WotBS Another Campaign Log: WotBS Skies of Escarnum

[Fox Lee]

Well, I've had a horrid day and one of my ferrets died. I thought I would distract myself by writing up a summary of last night's gaming session, where I started on GMing the 4e WotBS path (albeit heavily homebrew hacked). So... it's War of the Burning Skies of Escarnum. Or something ^^;

- - - A QUICK SUBSTITUTION GUIDE - - -
So, since WotBS was being inserted into an existing setting in this version, lots of things got changed to fit. Lots of names have been changed also, to make them sound right for the race/nation they belong to in this setting, but most of the will still be recognisable by role if not name.

For the first adventure, all the encounter critters also got remade, as I had to level everything up four or six times; the group wanted to start at level six, but since so much of the setup is in the first module, I wanted to start in the same way. Instead, the second module got cut; as cool as the concept was, I was having tremendous difficulty fitting the fire forest into my setting, ditto for its backstory. I may keep some elements I liked and transplant them into the ghost forest later down the road, since I expect it will also require liberal tweaking.

Many changes will just be mentioned as they come up, but here are the basics:

Ragesia: Aurion. Gods are absent from the setting and there are few actual religions, yet Aurion is a theocracy that claims to have revelation from the one true deity of Escarnum. They also believe that anybody who isn't a believer is a heretic, especially magic-users.

Gate Pass: Arc. Due to the layout, the city is not a mountain pass between the two lands, but rather a huge bridge built between a river gorge that divides them. The city is not it own state, but is part of a country called Independence, which established itself as a neutral party and trade hub during the last war, and happens to own all the surrounding river-ways.

Shahalesti: Tenebrae. Small and generally weaker than the surrounding kingdoms, Tenebrae is rumoured to have made some inappropriate deals with extraplanar entities, to maintain its position during the war. It also specialises in producing arcane casters, making it a prime target for the Aurite forces. The city of Tabris, in Tenebrae, houses the Ialean Academy, which will be standing in for Lyceum.

Alternatively, the kingdom of Callan'Shae is home to most of Alm's eladrin (including Shealis and Larion), who are generally snooty racist courtiers. It's actually on the other side of Aurion from Tenebrae, which may have interesting repercussions later in the AP.

The Poison Apple Pub: Brewers' Bar. Run by a trio of abilen (homebrew race; mercantile feline humanoids) sisters, though the eldest, Iriah Brewer, was recently arrested on suspicion of magic use. It's actually the youngest sister, Olive, who has magical talent, but Iriah deflected suspicion onto herself to protect her sibling. Olive feels dreadfully guilty about this. The middle sister, Brynn, is mostly enraged, and signed on with the resistance almost immediately.


- - - The characters - - -

The White Mask: A native to Arc. A very rogue-ish ranger who wears a mask and performs dashing not-entirely-legal exploits; under the mask, he's actually a thull (homebrew variant half-orc - same stats but of gnollish descent) named Gustav Pennyrow.

Not long ago he was in Aurion, where he pinched some indecipherable church intelligence documents. He was attacked by a church thug and briefly held prisoner, during which time the documents were stolen by somebody else, whom he then pursued. He found the man dead on the road, the case of documents gone and the trail leading back to Arc. He retrieved a signet ring that identified the unfortunate man as a resistance spy, and a small key, and is now scoping out the resistance to see if they ever got the case.

Acid: A fragment of the elemental chaos which was summoned for extended periods by an eladrin mage to do participate in arena battles at her uppirty magic school, and somehow developed a personality. Eventually he got stuck in the material plane; mechanically he's a genasi barbarian, though he disguises himself as an eladrin going by the name Fasrain Undertow. Water is his native element, but he turned caustic after a magical mishap caused by his summoner (who has long since forgotten about him). He tries to drink a lot of pure water to dilute the acid in his system.

Acid isn't sure what his goals are, except to get back to the elemental chaos somehow, but he knows that Aurion would consider him an abomination if they knew what he was. He was just sort of hanging out at the pub.

Sun Pan: A young wu-kan (homebrew race; slightly anthropomorphic tricksters based on the Legend of the Monkey King) monk with a rather "punk" aesthetic.

Pan was mistaken for somebody else (whether on purpose or not, we don't know) and sent on a holy quest by a celestial messenger. Technically she did a grand job of fulfilling the prophecy, but she got the "chaotic good" ending rather than the "lawful good" one, which upset lots of people. She also did something quite inappropriate with a Callish princess, and was subsequently chased into Aurion by eladrin royal guard. After the church identified her as a psionic heretic, she fell in with some resistance members who recommended she flee to a meeting spot in Arc.

