So, I've decided to do something a little different. It's not really Star Wars related, but it is tabletop. Since I've never really played D&D before, I decided I'd give it a try with some friends, and I figured here would be a great place to post our ongoing adventures. Here goes (or, at least to the best of my memory)!
Coming off the High Road from Neverwinter, four adventurers each settled down in a local tavern in a small town just a bit off the trail. A dragonborn of clan Invictus, a dwarven paladin named Brothar Leadfoot, a halfling monk named Bentra Brownbottle, and a gnome warlock known only by his masked vigilante alter ego "The Ulthar Cat".
The group quickly became friends, drinking and making merry until late into the night. As the town prepared for the festival of the moon goddess Selune, there was much to celebrate. However, they eventually grew tired and retreated to their respective quarters.
Later the next morning, each of the adventurers woke when a shout was heard in the inn. Invictus, Brothar, and Bentra all rushed out to see what was the matter. The Ulthar Cat took the time to get dressed.
Meeting in the small town's square, the heroes saw a horrifying scene. A body lay strewn across the ground, hewn from hip to shoulder. The keeper of the inn, an orc woman named Sog, informed the heroes that the man was the local blacksmith.
Invictus and Bentra noticed a trail of blood leading from the crime scene, and followed it. As they did, Sog filled them in on more of the rumors surrounding the killing. Apparently killings of these types were becoming common in this town. Several animals had also been maimed, as well as a local knight named Sir Thomas. Eventually, the blood trail ran cold, at Sog's inn.
Meanwhile, The Ulthar Cat and Brothar went to the blacksmith's house to deliver the bad news to his daughter, Erin. They arrived to see the door ajar, so the two heroes entered the house from two different doors, performing a pincer move. Inside, they found that the house had been ransacked. A chest lay on a counter, scratched but unopened. The two heroes searched for a key, finally finding it up in the rafters- a problem for two heroes of unassuming stature such as themselves.
"I'll knock it down with an Eldritch Blast," The Cat offered.
"Uhh, let's try standing on a chair instead, so we don't blow the entire house up," countered Brothar. He did so, and was able to successfully obtain the key, and used it to open the chest.
Inside, the two found an arrowhead and a note- the note, apparently from the blacksmith to his daughter, explained that the man had found this arrowhead in the woods and had believed it was of ancient magical elvish design, likely a weapon useful against skinchangers. Why he wanted Erin to have this, however, was unclear, but it appeared to be of great value to him.
Brothar and The Cat headed back into town, where The Ulthar Cat "accidentally" fired an eldritch blast into the sky, terrifying the townsfolk. Soon, they regrouped with the other two adventurers and shared what they had learned.
"Is there any law enforcement in this town?" asked The Ulthar Cat.
"No, unfortunately not. We rely mostly on rotations on visits from the crown," said Sog.
"Aw man, I was hoping we could maybe do a Seven Samurai thing," said The Ulthar Cat.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," Sog said.
Sog suggested a list of people who may be able to help with the investigation, among them her girlfriend named Henrietta and a witch of the woods. Additionally, a coroner of the crown had arrived and was investigating the body of the blacksmith in the street, mentioning that he'd be heading to Sir Thomas's former estate next. The group decided to seek out Henrietta first, saying that they'd meet the coroner at the Thomas Manor later.
When the party arrived at Henrietta's house, the Cat knocked.
"Hey," The Ulthar Cat said. "Have you seen Erin?"
"The blacksmith's daughter? I heard she was missing."
"Well, I'll take that as a no," The Cat replied.
However, an owl flew into Henrietta's lawn at that moment, dropping a parcel: an invitation and directions to the house of the witch of the woods.
"Oh, she's a friend of mine," Henrietta said. "Sibelle's her name, actually. Just be careful. When you get to the edge of the woods, keep walking until you lose sight of the sun. Then, close your eyes and walk until you feel yourself on her doorstep. Then, to leave, do the exact opposite. Oh, and don't enter her house unless invited!"
The group took note of these suggestions and prepared to leave Henrietta's house.
"Oh, and one more thing. Sog really likes you!" Bentra said. "You guys are good together!"
