Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Aphonion Tales: Ravenskrag and the Shadowline, a preteen D&D game (lightly edited notes, COMPLETED on 1/20/23)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="CPaladin" data-source="post: 8700293" data-attributes="member: 7030144"><p>Session 49 (July 2, 2022)</p><p></p><p>11 Chund</p><p>(Hex 747, 346)</p><p></p><p>They continue onwards, with Merreep scouting about 200 feet ahead of the group.</p><p></p><p>Merreep trots back and tells the group that she started to hear something up ahead. Just as she is about to describe it, the whole group begins to hear a sibilant voice calling out words of endearment in sweet tones. Bartix and Ulgorio begin walking towards the voice, as if charmed.</p><p></p><p>“Friends, Aleep is not sure you want to go towards that voice,” warns their wizard. “Aleep fears magic!”</p><p></p><p>They continue dreamily walking forward. Finally, they stop in front of several tall mushrooms. All of a sudden, Bartix looks extremely startled, and the dreamy look fades from his face. Ulgorio, however, remains glamoured.</p><p></p><p>The rest of the group suddenly sees Bartix hacking at the area around his feet as he hacks a set of vines—thin, long, and white off one of his feet. The vines around the other foot retreat, while Ulgorio continues to take damage, not that anyone but Bartix can see.</p><p></p><p>Bartix says, “Strange plants are attacking us!”</p><p></p><p>Aleep casts a fireball at the grove of mushrooms, doing 20 points of damage. A keening wail brakes out. The vines on Ulgorio retreat. Ashaltir, Amet’alox, Runor, and Merreep all are knocked flat. Ulgorio and Bartix retreat, just in time as a large cloud of brown spores erupt from the mushrooms.</p><p></p><p>The group then presses on, sweeping quite wide around the mushrooms.</p><p></p><p>The rest of the day passes uneventfully.</p><p></p><p>12 Chund</p><p>(747, 347)</p><p></p><p>Uneventful.</p><p></p><p>13 Chund</p><p>(747, 348)</p><p></p><p>Bartix, the rear guard, hears something from behind the group. It seems to sound sort of like “Bloop. Blub-blub-blub-blub-bloop. Bloop. Blub-blub-blub-blub-bloop.” Bartix runs forward into the main group and tells them that there’s something approaching behind them that could be there in a matter of moments. The group begins rushing forward, while looking around cautiously.</p><p></p><p>They then begin to hear drums, which is answered by a bullroar or calling horn. The calling horn does not seem to be moving. Amet’alox says that he thinks that they are likely froglocks, and likely ones who serve The One Who Bores Beneath.</p><p></p><p>Ulgorio sends his pet squirrel to investigate and distract them.</p><p></p><p>Merreep sees a few froglocks at the far end of her range of vision, with two creatures on leashes like dogs, but with the heads of badgers and the hooves of stags. They also have a banner, with some form of giant fungus in the middle of their banner.</p><p></p><p>The group decides to move quickly, figuring that if the froglocks are barely at the edge of Merreep’s vision, the froglocks can’t see the group. The rangers try to conceal the tracks of the group and mislead anything trying to follow them.</p><p></p><p>The bullroarer does not catch up, and gradually starts fading. Maybe it was moving, but at the same speed as they were. As they pass forward, Merreep notices that the pools of water in the swamplands are trembling. As she moves forward, the water is trembling more. She then sees a large, humanoid figure, female, covered in moss and fungi, moving with purpose in the direction of the bullroarer. It’s twelve or fourteen feet tall. She falls back to the group.</p><p></p><p>“Amet’alox, is that a swamp giant?”</p><p></p><p>“Could be a swamp giant. Could be her.”</p><p></p><p>“Banahog?”</p><p></p><p>“Uh-huh. She could be coming to treat with your relatives.”</p><p></p><p>They all hunker down and try to move carefully past her while she rushes towards the froglocks. They all see her as they pass. In her wake, a number of mobile fungi follow along behind her.</p><p></p><p>They travel on and make camp for the night.</p><p></p><p>14 Chund</p><p>(747, 349)</p><p></p><p>Uneventful.</p><p></p><p>15 Chund</p><p>(747, 350)</p><p></p><p>They finish another day of uneventful travel, and turn east.</p><p></p><p>16 Chund</p><p>(748, 350)</p><p></p><p>After another day of travel, they can see the lake. Its water is startlingly blue, and they can even see fish—which they have generally not been seeing in the Palood. In the morning, they plan on following the lakeshore around until they reach the ruined tower.