Run time: 2h

Story

 

Previously, on Dungeons and Dragons...

The party faced off against one of Lord Granite’s most powerful wizards, who somehow didn’t survive very long after a poleaxe-swinging dwarf landed on her head. The wizard dispatched, they faced off against Lord Granite himself.

The Big Bad having been dispatched, the King offered to send the party back home by means of a pendant that he retrieved from his son. And send them back it did – but rather than the portal remaining its normal placid self, it started to blaze out of control…

 

Imprisoned!

 

There was quite a chance that the characters would duck back through the portal to the Earthborn realm. However, that didn’t happen.

 

They are quickly imprisoned and heavily guarded. Fire – and panic – are clearly spreading outside.  After a while even the guards who are standing in front of the cell are summoned by their superiors to help deal with the fire.  A few remain outside, though the door stays locked.

 

At this point, I assumed the characters would bust their way out of prison, rescue Ailsa from an adjoining cell, use her knowledge and the portal-opening seed to redirect the Skyborn portal to the Forestborn realm, and go after Sharin-isha’s spellbook. However, like all best-laid plans, they were summarily ignored. Here’s what actually happened:

 

The characters talked their guards into telling the Queen that they were the ones that defeated Granite. Impressed, the Queen demanded to speak to them. (While they were waiting for the guard, they talked to Ailsa in the next cell, but didn’t free her.)

The characters were thanked by the Queen for their service, and reassured that the Queen’s purposes in this realm were entirely benign. They were allowed to leave – and so they did, with all their gold in tow.

On the way through the Spring-like clearing, they had a brief second encounter with Tam and Tom, the playful Skyborn, but they kept on heading back to Kingswald regardless.

 

Once back home in Kingswald, after briefly discussing Arken’s comfort, stashing gold and intimidating an estate agent, they set about the serious business of all post-adventuring parties: drinking.

However, with a now depressingly familiar thump, the door to the inn slammed back and in strode Ailsa. Ailsa revealed that the King had sent some kind of beast through the portal, and that the Queen was amassing an army. Ailsa herself had escaped in the confusion, and come to enlist the party’s help – despite being Forestborn, she is now convinced that the Realm is worth protecting, and that it needs protecting from the Queen, ideally by closing the portals.

Ailsa examines James’s magic box, and is astounded that something that can control the portals came from the Realm – she believes that kind of magic died out here thousands of years ago, and that the only knowledge to make this kind of artefact lies in the hands of the *born, and in particular the spellbook of Sharin-isha.

And so, off they set once again, to find the spellbook, close the portals and finish the job.

 

End session.

 

 

---

NPC / Enemy Roster

 

Name	Arken		Race	Earthborn		Cl/Lv	Fighter/4			Align	LG
Init	+5	HP	24
AC	14	AtkB	6M 6R	Fort	+5	Ref	+4	Will	+2	Move	30ft
Str	16	Dex	18	Con	14	Int	8	Wis	15	Cha	11
Skills	Hide +4, Jump +8, Listen +2, Move Silently +4, Ride +9, Spot +2
Feats	Dodge, Power Attack, Cleave
Wpn	Obsidian sword					Atk	+9	Dmg	1d6+2	Crit	19x2
Spells	None

 

 

Name	Ailsa		Race	Forestborn		Cl/Lv	Druid/3 Sorceror/3			Align	CG
Init	+0	HP	24
AC	15	AtkB	4M 3R	Fort	+3	Ref	+2	Will	+8	Move	30ft
Str	10	Dex	10	Con	11	Int	10	Wis	15	Cha	15
Skills	Craft (Alchemy) +8, Craft (Woodworking) +10, Craft (Sculpting) +6, Diplomacy +8, Handle Animal +3, Hide +5, Knowledge (Nature) +8, Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) +4, Knowledge (Religion) +4.5, Listen +3, Move Silently +2, Spot +1, Use Magic Device +4
Feats	Combat Casting, Extend Spell, Silent Spell
Wpn	Tangling Vines					Atk	+7	Dmg	1d8+2	Crit	20x2
Spells	Druid Spells Per Day: 4/3/2 Sorcerer Spells Known (6/6): 0th -- Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Mage Hand, Message, Ray of Frost, Read Magic 1st -- Charm Person, Obscuring Mist, Protection from Evil