The party’s adventures in Barlsod continue.
The party now has several maps and a new NPC. They make their way to the inner city of Barlsod, feeling like they’ve gotten everything they can out of the Explorers’ League. There are knights waving people in, not really stopping to examine anyone. A young Elf runs up to the party.
Elf: Are you the group from the Golden Griffin Adventuring Company that brought the Knights of the Jaguar back?
Surina: Yes.
The young Elf squire hands Surina a rolled up scroll, which reads that the party is welcome to the inner fort and the hall of the jaguar for food. The squire, still standing there, hands another scroll to Surina. This scroll invites the party to an audience with the Lord Commander, Gourmand Stronghold. It is not quite dinner time, so the party decides to take their audience with the Lord Commander first. The squire, having delivered the messages, runs off.
There are tons of shops and markets as the party makes their way through the inner fort. The ground begins to slant upwards as they go further in. (Nature Octavia 17) The incline is not natural, it is definitely a man-made incline.
Octavia: Why do you think the Lord Commander needs to be on such a high hill?
Professor: I think he might be over compensating for something.
Lysithea: He might be sitting on top of the vault.
Gobbles: How do we know that this dude is not a dragon sitting on a hoard of magical artifacts?
Lysithea: That’s a possibility.
Gobbles: I guess we’ll find out shortly. I mean, that would answer the question as to why he’s collecting all this stuff and not doing anything with it.
The party heads to the inner workings of the fort. This area is even more guarded than the outer. (Stonecunning Professor 19) The stones of this area are super intricate and defensive. The quarry that was used are from the top Dwarvish mines, being built to withstand an invasion. All along the walls are giant war engines. (Perception Gobbles 13, Surina 14) As Paladins of Bahamut, Gobbles and Surina realize there are weapons designed to defeat dragons. The fort is designed and prepared to defend itself against anything and everything. (Arcana Lysithea 18, Professor 18) There are also magical defenses within the inner walls. (History K’un-Lun Nat 20) The fort was not like this a thousand years ago. The defenses have been built up over time, becoming more impressive as time went on. As the knights encountered different battles and challenges their equipment and strategies evolved.
The inner part of the inner fortress is circular with a circular walkway. There are sections to the circle, each displaying a banner of the different knight houses. Each section contains the knights’ barracks, living quarters, and eating quarters. There’s grass, but Octavia notices that the grass isn’t natural – it’s magically grown. In the center, flying the multi-colored banner of all 7 houses, is the Lord Commander’s area. The party approaches the section of the Lord Commander and are stopped by knights.
Knight: Only those with summons can enter.
Professor snatches the summons from Surina’s hands, stands on his tiptoes and waves the summons in the knight’s face.
Professor: Let us in.
Knight: Right this way.
The area is palace-like, with stairs leading up, an armory to the left, banners and statues about. The knights of the Lord Commander are all wearing the multi-colored symbol. The party is led into a meeting hall. A representative knight from each house is present. The Lord Commander, a Dwarf with a huge, grey beard wearing heavy armor, is sitting at the back. Even though he is relaxing back in his chair he is very obviously ready for battle. He is old and grizzled, mean-looking, and prepared for anything.
Knight: Introducing Surina, Knight of Bahamut, Gobbles, Knight of Bahamut, and the Golden Griffin Adventuring Company representatives.
Lysithea: Oh, is that all we are?
Gobbles: Surina and others.
The knights stand at attention as the party walks down the center.
K’un-Lun: I could get used to this. I finally feel like a hero.
Lysithea: I am uncomfortable. *stands straighter*
The Lord Commander clears his throat, and speaks in a voice that echoes and bellows from behind his beard.
Lord Commander: Greetings and welcome, travelers. This is the knightdom of Barlsod and I am pleased to welcome you here.
Professor: Thank you for inviting us Mr. Gorgon Handhold.
Lord Commander: That is.. No! I am Lord Commander of this stronghold, Gourmand Stronghold!
