In the prior couple of sessions, the party had returned to Winterhaven to deal with the Cult of Orcus and the Bloodreavers. Kidnappings had continued, including six children. Our heroes had successfully attacked the main Bloodreaver camp, rescued some villagers, and returned back to Winterhaven. They set out for the Keep on the Shadowfell the next morning. Arriving at the ruins of the keep, they dispatched the hobgoblin guards and headed down some stairs to encounter and defeat additional hobgoblins. Exploring the complex below, they encountered various cultists, quickly dispatching some in their sleep and fighting others. We pick up with the search for the children and the attempt to defeat the cult after this fight with the cultists after the break.

When we last left the Vale’s heroes, they were on their way back to Winterhaven after having dealt with Talavi and the Winter Fey invasion. Word had reached them that things in Winterhaven had gotten worse, with more villagers having been taken (presumably by the Bloodreavers or the Cult of Orcus). So our heroes were traveling with all due haste when they came upon the scene of less a fight and more of a massacre on the King’s Road. Following a bloody trail and odd insect-like tracks, they came upon a “hive.” Investigating invisibly, Gandave entered and was quickly swarmed by kruthiks. This is where we will pick up after the break.

A bit of housekeeping details, as noted in a prior post, Evelyn is no longer able to join us. So Sulrinn has left the party to pursue her own agenda. We also have a new player, Adam, who has joined us. He is playing Aetris, a tiefling paladin, and having heard of the party’s deeds and Winterhaven’s need, has just tracked down the party.

See what’s become of me
While I looked around for my possibilities

—from A Hazy Shade of Winter by Simon & Garfunkel

D&D and time has always had a bit of an odd relationship. There is the old joke about thirty seconds of combat taking three hours to play through while a three hour hike is covered in thirty seconds of game play. Fifteen minute work days followed by 23.75 hours of rest. Spell durations. Days for crafting items or training or what have you. Lots of things about how long it takes to do things or how long things last…mostly in terms of the players characters. None of that is the subject of this post. Instead, below the break, let’s talk about time in terms of the flow of time in a game, the possibilities it engenders, and what may become of a campaign because of it.

To help everyone with keeping track of the things going on in the campaign, I’ve pulled together the various “plot hooks” or events that have occurred to date…just in case they’ve been forgotten. It is pretty typically for multiple hooks or “story lines” to develop during our campaigns and to continue to develop even if the player characters are not actively involved. So let’s summarize what’s been going on below the break…in no particular chronological or importance order…based on what the player characters already know (even if the players don’t remember).

In their mission to put a stop to an invasion of Winter Fey, the party got themselves caught up in yet another fine mess. Mostly friendly kobolds, hobgoblin slavers, clearly insane Orcus fanatics, lost evil temples, a dig site excavating some undead thing, human bandit slavers, sheep out after dark, pillar of the community shopkeeper secretly an Orcus cultist, and even more cultists tunneling under Winterhaven and into the Padraig family crypt. Sheesh…what’s next? Oh, let’s find out after the break.

Oh my…the party has stepped in some deep…snow. Embroiled in a fey invasion and, more to the point, preventing it. How minor and yet how important can a single letter…u vs o…be? In this case, very. Travel through the Feydark, a visit (conjugal for one) to everyone’s favorite Auntie, transported to the far west of the Vale, and then hobgoblins and a fugitive kobold, and finally a kobold clan to save from said hobgoblins and evil “fleshy” (human). There are multiple plot lines going on at this point and I have a sneaking suspicion that another one might be about to hook the party.

Let’s go find out.