Fellow intellectual TNT has graciously and selflessly organized a weekly Dungeons & Dragons appointment among this blog contributors. For my selfish reasons, I am publishing my non-private notes here every week so I can better recall what happened.
This post will cover the exposition given by the DM so far, character backgrounds, and the stories shared among the group prior to the first session.
The World
You start in the kingdom of Argylia and are traveling south along the main road to the city. You are near the satellite small farming village, Ruzlon, about a days journey from the city. There is a known city many weeks journey north of Ruzlon, Portlon, that would be cheaper to arrive in than Argylia.
Public schooling would be bleeding edge progressive policy in this world. It wouldn’t really be the best option for the sons of aristocrats.
Flip Açoine (Variant Human Researcher – Wizard) (PD)
Flip Açoine (a-SWAN) seeks to understand the primordial forces of “bad luck”. As part of his thesis project he is heading to the city to immerse himself in gambling culture at the large casino there. His graduate advisor is Alfred Inh.
Background
He is proficient in acrobatics because he did gymnastics in secondary school. He would describe his homeland’s education system as “A poor public one.” Thankfully his family sent him to a private school for the disabled and mentally struggling. He had a debilitating germaphobia that he worked through. He is now a high functioning extreme germaphobe.
A series of unlucky investments has brought ruin to his family. Their venerable house, opulent and imperial, gazing proudly from its stoic perch above the moor. The wealth that funded his education and magic schooling has dried up. His father invested in the Dahmfyne apple crop, pride of their district. Drought and heat ruined the harvest. His father pivoted into evaporative salt farming. A roaming horde of salt eating worms destroyed the venture. Desperate, he created worm a hunting troupe to sell services to salt farmers. A migrating flock of hawks ate all the worms first.
Research
Flip rejects this widely “known” fact that Tymora and Beshaba have anything to do with good or bad luck.
Look, I’m not an atheist, I understand the gods exist. They just aren’t responsible for all these things people ascribe to them. Being successful in a pursuit is not the same thing as good luck, but when someone is victorious the masses turn their hearts and their purse strings to Tymora and equate spirit of victory with spirit of good luck. Forgot to pay your tithe to Beshaba so she made your stair fell in and broke your father’s leg? WHEW that rascally Beshaba cursing me with poor luck! That’s not bad luck, that’s just Beshaba being an asshole to you.
I believe there is a more ancient, primordial force that exists across these planes that is the true source of probabilistic uncertainty that we call luck. But I digress.
Jhekesan MehBalasar (Deckhand Dragonborn – Ranger) (JMB)
Jhekesan MehBalasar has a mission from his clan to improve their map of the world. Jhekesan, like most of his Northern clan’s cartographers before him, has devoted himself to the sea as the most efficient way to explore previously unencountered parts of the world. He is travelling to the port city of Argylia on foot to check out the latest maps from other travellers and acquire a one-man ship. What his new travelling companions do not know is that his old ship, along with the rest of the crew, was sunk by a sworn enemy of his kin: the killer whale.
Raleigh Short (Recluse Hill Dwarf – Cleric)
1) Has been hiding for decades alone in the forest. Refuses to explain why.
2) Not a criminal, he reassures everyone
3) Rough and cold
4) Headed to the City
5) Unfamiliar with the roads
6) Has a warhammer
Bouwan D’arrough (Lightfoot Halfling – Rogue) (NA)
Bouwan “Bo” D’arrough is not your average halfling. Though short in stature, destiny has chosen Bo as a fearless warrior and bringer of justice. However, it was not always this way.
In fact, Bo had a very typical and simple life growing up in the small farming village of Halfburgh. If you asked around town, it is doubtful anyone you speak to would have heard of Halfburgh. Nestled deep in the wilderness, this village was an idyllic place for a young halfling to grow up. Despite this, when Bo became an adult, he yearned for something… more. By all means, he could stay in Halfburgh for the rest of his years, lead the quiet life, perhaps raise a family and work a farm of his own. But Bo had something deep inside him that called for adventure, but he didn’t quite know how to make it happen, nor did he fully believe he had what it takes. So for a while, Bo waited for an opportunity to present itself, and went about his business living the quiet life. It wasn’t so bad- after all, in Halfburgh, everyone knows each other, the food is always fresh and delicious, and most importantly, it’s safe- or so he thought.
On a cozy summer night just like any other, Bo was sound asleep in his home when he heard what sounded like screams, followed by fiercesome howls. He rushed up and opened his door, to see his village burning to the ground, assaulted by a group of rampaging gnolls. He could see some of his halfling friends lay dead on the ground, while others were hiding under carts or behind trees, trembling with fear. At this point he noticed that the gnolls all seemed to be gathering and charging towards the one place still standing- the village chapel. Bo kept his distance and remained out of sight, but decided to make his way towards the chapel as well.
Hiding behind a thicket, Bo watched each and every gnoll storm into the chapel, snarling with rage and flailing their spears up to the fire-lit night sky. He emerged from the thicket and snuck closer when he heard a whimpering behind him- it was his friend Korver, laying gravely injured in the mud.
