Skyfell Campaign: Session 16
Skyfell Introduction
I started a once-per-month Dungeons and Dragons game in my Skyfell campaign setting. I wanted to provide my players with a log of their adventures and then realized that such a log might make for fun blog posts. See the Session Index for a complete listing.
The cast is:
Rodney - Tauffae Twofeather Topshelf - male orc, Fighter (Champion)
Dan - Drekzhar - male minotaur, Bard/Rogue (College of Swords, Swashbuckler)
Michelle - Bronte Whitewinter - male firbolg, Cleric (Tempest Domain)
Session 16: Clockworks of Carnage - Unknown Defects
Preparation
Seriously, there was none. I did read the session 15 summary to refresh my memory (because it had been quite a while since our last session). I also checked my notes to make sure we were still on track and to make sure that in my excitement to finally be playing again that I didn't forget important details.
I did fiddle around with cameras, with the idea of having one always focused on a map of the citadel. The next few sessions were meant to be more sandbox like in nature so I wasn't sure what the players were going to do, really. Technology was not my friend that day though. So I took a pictures of my impromptu map and sent it to everyone.
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| Map of the Clockworks of Carnage Citadel |
Pre-game
My intention had been to use Discord but a series of technical issues that lasted well into a full hour of computer nonsense left us cycling through several meeting solutions. I honestly don’t know what we finally ended up using, but it worked. I've never had that much trouble with streaming technology before. Oof.
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| Me, Trying to Tech the Tech |
Jeff couldn’t make it to this session so Rodney and Michelle took turns playing Oma. Rodney did most of the RP while Michelle handled the rolls since she had easy access to Oma’s character sheet. The problem with the session that soon became apparent after the recap was that the entire arc is really targeted at Oma as he’s the tinker. So the group discussed which of the many threads that they had uncovered in session 15 they should follow in session 16. After that was worked out, we started playing.
In-game
The coliseum began to empty after the exhibition match between The Under Kraken and Queen Tinker ended. The party regrouped and began discussing what they might want to do next. Oma was definitely curious regarding Queen Tinker's apparent loss of command over her clockwork fighter. This was something that should not be possible. Tauffae still wanted to do his PvC (person vs. clockwork) match. Meribore was still silent regarding her discovery of V15, the construct that bemoaned being "empty inside."
Before they got too far into that conversation, however, the were you interrupted by The Stomper. She had noticed the party checking in earlier, recognized them as adventurers, and wondered if they might be able to help her out.
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| The Stomper Source: Heroforge, designed by me |
The Stomper explained that she hadn't seen the citadel's maintenance chief (Cheb) since they departed Piruna Fields a couple days ago. Even though he normally kept to himself, Cheb always showed up for the meet-and-greets and to watch the matches. Moreover, he was a stickler for keeping the park clean, following a strict maintenance schedule. But on this voyage, he'd been absent from every event. He even missed a general meeting that morning. She was getting worried and wanted the party's help in finding him. (It was sort of obvious that she had a little bit of a crush on him.)
The party agreed to help. The would start by making sure Cheb had actually made it on board. This was easy enough as the manifests were kept in the administrative tower. Sure enough, the records showed he had checked in with two traveling trunks on the day of their departure.
The party next went to his quarters. These were a sectioned-off area in a maintenance shed where all the citadel's constructs were serviced. The building was tucked away in one corner of the grounds, behind the spa and very near the coliseum. (See the map for reference.) It was surrounded by well manicured trees and a subtle berm that kept it hidden from the public view.
Here they found several tinker stations arranged inside a circular area of the building. There were a few constructs in various stages of disrepair. Work logs indicated that the V15 clockwork (the one Meribore had found wandering the gardens at the Temple of Gond) should have also been in for repairs but it was not at any of the stations. Meribore did not mention seeing this construct.
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| Broken Construct at Tinker Station Source: Heroforge (designed by me) and Piaxabay with digital manipulation |
Most interestingly, there was a wooden panel lined with 45 small gems set into five neat rows. Each had a number beneath it. The vast majority of the gems had a soft green glow. A few were not glowing at all; these had numbers that corresponded to the number placards on the clockworks in the bay. Among the non-glowing gems was one labeled V15. There were also three gems that gently pulsed. The Stomper explained that Cheb used this board to track the general state of each construct under his care. Green meant the clockwork was operating correctly. No glow meant the clockwork was hibernating so that it could be repaired or was destroyed and therefore no longer functional. Pulsing yellow meant there was damage or otherwise some sort of malfunction.
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| A Few of the Gems in the Panel Source: Pixabay, with much digital manipulation by me |
Meanwhile, Meribore and Bronte searched Cheb’s quarters. The room was an open floor plan in a sectioned-off area of a supplies warehouse attached to the clockwork service bay. There, they found some of Cheb’s personal belongings still packed in a steamer trunk. They found a second steamer trunk that showed signs of rough use (as though it was frequently used to carry heavy objects) that was empty save for a couple of tools. They also found a blank page and an open inkwell at a desk. It looked as though someone, presumably Cheb, had been getting ready to write something but was interrupted. There were several scuff marks on the floor around the desk that suggested a brief struggle. Other than these notables, the room looked as though no one had been in it for a couple of days.
