#sessionupdate

[dungeonsdragonsandnerds]

Session Notes 7/28 & 8/2

The party arrived at Echo Outpost to see General Epistaxis hard at work on a refugee. There was a large guard presence, both Sivasian and Alsteinian. Surrounded by sick refugees we began to worry if Karpathia was facing a new plague. 

After a moment, the party was able to flag Epistaxis’ attention, struggling not to reveal the extent of our connection to the Paragon, (If you recall the last session notes post, we learned that Paragon worship is illegal in Sivasia) we communicated to Epistaxis that we had been sent to find him by “the General”. 

Inside the tent that functioned as his work space, we were able to speak more freely about what we needed from him and how we knew to come find him. Epistaxis agreed to show us the way to Hallstat on the following conditions 

1. The party does NOT aid in any of King’s military operations  2. The party does NOT aid the Swords of Dis in any way  3. The party DOES purchase all of the medical supplies that his 50gp will allow us to get 

The party agrees without hesitation.

Curious, Maeve asked about the illness that was affecting these people and learned the following: 

Orc Flu 

- Not native to “the mainland”  - Orc tribes are immune, half-orcs are not  - Humanoids at risk as far as we can tell  - Dragons and Dragonborn may also be at risk - These refugees are coming from Ningate 

Epistaxis leads the party past Ningate and implores us to stay off of the roads, they’re full of bandits, highwaymen, and those affected by the Orc Flu. We arrive at a footpath through the forrest and Epistaxis gives the party directions on how to get the rest of the way to Hallstat, he needed to return to Echo Outpost and continue tending to the ill. 

Epistaxis gives one last warning: The forest is full of Owlbears, some of which are sick with the Orc Flu and must be put down. 

As the party continues northwest, Maeve and Heinrich feel the ground give way beneath them as they fall into a net. An elf woman emerged from the trees, furious that something had triggered her trap by mistake. After some explanation and apologies (to Maeve’s annoyance) she begrudgingly lowered a ladder and Aura flew down on her broom to help untangle Maeve & Heinrich. 

Continuing on, the party arrives at Hallstat. Hallstat is a vertical city made up of patchwork skyscrapers and there is a large population of Tieflings here. The party is stopped at the front gate by Warmaster Conrad Grimm (see the NPC page) and all of our Manadrite weapons are confiscated for security purposes. Maeve and Ot hesitantly hand over their items. 

After presenting the invitation that we had received from Damian King, we were directed to the Manadrite-At-Arms ran by Mr. Prell (Brother of the Alsteinen Lord Prell). Two guards outside the door to his shop confiscated the rest of our weapons. Solana tried, and failed, to smuggle her stiletto in. 

Inside, we showed Prell the invitation and finally we were escorted to the central compound to meet with Damian King. Down a hall way, in a central room sits a semi-circle of eight thrones, two of them occupied. Behind the thrones are the following for images in the following order: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right 

The party recognized the bottom right image as a young Saul. The two thrones are occupied by Damian King and Juliana King (learn about them on the NPC page). Damian greets the party warmly and invites us to take a seat with him in the empty thrones, he explains that these seats are meant to occupied by people of honor and loyalty. All but Heinrich take a seat. 

The party asks about Saul, the Paragon, the Settler attack and inquires as to what Damian’s role in all of those events may be.  Damian, mildly offended, explained that he just barely maintains control of Hallstat proper and that there are those in the city that don’t even believe he is the King of Varna, he certainly does not have the manpower or stability to rally an army strong enough to attack Karpathia, nor would it be a smart political move on his part. If he were to begin a war with Karpathia, what little remains of Varna would be crushed almost immediately. 

After answering the party’s questions, Damian had some of his own. He inquired after the prophecy that Saul told the party. A quick glance between each other and the party decides it best to be vague, leaving out the exact details of what is to befall the High King. Damian seems disappointed and a little suspicious of the Party’s hesitancy. Finding ourselves at an impasse the party begins to leave. 

King tells the party of a mine in Ningate, there are some people trapped there with some sort of...thing? The party ultimately decides helping King is not in our best interest and we continue on our way. On our way out Solan seems to freeze up for a moment and then fearfully turns to Maeve and whispers grimly that the party needed to return from Varna immediately. 

