Dwarfhold Tethyamar 2

The party spent the night in Teshwave at The Lion & the Lantern. They spoke with the innkeeper, Enos, about any news he may have heard. He informed them that he had heard there was some Goblin trouble to the South, but that it had not reached north of the River Tesh. He asked about any news from where they came from, and they just confirmed what he already knew about the Goblins.

The next morning, they headed out of town to the West along the Tesh Trail heading for Dagger Falls. During the journey they encountered a merchant wagon heading to the East. They spoke for a bit about news, but did not learn much from the merchant other than the town was safe when he left. The party took their leave, and kept heading towards Dagger Falls. Aria found it surprising that the river was so wide and deep even though they were close to the mountains and presumably the source. Upon arrival they took rooms at the Hungry Moon Inn, where they were also able to board their horses, since the rest of the journey would be on foot. They spoke with the innkeeper, Nidia, about the Dwarfhold, and she informed them that not many people travel there these days. In fact, it has been many years since she can remember someone traveling there, and she cannot even remember if they returned. She told the party that many people had traveled their after it had fallen to Orcs, and returned with enough valuables to make themselves rich. However, many others have never returned.

The party asked if there was anyone in town that had more history on the Dwarfhold. They were able to meet and speak with Dyrk, who had the most knowledge, but it became quickly apparent, that it was not all that much. He told them much that they already knew. It was attacked by Orcs, who also had the help of an archmage. He told them that the Dwarfhold was setup differently than most others due to the nature of the mining operations. The veins of ore ran up and down rather than in a more common horizontal fashion. This meant the hold was more spread out as the shafts delved down, and generally away from each other. This made it easier to attack the more isolated areas of the hold, and conquer them. He also told the party that as long as the followed the river, they should get to an entrance to the Dwarfhold since it was well known that the Dwarves shipped their wares down the River Tesh.

The party asked Nidia about hiring on help. She told the party that it was unlikely that any would want to go as everyone from town was aware of the danger. The party opted to have her put the word out anyway. Two days later, the only people there were able to attract were 3 youngsters, 2 boys and a girl. While eager, the party did not believe the children offered anything to them. Kaldric gave them each a gold coin, and told them to run back home. The boys eagerly took the money, and left in a hurry. The girl tried to give the coin back, stating that she felt like she could be sneaky and perhaps that would be of some use to the party. Kaldric then made a deal with her. She kept the coin, and he gave her 2 days to steal his whistle from his beltpouch without him knowing. If she was successful the party would take her on. That night Kaldric was awakened by the girl attempting to climb into his room via the window. The next day he saw her watching him several times from the streets, but she never made a move. That night, she tried to pick the lock on his room to break in, but was unsuccessful, in addition to waking Kaldric.

Finally the party made the day long journey along the river into the mountains. In the evening they came across several towers along the each side of the river. These were clearly guard towers, in the old days, and were designed to prevent an attack on the hold. Kai cast invisibility on herself, and explored one of the towers. She found it to be empty, but useful for sleeping. The party spent the night in the tower, and kept exploring the next day.

Not much further up the party found the remnants of some docks. They could see some wrecked ships under the water, though no ships were currently docked. Near the docks they noticed what appeared to be an opening in the mountains. There were the remains of a set of stone doors that had been pulled down and some point. The group carefully made their way across the rubble and entered the mountain. They found themselves in a room that was about 300 yards square. It housed the remains of racks, shelves, and many other storage units. It looked like it has been looted at some point, as there was nothing of real value still in the room. Thee river actually flowed through this room, and it came into the room via a hole in the far wall. There was a cut riverbed made of stone in the center of the room that it flowed through. There was a stairway in the back right of the room that was a clockwise spiral ramp that went down.

The party lit a torch and headed down with a still invisible Kai in the lead, and Aria and Kaldric trailing. Nearing the bottom they heard some scuffing, and then what sounded like something running. They party stopped for a bit until the noise died down before continuing to the bottom of the ramp. There they found 5 passages, all labeled in Dwarven, and thus unreadable to the party. The noticed that the middle passage, and middle-left passages appeared to have been used far more recently than the others. The group listened at each passageway and thought the could hear some noises down the same passageways. They opted to made tracks about 100 feet down each passageway so it would be harder to track them. They then headed down the right passage for several hours since it seemed to head in the general direction as the source of the river. They eventually turned around figuring there was not much more they could learn from this passage.

They then opted to go down the middle-right passage for awhile. They eventually found themselves near the top of another spiral ramp headed down. This time the middle was nothing but a hole. They passed several openings in the walls that appeared to be homes in various states of being ransacked and disarray. As they continued, they found a passage that went through the mountain further, and the found themselves near the top of yet another spiral passage down. They were able to puzzle out that these were likely the mines, and the middle was likely where the ore was mined from. Houses were build along the spiral path down as more room was made due to mining. Kaldric did not believe that the emerald they were after was likely to be in some house, assuming it was even still in the hold. They decided to backtrack and head back.

