Campaign Journal 6 - The Valley of Castle Langborne

When we last left our heroes (a month ago), they had traveled through some of the halfling villages in the eastern Silver Hills in search of information on more Onorian ruins. They had found a halfling in Shadyvale who told them the tale of Alferith Langborne, and the party made their way to the location of Castle Langborne. They had arrived at a secluded valley, and saw ruins of a castle on the slopes of a hill perhaps half a mile away across the valley to the west...

Player's Map - Castle Langborne Valley

The characters began just west of the stream crossing on the players' map above. As they made their way down the trail heading westward toward the ruins, they came to a fork in the trail. Right around this time, they noticed wisps of smoke coming from their left, down in the stream valley to the south. They took the southwest fork of the trail, moving cautiously, and came upon a campsite on the banks of the stream (marked "C"on the map). The campsite had the smoking embers of a fire, two dead human warriors, and signs of a larger struggle.

Campsite

Searching the campsite, they found a bloody trail leading into a thicket to the north, signs that something heavy had been dragged westward down the trail, and signs of something having slid down the stream bank just east of the pool, into the stream. Some additional investigation by Malachy and Duncan found a similar slide mark (18 inches wide) on the far bank of the stream another 30-40 feet downstream, with signs of something moving off into the brush heading southeast.

Those back at the campsite following the blood trail into the thicket found the unconscious but alive body of a young human, who, when healed, proved to be a sage of Talengard named Eustace of Jasla. Eustace's tale was that he is studying the elder realm of Onoria, and hired a band of four adventurers to escort him from Linden to a site he had identified in his researches as Brin-Dendra, the "Hawks' Nest", a stronghold of the Tramantine family in Onorian times. Shortly after arriving in the valley the previous evening, they were set upon by a huge humanoid figure and two very large dogs. The adventurers (two warriors, a human spellcaster and a halfling rogue) were definitely taking the worst of things when Eustace was wounded and crawled into the thicket to fall unconscious.

There was no sign of a halfling or a human spellcaster in the camp.

The party decided to follow the signs near the slide marks on the stream banks first, and were easily able to follow the signs to a spot on the slopes of the hill to the southeast (marked "S" on the map) where they spotted a gigantic snake curled up and sunning itself on a rock ledge. Judging from the thickness of the snake, they estimated that it might be 25-30 feet long. After a brief discussion, they decided to leave it alone and headed back to the campsite.

Next they headed west down the trail, following the pronounced drag marks. After a little while the trail came to a "T", with the tracks leading south across the stream and into a patch of woods. Moving carefully through the woods, they came to a spot where they could see a ruined stone building up against a small cliff on the hillside above them (marked "T" on the map above). They spotted a large dog, which moved off to the southwest without detecting them.

Creeping forward, they made enough noise approaching the ruined building that another dog (a mastiff) heard them, and began barking while charging at them. They dispatched the mastiff easily enough, but as they were doing so, a horrific creature (which turned out to be a troll) burst out of the ruins and attacked.

Ruins with Troll

The ensuing combat, which included the reappearance of the other dog, was a close run affair. A single troll can deal a lot of damage, absorb plenty, and regenerate if not burned with fire. By the time the fight was over, Badric (the cleric) and Mordecai (the fighter) were unconscious. Everyone else but Duncan (the wizard) had taken very significant damage. Duncan has used all of his spells, Melior (the druid) had used all of his when adding in the post-battle healing, and Badric has used one of his.

They also learned the lesson of a troll being mostly dead versus really dead.

By the time the fight was over, it was late in the afternoon (of Friday April 12), and the characters would need to decide what to do next. We leave them in the immediate aftermath of the fight, standing over the body of a troll, outside of a ruined building as the sun begins to sink below the western hills...

The Sage's Commentary - It had been four weeks since we played last, and it was proving extremely difficult to get a quorum of three out of our four players. In order to move the story forward (and also because I was anxious to play), three of us got together for a brief two hour session. The short session was eventful, had one of our better combat encounters yet, and did accomplish the primary goal of moving the story forward. The players now have some additional options to consider, not the least of which is that the fight with the troll, a significant challenge for six 2nd level characters, granted them enough experience to reach third level. They will require some training back in town (or somewhere) to gain all of these benefits, but when they do choose to do that, several of the characters (notably the rogue, the barbarian, and the fighter), will gain significant class benefits. I'm excited because the level advancements make the characters more interesting (insofar as all six will now have made their primary "career path" or subclass choice), and more capable of dealing with a much wider range of challenges. More and more of the Monster Manual becomes accessible in a way other than "run for your lives!"

