Forge of the world...

[sixfootdwarf]

Hey all, this is my campaign journal for my home group. This is a veeeeeeery new group with only one of them having played before.

But, I have managed to get four people together who want to play so I'll do what it takes to keep them together.

I'm posting this to amuse myself, keep my thoughts in order, and get feedback on some plot items that are coming up.

so here we go!

[sixfootdwarf]

In the ancient fortress of Pax Tharkas, history is worked into the very stone and earth that make up the stronghold. In these troubled times, such a bastion should not go unused.

A great amount of the local clans and tribes of Hill Dwarves in the area have moved into the fortress, setting up a little senate of sorts with the leaders of each clan representing their people. Also a great amount of refugee elves have chosen to stay here rather than leave behind the forest that they loved. Add in the occasional human or kender from the surrounding area and Pax Tharkas has become a spontaneous representation of the races of Abanasinia.

It is here, in this cultural experiment that our heroes have met, sharing the same shift for militia duty, they take their break everyday in the local tavern "The Skullhammer."

It is here that they are approached by their shift sergeant Shingles McCraken, who presents them with an opportunity to get out of guard duty for a week if they only go on a little trip!

Who wouldn't!?

Not these guys...

Gili Strifeminer-
A rather odd dwarf, Gili comes from an extinct clan that just petered out over the last few decades (mostly from the odd habit the males of the family have for running off on adventures.) Gili is anxious to leave Pax Tharkas and is only there while he builds up the steel necessary to reacquire his ship from dry-dock.

If you ask him where his ship is, he'll hit you. Of course he has a ship you landlubber! He's just not going to tell you where it is.

Meta-game stats, Swashbuckler 1

Dirke Firethorn (Dirty)
A kender who has followed Gili around for some time, Dirke (or Dirty has his friend and adopted "captain" has declared him) is a kender with a fascination for flame. He has very little interest in the possessions of others unless they strike him as particularly flammable. His curiosity has driven him to a wandering quest for "The Fire" as he calls it, although the stories he shares of "The Fire" are rather odd and inconsistent. Journeys with Gili merely out of loyalty.

Meta-Game Stats; Mystic of Fire 1

Angriff Ogrebane
A story of tragedy and redemption, Angriff journeys to cast off the stigma that people automatically associate with his great size and tusked jaws. The Half-Ogre is the son of a noble woman and the random ogre that had his way with her. Prior to his birth, the small country holding of a certain country knight named Cardic Ogrebane, who was away on business in Haven. Angriff's mother survived long enough to give birth to the burly baby, and then passed. When Cardic arrived home nearly a year later to find his wife dead and this brutish infant in the care of his loyal groundskeeper, he nearly slew the babe out of wrath. But his hear was softened and he raised Angriff in the traditions of nobility and honor. Angriff came to Pax Tharkas in search of work and renown, but so far, has met only scorn and suspicion; despite his loyal service and honesty to the dwarves that he owes nothing to.

Meta-Game stats; Knight 1

Xenothilos
A refugee of Qualinost, Xenothilos (Xen to his friends) has come to Pax Tharkas because he has nowhere else to go. Having lost his family in the attack of the great green bitch, Xen wandered to the dwarven hold when he heard of other elves in the area being welcomed there. Carrying only his books and his staff, and the bow he was armed with in anticipation of Beryl's attack, he has found a meager existence taking his turn on watch and nursing expensive and rare elven wine in the tavern with his watch mates.

Meta-Game stats; Wizard 1

Adventure to Come!

[harthan]

Nice party. I like how you mixed up the general party balance, with the exception of Wizard. 'Tis cool.

[sixfootdwarf]

Thanks, the classes did turn out interesting.

So the party gets a mission from their shift sergeant Shingles, he tells a tale of a mine that the clans had started working on only about a days journey into the mountains. The Neidar were following a vein of mithril that they had discovered and the clan leaders were excited about the idea that Pax Tharkas would have such a font of wealth. However, in their digging, the miners uncovered an ancient tomb, when it was opened, it was quickly discovered that it was a temple that probably dated back to the Age of Dreams. Despite their desire to follow the mithril through the walls of the temple, the clan elders decided to respect the souls of their ancestors and guard the sanctity of the temple.

