GM: Brian Engard
Players: Anna Meade, Morgan Ellis, Andreas Stein, and Sean Nittner
System: Dungeons & Dragons 5E
Setting: Ebberon
I missed session two, busy getting married and all, so if you’re keen to find out the intimate details of the game, you’ll have to pry them from Morgans white knuckled grip. Or murder Brian and cast speak with dead to summon his spirit and charge him to tell you the account. There were bits about riding sky vessels, investigating Gorum Trull’s, Dalin Robart who works at Morgraine Unniversity, and a lead on Vorrin D’ Cannith. Keer had also met with Sellers, his mentor in the inquisitive and found out that Sellers was the one put in charge of finding and arresting us!
Second Level – Yay Powers
After two sessions we were 2nd level and now had some new powers to choose from. I quite like that 5E keeps the changes between level pretty small. At 2nd level all we got were some more hit points and a class power. In the case of spellcasters we got a couple more spells as well, but even for a wizard, the leveling process was pretty straightforward.
As Dermis, my warforged wizard owned by the late Lady Vol has but one desire to find his mistress and resurrect her, I opted to have him focus on divination. Necromancy would have been another good choice (she is a lich afterall) but I figured it would more be about finding the body and rejoining it with the phylactery (me) than about doing actual necromancy. Anywho, the divination 2nd level power is pretty cool. At the start of the day roll two d20 and record their values. Later, before a roll is made (by anyone the Wizard can see) they can replace the roll with one of those two numbers. Pretty damn slick.
Two Encounters that led into one.
We split up. Keer and Raj investigating some of the dragonmark houses that are entangled with our former patrons turned indicters. They learned from
Emerion D’cannith that Vorrin D’ Cannith was involved, but when they found him he had never heard of Emerion, nor knew what she was talking about. He did thell them however that House Cannith was divided. Three prominent families (from three regions) were at odds with each other, specifically the Aundarians and the Brellish factions.
Meanwhile Dermis and Doona went back to the Rose Flagon in an attempt to get information out of Hetty. This was a great point where I, as a player, was confused about what was going on, so my ability to play Dermis as clueless to social graces (Charisma 10) was spot on! Doona dropped a note we had found to Hetty in an attempt to intimidate her.
The reaction we got was… not good. Hetty had her goons escort us into the back office, where presumably she was going to do bad things to us and then Dermis cast Charm Person on her.
Brian made the saving throw, and succeeded. Then he asked (in Fate Core fashion) would you like to succeed at a cost? Hell yes I would!
So the spell worked, Hetty was charmed and said that Hans’ shipment had come from Karnoth, stopped in Sharn, and was was going to Aundair and that it contained a whole shipment of Warforged! Somehow deactivated (or never completed) Warforged! Then the spell wore off and violence ensued!
Daring-do
We fled into the market and had a merry chase leaping on carts going by and dodging Hetty’s goons until at last they trapped us. Thankfully that was just when Keer and Raj were coming back to check on us. Together we defeated the goons (tough as they might be) but were picked up by the town guard who wanted to know what was going on.
We all (goons included) had some guilty looks on our faces as none of us really wanted to tell the guard what we were up to. We were escorted back to the Rose Flagon and with the note to Hetty as well as a search of the inn performed by Sellers, our friend assigned to capture us, it was made clear that Hetty was connected with the folks that blew up the lightning rail and that we were innocent. Our names were cleared, huzzah!
Aftermath
Just when we thought the big action was done Emerion D’cannith appeared looking less “real” than she had before. The lines of her face were blurred, out of focus, like she wasn’t completely “here”. We learned of her arrival when an invisible crossbow bolt that nearly killed Sellers. She was a crafty foe but we defeated her. When she died her body collapsed not like that of a living person, but more like something that was wearing a person suit and now that suit fell to the ground deflated.
After the fight and some healing potions, Sellers revealed that he was actually named Harcop and that he is a Kalashtar. The creature we fought was not Emerion D’cannith but one of the Inspired, mortal vessels for the sinister Quori. The two races have been at war, dreams vs. nightmares, for control over Adar… and we just got in the middle of that war. Now we were marked and the Quori were relentless foes. Sellers, or Harcop told us it was not our fight, but if we wanted to aid him and the Kalashtar, he would give us all the support he could muster.
Oh yeah, nightmare creatures from another realm, bring it on!
Thoughts on the game
5th continues to be fun. Combat was quick and simple and there was no sense that a battle map was ever needed. I don’t know much about the other classes yet but it seems like they all have some cool abilities. The paladin’s smite and the thief’s sneak attack were both cool.
Though free of blame, we now found ourselves embroiled in deeper plots (NOOICE!). Brian has done an awesome job of bringing Ebberon to life and making our characters part of larger machinations.
Here’s the follow up email with our choices of what to do next:
Options for continuing adventures:
Sharn
In Sharn, you have a few loose ends you can tie up if you like. Raj reported to Lord Rukan, so that’s done. The watch is out of your hair. The Lightning Rail is still down. Keer should probably talk to Voren d’Cannith, but that could easily be handled during downtime.
Keer’s interested in finding out more about Bishop Avraden. There’s also Professor Robard at Morgrave University. Vathra d’Lyrandar was a lead, but she’s flown the coop. Which brings me to…
Aundair
Breland’s uneasy almost-neighbor to the north, Aundair is pastoral and beautiful. Vathra d’Lyrandar flew her ship full of cargo (including those warforged shells) somewhere in Audair; you’ll probably want to find out where at some point if you want to try to catch up to her. This one’s somewhat time-sensitive in that she’ll move on if you don’t act quickly, but she’s part of a smuggling operation so she’ll make the circuit again at some point (though it’ll be more secretive and closely guarded, now that Hetty’s been found out).
If you go to Aundair, expect intrigue with the Dragonmarked Houses and various political factions in that region, and maybe some travel and wilderness encounters.
Karrnath
To the north-east, across the Mournland, is Karrnath. Hans d’Orien, Hetty’s supplier, lives there, in Atur, the City of Night. The road to Karrnath is long and dangerous, but Hans might be able to give you some good information.
If you go to Karrnath, expect more intrigue, and probably a lot of undead and death cultists. It’s that kind of place. It should be noted also that Karrnath contains a high percentage of Khorvaire’s worshippers of the Blood of Vol, the religion founded by Dermis’ erstwhile mistress.
Thrane
Butting right up against Breland’s northern border, Thrane is a military theocracy led by High Cardinal Krozen. It’s also where Goren Trall, the money man, lives. The Church of the Silver Flame is the state religion there, and while most Flame-worshippers are good people who believe in justice, kindness, and protecting others, there are those who follow the more extreme elements of the religion. Inquisitions and purges are a part of the Silver Flame’s history.
If you go to Thrane, expect to deal with the clergy a lot, expect knights and zealots, and expect to be frequently looked upon with suspicion. If they learn that Raj is a changeling, they will be immediately suspicious. If they learn that Dermis is a lich’s phylactery… well, let’s just say that the Church of the Silver Flame and the Blood of Vol are not on the best of terms.