On another positive note, I finally bothered to figure out how to use the new(ish) wireless all-in-one printer/scanner/copier to scan some of the hand drawn maps and things that I have created for our campaign. Which beats taking a crappy photo of them to post here. Now if I could just figure out how to get the scanned images to appear larger when clicked on here, like real photos do...

Dwarves in the Realms

Background
Dwarves are fairly common in the Realms. Many dwarves lives in the hills and mountains in their own towns and underground fortresses, or in other secluded places, but others live in the towns and cities of men. It is more likely to find dwarves in larger cities, or in towns that are close to a sizable dwarf hold. A dwarf is more likely to be a curiosity in the small rural villages and hamlets.

There are two main types of dwarves, Rock dwarves and Stone dwarves.

Rock dwarves are taller and typically have reddish-brown skin with black or dark brown hair and beards. They are less likely to form dwarven communities within human cities, and do not often live by themselves outside of a family or clan group. They generally only roam the realms individually when the adventuring call has pulled them away from their homes. Perhaps two-thirds to three-quarters of dwarves are Rock dwarves.

Stone dwarves are shorter and stockier, and are more likely to live with the other races, both individually and in entire communities within human cities. They are more likely to wander the realms individually, or to live outside of a family group. Stone dwarves have fairer skin, typically tan or pale like a human. Their beards and hair range from medium reddish-browns through light browns and blonds. A quarter to a third of dwarves are Stone dwarves.

A third type of dwarf, and the rarest by far, are the Granite dwarves. Granite dwarves live almost entirely in hidden communities deep within the mountains and far from civilization, rarely associate with the other races, and are rarely seen outside of their hidden holds. Granite dwarves typically have gray skin, white hair (regardless of age), and are the tallest of the dwarves while being slighter in build. Most common folk in the Realms have never seen a Granite dwarf, and their numbers are unknown.

Dwarves traditionally come of age at their 40th birthday. Rock dwarves live approximately 200 years, with their longest lived reaching 250. Stone dwarves live approximately 175 years, with some in excess of 200 years, and only a few reaching 225. Nobody is quite sure about Granite dwarves. A generation to dwarves is approximately 100 years.

The Dwarven Outlook
All dwarves in the Northlands share a certain sense of melancholy over the fallen dwarf holds and the kin that were lost when evil brought down the Elder Nations. As the Elder Nations fell, the demi-human realms associated with them were also laid low, and the survivors scattered and driven south. The long generational cycle of dwarves and elves makes those losses more deeply felt, and also grants them a longer memory.

Rock dwarves are more likely to dwell on the defeats of the past, holding grudges and planning for some future day when revenge can be taken. Rock dwarves tend to feel superior to Stone dwarves, feeling that they did more to try to prevent the fall of the northern kingdoms than the Stone dwarves did. They believe themselves to be the "true dwarves", while the Stone dwarves are the "men friends", as if the Stone dwarves' willingness to deal with and live amongst the other races makes them somehow less dwarven. They are more militaristic and warlike. Other races typically see Rock dwarves as haughty, sullen, gruff and withdrawn.

Stone dwarves are much more likely to be pragmatic about their racial past and willing to concentrate on the future. They view the superiority of the Rock dwarves as silly hubris, and are just as likely to tease a Rock dwarf than to be offended by one. They are more accepting of other races and are generally more outgoing and friendly.

A tradition that highlights the differences between Rock dwarves and Stone dwarves is that of the Hammer March. As a part of the Rock dwarf coming of age process, many dwarf holds or clans will send out periodic military expeditions consisting of many of the group's younger members, led by some of the group's more experienced warriors. A Hammer March will set out from home with a specific goal in mind, typically an expedition against a specific enemy (for example, a nearby orc tribe). In addition to be part of the overall coming of age process, these Hammer Marches serve the role of ongoing basic armor and weapon training that can be drawn on later in times of need. While Stone dwarves receive much of the same armor and weapons training, they do not do so in nearly the same structured way.

All of the above notwithstanding, not all dwarves can be so easily defined by their type, and individual variation among the different types is widespread...

Yarrillarr's Cloud Castle

In the year NR604, the legendary conjurer Yarrillarr One-Eye shocked the realms when her tower-house broke free of the ground in the city of Dambrusk, rose high into the sky, was enveloped in clouds, and floated westward out of sight across southern Mercia toward the Tellarn Mountains. Her cloud castle was not seen again for many years.

