D&D 5E (IC) Scourge of Daggerford

[gargoyleking]

During the trip Dandin made a point of producing a 'goodapple' as people had taken to calling it every day and sharing it out amongst the crews. He did his best to make sure that everyone had an equal chance to partake as he couldn't produce enough for everybody at once. It was a rather popular tradition once word got around about the taste and the effects. He'd taken to saving apple seeds now and had a small pouch of them, which he used to conjure his daily apples.

He was immensely glad to have found Janos, and realized quickly that he would have had no chance at managing one boat on this trip, let alone three. The man was critical to the success of this trip, and he wanted to both reward him for his excellence and contribute to his ability to doing the job.

Dandin had heard of an object that could be used to find direction at any time, even with no sun or stars to act as a guide. So with his free time between meetings, he went in search of one. He hoped to be able to present his prize to Janus before they set out on the return trip.

On the night of the party, Dandin was amazed at the gift, he'd expected the crew to do something for him, as good as they were at keeping it secret, he'd caught wind of it anyways. But he'd never imagined something so fine. And when they showed him the transformation he gasped in astonishment. He started to tear up and tried to refuse, even offered to get them every penny back on their price, but in the end, he simply wasn't allowed to refuse.

"Oh, alright! But only this one time! After this, you just worry about taking care of yourselves and your families! Deal? Good! Now, on that note... I couldn't possibly get something for each of you, but I thought of the next best thing. Janos! You got us here safely depite some complications, I definitely couldn't have pulled it off. Now I want to give you something that'll make that job easier. It's not much, but I hope it helps."

He hands a package to Janos to let the man unwrap a present of his own. And as the gift is being recieved the halfling flags down the server and claims the next 3 rounds on his tab.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Titus

The coach rolled up to the gates of Ashfield Manor in Waterdeep's Castle Ward, and a young nobleman hopped out. It had been awhile since Titus had come home, and he was not sure how he'd be received. The servants were very happy indeed to see the young master, but his mother was distant, if not unwelcoming. His father was on some business in Mirabar and wouldn't be home for six weeks or more. This was all not unexpected, and at any rate, Titus had come to do his own research, and to speak to his uncle. Seaton Ashfield was known in Waterdeep as the Wizard Ashfell (his name had been misspelled years ago when he had attended Blackstaff Academy, and it had stuck professionally.) Ashfell kept rooms in the family Manor's western turret, and Titus went there first, to borrow his library.

At the time of Titus' arrival, his uncle was at Blackstaff Tower, doing whatever wizards do as their day jobs. The servants of the turret let Titus in to the library, and offered him tea, then left him alone (as they were instructed to do). Titus had only rarely been in his uncle's library, and now he saw it again as if for the first time. A trove of knowledge was right here in his childhood home, and for the first time, he wondered why he had never been encouraged to exploit it. Instead, he had been sent away to study swordplay and boxing under excellent coaches. He suddenly remembered the last time he'd been here - he had been speaking with his uncle while looking at the shelves, and he asked about a particularly interesting-looking tome. His uncle had changed the subject abruptly, and not long after, his mother had shipped him off to live in Daggerford with her cousins.

He found that book now. It was entitled Thalandar's Treatise on Curses & Fiendish Connexions & How to Remove their Like. Titus flipped through the heavy tome. Most of it was impossible for him to understand, but something caught his eye - a page where a passage was underlined which read "in the event that yon subject has been cursed thusly, and by powerful magicks, and bounde to a Titan from his very birth, why then, this connexion cannot be broken in any waye whatsoever and must instead be blocked by all means at thy disposal, yea even unto the death of the child."

Scribbled in the margin in the same pen as the underline, was written in his uncles' hand, "alas, what then for T?"

Titus poured through more books, making quite the mess of his uncle's library. When Ashfell arrived home, the Wizard admitted that the notes were in his hand and that they referred to Titus.

Ashfell told him, "When she was pregnant with you, your mother saw a fortune-teller, who told her that you would become a very powerful wizard. Better than me, she said. A proud fool I was, I bragged about it at the Blackstaff Tower. One night I came home to find your father making a business arrangement with an associate of mine, a Wizard named Rookyard Fallowe. In exchange for his influence at court, your father had agreed to make you his apprentice instead of mine.

