eberron Mouse's Eberron Campaign

[Paradoxical Mouse]

After the response to my other post, I figured I could post my campaign here. I'm gonna be using spoiler tags for DM notes, just in case people want to follow along. 

 

Characters:

Red Sash - Warforged Paladin. Currently trying to earn money for the Cyran refugees. Was a medic during the war and is still not sure exactly what to do now that it is over.

Son of Bork - Warforged Barbarian. If you want to know his backstory, see here. Warning: untagged spoilers in link.

Thicket - Shifter Rogue. Currently over his head in gambling debt to Draask. 

Lell - Gnome Warlock. Member of the Trust of Zilargo. 

 

Session 1:

 

Sul, Zarantyr 1, 998YK - King of Fire Tavern, Middle Dura, Sharn, City of Towers, Breland

 Opening Scene (as written):

Quote

 

Having recently reached Sharn, the City of Towers, and come to Middle Dura, Lell steps into the King of Fire tavern. Inside is crowded with patrons of all sorts. In the pub area, filled with large rectangular tables, you can see and arm wrestling competition ongoing between a muscular orc fellow and a large warforged (Son of Bork), with a handful of other patrons shouting bets. 

 

Beyond the shouting, a halfling is performing a lewd song about golden dresses and glide wings. Ignoring this noise is a pair of human teens who look to be from the university, one with bright unnaturally red hair, the other a brunette. They appear to be studying a clockwork mechanism. Talking to them with a box labeled "ALMS FOR CYRE" you see another warforged, this one with a red sash around his waist and red crosses all over his body (Red Sash).

 

At the back of the establishment is the bar, and behind it is a blond halfling fellow with a large scar on his right shoulder. Talking to him is a rather androgenous elf with long silvery hair.

 

Finally, in the section devoted to gambling,  a cards tournament seems to be finishing up. On one side of the table is a goblin male with a grin stretching from ear to ear on the other side sits the all-in shifter (Thicket). 

 

Thicket manages to win his hand - thanks to a little cheating - and goes over to join those betting on the arm wrestling competition. Meanwhile, Red Sash convinces the girls to give a donation be helping them complete the clockwork dragon they were making by touching an out of place gear and popping it into place. Having received the donations, he asks for their names. The brunette gives the name Kara, while the red-head is named Ashley. Red Sash writes down their names and also moves to watch the competition, hoping for donations from the betting parties. Son of Bork manages to win his match. Having won, he picks up a stein of beer from a table (that was definitely not his) and drinks. Thicket attempts to - unsuccessfully - pick a pocket, while his cards competitor manages to pick Lell's pocket. Son of Bork finishes his glass and sees a shield with the Crest of House Ghallanda and takes it down from the wall to take a bite from that. The tavern goes silent, and the bartender threatens Son of Bork into putting the shield back. Lell receives a sheet of paper telling him to investigate the suspicious individual - the warforged. He moves forward and introduces himself to Son of Bork. Instantly upon noticing Lell, Son of Bork picks him up, affectionately calling him "Hornswaggle"...

 

Suddenly, a fire breaks out and there are patrons running about. The elf at the bar sneaks out the back, and Lell gives chase with Son of Bork quickly giving chase after Lell. Thicket, not wanting to be involved in the fire, rushes out of the back of the bar as quickly as he can. Red Sash, meanwhile, attempts to save a patron surrounded by fire by walking directly through the fire.

 

Thicket runs into a man he'd been caught cheating against - a muscular dwarven fellow by the name of Kiel Tarvernworth and promptly turns around, catching up to Lell in the process, as Son of Bork had managed to catch Lell and pick him up (again). The two make a deal, and Thicket shifts to catch the elven fellow while Lell negotiates with Kiel, convincing him to wait for them later by giving him a 1 Galifar (gold) down payment on Thicket's debt to the man. Thicket manages to catch the elf, and Lell interrogates him only to find out he was only a guest lecturer at the university and didn't want to get caught up in the fire. They let the elven man go. 

 

Meanwhile, Red Sash fails to convince the man to let him save him, and the patron blinks away quickly. Frustrated, Red Sash starts to gather volunteers to put out the fire and aid the tavern. Lell, Son of Bork, and Thicket also help with relocating the stock in return for the promise of coin. The fire out, the group goes their separate ways. 

