Attack on Veroche: Part One

After speaking with Xerella, the group spent the night at Blood's Rest.

Corax spent his evening with some hookers, paying them for their time to preach the message of the Raven Queen and encourage them to seek a different line of work. He convinced one such lady of the night to look into employment with the arena. Lex spent the night in her room in brooding contemplation. Crag walked the streets. Eglan prayed the night away.

In the morning Lex went to the bar to find Jamlamin back from his errand, sitting in a lonely corner with a frozen pipe in hand. She approached him with the idea that the team was not serving their personal agendas, Lex in recovering her sister, and Jamlamin in his secretive quest. She wondered aloud if they'd be better off together on their own, helping each other to meet their goals. Jamlamin was intrigued but insisted they would need Crag, for he has something Jamlamin needs.

Just then, Crag approached, lighting the pipe with his green flame. They decided to let him in on their ideas of going their own way. Jamlamin revealed that his quest is to find the man who caused him to murder his wife. Crag was skeptical of the group following, with Eglan being loyal to the Selderine. Lex pointed out that Eglan's history wasn't exactly a picture of perfect loyalty.

Just then, the rest walked in, and the trio fell silent. Crag ushered the others away, leaving only Lex and Eglan. Just as she was about to offer an ultimatum, Eglan revealed he received an urgent missive from the Order, that there were warning signs of an impending Drow attack on a town a few days ride away. Many lives were at stake.

Lex, Crag, and Jamlamin quietly agreed to hold off on their talk of breaking away until after this mission.

They went back the the Selderine for their orders and a map, to the town of Veroche, a near 4 day ride away. On the way, Eglan spoke of his history with the Drow.

On their first night at camp, Quickroot asked of Crag, "You say you can tell if a man deserves to die. Do I?"

Crag was uncertain where this was going, "I know you, no."

"You do not, and I do." said Quickroot, and he walked away from the fire.

Corax went after Quickroot to comfort him, telling him he did not deserve death.

"In nature, everything must die, but that does not mean it's deserved," said Quickroot, "I question my motives."

"But, you are spreading beauty and flowers through the land and helping the forces of good!" cried Corax.

Quickroot smiled, but sighed, "It is interesting to see one whose spirit is in such bloom. you have not had to do the things asked of me."

Corax asked for another spore, revealing he left the other in the ruins with Lady Darstein. Quickroot was somewhat comforted, and passed him a spore while saying, "She was not my only questionable action."

They rested for the night. We road closer to the Chaos Scar, the Plaugelands to our north. That night around the fire Quickroot addressed the company.

He told them of his past and his mission in life, protecting the Shadow Wilds swamps from necromancers, and the abuse of humanity. One town that began encroaching upon and abusing the swamplands was Shademore. Quickroot's tribe made the decision to destroy the town, and every man, woman, and child therein using an ancient rite of his people.

There seemed to be more to the story, "this ritual?" probed Lex.

Quickroot revealed the tribe elder was his mother, and the ritual involved her sacrificing herself to cause nature magic to destroy the town with overgrowth. As a seeker, Quickroot made sure she succeeded and no one survived.

Just then, Corax, who had been listening from his tent, burst forth wielding his scythe. He twirled it over Quickroot's unflinching head and asked, "Do you want forgiveness, do you repent?"

Quickroot said, "I do, but cannot..."

"Why do you want forgiveness?"

"I... don't know..."

Corax then dropped his scythe, embracing Quickroot, "I know why! I forgive you!"

Quickroot shoved him away, "I'm not looking for your forgiveness!" and he walked away into the woods.

Corax knew in his heart that Quickroot wasn't going to be ready for forgiveness until he could forgive himself.

Jamlamin vomited a sparkling mass, while crag grumbled in his need for action and Eglan kept watch. Lex stroked Lady Darstein's spider pendant, which she had taken to wearing on the trip. The eventually went to sleep for the second night, except for Eglan.

The following night, weariness finally caught up with Eglan and he fell asleep. Corax noticed Lex sitting away from the rest of the party and went to talk with her.

"Nice pendant, " he said.

"I want to remember..." said Lex distractedly.

"Why do you mourn so for her?"

"I don't. I wear this because no one else cares.'

Quickroot spoke, "I do."

Lex shot him an angry look. Quickroot invited her to speak what was on her mind.

Lex began a rant against what she sees as the self-serving and hypocritical nature of elves. She decried their spiritual wars and their dogma. "Their spiritual struggles reek havoc on the lands and they take no notice or care for anyone in their way!"

Crag sat up, "Enough of this! We are a team, there are more important things to worry about now than this!" He made a grab for Lex, but she was able to dodge.

Corax was startled, "Friends, please, we're a team!"

Lex looked around the fire, "Corax, there is no team," and she stormed into the woods.

Corax looked hurt, "Friends?" he said to the party. Quickroot said to him, "Friends," and then he followed after Lex.

