Wednesday Night Game Night - 5E D&D: Greenest in Flames

The Ranger, Seylor, having arrived in town earlier in the day, is awakened from a pleasant afternoon's rest by the screams of the dying.  Casually peering out his window, he sees hooded figures driving people from their homes, murdering them in the streets and causing general chaos.  Hearing the bell tolling, he grabs his gear and gives his nice comfortable bed one last look.  Out the door and straight to the Keep, his twin swords at the ready.

With the last kobold disappearing from sight, Grim quickly clears the temples rear door of smoldering debris.  Finding it barred from the inside, he begins banging on it, calling to those on the other side.  He can hear panicked shouts and cries from inside and the terrifying pounding of the battering ram.  Knowing that time is of the essence, he signals for Garox.  Alvyn notices a dark shape alight to the top of the temple, hiding in the smoke.  Frantically waving his arms, Alvyn captures Grims attention.  Grim, unable to locate the shape in the darkness returns his attention to the people inside, warning them that if they don't unbar the door willingly, they will need to step back or risk being injured.  Grim receives little response other than whimpers and weak cries of defiance.  Garox steps forward and at Grim's command, he hacks his way through, his great axe making short work of the door.

Arriving at the keep, Saylor is quickly put to work guarding the doors.  Once the doors are finally closed and the last of the stragglers has made it through, Saylor is commended for his efforts and then summarily tasked with rescuing other villagers who may not have made it to safety in time.   He is informed that there is a tunnel system beneath the keep that leads to the river.  Given a key for the gate at the tunnels entrance, he gathers a small group of men and prepares to head out, noting that this is why he sticks to the forest and stays the hell away from town.

Surrounded by choking black smoke and the cries of kobolds, the terrified congregation, at first hesitant, is ushered out of the temple by Thia, Grim and Garox.  In the midst of the chaos, a half elf calmly introduces himself, a disciple of Chanteau.  He asks what the plan for his flock is.  Grim and Thia look at each other.  It is agreed to make for the tree line and the river beyond.  The half elf suggests making for the keep.  Grim suggests otherwise, stating that the keep is lost and that the circling dragon will very shortly be using it for a nest.  It is pointed out that the host sieging the keep looks like they are keeping people in and away from their homes, the looting suggesting that this is more likely a very organized form of banditry.  The half elf again suggests that the keep will be the safest place to reorganize and tend to wounded.  When pressed on how he expects to get into the keep, currently surrounded by marauders as it is, he reveals that there is a gate located at the base of the hill the keep rests on, hidden in the shallows of the river.  It connects to a tunnel system that will safely lead them into the keep.  The group makes it's way there, doing their best to avoid attention.

They almost succeed.

Having made it to the Gate, they are descended upon by a small group of kobolds, which they quickly dispatch.

Saylor leads his men to the gate and discovers a not small group of villagers huddled near the entrance.  A quick conversation with Grim and Thia reveals the groups intentions and Saylor opens the gate and lets them through into the relative safety of the keep.  Upon his return, Saylor is heartily commended for his valiant efforts.  He responds with a "It was nothing." before accepting the praise.

The group is given a brief moment of rest before an alarm is raised.  Escobar, the dwarven warden of the keep, announces that invaders have broken through and that his men are in the midst of hunting them down and dealing with the problem, but he needs men to protect the ruined entryway until his own men can return to their posts.  Alvyn, Thia, Grim and Garox are approached by Saylor, who has once again been looked to as the hero.  With little else to do, they agree to help in the defense of the keep and make for the ruined gateway.

As a small group of invaders approach the keep Saylor and company take positions, hiding behind arrow slits.  Garox stands out in the open, ready to meet the attack, his muscles tensed, his jaw clenched, his rage...kinda getting there.

A drake rushes forward intent on killing the Half Orc.  Arrows fly and balls of flame reign down on the drake and it's kobold companions.  Sling bullets shoot through the air, pelting Garox.  Grim appears out of nowhere and runs the approaching drake through, not once, but twice, killing it an instant before it gets to Garox.

Bolstered by his companions, Garox finally gets his rage on and rushes through the remaining kobolds and raiders.  Grim follows in his wake, Thia backing them up.  Saylor and Alvyn stay safely hidden away behind the arrow slits.

Shrugging off blades and bullets, Garox hacks his way to the entrance only to discover a second group of raiders mounting an offense.  A spear whistles past his ear seconds before he is overcome by a group of kobolds.  He falls as Thia and Grim retreat back into the relative safety of the keep, Grim calling for the guards within to back them up.

