Of Gods and Dragons: Session Four

Last time, the players met with Jarvia, the silver dragon, and discussed steps forward for closing the rift to the gods' realm. Before meeting with her, they hung out at a tavern and spoke with the tavernkeeper about dragons, then noticed a burned symbol above their doors at the inn where they were staying. Brokk determined that the symbol was related to a joy and pleasure derived from playing games, and Aurora felt magically blocked from understanding it further. The following morning, they went and spoke with Jarvia, who gave more information about dragons, described her past, and implored the group to reseal the rift so that she and others could have a say in decision-making rather than have their choices dictated by magical energy. With Jarvia, they decided to go speak to Wing, the bronze dragon, in Vestry and teleported there. They obtained some books, many of which were meant to help them understand who and what Ollie (the mysterious stranger they met in Talon Gorge) was, then went to an inventor's guildhall to try to find Wing. There, their questions about someone named Wing and bronze tools made a red-haired gnomish woman deeply uncomfortable, and they suspected she was Wing. They left an address--Lethanin's parents' house--for the woman in case she found more information. 

This time, the party began by discussing the likelihood that the woman, who identified herself as Glint, was actually Wing, deciding that it was highly likely that she was in fact the bronze dragon. Setting to work, they prepared for a meeting with her and shopped for things to make their meeting more friendly and comfortable. They headed to a large marketplace and obtained carrot cake from a baker as well as a fine tea set and a collection of teas. While speaking to the baker, Lethanin was extremely stressed about the situation and muttered something about being beset by dragons who wanted to kill him, and the baker remarked that he must be crazy. Aurora was the one who attended to the tea set, and Lethanin grew frustrated, knowing that his parents would greatly enjoy the tea set, nervous about having to deal with them. 

Their supplies purchased, they set out for Lethanin's parents' house. On the way, they were surrounded by a group of bards playing gnomish folk music. Lethanin decided to match their playing and elevate it, basically challenging them to play at his level. One by one, the musicians dropped off, unable to match his skill, until Lethanin was left playing with a half-elven tuba player. They continued to challenge each other and themselves, and the tuba player, a man with a large and bushy handlebar mustache, let loose a barrage of music that left even Lethanin in the dust. Suspicious of a musician more talented than himself, Lethanin eyed the tuba player closely and ascertained that he was in fact Ollie in disguise. Aurora magically silenced the tuba, leading the tuba player, who introduced himself as Oliver, to complain that doing so wasn't fair. Aurora asked Oliver about the symbol they'd seen back at the inn, and Ollie said it was a thieves' guild symbol that meant the location should not be stolen from since it was allied with the guild. As the group continued to interact with Ollie, Aurora noticed that she tended to place a hand jauntily on her hip when telling a lie (or at least, what Aurora identified as a lie) but did not do so when saying things that they could confirm were true. Aurora tested this tell a few times by asking basic questions she knew the answer to, which seemed to confirm her suspicions. Eventually, Ollie left with the other bards to play more music elsewhere, and the group set out for Lethanin's parents' house, hypothesizing on the way that Ollie is both bound by rules and otherworldly, including in musical skill. 

Arriving at Lethanin's parents' house, the group met Dodira, Lethanin's mother, who said that his father was away at his workshop and she was just tending to chores. Dodira was delighted to meet everyone and asked what brought them to town. Aurora lied that they had come to obtain bronze alchemical implements because she was an alchemist; Dodira immediately grew suspicious because bronze tools for alchemy would throw off chemical reactions. Aurora pitched a complicated lie about coating the tools in chromium, which would preserve the bronzework but allow for purer reactions, and Dodira acknowledged that she was a metallurgist and was skeptical about whether that was practical or even possible. Aurora said that the process was highly experimental and secret, but would be willing to share details once the project was available to the public, and Dodira voiced high interest in learning more about Aurora's plans and methods. The group excused themselves, asking for a private space to speak with a vendor about the bronze tools; Dodira allowed them use of her study for the meeting. The group went to the study, Lethanin noting how strange it was to be allowed there as he hadn't been as a child, and waited for Glint. Glint arrived, and Dodira was more suspicious when Glint unconvincingly lied about being the vendor Aurora mentioned, already acquainted with Glint and finding it odd that so talented an inventor would make something so improbable. 

