My two players were Luke and Adam. They were both fantastic. They role played well and understood the setting. They were also patient with my lack of experience running a virtual table top.
The story began in Tyr, while Kalak still reigned.
The characters all received letters requesting that they meet an unknown benefactor at the Drunken Giant Wine House. Klak did not know how to read, but pictures were able to relay the information adequately.
Klak entered the Drunken Giant and approached the wine steward. He asked for an ale. The human wine steward rolled his eyes and explained that this was a wine house, not a tavern. Klak was embarrassed and quickly ordered a cheap glass of wine. He took a drink and decided that he preferred ale.
Nekhosz was already sitting at a table, sipping some of his own wine. He immediately recognized that a mul gladiator was out of place in a wine house and guessed that he may be part of the benefactor's job. Rising from his seat, Nekhosz signaled to Klak to come join him. The two sat down together, making small talk and explaining that neither of them knew who their benefactor was.
As the two men were growing a little impatient, a half giant peeked inside the wine house and spotted the two men. He then entered and glanced around the room, slowly. Satisfied with something, the half giant opened the door and a nicely dressed Tyrian man entered. He made his way to the table and introduced himself as Samir Fah, their benefactor.
He told Klak and Nekhosz that his foolish son, Ziad, ran off to Altaruk - to chase a young lady's heart. He had hired some men to bring Ziad back to Tyr, but they had not returned with him. Alturuk was only a four day journey, there and back, and it had been five. He needed Nekhosz, Klak, Abbas, and Jamila to go and get his son.
It was at this point that Nekhosz and Klak noticed that there was a red eyed dwarf and a lovely, lean elf standing near them. The looked at each other and shrugged. Perhaps the wine was stronger than they had thought.
Samir then promised to pay them twenty silver each, upon his son's safe return to Tyr. The group quickly agreed, as they could live well for months on such a small fortune. They negotiated for some kanks and extra supplies, which Samir readily agreed to. He then warned them that if they ran off, he would hire men to come after them. The group understood and explained they had no intention of running off with his kanks.
Arrangements were made for the kanks and supplies to be at the Caravan Gate in one hour. The group stopped to buy some minor supplies at the merchant district, and then walked to the Caravan Gate. They looked over their kanks and supplies and were satisfied. They mounted their beasts of burden, aside from Jamila who preferred to run, and set off toward Altaruk.
They traveled down the well-worn road for the rest of the day. As darkness fell they moved just off the road and set up camp. They set a watch rotation and went to sleep.
Just as the sun was cresting the horizon, a small group of gith beset the waking characters. The group rallied together and made short work of the gith bandits. Klak was glad to add a few obsidian tipped spears to his arsenal. They finished preparing for the day and continued their journey.
Just after high sun, the characters came upon a couple of wagons. They were both slave wagons, but one was badly damaged and empty. There were six armed people standing around, who clearly became very cautious, when they noticed the characters approaching. The intact slave wagon had a woman and two children inside. They were dirty and miserable looking.
Nekhosz walked forward and began conversing with the slavers. Klak walked closely behind, with Abbas. Jamila snuck off and hid among the rocks. Nekhosz asked what had happened and the slaver explained that some bandits had broken their wagon and kidnapped one of their slaves.
Nekhosz lied and said that they were expert slave trackers and if they just had a little bit of information about the slave, they could probably find him. The slaver then explained that the slave was not to be harmed. He was a prized slave for a Tyrian noble house and his name was Ziad.
The bandits who had attacked the small slave caravan had ridden in on kanks, and attacked them swiftly. The bandit group wasn't interested in the slaver's food, water, or other slaves. Before the slavers could even mount a proper defense, the bandits were gone. They went north, into the desert. The slavers were trying to repair their wagon and press on to Tyr. If the characters managed to rescue Ziad, they would pay the group five silver apiece. Nekhosz said he would discuss it with the group.