Yoshikazu: A soratami (homebrew race; oriental ancestors of the eladrin) artificer of indeterminate age and gender. Yoshikazu is a brilliant technician (which did not mesh well with the soratami's insular and xenophobic culture), who invented something so dangerous to soratami society that it provoked assassination attempts. Now far from home, Yoshikazu is trying to sell this invention to the rulers of another nation.

It seems Yoshikazu wound up in the bar kind of accidentally; there were some mistaken directions, and Olive kind of assumed the soratami was there for a resistance meeting.

Steelblood: A jotun (homebrew race; reclusive, gigantic fey trolls) paladin who was trapped at a young age and used by the Aurite church as a general workhorse/strongarm, with the assumption that he was too stupid to cause any trouble. He actually knows more about the church's darker dealings than is good for him, since they were less cautious around him when they thought he couldn't understand human speech. He has had a viciously manipulative religious upbringing, and developed huge guilt/duty/obedience issues in response.

Steelblood is in Arc because about a week ago, he captured a thief who had stolen a case of Aurion's military intelligence - whom the jailers lost again almost immediately. Steel isn't normally allowed out on his own, but it was far too arduous a journey to push the Inquisitors' horses so mercilessly. Steel has just arrived in town, and is tracking the thief to a condemned pub.

 

[Fox Lee]

- - -SESSION 1- - -

With this rather alternative opening, Torrent isn't actually around. Instead, Pan has been in the bar some of the evening, waiting for somebody from the resistance to contact her. Since Olive is happily serving drinks for her, Acid has assumed the bar isn't so closed after all, and is steadily pissing off Brynn by only ordering water. Pan has been bothering "Fasrain" for some time, chattering on about what's happening, while he's mostly ignoring her.

The White Mask shows up a little before midnight, finding the note about Iriah's arrest and immediately pressing Brynn - somebody he's met plenty of times before - with questions. She explains the situation, from the sealing of the city gates to the Aurite army approaching, and confirms to Mask that she and Olive are working for the resistance now. In private (Pan is probably eavesdropping on them) Mask also explains his recent exploits in Aurion.

As they return to the common area and Mask mulls over the information, a resistance messenger shows up and has a quiet word wth Brynn, bringing news that a resistance spy was robbed and killed on the way back from Aurion. He sent an important item back ahead of him, which they think is now at the depository in town, but without the man's identification and locker key they have no way to retreive it. Of course, these are exactly what Mask recovered when he found the man's body, so Brynn "suggests" that he go recover the item and take it to a nearby resistance safehouse.

This is about the point where Steelblood arrives, thundering at the door. Pan bounces over to open it before Brynn can stop her, and the towering jotun demands the White Mask be turned over to him. Brynn tries to shoo him off, and it almost comes to blows before Mask reveals himself and tries to calm the situation. Knowing what the church is really looking for, he promises to help Steelblood recover the case in exchange for getting himself off the hook. Steel suggests an alternative to that part ("You learn to be very good at running"), but they seem to have come to something like an agreement for now.

Assuming that the rest of the group are working with Mask, Steel orders him to round up his crew so they can be off to the depository. As they hesitate, Steeblood offhandedly muses that as part of the Inquisitors' army, he can leave town as he pleases, along with anybody in his care. Brynn, alternately, hisses that if they get the plans to the resistance, they'll surely be able to ask themfor help escaping the city.

The group pauses briefly at the door, as the celebration bells sounding the new year ring out around the city and fireworks burst in the distance. Then they suddenly catch the sound of not a firework, but a bomb.

As they try to rush out the door, it explodes inward, a battering ram landing squarely in Steel's gut. On its opposite end are four thugs wearing the insignia of the Black Horse, a local group of bounty hunters with whom Mask in particular has some familiarity. The party obviously refuses to hand themselves over, even for such an eloquent request.

Mask falls back and draws his hidden swords, waiting for Steel to get out of his way, while Pan vaults over the jotun's shoulder, subduing two of the weaker hunters with a flurry of action-point-inspired violence. Acid is less kind, his fullblade dealing distinctly lethal damage as he flows through the blockade in the doorway like water.

Yoshikazu enters the fray in a rather bemused fashion, grazing an enemy with a crossbow bolt and bestowing magic weapon on Mask and Steel. Two more Black Horses rush down from upstairs, attempting a pincer trap. As Brynn grabs Olive and takes cover, Mask charges along the bar and attacks the nearest newcomer, followed closely by Steel.

Outside, the dogs rush around the corner, where Pan and Acid identify a tall, armoured man astride a horse as the group's reputed commander, Keiran Danava. Pan continues to subdue her enemies, but Acid cuts down one of the dogs on his way to the knight, and notes with some surprise the look of disgust that crosses Keiran's face in response. Acid uses his elemental powers to rush in and engage the knight, causing his true form to be revealed; Keiran's horse rears in surprise and throws him to the ground. The commander hesitates a moment before ordering the beast away, and in a moment of surprising insight, Acid realises that Keiran cares considerably more for the animals than for his men.

