Tabletop

The Final Conjunction

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Following from the final battle and the contingency that Andrasa built into her spell the party now have to deal with the final conjunction. The collapse of the dimension is imminent – but its not so much a race against time but an opportunity to see it through to the climatic end. As this is the last, few nights really, before my December adventure, Dice-ember kicks off I wanted to still expand upon the closure of the last adventure before we close the final page. So let’s sit back grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

The Final Conjunction

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Dimension Collapse – Created in Nightcafe.

As Velmore collapsed a pulse of energy erupted from where his body hit the ground. The remaining fiendish forms at the edge of the battlefield disintegrated into dust and were quickly blown away by a gust of wind that came from behind them. A voice carried across the wind “the ritual is commencing, now that his physical form is dead I can seal away his immortal form. But you don’t have long, the dimension is collapsing.” Andrasa’s voice was broken and disjointed but audible enough.

Hurrying past the shrine, as fast as their wounds would allow them to, they head back in the direction they believe they came through. But even as they searched for the next familiar landmark a splitting sound could be heard as a towering rocky mountain split into several shards which began to rupture into the sky away from where they were. All around them signs of the dimension collapsing could be seen as the land itself began to tear itself apart and great rifts in the sky could be seen.

Gone was the purple hued sky replaced by large black tears in the sky where the grey clouds were slowly being drawn into the void beyond. Chunks of rock and earth that were dislodged were slowly floating towards the rifts as well and occasionally a moment of anti-gravity would see the party losing their footing and floating through the air for a moment before being pushed back into the ground. Racing across the shattered landscape they hurried in a direction they thought was correct but doubt started to eat at their confidence.

But, in the distance a blue ring of darkness hung above the ground like a suspended mirror. The twisted cavern of the underdark could be seen on the other side and they knew they were on the home stretch now. Urging their tired bodies onwards they rushed towards the portal out of this dimension even as the ground around them started to shift and dislodge around them.

As they neared the portal the ground collapsed entirely which saw them pushing off loose floating earth. Jumping they lunged towards the portal home as the final conjunction of ritual and the collapse of the dimension collided. A forceful gust of wind collided with their backs as they started to float into the sky mere feet from the portal, a voice carried on the wind.

“Live well. We need heroes in the material plane to be ready for when the hells breach the surface again. Be well my friends” and with Andrasa’s last words they were flung through the portal, collapsing onto the rough calcified webs of the great cavern.

That’s it. Thank you for joining me on this journey as we wrap up the final parts of this adventure. Don’t forget we have Dice-ember starting this week so do make sure to come back for that as we explore what Christmas brings this year. I foresee a time of great celebration and mischief so don’t miss out on that. And finally, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Arrival at Kalehgrul

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Tonight and I have created a zine that is a few weeks overdue – but I am catching up, Arrival at Kalehgrul. 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, Arrival at Kalehgrul. There week is different where all the content is within the Zine and nearly none of it was revealed in the prior week! So if you want to run this adventure you will need to download the pdf!

Arrival at Kalehgrul

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After surviving the attack on the Melarn family the party agree to travel with the family to Kalehgrul, a city where they may be able to find out what is happening and a way back to the surface. But they also have some cargo to escort, one of the attackers from the raid was the daughter of a O’lorun family – a rival drow house. 

But the city itself is a neighbour of Duraegis and it’s apparent that there is danger coming their way as the refugees start pouring into the city.

PDF adventure – Arrival at Kalehgrul

arrival-at-kalehgrulDownload

Thanks for joining me tonight for another Zine. This one had more content added to the Zine but like a few of my other ones I kept that in the Zine, not the blog. So you will just have to trust me on that and grab a copy of the Zine to check it out.