Spoiler

A couple of things on Zarantyr 1. The bard in the bar was a reference to Son of Bork's player's previous character and the escapades he got into with the group. Kara's full name is Kara Malheur, and Ashley's full name is Ashley d'Cannith. Ashley d'Cannith is based on one of my player characters, usually nicknamed Ashes. She was originally a red herring for Mr. Mouse, Red Sash's player.

 

(Zarantyr 2 coming tonight)

Thoughts/comments appreciated! I have no IRL dm friends to talk to about this campaign...

Edited April 4, 2019 by Paradoxical Mouse
Spoiler note

[Paradoxical Mouse]

Mol 2 Zarantyr, 998 YK
 

Morning came with the group separated. Son of Bork had spent the night in the burnt tavern, Red Sash sat in "sleep mode" in a richer segment of the city, Lell got a room at a local inn, and Thicket went back to his "hidey-hole" in Lower Menthis. They each greeted the morning to the sound of town criers calling out "Arson suspected at King of Fire Tavern! City Guard investigating!". Red Sash followed a crier seeking donations by calling out after every call "See how they have lost their livelihood, their home! Now imagine this plight on all of Cyre!". Lell, with his mission being reiterated from the day prior with a deadline now of 5 Therendor, went to seek out Son of Bork. Having heard about the suspicion of arson, he started to investigate himself after he found Son of Bork still at the same tavern. Thicket heard about a reward for the arson's discovery, so he also came to investigate the arson. The group - excluding Red Sash - found an originating mark which was conical in nature, suggesting a flame started by magic, in the dining area of the tavern.

 

The trail running cold, the group began questioning people around middle Dura about this fire. During this, they came across another fire - one that apparently had just broken out. Son of Bork goes to the fire and comes out with a keg. The group spots a figure pulling down long sleeves and hurrying away from the scene and give chase.

 

The chase leads the group to Upper Menthis - specifically, Morgrave University. There, the manage to follow the figure to the dorms - Thicket sneaks off on his own, while Lell approaches the front door to request admittance. Denied, he steps back, trying to think of a way to get in. Almost immediately, Son of Bork walks up with a keg, says "Keg Delivery" and walks in, right past the now befuddled guard. Lell uses this as an excuse, claiming to be a guest lecturer and going to chaperone the party that appears to be about to happen. The guard, still dumbfounded, lets him by. Son of Bork manages to quickly get the dorm into a rowdy party, and Thicket sneaks in with the noise of it all. While Son of Bork drives the party, Lell and Thicket split up to find the figure - someone that Lell had identified as a brunette female. 

 

Eventually, Lell manages to find her - in a study area in the Western side of the dorms. She's pouring over a book of dragonmarks and history of the dragonmarked houses, meanwhile staring at the large mark on her now bared arm. Lell, realizing this is an aberrant mark, uses telepathy to say "Oh, you poor thing" to the girl. The girl - Kara - jumps and turns around at the sound, and the mark flares, letting out a burst of burning hands. Lell managed to quickly get away with only a singe and uses sleep to temporarily incapacitate her, but not before the fire from the mark lights the study room on fire. He quickly goes to fetch Son of Bork to carry her out. Amidst the now ensuing chaos of fire and partying, Thicket finishes his search and hurries back to the front, meeting Son of Bork and Lell on their way out.

 

The three quickly leave the university grounds after Thicket ties Kara up outside of the reach of the fire. Outside the university, the three are confronted by a group of 4 guards, who attempt to apprehend the trio for having visible weapons in Upper Menthis. The three manage to knock out all 4, but not without a call of "Borkson!" from Lell to Son of Bork.

 

Retreating quickly down the towers, they run into Red Sash in Middle Menthis, who realizes who Kara is almost immediately and follows them down to Thicket's "hidey-hole" - a dilapidated house in the Downstairs district of Lower Menthis. Now in safety, the group begins to discuss what to do about Kara. Thicket is afraid of the aberrant mark and believes they should turn her in to the guard in exchange for a reward. Lell, being well-read, isn't afraid of the aberrant mark and instead is thinking they should help her go back to the university - maybe find someone to help her learn to control her aberrant mark. Red Sash, realizing Kara is gagged, pulls Kara's gag out of her mouth at this point. She gives them her full name - Kara Malheur - and tells them she isn't sure who to ask, or what to do. Thicket, realizing the rest of the group isn't going for his idea of turning her in to the guard, mentions House Tarkanan in hopes that taking her to them would result in a reward for him (and maybe the rest of the group). After a discussion of the options, Lell ends by asking Kara what she wants to do. Nervous about the idea of potentially hurting others on accident, Kara chooses to go to House Tarkanan for protection and training. 

