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Introductions
The following is a session by session description of what happens in my DnD 3.5 game. I've recently (end of 2006) picked up the game again after an absence of 10 years. That means I'm used to the 2nd edition rules, but due to simplicity of the new rules, we've switched over. I'll start off with a brief description of the main characters in the game.
The city of Tantras is a metropolis in the Vastan area of the Forgotten Realms. Here resides Leoril Hawklight, a crippled mage and master of his own arcane school. Lord Hawklight was injured in the great battle between the gods Torm and Bane during the Times of Trouble.
My players have the following characters:
- Eowyn, a Half-Elven Female Wizard played by Esther. She is an apprentice of Lord Hawklight.
- Elorin, a Human Female Cleric played by Michelle. She is a cleric of Torm and sent by her superiors to support Lord Hawklight in his quest.
- Althalus, a Human Male Fighter played by Sjoerd. He is a fighter mercenary who will multiclass with Rogue.
- Lothar, a Human Male Cleric played by Remco (now deceased). He is a cleric of Lathander the Dawnbringer.
- Steve Crikey, a Human Male Ranger (now NPC). He is a hawk trainer and has known Lord Hawklight since he was young.
- Bob, a Human Male Barbarian played by Arnaud (now left the party).
- Farulas, an Elven Male Rogue/Sorcerer played by Remco.
The mission is simple: find the recipe (material, arcane and divine components) for creating magical Braces of Walking that will counter the paralysis/curse affecting Lord Leoril Hawklight.
I'll be posting a DM's journal of what happens. We play very irregularly due to busy lives.
Session 1
The PCs start off towards Raven's Bluff, where Leoril has made sure they have access to the Wizards Guild. Eowyn has been given five wands, all with one charge, a package for Alcides Von Tighe and another package for Wenslan Amthur.
On the way to Raven's Bluff they stumble upon a starting attack by a troop of Orcs against the halfway stop, the Grey Shield Inn. The players charge and eventually overcome the orc troop.
Session 2
Healing and recovering at the Grey Shield Inn, the PCs find out that the Orcs wore an adapted symbol of Bane. Storing that information Lothar of Lathander has a vision dream.
Corruption so evil.
Magic Arcane and Divine.
Combine to beat.
Those without Spine.
Walking is done with feet.
Through Rock and upon Gravel.
The Bane of Cheat.
A way around the Devil.
The Dawn will Shine.
With that in mind they head on to Raven's Bluff where they meet with Alcides Von Tighe. In the library of the Wizards Guild they do the research needed to discover the arcane and divine components needed for the creation. They find out the following:
Player handout
For those wizards looking to create animated limbs I’ve done research on how to go about this.
Movement spells seem to be of the utmost importance to enchanting limbs to work as proper parts of the body.
Naturally the wizard will have to enchant the limb first for receiving the spells cast into it. I have read several different combinations of spells cast into limbs for the magical item to function. Among these are the more common spells (sometimes of godly origin) of:
- Restoration
- Remove Paralysis
- Remove Curse
- Telekinesis
- Animate Object
- Cat’s Grace
- Bear’s Endurance
- Bull’s Strength
And the much lesser known:
- Drawmij’s Light Step1
- Lessen Gravity2
- Runehouse’s Movement3
I’m sure other spells could work also for these types of magical items, but above are the ones I’ve encountered. Which combination of spells will work with what magical item is unknown. This is based on the actual item itself and the intended function.
1 Drawmij’s Light Step, created by the wizard Drawmij, this spell gives a creature a very limited form of “levitate”.
2 Lessen Gravity, this spell makes the subject less affected by Toril’s attraction.
3 Runehouse’s Movement, this spell is said to take away any hindrances of movement.
Player handout
This famed wizardly school of old is rumoured to lie ruined two days ride from Tantras and Raven’s Bluff.
The school by the hand of Zanben Runehouse was founded in 948 DR. The last mention of him or his school dates from 1021 DR. No one knows what happened to the archmage after that date.
Runehouse created several spells in his research. However these spells have been lost with his passing.
Session 3
The PCs finally arrive in Procampur and head to the Domes of Reason. Here they report to Wenslan and hand over the manuscript that Leoril entrusted to them. They take the advance of cash (1.000 gc) and get the opportunity to do their research in the vast library.
Player Handout
The great wizard Cruian Trannyth had an artificial lower leg after losing his own against a dragon. The green dragon Claugiyliamatar, Old Gnawbone, viciously defended her lair against the intrusion of a young Cruian. He paid with the loss of his lower left leg before being able to teleport to his tower.
