The players:
Brocc - Gnome Psion
Sledge - Dwarf Fighter
Mallick - Human Ranger
Geoff Wilikers - Human Paladin
Supahiro - Half-elf Warlord
Two of them came from Hammerfast, and the others from Harkenwold, all traveling to Fallcrest at around the same time. This is where we started the evening. I described to them that the time of the year was late summer, but the winds had begun to cool quite early. During their journey, the temperature had noticeably decreased several degrees, and as they came within a few miles of Fallcrest, their was a distinct chill in the air. Their caravans met up and the caravan leaders decided to wait here for the rest of the day - they had two other caravans they were expecting.
The group set out on foot (Fallcrest is only a short distance away), but the weather quickly turned sour. The wind increased, the temperature dropped, and fog began to roll in. Just as they got within site of the city's outer walls, a blizzard struck them full force. There was a dilapidated watch tower just off the road, so they decided to take shelter there until the storm let up enough for safe travel. There were only about two stories left of the tower, but enough of a roof to keep the snow at bay, and the floor was dry paving stones. There was a broken trap door in the middle of the floor, which they collected enough wood from to start a fire.
The players introduced themselves to each other and tried to stay warm while the storm raged outside, showing no sign of letting up. Interestingly, none of them told the others WHY they were heading to Fallcrest. Soon, the snow that had built up on what was left of the roof became too much for the old timbers to bear, and the roof began to collapse. The party headed into the cellar just in time...
Lighting a few torches, they discovered a mostly-empty cellar, and a tunnel leading into a spacious cavern. The cavern had a few exits, most of them leading in the direction of Fallcrest, so they decided to see how far they could get underground. It wasn't log before they found the spiders...
GM: | The party is at level 1, and this encounter is a level 1 encounter:
1 Deathjump Spider
2 Spider Swarms (actually Rat swarms, just described as spiders)
1 Fire Beetle
This encounter proved really tough for the group, but that's the kind of thing this group thrives on. The Gnome dropped at least twice, and everyone was bloodied by the end. The Deathjump Spider is really too high for this group (it's a level 4 Skirmisher), but they handled it well. I wanted them to know right off the bat that this world is dangerous. | |
Once the caverns were cleared, they made their way through the passage (they chose the correct one - one of the other passages simply led to a pit) until they came out of a cave entrance at the bottom of a hill that overlooked the city gates. The weather was still bitter cold, but at least the blizzard had subsided.
As they walked down the path towards the gates, a shadow appeared overhead, and Sledge was hit by a falling piece of equipment about the size of a softball. Luckily, he's a hardy dwarf, and it bounced right off his armor, but he was a bit perturbed. The group looked up to see a hot air balloon above them, and a small gnome face peering out over the edge of the basket. He shouted at them that he is sorry, hopes no one was hurt, and to please return that equipment to him - he'll give them a reward! It was obvious at this point that he could not stop the balloon, as it continued towards the city despite him. He also yelled out "My name is Glimzig, just ask anyone where my workshop is!". With that he was gone.
Sledge grumbled a bit, and stowed the strange device, as they made it to the front gates. Their papers were checked, and directions given to taverns, lodging, and the location of Glimzig's workshop.
Some time after they made it through the front gates, they turned a corner to see a woman running towards them, followed by a large half-orc and a couple of human thugs. She cried out for help, and that the thugs would kill her, so the party bravely stepped in and protected her. The half-orc threatened the group and looked menacing, but he was out-numbered, so he did not attack immediately. The group used all of their wit and cunning to talk them down and figure out what was going on.
GM: | This was a skill challenge. They managed to scare off the thugs, but only just. They are also now marked men, as they have angered one of the most powerful nobles in Fallcrest. | |
The woman's name is Circe, and is the daughter and only heir of a minor noble in town (Carlisle Delgado), who had just recently passed away. Her father owed a sum of money to Ulrich Von Greymoor, a VERY powerful noble - second only to the Markelhay family in riches and power. Greymoor is notorious for loaning money to folks in need, then using every legal (and quite often non-legal) means to foreclose on their property and buy it up himself. He did this to her father's estate and left her with nothing. Circe suspects that the documents Greymoor showed as proof of the debt were actually forged, as her father hated and feared Greymoor, and would never borrow money from him, but she can't yet prove it.
She has lost everything, but snuck into Greymoor's house and stole back her father's pocket watch - a family heirloom and the only real treasure Circe cared about. Marius (the half-orc) is Greymoor's bodyguard and main enforcer, and he caught her escaping the house. He would have likely killed her, but the PC's saved her, and she is eternally grateful. She flirted with Brocc a bit, and then let them know how to contact her if she could somehow repay them for their kindness.
As she left, the group decided to split up. Sledge and Mallick headed to the workshop, while the rest of the group went to the Inn. They found the place easily enough, with a tattered hot air balloon tied to the roof. Glimzig had all manner of magical contraptions and devices, and was overjoyed to see them, since that meant the return of his Turboencabulator. When asked what it does, he replied that it "supplies inverse reactive current for use in unilateral phase detractors, of course!". He gave them a small reward and thanked them profusely. They gathered at the inn with the rest of the group for a good night's rest.