The Friends sit at a table in Lugar del Aberton, an old stone district festooned with shrubs and grass and clusters of trees. Talari is deciphering a scroll. Balthazar, Siriel and Clement are beside him.
Clement looks up. Across the road, beyond the bustling square, stands a man dressed in white cloth. He seems apart from the crowd. His robe is blowing like in a gentle wind. His face is obscured, silhouetted by a bright light emanating from some unseen point behind him. The sound of the city, it’s rustling leaves and stamping feet, slowly fade from clements ears. His vision changes, obfuscating yet clear, as if in a dream. He rises from his chair effortlessly, his old joints no longer fighting against him.
As if magnetised, the steps towards the figure, the crowd having vanished the from the streets. With each small step he grows younger, his muscles returning to youthful strength, his posture uprighting itself. By the time he has reached the figure he is as he was at the height of his cleric journey.
The figure smiles, nodding his head toward Clement. From his belt he produces a shining golden heraldry trumpet. Clement drops to one knee before his saint. Bringing the trumpet to his lips, Baron Paul, The Imminent, blows a long note. A tone retelling a life long lived. It is not pleasant, it is loud, hard, firm and tense. A tone including the complexities of existence, retelling a life long lived. The tone grows and grows until Clement cannot stand yet, he screws up his eyes. Yet he remains knelt, loyal to his saint, until everything goes black.
At the table, in the bustling square of Lugar del Aberton, beside the church of Baron Paul, Clement drops to the ground, dead.
Clements player wanted to change to a different character and decided impromptu at the start of the session that his character (a very aged man) would drop dead. The above passage didn’t actually happen at the table, but I thought Clement deserved a proper send off.
Clements body is rushed to the temple. Father Randall is dismayed. He weeps over his lost cleric. The trumpets of the church play for long hours, heralding the death of the cleric of Baron Paul.
The next day, the friends of Orthos attend a funeral service, along his the worshippers of Baron Paul. After the funeral, a figure unknown the the friends is seen discussing with Father Randall. His skin is gray, his body stocky. He has a tusk, or something like a jagged tooth, sticking out of the left side of his mouth. Icoriol moves in to listen. He learns that the figure is Bon, the Half-orc son of Clement, whom he abandoned many many years ago.
Bon is more interested in collecting his inheritance than respecting his fathers life. He views the church with distaste. Father Randall is respectful but it is clear his patience wanes in this time of mourning. The half-orc takes clements money and armor and makes to leave the church.
However, he is interrupted by the entrance of a stout individual, overdressed in hick winter clothes. The hairs on Icoriols neck stand up as he senses the approach of his cosmic antithesis. A dwarf has entered the church.
In my setting, elves are elementals of chaos and dwarves are elementals of law. Super excited to have both of these guys in the party.
The dwarf loudly proclaims, “I am Leonidas. I come here in search of mighty warriors.” Immediately, he sees the Half-orc. “You there, prove your strength! Let us fight!”
Drawing a crowbar from his pack, he rushes towards Bon Aperteif (yes that’s his name, I can’t tell if the player did it on purpose or not). Bon is taken off guard, but responds in kind. The fighters are equally skilled, but Bons technique triumphs over the dwarfs brute strength. Father Randall, his patience broken, demands Bon and Leonidas leave immediately. Fuming, he means to follow, but Balthazar steps in.
“I‘ll handle it.”
Outside the church, Balthazar meets the dwarf and the half orc, as well as introducing Icoriol and Talari. Turns out the dwarf was directed here by the proprieter of the Sharks Head Inn. He’s searching for the heroes that beat back the beastmen in Senago (now Lobsland). Bon suggests drinks at the fishhook in the Doson ward. Siriel, who had been waiting outside, pops into the circle unseen. “Sounds good, lets go.”
Within a tower spire of black stone upon the Solemnas Cliff, Icoriol the elf and Rolf the Baronson sit across a semi-circular table from the portly Lord Clayton-Reids-Slade, master of The Royal Academy of Sorcerers.
Lord Slade is quite taken by the elf in his presence. Giddily, he asks many questions before letting the elf get a word in. When he is eventually abated, he gets down to business. Icoriol requests Lord Slade use his position to arrange a possible meeting with the queen.
“Hmm… easier said than done I’m afraid. Before you can meet with the queen you have to meet with a member of the lawful council. I happen to know one of the members decently well, but I wouldn’t want to abuse my relationship with him for merely anyone. However, you are not merely anyone, you are an elf! In the company of The Royal Academy. Still, I usually only perform favours for those whom I have done business with. As it happens, I’m looking for someone with which to do business, and we may have use of your talents.”
