Some quick notes off the start:
1. This is a campaign journal thread for a homebrew campaign that just started. It starts off in Greyhawk, although we seemed to have been launched beyond that familiar starting point quite quickly.
2. As you might have guessed from the title, this isn’t going to be an unbiased chronicle of the campaign. Its going to be very self centered and filtered through my viewpoint. If my character didn’t see it happen, or I was away from the table, etc… it isn’t going to be recorded unless another character fills me in.
3. Yes, I’m fully aware that Roy Harper isn’t an original name for a character, especially one that aims to be the best archer in the world. I quite liberally stole from various comic sources for the background and style of this character, and I didn’t come up with a good * original * name before the first session. Beside, to anyone who isn’t a comic geek, Roy Harper isn’t anywhere near as recognizable as say, Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent ;-)
4. I’ll try to update this thread on a weekly basis.
5. As we lack a true monk, and I have Improved Unarmed Strike, I reserve the right to refer to Roy as a Kung-Fu Master. Especially after my exploits in the bar brawl against the crazed dagger wielding drunken Halfling soldiers ;-)
Brief Campaign Roster:
Roy Harper – Human Male – Rogue/Fighter – Archer and author of this journal
Rodyn – Aasimar Male – Druid (Several Alternate class features) – Wears Red Robes & has an Air Elemental companion, Zora.
Talith Du'Viercar – Half Elf Male – Scout (Cityscape variant) – Swashbuckler type who fights with a hand crossbow and rapier
Ahmero – Halfling Male – Scout – Alchemist who throws explosives and hand axes
Bella – Whisper Gnome Female – Ranger – Wield Gnomish Hooked Hammer
Pamorin – Aasimar Male – Water Shujena
Valerie – Aasimar Female – Cleric of Pelor
Public Character Background:
Roy Harper is a follower. Or more specifically, he was a follower. Attracted by the fame and tales of heroism, as a child Roy sought out the fabled Val’Etheren, a league of heroes whose exploits include defeating Iuz, raiding the Demonweb of Lolth to free Sterich, defeating Kyuss to prevent the Age of Worms, and also thwarting Demogorgon in his attempt to unleash the Savage Tide.
Now, older and trained over the years by his heroic mentors, Roy is ready to step out into the world and prove himself as a hero in his own right. Unfortunately, Roy is usually relegated to stopping street-level crime while his mentors travel the planes thwarting demons and mad gods.
When Nix, a powerful mage and sometimes ally of the Val’Etheren, appeared looking for their help, Roy jumped at the change to prove himself. Along with Talith Du'Viercar, another “junior” Val’Etheren, Roy eagerly signed on to help find this mysterious and important artifact.
First Session & Second Session (written at the inn)
Nix dispatched Talith and myself, as well as the other adventurers he had gathered, several days to the south of Greyhawk with a spell and a warning. The artifact in the caverns must be secured quickly, otherwise great harm could occur.
We took care of the goblin cult guarding the cave complex without much problem. Ahmero’s tactics are unusual, but they definitely get results. While the others were squabbling over Ahmero’s treatment of a goblin captive that was being interrogated, I headed into the caves. Nix did say that time was of the essence.
After several turns and rises, the narrow cave widened into a larger cavern, with a pool in the near corner and a door set into the far wall. There also were a pair of rust monsters, but I quickly rolled past them and tagged one with a boomerang. Ahmero and Bella followed me into the cavern, and the three of us quickly dispatched the pair of monsters.
The door had runes carved into it:
“I wasn’t at the Beginning,
And I won’t be at the End,
And though I am part of your Road twice,
I’m never in the way.
I am not in Light, but in Darkness.
What am I?”
Along with the cryptic riddle, there were small tiles, one for each letter of the alphabet. We guessed that we would need to spell out the answer to the riddle to progress. After an incorrect answer, I was jolted by a zap of electricity from the door. Bella tried, and she was hit with a dart from a concealed opening.
I then searched the door and its surroundings and disabled all the traps and dart openings I could find. Then I proceeded to systematically brute force my way through the puzzle, hitting every letter in sequence.
It opened on “R”. I guess I should have gone with my first instinct and tried spelling my own name.
While I was disabling the traps with Ahmero’s aid, the rest of the party wandered back outside and I later learned were busy eating figs in the ruins of the goblin enclave. Apparently a simple riddle trap was too much for them.
