I apologize for the disruption, but time has become a critical factor. I’ve received news that requires us to set off for Dreadmere immediately.
Eldon Marrowwind
Session 16 – Return to Dreadmere
Advice to the reader
In order to interpret the structure of my gaming session posts effectively, it is strongly suggested that you peruse A Readers Guide to Play Sessions on The Old Bard, if you haven’t already.
To better grasp what I mean when I bring up Fate questions, you might find it useful to keep the Mythic Fate Chart accessible, potentially in a new window or tab in your browser.
The Story So Far
Eldon Marrowwind, who turns out to be the sorcerer the party was sent to find, has agreed to join the party to aide them in their quest.
Day 17 – Scene 55 – Continued
ATGM: Before we get too far, I want to close out the current scene which I intended to do in my last post.
Eldon has consulted and instructed his aide on managing the city’s affairs while he is away. Our party returned to The Bloody Body inn where Eldon will meet them the next morning to head to Dreadmere.
ATGM: Ok, so now we need to take care of some bookkeeping. I should have honestly in the last post when I should have gone ahead and closed out the scene, but I wasn't really sure if it was going to close out at the time.
I realize it's also been a while since I've done my daily ration and rents. So, I'm going to apply about 3 days' worth deductions for Food, Water and Rents. I'm not quite sure if I've mentioned this previously, but I created the following page to reference for when I do so.
ATGM: So I deduct 6 rations each from Morn and Thenelis (Accounting for the cost of supporting Ulmog and Mara). I also stock up on a couple more water skins, and take care of rents. I deduct 8 silver each from Morn and Thenelis for the costs of those goods. For my Adventure Lists, I've already replaced the "Lovely Soul" entry with Eldon Marrowwind on my Characters List. I also replace "Sorcerer Providing Aide" with Eldon as we've discovered this was him. I also remove "Seek help north of Dreadmere" AND "Find sorcerer for Mara" (Listed Twice) from the Threads List. I also reduce the current chaos factor to 5 as I felt the party was mostly in control in the last scene. I establish a new expected scene "Return to Dreadmere for Mara"
Day 18 – Scene 56
ATGM: The first thing we want to do before we get started is test our expected scene. I roll 1d10 with a result of 8, so per Mythic we will continue with the expected scene. I do decide however, that I feel I want to introduce a sense of urgency from Eldon, and that he might decide to wake the party very very early in the morning to move on. So, I ask a Fate question of "Does Eldon arrive at The Bloody Body early to wake the party, and I'm going to say it's Very Likely he will. I roll 1d100 with a result of 59. This is under 65 which is the maximum number for a Yes response on the Mythic fate chart for a chaos factor of 5 and very likely, so this is a yes.
Eldon is a figure of calm urgency as he arrives at The Bloody Body inn in the stillness of the night. He is fully equipped for the journey, his traveling cloak thrown over his shoulders, a pack brimming with essential items slung over his shoulder. He steps into the inn, his eyes adjusting to the dim light.
The inn is quiet, the usual din of patrons replaced by the soft snoring of those too drunk or too tired to retire to their rooms. Eldon makes his way past the dozing innkeeper and heads directly to the room where Morn, Thenelis, and Ulmog are staying.
He raps on the door softly, yet urgently. The door creaks open, and Morn’s sleepy face peers out, surprised to see Eldon at such an early hour.
“Eldon? What brings you here so early?” Morn asks, rubbing his eyes and stepping aside to let the older man enter the room.
Eldon steps in, the urgency in his gaze stark against his calm demeanor. “I apologize for the disruption, but time has become a critical factor. I’ve received news that requires us to set off for Dreadmere immediately.”
As he speaks, he casts a glance over Morn, Thenelis, and Ulmog, his eyes conveying the serious nature of the situation. Whatever news Eldon has received, it seems to have added a new layer of urgency to their mission.