Just after your birth, Fallowe was revealed to be an agent of Thay. Before the Gray Hands and the City Watch could catch up with him, he turned up here to take you away. I was out searching for him, but I had informed your father of his treachery by magical means. When he arrived, your parents refused him. He said that if you would not serve him, you would instead serve his master and he fled the city by magical portal. At first we thought it an idle threat, but I examined you to be safe, and I found that he had been secretly performing rituals. He had gone as far as to pay off the midwives to deliver him your placenta. The damage was done. You were forever bound to his master. We could not allow you to learn magic, if it could be turned to the service of Thay."

OOC: I'm going to have to continue this later. Taking me awhile to write! Fun, though. Feel free to respond, tglassy. This only covers your history check. There's some history for you! Don't everyone expect me to go quite this far, sorry gang!

 

[KahlessNestor]

Angis Honack
Daggerford
Afternoon
Round 0

Returning to Daggerford meant returning to responsibilities. He had a ton of mail waiting in his rooms from the company steward in Waterdeep. He patiently looked through it, and then determined he should grab the next caravan to Waterdeep to check on the state of the company. And so the next caravan got an extra guard for free.

Perception: 1D20+4 = [18]+4 = 22

In Waterdeep, Angis visited the offices of The Golden Way Trade Consortium. The roads between Waterdeep, Baldur’s Gate and Westgate were as dangerous as ever, though some kind of dragon cult seemed to be making difficulties along the Trade Way down by Baldur’s Gate. Angis decided to assign a few more guards for the next trip south.

Investigation: 1D20 = [4] = 4

Angis found himself in the tavern of the inn where he was staying, reading another letter from his mother. More news of his brother, his sister-in-law, and their young son. Angis eagerly read the portion about the boy’s exploits, the pain in his heart growing. He pulled the scented silken handkerchief from its protective oilskin pouch and sniffed it again, only causing the pain of his loss to drive even further into his heart.

“More ale!” Angis yelled.

The next morning, Angis helped out with the recruitment and loading for the next trip back to Daggerford and then south to Baldur’s gate.

Athletics: 1D20+4 = [4]+4 = 8

Spoiler: Angis’ Actions

Save:
Move:
Free Object Interaction:
Action:
Bonus Action:
Horde Breaker:
Reaction: Absorb Elements or Opportunity Attack
Conditions:
Concentration:
Inspiration:

Spoiler: Mini Stats

Initiative: +1
Perception: +4
Speed: 25
AC: 14
HP: 40/40 HD: 4/4d10+2

Bolts: 13
Bolts used:
Handaxes: 12/12

Spells
1) 3/3 Absorb Elements, Cure Wounds, Hunter’s Mark
4/4 Boon of the Elk. Can cast Knock four times (without the loud sound) as an Action. Until he uses the last one, non-good aligned Fey count among his Favoured Enemies.

Spoiler: Party

Tommi - human rogue urban bounty hunter
Dandin - halfling bard guild merchant
Enseth - warforged war cleric shield guardian
Angis Honack - dwarven ranger outlander merchant
Drui Holderhock - dwarven cleric of Tempus soldier
Titus - human Waterdhavian noble fighter

 

[tglassy]

Titus sat down, the weight of what he had been told settling on him.

“Something has been offering me power,” he said to his uncle. “The power to survive when others would not. I’ve learned...some interesting things.”

He took out his knife and showed his uncle his newfound healing ability by slicing his hand and allowing it to heal (False Life from the Fiendish Vigor invocation). He trusted his Uncle, and much of his childhood made sense, now.

“I haven’t actually talked with whoever, or whatever, has been teaching me this. So far, it has been in my sleep, I will awaken with new knowledge. The power is...enticing. I don’t know that I, or my companions, would have survived without it.”

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Tommi

As Constable of Daggerford, Sherlen Miller had come to Julkoun to take charge of the goblin prisoners. As Angis and Tommi had executed them all as a warning to others (approved by Titus as acting Townmaster) there was no need. She spent a few days adjudicating a few petty crimes, training her Julkounian equivalent (new to the job), and helping out where she could, then planned to ride back to Daggerford on her own.

