Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Rhenny's Princes of the Apocalypse Campaign Logs
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Rhenny" data-source="post: 6877214" data-attributes="member: 18333"><p>Session 14 – Time with Aerisi, the Refugees and Mayhem at Goldenfields</p><p></p><p>The party secured their rooms at the Swinging Sword Inn and took their bound captive, Queen Aerisi up to their rooms. They slept the night and in the morning while the others were in the other room, Pate spent some time with Aerisi, alone. He spoke with her and eventually ungagged her. She told him that she had to get back; her cult needed her. Pate promised to untie her for a kiss and she gladly gave him one. That’s when Tornade and Hundar burst into the room, catching Pate and Aerisi in an embrace. Tornade took over the interrogation and found out that the other elements were all working to call forth their gods into Faerun. Aerisi was worried that one of the others would succeed before she could summon Yan-C-Bin. The party found out that the cults have been working together for years, but recently they have become more and more competitive. Aerisi told the party about the prophets and how they could use the elemental nodes, and the Fane of the Eye. She even told them the names of the prophets for each element: Marlos Urnrayle (Black Earth Cult); Gar Shatterkeel (Crushing Wave Cult); Vanifer (Eternal Flame Cult). They were also able to figure out through their own knowledge that the evil god of water was named Olhydra and the evil god of earth was named Ogremoch. They did not know of the fire god though.</p><p></p><p>As they were speaking with Aerisi, they heard some commotion from outside in Red Larch. The party had Turytopple and Kippipop stay with the bound Aerisi to watch over her while they all went out to see what was happening. Hundar was the first to get into the streets. He saw a large group of men, women and children, all dirty and wet lumber into town from the south road. Pate and Hundar, with Tornade and Zeed also saw that Constable Harburk was speaking with the crowd who turned out to be refugees from Goldenfields. The constable saw the party and told them of this horror and one of the refugees added more detail. Just a few days ago, there was a horrible explosion and then a day of rain, as the river itself flooded and wiped out many farms and homes in the Goldenfields area. Many of the citizens perished; others fled to neighboring towns. Still others went to the temple of Goldenfields to seek safety. The refugees mentioned that both Abbot Ellardin Darovik and a brave man named Bethard were among some who stayed behind to help with their families and others in need. The refugees said that prior to the explosion, Bethard saw some men carry a box from the river, and the explosion seemed to issue forth from where they took the box some ¼ mile inland toward the temple itself. They asked the constable and the party for help. There were still many people back in Goldenfields that were in danger. Perhaps a rescue party could find out more from the Abbott and Bethard, if they were still alive.</p><p></p><p>Foo bought some arrows before leaving. Hundar sold the scraps of the damaged Black Earth Cultist Plate Armor that he wore until it fell off his body. Tornade and Pate spoke with Kaylessa to find the best place to keep Aerisi in some comfortable, yet secure location. Tornade gave Kaylessa 25 gp and Kaylessa cleaned up her basement, moving a bed, a chest of drawers, and a rug into it to make it more like a dwelling, and Turytopple and Kippipop agreed to guard and entertain Queen Aerisi. Before leaving, Tornade told Aerisi about the explosion in Goldenfields, the rain and the floods, and she told them that it was most likely the Crushing Wave Cult flexing its muscles. She explained that the prophets of each cult could use their respective elemental nodes to create a weapon of mass destruction, a Devastation Orb that could unleash horrible elemental power. It was only a matter of time until one of the cults used one.</p><p></p><p>Preparations made, the group traveled south east along the Cairn Road. They made it to the Bargewright Inn just after mid-day and ate before hugging the river past Womford towards Goldenfields. There was no sign of flood or devastation until they got within 2 miles of Goldenfields. As night was falling, they started tromping through shin high water and muddy ground. The road they were following was obscured by the water and the rising water made travel more difficulty. Then when they saw the Temple wall and front gate they also saw some figures off to the side of the road. These warriors had shields and sharktoothed longswords. Hundar went up to them and tried to speak, but they were all defensive and almost immediately attacked. At that point, the party could notice that their shields were adorned with shell patterns. Hundar could also see something swimming in the water around the feet of the warriors, but he could not tell what it was.