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. 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

Blightshard

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After a big weekend and a few plans in the real world tonight I wanted to slow it down to a different pace and talk about Blightshard. This weeks encounter had Velmore using a longsword called Blightshard, Whisperer of Suffering and I wanted to explore that a bit tonight. The smith maketh the blade, but the name can do soo much more for it. Being in the hands of a duke of hell (forgotten or otherwise) the sword needed to be imposing. So Blightshard was its name – but we’ll touch on that in the update below!

Blightshard

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A few weeks ago I mentioned the concept of parasitic and symbiotic weapons that enable the weapon (or item) to grow with the party and adventurer. This is one such item that will look at testing out this concept with something that is relatively controlled.

Adding 1d6 poison damage isn’t a huge deal, nor is the DC 13 con save to ignore the effects. However if you can make that 5d6 poison damage and DC17 con save. Now that’s more of a deal. It also make sense for a blade that a devil, a fiendish angel hunter would wield to grant him the advantage against his greatest foes. And now hte blade is turned towards the party.

Blightshard – created in DnD Beyond.

That’s it for me tonight, a bit of a short one but its good to enjoy a small break sometimes. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more D&D content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Velmore Angelbane

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This week let me introduce you to a special guest. Velmore Angelbane – the forgotten duke of hell. Lost a long time ago to the material plane there are few that remember his name or the the legions he commanded when he declared war with the angel. But let’s not spoil any more. So sit back, read on and let’s investigate what happens!

Velmore Angelbane

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Velmore is a forgotten Duke of hell who dared to confront the material plane to bring his hell to earth. However Andrasa and her band of heroes stopped him and banished him in a place that no one could find. Well nearly no one.

Velmore is kitted out with some strong spells and abilities that should be a challenge for any party. However, let’s address the elephant-shaped dust pile in the room. Disintegrate. Now Velmore isn’t stupid and will likely save this for the perfect situation. Removing a barrier, destroying a magical item/artefact or something that will end him. OR, removing the biggest threat. As such he would be unlikely to use it against a party member immediately but will calculate for a few rounds before revealing this trump card.

Where possible He will start with having used ‘Summon Fiends’ to have bodyguards, the lore that I have produced this week also suggests this as well. He uses these as body doubles (up to twice a round really). I would have the Summon Lemures look like Velmore but static and obviously just hollow shells – nothing but a puppet without the strings attached. That is until he swaps places with them.

Velmore Angelbane – Created in tetra-cube.

The Lemures.

Now these creatures will stand still and look like Velmore – but if the party gets close to them they will attempt to grapple them. That’s it really – they are body doubles for Velmore.

Lemure – Created in tetra-cube.

And that’s it. The last boss and the last minions for this adventure. Thanks for joining me for this wild ride and I appreciate all who have followed along. Don’t forget to come back for the next few days for more content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Final Showdown

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Welcome to the last full Thursday of this yearly content as next week we catch up, reset and prepare for Dice-Ember. But first, the final showdown awaits us. A battlefield, a large ritualistic circle, some pillars of rock but a lot of open space to move, manoeuvre and do battle. So let’s sit down with a coffee and explore tonight’s battle map!

The Final Showdown

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And here it is. Settling with a layered adjusted ritual circle to give it a blurry, highlighted visual effect I moved quickly to the rocky platforms and pillars that litter this dimension. Some provide an elevated platform to do battle from others, not so much as the risk may not be worth the reward.

Impact craters littler the area around the ritual circle like pox marks – a remnant of when the previous heroes battled the fiend once upon a time. But elements of the purple hue, dirty ground and rocky terrain are evident everywhere.

Battlefield – Created in Inkarnate

Despite what everyone says the size of the description isn’t what is important for a battlemap – its what you do with the map that counts. As with all my maps I provide the link to it in inkarnate where you can download, tweak and adjust to your own needs. But if you are following along this several-month adventure then feel free to use it it as intended in your own games. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and the weekend for more content and, as always , don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The end of Andrasa’s Spell

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With the end of Andrasa’s spell coming into effect the final moments of the unholy ritual to extract the fiend from its prison is racing against the plans of the party. Centuries of planning coming up against what seems to be mere luck and happenchance and he does not want to risk it. As he prepares to be free he also prepares to fight for his freedom and his very existence. But, we can touch more on that another night. So let’s sit back, grab a coffee and roll into tonight’s adventure!