</p><p></p><p>17 Chund</p><p>(749, 350)</p><p></p><p>Most of the day passes uneventfully. In the afternoon, all of a sudden, a large face, covered in baby fat, wit a five foot tall toddler-like body, pops up from behind a hummock. He gasps in shock, and then runs off, before returning with a 15 foot tall woman in a smock. She looks them over carefully, especially Aleep.</p><p></p><p>“Wee folk. Are you slaves to the hopper, or free?”</p><p></p><p>Runor says, “Free, I guess? I’m a priest.”</p><p></p><p>“Great hopper, why do you and your companions come here?”</p><p></p><p>Runor says, “We want to find something we lost.”</p><p></p><p>“You lost it here?” she says increduously.</p><p></p><p>“In tower,” says Aleep.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, yes, in tower. You want to go to tower?” She gestures for them to follow. As they begin to walk, she carefully positions the whole group between her and Aleep. She then quietly says to Runor, “You seek to take hopper to tower, to get free from him? Good plan, could work.”</p><p></p><p>As they walk, Aleep asks, “who do you serve, if any?”</p><p></p><p>She cringes a little. “I do not serve any hopper, great one. What service do you need from me?”</p><p></p><p>“Aleep not need any service from you. Aleep will not be happy if you tell anyone of Aleep and his friends. But Aleep not need any service from tall ones.”</p><p></p><p>“Your people will not like you for saying this.”</p><p></p><p>“Aleep is from far distant tribe, and he is knight and chieftain of far distant tribe, far from here. Aleep’s friends are also knights.”</p><p></p><p>“Oh! Shiny stones. You seek shiny stones.”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, definitely those,” says Runor.</p><p></p><p>“Another group, not people, hoppers, seeks to get shiny stones for long time. They seek to bring great demon to get stones. But it will not matter--the stones always win.”</p><p></p><p>“Do they not want to be taken?”</p><p></p><p>“They serve other things, not in the swamp. They do not wish to be one with the swamp, but they make water clean. They make fish live, they give life to my tribe. We can eat because they are here.”</p><p></p><p>“Will your tribe be in danger if the stones leave? Stones will want to come with Aleep’s friends.”</p><p></p><p>“If stones leave, the lake will die. The lake will die, and then we will die.” She sounds completely sure of this.</p><p></p><p>“What do Aleep's friends think about this, if there is tribe of giants that do not follow demons and depends on the matrix?”</p><p></p><p>“Could you come with us?” Runor asks.</p><p></p><p>“Must ask brother. My dear brother leads tribe. Still camped outside tower. Those that enter die.”</p><p></p><p>“Are the snake people still at the tower?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes.”</p><p></p><p>“Do they kill hoppers?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, kill hoppers. Kill strange, shiny humans that came, too.”</p><p></p><p>The group agrees to meet her brother to discuss the idea of allying with them and trying to bring them out with the matrix.</p><p></p><p>She leads the group into a small settlement, with about a dozen giants, on the shore of the lake. The leader bounds out and jabbers with her.</p><p></p><p>“This is my brother, Quick-Axe.”</p><p></p><p>“Sister say, you okay. Wait. You priest. Met priest when shiny humans came here. Went in, didn’t come out. Been many many eats since then. Fish? Come eat with us. Do not ensorcel us now.”</p><p></p><p>After a little eating and some more talking in their language, he continues. “You here for shiny rocks. Everyone come for shiny rocks. That why we not live closer to tower. Shiny rocks clean water, clean air, make safe to live here, not like our cousins who have changed over the years.”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, there is large group of humans that have protections, but need the shiny rocks to expand the area that is protected so they can push back the Shadow.”</p><p></p><p>“The old stories say that we once lived in a clean land with small people. And then the Shadow came, and we fled and ran without small people. And then one night we found ourselves here. Many of our other people drifted away and changed, but we stayed near the lake, near the fish. Many generations later, we are still ourselves.”</p><p></p><p>“They think the shiny rocks will go with them, brother.”</p><p></p><p>“So you guys need the shiny rocks obviously,” says Runor.</p><p></p><p>“We need the water, the food, the air.”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, you need what the shiny rocks give you. You do not need the rocks themselves. But you cannot travel to the edge of the Shadow.”