Curse of Strahd Part One: The Order of Rorik

By -
Just a brief post for the first session. We were down Lydia, but the others wanted to start. This session saw a lot of interaction in the town of Goldenleaf, some world building (extended epilogue post Tyranny of Dragons) and some good ol' fashioned random drink table fun.

DM Notes

The party begins in Goldenleaf, with Driessa recruiting Caecillius and Anghar to work with her in the Order of Rorik, a group focused on doing good and helping rebuild after the destruction of the Cult of the Dragon.

Driessa, Caecillius, and Anghar are then issued orders by the Order to investigate Lord Albrecht’s missing son at Blackmoor keep. The party travels to the keep, and begins their investigation. The keep personnel found 2 slain guards by the creek where they were protecting the boy as he played. As it is late, the group decides to hold off  the bodies of some slain guards, and begins the investigation. They find Lord Albrecht to be a grotesquely obese lush, and his sister to be quite stern.

Because we decided to start at level 1, I chose to start with the module Ruins Beneath Firestone Keep, which I essentially ran straight up. It's a great starter module that I can highly recommend. 

The Personal and Private Accounts of Driessa Nomnialla ~

The cadence of time in Goldenleaf… predictable, routine, and fresh all at once. I appreciate the rhythmic formula to my days. It is a contrast to what I was told the outside world would be like. Instead of the chaos I was warned of, other beings are mostly interested in ensuring that nothing happens. My day’s work consists of making things happen so that nothing happens. The nothing is necessary for any town to function post Tiamat. Before I forget to write this down, I did mean what I wrote about time feeling “fresh.” Every day has ended that same since I arrived, except for today. I met two Beings this afternoon who were confusing to me. The first Being was a Dragonborn who was not evil but still alarmingly curt and disinterested in discourse. The second Being was a very inviting and inclusive individual with a face that showed both light and dark at the same time. I can’t describe it as much as I felt it. It was as though his spirit lifted when we began to speak and I am so curious about what brought him and his friend to that table in Goldenleaf tonight. “Flu ol sa scoultleem sito sealol.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Curse of Strahd Part 13: Dead Man Walking

By -
Image
Art by Jonpintar From the Journal of Vrice Kilcannon I had the first good night of sleep last night in the same place where we killed a vampire spawn, probably one of Strahd’s creation. It seems that there is some good in this world after all and it does my heart good. That is even after seeing the procession of dead that we witnessed the night before. Apparently, if we die here our souls cannot travel on. Now, normally this would concern me but I worship Kelemvor, Lord of the Dead, and I am sure his power over the dead is greater than any pathetic vampire. I will laugh in the face of Strahd if I die when Kelemvor shows him true power. [ Curse of Strahd Index ] [ Previous ][ Next ] The next day we start off on our journey to escort Ireena to the Abbey at Krezk. Along the way a mist appears in the road and a swarm of wolves attack us seemingly under the control of a dark shape in the mist with an intricate cane in its hands. Is this Strahd, have we already gained his
Read more

The Coming Around of a D&D Skeptic

By -
Image
“It looks fun, but I can’t imagine wanting to play anything other than D&D” --a phrase I found myself saying the other day, and then reflecting on how surprised my one-year-ago self would be to hear any version of myself saying that he wants to play Dungeons & Dragons. Yes, past me, Dungeons & Dragons. Deal with it. This is who you are now. I never thought I would like Dungeons & Dragons. I thought it was just kids playing make-believe and making up rules to go with (or against) the made-up rules of their dungeon master to get through their made-up dungeon with made-up characters with made-up abilities that they made up as they went. “There’s a chasm.” “Oh, well my character can fly.” “There’s a river.” “I’m a boat.” “The dragon attacks you.” “I turn the dragon into a kitten with my Spell of Turning Dragons into Kittens.” The dragon is defeated, and laughter ensues. It’s not a normal game, but people are having fun and that’s cool and all, but it’s no
Read more

Hoard of the Dragon Queen Journal Pt I

By -
Image
This is the first in a long series of In Character journals written by the players (mostly my friend Sean who is quite prolific!) detailing their adventures as I DM Hoard of the Dragon Queen. The Player Characters (and authors of their journals!) are: Sallos Zha Zhoala the Human Rogue played by Jeff Ennis Naïlo the High Elf Cleric played by Lydia Nithbis the Tiefling Druid played by Raven Yenorin the Half-Elf Fighter played by Nathan Danaeron the Wood Elf Ranger played by Sean Journals after the cut!
Read more