Lex stood near the tree line ahead, unmoving and facing away.

"Lex, I don't know what you want me to say. Elves are self-serving. My tribe certainly is. Most would look out for themselves. I do regret many of my actions. I hope to earn your trust. This team must remain united."

Lex remained silent and unmoving. Quickroot heard a sudden skittering ahead and Lex turned around, seemingly broken from a trance, "You, what do you want?" she hissed.

Quickroot was suspicious, but said only, "Nothing, I just wanted to be sure you were okay," and returned to camp.

Crag took the watch, and eventually the rest went to bed for the third night.

The next day they were close to the headquarters outside the town. The trees had given way to winy plains and rolling hills. They could see the town up ahead, covered in a cloud of darkness. Quickroot volunteered to go to the headquarters for information while the others rode onward, knowing an attack was likely already underway.

He came charging back on Sillip to inform them that the attack had been going on for days with many dead, but there was currently a lull in the fighting as the drow had seemingly withdrawn, taking live hostages and a mysterious artifact of great power, the Standard of Eternal Battle, which can only be taken by winning at battle. Eglan is worried, the Drow never take prisoners.

They entered the city and found it full of smoke and death, with corpses appearing with enough frequency that Corax gave up his attempt to reap their souls. They could sense spiders ahead, and their webs hung from every building. Eglan lead the way to the entrance to the Under Dark.

When we reached the great hole of a void, Eglan and Corax spied a silhouette of a person on a building ahead. Eglan and Quickroot snuck up on it to see it was a man in a dark purple road embroidered with golden spider webs, reading from a book. The figure spotted Eglan, "Ah, you again."

"So it would seem," said Eglan tensely.

"Why are you here?"

"I don't have to explain to you."

"Very well," said the figure, and he vanished.

Eglan returned without explanation and we decended into the Under Dark. We follow the glow of a light further and further down the tunnels until it opened into a large opening with a dome shaped building faced by a pedestal across the way. Many foot prints and drag marks lead forward.

When we approached the pedestal, we found there was an amulet on top, and it seemed to be watching us. Corax struck it with his scythe, but it bounced off, and a sharp pain filled his head while laughter rang out (took 40 damage).

"Another group, how interesting," said the amulet, "Do you come seeking power like the others?"

Corax cried out in answer, "I have come to save the innocent!"

"Then, you will need power!"

"I have the power of the Raven Queen!"

Crag interrupted, "Where are the Drow?"

The amulet laughed again, "They are an exuberant bunch, they are in my temple."

Eglan asked, "Who are you?"

Than amulet continued to laugh, mockingly, "Why should I tell you?"

"Then, what do you seek from us?"

It replied, "I like your bravery, but I do not answer to you, to enter my temple, one of you must wear the amulet."

Lex's pendant began to glow, and a distant skittering echoed in the hall.

Eglan snatched the necklace and threw it on.

The voice laughed loudly, "Welcome to my temple!" and the doors swung open.

A Question of Perspective: the Oholloth Detour

Brian was DM for this adventure, John was out sick so Jamlamin will be absent, to be explained next time.

Gird yourselves for a dramatic week, this last session took us to unexpected places of character development and conflict.

After the race, Lex tracked down a drunken Sir Reginald and bought him another drink. She flattered him on his grand connections until she was able to learn that Lord Aminafus passed through the town some months ago on his way to Waterdeep, where he was funding an unknown mission by boat.

Crag approached the owner of the dogs and apologized again outside the scrutiny of the guard. The man began openly weeping as Crag awkwardly comforted him until Corax drank to the point of vomiting and then Crag took him up to bed.

On their way out of Otminster the group picked up Quickroot when Silip leapt down onto Crag from a tree they passed. From there the group decided to go back to Blood Spot in answer to Xerella's earlier letter requesting assistance.

When they arrived they learned that the Plague Soul Oholloth, who was freed from the captivity of Lady Darstein the spider tamer after the freeing of Blood Spot, had come back for Darstein. "Death to the Lolth worshipper," was burned with acid onto the wall.

Xerella felt guilty for freeing him and asked us to bring back her spider tamer for the, now voluntary, arena battles. She offered a reward. Corax was moved by chivalry to save a kidnapped woman, and Lex and Crag wanted to see the Plague Soul no longer an issue. Eglan had a strange look about him, but was quiet. Xerella warned us Oholloth was rumored to be controlling many worms the size of men.

What was known by the party about Oholloth at this time: Plauge Soul, Ganasi race, part human and part elemental. On his first day in Blood Spot, he killed a teen child by blowing poison into his mouth. He fancied Lady Darstein but she rejected him and stabbed him in the back. He tried to seek revenge and he and his traveling companions were captured. Darstein kept him as a prisoner and personal poison factory fro years.