At the time of the event, Yarrillarr was a very well respected human wizard of advanced years, stooped and frail in the twilight years of her life. She had fought against the evil forces in the Northlands for many decades, and had trained many of the great conjurers of succeeding generations. She was one of the most powerful wizards in the Realms.

Some say that Yarrillarr left to search the Northlands for lost magics of great power. Some say that an evil spirit took control of Yarrillarr and her home, stealing them away for dark purposes. Still others say that Yarrillarr's home wrenched itself out of the earth at the moment of her death, and took to the sky to become an eternal tomb for her spirit, and to keep her accumulated magical knowledge safe from falling into evil hands.

Whatever the truth may be, there have been a few sightings over the years purporting to be of Yarrillarr's Cloud Castle. In the 640's, it was claimed to have been seen over the High Plateau. In the 660's, a wagon train of settlers heading north said they saw it over the Hills of Horeb southwest of Turil. In the 680's, a band of dwarves heading into the Onorian Wilderlands reported that it was flying eastward over the Silver Hills in the direction of the Shadowveil Forest. Lastly, in NR 701, the wizard Charazar the Underdark-Walker supposedly saw it floating over the southern Iron Spire Mountains, flew up to it, and was unable to find a way inside. No further sightings have been reported.

In every sighting, the description is very similar; a stone tower of considerable size, perched on a hunk of rock and wreathed in clouds, flying yellow banners with a single red eye.

Dwarven Rune Magic

The sages, when speaking longingly of days gone past and the lost lore of the Elder days, sometimes speak of legendary dwarven Rune Magic. Dwarves themselves will for the most part deny knowledge of any such thing, but there are others that claim that this kind of powerful magic exists (or at least existed at one time).

According to the tales, certain dwarven spellcasters were able to tap into a very complicated and obscure part of the magical weave in order to aid them in some of their favored pursuits: stone crafting, smithing and gem work. There are supposedly three different classes of rune magic; one for each of these specialties.

Quoted from the heretical text of the dwarven master smith Kaarak the RuneHammer (c. NR 550):

In the olden days, there were three distinct kinds of rune magic - stonecraft rune magic, gemcraft rune magic, and forgecraft rune magic. Stonecraft rune magic aided our stone masons in the creation of the most amazing stonework the world has ever seen. Gemcraft rune magic aided our jewelers and gem cutters in making items rivaled only by the most skilled of the elves. Forgecraft rune magic allowed our smiths to craft magical weapons and armor of the highest quality, as well as magical artifacts the likes of which have not been seen in the world since.

The very idea of dwarven rune magic is a closely guarded secret among the dwarves, but the existence of such magic is a generally accepted truth among spellcasters, even if little or no proof of it exists. Many dwarven adventurers have ventured into the Elder lands over the years in search of fallen dwarf holds that might contain these secrets. None are known to have succeeded in finding anything.

If this rune magic exists in the world today, it would be hidden deep within the few remaining great dwarf holds, a closely guarded secret amongst the eldest of the dwarf lords.

Sky Barges of Floria

Among the most legendary magical constructs in the known world are the sky barges of Floria. These are large flat-bottomed ship-like wooden vessels that can sail the skies of Myara.

There was a time in the Elder Days when the magical means to construct, maintain and sail these sky ships was supposedly fairly common. These days, such magical talents and skills are becoming rarer and rarer, and very few in the Northlands can claim to have ever seen such a thing. Even in the South, sightings are no longer common, with only the richest and most powerful of the old noble families owning a sky ship.

There are those who say that the reason for this rarity is that the art and magic of constructing a sky ship has mostly been lost, and the remaining such vessels are used very judiciously for fear of damaging a priceless and unrepairable item. Those that do remain exist as much as a status symbol than a practical item, and are not commonly used.

Very long gone are the days when fleets of Florian war barges set sail against the armies of Sakalarn, although the bards remember...

For most in the Northlands, the only tale told of a sky barge sighting in their lifetimes is of one that supposedly crashed in the northern Tellarn Mountains near Landslide Pass in NR 695, brought down by a dragon attack while flying from the High Plateau in the direction of Alsberg.

Thernoff's Traveling Show

Famous, and perhaps a bit infamous in some quarters, is the mobile extravaganza known as Thernoff's Traveling Show. The Show is a wagon train the size of a small village that roams the more populous areas of the North. It is part magical act, part carnival, part musical extravaganza, and part menagerie. It is a run by Thernoff, an ancient-looking stooped old man of modest height who claims to be half elf, half halfling and half gnome. Thernoff himself is a musician and storyteller the likes of which is rarely seen; one of the greatest of the bards.