Aurora led Glint to the study and cast a spell that not only muffled their conversation but also created sounds that appeared to be a conversation about bronze tools. Glint immediately leveled with the group--she admitted to being Wing, the bronze dragon, and asked who told them about her and why they were visiting. The group mentioned a few details--the rift, the gods, the other dragons--but Wing was in the dark about practically everything. She described herself as a practical person who had little interest in arcane secrets and politics. The group caught her up, sharing their meetings with Thomas, Aurix, and Jarvia. Wing was confused, asking if they meant Jarvis, the silver dragon called Nasimar. The group said they'd certainly met with a woman named Jarvia. Wing shrugged, saying, "Good for her," and muttered something to herself about supporting her as though arguing with herself. Wing said that to her, repairing the rift was the most important thing and was shocked to hear that Aurix, who she said was a close friend, would consider anything else. She said that she could try to convince Aurix to help repair the veil, but wasn't sure he would agree given his extreme idealism. Again, she spoke to herself as though arguing, saying, "We can trust them, Abe." The group continued to discuss options and strategies, with the group looking for good next steps and more information, and Wing growing increasingly twitchy and uncomfortable. After a while, she tentatively asked the group to use the chaos of the situation to try to kill Thomas--she said that stability and peace was the most vital thing, but if the situation was already chaotic, taking advantage of that by killing the de facto leader of the chromatic dragons would be a strong move. The party agreed with very little hesitation, and Wing spoke to herself again, saying, "We'll get him, Mary." This caused the group to ask Wing why she kept speaking to herself. 

Wing grew desperately nervous and insisted she wasn't crazy. The group pressed her, asking who she was talking to. Wing broke down and told them that as a dragon, she could not have a romantic partner without risking massive loss when she outlived them. But she couldn't keep herself from adopting a child. Her first child died in the war against the Daltoners hundreds of years ago; after a long time of grieving, she adopted another. This child died in a cave-in in her mines, and she again grieved and eventually adopted another, who would later die treating a plague. After hundreds of years, she allowed herself to adopt again, and her daughter, Mary, was murdered by Thomas as a way to hurt her for opposing him. Wing explained that she'd personally fought Thomas for a thousand years and couldn't get close to him, but the party could potentially get to him. The party was largely sympathetic; Brokk felt for Wing and promised her they would kill Thomas if they could, Aurora stressed that her relationship with her own adopted mother made her understand the pain Wing described, and Lethanin was more reserved. In the end, the party asked more about learning the stakes of the situation and how to get closed to Thomas, and Wing suggested speaking to Vuthiejir, the black dragon, who she said was somewhat reasonable. The party had heard a similar thing from Aurix and Jarvia, and they resolved to visit Vuthiejir next. Wing admitted to having created a blueprint for a telescope for Vuthiejir was a way to buying her safety when Vuthiejir found Wing wounded after a battle with Thomas. The group resolved to find Vuthiejir in Mishara.

Wing magically created a set of bronze alchemical tools to continue the group's cover story. Lethanin asked Wing about Ollie--Wing said she was no expert in the gods, but Brokk suggested that Ollie was Olidammara. Wing reiterated that Vuthiejir may be able to help with this as an expert on the gods. Wing excused herself, saying she'd take care of some necessary business and then depart for Torga to speak with Aurix, and she hurried from the house without saying goodbye, which raised Dodira's suspicions further. The group said their goodbyes to Dodira and hurried to an alleyway across town in a quiet area for privacy. They used their magical message tool to speak to Jarvia, who was pleased that Wing was on board and hoped that she could talk sense to Aurix. Jarvia wished the group luck with their journey to Mishara and offered help in any way she could. Brokk recognized that being a demonic orc created to kill elves would be a complicated situation in Mishara, wondering about how best to disguise himself. Aurora suggested challenging Ollie to a contest to see who could disguise Brokk the best, but Jarvia cast a spell through the message portal that transformed Brokk into a very average elf. Aurora then used her magic to teleport the group to Mishara as close to the black dragon's lair as possible. They appeared on a disused dock on the far, mostly uninhabited, swampy side of the island, where Brokk and Lethanin spotted an astronomer's tower far in the distance. 

