The Vanguard of Eastening: Sacrifice & Redemption

[mikeawmids1]

Season One / Session Six (Part Three)

Huge, grey waves toss the Ambuscade around like a toy boat in a bathtub. A cry from the crow's nest - the lookout has spotted a dark shape in the water! Something large crashes into the hull, below the waterline!! The deck pitches violently and Miasma is swept overboard!!! The other Heroes look for her, but she has disappeared beneath the churning water. They do spot a 30ft long skeletal shark circling around to ram the ship a second time! Captain Tukvo pulls a lever beside the wheel and an auto-loading ballista rises from a hatch in the foredeck. Darvin straps himself into the gunner's seat and opens fire!

Meanwhile, several small fishing boats are approaching from the rear. Each vessel is crewed by a half-dozen seafaring skeletons! Poddlebrim brandishes the Staff of Talos and calls down lightning to destroy the necromancer's fleet!

Endon moves to the starboard rail, wondering how he can help out. Suddenly, a zombie wyvern swoops out of the sky and attempts to snatch him from the deck! Endon rolls away and the wyvern becomes tangled up in the ship's rigging. From her position astride the wyvern's back, Mazoga demands that Endon give her the skull. Endon unbuckles his pack (which contains his cookpot, which contains the cursed skull of Urim Rex) and throws it into the hold. Mazoga dismounts to go after it. Endon and Ezeke give chase, while Sir Henry, Poddlebrim and Nimin engage the skeletons who managed to get aboard. Darvin sees the wyvern tangled in the rigging and shoots it with the ballista, impaling the monster to the ship's mast!

Below decks, Captain Tuk's crew frantically repair the damage done to the hull. The hold is partially flooded with seawater. Mazoga splashes forward, reaching for Endon's pack and the prize within. Endon swings his sword and cuts off her outstretched arm at the elbow! She retalliates by casting Blight. Ezeke tries to talk his sister down, but she cannot forgive how the people of Eastening abuse and mistreat half-orc hybrids. Endon rudely interrupts their conversation by disembowling Mazoga! She staggers backwards and falls through the ragged hole her skeletal shark had chewed through the hull, dragged down into dark water.

With the necromancer on her way to the bottom of the sea, the skeletal shark breaks off. The Heroes finish off the last few boarders then gang up on the wyvern.

The Ambuscade sails on and soon reaches Seasend Isle, a tropical paradise hidden away in the eye of the storm. Dense, jungle surrounds a smoldering volcano in the centre of the island. The Ambuscade docks at Last Harbour and Captain Tuk supervises the unloading of his cargo, while the Heroes explore the town. They soon learn that Last Harbour is populated exclusively by clockwork men and women, constructed by Tyrsientom in his workshop.

At this time, there has been no sign of Miasma. She is presumed drowned. The Heroes take a moment to remember their fallen comrade, then head out into the jungle to find an ancient gold dragon.

TBC

(Oops, I forgot to mention that during downtime, Nimin reinforced Poddlebrim's cracked shell with metal plates, increasing his AC by 1.)

 

[mikeawmids1]

Season One / Session Seven - Season Finale!

Miasma opens her eyes and finds she has washed up on the sandy beach of a remote, tropical island. Beside her lies the lifeless sleleton of a giant shark, run aground in the shallows. Footsteps in the sand lead away from the skeleton, into the jungle. Miasma follows the tracks, but is stopped by a clockwork girl called Pinion, who warns her that the jungle is dangerous. Glorious Leader Tyrsientom has not maintained his guardian beasts and several have malfunctioned, attacking without provocation. Pinion offers to lead Miasma to Last Harbour, where she is reunited with the other Heroes.

The Heroes offer to escort Captain Tukvo's convoy to Tytsientom's workshop. The Ambuscade's cargo is loaded onto wagons harnessed to mechanical mules. Ezeke is dismayed when he realises there is no living game to hunt on the entire island, only clockwork critters constructed in Tyr's workshop.

The convoy sets off! Soon, the trail is blocked by a mechanical triceratops. It appears to be docile, but it is still in their way. Sir Henry edges forward warily, trying to shoo it off. Suddenly, the head of a huge, clockwork tyrannosaurus lunges from the jungle and bites the mechanical triceratops in half, showering Sir Henry with fragments of twisted metal! The tyrannosaurus turns its predatory gaze upon the convoy. Nimin the Perturbed mounts one of the mechanical mules and rides into the jungle. The clockwork tyrannosaurus gives chase, leaving a swathe of destruction in its wake. The Heroes thank Nimin for his sacrifice and continue on!