The performers in the Show consist of dozens of families and individuals, each with their own specialty to contribute to the show. There are magicians and conjurers, bards, musicians, storytellers, rogues performing sleight of hand tricks, and animal trainers performing acts with all manner of exotic and monstrous beasts. The performers run the gamut of racial types in the world, and include men, elves, halflings, gnomes, dwarves and even goblins.

The Show travels from city to city from Spring through Fall, setting up shop outside of a city or town, staying for no longer than a week and then moving on. Few know exactly where the Show winters, but one thing that is known for sure is that they end each season somewhere outside the boundaries of the organized realms.

Some believe that there is a darker side to the Show, and tales are told of robberies in towns that they visit, mysterious deaths, and all manner of other veiled accusations, painting them as thieves, assassins and spies.

Rumors say that the Show was turned away at the borders of the City-State of Tiencin in the summer of NR706 on suspicion of...nobody quite knows what.

Whatever the truth may be, Thernoff and his associates put on quite a show, and their arrival is a cause for celebration among the common folk of the land.

Game Theory - Encounters

Another topic central to D&D, and something that I have been thinking about (and reading/watching others' opinions on) is that of the simple basic encounter. The initial question was a simple "how do I make better encounters?". Which of course turned into something larger, as these things often do.

If the campaign as a whole is your novel or your movie, then each encounter can be thought of as a scene in that movie. Wanting to create good exciting scenes seems reasonable. But what is a scene, and therefore what is an encounter?

By definition of the term "encounter" in Gygaxian old D&D, an encounter is basically an event in  which the characters run into a monster (which in the early days pretty much meant a direct threat - a potential/probable combat encounter). There are a host of other definitions now. To my way of thinking, an encounter is any snapshot in time where the characters interact with anything. In some movies at least, not all scenes are fights, chases and explosions. An encounter to me is virtually anything you play out around the table in a level of detail beyond "3 days later you arrive safely in the town of Littlebittyvillageville".

Encounters are the characters interacting with the world, whether that interaction be with NPCs, monsters, objects, or literally the physical world itself. Combat may be a necessity. Combat may be an option (of varying degrees of attractiveness). Combat will very often have nothing to do with anything.

In our campaign, we have had encounters with figures sneaking away from sabotaged wagons in the dark, information gathering conversations in taverns and inns (where else?!?), discovery of strange or suspicious things, combat encounters on the road, combat encounters in dungeons, and random mundane encounters with regular people all over the place (OK, many not so random).

Rightly or wrongly, there are a few things that I try to keep in mind when setting up potential scenes for upcoming sessions:

• What NPCs are involved and why?
• How does this advance a current or potential future plot line? I know I am dropping some adventure hooks that we will never deal with...
• How might I be able to use this at some point in the future if not now?
• How does this fit into the larger forces at work in the world, if at all?
• Does this deserve to be a scene at all? There is little enough actual session time to fritter too much of it away with non-impactful trivia.

The omniscient and ever present powers-that-be on the internet will tell you that a DM needs to worry about things like narrative flow, pacing/cadence, scene framing and all sorts of other academic sounding stuff. Much of which is good advice. But much of which seems to me like common sense to me if you keep a larger goal in mind; tell a good story. Or more accurately, facilitate and allow a good story to unfold around you.

Despite what I think are good instincts and the best of intentions, I know there are things I need to work harder at remembering. I have routinely fallen into perhaps the most common DM (and player) trap of all - assuming that certain encounters will end in combat, and therefore making it a pre-ordained event (essentially making certain encounters a combat railroad).

As an example, we had two encounters that ended in combat during our last session. In the first one, the characters were in the Silver Hills, on the road between Shimmermere and Shadyvale, in search of a specific person who had information they were seeking. An ogre leapt out onto the trail in front of them, and a second came crashing into them from the side. This was set up to be a combat encounter (and to drive home a point about ogres in the Hills), and wasn't going to end any other way. And that's OK. In this particular case, it made sense. There are lots of ogres in the western end of the Hills, and they sometimes prey eastward. Ogres are a hit-first-ask-questions-never kind of creature. And it set up a potential adventure hook that the characters may or may not choose to pursue at some point - that there is a large ogre threat out there.

