Dungeons&Dragons

Maneater

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Hi all and welcome to Tuesday where I wanted to shift focus away from the bustling city and into the wilds outside of the safety of Shuimu.

I want to go back to one of the favourite points of view styles for a few of my favourite novels

The Damp Dark

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Drip, drip, dip… The darkness made an excellent chamber for reflecting noice from the other side. The warm, wet dark contrasted to the slightly immuninated ice cold pools of water that had worn away at the rocky surface of the cave floor forming mini reflections of the pool and waterfall that had given life to the cave hundreds of years ago.

A bald hard scalp pierced the waters surface causing the watcher in the dark to narrow her eyes, staring intently at the potential intruder as she lounged in a worn out groove against the back of the cave. Several other protected thick scalps appeared in other connected pools throughout the cave, “ah, they made it back” she thought as she relaxed her guard and picked up what she had been chewing on a few minutes earlier, a femur, broad and strong with some scraps of meat left on it. Her powerful jaws causing a splinter to occur in the bone before she used a sharpened rock to crack open the bone to expose the marrow. A long sharpened finger nail on her right hand made quick work plucking out the rancid congealed goo from the hard casing.

Slowly the figures emerged from the pools, each clutching a body, or body part from something they hunted beyond the cave before they dropped it in a pile on a central smooth and flat rock. The hunched figures showing no sign of weakness of injury, to do so infront of the others would be yo invite canabalism that cost the last tribe more than half its members, no, this time she would not allow it. Despite their scaled limbs which ended in clawed webbed hands and fingers they moved quite well above the water, their thick, heavy shelled back and partially covered torso the only thing that held them back from being as swift on land as in the water of the pools they lived near.

Standing up her thick scalp touching and scraping painlessly along the roof of the cave, being the tallest and strongest here she got the first pick from the pile.

Pushing aside pieces she deemed unsuitable for her she eventually stumbled upon the top torso of what was once a human, the clothes and skin suggested it had sat in water for quite some time but her constitution was not questioned. Dragging the decaying meat, offal and bones back to the wall she ascended the piles of bones from years of eating like this. The bones and other refuse from her meals forming a slope upwards towards the highest part of the cave. Sitting down and sinking her teeth into the cold flesh she looked down at the others like her as they fought and scrapped over the pile of carcases and corpses. Her eyes fixed towards noting the strength in a few of the males in the cave she wondered if they could find enough food for next years brood – they may need to become more n aggressive and start stockpiling food in the frigid pools which means attacking the humans more regularly.

Thanks for joining me tonight for this brief glimpse at the creatures and antagonist of the week. If you know what they are comment below, lets see if how I described them did them any justice and don’t forget to come back each night for the rest of the week to see if you’re correct – and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Entering the port

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Hi all and welcome to the a Monday night post which means a new week of adventure.

Last week we saw the introduced refugees and corrupted crew fall to The Shadows corruption and begin to turn on Liz and the adventurers. This week I want to take our first few steps onto Ryokughan proper and venture into the Mountains near the Bay of Five Tails

Bay of Five Tails

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As the sun rose on the third day after they had left Jade Point, the Dancing Drake sailing a bit slower due to the hasty and crude repairs done to the breached hull, the Dock city that controlled the Bay of Five Tails was in sight.

“It’s called the Bay of Five Tails,” Kyoko said, watching her most trusted men stand around the central mast where she noticed some crew and refugees from Jade point tied up, it was reported that there were eleven in total but she could only count five, Choi amongst on of the afflicted. “It’s called such as it is believed that one of our great ancestor dragons, a water spirit that had five tails fought a great battle here and as it brought its great many tails down on its foe the earth shattered before its might and five great channels were carved into the land. Soon these channels filled with rushing sea water as the wounds caused by its strike spread out far and wide forming the marshes, the ones we sailed through and the others further west, and inlets to the sea not far from here.” Several other passengers, Liz and Siu included listened intently to the tail.

“This city we call Shuimu, after the ancestor spirt that fought here and opened up what once was a land locked area and brought trade, wealth and prosperity to the people of this region.” she said smiling as she her remaining crew helped position the ship to dock, her hand reaching out to stroke the wings of a hawk, Takeo, that had flown to her side just as the last of the Shadow Bruised were being rounded up. She looked from the Hawk to the adventurers for Faerun. “He will have to remain in this form for a few days, it seems that he had to call on too much of his clans magic and the change is, not as easy to flow back into human shape as it is to shift to an animal. He did discuss with me before he left his plans, to talk to his master and then to seek out the monks that live within the mountain ranges nearby the City, about two days walk, a week round trip to find the monks and return. I believe this is the best chance we have to learn how to cure and help these people afflicted by the shadow’s curse as well as cure Siu as he has been unable to shake the stone for days and, between you and me, he is not himself.” Kyoko said looking concerned at her ancestor-come-shipmate.

