The Story: A hundred years ago, a golden age ended. The Ur-Kings, a line of human royalty who were said to be divinely ordained and have great mystical power, fell after a long war with a titan and the primordial forces at its command. Today, the kingdom struggles on, its nobles fractured and balkanized, warring for a throne that may soon be meaningless. The Ur-Kings drove all of the dragons from the Misty Isles, but they have begun to return. The PCs are all involved somehow with one of the few remaining great houses, known as House Kilrane.
The PCs: These seven individuals may be the key to the fate of the Misty Isles, and certainly to that of Kilrane.
Jace Wellington: the Exiled Lord -- human paladin. Jace is the eldest remaining son of Lord Wellington, whose lands fell under the curse of a faction of fey called the Ryth Annwyn 15 years ago. The Wellingtons have long been stalwart allies of Kilrane, so it is only natural that the Kilranes took the Wellingtons in when their lands were taken over by the fey. Jace is highly politically ambitious and dreams of reclaiming his ancestral lands and sending the Ryth Annwyn to a much-deserved bloody grave.
Mirri Tyrell: the Con Artist -- human rogue. Mirri is a talented thief who has a penchant for living beyond her means -- and for seeking out trouble whenever it fails to find her. Mirri has recently had the good fortune to become involved with a group of young nobles called the Young Bloods, led by Albrond Kilrane and Jace. She's hoping they will prove a ticket to a life of wealth and easy prosperity, but so far they've only drawn her into their family conflict with the Ryth Annwyn.
Vanden Kilrane: the Bastard -- human warlock. Vanden is the youngest son of old Lord Hollis Kilrane, born out of wedlock and bundled off in his youth to Wellington in order to avoid embarrassment to the house. Vanden was spirited away from Wellington during the conflict with the Ryth Annwyn, by a powerful eladrin warlock. The warlock trained him in seclusion, binding him by oath to powerful and fickle fey forces. Vanden has recently returned to Kilrane, to an awkward welcome by his brothers who had thought him lost. His father has asked that he be given a role within the house, which his eldest brother has granted in asking Vanden to investigate a site in the nearby woods where a group of the Ryth Annwyn have taken up residence.
Brakon Ironhands: the Retired Assassin -- dwarf fighter. Brakon served Lord Hollis as an assassin years ago, during a war with one of the so-called Pretender Kings. He retired from the role after an unfortunate incident in which he killed a child who had witnessed one of his missions. Still a capable fighter, Brakon serves the Kilranes both as their house smith and on the front lines. He has developed a friendship with Vanden since the boy's return, and takes the warlock with him on his travels through the Kilrane lands.
Balanar: the Butcher -- dragonborn paladin. Balanar is a dragonborn knight and a sworn and landed vassal to House Kilrane. He has a reputation for brutality in his dealings with enemies. Balanar has a militant and strategic turn of mind -- he understands and even respects the need for the machinations of politics, but he doesn't involve himself in them. Balanar is a worshiper of Bahamut, unusual in a land where dragons (but not dragonborn) are nearly universally despised and feared.
Therai: the Court Wizard -- tiefling wizard. Therai was born in a peaceful village in Wellington, but was taken from his homeland in a raid by barbaric dragonborn from the northmost of the Misty Isles. He lived for years as a slave before a wise dragonborn leader took the tiefling under his wing. The dragonborn elder taught Therai many skills, and eventually even taught him to use magic as a wizard. After a time, the elder feared for the safety of his apprentice among his own people, and sent him back to Wellington. Upon arriving, Therai found that his home village had been destroyed when the Ryth Annwyn attacked, and took to wandering. Four years ago he found a home as court wizard to the Kilranes.
Rolen Lancamere: the Professional Diplomat -- elf cleric. Rolen has spent his life as a scholar and diplomat, almost his entire 190 years given to books and association with foreign nobles. He has long despised the violence of the lords of the land -- even those of his own family, the most openly pious of the isles' nobles -- but has never found the will to do something about it, until now. The death of his nephew Reise at the hands of the Ryth Annwyn has given Rolan new purpose, and he seeks to aid the Kilranes in removing the accursed fey from their lands.
Update: Therai, Rolen and Mirri are no longer active in the campaign, and a cleric named Erik Alexander has recently joined the party.
Erik Alexander: the Itinerant Priest -- human cleric. Erik comes from a wealthy merchant family, and has dedicated himself to Ioun as the god of learning, and to traveling and teaching others the lessons of his god. Albrond Kilrane has invited Erik to Kilrane Castle in an attempt to recruit him into the Young Bloods, and he has joined Jace, Vanden, Balanar and Brakon on their journeys in the Misty Isles.
The Kilranes: the house that each of the PCs was required to have a relationship to at the beginning of the campaign.
Kilrane remains one of the most prominent dominions of the Isles. Its aging lord, Hollis Kilrane, is well-regarded by the other lords both as a diplomat and as a warrior. Along with his staunch ally Lord Wellington, Kilrane was once in a position to take control of the Council of Lords, possibly even to put a candidate of his own choosing on the throne. Kilrane's power was diminished when Wellington fell under a fey curse and disappeared from the world of politics. Nonetheless, House Kilrane still has a good name with the lords of the Isles.
Hollis Kilrane -- The aging lord of Kilrane. Known as the Young Wolf in his halcyon days as a knight, Hollis is now called the Gray Wolf. Hollis is an adept diplomat and war leader, a charismatic individual with a strong personality.
Wencel Kilrane -- Hollis's older son, Wencel is a skillful administrator, if something of a bookworm. He has more interest in securing his own dominion and reclaiming Wellington than in his brother's political ambitions.
Albrond Kilrane -- Hollis's younger son is much more of a social butterfly than his older brother. Albrond enjoys the finer things in life and the company of the mighty, and is more than a little ambitious regarding Kilrane's role among the lords of the land.
The Kilrane Holdings -- While the Kilranes lay claim to a sizable chunk of land as their realm, much of it is "frontier." The area around Kilrane Castle, including the town of Kilrane itself, is secure, as are the areas around a couple of forts they maintain. The Kilranes and their knights and soldiery cannot, however, secure all of the smaller hamlets and lumber and mining camps within their territory -- there is simply too much land to patrol it all constantly.
Session 1
Introduction
The PCs meet in Daggerport, Kilrane’s port town, some for the first time and some in a friendly reunion. Albrond leads the group to retire to the local inn and taproom, the House of the Frying Dragon [a name borrowed from another poster on these boards], where Mirri and Reise [Reise Lancamere was one of the original group; the black sheep of his noble family and a member of the Young Bloods. Reise was a half-elf warlord.] immediately set about to resolve a previous challenge to a drinking contest. Jace ups the stakes by drawing Brakon into the contest as well, while Therai spends the whole time flirting with the tiefling barmaid. A group of dragonborn and dwarf strangers from the ship enter the bar, and Vanden notices that one of the dwarves bears a peculiar symbol as a tattoo. He attempts to rather bluntly question the dwarf, who is evasive regarding the symbol and leaves, leaving his dragonborn companions to lie (badly) to cover his tracks. Knowledge checks regarding the symbol lead nowhere, and once the dragonborn leave, the local guard captain shows up with bad news for Albrond -- his father has fallen ill, and is not expected to recover. He decides to return to the castle posthaste by the shortest route -- the dangerous road through the Dagger Woods.
Encounter 1: Wolf Pack
The party encounters 7 wolves on the road as they enter the woods. A furious battle quickly ensues, wherein the party's defenders manage to keep the wolves pretty much confined in a couple of spots and attacking Balanar and Brakon, at a high cost in HP to both. The wolves fight to the death, but not before bringing Balanar down twice and keeping Brakon prone for over half the fight.
Encounter 2: Ambush on the Bridge
The party comes to a bridge as the road enters the marsh in the lower Dagger Woods. There are several lizardfolk [re-imagined kobolds] hidden in the marsh and the surrounding woods. The party gets drawn out across the bridge in a running battle as the lizardfolk keep popping up further toward the far side of the map and making ranged attacks, until Therai is left by himself at the side they started on and is ambushed by a couple of hidden skirmishers. While Mirri deals with the last of the lizardfolk soldiers, Vanden destroys their caster leader -- shooting from cover atop a partially-ruined tower -- in one shot with his daily power. The party's defenders quickly return to Therai's side to make short work of the ambushers, who Therai has already impeded severely with his Sleep spell. The first session ends as the party loots the lizards.
