And so the adventure begins

If you're here reading this blog, you probably know that I'm a huge geek. I love geek things. Some, not all. Video games, fantasy novels, podcasts, but my true passion is the Dungeons and Dragons. I've talked about it a bit before here, and on the podcast, but mostly it was just a pie in the sky dream. That has changed! I have a regular gaming group who seem to enjoy the game, and we've had two actual gaming sessions and they're coming back for a third! Because I love D&D and I love writing, I'm going to combine the two things and write about D&D! And so it begins..





First I'll introduce the motley cast of characters:





Name: Lix

Race: Changeling

Class: Rogue

Background:



Lix has a few vague memories about her family, mostly happy ones, but after that it's a gray area. She remembers being forcibly removed from them, but she doesn't know why. From there she remembers being lost in the streets of the strange city of Gemdeep and quickly having to learn skills to survive. She honed her street skills, using her innate abilities of disguise to master the arts of subterfuge and stealth, becoming deadly with her blade and shuriken. It wasn't long before her skill was recognized and she found herself a patron, a merchant who made his fortune financing exploration teams into ancient ruins and traded on the artifacts recovered. He required an agent to monitor the loyalty and abilities of those he employed, and so it was a natural fit for Lix. She was able to rasie out of the gutters into a life of relative comfort, and earn an honest keep for herself .



Name: Light

Race: Tiefling

Class: Warlock

Background:



The Illegitamite son of a whore from the dock district of Gemdeep, the life of this young tiefling was a struggle from the beginning. His mother neither wanted, nor cared for the boy, but out of some twisted sense of duty, kept him around anyways. Raised communially by the whores his mother worked with, he grew up without a father figure. The whores his mother worked with all had different tales of who his father was, but the image he took to heart was one of a dashing and brave treasure hunter. Wanting to emulate this beleived image of his father, Light took to "investigating" the cellars and basements of local shop owners, usually at the prodding of the older children in the docks, who fancied themselves local gangs. The "investigations" usually ended badly for Light, either being locked in the dark cellar as a joke, or resulting in a severe beating from the gangs taking his collected loot, or from the shop owners, or sometimes both. At around age 10 or 11, perhaps by chance, or fate, Light broke into the cellar of an elderly shop owner who kept an altar to ancient devils in his basement. The shopowner professed to have known he was coming, and indeed had waited a long time for his arrival. From there, Light was trained in the dark arts, embracing his heritage, and learning to master the power of his devilish ancestors. He kept true to his desires to become a treasure hunter, and as his last act before death, his master arranged for him to become an agent for a local merchant who made fortunes of such aspiring treasure hunters.



Name: Patrin

Race: Dragonborn

Class: Ranger

Background:



Patrin was born and rasied on the outskirts of the Evermire Swamp, several days travel from the luxuries of the city of Gemdeep. He had the misfortune of being born without a clan, without blood kin, and without a true family. He was raised by a gruff human, a self appointed guardian and scout of the Everrmire swamp, who trained him in the ways of nature and survival. An expert bowman, he imparted many skills to Patrin, but was unable to provide him with any information regarding his true heritage, or history. Fascinated with finding out more about where his kin could be, Patrin used the supply runs to Gemdeep to spend time researching his clan, though it took many years until he finally secured enough information to have a starting point. Almost immediately after the death of his elderly mentor, Patrin left his home to spend as much time as needed in Gemdeep. Deep within the ancient libraries of the temple of Bahamut, he found reference to an ancient and forgotten temple deep within the swamps, populated by an ancient clan of green skinned Dragonborn. Estatic with this new lead, Patrin left immediately to the swamps in search of his heritage.







The Party:



Having spies everywhere, Lix's Master had learned of Patrin's attempts at locating this temple. Indeed, the rumour of this ancient order of Dragonborn had been known to him for ages, but he had never had enough information to locate it. Due to some unforeseen "accidents" that had befallen many of his trusted field agents, the merchant, Lorona Rezea, was forced to rely on a new contact, a tiefling he had never worked with. Realizing the potential gain from this temple, he realized it was imperative that he have someone he trust accompany this new agent. He sent a messenger to arrange a meeting between Lix and Light at a local tavern within the merchant district of Gemdeep. The two met, and promptly began tracking the Dragonborns trail. Despite being a fledgeling ranger, the Dragonborn had little concern for covering his tracks, so the two were able to follow with relative ease. Lix and Light found the Dragonborn, several days into the swamp, coming upon him immediately after brutal altercation with a group of kobolds.

The leader of the kobolds had been captured by Patrin, and after some introduction between the three adventurers, the three interrogated the creature. They learned that the creature had been sent from its master, from an ancient forest located to the south of the Evermire swamps. The kobolds had become lost in the swamp after their map had suffered some fire damage, and they too were looking for the ancient temple, though their motivations were unclear, outside of the fact they were instructed by their master. The group released the kobold, only to have Light kill him as he fled, and from a bond formed of necessity, the three set out, deeper into the swamp.



