Session 11 – Return to Dreadmere
Our adventurers have found a way to leave the carnival (and return) but where did they land?
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
The party acquired Lifelong Passes for the carnival, and by request of Blyris Bledstone, visited the soothsayer Moody Cleves once more before using their lifelong passes to return to which they came. Morn, Thenelis and Mara used their passes to return to The Leering Eagle, but Ulmog reactively just said “Home”.
Day 15 Continued – Scene 53
Ulmog appears at his tent at the northside of Dreadmere having just used his lifelong pass from the carnival. Realizing the others are probably at The Leering Eagle he makes his way there.
Meanwhile, Morn, Thenelis and Mara suddenly appear in the lobby of The Leering Eagle and realize Ulmog is not with them.
“Where’s Ulmog?” Mara questions.
“I’m unsure” Morn responds. “Perhaps we should go back to the carnival and see if he is still there?”
“No,” Thenelis responds. “Best we wait. Surely, he has enough brains to figure it all out.”
Just as the party starts to head to their rooms, they hear someone bust through the front doors of the Inn, out of breath. It’s Ulmog.
“I ran here as fast as I could” heaved Ulmog. “I, uh…. said Home instead of here.”
“Best you go ahead and head back then, we’ll be retiring for the evening.” Thenelis tells him.
“But I just got here! I’ll eat before I head back at least”.
“Agreed, we could all use a good meal” Morn states.
The party enjoy a healthy dinner, then retire for the evening, telling Ulmog to meet them early morning here.
ATPC: One of the things I probably haven't mentioned at this point, but I do each time a day ends, is take care of resources for my characters. The Players Handbook (PHB) on page 185 details Food and Water needs. Roughly 1 lb. of food daily. I ensure Morn and Thenelis are each generally equipped with food to not only feed themselves, but I also deduct another 1 lb. each from them for taking care of Ulmog and Mara. It's simpler just to keep them as Sidekicks instead of full PCs so I ensure I deduct/equip enough for them. The same with any other thing in inventory and wealth. I generally do this at the end of the day at an Inn, or when the party makes camp. In this case, I deduct 2 rations each for Morn and Thenelis. I should really work on dealing with the waterskins in the future as well. A Waterskin holds 4 pints (or 1/2 gallon) of water. Based on the Food and Water section of the PHB, a character needs 1 gallon of water daily, or 2 gallons per day if the weather is hot. In the morning as the party heads out, I'll ensure both Morn and Thenelis have enough in their inventory for the party before they head out to the city to the north. For now, though, I use click the Long Rest button on the character sheets in DND Beyond for both Morn and Thenelis to end the day and update my Time tracking sheet. Additionally, I deduct coin for lodging at any Inn we are staying at. Page 158 in the PHB details Food, Drink, and Lodging. For the Leering Eagle, I've been assuming it's a "Modest" Inn, so that's cost both Morn and Thenelis 5sp each daily. However, now we have Mara in tow, so we need to add an additional 5sp for her, I deduct from Thenelis for her. Since we are in Dreadmere, Ulmog has his tent, so he's taken care of. Of course, YOU don't even really need to worry about this aspect if you don't want to, but I like to try to keep it as grounded as possible. I have a print off of my daily tasks I keep in my adenture folder.
In her room, Mara sits on the bed and thinks back to what the soothsayer told her.
“If you truly wish to rid yourself of this curse, you must first learn to let go of the past and embrace the power within you. Only then will the path to the sorcerer be revealed to you.”
And
“You must rediscover the power within you, the power of your true self, and trust that it will guide you to the answers you seek. Meditate upon the rune that binds you and listen to the whispers of your soul. It will reveal to you the path that you must take.”
She holds the rune hanging from her neck tightly in her hand, closes her eyes and breathes.
She hears one word, “Brother“. It makes no sense to her, as she has no siblings. She lays down and falls fast asleep. Images of the carnival, both past and present fill her mind.
Bookkeeping
A relatively short post compared to others, but I think this is a good stopping point for the end of this rather short scene. We did most of our bookeeping when I discussed resource management above. Also, generally the PCs had control of the scene, so I’m going to drop the Chaos Factor back down to 5.
Till next time!
Resources Used
- Dungeons & Dragons Core Rule Books
- Players Handbook (PHB)
- Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG)
- Monster Manual (MM)
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