The second encounter was more problematic. After leaving Shadyvale and heading north out of the Hills, the party was traveling through grasslands when they made a good Perception check. As best I can remember, I think I said something like (paraphrasing) "Wow, good roll. You see what appears to be a group of bandits lying in ambush in a gully off to your right. Roll initiative." This is wrong in so many ways it makes me cringe. First, it was unimaginative and lazy (we were getting near the end of the session). Second, calling them bandits labels them as bad guys and removes any real doubt as to what is coming next. Third, saying "roll initiative" removes all player agency from the encounter. The characters don't get to choose anything other than picking a weapon or a spell.

The bandit scene, even if it ended the exact same way, would have been much better executed if it began with me saying something like:

You are following the trail north through the grassy plains when Malachy the barbarian quietly says "I am sure I saw several heads poking above the lip of the gully up ahead to the right of the trail, but now they're gone." The rest of you look ahead of you but see nothing. What do you do? 

Following the latter as a starting point, there could have been rogue-sneaking, negotiating or talking, an attempt at a counter ambush, or anything else the players could have dreamed up. I didn't allow any of that by beginning with the dreaded "roll initiative." Bad DM.

Even if bandits on the road is cliche, it wouldn't bother me if I had run the scene properly. Describe what the characters see. Ask them what they do. Let them be in control. Use "roll initiative" as sparingly as possible (generally only when they have chosen to take us to that point).

Live and learn...

[PS - The kind of things I am touching on in these game theory posts happens to be where the new Dungeon Masters Guide is at its weakest, and as all of its predecessors have as well. The DMG contains sections, tables and information on all sorts of aspects of game play - things to use while running a game (mechanically). It gives almost no useful information on how to actually run a game. Some people will intuitively understand how to do some of this stuff, and will get better with experience. Some probably won't.]

Game Theory - Railroads and Sandboxes

I'll admit that my hobby time over the last few months has become pretty much swallowed up in the fun I have been having with 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons, both in terms of the few actual playing sessions we have had to date, but also in the world creation process (the tip of the iceberg of which has appeared here).

This excitement has led me (inevitably I suppose) to the multitude of stuff on YouTube of people playing D&D (from recorded online streaming sessions) as well as experienced people discussing how to create a world, how to run a game, how to prepare for a session, etc. [Yes, time down a rathole, as with all of YouTube....] A lot of this is pretty good, and a lot of the streamed online games (even the popular ones...yes, RollPlay Solum, I'm looking at you) are run by over-matched DM's doing games for uninspired players. Both can be somewhat useful: I like this and should try to remember to do this, and I despise that and don't want to do that.

Which reminds me. Note to self: If I ever find myself going into each game session with my sole goal being to have every single thing the players run into try to kill them, and if I act openly disappointed every time I fail to kill them...stop playing!! And know the rules (at least passably well).

But I digress.

It has been encouraging to me that many of the things that I have seen represented as being really important to creating a good gaming experience for the players are things that have been obvious and fundamental to me. And I only mention this because ultimately that is what I am seeking to do: create a good gaming experience for myself and the players (and enjoy the creative process that goes along with it).

To that end, I recently saw something on a very good if somewhat meandering series called Being Everything Else (Steven Lumpkin and Adam Koebel) that really caused me to stop and re-consider what I have been doing. It was a discussion of role playing game (RPG) gaming styles, and what the implications of them were. The two opposing styles discussed were The Railroad and The Sandbox.

Before touching on each of those, I need to recognize the idea of "player agency". Player agency basically means that the choices that the players make in the game matter, and that different choices will result in different outcomes; that they are (at least somewhat) in control of their own destinies and have an impact on the world around them. The Railroad and the Sandbox are, in theory, diametrically opposed in terms of player agency (whether it seems like it or not). [predictable spoiler - these guys don't like the Railroad much at all]

The Railroad - A Railroad game is basically one in which the DM has created a story line, and the players are going to end up playing through that story line regardless of the choices they make along the way (no player agency). It may seem like the players are making choices, but they really aren't, because no matter what choices they seem to make along the way, they are still ultimately going to get railroaded to the same place. Choose from A or B, but both A and B lead to C. After C, choose D or E, but both D and E lead to F. And so on.

The Sandbox - A Sandbox can be thought of as more of a cooperative effort where a basic structure (world) exists with things in it, and the players determine what they are going to do. This can be a very different type of game, which requires a lot of player input to help create the story arc, and requires a DM who is very good at improvising things within a known framework. Which isn't to say that a Sandbox doesn't have a lot of background material and prep work behind it, but more that the DM remains open to letting the players help guide the campaign.

The Roller Coaster (a sub-category...) - Some railroads can be done so well that the ride is worth it even if you know you are going to start at A and end at Z.

