Session 4: Wood is for the bedroom, steel is for the battlefield (12/21/21)

Pulyana 17, 1423.

The eye in the floor notices that Nebel'shoy has spotted it, and exclaims 'shit' before it disappears, and the gnome can hear a commotion and a door opening in the inn room below. He wakes up Aldren, who heads down to the common room, and then he himself tries to go to the room where the spy had originated. Rucia and Bjork wake up and then they meet with their druid companion on the second floor. The room is empty save for a cracked bowl with some dried up milk, and a small straw doll with a rose wrapped around it. Aldren convinces one of the tavern boys to let him through the kitchen, where he finds a sleeping cook, but also a paw-trail outside, and he sees a small figure hustling off to the southwest across the village. The party then gets some sleep at last before confronting Lubomir again about their lack of privacy.

Pulyana 18, 1423.

The PCs decide to split up and perform a number of errands and check out some of the other local businesses and perhaps track down their strange 'peeper'. They retrieve Rucia's new armor, and the forgemaster Ulbrek makes a deal with Bjork to promote his wares across all Brazoskov in return for free weaponry. The pair then head over to visit the Red Weather recruitment building, where 'Spineharrow' tells them his organization is looking for some murderers and favors humanoids if they are ever interested. Aldren and Nebel'shoy go to the Obylensky farm to tell Zilya about the mine below and offer he the chance to benefit from it, and in return she thanks and welcomes them at any time. Then they pick up some more strange tea from Taanka and inquire with her about the straw doll's origins. She says it is one she made herself and probably placed at the Shrine to St. Acres.

The gnome and half-elf meet their monstrous friends at the Red Weather, and then the four proceed to scope out the Shrine to St. Acres. Sure enough, at their arrival, the treacherous ounce spy bolts away across the farms, but not fast enough before he is brought down by the PCs, and then the creature, one 'Suchy', pleads for its life. In order for a bottle of milk and a promise of anonymity, the spy informs them that he was paid off by the kindly old lady Mdm. Grazilda to follow the strange group into the Well and their other activities in Svodnikha, and then report back to her. He won't say much more but that he doesn't want to be caught out for snitching, as Grazilda might in fact represent some dangerous agency. He also doesn't seem to know which way she left out of the village the day before.

The PCs let him go with a warning, and he rushes off somewhere. They then decide to see to a few final details before taking up Kapitan Krykba on his next job, to reconnoiter at the old hunter's lodge that was being refurbished, and determine the fate of the missing villagers who had set up shop there. En route across the tree-line in the foothills of the Gargoyle Steeps, the group is attacked by a small pack of savage, starved wolves, one of which seems much larger and more capable than the rest. A vicious but short battle ensues in which they are able to take them down, but for a few brief moments feared for their lives! After this encounter, they press on to find the hunters' lodge, which, along with the trees in the area, seems to be covered in some sort of fluffy, wintry-colored webbing...

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebel'shoy, Rucia

NPCs:

Suchy (ounce male): Before you cowers a 4’ tall feline humanoid with mangy gray-white fur and brown spots on its coat. Its eyes are deep green and slitted, its right ear has been chewed off, and its left whiskers seem to have been singed or wilted, shorter than their counterparts. A rusted shashka hangs at the creature’s belt, while it lazily holds a cup-hilted rapier in the other. Its fur pokes through a pair of shoddy leather breaches, and it wears a thick leather vest covered in small, stuffed pouches.

New Races

D'vryn

The d'vryn are a semi-nomadic human ancestry native largely to the western regions of Karnovya, though their travels might take them far and wide beyond that. By daylight they appear not unlike other humans of Brazoskov and Myrkyba, skin ranging from fair to a faint olive tone, often with swarthy and handsome appearances, sharp noses or chins, favoring a range of festive, colorful garments and accessories that often border on the ridiculous. One striking difference is by darkness, during which their eyes give off a mystical, ghostly white glow that both enhances their own vision and spooks others who witness it. This trait is said to originate courtesy of The Host, the d'vryn's enigmatic, ancestral deity, whose blood has passed down through all of its descendants. Otherwise, they can make themselves indistinguishable from other Skovian humans, possessing the same general range of height and weight.

D'vryn are organized into familiaza, their clans, some of which maintain permanent camps and compounds in permanent, mixed human settlements, and others that rove about various locations through the seasons of the year, choosing not to stick to one place. This often casts suspicion upon their culture, as others feel their nomadic tendencies are to avoid getting themselves into trouble. While this is largely a stereotype, there are certainly some d'vryn individuals who revel within it, and clans with reputations for criminality and vice. They are also known as great entertainers; be they storytellers, minstrels, dancers or tricksters, few are more popular to share a campfire with.