Session 2
Skill Challenge
As the party continues to follow the Dagger Woods Road, the road disappears into the swamp, whereupon the party enters a skill challenge to find their way through the woods. By and large they make it through fairly easily, after Vanden and Balanar take damage from a hazard and the group gets turned around once.
Encounter 3: Ryth Annwyn Hunting Party
The party encounters a fey hunting party accompanied by several goblin minions and a couple of skirmishers. The battle goes badly from the beginning, as the Eladrin Huntmaster uses his Lure of the Fey power to pull Reise into the open and sics his 3 Yeth Hounds on the hapless warlord. [These are monsters of my own design; the Eladrin Huntmaster is a level 3 elite controller (leader) and the Yeth Hound is a level 2 soldier.] One of the Yeth uses its immobilizing howl in each of the first 2 rounds, keeping the party's defenders pinned down while the other hounds finish Reise off. The combination of immobilization by the hounds and several characters being dazed by Curse of the Ryth Annwyn, a power of the Huntmaster, proves nearly crippling to the party tanks. They struggle against the hounds and the eladrin while Vanden and Therai deal with the skirmishers. The use of daily abilities by a couple of characters and a timely crit from Mirri finally turn the tide of battle against the eladrin, killing off his pets and bloodying the Huntmaster himself. He fights to the death, still trying to carry out his threat to take Jace's head as a trophy, and Mirri gets in the final shot to take down the last skirmisher.
Interlude: the Hamlet
The party rests at a small fortified hamlet in the Upper Dagger Woods, toasting the valor of Reise and gathering a little more information on the activity in the woods.
Kilrane Castle
The party finishes out the session at Kilrane Castle with a goodly deal of roleplaying. Fortuitously, Reise's uncle is at Kilrane, and the players inform him of his nephew's demise and his valor in death. Wencel expresses immediate concern about the presence of the Ryth Annwyn in his home province, and charges Vanden with a major quest -- root out the particulars of the Ryth Annwyn stronghold in the Dagger Woods. Various other RP encounters ensue, including Mirri harassing the household staff and getting put up in the most distant wing of the castle as a result.
Next session: Return to the Dagger Woods
Session 3
Encounter: The Gatehouse
The party made haste from Kilrane Castle and Town to the hamlet in the Dagger Woods, where they stayed for the night in preparation for their infiltration of the ruins. They found the woods to be full of fey noises and generally get creepier as they approached the ruins, which proved to be an ancient and decrepit human-constructed fortress that was abandoned long ago after falling to a siege. The party's approach brought them to the front of the trapped and goblin-infested gatehouse. Both Mirri and Jace proved on their guard enough to keep from falling prey to goblin traps as they entered the structure, though Mirri was the first to be struck by a goblin attack. The party fought a running battle through the gatehouse, with javelin-armed skirmishers and minions on the lower floor, rogues and skullcleavers on the upper, and crossbow-armed goblins shooting them through arrow slits and murder holes all the while. Though there were more foes and the fight was set up as more of an endurance match than the fight with the huntmaster in the woods, the party fared better -- not the least due to the facility of their healers and the lack of movement restricting abilities on the part of the goblins. In the end, the party chased down the last goblin sniper and forced it to surrender. After the goblin was thoroughly interrogated (and much to the chagrin of Rolan), Jace cut the creature down. Though some tension ensued over the killing, the party rested, searched the gatehouse, and moved on.
Exploring the Ruins
Mirri proceeded to sneak across the wall by herself to further explore the ruins, entering a tower with decrepit doors that fell off their hinges at a touch, making a deal of noise. The noise alerted the guards outside the main keep, who -- after Mirri then shot one of them -- sounded a general alarm. The party moved to take up a fortified position in Mirri's tower, but after seeing another Huntmaster and eight Yeth hounds emerge from the keep (and several satyrs [of my own design and appropriate level] come up from the inner courtyard) and move to outflank them, they thought better of such a strategy and made a hasty withdrawal from the surrounds. Mirri of course took the opportunity to take a shot at the Huntmaster as it noted them fleeing from its vantage on the wall.
Strategy Session: the Hamlet
The party withdrew to the hamlet to discuss their strategy going forward, and Jace sent a message to Albrond by carrier pigeon requesting further aid or instruction. As the light went down outside, the guard Grig burst into the Halleck House, bringing an unseasonably cold wind with him -- a wind that carried the howls of many Yeth.
Next Session: The Siege
The Siege
Grig, the head of the hamlet's guards, bursts into the Halleck House, an unseasonable frozen wind at his back... a wind that carries the howls of a pack of Yeth Hounds that seem to surround the fortified settlement. The PCs immediately realize that the Ryth Annwyn have tracked them back from the ruins, and Mirri calls for the citizenry in the Halleck House to gather buckets and water. Her instincts prove true, as the group rushes into the small square in front of the house to find the fields surrounding the settlement on fire. As though to punctuate the point, flaming arrows begin descending on the buildings in the hamlet. As Jace and Balanar call to arms those citizens capable of bearing them, a small whirlwind of ice and snow forms near the north gate, and several Yeth Hounds and eladrin emerge from it. Vanden and Therai, both quite knowledgeable in Arcana, realize immediately that the invaders have crossed over somehow from the Feywild.
[Again, there are several monsters used in this session that I had to design myself, as there are no satyrs or eladrin in the MM of low enough level to use against a level 1 party. The Ryth Annwyn warrior is a level 1 eladrin soldier, the Eladrin Archer is a modified Elf Archer, and the Satyr Thug is a level 1 brute.]
Encounter: the North Gate
Therai, already moving toward the north gate, quickly reacts to the invasion and hits both of the eladrin warriors and all but one of the Yeth hounds with his daily spell, Sleep. It takes effect against all of them, allowing the party to take control of the pacing of the fight. The party get some free attacks against the slowed Yeth hounds before the hounds are able to reach them, and Vanden teleports to an advantageous position on a nearby rooftop. The two eladrin warriors fall asleep, losing yet another round to the sleep spell as the party puts down more of the dogs. Things get a little hairy as one of the warriors teleports next to Vanden on his rooftop and Vanden is unable to keep him at bay with Eyebite, but Mirri breaks from the main combat and deftly climbs onto the roof, sneak attacking the eladrin with an encounter power and throwing his corpse from the roof to land at Jace's feet. The party finishes the combat cleanly and sets about planning how to deal with the fires.
Skill Challenge: the Fires
This skill challenge is a race against time, with the party making checks for every half-hour interval -- and it doesn't take breaks for combat. There are fires starting inside of the fortified hamlet and raging outside in the fields, burning the crops that the inhabitants need for survival. "Failures" on the challenge are racked up each turn, for each of the fires that goes unsuppressed. Successes are racked up as the players either fight the fire themselves, or lead the townsfolk in putting them out. A success is also awarded for each Eladrin Archer killed in battle, as they can't shoot flaming arrows into the hamlet if they're dead. The players quickly make a plan to split into three groups in order to deal with the two fires outside of town and also attack the archers in the woods on one side.
Encounter: Out of the Gate
As the PCs emerge from the hamlet to fight the fires and the archers, they come upon a group of Satyr Thugs and Ryth Annwyn Warriors skulking near the gate. A quick and fierce battle ensues, with the PCs gaining a fast victory -- but two gnomes hidden in ambush by the road get a couple of attacks in and vanish. Clearly, this is not the last the party will see of them. The PCs proceed to split into their groups, with Brakon and Rolan heading toward the southeastern fire and Vanden and Balanar toward the northwestern one. Jace, Mirri, and Therai take two guards that Jace has taken command of and that aided the party in the North Gate fight and proceed to the northeast, where archers lurk near the forest's edge.
Encounter: At the Forest's Edge
Mirri, Therai, and Jace lead the two guards Grig and Brennan to the forest's edge, where they encounter three more satyr thugs, along with a couple of hidden gnome skulks and two eladrin archers waiting in the woods. The fight seems a little iffy at first as Grig and Brennan take a couple of hard hits from the archers right away. Eventually the group take the monsters down though, and they return to town to lick their wounds. Jace sends runners to fetch the other party members back, so that they can go after the other group of archers as a full party rather than staying split up. This takes several minutes, and Vanden decides to take a short rest once the group are together in the hamlet, so I judge that an interval has passed for the fire and add a "success" to its tally. Putting the wounded Brennan in charge of directing firefighting efforts within the hamlet, the party takes Grig with them to the southwestern edge of the clearing around the settlement, where the other group of archers continues to fire flaming arrows at buildings outside the palisade wall.
