da gloopy RPG diary

The Friends sit at a table in Lugar del Aberton, an old stone district festooned with shrubs and grass and clusters of trees. Talari is deciphering a scroll. Balthazar, Siriel and Clement are beside him. Clement looks up. Across the road, beyond the bustling square, stands a man dressed in white cloth. He seems apart from the crowd. His robe is blowing like in a gentle wind. His face is obscured, silhouetted by a bright light emanating from some unseen point behind him. The sound of the city, it’s rustling leaves and stamping feet, slowly fade from clements ears. His vision changes, obfuscating yet clear, as if in a dream. He rises from his chair effortlessly, his old joints no longer fighting against him. As if magnetised, the steps towards the figure, the crowd having vanished the from the streets. With each small step he grows younger, his muscles returning to youthful strength, his posture uprighting itself. By the time he has reached the figure he is as he was at the height of his...

On a small island far to the east of the mere of dead men, and far to the north of the moonshae isles lies the pirate cove of Tynder Island. Upon it, in the scum-covered town of Ekkert Fædur, the pirates of Tawnys Temper can be found. Sett the Bastard, ruffian captain, sly, cunning, ready to piss off or punch up at anyone he meets. Skylar Brigshaw, marksman of a new kind of weapon, a metal pellet propelled by an explosive powder. Couatl, a scaled lizardmen with a hunger for human flesh and adventure alike. Silent Stede and his parrot, Crack McCaw, whos annoyance knows no bounds. Hafdan, half-orc, son of a storm giant and herald of the storm. Captain of the Orcs Revenge, a ship won from a slaver. Klynneth Stonecarver, a cleric of Gruenmawg who made the earth. A militant out to build a temple and rule the world. Zekia, dragon marked monk and survivor of death. She's a hardass. And Ianthe, the sea-witch, who knows things about the ocean, who wields fell sorcery at the peril of her cre...

The Friends awake in The Sharks Head Inn. Over breakfast, they discuss what they know. Beastmen of some sort have at least two bases in Solemnity. Talari is convinced this is a major operation, and the queen must be warned. One problem: despite two lobknights being in their party, the queen of Orthos is impossible to get an audience with. They don't even know where to start. In addition, the beastmen are still out there. The Friends decide they need more info to progress. This was an awesome session, at least for me. They investigated the city on its terms, treated it like a real place, and learned some things as a result. I felt the city come alive, and my prep was flexible enough to let them pursue what they wanted. There was a bit of light dungeon exploration, a lot of conversation, and some characterful moments. They discuss their leads and split into two teams: Rolf and Icoriol are going to head to the Ruby Promenade to St. Zoshk's War College to gain information on the ru...

Gonna start writing these more play report style cos I'm bored of writing and also I have a real writer in my group who is doing a way better job (link will go here). Going to put my notes in Italics so you know when it's storytime and when it's my GM notes. Where we're at:  After fleeing through a portal away from Nildazi, the realm of the evil sorcerer baron Voghtairi, they have made their way to Fort Duvno, the northernmost stronghold of Orthos, right on the border. They have in tow the barons kidnapped son, Rolf, whom they rescued from bandits. The party are intercepted at the gates of Fort Duvno by a swarm of guards. Their initial suspicion is swayed when they recognize the battered baronson. The group is rewarded 2000 gold by the baron. They also sell their table, netting another 6000 gold. They spend a week here to level up. I'm really liking this gold for XP and long resting system. They spent a while last session figuring out who was going to carry what, an...

The party leaves the coffin room, choosing to inspect the jade man more carefully. Gruffie mayhem knocks on the body. Each time she does, the stuff corpses animate slightly, lurching towards the jade man. They debate whether the jade man is worth the inevitable attack. They decide it is. Lobsang and Clement lift the jade man. At once, green and yellow flames erupt in the corpses eyes and they spring to life. As their forms crack and creak to life, black sand falls from their joints. A battle ensues, the foes breaking into black sand when damaged. Just when it seems their forms cannot hold themselves together anymore, voids form in their chest, spilling with black dust. It is found (when the dust is thrown into the face of the knight) that the dust can turn one mad temporarily, causing ones eyes to burst into green and yellow flame. When the last of the creatures is finally cut down, the Tayan Theras clerics take some of the dust. They talk in hushed whispers about the temporary madness...

The peaks of Nildazi are arid and dry, not cold like one might expect. Journeying northwest along a dusty road, the party sees the towering volcano, mightiest of the Nildazi Crags. When the road splits, they take the old stone road, long past it's prime, heading southwest. It widens and thins, leads through overhang tunnels and bridges over vast crevices with gargantuan arches. They pass a great stairway that leads to the volcano. The road forks again, meeting an old worn trail. At the fork a massive circular cave stands. It's getting dark, so they choose to rest inside. An attempt to find the caves back proves fruitless, the tunnels snake and intersect. Gruffie Mayhem knows these caves were burrowed by something large. She also identifies the strawberry-scented orange mold as that which grants protection from the cold and can fill your lungs with fire. In the night, Balthazar and Icoriol find the shed skin of a giant serpent. They leave at daybreak. Following the trail southwe...