Looking towards the city, the vast open market covered in red, gold, green and blue flags representing different family houses the party were welcomed with a chorus of noise, sights and smells that wafted across the waves and up to the boat as they docked.

“We will keep the afflicted behind bars for a week, then their families may begin to ask questions and I cant risk bad relations with the other major families. In this time I need you to seek out the monks and return with the cure, or knowledge of the cure, so we can begin the process of fighting back against the shadow.” Kyoko said as she picked up the hawk on her arm.

“Takeo will help you, as much as a bird that cant talk can. Just ask and he will do what he can – this mission is as important to him as it is to us. As soon as Siu and the others are healed we will head to my city, where my family rule, and we can begin the fight in earnest.” Kyoko said, grasping the hands of the party members “I am grateful the ancestors let your path cross mine. Please seek provisions with this bag of gold and return back as quickly as you can. I am sorry you can’t rest for long, perhaps half a day at most, but we know nothing of this affliction only that it appears to be from the Shadow in nature and that it makes the host simply not exist. We need to know how to stop it before they get lucky and something irreversible were to happen.”

As the boards were lowered and trade goods, people (some in chains) and the host of other things were taken across to the docks where important looking officials dressed in white robes stood waiting the party set their first foot down in Ryokughan proper.

Thanks for joining me as I continue my recovery. I hope you are excited for this weeks content as I am as we continue along this exciting adventure and start to meet some of the people of this land in true. There is a bit of content planned for this week, I hope to get out Inkarnate again for some battle maps amongst other things and as my recovery goes well I also hope to also look at more soulbound this week. So don’t forget to come back daily and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Shadows First move

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Welcome to another end of week writeup with our first venture towards the conflict between the adventurers and the shadow directly, well as directly as The Shadow gets for now.

As I mentioned in last nights post I almost went too deep this week, exploring and delving too deeply into several additional complexities once I started to try and put together a logical reason for the creatures (crew, refugees and the like) to be shadow bruised and both undetectable yet not invisible or silenced. But I think settling on the points that I have will be a good middle ground for the adventure so, let’s kick it off.  

Haunted by Shadow

As the ship sailed down the widening River the last signs of the marsh retreated into the wild under a chorus off toad-kin singing songs of praise, protection in and victories to be come.

“It’s nice isn’t it. To be nearly home and be with the first glimmer of hope we’ve had in quite some time” Kyoko began, breathing deeply and looking out across the water and slowly approaching fields be and farmland. “I bet you were be staying to worry weren’t you Takeo” she said turning to the tawny hawk next to her. After a ruffle of feathers Takeo Mei stood next to her.

“When my birds returned without delivering a message I worried, when Jade Point was under siege I also worried. But now I am glad to see that you have made some stalwart companions to usher you home, I knew that they were a good omen, but I don’t remember the Priestess being amongst them earlier.. ” he frowned looking towards the Lizbet as he could sense a strange energy about her.

“She is something else. Single handed turned the Toad-kin into allies. They call her a fallen Star” Kyoko said as she sipped from a cup and watched her. Takeo nodded to Kyoko before walking towards Lizbet and the party of adventurers he met weeks ago.

“I could sense something about you from across the ship. You have a light about you Miss Priestess, one that the darkness and shadow will try and snuff out” Takeo said, nodding to the party as he stopped to stand amongst them, tilting his head listening to a sound that only he could hear.

“Well they have tried already, luckily for me I have had these adventurers, heroes if you will, protect me and shepherd me from harm for now. Even Siu has taken to following a few feet behind me to ensure that I am safe.” she said as the golden scaled beast moved forward making Takeo startle if only for a moment.

“No, I can’t. I won’t. She is the light that will protect us.” he muttered under his breath as he shook his head – the whispers getting louder with each passing moment. His legs walked on their own carrying him next to the railing, around the back of the gathering where the adventurers stood with the person made entirely of blinding light. “No, don’t please. Its a price I cant afford” the man continued as he felt the change happen – suddenly people stopped moving aside, no one looked at him and even the astute and watchful gaze of the man talking to the priestess and the party frowned as if something was missing.

