Blackmoor Campaign pt. 6.

[William]

On Saturday the 23rd of March we continued with our Blackmoor campaign. In the three weeks previous we have had two sessions of board games, plus one Saturday of no gaming due to a member of the group attending a wedding. We are all pleased and excited about continuing with our campaign.

The players are now about to have another adventure with a Keep in it (this time not a ruined one), as they are to embark upon a quest across the domain of Blackmoor to The Stormkiller Mountains, where I have set the (originally setting generic) module B2 The Keep on the Borderlands. Within the Kingdom of Blackmoor the mountains are technically on the borderlands, as at around their location point (the exact location of the border within the mountains is sketchy at best) is the border leading into the Thonian Empire. The mountains themselves are home to a good number of Dwarves, but unfortunately they are also the home to a good number of Orcs. Both groups fight with each other, but this fighting is not why the adventurers have been sent there.

The good King Uther of Blackmoor has hired the adventurers to travel to the Keep (this time a bigger journey than in their last adventure, it being a distance of 114 miles just to the edge of the mountains) and to use it as a base in order to explore the surrounding area. He has heard that the forces of chaos are growing within the mountains, and due to the success of their last adventure (something he heard about through Sildonis - "The WIzard of the Wood") he regards them as suitable for the mission at hand. Due to the current war with The Egg of Coot, Blackmoor has enough troubles of its own to deal with without chaotic forces getting out of hand upon Blackmoor's border. The Thonian Empire is also a threat to Blackmoor, although admittedly only a small threat at this time, but there is always a chance that the empire is behind the growing force within the mountains.

The following adventurers are to embark upon the mission:
Kay Rocklin - the human Merchant (now 2nd level after the previous adventure).
Stefan Paske - the human Sage (also now 2nd level).
Ari Wildfellow - the halfling Thief (also now 2nd level).
And a new adventurer - Percival Svenson (named after Greg Svenson who took part in the original Blackmoor campaign as run by Dave Arneson), a 1st level human Cleric, and a member of The Church of the Facts of Life.

They will accompanied once again on their travels by their hireling Abbie Megarry, a Ranger who is still 1st level (due to a more passive role within the group) who does their menial jobs for them whilst they explore places of danger and disrepute. Abbie is also on standby should a longbow be needed, and also for any tracking requirements (both of which will be more of an issue this time, as they will also be doing some wilderness exploration rather then just travelling and dungeon delving). There are other missile weapons within the party, but only one longbow, and it is obviously more powerful than the slingshots and short bow and thrown daggers that the rest of the party are using.

The session began unsurprisingly with the generation of Percival, and once that was done the adventurers from the previous adventure were contacted by a messenger accompanied by a member of the guard from Castle Blackmoor. The message was as follows:

Due to their recent success obtaining a magical item for the Sildonis, "The Wizard of the Wood", King Uther has a job proposal for them. For a reward of 2,000 gp to be shared amongst them, and their travel expenses to be paid, the adventurers are to travel to The Stormkiller Mountains to take residence within Stormkiller Keep. They will use the Keep as a base of operations to search for caves within the surrounding area around the Keep, as King Uther suspects that there is a fledgling growing force there that is preparing for a future assault. This force, King Uther suspects, is going to raid The Kingdom of Blackmoor, and it is up to the adventurers to find out information on this force and to report back to the Castle. The King has already hired a young Cleric who is willing to accompany the adventurers, in order to replace the sadly deceased Gregor Williams.
The inhabitants of the Keep will have no idea that the adventurers are going there, but the Keep regularly hosts travelling guests within its grounds so the adventurers are to secure themselves temporary accommodation there. The adventurers are to carry a letter from the King stating that they are doing a study of wildlife within the area, as he (the King) does not want there to be any places where travellers can be in danger from wildlife on the roads along the borders of the kingdom. Under no circumstances at all are they to declare that they are acting as spies, as the inhabitants of the Keep, as far as the King knows, do not know that there is the beginnings of a hostile force within the area. Should the adventurers be able to put a stop to this force AND be able to prove it, the King will grant them a bigger reward than what has already been offered. Otherwise the King expects, should the adventurers accept their quest, full information on the fledgling force that is gathering within the local area.

The adventurers (naturally) accepted the quest, and they were given 200 gp to use between them for expenses. They also had an introduction to Percival Svenson, followed by a quick shop for provisions and travel goods, all of which provided further opportunities for roleplay. They then left the town of Blackmoor and set their way along The Elf Road on horseback.
About 30 miles along The Elf Road the road forks, and there is a choice of continuing along The Elf Road proper, or going south east down Williamsfort Road to the town of Williamsfort itself. Knowing that this eventually leads to The Stormkiller Mountains they naturally took this route, but they also decided to set up camp to rest for the night and to give the horses some rest too. They took it in turns to watch for any kind of attack through the night, but luckily there was no wandering encounter wanting to raid their camp.
On day two they were attacked by bandits, but the adventurers successfully held their ground whilst creating a serious loss of hit points for the bandits, until the bandits eventually lost morale and fled. Abbie Megarry (run by one of the players) fired an arrow after them but unfortunately missed. Night two was also uneventful as far as attacks on their camp were concerned.
On day three the characters arrived at WIlliamsfort and decided to rest there until the next day, whilst also replenishing their rations. They were well behaved and courteous within the town, and that combined with the King's letter made their stay a peaceful one.
On day four they continued with their journey. The lowlands only lasted for another few miles before they reached hills, and then eventually they made their way up into The Stormkiller Mountains. Towards the end of the day they arrived at Stormkiller Keep and were asked about their business. They requested entry to the Keep, declared that they wished to rent temporary lodgings, and also declared their letter from King Uther. Upon being granted entry to the Keep our session came to a close until next week.

Bill

[merias]

I like the background and lead-in to B2. Glad the group has some levels under their belt also! B2 can be deadly for raw, 1st-level types.

[William]

Thanks!

Yes B2 can be lethal for 1st level adventurers, and unfortunately Percival is of that level of experience. However, I have created a wandering encounters table for the valley (I have made the wilderness area surrounding the Keep a valley within The Stormkiller Mountains) which may help them raise their experience before "the meaty bits", and they have zero idea where any of the caves are, so they have all the wilderness area to explore with all of its opportunities to garner more experience before things get dangerous.

I'm letting the players take turns playing the (previously) NPC Abbie during this adventure, as she has more to do than just mind horses and gear outside a dungeon, so she may also rise up in experience too (she's the other 1st level rookie). Also, Stefan is a Sage with some limited medical skills, so hopefully he may be able to help again a bit if people get injured (although the late Gregor's fatal injuries that he suffered near the end of their first adventure were unfortunately too severe for Stefan to deal with).

[badams30]

Cool intro and write up. Interested in following as you continue!

[William]

Thanks!