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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 7897041" data-attributes="member: 16069">We D&D.Session #50 The Rise of Tiamat #09b The Second Council of Waterdeep.Brothers of the First Light.Lummins (played by Rob) Male Half-Elf Cleric of Lathander Lvl 10Lux (played by Sandy) Female Human Warlock Lvl 10Watt (played by Jackie) Male Human Bard Lvl 10Sgt Bobby Markguth (played by Pete) Male Human Fighter Lvl 10&Hotlips Houlihan (played by Sandy) Female Halfling Rogue Lvl 10Secondary PCs.Left at 8th Level- we’ll get them back if (and when) they’re needed later on.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 8This is session #50 of our game, but only session #09b of The Rise of Tiamat scenario.The Brothers of the First Light are just back from their trip in to the sewers, after defeating the Waterdeep branch of the Dragon Cult, and thereby thwarting their imminent attack on the City of Splendours. At least that’s what they think they have done, several (all) of the PCs have their suspicions that they’ve maybe been played.The Brothers, all of them that is, have however taken a beating- much healing is needed, and a little R&R as the PCs have got the second Council of Waterdeep meeting early the very next day.Funny how the timings worked out.So, we take a break for food- and for Lux (Human Warlock, played by Sandy) to run through the powerpoint (I’m kidding) that she has prepared for the Council. In reality that translates to the five of us, mostly with mouths shoved full of take-away food going through what Lux is going to say (Sandy has a note pad, it’s unnerving at times- she asks me to spell things). In truth I didn’t contribute much to the cause, except to remind them of names where there were memory lapses.There’s one other job to take care of- the coded Cult papers salvaged from the hideout are passed on to Marflub and the Ice Toad gang, and by doing this the Players reveal a little more of their plan (but see much later- next session- for the full scheme). They want Marflub and his fellow Ice Toads to go through the papers and find the evidence they need- the details of the Cult attack on Waterdeep, and any other secrets to be told. They figure (or else Lux and Watt (Human Bard) do) that the Ice Toad accountants are meticulous, like a mystery, and are keen to do some work- who am I to disabuse them. I find that when Players are keen to make the story up for themselves, then more often than not- just nod. Note the coded messages are not too difficult to decipher, remember that three of the PCs are ex-Dragon Cult members. Therefore Watt, Lummins (Half-Elf Cleric) and Lux spend a little time with the Toad Team going through all of the Cult ciphers that they know.The DM is happy with all of this, and happier still to inform the Brothers that the Toads will need a day, at least, to go through the paperwork- so, basically the results come after the second Council meeting.Funny the timing of things, I think that’s worth repeating- although the Players didn’t figure it at the time, I just told them there was a lot of paperwork to get through, and codes to break. Simples.Oh, and just to make clear- the book says that the PCs should all level up now, screw that, they’ve only just got their level 10 sticker. Besides they don’t know when they’re supposed to level up, and its much too late for you to tell them. So, they’re level 10 still… and the next morning back before the Council of Waterdeep.There have been some changes, well- at least two, the first change is really obvious- there’s an extra chair in the room and someone sitting in it, a reserved looking middle-aged lady in fine clothes who is simply introduced as Elia. No further details are provided, and when Watt and Lux ask Dagult Neverember explains that all will be made clear later, but first it’s time for the Brothers of the First Light to deliver their report.The second change to the Council is slightly less obvious- in fact Leosin Erlanthar has to tell the PCs about it for them to even notice- it seems Neverember has been replaced as the head of the Lords’ Alliance delegation. The new big chief is Lady Laeral Silverhand, who is also the new Open Lord of Waterdeep, Leosin is very happy to report this.Note the Brothers would not have picked up on this fact if they were not told of it beforehand, Lady L stays (mostly) quiet throughout the meeting, which is (as per the first council session) chaired by Neverember, who continues to pretend he’s in charge.Anyway, enough of that- we have about an hour of game time left for this session, and so the next ninety minutes goes a lot like this. The Brothers have five topics/subjects to discuss-1) The action and adventure in the Tomb of Diderius, fighting Devils, Yuan-ti and undead- culminating in the capture of Varram the White, alas the surly Dwarf Cultist had already ‘mislaid’ the White Dragon Mask, so this was not recovered.The chat goes on a while- and its mostly slaps on the backs from all of the delegates, the only dissenter being Delaan Winterhound (of the Emerald Enclave) who gets an attack of the giggles when he learns of Varram’s capture. Delaan is of the opinion that Varram holds little value- the recovery of the Dragon Mask was the primary purpose of the adventurers’ mission. Which they therefore failed.This last bit doesn’t go down too well- Sgt Bobby (Human Fighter) has to be quieted (and then apologised for).Next up…2) The action and events in Oyaviggaton, including the rescue of Maccath the Crimson and the fleeing of the great wyrm- Old White Death.Note Lux veers from the protocols at this point, although after first gaining permission from the Council, and invites in to the meeting witnesses to the events, to wit- Orcaheart (the Hero), Maccath (the Crimson) and Marflub (the Ice Toad).The Council are mostly underwhelmed, but polite, particularly when Lux and Watt make an impassioned speech (partially written/encouraged as it turns out later by Lummins (Rob)) regarding the decimation of the Ice Hunter tribe, slaves of the great tyrant- the Dragon.Lummins (Rob) has had an attack of the conscience- after all the Priest of Lathander killed over a dozen of the tribes-folk with his Radiance of the Dawn attack.The Brothers of the First Light (except for Sgt B and Hotlips (Halfling Rogue)- they don’t give a damn) push for some sort of reward or recognition for the Ice Hunter tribe- the Council are happy to oblige, particularly if the PCs