The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Exciting adventures IRL.
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Mantis
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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Mantis » Tue Jun 18, 2019 11:23 am

Thursday would be my choice this week.

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Wrathbone » Tue Jun 18, 2019 12:08 pm

Cool, Thursday it is.

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Sly Boots » Thu Jun 20, 2019 6:59 pm

I might need a little "Previously on..." recap here :lol:

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Wrathbone » Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:00 pm

Don't worry, my notes for it went onto 2 pages. :oops:

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Mantis » Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:02 pm

Be there in 3 mins.

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Sly Boots » Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:05 pm

Sorry guys, for some reason you can't hear my mic, fiddling around with it...

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Mantis » Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:07 pm

Sometimes I feel like the only thing we're good at is killing.

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Sly Boots » Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:08 pm

Yeah, we should probably stick to what we know :lol:

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Wrathbone » Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:13 pm

To be fair you ruled out the three guards as suspects rather than condemning them to indefinite prison time without charge. I consider that progress given that Phandalin ended with the mayor being executed! :lol:

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Mantis » Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:18 pm

I feel like we are embracing our role as the town's protectors quite well in that regard.

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Wrathbone » Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:21 pm

Forgot to mention, everyone now levels up to the lofty heights of level 6!

You’ll be pleased to know Truss now has the ability “Mindless Rage”.

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Sly Boots » Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:29 pm

I have a feeling that may come in useful in the next session :o

Also, noice!

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Mantis » Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:51 pm

I just had a look at the spell table for my class. You get so many cool little features with this path but boy are you punished on the amount of spell slots available per short rest!

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Wrathbone » Fri Jun 21, 2019 9:49 am

The recap:
With no small amount of trepidation, the monk read out the translated note:

The runestones have been switched as agreed and Bithrie is none the wiser. When the mine is secured and my payment delivered, I will depart far from here. You will find the true rune under a loose stone in the floor of my chambers, in front of the door. The ritual phrase is “Am’zhrak tephlam, zanskriig telmephalem necht”. I trust you know what it will cost, and what it will do. Neverwinter still bears the scars from last time. Do not attempt to contact me again.

I.A.

The monks of Oghma seemed to understand the severity of the situation in question, if not the detail of what it entailed. The Unmentionables admitted that they had the runestone in their possession, much to the horror of the monks, who agreed to examine it in a private antechamber. One of the monks suggested that although he did not recognise the language of the ritual phrase, it could be Abyssal in nature. This piqued Sage's interest, as he was well versed in Abyssal, and he realised the ritual phrase was some ancient, deprecated form of the language. The only word he recognised was "necht", meaning "eight". The monks also stated that Bithrie was a common drow name.

The monks led the party to an antechamber where Sage brought out the stone, but in doing so he found himself wanting to lay his hand on the stone and speak the phrase, with a familiar voice in his head urging him: "DOOO IIIT." Regaining his senses, he quickly put the stone down on the table and backed away. The monks confirmed that the script on the stone appeared to be an ancient, lost form of Abyssal which they could not read, and also that the stone itself was old beyond reckoning. Above all else, they emphasised the importance of keeping the stone secret lest untoward hands should find it. While leaving the temple, the Unmentionables considered ensuring the stone's secrecy by burning the place to the ground, but somehow unexpected and newfound mercy stayed their flames.

The party returned to Brior Felhim at the Cloak Tower. He had successfully traced the paired sending stone to a room in the barracks of the city guard, where the party then headed to investigate. With no warrant and questionable probable cause, they tricked one of the off-duty troops in the room into unlocking the chest at the end of his bunk so it could be ransacked. Meanwhile Slythe attempted to break into another chest, not content with the delays imposed by due process. As Sage discovered the paired sending stone in the chest, Sgt Norris stormed into the room (momentarily distracted by a cloud of smoke from Charr) and demanded to know what was going on. After a shouting contest, accusations of conspiracy and threats of arrest, it was agreed that all concerned should go see General Sabine to clear it up. Off they marched to Sabine's office, where Lord Neverember was also called to be present. After more shouting and pleas of loyalty and innocence, Sabine recalled that Norris was close friends with the guard who had been detained that morning (Sgt Winifred) due to him hiring the band from the Winged Wyvern. Sabine and Neverember then agreed that Sgt Norris and Pvt Belforth "Belly" Bunton must also be detained.

In a possible attempt to redeem their authoritarian approach to investigation (while simultaneously committing an act of extreme invasion of privacy), the Unmentionables called for Sir Carac to cast a zone of truth on the prisoners so that their guilt or innocence could be determined swiftly. Sir Carac arrived, shamed and dishevelled after the previous night, and cast the spell around the soldiers in the cell. All were interrogated with various questions: Had they ever seen the sending stone before? No. Why did Winifred hire the Ribald Rapscallions? He did not recall - the memory of why he chose them was missing. Had anyone seen anyone suspicious in the barracks? No, though Belly recalled hearing a noise behind him in his room a few hours ago, yet nobody was there. Had any of them attempted to assassinate Lord Neverember or otherwise commit acts of treason or terrorism? No. Had any of them done anything for which they should be locked up? Yes - Belly had stolen a cake from the kitchens. It also transpired for no clear reason that Truss had slept with Sir Carac's sister, which was mercifully brushed aside. With their innocence established and with no further reason to hold them, the guards were released back to their duties.

Pvt Belly's earlier suggestion that someone could have framed them by planting the stone in their chest, perhaps by a thief or by magic, stuck in the minds of the Unmentionables, and suspicions were raised over what Brior Felhim had been up to while he had the other sending stone. Regardless, they decided that their next course of action should be to find a way to enter and investigate the Cloak Tower. Given that Brior had suggested he could get them low-level access if they scouted out the floating tower known as the Shard of Night, that is where they headed. Brior provided them with four potions of flying to get up there and four potions of feather fall to get back down. Downing the flying potions, the party shot into the sky, much to the surprise of the townsfolk around them, and headed for the walkway around the top of the tower. There they found a spiral staircase leading down to a door, behind which lay a huge, snoring giant in a large circular room. Pillars with broken chains stood about the room, and broken manacles clung around the beast's wrists, suggesting he had broken free at some point. The only other way out of the room was a sealed door with no obvious means of entry. A large round mirror was placed on the door. The party quietly tried various methods of entry, including speaking commands to open it, showing the word OPEN written backwards to the mirror and displaying different illusive visages to it. Nothing worked. Thus did Truss stride forth, with no concern for stealth or caution, and struck the mirror with the full might of his greatsword.

CLLLAAAAANNNNNNNNNGGGGGGAAAANNGGGGAAAANNGGGGGG.

The sword ricocheted, the mirror unharmed. And then the giant did wake with a roar...
Ruh-roh! :o

I've had the Shard of Night planned out for a while - I'm really looking forward to seeing how you guys approach it!

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Re: The return of the D&D campaign: This time it's potatoes

Post by Sly Boots » Fri Jun 21, 2019 9:55 am

If last night's session is anything to go by, it will be with much puzzlement interspersed with occasional bouts of extreme violence. :lol:

Great summary as always :)

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