A Sliver of Despair

Apologies to all for not keeping up on this blog! My hope is to be more consistent, if a bit less detailed, moving forward. We are going to jump ahead and skip some of the smaller details in this post. The Fane of the Night Serpent After finding most of the puzzle cubes to open the door to the tomb, the party learns that a Yuan-ti by the name of Ras Nsi has the cubes they are missing in his possession. The party first attempted a frontal entry into the lair of the Yuan-ti, but were thwarted by their defenses. This lead to a search of the surrounding area and discovery of a hidden entrance to the lair. The party strategically moved through the lair in search for Ras Nsi, with several battles with Yuan-ti along the way. One of the more memorable battles was in the blood baths and sauna area. Here they ran into a well guarded Yuan-ti by the name of Yahru. It was a near-deadly encounter with his strong bodyguards and a host of Yuan-ti that were alerted to the party's presence by a...

Session date: January 10, 2018 Day 10 - Firefinger The party members hide near the edge of the jungle, watching the rocky pinnacle called Firefinger, home of a flock of pterafolk. They decided to wait for the cover of night or a heavy rain storm to mask their approach from the flying sentinels. An opportunity arose when a heavy storm started pelting the area with heavy rain, creating obscured visibility in the area. They quickly make their way to the base of the towers, while being alert to anything out of the ordinary. Near the base of the spire, the characters find the body of an elf lying in the mud. Most of his limbs are broken, the ribcage crushed, and broken twigs and torn leaves are stuck in it what’s left of his clothes. The body looked as if it had fallen a great distance to his death. Not far away they find a second, then a third and many other bodies in similar condition. They reach the base of the tower and find the rope-and-wood ladders in rough condition, they...

Session date: January 3, 2018 Day 3 - Into the Jungle of Chult The party gathers in the common room of Kaya's for their last meal in civilization for who knows how long. The mood is a mixture of excitement and wonder, none of them know what the jungles of Chult will be like. There is a strong sense of resolve, knowing that countless peoples lives are at stake on the success of their mission to find and destroy the soulmonger, perhaps even their own! They meet up with their guide and she checks over their supplies and the adequacy of how they are packed on the lizards and they head towards the Tiryki Gate and the wonders of Chult. As they make their way through the city, they are unexpectedly approached by a male Chultun that stumbles up to them and whispers, “Speak to the wise guardian of Orolunga, east of Mbala. She can direct you to that which you seek.” The man immediately collapses, unconscious. Kalain rouses him and upon awakening, the man has no recollection of what...

Session date: December 27, 2017 Day 1 - Time for Some Rest? As the wave of heat and humidity washed over the party members, they consider their course of action, while looking over the area. As they look over the dock area, where they arrived, they notice an imposing-looking gold Dragonborn in the distance that appears to be in charge of the docks. Others that catch their eyes are cat-like humanoids that travel amongst the locals and how lightly dressed everyone is. After some discussion, the party decides to acquire lodging at Kaya's House of Repose near the Red Bazaar. The party arrives at Kaya's without incident and notice a large board outside with announcements from working guides. They enter the house and are able to secure lodging. As they sit and enjoy a meal and some drinks they scan the common room, noting that most appear to be locals with the exception of an odd couple in one corner. Both appear to be seasoned adventurers. One is an attractive human man in st...

Session date: December 27, 2017 The News Around Town The adventurers didn't get to celebrate their victory in liberating Julkoun from the goblinoids long, as news started circulating around Daggerford about a new and bigger menace threatening the realms. "For the past several days, the talk of the streets and taverns has all been about the so-called death curse: a wasting disease afflicting everyone who’s ever been raised from the dead. Victims grow thinner and weaker each day, slowly but steadily sliding toward the death they once denied. When they finally succumb, they can’t be raised — and neither can anyone else, regardless of whether they’ve ever received that miracle in the past. Temples and scholars of divine magic are at a loss to explain a curse that has affected the entire region, and possibly the entire world." A courier arrived later in the day with an invitation for dinner with Sir Isteval and a special guest that anted to meet him in him manor in...

Session date: October 11th, 2017 On Two Fronts At the end of the last session, the characters were in a bit of a pickle. Kalain was in the eastern tower of the main gate with three hobgoblins headed towards him; while Shudo,”Z” and Pork were on the second floor of a house and had three hobgoblins following them. There were also several goblins, from various areas of the town, moving towards the front gate to investigate the reason for the alarm horn. Two of the hobgoblins headed into the eastern tower to engage the elf Paladin Kalain, while the third, an apparent leader of some sort, moved into the western tower and out on the wall to examine the fire area and assess the situation. Kalain was in for the fight of his life, his foes were more challenging than his previous adversaries. He took a couple of blows from their glaive’s that made him consider flight. Instead he call upon the healing powers of his deity Sehanine Moonbow and was partially healed. His resolved strengthened, ...