Encounter: the Huntmaster
The party finds that once again there are both enemies near the edge of the forest, and enemies lurking within the trees. This time there are four Yeth hounds without, led by a mounted Ryth Annwyn huntmaster! Within the forest are two eladrin archers, and hidden just outside in an illusion are the gnome arcanist and the gnome skulk from the Out of the Gate encounter. The Yeth rush the party, using well-placed howls to immobilize all of the group's defenders while the archers take shots at Mirri and Vanden, who are at the party's flanks. The huntmaster makes good use of its first turn, dazing several party members with its Curse of the Ryth Annwyn, as well as pulling Mirri out of formation with Lure of the Fey and bringing two Yeth hounds into flanking positions on her with Huntmaster's Command. The party is slow to recover from this onslaught, but manages to whittle down the hounds while the archers and huntmaster continue to plague them. The group finally breaks free from all of their status impairments, with both Vanden and Jace being downed in combat and nearly everyone getting bloodied, and realizes that splitting their attacks between the lower-level ranged attackers and the huntmaster "boss" is serving them poorly. They take down the archers and the gnome arcanist, and finally focus on the huntmaster, whose Lure of the Fey is doing him a lot less good without his hounds to lock up the field. They finish him after the longest and most drawn-out fight of the night, and it is a triumph to be savored.
Next Session: the Aftermath
Aftermath
Several of our intrepid heroes set about looting the bodies of their fallen foes, while Mirri returns to the hamlet to help with the effort against the fires. The group looting the Huntmaster finds a mysterious letter hinting at the Ryth Annwyn's objective: some "beast" that they wish to ally with -- or to destroy. [This was fun; I wrote out the letter for the players and put it in verses like a poem -- the Ryth Annwyn apparently write everything in verse.] The party and their stalwart allies in the hamlet spend the rest of the night fighting the fires, and most of the next day resting. Since their next available extended rest ends at 10 p.m. the next day, they spend another night in the hamlet before setting out in the morning. In the middle of the celebration that the villagers hold for the PCs that night, Sir Marq Anheim shows up with the guards sent from the castle garrison to take over the defense of the hamlet until the danger in the Dagger Woods has passed. Mirri quickly smooths over a bit of tension with the villagers while Jace and Balanar take Sir Marq aside to discuss matters, and Grig and Dalt Halleck get him and his men situated. In the morning, Vanden consults with Grig's grandmother to find that the party's instincts regarding the beast are correct: there is no history of such a thing existing in the woods. Perhaps its presence (whatever it might be) is a recent development....
The Ruins
The PCs approach the ruins, finding that all of the fey sounds they had heard before are gone... indeed, nothing is making a sound as they approach. There's a complete lack of normal forest sounds around the structure. The PCs enter through the now-empty gatehouse to find that in their absence the inner portcullis has been raised and left open. They enter the lower courtyard, which is bordered by dilapidated buildings on the right, an interior curtain wall straight ahead, and a ramp that curves upward around a half-round tower on the left. At the base of the half-round tower is an iron-barred gate, which sits slightly ajar. The PCs decide to enter the iron-barred gate and descend down the stairway beyond.
Encounter: Rats in the Cellar
As the PCs descend into the dungeon, they find that they're immediately in tight quarters and surrounded by rats -- 3 dire rats and 2 rat swarms. Mirri enters ahead of the rest of the party and quickly becomes surrounded, while the group's tanks slowly force their way down the stairs and into the room. As more of the group enter the room, a pair of fire beetles come out of the darkness to join the battle. It's a crowded fight, and Mirri ends up bloodied, but the PCs prevail and make a search of the area. They find themselves in a dungeon complex of multiple rooms, and quickly gather around a door from which emanates a sickening smell of rotting meat.
Encounter: The Dead Walk
The PCs press on further into the dungeon and enter a room with passages leading out to the left and right. They easily dispatch a pair of skeleton minions that inhabit the room, but are shot at from the darkened passages by more skeletons. As Balanar and Brakon move to engage their shadowy attackers, both are set upon by zombies -- one of which grabs Balanar 3 times during the course of the fight, but to little effect. Brakon finds his zombies backed up by a Deathlock Wight, but he, Jace and Vanden make short work of the creature while Mirri backs up Balanar and Rolen lays the holy smackdown all over the place. After the fight, the PCs find some loot, including some stuff stashed in a secret room off of the wine cellar the wight was fighting from.
Encounter: The Crypt
Having reached a milestone, the PCs continue to bring the fight into the dungeon. The next room they enter is a large crypt, octagonal in shape with several large pillars ringing a central dais upon which sits a stone sarcophagus. On the far side of the room, a portcullis blocks one passage out and another iron-barred gate blocks a second. Brakon runs into the room to engage the two skeletons on the dais and falls into a pit trap between two of the pillars. As he falls, he finds something curious: the pit trap connects to a tunnel beneath the room, which seems to lead straight under the sarcophagus. He is ambushed from within the tunnel by an undead frozen shade [a level 2 solo monster of my own design], which leaves him immobilized at the bottom of the pit. The shade flies up into the room to attack another PC and spends an action point to hit everyone but Vanden and Brakon with a blizzard -- and then vanishes from view. The PCs quickly dispatch the two skeletons and a long fight ensues with the shade, which alternates between using its Vanish ability to become invisible and shifting through the floor into the passages beneath. Eventually, Brakon saves against his immobilization and the PCs put the shade on the run -- Rolen uses his encounter power Cause Fear to send it fleeing through the portcullis. The shade vanishes and does not return after Mirri shoots it one last time.
Next Session: ???
Wrap-up: The Crypt
The frozen shade killed by Balanar's last crit, the party searches the crypt for treasure. As Brakon finds a well-preserved suit of magical scale armor in the sarcophagus, Mirri is struck down by what appears to be a magical trap. A glowing blue sigil on the wall emits a freezing chill, and Mirri seems to be paralyzed on the floor with ice crystals forming on her. [This is a bit of DM fiat to cover for the fact that the player failed to show up to the game or call anyone to let us know he wouldn't make it.] Rolen examines her and finds that she is still alive and breathing -- however all of her life functions are slowed down to the point of being nearly imperceptible. A search of the tunnels beneath the floor reveals nothing of merit -- it seems they are just a trap. With no apparent means of opening the portcullis, the party heads through the iron-barred gate and upstairs to the main keep.
Encounter: The Feast
As the group comes up the stairs, they hear a curious sound from beyond the heavy wooden doors at the end of their path -- that of revelry! The tanks kick in the doors to find that they have surprised a room full of Ryth Annwyn. There is a table set with food and wine, with a roasted wild boar as the centerpiece, and there are two satyrs dancing on the table with one of the two playing the pipes. Seated at the table are another satyr, two eladrin warriors -- and Therai! The group uses their surprise round to enter the room and question the scene (and Therai), moving in with a (justifiably) hostile demeanor -- though Jace pulls out his flask as though to raise a toast and join the revelry. The satyr leading the group, who introduces himself as Lord Hargo, explains that he has laid out the feast for the PCs and that, unlike the Huntmasters who were leading the Ryth Annwyn occupation of the fort before, he is willing to negotiate. Jace attempts to negotiate an advantage from the satyr by requesting that Hargo's master, the Queen of Thorns, send a representative to the High Council and that the Ryth Annwyn send someone to meet with Jace. The rest of the group decide to take advantage of Hargo's offer to open the portcullis below so that they might dispatch the "beast" -- though their intention is to try to ally with it if possible, and only kill it if necessary. However, when the two satyr thugs go to open the portcullis, Brakon follows them and attacks them. The rest of the group hears the sound of combat from below, and Vanden, who has expressed objection to negotiating with Hargo the whole time, attacks the satyr leader. A furious combat ensues, with Brakon cut of from the group and Hargo -- an elite archer -- bloodying Vanden with a flurry of arrows in his first action. The two eladrin warriors teleport into positions to flank Vanden and ready attacks -- and Jace demands that Hargo call them off immediately. Hargo does no such thing, and as Jace attacks him, one of the eladrin nearly downs Vanden with his encounter power. Though a pair of previously concealed gnomes contribute to the fight on Hargo's side, once Therai, Rolen and Balanar join the battle it quickly swings in the PCs' favor. With help from Therai and Rolen, Brakon downs the two satyrs in the side room. Vanden teleports out of melee and Balanar takes on the two eladrin, taking a few hits as they keep shifting to flank him but dealing a lot more damage to them. With the satyrs down, Therai finishes off one of the gnomes -- the other teleports to safety -- while Balanar keeps the eladrin occupied and the rest of the party concentrates on killing Hargo. The group make short work of the rest of the fight, search and secure the keep, and take an extended rest.
