Legacies of Exera: Session 20

 

After licking their minor wounds, the party trudges on through the maze of tunnels running afoul of various traps that ended up spilling into a large cavern and the party pauses trying to figure out how to move forward while avoiding more traps. Gareth ends up sending his conjured pets forward the apparently trigger the remaining traps. In one of the trapped areas, the platinum is found along with a strange holy symbol that depicts a broken arrow. After further careful exploration the party discovers a ledge at the end of the large cavern that drops down into an even larger cavern that extends in multiple directions into the darkness. 

As the party repels down into the area and start to discuss how they are going to carefully find a way out of this area, a large purple dragon comes stalking out of the darkness which triggers some choice words from Harl, Gareth, and A’anri. Taking the initiative, Helestina uses her magic to increase the size of both Claren and Enama as they charge to meet the dragon head on to keep it form advancing any further. Between dealing with the large characters the dragon is able to duck behind an alcove using its breath weapon before it ducks back around the corner which greatly reduced the efficiently of the other characters ranged tactics. Soon enough, the dragon realizes it is going to lose this battle and transforms into what appears to be a Drow to try to escape down one of the far tunnels but Gareth does not miss a beat and teleports both Claren and Harl into the tunnel right behind the escaping Drow where the Drow was cut down.

As the party regroups and shakes off the surprise of fighting either a dragon the shapeshifter into a Drow or a Drow that shapeshifted into a dragon. Though, as the corpse of the Drow did not return to dragon form, it was decided the latter was the case. The party did not have much more time to discuss the philosophy of the situation as three dwarves appeared on the ledge of an outcropping in Snow Flurry uniforms demanding that the part needs to return to the city as the Snow Flurries are taking over the mission. After some back and forth, Gareth gets a deep sense of darkness emanating from the supposed Snow Flurries moments before negotiations break down and the dwarves fire arrows at the party. Gareth is able to quickly teleport the three imposters high into the air and each imposter met their end with a sickening splat on the cavern ground, afterwards they reverted to larger squashed spiders.

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PLAYER NOTES: The Rogue player dropped out and I have to say, dealing with traps and other situations where a Rogue would be helpful made this session interesting. Despite our best efforts, a series of traps were triggered and conjured pets had to be sacrificed for the greater good. Then after we think we have a moment of reprieve, a dragon rises out of the darkness to try to eat everyone - even though at the time we did not know it wasn’t a real dragon per say, we still all had some choice Geralt quotes around the table. Then there was the imposter Snow Flurries situation. At first I was excited as it was pretty convincing that the King or the officers of the mine decided to send reinforcements. The roleplaying back and forth was nice but then Gareth sensed darkness in them and all bets were off. I have not puzzled out yet of the duergar and the Drow are working together, if something else is going on, or if it is some underdark shenanigans. We will see - there are some clues but I think the answer is tired into the history of the fallen dwarvem kingdom that Sirabolter was built on top off. 

Legacies of Exera: Session 19

 

The surprised members of Firetop Crusaders quickly responded as one would when coming face to face with a mummy literally out of thin air - with extreme violence! The party is able to destroy the mummy in a small amount of time. Afterwards Gareth explains that in the other room there are more mummies and the chest that was originally noticed by Helestina. Gareth explains a plan where he will teleport the mummies back into this room one by one to make sure things do not get out of hand. The party agrees and each of the mummies were destroyed in the same way the first was and Gareth is able to recover the treasure in the chest without further incident. 

The party continues to explore in a southward direction and during the exploration Enama finds an ornate flute laying on an empty burial ledge. When Enama picks up the flute her mind is flooded with random images, intense sound, and she suffers intense pain dropping the flute. Gareth walks over to where Enama is hollering her paw and staring intently at the dropped flute. Gareth is able to pick up the flute without issue and places it in his bag. Not long after this the party discovers another room filled with sarcophagi and it is agreed that there is probably mummies abound as Gareth suggests doing the teleporting plan again. Everyone agrees and it does not take long for the party to end the unlike of a handful of mummies. 

The party then finds a small defensible place to take a rest and go through some of the items they have come across. Harl decides to put on a pair of ordinary looking gloves but quickly realizes his mistake as the gloves refuse to come off when Harl and other members of the party try to remove them. When the effort of trying to remove them was given up, Harl picks up a rock and realizes the gloves disintegrate the rock and assumes the gives have some type of ability to decay inanimate objects. 

The exploration of the maze of tunnels continues until the party finds themselves in what appears to be make shift living quarters with random supplies, empty bedrolls, furniture, crates, food, and dirty clothes strewn about. It is not long before the party blunders into a dining area where a group of duergar are eating lunch and quickly sound the alarm at this unexpected intrusion. Chaos instantly erupts and weapons are reached for, more duergar burst through closed doors, and mass combat ensues. Through the chaos of steel, blood, and glory the party prevails and stand victorious over their fallen foes. 

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PLAYER NOTES: The teleportation trick with the mummies was hilarious and somehow no one ended up diseased. I do not know how we got that lucky, but I will take it. If I am being honest, as a player I was bummed about downing the cursed gloves because my character Harl should have known better or at least have been more cautious. Though, we all got a good laugh at the jokes about there goes Harl’s ability to self gratify and some other funny comments were made. The maze of the mines continue to be confusing but fun. Makes me want to enlist a map maker like the old days. I would do it but I am usually busy taking notes for these play reports but sailor V!

Legacies of Exera: Session 18

 

The party returns to Sirabolter beaten, bruised, and treasure heavy. After spending a few days to recover and taking care of some shopping, the party decides to honor their agreement to investigate the mines. The mines quickly fork into two paths and the party makes a decision to take the second path. As the party goes deeper, they find themselves surrounded by thick spider webs and Helestina uses some fire to burn them away. It was not long after this that Harl discovered an oddly smooth wall compared to the rest of the  rough hewn tunnels. Gareth uses some of this psychic abilities to remove the smooth stone wall which turns out to be a hidden door.

The party quickly finds themselves face to face with two constructs where their hands end in a drill and a hammer. The party turns the constructs to rubble before they even get a chance to attack. 

