Thursday, September 1, 2011

The Aldelle Group – Session 42 – Into the Mountains and Split

Session 42 happened Tuesday, August 23, 2011.

This campaign used the Dyson’s Delve dungeon pages on A Character for Every Game as a starting point, but has now moved on to new material from the DM-in-training. I heartily recommend Dyson's Delve as a beginning adventure.

Adventuring Group:
Tre-ba Bel a sheer (female elf alchemist)
Brek'nok (male dwarf druid)
Luna (female elf sorcerer)
Frankie Hu, Master of the Distracting Fist (male dwarf monk)
Elspeth (female half-elf rogue)
Harkaitz of the Red Soul (male human cleric of Ra)

NPCs:
Aziz of the Light (male human paladin, cohort of Harkaitz)
Sarisvati the Suntouched (female Ifrit oracle, cohort of Aziz)
Midnight (female half-elf witch, cohort of Frankie Hu)
Gil Gamesh (male uffik artificer*, cohort of Midnight)
Short John Copper (male halfling expert, hireling)
Brand and Zephir (mated pair of pseudo-dragons tagging along for the fun of it)
The Red Keffiyehs (human warriors, followers of Harkaitz)


Evening, July 18, Year of the Earth Rabbit
Praise Ra, in whose light we march.

This morning, before we broke camp, Brek'nok cast scry to spy upon Lucien, the vampire. Brek'nok observed Lucien in a small boat, rowing across a dark body of water. Just as the effect of the scry ended (and as we were discussing what Brek'nok was relaying to the rest of us), Lucien reached a rocky shore, more of a ledge, confirming our suspicion that he was on an underground body of water. We are not certain where, but suspect it is somewhere under the Ridgeback Mountains.

We spent the day hiking up into the mountains, following an obvious trail to Orzimar. When we arrived, I was not initially impressed. The trail ends at a relatively small cave mouth in the side of a cliff, guarded by two dwarves. I was expecting something more impressive.

Brek'nok and Frankie went up and chatted with the two guards in the dwarven language, which I do not speak. After a short conversation and some looks at the rest of us, we were granted entrance. Once past the cave mouth, there is a small cave. This cave suddenly opens up after a bit into an immense cavern that steps down with four huge terraces, one set on each side of the cavern and sides separate from each other. The city is on the same scale as the two elven cities we have seen, and that is just the parts we can see – the structures might extend back into the mountain.

Brek'nok led us to a structure named The Broken Mug, where we secured rooms. I am not certain if this is an inn with an attached brewery and tavern or a brewery and tavern with rooms for let. It may be both.

After a quick meal, Brek'nok and I will go talk to the local constable and ask about location on the map indicating the location of the gate.


Morning, July 19, Year of the Earth Rabbit
Praise Ra, who illuminates even our dreams.

Ra sent prophetic dreams to me last night. In my first dream, I saw a small band of firely lights moving on a map from Orzimar to the location of the Mountain Gate. The Mountain Gate turned a bright white, indicating that it was liberated, but then all of the Uskar desert fell into blackness. In my second dream, I saw the same band of lights leave Orzimar and head into the desert. There the Uskar Gar was freed, but all the lands north of the desert fell into darkness.

I consulted with Sarisvati as to what the dreams meant. She told me that Ra warned that if we went after either gate, the other gate would let through great evil and swallow half the world. The solution was to secure both gates at the same time. I think this makes our meeting with the constable more fortuitous than I originally thought.

Brek'nok and I met with Constable Morgrim last night. Along the way, I commented to Brek'nok that there seemed to be a large number of dwarves openly carrying weapons and in uniform and asked if this was common. He told me that it was common for soldiers to be about, but not this number of them. Our conversation with the constable confirmed this.

When we talked with the constable and explained our mission and destination in the mountains, he explained that the orcs had recently started attacking more often and were based in the same area as the gate. As a result of a new war against the orcs starting, he could not provide any troops to get us there, but he knew of some folks in town who might be what we need. He offered to arrange a meeting the next day at Noon so we could hire a guide familiar with the area. He also asked that we keep an eye out for dwarven prisoners of the orcs, particularly a dwarf named Dolgrim, and to free as many as we could. Additionally, there is an axe the orcs took in battle that belonged to the last king and the dwarves would pay a good reward for its return.

Today we will meet with the people the constable suggests, but instead of recruiting one to be our guide, we will likely recruit them all and split into two groups. I am not certain how we will divide up, but it is clear that Aziz and I will go south to secure the Uskar Gate and save our homes from the darkness.


Late Morning, July 19, Year of the Earth Rabbit
Praise Ra, who inspires even from the shadows.

Wednesday made a brilliant suggestion, all the more brilliant for its obviousness – we should try and sell the golden sarcophagus lid here in Orzimar. I actually slapped my forehead when she suggested this. We have been porting that lid for months, looking for a buyer and here, in a town where we are most likely to find one, we completely forget about it until Wednesday reminds us. [Wednesday’s player texted the DM to see how the game was going and then asked if we had sold the lid to the dwarves, something we had completely forgotten about. Good thinking Emmy!]

We located a potential buyer and have left the lid (and Aziz) there to have the lid assessed while we go to meet with the constable and our potential new recruits. Later we will return and see if the dwarves will buy the lid. They were very impressed with the quality of the work and the amount of gold in it.


Evening, July 19, Year of the Earth Rabbit
Praise Ra, whose light stays bright, even when divided.

We met with the constable and the people who were interested in our mission. We explained the situation and worked out the two teams. We were lucky that one of the new recruits was an accomplished lock and trap person. She is Elspeth, a half-elven woman, and will be joining the group heading into the desert. Wednesday and Brek’nok will take the rest against the orcs to secure the Mountain Gate. [The other roles still need the characters created, so I’m not naming them here, but I may edit them in later once that group gets started.]

We returned to the mortician interested in the sarcophagus lid and he agreed to buy it for a good price – 175,000 gold marks! After receiving payment, I split the coinage into shares and distributed them amongst the original members of the group. We also split the group fund in two to cover each team’s expenses.

We are going to delay leaving for a day so Tre-ba can craft some wands of endure elements. Elspeth is also searching the city for a ring of sustenance at Tre-ba’s suggestion. So in two morning’s time, the Aldelle Group will split into two teams to save the world. May Ra shine on us both!

*End of Session*

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