The library provides a variety of casual programs to hang out with friends and meet new ones as you share an activity together. Please visit our event calendar to browse this month’s offerings.
UPCOMING SOCIAL GROUPS
Board Games Available Include:
- Settlers of Catan (Family Edition)
- Ticket to Ride
- Chess
- Checkers
- Backgammon
- Pandemic
- Playing Cards
Check the calendar for future dates.
A pen and paper role playing game (RPG) is a game in which players tell an interactive story usually with the assistance of manuals and dice; what is used depends on the campaign. These manuals outline the rules of play and elements of the world. Dice are used to tell the outcome of events in the story.
One player (in our case this will be the librarian) creates the story that the other players participate in. This player designs the environments, prepares the items and other creatures that the players may find, and plays as other characters and enemies that the players may encounter. This player also is the authority of the game, and is the final say in determining the outcome of events. This player is usually referred to as a Dungeon Master or Game Master.
The other players assume the role of a character in this story. This character is paired character sheet detailing a number of features, particularly a set of numbers representing aspects like their strength, their agility, their intelligence, and their aptitude in magic.
In a typical RPG the Game Master (GM) will describe a scenario. Players with then announce how they respond to the scenario. The GM will then instruct them to roll a die, producing a number. That number is added to a respective number from the character sheet to produce a final number. This number is compared to a number that the GM had prepared as the threshold to determine if the player’s action is successful.
For example, the GM informs a player that their character has fallen into a pit. The player announces that they will try to climb out of the pit. The GM had anticipated this, determining that the player needs a 15 to successfully climb out of the pit. The player rolls a 13, and their character sheet also features a bonus of +3 for climbing, giving them a score of 16. The GM determines that the player successfully climbs out of the pit.
Dungeons & Dragons
“Greetings traveler! I, the renowned bard Damaris Dubelmint, bring you fascinating tales of the brave and noble adventurers of the Washington Town-Ship!”
Answering the call was Jaime, a bard that had infiltrated a number of criminal organizations, versed in the art of espionage, a spy. So too did Doug, the local town hero, a mighty warrior who had befallen many a foul creature with his mighty great sword. And finally, there were the elusive pair of rouges, the mysterious High-Elf Aray and the winged Aarakocra Weewoo, venturing out from the haven of shadows to heed the call of adventure and, in Weewoo’s case, the call of a shiny object on the floor.
The party began their investigation at the site of the latest disappearance, a small farm on the outskirts of town. Alabaster, fearing his fame would interfere with the investigation, kept his distance and observed as the investigators approached a woman in front of the corn field, resting upon a bale of hay staring forlorn into the distance. It was her husband who had gone missing, and she knew not the reason why. The last time she saw him was when he walked into the field of corn, disappearing amongst the husks as he had done every day for several years. She had heard word of a curse, and her hope was waning.
Doug marched without hesitation into the confines of the corn, followed closely behind by Aray, Weewoo (the corn playing no small role in his motivation), and Alabaster. Jamie’s experience within the criminal underworld warned him to stay back and observe from a safe distance. Doug and company could see nothing amiss within the stocks of corn, no sign of a struggle, no blight on the land. In fact, the corn seemed pristine and delicious, however, that quickly changed once they plucked an ear and it rotted into ash in their very hands. Compelled by curiosity, Jamie approached the field. From the safety afforded him behind the waste high fence, Jamie leaned in and examined an ear of corn…
…And that’s when it happened. Four ears of corn shot out into the air, circling Jamie menacingly, taking advantage of his surprise to dive at him, knocking the bard unconscious. Doug and company charged in their comrade’s aid, dispatching the evil corn with blade and beak, and revived their friend. Alabaster approached one of the singed and motionless ears of corn and waved his hand in an unfamiliar gesture of magic. A voice could be heard emanating from the defeated vegetable, the voice of the missing farmer! As the farmer bid farewell to his wife, Alabaster turned to the party, a grave expression on his face.
The corn was haunted.
He had heard of such a curse and knew a colleague by name of Matreous who had been studying it, one who has residency in the vast library of Candle Keep. He urged the party to make haste to Candle Keep while he visits the nearby towns to see how far this curse had spread. After some financial incentivizing, the party boarded a carriage and embarked on the journey to Candle Keep.
After a great deal of effort trying to remember the name of the sage they had come to seek (it had been a long day guys, Jamie got a concussion from produce, Weewoo ate a ghost, I could go on), the party was led to the home of Matreous. No one emerged to greet the party and no one answered their calls. With no choice but to explore uninvited, the party stumbled upon a book laid open on Matreous’ desk, ‘The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces.’ Jamie examined the book closely and was able to decipher a word amongst Matreous’ frantic notes and scribbles. Jamie uttered the word ‘scepter’ and a glowing portal opened before the party in response. The party entered the portal, save for Jamie who opted to stay back and observe. Fearing that Jamie would be assaulted by a flock of bell peppers or something in their absence, Doug ventured back through the portal and carried Jamie to the other side.
The party found themselves within a mansion out of space and time and Matreous along with it, the portal closing behind them. The sage explained that he had entered this realm in an effort to decipher the secrets of the tome. The party urged him to leave and help lift the curse, but Matreous revealed that the portal would not open from this side, demonstrating by uttering ‘scepter’ to no avail. The cipher to leave must be hidden somewhere within the mansion. The party agreed to help seek it out in exchange for his help.
Entering a one of the many rooms of the mansion the party stumbled upon a dusty and disheveled library, books strewn haphazardly in piles on desks and bookshelves. A shiny object immediately caught the eye of Weewoo as light trickled into the room from the halls behind them, a ruby embedded in the spine of a book resting atop one of the bookshelves. Without hesitation Weewoo flapped his wings and vaulted himself behind the book, not stirring even a single page in the library as he did so. This was fortunate as unbeknownst to the party these books were waiting to be disturbed whereupon they would become animated and strike. Thanks to Weewoo, the party avoided this trap.
The party examined the book that Weewoo retrieved. It did not open, and though teeming with magic, seemed to be a solid block and nothing more. The spine only bore a single letter, R. They all knew right away, this was it. This was the key to their escape and the salvation of Wimbletonfieldshire.”
Unbeknownst to Matreous three more adventures were waiting for him on the other end of his portal. The paladin Ekrakas fell upon the sage, putting him in a headlock with intent to drag him back to the village they had come to save from a similar curse that had befallen Wimbletonshire. Alabaster Winterfresh had traveled to the neighboring village of Eagledelphiaville in his investigation and sent a new party of adventurers to assist the first team.
Taking such initiative was natural to Ekrakas thanks to his experience as a leader, emboldened in the crucible of corruption in his temple. Ekrakas survived with his values intact, but his trust in others was not so fortunate. Ekrakas was accompanied by the half-wood elf cleric Mischa who had arrived in Eagledelphiaville in his pilgrimage to spread the word of Eldav, the god of peace, and the half-orc barbarian Herog Marauder, whose storied career as a soldier had tempered the fury natural to a barbarian with stoicism and contemplation. This fraternity of orphans were united in their sense of duty and desire to save the fine people of Eagledelphiaville.
Doug, Array, Weewoo, and Jaime (who decided to settle into a sofa in the foyer and sleep off his concussion from earlier in the day) were helpless to warn Ekrakas and his team of Matreous’ deception as the sage feigned interest in assisting cure the blight, insisting that the party speak ‘Scepter’ and enter the portal for reagents while he stays behind and ready his alchemical components. Ekrakas and his team did so and were trapped in the ethereal mansion as the portal closed behind them, Matreous laughter echoing on the other side before abruptly ending with a scream.