As we exit King’s Compound, a crowd has gathered in the town center, in the middle of this crowd is a Tiefling monk in a white robe, in her hand a vial of Alchemist’s Fire. Before the crowd she dumped the vial of herself in an act of self imolation. One of the two other monks that was with her exclaimed that the presence of the Swords of Dis have brought evil and corruption, the gods of the Sovereign Host will punish Hallstat for this and despite their attempts to speak with King on the matter, there has been no change. 

Heinrich goes on to the medical supply shop and begins fulfilling our promise to Epistaxis, Aura and Ot find spots in the crowd. Maeve makes her way up to the monks and tries to get more information about what is happening, there isn’t much luck with that interaction. 

When those monks begin to address the crowd in the language the party has heard Annika speak, as well as Damian and Juliana, Maeve asks the people in the crowd around her.  The man standing to her left, does in fact recognize the language. He informs Maeve that they are speaking Taali, the native language of a tribe from the Peak of the World. He tells Maeve that ‘King’ is not Damian and Juliana’s last name and that they are “making themselves more palatable”  Maeve learns that Juliana’s Taali name is Nolwazi and that their last name is Isheanesu. The man she’s been speaking with introduces himself as Vegter and Maeve can’t help but tell him about Annika’s companion of the same name. 

Heinrich finishes gathering the supplies, Solana rushes us along and along the way informs us, Biv made contact and the High King is dead.

[dungeonsdragonsandnerds]

About Karpathia: As Told by the DM

The following text was written by the DM as an introduction to the campaign setting, we got this as players at Day 0: 

The world is on the precipice of a new age.

With the death of the beloved High King Otto, political forces from all over the continent began vying for power and the political capital required to elect a new High King.

The great prophet of the Silver Flame, Haar, has told the Empress-Queen of Sivasia in secret that he has had visions of catastrophe at the coronation of the new High King. Fearing that Haar’s visions would come true, she hired renowned adventurers to attend the coronation as extra security.

You are these adventurers. You are members of an elite adventuring company operating out of a fortress that you jointly own.

You are likely a human, your ancestors built the first civilizations in Karpathia and paved most of the roads here. Your ancestors were also the perpetrators of the Chaos Wars a hundred years ago which created the dreaded Realm of Monsters.

You might be an elf. The various elven houses are renowned for having the greatest wizards in Karpathia, though they do not get involved in outside politics often. Some humans still blame the elves for the war magic that caused the cataclysm in the Chaos Wars. 

You could be a dwarf. Coming to the continent later than most others, dwarves brought the art of artificership with them. Dwarf-run guilds have a near monopoly on the trade of the powerful metal, manadrite, which is used to make legendary magic items. Most trust you.

You may be a warforged. Created to fight the never-ending war that rages in the Realm of Monsters by the court wizards of King Zol the Mighty. Some have left Alstein in an attempt to make sense of their existence. Most view you as a symbol of freedom, though some will not trust you due to your magical origins and mechanical nature.

You might be a half-orc, a reminder of the raids on human civilization. Most will distrust you, seeing you as one step away from your monstrous heritage.

You could be a half-elf. You are a remnant of the alliances between elven houses and human kingdoms. You are perpetually not human enough and not elvish enough, though most will trust you.

You might be a tiefling. You are the product of a pact made with a devil and most people know this. Even though you did not make this pact, most will view you as untrustworthy. There are tales of a tiefling colony tucked away somewhere in the Realm of Monsters.

You may be a changeling. The villages built by your people were collateral damage during the Chaos Wars and so your people are scattered within the human kingdoms. Personas and masks are essential as most people do not trust changelings that are open about their heritage. Some who live in more rural areas might not even know changelings exist.

You could be a goblin. You are the backbone behind much of the industry in Karpathia. Goblins are known to have discovered gunpowder that brought warfare to another level. Often exploited as a source of cheap labor, most may see themselves above you.

You could be something else. Other races are far less common in Karpathia and are likely travelers from other planes or other lands, in which case most will view you as a foreigner. This makes you “exotic” to some. Others may see you as ignorant of local customs or languages. You will have to prove that you fit in.