The convoy reaches Tyr's workshop. A bronze golem guards the entrance, but it recognises Tukvo and steps aside. Tyrsientom welcomes the Heroes in human form (resembling Christopher Lloyd from Back to the Future). He gives the Heroes a tour of his tower, showing off the unfinished clockwork dragon he is working on. The chest cavity is unhinged, revealing a glowing red orb riding within. Darvin accurately guesses that the red orb is a Sphere of Dragonkind. Tyrsientom is impressed by the mage's knowledge.

But the Heroes didn't come all this way to admire fancy balls! They've got a cursed skull to destroy! Tyrsientom knows of a ritual to destroy the skull, but it requires the blood of a warrior who has bested the Orking in life. Sir Henry's grandfather (Sir Aelfred) was one of the twelve knights who felled Urim Rex fifty years previously. Tyrsientom acknowledges that his blood might do the trick. The ritual will summon shades of those twelve knights, whom the Heroes must overcome to prove themselves worthy of the power to destroy the skull.

Tyrsientom performs the ritual on the roof of the tower, using Sir Henry's blood to paint arcane sigils on the skull. The spirit of Sir Aelfred appears, accompanied by eleven other knights of Old Eastening. They fight!! Each time the Heroes defeat a knight, their spirit takes the shape of a sword hovering above the cursed skull. Sir Aelfred is the last to fall, smiling proudly at his grandson as he too takes the form of a glowing blade. The twelve swords blur and merge together into a single blade. Sir Henry grasps the hilt and swings the sword at the skull of the Orking...!

Suddenly, a portal opens behind Sir Henry, as Mazoga teleports onto the roof! She lunges for Sir Henry's unprotected back! Darvin throws himself between his old friend and the necromancer's blade! Mazoga's knife sinks into Darvin's chest! Sir Henry destroys the skull!

Darvin falls, Mazoga's knife embedded in his chest. The necromancer drops to her knees beside him, gathering up the shattered fragments of the Orking's skull. She is numb; after all her hard work, her plan has come to nothing, foiled by her idealistic brother and his selfless allies. Ezeke stands over his misguided sister and encourages her to repent. Between ragged breaths, Darvin tells Mazoga that he forgives her for stabbing him. Mazoga agrees to accompany her brother on his journey and seek atonement for her sins. Sir Henry is far from happy with this turn of events and warns Mazoga that he will end her life if she betrays the group.

While Darvin may have forgiven Mazoga, he is still dying. The blade she stabbed him with carried a powerful drow enchantment and his wounds cannot be healed with curative magic. Tyrsientom believes that water from the elfsprings in Drura could save the wizard. The Heroes decide to sail for the icy elven nation at once! Miasma also needs to return the Algorstone to her family in Jaanalume, so the Heroes can kill two dragons with one black arrow. Perhaps they can also find the means of returning Sir Henry to human form?

Mazoga animates the skeletal shark to tow the Ambuscade. The Heroes decide to leave without telling Sir Basil, stranding the shamed knight on Seasend Isle. Miasma later discovers Pinion has stowed away on the ship. The fate of Nimin the Perturbed is unclear, though rumours abound of a crazed gnome barbarian riding a clockwork dinosaur....

TBC

 

[mikeawmids1]

Thus ends Season One of The Vanguard of Eastening: Sacrifice & Redemption. We played the first session of Season Two last night, which I will write up eventually, but the game is now on hiatus until November (as someone else is going to run Curse of Strahd and I'm having a break from being the GM).

 

[mikeawmids1]

Season Two / Session One

Having obliterated the skull of the Orking and reformed the necromancer bent on his resurrection, the Heroes board the Ambuscade and sail north, to the icy elven nation of Drura. The temperature plummets as they traverse the Great Northern Sea, sudden flurries of snow make the deck treacherous with ice. The Ambuscade passes floating icebergs occupied by colonies of vicious dire penguins. Eventually, after the better part of a month on the open water, the Heroes reach the harbour town of Neverthaw.

Miasma immediately notices that the climate is much colder than normal. The Rimefloe River leading north into mainland Drura is completely frozen over. The Algorstone begins to pulse with power as it draws closer to the elven heartland (Miasma gains the ability to cast the Freezing Ray cantrip (2d8) as an action).