But, tragedy has struck! In the deep of the night, assassins came through a breach in the temple walls and slew the contingent of guards. A single survivor reveals that the assassins were deep dwarves who struck ruthlessly disturbing the sacred site.

The elders of the clans are now nervous, they now that the deep dwarves, if both the Theiwar and the Daergar are involved, are powerful clans. They figure that they are after the valuable mithril and the elders are looking for a small party to go on a scouting mission into the temple to gauge the strength of the Deep Dwarf forces.

*DM NOTE* The players didn't realize, but the reason they were put forth as the suggestion was because the hill dwarves fear retribution from the powerful Deep Dwarves and they want a group they can deny sponsoring. Hence, the team of outcasts.

The party accepts and heads out of Pax Tharkas the next day, little did they realize their lives would be greatly changed from that point on.

[Gnimsh]

Nice group, and exciting adventure premise. The character concepts are surprisingly well thought out for a group of first time players.

And did I read that right? A pyromaniac kender? *shudder*

[sixfootdwarf]

Hehe, yea, Dirty's awesome.

I'm going to post the first chapter later tonight.

[sixfootdwarf]

Okey dokey, so, as Eddie Sully used to say...

"We gotta great shoe tonight!"

The party received the commission from the clan elders to investigate the forces that have moved into the ancient temple that was recently uncovered.

Setting out, the party struck out west along the mountain range, moving to a mountain pass that will take them to the dig site.

Along the way, the party meets a group of gnomes, moving towards Pax Tharkas towing a mountainous wagon of inventions and a "bodyconductormagnificationdeviceofvitalsignrestora tionandfirelighting."

Whatever that is...

The gnomes were very scared of journeying through the mountain forest and beseeched the heroes-to-be to escort their caravan to Pax Tharkas.

*grumble-grumble*gotta turn around and go back*grumble*

On the way back to the fortress, the party is waylaid by the very vagabonds the gnomes were worried about.

Springing out of the woodlands, a small party of five goblins led by a larger one wielding an oversized Greataxe.
Springing into action, the party quickly dispatches bandits but have a little trouble with their leader. The raging lil goblin actually manages to rage-crit Dirty! This knocked him into the -14 or so hitpoints!

Gah! party death already!

[sixfootdwarf]

Seeing his diminutive comrade bite the dust, Angriff swiftly mops up Slig the Goblin Barbarian (consequently, this is the first use of the "Knight's challenge" and was actually pretty dramatic) Angriff claims nice (masterwork) axe.

But Dirty's dead!

WARNING: YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE A DEUX ES MACHINA IN ACTION, DO NOT PANIC. THIS WAS PLANNED TO COMPENSATE FOR THE INEVITABLE DEATH OF A BUNCH OF FIRST TIMERS.

The gnomes, seeing the kender fall defending them, leap into action, unfurling the covered wagon and their greatest invention, the "bodycurrentredirectionandvitallifesignrestorationa ndfirestarterdeviceofdubiousmedicalvalue."

Basically, an overgrown battery with copper/zinc cables and a very acidic substance in a very large tank. Step 1, attach cables to dead comrade, Step 2, pull lever that drops conductors into acid vat, Step 3, pray.

I told Dirke's player that there was a 10% chance that the MacGuffin would restart Dirty at -9 hp. Heads were bowed in prayer and the 2d10 were tossed...96!

A lucky heal check stabilized the lil buddy and we're off to Pax Tharkas for healing. The Half-Ogre has Dirke slung in a makeshift hammock across his own chest and forgoes his armor for the sake of a smooth trip.

Oh, and the gnomes? Well they tagged along, but their device lived up to the third half of its name, it started a fire that destroyed itself and the wagon it was being carried on. *shrug* oh well.

Upon reaching the fortress (again), the team desperately seeks out the aid of the local priesthood. Finding the smithy/Holy Forge, the team meets Father Duncan Brightflagon, the local ranking cleric of Reorx. (Cleric 5) Brightflagon is outraged at the treatment of the innocent little kender and drops some free healing on the lil guy.
After his holy rage subsides, Brightflagon gets to know the guys. He expresses dismay at the tale of the temple that the party is charged to investigate. He implores them to return to him and report on what they find when they return successful.

