2023-11-19
Session 1 - On the DnD train again
CHARACTERS
Arra, Adaki, Angela and Gloria
Story Recap
27 Treefall 112
Dohan from the Elder council summons the player characters and tells them about a problem with jumping boars that are destroying the crops. They seem dangerous, so hunters are unwilling to take them on alone, but maybe a larger group of capable, unfearful people could take them on.
28 Treefall 112
Our heroes set out, first with the tracker/hunter Kevin, but he rolls two natural 1s in a row, so only manages to walk in a circle back to the village. They start again, this time with Oscar, and this works much better. They locate tracks of the boars and find them. Suddenly, a large squealing boar rushes straight out from the forest and attacks Arra, who walks first. With a charge and a natural 20, it damn near instakills her, but some low damage dice, and she is still alive, although unconscious. Another boar flies down from the treetops and charges Oscar. Later on, a third flying boar joins the fray, but our heroes prevail and kill the boars. Before setting off back home, Arra casts Animal Friendship on an orphaned shoat (baby boar) and brings it with her.
Halfway home, they encounter a caravan that has been ambushed by goblins, and two teenage half-halflings have been taken prisoners. Bravely, they leave their haul of boar meat and set off once again into the forest. They first encounter a goblin patrol that they capture. With them as trade, they negotiate for a successful release of the two teenagers. When they discover that the goblins have three more captives, they give up on the negotiations and kill or scare away all goblins.
29 Treefall 112
With all prisoners safely brought back to the caravan, they have a night's rest, and then all set off to Lomtenet Mol. They are concerned with something the goblins mentioned; they were going to sell the prisoners to "the train people" that travel along the Mudway on no-moon nights. They talk to the Elders about this and decide to venture out to the Mudway the following day.
30 Treefall 112 (no moon)
They travel all day until they find the Mudway in the evening. It's a long ditch or dike that stretches east-west and has a foot of muddy water at the bottom. The heroes hide in the forest close to the Mudway and wait for something to happen. Hours later, in the middle of the night, they hear a single pair of fast splashing footsteps approaching. An ostrich with a rider comes running along the muddy ditch. A little bit behind them comes a large looming shadow that silently drifts past the hidden heroes. Then a second, then a third one. They look like large wheel-less wagons that float through the air, seemingly dragged behind the ostrich rider. Suddenly, everything goes black.
Unknown date
You feel a disorienting sensation of falling and weightlessness. When you awake, you find yourselves inside a wooden wagon, presumably belonging to the train. Your weapons, armor and equipment are missing, leaving you only in your clothes.
The interior is illuminated by a few small, flickering lanterns hanging from hooks on wooden beams. The light is just enough to see by, casting shifting shadows that dance across the walls as the wagon silently rocks very slightly from side to side. Somewhere outside the wagon you hear distant, splashing footsteps, as of a large bird running on water.
The wagon is made of weathered, rough-hewn wood, and the atmosphere inside is musty with a hint of the earthy scent. The wooden walls are here and there adorned with makeshift carvings. The only furnishings are a few low, wooden benches along the walls, where you notice some other prisoners. A grumpy half-orc sits on one bench, his arms folded, scowling at you. On the opposite bench, a half-elf family huddles together, looking anxious but hopeful. A metal taste to the air tells you that there must be an anti-magic field around the wagon.
All of you have a feeling that there is something you have forgotten. Something lost, a missing memory. For a moment it’s on the tip of your tongue, but then it slips away. It was probably nothing.
Gloria's Diary
I'm writing this from the inside of a fucking slavers' train.
Why did I have to go and wish for a little bit of adventure? After all that trouble I was in before, I had managed to settle into a pretty sweet little life in Lomtemot Mol.
The elders asked for some help clearing out some flying boar. I figured it would be just the thing to blow the cobwebs away. It certainly got my blood pumping when one of the bugger's floored Arra within seconds. I've never seen a boar move like that.
Then Angela managed to conjure up enough butterflies and flower petals to choke him and Arra half to death. Gods know what he was trying to do there. Arra saw to the rest with that sleep spell that she does, although she managed to catch herself with it too. I brought her round with a good slap.
I let my good side get the better of me when we came across a caravan of halflings who had been hit by a band of goblins. One of the poor bastards had lost 2 of his sons to them, so we volunteered to go looking for them. Things almost went to shit again when we tried to take a couple of stragglers out, one of them almost took out Angela. In any case, I managed to tag one of them with my longbow, then Arra managed to get the other (from my angle it looked like she missed, my eyes must be getting old).
Adaki worked his magic with them to get them stable, and when we got to the main goblin camp we were able to trade hostages for the two halfling lads. Then the goblin chief pulled out 3 more prisoners offering to sell them to us. We don't abide slavery around here, so we put an end to most of the camp, leaving a couple of the younger ones to run back to their tribe with shit in their britches.
The goblins had mentioned where they had been planning to sell the slaves if not to us; on the mudway. Here is where I made my mistake. We agreed with the elders to go and investigate. We decided we wouldn't engage, just scope out what's happening and make a proper plan once we know what we're dealing with. I remember we were all sitting in an improvised lean-to one minute, watching for movement in the mudways, then suddenly I'm waking upin this slavers' train. All my stuff is gone.
A weird thing though, I think I suddenly remember how to move well? It's pretty difficult to test it out in this tiny box, but there's something about the way I can feel the movement of train, a deep sense of balance when I walk around, like I know exactly where all of my limbs are and how best to move them. I just feel.... better at moving? I don't know how to explain it.
Why did I agree to this?
Arra's letter
Hi mum! Just dropping a quick note because I'm in a rush!
So, my buddy Oscar led the way today to tackle a piggy problem! Look at me, being all helpful and stuff! Oscar is just amazing, always diving into adventures and taking risks in the wild.
A big winged boar charged at me, and everything went black, but guess what? I survived! Got some rest, put everything to sleep, but whoops, magical sleep doesn't work on me. Silly me!
Dealing with those piggy troubles got me the coolest gift ever—Balloon! It's gonna be a fantastic business for the village, way better than slavery! I learned so much from my adventure pals today:
- My church teacher keeps us alive and awake. Always good in a pinch!
- Angela, the pumpkin lady, has some interesting thoughts. We got her a new armor, so that's cool!
- Gloria always keeps it real. I love the honesty, even if she can't catch me when I run!
- Oscar is super tough and careful
- I'm pretty sure Cheerful Charlie was with us in spirit, if not in person.