Wardens of Heroes Gate

Scene Notes – C01.S02.09

Scene Notes (Spoilers Ahead)

What happens in this scene / session?

I skipped over Yartar and Triboar… perhaps the two large cities were uneventful? Abarissi was to sent a message to the Harpers about the events witnessed in Calling Horns… lets assume that did happen. There is no reason to draw out the journey any further… the mystery has been introduced. Unless… is there reason to have an encounter with Lady Tamalin in Yartar? It is a big city… such an encounter would not be random… but Leely did find evidence that Lady Tamalin and all of her guards were expected in Yartar. It could be innocent enough – why would anyone suspect it was part of a conspiracy to allow the village to be gathered into an army of the undead? I’d say that the guard at Calling Horns was likely well-skilled in fighting off trolls… so the conspiracy makes sense… pay to have the people unprotected – easy fodder for the unwitting killers who would also join the undead. The same scenario will repeat itself. Our party needs to hear of at least one other such occurrence, perhaps two (The Rule of Three Clues) so that when something similar begins to take place in Phandalin, the party recognizes it and fights to prevent it.

What Moogwa is in the Yartar – Evermoors region, Nezznar is to the Triboar – Neverwinter region… and there are others. The Twisted Rune wants the Sword Coast… the entire Sword Coast. And they want an army composed of all its dead inhabitants. Bowgentles Spellbook is critical to their goal as is the Wave Echo Cave. The Harpers are all concerned about the Red Wizards… as they should be perhaps… but it is a red herring to our story. The real threat is the Twisted Rune. Stopping Nezznar and securing both the Wave Echo Cave and the spellbook of Bowgentle is critical to the block – beyond what any of our heroes will be able to discover until much later.

Side note… perhaps there is a tie between Everwelte and Iron Aegis in this dragon of the Twisted Rune? Perhaps Sharpfangs knows Sapphiraktar and goes searching for the dracolich… why? Idk yet… Sharpfangs probably wants a body like she had lost to the stone beneath Treyvigg Monastery. But I was going to tie Sharpfangs to the opening of Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and perhaps I should. Afterwards… in her new Blue Dragon body… Sharpfangs seeks Sapphiraktar in Memnon.

But back to our current scene…

Leely, Ileel and Abarissi arrive in Conyberry to meet Sister Garaelle and then go on to Agatha’s Lair.

Abarissi is carrying a relic for Agatha – it was her asking price for information regarding the whereabouts of Bowgentles Spellbook.

Sister Garaelle is not found. What happened? My first thought is that she had an encounter with the Redbrands and it locked away in the cellar of Tresendar Manor along with a few other townspeople. Perhaps this is where Deynn and Roonoo meet the Roven’ris sisters… Abarissi sends them ahead to Phandalin to find out what happened to Garaelle?

The relic which Abarissi plans to swap for information is the black pearl that goes into the scepter which controls the Taros Hoop –  a relic (thought to be destroyed) that could move someone through the planes of existence. Abarissi and her fellow Harpers had confidence that the Taros Hoop was not functional so they assumed Agatha wanted the pearl for other reasons – perhaps only sentimental ones.

Our party arrives in Conyberry and does not find Garaelle… what do they find? Should I add an encounter here before going on to Agatha’s Lair? If they do not find Garaelle, perhaps they dare not attempt to meet with Agatha?

But the encounter with Agatha must happen. The Spellbook is a critical plot component. Agatha sold the spellbook to Tsernoth the necromancer – perhaps she needs the black pearl relic to peer into the dimensions to see where the spellbook is. He lived in the Iriaebor region. He was a gnome, originally from Silverymoon. He studied the Spellbook for years in an underground lair near the unassuming village of Asbravn and discovered what no one else had… Bowgentles theory of a magic to prevent necromancy could be used to strengthen it beyond reason. A weapon forged of iron and copper with the Wave Echo Cave could be so enchanted that merely being killed by it invoked a necromantic spell. The plot is to produce thousands of such enchanted weapons and equip the army of the undead with them so that anyone they kill joins the ranks within minutes – no necromancer needed to be present.