When they returned to the room with the 5 passages, there was an Orc standing guard. Kai cast sleep on the Orc, and the party quickly discussed what to do with the Orc. They ultimately decided to end his life quickly and drag the body up to the river. His life was ended as bloodlessly as possible, and his body put into the river. They then headed back to the tower to spend another night to rest and so Kaldric could memorize Comprehend Languages to read the writing on the passages.

DM Recap
The session went well overall. There were not disagreements between the party members and what to do, so the session was not slowed down due to that sort of arguing. They group tried to take a tactful approach to the Dwarfhold, and that already allowed them to fell an Orc without having to roll a single die. There is, however, much left for them to explore in the hold.

Loot and XP
No loot was found, and no XP was awarded for this session yet. They did kill an Orc, but until the party gets back to a safe location, no XP for this encounter will be awarded.

Dwarfhold Tethyamar 1

The party entered Hillsfar late in the afternoon and went to see Auron. They had to wait for him to return home, but when he did, he invited them to dine with him. He apologized for the mercenaries that turned on them, and informed the party that he had expelled the entire mercenary company from Hillsfar. Being a small organization they booked passage on several ships and sailed into the Moonsea to an unknown location. Auron continued by apologizing for getting the party involved in the politics. His plan was for them to deliver the smuggled weapons and armor and leave. He asked the group if they were still willing to work for him. They said that they needed to get some sleep and discuss it amongst themselves. They agreed to continue the conversation over lunch the next day.

When the party discussed their future dealings with Auron. Kaldric did not want to be involved in politics and was not eager to confront the Zhents at all if that was possible. Aria agreed with Kaldric’s position. Kai was more willing to get involved, but eventually assented to not confront the Zhents. When they reconvened with Auron, they stated their position, and asked what sort of work he had for them. He mentioned that he had a couple of jobs for them if they were interested. First, there was an object he was interested in located in an abandoned Dwarfhold, second there was an object in the Anauroch Desert, and finally, there was another object he desired located far to the South. The party inquired more about the jobs, and Auron told them that he had to keep some information secret to ensure it was not just taken and sold to a rival of his. The party decided to inquire more about the Dwarfhold, and what Auron was looking for there. He stated that the Dwarfhold of Tethyamar produced some of the finest weapons during their peak. They used a very large, flawless emerald to channel their magic into the weapons. Auron was unsure if the emerald itself was magical, or if it was used as a focus for the Dwarves magic. He wants to use it to help better arm the Red Plumes to fight the Zhentarim. The Dwarfhold is located in the Desertmouth Mountains which separates the Dalelands in the East from the great desert Anauroch to the West. To get there the party would need to travel almost back to Voonlar then take the other road North at the fork in the road all the way to the town of Teshwave. They would then head West following the River Tesh to the town of Daggar Falls. They would then have a couple of more days travel to the mountains by following the River Tesh. It is known that the Dwarves used the River Tesh to send their weapons down to the Moonsea region. The party should be able to find an entrance to the Dwarfhold there. He provided a map to the mountains to Aria. He did tell the party that the Dwarves were overrun by Orcs, with the help of an archmage. There has not been much activity in the area so Auron believes that most of that horde has moved on. He did warn that they party could run into Orcs, bandits, and potentially some Dwarves. The descendants of the Dwarves still have the desire to reignite the forges once again.

Kai asked what the payment would be for this job. Auron tossed a leather case to Kai at the question. She opened it to find 4 stacks of of 25 platinum coins. He said that based on the previous job, he wanted to maintain a distance from the party so that hopefully no one would know he was involved. That is why there was so much extra money, the party would be responsible for purchasing all of their own supplies. The party did ask about another healing potion, and Auron said he would see what he could do. They also asked about horses, and he had 3 horses sent to the Tipsy Elf for them. Kai has a while gelding with 1 black freckle on his face named Mr. Freckles. Kaldric has a gray gelding named Lil Sebastien. Aria has a dark brown gelding named Nutmeg. Upon arriving back at their rooms, the party found a package that contained 1 healing potion for their use. The party loaded up on supplies and left the next morning. The trip was uneventful all the way up to the fork in the road.

The first night on the way North Kai was visited during her watch by the man in black again. He greeted her and once again asked if she needed anything from him. They had a conversation about recent events, and Kai tried to figure out his motivations, but he evaded her questions, not revealing more than he wanted to reveal. Kai asked about the Goblins and if he could do anything about them, but he stated that he was not concerned about the Goblins, and they were also serving his purposes, just as Kai was. She asked if there was anything he could do about the Orcs, and he said that he preferred to not directly intervene in that manner. He did say that the party would not have trouble finding the emerald. He also states that there is more of interest in the Dwarfhold to others if they chose to continue to search around. He then stepped back into the darkness and was gone. Kai told her companions of the conversation the next day. Shortly the party arrived in Teshwave.

DM Recap

This session felt like it drug on for a while. That was because the party needed to make a decision about how to proceed and that conversation took a long time as they did not initially agree. While these conversations are good and necessary they can tend to take a long time, and there was nothing I could do to speed up the process. I also need to change the way that I do the conversations between Kai and the man in black. Since she has been telling Kaldric and Aria about the conversations I plan to stop pulling her aside. That way things I word in very specific ways are not lost in translation and the other players continue to be engaged in the game.