The party presses on and comes across a room with duergar guards and a large duergar statue carved in robes holding a broken arrow. The ensuing battle is quick and decisive in the parties favor before finds an another hidden door which opens up into a circular room. The circular room boasts a beautiful alabaster statue of a crowned dwarf and an old chest. As Enama explores the room she triggers a mechanism which causes two stone plates to spring together separating the room into two sections as well as opening another door. Enama is able to flip out of the way but Gareth gets caught between the slabs moments after he teleports into the new revealed room. Gareth’s excitement about the trap escape is short lived as he finds himself separated from the rest of the party and facing three statues of what appears to be dwarf kings standing guard over three sarcophagi. Gareth makes a decision to open one which triggers the other lids to open as up rises a mummy from each of them. In a moment of quick thinking or panic, Gareth grabs a hold of the mummy right in front of him and teleports both himself and the mummy to other side side of the newly formed wall where the the rest of his companions were trying to figure out how to help Gareth…

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PLAYER NOTES: There was a lot of suspense exploring the mines and the mines were set up like a maze as we all backtracked a few times, got turned out, and even ended up in some of the same areas before making progress. Secret doors are always fun and the presence of duergar and interesting technology/constructs had the players spewing all kinds of different theories. The room was the trap where it separated Gareth was a funny gasp moment for everyone else, especially when the mummies work up and he ended up teleporting the mummy with him into the middle of the rest of the characters. This session ended on that note. 

Legacies of Exera: Session 17

 

After wiping off the troll blood from the parties faces, the party once against continues up the mountain. after sometime Clarence notices large nests on the rocky outcroppings of the mountains up above the party. Claren whispers the party about moving carefully and how everyone should make as little noise as possible. Despite the best efforts, enough noise is made that alerts the winged humanoid creatures that were not noticed previously. A group of nesting harpies fly down to greet the party but the harpies quickly finds themselves outmatches and eventually all of the harpies fall to the blades and magics of the Firetop Crusaders. 

Dusting themselves off, the party continues their journey up the mountain and the trail quickly becomes steeper and steeper. As the party struggles with the incline. Shadowgrumble grumbles and informs A’anri about dragon ants just in time to warn the party before reaching the top of the mountain where a large cave is located. As the party sets foot into the clearing before the cave, they are met with a horde of these dragons ants spewing acid and trying to make the party their lunch. Gareth yells to the party to stay back as Gareth charges into the mass of the Dragon ants, takes some acid to the face, and creates a killing field of psychic energy that decimates the fire ants colony. The rest of the party is quickly jumps to the aid of Gareth to make sure Gareth does not become lunch for the remaining dragon ants. The party enjoys a moments of calm as the last dragon ants falls and a discussion is held to how they are going to deal with the cave and more importantly, what is probably lurking in the cave.

Vladimir sneaks into the cave and notices three cave bears and a sleeping giant moments before the cave bears notice Vladimir and the cave bears roars wake the sleeping giant who bellows in frustration and rage. The rest of the party hears the growls and the giant and instantly rush into the cave mouth to come to the aid of Vladimir who finds himself cornered by the save bears moments before the giant launches Vladimir across the cave with one mighty blow. As the party deals with the charging cave bears the giant starts hurling boulders at them which quickly makes the party realize everyone needs to spread out as the party continues to focus on down the cave bears first. 

During the melee, the giant causes a massive rockslide that buries Vladimir and A’anri which in turn takes them out of the fight. Harl realizes that the giant is smarter the average giant as the giant continues to duck behind some stone outcropping to use as cover after throwing stones at the party and calls out we need to get closer to get rid of giant’s advantage. Gareth takes the initiative and employs dimension swap to remove the stone the giant was hiding behind as the giant takes out Gareth with a blow from the giant’s club. Before the giant can lift this giant’s club for another attack Enama charges the gaint as Helestina casts a spell that increases Enama’s size moments before her fists smash into the giants face.

The giant reacts with exploding gemstones that only leave Helestina and Harl standing in the dust. Helestina finds some cover as Harl draws the giant’s attention so Helestina can safely put the giant to sleep. As the giant falls to the floor, Harl delivers the final blow with a point blank eldritch blast ending the giants existence.

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PLAYER NOTES: Oh wow, this session was filled with back to back major encounters definitely designed to reduce everyone’s resources before the big battle at the end. We defiantly got lucky with harpies as everyone made their saves against the harpies songs and the death field destroyed the horde of dragons ants that saved everyone some serious attrition. The Dice Gods were not Vladimir’s friend as the stealth roll was completed fumbled which caused a rush to action before a plan could be created or even the thought of an attempt to parley with the giant. The DM used some good tactics with the giant they kept us at bay and the giant was able to use his own attacks as well as lair triggers to pick us apart. There were also some critical hits that made the situation worse and I was almost sure there was going to be a total party kill. When all of the dust settled, it was me and Helestina were left but we were hanging on by a thread and ended up with some lucky rolls of our own. After the giant was downed, time was spent reviving the other party members and searching the rest of the cave until the treasure was found. 

Legacies of Exera: Session 16

 

As the party recovers after a long rest on the mountain the party decides to head back up the mountain and it does not take long for the party to encounter a band of Yeti people that was led by the Chief. The party members were able to seize the initiative and slay the chieftain of the Yeti people. After the chieftain fell, the rest of the chieftains war band retreated and the party decided to let them go without further incident. 

The party eventually came across a section of the winding path that is overgrown with plans and vines. Harl stops the party to assess the situation and throws a stone into the overgrowth which does not elicit a reaction. Gareth then sends one of the his conjured pets to investigate the overgrowth area and as soon as the pet boar entered the area the plants and vines came alive and started to attack the boar. The party quickly responds and decides the best course of action is to clear out the plants for safety which they do without much trouble. 

Once the plants were cleared, the up the mountain continues but as the party rounds the bend, they discover a pair of basilisk’s fighting over a carcass and with the last encounter with one of these beasts (including the horrified look of the statues) fresh in everyone’s mind the party proceeds with caution but acts quickly. Gareth quickly sets up a teleportation trap as the rest of the party closes their eyes to engage with the mystical beasts. The basilisks charge but before the creatures are able to make contact with anyone the basilisks are teleported right off the mountain and drop to their dooms. 

Before the party is able to round the next section of the winding mountain path, Helestina notices a huge hulking shadow and calls a warning to the rest of the party which respond quickly to getting off quick attacks before the creature shows itself in a fit of rage. Gareth recognizes the creature instantly and calls out troll! The party focuses their efforts as Helestina slows the creatures natural abilities with fire before the party is able to slay the creature permanently. 

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PLAYER NOTES: This session was a lot of back to back encounters and we got lucky with both the basilisks and the troll. The basilisks because of Gareth’s shenanigans and then the Troll as Gareth’s player succeeded on the roll to know what the creature was. This defiantly helped everyone deal with the regeneration aspect of the troll instead of us figuring out what was going on after awhile. 

Legacies of Exera: Session 14

 

The begins their morning trekking up the Giant Mountain and as the morning wears on, Harl and Enama notice some movement by a large rock and Enama, Harl, and Vladimir split off into the bush to try to flank the possibly enemies. Enama, Harl, and Vladimir discovers a hill giant posed to ambush the rest of party walking up the main trail. Vladimir is able to sneak up on the hill giant and land an opening blow as the rest of the party engages the hill giant and the giant can barely respond to the onslaught before the giant finds the sweet embrace of death. 

