Storm King's Thunder #30: Doom in the Desert

Finished it.  The campaign met its finale with a final battle against the blue dragon.  No PCs died, though I kinda spaced out and forgot to attack a couple of times.  High level fighting is silly. 
Happy to turn over the DM screen to my friend for Tomb of Annihilation!
We'll have some one-shots occasionally where they will finally fight Tiamat.  I'm thinking instead of using Rise of Tiamat, I'll use some of the high level stuff from Out of the Abyss.  Fight some demons then go to hell and fight Tiamat.

The best part was the holiday spirit.  Pants brought custom shirts for everyone with a red d4 pun on them.  The group also went in on buying me the new book, Xanathar's Guide.  Second year in a row I have received a Christmas book signed by my players.  I was really touched.  I feel so lucky to have this group these days.  It's been two solid years of D&D.  The wife's wizard is 12th level.  We played through two official Type VI campaign books and I am totally ready to hand off the DM duties.  The location will change as well.  We'll play at the next door neighbor's house.  It will be a good change of pace.  I got a bit tired of the plotted out campaign and I wasn't as excited to DM the newest book, though I'm stoked to play in it.  Of course, my Barrowmaze campaign continues, with my heartbreaker booklet that I am more into every time I play. 

The battle itself was fine.  Imryth lurked in her sand pile for awhile while her gargoyles and cave-ins softened up the intruders.  A pit to Hell was found, guarded by a massive bronze statue of Tiamat, who exhaled poison gas and whispered words of doom and portent, of the coming of the Mother of Wyrms.  Finally Althea the Bearer of the Black Mask donned her cursed garb and was assailed by doubt and temptation.  She knew that she needed only to betray her company to the reap a reward of ultimate power upon the coming of the Apocalypse, but though she wavered she would not be turned.  The fire lady launched a fireball into the sand pile, revealing the ancient blue wyrm! 

The old conniver was enraged.  She surged forward and roared her electrical fury at the Company of the Raven, leaving the elven mages, both light and dark, a pair of smoking ruins.  A red skinned demon emerged to steal Althea's Mask of the Black Dragon.  Apollo healed his magical friends.  The barbarian and bard assassin engaged with the demon then the dragon herself.  Though her tail thrashed and the heroes were between within inches of their lives, the might of sword and spell prevailed just as it had in Barovia against the dread lord Strahd.  The dragon was slain and the realms were safe for a time.

The Maelstrom Court pledged friendship and alliance with the Lords of Waterdeep.  Bards sang the praises of the brave cloud sailors.  Noble titles and lands in contested places were bestowed, with great thanks from the people of the Sword Coast.  Yet even as the depredations of giants eased, a low rumble of rumour and dread was heard from place deep below...

Storm King's Thunder #29: Heavy Lifting in the Battle of Ascore

TL DR  Ultimate battle?  In the midst of the heroes battling gargoyles above the sands of the Anaurach Desert, it was proposed that initiative be decided based on contests of strength between me the DM and various players (we usually use side initiative on a d12).  I won the first push up contest(22), then lost the second(31),  then lost a pull-up contest(7), and finally outlasted my wife in a side-plank contest.  Hilarity ensued.  Yes a bottle of wine was involved.

DM Notes
The end is nigh.  I can almost taste it.  And I don't mean the imminent return of Tiamat.  I mean the campaign itself.  With this last battle against the Blue Menace of the Anaurach I plan to hand over the reins to a friend and retire from DMing type V D&D.  I hope it feels satisfying enough for the group, but I'd like to pause it for awhile and pick it back up on an episodic basis, roleplaying a scene here and there before another epic battle with the queen of dragons.  At this level plot points seem sort of inevitable and less surprising, at least for me.  I'd like to make the playing through of those plot points special occasions instead of weekly affairs.  I'd never really agreed with the term "to play through" a module until things got to around the 10th level, when astute players can more or less make things happen as they like.  I'm looking forward to being surprised by the game again, this time as a player in Tomb of Annihilation!

In the meantime, I'm hoping to make this battle one to remember.  They've already taken down a couple dragons during this campaign.  This time they've already had their plans shifted by terrain and spells drained by multitudes of minions.  I hope to make it a running battle in a cyclopean min-dungeon, with mysteries and traps along with their ultimate foe.  I won't say I want to kill some characters, but if one or two die it wouldn't make the campaign less dramatic.

The Story
The Red Balloon arrived in Silverymoon to great fanfare.  The glitterati of the city turned out to celebrate the heroes of the realm, who had walked the very halls of the Maelstrom Court and not only lived but returned as friends and allies of the Storm King himself!  They were invited to many balls, feasts, and theatrical performances, their deeds were turned to song, and all the kind help of a grateful kingdom was opened to them.  For a time, all was well, but the doom of the Drakkorn still echoed in the hearts of the mighty and though giant kind had ceased their destructive depredations, dragons continued to sail out of the northern reaches, headed for some southern clime.  A migration? or a meeting?

Feeling there was little time to waste, the Red Ballon set forth once again, now crewed by hearty men with curly beards, into the oncoming storm of the desert.  From the ancient ruined city of Ascore could be seen a violent thunder storm swirling above the great amphitheater said to crown the lair of the ancient sapphire wyrm to whose credit was due the manifold sufferings of the Forgotten Realms these many months.  The crew landed the Red Balloon and approached under the influence of magical spells of Flight, cruising low.  Even so, heavy stones, fragments of statuary were launched at their approach by vigilant gargoyles, one catching the cleric Apollo on the shoulder blade, sending him crashing into the sand. 

Althea the Wizardess and Ezra the Storm Sorceress summoned fire and ice to shatter the guardians, and Ezra sensed a great malevolent presence guiding the storm above.

Circling about, chased by dozens of stoney, bat winged devil statues, the heroes dove into a great hole in the ground within the amphitheater, finding themselves in a massive vaulted underground chamber.  Gargoyles screeched above.  A massive presence filled the space.  They were not welcome here...

Storm King's Thunder #28: A Deal is Struck with Old Snarl

TL;DR 
The heroes did some dragon research at Candlekeep and used the Scry spell to scout the Klauthen Vale.  Klauth the Red greeted them and they came to an agreement: A loan of the airship in exchange for the hoard of Imryth the Blue.  The sounding of the Drakkorn.  Picked up the ship (delivered by Harshnag the Frost Giant), and sailed toward Silverymoon, enduring a demon attack along the way.