Loot and XP

There was no XP earned or loot gained in this session.

The Copper Scrolls 4

The night started with the players deciding what to do next given the Bron’s ultimatum. After much discussion they decided to wait a couple of days to see if Auron would contact Lady Immithra.

On the way back to the Bounty of the Goddess, the party came across a man dressed in black that was beating a young priestess. They saw the priestess crumple from a nasty punch before the man turned towards them and drew his longsword. Mere seconds later he fell to the ground after the impact of two motes of light from a Magic Missile cast by Kaldric. The group then revived the girl and carried both bodies back to the temple. Once there, Lady Immithra went and tended to the girl while the party tied the man up, and bound him to a chair.

When Lady Immithra returned she and the group decided what to do with the almost dead man. It was determined that he was a Zhent, and the party was going to just let him die, and move on with their plans. Upon searching his belongings Kaldric came across a note. It read:

Buorstag, this note hereby relieves you of your duties as the leader of Voonlar. A vote will be setup by the man who presented this to you, and he will win. Your theft from our organization has not gone unnoticed. You will present yourself at Zhentil Keep to explain your actions. If you have not arrived in a week, a hunting party will be sent to retrieve you.

With this new information, the group decided that they wanted to revive the man, and question him. Lady Immithra assented, and went about the task of stabilizing and reviving the man. The group blindfolded the man, and once he was awake  they set about the task of questioning him. They learned that his name is Talfen, and that he was here to take over for the Bron. He stated that the Bron was not as powerful as he seemed and that the Zhentarim was going to deal with him. He did not give any reasons for beating the girl though.

The next morning the group went to speak with the priestess. They learned that she is the man’s sister. He left home several years ago to try to make a better life for them. When he found out that she joined the church, he lost his temper and began beating her. She mentioned that he had always been cruel. She begged Lady Immithra to not kill Talfen. The group decided that maybe by letting her talk to her brother might get him to give up some more information.

Duing this wait, Kaldric was contacted by a messenger saying that Lady Immithra wanted to see the party. Upon arriving at her office, Kaldric discovered that she had been contacted by Auron. Kaldric quickly convened with his friends, before returning to the office to communicate with Auron. Lady Immithra had told Auron about the attack on the caravan, and most of the events that happened in town. Kaldric asked what Auron wanted the group to do. He said that The Bron’s threats were most likely empty, especially given the information the group had found. He apologized for having the group thrown into the politics. He requested that they return to Hillsfar, and he said that he was sure he could find work for them that did not involve politics if that is what they wanted. Kaldric told Auron that he understood the request.

After another day, they brought the girl in front of her brother. He showed disgust that she had joined the church. He said that he was there to run the town, and make it a better place. At that comment Lady Immithra shook her head disapprovingly. Talfen made it clear that due to the actions of the party he was dead. Either the Zhentarim would kill him or the party would. The girl, Mirabel, then begged the party to not kill him. The group discussed and decided to spend a couple of days at the church in the hopes that the Mirabel can convince Talfen to travel south, potentially with the party and leave the Zhentarim behind. However, he was not swayed to leave and turn his back on his organization. He was still convinced that he was dead either way.

The group spent a long time discussing their next move. They talked about all of their options, and eventually settled on returning to Hillsfar. They are not certain they want to continue to work with Auron, but still felt it best to go to Hillsfar next. They decided to leave the next morning, and just before leaving Kaldric returned to Talfen, and killed him since they felt there were no other options. Lady Immithra gave the group a healing potion, and bid them farewell. They left with Fenton and the wagon that they arrived with, now loaded with metal ingots, and other raw materials.

They made their way out of town, and passed the field of abandoned weapons. The second night out of town, Kai saw a man approach during her watch. He said hello, and she yelled hello back loud enough to wake her companions. The man stepped back into the darkness and was not seen again. The group opted to move forward a few miles before resting again. The next night, during Kai’s watch the man returned. However, this time all sound around Kai ceased when he was there, and he told her that she would be unable to wake her companion’s this time. The man was unremarkable looking, and dressed in all black. He was not armed that Kai could discern. He said that he wanted Kai to succeed in what she chose to do, and that he wanted to help her succeed. He said that she need not do anything for her in return, as she had already begun to help him. He asked if there was any help he could give to her, and she requested safety in their travels back to Hillsfar. The man said that he would try to give them safety, and asked if there was anything else. She declined, and the man stepped away and once again appeared to fade into the darkness.

The party made the rest of the trip back to Hillsfar without incident. They passed a battalion of Red Plumes marching to Yulash from Hillsfar, but did not stop to speak with them. They arrived at Hillsfar in the evening.

DM Recap

I feel like this session went a little slow, but I knew that going in. The party had a huge decision to make as to what to do next. Do they go back to Hillsfar or do they leave the region? Finding Talfen and the note he carried really threw a wrench into the situation. Ultimately, their choice to go back to Hillsfar to at least speak with Auron again was made, and they went on their way. I also felt like this session did not feel as brutal and bad for the players. There were no events that happened to them that made them feel worse about their situation.

