Interlude

December 5, 2006

The group comes out of the mountains after Victor restored his abilities and now they have to decide what to do. They decide to head back to the dragon and take that mission.

They start traveling on the road of Cormyr, heading for Tyrluk. When they get there, it is obvious they won't be welcomed with open arms. They stop in front of the only Inn in the town and talk about it but decide to leave and push on instead.

They keep going on the road, making very good time compared to how fast they are used to traveling. When they arrive in Eveningstar, they decide to play for their room and meal. Reece makes the deal with an innkeeper and then does some shows in the town to get some business. He has to earn the Innkeeper so much in business before he will get his room and board free.

Duece works the room and steals a pouch from an adventuring group. He thought he saw an extra shadow from their table but wasn't sure. He was about to steal from his second mark of the night when something felt wrong and decided to call it off. He put the pouch he stole on his person and waited until they were back in the room.

Reece has a good performance and manages to make enough for the room, the last one available. They all go up to the room. Duece put a few barriers on the doors to make it hard for someone to enter quietly. Eric claims in front of the door. Reece claims the bed of his room and they start to settle down.

Duece opens up the pouch he stole, and shadows pour out of it, forming the face of Brandon. There is a lot of money in there as well, but Duece is more worried about the shadows. That's when it is announced that something has gone missing from some people and the rooms will be searched for it. In a panic, Duece wakes everyone up and shows what he has. Victor is not happy and won't help conceal it, which is Duece's plan. Eric immediately tries to swallow the coins and gems but is stopped after a few by Duece. They hid the coins and the pouch as the Purple Dragons arrive to search the room.

They are looking for a guantlet and dagger, which they tell the group after they don't see it amongst their stuff. They thank the group for cooperating and leave. Eric goes and gets drunk to throw up what he ate to conceal it and then collapses in a heap in front of the door. After having a few laughs, they all go to sleep.

Duece wakes up sometime in the night, feeling a lot of shadow magic. It felt like several damaging spells went off at the same time. He wakes the others, tells them what he felt and says they have to get out of there. They agree. When they get to the Inn's door, the group heads toward the commotion while Duece is headed away. The group wants to go help but that is NOT what Duece had in mind. However, he goes with the group.

It turns out the temple to Lathandar was attacked and all but a few acolytes were killed. Every other priest or person there was slaughtered. They were attacked by a group of warriors with some magic as well as shadow creatures. Victor does what he can for the wounded guards while the others help him as best they can.

Notes

• This was a weird session. I had to stop it in the middle for a bit and talk about what we were doing. I hadn't realized they had decided on a course of action. I felt like I was leading them. I either forgot or didn't realize they had decided to do the dragon's mission. So, I felt stupid and we didn't get near as much done.
• It would have been funny had they gone into the Inn at Tyrluk, as all of the Purple Dragons were there. They wouldn't have been recognized but it would have been a good drama moment as they realized it.
• I made the Perception check for the Merchant's guards and Brook didn't make Duece's check, so Duece didn't didn't realize there were more guards than he thought. An intuition check, though, told him something was wrong and he stopped.
• I had to chuckle at the player's reactions to the guards at the Inn. While what happened was about them, it wasn't in the way they thought it would be. I also liked that it wasn't that direct. I think it took the characters off guard in a good way.
• It was also fun with how Brook played Duece wanting to leave and the other's wanting to know what happened in the town. Very funny and it worked well.