Session 1 Summary
Prologue
The heroes have lived in the small farming village of
Ravensford since they
were young. The heroes are all well-aquainted with each other, and have studied
under the mentorship of
Douven Staul, a local retired adventurer since childhood.
As time passed, the young heroes each became skilled in a different area of expertise
under Douven. One day, Douven mentioned something about a
dragon's tomb and
wanting to explore it, and left the village. He asked the heroes to stay back, as
it might be too dangerous for inexperienced adventurers. About a month passed, and
Douven still had not returned. His old-looking wife became worried, especially after
rumors began to spread of cult activities in the nearby town of
Winterhaven.
Douven's wife begged the heroes to set off in search of him, fearing for his life.
The heroes agreed, as Douven was very close to them as well. After making final
preparations, the heroes have set off on the
King's Road toward Winterhaven.
The adventure begins along the way.
King's Road
The unsuspecting heroes set out on the King's Road towards Winterhaven, where they
hoped to find information about the burial site and Douven's whereabouts. About
halfway to Winterhaven, the heroes stumbled upon a poorly planned
kobold ambush!
The kobolds skittered around behind some boulders, giving away their hiding spot
to the heroes. As the heroes approached, the kobolds realized the heroes were aware
of their presence, and attacked! The kobold troop consisted of 2 shield-bearing
kobolds, 1 kobold slinger, and 5 weaklings. The party easily dispatched the kobolds
in a quick fight, resulting in the decapitation of one kobold by the Judge's greataxe.
Unfortunately, the slinger was very quick to retreat and managed to
escape the heroes.
The heroes, satisfied with their performance, continued to Winterhaven.
Winterhaven
After arriving at Winterhaven around dusk, the heroes were allowed through the main
gate into the walled town. Winterhaven is medium-sized settlement with a population
of 977. The heroes looked around town to find a variety of amenities, including
shoppes, a smithy, a stable, a temple devoted to Avandra, and
Wrafton's Inn.
In addition, the heroes discovered an inner gate leading to a manor house, barracks,
and siege defense building. However, the area was off limits, and the heroes entered
Wrafton's Inn.
Upon entering, the innkeeper,
Wrafton, greeted the adventurers warmly and
offered some clean beds for 2sp apiece. The Judge was having none of this polite
conversation, however, and completely ignored Wrafton as he stomped upstairs to
go to bed. Travok and Chase asked Wrafton some questions about recent events, and
learned the Douven had passed through about a month earlier in his search for the
dragon's tomb. Wrafton also directed the heroes to the local "historian and farmer,"
Eilian the Old.
Eilian also remembered Douven, and marked the location of the dragon burial site
on the heroes' map. In addition, Eilian also recommended that the heroes speak to
the "sage and scholar,"
Valthrun the Prescient. When questioned about the
rumors of local cult activity, Valthrun mentioned the
old keep a few days'
travel away to the North. However, Valthrun seemed reluctant to say any more and
instead requested some time to look through his library for more information. Merryweather,
growing agitated with Valthrun's reluctance, brandished his blade and lightly threatened
the old scholar. Luckily, Chase came up with a quick explanation and convinced Valthrun
that Merryweather used to be in a circus and still had some social problems. Valthrun
settled down as Merryweather began to juggle daggers on the bar counter. However,
Wrafton asked him to get down, as it was dangerous to other patrons. At this point,
Merryweather went upstairs to bed, and the resident of the local manor house,
Lord
Padraig entered the bar. All the patrons rose and doffed their hats as he
entered, and the heroes noticed that the lord seemed used to this, and also that
he did not like to make a big show of this sort of entrance. Valthrun recommended
that the heroes talk to Lord Padraig about their run-in with the kobolds, and they
approached the lord.
Lord Padraig introduced himself and listened to the heroes' story about the kobold
ambush and Douven. Though the lord was unfamiliar with Douven, he was well aware
of the kobold presence in the area. Seeing that the heroes were capable enough to
survive the ambush, he asked them to
"deal with" the kobold problem in exchange
for 100gp. Chase, using his skills of diplomacy, talked the lord up to 140gp, and
the heroes agreed to eliminate the kobolds. After speaking with Lord Padraig, the
heroes noticed a
young elf adventurer sitting by herself at a corner table.
