This is a campaign that has recently started, so I'm back-writing a little bit and then will update as sessions happen... hopefully once every week or two. Enjoy!
Setting: Ekrido, the social and cultural capital of the plane. This world is fairly traditional sword & sorcery of my own creation comprised of many independent cities. Relationships are largely based on trade, with only a few longstanding political alliances.
Characters (all starting level 1):
1. Callista
“...and obviously, if you should fail, your jobs will be forfeit and I will personally see to it that you never receive honorable work in Ekrido again. Are there any questions?” The party stood in the office of the Baron Antonio Giuseppe, one of Ekrido’s most powerful and influential noblemen. The man had a monopoly on farming in the city, and for several weeks the party had been employed by him as night guards to prevent bandits or “vigilante trust-busters” from raiding his fields.
Until, the night previously, his storehouses had been raided. The Baron had immediately fired his storehouse guards and promoted the five party-members from border patrol to storehouse patrol, a position that came with a slight pay raise and the Baron’s dire ultimatum: prevent theft, or forfeit any chance of a long and happy career in Ekrido. They had no doubt that the Baron could deliver on that guarantee, nor did they get the sense that gracefully bowing out now was an option. So they accepted the promotion and got to guarding the storehouse.
Burny was excited for the prospect of the raise because it meant he’d have more money to buy components for his spells and experiments.
Ewan was confused as to why the Baron had promoted a 19-year-old kid with seemingly no skills or experience. Admittedly he was probably right to be confused, but some logic must be sacrificed in the interest of making a game happen.
Burny and Metis, being the only two who could see in the dark, positioned themselves atop two of the tall silos to survey the storehouse compound. Althea, Ewan, and Veu took torches and walked a continual perimeter around the various storehouses (all of which were surrounded by a large fence).
Three uneventful nights passed. At this point I asked the players whether their characters were the type to keep up a vigilant guard after three nights of nothing happening, or whether they would start to get lax. Burny’s player freely admitted that Burny was assuredly scribbling notes about his newest experiments and not paying the slightest attention to his guard duties, but Althea was aware enough to hear the crash coming from the meat barn.
They immediately shouted to raise the alarm, at which point the rest of the party booked it to the barn. Their entire futures were hanging on this job, and somehow someone had slipped into the meat barn without them noticing a thing.
Althea unlocked the door and the party entered into the barn, all except Metis who clambered up the wooden slats to stand on the roof and survey the area. The barn was pitch dark, and even those with darkvision couldn’t see any signs of life near the entrance (the barn is over 100-feet long, and so they could only see about a third of it), nor could they hear anything from beyond. They began moving stealthily forward, with Althea and Burny moving silently along the perimeter while Ewan and Veu moved... less quietly straight down the center of the barn.
Upon arriving in the back half of the barn where most of the meat was stored, they saw six humanoid figures dressed all in black with black masks silently engaging in thievery. One was up on a rolling staircase lifting meat off the hooks in the ceiling and dropping it into a Portable Hole that was being dragged along by two more while the fourth pushed the staircase along the length of the barn. The final two bandits were up on the walkway surrounding the barn, bows drawn and covering their companions.
And cover they did as Ewan and Veu walked noisily into their line of sight. One released an arrow hitting Ewan square in the chest and dealing more damage than a level-1 character likes to take on the first turn of combat. The two with the Portable Hole quickly closed it up and began making for the back of the barn.
Here I’ll also mention that the bandits were wreathed in shadows, making them quite tricky to see unless you were staring right at them. I think perhaps the way I described this shadowy quality quite concerned some of the more experienced players who are familiar with powerful monsters and high-level magic that can have that effect, until Althea successfully identified the Pass Without Trace spell and there was a noticeable relief around the table. Or maybe I was reading too much into their reactions.
Veu unashamedly backed up behind a wall and, after debating whether or not to flee entirely, decided instead to hang out by the ladder to the second level.
The Baron had specifically asked for the bandits to be taken alive, a fact that Burny completely disregarded as he pulled a small diamond from his pouch, rubbed it hard enough to generate friction, and then launched a Chromatic Orb of fire at one of the two archers. Note that Burny was successfully hidden and so had advantage on the attack. Fortunately for him (less so because of the Baron’s desire for live captives and more for other facts that would soon come to light), this was no run-of-the-mill NPC bandit so the spell didn't quite manage to drop her. However, she was still not terribly happy about being scorched and so began running full tilt toward Burny who booked it back down the ladder.
Meanwhile, Althea scored a hit with their bow against the bandit who was attempting to flee with the Portable Hole, and Metis, hearing the commotion, tied off a rope and clambered down the chimney into the meat smoker (it was a cold smoker, so she wasn’t at any risk of being burned alive in the furnace, but she still emerged into the fray coughing and covered in soot).