</p><p></p><p>Pate played his lute and dazzled the warriors with a hypnotic pattern, transfixing 4 out of 5 of them. Then, the creature swimming in the water serpentined its way to Pate and lurched from the water to constrict Pate. This watery serpent succeeded in wrapping Pate up, but Pate maintained his concentration and kept the others transfixed. Hundar, Zeed, Tornade and Foo were able to protect their bard, and soon they hacked the watery creature from his grappled body. In turn they took care of the other warriors, suffering only slight wounds in the process.</p><p></p><p>After that, Zeed flew over the Temple wall to see no living creature within the inner courtyard. The temple itself seemed shut tight, even the windows were shuttered closed. He flew back to report and the rest of the party walked to the temple wall gate. Hundar tried to bash the heavy doors open, but they would not budge. Zeed saw that there was a crossbar that held them shut from the other side, so he flew over the wall again and opened the doors from the other side. </p><p></p><p>At the temple door, Hundar knocked again, but could not gain entrance. Then a voice from within asked who they were and what was happening. When they identified themselves and told about the Crushing Wave Cultists they had just defeated, the door opened. Inside, the party saw a grand stone cathedral with arching ceilings 80’ tall. They met with Abbot Ellardin, and saw that the cathedral itself was packed with refugees. The Abbot told the party that he feared most for the farms and home near the river to the east. Many of the citizens were either killed already or they would die soon if they could not be helped. Pate inspired his group and led the charge to the riverside.</p><p></p><p>As the group entered a flooded farmstead, they saw two bandits outside one of the main homes. They also heard, shouting and crying from inside the house. “Get away from her.” Then screams and cries. The party jumped into action with Hundar charging ahead. The watery ground made movement more difficult, but the group moved up into position as the bandits fired crossbows at Hundar. As the fight started, one of the bandits shouted out to alert others. Eventually, another bandit came out of the house holding a little boy in one of his arms. He told the party to drop their weapons or he’d kill the boy. Pate spoke soothing words and with a few notes held the bandit in his place, paralyzed. Zeed flew up to the rooftops, hid himself well and then fired a deadly arrow killing the paralyzed bandit. Hundar engaged the other and Foo jumped up on a fence to get out of the water. Then he balanced himself on the rail and ran to jump down next to Hundar. While they fought the bandits, two Crushing Wave Reavers came running from the south house to join the fray. Another bandit came out of the rear home, dragging a women with him. Pate, feeling the urge to help a woman, jumped over a well in the center of the yard and landed next to the bandit that held the woman hostage. He skewered the bandit with rapier and dagger, dropping him before he could harm the woman. Then a priest of the Crashing Waves stepped from the house and fired bolts of magic at Hundar, hitting him 3 times in succession. Hundar took his second wind and then stabbed at some of the foes with Windvane, the spear he had recently attuned. The sharp spear impaled and electrocuted a few of the foes. </p><p></p><p>The priest who could harness arcane power that injured unerringly, was a threat that had to be dealt with. Tornade enchanted one of the reavers, a crown of madness adorning his head. Tornade commanded the reaver to attack the priest so he threw a javelin, but missed. Meanwhile, Foo and Zeed were able to line up the priest for some deadly attacks, both executing sneak attacks that damaged the priest badly. Foo striking the foe down. </p><p></p><p>At this point, the son had run away to the side of the building and the woman went over to protect him. She asked Pate to save her husband inside the home. Pate, disappointed that she had a husband, still acted valiantly and rushed into the home while the others took care of the foes outside. The enchanted reaver disengaged and ran toward the south home. Eventually he went inside the door and closed it. Zeed gave chase and entered after him to see the reaver, and only the reaver, in the hall. They fought. Foo climbed on another fence again and was able to get inside the door to hack down the reaver before it could do too much damage.