Game Night! Episode 6: The Book That Cannot Be Opened Part1 (Recap part 2)

Long time no post I know, but it seems that finals and holidays are very high-level monsters. The last game was quite some time ago and pictures are going to be uploaded soon. The recap is simple. I bought the collectors set of beholders and thought I need a dungeon for the heroes to go in to that is as old as time and maybe not as advanced as some others. Also I need this to be very different than what they have encountered so far. I made a VERY linear dungeon, no halls, really simple. One room leads to the next. And each room had a puzzle based door and a beholder. The beholder set was perfect! I just made them go up against them one after another. They did really well till the last one and things went south. Actually I SPLIT THE PARTY! The last room was a portal door. That would take you to the room you think of. Not my idea I just lifted it from somewhere and the best part was there were four rooms in this dungeon and they did not know what would happen when they went in to the portal so one player went honey badger style and walked in to the portal. “Roll a D6” I said. On a roll of 1-2 they were told to place their miniature in room one, then on a roll of 3-4 in room 2, and finally on a roll of 5-6 in room 3. They did this for a while till the honey badger style player (who has a pet honey badger) said I want to think of the next room. And suddenly he was face to face with a Beholder Eye Tyrant. Long story short a beholder followed them in to the portal and ended up in room 1. Other players were there and one decided he would attack one of his party members with very little explanation and NO roll playing that could have saved his life. The other players decided they would play their characters as accurately as possible. Unfortunately this meant they would take out the possible threat. (In the past remember the doppelganger in the party Episode 2: All hands point to the seed. pt 3 ) the player was hit for a huge amount of damage bringing him to dying status and he was then beheaded by a player using a executioner's ax.  That was not the end so UNTIL NEXT TIME HEROS!...

I love this Bloger/DM called the Loony DM

A fantastic blog post! I highly suggest reading this Bloger/DMs stuff! http://looneydm.blogspot.com/2011/10/killer-dms.html

This is the stuff I read that makes me want to do more with this blog.

Game Night! Episode 6: The Book That Cannot Be Opened Part1 Recap

Our hero’s gather in the tavern to decide what step to take next. The map was marked with the locations of the book and where the gems are. They quickly decide to take the seed to the scar and plant it before any more attackers come to steal it, and then they will move on to retrieving the Book That Cant be Opened.

The hero’s arrived in the scar on their new tiger dragon mounts and quickly surmise that the location in a dead valley would be best because of the natural protection and the fact that just outside of the valley there is a small river they can break the wall down on and divert a small amount of water to the seed. The hero’s break it down and water pours in the valley. 1138 mounts up and flys in to the air to keep watch. In the distance, to the south, he sees an army amassing. He warns the party to hurry and plant the seed. They do and instantly it begins to grow at a magically fast pace and spread. Not only the tree but also plants of all sorts begin to grow and the area is becoming green and lush at a high rate. The hero’s had looked over the map and found the location of the Book That Cant be Opened marked by Humblevoice.  They all mounted up and began to fly over toward the location. Passing the army and landing 4 miles southwest in a dense and strangely dark jungle, the hero’s found the entrance to a temple that was as ancient as the world.  The temple reeked of evil and still seemed to beckon them. Until next time hero’s… (I am behind on the recaps and will have them done this week)

DMs letter: Halfway done with game and other notes.

DMs letter: Halfway done with game and other notes.

I was going to write an entirely different “DMs letter to the players” last night when my phone was lit up with messages from players. The Messages I received changed the content of this letter to a large degree.  There are several items of business. I will work on the bad then work my way to the good.

This is intended for Aaron. Where do I start; I will never tolerate sophomoric communication between players, outside of the game, about the game. What I mean by this is, when you talk to others in the hopes of manipulating the situation I don’t appreciate it and nether will others. It will also cause players to not trust each other. Anytime you start a letter with a “don’t tell anyone else” phrase you are asking for trouble and being manipulative. So simply don’t do it. If you can’t say it to others than don’t say it at all. This is not a large problem but I would like it to end the same week it has started.

