The Lady & The Wyrm Session 1

Stay a while, and read on! This is the true beginning of the tale of our five adventurers as they begin to exist in a city now changed by disaster. Just like the city itself, they are resilient to push on and give a helping hand not yet knowing where or what that may lead them to next...

As every day since the attacks, the Darromar Guard holds their daily briefings in the City Square to give a glimmer of hope to the citizens of the city. They provide them with thanks and admiration, and then...the counts. The totals from all over the city of how many bodies have been recovered, how many survivors have been rescued, and how many more citizens are still missing. It is a grim task for Sgt Raghnall, yet this is his duty to his people. And he is admired and accepted by those people for he is a truthful and compassionate man. He himself suffered at the hands of whatever brought forth the recent destruction.

A recent portrait of Darromar Guard Sgt. Raghnall. An aged and experienced man who believes in his duty to the people, and most of all, in the people themselves. He is admired and welcomed in all of the city's six districts. He reports to the Monarchy daily. He has led dozens of successful offensive and defensive operations for the city in his years in position.

The Sergeant is married with two children. He lost a brother and sister-in-law in the attack. He himself was injured on the day of, while he & his Guard were helping with evacuations.

After a brief Q&A session with the crowd, Sgt. Raghnall ends the meeting with asking for volunteers in the recovery and rescue effort. They are to meet him at his office in the Public Services district. And that is where four of our adventurers make their first choice to do some good as they decide to volunteer. One of our adventurers, Maiya the Pirate Elf, decides to hang back at the nearby tavern(Fellroy's Taphouse in the Commerce District) and see if any juicy tidbits could be found there. She did happen upon one morsel of info after meeting the young and mostly competent 'Ugh I hate my job' tavern worker Alrek. He mentioned to her a name he overheard, the Tunazee family. Something with them went wrong. It's all he had but it was enough Maiya thought as she grabbed a seat, ale in hand, and observed the crowd. "Is that a...rabbit-man over there?" she thought out loud to herself.

On the Ith road southeast through the Temple District to the Public Services district, the locals at work were hard pressed to not notice an unfamiliar yet very unique sight. On the same road, at the same time, were a Goliath, two Elven type folk, and a Firbolg. All headed in the same direction. Shortly after this, the four unique individuals also noticed each other and that they were headed in the same direction. A Dark-Elf buried in his new book, but not once losing his gait. A Half-Elf clad in chainmail, crinkling along. A Firbolg admiring all those around her on her way. And one Goliath sternly making his way to his determined goal. After gaining access to the Guardhouse, the four adventurers were escorted to a waiting area, and meet for the first time. They introduce themselves, share little tidbits of themselves, and realize they are in equal good company. Shortly after, Sgt Raghnall arrived to have the adventurers register with the city as volunteers and assign them a task. "Just need your name and specialty." he stated. He tasked of them to help find the missing Tunazee family who live up in the Temple District. There was a priority applied to the request when it first arrived at the guardhouse, but Raghnall didnt let them in on that part. He simply requested the group go to the house and see if they can locate the family, and bring them back no matter what. The Sergeant stood aside as another man appeared in the room. A holy man, in fine garb, approached the party and cast upon them the magic spell effect known as Aid. The Sgt. did this for all 'green' volunteers. Knowing they would probably make it back, a little help never hurt.

The party as they now were(for the first time!) had to make a pit stop at Fellroy's Taphouse for a city map, as the Guardhouse had run out from all the volunteers they provided maps to. The Taphouse should have a 'tourist pile' of em, & maybe someone there could point them to the Tunazee residence. And while they were waiting on their food order, taken by a very charismatic Rabbit-man, an Elven Pirate we all know plopped down five mugs of sun-ale and just joined them. And as it usually happens over good food and drink, the four became five. All of them on equal footing, equal experience, and equal desire to help those in need. Plus Maiya thought it quite ornery she was given a tidbit about the very same thing these folk were assigned to investigate. Of course what they were to receive in return was up in the air as it was simply forgotten to be mentioned while meeting with the Sergeant, to Maiya's shock. So that left Maiya and Pip thinking about a reward, and so they started brainstorming on their own about how to get that! During the regale, Sendak made his way over to the counter and met the lovely Shelly Mapseller. She offered the Goliath to look at the map for 5sp, and then own the map...for five more. After gleaning the location of the Tunazee house out of her(she had sent food to the residence in the past), Sendak rejoined his group who decided it was time to head out and find this family!

On their way through the Temple District, the party saw the beauty of the environment. This was after all, the holy section of the city where from the architecture to the people, good energy and natural beauty shined in their glory, even in these hard times. It instilled the party to see them looked upon by the locals. After all, it wasn't everyday this kinda posse strode through town! Something good must be happening because the locals were really paying attention. The city hadn't sent out much help yet to the lower end residential areas of the District, so maybe this is the help they have been requesting. The hope in their eyes wasn't missed by the party. In fact, it instilled them so much, that they each gained their first point of Inspiration!

