Session 40: Into The Woods
Dame Mia the elf, T3/MU2
sir Norbor the half-orc, F3
PARTY'S HENCHMEN:
Cleon, F3
Xenop, C3
Orbo, C2
Tand, R2
Ausillar the half-elf, R2
Mukaz the half-orc, F1
Nardik, F1
SESSION RECAP:
Now that the party has met the villagers and sorted out how they want to run the place, at least how they will tax its inhabitants, it's time to explore the surrounding area.
They take all their henchmen with them and within 10 days they explore an area of about 6 miles around the village. They don't encounter anything out of order. Orbo however wil communicate with one deer and they will learn that deeper in the forest they are hunted by kobolds and they are forced to move to the west.
On Patchwall 5, the party is back on Humming's End and prepares to move deeper in the forest to find the kobolds. After a day of travel and using the rangers scouting skills, they manage to find the tracks of the kobold and by following them they reach their small settlement. Way more than 100 kobolds live there. The party hides behind a small hill many yards away. In order to get a better view, Mia and the two rangers go closer and spy on them. Eventually a group of about 20 of the kobolds leaves to the north. Mia and the rangers follow them and when they are in a safe distance from the rest of the group they ambush and attack them. Mia's sleeping spells as well as the fighting prowess of the rangers are enough to defeat the kobolds. They kill every kobold besides two of them that they take back as prisoners. As soon as they reunite with the rest of the group, they return back to Humming's End.
The party starts interrogating the two kobolds. At first they are not cooperating but as soon as they realised that death was looming for them, they decide to tell everything they know. They reveal that close to their settlement lives an old green dragon, that is trying not to get match attention because it has a smaller one that needs to be fed and an egg that will hatch eventually. So, she forces the kobolds to hunt for her and her child, waiting for the time that they will become stronger as well and she will not have to keep a low profile to protect them. They show the party where her lair is on a map and they also reveal the subtle signs they used to mark the tree where its entrance is.
The party heads to that direction and indeed they managed to find the tree that hides the entrance to the cave of the dragon. The kobolds dug a tunnel to connect the underground cave the dragon lives and the opening is in the big gnarly tree, that they basically destroyed and use now as a decoy to hide the entrance.
Having confirmed what the kobolds said, the party returns to the village and starts preparing to face the dragon. They will also inform Jaroo from Hommlet who promises to tell everything to Verbobonc in hope of bringing reinforcements.
LOOT AND KILLS:
Loot:
-
Kills:
20 kobolds
DECEASED PLAYER CHARACTERS:
Urikas the elf, F1/MU1, Readying 25, 576 CY, eaten by ghouls
Zyla the elf, C1, Readying 25, 576 CY, eaten by ghouls
Jack, F1, Readying 28, 576 CY, slain by the evil cleric named Lareth
Causticas the elf, F3/MU3, Goodmonth 14, 576 CY, burned alive by a red dragon
Yus, C1, Brewfest 6, 576 CY, Poisoned by a purple worm's sting
Trenaccatlo, F1, Ready'reat 27, 576 CY, devoured by a two-headed giant troll
Korin Clubfoot, F5, Flocktime 11, 577 CY, poisoned by giant centipedes / REVIVED
THOUGHTS AFTER THE SESSION:
This was the beggining of a new chapter for the group, since now they are controlling a village and they try to establish their dominance in the area. It was really fun preparing the map. First I broke the 30-mile hexes of the Greyhawk map to smaller 6-miles. I used the DMG random generation table, rolling always in the forest column to see what the smaller 6-mile hexes will be like. After that I rolled for the chance to be populated according to the DMG and had many interesting results, the dragon being one of them.
It's nice that the campaign now got a more CAG approach. I don't demand to know where the party will go now, I just roll to see who lives in the area, I am thinking how they react to the other inhabitants and wait for the players to pick a destination. They could also just go back to the Temple, or the elven lair that is prepared for some time now but I am starting to think that the players will never visit! It's ok, though, I had also prepared a dungeon in Scant that the group ignored, not to mention that I had prepared X1 but they decided not go there after all!
That's part of world building and campaign preparation. In the end, I believe that you have to enjoy it as a hobby of its own. For example, what would happen if the party went to another direction and not towards the kobolds? They would most probably another bad guy and the kobolds would continue to feed the dragon, until something about 20 years pass and she finally can turn to her more interesting hobbies.
However, they did went there and now we are about to see a beat down with two dragons! Wish them luck!
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