At this time Xerella asked if Eglan's personal connections to Oholloth would prevent him from participating in his capture. Eglan then conceded that he had been a member of Oholloth's party, and escaped his fate by refusing to defy the Blood Brothers. He left his former companion for dead.

The team picked up some Resistance Potions in preparation for fighting against a Plague Soul (+5 resistance to damage type of choice for 40 gold). Eglan caught up with an old friend, the healther Tailtreader, while the rest chatted with Grey and found out Telemar was away on an expedition.

Xerella offered them the use of 3 of Darsteins trained spiders to track her. Eglan was repulsed by them, but Quickroot usd his nature abilities to tame and befriend them, collecting dead animal treats for them along the road. The spiders were anxious to return to their mother and moved quickly. We traveled for 4 hours uninterrupted.

Lex voiced concerns about Eglan's ability to handle the mission objectively and whether he could really kill Oholloth if it came down to it. She was distrustful of him for not revealing their history until prompted. Crag insisted that if Eglan tried to stop him from killing Oholloth, then they'd have to fight. Eglan told them he would do what he had to, but that Oholloth had a good side, and was known as a hero in the town of Grave Guard. Lex and Crag were unconvinced.

Corax asked for some background on Oholloth's fighting style. (Defender, weilds tripped headed flail, main moves are to create rock Gollum armor, thorn strike grappling, and whirlwinds. Warder class.)

We then came upon a clearing with a band of mercenaries and a Warforged sitting around a camp. The spiders retreat to the trees and watch from above. Quickroot approached from a distance. A mercenary approached and asked, "Can we help you?" Quickroot explained the mission and then mercenary called out, "Brutus!" Crag looked perturbed.

Brutus and Crag fought in war thousands of years ago. Brutus was also a member of Eglan and Oholloth's party, and was programmed to serve Eglan until his capture, when he was reprogrammed to serve Blood Spot. Eglan abandoned him as well. Brutus assured him it's all water under the bridge for him when Eglan offered an apology for the past. He did, however, insist they kill Oholloth. Crag agreed.

Brutus offered a tip about a ruin north of the clearing which might serve as a good place for Oholloth to hide. It is said to be a place of action, not of thought.

The spiders grew impatient, so we moved on while the mercenaries returned to hunting down turncoats.

After another hour of travel we discovered a quint hill with a door, previously barred but now broken in with a rocky frame. We could sense magic from inside. The spiders scrambled at the door.

Crag forced open the door and we went inside. It was pitch dark and from the inside we could tell this was the remains of a town collapsed and grown over. There was a 20 foot hall lined with unlit torches. Crag lit one and threw it ahead to light to next room. Quickroot angrily grumbled that the element of surprise was ruined. Crag, being ever the man, er, Warforged of action wasn't worried about a fight. But he was slightly afraid of the dark, due to a past experience involving a mirror.

We entered a room that looked as though it may have once been a church. A channel was dug near the center of the room filled with some green liquid. There were also three worms, two grub mothers, horrible, slimy beasts covered in tiny crawling grubs, and a rock worm, its flesh marked all over in black rock.

The worms began to spew grub vomit and rocks upon us as we battled them. Anytime we stopped to think about a move we were afflicted with a sudden pain in our heads and took damages. Crag did a history check to remember that this ruin used to be a town under threat of siege by mages. The leaders of the town argued in the church about what to do for so long that the town fell, and now the ghosts of the slain haunt the ruin and punish anyone who waits to take action.

After a battle of quick decision making, we were finally able to slay the worms and continue on, using boulders to cross the channels of acid. The spiders, who had to this point remained outside, suddenly returned to us and crowded behind a metal door ahead. Quickroot and Eglan decide to scout ahead this time to keep the element of surprise. Eglan slipped in unnoticed, but Quickroot stumbled and looked up to see Oholloth, standing in a pit of acid, with Lady Darstein chained to a pole in the corner, badly beaten but still alive.

Oholloth turned to Quickroot and said, "Who are you? Have you come to stop me from killing this Lolth worshipper?"

Quickroot lied and convinced Oholloth that he had come to seek his guidance and wisdom as a wielder of nature.

"If you really are here to learn from me, kill this vile Lolth worshipper," said Oholloth.

Quickroot walked back to the door, looked at Lex and Crag waiting outside, and shut the door. Eglan, still successfully hidden, believed Quickroot really intended to kill Darstein and was conflicted. Quickroot readied a vine attack on her, but then feinted, yelling, "Attack!" and aiming for Oholloth instead, but he missed! Crag, Corax and Lex charged through the door and stopped at seeing Quickroot fail.

Just then, Eglan finally emerged from the shadows, "I don't want to hurt you, Oholloth."

Oholloth turned to Eglan, then the rest, and demanded of us if we were also Lolth worshippers. He said to Eglan, "You know Lolth worshippers must be put to death. This is what the Selderine believe. She tortured me, she should be put to death! I am innocent!"