D'Vryn Traits

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 2, and your Dexterity score by 1.

Age. D'vryn have lifespans equivalent to humans.

Alignment. D'vryn have the same alignment range as other humans, although if stereotypes are to be believed, many of them would tend to favor non-lawful choices.

Size. Your size is Medium, like other humans.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Eyes of the Host. Your eyes glow with a faint, ghostly light in the darkness. This grants you darkvision, and advantage checks made to all Perception checks in said darkness. You can also see through magical disguises or illusions such as invisibility in the range of your darkvision, and vaguely make out the forms of Ethereal creatures wherever the veil between the Ethereal Plane and your own is thin.

Fortune's Favor/Fall. Each day you can grant yourself, or one other individual, a verbal boon that will grant he or she Advantage on one roll for that day, of YOUR choice. The Favor must be given out at least a turn in advance. If you are of an evil alignment, you may instead give out a verbal curse, a Fortune's Fall, following the same rules, which instead grants the recipient a Disadvantage on a roll. In either case, you must be in visual or other communication range when the adjusted roll is to transpire, and the ability resets the following morning.

Languages. You can speak, read and write in the Old Myrk tongue, which is the traditional language of your people. In addition, you can speak, read and write one other language (which is generally the Common tongue of Brazoskov, but ultimately up to you).

Ounce

The ounce, or unce, is a catfolk subrace well-acclimated to cold weather regions, particularly those on the continent of Karnovya. Resembling bipedal snow leopards, they have coats of dense fur that ranges from the purest of whites to dirtier grays, yellows and browns. Like their animal counterparts, they are often adorned with spot patterns on their hides. Eye color runs from brown or golden to green and sky blue, and they have both a sharp set of teeth, and claws in their matted paws which they can retract to carry tools and weapons. Their ears are short and pointed, and they have fat, fluffy tails which they use to help them balance in the highlands and on the packed snows of their home territories. The average adult ounce is around 3.5-4.5' tall, the rare individual topping 5 feet, and they weight on average from 70-100 lbs.

Ounces breed and organize into 'Prides' which are scattered about the northern areas of Karnovya. Most of these are savage and semi-nomadic, with several caverns or other shelters that they rotate through each season. Most of the prides are at odds with one another as well as the other major races of the area such as humans or elves, and are considered dangerous at best, barbaric at worst; however, certain enterprising individuals among their number have been known to trade outside their Prides, or to stray further into lives of explorers and adventurers. Though they have some natural protection against the cold weather, most ounces have taken to wearing clothing of either their own tribal designs or other local societies when they wish to blend in better. The generally arm themselves with reliable, simple weapons such as spears, slings and clubs which they use for hunting, fishing and fighting, but when pressed, their fangs and paws will do.

Ounce Traits

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age. Ounces have lifespans equivalent to halflings.

Alignment. Ounces tend towards neutral alignments, primarily interested in keeping to themselves and seeing to the betterment of their respective Prides.

Size. Ounces are slighter and lighter on average than humans. Your size is Small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Darkvision. You have a cat's keen senses, especially in the dark. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in the dark, only shades of gray.

Cat's Paws and Jaws. Your claws confer upon you a climbing speed of 20 feet. In addition, your claws and bite are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with your claws, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, or piercing damage equal to 1d6 with your bite; instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike. If you so choose, you can retract your paws to deal bludgeoning.

Cat's Talent. You have proficiency in the Perception and Stealth skills, and you make the latter at advantage when outdoors in cold/arctic terrains (taiga, tundra, winter weather, etc).

Weather the Cold. Your thick fur and affinity for colder climates grants you a Resistance versus cold-based attacks. In addition, when dealing with 'Extreme Cold' (as per the DMG, p.110), gain advantage on your saving throws to avoid gaining levels of exhaustion.

Languages. You can speak in the guttural, purring, unique dialect of Sylvan natural to Ounces, and you can read, write and speak one other language of your choice, assuming you have a background with exposure to speakers of said language.

Session 3: New York Paladin (11/30/21)

Pulyana 17, 1423.