Ahmero and I then proceeded through the now opened door. It lead into a short hallway that ended abruptly in a pile of rubble. As I shifted the rubble in hopes of finding another clue or doorway, Ahmero found a secret door along the wall.
We then proceeded through the secret door, and found the temple of the Seasons, home of the artifact that Nix had sent us to acquire. As I picked up the artifact, a decanter, from the altar, two balls of lightning appeared. The room seemed to strobe in blinding flashes of red and white light, and I was frozen in place.
Then I could move again and my vision returned. Ahmero and I were in the same position as before, but the decanter was no longer in my hands. Also, the rest of the party were now in the temple as well. (Apparently they had gotten full of figs, and decided to follow us into the temple, only to fall prey to the same trap.)
The Temple of the Seasons was dusty and abandoned when I first entered, but now the level of decay was exponentially worse, as water damage had eroded the bas reliefs on the walls, and covered them in lichen. The secret door and altar were smashed, as if tomb raiders had been here.
As we exited the Temple and made our way through the caverns to the surface, it appeared that a substantially long period of time had passed. Long enough for the caverns to shift, and the small stream trickling through previously to cut a wide flood path in the rocks.
I lead the way outside, and the small stream that had run past the goblin enclave now is a river. And there isn’t any trace of the goblin enclave either. While the Temple of the Seasons and the goblin enclave were situated in rolling hills south of Greyhawk, we appear to be high up in jagged mountains now. And there is a grove of fig trees where the Aasimar had their little gathering while Ahmero and I were doing the real work. I’m not sure if we have traveled through time, or to another reality, but this is going to be a good story to tell the Justice Society when Talith and I get back.
Rodyn’s air elemental companion alerts us to the presence of someone approaching, and a Satyr comes into view.
The Satyr’s name is Diosdoras, and he says he was told to wait for us specifically by his boss. He refuses to name his boss, but lets slip that it is a “she”. He also doesn’t know the date or what year it is, at least not in any reckoning I am familiar with. When I ask about the City of Greyhawk and the Val’Etheren, he gives me a blank stare, and says he hasn’t heard of them.
Diosdoras asks us to accompany him to town as he needs to deliver a letter for his boss. We agree, as we need more information, and Ahmero is given the letter, as Diosdoras says his kind (fey?) aren’t welcome in the town.
As we walk along a game trail down the heavily forested mountainside, Rodyn questions why I have my bow out and strung, as its apparently offensive to his sense of decorum. I reply that this is an unknown place, and therefore its only common sense to be prepared for a fight. He doesn’t like this answer, but I’m proven correct as a winged figure, like a cloaked gargoyle or a man-bat, swoops out of the sky and attacks Diosdoras in the midst of our party.
I get off the first shots before anyone else can react, and put a pair of arrows into this creature as it looms over Diosdoras with its saw-toothed sword. It wasn’t a gargoyle, as it didn’t sound like my arrows hitting stone, but the creature had some kind of scales or armored plating, as my arrows definitely didn’t penetrate as far as they would into plain flesh.
Valerie charged the creature with her mace, and then Ahmero hit it with a thrown hand-axe to finish it off. Talith saw another of the creatures, or at least a cloaked figure, further away in the woods, but it disappeared as soon as he shot at it.
Diosdoras refers to the creatures as “Spawn of Tiamat”, and says that they hunt fey down, therefore it must have been tracking him. The creature certainly has scales to support the name, but it turned to stone when it died, and then crumbled to dust a few moments later. Is it a living creature, a construct, like a new form of gargoyle or golem?
After the battle, we continue on down the path, and after an hour, Rodyn again asks why I carry my bow strung and have an arrow in hand, albeit not nocked and drawn. After I remark that it certainly came in useful when we were attacked not long ago, Rodyn’s stupid air elemental lackey takes offense at my tone, and breaks my bowstring. I warn Rodyn to keep his pet away from me in the future, or I’ll kill it. What sort of “adventurers” was Nix recruiting?
After a few hours, we camp in the ruins of a stockade alongside the river. The town isn’t far away, but the gates are barred at night. During the night, wolves circle our camp a few times, but some torches and firing up the campfire scare them off. In the morning, I make bacon and eggs for breakfast, and get a sneer from Pamorin when I offer it to him some. Apparently our tastes in food are greatly different.
