jimmytwo-legs

[jimmytwo-legs]

Session Three Recap:

Everyone leaps out of bed and runs to Zed’s room. They see a tall cloaked figure grabbing Zed and dragging her out of the window. Zed’s magical disguise begins to fail and reveals that she has shoulder-length frizzy ginger hair, round silver spectacles, and freckles dot her face. She’s fighting the cloaked figure’s firm grip as he pulls them both out the window. Owyn starts to clamber out the window, dropping from the first floor. Zed’s assailant pulls out a scroll with some difficulty due to Zed struggling and reads from it. They don’t make a sound as reality shifts around them, teleporting the pair away.

Rinavere and Scritch search the room. They find a bag of 100 gold coins, which Rinavere takes and distributes to the party, and a scrunched note on the bed. It reads:

We have him and the book.

Come to Tarryport before the full moon alone if you want them back.

There is a symbol that Rinavere recognises, An upright feather. She shows the note to the others and then tucks it away. Owyn starts to come back into the inn; as the party head downstairs to meet him, they are interrupted by a concerned Bede. He tells them that he sent Sealegs to go check on the tunnels under the meetinghouse, as she had picked up a rumour that there were some people active in the tunnels. The party ask him why there are tunnels under the meetinghouse, and he explains that Tarryport is used as a stopover for Smuggler’s Cove. The tunnels had been abandoned recently as something horrible had moved in, so those involved in the trade boarded up the tunnel and abandoned the route. He begs the party to check on Sealegs, as she was supposed to be back by now and provides them with information for accessing the tunnel.

The party run up the hill to the meeting house, it is early in the morning, and the only person around is a sleepy guard by the docks that gives them a nod. They arrive at the meetinghouse and go inside, as the door is shut but not locked. It’s a large, grand building that has a lot of wooden benches that are able to be shifted aside for events. The party exited and made their way to the bushes on the side of the hill, as instructed by Bede. Owyn picks up some stones for his sling, and Rinavere casts light on a stick to provide some light for those that need it. They discover the trapdoor leading to the dungeon, which shows signs of recent use and descend down the ladder into the darkness.

They find a stone and dirt room hewn into the rock. Lit torches line the walls casting a dim light. There are a couple of barrels in the entryway, and Scritch takes great interest in them. She inspects both, finding them full of red wine and decides to empty one out and flip it over and climb underneath to use as cover, inching towards the larger room at a slow but stealthy pace.

Towards the end of the corridor leading to the main room, the party can see a small figure on the ground in the dim light. It’s sealegs, and she’s barely moving. As the party move towards her, the cloaked figure from Zed’s room steps into the light and smiles. His hood is down, revealing a shaven head and a pallid complexion. He concentrates for a brief moment before casting a Sacred Flame on Sealegs. She withers as he exits the room laughing. The party runs to Sealegs as she succumbs to her wounds.    

Four burly thugs dressed in similar garb to the acolyte run from the other door in the room prepared to dispatch the intruders. The party prepare for a fight to avenge their fallen friend. Nadaar and Owyn begin brawling with two of the thugs, swords and Warhammers swinging through the air as they trade blows. Rinavere spots the acolyte, who has returned to offer magical support to the thugs and beelines towards him. Scritch slowly inches forward, hidden and unnoticed under the barrel. Rinavere casts inflict wounds on the acolyte, who sustains heavy damage and decides to flee. Owyn bisects a thug, severing his legs from his torso and continues his enraged assault on another who has heavily wounded Nadaar. Scritch gets close enough to viciously mock one of the remaining thugs, which greatly upsets him. The other, she sneaks up to under the barrel, intending to disable him by stabbing him in the knee. Unknown to everyone in the room, this thug bore a similar curse to the great hero Achilles, and his knee was his mortal weakness. She gave a hearty poke to the thug’s knee, causing an explosion of blood, slaying him instantly.

Rinavere chased after the acolyte, determined to inflict a deadlier wound on her weakened quarry. She finds him further up the corridor and burns a hole through his chest. His screams echo throughout the tunnels. She searches his body, finding a little brass key and the same symbol of the Illuminated branded into what remains of his chest.

Nadaar is heavily weakened and knocked unconscious by the remaining thug. Seeing his friend fall, Owyn swings his great axe at the thug, cleaving him from crown to crotch. With all known enemies dispatched, Rinavere returns to the room, and she and Owyn revive Nadaar with one of the health potions he purchased earlier. They hear a terrifying insectoid screech from the corridor the acolyte’s corpse was left in as the floor shakes a little bit. The party prepared themselves to fight whatever monster was coming from the unexplored rooms. Scritch positions herself and her barrel to launch a surprise attack on the monster. Owyn and Nadaar ready their javelins, and Rinavere prepares to assist from the back.

