At the Broken Door tavern…

The common room was abuzz with anticipation as the crowd waited impatiently for the entertainment to commence. Bills had been posted on every flat surface from one side of Asteria to the other announcing that Rossglum of Wyldflock was performing “The Spoils of War” this night at the Broken Door tavern.

Notaries in the tavern’s common room were the Bard’s own companions, Acacia, Kayla, and Wolf as well as the Lady Delilah of house Rockwell, a travelling Tabaxi known only as Kat, and “Zil” – a strange emissary from another plane. A loud and thoroughly drunk Goliath pushed his way through the crowd to see what was going on, planting himself on a bench beside the fire, much to the discomfort of the two gnomes he sat on.

Rossglum stood in the shadows studying the audience. “Yes,” he thought. “We shall have some fun with this crowd tonight.”

At the appointed hour, he stood upon a chair and removed his hood. The crowd went silent.

“Welcome my friends to the Broken Door tavern. Tonight, we shall tell a tale of heroes and horror, of wonder and woe. Where valour and honour strike a powerful blow.”

From The Spoils of War by Rossglum of Wyldflock

Her Majesty’s finest, wreathed in glory,
In dark Xadour where we set our scene,
With wounds fresh won, each worth a story
Turned they home to pastures green.

Cruelly trapped they made their stand
Twixt fetid bog and sharpened spears
They fell as one in a foreign land.
Their loss is mourned throughout the years.

Preparing for a Journey

For our last game we played a one-shot adventure, and I ran it instead of Sam (our usual Dungeon Master). The night was intended as an introduction to D&D for a few new players – to ease them gently into the game in a light-hearted way without affecting the ongoing campaign. So we played it as if Rossglum the Bard was telling a tale and the characters in the common room were actually improvising the story as they went (a sort of game-within-a-game I suppose). It was also a chance to give Sam opportunity to join in as a player.

Our usual party of Kayla, Acacia and Wolf was bolstered by…

• Kat – a Tabaxi sorcerer
• Cxyl “Zil” – a Slimefolk warlock
• Lady Delilah – a Human cleric
• Melvin “Ooga booga smash” Jones – a Goliath barbarian

Slimefolk are an (unofficial) race of intelligent slimes from a different dimension. The details are on D&D Wiki here if you’re interested.

I wanted to take the party out of the city and across Sam’s world of Saedyr, giving people a sense that the countryside is rich with peoples and beasts and that the journey itself is actually a major part of the adventure. I borrowed heavily from the Adventures in Middle-earth books (a brilliant 5E expansion for gaming in Middle-earth, sadly out of production now).

The setup was that Lord Leonidis Falkworth, 7th Earl of Jetta and Lord-commander of the Royal Highland Regiment, was seeking a band of Heroes to explore the swamps near the Lake of Tears and recover the regiment’s battle standard. At the end of the last war with neighbouring Xadour, the regiment had been ambushed as it made its way back to Dwindalion. The warriors were forced to give ground until they had their backs to a swamp. The few remaining survivors retreated into the fetid waters, carrying their wounded commander with them. The Xadour forces knew what was waiting for them in the swamp, so chose not to follow.

Leonidis and two others managed to survive (only just), but the regiment’s standard was left behind in the swamplands.

The party had to decide on the route they would travel from Asteria to the Lake of Tears. Ooga was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of a boat (and would likely “smash” it) so that meant taking an overland route. The shortest distance took them down the coast and then through the Emerald Glades, taking employment as guards with a trade caravan. The journey started ominously, with a second band of adventurers racing past them on horseback, sneering with disdain as they passed. One of them was wrapped from head to foot with cloth so no part of his (her?) skin was showing.

When the caravan arrived at the next village, they set up stalls and began to trade with the locals. One villager was wary of our Heroes, explaining that another group of adventurers came through here earlier today.

“The most unnatural bunch of folk he’d ever seen,” he said. (Note he’s talking to a dog-shaped person, an elf, a tabaxi, a tiefling, a goliath and an intelligent blob).

“One of them was wrapped ‘ead to toe in cloth and gave you an evil glare if’n you looked ‘im in the eye. He done transfixed ol’ Wainwright’s lad, young Tom. Froze ‘im to the spot for 3 days straight he did.” (again, note, it only happened this morning and young Tom is currently playing with the caravaner’s children).

A Foe Beyond your Ability…

The caravan rolled on, following the coast road. The last peaks of the Gallow Mountains grew larger with each passing day, and the road rose steadily through the foothills. The steep cliffs along the shoreline were impassable and the road meandered inland to a pass into the lowlands beyond. The caravaners had travelled this route many times and preparations were made for the steep descent. Large tree trunks were tethered to the rear of each wagon to act as a drag, slowing the wagons and preventing them from careening out of control downhill.

The valley below was still and silent. Smoke from distant farmsteads rose lazily in the still air. Cows and sheep could be seen grazing in pastures along the hillside on the far side of the valley.

But something spooked the cows – you could see them starting to run in panic. Suddenly, from directly below you, a massive winged shape shot up into the sky, sucking the air from around as it passed. A massive white dragon. In the blink of an eye it was a hundred feet about you, turning in mid-air, and then plunged like a javelin down into the valley again. It swooped low over the treetops and snatched something in its claws – a cow probably – and then soared up into the air again. In less than half a minute the creature was gone, arcing up and over the far line of hills out of sight.

The intention of this encounter was to remind the players that the world of filled with dangers and that they (currently) are no match for all of them.

Of course, Ooga wanted to smash the dragon, but was talked out of it.

Passing through the Emerald Glades was a challenge. The elves guard their realm jealously and demand a toll from anyone who enters it – in the interest of preserving the balance of nature of course. Travellers were met by border guards and instructed to stay on the roadway at all times. Hunting or felling trees was strictly prohibited and anyone who breaches these rules will find themselves full of arrows rather quickly.

The party managed to convince the border guards that they were heading to the Lake of Tears for a fishing trip. A natural 20 on the persuasion roll meant that the guard gave them some tips on the best fishing spots along the lake’s shore (and a certain bait that never missed)!

Mindful of the time, I decided to trim back the other encounters that were planned, according to the Journeying rules. A pity, because there were some cool ideas for encounters (e.g. giant centipedes in the food supply – easy to defeat, but the food is spoiled causing delays while they hunted for more).

The Lake of Tears

At the end of the journey, the travellers arrived at the shores of the Lake of Tears weary, fed up and spoiling for a fight. The Journey rules gave the party disadvantage on any persuasion checks and advantage on any combat. Very thematic.