Lysithea: *voice cracking* Thank you for inviting us, Lord Commander.
Octavia: What she said.
Lord Commander: Yes. You brought back my knights after a terrible circumstance, so it was the least I could do to meet you all. So welcome.
(Arcana K’un-Lun 4, Gobbles adjusted 20, Octavia Nat 1, Surina 16, Professor 26, Lysithea 9) Gobbles senses an unsettling amount of magic emanating from the commander alone. Professor notices there are layers upon layers of magic in this area. It is uncomfortable how much magic they are standing on top of, causing Professor to sweat.
Professor: This is an ungodly amount of magic. This is too much.
(Insight Gobbles 14, Professor 10, K’un-Lun 12, Surina 19, Lysithea 22, Octavia 16) They can tell just by his swagger that the Lord Commander knows that if he were to fight against anyone in the land he could win. He is gloating in the amount of power that he has. The party is extremely uncomfortable in his presence, giving each other looks indicating how much they do not like this.
Lord Commander: Thank you very much for helping my men. And thank you for coming here to be my guests. I invite you…
He points out the window to a huge stadium beyond the walls.
Lord Commander: … to take part in and enjoy our Thunderdome Wrestling. We have shows quite often out there.
Octavia: What gets you into the Thunderdome?
Lord Commander: Do you want to compete?
Octavia: Nope! It’s not a punishment, is it? You don’t make prisoners compete?
Lord Commander: We don’t take prisoners here.
Octavia: What do you do with people who break the law?
Lord Commander: What laws have been broken?
Octavia: It’s just a hypothetical question.
Lord Commander: No one breaks laws here.
K’un-Lun: That’s eerie.
Octavia: Okie dokie, that’s a great answer. I’m not going to ask anymore questions.
Lord Commander: Our knights are reputable and good and honor bound.
Gobbles: Is the Thunderdome survivable?
Lord Commander: Of course!
Octavia: In a situation where someone did break a law, what would you do to them?
Lord Commander: Make an example out of them.
Octavia: By…? Throwing them in the Thunderdome?
Lord Commander: No, the Thunderdome is an actual sporting event.
Octavia: Okay, that’s all I need to know. So if we get captured we won’t be thrown in.
Professor: I think we just get launched by catapult.
Lord Commander: Commander Calus mentioned that some of you had questions about our magical vault.
Lysithea: Just pure curiosity.
Lord Commander: Come with me.
He jumps down from his seat and walks down some back stairs.
K’un-Lun: I think we should follow him.
The feeling of magic is beyond uncomfortable here. There is a huge, comically big, Scrooge McDuck type vault door. The commander reaches behind his big beard, into his armor, and pulls out a key. He inserts the key into the vault door. Appearing from behind the party the 7 knight representatives each pull out a key, shaped like the animal of the house they represent, and insert their key into the vault door. The commander then takes the giant wheel lock on the door and spins it. The vault door opens to reveal a stairway leading down. The Lord Commander leads them inside, but the knight representatives remain outside the vault door.
Down the steps are cubbies, like in the Explorers’ League, but these are sealed. Each cubby is filled with magical items and ancient artifacts.
Lord Commander: As you can see, we go and collect artifacts that should not be in the hands of others. In fact…
He points to a cubby with 2 amulets hanging, each with the jackal symbol.
Lord Commander: …we have 2 of these amulets. Now, these are not magical anymore. The gems that were inside cracked and disintegrated. But you would know that already.
The party comes to the realization that the Lord Commander knows a great deal more about them than they would like.
Lysithea: Unfortunately so.
Lysithea has the third amulet and is really hoping that the Lord Commander does not know this. She does not want to give him any more magical items, functional or not. Across from the amulets they see a broken statue of Queen Themaphila that the party destroyed (see Session 18). Somehow the knights got their hands on it.
Lysithea: Oh, we recognize that…
K’un-Lun: That was fast.