The party cleans their blades and continue up the mountain before they find a clearing off of the main trail to make camp at the end of the day. During the early evening, the party notices some chittering and Anari looks up into the sky and notices what appears to be an oddly shaped humanoid with wings closing in at the parties location. The party readies for the attack as they scan the night sky. 

Helenista announces to everyone that she sees four the creatures heading their way moments before they bat creatures land amidst the camp. The sounds of battle echo through the night sky as the party makes quick work of the bat creatures and the rest of the passes without incident. 

The next morning the party continues up the trail that gradually becomes narrower as the party encounters a group of Alpine Cavemen blocking the path. As Harl is trying to parley with the Alpine Cavemen, Vladimir issues a challenge to fight that turns the situation into aggressive negotiations. Harl sighs and mumbles, "Here we go again" as the sound of steel breaking leather rings off of the mountain side before the party ends the lives of the cavemen. 

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PLAYER NOTES: I do not have much to say here. It was a quick and to the point session. My character Harl was trying hard to parley with the Alpine Cavemen and was hoping to even to see if they would be willing to help. That idea was ended quickly and I was more then a little frustrated.

Legacies of Exera: Session 13

 

Sirabolter is a massive Dwarven city built into the side of a mountain that houses about 500,000 residents. 

Harl and Vladimir arrive in the city of Sirabolter on a cart that they were able to hitch a ride to Sirabolter because Gareth was contacted Harl telepathically and after the shock wore off a quick conversation was had and Gareth shared where the rest of the party was headed and the general plan.

Regardless, Harl and Vladimir spend some time wandering the city absolutely lost to find the rest of their party until Gareth reached out again Telepathically to give Harl directions and the party is eventually reunited. Gareth shares various rumors and lore about the city of Sirabolter. The most interesting information that was shared was how there are rumors of a Drow incursion in the lower mines. After the conversation, the party decided to enjoy some rest and all members go their own ways for awhile. 

After food, baths, and worship the party find themselves at the edge of a fighting ring from the encouragement of Enama. Enama ends up entering the ring facing off against an obscenely muscled dwarf. The match was a blur of action as both combatants ended up covered in sand and blood. The rest of the party held their breath as it looked like Enama was going to be beaten but Enama finds an opening and is able to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat. 

After Enama gets cleaned up, the party decides to head to the Battle Cavern to find out more about the incursion in the mines. As they enter the the Battle Cavern, they are stopped by some guards as Harl Hands over the job posting. The guards quickly notice Anari and share some harsh words and some harsher questioning due to Anari's heritage. As Harl eases the guards minds about Anari and the guards lead them to the foreman of the mines. The foreman explained how they used to be a civilization of dwarves below known as the Alabaster Dwarves and how the kept the forces of the underdark at bay. The Battle Cavern of Unquenched Valor is a monument to the Alabaster Dwarves costly victory. The foreman continues to explain that the incursions started about  year ago and the guards were able to find the tunnels the Drow were using as access and those tunnels have been collapsed but they must have found a different way in and even with the guards patrolling parts of the mine, the breaches have not been found. 

With all of this new information, the party decides to explore the mine in the morning and everyone takes advantage of one of the famous bath houses known as the Bubbling Cauldron. Harl, with his best Flynn Rider smile is able to sweet talk the dwarf running the front desk (who happened to the owner) to run Harl's bath and give Harl a massage herself. Prince Claren mumbled that they can't take Harl anywhere as the odd couple vanish into the bathhouse. Gareth and Prince Claren opt for the public pools as and swap war stores with other patrons of the bath house. There is an older dwarf couple that appears to recognize Claren as a Prince and their low conversation becomes excited. 

In the aftermath of the adventures at the Bubbling Cauldron, the party find themselves at a busy tarven enjoying some drink and food. After Vladimir has to much to drink, Vladimir decides to pick a fight with a grumpy looking dwarf by making fun of the dwarf's beard. This quickly escalates into an all out brawl. The dwarf quickly establishing dominance and the brawl becomes one sided in the favor of the dwarf. In a panic, Vladimir draws a dagger and in response one of the dwarves friends throws the dwarf an axe. In the bloodshed, Vladimir is brought to his knees and before the final blow could land, Prince Claren steps between them moments before the Snow Flurries (The city guards) show up to break up a fight and try to figure out what happened. Gareth quickly offers to buy everyone a drink at the tavern as the dwarf exclaims to the law that there is no need for their interference - it has been settled. The Snow Flurries gives the party the riot act about starting trouble and next time there will not be a choice about the law getting involved. Gareth and Harl give Vladimir a stern talking to about the etiquette of a bar fight and how drawing a weapon should never be an option - it is called murder. 

The party regroups at the inn and they discuss what their next course of action will be. They decide that they need money to finance the supplies they will need to take a deep dive into the mines. The party decided to follow the lead about the treasure that is supposedly hidden in Giant Mountain. The party decided to take the safer path back through the town of Arduin to resupply heading up the mountain. 

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PLAYER NOTES: This was a great session full of some superb role play. It was great to see all of the characters explore the city and indulge in their own likes and to see what characters preferred downtime actions are. The DM did some great lore drop about the city and there was even some conversion about settling down in the city after the Prince is delivered. I was shocked about the decisions made by Vladimir's character regardless of the bar fight and my characters sense of justice was going to let the whole situation play out.

Legacies of Exera: Sessions 11 & 12

 

 Session 11

The party awakens in the inn in Arduine only to discover that Sir Harl and Stephonocles have left.  Harl saw the apparition of his fiancee again and chased it, leaving a note for the party saying he would return as soon as possible and if Harl and Stephoncles misses them, they will catch up in Sirabutler. Stephonocles followed Harl.  

The party began investigating the town to locate the werewolves.  The party discovered that one of the werewolves was the shop keep at the general store.  There was one more, who they discovered lives in a cave outside of town.  They battled them both as the shop keep called its alpha when he was attacked.  They learned that there had previously been a third but it died earlier.  The party then continued their journey, encountering a hill giant in one encounter and three ogres in another.  They came to a crossroad where the road continued on to the Dwarven city of Sirabulter and a path went left up Giant Mountain. They decided to take the road to Sirabulter to get some rest and restock on supplies before continuing to Giant Mountain.