The Railroad tends to be universally scoffed at now as "old school", and is characterized as the way people used to do things before future generations of gamers became more enlightened. The entire golden age of Gygax/TSR D&D was a railroad, by the way... [For that matter, pretty much any published adventure module is going to be a railroad - an adventure hook leading to a Boss Battle with a bunch of scenes in between].

All of this made me give some thought to how this relates to our campaign, and where we are on this Railroad-to-Sandbox continuum.

Honestly, the first few sessions were a railroad. I think they needed to be. To get us going, I created a first adventure/story line, and the players seemed to expect to be pointed somewhere. Which I did. It's what I had prepared. I hadn't run a D&D session in over 20 years, and wanted to at least get us going with something that I had planned out ahead of time. There is safety (and comfort) in the pre-built. I am old school after all.

In the more recent sessions, without having seen this theory stuff on YouTube yet, I have been consciously trying to move away from what would be termed the railroad and into a more open-ended campaign. Being able to do this requires a good understanding of the background of my world, its history, and options that are open to the players. I have striven to create enough background (which I enjoy anyway) such that the players can choose from A or B or C in terms of what to do next, and those things really are different paths, not all leading to point D. I think I am far enough along in the world creation process that this is possible, and is more comfortable to do than it would have been earlier on.

I'm not sure what my players would say, but I think I am probably at the stage now where I am running a roller coaster that you can choose to send in direction A, B or C (and they don't all end at D). Going forward, I will certainly be paying more attention to continually asking the question "what do you wanna do next?", as opposed to the players waiting for an NPC to strongly hint "I think we should go to...".

In defense of my Roller Coaster world, there are forces at work and enough backstory such that the players, whether they realize it or not yet, do (now) have player agency. They are on a path that provides choices for them, and those choices will have impacts on the world and the future of the campaign. How I am trying to accomplish this is to drop enough plot hooks into the sessions such that they accumulate a list of things that they could choose to investigate next, and that those things truly do lead in different directions, and are not necessarily related to each other. Hopefully, where these different plot hooks lead will develop organically, with input from all. I have begun providing a "What You Know" list for the players as part of the ongoing documentation of the campaign. I hope to get to the point soon where that list will be long enough such that the players have a lot of options to look at and decide "we should dig into this one next."

As of now, the "What You Know" list includes plot hooks on a goblinoid threat to the Shearingvale, ogre activity in the Silver Hills, old abandoned ruins of Onoria scattered throughout the area, the legend of Castle Langborne, potential political/power struggle issues in the Shearingvale, and some other "legend" bits of information that I honestly have no idea where they would lead. Those story lines will play out, with or without the characters' direct involvement. It is a wide world after all.

We may never get to a true sandbox, but at the least I hope they enjoy the roller coaster ride.

The Tale of Alferith Langborne

Some of the oldest halflings of the Silver Hills remember a time when their prospecting travels could include the spur of hills at the far northeastern end of the range. That is no longer the case, and hasn't been for a long time.

About forty years ago, a trio of halflings seeking to explore the area were met on the fringe of the hills by a band of armed men and informed that this particular area of the hills was now part of the domain of Alferith Langborne, and that the lands around Castle Langborne were off limits to travelers.

A diplomatic party from the combined communities of the region was dispatched to parley with this Alferith Langborne. The group made it as far as a secluded valley dotted with very old ruins and a castle on a cliff before being met by an armed party led by a scarlet and gold cloaked wizard claiming to be the man they were seeking. They were calmly but firmly turned away with the words "I mean you and your people no harm, but you must leave now, and if you return you will most likely die. These hills will no longer be safe for you."

The local consternation and outrage over the audacity of someone claiming ownership of potentially rich gem lands and threatening their envoys turned to fear when they learned more about Alferith Langborne.

From what information was able to be pieced together, Langborne was originally from distant Larenthy, where he was apprenticed to the legendary conjurer Sassilan of Idria. For reasons that are not entirely clear, Alferith left Sassilan's tutelage suddenly when still a teenager (c. NR 634), but it is said that Sassilan would not speak of his former apprentice, and would become angry at the mere mention of his name.

Alferith dropped out of sight for the better part of a decade before reappearing during the Second Kalem Border War (NR 642-643), fighting on the side of the Kalembar Federation against the Burgarans. At this point he had become a necromancer of considerable power, and it is said that he was equally feared by friend and foe alike. At the end of the brief war, he again vanished for several years.

