Denar's Elder Wisdom (Tyma 1-1)

Elder Wisdom by David Ridout Denar

w/ Ariadne (fem minotaur barbarian), Lando Asterion (male minotaur fighter), & Paelius aka Runt (at 5'9” he's the shortest person, male eladrin wizard)

Hired by Tuanek of House Jalt

Off to investigate neighboring ruins.

Came across kobolds halfheartedly guarding amongst pillars. There's also a drake with them. Leader ordered them to kill us; stupid degenerate half-breed.

1. Yellow-crest waited for the wyrm priest, who called upon Tiamat to bless them. Then the Shield advanced forward. I embarrassed myself when I breathed and hit no one. The eladrin did something arcane and managed to kill one of the lessers. The guard drake came forward while Ariadne attacked one of the kobolds that I missed. Lando charged the drake with his horns. He knocked the drake prone. The kobold stabbed Ariadne as another tossed a javelin to hit me. A third one chucked a javelin at the bull but missed.

2. Wyrmpriest came forward and threw an energy orb at Paelius. The shield did nothing effective and I healed Paelius somewhat. He came up to hit four of them with burning hands, using his accurate wand but missed the priest. Another kobold fell. Guard drake bloodied Lando. Ariadne missed the kobold and moved past two more to get behind them. All three struck at her and two hit her. Lando, using the flank that the other minotaur provided, still missed. Lessers hit me with a javelin and another one tried to circled around Ariadne to stab her but she gored him.

3. Wyrm priest backed up a little and hit Paelius with fire. Dragon Shield, marked by Lando, hit the minotaur and returned the mark. I used Healing word on Lando before getting into the lesser's face. Paelius hit one kobold with flaming burst, then he hid behind Lando. Guard Drake missed the male minotaur while the female one provoked an op to charge the Wyrm Priest with her horns. She got quite bloodied and the wyrm priest was prone. She then (1 AP) avalanche struck the Wyrm Priest. She killed him and charged the Guard Drake, although she missed. She was bloodied. Lando used a Reaping Strike on the Guard Drake. One lesser completely missed Ariadne while the other missed me.

4. Dragon Shield attacked Ariadne and stabbed her. I shifted back and hit the kobold with Sacred Flame giving Ariadne a temporary hit point. Paelius killed the other lesser [minion] kobold. Guard Drake snapped at Lando while Ariadne attacked the Guard Drake. She whacked it with her great axe using a Howling Strike. Lando used Reaping Strike on the Guard Drake. The kobold followed me and hit me again.

5. Dragon Shield hit Ariadne but failed to drop her, then he shifted away from the Guard Drake. My Sacred Flame missed but Paelius' Flame Burst killed the minion. Guard Drake, trapped between the minotaurs, still managed to bloody Lando. Ariadne used her Second Wind. Lando used his Crushing Surge to hit the Guard Drake, taking him down. The bull moved to set up a possible flank on the Dragon Shield.

6. Dragon Shield shifted, missed Lando and shifted again. I tried to heal the bull but fail. Paelius' Magic Missile hit the Shield. Ariadne charged the bloodied Shield but missed. Lando circled to flank the last kobold and hit him.

7. The marked Shield hit Lando and shifted again. I tried to heal Lando and failed again. Paelius fey stepped to follow the Shield and took him down but not kill him.

I questioned the little lesser. The leader led them here because supposedly there's a servant to Tiamat here; a blue dragon and they came to offer their services and worship. He gave up his magic gloves and promised to go home.

We met a dwarf, Durnth, a local adventurer by the side of the road and he offeredfood and company. Asked about blue dragons but he didn't know much about it. After lunch, he pulled out waterlogged boots and gave them as a gift (Wavestrider boots) to Ariadne and a bag of pungent herbs for each of us.

Finally we reached the ruins, which was once a great entranceway. Ariadne kept her eyes open for traps but did not see any that were still functional. She did find a +1 great axe. There's several places where Tiamat's emblem had been scratched into the walls. Ariadne, the Bahamut worshipper, the poor deluded cow, scratched them out.