After leaving, the group decided it was probably too late in the day to see Sibelle without having to weather a night in the woods. Instead, they decided to meet up with the coroner. Meanwhile, while the rest of the group headed to Thomas Manor, The Ulthar Cat headed to the village's hunting shop the see if a fletcher could attach the ancient arrowhead to a bolt. An elven clerk greeted him at the shop.
"Hey, sir, I found this rather dull and worthless arrowhead in the woods," The Cat started. "I'm on an adventure, but I was hoping to bring home a souvenir for my daughter. Any chance we could get it made into an arrow? I mean, a bolt? She likes crossbow bolts a lot."
"Oh, how old is she?" the clerk asked.
"Eight," replied The Cat.
"Your eight year old daughter likes crossbow bolts?" the elf asked.
"Yeah, she... she likes to hunt."
The clerk remained skeptical.
"She likes to hunt elves," The Cat continued, pushing his luck. "That was a joke."
The clerk inspected the arrowhead. "This looks like more than a regular arrowhead. This appears to be a magical item."
"Oh, no way!" The Cat said. "That'll be an even better souvenir."
The clerk offered to do the job for five gold pieces. The Ulthar Cat agreed, already scheming on methods of alternative payment.
Meanwhile, the rest of the party had arrived at Thomas Manor, a beautiful estate surrounded by an impressive variety of lilies. Inside, they found the coroner, dressed in finery, already rifling through the various business records of the town.
"What are those lilies out front?" asked Bentra.
"Oh, just some flowers that Sir Thomas had a passion for. Apparently they're of a very rare variety."
"Hmm. If I ate one, would it give me powers?" she asked the coroner.
"What? I'd imagine you'd get a bellyache if you ate one, nothing more."
Unconvinced, Bentra went outside and ate a lily. Nothing happened.
Meanwhile, Brothar and Invictus examined the house. Upstairs, they found some old notes. While the notes themselves were blank, the heroes were able to perform a rubbing on them, revealing notes from an unknown benefactor revealing that on the night of the feast of Selune, a sword would be dropped off near the oak by Thomas Manor.
Around that time, The Ulthar Cat had arrived back at the Thomas Manor. Upon learning that the knight had grown prized and valuable lilies, he began to dig up three of the plants, carrying them into the house (and leaving a trail of dirt) as he searched for a bucket in which to place them.
The constable approached Brothar and Invictus, asking if they'd found anything. Brothar attempted to hide the truth of their findings from him, but found it against his paladin code and divulged the information.
Meanwhile, downstairs in the living room, The Ulthar Cat found a silver vase, and placed the lilies into it. Still trailing a little bit of dirt, he attempted to leave the house, but was stopped by the constable.
"What are you doing?" the constable asked. "That property belongs to the crown. And you're making a huge mess!"
"Oh now, these are... just lilies that I just found. And a vase."
Brothar, now a lame goody-two-shoes after his brief flirting with the dark side, grabbed the vase from The Cat and left it at the house.
"Fine then, you're paying the clerk at the hunting shop," The Ulthat Cat said.
The next morning, the group awoke to another murder- the town's cooper had been killed in a similar fashion. The heroes investigated a bit, but left before they could uncover much, as they had planned on visiting Sibelle that day and needed as much daylight as possible. Before heading to the woods, though, the group first stopped by the hunting shop.
The elf, still annoyed at The Ulthar Cat, greeted them. The Cat attempted to haggle the price down, but was unsuccessful, so the group all pitched in to buy the bolt. The Cat, being the only member to carry a crossbow, took the bolt into his possession.
The group left for Sibelle's, following Henrietta's directions closely. They arrived to find a relatively large, and only slightly rundown manor. Outside were packages addressed to the heroes. The package contained information on lycanthropy, the condition of skinchangers. The heroes knocked to see if they can meet this witch, but were not invited in, and so left the forest, using the backward directions of how they arrived.
The heroes arrived back at the village at dusk, only to find that the town apothecary had now also been murdered, absolutely ripped apart. A fresh trail of animal footprints led off to the edges of town, and the adventurers follow, leading to a barn. The heroes and the coroner of the crown all headed to the barn, but before they enter they are attacked by a large werewolf. The creature ripped apart the coroner, who stumbled into the barn, dead. The rest of the group also headed into the barn, where the large lycanthrope locked them in. Soon, the smell of smoke filled the air.