The Saga
The King has returned!  The giants have ceased their depredations as the Lord of the the Storms walks among them, re-asserting his authority.

Back in Waterdeep, the Company of the Raven wasted no time in deciding which dragon to confront -they wanted that flying boat back.  The wizard, sorceress and bard spread liberal coin around the libraries of Waterdeep and Candlekeep, traveling down the coast to that citadel of scholarship was a boon.  There was a myth of Maegara the Fire Elemental once walking the cleft of Klauthen Vale, thus creating it's temperate climate within the frozen Spine of the World.  Klauth himself was said to be an elderly dragon, appearing in every era of history, clever, cruel, imperious, and often covetous of other dragons' wealth.  It was said that 100 years ago a Company called Force Gray made a pact with the old wyrm in order to slay a lesser one.  This was good beta!

As the Company returned on horseback to Waterdeep, all the land was deafened by a long droning sound.  A sound of portentous doom.  None knew what was the providence of this sound, though none in all of Faerun failed to hear every note.

Using a newly acquired Crystal Ball, Althea the Wizardess set about searching for the Flying Ship she had learned to fly those many months ago.  She did so, finding it tethered within a grand cavern.  Panning about with her Scrying spell, she came upon a pool of water glowing with a strange light.  Looking closely at the water she found herself looking at the back of her own head!  The dragon was spying on them as well!

A game of Message spell ensued.  It became clear the old red was willing to lend his ship in exchange for the hoard of Imryth.  That was good enough for the Company.  They made haste to the Harper Circles of Rapid Transit and swiftly found themselves expeditioning from Mirabar to the gates of the Vale.

Approaching the Vale, a figure strode from the mist, a long chain trailing from his massive should like the string on a balloon.  It was their old companion Harshnag!  He had survived the collapsed of the Temple of Annam by joining Klauth's teleport and the two had reminisced about old times, for Harshnag had been a member of Force Gray 100 years ago.  He presented the ship, the Red Balloon, sadly scoured of the hoard of Skyreach Castle.

Back in the skies, the Company of the Raven flew east, hoping to reinforce their magic resources in Silverymoon.  In the distance they saw a flight of dragons, heading south.

In a cloud of fire and brimstone, a trio of demons appeared on the deck of the ship.  A fat pig headed demon radiant with rainbows, caused many to cower in his presence.  Two vulture like creatures screamed and farted death spores.  A desperate fight ensued, only ended when Esra the Sorceress came to her senses long enough to cast Banish and send two of them back to hell whence they came.

Storm King's Thunder #27: The Return of the King

Probably just a session or two until the end of the campaign, though I have it set up to continue on to the showdown with Tiamat, we will pause for awhile while another takes a turn behind the screen.  

NOTES: DMing wizard fights is hard.  I had to bust out the spell cards to be able to keep track of things (I wouldn't mind cards for monsters and magic items to).  It is very hard to keep them from dying super fast.  I had this one somewhat well defended, but...  battles at 12 level are silly.  Things feel inevitable.  

STORY
An archmage, an assassin and a dragon turtle were not enough to keep the Company of the Raven from freeing the Storm King and setting him back on his throne.

The wizardess sent her owl familiar out to the floating island towers to investigate.  There were three structures, a keep, a longhouse and a short round tower seemingly floating in the rocky bay.  The words of the dead casino boatman of Yartar implied the king was held there somewhere.  But where?  The owl looked in the window of the round tower.  She saw a humble monk in his study, a magical flame lighting the place.  The monk spoke to the familiar, inviting the wizard to speak one on one, without her entourage, for the wizard was wearing the Mask of the Black Dragon.  The owl left and went to look in the longhouse, but a bolt from the keep flew out and speared the poor bird.

The cleric cast Water Walk and the party made their way to the round tower.  There the wizard Althea was called out as the imposter she was (not really a Wyrmspeaker of the Cult of the Dragon), but offered one final chance to give up the mask and join the cult.  She refused and battle between two powerful mages was joined, though the elf wizards allies swiftly came to her aid, the Bard Thief stabbing the flaming archmage in the back.

The archmage soon retreated and the Company gave chase, the barbarian busting down the massive front doors of the long house.  Within were two giant feet, taller than a man!  The ankles were held to the floor by massive chains that glowed with eldritch light.  Beyond, the body of the royal vastness lay still as stone, wrapped in brilliant links.

Battle was joined again as cultists burst forth the defend their prisoner.  The archmage and a certain hidden archer rejoined the fray as well but the spells and blades of the Company put an end to them, as Otto the Bard's epic shout Knock'ed the chains from their hold downs.  The king was free and furious!  He swung the chains in wide arcs, buffeting his rescuers until again the Bardthief spoke of his meetings with the Oracle of Annam in the great temple at the spine of the world and of the state of things in the Maelstrom Court and who sat upon the Wyrmskull Throne.  The king listened to this story and his visage calmed.   "Perhaps the smallfolk are not all so devious and vile.  You have provided me a great service.  Come with me to my court."

But all was not yet over!  Before the barbarian could blow the Conch of Lordship, the island itself surged and shifted and a great head lifted itself out of the water, a tower perched upon its head.  The "island" was the back of a great turtle!  The thing exhaled a mighty blast of steam from its nose, causing the wizardess great pain as she returned to the court beneath the waves, though she was swiftly healed by the cleric.


In the court, the Storm King swiftly asserted his authority, seating himself upon his throne he bestowed gifts upon his rescuers and a quest as well: "I must tend to my lords, for the dukes, counts, and jarls of giant-kind are gripped by the madness of freedom from authority.  It will take me some time, but there may be little time to confront my nemesis Imryth the Blue Dragon, nor to stop her mad plan to renew our endless war by summoning the Mother of Dragons to this world.  You must find her lair and confront her.  Do not be tempted by her offers.  Tiamat is the destruction of the world, and we are its defenders."

MORE NOTES: The three buildings was improvised based on this cool picture.  Otherwise I kept things more or less by the book.  I tried to use the assassin to pick them off, but rolled low.  Knock was a great idea from the player.  I asked for an Arcana roll to see if it would work for each chain.  

