Session 3

I think that this session was sort of brief, for some reason. Anyway, after the throne room warning, Talula decided that her former career as a prostitute was both safer, and more financially rewarding, and left Jzadirune and went back to Caldron.

Fyn, Alice (w/Usula), Sirrach and Vesper decided to follow another recently dug tunnel to the south. They came upon an old theatre. Sirrach decided to look behind the backstag curtain, but was surprised by a Choker, which almost choked him to death. Back in the tunnel, Alice was attack by another Skulk, who seemed mysteriously transparent, almost as if he was 'vanishing' away. They defeated the skulk and the choaker, and then found a secret door into a costume room. They then found a large hall with dancing lights, a pool, and two more skulks to attack them. After defeating the skulks, they followed a tunnel north, and back to the original room. They decided to ascend to the locksmith shop again, and rest.

Session report 2

Ok, I guess I haven't kept up on these! Sorry! I've probably forgotten some stuff, so feel free to add posts or comments. Anyway....

Fyn, Alice (w/ Usula), Sirrach, Talula, and Vesper decided to head down the stairs. Sid decided to head off and search for his family on his own. Yarrow hadn't returned. They went into a room with gnomish masks making various sounds. They discovered that they were in the ruins of the lost gnomish enclave of "Jzadirue." They fought off some rats, and then were attaked by 2 skulks. Vesper and Talula tried to open some trapped, gear shaped doors with mixed success. The group was already fairly beaten up, so they decided to rest. Everyone but Sirrach and Talula decided to go back to the locksmith shop, but they decided to lock themselves in a room. Surprisingly, they survived.

The group explored down a hallway, and came upon more gear doors. They found a room with some secret doors, into a room with a level. Fyn pulled the lever, and heard a trap door open in the adjacent hall. They went into the hall, and then decided to follow some recently dug tunnels, that they surmised were dug by the skulks. They followed the tunnels, eventually into a large 'throne room.'

In the throne room, they saw an illusion of a sleeping gnome king, and message about depositing coins in a slot. They searched the throne, and found a hidden compartment with gold. But the illusion king whispered a secret warning in gnomish about 'the vanishing.'

Session report 1

Ok, even though not everyone has posted their backstories, I thought I'd better start with the promised session reports, before I forgot. I figure I'd give a sketch of events, and make some dm comments. Everyone else can feel free to add details or comments.

After character introductions, I gave everyone a description of the Cauldron area, and brief history notes. (I decided that everyone would 'take 20' on knowledge history or knowledge local to see what they knew about history, together with some additional tid-bits based on backgrounds.) I then told them that there was a rash or recent missing-persons, and also had everyone roll of the 'rumors' table to see what they had heard recently. (The rumor table was interesting, and contained true, false, and some-what true rumors.) Then, on a dark and rainy night...

Our heroes were wandering around the city streets of Cauldron, when they stumbled upon three thugs beating a priest of St. Cuthbert. There were 8 that came to the priest's aid: Alice, a gnome wizard orphan and her magically trapped mentor Usula; Fyn, a fellow orphan and a ranger; Sirrach the wizard; Talula, a rogue; Vesper a halfling rogue; Yarrow, a crazy bard; and Syd, a monk or noble birth, returning to Cauldron to find his missing parents. The 8 dispatched the thugs, but was warned by another lurking in the roof-tops, that 'the children are lost.' The priest explained that 4 kids from Alice and Fyn's orphanage had disappeared the other night, and the church of St Cuthbert had taken up the task of finding them. The group escorted the priest back to the church, where they received an offer from the church's second in command, Jenkas: find what happened to the kids, and return them (dead or alive). After the group agreed, Jenkas gave them some healing potions, and also a cryptic divination that she had received.

The group of 7 met the next day at the orphanage (Yarrow had overslept after a drinking binge). They asked some questions, and checked out the door and window locks, and found them undamaged. Following some clues, the group spilt up; Sid, Alice (with Usula), and Sirrach decdied to try to gain access to the Blue Water Academy library for some research, while Fyn, Vesper, and Talula went to question the locksmith. The first group could not gain access to the library. The second group questioned the locksmith, but a fight broke out, and they killed him. During the fight, Fyn was attacked by a dark, creepy, small creature. But the ranger and two rogues finished it off in a flourish. The whole group re-assembled, and searched the locksmith shop/home, and found a secret door leading to a dark staircases heading down beneath the city. They group decided to rest before investigating....

