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Blog: Back at it again 2019-04-07
I have had some recent revelations about how I have been using my free time, and i'd like that to change. To much staring at YouTube. I want to make something, be creative. So after some conversations with my players we are agreed that we want to start the campaign again. I intend to go back to the February 2nd Campaign Diary and complete the story up to the point the players have experienced. I'm making plans for up to two sessions in May and on in late June. So stay tuned!
Campaign Diary 2019-02-01
We got together to start the next leg of the campaign.
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The town of Fairbrook calibrates the return of the Five heroes, Adelaida the Divine sorcerer, Eleny the Bard, Calvin the Monk, Elisara the Assassin, and Galacticus the Fighter, and the defeat of the Dragon Grulder. The Town is merry, there is music, dancing, a great feast and a giant bonfire. Little did they know it was not the only fire to rage on that evening. The party is broken off early as a glow is seen to the south. The Mack farm is ablaze. In the morning not only is there wreckage but some of the farm hands are missing. Also a caravan that was due to arrive the day before is found on the bank of the river Alyndra. Clues are found that indicate that the caravaners and much of their supplies have been taken across the river and to the south. The hero's pursue the trail until the sun sets and they take refuge in a farming cloister of the Garrett family. Late in the evening they are roused to see the Kuune farm across the valley in flames. Eleny, Calvin, Elisara, and Galacticus run with the farmers to help put out the fires, and find the cause. Two fire elementals happy in there element destroying at will. The Four dispatch the beings of the elemental plane of fire, and get the flames under control with the Garrett farmers help. Where are the Kuune Farmers? Meanwhile back at the Garrett farm grey dwarf slavers are capturing the remaining residents. Adelaida in a fight for her life eliminates a few before being forced unconscious. Here is where we will pick up the story next session...
Blog: State of the site 2019-01-28
For the last few weeks I have been working to setup a foundation for my campaign setting. Yesterday was a big step registering the domain name matching the name of the world. When the world was created it was harmonious for a time before the nine gods of creation started to come into confrontation. I named the world Dissonantia first because all worlds need names, and second because Dissonantia is the latin word for dissonance.
I also opened up access to most of the content I have created so far for all to see, I'll keep my unrun modules unpublished until my players have completed them. I'm most excited about the Campaign Diaries, I feel that these will give me a good opportunity to spell out what I thought happened in the previous session, and underline anything I might feel was missed. I'm sure Matt Colville would suggest that I not write the diary, but encourage the players to recount the story at the beginning of the next session, I'm however enjoying the cathartic act of reviewing my successes and failures.
As for the world I have been generating it in a combination of bottom up, to ensure I have player content, and top down because that's what I find fun. I'm working to flesh out the environment the players are interacting with, and then flipping it on its head to look at the world as a whole, history and all. My hope is that they will meet in the middle. I hope that made sense, I had a hard time finding the words to explain it. Well if it made no sense to you I'm sorry.
Campaign Diary 2018-12-27
We did a dry run with five fresh level five characters in the new campaign setting loosely following the "The Enchantment of Fairbrook" module I wrote. We settled in for what I planned to be a two session one shot, starting as all great classic DnD games do, in a tavern. Introductions were a little rough as they often can be, but the party accepted the plot hooks and quickly got to the business of finding the missing people. As the evening progressed I realized that the module was underpowered in places, and made some small alterations to plans. I also realized that cutting out the navigating through the swamps, the combats within, and neutering the combat with the corrupted faeries at the heart of the wood, could allow us to finish in one session.
A quick side note I will not refer to my players by name as to preserve their anonymity. I decided to put my DnD sessions up for all to see, but my players did not. To keep it from being awkward I will however use character names.
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The story starts in the tavern of The Waiting Willow Inn, The five adventurers, Adelaida the Divine sorcerer, Eleny the Bard, Calvin a Monk, Elisara the Assassin, and a Fighter named Galacticus sit among many of Fairbrook's most prominent citizens. Gerard Marte the local Distiller and Gallbac the town Cleric realize the they are in the presence of many hearty looking adventures and hatch a plan to convince them to find an ever growing number of missing people. Alton Gaughan is sitting at the bar lost in drink morning the disappearance of his daughter Srenna Gaughan. He has hired other adventures as they passed through town to go and look for Srenna, but they have all gone missing as well, so in depression he searches for the bottom of his beer stein. The keen eared among the party may have also heard Michael Cleary the Cooper is trying to convince Cos Fallon the Constable that his wife Bridget has been replaced with a fairy changeling.