The group moved away from the slavers and talked amongst themselves. Nekhosz said that they should attack the slavers. Klak, being a former slave himself, agreed, as did Abbas. Jamila was still hiding in the rocks, but the group hoped she would join them.
Abbas walked over to the slaver who was trying to repair the wagon, feigning an interest in assisting him. Klak started talking to one of the guards, and Nekhosz starting asking more questions about Ziad. Once everyone was in place, and the slavers were less cautious, Klak drew his singing sticks and killed the guard he had been talking to.
Abbas drew his obsidian scimitar and slashed the slaver he had been talking to. Nekhosz cast magic missile at one of the guards. The guard who saw Nekhosz cast magic pointed and yelled, "Defiler!" Jamila emerged from her hiding place and attempted to stab a guard, but missed.
After their initial shock at being attacked, the slavers drew weapons and began fighting back. Nekhosz used what little magic he had available and then used his quarterstaff, with middling success. Abbas and Jamila proved to be dismal fighters, but Klak was like a rampaging mekillot. He seemed to enjoy slaying the same type of people that once kept him in bondage.
During the battle, Nekhosz opened the slave wagon and handed the woman a bone dagger. He implored that she fight with them. She did, but was not very skilled.
When the dust had settled, the slavers were all dead, save one who had fled into the desert and Jamila decided wasn't worth chasing. Abbas used his elemental magic to heal the wounds of his companions. Nekhosz gave the woman, Soraya, the money and equipment the slavers had. He suggested she return to Altaruk and she agreed. Klak ripped the door off of the wagon, so no one could lock them inside again. She thanked them profusely and set off south. The characters wished her, and her two children, well.
The bandit's tracks were obvious and the group set out to find the bandit camp. They walked until the sky grew dark and they made their own camp. The night was cold, but peaceful.
The characters rose quickly in the morning and got ready to depart. A hot breeze was blowing and the bandit's tracks were slowing disappearing. A few hours later, the group came upon a bandit camp with three tents. Next to the camp was a rectangular ruined building. The building appeared to have seen better days, but was still intact.
In front of the building were six men, all armed. They were drinking and talking to one another. Behind the largest tent were a few kanks that had been tethered to stakes driven into the sand.
The characters weren't sure how to proceed, so Jamila offered to scout ahead and the group agreed. Almost right away, she made noise and one of the bandits noticed her. She attempted to seduce him, but he obviously wasn't buying it and gave her a doubtful look. Nekhosz reached out from his hiding spot and turned Jamila invisible. The bandit was shocked and ran back to his friends.
He told them an elf ghost came out of the desert and tried to seduce him. His friends laughed at him and told him he had drunk too much, or the heat was cooking his brain. Jamila quickly checked the large tent, as another man exited it, to see what all the noise was about. Jamila saw a bone cage inside, along with some other basic supplies, but no Ziad.
Jamila decided she would look into the other tents as well. As she lifted the flap to the next tent, a gust of wind tore the flap from her hand and it flapped loudly. The bandits all looked over and stopped laughing. The first bandit was convinced it was the ghost and others were less sure themselves that there was no ghost. Jamila did not find Ziad in the tent.
Jamila then made her way toward the ruined building, noticing that it was locked on the outside, and purposefully knocked over a small water cask. Some of the bandits jumped, obviously beginning to believe the ghost story. An older man emerged from the last tent and demanded to know what was going on. The bandits started telling him about the desert ghost. Their strong belief in the ghost worried the older man and he found himself believing in it as well.
Jamila checked the last tent and, again, found no sign of Ziad. So, she returned to the group. Half of the bandits believed there was a ghost, while the other half were coming up with rational explanations. The characters suggested that Jamila return to the ruined building and try to open the lock.
Jamila did as was requested of her and returned to the locked door. As she began picking the lock, Klak had his own idea and moved toward the kanks. He was not as sneaky as Jamila, so he made a bit of noise. By this point, half of the bandits had nearly worked themselves into a panic, so they refused to investigate the noise. The other half of the bandits were willing to investigate, however.