A giant glob of webbing flies past Owyn, spattering against the wall. The party face their new foe head-on: a giant spider. The spider screeches again as Owyn’s javelin finds its mark. It flings webbing at him, succeeding in cocooning him in strong spider silk. The other’s attacks clatter uselessly off its toughened hide. The spider rushes forward to devour its encased meal. As it does so, Scritch launches her attack, scoring a critical hit to the creature’s unprotected underbelly. Owyn breaks free from the cocoon, and Nadaar unleashes an icy Dragonborn breath attack, sealing the spider’s fate. It withers and curls into a ball, dead.

The party find a small black stick, which greatly resembles a key, when they search the spider’s remains. They proceed deeper into the underground tunnels, first heading towards the spider’s lair, which had been blocked off, but now only the smashed remnants of the barricades remain. They find a room with a chest containing four gold pieces and a cloak of billowing. They decide not to proceed further down that hall as they hear a muffled thump from the other direction. They turn and find a larger room with shelves of supplies, several tables and a few beds, clearly a hideout for those smuggling goods into Tarryport. On the ground, they find a trussed-up Zed struggling to free herself.

The party frees Zed, and she asks them to help her search for the book that she is looking for. She explains that it’s a book about Illium. While searching, the party encounter a locked door, which Rinavere’s newly acquired brass key opens. They find the book and some more wondrous items to boot. Rinavere wants to burn the book about Illium, but Zed convinces her not to, that she needs time to translate it, and it could aid with understanding how to stop him. Satisfied with the promise of an explanation the next day, Zed bids them good night and starts to head out of the dungeon. 

The party look around a little more, finding a moon-touched rapier, an orb of direction, and a set of clothes of mending. Scritch leaves first, placing the barrel on its side and jumping on top, balancing and rolling it back to the inn. Nadaar, Rinavere, and Owyn discover a hidden tunnel that leads to the bottom of a well. After climbing up the rope, Nadaar finds himself outside Beddleston’s Inn and falls asleep against the wall. Rinavere and Owyn follow after a time, taking longer as Rinavere struggles to climb the rope with her meagre strength. Owyn waits patiently for his turn up the rope.

The party arrive back at the inn around the same time. They rouse Nadaar and help him inside. As they do so, they find an anxious Bede waiting for news. They tell him gently that Sealegs didn’t make it. Bede collapses into wailing sobs, consumed by the grief of his lost daughter.

#dungeons and dragons #session recap #d&d 5e #man this one was combat heavy #they didn't go and get the cool shield I had prepared for them for killing the spider

[jimmytwo-legs]

Session Two Recap:

The party wakes up on a stony beach with the sun high in the sky. The salt on the party’s clothes makes the journey towards chimney smoke and a windmill a bit itchy. They eventually arrived in Tarryport, a bustling port town.

The party makes a beeline for Beddleston’s Inn and meets Bede Beddleston, the half-elf ex-pirate owner, who offers to trade the newcomers a hot bath for their curious story, as they claim to be shipwrecked. Bede confirms they did not come through the dock. Bede instructs his barmaid/gossipmonger/adoptive daughter Sealegs (who happens to be a Kenku) to take them to the bathrooms.

After washing their clothes and themselves, they return to Bede with their story. He seems sympathetic and perplexed and asks if the party has any plans for the future. The party don’t quite know, although Rinavere asks if there are any churches of Illium nearby. Bede shakes his head and says that there are not any churches in the town (nor a dominant faith) and that the building on the hill is just a meeting house where once a month, the townsfolk gather. He reminisces about the dances they used to hold. He comments that times have been tough. Fewer ships are coming in lately, and trade has been drying up. Bede suggests that the party looks around the market, where they should be able to find a map. He tells them that if they have no gold, there is a noticeboard outside the inn, which occasionally has people looking for help. As the party moves towards the noticeboard, they are passed by a mysterious figure in a maroon cloak with the hood up going into the inn. They can only discern that the figure has long black hair.

The party looks at the noticeboard after Owyn comments he has little to spend. Prominently displayed amongst the adverts is a large poster announcing the world tour of Das Hurdy Gurdy, with special guest Cacophony Jones. Scritch is incensed, as Cacohpony Jones was a member of The Wandering Wonders, and a deep betrayal to tour with their rival band who sabotaged their performance in Pashoria. The poster indicates that they will perform in Seelor in a month. (Later information clarifies it will be about two weeks rather than a month.)

