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Ovaltine Patrol
2009-02-27, 02:28 PM
This is my first attempt to keep a campaign journal. The campaign is ongoing and was last on its twelfth session before my travel plans put it on hiatus, it's set to pick back up in March '09.

I knew in advance that I wanted to make use of the books Elder Evils and Red Hand of Doom, and that I also wanted to start the campaign at level one. I picked my BBEG from Elder Evils, edited Red Hand to fit my campaign, and started setting up things for a slow reveal.

There were no house rules per se, but we frequently fudge things if we think we're about to get bogged down. The players were allowed to use any of the WotC splat books that I had (which is to say everything that isn't Kingdoms of Kalamar), I think they all opted to make use of flaws from Unearthed Arcana, but aren't necessarily optimized.

The game started with four players, there are now seven (with one of the original four having left due to an incompatible new schedule).

Setting Information
The first act of the campaign was to take place in the gloomy country of Markova. The land is ruled by landed noble families, all vassals to the Hospodar, Carol Wynchev. Carol is a zealous member of the Solarian Church and has many allies in that institution. Markova is in the unenviable position of having to protect the rest of the so-called "Gloaming West," from the hordes of the Dragon Khans to the east, but their neighbors are not much better.

To the north is barely civilized Volga, a heathen nation which theoretically has a similar mission as Markova, applied to the giants and orcs of Jötunheimr; a mission it regularly fails. Immediately to the west is fractious Francia, a land warring with itself for lack of a king. To the south, the men of Kastoria, and their scheming Achaean Elven comrades seek to sap the Markovan Hospodar's influence with the Solarian Church in order to draw western attention to their own struggle with an inhuman foe.

Session One: The Dilettante of Kozseg

Party Roster
Alec the Black (LE male Human Scout 1)
Llew Bran (NG male Elf Druid 1)
Loki (CN male Half-Orc Barbarian 1)
Xix (NG female Kobold Dragon Shaman 1)

Location
The party began in the large town of Kozseg, an unusual pocket of idyllic country splendor in eastern Markova, only a few day's ride from the closet action of Francia's civil war. Kozseg is the seat of the County, and is ruled by the latest scion of the family: Count Miklos Kozsegi (LG male Human Factotum).

Summary
Miklos invites the PCs to his garden party to offer them some work (and to have some weirdos on display for his guests' amusement). He explains that roving bands of orcs having been coming out of the north, causing mischief and wrecking havoc. The Count explains that the orcs behave more like belligerent refugees than the precursors to a great invasion, but that they must be dealt with all the same. He offers a small bounty on orcish reavers, and separate rewards for a number of objectives, including finding the cause of the orc's southward migration and putting a definitive stop to it.

The party sets out northward, encountering isolated gangs of orcs. They find that while some are in the midst of simple banditry, many of them appear to be fleeing. After a hard day of fighting and trekking, the party settles around the campfire for some well deserved rest. Fortunately it is the goodly Llew Bran who is on watch when a young shepherd stumbles into their camp, pleading for assistance.

Ovaltine Patrol
2009-02-27, 02:56 PM
Session Two: The Shepherds

Party Roster
Alec the Black (LE male Human Scout 1)
Llew Bran (NG male Elf Druid 1)
Loki (CN male Half-Orc Barbarian 1)
Xix (NG female Kobold Dragon Shaman 1)

Location
Having encountered a desperate shepherd, and listening to his plea for aid against a large band of orcs who've made off with both the herd and hostages, the party forges further north, leaving behind the more pleasant territory around Kozseg and making for the cold grazelands. Later, they head east to the Teneniai Forest.

Summary
Looking for the trail of the orc rustlers, the party find the communal lodges of the shepherds, still under siege by a gaggle of orcs. The party saves the remaining shepherds, but their questionable tactics (including somehow ushering the fight on to the thatched roof of the lodge and then crashing through it into the lodge), tempers the shepherds gratitude with wariness. While looting the dead, Loki concludes that the orcs were likely members of different tribes. They pick up the trail heading east to the Teneniai Forest. In the woods they find numerous signs they have difficulty explaining: orcs tracks going in many different directions as well as the tracks of laden horses. In a particularly gruesome instance, they find a trio of orcs hung dead from the branches of a tree.

They finally find some of the rustlers, carrying sheep on their backs and prodding a captive shepherd ahead of them like a shield. The party makes quick work of them, with Xix in particular carrying the day with her auras and some lucky crossbow shots. Their attempts to take an orc captive fail, but they manage to rescue the hostage. The shepherd explains that the orcs and some of his fellow hostages were being picked off by hidden archers and black-clad horsemen riding on light horses, and that the orcs mentioned a desire to rally at the camp of an orc named Kargoth but they had been repeatedly frightened off their course by grisly markers: hung orcs. Alec deduces that the black riders are using the hangings to herd the other orcs around the forest. The party makes camp in the forest.