Unfortunately, the elf was rather surly and had no interest in conversation, despite
the heroes' best efforts. Finally, Travok and Chase retired for the night.
In the morning, the heroes visited Valthrun at his tower, but he said that he
needed
more time to reasearch the old keep and dragon burial site. The heroes decided
to head for the location of the kobold hideout, as marked by Lord Padraig, but not
before renting three horses and one riding dog for faster travel.
King's Road, Part 2
Shortly after setting out on the King's Road once again, the heroes were
ambushed
a second time! Unfortunately, the escaped kobold slinger had warned the
others the night before, and they set up a more effective ambush that actually took
the heroes by surprise. The kobolds attacked fiercely, trying to take the heroes
down as fast as possible. However, the heroes survived the initial ambush and were
able to enter combat with the kobolds. A kobold caster was present this time, and
he unleashed some damaging acid spells before Merryweather took him down with a
lethal backstab. The remaining shield-bearing kobolds engaged the heroes while a
solitary skirmisher kobold hid in the nearby woods, only to leap out at the Judge
a moment later. The heroes were able to take down the remaining kobolds, and even
managed to subdue one of them without killing it. The heores tied a leash of sorts
around his neck and demanded that he
lead them to the hideout. In addition,
The kobold caster dropped a strange necklace that the Judge, with his knowledge
of religion, recognized as a small statue of
Orcus, the demon lord of the undead.
Not a good sign.
Kobold Hideout
Upon arriving at the campout, the leashed kobold began screeching, hissing, and
jumping up and down, effectively alerting the entire camp of the heroes' presence.
Merryweather and the Judge immediately silenced the kobold by killing him, despite
Chase's attempts to keep him alive. Merryweather snuck through the trees to scout
out the kobold forces. He found them scattered around in great numbers, along with
a strange arcane circle on the ground nearby. The heroes engaged the kobolds from
the woods, using the trees as cover. At one point, the Judge went down after being
overrun by a veritable wave of kobold minions. In a stunning move, Chase walked
over, ordered the Judge to get up and "walk it off," and commanded Merryweather
to stab the remaining kobold in the back, killing it. Not one to joke around, Chase
put it best as,
"You - up. You - stab him." The battle was over failry quickly,
as most of the kobolds were unskilled soldiers, and the heroes took the battle behind
the nearby waterfall, into the kobold hideout.
The heroes were greeted by about 10 more kobolds at the entrance, as the battle
ensued, the heroes quickly gained the upper hand against the weakling kobolds. After
a minute or so of fighting, the battle was interrupted by a great horn sounding
and one final wave of kobolds along with their leader, a goblin named
Irontooth.
The final battle had begun, and things began to look grim for the heroes; they were
outnumbered and the kobolds just kept coming. The Judge immediately ran over to
engage Irontooth, while the other heroes attmpted to clean up the remaining kobolds.
The battle continued on, and the heroes eventually injured Irontooth badly, at which
point he became enraged and worked himself into a frenzy, swinging his axe at everyone
nearby. Irontooth took Chase down and the party seemed to be in serious trouble.
Travok pulled out his big spell, and did serious cold damage to Irontooth, as well
as covering the ground around him in ice. Irontooth, in a fit of rage and slipping
on the bed of ice, managed to swing his axe into his own leg and was immobilized.
Unable to escape the cloud of frost, Irontooth died and the remaining kobolds fled
for their lives. As Irontooth collapsed on the floor, he shouted,
"Kalarel and Lord
Orcus, prepare my way!" The party saved Chase and looted the hideout. Among
the gold and items, the heroes found a note to Irontooth, describing a
rift opening,
as well as a
spy in Winterhaven, signed by
Kalarel. Victorious, the
heroes now must
return to Winterhaven.
