Castlewood
2019-03-15, 02:18 AM
Recently started a new campaign in my homebrew world of Xanothia and got my players and I motivated enough to keep a campaign journal this time. Let me preface this by saying I run a modified version of 5e, and the classes three of the players play are homebrew and will probably be worked on at some point in the campaign.
Expedition to The Great Desert
Campaign Journal Session 1 3/2/2019
PARTY
Rogar Norexius (Maverick silver dragonborn druid of the land level 2)
Gwendolyn Maximilian (Angel yuan-ti pureblood bloodhunter level 2)
William von Sommerstein (Fred human fighter level 2)
Tripp (Sean human illriger level 2)
Samanya Gatura “Sam” (David yuan-ti binder level 2)
Bootyholes - Fred
Opening
The year is 1477 A.G and great changes are afoot. The Order of the Black Sun has spent the better part of the last twenty years gathering resources, and allies to embark upon an endeavor many find foolhardy. The Reclamation of the Great Desert and the old Alkarian homeland. Ajax the Invincible Overlord has deemed the expedition of interest to him and has funded part of the expedition as well as sending the Order of Ancient Mysteries to the Great Desert to claim relics and information for his Empire. Each one of you having joined the Order for separate reasons. Having been selected to join the Expedition within the first year you were taught Midani and sent to the Great Desert on a journey that would take nearly two and a half months. Unfortunately all would not be well on the journey, and misfortune struck.
The captain of your ship the Star Skipper was afflicted with a nasty disease that waylaid your crew for nearly two weeks before he departed from his mortal coil. Burying him in an unmarked grave you and the crew once again departed to your destination. Now at the end of the 3rd month you have arrived at your destination. The vast and unknown Great Desert.
PLACES
Mullik (mull-lick) - Name of the outpost/tent city. Contains stables, towers, a bank, a fountain, building with merchants. No one works with wood (very little wood in the desert). Fresh water from nearby stream
Desert Jewel - Bar/tavern in Mullik where we stayed
PEOPLE
Majar (mah-jar) the Red Blade - Commander of the Outpost and senior member of the Order of the Black Sun
Medros - dark skinned Elf - told us bounty of 5cp per pair of ears of hostile creatures, including crew of pirate ships. See the Bailiff for payment. (Maybe 2nd in command under Mijar?)
Shanda - waitress in Desert Jewel Inn
Aman (Uh-mon) - works in stables (mooch)
Palas (pah-loss) - lost a leg to a giant scorpion, might know about the desert
Unknown Name - purple skinned dwarf trader
Eldrin - olive skinned black bearded man in red/yellow robes - representative from the Order of Ancient Mysteries and scholar for us “the font of knowledge”
Kefliss - Baliff
Demoss - Cook at Desert Jewel Inn. (So far only Gwen knows)
Kip- one of the first kobold we met (Reddish Brown scaled)
Skar- the kobold chief
Ajax - The Invincible Overlord - Born in Conqueror's Chain and sent part of the order (maybe Ancient Mysteries?) to investigate
LOG
Session 1 - March 2, 2019 - Earned 9 tokens (need 25 to level)
Ate dinner for free in the Desert Jewel thanks to Tripp! Learned from Shanda and Aman that there are ruins and tribes of creatures east of the tent city. Majar the Red Blade had gone south marking places (can’t remember why) Maybe something about leading the city of Mullak eventually?. We started east and defeated a giant lizard (harvested meat, its head and 6 claws). Found a ravine with cave opening. Heard voice on the wind say, “He walks among you” in Midani. Some of the caves had random Midani letters: A C H V O S. Anagram for “Chaos” (the V wasn’t used).
