Dragons Claw D&D Blog

14th Nov 2021 19:15 - 22:30 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 29 - Eleint 4 Our "Heroes" are fleeing from the Emperor of the Waves wreck. Some of them are under the illusion that it is a "Tactical Withdrawal" but deep down, they all know the truth. They manage to get back to the Evening Mist with no further incident, and Captain Ironfist asks them about what happened on board the wreck. They are forthcoming to the Captain - Carro especially so - and tell the captain everything, even sharing with him the Emperor captain's logbook and the means to decode the last entry. In return, Captain Ironfist treats them to a tot of decent rum before they retire tp their hammocks for a well-earned rest. That night Mahtis and Carro are woken by some noises on deck and head up to investigate, but are discouraged from approaching the sides of the ship in the darkness of night in case they would fall overboard - especially as they are (pretending to be?) a bit drunk! Mahtis ignore

30th Oct 2021 19:45 - 23:00 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 29 - Eleasias 29 Our "Heroes" stand above a flooded hold and discuss who will jump into the dark, wet hold. Carro asks the prescient question of "How much exactly are we bothered about getting this lockbox?", which is a strange question to ask now, having spent the last couple of hours fighting their way to this point in order to get the lockbox. The question turns to whether they should face the fiend that TC detected in the fore cabin, behind the closed door. After much discussion, they decide to face the fiend! Readying various actions, Kandi opens the door and TC peers in. Nothing obvious is moving, so no actions are triggered. The room contains thick webbing and four bundles of webbing are hanging from the ceiling. A mysterious pattern in chalk is drawn on the floor around the central mast in the room, and a table has what they later find out to be a golden chalice filled with blood and a ceremonial k

22nd Oct 2021 19:15 - 22:30 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 29 - Eleasias 29 Our "Heroes" need to rest for a short while after a difficult battle with spiders, big and small. Luckily they are not disturbed during their rest, and after resting they search around the messy captain's cabin. TC digs out a small pouch of rubies from the mud in front of the strange altar to a still unidentified Goddess. Carro and Kandi rummage through the old captain's desk and find the captains log. Reading through the log, the final entry seems much more detailed than the others. Between them they work out that it was written in some hidden code - when translated, the captain was telling of their imminent capture by Bree, who he explained was a drow, and had a pet will-o-wisp. They suspected they would be taken as slaves or killed. The code also mentions that the lockbox, which the party were looking for, had been dropped into the cargo hold. Reacting to this information, and still feeli

9th Oct 2021 19:30 - 23:30 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 26 - Eleasias 29 Our "Heroes" are resting up in Neverwinter, after a busy time in Flint Rock. TC is processing the thought that a-Jeroth is in this land (little "l"), having assumed he was killed in the other Land (capital "L"). Carro is wondering how and if the Ruin (no "h") that is apparently spreading from the north is the cause of the growing problems within his home forest, while Khandi, convinced that the Ruin (no "h") IS the cause and wonders what happened to his friend who went looking for the Wise Woman of the West (formally the North). Meanwhile Mahtis is concerned for her sister, Ruhin (with an "h") who was apparently on board a ship attacked by a vicious pirate named Bree. The DM is wondering why this campaign contains so many homophones. Mahtis finds out a bit more about the ship that her sister was on, the Emperor of the Waves. She accepts (with the appr

2nd Apr 2021 19:30 - 22:30 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 24 - Eleasias 26 Our heroes are rested, if only briefly. They eventually allow Tarmon to visit his dead wife, though only after fully checking out the room themselves. TC would like to use the portal device to see the place to where it connects, though Tarmon advises against it. Instead they all head down to the basement to view one of the creatures that came through the device. TC recognises it as a Lesser Ur-Vile, which confirms to him that the device is a portal from the Land (capital 'L'). Unfortunately the portal is one-way only, or TC would probably want to head back there using the device. After chatting to Fred and George, the two humans who are locked up in the cellar, and refusing to set them free, they decide against using the device, and instead head into town to visit the Mayor. Wanting to avoid re-capture by the Watch, they take the long way round to town, arriving as the sun is starting to rise. As they

28th Mar 2021 19:15 - 22:30 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 24 - Eleasias 24 We find our "Heroes" standing before a strange pedestal and a concave mirror in a darkly stained room. Just a usual day, then. Some time is spent discussing what the pedestal, and the whole device, could be used for and how it may work. Carro uses his well-honed "track something on a carpet" skill to good effect, and decides something was, or somethings were, dragged over the carpet towards the 'servants' stairs at the back of the Manor, where he loses the trail in the deep pile of the carpet. The group conclude from the top of the pedestal, and the graffiti, that they may be looking for a set of four, differently coloured, stones. Or marbles. It certainly seemed as if someone had lost their marbles. TC continued to stare at the carpet suspiciously. A plan is decided upon. They are going to head back to the basement to question the two humans who seemed to be locked behind iron bar

19th Mar 2021 19:30 - 22:30 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 24 - Eleasias 24 Our "Heroes" are very tired… of opening doors. But they have no choice. So they open another. This time they reveal an ornate and grand hallway, that was obviously once resplendent, but has since been somewhat neglected. A grand staircase leads up to the floor above, and large double doors seem to imply the main entrance to the manor. This room is lit with torches in elaborate sconces in the walls, enabling those without darkvision to actually see where they are going for a change. It didn't help TC, however. As he walked across the hallway to look out of the windows, he stepped on an old, and somewhat tatty, rug that was lying at the base of the stairs. To his, and others, surprise, the rug rose up and wrapped itself around TC, giving him a squeeze that was not as friendly as TC had hoped. He was trapped! Carro ran over and tried to meticulously dissect the rug, rather than to randomly stab it,

27th Feb 2021 19:15 - 22:30 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 23 - Eleasias 24 Our "Heroes" have managed to escape the stockade by dropping down into the sewers below - literally "dropping" in the case of Kandi. They are keen to get away from the grating they descended from, before their escape gets noticed and they are pursued. They get their bearings using the map they obtained from Togruk's items. The group then spends a while discussing which way to go. For a group in a hurry they didn't want to be rushed. They eventually decided to head north. Their first obstacle was a locked door. They easily break the lock and manage to get into the corridor beyond. To their left is a scary cobweb, so they head right - this being the first of many "avoid anything potentially dangerous" decisions made by the group this night. Turning right, they make their way to the sewer river flowing through these caverns. The water flows relatively quickly, and they are n

21st Feb 2021 19:00 - 22:15 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 23 - Eleasias 23 Our "Heroes" are enjoying a quiet drink in the beer tent when they are approached by Sallow and Crickhollow - the halfling and gnome associates of Togruk. The group's asking around and sometimes unsubtle listening in has obviously drawn some attention, as Sallow and Crickhollow seem to be aware that the party is looking for a half-orc named Togruk. The two newcomers settle down at the party's table and after some introductions Crickhollow explains that Togruk has been arrested for murder! It seems that Togruk was drawn towards Chadstone Manor, but was sent away when he visited there. Keen to find out more, Togruk hired a sewer worker named Wendel to lead him to the Manor via the underground sewer network, but the next thing anyone was aware of was Togruk emerging from the sewers carrying a dead Wendel! The half-orc has been arrested and is currently awaiting trial when the Magistrate, a gnom

7th Feb 2021 19:15 - 21:45 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 21 - Eleasias 23 Our "Heroes" spend time in Neverwinter and LEVEL UP to Level 4. They each enquire about their respective interests in the town - Carro and TC try to find a half-orc named Togruk; Mahtis asks around for information about her sister, Ruhin; and Kandi asks about his friend, Starshine, and a certain "Wise Woman of the West, previously of the North". They each find out a bit of information and some leads that they can progress. To cut long stories short, no news on Starshine, but the Wise Woman may reside on an island of evil Clerics of Shar named Friendship Isle; Ruhin was aboard a ship called The Emperor of the Waves which was raided by pirates four months ago and is now a floating wreck with no apparent survivors; and Togruk went to a nearby town of Flint Rock with a halfling and a gnome over a week ago and nothing has been heard from them since. They decide that most urgent, and most likely

2nd Jan 2021 19:15 - 22:00 In-game timeline: DR1489 Elesias 16 - Eleasias 18 Our "Heroes" have conquered the pedestals! Flush with success they wait around discussing next steps. TC wanders off, not sure why. They faff for so long the door they have successfully opened starts to close. Quick as a flash they all decide to run through it before it closes completely. Luckily there is a lever on the other side that enables them to open it far more easily than the pedestal challenge. On the other side, Kandi recklessly wanders into the next room on his own, ignoring the five standing sarcophagi, and the pile of bones in the middle of the room, and focussing on the altar, which contains a burning candle, a strange whistle, and a large, old, dusty tome. As TC and Carro join him, Kandi searches for traps around the altar. Unfortunately this seems to trigger movement in the four unopened sarcophagi, and the lids come open and four skeletons emerge! Let battle commence! Three of the sk