ATGM: I decide to roll on my characters list (See earlier image) as an event focus here. Since I have 4 blocks of items on my Characters List, I roll 1d8 to see which block I'll be choosing from. My result is 7 so that will be from the last block. I roll 1d10 to determine which item is the focus. My result is 7. Oh my, this is Hell Hounds & Figure. Just a note, in my head I was certainly wanting the party to encounter the strange figure again. Fate would have it, that somehow, it's come into play which is pretty awesome. So now, what is it about the Hell Hounds & figure has Eldon arriving so early in the morning with such urgency. I could easily use ChatGPT and let it randomly decide for me, but instead lets use the Meaning Tables from Mythic to help us decide. First I'm going to roll on the Action Tables from page 47 of Mythic.
ATGM: To determine which action table to use I roll 1d4, if the result is 1-2 I'll choose the first table, otherwise I'll chose the second. My result is 4 so I roll 1d100 to see what action result I get. My result is 62, Obscurity. Hmmmm. I then decide to use the Elements table from page 49 for my second meaning word. I'm going to use the Characters elements table. My 1d100 result is 40 so that's Frantic.
ATGM: So, Obscurity and Frantic. I have an idea for that.
His eyes growing somber, Eldon shares the troubling news. “I was alerted just hours ago about some unsettling happenings in Athesa. Hell hounds, much like those you encountered on your journey here, have been spotted within our city’s borders. This alone would be cause for concern, but it’s not the only incident that’s raised alarms.”
He takes a deep breath, and his next words send a chill down the spines of Morn, Thenelis, and Ulmog. “Witnesses have reported seeing an obscure figure – a figure that bears a striking resemblance to the one you described encountering on your journey. This entity seems to be nothing more than a shadow, disappearing as soon as our guards attempt to apprehend him.”
A heavy silence hangs in the room as the implications of Eldon’s words sink in. The same sinister force that has been trailing them seems to have made its way to Athesa. The urgency of their mission has suddenly escalated, and the stakes have become even higher.
“We must depart for Dreadmere immediately,” Eldon concludes, his gaze steady on the trio. “I fear this might be related to your quest, and time is of the essence. Gather your belongings. We must be on our way.”
ATGM: Using the logic I applied on the trek to Athesa, I'm going to apply on the trek back to Dreadmere. Roughly every 6 miles, I'll roll for a chance to an encounter along the road to Athesa with roughly a 50/50 chance. But we know this sinister figure is more than likely looking for us, so if an encounter happens, I'll ask a Fate Question if the encounter is with the figure or hell hounds. I'll say it's 2am, and we depart from Athesa. Before we even get on the road however, I'll roll for a chance of encounter. I roll 1d100 with a result of 68. Since I'm going to be using 50 and under for a yes response, this will be a negative, so we make it out of the city with no encounter. However, just 6 miles out and we DO have an encounter at the following location pointed to by the arrow:
ATGM: Ok, now we need to determine if this is going to be an encounter with the sinister Figure and/or hell hounds. First, we'll determine if it's either. Our chaos factor is 5, and I'm going to say it's very likely. I roll 1d100 for a result of 70. In this case, that's above the value of 65 so this is a no. It's not the sinister sorcerer or the hell hounds, but it is in fact an encounter. So, let's decide just what type of encounter this actually is. I'm actually remote right now, sitting at a table at a local comic and games shop. I don't have any of my personal resources available. I could use my encounter generator I'm developing or considering that I'm at a comics and games shop, I COULD just go pick up something off the shelf and use that, but nah that would be too easy (and just wouldn't feel right). I could just as easily ask ChatGPT to come up with some encounter for me, however, I do have a PDF version of Untold Encounters of the Random Kind available, so I'll just use that. On page 147 of Untold Encounters is a table to roll on first to see how many actual encounters occur.