Yes; there are players who find your incessant talking during their turn extremely aggravating, as do I. You have good games and bad games. The very fact that you have entire games that go very well tells me, through my limited research, that this is not caused by a condition. I guarantee this because, now that I have seen you think things through, you still make the decision to hit another player to save your ass. If it really was a move you thought your character would do fine, but you made no attempt to (as a character) tell Ray’s character you were going to do this. You only said sorry (as a character) after I ruled (as DM) that Ray could attack in return. Then on the Facebook group you showed no remorse for your actions, only indifference in a matter of fact statement. A statement that made me think you planned to take an action similar to this no matter what.  If you truly wanted to play again you would have said you’re sorry in REAL life. To be quite honest since it was apparent to me and the other players your character should have died we did not need you to confirm that. An example of your self-centeredness is; you post on the group page that you’re not upset, WHAT ABOUT RAY! He was upset and rightly so. I also want to point out that in the past I wanted to see what kind of player and possible friend to the group you would be and I ASKED Wane to tell you what he told me about your improvement. Wane was VERY happy how you played the second game. You however returned the praise with a condescending message of superfluous explanation. You stated that you would not be affected as a child would. if you can’t take praise or criticism you will be EXTREMELY miserable for the rest of your life, and that’s a FACT!  I don’t care how old a person is, praise is always needed. It doesn’t mean you’re a child. It means you did excellent and another person is thankful for it. You used the word “disconcerting”, I find it disconcerting that you don’t like to know how you’re doing in others eyes; in your friends eyes. I ask players all the time “how was it” “how am I doing” not because I’m worried about me, but because I truly care about my players and the experience they are having. You have displayed other instances where you showed the group you (the player) only care about yourself.

I was totally in favor of your return, if Heather wanted and agreed to it. I was going to tell her this today, however now with the backdoor text messages and lack of apology on Facebook I think you need to show you care about the friendships at this gaming table and the players as the friends that they could be for life. You know; some people ask “why not play WOW?” or some other game online. They ask “why do you play D&D?”. My answer is simple. The greatest friendships of our time have been and will be forged at the table where you can look at each other, and you have to face both the good and bad as friends. This is what makes GAMERS so amazing! This is what makes them so LOYAL. This is the stuff of legendary friendships! The kind where if I died tomorrow I know for a fact each and every person I have gamed with would be there at my grave! Now that’s not to say we didn’t fight.  We all most certainly disagree from time to time, but we respect each other. I hope sincerely that this has given you some sort of view of a possible new path that an adult can take and one you have not taken.

Do not think for one second I do want you to play, because without players I am no DM!  I DO want you to continue to attend the game. I want you to work toward repairing friendships and socialize. By attending you will also keep the plot fresh in your mind first hand. You will do this until the group votes you back in. by doing this you will have shown the group that this and them mean something to you.  This will also allow me to bring a character in to the game for you. The idea that you and Heather came up with was good, but not how I’m thinking it should go. This is up to you, but if the same things continue I will be a DM and kick you out.

One a final positive note; I’m so very proud of everything else this group has done and how you all have played. I have seen some fantastic character work in game. Remember I will try my best to make all players happy, however I know I don’t always and I’m so thankful I have a very patent group. The original intention of this letter was to let everyone know that we are about half way to the end of this story. The other intention was to convey that this is the best group I have ever had. I’m so happy that I have met you ALL! I look forward to many more nights of KICK ASS GAMING!