Loot and XP

The party will get 15 XP for Talfen, and I will also award 1000 XP total for the events in Voonlar. This works out to 338 XP each or 371 for those with XP bonuses. In addition, Lady Immithra gave the party 1 healing potion.

The Copper Scrolls 3

The party found themselves a little over half a day out of Yulash, and having just survived an attack by bandits. After some discussion they decided to keep heading to Voonlar unless the bandits were able to overtake them and force a different course of action. Their trip to Voonlar was quiet, and Kai was able to fully heal along the way. The morning before arriving Fenton told the party to be wary of the town. He said that weapons were not allowed in town, especially for outsiders. A few hours outside of the town, they saw various weapons that were seemingly discarded along the side of the road. Fenton mention that this was was definitely not normal, and and did not bode well for them. After stopping a traveler coming out of Voonlar the party was told that weapons were not allowed in town.

They arrived at Voonlar and were in a line of wagons waiting to get in to the town. They saw guards thoroughly checking wagons and even patting down the passengers. At one point, and man was arrested when he was found to have a sword while being patted down. The group decided to give all of their weapons to Aria and have Kai cast INVISIBILITY on her. She would then follow the cart in and thus smuggle their weapons into town. This plan went off without a hitch, and the party found themselves at the Bounty of the Goddess in no time. There they were taken to meet Lady Immithra.

There they related their story, and how they came to only be in possession of 1 of the wagons. Kai attempted to hide several details of their trip and current status, but Kaldric was more forthcoming, showing a trust in Lady Immithra. She made notes of what they said, and told the party that this sounded like a Zentarim attack, and that it was likely that The Bron would shortly know about this, and the being in town was even more dangerous for the party. She then asked about the Goblin attack, relating that she suspected that there was some sort of magic involved. she also suspected that someone in the Moonsea region was helping them. She did not know who or why though. The party took their leave of the priestess and spent the next several hours in their room before sharing dinner with Lady Immithra.

The party talked about what their next steps were, and they were reluctant to get more involved in this conflict between Hillsfar and the Zhentarim. They went to dinner, and talked with her more about the conflict. They learned that she has a magic parchment and quill that allows her to communicate with Auron instantaneously, however, the communication can only be initiated by Auron. As the dinner wore on a commotion was heard in the hallway, and as Immithra got up to check on it, several men in green jerkins with the symbol of Voonlar (5 white coins in a circle) on them appeared and stated that the party was to come with them. Immithra protested, but was pushed to the side, and parchment was given to her to show their authority. several men came in with the intention of putting manacles on the party members to take them away. The party readied themselves for a fight with the thought that if they were taken, they may never see the light of day again. Immithra yelled “Stop!” and there was some sort of power behind it as everyone in the room stopped. She pointed out that the parchment was a summons. The man stated that the party had proven themselves dangerous and he was taking precautions. Everyone agreed that they would visit The Bron if they stayed unshackled, and if Immithra could accompany them. The man assented, and they made their way to The Bron’s home.

They were brought before him as he was eating, and he was pleasant enough to the party. He asked after them, and apologized for the way they were treated. He killed the man in charge of bringing them for the treatment. He then told the party that he has a proposition to make to them. Since he knew about their encounter on the road, he wished to use the their particular skills. He offered them a choice, kill Auron, kill the Lady Immithra, or be hunted by the Zhentarim for the rest of their lives. Kai questioned him further, and he told them that he had faith that their skills could be quite useful to him and his organization, and that they could become very rich in the process. He gave them 1 month to perform the task, during which time he assured them they would not be molested by his organization. He then had the party led back out to the street.

DM Recap

For the most part I think this session went well. In hindsight it may have been a bit more railroady than I would have liked. That I could live with if it only popped up occasionally. After the session, it became apparent that I may have taken away too much player agency. While the players still have options they can take, they are either “bad” options or options the party would not normally take. In hindsight I wish I would have made minor tweaks to not put the party is such a bad position. I chalk this up to being new to DMing. I will try to get better going forward, and I just hope this one session doesn’t kill the game.

Loot and XP

In the previous session the party was able to make it past 10 bandits which would be worth 150 XP total. In addition, they made it to Voonlar and were able to deliver 1 wagon to the temple, which is worth 1000 XP as a story award. That works out to 383 XP each or 422 for anyone with an XP bonus.

The Copper Scrolls 2

The party started out in their sitting room after breakfast, making small talk. One of Auron’s clerks knocked, and poked his head into their sitting room to tell them that Auron has requested that they join him for the mid-day meal. They agreed to the meeting, and showed up at the appointed time. While walking through Auron’s house they overheard him yelling at Shipley, a fellow Senator and the metal smithing guild master. Auron could be heard telling Shipley that he needed to get on board with Auron, or get out of town. The party was lead to the dining room and seated. Auron joined the group and food and drink were served.