The two parties quickly realized that they were in the same situation and became one, united in their mission to lift the corn curse and punch Matreous in his dumb, stupid, dumb face. They had a plan: to search the mansion for books similar to the one retrieved by Weewoo with a single letter on the spine. They scanned the foyer for the next room to explore. Delicious aromas wafted from one room and the party began approaching the source when Weewoo stopped at the sound of meowing behind a slightly ajar door. A black cat sat up to greet the great big bird as he entered a study, furnished with lavish armchairs, paintings, and a bookshelf the occupied the entirety of the back wall. Weewoo made haste to the feline who accepted his pets with glee. His compassion did not go unrewarded, as Weewoo soon also noticed another book with a single spine letter, this time with an I.
Unbeknownst to the party, cats played a sinister role in his mysterious backstory. He flew into a rage at the sight, but Array responded swiftly and restrained him despite her comparatively small stature. Doug reluctantly agreed to leave the feline alone and the party resumed their investigation of the study. Doug examined the paintings, restraining Array this time as she attempted to deface them in order to insult Matreous, Weewoo played with his new little friend, and the rest of the team examined the bookshelf. Herog noticed an out of place book, he tried to remove it, couldn’t, and lost interest. Noticing this, Array approached and operated the book like a handle, revealing a secret chamber as a portion of the bookshelf slid away.
Ekrakas sensed some slight evil and warned the party against going downstairs. They took him at his word and opted to search the rest of the mansion before venturing downstairs, save for Doug who wanted to stay behind to browse the books on the shelves, expecting to find some tips on swordsmanship. The party left Doug behind, following the cat as it left the study and entered an adjacent room that also had its door slightly ajar, the source of the delicious aromas.
The door revealed a kitchen manned by two winged creatures that the party did not recognize. They were small, around four feet tall, humanoid in shape with wings on their back and bat like ears. Several cats in the room followed the pair as they worked, mewing and begging for more treats. The two creatures noticed the team, and flew over to them with excitement, welcoming them to the kitchen and offering food and drink. The two were particularly excited to host something that wasn’t a cat or some other small creature.
Mischa sat down to a stew, and Array and Weewoo conspired to have a cat food filled quiche baked for Doug as Herog took the lead in gathering information from the creatures, who were more than happy to give it. The mansion was not owned by Matreous, whom the two had not heard of, but a mage called Fistandia and her partner Freyot. The two had been gone for some time in search of components for their magical experiments, leaving the two creatures, who were named Cumin and Coriander, to tend to the mansion and feed their pets. The two were forbidden from entering some rooms and in particular from touching certain books with a single letter on the spine.
Doug returned to the party, recognizing the two creatures as homunculi, creatures manifested through magic who normally could not talk. He set his suspicions aside to inform the party of his findings as he munched away at his gross quiche. He found nothing on swordsmanship, but notes from someone named Fistandia, to which Cumin proclaimed that this was the name of his master. Doug knew that homunculi can only survive while their master still lives. Fistandia had been granted this mansion for her service to Mystra. Fistandia grew concerned that potential guests may become trapped in the mansion and hid the keyword for the exit portal somewhere in the mansion. Having finished his quiche, Doug then interrogated the homunculi further, but sensed no ill will or deception from them.
With this new information in mind the party decided to split up, with Doug, Weewoo, and Array returning to the study to explore the secret passage, and Ekrakas, Misha and Herog searching the remaining rooms in the foyer. Mischa opened one door leading into a garden as Herog opened another leading into a dining room. A long wooden table sat under a chandelier, surrounded by six chairs with a seventh in the corner. Tired from the long day, Ekrakas mad haste into the dining room and sat in the corner chair. The chair came to life as he did so, revealing itself to be a mimic, taking the opportunity to ensnare the Paladin. Ekrakas easily freed himself from the mimic as Herog fell upon the menacing chair with his great axe and Mischa stormed into the room, hurling one of the normal chairs both of which struck true. The mimic was emaciated and weakened by the lack of large prey in the mansion, and swiftly fell into a panic, attempting to flee the room. Ekrakas leapt onto the dining room table and ripped the chandelier from the ceiling, throwing it at the mimic. He missed but succeeded in blocking off the mimic’s escape route. The mimic was cornered as Herog summoned his barbaric fury and destroyed the mimic with his bare hands.”
The two adventurers greeted one another in mutual confusion as the portal closed behind him, Polynob at the absence of Matreous and Jamie at the absence of his companions. The two followed murmurs, leading them downstairs and into the company of Weewoo, and Array, with Herog joining them as well. Herog had left the dining room to retrieve his great axe, finding it lodged into a drift globe in the garden. The sphere emitted sunlight, and Herog had decided to keep it affixed as it may come in handy. Ekrakas and Mischa remained behind to destroy the rest of the furniture, lest it attack them again, and Doug returned upstairs to help them.
Polynob, Array, Weewoo, Jamie and Herog opened a door in the basement revealing a laboratory. Vials of substances, plants, and small tools sat on shelves lining the walls, accompanied by the odd chair and table. Array took note of another single lettered book on one such table, a T. A star map on the ceiling caught Weewoo’s eye, and he noticed five stars were depicted slightly larger than the rest. The reason for this soon became clear as Polynob opened the proceeding door to an indoor observatory.
A crystal ball featuring stars etched upon its surface sat between five bronze telescopes. Weewoo approached a telescope and focused it on a star he recalled being different on the map. It grew bright. He did the same to the other telescopes, and once he finished a wall in the back of the room gave way to reveal a small chamber. Within the chamber sat an imposing bookshelf, each book within chained down to its shelf. Array approached, inspecting the books on display when it came alive and swung one of its books, swinging it by the chain like a flail.
Weewoo saw the movement straight away and struck first, as the rest of the party followed him to arms. Weewoo and Polynob were the first into the small room, dodging swipes from the chained books to return strikes with their blades. There wasn’t room enough for Jamie and Herog, but Jamie didn’t need to close the distance. Invoking the spell Vicious Mockery, he hurled an insult that devastated the will power of the bookshelf. Weewoo took advantage of the distraction to set the bookshelf ablaze with his torch, allowing Polynob to fall back and trade places with Herog who finished the creature off with his great axe. Within a hollow of the bookshelf, he discovered another single lettered book, an L.
The team returned to the basement hallway in high spirits from their victory, ready to check the next chamber. Array peaked into the next room to be greeted by a little black cat. Polynob greeted the feline by casting the spell Speak to Animals. It introduced itself as Ford Festiva, and answered questions about the sage Fistandia, most of which the party was already familiar. Weewoo shared some food with Ford Festiva, and the little black cat decided to follow the party, a small furry tour guide.
They entered Fistandia’s bedroom, an open and peaceful chamber in contrast with the perils surrounding it. Herog discovered another book, this time with an E on the spine. The party took a moment to rest, gathering their strength before entering the remaining chamber on this level.”
A familiar glimmer caught their eye, floating amongst the flora below. It was another drift globe, the same as the one lodged into Herog’s axe. Polynob was more familiar with the artifact than Herog, recognizing its value of 100 gold. They devised a scheme to dangle Polynob by a rope to catch the orb on its patrol. Polynob was able to catch the orb, but Herog pulled too hard on the rope to retrieve him, snapping it and leaving him dangling from the orb as it continued its patrol, unimpeded.
Herog ran downstairs to assist Polynob, stopping by the kitchen to ask the two homunculi for advice. They welcomed him with a pie that they had baked in anticipation of his return, and information on the orb. Drift globe respond to a command phrase, which they knew to be “shiny.” Herog entered the garden and commanded the orb to lower his companion back to terra firma.
Meanwhile, Array crept into the one reaming unexplored room on the second floor, stepping into a room lined with the heads of fearsome beasts, with a fireplace adorned by a pair of beautiful swords on the other end of the room. Upon the mantle of this fireplace Array spotted another book with a single letter on the spine, however, upon reaching out to grab it the two swords sprung to life, rendering her unconscious.