Your DM

Erick Main

RIP  Mortgage, level 15 Eladrin, Shadowy Rogue Scoundrel

Episode 2: All hands point to the seed. Pictures

Episode 2: All hands point to the seed.VIDEO

Watch live video from cameraqueen on Justin.tv

Game Night! Episode 4: A Humblevoice Speaks Softly Part1

Game Night! Episode 4: A Humblevoice Speaks Softly Part1

LAST TIME! Xavster Humblevoice raised his hands up to give a big greeting celebrating the success. Suddenly Xavsters’ chest exploded outward and his guts fell to the floor. He stood with an expression of total terror. A shadowy figure raced behind the stage and disappeared to the back of the building in to a shadowy dark hall. The figure was so fast that it was gone before Xavster began to fall lifelessly down to the ground. Mortgage sprang in to action and chased the shadow to the hall where he lost it. With his keen thief abilities he detected a hidden stone door that when opened revealed a 5’x5’ shaft with a ladder going down in to darkness and sewers. Mortgage continued down and discovered a massive smelly sewer system. He proceeded 20 feet forward toward an intersection where he could see a Giant Gelatinous Cube. Inorganic material remains trapped and visible inside the cube’s body. Mortgage raced back to tell the hero’s what he saw. Althaea used a spell that allowed her to communicate with the corpse of Humblevoice for several rounds, and he told them they must plant the seed and they could have all the treasure in the churches coffers, along with a map of great importance.  With revenge on their minds the party decided to tread down to the depths of the sewers and return later for the treasure and map.. Carefully they moved forward toward the Giant Gelatinous Cube. The Cube moved forward with an absent mind bent on devouring the heros. The stout and powerful dwarven brothers , Durgarn and Pancho, jumped in to the fight with Durgarn ending up inside the cube. The team finally landed enough blows to destroy the cube. After looking around they decide to go further in to the sewer to find the shadow. When they carefully enter the next section of disgusting sewer they are surprised by a young female black dragon. The party makes short work of her and found out she was the one who had changed shape and killed Humblevoice. The party kept the dragon parts to sell to the locals and left the sewers. When they reached the passage up they decided to stay down in the very easily guarded sewer for a protected rest giving them 6 hours of sleep they climb back up to the top and discover 15 guards and one commander looking at the body and on guard all around the church. The commander asked the heroes to accompany him to the remarkable 12 story high council hall. There the council explains the Gormack has partially returned and is amassing an army, power, and a new form. With these things Gormack will attempt to find the Doom Hammer and destroy the world, as the heros’ all know it, and enslave all creatures on this plane. The only way to stop him this time is to find the (5) Primal Crystal Dragon Shard Talismans  and insert them in to the cover of the Book That Cannot Be Opened, the oldest known spell book in the world. It is said once the talismans are placed on the slots on the cover the book will open and grant one change to current reality. Nothing from the past can be changed, the council explains, so they are asking for the heroes to wish that Gormack no longer exists and can never return.  The heroes’ were rewarded with a blank credit on items in the city and all the gold from the church along with the map that shows the location of the Book That Cannot Be Opened. The heroes’ are geared up and ready to start the quest of their lives. 

Episode 2: All hands point to the seed. pt 3

After the characters defeated the tree’s guardians, they investigated the chamber fully. The tree of life was clearly ancient. Its bark was crumbling from the trunk, and its twisted branches were splitting from age. They found the seed Because of the life-sustaining energy of the tree; all characters regained the use of one daily power that they previously expended when they took the seed cone.

The Thri-kreen decided they did not trust the PCs with the seed. The Thri-kreen decided that taking the seed back to their homeland was a safer solution. The PCs decided this was not what they were sent there to do so they acted swiftly and killed their leader.  With the leader dead, the remaining Thri-kreen asked to be spared, the PCs agreed and the Thri-kreen began to leave. As they were leaving Kronus the Human Ranger (Waynes Character) began to attack the PCs and back himself in to a defensive position surrounding him self with 15 ft of caltrops. Tealgorthian easily saw that this was actually a Doppelganger and informed his confused party. The Brothers, Pancho and Durgarn, were enraged at this and took the body of the Thri-kreen leader over to the caltrop defensive position and laid it over one section. Using the body to deflect the damage they began their assault on the Doppelganger.  The Thri-kreen, that was leaving, looked at this as an opportunity to reclaim the seed and exact revenge. The rest of the party held off the Thri-kreen attackers as the brothers eliminated the Doppelganger. During the battle a 350lb 6’10” Warforged, Paladin Fighter, came barreling down the stares into the chamber. It was established he was there to exact revenge on the Doppelganger for killing his friend. The party quickly learned he was not an adventurer of many words and instead he used symbols and gestures to communicate. His name was 1138. 1138 had the mark of fingers the party told him what it meant and convinced him to join them for a while. After some searching of the area, the party found A stone box buried at the base of the tree. Inside, a gold cloth is draped around a simple silver headband (a level 10 helm of heroes) and a pair of elven boots. There were also six small stone tablets covered in ancient hieroglyphics. The secret of this writing was lost forever during the Doom Hammer War, but the message can be understood by using the Comprehend Language ritual (from the scroll found earlier in the adventure).