Moving along, the area had been partially cleared. Someone had been camping there and were not good housekeepers.

The ceiling was partially collapsed and rubble littered the room. Bat-like creatures attacked.

1. A stirge flew down to nip Lando and latched on. Two more flew closer. Lando tried to pry the stirge off and moved through the rubble. Ariadne charged a stirge with her horns, goring it, and knocking it into the pit. I moved into the room and hit the latched on stirge with Sacred Flame. Paelius's burning hands burned two of the stirges.

2. One stirge flew over to bite and latched onto the eladrin. The one in the crevice regained its feet. The last one continued to suck on Lando, who tried to break it off. After two tries [1 AP] the bull managed to get it off of him. The cow charged the one that's no longer attached and Howling Struck it. She hit it hard and it died. She charged around the pit to swing at the one attacking the eladrin. Delicately trying to hit the stirge without hitting the wizard, I missed. Paelius managed to hit it though.

3. The stirge sucked on the eladrin as the other one failed to pierce my hide. Lando missed his reaping strike but the backswing killed the bloodied stirge. Ariadne hit the one on the wizard and killed it. I used healing word on the wizard.

Searching the room found some blood-drained kobolds. One wore a red iron belt and one had a ritual book with comprehend languages.

Farther on there's a room with a bubbling fountain. Cobwebs curtained the alcoves. Cat-sized reptiles leapt out and two more drakes emerged from the alcove.

1. Needlefang drake swarm rusheed forward to knock Ariadne prone, then bit her. Paelius hit the swarm with fire. My Sacred Flame completely missed. The two drakes came out enough to breath acid, hit Lando but missed Ariadne. She stood up, ignoring the swarm's aura. She axed the swarm with recuperating strike. The teeth bit into Lando who used his Crushing Strike but missed.

2. The marked swarm just missed pulling Lando down but bit him anyway. Paelius's burning hit the swarm and he misty stepped beyond it. I managed to heal some of Lando's harm. The drake spit at Paelius missed while the other one spit at Ariadne but also missed. Ariadne was still being bitten by the swarm as she used her Avalanche Strike on it and killed it. She headed for one of the drakes. Lando followed her but managed to charge the drake. He missed.

3. Paelius went to the other one and used Burning Hands on it. I backed up the eladrin and was useless. The drake tried to get away but got gored by the minotaur and knocked prone. Drake spit to hit Paelius with acid. Ariadne charged the drake with Howling Strike. Lando killed the drake and went to attack the other one. There's an odd clacking noise from that alcove (horn clack of victory).

4. Paelius hit the drake with magic missile, bloodying it. I managed to hit the drake with Sacred Flame and it spit to hit the wizard. It retreated around a corner. Ariadne joined me and the eladrin. Lando entered the alcove, tearing through the webs.

5. Paelius headed down the hall to Scorching Burst the Drake, screw cover from the stone corner but he missed. I managed to get caught in the web and used my 2^nd healing word on Ariadne. The Drake missed Paelius. Ariadne, now fully healed, closed with the drake but missed. Lando followed Ariadne through the webs but not enough to reach the drake.

6. Paelius's burning hands dropped the drake.

Searched the room and Waterdeep it. There were well-gnawed bones in the drake nests. There's coins in the fountains. There's a reflective surface in the water, a crystal vial of healing.

Farther into the ruins, there were stone biers; one of which had been defiled. A ghost formed as did skeletons.

The specter spoke: you do not look like the usual interlopers, who are you and what are you doing here?

We introduced ourselves. He was Odak; this was his tomb. They worshipped Gilgeen (god king of the region, killed by Tiamat). The defilers came in. He didn't want to linger but didn't want just anyone to settle his ghost. I racked my brain but know nothing of the people here.