Gallbac, a bit drunk approaches each of the party members with the same reward, some gold provided by the church, the chance of gathering the magic item from the missing people should they be found dead, and use of the parish house for as long as the party needs it. The parish house is traditionally used by new members to the community as they build their farms, and has been vacant for a time.
The following morning the party headed off to the Gaughan farm and found a game trail leading into the forest. Following the trail for a fair distance they come upon a sobbing Half Orc Barbarian, they found Roelyn Greyhelm. The fairies have robbed him of his magical greataxe (Bull Bludger). Roelyn was not in his right mind. He believes he could see a font containing the cure to his sisters illness, but is unable to obtain it. The party wisely talks him out of his delirium and send him back to Fairbrook.
Further down the path the party comes to a clearing with a small thatched house in the middle, when they are surprised by Sprites “Queen Laexandra won’t like that you’re in her wood” they state from their hiding places. “Stop! Answer this riddle tall ones. Born underground, raised by the sun, a host for the living, caterer of fun. What am I?” Adelaida the Divine sorcerer being a elf and quite clever answers “A tree.” “Why are you here?” Calls back a sprite in a huff not expecting to have received the correct answer so fast. “If you can answer this maybe I’ll help you. Walk on the living, they don't even mumble. But walk on the dead, they mutter and grumble. What are they?” The party quickly agrees on the answer “Leaves.” The sprites retort “The other tall ones could not answer, and they felt our sting. Tell me the answer, The more you take away from it, the larger it becomes. What is it?” unflinching Galacticus the fighter responds “A hole.” The sprites now in position say last “I guess you can pass on further but you’re not going to like what you find.” and attack from their concealment.
The fight was one sided the sprites bit off more than they could chew, they ether died in acidic piles or fled to warn their brethren not to mess with the party. In the house in the clearing three more of the missing adventures lay unconscious and emaciated. The sprites had kept them here with their sleep poison. Doomer Crackedforge a Dwarven Rogue, Belnaar Almak a dragonborn fighter, Ayduin Qinthyra an Elf Ranger, and her wolf Dine, recover from their endless sleep with food and water from the party, and they too limp back to Fairbrook.
Deeper into the wood the party progresses. Fairy dragons scout out the party and sprites prepare their traps. The fairy dragons giggle and hide, and attempt to draw the party into pit and snare traps. Calvin the monk is unlucky and pulled into a tree inverted, as three blue faerie dragons reveal themselves and exhale puffs of euphoria gas. Again the party dispatches the opposition quickly, and moves to the heart of the wood, where they find sprites blinking into and out of sight in a depressed slump. Srenna is being forced by the sprites to attempt to heal the sick grove, they are taking good care of her needs but she is met with little success. The party learns that Fairy Queen Laexandra has been taken by Grulder, the Destroyer Of Life a black worm from the east who has made his lair in the Hagwin Morass a few years prior. In Laexandra's grove the party rests for the night before heading of to find the true villain Grulder the black dragon.
The swamp is difficult to navigate but deep in the Hagwin Morass the party finds a lair built of dead trees and chocking brush. Inside etched with acid are the remains of Meghan Mallory, her lute broken marking her final resting place, and not far away the remains of Myrin Keysys lay with what was left of her battered shield. The party waited for the return of Grulder, but soon realized that through the water lay a submerged cave which they bravely swam into. Here in this large cave Grulder waited to strike from the darkness. Once Galacticus the fighter and the monk Calvin came upon the shore Grulder flew out of the darkness and bathed the party in his acid breath. Calvin was struck repeatedly by claw and teeth and left for dead. While treading water Adelaida the divine sorceress spit magic in defiance at Grulder the black dragon and vanquished him.
There in the lair of Grulder was Laexandra queen of the Fae, is being held captive, held by poisoned brambles. Her imprisonment the reason her followers could be manipulated by Grulder to bring him riches and magical items. The arrangement now broken between Grulder and the fairies will no longer keep Grulder's presence hidden from all but the Fae.
Gold and magic items we found, and the monk Calvin revived, and things were right in the world for a time. The party trekked back to Fairbrook to tell the tale, stopping briefly to bring Laexandra back to her grove and retrieve Srenna Gaughan.
More to come in our next adventure...