The end of Andrasa’s Spell

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Lucile could feel her consciousness waning once more. She was not sure if she was dreaming or if this was her reality. Some moments she collapsed on the cavern floor within an opaque dome and others she was watching the adventurers moving across a strange land. Her vision and what she experienced changes depending on where she was looking but something was not right.

She had memories of a voice that had called to her beyond the deep dark which she had struggled to resist. She remembers approaching the portal before realising what it really was but that is where her memories had stopped. She could still feel the presence compelling her to complete a spell; a ritual that she did not realise she had read in Andrasa’s notes, one that weakened the seals to release a creature that was stored within.

The fiend watched the adventurers within the sanctified shrine and waited patiently. It would not be long before they realised it was too late to stop him from completing the ritual through the human – a mere puppet now. Despite the seal still being active he could feel its bonds waning and the strength of the spells failing, but there was also something that was concerning. 

A buildup of magic that seemed to come from the shrine. The adventurers had seemed to trigger something and this could only be a bad sign for him. Soon his form in this area would be significantly weakened but in order to shift out of this prison he needed to stay in the zone that had been prepared. His centuries of planning and scheming now down to the next few hours and he was not about to let some mortals stop him from seizing his freedom.

No he will not let these mortals stop him. Calling the shades, mere shadows of his legion to his side he started forcing energy into them to give them a physical form. If he can hold them off long enough he may be able to escape and then nothing or no one will be able to stop him.

Thanks for dropping by tonight as I look at what the next few days bring. Don’t forget to come back over the next few days as we continue this adventure and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Mages Sacrifice

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Tonight’s post is something that has been a long time coming where tonight we look at the mages sacrifice. All great feats of magic or demonstrations of power come at a cost, this week we find out about what sealing away the creature cost the mage that spun he spell. So without giving away anything more, or less about this weeks encounter that was centuries in the making – let’s get back to the adventure!

The Mages Sacrifice

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Determining, with the aid of the priestesses, that the dimension was likely to collapse and spew forth its contents within the next day regardless of their involvement or not the party watched as the fiend continued to gain power, long wings now appearing on its otherwise large humanoid form. The portal would be one way and sealed after to ensure that they would not let the creature out, but regardless if they were successful or not they would probably find themselves back in the material plane shortly if the dimension was collapsing… probably.

Andrasa – created in Artbreeder.

Stepping through the portal wasn’t the weirdest thing, even the change in gravity where movement felt odd as they floated and bounced across the ground. Nor was it the creatures that dwelled here, strange oddities that appeared to have no reason for being other than to confuse who witnessed them. No, the strangest thing was the sense of being watched and the scattered images of battles that were fought once upon a time.

Every few minutes another set of mirages, broken images of people would appear. A man wielding a great hammer, a dwarf throwing bolts of light, an elf firing arrows from the flank and a human casting spell after spell after spell. Each attack was flung towards a winged creature that parried, dodged or endured the strike before lashing back. The images were scattered as if the battle was captured by magic and it was failing, fragments of the images were present at times and the fight was brief and sporadic.

The winged creature appeared most broken as if the magic wouldn’t dare to capture its form except for the vague human appearance and the great set of wings that sprouted from its shoulders. Other creatures appeared in the fight occasionally, mostly lesser fiends, as they rushed at the man, dwarf, elf and human before being obliterated by hammer, axe, arrow or magic.

Continuing further into the dimension the images began to tell a more frantic tale. The Elf was no longer appearing in the replaying battles and the dwarf appeared to be gravely injured. The man fought with a ferocity that seemed to tell of its wounds not slowing it down but the hammer was cracked, the armour was shredded and they witnessed as claw, blade and beak tore into him. The mage continued to occasionally blast creatures with spells but was otherwise standing still and channelling a spell.