Storm King's Thunder #26: Sky Whales over the Sea of Swords

Having learned the giant king is "held on the Morkoth", the bard and sorceress did some scholarly research in the libraries of Waterdeep.  Amongst the musty scrolls references to a Morkoth as a type of giant squid, a pirate ship and buried in a list of dragon names.  What could it be?


The crew of the Kelpie's Kiss set sail at dawn, despite the time of year being a dangerous one to sail the Sea of Swords, but the captain was a Harper, who was willing to risk his ship to save the world from the casual violence of giants.

The first days were clear and cold, making good time with the wind in the sails.  "Uncommonly consistent easterlies," muttered Captain Flossin.  Esra the Dark smiled under her hood.

In the distance great sky whales could be seeing plowing through clouds, occasionally diving into the ocean to come up trailing long strands of sea vegetation.

Then the weather turned.  Esra frowned.  A storm came quickly.  The winds howled and ripped at the sails.  The sea grew into a maelstrom of surging waves.  The bard was sea sick.  All the passengers huddled below deck until a crash of lightning and thunder was followed by the arrival of a bedraggled first mate, Sprite, who begged the to come above, for there was company.

Seeming to wade just off the lee of the boat, two massive giants had appeared out of the storm, their hands crackling with electricity.  The first called out in a booming voice like thunder, "Puny small folk!  The queen ordered you to never approach her court again.  She was too kind.  Now you will forfeit your lives."

Battle was joined.  The storm kings threw lightning bolts and boulders at the ship.  The heroes replied with fireballs, and a water walking barbarian who stood toe to toe with the mighty foe.  The drow sorceress took control of the winds around the ship and started pulling it desperately away.

The giant Orlekto fell, slain by a single charmed arrow from the bow of the bard.  His companion wailed in distress and they sank beneath the waves.

Two days later the Kelpie's Kiss limped into the harbor of Rhauthym Isle, in need of repair and resupply.  The small port was full of grim warrior sailors.  The talk of the taverns was the plunder they would gather in the wake of giant destruction.  They did not seem concerned that giants would turn their attention to this small isle.

The Company of the Raven disembarked and hiked overland to where they had heard of a gathering of purple hued warriors, paying passage through the pasturelands with songs and news of the mainland.

The purple beach on the western shore held a crude encampment of some two dozen men, long haired, heavily tattooed, their skin stained purple.  They confronted the company, crying out "Hail Tiamat", but were quickly scattered by demon skull mace of terror.

Suddenly Althea the Wizardess donned her Mask of the Black Dragon.  Instantly the purple barbarian dragon cultists dropped to their knees.  "High Wyrmspeaker!  We did not know!  What orders do you have from Tiamat, Mother of Dragons, whose wrath will return to burn the world in flame and fire!"

Althea demanded the location of Hekaton the Storm Giant King.  The purple men pointed west, where just off shore a small islet with a keep could be scene.  As they watched, it seemed to move...

.......

DM Notes: 
I thought quite a bit about how to run the nautical travel section.  I've been talking with my friend who will take over DMing next for Tomb of Annihilation about hexcrawls.  We tested out some hex-crawl procedures, then tested the journey rules from Adventures in Middle Earth, which we preferred.   I thought of using those, but finally decided to just hand wave it.  At this point in the campaign the players and I want to get there.  The end is in sight.  Rolling for encounters and events would be a side track.  We didn't need to add rules and procedures.  As it was I decided an attack at the behest of the evil Queen Mirran was in the cards, which took up most of a short session.  Two storm giants are a serious handful for a 11th level characters.

I completely improvised the island of Rhauthym.  I read the paragraph in the book, then riffed made stuff up.  The encounter on the beach was improvised but I had a great minds eye image of an early scene from the show Vikings, when they encounter the Saxon king.

I hadn't completely had it clear in my mind until this session, but the "Purple Rocks" and "Purple Vikings" thing is all a call back to the purple robes of the Cult of the Dragon.  They are all out there helping keep the giants out of order so Tiamat can return.

The wizard has had the Mask of the Black Dragon for three years of play time.  She got it when I used part of Hoard of the Dragon Queen in a different campaign.  That character then joined up with this group when they returned to the Forgotten Realms from Ravenloft.  A dragon stole it once, but she got it back.  It may end up being the key to the end game of the campaign, though that might not actually happen for a long while as I think we'll suspend this one pretty soon.

Storm King's Thunder #25: Casino Boat Showdown

  When last we left the drow sorcereress in media res, she had reached a moment critical of critical subterfuge in her attempt to gather information from the sleazy politician and casino boss, Lord Drylund, so she altered her self and became a half dragon robed in purple and claimed, "I am from the Cult", much to the confusion of Lord Drylund.  He was taken aback and said, "Who are you?  Who sent you?"  She accused him of betrayal, to which replied that he had done everything asked and the cargo,  was delivered to Rauthym, sleeping on the Morkoth.  Then his pet octopus jumped on his had and ripped his throat open.
  After a battle that featured the solo sorcereress nearly dying in a fight with an octopus, the group slew the Purple Vikings and parlayed with Pow Ming.  She professed her ignorance of the whole affair, but offered her services to the Dragon Cult for power and profit.  The sorceress and her companions left Pow Ming and traveled back to Waterdeep.  Bards knew well the Purple Rocks of Rhauthym the last desperate outreach of mankind into the Sea of Swords, a thing the Elves of Evermeet despise, for the Purple Rocks represents all that that detest of humanity.
  There was one captain in Waterdeep brave enough to challenge the high seas of the Sea of Swords in late fall.  He would brook no negotiation of his price.  And so they prepared to set sail, search for the "Morkoth" though they knew not what that was.
  The campaign draws closer and closer to conclusion.  Perhaps they shall prevail.  Perhaps they will sink beneath the waves or even fall victim to sky whales.
  The casino boat was a little strange.  They knew the clue was connected here, but there was little to suggest who it was connected to and how.  Even now, I have no idea how the clue made it into the Maelstrom court.  Did hirelings of Drylund actually get paid in wooden tokens?  Did a bunch of mercenaries actually succeed in kidnapping a giant giant?  They must have had help.  Anyways, it's over now.  On to the battling.