After pleasantries were exchanged, and some food was eaten, Auron broached the subject that brought them together. He told the party that he would like them to accompany a wagon train to Voonlar as guards. It was a shipment of foodstuffs and raw materials. However, the wagons had hidden compartments that were going to be used to smuggle weapons and armor into the town. This was to help rebels overthrow the ruler of the city. It was currently ruled by Bourstag Hiammythyl, known as the Bron. He was helped by his 6 deputies, all of which were hand picked by the Zhentarim. They ruled the city through fear, and the citizens just allowed it. They had banned all weapons in town, leaving them as the only ones with weapons. In addition, the Bron had been a savvy businessman allow the town to be profitable, and that was enough to keep the citizens happy. The party was to deliver the wagons to the Lady Immithra Shrae, the head of the Bounty of the Goddess, the temple to Chauntea. She was not liked by the Bron and his men, but Chauntea herself had interceded the last time the Bron moved against her. Auron explained that the Zhentarim was a military organization that was only concerned about increasing its own power and influence. Hillsfar was their biggest enemy in the area. They are a shadow of their former glory, but the still control large parts of the Northern coast of the Moonsea. They also have a presence in Yulash, and they effectively control Voonlar. Auron is worried that they will try to further their influence their to the South.

Auron wants to expel the Zhentarim from Voonlar and then annex it, thus increasing Hillsfar's power, influence, and wealth. From there, he says that Yulash would be a strategically great city to annex next to further Hillsfars goals, and keep the Zhentarim at bay. First though, he needs to help a group of rebels retake control of Voonlar, and that is why he is delivering weapons and armor to them. The party is to take the wagons to the Lady Immithra, who will then deliver them to the rebels. There will be 5 other guards in addition to the party, plus a driver for each of the 4 wagons. They will depart in the morning, and should meet Auron and the Hillsfar gate in the morning. The party agreed to go with the wagons, and left to make some preparations. He paid each character 50 gold, and provided a healing potion for them as well.

The next morning the party met Auron at the gate, and the wagon train left with its full compliment of guards and drivers. The party discovered that the lead driver was named Fenton, and the others were named Bram, Dodd, and Dyrk. The other guards were 5 mercenaries from the same mercenary company, though they did not have uniforms. They all wore leather armor, and were armed with a long sword, light crossbow, and a shield. There were 4 men named Tegan, Jeras, Talfen, and Meklan. There was also a woman named Brey. They traveled together and made small talk, but were mostly focused on the work. Kaldric and Kai decided to disguise themselves as Clerics since Wizards are not very welcome in Voonlar. Kaldric was going to pose as a Cleric of the Red Knight, since he already followed her teachings, even as a Wizard. Kai decided to play as a Cleric of Chauntea since they were ultimately heading to a temple dedicated to her. At night Kaldric would cast ALARM and have everyone sleep in the area to help protect them.

The morning of the second day out of Hillsfar the group noticed smoke ahead, just over a small rise in the road. The wagon train halted while Ariatriel and Brey went forward to investigate. What they saw was a wagon that was smoking having been burned. Ariatriel yelled to see if anyone was there, and they saw a Goblin head pop out from behind the wagon. She then yelled, “Goblins!” and she and Bree started to run to the side of the road to draw the Goblins away from the wagons. The Goblins pursued the women as the rest of the guards came forward to help. There was a pitched battle with the guards firing crossbows until they were in male range, and then changing to long swords. Kai used her sling to take out a Goblin, and Kaldric used GUST OF WIND to throw the Goblins off balance before charging in with his staff. The Goblins were dispatched, but in the process Brey took some damage. Knowing that Kai was a Cleric of the goddess of life, she requested healing. Kai took Brey out of sight of everyone, and gave her the healing potion to drink, which restored Brey. The rest of the guards burned the body of the family the Goblins had killed. They also searched for anything of value, and noticed the spears the Goblins had were very well made, and almost new. They were sized for Goblins, and seemed out of place with what everyone knew about Goblins. When they looked closely at the spears they noticed a symbol on the spearpoint of all of them. It was not a symbol in any language that anyone recognized. Kaldric cast COMPREHEND LANGUGAGE on the spear, but still was unable to determine the meaning of the rune. The group decided to continue on for the remainder of the day. They had a somber night that night. The next day, Kaldric cast DETECT MAGIC on the spear to see if the rune, or spear, was magical, but found that it was mundane. Later in the day, the wagon train ran into a contingent of Red Plumes on their way to Hillsfar. They stopped and asked about and news. The group told them about the Goblins, and the soldiers seemed a bit troubled. Kaldric gave one of the Goblin spears to the Red Plumes, and requested that they deliver it to Auron. The soldier said he would do his best in that regard. The wagon train continued on, and after another full day, they arrived at Yulash, and entered the city through Moandar’s Pass and heading for an inn and way point named The Last Place. Upon arriving at Yulash the party could see the strategic importance of the city, and why Hillsfar and the Zhentarim have been fighting for control of it for so long. The party spent the rest of the day in the taproom listening to conversations to see if they could pickup on anything happening between Yulash and Voonlar. Several of the other mercenaries headed for other inns looking for a dice game, or just a place not swarming with Red Plumes.

