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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 7820314" data-attributes="member: 16069">We D&D.Session #41 Hoard of the Dragon Queen #27 Next… Downtime.Brothers of the First Light.Lummins (played by Rob) Male Half-Elf Cleric of Lathander Lvl 8Lux (played by Sandy) Female Human Warlock Lvl 8Watt (played by Jackie) Male Human Bard Lvl 8Sgt Bobby Markguth (played by Pete) Male Human Fighter Lvl 8&Hotlips Houlihan (played by Sandy) Female Halfling Rogue Lvl 8Secondary PCs.Derek Pilch (played by Jackie) Male Human Druid Lvl 8Hard Bonk (played by Rob) Male Half-Orc Monk Lvl 8Sgt Harald Hardaxe (played by Pete) Male Shield Dwarf Fighter Lvl 8Next… The Rise of Tiamat, obviously.But first a little bit of in-between times, a look at what the PCs and Players got up to betwixt HotDQ and the start of TRoT, and there’s enough of this to constitute a session’s worth of activity.Just to say in the real world we had a month off between the two scenarios, mainly due to holidays, and so we also had time to exchange hundreds of e-mails, I kid you not- hundreds of e-mails (thanks, mostly Sandy).Basically, between the two scenarios the PCs had thirty days off- sorta, a tenday spent flying around in the ice castle (back to Greenest, and then on to Castle Naerytar for the Farseer) and then after a Sending spell from Leosin (Harper contact) on to Waterdeep, and then two more tendays in the City of Splendours. In short a month of downtime activities.The lesser used PCs- Derek Pilch (Human Druid), Hard Bonk (Half-Orc Monk) & Sgt Harald Hardaxe (Dwarf Fighter) got up to, well… nothing much, they were put back in their boxes, and ignored.The glorious Brothers of the First Light (and Hotlips (Halfling Rogue), chief hanger-on) they however got up to plenty.Lux’s information exchange.Lux (Human Warlock) did lots of stuff- because Sandy is like that. She’s keen.However, for the first tenday the Warlock just kept her head down, after being drained by the Vampire, she kind of went in to hiding. Or else she was just waiting for her arrival in Waterdeep to swing in to action.And boy did she swing in to action…While in Waterdeep, Lux visited with the Harpers, and learned things- more Dragon attacks, and lots more Dragon Cult activity in the big cities (and even some of the bigger towns) of the Sword Coast. There’s something nasty brewing… Reports of physical attacks in Waterdeep, Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter, although mostly small stuff, but… the threat definitely is growing. Also signs that the Cult is recruiting in some of the less salubrious quarters of the aforementioned cities.Harper Rank 2 = Harpshadow (Agent).Lux also visited with her Zhent friends- and found out more of the same (see above). The Black Network however is very keen for Lux to carry on finding things out and, of course, protecting her/their position- they need to be in the know and ahead of the information war. Lux gets a big promotion, and access to more resources, including the names of a few helpers- should she need to call on them (in Waterdeep).Zhent Rank 3 = Viper (Stalwart).The Warlock also finds time to check in with some of her Dragon Cult contacts, firstly of old- alas no new info comes to light; and then some of her new connections. She contacts Talis the White, with a little help from her Zhent friends- we play out a nice exchange of veiled insults via e-mail. I’ll hold off revealing the new info gained for a bit. It’s enough to say that Talis is a little amused (& bemused) by Lux, the Cult gossip about events on board Blagothkus’ flying ice castle (as reported by Rath Modar, the Red Wizard that fled) leaves Talis not entirely sure which side is Lux on? She’s also a little frightened of her- which is the smart move.Then Lux gets in contact with Sandesyl the old skool ‘may all of your liches be Dracoliches’ Dragon Cult Vampire, again the Zhent provide the gateway, the two hit it off almost immediately.So, Lux gets the inside track on the big secret (from Talis (a bit) and Sandesyl (a lot- the Vampire has plenty to say, and an axe to grind))- the Cult are summoning Tiamat, the clock is ticking- there are five big bad guys- they each have a mask (Black, Blue, Green, Red & White- obviously). Severin (Red mask) is the new Cult boss, he’s the one making all the decisions. However, if the PCs were to get hold of one of the masks… things would be much harder for the Cult.Also, Sandesyl will pay handsomely (payment offered in money, kind or info) for the intact(-ish) and fresh corpses of any Dragons Lux happens to locate, the Vampire has got the Dracolich bug.That’s a lot to tell one of the Players up front- but it was a good (in character) exchange of e-mails, and lots of them- sometimes a dozen a day. Besides the Zhent, and the Cult insiders, and more importantly the DM get Lux (Sandy) to swear to reveal nothing of the above to her fellow Players/PCs. She can add flavour when the truth comes out but for now… Shhh, it’s a secret.Hotlips and Gary.Also played by Sandy, the Halfling Rogue has a brief chat with her Harper contact and gets hold of a few more Potions of Healing, and then when she gets to Waterdeep goes shopping for new clothes, and a new haircut. She also manages to establish a very weird relationship with the Ogre called Gary. The two are (sorta) dating, or at least the plumed helmet wearing Ogre (on his days off) takes to squiring the Halfling around Waterdeep. This after straightening things out with the authorities- sadly, Gary the Ogre is initially made to feel very unwelcome in the City of Splendours. A sign of the times, perhaps. Two things change the authorities (collective) mind- 1) Blagothkus (intermediary Hotlips & Lux) is persuaded to spend a lot of money in Waterdeep on a gargantuan restock of the ice castle, after all the Cloud Giant has just chipped a small fortune out of Cloudchaser’s icy lair. And 2) the threat that Blagothkus will come and do his shopping in person. It’s free drinks all round for the rest of the month for Hotlips and her new beau, Gary the Ogre.  