Alerted by the sound of a struggle, the party sprang into action. Polynob spoke the command phrase “shiny” and rode the drift globe back onto the balcony. Herog sprinted back upstairs. Weewoo asked Ford Festiva to follow him into battle (Ford Festiva pretended not to understand, and pretended to fall asleep). Herog arrived to the trophy room door in time to catch one of the swords by surprise as it was leaving, striking it with his great axe. Weewoo followed up by opening fire with his crossbow, and Jamie behind him with magical insults, the sword still standing (well, floating) after the barrage. Seeing time was of the essence, Polynob darted past his companions, the sword, and into the trophy room, reviving Array with a spell. As she stood back up the sword in front of her made another swing, but Array ducked underneath, and the sword smashed into the mantle. Herog finished off the sword in the hallway by taking advantage of the drift globe lodged in his axe to have it take flight into it, and charged into the trophy room to dispatch the remaining blade. Array now had a moment to study the book she had claimed, this one with the letter Y.
Weewoo asked his feline companion how many letters made up the command phrase they had been seeking. Ford Festiva knew that lady Fistandia had seven books that looked like the ones the party had discovered. Right now the team had six (R, I, T, L, Y, and E). One book remained, and the only remaining place to check was the basement, where the paladin Ekrakas (who along with Doug and Mischa were still destroying any furniture they could find on the first floor) had sensed some great evil. The party steeled themselves and returned to the study and down the stairs once again, this time ending up in the basement.
Array had been the point elf at previous doors, but Herog took the lead this time as Array’s health and luck had proven wanting after recent events. He opened the first door the party found in the basement to reveal an alchemical laboratory. Polynob recognized the reagents within to be valuable (and found potions of healing to rehabilitate his wounded companions) but failed to conclude much towards their purpose. That is when Weewoo, without having stepped in the room was able to surmise Fistandia’s aims just from the smells in the air and the echoes unheard upon the weave. Fistandia was experimenting with the age-old riddle of the alchemist: turning lead into gold. However, her experiments had gone a bit further than that, and she appeared to be experimenting with transmuting carbon to gold. Before leaving, Polynob spotted the final puzzle book, this time with a B on the spine.
The team pressed onward. Emboldened by her restored health, Array once again took point at another door. Unfortunately, her excitement got the better of her and she tripped over herself as she opened the door, falling face first in front of a creature lurking in the small chamber, a quasit. The beast turned invisible in response and scurried somewhere within the room. Weewoo retrieved one of the bottles of liquor gifted to him by Cumin and Coriander that he had stuffed with a rag, lighting it and lobbing an improvised grenade over Array and into a corner of the room. By great fortune, this struck the quasit who revealed himself. Polynob fired his crossbow, having readied his shot in anticipation for this moment and Arrary collected herself, seizing upon the confusion to strike the quasit while its guard was down, dispatching the creature.
The party found itself in a room used for summoning, judging by the marks on the walls and floor. A soot-colored pile of dust caught Jamie’s eye. He recognized this as traces of bone, and the source of evil that Ekrakas had sensed. It would seem that Fistandia had summoned something fearsome here, but why?
The party found their answer within the next room as Weewoo took point to creep into a menagerie full of dead and preserved creatures. Beasts like cockatrices, flumphs, and psuedodragons floated in large jars lining the room. Polynob discovered some notes hidden amongst these jars he surmised to be written by Fistandia. The documented her experiments in transmuting lead, and then shift to a hypothesis about transmuting carbon instead, allowing her to summon or breed gold. The last page in the stack listed a series of beasts, the ones seen in the jars and encountered elsewhere in the mansion, with the last left uncrossed, an imp. Polynob also made out a faint DL beneath this… potentially short for ‘Demi Lich.”
The party had seen enough. They returned to the mansion foyer, collecting their companions, Ford Festiva, and attempting to recruit the homunculi (who declined accompanying them, but begged them to visit sometime in the future) before leaving. Herog spoke the word ‘Liberty’ and a new portal opened before them. On the other side they discovered Matreous, dead within his study. Polynob looked up and spotted an Imp clinging to the ceiling. He fired his crossbow, knocking it down and Array followed up, dispatching it.
Matreous was dead, but he was unlikely to lift the curses that the party had come here to resolve. The party had discovered some clues within the mansion, and had a number of leads to follow. They helped themselves to Matreous’ mansion to rest up and assess their options.”
The sage Fistandia had been experimenting with summoning monsters and transmuting them into gold as an easy route to extreme wealth. Matreous had caught wind of her plan, and had attempted to infiltrate the enchanted book and the aetherial mansion within in order to pilfer her riches in her absence when our adventurers interrupted him. He was simply in the right place at the right time to exploit them, or rather the wrong place at the wrong time, since it was one of these ‘treasures’ that slayed him.
Fistandia’s experiments seemed to have ended in the summoning of a demilich. Alabaster concluded that the demilich must be the source of the curse, but where was it and where was Fistandia? Array found a clue to this on Matreous: a list of fences and shops and among them a small auction house nearby. Array was familiar with the place, it was far enough from Candle Keep that it was out of range of retaliation but close enough to tempt its patrons to risk pilfering books and other valuables from the great library and selling them within. This was the most likely place Fistandia would be attempting to sell the golden demilich. The party had a lead and they made haste to the auction house, hopefully before Fistandia’s enchantment on the demilich faded like the imp. They boarded a carriage and made their way down the coast of the Sea of Swords.
Arrary and Weewoo wasted no time rolling up and stealing the ornate rug the welcomed the team into the auction house foyer. Lively echoes and murmurs suggested that bidding was already underway, a fact that Herog confirmed by opening the double doors into the main chamber. A group of opulent civilians and scholars were bidding on a pendant, so Herog concluded, mostly because they were all alive to do so, that the demilich was still petrified and not yet on auction. Polynob followed behind Herog, spotting a balcony above the main entrance. Assuming that this was where high-class citizens like himself were meant to be seated he returned to the foyer and opened on of the two other doors leading into opposing hallways, seeking a set of stairs upward.
Polynob found not a door, but a large man in imposing armor with a great axe at his side in front of a door at the end of the hallway. The hallway itself was brightly lit, and lined with fine paintings but more so as a sign of wealth rather than to welcome patrons. He attempted to simply walk past the man, but was stopped. The guard was intimidating but not aggressive, and instructed Polynob to look in the other hall for the stairs to the balcony. Polynob doubled back, but Array and Herog took his place, transfixed on the door that the man was guarding. Array also tried to talk her way past, but failed to convince the man as well. She returned to Herog to devise a scheme.
The party still carried with them Fistandia’s book, the Joy of Extradimensional Spaces, and now knew the command words to open the portals leading into the aetherial mansion within. Array would distract the guard to buy time for Herog to open the portal on him, trapping him within the book and leaving the door exposed. Array took to the air with a wall kick, pulling off multiple impressive backflips with the generous air time she had afforded herself. The guard could not look away, allowing Herog time to run up, open the book and yell ‘SCEPTER!’ Unfortunately, the two had failed to account for how the book functioned, particularly the range of the enchantment. They had opened the portal, but harmlessly behind the protected door. The guard was now extremely suspicious, so the two regrouped in the foyer, cutting their losses.
Polynob arrived at the stairwell to the balcony to find Weewoo. He had followed his feline companion Ford Festiva, who smelled something familiar above them. The two climbed the stairs to discover a woman in familiar clothing whom they presumed to be Fistandia, accompanied by a portly little black cat. ‘Toyota Takoma! My nemesis!’ exclaimed Ford Festiva (or ‘Meow’ as Polynob heard it) and the two squared off. Fistandia was oblivious to this, her eyes transfixed on the stage. Polynob could tell that she was extremely anxious, but about what?