Session 12

Before arriving at Sirabulter, Vladimir departed from the party to go find Harl and Stephonocles to let them know they had gone to Sirabulter.  The party then arrived at the mountain pass into Sirabulter.  After paying the entry fee of 1 copper piece each, they entered Sirabulter through Sharindlar's Acres, Sirabulter's northern agricultural district.  Here they purchased a wagon from human Hans Arstel at Arrowstar Wainwright.  Afterwards they purchased four draft horses (two brown, one black, and one white with black spots) from dwarf Magtharn Hammerfall at Hammerfall Stables.  They then traveled to Bubbling Cauldron in the Gloryview district of Sirabulter and got baths, laundered their clothes, and got massages.  They learned from some Dwarves in the bath that there was some kind of threat from the "Roots of the Mountain" in the Grand Mines of Sirabulter (located in the the Cloudy Peaks district).  They learned Underdark spiders, Duergar, and even Drow had been spotted in the mines near ancient tunnels that had previously led to a now abandoned ancient Dwarven city in the roots of the mountain.  The party then purchased rooms and meals at Ye Olde Ponies Inn in the Gloryview neighborhood.  They then sold weapons they had looted at the Fabulous Blade and sold looted armor at The Wandering Mountain, both shops in the Bonderbreaks.  They also sold gems and art at the Lonely Pantheon in the Gloryview district.  

 

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PLAYER NOTES: Due to series of unfortunate events I was not able to be present for Sessions 11 & 12, I received the summary reports from the Dungeon Master. 

Garvangr (Harl's Spear) - Gained +1 enhancement bonus

Goujian (Prince Claren's Sword) - +1 enhancement bonus.

Bag of Three (Gareth's Belt) - Bag of Holding Qualities 

Shadowgrumble (A'nari's Crossbow) - Enhanced Critical Hit: On a critical, this eapon deals an additional 2d6 piercing damage.  

Pia's Belt (Enama's Belt) - +1 to saving throws & DC's to Ki abilities. In addition, a bonus action can be utilized to regain Ki points equal to the roll of the Martial Arts die, this feature cannot be used again until the next dawn. 

Feyshadow Boots (Helenista's Boots) - The footsteps of the wearer make no sound and the wearer gains advantage on Stealth Checks that rely on moving silently.

Legacies of Exera: Session 10

 

After a half a day spent creating a campsite, building a smoker, and a successful hunt the party settles in to ease their aching bones, nurse their injuries, and actually enjoy some fresh meat that did not feel like chewing leather. Once again, watch rotation was established and it seemed like the night was going to pass without incident until Anari's watch. About halfway through the watch, Anari notices what appears to be some glowing red eyes that blink in and out of apparent existence. With a squint Anari realizes that the eyes are attached to a shadowy body that the darkness of it stands out against the black if the night. The next the eyes vanish a few more pairs appear in its place before one of these shadowy creatures appear right next to Anari! With a yelp and almost tripping into the fire to create space from the creature Stephonocles is woken from the sleep as makes haste in rousing the rest of the party as everyone starts to stumble out of bedrolls and tents in all manners of undress. 

The shadow creatures attack and the party responds in turn but it does not take long for the party to realize that the creatures vanish and reappear to avoid ranged attacks. This new found realization causes the parties strategy to change and the battle ranges on until dawn, the sun seemingly causing the remaining shadow creatures to vanish. 

An exhausted party consults of the maps in the first rays of sunlight and decides to travel as fast as possible on the main to road to a farming village called Arduin. The party reaches the village as evening falls and they are met with suspicious looks as people of the village quickly enter their homes and the distinct sound of bolts being thrown to lock doors and windows almost echo throughout the streets. The party quickly decides to head to the general store but find in closed and Helenista points out appearent claw marks on some of the doors and the sides of some of the buildings as everyone starts to head to the Inn. 

Stephonocles knocks loudly on the door and is met with a loud voice explaining about how there are monsters that come out of night that take people away and devour them. The voice on the other side of the door gets into an argument with Stephonocles about being an Orc and how do they know that this is not a trick to let the monsters inside for a midnight snack. The argument becomes more heated as the voice yells that the monsters are probably werewolves and can look like anyone, even orcs. Prince Claren finally has enough of this nonsense and in a powerful commanding voice declares himself as prince that included Claren's long list of titles and a sampling of the history of Claren's bloodline. 

After a long pause, the party hears the sounds of multiple locks being unlocked and the dooris finally cracked open revealing a short portly fellow with a ridiculous and unkempt mustache. This portly fellow quickly ushers the party inside and spends time locking every bolt before turning to face the and apologizing profusely as the Arduin would never ignore royal orders or hinder the duties of the Prince of Rylos. During the subsequent discussion, the party learns that the attacks started four or five months ago and at first it was just livestock vanishing but then then people started to notices scratches on doors, carts, buildings, etc. Then about two months ago, people started to vanish.

The party is offered free room and board as well as baths and to laundry their clothes. The party smiles and makes some jokes as this has been their best treatment since leaving Rylos. 

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PLAYER NOTES: Alright, this session was brutal. The combat with the shadow creatures took almost three hours! Between their abilities and the ire of the dice Gods, it was atrocious. Though after that, it was a huge relief to reach the village and the argument and role play between Stephonocles and the Inn Kepper was top notch. It was also really cool to see the prince announce his royal status and use it as leverage. This is the first time it happened in game and I think it saved the day. Without it, I do not think we would have been welcomed in the village until dawn and it would be a rougher welcome. The villagers paranoia and fear is sky high and the sense of dread in the village was felt. Good job on the Dungeons Master's part for sure.

Legacies of Exera: Session 9

After a few days of travel in the early morning some of the party members discovered large boar tracks and the hope for bacon had most of the party crashes through the woods tracking the creature. Harl and Gareth stayed on the road for lookout in uneasy silence. 

It was not long before yells and the sound of battle alerted Gareth and Harl and instances they rushed to the sounds drawing their respected weapons as they ran. It does not take Gareth and Harl long to find their comrades but the scene before them caused a pause. Their fellows were fighting a grotesque hybrid of man and pig! The battle was fault cautiously as all were trying to avoid the tusks but it was Enama or leaped from the trunk of a close by tree and connected with a flying kick ended the creatures life with a sickening crunch of the skull. 

A lively discussed was had over the dead body about the creature being a wereboar and the ethics of eating it as bacon was strong on some minds. In the end, it was put to a vote and the side stating that it was unethical to eat the wereboar due to it being to close to cannibalism won. 

In late afternoon the party came across a group of strange looking green creatures with four legs, a long body, and an oversized head. These odd creatures were feasting on the remains of bodies from a small caravan. Helenista noticed the part of the caravan looks like it was burnt and there was a large black smear in the middle of the road. Enama raises a hand up to lips and motions for the party to try to walk around and avoid detection. In a whisper, Enama explains that she has not seen these creatures since leaving the homeland but they have an unique ability to explode, which can cause a lot of destruction. The rest of the party nods but once again, Stephonocles lute gives the party away and the strange green creatures give chase. Enama yells, "Try to keep distance if you can, you don't want to be caught in the blast zone." 

