H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth
Session 1.
Background.
Having put paid to the activities in the Keep on the Shadowfell the hardy band of adventurers, now travelling under the moniker of- 'Hard Core', which about says it all, make their way back to Fallcrest. There they spend the next two or three days in meetings- not very 'hard core' at all, although time is made for a little light shopping and a spin around the bright lights of the city.
Back to the meetings- Eoffram Troyas is their contact, a councillor of Fallcrest, he has a proposition- although the PCs were always going to be heading on to Thunderspire Mountain, Eoffram makes it doubly worth their while. The upshot is the PCs are hired to rescue the good citizens of Fallcrest, Winterhaven and the Nentir Vale in general, from the clutches of the rag-tag bunch of goblinoid slavers (the Bloodreavers) they encountered in the Keep. All roads lead to Thunderpsire it seems, but that's not all.
Nimozaran, the Green, Fallcrest's resident 'High Mage' has a little quest for the PCs- to deliver a sealed box of goods to a tradesman located within the Seven-Pillared Halls, apparently a community located within Thunderspire. The tradesman's name is Gendar, the PCs are to locate him and make the hand-over, they will be given a similar box to return to the Mage- a simple task, easy money- the PCs agree.
And so soon after the PCs, or 'Hard Core', as they now refer to themselves as, are on the road to Thunderspire- the snow is deep and crisp and even, but the roads are well-travelled, even at this time of the year. Their journey is uneventful, but cold, and two days later they are glad to be entering Thunderspire, although...
I can't reach the bell!
The entrance, a huge carved passage into the great rock, is somewhat intimidating- cautiously and carefully they enter heading deep into the depths on an ancient road some thirty feet wide and fifty high. Every fifty or so yards great statues of Minotaur Lords reinforce the span of the tunnel- most with great axes raised high over their heads.
A little while later, from a side passage, they hear a noise- shouting, threats screamed in common but guttural- Goblins, the PCs make haste to investigate.
Behind the scenes.
Just to say we've talked about the two scenarios played so far- KOTS and Sellswords, the PCs far preferred Sellswords, although they would have liked it to go on a bit more. The consensus is the PCs want to be challenged more- more titanic fights, new bad guys for them to best, and more speaking parts for the bad guys- a big bad guy, an enemy for them to hate.
They also spoke in glowing terms about the plot of Sellswords, the way in which their first thoughts- that they were just going to go into the lair and kick the backside of the Beggar King, but instead had to piece together a convoluted tail which culminated in a Shadow Dragon emerging from the Begger King. They liked that a lot, the sense of things not being right in the Beggar King's lair- a bit of detective work, or at least, the turning points in the story that twisted the plot to point towards some greater evil... They didn't expect that.
The decision then is to try and make Thunderspire a bit momentous, something that takes a while to piece together... gulp, I'll do my best.
So we spent a little over an hour in Fallcrest, a bit of roleplay, re-equipping for the journey, a bit of character development, all of the PCs now have homes- or at least contacts within the city of Fallcrest-
Grey has been studying of late with Nimozaran, the 'High Mage.'
Dirty is looking into opening a bar (funnily enough the last time I ran a campaign using WOTCs Core scenarios the Dwarf Fighter decided he wanted to open a bar in Fallcrest- what is it with Dwarves and beer).
Kaspard has been in talks to expand the small-ish shrine to Bahamut in the city, she's looking for a congregation perhaps.
Winstanley has made tentative contact with the Shadowmen, the Thieves' Guild in Fallcrest, as I say- early stages.
Lastly Phrenic is getting involved in a bit of politics, the Warlord has already had several meetings with people of influence (played out via e-mail mostly), he's getting to be well-known in certain circles, and has already made a few powerful(-ish) connections.
We decided against running encounters en route to Thunderspire, my orders are to concentrate my efforts on making what transpires in Thunderspire to be titanic- no pressure then.
Okay, back to the action, Goblin voices... You know what happens next.