</p><p></p><p>“We very large. We stay near the lake. The water of the lake is poison to other things, as their water is poison to us. If we travel, even if we know where, we would attract too many other creatures.”</p><p></p><p>“Even if you have the gems during the travel?”</p><p></p><p>“Hmm. Oh. That thought.” Quick-Axe seems pleased by this idea. “How would we get them? The camp around the base of the stone spire--the hoppers never leave. They stay outside and send their servants into the tower. Their servants do not return, but they remain. Too many of the hoppers couldn't stop us, their powers to compel to make us obey. They do this with our-- are they still our cousins?--they do this to those who were once our cousins. It is almost impossible for us to resist.”</p><p></p><p>“They keep your people as slaves, but we could resist, and we are strong fighters. We may need to plan a jewel heist,” Runor says. “How many are in this camp?”</p><p></p><p>“About five hands, sometimes as many as ten hands, plus their servants. And some of them also have other magic-- bolts of lightning. I have seen them use when we were spying on them from afar with the magic glass that the humans left us.” He proudly pulls out a telescope.</p><p></p><p>“It sounds to Aleep like they are primarily enchantment specialists, but that they also are of at least the fifth circle of power. If they are enchantment specialists, but also can cast lightning bolt, they may well be closer to the seventh circle of power—roughly our capabilities, at least their strongest.”</p><p></p><p>“You might be able to sneak in, but once you're inside the tower, I do not know what to tell you-- I do not know where stones are. We don't fit in tower.”</p><p></p><p>“We know there are the snake people, and we know that we would need to go deep beneath the tower.”</p><p></p><p>“The snake people sometimes come forth, or did in my father's day. Even now, they sometimes exchange spells with the hoppers from the tower itself. But no longer do they come out in force.”</p><p></p><p>“Are the snake people high in the tower or at base of tower?”</p><p></p><p>“Both. They also have slaves who fight, but I do not know where they got those. Their type we have not seen before. They do come forward. Sometimes I think that is why the hoppers keep their slaves with them always.</p><p></p><p>“My sister was wise to bring you here. We will do what we can to help you. Avoid the hoppers.”</p><p></p><p>“We have anti-venom for what good that will do.”</p><p></p><p>“Good. The snake people use powerful poisons, and they are uncaring of on who.”</p><p></p><p>The group spends the night in the encampment, sharing fish with the giants and providing them with some magically created food for variety and to strengthen ties. In the morning, they intend to press on towards the tower, with a plan of bringing back the matrix and then traveling with the giants back to the city.</p><p></p><p>[End session 49]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="CPaladin, post: 8700293, member: 7030144"] Session 49 (July 2, 2022) 11 Chund (Hex 747, 346) They continue onwards, with Merreep scouting about 200 feet ahead of the group. Merreep trots back and tells the group that she started to hear something up ahead. Just as she is about to describe it, the whole group begins to hear a sibilant voice calling out words of endearment in sweet tones. Bartix and Ulgorio begin walking towards the voice, as if charmed. “Friends, Aleep is not sure you want to go towards that voice,” warns their wizard. “Aleep fears magic!” They continue dreamily walking forward. Finally, they stop in front of several tall mushrooms. All of a sudden, Bartix looks extremely startled, and the dreamy look fades from his face. Ulgorio, however, remains glamoured. The rest of the group suddenly sees Bartix hacking at the area around his feet as he hacks a set of vines—thin, long, and white off one of his feet. The vines around the other foot retreat, while Ulgorio continues to take damage, not that anyone but Bartix can see. Bartix says, “Strange plants are attacking us!” Aleep casts a fireball at the grove of mushrooms, doing 20 points of damage. A keening wail brakes out. The vines on Ulgorio retreat. Ashaltir, Amet’alox, Runor, and Merreep all are knocked flat. Ulgorio and Bartix retreat, just in time as a large cloud of brown spores erupt from the mushrooms. The group then presses on, sweeping quite wide around the mushrooms. The rest of the day passes uneventfully. 12 Chund (747, 347) Uneventful. 