Ariadne found religious symbols and reassembled the sarcophagus. Lando fixed stuff around the mausoleum. Paelius drew the appropriate symbols to prepare for the ritual while Ariadne did more reconstruction. Guided by the body language of the ghosts I gave some direction to Lando. Paelius recalled some of the correct ritual activities.

We continued to work on the mausoleum, looking for broken symbols, etc. Finally, managed to do the ritual. Odak allowed us to take his treasure in thanks.

Back to Ruinspoke and reported.

It took half an hour to get into to see him. He accepted the report & paid. If he recognized my necklace, he said nothing.

50 gp + ritual book: Comprehend Languages

400 exp

Cor 1-1 Inheritance (Denar)

w/ Longtom Jones (skinny male helf warlock? From Waterdeep), Gawain Loch (male human Ranger-ish, with axes and bows), Dayerth (male eladrin swordmage) & Efink Teckop (middle-aged human male wizard, Chauntea worhipper from Luruar?)

Merchant Deskyr Thantarim invited us to meet him in Suzail, the capital of Cormyr. He wanted us to raid his old family vault in Urmlaspyr, under the nose of the Netherese Shadovar. The old family manse was located in the Forbidden Zone. He paid us twenty gold coins as down payment. More would wait upon the results of whatever we brought back.

I used part of my pay to buy a climber’s kit and two sunrods. I have heard that the Netherese put a wall around the Forbidden Zone and that a dark cloud hangs over it.

Until I actually saw it as our ship approached, I had not realized just what that meant. The cloud over the city is like an inkblot. It is never brighter than twilight and youngsters earn coin by holding lanterns and guiding visitors. Gawain overheard some murmur about people disappearing near the Forbidden Zone, but the speaker noticed him and quickly turned away without saying more.

There is a wide avenue all around the walls of the Forbidden Zone. To cross it without getting spotted, we hired someone to create a disturbance. Efink used some spell, I think he said that it was a minor spell called Ghost Sound, to add to the distraction. Gawain and Dayerth snuck across, before Gawain climbed up the wall. Dayerth disappeared and reappeared on top of the wall. They lowered a rope to pull me up, as I never did learn to climb. They pulled up the other two before the patrol reached us and we were inside the Forbidden Zone.

Efink said that the Shadow Fell overlaps the Forbidden Zone and that could cause us to see and hear things that were not there. I certainly hope that the things I glimpsed do not exist.

We had to clamber over rubble on our way to the old manor house. The streets were practically choked with it.

We finally reached the Thantarem family manor; it was little more than charred rubble. Part of the exterior walls still stood but no more than that. The gardens were reduced to mud and dead trees; they must have been beautiful once, if a little tame. Dayerth found a shrine to Tymora in the garden. I helped him to clean it up. Gawain and Efink also loaned a hand.

Dayerth and Gawain found the vault entrance and cleared it out. Efink was able to help them but I was able to do little of any assistance. Such rubble did seem to promise that no one else had looted the vault since the family left.

The entrance was a set of double doors, but they had been smashed open. The rubble half filled a pit behind the doors. Gawain spotted something odd about some of the floor tiles and recommended that we avoid them. Statues once lined the hall of the vault, but only seven remained intact. Gawain, with his keen eyes, spotted something in the pit behind the door. It hissed and headed towards us.

[the following is in combat rounds as I took the notes]

1. Gawain reached the edge of the pit and managed a keen throw with his hand axe, hitting the creature. I pulled out a crossbow, but I missed. Dayerth got to the pit and he marked the little thing. Efink joined him and hit the wall with Frost Ray. He said it was some kind of homunculus. It flew out of the pit, next to Dayerth, who missed it anyway. It tried to do something to him but failed. Another one came out of one of the niches in the wall and dazed Efink, who claimed that he could no longer see what had attacked him. Longtom cursed the winged little creature and hit it with dark crackling energy.

