Echo Wood: TL;DR, Off to the Emerald Spire

Some good roleplaying and some good set-up for what’s to come, with a little dungeon bashing at the end. 
 
One thing I handed out were quest cards. These came with the Emerald Spire deck, which also came with treasure and face cards. I’m okay with the face cards and the quest cards but they do have a problem that had long been part of rpgs: that once you know a person has a name, you know they’re important. If you meet two NPCs – Andar Wolfsbane of the Order of the Lion and um, uh, Joe… the, uh, peasant – you know who is important to the story and who isn’t. I’m reasonably good at coming up with decent sounding NPC names on the fly, but not always. This has the same problem, in that it means that some quests (maybe even some that are just mentioned in passing) are flagged as Important. Tough to be comprehensive, with a single card deck’s worth of cards, but still…
 
How the cards get used is a good idea: any way you’d like. If you want to write down important points about a quest on the back of the card, you can. If you want to note who to turn it into or what you’ll get, that’s fine too. But almost certainly they should provide a backup to just asking Rolland what you are supposed to be doing. (So someone else should probably have the card). The face cards are more for me, really, but once someone is made friendly or allied, I’ll write down whatever services that person may be able to provide the party, or what needs they have that the party could help out with. Then the party gets to keep them as a reminder of the people they’ve helped/saved/surreptitiously dicked over.
 
The cards are unneccessary, but it seems like we should be able to get some use out of them. If you have ideas about that, let me know. 
  • The party came in sight of Fort Inevitable but decided to check out the surroundings before heading in. They chose to approach a Mill and met Mr. Kettlefoot, the halfling miller and patriarch of a substantial family that runs the mill. Kettlefoot filled them in on what they could expect of they went into town, with a little background thrown in and hearing of the bureaucracy involved they took him up on the offer of staying at his mill, on the sly, since he didn’t have a hosting permit.
  • He filled them in on his illicit foodbank for people who could not afford food after paying the Hellknights levies and fines.
  • Next morning they went into town, received their papers from Sergeant Bolgur, a sneering half-orc and paid their fees.
  • Inside the town is lovely. Orderly, clean, well kept. On noticing that everyone is smartly dressed, some of the party bought new clothes.
  • They checked into the town’s luxuriously well appointed Inn (that costs a bucket) and met Iliara Starcloak, the elvish leader of the Goldenfire Order who is similarly a guest while she intends to find her missing apprentices/colleagues (that relationship isn’t entirely clear). She arranged a meeting with them later that morning.
  • At the meeting, she showed the party what the two missing initiates look like with an illusion spell – Jharun a callow local man, but with an intricately brilliant mind (apparently) and Tiawask, a woman from Tian who specializes in elemental portals – of which the Echo Woods have a surprising and unpredictable number.
  • They set off for the Emerald Spire for a brief foray before sundown (and the Hellknight’s curfew).
  • Arriving, they found the ruins of some sort of fortification on top a small rocky outcropping. The battlements, while crumbling in some places looked like they were made from dark green volcanic glass. From the center of the castle/tower, a pinnacle of sparkling green crystal(?) rose skyward catching the light from all around.  Super easy to find.
  • The party decided to enter the castle through a breach in the glassy green walls. Inside was a persistent darkness that made vision tough for Beth and Cyrus, the two humans. As they approached they got into a rolling combat with half a dozen goblins and their dogs. The goblins were startlingly ineffective and when there was only one left, he fled into a tower room. As the party gave chase, the roof collapsed on them and they narrowly avoided getting brained by the falling masonry.

Don’t think I forgot anything…

 

 

One Comment on “Echo Wood: TL;DR, Off to the Emerald Spire

  1. Anden Kettlefoot – That was the halfling’s name.

    The party also retained the services of a legal expert, for a nominal monthly retainer.

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