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lumin3xe · 3 years

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"Campus." Yamaguchi Tadashi x reader

Letter 💌, hello again it's me again!! so I just wanted to say thank you for the support on my last post !! It's not a lot but thank you so much!! anyways that's all for now! Now please remember to take care of yourself and youre amazing!! 😌💖💖

P.S, so again this is my first time writing with a character like yamaguchi so I heavily apologize if he's a bit OOC and I apologize if he's a bit starstruck- it's just that your so amazing 🥺👉👈

ALSO! this place takes in Karasuno highschool where the first years are second years and the second years third years :)) (ALSO JUST IMAGINE THE ACTAL CAMPUS IS THE ENTRANCE HSUVYBI8

Has been edited but if any spelling errors, grammar errors or if anything doesn’t make sense, please DM me!

Reader uses they/them pronouns.

Warnings, fluff LOL

Song, “Campus" By Vampire Weekend.

Beep

“I wake up, my shoulders cold”

Yamaguchi sat up on his bed, waking up to the sound of his alarm clock beeping as he looked over to it as it says “6:29 AM” letting out a sigh as he got up, letting the cold hit him. “I’ve got to leave here, before I go” lifting his legs over another to get off the bed then walking towards the bathroom- grabbing a towel and some clothes aswell, as he walked to the bathroom he then closed the door behind once he was in. Setting the towel on the counter then turning on the facet on towards hot- the water was warm but not to hot, he then let the water spring out of the shower head as he stared to get undress. (I’m sorry I can’t HSHSGVG- DUDE MY FACE IS TO RED RN I CANT HAHA- I cannot write yamaguchi showering I’m sorry my mind is not okay HSGSGNHHASH-) after he was done- he turned the facet the downwards to turn it off, as he got out of the shower he then grabbing the towel on the counter, putting the towel around his waist, and then soon drying himself and getting dressed. (How do guys get dressed please tell me bc I have no idea-)

“I pull my shirt on, walk out the door” Yamaguchi walked out of the bathroom and made his way to his room, soon then he checked the time “6:54 AM” it read. “Drag my feet along the floor” He then started to hurried to his room pulling out one of the drawlers, looking to see if he can find a sweater he could wear- he then grabbed his volleyball sweater, Putting it on—he aswell grabbed his bag, then walking out of his room, to put on his shoes to leave for school. “I pull my shirt on, walk out the door” Walking out of his house, closing the door behind him as turned around to lock it. “Drag my feet along the floor” When he was done, the green hair boy turned around to see a familiar blond with glasses walking by, (this was of course Tsukishima lol) then yamaguchi shouted out his nickname for the blond as the green haired boy was waving to him aswell. Soon a few minutes went by with just silence. Soon enough they had made up to his collage. “Then I see you,” Something had caught Yamaguchi eye while walking with his friend, he then looked to the mysterious figure that bypassed him. “You’re walking cross the campus” He stoped, like actually stopped, he really just laid eyes on the cutest person he’s ever seen. L/N F/N. And if on cue the wind suddenly blew making L/N hair flow elegantly as long with the outfit that L/N was wearing. Everything just so slow when he looked at them. (If your hair is really short then just imagine a slight breeze hitting your or sm LMAO-) “Cruel professor” Yamaguchi looked at them with his face red and with legit heart eyes as he stared at them just memorized just how L/N looked. “Studying Romances” As L/N walked farther and farther Tsukishima turned back seeing his friend just randomly standing there with a red face, he curiously asked his friend if he was coming “You coming Tadashi?” “How am I supposed to pretend, I never wanna see you again?” “Oh uh y-yeah!” Yamaguchi stuttered, well now his friend knew, tsukishima just starred at him wondering if he was okay, a few more seconds had passed and tsukishima was kinda worried “Are you okay?” The blond asked while the green hair clenched his backpack straps as he ran up to then blonde.

“You sick or something?”

Yamaguchi noodled no and apologized while he tried not to think of you. “How am I supposed to pretend, I never wanna see you again?” But he couldn’t stop. “Walk to class in front of ya” As Tsukishima and Yamaguchi made there way to there classes, Tsukishima was nice enough to give Yamaguchi a carton of milk to make him calm down a bit since yamaguchi was THAT red (he just can’t resist that you look so cute LMAO-) When he was making his way to his classes with his friend, he was so caught up with looking at the floor and him siping on the straw that was poked in the milk carton, he just couldn’t stop thinking about you. He couldn’t get his mind off-

“Tadashi watch out-“

“Huh tsuki?-“

“Ah!”

“Spilled kefir”

Yamaguchi wasn’t paying attention and that caused him to bump into L/N.

“On your keffiyah”

The milk carton had somehow opened and just spilled over L/N shirt, the liquid slowly leaking into the fabric of the shirt, thankfully L/N weren’t wearing a white shirt that day.

“You look inside and turn to the door”

Yamaguchi looked at L/N quickly realizing that was the person he was staring at earlier and that made him so flustered then he couldn’t even think straight. “Ah shoot! I’m so-“ L/N saying before yamaguchi cut her off apologizing frantically

“ohmygoshimsorryIwasntlookingwhereIwasgoingandohmygoshthisissoembarrassingareyouokay-“

“Oh my I-“

“ImsosorryIreallydidngmeanitIcanbuyyouanew-“

“Tadashi shut up, it’s fine.” Tsukishima sternly said while the blond put his hand on yamaguchi’s shoulder trying to reassure that it was fine.

L/N then smiled to yamaguchi “what he said, it’s fine don’t worry about it!” L/N smiled once more “you don’t need to buy me a..new shirt? I can just wash mine later” they smiled once more, yamaguchi felt even more embarrassed as he watched them move.

“Drag your feet along the floor”

L/N held on to their bag strap while walking in to there classroom “now I gotta get to class, but maybe I’ll see you around!” “Wait uh!-” L/N turned back towards Yamaguchi waiting for him to say something “your shirt- I uh-” Yamaguchi took off his bag setting it besides him and started to take off his sweater and handled it to L/N, Yamaguchi was VERY red, he was looking off to the ground, he didn’t want to speak because if he tried to, he would sure he would make a fool out of himself.

“Oh! are you sure I can take this?”

Yamaguchi nodded as L/N took the sweater putting it on, smiling—they let out a small giggle that made yamaguchi heart skip a beat. L/N thanked him and soon the sound of L/N shoes were gone and soon weren’t hearable, while yamaguchi heart beat was very hearable and still there.

Yamaguchi looked onto the floor once more as they began walking.

“Then I see you,”

Yamaguchi was still embarrassed about what happened earlier, heck he even gave L/N his own sweater, sure he was still red but goodness when you smiled? And when you laughed???? He would absolutely do anything just to see them smile or even laugh again, to be honest he could honestly feel how red is face right now. Just thinking about L/N made his head hurt and his heart beat fast. Wait a minute did he just hear his heart? There was no way his heartbeat was THAT loud, Yamaguchi head titled upwards looking for something, maybe someone?

“You’re walking cross the campus”

Not even a minute later yamaguchi saw L/N figure walking closer to him, L/N was there with phone in their hands.

“Cruel professor”

L/N probably didn’t notice Yamaguchi just freaking out, what was he supposed to do? Say hi to them? Ignore L/N to wait until they notice him???

“Studying Romances”

As if he wasn’t fast enough L/N was already almost there with Yamaguchi freaking out, he desperately looked around, why was he looking around???

“Tadashi are you sure you’re okay?” Yamaguchi quickly looked to his blond hair friend, Tsukishima was looking ahead of them while Yamaguchi was about to say something but the blond beat him to it “You seem out of it today. Is it because that person we met today?”

“How am I supposed to pretend, I never wanna see you again?”

“W-what no of course not-“ He fiddled with his fingers frantically, was it because of L/N? Who knows- well Yamaguchi knows and possibly Tsukishima does aswell.

“How am I supposed to pretend, I never wanna see you again?”

Tsukishima waited for his friends response, knowing that yamaguchi straight up lied to him. (Lets just pretend he’s okay with this one lie but remember y’all, lying isn’t okay, no matter what situation your in.)

“Well..I don’t think so?” “You don’t think so? Every time you look at them your face is red” Yamaguchi was surprised- ‘wait so he knew the whole time?’ Yamaguchi thought while Tsukishima continue to talk, “don’t think I haven’t noticed, you said you wanted to buy them a new shirt even if they could wash it, and you gave them your sweater too.”

“Tsuki yeah but-“

“In the afternoon, you’re on the stone and grass,”

Yamaguchi was suddenly on the floor and L/N was on the floor aswell while Tsukishima was standing there with a concernd face for both of the two.

“And I’m sleeping on the balcony after class”

Yamaguchi rubbed his head, confused on what just happened, wasn’t he just talking to Tsukishima? Why was he on the floor?

“In the afternoon, you’re on the stone and grass,”

“Oh my goodness are you okay?” Yamaguchi looked up to see L/N holding out a hand, ‘they look so much cuter up close-waitwhtaamI-’ He looked at them with heart eyes and blinked causing him to realize what just happened, he then took L/N hand while L/N pulled yamaguchi up from the ground

“And I’m sleeping on the balcony after class”

“Are you okay?” Yamaguchi shyly responded “yeah.. um- look I’m sorry-“ L/N cut off yamaguchi while bringing his hand close to there chest holding yamaguchi hand.

“no I’m sorry really, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Yamaguchi was probably the definition of a tomato “I- uh it’s okay- you-“ yamaguchi was a stuttering mess while L/N just laughed it off

“So.. are you okay?”

Yamaguchi nodded while L/N smiled

“Well that’s a relief haha”

L/N giggled as Yamaguchi face grew redder, L/N continued to talk.

“So.. my name is L/N F/N what’s yours?”

“Oh um- my name is Yamaguchi Tadashi..”

“thats a nice name” they smiled once more

“Well it’s nice to meet you Yamaguchi”

Yamaguchi face was a tomato right now, like he’s the definition of it because of L/N, Yamaguchi then blinked and stammered out

“Y-you to L/N!”

OH MY GOSH THAT LITERALLY TOOK HALF THE DAY I AM SO SORRY HAHBSE- Anyways thank you for reading this mess! and I hope y’all had a nice day and pls take care of yourself 🥺🥺💖💖💖 also I’m sorry if the ending seemed like it was rushed, it kinda was but I wanted it to seem kind of nice lol!

Also part two of “treehouse” is coming tomorrow so keep an eye out tomorrow!! Also tsukishima was nowhere to be found after this LMAO-

#yamaguchi x reader #yamaguchi #yamaguchi tadashi #tadashi yamaguchi #Haikyuu #haikyuu!!#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu x you #hi if ure reading this #ilysm #Pls take care of yourself #you deserve all the love in the world #you are my world 💖#ily #🥺💖💖💖#Fanficsimply ✨📚

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wayward-mikaelson · 4 years

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Don’t Wake Me-Part Three (Dean’s POV)

Word Count: 1907

Pairing: Dean x Dream!Reader

Characters: Dean, Reader, Rowena, and Sam

Summary: Dean has a peaceful dream about the Reader who knows that she’s dead in the real world. Rowena gives Dean the recipe/spell for the tea with a warning.

Disclaimer: Language

A/N: This was supposed to be out a couple days ago. So sorry but I had internet issues.

*18+ Content. Anyone that is younger than 18 will need to scroll right on. I don’t want to risk my account being thanosed

**Please DO NOT copy and paste my work WITHOUT my permission and WITHOUT giving me the proper credit. I work way too hard on my work to have to stolen. You may share the link to this post.

***This work is also posted on Instagram, Wattpad, and AO3. Please go show it some love over there.

****Follow my other accounts Instagram, Twitter, Wattpad, and AO3

*****DMs are OPEN for REQUESTS

Story Inspired by Skillet’s song Don’t Wake Me. Click HERE to listen

Forever Tags: @donnaintx @myinconnelly1 @hobby27 @elansaidaris @magssteenkamp @440mxs-wife

Dean/Jensen Tags: @akshi8278 @squirrelnotsam @sandlee44

Story Tags: @vicmc624 @supernatural-bellawinchester @zug-zwangg

STORY MASTERLIST

PART TWO

SHY’S FAVORITE FIC LIST

"What are you still doing sleeping? Come help me make breakfast."

It isn't the blanket being pulled off me that wakes me up.

It's the voice.

That perfect and beautiful yet, dominate voice.

My eyes snap open and there, standing at the foot of the bed with the blanket in her hand is YN. Alive. Smiling. She has that look in her eyes where if I don't get onto what she needs to, she will eat me alive. In a very not so sexy way. I can't help but stare at her and take her in.

She's wearing one of my flannels over one of her novelty shirts. I notice she isn't wearing any shorts or pants either. I look back at her face, her beautiful face. The way her lips are curved into that mischievous smile when she messed with someone. The little scrunch of her nose when something tickles it. Her big, beautiful Y/E/C eyes as they stare into mine. Waiting for me to answer her. Her hair is thrown up into the bun being held together by her only hair band. Strands of hair fall perfectly around her face.

I wish I could wake up to this sight still. But this, her standing here, in this dream will have to do. It's better than nothing.

"Earth to Winchester," Her voice calls out to me again. "What are you staring at?"

"You," I say sitting up in bed. I notice I don't have a shirt on. I also notice the small little bite YN does to her lip. "You're so fucking beautiful, you know that?"

She looks down and I see her cheeks get pink. After years of her and I being together she always blushed when I told her she was beautiful. YN didn't have it easy growing up. Her mother left her and her father when she was four. Her father degraded her until she ran away from home. She had been on her own for some years until Sam and I saved her from a demon possession. She stuck with us since then. It wasn't until a case that we learned that she was never told she was beautiful or looked good. I made it my goal every, until the day she died, to tell her that she was beautiful.

"You can say it once more," YN drops the blanket and climbs on the bed and straddle my lap. She takes my face in my hands and I can't help but wish this were real. I close my eyes and focus on her touch. "So, are you going to help me with breakfast? And by that, I mean you cooking the bacon how I like it."

I open my eyes to see the those Y/E/C staring into mine. I wrap my arms around her and pull her closer to me, pressing my lips to hers. Her lips are as soft as I remember. "Of course," I say pulling back.

"Awesome," YN jumps off the bed and walks out of the room. I watch her and catch a glimpse of her flower tattoo that sits on the back part of her thigh. Then I notice that we aren't in the bunker. We are at one of Bobby's old hunting cabins. The one YN and I always escape to when we need to unwind after a hard case.

I get up and get dressed. I walk out to the main part of the cabin and see YN working at the old stove. She's got the eggs going and she's cut up some strawberries. I stand there and watch her move around the kitchen.

This is the first time I don't feel like my chest has a gaping hole in it.

This is the first time I can breath and not feel like I'm going to fall apart.

This is the first time I feel normal.

YN turns around to see me standing and staring at her. "What is with you this morning?" She smiles and gives a light chuckle. "Was the sex that good?" She laughs out loud. "Of course it was, I did that thing that you absolutely love." She pulls the bacon out of the old fridge that I continue to fix up and keep running. She sets it on the counter and goes back to her cooking.

"I guess your reward for doing such thing is making the bacon you like," I pick up the bacon and bring it over to the stove. I have an idea of what move she's talking about.

We eat breakfast in peace and decide to take a walk around the woods. This is something that YN always loved to do whenever we came out here. Watching her take in the nature around her pulls at my heart. I'm going to miss her terribly again when I wake up.

YN turns around and the look on her face tells me that she knows somethings up. She walks over to me and takes my hands and looks into my eyes. "I was wondering when that would catch up with us."

"What?" I ask hoping she didn't know that this was a dream.

She laughs. "Dean Winchester, don't play me." She raises a hand to my face. "I know this is a dream. I know I'm dead out there. And it's not your fault. So if you remotely think it is, you know I'll figure it out and come back and kick the shit out of your ass."

I smile and let go of the breath I am holding in. "I don't want to wake up," I whisper. I touch her face. She leans into it and sighs.

"I know, but I will always be right here," YN touches my chest and my head. "When you sleep next, I'll be waiting."

The dream fades to black and soon I find myself waking up. I'm in my room on my bed. I grab my phone and realize it's the next day. My body feels well rested. But I can't help but feel the aching in my chest still. Its different like part of the hole is closing off. I drop my head on my pillow and just replay the dream in my head.

YN had been so beautiful and I miss her already.

There a slight knock at the door and it opens. Sam steps in and sees that I'm awake. "Hey," He says with a smile on his face. "I was just checking on you. How did you sleep?"

"To be honest, great," I say sitting up and swinging my legs to the side of the bed. "I feel really well rested." We sit in silence for a while. I know what Sam must be thinking. He doesn't have to say it. It's written all over his face. "She was there, Sam. She was fucking gorgeous man. I felt like she never left."

Sam looks up. "I'm happy man, I really am. Does that mean you've let her go?"

I look down at the ground. "No Sam, it means that I can slowly process and accept her death. Then when the time comes, I'll let her go. So no burning things unless I give the okay."

I get up and walk out of the room. I make my way to the kitchen cause I'm starving like a motherfucker. I open the fridge and stare at the contents. Eggs. Bacon. Sams rabbit food. I reach in and pull out the bacon. I set it on the counter and grab a pan and set it on the stove . Turning around, I nearly have a heart attack seeing the familiar red headed witch sipping on coffee.

"Fuck," I hold one hand to my chest and the other on the edge of the counter. "Rowena, how long have you been sitting there?"

"No very long dear," she sets her mug down and folds her hands. "You look very well rested. But not your soul. Don't worry," she sees the shock on my face. "The death of a loved one takes time to get over. I will leave the recipe for the tea to help you sleep whenever you need it. But don't drink too much of it in one day. Too much will start to slow your body down and kill you."

Rowena stands up and walks over to me. She slips a paper into my hands and pats my hand. "Um, thank you," I say. I'm not sure what to do with this, I think. I put the paper in my pocket and get back to making my food.

After Rowena leaves in the early evening, Sam goes out for a supply run.

"Do you want to tag along?" He asks before walking out of the bunker.

"Nah," I say opening up my laptop. "I think I'm going to scroll through and find us a case." Total lie of course.

"Okay," Sam walks out. I wait until he and the impala are gone for awhile before heading to the infirmary and grabbing what I need for the tea. A lot of it called for healing and sleeping herbs and then a few things from the kitchen spice cabinet that YN always used when she was alive. That's one of many, many things I am going to miss.

YN was the best cook ever. Aside from the bacon she could never get it right. She knew how to season and grill meat to perfection. Even her crock pot meals were the bomb. She always saved them in a small book so she could use them later. I open the drawer that the book sits in and pull it out.

I open the book to where paper is sticking out and see the words Deans B-day Dinner and Pie. I cover my mouth and feel some tears form in the corner of my eyes. I've been so caught up in loosing YN that I realized my birthday came and went without me knowing. I close the book and set it back in the drawer. I take a deep breath and move onto my room with the cup in hand.

I sit on my bed and stare at the cup on the nightstand next to me. I really don't need it, but I really want to see YN. Being in that dream world made everything seem so normal. It also helped me get through the day and I didn't once pour myself a drink. But Rowena's warning rings through my ears.

If I drink too much, I could die.

I pull out my pocket knife and press the blade to the palm of my hand when I feel a slight cool breeze on my arm. I stop and look around and spot that my AC vent was open and thought that the AC kicked on. I shake my head and cut a small but deep enough cut to drop a few drops of blood into the cup. I bring my hand over to the cup to find that it isn't there. I turn around and spot it on the dresser by the door.

"How did you get over there?" I say out loud. "Maybe I'm loosing my mind." I pick the cup up and sit back on the bed and squeeze my hand so a few drops fell into the cup. I swirl the liquid around and say the small latin incantation. Then I take a huge drink.

Before passing out, I swear I see a flicker of YN standing in my room.

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midnight-writ3r · 4 years

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Bad for you pt.2

Mark Lee x Genderneutral reader

Genre: Fluff, angst, smut, you name it, Mark Lee delivers

Summary: Mark Lee, as some would argue, is the epitome of dangerous. You don’t know anything about him, except this:

You have never felt so safe around anyone.

Warnings: There is some swearing, I guess? And super slight smut!