The creatures closed in as everyone tries to keep them at bay with arrow, stone, and magic. It was a futile effort as some of the creatures survived the onslaught from afar and closed in. As Prince Claren slays the first creature up close and personal, Prince Claren notices that as the creatures perish, they let out a "poof" from the undersides of a strange black powder that creates a pile. Before Prince Claren can even think the next thought, one of the green creatures charges directly into the parties formations and explodes in a cloud of gore and fire. This explosion sends Prince Claren and Valdimir flying backwards to land unceremoniously on the ground some ways a way. This explosion creates a new desperation in the rest of the standing party members and the rest of the creatures are dispatched without further explosions. 

After helping Vladimir and Prince Claren to their feet Enama explains that the powder they leave behind is highly flammable and can be packed in small containers to create explosions. Enama, Gareth, and Vladimir take some time collecting the piles of black powder in pouches before everyone moves on. 

The party eventually finds a suitable place to camp as the last rays of sun vanish over the horizon. Anari sets up the fire as watch orders are discussed and every snacks on some rations. As the light of the fire dwindles, Harl screams out in pain as an new arrow is found to be sprouting from Harl's shoulder. Before Harl could stand up, a group of bug bears rush the party and Vladimir cries out, "AMBUSH!" 

During the ensuring bloodletting, Enema falls and as the last bugbear is sent to meet its maker, everyone is left with injuries. Harl quickly comes to the aid of Enama and announces that she still lives, but barely. Harl calls about his divinity to heal Enama and everyone else Harl can before Harl becomes exhausted with the efforts. Other wounds are tended to and it was quickly decided that the party needs to find a settlement to rest in and get some much needed sleep. 

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PLAYER NOTES: I will have to say that the in character discussion regarding the ethics of eating the wereboar was hilarious and highly entertaining. There was good arguments on both sides and the vote ended up being 3-5. The Creepers from Minecraft became an interesting and unexpected encounter which was refreshing as it took awhile for some of the players to realize what was going on in a meta-gaming type of way. Though, the Dungeon Master's son runs his own campaign set in a Minecraft adjacent world with all of the trappings. There was some good role play between the characters and the player playing Stephonocles sang us some road worthy ballets to easy dust covered feet and life the ye old spirits.

Legacies of Exera: Session 8

 

Harl awakes in a bed surrounded by his friends and feeling like he just came off a week long bender. The rest of the party immediately barrages Harl with questions about what happened and some of these questions are not exactly friendly. 

After some breakfast with a Mug of dark strong ale in Harl's hand, Harl recounts a part of his past that has not left his lips in years. 

Harl explains that when he was younger to make money for himself an his family, Harl worked as a Mercenary with a band called the Vikings. A member of the Vikings, Harl traveled on occasion to capture bounties.  While he was away on one such expedition, his fiancee, Galadriel, was accidentally killed during a robbery by a thug named Liam Ehman.  Upon returning and finding Galadriel had been murdered, Harl investigated her death and discovered the identity of her killer.  He then went to this low-life's home to seek vengeance.  However, Harl was surprised to find the home occupied not only by Liam, but his wife and young teenage son.  Given the surprise encounter, Harl killed them all.  When this was discovered, the Vikings banished him from the City of Hammarburg. Harl did not stop there and continued to explain that this senseless murderous act has left him haunted and how Harl wishes that things could have been different but Harl was overcome with grief and blinded by vengeance.

Harl's story left a lot of the party members speechless but Prince Claren left the room in disgust as Gareth states coldly, "you straight up murdered a women and a child...I don't know if I can trust you" as Gareth follows Prince Clarens lead. The rest of the party gets home to give Harl some peace but as Helestina gets to the door she says "There will be a discussion. Come downstairs in awhile. I do not know who is going to be understanding of your actions, regardless of the reasons." Harl eventually makes it down around noon to the table everyone else is sitting at and a frank discussion is held regarding Harl's past actions. It is made clear that there is some trust issues and Harl's past has created the biggest rifts between Gareth and Prince Claren. It is decided that Harl can remain with them on their mission, but it is now a more probationary type of situation. 

After an uneasy night, the party resumes their journey towards Sirabulter and what appeared to be a calm morning on the road did not end up calm at all. As the party traveled along with a jovial attitude that was broken with the obvious sounds on conflict and yelling in the distance. Before anyone could determine the direction a well dressed Orc and Leonin but haggard looking burst forth from the shrubbery and once the two interlopers see the others, they yell "Help Us! We are being chased by a band of orcs." No sooner did these words leave the newcomers mouths, multiple Orcs from a few different directions burst forth and with a war cry, charged everyone! Everyone in the party broke leather and confronted the band of orcs as now it was more of a matter of personal defense then coming to the aide of others. The battle is fierce and decisive in the favor of the party. As the party drags the orc bodies off of the road the new Leonin introduces himself as Vladimir and his orc companion as Stephonocles, the voice of the marsh. Stephonocles and Vladimir both explain how Stephonocles is a traveling bard and was hired to entertain one of the local settlements of Orcs but well, the Chief did not appreciate the satire in the Bard's choice of lyrics and both of them were chased out of the settlement; then hunted.

Stephonocles and Vladimir both continuously thank the rest of the party and offer to help them in any possible as they do not feel safe with an angry Orc chief that obviously cannot take a joke. After some delegation the party notices soft music playing and Stephonocles explains that it is his lute and it never stops playing. 

After a quick lunch on the side of the road, the party along with their new companions continue on down the dusty road. It is late afternoon as the party realizes the strange sound they have been hearing are wing beats and they make out the noise just in time to dive into cover.  Though, Stephonocles lute kept playing which alerted the Chimera who quickly changed directions and unleashed a gout of fire where the sound was coming from. The fire burnt away the parties concealment and singed some clothes. The Chimera landed in the middle of the party which caused everyone to scatter to avoid being squished. The party surrounded the Chimera and after a fierce but decisive battle, Prince Claren delivers the final blow as he removed the burden of two of the Chimera's heads from its body. 

The weary and bloody party traveled on looking for a safe place to camp for the night and get some well deserved rest. As night fell, the party set up camp under an out cropping of stone a good distance away from the main road. Everyone decided on watches and the party talked with their new found comrades.

