Downtime in Sphant

A new map of Sphant has been added to the blog. It's a bigger map (a PDF) than what you're seeing here with the JPEG.

Sphant is nestled within the thick of the Shattered Isles. The island is only about 15x30 miles in size but is one of the larger of the Shattered Isles, but is still relatively small as compared to the largest island of Rhackdalia.

The waters around Sphant and its surrounding isles is shallow and thus Sphant can't support a deep-water port, so the only vessels that can navigate its waters are shallow-bottomed schooners and skiffs. Small port towns in and around Rhackdalia would transfer goods that had crossed the Fathoms to smaller vessels so that they could be brought to Sphant; a perfect example would have been schooner the party commissioned to bring them to Sphant, The Courageous.

Sphant is covered in lush, thick trees. The party is arriving during the summer and there isn't a snow cover, but over the winter months, Sphant is an island of snow-crested trees. Its large bay faces the west, and the first thing the party would have seen sailing towards it is a 50' colossus on the southern mouth of the bay - a nude woman, arms stretched downward, her hair blowing in the wind from the sea, she faces the tempest of the ocean. Siegride immediately recognizes the colossus as Isthmeira, her patron deity.

Isthmeira, however, doesn't stand alone. Within the shallow bay are three other colossuses also nudes standing 50' tall. One presents a woman in a relaxed pose staring at the ground; another presents a woman with a bastard sword that she wields two-handed in a defensive pose; the last is a woman in the last trimester of her pregnancy, and she holds her belly. The colossuses are at various points within the bay where stands large wooden and stone structures. Abbeys. Abbeys of all shapes and sizes. They dot the shoreline around the bay. Some are large, elaborate, crafted structures; others are just wooden or comprised of trees, rocks, or stone. The main Abbeys are represented by the colossuses: the Hooded Spirit Isthmeira (and all of her 16 names), where Her Abbey's face outwards towards the sea; whereas Gaia, Dhyane, and Ohnuava are gathered in the bay. The party will come to realize that - as it's customary that the Shyn's and towns of Floreth celebrate their founders with commemorative statues - Sphant has no founding Houses. Just the Mother, in all of her forms. Those were the statues erected over time. There are no Houses in Sphant.

The winds blow all the time across the isle of Sphant. There are dozens upon dozens of small 1-3 person vessels with a single sail that's driven by standing in a shallow boat. The sails are multi-colored fabrics; at times, it looks like leaves dancing on the waves of the shallow harbor; those same smaller craft are used by people to skitter along the shorelines to the other islands. Larger ships drop their sails when in the bay and moor along wooden docks near the main Abbeys of Gaia, Dhyane, and Ohnuava. And to the southeast of the bay, along an undeveloped wooded portion, hasty construction of make-shift shelters for refuges from Rhackdalia.

This is a place of peace, tranquility, and community. Order is strictly maintained. The Magistrate is a Paladin - Lwynn, a Sister of Dhyane - appointed by the Queen of Floreth. The garrison here has been reinforced from Floreth and there are plenty of trained guards keeping the peace. Further, the wooded parts of the island are managed by a sect of Rangers that patrol this and nearby islands; there's even a holy space set aside for their troop named Pathfinder Abbey, found within the confines of Earthwomb Abbey (Gaia). Given all of the religious and spiritual diversity, there is a wide-spread notion of acceptance of open-mindedness and tolerance.

The refuges from Rhackdalia have presented all of these orders and sects an opportunity to proselytize and speak their good word to potential converts. They have been treated with kindness and generosity once arriving in Sphant, and supplies sent from the mainland are being used to help clothe and feed the masses. Meanwhile, citizens of Sphant are pitching in to help, educate, train, and employ the hundreds of people that keep pouring in every day.

When the sun sets in the west, its blazing light casts all of the four Colossuses of the Goddess in an almost divine light and shines directly in to the shallow bay of Sphant, and when the Mother and Daughter (Shae Tahrane's moons) are out, their moonbeam reflections awash the whole bay in moonlight. The nights are usually clear this time of year and there are so many stars in the sky.

Abbey's dedicated to the Tempest are outside of the bay and face the roiling sea. There are abbeys spread along the northern interior of the bay that're referred to as the Midnight Sanctuaries, as those abbeys worship the darker side of the Mother; earth and light abbeys find themselves in the northeast portion of the bay; followers of war, the garrison, and the affairs of state are conducted from Moonshade Abbey (Dhyane); followers of Ohnuava and other fertility goddesses are just south of that. To the west and along the south side are more isolated and sects and covens in an undeveloped country. There are approximately 12,000 souls in Sphant, but more like 15,000 now with the refuges arriving, and that number is climbing.

There are many places of worship here. Siegride will have been spending her downtime at Tidewater Abbey with six dozen other worshipers of Isthmeria; Tamroohk would likely spend some time in and around the Earthwomb and Moonshade Abbeys; Gorbash near Moonshade Abbey; the Library is a place where wizards and magic users congregate, drawing Ma'yah; the Seminary is a Bardic College of Lore, and that's where Llewellyn would spend his time; Pathfinder Abbey is the spiritual command-post for the Rangers of this island, and Elan would gravitate to this place. Tolman ... he has his own little adventure and gets around (see below). The Commercium and Croupier, the Hall of the Magistrate, the general stores, the Garrison, can be found in and around Moonshade Abbey.

During your downtime (and this is what I've got thus far):

• Siegride does some accounting, cashes-in gems and other monies, and distributes them to the party; for those who have accounts with the Croupier (everyone except Elan), I've updated the spreadsheet with these numbers.

