Realms of the Masterminds: Chapter III

"Danger, danger, danger" - Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter

NOTE: Be sure to read Whispers in the Dark Chapter I and II before reading this, as the campaign split into two different parts!

Standing amongst the bodies of the two fey who had died on their attempted escape from the goblin fortress of Feuerbrennt, Dawgsin gave them both the blessing of Bahamut, wishing them peace in their next life.  

"Cut off some of their hair," Ragnarok instructed, "we may have the chance to resurrect them at a later time."  Dawgsin did so without question, and Ragnarok put the hair in a pouch on his belt.

"We need to keep moving," Dawgsin said quietly, his raspy voice echoing off the stone walls.  Ragnarok nodded.  As they were about to leave, two more figures ran through the door: a half-orc and an elf maiden.

"We fight here!" the half-orc shouted at the elf.  Dawgsin looked at Ragnarok, who simply nodded.  Sensing the druid's thoughts, Llenherd's body tensed, ready for a fight.

They didn't have long to wait.  Two goblins riding wolves raced into the room, along with a couple foot soldiers. 

Dawgsin's hand flexed, and from the shadows, a short sword formed in his hand.  He drew a dagger in the other one.

The goblins barked commands in their native tongue, and the battle began.  

Ragnarok focused for a moment,

transforming into a large, gray wolf.

The elf un-shouldered a longbow and began firing arrows, throwing the goblin riders from their saddles and leaving only the wolves remaining.  Her half-orc friend and Dawgsin were eager to finish them off.

The elf continued to fire arrows, knocking the wolves into the pits where they could no longer harm the group.

"I thank you for your help," she told Dawgsin and Ragnarok.  "We are trying to escape this place."

"As are we," Ragnarok answered.  "If we join together, we would have a much better chance of leaving."

"I agree," the elf replied.  "I am Shaya Starfall, and this is my guardian, Torgal."

"My name is Ragnarok Senzez, and this is Llenherd," the druid replied.

"You are most strange for a lycanthorpe," Shaya replied.  "Noble, almost."  

Ragnarok nodded while Dawgsin informed them of his name.  The group lifted the gate, and stepped into the next pitch black room.  Ragnarok lit a sunrod, illuminating several groups of four-winged, flying creatures.

"Stirges!" Torgal yelled, charging into them and swiping them with his sword.  The half-orc soon took care of the bloodsuckers, leaving the rest of the group to examine the two dead bodies on the ground.

The bodies possessed enchanted armor made of snakeskin, as well as a staff with a symbol engraved on it.  Shaya recognized it as the sign of the Zyr Ryle, a neutral group typically dwelling in the Feywild.  The bodies also contained journals, the notes of which established that the travelers were attempting to reason with the goblins of Feuerbrennt, before trying to escape themselves.  They were traveling with a third companion, whose body was not found in the room.  Shaya took the journals, reasoning that if she was to meet the Zyr Ryle, they would appreciate having them back.

Torgal opened the doors to the next room, alerting two hobgoblin guards and their captain.  Before the group could react, they attacked.  

The guards soon proved to be an overwhelming force, knocking several of the party unconscious.  The captain ordered the guards to finish them off, while he went to alert his superiors.  Seeing a weakness, Dawgsin was able to finish off the guards and help his friends, who realized that backwards led deeper into Feuerbrennt, yet the road ahead led to the hobgoblin captain and his commanding officers....

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This is the first time I got to actually play DnD in a long time.  I'm usually always the DM.  I usually only play one character instead of four, but that was actually a small annoyance.  I caught on pretty fast, and have different personalities/voices for each character.  That did mean that I would interact with myself on occasion, but it was all in good fun.  I got the hang of playing 4 characters pretty quickly, and I look forward to continuing this story.

The Little Sibling DM did a really good job.  He kept the game moving forward, and at some points, he was cheering for the party to succeed (he's too nice, haha).  I could tell by the end he was feeling pretty confident, so I'm glad that we're going to continue the game as is.  My party earned enough experience to level up, so I get the joy of doing that too.  I plan on playing a bit in the next week, so expect to see more updates on the DnD games (I plan on getting the Grave Secrets group together to play).

Until next time!