 

--- END OF SESSION 1 ---

 

Thicket goes to meet his criminal contact, Sharp Tooth, to ask him to put him in contact with House Tarkanan. On his way there, however, he is confronted by Din, a half-orc enforcer for Draask. Din informs him he has to make a payment of 20 Galifar on his debt to Draask by sunset on Zarantyr 3. Thicket agrees before warily running off to actually meet with Sharp Tooth. Sharp Tooth tells him to meet with House Tarkanan at sunrise the next day at the Poisoned Apple tavern in Lower Dura. Thicket hurries back to the his hidey-hole. Back at the hidey-hole, Red Sash gives Kara back her donation as he thought she needed it. He then proceeds to scare Kara with various poor attempts at reassuring. He tells her "you should check your eye gaskets, because they appear to be leaking". Lell saves the day, intervening as he felt Kara had dealt with enough that day. 

 

Upon Thicket's return to the hidey-hole, Thicket and Son of Bork go out to the streets of the Downstairs district, where the evening hours bring out crowds of quickly drunk patrons of the various bars and taverns. Son of Bork receives various drunken kisses and hugs before his Shorts of Jimmy John are pulled down by a drunken reveler. Enraged, Son of Bork lifts the drunken reveler into the air and throws him 10 feet, starting a riot of drunkards through the streets. He takes down wave after wave of minor attackers before he is challenged to a fight by a large, inebriated ogre. He, of course, accepts, and begins the duel. The ogre pulls out his club, and Son of Bork interprets this to mean "to the death". Thicket places a bet on Son of Bork winning against the first guy who'll take it. Son of Bork gets the first hit of before the ogre manages to smash his club down. The hit from the club leads Son of Bork to go into a rage, and Thicket to fear for his bet. Thicket pretends to be bumped by the crowd into the guy he'd bet against to sneakily throw a dagger into the ogre's calf. Son of Bork gives an easy smash against the ogre. He then distracts the ogre by declaring "What's that over there?". The intoxicated ogre turns his attention from Son of Bork to turn around and look "What? I dun see anythin!" Thicket slides in another dagger throw - this time his dagger is definitely noticed by other watchers of the fight (and the ogre himself), and Thicket resolves to watch the rest of the fight without intervening. The ogre smashes into the ground a couple more times, and Son of Bork cleaves through the ogre's chest, killing him where he stood. Son of Bork then attempts to begin an uprising against Upper Menthis. The crowd mostly ignores him, their bloodlust satisfied by the battle that just occured in front of them.

 

Thicket goes to confirm the meeting place with House Tarkanan, having collected his bet, while Son of Bork collects alcohol from a tavern nearby. Thus, they all settle for the night, spending the night in Thicket's hidey-hole with Kara Malheur.

 

 

----

Note - if people tell me they'd like to see Son of Bork's backstory here, I'll copy it to the original post.

Edited April 5, 2019 by Paradoxical Mouse

[Paradoxical Mouse]

 

Zol 3 Zarantyr

 

The group goes to the Poisoned Apple to meet House Tarkanan. Upon meeting the member, Thicket pulls the man aside to ask about a reward. The member tells him the House will offer 1 free assassination! Thicket keeps this information to himself, disappointed it wasn't a monetary reward. Having been taken into the protective custody of House Tarkanan, Kara tells the group that if they are ever in need of anything to contact her. After a couple of remarks from Son of Bork and Thicket, she turns to Lell and repeats "If you are ever in need of anything, contact me." Lell returns the sentiment, saying she can contact the group if ever in need. 

 

Journeying to the adventurer's guild in Upper Dura, the group looks upon the bounty board to see the bounties offered.

