my nanowrimo D&D scribblings

[indigowulf]

so Ive decided to take my ideas for my D&D campaign and turn it into a nanowrimo thing. It sort of is layed out like a script, but not exactly. Also, I cannot proceed until I know what the players will do.

Im hoping to bring some sort of recording device to my gaming sessions with me, so that I can get exact quotes from player characters, but this may not be possible.

Fean77, you are NOT allowed to read anything past the next post, because it will spoil the adventure for you (he's one of my players lol)

so theres the intro, here's the story.

disclaimer: when Im typing fast and creative juices are flowing, I am the worlds worst speller. My right brain kicks in and spells things the way it wants to lol. Ideas are welcome, especially if you know D&D, feel free to present things I can torture my poor players with. However, proofreading is not necessary, Im aware that its typo and misspelled hell.

hey fean, you already know this now, so go ahead and read lol. I think I can trust you to keep player knowledge seperate. Nothing here will spoil the adventure for you now. Just dont tell them the items are cursed LOL

[indigowulf]

Our adventure begins in the totally made up kingdom of (name?). Some key points of this kingdom follow-

Religious leaders grew weary of fighting eachother and spending resources, so they have built a community temple, wherein you may find branches dedicated to each major deity. You can find priests from opposing gods chatting next to each other during meal breaks.

In the capitol, where the castle of the king resides, there is a bustling market. There is also a vast library, where mages greedily read until thier eyes water. Near this library is where the community temple is located. The streets are cobbled in an iron rich stone, which has turned red over the years, making a very pretty daytime scene, but lending a morbid feel to the night.

People around the capitol take very good care of thier appearance. It is a daily fashion show, even in the market place, where people strive to better thier neighbors by appearing just a bit neater and fancier. To contract something like lice would be social suicide.

The land of the kindgom are at relative peace. Naturally, there are bandits and monsters running around here and there, but there are no major wars or things that would cause concern for a king.

Until, that is, the plague began.

Nobody is certain how it came about. Was it magic? Was it a curse? Was it natural? Most doubt the last, as it has the power to infect all mammels of all races. It doesn't seem to care who it afflicts, and location bears no safety.

The first signs of the plague are headaches and dizzyness. The victem may suffer delusions, hallucinations, forgetfullness, or simply pain in the head, behind the eyes. Slurred speach and loss of balance are also early warning signs. Many drunks have been rounded up on the streets and isolated for fear they were infected.

The first visable sign of the infection is the reddening of the eyes, as capilaries begin to burst in the eyes themselves. In some severe cases, there may be hemriaging of the ears and nose as well. Once the eyes redden, the victem is usually bedridden with pain.

Those who suffer the red eyes may yet recover. The next stage is convulsions. Nobody has ever survived the convulsion stage. Within minutes, to as long as an hour, the convulsing victem will pass away.

From all around the kingdom, people are flocking to the capitol. Some seek the king, to beg him to provide supplies and food to help thier families make it through the approaching winter, for they were unable to work thier fields in thier condition.

Some seek the mages, believing the plague to be magical in origin. They trust that the wise scholars will be able to find a cure in thier books, and wish to bring any personal experiences that may assist in the research.

Most, however, seek the temples. They fear that no supplies, no magic, nothing from mankind, will be enough. Only the gods themselves can help them now.

People from all walks gather around the capitol, pressing upon the resources and space available. Tempers flair and crime begins to run rampant on the streets, as guards to blocked by the sheer number of people. Bodies of those who have died, from plague, starvation, or lawlessness sit on the streets and rot, attracting insects and rats. The situation is becoming dangerous.

At last, in desperation, the mages erect a defense. They put up a magical barrier, seperating the center of the capital from the rest of the kingdom. At first, the barrier can be seen through, and voices can travel past the energy. However, it soon becomes appearant that the crowds simply become more insistant, and soon sight and sound are blocked as well.

It is into this kingdom, and this situation, that our heroes find themselves thrown.

[indigowulf]

the first adventure these poor souls will be thrown into:

As the party gathers outside the castle "bubble" for whatever personal reasons have driven them there, there is a giant explosion one night. A feminine voice can be heard crying for help in the rubble of the house where the explosion occured. Reaching her requires entering a falling in dark stairwell into a basement.

(note if they are alert enough or ask: the voice is actually that of a pre teen boy, who simply sounds feminine, not a woman)

All who enter the basement, including some NPC's, are suddenly transported magically into a stable- turned- jail cell. The young boy, who is the sole survivor of the plague in his tiny settlement, has read a magic scroll and summoned them to kill the monster he believes is responsable for killing everyone. ((note- instead of stable, I decided to throw them in the middle of town square. Made it more interesting when they finally did find the boy, cuz they didnt know how to react to him))

(note: seems obvious, but it was actually the plague that killed them, not the monster. The monster was attracted to the decaying corpses for food.)