Encounter: the Beast
The party descends once again into the depths of the dungeon, finding that the passage blocked by the portcullis leads outside into a large roundish crater with a circle of standing stones in the middle surrounding a frozen pool. They cautiously emerge into the light, looking around for any sign of what might be the Beast. Suddenly it descends upon them -- a white dragon in full fury. Balanar attempts to sway it to their side, but it attacks immediately. It stuns two of the six with its frightful presence, and blasts the group with its frost breath. Vanden breaks from the group and the dragon spends the next couple of rounds attacking him in melee while hovering out of the group's range, spending its second action point at one point to blast the groups defenders with frost breath again but hitting only Brakon. Rolen comes to the tanks' aid with some major healing mojo as the group bloodies the dragon and it blasts them with frost breath again. Having no luck attacking Vanden, the dragon lands to go for Rolen in melee. With their foe on the ground, the defenders surround it and Rolen uses his encounter, Cause Fear, to give them all opportunity attacks on the monster as it flees. Near death, the dragon flies into the tunnel to attack Therai, who calmly backs up and puts a Magic Missile through its eye for the kill. Examining the circle of standing stones and the pool, Vanden and Therai find that the site appears to be a font of power from the Feywild -- the kind of place that would be suitable for the creation of a permanent gate between the worlds. Clearly the fact that they have killed the creature keeping the Ryth Annwyn from exploiting the site does not bode well.
Interlude: the Hamlet
The party returns to the hamlet after looting the dragon's small hoard and retrieving the unconscious Mirri (whom they had left in the sarcophagus in the crypt). Sir Marq Anheim meets them at the hamlet, along with the Hallecks and Grig. The hamlet's guards are quite impressed with the tale of dragon slaying -- and the dragon tooth that Jace gives to each of them. Anheim is more worried than impressed, considering the nature of the location. He offers to post guards on the ruins and also expresses an interest in securing the road through the Dagger Woods for future use, as he says if the Kilranes are going to keep a garrison at the hamlet they might as well get some strategic use out of it beyond simply reactive defense.
Return to the Castle -- and a Startling Discovery
The group returns to Kilrane Castle that night. Wencel and Albrond meet with them in the Great Hall, and the group give the lords a full rundown of what happened at the ruins. Albrond gets somewhat tense as Rolen demands an apology from the lords for the fact that Brakon attacked the satyrs while Jace and Rolen were cutting a deal with them, and finally walks out of the meeting. Jace follows him to discuss other matters. As Vanden and Rolen finish briefing Wencel, Rolen notices some movement in the shadows -- someone was hiding and listening to the proceedings, and is attempting to slip out unnoticed. Rolen grabs Vanden and Therai and pursues the spy into the courtyard, seeing a boy in Kilrane livery enter the stables. The group -- now including Balanar and Brakon as well -- enter the stables but find only a girl there, brushing one of the horses. Questioning her, they find that the boy is named Gendry and that he went up to the hayloft. Rolen climbs the ladder and finds nothing in the loft but an open window. Vanden shouts orders to the guards to seal the gate, and the group tracks down Gendry and finds him in his bed with no knowledge of the night's proceedings -- and displaying no signs of exertion. They return to the stable to find the girl gone. Tracking down the girl, they find that she hasn't been in the stable for hours and has no knowledge of what's going on -- they've been duped. Vanden briefs Wencel on what just happened, and Wencel commends him on his quick action -- especially on ordering the captain of the guard outside to search for the spy. The PCs, knowing good and well that Vanden never gave that order, realize that their quarry has escaped.
Thank you, and I look forward to an update to this story.
Nicely written, Ramases! I'm enjoying it thoroughly. Could you send me the stat blocks of your home-brewed creatures, if you don't mind? The Huntsmaster and yeth hounds and ice shade really appeal to me, as well as the 'thugs'.
Thank you, and I look forward to an update to this story.
Seconded, I'd like to see the creatures as well. Good job!
Kilrane's Passing
The PCs wake the next day to find Wencel, Albrond, and the elder Lord Wellington (trapped in the form of a wolfhound by a Ryth Annwyn curse) sitting in gloomy silence in the great Hall. Wencel bids Vanden join him to visit their father, who appears more weak and drawn than ever. Lord Kilrane acknowledges Vanden and asks his forgiveness for having him sent away as a youth, beseeching Wencel and Albrond to take care of their younger brother. He then passes out, seeming to have spent the last of his strength. The three leave, and shortly thereafter Lord Wellington can be heard howling mournfully from Lord Kilrane's chambers. The next day, the castle staff hold Lord Kilrane's funeral. Vanden goes to the tailor in the town below to gather the dress clothes he had requested made, only to be told that Gendry fetched them back to the castle yesterday -- disturbing news, since Gendry was one of the people impersonated by the spy, and Jace and Albrond contract the same tailor. Vanden and Rolen insist on tight security in the castle during the funeral, both worried about the apparent shapeshifter spy that has infiltrated their midst, but no incident disturbs the guests. After the funeral, the PCs decide to go to Daggerport, as Albrond has asked Jace to meet Berend Caldane, one of the Young Bloods, who is to be arriving by ship soon.
Daggerport
The PCs travel through the woods without incident this time, with Vanden insisting on taking a detour to the ruins to check up on Sir Marq Anheim's guards and make sure that nothing has happened to the potential gateway. Most of the group go to speak with the guard captain, Captain Bramley, while Therai and Balanar go to the House of the Frying Dragon and regale the burly tiefling landlord with tales of their heroics. The group talking to the guard captain ask after the disposition of the dwarf and dragonborn travelers from the first session, who the captain has had no reports of. The innkeeper is a much greater font of information upon being queried about the dragon cultists. He's seen the symbol, and knows of its being branded on certain safehouses that the cult uses in the Fish Town district of Daggerport. He also tells Balanar and Therai that the cult has been proselytizing in the streets, proclaiming that the return of the dragons is a herald of doom for the Misty Isles and that the nobles of the Isles cannot protect the people from the wrath of the dragons. He also says that Jace seems to have some association with the group, having been seen with them on such occasions as they preach their message of doom. The group that went to speak to the captain returns to the inn at this point, and as a group they decide to go down into Fish Town to gather more information. Therai ignores the conversation in favor of flirting with the innkeeper's daughter, but goes along with the rest of the group to Fish Town.
Fish Town
The group splits again, with most of the party going to a seedy bar called Deimo's, and Balanar and Brakon splitting off to look for a cult safe house. At the bar, two men appear to recognize Jace, who goes over to talk to them. They don't volunteer a lot of information -- they seem to think that he already knows a lot -- but they do seem to be dragon cultists. They speak of some upcoming event where Jace is expected to give a speech, telling him that doing so will gain him their full trust. Meanwhile, Vanden regales the bar loudly with his tale of dragon slaying, earning himself a free ale from the barkeep. Deimo's is a repugnant dive, however, and Vanden finds the beer suspect and doesn't drink. Brakon and Balanar find a safe house, and Balanar knocks at the door, telling the people within that he's one of them. He does not, however, respond to a pass phrase, and hears the person beyond the door speaking Dwarven -- telling someone to shoot him when the door is opened! He tells Brakon to stay his hand and manages to fast-talk his way out of getting shot by two dwarf crossbowmen when the door is opened, and enters the room alone. Brakon stays outside during Balanar's conversation with the two dwarves and three humans in the small house, wherein Balanar professes his wish to join the dragon cultists. He seems to gain at least a modicum of trust from them, as they tell him they will contact him later at his manor. The PCs meet back up at this point and share their findings, then return to the inn. Rolen, concerned that they have tipped their hand, takes precautions and tells everyone to expect an attack that night.
