Candle in the Dark Campaign Diary - Session 3: The Slaying Stone Pt 1

The Cast:

• Enid, half-elf cleric of Bahamut
• Nashgar, dragonborn paladin of Bahamut
• Leilua, tiefling warlock
• Corrin, halfling barbarian 

The heroes are welcomed into the tower of Treona and Alkirk, given warm tea and a place by their fire as the details of the mission are provided.

 The mission is to recover a relic called the Slaying Stone.  It is an item that was used by the rulers of Kiris Dahn to protect the city from invaders.  The relic targets an individual that is within a range of 5 miles from the stone, and, simply put, slays them.  A little over 8 years ago, a goblin army invaded Kiris Dahn and the ruler used the stones against the goblin leaders, but were unable to target all of them before the town was overrun.  Most were either killed or forced to evacuate rapidly to escape the slaughter.  Treona and Alkirk were two of the fortunate ones that were able to escape, and they were taken in by Lord Drysdale.  The lord had their tower built on their request, so that they may reside close to their former home and keep an eye on things, reporting back to the lord.  Treona told Lord Drysdale of the stones and that she knew of at least one that had not been used, for she had hidden it away herself.  Apparently, the lord sees the need to recover the item now, which is why he sent the heroes on this mission.

Treona and Alkirk lay out a hand-drawn map of the town and go through detailing the various areas and what they can expect to encounter there.  The front entrance to the town has a palisade set there by the goblins and manned day and night.  The front part of town is occupied by kobolds that the goblins brought in as slave workers and to supplement their forces as needed. The kobolds hate the goblins, but they will fight as instructed and pose a threat.  Fortunately, kobolds are nocturnal creatures, so they sleep during the day, making that part of town safe to travel through until nightfall.

The middle and back part of town is where the goblins reside and they have trashed most of it.  Many structures have been destroyed, some still stand and are used as housing by the goblins.  The Lord's Manor, which is at the back end of town, is where the goblin's leader resides - a hobgoblin named Hu-Jat.

Treona says she hid the Slaying Stone in the vault below the manor.  She says if the hidden area of the cellar has not been found by the goblins, there's a good chance that the stone is still there.  If they have, the may have moved it.  If they have an arcanist among them, they may have moved it to the library to study.  If they have a priest or shaman, they may have moved it to the temple district to placate the gods.   Otherwise, it could be anywhere in town.

Alkirk mentions two things that the heroes should be aware of.  First, there is a dragon that has been spotted in the area, though where it lairs is not known.  He doesn't think that its in Kiris Dahn because it would have scared the goblins away.  Second, within the last week, a group of orcs was spotted entering the town.  Orcs have been scarce in the Nentir Vale since the Bloodspear War drove them out 100 years ago, so this could be a sign that they have rebuilt their strength and is scouting the vale to determine it's current state.  It's possible the orcs have subjegated the goblinoids if that is the case, to have a foothold in the vale.  But at this point the reason for their presence is unknown.

After some discussion around the details provided by the two, Treona excuses herself after the discussion and bids the heroes to rest well before departing in the morning.

The following morning, the heroes depart and make their way around the back side of town through the forest, approaching the manor from behind.  As they do, they spot something large and fast erupt out of the hot springs and fly off into the morning skies.  Corrin got the best look and described it as a "flying lizard".  Probably the dragon that Alkirk mentioned.  After some maneuvering, they manage to get close enough to sneak up on the group of goblins guarding one of the entrances.  They defeat the goblins, though a combination of magic provided by Leilua, which put some of the goblins to sleep, and physical combat.  Leilua killed one of the sleeping goblins and the priest and paladin berated her for her actions (after getting a divine reminder that killing defenseless opponents is frowned upon by Bahamut).  The group then sneak into the manor and fight a few more goblins.  They must now find the way to the cellar and seek the stone in the vault.

End of session.  

Candle in the Dark Campaign - Session 2: Keep on the Borderlands

The Cast:

• Enid, half-elf cleric of Bahamut
• Nashgar, dragonborn paladin of Bahamut
• Leilua, tiefling warlock
• Corrin, halfling barbarian

 We begin today's tale with our heroes leaving the Goathorne Inn and traveling to Restwell Keep in company of a merchant and his family.  The day's travel is uneventful and the merchant shares his knowledge of the keep with the group, since he spends a good part of his time there.  He says that the keep has a good amount of traffic going through, mostly from those who have business with the overseer, Lord Drysdale, a paladin of the god Erathis who liberated the keep from the mercenaries and thieves that ran it.  Lord Drysdale hires adventurers for expeditions into the anomalous feature known as the Chaos Scar, which seems to spawn evil in these parts.  The merchant tells the group that they must have sponsorship from the keep in order to stay for any duration longer than a few days.

As they near the keep, the weather turns as a thunderstorm sweeps through the area.  They enter the keep and hurry though the streets to find shelter.  The doors to the Chapel of Avandra are open and welcoming, so they enter and are greeted by the high priestess Chandera, who offers a room and food for the night.  The heroes accept and are escorted to their rooms.  Later, they join Chandera in the dining room, where she sits with three others; a visiting priest from Winterhaven, another from Harkenwold, and the third being a priestess of the Raven Queen from Fallcrest.

Supper is served and the topics of discussion go from political to current events around the keep.  The group gets a very clear impression that Chandera has strong animosity towards Lord Drysdale, disapproving of his over-zealous approach to bringing law and order to the keep and to the borderlands.  After a bit of awkward dining, brought on by Corrin's lack of etiquette, the guests begin to depart and the heroes retire to their chamber after asking for a private audience with Chandera.