Octavia: Yeah, they’re efficient. Efficient and scary.
Lord Commander: We are here to defend the land of excessive use of magical artifacts. They should be kept.
Professor: So you just hide them away.
Lord Commander: Yes.
Professor: And you do not touch them?
Lord Commander: That would be against our code as knights.
Lysithea: This is definitely… safe…
Professor: What about your code as seekers of knowledge? Hm? You just hide these things from people who could study and learn?
Lord Commander: Our sages marked them as dangerous.
Professor: And that’s it?
Lord Commander: Yes.
Octavia: What gave you the authority, sir?
Professor: What made you judge, Judy, and executioner?
Lord Commander: The role of the knights of Barlsod have always been to protect the land.
The party really does not like the Lord Commander, especially Octavia and Lysithea, who has gone deadpan knowing that she has even more magical artifacts than the party knows about. The Lord Commander was pompous enough to show the party the first area of the vault, but smart enough to not show them the rest. They do not trust him and would like to be away from him as soon as possible.
Lysithea: I am very appreciative of your showing us of this.
Octavia: Thank you for gloating.
Lord Commander: Yes. If you ever come across any artifacts in our travels please let us know.
Professor: We assure you that we would not.
Octavia: Professor’s a liar. We sure will.
Professor: What?
Octavia: Shhh! I don’t want to die today.
The party looks around a bit more and realizes that everything in this area has the theme of the jackal.
Professor: What’s with the jackal?
Lord Commander: That image, as our sages have studied, is of the god Anubis, who is this dealer in death. Recent excavations have turned up a bunch of artifacts from this god and we are trying to recover them. As you all know.
Lysithea: Yes, we’re very familiar with some of these.
Lord Commander: I’ve gathered that. You were there for the amulets.
Lysithea: Yes, we got to experience their power first hand. T’was very unpleasant.
Lord Commander: Now, to calm some suspicions that I assume you all have. We would never use any of these weapons. Our knights are equipped with just the mundane magical items we have found. No artifacts.
Professor: I don’t believe you.
Octavia: *whispers to Lysithea* I’m still stuck on the fact that he thinks he’s the end-all authority on this.
Lord Commander: Come. I know you have a dinner to get to.
Professor: Yes, we must go.
They take their leave of the Lord Commander and his vault and begin to make their way towards the Red Jaguar dining area. As soon as the party is clear of his sight Lysithea takes out one of her notebooks and begins scribbling away notes about what she saw, what the commander was wearing, and the whole encounter. Gobbles makes a mental note to ask later if the magic coming from the commander was coming from him or his armor. Professor and Lysithea confirm that it was the gear. Take the gear away and you have a grizzled, old dwarf who can still probably give a good fight.
On their way to dinner they hear a big commotion coming from the training yard. They see Calus and Ursula sparring with other knights. There is an audience cheering them on. They defeat their first opponents, then take on two knights wearing green. They are evenly matched, putting on quite the show for their spectators.
Lysithea: I guess dinner is not ready if the knights are sparring.
They spot the party and ask if they want to spar.
K’un-Lun: Of course!
Lysithea: I’m not one for sparring.
Calus: Magic will be allowed. *cocky* Us four against your whole group.
K’un-Lun is taking this very seriously. He is ready to spar!
Calus: Don’t hold back on anything.