The two thought better of engaging the sage and returned downstairs to meet with Herog and Array. At the end of the hall was one last door they hadn’t yet tried. Polynob devised a plan to disguise himself as Fistandia, find the person in charge, and demand the skull back. He tried the door but it was locked, hardly an obstacle for a rouge. The door yielded to Array, swinging open to reveal a small office occupied by a well-dressed gnome. Polynob, magically disguised as the sage engaged the gnome in negotiation. He claimed that the he needed the skull back because it was a bomb, and projected an illusionary fizzing sound behind a nearby door in an attempt to fool the man. The gnome was suspicious of the group already, as Fistandia had always met with him by herself, save for her cat, and now mid auction she was accompanied by three strangers. These suspicions were confirmed when Polynob played his auditory trick because, unbeknownst to our adventurers, the skull was not behind that door.
The intimidating guard stepped into the foyer, summoned by the gnome. Herog stepped to engage, but Weewoo darted in behind him to lead the attack. He had found a new cap on Matreous that allowed him to cast the cantrip Vicious Mockery, and he was excited to try it out. However, as he attempted to formulate a cutting insult to lob at the man Weewoo uncovered memories that he had repressed in the depths of his mind. He crumpled to the ground, weeping and moaning about eggs. The gnome leapt over his desk and through the other door, intent on summoning the guards in the main hall. Array managed to catch and silence him, but she could tell that the odds were not in their favor as things were. That’s when several bright rays of light pelted the guard from behind, revealing Alabaster Winterfresh, who I guess just walked there or something.
Their relief was short-lived, as a triumphant Ford Festiva pranced down the stairs with Fistandia following behind him. The party hesitated, not sure what to do next…”
Herog sat down beside a human man, evidently versed in the weave and wearing the garb of a wizard, sitting in the back row of seats. He wasn’t bidding, but was instead intently studying the bidders and auctioneers alike. It wasn’t long before the skull was revealed, still brilliantly encased in solid gold. Bidding began in haste, first at 100 gold, then 150, 300, 800, 1000, 3000, 5000. Herog looked at Fistandia on the balcony above and saw panic in her eyes. Apparently, this was not nearly enough gold. Just exactly how much did she need… and why? The robbed man beside him nudged his elbow. “Did you see that? I think this skull is glowing.” Herog could see a faint glow coming from the skull. He gripped his great axe, watching the skull intently. A flake of gold fell from the boney cheek of the skull, and before it hit the ground the skull began to show more signs of life as it began to levitate. Kistandia’s enchantment had faded and demilich was now awake.
The wizard beside Herog stood up, recognizing that the barbarian was among the few not to be panicking at the sight of the monster. He introduced himself Reynard, and advised that he could tell that the demilich was in a greatly weakened state, likely a side effect of Fistandia’s enchantment. This may be their best shot at destroying it and surviving. Herog fell upon the skull with his axe, narrowly avoiding a magical bombardment from a furious Fistandia as she commanded the nobles below to keep bidding. While it was indeed weakened, the demilich was still deadly, siphoning life from unlucky nobles caught in the cross fire, and bellowing a guttural howl that froze Herog in place with fear. As the demilich rushed towards him to strike the barbarian while he was vulnerable it was struck true by several magic missiles courtesy of the wizard Reynard.
Capitalizing on the moment, Alabaster (who again had stepped out, this time for snacks) stepped in and chanted a few words in the direction of Herog. The barbarian grew in size and in power. Emboldened by this enchantment, Herog brought his axe down upon the skull, and it crashed down to the ground below, motionless thereafter. Reynard knew enough about these monsters to know that this defeat would only be temporary, given enough time it would recover and then return as a full lich. Alabaster, still munching on a donut, nonchalantly approached the rear of the stage and fiddled with a trinket from his bag. A portal opened before him, and he instructed the two to toss the skull in with the urgency in his voice unchanged. Herog asked where the portal led to, and Alabaster answered “Oh, the Abyss” through the remaining bites of his donut. He assured the two that he’d explain more in due time, but he had something to show Herog first.
Reynard and Alabaster, apparently already well acquainted, led Herog to the shore, where upon Alabaster revealed a foldable boat, which the team boarded and cast off into the Sea of Swords. After a few minutes Herog noticed a small town on the horizon, however, he was confident that there was no landmass in this part of the sea. He suspected the town may be floating. Herog’s suspicions were confirmed as the boat got close enough to dock.
Alabaster and Reynard led him through a small hamlet resting upon a massive vessel. They had come to call this a town-ship, but it hadn’t always been like this. In the back of the town-ship was a noticeably larger building constructed with gothic masonry in contrast with the humble homes made of wood and straw. This used to be the only building on the ship, the home of Bodin Spearmynt a retired entrepreneur and adventurer. Bodin had commissioned the ship so he could read his vast collection of books in isolation. In time he exhausted his collection, and ordered more. Merchants who brought him these books were amazed by Bodin’s home and began to spread word of it in their own communities. Before long bards began spreading the tale of Bodin as well. His home became known as the Library, and he became known as Bodin the Bookslayer, a nickname he despised.
Bodin decided to take action and do his part to train a new generation of bards in hopes that their ballads become more sophisticated in the future. The Library transformed from a home to a new bardic college, of which Alabaster was an employee. Bodin had been on the lookout to recruit more adventurers, and offered our adventures the opportunity to work for the Library. They would only need to go on their adventures, return to the Library, and recap their exploits to their bardic students. As compensation Bodin offered the adventurers homes on the ship, commission, their own foldable boat, and some enhanced gear. Our adventurers accepted and settled in to their new dormitories to rest in anticipation for what the next day may bring.”
Herog Marauder the Half-Orc barbarian, Array the High-Elf rogue, Weewoo the Aarakocran rouge, and Reynard the Human wizard and his owl familiar Nimbus joined the crowd of curious citizens, gathering in attendance of the spectacle. ‘FACE ME, CHAMPION!’ The team could make out four Halflings dressed in robes and matching masks of black, sliver, and white. Three stood upon the edge of the fountain with instruments at the ready, two with lutes and one with a drum. Another, supposedly the leader, paced on the deck in front of them, barking at the crowd. ‘WHERE IS YOUR CHAMPION!?’
Herog stepped forward, sensing a threat and offering himself as the champion. The Halflings started to play a tune in response to which the leader began a furious and impressive dance. The melody ended, and the Halflings stared at Herog with intensity, awaiting a response. Confused, Herog attempted a dance of his own, shuffling with some coordination, but nothing even close to the captivating display of the mysterious Halfling.
‘It is done.’ The leader of the Halflings growled. Herog felt some otherworldly shiver envelope him. Their mission apparently complete, the Halflings began making their way off the ship. In an attempt to hold their attention, Weewoo struck a chord on a cittern that he had bought on a whim earlier that day. The Halflings stopped. ‘Demon.’ The drummer said, addressing their leader ‘I think this one is the champion.’ Demon approached Weewoo. ‘Are you the champion?’ He growled at the Aarakocran, who nodded in confused agreement. Again the Halflings began their melody and Demon his mighty footwork. Weewoo tried to dance in response but fell short like Herog. Herog felt the mysterious chill leave him as it shifted to Weewoo. Array stepped forward to try her hand at this dance, but failed to catch the attention of the Halflings as they jumped overboard and vanished below the waves.
Bodin Spearmynt, the Drawven retired ranger who owns the Washington, had joined the crowd too late to stop what transpired. He grabbed Weewoo by the … bird shoulders? The marginal coverts. He grabbed Weewoo by those and exclaimed ‘By Moradin’s beard! You poor lad! I’ve seen this before… you’ve been… served.’ Weewoo had been cursed, a fate he had saved Herog and Array from, but now had to bear himself. ‘Don’t worry, we can fix this. Go see Alabaster. He knows someone who can help. Meanwhile I’ll track these strangers down. TO MY SIDE, NERDS!’ Bodin shouted, grabbing some of his bardic students who reluctantly joined him on his own little quest.