Brothar and Invictus slamed against the door, creating a small crack in it. Bentra, being a small halfling, took advantage of the hole and escaped through it. As Brothar and Invictus slammed against the door again, The Ulthar Cat eyed the fine clothing and jewelry of the coroner of the crown. In the time he had, though, he was only able to loot some gold and a bloody silk handkerchief.
Finally, the bruisers managed to knock the door down, and the rest of the party escaped out of it. The werewolf was nowhere to be seen. By the time the group arrived back at the inn, it was nearly dawn.
With little sleep, the party woke up to the festivities of Selune's festival day. The feast was centered mostly around the village chapel, which had been decorated in all sorts of refinements. The heroes noticed bowls of milk all around the chapel, attracting cats.
"Are those important?" wondered Brothar. "Hey Ulthar, you're a 'cat', right? Drink one and see if they do anything."
"Sure, whatever," The Ulthar Cat said, and drank from a milk bowl. "Yep, it's milk," he confirmed.
Inside, the group saw many of the townspeople they'd met, including Sog and Henrietta, as well as the town's priest. The priest greeted the party.
"Good to see you," he said. "I hear you're doing good work for our town."
"Sure thing," Invictus replied. "Know anything about this werewolf problem?"
"Who said it was werewolves?" asked the priest. "Have you any proof of this claim?"
"We saw one," said Invictus.
"I'm afraid that's not proof, darling," the priest replied.
The Ulthar Cat removed the late coroner's bloody handkerchief. "How's this for proof?"
"What even is that?" asked the priest.
"Wait, where did you get that?" Brothar asked The Cat.
"Oh nevermind, that's nothing," The Ulthar Cat responded.
As the heroes mingled at the festival, Bentra snuck out to head to Thomas Manor. There, she waited for the sword package to arrive. Around duck, she observed a shadowy figure leave a sword by the Thomas Manor oak tree. She grabbed the package and brought it back to the chapel, giving the blade to Brothar.
When the feast began, the doors to the chapel were locked from the inside, and the people's worries were laid to rest. Brothar, uneasy though, approached the guards at the chapel door.
"I wish to stand guard outside," he said.
"I'm afraid we can't let you do that," the guards replied. "No one gets in or out right now. Safety. Plus, it would take a long time to undo these bindings on the door."
At that moment, Invictus and Bentra notice the village priest stand up and go to a room at the back of the chapel. They follow, beckoning to Brothar and The Ulthar Cat to follow. The group head to a large underground chamber, where they find the priest, standing next to a chained up girl- Erin, the blacksmith's daughter.
The Ulthar Cat charged into the room, firing off an eldritch blast into the face of the village priest. The rest of the group followed, surrounding the priest, but he and Erin both transformed into fearsome wolf beasts. However, as the priest attacked the group and wounded Invictus, Erin ran away from the heroes, to the corner of the chamber. Finally, The Ulthar Cat armed his crossbow with the ancient elven bolt and shot at what once was the priest, landing a lethal blow through the eye.
Erin collapsed on the ground, not bothering to put up a fight.
"Erin, we're here to help!" Invictus called out.
"There's no helping me now," Erin replied.
"We know you did some terrible stuff," Brothar replied. "But we can help. This was clearly the fault of your priest!"
"Plus, there's apparently no law enforcement in this town, so I'm sure you'll be fine," The Ulthar Cat added.
"We know someone who can help you- a wise woman named Sibelle." offered Invictus.
Erin surrendered herself, and the group went with her upstairs, but the merrymaking was still underway.
"I got this," The Ulthar Cat said, walking into the main chapel area. He stood on a table with a goblet in hand. "I propose a toast!" The Cat shouted.
Already well into the merrymaking, though, the villagers essentially ignored The Cat's attempt at a distraction. Luckily, Bentra sneakily led Erin through the crowd, and the party escaped, bringing Erin to Sibelle of the Woods.
And we can only assume these heroes will have many more adventures, and will likely meet a new party member soon. Stay tuned!
Roles:
Brothar Leadfoot: Philly
Invictus Kreator: Sam
Bentra Brownbottle: my wife Emily
The Ulthar Cat: me, Thomas!
Dungeon Master: Toni
That's it for this week, but I'm sure there will be more soon!
May the Force be with you!
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