Eglan offered to take Lady Darstein to trial for her actions. Crag and Lex held back, Grag resting his weapon but Lex remaining very tense, ready to fight at any moment.

Oholoth refused a trial, insisting there could be no trial for those who serve Lolth, for they are purely evil in his mind. Corax walked up to Oholoth and Darstein and did a search of their ultimate good and evil. He determined them both capable of good and evil.

Oholoth demanded, "Justice, now!"

Suddenly, quickroot shot forth a vine and killed Lady Darstein.

Lex was in shock, dropping her battle stance. The spidrs ran into the room, hissing and clicking, and attacked Oholoth, who slew them in the acid.

Lex stepped forward to Eglan, "This is not justice! Will you let this stand? Did you not insist on a fair trial?"

Eglan sighed deeply and unwrapped the bandages around his face, revealing himself to be Drow. "He is right, I cannot allow a Lolth worshipper to live, it is a death sentence crime." Tears fell from his eyes as he bandaged his face again.

Corax said to Oholoth, "I see good in you, you have not necessarily done evil here."

Quickroot spoke, "I agree. Nature knows no restraints."

Crag walked away from the room quickly without a word and headed out of the ruin. Lex moved quickly to Lady Darstein's body, removing her black pendant spider, and marching quickly after Crag.

Corax carried the body to the acid and offered her soul to the Raven Queen. Eglan apologized to the gathered company for lying about knowing Oholloth, and hugged Corax, who was overjoyed by the action.

Oholloth leaves undeterred.

When the emerged from the ruin, Quickroot used his nature powers to close up the ruin with roots, preventing anyone else from wandering inside and leaving the ghosts to rest in peace.

Crag and Lex had already left ahead, and after an hour, the rest caught up. When they reached the clearing, Quickroot spoke, "What shall we tell Xerella?"

"The truth," said Eglan.

"And what is the truth, the way you see it?" snapped Lex.

"We let him go."

"We!" Lex yelled, "We have done nothing! He-" pointing accusingly at Quickroot, "has decided for everyone. He chose to play judge jury and executioner at the behest of a mad man!"

"If there is any punishment to be received, I will take it," said Quickroot.

"You do not know or understand the worshipers of Loth," sighed Eglan, "They are purely evil, they know no restraint, they show no mercy and they deserve none. She kept him a pet for year."

"After he attacked her! He killed a child. He is by nature a creature of destruction. If she should die for her sins, so should he!" retorted Lex. She turned to the others, "In Blood Spot, had you attacked instead of taking the brother's request, you would have killed me, and without a second thought or an inquiry of my conscience!"

Crag admitted as much was true.

"But, you are good! You did good after serving the Blood Brothers, "said Corax.

"Because I lived to have the chance that was taken from Lady Darstein by the bigotry of elves and preists." hissed Lex.

Eglan replied sadly, "One day, you might live long enough to come to understand. You cannot save those lost to the evil of Lolth."

Lex narrowed her eyes in contempt, "And, maybe you will live to fully understand the hypocrisy of elves," as she stroked the spider pendant.

The ride was silent the rest of the way. When we arrived, Xerella was disappointed, but did not punish anyone besides not giving a reward.

Play notes: Great ghosts, this was a dramatic night. Character conversations got so tense we had to clarify we were still in character a few times. This mission will have lasting complications for Lex. Her tentative trust in her new team has been damaged by the withholding of Eglan and what she sees as the murder of Lady Darstein. Lex sees herself as in the same position, having formerly done many regrettable things for the Bloods in order to try to save her sister. Her deep seeded mistrust of elves will continue to bubble to the surface now that the two fully elven members of the group have displayed a moral mission contrary to her own ideas of good and evil. It's going to be interesting, for sure, especially when we have Jamlamin back next time, who is a more morally ambiguous character. Crag of course seems to agree with Lex's interpretation of the event, at least in that Oholloth should die. We'll see what happens with that!

Dash of the Missive: Part Two

This past week brought us the exciting conclusion of the Dash of the Missive! Who would be the first to climb to the top of the tower and win the prize? Let's find out!

Eglan was doing fairly well to keep pace when we left off, getting closer to the front of the pack. He ended up getting jammed in the crowds until he came up with the scheme of buying his way through by offering gold coins. He offered a gold coin each to 10 people to pass. At this point in the race, the half-orc had dropped out, and he charged ahead on horseback to sabotage the other racers. He riled up the crowds, so Eglan climbed onto the poles of the merchant tents and jumped "nimbly bimbly, like a cat" over top the throngs of shoppers. He then called out a bluff that the butcher was having a sale on meats to clear another path. Finally, he intimidated his way through the last bit of stragglers to arrive at the tower base.

Corax began with a skipped turn for missing three attempts to escape the filthy water in the last round. Realizing swimming was clearly not his strong suit, he switched to the market bridge path using his knowledge of local streets. He then continued to use his smarts to emerge into the crowds and declare that, "Corax, hero of Bloodspot!" needed the pass (using an action point) to move an extra square. He then began calling out that there was an emergency to stop the crowds and wind through. He then found himself at the tower base.

