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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hjorimir" data-source="post: 8446006" data-attributes="member: 5745">The Blackgate ChroniclesSession 2, Part 1 – Consequences of SleepStarday, 7th Gozran, 817Lemarc and Thawn hunched down in the tall grass at the base of a tree. Nearby, Halloran, Rhynn, and T’bidi waited, weapons at the ready.With two fingers, the ranger pointed at a distant man busily emptying his bladder in the morning rain. He was draped in leather armor, scimitar at his side, and a crossbow he had laid against a nearby tree. The thief nodded and then gestured to the distant bush-line that would provide fuller cover closer to Pran’s family encampment. There was a small risk crossing the open grasses to get there, but the drone of the rain and burbling water in the creek would help mask the sound of their feet. Besides, the sentry was what one might describe as “occupied”. *Lemarc skittered in a hunched posture for the bushes with Thawn close behind. No alarm, good. He turned and waved forward the other three, who also quickly crossed the open stretch of grasses successfully. They could hear shouting at this distance but couldn’t make out the words.The thief addressed his companions, his voice soft. “Hold here. I want to hear what they’re saying. We may learn something.” T’bidi nodded once firmly, and she slid forward into a protective position before the other three. Something of a mother hen, that one, Lemarc noted.Lemarc peered out past the bushes, considered the creek, and another group of bushes closer to the camp. Another similarly clad man could be seen now, but he too was looking away. He quietly left the cover of the bushes, slinked down to the creek’s edge, hopped across a few large rocks, and was up the distant bank and into the next set of bushes. There now, what are they arguing about?The thief slowly moved forward within the bushes to peer out the other side. A third man in leather, this one with a spear was shouting. Nearby two other men stood. One wearing chain armor and a broadsword on his hip. The third, was dressed in leathers, dark robes, and some kind of ceremonial mask that concealed his visage.But Lemarc didn’t care one wit about the three men. He didn’t even care about the pile of dead bodies, their blood splattered everywhere. No, what he really cared about was the 11-foot-tall, boar-headed demon.The man with the spear prodded the great horror with the pointy end. “You are bound to us, demon! Where is the key?!”The demon regarded the man…and smiled. “The key is here,” the demon responded. “And I am not bound to you, mortal worm.” Then the demon lashed out, palmed the man’s head, and picked him up. The man instantly dropped his spear as his hands feebly plied at the great creature’s fingers while he screamed. The demon opened its great, boar-like jaws and began to stuff the man into it…sideways and folded the man like one might fold a piece of bread with meat inside of it. The demon continued to stuff and stuff…and stuff. Bones splintered, tearing through the man in a great gout of blood…and then he was gone. Armor, boots, and all.Don’t vomit! Don’t vomit! Lemarc focused on just that.Once he felt stable, Lemarc slipped back out the way he came and started to sneak back to the group.“There!” one of the sentries called out.“Oh hell,” Lemarc said and started to run. “Flee! There’s a demon!” he called out to his companions.A crossbow bolt whizzed past the thief’s ear as he dove into the bushes.Thawn had moved out to the side to get a better view of the situation. Yup, that’s a demon alright. He watched as man with the mask went up to it and heard the man say, “Destroy our enemies, fiend!”“I am not bound to such a task,” the demon explained.“Then I release you from your bond!” the masked man replied.Again, the demon smiled. “Thank you. Enjoy your deaths!” and with that, the creature winked out of existence in a shower of chromatic colors.“We don’t have the strength to fight a demon!” Halloran declared as he stood. He reached to the sky above, pointed at a cloud, and said, “Röth, conceal us!” channeling the power of his god. Suddenly, a cloud of fog rolled out, concealing the group as bolts continued to cut through the air.“They released the demon,” the ranger’s voice called out. “We need to run!”And run they did. The party retreated from the fog, fleeing. Men, many with crossbows, were coming in at different angles. One bolt stuck Halloran’s backpack, tearing it and causing dried beans to spill out. **A bolt cut across Rhynn’s shoulder, making her bleed. T’bidi looked at her in alarm, but the wizard shook her head. “I’m alright, keep going,” she said pausing long enough to release a fire bolt in the direction of one of the men with a crossbow. The spell went wide, sizzling with the rain before winking out of existence.Three more men came running out of the bushes from their left on an intercept course, scimitars in hand only to be stopped short as vines and long grasses grasped at their limbs. the work of Shepherd Thawn’s entangle spell. “Don't stop!” he called.The party made a full run for it.~Thawn led them deeper into the woods as they tried to evade the men looking for them. They had been running for two hours and the party was starting to slow down.“I don’t think the demon is with them anymore,” Thawn said as he considered the endurance of the others. Everybody was breathing heavily. “Rest here, let me check behind us,” he said and then jogged off.“Yes,” replied Rhynn as she leaned heavily against a tree. “You said they released it.”“What does that mean?” Lemarc asked.“It means the fools summoned it, bound it to a task and then foolishly released it to its own free will in a panic,” she answered.“Good, so we don’t have to fight it,” the thief said.