• Before leaving Shyn-Bhokerdown, Siegride made a 100 Crown contribution to Shelly of Gynger's Stores to aid with the refuge effort; Siegride also donated 100 Crowns and her time to Harborside Abbey. Siegride also purchased a lot of bread and apples and circulated them amongst the refuges.

• In Shyn-Bhokerdown, Llewellyn picks up new studded leather armor. He also tries to speak with Correllyn but she's already left town. He also performs well at Kindtides before his departure.

• In Sphant, Siegride spent 100 Crowns of the party's funds on diamond dust and escorted Llewellyn to Tidewater Abbey. There, a cleric of sufficient level cast Greater Restoration on Llewellyn, restoring up to 2 points of a single ability score, to heal Llew of the damage he took from the Harpy's acid attack.

• In Sphant, Siegride is the happiest she's ever been. She's amongst six dozen women and men who believe in similar things that she does, and calls Isthmeira by name (well, Isthmeira has many names, 16 in fact, and the Tempest Goddess is represented in many different ways - Tidewater Abbey specifically refers to Isthmeira). Waves crash angrily against the rocks here at the abbey, and its a perfect meditation on the wrath and angriness and serenity of the Goddess. There she meets up with Annel, a Cleric of Isthmeira who helped train her in Rhackdalia.

• In Sphant, Llew was surprised to learn that there's no "politics as usual here" in that there are no founding Houses. There are, however, differing opinions on matters which creates its own form of political intrigue but it is more subtle here than in Rhackdalia. He also speaks to others about Rhackdalia. He does manage to land several speaking / reading gigs at the Seminary, and he has even been asked to talk about his time stomping evil in the Mines. He trained at the Seminary. Llew is also pretty happy now that he'd been healed, and, had a wonderful place to express himself ... unlike the Urbane Assembly which spent its time in hiding underground, the Seminary is honest, bright, truthful, and honest, all above board. He thinks he could like it in Sphant.

• In Sphant, the Dwarves were able to receive their training from the Garrison at Moonshade Abbey. The dwarves were welcome and invited to convey their recollections of Rhackdalia. They were also quite impressed with the talking amulet around Gorbash's neck who ended up telling them how to attack, thrust, and parry during his training. During their travels to Sphant and in waiting for their training, Siegride trained Tamroohk to Level 1 Cleric. Tamroohk would be drawn to the light and love of this place; Gorbash would like the attention and the relaxation, but nothing here would taste as good as a deep Dwarvish beer. He wonders how his friend, Whik, in Shyn-Valour was doing these days. He missed the company of Dwarves. Dwarf-men. Manly Dwarves.

• In Sphant, Ma'yah was able to receive training from magic users who live about the Library. During her training, Dru suggested that he was proud of what she did in Shyn-Bhokerdown in getting rid of the Eye of Kesh. Now that Ma'yah's recovered and is showing less withdrawal symptoms, Dru would like to stay with her as a companion, if Ma'yah wishes it. (DM's Note: Dru can't be a familiar based on the mechanics of Find Familiar in D&D 5E. He's a willing companion that hangs around; he can't be used to channel spells through). Ma'yah also wanted to get the ward removed from the spellbook that she found. Removing the ward would have cost 250 Crowns. The spellbook contained: 1st Level [Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Identify, Illusory Script, Unseen Servant]; 2nd Level [Arcane Lock, Locate Object, Magic Mouth]; 3rd Level [Counterspell, Tongues]; 4th Level [Locate Creature].

• In Sphant, Elan works with the Ranger order. Elan is wildly accepted by the women of this order. She's taught trails on the island, performs patrols, assists with the refugee and building issues, is taught how to use the hand-sailed skiffs, and is trained on the skills/proficiencies due to her for 6th Level.

• In Sphant, Tolman catches up with the rest of the party after his Level 1 training in Shyn-Bhokerdown. Once he arrives, it isn't very long before Twyst catches up with him. She invites Tolman out for a walk in the streets of Moonshade Abbey. Twyst looks perfect, nearly no scratch or blemish on her fair skin despite everything she had been through. She was pleasant, caught up on Tolman's travels, and then eventually stepped into a concealed ally. Turning to face Tolman, in the ally, Twyst dispelled her illusion - she immediately shrunk to his size, became kind of portly, and grew some thick gray sideburns. What appeared then was the face of a middle-aged halfling, a male, staring right back at Tolman's astonished gaze. Bashfully, the new halfling extended his hand. "Twyst. You certainly didn't expect any less from a name like that? Well, there it is. I figured there wasn't a need any longer to keep up appearances. I don't have anyone to impress with boobs here. I think you were catching on anyway. Hi. I'm Gaelyn Hobbletoes. Yes, I'm from the Parishes, and you and I - we've got a lot to talk about." He winks. He explains that Ashes and Omens is still intact and operates out of Sphant, and there's plenty more to do if he's still game and willing to be a part of his organization. He's even willing to train him on this magic stuff, too, if he's interested. Thus Tolman receives his training direct from Gaelyn.

Whew - okay.

R

Our Time in Shyn-Bhokerdown (6th of Bloom, Rose: 47)

The party woke to the smell of a warm breakfast prepared by Tolman the Halfling who - in addition to being a thief - is a rather accomplished cook. It was the first bite of warm bread, eggs, and beverage that they'd had in a long time.

Generally, the party spent the day in Shyn-Bhokerdown exploring the community, meeting its citizens, and helping where they could. Along the way, the party:

• Procured Supplies. The party swung in to Gynger's Stores and encountered Shelly, Gynger's grand-daughter. Shelly was kind and attempting to help distribute rations to the refuges who'd made their way here from Rhackdalia. They acquired food, clothing, healing kits, and other gear. 

