12 Realms: A Campaign Log

[Reaver25]

Hello, everybody! I have read many campaign logs, from Kaveman to SilverShiftClaw and beyond. This has inspired me to post my own campaign logs on this forum. Hopefully it is a good read for everyone. So, first, I'll give you the list of DM House Rules that we have, the world we live in, and then introduce the characters. Then I shall have the first session posted! :smallsmile:

Most of us were new players, so our DM made some house rules to simplify everything. We are playing with 5th edition D&D Rules, including these house rules:
1. Components for spells are non-existent. This may change in the future, but for now, our DM would rather have us getting used to playing the game than focusing on gathering components. To make up for this, however, he has also ruled that the verbal and somatic components are not just a fluff in-game, but are something that needs to be shown when we are casting it. For example, for the Cleric Cantrip Sacred Flame, it requires a verbal component. So a phrase or word must be said while casting it. For the Cleric, she says "Well Done!" because she likes her creatures well done rather than rare (like a steak).
2. Gods/Goddesses are not as game changing. DM has read many logs which focused on the actions of the Gods or Goddesses and how it affected the people. He said "it's all about you guys, I don't really care about them.
3. Some minor class changes. After laying through a few sessions, our DM felt that many of the classes had too many intersections. Many of the classes can now cast and have proficiency in skills they couldn't have in earlier editions. He wanted to make the classes distinct in their roles, so he made a few changes, most notably to the Rogue class. For the Rogue (and for everybody rolling for certain skills), he has changed many of the Thief skills (i.e. picking locks, unarming traps, picking pockets) from skill rolls with a d20 to percentile rolls. So basically, if anyone besides a Rogue tries to pick a lock, they will have a much lower chance to succeed than a Rogue would.

These are our DM's rules, and all of the players (including the one vet) like them and agreed to them.

Now that our house rules have been explained, let's dive into the world of 12 Realms!

12 Realms is a vast area of land divided into (you guessed it) 12 Realms. Each of the 12 Realms are significant in some way, as some areas have strong farming industries and others have strong militaries, etc. The home realm of everyone playing is called Avenshale, a rather plain realm with not a whole lot going on. There are a few large cities, but for the most part, there are many villages. Orcs and Goblins are numerous in eastern Avenshale, and cause many issues for the civilians.
In a larger picture of the campaign, there were several ages. Age of the Elves, for instance, was when the Elves were at their peak population and military strength. Age of the Dwarves has also passed, and we are now in the Age of Man. While Elves, Dwarves, and other races are still around, they are not as populous as humans and are on the decline.
We were all given maps of our territory and of the 12 Realms, but not an individual map of each Realm. If anyone wants me to post the map at a future date, let me know and I will.

We know the setting now. Let's dive into the characters that make up our gaming party!

Althadus (played by me) is a level 1 Chaotic Neutral High Elf Rogue. Initially, I wanted to make an Arcane Trickster Rogue, turning invisible and using illusions to sneak past enemies (we'll see how that turned out). Althadus is very stubborn and will only do something he wants to do, not because someone tells him to. He grew up with his parents in a beautiful elven city, but always found himself in trouble. He never stole for personal profit, but for the simple challenge of stealing. He trained as a Wizard for a short time, but always messed up his lessons and irritated his teacher (mostly with the use of Mage Hand and shoe laces). His group of friends one day challenged him to steal the mayor's logbooks. Not being able to turn down a dare, he accepted. Just when he was getting out of the mayor's office, he was caught and imprisoned. His punishment was exile.
Althadus found a living as a courier, giving up the Roguish life. He met a beautiful girl named Caryss, who lived on a farm. He frequently traveled there to deliver packages to her father, but spent most of his time sweet talking her.
One day, while delivering a package to her father, he heard Caryss and her sister, Thora, screaming from quite a distance away. Althadus spurred his horse to a gallop and rode to her house. Just before bursting out of the woods near Caryss's house, he stopped and saw thugs slamming Caryss and Thora into shackles, and then into a cage, which was on a carriage. As they were being taken away, he noticed a still body on the ground (probably their father). A strange looking man in a cloak limped over to his body, poured liquid over it, and the man got back up! They took him, too. He has been following them for three nights, and knows that if he is to save her, he must act tonight... (Something to note for Althadus: he hasn't been a true Rogue for some time now, so he does not have a proficiency bonus yet, nor are his class features available until level 3. Also, he is a mix of melee and ranged attacks, wherever he is needed most.)

Caryss (played by my wife) is a level 2 Lawful Good Life Human Cleric. She has spent most of her life at her father's farm. He tends to be in the basement tinkering and engineering new tools for the farm while her sister Thora works the farm. When not at home, she spent time at the temple in the nearby city, Dagon.
Recently, a handsome Elf has been delivering odd packages to her father and spending his time trying to swoon Caryss. She thinks he is a pretty face, but not much else.
One day, bandits came into her home and, despite her fighting, chained up her and her sister. She has been in a covered cage pulled by horses for almost three nights now. She met another woman in the cage who is confident that they can escape tonight... (Caryss mostly attacks with Searing Flame or Guiding Bolt, healing us when needed.)

Thora is a level 1 Neutral Good Human Druid. Thora took care of the crops on her father's farm and spent much of her time in the woods nearby, speaking with animals and loving the nature.
One day, bandits came into her home and, despite her fighting, chained up her and her sister Caryss. She has been in a covered cage pulled by horses for almost three nights now. Caryss has been talking to another woman in the cage who is confident that they can escape tonight... (Thora tries to stay out of the way of everyone else. She assists when possible, but really starts to shine when she can Wild Shape


Ryuu is a level 2 Neutral Good Human. Her class was unknown to us and herself at the beginning of the campaign. All we know of Ryuu is that she was a bounty hunter who took many men down with her charm and cunning. She was caught unawares in an alley one day and slapped into a cage. From what she can hear of the boisterous, drunkard guards, she is only there because of her unique look. She has golden eyes and resembles the people over the mountain (to the north of Avenshale). She has been in the cage for at least a week now.
Three other girls get thrown into her cage as well. One of them is constantly crying and asking for her mommy. The other two, though, have defiant looks in their eyes. Caryss and Thora, they call themselves. Ryuu tells them of her plan to escape... (Ryuu is adept at melee combat and some ranged, but once her class is revealed it all changes.)

Gravic is a level 2 Lawful Good Human Paladin. He was a member of the temple for a long time and was always unquestioningly loyal to his superiors. The temple had been trying to fight corruption in the town for a long time, which including a ring of drugs, bandits, slave-traders, and more. Gravic was always ready to smite some evil, so smite he did. Gravic was returning to report to his master when he overheard a hushed conversation between his master and a shady looking man. He busted in through the door to find them haggling over the price of his master's loyalty. Overcome with grief and anger, he attempted to strike his master down. The shady looking man disappeared in an instant, and the temple guards overcame him. He was seen as a traitor, stripped of his equipment and rank, and exiled.
In his dreams, he has been told by a mysterious figure: "Slay the undead, that is your mission." Gravic believes that if he smites enough undead, he might gain his Paladin powers back. Now, Gravic is on a mission to get his Shield back from a Goblin, Ya'Dran, who bought it in the black market from a priest. Gravic was told that if he escorted some of his new "supplies," that he could get his shield back. Gravic has been travelling with brigands and bandits for the last few weeks while they collect people and put them in cages. While wanting to smite them, he knows that the only way to stop the slave trade is to kill the man in charge of it and get his shield back. He is considering doing this one night while his "comrades" are all passed out from excessive drinking... (Something to note for Gravic: He does not have any Paladin powers until he completes his mission. Basically, he is a skilled Fighter with no other significance. He fights with the ol' sword n' board.)

Marigold is a level 1 Chaotic Good Halfling Fighter. Marigold was raised by Dwarves. She excelled in weapons training and was always quick to fight. She has a fuse shorter than her, and she isn't afraid of anything.
Marigold was travelling throughout the countryside looking for adventure when she was captured and taken by bandits. She was put into a cage with four other Dwarves. At first, they laughed at her. After a few beatings, she was laughing at them. They have been in the cage for an unknown amount of time. All Marigold wants to do is get out of the cage, slay her captors, and drink some ale. (Marigold will literally fight with anything. Crossbow, axe, sword, whatever does the most damage.)

The Ranger is a 6'5" level 5 Wood Elf Ranger. He doesn't know his name, anything about his past, or why he is in a cage strapped to another man just as large as himself. He hasn't spoken a word to the other man nor to his captors, only quietly promising their destruction... (Side Note: this guy was our most experienced player and saved us many times over. He and the DM decided it would be fun to reveal portions of his backstory as the campaign went along rather than at the beginning. So our veteran player is currrently suffering from amnesia. Also, he starts out spinning his swords but later switches to his longbow.)

Those are the characters in our campaign. We only play once a month, but I've got a few sessions to post before we are caught up. Hopefully everyone enjoys the read, and let me know if you have questions/comments!

