Ramez and the Rose are quite famous for the right reasons. Rose Talfaux is famous for being a man of fine taste and a man willing to spend his gold on anything of value. He hires people to find artefacts, magical items, books and more all for the wealth nobles he then sells, well most of it, on to. However he also is rumoured to be a member of the harpers and having vowed to remove cursed items from the public.
Ramez is, rumoured to be of course, a witch hunter and dedicated to the same eradication of evil protecting the innocent from the same cursed artefacts. Whether that is part of the charities that he has organised and manages or whether he does this as a member of the city watch he is favoured where ever he goes. Which is why Ramez’s disappearance has troubled many.
A bit to unpack tonight so grab a coffee, sit back and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!
The adventurers had just left Rose before he activated the ring he kept on his right hand. A string of glyphs appeared around the office he was sitting in which blocked scrying or eaves dropping of any kind. Taking out a small book from his draw he opened the first page and removed a polished black stone from a compartment in the lid.
“Stone of Azriah, show me those responsible for the evil afoot in the city” he asked the stone. He hated using this thing and even as a swirl of black dust rose from the smooth surface he felt the familiar pangs of doubt in the magical item. Soon the dust revealed a face. A man with flowing hair, sharp cheekbones and an intelligent stare greeted him. He knew those eyes and that moustache anywhere and with a sigh he head held low. “You stupid stone. There is no way Ramez would have created this evil. Again, show me what caused this evil!”
After a moment the dust settled back into the stone before rising again, twice is all he could use it until it rested in moonlight and he was betting a lot on this use. As he watched he saw images of a group of people, the thieves, as they carried a crate but a blinding flash of light from the crate removed the dust-created figures and the crate late inert. After a moment another figure appeared, before reaching into the crate and retrieving an item from it. Upon contact the new arrival writhed in pain before both it and the item it retrieved withered and disappeared like the others before it.
After its latest attempt to answer the question the black dust then drifted lazily down to sit upon the stone. Rose stood up and walked to the window. “So the cursed item was stolen, the crate taken but something went wrong and who ever the late comer was has it and has disappeared.” he mused to himself. It wasn’t enough but he began to scrawl out a note while he still had the runes of warding up. Satisfied by the notes contents he called out his oldest friend, a small hawk who flew unbidden down to land on his shoulder.
“Celise, I need you to take this to Polson.” he said as he tied the message to the hawks leg. It wasn’t really a hawk as all familiars were something different entirely but he still marvelled at the creature as it took flight. Polson would get the message to the adventurers he just hired, or to the watch and they would be able to investigate. He could at least finish what Ramez started to remove the Amulet of Vek’lakah from this world.
Thanks for visiting tonight and meeting Rose and getting a glimpse of Ramez. While one is trying to puppeteer the situation the other is very much in the thick of it. So don’t forget to come back daily as we continue on this adventure and lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
The arrival of a new gang leads to a missing persons case and a missing crate, Talfaux’s crate in fact. This week Talfaux’s Crate is unaccounted for and somewhere in an abandoned warehouse it lays shattered and empty. Intriguing? I would hope so!
So grab a coffee, hit the streets and let’s stroll through tonight’s adventure!
It’s no secret that larger cities bring about rumours of all natures. The city of Traves has something for nearly everyone however the rumours that are currently being spread are not of its pleasantness, the rich nightlife or the market. A bungled robbery, a missing figurehead of the city and a ghostly apparition that cries desperately for help before disappearing.
All these occurrences happened when a new gang entered the city and allegedly robbed a warehouse of a wealthy merchant that dealt in magic items. Since then the other gangs in the city have become quieter as a new power has risen in the city. The party has been called in to investigate the gang and the reports of the ghostly figure that has started to manifest in the streets before someone else disappears.
The party watched the merchant sitting in front of them cry, swear, hit the table and finally sit perfectly still while cleaning up the mess they had made. The messenger who had walked in to report another theft from the Talfaux mercantile company appeared as though they were expecting to be struck by the man.
“Thank you for the report,” he paused as he shot a sideway glance at the messenger.
“Tim sir,” the messenger replied after a heartbeat.