Veu decided to climb up the ladder toward the second level, presumably to find a corner where she could hide and potentially attack from stealth, but came face-to-face with the bandit who had been chasing Burny. After successfully fending off an attempt to push her off the ladder, Veu struck the bandit with the hilt of her dagger, knocking the assailant unconscious.
Of course, what Veu had not fully considered was both of them were clinging to a ladder, and that unconscious people don’t hold on to ladders so well. Failing in her attempt to hang on to the rungs while a creature more than twice her size was falling in her space, both Veu and the unconscious bandit went tumbling to the ground right at the feet of Metis and Burny.
From beneath the tangle of limbs, they heard Veu moan something about “please someone tie him up,” and Metis did so, making doubly sure her knots were secure and rolling the bandit off of Veu in the process.
Ewan, who had rolled maximum healing on a self-targeting Cure Wounds after being hit in the very first round, charged into the fray and up one of the rolling staircases to deal with the other archer... and that’s when sh*t went down.
The archer, who had her bow fully drawn and prepared to shoot this person running up the stairs to attack her, took one look at his face, lowered her bow, and gasped “Tavish?!”
Ewan stared back at her, entirely shaken, took a moment to clear his head, and then replied “if you ever cared for him, then call them off.” There was a moment of stunned silence while the bandit tried to process the face she was seeing, and Ewan repeated more forcefully "Call them off!" The bandit shouted a command and her group disengaged and began running toward the exit.
Ewan and the archer still stood frozen, staring at each other. "You can't be Tavish," the archer said. "Who are you?"
“Tavish was my father,” Ewan said, “who are you?” The bandit removed her mask, revealing features greatly resembling Ewan’s own.
“Tavish was my husband,” she said.
“Callista?” Ewan asked, and the woman nodded in affirmation.
“Come with me,” she said suddenly, and Ewan made a snap decision that would change the course of his life forever. Together, they began booking it for the back of the barn, where the bandits had cut a small hole.
Now, the rest of the party hadn’t really seen any of this interaction, and merely saw this kid who was supposed to be on their side suddenly running off with the bandits (we'd decided that the characters knew and liked each other as acquaintances, having worked together for some weeks, but hadn't yet gotten to the point of innate trust and camaraderie) . Naturally, they were none too thrilled and began heading off the bandits to try and prevent them from escaping. Burny hit the one with the Portable Hole with a Fire Bolt, dropping him to single-digits and sending him sprawling across the ground.
Callista looked furiously at Ewan and told him that she had called off her bandits and that he must call off his fellow guards. There followed a very hotly contested argument/fight as Ewan tried to sway the other party members to his side while also actively trying to escape with the bandits and having most of the party intent on stopping that escape.
Callista loudly decried the Baron, their employer, as a tyrant, and revealed to them something they had hitherto been entirely unaware of: while Ekrido plowed right along, comfortably sustained by the Baron’s farming monopoly, most other nearby cities were suffering from severe drought and famine and had been for several months. And the Baron had been hoarding all his crops, forbidding any trade of food with the neighboring cities.
At that revelation Althea hopped right on board with Ewan. As a ranger, they had heard rumblings of something bad from the nearby tribes and small towns, and this put the final puzzle piece into place for them (they had been kicked out of the official city Rangers for being too pushy with the government about these “bad rumors,” and so were all too happy to hop on the anti-nobility train).
It didn’t take much to sway Metis and Veu – neither had much reputation in Ekrido that defying the Baron would destroy anyways, and both were somewhat skeptical of the establishment. Burny was the only one vehemently against defecting with the bandits, which basically manifested itself as a constant stream of cursing and continually casting cantrips to try and prevent them all from leaving. To be fair, he did have the most to lose by incurring the Baron’s wrath, and he had the most need for the money he was getting from the job as it allowed him to buy components for his experiments and spells.
Finally, one of the players prevailed upon his logical mind by stating that, since they had failed to catch the bandits before they’d gotten into the storehouses, in the Baron’s eyes they probably had already failed and so their job and reputation was forfeit whether or not they went with the bandits. With that Burny nodded, used his second (and last) spell slot to cast Tenser’s Floating Disk beneath the unconscious bandit, and left with the rest of the group.
Burny and Metis also worked together to cast Mending on the hole the bandits had made to gain entry into the barn, in the hopes that it would look like they’d all simply vanished without a trace. And with that the bandits led them through a manhole and into the irrigation tunnels running below the farm just as other guards from further afield began to arrive due to hearing the commotion.
Setting: Ekrido, the social and cultural capital of the plane. This world is fairly traditional sword & sorcery of my own creation comprised of many independent cities. Relationships are largely based on trade, with only a few longstanding political alliances.
