Reprieve from Castle Amber shenanigans.
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Expedition 51e
16 Nov 2023
- Blakath (Fighter 1)
- Mandras (Dwarf 3)
- Rarder Brete (Fighter 5) and Konrad Claver (Cleric 3)
The party descended once more down the mountain into this simultaneously familiar and foreign land of Averoigne. Noting the recognisable form of the Tower of the Constructors distinct among the green canopy, and counting on Rarder’s experience of it many months ago / many years in the future, they made their way there on an unkempt but perfectly serviceable path through the greenery.
When they approached it, they received a frosty welcome. Several archaically-dressed elven guards held them at spear point while they negotiated with the tower commander, Saphora, an elf exuding a great magical power. The sentient sword Conciencia, already woozy with the dense arcane atmosphere in the woods, started hiccupping. Not noticeably fazed by their story of time travelling, Saphora spoke of a great magical calamity in which the Castle Amber disappeared, along with all the region’s extended ruling family, and Averoigne was flooded with uncontrolled magic, corrupting the woods especially. Any human settlements within had vanished as their inhabitants were gripped by an insanity or fled.
Human arcane experiments , led by the Amber family, were blamed for the catastrophe and hence why the party found themselves communicating largely through the dwarf Mandras. No question of there being shelter in the tower for these humans, though after Saphora had had a look at the party’s copy of the scroll listing several names and items needed to break the Ambers’ curse she was able to advise them on the significance of some of them. One name in particular, Malachie, she could help with: if the party could destroy a sorcerer who had stolen an elven artefact and, mutated by magic, corrupted a human temple into worshipping him, then she might be able to arrange for the loan of the Enchanted Sword of Sylaire. The sheer amount of magic around that temple caused it to sink into the earth, and Rarder’s pricked up, remembering skirting past a sinkhole in Yeoldelands. In any case, she cautioned them that the human realms had outlawed the use of magic.
The party packed up and departed, making for Ximes, one of the larger human settlements. They followed the river south, unable to cross it without their chartered ferry. As they camped overnight they were awoken by cackles and screeches, and from the woods charged a mass of men and women: spittle flying, clothes tattered, a look in their eyes indicating their humanity was elsewhere. Several of them charged on all fours.
The adventurers and their hirelings formed several ranks and tried to break the charge upon their shieldwall, but the assailants had the numbers to spill around the sides and into the softer targets. Blakath, farmboy-turned-mercenary-turned adventurer, dashed back to hack at the rabid attackers while the more heavily armoured warriors held the front line. It was enough to delay them sufficiently for the archers to loose a few volleys to thin the numbers. Refusing to back down from the slaughter, the 30-odd attackers lay dead, but so did a third of the mercenaries and Rarder’s magic-casting retainer, Jauregi.
The next day the party approached the bridge to Ximes and, though struggling with the archaic Common tongue, charmed the guards so effectively that despite the unfashionable strangeness of their own garbs and armour they were let in with a warm welcome. They still had to hand over their arsenal before entering, and Rarder made sure to tip the quartermaster handsomely. The guards pointed out an inn not far from the city gates, and the adventurers collapsed to reflect upon their experiences.
GM Notes
- Quite a bit of exposition / chatter between PCs and NPCs. Social verbal interactions are not my strength at the best of times, especially when trying to multitask with other aspects of GMing, so the majority of NPC dialogue is given as reported speech i.e. ‘so and so tells the party such and such’. It gets mixed in with descriptions as well, so I feel it gives the players the best chance to understand what I’m trying to convey. If an NPC is being shifty, I won’t try and disguise it behind a script. If the NPC is in a good or bad mood, I’ll just come up and say it.Don’t need this to be another area where players don’t pick up what would be obvious to the characters. Improv scripts may work at some tables; I know my own limits at picking up on hidden meanings beneath the surface discussion.
To paraphrase a Great Man, subtext is for cowards.
There Could Have Been Snakes 