A/N: So, I’m really doing this, huh? Here’s part two 😂😂 idk but I really just like Mark’s character, so I want to dive into this story. Expect unnecessary drama, bad humour and a lot of fanservice from our boy markiepoo 🙏🤷🏻‍♀️

ALSO: Feel free to slip requests or anything into my asks or dms, I’m kinda lonely on this platform and I’d like to get to know some people :’)

<– Previous part | Next part –>

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

You awake to the insistent sound of a knock at your apartment door. It takes you a second to open your eyes and really place the sound in reality, but when you do, your heart skips a beat.

There’s a mob of wild, black hair under your chin and as you move, you’re pretty sure there’s a hand on your butt, too. Lucky for you, there’s still a layer of underwear that separates you from the boy next to you. However, you’re not so sure about him, so naturally, you panic.

As you try to scramble away though, you find your efforts futile, as Mark’s arm wraps around you and pulls you tightly against him. It’s hard to tell, if he is still asleep but the gesture makes you soften for a moment.

Until you remember the previous night. He had saved you - that much you remember. But then what? You had pulled him inside your apartment, too scared to be alone and-

Shit.

Another knock jolts you from your train of thoughts, way more insistent this time. Unsure of what to do, you gently brush Mark’s hair out of his face. He groans into your neck and holds on still, but you don’t plan to let up so easily.

“Mark.” you mumble and then, a little louder you repeat: “Mark! Wake up.”

Slowly, his eyelids flutter open and he looks around, obviously confused. The tattoo on his collarbone and peck tell you enough to know that he wears at least as little clothes as you do. When his gaze lands on you he gives you a stupid smile and lets his head fall back against your chest with a sigh.

“Mornin’”

“Can you let go of me? Someone’s at the door.” you say.

A trail of kisses lands on your neck, “Who cares, they’ll leave eventually. I’m not gonna let you leave this bed yet.”

His hand trails down your side, over your hips and to the inside of your thigh. It’s tempting to give in and as he leans up to kiss you, you kiss back, as if you were programmed to do so. He moves to lean over you, hips starting to grind against yours in a sensual rhythm. His hair is still tousled and you spot two other tattoos on his arm and waist. It’s sexy and you’re taken aback at how he can manage to look this good, despite having just woken up.

You moan a little, as he keeps grinding down against you and his pleased hum makes your skin tingle. His hand takes a secure hold of your thigh, angling your hips against his even better. When you get too caught up in the feeling to kiss back, he moves on to suck and kiss at your neck, sending sparks down your spine.

“Mark, you-”

“Y/N, its Donghyuck!! I know you’re there, open up!” the familiar voice and another knock at the door makes the two of you jump apart. To your astonishment, Mark looks even more panicked than you feel.

“Shoot.” He presses another peck to your lips, one you can barely reciprocate, by how taken aback you are. “Gotta go.” Then, he pushes himself off the bed and hunts for his pants.

You watch him scramble for his shirt and you almost mourn the smooth skin that disappears underneath it. He gives you a smirk, as if he knows exactly what you’re thinking. Hurriedly, you look away and decide to put a shirt on as well.

You’re just in the process of pretending this didn’t happen, when you see Mark open your window and look out. His eyes scan the fire ladder outside the window and then he shrugs to himself and jumps right through.

“Mark what the hell!” you speed to the window, where he bounces a little, to test the metal’s stability, “Stop it, get back in here and leave through the door, like a normal person!”

“Sorry babe, can’t do that.” he grins as he sees you flush at the nickname, “If Hyuck finds me here, he’s gonna rip my head off.”

You frown, “Why would he?”

“Might have told me to keep my hands off you.” he shrugs with a sheepish pout, “Not my fault he has impossible expectations.”

It takes everything in you not to flush even further, “That’s unreasonable, he called you to find me yesterday.”

For the slightest moment, Mark’s expression darkens. It scares you for a moment, makes you want to reach out and tug him back inside. Hold him.

How ridiculous. You just met him.

But the expression is gone as fast as it had appeared and he jokes: “Guess he knew that he needed to fight bad with worse. Take care Y/N, don’t get into anymore trouble.”

“What if I do?” you lean a little out of the window.

He steps up to you, his hand in your hair, carding through gently, “I’m sure you can come up with a better excuse to see me.”

You grab a hold of his neck and pull him in for another kiss. He moves with you, full of desire and you find yourself hoping you’d see him again soon. Something about him grounded you and that’s something you never experienced with another person.

“Y/N, for God’s sake, I can hear you talk!” Donghyuck bangs against the door again and the spell is broken.

The two of you separate and you watch Mark hurry towards the steps. Before he disappears onto the platform bellow, he winks at you and you roll your eyes. No one needs to know how much it makes your heart flutter. Especially not Mark.

You close the window and run for your door, opening it to a very unamused looking Donghyuck. He has his arms crossed and looks at you with that ‘you’re in trouble young lady’-look, despite being younger than you in the first place. His eyes widen though, as they travel to the neckline of your shirt. You know it’s not because of the skin that shows, because you and Donghyuck had friend zoned each other years ago. Seeing the other in their underwear was like seeing your sibling in underwear: kind of gross, but really nothing special. No, it is obviously because of what is ON your skin and you realize that just in time for being too late.

“Who ate you?” he scrunches his nose in disgust. Then, his eyebrows shoot up, “They’re still here, aren’t they? I heard you talk, oh god how embarrassing.”

You shake your head and step aside, to show your apartment, “There’s no one here, Hyuck.”

“Ah.” he raises a brow at you, “so you talk to yourself?”

“I, uh…” you clear your throat. Mark’s words are stuck in your head. Would Donghyuck be angry if he knew the two of you had been together? You decide you don’t want to risk it, “I was just calling Mark to thank him for bringing me home last night.”

Nodding, Donghyuck steps inside your apartment and plops down on your bed. You wince a little. Maybe you should tell him that those sheets are definitely not clean? Well, too late-

“Now who?” Donghyuck prompts, “and don’t lie, I can smell… It.”

You choke on your own spit and scramble to say, “You don’t know him.”

“A guy, then?” he seems to get a thrill out of embarrassing you, so he taps his chin with his finger in mock contemplation, “Let’s see, who was with you between yesterday evening and now? We were at the club and there was this other person, they looked like they had the hots for you and then… You disappeared on me, which was totally uncool, by the way. After that I called Mark to-” he stops mid-sentence and you realize it immediately:

You’re fucked.

“Y/N please tell me you didn’t sleep with him.”

Looking at your feet you pout, “It’s none of your business anyways.”

“So you did!” his eyes are wide, “and it is my business. As your best friend, I need to protect you.”

“I’m pretty sure we used a condom.”

Donghyuck shakes his head, mildly disgusted, “Not that kind of protecting, you gross idiot. He’s dangerous.”

Popping a hip, you finally gather the courage to look at him, “That’s ridiculous Hyuck, he literally saved me. He beat up those guys and took me home and he was really nice! He didn’t even make the first move.”

Donghyuck buries his face in his hands, “I should have known. He always gets his way.”

“Well in this case, I got my way too, so you can stop worrying.”

He gets up to walk towards you, usually full lips now thin, as he presses them together. It’s then, when you start to worry, because Donghyuck never looks at you like this. Something tells you that you’re in much deeper trouble than you had anticipated.

“You don’t know him, Y/N.” he mumbles, “You don’t know what I know about him. About what he has done. What he still does! He attracts trouble like a freaking magnet. Get involved with him and you get dragged into it with him.” he shakes his head, “You deserve better than that.”

You can’t do anything but stare at him. Donghyuck’s reacting flinch tells you that the worry, confusion and sorrow you feel, must show on your face. But he averts his eyes, fists balled and determined not to give in. With a lump in your throat, you watch him retreat back to the apartment door.

As he opens it, he stops midway through it, “I’m so relieved you’re alright Y/N, I really am.” you see his grip on the door handle tighten, “But trust me when I tell you: stay away from Mark Lee.

He’s bad for you.”

#lee donghyuck #neowritingsnet #nct fanfic #mark lee x reader #mark x reader #mark imagines #mark lee #nct mark #nct scenarios #nct #nct dream #nct u imagines #nct u x reader #slight smut #attempt at humor #i love mark #flirting #nct fluff #fluff

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tigerkirby215 · 4 years

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5e Frank West build (Dead Rising)

(Screenshot of Dead Rising 4 - Game by Capcom)

“I’ve covered wars ya know.”

In an attempt to branch out my builds beyond D&D I had a look through my Steam library for other games with interesting characters. While most of the games I play have pretty broad characters (Killing Floor, XCOM, Void Bastards... btw play Void Bastards it’s good) I eventually came across Dead Rising and all I could think is... “Yes.”

Frank West! Forever charismatic journalist, amateur craftsman, minor wrestling star, major anti-government conspirator, and part-time zombie. For “just a normal dude” Frank is capable of some pretty extraordinary feats, going up against countless zombie hoards with nothing but his wits and the products you’d find at your local shopping center... Helps that he can drop kick all day long without getting tired.

GOALS

Anything’s a Weapon - The core appeal of Dead Rising is the ability to use anything you find as a weapon, which Frank obviously needs to do.

Duct Tape it or Die - While it was more of Chuck’s thing Frank borrowed the ability to craft Combo Weapons and does it quite well. And obviously the only reason he survived a day in Willamette was his ability to weaponize golf clubs, sandwich plates, and cartons of orange juice.

I am the Ultimate Best - Frank is no pushover in his own right with some WWE superstar smack-downs and the endurance to run a marathon without getting tired. Because the original Dead Rising was made before stamina meters were a thing.

RACE

Frank is amazingly just human, and while the ending of DR4 says otherwise we’ll stick with Variant Human for now. You get an increase in two ability scores of your choice: increase your Constitution and Intelligence. You also get a Skill of your choice and you should take Athletics to run through the entire mall all night long. You finally get a Feat: take Tavern Brawler for proficiency in Improvised weapons and some unarmed damage and increase your Constitution again. And take whatever language it really doesn’t matter.

ABILITY SCORES

15; STRENGTH - You need to be able to fight off a zombie trying to bite your face; being able to chuck them 10 yards is an added bonus.

14; CONSTITUTION - Frank takes a lot of damage in the Dead Rising games. Getting shot, run over, sliced up with a chainsaw, and receiving countless claw and teeth marks and still being able to march on takes a lot of hardiness.

13; INTELLIGENCE - Knowing how to attach chainsaws to a kayak paddle “safely” takes a certain degree of know-how, and you helped Isabella create a cure for zombism! But above all it’s a requirement to multiclass so...

12; DEXTERITY - Shrugging off a hoard of zombies trying to grab at you takes some evasive ability.

10; CHARISMA - Not extremely in-character (feel free to swap DEX and CHA if you want better roleplay but worse AC) but we unfortunately don’t need it for this build.

8; WISDOM - Jumping off a helicopter into a mall full of zombies wasn’t exactly the best choice, and I doubt I could call anyone who walks into a hardware store full of decapitated bodies “wise.”

BACKGROUND

Unfortunately there’s no Reporter background for 5e but thankfully Celebrity Adventurer’s Scion from Acquisitions Incorporated is pretty close to what we need. The main feature of Name Dropping will let everyone know that you’re Frank West, and that you’ve covered wars you know.

Replace the Performance proficiency with Insight but keep Perception to find the perfect shot. You also get two languages of your choice (pick whatever) and proficiency with a Disguise Kit to try on all sorts of clothes while surviving the zombie apocalypse.

(Artwork from Project X Zone - Owned by Capcom)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ARTIFICER 1

We’re going to start this build off as an Artificer to get the ability to craft things as soon as possible. You get two skills from the Artificer list: take Investigation for some investigative journalism and Medicine to know what brand of orange juice to drink to cure all that ails ya. You also get an artisan’s tool of your choice and Smith’s Tools would be what you use to make most of your Combo Weapons.

You also get Magical Tinkering which lets you pick up a grab bag of random stuff from various stores. You can touch a tiny, non-magical object with your tools as an action to give it a variety of effects that are listed in the ability’s description. The effect last indefinably but you can have a number of them equal to your Intelligence modifier.

Speaking of Intelligence modifier that’s what we use for our Spellcasting. You get two cantrips of your choice and while you’ll get the ability to swap them out later on start with Mending to duct tape any of your weapons if they’re going to break and Light to turn your camera’s light on. But feel free to choose whatever cantrips you think will help and since Artificer’s get a lot of choice with their spellcasting I’ll just list all the cantrips and how I’d reflavor them for Frank:

Acid Splash could be you throwing a bottle of something nasty at the zombies.

Create Bonfire could be a Molotov.

Dancing Lights could be a toy helicopter or something similar providing the light.

Firebolt is a gun.

Frostbite or Ray of Frost could be a combo weapon with a toy gun and a fire extinguisher, chilling your foes.

Guidance or Resistance is a fatherly mentor slap on the back for good luck. <3

Mage Hand could be a drone, or alternatively one of those grabbing-claw toys that Nintendo used to make. Similar idea with Thorn Whip.

Magic Stone... chuck some shit at the enemy like you do in MvC.

Message could be a walkie-talkie or a cell phone.

Poison Spray is bad don’t use it.

Prestidigitation is your grab bag of stuff from the toy store.

Shocking Grasp or Thunderclap could be you weaponizing your camera flash.

Spare the Dying is emergency medical care.

Can you tell I like Artificer? Because I really like Artificer. Anyways you also get two spells of your choice: Cure Wounds will let you or an ally guzzle some life-giving OJ and Catapult will let you grab something heavy and chuck it at a hoard! But much like with the cantrips Artificers are prepared spellcasters so you can choose your spells at the end of every long rest, giving you the ability to choose what weapons you want at the start of the day.

LEVEL 2 - BARBARIAN 1

Quickly bouncing over to Barbarian for two reasons. The first is to get Unarmored Defense equal to 10 + your Dexterity and your Constitution. We can still use Medium Armor (and I’d argue you probably should use that currently) but while the knight armor is a post-game unlock and you usually wear a leather jacket (leather armor) you can skip the padding and let your muscles protect you. The other reason however is for Martial weapon proficiency - you need to use everything you can find and Frank swings a katana as well as a baseball bat.

But you also get Rage which lets you scream up at the heavens about the government and get some work done. While raging you have advantage on Strength checks and saving throws (both of which are needed for grapples), do extra damage with strength weapons (including your fists from Tavern Brawler!), and resist bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. It lasts for 1 minute but ends early if you end a turn without attacking someone or getting hit. You can also end it as a bonus action which you might need to do because you can’t cast spells while it’s active, so no OJ while you smash faces. You can Rage twice before having to take a long rest.

LEVEL 3 - ARTIFICER 2

Back on the Artificer train we finally get our Combo Weapons, or rather our Artificer Infusions. You know 4 infusions and can have 2 active at a time. You can choose which infusions you want at the end of a long rest so pick-and-choose what you need to fight the local psychopath.

For your Known Infusions pick the following:

Enhanced Weapon lets you stick some knives on the end of a broom to make it do more damage.

An Enhanced Arcane Focus meanwhile lets you improve whatever fire-spitter someone might be using to make it spit a little more fire.

An Alchemy Jug lets you carry around a variety of drinks (or mayonnaise) to mix in a blender for some juices and cocktails.

And the Pole of Collapsing from Xanathar’s Guide to Everything can actually be used by you as a weapon effectively since you have improvised weapon proficiency from Tavern Brawler. A 10 foot quarter staff is nothing to scoff at, and you can do a good Zero impression!

Truthfully though Artificers have a huge list of items they can choose from and I’d suggest taking whatever infusions your team asks for that would help them. The strength of Artificer lies in its versatility, and while Frank’s mostly alone in Dead Rising don’t let the Survivors in your party go unarmed.

LEVEL 4 - ARTIFICER 3

3rd level Artificers get their Artificer Specialty and Alchemist is perfect for someone who makes combo cocktails as well as combo weapons.

Truthfully though the reason we’re going for Alchemist is because it’s the only one that doesn’t have a summon. The new Armorer subclass also works but that serves more for if you want to play as Exo-Suit Frank.

As an Alchemist you can craft an Experimental Elixir after a long rest with a set of Alchemist’s Supplies (which you also gain proficiency with.) You’ve got six possible cocktails to make: Healing is self-explanatory, Swiftness lets them run faster, Resilience makes them harder to hit, Boldness lets them hit a little harder, Flight lets them... fly (talk about fizzy lifting drinks!), and Transformation lets you get your zombie on with the Alter Self spell.

You get one after a long rest but you can craft another one by spending a spell slot of first level of higher. It’s up to DM’s interpretation if you can do this while raging but since it’s described that you make the elixir “magically” I’d argue against it. That, and you need some time with the blender to make juice.

Also on subject of spells you get Healing Word to shout some words of encouragement to your allies and Ray of Sickness to shoot them with the B.F.G and make them puke their guts out. You also get another spell slot and Grease lets you throw a bottle of shampoo on the floor to make your enemies slip and fall.

You also get The Right Tool for the Job which lets you quickly pull together any Artisan’s tools you might need. You need an hour to make the tools (which can be done over a rest) and they last until you use this feature again. Can’t find a maintenance closet? Just make the stuff on the fly!

LEVEL 5 - ARTIFICER 4

Grabbing an Ability Score Improvement or rather a Feat since that uneven Strength score is bugging me: take the Athlete feat with an increase to Strength so you can run after the truth or away from a hoard.

You can also prepare another spell like Identify, so you can now exactly what you’re taking pictures of.

LEVEL 6 - BARBARIAN 2

Now that we’ve got our combo weapons and our cocktails it’s time to learn some wrestling moves. Level 2 Barbarians get Reckless Attack, giving yourself Advantage on attacks with Strength weapons but giving the enemy Advantage to hit you. A piledriver might get the job done but it does leave you wide open.

You also get Danger Sense, giving you advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects you can see. Makes sense since you can dodge bullets if you see them coming but can still get outplayed by your protegee.

LEVEL 7 - BARBARIAN 3

3rd level Barbarians get their Primal Path and Path of the Totem Warrior is perfect for anyone who wants to bear hug their enemies. You get Spirit Seeker to cast the Beast Sense and Speak with Animals spells as rituals because this is meant to be the “naturalist” Barbarian but what we’re really here for is the Totem Spirit. You’re more than welcome to choose Bear like I know most people will but the most in-character option would be the spirit of the Eagle. Zombies have disadvantage to hit you if you run past them while raging and you can also Dash as a bonus action while raging, letting you run through a hoard of zombies and only suffer minimal damage. You can also Rage one more time before needing a long rest, adding up to 3 times total.

LEVEL 8 - BARBARIAN 4

4th level Barbarians get an Ability Score Improvement, and how about we finally get those wrestling moves? The Grappler feat gives you Advantage on attacks against enemies you grapple and lets you use your action to try to pin your opponent. If you do both you and the creature you’re grappling are restrained until the grapple ends.

LEVEL 9 - BARBARIAN 5

5th level Barbarians get an Extra Attack so you can combo two hits instead of one. You also get Fast Movement which increases your movement speed by 10 as long as you aren’t wearing Heavy Armor. The Megaman suit isn’t exactly aerodynamic...

LEVEL 10 - BARBARIAN 6

At level 6 Totem Warriors get Aspect of the Beast and the aspect of the Bear is perfect for anyone who wants to lift a zombie over their head and swing them around. Your carrying capacity for combo weapons is doubled and you have Advantage on Strength checks to push, pull, lift, or break objects. Technically this doesn’t include grappling and technically you can’t pick up people that you’ve grappled, but if you have a cool DM this would totally be the feature to let you chuck a zombie at another zombie. And an extra use of Rage (adding up to 4 times total) will definitely help with that zombie chucking.

(Artwork by Capcom)

LEVEL 11 - ARTIFICER 5

Now that we’ve got all the WWE we need it’s time to improve our combo weapons. 5th level Alchemists get Alchemical Savant which lets you add your Intelligence modifier to any spell that heals or does acid, fire, necrotic, or poison damage. Speaking of which you now get access to second level spells, and the Alchemist list gives you Flaming Sphere which lets you kick a burning trash can at your enemies, and Melf’s Acid Arrow lets you chuck a Queen at an enemy’s face and have them sting them a bunch.