They find two suitable bounties: Guard Sven, the travelling halfling chef, who wants to collect seafood or help Jolene, the local healer, solve the mystery of her missing chickens. They decide to think about it while shopping. 

They decide to start at Tangor’s General Goods - the most prominent store in the marketplace. Tangor, the dwarf, welcomes them in. He sells Rinavere a waterproof foldable map of the region before offering to demonstrate his true passion: dynamite. He takes the group outside and blows an old fallen tree apart in the demonstration pit behind his store. Impressed but low on funds, Rinavere is eager to come back and purchase some once the party has acquired more gold.

The party make their way to Fennel and Daughters Blacksmith next. They meet the bashful but mathematically gifted Tiefling Alma, one of the three Fennel daughters. She is confused by Owyn’s request for lead shot, suggesting he could find stones for his sling on the beach an hour’s walk north. She shows the party a catalogue of armour that can be made to order and the readily available javelins for sale, lovingly crafted by her sister Frieda. Yorchaath examines the weapon, and Rinavere comments on why Owyn is missing one. This alarms Alma, and she tries to make an excuse to get the party out of the shop. Owyn suggests to Rinavere that she shouldn’t mention what happened when they escaped from Pashoria. Rinavere insists that Owyn did nothing wrong, as the guard was a servant of Illium and deserved death. Mildly perturbed, the party moves on.

Finally, the party stops at Garwood Apothecary and meets Thispin Garwood and her mother, Jolene. Thispin is a talented dwarf alchemist who offers the party a do-it-yourself potion-making kit for a hefty 50 gold price tag. The party decline this offer, and Yochaath purchases a couple of healing potions. They run into Jolene and offer to help her with her chicken mystery. 

As Jolene shows the party to her home, she explains that her chicken coop was recently attacked. The intruder took one chicken at a time, leaving only feathers, a little blood and a foul odour. After some investigation, the party finds dark doglike fur and tracks leading to the woods out of town. Jolene tells them that the woods are relatively empty of predators due to Tangor and Frieda and their enthusiasm for dynamite and javelins, respectively. The party chooses to follow the tracks into the woods.

After some bumbling around and losing the tracks, Yorchaath declares that he is now to be known as Nadaar because the narrator and the rest of the team are struggling to say his name. The party finds a feather and debate whether it belongs to a chicken. As Owyn proclaims  (using his extensive farming knowledge) that the feather indeed belongs to a chicken, he is attacked by a sizeable two-headed dog. He sustains a nasty bite to the arm as the rest of the group rush to his aid. With a powerful Guiding Bolt from Rinavere and a powerful war hammer swing from the newly-anointed Nadaar, they defeat the Death Dog. Rinavere inspects Owyn’s wound and declares that it is badly diseased. Nadaar performs a laying on of hands and cures Owyn. Owyn bandages the injury, and they bring their kill back to Jolene.

Jolene agrees that this creature likely killed her chickens, accepting the matching fur and fetid smell as proof. Jolene gives them 200 gold coins as a reward, and they split it amongst themselves. She doesn’t want the corpse as a trophy, so the team drags it away, and Rinavere burns it. They discover chicken bones in the Death Dog’s stomach as she does this. Relieved that they got the right culprit, the team heads back towards the inn for the evening, stopping by Tangor’s shop so that Rinavere can purchase ten sticks of dynamite.

As the sun sets, the group heads back to the inn. The inn has become quite lively as they arrive. They pass two sailors talking, and Owyn decides to eavesdrop. He learns that Jimmy Two-Legs was expected in Smuggler’s Cove about a week ago and that no one has seen him, his ship, or his crew since. He learns they have been missing for two weeks, as it takes a fast ship such as Jimmy’s about a week to reach Smuggler’s Cove. Owyn politely asks the two sailors how to get to Smuggler’s Cove - and is told that he will need someone to take him there. The first sailor offers to take the party there for a princely sum of five thousand gold coins, and the second roars with laughter before telling Owyn that his friend doesn’t have a boat.  

The group approached the bar after learning about their lost time. Bede congratulates them for assisting Jolene and offers a celebratory drink (now that they can pay for it). Bede offers them ale and, when questioned about the quality, describes it as “piss.” He offers the crew “his own concoction” and pours a small glass of amber liquid. Owyn is the only party member brave enough to drink, and he is pleasantly surprised by a smooth, full-bodied rum. He orders another, which Bede offers to mix with pineapple juice, and the party pays for food and rooms for the night.

