Friday, October 27, 2017

Campaign Journal 44 - The Forbidden Hills

We last left our heroes aboard the Florian sky ship Golden Sunrise, heading toward the Forbidden Hills, and having sighted three wyverns approaching the ship from the front...

Monday August 26, cont. - Three wyverns (small ones it would turn out) approached the ship from high off the starboard bow. A tough fight ensued, including firing the ship's elemental-powered air cannon.

As the fight with the 3 young wyverns progressed, 3 more adult wyverns appeared from low off the stern (2 being ridden by hobgoblins). A few more crew members were killed, and the remainder of the crew took a good bit of damage in fending off the others.
3 young wyvern

At one point, Arian the sorcerer cast Fly on Thalmyr the dwarven paladin, and he flew over the side and down below the ship. A number of wyvern attacks put Thalmyr in a spot where one failed saving throw would send him plummeting hundreds of feet to a sure death, but he made the save and survived. Enough damage was done to the wyverns that the three wounded survivors fled off to the southeast.
...and 3 more adults

Continuing north into the Forbidden Hills, the ship flew over a ruined town on the north shore of a lake. Sharp eyes detected landmarks that they recognized, and the party was able to figure out that the  ruins below them were the ruins they knew as Nirinas, the town on the other side of the gate in the ruins of Ranatayza, near Fulcher's Hold and close to home.
Nirinas and the Forbidden Hills
(1 mile hexes in Hexographer)

The passed over the ruins without stopping, and spent an uneventful night camped a few miles north of the ruins.

In the morning, they continued the last few miles north to the Gods' Theater, which was easy enough to find, being a giant-sized amphitheater carved into the side of a large hill adjacent to the old road. The explored the site for a while, and then searched for the ravine through the hills that would take them to the cave and the gatestone.
The Gods' Theater

With the directions from the map, the ravine was easy enough to find, and they sailed the sky ship up the ravine to a secluded valley between the surrounding hills. There was a pond fed by several streams in the center of the valley, and had some scattered ruins on the eastern side. There was a very large cave mouth at the top of an old road leading up from the ruins.
Lara's Cave

As Octavian brought the ship in to land on a flat spot south of the pond, sharp eyes spotted a number of small humanoid creatures darting out of the ruins and into the nearby trees...

Next - Into the Cave...

GM Commentary - Another fun session with a blend of a tough fight (where Thalmyr almost died), some exploring, and some exposition about lore and history of the world. As far as maps, I still use Hexographer for the main maps of the world (at a one hex equals six miles scale), but have pretty much stopped using the software for the detail scale (like the 1 hex equals 1 mile scale shown above - from a detail map done long ago). I am finding it much more enjoyable to sketch out the smaller scale maps by hand.

Interacting with the World (what the characters learned...or were reminded of) - They visited a landmark that might tie into something down the road. More importantly, they learned that the "place beyond the gate" that they have been to several times is actually the ruins of the Onorian temple town of Nirinas, and they know where the location actually is on a map. They also know that the "home" end of the Ranatayza gate is only about a day's travel from Fulcher's Hold, and that the Nirinas side of the gate is only about a day's travel south of this new hoped-for gate location to a tropical land. These could be very useful in getting around...

Present - (again, too long ago, and I don't know...)

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Campaign Journal 43 - The Golden Sunrise

We last left our heroes having come across a grounded Florian sky ship while on the way back to Linden...

Tuesday August 20, cont. - Just a little ways into the cautious conversation between the party and Octavian, one of Octavian's crew is struck dead by a wicked looking crudely fletched arrow. Orcs swarm toward the ship.

A long fight ensues between the different factions of good guys and a collection of orcs, orogs, an orc shaman and a hill giant. A Wall of Fire from Marius Vilm, one of Octavian's companions, helps channel the orcs and others into a killing ground dominated by the party. Malachy, with some magical firepower assistance, takes down the hill giant.
Orc and giant fight

Octavian's companions include Marius Vilm, a wizard from Immilkan on the Dragon Coast (far to the southwest), Ashtul, his goblin apprentice, Kyriss, a female barbarian of the Vornar tribes (Mal's homeland), and Beregan, a half-orc who claims to be a warrior.

Niam recognizes Beregan from his days in the Dalmar Principalities, and knows that he is a dangerous rogue and assassin. He mentions this to Octavian, who already knows that Beregan has a dubious past.

Octavian tells the party about himself and his intentions. He is the Count of Vezini, a noble from Floria. He is a traveler, explorer and archaeologist. He has brought his sky ship, the Golden Sunrise, north to tour a bunch of sights, and to search for a few others that his researches have turned up.

He tells the party that they were attacked by a huge bird (a roc) when crossing the Iron Spire Mountains, and that they have lost several crew members, including their cleric.

The party spends the night with Octavian and his crew, with the intent to fly home to Fulcher's Hold in the morning. Here they can rest, resupply, and determine what to do next.

Wednesday August 21 - The flight home to Fulcher's is uneventful, and they are given a warm welcome.

Thursday August 22 through Saturday August 24 - Rest and recuperation at Fulcher's Hold. Octavian charms everyone (socially, not magically...). Octavian and the party agree that they will all head north to the Forbidden Hills in search of a location Octavian wants to find. Octavian has a map of the area, complete with scribblings from an adventuring company that explored the area many years ago.
Octavian's Map of the Forbidden Hills

Sunday August 25 - Leave Fulcher's Hold to fly north toward the Forbidden Hills (in the middle of the South Onorian Plains), in search of a cave near a landmark called the Gods' Theater, wherein there is supposed to be a magical gate to a hot tropical land (perhaps Illurya?).
Heading toward the Forbidden Hills

Monday August 26 - Continue flying north, passing by some distant wyrd storms. In the afternoon, a trio of flying creatures are spotted approaching the ship high off the starboard bow. Wyverns!
Wyverns off the starboard bow

Next - Wyvern Attack.

GM Commentary - This was one of those sessions where a little bit of prep and the seeds for several different adventure paths turned into something pretty fun. What started as a chance encounter with a sky ship (purely for lore flavor) has turned into a jump-off point for all manner of future adventures. Now I just need to figure out what they will find in the Forbidden Hills (but I do have an idea or two...).

We had one good combat at the start of the session, but this was otherwise heavy on role playing and other things, which was great.

It was also very nice just to get back to playing and try to reestablish some momentum, as we hadn't played in about 10 weeks. Late summer and start-of-school schedules were very difficult for all concerned, and we agreed to let things go on hiatus for a couple months rather than be continually frustrated at not being able to get people together. The break wasn't bad but it is nice to be back at it.

Interacting with the World (what the characters learned...or were reminded of) - A little more about the fallen realm of Onoria. A possible magical gateway to the land of Illurya. Niam had a brush with his past (how can I use this?).

Present - (writing way after the fact...I honestly don't know who was here for this session).