ATGM: I roll 1d20 with a result of 11, so I get 1 Forest Encounter and 1 Wilderness Boon Encounter. (Wilderness Boons are treasures, curios, supplies and other random items that could be found in any region.). First, we'll handle the Forest Encounter. I roll 1d100 with a result of 93. Per Untold Encounters, this is the Vampire Bats encounter. The description of this encounter is as follows:
Normally the reputation of vampire bats is exaggerated, and they’re no more evil than any other ordinary animal. Not these bats however, these are truly evil and once served a diabolical lord. They are more intelligent than their wild cousins and have nothing but bad things planned for anyone they meet. This [Large] cloud of Evil Vampire Bats [Standard Beast] takes to the sky at night in search of victims.
Preferably sleeping victims.
ATGM: Referring to page 7 of Untold Encounters, [Large] translates to "Twice as many as the Characters." So, this means that there will be 8 evil vampire bats. [Standard] translates to "Almost equal to a single Character, Light damage possible, Routine difficulty skills." and [Beast] translates to "Enemies with animal level intelligence and instincts." I decide to go ahead and use my Encounter Generator based on these details to come up with an encounter for myself. I run with the difficulty of "Easy" as that's what the translation above sounds like to me and a Name filter of "Bat". Here are my results:
ATGM: Ok, so pretty close to the number of bats for the encounter. I could have increased the -maxcreatures from the default of 6, so let's just say there are 8 of them. So, we'll be encountering 7 Skin Bats from Tome of Beasts by Kobold Press. I roll 1d6 to determine how far away the bats are. The result is 1, so that will put them 1 grid away facing opposite from the party on a battle map (5 ft). I then roll 1d12 for a result of 8. 1-6 would have represented up to 6 grids south on my map while 7-12 would represent 6 grids north on the map, so in this case since the result is 8, so we'll go 2 north. Rather than randomly roll for position of each bat, I just bunch them all up together. I plan on fleshing out the character of Eldon in my next session, but for now we need some type of statistics to use for him during this battle. We'll assume he is around a 10th level character. He is a sorcerer, but I'm not going to use any magic during the battle. Instead, we'll just use his staff to swipe at the bats. We don't want to reveal just how powerful he is to the party just yet. I roll initiative for everyone, and the battle ensues.
From above, the disconcerting sound of leathery wings flapping breaks the silence, and a group of Skin Bats descends upon them. These grotesque creatures, with their nearly skeletal figures and grotesquely large ears, swoop down on the group with shrill cries.
With their battle-hardened reflexes, Morn, Thenelis, and Ulmog jump into action.
The fight is intense but brief. They make quick work of the Skin Bats, proving their strength and experience in battle. The creatures’ bodies lie scattered on the ground as the party regroups, catching their breaths, ready to press on towards Dreadmere.
Their encounter with the Skin Bats, although a nuisance, served as a reminder of the dangers lurking in their path. It reaffirmed their resolve and unity as they continue their urgent journey.
ATGM: I generally won't detail every move, but this was a quick battle. Other than a couple of bats taking a couple of turns, with one biting Morn and inflicting a slight bit of damage, the party took out the enemy pretty quickly. Morn centered himself with 7 of the bats around him within a 10 ft radius and cast Shatter. More than half of the bats failed their constitution saving throw and took either 11 or 22 points of damage (4 were immediately killed). Thenelis used Firebolt to knock out two more, and Eldon swiped his staff to take out the remaining two.
Bookkeeping
We’ll end this session at this time. For bookkeeping, the hell hounds and the sinister figure were once again spotted, so I’m going to add another entry on my Characters List for “Hell hounds & figure”. We already have “Who let the dogs out” on our Threads List. We’ll ultimately need to figure out who this is soon I presume.
In the next session, we’re going to take a few moments to flesh more out for Eldon Marrowwind and Blyris Bledstone, as we will be needing that information very soon.
Till next time!
Resources Used
- Dungeons & Dragons Core Rule Books
- Players Handbook (PHB)
- Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG)
- Monster Manual (MM)
- Mythic Game Master Emulator Second Edition (MGME2E)
- ChatGPT for generating a description of various elements as noted.
- Untold Encounters of the Random Kind – for random encounters on the way from Athesa back to Dreadmere.
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