LEVEL 12 - ARTIFICER 6

6th level Artificers get Tool Expertise, letting you double your proficiency bonus with any tools you know how to use. You can also prepare another spell like Pyrotechnics, letting you pop firecrackers in a zombie’s face to either blind them or use the smoke to cover your escape from a psychopath. You can also make two Experimental Elixirs are the start of the day instead of one.

But most importantly you learn two new Infusions and the number of Infusions you can have up at a time increases by one: Radiant Weapon finally lets you weaponize your camera flash and use your reaction to try to blind someone that hits you. Cloak of Elvenkind meanwhile makes it easier for you to sneak around and take pictures of military men talking about covering up the zombie outbreak. The government; it’s always the government...

LEVEL 13 - ARTIFICER 7

7th level Artificers get Flash of Genius. If you or one of your journalism students are in a jam you can use your reaction to add your Intelligence modifier to an ability check or saving throw, and can do this a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. Speaking of which...

LEVEL 14 - ARTIFICER 8

8th level Artificers get another Ability Score Improvement and we’re not getting Intelligence and are instead getting Constitution for more health and better unarmored defense.

You can also prepare another spell and you can’t go wrong with Heat Metal. Get a barbecue lighter and stick it in a zombie’s face!

LEVEL 15 - ARTIFICER 9

At 9th level Alchemists get Restorative Reagents. You buff your juice mixing power so the drinks give temporary hitpoints equal to 2d6 + your intelligence modifier, and you also carry some Zombrex with you to cast Lesser Restoration a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier. Lesser Restoration won’t cure a zombie infection but I’m sure it can delay it for 24 hours.

You also get 3rd level spell slots now and as an Alchemist you always have Gaseous Form and Mass Healing Word prepared... I have no reason why Frank can turn into a cloud of gas: is he a vampire? Is it nanomachines? Are we giving a regular guy the ability to cast spells? Yes.

LEVEL 16 - ARTIFICER 10

10th level Artificers get Magic Item Adept, letting them attune to 4 magic items at once and letting you craft common and uncommon magic items in a quarter of the time using a quarter of the gold.

But more importantly you get two more known Infusions (and one more prepared infusion) and it’s finally time to fix that Intelligence! The Headband of Intellect sets your Intelligence score to 19, and the Gauntlets of Ogre Power do the same to your Strength. It’s not perfect but you’ve always been rough around the edges.

You get another cantrip so I’d suggest grabbing Firebolt for a backup pistol, but with the Headband of Intellect on your head you can prepare three more spells!

Elemental Weapon will let you turn a weapon into a +1 weapon and make it deal an extra d4 acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage.

Haste lets you speed up your combos with some X-Factor.

And bouncing back to level 2: Rope Trick will let you open up a bathroom so you can save and take a break.

Note: If you’re starting at level 16 (for some reason) and want to give your character a better stat array an updated stat distribution will be posted after this build goes live.

(UMvC3 screenshot compilation by kiraDaidohji on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 17 - ARTIFICER 11

At level 11 with Artificer you get access to a Spell Storing Item. When you finish a Long Rest you can touch a weapon or one of your infusions to put a spell of first or second level into it as long as it takes an action to cast, even if you don’t have the spell prepared. Whoever’s holding it can use their action to cast the spell using your spellcasting modifier, and if it requires concentration they concentrate on it instead of you. They can cast the spell a number of times equal to twice your Intelligence modifier (so 8 times if you’re wearing the Headband of Intellect.)

I’m not going to tell you what spell to put in the Spell Storing Item - look through the spell list yourself or search online for the best spell for the job. An Artificer’s strength is versatility and I can only do so much themeing without playing your character for you. (Pro tip though: Blur is god tier if you can give it to a Fighter or someone else with high AC who can concentrate on it.)

LEVEL 18 - ARTIFICER 12

12th level Artificers get another Ability Score improvement: cap off your Constitution for maximum hardiness, AC, and Constitution saves. Last thing you want is to lose concentration on a spell and then lose your liquor afterwards.

You can also prepare another spell such as Revivify to quickly stick a hot dog in someone’s mouth and bring them back from the dead.

LEVEL 19 - ARTIFICER 13

13th level Artificers get 4th level spell slots and Alchemists get Blight and Death Ward always prepared. Zombify an area, or alternatively stop an ally from going down to zombies. Or yourself: you going down to zombies would suck too.

LEVEL 20 - ARTIFICER 14

Our capstone is the 14th level of Artificer for Magic Item Savant, allowing you to attune to up to 5 magic items and use them regardless of any restrictions the item might have.

But most importantly you get more Infusions and it should be mentioned that you can replace old known Infusions when you level up: replace your Gauntlets of Ogre Power with a Belt of Hill Giant’s Strength which is objectively better in every way. You can also make Bracers of Defense to further increase your AC and... hell, why not a Ring of Protection too? But once again I have to recommend you listen to your party for what they want you to make: don’t hoard your Infusions or the OJ.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Won’t Stop until I’m Dead - For my first tank build on this blog Frank is a remarkably good tank. Maxed out Constitution with Barbarian levels means your health will easily go over 200, and Unarmored Defense combined with Bracers of Protection and a Ring of Protection can put your AC close to 20, and you can still wield a two-handed weapon.

You think you’re better than me? - You’re not the only one on the team who can be awesome with this build. You have a lot of utility spells and can help the team survive with your elixirs. Just remember the crafting recipes for juice.

Crislip's Home Saloon - You can use any weapon you get your hands on, including the kitchen sink. No matter the class or race restriction you can use a weapon. Even if you’re unarmed Tavern Brawler lets you grab whatever you find and make use of it, or resort to your fists if it comes to it.

CONS

Wrestling is Fake - Grappling isn’t exactly practical; neither are improvised weapons. A lot of the features that we grab are done entirely for the sake of roleplay, and you’d be far better off taking more practical Feats or more ASIs.

PP - This build is subpar until level 16 and only really reaches its true potential at level 20. While it’s great to theorycraft these types of builds I know that most campaigns don’t reach level 20.

Grrrrrrr - Rage is nice but it’s tough to use it in this build. Not only does it stop you from casting spells or concentrating but you’ll lose your rage if you don’t get hit or don’t hit someone else.

But we all start out somewhere kid. Fight the good fight, save the civilians, take good pictures, and maybe someday you’ll be in a war someone else covers. And be sure to drink healthy orange juice and pass up on the whisky - the last thing you want is to puke in the middle of a combo.

(Minecraft skin found on superminecraftskins.com)

#DnD 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #dead rising #dead rising frank west #frank west #dnd multiclass #dnd artificer #dnd barbarian

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gyrrakavian · 5 years

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Umberlee saved my goblin eldritch knight...

This was revealed two weeks ago in session, and I spent those two weeks trying to figure out why a sea goddess of chaos who is very much not known for mercy would save my little amnesiac archaeologist.

And then I tried to plug him into @jewishdragon‘s custom alignment chart. I asked for help placing him and started listing some of the things he’s done. Then, it dawned on me that despite diplomatic attempts (-1 Char mod) he’s caused quite a bit of general chaos.

The first town he got to with the party happened to be the same town that the therianthropic blood cult who tried to sacrifice him was based. Umberlee spared him from bleeding out (magic initiate feat explained).

Upon arriving in town, Bug made certain to wear the ceremonial headdress the cult placed on him for most of his time in public there. Not all of the townies were cultists, but they all recognized the sacrificial helmet and were all made very uncomfortable by it.

At the local tavern that night, there’s a card game and Bug ventures over to join. He puts his trademark scarab medallion up for this hand. Bug wins the hand, grabs his medallion and winnings, then ducks out of the card game pissing off all of the townies and some of the caravan involved. Including some weird blue-skinned dwarf (who may be related to Bug’s near-death).

The party fights a few of the were-cultists that night to prevent them from kidnapping caravan members. We successfully kill all five of them. Bug proceeds to severe the head of the wereboar and carries it around town strapped to his back the next day looking for someone with dermestid or scarab beetles to clean the skull off for him.

That also happened to be the day he ate our kobold chef’s golden curry (grants telepathy). Bug passed his save, the townies who decided to eat some because Bug seemed fine did not. [The DM has informed us we may have a newly awakened warlock or 2 on our hands if we ever go back through there.]

More chaos ensued once the caravan got got to Luxheim. Bug only caused some of it.

During 3 weeks of downtime, he scouted most if not the entire ruined city. He only got into two fights during that time (his Int is 15). The first being when our bloodhunter unwittingly freed a gunpowder ooze from a barrel no-one could read the label on. Bug kept using firebolt on it, demonstrating that goblin science is a combination of gnome science and kobold science. Then, the PCs had to save some lvl 1 NPCs from 2 large slimes in the sewers. Turns out Thunderwave is a novel way to get someone out of a gelatinous cube.

Bug and Bohala (dwarf fighter) mined some weird green and purple crystals while exploring. Thankfully the wild magic crystals just blared out music when the two of them used the biggest one to try to signal some dwarves Bohala invited from across the frozen bay.

A 50ft celestial shark ridden by a Kuatoa preist came cruising out of the city to the by when the dwarvish ironside steamer started firing at the skeletal wyvern showing up across the other side of the bay with Dirk the reasonable wraith. The massive shark went across the top of the water to attack the dwarves (explained later).

After commandeering a landing boat and getting the dwarf to get us out to the shark, the 3 of us who showed up managed to fight the giant shark and priest. Only our poor bloodhunter had to make con saves not to drown.

First we managed to kill the priest. Our skeletal bard turning the shark into a boat (DM’s call) really helped in that respect since it made it much more difficult for the sharp to roll like that.

Once we killed the kuatoa cleric, we had to contend with the 50t celestial shark who was now a shark again thanks to the huge waterweird it was bonded with breaking the bard’s concentration.

Bug managed to crawl into one of the shark’s gill slits and used Shape Water to make an air pocket for himself. Meanwhile the bard and the bloodhunter had to hang onto the shark as it dove and rolled.

Bug slashed and bit at the gill membrane (with disadvantage), used Thunderwave to little effect, and successfully got the killing blow burning an exit hole through the giant shark with Aganazzar’s Scorcher.

After getting the dwarves and the wraith settled, we looted the shark. Bug only wanted it’s 2ft long teeth since it didn’t have much of historical worth in its guts apart from some old paintings and a sealed chest with very clear warning labels (he passed his Wis-save to overcome his curiosity).

That encountered prompted Bug to try to figure out which deity had saved him (nat1). It was totally Peylor. Thankfully, the bloodhunter asked him why he thought that and figured out (nat20) that it was actually Umberlee before Bug started praying.

The dream he gets says, “Open the city. Let the path open.” Still no idea what that means.

Bug had a sword commissioned to be made from one of the celestial shark teeth with the symbol of Umberlee on it. A DM roll later, and Bug had a Sword of the Mysterious Stranger.

We find out about The Curator when Baron Geoff (the bard) manages to catch one of the crows. Bug is trying to be helpful and accidentally spills the beans on some things. So we had to figure out where the Curator’s goons were going to go a raid it first. We narrowed it down to an island with Kuatoa in the harbor and an old battlefield Bug had a map for and had been itching to get to.

We sent the party of now lvl 2 NPCs to the island and convinced Dirk the wraith to go assist them. The party proper managed to gather some NPCs to help us go scout the battlefield. Bug lost a day trying to tame some of the large goats roaming just outside of town while the rest of the party did other preparations.

We did manage to convince some NPCs to join us on our trip to the battlefield. A goblin gambler, an older cleric with a winter wolf, a dwarfish gunslinger, and a fey woodchuck.

Bug the convinced the fey woodchuck to accompany us so they could continue messing with the gunslinger.

The bloodhunter convinced the gunslinger to come so he could keep an eye on the fey woodchuck.

Bug followed the fey woodchuck through a Transport Through Trees spell, and asked to be sent to the battlefield. No one else in the party had thought to do so (we were all there). So they got to figure out a way to get to the battlefield. Turns out the coastal wizard a day’s trip from town is only lvl 4, so they had to ride oxen from the caravan.

The upside to this was that Gesento(sp?) got paid with the sharktooth shield Bug had him commissioned before heading out.

Thanks to being in the fey wild, Bug got transported to the battlefield 4 days prior. He remembered to thank and pay the fey. Then, spent the next 6 days scurrying about finding, logging, and deducing everything he could about the battle. Including some more recent spine devil spikes.

The bloodhunter found a sword that was buried that Bug overlooked. Bug recalled a story about a noble who refused to leave his castle as it sank, and a knight who had come from said castle (nat20). But the source was pretty sketchy.

The Currator’s crows show up, so Bug starts distracting them. Being a terrible liar did and didn’t help. Accidentally outing the Bloodhunter as being a Bloodhunter and asking the crows what they knew of the Promethean (dead language) phrase “seek the dead brother”, the crows (lesser undead themselves) got VERY riled up.

The Currator’s skeletal Kenku goons started showing up and a fight ensued involving a coatl that was acting weird. As soon as the skellies were dispatched, Bug booked it for the trapdoor Rolland had dug out in a fortified hut. Inside was a spiral stairwell. Bug tied some rope to the railing, then proceeded to slide down the hand rail w/o issue (nat20). Which also meant he went sailing off the end of it cartwheeling across the floor, setting off all of the traps behind him, a subterranean courtyard and stopping abruptly by slamming into a tree in its center (nat1) after causing a loud ruckus.

Found the sunken castle!

Thankfully the werewolves that lived there weren’t part of the cult and didn’t kill us since Rolland smoothed things over with them. And we successfully defeated The Currator’s goons! Bug was happy to had some more skulls to his collection.

He also made some Kenku jaw bone pauldrons for our Drow Light Cleric. Yes, you read all of that sentence correctly.

#agent of chaos #he made sure the good werewolves got some of the mythril gear as recompense #dnd #dnd chaos #dnd stories #goblin eldritch knight #goblin archaeologist #accidental agent of chaos

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darkelfshadow · 6 years

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Session Summary - 45

AKA “The Wayward Harper”

Adventures in Taggeriell

Session 45 (Date: 19th May 2018)

Players Present:

- Rob (Known as “Oloma”) Human Female.

- Travis (Known as “Trenchant”) Human Male.

- Sean (Known as “Seanicus”) Elf Male.

- Bob (Known as “Sir Krondor) Dwarf Male.

- Arthur (Known as “Gim”) Dwarf Male.

Absent Players

- Paul (Known as “Labarett”) Elf Male. <Played by Travis>

NPC

- (Known as “Naillae”) Elf Female. <Controlled by DM>

- (Known as “Nac”) Half-elf Male. <Controlled by Rob>

Summary

- Fireday, 5th Abadius in the year 815 (Second Era). Early Spring.

- The party begin this session, just before noon on the north trade route road, standing in the middle of the remains of the battle from last sessions orc ambush. Dead bodies of orcs are scattered everywhere. The party survey the scene as Seanicus waves his hand to dismiss the green light that swirls around the area. The horse on the lead security wagon is dead, cut down by the attacking orcs, and Nac is still unconscious but his bleeding and wounds have been stabilised thanks to words of enchantment from Labarett.

- The party, Bruhomn and the other wagon security guards all get to work to deal with the situation and get moving as fast as possible. Oloma moves around the area trying to find the tracks of where the orcs came from but it appears they have been here a few days, waiting for a caravan to attack, and the rains from a few days previous have washed away any chance of finding where the band of orcs had come from. Bruhomn and some of his staff get about the messy work of removing the harness from the dead horse, moving the animal off the road, and attaching a spare horse to the front wagon. Some of the party search about the bodies of the orcs but can not find anything of value. Whilst this is going on Trenchant is standing a top one of the tall rock formations with Bruhomn’s spy glass and is keeping a watch to make sure they are not attacked by any more foes whilst repairs are under way.

- Labarett is kneeling down casting a spell of healing upon Nac just as a small winged flying snake about 2 feet long suddenly appears in the air near Nac and then lands at the feet of Nac, who is starting to sit up coughing.

- Labarett moves to grab one of his long swords exclaiming, “A snake!”

- Nac quickly puts out one hand to stop Labarett saying, “No wait. That is for me.”

- The winged serpent drops a small messenger scroll at the feet of Nac and then leaps towards Nac and seems to vanish as it nears him.

- Labarett sheaves his long sword and turns to Nac, “You want to explain what that was?”

- Nac turns a cold stare to the Barbarian, “No.”

- Naillae moves closer and says, “I’ve seen that before. When I was doing a job for Halia in Phandalin, there was one time I saw Halia receive a message from a flying snake that popped in and out of thin air. I saw it from a distance and Halia never knew I was there. I never mentioned to Halia I saw it as I figured it might not be good for my health if she knew.”

- Nac stands up brushing the dust off himself and says, “Yes, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth shut about this too.”

- Labarett takes a step forward, to place his imposing figure between Nac and Naillae, an edge of constrained anger tones his voice, “Are you threatening another member of our fellowship?”

- Nac smiles, “No Labarett, I’m giving Naillae some life advise, if she wants to keep her life that is. I would not lay a hand on her but there are others, within my group that would kill to keep that knowledge secret.”

- Naillae leans around Labarett and looks at Nac, “You mean the Zhentarim, don’t you? I thought we were allies with the Zhentarim now?”

- Nac replies, “I’m not threatening you Naillae, I’m warning you. There are those in the Zhentarim that would kill for less. The Zhentarim may be cooperating with the other groups at this time but make no mistake. When this business with the Cult is done the Zhentarim will return to the shadows and once again protecting itself from knowledge. Those people that spoke out too much previously will be remembered. For your sake I caution you to be careful what you say and who might over hear. The eyes and ears of the Zhentarim are everywhere.”

- The caravan is once again ready to head off. The party take up the lead wagon position, except for Labarett and Seanicus who stay in the rear security wagon to help guard the rear. The rest of the afternoon passes uneventfully and the caravan does not stop for a midday break or meal as Bruhomn wishes to reach Dunfrun well before sunrise so he can start sorting out getting the sick members of the caravan seen too as soon as possible.

- With still an hour and half of light left before sunset the road moves in between two large rocky hills. Between the hills spans an enormous stone fortress made up of a series of large towers made of white stone. The tops of each tower are brightly coloured red. Along the sides of both of the rocky hills are many manned sentry posts. High above the fortress, placed on the north hill, is a high stone wall behind which can be seen the tops of various building.

- The road is leading straight to the largest of the white towers, the size of the base of the tower easily the same size as a small town, and the two tall stone doors there are closed. Many Dwarves, all armed and wearing similar armour with a red scarf draped over one shoulder, can be seen walking the tops of the defensive walls and manning large catapults and ballistas.

- Trenchant, pulls out his Doss Lute and begins to sing a song about the exploits of the caravan and bravery of the wagon guards who defend it. Nac bends his head down and sighs, “Bloody bards.”

- The song echoes around the valley and the stone walls of the fortress as the caravan slowly proceeds onwards. Some of the Dwarves up above can be seen nodding their heads in time to the tune. The large stone doors of the fortress begin to open as Leda rides up next to the party in the front wagon just as Trenchant finishes his song.

- Leda speaks in a loud enough voice to carry to the party in the adjacent wagon, “Welcome to Dunfrun. This is a Clanless Dwarf strong hold. It has no Thane that rules here, as it isn’t a Clan, but the duty of rulership is held between a Char, or ceremonial chief and a Dar, or the war chief. The reality is the war chief runs Dunfrun. There are many exiled Dwarves here, kicked out of their Clans, and they eventually end up here, bitter and with nothing left to lose. Just be careful you don’t go wandering around here alone. Follow me, we’re going through the main tower and out to the other side to the stockyards where the wagons will be staying.”

- The caravan follows Leda through the large stone doors into an impressive display of Dwarvish stone work. The ground level of the tower is one large open space, the ceiling which is forty feet high is seemingly held up by an occasional large thick stone pillar. Many arched windows let in an abundance of light. Inside the tower is a town, with roads, buildings, market squares, inns and all manner of shops. The streets are filled with a throng of people, mostly Dwarf but also with some Humans, Halfling, Tiefling and Dragonborn. All of the Humans have very dark skin. Scattered around the far circular edge of the tower can be seen wide stone steps raising to another level above. Leda tells the party that this is just one level of many like levels of this tower.