</p><p></p><p>Inside the rear house, Pate saw two more Crushing Wave Reavers inside with an unconscious man in the corner of the one room home. Pate held one of them with his magic as the other engaged him in combat. Tornade and Hunder also ran into the home and soon they all took care of the foes and were able to rescue the man. Pate carried the man out to the woman and child and then when she asked for help, Pate used his healing magic to bring the man to consciousness. When the fighting was over, the family invited the party to stay with them and rest. They also scrounged about 43 gp from the cultists and Zeed collected 4 sharktooth longswords. </p><p></p><p>After talking with the man, they found out that he was Bethard. He had seen a raft with a number of men on it float down the river prior to the great calamity. He told the party, “I will never forget what I saw. One man, of bluish tint, encrusted in barnacles with a claw for a left hand, wielding a trident in his right, led the others. When they disembarked, the others carried a box inland a little as he followed. Then, they opened the box and pulled out an orb. The explosion brought great rain and floods. The river itself swelled and he did all he could to get back to his family and protect them. They were lucky, yet others were not so lucky. As he returned to the river, he said he saw the barnacle encrusted leader, Gar Shatterkeel, jump off the raft and swim back upstream.</p><p></p><p>After hearing about Gar Shatterkeel, Hundar had a flashback. He remembered that the ship he sailed upon when he was younger was attacked and sunk by the same barnacle encrusted man, Gar Shatterkeel.</p><p></p><p>End of Session</p><p></p><p>Comments</p><p></p><p>Lots of roleplay and good story development. When the group has 5 PCs encounters are so much easier. Double rogues give them vicious striking power, and now that Hundar has attuned himself to Windvane (and he has 2 attacks a round as a 5th level fighter) he is a force.</p><p></p><p>I added this entire part to the module to develop the story further and give the PCs more to fight for. </p><p></p><p>Princes of the Apocalypse is a great backdrop for a sandbox, but because it is so huge and sprawling, it seems like the DM has to add stuff in to weave the threads throughout the campaign. I’m enjoying that. As such, I’m throwing out hooks but trying to let the players decide what to do and where to go.</p><p></p><p>This session was about 2 ½ hours of gaming. Each PC gained 560 xp.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rhenny, post: 6877214, member: 18333"] Session 14 – Time with Aerisi, the Refugees and Mayhem at Goldenfields The party secured their rooms at the Swinging Sword Inn and took their bound captive, Queen Aerisi up to their rooms. They slept the night and in the morning while the others were in the other room, Pate spent some time with Aerisi, alone. He spoke with her and eventually ungagged her. She told him that she had to get back; her cult needed her. Pate promised to untie her for a kiss and she gladly gave him one. That’s when Tornade and Hundar burst into the room, catching Pate and Aerisi in an embrace. Tornade took over the interrogation and found out that the other elements were all working to call forth their gods into Faerun. Aerisi was worried that one of the others would succeed before she could summon Yan-C-Bin. The party found out that the cults have been working together for years, but recently they have become more and more competitive. Aerisi told the party about the prophets and how they could use the elemental nodes, and the Fane of the Eye. She even told them the names of the prophets for each element: Marlos Urnrayle (Black Earth Cult); Gar Shatterkeel (Crushing Wave Cult); Vanifer (Eternal Flame Cult). They were also able to figure out through their own knowledge that the evil god of water was named Olhydra and the evil god of earth was named Ogremoch. They did not know of the fire god though. As they were speaking with Aerisi, they heard some commotion from outside in Red Larch. The party had Turytopple and Kippipop stay with the bound Aerisi to watch over her while they all went out to see what was happening. Hundar was the first to get into the streets. He saw a large group of men, women and children, all dirty and wet lumber into town from the south road. Pate and Hundar, with Tornade and Zeed also saw that Constable Harburk was speaking with the crowd who turned out to be refugees from Goldenfields. The constable saw the party and told them of this horror and one of the refugees added more detail. Just a few days ago, there was a horrible explosion and then a day of rain, as the river itself flooded and wiped out many farms and homes in the