Session 1: The Escape

Althadus is hiding in the woods, looking on at the bandits that have captured his future girlfriend (or so he hopes). He can see five separate cages, each of which are covered with tarp. He doesn't know who is in which cage, except that he can hear crying and whimpering from most of them. He can clearly see that, except for one man standing near the cages, the other thugs are knocked out from a night of heavy drinking.

Althadus decides to sneak out of the woods and make his way around the sentry. With all of his focus on the cages, he fails a Perception check to see a man casting a spell nearby.

Mysterious Voice: "Colors abound!" spoken in Elvish is all he hears. He is blinded for a brief moment (Color Spray). After regaining his sight, he gets hit from a different direction by tiny forces of magic (Magic Missile). He runs into the forest and dives onto the floor for cover. He tries shooting an arrow from his shortbow in the general direction of the voice, but is not rewarded with any shout of pain.

Meanwhile, Gravic has decided that he is going to free as many of the prisoners as he can, and slay the captors. Then, he will march on Ya'Dran's fortress by himself and slay the evil there. The first tarp he flips up contains Ryuu, Thora, and Caryss.

Gravic: "Hey, I'm letting you go. Sorry for all of the trouble." He starts getting his keys out. Ryuu pushes the door open to the surprise of Gravic. She picked the lock!

Ryuu: "Thanks for the effort, let's get all of the people out of here!" They proceed to quietly get all of the women out of the various cages,

Althadus decides to get back up, and since he is no longer under enemy fire, continues to make his way to the cages. He is confused as to who attacked him, but he doesn’t have time to search for a predator; he must get to Caryss.

Hoping that he will find her quickly, he flips open the first tarp to reveal four male Dwarves and a very angry looking Halfling, who is shouting obscenities in Dwarvish. They yell at him to let them out, but Althadus is helpless as he can't pick the lock. He promises to come back for them. He moves on to another cage and flips over the tarp. He sees the tall Elf and Human chained together. The Human looks extremely angry, and the Elf looks calm.

Elf: "Get me out of here, friend." The tall Elf speaks to Althadus in Elvish. He has an air of authority about him, and he holds his chest and chin high.

Althadus: "I'll do my best, but I can't pick the locks, I don’t have my tools!" He starts to realize that a rescue mission would have been much easier with his lockpicking set.

Elf: “The human here says he can get us out if you grab his axe. It's in the cart there." Althadus is eager to help a fellow Elf, and tries searching for the axe.

Gravic: “What are you doing, Thief?” He saw Althadus rummaging through all of the gear in the cart and ran over to him with his sword drawn.

Althadus: "Wait, no! I'm trying to--" He realizes that Gravic was a guard, and that revealing his plan to rescue any prisoners was probably not a smart idea. "Uh, well, you see..." He starts to stutter as Caryss walks up.

Caryss: "Althadus? What are you doing here?" She is confused as to why the courier who delivered to her father is here.

Althadus: "I came here for you, I was trying to rescue you!" Gravic realizes that the Elf is just trying to help the prisoners, so he calms down. Just then, the whole camp comes alive at the sound of a voice.

Mysterious Voice: "WAKE UP! WAKE UP, YOU FOOLS, THEY ARE LETTING THE PRISONERS GET AWAY!!!" All of the guards start to stir and get up slowly while grabbing their weapons and their heads in a drunken stupor. They realize that some of the prisoners are being released and get angry, knowing this will affect their payday.


Gravic tosses the keys over to Althadus, and yells out for him to get to the Dwarves first. He knows they can fight well, so he hopes that they will fight their captors. Althadus instead decides to open the cell that holds the Elf and the Human. As he does so, the Human charges at Althadus, kicks him, and grabs his axe in the back of the cart. At this point, all of the bandits are on their feet and charging toward the liberators. After the Human picks up his axe, he smiles wickedly at the Elf.

Human: “I was s’posed to make sure yeh didn’t get outta her’, now I might got to kill yeh. Stupid, pointy eared elf!” He starts swinging his axe at the Elf, but can’t seem to hit him. The Elf is ducking, dodging, and waiting for his moment to strike as the axe whistles close by his head.

Althadus gets back up on his feet, drawing his shortsword and dagger. He is beginning to close in on the Human, but a hard glare from the Elf tells him to back away. He understands, and moves on to protect some of the other prisoners. The thugs are near the cells now, and most of them have swords and shields. Others are shooting crossbows from afar, but thanks to their heavy drinking, they haven’t really hit anything. Althadus closes in on one of the thugs, deflects his sword and finds an opening in the thug’s leather armor. He slashes with his sword and stab the man’s ribs with his dagger. The man drops his sword, holding his side, and falls to the floor.

Gravic is brandishing his sword and shield to the other thugs. Some of them are confused at his betrayal, but others were thinking of doing this very thing and stealing some of the prisoners for their own profit. Two of them move in on Gravic. He blocks one of their strikes with his shield, but is cut on the arm by another in return. He stabs quickly with his sword, stabbing one of them in the eye. The thug falls to the floor immediately and starts screaming.

The Elf is continuing to dodge the axe swings and finally catches a break; the Human swung his axe too far and got it lodged in the cart near him. The Elf tackles him to the ground, breaking the axe free. He starts to pummel the man and they start wrestling, both trying to get the upper hand. The Human is strong, but the Elf is nimble.

Thora and Caryss are just trying to stay out of the way at this point, but are stopped by one of the bandits who is looking at the girls like they are going to be his dinner. His teeth are rotting out of his mouth as he smiles devilishly. Caryss fires a bolt of light at him, killing him instantly (Guiding Bolt). They continue to try to hide, and as they run past another thug, he swings his sword sluggishly at them but gets an arrow to the forehead instead, fired by Althadus.

Ryuu decides that she would be doing best by helping the other people get free, and sets about trying to find the keys that Althadus lost when he was drop-kicked. She finds the keys and lets out everyone else. The Dwarves charge away, but the Halfling decides to stick around and kill a few thugs. She picks up two swords that were dropped by them, appalled by the lack of upkeep on the blood-encrusted weapons, and charges into a few of them that are fighting Gravic. Having fought the Halfling to get her into the cage, they are fearful of her.

Thug: “You! You’re the one who bit me on me leg!” He angrily points at his still fresh wound. The Halfling smiles at the memory.

Halfling: “If it makes you feel any better, you tasted like garbage!” She spits on the ground, ready to attack. The thug thrusts first, still clumsy from his drunkenness. She easily deflects his sword, then quickly retaliates. She swings one sword at him with devastating speed. He is unable to block that attack and gets a cut on his upper arm. He drops his sword and grabs his arm in pain. She thrusts her other sword into his chest while he was distracted, and he falls over in disbelief.

Gravic, still fighting one of them, feints an overhand strike but quickly spins his sword into a side. He maneuver works, slicing one of the man’s gut open. The thug stops fighting to look down at his guts spilling out, and he passes out from shock.

The Human and the Elf are still wrestling. Just when the Human thinks he has the upper hand, the Elf grabs his axe and hits him in the face with the haft. "OW!" Now he is angry. Althadus has noticed that the Elf is still wrestling the large man, but he was busy firing arrows at the last two thugs that are still standing. He fires an arrow that slams into the chest of one of them. He goes down. There is only one of them left. He looks at the angry Halfling that just began charging toward him. He just saw her cut down one of his friends, and he decides that he wants to live to fight another day. He drops his crossbow and sprints away, his fear overcoming his drunken stupor.

The Elf is able to get the upper hand after a few intense moments of struggle with the Human. He brings the axe back for a heavy swing, knowing that this will be the killing blow. The Human, seconds from death, smiles, then starts laughing wildly. The axe cuts his laughter short, decapitating him in one smooth swing.

Caryss and Thora step out from a few of the trees that are nearby, and walk back over to Ryuu, who has stayed out of the fight in order to release the other prisoners. Althadus steps near Caryss, and the Halfling walks over to them, tossing the dirty shortswords aside.

Everyone is wiping the blood off of themselves, and they all get their first good look at each other. Just then, Althadus hears "Colors abound!" again, and everyone is blinded.

Gravic: "Merith! You won't get away with this!" He is trying to get his bearings again. Althadus is the first to recover, and realizes that Merith is getting away on his horse! He tries to catch up to him, but to no avail.

"This is not the last you have heard of Raz'Al Ghoul!" Merith yells out from atop the horse, and teleports away. Althadus yells after him and swears revenge on the man who stole his horse. He notices a small pawn chess piece laying on the ground where Merith teleported. Against the heavy wishes of the others, Althadus pockets it. Everyone expects him to blow up, but he just smiles on.

Althadus runs back to the others, and they all thank each other for the help. They all introduce themselves, except for the Ranger, who is glaring at Gravic. When it comes time for Gravic to introduce himself, the Ranger cuts him off.