Tommi, during this time, had found himself a lute, and when they weren't busy, he and Sherlen would sit together near the river, and talk as he tuned. Then she would listen while he played. He was a natural, and he improved quickly. Tommi had found himself more in the way in Julkoun as the town worked its way towards its new normal. He had not accepted any formal positions, and as Lady Morwen had taken personal control of the training of the town militia, as well as her duties as acting Townmaster taken from Titus, Tommi had little to do.

He tried to help with some rebuilding, but he was no carpenter. He wasn't particularly suited to carrying things, and he was too distracted to be useful as an organiser. When Sherlen told him that she would be leaving, he decided to join her and return to Daggerford. Tommi was given a horse to return to the Duke's stables - one of the extras that had been brought by Lady Morwen to hurry the trip there. They travelled along the Delimbiyr Route, just the two of them, at a leisurely pace. The first night, they shared a tent at a road-side campsite. The second, they shared a bed at a small hamlet's lone inn.

The journey went on for four more days in similar fashion, and Tommi arrived in Daggerford the happiest he had ever been, with gold in his pocket. Sherlen took his horse to return it to the stable, but before she left him, she kissed him and said, "See to your mother, Tommi. She will have missed you."

Tommi meant to do as she asked, he really did, but before he went home, he stopped at the Happy Cow Tavern, to tell his friend Lionel all about the adventure that he had missed.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Angis

Angis stayed on in Julkoun a few more days after the others had left, but he too, soon found himself feeling more in the way than useful. Sure, the locals treated him with great respect, but the novelty of townsfolk curtsying and doffing their hats to him had worn off quickly, and he began to find it embarrassing - annoying even. He decided to leave on a morning when he had growled at a serving girl in the Jester's Pride, for the crime of calling him "m'lord". He didn't want to be rude to the Julkounians, who had been through so much, so he couldn't stay.

He returned to Daggerford on his own, and contrary to Tommi's pleasant trip, his was a slog on foot in the rain, alone. It wasn't all horrible - Angis was most comfortable travelling along a road lost in his own thoughts. Though he would never admit it, even to himself, but he had enjoyed the company of a small, tight-knit group, like the Doughty Daggerfordians had become, and in spite of himself, he was very lonely.

This lonely feeling grew worse over the following weeks. He joined a caravan to Waterdeep, and he kept such a careful watch, that it avoided all trouble whatsoever. (He had, at one point, spotted a group of orcs on a hill, but he organised so strong a defensive line, that the orcs chose to move on instead of attacking). The caravan's guards had congratulated him on a bloodless victory, but he would take no credit.

In Waterdeep, with a bustling crowd at every turn, Angis felt even more alone. He turned, as he often did, to drink, and he began to make mistakes, which were very unlike him. Acting on information that was months out of date, he unnecessarily added guards to a caravan, which cost his guild some profit. Returning to Daggerford, he showed up to "help" load a wagon nearly drunk off his feet. The workers had needed to load the wagon without him, and to load him as well, and returned him to his rooms at the Silver Flood Inn.

OOC: Poor Angis. I love him, but he's a wreck. We need to get him back adventuring STAT.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Titus

"I had hoped to spare you this conflict, Ashfell told Titus with great remorse, "But it appears that perhaps, there is no escaping destiny."

He pulled a colourful feather from a drawer and waved it around Titus, while speaking unintelligible words. "Yes... the wards I had place to protect you have been broken by curious fey. You must have entered a fey-grove. Still, they could not have done it without your aid - but of course, you did not know what you were doing."

He stroked his beard, silent in thought. "There are two ways forward, as I see it. One: I can establish new blocks and teach you how to maintain them. The 'gifts' you have been given would remain, as they are more like bribes. But you would return to your life as a noble swordsman, with no chance to explore further magic. Two: I will help you to contact your Otherwordly Patron, (as the source of your powers is known), and you will gain power and face the possibility of utter corruption. This is a dangerous game - know that you will be constantly tempted to betray all that you hold dear. You will be in the service of this creature, who has ties to our enemies in Thay. But if you are strong, and I believe that you are, you can remain loyal to Waterdeep, and act as a double-agent. Do not make this choice lightly."

He went on at length, explaining as much as he knew of Pact-related magic, which was quite a bit, as he had studied it in case this day ever came.

