Skyfell Campaign: Session 20
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:
Session 20 - Not Clockworks of Carnage
Preparation
W E ’ R E B A C K !
It has been a long slog since our last session with so, so, so very much of everything else other than Dungeons and Dragons whizzing around.
I mean, don't get me wrong. From a purely consumer standpoint, I finally got a copy of Ghosts of Saltmarsh. The original Dangers of Dunwater module (which is one of the adventures in Ghosts of Saltmarsh) was one of a handful of books I had collected in my youth but never got around to playing (see my life history regarding this) and so I've been wanting a copy of Ghosts of Saltmarsh since it was released. Sure, Skyfell has no oceans, but I plan on borrowing several ideas from this book and I'll probably run my players through an adventure or two at some point after I've adapted it appropriately. Regardless, it was a nostalgia purchase for me. I also grabbed a copy of Candlekeep Mysteries and a copy of Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. Candlekeep looks like another great source of adventure ideas. And from a creature standpoint, I picked up copies of Cawood Publishing's Monsters of the City, Monsters of the Underworld, and Monsters of Feyland.
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| Dangers of Dunwater Cover Art Source: Dangers of Dunwater, 1e |
I've been indulging in some fiction reading both unrelated to Dungeons and Dragons (mostly old Star Trek novels) and within the same genre. I highly recommend Drew Hayes Spells, Swords, Stealth series for a strangely meta experience, Kenny Soward's GnomeSaga series for the gnomes, and, if you're into cyberpunk, Rachel Aaron's DFZ series. There's been a lot movie and series binging going on too. The Mythica series is a must see, by the way, along with the first Yin-yang Master movie. And, there was the announcement of a new Dungeons and Dragons movie. Let's just take a moment to appreciate that!
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| Puss In Boots Shrek 2 |
I've also been indulging in a a whole lot of Fallout 76 playing. I mean, like, a WHOLE lot (see my Instagram account for pictures of my Bob's Burgers and Shinya Shokudou CAMPS), but despite there being orcs (oops, I mean super mutants) and dragons (I mean scorched beasts), it's just not Dungeons and Dragons.
From the creativity standpoint, I've been working on materials for the DMs Guild. That's been exciting. I published a new supplement called the Random Plot Generator with art by the extemely talented Katrina Ernst. I'm also going back through my older materials and having her redo all the artwork for those. I started two other supplements. The first is another set of magical items and trinkets. The second is a fully scoped WhatNot Shop going into much more detail than my blog post. That latter supplement will include adventure hooks and other helpful resources so that you can use the WhatNot Shop in your campaign as a focal point for character interactions much like you might use an inn or tavern.) Katrina will be doing the art for these as well.
I did finally decide to jump into the YouTube world and start a cooking channel called Ovens and Dragons. It will be focused on making food for game night and TTRPG sessions. We'll see how it goes. Please subscribe if you're interested and I will always be looking for ideas of what to cook (or try to cook). I've already created the channel, and the trailer video. I plan on releasing new videos every two weeks.
So, sure, there's been much Dungeons-and-Dragons activity and Dungeons-and-Dragons-adjacent activity, but there hasn’t been any Dungeons and Dragons playing. I might have gone a little batty because of that. (To be honest, I might have always been a little batty.)
And then . . .
A few weeks ago, our group decided it was time to get together, following recommended protocol with masks and proper social distancing. The goal was simply to reconnect and do a recap of the player characters' adventures up through session 19 (check out the session index for a complete listing). We also wanted to go through the Clockworks of Carnage arc in some detail to get everyone thinking about their characters again and understanding (and remembering) everything that had happened thus far in that arc. Everyone had really great notes and I've been writing these summaries, so it was fun to go through everything. It got us all in the proper mood. I also made hand pies following the Heroes' Feast recipe for that extra bit of muchness. I forgot to take a picture of how mine turned out, so here's the picture out of the book instead. Mine did not look nearly as perfect as this.