2. Gawain reached the construct, getting clawed for his pains. He hit it twice, a blow that he called Twin Strike, and the second blow destroyed it. I missed again. Dayerth reached the other construct and used his Swordburst but missed it. He marked it anyway. An Iron Cobra appeared in the light shed by our sunrod. Efink cast Magic Missile and hit it. The remaining homunculi somehow attacked Dayerth, leaving him dazed. Efink said that the things attack the mind. Longtom circled the pit, cursed the little thing and eldritch blasted it.

3. Gawain joined Dayerth, by the homunculi, marked it as his hunter’s quarry, before carefully attacking with his battleaxe. My bolt hit the iron cobra but just bounced off its scales. Dayerth recovered from whatever the homunculi had done to him. The cobra bit him. Something else attacked him, leaving him dazed and confused [another iron cobra, outside the reach of our lights]. Efink cast Ray of Enfeeblement on the iron cobra, in vain, so he cast Ray of Frost on it [1 Action Point]. He was able to see the homunculi again as it shifted over and mind-zapped Longtom. Longtom cursed the iron cobra, blasted it and used vampiric embrace, at least that is what I think he called it. Both the cobra and Longtom were bloodied by that point.

4. Gawain finished off the small winged homunculi. The first cobra bit me as I went to Dayerth’s aid. He suffered from the poison damage and hacked into the cobra. It did something to my mind, leaving me dazed and slowed. The other cobra bit Gawain, deeply [crit]. Efink cast Ray of Frost with his orb to keep the cobra slowed. Longtom cursed the second cobra.

5. Bloodied Gawain twice [1 AP] used his Twin Strike to attack the second cobra; he missed the first two blows but the second two both hit. One blow cut deeply into the thing’s scales [crit]. I used Healing Word on Dayerth, leaving him unbloodied. He caught his second wind and recovered from the effects of the poison. The second cobra charged Longtom; it passed me but I missed it. Longtom recovered from the snake’s poison.

6. Gawain continued with his double blows as he flanked the cobra and hit both times. I moved out of the way and recovered from what the snake had done to me (poisoned, slowed, & dazed). Dayerth marked the second cobra and also recovered. The second cobra shifted out of flank and bit Dayerth. The first one used its mind attack on Longtom but failed to do anything to him, so it backed off. Efink’s spell went wild. Longtom used hellish rebuke but missed. He moved and also recovered from the poison.

7. Gawain used his Careful Strike on the second cobra. I breathed across the first cobra but my lightning failed to do anything. Dayerth’s sword blow destroyed the second cobra and he joined me. The first cobra attacked me again with its mind trick, leaving me slowed and dazed again. Efink’s Magic Missiles missed. Longtom moved to hide in the shadow of a statue. He then managed a keen shot with his eldritch blast [crit] and destroyed the remaining cobra. Longtom investigated the skeleton that was caught on one of the statues. He found some valuables; trinkets really. Someone had been down here after all. But whoever it was did not leave again.

8. Gawain climbed past the statue and looked for a control panel. I caught my second wind. Dayerth stepped past the odd floorstones to help Gawain look. Efink and Longtom caught their second winds.

9. Gawain tried to work the panel that he found. I used Healing Word on Dayerth. Those of us not working on the panel shoved a statue so that we would have to try and climb over them.

10. Gawain fell into the pit as he went to retrieve his axe. He climbed back out safely and without help.

We took a short rest before continuing on into the vault; taking the time to heal.

The vault doors were unlocked and the vault itself was a respectable size. It was quite dusty with crates and wrapped art scattered around the room. Dayerth used the scroll of Tenser’s Floating Disk that our employer gave us and we stacked crates and large valuables on it until it could hold no more. Gawain kept watch until we finished the loading..

Everything went smoothly until we left the vault.