Ovaltine Patrol
2009-02-27, 03:31 PM
Session Three: Kargoth's Reavers

Party Roster
Alec the Black (LE male Human Scout 2)
Llew Bran (NG male Elf Druid 2)
Loki (CN male Half-Orc Barbarian 2)
Xix (NG female Kobold Dragon Shaman 2)

Location
The party spends most of the session in the Teneniai Forest before breaking out through it's northeastern edge where they discover a curious landmark on the cold plains.

Summary
Their choice to make camp when and where they did was ill advised, at best. Surrounded by bleating sheep, a short distance from dead orcs, and with a campfire, they were just about impossible not to notice. The orc barbarian Kargoth, his ranger comrade Wrack, and a few of their brethren were seeking out the black riders for some bloody vengeance, they found the party instead. Loki, the designated watchman, failed to notice the enemy until the orcs had charged into camp (with Wrack hiding in the darkness with his longbow). The battle was desperate, especially as Llew had run out of spells in the earlier battles. Between Loki's rage and Xix's healing aura, they managed to barely win out over the enemy. Kargoth attempted to flee, but Alec ran after him and scored a phenomenal blow. Of the attackers, only Wrack escaped, having never been found by the party.

They moved camp and managed to sleep the rest of the night without incident. The following day they sent the shepherd and the sheep back out of the woods, found their first camp and followed the orc's tracks back to the site of Kargoth's camp. The place was empty and thoroughly looted. Before they could sort out what happened, the sounds of horses broke the calm. A small band of black riders stormed through the trees, only to be cut down with surprising and anti-climactic ease. The party took the remaining horses for their own and rode out of the woods and back on to the plain. The flat grassland was interrupted however, by a nearly perfect cylinder of earth, bound by a spiraling ramp. All around this unnatural mountain, were the smoking remains of a large encampment.

Notes
I had hoped Kargoth would escape to torment them again, but Wrack would come to serve the role of recurring villain just as well, once the PCs discovered his existence. The players initially thought I was unfair with the nighttime raid on their camp, but I thought it was a fair call: the black riders were prepared to fight orcs, meaning they weren't going to hang around at night when the orcs had the benefit of darkvision. The PCs were the only enemies the orcs were going to find, and they did nothing to hide themselves and had too large of a presence for Wrack, the orc ranger to miss.

The party's good luck during the battle with the black riders seems fishy in retrospect, I began to suspect at this point that one of my players might be less than honest with their die rolls. I didn't want to make any accusations, and I'm not sure how important it is: we're playing this for fun, if that player is only having fun when their character is perceived as doing well, should I do something that might spoil it?

Ovaltine Patrol
2009-02-27, 06:21 PM
Session Four: Assault on Drum Mountain

Party Roster
Alec the Black (LE male Human Scout 3)
Llew Bran (NG male Elf Druid 3)
Loki (CN male Half-Orc Barbarian 3)
Xix (NG female Kobold Dragon Shaman 3)

Location
The party took their time ascending the mysterious "Drum Mountain," and exploring it's topside.

Summary
The group elected to observe "Drum Mountain," from the forest's edge for a time, and were not entirely surprised to see a band of black clad riders descend the spiral ramp and make in their general direction. The party was well hidden though, and the riders passed them by, undoubtedly looking for their missing comrades or more orcs. The party then rode for the mountain, the plain between them and the woods littered with charred orc corpses and the remains of tents. When they reached the base of the mountain, Llew was able to confirm that the mountain was not only unnatural, but that it had arisen quite recently. They set out to ascend the mountain, Alec warily noting that the two bands of horsemen they had seen would not have been enough to so thoroughly destroy the number of orcs they had encountered and stated his belief that there would be more men on top.

They encountered a few token patrols on the ascent, but it became clear to the party that the mysterious force of black-clad men had not expected anyone to come for them. When they reached the top, they found the orderly camp of the riders along with the acting leader of the riders and his retinue. The battle was frantic, with a number of bull rushes and feints, and some hide-and-seek amongst the tents. Eventually, the party defeated the encamped warriors and plundered the tents.

Among the enemy's personal effects, they found the journal of Tabor, the acting leader. They found a few answers as to what was happening: Several tribes of orcs had been gathering on the spot before the mountain appeared, preparing to sack Kozseg and the other towns on the Francian-Markovan border. Tabor's employer was a mage who had somehow come into information regarding a lost magical site under the orc's feet and set out to explore it. The mage's fierce magic destroyed most of the orcs and sent the rest fleeing, and the mage set his mercenaries out to keep the survivors from striking back, or bringing stories of the events to others. Tabor has interpreted these orders to include eliminating any witnesses. Tabor's superior had taken the larger part of the mercenary army north, to chase the orcs back to their holes, leaving him to his mission and to guard the mage.

The party began searching for a way inside of Drum Mountain, eventually finding an elaborate circular door hidden under a pile of skins in a tent. They resolved to explore the false mountain, uncertain of what to expect or what to do in regards to Tabor's employer.

Notes
Bull Rushing people off of precarious ledges is a classic. I'm not sure if I should have left the journal of exposition there, sometimes it's better not to explain things.

