D&D Tonight (One Shot Edition)
First session of an all female group on Roll20. We started out with 6 players but two had to leave due to technical difficulties.
So we start off with a battle from the get go. Quite a few kobolds (which apparently are about the same size as my 3ft5in halfling) come riding in on these giant weasels.Â
The Orc of the party, being a massive animal lover, was immediately upset to see the weasels being used like this. Didnât matter that the dang things were getting some good damage shots in. She proceeded to work on killing off the kobolds then frightening off the weasels. Soon, the rest of the party decides they canât bring themselves to upset this precious soul so they try hard not to hurt the weasels either.
A Halfling bard named Delora finally gets to fight back and sheâs torn. After a bit of a pause she yells out, âAw hell!â and proceeds to use her intimidation to scare the weasels off as well.
Unfortunately, the ranger Goliath, Calista, was having problems with the weasel in front of her and had no choice but to kill it. Luckily, though, Kilkorra, the Orc did not see this as she was busy scaring off a weasel and had her back to Calista.Â
When it was all over, Calista had planned to fix it up so they could have it for a meal, but Kilkorra got to it before she could and began burying it. Calista sighed and began to help. Delora sat under a tree and sang her song of rest (We are the Champions) to help heal the party.
After the weasel had been buried, the group made their way to the town they were sent to investigate. The streets were empty and most places had boarded up their windows. Kilkorra, not knowing much about the world proceeded to try and find a nice place to sleep in a ditch that was partially filled with garbage. Delora tried to see if there was anything of note about the town, but she failed the roll miserably and just could only see it was a town.
They make their way to the inn and find it far quieter than it should have been. After speaking to the half-orc owner they find that people and animals have gone missing as well as animals being slaughtered left and right.
Calista orders a wine for the group, but Delora turns it down in favor of a strong Dwarven brew. Cas, an elf rogue, downs her wine and orders what Delora is having. Kilkorra is sniffing then taking little licks at her wine. Finding it unappealing she begins pouring some into a nearby potted plant.
Calista walks over to a table with a male dwarf and a male halfling who are arguing like an old married couple about the best time to leave town and the best route to take. She asks to join them and sits down to see what information she can glean from them.
Cas goes over to the table with a couple of unsavory looking people and introduces herself in thieveâs cant and after a short exchange she sits down with them to get information. Kilkorra decides to go over to that table and mimic Casâs way of turning a chair around and sitting in it backward, a glass of liquor in each hand now. The thieves arenât sure about her, but take Casâs word that sheâs alright. They lift their cups to her and in an enthusiastic way (as this is the first thing she seems to actually understand in this strange land) she clinks her glasses to their cups.
Delora downs her drink and finds a place out of the way but still visible by all where she sits and begins singing quietly to give a bit of background noise.
After a while Cas and Calista rise, having gotten all the info they can and Kilkorra and Delora stand as well as they follow the other two outside. They make their way to a small farm at the outskirts of the town to see where the latest killing took place.Â
In a pen just past the barn they find the remains of a goat. Kilkorra rushes in and after looking it over finds that it seemed to have been killed with a knife. With no other information available in the dark of night the group returns to the inn. All but Cas go to their rooms. Cas stays in the room below to try her hand at cards with the other thieves. After losing she decides to go to bed.
The next morning they all gather outside and make their way back to the farm where the last goat was killed. They see that something had made its way into the woods beyond and they follow. Eventually they come to this cave, the mouth of which is about 30ft across.
Cas edges up to it and, using stealth, makes her way about 10ft inside before she sees a group of people dressed in cloaks and masks standing in a circle. She can hear their chanting now. She come back out and relays the what she saw. Delora suggests shooting into the cave with her crossbow, trying to scare/lure the people out. Calista agrees. Calista goes in first and tries to find a good way to do this but see there will come no good of do that as in order for it to work she would most likely be caught before she could make it out.
By this time Kilkorra is very worked up. She wants to deal with these animal killers now! She announces that sheâs going to just walk in. Delora catches her before she does and offers her a little spell to help her out.Â
âKilkorra, wait!â Delora hisses. âGive me your hand.â Kilkorra does as she is asked and Delora thinks for a moment then slaps Kilkorraâs palm and says, âA little something extra in case you get hit. Go get âem, weâre right behind you!â And she, Cas, and Calista use stealth to enter the cave behind Kilkorra.
Two of the people, cultists, see Kilkorra and immediately break from the other three and walk closer. They summon up three, hideous, wolves made of smoke and something more substantial, the group canât tell what, they just know that these were the ugliest wolves theyâd ever laid eyes on.
At this point Calista, Cas, and Delora have positioned themselves out of sight behind stone pillar formations. The first cultist attacks with a wolf. Calista lets loose an arrow, instantly killing the creature. Another wolf lunges for Kilkorra who then deals a blow that damages but does not kill the wolf. Cas attacks next, killing the third wolf then melting back into the shadows. A cultist moves closer to Kilkorra and attacks. Delora, seizing her chance, yells out to the other cultist, âDoth mother known you weareth her drapes?â
The cultist hesitates for a moment then turns to the other and says, âYou said I looked good,â then dissolves into sobs as he curls into the fetal position on the floor.