Harper Rank 2 = Harpshadow (Agent).Lummins and the Cloud Giants.Lummins (Half-Elf Cleric) played by Rob, spends the first tenday ensconced with Blagothkus, still working to try and convert the Cloud Giant to the worship of Lathander, he gets closer to it than he thinks- one good roll away in fact, sorry Rob. But the Cloud Giant is not for changing, he is however up for showing Lummins how to work the flying ice castle- which takes the Priest another tenday to get the hang of. The Priest even manages to make a connection with Esclarotta, the spirit of Blagothkus’ dead wife.The Priest of Lathander however does not give up…In the final tenday (of his downtime) Lummins manages to reconcile (and by doing so reinforce) the relationship between the two Cloud Giants. Blagothkus finally sees the Light, as does Esclarotta- both Cloud Giants are converted to the worship of Lathander, and in that moment (thanks to a ‘20’) the pair are granted a permanent link (kinda like an always switched on Speak with the Dead spell). The pair swear to do whatever is needed to help Lummins, and his cause.Later, on the last day before the actions starts, Lummins reports this new info to his Harper bosses, they’re overjoyed- he gets a big promotion.Harper Rank 3 = Brightcandle (Stalwart).Watt is on song.Watt (Human Bard) played by Jackie, accomplishes plenty, although all of the info the Bard finds out has already been covered in the sections above.The Bard also spends a good tenday making a name for himself in the bars and clubs of Waterdeep, singing songs and telling tall tales about the adventures of the Brothers of the First Light. In short, and very quickly (thanks, as usual, to some cracking (Performance) rolls) he gains a reputation in the City of Splendours and makes a few new friends along the way.Harper Rank 2 = Harpshadow (Agent).And lastly…Sgt Bobby Markguth’s new blade.Sgt Bobby (Human Fighter) played by the irreplaceable, irresponsible, irredeemable Pete. Sgt Bobby also gets up to quite a bit- first off after the Brothers et al depart Greenest it quickly becomes apparent that Bobby has moved his family in to one of ‘state rooms’ on the ice castle. And when I say family… fourteen members of the Markguth clan take up residence, including the cantankerous Old Man Markguth who is not at all happy to discover that there’s no tavern aboard the flying wonder. “It’s rubbish” is the Old Man’s much-repeated opinion, and “bloody freezing.”The situation is however allowed to continue, and fester a little, until we get to Waterdeep- at which point Sgt Bobby uses his new-found fortune (garnered from the Cult treasure pile) to rent a house in the City of Splendours. The Markguth family move out of the ice castle and in to their new abode, soon after Sgt Bobby is pretty much back to being penniless.He moves back in to the ice castle towards the end of the last tenday of his downtime activity, remembering why it was he left his family in the first place.So far, so family, and funny.Sgt Bobby does however do one more (terrible) thing, he attunes Hazirawn the ferocious (and semi-evil) greatsword, formerly owned by the Half-Black Dragon- Rezmir. This after cajoling, cussing, cursing and finally creeping out his very considerate DM- Sgt Bobby is a sword and board guy, the PC isn’t built for greatsword use, and yet… Hazirawn calls to him, and Pete wants it.So, I ask Pete what he will give me in return, if I allow him to make some changes to his PC, to make Sgt Bobby more greatsword-enabled.He offers me, well… anything, everything… certainly lots of things. Including for Sgt Bobby to start to pursue a more violently active form of terror (targeting the enemies of the Brothers et al, of course). In short, you ain’t seen nothing yet- Sgt Bobby (if I say the word, and allow Pete to re-do a few of his PCs skills and powers) will take the role of blood thirsty lunatic to the next level.Keep in mind, three of the Players around the table will (and do) do anything they can to preserve their PCs. Pete ain’t built that way- if Sgt Bobby gets slaughtered, then there’s Sgt Harald just marking time in the rear with the gear, and the Dwarf hates (sorry, I mean HATES) Dragons. Of the two- Bobby and Harald, well… Bobby’s the nice guy.So, what’s a DM to do- give in to Pete’s stupidity, find a compromise, or just tell him to do one.You’re going to have to read on to find out.Oh, and Sgt Bobby doesn’t even bother to call in to see his Order of the Gauntlet handlers in Waterdeep, he’s just too busy, or else can’t be bothered.Next time… The Rise of Tiamat.</blockquote>

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