The message reads:

I, Avor Firesworn, do make a record of the end of my days. Gormack’s foul defilers even now besiege our refuge; we shall not last the day. They are driven by hatred we do not understand to eradicate our people from the land. I do not know if other non-humans live still. After the battles in the Fields of Moriaton, I led my band here, where we have lived as beasts, hiding in the ground. We have prayed to Taraskir for guidance and protection but He has not answered our prayers. I no longer believe that He watches over us. Instead, I have chosen to fight evil with evil – I have entered into the blood oath with the Dark One from the Gray beyond. It shall have my eternal soul and those of my brethren but it will grant us the power to protect our sacred Seed even after our deaths against any who try to possess it. Furthermore, I shall hide this record according to the ways of my people in hopes to speak forth to the future as with the voice of dust from the earth. If you find the Seed or the Tree of Life that springs from it and I am not there to protect it, I exhort you to meditate upon the great cycle of Life. I exhort you to ask whether it be wisdom to protect the sources of Life. If you ponder these things in your own heart, with sincere intent, then you will know the truth of them and you will know what to do with the Seed. I, Avor Firesworn, do thus end my record and seal it up.

The party decided to take a short rest and then advance up the stairs to leave.  As they approached the base of the stares the party heard faint noises coming from above. The Rogue, Mortgage, volunteered to use his thieving skills to hide in the shadows and find out what was making the sounds.  When Mortgage never returned the party decided to advance up the stairs and were surprised to find Mortgage at his knees being held hostage by Durok, toil templar and his hellish soldiers. In a mighty voice Durok commands, “Lord Gormack has authority over these lands, and as his agents, we are authorized to collect his belongings. Hand over the seed.” The party sates they do not have the seed. Durok replies, “We know that you retrieved a seed from a primordial tree of life in these ruins. Stand where you are, or die where you are. I truly don’t care which you choose, but I will have the seed.”

 Durok, toil templar (T), 1 human defiler (D), 1 salt golem (S), 5 goliath enforcers (G), 3 kank soldiers (K), 9 goliath toughs (E)

Just like Avor Firesworn and his allies’ centuries ago, they find themselves besieged inside the catacomb by the forces of Gormack, bent on capturing the seed of life. A templar (Durok) accompanied by eighteen soldiers and a salt golem is ready to ambush them when they emerge from underground. The heroes were faced with the alternatives of handing over the seed, or fighting an overwhelming enemy. With the odds stacked against them the hero’s began to hack and slash, trying to fight their way out. The Rogue, Mortgage, took heavy damage along with Durgarn the Slayer. When they were heavily bloodied and the battle turns desperate for the party in just a few turns. All around them was the fury and chaos of battle. Blood from a dozen cuts streamed down their armor. Suddenly, all sound stopped. Everything that was a blur of motion moments before, including them, was locked in place. Even arrows were frozen in mid-flight. Somehow, they were still aware of their surroundings and of the passage of time. An unearthly, metallic message echoes in their minds:

“Your flesh unwinds. Soon, your projection will pass across the barrier to this side. You will not be able to protect the life seed. “Your quest need not end this way. I offer my protection to you, if you desire it. There is a price. Do you accept my aid?”

The players then took some time to ask questions of the voice. Its replies amounted to the following:

“My covenant with you would be this: My shadow will reside near your flesh. When projections are unbound from the flesh, I will be there to collect them. In return, I will confound your enemies so that you might go away from this place. This covenant will bind you for three cycles.” (The entity uses the word “cycles” to mean years.)

 No direct harm will accrue to you from my shadow’s presence. Indeed, when it rides upon you, you will have less reason to fear the son of air, but more fear for air’s daughters.” (In the entity’s parlance, fire is the son of air, while cold and radiance are its daughters.

