Hail! Welcome to the city of Grydain!
This week our journey takes the party on such a dangerous adventure that is has to be split up into TWO summaries!
Here is our sixth and final official Party Member:
Namor, the half-elven paladin
Tinker- an giant fly that Raizos receives as a gift (transforms from a small "toy" to the giant fly)
Here are our newly introduced NPC's:
Twixil- (wood-elf) mysterious traveler that strolls into town after hearing rumors of strange events
Nora- (human fighter) part of Grydain's newest militia. Has spent several years traveling and adventuring with Alor and Niffler as hired mercenaries
Alor- (dwarven ranger) part of Grydain's newest militia. Has spent several years traveling and adventuring with Nora and Niffler as hired mercenaries
Niffler- (deep gnome sorcerer) part of Grydain's newest militia. Has spent several years traveling and adventuring with Alor and Nora as hired mercenaries. Also speaks gibberish
Jaraph- (human) young boy who dreams of becoming an adventurer like "The Party". Hopes to become "The Party's" official squire.
And here are the enemies that have been encountered (so far):
Drider (found dead with the official seal of Grydain on its torso)
Kobolds
Kenkus
Now onward to the adventure so far!
"The Party", furious at the apparent lack of care and information from General Landrorg, are bent on confronting the General, only to find that he has left to retrieve Zelladawn, "The Party's" rogue. Upon their return, Zelladawn informs his companions about a dream he had during his isolated absence, in which he sees his current (and former) friends dead at his feet with the exception of one, who he believed to be dead already. He then hear's the voice of a former enemy encouraging him to stay close to the General and his newly found allies, or all that he has seen in this dream will indeed come to pass.
While Zelladawn relays this information, the General leaves a not with Robbie, the bartender of the Griffin's Wings Tavern & Inn, and departs once again.
Zelladawn expresses his desire to go and seek out whether or not what he saw (and heard) in his dream is real, and as "The Party" agrees, they receive the note from Landrorg. It states for them that the General and Madame Mireal have left on official City Council business and that they are to not leave town. Angered once again about being left in the dark, "The Party" agrees that it would be best to speak with the General before they depart, hoping that he will inform them of all he knows.
Six days pass. "The Party" has become relatively famous. The citizens of Grydain wish to spend time with and show their appreciation to their "new found saviors" and it is mostly well received.
On the sixth day, they awaken from their rooms at the Griffin's Wings to eat breakfast when a stranger bursts through the doors. The stranger is a well armed wood-elf named Twixil who claims to have come to the city of Grydain because she has heard rumors of strange occurrences and wishes to experience them for herself. She assures "The Party" that she will see them again soon and leaves to her room in the Inn.
It is at that time that a messenger from the Keep informs Robbie, who then informs our heroes that they are needed at the Keep. After finishing their breakfast, dawning their armor and equipment, and being stopped by their adoring fans, "The Party" finally makes it to General Landrorg's office at the Keep only to find Grimm, the dragonborn cleric and High Priest of Grydain's Temple to Bahamut, being grilled by Patreon, former Jarl Wilhelm's Uncle and "rightful heir to the title", along with three unknown figures.
Patreon scorns Grimm for not being able to meet with either Madame Mireal OR General Landrorg, and Grimm "kindly" informs him that they are away on official business and will inform him the moment they arrive. Patreon leavs, once again furious, and assures everyone in the room that the city is in for a rude awakening.
Grimm invites the heroes in begins informing them of the General and Madame Mireal's absence, and that until further notice, he is both the High Priest of the Temple of Bahamut AND acting general of the city. He informs them that the temple is well staffed and will be fine, but the city only has "The Party" to defend them, and since their next assignment will take them outside of the city, the Council has seen fit to hire a new, small militia to keep order. He then introduces the figures that have been silently present since they entered.
The new militia is compiled of Nora, a very pleasant and very tall human fighter, Alor, and very scottish sounding, very angry/trigger happy dwarven ranger, and Niffler, an even smaller deep gnome sorcerer who seems to only be able to speak in gibberish. The three have seem to have known each other for quite sometime and assure everyone that everything will be fine. Alor asks what their job is specifically, and Grimm then begins to look somber.
Grimm informs Alor and company that their jobs are two patrol, keep the peace, and watch Lord Patreon very closely. They are to report directly to Grimm if they receive any pertinent information or are force to detain anyone.
Grimm then turns to "The Party" and informs them that he has heard several reports of strange noises coming from one of Grydain's underground vaults. He says that it could be nothing, but given recent events he can not let this go unchecked. He then grows even more stern and tells the heroes to get what they need, inspect the vault, and to return as quickly as possible. After what has recently transpired, Grimm fears that any of the City's apparent enemies could attack at any moment, and that they are very vulnerable with the absence of both the General and Madame Mireal. Grimm fears that we everyone is in grave danger.