Everyone reconvened the next morning at the West Gate and headed out of town towards Voonlar. In the late morning, the wagon train rounded a corner and found 5 men standing in the roadway arrayed in an arc. The wagon train stopped, and Kai told the men to move so the wagons could continue. The men stated that they had no intention of leaving without the wagons. The standoff continued, and Kaldric yelled for everyone to aim their crossbows. When he looked over his shoulder to ensure everyone was ready he saw was Meklan shoot and kill Brey, Jeras shoot and kill Talfen, and Tegan shoot Kai. It was then that the party realized they had been betrayed. Kaldric turned back and cast FLAME SPHERE on one of the bandits and shouted for all of the drivers to drive. Ariatriel shot arrows at another bandit, and Kai cast ITEM on Tegan’s armor hoping to stop him from attacking her again, however, the armor did not shrink as expected. The bandits tried to kill the lead horses, but were completely unsuccessful with one of them being trampled. Meklan and Jeras then killed their drivers, and stopped the carts from moving. Ariatriel kept firing arrows at the bandits, Kaldric moved his flame sphere, and Kai decided to go invisible. During all of this the lead cart, which contained Kaldric and Ariatriel, was past the bandits, so the converged on the second wagon, which contained Kai and Tegan, and attempted to slaughter the horses to stop it, however, they were unsuccessful. At this point Meklan and Jeras took another shot at Kai, while the bandits shot at one of the horses, injuring but not killing it. While Kai was hit, it was not fatal. Kai cast a PHANTASMAL FORCE and had it run off to the side in the hopes that it would lead everyone away from her, while she huddled in the cart. Kaldric cast WALL OF FOG behind the second wagon, to cut off the sight from the enemies behind. With Tegan, thinking Kai had jumped off the wagon, attacked the driver, but it was a non fatal blow. Kaldric threw a dagger and finally downed Tegan. Kai then took the reigns of the cart and became visible again before Kaldric and Ariatriel did anything rash. They stopped the carts and Kai searched Tegan’s body grabbing the crossbow, quiver, and a pouch with 10 gold, Ariatriel cut the horses free of their harness and encouraged them to run, while Kaldric grabbed his dagger back as well as a handful of Ariatriel's arrows, though only 4 were usable again. They then got back on the lead cart, still being driven by Fenton to continue on, hoping to keep a lead on the bandits. Kaldric also gave Kai his healing potion to drink as they headed out.

DM Recap

I think the game went well overall. Going into the game I did not feel prepared, but I was more ready than I thought. The encounter and battle with the bandits at the end lasted longer than I expected and was not as well run as it could have been. Unfortunately. I did not have a number of rules at hand and had to stop to look them up, not feeling comfortable enough with the 2e rules to make a ruling on the fly. In addition, this was the first time I had to adjudicate illusions, which proved more difficult than I anticipated. I also was not prepared for a combat that involved the horses, so I did not have their stats at hand, and had to rely on what one of my players suggested, in addition to a quick google search. There was also a lot of confusion around where everyone was located when the encounter with the bandits started, as well as a lot of other confusion around cover, and line of sight. Overall I feel like it was a poorly run combat, and I take the blame myself. I could have been more prepared, in addition, to setting the stage to have the players more prepared. I learned a lot from it, and hopefully can do better going forward.

Loot and XP

Each player received 50 gold and 1 healing potion from Auron to start. In addition, 10 gold was found on Tegan’s body. They also retrieved 5 Goblin spears that are still in their wagon. Since everyone got to Yulash safely, XP for the Goblins will be rewarded, but no other XP will be rewarded. The group earned 75 XP, but I’m splitting it 4 ways since the other mercenaries were there and helped. Each character is rewarded with 18 XP, or 20 XP if they have an XP bonus. I have updated the totals on the right.

The Copper Scrolls 1

It all started with the party being tasked with retrieving an ancient scroll. The contents of the scroll were unknown to the party, but the person asking was someone they had done business with frequently in the past, Auron. Auron is the de facto ruler of Hillsfar. It is ruled in name only by a 31 member senate comprised of guild masters and wealthy merchants, of which Auron is one. However, they can rarely agree with each other on anything, and Auron has taken over the day to day ruling of the city-state, and the other members of the senate are content to let him do so. Auron trades mostly in gems and weapons, and has managed to amass a sizable fortune in the process. He is also known to collect any artifacts that are arcane related, and any scrolls that contain information about the arcane arts. He pays well for these. He uses many groups of people to track these items down for him, of which the current party is but one, albeit his most trusted group.

That group consists of Kaldric, a Human Wizard with some ties to the Red Knight, Kai a Human Wizard who uses her magic to avoid direct confrontation, and Ariatriel a Human Ranger who is not afraid to fight and has a particular hatred of Goblins. They questioned Auron about the scroll for which they were tasked to track down. He provided them with a map to its location, along with a vague warning about possible protections that may, or may not, be in place. He also stated that the scroll may not exactly be in the building indicated, but was able to provide no more information.

