Director: Dylan Arena
Players: Adrienne Mueller, James Lawton, Ryan Fox Squire, Sean Nittner
System: Draw Steel
The Delian Tomb is huge my friends. This adventure has so much more than I expected. After three session we barely scratched the surface. I’d love to play it more in the future, or possible run it.
Note that this report includes some spoilers for the adventure, though Dylan also changed a lot to work with the choices and the time constraints we made.
The play is the thing
We returned to Broadhurst as local heroes. Our renown raised, and some of us granted the title Violet’s Savior (character sheet note: if title are a common thing in this game, there should be a place for them on the character sheet).
As we entered the town, we were approached by Abbot Loric, from the Church of St. Gryffyn. He thanked us for saving Violet and offered the use of his personal collection of books to help learn more about the Caelian insignia. Though Saren encouraged everyone to Put Your Back Into It we failed abysmally at finding anything of worth. Though there were some delightful moments when Hrunk really wanted to appear helpful to Mallory and Saren kept getting in the way but handing her the book in question or pointing out a passage in Old Caelian. [All Tier One results except for the one roll that I boosted to a Tier Two]
Undeterred however, we asked that Abbot Lorric let us know if he found anything in his library that might help. We made our way to the Featherbed Inn, which was packed with the evening crowd. The patron Gweldyr greeted us warmly and offered her wares.
We spotted, what appeared to be the entirety of the Gilded Hand, the same rapscallions that refused help to Ashley in the first place. Though Mallory’s inclination was to cause them trouble, Saren suggested we try to make peace with them. They might have information we needed.
We approached and made introductions. Their numbers included
- Boddorff Buckfeather, a polder who greeted us warmly and invited us to talk, telling us stories about their great adventures in Wend.
- Targon, a young human with a bow who seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face. He was the leader of the group, though he didn’t do more that grunt when we made introductions.
- Mara: a human in her fifties, who said very little.
- Illwyth, a wode elf, who seemed a bit on the outside of the group.
- Gorek, a dwarf with rocky spikes for hair and chin bristle. He seemed to have no interest in our presence other than the possibility of a fight breaking out.
Through some discussion and some flirting aided by his High Elf Glamor, Saren learned that Illwyth had the ring of the Calelin commander, which they had taken from a tomb filled with cultists in Wend. It didn’t fit her but she wore it just the same. Her taking interest in Saren however, caused Targon to get agitated and lead his band out of the inn.
Xena tried to talk to him, mind to mind, leader to leader, but he had no interest in conversations, telepathic or otherwise. Thankfully the interaction was short enough that he didn’t remember Xena thanks to her Forgettable Face.
During the conversation we had mentioned the goblins serving Queen Bargnot and though the mercenaries feigned ignorance of the name, our barkeep Gweldyr asked us to keep that name from our lips, lest we upset the other patrons. According to her, Queen Bargnot and her band the Jagged Edge raided the town 25 years ago, and though they were fended off, the town suffered greatly for it. Everyone assumed she was dead by now, and learning that she’s still alive might start a panic.
More or less cladestine
Mallory and Xena followed after the Gilded Hand to see where they were going. Though they took a circuitous path, likely to lose anyone trailing them, it was eventually clear they were heading to the tomb.
Mallory ran back to the inn to tell the rest of us, while Xena kept on their tail. She managed to stay hidden, but lost track of them. Eventually she gave up on trying to intercept them and went to the tomb where she saw wide foot prints that could only be Gorek’s.
A few minutes later however, the Gilded Hand emerged looking frustrated. Whatever the barrier required, it wasn’t the ring that Illwyth wore.
Mallory retriend Hrunk and Saren and we headed out to find Xena, and of course ran into the Gilded Hand instead.
“Nice night for a stroll?” Targon asked, clearly not trusting us.
“We’ve lost track of our leader, we’re looking for her.” Saren responded, though Hrunk looked doubtful that Xena was truly our leader despite announcing it many times.
“Hah, you lost your leader. You call yourselves heroes?” Targon mocked.
“No. Other people do. But we don’t need heroics tonight, only to find out missing member. You haven’t spotted her have you?”
“No, we were in the east looking for bandits.” Targon lied.
Hrunk chimed it “That’s not true and you know it. We’re trying to find a way to enter the Tomb of Delios and you are as well. Maybe if we start being honest with each other we can get somewhere.”
Targon didn’t hear anything past the first sentence. “Are you calling me a liar?” He was incesned.
To try and calm the situation, Xena came out from the shadows and announced she had lost the horse.
Gorek heard her and called out “Ambush!” and then charged and headbutted Hrunk in the crotch, knocking him back!
Saren, seeing that violence was inevitable as long as Targon was in this conversation, charged and knocked him back into the river with his shield and then called out “We all need to cool off. There’s no reason for us to fight when we can work together.” He used his Commanding Presence to end the fight and start a negotiation.
Our position with them started very poor (Interest 1, Patience 2) we did make some progress. Ilwith spoke for the group (while Targon was pulling himself out of the river) and we learned one of her motivations was greed.
Using that we offered to help them enter the Tomb of Delios and work together. Mallory offered that the goblins were using a ritual to break it open by way of Violet’s life force, and if we had been willing to try that method as well, they would have likely agreed to work with us, but since we would not, they didn’t believe we had anything of worth and the only agreement we could make was that if we found a way in, we’d share it with them. If they found a way in, we’d hear about it in stories years from now. Hardly an equitable deal, but it didn’t stop the violence.
Learning more about Bargnot
We returned to the inn and took a full respite, healing our wound and learning what we could as we rested.