The PCs assault the troglodyte lair as the women and children trogs flee to the east. They gain an early advantage due to a combination of magical attacks and by taking down the enemy's shaman, but the scaled humanoids manage to claw their way back into the fight and even come close to victory, knocking out Bjork. Finally, the troglodyte chieftain and his last remaining warriors are slain. Wounded, they search the cavern lair, finding the remains of the missing Soverat soldies, some treasure and equipment the creatures had accumulated, and a crudely sketched map of Svodnikha which seems to mark out the farms and Soverat barracks in particular. The PCs then follow where they thought they'd seen the surviving trogs flee and they find a natural cavern corridor which spills out south of the village into the Tzarswald, and is partly concealed by the long grasses. It has now snowed while they were below, and a thin layer of the stuff coats the woodland.

A short rest is taken and then the PCs decide to mine up some of the gold, spending until the evening to retrieve three big chunks of the gold vein, and another of quartz. They then head up into the city to trade the stuff and figure out what happens next. Rucia and Aldren bring the gear of the fallen soldiers to Krykba, and Bjork and Nebel'shoy go to sell the remains of the fell miner Aleksei to Lubomir at the Meek & Marrow. Krykba is sad but grateful to find the fate of his lost men, and pays what he promised to the PCs, telling them he has some more work in mind if they can stick around a few days. Apparently contact has been lost with some local tradesmen who were renovating a nearby hunting lodge. Lubomir is conned into purchasing Aleksei's skeleton with some trick magic from Nebel'shoy who makes it speak, and for now the remains are unceremoniously dumped into the corner of the bathhouse.

Our four heroes converge upon the local smithy, Ulbrek, to whom they offer some of their minerals in trade. He gives them a simple evaluation of their prospect, and agrees to put together a trade for some splint mail for the paladin, in return for a personal performance from Bjork. So the bard and druid prepare for said performance while the others visit Tanka the Wise-woman's eccentric shop. She doesn't turn out to be an expert in magical items, but she refers them over to Elizabetta at the House of Alms, who is able to determine that the cursed lantern is most certainly 'Necromancy', the 'N world', which infuriates Rucia, and a fine hand ax they found in the troglodytes' cave is also magical. Bjork performs for not only Ulbrek, but his extended family, and though his storytelling dance isn't quite his best, the magical string enhancement from Nebel'shoy hidden in a bush outside, and Bjork using mage hand to make his cowbell travel about the smithy's house end up impressing them, so much that Ulbrek rewards the minotaur with a shield.

Afterwards they rejoin their companions and return for lodging at the Meek & Marrow, sharing what information they were able to attain. Rucia takes a hot bath, but the attendants warn the dragonborn that a haunted skeleton is now in the bathhouse. Lubomir and Nebel'shoy initiate a competition to see who can lift Bjork on the stage, starting with the forest gnome, who fails...and then 'Spineharrow', a local recruiter for the Red Weather, who also fails. The PCs retire up to their quarters after the paladin returns nude from his bath, and they decide to set up a watch rotation in case a visitor attempts to tamper with their window again. On the very first watch, Nebel'shoy notices a loose board on the floor, and a feline eye staring up into the room at him!

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebel'shoy, Rucia

NPCs:

Tanka the Wise-woman (??? female): A petite but plump old woman with straggly gray hair cut through by streaks of white. Her jaw juts out at a strange angle, her brow is overlarge, and her one left ear is slightly pointed, the other one chewed off, giving the impression that she is either disfigured or not entirely human. She wears torn leather gloves at the end of her stubby arms and a strange cloak above her robe which seems to consist of some form of insect netting, with the hood drawn over her head even indoors. She leans upon a gnarled, long cudgel and carries a half-rotted satchel of tomes and scrolls over her left shoulder.

Ugolev 'Spineharrow' (human male): A heavyset mass of scarred, burned flesh that just vaguely resembles a hairless, middle aged human male. One fiery eye glares at you madly below a singed-off brow, while the other seems to have disappeared into the folds of pulpy red skin that represent the left side of a face. In a stark contrast to these abnormalities, he seems extremely fit for his size, and walks and speaks with a peculiar grace and clarity. His silk shirt, vest and breeches mimic that of city nobility and he also fancies a scarf and rings on four of the seven fingers that remain to him. A jeweled scabbard is slung from his belt, the bone-hilted shashka within a reminder of his inelegant trade.

Ulbrek Anvilfoot (dwarf male): A taciturn dwarf with one stunted leg, and forearms the size of small tree-trunks, Ulbrek stares at you from a pinched face with one clouded eye and tufts of facial hair that he seems to have haphazardly shaven. His head is gnarled and bald save for a few gray strands, and his hands, cheek and chin are all streaked with sweat and soot. A smith’s hammer that seems as if it could crack the very mountains is held with confidence in his left hand, and he wears a dense gray wool robe tightened with a dirty white sash above steel-tipped boots.