Following the fragmented images they came to a stone shrine which was bathed in a calming warm glow. A broken Hammer, a holy symbol to the god Tyr and a jagged dagger lay on the altar along with their names “Bjorne, Grumbar, Carasedrieth” under each item. The fallen combatants that they had seen in the images had been laid to rest here and a shrine erected to commemorate their sacrifice.

“Hello. I was certain this day would come but I was hoping it wouldn’t have occurred for centuries more,” a voice said from nearby, distorted as if talking through a door or pane of glass. “But it appears that my seals have eroded away and the final stages of the fiends release are here. I believe that there was another from the material plane that has assisted the fiend, consciously or otherwise I am not sure but that matters not now. I am Andrasa, well a shade of what I was. In order to keep the creature here I poured my magic, my knowledge, latent power and connection to the weave into a ritual that was self-sustaining for a while. But it appears that the Giant Oskarg and the tribe that guarded the well of souls have fallen and so the seals were broken. A Pity”

The speaker of the voice was another mirage, but this one clearer, stronger and more defined. The magic that saturated this image was clear and still strong, yet fragments of the image floated away from the main body – as if the source of its power was failing. “The creature, a fiend of considerable power, will be free soon and it will raise its legions once again. I have kept it bound here, well my arcane essence – my astral form has powered the seal here for as long as I can. But the creature has overpowered my wards. I have a failsafe that when the ritual would completely fail that I would collapse this dimension and all that it contains. But it would only work if the magic within the ritual was stronger than the creature. Currently the creature is more powerful, a byproduct of consuming souls from the material plane I would imagine.” a thoughtful look appeared on the image of Andrasa’s face.

“If we could weaken the creature, defeat it so it’s on death’s door I could collapse the dimension and take it with me. But we would need luck on our side. I can complete the final components of the ritual if you can deal a killing blow to the creature.” Andrasa’s form stopped and looked towards a crater not far from where she and the shrine was. “We don’t have much time as it calls the shades of its legions to its side as we speak. What say you, do you want to save the world?”

What a big night for this yearlong trek. The final showdown between good and evil and the final push after months of adventuring to get to this point. Thanks for stopping by tonight but we are not quite done yet. Tomorrow will reveal the other half of this story and then we have two more nights of content before the end. So don’t forget to come back each day this week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Andrasa’s Dimension

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Following from last weeks adventure that started with the party at a crossroads this week we look at the outcome of what the mid-week reveal brings us with Andrasa’s Dimension. So to get on with it and still have time in the evening let’s sit back grab a coffee and let’s roll into tonight’s adventure!

Andrasa’s Dimension

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The Binding Plains – Created in Nightcafe.

The moments following the party waking up were a hazy blur. An ethereal figure began to form as wisps of energy coalesced to form the shape of a tall humanoid, yet devoid of humanity in its piercing eyes. The room itself seemed to shift as the creature started to gather energy to pull itself from its place of holding, a dimension that Andrasa had created to contain the creature. As the figure formed attacks, magical or otherwise passed through it and caused the creature to grin.

“Finally the time has come. Soon my energy and being will be freed from this prison the witch Andrasa has sealed me within and I will be free once more. Grovel and cower now for when I am whole again you will be chaff in the wind. Gone in a flash like a candle in a storm.” the creature called during bouts of laughter as its strength and power was slowly trickling from the deep dark, a portal to the sealed dimension into a physical form on the material plane.

The next few moments were spent quickly coming up with a plan and coming to the conclusion that once the creature was at full strength it would be too late. If the creature was physically bound in the other dimension and was slowly transferring its power and essence to this one through the weakening of the seals and the ritual its servant had performed. Then perhaps there was a moment where the creature was weak physically in the other dimension as its power and strength were in this one.