Jamlamin relied on streetwise to slip through back allies at the beginning of the next area, the marketplace. He then used his chaos magic to blow up a cart as a distraction (intimidate with +2 arcana bonus in flavor for using an attack). He was fined 3 gold coins for damages but managed to squeak by. He then tried to avoid his fine by sneaking away, but failed, used an action point to reattempt, and failed again, which counted for 2 fails. The Bard, who was far behind, decided to drop out at this point. Jamlamin, however, was determined to carry on, and used diplomacy to convince a large man, Rodo, to let him ride on his shoulders the rest of the way. He paid the man a gold coin and found himself at the base of the tower.

Lex leapt to the next barge. She then used her insight to determine athletics was the easiest was across. She failed her next attempt to jump, but used an action point for a repeat attempt and success. She made it to the next phase and decided to switch to the rich roofs. When she climbed up, she noticed a thief in the distance trying to rob a house. She faced the moral dilemma of trying to stop the thief, or sneaking past. She attempted to knock him off the roof using Freezing Burst, but he saved, and he avoided her follow up Beguiling Flash. The thief then threw a dagger into her shoulder for an ongoing 5 damage. Lex decided to cut her losses and double moved to escape successfully. Lex is not a combat fighter, by nature. Lex was the first to arrive at the tower, and used her arcana powers to see the best path and begin climbing.

Crag powered his way across the remaining barges using athletics. He finds his way into a yard and sees 6 guard dogs. He attempts to run across the yard, but the dogs see him and attack, dog piling him. Crag does not want to hurt the dogs but has no choice, and uses Green Flame Hammer to knock them back. Two dogs are killed in the attack as Crag runs to the gate and uses his fire magic to break the lock and escape. It would seem Crag had much more of a moral dilemma harming the dogs than Lex had in ditching the thief. Crag fled the yards and found himself at the base of the tower.

Corax found Rodo, who was picking up unwilling peasants hoping for coins, and paid him to boost him onto the tower. Jamlamin struggled to climb, making three fails before even beginning his climb, which was a luck break, for three fails on the tower results in falling down and taking 10 points of damage for every success accumulated. Crag and Eglan found it smooth sailing to use their strength and athletics to climb with only minor delays. Lex, however, found herself stuck in the middle before falling down to the bottom, rendering her nearly knocked out with only 4 HP remaining. Corax, ever competitive, called down from the tower that he would heal her in exchange for a boost. Lex sent him a bonus +4 to his next roll, and he gave her a free healing surge, plus 12 HP.

Ultimately, Eglan reached the top first. However, in a display of modesty and sportsmanship, declared whomever reached the tower second would be the official winner. No one wanted it more than Corax, who powered his way to the top to clasp hands with Eglan, and the bells rand out. Corax raised his hand in Eglan's and declared victory for, "The heroes of Blood Spot!"

As the winner, Corax received a pair of Sure Foot Boots, 600 gold pieces, and free food and drink for the rest of the festivities. He immediately bought a second shield for Mary Bell Lou, and the poor pony was now at least balanced with burden.

Eglan sends out a message via pigeon and then mingles with the crowds, drumming up press for the Order of Seldrine. Corax mingled and bragged with the towns people and a very drunk Sir Reginald.

Crag was monitoring the bitter Gnome and Helf-Orc when Jamlamin approached and began to express concerns about Corax and whether he might split the prize. He says he has his own reasons for wanting the team, "well equipped," in the future. The two begin discussing fire magic and their past exploits when a guard approaches with an angry man in tow.

The man is the owner of the dogs, demanding Crag's arrest. Crag is faced with a 15 gold fine each for damages. An argument ensues as Crag tries to leave and the guard grabs him. He sets a fire when Lex steps from the shadows and used her powers of suggestion to convince the guard to, "let it go this time, everyone is just tired from the race." The guard relents for an apology, and Crag begrudgingly agrees and pays the fine.

Lex then goes to track down the drunken Reginald to question him about the Lords.

Play notes:

This was an interesting change of pace for us and the unpredictability of the mechanics kept everyone guessing as to who would win. Lex faced combat alone for the first time and I think her lack of experience as a fighter is a lot more apparent when she's alone, as is her ultimate lean to self preservation. While I enjoyed this skill challenge, and hope to see more in the future, it will be nice to at least be fighting as a team again soon. And I look forward to questioning Sir Reginald next week!

No D&D Week: Lex Post Instead!

We didn't have D&D night this past week because two of our team members were out of town, so, this weeks post will be a behind the scenes of Lex and her personality, and motivations, enjoy!

