| #1DevilbassFeb 01, 2015 22:22:27 | Hey guys,
I always make session recaps on Roll20 for the players to read, so I thought I might as well post them here for those interested in reading about other people's campaigns. Hopefully this is enjoyable for some of you. I will begin with some brief character backgrounds, each character is at level 3. These backgrounds were established as a group during session zero. We used ties in a similar manner to Iserith and his group as described in their actual play transcripts found in this thread.
Lea, the High Elf Eldritch Knight
Skilled with the blade and in the magical arts, Lea epitomizes both ideals of elven warrior culture. Lea's skills were leveraged by the elder's of her homeland to track down and bring criminals to justice. Returning from one such mission, Lea discovered her home to be destroyed, with few survivors left to tell her the gruesome tale of its fall. The surviving elders were certain of one thing: somebody had revealed secrets of the village's magical defenses to its attackers, thus enabling the ruthless efficiency of the massacre. Lea, being the village's only surviving warrior was tasked with discovering those responsible for the betrayal of information, regardless of how far that may take her from home. The elders even had a lead, thinking a human who had recently passed through the area may have discovered the village's secrets and sold them to enemies of the elves. With this lead, Lea set out in pursuit of the human, Magnus. In tracking her quarry, Lea passed through many lands and visited many human settlements, including the large port town of Abdolin.
Magnus, the Human Blade-Lock
Mystery shrouds the past of this human who wields strange arcane powers derived from some Great-Old-One. Having been condemned by his own society, Magnus left human civilization some time ago and has lived as a hermit, making only occasional forays into elf lands. During one such foray, Magnus encountered some of his pursuers. Magnus witnessed his pursuers set into motion the events which would lead to the destruction of Lea's home, and point to Magnus as the betrayer of the elven secrets. Dismayed that he had not evaded them as well as he thought, he escaped to his camp and prepared to relocate once again, passing through Lea's homeland as he did so. Magnus' relocation this time forced him to travel through settled lands, though luckily he was unknown in these lands. Eventually, he was confronted by the elf Lea. Magnus was able to convince Lea that he was innocent of any wrong-doing against her people. Magnus and Lea decided to travel together for the time being as they seemed to have a common enemy. Information learned through a previous contact of Lea's indicated the man they were looking for was currently in Abdolin.
Thomas, the Human Bard
A resourceful man, Thomas has an unusually good heart for a merchant. Thomas is drawn to lucrative opportunities, and has been known to find ways to make them as lucrative as possible for all parties involved. Despite his good heart, Thomas has been forced into conflicts and knows that there is no reasoning with someone who truly wants a fight. Throughout his travels, Thomas has had the unlucky experience of dealing with pirates, though has had the skill and insight to survive the experience - sometimes the most precious silver one can possess is a silver tongue. His skill and expertise as a merchant are well known in and around Abdolin as well as several other trading ports. As a result, he has been approached on more than one occasion by a shadowy group wishing to recruit him for their purposes. Thomas has refused on each occasion, not trusting those sent to recruit him, believing them to be tied to piracy and other crimes. On his last refusal he was warned that he had just been given his last chance, and would regret his decision for the rest of his short life. Thomas is expecting trouble.
|
| #2DevilbassFeb 01, 2015 22:44:02 | Session 1
After numerous technical problems, we finally got the session under way. Unfortunately, due to a cat-related wire-chewing incident, I was restricted to purely text chat, which did slow things down a bit. The session ended right when combat could potentially break out.
The Rusty Gizzard
Lea and Magnus entered the city of Abdolin just after sunset. They quickly found their way to the Rusty Gizzard Inn. Here Magnus questioned the bar-tender, trying to find information on a local trader. The man in question was believed to be a merchant with a good reputation - a young human. Persuaded by a silver or two, the bartender listed some names; Dren Ovax and Lyle Kitta. Seeing his opportunity, the barkeep decided to withhold a little information, intent on grabbing some gold.
Meanwhile, Lea had spotted an old contact of hers among the bar patrons, one Hugh Dalin. As she approached, two cloaked figures vacated their seats at the table with Hugh and left the bar. Lea sat down next to Hugh, who after only a moment recognized her. After a brief exchange, Lea told Hugh that she needed information about local merchants, specifically those especially well known for their skill and good nature, as one such man was implicated in the destruction of her home. At the mention of her home's destruction, Hugh falsely acted surprised, though Lea could see right through him. Due to her disdain and further urging, Hugh told her what he knew: the merchant Thomas Flarety possessed recently acquired elven artifacts and had ties to a shady organization known for its foul deeds. With this information, Lea and Magnus set out for the docks, intent on confronting.