The raiders push further through the gates, taking Thia down as they go.  Saylor joins the fray, backing up Grim.  Alvyn continues to harass with his cantrips, having blown through his more powerful spells earlier.

Beaten and bloodied, the group successfully holds the gate until the guards arrive to relieve them.  They are able to pull Thia to safety and revive her.  Garox eventually regains consciousness and amazed to still be alive, stumbles in after them.

Wednesday Night Game Night - 5E D&D: Hoard of the Dragon Queen Part 1

Using the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure, I set up that the characters were either arriving or had already been in Greenest, a woefully described town with which I had the run of things.   There is a keep, a mill and a temple to the god Chanteau...who, since I don't have a current understanding of the Forgotten Realms mythology is just some god...God of Socks, I believe.

The group started off as two separate groups; the Druid, Thia and the Rogue, Grim arriving in town at sunset after having traveled from the trade town of Scornubel, their concern for a mutual acquaintance making them unlikely traveling companions.  Alvyn, the sorcerer and Garox, the Barbarian are at this point drinking in the local tavern, Garox having just saved the overly talkative and mildly annoying Alvyn from a rather rough looking mercenary, who now sits at the end of the bar nursing a bruised face and ego.

On their approach to the town, Thia and Grim notice dark figures making their way towards the town, coming from all directions.

In the tavern, Garox and Alvyn hear a bell tolling as the bar tender pulls a mace from behind the bar and begins ushering people out, telling them to get to the Keep as quickly as they can.  The town must be under attack.

Thia and Grim slow their approach and watch as the chaos begins to unfold, people being rousted from their homes by torch wielding figures.  Thia catches a scent on the wind, leathery and reptilian, moments before a dark form sweeps overhead.  A bolt of lightning crashes down on the townsfolk, a rumble of thunder rolling out towards the Druid and Rogue as the large blue dragon begins to spread his terror.  They watch him circle in the air, lining himself up for another run and both note that they might well be caught in the next assault if they don't put some distance between themselves and the town.  Instead of doing that, they head straight into town, moving south and away from direct line of fire.

As the tavern empties, the mercenary with the bruised ego hefts his axe and bursts out through the front door, looking up to the sky right before he is blasted out of his shoes by a bolt of lightning.  Seeing this, Alvyn and Garox elect to exit through a window on the side of the building, dropping into an alleyway that allows them to stealthily sneak away from the chaos.

Attempting to sneak into town, Thia is caught out in the open by a small of group of raiders.  She recognizes them as kobolds.  There are only three, but Thia suddenly finds herself alone, as her travel companion, Grim, has melted away into the darkness.  Unsure what she should do, she raises her shield, presenting a defensive front.  The kobolds regard her with disgust and turn back towards town.  Grim reappears at her side and the two quickly make for a small cluster of houses.

Hidden in the shadows, Alvyn and Garox spy kobolds ransacking houses.  Valuables are being stuffed into sacks and dragged out of town.  Sensing that Garox is itching to speak violently with the kobolds, Alvyn comes up with a plan to get them to the safety of the keep.  Casting a disguise self spell, the gnome transforms into a kobold and calmly leads the Half Orc out into the streets, casually strolling and occasionally barking a command on their way through town.

Thia and Grim break into an already ransacked home and hunker down.  Grim is intent on getting more information and wants to sneak around the town more, Thia wants to live to see the sun come up and insists that they lay low.  Grim disagrees and slips out into the night through an open window.  What he discovers is that a ring is beginning to form around the keep, the bandits building makeshift barricades and lean to's as protection from the arrows being fired down upon them by archers on the walls.  High up in the sky, the dragon continues to circle.

Almost to the keep and past the last row of buildings, the Half Orc and his "Kobold" companion have successfully fooled the bandits.  The guards at the keep, seeing them approach, bolster the guard, letting stragglers through.  Recognizing that their brilliant disguise has worked too brilliantly, Alvyn prepares to drop the spell.  Before he can do so, a last group of townsfolk, a family, attempt to break away from where they were hiding and make for the keep.   The family, made up of three children, a spear wielding mother and a badly wounded father are quickly surrounded by a patrol of kobolds.  The mother attempts to keep the kobolds at bay, but with her children caught up in hysterics, she trips and falls to a knee, the spear no longer providing it's much needed protection.  Seeing the kobolds about to attack, Alvyn rushes forward, ordering the group to return to the looting they were there to do.  As added incentive, he points back to the Half Orc, who stands a few steps back, great axe in hand.  The kobolds sneer, spit and leave.  The family sits in fear, the mother regaining her footing and rebrandishing her spear.  The Half Orc looks at her incredulously and then steps aside.  Confused but not stupid, the mother rushes her family through the quickly closing gates of the keep.  They are the last let inside.  Alvyn and Garox look around and begin to form a new plan. 