And that's where we wrapped up for this session. It was a great session all around. We managed to continue to reveal the mystery with Ollie, and by the end of the session, the party has completely realized that she is Olidammara, the goddess of rogues, which I also extend to things like games, luck, contests of skill, curiosity, and musicianship--this is why Ollie has been so eager to play games, why she's not entirely trying to hide her identity, and why she's not exactly opposing the party on any front (yet, at least). We got some good old-fashioned goofing around in markets and some lower-stress moments to just relax, which are incredibly important in the high-stress scenarios in a lot of campaigns. We got to deepen the characterization of Lethanin with a visit to his mother's--I must say, Lethanin's player role-played the heck out of being frustrated by his very attentive mother. We got to meet Wing, who is near and dear to my heart, and give the group a bit more of the support they need to get started. (It's worth noting, they are just happening to visit the dragons in an order that has benefited the story so far--I have not altered what the dragons would want to suit the pacing or narrative. They've just visited dragons in an order that really makes for some fun storytelling.) The suspicion with Dodira has opened up a fun angle where I can have her pestering the party for more information given that her hackles are up. And they're moved on to Vuthiejir, which promises to be a highly exciting meeting. 

I want to acknowledge an upcoming change, or at least, shift of focus. We're four (really three and a half, but let's say four) sessions in. At this point, the group has met four of the ten dragons and one god (that they know of). They have a sense of the stakes and their strategy. They're moving forward. The prologue is effectively over. The game proper has started. Now, traditionally, I don't like to frontload exposition and postpone core game elements, but there was just so much to establish here, and the players were down for it, that I took the liberty of backseating my player characters a bit. But now, as we transition from telling them what kind of story this is and into character moments like Lethanin's parents' house and Aurora's connection to adoption and Brokk's identity as an elf-killer, it's time to change things up a little. The group has been dropped nearly twenty miles from the observatory, where they presume Vuthiejir will be found. That's not an instant's travel. They'll need to traverse the swamp for a distance to get there. Even if Aurora hits them all with a flying spell, I can give them plenty in the way of distractions, obstacles, and delays. And in that time, I have plans. 

Brokk's player recently sent me a message about looking forward to seeing Brokk's connection with death as a character. I hadn't done anything with that yet, and to be honest, I didn't know that was a goal of his. But now that I do, I can have moments waiting for him in the swamp. All it takes is a lost dead body or a decaying animal corpse or both to give him a good character moment that he can guide himself. And Aurora's player told me that she looks forward to discovering when her backstory kicks in more fully, when more things with the Fey might come up. It's a long way to the observatory--there's room for that too. And Lethanin's mother has presented a fun angle for play: should Dodira start sending Lethanin messages pestering him ever more persistently about what he was up to in Vestry, what will Lethanin do? What might it mean for the party if Dodira takes her suspicions elsewhere? There's a lot to figure out before the group reaches that observatory. 

That's all for now. Next time, the players will try to make contact with Vuthiejir and make some more sense of what's happening all around them, and who knows what else? Until next time, happy gaming!

