Thursday, February 11, 2016

The Harrowing of Duranth I

The session started with the party leaving the Cragmaw Hideout after having been victorious over the goblins and rescuing Sildar Hallwinter. Sildar was in bad shape, but he would live. Since it was late at night the party decided to make camp for the night a few miles away from the cave. The party setup watches, and began resting for the night. During the second watch, Nefresil heard a voice in his head. It said, "My lords, I am glad I have finally found you. Time is running short, and I need your help. Seek Kilburn." During this, Nefresil noticed no reaction from Nigel that he heard anything. After the message Nefresil fell unconscious.

Nefresil and Gareth awoke in a field of grass about a 100 yards from a road. No one was with them and the landscape appeared completely changed. There was a road that was paved with stones that ran east to west. There was a city to their west that was barely visible. To their southwest there was a massive purple dome, that appeared to be magical in nature. If it was truly magical, then this was an arcane working larger than the party had ever even heard of, let alone witnessed.

A caravan was making its way along the road towards the city. The party decided to meet with the cart and see if they could learn any information. The merchants, while not forthcoming with much valuable information, were at least helpful. The party rode towards the city which they learned was named Duranth. They also learned that the merchant had been selling Fade Berries to a neighboring city. There was a small mercenary group guarding the caravan as it travelled. Upon entering the city, the merchant handing a pouch to the guards, and the guards removed an emblem from each of the wagons. Upon entering the city, the merchant bid farewell to the party, and suggested an inn named The Wooden Raven.

Since it was around mid-day, Nefresil suggested they walk around the city a bit to get the lay of the land. They made their way around the city and found a variety of shops and businesses in the city. The saw where the castle was located. The found that the city was divided in half by a river, but that it spanned to both sides of the river. They were a little surprised that there was no bridge, but instead ferries across the river. Even more surprising was that the ferries appeared to be free. They ventured to the other side of the city, and found much the same on the western side of the city, minus a castle. Upon finding the docks, they noticed many ships sitting just outside of the port sporting the same banner that flew at the castle and on the city walls, a rampant lion on a field of clover. Upon inspection Nefresil noted that the ships with the lion banner were warships, and strategically placed in the harbor to prevent any ship from coming or going if necessary.

The party made their way to The Wooden Raven and upon attempting to get a meal found that the coins they had were not going to be accepted. The innkeeper showed them that in Duranth the coins were triangular, and that he would not accept foreign coins. He suggested the party find a money changer. They went back into the city to a building that had a sign showing a set of scales and a pair of coins. The man inside looked closely at the gold and silver pieces that Gareth produced, and said they were worth 1 and a half of the triangular pieces, of the same kind, each. He would change over any of the coins for 10%. The party agreed and changed 220 silver into 33 gold triangles. The money changer took 3 of the triangles and left the party with 30. Satisfied the party left the establishment.

Not long after leaving Gareth noticed that they were being followed, and a little later two men came into view in from of them in an alley. The man behind told the party to give up their money and they would not be harmed. Nefresil refused, and turned himself to be back to back with Gareth. Nefresil hit the first man in the stomach with an arrow, while Gareth hit one of the others with a crossbow bolt in the thigh. The three men advanced upon the party and took swings with their short swords. Nefresil took 1 hit to the arm, and Gareth took two hits, one to each side of his torso. Nefresil dropped his bow, and unsheathed is short swords. He hit the man in front of him with a swing, pulling it at the last minute to ensure the man lived. He then swung himself around to be between Gareth and the other two men, and hit the one that had a crossbow bolt sticking out of his thigh. At this point two more men entered the alley from each side and converged upon the party. These were liveried in clover with a rampant lion on the chest. They quickly dispatched the other two men, keeping them alive, as a well-trained group of guards would.

The party explained what happened to the guards. The squad leader understood and apologized for taking so long to get to the fight. Upon having his men left the man that Nefresil laid low, and fine dagger fell from the man's body. The squad leaded inspected it and informed the party that the man was in fact a guard squad leader himself. He thanked the party for stopping the man, and had his team haul away the 3 bodies. Nefresil cast Cure Wounds on Gareth, and they made their way back to The Wooden Raven.

With some of the local coins in hand, the innkeeper brought meals and drink for the party. The meal consisted of mutton covered in an electric blue sauce. Nefresil has Fade Berry Ale and Gareth had the Fade Berry Wine. Neither had ever had anything quite so exquisite as that meal. They noticed that everyone was having the Fade Berry food and drink and were surprised. They expected this to be something that only nobles ate.

They invited the innkeeper to sit with them, and asked him about the magical dome in the southwest. They were told that it has been there for as long as the innkeeper could remember. Behind the dome is a desert known by a couple of names such as The Anvil of the Gods or The Lifeless Expanse. The innkeeper told them that while he was not certain if a person could pass through the dome, he has never heard of anything coming out of the dome. The also learned that to the east along the road lies the city of Ormskirk, which is part of the Duchy of Duranth. An unpaved merchant's trail leads south from the Duranth Road to the city of Gilamore, which is also in the Duchy of Duranth. The Duranth Road leads west to the city of Caelkirk, which is the capital of the kingdom.

The party also learned a little more about the politics of the local region. Duke William Pyder is loved by his people, and takes the time to understand the needs of the commoners. They learned that even though he is human, he is married to an Elf named Elora Qimaer. They have a son named Brenden, who is a priest of the Goddess Tekoh. The Duchy lies in the kingdom of Karthang, which is ruled by King Tholan.

The party decided to rest for the night, and were awoken by the innkeeper in the morning. He said that the Duke was downstairs asking to speak with them. The party went downstairs where the met the Duke. He apologized for the attack and offered them rooms in his castle in redress. The party quickly accepted, but while packing their bags decided they may not want to tell the Duke about how they are not from around here. They travelled, on foot, back to the castle where the Duke left them with his Seneschal, who showed them to their rooms. The Duke requested that they dine with him and his wife that evening.

After putting their belongings in their new rooms, the party decided to head down to the Ducal library to research Kilburn. They spent some time looking through scrolls and texts and found that the word Kilburn was Dwarven. Upon some further research they found a passage that mentioned Kilburn. They learned that Kilburn is an item that was created by the Dwarves long ago, and blessed by the 8 Goddesses of the world. What its intended purpose was, is unclear, but death and destruction followed this item around. The party was unable to find any information about its current whereabouts.

DM Recap
I felt like the session went well. The players had no idea where they were, and so were being careful to mask this. I feel like they made some good decisions, but by the end realized that what they are trying to do may not be as straight forward as they initially thought. I also began to use rolled damage instead of static damage this session. While there was not much combat the difference was certainly felt with Nefresil taking minimum damage on the 1 attack that hit him, and Gareth taking maximum damage both of the times he was hit. This caused him to drop to 1 HP, and caused Nefresil to turn and help.

Loot and XP
No loot was gained during this session. I will wait to award any XP for the fight with the ruffians until a better spot in the story.