“Yes, thank you Tim. I will hope that the guards are increased so that we don’t have another unfortunate incident in the coming days.” the merchant, Rose Talfaux, replied. The messenger nodded and took this as his queue to leave like a mouse scurrying before a cat.
“As you can see I have a need for your services. It is not just the tracking down of a particularly dangerous missing crate but also the end of the thefts that have been occurring since the BlueJays appeared. This gang of thieves and urchins are making a mockery of any honest business and I need them gone.” Rose said. The broad man counted on his fingers silently while thinking before sighing. “For each crate you can return of my wares I will pay you two hundred gold pieces. A bonus three hundred if you can see to it that the gang do not trouble me again… I mean do not trouble the city again and are dealt with the authorities.” he emphasised the last word with a raise of his neat eyebrows.
“There is also the city guard investigating the disappearance of one of their own – Ramez. A good man he was, they may have further work for you if you can investigate Ramez at the same time as I am sure the gang is behind it to. That or that ghastly apparition that has been seen near the warehouses in the southern district.” Rose said with a visible distaste for either the district or the mention of the apparition the party were not sure.
A fun one this week as the party investigate three things. However nothing is ever what it seems and sometimes starting with the smallest point can lead to the biggest reward. But more on that as we expand this weeks adventure day by day this week. So don’t forget to come back each day this week to stay on top of this weeks adventure and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Tonight and I have created a new zine for the year. I hope you are finding the current format of this Zine useful as I am continue to investigate what I can create weekly. I do this while aiming to give the DM freedom and flexibility without railroading them and the Party. So without any further waiting I present, The Price Verone Paid, in the same format, as a fun one-shot to assist GMs when they need a night out of the books.
As always this adventure can be used system agnostic but focuses on D&D so please feel free to adjust to what ever system and the creatures you are using in your adventure! However 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 the creatures found in this adventure.
So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, The Price Verone Paid, and that your rolls are made with advantage.
The lure of gold is tough for nearly anyone to overcome as with great gold comes great power. The ability to fund your own operation, to buy medicine for the homeless, to build homes, fortifications, magical artefacts and more all stems from great wealth. But when there is too much gold offered then the question shifts from “How much are you willing to pay for” to “why so much, what’s the catch?”
The party had just entered Verone when an official of the city, a noble and secretary to the lord, approached them. “I am so grateful that you came in such short notice. We were really worried you wouldn’t show up in time and were beginning to wonder what we were to do with the chest of gold being out of the treasury for so long.” Without giving the party time to talk he signalled them to follow where several guards were standing around a wagon that was laden with a large chest. As he neared the wagon he called backwards “I hope the sum of ten thousand gold pieces was enough. I daresay we had to scrape the vault dry to get this much.” he said as he slapped the chest, the guards looking nervously around.
“But as our messenger explained, we are in desperate need of heroes to accompany Verone’s hope, our own Hero, to complete the trail of the black tower. Simple enough for people of your skill as all you have to do is make sure the hero gets to the top and completes the ritual.” he said with a hint of nerves, “It’s a bit different this time around with the hero,” he paused, “never mind me – a lot of nerves is all. We need it to go well so we can ensure the future safety of the city, that’s all. So the hero will meet you by the gates, you are free to take the gold with you now or later – but I would encourage you to leave it here as it is a lot of gold to travel to the black tower.”
Thanks for joining me today for another Zine this year. As usual there is a lot more in the Zine than there was in the daily updates on this blog – 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
After a massive day today, and a big day tomorrow with Mothers day for Australia, I drove home to the view of Aurora Australis tonight which sparked ideas of, well you guessed it, a D&D adventure for me. So when I got home, unpacked the car and settled the family down for bed I attempted to create an image that would reflect the start of the adventure I had seen.
For me this isn’t recreating nature but it is highlighting that the evocative imagery that we see can influence what we create in our fantasy worlds – a concept I have used many times before. So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s check out tonight’s adventure idea!
