| Game Master: System: Date: | Ken Dungeons & Dragons 5e Homebrew Campaign 29th Sep 2022 |
| Characters: | Fayd – Half Orc Barbarian Gunnar Orcsson – Half Orc Barbarian Jaraziah Grimm – Human Cleric (On Hiatus) Iivan – Drow Rogue/Fighter Balasar Aurumingis – Dragonborn Sorcerer Luther Merton – Half Elf Bard Navarro – Half Elf Paladin Hamlet – Half Elf Warlock Dorian Hammerbeard – Dwarven Cleric Tad Hemlock – Halfling Bard (Retired) Tianzi – Half Elf Sorlock (Retired) Yorhorn – Half Elf Paladin (Retired) |
Resting in their attic room most of the party were sleeping, Luther and Dorian were huddled together watching the Promise while Iivan sat frozen in the strange trance like state that passed for sleep among his kind. Fayd twitched in his sleep, drawing Luther’s attention away from the orb as debated whether he should check on his friend or continue to feign the indifference he’d employed since their fight.
“Uh, Luther” hissed Dorian, snatching Luther’s attention back to the Dwarven Cleric “is that normal?” they asked pointing to the magical orb they were guarding. Luther gaped as he watched a tendril of….mist or maybe it was smoke rising out of the hairline crack on the spherical stone from where Iivan had thrown it at the monolith.
“Nothing’s normal about that thing” Luther muttered in reply, in silence they both watched as the strange vapour extended, moving slowly despite there being no breeze or draft to explain it’s movement. Slowly is began to head towards the sleeping form of Fayd, almost as if it was searching out the half orc somehow.
“What should we do?” whispered Dorian, but Luther merely shrugged unsure what…if anything, they could do. Luther slowly moved to get a better view as the strange miasma reached Fayd and began drifting towards his head. The vapour reached Fayd’s nostrils and was inhaled by his breathing, tensing Luther hovered over the barbarian but he didn’t wake or suffer any obvious ill effects so Luther relaxed and returned to his seat. They continued to watch the stone and the drifing smoke carefully, Fayd whimpered in his sleep and began to twitch and stir, probably having a bad dream thought Luther before returning to his silent vigil.
Time ticked by, when their eyes were drawn to the window which was slowly being eased open, senses straining to see what might be causing the window to open Luther and Dorian exchanged a worried glance but neither could discern anyone or anything by the window. Hamlet’s strange cat Keving was arching his back and staring from the window to the pair of adventurers meaningfully. Luther crept to the window and peered out, by the dim light he could make out 3 shapes squatting in the courtyard below them, he couldn’t make out details but it was clear from their stance that these 3 creatures were werewolves of somekind, the smallest of the trio might have dwarven blood but all 3 were staring fixedly up at the window. A sound from behind them announced Fayd climbing out of his bed, when Luther glanced back the three figures had vanished into the shadows.
“Fayd? You ok buddy?” asked Luther, Fayd turned and looked at him but didn’t seem to register the words “Fuck, Wake up Gunnar” muttered Luther, Dorian nodded and hastily crossed the room and shook the other half orc awake
“Wuuught the fuck?” groaned Gunnar, hand blindly flapping and grasping for a weapon before he focused on the worried Dwarven face above him
“Fayd’s up” explained Dorian “…but he’s not himself”
Gunnar nodded and hauled himself upright, padding across the room towards Fayd he saw the younger orc was moving toward one of the windows, Luther tugging futilely at his arm and hissing at him to go back to bed. Still not entirely awake Gunnar planted himself between Fayd and the window
“Fayd, what’s up?” he asked
“Nothing, I’m just going out for a breath of fresh air” replied Fayd, or at least his mouth moved and the sounds came from him but the tone and accent of the voice were totally alien.
Gunnar looked at Luther and Dorian in confusion, recieving equally confused looks in return. Unsure what was wrong with his friend Gunnar moved to grab Fayd and keep him away from the window but his sleep fuddled reactions were no match for the sinewy barbarian who batted his hands away and slipped past him, leaping without pause or hesistation out of the window and sliding down the roof scattering a loose tile, it’s noise the only sign of his passing.
“Fayd!” cried Luther dashing for the window
Grunting, Gunnar squeezed his bulky frame through and leapt out of the window after Fayd, who was somehow already out of sight. Gunnar moved with all the grace of Iivan leaping across rooftops as he slammed into the tiles of the roof on his arse, and began sliding rapidly toward the edge of the roof
“Oh shiiiiiit” he cried as Luther saw him drop over the lip of the roof and crash into the courtyard below with a loud thump. The half elf followed him swifly, but no more gracefully, crashing into him as he struggled back to his feet.
