Campaign: Dominion of Adventure 6/4/2023

Bit of landmark this week, it’s Episode 50 in the ongoing comedy caper known as The Renegades in the Dominon of Adventure – Fighting Fire with Fireballs (working title…)

The party sequestered themselves in a local tavern on the main square in Aavaavcan, keeping a watchful eye over the town’s monolith while they ate and chatted with the innkeeper about the recent troubles. Their Dragonborn companion appeared troubled throughout the meal and eventually Balasaar pulled himself to his feet and announced that the murder of Amberclad was weighing heavily on his mind and he would be leaving the party and returning to see if he could continue Amberclad’s work in tracing the lost key stones and his ancestor dragon. The mood was sombre as the party bade their farewells to the Dragonborn, even Luther seemed sad to be loosing their longstanding and stalwart companion.

“So what now?” asked Luther after Balasar had teleported back to Yucan

“We press on to Coatlan Sqiure” announced Navarro with his typical enthusiam, slapping his young Squire heartily on the shoulder

“But we finish breakfast first” put in Dorian, adding “….it’s uhhh, Helm’s will” when he noticed some of the looks he was getting from the other more keen members of the party.

The tramp of mailed feet announced the arrival of one of the Legions pouring into the main square and forming up in well disciplined phalanxes around the central monolith, Luther asked the innkeeper if this was the local garrison but the man explained that he’d never seen these troops before and was unable to offer an explanation as to their sudden arrival.

“Looks like you’re up” said Gunnar patting Navarro on the shoulder and gently propelling him towards the tavern door, not that the paladin needed much encouragement to speak with other military men.

They left the inn and approached the closest troop, learning that they had been stationed at Coatlan as part of the besieging forces and had finally been relieved and travelled to Aavaavcan for some much needed rest and recuperation. The party went in search of their Captain while Iivan sought out the wizard who had been supporting them and was able to use the monoliths to bring the unit out of the siege and back to Aavaavcan.

The Captain surprised everyopne by immediately recognising Luther, somewhat to Navarro’s chargrain and was more than happy to give them as much news of Coatlan as he could in return for Luther playing for his men to soothe their woes – something the half elf was more than happy to agree to, even going so far as promising to write a special song for the Captain’s wife, another of his devoted fans. Navarro explaining to the Captain that Luther was in fact his squire, unusually Luther seemed happy to let the comment slide despite the Captain’s obvious disbelief that such a talented bard was in military service with the Everwatch Knights. Having played for the troops Luther bowed and stepped down from the supply wagon he’d employed as a makeshift stage for his performance – the troops rapturous applause echoing round the town square like thunder. Milking the adulation as only a bard knew how Luther was favouring the crowd with yet another elaborate bow when his sharp eyes caught a hint of movement by the monolith….he gasped as he saw Fayd followed by a mixed group of Dwarves and Elves slip toward the monolith before activating it and vanishing. Cutting his encore short he found his companions and explained what he’d seen

“We need to follow them, now” he said looking to Gunnar and Dorian for support

“No, we need to get to Coatlan” stated Sylas flatly, clearly irritated by the proposed distraction “It’s a waste of time, even if it was this Fayd you saw he could have gone anywhere through that thing”

“I saw the sigil they used – we can follow them if we go now” explained Luther frantically

“I’d like to see Fayd again” said Gunnar quietly “I’ve got some questions for him” he added thoughtfully

“Yeah, like why isn’t he still were we buried him” said Iivan, returning from his discussion with the Legion’s war wizard and earning a sharp look from Luther

Surprisingly, it was Hamlet who then took charge, signalling for the group to hold hands as he powered up the Monolith and launching them into the strange non space of the Nearith Transport Network. They stumbled out of the strange rushing tunnel into another town square and to the unmistakable sound of several crossbows being cocked.

“Stay where you are!” bellowed a voice and they saw they were surrounded by a unit of very tense and well armed soldiers, a dozen cross bows aimed unwaveringly at their chests

“I am Sir Navarro, have these men stand down”

“Navarro? Then you are the Renegades of Yucan?” asked the man seemingly in command

“Yes, and we are here to bring a murderer to justice – tell me, where did the others who came through the monolith go?” snapped Navarro

“We don’t know Sir, they appeared but then went back through the magic stone before we could stop them”

“And did you manage to see what rune they used?”

“No Sir Knight, we’re just the town guard, we don’t know about such things” stammered the guard, clearly in awe of Navarro’s reputation. The Renegades debated trying to fire up the monolith and explore the local netword further in search of Fayd and his companions but it was clear that the trail was going cold and they had pressing business to attend to in Coatlan. Learning they were now in the town of Ixcallanci, and still several days march from Coatlan they asked the locals the quickest way to reach Coatlan, discovering that despite the recent troubles there was still a busy trade route along the river and they’d likely be able to find a vessel heading to resupply the army there and most of the river traders would be happy to take them in return for gold or a little extra protection.

Eventually they found a captain who was willing to take them on board, Hamlet negotiating a fee of 20 gold and the offer of their services should the vessel encounter any threats on the journey. An exorbitant fee in Navarro’s eyes but he restrained himself and allowed his second in command to make the arrangements. With the boat leaving first thing in the morning they had nothing else to do but wait, most of the party splitting their time between one of the local taverns and browsing the local shops for supplies. Luther however was true to his word and after spending some time studying his mother’s book with Gregg, whose magic ring seemed to allow him to translate some of the Nearith words composed a song and teleported back through the monolith to Aavaavcan and delivered the song to the grateful Captain they’d met earlier that day.