The docks in Neverthaw are in chaos. A line of elven guards are trying to hold back a horde of shouting commoners. The frozen river forces Captain Tuk to anchor the Ambuscade some ways out and the Heroes must gingerly cross the ice to reach the town. Suddenly, the mob surges and breaks through! Dozens of people start charging across the ice, towards the ship. Sir Henry implores the crowd to turn back, but is trampled underfoot for his trouble. Poddlebrim and Miasma combine their magical talents to create the illusion that the ice is breaking apart under the weight of so many people. The terrified commoners panic and retreat to dry land.

The Heroes question some of the scared townsfolk and learn that a terrible ice giant called Feldryd Frostmane has lead an attack on Jaanalume and slain King Tarsus! Miasma lets slip that King Tarsus was her dad and she is a princess of Drura! Captain Elanil Eilsalor of the Elven Guard overhears and recognises Miasma at once! The good captain spouts some more exposition and explains how she lead the refugees from Jaanalume south and is overseeing their evacuation by sea. Two problems;

1: she doesn’t have enough boats to evacuate everyone safely, and

2: there is a horde of yeti on route, led by an abominable yeti called General Vatash.

The Heroes volunteer the Ambuscade to help evacuate the civilians and agree to help Captain Elanil defend the walls, buying Tukvo the time he’ll need to clear the harbour. While Miasma inspires the troops, Sir Henry raids a warehouse for barrels of flammable oil. Darvin and Ezeke move the deck-mounted ballista from the Ambuscade to the back of a wagon, that they can move to where it is needed most. Poddlebrim meditates and Endon Ettin-Slayer (preceded by his celebrity status) basks in the adoration of his adoring fans. Mazoga Strongtusk (guest player Sant) visits the infirmary and ‘recruits’ a half-dozen dead elves to the defence of the town.

A fierce blizzard rolls in, reducing visibility. Large, lumbering shapes approach under cover of the snowstorm! The yeti attack! The zombies under Mazoga’s control shamble forward and elven archers detonate the barrels of oil strapped to their backs. BOOM! The enemies’ frontline is decimated – but the battle is far from over! The yeti’s prove to be amazing jumpers and leap right up onto the walls! Darvin, Endon and Pobblebrim hold the eastern wall, but the yeti overcome the elves along the western wall and swarm into the streets below. Ezeke and Mazoga teleport (Dimension Door) to the cart-mounted ballista and hunt down the rampaging beasts!

General Vatash assaults the gatehouse. Captain Elanil intercepts an attack meant for Miasma and loses her life. Sir Henry clambers up onto the battlements to challenge this abominable foe! Vatash exhales his icy breath over the walls and both Sir Henry and Miasma are frozen solid! The abominable yeti begins tearing down the gatehouse, stone by stone! Pobblebrim darts across the collapsing roof and clouts Vatash with his Stunning Fist! The General is stunned (or doomed, as is often the case after Poddlebrim stuns something). Darvin finishes the stunned General off with a barrage of Magical Missiles!

Darvin uses his magic to thaw Sir Henry and Miasma from their icy prisons. They both require urgent medical aid. The elven refugees escape aboard the Ambuscade, leaving the Heroes stranded in Drura, until Captain Tukvo can return to pick them up. With Captain Elanil dead, the surviving elven warriors turn to Princess Miasma for orders. Miasma hand-picks a squad of five warriors to serve as her honour guard while she traipses across the frozen countryside, leaving the rest to garrison Port Neverthaw.

The Heroes learn that a powerful wizard has erected a magical barrier to protect the town of Windstall from wandering monsters. Perhaps this wizard can reverse Sir Henry’s fishy transformation – or direct them to the fabled elfspring where Darvin’s curse can be lifted? The Heroes harness a pack of huskies to sleds that will carry them across the tundra and set off – FOR ADVENTURE!

TBC

 

[mikeawmids1]

We picked this campaign back up for a six week run, starting 11/11/2020.

Recap of Season 1
After defending the village of Weem's Hollow from various low-level threats, the heroes return to their base in Knightsbridge to turn the tide of an orc raid. The heroes learn the orcs were lead by Ezeke's long lost sister Mazoga, in an attempt to steal the skull of infamous warlord Urim Rex from the town's museum. The heroes embark on a quest to destroy the dangerous artifact for good, by delivering it to the gold dragon Tyrsientom on Seasend Isle.

The heroes cross the haunted kingdom of Keria. Darvin is assailed by the ghosts of his past and the party detour to the ruins of Kerr to defeat the treacherous hag queen Neia Blackblood. The heroes reach the coast and seek passage across the sea. In the fishing village of Whalewater Landing, they uncover and disperse an insidious cult, but not before Sir Henry is transformed into a fishman. The heroes befriend gold dragonkin Captain Tuk and board his boat, the Ambuscade. During the crossing to Seasend Isle, the ship is attacked by Mazoga and her undead minions. Mazoga is seemingly slain during the fierce battle.

The heroes reach Last Harbour and gain entry to Tyrsientom's workshop. Tyrsientom is building a huge clockwork dragon, powered by an orb of red dragonkind. To destroy the skull of the Orking, the heroes must perform a dangerous ritual and defeat the ghostly guardians of Olde Eastening, including Sir Henry's storied grandfather. The skull is obliterated! In rage, Mazoga re-appears to cut down Sir Henry, but Darvin intercepts the attack and is bought low by nefarious drow poison coating the blade. Ezeke urges his sister to repent her sins and the troubled siblings are tearfully reunited.

To find a cure for Darvin's condition, the heroes must travel north, to the icy realm of Drura. Miasma reveals she is daughter of the elven king. When the Ambuscade docks in Port Neverthaw, the heroes learn that King Tarsus is slain, at the hand of ice giant Feldryd Frostmane, and the harbour is besieged by monstrous yeti! The heroes defeat the yeti commander and break the siege. The heroes learn of a powerful wizard living in the town of Windstall and set out across the snowy landscape.

 

[mikeawmids1]

Vanguard, Season Two/Episode Two

Swift sleds drawn by packs of tireless husky carry the Heroes of Eastening across the snowy plains of Drura. They are joined by an entourage of five elven guardsman, loyal to the late Captain Elanil, now pledged to protect Princess Miazma. To the north, they see the ruins of Jaanalume, fallen capital of the elven homeland, but this is not their destination. Instead, the party make for Windstall, a fortified trade post on the western border of the country, where they have hope to find a wizard powerful enough to break Sir Henry's curse.

---

The Heroes;

Sir Henry (Sarge), human knight of Eastening, transformed into a kuo-toa by the slimy caress of an abominable aboleth.

Endon Ettin-Slayer (Garuda), halfling paladin of... I'm not sure. Is there a God of Cabbages in this setting? Also, one randy mofo, by all accounts!

New Setting Lore: All halflings are horny, like, all the time.

Miazma Cunningbitch/Drura'duin (Jim), half-elf rogue, recently revealed to be the runaway princess of Drura. She carries the Algorstone, treasured family heirloom and, as it turns out, key to saving the country from catastrophe.

Poddlebrim (Tom), tortle monk, travelling the wide world in search of new techniques and, hopefully, a protege to whom he can one day pass on his accumulated skills and wisdom.

Darvin Buckwild (AndyB), human warmage, recovering from PTSD. After being struck down by a cursed drow weapon, he is afflicted with a terrible wasting illness that prevents him from recovering HP.

Ezeke Strongtusk (Val), uncouth half-orc cleric. He carries a dead badger (called Bernard) in his trousers, and occasionally talks to it.

---

The weather gradually worsens, and soon the sleds are travelling through a fierce blizzard. Flurries of snow make it difficult to see, but Miazma's keen eyes pick out shaggy shapes closing in on the convoy. A pack of five Winter Wolves attack! One of the elven guardsman is dragged off the sleigh, his throat torn out by wolfy jaws. Unfortunately, he was driving - and the directionless sled careens out of control! Ezeke leaps across from the adjacent sled to take the reins. Another elven guard is frozen solid by the wolves cold breath. Poddlebrim leans out to discharge the Staff of Talos at the pursuing beasts, only to be snatched off the side of the sled!

Realising they can't outrun the pack, the party halt the sleds and form up on the snowy ground. The hungry wolves surround their position. Darvin summons a giant hand made of snow, which grabs and crushes the body of a helpless wolf. The rest of the pack attack! Suddenly, a winged shadow swoops down and snatches up the foremost wolf in its claws, carrying it high into the air before flinging it against a rock. The remaining beasts scatter as the flying menace circles round for another pass.

The creature lands nearby. It is an armoured wyvern, ridden by an elven guardsman in a tight-fitting leather flight suit. He introduces himself as Watcher-Captain Eldar Eilsalor and offers them escort to Windstall. Miazma relays the sad news of his sister's death in defence of Port Neverthaw. Watcher-Captain Eldar takes the news as well as can be expected, given the circumstances. Darvin and Ezeke recover the bodies of the two dead elves, so the appropriate funerary rites can be observed.

The Heroes reach Windstall, a town built into the sheer face of an icy ravine that exits in the Mammoth Tundra, a wild land populated by nomadic tribes of gnome barbarians. An elevated platform, powered by run-off from the mountain lakes above, carries the party high above the frozen ground. Ezeke urinates from the edge of the platform, blessing the common folk below with a golden shower of warm piss. Watcher-Captain Eldar leads the group to the tower of Windstall's resident magician. Miazma immediately recognises Archmage Abras Cadabras, her father's chief magical advisor, and one of her many tutors growing up in the palace.

Archmage Cadabras has a lot of info to dump, but before he can really get going, the Heroes insist he reverse Sir Henry's fishy transformation. The archmage thinks there is a scroll of Remove Fish Curse in his basement/storage area and gives Miazma the key to go look for it. Meanwhile, he and his gazer familiar Xip will research sites of elven springs, where Darvin's illness might be cured.

Miazma, Endon and Ezeke head downstairs to find the scroll, while Sir Henry goes for a last swim in an icy mountain lake. The wizard's basement is full of magical junk; Endon finds a Potion of Growth, Ezeke picks up a Potion of Fire Breath and Miazma collects a toy pipe that produces multi-coloured bubbles. Miazma spots the Scroll of Remove Fish Curse on a cluttered desk, beneath a human skull paperweight. A large bell jar full of floating eyeballs watch her curiously. As Miazma reaches for the scroll, the skull burst into flame and casts Fireball. Things quickly deteriorate from this point forward.

Poddlebrim hears the explosion, but thinks nothing of it. He also manages to ignore the smoke rising from the beneath the cellar door. Sir Henry towels himself dry and rushes to investigate. Meanwhile, back in the basement, the jar of eyeballs shatters and the contents form a large oculo swarm. Ezeke is confused by the maddening gaze of a hundred different eyeballs. Endon and Miazma feel a dreadful pressure building in their skulls, as some unseen force attempts to pluck the eyeballs right out of their heads. Endon staggers away, temorarily blinded, but Miazma stands her ground, fails her second save and is permanently blinded as her eyes pop out and join the swarm. The cellar door bursts open and Sir Henry joins the fray. He strikes down the flameskull. Ezeke recovers his wits and destroys the oculo swarm.

Miazma claws at her empty eye sockets. Endon scoops up a handful of intact eyeballs off the floor and tries popping them into her head, with horrifying results. Fortunately, Archmage Abras can craft a new pair of magical eyeballs and sets to work on that immediately, apologising profusely for not warning the party about the dangers they might face in his basement of horrors.

(Slight ret-con there, but I'll e-mail Jim about this shortly)

The wizard uses the scroll of Remove Fish Curse to remove the fish curse on Sir Henry. He is a man again, huzzah! Abras has also located the site of an ancient elf spring, in the mountains to the north, but before the party head out, he still has all that sweet info to dump;

When the Algorstone was stolen, the defences of the kingdom were greatly diminished. An army, lead by frost giant warlord Feldryd Frostmane marched south. He left a not-insignificant number of hobgoblins to besiege Fort Icewatch and marched the rest of his army on towards Jaanalume. He was met mid-way by King Tarsus, who fell in combat against the giant. His body - and the Elfblade of Druraduin - still lie upon the field of battle. Feldryd is accompanied by a pair of young white dragons. He seeks the Algorstone, because it is a shard of a greater artifact called an Orb of Dragonkind.

Miazma confesses that she stole the Algorstone. Archmage Abras is dumbstruck by her foolishness, but relieved she has now returned the stone to Drura. Hopefully, she and her companions can remedy some of the harm her actions have wrought. Darvin is incensed that Miazma's selfishness has brought such ruin on her kingdom and storms out of the tower. Will the Heroes forge ahead without their warmage, or can Miazma find the words to reconcile with her troubled friend?

TBC