Session 1.
Background.
Having put paid to the activities in the Keep on the Shadowfell the hardy band of adventurers, now travelling under the moniker of- 'Hard Core', which about says it all, make their way back to Fallcrest. There they spend the next two or three days in meetings- not very 'hard core' at all, although time is made for a little light shopping and a spin around the bright lights of the city.
Back to the meetings- Eoffram Troyas is their contact, a councillor of Fallcrest, he has a proposition- although the PCs were always going to be heading on to Thunderspire Mountain, Eoffram makes it doubly worth their while. The upshot is the PCs are hired to rescue the good citizens of Fallcrest, Winterhaven and the Nentir Vale in general, from the clutches of the rag-tag bunch of goblinoid slavers (the Bloodreavers) they encountered in the Keep. All roads lead to Thunderpsire it seems, but that's not all.
Nimozaran, the Green, Fallcrest's resident 'High Mage' has a little quest for the PCs- to deliver a sealed box of goods to a tradesman located within the Seven-Pillared Halls, apparently a community located within Thunderspire. The tradesman's name is Gendar, the PCs are to locate him and make the hand-over, they will be given a similar box to return to the Mage- a simple task, easy money- the PCs agree.
And so soon after the PCs, or 'Hard Core', as they now refer to themselves as, are on the road to Thunderspire- the snow is deep and crisp and even, but the roads are well-travelled, even at this time of the year. Their journey is uneventful, but cold, and two days later they are glad to be entering Thunderspire, although...
I can't reach the bell!
The entrance, a huge carved passage into the great rock, is somewhat intimidating- cautiously and carefully they enter heading deep into the depths on an ancient road some thirty feet wide and fifty high. Every fifty or so yards great statues of Minotaur Lords reinforce the span of the tunnel- most with great axes raised high over their heads.
A little while later, from a side passage, they hear a noise- shouting, threats screamed in common but guttural- Goblins, the PCs make haste to investigate.
Behind the scenes.
Just to say we've talked about the two scenarios played so far- KOTS and Sellswords, the PCs far preferred Sellswords, although they would have liked it to go on a bit more. The consensus is the PCs want to be challenged more- more titanic fights, new bad guys for them to best, and more speaking parts for the bad guys- a big bad guy, an enemy for them to hate.
They also spoke in glowing terms about the plot of Sellswords, the way in which their first thoughts- that they were just going to go into the lair and kick the backside of the Beggar King, but instead had to piece together a convoluted tail which culminated in a Shadow Dragon emerging from the Begger King. They liked that a lot, the sense of things not being right in the Beggar King's lair- a bit of detective work, or at least, the turning points in the story that twisted the plot to point towards some greater evil... They didn't expect that.
The decision then is to try and make Thunderspire a bit momentous, something that takes a while to piece together... gulp, I'll do my best.
So we spent a little over an hour in Fallcrest, a bit of roleplay, re-equipping for the journey, a bit of character development, all of the PCs now have homes- or at least contacts within the city of Fallcrest-
Grey has been studying of late with Nimozaran, the 'High Mage.'
Dirty is looking into opening a bar (funnily enough the last time I ran a campaign using WOTCs Core scenarios the Dwarf Fighter decided he wanted to open a bar in Fallcrest- what is it with Dwarves and beer).
Kaspard has been in talks to expand the small-ish shrine to Bahamut in the city, she's looking for a congregation perhaps.
Winstanley has made tentative contact with the Shadowmen, the Thieves' Guild in Fallcrest, as I say- early stages.
Lastly Phrenic is getting involved in a bit of politics, the Warlord has already had several meetings with people of influence (played out via e-mail mostly), he's getting to be well-known in certain circles, and has already made a few powerful(-ish) connections.
We decided against running encounters en route to Thunderspire, my orders are to concentrate my efforts on making what transpires in Thunderspire to be titanic- no pressure then.
Okay, back to the action, Goblin voices... You know what happens next.
