Tempus Vegvisir was many things.
He was a husband and a father, though he hadn't seen his family for months.
He was a holy man, initiated into the mysteries of Helm.
- Winterfrost of House Silverspear - Neutral Good Moon Elf Noble and Fighter. The daughter of elven diplomats, raised among dwarves.
- Etlenda, aka "Exile" - Neutral Good Eladrin Outlander and Paladin. Exiled from the Feywild and raised by wolves. While exploring the Feydark he crossed over into the Underdark and emerged into the Mortal World.
- Tempus Vegvisir - Lawful Good Human Trade Sheriff and Cleric of Helm. Husband and Father.
- Push-ta Tok - Neutral Half-Orc Former Smuggler and Rogue.
- Kem Hearthfire - Chaotic Good Half-Orc Former Gladiator Priestess of Gond.
Home Improvement
The new residents of Trollskull Manor had spent the last ten days making repairs. They hired workers to repair the collapsed sections of roof. Push'ta himself reconnected the privy drain pipe to the city sewage system. Kem had purchased furniture and everyone spent their time rearranging to their liking.
DM - I put a bunch of furniture tokens on the house map in Roll20 and set the permissions to All Players and let the players go to town. We spent like 40 minutes of game time just arranging the furniture in the house. The players loved it. They squabbled over design choices and who got what just like real roommates.
Kem spent her week blessing some work created by Embric and Avi. One day they got a visit from a representative of the Blacksmith Guild who asked to see Kem's documentation certifying her as a member of the Guild as well as her qualifications as a certified blacksmith. She had none, saying she wished only to bless the work of these fine craftsmen in the name of Gond. The guild representative informed her that she would need to receive official recognition by the Temple of Gond in Waterdeep in order to perform religious services. If she did not, then Embric and Avi would be fined. She agreed to follow the correct procedures.
On one of the days, their neighbor Emmek Frewn, paid them a visit. Winterfrost met Emmek at the front door. Emmek inquired as to the state of their renovations and peered within to see that much of the furniture appeared to be suitable for a tavern. Emmek became angry, accusing Winterfrost of lying. Winterfrost became defensive, reiterating their intention to turn the tavern into a social club. Emmek demanded to know what the difference was. Shouting turned into insults as Emmek said something derogatory about Winterfrost being more dwarf than elf. Winterfrost tried to puch Emmek but the former prize fighter easily dodged her blow. He shoved her back and walked away. Winterfrost shouted insults at the Illuskan as he crossed the street.
Afterwards, a chair in the tavern mysteriously fell over - a sign of Leif the poltergeist's mild displeasure. Winterfrost knew right away that Leif was unhappy they were turning the tavern into a social club and tried to reason with the spirit. In response, Leif smashed all the furniture - a sign of his intense disagreement with that plan. Winterfrost stormed back up to her room in the attic, exasperated.
On the morning he received the message, Tempus gathered the team in the common room to tell them about the mission. He asked if anyone was interested in assisting him. They unanimously decided to help. Indeed, Winterfrost and Etlenda expressed an interest in taking the oath to serve the Order of the Guantlet. The team stopped by the Hall of Justice that morning and both Winterfrost and Etlenda took the oath in front of Savra Belabranta and other witnesses.
DM - There was some discussion and concern about joining multiple factions, but we figured as long as the goals missions don't conflict there wouldn't be a problem.
The Loose Gyre
Unwelcome Guests
Tempus spotted four burly men carrying heavy maces entering the Loose Gyre. Upon entry they immediately called out Lara Roundabout, demanding their payment. Lara took shelter behind her bar.Tempus and Etlenda stood up and confronted the thugs, informing them that this establishment was protected by the Order of the Gauntlet and that they needed to leave.
DM - Tempus rolled Intimidate with Advantage and got a 12.
The thugs laughed and refused to back down.
Those sitting at Push-ta's table covertly readied to attack, moving stealthily into position.
Push-ta sprang into action, bringing his club down upon the secret Zhentarim agents sitting at the table behind them.
The room sprang into action!
DM- the mistakes have already started happening. The original faction quest in the book called for an Intimidation or Persuasion skill challenge - three successes before three failures. The PDF expansion only mentioned one and that's what I did. I should have gone with the skill challenge and perhaps this entire fight could have been avoided.
The second mistake was adding four bandits. I improvised a bit and added them for some spice, but four thugs against a party of second-level characters is already more than a challenge. In retrospect I should have had them be two thugs and four bandits.
A Hard Thumping
The four Zhentarim agents responded by surrounding Push-ta and ganging up on him. Push-ta fell quickly.
Two of the heavy thugs at the entrance ganged up on Tempus. Tempus soon fell. The other two thugs ganged up on Etlenda.