Storm King's Thunder Sessions #22-24

Collected Notes: Sessions have been interrupted by real life good times, but we are playing regularly again, and I am hoping the campaign finds its way to a good pausing point before the holidays.  A player wants to DM Tomb of Annihilation (I've been avoiding all spoilers) and I am happy to hand over the screen.  Although its amazing to have had such a long running campaign, I don't love DMing high levels.  But it will be a pause.  I've got ideas cribbed from all the other type V campaign books for adventure into the epic levels, but I wouldn't mind making that episodic.  In any case, they are very close to find the lost king.  Looking forward to it!

August 17th:  Blow the Horn to Travel Beneath the Waves

Alright! We are back in the saddle. Two weeks in a row. Both roleplay heavy sessions. Players are leery of taking on more than they can handle. 10th level mostly. Closing in on 11. They got the Maelstrom Horn (its a dragon horn in my game) from Queen Guh. I had to have an attendant goblin chase them down and tell them where it was. But the players were not so ready to attend the Maelstrom Court. A while back they had stolen a flying ship from a gang of dragon cultists. This ship was stolen back by its rightful owner while the group explored the Temple of Annam. But the players can't let it go. For one thing, it contains a massive horde of treasure and I have been gouging them terribly to buy potions and such. Also, players hate it when things are stolen.  They actually travelled back to the Spine of the World Mountains (via teleportation) and began an expedition to the Klauthen Vale, but were intimidated and turned back by the brooding aspect of the place.

August 31st:  Chaos in the Maelstrom Court! 

We had guests so they played the storm giant sisters Mirran and Nym. It was awesome. They were way more evil than I could have made them. Imryth was unmasked but escaped without the scepter. Mirran snatched it from the elf wizard who had used a Time Stop (!) scroll to snatch it from Imryth. Mirran then claimed the throne and packed Serissa off to the dungeon. She then told the party to scram, though not before they found a certain wooden coin with a goose on it they recognized from 10 months(RL) ago! (A player even drew the goose during the session way back then, so I handed that drawing back to the group. Still took a while to remember.)
Now the group is on the trail of Hekaton, wants to return to depose the vile queen and still is hoping to fight Klauth for their flying ship... good times.

October 18th:  Inspecting the Golden Goose.

Last night was detective time / keystone kops. What to do with the Golden Goose token found under the Wyrmskull Throne?
Good on me for foreshadowing that EARLY in the campaign. It just so happened the party had partied in Waterdeep on just such a casino boat and were able to track down some decadent acquaintances to direct them to Yartar. A short teleport later the group was posted up in a posh yacht harbor cafe scheming for a way to sneak onto the Grand Dame. Eventually they decided to go with invisibility. This lead to hilarious hijinks -bumping a platter of glazed hogs head into the river -drinking with oarsmen in the galley -but ultimately the group were immediately suspected and questioned by the hawk-eyed Pow Ming. The mage slayer finally got up close and personal with a wizard but succumbed nevertheless to a SUGGESTION to jump off the stern. Soon after, the clerical knight strutting around in full plate was obliged to follow by the purple faced viking guardsmen. This left a dark elf using ALTER SELF to pose as a particular patron, hobnobbing with Lord Drylund in the captains quarters. All the subterfuge had gotten her alone with the guy and one other weakling noble. What would she do? 
-"Wait a minute, why are we here? What am I supposed to ask this guy?"

Storm King Sessions 18-21

After a hiatus, we game again tomorrow.  I just posted this on our fb group:

When last the sages delved into the depths of historic time, the Company of the Raven had challenged the enormous Queen Guh on her broken ox-cart throne, driven back her hulking minions and set fire to the ramshackle hall that served as palace for her immensity, and as beaver dam holding up the tides of Lake Grudd.   

Sometime in the night the dam collapsed. A low sloughing roar could be heard from the lakeside camp where the heroes had hidden to rest. The camp was not lakeside in the morning.   The gluttony of Guh was no more. The people of the North no longer had to fear for their meager stores of grain as winter approached, they would starve in peace. Or would they? What would a hero do now? 

Remaining giant lords marched for other inscrutable ends. Massive blue captained ships sailed from the frozen north, raiding the coastlines in the name of Jarl Storvald. Armored myrmidons of Duke Zalto combed the fields and furrows for fragments of an ancient doomsday device. Cloud castles were seen drifting in blue skies, watching or waiting, or searching for something. Blagothus still lurked on his glacier, perhaps still nursing his mad plan of mutual annihilation. And the strangest of all, the inarticulate grey giants, alien and thin, loomed high over small villages east of the High Forest, methodically dismantling the works of the small folk from the landscape as if it never existed. Only the legendary giants of the storms had been silent, their lightening tridents held in reserve, their thunderous judgement with held, for what purpose? and why? Where?   

With much to ponder that frosty dawn in the Iceshield Hills above the drained lake, sharp eyes spotted a small bedraggled figure mucking slowly toward the shore...

In this campaign I've mixed the plot from the Tyranny of Dragons module into the Storm King's Thunder book (after completing the "Curse of Strahd").  It has become apparent that the disappearance of Hekaton is part of a larger plot to return Tiamat to the Realms.  This is because I have a high level party.
They just finished up at the Temple of Annam.  Much plot point was put together, but I dropped the "gathering of the relics" part for level and pacing reasons.  So, I had a dilemma.  Does Imryth blast in there? Would that make it weird if they then went straight to Maelstrom (they were considering taking the flying ship they stole from some cultists)?
I went with Klauth.  The ancient red stepped into the temple.  He had been tracking the party ever since they stole his airship filled with a hoard meant to be delivered to him (he is ambivalent about the plan to revive Tiamat).  Klauth stepped in, roared something about his stolen treasure and the false oracle of Annam.  Harshnag ran forward to strike the central pillar as the party ran for it, escaping as the temple collapsed.
The group returned to Mirabar where they had docked their airship to find the ship had already been stolen by Klauth (the dwarven guards were shamefaced at this).  The ship was last seen floating north west toward Klauthen Vale.
So the group had now lost their easy transport and a huge amount of treasure.  They decided to take Harper Circle Transport to Waterdeep to save the starving population by tracking down the lair of the Hill Giants.  They are not entirely sure how to find Maelstrom, but they do know they'll need the giants' help to stop Tiamat.
All are around 10th level, which means Guh should be not too hard (she wasn't)  I plan on supplementing the steading with an ambush courtesy of the Cult of the Dragon, attempting to retrieve a Black Dragon Mask carried by the wizard.
Another thought I have is that I haven't done much to foreshadow the Kraken Society.  I don't much like the idea of Hekaton on a ship.  Much better if he is chained to a dragon turtle floating in the Sea of Swords.  But how do the players discover this?  There is a clue in Maelstrom, the coin.  I set this up in the beginning when the players messed about on a gambling boat from Yartar while at a fancy Waterdeep party.  Perhaps the wizard of Pow Ming is the artificer of the chains.  They will remember him because they wanted to steal his bag of holding.  The only issue is that it is yet another Cult.  Perhaps it is better if I make Pow Ming a Dragon Cultist.