The Story of Sirach

Orphaned at a young age, Sirach was taken in by a benevolent sage who recognized his fiendish heritage. The sage, hoping to utilize the Tiefling's skills while sparing him from society's judgment, employed Sirach as a scribe. During the years in the sage's employ, Sirach pored over dusty tomes, hoping to uncover information about his kind. Sirach eventually left the sage, fearing the public's reprisal should they realize what his benefactor harbored. Sirach is now a generally reclusive scholar specializing in knowledge of the arcane. For Sirach, the arcane arts take precedence over moral concerns. Due to this fact and to his need, as a Tiefling, to keep a low profile, Sirach is effectively neutral. When he occasions to venture out in search of scrolls or magical components, he wears a hooded robe to cover his rudimentary horns, and he smokes a pipe of aromatic herbs in a vain attempt to mask the whiff of brimstone that emanates from him. He may obey laws with which he disagrees if the risk of exposing himself is too great. He occasionally resents society for its attitude toward him, however, he understands its caution in dealing with his kind, and his resentment is more often directed toward his own fiendish heritage. It is not unheard of for him to engage in acts of kindness as he attempts to transcend his inherent fiendishness. However, the call of his instincts is often tempting, especially when the promise of secret knowledge is involved.

The history of Usula Terrevin

Usula Terrevin was born hundreds of years ago as illegitimate kin to the founder of the city. Raised in the church, this human of humble birth studied to become a warrior to god a paladin. During the wars against the demons he gave his life to save a noble elven woman named Chani. The demons were attempting make magical items out of captured souls, and in being caught in this struggle his soul was trapped in an ice blue gem by a gnome sorcerer. She heard of his plight, and spent her life searching out the soul gems, desperately trying to free him in return for his sacrifice. But she died before she could find him, and passed her life’s work down to her children.
One of her ancestors, Thufer Terrevin, was able to locate it in the hands of a noble named Elif Longspire, but he refused to sell the gem. Thufir was not easily swayed from his quest, however, and plotted to have two rogues steal the gem while he and Elif attended the city’s annual charity ball. However, one of the rogues killed the other, seeking the reward money for himself, and then dropped the gem while fleeing from a guard. A young gnome girl named Alice witnessed the altercation, and she found the stone. She was also able to read the gnome language written on the stone to reawaken Usula. He recalls his former life in flashes, and in his weakness hopes that young Alice can free him from the stone after he regains his strength and knowledge...

Alice's Backstory

Hello dungeon friends. At the request of Dungeonmaster Eric, here is my backstory. See you guys tonight (we have procured ale!) at 8. And leave you guys tonight at 11 for Metal Gear Solid 4 Release Party!

Alice Ignatius Liddell's History:

Alica I. Liddell was born to a powerful illusionist wizard named Ginevra Liddell. She never met her father, a gnome named Moses Railus, because he was killed before she was old enough to remember him. He worked as a mercenary, and probably died because he only worked against those he believed were truly evil. Her mother was also killed when she was seven years old in a tragic accident, crushed beneath the heels of a war horse. She witnessed this death, and it continues to haunt her. She has a fear of horses as a result of it.

Her mother passed on to her a fear of the pestilence that infected the city in the times of her ancestors, and also a great desire to study dilligently to become a wizard. She came to the orphanage after her mother died, and continued this study, despite the rough and tumble nature of her life as an orphan. She witnessed an altercation between two rogues at the age of ten, and since then has had Usula Terrevin as her dearest companion and teacher. His crotchety ways complement her quiet study, and also make her gnomish tricks all the more enjoyable to perform. At eleven, she is eager yet quiet, slow to speak unless she has a pun to make or a question to ask.

The beginning part 2

Jim and I (DM Eric) had talked some time about starting to play DnD. At some point, I suggested that we try the much-acclaimed 'story-path' adventure "The Shackled City." My brother, the notorious J.O.D., had a copy of the bound edition, and graciously loaned it to me for the duration. We decided that I would DM, and Jim would play, and recruit. Thru many ups and down, twists and turns (ok, I exaggerate a little), we assembled 8 (!) players: Jim, Daniel, Emily, Birch, Ann, Cramer, Tom, and Amber.

We had a couple of mini-meetings for different players to meet, make characters, etc., and decided that Wednesday nights would be our meeting time. My only requirements for characters were that they could not be evil (in alignment or behavior!), and all characters had to take the 'local heroes' option; all characters were from the home city of Cauldron. Each character then had to take a special background trait, relating to their ancestry or connection to Cauldron.

At our first, official meeting, I had everyone introduce their characters, and some of the 'backstories' that they had created. Some characters already had a connection, but we decided that the characters would just meet up for the first time, somewhat randomly, as events took over.

So, everybody, let's post those backstories first, then I'll give a brief over-view of the events of the first session.