DM - Because thugs get two attacks per round and attack with Advantage when they fight in groups, I was getting a lot of chances to roll dice, and as a result rolling lots of critical hits.
The four agents moved to engage with Winterfrost and Kem. Winterfrost became trapped and was losing badly so she jumped out a nearby window.
Etlenda fell, leaving only Kem standing and Winterfrost outside. Kem was now holding off one of the thugs and one of the bandits. Two of the bandits began smashing tables and chairs in the back corner of the tavern while three of the bandits smashed the front part of the tavern. The leader of the thugs jumped over the bar and grabbed Lara Roundabout.
Once Etlenda fell, two of the thugs started smashing tables in the back corner of the tavern while the four bandits turned their attention to smashing the front area. The two remaining thugs engaged Kem.
DM - At this point, I realized mistakes above and started going easy on the player characters, ignoring bad guy turns and rolling with disadvantage.
Winterfrost rejoined the fray via the front door, attacking one of the thugs fighting Kem. Winterfrost was quickly knocked down again.
Two of the thugs, having run out of tables to smash, ran up the wooden stairs to the rooms above.
Behind the bar, the leader of the thugs was dragging Lara towards the back door, "We'll teach you a lesson about getting help from the Order of the Gauntlet!"
The Tide is Turned
Kem managed to turn her attention away from her assailants just long enough to say a prayer of healing for Etlenda.
Etlenda, raised from unconsciousness, in turn, said a prayer of healing on Tempus before leaping over the bar to aid Lara.
Tempus pulled himself up off the ground and immediately said a prayer of healing on Push-ta, bringing him back around, before turning to Winterfrost.
Etlenda pulled Lara away from the thug leader. Lara ran for safety with the remaining patrons through a side door. Etlenda drew his sword and, with Kem's assistance, engaged the leader in deadly hand-to-hand combat. Soon after, Tempus joined the fray. The leader soon fell before the combined attack.
At the front door, Winterfrost and Push-ta were finally able to dispatch the remaining thug and one of his lackeys.
With the loss of their leader, the remaining lackeys picked up their fallen comrades and fled.
Two More Upstairs
The tavern's common room was littered with broken mugs and smashed tables and chairs but was otherwise empty of opponents. The sound of more breaking and smashing could be heard upstairs.
The team was beaten and bruised. They formed up at the base of the stairs and formulated a plan.
DM - The party was out of healing prayers. Several members of the party had a single hit point thanks to Etlenda's "Lay on Hands" ability. Upstairs were two thugs, one at full hit points, the other at half-or-less. The party faced a difficult decision - do they press the fight or cut their losses and run? They decided to press the fight.
Push-ta ran upstairs first to scout the way. He saw that the two thugs were in separate rooms breaking and smashing things. He signaled the others to come up.
Kem brandished a crossbow while Etlenda prepared his longbow.
Push-ta moved down the hall and yelled at one of the thugs smashing up a room. He retreated back to a position around the corner. The thugs gave chase into the hallway. They were met by Winterfrost and Tempus. After a brief fight, both Winterfrost and Tempus lay unconscious on the floor. Kem and Etlenda loosed their projectiles at the thugs, quickly dispatching them.
A Bitter Victory (?)
Etlenda revived Winterfrost and Etlenda and the party, beaten and demoralized, limped back downstairs. The entire tavern had been smashed up - exactly the outcome they were hoping to prevent. Several of the Zhentarim enforcers had been killed in the fracas but the party had been roundly defeated.
Lara was on her knees on the street outside. She was crying inconsolably. The party hurried past in silence, embarrassed and ashamed.
The Mystics of Trollskull Manor returned to their home to rest and recuperate.
The Following Week
The Mystics took a week off. Some worked on repairs to the house. Others pursued personal projects.
Winterfrost conducted research to find out what had happened to Leif before he died and became a poltergeist. She learned that Leif had dedicated his life to the tavern, so much so that it became the only thing that gave his life meaning. In addition, she learned that the house was once an orphanage that was later discovered to have been run by a hag who had killed and eaten the children. During her evenings, Winterfrost rediscovered a book of magic spells given to her by her parents. She dusted it off and practiced her basic magic.
Push-ta, likewise, returned to his long-forgotten magical studies, practicing his own spells.
Kem spent the week praying and performing service at the Temple of Gond.
Etlenda sought out the local representatives of the Emerald Enclave and expressed his interest in affiliating with them.
Fireball
On the morning of the tenth day, the residents of Trollskull Manor were startled by the sound of a massive explosion. Windows were shattered, walls shook, people screamed. They looked out their broken window and saw a scene of destruction a few houses down. Smoke billowed up from the aftermath of an explosion. Charred bodies lay strewn on the street.
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