Ovaltine Patrol
2009-05-03, 12:45 PM
Session Five-Six: Inside Drum Mountain

Party Roster
Alec the Black (LE male Human Scout 3-4)
Llew Bran (NG male Elf Druid 3-4)
Loki (CN male Half-Orc Barbarian 3-4)
Xix (NG female Kobold Dragon Shaman 3-4)

Location
The inside of Drum Mountain.

Summary
Drum Mountain would prove to be a mysterious and baffling place. The chambers included many inexplicable things within. They first found forest growing in darkness, watered by gentle mists of water pouring from clay pipes above. The unlit forest was haunted by twig blights and tended to by larger than average bees, who presented a small challenge to the party, darting in and out of the darkness, just out range of their light sources. The party wasn't even able to identify their assailants until they had defeated them. Unfortunately some of the twig blights escaped their notice and managed to get to the source of the water, a bound elemental, who they would strive to release while the heroes advanced.

Later, they found a large amphitheater arranged so that the nonexistent audience would be looking down on a large diorama of a city built in an antique style, arranged on a big table. They party approached the diorama, only to be magically shrunken down and teleported into the city. The diorama city would have been devoid of life but for a number of roguish men, whom the party assumed to be associated in some way with Tabor's mercenaries. The rogues harried the party with snipers and skirmish tactics. Battered but victorious, the party elected to rest in the diorama. The following day, they found what they assumed the mercenaries were looking for, a furnished laboratory and office within the most prominent building in the city. There, they found the materials necessary to leave the city and revert to their regular sizes, along with a mysterious alloy key.

Further exploration found a number of other curiosities (and a few attacks by rogues), such a ruined barracks or living quarters of some kind that included a full (mostly ruined) orchestra, a workshop with a still active magmacore golem (which they avoided), a set of rails on the ground leading to archways that opened into empty space, and a series of statues. The statues proved very interesting to Alec, who upon closer examination discovered that each statue had a keyhole that accommodated the alloy key. The statues depicted:

1. A wild-eyed man with unkempt hair and a full beard. He wore robes and bore a plain looking staff in one hand and a small hammer in the other.

2. A half-orc female wearing a breastplate and a winged helm, with numerous chains and bells hanging from her belt. She held a greatsword in both hands, pointing it downward.

3. An athletic looking half-elven man dressed in an antique Achaean style, wielding a short sword in either hand.

4. A tall and imperious looking human in positively ancient, aristocratic clothing. His bears was carefully braided and capped on the bottom.

Alec elected to use the key on all of them. The first three statues had no discernible reaction, but the fourth seemingly lurched to life a few moments later. The statue addressed the party.

"You are not the one I would have expected to call upon me in this place, in this fashion. Who disturbs Eternal Zormrastar? Where is my apprentice?"

The party explained that the place was in ruins and they had not encountered its owner. The statue grew momentarily wistful "Has it been so long, that his laboratory should now be a place of legend? Those feverish, paranoid dreams of his did not come to pass...I do not begrudge treasure hunters, adventurers, I was one myself in bygone days. But tread with respect, and do not disturb me again."

Giving the party no further chance to respond, the statue went still and unresponsive once again. The party decided to keep the alloy key, just in case. The party resumed their exploration, encountering a stonespike which sorely tested the party. They eventually found a mostly empty library, occupied by a pair of bald men, one dressed in red and the other in blue. The attempts of the two to parlay with the party were cut short by bloodthirsty PCs. The "Baldies," as the players would refer to them, responded to gauche behavior with some spellcasting. "Red Baldy," conjured several beasts with a single spell to occupy them (which caused one of the players who indulges in the occasional metagame thinking to curse under his breath) while "Blue Baldy," conjured up a wall of stone to keep them away. Between the beasts and the wall, the party was unable to keep the duo from somehow escaping the room without going past them (in truth, the two utilized potions of gaseous form to simply bypass the distracted party and go topside).

The Baldies had cleared out most of the library, leaving only a number of less interesting works, which the party took anyways, and a strange display piece. The display was a bizarre, blue, chitinous creature the size of an ogre apparently preserved in a glass case. The party could not identify the creature, and felt as if disturbing it might be dangerous. They were also more caught up in the discovery of a secret door in the library that the Baldies had missed, leading a number of choice treasures. While cataloging their spoils, it was discovered that Loki the Barbarian had been stealing gemstones and keeping it a secret from the party. The party was about to get into a heated argument when they were interrupted by a crash. The water elemental that kept the unlit forest watered had been let loose by the twig blights, and it in turn released the strange creature on display (an accident on the elemental's part actually). One last, fierce battle later and the party was brutalized, but alive. The strange creature melted away to nothingness and the party was left glaring at each other suspiciously. Alec wanted to impose discipline by killing Loki, but Loki had fared quite well during the battle and was able to escape (the player decided he wanted to try out a different kind of character, so everyone let the issue drop).

Sans a barbarian, the party headed back to Kozseg.