Lex as a character is still uncomfortable being part of a team because she can't seem to take herself out of survival mode. It may come off to others that she's cold and calculating, and only looks out for herself. But, the reality is, Lex is coming out of 3 years spent living among people she could not trust, all to try to save her sister, who she feels responsible for. Saving her sister has been the only constant and purpose in her life. She has to hold onto that goal to feel like she's redeeming herself.

Being the half-elf love child and only elf in her family was a sense of shame and confusion for Lex in her youth. She doesn't know who her elf mother is, her father refusing to talk about it because it's a painful subject for him. Despite her father and human stepmother raising her and not being abusive, Lex always sensed she was not loved as much as her younger, human sister Mei. Her elf-ness was something she was ashamed of, something that separated her from her family. It was also a visual reminder that she knew nothing of the mother who abandoned her.

When Lex began displaying magical ability, it was the first time she felt unashamed of her half-elf heritage. Her father seemed very uncertain about allowing her to train, however, and instead wanted her to stay on the family farm and work. Lex felt that her elf-ness was making her family suspicious of her, and she grew resentful. She trained alone in secret in the woods behind their farm, using books she hid under her floorboards, bought on the rare trip to the city to sell goods.

It was during one of these secret magic lessons that Mei was kidnapped from the fields by slave traders. Lex was late going to help her, and when she arrived at the fields her step mother was crying in her father's arms for her stolen daughter. Lex was filled with an immense guilt at the image, and resolved that night to get her sister back and redeem herself.

Before winding up in Blood Spot, where her game story begins, she tracked the slavers across many miles. She harnessed her abilities with deception and manipulation magic by attempting to intimidate information out of low-lifes in the towns and camps she crossed. She developed a small reputation as a con woman by the time she landed in Blood Spot, where she would spend 3 years working as an enforcer and interrogator for the Blood Brothers before meeting the team and helping over throw the evil duo.

Lex's feelings toward her team are complicated. She has never been able to trust anyone, and has always felt like an outsider. She still considers her chief concern to be rescuing Mei.

For specific team members, Corax causes her the most immediate friction, because his outgoing and open personality conflicts with her closed and quiet demeanor. He also struggles to understand her choice to betray them with the end goal of saving the in Blood Spot. Crag and Lex have not interacted very much, but Lex respects that he understands her quest and allows her to do what she needs to do to fulfil it. Jamlamin she actually somewhat likes because he is also a practice of magic, though she secretly feels jelous of his formal training. Her feelings towards Quickroot and Eglan are colored with her own issues of being a half elf. Quickroot, especially makes her nervous because his wild, nature based behavior is in such contrast to her own, most human approaches to problems.

I believe in time Lex will grow to warm up to her team, once she truly feels she can be accepted and trust them. Her personal issues with being half-elf and loosing her sister, and her abandonment by her mother may be harder to solve and will depend on where the story goes.

I hope you've enjoyed learning a little more in detail about Lex, quiet and calculating, but with a tender heart underneath it all.

Dash of the Missive: Part One

This week brought the team to the town of Otminster for the Dash of the Missive, a cross city race attracting runners from all over the land.

On the way into town, Jamlamin introduced a moral question to Corax, "If a hunter draws his bow and another steps into his path, is he a murderer?"

The team had differing opinions on the issue, which Jamlamin used to as a metaphor for his chaos magic. Corax was still convinced both men should be at fault, the hunter for not paying better attention and the man for not looking where he was going. Crag brought up that the man may have come from behind a tree, and they all stewed on that for a while.

When they reached Otminster, Quickroot chose to remain outside the town, preferring to spend time alone. "My mind is like my swamp, full of ruins, this town reminds me much of.. another," he said. The team agreed to participate in the race without him while he staid with the horses.

Corax entered the town with much fan fair. He signed up for the race declaring, "Corax, the hero of Blood Spot is here to register!"

The mayor, Sir Reginald, came to great the group and explain the race.

The Dash of the Missive goes across 5 routes: The rooftops of the wealth part of town, the streets of the magic district, Main Street, the poor district alleys, and the rooftops of the poor area. Each racer is given a message to deliver to the top of the tower at the end of the race. The race ends when the first racer finishes.

Our team was competing against a gnome, Gunzunda, who sets traps, a charming street performer, and elf, a guard, and a half-orc.

We began the race with Eglan and Lex facing Orc on Main Street, Jamlamin facing the Elf on the poor rooftops, Crag facing the Street Performer on the rich rooftops, Corax facing the Gnome on the poor streets, and the rich streets unchallenged by the guard.

Eglan maneuvered his way through the crowds at the beginning with ease using his acrobatics and charisma. He was caught in a cluster and couldn't squeeze through the thick rush of people, or push them apart, so he instead decided to jump over them. He made the rest of his way through by using his position as a religious figure to earn enough respect for people to move out of his way. He then reached the second area, the bridge, which was blocked by merchant carts. He did a hand spring over one, used his nature skills to spook the horses of another, but failed to charm the next merchant, and so decided to run along the banisters on the side of the bridge instead.