The monster is actually a gast, attracted to the decaying flesh, and can be found at night feasting on any unburried corpses. ((note here, GM made a mistake!! I intended on throwing a gast at them. Tough, but defeatable. Accidently, instead, I threw a *wight* at them. Hence the insta-kill later))

Adventurers are now faced with some choices.

How do they get out of thier stable come prison?

(note: the walls and door are reinforced wood, the roof is simple wood, and the floor is packed earth)

Do they wish to approach the kid, face the gast, or flee the village? Will they loot the homes of the dead? Will they burry the bodies? Do they leave the kid behind, or take him with them when they go? Where do they go from here?

(note: insects who are feeding on the corpses of plague victems may transmit it with a bite when disturbed. Great care must be used if they decide to do anything with the corpses, or if they enter homes for the purpose of looting and there are still corpses around.)

The kid is a half elf, around 11 years old.

The poor child doesnt have any clue how to send them back. He's not even sure really how he summoned them. The scroll that he read from that opened the first portal is now ashes.

Other concerns or possible events:

central well in the village is untainted. Chickens and thier eggs run free and are untainted. This may lead to the (correct) conclusion that the plague doesnt effect avains. Corpse inspection may also give clues as to the nature of the plague. The kid has recovered and is now immune to it, although he watched others die, and may have insight to offer.

The village is primarily a small, independant farm town. There is a tanner where they cure hides to take to trade to others for metal, which is one of hte only resources they dont have on their own. The smithy is well stocked with horseshoes and plow blades. There are several fields where various foods were grown, now interspersed with weeds. There is also a large thriving orchard and small colony of beehives.

There are plenty of edible, preserved resources the adventurers may loot and take with them, however there is not much in the way of money even if they loot every house. A few hundred copper and silver, no gold, and taking it all would weigh them down with useless coin. This community traded, money was almost unused here.

There are lots of cured leather and hides that are in uncut form, which were to be used as trade goods. There are also dried fruits, jars of preserves, and jerked meat in abundance. Lastly, there are containers of beeswax and raw honey.

While the party is in the village, before they decide where to go next, a couple things may occur. First off, other NPCs who were sucked into the portal with them may contract the plague, or become vocal about where the party should go from here.

A very large, but very sick, bear tries to raid the smoke house. It will basically die on its own if the players dont fight it, however not before tearing open the wall to the smoke house, leaving the food inside to spoil to the elements if not gathered up.

Near the village, there are no animals. There is a fenced area where horses and oxen and goats were kept, but the beasts are all dead, bloated with flies, and attracting vultures. The farther away into the forest in any direction you go, the more you begin to see wildlife again, starting with things like squirrels. Near the villiage only birds and insects thrive.

In the mage's home where the kid got the scroll that summoned the party is a lot of loot. Unfortunately for the party, he was a collector of cursed curios. The cursed items are in display cases. The fact that there is no magical wards may raise players suspicions. There is not even a magic lock! There are however several low level scrolls and potions as well.

Cursed items:

a chain shirt with black links and a slightly oily feel. this shirt is actually a +1 chain shirt of silent moves. However, it randomly casts grease 15 feel trom wearer, checked once per day 10% chance of casting, any time the wearer makes a hide or sneak check

a cloak with a soft white glow, it has barred white and grey patterning, and is cut to look slightly like wings. It is a cloak of flying. However, it is cursed to cut out after 4 rounds, and refuses to function again for another 4 rounds. Its command word is "up".

an unremarkable heavy steel shield. this is actually a cursed +1 shield. It acts with a reverse curse, making it actually be a -1 shield.

Thankfully, for all thier trouble, the mage also has 3 small gems, each worth about 10 gold. There is also plenty of basic towny mundane loot available, small daggers, comb, silverware, rope, hunting weapons, a few pounds of rock salt, and other random things that a small hunting and farming village would naturally have on hand.

[JBGarrison72]

Good thing I read post #1 first.  I have not read anything else. 

[indigowulf]

So, our adventurers have been sucked into a mysterious light and teleported halfway acrost the kingdom. The force of the teleportation knocks them all out for a moment.

Rousing after a bit, they find themselves in a small village, surrounded by death. They landed in some sort of town center, where there is a clearing and a well. The party looks at one another, and looks around. Wasting little time, they explore thier surroundings.