Of Gods and Dragons: Session Three

Last time, the adventurers explored the city of Talon Gorge, finding a place that had been torn apart by a civil war, and they helped to rebuild parts of the city. They checked out a clocktower at the center of town and found signs that it had been inhabited that pointed to a very private estate to the east of the city. As they left the tower, they met a curious woman named Ollie, who insisted on learning what they were up to; Ollie grew agitated when they did not talk to her directly and abruptly left. They checked in with a contact in the city guard, Amber, who directed them to one of the city's new leaders, an orc named Tru'usk, who was weary of the group's silliness and questions. Brokk went to leave a note at the estate they'd seen and was approached while he hid outside by a half-elven woman, Jarvia, who requested that Brokk bring Aurora and Lethanin to meet with her the following morning. Meanwhile, Lethanin and Aurora tried to figure out what was going on with Ollie, who was marked as supernatural when Aurora tried to identify her to find her. Brokk returned to town and met a helpful smith named Moira, who made him a beautiful battleaxe in a miraculous amount of time, and as he left her smithy, he ran into Lethanin and Aurora on their way to a tavern next door. 

When we picked up for this session, none of us knew what to expect, which we all remarked on. I was very up-front about improvising everything, and the players were nervous about their meeting with Jarvia as well as some of the other encounters they'd had. At the tavern, the adventurers ordered a variety of meads from a stern bartender named Urgin, who said he kept a quiet tavern so that people had a place to relax without getting chaotic. The players sat at a table and all took a turn speaking with Urgin, convinced that there was something significant about ending up here together. First was Lethanin, who learned that Urgin's father had been an amateur dragonhunter who had spent his life trying to track down dragons but never found one. Then Aurora spoke to Urgin, learning that Urgin resented the very idea of dragons, as his father had been absent for much of his life in the pursuit of dragons; Aurora sensed that Urgin was holding back something, perhaps out of politeness, and let Brokk have his turn. Brokk ordered an orcish berry wine where the others had ordered more mead, and spoke to Urgin about orcish life. Urgin became more animated and spoke to Brokk in orcish, divulging that he had been close with an orcish woman who had taught him the language. Brokk and Urgin laughed about the orcish tendency to not apologize for things and shared an orcish handshake. Eventually, slightly tipsy from their drinks, the adventurers decided to return to their inn and call it a night, but Brokk and Aurora spotted a strange symbol burned into the wood outside their rooms. Aurora recognized the symbol as a glyph, part of the magical language she uses for her spellcasting, but could not identify what it meant. Brokk managed to get a rough translation of the glyph using Comprehend Languages, learning that it could mean a certain sense of pleasure, like that one gets from revelry or excitement from playing a game. Aurora tried to do further research on the glyph but sensed that she was being blocked from ascertaining its meaning and developed a nasty headache when she tried to dispel it, which made her choose to go to sleep rather than fight it. Lethanin simply passed out in his bed, and Brokk sat in the inn's tavern and read a book that his friend Hannah from his home had recommended (Brokk does not need sleep and allowed himself time to relax by reading). 

In the morning, the group gathered in the tavern for breakfast. After eating, they went directly out of town and marched to the hermit, Jarvia's, house. Jarvia let them in, gave a tongue-in-cheek tour of her estate ("To your left, a field. To your right, another field. Behind the house, a field. You're currently standing in . . . a field."), and gave them tea. Brokk made conversation about tobacco preferences as Jarvia consistently smoked cigarettes while talking to them, and when Jarvia asked whey they'd come Brokk told her everthing--about the dragons Thomas and Aurix, about the prophecy and their role in it, about their findings in Talon Gorge, and their hope to get her help finding the silver dragon. This was the beginning of a conversation that lasted for a full out-of-game hour. After a tense conversation in which Aurora was very direct about her suspicions that Jarvia was the silver dragon and Jarvia was evasive about responding, Jarvia asked the adventurers directly whether they intended to do the right thing and then did acknowledge that she was in fact the silver dragon but felt she was entitled to a measure of privacy. She grew more relaxed after getting their assurances that they meant to help. Jarvia explained that she was a bard and knew about the prophecy and how they would need to travel to the gods' realm and speak directly to Boccob, creator of everything, in order to do anything about the damaged barrier between worlds. Jarvia was insistent that the group ignore Thomas's desire to destroy the barrier and Aurix's desire to leave it damaged (which would empower the mightiest beings in the physical world) and instead repair the barrier. She explained that aside from empowering mighty people, the leaking divine energy also forces people to be more aligned with what they are, meaning that good people are more good and evil people are more evil. As a result, repairing the barrier would mean freeing her from being compelled to act in ways she doesn't choose herself. Jarvia explained that she'd inherited the mantle of the former silver dragon over a thousand years ago and become disillusioned by the rules of dragonhood and the pressures of protecting people who hated her. The group was confused about what she meant, and she explained that dragonhood is like a title, where the powers and identity of a dragon pass from person to person at the former dragon's choosing. She also gave a quick explanation of the other dragons, both chromatic and metallic, suggesting that gathering the metallic dragons as Aurix suggested could be helpful and that Wing, the bronze dragon, could be a good next step; she also said that Vuthiejir, the black dragon, was the most reasonable of the chromatic dragons and might be helpful as Vuthiejir knows more about the heavens than anyone else and could be helpful. Together, the group decided to try uniting the dragons by finding Wing, the bronze dragon; Hriskin, the brass dragon and a former arena champion; and the copper dragon, who Jarvia was unfamiliar with and didn't know even existed as she'd been in hiding for hundreds of years. 