Characters (all starting level 1):
- Ewan – Human; Grave Cleric; looks haunted; recently arrived in Ekrido from the north.
- Burny – Gnome; Wizard; constantly experimenting; son of the chief wizard in Ekrido.
- Metis – Triton; Druid; quiet and standoffish; daughter of nobles in the neighboring town of Liport.
- Veu (pronounced “view”) – Halfling; Rogue; skeptical and somewhat petty; raised in The Labyrinth, the largest library on the plane.
- Althea – Human; Ranger; an explorer and a muckraker; recently kicked out of the official city Rangers for asking too many questions.
1. Callista
“...and obviously, if you should fail, your jobs will be forfeit and I will personally see to it that you never receive honorable work in Ekrido again. Are there any questions?” The party stood in the office of the Baron Antonio Giuseppe, one of Ekrido’s most powerful and influential noblemen. The man had a monopoly on farming in the city, and for several weeks the party had been employed by him as night guards to prevent bandits or “vigilante trust-busters” from raiding his fields.
Until, the night previously, his storehouses had been raided. The Baron had immediately fired his storehouse guards and promoted the five party-members from border patrol to storehouse patrol, a position that came with a slight pay raise and the Baron’s dire ultimatum: prevent theft, or forfeit any chance of a long and happy career in Ekrido. They had no doubt that the Baron could deliver on that guarantee, nor did they get the sense that gracefully bowing out now was an option. So they accepted the promotion and got to guarding the storehouse.
Burny was excited for the prospect of the raise because it meant he’d have more money to buy components for his spells and experiments.
Ewan was confused as to why the Baron had promoted a 19-year-old kid with seemingly no skills or experience. Admittedly he was probably right to be confused, but some logic must be sacrificed in the interest of making a game happen.
Burny and Metis, being the only two who could see in the dark, positioned themselves atop two of the tall silos to survey the storehouse compound. Althea, Ewan, and Veu took torches and walked a continual perimeter around the various storehouses (all of which were surrounded by a large fence).
Three uneventful nights passed. At this point I asked the players whether their characters were the type to keep up a vigilant guard after three nights of nothing happening, or whether they would start to get lax. Burny’s player freely admitted that Burny was assuredly scribbling notes about his newest experiments and not paying the slightest attention to his guard duties, but Althea was aware enough to hear the crash coming from the meat barn.
They immediately shouted to raise the alarm, at which point the rest of the party booked it to the barn. Their entire futures were hanging on this job, and somehow someone had slipped into the meat barn without them noticing a thing.
Althea unlocked the door and the party entered into the barn, all except Metis who clambered up the wooden slats to stand on the roof and survey the area. The barn was pitch dark, and even those with darkvision couldn’t see any signs of life near the entrance (the barn is over 100-feet long, and so they could only see about a third of it), nor could they hear anything from beyond. They began moving stealthily forward, with Althea and Burny moving silently along the perimeter while Ewan and Veu moved... less quietly straight down the center of the barn.
Upon arriving in the back half of the barn where most of the meat was stored, they saw six humanoid figures dressed all in black with black masks silently engaging in thievery. One was up on a rolling staircase lifting meat off the hooks in the ceiling and dropping it into a Portable Hole that was being dragged along by two more while the fourth pushed the staircase along the length of the barn. The final two bandits were up on the walkway surrounding the barn, bows drawn and covering their companions.
And cover they did as Ewan and Veu walked noisily into their line of sight. One released an arrow hitting Ewan square in the chest and dealing more damage than a level-1 character likes to take on the first turn of combat. The two with the Portable Hole quickly closed it up and began making for the back of the barn.
Here I’ll also mention that the bandits were wreathed in shadows, making them quite tricky to see unless you were staring right at them. I think perhaps the way I described this shadowy quality quite concerned some of the more experienced players who are familiar with powerful monsters and high-level magic that can have that effect, until Althea successfully identified the Pass Without Trace spell and there was a noticeable relief around the table. Or maybe I was reading too much into their reactions.
Veu unashamedly backed up behind a wall and, after debating whether or not to flee entirely, decided instead to hang out by the ladder to the second level.
The Baron had specifically asked for the bandits to be taken alive, a fact that Burny completely disregarded as he pulled a small diamond from his pouch, rubbed it hard enough to generate friction, and then launched a Chromatic Orb of fire at one of the two archers. Note that Burny was successfully hidden and so had advantage on the attack. Fortunately for him (less so because of the Baron’s desire for live captives and more for other facts that would soon come to light), this was no run-of-the-mill NPC bandit so the spell didn't quite manage to drop her. However, she was still not terribly happy about being scorched and so began running full tilt toward Burny who booked it back down the ladder.