• Met a Bower/Fletcher, Armorer/Weapons, Blacksmith, Tailor, and Thaumaturgist. Llewellyn procured fancy dress and a mask to hide his unfortunate acid burns from a tailor named Shiva; Elan acquired arrows and arrow-heads and tools from a fletcher named Phatrick; Mercy, the Blacksmith and Armorer, was very helpful. Meanwhile, Ma'yah, Tolman, and Elan spent some time with Dhander Kant, the local Thaumaturgist, doing barters, trades, and buys - Elan acquired a charming new set of magical items (a ring, a crown, and two bracers) that looked like they were made from thatched thorns, and when she wore them, those thorns bit into her flesh and caused her to bleed from her hand, her temple, and her wrists. What fun! And Tolman found the Dhander Kant would be happy to train him in the basics of the arcane (multiclassing from level 0 to 1).

• Healed Some Refuges. Siegride offered her services to Luka of Fhaejia, and spent more than an hour looking after and bandaging the wounded, sick, and infirm. Siegride also made kindly cash donations to the Harborside Abbey and Shelly of Gynger's Stores to help out with the financial burden of managing the refuge crisis.

• Met Some Mercenaries. Apparently, men of Grizzly Company had been hired by the Magistrate to help keep the peace. They mostly kept to themselves but they did pass a chit to Siegride if she were interested in signing-up with their Company.

• Did Some Banking. The party stopped by the Croupier and did some exchanges. They also learned that what gets deposited in the Croupier can be access from anywhere the Croupier has an open station, even stuff stowed away in a deposit box. What Tolman thought he left in Rhackdalia was actually available to him.

• Overcame Personal Struggles. Ma'yah, finally working up the nerve, struggled to throw the terrible Eye of Kech into the ocean from a dock. She was talking loudly to herself and looked very much like a crazy person on the dock arguing with an imaginary friend. There was a moment of hesitation and both Ma'yah and the little dragon played this game of tug-of-war when she was trying to throw the cursed thing into the sea. When it appeared that Dru the Pseudodragon had lost that contest, he briefly apologized in advance for his attempt to stab Ma'yah with his poisonous tail - which his to-hit roll failed miserably again with a roll of 2 - and, after some more dramatics and a successful Wisdom save, Ma'yah was able to set it down on the dock. Seizing his moment, Dru took to the air, grasped the gem, flew it out over the ocean, and let it go. The orb splooshed into the water and sank into the watery depths. Ma'yah immediately threw up and started going through withdraw symptoms. Dru was quite satisfied.

• Secured Travel. Dhander Kant referred the party to Mssrs. Kavant Walsh and Rheece Boon of the Erenlands who had taken up temporary residence at the Kindtides Inn. Commissioned by the Harbourmaster, they were apparently brokering premium chartered passage off of the island to a variety of destinations for those who could afford it. The party was presented with a variety of options but settled on leaving Shyn-Bhokerdown in three days on-board the merchant schooner The Courageous at 120 Crowns/seat to Sphant. After his training in Shyn-Bhokerdown, Tolman would meet up with the party for additional training in Sphant.

• Had Some Drinks. Gorbash and Vongur drank it up at Kindtides, and, Llewellyn even agreed to an evening's performance for 35 Crowns.

The gaming session ended with the understanding that time was going to fast-forward a bit through the training cycle so that next we meet onground, the party would be fully-trained to their next levels.

The party commissioned The Courageous on the 6th of Bloom and the ship was promised to depart on the 9th of Bloom. It did, and everyone except Tolman arrived in Sphant on the evening of the 11th of Bloom; Tolman arrived in Sphant on the 3rd of Third Planting. For those keeping track, that would be 840 Crowns total for the one-time premium travel expense.

Sphant is a larger city and port, and it was relatively easy to find accommodations and NPC's to provide the training for everyone; for the sake of expediency, we'll say that everyone started their training on that same date, the 7th of Third Planting.

We follow the optional training rule as a House Rule, so that training time and money would look something like:

Level 0 - 1 (5 Days, 10 GP)

• Tolman (Multi-classed Wizard)
• Tamroohk (Multi-classed Cleric)

Level 3 - 4 (10 Days, 20 GP)

• Llewellyn (Bard)
• Ma'yah (Wizard)

Level 4 - 5 (20 Days, 40 GP)

• Gorbash (Fighter)
• Siegride (Cleric)
• Tolman (Rogue)
• Elan (Ranger)
• Llewellyn (Bard)
• Ma'yah (Wizard)
• Tamroohk (Fighter)

Level 5 - 6 (20 Days, 40 GP)

• Gorbash (Fighter)
• Siegride (Cleric)
• Elan (Ranger)
• Llewellyn (Bard)
• Ma'yah (Wizard)

Total Training Cost (540 GP)

• 2 PC's Level 0 - 1 (20 GP)
• 2 PC's Level 3 - 4 (40 GP)
• 7 PC's Level 4 - 5 (280 GP)
• 5 PC's Level 5 - 6 (200 GP)

So that the end result would look like:

• Gorbash (Level 6 Fighter)
• Siegride (Level 6 Cleric)
• Tolman (Level 5 Rogue / Level 1 Wizard)
• Elan (Level 6 Ranger)
• Llewellyn (Level 6 Bard)
• Ma'yah (Level 6 Wizard)
• Tamroohk (Level 5 Fighter / Level 1 Cleric)

Training, Lodging, and Time:

• The total time that it would take everyone to train up would be 50 days.
   