Thinking quickly, Abbas used the will to send an illusory copy of himself to the scared bandits, doing his best ghost impersonation. The scared bandits said they did not desecrate his tomb. Abbas said Ziad had desecrated it and he wanted his revenge on Ziad. The scared bandits said Ziad was still in the tomb and went through the door. They said they couldn't go through the door after him.
Upon seeing Abbas' supposed ghost, the older bandit realized it was the way. He started yelling at the other bandits, explaining to them that someone was using the way to scare them. At that moment, Klak cut the bandit's kanks free and smacked them on their carapace.
As the kanks started to run, a couple of bandits ran to catch them. When they did, Klak came out of hiding and starting killing the bandits with mighty blows of his singing sticks. Jamila, still invisible, successfully picked the lock on the tomb. To fuel the bandits belief in the desert ghost, she intentionally pulled the door open slowly with a grating, creaking sound, and then turned toward the action. Abbas rushed forward and slashed a bandit with his obsidian scimitar. Nekhosz cast magic missile at one of the bandits, harming him.
In response to the attack, the older bandit lowered his hand to the ground. The group had a sickening feeling in their stomachs and the scant plant life around them crumbled to ash. The older bandit then cast a magic missile spell of his own and the magical darts struck Nekhosz.
Jamila chose her target instantly and stabbed the defiler in the back, wounding him greatly and becoming visible herself. At this point, the bandits realized that there was no ghost and attacked the group in earnest. The defiler fled from Jamila and she found herself preoccupied by a couple of the bandits. Nekhosz and Abbas ganged up on another bandit.
The fight was tough, but one by one, the bandits fell. A few of them, badly wounded, fled into the desert. The defiler was one of these.
The characters suggested chasing the defiler, but felt that rescuing Ziad was more important. Once they were sure that the bandit camp was free of bandits, they entered the ruined tomb.
Once inside, the group saw some supplies stored just inside the door. They determined that the supplies belonged to the bandits. Deeper into the tomb, there were no supplies. Jamila searched for traps, but found none.
At the end of the hall were two doors. Each one had writing on them, in an old Tyrian dialect. Nekhosz was able to piece the writing together and discovered a riddle. The riddle on the right, the characters had no idea what the answer was. The riddle on the left, the characters thought was fire. They said fire several times, but nothing happened. Abbas came forward, started a small fire next to the door, and the door opened.
Beyond the door was a wide, dusty hall. There were footsteps in the dust. At the end of the hall were bone bars and beyond them were three skeletal archers. Abbas stepped forward and held a blackened coal high. He commanded the skeletons to flee, "from the purifying power of the flame," and the skeletons fled.
Klak was unable to tear out the bone bars, so the characters slowly, and loudly, destroyed enough of them to move into the next hallway. The hallway turned left and the dust showed signs of a struggle, along with drag marks leading down the hallway.
At the end of that hallway was a room inhabited by a large group of skeletal warriors. Abbas tried to turn them, but dust fell into his mouth while he was trying to command them. His coughing was not commanding enough to turn them. A fight ensued.
Nekhosz used the way to grow chitin all over his body, so the skeleton's blows would bounce off of him. Abbas and Jamila used their halfway ineffectual weapons to destroy the undead. Klak happily smashed skulls and shattered femurs. The fight was quickly over, not being too serious for the characters.
The next door was locked, but Jamila easily opened it. Inside were two more skeletons, which Klak made short work of. The room was large, and contained six sarcophagi. On the floor, a riddle was carved. The group solved the riddle and discovered Ziad in the fourth sarcophagus. He was tied up, with ancient rope, and gagged with a filthy rag. While they untied and ungagged him, they accidentally released an ancient zombie from another sarcophagus.