As more people bumped into him he cursed the card game that had won him the stone that was now in his possession, again, a pain on his neck forming as the stone took its mark on him. He couldn’t live like this again, not in the shadow, not without the warmth of others and so with a shuddering sob he drew his long knife, a memento from his father – a fisherman – and drove the point into his chest. He shuddered as the stone fell from his hand and clacked against the railing of the ship and then over the side as he felt his body go cold. All of a sudden people were screaming, the man who appeared to have been watching him before the shadow enacted its price was there in the space he drew his last breath. “The shadow…” he managed to whisper to the man as he felt his eyes close.

Takeo knelt next to the man he remembered seeing, hearing talking to himself as if a mad man then nothing – as if his existence had been wiped from the world. When the body hit the ground he remembered what had been witnessed and heard and as he heard the words “The Shadow” he searched the man for marks – a large, deep bruise had formed on his neck where it met his left shoulder as if a large round object had been forced onto him for some while.

“Kyoko, we need to restrict the priestess and her companions at once. There is darkness afloat these waters”

Areas of note

The Boat – Confined to the lower decks where there is the ability to limit the access to both the passengers and the crew.

NPCs

Koyko Harimasu

After the appearance of the first shadow bruised Kyoko assisted the party of adventurers in finding a place that could be secured and easily defensible before returning to the deck to work with the crew and Takeo in looking for more of the Bruised.

Elizabeth “Lizbet” Scaulder

Liz is worried about the attacks, especially the nature of them as they appear out of no where but generally only as they are killed.

Her concern is two fold, concern for her safety and the safety of those around her as well as the concern for those afflicted by the curse that gave them this shadow-like quality and if they would be able to be cured from the curse.

Siu

Siu spends his time defending and sticking as close to Liz and Kyoko as possible trying to defend them both – when Kyoko goes back above deck to talk to the crew and the other passengers Siu sticks close to Liz.

Takeo

Takeo, after uncovering the initial attacker and talking to the party about the next best steps goes to see his master, where upon finding his clan hall empty returns back to the ship just in time for it to dock.

Environment and running the adventure

The Boat– see map

Encounter

The first encounter, on deck should be like a script, if the party roll a successful Charisma Saving throw vs Stealth check OR Insight vs Stealth will reveal the creature to the one who made the check – but otherwise they don’t see the first shadow bruised until they hit the deck dead.

Takeo and Kyoko will take the party, Liz and Siu downstairs and into one of the sealed crews quarters to discuss the situation. The end goal here is that Takeo will reveal that he doesn’t have all the information and that he will need to talk to his masters further to get more information – he will then leave after that.

Kyoko will ask the Party to pick a place to defend Liz for now, a lockable or sealable space would be good. The closed off quarters are good options (one with two bed is where Liz would be staying currently), the crews quarters with hammocks may be also suitable or even the sealed in holding cell in the centre of the floor. On their way there they would get attacked by one of the Shadow Touched (see above encounter mechanics) who would try and attack Liz (depending on how the Party are moving) if they decide to stay in Liz’s chambers then the attack happens there.

If the Party move around, or change watch, or, every 6 hours another attack will happen until they have been attacked four times in total where the fifth has two shadow touched attacking at once – which is unusual for them,

Aftermath

Shortly after defeating the last of the shadow touched Kyoko appears saying that they believe they have accounted for everyone including those stopped from attacking Liz and the party. While the party have been dealing with the sudden attacks the ship has moved on and the next destination, the final port, lays ahead of them.

Well that’s it for tonight, thanks for dropping by and sticking with me this week while I recover and begin to feel better again. The next few days may also be slow but I plan to still create daily content this next.

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

The afflicted

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Hi all and welcome to Friday also known as Fightnight!, this week the stat blocks don’t really matter as much as the mechanics behind the encounter(s). We find our group on board the Dancing Drake and sailing towards a port town that will see them travelling further and deeper into Ryokughan.

But what if the threat came from some other place not the of this world, not of the Material plane. This week we touch the tip of that.

Shadowy Assaults

218FrShAs

Those touched by the stones known as the Slivers of Shadow find themselves cursed to be ignored and unrecognised until they go through with their end of the bargain – or they can pass the stone onto someone more strongly willed at which point they are released of the curse.

Now I will save the reason why for later this month but those who find themselves on the precipice of being unable to remove the stone because there are none who can recognise or see them will find themselves quickly pulled between two planes, the Material plane where their body resides and the Shadowplane, Shadowfell, where the entity known as “The Shadow” holds onto their essence, their spirit/soul and this instability of planar existence.

For mechanics I want to keep it simple – A successful Charisma Saving throw vs Stealth check OR Insight vs Stealth will reveal the creature to the one who made the check.

Until the creature attacks they are treated as being invisible and being under the silence spell. All attacks against them are made as disadvantage until they are revealed (Faery fire doesn’t work here as its not a sight based clouding of senses) and when they attack they make their attack with advantage.