After recovering from the blood loss and shock Cruian set about becoming mobile again. He had a leg made of a specific alloy of “fresh” mithril and silver with an “Essence of Walking” added to it. He mentally controlled the leg as he would his own through mental instructions. For this there was need for a receptacle for the mental commands of Cruian.
With his death most of the information about creating Cruian’s Limb was lost. Above was made up from the remnants of his creation log. What he meant by the “fresh” mithril or “Essence of Walking” I could not discover without actually setting about creating a limb. Nor could I find the proportion of mithril to silver.
However upon putting this question to a Dwarven blacksmith, as an expert on mithril, it was made quite clear that the mithril part would be at least 50% of the total allow needed for it to be effective.
Typical vessels for receiving mental commands are precious stones. But alas I am not an expert on these matters.
Session 4
The heroes move back to Sarbreenar with their new found knowledge. They have found out about some old dwarven mines to the west of Sarbreenar. Walking tall they make the trek to The Black Hand Tribe Mine situated on Wind Top Tor.
An attack by a Dire Hawk later they find themselves outside a large iron door. It is locked and they don't have the skills to open the door. Deciding to wait for some Orcs to come out they setup an ambush.
During the night the trap is sprung and six Orcs are felled. Now using a Knock Spell from one of the wands given by Leoril they open the mine and the battle starts in earnest. The two orcs in the guardroom are overcome easily, but then the heroes make too much noise in killing more orcs. They are trapped in the barracks where Lothar is slain by the Orcish Chieftain Jlaxa. His brutal twohanded axe slicing the Cleric of Lathander in two.
The orcs and their Imp ally are overcome without further casualties. The top level of the mine is theirs... but what next?
Session 5
The heroes mourn the loss of Lothar, but decide to further explore the mine. They find the secret passage to the actual mining level. Here they overcome the two Ogre Overseers who come dangerously close to killing Steve and Althalus. Both are revived by Elorin and a new ally is found when facing the second of the two Ogres. An elf in chains (Farulas) comes to their aid and lodges his miners pick through the Ogres skull.
The Kobold Slaves of the Orcs are set free in exchange for the content of the mine.
Session 6
Farulas, Eowyn, Elorin, Althalus and Steve have gathered up the mithril and silver ore and taken it back to Sarbreenar. Here they were asked by the Merchant Balthazar to undertake a mission for them. He has lost two rings (Fire Protection and Force Shield) and a vial with brown powder in it, somewhere between Maerstar and High Haspur. The vial was meant for Nadul SeBoni, gnome alchemist from High Haspur and master of potions and essences.
With the party low on monetary resources (they haven't converted the gems they found yet), the reward offered is too much to resist. They are offered a 250 gold crown advance (10% of the reward), but they don't pick that up.
So they travel to High Haspur and then towards Maerstar. Halfway on that journey is the campsite where the theft must have occurred. After searching for tracks Steve leads them to follow the 8 mile path towards The Brynwoods. The Brynwoods is the place where they know danger lies from the Gathering of Information they've done in both Sarbreenar and High Haspur.
They see a camp fire up ahead and Steve goes out to scout. Coming back he describes what to Farulas can only mean one thing: a QUICKLING! This evil race of magical sprites is so quick they can hardly be hit. Slowly the three men sneak towards the camp where the Quickling is eating. At the last possible moment they make too much sound, but the Quickling doesn't know where the noise is coming from. Farulas, Althalus and Steve all fire their arrows to no avail. And with almost a thougth, the Quickling flees from his camp.
A quick search of the campsite gains them a small sack with several vials and gems, but NOT the rings. They decide to follow the Quickling who leads them into the Woods. They get off several shots before the Quickling leads them into a natural trap. 8 small monstrous spiders ambush them from above. Their poisonous bite affects Farulas the most and they have to pull back to the original campsite to recover. One part of their mission is a success. They have the vial! How will they get the rings too?
Session 7
Oh my... getting out of the Brynwood with their lives barely after the spider ambush the PCs actually thought they might have an uninterrupted night. Which they had, only to wake up finding that several gems were stolen!
Steve quickly finds the fresh tracks of the Quickling which leads them to an old monastery several miles in the Brynwood, but not after they are beset by a tribe of Krenshar. Scared out of their wits by the first beast appearing, they flee the scene. Herded to the other members of the tribe they eventually have to fight. The Krenshar flank Eowyn and damage her with several bites and scratches, but she survives. Once they get to the former Temple of Nine Altars Farulas and Steve quietly enter the great hall to scout around and they find a goblin ambush waiting.