• That would put the calendar around the 7th of First Harvest, Rose: 47.
• Just to easily calculate expenses, let's say it'd cost everyone 3 Crowns / Day for food and lodging. That would work out to an additional 150 Crowns in living expenses during this time.

We'll start the game back up on the 8th of First Harvest, Rose: 47, in Sphant. I'll create some back-story for Sphant and the party's time there.

R

Training Using Optional Rules

D&D 5E has an optional training rule in the DMG 131 that requires player characters to spend downtime training or studying before they gain the benefits of a new level.

Once the PC gains enough experience to attain a new level, they must train for a number of days before gaining any class features associated with that level.

Upon clearing the experience thresholds, the PC does receive their HP bonus without requiring training.

As a house rule, I've inserted a row from 0-1st for accommodating multi-classed characters.

The table:

Level Attained,Training Time,Training Cost

0-1st, 5 Days, 10 GP
2nd-4th, 10 Days, 20 GP
5th-10th, 20 Days, 40 GP
11th-16th, 30 Days, 60 GP
17th-20th, 40 Days, 80 GP

Training time and money is cumulative. 

In my opinion, player characters shouldn't just reach some magical number in the middle of an adventure and suddenly have access to new class features. Instead they have to receive training for them.

Experience Without Training

So, under this system, it's conceivable, for example, that a Level 6 PC may only be trained to Level 4, until which time they receive training.

Still, I believe that player characters become tougher, more agile, more buff, through experience. Thus once reaching suitable experience, PC's should receive their hit dice/HP increase, ability score increases, and spell slots even without training.  It's just new class features that should be awarded following formal training.

Training Others

I've always maintained that a PC/NPC at least two levels higher in the same class could train.

Example: a 3rd level cleric could train anybody to be a 1st level cleric; a 4th level Fighter could train a 2nd level Fighter.

However, classes start to specialize around the 2nd and 3rd level. In order to advance into those more specialized fields, I believe that they need to be trained by a PC/NPC of the same specialization.

Thus they must seek someone willing to train them with the requisite +2 levels and same specialization. Only a Fighter (Battle Master) can train a Fighter (Battle Master); only a Cleric of the Light Domain can train a Cleric of the Light Domain, etc.


R

Chase Through the Lightwood (5th of Bloom, Rose: 47)

Reeling from the midnight attack by a half-ogre hunting party, the adventuring group moved immediately to deal with their casualties.

Ma'yah rushed to where her small companion - the pseudo dragon named Dru - had been struck down by the wicked ax of a half-ogre. Its body was tiny, frail, bloodied, broken, and devoid of life. Well, nearly all life. Siegride, Cleric of Isthmeira, reached out and sensed a spark of life still within the little creature, and she urged Isthmeira to heal the wounded dragon. Infused with divine energy, Dru's eyes slowly opened, looked into the face of Ma'yah, and a small spark of its consciousness entered Ma'yah's mind telepathically to feebly ask - "God?" - before it passed out.

Meanwhile, Siegride had more bacon to fry. The three NPC's that the party had been escorting through the woods were fodder for the half-ogres, and she healed them back to health as well. Nakin, the 11 year old son, survived the attack and had just witnessed his family get mowed down in some serious carnage; terrible memories that will formatively influence his entire life. Nakid was elated to see his mother, Larissa, brought back to consciousness (perhaps not so much her two other male companions) yet he was very happy to see his mother. He insisted to his mother that they had died in the attack and that Sister Siegride had brought them all back from their journey of death (as he saw this first-hand), but the boy's anxiety was summarily dismissed by his mother's insistence that she just blacked out.

The party didn't have much time. Elan the Ranger was convinced that the forest was occupied - that there were other hunting parties - and that they needed to vacate their camp immediately. Their position would be revealed from the horn that was blown during the attack, their light sources, and the abundance of scents in this area. They needed to flee into the wilderness immediately! Larissa told Elan that she and her family had been hiding out in a cave no more than three miles from here, and it was decided that the party should go there. Pulling all of their gear together and still mostly unarmored, the party rushed to gather up their equipment and gear and head out scrambling into the night.

DM's Note: I evoked Chase Rules during this scene (DMG 252) which put restrictions on the PC's for using a Dash action without incurring Exhaustion Points; a random process for interruptions and obstacles found during the chase; and setup a process for the party to evade their pursuers in the wilderness. Light conditions were "darkness/heavily obscured" forcing the human members of the party to 1/2 their movement rates unless they had a source of illumination which would also reveal their position. With the Ranger in the lead and this being Elan's favored terrain, their usual 1/2 movement rate was increased to full, and there were no bad weather conditions. They cleverly produced a hooded lantern to create a focused light source to aid in their run, and I had created a moving landscape for the chase with dungeon (woodland) tiles. The characters encountered obstacles on the terrain that also slowed their movement, and cold, wet, swampy regions to help evade their scent. Overall I thought that the process was tedious and the Chase Complications Table on DMG 254 was completely intolerable by the 3rd round (the party was consistently being attacked by random woodland creatures) and I abandoned using it; should I consider a chase scene in the future, I think I'd create my own Complications Table. Meanwhile, four worgs were in hot pursuit of the party through the midnight forest and were in the lead of two half-ogre hunting parties who moved considerably slower and had less bonuses to their Perception rolls. In the chase, the worgs (intelligent creatures that gain Advantage on Perception checks like this and move at 50'/round) intermittently caught up with the party. There were skirmishes and the worgs were individually dispatched as they gained ground on the party. Eventually the party dispatched the last of four worgs and took up hiding places in the forest; the Chase Rules allow for hiding quarry a means of escaping their pursuers by rolling DEX (Stealth) checks at the end of the round. If the DEX check was higher than the Passive Perception of the pursuer (which in this case was true three rounds in), they escaped. The half-ogre hunting parties were unable to find the party in the darkness.

In the last adventure, Tolman had run off with the horn and was making noises with it to try and lead the potential hunting parties away from their position. In the darkness of the deep forest, Tolman was witness to the worgs racing past his position and towards the party's camp, and he heard the shouting grunting voices of the half-ogres trying to keep up with their worgs, but eventually, the earth began to shake with the pounding steps of an enormous bipedal creature. Into the night, he saw an enormous giant - some 15' in height - crushing his way through the forest behind the half-ogres, smashing trees and throwing obstacles out of his way. (A running giant actually moves at 40', faster than the half-ogres, so the giant was keeping pretty good time). Tolman hid and kept to the outskirts, making sure to keep a lot of forest between him and the giant until they passed. He sneaked off into the darkness to rendezvous with the party and dispatch the worgs.

Out of the chase, the party traveled another three miles to the cave Larissa had mentioned. It was by a riverside. The party regrouped, healed, and recuperated, sleeping through most of the morning. Tolman read another entry from his Diary of Correspondence from the enigmatic Twyst who'd taken refuge in the city of Shyn-Bhokerdown:

Twyst writes that there was a ship called Gentlemen’s Agreement moored in the harbor. It landed here from Sphant. Been there for just under a day before it set sail east. Interestingly, my sources tell me it was chartered from the Erenlands, and Aymes Parish no less. My sources even saw three half-people! Mariners! The quartermaster was seen showing an infinite level of compassion and took on women and men and children before leaving the harbor. What good folk, people from the Parishes.

During their watch in the morning, a wandering, lost traveler encountered their camp near the cave. It was a red-haired woman who was exposed to the elements and apparently hungry. In removing her cowl and exposing her face, Llewellyn the Bard immediately recognized her. It was Correllyn, Ward of House Brionne, the very woman who invited Llew to the Urbane Assembly in Rhackdalia- his Bardic College.

Correllyn revealed that she was traveling in the river to avoid the half-ogre hunting parties and got lost; she explained her desperate escape from the City of Rhackdalia; how it seemed that the citizens of Rhackdalia were being "smoked out" of the city rather than the opposing forces laying siege upon the Wall; that her House waited patiently for reinforcements from Floreth that never came, all the while three black ships bearing mercenaries harbored to escort the families of House M'lhan and M'horovia off the island, and they shuttered up their district of the city; that, in losing hope, she eventually fled the city although others that she knew stayed to help fight for it. House Orlante remains in Rhackdalia out of pride and honor; Matron Rhetta and Kater, Julliane, Nessy, Hildegard. Further, Elil of House Efrix-Finchey stayed to fight although most of her House fled (DM's Note: Elil is the NPC that joined the party on the Raid on Fenwater Abbey; Kater of House Orlante was Siegride's go-between for ferrying private messages to Matron Khandice House Hawthorne). Correllyn also suggests that the Urbane Assembly has been dismembered, its noble band scattered into the winds of war. She asks for the party's protection and escort to Shyn-Bhokerdown. The party agreed and they set off to the city.

It was just a full-days march to Shyn-Bhokerdown from the cave. They didn't encounter any hostiles, just a lot of refuge camps on the outskirts of the city. Lost people and their families were holed up in tents and make-shift sheltered; some were begging in the streets. Intermittently, women would approach the party for food, monies, prayers and healing from Sister Siegride (who they recognized as a cleric), assistance for their children; some also praised the Dwarves for heading the bonds of their ancestors and coming to save them from the giants again! (Which, of course, isn't happening, but it looks good on paper - the Dwarves were heavily revered and celebrated by many as they approached town). Compassionately, the party surrendered a few traveling gems to their escorted NPC's; in town, Larissa, her family, and Correllyn, Ward of House Brionne, thanked everyone and took their leave of the party.

I've prepared a map of Shyn-Bhokerdown.

As the party pressed further on into Shyn-Bhokerdown, the level of despair became even more apparent. Lines of people formed around the harbor who're unwilling to leave as not to lose their position to board a vessel off of the island; people were camping in line; masses were huddled along the walls of houses and commercial buildings; the place reeked of bad water and sewage problems. It was just then that a guardswoman named Saille approached the party and snapped to attention, crying: "Sister, it's imperative that you come with me at this moment!"

Siegride obliged and was lead to a mob of people who had gathered around a scene where the city's guard had captured a male and had him on the ground, kneeling, at spear point. The mob was crying for his execution; others were crying for mercy; some were just interested in the craziness. The guards were attempting to resolve a domestic dispute and demanded that Siegride play the role of Adjudicator in the absence of the Magistrate.

DM's Note: Clerics in Floreth (any denomination) can play both "judge and jury" either at the request of a Magistrate or in the absence of one. Based on their feelings surrounding a prisoner, their divine intuition, and investigation of the facts, Clerics can wield a life or death decision over prisoners held by the State. Siegride had encountered this before in her training from 3rd to 4th Level along the Wall in Rhackdalia.

The mob was going crazy. They pleaded for the Sister to Adjudicate and that it was her duty to do so. The guardwoman who had the male at spear point explained that this man was Jacob Nherby, a cattleman, and the property of a woman, Easther of House Easley, 2nd Daughter of Maureen (obviously from Rhackdalia City). Easther stood nearby and called for Jacob's death! Jacob was caught stealing the remaining possessions from this woman and her children - monies, food, necessities for survival, and a ceremonial weapon that belonged to House Easley. Stealing from a House is a criminal offense, but a man stealing a weapon is (historically) a capital offense (DM's Note: the players may remember that males sporting weapons is a relatively new cultural concept in Floreth, whereas that right was traditionally reserved for women).

When Siegride asked, Jacob Nherby was barely in a frame of mind to respond, but said that he was desperate - everyone, everywhere in this town is desperate - and he wanted to flee, get away, before things got really bad here. He did say he was sorry for taking the stuff but was just trying to survive.

When Siegride yielded her verdict of MERCY, half the crowd went in uproar and the woman Easther of House Easley had to be held back at spear-point by the guards to keep her from rushing Sister Siegride. Completely surprised at the verdict, Jacob Nherby groveled and left the scene, fleeing into the city. Meanwhile, pulling the guardswomen aside to speak with them, Tolman was able to learn one of them was the guard he was to bribe to get a key to a house outside of the city left for him by Twyst, and after a polite monetary exchange, Tolman was in possession of the key.

***

That's where the party left off.

Here's just a few more tidbits to prep for the next adventure.

The guardwoman Ghandia gave Tolman directions to the house. Leaving the main area of the city, the company made their way to a modest townhouse on the outskirts of Shyn-Bhokerdown, away from much of the commotion. It was a private residence, two-stories in height and narrow, three rooms, and a wash basin; like most of the city, its water supplies come from nearby wells in neighborhoods, and water was retrieved from those wells (and a number of refuges were mingling near the water well to retrieve water for their own families).

The townhouse has a fireplace and is warm, dry, and well-stocked; Twyst apparently left plenty of food and cookery stuffs. There's a bed in each bedroom and it would be the first time in Cycles that the party would have a safe, dry, comfortable place to sleep.

Twyst wasn't there. It couldn't have been unoccupied for very long. Tolman consulted his Diary of Correspondence and found another entry made during the 5th of Bloom while the party was traveling across the countryside:

In the interest of keeping up my ever-diminishing skillset, I practiced a bit of the art today. I fetched a number of interesting trinkets: a jeweled bracelet; a flute; a rusty butterknife - I thought of you, friend - and a chunk of coral carved into the head of a gull. Imagine that. Some loon sat there along the side of the dock and found a perfectly good chunk of coral then took the time to carve away the excess to expose its core essence: the head of a trash bird. Fuckers.

And ...

Things are dire here. Time to depart. I've secured passage to Sphant on a schooner called the Courageous. The quartermaster - she is the blackest of souls there ever was - but she listens to a bevy of coin. She's apparently a smuggler so we have something in common, and she keeps a few secret spaces in her holds. It's all I could manage. I boarded the boat this afternoon. It's cramped and smells like a latrine, but it's just a day or three to Sphant from Shyn-Bhokerdown. Anyway, fair travels, Friend.

The party rests in the evening of the 5th of Bloom, Rose: 47. And that's where we'll pick up next time.

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Crafting Arrows in D&D 5E

It turns out that D&D 5E leaves a lot of situations open to interpretation.

One of those situations are rules covering the crafting of arrows in the wilds by a player character.

A fletcher may either be a Skilled Artisan or Unskilled Craftsman.

A Skilled Artisan is a player character with a Proficiency in Woodcarving, Cooper, or Bowyer; an Unskilled Craftsman is a player character that doesn't have the required Proficiency but has a reasonable background or ability that would allow them to craft arrows.

A reasonable background or ability would be defined by the player and DM; example: a Ranger with an Outlander Background may have a reasonable talent for crafting arrows having survived in the wild. It's entirely up to the player to convince the DM that their character would be an unskilled craftsman.

Skilled Artisan

• An Artisan may have a background of a Guild Artisan or have a relevant Proficiency (PH 132).
  
  
• Such Proficiencies would be a Woodcarver, Cooper, or Bowyer (PH 132).
  
  
• It's presumed this PC would have the appropriate Artisan Tools (Woodcarver Tools) (PH 154).
  
  
• Use of the Artisan Tools lets the PC add their Proficiency Bonus to ability checks (PH 154).
  
  
• With suitable materials, the Skilled Artisan can craft up to 5 GP of non-magical finished goods in a work day (presumed 8 hours) as a downtime activity (PH 187).
  
  
• A quiver of 20 arrows costs 1 GP (PH 150); the Skilled Artisan can craft up to 100 arrows in a day as a downtime activity with a successful DC 10 ability check (INT), adding their proficiency bonus (PH 154).

Unskilled Craftsman

• A Player Character with a reasonable background or ability relevant to crafting arrows.

• It's presumed that this PC doesn't have a Proficiency in Woodcarver, Cooper, or Bowyer.

• It's presumed that this PC wouldn't have the appropriate tools but is improvising.

• It's presumed that this PC can source/find suitable materials based on their surroundings.

• In a 24-hour period, the PC can spend 1 hour finding these materials and 3 hours to craft 1d10 arrows; these arrows receive a -1 attack mod; all contingent on a DC 10 INT check.

• On a failed check, the necessary supplies couldn't be found or the craftsmanship was simply too poor to be useful.

The reasoning here is that an Unskilled Craftsman could fashion 20-percent of the quantity a pro could. Also, the downtime it takes to make sub-par arrows provides a reasonable preference for purchasing arrows from a Skilled Artisan (a fletcher).

Obtaining the Proficiency

In downtime, player characters can spend time between adventures learning a new proficiency and training with a set of tools. The DM determines how long it takes and if ability checks are required; it takes 250 days and costs 1 GP per day (PH 187). In this case, the PC can learn the required proficiency and purchase the required tools.

Another way to acquire the proficiency is when the PC has an ability to acquire a Feat. The Skilled Feat allows the PC to gain a proficiency in any combination of three skills or tools of their choice (PH 170). A reminder here that Human PC's gain an extra Feat if Feat Rules are played.

If the character is a Bard, the Bardic ability in the College of Lore allows the PC to learn three more skills at third level (PH 54).

Finally, Bards, Rangers, and Rogues can multi-class to gain proficiencies.

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Attack in the Lightwood (2nd-4th of Bloom, Rose: 47)

It was the 2nd of Bloom, Rose: 47.

Tolman the Halfling returned from his scouting expedition in Rhackdalia and conveyed the bad news to the party. The party settled end, hearing distant booming drums and lamenting whines of instruments - a war dirge of the Wintergale Clan, echoing through the night.

That night, Elan the Ranger was wearing the ring of black ravens as a part of a science experiment (everyone had been trying on this ring). She did dream, and she dreamed that her feet were up to her ankles in a bog, and that she was lost and fearful. The swamp was all around her and dusk was descending. Far away in the distance, on the horizon with the setting sun, a cloud of black spots dotted the horizon - massive flocks (a "parliament") of ravens took to the skies. Something was coming ... she looked to her hands, and there was a thin silvery filament like a string. She tugged on it. Then she woke up.

During Tolman's watch, he received correspondence from Twyst:

Twyst says that she's taken residence in Shyn-Bhokerdown to await transport off of the island. She notes that the residence is paid through for the next two cycles and Tolman can get access to it if he wants; it's outside the main city and is safe there. He will have to bribe a local guard named Ghandia to receive the keys to the residence.

In the early morning of the 3rd of Bloom, Siegride could feel the seething anger and frustration from her deity and she sensed fear, paranoia, a threat.

The party awoke to the distant war horns blasting away to wake the armies and set them upon their tasks. Meanwhile, the party stirred and made way south towards Shyn-Bhokerdown and a possible way off of the island, making sure to avoid the major roads as Twyst had suggested. It was raining and uncomfortable. In their travels, they happened upon a caravan of 18 half-ogres with two worgs escorting 9 female human captives to Preen Pass. The party hung low and kept to the hills, watching the prisoners go by and took no action.

They descended from the hills and into the fens that border the city of Rhackdalia. It was a marshy climb. During the walk, the psuedo dragon, Dru, chatted with Ma'yah and communicated his backstory:

The pseudo dragon’s human “voice” and accent comes from his familiarity with the humans of Coastal Gaelwyn in the Erenlands. Dru spent much of his childhood - many hundreds of man years - growing up along the coastline in the forested regions, isolated from man. Man eventually came to the coast and established settlements. Dru didn’t approach man at first but eventually befriended the young. He appreciated the time that he had with those who’re young. The dreams, the adventures, the openheadedness. They seemed carefree and were pleasant company. When the young grew, though, man seemed to become preoccupied with the many facets of greed: greed of knowledge, money, possessions, magic. Greed became a central theme, one that would drive man to horrors and atrocities. Dru met a young woman who traveled to Pax Arcana. She was kind and brilliant, a wonder with a dagger and very skilled at the magical arts. She named me and called me Dru, and considered me a part of her family; their name was Thayne. We spent many wonderful, amazing years together. As the young woman grew older and became a teacher at Pax Arcana, she grew guilty. Admittedly, I was stricken with a wanderlust - spending decades of time in Pax Arcana wears on you. She passed along her familiar to a promising student: Naphid Kazeezee of Agamadar. Naphid wouldn’t have been Dru’s first choice as a companion but he felt obligated to Vanessa Thayne to see it through (the young woman). Naphid was power-hungry, a leach and a cheat; when he found the Eye of Kesh, he most certainly became mad. His journey for power lead him to Mines, or rather, he was encouraged to go there by some others - superiors.


During their talk, Dru encouraged Ma'yah to destroy the Eye, to throw it in a swamp, into a chasm, into the sea. Get rid of it, for her own sake. Ma'yah said that she would do so after she learned the Fly spell from her newly acquired spellbooks. "Promise?", Dru pressed. Ma'yah said that she promised. The pseudo dragon smiled.

Gorbash is looking mighty dwarvish. Like, rounder belly, fuller beard, and he wears his fancy new belt all of the time. He even holds an empty pipe for smoking. He gets along smashingly with Vongur and they chit-chat incessantly now about dwarf-things.

Tamroohk was noticing the life in all things and the interconnectedness of life in the soil, the rocks, the plants, and its permanence, even in the face of death and war.

Later in the evening, the party set up camp in the fens south of the City of Rhackdalia. They were reasonably safe although Elan found tracks of hunting parties of worgs and half-ogres about. They hunted, found snakes and nutria, cooked them, and made dinner.

Four refuges wandered into the camp seeking food and shelter. Two men, Bhakar and Louis, who were the property of a woman, Larissa, Daughter of Amandha, and Larissa's 11 year old son, Nakin. They were penniless and unarmed, famished, and looking for help. The party assisted, fed them, and encouraged them to come along on the journey to Shyn-Bhokerdown where they could be escorted to safety. Larissa said that she had planned on returning to Rhackdalia, but the party encouraged her not to as the place was under siege.

Larissa (who was the brains of this operation, apparently) had heard rumors of refugees fleeing to Shyn-Mherisan, the Dreaming City. She also said that they'd been in the fens for nearly 2 cycles now, waiting to return to Rhackdalia. She also said that Shyn-Foulweather's Magistrate had been murdered and was in complete chaos, and to not go there.

Meanwhile, Ma'yah fiddled with the Eye of Kesh, bringing it closer to her face, looking through it. She thought she could hold it close enough to see the forest around her in darkvision, seeing like the dwarves do. And as she intellectually knew that the device was undergoing an activation and she felt it heat up in her hands, she failed a Wisdom saving throw and brought it close to her forehead. It singed her there - burned her - just as Llew ran up and tried to shake the orb from her hand! It immediately bounced out into the darkness.

Screaming, Ma'yah went obsessively after it, clamoring through the soil and grass, trying to find the orb. Telepathically, Dru asked, "Why not just leave it?" The pseudo dragon tried to convince Ma'yah to leave it lost. Stop looking for it. But she couldn't. Eventually, she found it again, and the pseudo dragon looked on in skeptical sadness.

Otherwise, the night went by uneventfully. In the distance, they could hear the beating of the war drums and whale of the lamenting dirge. Nobody else experienced any bad dreams. Meanwhile, Tolman received another message from Twyst in the diary of correspondence:

Twyst says that the fish in Shyn-Bhokerdown (it’s a type of banded rudderfish they call a krooper around here) tastes like salty shit on salty crackers that had been soaking in a vat of salt water before being served with a handful of salt. It’s the most hideous thing.

In the morning, the party woke early and made it to Lightwood Forest. There, the ground firmed up and there was more game to hunt. However, there was also signs of war: four refugee human males were strung up, their wrists nailed to trees, their bodies skinned and left to bleed out. Their meat was harvested. Sheer cruelty. Siegride and Tamroohk lowered the bodies and constructed shallow graves, performed some last rites, and the party pressed on.

At camp, the party set up rounds for watches. During a later watch with Elan and Gorbash, Vongur - apparently inspired by the recent atrocity - told a story:

“You know, the Dwarves aren’t the only race that lives high in the Spine. Southeast of Pax Krull, in a range called Caster’s Peaks. Around there, clans of Hobgoblins toil and make their livin’ terrorizing the nomads of Tarkesh … those are wandering men of the mountains and hills. The hobgoblins are spiteful, angry, cruel creatures. We Dwarves have been fighten’ them off of our mountains for generations. Anyway, one day while walkin’ about Caster’s Peaks (I was on an errand of mercy, helpin’ to deliver needed medicinals to a snow-packed region where a nomadic tribe found themselves but their scouts couldn’t transverse, so they begged me .. pleaded with me … to take their herbs and oils and ointments out there to their men-folk) … oh, well, anyway, listen: those hobby’s had taken the men and strung ‘em up, just like those human men we saw on the trees! They were bleedin’ them out. But what was worse was this: they were tellin’ them all kinds of stories, demoralizing them, tellin’ them that they were going to raid their camps and gut their children and women, so that the last dying thoughts they had were of those terrible images. Those hobby’s - they were playin’ with the men’s minds! Torturing them, sure, but from within, you see? Making them squirm under their fiction. Their imagination made up on the most terrible of fates for the ones they loved. That was worse than any cut, any burn, they could ever do to their bodies. So when I came across ‘em, and I saw what those Hobby’s were doin’ to ‘em, I went into a furious battle-rage! I crippled their legs with my crossbow; then I crushed their feet and hobbled their ankles with my hammer; then I severed their forearms with my battle axe; but I kep’em alive. Yup. I bandaged up their arms with turnicuts. And they were unable to walk. They had to .. crawl, and I suspect, could only pick things up with their mouth and tongues. You ever crawled down from a mountainside, son? You ever tried to eat the soil, the rocks, the worms? Just to stay alive? Heh heh - Those Hobgoblins had what was comin’ to ‘em. And I saved four of em, I did. Brought them with me to tribe. They threw me a big dinner. I … oh. Anyway.”

After that, the consensus in the party was that Vongur was an evil dwarf lord who had been trapped in this amulet and it's up to the party to make sure he never escapes. Anyway ...

Elan and Gorbash were so moved by the story that they rolled terrible Perception checks, allowing 4 Worgs to creep up on the camp for a surprise attack! The rest of the party was called-to-arms, and everyone was unarmored!

The 4 Worg Team was incredibly vicious scoring multiple crits against the party. They were rolling pretty well throughout the melee. Worgs are intelligent creatures and were conversing amongst each other, shouting observations to approaching group of half-ogres, and taunting the party.

After the surprise, on the 1st round, Dru the pseudo dragon stepped back into the shadows, away from Ma'yah, and his scales turned black as to camouflage himself. Ma'yah first thought he was fleeing the scene and left her again. Just then, he reappered on one of the Worgs, and attempted to stab the Worg with his stinger tail! Unfortunately, Dru rolled a 1 and missed the attempt. Meanwhile, the Worg screamed at an approaching half-ogre taking up the rear, to get this thing off of his back. The half-ogre attacked Dru and Dru look life-ending damage, and his bloody little body fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, the party fought on. Also on the first round, a half-ogre started blowing a horn to attract attention to their findings ... quickly, that horn-blowing half-ogre was dispatched, and Tolman picked up the horn and ran with it into the woods (dragging it really as the horn was nearly as big as Tolman!) and he would stop to blow it as to provide a distraction and look as if the hunting party was giving chase.

It took five rounds to dispatch their assailants and there was a lot of blood lost inbetween. The Worgs munched on the refugees that the party had taken in and reduced them to zero HP. Siegride was reduced to 0 HP once, and others were very close. Eventually though, they made it through.

Still, Dru's body laid un-aided for four rounds. Ma'yah went to the pseudo dragon and found his still body ... dead. Gone was Dru Thayne: the brave little dragon who liked to listen to the dreams of small children. Sadness.

And that's where we left off, on the night of the 4th of Bloom, Rose: 47!
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