Elf Ranger: "I don't trust a word you say. You aren't even loyal to the people who employed you. I should tie you to a tree." And, even though Althadus and Ryuu try to stop him, the Ranger succeeds in tying Gravic to the tree with the assistance of the Halfling, who agrees in tying him up. She introduces herself as Marigold.
Gravic: "Nice to meet you, I'm ---" He tries to make nice with her, but she punches him in the face.


That was where our first session ended! Again, I have edited this session to add in detail that I have remembered as well as the general format. Thanks for reading!


EDIT: I have added a few details in here and changed the formatting of how I wrote in later sessions. I felt this works better for my style.

[ComaVision]

Why did members of the group start at different levels?

[Reaver25]

Why did members of the group start at different levels?

I was confused at this as well, but our DM explained it as some of us having more experience than others. For instance, the most alarming difference is probably the level 5 Ranger. While he is tough, he doesn't know why he can fight as well as he does. It's kind of like a Jason Bourne thing. As for the others, again, the DM said the experience of each character was slightly different. For instance, Althadus hasn't done any Thieving for a awhile, whereas Caryss was constantly at the temple and using her abilities for the greater good, just as Gravic was out doing missions for his temple.
Also, while it might seem unbalanced now, we are now all level 5, except for the Ranger who just got to level 6. And we are all close to level 6.

Sorry for the confusion there!

[Reaver25]

All right, I've got some more free time. Last time, all of our adventurers met each other, escaped from the hands of some bandits, and tied the Paladin to a tree. Always a good start to a new session!

Session 2: The Search

Gravic is tied to a tree with the Ranger ready to beat him senseless. Since the other members of the not-yet-formed party don't agree with this, Marigold has his back and will attack anyone who stops him from questioning the former Paladin.

Ranger: "Why did you take us?"

Gravic: "I didn't personally take you; I just didn't stop them, and I was wrong in doing that. Listen, I can give you all of the answers you need, but untie me and ---" another punch to the face from Ranger stops him here.

Ranger: "Thanks for not answering my question. WHY DID YOU PEOPLE TAKE US?!"

Gravic (looking at him with a blackened and swollen eye): "They took you because each of you were unique in some way. The one in charge of all of this is Ya'Dran. He wants each of you for a specific purpose. For what specifically, I am unsure."

Ranger: "What do you mean we're unique?" Poised to hit again. This time, Ryuu tries to come forward but a growl from Marigold stops her.

Gravic: "Look at all of you; a Halfling who fights better than most men, a tall and scary Elf, a golden-eyed woman, and-- well, I'm really not sure why they took you two," He nudges his head in the direction of Caryss and Thora. There is nothing specifically making them stand out.

Ranger: "Okay. Well, I understand you had to do what you did. Why did you want to help us? I heard you trying to get some of these people out of their cages." Calming down now, but his fists are still clenched.

Gravic: "The man in charge of all this has something of mine, and he said the only way to get it back was to complete this transaction for him. I began releasing some of the prisoners because I realized the error of my ways. Now, I want my shield back, but I will smite Ya'Dran, no matter the cost. Too long have I let evil go unchecked." Spoken like a true Paladin.

Ranger: "I see. Then my quarrel is not with you, former Paladin. It is with this Ya'Dran, and I will personally see him slain. I will go with you to kill him." Ranger begins untying Gravic, who is relieved to be able to move again. Once Gravic is free, Caryss chants a few words and his wounds fade away (Healing Word) She moves to each person and frees them of pain as well (Healing Word and Cure Wounds).

Gravic: "I am grateful you did not kill me, and I am sorry for all of your losses. I can see everyone here has the workings of a courageous soul. If you will accompany me, we can personally see to Ya'Dran's destruction and the end of this slave trade. What say you?"

We all talk it over and decide that killing the guy in charge of these operations is a great idea. Plus, Althadus and Marigold realize that if Ya'Dran is a collector of unique items, he may well have a wealth of items to be taken. a.k.a. LOOT BABY!

Gravic pulls out his map and points the way to the city, Dagon, stating that this is where Ya'Dran's base of operations are. Gravic was supposed to deliver the "supplies" at a bay near the lake in the city. The plan for now? Get to the city and see if he knows his delivery has been screwed up.


At this point, we are told to make a marching order to the city, which goes as follows:
1. Althadus, 150 yards out in front to scout and make sure that bandits won't be attacking them.
2. Gravic
3. Marigold on his right flank
4. Ryuu
5. Caryss
6. Thora on her left flank
7. Ranger 150 yards to the rear and off the road, making sure they are not being followed.

We are marching along the road for about two hours when Althadus spots some men on horses riding toward them quite quickly. He runs back to tell the others, who promptly agree on getting off of the road. Althadus decides to stay on the road in case they are saying anything. Everyone starts yelling him to get under cover, but he walks on happily and care-free.

Ryuu: "He's about to be road kill. You can heal that, right?" She smirks at Caryss.

Caryss: "I can, but it doesn't mean I will." Caryss is completely straight-faced, which almost makes Ryuu think she is serious.

Ranger: "Shut up, here they come!"

The men on their horses are galloping at full speed toward Althadus, their hooves flying and digging into the dirt...
Althadus waves at them happily as they gallop on past him. No danger, no surprises. They don't even acknowledge his existence.

Althadus: "See, I told you. It's all good!" While everyone is glaring at him. "Would you rather they found us in the bushes as if we were going to ambush them, or ride past us when their weapons aren't even drawn? We look like a bunch of commoners!" We take a moment to look at our clothes. We do indeed look like commoners.

Ranger: "Whatever, let's get back on track." And we do. Along the way, we stop for a break. Everyone relaxes about a hundred feet off of the road. Althadus walks up to the Ranger and tries to get on his good side.

Althadus: "Hey man. Listen, sorry about all of that arguing back there. I was really trying to help you."

Ranger: "Yes, I realize that. I tend to be quite straightforward." He is glaring at Althadus, who is smiling back.

Althadus: "So, what do we call you? I know you don't really know your name but... there has to be something we can call you." Everyone tries to come up with a name.
"Stretch!" -Ryuu
"Skinny legs!" -Marigold
"Bigfoot!" -Caryss
"Bubba Elf!" -Althadus. At this, everyone laughs OOC. Ranger's character also hits me OOC. OW! They all ask why 'Bubba Elf,' and I tell them: "Well, you see, I always wanted a big brother. And he's an Elf. So I wanted to call him Big Brother Elf. But that’s too long to say. So I thought of B.B. Elf, but that doesn't sound fun. Two B's, an Elf, you get Bubba Elf! What do ya think?" Everyone is dumbfounded by Althadus's explanation of this (low Wisdom score, trying to roleplay an idiot).

Ryuu: "Well I say it's Stretch. That's short, simple, and to the point."

Thora: "Sounds good to me!" Everyone nods.

Althadus: "Stretch it is, Bubba Elf!" Stretch hits me again.


We eventually get to Dagon without too much trouble and get into the city. Once there, it is agreed that Marigold, Ryuu, Caryss, and Thora will stay nearby the docks and out of the way, while Althadus and Ranger follow Gravic to overlook the meeting spot. So, we move through the city and try our best to look normal. Thanks to a bonus from Ryuu, we move through the city at a doubled speed, so we get there quite quickly.

Once we got there, we could see that there was a river separating the docks and some grasslands. Then, further down river, a small island sat in the middle of the lake. There was also a ferry (in the form of a boat attached to a rope which the captain would heave upon in order to move the boat) which connected the three landings, almost like a T, with the short end of the T being between the river and the longer section being the connection to the island.

While we are waiting, a ferry comes up to the dock and the captain of the ferry gets out of the boat. Gravic and Stretch walk up to him and try to ask him questions about having seen an ugly little Goblin.

Ferry Captain (very old, hunch-backed, and with significantly rotten teeth): "Ye, I be seein' 'at one a'right! Tha's me mum! BA-HAHAHAHA!! Na' jus' kiddin', she be dead." As he stares at them, he blinks with one eye at a time. Gravic and Stretch silently agree that this guy is crazy and doesn't even know how many teeth he has, let alone if a known gangster has been seen around the area.

Gravic: "Sorry to waste your time. Have a good day." They walk away and watch the captain look at his watch, pick his nose, flick his fingers, then stand around for awhile.

About an hour after the meet was supposed to occur, a large man with huge, metal looking arms (think Jax from Mortal Kombat) walks up to the captain. While they can't hear the conversation, Gravic looks upset.

Gravic: "Ah, crap! That's The Fist. This isn't good..." the Ranger runs to tell everyone else that the fearless Paladin is now scared, and everyone is ready to flee. Stretch comes back to tell Gravic that everyone has collectively crapped their pants. "As well they should, he would destroy us." The Fist picks up the captain, hugs him, and together they walk upon the ferry, followed by ten other soldiers. Two soldiers stay behind to stand guard on the ferry entrance. They have their bows at the ready, facing toward the lake.