Diosdoras leaves us in the morning, and asks us to deliver the letter to Menthis in the town bar.
We enter the town, and discover that 70% of the population are Halflings. And militant, tough looking Halflings at that. Upon finding the bar, I ask for Menthis, and a slovenly looking Halfling approaches and says that his name is Menthis. He asks us to wait for a moment, then covertly join him in a backroom.
As we wait, I ask the server what type of food they have ready, and order some pork kabobs. When my platter arrives, I offer them to the rest of the party, and get drenched with a water spell from Pamorin for my trouble. That’s the last time I offer him food, or any aid. The pork kabobs were good though, and the others seem to like them.
Ahmero goes into the back room first, as we figured sending in the Halfling to talk to another Halfling was the best option. I go next, and we discuss some issues with “Menthis”.
First, it turns out that his name is actually Arthos, but Menthis is a codename of sorts for the local resistance around here. We get a little background and also find out that Arthos owns this tavern/inn.
Most of the Halflings in the region, including Arthos, are Akadians. They were conquered in recent memory by a more militant Halfling culture, the Achaens. It is the Achaens that hate Fey, as the fey tended to ally with the Akadians. There apparently is a resistance movement headed by someone that Diosdoras and Arthos both refer to as “the Boss.”
I ask Arthos to pass along my request for a meeting with this “Boss”. Since he sent Diosdoras to meet us when we emerged from the Temple of the Seasons, it appears that he was expecting us. I’m not sure what to expect, maybe the Boss is Nix in this far distant future. Unless this is actually an alternate reality, in which case I’m not sure. But either way, the Boss has some knowledge that I need top figure out where or when I am, and apparently has a purpose for us as well.
After the conversation with Arthos, I head upstairs to my room to rest and go over my arsenal of gear. The others go out to buy some supplies, but I’m fairly self-sufficient, considering the arsenal I usually carry.
Third session -Written around a campfire after boar-hunting
After waking up at Arthos’s Inn the next morning, I go downstairs to the common room to find that I can’t order pork anymore. Apparently Pamorin and the other aasimar bribed the staff not to serve it to me anymore, with some sort of tale of explosive flatulence. I’m going to have to have a discussion with him, especially in light of all his talk about our party needing more rules and regulations.
Maybe I’d put more stock in his opinion if it wasn’t for the small fact that the very actions (mainly by Talith, Ahmero and myself) that he is ranting about are the most productive things we have done as a party. But I’ll give him a little more benefit of the doubt, as Nix must have chosen him for a reason. Perhaps his water magic will come in handy soon.
I head over the general store and ask if they have any maps I can pay to study for a few minutes. It turns out the basic physical geography is roughly the same as I would expect, although some mountain ranges have gotten higher and some rivers have changed course slightly. But none of the cities are familiar to me, and I can’t find a trace of anything linked to the Val’Etheren or Greyhawk.
I also discover that minotaurs are a slave race to these Achaens. If I wasn’t sold on the Achaens as the bad guys after Arthos’ propaganda yesterday, I am now.
Returning to the Inn for lunch, I talk with Talith about where or when we might be, and if the Val’Etheren will find us, or if we are truly on our own. Arthos approaches us and asks us for some help. He has been informed that the Achaen guard have captured some of the resistance, and they are bringing them into town from the north. Once they are in town, they will be executed or shipped downriver to another city of interrogation.
Talith and I agree to help, and gather the three Aasimar as they walk in the door. Do they always travel together?
We cross the ferry to the north of the river, and travel along the dirt road to the mines. I wonder if they use slaves in the mines? Is that why I haven’t seen any dwarves or gnomes? I’ll have to ask around when I get back to town.
As we approach a guardhouse on the road, Pamorin and Rodyn bicker with Talith and myself about tactics. They want to use magic and not cause any permanent harm. Where as Talith and I are perfectly fine with slaying our enemies. Anyone who keeps slaves, invades and conquers other cultures, and hunts down fey isn’t going to fall into the good side of St Cuthbert’s scales.
