Hail and well met, Friends! Time for another exciting installment of the Quarantine Questers (still searching for a better name at this time).
It’s been some time, so allow me to remind you:
Carlos: Half-Elf LG Storm Sorcerer (Anderson)
Andraste: Wood Elf CG Monk (Jenny)
Thro’Viloanna Hlaendeth AKA Vilya: High Elf NG Wizard (of the Divination School) and her snake, Astraeya (Maddy)
Brynja of the Shadowaxe Clan: Dwarf CG Twilight Cleric (Heather)
Thack: Dwarf NG Barbarian (Brent)
When last we met, our brave heroes all had tasks on their to-do lists. Let’s recap those events now:
1. Thack and his new friend, Valor, finishing the roofing job on The Hearth and enjoy a beer together.
2. Carlos is unsuccessful at his attempt to pawn Oswald’s gaudy clothing at a place called Erudite Outfitters & Clothiers. In fact, the proprietor, Feldmar, is downright condescending during the whole exchange. Carlos exits, but not before leaving a warning for Feldmar about supply chain issues and shipment barges being trapped on the coast…and won’t he feel the pinch then?
3. Andraste is quickly crafting a nice, heated bum pillow for Yolo (remember him???) that will make him comfortable as he sits and copies documents all day long. Leaving it at the House of the Binder, she pens a heartfelt apology note and leaves the gifts where the gnome will find it.
4. Brynja rolls a high Perception check in her investigations and is able to piece together that in the roughly four to five days’ journey from Baldur’s Gate to Candlekeep is EXACTLY enough time for these gingwattsum spores to inhabit an inanimate object and create chaos.
A journey to Baldur’s Gate is rising higher and higher on the list of possible next actions. But first, a brief but incomplete conversation snippet from the scribe’s notes…
Thack: How do we get to Baldur’s Gate?
Vilya: Follow the stench of money?
Thack: I don’t know what that smells like. I don’t have very much.
Our noble questers reload their rations and begin the four-day sojourn north. Their first stop is where all this excitement began: Greymoor. Sagh and the townsfolk are happy to see them, proclaiming the party “The Heroes of Greymoor”! And it is here a major decision is made: what to do with Erin? After all, they had brought the girl along, hoping to find a cure for her werewolfy affliction. However, that quest has been put on hold indefinitely, and now, she’s just…extra baggage. Apologies for insulting the young miss, but I must call it as I see it. Andraste is concerned about the next full moon (almost another month away) and whether Erin should be alone right now. Sagh promises to keep an eye on the girl.
And with that, it’s a Heroes’ Feast tonight! Sagh has really outdone herself with roast mutton, potatoes, and cornbread. Thack requests jerky and Sagh finds a satchel of the stuff in the pantry. The real treat of the evening is the especially-for-them baked cake Sagh has done.
Thack: I smell the cake. Does it smell like money? Does it smell rich?
The DM is only off his guard for a split-second before answering, “It smells like peppermint.”
The next day finds the party on the road north again. The Cloak Wood is on their left and there are many travelers along the thoroughfare. At some point during the journey, our group stops to talk with a few families who appear to be heading south to Candlekeep, and they appear to be disgruntled.
Brynja: Well met, strangers. How goes the journey?
People: We are migrating south to look for land where we can grow red wheat. We are from the Baldur’s Gate area and our crops there have failed miserably, so we are searching for a new start and better fortunes.
The conversation continues for a few more minutes in the same vein and yields up no new information besides the fact that Baldur’s Gate is a rather large city with hundreds of thousands of people.
Then, Thack asks this super-important question: Any run-ins with some books?
The people look incredibly puzzled and finally answer: No, we can’t read. What are you, a wizard?
Thack: No. That’s okay. Books are bad, we’ve heard.
The families soon resume their travels and Thack proposes camping out near the road for the night. Vilya takes first watch.
The night and the forest is quiet. Andraste takes over and it is during her watch that she hears rustling sounds in the woods. She wakes the dwarf cleric and the two of them go to investigate. Brynja’s Eyes of Night ability means both ladies have 300 feet of darkvision, which allows them to detect two humanoids skulking away in the night. The monk and cleric follow quietly and quickly, soon catching the sounds of growly-type voices. The intentions of the skulkers are unclear; Andraste and Brynja decide to return to their party, where adequate Perception checks show movement back at camp. Faerie Fire cast by Brynja illuminate three goblins who appear to be rifling though our heroes’ belongings, one of which is holding Thack’s rucksack. Oh, sweet goblin, better say your prayers. The moment the creatures realize they are outlined with a faint purple light from the cleric’s spell, they freeze in fear.
And everyone rolls initiative! However, Brynja and Andraste will get a few rounds off first while the rest of the party take a moment to ready themselves. And here we go…
Andraste advances on the goblin who’s got Thack’s pack and deals out 7 points of quarterstaff damage. That goblin swings and misses with a punch and Andraste harnesses her ki and kicks out with such force that she actually puts her foot through the goblin’s chest. She’ll have to spend a round or two cleaning goblin guts from her foot. Yuk.
Meanwhile, Brynja dispatches her goblin handily with a clean swing of her longsword. The third goblin winds up dead as well, but notes do not attribute the kill to a player. Brynja discerns that the two figures in the woods that they were originally following had doubled back towards them, but have since begun to retreat. Thack now is up and running to give chase, book flail in his hands. Carlos races off as well to assist, but not before casting Fire Bolt into the now-rustling brush.
The barbarian and the sorcerer continue deeper into the forest, which is growing thicker and darker by the moment. At that point, the pursuit stalls as the goblins the two are chasing disappear into a cavern.
Thack: What should we do?
Carlos: Whatever you want.
In a surprising move for the impulsive Barbarian, Thack and Carlos opt to return to their group and explore the area at a later time when it’s light outside. However, low Survival rolls for Thack and Carlos means they’re unsure which direction their camp is. Carlos uses a Fire Bolt as a signal flare of sorts, hoping their friends will see it and act accordingly.
A search of the three goblin bodies back at camp net a small pile of change for Andraste and Brynja. They see the Fire Bolt’s light in the sky but realize neither of them have any way to signal back. Funnily enough, Vilya is still asleep; although she comes to rather quickly when Andraste gently wakens her. Upon explaining the current situation, Vilya casts a Minor Illusion in the form of a firework. Within twenty minutes, Carlos and Thack crash through the forest and back to the camp. The sorcerer and the barbarian bring everyone up to speed and now there is a decision to be made:
Continue on to Baldur’s Gate or investigate the goblin lair?
But, before all that, Andraste wisely suggests getting some rest and deciding in the morning. A suggestion accepted by all. And the night watch resumes.
And with that, my friends, this exciting episode comes to a close. But, no fear, far more provocative times await our brave champions.
And as always, I, your faithful scribe, will be here to pen those titillating adventures for you.
Until then,
Heather