“No. Very much not good,” Rhynn continued. “This horror is now loose upon the world to do as it will and we’re at least partially responsible.”“What can we do about it?” Lemarc asked.“Nothing…at least not yet,” the wizard replied. “Halloran is correct, we don’t have the strength necessary to contend with such a fiend.”Thawn returned. “They’re close and they’ll run us down if we keep on like this. Come, we’ll set an ambush for them and have it settled one way or another.” ***~The group waited in the bushes. To one side, T’bidi, Lemarc, and Rhynn. On the other, Thawn and Halloran.The men came through exactly as the ranger had planned. Lemarc was the first to let an arrow fly, catching one of the mask-wearing men in the eye. T’bidi released her bolt, which lodged itself deep in one man’s midsection, causing him to crumple to the ground in quick succession. Thawn released another entangle spell, trapping the four remaining men.Rhynn stepped forward out of the bushes, reached into her bag and withdrew a pinch of sand. As she let it go the sand floated upon a wind that didn’t exist towards the struggling men. Three of them fell into a sleep.T’bidi, who stood close to the wizard, could just make out the words of the spell. Is that the voice of my mother? It’s as if she was telling me a bedtime story from my youth.In quick succession, two more were killed by arrow and bolt. Leaving but two remaining alive. One man was rendered unconscious with the rap of Thawn’s staff. The other continued to struggle in the entangling vines of the ranger’s magic. T’bidi started forward with her spear but was held up by the thief as she did so. “Here,” he said, offering her Pran’s handaxe.She nodded in understanding, dropped her spear, and took up the weapon. She then walked over, looked the struggling man in the eyes and said, “For Pran.” Then she raised the axe and hacked at the man’s neck and shoulder a few times. Each swing drew forth an arc of rich blood that swept through the air, sending the man to the world beyond.“The oath is fulfilled,” the cleric said approvingly.T’bidi nodded, returned the axe to the thief, and recovered her spear.The last man Thawn tied to a nearby tree for questioning. A toss of water woke him up, causing the man to cough up some blood. Halloran kneeled down next to him, removed his mask while the man settled himself.“Hrmph!” The cleric snorted as he tossed the mask aside and pulled out some dried meat. “Hungry?” he said, offering some up to the prisoner.The man sneered and spat. “I know what you’re trying to do!” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you do to me! My reward is assured! I will serve in the Night Queen’s Court!” he declared.“The Night Queen?” Lemarc asked, looking at Rhynn who was already exchanging hushed words with Shepherd Thawn at the name drop. She shook her head, “We don’t know the name.”The thief looked down at the man. “What’s your worship situation like?” he asked. “Is this the kind of thing where you give over all of your worldly belongings? If so, where are all of those treasures stored? Some kind of temple, hmm?” [We were dying at this line of questioning from Curtis.]Thawn waved Lemarc off. “What is your queen’s name? Where might we find her?”“You will find her either when you die by her sword or kneel before her throne!” the man answered. “All are her subjects! None shall evade her majesty!”“Throne?” Lemarc started again. “Please, tell me more about this throne. Is it made of gold?”T’bidi rolled her eyes.“I am one of the Night Queen’s Covenant!” the man said proudly. “My place at her side is assured!”Halloran sighed. “We’ll learn nothing more from this one. I’ve seen the type. Zealots.”Thawn started to untie him.“Leave him,” T’bidi said.“But I paid good money for this rope,” Thawn replied as he continued to untie the man. [This was just one of those nights full of laughter from comments like this.]The man got to his feet and started to leave only to have T’bidi grab him by the collar and sink his face into a nearby pool of water. There was no sneer of hate on her while she did it. It was almost mechanical. Flat. She took no pleasure in the throttling of the man but didn’t shy away from it either.The man struggled for all he was worth, his fingers clawed at the mud, but T’bidi’s grip was far too strong for him to break. Finally, he jerked twice and then was still.“Let us return to the campsite then,” Thawn said. “See what we may yet learn.”As the party turned to leave, Lemarc flipped a gold piece into the pool next to the corpse. “Here’s all the reward you’ll be getting,” he said as he turned and followed.A minute later, the thief returned and gathered up his coin. “Sorry, I just can’t.”DM Commentary* I have a lot of thoughts about how Stealth will work in this game, which I’ve discussed with the player group. I’ll follow up with a post and some screenshots on how we’re handling this.** You might think that this is just me adding extra fluff here, but that’s exactly how one of the players narrated it in the moment.*** Evading in the wilderness is a scenario that I resolve by contested Wisdom (Survival) checks. In this case, because the party was slower (some where hindered due to encumbrance), I forced Thawn’s roll at disadvantage. He rolled a 19 and so did the NPCs. My interpretation is tied results mean no change, the chase goes on, but I warned them that we’d be adding saving throws for exhaustion into the mix. Faced with that, they opted to lay an ambush instead. This was resolved by a group stealth check, which they succeeded on.I like this idea of promoting the usage of Survival past just tracking and foraging for food. I feel like the ranger has lost some of its pizzaz in 5e, so I like to lean into their ability to navigate the wilds whenever I can.</blockquote>

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