 

[tglassy]

Titus listened with rap attention. Since the mental blocks had been broken, his understanding of magic had grown considerably. After hearing the explanation of what was possible, Titus requested time to think.

He left the Library and took a walk around the city to gather his thoughts. Take the safe path, or the risky path.

That is often what life presented to him. A safe way and a risky one. The safe path, that of the simple swordsman, was one he knew. He would not learn any more of magic than he already had. His ability to heal, and his newfound Darkvision, would be a tremendous boon to a Battle Master. He could finally leave the study of magic behind him, and focus solely on learning how to best use his weapons and help his allies in more mundane ways.

And yet, he felt a thrill with every spell he had learned. He knew he could learn more about magic on his own, even as he studied under this patron. He could become powerful. He could open doors that he did not know existed. Perhaps even unlock the secrets of life and death.

Which could help his allies more? The Thay were his enemies. Knowing them from the inside could potentially benefit all of his true allies. Enseth would certainly like to know what the Thay are up to.

But what if they find a way to tempt him beyond what he is willing to contribute? Could he simply stop studying, once he knows so much? Or would he be compelled to know more? What kind of person would he become?

Safety or Risk. In the end, these were the choices.

He returned to the Library, to his Uncle.

"I need to see where this leads," he said, shaking as he did so. "If there is a way I can help against the Thayan threat, then I want to do it. And this power...I need to understand what I can do. I need to know my potential."

He took a deep breath. "How do I contact my Patron?"

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Ashfell

Ashfell was conflicted. He was a Mage of Blackstaff Tower, and it was his duty to uncover any and all threats to Waterdeep, and Thay was constantly scheming. But he was also Titus' Uncle Seaton. Proud as he was of his brave nephew, he knew full well that this action could potentially lead to the young nobleman's ultimate corruption. In the end, he decided that he had to trust that Titus was strong, and would be able to resist ultimate temptation.

He gathered his materials and had servants remove his desk and shelves from the room at the top of the turret. He drew patterns on the floor in a mixture of strange powders - a space for Titus, one for himself, and one empty. He added candles, and smoke from a brazier. He told Titus, "We are not summoning your patron, for the barrier between planes is too strong for such a simple spell, but just an aspect of him. An image, if you will. If your patron is honest, it will be an image of truth. If dishonest, it may well be whatever he wants you to see. I will watch from here, masked from his eyes. I will try to determine the truth, and we will speak of it when you are done."

When Titus was ready, Ashfell chanted some words in a deep and strong voice, and an image began to appear floating in the third space. At first, it looked similar to the spilled ink in Julkoun, and Titus could feel his heart beating very fast, and he was afraid, but he held his ground. Then, it shifted into the form of a humanoid, and grew until it was stooping under the high arches of the turret's ceiling. A tendril of smoke drifted across the room from the creature's abdomen, and another from Titus' abdomen - the two chords crossed in the middle of the room and wrapped around each other.

Then, the image of the creature cleared, and standing before Titus was a giant in armour, with one glowing eye and one in shadow behind a helm that hid his face. One arm held an axe made of shadows - in fact, the shadows travelled up the arm so it was impossible to tell where the hand was that held the axe.

"I am Sing-Axe, a Titan of old." said the Titan, "You are Titus, connected to me from birth. Named for my ancient race. Should you chose to serve me, I will be your champion in the realms beyond mortals. I will grant you powers beyond imagining, even unto immortality, should you prove worthy. Will you serve?"

As he spoke, he passed his shadowy axe back and forth, and it made a high, but not unpleasant noise.

 

[tglassy]

Titus cowered inside, but on the outside he projected strength and control. Beings such as this did not appreciate timidity.

The Titan knew just the words to use. Immortality. No fear of death. Power to survive, to help those around him. He wanted this, deep in his soul. He nearly cried out "Yes! Whatever you wish!"

But that would be foolish. This was a contract, like any other. He needed more details before he offered his services to sue a creature.

"Great One," he said, keeping his tone respectful, but strong. "Your gifts thus far have been well received. And your offer speaks to my heart. But I would know the kind of services you would require before I fully bind myself to your service. Tell me, what does service to you entail? I will not betray those I call my own. What assurances do you have that I will not be asked to do so at some time in the future?"