- Winding through the many streets the caravan eventually comes to the far side of the tower city and exits via a pair of stone doors, though large, are not as large as the main entry doors that the party entered the city by. They continue through into a inner compound area of some size, protected on all sides either by the rocky hills or large stone walls. Leda leads them to an empty area of the stockyard. There are scattered wagons and horses here and there.

- Once the caravan has halted Bruhomn gets off and starts to prepare for the stay. After paying the party for their guard duty for the last segment he tells them that the caravan will be staying in Dunfrun for two days as he will need to organise dealing with the deceased wagon drivers and their gear and see to the medical aid for the sick people within the wagon. The party are free to do what they like for the next two days and can either camp in tents next to the caravan or hire rooms in one of the many inns in town.

- The party look over to the cultists in the their wagons and can see they are setting up their tents to stay with the wagon. Bruhomn advises the party that with all the Dwarven soldiers walking around the area the wagons should be safe.

- As the party stand around the caravan deciding what to do, the Bag Of Sharing on Trenchant’s back tightens. Trenchant takes the bag off his back and then waits for it to loosen again before opening it. He pulls out a parchment note that he unfolds and starts to read, “It’s another letter from Valder. It reads, greetings friends. I have been continuing my studies into the book. I have learnt that the twin Elven Red Wizards Virion and Merith crafted the six dragon masks in the Wave Echo Cave Spell Forge: white, black, green, blue, red and a clear one. Each of the coloured Dragon Masks grants resistance to certain types of damage, protects the wearer and defends them, enhances certain abilities that involve breath attacks, grant dragon sight and speech, and each of the coloured masks grant certain other powers like water breathing or assisting in dealing damage to enemy foes.”

- Seanicus looks confused, “What book? Who’s Valder? What do the Dragon Masks have to do with this?”

- Nac replies, “Before you joined us. Valder was a former travelling companion, a Wizard. He left our group to stay in Lington as an assistant librarian in the Royal Library to research a large book there called Dragons Of The Council. The book tells about the Dragon Wars two thousand years ago when the Cult tried to call Tiamat into the world by forging the Dragon Masks. They failed but the masks still exist and now the Cult is searching for them to try again.”

- The party decide to get some business sorted whilst it is still daylight and after bidding Bruhomn farewell and promising to return on the morning two days from now, the party leave and make their way back to the ground level of the tower town and enter the busy settlement. Sounds and smells assault them as they walk around the busy town. All the signs on the shop fronts and street signs are written in Dwarvish.

- Gim asks a passing Dwarf about what inns or taverns are around here and is told about three near by ones on this level, the Buhrad Ats (Translation: “Golden Axe Tavern”), the Bof Smag Gar (Translation: “Home of the Strong Smoke House”) and the Syr Lin (Translation: “Silver Moon Inn”).

- The party decide to split up to save some time and then meet up later at the Golden Axe tavern but heeding Leda’s warning they make sure not to go wandering alone around the town. Seanicus and Oloma want to find somewhere to sell the black mushrooms Seanicus collected from the Bad Lands. Sir Krondor and Gim, glad to be in a Dwarven town, decide they will head straight for the Golden Axe tavern to get some drinking done and lastly Nac, Trenchant and Naillae decide to wander around the town looking what is about. Labarett decides to stay with the Dwarven cousins to make sure they don’t get into too much trouble or drink too much. Before splitting up Oloma asks Naillae if she can find and purchase a specialised crafting kit.

- Seanicus and Oloma look around trying to find an alchemist or herbal shop. They ask some of the locals but each Dwarf they speak to either completely ignores them or curses them in Dwarvish before walking off. They eventually see a sign, one of many that indicate the various shops and services available, and see that there is a sign in Dwarvish with “Nadmul’s Mystical Services and Readings” pointing upwards near one of the large stone stairways that leads to the next level. The pair walk up the stairs and find themselves on another open large level similar to the ground level. Streets and buildings are visible filling the open area and Dwarves walk to and fro. The buildings on this level appear to be more into crafts and trade, with black smiths, tanners, weavers, dye makers, and all manner of crafts.

- Following another sign the pair eventually come to a stone building, well made and clean, with a sign out the front in Dwarvish indicating “Nadmul’s Mystic Hut”. The pair enter a clean premises with a colourful and sparkling interior, as many dangling crystals and beads hanging from the ceiling catch the light from many scented candles that burn through out the room. Coloured feathers and scarfs adorn the room and in one corner is a round table covered in a red cover, with a black silk cloth covering a small round object.

- A female Dwarf, with striking red hair and dressed in purple robes adorned with silver stars, smiles and speaks in Dwarvish, “Welcome to my shop, I am Nadmul, how may I help you?”

- Oloma speaks in common, “My friend here has some black mushrooms from the Bad Lands to sell.”

- Nadmul changes her speech into common and informs them that she has no use for the stuff herself but knows that the mushrooms are used to make a potent brew at the Bof Smag Gar downstairs. She gives them directions on how to get there. Oloma and Seanicus look over the wares on offer but nothing interests them or they are too expensive.

- Oloma looks over at the round table, “What’s that used for?”

- Nadmul moves over to the table and removes the black silk cloth to reveal a large round crystal orb, “For a gold coin I can read your fortune.”

- Oloma takes out a coin and moves to sit down at the table, as Nadmul takes the coin and sits down opposite her. Oloma reaches out with her mind towards Nadmul and can sense her thoughts. The Dwarf touches her hands to the orb and then instructs Oloma to do the same. When Oloma touches the orb her connection to the Nadmul is broken and her entire focus is drawn to the orb. Light and smoke swirls within the orb and Oloma can see shapes and images forming within the smoke but they are hard to make out.

- Nadmul speaks, “You are a traveller from a far land.”

- Oloma sees shapes forming within the orb, is that the elder tower of Halruaan? A face? The smoke swirls to reveal the face of a female with a look of sadness. Mother? Mother!

- Nadmul continues, “You have made new friends and new alliances.” The smoke swirls and a series of faces and figures fly past, so fast as to be hard to see. Was that Morthos? A flash of white then a series of faces flashes past, some Oloma can see and recognise, Sir Krondor’s, Trenchant, the others moved too fast for her to see.

- Nadmul speaks, “A time will come when you will have to make a decision between yourself and others.” The orb goes dark, swirling with black smoke and from within a figure stands with their back to Oloma, the face hidden. The figure holds up a long sword, glowing yellow at first and then turns to purple. From within the smoke another figure moves but Oloma can not see it clearly and then fire, an explosion of heat and power so intense that for a moment her sight is blinded. Who was the figure? What decision?

- Nadmul takes her hands off the orb and her eyes, which had been completely white, return to normal. She speaks, “Was the vision to your liking?”

- Oloma nods, blinking, unsure of what to say, “Yes.”

- The pair quickly leave shop, Oloma looking behind her at the hut, the vision of the figure standing within the fire still seared on her sight.

- On the way back Seanicus and Oloma stop at an open wooden market stall that is selling various weapons. Seanicus attempts to buy a sling but has to pay the outrageous price of 1 gold coin for the item. It is obvious the Dwarf shop keeper is inflating the prices because neither Seanicus or Oloma are Dwarves. When they attempt to buy some sling bullets and the Dwarf again tries to charge them 1 gold coin Oloma uses her psionics to cause a distraction behind the shop keeper and Seanicus grabs the bag of bullets and the pair run off into the large crowd without paying for it.

- They look for the stairs down and begin to make their way over to the Golden Axe tavern to reunite with the party.

***

- Sir Krondor, Gim and Labarett have found the Golden Axe tavern and taken a seat at one of the tables within. The place is busy with many Dwarves seated at tables drinking, eating, talking and playing games. Everyone in the tavern keeps looks at Labarett, the only non-Dwarf in the place. Sir Krondor and Gim talk to the owner, Arak, and order two drinks for each of them and one drink for Labarett. When the drinks come out Sir Krondor and Gim’s eyes open wide and they smile broadly looking at the two drinks sitting in front of each of them. Each drink is the size of a small bucket. Labarett looks at the single large drink in front of him with some trepidation, it is the biggest size mug he has ever seen.

- The three sit and relax and enjoy their drink. Sir Krondor and Gim speak to the Arak, in Dwarvish, about the town and other news, whilst Labarett who can not speak Dwarvish, just sits and smiles and nods his head occasionally.

- Arak asks in Dwarvish, “Why are you two hanging around with a bloody Elf?”

- Sir Krondor sighs and replies in Dwarvish, “I know right. We have to baby sit him. He’s a bit slow. Don’t want him going off by himself and getting lost. We all work for the same boss as guards on a caravan.”

- Arak smiles, “Right. Right. You could always arrange an accident to occur to him. I know people that could arrange that. You wouldn’t have to look after him then.”

- Labarett, oblivious that the inn keeper has just offered to do him serious harm, is sitting and smiling.

- Sir Krondor replies, “Oh no. We would get in trouble if we lost him.”

- Arak leaves the three to drink in peace.

***

- While Nac, Trenchant and Naillae are wandering about they come to a large open public square that has many open stalls set up in a large fresh food market. There is a raised platform on the side of the square, obviously used for public speaking, and Trenchant decides to put on a performance. The Bard walks up to the platform and takes out his Doss Lute and begins to play a song about the many great deeds of the Dwarves past and present. At first the Dwaves around the area ignore him but then eventually a crowd starts to form around the bard, clapping and cheering about the songs.

- Trenchant is enjoying the song and cheering. Naillae is standing next to platform looking up at the Bard with obvious affection. Nac looks across at her and scoffs in displeasure.

- Trenchant then changes the song lyrics to talk about a new threat coming to the lands outside of Dunfrun, the Dragons, and the need for the brave and strong Dwarves of Dunfrun to join the fight. Trenchant watches the happy faces of the Dwarves one by one stop smiling and with a scowl turn and walk away. Trenchant knows immediately he has misread the audience and he has lost them. As he plays out the last chord, all the Dwarves have left, and only one person, an elderly female human stands just outside the front of a near by inn. She is smiling and tapping her feet in time to the last few bars.

- She wears a fine green dress, with detailed embroidery. Long white hair falls on either side of a smiling and welcoming face. As the song ends she claps at Trenchant, “You play well young man.”

- Trenchant looks over at her and starts to walk over to her, Naillae and Nac following. The Bard asks, “I think I lost my audience. What did I do wrong?”

- The female smiles, “You need to know your audience. The Dwarves of Dunfrun are a proud lot, boastful too, but they have grown insular and withdrawn from the rest of the world. They do not care of the problems that lay outside of these walls. And they grow worse year to year. They do not trust or like non-Dwarves or outsiders. They no longer patrol the northern lands or the northern trade route. Bandits and others have become more of a problem in these parts now. But come, let me buy you a drink for your song, I do love music and the sound of it is rare in these parts. My name is Livia.”

- Trenchant, Nac and Naillae follow her into the inn, which a sign in Dwarvish reads the “Syr Lin” (Translation: “Silver Moon”). Naillae says she’ll head over to the bar and drink there and see if she can learn where to get the crafting kit Oloma wanted. Nac and Trenchant follow Livia to a round table near a front window, which from a half drunk mug, a brown travelling cloak hung over a chair and a small backpack laying next to the table, must have been where Livia was already seated.

- Nac and Trenchant sit at two of the unoccupied chairs whilst Livia takes the travelling cloak and placed it over her shoulders before sitting down too.

- She waves down one of the Dwarven inn staff and orders drinks for Nac and Trenchant. When the drinks are delivered Trenchant notices in the dust of the near by window is a scribble. To anyone else it would be appear to be a random mark, with no meaning, but to Trenchant, he immediately recognises it as a Harper sign for “help”.

- Trenchant leans over and says, “Thank you for the drink.” and then extends a hand out to Livia to shake it. She takes the hand and smiles, feeling the quick and secret finger sign that Trenchant makes, the secret hand shake of a Harper.

- Still smiling, she lets go of Trenchant’s hand and then takes a small silver box out from an inner pocket of her cloak. She places it in the middle of the table and then opens the lid. Nac and Trenchant felt a pressure flow over them but nothing else.

- Nac looks at the elderly female suspiciously, “What was that?”

- Livia smiles, “Something that will allow us to talk without fear of others hearing.”

- Nac asks, “It places a silence around us?”

- Livia replies to Nac, “No, people will still hear us but they will not hear what we really say, only a mundane boring conversation about the weather and cooking recipes.”

- Turning to Trenchant she speaks, “I am Livia, Brightcandle of the Harpers.” (Third Rank).

- Trenchant nods, “I am Trenchant, Harpshadow of the Harpers.” (Second Rank).

- Trenchant and Livia speak about Harper matters, Nac muttering under his breath about “bloody harpers.” It appears that Livia’s apprentice and newly joined member of the Harpers, a Watcher (First Rank) by the name of Ignaaz, has gone missing whilst searching for the location of an orc lair near Dunfrun. Livia can not look for him as she must remain in the Syr Lin Inn waiting for a important contact. She asks Trenchant if he can search for her missing apprentice.

- Livia speaks, “Ignaaz is new to the Harpers. He is still learning and sometimes he takes risks when patience or prudence is needed. He will learn one day, if given the chance. I fear he has been captured and taken back to the orc’s lair. Have you heard of the treatment orcs give to captured foes? They play with them like toys, torturing them for days until they are near death and then finally kill them for food.”

- Trenchant asks, “How will we find Ignaaz or the lair now?”

- Livia says, “A Dwarf hunter by the name of Onnar drinks at the Bof Smag Gar. He knows the location of the lair but each time Ignaaz tried to ask him he was so drunk that he could not speak. Perhaps if you try to speak to him now you might be lucky and find him sober enough.”

- Trenchant answers, “We will speak to Onnar and then we will find your wayward Harper, Ignaaz.”

- Nac leans forward, “First, we need to discuss the how much this is going to cost you in gold to find him.”

- Livia raises one eyebrow in disgust and turns to Trenchant, “He’s with you?”

- Trenchant, looking embarrassed replies, “Yes. He’s not with the Harpers.”

- Livia turns back to Nac, “I find it highly insulting that the need the coin would even go through your brain. He is a Harper, and Harpers look after each other, like family. I will leave this in your capable hands Trenchant Harpshadow, please find Ignaaz.”

- Trenchant grabs Nac and in company with Naillae, who was unsuccessful in finding anything from the Dwarves as they don’t appear willing to help a non-Dwarf, leave the inn to head over to the Golden Axe to regroup with the rest of the party.

***

- A short time later the party are all reunited and seated within the Golden Axe inn. They discuss what to do next. Seanicus states he needs to go to the Bof Smag Gar to sell his black mushrooms and Trenchant says he needs to go there too to speak to the Dwarven hunter Onnar. Oloma asks Naillae if she has been successful in finding the item Oloma asked for but when Naillae replies that the Dwarves don’t seen to trust or like any non-Dwarves Oloma and Seanicus nod in agreement and understanding.

- The party all head out of the inn and see that there are now large flaming braziers along the circular walls and the pillars that hold up the ceiling. There is little smoke coming from the fires and what there is is somehow directed through holes in the tower to the outside. It must be evening now as the many windows are in darkness.

- Walking through the many streets the party make their way over to a run down part of the lower section of the town. The houses here are dirty and unkept and the people wandering around here all appear desperate. All the eyes of the locals here look hard at the party, as if wondering if the risk the party poses is worth the risk to try and rob them. Seanicus summons his Shadow Hound follow behind to look out for trouble. Likewise, Oloma uses her psionics to improve her senses and toughen her skin in case of attack.

- The party arrive at a wooden building with a broken sign out the front with “Bof Smag Gar” written in Dwarvish script. Some of the windows of the building are broken. A strong unpleasant smell comes from the building. It gives everyone a headache.

- Out the front of the building, seated on a broken wooden bench, are two Dwarves. One appears unconscious, as he is slumped backwards on the seat with vomit on his chest, and the other Dwarf is holding a wooden mug, looking around with red blood shot eyes.

- Sir Krondor walks up to the two Dwarves and asks about Onnar the hunter. It takes him a while to get any answers from the conscious Dwarf but he eventually only learns that Onnar may be inside.

- Opening the door to the building, a white fume of sickly smelling smoke drifts out. They enter the dark room, only scattered candles are around the room. A long bar is on the far wall, where two Dwarves stand behind, a pair of battle axes on hooks hang on the wall near them. Around the room are tables, chairs and rugs over which are seated or laying about twenty Dwarves in various states ranging from unconscious to semi-sober. Some Dwarves are drinking and some are smoking and all are in a pitiful state, wearing dirty and torn clothes, unkept hair, and from the smell obviously have not washed in weeks.

- The party sit down at an empty table.

- One of the Dwarves from behind the bar comes over, “You in the right place? You don’t seem like the sort we normally serve.”

- Sir Krondor speaks, “We’re here to speak to Onnar the Hunter. Is he here?”

- The bar keeper looks up and says sarcastically, “Onnar, Onnar? I know the name. If only something could loosen the block in my memory I might remember where he is.”

- Trenchant throws a gold coin onto the greasy table and the Dwarf grabs it immediately and then points to a corner table with a lone occupant, “That’s him there. You ordering any drink or smoke?”

- When the party inform the Dwarf they will not be buying anything he turns and walks back to stand behind the bar.

- Seanicus, Oloma and Sir Krondor make their way over to the bar whilst the rest of the party walk over to see the Onnar.

- Onnar the Dwarf Hunter is seated at the table, with a half drunk mug in front of him. He is wearing dirty, torn travelling gear. A backpack and longbow that have seen better days are laying on the floor next to him. Trenchant bangs his hand down onto the table, “You Onnar?”

- The Dwarf blinks a few times and then looks up, his eyes trying to focus on the where the voice came from. In a slurred voice the Dwarf replies, “Yeah, I’m Onnar, who wants to know.”

- Trenchant sits down and speaks to the Dwarf hunter. Luckily the party have caught Onnar before he has drunk too much and he is sober enough to talk too. He does know the location of the orc lair, having come across it in the near by mountains by accident on a hunt a few weeks ago.

- Trenchant asks again, “So you’ve never heard of someone called Ignaaz and you’ve never told anyone where this orc lair is?”

- Onnar burps, “Nope, who would I tell?”

- Trenchant says, “You will lead us to the lair tomorrow.”

- Onnar snaps, “I don’t have time to go leading you around the place.”

- Gim leans over and smiles, the light reflecting off the two great axes strapped to his back, “Yes, you do.” (Intimidation check successful).

- Onnar looks up at the grinning face of Gim and slowly replies, “Yes, I do.”

- Trenchant says, “Excellent. Then you’re coming with us now and staying with us in the Golden Axe. You can lead us to the lair first thing tomorrow morning.”

- Onnar slurs, “I can’t afford that fancy place!”

- Trenchant answers quickly, “We will pay for your accomodation and meals.”

- Onnar stands up, unsteady on his feet, “You hear that boys! I’m staying in the Buhrad Ats!”

- No one else in the inn notices or pays any attention to the outburst. Trenchant puts the half drunk mug away and leads Onnar away, “That’s enough drink. I need you sober for tomorrow.”

- Seanicus, Oloma and Sir Krondor leave the bar and reunite with the party.

- Naillae asks, “How did you go? Did you sell the black mushrooms?”

- Sir Krondor smiles, “Yes. The little weasel tried to fleece us! I got him to pay us a fair and honest price.”

- The party walk out of the Buhrad Ats and walk back to the Golden Axe, helping the unsteady Onnar walk. Once they arrive at the Golden Axe they arrange and pay for rooms and meals from Arak the inn keeper. Labarett and Seanicus take Onnar with them into a shared room to keep on eye on him. The party retire to their respective rooms and get to sleep. The rest of the night goes uneventfully.

- Starday, 6th Abadius in the year 815 (Second Era). Early Spring.

- The morning sees the coming of a sunny day with medium winds bringing a cool breeze. It looks like the weather will be pleasant for the coming incursion into the mountains.

- After a large breakfast the party prepare to leave. Onnar is looking much more sober now and much more capable. He checks his equipment and makes sure it is stowed and ready for travel.

- The party leave Dunfrun and Onnar leads the way. Any doubts about the Hunter’s abilities are quickly squashed when they see the now sober Dwarf moving with a practised ease. He leads the party away from Dunfrun towards the east and up into the Anum mountains that stretch for hundreds of miles to the north, west and east.

