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Story Hour
The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #136 Into the Mere of the Dead Men.
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<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8007824" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dark Squad in the Sunless Citadel</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session #002c Meet the Kobolds.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).</strong></p><p><strong>Garumn (played by Stu) Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 1</strong></p><p><strong>Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 1</strong></p><p><strong>Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 1</strong></p><p></p><p>So, session two, and this is what we got up to…</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad spent the first hour of the session as the boys about town, or else about the village of Thundertree- the players are all experienced RPers and so they split up to maximise their chatter time. In short order the trio learn-</p><p></p><p>1) The area around the Sunless Citadel is known as the Ashen Plain, not because of the devastation caused by the eruption of Mount Hotenow and the ash cloud et al that followed, but because of the depredations of a great dragon despoiling the region centuries earlier, apparently.</p><p></p><p>2) The Sunless Citadel is home to a tribe of goblins which, oddly- grow and sell magical apples (poisonous and healing variants). This info courtesy of Reidoth the Brown, the ancient druid that freed Thundertree from the dragon cult all those years ago. Vinnie swears to find out what’s going on with the goblins, and to report back to the ancient and blind druid- he’s given a healing potion for his troubles.</p><p></p><p>3) Sir Bradford, the paladin of Tyr who accompanied the Hucrele’s possessed a beautiful sword that Rurik, the dwarven smith in Thundertree, would pay money to get a closer look at. Garumn, declares that he will endeavour to fulfil the smith’s desire, should the opportunity arise.</p><p></p><p>4) Karakas, the human ranger that accompanied the Hucrele’s is a local, often employed by the Thundertree guard, Felosial the commander there would like the ranger back, or else his story told. Ram swears to see this done.</p><p></p><p>5) A visit to the temple to Tymora generates another gratis potion of healing- Corkie, the gnome priestess has heard about the PCs helping Old Man Coley with his ‘divil’ problem, she’s very grateful.</p><p></p><p>6) Lastly Bert from the Ol' Boar Inn remembers over a decade past that his establishment was visited by a very strange fellow who he observed several times speaking to a pet frog he carried around with him, the guy also asked a lot of questions about the Sunless Citadel, this fact triggering his recollection of the strange event. Bert thinks the odd fellow’s name also began with a ‘B’.</p><p></p><p>Therefore, fully loaded with info the Dark Squad gather a little more equipment from the local store and then head off to the Sunless Citadel, which turns out to be at the bottom of a ravine two hours out of Thundertree.</p><p></p><p>The descent to the citadel is not without its danger, the climb down is easy- then however, while Ram is waiting for Garumn to descend the rogue is attacked by a pair of giant rats, he’s bitten. Garumn duly arrives and slaughters one of the beasts in an instant- Ram kicks the other rat off the ledge with a ‘20’ and it hurtles down to its demise.</p><p></p><p>Then down switchback stairs to a battlement top courtyard, Ram finds a pit trap and the Dark Squad filter around the danger area and into the remains of a tower. The place contains four dead goblins- signs of the young Hucrele’s passing.</p><p></p><p>Then on into a corridor, halfway down which is a stone door engraved with an eastern water dragon at sport- a pan lung like creature.</p><p></p><p>The action here is played out in session <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/dark-squad-in-the-sunless-citadel-002b-ramshambo-the-silent-speaks.672536/post-8006675" target="_blank">#002a Snakebite</a>, described above. The ice mephit is killed but Garumn is hurt again in the creature’s death burst, and left badly wounded- Vinnie has to use his first spell slot- a cure wounds on the dwarf.</p><p></p><p>Note Garumn had to use most of his lay on hands to heal Ram after the giant rat attack on the ledge.</p><p></p><p>The ice mephit’s strange barrel prison yields a little treasure.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]122674[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Then on again into a much larger chamber, with a broken cage- a makeshift altar, a firepit, and scrawls on all the walls which read in draconic “HERE THERE BE DRAGONS”. Eventually Meepo the kobold dragonkeeper appears- he was hiding under the altar table having heard the PCs fight the mephit out in the corridor.