As the party starts settling in for the night, they are approached by a group of cloaked ratlike figures that explain how they are wardens of the road and demand tribute. Gareth greats them warmly but with caution as Gareth motions to the everyone else to be on the lookout for trouble. Gareth explains that they do not have much coin to speak of but they are more then welcome to share the fire and some food. The ratlike beings did not take kindle to this offer and the demands became more insistent. Gareth along with Prince Claren and Stephonocles joined in adding that Stephonocles would happily sing them a tune as Stephonocles motioned to the lute by the fire and continues to play. This seemed to enrage the ratlike figures even more and they choose violence - attacking without warning. The sounds of the clang of steel and rat screams woke up the others and the party was able to put down the rats suffering only a few bites to the flesh.

These bites were washed thoroughly as the bodies of the ratlike beings were buried. The rest of the night seemed to pass without incident....

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PLAYER NOTES: I think I mentioned this previously, but I am really enjoying how the Dungeon Master is using things from the characters backgrounds and is creating trails for them like what Harl has experienced in the last couple sessions.  These trails are acting like a mini quest of sorts and are revealing about the characters past, mine was just up first. From what the Dungeon Master explained, that each character is going to have a couple trials along the way. I also really enjoyed how the some of the role play happened with the other characters (but especially Prince Claren and Gareth) in regards to my characters sordid past. It has been a long time since I have had any serious PC conflict and I was kind of worried that my character might have got voted of the island so to speak. I think it is going to be interesting how the trust issues are going to be played out and the shift of the new dynamics. 

Session Zero Character Profiles have been updated with the two new characters... 

The Items have power have been updated to reflect Stephonocles and Vladimir's items as well as everyone's 3rd level increases to their items...

Legacies of Exera: Session 7

 

We last left our heroes chasing ghosts knee deep in a rancid swamp after surviving an onslaught by lightning throwing glowing orbs. As the rest if the party catches up Harl explained to Gareths barrage of questions that basically equated to "What the hell is going on?" that the the lady is the ghost of Harl's murdered fiance and that Gladriel is in some type of trouble and how Harl will not fail to save her twice. Gareth in the conversation points out that the orbs were focused on attacking Harl and the rest of the party quickly comes with a plan to keep Harl surrounded to help migrate their focus on Harl. It was at this point that the screams of Gladriel echo though the swamp and the party takes off in the direction of the screams as their travels through the muck of the swamp seem to keep Gladriel right on the edge of their vision. 

As the party wades deeper into the swamp, Skeletons and strange pale gaunt figures rise up from the muck in what seems like an endless swarm. The parties plan not only works out to protect Harl but creates a distinct advantage as some of the skeletons and gaunt figures ignore the other party members to try to attack Harl. As the party destroys what appears to be the last wave of undead, the pause to catch their breath and Gladriel appears out in the distance and calls out for help. Harl responds by yelling to her to come closer so they can protect Gladriel. As Gladriel starts towards Harl, the two ethereal figures rise form the ground, grab Gladriel, and run off with Gladriel once again. 

The party takes chase after Gladriel and her captures through the muck with Harl leading the charge. Everyone draws in an halt when the break through some bush to discover a falling apart house in the middle of the swamp that Harl secretly recognizes as the house of the people he murdered all those years ago. 

As the pause continues, the ghost of Gladriel appears at the front door once again pleading for help before being violently pulled inside by unseen hands. Without a second thought, Harl takes off and rest of the party does not have a choice but to follow behind confused. Gareth grabs Harl's shoulder before Harl crosses the threshold and says, "We need a plan." Harl responds quickly as Harl keeps moving, "I will not fail to save her again." 

The party enters the tun down hobble and sees a living room full of dust, rotting furniture, and mold. Gladriel is seen cowing in the corner as ghostly little boy walks down the hall followed by his ghostly mother as the little boy exclaims "I will not let you hurt my family again..." Harl responds with a blubbery barely coherent stream of words that was roughly heard as a string of apologies and something about being overcome with grief. During Harl's incoherent rant, the two ghostly figures attacked Harl and the rest of the party were able to assist Harl in destroying the ghosts but the party noticed that tears never left Harl's face.  

After the ghost's destruction, before anyone could even breath a "What the hell", a dark raspy voice full of murderous intent echoes throughout the building as a solid figure of man walks down the hall into the living room. Harl eyes goes wide as he states, "Liam!" Liam responds with a charge and yell of "You will join my family!" 

During the ensuring chaos and battle, Prince Claren fell to the might of Liam and as Harl tried to come to Prince Claren's rescue - Harl was knocked into the wall loosing consciousness... 

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PLAYERS NOTES: This was a crazy and chaotic session as my characters backstory was brought into the forefront of the game and none of the other characters knows the parts of my character's history as this quest - for lack of a better word focused on. A lot of the other characters and players were confused as they had no idea what was going on except for my character's vague answers and desperation to help the ghost of the fiance. This left the characters and players deciding to assist their fellow comrade or not let him run away into the swamp by himself.

  

Legacies of Exera: Session 6

 

The party awakens late in the morning after the night of the Kobold attack and decide to take their leisurely time getting ready, eating first and second breakfast, and decide to continue on their journey to the Dwarven City of Sirabolter. 

The party travels on the main road and most of the day proves calm as there was little to no travelers on the road. Sometime after midday, the party hears what sounds like a woman screaming off in the distance somewhere in the woods. The Party takes off in the direction of the screaming with little deliberation and as everyone is trekking through the woods as fast as possible Harl notices two figures keeping pace with them but staying out of sight. Harl warns the rest of the party to expect trouble. 

The Party busts into a clearing where they see some camp supplies and a women tied to a pole in the center of the clearing. The woman is wearing a torn dress and some dried blood on her face and dirty limbs. As soon as the woman notices the party she quickly starts begging for help and states she is from Nemore and a group of people took her as she was out clearing brush on the edge of town. Gareth heads over to the woman to assess the rest of the situation and notices that the woman does not appear to possess any recent injuries. The woman seems to notice Gareth's hesitation and how he glances over his shoulder and quickly explains that she has been a prisoner for almost a week and she thinks they are planning to sell her to some slave trade. Just as Gareth reaches for the ropes to free the woman, there is movement in the bushes and Gareth jumps back as a crossbow bolt whizzes by his head. In reaction, Gareth quickly jaunts a group of trees to a different location leaving a couple very confused bandits without cover. 

The rest of the party quickly comes to Gareth's aid and create a defensive semi circle around the captured woman as Claren, Harl, and Enama dive into the bush to flush out the rest of the Bandits. Helena summons dancing lights to help illuminate the woods and chaos erupts with the sound of crossbows being fired, swords hitting steel, and the screams of wounded men. Additional bandits run into the clearing followed by a rather brutal looking orc and the party realizes that this was a trap all along as Gareth notices the woman start to wiggle free. The party fights desperately on and Helena gets a moment of clarity to cast a spell to put the rest of the bandits still standing asleep. 