The door to the office again opens, revealing a half-elf in chainmail. and our final Party Member Namor joins our heroes. Namor has been on the front lines of battle and was withdrawn from those duties to take on a new position in the City, but Grimm informs him that the General will have to inform of just what exactly that position is. For now, Grimm informs Namor to join "The Party" until such time that the General returns.
"The Party" is informed that when they are ready, a young man by the name of Jaraph has the key and will take them to the vault. After equipping themselves with new gear from Biffler's, Leaf's, and the Bearion Family Armory, "The Party" meets up with Jaraph and sets out on their way.
Along their rather lengthy journey, Jaraph informs our heroes that he is their biggest fan, and longs for adventure. He dreams of becoming their official squire, and Ogg takes a liking to him and says that they may be able to work something out in the future.
Upon arriving to the location has marked on their map, "The Party" finds themselves in front of two trees with torches on them in what is only known as, "The Forrest". Zelladawn summons his giant owl Serephere to scout ahead to see if there is any looming danger, and through the telepathy they sahre Serephere informs him that there is no threat, but there is also no clearing above the trees witht the torches. Rosie the Pixie, ally of "The Party" and bearer of "toys" appears and informs them that only the key will open the door to the portal. Raizos pulls out the seal of Grydain given to him by Jaraph, who was instructed by Grimm to bestow upon our heroes, and the barrier between the trees dissipates, revealing stairs that lead downward. Rosie, impressed by Raizos, gives him a "toy" and disappears. Jaraph informs everyone that he is staying with the horse and kart, and Ogg gives him one of his hand axes, just in case he needs to defend himself.
"The Party" walks down the stairs to find a broken statue of the former Jarl Wilhelm as well as blood and feathers all along the floor. They walk down a hallway and see broken skeletons twitching and reaching out for their heels. Ogg, not paying attention, steps on an elevated stone trap and sends arrows flying across the room; one of which grazes Raizos.
They walk further down the vault to find a room with dead lizard-like and raven-like beings scattered around a pool with glowing golden water. Conch attempts to drink the water and suffers divine damage. After several more moments, Chet notices some sylvan writing along the rim of the pool, and reads the following riddle: "To find what you seek, you must first play a beautiful song.” Chet attempts playing to songs alone, and there is a slight brighter glow, but nothing happens. Conch then aids Chet by singing his Siren's Song, and the pool glows and shines even brighter, and there is an audible sound of singing, and the door to the next area room opens.
"The Party" ventures forward, and come to a room with two statues of Kings pointing away from an altar. After thoroughly inspecting the room for magic and traps, two riddles are found, one upon the base of each statue.
One reads in Elvish: *“To give me you must keep me.”
The other in Celestial Reads: *“He who makes me doesn't want me, He who buys me doesn't need me, He who uses me doesn't care.”
After several moments of thinking together, Namor exclaims, "Your Word," to answer the first riddle, and Zelladawn answers the second by saying, "A Casket." Both statues move, and the kings point towards the altar. At that moment, a small locked chest appears on the altar and the door to the next area opens.
Our heroes are then forced to walk down a hallway covered in cobwebs, forcing them in tight quarters. They come upon the body of a dead Drider wearing the official seal of Grydain on its torso. It is then that Ogg and Namor notice something in the corner of their eyes, and from the cobwebs appear five Kobolds and four Kenkus and ambushes "The Party". Conch then beast-shapes into a large purple scaled spider, and for the first time ever: Chet, Conch, Ogg, Namor, Raizos, and Zelladawn, as well as Serephere and Bardou, fight their enemies as one cohesive party, and after several rounds of tight, confined combat, they defeat their enemies.
And that is where the session ended. Will the party make it out of the vault intact? Will they discover the contents of the chest? Can General Landrorg be trusted? And what's up with Niffler?!? Perhaps we'll find out next week with the conclusion of Session 3 in Part 2. Until then, watch out for those darn Kobolds, and keep your Geekery alive!
Cites for Pics and Riddles:
Jaraph- https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Squire_(5e_Background)
Nora- http://dimelife.deviantart.com/art/Warrior-455236830
Alor- https://www.pinterest.com/gmrberman/tieflings-halflings-dwarves-and-more/
Niffler- https://www.pinterest.com/mrdungeonmaster/gnomes-for-dd/
Twixil- http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?208125-3-5-Twixil-Night-Blade-a-hunter-of-the-dead-PrC-LoB-ToB-Ebon-Initiate
D&D Logo- http://engl393-dnd5th.wikia.com/wiki/D%26D_5th_Edition_Wiki
Kobolds- http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Kobold
Kenku- http://www.aidedd.org/dnd/monstres.php?vo=kenku
Drider- http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Drider
Tinker- http://www.deviantart.com/tag/maggot