Swamp travel is seldom easy, even to one such as Patrin, so at the behest of his newfound traveling companions, they took rest in a relatively dry clearing, amidst some ancient trees. Within a few moments of resting, the rogue, Lix noticed an abnormality in the local wildlife. Several large lizards had been littered around the small clearing, seeming devoid of both life, and blood. The dried out husks caused the rogue some worry, but before she was able to warn her companions, the source of these creatures death became apparent. As she dived behind one of the large trees to find a vantage, three large, bat-like creatures with foot long proboscis flew out of a hollow in the tree opposite her.



The party sprang into action, and althoug the creatures continued to swarm Patrin after initially drawing blood from her, they were able to defeat the creatures. Lix was able to show off her prowess in the battle by climbing up the tree, and hanging upside down from a branch, stabbing one of the creatures directly in the back of its head. Patrin, after wrestling one of the creatures from her neck, showed off her prowess with the bow by firing two arrows directly at it, though one veered of course, the other struck true. Light relied on his dark and fell magic to down the third, and thus the party defeated the first foes they fought as a group. Though it wasn't formally discussed, it was understood that a bond had now been formed, through the blood of their enemies.



From there the group continued on, engaging the more mundane hazards of the swamp, insects, ankle to waist deep swamp water, and the general lethargy that hours in a swamp can cause. The next major landmark on their map was a deep and ancient ravine, once a mighty river roared through it, but now, it was a dried out bed for underbrush and other creatures. A narrow tree crossed the ravine, which the group bravely tried to cross. Lix, the most agile of the group attempted first, and narrowly made it across. Second was Light who, as the least physically able, attempted to cross unsuccsessfully and tumbled down. Patrin, being the most compassionate attempted to climb down the side, but also fell. After ensuring her allies were ok, Lix lowered down a rope, with a snicker. As Light was acending the rope, a small and violent creature leapt out from the shadows at Patrin, grasping at her throat with his long, powerful arms. As the creature began choking Patrin, Lix bravely leapt down the ravine via the rope. Unfortunately for Lix, her agility did not match her bravery, and she as well tumbled into the ravine. The party engaged the Choker in combat and managed to defeat it, though Patrin took some painful injuries. Within the creatures lair, Lix managed to find a suit of enchanted mail, and a small bag of coins.



Rattled from their experience, and with all the party wounded from the fall and the encounter, the group decided to camp for the night. Fortunately, they were able to rest without much trouble, and summarily continued on with their journey.



After several more hours of swamp travel, they were forced to cross a wide, slow moving river. There was great tension with the crossing, as they were unsure of what the murky waters contained. Being a forward thinking group, Patrin was first to cross, taking with her one end of a rope. From there, Light pulled himself across the river as Lix and Patrin each held an end. Lix entered the water with great apprehension, and despite a moment of panic as a bit of weed tangled her leg, she crossed with little trouble.



The day passed on uneventfully, and as dusk began to settle in, the group came upon a small hut, deep within the swamp. An ancient looking half-elf in stained robes greeted them amidst the darkness, beckoning them to join them. They entered the small hut warily, where the half-elf introduced herself as Lissa, and prophetically informed them that while they were nearing their destination, their journey was only beginning. She deigned not to answer their questions, and before they were able to press her, she used a magical powder to put them into a deep slumber.

As they woke the next morning, they discovered her gone, but all of their gear had been neatly stacked next to them as they slept, with scrolls gently laid atop them, adressed to each of them personally. As they read the scrolls, they exchanged furitive glances, and stowed them away on their persons, declining to share the contents with each other. Before they were put into the enchanted slumber, Lissa had provided them with a more accurate map, and a specific route to get them to their destination. Off they went, with a renewed sense of direction and vigor.

Around midday, the sounds of battle assaulted them, so they cautiously approached a large clearing. Sending Lix into scout, the other 2 remained back. The scene before them was largely one of carnage. 3 Lizardfolk warriors were standing above the body of a massive crocodile, with the bloody and chewed up bodies of several more surrounding it. Patrin was elected the spokesperson for the group, as he spoke draconic. Negotiations were initially tense, as the Lizardfolk felt that the party had been trespassing upon their ancestrial hunting grounds, but Patrin was able to negotiate safe passage in exchange for the armor they had found earlier. Not content to give up their hard-earned rewards, Light abandoned negotiation and attacked the nearest of the Lizardfolk. It was a fierce and pitched battle, and one that almost cost the party dearly, had there not been intervention in the form of a brave young paladin who charged into the clearing, healing the downed adventurers and claiming the lives of the lizardfolk.

Stay tuned for more adventures!