| I'm going to take a tip from Shamus Young's D&D Chronicle, and document out-of-character player and GM notes in a box like this one. We started the game here, at level four, and the GM decreed that we had already met and become formed the incipient Blackstone Acquisitions and Security Solutions, Unlimited. We have a little pet peeve about starting at level one, since most of us have rather grand visions of our characters. It would turn out later that D&D 4th edition gives a lot more at first level than earlier editions, and each level up is rather minimal in its bumps. More on this later. |
Blackstone spotted a run-down cathedral in the distance, and smelled adventure. Kaldich proceeded to scout the area, and succeeded wonderfully in getting mauled by a pair of bears he managed not to notice. Perhaps what Blackstone smelled was the bear's lair...
After some dispatching, the Company explored inside the mostly fallen walls of the temple and found a locked door leading to a sealed room in the nave. Kaldich set to picking to lock, and a needle shot out of the door into his hand. He felt a little... off for a while after that.
The Company discovered a secret door leading to the underground catacombs, and the iconography of the temple indicated that this was a major part of the Dragonborn priesthood, long ago.
Now, it should be mentioned that it is common knowledge that the Dragons, the Dragonborn and their ilk were banished by the gods a couple of millenia ago. That we had found a relatively undisturbed temple... well, let's just say it set Kaldich's treasure sense a-tingle.
| Brian, the current GM, made every race available except the Dragonborn, which had been banished to another dimension for trying to eradicate all other sentient life and becoming, y'know, omnipotent... or at least polypotent. Or sommat. This is the basis of the story in our campaign - but I'm getting to that. |
So we trekked down into the darkness to see what we may. Kaldich did a good job "finding" traps - he set about four off in his own face, but that kept them from hurting us, of which Blackstone and I approved.
We found some Dragonborn skeletons, a bit miffed at being disturbed after their long rest, and we found a goodly amount of valuables in their resting places.
It was when we descended to a lower level that things began to get out of hand.
There was a green light coming from under a door. Of course we had to look, and lo and behold, a lady-demon was in a circle of green light, smiling at us pleasantly. Kaldich, being the sharp knife that he is, asked - in abyssal, damn fool - what the demon was doing here.
The lady-demon responded - also in abyssal - with the words, "Release me."
We had no idea what they were saying, but at that point Kaldich's eyes began glowing with the same green light, so we thought it best to restrain him. Kaldich broke free and spoke the words that he shouldn't as thought they were placed on his tongue.
Now I should point out that I, Skargob, am above average when it comes to my orcish physique, and orcs in general are known for their strength. Kaldich, a scrawny little tiefling, overpowered me.
The green circle on the floor disappeared. The demon lady simply smiled, a glint of green power in her black-on-black eyes, and said - this time in common - "You have my thanks, adventurers. We'll be in touch."
And then she patted the tiefling on the cheek and disappeared.
To say that Kaldich got a stern talking to about his not-letting-demons-out-of-age-old-prisons ethics is an understatement.
| The Demon was improv'd, Brian later admitted to me. He had known that we would find something strange in the Room with the Green Glow, little did he or the rest of us know how much the demon, who would later be known as the Lady, would factor into the game. |
I found some interesting-looking books in the same room, which looked to have been a study once upon a time. As to why a study would be located underneath the catacombs, I had not a clue. The books were written in draconic, a language few speak these days. I hoped they would illuminate me as to the demon, or possibly the disappearance of the dragons, or to the general purpose of the temple.
We noticed more light coming from a staircase leading deeper into the dungeon. We followed it down to a large, natural cavern where we found a person working a spell. The spell was a large sigil written in golden fire across the floor, and there was a glowing portal slowly opening on the wall, leading to another cave. The figure appeared to be a woman in armor, though being in the center of the dancing golden lights made her race difficult to determine.
We debated on a course of action for a few seconds, but I tired of the rogue's urge to simply murder the caster and had no want for Blackstone's complicated tactics.
"I'm gonna go talk to her," I said.
"Do that and you'll get a bonus," said Blackstone, not having faith in my orcish brashness. I stepped out of the dark hallway into the circle of golden light.
"Greetings!"
The caster reacted in a whirl of motion, and spinning she hurled a sword at me. It embedded itself to the hilt in my thigh.
"You will not impede me, the Harbinger of Tiamat, or my people's Return!"
I noticed now that the woman had distinct dragonlike features. So much for diplomacy.
The battle was a short one, and rather bloody. The Harbinger wielded divine power and martial prowess with deadly efficiency. We got in our share of hits, but she was hardly even slowed.
She must have been worried about the portal, because she kept an eye on it the entire time. She would have had us, but she dashed off through the portal, but not before imparting the final words to Blackstone, "Tiamat will have her vengeance upon your miserable soul."
That dealt with, Blackstone attempted to identify the nature of the spell. Aside from the obvious magical gateway, he met with no success. He had not seen the workings of such a spell before, though there were some scattered papers with magical notation the Harbinger had left, and he might find something in future study. However, we all felt rather uneasy at the menacing way the sigil kept growing, so we decided to get out.
We weren't about to let the Harbinger off so easy, so we went through the portal after her. It wasn't long after that that the sigil exploded on the other side of the portal, which promptly closed, but not before turning a portion of the wall to glass.
And so we found ourselves trapped underground in a strangely humid natural cave, with no way back.
Lucky us.
| Here ends the first "session" of the game, though I think there was more than one actual sitting involved. This account is muchly abridged, and I left out several parts, including one completely fruitless trip to town and a couple players who did not return after the second session. I decided to simply highlight the interesting parts of the game, and link the sometimes dissociated and oft interrupted storytelling into a coherent narrative. |
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