As they receive a plate of fresh seafood paella lovingly cooked by Sven, Rinavere questions what Sealegs has heard about Zed, who has remained waiting in the inn all day with a barely-touched drink, and anything else about Jimmy Two-legs. Sealegs asks Rinavere if they are friends before repeating that people appear concerned about Jimmy’s disappearance, excited for Das Hurdy Gurdy, and Zed is waiting for someone.

More people pour into the inn as preparation for the inn’s quiz night begins. The party decide to enter and persuade Zed to join their team. When naming the quiz team, Zed suggests “The Royal Rousers” or “Little Fish” as team names. They choose “Little Fish,” suspicious of what Zed is not revealing. She learns their names and tells them she is waiting for a sailor with black hair and a heart tattooed on his arm. The party say they haven’t seen him and privately muse that it must be Jimmy she is looking for. The Little Fish perform spectacularly well in the quiz, winning a 20 gold spending voucher to Tangor’s General Store.

After winning the quiz, Zed retires for the evening. Everyone in the party but Rinavere also goes to their rooms. Rinavere waits an additional two hours downstairs to see if Zed attempts to leave the inn within that time. Around midnight she heads to bed. Sometime in the dark early morning, the party was roused by a scream from Zed’s room.

#session recap #dungeons and dragons #dnd5e #I really need to come up with a name for this campaign #or get the party to do it

[jimmytwo-legs]

Credit: https://www.youtube.com/@nobleknightadventures

#d&d shenanigans #dungeons and dragons #when you have to clean up the mess you made for your party

[jimmytwo-legs]

Session One Recap:

You found yourselves in the dungeon of the Kingdom of Pashoria. Owyn Treebane was travelling for the first time in his life, a humble human farmer who had the misfortune to purchase a heretical trinket for his future marriage. Yochaath Rhoyax is a proud silver Dragonborn from a merchant family who refuses to let go of an old patron, he seems to have a knack for knowing when people are telling the truth. Rinavere is young and fiery, literally. She was imprisoned for attempting to commit arson at the dockyard. Scritch the Tabaxi (and Scratch the Rat) are up-and-coming performers whose show was sabotaged by a rival band. The noble who hosted them sentenced Scritch to the gallows to avoid further embarrassment.

Our Party, having seemingly accepted their fate, settle in for the night. They are interrupted by a scruffy old man called Keuryx, a fellow prisoner, who while talking to himself tells the group that they have been chosen and they must escape through a tunnel he has dug. The tunnel is too small for Owyn and Yochaath to fit. After some digging, Scritch produces the key that Scratch swiped from the guard. Our party makes a bid for their freedom through the dungeon, stopping in a store room to collect their belongings.

While in the store room, Scritch swipes an expensive-looking bag that jangles with riches. Most of the party keeps to their own items and equips them. They are interrupted when a patrol sees the storeroom door ajar and an old man pulled inside. Scritch creates a distraction by projecting a scream from the other direction, distracting one guard. The other meets an unfortunate end at the (burning) hands of Rinavere. The second guard returns and is promptly charmed by Scritch and offers to lead them out of the dungeon. 

Once they reach a courtyard away from the main road, two more guards on patrol appear and Scritch sends her charmed guard away from danger. The two guards engage the party, where one is speared by an impressive javelin thrown from Owyn and the other left unconscious with two “non-fatally” punctured lungs.

Keuryx tells the party that they must escape the city, and gives Yochaath a letter to give to the captain of a boat with a red octopus on the sail. Rinavere leads the party to the docks. Their run through the city at midnight alerts more guards and the bells warning of danger start ringing. They arrive at the docks a few minutes ahead of the guards.

After setting two boats on fire the party finds the Eastern Pleasure and its captain Jimmy Two-Legs, who accepts their letter with one question - their names. They ready the boat to leave but the guards find the party, leading them is Captain Bone. As he calls for their surrender Keuryx teleports in and casts Meteor Swarm, pulverising the guards and dock. The Eastern Pleasure sets sail in the wake of this destruction.

The party gets some rest and awakes at dawn to completely still wind and water. A leviathan surges below and destroys the ship, leaving the party to drown.

The party is drowning when a little black fish with one golden eye offers a deal: he will spare them the depths if they agree to destroy the items tethering him to this world. Yochaath takes the fish’s amulet and the party is washed ashore on a stony beach a few hundred yards from a small settlement.

#session recap #dungeons and dragons #dnd5e