Friends and Fiends
| "Friends and Fiends" | |||
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| Campaign 1 session | |||
| Session no. | Session 1 | ||
| System | D&D 5th Edition | ||
| Session date | December 28, 2020 | ||
| Timeline | |||
| Start date | March 23, 353 WSK | ||
| End date | March 24, 353 WSK | ||
| Starring | |||
| Bean – D'Bonk GuardianAngel – Fueryon Nixup – Versa and Bunnies as the Dungeon Master | |||
| Narrative chronology | |||
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| Session order | |||
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| List of Campaign 1 sessions | |||
"Friends and Fiends" (1x01) is the 1st session of the first campaign of Itora.
A random group of adventurers encounter a strange exchange in a tavern, and are enlisted to help a woman find her kidnapped daughter. Trekking through the swamp, they meet the woman again and learn she deceived them, but only because she needs help completing a ritual to prevent extra-planar tears from releasing fiends into the swamp.
Synopsis
A Chance Meeting
Among the bustle of regulars at a popular seaside tavern, we find three adventurers. Versa a purple tiefling, clad in torn and dirty clothing, sits alone with a drink. Fueryon, a vicious-looking lizardfolk, and D'Bonk, an unassuming half-orc, sit together discussing why Fueryon can't order rats here.
A bar fight erupts between two patrons over one making eyes at the other's wife. A flurry of punches fly, with one combatant, Steve, solely defending from the blows. A voice erupts from behind a curtain, and a guard, Captain Morris, emerges, pointing to both men and Commanding them to ‘halt’. A subordinate follows her out, seemingly exasperated at her actions. The captain justifies her actions, pointedly.
| — Captain Morris to her subordinate about the troublemakers
|
The captain sighs, as both combatants seem to loosen up. She chides the aggressor, telling him to file a report if he has legitimate grievances, otherwise, get lost. He straightens up, addresses her with a simple “Yes, ma'am,” and leaves. The captain helps Steve up, casting a healing spell.
As the captain turns to return to her booth, a woman runs in from outside, yelling “They took her!”. After taking a few moments to catch her breath, she introduces herself as Sela. She explains that goblins took her daughter into the swamp, begging the captain for aid. Morris replies that, regrettably, their extra guard were dispatched to deal with a recent bandit raid, and they wouldn't have anyone to send until tomorrow. Morris claims that she likely knows where these goblins are hiding out, and that she will put the woman up in the inn for the night. The captain walks away, casting a spell that one of the adventurers recognize as Detect Magic. She pans the room, first looking at Sela, then at the rest of the room, pausing at each of the adventurers. She smirks, remarking:
| — Captain Morris, eyeing the group of adventurer types
|
Sela, following Morris's gaze, approaches the adventurers, begging their aid. She claims she can't pay in coin, however, she is a healer and can provide healing potions and extra payment upon return. The adventurers, whether in need of coin or out of the goodness of their hearts, agree. Directed to Captain Morris, the group learn they've heard rumor of goblin activity deeper in the swamp near an old wizard’s tower, but she hadn't heard of goblins trekking this close to the town before. They're told to follow the old road east into the swamp and look out for a towering structure.
Swamp Hut
The group depart, entering the swamp and trekking through until nightfall. They come upon a group of green humanoids outside a hut who appear to be cooking something. Upon further investigation, they were not goblins, but in fact some sort of demon. The group manage to get the jump on the creatures, defeating all but one, which fled with its superior flying speed and invisibility.
The group look to hole up in the hut for the night, but decide to explore it first to make sure it's safe. Versa finds a chest in a closet, discovering a trap mechanism. With enough time to react, she races out of the closet and attempts to climb out the window; unfortunately, the trap activates a trapdoor directly in-front of the window and she Looney Tunes plummets into a basement chamber onto a pile of sacks.
Met with swarms of rats, the rest of the group jump down to aid her. Fueryon leads the charge by biting the rats, eating a few in the process. Dusting herself off, Versa notices a skeleton in the corner. She attempts to lift a rusty sword from its grasp, only to have the skeleton pull back and rise. After the quick shock, it is quickly dispatched, and Versa is the brand new owner of a very used rusty rapier.
Following a ladder and trapdoor to the main floor, the party close all the shutters, settling down to rest for the night.
Elephant Tracks
Early the next morning, Versa hears a strange trumpeting noise. Peeking out the door, she notices a strange glow in the distance to the east. After the group gear up, they go to investigate and discover tracks they conclude are an elephant's, noting the oddity considering elephants are not native to this area.
The group decides to follow the tracks, which lead them almost directly in view of the wizard's tower. Versa scouts ahead, noticing a clearing with a rock outcropping. Approaching slowly, she hears motion in the bushes. She moves to investigate, finding a small floating elephant. However, she hears a familiar voice behind her, that of the human woman who granted them this quest. Versa turns around to see an eladrin.
The elf introduces herself, properly, as Sela Goldenwhirl, an acolyte of Lavenus, whose goal is to stop the inter-planar rift from becoming any stronger. The rest of the group catch up as Sela apologizes for the deception, explaining that eladrin are outlaws. Nobody would risk their lives if she explained the situation truthfully, so she decided that she would find people capable enough to handle it without telling them. Understandably, the group feel misled; however, they agree to help, for a reward.
The Ritual
Sela prepares a ritual at the teleportation circle in the middle of the rock outcropping. She warns the group that it will take time to cast, and that she must maintain concentration throughout it. Towards the end of the ritual, several creatures spill out of the dimensional tears - a handful of abyssal chickens, chased by a hellhound, followed by a goblin-looking creature.
The hellhound spends more attention on the chickens than the people around it, though repeated hits from the group draw its ire. One by one, the chickens fall. The hellhound, now without chickens to play with, attacks the group with renewed aggression, but is killed before it can take anyone down. Enraged, the goblin transforms into its hulking true form - a barghest. However, as the only remaining enemy, the barghest is banished by Comet.
Sela completes the ritual, thanking the group for their aid. She promises that the next time they meet, she will have the payment. As a token of good faith, she teleports the group back to the main highway, and bids them farewell.
Featured characters
Player characters
New
- Sela Goldenwhirl
- Comet
- Cynthia Morris
- Atala Willowrush
- Gedi Willowrush
- Alex Barnes
- Steve Moore
- Tom Clanton
- Unnamed Barghest
Mentioned
Quotations
References
Art:
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