On a side note, one thing I've realized about high level type VI play from the DM side is that challenging the group in combat, while possible, sort of isn't worth it in terms of game time spent battling.  Hit points are so high, battling anything truly threatening will take over an hour to play out.  It has been better just to make monster attacks really touch so that maybe a character or two drops in the round or three the foe survives.  This makes things interesting but there is never really any whole party threat anymore.  Not sure if its really a problem, but I wont mind when the game concludes and we can play some low level adventures.

Storm King's Thunder #17: The Sons of Annam

Tonight the group delved further into the Temple.  A few characters hit 11th level tonight. They are much higher than the expected level so I replaced the barbarians with Stone Giants. This made more sense to me anyways. I used Stone Giant Dreamwalkers from Volo's Guide. They were religious zealots who had made a pilgrimage to the Oracle, not to consult it, but to keep others out. Harshnag explained it as another example of the misguided madness of his people without the Ordening. I've dropped the barbarian subplot completely. Having added a whole dragon conspiracy, the barbarian part seems unnecessary. Hopefully I'll some of all those locations in some later campaign.
Six stone giants was a challenging battle for a 9th and 10th level party, but it offered a lot of XP.  The players enjoyed the puzzle of the statue room.  They have a very good sense of the over arching plot, but they will still be shocked by what they discover at the site of the Oracle.  I'm looking forward to an interesting next few months wherein the players attempt to stop the giants without alienating them and losing the possibility of calling on their aid for the final confrontation with Tiamat.


The mighty battle shook the cavernous hall.  It was a near thing, but soon six stone giants lay defeated.  The company was beaten within an inch of their lives, but unbowed.  Their companion Harshnag pushed the huge double doors inward.  Within was a massive cathedral room covered in thick ice.  On the far wall glowed a misty archway, forty feet tall and just as wide.  Six gigantic statues were arrayed around a single towering robed figure of stone.  Each of the six bent in supplication, offering their weapon.  All except one, who's stoney hands were empty.
Harshnag spoke, naming the six sons of Annam the All-Father.
After some study of the runes surrounding the arch and experimenting with Harshnag's axe, the group determined that by touching the spear to the "Skye" rune, the light of the thing turned to an iridescent purple.  Touching the wrong weapon to the wrong rune could trigger a snow-pacalypse within the temple.
The group was missing one weapon, so they went exploring, eventually finding four doors hidden behind sheets of ice.  Moving northward, a hall flanked by resting cubicles was explored, until a crack was detected in one of the walls.

Storm King's Thunder Sessions #6-16: Glacial Pacing and Dragon Slaying

We have been deep in Chapter 3 "The Wandering of the North", but now finally begin the end game. The best thing I've done is pin a post map of the north (mine is from an old 3e era Dragon mag) and mark their explorations on with a red sharpie. It helps everyone keep track, especially as I've dropped all kinds of hooks and lore.  
I've used "Crashed Frozen Castle" from the DMs Guild, and "Dragon's Maw" a 5e module from Goodman Games.  Now the group is pursuing the next phase in the grand events.  At this point, the group is very powerful (levels 9-10), but increasingly aware of a threat greater even than a disorder of giants.  It all seems to be a smokescreen for a plot to reignite the ancient feud between dragon and giant, with the civilizations of smallfolk caught in the middle.
It's been a great campaign.  At high level the player characters are only really threatened by large groups of giants, and they have accumulated great wealth and a magical arsenal, but they now have choices at all times about where to go.  Still, it has been good to go back and forth between open world traveling and small dungeon delves, since it focuses the game.  We have 8-9 players at times, so focus is a real issue.

Sessions #6-16

Reports were that two dragons, white and blue, crashed the castle in the Nether Mountains above Everlund.  The Company of the Raven trekked to the Nether glacier, passed the orc town and snuck into the frost giants' great hall, obscured by druid magic.  There they overheard the Jarl speaking to Blagothus, arguing over the correct course of action.  The Jarl said he thought Blag's plan to unite the giants against the dragons was a mistake, that he was waiting for Storvald to find the Ring of Winter.  Blagothus said he had been betrayed.  His sky castle crashed.  He blamed dragons.  There was one out there on the glacier.  The group withdrew and proposed to travel across the frozen wastes to find this crashed sky castle and see what treasures might be recovered.  They encountered the dangers of the icy plain: hunted by Remorazze (fiery ice worms) who nearly slew a hero or two.
Making friends with a dwarven enclave on the glacier, the heroes were given skis and taught to use them, thus making their travels swifter.  They visited a village of Yakmen, ruled by a crazed wizard whom the perhaps remembered from dark Barovia.  They slew more worms of ice and fire on their way to the crash site where they found the brooding cloud giant Blagothus staring at his ruined fortress.  He warned them not to enter the place, hinting darkly at greater forces at work in the realms.  Forces set in motion by the fall of the house of Hekaton and the Maelstrom Court.