We all reconvene and decide that the best thing to do is try to see what information we can gather. We would take out the guards on over-watch and Ranger and Marigold would go across the river which the ferry operated on, trying to get a better view. Everyone else would stay exactly where they were and wait for Ya'Dran to show up...


While looking over the bay, group decided to send Marigold and Stretch across the river for a better vantage point. Althadus and Gravic take out the two guards without a problem, then wait for the crazy captain to come back on his ferry. They notice that the ferry captain has stopped at the island in the middle of the lake, let The Fist get off as well as several soldiers, and begins to come back. When he does, we ask how much fare is.

Captain: “Well, eh, norma’ price be 5 coppuhs, but eh, le’s go ‘ead ‘n’ say 3 coppuhs. Me lik’ de look of dis un!” He points his thumb towards Marigold. She openly shows her dismay, but pays 6 copper pieces to the gangly man. They get on the ferry and go across the river. They notice that the boat is quite heavy and the man looks very small, but is able to pull them along. The whole time, he is whistling a random tune to himself. Stretch and Marigold disembark, thank him, and find a place to hide.

While this is going on, Thora notices an object near her feet. With a nice Investigation roll, she identifies it as a Decanter of Endless Water. She picks it up, wonders who put it there, and puts it in her bag. After all, a free magical item is always nice!

Everyone is in position: Gravic and Althadus are still on watch, waiting for The Fist to come out of the building on the island; Ryuu, Caryss, and Thora are ready to fire crossbow bolts and fling spells if needed; Stretch and Marigold plan on following The Fist if he lands on their side of the river.

Everyone is waiting…

Finally, The Fist comes out of the building, very angrily, and is marching heavily toward the dock to be picked up by the ferry. He grunts at his men, signaling them to follow him. They haven’t noticed that their guards have been taken out, as Gravic and Althadus are holding the bows and standing similarly to the bandits that were there.

The ferry captain gets to The Fist, lets him get on, and they start to head back up-river. We all happily agree that it’s time to get out of dodge when the group sees Stretch stand up suddenly. He starts convulsing uncontrollably, and even though Marigold tries, she cannot pull him back down.

Gravic: “Oh crap.” Yes, oh crap indeed. The Fist has noticed Stretch freaking out at this point, and yells for the captain to take him to that side. This can’t be good. Marigold decides to run and hide for the time being, leaving the Ranger to fend for himself.

Althadus: “We have to distract him somehow, what can we do?” As he fires an arrow toward the boat and takes a man down. Thora runs up to the edge of the river, waits until the boat moves into range, and slams her hands together, producing a Thunderwave. For those of you who don’t know the effects of that spell, it can be pretty devastating for people caught in the area of effect, as well as any object that is unsecured. They get blasted away. So, the end result is the instant death of 8 of the men, the ferry captain, and the boat being blasted into the river. Since the last man was wearing heavy armor, he sinks straight to the bottom. The Fist is the only one still alive, holding onto the rope that held the ferry in the water.

Caryss: “Nice, sis!!” She congratulates her sister with a high-five. She also Blesses Althadus, Gravic, and Stretch (who is just in range).

Stretch finally regains control of himself and realizes what’s been happening (his seizure will be explained later). He knows that The Fist is coming for him, and draws the two short swords on his back, ready for an attack.

Gravic doesn’t want to jump in the water with his heavy armor either, so decides to stay right where he is, and Marigold stays hidden in the grass, deciding to strike at The Fist if she can.

Gravic: “Stretch, get outta there, man! He’ll KILL YOU!!” The Ranger shrugs and decides to ignore him.

The Fist moves quickly upriver (very high Strength score) and begins pummeling the Ranger. Stretch now knows why they call him The Fist. He takes a beating, but not before doing some minor damage to The Fist. Then he goes down and has to start taking Death Saving Throws.

The party couldn’t believe it: we would lose a party member after only the 2nd session! We all think The Fist is going to kill the Ranger as he bleeds out. Instead, he simply folds his arms and taunts the Paladin.

Gravic: “I can’t go over there with no plan. I’ll get demolished, too. But I’ve got to help the Ranger. I’ve got an idea. Cut this rope once I am headed for the island.” At that, Gravic drops the bow he was holding and jumps into the water, holding onto the rope and moving along it to get across the river. The Fist hasn’t moved, and Stretch has just failed his first throw.

Caryss: “I can heal him from here, but that crazy guy will just take him out again. I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do.” She desperately wants to help him, as she does whenever anyone gets injured.

Althadus tries firing off a few arrows, and Ryuu and Thora try to shoot at The Fist with their crossbows. He casually takes one to the chest and catches the other two. He laughs, then jumps into the water headed for Gravic.

At this point, there are herds of people staring at the ensuing battle in the river. Many of them are scared of Thora, who they saw kill the ferry captain and many other men with her magic.

Ryuu: “This isn’t good, we need to get out of here!”

Althadus: “Not without the others! Just make sure no one else is coming our way!” After Gravic is headed toward the island along the rope, Althadus cuts through the rope on his side of the river. Marigold realizes what is happening and runs over to cut the rope on her side of the river, then tries helping the Ranger. And not a moment too soon, as he just failed another saving throw. However, Caryss heals him ( Healing Word) and he gets back up.

Now there is only one rope coming down from the island, which Gravic is moving along with The Fist on his trail. Just before The Fist reaches him, however, Gravic cuts the rope behind him and The Fist is swept away in the river. Before he is lost from sight, though, Gravic sees him smile…


Hopefully everyone is enjoying the read. If you have questions or comments, ask away! It's been great to relive all of these moments.

EDIT: I edited these sessions as well to reflect later formatting, combining sessions 2 & 3 as well.

[Reaver25]

Hello, readers. So last time our adventurers defeated The Fist while they were looking for Ya'Dran. This session starts up right after the battle! Enjoy!

Session 3: The Continued Search for Ya'Dran

Everyone gathers back together on the main land after the battle. They loot a few of the bodies and find some mundane weapons. The party is slowly starting to notice that there is a crowd of people staring at them, and some of them are pointing at Thora. A few whispers can be heard.

“She’s a murderer!”
“She killed that old man!”
“I heard he doesn’t even have any family!”
“Stay away from her!”

Gravic: “It think we need to get out of here.” After he says this, they see the crowd move away to make room for a large group of soldiers. They look more like thugs than professional soldiers; their uniforms are mismatched and they all look very dirty. The leader among them is clear, however, as he walks forward and address the group.

Leader: “By decree of the Governor of Dagon, you are hereby placed under arrest for the murder of our beloved Ferry Captain, Bobby.” He reads this from a scroll. “You have to come with us and, uh, stand trial. Ya hear?”

Everyone looks at each other in silent agreement. No one is willing to go to prison for an accident. Gravic steps forward.

Gravic: “We did not mean to harm your friend. It was only a mistake, made worse by the fact the he was ferrying a known criminal around in your town. We will not submit to your authority.” He draws his sword at this, as does the rest of the party.

Leader: “Listen, man. We don’t want all of you, only the girl there who killed him.” He raises his sword to Thora.

Gravic: “We will not allow you to take her.”

We know we are outnumbered at this point and are considering jumping into the river to get away from the guards. The soldiers start to move forward and ready for an attack when a flash of bright light appears and blinds all of them. The flash was so bright, it also blinded the innocent bystanders. Miraculously, none of the party is affected, and they take their opportune moment to run through the crowd and hightail it out of there.

Just before Althadus takes off, he notices a pair of nice looking boots at his feet. He picks them up, wonders where they came from, and catches up with everyone else.

They run through the city and eventually get to the outskirts of the town.

Thora: “I’m sorry, I swear I didn’t mean to hurt him!” Caryss pats her on the back to comfort her.

Stretch: “He was assisting that thug. He got what he had coming.”

Ryuu: “That, and we had a friend back there. Did anyone see who did that?” Everyone shakes their heads. Althadus thinks of the boots.

Gravic: “I do agree with Stretch. If he hadn’t been helping him in the first place, he wouldn’t have been killed. It is not your fault, Thora.” She feels better after this. “However, we still need to find Ya’Dran. He may be back in his hideout, which is inside the city. Perhaps he has contacts within Dagon we can reach?”

Ryuu: “Is there any chance they think you are still making true on your deal with him?”

Gravic: “I’m not sure. Gossip will probably be more focused on the captain that was killed than anything else. What we need to do is go back into the city and get information about where his hideout is.”

Althadus: “True, but we can’t send everyone. The authorities are definitely looking for Thora. She has to stay away from town for a while. And whoever does go can’t go in fancy armor. They need to blend in.” Spoken from thieving experience.

Eventually, they agree to keep Thora, Caryss, Marigold, Stretch, and Althadus out of town while Gravic and Ryuu go into town and try ask around.