We entered a cave that continued east, and had a passage south. We went south and fought 6 goblins in a room (defeated them and collected 6 pairs of goblin ears). Found a secret door that lead to an Ogre. The Ogre downed William(?) and Gwendalyn but was ultimately defeated. Looted his stash and completed a long rest. Next morning went back to the main room and then went further south. Entered another room and faced 10 goblins. We killed 8 of them (2 fled). Goblins yelled “Brejark”. Ended session, seeing past the 8 goblins, with a “Goblin Boss” surrounded by 3 “sexy ladies”. “Goblin Boss” (Maybe Brejark, looked angry)
LOOT
1 Giant lizard head
2 dozen rusty spears (to be sold/traded for coin)
Leather scraps (to be sold/traded for coin)
14 pairs of goblin ears
1 Great Club
1 pair Ogre ears
7 bags which contained:
1 wheel of hard cheese
1 head of a giant scorpion
1 half-full wooden keg of brandy with “Lawless Whistle” written on it
1 large broken cage
37 copper pieces minted with a jackal headed man
1 spear with a scorpion tail at the other end (harvested poison from it for Samanya)
2 scrolls from the crumpled bones of a robed man (Rogar has those)
1 Cure Wounds
1 Hold Person
Session 2 - March 9, 2019 - Earned 16 tokens (level up!)
Started off at the goblin boss with 3 scantily clad goblin boss bitches. The boss was possessed and said, “This place will be your undoing. The Expedition will fail.” The Goblin king was drawn here, other clans and other creatures were drawn here -- from the mountains. Found a hidden drawer and a secret passage.
“Boyag” means magic in Goblin culture?
Loot:
6 pairs goblin ears
1 scimitar
1 chain shirt (size small)
2 hobgoblin ears
Misc cloth
74 copper
8 silver
16 Abyssal creature ears
3 skeletal pinchers
Moved down the secret passage. Encountered a room with chain shirt hanging on the wall. Ambushed by hobgoblins. Killed 2, 1 fled. We did not pursue and instead returned to the outpost Mullik.
Haggled with the Bailiff (name is Kefliss, from the Commonwealth) and convinced him to give us 7 copper per creature killed. (That’s what he gets for trying to skim us) He said he would honor that amount going forward. Sold the mundane equipment we found and ended up with 27 silver and 117 copper (bounty plus found coin) = 13 silver and 31 copper each with 4 silver and 2 copper left over in party fund.
Met an olive skinned man with black beard and red/yellow robes named “Eldrin” who said he was our “font of knowledge” from the Order of Ancient Mysteries. Showed him the copper coins mint with the Jackal head and he paid us 41 silver for all of them (+8 silver each + 1 left over, with the other 4 gave everyone 1 more silver) since they were historical artifacts. He said the Jackal represented Anubis, an Alkarian deity for passing into the afterlife and preserving the dead (h was similar to the Matron of Ravens in other pantheons).
William, Tripp and Rogar got into a bar fight while Gwen and Sam met with the dwarven trader.
Looked at “quest board” saw something that might pertain to a siren on the coast
Went back to the caves after a night’s rest. Tripp got us a second donkey named Striper. William stepped on the bones of hobgoblin creature with its right hand cut off and its jaw ripped off & had a smiley face carved into the back of it’s head recently (most likely after death). Learned there was a legend of a pale deathly white horror who was said to walk the desert. He tricks people into killing those they love.
Befriended a Kobold named Kip (thanks to Rhogar’s Dragon heritage) and learned a bunch of info from him. Kip brought us to the Kobold chief and we made an alliance. We then head out to a hole that smelled of death and while repelling down Gwen found a closed off tunnel and we went through that. Through the tunnel, the place was full of poisonous mushrooms (Rhogar collected some) as well as little cacti that were too small to eat. There were small creatures that were speaking abyssal, but were not fiendish by nature, and there was writing on the wall in abyssal that said, “Vermon” we think something to do with rats? There was also and undead lobster. We gathered the ears and the pinchers and took a short rest in the death hole (because Rhogar got knocked down). Then we proceeded to the next room down where we found a room with an altar guarded by a larger abyssal speaking creature surrounded by scantily clad creatures, more of the regular creatures, and two more undead lobsters. After the combat, Rhogar and Semaña used their netherworld knowledge to conclude that it is an alter to Amon. Semaña was able to connect with the vestige of Amon.