 

Quote

Help Find Mr. Kitty

Offered By: Kail Reilan

Reward: 5 Crowns

 

Quote

Seeking Bodyguards for Trip to Xen'drik

Offered by: Professor Xenlin of Morgrave University

Reward: 2 Galifar/Day

 

Quote

Reward for Any Information on Violent Warforged Criminal "Borkson"

Offered By: Menthis Guard

Reward: 10 Galifar

Spoiler

DM Note - at some point Thicket gives information on Son of Bork for the reward, but I didn't notice my message in time. So, the guards just missed him as he left Upper Dura. This happens later, but should be noted with this poster.

 

Quote

Seeking Contestants for Grand Arena in Middle Dura!

On Far 6 Zarantyr!

200 Galifar to Winners!

 

Quote

Wanted: Arsonist of Middle Dura & Upper Menthis

Offered by: Sharn City Watch

Reward: 5 Galifar

 

Quote

Seeking any information on disappearance of Kara Malheur

Offered by: Ashley d'Cannith

Reward: 10 Sovereign

Spoiler

Yes, that is the same Ashley from before.

 

Moving on separate paths, Son of Bork, Thicket, and Red Sash go to seek out Mr. Kitty. Thicket goes around looking for stray cats, while Son of Bork and Red Sash go to find Kail Reilan - a 5 year old human boy. He interacts with Red Sash, outstretching his hands as far as they can go when asked what Mr. Kitty looks like "He's THIIIIS big". Red Sash nods, asking more questions, only to be interrupted as a large dog runs by chasing a fat house cat. "MR. KITTY!" Kail exclaims, and Son of Bork attempts to grapple the dog. The dog poofs away out of his arms, toward Red Sash. Kail begins to run closer to Red Sash, holding a large collar. Pointing to the dog, "Mr. Kitty?" Red Sash asks of Kail, and the boy nods. With a few of Son of Bork's wrestling moves, Kail and Red Sash manage  to get the collar on the blink dog, which promptly calms down and nuzzles up to Kail. Thicket comes back holding a stray cat, and Red Sash looks at him, points to the dog, and says "Mr. Kitty." Thicket drops the cat, shaking his head. Kail promptly begins counting their reward "1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 10, 5!" and hands them 1 Galifar, 3 Sovereign, and 4 Crowns. Red Sash goes to correct him, and shakes his head. Red Sash tells Kail to get his brother to teach him math, and walks away, Son of Bork taking the Galifar. Red Sash hands the Sovereign to Thicket for making an attempt to find "Mr. Kitty". 

 

Meanwhile, Lell goes to find Ashley d'Cannith. Finding her in the dorms - now filled with various temporary housing for residents of the West side - he tells her he's a member of her class and that Kara is ok - he'd seen her that morning and she said she might not be able to talk to Ashley for a while. Ashley accepts this answer, hands him his sovereign, and begins rambling about how glad she is to hear that Kara is ok and how she wishes she could offer more, but she's saving up funds for a trip to Droaam.

 

The four end up meeting back up at the adventurer's guild to decide their next course of action. Before anything could be decided, Kiel Tavernworth comes out of the Guildmaster's chambers and sees Thicket. He tells Thicket he'd better either give him 10 Galifar on the spot, or join the guild. A bit short on money, Thicket agrees to join the guild and Red Sash decides to join with him. They are led to a back area, where they are marked with the symbol of the guild on their left shoulders - a mark that looks rather odd on the warforged Red Sash. The pair sees the members-only bounty board, with only one posting currently on it.

 

Quote

Need Bodyguards for Trip to Droaam

Offered by: Ashley d'Cannith

Reward: 2 Sovereign per week, and any non-dragonshard treasure found

 

Red Sash, having realized who Ashley d'Cannith was from the earlier posting, eagerly takes a copy of this posting before they return to the group. He shows the rest of the group the posting. The group decides they are going to enter in the Grand Arena (mostly at Thicket and Red Sash's urging), and that they would take one of the bodyguard jobs. Yet again, the group splits and Red Sash goes to find Ashley.

 

Red Sash finds Ashley in her dorm, as Lell had, and begins to tell her about Kara. She tells him she has no reward left - a gnome had come and claimed it. Figuring that was it, Red Sash began to talk to Ashley before she stopped him and asked if he might still have any more information. Red Sash goes and explains the entire situation to Ashley, House Tarkanan and all. Ashley is immensely grateful but shares worries about her house and about the trip to Droaam. Red Sash tells her they will likely accompany her.