As we approach the guardhouse, a pair of Achaen guards step out and tell us to halt. I spin a tale of boar hunting and ask if they have seen a boar nearby, as I shot it and it bolted. Pamorin tries to hypnotize the guards with his magic, but one shrugs off his influence and sounds the alarm. I put a pair of arrows into that one’s head as Talith races to the door and slays the other, dazed, guard.
I try to break the door down, but its barred from the inside. I continue to try and break the door down, while Talith and Pamorin go around the side of the building looking for another entrance.
Turns out there was a ladder inside the building up to the observation post on the roof, because Rodyn got a javelin in the shoulder and I look up to see 3 Achaens up there.
A brief sniping contest between my longbow and the Achaen’s javelins gets ended when Talith climbs the ladder and surprises them. All in all, we easily defeated the five Achaen soldiers and freed the two prisoners, a pair of Satyrs.
The Satyrs escape back into the woods, which left us with having to get back into town while maintaining our alibis. The three Aasimar head back for the ferry, while Talith and I decided to spend a few hours hunting, in order to back up our boar hunting expedition alibi.
Despite being nearly gored a few times, we put enough arrows and bolts into a wild boar to kill it. And then we figure that we can’t actually carry this 700 pound behemoth back to town by ourselves. So we settle for taking the foot long tusks and some choice cuts of meet, and leave the rest for the wolf pack that was sniffing around.
Fourth Session -Mainly written in the aftermath of the bar brawl, while awaiting my turn to be “interviewed” by the Watch
Talith and I headed back to town with our trophies. We ended up hiking through the wilderness in order to avoid the path from the mines, and almost missed the last ferry for the day.
Because it seemed like a good idea at the time, we boasted about our hunting expedition to the guards at the ferry, to give us some more credibility for our alibi once the dead Achaen soldiers were found. We figured if a 700 pound wild boar was impressive to us, it would be even more impressive to a bunch of guards who were 3 feet tall.
That got a little out of hand, and we ended up back at the tavern, buying rounds for the house, a crowd that included Achaen guards and Acadian townsfolk. After some more drinks, we figured it would be a good idea to keep on buying rounds, since the Achaen guards would be even less likely to suspect us if we were their drinking buddies the night before, especially if we bought more than our share of drinks.
Also, the others of the party were at the inn, but they weren’t in the tavern portion, apparently they had already retired for the night.
As Talith went to settle our tab, it was getting quite apparent that;
A) These little folk can’t handle their watered wine
B) There is quite a bit of class tension between the Acadians and their Achaen overlords. Nothing like alcohol and a hot night to bring out people’s true feelings.
C) Talith should have worked more on his close combat techniques when we were trained together by the Val’Etheren, since he went down like a sad little kobold when that Achaen guard tackled him.
Later on I heard that Talith had apparently said something about the guard’s family, or knocked his drink over… but seeing as how they were trying to point all the blame on the outsiders after the fact, I’m not sure what exactly started the brawl.
Once Talith started stumbling into tables while grappling with that guard, everything happened kinda fast. Several Acadians saw the brawl as a chance to get some revenge on their conquerors, and the Achaens just wanted to bust some heads after singing (badly) war songs all night.
The Achaens were strong little guys, but they were just Halflings in the end. I dropped three of them with broken bones [lethal damage with Improved Unarmed Strike] while trying to free Talith from the scrum, but apparently the guard he had insulted had a lot of friends.
And things soon turned ugly, as punches escalated to broken bottles and chairs and then escalated further as weapons were pulled.
I had one drunk Achaen jump off the bar and stab me in the shoulder with a dagger. I threw him off, and then broke his jaw with a heavy punch as he came at me again. [Thank you Critical Hit Deck ;-)] [Cool Quote of the Night: “Don’t bring a knife to a Kung-Fu fight little man!]
At that point I figure we should leave, as Talith and I had put around a half dozen of the Achaen guards out of commission, some with serious injuries. But the next thing I know, I’m seeing stars and then I passed out.
I woke up to Talith slapping me. We were in the kitchen of the bar, where he had dragged me after I passed out. Apparently a local cleric had tried to calm down the out of control bar, and I had succumbed to a spell. The cleric hadn’t been all that effective, but the sober squad of Achaen guards on patrol were roughly establishing order with clubs out front.
Talith said that the guards had seized one of our friends, and were dragging them away to the jail. Still woozy, I followed Talith as we ran out the back door of the kitchen and circled the block, to see a pair of guards dragging a limp body that looked a bit like Valerie in the moonlight.