They move back to a set of pillars and call in the others. A dog-fight ensues with goblins firing crossbows from balconies that have no stairs leading to them. The combination used before in the Orcish Mine of Web and Burning Hands once again comes in usefull. Only the goblin chief and one warrior escape the slaughter, but the chief warns the wolves and Aeflux before heading out the window.
Aeflux sends in his wolves just as the PCs are recovering. Howling they come running at the spread out PCs. Some good shots save them from major damage and onward they go to fnd Aeflux waiting for them. He convinces the PCs that he will help them find the Quickling, but only if they defeat the Spiders that reside in the old workshops. The PCs agree and make a three-pronged attack into the sheds and find a Quiver of Ehlonna and a masterwork shortbow (+1 Str)!
They return to Aeflux who sees the PCs for the threat they are. He tells them that the Quickling is below and where the entrance is. He then lets them leave into the main hall. He uses dimension door to then ambush them. Unfortunately the PCs quickly surround him and he is also forced to flee before putting one of the PCs in a life threatening situation.
At this point, the PCs retreat from the monastery to a camp site a few miles away to heal and rest.
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I'm planning another session coming Sunday, but there has yet been confirmation by the players. Otherwise we'll play somewhere in December.
Please let me know if you like what you read or if you have comments.
I actually like it very much - in art because I play a campaign (a heavily modified "shackled city" in the same area, mainly around ravens bluff and amazingly have an unusual orc tribe cooerating with bane in the centre of the action...
well done adventure to this point please kee up the journal.|
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Taken from Steve's Diary:
This morning we had a big debate about how we would continue with our quest after the quickling. It took forever for us to decide that we would go around the temple first and if we didn't find anything to enter the temple. We wanted to prevent the quickling from escaping us like he did before. The rings that Balthazar wants are worth plenty of cash, which we will need in the rest of our bid to aid Lord Hawklight.
We entered a beautifully made baroque hallway that seemed a dimly lit tunnel with its beautiful arches coming over. To the far right we could see the cloister courtyard that we looked into yesterday. That at least provided some light, which as Farulas pointed out, we non-elves need to see a damn thing. Now the task before us was which way to go, three choices and we picked them military style. To the right we opened in what must have once been a meeting room. It had a vague fresco on the wall depicting a female faerie using her magic to protect her people. I must admit I have no idea if I am right in assuming that, but our religious companion didn't know anything about it either. No exits or quickling to be found here, so we went onward. To the left then... only dead things remained. A skeleton was sitting at the dinner table leaning forward on top a scrap of ancient parchment. I fear it will fall apart soon, but that won't be any real loss because we couldn't read it anyway. The small skeleton did have a nice ring though. We took it, but it wasn't one of the two we wanted for the merchant.
Forward to the left again... not our best choice. Farulas opened the door and was immediately beset by a pack of dire rats. Filthy creatures they are and I stayed away from them as far as possible. Just firing my bow at them while Farulas tried to close the door on them. Finally he just swung it open and burned the critters with his magic. He and Eoin did get some bites, I hope that won't come back and "bite" them in the arse.
Althalus saw something at the end of the hallway so we went forward while Elorin guarded our backs and make sure the quickling didn't get away from us somehow. Well, I always knew Goblins were filthy creatures, but what we saw here was simply depressing. Several families had occupied the area and were at our mercy. Eoin speaks their tongue (yeah, who knew somebody besides me spoke that foul language) and talked to the female that was pushed forward to negotiate. Women have weak stomachs for killing these evil ones, and thus we let them live, but not without receiving a tribute from them. How they got that matching set of Rosewood with Ivory Harp and Rosewood Flute I will never know, but it was wasted on them for sure.
They told us to find the quickling elsewhere and so we did. We found a small storage room with a latch. Now THAT was what we were looking for, at least if that lupine beast hasn't lied to us. I stayed upstairs to once again guard our retreating option, but the rest went down. Of course, I saw nothing, not even the goblins, they were still cowering in their hole.
I did hear my friend Althalus scream as he fell down a trapped pit, but they managed to pull him out with a great length of rope. Shortly after that I heard more sounds of battle, but I kept my post trusting in my companions to handle themselves. I'll hear soon enough what they encountered, but it didn't sound human, or even alive. I shudder the thought of going down there, no longer having the free skies overhead. Perhaps I should join them soon to make haste in what we do. Midday has already passed and the temple isn't a place I want to spend the night.