Sugo stood at the edge of the paving’s and looked over the city of Trevalis. The arch wizards had erected the castle on top of the mountains to remind the peaceful people of their power and, more importantly, that they were for ever watching. Sugo had been born with with some magical power but it was not impressive enough for the Arcane College in Tervalis to be accepted into their program. So devastated and upset he instead said goodbye to his companions who had made it into the prestigious college for the arcane arts and left to find his own path.
Decades later he stood above the city and gazed upon the castle. It had grown since he had last seen it and no doubt it was at the cost of the lives it had taken in. His colleagues had been broken and their magical powers harnessed by the arch magus’s elite council – a practice forbidden for centuries but hidden until one of his colleagues had sent a warning to him. He gazed at his elderly mentor and friend, Simon, a legendary mage that had been exiled from the academy for standing against the council.
Too powerful to be controlled or defeated yet not powerful enough that they would fear him. So they cursed him that he would never achieve the rank of master. Nor would he be able to step foot in Trevalis nor gaze upon its people or city until a master welcomed him to do so. But here they both stood, the Master and his master as they gazed upon the corrupt city.
Raising his walking stick off the ground it expanded and gained in weight until it was a warped and twisted staff. The wood thrummed with power as Sugo began the spell – one to not only put fear into the hearts of the corrupt Magus council but to also cease their forbidden rituals.
The magic was linked to the fabric of the world itself, by removing that spell, that magic itself from existence he could undo what had been done and save countless lives. However the spell was unpredictable and despite practicing it in small doses the removal of the power behind the thrown of Trevalis would take something more. So he borrowed magical power from the grass, the breeze, the cascading waterfalls and the ground itself to create the grounding forces for his spell. As the weave added its magic to his call the elemental magic took the appearance of great spheres floating in the sky, immediately alarms could be heard coming from the city but it was too late for them.
Lightning dashed across the sky as arcane energy arced towards the spheres. Each bolt was channelled through the spell and was searching for the traces of the target of the spell – the forbidden magic. Soon a few bolts of energy could be seen coming from points in the city and the academy, however the keep was a different story. The entire keep thrummed as it fought to wrestle control and keep the energy it was built with. Simon began chanting adding his own powerful magic to counter the spells being cast to locate them and undo Sugo magic but he knew only Sugo could stop the spell.
Soon arcs of lightning erupted from the castle as the stolen energy was ripped from those who had perverted the natural world. The energy solidified into spheres of oscillating power which attempted to stabilise themselves before being given back to their rightful home. The spell that adjusted the fabric of the world was not one that just anyone could control and the side effects were ever lasting. As Sugo strained to maintain control he, once satisfied, began to command the last action of the spell.
The removal of the forbidden practice from the fabric of this reality and the return of the energy to where it came from. Many of his comrades and friends had died in the practice and the outcome of this practice was unknown. But it was a risk he needed to take, for the memory of his friends and the justice that only he could mete out.
Now that’s all that we have time for tonight, but its not all that we have for this weekend. So don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more Tabletop content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
This week we find ourselves looking at Corneth Bank Street and the quaint Tavern where the first encounter with a deadly duo occurs. But there is also the streets, other buildings and a small section of the sprawling market that takes over this street to potentially explore.
So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s map.
Corneth Bank Street and Tavern – Created in Nightcafe.
This weeks map is accompanied by a lively image of the imagining of these streets. As these streets are busy during the celebration it only makes sense for them to be bustling with activity. However when the action occurs too many details can muddy what’s important and take away from the combat.
A quaint, small tavern that really serves as a front for serving food rather than accommodating guests is this initial encounter for this week. However it wont be the last.
Not much in this week with several art assets, some light blending of different coloured cobblestone as well as some extra detail to add “more” to the world. Not my most intricate map but I tend to find that street maps end up like this.
Thanks for coming to visit the blog for another short map night. Tomorrow we have a reveal when it comes to our mercenaries this week so don’t forget to come back for tomorrows content and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Tonight we have the Taneva brothers featured as they carry out their lords mission to take out a very peculiar noble. But they have a problem, despite being some of the best paid mercenaries in the land they were not expecting a group of adventurers to be guarding their quarry.
So let’s sit down, grab a coffee and roll into tonight’s adventure!