K’un-Lun: I wasn’t planning on it. *cracks every bone in his body*
The party will spar with Commander Calus and Vice Commander Ursula of the Knights of the Jaguar, along with Commander Oscar and Vice Commander Renee of the Knights of the Monkeys. The knights set themselves up on one side of the field, and the party on the other. They have a moment to either buff themselves or size up their opponents. Lysithea preemptively casts her Mage Armor. Professor uses his Necklace of Prayer beads to cast Bless on Octavia, K’un-Lun, and Surina. Gobbles observes Renee (perception 17), who is thin and nimble. She carries a bow and a short dagger. Octavia sizes up Calus,(perception 17) who is rocking a bow and arrow even though they previously saw him fight with a sword. He is in charge and in command, one with fighting. K’un-Lun eyes over Ursula (perception 22), who has a divine glow about her. She has amulets to some higher being on her and she is ready to strike. K’un-Lun is spellbound. Surina sizes up Oscar (perception adjusted 20), who has pouches of material on his belt, and a book in his hand. There is arcane energy flowing about him. He is very wizardly. (Initiative Gobbles 12, Octavia 21, Lysithea 14, K’un-Lun 7, Surina 3, Professor 15)
Begin Spar
Calus begins by shooting an arrow at Lysithea, hitting her twice for a total of 14 damage. Octavia fires an arrow at Renee (attack 26) for 12 damage, then another (attack 27) for an additional 9 damage. Professor throws out Bulette Bro and activates him. Bulette Bro fires at Ursula (attack 19), hitting her for 13 damage and pushing her back 5 feet. Out of Professor’s bag flies a steel bat – it is his homunculus servant! It flies forward and fires at Renee (attack 23) for 4 force damage. Ursula leaps into the air and throws 2 consecutive javelins at Professor, hitting him for 15 total damage. Professor is able to maintain his concentration on Bless. Gobbles attempts to cast Compelled Duel against Renee, but she is not fooled by his call. He then fires two Confetti Eldritch Blasts at her (attack 22, 14) hitting once for 9 force damage. Renee fires back at Gobbles but misses. Lysithea casts Scorching Ray. The first ray misses Ursula (attack 17), the second ray misses Renee (attack 12), but the third ray hits Oscar (attack 15) for 8 fire damage. He takes a Legendary Reaction against Lysithea, who now has a vision of a monkey attacking her for 2 damage. She rolls her eyes at the ridiculousness of it. Oscar begins to chant as he pulls out a component (Gobbles Wisdom saving throw 8) and turns Gobbles into a sheep.
Gobbles: Baaaah!
Lysithea: What did you do to my Goblin?!
K’un-Lun moves up to Ursula and attempts a Stunning Strike (attack 16) but the attack fails. He attacks her 2 more times, missing the first attack but making contact with the second (attack 29) for 6 damage. Luckily her Legendary Reaction misses. Surina moves forward and throws 2 javelins at Oscar, hoping to break his concentration on Gobbles (attack adjusted 20, 17). Her hits do a total of 14 damage, but do not break Oscar’s concentration. Gobbles remains a sheep. His wool begins to turn rainbow colors as Thistle has fun with his sheep form. Calus fires twice at Lysithea again, hitting her for 13 total damage. Octavia shoots at Ursula (attack 28, adjusted 20), hitting twice for 13 damage. Professor uses his Prayer Beads to cast Cure Wounds on Lysithea, healing her 12 points. Bulette Bro shoots at Ursula (attack 13) but misses. The homunculus servant fires at Renee (attack 19), hitting her for 4 damage. Ursula moves forward and attacks K’un-Lun, but he is able to dodge her attacks. Lysithea summons her Hound of Ill Omen and sics it on Oscar. The hound bites at Oscar (attack 9) but misses. She then shoots Fire Bolt at Oscar as a Twinned Spell (attack 14, 13). Both attacks hit for a combined total of 24 damage. Oscar maintains his concentration after the first hit, but it breaks after the second. Gobbles is no longer a sheep!
Gobbles: Chicken, moo!
The party hears an “Awwww” from Thistle, who is disappointed he can no longer paint Gobbles different colors. Gobbles hears a *clip clip* and looks at Thistle, who was holding shears. Gobbles moves forward and casts Arms of Hadar. Tendrils of dark confetti energy erupt from him and batter Ursula and Renee. Ursula uses her Legendary Reaction to save so she only takes 4 damage; however, Renee takes the full effect from the attack. She takes 8 damage and cannot make reactions till her next turn. Renee suddenly disappears and reappears behind K’un-Lun. Her sneak attack hits him for 21 damage.