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| One of Cheb's Traveling Trunks Source: Pixabay |
All of this investigating left Tauffae feeling a bit bored. So, he quietly wandered outside to find something more interesting to occupy him, like a shop where he could buy more feathers or someone with whom he could get into a brawl. Instead, he saw Auntie (The Lost Night from Session 10) walking among the trees just outside the shed. Shocked, Tauffae excitedly bounded after her. He quickly lost track of her though.
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| The Lost Night, A.K.A. - "Auntie" Source: Monster Manual, 5e |
Unexpectedly, he burst into the outdoor baths at The Steamed Engine Spa. His sudden appearance sent the few guests who had been relaxing to the pleasant lavender aroma into a panicked retreat. With no sign of Auntie to be found, and now mostly all by himself, Tauffae’s attention quickly turned to the baths. After hearing Oma and Bronte going on about them, he wanted to give them a try so he stripped down to his orcish “birthday suit” and hopped into the nearest one. It was very relaxing. Just as he started to enjoy himself, however, D84 walked into the area. At first, it’s banter was very casual. Shortly, though, it started asking pointed questions about how his group had gotten together. When Tauffae explained about their first mission to Piruna Fields, D84 became more interested. It started asking about what they did there and how they managed to survive.
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| D84 Questions Tauffae Source: Heroforge (designed by me) |
The interrogation put Tauffae on the alert. Without ceremony (or clothes) he ran back to the shed to tell the party what had happened. Everyone regrouped to hear the tale. They very quickly decided to go immediately to the spa. In the interest of full discloures, they set out after Tauffae put on his clothes. They didn’t find D84. Instead, they found the three constructs who’s gems had been pulsing on the board in the maintenance shed. One was cleaning up a drink cart that Tauffae had knocked over on his first visit. A second was near the door to the interior of the spa. A third was leading a family of dragonborn (a man, woman, and teenage boy) into a sauna. The water was boiling and obviously dangerously hot.
Tauffae yelled our a warning!
The construct reacted by shoving the female into the boiling water. Tauffae pulled Shadow’s Dark Bite from Oma’s Bag of Holding and charged the construct. This started a protracted fight between the party (who was unarmed and more or less weaponless) where the party continuously fumbled, stumbled, and otherwise botched their efforts to save the Dragonborn and destroy the constructs. (Seriously, folks. I’ve never seen that many natural 1s rolled in an entire session let alone a single combat.) Despite the numerous near fatal mistakes, the party did eventually dispatch the constructs. They also healed the dragonborn, who were very appreciative.
End session 16.
Experience earned:
Bronte - 2372 (18,752 total)Drekzhar - 2820 (19,703 total)
Meribore - 2378 (18,908 total)
Omagoshno - 2614 (19,549 total)
Tauffae - 2608 (18,914 total)
Supplemental
The Bronte and Drekzhar One-shot
You might have noticed that the experience doesn’t add up based on the Session 15 totals. That’s because Michelle, Dan, and I had a one-shot to help their characters catch up to the rest of the party. I didn’t want to totally retcon the timeline. Nor did I want to pull them out of the current arc via some sort of wibbly-wobbly wimey-wimey magic thingie. Instead, I set them in a shared dream where the two set out on a quest given them by a creature named Tyrell Brunderway. In this quest, they were to rescue a lost “child” named Luvellyn of the Fey from a cave called The Maw of the Flind. It turned out the “child” was an adult, humanoid similar to a shadar kai. She was on the cusp of becoming a follower of Yeenoghu, the evil gnoll god of butchery and destruction. Fortunately, the two managed to convince Luvellyn to turn away from Yeenoghu and return to the world of the fey. Along the way, Bronte and Drekzhar learned a little but about their roles in a coming conflict that would see the destruction of all of Skyfell.
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| Tyrell Brunderway Source: Volo's Guide to Monsters, 5e |
Terms
Skyfell does not have a day/night cycle. I has a full midday. It has a late twilight period. But there is no night in the sense of the usual D&D setting. Even so, I’ve been using noon and midnight in the game to reference the relative time period. My eventual goal was to come up with better terms. I never did though. So, I kept saying noon and midnight even when it didn't quite make sense.
Well, I finally sent out a message to my group asking for help. They came up with “full bright” for noon and mid-gloom for midnight. These terms work well and will be the new standard.
During this session, Rodney decided to rename Shadow’s Dark Bite to Mid-gloom’s Dark Bite so that its name was more in line with the new naming scheme.
Have I mentioned how much muchness my players have?
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| Tauffae's Sword Source: Stranger Things D&D Box Set |
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