The Taneva Brothers
419WeTTaBr
Jericho and Enrich, oh and Bob – Created in Nightcafe.
Jericho watched the noble as she danced, overpaid and over tipped on everything and how she overreacted when anything mundane to a commoner would occur. She was definitely the mark and even now he could see similarities to the crowned princess Satanya which is what had led their employer to request this job. They had been trailing her for a few days now and had been waiting for the right moment.
However as he and his brother, Enrich, stood to approach the girl the door opened. In walked several adventurers who looked like they had seen the mean end of a dragon a few times and lived to tell the tale. They walked with confidence and purpose as they walked in their direction. Signalling to their accomplice, Bob, to keep an eye on them and prepare for trouble they waited, hands on blades. However a worse fate was in store for them.
The adventurers walked towards the princess in disguise and immediately it was clear that they were also here for her. Rivals for the same job was his immediate thought until he saw that they carried themselves differently. He signed and signalled to Enrich who stood a few feet away drinking with a few other drunks at the tavern. They had better move fast before the adventurers had time to realise what was happening. It was this moment that the princess looked at them, turned and spoke to the adventures before looking back. Her gaze pierced even as she slunk backwards towards the adventurers.
Jericho cursed himself silently without moving or even flinching as he took another swig from his tankard. “Should have got the bastard to pay for hazard pay as well.” he called to Enrich as they started to move quickly to intercept the princess before she was too heavily protected.
That’s all for tonight – the next step, but not the last, in this weeks adventure. Jericho and Enrich will be back again later and, if the party doesn’t play their cards right, they will have more than just two mercenaries to deal with. So don’t forget to come back each day this week as we complete this adventure and, as always , don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Now when the King and Queen said that their daughter was hard to find they were not wrong, however hard people will look there is no end to the faces of Satanya. But that’s not all that we find this week as we explore who this princess is and what she is capable of.
So grab a coffee, sit back and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!
The party left the store after following another clue of the rich noblemen and noblewomen who had come through the town of Corneth where the town holds a celebration along the edge of the river bank, the Corneth Bank Celebration. The merchant had told them that they had sold a few pairs of travelling clothes, a blue cloak and a pouch to a nobleman who paid several times the amount. It matched several other reports of the overspending from travelling nobles in the town.
However despite all these reports of mysterious nobles buying clothes, food, drink or other goods each person always gives a different description of what the noble looks like. However they all speak as though they come from far-far out of town, overpay by several times the standard price and all wear the colour blue in some form. But they were closing in and the flash of blue in a tavern drew them forward. Before them a young woman drank heavily from a pint of mead, danced enthusiastically and, more importantly, was acting as all the merchants, innkeepers and other witnesses had reported so far.
Approaching the woman wasn’t the hard part, trying to confirm who she was. But after the realisation that she had been found sank in, her face dropped. “I suppose my parents sent you to retrieve me. Well you can tell them that they won’t find me again. I don’t want it, none of it. I want to dance, I want to be free to do what I want. Not what they or some idiot wants me to.” she continued to dance, basically ignoring them. That was until she noticed that there were two extremely rough looking mercenaries staring at her.
“Friends of yours?” she asked nervously looking back at the party, but she could tell from their faces that they were not and from the way that they stared at her, they also knew exactly who she was.
A start to the week and a hint at what’s to come. I will expand upon this tomorrow so don’t forget to come back daily as we continue on this adventure. And lastly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
A bit of a different pace this week where the focus isn’t on combat, espionage or survival but it finds the party Searching for Satanya. A NPC heavy week this week, which bodes well for tomorrow night, but it should provide a challenge regardless as the party begin searching for Satanya. But enough of that and let’s move on with tonight’s actual content!
So grab a coffee, hit the cobblestone and let’s search through tonight’s adventure!
The crowned princess Satanya has disappeared from the capital and the royals don’t want it to be known. So they hire reputable, well known adventurers to search for their daughter instead of raising suspicions in their court or in the courts of their enemies.
But this won’t be a walk in the park as Satanya has a gift that will make it nearly impossible to find her. Satanya is a shape changer and can change her appearance nearly at will, however her parents are confident that she is not untraceable as she has never spent much time outside of the castle. So the mission is simple, find the person that stands out among the crowd when they don’t want to be found. Prove they are the princess and then return her to the capital safely.