The remaning thug flails toward Pan as the dogs worry her at heels. He has failed to score a single meaningful blow so far, but seems to be hoping nobody has noticed.

Back inside, Steelblood's divine powers make short work of the first scout, who is deftly finished off by Yoshikazu's crossbow. The second puts up a little more fight, but Mask and Steel wear him down quickly, Mask giving him a chance to surrender and even recognising him by name as a local tough. The scout decides to do the stupid thing, however, and swings at Mask as he tries to disengage; Steel punishes him for this. He somehow lives through it, but is now in a cowering heap on the floor.

Yoshikazu calmly notes that part of the ceiling has just collapsed a few feet away, meanders outside, and proceeds to nail the remaning thug with an acidic crossbow bolt, ruining what little competence the man had.

Steel stomps to the door, booting the discarded battering ram out of his way, and thunders a demand for the hunters' group to stand down. Keiran grits his teeth and reluctantly refuses, sizing Steel up as a fellow soldier and declaring "you don't disobey orders" as he gets to his feet. Steel closes, delivering his divine challenge, and the commander responds in kind, smiting him with a mighty blow that Steel recognises as a power he himself shares. However, Yoshikazu's magic has already infused Steel with unnatural vigor, and the attack barely slows him down. As Acid presses on Keiran's flank, Steel delivers a blow so powerful it dislocates his own shoulder, driving the Black Horse to the ground.

Keiran tries to rise, leaning on his sword, but sinks back to his knees and bitterly calls for his remaining ally to stand down. The thug shoots a few vicious slurs at the commander's prowess as he throws aside his weapons, despite his own utter lack of efficacy. Much to the commander's surprise, Steelblood turns his attention to the fatally wounded dog, using his powers to mend its wounds, while Acid sprints off after the horse.

A crash from inside the bar leads Mask to rush back in, fearing the worst, but instead he finds that Brynn has defended Olive and polished off the scout's remaining hit point with a well-timed skillet. The group haul the scouts - or what remains of them - out of the bar just in time for the remainder of the roof to collapse, at which point it is hit directly by a fire-bomb from overhead. Suddenly reminded of the danger, the heroes look up and realise the sky is filled with wyvern and griffon riders, fighting savagely over the city. Now that their own battle is over, they hear the sounds of widespread panic in the streets. Pan skitters up the side of a nearby building to survey the damage, while Steel orders an awkwardly-stunned Keiran to find people and bring them to safety. Acid returns riding the commander's horse, and Keiran offers his sword in exchange for the creature, saying an animal should not be the spoils of war. Acid magnamoniously lets him keep both.

After Brynn promises hse can get Olive to shelter in a local library "temple" that serves as a safehouse, Mask takes off in the direction of the despitory, eager to reach it before it catches fire - or worse. The group follow, but are much more concerned with helping the panicked citizens along the way. A man staggers out of a burning building with several small children, but is quickly healed (along with his son) by Steelblood and directed to the safehouse Brynn mentioned. Up on the rooftops, Pan spies a woman screaming for help as she prepares to jump from the window of a burning building. Leaping deftly to the ledge, the wu-kan grasps the woman's arms - "trust me!" - and, using her tail as an anchor, swings the woman through the air toward the ground. It's quite terrifying, actually, but it all happens so quickly that the young lady barely has time to be afraid before Acid catches her at the bottom. Slightly dazed, she too hurries off to the safehouse.

The White Mask, some distance ahead, is just able to catch sight of the depository tower when a sudden screams splits the air, echoed in a ripple around him until the entire crowd is in a mindless panic. A wave of terror washes over him as he stumbles through the crowd, though he manages to avoid being crushed by the mob. Moments later the rest of the characters feel it too, each of them struck numb with fear except for the stoic Steelblood. As the others panic, he spies a disturbing shadowy shape gliding over head, followed by a eerie shriek.

Pan recovers after only the briefest of instants, her insatible racial curiosity overwhelming her fear, and acts quickly enough to snatch a small child who is knocked to the ground before he can be trampled by the crowd. Steelblood tries to calm the crowd, but the fear is stronger than most of them; still, a few are quieted by his words, and they try to help other civilians as the remaining party members shake off their fear and forge ahead.

- - - - -

That's as far as we got in the first session, since the first hour or so was taken up finishing off the character-building. I'm dreadfully glad they didn't kill Keiran/Kathor, since I'm rather taken with him. Olive thinks he's dreamy. I expect he will help them escape the city; if they don't try to use his diplomatic immunity to get out, he will at least show up during the gauntlet and try to help them escape. Better add some more mooks in his place.

It will be awfully interesting to see what happens when the White Mask meets Rantle. I can't imagine they don't know each other.