This campaign features seven players, the most I've run for any 3.5 edition game to date. As none of my players are Dungeon readers, or post on this message board, I think I'll keep it that way to prevent any spoilers leaking into the game. I'll post after each game session, and any interesting roleplay that results from between game emails, which we will be using to handle the individual characters' ongoing plotlines dealing with the affiliations of Sasserine.
The cast of characters:
Dane Jarmaker - Human Spellthief
Dane grew up with his parents in Shadowshore. His family runs a jar-making business near the garrison in that district. Wanting a better life for their son, the parents saved money to enroll him in the House of the Dragon. When he finished his elementary education, they took out a loan from Honest Brank's to send him to the Thenalar Academy.
As there was not enough profit in jarmaking to repay the loan, his father took a job whaling, leaving his mother to run the family business. An unfortunate incident left him lost at sea, and the family in even worse financial straits. Worse, his classmates at the academy looked down on him for his lack of money and a title, and paid thugs from the Shadowshore district to harass him in the mornings, causing him to be late or miss his classes. Eventually, he was expelled from the academy.
Dane's uncle is an ex-adventurer and ne'er-do-well who now manages the House of Science. He has taken Dane under his wing, and taught him the ways of the spellthief. Dane owes several people money, foremost among them Honest Brank, who has been sending a large half-orc to collect the weekly 'vig' on the outstanding debt.
Recently, with the help of some friends in the actor's guild, Dane staged an elaborate deception, where he single-handedly drove off several 'bloodthirsty assassins' which were shaking down a tavern he frequents. The entire thing was coreographed, with all roles played by actors in costume, including a little girl (a halfling actress specializing in the role of children) he saved from a runaway coach. This event made the local daily paper, and many of Dane's tavern debts were forgiven because of it.
Darius El'Landrio - Gray Elf Beguiler
Darius was raised in the noble district, the youngest child of family of elves whose auction house, Methena's, has long been a fixture in the district. The auction house has been in the family for nearly 300 years, and is now managed by his eldest brother.
He schooled at the House of the Dragon, and with his exceptional intelligence had little trouble, though the curriculum bored him. There, he discovered a knack for illusion and enchantment magic, and combining these with his natural garrulousness, the growing desire for some kind of personal political power (having seen what happened to much of the cities nobles and wealthy under the power of the Sea Princes, and who succeeded and failed), the path of the beguiler appealed greatly to him. He passes himself off as a sorcerer.
He is a pretty gregarious sort, makes “friends” easily, and is always willing to lend an ear. He’s known to keep confidences well, and generally be someone you can count on to find solutions to your problems.
Recently, there was a small string of petty thefts amongst the houses in the Noble’s district, seemingly related to Quentin Mousebush, a local food merchant that services many of the lesser houses. It seemed that small items were disappearing shortly after deliveries by his men, and Quentin’s business was beginning to suffer. It turned out that a young thief had been following various deliverymen to the houses and sneaking in around the time of the delivery, and snatching whatever valuable items lay to hand. Since Quentin also serviced Methana’s, as well as other residences of family acquaintances, and that Quentin was a genuinely good fellow (good product, fair prices, good businessman), Darius was somewhat concerned and spent some time gathering information to discover who the culprit was. Through his network of people, plus some luck in happening to follow the right deliveryman, he spotted who the culprit was and passed this information on to Wedro and let the watch capture her.
Galek Sotrom - Half-Orc Fighter
A strange half-orc who claims his father was elven, Galek came to the city as a young teenager and found work in the Champion's district as an apprentice to a local smith. Strong of body, and possessing a quick mind, Galek became fascinated with the games in the Arena, and taught himself to fight with a spiked chain.
Finally, at the last amateur matinee, he got his chance. In front of a small crowd, Galek faced a blond-haired human who moved with the grace of a martial artist. While the deft human put up a good fight, Galek's power and skill with the chain won the day, as a single strike felled the human. Impressed with the young half-orc's victory, Zasker Grankus, the leader of Zelkarune's Horns, personally congratulated him, offering him the opportunity for future matches, and inviting him on the Horn's next hunting trip into the jungle.
Galek now looks forward to a life far more exciting than that of a simple smith's apprentice, but he remains in his current job until he is sure of his place among the champions of the arena.
Tulio - Human Swashbuckler
A young man of around 20, with leathery skin betraying years spent at sea, and a ragged mane of pitch-black hair, Tulio walks with the confident swagger of a man who has tested his limits and prevailed. A native of the Azure district, Tulio has followed in his father's footsteps, making a life on the high seas.
His father served as captain of the Dawn Star, a privateer in the service of the Dawn Council, until his entire ship was lost at sea under mysterious circumstances 10 years ago. Rumors point to a pirate attack, and Tulio is constantly seeking information about the loss of the Wandering Star, that will allow him to avenge the death of his father.