The catch, no one must know she is out as her life may be in danger.
King Bach looked up at the adventurers in front of him as he rested his chin on his clasped hands. These were not famous heroes to this land but they had some renown. They were unlikely to be spotted immediately but their name and deeds had spread to the ears of his advisors so they must be good at their profession. Nodding he was satisfied that they were not the best, nor the worst and that they should both blend in and stick out of the crowd if needed.
“I see my advisers have found nothing but the best as I requested of them.” the king nodded to the man who had approached the party a few days ago. “I hope I can trust you with this information,” he paused to look to his wife – the queen, and the party one by one, “Our daughter has disappeared from the capital and we suspect she is in Corneth, or so that’s where the trail ended. Before you worry we don’t believe she is in danger but more so, she is rebelling against us since we named her our successor. She thought it would be her older brother but he.” the King paused.
“He is not our first choice.” the queen stepped in patting her husband’s hand.
“Precisely. We don’t wish to control her but as she is our successor, heir to the throne, and if the county’s enemies found out she was not protected, guarded or even being watched she and this country could be in danger. So that’s where we hope you can help. If we send out soldiers to sweep the streets, celebrations and taverns then it would draw suspicion. But a party of adventurers, well you’d fit right in. We can pay you handsomely for your efforts but you must be discreet, we don’t want her to be put into danger but we want her to feel like she can still enjoy her life.” The king continued for some time before falling silent, his face visibly showing his distress.
“The other complication my husband has not spoken of is a family secret, something that very few people know about and its known to just those in this room.” the queen, Isabella, continued. “Our Daughter Satanya is a shapeshifter. She was born with the ability to change her shape at will. With just a thought she can look like anyone else in this room. This makes it more difficult to locate her but not impossible. We know she is in Corneth by the way she is spending her coins. She is too liberal in spending her gold and there are rumours of several rich people paying three times the requested amount at several shops, taverns, inns and the like. We believe all these nobles to be her, so…” she paused to take a breath. “Follow the rumours and find our daughter before someone else does, convince her to come back and make sure no harm comes to her.”
Another big week coming up and this week we have many NPCs to come up with and some more drama to write up. So don’t forget to come back each day as we continue to ramp up this weeks adventure and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Tonight and I have created a new zine for the year. I hope you are finding the current format of this Zine useful as I am continue to investigate what I can create weekly. I do this while aiming to give the DM freedom and flexibility without railroading them and the Party. So without any further waiting I present, Unrest in Arkensol, in the same format, as a fun one-shot to assist GMs when they need a night out of the books.
As always this adventure can be used system agnostic but focuses on D&D so please feel free to adjust to what ever system and the creatures you are using in your adventure! However 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 the creatures found in this adventure.
So I hope you enjoy this weeks adventure, Unrest in Arkensol, and that your rolls are made with advantage.
Unrest in Arkensol
414SuUnAr
Arkensol Arena above ground – Created in Nightcafe.
Arkensol had been, for many years now, the centre for games and entertainment for the adventurers and those who love excitement and the combat that takes place in the arena.
Arkansas was always a place of trade rather than one of excitement and extreme games but the last decade saw a rise in business in the city when they started having wild, dangerous animals fight in the arena. The pinnacle of this being when they started to give criminals the choice, fight in the arena or serve out your sentence.
Nearly none of them made it past the first few minutes. But the organisers of the games made it interesting enough that they never had a short supply of creatures to fight or criminals fighting for their freedom.
The party had come to Arkensol to relax and perhaps spend some money as this latest game that the city had promised was meant to be the biggest one yet.
The original arena had been built quite small and level with the rest of the city but as the games grew they had dug out a sunken arena with light filtered down through skylights that lit up the arena and the stadium. A true masterpiece of engineering and magic combined.
With just a few gold pieces they were able to secure a seat and an ale as they waited for what was promised to be a fight to remember.