(Before anyone leaves, our DM informs us how much experience we have all gained. It takes all of the level 1’s to level 2, and the level 2’s close to 3. Now, everyone is level 2 except for Stretch, who is nowhere near level 6 yet.)

Ryuu and Gravic take off into town with only their cloaks, and Gravic takes his Longsword just in case. They don’t expect too much trouble.

Once they leave, the rest of the group sets up camp. A short while later they have a nice fire going and are getting to know each other.

Althadus: “Hey guys, so look at what I found.” He shows them the boots.

Caryss: “Where did you find these?” She looks at them (Rolls an Investigation check). “These are Boots of the Elvenkind! While you wear them, you won’t make any sound with your feet!” (This translates into no sound while walking and advantage on Stealth checks).

Thora: “Oh, those seem really cool! I found this, too! It was just sitting by my feet when we were in the city!” She holds up the Decanter of Endless Water. A check later by Caryss, she is told what it does. (can spray a continuous stream or a geyser of water). “We will always have water. That’s a comfort!”

Marigold: “Who gave these to you, though? They seem pretty valuable. I wouldn’t have given those away.” She is a little grumpy that she didn’t get an item from a stranger. We are all curious about this, but no answers are given by the DM.

Althadus: “Whoever it is, they are trying to help us. That’s all I know.” Everyone agrees that yes, that is all he knows.

Gravic and Ryuu come back, and with a few Investigation, Intimidation, and Persuasion checks, this is the information they come out with:

1. Ya’Dran’s hideout is just south of the city in a valley.
2. The hideout is very well guarded.
3. There is an invisible monster which guard the doors against unwanted intruders (this is more of a rumor than known fact).
4. Ya’Dran is still expecting his shipment from Gravic, and is unaware of his apparent betrayal.

With this information, the group decides to try and get to Ya’Dran’s hideout. There, they can hopefully find Gravic’s shield (which was promised to him much earlier). They head out, and a few hours later, they are marching down the valley which leads to Ya’Dran’s hideout. Merchants with horses and carriages are headed down this path laden with goods and rare items. They all pull off of the road at Gravic’s command.

Gravic: “I think we should send someone up ahead to get a view of what we’re walking into. Any volunteers?” Althadus raises his hand, excited to get some fun work done.

Thora: “Well, I can turn into a small animal and be quite undetectable to whoever is there. I can even climb along the wall of the mountain and remain unseen.” This seems like a much better idea than Althadus scouting up by himself.

Thora Wildshapes into a small lizard and scurries on ahead. When she comes back, she reports a few buildings that are heavily guarded. There is also a cave mouth along the back wall of the valley, guarded by two men.

Stretch: “Okay, here’s what we do. Let’s all be ‘tied’ up by Gravic, with Althadus as a mercenary, and walk us up there. When they stop us, tell them that you have a delivery for Ya’Dran. Once we get into one of the buildings, we will start searching.” The group likes this idea and goes ahead with it.

Everyone gets tied (not very tightly) around their hands and to each other with rope. It looks real enough, though. As we walk down to the buildings, one of the guards calls for us to halt and state our purpose.

Gravic: “We’re here to make a delivery to Ya’Dran.”

Guard: “Do you know your way inside?”

Gravic: “Yes, of course. I’ve been here a few times.” With that, they are waved to go inside.

Once inside, there are no soldiers they can visibly see. It looks as if they are standing above a landing dock for gear and supplies to be unloaded underground. What unnerves the group is the inhuman scraping, shuffling, moaning and groaning sounds that can be heard from the trail leading underground.

Ryuu: “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”


Again, I hope everyone is enjoying the read thus far. Please comment and let me know what you think! Next session will be up when I've got some more free time.

[ComaVision]

I've been reading your log. It took me a while to figure out what ruleset you're using though, as I don't believe it's stated. D&D 5E right?

[IntelectPaladin]

I apologize for not saying this earlier,
but this log has caught my interest.
I look forward to future updates.

[Reaver25]

I've been reading your log. It took me a while to figure out what ruleset you're using though, as I don't believe it's stated. D&D 5E right?

ComaVision, you're absolutely right. It's 5th edition rules. I will edit the first post to include that!


I apologize for not saying this earlier,
but this log has caught my interest.
I look forward to future updates.

IntelectPaladin, no need to apologize man! I was just curious to know if anyone liked it, haha. But thanks, I appreciate that! Hope you guys keep enjoying it!

[Reaver25]

Session 4: The Museum

Hello, faithful readers! Last time, our party was trying to find the criminal Ya'Dran and stop him for good. They found his hideout and got inside undetected.
Before I started this session, I thought it might be useful to point out the combat capabilities of our party since I haven't been showing much OOC stuff. So, going off of my wonderful memory, this is about where everyone is right now:

Focus in either melee or ranged, wherever he can get a good hit in. As stated before, part of his backstory is that he had given up the Rogue life for a while, resulting in a removal of his proficiency bonus and class features until level 3. So, while he doesn’t have a proficiency bonus, his Dex bonus is +5 (due to a great roll AND a racial bonus for his main stat), so he still hits quite often and does a decent amount of damage. He usually either uses his shortswords, daggers, or bow, whatever the situation calls for.

As a Life Cleric, her main focus is obviously healing. That isn’t needed all of the time, though, so she usually does damage with Searing Flame when she doesn’t want to waste a spell slot or Guiding Bolt for a whopping 4d6 at level 2. Not bad. If she feels like wading into close combat, she could with her shortsword. She also utilizes a crossbow if and when she needs it.

Once Thora hit level 2, she decided to go for the Circle of the Moon path. This allows her to transform as a bonus action and the transformations are pretty cool. However, she doesn’t always transform (tending to save it for the big fights) and will either use the Thunderclap spell or her spear. Eventually she gets some cool spells that helps her out in combat, but this is about where she was at the time.

Ryuu is a bit of a weird one. Her real class is revealed soon (and I don’t want to spoil it), but for now she’s like a mini-Monk. She basically just assists wherever she can in either close combat with a staff or from afar with darts or crossbow bolts.

As a Paladin, he likes to be up front and get mean in the face of the enemy. His staple is the sword and board, and he rocks it in the front lines. He has a similar situation to Althadus, which is that while he does have his proficiency bonus, he doesn’t have any of his Divine Magic, such as Divine Sense or Spellcasting. He was told by the DM that it would be unlocked at a later time.

: This is the funniest PC to watch in combat. She’s a dual-wielding Halfling that loves to slay everything that gets in her way. She will be up front. Always.

Stretch decided early on he wanted to have the Dual Weapon Fighting Style, but he later pleaded with the DM to change it to Archery. The reason for this is that we already have 3 frontline fighters (Fighter, Druid, Paladin). The DM mercifully granted this request but said it wouldn’t change again. So, at this point, he is still focused on close combat, and he is a wrecking ball. Also noteworthy for Stretch is that (while this is not combat-related) when he has those random seizures, he is basically also having an out-of-body memory in which something from his backstory is revealed.


All right, everyone knows about where the party was for combat during this session. This stays mostly in play, but if anyone wants I can get more in depth on any of the characters. Enjoy!

Althadus: “What is that sound?” He seems genuinely curious. The PCs have started walking along the trail that leads into a cave. At first it is quite narrow, but it widens out for enough room for five to stand abreast. Gravic and Marigold lead the group, followed by Althadus and the Ranger, then lastly by Ryuu, Caryss, and Thora.

Gravic: “That, my friend, is the undead. My weapons are not blessed as before; I must fight these creatures without the aid of my Divine Magic.” He frowns, but sets his face in a hard glare and continues to march on.

Marigold: “I ain’t afraid of no stinkin’ undead.” She pulls her longsword (which is really a shortsword) out and slashes a few times at the air, readying herself for the battle she knows is coming.

Althadus: “Does anyone else find it amusing that her Dwarven accent only comes out when she’s angry? Or fighting?” Laughter ensues, as well as a well-placed kidney shot.

The constant groaning is becoming louder and louder with every step. Finally, the group rounds a corner. In front of them is a barred gate, and along the wall are two other gates and a door. Gravic motions for the group to wait while he goes on ahead, looking into the makeshift prisons. At this point, the moaning has stopped. Growling has taken its place, along with quickened shuffles.

Gravic knows these monsters as zombies, risen undead with a taste for the living flesh. As they start to reach their rotten arms through the gates, he steps back and goes to the group.

Gravic: “As I thought, there are zombies in those cells. We must kill them.”

Thora: “But we can just bypass them. Let’s just go through that gate.” She points to the gate that bars their way forward. Althadus eagerly steps forward and tries opening the gate, but to no avail. It is locked.

Ryuu: “Normally I couldn’t pick these types of locks. But the gate is so old that it might be a bit easier.” She rolls to unlock it and succeeds. The group seems happy about being able to bypass the hungering undead. Ryuu looks ahead of the gate and notices two more gates on either side of the cave with more zombies inside. She shrugs and pushes open the gate. As she does so, the gates for the zombies slide open instantly; it was a trap.

