a2ndchapter
Tabletop Scotland & Polyhedral Press Overlord
This is a write-up from a new D&D game I've just started running, first time in about 6 years I've ran D&D and it's a refreshing return. Comments appreciated.
Our intrepid heroes left Kilranthia for the first time and entered into the unknown...
They are -
Link Azoth - A rogue who is more comfortable in the dark and alone than anywhere else.
Reno Day - A ranger who has mastered the art of bowmaking and is a scout of repute.
Josef Gaits - A rogue/fighter who has a sense of purpose in exploring and seeking justice.
Maximus - The Half-Orc barbarian who's actions are stronger than his words.
Sar'ainn Rans - A Half-Elf (although his ears are hidden by the bandana he wears) fighter who is as keen with a blade as he is his wit.
Jaret - A cleric, exiled from the cold north as a child he has found solace amongst the teachings of Chaos and Good.
Crossing that boundary through the Pass of Orm the party sense the trees close behind them preventing any last minute change of mind. Descending the mountain path to the scrub land below they notice that it is snowing. It wasn't snowing in Kilranthia...
One of the party discovered a scroll in their saddle bags that wasn't there before, it was scroll from Krace. In that scroll Krace detailed some history about himself, those heroes who are believed dead and of Weston the villain. Most shocking was that Weston and Krace are brothers, something he has hidden from all within Kilranthia except The Seers. After reading the scroll became blank and Krace gave them instructions to use the scroll for communication with him and The Seers, it would be their guide if necessary...
Krace had suggested they visit Rondenhelm, a former military outpost which was a trading village last he was there. Of course things may not be the same now...
Approaching Rondenhelm Reno spotted a wagon on fire from a distance. Approaching carefully our heroes find a confusing situation. 1 dead Human with a lizard emblem on his armour and 2 dead Orcs with 7 pointed stars on their armour. What was clear though was that the Orcs were the wagon owners and the Humans were the raiders. At least 2 other sets of tracks were identifiable with the Humans riding away to the North and one set of small footprints followed by a larger set heading towards the woods around Rondenhelm.
Following those tracks to the woods our heroes were fired upon by an Orc youth sat upon a tree. After much deliberation and conversation to assure the Orc that they were not there to kill him, Gurnek (the 9 year old Orc) agreed to come down. Link scouted further into the woods following the other tracks to hear the sound of a sword fight. Alerting the others, they found 2 humans fighting. One was wearing the Lizard marked armour while the other, who was clearly winning, was in simpler armour with Hammer marking on it.
After assisting to stop the fight our heroes learned that the man with the Hammer marking was named Laverna and was Captain of the guard who were posted at Rondenhelm. The other man was a bandit, according to Laverna and would be taken into custody. Laverna also said that he recognised Gurnek and would take him into Rondenhelm.
Entering Rondenhelm with Laverna the party discovered some information about the locals.
The city to the south, Varnburg, is planning expansion into this region.
The Lord of Rondenhelm is related to the Lord of Varnburg and his family are quite powerful.
There is an underlying feeling of xenophobia amongst the people of Rondenhelm and presumably Varnburg.
Gurnek is missing.
The bandit is also missing.
Link stole the Lord's armour - full plate and largely ceremonial but has the mark of the hammer on it.
The Lord stated that his emblem (the hammer) was from a history of miners in his family. This however did not appear to be true.
The armoury store keeper mentioned that the trouble from the North was primarily from bandits although there were rumours of an army of Lizard Men.
Whilst onsite there was an arrival of 60 horsemen in full armour - the guard change for Rondenhelm apparently. Although this wasn't expected for a few weeks...
Leaving Rondenhelm after realising that they could gather no further information safely they headed east towards the River of Orm. Crossing the bridge they entered what appeared to be a Druid's Grove, although it hadn't been used for some time - Reno estimated between 2 and 4 years... The standing stones within the grove had what turned out to be Dwarven runes - most unusual.
Camping for the night and taking turns on watch both Sar'ainn and Link experienced nightmares, the only memory of them was FIRE.
Continuing their exploration east they came across a cave entrance which had recent tracks in and out. Reno couldn't tell what they were but they were not human. Entering they found a winding path which ended up in what appeared to be a room made by dwarves, judging by the quality of the work. Whilst travelling through the cave structure Josef found a longsword which appeared to be magical but didn't know it's powers; Reno found a roll of cloth bound by what looked like some cord however this was sealed with magic and they were yet to unravel it. They also found 2 gold figurines of Elven women - one of the figurines depicted an Elf killing an Orc.
When standing in the room fashioned by dwarves they noticed markings on the wall. One was a sword, another a 7 pointed star and the last was of a hammer. Josef decided to "plug in" the sword and the room became instantly brighter. They left through the only door available and found themselves outside with tracks similar to those at the entrance, apparently made by Lizardmen.
As they left the dwarven room something was wrong. Sar'ainn and Link began to feel burning and in an instant Link disappeared. Sar'ainn remained but his hands were slightly burned...
Now our heroes have a mystery...
What is the meaning of the room with the 7 Pointed Star, the Hammer and the Sword?
What are the powers of the sword that Josef found and how does it fit into the meaning of that room?
What is in that wrapped bundle Reno has and what is the significance of the figurines?
Why are there humans with Lizard emblems on their armour? What is the truth around the Lizardmen to the North?
What happened to Gurnek the child Orc who was rescued but disappeared in Rondenhelm? Where was that bandit taken?
What really happened to the Dwarves who were based at Rondenhelm at the time of the Battle of Vurlan Hall? Why does the Druidic Grove have Dwarven markings?