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| The Yawning Portal's Hand Pies Source: Heroes' Feast |
The first actual game session was planned for a little later.
But, the best laid plans never stand up to reality.
The week of the game, one of our players explained they couldn't make it due to work scheduling.
It happens. This is something every dungeon master and every group faces. With this news, the group made a decision to continue to meet for the session but we'd explore some other areas and aspects of Skyfell with some one shots until we were a full team again. Intriguingly, everyone would be playing new characters as well.
This was appealing for a number of reasons. First, these characters could be the back-up team (the B-team if you will) to be played when we couldn't get the full group together. Second, if I kept each adventure to one-shots, then there would be no need to worry about player consistency. I could swap in and out characters at will. And the idea that I eventually fell into, inspired by a number of sources, lends itself well to that sort of inconsistent character makeup. So, even though I was bummed to having to postpone the Clockworks of Carnage arc once again, I was pretty excited about this new opportunity.
Leading up to game day, we all discussed what the new B-campaign might look like. Everyone decided to play a group of orcs (or monsters associated with orcs), all originating out of the second link of the Teskos Chain (see the Teskos geography post). The player group included an orc priest of Gruumsh, a hobgoblin wizard, a goblin rogue, and a bugbear monk. So, here's the new team. The miniatures were supplied by Rodney, who also masterfully painted three of them. (You can see more of his miniature work on Instagram.)
Rodney - Groguul - orc cleric of the tempest (priest of Gruumsh)
Laura - Lhor'og - hobgoblin wizard
Jeff - Weaq Linq - goblin rogue
Dan - Mord Mhurn- bugbear monk
I did a quick write up to get everyone oriented, which I broadcasted out via Discord.
You are the ferocious Stone Skull tribe. Under the all powerful Urglug, He Who Eats His Enemies, the tribe subjugated the puny and diseased vermin that once infested your rightful home on the second link. Those who did not join the tribe were enslaved. Those who would not be slaves are nothing more than bones that will never join the honored dead in tribute to Gruumsh. All who stand between Urglug and the third link will be crushed, flavored with the tears of defeat, and served up to Urglug in a grand feast to honor Gruumsh and Bahgtru.
Now, you who are small before the giant that is Urglug, you have a chance to prove yourselves worthy of his attention. If you please him he might mention you to Gruumsh, a grand gift for sure. So, come. Come, you sons and daughters of Stone Skull. Raise up your voice to join this quest, so that all of the Stone Skull will one day bathe the third link with the blood of the vermin who dare to soil its streets.
Long live The Stone Skull!
Pre-game
On the day of the game, I spent the morning working on this write-up and chatting with players on Discord. I then got started on the meal I'd be serving. I settled on the Traveler's Stew out of Heroes' Feast. I did modify it slightly so that I could serve it in bread bowls. Yet again, however, I forgot to take pictures. I'm such a bad blogger.
Since this was our first session back in quite a while, I wanted start things out right and fresh. We as a group took a moment to burn some sage around the game area. It's something my wife and I have always done as a way to cleanse a space. We then ate the stew as we discussed the ground rules for the session. Since these characters were ostensibly "evil," I wanted to be sure everyone was on the same page about character interactions and expectations. No one wanted to play as or with a murderhobo, so that worked out. We did allow for intra-party squabbles and machinations because that can be good for storytelling but full-on murder, well, that just wasn't appealing to anyone. Besides, and we all agreed, "evil" doesn't mean killing everything you see for funsies.
That out of the way, we went around the table and each player gave a quick description of their character. We hammered out some details regarding character backgrounds, some motivations, and some directions for growth that the players might want the characters to take. Then, it was game time.
In-game
There are rumors of a powerful magical item among stowed away in a shipwreck in the Splintered Skies. The mighty Urglug commands a salvage operation penetrate the Splintered Skies to seize this weapon for the glory of the Stone Skull. You will be specialists aboard The Mauler, a mighty gunship under the command of Captain Grummak, The Vicious. Do not let the fact that you lack the potent blood of the orcs deter you. You have proven yourself worthy of this task through other tests. When you succeed, you will be rewarded. Should you fail, you will return to a fate proper for those who embarrass the Stone Skull with their weakness and dare to disappoint Urglug, He Who Eats His Enemies.
