Welcome to the next post in a series where I describe the adventures during a 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons campaign I ran a little while ago.
In my last post, our players tried to save Mirag the shepherd and his family. They spectacularly unsuccessful, arriving long after the parents, Mirag and Tarna, had been slaughtered and turned into lurking zombies. They found the young son Farad hiding under a bed, and he told them that his sister Samad had been kidnapped by whatever killed their parents.
Mother White's Cure
On returning to the town of Tuadun, our players were able to pass Farad onto Mayor Gerd Ardrix, who promised to find someone suitable to take him in and look after him.
Then they went off to visit Mother White again, hoping that the jolly healer lady could cure the zombie-inflicted disease their warrior had picked up. Morson Blackmont might be a paladin, but at only first level he hasn't yet gained the immunity to disease that third level paladins acquire.
Mother White can make two types of cure potion. Of course, she’ll say that if she had a sample of flesh from the zombie that made this rare and unusual disease, it would be easy. What a shame the characters had burned the bodies as a precautionary measure to stop them getting up again !
But without that, she can make a temporary cure with a bit of spit and hair from the victim – this will be 4 doses, each of which lasts a day. To make the permanent cure will need some Blue Lizardwort from the forest and a tail feather from one of the Ravens of Andraste. As payment for the permanent potion, she’ll want two additional feathers for herself.
The party gratefully accept a batch of the temporary cure, and decide to visit the Temple of Andraste to see if they can get some feathers. Afterwards they'll go to the woods, because that might enable them to kill two birds with one stone; get some Blue Lizardwort, and start tracking down the brigands that have been preying on the Filrath Road.
Sister Raben
Sister Raben - Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
The Temple of Andraste in Tuadun is one of the most imposing buildings in town, and one of the very few mostly built from stone rather than wooden.
It takes the form of a cube built from great grey blocks of basalt. The outer wall is decorated with half-pillars sculpted to look like tree trunks, and the only windows are small and at roof level. Ravens occasionally fly in and out of these windows; they never land in town, and are actually being used as messengers.
When our players go to the temple, they are greeted by a young acolyte. Hearing of their request for tail feathers from one of the ravens, the acolyte takes them to an antechamber and asks them to wait while she asked Sister Raben, the senior priestess.
Sister Raben herself enters the room a short while later. She is a woman in her early thirties who brings the idea of "resting bitch face" to a whole new level. She is not unpleasant, but as the priestess of a war goddess, she is severe and unnervingly direct to the point of bluntness. She also moves as if she should be wearing armour even though she isn't right now. The warhammer hanging from her belt is clearly functional and well used, not just decorative.
This should have been a great opportunity for the players to engage in a bit of diplomacy and roleplay. Sadly, it all went horribly wrong. Three of the characters simultaneously decided that they were going to be the spokesperson for the party. They all ended up talking over each other.
Morson Blackmont acted like the stereotypical entitled arrogant paladin, claiming the feathers by right of his inherent nobility. Nairo the Aasimar mage tried to use honeyed words and vague promises of nothing in particular. Roland the Ranger went with dark edgelord hints about doom coming to the town if they weren't given the feathers.
None of this impressed Sister Raben, who appeared to be in a particularly blunt mood. She put each of the talkers in his or her place, then told the party as a whole to shut up, leave her temple and not to bother coming back.
Fortunately, at this point, Scarlet the Bard (who probably should have been the only one talking all along !) finally spoke up. She simply said "I am sorry for the conduct of my friends. Please forgive us. What can we do that would persuade you to give us the feathers we need ?"
I asked Scarlet's player to roll a Diplomacy check to back these words up (as a player, she sometimes lacks confidence in the face of the alpha personalities of most of the other players). She rolled a natural 20 - a critical success !
Sister Raben softened towards Scarlet, and suggested she would be happy to part with the feathers in exchange for some Blue Lizardwort from the forest for herself. Oh, and the heads of any brigands they can kill. She is the priestess of a goddess of war and victory, after all.
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio. This was another image the AI gave me; I really liked it for Sister Raben, but it gave her wings. If it wasn't for that, I'd have used it ! Ah the joys of AI prompts....
Next time... into the woods !
Previous posts in this series;
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Setting Part 1
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Setting Part 2
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Setting Part 3
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Player Creation and Briefing
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Arrival At Tuadun
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Mayor Gerd's Problems
The Tarak D&D Campaign - Saving Shepherd Mirag