For every character that accepted the bargain, one enemy creature was stunned for 3 rounds. Each character that accepted the bargain gains resist 2 fire, vulnerable 2 cold, and vulnerable 2 radiant. In addition, characters who accepted the bargain take on an indefinite air of darkness: they cast darker shadows than others around them, fire burns slightly less brightly in their presence, Nothing else sets these characters apart from anyone else visually. The entire party accepted the deal except Krähe Mensch, the bard; she was stead fast with her belief that this was a bad idea. With the amount of players that accepted all the enemies were stunned for 3 rounds and everyone ran for the exit. Once outside they were in a skill challenge to out run Durok and his squad. Three success before 3 failures meant that they would make it to the meeting point where the Coramear Knights awaited their return. Upon there successful rolls the players made it to the Coramear Knights and were taken back to the ancient city of Darnath. The players took the seed to the temple of Xavster Humblevoice. As they entered one person thought they saw a shadow out of the corner of their eye. Inside Xavster was at the temple altar. He raised his hands up to give a big greeting celebrating the success. Suddenly Xavsters’ chest exploded outward and his guts fell to the floor. He stood with an expression of total terror. A shadowy figure raced behind the stage and disappeared to the back of the building in to a shadowy dark hall. The figure was so fast that it was gone before Xavster began to fall lifelessly down to the ground. Mortgage sprang in to action and chased the shadow to the hall where he lost it. With his keen thief abilities he detected a hidden stone door that when opened revealed a 5’x5’ shaft with a ladder going down in to darkness and sewers. Mortgage continued down and discovered a massive smelly sewer system. He proceeded 20 feet forward toward an intersection where he could see a Giant Gelatinous Cube Inorganic material remains trapped and visible inside the cube’s body. UNTIL NEXT TIME HEROS!...

pictures for reference in this D&D module.

Episode 2: All hands point to the seed. pt 2

The party entered a large, natural cavern. A thick carpet of glowing moss covered the floor and walls. The air was cool and sweet with moisture and the smell of flowers. Pools of water stand in shallow depressions, and the party heard water trickling down the walls.

After that; the heroes had some time to explore, then I asked everyone to place themselves on the map where their characters would be in the cavern. 

(Wayne, Aaron, Cheryl, and Ray took on defensive rear positions. As the other players moved toward the passage to the north.

From the dark passage to the north, they heard faint clicking sounds. A thri-kreen with a mottled brown, yellow, and green hide stepped from the shadows and faced you. More thri-kreen were behind it in the tunnel, but it was impossible to

see how many. The one in front spoke in a clicking form of common, saying, “Our clutch has come for the life-seed. Drop your pointed sticks and depart, or we consume your hind-limb meat.”

The thri-kreen was innately suspicious, but they were not immediately hostile. They came to protect the tree of life, and its safety and survival were their only concerns. The Characters negotiated diplomatically and gained useful allies. With more clicking “Our clutch followed the spirit smells to this place. A life seed is here, but its source tree is ancient.”

Upon this success the adventures trekked down the stairs to the next room where they entered the final portion of the ancient refuge and confronted Avor Firesworn.

The spiral stairs opened into a cool, fresh cavern that was blanketed with growing plants. Grass covered the floor and vines clanged to the walls and dangled from the ceiling. Water poured from two small fountains carved in the shape of a lion’s head. A beautiful and ancient conifer tree stood at the far end of the room, and a faint green radiance seemed to emanate from it. In contrast to that idyllic scene, several skeletons stood at attention. Their empty, malevolent eye sockets were turned directly toward the characters. Other forms that seemed to be composed of little more than the desiccated remains of dismembered and mummified arms, legs, and hands drag themselves across the room. Hovering in front of the tree is a humanoid figure. What remains of its flesh and its ancient armor are blackened and charred. Fire crackles from its burnt fingers, and its voice echoes telepathically in your heads. “Doth Gormack still desire to torment us after so long an age? We welcome you, and we shall render unto you the wages of hate that we have nursed these many long years.”

After some try’s at diplomacy, the characters broke in to combat. Not long after the characters, broken and bruised, have just defeated the tree’s guardians.

Episode 2: All hands point to the seed.