As the conversation continued, the group began to plan with Jarvia. At their behest, Jarvia explained that Boccob had created reality and the gods' realm and then later created the physical world and allowed the gods to work with it as they pleased, retiring to a private dimension for more than ten thousand years. It was their job, she told them, to find a way to approach Boccob and plead for the case of people on Evanoch that the barrier be repaired. Looking for a way to stay in easy contact with Jarvia, Aurora created a looking glass transmitter in her backyard, and the success of her spell meant that physical objects could also be passed through the transmitter. Jarvia, hoping to stay on top of communications, installed a magical bell that would alert her to messages. The group decided that Vestry, capital of the gnomes and home to Wing, would be the best next step. Aurora hurried back to the inn to get her familiar, Pumpkin, who Aurora had feared would exceed Jarvia's instructions that only the three of them come to see her, which made Jarvia truly smile for the first time in their meeting--the idea that Aurora followed her instructions to the letter struck Jarvia as thoughtful and kind. While Aurora was gone, Lethanin and Jarvia played a song together, Lethanin on the violin and Jarvia on the lyre--they played competing but complementary melodies in turns, demonstrating that Jarvia was a wildly talented musician, and she said that it was lovely to play with another person after centuries of solitude. Aurora returned to find Lethanin exhausted from the song, and Jarvia teleported the group to Vestry after stressing that they speak to Wing about Jarvia as little as possible. 

The group appeared in an alleyway just inside Vestry and set out to find Wing. But first, Brokk sought out a bookstore that would allow him to find information on the gods and more reading material for the sleepless nights; he found a primer on Boccob which explained that Boccob has never been known or understood and that even their followers have largely given up on contacting the deity. Meanwhile, Aurora purchased books of poetry, information on the gods, and a book about supernatural beings like fae. The group knew that Wing was an inventor and set out to find a guildhall for inventors. On the way, Aurora noticed a pair of gnomish women staring at Lethanin, who was uncomfortable being back in Vestry after pointedly leaving a long time ago. Aurora improvised, diverting the group to a vendor selling carbonated pickle juice and alerted Lethanin to the women. Lethanin recognized one of the women as an upset audience member at an old show who'd disliked his music. The group hurried past the women and found their way to the guildhall. 

The guildhall was in the middle of a meeting. At tables, hundreds of gnomish inventors sat discussing navigating Vestry's complex legal system and economy, new ideas for inventions, and other matters related to operating in the city. The group approached the leaders of the guild and asked if they were familiar with a Wing. One of the three leaders, a red-haired gnomish woman, grew very uncomfortable and insisted that she didn't know a Wing among the group. Aurora pressed further, saying that this Wing was especially known to them as an expert in working with bronze, hoping to covertly tell the red-haired woman that they knew Wing was the bronze dragon, and the woman grew even more uncomfortable. She introduced herself as Glint, and when Brokk asked her to keep an eye out for Wing, she agreed and asked where to find them to let them know if she did find this mysterious Wing. Lethanin sighed and gave her directions to his parents' house in Vestry, and the group left the guildhall suspecting that they had found Wing and would soon receive a visit from her. 

