Here is the write-up from our sixth session with our Beginner Box Hack (from Bridgett).
Spoiler Alert: Even though the party is heading back to town following their recent adventures, there are still spoilers for the adventure Fangs from the Past published by 0one Games. My GM comments, as always, are in [italics and brackets] as usual.
[When we last left the party, they had been woken a bit early from their night’s rest by Aaron. He had heard a scream, relatively faint and high-pitched, and everyone had rushed to investigate. Shadow was in the lead with Aurora and Lemer just behind her and Aaron (in his armor since he was on watch) and Dent lagging farther behind. Shadow had found a camp with about a dozen loggers. They had a goblin tied up and hanging from some trees and one of the loggers was in the process of torturing the little nasty. The screams were from the goblin.]
Shadow let loose the arrow she had notched and killed the goblin, which earned the loggers attention. One of them started to approach Shadow, with the others following and starting to surround our party, and asked why she had killed the goblin. Once he got closer, some of our party recognized the man as Nik, whom they evidently have had dealings with before. He appeared to be quite slow-witted as he kept calling Aurora a whore and didn’t seem to realize that she could probably beat him silly without breaking a sweat.
[Nik, for those who missed it or don’t remember, was the individual that the Aurora and Aaron had some dealing with in Willoweed early one. He’s the one who said Hamil deserved to die for going out in the woods alone and almost started a fight with some of the other locals before Aurora stepped in. Nik was rather insulting towards her and Aaron punched him. While Nik didn’t fight back then, he assured Aaron that “things” weren’t over between them.
There were also some clear differences of opinion regarding the goblin. The loggers seemed to think it was okay to torture them for fun (which is what they had been doing) while the party members did not share that view.
There were also a few other dead goblins lying on the ground by the camp.]
The loggers insisted on accompanying us back to our camp and back to town. Aurora told them it wasn’t necessary, but Nik insisted and since he outnumbered us and we weren’t in the best condition, we really didn’t have much of a choice. Nik kept asking what had happened and askeds Dent about his adventures. Dent went on and on about a dragon he was killing and dropping in on the party. Nik cautioned Dent about hanging around Aurora and suggested that he might catch syphilis from her if the dwarf wasn’t careful. Dent simply asked, since he is a dragon hunter, if Syphilis is a mighty dragon. [Wait! What?!? Who is a mighty dragon? Little does RJ know that he just made a dragon an important part of this campaign…oh crap, I guess he knows now.] Nik gave up trying to get information out of Dent and started asking others in the party about their adventure but no one gives him any information.
[Nik, plain and simple, is a bully and an ass and I played him up. I think both the characters and the players despise the man at this point. At one point, he even tossed Aurora a silver piece since he knew she was used to men paying her for her “time” (Aurora, of course, did not pick up the coin but Dent did). I think that’s when Nik made the comment about an std.
During the fairly one-sided conversations, Nik did let the party know that the goblins had been trying to steal food and had kept babbling about some bear. Nik cut out the goblin’s tongue because it wouldn’t shut up about being hungry and the bear. Nik did get a nasty bite from the beastie as he cut out its tongue.
After the party had gathered all of their equipment and stated heading back to Willoweed, escorted by the loggers, a couple of them went off to gather some stuff from the loggers’ camp…or so Nik claimed.]
Once we are about a half hour from town we saw about a dozen more loggers heading our way (it would appear that the 2 men that had supposedly gone back to their camp for their supplies had actually gone to town to get more of their friends). With two dozen men against our fatigued five, Nik threatened and bullied us to make us tell him what we had been doing while we were gone. Just as it looked like things were going to get violent, Shadow noticed a lone rider approaching. It was Lucent. After he and Nik exchanged a few words, Lucent got Nik and his group to go on their way.
[Before Lucent actually reached the groups, I believe that Nik made some comments about he wasn’t afraid of the sergeant and if the party wouldn’t tell him what he wanted to know, he’d have to kill Lucent. Nik, of course, repeatedly lied to Lucent about what he and his men were up to. But as outnumbered as they were, there was little that the party or Lucent could do about it. And Nik’s men, also of course, backed everything Nik had to say as being the truth.]
Lucent escorted us back to town where Aurora’s mom came up to her and first slapped her, then hugged her as she cried (glad to have her daughter back). [Remember that Aurora had left against her mother’s wishes and had been gone for close to two weeks and were probably assumed dead. Mom was both angry and incredibly relieved and both emotions had to come out. Mom also whispered to Aurora that her father would be proud of her.] With Lucent’s blessing, Aurora’s mom led us to her house where she and some of her friends fixed food for us.
