SOTDL CAMPAIGN DIARY: SESSION 0

ESCAPE FROM CAECRAS 

4/9/19

The Cast:

- Brother Aron Waverly: Human priest of the New God

- Calista: Ferren rogue

- Nikolai Petrechko: Huan veteran (warrior)

- Perry Flaxseed: Halfling hunter (warrior)

This session was mostly a review of the rules being used, a description of how this ties into the "mega campaign" that began with the previous Tales of the Demon Lord campaign that featured the Brotherhood of Shadows as the primary antagonist. 

The prelude to the start of the campaign was a description of how the Orc Uprising went down and how the characters were caught up in it, as they were all in Caecras at the time.  They managed to escape orc capture by hiding in sewers, ruined buildings, basements, etc., for months.  The orcs were rampaging for a few days after the uprising, but afterwards they just maintained a heavy presence in the city, preventing the characters from escaping.  Nearly a year later, the orcs began mobilizing out of Caecras, making escape a possibility.  The characters, along with the 2 dozen other people that were hiding together, began planning an escape route, when a strange figure robed in black appeared.  The stranger, a wizard from the Tower Arcane that floats perpetually above the city of Caecras, was there to warn them that their escape attempt will fail as the new emperor, Drudge, has set up traps around the perimeter of the city to catch anyone trying to leave.  The Black Wizard gave them an item, a small reliquary with a single bone inside, and gave them specific instructions on how and when to leave the city.  When asked why he/she was helping, the Black Wizard stated something that was unintelligible and disappeared.  

The characters and their other companions (Mother Sabra - blind priestess of the World Mother, Gordy, 10 year old orphan boy, Weezer, alchemist, and Lord Kornwall, pompous jerk noble, plus 13 others), did as the Black Wizard instructed and managed to escape the city, nearly being caught by an orc patrol, but somehow they miraculously were not seen.  

The travel through the wilderness of Caecras has been difficult and they have lost two of their companions due to dangers in the wild.  Food has been in short supply and avoiding the Emperor's Roads has made the travel slow and difficult.  Weeks pass as they make their way east towards the Confederacy of Nine Cities, where they plan to take one of their fellow refugees, Lord Kornwall, to Kem (the City of Gold), where he claims to have family that will reward them all.  As they approach the borders, they spot a group of orcs, strangely not outfitted in the Imperial Army garb, heading in their direction.  However, before the orcs could find them, massive quake hits the area, but when they look for the orcs again, they see a massive sinkhole has appeared, which swallowed the approaching orcs and released an enormous, monstrous creature that lumbered off towards the south.  

Session 0 ends there and Session 1 begins with the characters embarking on their first adventure!