Tyranny of Dragons

[The Green Hermit]

• Thoradin Ironfist -- Shield Dwarf, Paladin, Alignment: Lawful Good -- Level 4
• Kaya -- Uthgardian Barbian: Elk Tribe, Ranger, Alignment: Chaotic Good -- Level 4
• Thokk -- Half Orc, Fighter, Alignment: Chaotic Neutral -- Level 3
• Thia “Goldpetal” Xiloscient -- Drow, Monk -- Level 3
• Del “Diamonddew” Holimion -- Drow, Warlock -- Level 3
• Darrak Fireforge -- Shield Dwarf, Fighter -- Level 3

19th Day of Kythorn, Cont.
Soon after rejoining Thokk, Kaya began to hear whispers about greed and gold. Nobody else could hear them, but she swore they were coming from the still-slumbering Thokk. After waking him up, he grumpily emptied out his pockets. Amongst the other odds and ends were two coins stamped with Tiamat’s image. Picking them up Kaya declared that the whispering was coming from the coins. Nobody else heard anything, so despite warnings that the coins may be cursed, Thokk demanded to keep his loot. As far as he was concerned, coins were coins, and those coins were his. Before he pocketed them, though, Del made a quick rubbing, figuring that somebody in Greenest might recognize the coin.

With that mystery semi-solved, the adventurers looked at their captive. He was beginning to mumble in his sleep, but it was clear it was still going to be quite some time before he woke up and was lucid. Thokk was all for killing him, but Darrak talked him out of it. They untied their captive and retreated to their cave for a long rest.

20th Day of Kythorn
When they woke up the next morning, Thokk was long gone. The trip back to Greenest was mostly uneventful. They did run into a centaur, who told them that the raiders had headed to the west a 10-day ago (and that anybody with eyes could have seen that).

Upon their return, Governor Nighthill informed them that Leosin had left for Elturel, but not before buying them mounts and arranging for their stabling. (Kaya was able to switch her gear to that of a pack animal, since she had her magical elk.) Del and Thia also returned the jewelry they had discovered, which helped their reputation in town.

After a quick conference, the group decided to spend four days of downtime resting up. The drow needed to pay for a private suite so that they could avoid notice as much as possible and Kaya decided to join them to help bring down costs. The dwarves also decided to share a room, although they went with a cheaper option, planning to dine with the women in their private room. Everybody stayed at the Silver Pegasus.

21st Day of Kythorn
For the most part, everybody decided to split up during the day. Kaya made the same deal with the tanner as before: She worked for him for three days in order to use his shop for her own projects on the fourth day. She also went to the weaponry store and bought a dagger. Thoradin also paid a trip to the armorer and deposited money at the bank. (In the few days they were gone Ransom’s Vault had opened a branch in Greenest.) Darrak spent his time carousing. Thia shopped a bit at the general store and started training with the scimitar -- since she had one, she figured she should learn how to use it. Her trainer was a familiar face -- Kung Lao. Del did a little bit of shopping, but spent most of her day at the keep, asking about the dragon coin. Nobody had seen anything like it before or knew who to possibly ask. Disappointed, she decided to wait until she got to a bigger town.

22nd Day of Kythorn
This day was pretty similar to the one before. Most of the party shopped a little, Kaya worked for the tanner, and Thia continued her training. Thoradin and Del joined Darrak in his carousing. Del won a little and Thoradin won a lot, continuing to earn his legendary status in the town.

23rd Day of Kythorn
Everybody but Del decided that it was time to actually meet the horses Leosin had bought for them. Kaya named hers Blue, Thoradin called his Bob, Darrak’s was named Billy, and Thia named hers Star. Thoradin, Del, and Darrak continued to carouse. Del earned her expenses for the day, but the dwarves had a bit more excitement. First, Tana sought out Thoradin, slapping him in the face for not letting her know he was in town, loudly proclaimed he was dead to her, and then flounced out. Then, her brother, Zook, got in a brawl with Darrak, resulting in them both being tossed out of the tavern. Fun times were had by all.

24th Day of Kythorn
Knowing that they were heading out on the next day, the group made sure to wrap up their errands. Kaya made two whips and sold them to the armorer, along with her leather armor, and upgraded to studded leather armor. She also went to the bank and opened up an account. Thoradin, being Thoradin, spent his time carousing. Unfortunately for him, this time Maya showed up. All signs were showing that his first girlfriend in town had just become a stalker. His companions had a lot of fun with this, but Thoradin wasn’t nearly as thrilled. Darrak also spent his time carousing, but nothing exciting happened; he just earned his expenses for the day. Thia continued to train and bought some saddlebags. Del finally visited her horse, scoffed at everybody else’s wimpy names, and promptly called hers Killer. After buying some saddlebags, she spent the rest of the day carousing and earned her money back.