The group leapt on the zombie and destroyed it. Then, they grabbed Ziad and rushed out of the tomb. Once outside, they saw the defiler, trying to catch one of the kanks. Klak threw one of his spears and killed him.
Ziad explained that he ran inside the building, to escape the bandits, but was captured by the skeletons. He was then tied up and put inside the sarcophagus.
The group gathered their kanks and took one of the bandit's kanks for Ziad. They rode as quickly as they could, back to Tyr. They arrived the following day.
Samir was true to his word and paid the group their twenty silver. After hearing his son's story, he gave the group ten more silver for the extra trouble. The characters were happy to receive it.
Thank you for reading and I am looking forward to Athascon in 2023!
The characters all received letters requesting that they meet an unknown benefactor at the Drunken Giant Wine House. Klak did not know how to read, but pictures were able to relay the information adequately.
Klak entered the Drunken Giant and approached the wine steward. He asked for an ale. The human wine steward rolled his eyes and explained that this was a wine house, not a tavern. Klak was embarrassed and quickly ordered a cheap glass of wine. He took a drink and decided that he preferred ale.
As the two men were growing a little impatient, a half giant peeked inside the wine house and spotted the two men. He then entered and glanced around the room, slowly. Satisfied with something, the half giant opened the door and a nicely dressed Tyrian man entered. He made his way to the table and introduced himself as Samir Fah, their benefactor.
He told Klak and Nekhosz that his foolish son, Ziad, ran off to Altaruk - to chase a young lady's heart. He had hired some men to bring Ziad back to Tyr, but they had not returned with him. Alturuk was only a four day journey, there and back, and it had been five. He needed Nekhosz, Klak, Abbas, and Jamila to go and get his son.
It was at this point that Nekhosz and Klak noticed that there was a red eyed dwarf and a lovely, lean elf standing near them. The looked at each other and shrugged. Perhaps the wine was stronger than they had thought.
Samir then promised to pay them twenty silver each, upon his son's safe return to Tyr. The group quickly agreed, as they could live well for months on such a small fortune. They negotiated for some kanks and extra supplies, which Samir readily agreed to. He then warned them that if they ran off, he would hire men to come after them. The group understood and explained they had no intention of running off with his kanks.
Arrangements were made for the kanks and supplies to be at the Caravan Gate in one hour. The group stopped to buy some minor supplies at the merchant district, and then walked to the Caravan Gate. They looked over their kanks and supplies and were satisfied. They mounted their beasts of burden, aside from Jamila who preferred to run, and set off toward Altaruk.
They traveled down the well-worn road for the rest of the day. As darkness fell they moved just off the road and set up camp. They set a watch rotation and went to sleep.
Just as the sun was cresting the horizon, a small group of gith beset the waking characters. The group rallied together and made short work of the gith bandits. Klak was glad to add a few obsidian tipped spears to his arsenal. They finished preparing for the day and continued their journey.
Nekhosz walked forward and began conversing with the slavers. Klak walked closely behind, with Abbas. Jamila snuck off and hid among the rocks. Nekhosz asked what had happened and the slaver explained that some bandits had broken their wagon and kidnapped one of their slaves.
Nekhosz lied and said that they were expert slave trackers and if they just had a little bit of information about the slave, they could probably find him. The slaver then explained that the slave was not to be harmed. He was a prized slave for a Tyrian noble house and his name was Ziad.
The bandits who had attacked the small slave caravan had ridden in on kanks, and attacked them swiftly. The bandit group wasn't interested in the slaver's food, water, or other slaves. Before the slavers could even mount a proper defense, the bandits were gone. They went north, into the desert. The slavers were trying to repair their wagon and press on to Tyr. If the characters managed to rescue Ziad, they would pay the group five silver apiece. Nekhosz said he would discuss it with the group.
The group moved away from the slavers and talked amongst themselves. Nekhosz said that they should attack the slavers. Klak, being a former slave himself, agreed, as did Abbas. Jamila was still hiding in the rocks, but the group hoped she would join them.