[The party also turned over the bag with the Sturgimate’s head in it to Lucent instead of taking it to Aurora’s home.]
Once we’d eaten, we headed back to Sgt. Lucent to report of our trials (we were, of course, followed by what seemed like the entire town). The mayor was already there and Father Edor arrived shortly. Aurora proceeded to show them the head of the Sturgimate and relate the tale of our trials.
It was decided that, with the increased gnolls in the area, goblin attacks and a possible dragon nearby [the one that Dent had been hunting], Lucent was needed in town and that we should go back and try to sort out the issue with the kobolds…and that we should head out the next day after some rest and a chance to speak with Kilt who might be able to tell us more about the sage. It was also decided that, with the Nik problem, we should sleep at the jail and Lucent would have a guard assigned to Aurora’s mom.
[Much of the discussion was about all the silver…at least a thousand pounds of it…discovered in the sage’s abode and bringing it back to the town. The mayor, of course, is quite excited about the prospect of all this money and even Lucent indicated that it would be a great boon to the town. The kobold issue and the silver are pretty much inseparable.
The party also learned at some point that the increased goblin activity had largely been limited to the little beasties sneaking around town and stealing food. A building which had burned down while the party was gone, however, was attributed to the goblin activity as well as the deaths of those killed in the fire.
Near the end of the conversation, Shadow noticed that someone had been listening outside one of the jail’s windows. When the party went out to try and see who it was, they were met by the gathered townfolk and so could not catch the eavesdropper.]
Dent seemed insistent on going to the tavern for a pint and it was thought best that he not go alone. The town was quite proud of Aurora and Aaron’s accomplishment in killing the Sturgimate and hoisted them on their shoulders as they left the jail and carried them to the tavern, where a celebration ensued.
At the tavern, while most of the others are distracted by the festivities, Shadow was able to speak with Kilt about the sage, the sage being a dragon, and the kobolds’ relationship to dragons (they have been known to serve evil dragons). Although the festivities continued on, we retired to the jail for the night and for another meal from Aurora’s mom and friends. While we were eating, Kilt showed up. Evidently, Dent decided to tip the innkeeper with 2 of the silver dragon scales from his pack. Aurora speaks with Kilt some more about what we might can expect on our quest.
[Actually, Dent tipped the bartender with one and the musician at the tavern with another. Kilt did not divulge how he ended up with both of them.]
We head out the next morning with more rations, more preserved rations and extra equipment (Aaron and Shadow each have a vial of cure light wounds). Lemer is wearing the tunic we found at the sage’s. Lucent sent one guard with us (Benliam) to care for the horses and guard them while we make our way back up the gorge and to the sage’s.
During our first night camping, we were attacked by about eight goblins. We defeated all of them but one who surrendered. We questioned it and learned the following information from it:
1. a big brown bear came to their cave;
2. it ate their chief; and
3. they fled.
[
4. It was hungry.
5. It was hungry.
6. It was hungry.
7. It was hungry.
8. It was hungry.
The goblin was quite hungry and wanted to take a nibble out of pretty much anyone and everyone…including its dead companions.]
Once we determined that there was no more information we could learn from it, we quickly dispatched it.
[What? No torture!
That’s where we ended the session.
It was kind of one of those strange sessions where there isn’t really any clear direction with things or that I had prepped much at all (I was pretty much winging it). Instead, it was a lot of different potential plot strings becoming more tightly woven…at least in my mind.
The players have identified at least few different things going on.
- What was the item taken from the quarters in the Yellow Cave? Who took it? And why did they take it?
- What do the kobolds in the gorge know about the sage and the silver? How are they going to be dealt with and how is the silver going to be transported back to town?
- What is the mayor up to? Did he have a role in the Sturgimate’s return? Even if he didn’t, exactly what is he up to? He’s got to be involved in something, right? (Apparently, Aaron still doesn’t quite trust the mayor to be on the up and up.)
- Who was listening to their conversation in the jail and what might come of that?
- Why is Nik such an ass? Is there someone backing him and his thugs?
- Are gnolls coming back into the area or were the two camped at the old ruined village just an isolated thing?
- What is the deal with the goblins and the bear? Did the bear simply drive them out and that’s why they’re raiding around town or is it something more than that?
- What about the dragon that dropped Dent into the party’s lap? Was it just flying over or does it represent another threat to Willoweed?
- Was the Sturgimate allied with anyone? If so, might they come looking for those responsible for the death of their ally? The party is pretty convinced that all five Sturgimates are dead (based on the magic of the five fangs they found) but does that mean that that is the end of the story with the Sturgimates?