The party decided against taking Bodyn’s advice, at least right away, and instead decided to drown their sorrows at the only restaurant in town, Hubba Bubba’s Bodacious Bistro. The restaurant was dimly lit save for the light cast down from a great skylight over a stage in the center of the building, which hosted a number of bards strumming away at their lutes. As the party scanned the room they spotted the Half-Elf wizard Alabaster Winterfresh, who happened to be in the back attempting to eat one of Hubba Bubba’s signature dishes, a meatball waffle. Warm greetings turned to chilling revelation as the party explained what had befallen Weewoo. Winterfresh led the group outside with haste.
‘I know someone who can help you, right this way!’ He led the party to a vacant building, sniffed the doorway, and produced a small tricycle from his bag of holding. After tapping it against the door frame a glowing portal appeared within. The party had witnessed this before, Alabaster has the unique gift of sensing portals, though the gift is not a precise science, appropriate for the enigmatic nature of portals. As such, no one was surprised when a fairy fell out of the portal and onto the deck of the Washington. ‘Hold on… fairies and… do I smell garlic? No, this is all wrong.’ He allowed the portal to close and vanish, and for the fairy to stand up and introduce herself. Her name was Rosin, a druid who had been seeking adventure and seems to had found it.
Winterfresh closed his eyes and focused. ‘The portal we need is nearby… perhaps up high… it is flat… and warm.’ Rosin and Nimbus took to the sky, scanning for a candidate. Nimbus managed to find one, the skylight of Hubba Bubba, and Alabaster confirmed that it would do the trick. He examined the frame, and asked the party for a scrap of Githyanki armor, or a silver sphere. Portals required keys to activate them at their anchors. They did not have either of these items, but split up to search the ship and find one.
Weewoo stumbled upon a man with a bowl and dice sitting at the fountain where the Halflings had set up their scene. He could tell that this man was a gambler and, despite his curse, he was feeling lucky. This proved to be an astute assumption as Weewoo proceeded to win soundly, quickly putting the gambler into debt. The gambler pleaded with Weewoo to give him until the next day to get the gold, and offered his lucky dice in exchange. They were a pair of silver orbs with markings on each side. Weewoo had found the portal key.
The team returned to Winterfresh, who accepted the orb, kicked in the skylight and jumped through, opening a portal above the confused musicians and diners below. The party jumped in afterwards, and found themselves on the deck of another ship, though adrift in an ocean of stars instead of water. Alabaster welcomed the team to the astral plane. They were currently aboard a spelljammer, a ship capable of navigating the astral plane and keeping her crew alive and well via an envelope of air. He led the team below deck to meet with the captain of the airship, the Jefferson.
The ship did not carry any weapons, instead it was replete with music and instruments. The ship captain, a member of a bipedal hippopotamus race called Giff by name of Slick, told the team that the only way for Weewoo to lift his curse was to serve the Halflings back. Doing so would take great dancing talent, and she could train Weewoo to win. However, she needed something in exchange first.
Aboard the airship was a unique instrument, the cosmic cello, the strings of which had been pilfered by an insane band of clown pirates. If the team were to receive the training they needed to lift Weewoo’s curse, they would need to get those strings back. The party ended their long day by devising a strategy to do so. They had several options, but they all led to the same place: Space Nassau.”
The party was surrounded on all sides by space-pirates, and tried their best not to arouse any attention, lest they be marked as vulnerable or a threat. Both would surely lead to a conflict in which they would be heavily outnumbered.
Polynob took the lead, casting disguise self to appear as a fellow pirate. The party made their way inland, towards the largest landmark on the island: The Space-Mermaid’s Space Tavern (easily identifiably by the large carving of a mermaid wearing a domed glass helmet, holding aloft a mug of ale, prominently featured on the tavern roof). For a few yards this ruse was successful, but an imposing Gith, flanked on either side by two menacing vampires (all of whom were also pirates. In space.) crossed Polynob’s path, and demanded a toll. Polynob tried to deceive them, saying that the party already paid their dues closer to the dock, but the Gith saw through this deception, seeing as he made up the toll in the first place, and soon blades were drawn.
Rosin flew over Polynob’s shoulder, and slammed the pirates with a magic spell, catapulting one vampire through a nearby shop window and causing the Gith to turn and flee in an impulsive fit of terror. Rosin gave pursuit, the Gith turned to face her, drawing his great sword ready to duel the fairy and her stick, her companions busy contending with the vampire left standing.
Thorn Strangleroot was making a show of perusing the potions lining the shelves of Space Elspeth’s Space-Shop of Space-Stuff. He wasn’t really interested in buying what the young astral elf had on hand, especially considering how much of her wares were metal (most offensive to any half decent druid), but he needed to look inconspicuous and buy some time until he figured out a solution to his predicament. He had been exploring the forests he called home when he discovered a silver orb resting in the middle of the glade. He lifted the offending object so as to remove it when the earth beneath him gave way, and he plummeted into this strange place, surrounded by threatening scoundrels. Thorn had been in this shop for some time, long enough that Elspeth had likely seen through him by now. He needed to figure out what to do, and fast, but that was easier said than done. The answers to extra-planar conundrums don’t just fall out of the sky!
The space-window of Elspeth’s space-shop gave way to the body of a vampire space-pirate, who landed at Thorn’s feet, more angry than injured. Thorn looked out the window to see four far friendlier looking individuals deep in combat. As the pirate before him stepped back through the window and into the fray, Thorn pelted the pirate’s back with fire, seizing the opportunity to gain some much-needed allies. Together with the crossbow of Polynob, the Great-axe of Herog, and the magic of Reynard, they faced the pair of vampirates.
Further up ahead, Rosin the fairy was still locked in a duel with the pirate captain. The Gith’s swings were powerful, but her small size allowed her to reliably evade the great sword, and counterattack with her staff in a swift bop to his head. Before long the display earned an audience of rowdy pirates. Rosin’s fears were soon abated as they began cheering for the fairy, impressed by her bravery. Spurned by his peers, the Gith swung once more and connected with Rosin. She was badly wounded but not down, responding by taking wild shape as a wolf. Rosin’s teeth sunk into the Gith’s space-thigh, forcing him to yield as the rest of the party dispatched the vampirates, leaving only ash behind.
The result of the encounter was welcomed with cheers and applause from the surrounding pirates. Their peers had fell in combat, but the bravery of Rosin had earned the respect of the pirates. The crowd dispersed, leaving the party in peace. Their path unimpeded, the party continued towards the Space-Mermaid’s Space-Tavern, approaching the tavern window and peering inside. At the bar they noticed an older human man, bespectacled and dressed in robes, very out of place in what they’ve seen of Space-Nassau. Behind him they spotted a picture, featuring four people, two of whom, though much younger, were very familiar to the party.
‘Is that Matreous and… Fistandia!?’”
‘Welcome to the Space-Mermaid’s Space Tavern! Please deposit your weapons in the receptacle before entering.’
The wall beside them rotated to reveal an empty barrel.
‘Fear not, your weapons will be returned to you when you leave the establishment.’
Reynard and Rosin complied without much hesitation, confident that their magic was armament enough, while Herog and Polynob decided to remain outside and scout for another entrance. Reynard commanded his owl familiar, Nimbus, to take to the sky and keep a look out for the clowns before depositing his weapons into the barrel. After Rosin followed suit the door thanked them and opened to welcome them inside.
Mugs of ale floated past the wizard and druid and into the hands of the pirates patronizing the tavern. Furniture welcomed the guests and instructed them to take a seat at the bar, which likewise spoke to tell them what drink was on offer. It didn’t take long for Reynard to recognize this to be the work of a Wizard Artificer, a very bored one who seems to have cast spells like Magic Mouth, Arcane Lock, and Unseen Servant again and again in order to automate the tavern.
That wizard was none other than the barkeep, an old human man by name of Poncho. The two decided to take their chances and inquire about the clowns with this very out of place man. While Poncho was unwilling to divulge many details out of concern for the danger the two seemed to be walking into, another patron seated at the bar proved more forthcoming.