I threw a pair of my boomerangs and took down the one guard, while Talith shot at and missed the other guard. That guard took off running down the street, while Talith.
At this point, I left Talith with the unconscious body of our friend, while I tried to sneak back into the inn to gather our other allies and gear.
That didn’t work so well.
I ended up getting spotted by the watch, and so I decided to brazen it out and try to talk my way past the guards. It wasn’t a big stretch of the truth to say that I didn’t start the brawl. (By my count, I was the third or fourth person to throw a punch, and I never drew a weapon) And I am pretty persuasive.
I wasn’t counting on the “blame the outsiders” factor. Or the fact that the squad leader that was handling the investigations had some family members and friends involved in the brawl, including the knife-wielder whose jaw I broke. (Apparently, he could still grunt and point at me)
At this point, I’m thinking that trying to talk me way out of this wasn’t the best option, as I’ve been informed that I’m looking at slavery in the mines or possibly losing a hand once the Governor passes judgment. With the way my luck has turned, I’ll have injured some of his relatives too in the brawl.
I ended up being marched by a four guards and the squad leader away from the inn and towards the jail/barracks at the other end of town. I’m not bound, but I have an Achaen guard on either side of me holding my arms, and another pair walking behind me with javelins ready.
I’m pretty sure I can break their grips and run, but I’m going to wait until we are a little farther away from the tavern and any potential reinforcements or witnesses. Plus, it looks like we are going to pass where Talith was hiding with Valerie, so they hopefully will be able to give me a bit of a diversion or backup.
Fourth Session -Mainly written in the aftermath of the bar brawl, while awaiting my turn to be “interviewed” by the Watch
Talith and I headed back to town with our trophies. We ended up hiking through the wilderness in order to avoid the path from the mines, and almost missed the last ferry for the day.
Because it seemed like a good idea at the time, we boasted about our hunting expedition to the guards at the ferry, to give us some more credibility for our alibi once the dead Achaen soldiers were found. We figured if a 700 pound wild boar was impressive to us, it would be even more impressive to a bunch of guards who were 3 feet tall.
That got a little out of hand, and we ended up back at the tavern, buying rounds for the house, a crowd that included Achaen guards and Acadian townsfolk. After some more drinks, we figured it would be a good idea to keep on buying rounds, since the Achaen guards would be even less likely to suspect us if we were their drinking buddies the night before, especially if we bought more than our share of drinks.
Also, the others of the party were at the inn, but they weren’t in the tavern portion, apparently they had already retired for the night.
As Talith went to settle our tab, it was getting quite apparent that;
A) These little folk can’t handle their watered wine
B) There is quite a bit of class tension between the Acadians and their Achaen overlords. Nothing like alcohol and a hot night to bring out people’s true feelings.
C) Talith should have worked more on his close combat techniques when we were trained together by the Val’Etheren, since he went down like a sad little kobold when that Achaen guard tackled him.Later on I heard that Talith had apparently said something about the guard’s family, or knocked his drink over… but seeing as how they were trying to point all the blame on the outsiders after the fact, I’m not sure what exactly started the brawl.
Once Talith started stumbling into tables while grappling with that guard, everything...
Actually, Talith and Roy decided to try to drag the boar back to town, but after making it maybe 1/2 a mile in about 1/2 an hour over very rocky ground, they then decided that maybe the tusks were enough of a trophy.
Actually, Talith and Roy decided to try to drag the boar back to town, but after making it maybe 1/2 a mile in about 1/2 an hour over very rocky ground, they then decided that maybe the tusks were enough of a trophy.
bah, I wanted the boar for the alibi, the trophies were good enough... plus there were wolves after us...
*I'll post the entry for the latest session sometime tommorrow night.
3. Yes, I’m fully aware that Roy Harper isn’t an original name for a character, especially one that aims to be the best archer in the world. I quite liberally stole from various comic sources for the background and style of this character, and I didn’t come up with a good * original * name before the first session. Beside, to anyone who isn’t a comic geek, Roy Harper isn’t anywhere near as recognizable as say, Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent ;-)
Let me guess--he's a ranger taking the archery path, with a fondness for opiates?
You should really play the name up & multiclass as a bard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Harper