Disregarding the doomsaying giant, the company crept toward the castle only to be set upon by a massive, white-scaled dragon, but these heroes are mighty in sword and spell.  They not only drove off the beast, they chased it down and finished it off.  
Within the crashed castle, the group traveled into the iceberg beneath the fortress, discovering a massive cavern, and within a sailing ship held aloft by a dragon scale air balloon, floating within the iceberg while purple cloaked men scurried to load the hold with the contents of the dragon's hoard left unguarded!   The heroes attacked, taking command of the ship and escaping even as they were bombarded by giants throwing rocks.   The ship ascended into the sky above the glacier to find an army of orcs and giants massing on the ice.  What their next move would be, they did not stay to find out.  The Company of the Raven set a course for Everlund.
In Everlund, the company made repairs on the damaged ship and trained a pair of local soldiers to help crew the ship.  It was decided to head south toward Waterdeep.  Tales of starvation were attributed to the gluttony of the Hill Giants in the Dessarin Valley.  Here was a chance to do some good!  
But traveling by airship can be difficult.  A storm blew them off course, over the vastness of the High Forest, where a broad winged green wyrm came winging up to do battle.  Again, the heroes rebuffed the beast, and chased it to it's lair, a series of caverns beneath the forest stream.  Tense battles against double headed serpents, the medusa daughter of the dragon and finally Chlorothra herself ended with the Company of the Raven claiming a hoard beyond their wildest dreams.  Wealth undreamt of.  
Now the company returned to Everlund again.  A change of plan had them heading west to meet the giant Harshnag, to go with him to seek the Oracle of Amman, in a place called the Eye of the All-Father.  With a brief stop outside of Mithril Hall, the company finally docked at Mirabar, arranging to pay a handsome fee to keep their ship safe as they traveled up the Khundun Valley, into the Spine of the World.  
On this trek signs of Fire Giants were seen, but avoided.  Finally, after traversing high mountain passes swaddled in polar bear hides, they came upon the soaring pillars of the Temple itself.  
There was no door.  Howling winds blew ice and snow deep into the massive hall, wide enough for a host to march a ten horse column, tall enough for long icicles to hang like lances from the ceiling without disturbing the grim head of Harshnag Giantkiller, the blue frost giant who had guided the Company all this way.  
Deep within mountain a sound burst forth, low and throbbing, the sound of massive vocal chords thrumming guttural prayers to the All Father that compelled the listener to bow down before his awesome power.  The singers were revealed: a half dozen gray pilgrims, 22 feet tall, their voices drowning the independent thoughts of all before them.  The warrior priest Apollo succumbed the ancient authority and was once again turned to stone.  His companions battled on without him...

Storm King's Thunder Session 5: Secrets of the Harpers

The campaign is deep in the "North" of the Forgotten Realms. They have the map. They roam where they will. I was out to lunch this session, making encounter rolls and trying to keep up with the game.  The group was excited to join the Harpers and discover a way to jump around the map.  Not so excited that they couldn't bring their horses with them.  

The Company of the Raven made their way to Everlund, then the lovely city of Silverymoon. They made friends with an organization called the Harpers, a secret network (everywhere but the Silver Marches, a haven for just minded folk) that sought to share information and promote the ideal of the yeoman farmer throughout the Realms. Occasionally the Harpers even play music.


The Company was introduced to Krow Valharrow, an old wizard who shared the secret of the Circles of Instantaneous Transubstantiation, and the man thereof. He also shared his theory that rather than possible allies, he suspected a dragon, or dragons was actually behind the Breaking of the Ordering of Giants.

Finally, the warrior Apollo acquired the Iron Blade of GiantSlaying.

Storm King's Thunder Session #4: Wandering the Libraries of Waterdeep and the Roads of the North

TL;DR  Stories of Giants, Dragons, and friends throughout the Sword Coast and the North.  A harrowing battle shows the folly of picking fights with the big guys.  The map is wide open.

In the aftermath of the fire giant attack, Harshnag and the Druid Saffron looked to the tower of Lord Protector Darathra to hold it up and protect those inside, but Ezra the Dark Sorceress felt her spell slipping from her mind like a fish and the last giant appeared amidst her companions, furiously laying waste about him.  In the melee, the bard was brought down and the giant fled, only to be frozen solid by Althea the Elfin.  The colossus tumbled and fell into the Pleasant Platter restaurant, crushing all the fine china.

In the days that followed Harshnag and the Company of the Raven helped to clean up the carnage of Triboar as the greyhanded frost giant told his tale.  In his rumbling voice he said that he had been in the court of the Storm Giant King when both King and Queen were assaulted, the queen slain, and King Hekaton lost in the deeps.  Now the “Ordning” is broken, and Hekaton’s rule of humble hermitage is undone and  the giants run amok, each lord thinking they can ascend to the Wyrmskull Throne and become the largest of giants.  Duke Zalto seeks to rebuild a warmachine to conquer the Realms, Queen Guh seeks to eat, starving the Waterdeep and the North.  The schemes of the frost giants in the frozen plains beyond the Spine of the North are unknown, as are the capricious desires of the Cloud Giants.  Harshnag seeks to protect the people of the north from the foolishness of giants.  He believes the time draws near when he should consult the Eye of the All Father in the Temple of Amman, far to the north, in the Spine of the World.  He invited company with him, for they are mighty heroes.  

The Company of the Raven had many interests.  They had been offered reward in the dwarven Citadel Adbar, contact with the wizard Krow Valharrow in Everlund, and they wished to return to the comforts of Waterdeep to explore the cloud castle that floated there.  The good giant gave the druid a gong and told her if ever she climbed to a mountain top and tolled the bell, he would hear.  

So the company traveled to Waterdeep, where they found the flying castle had pulled anchor and drifted north. They consulted the dragon sage Chaz, and traded their tale of the dragon Gnawbones for his research on the Black Dragon mask.  They learned it was one of a number of dragon masks used by the Cult of the Dragon, a secret society dedicated to serving dragons and increasing their power, serving Tiamat and creating the dreaded Dracoliches.  They bard, cleric and sorceress consulted the libraries of Waterdeep and found many tales of giants and dragons.  They earned the friendship of a gentleman scholar named Mintertem, who gave them the deed to his patrimony, a fabled giant slaying blade held in a tower northwest of Silverymoon.  

Finally, the group traveled north, beginning the month long trek to Everlund.  The journey was mostly without incident, only the bard ate Lady Seeds harvested by the druid at the edge of the High Forest and became a woman.  Then a squad of red bearded giants was seen out on the Evermoore (and a flying castle seen miles beyond).  Reckless and brave, the Company of the Raven Ambushed the giants, slaying four, though not without serious injury, and they were forced to camp near the moore, hoping not to be disturbed as they had accosted their foes.

Storm King's Thunder, Session #3: Terrible Trouble in Triboar

   A bit of banter on Triboar and an epic battle with giants and more.  The coming of Harshnag.