Skyfell Cultural Note
As mentioned in the Teskos geography post, the Stone Skull tribe is the dominant tribe on the second link in the Teskos Chain. The leader of the tribe is Urglug, a half orc/minotaur who rose to prominence when the Stone Skull occupied the first link. The first link is the tail (and therefore the weakest) of all islands in the chain as tribes fight their way to dominance to the head of the chain. His success has been due, in part, to his willingness to accept anyone into the tribe as long as they can prove their loyalty and their strength. Strength does often appear in unexpected ways. His inner circle is primarily individuals of mixed orc/minotaur descent. His armies include more goblinoids (goblins, hobgoblins, norkers, and bugbears) than other orc armies. So far, this has proven to be a strength as the downtrodden who were living on the second link before Urglug conquered it were willing to join the tribe in the hopes of making a better life for themselves. Make no mistake, orcs (no matter their ancestry) are still better than everyone else, and of course the orcs of Stone Skull are the best of all orcs, but there is more room for others to thrive within this tribe than in the other tribes.
The party gathered with the rest of the the members of the salvage operation at the docks of the city of Stone Skull. The command crew (captain, first mate, pilot, and engineer), were all of orc/minotaur descent. The cook and the rest of the crew were orcs. Groguul performed a blood sacrifice to Gruumsh, praying for a successful mission and good sailing. It went well. The crew boarded the ship and set sail confident they would return with the quested weapon and bring honor to their family name.
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| Gruumsh is Pleased with the Sacrifice |
The ship spent two days sailing the Splintered Skies toward the general location where they believe the magic weapon to be. Over that time, the ship went about its regular daily cycle. The Captain was getting a little bored. He wanted to find the object as soon as possible so that he might find a chance to get into a good fight. Perhaps that's why when a mysterious effect appeared a couple thousand feet ahead of them he became so excited. It was a white flash that pulsed ten times. After the tenth flash, a black cloud erupted where the flashes had been. That cloud then shrank into nothing only to have the flashing start again. The effect continually repeated this pattern .
The Captain ordered Lhor'og to identify this mysterious effect (because Lhor'og was a wizard and wizards were supposed to know all about strange things like this). Unfortunately for Lhor'og, he'd never seen anything like this before. He tried to lie about what it was to hide his ignorance but this just earned him a swat from the Captain who then turned to Groguul and demanded his priest of Gruumsh identify this strange thing.
Groguul prayed to Gruumsh for an answer. None came. To cover up this silence, the priest used a little thaumaturgy to make the ship quake. As he did so, he explained that the mysterious lights were hiding great treasures (and something called "sky bison?"). More importantly, Gruumsh demanded they retrieve that treasure for his glory and the glory of the Stone Skull.
That's all the Captain needed to know. He ordered Mord to the war drums to beat out the command for general quarters. Immediately orcs armed with bows took up position on the top deck. Crews manned the ship's two ballistas. Groguul joined Mord in a war chant and prayer to Gruumsh. Then, the Captain ordered the ship to attack the flashes head on.
As the ship charged forward, the effect began to grow and expand. The black clouds transformed from an amorphous mass to a swirling band that unwound and shot out straight toward the ship. It was only after it engulfed the top deck that everyone could see the "cloud" was a swarm of redwing blackbirds that bobbed and weaved around them in a strangely orchestrated but manic manner. Most of the orcs tried angrily to swat the birds out of the sky. One of the ballista crews even fired on the swarm. This, of course, had no real effect.
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| The Blackbirds Swarm the Ship Source: Pixabay |
Groguul examined one of the birds that had been knocked out of the sky and crashed into the deck at his feet. It had crystal-blue eyes whose sparkle was quickly fading as it came closer to death. He was drawn to those eyes. He couldn't look away. Just before the bird died, he was certain that he had a sense that it was connected to a consciousness much larger than itself.
