First session: Our tale begins
Our story is set in the Forgotten Realms, a fantasy world about which you can find as much or more information on the web as you can about many real countries in this world. Of course, the more I flesh it out for purposes of my own campaign, the more it will diverge from its multifarious other incarnations. In planning my storyline, I drew from the huge array of published resources available, combined a couple of pre-written adventures, and added my own twists and details as needed. I can only plan the storyline up to a point however, because it largely depends on what the players do. Which of course is what makes it fun.
The region that concerns us for now is known as the Dalelands, and our tale begins in Dagger Falls, on a warm summer evening during the month of Kythorn in the Year of Wild Magic. Dagger Falls is a rough frontier town where people openly wear weapons in the street and one senses that social order might be rent by open warfare in the blink of an eye. Until recently it had been occupied by the Zhentarim and their Black Network, but for the moment the traditional ruler of Daggerdale, Randal Morn, has succeeded in retaking the town and is imposing a welcome but precarious benevolent order.
There is an inn in Dagger Falls known as the Red Rock. Contained in a stone and wood structure two stories tall, it has a down-to-earth atmosphere assiduously cultivated by its owner Kessla, a strikingly beautiful half-elf woman with long dark hair and a wry alertness in her eyes. Kessla runs a sort of informal referral service for adventurers. The way it works is that you go there and talk to her about the nature of your intended journey—as much as you are willing to divulge—and pay a small fee. Many people do this, so Kessla talks to a lot of people and has a lot of contacts. Dagger Falls is a well-travelled hub for people looking for opportunity, and Kessla is a well-known figure, a close friend of Randal Morn. If you are lucky, there’s a good chance that within a couple days she’ll send a note up to your room telling you to come into the tavern at such and such a time because there are some people she thinks you might want to meet. She makes no guarantee that these people will be suitable to your purposes, or you to theirs, but she’s known to have a good knack for putting people together who share enough common interests that they can work together fruitfully.
Over the course of the tenday before our story begins, a number of people had come into the Red Rock looking for companions to travel south from Dagger Falls, down to the vicinity where the Tethyamar trail meets the Northride. Six of them, to be precise. The first two came in together, a pair of elves, brothers from Tangled Trees in the forest of Cormanthor. Both were uncommonly strong and rather ungainly for elves, and had clearly spent more time alone in the woods than in polite company. The slightly older of the two, Yonnis Ethril, was a ranger from a guildhall in Cormanthor. He had green eyes and silver-white hair, and wore a small symbol around his neck—the green-fletched silver arrow associated with followers of Solonor Thelandira. His brother Lanatil shared the same eyes, but had black hair. Lanatil’s scruffy looks and hide armor pegged him instantly as a druid, and any remaining doubt was dispelled by the large hawk perched on his shoulder. The brothers told Kessla that they had business in the village of Oakhurst, located along the Northride a few days’ walk south of the Tethyamar intersection. They were both headstrong and stubborn, given to brotherly bickering.
Next to arrive was a fledgling monk from the Abbey of the Vigilant Eye, located somewhere within the dark wilderness of Cormanthor. He gave no name. He too was an elf, and he too had an exceptionally powerful frame. He bore his, though, with considerably more grace than the Ethril brothers, despite the fact that he was a good eight inches taller than they. Like most monks, he wore simple robes and had few possessions beyond his serious demeanor. He also told Kessla that he wished to find travelling companions with whom to go south down the Tethyamar trail in the direction of Oakhurst.
Fourth to arrive was a wizard who had made the long journey across Anauroch from Silverymoon in the company of a trading caravan. Yet another elf, short and definitely not strong of sinew, he gave his name as Elvis the Conjurer. He too sought comrades for a journey south. Before long a fifth elf came in, and this one was tallest of all. He stood an astonishing six feet and a half, and had a magnetic presence that compelled the attention of all who beheld him. His came was Cameron, and he was a young sorceror who, like the Ethrils, also hailed from Tangled Trees. Unlike the Ethrils, Cameron tended to listen to those around him and speak only when necessary.
The last of the six to speak to Kessla was far from being tall. He was a halfling, by the name Ogy Hairsplitter. The only native of Dagger Falls, as well as the only non-elf in the group, Ogy was a rogue whose family had played a role in the resistance against the Zhent occupation. Ogy was restless and unruly, seemingly unable to stay still for long. He knew Kessla, and when he told her that he wanted to go south she told him she had just the party for him, provided he wasn’t averse to being stepped on by elves.
The next night they all met in the tavern at Kessla’s invitation. All were wary of revealing anything specific about their aims, stating merely that they “had business” in the vicinity of Oakhurst. At one point during the conversation, Ogy made a reference to the plague of vampires that had afflicted Daggerdale in recent memory, and the nameless monk was interested in knowing when the last sighting had been. About ten years earlier, Ogy replied. They shared little other information, agreeing simply to meet the next morning to buy any needed supplies and set out down the Tethyamar trail.