   The travelers arrived in the trading post town of Triboar late in the day.  A crossroads town protected by a keep but no wall, it was a strange affair, full of dusty caravan campgrounds
but also a posh hotel and hobbit-elven cuisine restaurant.  The travelers settled down for a meal that only successful treasure hunters could afford and made a new friend, a sorceress drow elf who hailed from the hollow depths of the earth, the Underdark.  She told a harrowing tail of her home city Menzorberrenzen, a dark metropolis, overrun by hellish demons from beyond this dimension: "The lords of the the Nine Hells stalk the night below!"  After that it was left to divide up the bill.
   The next morning the group asked around, looking for word of one "Harshnag Grey-Handed".  The search lead them to the wizard tower of Kolstaag the Friendless.  After some tense mystical negotiations and the payment of a worthy diamond the wizard consulted his crystal ball, ranting a bit about a great tragedy, that Harshnag was a witness to it all, and that he was nearby.  Only then did all look out the window to see the approach of a trio of red bearded giants in black iron armor, lobbing boulders at the town while a phalanx of cavalry lopped ahead, armored orcs on massive featherless ostriches.  They charged into the town, setting houses afire, slaying livestock and townspeople.
   The heroes of Barovia did not shirk the challenge this time, as they had in Waterdeep.  They harnessed magic to fly all of them to confront the assault.  In the brutal battle that followed, one giant was banished from the world, one slain, and one driven off with the help of an unlooked for ally, a white-bearded frost giant, who called himself Harshnag.
   "What were they after?" queried the bard, as the druid brought rain to douse the many flames.
   "The Vodinod," answered the blue skinned titan, pulling a massive metal hoop from the ground.  "This is a piece of an ancient artifact of war, Duke Zalto seeks to rebuild.  Pure adamantine, indestructible."

An Audience with the Wyrm of Kryptgarden

The latest session... I tried to get them into the cloud castle but they weren't having it. So they went on their first overland trek. I didn't use it because I haven't reviewed the rules but I want to try using the Adventures in Middles Earth journey rules. Anyone tried them?
In any case, after being super cautious about giants, the players decided to kiss off the ancient wyrm and nearly died for their troubles. I'm thinking Gnawbones is ok with giants rampaging around and will be amused if he can manipulate the players into slaying the one good aligned frost giant.


Traveling along the Sword Coast and the North. Ignoring the newly docked sky castle above Waterdeep, the pained roars of the creature above, the struggles of the Winged Pegasus Knights, and the golden request of well connected douchebag Danilo Thann, the party decided to hang out drinking cider and eating exotic sweatmeats from the Moonshae Isles on the street until the could consult with Chaz Yardhorn, renowned dragon expert extraordinaire, and cat lover. He told them of the ancient enmity between dragons and giants and suggested they seek help from one of the great wyrms of the North, Old Gnawbones the Green in Kryptgarden Forest. He was also very interested to make an etching of Althea's doom-y Black Dragon Mask, which he promised to research while she was traveling. He gave them potions of poison proofness with which to prove their mettle against the dragon they sought. 

 Thinking carefully, Althea returned to Bezel the Jeweler and re-bought the crown of Barovia as an offering for Old Gnawbones. Ghael the Barbarian selected a small herd of sturdy horses equipped with saddles, bags and tack (at a cost of 100gp each) and they set off, setting the shadow of the Sky Castle behind them, though Apollo's purse felt lighter of a sudden.

In the Inns along the way, the "Sleeping Dragon" and the "Singing Sword" of Red Larch, the talk was of Giants raiding food stores yes, but also of red haired giants excavating massive pits in the ground. No one knew why. Amidst all this chaos, the people of Red Larch were even more grim. They seemed to have been terrorized for some time by "maniacs" and "moon men". The elements themselves were an enemy in the Dessarin Valley.

Entering the tangled fastness of the Kryptgarden Forest, the first sighting was of a beautiful triad of dryads fleeing their bathing area, even leaving their towels and jewels. The source of their terror soon became apparent with the shaking of the earth and snarling of hellish hounds. The druid camouflaged her fellows and they ambushed the massive iron man tower, a veritable 20ft dreadnought of blackened steel smashing a wide swath through the forest. With spell and sword, wand and spear they laid low the armored foe. 

 Soon after the Old Gnawbone himself had accosted the party. With the corpse of man dangling out the side of it's cavernous jaws, dragon accepted the offering of the crown and demanded yet more treasure. Finally it offered a cryptic utterance, "Find Harshnag Greyhanded. This is all his fault. Slay him and your troubles will ease. The Wyrm of Kryptgarden cares note!"

"Fine you jerk!" said the haughty wizardess Althea. "We don't need you anyway." And she spit at the dragon as she and her fellows turned away. 

 There was a pregnant pause, a mighty inhalation that sucked all the oxygen from the forest air, then all was green, their lungs were burning and the heroes were stumbling running out of the forest, their horses, slain, themselves hardly more alive, they dragged themselves to the town of Triboar.

Heart of Doom in the Tower of the Stargazer

New D&D players like all D&D players

It came to pass that in this 21st century of D&D equanimity and seepage into the average world of leisure, my in-laws once removed had joined a D&D campaign, a young professional couple learning this new game for the first time.  At recent family gatherings I've heard such things as, "It's a long time to sit around so I get bored.  But my Dragonborn Monk does always win."  I couldn't let this ambivalence stand, and I offered to run a game for them.  So on a dark and stormy Friday night Lady J and I showed up at the door bearing dice and traveling DM briefcase.

I wanted to present a short dungeon with a twist, the kind of thing that could be fully explored in one session and offered a bit of closure, or "story", so I had read over and prepped the one-page dungeon Heart of the Minotaur.  I was gonna populate it with Boggles and Nilbogs from the new 5e monster book.  I set the print out on the table, no DM screen, began to narrate an opening scene: "You three are walking down a country lane -oh wait, introduce your characters."

So the players went around the table, ogled their handout characters and we all decided that since two of them had been having apocalyptic dreams of a tower and the third wizard elf knew about a tower, they were walking down the road looking for some tower.  "Great, back on track.  You encounter a wounded woodsman who begs you to save his wife with his last dying breath.  He says he hit the thing with his axe but it laughed."

The players were unimpressed.  "Sounds like a distraction," said Lady J, who has been playing regularly for two years, "Let's get to that wizard tower."

What's a DM to do? "Ok.  So you walk down the road apace and you come to a right in the road.  As you turn toward the tower you think you had been dreaming about, an axe handle comes flying out of the trees from the opposite direction.  It strikes the wizard for 1 point of damage.  You hear mocking laughter from that direction."