The next day the party rose early, and headed for the docks as agreed to begin their journey to Coatlan. The boat they would use was in truth more of a shallow drafted river barge. The captain, a weather beaten man in his middle years introduced his crew and explained that a place had been prepared for them at the bow of the vessel to stow their gear and sleep. The pleasantries done away with the party followed the man onto his ship. Gunnar boarded the vessel with mixed feelings, he’d experienced a lot since he’d last volunterily boarded a boat and even a river going barge was bringing back some unpleasant memories. He shuddered, and a tingling sensation almost like magic ran through him as he stepped onto the gangplank.

“Errr Gunnar, you uhh just changed colour again” said Hamlet from behind him, and sure enough the puzzled half orc looked down to see that his normally greenish skin was now jet black. Before he could form a reply he was interrupted by a small crash of thunder as a very small thundercloud materialised above his head and began to drench him in his very own private rainstorm, singing his eyebrow with a tiny flash of lightening for good measure.

“Just great” he muttered and shoulders slumped plodded towards the bow of the ship in silence.

“What’s up with him?” asked Hamlet

“Oh don’t mind him, he’s always got a face like thunder” quipped Iivan

“Yeah, he’s only happy when it rains” added Luther, then paused – convinced that was the title of a song he’d once heard….he shook the thought from his head, it was probably just garbage anyway.

Another small roll of thunder sounded from the bow, a flash and a growled curse implied a small lightening bolt had earthed itself on the onyx half orc again

“He’s been…..Thunderstruck” added Dorian with a grin as he pushed past Hamlet with his gear.

One of the crew, a dour human male named Travis appeared from the direction of the bow, his clothes drenched despite the clear blue skies “Why does it always rain on me?” he grumbled as he passed the group carrying a coil of sodden rope sternwards. The crew untethered the barge from the docks and under the captain’s watchful eyes the vessel moved slowly out into the wide river and began it’s slow passage toward Coatlan.

The rest of the day passed without incident, a steady stream of other boats travelling the river laden with goods and the occasional peal of thunder and cursing from Gunnar was the only break to the monotony of their slow but steady progress. As dusk fell the crew moored the barge against the riverbank and the Captain asked whether the party would stand watch through the night so his crew could rest and then they could sleep on the boat the following day. Hamlet agreed to this request and they agreed on who would take watch in shifts through the night. After a shared meal with the crew most of them turned in for the nigth, Luther and Gregg going ashore to take the first watch, the druid summoning a warming fire into existence as they settled down. The night dragged slowly and Luther and Gregg grew steadily more tired, but the druid seemed on edge and began pacing the ground around their fire

“Relax, we’re miles from the fighting here, and I haven’t heard anything out there that sounded dangerous” said Luther looking up from his mother’s book at the tense human

“Yes, I’ve not heard anything here – where are the animals? Where are the birds?” replied Gregg, eyes straining to peer into the darkness, a worried frown on his face. Before Luther could reply a spear flew out of the darkness and struck the bard, causing him to cry out in pain. Gregg whirled round and was hit by another spear thrown from the darkness. Clutching at his wound he saw the spear vanish and then a hulking shape stepped into the light of their campfire

“Remember me little one?” growled an unnatural voice “it’s time for you to scream for me again” it grinned and lashed out at Luther again with inhuman speed it’s spear blade dripping with the bard’s blood once again as it closed the distance to the pair in the blink of an eye. To Gregg it looked like a Tiefling, but one as large and heavily muscled as an ogre – a shimmering glow seemed to cover it and it’s eyes screamed murder as they locked onto the injured man. Summoning the moon’s power Gregg called down a moonbeam onto his foe, but with a gesture the creature seemed to disrupt the druid’s connection to nature and the light flickered and died, Luther scrambled for cover as the beast threw itself at the shocked druid, burying it’s giant spear in the man’s chest as it moved to follow Luther. As Gregg crumpled to the ground in agony he could hear the rest of his companions running to their aid but it was too late, the night seemed to darken even further as he slipped into unconsiousness. Roaring as he leapt the campfire Gunnar slashed his sword at the beast’s back, cutting into it’s glowing flesh but seeing strange sigils flowing beneath the skin instead of blood. Hamlet, sent two powerful blasts of energy crashing into it’s back as he joined the fray. Dorian, Sylas and the others rushed into the fight but none of them wore their usual armour – having been roused from sleep to this crisis. Luther dashed through the trees trying desperately to escape the demon hunting him, Dorian used Helm’s power to revive Gregg as the others desperately attacked the demonic Tiefling. The Demon’s rage and strange aura seemed to allow it to shrug off blows that would have surely felled an ogre as it battled with the Renegades through the dark trees of the riverbank. Eventually, they managed to wear down it’s defences and it vanished, bellowing a final threat to Luther as it faded into nothing.

Battered and bleeding the others gathered to tend their wounds

“What the hell was that thing?” panted Gregg as Dorian tried to stem the blood still flowing from the deep cuts he’d suffered

“It’s the Hunter again” offered Luther, before explaining that they’d encountered the creature before and it was somehow tied to their fallen comrade Fayd’s trials

“But Fayd’s dead? Why would it be coming after you now?” asked Gregg, but Luther said nothing – instead staring into the darkness around them watching for the beast to return.