Yarin, an Assimar Cleric, was a native to the Astral plane. Her aversion to chaos had guided her to space Nassau, where she had been monitoring the clowns and waiting for the opportunity to smite them. She shared with the group (Polynob and Herog having reluctantly relinquished their weapons to join their companions inside) that the clown captain, Binkie the Terrible, is a regular patron of the tavern. His ship regularly docks and loads several crates from the tavern, while Binkie spends the night in his private room.
Yarin guided the group upstairs, and they broke into the room in short order. The only thing they found of note inside was a crate devoid of anything other than a lingering sweet aroma. Most of the party decided to lay in wait and set up an ambush. Roisin took the wild shape of a snake and hid inside of the crate. Polynob hid under the bed. Yarin took cover in her adjacent room.
Reynard and Herog went back downstairs to talk some more with Poncho. He had been an adventurer many years ago, accompanied by Fistandia, Freyot, and Matreous. Poncho spoke very highly of Fistandia, and her recent exploits hard to believe. He didn’t doubt, however, that Matreous was a massive jerk, surprising no one.
Reynard and Herog implored Poncho once more to assist them in confronting the clowns. Poncho decided to take the risk, having been reminded of his friend and telling the party that it is what she would have done. He guided the two behind the bar and into the basement.
The basement contained a giant turntable lined with barrels along the perimeter. As the party descended down the stairs they witnessed a dagger tumble from a chute above one barrel, landing inside. In response the turntable shifted, loading a fresh barrel. This was where the deposited weapons ended up. Across from this contraption was a homunculus, not unlike Cumin and Coriander whom the party had met inside Fistandia’s mansion. This one was not as welcoming, snapping at the party to grab their gear and only their gear and leave, flustered by the work he was occupied with as he baked two crates worth of banana cream pies.
The doors of the tavern flew open to welcome Nimbus, who heralded the arrival of the clowns. In short order a brightly colored pistol tumbled down the chute into a barrel. Binkie the Terrible had arrived. He took his place at the bar, drinking and sharing his woes with Poncho as the party lay in wait. Later in the evening Binkie made his way upstairs and into his bedroom where he fell fast asleep, failing to notice the trap he had walked straight into.
Rosin slithered out of the crate and wrapped herself around Binkie as Polynob unlocked the door to welcome his companions, now armed after meeting back up with Herog, inside. Binkie woke up and tried to put up a fight but was no match for the unified team. With the captain dispatched the clowns would no doubt pose less of a threat, but the team still needed to infiltrate their ship and recover the Cosmic Cello strings…”
Herog, Reynard and Polynob made their way downstairs to the kitchen where Poncho and his homunculus were still debating their situation, unaware as to what had transpired upstairs. Reynard and Polynob crept into one of the crates, awaiting the be picked up by the clowns. Herog, fearing he was too large to do the same, hung back and waited for the clowns to arrive. When they did he managed to convince them to allow him to help them carry it into their ship.
Herog helped carry the crate containing Reynard and Polynob into the insane clown pirate spelljammer, the Wicked Grin, still docked at the Space-Nassau port. They made their way into the cargo deck before springing a surprise attack on the clowns, leaving them clear to search the ship. They encountered bizarre displays like a chest stuffed with many tiny clowns, but no cello strings. Before long the party crossed paths with the second in command of the ship, Pongo.
Polynob convinced Pongo that he and his associates were recruited as backup. Pongo eagerly accepted this as fact and guided the party downstairs to the brig. There he showed them a dangerous captive, a woman who appeared to be a clown, painted only in black and white and wearing a tunic striped in a similar fashion. She did not speak, but gestured in a manner Herog took to mean she needed their help. The party deliberated a moment and committed to breaking the strange woman out of her cell. This was not too difficult as they had discovered a key to the cell in their search. Upon unlocking the door, the woman charged forward, kicked open the door to the brig and threw some invisible object at Pongo and his associates. They were propelled through the air by a silent and invisible explosion, and combat ensued. Our heroes emerged from the scuffle victorious and prepared for further exploration of the upper decks.”
Reynard suggested to Herog that he charge the clown busy with the deck while the party maintained the element of surprise. Herog did so, but slipped on a banana peel, alarming the clown who then ran to his companions. Reynard, Polynob, and the mime capitalized on the clowns’ close proximity to one another by bombarding the group with area of effect magic. The mime knocked some clowns overboard by hoisting an invisible tube over her shoulder and firing an invisible explosion of great might. The fight concluded with Polynob knocking the rest over the rails of the ship with a Thunderwave spell.
The ship now seemed free for the party to explore but they checked the remaining doors of the main deck to make sure that they were alone. They were not. One door revealed a kitchen staffed by a clown chef whom Polynob charmed by convincing her that he was the health inspector. Another door revealed a Drow seated in an ornate chair, deep in concentration. This Drow and the room were unlike the rest of the Wicked Grin, featuring muted colors and banal trappings. Herog warned the party not to enter, sensing that the Drow was not unaware of their presence. Reynard shut the door, and the party proceeded. The next door the opened led to an armory, manned by an old clown in dusty worn garments. Seeing the mysterious weapons wielded by the clowns lining the walls of this room, Polynob disguised himself as a clown and convinced the old clown that his team were new recruits and needed to be outfitted. The clown believed the party to be recruits, but did not believe that they had not been armed. He allowed them to browse the contents of the armory but refused to arm them without a requisition slip.
Reynard suggested to Herog that he use this opportunity to get behind the delicate old clown and heroically punch him in the back of his old clown head. Herog moved in place to do so, but his conscious got the better of him and he missed, crashing his fist down into the clown’s desk. The old clown was alarmed, and blew on a slide whistle. The party had encountered this before and knew it to sound alarm audible to the clowns’ allies. Reynard retreated back down the hall only to see the Drow open his door, wand at the ready. And so, the party entered combat once more, with Renard and the Drow dueling with their powerful magic on the main deck, and Polynob and Herog valiantly scuffling with a frail old clown. Both of our heroes emerged victorious, Reynard raining ice knives and magic missiles down upon the Drow and Herog and Polynob punching the meek old clown a whole bunch after he fell down and could not get up again.
The party resumed their search of the ship, next discovering the quarters of the captain and the Drow. In captain Binkie the Terrible’s room the party found a journal revealing the Drow’s name to be Desmond Stormwind, a crewmate that Binkie was forced to recruit after losing their own spelljammer pilot in a human cannonball accident. Binkie had come to suspect that Desmond was exploiting his crew and began doing research to pilot the ship himself and free his crew of their dependence on the Drow. His plans involved constructing another helm, and he had acquired several components to accomplish this as well as things to sell for any other component he needed. Amongst these the party discovered the Cosmic Cello strings they had come for.
Reynard also discovered a book explaining spelljamming. To command a spelljammer ship like the Wicked Grin one needs to construct a spelljamming helm, an enchanted chair like the one he had first seen the Drow seated in, and use their magic to will the ship to move. The party traced their steps back to what they now knew was the spelljamming helm and Reynard took command of the Wicked Grin, steering it back to the port of Space-Nasau and meeting back up with the Jefferson Airship. The party returned the Cosmic Cello strings to Captain Slick. Having upheld their end of the bargain, she led the team inside to begin their dance training, warning them once again that once they serve the halflings back… it will be on.”
No sooner did the two reach the main deck then they encountered Bodin the Bookslayer. The old dwarf excitedly asked them if they wanted to join an expedition to assault some ruffians that had accosted and cursed his companions. Svelt was onboard the moment she heard of a reward, but Draco asked for a description of the men. Bodin began by describing their fine black and silver garments, and Draco immediately agreed to join the hunting party, believing it to be a lead in his quest for vengeance.