The region that concerns us for now is known as the Dalelands, and our tale begins in Dagger Falls, on a warm summer evening during the month of Kythorn in the Year of Wild Magic. Dagger Falls is a rough frontier town where people openly wear weapons in the street and one senses that social order might be rent by open warfare in the blink of an eye. Until recently it had been occupied by the Zhentarim and their Black Network, but for the moment the traditional ruler of Daggerdale, Randal Morn, has succeeded in retaking the town and is imposing a welcome but precarious benevolent order.
There is an inn in Dagger Falls known as the Red Rock. Contained in a stone and wood structure two stories tall, it has a down-to-earth atmosphere assiduously cultivated by its owner Kessla, a strikingly beautiful half-elf woman with long dark hair and a wry alertness in her eyes. Kessla runs a sort of informal referral service for adventurers. The way it works is that you go there and talk to her about the nature of your intended journey—as much as you are willing to divulge—and pay a small fee. Many people do this, so Kessla talks to a lot of people and has a lot of contacts. Dagger Falls is a well-travelled hub for people looking for opportunity, and Kessla is a well-known figure, a close friend of Randal Morn. If you are lucky, there’s a good chance that within a couple days she’ll send a note up to your room telling you to come into the tavern at such and such a time because there are some people she thinks you might want to meet. She makes no guarantee that these people will be suitable to your purposes, or you to theirs, but she’s known to have a good knack for putting people together who share enough common interests that they can work together fruitfully.
Over the course of the tenday before our story begins, a number of people had come into the Red Rock looking for companions to travel south from Dagger Falls, down to the vicinity where the Tethyamar trail meets the Northride. Six of them, to be precise. The first two came in together, a pair of elves, brothers from Tangled Trees in the forest of Cormanthor. Both were uncommonly strong and rather ungainly for elves, and had clearly spent more time alone in the woods than in polite company. The slightly older of the two, Yonnis Ethril, was a ranger from a guildhall in Cormanthor. He had green eyes and silver-white hair, and wore a small symbol around his neck—the green-fletched silver arrow associated with followers of Solonor Thelandira. His brother Lanatil shared the same eyes, but had black hair. Lanatil’s scruffy looks and hide armor pegged him instantly as a druid, and any remaining doubt was dispelled by the large hawk perched on his shoulder. The brothers told Kessla that they had business in the village of Oakhurst, located along the Northride a few days’ walk south of the Tethyamar intersection. They were both headstrong and stubborn, given to brotherly bickering.
Next to arrive was a fledgling monk from the Abbey of the Vigilant Eye, located somewhere within the dark wilderness of Cormanthor. He gave no name. He too was an elf, and he too had an exceptionally powerful frame. He bore his, though, with considerably more grace than the Ethril brothers, despite the fact that he was a good eight inches taller than they. Like most monks, he wore simple robes and had few possessions beyond his serious demeanor. He also told Kessla that he wished to find travelling companions with whom to go south down the Tethyamar trail in the direction of Oakhurst.
Fourth to arrive was a wizard who had made the long journey across Anauroch from Silverymoon in the company of a trading caravan. Yet another elf, short and definitely not strong of sinew, he gave his name as Elvis the Conjurer. He too sought comrades for a journey south. Before long a fifth elf came in, and this one was tallest of all. He stood an astonishing six feet and a half, and had a magnetic presence that compelled the attention of all who beheld him. His came was Cameron, and he was a young sorceror who, like the Ethrils, also hailed from Tangled Trees. Unlike the Ethrils, Cameron tended to listen to those around him and speak only when necessary.
The last of the six to speak to Kessla was far from being tall. He was a halfling, by the name Ogy Hairsplitter. The only native of Dagger Falls, as well as the only non-elf in the group, Ogy was a rogue whose family had played a role in the resistance against the Zhent occupation. Ogy was restless and unruly, seemingly unable to stay still for long. He knew Kessla, and when he told her that he wanted to go south she told him she had just the party for him, provided he wasn’t averse to being stepped on by elves.
The next night they all met in the tavern at Kessla’s invitation. All were wary of revealing anything specific about their aims, stating merely that they “had business” in the vicinity of Oakhurst. At one point during the conversation, Ogy made a reference to the plague of vampires that had afflicted Daggerdale in recent memory, and the nameless monk was interested in knowing when the last sighting had been. About ten years earlier, Ogy replied. They shared little other information, agreeing simply to meet the next morning to buy any needed supplies and set out down the Tethyamar trail.
posted by CMN at 10:28 AM
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