Grim returns to the house Thia is hiding in and reports what he has found out.  Unconvinced that heading out anywhere at this point is a good idea, Thia continues to preach patience.  Grim reminds her that they both came to Greenest for a reason, their mutual friend, a traveling monk named Leosin.  There is a distant ringing, a bell signaling another part of town has come under attack.  Grim and Thia eventually agree that finding out what is happening in town is preferred to waiting in a pillaged home, hiding in the dark.  Outside, hiding in the dark, the two, guided by the sound of the bell make their way to the southeasternmost part of Greenest and discover a temple, surrounded by bandits.  The front doors have been closed, but a makeshift ram batters at them and they show signs that the bandits will soon be well on their way through.

Alvyn, still in disguise, suggests to Garox that they continue to make their way around the keep, hoping for another way in and to get an idea of the size of the army attacking Greenest.  They make their way south, passing through the camps of kobolds and raiders.  Once on the far side of the keep, they can hear the bell tolling in the distance and begin to make their way towards it.  On their way they come across what appears to be the commanders camp.  A woman dressed in purple wielding a halberd is issuing commands.  A blue Half Dragon watches the keep, resting his hands on a great sword that has been driven into the ground in front of him.  Garox feels an intense need to call out the Half Dragon, but Alvyn very wisely dissuades him of this notion.  The two continue on, following the tolling bell.

Slinking through the darkness, Thia spies two figures approaching the temple.  They are strolling almost casually down the road.  One a Half Orc, the other a kobold.  She relays this information to Grim and the two slip out of view, moving around to the back half of the temple, where they find a small group of bandits attempting to light clumps of dried leaves and grass that have been piled up against the back door of the temple on fire.  A patrol of kobolds lead by blue drakes on chains, pass by, the kobolds throwing stones and flaming torches through the temples ruined windows.  There is much screaming.

Alvyn and Garox continue down the path leading to the temple.  They see the group battering at the front door and the patrol making it's rounds and decide to avoid any direct interaction with them.  Garox suggests sneaking to the back of the temple to see if there is a way to get the people out.  Alvyn notices two figures watching the temple from the rear.  Much to his astonishment, he recognizes one of them!

Unable to stand the screams coming from inside the temple, Thia convinces Grim that they need to take action.  With the odds at two on one, Grim doesn't seem entirely convinced, but agrees anyway.  He silently approaches, Thia casting a spell behind him.  Suddenly the ground beneath the kobolds feet springs to life.  Grasping vines snarling around their legs, two of the kobolds find themselves trapped.  Grim, quiet as a ghost, appears and runs one through with a rapier.  A second kobold, not caught up in the vines, finds himself on the receiving end of Grim's other rapier.  Both die silently.

A third kobold screams in agony as a javelin pins him to the ground.

Not hesitating for a moment, Grim springs on the last kobold and stabs him through the eye.  He whips around to find Garox retrieving his javelin from the kobolds corpse.  They recognize each other from times past.  Both nod curtly.

Alvyn, dropping his disguise, comes racing out of the shadows, attaching himself to Thia, adoration plastered on his face.  Thia is less than pleased.  

Before any discussion can occur, the patrolling kobolds clear the corner of the temple.  The two guard drakes immediately rush the Barbarian and the kobolds begin to pelt the group with bullets from their slings.  Grim disappears in the ensuing chaos.  Thia and Alvyn back away, Thia casting fire at her attackers as Alvyn seeks shelter.

Bursting forth from his hiding place in the surrounding shrubbery, Grim dispatches a couple of Kobolds and then engages the main group as a badly wounded Garox continues to tangle with the Drakes.  Thia continues to hurl fire at the drakes and one of them finally succumbs.   Alvyn, hidden in shrubs, cast his magic missiles at the kobolds engaged with Grim.  His bolts find their mark, raining down in the form of golden cones that drop two of the kobolds and badly wound the third.

Amazed by the magical onslaught, Grim is caught briefly off guard.  In that moment, as a desperate dying action, the last kobold slips past his defenses and critically wounds him.  Grim falls with a gurgle, blood spraying from a slashed throat.

Thia, unafraid of the kobold, is immediately at Grim's side.  Her healing magic brings him back to his feet.  He quickly murders the shocked kobold as Garox finishes off the last drake.

The two remaining kobolds flee for their lives.  Garox manages to bring one down with a well placed javelin, but the other escapes from sight as Alvyn's Chill Touch spell misses it's mark.