[dungeonsdragonsandnerds]

Session Notes 8/18 & 8/24

On the road not too far from the Red Keep, the party sees in the distance that there is a army of about 40 small, armored soldiers on the road ahead of us. From this distance all we could see were their bright, cardinal red banners. 

As we approached we could hear this army speaking to each other in goblin, when we attempted to communicate with them in common we were met with borderline hostility. Solana quickly thought to speak to them in Goblin and the rest of the party, except poor Aura who doesn’t speak Goblin. 

We learned that the army before us was the Goblin Liberation Army and they were marching on Big Tree (if you’ve been following along you might remember that in the early days of Karpathia we freed a small group of Goblin slaves from the Orcs that had captured them in Big Tree), they were pleased to hear of our previous assistance. Snixel, their commander general, told us to come find him if we ever found ourselves in Yaremburg. 

The party finally makes it to the Red Keep only to find our lieutenants camping outside. Ulysses grumpily explains that since they weren’t on the list they weren’t allowed in until we got there. Heinrich and the others ride on to the gate while Maeve helps B team break down their tent. 

At the guardhouse, Taltar (the halfling guard we met the last time we were at the Red Keep) happily greeted the party and quickly made arrangements to add B team to the personnel list.

We were given rooms for the night to share with our respective lieutenants, Tasar took the Deck of Many Things from Heinrich to see if he could find any information about the artifact or its properties. With that, the party went to sleep 

We were woken in the morning by a knock on each of our doors and a servant urgently requesting that we dress and prepare for departure. As everyone begins spilling out, General Hallbrook  (in full military regalia) begins to introduce everyone and explain what everyone’s role in keeping Valeria safe will be. 

(See the NPC page for more info on these new characters)  

- Relius “Rel” Cabal            Rel is to be point man

- Abina “Wraith” Kumalo        Wraith is a warrior, she has refashioned a warforged weapon so that she is able to wear it on her forearm 

- Masque       Masque is quiet, keeps to themselves. By talking to the other we learn that Masque’s specialty is espionage and that they are a sort of magician or shapeshifter. 

After introductions and getting to know each other for a while, Valeria is ready to leave. The caravan sets out along a route, taking back roads to Fort Unity in Braslov where we will then take a ferry the rest of the way to Chur. We’re given strict orders that in the event that anyone begins to cross paths with us on the road, that person is to be dealt with swiftly. 

The party travels for roughly 4 hours, a man appears up the road. As Heinrich looks he realizes this man is full sprinting towards the caravan and quickly breaks ranks to cut him off. The man runs up to Heinrich despite his warnings and tries to give the box he is holding to Heinrich.   

Heinrich takes the box and throws it as far away from the caravan as he can. As he does this, the sound of distant buzzing intensifies as two swarms of bees close in on the party. Where the box landed, broken into pieces, lay a jar holding a queen bee. 

Maeve uses her breathe weapon to begin freezing the bees, Aura helps as well. Solana breaks ranks to rescue the queen bee. Heinrich begins riding down the road with the beekeeper in tow. Once a decent distance from the party the beekeeper leaps onto Heinrich and tries to attack him. This “beekeeper” is the vampire that got away from us in the previous encounter. 

A dimension door firmly plants itself on the road behind us and out comes a fearsome creature that begins to attack the party. From the Caravan, fear in her eyes, Valeria remarks to Biv “Oh shit, its Astrid” 

From the front of the formation Abina calls back, “GO AROUND, DO NOT ENGAGE”  Maeve fires a defensive fireball (or two) to help clear the path for the Caravan. 

Astrid turns to Rel and Power Word Kills him, she paralyzes Ulysses, Aura is trapped in a prison of her own life story. Heinrich is battling a vampire, Solana is off past the tree line still in search for the queen bee that got tossed. 

As the fight goes on and it seems the party may slip away mostly undamaged. (Tasar has plans to revivify Rel as soon as the coast is clear) Maeve feels a voice in her mind asking for her life story, a man appears in her mind. Drawing all of her strength, she pushes him out of her mind and onto the battlefield, visible. Lord Cain. 