Recently, serving as a junior officer on the merchantman Spirit of Monmurg, Tulio participated in the repulsion of the corsair Lucky Strike in its failed boarding action. The raiders were defeated to a man, and in fact, the merchantman returned to port in Sasserine with the corsair sloop as a prize. Tulio was left aboard the sloop as interim 'captain-pilot' with a skeleton crew and charged with returning the ship to port.
Unfortunately, hull rot was discovered on the Spirit, and Tulio finds himself stuck in port for the time being.
Keran El'Corenol - Gray Elf Wizard (Conjurer)
A noble of Celene by birth, Keran's mother served as a handmaiden in the court of the Queen. He grew up privileged, but a dalliance with a house girl led his mother to send him to live with distant cousins in the far-away city of Sasserine. Arriving, he found that his mother's cousin had a son about his age, Darius, and the two schooled together at the Academy.
Not nearly as social as his cousin, Keran is still trying to find his place in this strange southern city, nearly a decade after his arrival. His best friend is a gnarled quarterstaff which serves as a focus for his conjurations, and he has taken to summoning celestial creatures for brief moments each day for companionship.
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My other players haven't provided me with their character backgrounds yet, so I'll post those when they are finished. The other characters will be a halfling rogue and an aasimar cleric.
The party today:
Tulio
Galek
Darius
Dane
Galvin, Aasimar Cleric of Trithereon (Protection and Summoner domains)
The missing members:
Keran
?, Halfling Rogue
We played for about 6 ½ hours, and everyone considered the first session a great kick-off to the AP. Interaction at dinner with Lavinia lasted over an hour, with the players bantering back and forth, making Bluff checks to impress the young heiress with their ‘prowess’ (most of which she saw through with her Sense Motive but was too polite to call them on), and generally getting a feel for the characters.
Tulio and Dane sparked up a friendly rivalry when Dane, noticing Tulio attempting to woo the noblewoman, spilled Tulio’s wine goblet on him through Prestidigitation. However, if Lavinia has any interest in any of them beyond an employer-employee relationship, it will probably end up being the Aasimar, with his exotic, other-worldly looks. Darius, as the son of a wealthy merchant family of long-standing may have an outside shot, but so far he hasn’t made any advances in that manner.
The party went to a tavern near Dock 5 immediately following dinner, and sought to gather some information about The Blue Nixie, Soller Vark and his crew. One of the dockworkers, a human female(?) with a 5 o’clock shadow took an interest in Galvin, and gave the party some useful information about the ship and its recent occupants. From there, they headed to the dock itself, where they found the ship moored to the float away from the dock itself.
An old fisherman loaned out his rowboat for 10gp, and another 10gp bought his silence, as the party was worried about the legality of their actions. Rowing well out from the dock, the party circled around and came in from the dark side of the harbor, tying off the rowboat to the anchor chain on that side. They managed to get the first person on board before the alarm was raised, and had four of the five party members boarded before a defense was truly organized.
The party made short work of Vark and his crew, when both Galek and Dane dispatched the guard on the quarter deck, and caught the first person out the door with attacks from above. Vark managed to get out, and wound Dane before a mighty swipe from Galek’s chain sent him fleeing overboard, giving the cry to ‘Burn them all.’ Tulio and Galvin quickly sent the rest of the crew fleeing. Poor Darius ran into some great Will saves vs. a sleep spell, and was beginning to feel useless.
Smoke began rising from the hold, and a woman’s scream was heard, followed by the keening of a strange beast. Tulio, ever the lady’s man, leapt down the ladder to the hold, and found the rhagodessa the hard way. Dane followed with an impressive tumbling feat, landing in a square next to Tulio. Two rounds later, and both lay in their respective squares, and the rhagodessa looked like it would be feasting well.
A celestial badger, summoned by Galvin, distracted the spider-beast long enough for Darius to cast two color sprays, angled down into the hold from above. The rhagodessa made both saves, and was about to rip into the badger, when a third color spray ended its rampage. Galek connected with two swings of his chain, and the stunned beastie slumped, unmoving.
Remembering that his friends in Zelkarune’s Horns are always paying well for exotic animals to fight in the arena, Galek convinced Galvin to stabilize the beast after he had tended to their downed comrades. Darius searched the captain’s cabin, finding the missing platinum and the signet ring. Lugging their friends’ unconscious bodies, they returned to Lavinia to report their success. She provided their payment, some potions to heal the fallen, and allowed them to rest in the manor overnight.
The next morning, she offered them a more permanent job with her estate, and asked them to accompany her to the vault. They breezed through this section, with the quick-thinking Darius telling Lavinia to present her signet to the Iron Cobra after a single round of combat. A bit of searching later, and they were in the inner vault, where Dane quickly grasped the significance of the creatures’ eyes, and Darius figured out the rotating central pillar. The players were careful not to confuse player knowledge with character knowledge, but the high Knowledge skills of certain party members allowed them to quickly ascertain the correct number of eyes for each line on the parchment.