13 Chund (747, 348) Bartix, the rear guard, hears something from behind the group. It seems to sound sort of like “Bloop. Blub-blub-blub-blub-bloop. Bloop. Blub-blub-blub-blub-bloop.” Bartix runs forward into the main group and tells them that there’s something approaching behind them that could be there in a matter of moments. The group begins rushing forward, while looking around cautiously. They then begin to hear drums, which is answered by a bullroar or calling horn. The calling horn does not seem to be moving. Amet’alox says that he thinks that they are likely froglocks, and likely ones who serve The One Who Bores Beneath. Ulgorio sends his pet squirrel to investigate and distract them. Merreep sees a few froglocks at the far end of her range of vision, with two creatures on leashes like dogs, but with the heads of badgers and the hooves of stags. They also have a banner, with some form of giant fungus in the middle of their banner. The group decides to move quickly, figuring that if the froglocks are barely at the edge of Merreep’s vision, the froglocks can’t see the group. The rangers try to conceal the tracks of the group and mislead anything trying to follow them. The bullroarer does not catch up, and gradually starts fading. Maybe it was moving, but at the same speed as they were. As they pass forward, Merreep notices that the pools of water in the swamplands are trembling. As she moves forward, the water is trembling more. She then sees a large, humanoid figure, female, covered in moss and fungi, moving with purpose in the direction of the bullroarer. It’s twelve or fourteen feet tall. She falls back to the group. “Amet’alox, is that a swamp giant?” “Could be a swamp giant. Could be her.” “Banahog?” “Uh-huh. She could be coming to treat with your relatives.” They all hunker down and try to move carefully past her while she rushes towards the froglocks. They all see her as they pass. In her wake, a number of mobile fungi follow along behind her. They travel on and make camp for the night. 14 Chund (747, 349) Uneventful. 15 Chund (747, 350) They finish another day of uneventful travel, and turn east. 16 Chund (748, 350) After another day of travel, they can see the lake. Its water is startlingly blue, and they can even see fish—which they have generally not been seeing in the Palood. In the morning, they plan on following the lakeshore around until they reach the ruined tower. 17 Chund (749, 350) Most of the day passes uneventfully. In the afternoon, all of a sudden, a large face, covered in baby fat, wit a five foot tall toddler-like body, pops up from behind a hummock. He gasps in shock, and then runs off, before returning with a 15 foot tall woman in a smock. She looks them over carefully, especially Aleep. “Wee folk. Are you slaves to the hopper, or free?” Runor says, “Free, I guess? I’m a priest.” “Great hopper, why do you and your companions come here?” Runor says, “We want to find something we lost.” “You lost it here?” she says increduously. “In tower,” says Aleep. “Ah, yes, in tower. You want to go to tower?” She gestures for them to follow. As they begin to walk, she carefully positions the whole group between her and Aleep. She then quietly says to Runor, “You seek to take hopper to tower, to get free from him? Good plan, could work.” As they walk, Aleep asks, “who do you serve, if any?” She cringes a little. “I do not serve any hopper, great one. What service do you need from me?” “Aleep not need any service from you. Aleep will not be happy if you tell anyone of Aleep and his friends. But Aleep not need any service from tall ones.” “Your people will not like you for saying this.” “Aleep is from far distant tribe, and he is knight and chieftain of far distant tribe, far from here. Aleep’s friends are also knights.” “Oh! Shiny stones. You seek shiny stones.” “Yes, definitely those,” says Runor. “Another group, not people, hoppers, seeks to get shiny stones for long time. They seek to bring great demon to get stones. But it will not matter--the stones always win.” “Do they not want to be taken?” “They serve other things, not in the swamp. They do not wish to be one with the swamp, but they make water clean. They make fish live, they give life to my tribe. We can eat because they are here.” “Will your tribe be in danger if the stones leave? Stones will want to come with Aleep’s friends.” “If stones leave, the lake will die. The lake will die, and then we will die.” She sounds completely sure of this. “What do Aleep's friends think about this, if there is tribe of giants that do not follow demons and depends on the matrix?” “Could you come with us?” Runor asks. “Must ask brother. My dear brother leads