The dimension door opens itself once more and 12 pit creatures come pouring out. 4 arms, armed with makeshift weapons. Daggers of sharpened rocks, pointed sticks, and crude spears. 

The party makes quick work of the pit creatures, Heinrich manages to get the vampire to the ground and drive a stake through his heart, leaving him to burn in the sun. 

As the party turns the tide of the fight, Lady Astrid calls out “Cain its over, she’s gone” and the two of them dash back through the dimension door. Tasar swoops Rel up and begins to revive him. 

Once we got to our camp for the night Valeria begins to explain who Lady Astrid is...and who she was. 

Gardrave’s Conclave of Merchants is ran by businessmen from Gardrave’s noble houses.Clan McAllister is one of those houses.Lord McAllister is currently at the head of the Conclave. 

Years ago, Valeria’s great great great grandfather murdered Stella, but alas she did not die, not truly.. Since then she has taken on the name Lady Astrid and has made it her afterlife’s mission to take revenge on House Lorraine.  

More terrifying than Astrid herself is the next sentence from Valeria’s lips: Someone had to have told her I would be on this route, ladies and gentlemen someone standing here with us now...is a spy 

[dungeonsdragonsandnerds]

Session Update 8/10

After leaving the city of Hallstat, the party was reachable again. Aura reached out to Ulysses and he was able to give her the following information: 

A letter from the Red Keep had come for the party, written across the front, open immediately. From the letter we learned

1. High King Otto is dead

2. There is reason to believe that he is dead (this is classified information and sharing this with anyone else is considered treason)

3. Credible security threats have been posed to all of the prince and princess electors 

4. Despite this, the elector tribunal and coronation of the next High Monarch will take place next week 

5. The party has been called upon (see also: voluntold) to act as the Empress-Queen’s security detail (this is largely due to the fact that despite her counsel informing her that attending these events poses great risk to her safety, Valeria feels it is her duty to attend and will not be swayed) 

With this new information the party begins to cut through the dark forest, desperately trying to get to the Red Keep as quickly as possible. The sound of large flapping wings can be heard overhead, getting closer and closer as the party proceeds. After a short time the flapping is so loud the party dives off the foot path into the shadows and begins to look around.  

As the wings descend, a large male figure comes into view, his dark skin, golden eyes, and flowing white robes, coupled with enormous wings. He stops on the path and begins to scan the area, Heinrich steps forward as the figure calls out “I come for Turnuroth” The man introduces himself as Behar, this of course signaling to Maeve that this is the same angel that presented himself to Lydia, one of the Paragon’s exemplars. 

Quickly casting message to inform Heinrich of this situation, Maeve slowly comes out from the trees and announces herself. Behar comes over to Maeve and begins to communicate with her telepathically. 

He informs her that for the past two days she was being stalked by a demon that she owed a blood debt to, intending to assasinate her and the party in the very forest where we stood now. This one in particular was slain by Behar though there will, inevitably, be others that try.   

While safely making camp thanks to Ot’s spell, Tiny Hut, Aura draws another card from the Deck of Many Things:  

1. The Hanged Man: Aura immediately gains a level (putting her at level 7) but is compelled by the card to draw again 

2. Justice: This card changes her alignment from Chaotic Good to Neutral Good. The Hanged Man compels her to draw again 

3. The Queen of Pentacles: This card causes one magic item to disintegrate. Aura is now broom-less and rides a horse like the rest us. (Note: this card often causes all magic items a player is in possession of to disintegrate but our DM is benevolent) 

The party gets back on the road and when we arrive at Echo Outpost there has been no positive change, Heinrich informs Epistaxis that we’ve returned with the supplies he requested and that Solana took them inside to the supply warehouse. 

With no time to lose the party begins to make their way to the Red Keep, not too far into these travels we come across overturned carts that are smoking on the road ahead of us. As we drew nearer we saw Sivasian Militia men engaged in battle with several cloaked casters. 

Maeve attempts to assess the situation but the rest of the party launches into battle, attacking the cloaked figures. Maeve takes issue with this but helps her party anyways. 

As combat proceeds it quickly becomes clear that these cloaked figures are vampires, one of them successfully charms Heinrich and latches on to his neck. She calls out “Lord Cain compels you” and this is the last the party hears her say as she begins to communicate with Heinrich telepathically. 

