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Aphonion Tales: Ravenskrag and the Shadowline, a preteen D&D game (lightly edited notes, COMPLETED on 1/20/23)
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<blockquote data-quote="CPaladin" data-source="post: 8542545" data-attributes="member: 7030144"><p>Session 40 (November 20, 2021)</p><p></p><p>11 Ta-Ghast (late afternoon)</p><p>They try to wake the Sergeant-Major by splashing water on him.</p><p></p><p>He wakes, with no memory of what happened or how he got here. He remembers speaking to the man in antique clothing, but nothing since then. He’s very concerned about the missing message bag, which had both a message in it and a draft for 25,000 sp. They were with a whole detachment of horsemen—they have no idea what happened to them.</p><p></p><p>“I can’t imagine telling the Vizier’s secretary that we were under mind control when someone walked off with… they’ll think we stole it!”</p><p></p><p>“Who was the draft on?”</p><p></p><p>“The government of the city-state of Ravenskrag. Well, there’s nothing for it now. We have to find the men who stole the draft…” They also realize that they went out of their way to get here, but they’re not sure exactly where they are until the group explains that they are in Freetown. They were traveling up the main road north to the coast—they arrived roughly 375 miles out of their way, having traveled the intervening distance in two days.</p><p></p><p>The group suspects that they must have been teleported here, because they could not have possibly crossed that distance on horseback, or even on a voller.</p><p></p><p>“Why did they take the draft, though?”</p><p></p><p>Runor says, “I have a theory. They may want to make you sell your soul away, desperate for the money.”</p><p></p><p>The group also thinks that it might be a political machination intended to create a war—angering the Eastern Trade Federation by attacking its knights, while angering Ravenskrag by stealing the draft and killing some of their soldiers. It was a small detachment—8 total, including the two noncoms who are here.</p><p></p><p>The group speculates that they may have been set up by the secretary to the Vizier; the secretary gave them their orders directly, showing them the seal of the Vizier (who is the ruler of Ravenskrag’s right-hand man).</p><p></p><p>They never saw the draft; it was in a sealed bag. It was supposed to be delivered to one of the major trading merchants at the docks.</p><p></p><p>Aleep detects magic, and can find lingering enchantment on him, but no ongoing magic. They untie the sergeant-major.</p><p></p><p>The sergeant-major and the corporal are both famished, as if they haven’t eaten in two days.</p><p></p><p>Aleep uses the memory bowl to try to get images of the Vizier’s secretary, a prim, well-dressed man, with a pointed beard, with the Vizier’s seal. There are a few occasions when there’s a shimmery appearance to him in the memory—just once or twice. The seal also shimmered. Aleep thinks this is consistent with illusion magic being used.</p><p></p><p>When Aleep tries to get a clear vision of the vampire, he gets a very brief flash of an elegantly garbed man in out of style clothing, rapidly approaching from out of the darkness, and then everything becomes blurred.</p><p></p><p>He also recovers some in between memories—the campfire is now out, the other soldiers are scattered about, with one of them twisted and broken. They are then led by hands into the broken down old tower by the road. They then reappeared in the forest, about a day’s travel out from Free Town, and made their way here as quickly as they could, now alone.</p><p></p><p>The sergeant-major asks if Runor could write a letter explaining what happened to the bishop of Ravenskrag, who he thinks would believe him.</p><p></p><p>The group discusses what to do. Runor thinks they should go to the old tower that we saw in the memories to try to track down the vampire (and possibly find teleportation equipment). Ulgorio agrees. But that would represent weeks of travel, so Mereep suggests we wrap up the Nandor matter first, then go. The group decides to deal with Nandor first, tonight, then to travel with the sergeant-major and the corporal to the tower, and then likely on to Ravenskrag.</p><p></p><p>That evening, Aleep as “Helmut” goes to the gambling game, with Mereep, Ulgorio, and Bartix keeping a watchful eye. Runor and Ashaltir stay back at the inn with the soldiers of Ravenskrag. Archibald Ambrose is in the tavern as well. There are six or eight observers this time, after dark by a bit, when Nandor comes in, buys a round for the room, and comes over to the game.</p><p></p><p>Bartix notices something, but he can’t let Aleep know without tipping off the whole room. He quietly tells everyone else: there are three heavily armed people in the room, with carefully concealed weapons, two men and a woman. One of them has a garrote in her hair, along with light armor concealed under fine clothes. The other two have other weapons concealed on their persons. All of them stick out as strangers in these parts, and they are flicking small hand signals at each other while they watch the game. At first, Aleep is winning, and he excitedly buys a round for the table and then starts raising the stakes. He wins some more, and then Nandor pulls out some gold, which shocks the room and causes several people to drop out of the game. Aleep makes a show of hesitating… and then commits to playing on at the even higher stakes.</p><p></p><p>Aleep immediately loses at the higher stakes, rolling several times before being wiped out. Aleep says, “Double or nothing! Helmut is good for it!” after checking his pouch to make a show of not having any more money.</p><p></p><p>Nandor agrees with a smile, and of course, Aleep loses again.</p><p></p><p>They then have a conversation about working things out, as Aleep says, “Helmut doesn’t have the money now—but he can get it!”