Before long, across the way, a portal opened, out of which emerged our adventurers. Weewoo, Polynob, and Renard were full of energy, invigorated by their training in the art of the dance. Lost in his own enthusiasm, Weewoo demonstrated his newfound talents to Polynob, inadvertently serving him and passing his curse to the Grung. Bodin rushed over to join the party, but was too late to stop this. He informed them that he had tracked down the whereabouts of the four Halflings, and they had to lift the curse as soon as possible.
The party rested and resupplied that evening, some buying new gear and other getting a drink at the local tavern. When the moon was high in the sky Bodin collected the group onto a small boat, and led them on shore and into a forest. The dwarf followed a trail of foot prints and broken branches that he had discovered earlier, leading the team into a clearing set against a large ebony rock. The four Halflings were here, sat before a camp fire, tuning their instruments.
Polynob approached the band with his own at his heels. The Halfling leader, Simmons, stood at attention, before asking “What have you brought?” Polynob busted a move in response, spinning and gallivanting in ways only a Grung could. Simmons had no chance of matching Polynob. He was served, and as the party had been warned, it was on. “NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” Simmons exclaimed in fear, whipping around to face the large black rock. A scarlet crack appeared at the heart of the stone, opening up to reveal a tall man dressed in fine black garments seemingly made of feathers, his crimson eyes obscured by dark glasses, but piercing none the less.
Renard knew that this was an infernal creature of great might. He shot an outraged look to Bodin, who was confused at the shock on the party’s face. ‘What? If he serves you and you serve him back it’s on, ‘on’ meaning that the elder being who bestowed their dark talents will descend to do combat. Did you not know that? Honestly, what are they teaching in schools these days?’
The being spoke. ‘I am called Raven. Simmons, you disappoint me, but hark, you have brought me my new champion.’ Polynob grabbed his crossbow, but was stopped by Bodin. Bodin warned that this creature was extremely powerful, but adhered to rules without waiver. There may be another way to defeat it. Polynob nodded, and instead brandished his banjo.
‘Are you challenging me to a rock off?’ Indeed, Polynob was. Polynob set the terms of the match that if he won the Halflings would be released from their service, he would be freed of the curse, and Raven would return from whence he came. Raven accepted on the condition that if he won Polynob would become his new champion. With the terms set, the two began to shred.
‘This calls for an audience!’ Raven exclaimed, snapping his fingers and summoning several creatures surrounding the party. The creatures sprinted in, and the party quickly realized that they were after Polynob. Svelt let loose an arrow from an enchanted short bow, making quick work of one of the beasts, while Renard ascended on his flying broom and rained down magic missiles. Draco, meanwhile, charged Simmons with his battle axe, suspecting the bard to be in league with Raven. Simmons suffered a blow from Draco, and returned with a strike from his rapier, but not at Draco. It was delivered instead to a creature who had swept behind the Dragonborn. The two exchanged a knowing nod, and exchanged their steel for lutes, backing up Polynob’s melody.
Raven played a mighty tune, but it could not compare to Polynob’s shredding. Raven could not stand the magnitude of the tasty jam before him, and he conceded defeat, withdrawing back into the rock which sealed behind him. The curse had been lifted. No more would be served this day. It was no longer on. It was off.
Simmons and his band thanked the party for their courage and mercy. Simmons handed Polynob his lute, an enchanted instrument adorned with black feathers. He also offered a book, which Renard quickly snatched up and began reading. The bard explained that they had crossed paths with Raven on a quest to find a location detailed in that book. Many years ago they had been hired to go there and seek out a treasure and return it to their client, a sorceress named… Fistandia.
As the party poured over their loot Bodin noticed a book bound in black cracked leather. He opened it to discover that it was a journal belonging to an injured traveler. The Halflings had told the party that they had been hired to seek out a location full of treasure and had been given that book as a guide. As Bodin asked the party about their bounty a map fell from the book. This map revealed a number of landmarks leading to the treasure starting at a little hamlet called Wytchway.
The name sounded familiar to Bodin. He was confident a bard onboard would know more. He advised looking through the library for any clues. Svelt took him up on this suggestion, but only as an opportunity to pilfer something valuable. She swiped a book laced in gold and slipped outside. Opening the book to inspect her prize she found a poem about Wytchway by one Damaris Dubelmint (that’s me!), and finding the coincidence too good to be true she resigned herself to seeking the bard out.
Svelt noticed four bards sparring with prop wooden weapons at the town square. She asked them about Damaris and they offered to help in exchange for joining their match. The bards were in the middle of writing a play about war but had seen little combat and were struggling to articulate the nature of a fight. Svelt agreed, and was joined by Herog, Schmebylock, and Draco while Polynob observed from the fountain. Herog charged a bard with his prop great-axe and landed a solid hit, but the bard contested that he was wearing his great-axe proof leather armor. Every strike the party landed was objected in a similar fashion. It didn’t take long before frustration overpowered Schmebylock, and the bards saw death in his eyes. One bard yielded on the spot, and the rest of the party quickly took the gnome’s cue, culminating in Herog threatening obliteration at the hands of a powerful automatic crossbow that he insisted he invented on the spot.
One bard who had leapt overboard out of fear returned to congratulate and tank the party for the valuable lesson. She revealed herself to be none other than Damaris Dubelmint (that’s me!) and gave the party directions to the hamlet of Wytchway. The party traveled south of Castlekeep and arrived at an abandoned town. They were about to consider it completely deserted, when a silhouetted figure approached. Shadow gave way to a bald man in robes, bearing an eye patch, and a thick brown mustache. Polynob and Herog recognized the man at once. It was… Matreous!?”
Matreous was not pleased to see our heroes and expressed great annoyance at how they handled his demise, accusing them of abandoning him. More figures emerged behind the sage, mercenaries for hire. He threatened the party, demanding that they go back and leave Wytchway. Schmebylock responded in such a way as any self-respecting barbarian would: how bellowed a guttural roar at the sage. Matreous was taken aback but stood his ground nonetheless. He wasn’t leaving, but he attempted to negotiate with the party, and the party reciprocated. Both sides tried to convince the other of leaving while disguising their intent in following the treasure map hidden in the book of Ravens. Negotiations were doomed to a stalemate, and Matreous signaled to his goons to begin the attack.
A cloaked figure in the back of the village fired a bolt at Renard, who had already taken to the skies on his flying broom and dodged with ease. Two menacing individuals fell upon Polynob and Schmebylock with maces, our heroes narrowly avoiding their swings. Matreous took the opportunity to turn invisible and retreat. Schmebylock lost himself in a rage and swung his axe at the two thugs, losing his grip in the process. The axe narrowly missed Polynob as it flew through the air and bit into the side of an abandoned barn. Polynob assaulted one goon with power chords from his enchanted lute and Renard rained magic missiles down upon the other, buying Schmebylock the opportunity to make a break for his axe. The gnome barbarian did, but not before flooring one goon with a devastating kick to the shin.
It was then that Matreous burst through the roof of an abandoned hut aloft an effervescent spectral steed. He did this mainly to intimidate our heroes (it did not), but the sage was now considerably more mobile. Schmebylock roared and charged Matreous, but the one-eyed wizard floored the gnome with powerful psychic blasts before he could close the distance. Polynob and Renard adapted to the disadvantage they now found themselves in, with the bard focusing on support by keeping Schmebylock alive and Renard focusing on offense, raining down more magical fury and mopping up Matreous’ backup. Schmebylock hopped back to his feet and the combined might of his axe, Polynob’s shredding, and Renard’s spells proved to be too much for the sage.
Our heroes stood over a dead Matreous once again. Renard searched him, looking for answers and the sage’s spell book, which the wizard gleefully pocketed. Renard noticed a piece of parchment wedged in the book. It bore two hashes, a crude picture of an eye, and one word: ‘REMEMBER.’”
