A Sliver of Despair

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 ...