The Chase (Skill Challenge)
Morning comes with no attack, and Rolen is more worried than before. The PCs take breakfast and go outside to see masts rising beyond the docks -- Berend's ship has arrived. They walk down the hill toward the docks and see Berend walking up -- with another Jace next to him! The false Jace sees the party even as they spot the pair, and shouts to Berend to flee, telling him that the PCs are doppelganger assassins sent to kill them. A furious chase ensues through the dock district, across a group of fishing boats tied near the mouth of a canal, and through the markets into Fish Town. As the PCs give chase into the tight alleys of Fish Town, Balanar alone keeps pace with the fleeing doppelganger. Everyone else falls a few steps behind, with several party members taking a dive in a pile of fish spilled from a knocked-over cart. Berend and the false Jace run into a cul-de-sac, where Balanar finds himself suddenly surrounded by hostile forces.
[I ran the chase as a modified skill challenge. It wasn't a failure unless all of the PCs failed, and each PC had their own tally of failures to determine how far behind they fell in the chase. The chase was organized into 10 stages, with each stage having skill DCs set based on the conditions. For instance, a crowded market allowed Streetwise to weave through the crowd or to find a shortcut, or athletics to full-out run. The market stages also allowed special attacks if the PC was close to the runners. Each PC had to make one check per stage, with the skill they used depending on how they tried to negotiate the stage. I allowed the players to use action points to gain an extra roll in a stage in order to recover a failure, and to use appropriate utility powers to gain an automatic success. At the end, if the group succeeded, the PCs with the most successes started on the battle map for the End of the Road encounter, with others appearing round by round at the map edge depending on how many rounds behind they were.]
Encounter: End of the Road
Facing two dwarf hammerers, two human mages on rooftops, and several human rabble by himself, Balanar takes a punishing beating at the beginning of the fight. Help arrives quickly however as the other PCs show up in the next three rounds, but they are impeded by the rabble that Balanar ran past to get into the cul-de-sac. As battle rages in the street, the false Jace and Berend slip out of the cul-de-sac down an alley, but the real Jace pursues them, finally convincing Berend that he's the real thing. Berend stops ahead out of Jace's line of sight and attacks the doppelganger, but gets stabbed for his trouble. Back in the street, Rolen manages to keep Balanar on his feet while the rabble get taken down and Therai and Vanden make short work of the two mages. Jace and Berend subdue the doppelganger, and the rest of the party is left at the end of the session facing only the two remaining dwarf hammerers.
Later: stat blocks for custom monsters.
I'll add more to it as I get them typed up, and keep it updated as the campaign goes on.
The Legacy of the Ur-King
Legacy of the Ur-King will be a D&D 4th Edition campaign following the story of a group of heroes against a backdrop of war, corruption, and an approaching invasion by dragons. The PCs will begin the campaign as associates of Lord Kilrane, a noble as yet uncommitted to a side in the impending war between two camps of human nobles.
Geography
The realm of the Misty Isles comprises four main islands, with a few smaller islands throughout the area. The main islands are Tarnell in the north, Gunnhier in the west, Weilland in the east, and Hollenhorn in the south. The southern island of Hollenhorn is the largest, forming roughly a "U" shape with the horns pointing north. The northeastern edge of Hollenhorn is separated by a narrow strait from Weilland, and both islands have high cliffs marking the edge of the strait. As one travels into the center of Hollenhorn the terrain becomes mountainous, covered with a primeval forest in the Craw at the center of the "U." A spine of mountains branches from the craw to go up the center of the western horn, which slopes down into lush forested valleys on both sides of the mountains. Weilland is somewhat triangular with one point southeast and the other two northeast and northwest. It has cliffs along its southeast edge -- the edge of the strait -- that lead up into the central highland area of the island, the land known as Highfield. This slopes gently down into lowlands on the western and falls off sharply in cliffs and bluffs on the eastern side of the island, and drains into a swamp at the south corner. The northern part of the island continues to rise up into the Needle, Weilland's tallest mountain, and slopes down slightly behind the Needle to fall off in sharp cliffs to the ocean along the northern edge of the island. [The Geography section is unfinished; I have yet to do the write-up on the northern isle of Tarnell and the western isle of Gunnhier.]
The Nobles
The most powerful rulers among the humans are lords Barca, Auvenroth, Lancamere, and Kilrane. The dwarf city-state on Tarnell in the north has been ruled for over a century by King Yrnkrag. The western isle of Gunnhier is ostensibly ruled by the eladrin Emerald Ivy Court, though their hold on the lands has become tenuous, and the feywild of the southern isle of Hollenhorn is home to the Moon Lily Court. The fey Ryth Annwyn have taken over the castle of Wellington on the eastern isle of Weilland and have sway over the surrounding Wending Wood. The elves and halflings follow community or tribal leaders, and the tieflings and dragonborn have no unified leadership, with the former being scattered among other peoples like so many seeds in the wind and the latter adhering to a clan structure that relies on rule by tradition and consensus.
The History
About 600 years ago, two major human tribes immigrated in large numbers into the islands. At first only raiding and trading, they soon began to settle in the wide plains of the southern and eastern islands and to treat and conflict with the halfling, elf, and eladrin natives. Over the course of the next century humans spread throughout the islands, settling among the dwarves of the northern island and building towns along the shores of the western. The humans rose to prominence as the most powerful force in the islands, and their tribal structure developed into a feudal system of nobles and vassals. Over the course of several small wars, the house of Kammany emerged as the most powerful rulers of the land and claimed the title of Ur-King. The Kammanies already had a storied history of heroes, and they began a great campaign to tame the wild lands of the islands. In the tradition of their mighty ancestor Harell “Giantsbane,” the Ur-Kings battled even the most terrible monsters of the islands, and during the reign of Gatan the Fearless they finally succeeded in driving the last of the dragons into the remote island chain now known as the Dragons’ Reach. All great empires come to an end, however, and the dynasty of the Ur-Kings was no exception. Try as they might, the Kammanies never fully subdued the primeval forest known as the Craw on the southern island. A mighty titan gathered giants and other primordial forces in the Craw and unleashed devastation upon the civilized lands. Though a unified effort by the people of the islands finally broke the army, the Titan’s War caused irreparable damage to the empire and sowed the seeds of its destruction. Rule became decentralized, with the Kammanies losing more power every year to local lords. Bereven the Black became a lich and his fief of Highfield a haunted land, and Eliam, the last of the Kammany kings, went mad and took his own life in his ancestral fortress of Highcastle. It is rumored that his restless shade still stalks its cursed halls.
In the century since the Ur-Kings’ fall, a number of human lords have attempted to fill the power vacuum and claim dominion over the remaining civilized lands of the isles. These so-called pretender kings have met with varying degrees of success, but none has yet managed to claim and hold sovereignty over the islands. As the human lords wage their petty and increasingly irrelevant wars, the darkness without continues to encroach upon the land. Most of the southern island has fallen into wilderness, as have vast tracts of all three others. Highfield has fallen under the sway of the restless dead and Wellington under that of hostile fey. The dwarf cities of the northern island have become increasingly insular, and their rule now extends to little beyond their mighty walls. Hostile tribes of barbaric humanoids and bandits of all races roam the lands and accost travelers, making trade more and more risky and expensive. The islands have become a dark and dangerous place, a place awaiting a group of heroes to light the way through the long night.
House Trovelle
Clement Trovelle was the most recent of the so-called Pretender Kings. He held Highcastle for 3 years before he was overthrown five years ago by an alliance organized by Barca and Kilrane. Trovelle's star rose at about the same time as Wellington's fell. His two greatest rivals for control of the lands around Highcastle both met untimely deaths in the same year, and Clement used the influence afforded by his royal bloodline to gain favor in the court, bringing together a small but powerful alliance of lords within the Council. With Barca and Kilrane at a hostile standoff, there was little opposition to the Trovelle bloc's use of intimidation to force several of the lesser nobles into their alliance as well. Over the course of a few years, House Trovelle cemented its power base enough to occupy Highcastle and raise the Eagle Standard over its lands.