Corax was quickly confronted by 4 thugs. He used his magic to appear as Death to scare them, which put them off guard. He then used his street smarts to weave around them, trying to shame them for their bad behavior, causing one to run away as he escaped. Corax then reached the second stage, a river of filthy, polluted water, which proved to be a struggle as he took mouthfuls of the gross water. He tried to teleport, but failed, causing him to take on water and loose a turn.

Jamlamin jumped onto the roofs only to be attacked by pigeons. He decided to switch to the poor streets, where he ran into the thugs. He tried to intimidate them by acting crazy, but, they were not afraid and decided to try to rob him. He switched tactics and decided to pretend to be poor and gain their trust, he pushed it too far, however, by trying to turn them on the Elf instead and they attacked. He used thunder leap to escape and switched to Main Street bridge. He then used a combination of diplomacy and intimidation to make his way across the bridge. He made it to the Market Place by convincing the merchants he was an inspector.

Lex struggled to control the crowns on Main Street. She was held up for a long time trying to be heard over the crowds. She finally decided to switch to the wealthy streets around the magic district and used her teleportation ability with Dimension Door, giving her self an extra leap around the angry merchant blocking her path. The streets were filled with magical smoke, so she took ingredients from surrounding shops to fashion a gas mask to endure. She then reached the second stage of the race, the barges. She lied her way onto a boat by telling the man rowing it that she was guaranteed to win if he placed a bet on her. When he decided he couldn't take her any further, she summoned an image of Hongya from the sea to scare him out of the boat. She then began to struggle again failing to leap onto another boat and to intimidate a boatman.

Crag had an easy time of the hot roof on top of the rich houses until reaching then end, when the heat began to slow him. He eventually made his way across to the rigging over the water. He eventually became tired and decided to switch to the barges on the rich street route. He couldn't scare the initial boater, so he used an action point to jump on the boat anyway, and then began to intimidate his way across the barges.

This is where we left off, about half-way through the races.

Play Notes:

This was an nearly entirely skill based night, which was very interesting and required a lot of thought to strategy. Changing paths could cost one a turn of moving, but could prove particularly clever if one knew they had the skills to get through a different path. The race ended with Jamlamin on the lead, but, it's hard to say who the winner will be!

The Grove: Part Two

This past session began with the battle against Hongya and the porcupine worms.

The worms proved to be the most difficult part of the battle due to their throwing quills. I believe Lex was the only character not hit by a quill by the time the battle was over, and that was largely because she fought from the parameter to move the enemies around. The team took a real beating with many coming down to saving throws and 5 or less health.

Lex used magical intuition to determine killing Hongya would eliminate the worms, so the team focused efforts on removing her. Her special ability was to remove a character from the game for a turn, which she used on Eglan.

It came down to the wire, and it was ultimately Corax who dealt the killing blow to Hongya, who throughout the battled repeated, "Please, kill me," and, as a servant to the Raven Queen, Corax was prepared to comply out of mercy and reverence for death. He formed a second scythe made of souls and cut her in half, freeing her soul as she whispered, "Thank you."

"Another for the Raven Queen, she has been blessed with a soul, rest in peace, Hongya," said Corax.

Eglan was moved to grief and tears, having known Hongya and recommended her for the job of guarding the grove. The worm monsters had become regular porcupines again, and Eglan threw a spear into one of them as they ran. Quickroot shoved him aside angrily to kneel before the porcupine body.

The team discovered a crown of leaves which adds a +2 insight to Nature, one Endless Provisions, and One Endless Canteen. 2100 Experience was earned, leading to a level up which will be added to everyone next game.

Crag sensed that the god Khyrad was responsible for the events in the grove, but he also detected an unidentifiable second signature. Corax offered compliments and advice on the battle techniques of Lex and Jamlamin as the newest members of the team, and the least experienced in battle (resulting in a future use of a +2 to any roll for both).

Quickroot cried over the death of the porcupine, and buried something in the ground before leaving. Corax asked what it was, and Quickroot revealed it was a fungal pod from his homelands. Corax offered to help him plant more along the journey, and Quickroot's spirits lifted somewhat.

Lex approached Jamlamin privately to suggest they train together, as the two exclusive magic practitioners with opposite powers (Control and Chaos). Jamlamin agreed (future quests will involve training for Lex and Jamlamin to improve combos and tactics using their opposite and complimentary abilities).

Upon return to the Selderine the team was rewarded 1000 gold coins. A message had arrived from Blood Spot. It was from Alexander Grey, informing the team that our actions in Blood Spot freed the city, and things had been going fairly well in our absence. The team had become famous in the area, and Grey suggested we attend the annual Dash of the Missive race in Otminster, which could lead to a carrier job from one of the local lords.

