Arden Vul - Session 3
The party
Skeggi Arnbjorgsson, the Elf Thief
Basil Cydones, Archontean Magic-User, member of the Order of Thoth
Lucius Virillius, the Archontean Lyan, Hand of the Emperor
Freydis, the Wiskin Cleric of Thor (hireling)
Summary
The date: 2993 AEP, also known as the 8th year of Constans XXV. 1st day of Fourth-month.
We resume our adventure with our party getting a tour of the Arena by their goblin associate Bellringer. They stopped and had a discussion with one of the arena guards, who they are interested to discover is human and from the 'Valley of Burgheat'. He was extremely friendly and gave them a lot of information about the arena and how he came to be there.
Moving on, they made their way to the arena seats. They sat among the goblins and spied on the other denizens making their way to the show: Many goblins, 10-ish rambunctious Trolls (some remarkably tall and human-shaped), an arch-mage with several albino baboons at his side, a group of silent dwarves, and a group of lizard people (whom the goblins seem to find uncivilized).
Lucius scanned the crowed for chaos and found it only in a few of the dwarves and in all of the lizardfolk. He and the rest of party discussed how best to start a fight with them while Bellringer recommended not starting anything in the arena, but he'd show them where to ambush them where it is sanctioned to do so.
Before the show can begin, Bellringer's 2 goblin companions rushed in and delivered a bag of 50 ancient silver coins (worth 1 gold each to a collector) to the party as a gift from their Bailiff and delivered a request from him to have the party come and meet him at the goblin's warrens, with a promise of a job. The party agreed and followed Bellringer to the warrens, which is accessible from the arena crossroads.
The party made their way through a winding staircase and met a set of Orges at the entryway to the warrens. Lucius refused to pay the requested toll and bribe and they are begrudgingly allowed through anyway, on behalf of the Bailiff.
The party passed through a great, stinking hall where they see a group of merchants, a huge bonfire, a large fountain, a goat pen, many goblins socializing or performing military maneuvers, and one short metal man perusing the merchants. They followed Bellringer through and up a ladder to meet the Bailiff.
The party is introduced to Raskim, the goblin Bailiff, who asked them questions about other missing goblins and explained to them the situtation: Another goblin party is missing in the same region where Bellringer and friends were found. If the party can find them and help get back, they will be paid one ancient platinum coin (worth about 375 gold). Bellringer and his companions were commanded to accompany them to make up for leading an unauthorized expedition into the dungeon and getting many goblins killed. Lucius argued for clemency for the goblins and also asked more about ambushing the lizardfolk tribe. Raskim promised an audience with the king, who would be a better person to ask for help with this endeavor.
The party stopped by the merchants before leaving and met an unsure goblin map-maker who promised he can make maps to any object, as long as it is described in detail. His price was too much for the party for now. They are introduced to a halfling who is interested in a 'source' of cats (since the Goblin king is enamored with them) and had some trinkets for sale. Basil asked about his new staff and is told that it is a +1 staff enchanted by the magic-user Balthazar the Blue, who is well-known for losing his staffs around the dungeon. The party asked about a few of the trinkets and settled on buying a standard deck of tarot cards for one ancient silver coin.
The party set off with their goblin companions out a difference entrance, past a goblin outpost and through a large cave with a friendly Troll, who showed them a secret entrance to the level they were seeking.
They arrived out of a panel in the wall with a carved baboon, into an ancient Archontean hallway. Bellringer showed them how to re-open the secret door from this side (and tells them the normal entrance into Arden Vul is just north of here) and they head southeast.
They passed by a room with a 3 foot layer of green gas and a sludgy brown fountain. They pressed down into the fountain and didn't detect inside anything and moved on. Lips suddenly appeared on the wall near them and started speaking in Archontean about how the 'followers of the Ibis are dead and gone'. They walked further and another mouth begins talking, this time in a language none in the party recongized.
They headed south to a small chamber with a layer of refuse separating the north and south sections. Behind the wall is a spear with a decomposing Halfling head stuck on it.
Stepping into the room first, Lucius was struck by a spear trap built into the floor, taking a hit that would have taken down any of his companions. The hireling Freydis spent several healing spells on his fixing his wounds, leaving her bereft of magical healing for the rest of the day.
They continued south into a hallway and headed into a door to the west. Lucius took a step inside (after getting assurances from Skeggi that this door was not trapped) and he barely dodged a pile of rubble falling from above the door and heard footsteps approaching from the east.
My Take
I ended up doing a lot of prep again for this section, since there were quite a few places for them to go (They were also told about an Inn near the arena that they could have headed to). Those places are all prepped for the future though, so it didn't feel like wasted time.
I think I am figuring out my note-taking as well. This is the first game I have run since high-school that I am doing all my prep on paper (since my headaches have been consistent and screens make them worse) and I have finally figured out a system. I have quite a few scattered sections I am writing in before each session (session notes, stocking/rolling tables for areas they might go to beforehand, faction sections with notes from the book and my own interpretations or additions) but flipping through them is easy.
I also started pulling pages out of the binder and putting them aside (stats for creatures likely to be encountered, certain pages from the dungeon stocking that need to be referenced, magic items or objects like the ancient coins). That wasn't a perfect solution since I would mix up where I put the pages during the session and need to find them again. I spent 10 whole minutes looking for a page that was right in front of me.
We discussed at the start of the session giving out xp bonuses for people playing their archtypes and Skeggi did receive the first bonus.
Basil's player mentioned that they would likely have few chances to get the xp bonus as the resident level 1 magic-user, but I'm sure there are actions one could take that are magic-user-y that don't include casting a spell.
Lucius is in a complicated state as well, at least from where I sit. There's some (very dnd) philosophical complications with how to play the class and support his God, given I've stated that he will need to please his diety in order to gain spells, plus he needs to follow his class strictures or lose his class (and be a plain old fighter forever).
My big questions right now: The Lyan is required to set aside time to deal with corruption and organized crime. Does the arena count as organized crime? Do lawful creatures following their own set of laws cause issues for the Lyan?
I told Lucius that his god would want him to slay the chaotic lizardfolk, but I am not really sure honestly. If his god was a normal god this would be easier, but what does your deity want when your deity is the representation of the Emperor?
I'll probably write a separate post about this, because I'd be curious about people's impressions. The Lyan is a strong class, but that's balanced by the strictures. But how best to lead the Lyan? By the nose? Give the player a thesis on what his god would want? I would assume for a normal diety that the signs from their god are never straightforward.
It's also possible I am overthinking this.
Regardless, I'd like to give the player a little more direction, since I think he is seeking it.
And that's it for session 3. Thanks for reading!