Last Friday night saw a group of six characters begin their careers as adventurers. This afternoon should see round 2 of the adventure. So I thought it a good time to discuss what's going on. The players are all freshmen and sophomores in high school (except my oldest son who graduates in a week). I'm the DM. We are playing in a world of my own creation, which I may discuss in later posts. It draws on some literary sources and several different published D&D worlds (Eberron, Dark Sun, Mystara, and Forgotten Realms), with modifications.
We had two players fail to arrive, but others picked up the slack for the night. From the great port city of Braavos, north our intrepid heroes trekked. Along the way, they discovered that petting a bee the size of a pony was not a good idea (random encounter). Their destination: the small mining village of Silverton. Their mission: recover stolen silver ore from a tribe of marauding goblins.
Dramatis Personae: Character (Player)
- Oak, a warforged fighter (Jerry)
- Sol Sirvius, a mul cleric of Pelor (Greyson)
- Custodes, a human paladin (Zane)
- Gellen Peakclimber, a human ranger (Dane)
- Kaworu Nasisa, an elf rogue (Chris)
- The Sorceress With No Name, a halfling sorcerer (Brittany)
The Sorceress With No Name is a spare character. Brittany couldn't make it, but we needed an arcane spellcaster. So, the Sorceress With No Name filled in until Brittany shows up and makes her own.
On arriving in Silverton, they found the local factor for the mining consortium that had hired the party. The factor informed the party that the goblin tribe in question was thought to be operating out of the long abandoned Gannu Silver Mine. The mine had been abandoned forty years ago a because of a curse unleashed at the site. "The evil" was contained after much loss of life, but the wealthy Gannu family was driven out of the village their ancestor had founded, and the mine closed by rockfalls to trap the evil forever.
Arrival at the mine was simple enough. The rogue made quick work of locating the hidden catch that opened a concealed doorway through the apparently collapsed mine entrance. So stealthy was the party that they managed to surprise some not very alert goblin guards. Dispatching the goblins with relative ease, the adventurers moved further into the dungeon.
As they approached the only door leading out of the guard room, the elf rogue had a nagging suspicion about the wall next to the doorway. His keen elf senses had noticed a secret doorway in that wall. Leaving the Custodes the paladin behind to watch the doorway into the guard room, the rest of the party followed the short tunnel to another secret door - a SECRET TUNNEL! Bursting out of the secret door, they caught another small group of goblins unawares. These guys need some ginkgo biloba or something. Anyway, the goblins dropped their dice, and reached for their crossbows. A mighty battle ensued. Well, not really. The party slaughtered these unusually brave goblins again, taking only minor wounds themselves.
After a moment's rest, the party returned to the first guard room, intent on following that door onwards. So far, they had only been enriched by a few measly copper bits. The goblin equipment was in such poor condition that there seemed no point in trying to cart it back to a town for resale, although the Sorceress did obtain additional bolts for her crossbow.
The next chamber discovered was some sort of kitchen/dining hall. The remains of the last goblin meal were scattered all over three long, low tables. The room seemed deserted, but some of the adventurers chose to examine the room more closely. The food was determined unsafe to eat, although Sol promised his patron could purify enough food and ale to supply the party a decent meal.
Our heroes split up, Scooby Doo style, and three (Custodes, Kaworu, and TSWNN) checked out an empty barracks room. Hearing noises coming from a pile of filth in the corner of the barracks, Custodes approached with caution. Two dire rats - big, nasty, all teeth and spikes and horned ridges, the size of a large dog - sprang out of the pile, jaws snapping. Custodes dropped one with a single blow. The second was sent along the path of bones moments later by two crossbow bolts.
And thus the first night of gaming ended. Major accomplishments included four small battles, a successful negotiation with their employer, and a long trek made in relative safety - except for Kaworu, who learned that petting giant bees is a bad idea, and that being poisoned is not much fun.
Treasure so far has been minimal, but there is a lot of dungeon left to explore. Now that the players are getting the hang of it, I think tonight's game will move more quickly.
Oh, to accommodate the game, I purchased a new and larger Chessex battlemat (3'x4') to replace/augment my old 2'x2' one. Amazon Prime, baby! I'll try to take pictures of the game tonight, too.
