called, preparing to launch a bolt of fire at one of the possessed guards as Ray, Mike, Dusk and the captain with two of his men prepared themselves to attack the possessed men…

Well that’s it for tonight, a reasonably long one but I hope it makes for a good read.

Thanks for dropping in to read this weeks write-up. Come back next week to explore part 3, or another smaller adventure if I decide tomorrow night to change it up for the coming week. Let me know what you prefer if you have an opinion on the matter!

Don’t forget the let me know if you use the adventure and if you do how your party enjoyed it. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe