Well, after a year and a half we officially ended our After Winter's Dark campaign, and tonight we begin a whole new campaign in Ilshara.
The campaign begins at roughly 3rd level, and so far the characters are as follows:
Oejios Toru - Monk/Wizard (2/2) CN Syak Human
Daxis O'Reilly - Gallowglass (Specialized Defender Fighter) (3) CG Baku Human
Ga'briel Shar'if - Knight (3) LN Zarthani Human
Willow Watersong - Druid (3) True N Wood Elf, Twin sister of:
Lily Watersong - Druid (3) True N Wood Elf
One other character waiting to be created,
and NPC: Kyra Kristani - Cleric/Rogue (2/2) CN Baku Human
Backstories and relationships are being developed - Oejios is seeking the truth of his grandfather, the wizard Ogion's death; the Knight belongs to a long family line that secretly carries the code of the Varpar Knights of ancient Zarthos; Daxis was happily married, but saw his wife die senselessly and has committed himself to defend those in need; and the 2 twin elvish druids are impish "teen" Elvish girls just now venturing into the world beyond their home in the Dantredun Forrest, and are eager seekers of adventure and knowledge. The NPC Kyra is a Cleric of Chalosz and thief, dedicated to the theory that "out of chaos comes inovation, imagination and creation," as well as being dedicated to her own future wealth.
The base for the campaign is Jendar: City of Adventure, and will be free form with the myriad of adventure hooks the city provides. The only published material I plan to use initially is The Mysterious Tower as an adventure bounty the party will be offered employment to seek out.
Hoping to be better at posting at least brief blurbs on this campaign.
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
Ilshara Campaign
First Session - Last Saturday
Character Backgrounds:
Oejios Toru is a Monk/Wizard, the grandson of the famous wizard Ogion, who came to the world of Ilshara from another world, fleeing those who wished him dead. For many decades, he mingled with the Syak on the Isle of Windmar, he being of his own world's "asian" human race. He fathered a large family, and made a living creating spells and potions far and wide, and writing popular tomes of fantasy based on the famous adventures of his home world (Greyhawk). He also mentored his grandson Oejios in the ways of wizardry, but only a year ago, Ogion was murdered. Oejios was devastated, and new only that his grandfather had recently had dealings with a "dark" woman from abroad. He found a receipt to a store in the far off city of Jendar, and thus went there to avenge his grandfather. For some time upon reaching the City, Oejios actually diverted from his purpose, sensing a need for physical and mental discipline - he joined Master Wing Cho Bu's compound and spent many months adding monk skills to his person. Now he has gone back into the city and is eager to begin his quest.
Daxis O'Reilly is a Baku human, who worked for the City enforcers for some time, until his wife was killed by a thief during a robbery. He has sworn he will do all to protect the innocent and in need, and has trained himself to the purpose of protection. He also, needless to say, despises thievery and rogues in general.
Ga'briel Shar'if - A dragoon Knight, whose family has kept alive an ancient personal code and connection to their original Zarthani roots, as his ancestors were Knights of Varpar in the ancient times across the see, who fled after the Draconic Apocalypse to Ilshara. For centuries they lived in Xanadar, but Ga'briel's great-grandparents had to flee during the Sythgar rule there, and they settled in Gulthanis on the gulf. The family adopted the ideas of balance and order of Gulthan into their code, and Ga'briel has left home to travel to Jendar, seeking adventure and his place in maintaining the balance between law and chaos in the world.
The Twins - Lilly & Willow Watersong - These two young female elvish druids were kept sheltered in their home in the Dantredun forest for some reason, then inexplicably sent forth by their Druid master. He gave each a glowing crystal to wear on a simple silk twine about their necks, but gave no explanation. They have come to the perplexing city of Jendar, and are merely in amazement of the world at large.
Kyra Kristani - NPC, a Cleric/Thief devoted to the idea that chaos is the best tool for maintaining the world. Her philosophy, abetted by her belief in the god of Chaos Chalosz, is "shake it all up and ultimately it'll all work out for the best!" She also feels this is a good philosophy for her endeavors in "liberating" possessions she covets.
In the Beginning:
The first session was to allow the group to meet. I worked with each to discover the back-story on why they had come (or in Daxis O'Reilly's case stayed) in the City of Jendar, and began as each had come to the Northsider Inn.
Oejios Toru had previously met the Cleric/Thief NPC Kyra, and began the game confabbing at a table in the main room.
The two young an impetuous Elvish druid twins had followed the Gnome Gorm, having never seen a gnome and mistaken him for a dwarf, to the bar and were watching him drink. Daxis O'Reilly has rented a private room, and has been haunting the environs looking for someone in need of his protection.
In strides Ga'briel Shar'if, who promptly and directly crosses to the barkeep and orders a drink, sitting next to Gorm. The twins, mustering courage, cross to Gorm and ask "hey - you're a dwarf, aren't you?" Gorm the gnome takes umbrage to this. Watching all of this are the rather nasty adventuring group known as Revlin's Rakers. Their leader and his buddy cross to the bar to pick on the seemingly hapless elvish girls, making jokes and kicking them. The two seem oblivious to the danger and joke back. Ga'briel stood up, and the altercation caught the notice of Kyra and Oejios, who crossed as well. At his point, Oejios took notice for the first time of the "Old Man," a regular at the Northsider, sitting to a side smoking and watching all of the proceedings. Tondos the owner intervened and warned the Raker's to back off - reminding them of house justice - at which point a number of Tondos's patrons, many of higher level, stood to intervene if necessary. All parties wiself de-escalated the tension, and the Rakers went back to their seats.
After some introductions, the players decided their was some purpose in their coming together here this evening - Ga'briel represented order, Kyra chaos, and Oejios strode between the two. There seemed some purpose in the elves, and even in their seeming innocence, when Kyra recognized the name of their Druid master and that the amulets they wore bore some magical importance. It seemed natural that the Gallowglass Daxis should also join, to undertake the responsibility of protecting the twins. Daxis demured at first, but as the rest talked the impulsive twins sprang from the inn to the streets, and Daxis instinctively followed. Upon return, the twins proved they were indeed useful as they scouted the room for information. Their "open" presence was deceiving, and they ended up overhearing quite a bit as others simply ignored them or did not take the impish pair seriously. The group thus heard all the major rumors of Jendar, giving them multiple paths to begin adventuring.
The group was especially interested in the city call for investigators into the reasons students from the Jendar university were throwing themselves more regularly from the Spire, as well as reports of a Mysterious Tower NW of town on the edges of the Dantredun, reportedly protected by a force-shield of some sort.
But first Oejios convinced the group to help him on his quest. They visited Sef Sermac's confectionary store, and a clue led them to the woodworker's shop across the street. Two thugs, Chuk and Bual, at first refused to let the group speak to Sharan the owner, who sat in the back whittling. After bribing them with gold, Oejios passed and questioned Sharan, whose manner and reaction showed definitely that he knew something of the person Oejios sought. Oejios tried to strong arm, to threaten... but the shopkeeper and his thugs warned the group of the influence of their patron, the councilman Sentifar Zon, and that he could have the enforcers there in a heartbeet. Remembering that they were of somewhat lower power (heh - my wife playing Oejios and indeed the group forgot for a moment they weren't their high-powered selves from the end of the other campaign), the group left, but determined they would follow Sharan and try to uncover what plots he is a part of.
End of 1st session - mostly a very fun evening of role-playing as they figured out the group dynamics. The impetuous twins are a blast - they will certainly have to "grow" and change as events happen - they're kind of like Merry and Pippen in LotR, except they're Druids and cast spells (rather hapazardly at first lol!)
We will have one other regular rejoining us and so my next post will cover his joining of the group. We start gaming here in about half an hour, and hope to have a good long day's adventure ahead!
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
Character Backgrounds:
Oejios Toru is a Monk/Wizard, the grandson of the famous wizard Ogion, who came to the world of Ilshara from another world, fleeing those who wished him dead. For many decades, he mingled with the Syak on the Isle of Windmar, he being of his own world's "asian" human race. He fathered a large family, and made a living creating spells and potions far and wide, and writing popular tomes of fantasy based on the famous adventures of his home world (Greyhawk). He also mentored his grandson Oejios in the ways of wizardry, but only a year ago, Ogion was murdered. Oejios was devastated, and new only that his grandfather had recently had dealings with a "dark" woman from abroad. He found a receipt to a store in the far off city of Jendar, and thus went there to avenge his grandfather. For some time upon reaching the City, Oejios actually diverted from his purpose, sensing a need for physical and mental discipline - he joined Master Wing Cho Bu's compound and spent many months adding monk skills to his person. Now he has gone back into the city and is eager to begin his quest.
Daxis O'Reilly is a Baku human, who worked for the City enforcers for some time, until his wife was killed by a thief during a robbery. He has sworn he will do all to protect the innocent and in need, and has trained himself to the purpose of protection. He also, needless to say, despises thievery and rogues in general.
Ga'briel Shar'if - A dragoon Knight, whose family has kept alive an ancient personal code and connection to their original Zarthani roots, as his ancestors were Knights of Varpar in the ancient times across the see, who fled after the Draconic Apocalypse to Ilshara. For centuries they lived in Xanadar, but Ga'briel's great-grandparents had to flee during the Sythgar rule there, and they settled in Gulthanis on the gulf. The family adopted the ideas of balance and order of Gulthan into their code, and Ga'briel has left home to travel to Jendar, seeking adventure and his place in maintaining the balance between law and chaos in the world.
The Twins - Lilly & Willow Watersong - These two young female elvish druids were kept sheltered in their home in the Dantredun forest for some reason, then inexplicably sent forth by their Druid master. He gave each a glowing crystal to wear on a simple silk twine about their necks, but gave no explanation. They have come to the perplexing city of Jendar, and are merely in amazement of the world at large.
Kyra Kristani - NPC, a Cleric/Thief devoted to the idea that chaos is the best tool for maintaining the world. Her philosophy, abetted by her belief in the god of Chaos Chalosz, is "shake it all up and ultimately it'll all work out for the best!" She also feels this is a good philosophy for her endeavors in "liberating" possessions she covets.
In the Beginning:
The first session was to allow the group to meet. I worked with each to discover the back-story on why they had come (or in Daxis O'Reilly's case stayed) in the City of Jendar, and began as each had come to the Northsider Inn.
Oejios Toru had previously met the Cleric/Thief NPC Kyra, and began the game confabbing at a table in the main room.
The two young an impetuous Elvish druid twins had followed the Gnome Gorm, having never seen a gnome and mistaken him for a dwarf, to the bar and were watching him drink. Daxis O'Reilly has rented a private room, and has been haunting the environs looking for someone in need of his protection.
In strides Ga'briel Shar'if, who promptly and directly crosses to the barkeep and orders a drink, sitting next to Gorm. The twins, mustering courage, cross to Gorm and ask "hey - you're a dwarf, aren't you?" Gorm the gnome takes umbrage to this. Watching all of this are the rather nasty adventuring group known as Revlin's Rakers. Their leader and his buddy cross to the bar to pick on the seemingly hapless elvish girls, making jokes and kicking them. The two seem oblivious to the danger and joke back. Ga'briel stood up, and the altercation caught the notice of Kyra and Oejios, who crossed as well. At his point, Oejios took notice for the first time of the "Old Man," a regular at the Northsider, sitting to a side smoking and watching all of the proceedings. Tondos the owner intervened and warned the Raker's to back off - reminding them of house justice - at which point a number of Tondos's patrons, many of higher level, stood to intervene if necessary. All parties wiself de-escalated the tension, and the Rakers went back to their seats.
After some introductions, the players decided their was some purpose in their coming together here this evening - Ga'briel represented order, Kyra chaos, and Oejios strode between the two. There seemed some purpose in the elves, and even in their seeming innocence, when Kyra recognized the name of their Druid master and that the amulets they wore bore some magical importance. It seemed natural that the Gallowglass Daxis should also join, to undertake the responsibility of protecting the twins. Daxis demured at first, but as the rest talked the impulsive twins sprang from the inn to the streets, and Daxis instinctively followed. Upon return, the twins proved they were indeed useful as they scouted the room for information. Their "open" presence was deceiving, and they ended up overhearing quite a bit as others simply ignored them or did not take the impish pair seriously. The group thus heard all the major rumors of Jendar, giving them multiple paths to begin adventuring.
The group was especially interested in the city call for investigators into the reasons students from the Jendar university were throwing themselves more regularly from the Spire, as well as reports of a Mysterious Tower NW of town on the edges of the Dantredun, reportedly protected by a force-shield of some sort.
But first Oejios convinced the group to help him on his quest. They visited Sef Sermac's confectionary store, and a clue led them to the woodworker's shop across the street. Two thugs, Chuk and Bual, at first refused to let the group speak to Sharan the owner, who sat in the back whittling. After bribing them with gold, Oejios passed and questioned Sharan, whose manner and reaction showed definitely that he knew something of the person Oejios sought. Oejios tried to strong arm, to threaten... but the shopkeeper and his thugs warned the group of the influence of their patron, the councilman Sentifar Zon, and that he could have the enforcers there in a heartbeet. Remembering that they were of somewhat lower power (heh - my wife playing Oejios and indeed the group forgot for a moment they weren't their high-powered selves from the end of the other campaign), the group left, but determined they would follow Sharan and try to uncover what plots he is a part of.
End of 1st session - mostly a very fun evening of role-playing as they figured out the group dynamics. The impetuous twins are a blast - they will certainly have to "grow" and change as events happen - they're kind of like Merry and Pippen in LotR, except they're Druids and cast spells (rather hapazardly at first lol!)
We will have one other regular rejoining us and so my next post will cover his joining of the group. We start gaming here in about half an hour, and hope to have a good long day's adventure ahead!
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
Session Two
We had a good, long full session on Sunday. Our other regular joined, deciding to play:
Stark, Dwarven Monk CN (3) - A strange and unique Dwarf who left his home in Zanatas-Ur seeking, to the dismay of his clan, martial achievement through the purity of the body rather than through stone and steel.
The group began by returning to the Northsider inn while Kyra tracked Sharan the woodworker. While waiting, Ga'briel approached and struck up conversation with an elderly Knight of Ilshara in the tavern, learning a bit more of the history of the area and a fact about the Sythgar that Ga'briel seeks knowledge of - that, after the fall of empire, they returned to the "master-apprentice" model and the desire to manipulate events in secret... Ga'briel learns of the legend of Rathe, a Sythgar apprentice to the defeated Slar warlord who may have escaped to Jendar following that crisis.
Meanwhile, Daxis continues his unenviable task of "protecting" the twins, who decide to play cards with her... an amusing interaction in which they throw cards onto the table and declare themselves the winner. Daxis informs the other party members he may need more renumeration, whatever his committed desire might be. Doth Gundgren the northman sauntered over and became quite bemused as well.
The Dwarf Stark had earlier arrived at the Northsider, seeking a party to join. The owner Tondos suggested talking to Oejios and so Stark had awaited his return. When the group had arrived, as Daxis and the twins had begun their games and Ga'briel began to talk to the Knight, he had approached and introduced himself to Oejios. Despite the presence of the two annoying elven druids in the party, a point that gave Stark much pause, he agreed to join the companions.
At this point, Kyra returned from her recon and reported that Sharan had entered the high quarter, and one to a manor of one Isabella Tordan, a notorious woman who's family was known for its duplicity. She also reported that a rather rich and wealthy man had arrived in a well-appointed coach with an entourage, a man she couldn't see clearly as he entered.
At first the group thought of penetrating the high quarter and staking out the house, but Ga'briel suggested this might cause problems as neither he nor the Gallowglass Daxis could move stealthily, and the high quarter had strong presence of the city Enforcerers. "It wouldn't be good to get arrested trying to spy on the bad guys, especially if they have a lot of influence in the city." An alternate plan was developed, using the cover of many people in the streets as the evening's theatrical spectacle ends at the amphitheatre, to observe the gate from the highquarter into the city from a small outdoor tavern across the way. The attention of the party is diverted slightly, however, when notorious young thief Mari tries to rob Ga'briel and is caught. The chance that enforcers would be near proved true, especially in light of the crowd. The enforcers were ready to haul the 13-year old scamp of a thief in, but Stark made an excuse and said "she was just helping our friend recover his belongings, isn't that true?" and Mari the thief answered, "yeah! yeah!" Stark tossed her a g.p., and she returned Ga'briel's pouch. Stark then proceeded to arrogantly suggest to the enforcers they leave well enough alone, prompting a slight confrontation with the group itself. Luckily, one of the enforcers knew Daxis and he was able to settle things.
During all of this, the group almost misses what they were there for. Luckily, the perceptions of the twins (whatever their immaturities) allows them to see Sharan leaving with the rich man on his coach. They see Sharan get off and head back W towards his shop while the man and his coach head south towards the dock quarter. Kyra can see the wealthy man this time, and recognizes him as Sentifar Zon, head of the El River Merchant's Association. She heads S to follow him, while the other group heads W after Sharan. The woodworker seems to be preoccupied and upset, and goes to his apartment above his store, where successful listening reveals him muttering and destroying documents. Oejios enters with Stark, while Ga'briel comes up the stairs, standing watch. The startled Sharan yells, threatening Oejios, who casts mage hand and pushes the man into the wall. Sharan tries to throw a poison dart, but Oejios avoids it. Stark and Oejios try to question Sharan, but only get out of him that he is a liaison between Sentifar Zon and the assassin's guild, Midnight Darkness. The group determines that he is an apostate of the evil goddess Nurina, and Stark kills him after Daxis and the twins have arrived. The twins are shaken, seeing death for the first time. but have to see it again soon as Sharan's thugs Chuk and Baul return and attack. It's a fairly short battle, but the twins flee, looking for a park to be near nature and contemplate things. Daxis goes in search, while the others arrange the bodies to look like it was a "hit" by someone looking to exact revenge on the three, as their search reveals the trio are assassins and cultists of Nurina. Stark takes a small statue of the goddess and puts it in his bag. Some money, treasure, and some records that refer to a "Serena, the dark lady," an assassin who was hired to go abroad to the W to kill a wizard at the request of Sentifar Zon a year hence, which is information Oejios wants.
Soon, all are back at the Northsider, Kyra reports on how well guarded and insulated Zon is, the twins are quiet, perhaps for the 1st time, and the group contemplates its next move. A decision is made that, no matter what, they are not yet powerful or connected enough to take on Zon and the El River Merchant's Guild at this time, so they decide to explore some of the other rumors and adventuring possibilities to gain experience and wealth, vowing to keep an eye on Zon and the goings on in the city.
Of all the rumors and info the group has heard, there are 4 they are most interested in:
The word of a Mysterious Tower to the N and W of the city, on the edge of the Dantredun about a day and a half march from Travel Town - supposedly encapsulated by a force shield.
There are rumors of undead in the NE quarter of the city cemetary, a problem that hasn't happened in many a year.
Several small children have disappeared to the W into the outgrowth of the Dantredun known as the "dark forest,"
And, there has been a rise in students from the Jendar University killing themselves by throwing themselves off the Spire at noon.
After deliberating, and seeing the desire of the twins to both get close to nature and their excitement at potentially helping children, the group decides to head off at mid-day the next day to the farm where the children have gone missing from, and to track and solve the missing kids' case.
In the morning before going, several members go shopping for minor equipment needs, Ga'briel spends several hours researching the history of the area and any legends of the Sythgar in the Great Library of Jendar, while Stark, impulsively, goes to the El River Merchant's Guild and asks for a job. The bemused female clerk tells him he can "audition" to be a bruiser, one of Sentifar's private police force that command the docks area, but he must come back in the morning to see Crom the Ugly, the Half-Orc head of the bruisers.
Once gathered together, the group heads out through the N gate, turning W to the farms to begin their first major adventure.
End Part I of Session II - the 2nd half of the day was the track of the missing children to a lair of Gnolls and their Goblin servants deep in the dark woods. I will report on that in the next day or so.
I am really enjoying the dynamics of the game so far - it is always fun to restart with a totally new campaign, and this one being in my world is setting up quite nicely.
I like that we are starting in a major city, and that the game is moving organically by the player's choices. They had about a dozen hooks to follow (basically all the primary rumors from my Gazetteer on Jendar), narrowed them to 3 plus the rumor about the Mysterious Tower mod I added, and they are definitely defining the course of their own campaign arc.
As I said, will continue posting for the 2nd half of the session shortly - we covered alot of ground during our 7 hour session - god I love the ease and swiftness of C&C!!
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
We had a good, long full session on Sunday. Our other regular joined, deciding to play:
Stark, Dwarven Monk CN (3) - A strange and unique Dwarf who left his home in Zanatas-Ur seeking, to the dismay of his clan, martial achievement through the purity of the body rather than through stone and steel.
The group began by returning to the Northsider inn while Kyra tracked Sharan the woodworker. While waiting, Ga'briel approached and struck up conversation with an elderly Knight of Ilshara in the tavern, learning a bit more of the history of the area and a fact about the Sythgar that Ga'briel seeks knowledge of - that, after the fall of empire, they returned to the "master-apprentice" model and the desire to manipulate events in secret... Ga'briel learns of the legend of Rathe, a Sythgar apprentice to the defeated Slar warlord who may have escaped to Jendar following that crisis.
Meanwhile, Daxis continues his unenviable task of "protecting" the twins, who decide to play cards with her... an amusing interaction in which they throw cards onto the table and declare themselves the winner. Daxis informs the other party members he may need more renumeration, whatever his committed desire might be. Doth Gundgren the northman sauntered over and became quite bemused as well.
The Dwarf Stark had earlier arrived at the Northsider, seeking a party to join. The owner Tondos suggested talking to Oejios and so Stark had awaited his return. When the group had arrived, as Daxis and the twins had begun their games and Ga'briel began to talk to the Knight, he had approached and introduced himself to Oejios. Despite the presence of the two annoying elven druids in the party, a point that gave Stark much pause, he agreed to join the companions.
At this point, Kyra returned from her recon and reported that Sharan had entered the high quarter, and one to a manor of one Isabella Tordan, a notorious woman who's family was known for its duplicity. She also reported that a rather rich and wealthy man had arrived in a well-appointed coach with an entourage, a man she couldn't see clearly as he entered.
At first the group thought of penetrating the high quarter and staking out the house, but Ga'briel suggested this might cause problems as neither he nor the Gallowglass Daxis could move stealthily, and the high quarter had strong presence of the city Enforcerers. "It wouldn't be good to get arrested trying to spy on the bad guys, especially if they have a lot of influence in the city." An alternate plan was developed, using the cover of many people in the streets as the evening's theatrical spectacle ends at the amphitheatre, to observe the gate from the highquarter into the city from a small outdoor tavern across the way. The attention of the party is diverted slightly, however, when notorious young thief Mari tries to rob Ga'briel and is caught. The chance that enforcers would be near proved true, especially in light of the crowd. The enforcers were ready to haul the 13-year old scamp of a thief in, but Stark made an excuse and said "she was just helping our friend recover his belongings, isn't that true?" and Mari the thief answered, "yeah! yeah!" Stark tossed her a g.p., and she returned Ga'briel's pouch. Stark then proceeded to arrogantly suggest to the enforcers they leave well enough alone, prompting a slight confrontation with the group itself. Luckily, one of the enforcers knew Daxis and he was able to settle things.
During all of this, the group almost misses what they were there for. Luckily, the perceptions of the twins (whatever their immaturities) allows them to see Sharan leaving with the rich man on his coach. They see Sharan get off and head back W towards his shop while the man and his coach head south towards the dock quarter. Kyra can see the wealthy man this time, and recognizes him as Sentifar Zon, head of the El River Merchant's Association. She heads S to follow him, while the other group heads W after Sharan. The woodworker seems to be preoccupied and upset, and goes to his apartment above his store, where successful listening reveals him muttering and destroying documents. Oejios enters with Stark, while Ga'briel comes up the stairs, standing watch. The startled Sharan yells, threatening Oejios, who casts mage hand and pushes the man into the wall. Sharan tries to throw a poison dart, but Oejios avoids it. Stark and Oejios try to question Sharan, but only get out of him that he is a liaison between Sentifar Zon and the assassin's guild, Midnight Darkness. The group determines that he is an apostate of the evil goddess Nurina, and Stark kills him after Daxis and the twins have arrived. The twins are shaken, seeing death for the first time. but have to see it again soon as Sharan's thugs Chuk and Baul return and attack. It's a fairly short battle, but the twins flee, looking for a park to be near nature and contemplate things. Daxis goes in search, while the others arrange the bodies to look like it was a "hit" by someone looking to exact revenge on the three, as their search reveals the trio are assassins and cultists of Nurina. Stark takes a small statue of the goddess and puts it in his bag. Some money, treasure, and some records that refer to a "Serena, the dark lady," an assassin who was hired to go abroad to the W to kill a wizard at the request of Sentifar Zon a year hence, which is information Oejios wants.
Soon, all are back at the Northsider, Kyra reports on how well guarded and insulated Zon is, the twins are quiet, perhaps for the 1st time, and the group contemplates its next move. A decision is made that, no matter what, they are not yet powerful or connected enough to take on Zon and the El River Merchant's Guild at this time, so they decide to explore some of the other rumors and adventuring possibilities to gain experience and wealth, vowing to keep an eye on Zon and the goings on in the city.
Of all the rumors and info the group has heard, there are 4 they are most interested in:
The word of a Mysterious Tower to the N and W of the city, on the edge of the Dantredun about a day and a half march from Travel Town - supposedly encapsulated by a force shield.
There are rumors of undead in the NE quarter of the city cemetary, a problem that hasn't happened in many a year.
Several small children have disappeared to the W into the outgrowth of the Dantredun known as the "dark forest,"
And, there has been a rise in students from the Jendar University killing themselves by throwing themselves off the Spire at noon.
After deliberating, and seeing the desire of the twins to both get close to nature and their excitement at potentially helping children, the group decides to head off at mid-day the next day to the farm where the children have gone missing from, and to track and solve the missing kids' case.
In the morning before going, several members go shopping for minor equipment needs, Ga'briel spends several hours researching the history of the area and any legends of the Sythgar in the Great Library of Jendar, while Stark, impulsively, goes to the El River Merchant's Guild and asks for a job. The bemused female clerk tells him he can "audition" to be a bruiser, one of Sentifar's private police force that command the docks area, but he must come back in the morning to see Crom the Ugly, the Half-Orc head of the bruisers.
Once gathered together, the group heads out through the N gate, turning W to the farms to begin their first major adventure.
End Part I of Session II - the 2nd half of the day was the track of the missing children to a lair of Gnolls and their Goblin servants deep in the dark woods. I will report on that in the next day or so.
I am really enjoying the dynamics of the game so far - it is always fun to restart with a totally new campaign, and this one being in my world is setting up quite nicely.
I like that we are starting in a major city, and that the game is moving organically by the player's choices. They had about a dozen hooks to follow (basically all the primary rumors from my Gazetteer on Jendar), narrowed them to 3 plus the rumor about the Mysterious Tower mod I added, and they are definitely defining the course of their own campaign arc.
As I said, will continue posting for the 2nd half of the session shortly - we covered alot of ground during our 7 hour session - god I love the ease and swiftness of C&C!!
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
Session 2 - Part II
The party went to the farm and question. The distraught farmer and his wife first didn't trust the group, as Stark and Oejios were rather abrupt with them, and the farmer believes his children to already be dead.
So the group began to scout around. The Druid Twins, finding the tracks of several goblins and a gnoll, track them W into the woods.
After a day's hard track, the party found the lair of the foul beasts - a cave on a forested hill deep within the Dark Wood. They surprised the sentry goblins, with the druids rushing up and cheerful because "these are icky monsters, not real people - we can kill them." The Druids were surprisingly effective with their staffs as weapons too, especially beating down on the goblins' heads from the ledge above.
The party engaged the complex, moving through the passage down and Kyra disarming some traps, although one failed, a warning trap that surely alerted someone to the groups' presence.
A central room gave way to three doors, and the party chose to go L, opening the door to surprise 4 Gnolls eating some fould meets and stew in front of a boiling pot. Stark the Dwarven monk, with great courage and little sense, when charging, jumping across the table and trying to kick the main gnoll back into the pot. It worked, and the gnoll shrieked as his butt sank into the steaming cauldron.
As the battle continued, a force of six goblins, including a shaman, came from the other side and engaged the rest of the party in the other room. After dealing some pretty strong damage to one or two of the party members, the Druid Lily cast entangle into the hallway, and Willow turned and cast obscuring mist through the entire room. Battle on this end became, hmm, quite interesting....
Shortly the group managed to dispatch both groups, but the shaman fled to the E. The group followed, and discovered a gnoll leader and the shaman in a temple to Brax. Battle again insued, and the two were dealt with. As the rest of the party searched, getting loot and stuff from the two and the alter and finding a secret door to the Gnoll leader's room, the 2 Druids became a little too excitable with the attitude of "we won, we won," and began running about the room haphazardly. They managed in these exhortions to trip a rune symbol, which began conjuring undead foes. The 1st, skeletons, were easily dispatachable by the Cleric's turning and Dax's sword, but the 2nd, a Ghoul, did some hefty damage - especially as only 1 person had a magically imbued weapon. Oejios' magic missiles helped here, and eventually the party prevailed.
The party looted the rest, and found what they thought were the 2 kids in cells in another part. Little did they realize these were doppleganger-cats, who had take the form of the children to be released (the real children having been cooked and sadly on the plates the gnolls were digesting) - there was some plan to disrupt the city and the gnolls and their goblin thugs were getting paid by someone in town.
Luckily, the twins spotted something about the "kids" just as they delivered them to their farmer family, and a battle ensued. The creatures were ultimately destroyed, but they nearly killed Willow. The farmer's wife was killed, and struk by anguish and horror the farmer lit his house on fire from within, killing himself while the battle raged just outside. (yeah - it was kinda dark here - I was making sure to give "impetus" to the twins transforming from complete playful innocents to more maturity by things they witnessed).
The group returned to the Northsider afterwards to consider their next move, adventure.
They gained some wealth and experience, but looked forward to more in the future.
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
The party went to the farm and question. The distraught farmer and his wife first didn't trust the group, as Stark and Oejios were rather abrupt with them, and the farmer believes his children to already be dead.
So the group began to scout around. The Druid Twins, finding the tracks of several goblins and a gnoll, track them W into the woods.
After a day's hard track, the party found the lair of the foul beasts - a cave on a forested hill deep within the Dark Wood. They surprised the sentry goblins, with the druids rushing up and cheerful because "these are icky monsters, not real people - we can kill them." The Druids were surprisingly effective with their staffs as weapons too, especially beating down on the goblins' heads from the ledge above.
The party engaged the complex, moving through the passage down and Kyra disarming some traps, although one failed, a warning trap that surely alerted someone to the groups' presence.
A central room gave way to three doors, and the party chose to go L, opening the door to surprise 4 Gnolls eating some fould meets and stew in front of a boiling pot. Stark the Dwarven monk, with great courage and little sense, when charging, jumping across the table and trying to kick the main gnoll back into the pot. It worked, and the gnoll shrieked as his butt sank into the steaming cauldron.
As the battle continued, a force of six goblins, including a shaman, came from the other side and engaged the rest of the party in the other room. After dealing some pretty strong damage to one or two of the party members, the Druid Lily cast entangle into the hallway, and Willow turned and cast obscuring mist through the entire room. Battle on this end became, hmm, quite interesting....
Shortly the group managed to dispatch both groups, but the shaman fled to the E. The group followed, and discovered a gnoll leader and the shaman in a temple to Brax. Battle again insued, and the two were dealt with. As the rest of the party searched, getting loot and stuff from the two and the alter and finding a secret door to the Gnoll leader's room, the 2 Druids became a little too excitable with the attitude of "we won, we won," and began running about the room haphazardly. They managed in these exhortions to trip a rune symbol, which began conjuring undead foes. The 1st, skeletons, were easily dispatachable by the Cleric's turning and Dax's sword, but the 2nd, a Ghoul, did some hefty damage - especially as only 1 person had a magically imbued weapon. Oejios' magic missiles helped here, and eventually the party prevailed.
The party looted the rest, and found what they thought were the 2 kids in cells in another part. Little did they realize these were doppleganger-cats, who had take the form of the children to be released (the real children having been cooked and sadly on the plates the gnolls were digesting) - there was some plan to disrupt the city and the gnolls and their goblin thugs were getting paid by someone in town.
Luckily, the twins spotted something about the "kids" just as they delivered them to their farmer family, and a battle ensued. The creatures were ultimately destroyed, but they nearly killed Willow. The farmer's wife was killed, and struk by anguish and horror the farmer lit his house on fire from within, killing himself while the battle raged just outside. (yeah - it was kinda dark here - I was making sure to give "impetus" to the twins transforming from complete playful innocents to more maturity by things they witnessed).
The group returned to the Northsider afterwards to consider their next move, adventure.
They gained some wealth and experience, but looked forward to more in the future.
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
Session 3 - Last night, Sat. Dec. 13, 2008
I'll make this one rather short, as it was a pretty straightforward city and under-city adventure, with some cool stuff - and a pretty devastating battle that nearly undid the party altogether.
First, as the group sat in the Northsider considering their next move, they reviewed the 12 or so rumors or adventure possibilities they had uncovered.
I can happily say, without any prompting from me, my players decided this "old school." Rather than pick (and they were debating if the cemetary or the reported "ghost ship" in the lake were too far above them), they decided instead to go by chance. They rolled a d12 and went with the corresponding rumor. So, they picked a report of some strange ore being offloaded at the barge docks at night and being carted W out of the city.
The 1st part of the session involved them scouting about the barge docks, interacting with some surely gnomes, gathering info and scouting the warehouses till they found the one containing the ore in question. They battled some guards, both inside and out, and found crates and crates of a strange, light black ore in bricks that seemed to "breathe" and perspire, giving its surface a greasy feel. The Druids sensed that this ore was "living," and the party became a bit stumped as they put the inanimate bricks on the floor, petting them and saying "go, be free..." to no avail.
A trap door to the sewers below was discovered, and the party tramped downwards into the mucky underworld. It wasn't hard to follow the fleeing thug who came this way, and soon the party battled some pig-crocs (my own monster hybrid ), one of which sunk his teeth into Stark and drug the Dwarven Monk into the filth of the sewer water.
Eventually the group tracked the thug to a cistern/mechanical room, and discovered a group of ruffians, including 2 fighters, an assassin and a wizard, packing their belongings to leave. They engaged, and at first the battle did not go well. Some poor rolls led to Stark finding himself prone and injured in front of the main swordsman, while the evil dwarf fighter was weilding a chain and ball weapon to great effect. The wizard cast sleep, and my party was suddenly down to Dax the defender (who was out of range) and the Elvish Druids, who were hurt badly and ended up huddled and crying once out of spells. Luckily, Dax absorbed much of the damage and managed to kill two of the ruffians with his greatsword. Ga'briel came too and managed to chase and kill the Dwarf ruffian, but the other two managed to climb through a manhole to the street above.
Unfortunately, during the battle several spells including burning hands and Dax's sword pretty much destroyed the chest and its contents, though the group did discover a letter signed by a "TM" offering the ruffians 1000 gold to guard their merchandise.
The group pretended to be the ruffians, hoping that whomever showed might not know the faces of the thugs, and waited while Dax took the injured eleves back to the Northsider. True enough, several dark dwarves and a human wearing black showed up for the 1st portion of the ore, and bought the party's deception, giving them a bank draft on the El River Merchant Association account to pay 1000 g.p. Ga'briel and Oejios headed to the bank to get the money, while Stark and Kyra stayed and ambushed the dwarves and guy as they returned. They also dumped the remainder of the "ore" into the bay thereafter.
On returning to the Northsider, Kyra sees the Druids petting the bricks, crosses over and casts detect evil. They glow. She tells the "kids" - "I wouldn't be so friendly with those." Interestingly, a young innocent looking girl nearby also glowed, and got up fuming "damn it!" and left in a huff.
The group rested, and decided to utilize their earnings to procure private rooms for the most part.
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
I'll make this one rather short, as it was a pretty straightforward city and under-city adventure, with some cool stuff - and a pretty devastating battle that nearly undid the party altogether.
First, as the group sat in the Northsider considering their next move, they reviewed the 12 or so rumors or adventure possibilities they had uncovered.
I can happily say, without any prompting from me, my players decided this "old school." Rather than pick (and they were debating if the cemetary or the reported "ghost ship" in the lake were too far above them), they decided instead to go by chance. They rolled a d12 and went with the corresponding rumor. So, they picked a report of some strange ore being offloaded at the barge docks at night and being carted W out of the city.
The 1st part of the session involved them scouting about the barge docks, interacting with some surely gnomes, gathering info and scouting the warehouses till they found the one containing the ore in question. They battled some guards, both inside and out, and found crates and crates of a strange, light black ore in bricks that seemed to "breathe" and perspire, giving its surface a greasy feel. The Druids sensed that this ore was "living," and the party became a bit stumped as they put the inanimate bricks on the floor, petting them and saying "go, be free..." to no avail.
A trap door to the sewers below was discovered, and the party tramped downwards into the mucky underworld. It wasn't hard to follow the fleeing thug who came this way, and soon the party battled some pig-crocs (my own monster hybrid ), one of which sunk his teeth into Stark and drug the Dwarven Monk into the filth of the sewer water.
Eventually the group tracked the thug to a cistern/mechanical room, and discovered a group of ruffians, including 2 fighters, an assassin and a wizard, packing their belongings to leave. They engaged, and at first the battle did not go well. Some poor rolls led to Stark finding himself prone and injured in front of the main swordsman, while the evil dwarf fighter was weilding a chain and ball weapon to great effect. The wizard cast sleep, and my party was suddenly down to Dax the defender (who was out of range) and the Elvish Druids, who were hurt badly and ended up huddled and crying once out of spells. Luckily, Dax absorbed much of the damage and managed to kill two of the ruffians with his greatsword. Ga'briel came too and managed to chase and kill the Dwarf ruffian, but the other two managed to climb through a manhole to the street above.
Unfortunately, during the battle several spells including burning hands and Dax's sword pretty much destroyed the chest and its contents, though the group did discover a letter signed by a "TM" offering the ruffians 1000 gold to guard their merchandise.
The group pretended to be the ruffians, hoping that whomever showed might not know the faces of the thugs, and waited while Dax took the injured eleves back to the Northsider. True enough, several dark dwarves and a human wearing black showed up for the 1st portion of the ore, and bought the party's deception, giving them a bank draft on the El River Merchant Association account to pay 1000 g.p. Ga'briel and Oejios headed to the bank to get the money, while Stark and Kyra stayed and ambushed the dwarves and guy as they returned. They also dumped the remainder of the "ore" into the bay thereafter.
On returning to the Northsider, Kyra sees the Druids petting the bricks, crosses over and casts detect evil. They glow. She tells the "kids" - "I wouldn't be so friendly with those." Interestingly, a young innocent looking girl nearby also glowed, and got up fuming "damn it!" and left in a huff.
The group rested, and decided to utilize their earnings to procure private rooms for the most part.
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
Session 4 - Last Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008.
Our previous foster son, who's since returned to his home, came to visit us on respite and we let him play with our group - he turned 13 that day actually. He rolled up a big barbarian named Koke (I applied my 2 house-rules for barbarian: starting at 2nd level, once per combat (while not in fury) they can apply a "savage burst" attack, which either gives them a single additional attack during one round, or adds +3 to damage (decision to be made before action); and, 2, that primal fury undergoes a % chance that the barbarian will attack a teammate if other monsters are killed, % diminishing the closer to end of fury rd it is).