The Tunazee House (post-attack)

After some walking to the edge of the District they came upon the literal pile of rubble that was the Tunazee residence. Barely a section of the rear first floor wall of the previous two-and-a-half story house was left standing. How someone could've survived this? Pip was first along with Alystn to do a perimeter check while the others cautiously made their way onto what was left of the house's grounds. Rock, timber, soot and various destroyed belongings were piled everywhere. After thinking there was no way they would be able to find the Tunazee's in all of this, some of the party members perceived what felt like a draft coming up from the floor in the back corner where the rubble was piled, but also in a concave shape. As if the ground had given way some. Once enough of the rubble was safely cleared(heavy stones, sharp sticks), it was revealed that the ground had given way and presented a pit of some kind. "Maybe that's where they ended up!" the party collectively agreed. Of course with the hopes they would find them alive, but also knowing in the back of their minds, the reality of the situation they were all in, nary two weeks since the attack. So with their 50 feet of hempen rope each, they tied some together and anchored to a piece of the building's foundation, additionally secured with heavy rocks, as they each made their way down until they were in a tunnel of some sort. With Darkvision by most, and a torch by one, they made their way what seemed like deeper underground and perhaps even beyond the city limits. Eventually it became less tunnel-like, and more cave-like as the walls widened and the ceilings rose. Plant life and water were becoming more abundant, until they reach a grand space, lit by bioluminescence and it's reflection of the streams of water everywhere. And then they saw ahead four structures made of bio-material like branches and twigs and vines, stood against a far rock face. After investigating, (and the first Nat 20! of the game by Pip was thrown), out of each "structure" released were the four members of the Tunazee family. A man and his wife, their son, and the man's brother. They all had very decent clothing on, fine haircuts(think Lord Farquaad) and were very relieved, and also the party noticed, completely unharmed. Not even scared. The family revealed they weren't held captive, but kept safe from the dangerous denizens of the underground that would do them harm, by benevolent beings when they became lost down here in the darkness of the underground. That is when the three underground protectors of the Tunazee family revealed themselves from the darkness, via various openings throughout the structure's walls.

Two adult & one sprout sized Myconid

The party had met their first...ally? Adversary? They weren't too sure until it was relievingly revealed that indeed they were allies. They, the Myconids, are a fungal plant-type race that lives deep underground. While not totally trustworthy of most other races, still they were a kind race that provided shelter to those in danger, and passage to those who proved themselves decent. Now it was clear who the adversary was. "Riiiibbbbbbbiiiitttt" a stuttered screaming sound echoed its way into the space. The larger of the two adult Myconid in its own clicking/skittering sounding language, instructed the smaller adult and the small one back into the darkness beyond the opening they emerged from. It itself then stood tall, nearly seven feet, as an appendage began to grow out of its shoulder. The Myconid snapped it off, the pointy end facing the enemy before them all. With it's black, blank, but blinking eyes, it looked at the party, then at it's natural enemy, and got into battle pose. "The moment had come," the party thought internally. They were all so new into their fields of interests and trainings. Were they ready? Was this the moment they would realize their potential? Or their folly for agreeing to such a task? No. For them, to stand up for the plight of good, and protect those they needed protecting? That is exactly what this moment was for them. Well, that's what they believed and there was only one way to find out if it was true! They instinctually, and kind of excitedly, reacted by getting the Tunazee family out of harm's way, & drew their weapons. They prepared their spells. They steeled their defenses and moved ahead to battle!

A group of the underground sentient frog race, the Bullywug. Nasty.

A half dozen frog like creatures were standing before the party. Some dripping wet, (a biological necessity for their kind), some with a sheen, but all with crude weapons. Clearly, the Myconid knew this enemy well because with one fell swoop of it's 'stalk-spear' two of the nasty frogs were done for. Another one who felt too dry to hang, decided to flee. The party then set upon the remaining frogs with their attacks. The unpleasant angry battle cries of the frog creatures "rrrriiibibbbiiitttt" hollering echoed off the cave-like walls as the battle ensued. Spells of ice were slung to target. Spears clunked into the rock face. Everybody doing their part, before they knew it, only one frog remained surrounded by the party. And boy was it taking a beating! Yet it still stood. Running out of ideas and options, Alystn the Paladin with one final action, stomped down onto the creature's head, (which had just previously fallen prone) and finally put it out of it's misery. Certainly a sound not soon forgotten.

Catching their breath, hands on knees, the party had successfully defeated the enemy and saved the Tunazees. Now all that remained was to escort the family back to the safety of the city, and report to Sgt. Raghnall of their success. So, with the strength they had remaining they escorted the Tunazee family back towards & up through the tunnel that had swallowed up the family in the collapse of their home during the attack. The next day's report would now have four more added to it's rescued list. And the new adventurer's would have to get used to a new word. Hero.

The Myconid took a moment to admire this gathering of beings as it made it's way back to it's home and family in the darkened walls of the region known as Undermar. "The Tunazee's weren't the only ones saved today," it would remember...

FIN