Many theories were tossed around about why many of the chests were empty, but no one thought to ask the clerk if anyone had accessed the vault recently. Lavinia took her leave of the group, after paying them their 100gp retainers, and gave them the rest of the day off to go shopping. After some discussion, they decided to pool their shares, and purchase a fully-charged wand of cure light wounds. This was a very wise decision, and quite possibly saved them from a TPK below Parrot Island.
The next day, Lavinia tasked the party with finding her missing brother. She explained their estrangement, and the strange way Vanthus had been acting before he left the manor. The party split up, with each member gathering information in his own district. Dane, from Shadowshore, was the only one with any success, and was soon forking over gold to a greedy dwarven boat merchant who eagerly told him all he knew about Penkus’ and Vanthus’ recent exploits. On his way back to rendezvous with his party, he was approached by a shady-looking half-elf who offered to lead Dane and his companions right to Vanthus for some coin. Dane arranged a meeting later that night at a familiar tavern, and they met and agreed on terms.
They met the following morning and bought a used row-boat from It Still Floats, rowing over to Parrot Island. Following the half-elf, they arrived at the trap door, and descended, after Galek threatened to remove the half-elf’s spleen if he left the island without them.
Shortly after descending, the half-elf’s body landed on Dane, a knife in his back, and Vanthus’ taunting began. A lucky crossbow bolt fired by Galvin clipped Vanthus in the shoulder, and he cut the rope, backing away from the opening. The door closed and the boulders were rolled over it, entombing our fearless heroes.
They explored the entryway, and had just entered the smuggling chamber when the first group of zombies broke through the double doors on the far end of the long hallway. A successful turning attempt by Galvin sent these cowering into a corner, and Tulio, Dane, and Galek followed to finish them off.
Darius, knowing his enchantments and illusions useless versus the walking dead, decided to examine the body floating in the room, and disturbed a nest of monstrous crabs, which angrily scuttled out to defend their food supply. He quickly turned the other direction, fleeing back into the hall, with the crabs in pursuit. Galek broke off his attempts to destroy the zombies to fight this new menace, and a sleep spell from Darius put 3 of the crabs to sleep. Coup de grace’s followed, and the crab threat was neutralized, just as a second pair of zombies burst through the northwestern door of the room in which they were fighting.
Another successful turning, and the new zombies were now fleeing back the way they came. The first trio were almost dispatched, when another pair broke through the eastern doors. These were turned as well, and the party looked to mop up, when a third trio approached. The party noticed that one of these was not like the others, wearing rusting chainmail, and a golden pendant which Tulio recognized as a holy symbol. These three resisted Galvin’s final turning attempt, and a fierce melee ensued. It was quickly apparent that the chainmail wearing creature was intelligent, as it hurled blasphemies and curses at them between spellcasting. Tulio was struck by the beast’s powerful fists, and then went down under the bite of a zombie. Galek followed, with another zombie latching onto his flesh with its oversized maw.
Galvin attempted to heal the two while Dane swung his cutlass at the feasting zombies. He managed to keep them alive, but little beyond that. His new armor protected him from the ineffectual swipes made by the undead cleric, and he suddenly remembered his wand could be used as an offensive, as well as defensive weapon. Wielding it against the zombies, he gave Dane the assistance necessary to save the lives of the two fallen comrades.
They managed to defeat the huecuva and heal their friends back to consciousness, just before the turning effect wore off the other zombies. The one pair was much closer, cowering in the northwestern room, and made it back to the party quickly. This was fortunate, as the party had time to finish them off before turning to deal with the final pair. Those also, were dispatched quickly, and the next few moments were tense, with the party expecting another assault at any time.
They explored the rest of the underground tunnels, finding old Penkus’ corpse. While the others were arguing whether or not to loot him (Galvin’s heal check told them he died of some horrible disease), Darius’ keen elven senses detected a secret door. He opened it, finding the pirate’s long-hidden stash. Tulio overcame his aversion and stripped Penkus of his note and his remaining wealth, and the party began searching for a way out.
Tulio found the tunnel in the tide pool, but was unable to make much progress against the strong currents. The over-muscled Galek removed his chainmail, and made the long swim up the tunnel, into the harbor above. He retraced the party’s steps on the island, and was able to open the hatch, tying his soaking wet rope to the hook and freeing his friends.
They returned to Lavinia with Penkus’ dying words in hand, and broke her the sad truth about her brother. She modified her initial request, asking that they bring him to justice, and that failing give him a merciful death. The party retired to the guest quarters, and in the morning, Tulio found himself feverish, and weakened, suffering from a disease contracted from the huecuva. Lavinia graciously offered to provide a potion of remove disease for him, and this was delivered and administered.
At this point, we ended the first session, and experience was awarded. The party was awarded experience, and all but the aasimar (with a level adjustment) advanced to level 2. All agreed it was a great start to what should prove a very interesting campaign.