Tuesday, July 27, 2010

In the Shadow of the Keep

As Daelagor heads out of the kobold lair he hands the chain mail over to Bayern. Obviously of Dwarven origin, though not limited for use by such, the cleric would be best placed to identify it. Daelagor continues on to Irontooth's body.

Bayern carefully turns the mail over through his hands. It is of outstanding quality - any fighter would be proud to wear it. The beautiful finish is more than skin deep, however. Bayern recognises that the armour would grant perpetual bonuses to AC (+1) and Endurance (+1) and would also allow the wearer to regain health once per day (spend a healing surge as a free action).

As Daelagor stoops to search Irontooth, Zahig's young voice peals out from behind him "I've already done that." In deference to this interruption, Daelagor continues anyway but finds nothing of interest. "Told you." jokes Zahig "Aside from his axe and armour all he had were this silver key and letter. Have you any idea what a goblin could possibly want to have kept locked?!" he adds, insightfully.

"Most likely the treasure chest I managed to pick - the key looks to be of appropriate shape and size. Be assured that all it contained was the armour, now in the hands of our dwarven companion. Let us rejoin the others and then you can tell us what is on this letter..."

The group reconvene near Argent's body. Bayern performs what he considers to be the appropriate rites for a fallen warrior, and a funeral pyre is lit. Vogir breaks the silence: "He had this bottle of wine in his pack. It's a good one; carefully wrapped. I guess he was saving it for something. Let us drink it in his honour."

As the bottle is emptied and the fire burns low, Daelagor turns to Zahig. "Tell us about the letter you found on Irontooth."

Zahig unfurls the curl of paper and reads "My spy in Winterhaven suggests we keep an eye out for visitors to the area. It probably does not matter; in just a few more days, I'll completely open the rift. Then Winterhaven's people will serve as food for all those Lord Orcus sends to do my bidding. It's signed 'Kalarel'."

The party decide to return to Winterhaven, now certain that this Kalarel - whoever, or whatever it is - must reside in the Keep. It seems obvious that unless they act soon Winterhaven will be overrun with unspeakable horrors from the Shadowfell.

*You are all back in Winterhaven and it is mid-evening on the same day that you attacked the kobold lair. What would you like to do?*

13 comments:

  1. *Discussion en-route to Winterhaven*

    "First off, lets talk about loot. What we found and how we split it."

    "Now that Argent is not with us, that amulet should pass to the one we want to protect the most - I suggest Vogir as he is always at the front of the fight or Beyern as none of us would want him to fall."

    "Then, of course there is the matter of the armour - suitable for Vogir I would think. Leaving the amulet to Beyern."
    "Or me. Or Daelagor. ;)"

    "Now, surely that can't be all we found. Dae?"

    "Finally, when we get back to Winterhaven, we should go get our reward for Irontooth..."

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  2. In terms of magic, that is pretty much it - I've only given out the amulet and armour.

    I'm in the process of working how much 'cash' you'll each get with the aim of posting that up tonight. It'll probably be around 100gp each once you've sold off all the kobold spears/shields, etc which I assume none of you want. I was just going to total everything and divide it equally amongst you.

    You've also got the Orcus pendant and idol which you may/may not wish to sell, but I'll leave that up to you.

    If no-one wants the Dwarven chain mail, then I'll swap it for something more useful as promised.

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  3. The only things of interest Argent possessed were the bottle of wine we just drank in his honour and this pendant of protection.
    I fought to protect Bayern and Argent and could certainly use it, but with the loss of our Barbarian, I think it would best serve our Dwarven priest.
    We mustn't let him fall again.
    As for the Dwarven chainmail...
    Could Bayern use that also?
    It's no use to me. A magical longsword or bow however...

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  4. Are you saying you can't use chainnail armour or that you don't want it, or that it is no better than what you already have?
    It is dwarven made not dwarven sized as I understand it.

    I don't have a problem with Bayern having both the amulet and the armour, but it is only fair that Daelagor and Zahig get a shout on the amulet. Zahig would never spurn more protection!

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  5. Rangers can only use 'Light' armour.
    :(
    Vogir will happily take the amulet but as I understand the rules, all magical items should be useful to the Party, so the Dwarven chainmail armour (Placed for Argent) may now get unwritten...

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  6. Bayern can certainly use the Dwarven chain mail and would be happy to, as it would help prevent encounters like the last one from playing out in the same way. I just hope that other party members can quickly get some good magical gear - I'd hate to be in a situation where even though Bayern's alive, too many of our strikers have been dropped for us to win an encounter.

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  7. In that case, Vogir pins the amulet to his tunic.
    :)

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  8. "If no-one wants the Dwarven chain mail, then I'll swap it for something more useful as promised."

    I don't think that is what the rules mean. I think the "should be of use for the party" means more that a party without spellcasters shouldn't find magic wands or a part of rangers a fullblade sword :) It should be something the party could use, not what the party wants. Some of us are able to wear the chainmail, so it is by this definition useful :)

    Daelagor would take the amulet if offered but doesn't deem it necessary. He wasn't the one getting injured last fight :)

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  9. True, but a DM running their own adventure would probably give up something of use. As I'm running mine from a preset book, I reserve the right to change the magic if no-one can benefit from it!

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  10. Ha!

    Zahig: "Actually Dae, I think it was you that searched the priest no? Right after you killed him. The only one we got a look in at was the stinking goblin."
    "And anyway, I have no secrets - you are welcome to search my pockets!"

    [Out of game]In fact I can't remember who killed whom and who searched whom! But, didn't you deal with the nasty priest like thing?[/Out of game]

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  11. Totally forgot to answer to Zahig on the way :)

    Zahig: "Now, surely that can't be all we found. Dae?"
    Daelagor: "I searched all rooms and the gold and chainmail was all that those creatures had horded. I was surprised the goblin and the priest didn't carry more?"

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  12. Weirdly, my comment got in before the one I was responding to.

    Very confusing for the reader!

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  13. [offgame]Sorry, just tried to correct a spelling mistake in mine and then your post came in between. My last comment was before Zahigs (just if people wonder why we have a time-delayed conversation :) )
    Daelagor only searched the bodies outside after coming back out. He tried to get into the caves to kill any remaining kobolds
    [/offgame]

    Daelagor: "Yes, I searched the priest when coming out of the cave and didn't find anything of value. And why should I search your pockets? You have nothing of value to me either."

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