Every human in the town is dead, other then 1 little boy, who enters later. All of the oxen, goats, and dogs are also dead. Conversly, chickens run freely in the town, pecking at bugs on corpses. The town appears to be an isolated farm town, competely self suffiecnet. They have fields of crops, and an orchard. There is a smoke house and grain sylos. They appear to tan thier own furs and trade them for metal, which a small blacksmith shop then turns into horseshoes and plows.

The party consists of:
Isenne, a woman, carrying a staff, in simple travelors dress
Siliss, a man, very drunk, with a flute in one hand and a beerstien in the other
Nin, a man who looks like a ruffian
Tink, a city guard who got sucked in with the others
Lulkor, a barbarian, with a big weapon and a small loincloth
Ignacius, a cleric, with shiney armor and a sword
"Elf", a druid with an unpronouncable name, with his pet wolf
Thurson, a sorcerer

Moving through the houses and seeing what clues they can find to what happened here, the party is carefull not to touch any of the corpses of the dead. Ignacius, being a cleric of the god of Natural Death, begins the ritual burning of the corpses.

Elf is the first to hear the slightly feminine voice that had led them all into the burning building back in the capitol. Opening the door to the house, it turns out to be a boy, around 11 years of age. The party gathers with interest.

The house they are in was the boy's grandfathers house, now deceased. Appearantly, gramps was a mage or magic collector of some sort. Spying scrolls laying on the table, Elf decides to help himself. Naturally the boy, whom we later learn is named Edlin, took exception to  having grampas scrolls stolen. Attacking Elf, he clung to his arm and began biting. In the process, one of the scrolls is ripped in half, and the guard attempts to restrain Elf.

Once the dust settles, Edlin explains that everyone died from "the monster" and that he read one of grampa's scrolls, there was a flash of light, and suddenly everyone was there. The scroll disintegrated after reading. In the meantime, a raven suddenly alights on Thurson's shoulder. It looks into his eyes with intelligence, and the bond is instant. As the conversation takes place, and the pile of corpses Ignacius set near the well smolders, the raven begins to bob and fuss, looking towards a shadowy figure near the corpses.

Attempting to see through the flickering flames, in the dark, nobody can quite tell what the creature is. Readying weapons, they charge in response to Edlins assurances that "it's the monster!"

Lolkor is the first to arrive on the scene, and wiffs with his attack. The creature casually reaches out and touches him, and he falls dead on the spot. A little more wary, half of the party begins firing ranged weapons, while the braver half continue with melee.

Like any good action movie, there is a lot of missing going on. A sword swung with both hands at a creature standing right in front of our heroes somehow manages to miss, the evil being who can kill with a touch somehow manages to keep "killing" the air.

Thurson gets the bright idea to summon a giant fire beetle to assist in the fight. The fire beetle take a couple steps towards the monster, then notices the bonfire, and is mesmerized. Finally snapping out of it, it attempts one bite, just before the magic summoning it wears off and it vanishes back to the realm it came from.

Ranged attacks are begining to do some good. Just when it looks like things are going in the parties favor, Lolkor stands. But not as Lolkor, for now he is afflicted with the undead curse, and has the same powers as the creature who killed him.

Edlin snags a scroll off his grandfathers desk and reads it. A giant undead dragon shimmers into existance, flapping its ragged wings and growling menacingly. The party pauses to look at it, and as a one realize that it's an illusion, and return to the fight. Edlin runs back into grampas house to hide.

Ignacius calls upon his god's blessing and tries to turn the undead, but alas, these creatures are too powerfull to care. Lolkor reaches into the bonfire and grabs a decaying, smoldering leg, taking a bite of the flesh. When Isenne tries to attack him, he clouts her with the leg, using it as a club.

Finally, after a drawn out battle, the undead fall, in a permenant death. Only then does the party realize that Elf has been attacking the guard with arrows to the back of his armor the entire fight, feeling bitter that the man restrained him from taking the scrolls. However, when he stops attacking Tink, everyone seems to forget anything untoward had occured.

The party spends some time recovering. They bind thier wounds, continue burning the dead, and searching the town for anything usefull.

*end scenario day 1*

As the party goes about thier search, a low moaning is heard down in the well (a new player joined day 2!). As it turns out, there is a ranger and another barbarian down in the well, still unconscious. It seems, while the rest of the party was dumped around the well, these 2 werent so lucky and fell inside. Dangling from the bucket, the barbarian tries to climb the rope out, without squishing the still-out ranger under him. He fails miserably, and lands in the water below.