The player playing Stark, the Dwarven Monk, could not join us, so Stark was off exploring his "quest" for meditative techniques amongst the martial denizens of the city of Jendar.
This time the group finally decided to see what was going on at the Jendar Cemetary - the Druid of Miribar who oversees the cemetary gave them a bounty of 100 g.p. per undead killed, plus 500 g.p. at the end of the overall quest if they discovered who or what was behind the rash of undead - skeletons and zombies.
The group basically spent the day working through 3 encounters - a Wight that had taken up residence in one of the newer Mausoleums... a large group of skeletons, that became more of a challenge as the Cleric really failed badly at trying to turn them, and then a real deadly underground (through a crypt - a necromancer had taken up residence and was using the cursed remains of an ancient villainous wizard buried deep below to create undead). The party actually came close to a TPK, as massive zombie slams and some bad choices with web crapped them out for several rounds.... but in the end they prevailed.
Playing again today - Stark is still MIA but should be fun.... hoping to get them onto a big trek to the Mysterious Tower before they get too powerful for it.
PS - Our visitor Quintin, who played the barbarian Koke, is now addicted and loved the game - he picked it up pretty easily.
One weird thing - one player is having a real bad curse of rolling - she's playing a buffed up fighter, with good bonuses - but I've NEVER seen someone who rolls like 2, 3 or 4, or nat 1 MOST of the time... it's becoming a big joke - people offering her their dice, and then the rolls come out bad too... anyone ever had that happen??
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
Our previous foster son, who's since returned to his home, came to visit us on respite and we let him play with our group - he turned 13 that day actually. He rolled up a big barbarian named Koke (I applied my 2 house-rules for barbarian: starting at 2nd level, once per combat (while not in fury) they can apply a "savage burst" attack, which either gives them a single additional attack during one round, or adds +3 to damage (decision to be made before action); and, 2, that primal fury undergoes a % chance that the barbarian will attack a teammate if other monsters are killed, % diminishing the closer to end of fury rd it is).
The player playing Stark, the Dwarven Monk, could not join us, so Stark was off exploring his "quest" for meditative techniques amongst the martial denizens of the city of Jendar.
This time the group finally decided to see what was going on at the Jendar Cemetary - the Druid of Miribar who oversees the cemetary gave them a bounty of 100 g.p. per undead killed, plus 500 g.p. at the end of the overall quest if they discovered who or what was behind the rash of undead - skeletons and zombies.
The group basically spent the day working through 3 encounters - a Wight that had taken up residence in one of the newer Mausoleums... a large group of skeletons, that became more of a challenge as the Cleric really failed badly at trying to turn them, and then a real deadly underground (through a crypt - a necromancer had taken up residence and was using the cursed remains of an ancient villainous wizard buried deep below to create undead). The party actually came close to a TPK, as massive zombie slams and some bad choices with web crapped them out for several rounds.... but in the end they prevailed.
Playing again today - Stark is still MIA but should be fun.... hoping to get them onto a big trek to the Mysterious Tower before they get too powerful for it.
PS - Our visitor Quintin, who played the barbarian Koke, is now addicted and loved the game - he picked it up pretty easily.
One weird thing - one player is having a real bad curse of rolling - she's playing a buffed up fighter, with good bonuses - but I've NEVER seen someone who rolls like 2, 3 or 4, or nat 1 MOST of the time... it's becoming a big joke - people offering her their dice, and then the rolls come out bad too... anyone ever had that happen??
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
Heh - we're actually in the middle of playing here - but on break I thought I'd share -
As the group got hired by the city to explore the recently discovered ancient tunnels under the Jendar citadel, a brainstorm occurred - I ran to my shelf and pulled B4 out, and am adapting the Lost City (the Cynicidean's) to be an ancient, forgotten Baku group who's city was lost beneath these lands long before even the Dwarves inhabited Zanatas-Ur to the north...
Got to amp up the difficulty level a bit, but I am loving the idea of the "lost city" UNDER the city they know....
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
As the group got hired by the city to explore the recently discovered ancient tunnels under the Jendar citadel, a brainstorm occurred - I ran to my shelf and pulled B4 out, and am adapting the Lost City (the Cynicidean's) to be an ancient, forgotten Baku group who's city was lost beneath these lands long before even the Dwarves inhabited Zanatas-Ur to the north...
Got to amp up the difficulty level a bit, but I am loving the idea of the "lost city" UNDER the city they know....
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
The party finished exploring the Lost City, discovered in ancient caverns under the land NW of Jendar.
During the last two sessions (we had some off weeks due to circumstances in life), two successive NPC Clerics bit the dust, and one of my players decided he wanted to not play the other twin Lily anymore - which led to a great campaign hook as she got kidnapped into the slave trade in Ilshara, and the group is now on a quest to try and find her, with the tendrils of this leading back to the same evil society and organizations that were responsible for the death of Ojeos's grandfather, and right now the group has chartered passage south - heading towards Gulthan and then to Marshburg to track the lost druid twin.
The player (Destro on the boards) just prefers more machiavelian, scheming players - he's going to be a rogue now.
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org
During the last two sessions (we had some off weeks due to circumstances in life), two successive NPC Clerics bit the dust, and one of my players decided he wanted to not play the other twin Lily anymore - which led to a great campaign hook as she got kidnapped into the slave trade in Ilshara, and the group is now on a quest to try and find her, with the tendrils of this leading back to the same evil society and organizations that were responsible for the death of Ojeos's grandfather, and right now the group has chartered passage south - heading towards Gulthan and then to Marshburg to track the lost druid twin.
The player (Destro on the boards) just prefers more machiavelian, scheming players - he's going to be a rogue now.
_________________
John "Sir Seskis" Wright
Ilshara: Lands of Exile:
http://johnwright281.tripod.com/
High Squire of the C&C Society
www.cncsociety.org