Further up the caves, the following is known to the Kobolds: Hobgoblins, Bugbears, Orcish Tribe, Labyrinth may contain special creature or item, Giant Scorpion, Hyena Men? “Don’t go to where the undead walk”
Expedition to The Great Desert
Campaign Journal Session 1 3/2/2019
PARTY
Rogar Norexius (Maverick silver dragonborn druid of the land level 2)
Gwendolyn Maximilian (Angel yuan-ti pureblood bloodhunter level 2)
William von Sommerstein (Fred human fighter level 2)
Tripp (Sean human illriger level 2)
Samanya Gatura “Sam” (David yuan-ti binder level 2)
Bootyholes - Fred
Opening
The year is 1477 A.G and great changes are afoot. The Order of the Black Sun has spent the better part of the last twenty years gathering resources, and allies to embark upon an endeavor many find foolhardy. The Reclamation of the Great Desert and the old Alkarian homeland. Ajax the Invincible Overlord has deemed the expedition of interest to him and has funded part of the expedition as well as sending the Order of Ancient Mysteries to the Great Desert to claim relics and information for his Empire. Each one of you having joined the Order for separate reasons. Having been selected to join the Expedition within the first year you were taught Midani and sent to the Great Desert on a journey that would take nearly two and a half months. Unfortunately all would not be well on the journey, and misfortune struck.
The captain of your ship the Star Skipper was afflicted with a nasty disease that waylaid your crew for nearly two weeks before he departed from his mortal coil. Burying him in an unmarked grave you and the crew once again departed to your destination. Now at the end of the 3rd month you have arrived at your destination. The vast and unknown Great Desert.
PLACES
Mullik (mull-lick) - Name of the outpost/tent city. Contains stables, towers, a bank, a fountain, building with merchants. No one works with wood (very little wood in the desert). Fresh water from nearby stream
Desert Jewel - Bar/tavern in Mullik where we stayed
PEOPLE
Majar (mah-jar) the Red Blade - Commander of the Outpost and senior member of the Order of the Black Sun
Medros - dark skinned Elf - told us bounty of 5cp per pair of ears of hostile creatures, including crew of pirate ships. See the Bailiff for payment. (Maybe 2nd in command under Mijar?)
Shanda - waitress in Desert Jewel Inn
Aman (Uh-mon) - works in stables (mooch)
Palas (pah-loss) - lost a leg to a giant scorpion, might know about the desert
Unknown Name - purple skinned dwarf trader
Eldrin - olive skinned black bearded man in red/yellow robes - representative from the Order of Ancient Mysteries and scholar for us “the font of knowledge”
Kefliss - Baliff
Demoss - Cook at Desert Jewel Inn. (So far only Gwen knows)
Kip- one of the first kobold we met (Reddish Brown scaled)
Skar- the kobold chief
Ajax - The Invincible Overlord - Born in Conqueror's Chain and sent part of the order (maybe Ancient Mysteries?) to investigate
LOG
Session 1 - March 2, 2019 - Earned 9 tokens (need 25 to level)
Ate dinner for free in the Desert Jewel thanks to Tripp! Learned from Shanda and Aman that there are ruins and tribes of creatures east of the tent city. Majar the Red Blade had gone south marking places (can’t remember why) Maybe something about leading the city of Mullak eventually?. We started east and defeated a giant lizard (harvested meat, its head and 6 claws). Found a ravine with cave opening. Heard voice on the wind say, “He walks among you” in Midani. Some of the caves had random Midani letters: A C H V O S. Anagram for “Chaos” (the V wasn’t used).