1. Three ghostly soldiers blocked our way and two of them attacked Gawain and Dayerth. Although only Gawain is hit; both are marked. Dayerth’s Swordburst hit the pair, marking the one facing Gawain. Gawain used Dire Wolverine Strike to hit both ghosts; striking sharply enough (crit) to bloody the one in front of Dayerth. A specter came half through the wall and sent out a burst of energy [Spectral Barrage]. It hit me, Longtom, Dayerth and Gawain; knocking us down. I tried to channel Silvanus to turn them away but only mildly damaged them [miss]. Longtom stood up and backed off. One of them hit him but he managed to hide (1AP) and Flames [daily spell] sharply [crit]. Efink cast Flame Sphere on the ghost fighting Gawain.

2. Both ghost soldiers were bloodied by this point, and both were burned. They continued to attack Dayerth and Gawain. After hitting Dayerth the ghost shifted back, allowing the third one to take his/its place. Luckily, the new one’s swing missed the eladrin. The last one hit Gawain, though. Dayerth stood up and used his Swordburst again, but he only hit the bloodied one facing Gawain. Gawain stood and used his Jaws of the Wolf attack on the ghost soldier, tagging it as his quarry. The specter called skeletons forth and retreated back into the wall as it burned. Two skeletons attacked Longtom and two more attacked Efink. Only one managed to land a blow on the half-elf, but the wizard was struck by both. I breathed over the skeletons but only destroyed one, hurting Efink. I used Healing Word on him, enough that he was no longer bloodied. Longtom cursed a skeleton and then retreated. All three swung at him; one managing to catch him off balance [crit]. He hit them with Scorching Burst but only hit one. Efink shifted and maintained his Flame Sphere. One skeleton swung at the wizard as he cast scorching burst on the farther two, but he missed.

3. The flaming sphere destroyed one ghostly figure but both Gawain and Dayerth were hurt by this point. Dayerth’s sword burst missed but Gawain’s twin strike hit both ghosts. The specter was burned by the sphere but landed a glancing blow on Gawain [min dmg]. I prayed for Sacred Flame to hit the specter as a skeleton clawed me. Longtom caught his second wind and cursed another skeleton. Efink maintained his sphere but missed the skeleton, but his [1 AP] scorching burst destroyed one.

4. The flaming sphere continued to burn the soldiers, who hit the two in the front line. Dayerth marked the specter and used his swordburst again, hitting the bloodied ghost. Gawain’s Twin Strike missed but he [1 AP] caught his second wind. The specter landed a blow on Gawain but Dayerth blocked the damage. I used my last Healing Word to tend Efink’s wounds. The skeletons hit us both. Longtom used Vampiric Embrace on the third soldier, I’m not certain how that works on a ghost, as the specter and a skeleton hit him. Efink continued to keep his sphere burning and used it to attack and destroy the wounded ghost, before he moved it to where it would burn the skeletons.

5. A ghost soldier landed a solid blow [crit] on Dayerth, who caught his second wind and [1 AP] used his Whirling Blade attack on it and the specter. He bloodied the soldier as he shifted toward the shrine. Gawain hit the specter with both of his Twin Strikes, but it followed Dayerth, going invisible. I caught my second wind. The flame sphere destroyed the skeleton as Longtom cursed the soldier and his hellish rebuke smote it [crit]. Efink was burned by his own sphere before he moved it to flank the soldier; it burned the ghost to vapor.

With our undead foes vanquished or vanished we rested before heading for the wall. We made all possible speed and surprisingly managed to cross back into the city without attracting attention.

During the voyage, Dayerth made a copy of a map that we found in the goods. We returned to Deskar and delivered the crates and artwork to merchant Thantarim. He rewarded us and we went our separate ways.

Introducing my first 4 LFR Characters

Lannashika aka Lani, Denar, Idril Taralom, & Black Raspberry Chocolate Tracks (& Jasmine, but I haven't played her yet) are my first four characters in Living Forgotten Realms, in order.

Lannashika, called Lani so other people have something that they can actually pronounce, is a half-elf feypact warlock, aka feylock.