A scrabbling sound above them announced the arriveal of Hamlet, grinning with self confidence he flew off the roof and began casting a spell, he slammed into the cobbles before teleporting across the courtyard on his face
“Nailed it” he husked before slumping back to the ground in pain.
Luther was scanning the streets for any sign of Fayd’s passage, but the only clue was the sound of scattered howling coming from distant parts of the city. A howl errupted behind him and he span round to see Gunnar trying to howl at the moon
“What the fuck are you doing?” asked Luther, rubbing his ear
“They’re talking to each other, maybe Fayd’ll hear it and come back?” explained the barbarian patiently. But no answering cry came and the courtyard remained frustratingly werewolf free. Hamlet, stalked past them muttering back to the inn, the effect only slightly ruined by the slight limp as he favoured his left ankle after his rooftop tumble. Luther approached a band of late night revellers to see if they’d seen Fayd pass, Gunnar waiting for a while just to make sure the young bard wasn’t about to be mugged then headed back to the room to sleep. Finding Hamlet engaged in what seemed like a one sided argument with his pet cat Gunnar climbed into his bed and buried his head under the pillow before falling asleep.
The following morning they were debating the nights events when a blood splattered Fayd burst into the room
“Hamlet! You need to clean this off me” he cried, the warlock bagan to use his magic to remove the blood and viscera from the shaken half orc’s body
The others questioned Fayd about his whereabouts but the young orc once again had no memory of his nocturnal adventures but they all agreed that something needed to be done to protect the young orc from himself. To which end Gunnar, Luther and Fayd planned to visit the Grand Library in search of answers while Balasar and Dorian would be continuing their own research projects. Hamlet seemed more interested in taunting Kevin and Navarro felt he’d had enough of libraries for the time being and once all their plans were made gave a rousing speech to aid his troops, much to Hamlet’s chagrin and they all set off on their way.
Gunnar and Fayd were not at home in the scholarly surroundings of the great libraries but between them and the staff they were able to start piecing together some of the history and myths behind Fayd’s challenges. Meanwhile Luther found one of his mother’s books and it seemed to be enchanted in some way as after wrestling with the text he somehow absorbed some of her insights and wisdom from the pages….which then vanished, prompting him to sneak out of the library in case anyone noticed the book was missing.
While Navarro enjoyed a lesiurely luncheon at the inn Hamlet went shopping for fish and two different types of milk in an attempt to apologise to his cat Kevin. However, the cat, as is so often the case with his kind remained aloof – scorning the offering and instead accepting meat from Navarro’s repast pointedly. Enraged, Hamlet stalked back to his room, sensing his deputy was unhappy Navarro arranged for a bottle of liquour to be sent up to their room, a gift that Hamlet spent the rest of the day sampling. Across town Iivan was researching poisons that might aid him in combat and Balasar continued to research evocation magic in the hope he might learn new ways to channel his power. Dorian discovered that the blight which was afflicting some of his family might be linked to a rare mineral called Necrodurlium which they mined, a risky profession but one vital to the functioning of Dwarven society as it was used in the manufacture of their airships and was incredibly powerful when used to create magical items.
Navarro went for a stroll around the city after his lunch, the paladin was feeling good – the sun was warm, the food had been good and best of all….he wasn’t having to read any dusty old books. Spying an attractive red haired lady he swept low into a lavish bow and bid her good day, she smiled and thanked him but continued on her way before he could lay on his full charm and woo the fair maiden. Still, he shrugged to himself, plenty of time for that before the festival finished. It never crossed his mind that she bore more than a superficial resemblance to the notorious criminal and focus of Iivan’s lust Starling…though Navarro was singlularly blessed with a freedom from unwanted distractions in general so perhaps this was to be expected. His indifference was in stark contrast to Iivan, who was constantly scanning the crowds for such threats – giving chase to anyone who remotely matched her description. Balasar suffered his own woman problems, though in his case it was a lusty kobold storekeeper he’d encountered his proud bearing making an impression on the smaller dragonborn.
In the evening the party gathered for the nights competitions, Gunnar was facing a fighter named Chad the Winged Warrior and after a hard fought bout was able to progress to the quarter finals by virtue of a late round knock out. Fayd joined him in the next round after crushing his opponent with a demonstration of skill and savagery in the opening rounds. Luther also progressed in the festival of music, out performing a Tabaxi bard comfortably to secure his place in the quarter finals.