(barb is Lolkor's player remaking the character. Since it was first session and there was no experience on the character who died, he just renamed him and brought him back.. I cant remember what he renamed him, nor do I remember the rangers name*player is rob*)

The party pulls up the rope and rouses the ranger. Hearing splashing and cursing, they drop the rope back down to the barbarian. The first thing the barbarian notices is a giant zombie dragon, flapping its wings and looking threatening. Preparing to go berserker style on it, the party assures him it's not real and not worry-worthy. He denies thier claims, and then stares gaping as the thing vanishes in that moment.

The barbarian notices Lolkor's corpse and the meyhem around them, and insists on taking part in the funerary pyre rights, claiming kinship.

Once formal introductions have been made, they decide it is time to talk to Edlin again. In the meantime, Elf exits the small town to commune with nature, trying to find out what the wildlife in the area know about the undead monster. Unconcerned with undead, the wildlife know very little, however its notable that he must go a ways from the dead town to find any living creatures in the woods.

Eldin explains that this house, which reeks of magic, belonged to his late grandfather. Being the only relative, it was now his house, and he must protect the magical items within. He is very stubborn about not letting anyone else have the items. He reveals a panel where 5 display cases show items. There is a painting, a shield, a cloak, a peice of armor, and 1 empty case. Convincing the child that he will die if he stays here alone, they remove the items from thier cases and pack the boys belongings.

As they discuss things with Edlin, the barbarian notices a noise, and soft movement of wind. Something, unseen, is fluttering about the room. He prepares to attack it, and is immediatly met with an irate Edlin, who flat out threatens to kill him if he harms "his friend".

Later, the raven and the invisable thing seem to be playing a game on the rooftop. The creature loses his invisability for the game, and is shown to be an imp. The ranger charges forward, bow drawn, ready to slay the demonic creature. Again, Edlin threatens pain of death on any who harm his little friend. The party finally decides to leave it be, as it seems to be playing peacefully.

Finally settling in for the night, the party makes shelter in the blacksmith shop, one of the few that did not have corpses in it when they arrived. The barbarian and ranger take first watch, being the least banged up for having missed the fight. While they are on watch, a rukus is heard in the smoke house. The ranger peeks around the corner of the building, to come face to face with a skinny, hungry black bear, who is trying to tear open the wall to reach the food inside.

The barbarian rushes back to the sleeping party, rousing the closest person. They run outside together, prepared to deal with whatever caused the noise, only to see the ranger stroking the bears head and feeding it a haunch of meat from the smokehouse. Rolling thier eyes, they return to what they were doing. The rest of the night passes uneventful.

In the morning, the party rouses and begins to prepare to find thier way back to the capitol, Harivon. Elf finds a high point outside town and takes bearings, and realizes they are on the Eastern edge of the forest he grew up in. He offers to guide the party. As the adventurers attempt to rouse the last sleepers, namely Tink, Nin, and Isenne, they realize that each is showing signs of the plague and is too weak to get up.

Fearing for thier own safety, they set aside food and water in the blacksmith shop for the sick. All the while, Elf is encouraging them to burn the building down, proclaiming those within doomed anyway. Familiar with the plague, the rest of the party realizes those within could yet recover. They are not willing to risk themselves to wait and see, but also not willing to burn them alive.

As the ranger carefully moves inside the smithy to grab packs that were left behind, Isenne grabs for his arm, begging for help. Touched, but unsure what to do, he helps her sit up and take a mouthful of water, then leaves her to fate. As he leave the building, she pleads again, begging for help. Sadly, he shuts the door on his way out.

The party has thier things gathered up, and are preparing to move out. This is where we leave our "brave" adventurers.

[indigowulf]

As of day 2, the party roster looks like this:

Isenne, a woman, carrying a staff, in simple travelors dress- left behind with plague, status unknown
Siliss, a man, very drunk, with a flute in one hand and a beerstien in the other
Nin, a man who looks like a ruffian- left behind with plague, status unknown
Tink, a city guard who got sucked in with the others- left behind with plague, status unknown
Lulkor, a barbarian, with a big weapon and a small loincloth-deceased
Ignacius, a cleric, with shiney armor and a sword
"Elf", a druid with an unpronouncable name, with his pet wolf
Thurson, a sorcerer, with his raven familiar
Edlin, child prodege, sorcerer, with imp familiar
ummm.. rob.. (forgot char name)- Ranger who wants to be a sorcerer
umm.. fean.. (also forgot new char name)- barbarian, still has a big weapon and small loincloth


for those of you following along, yes, I killed fean77 on the first day out! Puts the fear of god into the players when they realize they can, in fact, die. Especially when I killed off someone Im obviously close to *makes evil DM cacklings and rubs hands together*

[JBGarrison72]

"A barbarian with a big weapon and a small loincloth" hahahahah!
New barbarian name = LULZgrom.  Old one was actually spelled LOLkor, lol.