K’un-Lun: OW!
She hits him again for an additional 6 damage. Oscar takes out some components and forms a huge circle around Surina, K’un-Lun, Professor, his homunculus servant, and Renee (Dexterity save Professor 14, K’un-Lun 19, Surina 6). Professor, his servant, and Surina each take 23 damage from the attack. The homunculus servant explodes, causing Professor to burst into tears. Lysithea pats him on the back.
Lysithea: I can help you make a new one if you want.
K’un-Lun and Renee take only 12 damage. K’un-Lun deals Renee a swift uppercut (attack 17).
K’un-Lun: Sneak up behind me, will you?
His attack does 7 damage, knocking Renee to the ground. She taps out and leaves the field. Even though she is not dead, K’un-Lun is able to use his Touch of Death to gain some temporary hit points. K’un-Lun turns around then uses his Flurry of Blows against Ursula (attack Nat 20, 24, 21), dealing 23 total damage. Surina moves to flank Ursula, then swings her sword (attack 25), activating Divine Smite upon hitting. Ursula takes 15 damage, falls down, and taps out. Calus moves forward to meet Surina in the field of combat. He draws his greatsword, lunges at Surina, and deals 19 damage to her. He lunges again, dealing another 10 damage to Surina. Octavia fires 2 arrows at Oscar (attack 21, 22), hitting him for a total 23 damage. Oscar drops to his knees and taps out. Calus raises his hand in the air.
Calus: We’re done here. Let’s go eat!
Whole Party: Yay!
K’un-Lun: Save yourself the embarrassment.
The party joins the Knights of the Jaguar in their dining hall and enjoy a grand feast together.
Check Out
Spotlight on Another Player:
- Miranda: Shannon for picking up an NPC.
- Liz: Ian for the blessing because that helped a LOT.
- Kevin: Both Liz and Miranda for how completely untrusting you were of the Dwarf Lord Commander.
- Ian: Liz for writing that wrestling poem in the beginning.
- Shannon: The NPC recognizing K’un-Lun. It made me so happy.
- Justice: Kevin’s special ability. No matter what I throw at y’all he can figure out its exact AC and everything about it.
Challenge/Something Learned:
- Miranda: Definitely learned about the Legendary Actions. That was great…
- Liz: Yeah, I didn’t know anything about Legendary Actions.
- Kevin: I learned that these Barlsod knights are not a footnote in our adventure. This is not a fly-over state.
- Ian: Don’t send my homunculus servant as a front-line fighter.
- Shannon: I learned that we could be way in over our heads being here.
- Justice: Designing a boss fight. I’ve learned how to design these characters to teach you all about boss fights coming up.
Hope or Prediction for Next Session:
- Miranda: I hope we make it out of this place safely and can start making our way to the jungle. I would rather face danger not here.
- Liz: I’m looking forward to leaving the stronghold because of how uncomfortable it is here. I don’t know how excited I am about the jungle but I want to get out of this stone building.
- Kevin: I hope that at some point we come back here, get all those keys, and have fun in that vault without any supervision.
- Ian: I predict that we’re going to run into Mr. Handhold again, perhaps in the near future.
- Shannon: I hope we come back and we stomp the Lord Commander at some point.
- Justice: I hope you keep moving along, go through the steps, because now we are getting into more story, and more dungeon delves are coming.
Analysis: This was a very world-building heavy session. There was a lot of roleplay as the city of Barlsod was explored. Even though Cordelia did not engage in the roleplay much we were happy with how attentive she was to the session. Her engagement doesn’t always show in the transcripts, but it’s there. She really enjoyed listening to the world develop as we played. Her vocals have become a bit louder when she acts in character. She still mumbles in hesitation, but it’s becoming more pronounced. Her progress continues.