Bear with me…the first session was a few weeks ago so I’m reconstructing this from my always suspect memory. These session notes are mainly intended to highlight the major events/actions and not a blow-by-blow account of everything that happened.
Warning: Spoilers below for the adventure, Barrow of the Ogre-King, in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide.
The game began with a very simple premise…the PCs were travelling to the Fallen Lands to seek out the legendary ghost prophetess, Lady Saharel (yes, I was originally planning on using the Scepter Tower of Spellguard adventure but changed my mind). All of the PCs with the exception of Dent (since Dave would not be playing for awhile) and Ruben (since Pat would be missing the first couple of sessions) had met during their various travels towards the Fallen Lands and elected to band together since they shared a common goal. The party’s travels had lead them to the Gray Vale (Loudwater specifically) and had left them very low on funds and resources. Thus the PCs were already known to each other and in need of a “job” as they approached the small town of Loudwater.
Guards at Loudwater’s gate directed the PCs towards the Green Tankard Tavern (which is also an inn) as a place to find lodging for the night. As the party neared the Tankard, the game per se began with a bang! One of Loudwater’s walls collapsed with a very loud BOOM!!! and gobins swarmed in through the opening. Townsfolk were attacked and the PCs were the only ones nearby who could stem the maruading tide. Combat ensued and it became clear that the goblins had a mission. One store in particular, Garwan’s Curiosities, was the obvious target.
Combat ensued and a few of the townsfolk were killed and, as they would discover later, a single item, a Horn Totem, was stolen from Garwan’s. The PCs were able to minimize the number of townsfolk killed but were not able to kill or capture all of the goblins. One, in particular, was able to escape with the stolen Totem. Following the battle, Roxy had a conversation with Garwan and learned that the Horn Totem had been taken. She also learned that Garwan had purchased it from Curovar, a wizardly type that lives in Loudwater and can often be found at the Green Tankard in the evening. As the other PCs headed over the Tankard to seek out Curovar, Roxy remained behind to help Garwan clean up the goblin damage and board up a broken window…Garwan was suitably impressed by her generous, civic spirit and told her that she could keep the Horn Totem if her group tracked down the goblins and recovered it.
Some of the party also have a short conversation with the captain of the Loudwater’s guard, Captain Harrowleaf, and receive his congratulations on the role they played in repelling the attackers. As he surveys the damage done to the town’s walls, Harrowleaf does spot a pouch that must have been dropped by one of the goblins in the battle. Inside is a small piece of parchment with a message, written in goblin, which reads:
Knobbyhead,
I learn totem in shop wit name Garwan in townplace. Get it. Use old boom barrel to break wall south. Big important job. You no fail. Die before fail. Totem make easy magic and me bring Ogre King back.
Sarcossug
(Yeah, it is pretty lame and railroady…oh well).
It is also pretty clear…looking at the trail that the goblins left…that, as the attackers approached Loudwater, they had no real worries about being tracked.
At the Green Tankard, the party has the opportunity to have a chat with Curovar (an older wizard type) who admits that he had taken the Horn Totem from some dwarven ruins in the Southwood that was overrun with goblins. He had snuck in–with the use of magic–and taken the Totem. The goblins want the Totem to assist in a ritual to bring back the Ogre-King…a magic-wielding ogre. Curovar claims that it is very unlikely that the goblins can do such a thing even with the Totem.
Still, the party decides to hunt down the goblins. Curovar provides some basic directions and the party follows the trail left by the goblins to discover some dwarven ruins in the Southwood. A low ruined wall, with a fairly ornate archway, surrounded an overgrown courtyard. Entering the courtyard, Berran discovered (the hard way) a large pit and the first of the goblin guards. The party found these goblins to be a bit more difficult to dispatch than those at Loudwater and Berran, in particular, found the combat to be quite exhuasting (he ended up using all but one of his healing surges by the end of the fight).
Realizing that the ruins were more below ground than above, the party pushed deeper into the catacombs after defeating the initial guards. A short corridor lead to an intersection with a door to one side, another corridor to the other side, and a stairway leading further down straight ahead. Yuri moved ahead to scout and discovered some creatures slowly shambling forward down the side corridor.
That’s where session #1 ended.