Gravic draws his sword and smiles, excited to fight. The Ranger knows his bow won’t do much good in the close-quarters fight, so he unsheathes his twin shortswords and wades through the other to get to the front. Ryuu closes the gate, certain that it won’t close the other doors but also sure that the zombies will keep this one closed by pressing up against it. Althadus waits along one of the walls to stab them as they file out of the cages, Caryss readies a Searing Flame spell, and Thora prepares to launch a crossbow bolt at the first one she sees.

Sufficed to say, the zombies didn’t stand a chance. Gravic cuts one down, followed by Stretch slicing a head off and thrusting another zombie in the face. As he step forward to strike another, a stab in the back of the head by Althadus drops the zombie. We learn quickly to make sure they are dead before we move on; as Gravic takes one down, he steps over it only to receive a scratch on the leg. He shrugs off the injury and lunges his sword into the undead’s skull.

Once they are all finished off, we reopen the gate and take a few minutes to explore our surroundings. Caryss notices that there was a door we never went into. She walks in, investigates the room, and realizes that there was a secret door that would have allowed the PCs to bypass the zombies.

Gravic: “From now on, I’m checking all of the walls!” He wasn’t lying.


The PCs move on from the area and continue on the path. Along the way, there are all other kinds of monster behind the gates: Minotaurs, Tielflings, Dimension-bound Imps, and other zombies. There are also quite a few pieces of art, including paintings and ceremonial golden weapons. Althadus is sure to snatch a few of these as they move along.

One of the cages they come across contains a heavily muscled Centaur with long braided hair and a similarly braided beard. While the other PCs want to move along and get on with their mission to hunt down Ya’Dran, Althadus stops to talk to it. The Centaur speaks to him in Elvish:

Centaur: “Hello, friend. You do not look like any of my captors.” He moves forward towards the gate and holds the bars. “I tire of this place. I long for freedom again.”

The group is weary of this creature because all of the other creatures in the museum, as we came to call it, were evil.

Althadus: “Ya’Dran liked unique creatures. That includes this fellow.” He turns back to the Centaur, determined. “If I let you go, will you harm any of us?”

Centaur: “I have no reason to cause you or your companions harm. Those vile unnatural creatures, though, I will destroy.” He is staring at the zombies in the cages we passed by. He looks like he can handle himself. Althadus picks the lock and opens it. The Centaur bows simply to him and then charges off to destroy the undead and gain freedom.

Caryss: “That was the right thing to do.” She smiles at Althadus, encouraging him where the others didn’t.

Thora: “No creature deserves to be confined in a space like that.” Druids.


The PCs continue to go down the cave/hallway. They make a few turns here and there, and eventually come across an armory. It contains weapons made of Temonite (A DM-created-metal which is the main source of income for the nearby town). Essentially, they are +1 weapons because of the superior metal. We all take a chance to grab some weapons that we could use. Stretch and Althadus grab some bows and shortswords; Ryuu, Thora, and Caryss take spears and javelins; Gravic grabs a new longsword; Marigold takes a few light warhammers and shortswords.

Outside of the armory, Gravic feels the need to check the walls again. Everyone starts feeling the walls for secret passages and doors when Marigold finds a hidden door handle. In order for it to be turned, one had to reach their hand inside of the wall and turn it. We all smelled a trap.

Althadus: “Don’t worry guys, I got this.” He casts his Mage Hand cantrip that he learned back in his Wizard days and sends it to turn the handle. “Everyone make sure you step aside, okay?” They all do, and Althadus is directly in front of the opening in the wall which contains the handle. His Mage Hand is able to turn the handle, and they all hear a faint click.

Suddenly, a spear shoots out from the opposite side of the wall and impales Althadus in the back. “OWWW!!” While everyone is laughing at his pain, Caryss heals him and a door opens up on the wall. The PCs walk through it and see some miscellaneous items along the walls, but their real attention is drawn to the two pedestals in the room. One has a shield floating just above it, and the other has a plain looking stone sitting atop it.

Gravic: “My shield!” He runs over to the shield and snatches it right away before anyone can react. Everyone gathers around him to congratulate him and is discussing their happiness for him. Suddenly, they hear a familiar voice:

Merith: “Thank you for doing all of this hard work for me. Now, the Stone of Darkness is mine.” As he holds up the Stone, a magical darkness overcomes the party…


“What’s going on?”
“My Darkvision isn’t working!”
“I CAN’T SEE!!”
“Who touched my butt?”
“We need to find a light source!” On the word, “light,” Ryuu’s eyes start glowing, followed by her whole body, completely banishing the magical darkness.

Stretch: “Whoa.” This about describes the feeling for all of us. We had mixed feelings at this point because Gravic got his shield, but Merith had obtained the Stone of Darkness, whatever that was. And apparently, Ryuu’s body was a natural light source strong enough to dispel magical darkness.

Ryuu: “I’m not really sure what happened just now, but why was Merith here? Was he following us?” We start to have the feeling that we’ve been duped.

Gravic: “I have my shield back. It’s like I lost an arm and have suddenly regrown it.” He is very pleased with his shield (Animated Shield) and the fact that he found it. Then they hear a voice outside of the door.

“You FOOLS! YOU LET HIM HAVE THE STONE?!” The voice is high-pitched and crazy sounding, and no one recognizes it except for Gravic. As he yells out, though, Stretch goes into another seizure session. We leave him be, since we know he’ll be find soon and go out into the cave. There, we finally come face to face with Ya’Dran.


He is a hideously ugly half-orc half-goblin, with mild green skin. He wears robes and carries a staff, which alarms us. Standing behind him are five heavily armored and armed Hobgoblins. They look like they are ready to fight.

Gravic: “Ya’Dran, nice to see you too. Thanks for my shield.” He animates his shield as he says this (the shield basically floats around him and blocks stuff for him, leaving his other hand free).

Ya’Dran: “Yes, yes, yes. Always a pleasure to meet with a fallen Paladin!” He cackles heavily at this, but his Hobgoblin friends don’t seem to find it funny. “Now, now, do you realize what you have done? You let Merrith have the stone! There was a REASON I kept it hidden!”

Althadus: “Perhaps it would be a better idea to not store it in the same room as the shield owned by a fallen Paladin who will stop at nothing to get it back? You know, for next time.” At this point, we are all expecting a fight, especially since the Hobgoblins are all armed to the teeth and are just waiting for the command to go ahead.

Ya’Dran: “Ah, yes, the ex-Thief. You always have something smart to say, eh? Nonetheless, I will educate you idiots!” This part was interesting. A bad guy giving us some plot through a lecture speech. We loved it. “There are three Dark Stones in the world. The first is called the Stone of Darkness. The second is called the Stone of Destruction. The third is called the Stone of Death. When the three stones are gathered together, you see, they form a key. The Key of the Dark One. What it sets loose, none know. But, you idiots have let him have it! That Merrith was a scheming, sneaky little man.”

The PCs look at each other with concern, feeling guilty that they let Merrith take the Stone. They had no idea of the apparent doom they had spelled.

Gravic: “Merrith has the same fate as you. I will smite him after you have been destroyed, Ya’Dran.” He levels his sword at the tiny creature, who only smiles.

Ya’Dran: “Yes, yes, yes. You will smite me, sure, sure, sure. Go on, friends, have your dinner before he is any more of an annoyance to me.” He waves the Hobgoblins forward to attack and turns away, walking down the hallway in the cave.

The Hobgoblins only growl and utter small words in a chaotic language that none of us understand. They brandish their weapons, and we draw ours.

Before anyone else takes a step, the Ranger (who has snuck out of the room) aimed an arrow at Ya’Dran and fires. It may have hit him, if not for the Hobgoblin that stepped into the way of the arrow. He doesn’t seem concerned by the arrow protruding from his arm, and in fact just pulls it out and throws it on the ground.

Gravic and Marigold step forward to go toe-to-toe with the fighters. Ryuu also steps up and starts hitting them with her quarterstaff. Caryss fires a Guiding Bolt towards Ya’Dran, who quickly turns around and waves his hand, dispelling it. The Hobgoblins get a few good hits in, slashing their swords into Gravic and Marigold’s armor. Althadus runs toward them, jumps over them, and sprints for Ya’Dran, throwing a dagger his way. Before it reaches him, a visible magical Shield appears around him and deflects the dagger. Ya’Dran continues his getaway and stays on the defensive.

Gravic cuts through one of them, slicing his sword arm off first followed by slicing his throat open. The Hobgoblin topples over, blood still spurting from his wounds. Stretch slices a head off, performs a fanciful spinning maneuver, and stabs another in the head. Two more down for the count, two more to go. Caryss casts Searing Flame again, charring another to crisp. One more to go. Thora steps forward with her spear and thrusts it into the bottom of his jaw and straight through the top of his head. As he lets his last breath go, three more Hobgoblins come out from a door in the cave, again in front of Ya’Dran. This time, they are wearing plate armor and wielding a two handed claymores. This fight might be a bit harder. Gravic, Marigold, and the Ranger all charge forward and attack, and only Marigold’s attack connects.