The party manages to take out the remaining vampires (one of them got away) and free Heinrich. After asking the remaining guards what the vampires were after, we learn they were transporting a highly magical artifact. Maeve casts identify and we learn: 

Talisman of Pure Good 

An ancient relic used by Clerics and Paladins, this talisman served no god. 

- requires attunment - +2 to damage dealt while holding it  - has 7 charges - When attacked, neutral creatures take 6d6 damage and evil creatures take 8d6 damage per round.  - if its target is evil, a flaming fissure opens below the creature forcing it to make a DC 20 DEX save or fall in and be destroyed, leaving no remains or traces of existence - when the last charge is used, the talisman explodes into golden light and is destroyed

This is where we ended our session, though we are very close to the Red Keep.  Introducing: Sivasia’s newest Security Detail 

[dungeonsdragonsandnerds]

Session Notes 7/19

After everyone received their mail and caught up with their lieutenants(except for Aura who is still hiding her missing finger from Ulysses), Biv was put in charge of the Fort Chroma and B team while the party was out & it was time to head back into the Realm of Monsters.

The plan was to head out from Echo Outpost (the closest way to Hallstat from Fort Chroma), conveniently that’s where Ezekiel’s (see the NPC page) camp was. The party was hesitant to meet him as we’ve been struggling to make sense of Saul and the Paragon. Ultimately, we decided that passing up on that meeting could leave us in the dark as Ezekiel might have more answers. The letter he sent to Maeve explained how to find his campsite as it would be hidden to the untrained eye.

Gaining access to Ezekiel’s camp sight required us to take the Paragon Amulets out of Ot’s bag of holding. We’ve been keeping them there since learning they have scrying properties. Once wearing the amulets, the party was able to see the entrance to a pocket dimension (Out of character we learned that this was the Plane of Law, but our character’s don’t know that), Maeve was the first to enter.  

Before her was a muted, dull landscape filled with mechanical buzzing sounds and a small campsite off to the side. The party didn’t sense any danger and everyone proceeded into the pocket dimension. Here we were greeted by Tick (see NPC page) who inquired as to what our business was. Solana informed him we were summoned by Ezekiel, this was all the answer Tick needed before escorting us to the “general” (Ezekiel led them in the last Great Census 300 years ago, so to the Modrons he’s a general despite not having any military ranking on the material plane). 

Ezekiel inquired as to what happened between the party and the Lord of Flesh, as per his letter he was hoping the party may have salvaged documents with names of clientele or accomplices. Which we did, but we gave it to Jo who runs the library at the Flame Keep and seeing how Paragon worship is illegal in Sivasia...Ezekiel can’t just stroll in and ask to take a look at the records. Luckily, he was understanding and was still willing to answer the party’s questions regarding rumors about the Paragon, about Saul, the history of Varna, and we even got some information about Damian King.  

Everything we’ve learned about Saul & the Paragon so far will be coming soon in its own post. There’s a lot to unpack and even more to still learn. 

In our conversation with Ezekiel we learned that Damian King’s Varnese name is Themba & that he likely chose “Damian King” to make himself more palatable to the Karpathian alliance. We learned that he himself is a politican, not necessarily a fighter & he employs the Swords of Dis (see the Factions page!) to police his lands. Ezekiel told us that Mr. King is likely the responsible party for the attacks on “settlers”( according to Ezekiel these settlers were actually groups of Sivasian soldiers looking to expand into Varnese territory after the Cataclysm) in Varna that have been pinned on Saul. Near the end of this conversation Ezekiel mentioned that arriving at Mr. Kings doorstep wearing amulets of the Paragon might serve us well and be quite the bargaining chip.

Maeve spent some time chatting with the modrons (mostly Click who is on the NPC page!) and Solana spoke with Ezekiel. Heinrich was gifted roasted weenies (the Modrons are fascinated with how the color of sausage changes as it is cooked but they do not eat food), Aura was uncomfortable and ready to leave.  