In the midst of this chaos, the light effect tore open, as though someone had suddenly parted the curtains on a window. Within the newly opened space, a mass of rock appeared. The "tear" grew larger and the mass pushed its way through the opening to reveal that it was the leading edge of an island.
And the ship was plummeting straight toward it.
The pilot must have realized the danger because the ship suddenly banked. Its forward momentum, however, continued to hurl it toward the island. Suddenly, the ship violently heaved as it came under the pull of the island's gravity. In the space of a single horrifying breath, most of the ship's complement on the top deck--including the Captain and first mate--were flung overboard to plummet a hundred feet to the island below. They did not survive the fall.
Lhor'og barely kept his balance. Weaq Linq weathered the sudden jolt effortlessly because he had been snuggled into a fairly secluded, and therefore secure, nook. Groguul and Mord, on the other hand, were thrown overboard with the rest of the crew. Gruumsh must have had a special plan in mind for Groguul, though, because the priest managed to stop himself from falling from the ship. Mord was not so blessed. At least Weaq Linq was watching over him, because the goblin threw a rope toward the falling bugbear. Mord managed to catch this life line--and Groguul's pants-- before he tumbled to the island's surface (and to certain death) along with the others.
The ship groaned as it snapped into alignment with the island's gravity. This flipped both Groguul and Mord back onto the deck. Their relief was brief because despite correcting itself, the ship still careening toward the island. And then, it smashed down onto the surface, skittering along the stony, grass-covered ground. The impact sent a crack rippling up both sides of the hull, practically breaking it in two. Then, the back half of the ship snagged on an enormous rock outcropping. This was enough to tear the ship completely in half. The front portion tumbled forward, smashing the cockpit, before it bounced away from the island. A moment later it disappeared in a bright pulsing flash. The back portion continued to careen along the ground, leaving a long trail of timber and other debris as the hull was ground into splinters. Eventually, the entire thing came to a rest.
Lhor'og awoke face-to-face with the Captain. His lifeless eyes were twisted in an eternal agony. Lhor'og's own body was bruised and he was pretty sure a few of his bones were broken. He had, apparently, survived at least. The worst of it was really a splitting headache and an incessant ringing in his ears. He reached for his spellbook, which he kept on his person at all times, but it was gone. In a panic, he forced himself to his hands and knees to search for it. After several minutes, he found it. His relief was interrupted by the angry yells of an orc in pain.
Weaq Linq came to among tall grasses and scattered boulders. He was battered. His body vibrated with pain. But he was whole and he was alive. He looked around and noticed an orc body was fairly close, just up the edgeline of the island from him. What little was left of the ship was down the edgeline a fair distance. Just a little inland from him was a shiny, bare orc butt sticking up out of the grass. He decided to investigate the body. A body was fair pickings and it might have something good on it worth keeping. Besides, the little side quest would be enough of an adventure to test whether his body was whole and functional. With a bit of effort, he managed to reach the body and look for anything valuable. There was nothing. He was contemplating what to do next when the booming yells of an orc pulled his attention into focus.
Mord came to under a pile of wreckage, trapped in a pocket formed by several heavy cross beams that had saved him from being crushed by the rest of the ship. He examined his surroundings and quickly realized moving any of the debris might bring whatever was left of the vessel down onto him. He took a moment to contemplate his next move when he heard an orc roaring with pain. He hoped that whoever it was might rescue him, and so started calling out for help.
Groguul woke up with his face planted in loose soil and his backside sticking straight up toward the sky. A chilly breeze against his skin made let him know that he had lost his pants. But there was no nevermind to that. He needed to understand just how hurt he was. After a quick assessment, he decided to use cure wounds to repair some of the injuries caused by the crash. Gruumsh is a god who sees suffering as a path to strength, and so as the god channeled healing energies from the Weave into Groguul's wounds, he also channeled a burning sensation that hurt like all the hells had poured their fire into him. Groguul yelled and grumbled, but the pain was a small sacrifice to prove his faith to his god.