</p><p></p><p>A woman with a garrote in her hair saunters over to Ulgorio. “Cousin. I know that we walk something of the same path. You and your companions… do you have difficulty with the Guild in East Haven, or are you free of disagreement with them?”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t think we have any problems with them.”</p><p></p><p>“Then tell me what you saw, as you watched this. And I will tell you what we saw. We looked for magic, and we saw none. We looked for sleight of hand, and we saw none. We have traveled for weeks to be here, because word reached us that he is… making servants out of young men that lose their money to him. And such a thing, without the Guild, is forbidden. He has no Guild marker. We can’t intervene if he used no forbidden techniques, but if he did, we must defend our territory. What did you see? Did he use any means to fix the game?”</p><p></p><p>Ulgorio says, “No?” He’s wary and doesn’t want to share information with them.</p><p></p><p>Merreep says, “Is there any way we can know you are trustworthy?”</p><p></p><p>“I am not trustworthy, but if you have no difficulties with the Guild, we have no problem with you. But we saw nothing. No magic, no sleight of hand, and no psionics. And our Guildmaster sent us to investigate, to find out what’s happening. Why? We don’t know. You have my sworn word upon blood and iron that I’m not your enemy, nor do we have any ill-designs upon you or the poor young man over there. It can’t be honest, yet we can’t see how.”</p><p></p><p>Merreep whispers to Ulgorio, “Should we tell them? I don’t see any reason we shouldn’t.”</p><p></p><p>Ulgorio thinks and then agrees.</p><p></p><p>Aleep tells Nandor a story about being a mercenary sorcerer, keeping up the story of “Helmut.” He agrees to do work for Nandor.</p><p></p><p>“There are older villages in these lands. One days’ travel northwest of here, there is an old tower or the ruins of one. Take this talisman to it. There is a metal plate with runes on it. Slot the talisman into it, and step on the plate. It will carry you to another tower, where you . There is a whole network of them, the master may teach you how to use all of it. It has been forgotten by all but the Hastur, and they do not care. And then I must leave—your friends are talking to some people who do not like me, and I must go before they have words with me.”</p><p></p><p>“They are more like acquaintances than friends. But they also do mercenary work. Should I try to hire them as well?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, do that. Lord Acoldima could use more useful mercenaries. Have them each remove and replace the talisman, but quickly—it will crumble to dust once it has been untouched for 20 heartbeats. It will bring you to the Lord, and you and they will be well compensated.”</p><p></p><p>He then disappears suddenly and with no warning.</p><p></p><p>Moments before, Ulgorio tells the representatives of the Thieves’ Guild about the ghost that Nandor is using. They are then shocked to see Nandor disappear, and they quickly head back, mostly frustrated to not have accomplished their mission (and sure than Nandor will not return to this village after he saw them) but glad to know how he’s cheating to report that back.</p><p>[End session 40]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CPaladin, post: 8542545, member: 7030144"] Session 40 (November 20, 2021) 11 Ta-Ghast (late afternoon) They try to wake the Sergeant-Major by splashing water on him. He wakes, with no memory of what happened or how he got here. He remembers speaking to the man in antique clothing, but nothing since then. He’s very concerned about the missing message bag, which had both a message in it and a draft for 25,000 sp. They were with a whole detachment of horsemen—they have no idea what happened to them. “I can’t imagine telling the Vizier’s secretary that we were under mind control when someone walked off with… they’ll think we stole it!” “Who was the draft on?” “The government of the city-state of Ravenskrag. Well, there’s nothing for it now. We have to find the men who stole the draft…” They also realize that they went out of their way to get here, but they’re not sure exactly where they are until the group explains that they are in Freetown. They were traveling up the main road north to the coast—they arrived roughly 375 miles out of their way, having traveled the intervening distance in two days. The group suspects that they must have been teleported here, because they could not have possibly crossed that distance on horseback, or even on a voller. “Why did they take the draft, though?” Runor says, “I have a theory. They may want to make you sell your soul away, desperate for the money.” The group also thinks that it might be a political machination intended to create a war—angering the Eastern Trade Federation by attacking its knights, while angering Ravenskrag by stealing the draft and killing some of their soldiers. It was a small detachment—8 total, including the two noncoms who are here. The group speculates that they may have been set up by the secretary to the Vizier; the secretary gave them their orders directly, showing them the seal of the Vizier (who is the ruler of Ravenskrag’s right-hand man). They never saw the draft; it was in a sealed bag. It was supposed to be delivered to one of the major trading merchants at the docks. Aleep detects magic, and can find lingering enchantment on him, but no ongoing magic. They untie the sergeant-major. The sergeant-major and the corporal are both famished, as if they haven’t eaten in two days. Aleep uses the memory bowl to try to get images of the Vizier’s secretary, a prim, well-dressed man, with a pointed beard, with the Vizier’s seal. There are a few occasions when there’s a shimmery appearance to him in the memory—just once or twice. The seal also shimmered. Aleep thinks