- Trenchant keeps an eye on Onnar and is impressed with his skill as a tracker. The Dwarf is somehow picking out the way amongst a bleak and featureless landscape. Trenchant moves upwards to speak to Onnar, “You have some skill out here in the wilds. Why do waste your life away with what ever coin you have on drink?”

- Onnar turns to look at Trenchant, and says nothing. At first Trenchant does not think he will get a reply, then after a time Onnar speaks, his voice filled with pain, “I’m not proud of what I’ve become. I drink to forget. I was married to a fine woman and had two children. That was when I was living in Clan Moribek. Then my family was killed by bandits whilst out in the mountains around the Clan stronghold. I blamed everyone. I blamed the other Dwarves for not protecting my wife, I blamed the Thane for not driving out the bandits from around our stronghold, I blamed my wife for going out that day. But really deep down, I blamed myself for not being there when they needed me. I turned to drink. I become violent and disruptive. I attacked the Thane in a drunken rage. I was banished by the Thane. Left the Clan a broken man. I can never return to Clan Moribek.”

- Trenchant looks at the neck of Onnar, “I’m sorry for your lose Onnar. You don’t have the mark of a traitor branded on you. Why is that?”

- Onnar smiles, “Oh the Thane wanted to alright. And I deserved it, mark my words boy, I attacked the Thane of my Clan. What can be more dishonourable than that? But one of his advisors, my cousin, convinced the Thane that my tragic story should be taken into consideration in passing sentence. So instead of being branded a traitor and bared from all Clans, I was just banished from his Clan. I headed out west and ended up here at Dunfrun with all the other Dwarves that have failed in life. Drink is all I have left. I go out when I’m sober and hunt big game, the rarer stuff that is in demand. I get a good price for it back in Dunfrun and then I use the money to drink until I forget again.”

- Trenchant leaves Onnar to the task of leading them and the party continue onwards, speeded up by the gift of Labarett’s supernatural abilities. After only an hour, Onnar crouches down and slowly moves up to a large rock and peers over it. The party likewise move up carefully.

- Onnar speaks, “Up ahead is a long cliff, not high, but long. An old river bed and dry waterfall are there. There are lots of caves along the cliff face but one of them is marked, you can’t miss it. That’s the one you want with the orcs. There’s a trail of sorts here, must be made by the passing orcs. Looks a fair number of them too. Follow the trail from now on. Good luck.”

- Onnar starts to turn around to leave. Trenchant stops him with a hand, “Onnar come with us. We could use your skill with a bow.”

- The Dwarf laughs, “You wanted me to take you to the lair. That’s the lair. I’m no hero and this isn’t my problem. And my skill with the bow extends to hitting large animals that are standing still and not aware I’m even there. I don’t want to try firing at fast moving orcs intent to take my head off for lunch! If you survive, head back west. You shouldn’t miss Dunfrun but even if you do miss it, you have to cross the road so just follow that into the town.”

- With that Onnar turns and walks away. The party watch him go and then proceed onwards towards where Onnar indicated the cliff starts. They continue forward following the rough trail and after a moment they see that the trail is splitting into two. One path winds downwards to the lower ground and one path stays on the upper ground of the cliff.

- The party have a quick discussion as to whether to stay on the high or low path and vote to stay on the higher ground. They continue following the trail until they see further ahead it leads to the edge of the cliff where there is a pile of bones sticking up. An old, dry river bed can be seen further ahead.

- Labarett speaks, “That’s the river bed Onnar spoke of and that must be the marker. Now what?”

- Trenchant speaks, “Wait here, I’ll scout ahead with my cloak and see if it’s safe. I’ll throw a rock if it is.”

- Trenchant pulls up the hood of his cloak and then the cloak takes on the bland colours of the rock around them, making him blend into the surrounding. He moves cautiously across the lose rocks, making no sound thanks to his Boots of Elvenkind. He climbs up a nearby small hill and looks around him. He can see no sign of orcs. He throws a small rock towards the party and seeing the sign they move forward, with Gim, Oloma and Seanicus leading the way and moving closer to the cliff edge and the bone marker.

- The three look over the edge and can see caves everywhere but directly below there are two caves, one at the ground floor below and one set half way up the cliff face. Another bone marker is placed next to the cave on the bottom. Seanicus sends forth his shadow hound to the ground cave and the has it wait there on look out.

- Seanicus leans over the cliff edge and looks at the rocks, “It would appear that this section of rock has had a lot of use, they are claw and foot marks all over it.” (Successful Perception check).

- Gim speaks, “Orcs like to climb, dam good at it too. And they have claws. This must be how they get in and out.”

- Labarett speaks, “Then way is there another path that goes to the larger bottom cave? Why would the orcs need or use that too?”

- No one has an answer.

- Oloma waves over Naillae and the Rogue Elf moves over to the cliff edge and then proceeds to climb upside down towards the nearest cave. She pops her head into the cave to look inside and then turns around to climb back up to the top. She climbs up and stands next to the party and tells them that the cave goes back into a cavern and all she can see is bats on the ceiling but no orcs.

- Trenchant rejoins the group and removes his hood to reappear saying, “Well then lets see what’s in the upper cave.”

- The party hammer a spike into the ground and tie a rope to it. The rope is tied around Nac, being the heaviest in the party due to his armour, and the rest of the party helps lower him down whilst he climbs down into the upper cave. Once there he unties the rope around him and waits until one by one the party climb down and into the cave. Naillae is last to come, removes the spike and takes the rope with her and then easily climbs down unaided to join the others in the cave.

- The party move forward and follow the cave passage into a larger cavern. There appears to be no other exits from here.

- Gim looks around, “This doesn’t make any sense. Why would the orcs climb into a dead end cave?”

- Nac moves to one of the cavern walls, “Everyone start looking for secret doors.”

- Seanicus kneels down, “I’ll perform my ritual of Detect Magic, maybe something hidden here.”

- Labarett also sits down, “And I’ll perform my ritual of Speak to Animals. The bats here might give us some information.”

- The party all start checking the walls but the size of the cavern and the rough nature of the walls and rock make it slow going. After ten minutes Nac and Oloma both locate a hidden section of rock that as they are running there hands over it, it easily swings back to reveal a hidden stairway going down and bending round slightly. When they let go of the rock section it swings back into place to once again look like a normal section of the cavern wall.

- Nac calls out, “Found a secret stairway, what about you two, have you discovered anything?”

- Seanicus stands up, “No, there is nothing magic here.”

- Labarett stands too, “The bats are difficult to understand but I did get that the orcs do come through here, a large group of them. They come and go as a group about every week or two.”

- Gim asks, “A hunting party?”

- “Maybe,” replies Labarett and continues, “But the bats mentioned another thing I don’t understand. They said the ones of our size, which must be the orcs, come through this cave, but the ones of a much larger size come through the cave down below.”

- Trenchant asks, “Any idea what these large creatures are?”

- Labarett shakes his head with a no. The party prepare to go down the stairs and because the stairs are narrow have to descend single file. The stairs curve around and go a fair distance but Gim doesn’t think they have descended too fair as the incline of the steps wasn’t that much (Successful Stone cunning check).

- The stairs end at a small 10’ square room with no other seeming exits again. The party begin to search the small area for another secret door. Sir Krondor and Gim, being the first in line down the stairs begin to search the small area but can’t find anything. Oloma comes down too but can’t find anything either.

- Gim turns back to the rest of the party still waiting on the stairs as there is no more room in this small area, “Check out the walls on the stairway might be a button there.”

- The rest of the party start to search the stairway but no one can find anything until Naillae sees a small indentation that she presses and it clicks but with no apparent affect.

- Oloma tells her to press the button again and she’ll try to push the forward wall at the same time. Naillae presses the button and Oloma places her hand onto the plain stone wall at the end of the small room and it swings open to reveal a large cavern light by a campfire. Around the campfire, a dozen orcs turn to see the stone door swing open and immediately raise up grabbing their weapons. Other orcs, from around the corner of the cavern pop into view.

- Oloma and Gim, using the element of surprise to their advantage quickly rush in. Gim move around to the right and engages the closest orcs and Oloma steps inside and then vanishes to reappear in the corner of the cavern behind some raised broken stalagmites that provide some cover.

- The party are struggling to get down the narrow stairs quick enough and are finding it hard to enter the cavern quickly. The orcs, half naked wearing only a loin cloth and with war paint all over them, rush forward screaming. Orc Berserkers. They show no fear and are fighting recklessly and dangerously.

- Two large orcs, wearing armour are getting up from their seated positions on the side of the cavern. These orcs each have an eye missing, apparently gouged out. A medallion around each of their necks has a simple metal disc with an engraved eye on it. These two special orcs are Eyes of Gruumsh. They have willingly sacrificed one of their eyes to the Orc God Gruumsh and in doing so have been granted divine powers by the god. They are his emissaries, his clerics.

- Oloma, from her spot behind the broken stalagmites sees the orcs beginning to rush forward and the two Eyes of Gruumsh beginning to stand up. She unleashes a powerful psionic blast into the room that kills five of the orcs and badly wounds the two Eyes of Gruumsh.

- Seanicus has managed to squeeze his way forward towards the secret door and looking into the cavern speaks words of power to summon within a green light that swirls and moves around the cavern, attacking the orcs as it does so.

- The Orc Berserkers rush in, not caring for the display of magic and psionics all around them. They know no fear and will fight to death. Their great axes swing towards Gim and Oloma as they are the only ones of the party in the cavern. One of the Eyes of Gruumsh starts to cough blood and falls backwards dead, succumbing to the green light of Seanicus’s spell of Sickening Radiance. The other remaining Eye of Gruumsh does not succumb to the green light and points his hand at three of the Orc Berserkers that are attacking the party. He Blesses them in the name of Gruumsh, a yellow pale light now surrounds them; their attacks shall ring true in the great Orc gods name!

- Oloma finds herself surrounded by four Orc Berserkers but thankfully only one can reach her as the broken stalagmites are giving her cover. She summons her Soul Blades and prepares to fight back. One of the orcs swings its great axe at her whilst another throws it weapon at her head, narrowly missing her.

- Nac calls upon the power of his Goddess, Takhisis, and brings her Aid to Labarett, Sir Krondor and Gim, empowering them to fight longer and harder and then the Cleric moves into the cavern.

- Gim is pushing the orcs back from the secret door, allowing Sir Krondor and Labarett to both move in. Sir Krondor’s green war hammer swinging into the head of an orc whilst Labarett’s battle axe Snaidh swings into chest of another orc. Gim not to be outdone swings his great axe into the head of one orc and slices the top half of the head clean off killing the creature (Critical Hit - Triple Damage and Blinded).

- Seanicus moves forward into the room only to be surrounded by two more Berserkers, one of which grabs him whilst the other attacks him. Sir Krondor, Labarett and Gim having cleared the orcs around them quickly move towards Seanicus and kill the orcs attacking the Warlock.

- Oloma aims a psionic attack at the last Orc Eye of Gruumsh, killing him. As the orc lets out one last breath his dead body falls backwards and it hits a section of the cavern wall which then swings back to reveal a hidden door.

- The party have managed to enter and over whelm the orcs quickly. They move into the cavern and begin searching the dead bodies. They can see that this cavern leads to the outside area and is the bottom cave they saw from above. The secret stone door is 15’ high and 10’ feet wide and beyond it a set of 10’ wide stone steps descend down with a slight bend. The secret door, though being one large solid block of stone easily moves and swings even with just one hand pushing it with no effort.

- Gim looks at the door, “That is Dwarvish make. No one else could make a stone door so large and so perfectly balanced.”

- Naillae looks at the large door, “Why are all Dwarvish doors so big?”

- Nac replies, “It’s a Dwarf thing. They’re over compensating.”

- The bodies of the orcs have nothing of value. Trenchant takes the two eye medallions.

- The party spend some time searching the cavern for other possible secret doors but can not find anything else. They decide to go back upstairs to the upper cavern with the bats and again search it for secret doors but again find nothing else.

- They decide to proceed down the 10’ wide stone steps, the two cousins Sir Krondor and Gim leading the way. The stairs descend for some distance, the air getting colder around them, until they see an opening up ahead. Gim believes they have descended about 70’ below the surface of the ground.

- Seanicus sends his Shadow Hound forward into the room to see what lays ahead. Through the eyes of his invisible hound Seanicus sees a large carven filled with stalagmites. A thin layer of cold mist covers the ground but still visible on the ground is littered bones and rubbish all over. The cavern is so large and of an odd shape that not all of it is visible. To the left is an open stone archway, that stands 10’ wide and 15’ high that has some engravings upon it. Light is coming from somewhere beyond the open archway. Two broken stone pillars stand before the archway. In the far corner of the cavern is a large hay pile, flattened like a bed, and seated upon it is a large Ogre. The massive beast has his back to the direction of the party and appears to be eating a large dead animal, the crunching sound of its jaws crushing the bones of the animal echo through out the cavern.

- Wishing to check out as much of the room as possible, the Shadow Hound is sent further and it sees a second Ogre seated on another pile of hay on the opposite corner to the first Ogre, in a small portion of the cavern to the side and behind the entry stairs from where the party are positioned.

- The party decide to send in Oloma and Trenchant who will sneak forward into the room to get a better look. The two enter the room slowly and head to the left to a near by formation of large stalagmites. Trenchant is silent, his Boots of Elvenkind making no noise on the uneven ground but Oloma walks onto a piece of bone and it brakes with a loud enough snap that even the party waiting up on the stairs can hear it.

- From the Ogre near the stairway, the sound of it raising up can be heard by everyone. Oloma moves back into a safer position whilst Gim comes running down the stairs and into the room. The sound of his rattling armour and pounding feet has now drawn the attention of the far Ogre who now stops eating to turn and look towards the party.

- Gim readies his great axe for combat. As a flash of colour runs past him, Labarett is charging at full speed into the room and towards the closest Ogre. The Elf Barbarian Sorcerer does not hesitate, in a full rage he starts to swing his enchanted battle axe towards the approaching Ogre. The battle axe cuts a deep wound (Critical Hit on a Charge).

- Oloma looks across the cavern at the Ogre standing on the far side and turns her mind towards the Ogre. Oloma’s psionics concentrate into the Ogre’s mind and force it to escape into itself, shattering its resolve and making it unlikely to want to attack or approach the party. The Ogre is now cowering down and covering its face with its large hands.

- Seanicus steps towards the cavern entry and leans around the corner to see that the Ogre that Oloma just affected is standing on the pile of hay. Seanicus aims a spell at the hay and a small bonfire erupts under the feet of the Ogre and the hay pile immediately erupt into flames.

- Sir Krondor runs down the stairs pulling out his long bow and sees the Ogre lit up on fire on the far side of the cavern. Unfortunately Sir Krondor does not see Trenchant standing in the way as the Bard still has his Cloak of Elvenkind on and is camouflaged from view. Sir Krondor fires an arrow at the flaming Ogre but hits Trenchant instead injuring him (Fumble attack that was rerolled from using Inspiration that was again rolled as a Fumble). Trenchant grits his teeth in pain from the blow but does not yell out in order to not give away his position.

- Naillae stays well back from the cavern entrance and waits for an opportunity to use her unique talents.

- The Ogre that the party have engaged near the stairs moves closer to the party and swing its massive great club. The Ogre standing in the flaming hay pile, its mind still confused and affected by Oloma’s psionics, jumps out of the fire and around a corner to try and hide from the view of the party.

- A third Ogre now raises up into view, having previously been laying down asleep behind a large pillar of stone. Now the party face the threat of three Ogres! This new Ogre strides easily to reach the party, its long thick legs making large strides and comes to stand in front of Sir Krondor. The large creature swings its great club and strikes the ground near the Dwarf with a loud thud.

- Trenchant, still hidden by his cloak, carefully moves away from the Ogre, who does not notice he is there, and moves to the large rock pillar. The Bard places an oil flask onto the ground near him.

- Gim and Labarett takes turns swinging their weapons into one of the Ogres, the large beast unable to avoid their blows and finding it hard to hit the pair. With a loud roar Labarett slices his battle axe into the leg of the Ogre forcing it to kneel down and allowing Gim to slice open the neck of the beast with his great axe. A loud thud sounds as the creature hits the ground dead.

- From the large stone archway, that has light coming from it, appears a group of Orcs running into the cavern. There are fourteen Orcs dressed in hide armour, four Orc Berserkers covered in war paint and a single Orc Orog wearing full plate armour. The group is running in at full speed. One of them knocks over the oil flask placed on the ground by Trenchant, the oil splashes onto his legs and so too the legs of an adjacent Orc but does not slow them down.

- Seanicus, still looking into the cavern from the entry way, sees the new threat of the Orcs and summons a Sickening Radiance into the cavern. Suddenly the air is filled with green light as it swirls around attacking all the foes within.

- Labarett charges towards the new Ogre and begins to swing his battle axe Snaidh into the Ogre’s back. At the same time, Sir Krondor drops his long bow and reaches for his war hammer from his back. The Dwarf Knight does not bother to take his shield out but rather holds his weapon two handed and begins to pound into the Ogre, joining Labarett’s attack, the sickening sound of breaking bones filling the cavern with each strike of his war hammer into the Ogre. The last swing of Sir Krondor’s war hammer slams into the chest of the Ogre and as it coughs up blood, gurgling and unable to breath, it falls to the ground to die.

- Naillae, standing behind Seanicus in the entry way, throws daggers at the approaching Orcs. Then she exclaims in panic and takes a step back as the figure of the Orc Orog, wearing full plate armour, comes into view to stand directly in front of Seanicus, who also leans back to try to get away.

- The final Ogre, trying to move forward away from the fire, suddenly falls forward, its eyes closed, as it succumbs to the green light of Sickening Radiance slowly draining it of life. Now only the Orcs remain.

- Trenchant, still hidden, summons a Stinking Cloud at the on coming Orcs to try to slow them down. A noxious thick yellow cloud appears around the Orcs. Coughing can be heard coming from it but the cloud is soo thick as to make it impossible to see them now. The Bard then moves back away.

- Nac summons a spell around him, soon the air is filled with whirling pale Spirit Guardians that glow with a faint white light. They surround Nac and attack and slow down any foe that comes near him.

- Gim and Labarett are trying to move back to the entry way, striking Orcs aside as they do, desperate to aid Seanicus and Naillae against the threat of the Orc Orog. Sir Krondor too is moving from Orc to Orc, bringing them down.

- Oloma moves to the side and opens her mind fully, allowing a powerful blast of psionic energy to flood forth. She directs it towards the yellow cloud of stinking vapours and the force of the wave is so great the minds of all the orcs trapped within the cloud are shattered. They all fall down dead. Oloma sighs with the effort, her reserves of psionic potential are dwindling.

- Seanicus summons a bonfire under the feet of the Orc Orog. He howls in pain as the flames lick up his legs, heating his full plate armour. Naillae throws two daggers at the Orc Orog but the daggers just bounce off the armour of the foe. The Orog screams in pain from the fire that is heating him up and the combined power of the green light of the Sickening Radiance and the white swirling Spirit Guardians attacking him. He drops to the ground dead.

- Most of the Orc Berserkers also succumb to the twin energies of the green and white eldritch powers raging around them. The last Orc Berserker is quickly dropped by the combined blows of Gim, Labarett and Sir Krondor (Fumble attack by Sir Krondor but his Master Work war hammer ignores Fumbles).

- The battle is over and all the foes are dead.

- The whole party is smiling and ecstatic from their overwhelming victory.

- Nac boasts, “That’s how you do it. Blast them into oblivion! Don’t give them a chance!”

- Sir Krondor bends down to pick up his long bow and sighs, “No, that’s not how you do it. Do you know how many more caverns we face? Do you know how many more foes we face? Are these foes the strongest we will face in here or the weakest?”

- Nac shrugs, “I don’t know. Who cares?”

- Sir Krondor, “I care. I’ve been fighting wars and battles long enough to know you are all being reckless. You are wasting your limited spells on the likes of these. Orcs! Ogres! By the gods we could have cut them down with blades and hammer. We didn’t need to waste precious spells on the likes of those. Let’s hope for our sakes that we don’t get caught short if we face a greater threat later on in this cavern. You may wish you hadn’t wasted them on a flashy light show to see who could kill the most grunts in the quickest possible time!”