tribe. Still camped outside tower. Those that enter die.” “Are the snake people still at the tower?” “Yes.” “Do they kill hoppers?” “Yes, kill hoppers. Kill strange, shiny humans that came, too.” The group agrees to meet her brother to discuss the idea of allying with them and trying to bring them out with the matrix. She leads the group into a small settlement, with about a dozen giants, on the shore of the lake. The leader bounds out and jabbers with her. “This is my brother, Quick-Axe.” “Sister say, you okay. Wait. You priest. Met priest when shiny humans came here. Went in, didn’t come out. Been many many eats since then. Fish? Come eat with us. Do not ensorcel us now.” After a little eating and some more talking in their language, he continues. “You here for shiny rocks. Everyone come for shiny rocks. That why we not live closer to tower. Shiny rocks clean water, clean air, make safe to live here, not like our cousins who have changed over the years.” “Yes, there is large group of humans that have protections, but need the shiny rocks to expand the area that is protected so they can push back the Shadow.” “The old stories say that we once lived in a clean land with small people. And then the Shadow came, and we fled and ran without small people. And then one night we found ourselves here. Many of our other people drifted away and changed, but we stayed near the lake, near the fish. Many generations later, we are still ourselves.” “They think the shiny rocks will go with them, brother.” “So you guys need the shiny rocks obviously,” says Runor. “We need the water, the food, the air.” “Yes, you need what the shiny rocks give you. You do not need the rocks themselves. But you cannot travel to the edge of the Shadow.” “We very large. We stay near the lake. The water of the lake is poison to other things, as their water is poison to us. If we travel, even if we know where, we would attract too many other creatures.” “Even if you have the gems during the travel?” “Hmm. Oh. That thought.” Quick-Axe seems pleased by this idea. “How would we get them? The camp around the base of the stone spire--the hoppers never leave. They stay outside and send their servants into the tower. Their servants do not return, but they remain. Too many of the hoppers couldn't stop us, their powers to compel to make us obey. They do this with our-- are they still our cousins?--they do this to those who were once our cousins. It is almost impossible for us to resist.” “They keep your people as slaves, but we could resist, and we are strong fighters. We may need to plan a jewel heist,” Runor says. “How many are in this camp?” “About five hands, sometimes as many as ten hands, plus their servants. And some of them also have other magic-- bolts of lightning. I have seen them use when we were spying on them from afar with the magic glass that the humans left us.” He proudly pulls out a telescope. “It sounds to Aleep like they are primarily enchantment specialists, but that they also are of at least the fifth circle of power. If they are enchantment specialists, but also can cast lightning bolt, they may well be closer to the seventh circle of power—roughly our capabilities, at least their strongest.” “You might be able to sneak in, but once you're inside the tower, I do not know what to tell you-- I do not know where stones are. We don't fit in tower.” “We know there are the snake people, and we know that we would need to go deep beneath the tower.” “The snake people sometimes come forth, or did in my father's day. Even now, they sometimes exchange spells with the hoppers from the tower itself. But no longer do they come out in force.” “Are the snake people high in the tower or at base of tower?” “Both. They also have slaves who fight, but I do not know where they got those. Their type we have not seen before. They do come forward. Sometimes I think that is why the hoppers keep their slaves with them always. “My sister was wise to bring you here. We will do what we can to help you. Avoid the hoppers.” “We have anti-venom for what good that will do.” “Good. The snake people use powerful poisons, and they are uncaring of on who.” The group spends the night in the encampment, sharing fish with the giants and providing them with some magically created food for variety and to strengthen ties. In the morning, they intend to press on towards the tower, with a plan of bringing back the matrix and then traveling with the giants back to the city. [End session 49] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Aphonion Tales: Ravenskrag and the Shadowline, a preteen D&D game (lightly edited notes, COMPLETED on 1/20/23)
Top