:::::::::::::::::: RECAP::::::::::::::::::::

The party arrived almost a day before separately, and they took up room at The Shady Dragon Inn. Someone named Xavster Humblevoice sent word he needed assistance with recovering something of immense importance the night the party arrived. Most of the party woke this morning to screams in the street. After the screams died down, most of the party discovered a mark on their neck. Resembling two red hands closed in fist. They are approximately 3-4 inches big. They tried to wash it of but no matter how hard they scrubbed it wouldn’t come off. Suddenly there is a knock at your door, and a Gnome handed each of them a letter, and bid them good day. The icon, which resembles an oversized, six fingered hand, shows up scratched into doors, burned onto walls, or drawn in the sands of Araleah. When painted, it is yellow or black. No one would ever claim to know where the six-fingered sign comes from, and anyone caught drawing the symbol would be castigated for inviting bad luck. Consequently, the six-fingered sign has a reputation for appearing mysteriously, as a portent of supernatural forces heralding approaching disaster, both natural and supernatural. The six-fingered sign is one of the few superstitions that recur throughout the varied cultures of the city states, and most denizens of the Coramear Region recognize it as a bad omen. For some, it is a warning, urging them to take action in hopes of avoiding calamity. For others, it is an indicator that it is already too late: The community has been marked for disaster.

The letter reads: our master Lord Humblevoice is ready to see you this day he apologizes for the delay please try to arrive around the noon time. He bares answers and gold.

The next day.

You all showed up at the temple of Xavster Humblevoice a very trusted and famous shaman of the Counsel of Coramear.

“The ancients taught us that life always moves in cycles—that from death, life inevitably

springs up again. They were wrong. The defilers taught us that the cycle of life can be

broken, that destruction can be made final. This is why the ancient trees of life were

sacred. They represented a deeper font of life, one that could not be permanently erased

with ease. If one could find such a thing today, it would be a treasure beyond reckoning.”

— Xavster Humblevoice, shaman of the Coramear Counsel.

He explained the history of the mark of the hand; Long ago, when the sorcerer-kings were still solidifying control of their city-states, a powerful blood mage from Altin named Zelemiss stood against the defiling tyrants. So great was the threat posed by the blood mage that the sorcerer-kings set their squabbles aside and briefly united to destroy him. Upon his death, the blood mage uttered a powerful curse upon his enemies, saying that his hand would reach forward through time, and that everything it touched would be purged from the world by his vengeance. Zelemiss words are long forgotten, and the magic he used to cast his curse has dwindled; yet, its embers occasionally fan to flame once again. When they do, a true six-fingered sign appears.

The shaman asked the heroes to find and bring back a seed he has foreseen will repair the damage known as the scar. Great riches and glory has been promised by the Shamon. The party agreed and set out toward the edge of the scar.  

The characters are making their way across the desert when they encounter a supernatural dust storm. Two tembos are trapped in the storm. When the tembos got too close, the primal spirits that created the dust storm used it to trap the tembos, so that they are now battered, bloodied and weak. They attack the characters in a manic rage. Having offered meat to distract the beast Kronus quickly realized the beasts would serve him be better as pelts he could sell. Mortgage and Kronus finished off one beast as Ray, Althaea and Pancho finished off the other beast.  After defeating the beasts, the characters find a formerly buried cave entrance (X) that has been excavated by the storm.

The storm cleared much of the sand from a clump of boulders in the ravine. Among the freshly exposed rocks, you see a green vine pushing up through a crack between the rocks. Looking closer, you see that the crack the vine emerges from what could be the edge of a stone trapdoor, almost perfectly blended into the surrounding stone.

Pancho slammed his hammer in to the stone and opened the chamber. Sunlight streamed in for the first time in millennia. Shortly after the characters advanced into the ancient refuge, they were confronted by some of its undead guardians.

 The sloping entrance leads into a dark chamber. Skeletons litter the floor, and rotted weapons of ancient design are scattered among them. The walls are covered in growing vines. Suddenly, a rasping voice calls out. “Leafnes, ambitmeges of Gormack. We laestan to Avor Faeroath, voo nerians gafolmanug ond his Treow.”

It was translated by the party:

“Be gone, servants of Gormack. We harken to Avor Firesworn, who defends still this refuge and its tree.”

