Anyhow...
Cast
Liam Callahan - a 17 year old human farm boy who constantly has his head in the clouds (you guessed it. The Hero!). Liam hails from the "Road's End Villages" the far North Western section of the Kingdom of Cerimea, not that anyone particularly remembers that.
Ilian Holhan - A 19 year old apprentice mage Seraphim who has come down to the surface (accompanied by his mentor and master) to further his studies on the weather as well as several other studies for his magical pursuits.. The Seraphim are a race of winged scholars and magi who live high above the clouds.
Abar Dan Rab Beynonn - A 19 year old Azrian Sword Dancer. The Azrian are a tribe of humans that live in cities in the forests (think Sherwood from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves), they are some of the premiere sword fighters in the land, using a style that emphasizes grace and finesse over power.
Darcy Stanton - A Half-Elf Rogue who has been staying with Rab (Abar) among the Azrian for the last few years. She is as close as a sister to Rab, and helps him on the various jobs he undertakes for the Azrian. Despite her time with the Azrian though, Darcy prefers to fight with her knives rather than use a sword.
Genru Crabshall - A Dwarven caravan guard from the Dwarf's War Caste. Genru hails from the famed floating cities of the Dwarves, though it has been years since he has seen home. Assigned to a guard a caravan heading to the northern provinces of Cerimea.
Ilian Holhan - A 19 year old apprentice mage Seraphim who has come down to the surface (accompanied by his mentor and master) to further his studies on the weather as well as several other studies for his magical pursuits.. The Seraphim are a race of winged scholars and magi who live high above the clouds.
Abar Dan Rab Beynonn - A 19 year old Azrian Sword Dancer. The Azrian are a tribe of humans that live in cities in the forests (think Sherwood from Robin Hood Prince of Thieves), they are some of the premiere sword fighters in the land, using a style that emphasizes grace and finesse over power.
Darcy Stanton - A Half-Elf Rogue who has been staying with Rab (Abar) among the Azrian for the last few years. She is as close as a sister to Rab, and helps him on the various jobs he undertakes for the Azrian. Despite her time with the Azrian though, Darcy prefers to fight with her knives rather than use a sword.
Genru Crabshall - A Dwarven caravan guard from the Dwarf's War Caste. Genru hails from the famed floating cities of the Dwarves, though it has been years since he has seen home. Assigned to a guard a caravan heading to the northern provinces of Cerimea.
Ornu Tana Dar - An experienced Elven Woodsman, Ornu is specifically trained to be able to counter rogues, spies, and assassins, and also in taking out larger groups of opponents as quickly and efficiently possible. One year ago (beginning of the game) he was sent to retrieve Darcy back to the Kingdom so that officials could speak to her on matters of some importance to the Elven kingdom.
The Session
The session began with the group leaving the Azrian village to head to Bastion. There was some question as to why they were heading to Bastion, it had nothing to do with their quest at this time, and they were likely only going to bring ruin and misfortune down upon the people in the city with the trouble that was following them, but it had ended up on their travel agenda. After a bit of discussion, it was revealed that Rab wanted to check in on the survivors from Asgoth, particularly Jasa and Elise, or was that the other way around? The party was curious and intrigued enough, after all Rab never seemed to want to meet anyone, not that he didn't want to just desire for things seemed foreign to him, and so they all agreed to go to Bastion. Rab and Ornu planned the route, and off they went.
Along the journey Ilian took to the skies regularly, and read the weather to see how things were going to go. Which made it curious when one day they noticed a storm cloud in an otherwise clear sky, even more so when it was noticed that this cloud was travelling against the wind. Heading up to investigate, Ilian commanded the wind to blow to the side and dissipate the cloud, an action which revealed the six winged lizard-men that had been hiding within. Sensing an incoming attack, Ilian turned to return to the party managing to get grazed by a cross bow quarrel as he did so. The lizard-men landed before the group, pointed to them and demanded the boy be given to them. The party refused, and with Rab's charging into combat the fight began.
The creatures were strong, fighting unarmed and using the claws on the end of their fingers. Their thick skin and muscled bodies providing significant protection against the weapons of the PCs as the fight continued. Things took a turn for the worse when Rab killed the leader of the Lizard Men only to have his body explode and magical metallic coils wrap him up like a christmas present, effectively taking him out of the fight. Grenru killed another with his axe, this one simply exploding and damaging the dwarf in return for the death blow being dealt.
One of the creatures grabbed Rab's bound body from the ground, trying to flee with the captured Azrian in tow. Darcy, being close by, managed to injure the wing to slow the escape, and a lucky shot by Ornu managed to free one of Rab's arms enough. Rab, the reckless daredevil that he is, promptly grabbed the Lizard man's head and brought the short flight to a literal crashing end back into the ground. The rest of the fight was fairly straight forward, though thanks to the explosions and magical binding coils, by the end of the fight both Grenru and Rab were tied up, and everyone save Ilian and Grenru were severely injured. The group took the rest of the evening to patch them selves up, and between Ilian and Ornu's medical training as well as a touch of magic they were right as rain when the sun rose the next day.