Althadus, in a feat of acrobatics, runs along the wall to get past the Hobgoblins and continues to sprint after Ya’Dran, who has all but disappeared. Frustrated, he turns around and sneaks back to attack the Hobgoblins from their rear.

Caryss Blesses the three frontline fighters and heals Gravic with her bonus action. His wounds seal themselves and he feels refreshed. Thora runs forward and casts Thunderclap, knocking the gobbos back a bit. The Hobgoblins slash and cut back at the adventurers, slicing open Marigold’s thigh and penetrating Gravic’s defenses. Somehow, Stretch dodges the thrust from the Hobgoblin opposite him.

Althadus stabs one of them in the back of the head, opening up the flank of the middle Hobgoblin, who gets slashed by Gravic and also goes down. The last gobo looks like he is about to run away when Caryss’s Guiding Bolt incinerates him with radiant energy. She also heals Marigold, whose thigh now feels much better.

The group decides to forfeit safety for speed and chase after Ya’Dran. Althadus tells them that he just disappeared, but they don’t really believe him. They run through the rest of the cave with no other issues, and come to the opening they had earlier seen near the main hideout building. There are guards with their bows aimed at the cave opening, waiting for them to come out.

Stretch: “We need to find him and get out of here. There is no way we can waste time by approaching this cautiously.”

Ryuu: “I agree. I have a contact within the city who can let us stay in a safe-house until we find Ya’Dran.”

The PCs basically count to three and sprint out of the cave, taking a few stray arrows from the drunkard guards who were called to duty in the middle of the night. They didn’t really care anyway. The party gets back to Dagon and gets into a safe-house, where they can nurse their wounds (and level up).


Gravic: “Did you guys see the armor that those Hobgoblins were wearing?” No one seems to have noticed, nor do they seem to care. “They were wearing plate armor. If I could get some, I can bless it and then wear it. Anyone with me?” The group mostly tries to talk him out of this and not risk going out alone. Only Althadus thinks it is a good idea, deciding that he will also bring some of the armor back for Caryss to wear for protection.

And so it was, in the dead of night, that the noisy Paladin and the ex-Thief snuck back into the hideout to strip Hobgoblins of their armor and their dignity. As they are trying to sneak back out, Althadus trips and drops the whole suit of armor, alerting all of the guards. They were slow to respond, so Gravic and Althadus got away unscathed.

But, to this day, the guards of Ya’Dran’s hideout tell the story of the ghostly plate armor that walked out of the cave to take its revenge on the men who removed it from its master.


This was definitely one of the more fun sessions, and I enjoyed reliving it. I hope y'all enjoy it as well. I'll post again soon!

[Reaver25]

Session 5: The Road to the Mansion

Hello again, fellow readers! Last time, our 7 adventurers finally met the evil Ya'Dran and encountered Merith yet again. They were told that he took the Stone of Darkness, one three pieces for the Key of the Dark One.

I hope you guys enjoy this session, it was pretty fun and our players are really getting the hang of combat. Let me know if you guys like the new format, and if so I can go back and edit the first few sessions to reflect the way I've been writing. Anyways, enjoy!

While the PCs are at the safe house, they go out in groups of two or three to go and buy equipment. The night after the Museum, Stretch gathers everyone around.

Stretch: “As you all know, I have had these unexplained seizures where I stand up and shake and no one can even move me. I’m not sure why I have them, but while I do, I see things.”

Ryuu: “What do you mean?”

Stretch: “I see visions of my past, jumbled images that make no sense to me. The other night, at Ya’Dran’s place, I had another seizure, but this time, it was different. I saw a man I used to know. He was an inventor, and a darn good one. He was working feverishly in this mansion, a place I used to go often. What I did there, I don’t know. But it wasn’t anything good.”

Thora: “This inventor, what did he look like?” She and Caryss’s eyes are alight with hope.

Stretch: “He had white hair, wore glasses, and he had scars along his arms. I’m guessing those are from some of his experiments that went wrong. And another thing, he was obsessed with checking a pocket watch. I’m not sure why, that’s all I saw in the vision.”

Caryss: “You speak of our father. We saw him get killed by the thugs who took us.” Her and Thora look a little sad. They haven’t had the time to properly mourn their loss.

Althadus: “Ah, yes, about that. I MAY have forgotten to mention a small detail in the craziness of everything that’s happened in the last few days, that… Well, you see…” He is extremely nervous, and the group is pressuring him to get out with it. “I was on a mission to bring your father some more equipment for his inventions. Before I got there, though, I heard you screaming, Caryss. So I urged my horse on and saw that you were being taken away.”

Thora: “Yeah, we know, we were taken by some thugs and you followed us. What’s your point?”

Althadus: “Well, um, this guy in a dark robe walked over to your dad’s body and poured some liquid on it. And then your dad stood up and walked away with the guy.” At this point, Caryss and Thora are fuming and we can literally see smoke coming from their ears.

“OUR FATHER IS ALIVE?!”
“WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO SAY SOMETHING?!”
“WHY WOULD YOU NOT TELL US?!”
“WE NEED TO FIND HIM, NOW!”
“YOU’RE JUST TRYING TO GET IN MY SISTER’S PANTS!”

Gravic and the Ranger are holding them back, while Ryuu would like to see Althadus get beat up by two girls and Marigold is getting mad because the other two are mad.

Marigold: “HOW COULD YOU, ALTHADUS? You’re rotten.” She shakes her fists at him.

Althadus: “Okay, okay, listen. I forgot to tell you because I was a little concerned for YOUR LIFE! And another thing, he didn’t look like himself when he was following that guy.”

Caryss: “What… do… you… mean, Althadus?” Her eyes are boring into his soul.

Althadus: “It was almost like he was mindlessly following him, and his eyes looked glazed over. It was your dad, but it wasn’t him, you know?” This seems to thwart the dangerous attacks for now, and Caryss and Thora sit down and start talking about getting their dad back.

Stretch: “If may interject, I have a strong feeling that this is connected to my vision of your father. I think if we go back to this mansion, we can find your father and lay to rest the issue of Althadus’s idiocy.” The Thief feigns a hurt look.

Gravic: “Can you lead us there, Ranger?” Stretch simply nods. “Then it is decided. We shall go to this mansion and find your father.” The PCs all agree with this, especially Caryss and Thora.


They get out of the city without too much trouble. On the way out, some of Ryuu’s contacts approach her and let her know that Ya’Dran has disappeared. Apparently, once someone outside of his gang knows where his hideout is, he picks up and moves everything, usually overnight. They tell her that it seems that he has already done this since everything has been abandoned back at the Museum.

The group sets out to the mansion, which is directly west of the city Dagon. They stick to the road for a while, but it eventually becomes necessary to go off road and start marching through the grasslands. The march is quite uneventful that day, and they settle in and set up camp. The PCs decide to camp on top of a hill near some large boulders. Althadus and the Ranger decide to keep watch, since they only need to Trance for 4 hours while the others rest for 8 hours.

On Althadus’s watch, he notices a firelight moving around about a mile away. His group is up on a hill, so anything that would want to fight them had to come uphill. He sneaks over to the edge of the hill, staying close to the ground, and sees a small group of Orcs walking toward their campsites with axes and bows at the ready.

Frightened, he backs away, and slowly wakes up everybody. Everyone understands what is going on, and the PCs all prepare for the Orcs.

The first Orc appears over the top of the hill, holding his torch and a heavy axe in the other hand. He grunts a few words over to his comrades, who also come above the ridgeline. They number 8, a standard sized hunting party. Four of them carry barbaric shortbows and the other four carry a hand axe and a torn-looking shield. The Orcs only see one person laying on the ground, wrapped in a cloak near the fire. They move toward him stealthily. While they are confused that there is only one person when they were following more people earlier, they continue to stealth toward the body on the ground. The Orc in charge gives his torch to the nearest Orc, hefts his axe up above his head, and with a loud battle cry slams it down on the neck of the unsuspecting person. The other orcs all scream their battle cries as well, but quickly quiet down once they realize that the body is not actually a person – it was a bundle of blankets wrapped in a cloak and a pair of boots near the end.

Orc: “Where are you, smelly humans? We know you close!” He shouts in the dark, only to receive an arrow in the chest in response. Once the arrow lands, Gravic and Marigold come charging out of the boulders that hid them only moments before. The Orcs are caught by surprise but are ready to fight nonetheless. As Gravic and Marigold reach the first two Orcs and start exchanging blows, Stretch fires two arrows into the Orc aiming his bow at Gravic. The arrows slam home, one in his chest and another in the eye socket. He topples over.