The party traveled through the woods of Cormanthor for 4 days before reaching the correct building. In the basement of the building, they searched for a long time before Kai stumbled upon the portal and accidentally triggered it by rubbing her hand across a ruin etched into the wall. The rune was of no language anyone in the party knew, but looked vaguely Elven. The portal gave the stone on part of one wall a slightly watery look. Touching it caused ripples. Ariatriel shot an arrow through, and it seemed to pass through with no trouble. A sword was stuck through and pulled out, and it returned unharmed. Still cautious, Ariatriel tied a rope around her waist and went through the portal while Kaldric and Kai held the other end of the rope, ready to pull her back if something should go wrong. On the other side, Ariatriel yelled that she was fine, but the others were unable to hear her, just as she was unable to hear them. Ariatriel tugged on the rope twice, letting Kaldric and Kai know it was safe. They walked through the portal as well.

Here the party found themselves in a square room that was 50 feet on each side. In the middle was a 5 foot square dais that was about a foot tall. In the center of the dais was a 5 and a half foot pedestal. The group was unable to see what, if anything, was on the pedestal. There were also bones littering the room, along with various arms and armor. They also noticed that it was noticeably warmer in this room, than the room they had previously been in. Upon inspection Kaldric noticed that not only was the armor and arms ancient, they were from vastly different time periods. Almost all of the metal was rusted and pocked. Kai cast DETECT MAGIC in the direction of the pedestal, and then began to turn and sweep the room. She found that whatever was on the pedestal had the most powerful magical aura that she had ever come across in her travels. She also came across another much fainter magical aura among the bones and metal. Ariatriel went searching and found a sword that despite everything else in the room seemed to be in perfect condition. She took the sword and the group kept investigating the pedestal. Kaldric and Ariatriel lifted Kai on their shoulders to see what was on the pedestal. It was a copper colored cylinder that had glowing blue marks on it. The group, worried about a trap, next threw a couple of pieces of armor onto the dais, but nothing happened. They then devised a plan. Kaldric and Ariatriel waited by the doorway back. Kai cast INVISIBILITY on herself, and made ready to grab the object. Right as she was to grab it, Kaldric would cast FLAMING SPHERE at one of the corners of the dais. Once the object was in hand, the group would make their way out of the room with all haste. With the plan in motion, Kai grabbed the object, and a sphere of flames appeared. As the object was grabbed it flashed with light and 3 spots of light flashed in the bone piles. Three Skeletons materialized out of bones and made to attack Kai. One of the Skeletons arose right in the flaming sphere and took damage, but stayed up. The other two skeletons made there way towards Kai and swung swords at her, but her invisibility prevented them from hitting her. Kai then ran towards the doorway, and the Skeletons once again missed their attacks against her. The entire party left the room through the portal as the room seemed to be crumbling.

Back in the relative safety of the stone room, Kai looked at the object, and determined it to be a scroll case that was copper. It was significantly heavier than a normal scroll case, leading her to believe it was made out of copper, and not just colored that way. Once against Kai noticed the same script on the outside of the case that seemed to be an Elven dialect. When she looked though, the glowing blue lines seemed to move and change around and formed into Common. The case now read “Theories of Arcane Magic. What is known must not be forgotten.” The party decided to wait until they were closer to Hillsfar before opening the scroll case. They ventured about a hour away from the buildings before making camp for the night. They had an uneventful next day and night as well. Their second day back, Kaldric overheard some words in Goblin that about a fight and ambush, and it was coming from the direction the group was traveling. Kai cast INVISIBILITY on herself again, and used PHANTASMAL FORCE to make a duplicate of herself that went off to the right, while the group went off to the left. Kaldric cast SHIELD in preparation for an attack and shortly, they encountered a pair of Goblins who charged the party. They were cut down by a MAGIC MISSLE spell from Kaldric and arrows from Ariatriel. After the battle, they could hear more Goblins coming to them from the direction of the image of Kai. The group braced for another attack. These Goblins were again fells by Ariatriel's arrows and Kaldric's sling. Two of the Goblins were able to successfully attack Kaldric, but only 1 hit and it did not do any major damage. Before the 3rd Goblin was able to attack again it sprouted a pair of arrows, with another couple of arrows hitting the ground around the Goblin. Kai yelled asking if those arrows came from friend or foe, and was answered cryptically. An Elf then stepped into sight and introduced himself as Ninthalor. He told the party that Goblins have become more common in Cormanthor of late, and that it was troubling to the Elves. Ninthalor asked the party if they wished to join the Elves is searching for the cause of the Goblins. The party turned him down, stating that they had a prior obligation that they needed to complete before taking on more work.

The party made camp that night, and arrived at the decision to open the scroll case. Kai removed the end of the case, and pulled out a set of 50 scrolls. The scrolls were on copper pages that have been hammered thin and worked to be as thin as parchment. Upon the pages were more of the Elven looking runes that were on the outside of the scroll case. Upon beginning to read, the runes once again moved around and reformed into Common. Kaldric, Kai, and Ariatriel all took turns studying the scrolls since only 1 person could read them at a time. They found that the scrolls were broken into 5 chapters of 10 scrolls each. The chapters were titled ‘Arcanus Fundare - Foundations of Magic’, ‘Magicus Creare - Spells of Creation’, ‘Maior Creare - Major Creation’, ‘Planus Mechanus - Studies of the Planes’, and ‘Are Factum - Of the Creation of Artifacts’. A cursory study of the scrolls showed Kaldric and Kai that this showed ways of using magic and interacting with the weave. It showed subtle but distinct differences from how they already interacted with the weave. They also came to the conclusion that it would takes many weeks to fully study these scrolls. They discussed whether they should only give Auron some of the scrolls, or perhaps even none. In the end they decided that they needed to warn Auron about how powerful and potentially dangerous these scrolls could be.

