dndcampaignadventure

[dndcampaignadventure]

Chapter 1: Meet, Greet, and Boogie

Chapter 1: Meet, Greet, and Boogie

In the city of Neverwinter, a dwarf named Gundren Rockseeker asked you to bring a wagonload of provisions to the rough-and-tumble settlement of Phandalin, a couple of days' travel southeast of the city.Gundren was clearly excited and more than a little secretive about his reasons for the trip, saying only he and his brothers had found "something big" and that he'd pay you ten gold pieces each for escorting his supplies safely to Barthen's Provisions, a trading post in Phandalin. He then set out ahead of you on horse, along with a warrior escort named Sildar Hallwinter, claiming he needed to arrive early to "take care of business."The ragtag group of hired muscle spent the last few days in utter awkward silence, following the High Road south from Neverwinter, and just recently, they veered east along the Triboar Trail. No troube had been encountered, but this was dangerous territory. Bandits, outlaws, and other monsters had been known to lurk along the trail

The silver haired moon druid was the first of the bunch to speak up. Her voice was soft spoken, but self-assured." Well, I am Naivara Goldpetal. I've been living alone for a long time and recently the woods I've come to know as home have been feeling uneasy. As this was my only lead, I decided to find Gundren and ask him to hire me out to figure out what was wrong."The only other female of the group, a paladin by the looks of her armor and the religious symbol she had etched into the metal, nodded approvingly. She seemed to respect Naivara's reasons for joining before speaking up.

"I am Eralyn Everhart. I have no personal reasons for being here other than the visions from my deity Pelor, God of the sun and healing." She glanced around the group proudly. "I am here to assist Gundren in any way I can while searching for this unknown threat."

"I for one am glad to have another female in the group," Naivara grins mischievously to Eralyn.

The paladins jerks her chin towards the other three companions in the group, "And who are you all?"

The one walking alongside the carriage, clad in robes and obscuring his face spoke up. His voice was almost human, but it had a sort of sinister-sounding undertone to it. It was smooth, yet serpent-like. "I'm Ekemon Bon. I am a monk who left my temple after it was massacred by bandits. I killed their leader and fled." He kept walking, clearly done with participating in the conversation any longer than necessary. His purple tail slipped out from his cloak. So, he was a Tiefling. Not many would rise to the surface unless in dire need of escape. His story seemed true, at least to those in the party.

The next to speak was the half-orc. He wore rugged furs over his scale mail armor. He was enormous, towering over everyone in the group. He had a gruff voice, very harsh. It was common for Orcs speaking common to transfer some of the harsh consonants over and sound more rugged than usual. "I was raised by wolves. My parents left me at age three. A travelling human took me in and taught me  common speak and ever since age 5 I have been training. I live for chaos and love killing. My name is Judis the Third."His fiery red skin and eyes seemed to glow brighter as he spoke, emphasizing his desire for chaos

The final one to speak was a small forest gnome. He was 3'6" and had blue hair, skin, and eyes. Strangely enough, he seemed older and wiser despite being the smallest person there. "WELL, I've never been so disrespected in all my 350 years of living!" The voice that came out was high pitched and alarming as it began yelling about how the barbarian, Judis, had stuffed him in his pack thinking it was a stuffed toy. "How do you even mistake a moving person for a toy! Such insolence! I should beat you and show you how gnomes take care of problems!" He held up his fists menacingly before eventually sighing and calming down.

After initial introductions were made, the paladin and ranger moved to the front of the cart. The Paladin took the Reins while the Ranger took watch behind her, looking for signs of danger or suspicious movement in the trees. The tiefling monk never joined the group on the carriage, prefering to keep to himself and walk beside it.Half a day passed as the group escorted the carriage along the Triboar Trail. As they rounded a bend in the road, the ranger spotted two dead horses ahead on the path fifty feet away. Feathered arrows were sticking out of the horses, still bleeding from whatever had attacked them. 

Naivara inspects the carnage from the carriage, noticing the horses are Gundren Rockseeker's and that the arrows are of crude, goblin make. "Everyone, be on your guard. Goblins attacked these horses. Recently. And they belong to our employer, Gundren Rockseeker." Everyone pulled out their weapons as Fnipper Timbers, the gnome, ran ahead to inspect the carnage up close.An arrow thudded into the tree behind Fnipper and a scratch formed on his cheek. Goblins screeched and flanked the scene. Two had swords and the other two had shortbows.

 Quickly, Naviara knocks an arrow and takes up position on the front of the wagon behind the paladin.She releases the arrow before the goblins have time to notice her. One with a shortbow tumbles and hits the ground with a dull thud.The other goblin with the shortbow retreats into the woods as the two with swords take up a defensive position.

 Fnipper, in a bind quickly runs up to the goblin and shoots his crossbow, but he swung the bow too quickly and the arrow just barely missed the goblin.