However, as the Trovelle bloc began mobilizing their armies to remove the remaining opposition to their rule, the elder Lord Barca passed away in an unfortunate hunting accident. Gavallin Barca, the heir of the elder lord, was willing to put aside his father's differences with Kilrane in order to remove the tyrant Trovelle from the throne, and Hollis Kilrane was more than pleased to help Barca organize the opposition into a true alliance. With Barca's military leadership and Kilrane's political influence, the opposition was quickly forged into a true force within the Isles -- and civil war soon ensued. Barca's leadership proved key in several battles during the war, most famously the siege of Highcastle when the Trovelles were well and truly thrown down from their tyrant's throne.
The opposition's first move, however, was to break the Trovelle bloc forces on Tarnell and then on Gunnhier, in order to separate Trovelle from its supporters. Only then did they move on to invade the Trovelle group's true power base on Hollenhorn. Once the opposition had broken the eastern Trovelle armies on the isle, Lancamere was free to act and joined the opposition. The opposition sought and created a snowball effect by freeing up threatened lords like Lancamere, most of whom then joined the opposition. In the end, the Trovelle bloc were outnumbered 3 to 1 as the Barca-Kilrane force marched into their lands in the northern-central plains of Hollenhorn. The Trovelles withdrew to Highcastle, which the opposition forces besieged for nearly a year before the walls were breached and Barca led the famous assault. By this time many Trovelle family members had somehow managed to escape the deathtrap that the castle became.
The Trovelles have been overthrown, but with many family members still at large, they remain a potential threat to the Isles. Some of their allies (though not their vassals) were reinstated after the war, and the Royal Crown of House Kammany was never recovered in the wake of the Trovelles being driven from Highcastle. Clement's heir, Caius Claudius Trovelle, is thought to still remain at large, along with his sister and a number of cousins. Dispossessed though they are, if the Trovelles were to return to the court they would likely find refuge with their former allies -- who might well then form a third bloc in the current, already-volatile political climate.
PC roles
The PCs should all be attached to, employed by, or allied to Lord Kilrane when the campaign begins. The following are a few suggestions; feel free to get creative in your character's relationship to the noble house. Also be thinking about what relationship your character might have with other PCs: you're perfectly free to develop your character alongside someone else's and have them be (for instance) family, lifelong friends, or recent acquaintances.
Bastard -- the PC may be the bastard child of Lord Kilrane, or alternately 2 PCs might share such parentage and be twins.
Retainer -- the PC may be an important retainer of House Kilrane, such as a Huntmaster, House Wizard, Guard Sergeant, or the house priest.
Vassal -- a PC may be a knight or other vassal bound by fealty to the house. This may include having a limited holding such as a small manor.
Hostage -- this PC would be a minor noble from another house, held as a "guest" to keep the other house from betraying the Kilranes.
Friend -- the PC may be a close friend of the Kilranes, or of one of the other PCs. Such a character would likely have a greater attachment to a specific person than to the house as a whole.
Servant -- the PC may be a household servant such as the smith or gardener.
Hireling -- the PC could be an "adventurer-for-hire" who has done freelance work for the house, such as a bounty hunter or soldier of fortune, or even a hedge wizard or local healer.
The Kammany Regalia
The Ur-Kings wielded a number of important symbols of authority to show their dominion over the isles. Anyone who wishes to take up their mantle would do well to gather these symbols; some are necessary for such a claim to be taken seriously. The symbolism of the Kammany regalia is both powerful and dangerous -- to use it openly is to claim the throne of the Ur-Kings, a proposition that is nearly guaranteed to win one the enmity of many, if not all, of the nobles in the Isles.
* The Eagle Standard -- The Kammany arms, as displayed on a shield or standard, are a black crowned Germanic eagle against a background of gold. To raise such a standard is a proclamation of dominion in the isles -- and frequently viewed as an act of war. Such a claimant usually displays their own colors on the banner as well, often in a "chief" or band across the top.
* The Royal Signet -- A powerful symbol of authority if displayed, the Royal Signet is thought to be in the possession of Lord Auvenroth, who of the lords of the isles has the strongest blood tie to the Kammanies.
* The sword of Gatan -- The blade wielded by Gatan the Fearless. This symbol of Kammany power is a mighty magical weapon in its own right. Its location has been lost to time.
* The Throne and Scepter -- The Royal Throne and Scepter of the Ur-Kings rest in the throne room at Highcastle, the Kammany ancestral seat of power.
* The Royal Crown -- the crown, a crucial symbol of authority, was never recovered after the Trovelles (the most recent pretenders to the throne) were driven from Highcastle. Its whereabouts are unknown, and while a would-be king could have a new crown made, the Kammany crown would be a boon to one who wished to cement a claim to the throne.
* Highcastle -- any claimant who truly wishes to be viewed as the legitimate King of the Isles must control Highcastle, the Ur-Kings' ancestral seat of power. This poses difficulties of its own (beyond the obvious contention of the other lords), as the castle is known to be haunted and rumored to be cursed.
* The Dwarven Rings -- When the Dwarf Kings recognized the Kammanies as the Ur-Kings over the Isles, they ceded them a dwarven symbol of authority. Traditionally the Dwarven High King wore four rings of iron on one hand and four of gold on the other. Upon recognizing the Ur-Kings, the High King gave them his four gold rings, keeping the iron ones as a sign that he submitted to the dominion of the Kammanies but retained rule of the dwarven city-states under them -- and that the dwarves had been conquered through diplomacy rather than military might. From that event forward the Kammany kings were called the Ur-Kings, after the gold rings that cemented their reign over the entirety of the Isles. The whereabouts of the gold rings given to the Kammanies are currently unknown, and the Dwarf King had a new set made for himself after the fall of Highcastle. None of the so-called Pretender Kings has as yet attempted to claim sovereignty over the dwarven city-states by wearing four gold rings.
Inheritance Rules
These magic item inheritance rules are intended to be a setting-sensitive replacement for a system of buying magic items. Twice per tier, each PC may "inherit" a magic item. This item may be up to 2 levels higher than the character's current level. The player will forfeit an amount of gold equal to the magic item's printed cost, and will gain the item. Only currency may be used in this exchange; other gear or items cannot be exchanged as part of the cost of the item. The player is responsible for creating a story of how his character came into possession of this item -- for instance, it could be a literal inheritance, a gift from a noble or wealthy patron (particularly if the PC has done that person some service for which the NPC is grateful), or even something the PC stole. What happens to the gold is up to the PC -- you cannot spend it on anything else for your character, but your character might for instance donate it to a good cause, use it to pay an outstanding gambling debt, or even actually pay off some black market dealer from whom the PC purchased the item.
The intention of this rule is both to avoid the necessity of having "magic item shops" and merchants that regularly deal in such goods, and to allow the players freedom to create the story of how their character came into possession of a treasured or important magic item. I'm open to questions, comments, or suggestions about the rule.
PC roles
The PCs should all be attached to, employed by, or allied to Lord Kilrane when the campaign begins. The following are a few suggestions; feel free to get creative in your character's relationship to the noble house. Also be thinking about what relationship your character might have with other PCs: you're perfectly free to develop your character alongside someone else's and have them be (for instance) family, lifelong friends, or recent acquaintances.
Bastard -- the PC may be the bastard child of Lord Kilrane, or alternately 2 PCs might share such parentage and be twins.
Retainer -- the PC may be an important retainer of House Kilrane, such as a Huntmaster, House Wizard, Guard Sergeant, or the house priest.
Vassal -- a PC may be a knight or other vassal bound by fealty to the house. This may include having a limited holding such as a small manor.
Hostage -- this PC would be a minor noble from another house, held as a "guest" to keep the other house from betraying the Kilranes.
Friend -- the PC may be a close friend of the Kilranes, or of one of the other PCs. Such a character would likely have a greater attachment to a specific person than to the house as a whole.
Servant -- the PC may be a household servant such as the smith or gardener.
Hireling -- the PC could be an "adventurer-for-hire" who has done freelance work for the house, such as a bounty hunter or soldier of fortune, or even a hedge wizard or local healer.
Did any of your players use any of these suggestions? If so, can you list who took what and provide any information or discussions you and the player had regarding this decision?
I love this format and I'm just wondering if your group has much discussion about this sort of thing prior to the game starting.
The Kammany Regalia
The Ur-Kings wielded a number of important symbols of authority to show their dominion over the isles. Anyone who wishes to take up their mantle would do well to gather these symbols; some are necessary for such a claim to be taken seriously. The symbolism of the Kammany regalia is both powerful and dangerous -- to use it openly is to claim the throne of the Ur-Kings, a proposition that is nearly guaranteed to win one the enmity of many, if not all, of the nobles in the Isles.