What is the expansion that the Lord suggested of the peoples from Varnburg in the South?
But most of all what was happening to Sar'ainn and what had happened to Link?
Our intrepid heroes left Kilranthia for the first time and entered into the unknown...
They are -
Link Azoth - A rogue who is more comfortable in the dark and alone than anywhere else.
Reno Day - A ranger who has mastered the art of bowmaking and is a scout of repute.
Josef Gaits - A rogue/fighter who has a sense of purpose in exploring and seeking justice.
Maximus - The Half-Orc barbarian who's actions are stronger than his words.
Sar'ainn Rans - A Half-Elf (although his ears are hidden by the bandana he wears) fighter who is as keen with a blade as he is his wit.
Jaret - A cleric, exiled from the cold north as a child he has found solace amongst the teachings of Chaos and Good.
Crossing that boundary through the Pass of Orm the party sense the trees close behind them preventing any last minute change of mind. Descending the mountain path to the scrub land below they notice that it is snowing. It wasn't snowing in Kilranthia...
One of the party discovered a scroll in their saddle bags that wasn't there before, it was scroll from Krace. In that scroll Krace detailed some history about himself, those heroes who are believed dead and of Weston the villain. Most shocking was that Weston and Krace are brothers, something he has hidden from all within Kilranthia except The Seers. After reading the scroll became blank and Krace gave them instructions to use the scroll for communication with him and The Seers, it would be their guide if necessary...
Krace had suggested they visit Rondenhelm, a former military outpost which was a trading village last he was there. Of course things may not be the same now...
Approaching Rondenhelm Reno spotted a wagon on fire from a distance. Approaching carefully our heroes find a confusing situation. 1 dead Human with a lizard emblem on his armour and 2 dead Orcs with 7 pointed stars on their armour. What was clear though was that the Orcs were the wagon owners and the Humans were the raiders. At least 2 other sets of tracks were identifiable with the Humans riding away to the North and one set of small footprints followed by a larger set heading towards the woods around Rondenhelm.
Following those tracks to the woods our heroes were fired upon by an Orc youth sat upon a tree. After much deliberation and conversation to assure the Orc that they were not there to kill him, Gurnek (the 9 year old Orc) agreed to come down. Link scouted further into the woods following the other tracks to hear the sound of a sword fight. Alerting the others, they found 2 humans fighting. One was wearing the Lizard marked armour while the other, who was clearly winning, was in simpler armour with Hammer marking on it.
After assisting to stop the fight our heroes learned that the man with the Hammer marking was named Laverna and was Captain of the guard who were posted at Rondenhelm. The other man was a bandit, according to Laverna and would be taken into custody. Laverna also said that he recognised Gurnek and would take him into Rondenhelm.
Entering Rondenhelm with Laverna the party discovered some information about the locals.
The city to the south, Varnburg, is planning expansion into this region.
The Lord of Rondenhelm is related to the Lord of Varnburg and his family are quite powerful.
There is an underlying feeling of xenophobia amongst the people of Rondenhelm and presumably Varnburg.
Gurnek is missing.
The bandit is also missing.
Link stole the Lord's armour - full plate and largely ceremonial but has the mark of the hammer on it.
The Lord stated that his emblem (the hammer) was from a history of miners in his family. This however did not appear to be true.
The armoury store keeper mentioned that the trouble from the North was primarily from bandits although there were rumours of an army of Lizard Men.
Whilst onsite there was an arrival of 60 horsemen in full armour - the guard change for Rondenhelm apparently. Although this wasn't expected for a few weeks...
Leaving Rondenhelm after realising that they could gather no further information safely they headed east towards the River of Orm. Crossing the bridge they entered what appeared to be a Druid's Grove, although it hadn't been used for some time - Reno estimated between 2 and 4 years... The standing stones within the grove had what turned out to be Dwarven runes - most unusual.
Camping for the night and taking turns on watch both Sar'ainn and Link experienced nightmares, the only memory of them was FIRE.
Continuing their exploration east they came across a cave entrance which had recent tracks in and out. Reno couldn't tell what they were but they were not human. Entering they found a winding path which ended up in what appeared to be a room made by dwarves, judging by the quality of the work. Whilst travelling through the cave structure Josef found a longsword which appeared to be magical but didn't know it's powers; Reno found a roll of cloth bound by what looked like some cord however this was sealed with magic and they were yet to unravel it. They also found 2 gold figurines of Elven women - one of the figurines depicted an Elf killing an Orc.
When standing in the room fashioned by dwarves they noticed markings on the wall. One was a sword, another a 7 pointed star and the last was of a hammer. Josef decided to "plug in" the sword and the room became instantly brighter. They left through the only door available and found themselves outside with tracks similar to those at the entrance, apparently made by Lizardmen.
As they left the dwarven room something was wrong. Sar'ainn and Link began to feel burning and in an instant Link disappeared. Sar'ainn remained but his hands were slightly burned...
Now our heroes have a mystery...
What is the meaning of the room with the 7 Pointed Star, the Hammer and the Sword?
What are the powers of the sword that Josef found and how does it fit into the meaning of that room?
What is in that wrapped bundle Reno has and what is the significance of the figurines?
Why are there humans with Lizard emblems on their armour? What is the truth around the Lizardmen to the North?
What happened to Gurnek the child Orc who was rescued but disappeared in Rondenhelm? Where was that bandit taken?
What really happened to the Dwarves who were based at Rondenhelm at the time of the Battle of Vurlan Hall? Why does the Druidic Grove have Dwarven markings?
What is the expansion that the Lord suggested of the peoples from Varnburg in the South?
But most of all what was happening to Sar'ainn and what had happened to Link?