Judis bellows a roar and charges headlong towards the goblin not currently battling a 3 foot tall gnome and swings his axe at the goblin's head. Unknown to Judis, there were vines creeping along the ground and he tripped, embedding the axe in the ground by the goblin's feet rather than beheading the cackling creature. 

Eralyn Everhart, saying a quick prayer, runs to assist Fnipper and manages to slice a shallow wound into the goblin's stomach. It screams and reels back, giving Fnipper time to catch his breath.

 Fnipper then disguised himself as a goblin and vanished. 

Ekemon calmly stalked towards the goblin in combat with Judis. It was struggling, but not defeated. He approached and, while it was distracted, embedded his shortsword in the goblin's back, effectively twisting it. The light in the goblin's eyes vanished and it slumped to the ground. Judis nodded in thanks and Ekemon turned to the forest where the last goblin fled, debating whether or not it would be beneficial to look for it alone. 

Naivara, deducing that Ekemon and Judis were not in immediate danger, sheathed her longbow and pulled out two shortswords from her back. She charged, leaping over Fnipper and swinging her swords down into the goblin's neck.The goblin narrowly dodged, rolling along the ground before standing again and running back towards the three.It bounced it's sword harmlessly off of Eralyn's armor and seemed to become aware of how dire it's situation was becoming. Ekemon stalked over and killed him before he could flee.

The group relaxed, but Naivara kept vigilant, searching for the missing goblin. She spotted him sprinting through the woods to flee. Nocking an arrow, she fired and the arrow squelched into it's leg. It rolled, screeching, before hobbling to it's feet and attempting to run."It's getting away! We need to catch it!" Naivara yelled. "It's injured and weak!"Everyone stares in the direction of the goblin, moving to sprint after it.

WHOOSH 

Naivara, Ekemon, and Eralyn halt as a small, crossbow wielding body flies past them, shouting and whooping with excitement.Judis begins stalking ahead of the group, laughing as he had thrown Fnipper at a high speed through the trees towards the fleeing goblin..The goblin looks behind to the group, almost snickering if not for the pain. Then he saw the rapidly flying missile that was grinning at him. He screamed and sprinted, tripping and scrabbling for purchase as he ran through the rough forest floor. 

Fnipper was ready to be thrown, had even suggested it. He was not, however, ready when Judis didn't get his aim right and he found himself heading straight for a tree trunk rather than a goblin.Miraculously, he grabbed a branch and swung himself down with a flip, landing on his feet perfectly.In a bard's dramatic fashion, he pointed his crossbow at the sky and fired an arrow. It vanished into the clouds as he watched the goblin running---THUNK!

The arrow embedded itself in the top of it's skull and the body tumbled and eventually rolled to a halt, still as a stone

The group stared in shock, awe, and silence before erupting in jubilant laughter and cheer.

"We did it!" Naivara shrieked happily and high fived Eralyn.

"That was all me," Judis puffed out his chest proudly. 

Fnipper, a tiny dot in the distance, raised his hands and was shouting happily as he ran back to the group with a fire in his eyes.

"A group effort. Thank you Pelor for your protection," Eralyn said calmly, but the fire in her eyes wasn't just adrenaline. It was also a sense of happiness for the companions before her.

Ekemon, although he had said little throughout all of this, had rejoined the group. "It was a good victory. But we should inspect the carnage."

The group nodded and returned to the murdered horses while Naivara helped herself to any valuables the goblins were carrying--12 gold pieces that she split between the group, excluding the paladin who did not want to accept gold she did not need.

After further inspection of the crime scene, they note an empty map bag. The goblin that was fleeing had been running towards a trail that the group decided to follow.They tied the oxen to a tree and hid it out of sight of the road before walking the trail.

Naivara noted the numerous goblin tracks, and what seemed to be two bodies that had been dragged through here recently.10 minutes down the trail, Naivara stopped the group. "Something doesn't feel right. Wait here."

She stepped forward and scratched the ground. Then drew a line around a section of the road. "Goblin snare trap. Don't step in the circle."A few more minutes pass and, while keeping lookout, Naivara trips on a rock. Effectively, she faceplants herself in the dirt and groans in pain. 

Ekemon stepped forward, blocking the group's path and standing before Naivara. "Wait.".He throws a rock, about 10 feet, and it hits the ground with a thud. Then the ground shakes a bit as the ground the rock was on vanishes, falling into a pitfall. 

Naivara's eyes widen and she scrambles backwards before standing and dusting herself off."You saved my life. Thanks."A booming voice (DM) echoes from the sky, specifically into Naivara's head, "It wouldn't have killed you, only injured."After the successful dodging of the pit fall, Judis acting as though he would push Eralyn in for fun as they passed it, the group finally got to the end of the trail.

A wide cavern appears, massive in size and appearing to descend into the earth. The group looked at each other apprehensively. 

Judis cracked his knuckles and had started chuckling and bouncing on his heels. 

Naivara pulled out her longbow cautiously as Eralyn whispered words of protection and prayer to Pelor for the group.

Then they took their first step forward into the depths of the cavern