We entered a cave that continued east, and had a passage south. We went south and fought 6 goblins in a room (defeated them and collected 6 pairs of goblin ears). Found a secret door that lead to an Ogre. The Ogre downed William(?) and Gwendalyn but was ultimately defeated. Looted his stash and completed a long rest. Next morning went back to the main room and then went further south. Entered another room and faced 10 goblins. We killed 8 of them (2 fled). Goblins yelled “Brejark”. Ended session, seeing past the 8 goblins, with a “Goblin Boss” surrounded by 3 “sexy ladies”. “Goblin Boss” (Maybe Brejark, looked angry)
LOOT
1 Giant lizard head
2 dozen rusty spears (to be sold/traded for coin)
Leather scraps (to be sold/traded for coin)
14 pairs of goblin ears
1 Great Club
1 pair Ogre ears
7 bags which contained:
1 wheel of hard cheese
1 head of a giant scorpion
1 half-full wooden keg of brandy with “Lawless Whistle” written on it
1 large broken cage
37 copper pieces minted with a jackal headed man
1 spear with a scorpion tail at the other end (harvested poison from it for Samanya)
2 scrolls from the crumpled bones of a robed man (Rogar has those)
1 Cure Wounds
1 Hold Person
Session 2 - March 9, 2019 - Earned 16 tokens (level up!)
Started off at the goblin boss with 3 scantily clad goblin boss bitches. The boss was possessed and said, “This place will be your undoing. The Expedition will fail.” The Goblin king was drawn here, other clans and other creatures were drawn here -- from the mountains. Found a hidden drawer and a secret passage.
“Boyag” means magic in Goblin culture?
Loot:
6 pairs goblin ears
1 scimitar
1 chain shirt (size small)
2 hobgoblin ears
Misc cloth
74 copper
8 silver
16 Abyssal creature ears
3 skeletal pinchers
Moved down the secret passage. Encountered a room with chain shirt hanging on the wall. Ambushed by hobgoblins. Killed 2, 1 fled. We did not pursue and instead returned to the outpost Mullik.
Haggled with the Bailiff (name is Kefliss, from the Commonwealth) and convinced him to give us 7 copper per creature killed. (That’s what he gets for trying to skim us) He said he would honor that amount going forward. Sold the mundane equipment we found and ended up with 27 silver and 117 copper (bounty plus found coin) = 13 silver and 31 copper each with 4 silver and 2 copper left over in party fund.
Met an olive skinned man with black beard and red/yellow robes named “Eldrin” who said he was our “font of knowledge” from the Order of Ancient Mysteries. Showed him the copper coins mint with the Jackal head and he paid us 41 silver for all of them (+8 silver each + 1 left over, with the other 4 gave everyone 1 more silver) since they were historical artifacts. He said the Jackal represented Anubis, an Alkarian deity for passing into the afterlife and preserving the dead (h was similar to the Matron of Ravens in other pantheons).
William, Tripp and Rogar got into a bar fight while Gwen and Sam met with the dwarven trader.
Looked at “quest board” saw something that might pertain to a siren on the coast
Went back to the caves after a night’s rest. Tripp got us a second donkey named Striper. William stepped on the bones of hobgoblin creature with its right hand cut off and its jaw ripped off & had a smiley face carved into the back of it’s head recently (most likely after death). Learned there was a legend of a pale deathly white horror who was said to walk the desert. He tricks people into killing those they love.
Befriended a Kobold named Kip (thanks to Rhogar’s Dragon heritage) and learned a bunch of info from him. Kip brought us to the Kobold chief and we made an alliance. We then head out to a hole that smelled of death and while repelling down Gwen found a closed off tunnel and we went through that. Through the tunnel, the place was full of poisonous mushrooms (Rhogar collected some) as well as little cacti that were too small to eat. There were small creatures that were speaking abyssal, but were not fiendish by nature, and there was writing on the wall in abyssal that said, “Vermon” we think something to do with rats? There was also and undead lobster. We gathered the ears and the pinchers and took a short rest in the death hole (because Rhogar got knocked down). Then we proceeded to the next room down where we found a room with an altar guarded by a larger abyssal speaking creature surrounded by scantily clad creatures, more of the regular creatures, and two more undead lobsters. After the combat, Rhogar and Semaña used their netherworld knowledge to conclude that it is an alter to Amon. Semaña was able to connect with the vestige of Amon.
Further up the caves, the following is known to the Kobolds: Hobgoblins, Bugbears, Orcish Tribe, Labyrinth may contain special creature or item, Giant Scorpion, Hyena Men? “Don’t go to where the undead walk”