agree to get the newcomers out of the meeting hall sharpish and get on with their report.And so it comes to pass- (a little) more on this later.The Brothers, of course, receive their rightful plaudits for their Oyaviggaton venture, Ambassador Connerad Brawnanvil squeals with glee when he first hears the tale of Old White Death’s fleeing. He offers to personally reward the hero of the hour (that’s Orcaheart) with a Dragonslaying weapon (he has a couple to choose from, slaying Dragons is what Connerad is all about).You can imagine how happy Sgt Bobby (Pete) is to hear this.Whereas Orcaheart is overjoyed when the information is finally translated in to words he just about grasps.I seem to remember all of the other Players also being very happy at this news- some of them even happier to see the frowny face that Pete (Sgt Bobby) was pulling.There was a lot of laughing and pointing, to be honest- I’m slightly ashamed I started it.But we move on, after a little more verbal applause for the Brothers from the Council.While Orcaheart and Marflub are shown out of the meeting hall- Maccath the Crimson, Dragon scholar, remains- the Tiefling wishes to report also...3) Maccath has been in touch with the Hosttower in Luskan, home to his colleagues in the Arcane Brotherhood, in summary he wishes to offer his (and their) services- to help in any way they can to thwart the Dragon Cultists.And the crowd mostly goes wild.I say mostly because Ambassador Connerad mutters and whines loudly for anyone (and all) to hear that he “don’t trust them black-hearted spell-wranglers”, there’s a bit of an atmosphere for a while but it soon passes.Although a little later on (next session) as it turns out someone else is also unhappy about this situation- but we’ll get to that.Next…4) Lux, and Watt, speak at length about the things they saw on the way back from the Sea of Moving Ice- settlements in flames, death and destruction caused by Dragon attacks, that kind of thing.Several of the other Counsellors have their own stories to tell- it seems the Cult are (in places) rampant.Soon after a discussion breaks out, in which I am able to briefly but succinctly reiterate the plot, or at least the bit we’re at.If you’re playing a campaign that is but one great adventure, I find it useful to do this kind of thing quite often.However, better still…The Dragon Cultists, the Council concludes, are on the move- they’re doing things, the implication being the PCs don’t know what they’re doing- perhaps they should try to find out.The PCs, of course, have a few theories about the bigger picture, and are therefore encouraged to articulate them by the members of the Council. Which is obviously good for me (your wordy DM) because I wanted to make sure that they have been (mostly) listening and paying attention.This is a better way of doing things- if you can get the PCs to remind you of the plot every now and then (in-game if possible), that way you can find the bits that either need reinforcing, or deflecting (hiding), or else… gulp, rewriting.Their theory is this- Tiamat’s coming, the Dragon Cult are gathering a hoard (and horde) and then they’re going to be summoning big bad Moma.We explore the question “How?” for a while, and the PCs are pretty much spot on there too, their version is- the Cult bigwigs (Wyrmspeakers) are going to meet up somewhere and use Red Wizard magic to power some sort of summoning (using the Dragon Masks). The treasure hoard is the lure, or else the reward for big T(iamat).Well, as it turns out they have been listening.Or else Pete has read the module.I know where my money is.Actually, I would bet my mortgage that Pete has read the book but not told any of the other Players anything about it, they have simply (and fairly easily) figured it out.It’s about an Evens bet- because that’s what happened with Pete in the last module.What the PCs don’t know is where this is going to happen.Or when.Actually, they’re not that certain on the how, but they’re in the game.But there’s more, sometime toward the end of this discussion- which goes on for quite a while, Delaan Winterhound (of the Emerald Enclave) makes mention of the fact that there have been concentrated Dragon Cult attacks in the Misty Forest, the domain of King Melandrach.Worth investigating? Watt & Lummins (and others) want to know.But no, King Melandrach confidently states that the attacks have in fact stopped now, several Elven settlements have indeed been decimated, but the situation is under control. The Elven Kings goes on to say that he believes the attacks have ceased because the Dragon Cult has got all the treasure it needs.The hoard has been gathered.King Melandrach believes the countdown has begun.Which gets the PCs attention.Good- because all of that last bit was a (sorta) bluff.Lastly…5) Just before the session/meeting breaks up Lux (in an awful rush) tells the Council all about the Brothers of the First Light’s latest heroics- thwarting an imminent attack on Waterdeep, and in the process dealing with the Cult of the Dragon management (and more than a few underlings) in the City of Splendours.The meeting hall is filled with joy- the Council members are obviously worried (so close, what could they have been plotting?) but also so very happy that the threat has passed.Lux goes on to STATE (I emphasise this word for a reason- what can that be, I wonder) that the Brothers have also gathered evidence from the Cult secret hideout which MAY make clear their future plans…But she’s guessing, and grandstanding.Both, as it later turns out, badly.That however is the end of the session, and we were well over time in the end, except I’ll just add the new and updated version of Council of Waterdeep “Official” Score Table-The Harpers +6 (5/7/10)The Order of the Gauntlet +6 (7/9/12)The Emerald Enclave +2 (5/7/10)& the various Lords’ Alliance delegates-Lady Silverhand +6 (7/9/12)Lord Neverember +5 (5/7/10)Ambassador Brawnanvil +7 (7/9/12)King Melandrach +6 (6/8/11)Marshall Ravengard +8 (7/9/12)Taern Hornblade +6 (6/8/11)Sir Isteval +8 (6/8/11)Note the numbers in the parenthesis, let me explain- at the end of all four council sessions the PCs need to score +5 to garner one favour from the Harpers, +7 would earn them two favours, while +10 would result in three. The numbers in the parenthesis therefore indicate the scores needed for one to three favours from each of the delegatesMore chatter (a lot more chatter) next time...</blockquote>

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