Session date: October 4th, 2017 Luring the Goblins The party decided to spend the night in the farmhouse they moved up to in the previous session, with the hope of luring small groups of goblins out to them, where they could reduce their numbers before heading into the town. The two elves, needing less sleep than the others, decided to take the watches with Kalain taking the first watch and Shudo the second. Kalain climbed onto the roof of the farmhouse and took up a position near the chimney, to provide some cover and a good vantage point. A couple of hours into his watch, Kalain spotted a small group of goblins riding wolves moving through the area in the direction of the fires the party had built to draw them in. It appeared that the goblins were unaware of Kalain, so he decided to take advantage of the situation and fired his longbow at one of the wolves. It was a deadly shot, killing the wolf and dropping the goblin to the ground. Kalain stomped his foot hard on the roof,...

An Invitation While relaxing and training after eliminating the Wererat menace from the sewers of Daggerford, the party received an invitation for dinner with Sir Isteval at his residence in Daggerford. Pork Chop asked Erzenei what he knew about Sir Isteval, since he grew up in the town and Z answers, "He's an old dude...pretty cool, though..I understand he got injured fighting a dragon. I'm pretty excited to meet the guy!". That prompted Pork to say, "Ah ha! Now we know where the dragon treasure is!" The party discussed the invitation and agreed to accept it and meet Sir Isteval, informing the courier of their response. Some Importance? The adventurers traveled to Sir Isteval's home on wall street in the early evening hours on the 27th, taking a path that eerily led them past the place of their first encounter with the thugs working for Virion the Wererat of the 'Scarlet Rats'. The journey was uneventful as they safely arrived at ...

Searching the Sewers After taking a short rest to allow Shudo to recover from his rat bites, the party headed back down into the sewer to search for Rosie Emberhelm and the rumored "Ratman". The sewer was a typical sewer, stone walls and murky water with plenty of chunks flowing slowly down the passages. All of the party with the exception of Erzenei ,"Z" as he liked to go by, are demi-humans and have darkvision. So "Z" was relegated to lighting and carrying a torch so that he was not blind during their exploration. They explored the exits to the north, south and west to find them all ending in a heavy grate mortared into the walls. The bars were two inch thick steel and even with a herculean effort, they could not budge them. Finally, they headed down the long easterly passage to discover a four way intersection. They peered down each passage and quietly listened to decide which way to proceed. All they saw was more darkness down each tunnel, but whi...

The Ground Floor As the adventurers consider their options while standing near the open door to the house that the thug was trying to escape to, a couple of them notice a man trying to sneak up on them. After their last encounter they are on high alert and immediately draw their ranged weapons, while questioning the human. "I am Erzenei, a local, and only came down here because I heard the commotion of a fight. Are you the adventurers that are looking into the abduction of Rosie Emberhelm?". After introductions are completed, the party accepts Erzenai into the group. The door stands invitingly open and they can see what looks like a typical living room for the area: chairs around a dining room table; a large fireplace with seats nearby; and a welcoming rug at the entrance. The party decides to investigate the house, to look for any signs of Rosie. The party heads into the house, with the exception of Fosgrim, who took a bit of a beating from the thugs, so he decides to t...

Adventure Location All of the characters travel to the town of Daggerford. Daggerford is located centrally in the Sword Coast, just south of Waterdeep along the Trade Way. Although small in size (population around 2000), because of it's location it plays an important role in the region. The town is walled with a central keep, a reflection of its origin as the feudal seat of a lord within a much larger kingdom. Its customs and laws are holdovers from that time. Rule is hereditary, with dukedom going to the firstborn male of the family. The current Duke is Maldwyn Daggerford, a selfish and arrogant man more interested in being lavished and admired than ruling. Daggerford is an important hub for trade, located next to the Trade Way and on the banks of the Delimbiyr river. The river becomes shallow at Daggerford, so boat traffic from the east must stop. This traffic meets with caravans traveling north or south on the Trade Way. Adventure Hook While the characters are in Da...

Setting The 'Sliver of Despair' campaign will be set in the Sword Coast area of the Forgotten Realms using the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rule-set and homebrew rules changes as the need arises. Each of the characters are from different areas of the realms, so there will be some pre-adventuring time spent building a motivation to gather all of them in a single location. I decided on Daggerford as the initial gathering spot. It provides a convenient location for future adventuring, being located between the cities of Waterdeep to the north, Baldur's Gate to the south and the Sea of Swords a short distance west. The Characters Kalain Galathil Callin is playing a wood elf Ranger named Kalain Galathil. His early life was spent in a small village in the High Forest with his parents and two siblings. It was a peaceful, typical elvish life until the village was attacked by a horde of undead. The undead laid waste to the entire village, other than Kalain, who with ...

Inspiration I was inspired to start a campaign after reading the book "Empire of Imagination," by Michael Witwer. It made me feel nostalgic for my old gaming sessions growing up in the seventies and eighties. Those were great evenings spent with a large collection of friends in the Yocom basement. I felt like my life lacked the creativity that I had as a youth and I was eager to recapture some of that. The Challenges My desire was to run a game with some of my old friends from my youth. Luckily I have stayed in touch with a good number of them, some more loosely than others. My first concern was that I was not sure how many of them would be interested in playing again and willing to put the time into it. Next, there was the issue of logistics. I currently live in the Bay Area, whereas the majority of my old gaming buddies still live in the Salt Lake City area. The final concern was what version of Dungeons & Dragons were we going to play. It had been 8+ years si...