“Bo…you- you have to do something. S-someone has to s-stop them. P-please…the ch-chapel.” With his dying breath, Korver reached his hand out and offered Bo a dagger. Stunned, Bo took the dagger, and stood there for a moment trembling as he looked down at the dagger in his hand. He turned back towards the chapel, and scurried inside. He saw the gnolls, and he saw them viciously attacking Elder Yendel, the village priest. Bo mustered up all the courage he had, and with nothing left to lose he began to pick apart the gnolls one by one. They were caught completely off-guard by Bo who was skillfully dodging between them, tearing their legs to pieces before slitting their throats. Before they knew what hit them, the group of gnolls lay dead in the chapel. Unfortunately, so too did Elder Yendel. :feelsbad:
It was now quiet, save for the sound of burning thatch. But there were no more roars, no more clanking of spears. Bo slowly walked out of the chapel and stood in the doorway in front of it, looking out at the ruin in front of him. Halflings slowly started to emerge from their hiding spots having noticed they no longer heard the gnolls. They saw Bo standing before the chapel, bloodied and panting, dagger in hand.
A halfling shouted out- “You…you did it. They’re…they’re dead! You’re…you’re a hero! The hero of Halfburgh!”
A couple voices softly began to chant “Bo D’arrough, the hero of Halfburgh! Bo D’arrough, the hero of Halfburgh!” More voices gathered in unison. “Bo D’arrough, the hero of Halfburgh!” And soon all the halflings left in the village were cheering “Bo D’arrough, the hero of Halfburgh!”
The halflings spent the night putting out fires, mourning their dead, taking stock of what had just happened to them. For the next several weeks, they tried to rebuild as best they could, but there was little left to fix, nor were there enough hands to help. By now Bo was of course the village celebrity, and looked up to by everyone as the bravest warrior any of them had ever seen.
A village meeting was scheduled to discuss how the halflings might rebuild Halfburgh. One of them stood up, and began to speak.
“Bo-”
“THE HERO OF HALFBURGH!” everyone shouted abruptly.
“Yes yes,” continued the halfling. “You are of course a great hero to us all. You’ve done so much for us already, but some of us were talking…and…well…”
Another halfling suddenly stood up “We think you can save us again. We need you to go out and put Halfburgh on the map. We can’t rebuild this place on our own, but maybe if people knew about you and what you did, they’d be inspired and help us out. We could make this place even better than it was before! You could make Halfburgh famous!”
This was exactly the opportunity for adventure that Bo was waiting for. And without hesitation, he agreed. That night, he packed up his things, and was showered with gifts and food for his journey from all the village halflings. The following day, he set out- for adventure.
Gregarious Gritty (Half-Orce Vaudevillian – Sorcerer)
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Group trip to the City
Jhekesan and Flip
Jhekesan and Flip met at a pub coming downriver toward the city. As Flip tells it:
We chatted over drink and he was an excellent listener as I explained some of my positions. He didn’t share the details, but it was clear that he was still feeling the aftershocks of a terrible… something. Couldn’t say what. I didn’t press him. We were traveling in the same direction, and given his comparatively alien culture, I thought it could be enlightening to stick close by in hopes of gathering more information for my studies. At least until we reach the city and part ways.
Bo knows
After a long journey, Bo stopped at the same small pub. As he was enjoying his drink, he overheard the conversation taking place next to him. He turned and saw a human making his case to a dragonborn- explaining how he felt that luck isn’t what people make it out to be. Bo interjected: “That’s for sure! You know what I think? I think in this world, you make your own luck. All it takes is courage!”
“Oh yeah?” replied the human quizzically.
“Yeah!” said Bo.
“No No No, we DONT make our own luck. That’s not it at all,” said Flip, fostering a group hatred already.
As Bo sidled up closer, he began to tell the story of his heroic act at Halfburgh, followed by the sad tale of its current state. “…so that’s why I’m here. My next stop is the city…but to be quite honest, I’m a long ways from home and I don’t know quite how to get the rest of the way there. Would you fine gentlemen happen to know the way?”
Jhekesan reluctantly agreed to travel with the human wizard after broaching the topic of the weather (Jhekesan’s go-to conversation topic after years of effort on smalltalk) and surmising that the wizard’s research on luck would yield great returns if it could predict the weather one would encounter during a voyage on the sea. Jhekesan was more enthusiastic about a group voyage when the halfling named a village Jhekesan never heard before and repeated his (surely at least partially literal) quest to put the village on a map.
Raleigh
While the group is on the small road headed out of town, Raleigh enters the picture.
Raleigh runs into your group on a small road headed out of town. He looks confused and paranoid, a lost little dwarf seemingly placed by fate on an old country road. He pauses your movement for only a brief moment before latching himself to your group and following you down the path. He explains he’s been in hiding for decades alone in the forest, he refuses to explain why but does reassure you he’s not a criminal. He seems very hesitant to share any other information, it’s apparent he’s been alone for a long time as his demeanor is a bit rough and cold, even for a dwarf. The conversation remains light and casual, small stories are exchanged, brief bits of personality shown, and the group quickly comes to find they share the same destination. Raleigh asks to tag along as he’s very unfamiliar with the roads. He makes his case by pointing out that he’s survived in the wild for a long time, making him a good companion while you venture farther out of town…. and his sizeable warhammer only adds to his point.
Gritty
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