Viktira, Qistra and Morali had somehow stabilised the portal that the deep dark sealed enough for a glimpse of the dimension on the other side. Dark fog filled the air with light shed from the silvery moon that hung on the horizon. Tall barren cliffs and rock outcrops lined the surface of this dimension which provided no shelter nor places to set your bearings.

Looking back at where they had fought their last momentous battle and where they were heading too now they were a long way from being finished of this last task from Andrasa, but perhaps they were the heroes the world needed now in order to prevent the re-emergence of a dark power which once took the greatest wizard the old world had known to seal.

Finally, the last push for the final adventure of the year, well the final normal zine of the year. Don’t forget to come back each day to follow on in expanding this adventure as we build upon it daily. This weekend will be a big one so I can’t wait publish what I have in store for you all. And finally, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Scarred Alchemist

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Tonight and I have created a zine for an adventure that I used to coach a few new DMs to this glorious role, The Scarred Alchemist. This adventure is a stepping stone into adventures with skill checks, plot twists and Memorable NPCs with a very small range or Rules to use.

The Scarred Alchemist 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 Scarred Alchemist. There week is different where all the content is within the Zine and nearly none of it was revealed in the prior week! So if you want to run this adventure you will need to download the pdf!

The Scarred Alchemist

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Night Market at Curvale – created in nightcafe.

The party keen to find work have arrived at Curvale. The bustling town is ripe for the work that their band of adventuring can bring and if rumours are true there is a lot of work here for them.

The streets are filled with people calling for their attention, hawking their wares and services at anyone who looks like they have the coin. The party gains a lot of attention from every merchant they pass offering anything from food to weapons to jewellery. 

However they also notice a few rougher looking people lurking in alleyways or being told to move on from the city guard, most of the time.

The streets are otherwise typical of a city of this size. Many people move around, buying clothes, begging for coins or otherwise trying to make a living. 

The party then sees it, the guild hall. A place where adventurers meet to talk about rumours, jobs and to share an ale after a long adventure or quest. The large stone building has a noticeboard out front with notices about wanted people, odd jobs or requests for information about rumours. 

Inside the hall a few adventures sit at tables talking quietly amongst themselves and a woman sits at a centre desk tidying up some papers.

Salve of Youth – created in Nightcafe.

The party leaves Tom to his busy work and look towards the rest of the market. There is a large gathering around a relatively ram-shackle looking market stall where people crowd around the small wooden stand. 

A man is quickly talking and handing over small glass jars as quickly as gold pieces are handed over to him. The party notices Reginald walking back clutching an open jar and rubbing a pale pink cream on his face. **Perception check DC 14 would reveal that the scar that he had on his jaw line has completely vanished.** moving towards the stall they see a young man with a bandaged left arm talking quickly to a few people who evidently missed out. Smiling, they bid him a farewell before the man starts to pack up his stall. 

The man is not remarkable in any other way except unlike the other merchants who are doing a roaring trade he has a city guard standing near him and watching over his back instead of a mercenary or personal guard. “Well Theo, I am never quite ready for what happens when you open Shop. Do you need any help getting back home safely?” the guard said as he smiled and walked up to the young man. 

“No thanks John, I don’t plan on taking this gold out of the merchant district. I have a few people I am still indebted to who helped me after the accident and I have some more goods to organise delivery of for the next batch. It never quite ends I am afraid!” he said with a nervous laugh. 

Maps

Graveyard – Created in Inkarnate (346SuCuGr).

Crypt – Created in Inkarnate (346SuCrOIl).

PDF adventure – The Scarred Alchemist

the-scarred-alchemistDownload

Thanks for joining me tonight for another Zine. This one had more content added to the Zine but like a few of my other ones I kept that in the Zine, not the blog. So you will just have to trust me on that and grab a copy of the Zine to check it out.

