[The Yardbird arrives at the Northern Dwarven Kingdom and Dangar is tested.]
[This session took place July 27, 2002. We were playing Champions 4th Edition with the Second Edition Fantasy Hero supplement.]
Player Characters
Tim, a Wizard - male human from the Free City of Freegate, graduate of Outlands University
Dangar Stonekleaver - male dwarf from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom
Kyle Logan – male human thief and stowaway on the Yardbird
Wendell Dorshield III – male gnome, Captain and Architect of the Yardbird
Malwyn – male High elf fighter and military expert
Darkfox – female human thief from Freegate, secret ID of socialite Karlyn Gryphshaw
Session Begins:
August 1, 18 IC
After passing the tallest portions of the central Worldspine Mountains, the Yardbird turned northwest and cut across the “lower” portions of the mountains to reach Karak-urd, Capital of the Northern Dwarven Kingdom (NDK), arriving on August 1st, 18 IC
The unexpected approach of the Yardbird set off alarms and the gate to the underground city was sealed. It was observed by those on the Yardbird that the defensive towers were also sealed, except for the siege weapon emplacements, which were active and tracking the Yardbird. Wendell maneuvered the Yardbird into the valley in front of the main gate and dropped anchors [the Yardbird used three for stability] to bring the Yardbird to a stop 100 m from the Gate. Tim and Dangar descended in the Runaround 3, which looked like a longboat with a large balloon instead of a sail.
Once on the ground, Dangar approached the 30 m tall, heavily reinforced Gate and used the knocker (set at dwarf height). A small port embedded in the doorjamb 30 m above the knocker opened and the Gate Guardian challenged Dangar to identify himself. A 10-minute conversation ensued with the Gate Guardian explaining why Dangar could not be Dangar (shabby beard, broken axe, armor in poor condition, etc.) and Dangar explaining why these things were and ‘yes, he was Dangar Stonecleaver, thank you very much’. Eventually Dangar was directed to ‘Sub-Door number 3’ – another test as the sub-doors (doors set into the main gate) were not numbered.
Dangar led Tim to the correct sub-door where Dangar faced additional questions about his ancestors. After another 15 minutes of questioning, the Gate Guardian finally agreed that Dangar really was Dangar. Then Tim was questioned about who he was. His questioning lasted two minutes and ended when he produced a fresh pony keg of Tim’s Old Sock and let the Gate Guardian sample it. [See Footnote 1]
Once identities were established, the two were directed to take their contraption [the Yardbird] over to Ally’s Valley and wait there. This was yet another test for Dangar – the valley was marked differently on maps. [Northern Dwarfs tend to be conservative about positive identification.] Dangar and Tim returned to the Yardbird and Dangar gave Wendell the proper instructions to Ally’s Valley, a broad valley nearby where the dwarfs park allied armies during wartime.
After they landed the Yardbird again, a delegation emerged from the city. It consisted of Underboss Garl Ringbane, his bodyguard detail, his assistant (Argus Scalewearer), and his advisor (Arkon Worldbender, a spellcrafter). Tim and Dangar explained to the Underboss their mission to destroy the Orb and that they needed a hammer of the highest quality built to certain specifications, which they had on a scroll.
The Underboss decided to have a pavilion set up for further discussions. Arkon Worldbender looked over the specifications for the hammer and said he could translate them into proper smithing instructions. The Underboss went back down into Karak-urd to report to the King.
While the Underboss was reporting, Tim chatted with Arkon, providing some basic descriptions of how the Yardbird worked. Later, once the Underboss returned, Tim overheard a side conversation in Dwarvish between Arkon and the Underboss. Arkon told the Underboss he could duplicate what made the Yardbird fly. Neither was aware that Tim spoke fluent Dwarvish and so spoke relatively openly. Tim decided to keep that information to himself.
The King agreed with the Underboss’ assessment and provided the Underboss with a Token of Authority for the Outlanders. The Underboss returned to the pavilion above ground and gave the Token to the Outlanders. He told them it would provide them with safe passage in the Northern Dwarven Kingdom. Further he instructed them to go talk with Mastersmith Durzh Ironbeater about making the hammer and provided them with directions to the mastersmith’s workshop. The Token would convince the Mastersmith to make the hammer.
