We explore our first 2 areas of the Northern Wastes.
The characters (The Vingaardians):
- Drystan Silverhart – Level 6 Aasimar Paladin (Knight of Solamnia)
- Yseult De Lorimar – Level 6 Human Warlock (Noble)
- “Fletch” Siannodel – Level 6 Kagonesti Elven Ranger (Folk Hero)
- Sabelina – Level 6 Human Cleric of Gilean (Acolyte)
- Sidekicks: Hrigg Roundrook and Tem Temble
At the end of last session, the party had looked at the map squares that had been revealed of the Northern Wastes after our discussion with Dalamar and the Sylvanesti expedition, and had come up with a route of the three places we would check for clues on where, exactly, to find the City of Lost Names and how to get in. The plan was to start with the Blue Phoenix Shrine and then move on to Wakenreth, finally reaching the Sunward Fortress. Given their placement on the map, this seemed like the most navigable route. This session, we were able to get through the first two – the Shrine and Wakenreth.
The Blue Phoenix Shrine is interesting in that while as a dungeon-esque location, this is also the location where the players gain the most for the least combat – all they have to do is not be colonialist douchebags. My players aren’t colonialist douchebags (and one of the characters, Fletch, is a worshipper of Habbakuk), so this ended up being an easy portion of the session, with no combat, and the rather large reward of increased movement through the wastes. A party that busts in, basically acting like they’re Bill Maher and his writers (in terms of their view of the concept of religious beliefs and the people who have them), will get a bunch of monsters up in their grill and not a lot of cash. There is the additional plot hook here of some of the Dimernesti pilgrims who had come to the shrine have been captured by the Red Dragon army and taken elsewhere – and that the group who captured them had split up.
Wakenreth is the more involved of the two locations. There are multiple combat encounters that you’re supposed to fight, along with a traversal puzzle. The third level doesn’t have stairs and is only accessible through a large hole in the ceiling, so the players will need to be creative to figure out how to reach it. Finally, the party has to defeat a fairly large monster and follow some instructions to fix a misaimed portal to the Shadowfell, which also requires a Con check.
This section does provide some additional information on how things went down in the city of Onyari’s last hours, as well as what state the city might be in, plus a little bit of extra-planar excitement. Now, this is a situation where having a paladin in the party that can basically go Nova on the dungeon’s boss monster helped keep the fight a little simpler and shorter, but it also helped keep the session within the time we’d set aside for the session.
Next time, things get spooky.
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