#dnd updates

I’ve had requests for updates from my dnd campaign so i’m going to start posting them. Two of my players follow me, so everything i post will be safe for them to read, so no secrets, sorry! I’m going to start with a big explanation of where we are now, it’s been… a lot of weeks. All of this semester and a little from last year too I think…

So at the beginning, we were going to play Hoard of the Dragon Queen… although I quickly decided I wanted to make my own story instead. The players began in the town of Greenest at level one, quickly finding themselves being attacked by a dragon, as well as a dragon cult. There was Imsh, the half-orc barbarian, Brynja, the dwarf cleric, Droko, the half-elf druid and Deake, the halfling rogue. After managing to save most of the townspeople (and only one guard, minus an arm), the group holed up to wait for the dragon to leave, and Deake found a spellbook, deciding to take his second level in wizard as they all leveled up. 

They had some adventures around Greenest, meeting a few temporary friends who didn’t last in the campaign (Rip Jebeddo), helping an NPC fight the literal ghosts of her past (Brynja got an awesome winged cloak in return), chasing down a bandit (Deake got a drift globe and Brynja got the Eyes of the Eagle), and most importantly, the rest of the party learned that Imsh was a Werebear, when they were suddenly attacked by Werewolves on one full moon, and he easily defended them. There was also lots of peeing on each other from Deake and Imsh… lots of it… (:/) 

Then, one night, everybody had a strange dream. They were in a strange woods, running from something, and then suddenly they were falling through a strange, shimmering portal. After falling… or floating? for a while, the players all woke in a grassy forest clearing… nowhere near Greenest. Brynja discovered a strange talisman near her hand upon waking up, with two Ram’s horns forming a circle, and pocketed it. As the players searched their area, they became suspicious that the woods was an illusion, as well as the dream, and that they were still near Greenest, perhaps being tricked by the dragon cult. 

Suddenly, a Manticore appeared, flying above the treetops towards its newfound prey. The party managed to kill it, largely thanks to Brynja’s wings, and harvested the skin, claws and teeth… for some reason… (no teeth… no teeth… no teeth no teeth no teeth…). Not long after this, they came across a tiny pseudodragon who, after being offered gold and food, quickly bonded with Deake. Able to communicate in images and feelings, the pseudodragon, who they named Murphy, showed them an image of a lake of thick, grey, bubbling water, strongly associated with fear, before leading them off away from the lake. Before long, they found the small, peaceful farming town of Greylake. 

On the edge of the woods near Greylake they met Drenna, the woodcutter, an enormously strong human woman with her brown hair in two braids down her back. Very trusting by nature, Drenna led the party, Manticore skin, teeth, claws and all, to the tavern in Greylake, the closest thing the town has to an Inn. 

The players spent a lot of time in Greylake, getting to know Drenna, her wife Risan, a half-elf magician, Drenna’s best friend Tessa, a half-orc blacksmith, Tessa’s father, Edkin, the owner of the Tavern, and babysitter of local towns-children during the day, Edkin’s dwarf husband Dris, the town baker, and Draden, a farmer, a flutist, and father to one of the many children in Edkin’s daily care. 

They also learned that something in Greylake was very wrong. The population was smaller, much smaller, than it should have been. They discovered that in the foothills to the north, a grey line of smoke sometimes appeared, always from the same location. Occasionally, a creature would emerge from the hills. They learned that sometimes groups of young villagers would take off into the hills, determined to vanquish whatever evil resided there. They usually did not return, although sometimes wandered back to town in confusion. They also learned of Eldin, Drenna’s brother, who was on the most recent of the expeditions. He, the only one to make it back to town, survived only long enough to tell Drenna and Risan about what had attacked him, a terrible, dark, flaming horse (Nightmare). 

So, the party prepared to enter the Smoking Hills and fight… whatever they found there. They took a few weeks to train/research/learn to play the flute, in the case of Imsh, the now Bardbarian. Deake got his manticore skin made into a cloak, and learned Find Familiar, conjuring a falcon named Etti. Brynja bonded with Tessa, the quietly angry half-orc who refused to even look at Imsh. One night, while Brynja and Tessa were training in a stand of trees near the hills, a Salamander suddenly appeared, grabbing Tessa. The two, somehow, managed to easily fight it off and kill it. 

Then Brynja had a vision come to her in a dream. Back before they came to Greylake, Brynja had experienced some other visions, but vaguer. They were apocalyptic, but never clear… the cause of the apocalypse was always changing. Sometimes fire… sometimes disease… sometimes war… it was, above all else, a general feeling of impending doom. This vision was clear, however. It was a simple, red amulet, shaped like a teardrop, with intricate spiraling metalwork encompassing it. And she had seen it before - tied to Dris’s beard. 

The players set off to try to get the amulet from Dris, somehow sending Imsh to try to talk him into it… unsuccessfully. The rest of the party managed to get the amulet with relative ease - it was a family heirloom, but not of particular importance to Dris, and they convinced him that it may be of aid to them in the hills, promising to return it when (if) they came back. Feeling prepared, the party headed into the hills to explore. 

The amulet was certainly of aid to them. As anybody advanced further into the Smoking Hills, they needed to make several Wisdom saving throws of increasingly high DC. A natural one would turn the person insane. The amulet protected those within 10 feet of it from needing to make the save… Imsh, of course, did not stay near the amulet, and rolled a natural one…

Suddenly, Imsh, raised by evil human parents in a dragon cult, parents who he had ended up murdering after they tried to kill him, was assaulted by visions of his parents trying to stab him, and thought he was being chased by a giant dragon. He took off into the foothills, leaving the rest no choice but to follow him. 

however! my group is still staying together (sans dm)

but this does unfortunately mean i've been and will be drawing much less Caoimhe art because like. motivation completely tanked without the campaign for inspiration

hopefully i will be able to repurpose her soon and get that spark back!