Abbas walked over to the slaver who was trying to repair the wagon, feigning an interest in assisting him. Klak started talking to one of the guards, and Nekhosz starting asking more questions about Ziad. Once everyone was in place, and the slavers were less cautious, Klak drew his singing sticks and killed the guard he had been talking to.
Abbas drew his obsidian scimitar and slashed the slaver he had been talking to. Nekhosz cast magic missile at one of the guards. The guard who saw Nekhosz cast magic pointed and yelled, "Defiler!" Jamila emerged from her hiding place and attempted to stab a guard, but missed.
After their initial shock at being attacked, the slavers drew weapons and began fighting back. Nekhosz used what little magic he had available and then used his quarterstaff, with middling success. Abbas and Jamila proved to be dismal fighters, but Klak was like a rampaging mekillot. He seemed to enjoy slaying the same type of people that once kept him in bondage.
During the battle, Nekhosz opened the slave wagon and handed the woman a bone dagger. He implored that she fight with them. She did, but was not very skilled.
When the dust had settled, the slavers were all dead, save one who had fled into the desert and Jamila decided wasn't worth chasing. Abbas used his elemental magic to heal the wounds of his companions. Nekhosz gave the woman, Soraya, the money and equipment the slavers had. He suggested she return to Altaruk and she agreed. Klak ripped the door off of the wagon, so no one could lock them inside again. She thanked them profusely and set off south. The characters wished her, and her two children, well.
The bandit's tracks were obvious and the group set out to find the bandit camp. They walked until the sky grew dark and they made their own camp. The night was cold, but peaceful.
In front of the building were six men, all armed. They were drinking and talking to one another. Behind the largest tent were a few kanks that had been tethered to stakes driven into the sand.
The characters weren't sure how to proceed, so Jamila offered to scout ahead and the group agreed. Almost right away, she made noise and one of the bandits noticed her. She attempted to seduce him, but he obviously wasn't buying it and gave her a doubtful look. Nekhosz reached out from his hiding spot and turned Jamila invisible. The bandit was shocked and ran back to his friends.
He told them an elf ghost came out of the desert and tried to seduce him. His friends laughed at him and told him he had drunk too much, or the heat was cooking his brain. Jamila quickly checked the large tent, as another man exited it, to see what all the noise was about. Jamila saw a bone cage inside, along with some other basic supplies, but no Ziad.
Jamila decided she would look into the other tents as well. As she lifted the flap to the next tent, a gust of wind tore the flap from her hand and it flapped loudly. The bandits all looked over and stopped laughing. The first bandit was convinced it was the ghost and others were less sure themselves that there was no ghost. Jamila did not find Ziad in the tent.
Jamila then made her way toward the ruined building, noticing that it was locked on the outside, and purposefully knocked over a small water cask. Some of the bandits jumped, obviously beginning to believe the ghost story. An older man emerged from the last tent and demanded to know what was going on. The bandits started telling him about the desert ghost. Their strong belief in the ghost worried the older man and he found himself believing in it as well.
Jamila checked the last tent and, again, found no sign of Ziad. So, she returned to the group. Half of the bandits believed there was a ghost, while the other half were coming up with rational explanations. The characters suggested that Jamila return to the ruined building and try to open the lock.
Jamila did as was requested of her and returned to the locked door. As she began picking the lock, Klak had his own idea and moved toward the kanks. He was not as sneaky as Jamila, so he made a bit of noise. By this point, half of the bandits had nearly worked themselves into a panic, so they refused to investigate the noise. The other half of the bandits were willing to investigate, however.
Thinking quickly, Abbas used the will to send an illusory copy of himself to the scared bandits, doing his best ghost impersonation. The scared bandits said they did not desecrate his tomb. Abbas said Ziad had desecrated it and he wanted his revenge on Ziad. The scared bandits said Ziad was still in the tomb and went through the door. They said they couldn't go through the door after him.