SNIP
Excellent fluff here, good work. Are the players in your game going to be looking for these items? Or are they supporting NPC's who maybe actively searching for them in an attempt to claim Ur-Kingship? Or is this just background information?
I really enjoy reading about your campaign, keep the reports coming. That said, I do have a few questions.
Did any of your players use any of these suggestions? If so, can you list who took what and provide any information or discussions you and the player had regarding this decision?
I love this format and I'm just wondering if your group has much discussion about this sort of thing prior to the game starting.
I had extensive discussions with each of the players about character building. I give a summary of each PC's background in the first post in the thread, under the heading "The PCs" (it was originally headed "The Heroes; I just changed that for clarity). As we were getting ready for the campaign, I had a couple of sessions with all but one of the players (Therai) for character building; in these sessions we did a lot of Q&A regarding backgrounds and what relationships the PCs had between them. As the player playing Therai didn't make it to these sessions, I discussed his background with him one-on-one.
Most of the players took their backgrounds straight from the list I provided. Jace's background was built around a suggestion I made during the character building sessions as another way for a PC to be related to the Kilranes. Reise, the PC that was killed in the second session, was a member of Jace's "Young Bloods" group, and thus a personal friend of Jace and Albrond. The Young Bloods, by the way, are a group that was created by the player of Jace. Rolen, the PC that replaced Reise, is Reise's uncle. He's a visiting noble that fortuitously happened to be in the right place at the right time, and the player put an interesting twist on him. He's been a low-level diplomat that's never really done much with his long life, and the sudden death of his nephew has spurred him into action. Rolen's background is the only one that wasn't developed through extensive discussion between me and the players, but the player is a good roleplayer and came up with a compelling background for the character on his own.
Excellent fluff here, good work. Are the players in your game going to be looking for these items? Or are they supporting NPC's who maybe actively searching for them in an attempt to claim Ur-Kingship? Or is this just background information?
So far the information is fluff, but the main conflict in the game is the war brewing between two factions each supporting a different noble as the new king. Eventually the noble house the players support will have to take a side in the war, so it's quite likely that the players will eventually take up a search for one or more of the Regalia items. One will note that the location of some of the items is known as well; for instance Lord Auvenroth -- one of the two faction leaders -- is suspected to have the signet ring in his possession. Also anyone can make a heraldic standard incorporating the Kammany eagle; I intend it to be a dramatic moment in the game when one of the would-be kings raises such a standard. Creating this list for the players gives me a way to impart that kind of background information without having to explain its importance during a game session, something that feels kind of silly when all of the characters already know.
Also anyone can make a heraldic standard incorporating the Kammany eagle; I intend it to be a dramatic moment in the game when one of the would-be kings raises such a standard. Creating this list for the players gives me a way to impart that kind of background information without having to explain its importance during a game session, something that feels kind of silly when all of the characters already know.
I think you will achieve the desired effect in game; it will be quite dramatic. Imparting background information in this manner is elegant, IMO. It conveys the information and the importance of these items and their history in the setting without taking time in game to explain their significance. I love it.
Session 8
Fish Town
The party has just finished a fight with dwarf and human dragon cultists in a cul-de-sac in Fish Town. The two remaining dwarves are bloodied and surrender. As the group ties up the dwarves and the knocked-out false Jace, one of the dwarves tells them that even though they've taken the cultists captive, it's too late to stop their plan. As he says so, the PCs start to smell wood smoke -- a lot of it. Pillars of smoke and flame are erupting around Daggerport; as the party tends to the captives Rolen runs off to investigate the nearest fire.
Fish Town: Fire Crew
Rolen comes across another group of humans and dwarves moving through the streets and throwing lit torches through windows. By himself, he doesn't engage the cultists but rather waits for the rest of the party to arrive. Jace stays back to keep an eye on the captives as the rest of the party meets up with Rolen to engage the fire crew. The scene is a small plaza in Fish Town; various crates and barrels litter the area. Three human bandits are throwing torches through the windows of a warehouse and a fishing supplies store, overseen by a human berserker, a dwarf cleric, and a dwarf pugilist [a level 4 skirmisher of my own design; I'll post his stats in the other thread soon]. Therai begins the battle at the front of the party, but the pugilist beats him to the initiative, rushing him, knocking him to the ground and pummeling him straight into bloodied. Vanden gets a bit of the same from the berserker before Brakon and Balanar take control of the fight, marking the pugilist and the berserker. The bandits move in and engage the group in melee to little avail as the dwarf cleric throws down some serious healing mojo to keep the two melee monsters in the fight. Vanden teleports to the rooftops and Therai runs for cover behind the two defenders, but his spike-fisted nemesis pursues. The pugilist, however, can't get a hit on the tiefling wizard due to being distracted by the looming threat of a maul-wielding dwarf (Brakon has him marked). Rolen uses Cause Fear to send the pugilist fleeing into the open, Vanden and Balanar down the berserker, and the tide of the battle swings clearly in favor of the PCs. They make short work of the bandits and send the cleric fleeing, cutting her down as she runs. The battle ends as swiftly as it began, and the party quickly sets about putting out the fires within reach.
Daggerport
The group meets back up with Jace and the captives, with Balanar mentioning to the rest that he's noticed a mysterious fog creeping across the harbor even though it's midday. The party don't know what to make of this and suspect some new threat -- perhaps it's the harbinger of a dragon. They return to the port district to find that Captain Bramley and the town guard are fighting the fires in the rest of the town and have apprehended several cultists -- though it seems a number have escaped. The party moves to investigate the fog, questioning one of their dwarf captives as to its origin but finding that he knows nothing of it. The dwarf does tell them that the dragon they killed was a mere scout, and that the dragon cultists are targeting not only Kilrane but all of the nobles of the Isles. It seems their goal is to discredit the nobles in the eyes of the common people by demonstrating the nobles' inability to protect people against such a group, and by extension against an invasion of dragons.
The Swan Ship
As the PCs reach the docks, they find that the fog has begun to roll back. They can now see that at the end of the longest Jetty, a great galleon has docked. It's a white ship painted like a swan, a ship that most of the group immediately recognize as the conveyance of the Eladrin ambassador from the Emerald Ivy Court (a fey court not associated with the Ryth Annwyn). The ambassador arrives with an honor guard of ten elf archers from Lancamere and a delegation of nobles from the northern isle of Tarnell. The leader of the northern delegation, the fat and garishly-dressed Lord Galden, immediately starts trying to get on the PCs' bad sides by trashing on Wencel and Albrond's ability to maintain their province (their main port town seems to have caught on fire) and insulting Vanden. Jace, little perturbed by Galden's disrespect, tries to ingratiate himself with the abrasive lord while Rolen inquires of the ambassador about how to open avenues of diplomacy with the Ryth Annwyn. Ambassador Glorian informs Rolen that the Emerald Ivy Court don't have dealings with the Ryth Annwyn, considering them irrational and dangerous, and that Vanden is in a better position than Glorian himself to arrange such a meeting. Rolen engages Vanden to that effect, but the young Kilrane won't commit to doing so before consulting his eldest brother.
On to Kilrane Castle
The PCs make travel arrangements and set out the next morning to escort their guests to Kilrane Castle. They take the coast road that leads around the Dagger Woods -- a longer but safer route than going straight through the woods, and one that will allow Balanar to stop at his manor along the way. The knight hasn't been home in a while and wishes to see to his affairs.
Politics
The PCs returned to Kilrane Castle in the company of several new noble guests. Galden continued to be antagonistic toward the Kilrane nobles, though he seemed to feel a warrior's kinship with Balanar and Brakon. Jace, undaunted by Galden's contempt for the Young Bloods, began an ongoing attempt to court him as an ally. The morning after the PCs arrived back at Kilrane, Brakon took a trip into town to find a pair of Kilrane knights escorting a column of about 50 refugees into town from the north. He questioned them, finding that they were fleeing from a logging camp that had been destroyed in a night attack. Brakon returned to the castle and informed Jace of the situation, who then reported the situation to Wencel and Albrond (implying that he, not Brakon, was witness to the arrival of the refugees). The PC group was assembled and sent out to investigate the camp and deal with the raiders.