The team pools their money and buys a potion of Cure Light before they leave this time, the fear of death has been successfully instilled and I think they grasped that they weren't going to get anymore breaks now.

[sixfootdwarf]

Okay, that was a rough week for homework...

I'm back.

So, the party set out again, this time determined to reach the temple without anyone dying.

After a quick fight with a giant spider (pinned to a tree by a javelin from Angriff, that half-ogre's loving his 19 Str.) the party reached the clearing that marked the entrance of the forgotten temple.

Searching the area, the party finds the stone doors that lead into the temple, now, when I planned this little area, I wrote out the DC for the lock (20) knowing full well that they had no rogue. I figured they would utilize the beastly half-ogre to bust the doors down (or try to,) while they made such a ruckus, the guards inside the door would take a secret passage that opened out of a hillside about 20 feet to the heroes' right. After they fought off the guards, they would enter through the passage.

Nope, as they say, players laugh at the plans of DMs.

I forgot that Kender can use the Open Lock skill as if they were trained, but Dirty's player didn't.

Oh.

Well he's only got a +2 to that right?

Oh.

Natural 20.

well good job.

Door opens, Dwarven guards surprised, Dirty opens with a nice Burning Hands, Gili leaps into the fray with a quick thrust and Xen follows with a longbow shot through the throat of the other.

Two dead guards...
well that was quick.

More tomorrow, its late.

[sixfootdwarf]

And this is far later than "tomorrow," but since our groups on a bit of a hiatus while one member's on vacation, I thought I'd catch up.

The party infiltrated the ancient temple that had violated by the blood spilled there by the dark dwarves.

Like rats in the dark the party crept deeper into the passage, only stopping long enough to grab a torch and show it to Dirty who promptly satisfied Pyro-curiosity (Pyrosity?) on it.
Or rather, they would have crept, if Angriff hadn't been wearing heavy armor (banded) and he had had more any more dexterity than a blind gully dwarf. (insult courtesy of the sharp tongued Gili)

Regardless, they at least didn't talk as they stalked down the hall, they came to a T junction branching off left and right. In front of them, was an odd statue, as far as they could tell, it was a dwarven warrior, but he was only visible from the waist up, as the lower half seemed to be buried in sculpted earth. The team misses the significance of this artifact and chooses to head left. This small hall led to a door and another right turn. Choosing to go through the door, the party has Angriff test the heavy wooden construction.

*sizzle* Angriff shook his hand angrily as the contact poison seeped into his skin, but his powerful fortitude resisted the effects.

Entering the room revealed bare stone walls and the dried out frame of a bed that must have once been used by a caretaker. Gili used his intuitive sense of stone to search the walls and floor and discovered a secret compartment with a small stash of steel and two potions (CLW). Leaving the room, the party opted to finish examining this half of the temple rather than explore the other wing.

Continuing down the hall, the party came to a door. Learning from their mistakes, they utilized the only trapfinding they had, Gili's Stonecunning. Sure enough, he came through again, and discovered the hidden spear trap tucked away in the corner of the ceiling and the pressure plate right in front of the door. However, they had no way to deactivate it.

"Is there anything else on the ceiling?" Gili's player asked me.

Scrambling for an answer..."uuuhh...yes. There's the remains of what must have once been an anchoring for a light or a lantern chain right above the pressure plate. You wouldn't be able to reach it without setting it off. Why?"

"I've got an idea."

The wizard had actually prepared Animate Rope that morning!

Carefully readying the rope (they only had one round to get it right) Xenothilos arced the rope at the anchoring (ranged touch attack at a small object). The elf's naturally awesome Dexterity served him well. Right on the money, a quick command word and the rope was secure. Handing it to Gili (the self-proclaimed hero of the team) the dwarf was hefted into the air by Angriff, who proceeded to swing the swashbuckler along the rope's arc straight at the door.

Naturally I'm tickled pink at the party's ingenuity so I let it happen, I hadn't even planned on the door being locked, so Gili burst right through the door without activating the trap. He landed daringly on the other side and struck a pose.
Right in front of 8 kobolds.

"YES!...Awww man..."