 

Red Sash also goes to visit Professor Xenlin, who promptly waves him off, as he needs to present "qualifications".  Red Sash leaves, having favored Ashley's case in the first case.

 

The group meets one more time before splitting up to do their own thing; they more or less agree they will be taking the Droaam offer, if it is still on the table after the Grand Arena.

 

Over the next few days, Lell researches Droaam, learning more about the plants - edible and not - and the threats awaiting them. <Mechanics talk - he will be getting advantage on survival checks and monster identification checks while in Droaam>

 

Thicket makes his payment to Draask - using the money he gained from reporting on one "Borkson" before.

 

Son of Bork, having befriended Kiel on Zarantyr 1, asks Kiel to join them in the Arena. Kiel declines, as he is a sponsor, but offered a sword stronger than Son of Bork's current weapon as a prize. 

 

--- END OF SESSION 2 ---

 

Spoiler

The sword offered by Kiel is a magical sword - I just haven't decided on its enchantment. We also have a fifth joining us next session (hopefully). My players aren't great at handling downtime. Also, now I've got to make 20 characters for them to fight against in the Grand Arena, as I decided it is a group tournament, and each team must be 5 large. Additionally, I decided I wanted them to have to make it through 4 rounds in order to win. They will also be asked to come up with a group name as part of the sign-up process for the arena.

 

Teams they will face (in order):

- Level 1 Spellcaster Party (from Morgrave)

- Level 2 Rogue Party (from Lower Dura)

- Level 3 Guard Party (from the Sharn City Watch)

- Level 4 Adventurer Party (from the guild)

 

Healing magewrights will be on hand, and attacks will be non-lethal wherever possible. Red Sash has a healers kit. Members will be instantly stabilized if possible.

 

So - that catches up to where we are at now. Comments, questions, and suggestions are appreciated!!!

Our next game is April 12.

[Paradoxical Mouse]

Spoiler

Preparing for the next arc, which will take the characters into Droaam and the Shadow Marshes where House Cannith currently has a deal with House Tharashk to ship as many dragonshards as possible to Cannith, Lell has received a message from the Trust mentioning a missing agent and suspicious behavior of House Tharashk. I think that should put them over the tipping point to go to Droaam. There, they will be helping Ashley d'Cannith retrieve crystals and eventually face an encounter I found - they will find Xaejil's chamber. Not sure if that'll be the In Search of Crystals arc finale, or if the finale will be dealing with agents of both Houses...that's a ways away, though...they have to make it to Droaam first.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Keep us posted!

 

The Auld Grump

[Paradoxical Mouse]

So a lot of things kept happening, and we've only had one session since last time - matches 1-3 of the Grand Tournament!

 

I don't know how to really do battle summaries, but they managed to win all 3...partially because I'm not great at strategy, and partially because they played smart. 

 

Party 1 - Students from Morgrave University - Level 1

-Druid (used entangle and frustrated the heck out of the party)

-Bard

-Wizard

-Sorceror

 

Party 2 - Ruffians from the Cogs - Level 2

- High elf rogue

- Goblin rogue

- Half-orc barbarian

- human fighter

 

Party 3 - The Guard - Level 3

All were fighters, 3 champion arc types and 1 battle master

 

The party chose their name, as well, to begin: New World Order. Chosen by Son of Bork and agreed upon by the other members. 

 

Next time, they are in the grand championship!

 

They will be facing a team of:

-Ranger (I don't remember the subclass)

-Battlemaster Fighter

-Circle of the Moon Druid

-Abjuration Wizard

 

All 4 are going to be level 4 and used to working together. The druid will start the match by using entangle on the party, then shape-shifting into something...haven't decided what yet. It needs a high con, though.

 

Unlike the previous 3 groups, they will be getting into their ideal battle positions and waiting for the party.

[Sanael]

This is all pretty great. It's very different than the Eberron I'm running right now (which is kinda the point of Eberron, after all). Your PCs have a great collective backstory, lots of stuff for you to hook into there.

 

I might have some time this weekend to finally type up my current campaign and post it. Would be fun for all of us Eberron DMs to have a pile of other NPCs to port over from time to time.

[PaganMegan]

I should keep a log like this.

 

I probably WON'T, but I SHOULD.