 The party tried to explain they were not there on Gormacks behalf and wanted to bring the seed to the surface to bring life back to the region.  

 One of the wraiths lifts its blade overhead and dips its withered head toward you. It calls out in the ancient tongue, but its voice is distant, and you cannot make out the words. It motions toward the back of the chamber as it fades from view like a wisp of smoke. The other spirit hisses angrily; it’s clear that further negotiation will not succeed with it.

After the battle the party searched the room; while searching among the skeletons

turned up ritual scrolls of Animal Messenger and Comprehend Language as well as two exquisitely carved silver pendants; each portrays a silhouette of a lion’s head and is worth 1,250 gp. With a History check Althaea recalls that ancient cults revered a lion-headed giant named Taraskir who was renowned for wisdom and bravery. At the east end of the chamber, stone fragments on the floor show that two heavy doors were smashed into the corridor beyond untold ages ago. A hallway leads eastward into darkness. The walls are finished and smooth at this end, but gradually they become rough, natural stone. Clusters of thin vines grow out of this corridor, across the chamber, and out the entrance.

 This is where we ended this session…till next time heroes!

Total XP for the entire campaign to date: 7903

The Day After

So I should have taken some before and during pictures but I forgot, because I was having so much fun! next meeting the live feed will be up and more pictures will be taken! I'm also going to build a game table that is much bigger.

Episode 1: When The Road Ends…

DMs thoughts

I just want to say thank you to all who were able to play. The game went very well. New and old players alike played perfectly. I can’t wait for the next meeting two weeks from now, on the 22^nd.  I have some wonderful surprises in store for you all. Below is a brief recap of events!

Recap of events

The players were asked to write there bios before showing up. Each bio was open to the plot point that each player had a character is on their way to the most amazing city in the known kingdoms. The Ancient City of Darnath has the highest walls ever seen, and another curious feature that no living being alive knows is why the walls move on their own. When the city needs room the walls move and expand on their own. It is also the only known non-king state. It has a cabinet of leaders that represent all of the known races. They each had their own reasons for going to the city, but just as they reached the last 150 yards they were attacked by creatures that haven’t been seen in the kingdoms since the Doom Hammer War. You all knew what the creatures looked like from legends. You all stood with courage among those you did not know and fought off the threat, But when it was all over you felt a presence and heard a voice in your heads that said “in the end you will fail”. The voice felt more evil than anything you have ever encountered. You all tended to the civilians and continued on to the city.  

All rewards will be given at the end of the next encounter. 

C

S

I 

W

I       Infernal Armor Animus  13    

W    Wisp Wraith 9

S       Salt Zombie 2

C     Troop Captain ,Elite Skeleton 1

Map Progress and Campaign Name for our D&D game

click for larger size!

The D&D Campaign has a Name and is going to be presented in three parts!

Part I
The Third Age Of Araleah
The Dragon Stones

Part II
The Third Age Of Araleah
The Book That Cannot Be Opened

Part III
The Third Age Of Araleah
Legendary Door Of The Planar Dragons

Short Note On The First Night!

Last night was fantastic! I can’t wait for next week. We picked up a new player and made two characters. For the first time ever I will be in a game with a bard. I think it will be very cool. Soon I will set up the live feed and post a rundown of the players and their characters.  

-E

this will be the home of a summer D&D group.

This information hub will be private to us players, so we can post times and dates here and all kinds of other info here but no addresses or phone #s please. We can do all that through facebook. Soon all final players will be given editing privileges.
side note: The name is not original and was a play on the D&D group called Thursday Knight players. 

Thanks!
Erick Main

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A Brief History Of Araleah.

A Brief History Of Araleah.

Part 1
At the dawn of time there was an all powerful entity. The entity existed on a planet covered entirely in water. The Entity walked on the water covered planet for 1000s of years and one day wanted to change it. With great effort the entity made a land mass that was ¼th the size of the surface of the planet. This almost destroyed it. The entity was not happy with the outcome so it flew up in to the atmosphere and stared down at the land mass for 2145 years. As it stared down each minute made it angrier. Suddenly the entity rushed toward the mass, at the speed of light, and broke it apart. In the impact the entity’s current form was destroyed. The entity broke in to pieces and the peaces formed many things including races as we know them now, magic, metal, dragons and all things that form the world as it is. The entity was never whole again. This entity had also formed gods. The gods were directly from the broken shards of the mind of the entity. Thus the reason gods are driven by one simplistic driving force or concept. 