He next appeared in Darlish (c. NR 648), where he was known as Alferith Nightshade, and was engaged in the internal politics of the Council of Seven for a few years. He was allied with the dark mages of House Farazin, and was believed to be responsible for the especially gruesome death of a member of the Council of Seven from a competing noble house.

It was around this time that Sassilan, on his deathbed, was reputed to have said "I should have killed that boy when I had the chance."

Word is that Alferith, having worn out his welcome in Darlish, left with a few of his most devoted apprentices and disappeared into the far northern wastes in about NR 652.

There is no other record of Alferith until NR 665, when the three halflings encountered a band of his retainers in the northeastern Silver Hills.

Castle Langborne's forbidden hills (Maps in Hexographer)

Over the next 27 years, the distant ominous presence that was Castle Langborne posed no openly aggressive threat to the region despite the ongoing fears of the locals. Once or twice a year, servants of Langborne, wearing scarlet and gold livery, would appear in one of the region's villages looking to buy certain items, pay generously, and leave without causing any disturbance or harm. As the Shearingvale became more settled by humans moving into the area, these visits became less and less frequent. Langborne himself was never seen.

For their part, the people of the region avoided the lands for miles around Castle Langborne.

The last known appearance of Langborne's servants was in NR 692 (15 years ago), so the locals speculate that Langborne has either died or moved on. However, the area around his stronghold is still avoided, as the tales of nighttime howlings and monstrous creatures prowling the hills persist to this day.

Campaign Journal - Session 5 - Seeking a New Challenge

...or Pub Crawling for Information

April 7, NR Year 707, Continued...
We left our heroes on the evening of April 7, having arrived safely back at Fulcher's Hold after their adventures in their first dungeon.

After some discussion regarding what to do next, it was agreed that the larger treasure items would be stored at Fulcher's Hold for the time being and be dealt with later. During the evening, Duncan used Comprehend Languages on the books to determine what they were. Four were on subjects of little interest to the party (but which would have value to sages or collectors) including mathematics, geometry, astronomy, and the astral plane. The fifth book was a brief one detailing some Onorian families and their heraldry including crests, symbols and badges. The book included what seemed to be a sketch map of Onoria with various unnamed locations marked. This map, even without names to go with the locations, provided at least an overview of lands that the party knew nothing about. It was agreed that the book would be kept. The night passed uneventfully in a borrowed workers' cabin.

April 8
The party woke in the morning and set out for Olmsby, 6 miles distant. Before trying to find Shimmermere and talk to the halfling Mungo Padfoot (from the dungeon letter they had found), the characters needed to purchase some supplies and have minor repairs made on some of their equipment.

A couple miles short of Olmsby, the group came upon a farmer named Ned Greenbrier and his young son Tad. They claimed to be on the way to Tardesk (a nearby village) when the boy's horse slipped crossing a stream, throwing the boy. The horse had come up lame, and the boy might have broken an arm or wrist. Badric, the dwarven cleric healed the boy, while Melior the elven druid healed the horse. Ned was very grateful, offering a simple meal or place to rest in his barn should the party ever have the need. Ned was also able to sketch out a map of the Shearingvale for the group, adding to their knowledge of the area.

In Olmsby, the characters made their purchases (including a mule), but were unable to find more specialized items such as acid and holy water. They would need a larger town than Olmsby to find those things. A local blacksmith (Kallin) made some minor armor repairs, and was paid to make 25 small caltrops for Malachy the Barbarian. These would be ready in the morning.

The evening was spent in the Half Pint Tavern, chatting up the locals in search of information. They found that the Shimmermere that they were looking for was a halfling and gnome village in the Silver Hills a dozen or so miles to the northwest.

April 9
The caltrops were retrieved from the Kallin the blacksmith at mid morning and the party set out for Shimmermere. After an uneventful days' travel (12-13 miles), they arrived in the village, which was a collection of human and gnome sized buildings nestled between a few rolling hills which were dotted with halfling and gnome burrows. The town got its name from the Shimmermere pond around which the village was built.

Approaching the Silver Hills from Olmsby

Wandering the town didn't take long, and the party soon settled into the Gold Rush Tavern for dinner and (hopefully) information.

Badric and Niam (the Rogue) ended up playing dice with a female halfling gambler named Bridda, who the locals referred to as "the Sneak." She won a small amount of money from them, and they saw no signs of cheating.

Duncan and Melior talked to the proprietors, halflings Jurgen Broadbelt and Timon the Lame. Upon asking about Mungo Padfoot, they were directed to a trio of older halflings at a corner table. Tamic, one of the elders, told Duncan that Mungo Padfoot had been killed 8 years before in an ogre attack on the village, but that his son Hugo could be found in Shadyvale (a half dozen or so miles to the north).