Meanwhile, Althea scored a hit with their bow against the bandit who was attempting to flee with the Portable Hole, and Metis, hearing the commotion, tied off a rope and clambered down the chimney into the meat smoker (it was a cold smoker, so she wasn’t at any risk of being burned alive in the furnace, but she still emerged into the fray coughing and covered in soot).
Veu decided to climb up the ladder toward the second level, presumably to find a corner where she could hide and potentially attack from stealth, but came face-to-face with the bandit who had been chasing Burny. After successfully fending off an attempt to push her off the ladder, Veu struck the bandit with the hilt of her dagger, knocking the assailant unconscious.
Of course, what Veu had not fully considered was both of them were clinging to a ladder, and that unconscious people don’t hold on to ladders so well. Failing in her attempt to hang on to the rungs while a creature more than twice her size was falling in her space, both Veu and the unconscious bandit went tumbling to the ground right at the feet of Metis and Burny.
From beneath the tangle of limbs, they heard Veu moan something about “please someone tie him up,” and Metis did so, making doubly sure her knots were secure and rolling the bandit off of Veu in the process.
Ewan, who had rolled maximum healing on a self-targeting Cure Wounds after being hit in the very first round, charged into the fray and up one of the rolling staircases to deal with the other archer... and that’s when sh*t went down.
The archer, who had her bow fully drawn and prepared to shoot this person running up the stairs to attack her, took one look at his face, lowered her bow, and gasped “Tavish?!”
Ewan stared back at her, entirely shaken, took a moment to clear his head, and then replied “if you ever cared for him, then call them off.” There was a moment of stunned silence while the bandit tried to process the face she was seeing, and Ewan repeated more forcefully "Call them off!" The bandit shouted a command and her group disengaged and began running toward the exit.
Ewan and the archer still stood frozen, staring at each other. "You can't be Tavish," the archer said. "Who are you?"
“Tavish was my father,” Ewan said, “who are you?” The bandit removed her mask, revealing features greatly resembling Ewan’s own.
“Tavish was my husband,” she said.
“Callista?” Ewan asked, and the woman nodded in affirmation.
“Come with me,” she said suddenly, and Ewan made a snap decision that would change the course of his life forever. Together, they began booking it for the back of the barn, where the bandits had cut a small hole.
Now, the rest of the party hadn’t really seen any of this interaction, and merely saw this kid who was supposed to be on their side suddenly running off with the bandits (we'd decided that the characters knew and liked each other as acquaintances, having worked together for some weeks, but hadn't yet gotten to the point of innate trust and camaraderie) . Naturally, they were none too thrilled and began heading off the bandits to try and prevent them from escaping. Burny hit the one with the Portable Hole with a Fire Bolt, dropping him to single-digits and sending him sprawling across the ground.
Callista looked furiously at Ewan and told him that she had called off her bandits and that he must call off his fellow guards. There followed a very hotly contested argument/fight as Ewan tried to sway the other party members to his side while also actively trying to escape with the bandits and having most of the party intent on stopping that escape.
Callista loudly decried the Baron, their employer, as a tyrant, and revealed to them something they had hitherto been entirely unaware of: while Ekrido plowed right along, comfortably sustained by the Baron’s farming monopoly, most other nearby cities were suffering from severe drought and famine and had been for several months. And the Baron had been hoarding all his crops, forbidding any trade of food with the neighboring cities.
At that revelation Althea hopped right on board with Ewan. As a ranger, they had heard rumblings of something bad from the nearby tribes and small towns, and this put the final puzzle piece into place for them (they had been kicked out of the official city Rangers for being too pushy with the government about these “bad rumors,” and so were all too happy to hop on the anti-nobility train).
It didn’t take much to sway Metis and Veu – neither had much reputation in Ekrido that defying the Baron would destroy anyways, and both were somewhat skeptical of the establishment. Burny was the only one vehemently against defecting with the bandits, which basically manifested itself as a constant stream of cursing and continually casting cantrips to try and prevent them all from leaving. To be fair, he did have the most to lose by incurring the Baron’s wrath, and he had the most need for the money he was getting from the job as it allowed him to buy components for his experiments and spells.
Finally, one of the players prevailed upon his logical mind by stating that, since they had failed to catch the bandits before they’d gotten into the storehouses, in the Baron’s eyes they probably had already failed and so their job and reputation was forfeit whether or not they went with the bandits. With that Burny nodded, used his second (and last) spell slot to cast Tenser’s Floating Disk beneath the unconscious bandit, and left with the rest of the group.
Burny and Metis also worked together to cast Mending on the hole the bandits had made to gain entry into the barn, in the hopes that it would look like they’d all simply vanished without a trace. And with that the bandits led them through a manhole and into the irrigation tunnels running below the farm just as other guards from further afield began to arrive due to hearing the commotion.