Now the nature of the creature doesn’t matter, human, crew member, Jade point refugee – but I wouldn’t have them too strong as it already has the party at a big disadvantage. I would have several people, maybe 6 encounters where the last one is two of the touched attacking at once – at all instances they will ignore the party and go straight for Liz – or through the party to get to Liz as the case may be.

Thanks for joining me tonight – it was another short one tonight but I still wanted to get something out to you all while I am still recovering. Don’t forget to come back this weekend for more content on both Saturday and Sunday and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

In the rafters

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Hi all and welcome to Thursday where we look at extra little things that make the adventure just that bit more..

So now I’m planning on tonight being a short night as I need some time to rest and recover at the moment but I’ll be working on something bigger for next week!

Empty Halls, busy rafters

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A tiny claw, one of a thousand, gripped into the wood beam rafters that made up the roof support for the older barn. Below the tiny creature, and is brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles a man walked down the hall, care and precision marking his footsteps. But the creature did not care, a itch made in fumble its grip and in doing so it’s fellow creatures scrambled, rushed, clawed and squeaked as their tails and claws clung to the rafters and each other.

The itch happened again causing another scratching and fumbling fit. This beam was to narrow so it made a nice down the hall, yes, the dark room always had more room when the hawk wasn’t in there. As the rat ran along the rafters voices could be heard, one voice really, no response. A sudden commotion behind him caused a tangle of rats to fall and hit the ground causing the boards to squeak, but this rat was compelled to look towards the voices, watching as the not-hawk man had its cloak revealed and as the young hawk dashed down the hall. The rats had scurried into open doors and into hiding spots, fools. Didn’t they know there was no hawk here, the rats ruled the rafters now. Cleaning its whiskers the rat finally scratched that itch as it watched the man turn into a hawk and fly out the window. The last in part terrified his family and sent them deeper into hiding, but it meant he had the rafters to himself for a few moments more. Cleaning behind his ears the rat settled down..

Meanwhile.. a darkly silhouetted figure opened its eyes, bright blue cunning eyes, and reached for a BBQ’d rat.

Thanks for joining me and sorry it was a bit shorter once again, but do come back the next few days for additional content here and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Missing Wisdom

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Hi all and welcome to Wednesday where we look at twists, turns and other such things that make our adventure that much deeper. This week we have an opportunity to thicken and darken the plot, one which I can miss out on.

So get comfortable, grab a coffee (the official energy source of this content) and enjoy.

Empty Halls

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The large tawny hawk flew into the open window in the plain looking barn before settling down on a crate as it ruffled its feathers and shifted its form, muscles bones and feathers shifting, growing, stretching and receding until Takeo sat on the crate – a few drops of water still hanging to his hair from the light shower of rain that had greeted him as he flew into the town.

“I hate it when it rains” he sighed shifting his cloak around. The transformation from hawk to man after flying in rain always left him with water under his clothes when they appeared again. Standing and treading down the hall, a familiar path from his training as a child which his feet remembered. Each floorboard was different, only a few of them weren’t floating on top of nails that would squeal when stepped on and for those who remembered the path you could pass through these halls silently.

Passing a door, one belonging to another lotus member who was initiated a month later than he, he saw it was empty, but the external facing window was left open which was expected – their order was given all kinds of orders and had to deal with all situations imaginable.

Approaching the archway at the end of the hall he took off his shoes and placed them next to his masters shoes, as he had since a boy, and slowly stepped past the threshold and into the chamber beneath. A shadowed figure knelt infront of a fire so the feature’s of the face and front of the body were cloaked by shadow and darkness. Coming to rest, standing twenty steps away he knelt down and waited for his master to acknowledge him.

Minutes seemed to go by and Takeo got tired of waiting for protocol “master, I bring tidings from lady Kyoko. Her ships passengers, crew and refugees from Jade Point, have become afflicted with Shadow Bruises. Whats more, they disappear from all sight and senses, well seemingly so at least. Occasionally a person who is acutely aware of their presence can detect them.”

“They have started to attack the guest of princess Kyoko, targeting her it seems but there is resistance in the host. I believe they are being cursed by a stone as black as shadow and directed, forced even to make attempts on the life of the guest.” Takeo looked at his master, unmoving and unyielding. “Master do you know of what I talk about” he said moving forward to get closer. Something wasn’t right, the figure wasn’t moving but seemed to be unnaturally still. “Forgive me master” he muttered before approaching the figure and pulling back the hood. As he did several stray feathers wafted down and what was a very convincing decoy was revealed to be feathers and fabric under the robes of his master.