Another Orc shoots an arrow at Marigold, who dodges it just in time but receives a slash across her arm from one of the axes. She roars louder than the Orcs and keeps fighting, stabbing at the Orc in front of her in his legs and gut. As she does this, the wound on her arm heals as Caryss utters a Healing Word.

Thora steps out from behind a rock and, running toward one of the Orcs, begins rapidly growing fur all over her body. Her hands become claws and her face rapidly changes; she Wild Shapes into a large Brown Bear. Her momentum helps her to tackle one of the Orcs swinging his axe at Gravic, and she tears his face off. Thora roars.

Althadus runs out from behind cover at this point, rolling into combat and stabbing and slashing at one of the Orcs who had just fired an arrow that deflected off of Gravic’s armor. He thrusts his shortsword into the Orc’s bicep and then slashes his other sword quickly across his chest. The Orc, fully enraged, drops his bow and draws the blood-encrusted sword strapped to his back. He screams loudly, going at Althadus with all he’s got, but the Thief is too quick and easily dodges the slow Orc.

Gravic deflects an axe swing and quickly spins around the Orc, thrusting his sword into his back, straight through the heart. The Orc only grunts, then falls to the ground, blood pouring from his wound. Gravic steps up to the Orc Leader, who is ready for the fight. The Orc Leader brings his axe back in a two-handed grip, ready to chop Gravic straight in half. As he swings down, Gravic steps out of the way; the axe thuds into the ground with no effect other than enraging the Orc.

Marigold dodges another swing and jumps up to thrust her sword into the Orc’s jaw, straight through his brain. This one doesn’t make a sound as he drops to the ground, motionless. Marigold steps over to the Orc fighting Gravic and stabs him in the ribs. This further enrages the Orc, who is now bleeding profusely from the wound in his side.

Thora charges at another Orc with a bow. She mauls him in one heavy swing, but he is still standing, so she bites at his leg and tears off a chunk of flesh. The Orc roars out in pain, but the cry is cut short by another maul to the face, this time tearing his head off.

Stretch steps out from behind cover now as well, drops his bow, and draws his twin swords to get up close to the Orcs. He runs over to Althadus, who is struggling to dodge the attacks of the Orc with the sword. He rolls behind the Orc and slices his head off easily, then backflips and stabs another Orc in the face. Althadus’s jaw drops, very impressed with the Ranger’s swordplay.

Caryss decides to go on the offense as well, coming out from behind a rock and firing a Guiding Bolt at the last Orc with a bow. It hits him square in the chest and knocks him back a few feet. While it didn’t take him down, he is lit with radiant light from the magic and is easier to see in the night (next attack had advantage). She then utters another Healing Word to seal the wound that Gravic just took fighting the Orc Leader.

Thora, seeing an Orc get hit by the Bolt her sister fired, charged at him and tackled him. Atop the Orc, her paws dig ferociously into his gut, disemboweling him. She also tears off an arm for good measure, and the Orc fades from consciousness. Thora the Bear roars again.

The only Orc left standing is now the leader, who is still furiously fighting Marigold and Gravic. The other group members prepare to attack but stay out of the way. Gravic feints a thrust, allowing Marigold to slice his thigh open. The Orc is bleeding heavily from multiple wounds, but is still fighting strong. Marigold and Gravic are beginning to get tired, their weapons feeling heavy and cumbersome. The Orc roars in defiance of his injuries, and he looks just as ready to fight as when they first attacked.

Thora the Bear runs over to the Orc Leader and bashes him, knocking him prone. She lifts up a heavy claw and brings it down on his head, but the Orc is still not down for the count. He gets free of the grappling bear, rolls to the side and swings his axe at it, shredding its shoulder. Then he whips his axe around for another attack at the bear, holding it above his head for the final strike to Thora when a sword bursts out of his chest. He looks down at it in amazement, knowing that he won an honorable death. Before he has any other thoughts, a dagger slams into his temple, thrown by Althadus. The Orcs are finally dead.

Gravic: “Where did these guys come from?!” He is wiping the blood off of his blade, gasping for breath from the battle with the heavy Orc Leader.

Marigold: “I don’t care, that was fun!”

Stretch: “Orcs are vicious hunters, Gravic. They probably followed us from the city and thought we’d be easy pickings. They thought wrong.” He is walking around the dead bodies, retrieving arrows.

Althadus: “Well, one thing’s for sure, you’re all lucky I was here.” Everyone glares at him. “Oh, I just mean that, you know, instead of Marigold’s head getting lopped off it was a bedroll.” They all reluctantly agree that yes, thanks to him, they were well aware of an impending attack.

Gravic: “Wait a minute, this is my bedroll! Althadus, you said you’d use yours!” He is holding the two halves of it, shredded by the axe.

Althadus: “Uh, hello, Thief. Sleight of Hand. Greedy. Why would I use something of mine when I can use yours? Whose boots do you think the Orc smelled?” Everyone laughs as they realize the Ranger wasn’t wearing his boots. He just looks angry.


The group rests again before travelling. In the morning, Althadus finds that a rope has been tied around his backpack, and Marigold notices a sword in a sheath lying next to her.

Althadus: “Who tied my backpack up?”
Marigold: “Whose sword is this?”

Everyone is puzzled. No one used rope to tie up the bag, nor did anyone leave Marigold an extra sword. Caryss walks over and, upon inspection, identifies the two items as a Rope of Climbing and a Flame Tongue thanks to a great set of Investigation rolls. She tells them this, and they are excited.

Gravic: “Wait a minute, you got a flaming sword, Althadus got a magical rope and boots, and Thora got an endless source of water. Where is this stuff coming from?”

Stretch: “I’m not sure, but whoever it is, we can thank them. It will come of use at some point. Plus, whoever has been doing it is powerful enough to not be seen or heard by us. They probably could have killed all of us in our sleep if they wanted to.”

Marigold: “That’s true. Plus, you know, FLAME ON!” As she says this, the Flame Tongue sword is set ablaze by a magical fire. We are all in wonder of this new weapon. We are also scared of the Halfling wielding a flaming sword.


The rest of the way to the mansion is relatively uneventful. The grasslands and the rolling hills have long passed, making way to the flat wooded area which contains the mansion. As they make their way through the woods, there is a trail that the Ranger picks up which leads to the mansion. The closer they get, the creepier it feels.

Then, they come to a gate which is completely open. In the courtyard of the mansion are statues of Gargoyles. They can tell that no one has been near the place in a while because the shrubbery around the courtyard is untrimmed. Other areas of the grass are dead as well. Vines grow up the stone walls of the building. The whole place seems heavy to Gravic.

Gravic: “I don’t like this. Something isn’t right.”

Thora: “Yes, whoever lived here has horrible taste in statues. These things are horrendously ugly.” She walks over to an overgrown shrub, and with a command, the Decanter of Endless Water pours a stream of water onto it. She starts whispering to the plant.

Ranger: “Well, we don’t know if anyone is actually here or not, so let’s just be as quiet and careful as possible.” He starts scouting the area with Althadus.

Caryss walks over to her sister, and nudges her on the shoulder. Thora holds up a hand.

Thora: “There! Now, speak to me, friend.” The bush moves around a little, then a small, old voice emanates from within it.

Bush: “Hello, Druid. It has been a long time since I’ve seen any of your kind around here.” Caryss’s eyes brighten, excited to see her sister working with plants again. The voice is slow speaking and heavy sounding, almost as if something was sitting on it.

Thora: “Hello, friend. It is unfortunate that none have come to take care of you. Tell me, when was the last time someone was here?”

Bush: “I don’t remember, but it’s been awhile.” It shakes again.

Thora: “These statues. Do they move?” The bush grunts. “When do they move?”

Bush: “The last time I remember them moving was when it was very dark.”

Thora: “What do they do?”

Bush: “Evil things. Many evil things.” Thora is disquieted by this. She thanks the bush for its friendship, gives it some more water, and goes to tell the group.

Gravic: “I had a feeling that evil was in this place.”

Stretch: “Unless we want to have a fight with…” He stops to count. “a dozen or so Gargoyles, we need to get moving. Whatever is here has probably already seen us, so we don’t need to be quite so stealthy.”

While this conversation is going on, Althadus has walked up to the front door, checking for traps and looking around. Standing on either side of the door are two crying angels. He is piqued with curiosity and touches one of them. He instantly feels pain course throughout his whole body and immediately lets go of it.

Althadus: “Hey guys, don’t touch these angels. That hurt.” He realizes it has also slightly weakened him, as if he doesn’t feel so filled with energy.

Stretch: “Well hey, I found a way to get in through the back, and there are no creepy statues back there.” The group decides to go with this plan. They walk around the side of the building, and stop near the door in the backyard.

Gravic: “Okay, let’s do this.” He twists the doorknob and pushes the door open…


Hope everyone enjoyed the journey to the mansion, where the group hopes to find Caryss's and Thora's father. I'll post again when I've got some more free time!