Thanks for joining me today for another Zine this year. As usual there is a lot more in the Zine than there was in the daily updates on this blog – 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
Good evening all and welcome to the thirteenth day of adventuring for my party. While I will endeavour to not give away the campaign, adventure or plot moving forward (in case my party read these updates!) I will attempt to write up each adventure this year continuing with my 2024 Campaign Adventure 13 – continuing on from the 2023 adventure.
This is a continuation from 2023 Campaign adventure 11 & 12 as the party continues on their first mission as members of the investigation of the strange creatures in these lands.
2024 Campaign Adventure 13
Sa415CaE13
Plot:
Morning
Taking precautions after the run in with John – the halfling who ran the Fat Sow Inn and after checking for secret doors or ways into their room that they had been provided at the Inn they settled in for the night. Groku and Kai took the bed after Kai tried to sell the fact that they were all a married couple. It was not that convincing.
In the morning Kai was provided a different breakfast to straight pork and both Tater and Kai made their way to the mines to fill in the day before the feast that night. Meeting with Tom at the entrance of the mines, he was examining the ore production very closely, they proceeded to travel down the mines – but they were warned that some of the mine tunnels had pockets of dangerous holes so they had to be careful. Still suspicious of the Mayor they insisted on going alone and they were encouraged to do so. A dwarfs desire to explore his ancestors mining halls after all is something that they wanted.
The main entrance to the mine had three main tunnels. A old dwarven one that was not used at all on the far left of the entrance, the furthest right one was very active with miners and the one in the middle was not active, but it had some footprints that led into the depths which was a bit suspicious. But to explore Taters heritage they went down the old dwarven tunnels. For a few hundred feet they gradually descended until they came to flatter and less twisty tunnel. The air was danker and more stale down here but they continued along until they came to another three tunnels.
The Tunnels
The first tunnel was caved in but the other two seemed to go on some distance, branching out further into the darkness. The torchlight dimmed somewhat from the stale air but it wasn’t concerning. Examining the cave in Tater determined that it wasn’t naturally done, it was deliberate or, at least, blocked off on purpose. Feeling around two of the larger stones shifted with very little effort, a weighted mechanism that allowed two rocks to shift and then re join with the rest of the barricade to appear as if it was always closed.
On the other side of the secret door/ false cave in was a consecrated room dedicated to King Boralis the 3rd. A large stone slab that was positioned in front of the statue of the king. The room had four large shelf-like recesses in the walls with a few dwarven items laying in dust. A dwarven hand-axe, a few vases and pots that appeared as though they were placed, rather than left here. Another oddity was that the tunnel in which they came from appeared to have been dug into this room rather than from this room. This meant that who ever dug into here wasn’t the people who dug out.
After a while searching around they found that the table could be pushed towards the statue which unlocked a seamless door behind the statue. What was revealed on the other side left them confused and daunted.
A epically large cavern greeted them with large carved pillars that looked like they supported the roof (which was far enough that their torch light and darkvision could not detect) greeted them, as did the fact that nearly the entire cavern floor was gone. A grand chasm spread in all directions which, after investigating appeared to be related to ancient acid-pox markings on the rock as well as a 10ft hole that was bored in the roof.
The Bat
Using the magical but not yet defined bracers Kai climbed to the ceiling, in a way that spider man would, and made it to the hole clutching a torch in between his legs just in time for a huge bat with 30ft wings to fly out of the darkness to attack him. Kai instinctively used his bracer to launch himself into the hole and Tater launched an arrow that grazed the mammoth mammal but it was too late, the bat had found his prey. Latching to the cavern roof the creature used its clawed hand to grapple onto the goblin and only the bracer, and a series of three ropes tied to the goblin (as the ceiling was 150ft in the air) prevented it from taking off with him. However the true nature of the gauntlet was about to be revealed as it was being used past its limit.
After heated back-and-forth between bat, dwarf, human and goblin Kai was released and plummeted. Tater readied his psionic powers to catch and pull the goblin toe safety but not before the bat attacked again, attempting to grapple and bite the goblin mid flight. Several panicked moments later, and after Kai plummeted onto the bat to stab at it with his sword and his bracer’s metal vines, he fell within reach of Taters magic.
