We D&D.
Session #26 Hoard of the Dragon Queen #12 The Fields of the Dead.
Brothers of the First Light.
Lummins (played by Rob) Male Half-Elf Cleric of Lathander Lvl 4
Lux (played by Sandy) Female Human Warlock Lvl 4
Watt (played by Jackie) Male Human Bard Lvl 4
Sgt Bobby Markguth (played by Pete) Male Human Fighter Lvl 4
Secondary PCs.
Hotlips Houlihan (played by Sandy) Female Halfling Rogue Lvl 4
Derek Pilch (played by Jackie) Male Human Druid Lvl 4
Hard Bonk (played by Rob) Male Half-Orc Monk Lvl 4
Sgt Harald Hardaxe (played by Pete) Male Shield Dwarf Fighter Lvl 4
Note, this is session #26 of our game but only session #12 of the Hoard of the Dragon Queen scenario.
The guys have signed on to a caravan heading to Waterdeep, their job (employed by Ontharr Frume, Order of the Gauntlet & Leosin Erlanthar, Harper) is to keep an eye on the loot-filled Cultist wagons, they need to find out where the loot is being taken. And why?
And so, the caravan at present…
Wagon #1 Owner: Achreny Ulyeltin (Male Human). Cargo: Furs & Hides. On board- Achreny Caravan Master & Sgt Bobby Guard Master + Ralph Little (Male Halfling) Teamster + Eldkin Agetul (Female Dwarf) Guard + Leda Widris (Female Human) Guard + Aldor Urnpolehurst (Male Human) Passenger- a dodgy lawyer?
Wagon #2 Owner: Achreny Ulyeltin (Male Human). Cargo: Furs & Hides. On board- Teamster (x2) + Orvustia Esseren (Female Human) Guard + Sulsedeg the Pole (Male Human) Guard (Very Tall) + Passenger (x2).
Wagon #3 Owner: Dragon Cult. Cargo: Loot? On board- Cult Teamster (x2) + Cult Guard (x2) + Cult Passenger (x?).
Wagon #4 Owner: Dragon Cult. Cargo: Loot? On board- Cult Teamster (x2) + Cult Guard (x2) + Cult Passenger (x?).
Wagon #5 Owner: Dragon Cult. Cargo: Loot? On board- Cult Teamster (x2) + Cult Guard (x2) + Cult Passenger (x?).
Wagon #6 Owner: Samardag the Hoper (Male Human). Cargo: Porcelain. On board- Samardag Wagon Master & Drek ‘the Magnificent’? (Male Human) Samardag’s NEW Bodyguard + Teamster + 4 NEW Guards (all Male Humans), one called ‘Badda’, another called ‘Morbadd’, maybe.
Wagon #7 Owner: Lasfelro the Silent (Male Human). Cargo: Unknown? On board- Lasfelro Wagon Master + Gargoyle + Wererond (Female Human) Teamster + Tyjit (Female Dwarf) Guard + Tardol (Male Half-Orc) Guard + Hotlips Houlihan Passenger + Green Imsa (Female Human) Passenger- with green skin!
Wagon #8 Owner: Oyn Evermor (Male Human). Cargo: Exotic Birds. On board- Oyn Wagon Master + Enom Dark (Male Halfling) Teamster + Hard Bonk Guard + Garlik (Male Human) Guard + Passenger (x2)- one of these guys is a Cultist.
Wagon #9 Owner: Beyd Sechepol (Male Half-Elf). Cargo: Beer. On board- Beyd Wagon Master & Lummins Beyd’s Bodyguard + Losvius Dark (Male Halfling) Teamster + Lux Guard + Lasmeer (Male Half-Elf) Guard + Radecere (Male Gnome) Passenger + Gamsy (Male Human) Passenger.
In addition, there are NOW eleven other folk travelling independently, but with the caravan, on their own mounts, including Derek Pilch (Human Druid), Watt (Human Bard) & Sgt Harald Hardaxe (Dwarf Fighter).
Now to the action, one more item from Day #2-
Hard Bonk (Half-Orc Monk) gets in contact with several other PCs early evening- he’s now certain that one of the passengers on his cart is a Cultist from Camp Dragonclaw, and that the feller has worked out who he is. There’s little time to formulate a plan, and so after a good 15 minutes of the Players squabbling about how to deal with the situation- and the DM getting fed up with them, Rob (playing Hard Bonk) takes things in to his own hands.
It goes like this; Hard Bonk gets the Cultist on his own and makes several desperate promises but gets nowhere- the sneering Cultist even tells Hard Bonk that he’s going to tell his friends who will ‘deal with him…’. Hard Bonk has heard enough, he skewers the Cultist with his shortsword (and a ‘20’), and then hides the body under the cart. Later Watt & Lux (Human Warlock) both Invisible, and with another casting of Invisibility on the corpse carry off the dead Cultist and dump him in a ditch in a farmer’s field, they hide the body as best they can.
None of the other Players are happy with Rob’s (Hard Bonk’s) solution, and yet the problem seems to have been solved, so… Let’s see what happens next.
Day #3
The caravan heads into the Fields of the Dead, although it’s a late start as one of the Oyn’s passengers is missing, funny that. Hard Bonk explains to Oyn that the guy decided to head back to Baldur’s Gate, and then rolls a second ‘20’ in a row for his Persuasion check, Oyn believes the story.
The Fields of the Dead is a broken and desolate land, with sparse vegetation, and very few trees- it’s also a fairly flat land, the only elevated parts look like great burial mounds, which they probably are. It is an empty place, the PCs hope.
The day goes well except when one of the independent travellers (during a rest break) viciously whips his horse- Derek Pilch (the Druid) intervenes and tells the fellow (a Knight, he thinks- actually the guy is a Noble) that he will help him by taking a look at his ‘stupid nag’. The Knight (Noble) is a little offended (at first), but then the Druid starts talking with the animal (the horse is called Trevor, or Trev; Sandy & Jackie insist it gets a name). Trevor (the horse) tells Derek that the Knight (Noble) is a vicious idiot. Derek nods along with the animal- while healing it, and while translating for the Knight (Noble), he makes up some stuff about the horse being a bit depressed! Derek explains a simple code to Trevor (Neighs, Whinnies, and Snuffles), so the horse can tell the Druid if and when the Knight (Noble) is being a vicious idiot again.
At the end of all of the above the Knight (Noble) Sir Lumsden F’tang thanks Derek for his trouble, if he wants to look after his horse then he’s happy to let him do so.
The rest of PCs are still taking the time to chat with the people they are travelling with (on the same cart), they’re trying to find out if there are any more hidden Cultists within their ranks.
Tonight, is the first time the caravan has to camp out in the wilds, the previous two nights were spent camped on the edge of a village.
Later on Hard Bonk is approached by Tardol (a Guard on Lasfelro’s wagon) specifically asking about Tain, who turns out to be the missing (Dead) Guard/Cultist- “What did he say before he left?” Hard Bonk replies “That he’d had enough and that he was going back to Baldur’s Gate”, and then rolls an ‘18’ on his Deception check. Tardol apologises for bothering Hard Bonk. Job done.
However, that means that Tardol is probably a Cultist too. Hard Bonk is convinced there are more disguised Cultists travelling on (all of?) the other wagons, he gets the word out to his colleagues.
Day #4
In the Fields of the Dead proper, a quiet day with more PC investigations- in search of disguised Cultists, although nothing untoward turns up.
Later Trev (the horse) signals to Derek Pilch that Sir Lumsden has been beating him again- Derek gets annoyed and confronts the Knight (Noble), he manages however to keep his cool and later to carefully explain that Trevor (the horse) is a thinking feeling creature, and that beating him is a very bad thing to do. Sir Lumsden sees red, and as it turns out he has a Knight bodyguard and a Wizard retainer, ostensibly to keep him safe on the road. The pair threaten Derek. It gets tetchy for a while but Derek is not backing down and is definitely not fighting anyone. Eventually Sgt Bobby (Human Fighter & the Guard Master) comes by and tells Sir Lumsden & Derek to pack it up, they’ve both been warned. The big man defuses the situation slightly but leaves both Sir Lumsden and Derek unhappy.
Later Derek suggests to others that Sir Lumsden and his colleagues are perhaps Cultists, the other PCs/Players are less certain, they mostly think that Derek (Jackie) wants them to be Cultists.
Another night camped in the wilds, although again without incident.
Day #5
The Fields of the Dead still, and another quiet day, with investigations continuing.
There are no incidents, and nothing much to report- and yet another night camped out in the wilds, the PCs are getting used to this caravan guard malarkey.
Day #6
Fields of the Dead, at the end of the day’s travel the caravan arrives at The Last Hearth, a walled and fortified roadside inn-cum-waystation, and the last bit of civilisation until the other side of the Trollclaws.
Derek visits with Trevor (the horse) who signals that Sir Lumsden has been at it again, whipping him this time. It kicks off again.
Eventually Achreny Ulyeltin, the Caravan Master, is persuaded by Sgt Bobby and Derek to call Sir Lumsden out, there follows a cautionary chat- “alright it’s your horse but it could save your life” etc. Sir Lumsden states that “if the nag dies I’ll just buy another one”, and then goes on to remind Achreny that he is a Noble and has influence, he could make it bad for the Caravan Master. Achreny doesn’t want that, and so reiterates that he is only advising Sir Lumsden, not telling him.
The initial blow-up (confrontation) between Derek and Sir Lumsden is loud and protracted, basically the evening’s entertainment, everyone at the inn stops to watch events unfold, including many of the guys from the Cult wagons.
Derek fumes, he’s needs a plan to deal with Sir Lumsden and his protectors.
Otherwise a pleasant night at the Inn, and a rest day tomorrow.
Day #7
Rest day at the Last Hearth Inn, and more investigations by the PCs.
Derek has a plan, but he’s not telling his colleagues about it- only that he will put it in to action sometime soon.
Day #8
Back on the road again through the Fields of the Dead, and later on (as usual) Trevor (the horse) indicates that Sir Lumsden has been beating him.
Derek is incensed, and will put his new plan in action tomorrow.
Day #9
Fields of the Dead.
Derek (played by Jackie) gets up very early and then with help from one of his colleagues (Watt, also played by Jackie) he sneaks over to Trevor (the horse) calming the other mounts nearby and then leads the horse away. Note the Druid is Invisible throughout the entire operation, but also making good use of his Speak with Animals. Trev is ridden through the wilds for a bit (with Pass Without Trace employed) and then after a chat with the horse, set free. Derek, still Invisible and very hard to track, heads back to camp, and then to bed.
Which is where Sir Lumsden finds him soon after he discovers that Trevor (the horse) is gone. The Noble gets very threatening…
It all kicks off again, the caravan is held up for an hour while Sir Lumsden (and his colleagues) investigate the situation- they find nothing untoward. Achreny (the Caravan Master) refuses to delay the caravan further, as he states- “there’s no sign of foul play, no tracks to be found, and nobody saw anything. Let’s get going.”
Sir Lumsden, of course, buys a new horse from one of the other merchants on the caravan, he pays way over the odds for it- he also fumes all day.
Later he beats his new horse.
Derek is obviously fuming too.
Jackie probably should have confided with her colleagues with regard to her Free Trevor plan, maybe one of them would have pointed out that there are at least a half-a-dozen ‘spare’ horses with the caravan.
The new horse, Derek later learns (via Invisible & Speak with Animals) is called ‘Alan’, he’s not happy- the Druid heals the beast.
It seems a new (or perhaps just better) plan is needed.
Day #10
The Fields of the Dead, although the landscape is changing, the caravan is entering the low hills and mesas of the Trollclaws, the going gets harder- they’re beginning to climb in to the passes.
A quiet day, except…
Sgt Harald’s lucky set of gaming dice go missing- Radecere, a Gnome passenger on Beyd Sechepol’s Beer Wagon was only admiring the dice yesterday.
Therefore (and predictably) …
Sgt Harald forcefully confronts the Gnome- lots of swearing and lots of threats. However, Radecere insists that it wasn’t him- he didn’t take the dice. Lummins (Half-Elf Cleric) is close to the action, the Priest of Lathander surreptitiously puts up a Zone of Truth- Radecere is telling the truth, which Lummins tells Sgt Harald. The Dwarf, as swiftly, apologises sincerely and profusely, and then in the next breath accuses anyone (and everyone) else that’s standing around watching events of being “filthy thieving scum”, which obviously goes down well.
Remarkably one of the folk standing around alternating between outrage and denial actually took the dice- Gamsy, a Guard on Beyd Sechepol’s Beer Wagon, and a suspected Cultist. Lummins’ Zone of Truth is still up, and the Priest is certain that Gamsy is lying, he advises Sgt Harald of this. The effect is instant, Sgt Harald goes for Gamsy and in a fury beats him unconscious with his fists- with an Action Surge, surprise and two rolls for max. damage.
It all goes a little bit crazy for a short while, some folk try to grab Sgt Harald (not a great idea, some of them get hit), some other folk try to help Gamsy- they’re furious (other Cultists?). Then Sgt Bobby (Guard Master) & Achreny (Caravan Master) turn up, the latter is starting to think that this caravan is cursed. After listening to various arguments et al Achreny is convinced enough to search Gamsy- he finds Sgt Harald’s dice (marked with ‘HH’). The folk protesting Gamsy’s innocence mostly disperse very quickly, the thief is restrained (manacled- Sgt Bobby has a pair) and then chained to one of Achreny’s carts. Gamsy will be thrown off the caravan at the next stop, on the other side of the Trollclaws.
The rest of the day is without incident- thank heavens.
Note while the above vignettes were going on a number of other PCs were doing the legwork, investigating their fellow passengers and the other wagons, and thus the updated caravan rota looks like this. Thanks to Sandy again for keeping it up to date.
Wagon #1 Owner: Achreny Ulyeltin (Male Human). Cargo: Furs & Hides. On board- Achreny Caravan Master & Sgt Bobby Guard Master + Ralph Little (Male Halfling) Teamster + Eldkin Agetul (Female Dwarf) Guard + Leda Widris (Female Human) Guard + Aldor Urnpolehurst (Male Human) Passenger- a dodgy lawyer + Gamsy (Male Human) Prisoner- probably another Cultist.
Wagon #2 Owner: Achreny Ulyeltin (Male Human). Cargo: Furs & Hides. On board- Dalton Fix (Male Halfling) Teamster + Ren Stubby (Male Halfling) Teamster + Orvustia Esseren (Female Human) Guard + Sulsedeg the Pole (Male Human) Guard (Very Tall) + Dort (Male Human) Passenger- Cultist? + Chiggly Vonn (Female Human) Passenger- Cultist?
Wagon #3 Owner: Dragon Cult. Cargo: Loot? On board- Rand Dupe (Male Human) Cult Teamster + Teamster + Cult Guard (x2) + Cult Passenger (x?).
Wagon #4 Owner: Dragon Cult. Cargo: Loot? On board- Cult Teamster (x2) + Cult Guard (x2) + Cult Passenger (x?).
Wagon #5 Owner: Dragon Cult. Cargo: Loot? On board- Cult Teamster (x2) + Cult Guard (x2) + Cult Passenger (x?).
Wagon #6 Owner: Samardag the Hoper (Male Human). Cargo: Porcelain. On board- Samardag Wagon Master & Drek ‘the Magnificent’? (Male Human) Samardag’s NEW Bodyguard + Gond Bagshaw (Male Gnome) Teamster + 4 NEW Guards (all Male Humans), one called ‘Badda’, another called ‘Morbadd’, another called ‘Gork’ maybe (Cultists? Or just idiots).
Wagon #7 Owner: Lasfelro the Silent (Male Human). Cargo: Unknown? On board- Lasfelro Wagon Master + Gargoyle + Wererond (Female Human) Teamster + Tyjit (Female Dwarf) Guard + Tardol (Male Half-Orc) Guard- Cultist? + Hotlips Houlihan Passenger + Green Imsa (Female Human) Passenger- with green skin!
Wagon #8 Owner: Oyn Evermor (Male Human). Cargo: Exotic Birds. On board- Oyn Wagon Master + Enom Dark (Male Halfling) Teamster + Hard Bonk Guard + Garlik (Male Human) Guard- Cultist? + Lint Fermund (Male Half-Elf) Passenger- Cultist?
Wagon #9 Owner: Beyd Sechepol (Male Half-Elf). Cargo: Beer. On board- Beyd Wagon Master & Lummins Beyd’s Bodyguard + Losvius Dark (Male Halfling) Teamster + Lux Guard + Lasmeer (Male Half-Elf) Guard- Cultist? + Radecere (Male Gnome) Passenger- Cultist?
In addition, there are now eleven other folk travelling independently, but with the caravan, on their own mounts, including Derek Pilch, Watt & Sgt Harald Hardaxe and Sir Lumsden F’Tang & his two retainers (a Knight and a Wizard)- all three Cultists?
You’ll note that the PCs and Player’s paranoia is increasing as the journey goes on, it seems everyone is a potential Cultist. In reality the kindly DM has hidden 10 Cultists in amongst the passengers, the PCs have killed one (Tain- Hard Bonk’s victim), and another (Gamsy) is manacled and branded a thief, to be thrown off at the next stop.
After this session there’s a lot of chatter (via e-mail) about the Derek vs Sir Lumsden situation, some of the other players are concerned that Jackie (Derek & Watt) is ‘putting the operation at risk’, which I can just about see. Although, on the surface it just looks like an uppity Druid banging heads with an uppity Noble, what Jackie actually needs is some good advice about how to deal with the situation. Which, of course, is what I tell them… more next time.
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