The other three cultists are chanting much faster now, hurrying to summon their hellish creature.
Before long, the four women kill the wolves and the two cultists, but not before the friend of the one she mocked dealt a deadly blow that left her dangerously close to death. One more hit and she would be done for.
Their small victory was short-lived, however, as they realized the other cultists had stopped chanting. As they turn their attention to them, this smoke fills the cavern and begins to solidity into large bones, patches of scales, sharp teeth and claws, and two giant wings.Â
The dragon was grotesque. In their hurry to perform the ritual, the cultists had made too many errors. Not only was the dragon incomplete- itâs bones showing through holes in the skin and muscles, scaly skin hanging off the thing like a sheet thatâs been pulled only partway off a bed- but the part of the ritual that bound the thing to the cultist was not in place. The dragon turned on its masters and ate them! Then it turned on the group of adventurers.Â
They began to attack. Kilkorra with her axes, Calista with her arrows, Cas with her rapier and daggers, Delora with her spells.Â
Delora broke her spell she had placed on Kilkorra to give her an edge up and instead moved into position and drew her dagger. She flipped it into the air and with a menacing chuckle said, âOh, Iâm about to become the bane of your existence.â As the dagger came down she caught it easily and brought it down swiftly, nicking the skin on her other hand. The drop of blood fell and the dragon felt the spell settle in place as it failed to fight it.Â
Her companions continued to attack, seeing that the dragonâs attacks didnât quite have the edge they did before. Now Delora used her last ounce of more powerful magic to heal herself of the damage sheâd taken. She hoped her friends still had a few of the healing potions she and Calista had looted from the kobolds the day before.
As they all continued to attack, Delora did what she could, using her crossbow now or taunting the dragon with her vicious mockery, causing it to fumble in its next attack. It was no easy feat to hold her concentration with her first spell she placed on the dragon while attacking, but she continued to fight.
The dragon reared back and bellowed out a 40ft wide line of flames. Calista and Delora barely escaped the worst of it and Delora nearly lost her concentration on her spell. They had to move or risk being burnt to a crisp.Â
The fight dragged on as they slowly hacked away at the ragged beast. Cas and Kilkorra flanked the dragon while Calista and Delora fought from the fringes.Â
This thing didnât seem like it would die and Delora knew her friends must be getting wearing.
âAlright! Who needs it?â she yelled out from her hiding spot behind a large boulder. From their travels together the women knew Delora had a special knack for giving them the boost they needed with just a few simple words.
âI do!â Kilkorra shouted.Â
âFor the wolves!â shouted Delora and her words resonated inside Kilkorraâs bones, giving her the resolve she needed.
The dragon lunged with its mighty jaws and swiped with its claws, but the adventurers fought on. Then, suddenly, the dragon spread its massive wings and lifted itself into the air. Kilkorra and Cas took the opportunity to attack while it seemed to retreat. Kilkorraâs axe landed a blow but Casâs rapier missed by mere inches.
The dragon, however, was not retreating. No. It was simply getting into a better position. Delora watched as she peeked around her rock as the dragon let loose another mighty blast of flames. They fell over her friends. For a moment she couldnât see what had become of them, but as the heat dissipated and the flames disappeared, she was elated to see they had dodged with only minimal singeing.Â
Delora tried to taunt the dragon again, but it managed to ignore her sounds. Kilkorra rushed over and swung her axe. Cas slunk in and stabbed with her rapier. Calista fired and arrow, using a spell to wrap vines around it. The moment the arrow made contact with a scale it pinged off, but the vines leapt into action. Unfortunately the dragon had power of its own and with it made easy work of the vines. It then took flight again and repositioned itself and blasted the three with another round of fire.Â
Calista and Kilkorra managed to evade, but Cas took severe damage. Kilkorra dashed to her side to help protect her.Â
âAnyone else need it?â Delora bellowed. Calista answered her call. âKill the f*cking thing already!â Delora hollered with a laugh.
Calista moved in and attacked. The dragon swiped at her and Cas. Delora tightened her spell on the dragon and managed to help save Cas from most of the damage. Calista, being a Goliath, was able to take advantage of her raceâs stone-like skin. Cas, however, was looking near dead.Â
Delora attacked with her crossbow once more, Calista with her two axes, and Kilkorra with her one. Cas, barely able to stand, prepared her rapier and with a heavy blow, struck the creature dead. Of course, this wasnât enough to Cas, so she continued to work away at the dragonâs corpse until the head was well separated.
In the meantime, Delora took a deep breath and ran out to congratulate her friends before rummaging through the cultistsâ robes. She came away with five golden medallions encrusted with gems and stamped with the cultâs insignia.Â
Cas, having relieved the dragon of its head, turned and found a chest. She made quick work of it with her lock picks and found it to be stuffed full of gold and gems.
Calista grabbed the dragon head and they made their way back to town.
The innkeeper, to show her gratitude for ridding the town of the cult, which then prompted people to leave their homes, who then filled her tavern once more, gave the adventurers drink on the house all night. The townspeople cheered and drank and listened to Delora recall the great fight until the wee hours of the morning.