this is consistent with illusion magic being used. When Aleep tries to get a clear vision of the vampire, he gets a very brief flash of an elegantly garbed man in out of style clothing, rapidly approaching from out of the darkness, and then everything becomes blurred. He also recovers some in between memories—the campfire is now out, the other soldiers are scattered about, with one of them twisted and broken. They are then led by hands into the broken down old tower by the road. They then reappeared in the forest, about a day’s travel out from Free Town, and made their way here as quickly as they could, now alone. The sergeant-major asks if Runor could write a letter explaining what happened to the bishop of Ravenskrag, who he thinks would believe him. The group discusses what to do. Runor thinks they should go to the old tower that we saw in the memories to try to track down the vampire (and possibly find teleportation equipment). Ulgorio agrees. But that would represent weeks of travel, so Mereep suggests we wrap up the Nandor matter first, then go. The group decides to deal with Nandor first, tonight, then to travel with the sergeant-major and the corporal to the tower, and then likely on to Ravenskrag. That evening, Aleep as “Helmut” goes to the gambling game, with Mereep, Ulgorio, and Bartix keeping a watchful eye. Runor and Ashaltir stay back at the inn with the soldiers of Ravenskrag. Archibald Ambrose is in the tavern as well. There are six or eight observers this time, after dark by a bit, when Nandor comes in, buys a round for the room, and comes over to the game. Bartix notices something, but he can’t let Aleep know without tipping off the whole room. He quietly tells everyone else: there are three heavily armed people in the room, with carefully concealed weapons, two men and a woman. One of them has a garrote in her hair, along with light armor concealed under fine clothes. The other two have other weapons concealed on their persons. All of them stick out as strangers in these parts, and they are flicking small hand signals at each other while they watch the game. At first, Aleep is winning, and he excitedly buys a round for the table and then starts raising the stakes. He wins some more, and then Nandor pulls out some gold, which shocks the room and causes several people to drop out of the game. Aleep makes a show of hesitating… and then commits to playing on at the even higher stakes. Aleep immediately loses at the higher stakes, rolling several times before being wiped out. Aleep says, “Double or nothing! Helmut is good for it!” after checking his pouch to make a show of not having any more money. Nandor agrees with a smile, and of course, Aleep loses again. They then have a conversation about working things out, as Aleep says, “Helmut doesn’t have the money now—but he can get it!” A woman with a garrote in her hair saunters over to Ulgorio. “Cousin. I know that we walk something of the same path. You and your companions… do you have difficulty with the Guild in East Haven, or are you free of disagreement with them?” “I don’t think we have any problems with them.” “Then tell me what you saw, as you watched this. And I will tell you what we saw. We looked for magic, and we saw none. We looked for sleight of hand, and we saw none. We have traveled for weeks to be here, because word reached us that he is… making servants out of young men that lose their money to him. And such a thing, without the Guild, is forbidden. He has no Guild marker. We can’t intervene if he used no forbidden techniques, but if he did, we must defend our territory. What did you see? Did he use any means to fix the game?” Ulgorio says, “No?” He’s wary and doesn’t want to share information with them. Merreep says, “Is there any way we can know you are trustworthy?” “I am not trustworthy, but if you have no difficulties with the Guild, we have no problem with you. But we saw nothing. No magic, no sleight of hand, and no psionics. And our Guildmaster sent us to investigate, to find out what’s happening. Why? We don’t know. You have my sworn word upon blood and iron that I’m not your enemy, nor do we have any ill-designs upon you or the poor young man over there. It can’t be honest, yet we can’t see how.” Merreep whispers to Ulgorio, “Should we tell them? I don’t see any reason we shouldn’t.” Ulgorio thinks and then agrees. Aleep tells Nandor a story about being a mercenary sorcerer, keeping up the story of “Helmut.” He agrees to do work for Nandor. “There are older villages in these lands. One days’ travel northwest of here, there is an old tower or the ruins of one. Take this talisman to it. There is a metal plate with runes on it. Slot the talisman into it, and step on the plate. It will carry you to another tower, where you . There is a whole network of them, the master may teach you how to use all of it. It has been forgotten by all but the Hastur, and they do not care. And then I must leave—your friends are talking to some people who do not like me, and I must go before they have words with me.” “They are more like acquaintances than friends. But they also do mercenary work. Should I try to hire them as well?” “Yes, do that. Lord Acoldima could use more useful mercenaries. Have them each remove and replace the talisman, but quickly—it will crumble to dust once it has been untouched for 20 heartbeats. It will bring you to the Lord, and you and they will be well compensated.” He then disappears suddenly and with no warning. Moments before, Ulgorio tells the representatives of the Thieves’ Guild about the ghost that Nandor is using. They are then shocked to see Nandor disappear, and they quickly head back, mostly frustrated to not have accomplished their mission (and sure than Nandor will not return to this village after he saw them) but glad to know how he’s cheating to report that back. [End session 40] [/QUOTE]
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