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. 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

Oneshot Throwback – The Salve of Youth

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Welcome to a bit of a weird Saturday. As this week was a follow-on, a link between last weeks adventure and the next this weekend I wanted to look at a Oneshot Throwback – The Salve of Youth. This was a fun impromptu one-shot that I did when coaching another new DM where I picked a creature, a NPC and a motivator for them to be connected. And let’s just say it was quite a fun adventure despite being only a few hours long.

So let’s get a glimpse at what it was as I turn and old favourite into a new one!

Oneshot Throwback – The Salve of Youth

The man nervously stood at the barrel on the corner of an alley near where a few shopkeepers were hawking their wares. He knew the power of what he held in the pale pink salve in the jars before him. He had invested a lot of time and gold into what was in the jar.

He was an alchemist by trade so it was no surprise that when people came up that knew him from one of the shops in town that they asked him for the usual potions, ointments and salves. “Well, actually I don’t have any of those now. I don’t work for Mr Green any more. But I do have something else…” he had said before the first customers left him. This then brought the attention of the store owners who made him move away from their business for fear of dragging their business down with his.

Eventually he left for home for the day without having made a single sale. Opening the door to the single bed room that he was staying in, out of the generosity of an old friend, he fell face first onto the old bed. There was only so long he could remain here living like this. He had sacrificed everything for this salve and he was risking a lot in how it was made. Tomorrow, he would try again and show off what it could do. Tomorrow there was a big market where nobles would come to shop for the wares of the city and there he surely would be able to sell his salve, surely. As he tried to get comfortable he unwound the bandages on his left arm and applied some of his salve to the arm. Within minutes the wrinkled, damaged and ghastly skin was looking like it did a few months ago – before the accident.

The sun was just cresting over the walls of the city when he stood on the corner of the road in and the road to the market, away from regular stores he stopped each and every person. “You, yes you there. I have developed this salve that will make your skin as soft and smooth. It will take away the years or even recover…” he began each time but the merchants, nobles or commoners would just pass by him.

After a few hours he began to give up hope again when he saw a figure striding through the streets towards him, someone he had never wanted to see again. “There you are Theo. I thought I heard your voice here earlier. I really do wish you’d consider coming back to work with me. You can’t let an accident stop you from earning an honest coin.” the tall man said with a fake smile.

Mr Green had requested that Theo create vials of alchemist fire for an order, but when the customer arrived to pick up they robbed him and threw the contents of one vial over his arm. Mr Green then docked his pay based on the lost merchandise and blamed Theo on the mistake. This pushed Theo to look into ways to heal and aid his burnt and destroyed flesh and in doing so, he came across his Salve.

But despite this Theo didn’t want to make enemies in a small city and had to play it cool “Thanks for your offer but I am doing quite well. I have nearly recovered from the accident and am turning over a new leaf. Thanks for the offer Mr Green but no thank you at this stage.” he replied. But Theo could not be prepared for the snake-like reflexes that grabbed his wrist and pulled off the bandages from his arm. The crowd around him shrieked with horror at the vision of his deformity.

“I doubt that anyone would buy from an alchemist who looks like that. My offer won’t be there forever and I have clients that want to do business with you again.” he said snidely as he walked away.

Theo clutched his hand and looked down at the salve on his little barrel. This was it, the hill he would die on. “I don’t need your offer. I can heal this arm with my own concoction. Behold!” he said dramatically as he held out his deformed arm and applied the salve cautiously to the cries of the onlookers who were drawn to the commotion. Within a few moments his skin smoothed and regained a normal colour, the flesh underneath filled out and nearly all evidence of the accident was removed.

Immediately people’s cries of shock, disgust and horror turned into wonderment. People rushed to his barrel and started to ask about his salve, how he had done it, what magic he used (of which there was none) and how much it would cost them. Mr Green watched slack-jawed with a look of disbelief. Theo’s business was about to kick off.

That’s it for me tonight. The start of an adventure where the party discover something more about Theo and his salve. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more D&D content and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe