Rise of the Runelords Recap # 51 [RPG]

[22 Kuthona 4707 continued]

Sir Roderick always thought of others before himself.

For the first hours of the journey, the walk back from Fort Rannick to Turtleback Ferry is uneventful.  As they near the bridge to cross from the western bank of the Skull River to the eastern bank, however, three of the adventurers realize the waters are raising rapidly: a flash flood!  Sir Roderick yells out to a pair of locals who are fishing from the bridge and they turn to see a wall of water dozens of feet high coming towards them—they panic and run for cover.  Several dozen yards downriver, a mysterious traveller is making his way north when he hears the shouts of the fishermen.  The figure, an extremely pale man wearing heavy armor, spurs his warhorse forward to investigate.  The adventurers on the west side of the bank move safely away, while the fishermen and the newcomer on the east side do the same: the bridge is washed away in the tumultuous waves as the river overflows its banks by several feet on either side.

Although no one is hurt near the bridge, Kozen presciently notes that the surge could prove catastrophic for the residents of Turtleback Ferry.  With no easy way to cross the river now, the adventurers push through trackless underbrush on the western side of the flooded river, while the mysterious figure keeps pace on the eastern side.  Soon, the lights of Turtleback Ferry come into view, and screams echo through the night.  Panicking townsfolk are struggling to get to higher ground as the rushing waters rip away smaller buildings.  The town church is still standing, but near one building Tillia Henkenson and some children are trapped in an old rowboat that’s threatening to capsize as waves slam it repeatedly into the side of a house!  Kang’s dragonfly wings emerge as he flies over to help, but before he can get there a giant aquatic snake emerges from the waters and snatches a little girl in its monstrous jaws!  Artemis and Sir Roderick react instantly, however, and kill the snake with arrows and gunfire before it can swallow the child whole.  Kang catches the girl and leads her and the others in the boat to safety.

The locals have many legends about the origins of Black Magga, 

but none thought to see its fury firsthand.

But the night’s danger is far from over.  What first appears to be a massive black tree is being carried along by the flood waters, but just before it hits the church it submerges, and then, with a thunderous roar, it emerges and can be seen as the terrible lake monster the locals know only as Black Magga!  In terms of sheer size it’s the largest creature any of the adventurers have ever seen, a gargantuan monster with a serpentine neck supporting a reptilian head and a body made of a mass of wriggling tentacles.  Black Magga looms over buildings of Turtleback Ferry and begins wreaking havoc, smashing everything and everyone in sight.  The creature breathes a thick cloud of foul-smelling vapor over the area, driving Kozen insane!  Artemis’ streaking arrow crumples upon impact with Black Magga’s rubbery skin, while Sir Roderick fires his last bullet only to have his musket misfire.  Goragar takes up a battle stance but is too far away to attack.  Black Magga suddenly darts its long, serpentine neck forward and bites Sir Roderick almost in half!  The monster spits the body out to be lost amongst the floodwaters.  Artemis runs to escape, but the confused Kozen simply stands there, babbling.  The poor dancer from Magnimar dies next, quickly crushed to death by one of Black Magga’s tentacles.  Then, as quickly as it appeared, Black Magga dives deep into the waters of Claybottom Lake and disappears!

Innes Falkrenrath knows his kind are
suspect in the eyes of many.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the river, Kang is helping the mysterious traveller (who gives his name as Innes Falkenrath) usher the locals to safety.  By the time the alchemist realizes Turtleback Ferry is being attacked by a veritable lake monster, he’s too far away to intervene.   When Black Magga is gone, Kang helps to ferry his allies (and Kozen’s body) over the river and they find refuge at the church.  Father Shreed, Tillia, and several other residents are inside, having set up a makeshift hospital on the top floor of the stone structure.  Father Shreed expresses alarm that perhaps the dam to the north, Skull’s Crossing, is damaged and that things could be even worse next time if it’s not repaired.  He is saddened and further alarmed when told that the Order of the Black Arrows have been almost completely wiped out, with only one survivor found (Artemis’ now-unconscious cousin Fillias, who occasionally murmurs something about “finding Lamatar”).  With the worst the night has to offer behind them, the others are introduced to Innes, and several of the adventurers notice he wears the holy symbol of Vildeis, a powerful empyreal lord dedicated to the destruction of evil everywhere. Artemis announces his intention to head to the dam to see why it didn’t control the flash-flood, and the others agree to go with him in the morning.