Hrunk talked to Gewldyr and learned that Bargnot appeared 30 years ago and started waylaying travelers. She was mostly thought of as a nuisance and only a threat to those who traveled outside of town without guards. However, her banditry eventually earned the ire of the town and people banded together to banish her from the environs once and for all. The battles escalated and it eventually grew into a full blown assault. Though the people of Broadhurst eventually beat back her forces, Bargnot escaped.
Gewldyr private thought was that Bargnot was not a warlord at heart, just someone who wanted to have a community, but in this case the community she wanted was Broadhurst and the people weren’t willing to let her have it! She also recommended that Hrunk talk to Old Vaughn, the Woodcutter, as he was there during the fighting.
When Hrunk approached, Vaughn was excite to see him and instantly told him about the bandit problem in the east. They used to just rob people on the road, but now they’ve build a fort in the forest called Fort Forsaken! They’ve claimed all the good hardwood and without it, the town can’t make the beams needed to support a house.
When asked about Bargnot, he lamented that those were dark days. Though she was defeated, everyone in the Broadhurst were so weary from battle, no one had the strength to chase her down. They all hoped that she had moved on, or better yet, died of her wounds.
He quickly turned back to the discussion of bandits. He didn’t mind so much when they robbed him on the road, though he did mention missing his father’s amulet they stole from him, but it was cutting him off from the hard wood that really caused him consternation.
Amulet lost and found
Abbot Loric caught up with us and told us we had missed one book, he had been using it to prop up his nightstand so it didn’t wobble. Sure enough on the second page was a drawing of an amulet that matched the frescos we saw in the tomb. “Oh, that amulet? Yeah, you should ask Old Vaughn. He has one just like it.”
But of course Vaughn’s amulet had been taken by the bandits, so to Fort Forsaken we went.
When we got close Hrunk climbed a tree to get a look at the fort and saw there were dozens of bandits within. Sadly they saw him as well and raised the alarm. Next thing we knew a half dozen archers were on the wall, raining arrows down upon us!
Mallory, Hrunk, and Xena fired on the archers as Saren climbed the wall and tried to collapse the landing they were standing on. Unfortunately one of them knocked him down and he was quickly mobbed by rapier wielding bandits below.
Through grit and tactics we prevailed, but Hrunk could see there were many more bandits ready to swarm us. Thankfully their leader Aldiva called for a halt and we had a moment to talk with her.
Saren made a proposal that Aldiva return Vaughn’s amulet and let the woodcutter harvest some of the hardwood in the Silver Wood, and in exchange the people of Broadhurst wouldn’t contest their hold over the land. Aldiva was close to agreement, but she wanted the pot sweetened. We offered her one of the Bloodbound Bands and she handed the amulet over.
Saren had clearly taken some interest in the powerful bandit leader and there were new two women that caught his eye that he needed to get rings from!
Breaking our word
Mallory argued that we should go directly to the tomb and see if the amulet did what we hoped. Saren reluctantly agreed, though he wanted to hold up our end of the bargain, however unfair it was.
Wearing the amulet and walking through the barrier deactivated it as we hoped and we investigated deeper into the tomb, overcoming traps, puzzles, and battle [Dylan skipped over much of this because we were short on time].
We came to at last to the treasury room, which among other treasures featured a double-sided axe with a plaque that read “Heelcutter”. Below the mural was a large stone plinth with a golden chalice on it. Could this be the Chalice of Iulius? Before we could find out we heard the bitter words of Targon behind us. “I knew you would betray us. Gilded Hand, attack!”
Though Saren was remorseful both for breaking his work and the blood shed, he knew there was no way to end this conflict with Targon still alive. “Perhaps one death is all we’ll need to end this”. We battled until Mallory killed Targon with her powerful fires and then called for peace.
Reluctant as they were, then remaining members of the hand agreed, and with the ring that Illwyth we placed it in the fake chalice and opened the door into the third level of the tomb!
Thoughts on this game
I had a blast. This was everything I hoped for. Thank you Dylan for running it, and to all my fellow companions.
I loved Xena’s dissention of speaking with her mouth instead of her mind. The one time she did it, it was a big deal.
I loved Hrunk’s growing crush on Mallory and his awkwardness as he tried to express it.
I also loved the ongoing question about who was our “leader.” Saren, who had lived for centuries wanted no part of being in command, but it was in his old bones. Xena repeatedly declared herself the leader and he was happy to agree but Hrunk kept questioning it.
There were several times when we were torn between what our characters would do and what we as players wanted.
- In the room with the sarcophagi we knew disturbing the symbol on the floor (from last session) was going to be bad news. I was inclined to either avoid it, wrap all the sarcophagi in chains so undead couldn’t get out, or re-engage the trap in the hallway and lure them all into it. It was the start of the session though, so we just went for the fight. Destroying the profane image ended the battle, so I think it was a good strategy, but not knowing that in advance, I’m was torn between the smart choice and the one that allowed us chances to use our cool powers.
- In the first fight with the Gilded Hand, I really didn’t want to fight. We were nearly out of recoveries and more importantly, Saren believed we could make peace. I used the Commanding Presence ability to end the fight and start a negotiation., which was cool because we got to see the negotiation mechanics.
- When we were fighting the bandits, we did the same thing (actually the bandit leader called for an end of the fight), which I was glad for because there were SO MANY more bandits, but also I wasn’t sure if everyone got a chance to do their cool moves.
- In the last fight with the Gilded Hand, Saren felt terrible about betraying them and would have likely either pushed to return the amulet to them in the first place, or tried to end the fight early as well, but as a player, I knew this would be a tactically fun fight and I didn’t want to deprive the crew of that opportunity.
I think in a longer term game, when we’d all had plenty of chances to use our tactics and heroic abilities, I would have leaned more towards following our character motivations, but for the three sessions we played, I was glad to give the game a test run and focus on the title: Draw Steel!