Frowning his senses went on full alert, a creak from the hallway, the rattle of a window, something somewhere was not right. Pushing his body through the the mental preparation to transform into his raven he darted down the hall, his dirk drawn and ready as he seemed to hit every squealing floorboard on his flight down the hall. The transformation process was physically and mentally draining and normally the Lotus agents couldn’t transform so quickly again after reverting to their human form, and his mind was rejecting the ancient magic.

As he stopped near the crate where he came into the building by he looked around, willing his heart to be silent and his body to take the form of the Raven.

Silence. The building was silent, not a sign of life, or more important death anywhere. His mind settled and his body started the shift, looking around the room as his eyes shifted and changed he didn’t see a single thing out of order, like nothing had changed or been here. As he turned and flew out the window he started to piece together what his next steps would be. Without his masters seemingly endless Knowledge there may be no one but the monks who secluded themselves from the world of men long ago.

Thanks for joining me tonight to look at the trials of Takeo with me, that name may stick somewhat, don’t forget to come back the next few nights to get more content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The knowledge of the Lotus

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Hi all and welcome to Tuesday where I wanted to bring in something I have been looking at on the side for some time now and with the return of Takeo it feels right to bring it out more.

So in the interest of time let’s kick tonights write-up off.

Takeo of the Lotus

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As the door opened and closed, Kyoko going out to mingle amongst the treaty of the crew and people of Jade Point, Takeo looked over the party, Siu and Liz who sat in infront of him.

“my teacher’s have a phrase for that mark, Shadow Bruised, those who have had shadow touch them but not take them.. yet..” he began looking at the confused and concerned faces before him. “Likely started with one, probably not the one who took his life, and its infected the others. Thats about the extent we do know of it, but some monks and shamans may know more. We know you are not the cause or threat but to ensure your safety we must keep you locker up. Until we reach the mainland.” He said looking thoughtful.

“have there been any other people with that mark, the err, shadow bruise?” Liz asked quietly, concern for their health evident on her face.

“one or two, but I suspect there is more. What worries me with our first victim,”he gurstured to a room that was currently closed and locked up, “is that I lost sight of this person, could not see, smell or hear them as if they ceased to exist until that knife pierced his chest. I will need to talk to my master about this to understand how to track those inflicted with the mark.”

As the people present started to discuss the options available to them the door rattled, but no one was there. A few moments passed as the group discussed what they could do Siu stopped mid sentence and stared across the room before lunging forward and pouncing towards the corner of the room, closest to where Liz was standing. As he collided with something a flurry of claws and teeth accompanied a guttural screech. Blood, fabric and the occasional golden scale fell to the floor as the room bore witness to a haggard looking man with eyes sparkling with madness slashing and stabbing as the golden beast did its best to disarm or kill the would be assassin.

A moment later and a snake-like lunge was followed by a crunch and crack and both Siu and the man fell to the ground. Siu stood up slowly before backing away from the dead man. “I tried to remove the knife but it wouldn’t come free.” He said, panting and looking mortified “he was muttering when I realised he was in the room about snuffing the light and being freed.”

“I didn’t notice him until the blood hit the floor.” Takeo said looking concerned towards the door he swore was locked. At that moment Kyoko pushed open the door in a hurry.

“the key’s missing..” she began before seeing the body in the ground “looks like you found the source of the disappearance” she added.

“Siu.. whats that on your neck?” Liz asked as she pointed at a polished black stone that looked like it had been adhered to his scales, a tarnishing to the scales around the stone gave the appearance of a bruise.

“Well. We now know how they get the mark and know what to ask the monks and my masters” Takeo continued as he stared at the stone.

Siu just stood still as he felt a presence sneak up his spine and as he felt the stone grow heavy on his scales a chilled whisper drifted past his ear “hello Jung..”

Thanks for joining me tonight and don’t forget to come back the next few nights as we begin this months new adventure with a few plot driving moments. Don’t forget if you do play thorough this campaign to let me know as I am excited to see how others find it! and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Shadow Bruised

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Hi all and welcome to the first Monday of the month where we look at the plot for the month, well for this part of the month.

Last week I introduced some refugees onto the boat, one of which having a run in with Mugrave outside the town of Jade Point, so this week I want to see where I can take that.

The Touched

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As the ship sailed down the widening River the last signs of the marsh retreated into the wild under a chorus off toad-kin singing songs of praise, protection in and victories to be come.

“It’s nice isn’t it. To be nearly home and be with the first glimmer of hope we’ve had in quite some time” Kyoko began, breathing deeply and looking out across the water and slowly approaching fields be and farmland. “I bet you were be staying to worry weren’t you Takeo” she said turning to the tawny hawk next to her. After a ruffle of feathers Takeo Mei stood next to her.

