To the Adventuring Academy¶
The goals of this arc are to get the party to the Adventuring Academy and cover some backstories.
Wolff Point Again¶
The party is one week of travel away from Wolff Point, the last major town between Kalkum and the Adventuring Academy.
Tirza Wolff, owner of Wolff Trading Post, has a dead, exsanguinated goat for the party. Sister Amelia has a communication pouch for the party. Balris Grirlei, owner of the Majestic Badger, has been told to be on the lookout for the party and set them a trap.
The Friends want to trap the party inside of an extradimensional space. Between burning down the homes of one of the Friends bankers and foiling the plans of the new allies of the Friends, the group has set a bounty on the party. The extradimensional trap is set inside of a book disguised to look like a red book of the elves.
No Creed¶
This is the last session for Creed. The end goal of the session is for Creed to ride off into the sunset with his food cart, working for the Lord of the Hunt.
One week out from Wolff Point, the party will be stopped on the road by an Ent. This Ent will ask the party to save a pair of dryads that have been captured by a hag.
The hag captured the dryads because they were planning on disrupting her plans to summon a mighty beast to take over this portion of the forest. She has left the dryads guarded by grells.
The hag completes the ritual as the party arrives. The beast is too much to handle, but the Lord of the Hunt will arrive to help finish it off and assert his claim over Creed’s services.
Dropping Hooks¶
The party is in the middle of the long journey to the Adventuring Academy.
The will find a few surprises along the road. First, new members will be joining the party. Secondly, Trickster posing as a tinker will be on the road to deliver some enciphered letters from Sisters being held by the Fey. The Trickster will also allude to a possible job in the future for the party once they find some more information at the Adventuring Academy. Lastly, while the party is resting, a group of monk assassins will attack the party and provide warning that these assassins have been hired to kill the party.
Hunted¶
The assassins will start hunting the party, focusing upon using traps and subterfuge to wear down the party.
Various traps will impede the party’s progress and the assassins will attack intermittently from great distances. If the party decides to track where the assassins are operating out of, they will be able to locate the encampment that the assassins are using. This particular group of assassins is preparing to steal magical artifacts from the Sisters, and they will have a collection of treasures stolen from the Adventuring Academy.
Trading Favors¶
The party was surrounded by assassins and took refuge in their magical house. Overnight, while the party rested, the assassins surrounded the house with traps in preparation for the morning.
However, when the party was researching options for escape, they accidentally triggered a magical trap left in the supplies given to them by the Friends. This trap malfunctioned, and the party was shrunk and transported into an extradimensional mansion that the Friends leadership uses to meet.
The archwizard Wahn, leader of one of the factions of Friends, encountered the party but mistook them for new recruits. His imp, Fistandia, is willing to help the party escape in exchange for releasing the mimic in the basement of the mansion. He will show the party a control device for the house and will shrink it down to their size for their use.
Backtracking¶
The party successfully escaped the Friend’s extradimensional headquarters and took their house back to Kalkum. Unfortunately, navigation of the ley lines is difficult and they landed one week away from Kalkum.
Once the party makes their way back to Kalkum, they will have the ability to collect some intelligence:
The Sisters have had a mysterious group recovering captured Sisters from Fey POW camps and receiving rewards for their return
The Sisters would appreciate anyone who can investigate this mysterious group
The Sisters have had to reinforce their vaults from magical intruders who can walk through walls
The Adventuring Academy has reported similar theft of dangerous items
The Sisters are in negotiations with the Illithid Empire for food
The Sisters suspect that the Friends are conducting similar negotiations with other groups from the Astra Sea for food to turn into political and financial capital
New Lead¶
While the party is at Kalkum, the mysterious group that is recovering captured Sisters will arrive with more Sisters. This group is aware of the letter that the party received and says that the current map leads to a trap. This group does know the new location of the Sisters in the letter and is willing to bring the party along on a recovery mission.
Shadowdusk¶
There is a skill check to determine how long it takes the party to reach Shadowdusk based upon stealth and survival. The party may choose to take twice as long for advantage on a stealth check.
Once the party reaches Shadowdusk, they will encounter Melissara and Derrion Shadowdusk. Melissara will reveal that the captured Sisters are being held on the bottom level. She is willing to let the party take the Sisters, but they must first kill Zalthar and Dezmyr Shadowdusk, as well as their dracolich.
Reconnaissance¶
Exploring the first and second level of Shadowdusk will let the party gain information about the third level.
The two wizards on this level are willing to help the party in exchange for bizarre and convoluted favors. The price of these favors will likely be too high for the party.
Additionally, if the party finds the black crystal tablet, it will allow them to scry upon the third level.
Black Tablet¶
The party will continue to explore the second level, with the ultimate goal being locating the Black Crystal Tablet, which has a map for the entire third level. Additionally, an envoy for the Mother of Dragons will show up and request tribute from the party to ensure their safety as she attacks the Dracolich.
Planning¶
This session the party will have time to plan their attack upon the third level.
Battle¶
The party has three main threats, the Death Knight, the Archmage, and the Dracolich. The Mother of Dragons will focus upon the Dracolich and the party plans to start with the Archmage before going after the Death Knight. The Mother of Dragons will immediately go after the Dracolich, which will likely get the attention of the Death Knight. After the first of the Death Knight or the Archmage dies, the other will go on a suicide change against the rest of the party.