Tsernoth learned the theory and told someone with connections to the Twisted Rune (or perhaps he himself had connections) what he was working on… but before he could actually implement it he was killed. (The Riders suspected Tsernoth of being a Zhentarim agent and brought him to justice) The knowledge location of his underground lair, and the spellbook hidden there, died with him. The Twisted Rune has been searching for the spellbook ever since. And it is true that the Red Wizards seek it as well… but only because they learned that the Twisted Rune were seeking it. They did not learn why, only that they were investing a lot to find it, which meant it was valuable.

Now about that encounter. I threw in a note about the forest area leading up to Conyberry having been destroyed by fire (I probably need to enhance this… sight, sound, smell, sensation… and more on area of effect.. Forest beyond to the North is intact, likely because of the cliff wall that separates the town from the Neverwinter forest) and so I began wondering what kind of monster might be attracted to a cinder forest… dryad I thought, a twisted dryad… one who fed on the cinder forest like a crack addict on… well… crack. A Cinder Dryad… It is paranoid and highly irritable… perhaps too focused on getting a fix to really notice the party at first. A regular Dryad is only CR1… Like meth can hyper drive the adenaline of a junkie, the Cinder Dryad is amped up… double the HP of a Dryad and an extra attack. Tree stride works on smaller, burned out trees.

It has the ability to summon Mephits to it from other planes (3 or 4 per hour?). Use Dust Mephits (or smoke?) but these are different… they are, of course, Cinder Mephits. (or would Sooty Mephits be better?) or maybe a Smoke Mephit is already the thing… this one in particular.  There are tactics offered for mephits. The Monster Manual characterizes them as “tricksters”. They like to ambush their victims… but…. enjoy combat and rush headlong into it, slashing with their claws. If a smoke mephit can draw its opponents to within 20 feet of its position, it uses its spell-like abilities to create an ember storm. they lead with Cinder Breath, which, like dust mephits’ Blinding Breath, can blind opponents in its cone of effect.

A smoke mephit stands about 4 feet tall and weighs about 2 pounds. They are generally lazy, but quick to anger.

How to introduce? Party looks for Garaelle but does not find her… they will wait for a time… but Adalissi says that they should on their way before Last Shadow. (It is over 100 miles between Conyberry and Phadalin so they will have to sleep outdoors again. )

While they wait… one of them hears a scratching sound, like a critter, perhaps, biting off chunks of cinder bark from the burned trees to the south of town

Maybe… something different?

Maybe another adventuring party arrives – full of false confidence… here to destroy the famed witch ghost of Neverwinter…

Use the cinder dryad later – upon return – but hint at her presence somehow

https://joe.nittoly.ca/dd5e-3rd-level-pre-gens/

Pick 4-5 of these

Maybe all half orcs? Or mostly? Grog Strongjaw!

They show up in Conyberry to kill the ghost of Neverwinter

They are all drunk and brash

Bragging about how they are going to kill the famous Agatha

Adalissi does not want them to jeopardize the mission so a tough choice must be made

They will not listen to reason and one even draws a sword on the high priestess – leely jumps in and initiative gets rolled

Add the tabaxi bard

A sober one, well kinda… He tries to calm things down

Perhaps he will return as npc later? Perhaps several will?

Maybe use a couple of the essentials kit premades?

Ransor’s Rally

A new adventuring party from Triboar. Andlen Roedatch is the Captain. He grew up on stories (mostly false) about the heroic adventures of his grandfather Ransor Roedatch. (While Ransor did indeed have some combative adventures… most they were just with small handfuls of hungry bandits on the Long Road while transporting goods from Waterdeep for his provisions shop in Triboar). Andlen is gifted with charm but is not the brightest lad… and he is even dimmer when he drinks… which he does more often than not. One recent day while lazying about the newly renovated Talking Troll, he somehow managed to gather four adventurers into his drunken reverie and they decide to form Ransor’s Rally. They spent weeks talking about how to make a name for themselves in the Dessarin Valley.

Brin Axetooth

Hill Dwarf Fighter (2)

Grimhorn

Dragonborn Fighter (2)

Stitch in a Sock (Stitch)

Tabaxi Bard (College of Swords) (4)

Nekari (The Gale-Hand)

Half Elf Monk (2)

Andlen Roedatch (Grandson of Ransor Roedatch)

Human Fighter (2)