Filled with the blessing of Gruumsh, Groguul started the task of finding survivors. He heard Mord calling for help and so made his way to the wreckage. Weaq Linq followed. Lohr'og met them at the wreck. Groguul gave the hobgoblin the blessed healing pain of Gruumsh. Lohr'og was perhaps not as appreciative of the pain aspect of the healing process of Groguul had been. They then turned their attention to freeing the bugbear. This took them a couple of hours of careful planning and a little luck.
In that time, they had seen no sign of other survivors. They were also able to take in a little more of their immediate surroundings, noting that while they were currently in what amounted to an open, tall-grass field, that field was buffeted by a thick forest of tropical plants on one side and the edgeline of the island on the other.
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| Forest's Edge Source: Pixabay, with Digital Manipulation by Me |
There were also several bodies scattered around. They were starting to smell, posing a very real possibility of causing sickness and of attracting hungry animals. The party wanted neither. They were also concerned about shelter and protection from any animals that would no doubt eventually come to investigate. There was also the possibility that a rival tribe might appear also in search of the magic item they had been sent to retrieve.
The group agreed that Groguul and Mord would gather what bodies they could find, perform a final blessing over their souls, and then dump the empty carcasses off the edge of the island. Lohr'og and Weaq Linq would find a suitable place to make a temporary camp, utilizing a portion of the ship's wing as a roof for a makeshift shelter.
In this process, Groguul and Mord noticed that one of the bodies they were going to collect was missing. This was worrisome. They called over Lohr'og and Weaq Linq. The two related their success in collectin several healing positions, twelve days' worth of editable rations for each of the four survivors, a few weapons, some clothes, and other useful tidbits from the wreckage. These were all stowed in the shelter. This was all very good news, but the body was still a problem that needed some investigation.
Where the body should be was only the traces of its former presence. There was no sign that it had gotten up and walked away; undead can be a problem. Nor did it appear that a flying creature had swooped down to steal it; an flying creature that size would also be a problem. There was some crushed grass that formed a shambling path toward a large rock. Just one of many poking up here and there out of the grass. Upon the rock was splatter some blood. None of the other rocks were so decorated. Curious now, Groguul went to investigate, crawling up onto the rock to have a better look around his surroundings and to see if he might pick up some other, more valuable clue.
And he stuck to the rock. And the rock started to transform into a gigantic mouth full of stiletto teeth. Weaq Linq was the first to react, firing two arrows into the thing. Instead of ricocheting off the stone, the projectiles sank deep into it. The rock moaned as orange blood spurted from the wounds, darkening the grass around it as though it were burned. Mord Groguul tried to pull himself free of the threat but only ended up on all four, making his situation worse. Mord tried to pull Groguul free but nearly got stuck himself. By this time the rock had fully transformed into a gaping maw that clamped down on Groguul. In that moment, the adhesive effect that kept Groguul restrained diminished enough so that Mord's momentum pulled Groguul off the living stone.
Groguul ran away from the thing as fast as he could. The bite had left a series of deep punctures in his arms and legs. Worse, the wounds burned and sizzled.
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| Fighting a Rock...that Eats People |
Lohr'og pulled the Weave around him to summon a chromatic orb. The energy flooded into a sphere of deadly cold, producing a force triple its regular size. He hurled the thing at the creature. The orb exploded in a shower of frost and ice particles. Huge patches of the creature's skin instantly froze. The sudden change in temperature fractured and then shattered larges areas of its body. Just as quickly, the frozen flesh thawed into lumps of frost-bitten, blackened meat. The rock creature staggered and groaned in pain. Another arrow from Weaq Linq put an end to its suffering.
Alerted to the threat that the very rocks of this island could come to life and eat them whole, the party retreated to their new shelter for a chance to recover and rest. They posted watch but fortunately the day when from mid gloom to early bright without interruption other than the usual nocturnal activities of foragers and their predators. The party rose at early bright to formulate a plan. They realized now that they needed to scout the area around them to get a sense of what was about. They would also need a better shelter than the ship's wing would provide. For that, they would need tools. They would also need food and water.