Icioriol and Rolf consult one another briefly. They decide to hear the lords offer.
“It concerns the esteemable Lord Hevlod, a good friend of mine many years back. I have learned that he has recently come into posession of a book that may shed some light on an arcane text we would very much like to read. Our library is chock full of nigh-unreadable scrolls - we are in the business of collecting such scrolls you see - but we have identified one we believe may lead to a legendary blade. Tell me, have you ever heard of The Teeth of the Dragon?”
Icoriol has not, but Rolf has. “The set of swords forged from the very teeth of the dragon king!? They’re not but myth I thought.”
“Shrouded in myth they are,” Lord Slade dispenses, “horribly difficult to find any concrete information on them
WIP but it wouldnt save
Over drinks, Leonidas tells The Friends of his quest to find inspiration for his progeny. Dwarves, at a certain stage of life, feel a compulsion to carve a new dwarf out of rock. Leonidas is pressured to do so, but lacks the inspiration. So overwhelming was this pressure that he left his home in Gazater and sailed across the sea to Korianis to find inspiration.
As it happens, the friends are in need of new members and Leo and Bon are looking for work. After a night of heavy drinking to clements memory, the friends reconvene, minus Talari, who is hungover and studying his scroll. (The player was away)
The Friends share with the newbies what theyve learned of the Beastkin of Gnarr - namely that they’ve learned of a meeting tonight at an unoccupied house in the Mineria Ward. Without much else to do, the head to the house and scope it out.
The plan is simple, some holes will be put into the roof and Balthazar will wait on tope, listening in to the meeting. He has to listen because he knows the spell thats lets them understand the beast language. The others wait on the street for a signal to attack or follow the beast men. Their plan in place, they wait for the beast cultists to arrive. First, a group of 4, then a group of 5. They convene in an upper room. Balthazar casts his spell and listens in.
“He is growing impatient. With recent intrusions, we must hurry along, we sacrifice another tonight. And we move the boy to the other location. He who has mastered his transformation wishes for the beast to arrive soon, before his mind is lost entirely to bloodlust.”
The meeting goes on for about 20 minutes. When it has concluded, and Balthazar hears the cultists getting up to leave, he rises to signal his comrades.
But he stops. He feels something. That sinking sensation he has felt before. Instinctually he turns to the left, and sees a big black dog staring at him across the rooftop.
It stands ready to sprint, his mouth hanging open. Misty shadows constantly emerge and rain down, obfuscating its form. Rows of shadowy teeth. It licks its lips, its red eyes staring Balthazar down, revelling in his fear. For a brief moment, neither move. Then Balthazar breaks into a sprint toward the street. The wolf pounces.
On the street, Leonidas’ danger sense alerts him to danger. He looks up in time to see Balthazar tackled sideways, pinned onto the edge of the roof by a shadowy mass. The plan is shot.
Luckily, some ropes were prepared in case there was a need to repel into the windows. Balthazar manages to kick one down so Leo can climb up. Leo and Siriel make their way to the roof while Rolf and Icoriol battle the cultists on the ground floor. Icoriols flame cannon ignites several of the beastmen which, searching for cover, run back into the dry wooden house. As the battle rages on the roof, the wolf holding its own against three fighters, the building begins to smoulder, sag and break. A well placed daylight spell uncloaks the wolf, and fizzles its form away like water running through sand. The wolf stares into Balthazars eyes the entire time. Though it is dispelled, it is not dead.
The street is littered with dead bodies, and the houses that line it are alight. Taking the one surviving cultist prisoner, The Friends abscond the scene and flee to one of Siriels safehouses in the ward.
On their arrival they argue. Siriel wants to know what the hell that thing was. Rolf is panicked, unsure how theyre ever going to be safe again. Balthazar lights candles and keeps vigilant the whole night. He prays for a long time, searching his soul and his divine connection for answers about the black dog. Eventually he finds an answer.
“Find the shrine of Elenon, The Seeker”
All in all a good session, it’s been a while and the introduction of two new characters was a bit lengthy, but lots of talking in character and pariticipating in the world, I like that stuff. Also got some great roleplay in the safehouse after the wolf fight, especially from Siriel and Balthazar.
There was some good planning around the house too (a new player really got into setting up an ambush) and there was a great moment when the dog appeared and it all went to shit. I think it worked best because we used a free-flowing initiative system, more akin to dungeon world (I’m so bored of initiative). The combat went decently but there are some kinks to work out. Going to experiment a little further with it before letting the players decide which system to keep going with