Groku making good use of her Ring of Magnetism when she threw her battle axe to lash at the bat, only for the weapon to fly back into her hands. Armaeth was clinging onto Kai after bathing her, the bat and the goblin in faerie fire and Tater caught the falling goblin and he managed to barely land him on solid ground. Kai was not in a well shape but there was another problem. The bat was tangled in the 150ft of rope that connected all three of them.
After another frantic moment of cutting ropes and Kai expending all his lay on hands charges, they watched the bat fall into the darkness. Except they didn’t just watch.
Kai used his bracers again and, without knowing how they truly work, expected the bat to be pulled to him. Instead he was flung onto the back of the bat. Who in its panic to untangle itself from the rope was not aware of the hitch hiker. Tater and Groku watched on with exasperation as the Bat flew off with the goblin on its back after they had expended nearly everything to get him safely back onto ground. But there was more.
Kai experienced the magical backlash of the gauntlets as they were pushed beyond their limit – causing him to sacrifice his life essence, a single hit dice, to sustain the bracers grip on the bat. However he didn’t release the bat or hide amongst its thick fur. Oh no he decided to try and tame the bat much like the wolf from just a night ago. Aware of the goblin the bat flew high into caver to allow it to use its clawed wings to untangle itself from the snack. Tater, Groku and Armaeth watched in horror as their ally was too far for them to do anything other than shoot with heavy crossbow.
As the fight continued the goblin landed a few small attacks on the bat, enough to make it weary of the fight. However it was all over when the magical backlash of the bracers occurred again and Kai had a terrifying realisation when his life force was ripped out of him, another 2 hit dice…, he was going to die. The bat pulled the goblin off its back before Kai released the bracer, not wanting to find out what happens when the bracer pulls the last of his energy out. The bat swooped and narrowly missed the goblin before in a moment of luck the goblin grappled with the furred creature again. But there was only soo much that could be done as the bat grabbed Kai, Kai impaled the bat with Frost Thorn before, having enough and valuing its own life, the bat flung the goblin at the far cavern wall.
In a moment of instinct Kai used the bracer to attempt to slow his fall to the bottom of the cavern wall on a ledge before the chasm, but the magical backlash was too much and a price was paid as he was pulled unconscious. The other party members watched horrified a the glowing bat (from faerie fire) flew off to his home to lick its wounds while the goblin was thrown against the wall and disappeared into the darkness. As Tater rushed to try and find a way to his ally he attempted to climb for the first time, and the properties of the magical belt he wore was realised. He could climb as easily as walking. After a frantic dash across the cavern wall he found Kai, the goblin… breathing but broken. One arm hung limp and mangled but he was stable. Forcing a healing potion into the goblin Tater managed to rouse him enough to tie him to his back before carrying him back to Groku and Armaeth who had been instructed to wait behind.
After they had made it across the chasm the realisation of Kai’s arm, limp and unresponsive, as well as that in the unconscious state, the impact from the wall and the fall to the ledge Kai had lost Frost Thorn somewhere in the darkness of the yawning cavern.
Fustmach again
Making their way back they met with a miner who was sent to find them as well as the mayor, Tom, who was worried. They told them about the giant bat which both miner and mayor seemed excited for as they had lost some miners down a few of these tunnels – them and all rescue parties were never seen again.
Tom took the party to see Hilder, the towns healer who quickly patched and cleaned up Kai, the only one to suffer damage, who also was shocked when Kai didn’t realise his left arm was shattered and broken in many places. The limpness seemed toe be a new feature for the Goblin. After provided with clothes that hadn’t been ripped apart from a huge bat the party considered their options. They had to go to the feast tonight to try and work out what happened to the other agent of their order, Fredrickson. However, they were in no state to be doing such a thing.
What ever would they do?
Main NPCs:
Sidekicks
Armaeth
Groku
Thanks for joining me tonight for a hybrid of the continuation of my campaign as well as the seasonal adventure for my group, the final part of last-last years Dice-ember one-shot!. Don’t forget to come back again tomorrow for more content. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage, The Brazen Wolfe
Brazen Wolfe Tabletop 