“When my birds returned without delivering a message I worried, when Jade Point was under siege I also worried. But now I am glad to see that you have made some stalwart companions to usher you home, I knew that they were a good omen, but I don’t remember the Priestess being amongst them earlier.. ” he frowned looking towards the Lizbet as he could sense a strange energy about her.

“She is something else. Single handed turned the Toad-kin into allies. They call her a fallen Star” Kyoko said as she sipped from a cup and watched her. Takeo nodded to Kyoko before walking towards Lizbet and the party of adventurers he met weeks ago.

“I could sense something about you from across the ship. You have a light about you Miss Priestess, one that the darkness and shadow will try and snuff out” Takeo said, nodding to the party as he stopped to stand amongst them, tilting his head listening to a sound that only he could hear.

“Well they have tried already, luckily for me I have had these adventurers, heroes if you will, protect me and shepherd me from harm for now. Even Siu has taken to following a few feet behind me to ensure that I am safe.” she said as the golden scaled beast moved forward making Takeo startle if only for a moment.

“No, I can’t. I won’t. She is the light that will protect us.” he muttered under his breath as he shook his head – the whispers getting louder with each passing moment. His legs walked on their own carrying him next to the railing, around the back of the gathering where the adventurers stood with the person made entirely of blinding light. “No, don’t please. Its a price I cant afford” the man continued as he felt the change happen – suddenly people stopped moving aside, no one looked at him and even the astute and watchful gaze of the man talking to the priestess and the party frowned as if something was missing.

As more people bumped into him he cursed the card game that had won him the stone that was now in his possession, again, a pain on his neck forming as the stone took its mark on him. He couldn’t live like this again, not in the shadow, not without the warmth of others and so with a shuddering sob he drew his long knife, a memento from his father – a fisherman – and drove the point into his chest. He shuddered as the stone fell from his hand and clacked against the railing of the ship and then over the side as he felt his body go cold. All of a sudden people were screaming, the man who appeared to have been watching him before the shadow enacted its price was there in the space he drew his last breath. “The shadow…” he managed to whisper to the man as he felt his eyes close.

Takeo knelt next to the man he remembered seeing, hearing talking to himself as if a mad man then nothing – as if his existence had been wiped from the world. When the body hit the ground he remembered what had been witnessed and heard and as he heard the words “The Shadow” he searched the man for marks – a large, deep bruise had formed on his neck where it met his left shoulder as if a large round object had been forced onto him for some while.

“Kyoko, we need to restrict the priestess and her companions at once. There is darkness afloat these waters”

Thanks for joining me tonight for the start of a new week and I hope that this slight twist in the plans we have here came as a shock, well at least part of it did. I am looking forward to the next legs of the journey as we approach Kyoko’s home city so don’t forget to tune in daily so you don’t miss a beat – and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

To catch a Fallen Star

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Tonight we will look back at the parties first encounter with the Oni a warrior race who’s goal is to enslave or eradicate the other races of Ryokughan.

So I will continue using this format which I believe is easier for me to collate material and display it – but of you find that its not the easiest way to read it please do let me know!

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

Now I will assume you have read the entire post (a shocking 4844 words long!) and say thanks in advance for reading this – I have expanded, added and adjusted a few things to make sure the adventure flow better.


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

Part 1 – Moored within the Marsh- 214MoSoR

Sailing towards the continent of Ryokughan the party start to relax with the setting of the sun as the ship sail are pulled in and several great oars are produced from portholes on the side of the ship.

As the ship moves through the marsh and the lanterns are lit across the deck of the ship one of the crew, Choi, mentioned to them.

“Don’t follow lights in this jungle. Not during the night and definitely not during the day” Choi fang mentioned as he wound up a length of rope as he finished tying up one of the sails. “There are witches and fell spirits in these marshes that would love for nothing more than the easy meal of someone who doesn’t know the rule of these lands. ”

When the question is asked, “What’s that?” Choi replies with a grin, “Don’t follow the lights.. All light casts a shadow and the smaller the light the bigger the shadow” before he walked off below deck to get a meal in before a long night of navigating through the marsh.

Meanwhile deeper in the marsh Kiri and Trip, two toad-kin who had been summoned by their large and more violent chiefs met and shared a meal. The war chief; a large, violent and terribly powerful member of their kind had received orders from The Shadow to ensure none of the crew upon the Dancing Drake survived their trip through the Marsh.