</p><p></p><p>Meepo very quickly persuades the PCs not to kill him, mainly by being interesting- the PCs learn that the kobold’s ‘dragon’, who is called Cornflakes, has been stolen by the pesky goblins. The chatter goes on…</p><p></p><p>More kobolds show up, and make threats- briefly, but Meepo sticks up for the PCs, eventually the decision is made to present the Dark Squad to Yusdrayl, the kobold queen. Ram somehow manages to convince Meepo that he and his companions have been sent to the citadel to aid the kobolds.</p><p></p><p>And thus, it comes to pass, the Dark Squad are escorted to their meeting with Yusdrayl, the aforementioned kobold queen, she instantly takes a shine to Ram.</p><p></p><p>Two things to note, Ram (played by Kev) has done his fair share of the chatter so far (the roleplay) however in this section he starts talking and gets the reaction he wants, and so just keeps on jabbering away- saying the right things, majesty this… the great dragon that…</p><p></p><p>It helps that his dice are on fire.</p><p></p><p>The action here is played out in session <a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/dark-squad-in-the-sunless-citadel-002b-ramshambo-the-silent-speaks.672536/post-8007043" target="_blank">#002b Ramshambo the Silent speaks</a>, see above.</p><p></p><p>At the end of the session the Dark Squad have already received a reward from the altar- a unidentified as of yet flask of something, hopefully something magical. They have also been given a list of tasks to accomplish- each of which will earn them a further reward.</p><p></p><p>They’re also going to be directed to the last known position of the missing Hucrele’s, they’re ticking all of the boxes.</p><p></p><p>Note, I give out lots of little XP rewards- good roleplay- have a few XP, find the trap- disarm etc. have a little more XP. To compensate for my myriad acts of XP generosity it takes 400 XP to get to level 2 (with similar increases for each additional level). The PCs are at present a few XP short of halfway to Level 2, and they’ve only been in three fights- 1) three twig blights, 2) two giant rats, and 3) the ice mephit.</p><p></p><p>Note I’ve also cut the numbers of the bad guys in the encounters used so far for the simple reason that there are only three PCs in play- and the module recommends four. I’m going to solve this problem by having Meepo and a kobold guard (an elite kobold warrior- approx. 10 HP) accompany them from hereon in.</p><p></p><p>So, the encounters are going to be RAW from now on… which I’m looking forward to immensely, let’s see if the PCs feel the same way.</p><p></p><p>Another excellent session.</p><p></p><p>More next time.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 8007824, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B]Dark Squad in the Sunless Citadel[/B][/CENTER] [B]Session #002c Meet the Kobolds. Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here). Garumn (played by Stu) Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 1 Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 1 Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 1[/B] So, session two, and this is what we got up to… The Dark Squad spent the first hour of the session as the boys about town, or else about the village of Thundertree- the players are all experienced RPers and so they split up to maximise their chatter time. In short order the trio learn- 1) The area around the Sunless Citadel is known as the Ashen Plain, not because of the devastation caused by the eruption of Mount Hotenow and the ash cloud et al that followed, but because of the depredations of a great dragon despoiling the region centuries earlier, apparently. 2) The Sunless Citadel is home to a tribe of goblins which, oddly- grow and sell magical apples (poisonous and healing variants). This info courtesy of Reidoth the Brown, the ancient druid that freed Thundertree from the dragon cult all those years ago. Vinnie swears to find out what’s going on with the goblins, and to report back to the ancient and blind druid- he’s given a healing potion for his troubles. 3) Sir Bradford, the paladin of Tyr who accompanied the Hucrele’s possessed a beautiful sword that Rurik, the dwarven smith in Thundertree, would pay money to get a closer look at. Garumn, declares that he will endeavour to fulfil the smith’s desire, should the opportunity arise. 4) Karakas, the human ranger that accompanied the Hucrele’s is a local, often employed by the Thundertree guard, Felosial the commander there would like the ranger back, or else his story told. Ram swears to see this done. 5) A visit to the temple to Tymora generates another gratis potion of healing- Corkie, the gnome priestess has heard about the PCs helping Old Man Coley with his ‘divil’ problem, she’s very grateful. 