The party ties up the surviving members of the camping after stripping them of any weapons and armor. The party ties them together and follows the road through the woods until they make camp for the night. Watches are set up and the bandits are given food and water. On Harl's watch, he attempts to have a conversation with the woman as she is the only member of the crew that seems to have anything to say, even though most of the words that have left the woman 's lips have been obscenities. Harl ends up promising the woman that he will make sure everyone gets turned over to the authorities and how Harl will put in a good word the officers that the woman was helpful. After this promise, the woman explains how she got mixed up with the bandits, the paths they use to travel, and where the home camp is. 

The next morning, the party and their prisoners are up early for a light breakfast and they make the town of Nemore by noon. Harl, true to his word hands over the prisoners to the captain of the town guard and shares all of the information the woman gave to Harl about the bandits. The guard captain thanks Harl for the information, the capture of surviving bandits, and explains that the guard captain will share the same information with the city council when the bandits go on trail. 

Harl finds the rest of the party at the local tavern enjoying room and board on the house due to how they put an end to the "bandit menace" that has been plaguing these parts for over a year.  

During the night, Harl feels a tap on his shoulder and awakens to the ghost of Gladriel (his fiance ) standing over him. Gladriel whispers, "follow me" and gracefully starts to move towards the door. As Harl quickly throws on some clothes, he notices that the skull on the spear is glowing and picks up the spear along with the shield. As Harl exits the Tavern, Gareth is awoken by the commotion and yells at Harl, "Whats going on?" Harl does not turn his head, but yells back, "its the ghost of her..I have to follow." Gareth quickly ducks back inside of the tavern room, throws on some clothes, and bangs on the doors of everyone else yelling incoherently about Harl and some ghosts. 

At the end of town, Gareth is on Harl's heels and Harl reaches out to touch Gladriel but right before the fingertips touch the ghostly substance two shadowy figured appear next to Gladriel and take off with her. Harl screams in frustration and charges after them with Garth close behind. 

Harl and Gareth follow Gladriel and the shadowy figured into the swamp and they come across four glowing balls of light and the spear glows brightly in the gloom of the swamp. Harl can hear the voices of his friends in the distance as Gareth starts to ask "what the hell", the glowing orbs begin to move and shoot lightning from their spherical bodies...

Legacies of Exera: Session 5

 

After the party collects themselves, divides the treasure found after the defeat of the Warlock, and finds their way safety out of the mountain stronghold the party comes across odd tracks in the ground. After a quick discussion, the party decides to follow the tracks as the tracks were leading down the mountain anyway. After sometime, the party realizes that the woods of crown silent and the party notices that there are strange looking animal statues and some humanoid statues around that all appear to be carved with faces of fear.

As the party was discussing what this could mean, they are ambushed by a large multi-legged reptilian creature. During the ensuing battle, Helenista and Claren feel their limbs start to stiffen after meeting the creature's gaze but are able to resist whatever magics was going on. The fight started to drag on longer the party anticipated and some of the members were fighting gravely wounded as it became impossible to tell who's blood was whose and how much of it belonged to the creature. In an act of desperation, Gareth using all of his focus to grab the creature by an unseen force and fling it straight up in the air. The party took cover by the nearby tries as the flailing creature came back down and landing on the ground with a sickening crunch. After making making sure the creature was dead, the party knew that did not want to be in the woods after dark and limped back to the village they stayed in before their journey to Firetop Mountain.

When the party returned to the village, they are greeted as heroes and are given supplies, food, and drink for their efforts. The party enjoys the words of praise and free food well into the night as Harl and Shaleera make their way upstairs to celebrate the victory properly. Sometime later, Gareth goes outside to go to make water and notices a small cloaked figure outside who takes off running when the figure notices that the figure has been seen  by Gareth. Gareth quickly takes chase and ends up capturing the figure which turns out to be a Kobold and after some aggressive negotiation, the Kobold admits that they are all doomed. Gareth knocks out the Kobold and runs back to the tavern to warn everyone that there might be an attack coming as Gareth thinks he caught the forward scout of an attack party. 

The commotion rouses Harl and Harl assists rallying the townsfolk to defensive positions as the village is swarmed by Kobolds. Harl helped direct the village folk to put out fires the Kobolds started as the rest of the party helped with the physical defenses. At the break of dawn, the party was able drive off the few remaining Kobolds which scattered in the woods. In the aftermath, there was only handful of injured villagers and a couple of charred 1/4 burnt buildings. In the hemorning light and during cleanup, the party decided to stay in the village for a couple of days to help the village clean up and to make sure the Kobolds do not come back.

The party found no more traces of the remaining Kobolds in the woods and premised that they are long long. It was also discussed and the party came to the conclusion along with the village that Kobolds attacked the village in some type of revenge plot because of the death of the Warlock. 

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PLAYER'S NOTES: I have no notes as I was not at the session due to other obligations. I was given the information of what happened during the session second hand by other players and the DM.

Legacies of Exera: Session 4

 

When we last left our heroes they were being charged by a gaunt figure who ends up bottle necking them into the hallway. Harl is able to spear the creature a few times and being able to narrowly shake of the paralyzing chill that almost froze Harl's bones in their place. Gareth and Helenista were able to squeeze into the room and Gareth sliced the gaunt figure from the back as Helenista was able to set the creature ablaze with a firebolt which finally put at end to the creatures existence. 

After the creature was dispatched, Gareth opens the chest that was on the table and finds some gold in it. The party then continues through a roughly carved tunnel and passes a door on their left as they continue on to find themselves where the tunnel ends in a door. Harl opens the door and finds a handuf a skeletons that are working on building some boats. The skeletons notice them and start to head towards the party as they armed themselves with various tools. Harl tries to reason with the encroaching skeletons but they just chatter their jaw bones and do not stop. Harl quickly shuts the door and after a few tense moments it sounds like the skeletons return to work. The party back tracks and discover a storage room full of rotting food and the continue on following the sound of tools working and a humming of a song. As the party follows the noise they come across a sign that stated "Work in Progress" and as they rounded the corner they come across countless mining tools working by themselves to expand the labyrinth on seemingly on their own free will and accord. 

The party then backtracks through the maze of tunnels and finally decides to transcends the stairs where the intense stench of rot is coming from. After every member of the party takes one last breath of fresh air as they march onward. After sometime on a tight winding staircase the party find themselves in a wide open chamber with a couple of bodies laying on the floor. As Claren takes lead and enters the chamber, the bodies start to move and they party makes quick work of them before the bodies even have a chance to stand up. Once the party makes sure more more bodies littered around the floor are going to decide to rise the party continues on to the staircase leading up on the other side of the room. When the party reaches the top of the stairs they come across a giant stone archway with two thick stone doors set wide open and as soon as A'nari (who is the last member to cross the threshold) steps across the threshold the giant stone doors slam shut and throws the party into darkness. Enama activates the light from her belt and a few other party members light up some lanterns. 