Goldenfields area. Many of the citizens perished; others fled to neighboring towns. Still others went to the temple of Goldenfields to seek safety. The refugees mentioned that both Abbot Ellardin Darovik and a brave man named Bethard were among some who stayed behind to help with their families and others in need. The refugees said that prior to the explosion, Bethard saw some men carry a box from the river, and the explosion seemed to issue forth from where they took the box some ¼ mile inland toward the temple itself. They asked the constable and the party for help. There were still many people back in Goldenfields that were in danger. Perhaps a rescue party could find out more from the Abbott and Bethard, if they were still alive. Foo bought some arrows before leaving. Hundar sold the scraps of the damaged Black Earth Cultist Plate Armor that he wore until it fell off his body. Tornade and Pate spoke with Kaylessa to find the best place to keep Aerisi in some comfortable, yet secure location. Tornade gave Kaylessa 25 gp and Kaylessa cleaned up her basement, moving a bed, a chest of drawers, and a rug into it to make it more like a dwelling, and Turytopple and Kippipop agreed to guard and entertain Queen Aerisi. Before leaving, Tornade told Aerisi about the explosion in Goldenfields, the rain and the floods, and she told them that it was most likely the Crushing Wave Cult flexing its muscles. She explained that the prophets of each cult could use their respective elemental nodes to create a weapon of mass destruction, a Devastation Orb that could unleash horrible elemental power. It was only a matter of time until one of the cults used one. Preparations made, the group traveled south east along the Cairn Road. They made it to the Bargewright Inn just after mid-day and ate before hugging the river past Womford towards Goldenfields. There was no sign of flood or devastation until they got within 2 miles of Goldenfields. As night was falling, they started tromping through shin high water and muddy ground. The road they were following was obscured by the water and the rising water made travel more difficulty. Then when they saw the Temple wall and front gate they also saw some figures off to the side of the road. These warriors had shields and sharktoothed longswords. Hundar went up to them and tried to speak, but they were all defensive and almost immediately attacked. At that point, the party could notice that their shields were adorned with shell patterns. Hundar could also see something swimming in the water around the feet of the warriors, but he could not tell what it was. Pate played his lute and dazzled the warriors with a hypnotic pattern, transfixing 4 out of 5 of them. Then, the creature swimming in the water serpentined its way to Pate and lurched from the water to constrict Pate. This watery serpent succeeded in wrapping Pate up, but Pate maintained his concentration and kept the others transfixed. Hundar, Zeed, Tornade and Foo were able to protect their bard, and soon they hacked the watery creature from his grappled body. In turn they took care of the other warriors, suffering only slight wounds in the process. After that, Zeed flew over the Temple wall to see no living creature within the inner courtyard. The temple itself seemed shut tight, even the windows were shuttered closed. He flew back to report and the rest of the party walked to the temple wall gate. Hundar tried to bash the heavy doors open, but they would not budge. Zeed saw that there was a crossbar that held them shut from the other side, so he flew over the wall again and opened the doors from the other side. At the temple door, Hundar knocked again, but could not gain entrance. Then a voice from within asked who they were and what was happening. When they identified themselves and told about the Crushing Wave Cultists they had just defeated, the door opened. Inside, the party saw a grand stone cathedral with arching ceilings 80’ tall. They met with Abbot Ellardin, and saw that the cathedral itself was packed with refugees. The Abbot told the party that he feared most for the farms and home near the river to the east. Many of the citizens were either killed already or they would die soon if they could not be helped. Pate inspired his group and led the charge to the riverside. As the group entered a flooded farmstead, they saw two bandits outside one of the main homes. They also heard, shouting and crying from inside the house. “Get away from her.” Then screams and cries. The party jumped into action with Hundar charging ahead. The watery ground made movement more difficult, but the group moved up into position as the bandits fired crossbows at Hundar. As the fight started, one of the bandits shouted out to alert