6) Lastly Bert from the Ol' Boar Inn remembers over a decade past that his establishment was visited by a very strange fellow who he observed several times speaking to a pet frog he carried around with him, the guy also asked a lot of questions about the Sunless Citadel, this fact triggering his recollection of the strange event. Bert thinks the odd fellow’s name also began with a ‘B’. Therefore, fully loaded with info the Dark Squad gather a little more equipment from the local store and then head off to the Sunless Citadel, which turns out to be at the bottom of a ravine two hours out of Thundertree. The descent to the citadel is not without its danger, the climb down is easy- then however, while Ram is waiting for Garumn to descend the rogue is attacked by a pair of giant rats, he’s bitten. Garumn duly arrives and slaughters one of the beasts in an instant- Ram kicks the other rat off the ledge with a ‘20’ and it hurtles down to its demise. Then down switchback stairs to a battlement top courtyard, Ram finds a pit trap and the Dark Squad filter around the danger area and into the remains of a tower. The place contains four dead goblins- signs of the young Hucrele’s passing. Then on into a corridor, halfway down which is a stone door engraved with an eastern water dragon at sport- a pan lung like creature. The action here is played out in session [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/dark-squad-in-the-sunless-citadel-002b-ramshambo-the-silent-speaks.672536/post-8006675']#002a Snakebite[/URL], described above. The ice mephit is killed but Garumn is hurt again in the creature’s death burst, and left badly wounded- Vinnie has to use his first spell slot- a cure wounds on the dwarf. Note Garumn had to use most of his lay on hands to heal Ram after the giant rat attack on the ledge. The ice mephit’s strange barrel prison yields a little treasure. [ATTACH type="full" alt="004 Meepo.jpg"]122674[/ATTACH] Then on again into a much larger chamber, with a broken cage- a makeshift altar, a firepit, and scrawls on all the walls which read in draconic “HERE THERE BE DRAGONS”. Eventually Meepo the kobold dragonkeeper appears- he was hiding under the altar table having heard the PCs fight the mephit out in the corridor. Meepo very quickly persuades the PCs not to kill him, mainly by being interesting- the PCs learn that the kobold’s ‘dragon’, who is called Cornflakes, has been stolen by the pesky goblins. The chatter goes on… More kobolds show up, and make threats- briefly, but Meepo sticks up for the PCs, eventually the decision is made to present the Dark Squad to Yusdrayl, the kobold queen. Ram somehow manages to convince Meepo that he and his companions have been sent to the citadel to aid the kobolds. And thus, it comes to pass, the Dark Squad are escorted to their meeting with Yusdrayl, the aforementioned kobold queen, she instantly takes a shine to Ram. Two things to note, Ram (played by Kev) has done his fair share of the chatter so far (the roleplay) however in this section he starts talking and gets the reaction he wants, and so just keeps on jabbering away- saying the right things, majesty this… the great dragon that… It helps that his dice are on fire. The action here is played out in session [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/dark-squad-in-the-sunless-citadel-002b-ramshambo-the-silent-speaks.672536/post-8007043']#002b Ramshambo the Silent speaks[/URL], see above. At the end of the session the Dark Squad have already received a reward from the altar- a unidentified as of yet flask of something, hopefully something magical. They have also been given a list of tasks to accomplish- each of which will earn them a further reward. They’re also going to be directed to the last known position of the missing Hucrele’s, they’re ticking all of the boxes. Note, I give out lots of little XP rewards- good roleplay- have a few XP, find the trap- disarm etc. have a little more XP. To compensate for my myriad acts of XP generosity it takes 400 XP to get to level 2 (with similar increases for each additional level). The PCs are at present a few XP short of halfway to Level 2, and they’ve only been in three fights- 1) three twig blights, 2) two giant rats, and 3) the ice mephit. Note I’ve also cut the numbers of the bad guys in the encounters used so far for the simple reason that there are only three PCs in play- and the module recommends four. I’m going to solve this problem by having Meepo and a kobold guard (an elite kobold warrior- approx. 10 HP) accompany them from hereon in. So, the encounters are going to be RAW from now on… which I’m looking forward to immensely, let’s see if the PCs feel the same way. Another excellent session. More next time. [/QUOTE]
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The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #136 Into the Mere of the Dead Men.
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