Harl takes lead and they party winds themselves through various twists and turns until they come across what appears to be a rather well made door with iron banding. Harl opens the door and finds a group of four Dwarves drinking, smoking, and gambling at a rather large table. One of the Dwarves stands up and lets out a stream of obscenities and that Dwarf eventually stammers out "What are you doing here? Doesn't anyone have any manners and can't even knock." Harl attempts to engage the Dwarves in conversation and to try to get any useful information about the labyrinth from the dwarves. Most of the conversation leaves the party rolling their eyes as the Dwarves spend a lot of time arguing among themselves about which way is the right direction through the maze and one of the Dwarves mention that the pet drake is a cute little fellow that likes scratches behind the ears. The dwarves then try to convince the party to bring them back more ale and eventaully Harl realizes that any more conversation is going to be pointless and with a shrug and a defeated look to Harl's companions, the party wishes the Dwarves well and closes their door. 

 

 

The party continues to explore the maze of hallways and eventually comes across a large wide open cavern with stalagmites. Before the party can even gain their bearings, they notice some movement in  the shadows an instance before a gout of fire lights up the cavern as a red scaled dragon like creature come into view an instance before it charges towards the party. 

 

Enama reacts first and grabs one of Gareth's enchanted stones, moves forward, and throws it at the dragon-like creature. As Harl moves forward and blasts the creature with a bolt of crackling black and purple energy. A'nari connects with a bolt from Shadowgrumble as Helenista steps forward with her hands raise as a deep frost grows over the creatures scales. The creature responds to these attacks by breathing more fire which catches Enama in it and as the fire scorches her flesh, she screams out "bad drake!" Claren's crossbolt flies wide and Gareth's stone throw suffers the same fate. Enama then charges the creature at full speed and slaps it with both hands which causes the creature to pause in surprise as Harl charges and leaps in the air and with both hands, drives his spear directly between the creatures shoulder blades, pinning it to the ground, and slaying it at the same time. Enama laments about how she did not want to kill it and make it her pet as Enama scratches the dead creature behind its ears. Enama continues on about how she is going to make this supposed Warlock to fix it or teach Enama how to make on. 

After a short rest and finding nothing else of note in the cavern, the party discovered a narrow passage where Harl takes lead and after what feels like an eternity comes across a ornate door that is left ajar. As Harl peers through, he sees a very ornate decorating and well lit room with an old harmless looking man sitting at a desk playing cards. As Harl gathers his thoughts to converse with the old man Enama forces her way through the line of the party members dragging the drakes dead body and drops it in front of the old man's desk as Enama demands "Fix it or teach me how to make a new one." 

The old man stands up and in a flash of light transforms into a well dressed young man and in a booming voice, "You killed me beloved pet and then make demands of me? You will never leave this mountain alive!" The party charges into the room as Harl tries to flank the Warlock and landing his spear point in the Warlocks thigh as Helenista misty steps into the room. The warlock then unleashes a deadly explosion of fire the drops Helenista and Claren. The remaining party members attempt to surround the warlock to prevent any escape in desperation as the Warlock yet again, sets off an additional explosion of fire that badly scorches the surviving party members before the Warlock succumbs to additional attacks as the Warlock attempts to escape. 

After the fall of the Warlock, the remaining party members quickly searches the room for any more dangerous as Harl heals Claren and Helenista, bringing back from the brink of death. The party finds a door on the far end of the room which leads into a large storage area filled with supplies, some treasures, and a large chest with multiple padlocks on it. The party is able to solve the puzzle using various keys and some brute strength to discover an impressive cache of resources. Eventually, after taking what they needed and searching the body of the Warlock, the party finds a hidden passage that leads them out into fresh air and daylight...

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PLAYER NOTES: This was the last session of the "belly of the beast" adventure and I found it highly entertaining. There was a lot of things that we encountered that I was not expecting. One of these being basically finding the back door to the boat house of where the skeletons were building doors. It is to bad they did not take to kindly of being interrupted but it was quickly decided to leave them where they be. Then there was the interactions with the drunk Dwarves and after they calmed down for being interrupted, it was like talking to the doors in the scene from the movie The Labyrinth and was almost maddening. A few other character's threw in their two cents into the conversation as Harl tried to get help or any other useful information out of them. I was entertained about this whole interaction but after a lot longer in real world time dealing with this situation then probably should have passed (but there was a lot of fun that was had), we left them alone and moved on. 

The Guard Drake combat was fun and I am surprised it was dealt with in such a quick manner even though Enama had an instance bound with the guard drake and wanted to try to knock it out to attempt to tame it. The slapping of the drake did not knock it before the guard drake met its end. 

When we finally met up with the Warlock, I think some of us were hoping for some diplomatic interaction before combat broke out but Enama had different ideas and wanted the guard drake revived or to learn how to create one. This obviously did not end well, as the Warlock was pissed off and attacked the party. This combat had more worried as the first fireball took out two of the characters and the second fireball left a lot of the other characters under 10 HP! I think Harl was at 6. I was worried about a TPK or death of at least a few of the characters but the Dice Gods had other plans and I think we won the combat by the skin of our teeth. 

After the session, I had a conversation with the DM and he used a conversion of the first Fighting Fantasy Book, Warlock of Firetop Mountain. I have to say, this is one of the funnest dungeons that I have ever got to play through. The dungeon had a lot of personality and there were some many unique encounters that had nothing to do with combat that was a lot of fun. I really liked the interaction with the merchant and the dwarves. I am bummed we did not do more exploration and I am curious how the interaction with the werewolf would have went. 

The end of these session gave everyone enough experience to reach Level 3! In addition to the level ups, all of the characters items of power increased in effectiveness. 

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ITEMS OF POWER UPDATE (3rd Level):

• Garvangr (Harl's Spear) - Gained +1 enhancement bonus.
• Goujian (Prince Claren's Sword) - +1 enhancement bonus.
  
• Bag of Three (Gareth's Belt) - Bag of Holding Qualities
  
• Shadowgrumble (A'nari's Crossbow) - Enhanced Critical Hit: On a critical, this eapon deals an additional 2d6 piercing damage. 
  
• Pia's Belt (Enama's Belt) - +1 to saving throws & DC's to Ki abilities. In addition, a bonus action can be utilized to regain Ki points equal to the roll of the Martial Arts die, this feature cannot be used again until the next dawn.
  
• Feyshadow Boots (Helenista's Boots) - The footsteps of the wearer make no sound and the wearer gains advantage on Stealth Checks that rely on moving silently.