Areas and places of note

The boat – The Red Fleets Dancing Drake is where the party find themselves calling the ship home, for the time being at least.

The Marsh – The marsh is small islands of mud and root systems of the bushes and reeds that grow in this otherwise deep waterway. Those who fall overboard are treated with deep water, slippery mud banks and thick 4feet tall reeds that make traversing these waterways dangerous during the day and lethal at night.

Environment and running the adventure

The Marsh banks – If someone was to fall overboard a DC10 Dexterity check would be required to stand up safely on the river bank (or they fall prone), made with disadvantage if the person on the bank is wearing heavy armour. The islands are 5ft by 10ft on average with some longer but skinnier, and some 10ft by 10ft banks of mid and reeds sporadically spread out either side of the deep river.

The Boat – See Map

Encounter

Boat and Marsh – In this encounter lets assume that our party of 4 have all reached level 5, I think that would be fitting for being this far in the adventure-year.

This gives us 20 Toad-kin, 4 Toad-kin Chief and 1 Toad-kin War-chief.

That is a lot of critters and yes it does say deadly, but if we break it down into how these creatures fight then it will make more sense.

These creatures will send through the foot soldiers, the humble toad-kin, first before the chiefs will be riled up to fight. If the chiefs begin to falter (and they do easily not being dumb creatures and valuing their life more highly than most things) then the war-chief will wade into the thick of things to dish out discipline and intimidate through violence the lesser toads.

Once Lizbet arrives the toad-kin will stop fighting and three chiefs will arrive the War chief falls and they will use their bully ability to get toad-kin’s to fight the party (despite them not wanting to and it being very obvious that they don’t want to. The Toad-kin (not chief) will had disadvantage on attack rolls when they are fighting in this part of the fight.

Once the Chiefs die then the War-chief will appear, with a second larger chief and they will then attempt to kill the party – using their size and weight to bully the toad-kin who are reluctant into fighting.

Aftermath: Once the war chief dies a dark mist will escape from its lungs as it exhales the last time and will fly away to the north. The Toad-kin will throw down their weapons and appear joyous at the death of the chiefs, maybe not all of them but a majority will and they will attempt to communicate with the party if they can; led by Kiri and Trip.

Notable NPC interactions.

Koyko Harimasu – spends her time fighting off toad-kin as they swarm the helm – attempting to keep the little humanoids(ish) from running the ship aground.

Elizabeth “Lizbet” Scaulder – When Lizbet appears on deck, her divine magic appears as if she was a fallen star. The Toad-kin cease fighting and drop to their knees in worship as the vision that walks before them is like a tale sung from campfires from their elders.

Siu – Siu is in a good mood, nervous and anxiety being this close to his home land in a very long time when he senses danger and Lizbet moves to go up on deck he races forward to protect her. To the Toad-kin he appears as an emissary of the ancient ones – dragons. His fangs, claws and shimmering gold scales cause lesser toads to jump overboard and those brave enough to hold fast dare not strike him

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Quick Adventure Challenge – April 30

thebrazenwolfe2 Comments

So it’s been a while since I did one of these and I wanted to try and do one again tonight. So as per the other challenges for the sake of tonight I will enforce the below constraints:

  • 30 minute time limit
  • 1 protagonist
  • 1 location
  • 1 randomly generated enemy
  • “randomly generated pot” (tonight we are using one from here: https://blog.reedsy.com/plot-generator/fantasy/)
  • Grammar and spelling (ONLY!) can be fixed outside of the 30 minutes if required.

So let’s kick off.

PROTAGONIST

A witch, who is abrasive.

SECONDARY CHARACTER

An enchantress-in-training, who is soft-hearted.

PLOT

It’s a low fantasy story about defying destiny. It kicks off in an enemy camp with someone important being kidnapped.

Ok, Cass a soft natured Enchantress who is currently studying under Arabel – a ruthless and efficient witch at the academy has been given her final assignment – Enchant one of the visiting elven dignitaries, a hard task at the best of times, and make them commit an embarrassing act that will send their reputations with the human population into turmoil.

The Academy is located in the City of Gurmish – a rough and dark city that specialises in black market goods, dark dealings and darker deals committed for the right amount of coin. It is however a completely neutral city where dignitaries can find anything and everything including “safe places” to conduct business – such as the current deal between an elven cities royalty and the local human and gnome coalition who wish to trade with the elves and establish mining rights for their advancement in technology.

However as the plan is set into motion the elf dignitary, a lesser prince, is kidnapped whilst in the city, vanishing from one of the better reputed houses of ill repute and both the human and elven governments start the search for him.

Weeks pass and Cass is unable to complete her final test – but her mistress, the witch Arabel has ordered her to locate the prince, complete the task or she will never be granted the title of Enchantress and be welcomed to the council of nine- an order of mages who preside over a school of magic with the high witch being there to break ties between the schools. Cass is next in line to take over the mantle of of high enchantress and be able to sit in the council.

BUT – Cass organised the fake kidnapping – going so far as to seek out the prince, warn him that he was in danger and being targeted and then ferried him away to safety, out of the public eye until she can work out a way to get his name off the list. The reason for this is Cass believes that this prince is actually her brother – discovering late in her life that she was half-elven from when her mother had an affair with an lower elven lord.

The Witch Arabel isn’t stupid though and wonders if Cass has the right mettle for the task – she has recruited the party to investigate the disappearance and find the prince – the reward is access to the counsel’s magic vault and the selection of one magical relic, artefact or goods from within. What the party doesn’t know is that the vault is nearly dry – a handful of items remain as the council is moments from ruin and the conflict between elves and humans was the only thing that was keeping gold in their purses.

The party would need to skirt the dangerous streets of Gurmish – bandits, thugs and worse lurk the streets and aren’t afraid to take what they see as theirs – including anything the party have. Futhermore the humans and elven councils are also looking for the missing dignitary so they will have their own men and women after the prince and his location – so there are many people in the race for information, a location and the prince!

The party would need to start their search with finding his last seen location by talking to his guards who have taken place up in a local inn for dignitaries – The Broad Boar, the guard will tell them, with sadness, that they left him to watch a dance and have some drinks and then when they returned from their own dances (which they will say they were patrolling the area) he was gone. Arabel sends the party to the guards with a token (forged) which she tells them will allow them to convince the guard, magically, that the party are guards of the city who are on official business.

The dance hall is called The Pink Lilly, a place for drinks and dances – of the adult variety. The matron will know of what happened but she wont see anyone unless something is wrong with her house of ill-repute – so the party need to make a scene, bribe their way to her, or work with one of the dancers in the venue in order to see. The Matron, Galadea (Gal-a-day-ah) is half drow, strong and quick witted and is not to be trifled with – however for the right leverage (DMs discretion) she will tell the party that the prince was seen leaving with a singled armed guard – who was not a guard at all! “Obviously an illusion, a poor one at best. You could tell that the way the cloak danced in the light that it was fake. Childs play to detect such petty magic for someone experienced such as I”. Flattery will worth with Galadea somewhat but she will play with the the party members who think that they can manipulate, charm or coerce her.

When asking about the guard people on the streets, shop owners and beggars will ask for coin, a few silver or a few gold depending on the venue. Eventually when the Party pay a homeless dwarf – who watches everything acutely (Insight check DC14 after spotting the dwarf DC13 perception) – if the party buy him a hot meal and a few mugs of ale at his favourite tavern “The Spitted Manticore” then he will tell the party (after eating and drinking for an hour) that he saw the guard and the elven prince move to a alchemical supply shop – “All that Glitters could be gold” and that she guard and prince never left. He also mentions that the same info was given to some mean spirited elves and humans – except that he said that it was a different shop – same street though – they would be getting close to uncovering the princes wheareabouts.

“All that glitters could be gold” is in the employ of Cass – she being a long lasting patron she has organised use of a hidden back room for keeping the prince hidden. However the elves and humans are also closing in on the venue and time is of the essence.

The prince is shocked to see the adventurers, as he is not in the room and is flirting with the shop assistant when they walk into the building – the party need to convince him to leave with them instead of the elves and humans – deception is best as he is a bit gullible but not overly stupid.

Cass walks in as the party are leaving and then pleads with them to her her out – casting a spell to turn them all invisible to all but each other as she walks them to a nearby house. She explains why she kidnapped the prince and asks them to not take him back to the elves and humans yet until she works out what to do with Arabel. At that time several thugs break into the room and surround the party, prince and Cass – Arabel walks in and asks the party to make a decision – help the soon to be excommunicated Cass and prince – or help her murder the prince, blame it on Cass so that she can create war with the elves.

Parties choice.

Time commenced: 5:25

Time completed: 5:53 (2 minutes spare)

Some inspiration taken from the 8 schools of magic

Found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/9uspaa/oc_schools_of_magic_periodic_circle/

Well tonight it just flowed – the plot generator helped point somethings in the right direction (and I didn’t use all of it as I didn’t have time to write a whole novel!) but it was good to do this challenge again.

If you like what you read tonight let me know! Better yet if you have a suggestion for a future one let me know below and I will try and deliver the random adventure in 30 minutes based on the restrictions and requirements you give me.

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