That's where we called the session, in part because it was a good ending point and in part because we were all exhausted. One notable thing about this session was just how much of it was conversation. The characters talked amongst themselves and to Urgin at the tavern, then briefly investigated the glyph and slept, then spoke to Jarvia at length, then spoke to the bookstore clerk, and then to Glint. I would estimate that about 85% of the session was just talking. I'm excited about that--that's what I was hoping would happen for a lot of this campaign. In particular, the conversation with Jarvia went on longer than I anticipated, though to me, it absolutely flew by. I think that there's an important reason for this. The players first met Thomas, who they later learned was the red dragon, and he bullied them and insisted on a tactic they were immediately suspicious of. Then they met Aurix, who I deliberately roleplayed as awkward and uncomfortable, and he asked for something that the group was also skeptical of. But Jarvia was a more personable and direct character, and she asked the group to do something that they were inclined to think was a good idea--repair the barrier between worlds. The group asked Thomas relatively few questions, and only a few more of Aurix before leaving, but they spoke to Jarvia for a long time. This is one way I know that the characters and roleplaying hard--they actually trusted the person who seemed the most trustworthy--and that my playing of the dragons so far has been what I wanted it to be. 

To that end, I'm intrigued to see how they handle Wing. Wing is kind and gentle and idealistic if a bit eccentric, which is also unlike anyone they've encountered yet. Part of Jarvia's reasoning for sending the group to Wing is the suspicion that Wing will believe that the barrier should be repaired like Jarvia does, and whether or not that's true, Wing is a very different person from Jarvia. Jarvia, in the moment, was a tired, somewhat depressed and disillusioned person who was frustrated with the feeling that she was overwhelmed and outnumbered. But Wing is not. Wing is sprightly and hopeful and motivated who believes wholeheartedly in the power of good intentions. So whether Wing agrees with Jarvia that the way to proceed is to repair the barrier or not, the players will have to contend with yet another angle on this campaign that they haven't encountered yet. 

That is, to me, the beauty of this campaign. In this world, there are ten dragons and almost twenty gods. Each of them are distinct personalities with distinct motivations and ideals and aims. Speaking to any one of them could mean a drastically different conclusion the players and their characters may come to. So even though the characters feel really set on cooperating with Jarvia and the plan to repair the barrier, nothing is necessarily set in stone. So many campaigns, including those I've run that have catered to what I thought my players wanted and expected, are about fighting and goofing around and a mishmash of things, but I've always wanted to do one about ideas. This is that campaign. All thirty of so of the main NPCs have big ideas and plans and thoughts, and while the barrier between worlds is the inciting incident of it all, the campaign is really about the characters and their ideas. Let's say that Glint is Wing is the bronze dragon--then the players have met four dragons. Less than half. They've only spoken to three in any direct way, and even then, only Jarvia had a real conversation with them. That means that this is all still up in the air, and not only have only a fraction of the ideas at play come to bear, but also that so many of the moving parts in the campaign are still unknowns. 

If I had to guess, I would say that the players feel strongly about repairing the barrier. The way they spoke about the plan and expressed their support for what Jarvia was saying was very solid and confident. What that means for the long-term is that dragons and gods affiliated with repairing the barrier will be likely to be allies, and those who have other plans will be either targets for persuasion or outright enemies. But even then, there are so many ways that things could play out. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, and I am wildly excited to see how it goes. 

Next time, the players will continue their mission in Vestry and hope to meet with Glint to learn whether she really is Wing. Last session, I was very unsure of how things would go with Jarvia given who she is, but I know who Wing is and how she'll respond to the group, and that gives me some idea of how this might all go. But as I've said, there is no knowing for sure, so it will all come down to the game and how it happens in the moment. I love it, and I can't wait. Until next time, happy gaming!