others. Eventually, another bandit came out of the house holding a little boy in one of his arms. He told the party to drop their weapons or he’d kill the boy. Pate spoke soothing words and with a few notes held the bandit in his place, paralyzed. Zeed flew up to the rooftops, hid himself well and then fired a deadly arrow killing the paralyzed bandit. Hundar engaged the other and Foo jumped up on a fence to get out of the water. Then he balanced himself on the rail and ran to jump down next to Hundar. While they fought the bandits, two Crushing Wave Reavers came running from the south house to join the fray. Another bandit came out of the rear home, dragging a women with him. Pate, feeling the urge to help a woman, jumped over a well in the center of the yard and landed next to the bandit that held the woman hostage. He skewered the bandit with rapier and dagger, dropping him before he could harm the woman. Then a priest of the Crashing Waves stepped from the house and fired bolts of magic at Hundar, hitting him 3 times in succession. Hundar took his second wind and then stabbed at some of the foes with Windvane, the spear he had recently attuned. The sharp spear impaled and electrocuted a few of the foes. The priest who could harness arcane power that injured unerringly, was a threat that had to be dealt with. Tornade enchanted one of the reavers, a crown of madness adorning his head. Tornade commanded the reaver to attack the priest so he threw a javelin, but missed. Meanwhile, Foo and Zeed were able to line up the priest for some deadly attacks, both executing sneak attacks that damaged the priest badly. Foo striking the foe down. At this point, the son had run away to the side of the building and the woman went over to protect him. She asked Pate to save her husband inside the home. Pate, disappointed that she had a husband, still acted valiantly and rushed into the home while the others took care of the foes outside. The enchanted reaver disengaged and ran toward the south home. Eventually he went inside the door and closed it. Zeed gave chase and entered after him to see the reaver, and only the reaver, in the hall. They fought. Foo climbed on another fence again and was able to get inside the door to hack down the reaver before it could do too much damage. Inside the rear house, Pate saw two more Crushing Wave Reavers inside with an unconscious man in the corner of the one room home. Pate held one of them with his magic as the other engaged him in combat. Tornade and Hunder also ran into the home and soon they all took care of the foes and were able to rescue the man. Pate carried the man out to the woman and child and then when she asked for help, Pate used his healing magic to bring the man to consciousness. When the fighting was over, the family invited the party to stay with them and rest. They also scrounged about 43 gp from the cultists and Zeed collected 4 sharktooth longswords. After talking with the man, they found out that he was Bethard. He had seen a raft with a number of men on it float down the river prior to the great calamity. He told the party, “I will never forget what I saw. One man, of bluish tint, encrusted in barnacles with a claw for a left hand, wielding a trident in his right, led the others. When they disembarked, the others carried a box inland a little as he followed. Then, they opened the box and pulled out an orb. The explosion brought great rain and floods. The river itself swelled and he did all he could to get back to his family and protect them. They were lucky, yet others were not so lucky. As he returned to the river, he said he saw the barnacle encrusted leader, Gar Shatterkeel, jump off the raft and swim back upstream. After hearing about Gar Shatterkeel, Hundar had a flashback. He remembered that the ship he sailed upon when he was younger was attacked and sunk by the same barnacle encrusted man, Gar Shatterkeel. End of Session Comments Lots of roleplay and good story development. When the group has 5 PCs encounters are so much easier. Double rogues give them vicious striking power, and now that Hundar has attuned himself to Windvane (and he has 2 attacks a round as a 5th level fighter) he is a force. I added this entire part to the module to develop the story further and give the PCs more to fight for. Princes of the Apocalypse is a great backdrop for a sandbox, but because it is so huge and sprawling, it seems like the DM has to add stuff in to weave the threads throughout the campaign. I’m enjoying that. As such, I’m throwing out hooks but trying to let the players decide what to do and where to go. This session was about 2 ½ hours of gaming. Each PC gained 560 xp. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Rhenny's Princes of the Apocalypse Campaign Logs
Top