Next stop: Hallstat (for real this time) 

[dungeonsdragonsandnerds]

Session Notes 7/5/2019

While fleeing the lair of the Lord of Flesh, Heinrich found a Deck of Many Things (something no player can resist). Once the party had a safe place to camp, using Leomund’s Tiny Hut (Spell card below), each of the party & Sinclair pulled a card or two. (To learn more about Elijah, see the NPC page)

Here’s the results: 

Heinrich:    Pulled two cards. The 1st card was pulled and as far as we know, nothing     happened. The 2nd card causes him to permanently take a -1 to all saving   throws 

Ot:  Pulled two cards. The 1st card granted her armor that makes her AC 20, immune to fire damage, and the ability to speak and understand Primordial. The 2nd card summoned Death and he took Ot’s soul. If Ot were to die, there would be no way to revive her. UNLESS, we can find the plane of Death which no one knows where that is. 

Aura:  Pulled 1 card. The card granted her a +2 to an ability score, but also a -1 from a different ability score. 

Maeve:  Pulled 1 card. The voice of a demon filled her head and told her they’d be coming to collect her debt and there was nothing she could do to stop it.  

Elijah Sinclair:  Pulled 2 cards. The first card allowed him to avoid a situation in life, he chose to have never joined the Swords of Dis, thus removing his scars and restoring his ears. The 2nd card caused all of his gold to disappear. 

Maeve was unsettled to learn that the Swords of Dis were responsible for what happened to Elijah and asked him about the organization. We learned the following: 

- Dis is a plane of hell as well as the capital city  - Dis is ruled by Dispater, the Lord of Pain  - The org is more of a militarized street gang, using Dis’ name as an intimidation factor, not because they’re devil worshipers. - Aura learned more about Elijah’s experience: Scythe (who you can learn more about on the NPC page) is the Viceroy of the org and when he learned that Elijah left the organization, a Warmaster (2nd in command) called "Two-Guns Ward", ordered his members to ensure that Sinclair never forgot. They scarred his face and clipped his ears.  

Haarstead and the Flame Keep 

- Heinrich got to meet Paisley(learn more about Paisley on the NPC page), we found her in the library with Dr. Jotun Cloudwalk (a firbolg, we call him Jo). -Talking to Paisley about Saul we learned the following:      - Paisley talks to Saul in her dreams & sometimes Saul’s friend Ezekiel      - Saul talks about being lonely      - Ezekiel is helping Saul with a project      - Paisley seems to have no fear of Saul, she says he’s always been kind.      Though when she told a priest she talked to him, he told Paisley not to talk to Saul “because he’s bad”    - Saul is the one initiating these links between him & Paisley? 

- While talking with Joe about our findings in the Realm of Monsters, Maeve  inquired about the rumors surrounding Saul & the Paragon. We learned the following:   - Worship of the Paragon or possession of religious texts (which Maeve has) even for academic reasons are highly illegal in Sivasia (but not in Alstein) 

Returning home to our Keep we discovered that Ajax and his friends had started acting up so Ulysses locked them all in Liam’s room. When we got back we learned that Ajax felt they were being paid unfairly and we had a frustrating re-negotiation about wages. 

Next stop: Back to the Realm of Monsters to meet Damian King.

[dungeonsdragonsandnerds]

Session Notes 3/16/2019 & 3/23/2019

The Adventure Begins 

- The party finds themselves in a tavern in the small town of Whiteridge. Solana is performing onstage, Maeve isn’t sure why she even came out to a bar, Heinrich is drinking and sharing battle stories, Aura is flirting with a group of lumberjacks. 

- A town guard comes rushing in, there has been an attack at the lumber site of Whiteridge Lumber. Naturally our heroes rise to help.  

- In the forest along the edges of the site, the party meets Oakenfang, an Ent that is aproximately 4,000 years old. He explains to the party that these woods house a sacred grove that serves as a portal to the Feywild and are sacred to the Fey. 

- The party was attacked by a herd of dryads, managed to escape. Proceeded to convince the owner of Whiteridge Lumber, Mab Wizzlecrank (learn about Mab on the NPC page) to move his crew to a different site by calling upon to town leaders (Learn about Snaggletooth on the NPC page)

-Solana makes a fair bit of money by signing Wizzlecrank’s non-disclosure agreement, the party goes their separate ways for about three months (of in game time)