Session Recap 4/30/15

The Players:

Brevofurgins -- Human (Ergothian) Fighter 2/Rogue 2

Grundlesnatch -- Human (Solamnic) Fighter 4

Marshall -- 1/2 Elf Bard 4

Salvin -- Elf (Kagonesti) Ranger 4

Solaire -- Human (Nordmaarine) Druid 4

Second session of Dragons of Despair! After unsuccessfully sneaking their way out of Solace, the party was confronted and forced into combat with several goblins and their worg pets. Victorious but somewhat beat-up, preliminary first aid was administered and the group skedaddled right out of town.

They left Solace heading north and found themselves on the eastern shores of Crystalmir Lake. Pushing on into the night, they only made camp once they were several miles away from Solace. At midnight they reached the foot of the pass called Sentinal Gap and took their long rest. During the break, the plainsfolk Goldmoon and Riverwind shared a little more of their background and explained what had brought them out of the plains.

Goldmoon yakked about her life as Queen of the Injuns. She came off a little headstrong and naive. Riverwind is her bodyguard and he does whatever the Princess wants, up to and including things that get him condemned to death by his tribe. Of particular note, is Goldmoon's Blue Crystal Staff (BCS), a magical artifact with mysterious powers (including healing). Riverwind found the staff in a sunken city in an eastern swamp, where he had some kind of long-form hallucination.

Goldmoon is Hella Hot

The next morning the party got up and headed into the pass. That's when they spotted a group of cenobites coming down the road with their wagon. The monks were covered head to toe, and they were acting mighty suspicious. Solaire, Salvin and Brevofurgins hid in the bushes while Marshall went forward to parley with the strangers.

The monks explained that they were from some nebulous monastery and that they were searching for a Blue Crystal Staff with healing powers. They claimed it had been stolen from them, and that they needed it to heal their sick compadre. Marshall chose not to tell them anything about the BCS, but the monks didn't believe him.

Casting off their disguises, the monks revealed themselves as horrible dragon-men hybrids! They were geared-up for a scuffle and the party obliged them. This battle was actually fairly long (I may have set the AC a little high as one of my players/sometime DM remarked), but the party was never in real danger. Solaire's wild shape allows him to soak tons of damage while the rest of the party took the Draconians out one by one. Brevofurgin's mobility feat continues to shine, and Marshall's (rap) Bard is almost unrecognizable compared to its weak 3.5/Pathfinder counterparts.

F*ck You, I'm a Dragon

Once the battle concluded the party set forth again, entering Haven's Vale and coming in sight of the Lord-city. The city was surrounded by a couple thousand dirty-ass refugees, displaced by fighting in the north. Apparently an army of Dragon-men, humans and goblins had crossed the sea and was terrorizing northern Abanasinia. Due to the massive influx of people and its limited supplies, Haven had been sealed by order of the Holy Guard.

This proved to be no problem for the party as Marshall placed a magical suggestion on the guards who let them into the city. Inside, Haven was little better -- there were refugees spilling into the streets. The party did a little information gathering and determined that they wanted to speak with the Highseekers in the Councilhall.

Through some shrewd diplomacy they talked their way inside the citadel. Here they met Lorcar, Grandmaster of the Seekers. Lorcar told them that he needed the BCS to save the city; however, by save the city he meant turn the staff over to 'Lord Verminaard' so that he would spare Haven from conquest. Goldmoon insisted that they reveal the BCS to the Highseekers despite Lorcar's plan, but Brevofurgins and Grundlesnatch (among others) were not about to let that happen. Instead, they were able to corner Elistan, an elderly Highseeker that they believed might disagree with Lorcar's decision.

Haven is for Nards

Elistan did indeed disagree -- he said that if the enemy wanted this BCS badly, then they should probably not have it. Elistan told the party that he had learned the BCS came from the ancient city of Xak-Tsaroth, and perhaps there were additional clues about its nature to be found there. He also cautioned the party to avoid the roads since the Dragon-men armies were presumably nearby. He advised that they enter the infamous Darken Wood and take a shortcut.

The Party decided to do just that and after another long rest, they left Haven heading east over some low mountains. They were making their way through Darken Wood, when all of a sudden, GHOSTS! Surrounded by 10 spectres the party prepared to defend themselves.

The spectres were immune to the touch of normal weapons (but not silver ones) and they caused exhaustion (and pretty high damage) with their touch. It was looking rather grim, but Brevofurgins, a native Ergothian, was able to decipher the strange dialect of the spirits and communicate with them. The spirits were guardians of the wood, and they announced that they would only slay those of "evil intent."

Brevofurgins explained that no, the group was not evil, in fact they were on a noble quest. Brevofurgins let slip something about the BCS, which immediately got the Ghosts' attention. The ghosts dropped aggro and told the party to follow them further into the woods... and we lost a player as it was getting late and we decided to call it a night.

Overall I had a great time. We continue to have a few issues getting used to the rules, and I'm starting to see places where my conversion work has been dubious. I thought we'd at least get through another combat, but some aspects of the module were pretty frustrating. I'll share my thought on that in a future post.

DM CHAS