The Underboss told Tim that he had heard of something called “Tim’s Double-Distilled” and its use as an explosive. He asked if Tim might have any with him. Tim admitted he did and asked if the Underboss would like a demonstration. The Underboss did and so a demonstration was set up.
While the demonstration was being set up, Dangar was contacted by one of his uncles and they went down into the city so Dangar could visit his family and get his axe repaired. (It just didn’t do for Dangar to be walking around with his axe broken like that – it looked bad on the clan.) Dangar also showed his family what happens when Wow-Wow Sauce was applied to Dwarven Bread. Everyone eventually got their hearing back and Dangar helped sweep up the broken plates and cups. [Footnote 2]
Back on the surface, a bottle of TDD was set at the far end of the valley on an exposed bolder and portable blast shielding was set up for the observers. When everyone was ready, Tim fired a small magebolt at the bottle. The batch of TDD was stronger than expected. It blew over one of the pavilions and broke some of the windows on the Yardbird. The boulder it had been sitting on became a crater and rubble was spread over a very wide area. The dwarves were very impressed with the TDD but did not ask how TDD was made. They felt that their recently invented black powder was more stable and, more importantly, safer to use [Footnote 3].
August 2, 18 IC
The next day the Outlanders took their leave and traveled two hours northwest in the Yardbird, towards the Dwarven Deeps [Footnote 4] to meet with Durzh Ironbeater. They arrived at a short, squat tower next to a waterfall, where they saw some dwarfs standing around out in front of the tower and landed via the Runaround 3.
The dwarves out front were wearing poorly fitting chainmail and claimed to be merchants from the south (which made Dangar instantly dislike them), despite not having any wares to trade. They claimed that they had arrived that morning to trade and found that the tower had been attacked. They showed several dwarven bodies laid out in front of the tower. The bodies showed signs of a cutting weapon and ragged tears, as from a beast. The Outlanders, true to form, were instantly suspicious of the dwarves and had Wendell signal the Yardbird to Yellow Alert. The dwarfs completely failed to recognize the Outlanders by reputation, much to their later dismay.
The dwarfs offered to lead the Outlanders into the tower to their leader. The Outlanders cautiously accepted and followed the dwarfs into the tower. The inner door had a pit trap in front of it, but the dwarves easily hopped over it into the room beyond. The Outlanders were reluctant to jump, but Dangar eventually did so. When he got to the other side, he could only see three of the four dwarves and an open door leading further into the tower.
In the meanwhile, Tim looked down into the pit and spotted a body. He used his telekinesis spell to pull up the body, which was a partially transformed dwarf. Sensing the jig was up, the dwarfs attacked the Outlanders, transforming into were-rats!
In the ensuing melee, Dangar, Malwyn, Kyle, and Darkfox were all heavily wounded, using the last of the Outlander’s healing potions to remain standing. The three were-rats were reinforced part way through the fight by the rest of their compatriots and their leader. Wendell summoned troops from the Yardbird. The troops deployed via Gnome battle-kites, but arrived just as the battle finished. The were-rat minions were cut down but, near the end of the fight, the were-rat leader fled back into the tower, finally recognizing who the Outlanders were by their reputation.
Dangar and Kyle pursued the leader of the were-rats, but the leader was killed by one of the Yardbird’s ship's guns when he tried to squeeze out a window on the second floor. [This was a good thing for Dangar and Kyle as neither were really in condition to face him if cornered.]
After mending their wounds as best they could, the Outlanders explored the tower further. Kyle and Dangar started from the top of the tower and worked their way down while Darkfox headed down from the main level. Darkfox found a surviving guard in the barracks and talked him down from a blind panic. She learned from this young dwarf that the were-rats attacked by surprise in the night, catching the dwarfs of the tower by surprise. Together, she and the young dwarf searched deeper in the tower and found the Mastersmith in his locked and sound-proof lab. He had been there all night and was unaware that anything had happened.
In return for defeating the were-rats and saving his life, Durzh rewarded each of the Outlanders with a healing potion from his emergency stores. Most of these were immediately consumed to finish healing the wounds received from the were-rats. Tim offered his last two pony kegs of Old Sock for the rest of the healing potions and Durzh accepted.