She's from Aglarond, from a primarily half-elf village near the Yuirwood. Both her parents are half-elves but she always felt a strong connection to her fey heritage. She has violet eyes and coppery hair, wrapped around her head in coiled braids, held by an ornate stick, aka her wand. In battle she pulls out her wand, allowing her waist-length braids to fall loose. She's only 17, so she's still a little young for adventuring. She's only 5'5" tall but is a solid 140#.

Her spells, while as lethal as any other warlock, have a somewhat whimsical appearance. Her eldritch blast appears variously as brightly colored butterflies with sharp fanged mouths, pretty pink blossoms with razor-edged petals, needle tipped willow leaves, brightly colored feathers with slashing vanes, and so forth.

She's a bit impish and always on the lookout for a good prank. She sort of worships Corellon, as much as any other god, but she herself is unaligned. She's sneaky, carrying a staff but wearing leather armor (wizards carry staves but don't wear armor, usually).

Denar is a somewhat atypical dragonborn. She's an unaligned cleric of Silvanus, while few dragonborn are clerics at all.

She's also from Aglarond, an orphan found by elf rangers when she was a toddler. She was covered with blood. Tracking her back, they found the slain bodies of her family. They called her Denar, for thepale gold color of her eyes. She was raised in a mixed elf/human village. She wears a bone and tooth necklace, the only clue to the identity of her family.

Her skin is greenish-yellow of new leaves. Her height, six feet and fives inches is average for dragonborn as is her weight of 220#. Her hide color to the contrary, she breathes lightning.

While she had a happy childhood, mostly, with her adoptive parents, part of her yearns to connect with her history. Part of her, the part raised by elf rangers, wants to protect nature and help. The dragonborn part of her nature tells her to prove herself in battle.

Idril Taralom is an eladrin wizard from Luruar. She was a scholar, happily studying magic amongst other of the so-called moon elves, when her community was hit by Netherese raiders. The death of her husband and two children hit her hard. She was so withdrawn afterwards, that her brother, in desparation, suggested that she turn to adventuring.

It would have the combined benefit of getting her involved and active, as well as getting her away from the site of so many memories. While she is attractive as any eladrin, she is somewhat cold and remote in her dealings with other people.

While her fair skin, silver hair, and pale blue eyes are not uncommon among eladrin; they combine to give her an icy appearance. Her spells only reinforce that, even her Cloud of Daggers spell appears as sharply pointed icicles and sharpened daggers of ice. She is tall, at 5'10" as many eladrin are; dressed in robes of dark brown and green, trimmed in white; like a snow-touched pine forest.

Black Raspberry Chocolate Tracks is possibly insane. If so, then so is her entire family. At some point in their history, some patriarch or matriarch in the family somehow convinced the rest of the halfling clan that they are drow. Now they all either believe, or pretend to believe, that they are very short drow.

With the release of the new character creation guide, we have formed an adventuring company; House Tracks. Now we have a game benefit for our roleplaying fun.

Black Raspberry Chocolate usually goes by Black or Raspberry, never Chocolate. She's on the tall side for a member of her family at 4'1" and heavy at 75#. Frankly, she's a bit of a thug, with a mace etched with the name "Kneebreaker." Her skin is smeared with black and a scarf covers her hair, except a white ponytail emerging from the back.

Her figure is well-outlined in tightly laced black leather armor. If anyone wonders why she's so short for a drow, she gestures with the cheroot in its ornate silver and black holder, commenting in a snarky voice, 'I smoke too much.' She moved to East Rift with one of her cousins early in her life. The entire Tracks family may be found in almost any country, as they have no set residence.

When she calls upon any god, she calls upon Kelemvor. She sometimes complains her white sheep of a younger brother, Ruddy Mint Chocolate. She did her best to steer him along family lines; beheading his favorite dolls for example. Instead he became a good cleric. She sometimes wonder what she did wrong.

Jasmine is my fifth character. I have not played her yet. So far she's only a human fighter. That's it. If I create and play another character before I play her, she might become my 6th character.