The party learned that ogres in large numbers lived in the far western end of the Hills, and that it was not uncommon for one or two to stray into the area a few times a year.

While this was going on, Malachy and Mordecai tried striking up a conversation with a rough looking warrior type and a prosperous looking halfling who were seated at another table. The warrior was introduced as Rolan. They didn't catch the halfling's name. Rolan was wearing the badge of the Sentinels as a cloak clasp, but he seemed reluctant to talk with strangers.

The party decided they would go to see Hugo Padfoot in Shadyvale in the morning.

April 10
Leaving in the morning and following Tamic's directions, they went three miles and then turned onto a well-traveled road heading north. Shortly after taking the north fork, they encountered an ogre in the trail coming at them. Malachy and Mordecai engaged the ogre, which dealt some significant damage with its' huge club. While they were engaged a second ogre came crashing out of the brush beside the trail, and Melior was knocked unconscious with one blow. The second ogre was held off by rapier attacks from Niam and a Witch Bolt spell from Duncan while the three melee guys finished off the first ogre. The second fell to the combined efforts of the whole party, but not before they had taken a pretty good battering.

The last few miles to Shadyvale were uneventful. Shadyvale itself proved to be a sheltered hillside valley accessed by a narrow canyon path. It only had 15-20 buildings, but there were many halfling burrows in the hills ringing the valley.

The party asked about Hugo Padfoot in the White Feather, the town's small tavern, and a serving boy was sent to fetch him. The party asked Hugo about his father and his travels, and were invited back to Hugo's burrow, where he brought out some of his father's journals. He read the scrap of the letter that the party had found, and speculated that the "fortress at the far eastern end of the hills" must be referring to Castle Langborne. Hugo then proceeded to tell them the tale of the necromancer Alferith Langborne and Castle Langborne.

It seems that a powerful necromancer rebuilt an old Onorian site into a stronghold about 45 years ago, and while the necromancer was not openly hostile, his presence made the lands for miles around very dangerous. Servants of Alferith would sometimes appear at towns in the Silver Hills or the Shearingvale to buy various things, but nothing has been heard of the necromancer in the last 15 years. It is assumed that he is either dead or has moved on, but the area of hills around Castle Langborne is still avoided. The tales of monstrous undead and other creatures haunting the area have not stopped.

April 11
The party gets a reasonably early start, and leaves Shadyvale to get back to the road north. After only a mile or so the hills end and the grasslands begin, with an easy to follow trail continuing straight north.

Heading north from Shadyvale into the grasslands

A few miles into the flatlands, a group of bandits tries unsuccessfully to ambush the party. The eight bandits are easily dispatched after a brief fight. Continuing north, the hills they have been told to make for are apparent a few miles off to the northeast. Having been told that the easiest path to follow is to loop around the north end of the hills to find the path of an old road, the party continues north. After covering about 10 miles, they camp near where the grasslands rise back into hills. The night under the stars is uneventful except for the distant howling of wolves.

April 12
In the morning, the party skirts the north edge of the hills, find the remains of an old road. They follow the track southeast looking for a way into the heart of the hills. They find an overgrown road and follow it for a few miles. The road brings them to a sheltered valley with the remains of some sort of castle or fortress visible on a hillside across from them. They have traveled 6 miles through flatlands and hills, and stop to determine what to do next.

Next...Exploring the valley.

The Sage's Commentary - This was a good transitional session between the first dungeon and whatever comes next. The characters did a good deed for an Olmsby resident, learned a decent bit more about the area, met some more people, visited a couple new villages, and found the information that puts them (literally) on the doorstep of a new adventure.

While doing so, they even managed to get a good amount of experience in the form of 2 ogres (mostly) and 8 bandits (a little). The ogres were fun, and I am glad that they infest the Silver Hills. Ogres may be easy to hit, but they pack a real punch and can take a pounding before going down. Two ogres was a nice challenge.

There is one dilemma that I will need to figure out how to deal with sooner rather than later. The party ended the first adventure series with 450 XP, a good bit past the 300 needed for level 2 and on the way to 900 for level 3. They now have 660, and are not far from level 3. They will reach that soon; perhaps very soon after arriving at these new ruins (likely in the next session). I do want to have some aspect of training required for new levels and skills, but I am not yet sure how I want to handle that. I am not a fan of the "you wake up in the morning and find that you grew a level overnight and now know new spells and all sorts of other new abilities." I have some thinking to do.