Before emerging from the cover of the trees Polynob produced the Driftglobe he obtained from his adventure in Fistandia’s mansion and whispered “shiny” to activate the globe. It hovered 5 feet in the air, emitting a bright light. Unbeknownst to the group this was a very wise move. Six kobolds lay in wait atop the tower ready to spring an ambush. Kobolds are sensitive to light, and so the instinct most wanderers have to use the shadow of the tower as cover plays into their hands, allowing them to shower their prey with rocks and crossbow bolts with little recourse. Compelled by panic and confusion, the kobolds betrayed their presence to the party by pelting the Driftglobe with rocks from their slings.
Renard’s familiar, Nimbus, took to the sky to survey the threat. He observed the kobolds, but noted that one looked different. It had donned fake wings made of sticks, leather, and tape. As the other kobolds screeched and continued their volley of stones it observed patiently. The party knew enough about kobolds to know they would be safe under the glow of the Driftglobe. They huddled together to form a plan. Nimbus could not spot any doors or points of ingress from the ground, however, it the tower was constructed out of flimsy wood. They would just smash it, or burn it, or whatever came to mind in the moment. Their brainstorm was interrupted by a dense fog materializing around the Driftglobe, snuffing out its light. Polynob recognized this as the spell Fog Cloud. It would seem that these kobolds have a wielder of magic among their number.
Renard hopped on his broom, valiantly tossing a firebolt at the tower and retreating behind the canopy of the trees. Polynob cast a spell of invisibility over himself and stealthily approached the base of the tower. This left the barbarian Schmebylock with little else to do but roar and charge the tower. With no other viable targets in sight, the kobolds pelted the gnome with rocks and various “inventions” such as scorpions tied to strings and jars full of strange liquids. None stopped the rage of the barbarian. The kobolds stepped back to allow their winged companion to try its hand. With a wave of its hand Schmebylock felt his rage subside and give way to a deep fondness for the winged kobold, and a drive to protect them. Renard recognized that his friend had succumbed to a Charm Person spell. The time to act was now.
The wizard charged in on his broom and hurled an ice knife spell at the feet of the kobolds. It exploded in an icy blast that fell all but the kobold sorcerer. Suddenly Polynob appeared from thin air besides a trap door in the middle of the tower hosting a ladder leading to the lower floors. He had burned a hole in the tower large enough for him to sneak inside. Polynob caught the winged kobold off guard with a Thunderwave spell, ejecting the sorcerer kobold from the tower and in the process confirming that the wings were indeed just for show.
The battle won, our adventurers pressed onwards towards a wooden bridge before the Foggy Moors. There they met a mysterious merchant who tried to sell Renard a large clay pot, recognizing him to be a wielder of magic. Renard was unsure as to why the merchant insisted so much on the deal. As far as he could tell the pot was an ordinary clay pot. He vaguely recalled high level necromancers having some use for these, but he did not recall why. Compelled by curiosity, and some steep discounts earned by threats from Schmebylock, Renard reluctantly purchased a pot. After studying the pot for some time, the party came to the conclusion that this was just a regular clay pot, and they had just wasted 400 gold pieces.
The party proceeded carefully, taking small paces and then stopping to focus in hopes that they could discern some clue from the environment as to how to move. They had been warned by the mysterious merchant to remain on the path. Polynob concentrated on the sensation of his feet on the ground beneath him and Renard closed his eyes and focused on his hearing. Polynob was able to discern the orientation of the cobblestones beneath him, and Renard was able to detect a faint buzzing around them. Using these clues the party continued onward narrowly avoiding the swarms of will-o-wisps that surrounded them, lying in wait for one false step. After what felt like days they emerged into a clearing.
They had not escaped the fog but entered a 60-foot dome of clear air. As they looked around a familiar figure emerged from across the field and stood before them. It was Matreous once again. The party had left him for dead twice now, and yet he remained in their way. This time Matreous had both eyes, but only a single arm. ‘Okay, that’s far enough.’ He began ‘I don’t know why you’re so persistent but turn around and go back home. For your own good.’ Schmebylock drew his blade without hesitation. There was no way he was going back through that ordeal. Matreous waved his hands about, and two shadows emerged from the earth to stand beside him, and the dome collapsed shrouding the battlefield in blinding smoke.
The party’s senses had been dulled, but so had their enemies’. Polynob and Renard sensed a presence closing in on either side of them. Schmebylock on the other hand was occupied with Matreous, who had bumped into the gnome and responded with a shocking grasp spell. Schmebylock entered a rage and responded with a strike from his longsword. He only needed one to fell Matreous once more. Polynob and Renard followed suit by striking the areas around them with thunderwave and ice knife spells, managing to hit their marks and down the shadows before they had an opportunity to do them much harm.
With Matreous down the smoke around the party dissipated, revealing their ultimate destination close at hand: an old Chalette. The building looked centuries old from where they stood, surrounded by dead trees, tombstones, and featuring large holes in its roof. The cawing of countless ravens echoed in the dusk sky. They decided to make camp before closing the distance and exploring this building.”
The two studied the Chalette from outside. It was dark and weathered, surrounded by dead trees and a yard of headstones in the distance. Weather had taken its toll on the structure, eating large holes in the arched roof. Herog noticed a faint light moving behind a window on the third floor. Renard sent his trusty Owl familiar, Nimbus, over to take a closer look. The owl collided harmlessly into the window, distracted by his own reflection, failing to see the source of the light. They could hear the faint sound of a child crying somewhere on the second floor. The party likely alerted anything in the Chalette of their presence, so they decided to use Renard’s flying broom to ingress through one of the holes in the ceiling in order to possibly reclaim the element of surprise.
The floorboards groaned and creaked in protest as the party landed. Each step warned the group that they were testing fate, but the structure held. They descended below, accosted by the sounds of creaking doors in the distance, and explored more rooms, stumbling upon a journal that shed light on this place. The Chalette once belonged to the Baron Brantifax, an avid hunter and father of two daughters. Both daughters died untimely deaths, one in a hunting accident, and the other under some dubious circumstances. They and the Barron both rest in the Chalette graveyard.
The party continued up a narrow spiral staircase into a small, secluded room with a single window casting a faint light within. The room contained a fireplace, a cradle, and a shelf adorned with small dolls. Renard proceeded inside, ducking down to investigate the fireplace. The dust overwhelmed his senses, and he lurched up to sneeze, smacking his head against the mantle as he did so. The disturbance caused a doll to shift, falling off the shelf and onto the wooden floor.
The ethereal visage of a little girl rose up from where the doll now rests. She glared at the two men, clenching her spectral fists. Herog stepped forward and tried to dissolve the situation by promising that they meant her no harm, and they would leave her chambers undisturbed. The ghost showed no sign of entertaining this plea. He then offered her a delicious banana cream pie from his pack, a prize from his encounter with the insane clown pirates of Space Nassau. Her expression did not change. Herog shrugged, returned the pie back to his pack and withdrew an insane clown ray gun. The barbarian fired a bolt of psychic energy in one swift motion, but narrowly missed the girl.
Some of the dolls in the room came to life, closing in on the party. A tin ape charged at Renard, a kobold withdrew a tiny wooden skunk figurine from a cage on its back, and a plush dolphin swam through the air like water, careening towards Herog. The dolphin bounced harmlessly off Herog’s face, but a projectile thrown by the kobold proved to be significantly more painful. Renard returned fire with his magic, disintegrating the kobold and wounding the specter. The little girl closed the distance and struck Herog who recoiled at sensation left behind of ice beneath his skin. He let himself become drunk on his rage, awakening a wild power within himself, imbuing his great axe with magic. Phantoms have little reason to fear ordinary weapons, but the magical strike from Herog made little work in dispatching the apparition.
The remaining dolls fell to back to earth, dormant once again. The party sat to catch their breath to a chorus of laughter and screams echoing in the halls around them.”
“To be continued… (and you can join! Sign up today!)”
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