The Docks
Thomas prepares for departure in the morning. The ship leaves to go to other ports and trade many goods. Goods that Thomas wishes to trade however, do not include elven artifacts. He is a trader in cloth, textiles, linens. As he was preparing, he was harassed once more by the Illumtarim, only this time as he denied their offer, his life was threatened. As he prepares for to bunk down for the night, he hears a crewmate outside discussing with two strangers, a man and a woman. The man sounds threatening, and Thomas decides to investigate. As Thomas exits the cabin, his crewmate Derrek subtly warns him, "These folks are looking for Thomas.". Lea and Magnus question about the whereabouts of Thomas and the elven artifacts. Thomas claims there to be no elven artifacts, and asks for evidence to demonstrate otherwise. As the debate becomes heated and Thomas reveals his identity, Lea can't help but feel that he is being genuine. Thomas recognizes the name of Hugh Dalin when it is brought up, and knows that he sometimes works for the Illumtarim.
Before anyone can take any action against one another, two cloaked figures emerge out of the gathering darkness, followed shortly by a third. They tell Lea and Magnus to leave, as their problems are with Thomas, declaring themselves to be Illumtarim. Magnus, ready for trouble, casts Mirror Image on himself. Thomas, thinking quickly, infuses his voice with magic and makes a suggestion to the lead thug: tell me your business, then take the night to think it over. The thug cedes to Thomas' suggestion and turns to leave, his lackeys on his tail. Lea recognizes the lead thug as one of the men who was sitting with Hugh at the Rusty Gizzard. As the thugs head down the docks, Thomas hushedly forwards the idea of capturing the thugs to determine why the he, Lea and Magnus have been pitted against one another. What will the three do?
END SESSION
|
| #6DevilbassMar 03, 2015 20:38:15 | We've had a couple more sessions, I just keep forgetting to post the recaps in here. Oops.
Session 2
Battle at the Docks
A very short session, as it started late and needed to end early. This session began with the PCs springing to action, moving forward with their plan to subdue the three thugs from the end of session 1. The players surprised their opponents, catching them off guard. Two of the thugs went down fairly quick, only one of them even having the opportunity to attack before going down. The remaining thug was the leader who had been put under the effect of a Suggestion spell. The effects of the spell wore off soon as the party attacked in an effort to capture him. This foe was not so easily put down.
On his turn, the leader (Cult Fanatic from the MM) cast Spiritual Weapon and attacked Lea, who was able to deflect the attack with her rapier. Magnus moved an already active Hex onto the Fanatic and attacked, dealing moderate damage with his pact-weapon (also a rapier). Thomas spent this round subduing the second thug mentioned above. The battle lasted two more rounds, with the Fanatic attacking each round as a bonus action with his Spiritual Weapon (once more against Lea, once against Thomas), and casting Inflict Wounds on Magnus. In the end the party was successful, with only Magnus having suffered any serious damage (a little more than 1/2 HP).
The party discussed what course of action they would take now that their foes had been subdued. Sadly, this was the end of the session as two players had to call it a night early.
END SESSION
|
| #7DevilbassMar 03, 2015 20:41:51 | Session 3
Also a somewhat short session. My brother that is playing Thomas offered to write the summary for this session. This is what he wrote (though it is somewhat more brief and more scant in details than what I would have written, it's very much appreciated having someone else do it from time to time).
Interrogating the Prisoners
Magnus, Lea and Thomas have found themselves thrust together by mutual suspicions and mistrust, which have quickly subsided upon narrowly defeating, and then interrogating, three hitmen sent to kill them on behalf of the Illumtarim (ill-OOM-tar-IM). Thomas, they have threatened on account of his refusal to join the league, and in the hopes to set him up as a scape goat for the theft of the elven artifacts and the destruction of the elves. Magnus was the originally intended convenient scape goat. Lea's suspicions that Thomas or Magnus had something to do with the tragedy of her village have been eliminated by the thugs admissions to the Illumtarim's responsibility for the destruction of Lea's village.
Despite Magnus and Lea's desires for revenge, they have been dissuaded at the suggestion from Thomas to hand them over to the law (where they are quite likely to meet the sentence of execution for piracy).
The Rusty Gizzard, Again
Lea intends to get some more information from Hugh Dalin. Off to the tavern where we met him before, to learn of the connection between him and Illumtarim and the elven artifacts. We walk in to the Rusty Gizzard and see Hugh Dalin right away. He does not notice us as we take a table on the fringe of the bustling activity within the institution. We rest (short rest) and observe him, while discussing our next course of action.
END SESSION
|