[23 Kuthona 4707]

In the morning, the floodwaters have receded somewhat and, for the first time in weeks, the rain has stopped.  In the bright light of morning, several townsfolk see Innes clearly for the first time and are frightened by the realization that he has vampiric ancestry!  The adventurers, however, don’t even blink.  They take all of the treasure from the battles against the ogres at Fort Rannick and place it inside Sir Roderick’s house, and even go so far as to track down the body of Kozen at the cemetery to strip it of possessions!

Pixies have boundless energy and enthusiasm.

The group, reconstituted with the addition of Innes but the loss of Sir Roderick and Kozen, sets off north after taking a ferry to the western bank.  On the way, Kang asks Innes about his background.  Innes says he’s from Korvosa, but that for now he’d rather keep the rest to himself.  Kang talks about his plan to never age and live forever, an idea that sounds appealing to Goragar because the half-orc would never have to lay down his arms.  As the adventurers reach the edge of the Kreegwood, they hear an odd buzzing sound.  Suddenly, four creatures appears instantly just a handful of feet away.  Pixies!  Tiny, two-foot-long humanoids with wildly colored gossamer wings begin flying in figure-8 patterns all around Innes, chattering excitedly and rapidly about how Yap is looking for him and wants him to come to the Shimmerglens.  Innes explains to his new companions that Yap is an old friend he rescued from slavery in Korvosa years ago.  Artemis says the Shimmerglens (a foreboding swamp known to be full of unpredictable fey) is the wrong direction from where they’re going. Innes is forced to make a hard choice.  He promises to catch up to the others as soon as he can, but expresses his intent to find out why Yap needs to see him so desperately.

A total victory at Fort Rannick has been marred by the sudden death of two party members at Turtleback Ferry.  The surviving adventurers remain unswerving in their dedication to discover what’s happening at Skull’s Crossing.  What could cause one of the legendary relics of the ancient empire of Thassilon to suddenly fail?  And will the adventurers, diminished in number, be able to do anything about it?
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Director's Commentary (July 23, 2018)

This session has the big Black Magga encounter, a scripted scene in the AP that is really interesting because it's not about victory--it's truly about mere survival!  Black Magga is way too tough for PCs of the party's level at this point in the campaign, but he fights for only three rounds before submerging into the water.  Unfortunately, three rounds is enough for him to wreak a lot of havoc, as we saw from the deaths of Sir Roderick and Kozen.  It was a bummer to see Sir Roderick go, as he was a fun and interesting character with a lot of potential.  Kozen's loss wasn't a big deal, on the other hand, because his player had already decided he'd be leaving the campaign so she could introduce a new PC (Innes).  Nonetheless, Kozen's death was "real" and unscripted--a tragic fate for a nice dancer from Magimar.

I'm not generally a fan of players abandoning viable characters in the middle of a campaign (either by having them leave or by discouraging teammates to raise them from the dead when possible) because it causes story disruption and adds to my workload.  But Kozen's player was pretty new to the campaign so I was willing to make an exception.  As fate would have it, unfortunately, Innes' fate wouldn't be a good one--we'll see why very soon.

I was really skeptical of the Shimmerglens subplot when I first read the AP, and I still am to some extent.  It just doesn't really fit thematically with the rest of what's happening and kind of gets dropped in out of nowhere.  Nonetheless, I had a surprisingly fun time role-playing Yap the pixie!

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