The Outlanders finally explained why they were there and provided Durzh with the hammer specifications and the Token of Authority. Durzh looked over the specifications and the Token of Authority and agreed that he would do the work and finish it in two months, but he would need to be transported to Karak-urd for the necessary supplies (and more assistants/guards). Everything Durzh needed from his tower was loaded into the Yardbird and it flew back to Karak-urd. During the flight, Wendell provided Durzh a tour of the Yardbird and a basic explanation of how it worked.
Session Ends.
Footnotes:
1. Dwarves don’t expect much in the way of knowledge of family history from humans and, as a result, find quizzing them on their great-great-great-grandfather’s brothers’ children pointless. Plus, a dwarf vouched for him and it was very good beer.
2. Wow-Wow Sauce and Dwarven Bread were both taken from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, of which we are all big fans. Several of us in the group are also fans of particularly spicy sauces and foods so our version was closer to sauces that come with disclaimers and a high Scoville count. It was early on established that Tim, as a wizard from Outlands University, regularly carried a small bottle with him to season food other people provided. At some point the party was out of food except Dangar’s Dwarven Bread and Tim put some Wow-Wow Sauce on it to make it more edible. Instead, it chemically reacted and then exploded, because it was that kind of campaign. The PCs kept that secret to themselves and at some point used it tactically.
3. Many people feel the same way when exposed to Tim’s Double Distilled (the magical equivalent of very sweaty dynamite) for the first time. Also, “Dwarven Black Powder” was invented in game sometime around 13 IC, so it was still a very young technology at the time.
4. Paradoxically some of the tallest mountains on the continent. The actual tallest are the Upper Reaches, an area the PCs travelled to early in the campaign.
NPCs Met
Underboss Garl Ringbane – a dwarven aristocrat, speaks for the King
Arkon Worldbender – a Dwarven spellcrafter (their magic users) and advisor to Underboss Garl Ringbane
Argus Zertson Scalewearer – assistant to Underboss Garl Ringbane
Durzh Ironbeater – Dwarven Mastersmith, currently considered to be one of the best in the NDK
Clan Gurart – a SDK dwarven clan that is currently hunting Dangar over a Grudge [came up in conversation between Dangar and his family]
Happening Off-Stage
[Argus Scalewearer is part of a dissident group of young Dwarfs who feel that upward advancement is stifled by the Elders. They share information with each other to help all of them advance faster. He shared everything he heard and saw up on the surface. Unfortunately, one of the group is a Betdmuan spy. The spy relayed to his controller his understanding of what the Outlanders are doing via a Far-Talking Amulet. This included the following:
- The Outlanders are on a mission for Lord Gamrin
- Dangar is the Chosen One
- They are trying to destroy an orb
- They have commissioned Mastersmith Durzh to build a great hammer
- They will return for the hammer in two months
- They are traveling in an airship
- They have two forms of explosives on board: TDD and something that causes battle-bread to explode
The Betdmuans of the Deep Temple realized that the orb was part of the Great Key needed to open the Vault. Knowing the magics contained in the Vault are the key to a quick victory and that the Great Key is the only way into the Vault now, they appoint Trithallos Buhrodar, known as Lord Thezmothete, as responsible for stopping the Outlanders and retrieving the missing piece of the Key.
Lord Thezmothete has instituted multiple plans of attack against the Outlanders. The initial phases are:
- Send a flight of mind-controlled griffins to attack the Yardbird. Their goal is to get information about the defenses of the Yardbird.
- Place Special Action Teams on the Yardbird's likely paths through the Worldspine Mountains. These teams have ranged magical attacks in the form of Lightning Bolts and Fireballs cast from wands and scrolls. Their goal is to cripple the Yardbird and bring it down so infantry can attack it.
- Agents in Freegate will attempt to locate the Orb. (It will take them some time to verify it is in the University.)
- Additional agents will be sent to Karak-urd to steal the hammer or stop its production.]
DM Discussion
[First time I used wererats in Fantasy Hero. I was not impressed with their infection power. In a D&D fight, all of the party took enough damage they would have needed to check for infection. In this fight, it was never an issue as the power was separate from damage done. Now-a-days I would change that to make the infection power linked to their attacks instead of separate. Live and learn.]
Flight of the Yardbird
Previous session: Session 6
Next Session: Session 8 [not edited yet]
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