Later that night, in Chandera's study, they meet again and after a few inquiries from the priestess, Nashgar asks about Horvath, the priest who died at the Goathorne before he could perform a ritual that would prevent the undead from rising as they did.  Explaining the entire event, Nashgar asks Chandera what she knows of this ritual and evil.  Chandera explains that Horvath was a priest of Melora and has been in the keep for a very long time.  She was unaware of the purpose of his annual pilgrimages, but knew that he took them at every Winter Solstice.  She agreed to look into the nature of the entity that seems to be behind the undead that attacked the Goathorne and promised to get back to the group. 

Leilua also asks about the Ioun priest that had taken her from her parents to the monastery where she grew up, who was said to have come here to Restwell Keep.  Chandera did recognize the name and said that the priest was seeking obscure arcane knowledge that he believed was to be found in the Chaos Scar.  He joined an expedition that did not fare well and were mostly killed.  He did not return with the survivors.

It wasn't until the following day that the group was finally able to get out in decent weather and seek their actual sponsor for this trip, Lord Drysdale himself.  They are granted an appointment, but must wait a workweek before seeing him, so they all find time to do things in and around the keep to keep busy while waiting.  Enid and Nashgar do service for the Avandra temple, Corrin finds odd jobs around town, and Leilua gets a job collecting gambling debts from deadbeats in the Stumbling Giant that lose in their games of chance.

Finally, the call from the lord's fortress comes and the heroes gain an audience with Lord Drysdale.  Once before the paladin, the group is given an assignment to seek out a relic that is hidden in the small town of Kiris Dahn, which was overrun by goblins a decade ago and has basically been lost.  The town is now call "Gorizbaad" by the goblinoids, which Lord Drysdale says with distain.  Lord Drysdale says the relic is needed to protect the keep and should the group choose to accept this mission, they will need to seek out Treona, an agent of the keep, who is currently in a tower a few miles outside of Kiris Dahn/Gorizbaad and who has the details the group needs to fulfill the mission.  He offers the sum of 50 gp to each member of the group and 100 gp for the group as a whole to split as they see fit.

The group decide to take the job and the following day they make the day long journey to Kiris Dahn/Gorizbaad.  They pass within miles of the Chaos Scar and see it for the first time from a distance, which make it no less amazing.  As night falls, they arrive at Treona's tower, but are attacked by wolves before they can get to safety.  The group is forced to kill the hungry beasts before continuing to the tower.

End of session.

Candle In The Dark Campaign - Session 1: Dead by Dawn

The Cast:

• Enid, half-elf cleric of Bahamut
• Nashgar, dragonborn paladin of Bahamut
• Leilua, tiefling warlock
• Corrin, halfling barbarian

We begin our tale with our travelers meeting up on the road to Restwell Keep.  Three of them met in Fallcrest, and upon learning that their destination is the same, they decided to travel together.  The fourth was met on the trail, having recently left his tribe in search of a way to make a better life for them.  As the group travels, the winter weather begins to wear on them, as the icy drizzle and waning daylight begins making  the journey miserable.  Luckily, the group comes upon the Goathorne Inn and as they enter they are greeted by the proprietors and a room full of other travelers.  As Nashgar and Leilua are strange sights to the folks, they do get stares, but eventually the folks return to their meals and conversations. 

After ordering rooms and being brought food and drink, a disturbance occurs as one of the serving girls attempts to wake a guest.  When they go to investigate the screams coming from the guest's rooms, they find the serving girl being attacked by the elderly guest.  They manage to kill the man and heal the girl before her grievous wounds killed her.  According to the proprietor, the man is an annual guest from Restwell Keep who has never behaved in such a manner and is very advanced in years, so not even sure how it was possible. 

Before the matter could be discussed further, alarms are raised by the other patrons who spot dozens of shadowy figures emerge from the surrounding woods and begin to converge upon the inn.  Upon closer inspection, the people appear to be walking corpses, and from their attire they seem to be soldiers that have arisen from the various battlefields that the heroes passed en route to the inn.  The zombies and skeletons shamble towards the inn and an unearthly voice emanates from all around saying "I hunger.  I smell your blood, taste your flesh.  Death comes for you, carried by my children that I have sent to end you.  They come for you, come to end your miserable lives!"

The heroes act quickly, ushering all of the patrons into guest rooms and then using the tables and chairs to board up the windows and doors.  Initially, this is not sufficient, as a zombie and skeletons break in and have to be fought off.  But eventually, the team manages to secure the inn.  During this time, Leilua finds a ritual in the old man's belongings that seems to have something to do with what is occurring and tries to improvise the ritual.  Eventually, however, she and the priest Enid manage to perform the ritual correctly and the undead begin to recede back into the darkness.  The unearthly voice claims that it will return again at the next winter solstice.

Once they are convinced that it is safe, they let the patrons out, are thanked by them all and are given free rooms for the night.

The following day, the four travelers leave the Goathorne Inn and resume their journey to Restwell Keep.  A few other travelers from the inn headed in that direction accompany them.  The travel, though uncomfortable due to the chilly winds, is not as bad due to a clearing of the clouds and the reappearance of the sun at times.  For another 5-6 hours, the group travels on the worn trails and by late afternoon they see the keep come into view.