Upon seeing Abbas' supposed ghost, the older bandit realized it was the way. He started yelling at the other bandits, explaining to them that someone was using the way to scare them. At that moment, Klak cut the bandit's kanks free and smacked them on their carapace.
As the kanks started to run, a couple of bandits ran to catch them. When they did, Klak came out of hiding and starting killing the bandits with mighty blows of his singing sticks. Jamila, still invisible, successfully picked the lock on the tomb. To fuel the bandits belief in the desert ghost, she intentionally pulled the door open slowly with a grating, creaking sound, and then turned toward the action. Abbas rushed forward and slashed a bandit with his obsidian scimitar. Nekhosz cast magic missile at one of the bandits, harming him.
In response to the attack, the older bandit lowered his hand to the ground. The group had a sickening feeling in their stomachs and the scant plant life around them crumbled to ash. The older bandit then cast a magic missile spell of his own and the magical darts struck Nekhosz.
Jamila chose her target instantly and stabbed the defiler in the back, wounding him greatly and becoming visible herself. At this point, the bandits realized that there was no ghost and attacked the group in earnest. The defiler fled from Jamila and she found herself preoccupied by a couple of the bandits. Nekhosz and Abbas ganged up on another bandit.
The fight was tough, but one by one, the bandits fell. A few of them, badly wounded, fled into the desert. The defiler was one of these.
The characters suggested chasing the defiler, but felt that rescuing Ziad was more important. Once they were sure that the bandit camp was free of bandits, they entered the ruined tomb.
At the end of the hall were two doors. Each one had writing on them, in an old Tyrian dialect. Nekhosz was able to piece the writing together and discovered a riddle. The riddle on the right, the characters had no idea what the answer was. The riddle on the left, the characters thought was fire. They said fire several times, but nothing happened. Abbas came forward, started a small fire next to the door, and the door opened.
Beyond the door was a wide, dusty hall. There were footsteps in the dust. At the end of the hall were bone bars and beyond them were three skeletal archers. Abbas stepped forward and held a blackened coal high. He commanded the skeletons to flee, "from the purifying power of the flame," and the skeletons fled.
Klak was unable to tear out the bone bars, so the characters slowly, and loudly, destroyed enough of them to move into the next hallway. The hallway turned left and the dust showed signs of a struggle, along with drag marks leading down the hallway.
At the end of that hallway was a room inhabited by a large group of skeletal warriors. Abbas tried to turn them, but dust fell into his mouth while he was trying to command them. His coughing was not commanding enough to turn them. A fight ensued.
Nekhosz used the way to grow chitin all over his body, so the skeleton's blows would bounce off of him. Abbas and Jamila used their halfway ineffectual weapons to destroy the undead. Klak happily smashed skulls and shattered femurs. The fight was quickly over, not being too serious for the characters.
The next door was locked, but Jamila easily opened it. Inside were two more skeletons, which Klak made short work of. The room was large, and contained six sarcophagi. On the floor, a riddle was carved. The group solved the riddle and discovered Ziad in the fourth sarcophagus. He was tied up, with ancient rope, and gagged with a filthy rag. While they untied and ungagged him, they accidentally released an ancient zombie from another sarcophagus.
The group leapt on the zombie and destroyed it. Then, they grabbed Ziad and rushed out of the tomb. Once outside, they saw the defiler, trying to catch one of the kanks. Klak threw one of his spears and killed him.
Ziad explained that he ran inside the building, to escape the bandits, but was captured by the skeletons. He was then tied up and put inside the sarcophagus.
The group gathered their kanks and took one of the bandit's kanks for Ziad. They rode as quickly as they could, back to Tyr. They arrived the following day.
Samir was true to his word and paid the group their twenty silver. After hearing his son's story, he gave the group ten more silver for the extra trouble. The characters were happy to receive it.
Thank you for reading and I am looking forward to Athascon in 2023!
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