XP Allocation

Group - Combined (This is equally divided by the number of players who were involved)

Quests (Only quests that are completed or rendered undoable, during this session, are shown here)

- Arrive Next Settlement (Dunfrun) = 200 XP

- Accept The Quest From The Harper (Livia) = 100 XP

- Locate the Orc Lair = 100 XP

Creatures Overcome

- Orcs - Eye Of Gruumsh = 900 XP

- Orcs - Berserkers = 3400 XP

- Ogres = 1350 XP

- Orc - Orog = 450 XP

- Orcs = 1000 XP

Individual (This is only given to that person and is not divided amongst all players)

Special Bonus (Outstanding Role Playing)

Nil

XP Levels and Player Allocations

Player : Start + Received = Total (Notes)

Rob : 42064 + 937 = 43001

Arthur : 30076 + 937 = 31013

Travis : 29720 + 1171 = 30891

Paul : 25594 + 702 = 26296

Sean : 27205 + 937 = 28142

Bob : 25763 + 937 = 26700

NPC (Naillae) : + (468)

NPC (Nac): + (468)

#D&D #DnD #5th #5e #RPG #HOTDQ

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wondergirl-lovebot · 7 years

Note

For your pjo Newsies au could you wrote when Jack and Crutchie get together. I'd be forever grateful (ps I've been waiting for a good pjo Newsies au for like ever so thanks for writing it)

Thanks so much for requesting!!! I really appreciate it! And, It’s my pleasure to write this au! I was sorta surprise there wasn’t any on here for it (or at least to my knowledge.) Anyways, I’ve been wanting to write fics for this AU, but I had 0 motivation to write. So, when you requested it I was super happy because it gave me a reason and motivation to actually write them! So, I should be thanking you!

Also, quick thanks to everyone who’s either sent things to my inbox, my DMs, or just simply reblogged or liked the headcannon posts about the au!

Sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes sometimes I can’t see for looking haha

They’re Breaking Your Heart? Then Try to Hear it Pound

(part one of two maybe)

Chapter 1: A One-Way Trip, A Very Hard Fall

Original Headcannon posts for this au: Part 1/ Part 2

This should be up on AO3 sometime, at the moment of me posting this I am having difficulties with posting it.

Of course, the first time Jack would ever meet/talk to his deadbeat mother would be when he was Seventeen.

But, then again he has the worse luck ever. A prime example of this would be just exactly who his mother is. Now, his mother couldn’t be that bad, right?

Well, she really isn’t personality wise, that is to say, but it’s more what she is than who she is.

Jack’s mother was the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, herself. You’d think having a god or goddess as a parent would be cool and amazing, but it’s not. It’s far from amazing. Just ask any of the currently alive demigods, or read a Wikipedia page on any Ancient Greek “mythological” child of a god.

Their stories all end the same. Which is that it’s never a happy ending.

Now, the Goddess of Love’s children had get happy endings right? It’s basically ensured to them just based off who their mother was. That’s wrong, very wrong. It doesn’t matter who your godly parent is monsters still find away to hunt you down and kill you, and you still get to carry out all of the gods dirty work for them. You have no choice in the matter.

Aphrodite is known amongst the demigods and gods themselves as being one of the more, how do you say it, caring parents to have as a god. She generally appears in her children’s dreams to give them advice, or just to talk about their love lives. She may not do it often, but almost all of her children run into the Goddess one way or another at least once in their life times. She also watches over her children (and their love lives) more intently than most other gods. She tries her best to give them blessings and signs that she cares for them, but ultimately she’s a goddess and she isn’t allowed to directly interfere.

Jack Kelly, her eldest son at Camp Half-Blood, has never once seen her despite being seventeen and her cabin’s counselor. He’s always wanted to meet his mother, hell any half-blood who’s never met their godly parent will tell you this. Ever since he was little, even before he knew he of his divine heritage, he’s dreamed what it would be like to meet her. Those dreams were amplified at the age of ten when he arrived at camp, and was claimed by the Goddess.

Never did he ever in his seventeen miserable years of life, did he imagine any situation that even came remotely close to what ended up being their first meeting.

Well, that was probably a good thing that he didn’t imagine this situation.

It started as just a regular old day at Camp Half-Blood.

Jack was scaling the climbing wall, and was about to reach the top of it. Of course, that’s when everything went wrong. He had grabbed onto a ledge that seemed to be placed to a little too conveniently, but at the time Jack wasn’t really thinking about how the ledge seemed a little suspicious. He was mainly trying not to be incinerated by lava, at that point. So of course, when he grabbed onto the ledge it it burst into a dangerous and sickly flame.

Great Greek Fire! That’s just what I needed, he thought. Now, he had no choice, but to let go the ledge. Seeing as there were no other ledges or anything to grab onto, and the wall was just about to pour lava out the top of it, he was forced to take a free fall.

But, as soon as he hit bare earth below, he had let the pain and exhaustion consume him. And, with that Jack’s whole world went dark, engulfed by the darkness that slumber brought, as he hit the ground with a loud and painful thud.

It wasn’t uncommon for a demigod, especially of his strength, to have weird dreams about other events happening around the world at that same time. Or, to have somewhat prophetic dreams. Even, dreams that was some sign of help of guidance was normal. But, Gods showing up in them to have a quick chat about one’s love life was definitely not normal.

Even, for their messed up standards of what ‘normal’ is.

Jack stood in the middle of what seemed to be the Aphrodite Cabin, the one his siblings and him shared. But, something was off the cabin was empty. The cabin was usually filled with the children of Aphrodite gossiping, making bets on the love lives of other campers, etc. He hastily looked around confused as to why he would be having a dream about the cabin, let alone when it was empty.

That’s when he spotted her.

He didn’t really know how to describe the women sitting on his bunk with her legs neatly crossed and her hands at her sides. She was looking through a few photos that Jack had displayed by the side of his bed, before she looked up noticing his presence.

He didn’t really know how to describe the women, but he had a gut feeling that he knew this woman, and she knew him. Her appearance kept shifting, but that didn’t change the fact that he knew she was absolutely stunning.The women’s height, shape, hair color, eyes, race, and everything about her appearance other than the kind, loving smile she had on her face and her clothes, were shifting dramatically and rapidly. That was until, she finally took form as a short, sunkissed, girl with soft features and sandy blonde hair that hung to her shoulders.

That’s when he finally realized just exactly who he was in the presence of, and who trying to contact him through an unconscious dream. “M-Mother?” He managed to stutter out, fearing the reasons why his mother had come to bless his dreams with her presence.

Aphrodite only visited the dreams of those who she either, one, favored or found interesting and wanted to help make their love lives “interesting,” or something or other like that. Or, two, those of whom were her children, and were in need of some advice or help. Whether that need come from a quest, to what to wear to an important event, or to even having trouble with their love lives, and needing help to fix them.

Aphrodite really did have a soft spot for her children’s love lives.

He was really hoping it would be the latter of the two, and that this would be some sort of warning of a dangerous quest he’d have to go on soon. That would have been way better than being “blessed” with an interesting love life from his mother. That always meant trouble and pain for those involved. Oh, how Aphrodite just loved a great tragedy.

But, of course he wasn’t a child of Tyche, so naturally his luck was pretty horrible. And, of course the first time he’d ever meet his mother would be under the circumstances of his love life.

Aphrodite smiled gently at his recognition of her. Even, though Jack had never even met, let alone seen, his mother before this he could she cared somehow, just by that smile alone.

“I’m sorry that we had to meet for the first time in such, um, interesting circumstances.” She let out a small, gentle laugh before getting up from where she was seated on his bunk. “But, I must say Jack you’ve grown into quite the handsome young man.” The goddess complimented.

Jack’s face became as red as the strawberries they grew in the fields at camp at this, “Uh, thanks?” He scratched the back of his neck while smiling warily. “But, um- uh, why are you here? N-Not that I don’t want you here! I’m happy to see you after all this time! But, why now?”

The Goddess of love let out a small laugh at her son. “Well, I came to tell you that I’ve been watching you lately.” Jack could feel his face flush even more. Did she really watch over him? Does that mean she saw him fall off the climbing wall? And- Oh Gods! That means she’s seen him googly eyeing that son of Apollo during meals!

“Yes, Jack, to answer your questions I have seen you googly eyeing him, he is quite the cutie isn’t he? I’m sure Apollo would agree with you on that.” Jack was probably the color of a stop sign now. Wait, did she just read his mind? “As for the climbing wall incident, I am quite sorry about that. I really did need to talk to you, and it’s not like I can just randomly show up at that camp of yours and do it, now can I?”

“Wait, hold on a second here,” He started moving his hands in a sporadic slow-down movement, “You caused me to fall off the climbing wall? Why in the name of Zeus would you do that for?! What’s so important that it couldn’t wait till, Ya’ know I actually fell asleep?” Jack didn’t mean to snap at her, but that’s what it came out as. Aphrodite just let out a small breath, before beginning to smirk that I-have-very-interesting-plans-for-you smirk.

“Well, yes I did and I’m very sorry about that sweetie,” it felt so unreal that he was being called ‘sweetie’ after all these years of never even seeing her, “As for why I did it and why it’s so important. Well, I was just getting to that part of course!” She smiled happily, rocking on her toes.

“Let me guess, it’s about my love life isn’t it?” Jack deadpanned.

He wasn’t necessarily the most, how do you say, romantically active child of Aphrodite. He had only ever had a handful significant others, and for a child of Aphrodite that was surprising. But, he wasn’t really like his siblings. Most of them weren’t in it for the long run and some even got into relationships just to break the person’s heart on purpose. He always tried to be in it for the long run, fully committed and supportive. But, nothing ever seemed to work out in the end. Whenever, the relationship ended it was always them breaking it off, or on the rare occasion it was a mutual break up and he’d stayed very close friends with them. So, ironic right that he was the Counselor of the Aphrodite Cabin. And also, that his mom would finally appear to him when he was finally starting to accept the fact that no one liked him that way, and that he was basically single forever.

So, it was odd to say the least, that now when Jack was single and pretty content with that fact, that his mother would finally appear to him to give him love advice. “I mean not that there’s anything wrong with that! But, you know it’s just unexpected to say the least.” He said casting his eyes to the ground.

Aphrodite lifted his chin lovingly, with her lips ever so slightly curled into a smile. “Ah, looks like you guessed correctly.” Jack let out a nervous, shaky breath. He really didn’t want to know what the Goddess of Love had planned for him.

“As you know, I take quite amount of pride in my children, and just so long as they please me and stay on the write path in their hearts,” no doubt was she referring to her daughter who had become a spy in the Titan War, the old counselor, who wanted to stop but was threatened into continuing with it. In the end, she sacrificed herself for her comrades and was hailed a hero by most, but of course there were always a select few who didn’t. “I bless them with an interesting, but good love life. Now, not all of my children, especially nowadays, get as interesting ones anymore. It’s such a shame honestly, so much wasted potential just because they choose to be rude and hateful to others who don’t share the same outward beauty and standards as themselves.”

The Goddess shook her head in disappointment before continuing, “It’s not like I make their romantic stories bad, well occasionally but I digress. They just aren’t as interesting as others are, they’re quite mundane and boring for my tastes.” Maybe that’s a good thing seeing as how you tend to meddle quite a bit with others, Jack silently thought to himself.

“But, then how does that explain why you’re here?” Jack furrowed his brow looking down questioningly at his mother.

“Ah, well you see,” she smiled with slight satisfaction, “I was here to tell you that, as you know already, I have been watching you. And, since I do favor you over most of my current children, please don’t tell that to any of your siblings that! Of course, not to say that I think you would.” Her expression was playfully teasing him, yet it radiated how much she cared for him and the rest of her children at the same time. “I just wanted to tell you that even though your love life has been quiet, hm, eventful so far. And, that was without my intervention, I must say you are one of my favorites to watch.” That made him laugh nervously because he knew what was coming next.

“Anyways, I am promising you that I’ll make this even more of an interesting love life than before! You will find the ‘one,’ as you might say, soon!” She cheerfully added, “I must admit, I’m very excited to see how this one will shape up!” His eyes must of widened at that because she quickly added, “Not that it won’t be a great relationship for the ages! But, I only intervene so much. Many think I cause all of it, but I generally only give nudges in the right directions. You all are usually the deciding factor if a relationship succeeds or not though.”

Jack knew she could feel his uneasiness and scepticism, and that she was trying to comfort him, but it wasn’t really working. Jack had never had much luck in love, despite being a child of it.

“Wait, what exactly does ‘you will soon find the one’ mean?!” He must of looked crazy and frantic, but his mother just put her hand to her mouth and laughed graciously at her son.

“Oh, you will find out soon enough! Now, I must leave Ares is taking me out tonight! Au Revoir!”

“Wait, huh!?” Jack reached out questioningly, but by the he could say anything the Goddess had disappeared into air. Leaving Jack by himself in bright pink cabin, before that too disappeared.

Jack woke up with jolt.

He frantically scanned his surroundings trying to figure out where he was, and also comprehending what had just happened. Though, it was proving a challenge, since his head was pounding like a woodpecker was hacking at the side of his head. Oh, and not to mention the throbbing coming from his left leg. He also felt nauseous and lightheaded.

Great, he thought, this is just what I needed a severe burn, a concussion and multiple broken bones! Oh! And don’t forget the ‘blessing’ from Mom! Jack thought looking down at his right hand, the hand that should have been severely burnt. Yet, it showed no sign of it?

“Wow, wow, wow, relax! I’m trying to help you!”

Jack, then had realized he was in the infirmary, and had nearly head-butted the boy trying to heal him. Gods was Jack just having a great day!

That’s exactly when he realized just who was healing him. Of course, it had to be the adorable son of Apollo who ran the infirmary, and who Jack had been pining over basically since he saw the guy after his first capture the flag game. Said son of Apollo was a literal ray of sunshine despite the fact that he was crippled and forced to use a crutch everywhere he went. But, that never seemed to stop him, he was the camp’s head doctor (medic? Healer? Jack didn’t know what the proper title was) in the infirmary and really the whole camp. He was always smiling that adorable lopsided grin of his, was always positive even in the worst of situations, and so Jack couldn’t help but be drawn to him.

Not to mention was he beautifully adorable with his sandy blond hair, light but not pale complexion, assortment of splattered freckles on his nose, and don’t even get him started on those sky blue eyes.

But, of course Jack was too much of a chicken to actually talk to him, let alone remember his name! Wow, he was so pitiful.

Gods, he was more of a stereotypical son of Aphrodite than he thought he was.

Apparently, Jack was too busy staring at his face and thinking of how amazing he was that he didn’t realize that the boy was speaking to him.

“Hey, are you listening!! I’m trying to tell you what exactly happened to you, and what I’ve had and have to do to help you!” The healer pouted, trying to get Jack to lay back down.

“Oh, umm, sorry?” He flashed an apologetic smile.

“Okay, so will you listen now?”

“Of course, Sunny Boy!”

“Umm w-what?” The son of Apollo asked, flustered and- wait was he blushing?

“Yeah! Sunny Boy! Ya’ know because your a Son of Apollo and he’s the sun god,” and you’re like actual sunshine and I also have no idea what your name is, “Get it?” Jack tried to flash a playful smile, but he must of looked like a crazed perv because he felt extremely woozy and heavily medicated.

“Oh, whatever!” The boy huffed, “Everyone calls me Crutchie, so just call me that please!”

“Whatever you say Sunny Boy!”

“Anyways,” the boy- no Crutchie- continued, “You have a concussion and-”

“You don’t think I know that?”

“AND, you have several broken ribs and you fractured your left leg,” Crutchie said as he got up to go fetch something from the infirmary’s cabinet. Jack just winced realizing just how much pain he had been in. “I was able to get some Nectar in you and use my healing to mend the bones a bit so they weren’t as severely fractured as they were. Oh, and I was able to fix the burn on your hand right up! But,” he dragged the ‘but’ with a slow exhale of breath, “seeing as there’s a capture the flag game later I have to preserve some of my stock.”

“Really,” Jack raised an eyebrow, “or do you just like watching me suffer in pain?” The blond boy spun around with some ambrosia in his hands.

“Hardly, but since your cabin is sorta pissed at Hermes for pulling that prank,” he sighed slightly rolling his eyes, “and also, Spot and Race sorta freaked out about it too ‘cause I know you guys are pretty good friend right? Well, they’re sorta gonna try and kill the Hermes kids and thus their team along with it tonight. So, I have to make sure I have enough supplies to heal everyone since I’m sort of running low at the moment.”

“Wow, I’m sincerely touched by their anger and concern.” Jack mockingly cried before rolling his eyes, “Seriously, I’m good friends with the Hermes counselors guess that’s not enough.” Jack shrugged causing himself quite a bit of pain.

“Yeah, well Spot’s the type of guy who when sees the chance to start a huge fight in Capture the Flag that he knows won’t cause a huge horrible rivalry, takes it.” Crutchie sat down, unfolding the ambrosia squares. “And, Race follows him and vise versa on those sort of things….” He trailed off, “And not to mention he’s pretty good and riling people up too.”

“You act as if I don’t know this, Sunny Boy!” He chuckled, giving a faint smile as yet again he caused himself pain with a simple action.

Crutchie laughed a little while handing him the Ambrosia squares. “Oh and I forgot to mention concussions are sort of hard to heal with nectar or ambrosia and my healing powers can only do so much at a time, so we’re keeping you over night and maybe tomorrow too.” Jack took the squares gobbled them down trying his best to stay calm and collected around this guy. “Since, my main concern was your ribs and leg I wasn’t able to heal much of it, but I was able to heal it a little.”

“Ah, thanks,” Jack mumbled finishing his last bite of ambrosia. “I mean hey, you shouldn’t have to over exert yourself to heal me just because I was stupid and fell off the climbing wall.” He gave a weak smile looking up at the other boy through his lashes.

“Oh um, n-no problem!” Crutchie stuttered slightly blushing, “I mean usually I would be able to do more, but with Capture the Flag being so close and all I have to persevere a little bit. I hope spending a night at the infirmary isn’t to bad.”

“Of course not! I mean, hey I get to see more of you!” Jack grinned like a Cheshire Cat.

“Oh well, um okay,” Crutchie was blushing furiously now, “Y-You better rest! Just, uh, call me if you need me I’m gonna be here late tonight.” Crutchie stumbled toward the exit of the room, “Oh and I’ll make sure someone brings you your dinner…. Which will probably be me, see you later lover boy.” And, before Jack could say anything else Crutchie had dashed out of the room. Jack was now left alone in the room with his thoughts running wild.

Jack’s mind was more scattered than normal. Not only did he have a concussion and broken bones, he also met his mom who told him she was going to make his love life ‘interesting,’ oh and don’t forget he had woozily flirted with the guy he had been pining over! Oh what a great day!

Jack tried to comprehend what his mother had told him and what exactly ‘you will soon find the one,’ meant. Could it be- no, he shouldn’t get his hopes up, he had no chance!

Before, he knew it he had slipped into the darkness of sleep once again.

Jack would be lying if he said that he wasn’t at least a little bit sad that his time in the infirmary was over. Okay, that was a lie he was very sad about it.

He had gotten to know Crutchie much better over just that short day and two nights he was there! Now, Jack wasn’t just interested in the son of Apollo because of what he had heard, saw, and from the few short interactions they had before this. Now, Jack was officially head over heels for him.

One problem though. He still had no idea how to approach and actually spend time with Crutchie. The boy spent most of his time in the infirmary and shared no lessons with Jack at all. He felt like he was going to explode.

A few night after he was freed from the infirmary he found himself on the losing end of a poker game against Race, Spot, and his half-brother Romeo. While, Davey shook his head off to the side criticizing them for the way they were choosing to spend their free time.

“Oh come one Dave! Gambling is a very valid use of free time!” Race retorted. Davey just shook his head and laughed a bit.

“Oh well I’m not saying it’s not, and I sort of expect you to do it Race. But, I’m more or less criticizing the three who are willing to play against you.” Davey shook his head, scolding them.

“What’s so wrong playin’ against Race?” Romeo, oh Romeo he was still so oblivious. Jack had to admit Davey was right it was stupid of them to gamble against a son of Tyche, the Goddess of Luck, but hey Spot and Jack had some tricks up their sleeves. But, Romeo well he stood no chance.