Play Notes: In general, the team is working well together, but we are going to try to coordinate complimentary moves and abilities with this new upgrade. I'm starting to think of more flavor to add to moves and Lex's personality is becoming more clear, I believe, as she starts to reveal herself as more than just a no-nonsense, calculating woman on a revenge quest. She's beginning to commit more to the team, and may even be growing to like them as people. We shall see what the team decides to do about this race, as Lex will be seeing it as an opportunity to look for information about Lord Aminafus, the man who has her sister, Mei.

The Grove, Part One

After dispatching the rabbit blobs and mutated wolves, the team began to suspect something was very much wrong.

Quickroot began to examine the bodies as Crag burned them. Corax was anxious to continue into the grove, while Lex was feeling very unsure of herself, having never been so injured in battle till this point. They speculated about the nature of the mutated creatures and the fate of the Druid who was supposed to be protecting the grove.

Corax turned his attention to Jamlamin, who during the battle with the animals had become out of control and injured Crag with a Chaos Bolt. Corax wanted Jamlamin to leave the group because he saw him as a danger, and unable to control his chaos magic. Crag attempted to calm Corax by reminding him the damage wasn't severe. Lex, feeling an affinity with the mage as a fellow practicer of magic, offered to attempt to control him using her manipulation based magic. Jamlamin explained that he used to study controlled magic, but found chaos magic to be more powerful, and that he would strive harder to control it. Corax was convinced, and they continued onward.

As they traveled onward, suddenly the huge stars floating the trees above took root in their souls. Lex, Corax, and Quickroot became filled with a powerful hunger (10 ongoing psychic damage). Eglan and Jamlamin began to be driven mad with whispered secrets they couldn't quite comprehend (whenever player rolls initiative they are dominated). Crag faded until he became a being made of light (when rolls initiative, insubstantial and weakened, save ends all).

Beetles the size of small dogs scurried about the fauna. Eyeballs gazed at us from plants. Lizard tails shot from the ground like blades of grass. There was a bucket of liquid light on the ground and trees of pomegranate-like fruit, with snails climbing upon them.

Quickroot became overcome with hunger and ate dirt. Corax grabbed a nearby snail and ate it. Jamlamin was suddenly overtaken with madness and threw a bolt at Corax, who dodged it just in time by throwing a beetle at him.  Crag, who was still composed of light, could hear the snails whispering to him, but couldn't understand them no matter how close he got. He put one hand into the bucket of liquid light, but nothing happened. He poured it out onto the lizard grass, but, again, no effect. Lex could not wait any longer and eats one of the pomegranate-like fruits. When she did, she gained the insight that the garden they've wandered into used to be that of the druid. She also understood that the eyeballs she and the others who hunger are so repulsed by was the key to curing their hunger. Her hunger lessened slightly.

Eglan was overtaken with madness and took a swing at Lex, but missed when Crag switched places with her using his teleport technique. One of the stars descended closer to the trees. Corax decided to eat an eyeball and felt his hunger lessen, so Eglan and Crag also ate an eyeball. They began to realize a combination of these plants and creatures might cure their afflictions. Crag placed an eyeball in the bucket along with a snail, but, nothing happened.

The star was now 10 feet away, expanding and contracting. Corax used his magic to trade afflictions with Crag, so he was now made of light. As the star got closer, Corax was filled with malevolence. Eglan meditated to determine that the star was under the power of Khirad. She fed another eyeball to Corax, but, it did not cure him. Quickroot took a fruit, some lizard tail grass, and an eyeball, and ate all three. He was cured of his hunger completely, so the rest began eating combinations (or being fed in the case of Eglan and Jamlamin, who were stricken with memory loss by the stars) until they are all cured.

Corax attacked the descended star and it exploded, injuring the party in the blast. The rest of the stars began to come closer, so they moved onward to the center, where they found more stars surrounding a horrible bear covered in tentacles with light emitting eyeballs down its back.

"End my suffering!" it cried, and they realized the bear was Hongya, the druid.
"She is mine!" hissed an unknown voice.

Worm-like creatures covered in porcupine quills (shot by quill caused 5 ongoing damaged and player was slowed) attacked from amid aberrant mist (when in the mist, players took 10 ongoing psychic damage, got a +1 to attack and +5 to damage rolls).

Play notes:

This was an interesting night because it was the first time we actually stopped in the middle of a battle because we spent so much time trying to figure out the initiative based challenges in the garden. We did a lot of experimenting with the plants and bugs, but ultimately were assisted by the DM via Quickroot just due to time. That being said it was an interesting challenge and I'd be up for more puzzles in the future.

Unfortunately it wasn't a good night of combat for me, I didn't make very good use of my attacks (for example, I forgot Corax cannot take cold damage, so I could have used an ability to slide him out of the mist, but moved the enemy instead). My head wasn't in the game as much as it should have been, but, it was a learning experience.

I look forward to finding out what happened to Hongya in our next session!