"A silly place.  Let's get to that tower."   They were dead set on ignoring the dungeon that was literally on the table!

But I am a DM with a deep well of dungeons.  I reached back into the traveling back and pulled out Tower of the Stargazer, printed out zine style, looked it over quickly and said, "After many hours of hiking through overgrown and untended trails you come upon a tall and ominous tower, over which looms a single storm cloud."

And lo, the adventurers did explore the tower of the wizard Calcidius, nearly choosing to free him, but ultimately ascending to the exploratorium at the top.  They followed the order of operations, lit the fuse and the barbarian looks through lens.

"You see the creatures dancing in a circle.  You are glowing red.  You feel a tugging sensation.  Do you resist this feeling or do you go with it."

"I go with it."

With that the barbarian traveled through time and space and I ceremoniously ripped up his character sheet.  The player was bemused, but it made for a nice punctuation on the evening.  A lovely time was had by all.

Storm King's Thunder Session #1 Banking in Waterdeep

First the egregious prose, then the DM's thoughts.

TL;DR Welcome to Waterdeep: Banking, strange fashion party lost money at trivia, narrowly avoided an anchor dropped by a flying castle. No fighting, much foreshadowing.

After a bit of relaxation in the farming commune of Goldenfields, the heroes hitched a ride on a grain barge heading downriver to the Sea of Swords.  Agammemnon returned to his elven kin beyond the water, but his place was taken by Grimnir, monastic sort curious about the Realms.  The riverboat journey was unevenful, 3 nights floating on broad slow waters.

Entering Waterdeep, the City of Splendors was a shock.  The City of Splendors—the most resplendent jewel in the Forgotten Realms, and a den of political intrigue and shady back-alley dealings. Never had they seen such an endless huddle of buildings, never had they seen so many peoples of any culture and species huddled together, commerce happening constantly, and cut purses to.  The fashions tended toward outlandish hats featuring small bird cages.

 The elf Althea soon tired of such mundane distractions, and the others were keen to transfer the crown jewels hard won in Barovia into local currency.  In the course of selling such a king’s ransom they became favorites of their jeweler, Bezel the Albino, who fed them vegan food and put them up in his townhouse for the night.  16,000gp was deposited with the  Iron Throne Trading Coster, available in any major city in the North.

The next day Apollo went to visit the House of Thann, who he knew since childhood.  The butler gave them the inheritance of the acolyte Zi Thann: A Robe of Eyes and a suit of Adamantine Platemail.  Furthermore, he invited them to the Garden Party at the palace of Laeral Silverhand, Open Lord of Waterdeep, that very evening.  

The Garden Party itself was a ridiculous affair.  The nobility strolled under starlight lamps, wearing bird bedecked hats and allowing themselves to be lead by their pet turtles.  Quite a stir was created when the Rainbow Knight arrived astride his flail snail.  

Lady Silverhand did not appear to be in attendance, here domicile was wondrous.  Here was a small lake, replete with a miniature island and full sized riverboat casino, catering the thrills of the the city’s leisure class.   Apollo, Althea and Otto boarded and encountered a slight but confident man wearing a rich robe of exotic silks.  He was Pow Ming and he would exchange 100gp for a Golden Goose token, used at the games table.  He had a small bag that held many things.   He said he and his employer Lord Drylund would be leaving the next day to begin the river journey north to the city of Yartar.

At the table Apollo found his old acquaintance Danilo Thann, who was eagerly awaiting the next question in the current game of Trivia, as intoned by an elderly squire: “Sages do sayeth that the race known for the flaying of minds did come as refugees from a far away star.  Little is known, yet even a schoolboy knows how many tentacles doth the illithid bear?”  All bet and answered silently.  “Four is correct.”   There were many cheers!

Next round: “Name three gods who died during the Time of Troubles and yet are now worshipped by zealous priests once again.”  “Bane, Mystra and Myrkul is correct!”  Groans.

“I lost 400 gold!”  moaned Apollo.  “Oh stop crying,” said Danilo Thann.  “Besides, you should know, thou soldier of god, eh?”

The festivities continued, with light shows and dancings, but finally the newcomers found themselves politely ushered out onto the street of the Castle Ward, stumbling drunk and beginning to realize they had not procured an inn. “Didn’t Bezel the Jeweler have our belongings sent to the Yawning Portal?” said Grimnir.

“I’m not sure,” said Apollo, thinking hard, “Or was it the ---look out!”

Apollo looked up in time to see a massive hook of metal come careening down out of the sky.  He and his companions dove out of the way as a massive 20ft anchor tore into the cobbled street and hooked itself on the corner of a cathedral to a goddess of luck.  A massive chain ran from the anchor up into the clouds above, where dimly could be seen glowing lights and the imposing shape of a massive fortress floating in the sky above Mount Waterdeep.

DM COMMENTARY:
This turned into a dice-less improvisational bad joke fest. We had a great time, but basically, I tried to play up the crazy fantasy city of Waterdeep. The players did some business, selling loot from Barovia, banking it and following up on a couple of quests. They kept asking for magic shops to buy potions and +1 things. I told them there were no magic shops and if they wanted to sell magic stuff they might as well go straight to the castle because the Lords' spies are everywhere and they frown upon a magic economy. I know it means there's not much use for gold, but I don't love the magic shop idea and they are already at a high enough level.

Otherwise I tried to keep things moving. I'm focusing on really bringing the Realms to life, referencing all the great place names of the Forgotten Realms, since they may actually go to any number of these places, so I'm seeding in as much foreshadowing lore as I can. I think I managed to get a fair amount in this session. I had a lady tell each one a fortune such as, "You will be scorned by three sisters!" and "You will find a cool hand in a burning sky!" "You will forget to look up". There were quite a few references to Gauntylgrm as well. It's always a bit awkward to have a session with no violence and few clearcut decisions for the players, but they enjoyed it and I made sure the anchor set up next session.

I awarded 1000xp each, based one having banked a huge amount of money. I don't think that was the right call. They are around 9th level, so it isn't much, but I think I should have based it on money spent, carousing table style. I should have given XP for money spent on gambling, wine and books, things like that. An arbitrary "Nice roleplayin tonight guys" doesn't really encourage any particular kind of play.