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.