Continuing on towards Bastion, the PCs ran into a couple of Free Knights, an order of Knights affiliated with the Free City, and allowed to wander in the human kingdoms, exchanging information as to the road and the weather conditions before going their separate ways. A couple of days later and the Free City itself came into sight. Sprawled across the plains with a spire like shape as those in the inner, and richest, areas of the city built up, unable to build out thanks to the press of other buildings. Despite that though, the city gave off an appearance of having been designed by a single hand. Not a mish-mash or hodge podge of various people's desires and wants over a couple hundred years, effort was put into maintaining a level of ascetic appeal and the impression the city gave from a distance benefited from this.
Through the gates, the city's primary purpose of a trade city is easy to see. Roads are set up for ease of travel, being straight and wide to accommodate carts and wagons. A nightmare to defend, but perfect for the kind of massive trade the city encouraged to happen within its walls. Asking a few questions, the PCs found their way to the Tameran Embassy, being allowed in by the Cimerean Princess Jasa who was staying in the care of the Tameran Princess Elise ila Tamera. Being welcomed and told to make themselves at home, the PCs take advantage of baths and the ability to get their clothes cleaned.
Rab is 'abducted' by the Princess Jasa, going off with her to see how she has progressed with the brief dancing lessons he gave her a half year ago in Asgoth. Ilian and Liam find their way to the Study/Library, Ilian reading up on the histories of the human kingdoms and finding it strange that there are only broken records for any of the kingdoms more than 900 years ago, and no record of the founding of any of the three human kingdoms. Liam for his part is quickly distracted from his quest for actual knowledge by a large tome of the Legends of Deregar, the elven hero and last Dragon Knight. Grenru and Ornu end up going off to find a bar and manage to drink themselves stupid. Darcy, for her part, pretties herself up before finding a musician in the Embassy who is willing to work with her as she practices her own performancing on her own.
The return of Elise to the Embassy brings about smiles from seeing an old friend. A brief conversation between Elise and Darcy brings the princess up to speed on the group's situation. The group (minus Ornu and Grenru) discuss a bit on how long to stay in the city before once again going off on their own. Ilian back to his books, Liam and Darcy to their respective beds, and Rab to find Elise and ask for a spar. Some subdued flirting and sparring later, Rab is exhausted and collapses into unconsciousness.
The Elf and Dwarf decide to come back to the Embassy at some ridiculously late time, only to find the guard unwilling to let them in. The reason being a request from Darcy considering the presumed drunken state both will be in. Being refuted by the guard, Grenru realizes they're being followed and drags the elf with him on a chase through the alleyways. The chase bears no fruit, though that doesn't stop the Dwarf from dragging the Elf with him all through the night to try and find the person.
The next morning finds Grenru and Ornu waking up, surprisingly close to the embassy all things considered, and Liam heading out to see the city on his own. Liam's venturing brings about a strange turn as he runs into his father. His father has been following stories of him and his group of companions, looking for answers as to why his son and wife disappeared over a year ago. The two talk, Liam's father commenting that Liam is being followed and pulling his son down different streets seemingly at random. It takes Liam a while to realize that by 'being followed' his dad means right now and to start looking around. When he does, he spots Shashin, the grey skinned warrior from the Azrian village. He gets the sense that they're being herded, but continues to follow along his dad's lead. Turning a corner, Liam spots a bow being aimed at them, getting his shield off his back he manages to block the arrow. The pursuers have apparently decided the time for action is now.
Moving quicker through the streets Liam's dad sees an opening and goes for it. Liam running as fast as he can after his father. They come near an intersection with another street, and Liam's father turns, shoving his son out of the way as Shashin appears seemingly out of nowhere, lunging with a sword in hand. Liam falls to the side safely, the blade neatly piercing between his father's ribs. The session ends there.
Thoughts
I was unsure as to the ending of the session, on the one hand I am not a huge fan of cliff-hanging in the middle of an intense situation, as while it can make for return visits in tv-shows and movies, it is really hard in RPGs to recapture the exact emotional spectrum that is going on. Players have a week or more to sit down and analyze what is happening, they calm down and scheme, come up with plans. When the event picks back up, it plays out differently than it would have normally because the element of being caught up in the moment is lost. That being said, due to time constraints and wanting to give LIam's player some time to think I did it. The player also seems happy with the emotionality of the scene there, so huzzah for that.
Aside from that, not much happened plot wise in the session. The fight with the lizard men went longer than I expected. I think I made them a bit too strong for what I intended them to be there, but they were also a last minute substitution from a different encounter I had planned due to a comment/dare from a player done in jest. I think, even with that, the fight turned out a lot more interesting than it would have been. Though I have promised that the next group of enemies the PCs fight (PCs, plural, not PC) will not explode or do anything weird upon death, or they'll all get 15 XP.
Other than that, I got nothing. So have fun, and Happy Gaming.
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