They made it back to Hillsfar after dark and went directly to Auron’s manor in the merchant’s quarter. They were escorted into a sitting room and provided with food and drink. Auron joined the party shortly and asked about the scrolls. After paying the agreed upon amount of 50 gold per person, the group reluctantly handed over the scrolls. Auron seemed confused at first, but opened the scroll case. He quickly perused the scrolls, and was shocked. He asked the party if they had any idea what these were. Kai responded that other than containing powerful arcane knowledge they did not. Auron proceeded to explain that this was a full set of the Nether Scrolls. He explained the the Nether Scrolls contained the sum amount of arcane knowledge at the time they were written thousands of years ago. They helped the Netheril Empire ascend to the power that it had. They were able to enchant mundane items to due their intended purpose without having to be worked by a non wizard. The Nether Empire was a magocracy and was home to the most powerful wizards to ever walk Faerun. During a war with unspeakable evil creatures not from this plane, the leader of Netheril, Karsus, cast a spell only known as KARSUS’S AVATAR. When cast he grew to godlike proportions, and gains godlike knowledge. His goal was the wrest the mantle of deity from Mystryl in order to end the war once and for all. However upon gaining godhood he realized his mistake, and the aftermath was that the weave failed for a brief period of time when Mystryl died. Then Mystra took over control of the weave, and was able to make magic work again, but put limits on magic for the future. Auron explained that this set of scrolls was previously unknown to all. It was thought that only 2 sets of the Nether Scrolls existed, one on gold, and one on platinum. They were long thought to be either destroyed or scattered across the world. He speculated that perhaps even the Gods did not know this set of the scrolls existed.

The party was concerned about Auron being able to protect the scrolls and suggested they split them up. Auron assured the party that he was more than capable of protecting the scrolls, and when pressed by Kaldric led the group to his private vault that was below ground. He opened the door and urged Kaldric to attempt to steal something. Upon walking into the vault, Kaldric was immediately repelled by a force-field of some sort. When Auron dismissed it, Kaldric went in the vault to find that everything in side was under the effects of an invisibility spell. The party then realized and had it confirmed that Auron was in fact a wizard. He was intentionally vague about what if any his specialty was. He went into his vault, and retrieved a handful of scrolls and showed them to the party. They discovered that the scrolls were in fact spell scrolls of some extremely powerful spells. These were spells that even Kaldric and Kai knew were beyond them. The party then agreed that Auron could protect the Nether Scrolls. They asked if they could study the scrolls if Auron kept them, and he agreed. The party then suggested that Auron track down the person that sold him the location of the scrolls, and Aura assured the party that he would make sure the problem was taken care of. They then retired to their room in The Tipsy Elf which Auron had set them up in.

Over the next several weeks, the group spent their time studying the Nether Scrolls in Auron’s house, trying to learn as much as possible from them.

DM Recap

This was my first session running a game with the AD&D 2e rules. I have played for several years with them, but had not used them as a DM. I felt that I did a decent job, but had to refer to the PHB more than I would have liked. I also still have trouble with the math involved in determining if an attack hits. I will get better at it with more practice, but that will take time.

I felt like the session went well overall. The players took longer with parts of the game that I expected to go quickly. I also will have my hands full adjudicating illusion spells, but I look forward to the challenges. The session ended in a very open-ended manner, and the players will have some interesting decisions to make for the next session.

Loot and XP

The players successfully made it through 2 encounters, and since they were able to make it back to Hillsfar safely XP will be awarded. The size of the story award is high because the PCs convinced Auron to allow them to study the Nether scrolls. The group earned 2870 XP, which breaks down to 956 for each character or 1051 for those with an XP bonus. The XP totals have been updated. The XP breakdown is shown below.

Skeleton x3 - 195

Goblins x5 - 75

Magic Sword - 600

Story Award - 2000

In addition, since the characters spent several weeks studying the Nether Scrolls, they are all awarded 1 Wizard spell slot and spell 1 level higher than they already know. That means that Kaldric and Kai each get a 3rd level spell slot and spell and Ariatriel gets a 1st level spell and spell slot. I have decided that since the characters were not able to focus their training as they did within their specialty, that the spell they learn will be chosen at random via a die roll at the beginning of the next session.

An Ending and a New Beginning

As all things must do eventually, this game is ending, though not necessarily permanently. I have decided to start a new game, and put this game on hiatus during that time.

The new game will be a AD&D 2e game that I will be running for Matt, his wife Sara, and my wife Kristen. This group has been playing in 2e games for a few years now, and I do not wish to throw 5e at them right now, so we are sticking with 2e. This will add a new challenge for me, but I believe I am up for the task.

In case we pickup the 5e game again, I wish to note the players, levels, and XP now.

Gareth (Sorcerer 4) - 2807
Nefresil (Ranger 4) - 2807