After an appeal to Gruumsh, Groguul was able to learn and then cast create water. This solved a very immediate problem of thirst. Groguul and Lohr'og volunteered for a little scouting duty into the nearby forest. Their target was what appeared to be a high cliff a few thousand feet inland. There hope was to get a better view of their island and perhaps, if they were lucky, they might find food and a source of water along the way.
Groguul was especially mindful of their path so that they could easily escape the forest should an emergency arise. Lohr'og was scanning their environs for immediate threats. Because of this extra caution, their going was slow. After a hour of exploration, they crossed an animal trail that showed signs of numerous kinds of dinosaurs having passed through the area over the last few days. Among the tracks were those of an Allosaurus. It was clear to both Groguul and Lohr'og that the two of them alone would be no match against an Allosaurus. The presence of such a large animal also implied that the island was much larger than either had suspected. To avoid getting lost or eaten or both lost and eaten, they concluded that their best path was the one that led them back to the shelter.
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| One of These Could Easily Eat Our Heroes Source: Pixabay |
Meanwhile, Mord and Weaq Linq continued the salvage operation. They started dismantling the bulk of what was left of the ship, creating piles of materials for later use. They located what was left of the kitchen and were able to collect a lot of the cookware and utensils for later use. They also wanted to salvage the stove, but that would require more work. It was during this time that Mord was able to begin assembling the materials he'd need to create a still. He was feeling uncomfortable not having access to the various substances he was accustomed to indulging in and knew that if didn't get something up and running he'd be hurting later. When Groguul and Lohr'og returned, they reported their findings. They were discussing their next steps when a huge flock of redwing blackbirds came up the edgeline of the island. They flew as though they were on patrol rather than simply flying to some unknown destination. This impression was only reenforced when the flock began circling over the party's heads. The birds bobbed and weaved as they chirped and screeched amongst themselves.
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| The Redwing Blackbirds Circle Overhead Source: Pixabay |
Groguul cast speak with animals hoping for a chance to communicate with them. What he heard was a rapid, and rather heated, debated among the birds regarding what should be done about the four strangers on the ground. Some of the birds wanted to attack the group now and be done with it. Others wanted to scared them off the cliff so that the pterodactyls might have a tasty snack. Still others suggested that they must consult the Collective before taking any further action. That sentiment roiled through the flock until every bird took up the call, chanting "The Collective. The Collective. The Collective." And they continued with this chant as the entire flock pealed away from the party and continued back down the island's edgeline.
End session 20.
Experience earned:
Groguul - 162 (462 total)
Lohr'og - 162 (462 total)
Mord - 160 (460 total)
Weaq Linq -166 (466 total)
Black-bird Swarm
I didn't want to place this video in the "In-game" section because I felt like it might pull you out of the story. However, this is pretty much what a blackbird swarm looks like. This is what engulfed the ship. Enjoy.
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Stop by my YouTube channel "Ovens and Dragons" and partake in the exciting world of cooking for gamers.
Also, check out my DMsGuild offerings:
- Epic Gnomish Inventing
Rules supplement for creating gadgets. - Gnome Concept Packages 1
Collection of gnome-related backgrounds, feats, magic items, and more. - Great House Servants
Collection of backgrounds centered on the servants of a great house. - Mildew's Revenge
A first-level adventure. - Random Plot Generator
A tool for creating adventure prompts for one-shots and story arcs. - The WhatNot Shop’s Absurd Accoutrements
A collection of unusual magical items. - The WhatNot Shop's Bracing Beverages
A collection of strange potions. - The WhatNot Shop's Common Curiosities and Trivial Trinkets
A collection of common magic items and trinkets. - The WhatNot Shop's Dastardly Doodads and Orc Oddities
A collection of orc-themed common magic items and trinkets.
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