The races of the land survived and built cities and towns. They served there gods and tried to do the biding of the gods. The gods were so focused on their purpose that they often caused the beings of the world to go to war. There were three major wars. There were so many minor wars that they could not even be counted. The original entity was made of pure good and evil. When the entity was broken up the good and evil that evolved in to the races of the land was mixed together. Some was mixed with more evil than good and some with more good than evil.

Part 2
The entities destruction is known as the “Annihilation Birth”. There have been 5 ages since the Annihilation Birth. The first age was named for the first weapons that were born of magic, The Crystal age. The second age was named for the religious battles that took place, The Faith Age. The third age was called The Reunification Age. The fourth age was named for the massive battle the shook the foundation of existence, The Age of the Scar. The current and fifth age has not been named yet. An age lasts 1000 years. It has been 4234 years since the Annihilation Birth. 
The Annihilation Birth created all things, Including evil and good. All things have some of both in them. It is thought by philosophers and profits that there are some rare things with only good and only evil in their makeup. One such legend that supports this myth is the legend of Gormack the Destroyer. It is known that Gormack created the Doom Hammer in the Age of the Scar. It is also known that seers and other dream travelers have never survived looking in to Gormacks mind. The one seer that was able to speak during an attempt to see in to its mind was able to say the word “Pure” then died. It is not known if the hammer was destroyed in the battle or if it still exists, but Gormack fell in the battle very quickly when it lost the hammer. Some believe it placed its very essence in to the crystal hammer to create it, weakening its earthly body. Others think it was only half of his pure evil essence. Regardless the hammer might still be calling to other evil in the world… wanting to be found.

Part 3
The Coramear Knights were formed during the Doom Hammer War by the kingdom of Darnath . The land of Coramear is primarily Elf, Half- Elf, Human and Orc(Crag Tops are one of the few pure Orc tribes that are nonaggressive to other races) hence there is a large amount of Half-Orc in Coramear. 
The king of the land thought that the battle was going to need not just the simple fighting forces of the past but an elite fighting force to go in and complete special missions. One such mission was “the hunt for Gormack the Destroyer”. They were tasked with finding and killing Gormack. The Coramear Knights were given the most powerful magic items known in the land, including the three Dragons Eye Gems. Part of their training was taming and breaking Tiger Dragons to be used as mounts. 
The dark tower of Gormack the Destroyer was in the south of Avguard. The bulk of Gormack’s armies were still in the area of the tower waiting to be deployed. The knights thought they would have to sneak by them to try to get directly to Gormack. When the knights arrived there they found that Gormack had killed everything surrounding the tower and all of its remaining armies. The knights entered the tower and some went mad just from being there. The knights did not find Gormack. Instead they found a book; the book detailed the method to make the Doom Hammer. Part of the book called for the blood of 50,000 to be used in the making of the hammer. Upon inspection of the main chamber they discovered the hammer was forged. Gormack was already on his way toward the gates of the abyssal plane. The armies gathered in what was called the “Meekla” a massive forest with thick magical power. Meekla was where the scar is now. The forest was the home of several tribes of Eladrin, Dragons, and Elves. When Gormack the Destroyer arrived the armies of the nearby nations gathered and fought bravely and died in mass. The Green dragon of the area was evil, as all green dragons are, but he did not want to lose his home ether so he joined the armies in the fight. The grate green realized this was going to take a measure of enormous effort to kill Gormack the Destroyer. In order to achieve this; the great green slammed himself in to the hammer ripping it from Gormacks hand. When the Coramear knights witnessed this they struck Gormack as hard as they could. Gormack fell to the armies and the great green dragon and the Doom Hammer were never seen again. The Knights of Coramear have used the Tiger Dragons to this day. Currently the riders and Tiger Dragons number in the 100s. Some of the original riders still live, some are in hiding, and others have since passed on.