Raiders
The PC group traveled to the lumber camp that had been attacked to find that the majority of the buildings had been destroyed and a large quantity of timber and supplies had been stolen. They tracked the raiders to the cliffs on the border of the Kilrane and Highfield fiefs, where the raiders -- a large band of hobgoblins -- had set up a fortified camp in a maze of canyons. The heroes dispatched the guards at the front entrance and entered a cave where the hobgoblins had set up a guard post. They killed all of the guards except for a single bugbear, who fled further into the cave as the PCs rested. Moving further into the cave, the PCs found that the goblin and hobgoblin inhabitants were now ready for them, and had moved into defensive positions in a pair of rooms used as sleeping quarters and a supply depot. Pressed with about a 4 to 1 disadvantage in numbers and surrounded by dire wolves as well as goblins and hobgoblins, the PCs chose the better part of valor and accepted the hobgoblins' offer to let them live if they would surrender. The PCs were taken as prisoners to the leader of the hobgoblins, one War Chief Bruk'kash, who suggested the PCs remain as hostages pending a ransom payment from the Kilrane lords. The PCs didn't want to lose face by being ransomed, and attempted to negotiate an alliance with Bruk'kash, who claimed to lead an emergent goblin nation based in Highfield. The terms of their release were that they must leave a single hostage (Rolen) and take a hobgoblin emissary with them back to Kilrane, though the terms of the alliance were somewhat broader. Jace and Vanden negotiated the concession that the hobgoblins would stop raiding within Kilrane lands, and in exchange Kilrane would not retaliate against them, and they would be granted land in Wellington (pending that fief's return to Jace's rule) and in Highfield if the hobgoblins should aid the human nobles in a future war with the fief's lich lord.
Kilrane
With their emissary, Urthakk, in tow the PCs returned to Kilrane Castle. As soon as they arrived, they were confronted with the sights and smells of a makeshift refugee camp on the northern outskirts of the castle town. Jace quickly set about making a poor impression with the refugees, one which Therai did his best to mitigate by helping out in the camp. Vanden and Jace, pursuing different avenues, came to the same conclusion: that they should reorganize the refugees into a labor camp and have their food and housing needs taken care of by House Kilrane, as an act of goodwill and to keep a shanty town from forming in the heart of their province. They brought the matter to the attention of Wencel and Albrond, who immediately set about putting the plan into action, even as Jace threw a feast for the refugees. While at the castle, they found that Albrond had been taking counsel with Lord Weller Creighton of the Tarnell contingent and Ambassador Glorian of the Emerald Ivy Court, and had recruited a cleric by the name of Erik Alexander to join their band (and the Young Bloods). They found also that Lord Galden's daughter was now staying at Kilrane as a guest (and flirting with Berend Caldane). Jace confronted Caldane, warning him off of messing up the alliance Jace was pursuing with Galden, whereupon Caldane informed Jace that Galden was looking for a husband for his daughter and was essentially offering the island of Cormorant -- an island not technically within Galden's domain, but under his protection in its lack of a lord -- as her dowry.
A New Mission
As tensions continued to heighten between the nobles of the Misty Isles, Wencel Kilrane looked to strengthen his currently tenuous alliance with the lords of Lancamere. Rolen, a cousin of Lord Lancamere, was still a political hostage in the clutches of the emerging hobgoblin nation in Highfield. Wencel ordered his brother Vanden and his friend Lord Jace Wellington to take their group to Lancamere to make nice with the lord, on the grounds both that Jace is a skilled diplomat and that Jace and Vanden negotiated the hobgoblin alliance that saw Rolen taken hostage (err, guest I mean). As the PC group was preparing to depart for Lancamere, Albrond addressed them, looking as though he had been up all night. He explained that a courier had gone missing in Anturel, Lancamere's capital, and that the courier had been transporting an item of some importance that Albrond wanted recovered. The lord provided little further information beyond the courier's name, Simon Cascara. Vanden suggested that the item was one of the Regalia, a suggestion which Albrond neither confirmed nor denied, but hushed Vanden on account that there could be spies in the castle.
The Morning Hawk
The PC group boarded the caravel Morning Hawk at Daggerport after convincing the captain to sail in spite of the crew's superstition about the upcoming new moon being a night of ill luck. Indeed, it was: everyone on the ship fell into a deep sleep that night, with the PCs waking up to find the deck above overrun with undead. They fought off a group of ghouls, vampire spawn, zombie rotters, and a wraith; the only casualty from the crew was a sailor who had fallen asleep in the crow's nest and been drained of blood by the vampire spawn. The PCs threw the corpse overboard, and strangely neither the captain nor any of the crew had any recollection of the man, nor did they remember anything of the events of that night. Perhaps stranger still, neither did Jace.
Anturel
On arrival in Lancamere's capital, the PCs quickly set about making contact with anyone who might be a source of information on the disappearance of Simon Cascara, and spoke immediately as well with the elf Lord Lancamere and his human son-in-law Lord Dalwin, who seemed to hold an administrative post as well as being the old lord's chief adviser. The lord begged a favor, the recovery of a shipment of statuary meant for a shrine to Correlon within the city that had been stolen from the docks. The party gained a certain insight regarding Lancamere's situation in this meeting as well: the lord and his son-in-law didn't trust all of their guards and other forces in the capital, suspecting corruption among them. While in Anturel, the party learned a number of other interesting things as well. The city (and to some lesser extent the fief) was full of mercenaries, who were using the as-yet neutral city of Anturel -- one of the largest in the country -- as a clearing-house. Perhaps more interesting though was the fact that several days before they arrived in Anturel, Highcastle, the ancestral seat of the Ur-Kings, had been attacked by unknown forces. A somewhat unreliable eyewitness (a deserter from Highcastle in a drugged stupor) described the attackers such that the PCs were able to identify them as legion devils, and spoke of another, much larger and more terrible creature among the attackers as well. The PCs spent a few days on their investigation in Anturel, learning that Simon Cascara was a thief who had been killed by the Wharf Rats, a gang that he owed money to, and that the same gang had stolen the statues they sought. Jace sought out a black market connection and attempted to buy the statues from the Wharf Rats outright, a deal that they agreed to in person but then sent assassins (a group of wererats and a shifter) to attack the PCs at the inn where the statues were to be delivered. The PCs then hunted down the Wharf Rats and attacked them, winning through the fight though they were outnumbered 2 to 1 including a corrupt guard that the PCs had persuaded to join their cause. They then sought out Boss Varag, an underboss in a mob that the Wharf Rats had apparently been working for and the man who had sent the assassins. After a tense interview, Boss Varag turned over the statues and confirmed that the Wharf Rats had killed Cascara. The PCs returned the statues to the castle, where they found a message waiting for Vanden.
The Catacombs
In Anturel's Old Town, a run-down district that formed almost a separate city unto itself, Vanden had spoken to a woman the party surmised to be Cascara's former lover. She sent Vanden a message to meet her at the inn where she worked. When the PCs arrived, they were told that she had gone to a ruined church on top of the hill that Old Town was built around. Upon arrival at the church, the PCs found evidence that someone had dug something up from the courtyard (by this time they were pretty sure it was the Scepter of the Ur-Kings) and gone inside of the church. Entering, they were attacked by another group of wererats, supported by a couple of rat swarms and a human mage -- a mercenary -- who stood on the roof and made ranged attacks through the large holes in the roof. The PCs killed all of the rats and defeated the mage, who told them that the wererat mob's headquarters was in the catacombs accessed through a large mausoleum-like building set into the hillside in the Old City's cemetery. The PCs made haste to the location, finding it guarded by more wererats and human mercenaries. They defeated the gate guards and entered the catacombs, a maze-like dungeon where they encountered a couple of groups of undead and more wererats with other monsters for support. It took the PCs two forays into the catacombs to get to the wererat hideout, and as they were preparing to leave after the first they encountered another group -- a small band of tieflings that they had heard were also seeking the murdered Simon Cascara. The PCs killed all of the tieflings at considerable risk, since they had taken a beating in their first foray into the dungeon, and found a letter on the person of the leader. The letter identified it's bearer as an agent of Caius Claudius Trovelle, the heir of the pretender king who had been overthrown 5 years previous, and indicated that Trovelle knew of the attack on Highcastle and the theft of the Scepter, and had sent this group to recover the latter. During their second foray into the dungeon, the PCs rescued Cianna, Simon's former lover, and defeated the leaders of the wererat mob to recover the scepter.