Dungeons&Dragons

Dark omens

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Welcome to a new week here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop and as with most new weeks it starts with Monday. Monday here means that we look at plot hooks and those adventure triggers that get the party moving in one direction to achieve a goal.

Last week we looked at a mysterious mist creature that would enter peoples houses and, from what we revealed, consume magical items as a way of a food source (perhaps, who knows..) So this week let’s continue on from there and look at the next step of the hunt for the creature and a way to clear the name of the Red Fleet and their leader Kyoko Harimasu.

Chasing mist

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As the party leave Kyoko’s room on the boat they are shown back to where they were staying by the boy again but not before the boy slips a small magical charm into the pocket of one of them (a hawk with stretched wings where the feathers touch to form an arch.

As they see the inn they realise the boy has disappeared (Passive Perception DC14 or an active check would have heard the flutter of wings faintly). That night the party members may (DC14 passive perception) notice a dark mist drifting down the walls, DC10 if they have dark vision) when the last of the lights have gone out. If they watch the mist the creature wont reveal itself and it will disappear however if they ignore the mist, don’t see it or fake not noticing it then the creature will reveal itself.

Once revealed creatures within 10ft need to make a DC12 Charisma save or they remain unconscious/asleep or they remain unaware of the creatures presence. They can re-take this test if something (a sound such as the creature finding a magical item it will begin to feed and this makes a sound like a wind being pushed through a small crack in a wall) with advantage the second time around.

The creature hates silver and will flee from mirrors or silver weapons or jewellery immediately but seeks out magical items (such as the hawk talisman). If the PC has a magical item they will (no roll needed) notice something in the room with them looking over their items. If it’s discovered they will find a magic item displaced and strange pox-like marks. This doesn’t damage the item but it looks like it would be irreversibly damaged if the creature was to finish its hunt for the magical items.

The creature will generally only visit one Party member if un-disturbed but if all party members have a magic item it will visit each of them until it’s discovered or its destroyed the magical items.

If the party find the creature it will disappear through the roof whilst emitting a hollow shriek. If it was disturbing devouring a magical item it will revisit that character again to try and slake its thirst but it will increasingly grow more violent the more times it is denied its meal. Eventually attacking the party members who come between it and the magical item.

Now that the creature has it’s sights set on the party they need to decide what to do about it, if they report it to Kyoko or the guards (or both) and how they will get rid of the creature. Changing inns/ taverns or sleeping arrangements won’t stop it from finding them and it will reappear each night just as the last lights go out.

Well that’s where we are going to leave it for tonight with plenty of wriggle room for me to update and expand this weeks content as the days go on. Thanks for joining me tonight and if you like what you are seeing here, and aren’t already, consider following the blog for daily updates. If you have followed me don’t forget to come back tomorrow for the next days instalment where we look at the NPCs that may be interacting with the party and what they can do for our party just as much as what the party can do for them.

And as always, don’t forget 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

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_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

Across starlit rooftops

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Welcome to a late Friday update where we look at encounters!

Tonight I want to explore something, a mechanic that will make sense after this weekends update.

Thatch, brick and open sky.

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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.

Well that’s it. A bit of a shorter encounter today but over the weekend I hope to give more information to help play out this section of the adventure.

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

The Brazen Wolfe

Maze of thatch

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Hi all and welcome to Thursdays update for this exciting weeks content. Today, like all Thursdays moving forward, will be dedicated to things I believe could do with additional information or new additional content that I think will give another layer of depth to what we have here this week.

Tonight we will look at what the group known as the Lotus can bring to the table as well as expanding our understanding of the characters we have encountered so far. So without stalling any longer let’s get into it.

Only a sea breeze can see all

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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.

The tight random thatch and mudbrick houses gives interesting ‘arena’ for what I plan for tomorrows encounter. The Lotus, or the semi-secret spies and scouts for the Red-fleet who specialise in reconnaissance and retrieval of people and items. In this case they have found the trinket that the creature was feeding on in last nights write-up.

This should give the NPCs enough information or evidence in order to bring PCs into the fold to assist them in finding what is affecting the people of Daye. It consumes magical items, appears at night and seems to appear through shadow and disappear just was quickly as it appears. (due to the notification from the guard. But that’s for this weekend)

Well that’s it for tonight and I hope you enjoyed that we had, albeit shorter than what we may be used to it should make sense by the end of it why I have reduced the narrative.

If you like what you have read tonight and more importantly if you like the split between narrative and the section of DM insight then please let me know!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and the following days for the concluding updates, and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

A beacon for dark mist.

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Welcome to Wednesday where we look at extensions to the plot or shifts in the setting or adventure we are developing this week.

Tonight I’ll look at putting the new format to test and see how it feels so if you have any feedback please let me know!

Dark mist falling

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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 mantleplace 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.

This twist looks to add in what may have been assumed but to add in element’s to the adventure and introduce the main villain or adversary for this adventures. This week we have a curse brought over on the trading boats possessing a trader to feed on magical energy in order to sustain itself.

This curse likely was a family heirloom that someone brought over with them to the new land and the presence of new magic, or the lack of wards and protective rituals that are common place in the home land are not present in the city of Daye.

The objective here is straightforward, a person who has bo recognition of what they do makes questioning and interrogation impossible. The alternative form and abilities of the possessed makes them appear, and rightly so, unnatural as it crawls across the walls and roofs like a dark mist.

Thats all what we have time for today. A brief narrative of the subject of interest today and then the reasoning behind it. Going back to the roots of what I want to do here where I talk about the content from a dungeon master point of view but I wanted to keep a bit of the narrative to provoke that creative spark in those who read it.

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

The Brazen Wolfe

Captain of the Red fleet.

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Tuesday has come yoo quickly and like a few Australians the return to work has not been an easy transition from holiday mode to work mode. But I can say that the return to a normal rhythm is definitely appreciated and has helped refocus my attention on what I need it to focus on. Building and exploring my craft.

Now today being Tuesday we are here to look at NPCs so lets kick off with two that I hope you will find interesting enough to weave into your own adventure’s.

Kyoko Harimasu & Hurane

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Kyoko sighed as she looked across the table as the two men from the Daye city watch left her cabin through the ornamently 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 herr 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 dont 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 occurances. 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.

Ok so starting off a bit slow this week but so far I’m liking the direction that we are going with so far.

Come back tomorrow to look at secondary hooks and twists as well as to get more insight in whats happening at Daye. Don’t forget to let me know if you like what you read and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

New sun rising

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Welcome to the first writing day of the new year here at Brazen Wolfe Tabletop and being a Monday let’s start off with something to kick our week off.

The inspiration for this week, probably month, is one of my favourite suppliment books I got when I was a teenager, and an aspiring Dungeon Master. So let’s kick it off.

Crimson flags on a pale shore.

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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 occurances 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.

Well a small snippet to set the scene. Come back tomorrow to look at a NPC or two and to explore what I have in store for this week

Don’t forget to add an hour or two to your hobby and to come back each day for the follow on post and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Dice-ember day 31 – Wagon Heist

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Welcome to Day 31 of Dice-ember and the conclusion of a month of work!

Below you will find a .docx that is ZINE I created over the past month which is a low level adventure that takes the party through the current troubles happening in Merchants Glen, a market city with politics, theft and decisions that may shape the very course of the city and those around it.

Contained is a few mentioned magic items (part of the dice-ember blog posts), NPC portraits, A bunch of stat-blocks for monsters, advice and guides for Dungeon masters around adjusting the encounters and how to run the adventure as well as, the main course, a several part adventure that should see most parties progress 1 level if not more.

This is just the v.01 (draft) version of the Zine and if its well received I hope to work on it further this year with maps, art work, may-haps a better editor than just myself late at night and a better layout!

If you like what you find or better yet run the adventure let me know! I would love to hear how it goes and I am planning on running the adventure myself on, hopefully, some unsuspecting fellow gamers locally.

wagon-heist-v.01DRAFTDownload

Happy new year and thanks for the past 120-ish days and I hope to see you visiting once again in the new year.

Don’t forget, as always, to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Dice-ember day 27

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Welcome to dice-ember day 27! Admittedly the end of year catch-ups with family and friend’s is reducing the days that are available.

So today will reflect this end of year dynamic that occurs for most if not all of us.

Delays

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During the adventure putting the sense of a time pressure or constraints can add to the adventure. It they have only a few hours to catch up to a certain NPC then every interruption, each encounter and each character who stops the party could cost them their mission. Only, it wont. The perceived delay, whether random combat encounter or request for aid, doesn’t actually have to impact the time frame applicable for their quest.

As long as it conveys the message that it could potentially delay them it will have the intended effect that we want for the party.

The alternative is making it so that each side track or distribution does impact the progression of the quest. If we, the DM, choose to run the game this way we need to make sure the distractions are manageable if not completely optional so that we don’t force the party into a lose-lose situation where two competing quests or jobs (or one main quest and a distraction).

A bit of a short one tonight but something that will come up on any adventure in the market place (or in Merchants Glen). Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more Dice-ember content and as always don’t forget to roll with advantage,

The Brazen Wolfe

Dice-ember day 26

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Well day 26 of Dice-ember is here and the day after Christmas brings quiet, vegetation and a pause which is the point of the day I suppose.

Along with the realisation that due to a issue posting or a lapse in concentration my streak is broken that means 2022s challenge will be to beat my previous postings in a row, so heres for 118+!

Today let’s look at something less explored in most D&D, well, tabletop role playing games, mounts. So lets step back and look forward.

Filo

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As Red looked up from filling his waterskin at where he had stopped over to feed and water his beasts he gazed upon his magnificent eight draught horses and he couldn’t help but admire how perfectly designed and built they were.

Each beast was around 1700lb of pure muscle, determination and grit. As he went to pat one he particularly admired it attempted to bite him then stamp on his foot, succeeding on the latter. As Red cursed and hopped around a comforting muzzle pressed on his back, Rue. Now Red wasn’t a bitter or resentful man but his horse, Rue, was particularly proficient enough for the both of them and hence the nickname Rue. It was given the name. Due to how he felt when he first encountered the beast and purchased him as a young colt. He rued the day he bought him and there and then on the spot the name stuck. However since then Red had not come across a horse more brave or loyal that Rue and they had been inseparable since.

Red climbed aboard his horse and as he linked him to the other eight horses who were already tethered to his wagon, the Merribringer, they nuzzled Rue affectionately. The horses respected and feared Rue more than he as there was no beast more demanding or respected as he.

After a while of travelling down the road Rue stopped as they came across a clearing in the wooded road they had been traveling down. Either side of the road lay ripped and torn fabric and splashes of dark dried blood. Something had killed some traveller’s brutally here and recently enough.

Nudging Rue onwards the pack of beasts and their driver moved hastily but silent through the clearing, the goods he contained in his wagon were for a small town who had come into some bad luck where their recent seed storage for crop planting had been devoured by vermin. As he moved through Rue whinnied a high pitch noise as a warning as they moved through to the other side of the clearing. They likely wouldn’t be safe until they reach the village.

Luckily they made it through the forest and the village was visible now. As they moved down the road into the village people came out to greet him, Red was well known as a bringer of joy and hope and when his wagon and it’s train of horses approached word spread fast of his arrival.

That night he and his horses rested as his wagon was finally finished being unpacked he couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling of danger he felt ever since finding the site where the travellers were butchered. As the villagers danced in celebration a strange quiet came about the grasslands. Rue whinnied out a warning as Red also felt the uneasiness grow.

“everyone. Something comes this way. Help me with the horses on the wagon and everyone climb in.” He called. After a moments panic malicious howling could be heard from the road leading towards town. Red had heard this before. Worgs.

Getting the horses onto the wagon was easier this time as his urgency seemed to resonate with the animals desire to also leave this place. Soon the small village, around 25 people were on or in the wagon and just before Red could tether Rue to the convoy of animals an arrow burried itself into the ground at their feet. Rue caller out and bit one or the other horses causing it to dash forward with the village onboard, the eight horses making the wagon load of people almost skim across the ground with how much power the horses had. Moments after the wagon took off and Rue jumped out of the way a spear flew into the wooden post where the horses were just tethered and lodged itself into the wood.

“let’s buy them some time Rue” Red said as he moved the massive horse to the spear and yanked it out. Looking up he saw the glowing eyes ot worgs taking off after the wagon with goblins riding a them shooting arrows and throwing spears. Rue jumped forward and kicked a worg and it’s rider before it could attack Red or himself. As Red whirled around he plunged the scavenged spear into the worgs side as Rue kicked out and shattered the beasts jaw. Worg and goblin alike ran off before stumbling to not rise a few dozen feet away.

Rue and Red took off after the wagon wagon and worgs but as he drew closer he could tell things were not going well.  The wagon had come to a stop and the smell of blood was ripe. Rue whinnied a sound of remorse and sadness before taking off.

“Rue, we need to check for survivors” Red called as Rue continued to try to pull away but Red was more stubborn in this case. Whirling the horse around he trotted towards the wagon the sticky tangy smell of blood was overpowering when they got closer to the wagon. As they came alongside the wagon the lack of movement and eight dead horses and piles of mauled humans.

“We shouldn’t have come here” Red muttered as he released the reign and Rue took off away from here quickly the twang of bows and thud of arrows and spears hitting wagons.

After a few minutes of galloping Rue slowed down to a trot and his breathing was laboured. It wasn’t for a few minutes until Red noticed the arrows embedded in Rue’s chest. Bringing him to a stop he checked the wound, the sinking feeling in his chest told him enough. The arrow had pierced Rues lungs and he wouldn’t survive.

Mounts are a fundamental part of D&D but due to the nature of many adventures they’re not utilised as much due to mounts not being good idea indoors or in dungeons/caves or castles which is where many adventures are to be had.

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

The Brazen Wolfe