Children of Tyche were extremely lucky and almost always came out victorious in the end, especially when it came to gambling. Literally, their cabin looked and pretty much was a Casino. But, keywords there, almost always. Now children of Tyche were tricky and were anything but below cheating. They love gambling and games of luck and probability. This is due to them having the power to manipulate luck, and this power Jack didn’t really understand. But anyways, basically when they gambled all was fair game really.

So, Spot was free to intimidate the hell out of Race or physically beat him. And well, Jack he was a powerful charmspeaker so that definitely wasn’t out of the question. Now, Jack would never admit aloud to charmspeaking people into certain actions, but he did it more often times than not.

Well, no one ever stated to rules about cheating other than the obvious. So, technically it wasn’t cheating. Sort of.

Race began the game, obviously. Which basically gave him free reign over the whole games possibility, and luck of players against him in which cards they were dealt. Why they still let him do this he didn’t know?

They were half way through the game when Spot brought up Jack’s time at the infirmary. “So, Bird Brain how was your stay at infirmary?” He said teasingly with a wink.

“Ooh yeah! How was you and Crutchie’s time together?” Another mock coming from Race this time.

“It was fine, I guess,” Jack tried to avoid this subject seeing how his friends could get. “I mean it’s not like anything really happened, he brought me food, made sure I was healing correctly, and did actually heal me. But, nothing happened.” He explained a little more harshly than he intended to, yet even with the harsh tone in his voice he was blushing at the thought of the son of Apollo.

“Oh, my, my looks like Jacky Boy’s got a crush!” Race announced elbowing Jack in his freshly healed ribs. Jack couldn’t help, but yelp seeing as they were still pretty sore.

“Whoops! Sorry, Jack!” Race apologized.

“‘S fine,” he mumbled rubbing his sore ribs where Race had just elbowed him in. Jack could feel his face flushing a bright red.

“Wow, it’s totally not like we didn’t see that one coming,” Davey rolled his eyes before continuing, “Seriously, Jack has been all heart-eyes at the guy for months.”

“No I wasn’t!”

“Sorry to break to ya,’ but you totally were.” Spot scoffed,leaning back on the back legs of his chair. “You two both check each other out when the other’s not paying attention. And, don’t get me started on how many times I’ve seen him watching you train or spar! You two are so in love with each other!” Spot teased him. Despite all the teasing him and Race both did, they cared about Jack and it was never with malicious intent.

“Gods! No I do not how many times do I have to tell you guys this?!” Jack’s face felt like it was on fire, and it was probably the same shade as a fire truck.

Romeo hadn’t said anything, yet. He just looked around the table confused until his face contorted into a the a-lightbulb-just-went-off look.

“Wow this makes so much sense now!” Romeo exclaimed, “Now, I understand why you’re always staring at the Apollo Table during meals.”

Jack let out a large groan before burying his face into his hands. What had got himself into? It didn’t matter all he knew is that no matter what did happen things were not going to be easy.

And he had only one person to thank for that:

Aphrodite.

Thanks for reading!! Again, sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes if there are any. Please, tell me how you liked the fic!

Also, if you have any other requests for this AU hit up my inbox!

I’ll probably write a part 2, but like I may not you guys tell me!

#WOOHOO IM DONE #I seriously love this au it's my child #Abby Writes Fics #Newsies PJO AU #Newsies #PJO #Jack Kelly #crutchie morris #Crutchie #spot conlon #racetrack higgins #Romeo (newsies)#anon #requests #jackcrutchie #sprace kind of #I meant it in a sprace way but i dont think it came off that way oh well

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zippdementia · 5 years

Text

Part 65 Alignment May Vary: Twists and Turns Part 3

Aldric lies in a crumpled heap on the ground, his head a pool of blood and brains. Blackrazor lies silent beside him. Imoaza, still in her Drow disguise, instantly understands Zaeintar’s intentions. The man had to kill Aldric in order to fool the House Captain. Otherwise, all three of them would be attacked. Imoaza doesn’t have human empathy, her entire race could be described as “for the greater good,” (though that good is often for snake-kind, not for most others). Now that same mentality causes her to feel no grief, no remorse, as she follows Zaeintar’s lead in deceiving the House Captain.

“We found him wandering the halls,” Zaeintar is saying.

“Then why didn’t you detain him?” the House Captain, Raznika, asks sharply. Imoaza is quick to step in, as Zaeintar fumbles over his words.

“We tried, and the coward ran. We chased him all the way here. He’s not alone, either. He has companions, all of them working to destroy you.”

As if on cue, there is a tremendous explosion that rocks the whole pyramid. Zaeintar shoots Imoaza a look. Carrick must have succeeded in destroying the portals.

With the help of this, and some decent deception rolls, Imoaza is able to convince the male guards to go with Zaeintar to check out the explosion, while Imoaza escorts the House Captain to her chambers. The hardest part of all this for Imoaza is convincing the House Captain that she’s seen her before, as the House Captain knows all of the Drow in her service.

DM Notes: we never actually finish addressing this in the game as things move too fast, but behind the scenes I figure that Imoaza made her disguise based off of the dead Drow female that Zaeintar killed during their command center fight. That’s the “official” reason why Raznika trusts her. She thinks they are the same Drow!

Of course, this eventually leads to a fight. At the very top of the pyramid, right outside of Raznika’s chambers, Imoaza launches her attack while Raznika is distracted looking out onto the destruction and chaos that Carrick’s actions have created.

“You dare to strike a member of Drow royalty? You dare to strike a follower of the great Azor Khul?! My poisons will course through your veins and drag you down into your own personal hell.”

“Your poisons will be be like a pleasant, warming fire inside me.”

Imoaza is a vicious opponent one-on-one and immune to drow poison. The House Captain soon retreats into her chamber, slamming the door behind her. Imoaza gives chase and a blast of fire emanates from the trapped door, engulfing her.

Meanwhile, Aldric sits in the hallway, breathing deeply. “You ready to get up, man?” Blackrazor asks him. Aldric nods and looks at the blood that had sprayed onto the wall and floors of the hallway. It is slowly disappearing as Zaeintar’s illusion spell wears off, his final bid to get Aldric and Imoaza within striking range of the house captain. So Aldric, very much not dead, gets up and finds his way through the hallways, following the sounds of Imoaza’s magic. He arrives in time to see her hit by the trapped door, pushes her aside, and leaps through the fire, charging Raznika. Raznika is crouched behind a hastily kicked over desk, firing small poisoned bolts at him that he ignores, even as they pierce his armor. Then the two lock blades, Aldric swinging Blackrazor in arcs that seem to tear apart even the air itself, and Raznika swinging a longsword in one hand and a whip of nine-tails in another.

Aldric backs off after the first volley of attacks, surprised by the tenacity of his opponent. The Drow circles him, waiting for any opening. Aldric kicks the over turned desk at her and in the brief moment of respite, grabs his horn and blows it, summoning the souls of the Green Company.

A dozen ghostly warriors burst into the small room, solemnly calling out the songs of the Green Company while they descend upon the bewildered Drow. The House Captain fights bravely, even takes three of the spirits down, but eventually she falls to the axes and blades of the company. Aldric crouches by her and rips the blue stone marker from around her neck.

The fight over, the Green Company gathers around Aldric. “Commander,” they ask, “what are your orders?”

Aldric stares out over the varied faces and figures of the Company, recognizing everyone. There is Beanpole, the lanky fighter who lost an ear fighting a troll. Hazelbrush, the loud mouthed female halfling who could outdrink Aldric even on a thirsty night. Jacques, a foreigner to the main continent, who spoke little but always knew how to make Aldric laugh. A dozen men and women before him, and he knew all of them. As they look to him as their new commander, Aldric feels nostalgia wash over him and a pain grips his heart. He knows that these are just shadows, phantoms born of his own memories. And while solid enough to harm his enemies, his destiny lies not in holding onto the past but in creating the future and a new company. He wipes away tears and tells the company that the group needs to get inside the silver monument and that the armies below must be kept distracted. The company roars its approval, Hazelbrush leaping down from the Drow’s fine table where she had sat her fat rump and leading the charge out of the room and down the side of the pyramid, a ghostly army rushing down to do battle against the enemy of their commander, Aldric.

As they descend, Carrick appears, leaving his gaseous form and staring down with the other two over the scene of devastation. All is chaos below. Drow fight the company while the hordes of hobgoblins try to regather themselves as the portal device continually. But before they can, there is a massive explosion (one of Zaeintar’s traps, set for his own kind?)

The whole scene goes crazy at this point: a chasm runs down the cavern, splitting the earth around and underneath the Yuan-Ti pyramid. The pyramid buckles and begins to sag, cracks appearing all down its length as its tremendous weight is pulled into the chasm. From the chasm climbs the beast from below, the strange long limbed creature. It howls and rushes into battle.

The players fly (Imoaza’s magic spell) over this destruction and down to the silver monument. Aldric spots a slot in the monument’s door and inserts the blue stone key then removes it. There is a sound like a soft bell and the door slides smoothly open, revealing a white passageway. Aldric ducks inside quickly. Imoaza hesitates, looking back out at the battle and beyond it, to the pyramid that is slowly beginning to break apart.

Carrick sees her look and stops, not sure how to comfort the Yuan Ti, unsure even of how to read the look in her snake like eyes. “We have to go,” he says softly. She nods and then turns and brushes past him without a word. Carrick looks into the white passageway and fights off a sudden and almost debilitating feeling of deja vu, like he’s been here before. Then he enters and the door slides shut behind them.

The Surveyor and Carrick’s Past Life

“I am Azor Klhul. Did you really think you could enter my sanctum without me noticing? But worry not: for now you interest me and as long as my interest continues, so too shall your life.”

“Oh piss off,” Aldric said, staring back at the face that seemed to be magically covering the walls and ceiling of this rounded entrance hallway. “I already killed one of your dragons.”

“And I destroyed your little portal out there!” Carrick added in. Aldric nodded.

“Yeah, it isn’t great out there. Would you like to join us and take a look? Your army is completely falling apart.”

Azor Khul’s face hesitated and his eyes closed for a long moment, his face twitching as if he was reacting to something none of them could see.

“No...” he said slowly. Then the eyes opened and they were full of fury. “You insignificant little worms!” he shouted. “How DARE you disrupt my plans? You only delay the inevitable by this! You think you have saved your little valley? We shall regrow! We shall recreate!”

“But the path to the surface is cut off,” Carrick said.

“Which means you are stuck here with us,” Aldric said.

“And we don’t intend to let you leave this place. It will be your tomb,” Imoaza said.

“No,” Azor Khul said, and this time there was no denial in his voice, only a promise. “I shall go on. And so shall you, though it will not be pleasant. You humanoids are always seeking eternal life, are you not? Well, my god can give it to you!”

“We know better than to believe the lies of Tiamet!” Carrick retorted.

“Tiamet? Haha, that weak little bitch, trapped by the devils? No, the Hobgoblins and the Drow may believe I worship Tiamet but that is only because their minds would break if they saw my god’s true form. It is easier for them, simpler if they don’t try to understand too much.”

“Who do you serve, then?”

“I serve a true arbiter of life and death. You shall meet them soon enough. You will be killed now, but you won’t die. I’ll bring you back, with my god’s power, and you shall become part of our eternal study. Everlasting life, however unpleasant, will be yours. But for now I will say farewell.”

At this, the doors at the end of the hallway opened and the companions found themselves facing down four humans, wielding guns--reminiscent of the ones that Zaeintar carried, but much larger. At their sides crouched four black beasts, like smaller versions of the one Aldric fought at Brindol, ridden by the Goblin who once rode Regiarix, the Black Dragon. These were not dragons, however. They were something new.

“Men, unleash the Grendelspawn and shoot down any of the intruders who survive their attack.”

One of the men, taller then the others, with a receding hairline of short cropped black hair, barked an order and the black beasts rushed forward. Carrick unleashed his fire whip in preparation and suddenly the man who had given the order called out one more word:

“Commander?”

Within seconds of the word, the men all turn their weapons on the Grendelspawn, blasting them into oblivion while the players crouch in readiness and some confusion. Then the leader of the men strides forward and welcomes Carrick back to his ship.

Obviously this leads to some more confusion but we finally get some of the back story for what’s going on with Carrick as the man (who calls himself Bob) tries to explain.

Carrick was once known by another name: The Surveyor. He traveled the stars bringing human life to planets where he felt it was appropriate. He did this via the use of crystals, which he would implant in the earth and which somehow gave birth to new life. When The Surveyor arrived on Toril, he found other races already there and especially bonded with the Yuan Ti (why is uncertain). He shared his technology with them but when they learned of his plans to populate Toril with human life, they became suspicious of him, believing that he meant to place their civilization under human rule. Thinking of themselves as a master race, they turned on The Surveyor and he was forced to flee the planet, leaving behind many of his crystals, which would later be found and harnessed by the Gulug, precipitating the War of Seven Sorrows.. which leads into Karina’s backstory.

The Surveyor had one gem, a huge jade stone, which was filled with a dark essence, a Star Spawn from beyond the veil of reality. Unknown to the Surveyor, this gem had been in communication with the Yuan Ti and had lent them some of its power to build their hex blades. It also had subtly directed them to construct a device by which they could summon it into the physical world (the same device the players found in the basement of the pyramid). When The Surveyor boarded his ship and left Toril, the Yuan Ti activated this device and called for their new god. And he answered.

The Surveyor’s ship was taken over and directed back own to earth. In a panic, The Surveyor ejected the jade gemstone from his ship, where it broke apart in the atmosphere and spread around the world. But it was too late: the Star Spawn was able to manifest and directed the ship back to Toril, where it crashed into the Yuan Ti’s valley with the force of a comet, destroying all but their temple (and burying that deep underground). From the ship emerged the Star Spawn and he began wantonly slaughtering all he found, mostly the Yuan Ti. The Surveyor survived the crash as well and faced off against the Star Spawn. In the culminating battle, The Surveyor was killed and the Star Spawn so grievously wounded that it fell into a deep hibernation. With its gemstone broken and scattered, it could not reawaken.

The ship’s crew, Bob and others, hunkered down to wait out the milenia for the return of their master. But when the ship’s doors next opened, it was to admit Azor Khul. Drawn by the slumbering but still active mind of the Star Spawn, he immediately directed that a search begin for the jade gemstone pieces. He brought with him a host of drow to help and they soon captured and subjugated more creatures into his service. They began searching the world over for the gemstones and, more quickly than might be imagined, found them. Many had been carved into relics of power by civilizations that recognized their power (if not exactly where that power came from or what harnessing it could mean). As the gemstones were gathered, Azor Khul began directing his forces in a attack against the Elsir Vale, setting up portals so that he could send massive armies quickly into the Vale without having to traverse the far flung hallways of the Underdark. His plan was to take over the Valley and establish a new society to worship him and to, eventually, spread beyond the Vale’s borders. He was on the very edge of success.

And then, unexpectedly, The Surveyor returned as a new life, named Carrick.

This story is made somewhat humorous by the inability of the characters to grasp some of the concepts discussed. Spaceship? What’s that? Well, do you know a sailing ship? And do you know the sky? This is like a ship that sails a really big sky. The more the characters try to understand, the slower and more simple Bob becomes in his explanations, describing RE-AAA-LLY BIIIG SKY SAAAAIIILING and THEY COME FROM BEYOND THE CLOOOOOUDS. It’s communication at its finest.

While the story is being told, the players have been taken to a scientific bay to be healed by a scary looking dentist chair called the Enervator and they get to meet the scientist running this area, a woman with shoulder length brown hair and an easy smile named Fiona. Fiona and Bob also fill them in on the party’s best next steps.

A Gross Gamble

“Azor Khul has taken refuge in the command center,” Fiona said, running her fingers along one wall and quickly scanning the symbols and pictures that appeared there. “He’s locked down most of the ship and he’s rerouting power. Massive amounts, though I can’t tell where it’s coming from.”

“Hey, maybe you could show me how to work this thing?” Aldric said, moving closer to Fiona. “In return... I could show you my sword.”

Fiona blinked, not comprehending. “But I can already see your sword. It’s there in your scabbard.”

“You haven’t seen it unsheathed,” Aldric replied, winking.

“We don’t have much time,” Bob said, cutting the innuendo short. “Whatever Azor Khul is planning, it won’t be good for any of you. Commander, what are your orders?”

Carrick stared back for a moment before realizing Bob was addressing him. Then he looked around awkwardly, as if waiting for someone else to speak. When no one came to his rescue, he cleared his throat and spoke: “Well, this is my ship, right? Then it’s time to try and take it back.”

Bob nodded. “Then I have some weapons to help you.”

“And don’t forget the slugs,” Fiona added, looking past the hovering Aldric.

“Slugs?” Imoaza asked. “What are we supposed to do with slugs?”

Bob and Fiona start handing out weapons. Aldric gets dual pistols with a high critical range. Aldric gets an anti-matter rifle. Imoaza gets a rifle with a grenade launcher and number of other attachments. None of them know at all how to use them and a little pandemonium hits when Aldric decides to test his weapons by firing them at the floor, sending lasers bouncing all over the room. Those will come into play again.

Three more important things happen this session. First, the players opt to be infected with Slugspawn, living pieces of the Starspawn which will wrap around their brains and protect them from Azor Khul’s psychic energy and attacks but which also runs the teensy weensy risk of causing their heads to explode as the slugspawn matures and takes over the host’s body. Still, they decide to go through with the risk because (a) it’s a huge payoff to be able to avoid psychic attacks and charms, and (b) because it’s epic as hell. The implant process is pretty harrowing, as the slugspawn finds the nearest orifice and burrows into the body (for Aldric, it burrows through his right nipple).

The second thing that happens is that they are attacked on the way to Azor Khul. They use the spaceship’s vents to bypass all the doors Azor Khul has locked but are found by his Grendelspawn. Aldric wrestles with one, finally blasting it multiple times in the head with his laser pistols, and Imoaza launches a grenade (accidentally) at a group of others, blasting apart the vents and dropping them outside of and beneath the ship (saved by Imoaza’s fly spell), where the third important thing happens.

For here, beneath the ship, is the source of Azor Khul’s energy, the power he is pumping back into the spaceship. Here lie row upon row of tubes wherein float bodies that are very familiar to the players. They see the generals of the Red Hand, Varanthian, and the Dragons that they fought throughout their campaign. The tubes are pumping out piles of goop which then form into clones of these figures, rising up to face the players (and explaining where Azor Khul’s infinite army comes from). But before they can fight, the goop is sucked back into the tubes and the tubes all empty, shooting their contents up huge pipes into the spaceship and the spaceship comes alive above them, rumbling as it shifts in the cavern and lights begin turning on all over it.

Blackrazor goes a little nuts down here, realizing that the tubes are replicating souls. He tells Aldric that they could stay here forever, devouring this endless supply of artifical souls and growing ever more powerful. Aldric finds himself actually disturbed by the concept and for the first time a thin sliver of doubt crosses his mind as to whether he wishes to remain attached to Blackrazor. The blade becomes completely incensed when the tubes shoot their energy into the ship above them, screaming out that they are stealing his souls!

Only one of the bodies is outside of a tube and remains behind after this, that of an eviscerated and dissected Bronze Dragon, still sickeningly alive, its brain visible and gyrating as the thing shakes in its bonds: a number of wire plugged into its remains that feed up to the ship. The poor creature stirs when it sees that Aldric carries the Rod of Storms, for this is the same dragon who gave that rod to Karina what seems like years ago (but was actually about a month or two). The Dragon desperately relays a message: “The trade I made you... the time for you to get the treasure I promised has come... you must retrieve it now before it is too late! The winged one has already learned the secrets of the crystals. Soon he will be unstoppable.”

Before the Dragon can say more a massive power surge pulls his life force from him and up through the wires into the ship. The cavern begins to collapse and Imoaza uses her fly spell again to lift them up and up and up, past an airlock and back into the ship, rising up through its innards towards...

... towards the Starspawn.

The massive beast lies dormant inside a huge glass tank. The wires and plugs that extend inside the tank are sparking with energy, yet the creature does not move. Carrick grimaces as he sees the beast and for the first time he recalls dying at its hands.

But the players rise past it, onto a bridge that leads into the control room. The doors open with the blue stone rectangle that Aldric still carries and they come into a long room filled with desks and computers and other equipment that they do not recognize the purpose of. And there, at the far end of the room, standing before a huge wall of glass that looks out onto a dark cavern, stands Azor Khul.