DM's Note: This section is much choppier than normal. We played almost two months ago, and it was a full month before anybody remembered to type anything in our log. Moving took up all of our mental energy.

 

[Richards]

I hope the move went well and it's good to see the Story Hour back! I'm looking forward to future updates as you guys all get a chance to play. (Because we all know after the move comes...the unpacking!)

Johnathan

 

[The Green Hermit]

I hope the move went well and it's good to see the Story Hour back! I'm looking forward to future updates as you guys all get a chance to play. (Because we all know after the move comes...the unpacking!)

Johnathan

Yes, the unpacking is never ending. Lol!

We did manage a short session yesterday, which was just as awkward as you'd expect after not touching it for two months. Still, we managed to get through most of the mundane travel and will get back to action next session. I'll probably post it in about a week.

 

[The Green Hermit]

Adventuring Group

• Thoradin Ironfist -- Shield Dwarf, Paladin, Alignment: Lawful Good -- Level 4
• Kaya -- Uthgardian Barbian: Elk Tribe, Ranger, Alignment: Chaotic Good -- Level 4
• Thokk -- Half Orc, Fighter, Alignment: Chaotic Neutral -- Level 3
• Thia “Goldpetal” Xiloscient -- Drow, Monk -- Level 3
• Del “Diamonddew” Holimion -- Drow, Warlock -- Level 3
• Darrak Fireforge -- Shield Dwarf, Fighter -- Level 3

25th Day of Kythorn
As the adventurers prepared to begin their six day trip toward Elturel and Leosin, they were met by Governor Nighthill. Wishing them well, he wanted to see them off on their journey. He also mentioned a tournament that was going to be held in Scornubel about the time they were passing through. Some knight was getting married and was throwing a giant party. Ears definitely perked up when he mentioned that many of the prizes were magical in nature.

Much to Thoradin’s disgust, Moira also saw them off, proclaiming her undying love and begging him to come back to her. As Thia and Del were snickering, Thoradin swiftly rode off with the rest of the party swiftly following -- leaving Moira sobbing broken-heartedly behind.

The road was kind to them that day. However, the innkeepers were not. Upon seeing Thia and Del, they quickly shuffled them off to a small room and were heavily advised to eat dinner in their room. Much to their surprise, Thokk was also there. Apparently, this was the room for all the undesirables.

26th Day of Kythorn
As everybody met up in the morning at the stables, Thokk decided to join up with them again. He had nothing better to do and the lure of magical prizes at the tournament peaked his interest. Besides, it was probably wise to move further away from the area with his “found” horse.

This day also passed uneventfully. As they entered Berdusk, however, they were met by Shaena Greenbottle. Leosin had asked her to meet them and put them up at her inn, The Running Stag. She did that cheerfully enough, but not everybody in the party got off easily. She thoroughly interrogated Thia, Thoradin, and Thokk when they didn’t answer her questions easily enough. Thia and Thokk survived unscathed, but Thoradin was warned that if he was going to be running errands for Leosin he needed to stop acting suspiciously. There may have been some smirking from his comrades at that one.

27th Day of Kythorn
So far the trail had been boring and monotonous -- just how most of the party liked it. However, on the way out of Berdusk they ran into a human blockade. As they rounded a bend in the road, a group of men with mismatched clothes aimed their crossbows at the adventurers, demanding that the group pay 10 gold and pass, or fight and die. Thia, who was at the front, was thinking of a way to go past without paying when Thoradin, impatient at the delay, came over, and asked whether it was 12 each, or 12 total. (He had horrible bargaining skills.) The bandits were more than happy to change it to 12 each. Kaya refused to pay more than one gold, Thia was willing to pay 5, and Thokk would pay one so he wouldn’t have to wipe the blood off his weapons. Del, Darrak, and Thoradin were stubborn, and refused to pay any. Thokk, impatient, went up to the raiders and paid them one gold for only him to pass. Kaya did the same. After they threatened to ditch the others, Thia also paid. The remaining three were still stubbornly holding out, but Del also didn’t want to be left behind, so she reluctantly paid her piece. Thoradin and Darrak were bitter about giving up their gold, so they decided to place theirs on the ground, making the bandits go fetch them.

Later that night, the group camped outside a small roadside inn, mostly because they didn’t want to pay for lodging, but also because the drow and Thokk weren’t sure of their reception. As they were eating dinner and setting up the watch rotation, a small halfling called Simon Sack-of-Potatoes came up to their fire, and gave them a note he had picked up by the trash bin. It discussed how someone named Felix was going to die in the melee at the end of the tournament and was signed, “K”. Thoradin and Darrak also quickly noted that the script was blocky, as if the writer was used to writing in dwarvish runes. Simon definitely did not want this unknown Felix to die, but he was also well aware that he did not have the skills needed to fight in the melee. When he saw this heavily armed group, he decided to dump the problem in their laps. The group agreed to take the halfling along to Scornubel with them and save the unknown Felix. In return, he promised to give them his prize in a pie contest as a reward for saving whoever Felix is -- assuming he won, but he assured them that he usually won.

DM's Note: This session was pretty choppy. After taking two months off to move, everybody took a while to sink back into their characters, plus we had to reintegrate Thokk into the group. It also ended abruptly, because my husband started falling asleep. (He is truly talented at this and has been known to fall asleep while singing or playing the drums in Rock Band -- very amusing and irritating at the same time for everybody else in the family.)

 

[Richards]

Sounds like your husband has a Chaotic Sleepy alignment. I'm glad to see you guys are at the point now where you can get in some gaming again. Moving can be such a hassle!

Johnathan

 

[The Green Hermit]

Sounds like your husband has a Chaotic Sleepy alignment. I'm glad to see you guys are at the point now where you can get in some gaming again. Moving can be such a hassle!

Johnathan

He definitely does!

 

[The Green Hermit]

Adventuring Group

• Thoradin Ironfist -- Shield Dwarf, Paladin, Alignment: Lawful Good -- Level 4
• Kaya -- Uthgardian Barbian: Elk Tribe, Ranger, Alignment: Chaotic Good -- Level 4
• Thokk -- Half Orc, Fighter, Alignment: Chaotic Neutral -- Level 3
• Thia “Goldpetal” Xiloscient -- Drow, Monk -- Level 3
• Del “Diamonddew” Holimion -- Drow, Warlock -- Level 3
• Darrak Fireforge -- Shield Dwarf, Fighter -- Level 3

27th Day of Kythorn, Cont.
The rest of the night was uneventful. Simon talked about all the various contests that were going to be held and described the prizes. Most of the party began making plans to win some of the contests, and the magical weaponry that was being awarded. They also discussed possible methods of finding and saving Felix. Thokk, however, was more interested in hearing about the wealthy nobles who would be in attendance -- and that would be paying closer attention to the contests than to the contents of their pouches.

28th Day of Kythorn
In the morning, the group of adventurers set off for the tournament. Scornubel was less than a day’s travel. On the way there, they ran into another group of bandits, but upon closer inspection, they realized that it was the same group of bandits! They had just decided to move closer to the tournament, where there were better pickings. Thoradin wanted to take their heads off with his axe (and Thokk and Thia agreed), but the bandits wisely decided the fee would only be 1 gold. Thia paid the bounty and the group continued on. She was quite upset, though, when she then found out that it was 1 gold for the whole party, since nobody else had chipped in.

Upon arriving in Scornubel, the adventurers were given a map of the town. They briefly looked it over before heading to the stables, putting up the horses, and finding an inn. At the stables, Kaya swore she saw a dwarf disappear into thin air, but nobody else saw anything or thought it was worth noting, so she decided not to investigate further. The group decided to explore the town before bedding down for the night, so they wouldn’t get lost the next morning. This proved to be a smart choice: Darrak got lost rounding the first corner. Del found him, only to become lost herself. The two had a fierce argument over whose fault it was that they were lost, only to look over and see the rest of their group standing there with their arms crossed. Thokk had taken careful note of all the nobles’ guards. None of them had looked very friendly, but he was planning to go drinking with them anyway and become their best buddy. Thoradin and Thia hadn’t gotten lost, but both of them were so weary from traveling that they didn’t remember many details. After everybody gathered together again (and found Darrak and Del), Kaya shooed them back to the inn for the night.

The accommodations were not much: twice the normal cost of a room for a spot on the floor. However, they at least had a roof over their heads. Del and Thia decided to sleep in the middle of the floor, so they could catch as much gossip as possible. Del heard a group of people talking about noble dwarves disappearing by the stables and remembered the dwarf Kaya had seen disappear. Since Thoradin was a dwarf, and therefore might be expected to know more about this, Dell decided to wake him up. He did not react well, so she crawled back to her sleeping spot. As he was attempting to get back to sleep, though, Thoradin heard sleepy gossip about an invincible champion that dwarves were warning people to avoid during the melee. Now he too was curious, and decided to investigate further in the morning. The only gossip Kaya heard was that Turston (the knight hosting the tournament) was retiring and was looking for his replacement. Unless Felix was in the running, though, this seemed to have nothing to do with their mission.

Thokk “slept” near the door and waited for everybody else to fall asleep.

DM's Note: The next session should see some action as they begin to investigate Felix's situation and the tournament begins. We will also have a new PC, since we just got another foster kid since this session. At least we ended in a spot that is really easy to insert a new character into the mix.