The muscular Dragonborn turns as they enter and he snarls. “Too late,” he says, and slams his hand down on a button on the console nearest him. The ship rumbles and the cavern outside the glass speeds past them as the ship tears through the underground, bursts from out of the earth and heads up and up and up.

Until they all see they have left their world behind and entered the big big sky. They are in space.

“Now, we can talk,” Azor Khul says.

Next time, the Final Fight. At least, the Final Fight of this world.

#dungeons and dragons #DND 5e #Azor Khul #spelljammer

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zippdementia · 7 years

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Part 27 Alignment May Vary: Tinkering

By now my players are a pretty formidable three person fighting force. Abenthy is a power-tank, with AC of 24 due to the full plate armor he got from Mordekai, a magic shield he picked up... somewhere, can’t remember... some more magic AC items (which bring him to his maximum attuned) and some of his class abilities. Tyrion is very dextrous, plus he wears half plate and carries a shield, giving him 20 AC when he has the hand free to use it (18 when not). Karinna is fast, too, and with her elven armor she is not easy to hit--she has the lowest AC of the bunch at 17, which is still decent.

Monsters at this point are still rolling +4 to hit in most cases, meaning that they have to roll at least 13 to hit Karinna (doable), 14-16 to hit Tyrion (tough), and they have to critically hit Abenthy to get through his defenses. So how do you still challenge this team, as a GM? It’s a nice puzzle to solve and the next section of the adventure requires me to start solving it! This post talks through the remainder of the island of Rori Rama, covering DM tactics for changing encounters to make them fit your players without taking away the powers they have worked hard to attain and the play style they desire to stand by.

Reaching the Lizardfolk village, led there by “Small Threat,” the players are taken to the Lizardking ruler, a great beast of a creature who at first seems likely to eat them as much as parley with them. But he is impressed when Karinna (aided by Comprehend languages) manages to communicate with him in the lizard tongue, and shortly he tells them of the island, the location of the tomb, and the danger facing his people.

Ages ago, Haggemoth built his tomb here, protected by a great fortress manned by automatons and beasts of his creation or culling. Then, one day, he disappeared inside the tomb and was never heard from again. For many generations, few would dare to even approach, for fear of his guardians. But little by little, the Lizardmen’s courage grew and eventually they discovered the fortress abandoned. They then went to explore the tomb, and the things they found have kept even their children’s grandchildren from ever venturing back. The tale of the tomb’s horrors has been passed down without details through the lizardfolk. But now, circumstances may force them to reconsider, for a group of Bugbears, come here who knows how, have taken over the fortress and have begun launching raids on the lizardfolk. They strike at night, take children and kill warriors, steal food and burn homes. The entire civilization of these lizardfolk is at stake, yet the bugbears have too well fortified a position in the old dwarven fortress. The leader, Ruth’Nek, has hesitated to strike for fear of dashing his people against its battlements. Not only that, but the journey overland to the fortress is long, and riddled with dangers. Whispers speak of the “Heart of the Jungle” coming to take those who venture past the river.

Karinna uses her ability for flair and sympathy to earn the lizardking’s trust, and he agrees to send a handful of his warriors with them to the tomb, in the hopes they can drive out the Bugbears as part of their goal. He also gives them boats to take the river as far as they can, in hopes of avoiding the Heart of the Jungle.

Obviously, this all has a lot of set up and the purpose is to give the players a sense of both foreshadowing and preplanning. They will ultimately end up facing the Heart of the Jungle, and the bugbears, but the way they approach both situations ends up having a huge impact on how well the group fares. It also illustrates what I want to discuss about various options for challenging players.

This post covers about three or four sessions worth of information, so it’s going to be a big one. Might even break it up into two parts. In any case, ready? Let’s do it!

Big Heavy Hitter

Bad smell.

That was what the lizard warriors were saying. Karrina’s spell gave her mastery of the language, but not an understanding of the meaning behind the words. She could see their unease, it had been present ever since they had entered this swampy part of the jungle. But now the lizardmen were practically shoving the group forward in their haste to leave the area. Karinna started towards one of the nearest ones, a scarred lizardman she believed was named “Two Tails,” or “Tooth and Nails” (sometimes the words slurred together, even with her spell). She intended to calm him and get an explanation, but suddenly she found herself unable to keep moving. Something had wrapped itself around her leg. She looked down and saw her leg was caught in a tangle of vines and weeds. Sighing, she knelt down to cut the vines and suddenly was on her back as the forest came alive around her, the vines whipping upwards and throwing her down as they did, then beginning to drag her towards a gap in the trees, where a large mound was rising up, horribly, out of the swamp...

Soon after leaving the Lizardfolk camp, the players are given a choice: continue on the river and end up in a lake that is known to be the home of a territorial monster, or cut through the center of the jungle. They chose the latter, and end up meeting the proverbial Heart of the Jungle, a Tendriculous. The Tendriculous is a third edition plant monster, notable for its weakness to acid instead of fire, its regeneration, and its swallow ability (which can put a real time limit on a battle, as they grab a player character, pull them from an entire battle, and restrain/blind/deafen them while they slowly get digested inside its belly). It is hampered by a very slow movement speed and poor AC. It also wasn’t stated out for fifth edition, giving me the opportunity to create it from scratch. I end up using Demongnomes Guide to Monsters as a base and then tweak things a little, mostly tuning down its swallow ability a bit, from working on anything that is grappled to being an action it has to take against something that’s within five feet.

The Tendriculous is a heavy hitter, a little bit like the Tyrannosaur I described last post. The idea is that it is a big honkin’ monster, probably just beyond the player level, but fairly easy to run from, and actually pretty beatable if they can learn its weakness.

Or, as the case turns out, if it doesn’t roll higher than an 8 more than four times in the entire battle. That is a lesson in itself. See, the Tendriculous is an example of one of those monsters where the answer to the question of how to threaten to players is to just make it hit goddamn hard, with big attack bonuses (+10 in this case) that can bust through even Abenthy’s AC. You want to use such monsters sparingly, or else it makes your players feel like you are just over leveling everything to always be one step beyond them. They are perfect for fights like this, against impressive boss monsters. But you also have to be willing to let such creatures not be impressive, if the dice dictate it. And in this case, even a +10, three times a round, doesn’t help much when I can’t seem to roll more than 8. The big honkin’ monster becomes a big honkin’ dud, but it doesn’t matter. The few hits it does get off are scary and, more importantly, the players feel like badasses for beating the Heart of the Forest into oblivion. They are a little shocked by how much experience it gives (”Really? For that thing?”) but happy to get the exp nonetheless.

Monster Variety (AKA “oh shit that guy has class levels”)

The Bugbears came up to the crying child, chuckling evilly. “What can we do for you, little girl? You lost?”

“No,” Abenthy answered, pulling free the ring that he had gotten long ago at the LaCroix residence, the one that made anyone wearing it look like Charles LaCroix’s little girl. He swung his blade around before the Bugbears could respond. One’s head went flying off into the grass, the look of smug cleverness still plastered on its features. The others were slow to reach for weapons and paid for their delay with arrows in their throats, shot from Karinna and Tyrion, who rose, silent as ghosts, from the grasses.

“That’s one for both of us,” Tyrion admitted. “But mine was the cleaner shot.”

Even as he smirked, an arrow embedded itself in the ground at his feet and he yelped in surprise. In the distance, a hundred feet or more away, the squat dwarvem fortress was suddenly erupting, like a bee’s hive, with Bugbears. They clambored onto the ramparts, firing arrows and lobbing curses. Another arrow soared through the air, expertly aimed towards Tyrion’s face.

TING! The arrow flew off course as Karinna fired a bolt at it from her handbow.

“That’s two for me,” she said. “Or was that not clean enough?”

“Into the woods!” Abenthy called to the group, raising his shield to block another volley of arrows as he retreated. The group fell back towards a copse of trees, their companions charging forward across the plains to meet up with them: Verrick, the former traitor and spy for the Red Hand; Xaviee, Samuels, and Biggs, shipwrecked companions of the late Twyin; and the lizard warriors, crying out in jubilation at the successful ambush of the Bugbears.

Little did they all know that there were eyes in the woods, watching them approach and preparing an ambush of their own...

To break down the encounter into simple math, there are about 16 Bugbears hear at the old fort. Most are inside, a handful are outside, waiting to move silently in for stealth strikes against anyone attempting to seige the fort. The campaign module stats out two special bugbears: a shaman and a berserker/barbarian who leads the Buggies. I take it a step further in my conversion—because Bugbear swarms aren’t as much of a challenge in fifth as they were in Pathfinder, due to the lack of trip rules, big flanking bonuses, and some other minor details—and decide to make this fight contain a variety of differently classed monsters. This is one of my favorite techniques for adding challenge in a high level, or high magic item, campaign because it does so by adding a tactical challenge rather than simply outleveling player characters.

In this case, I use the wonderful (and newly available) Revenge of the Hordes to add some variety to the Bugbears, throwing in archers (who have a good chance of hitting even Abenthy as long as they don’t move on their turn) and a Hunter to ambush them in the woods, using his harpoon to pull Abenthy to the ground and delay him while his fellow, regular Bugbears, swarm the other players. I do buff the regular Bugbears a small amount, giving them a few basic fighter class levels in order to gain a +1 to their attack and damage rolls.

There is a wonderful Shaman template in the Hordes guide that I use mostly as is, though I tweak it down a bit to better match the healer/support template that the campaign intends. The leader Bugbear I build using the rules in the Dungeon Master’s Guide for adding class levels to a monster, and make a pretty impressive Barbarian Bugbear Chief, with mighty hitpoints, devastating damage attacks, and resistance to most damage. In a one-on-one against any single player character, this guy has the advantage.

All of these adjustments do not ensure a player loss. Instead, they ensure that the players can’t go head-on rushing into battle and expect to win. Thus, this encounter won’t devolve into a roll-battle. The players have to think tactically. And hopefully by doing so, you encourage your players to play the character they have wanted to, in combat.

For instance, you have an AC 24 Paladin who wants to wade into battle like a tank? Let him! Build your monsters so that they are a minor challenge to him and most likely they will still be a huge challenge to the AC 17 wizard hiding behind him. When those monsters rush past him and charge the wizard, this creates a fun challenge for the Paladin: how does he regain control of this scene? How does he taunt and engage these monsters? How does he position himself to block their access to the rest of the party (and bonus points if he yells “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”)

My players are great in these tactical situations: they respond quickly and briliantly to the challenge, dispatching the ambushers as fast as they can and then choosing the woods as their battleground, forcing the majority of the Bugbears to come to them. Tyrion launches a well timed Hypnotic Pattern at the rushing horde that causes three of them to drop immediately from the fight. The remainder Karinna confounds by using her Cloak of Darkness (gained from Mordekai back in Celaenos) to devastating effect. The way I designed this particular cloak:

Cloak of Darkness (damaged) Requires Attunement Can be used once a day, resets with the rising of the sun Action: Casts Darkness as per the spell in a twenty foot radius out from the Cloak. The spell requires concentration and can be ended as a free action. Otherwise, it lasts for one minute. One difference between this and regular darkness is that, while wearing the cloak, the user can see five feet inside this darkness. Can be dispelled with a lvl three or higher light spell.

This is an assasin’s dream cloak! The regular Darkness spell has two uses: either to quickly create a smoke screen so wizards, rogues, and other ranged or injured fighters can escape combat, or to create a hampering wall to slow the approach of a rushing horde of melee fighters or a very powerful monster. This cloak adds the nasty ability of letting the user wander more or less freely around the darkness, getting advantage attacks off on those they encounter. Combine this with a rogue’s sneak attack ability and it turns them into a walking death reaper, making this cloud of darkness a terrifying place to be for Karrina’s enemies.

This gets back to a gaming philosophy I embrace as DM: encourage your players to play the character they want to be. If you have a ranger in the group who wants to be a Ghost Recon sniper, then build scenarios and magic items that let them achieve that. Karinna has always favored a sneaky backstab style of attack, so this was designed to encourage that in combat. It is balanced by the fact that it can only be used in one combat a day, meaning it usually gets saved for the big encounters, and by the fact that it CAN be dispelled by either striking Karinna (again, encouraging that stealthy play) or by using Light level 3—which gives me a way, as GM, to ensure it doesn’t break the game or become the team’s answer to every big fight. As they level and start encountering more enemies with classes, spellcasters will have a way around this tactic, letting the challenge eventually level with them.

For now, though, this is a highly effective tactic against the Bugbears. It turns the forest into a shadowy arena of death and effectively cuts off the leader and shaman from the main troops. They are tough challenges on their own, especially with the shaman boosting the big bad’s health as he bears down on Abenthy, but after two sessions of trading blows, the player team comes out victorious and the Bugbears flee, most of them getting shot down as they run, including the Shaman who takes a critical hit arrow in the throat from Karinna.

Bluffs and Twists

The bridge loomed ahead of them. Perhaps once it had had rails or decorations but if so time had erased them. It had lost none of its grandeur, though. The sheer span it covered, over a hundred feet crossing the great river below. Abenthy was first to cross, with Tyrion and the soldiers close behind, and Karinna and Verrick making up the rear.

A blur of motion, hot breath against her neck, sharp claws digging into her shoulder—these were the sensations Karinna experienced as the Bugbear leader wrapped a meaty arm around her neck. His blood, pouring copiously from his many wounds, splashed across her black clothes, and the smell of him was like regurgitated milk and garlic.

He said nothing, only growled as he lifted a circular pouch in one hand and ripped its top off with his teeth. The pouch began to smoke and sputter with sparks. He held tight to Karinna and began to laugh, but the hoarse chuckle turned into a groan of pain as Karina drove her elbow deep into his abdomen and squirmed free of his grasp. Not wasting any time, she and Verrick began to run. Tyrion and Abenthy stared, neither yet quite comprehending what had just happened.

RUN! Karinna screamed, but the words were only forming in her mind before the explosion tore her from her feet. The world spun. Karina saw flame and heard the cracking of stone as the power the Bugbear had unleashed engulfed the creature, the bridge, and Karina and her companions. A ringing in her ears only grew worse as she lifted her head to look around. The bridge spun into focus, though she still felt sickly dizzy, like she was laying against a stone wall, defying gravity, looking down at an opening in the cliff where the tomb entrance was.

The sonic wave that had followed the explosion had knocked her flat, and thus she had avoided the worst of the flames. Tyrion had not been so lucky. His hair and eyebrows burnt away, the halfing looked oddly doll-like. He was lying on his back, his blackened hands curled into claws, his lips charred and pulled back from gums that were rippling with bright pink burnt skin. Abenthy was running to him, lifitng him, shouting something to Karina that she could not hear, and then tearing back (down?) across the bridge towards the tomb, the three soldiers following. She felt the bridge shake underneath her.

Suddenly she was pulled to her feet. Verick had a hold of her arm. She looked past him and saw the bridge collapsing around them. Now she knew why Abenthy had run, and Verick was doing the same, pulling her along. Why wouldn’t her legs work? They felt like dead stumps, each step she took radiating both numbness and a prickly pain that caused her to grind her teeth together. She was stumbling, not running, and she wasn’t going to make it.

Verrick spun her to face him then and his lips moved, but she couldn’t make out the sound of his voice. He shoved her, hard, and she flew backwards, tripping over herself and falling into Abenthy’s waiting arms as the bridge fell, and Verrick fell with it.

When she could hear again, the first sound she heard was her own sobbing scream. There was no answer from below. Verrick was gone.

Two more quick challenge options I want to discuss. The first targets players directly, through your NPCs. It is “bluffing,” meaning to give your players misinformation every once in a while, generally through NPCs that are lying to them. How many of you (DMs) have had player parties get so strong that they begin to intimidate their opponents into giving them information? The enemy castle layout, the password to the guard station, the time for the secret drop off, the name of the secret leader of the Dragon Cult... by strong arming some weakling goblin or kobold, the players get the information they need (and then maybe they cut off the poor bastard’s head for good measure). And this is all fine, it’s a great way to empower the players, to reward them for not slaughtering all their opponents, to hand them out information in interesting ways, and to move the plot forward. It’s also a great way to occasionally mislead them.

Even the weakest goblin is not always going to want to play fair in defeat—whether to spite their enemies or because they figure they are dead anyway—and their answers might not always be accurate. To use the above examples: the map they draw for them leads them directly into a trap; the password they tell is actually a code word to sound the alarm; the time for the secret drop off is a day late; the person they name as the leader of the Cult is innocent, and an enemy of the goblins that the goblins want killed. In our game, the players storm the fortress and take out the remaining bugbears (though the leader is missing). They are then debating resting, but the last bugbear tells them as he dies that the full hoard is returning in a few hours and will avenge him! It is a lie, but the players believe it and put off sleeping, which allows them to walk unprepared into the trap laid by the leader bugbear.

The other option targets the characters more directly. When you want to challenge a character, you can do so in the form of situational twists. A twist is something that characters must react to immediately, usually via a saving throw or series of saving throws. They aren’t exactly traps, but they function similar, only it is the plot or situation that triggers them, not stepping on a pressure plate or opening a treasure chest. The nice thing about saving throws is that, no matter how epic the situation, they can resolve it in a roll or two. And the DM can build them to be as challenging as they desire or need for the moment. For instance, for a high level party, you could feasibly set up a battle on a ruined land where the ground is splitting open and swallowing up the battling armies. To keep their feet, players have to make DC 14 STR checks, falling prone if not. Then the ground opens up and the players have to leap clear (disadvantage for anyone who is prone) Dex Save DC 18. Anyone who fails, falls in a crevice and takes 9d6 damage. The remaining players can try to navigate a path through the forming chasms as they open in front of them, which is a Wis DC 20 save, failure meaning they have to repeat the STR and DEX saves from before. A couple of rounds of this, and then you see which players have fallen in a chasm and which haven’t. Now the players have to figure out how to get free...

That’s an off-the-cuff example, but it illustrates the point. An epic moment created with just a few rolls and also you created an unusual challenge for the players that avoids the standard attack vs. AC that can get old session after session. It keeps players thinking about their characters in more holistic terms, not just as combat machines.

In our game, the twist is that the boss bugbear (who is a berserker, keep in mind) has a potion the shaman made that is basically a hand grenade. He intends to suicide bomb the last person on the bridge, hopefully taking them all out. I make this a deadly situation to raise the tension on the scene and provide a proper climax to such a big fight, so I have Karinna make a grapple save (failure would be instant fail of the bomb’s blast damage), then the bomb goes off, forcing Dex saves to avoid fire damage. Then the bridge starts to collapse, forcing Dex saves to avoid falling into the chasm. And failure of this roll? With my players so close to finally entering the tomb, I don’t feel like death is an appropriate penalty for failing the save. Oh, it is definitely a possibility: had Karinna not tried to break free, the blast might have killed her straight out. Had Abenthy not run forward to grab Tyrion, his unconscious body would have plumeted to the depths below with little for him to do but drown in the river. But these situations called for player decision. This roll is simply a roll: luck. I don’t want to cheaply end their adventure like that. And this is one of the many uses of retainers.

I’ll talk more about this next post but one of the reasons I came up with a system to make retainers act like items the party can use is that I feel it gives them a clearer role in the game and thus the story. Players identify more with active characters and there is few things as active as having an NPC they can use to help them win combats. In addition, our remaining NPCs have been tied to character stories. Xaviee, Samuels, and Biggs are all former allies of the deceased Tywin. And Verrick started as an enemy way back in session 6, then became an ally and eventual love interest for Karinna. That makes these characters amazing sacrifices for scenes like this, and I set them up as the failure options for the bridge breaking roll. Losing them has both a story impact and a game impact, as they lose their help in the upcoming tombs. But it still keeps the main story going and doesn’t end the game on a sour note, but rather a powerfully tragic one.

Next session’s post will cover the first part of the Tomb of Haggemoth and will take us through the converted final dungeon step by step. I will also go over how I like to run retainers. Verrick may be lost, but the three soldiers are still standing with this team, and I came up with a new system for 5E to represent them.

#dnd 5e #Tomb of Haggemoth #playthrough #epic #Dungeons and Dragons #Journey Log #Wizards of the Coast #fantasy #RPG

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