Prologue, Part 1

This is Jess's new campaign. Dan was originally supposed to go, but Jess is very good at getting something put together quickly, so here we are.

We also have a new player, Drew, who lives across the hall from me.

Also, in the interest of time, because honestly, these notes take a super long time to put together, I am providing way less detail going forward.

It's mid winter, and Lord Croft, our father, is throwing a festival.

Lord Croft has many sons and daughters, some legitimate, but many not. There is Altaire, who shares a room with me. Dhell, a half-orc, who apparently is here in an attempt to "civilize" him. Sai, who is nearly as young as me, and has two other full siblings (Lorelei and Carrik). Ravosh, who is a dragonborn, who speaks often of his older brother. And there is Davomir, the adult.

Several of us play hide and seek, and Davomir is dragged in as "it". He plays on long enough to enlist a few of us that he finds to do the work of finding the rest of us.

Meanwhile, Sai overhears some nasty talk about a tiefling and something to do with poisoning, saying that "Croft and the Dragon" won't be defending anyone. It seems there will be an attack on the house, by someone called Bloodrayne.

Sai goes to find Davomir, and can't resist throwing mashed potatoes at him, but he also tells him about what he overheard. Davomir goes to talk to their mutual mother, an elf who is a bit of a traveling weapon master.

Meanwhile, Altere and I have been enlisted by Dhell to find others, and Ravosh soon finds himself locked in the washroom.

Sai finds Lord Croft, our father, who at that very moment is already talking to "the Dragon", who is another warlord of the area.

Sai, who is still covered in mashed potatoes, leaps into our father's arms, and tells him what he saw. The Dragon is amused by this. It's not a festival without a good fight!

Preparations are made for the expected attack, and the wine is checked for poison. It doesn't seem poisoned but several guests do fall over as if affected.

In a role reversal, Altere and Gerard end up locked in Lord Croft's office by Ravosh, who insists on going to fight.

Sai tries to lock the backdoor, but the door is smashed to smithereens, and his mother, Ashara, whisks him our of the way just in time. On the other side are an orc and two goblins.

She draws a blade. She yells for Draw to stay back, and get Sai out of the area, so he takes Sai just as Sai pelts one of the orcs with the last of his purloined mashed potatoes.

Lord Croft meanwhile holds the front door against the attackers, who is led by an half orc with bones woven into his beard and wielding great axes. Half of his face is painted red. Bloodrayne.

Ravosh gets in the way, but is knocked out by the flat of Bloodrayne's axe. Bloodrayne laughs at this.

Goblins surround Sai and Davomir, and Davomir slays several of them. Sai sees a suspicious looking man, and chases him.

Meanwhile, Dhell is oblivious to all this. He's reading a book in the library, and thinks he sees a girl about his age, but perhaps it is just his imagination.

The tide quickly turns in our favor, and Bloodrayne flees the scene.

Several years pass. It's early Summer.

A trade delegation is due to arrive soon. Ravosh is also to go to see with a sailor named Walt. I've been exploring the woods a lot of with Altaire.

Most of us are out in front of the manor. Alyse and Jared Warren, another of Lord Croft's children, are arguing about something. Off in the distance, Sai spots the delegation.

Lord Croft suggests we play a game. Any written bits we can get from the Delegates, without copying it down, will get a silver, with double for the first. If we find the spy, we get a gold piece, and not a word of any of this to Lady Reva, his wife.

Sai and I find a cat in a cage in one of the rooms, who seems to become an obsession for some of us that it is a familiar, and must die. We end up not doing anything to it though. Maybe because Jess was sad we wanted to kill it. There are also runes, who Dhell thinks are a trap or a lock.

But first is the grand feast. Many delegates are present, including Alstaire of Shylock, who is allied with Saraphim. Lord Drake, his aide. Tess McCulver, who seems to be scribbling notes. Rachelle Mayberry, is a beautiful woman. Dart Cobblebutton, who seems obsessed with his ware, shoes. Walt, the sailor, who smells a lot like Cinnamon. Yves Celeste, who is a mercenary.

Sai and I sneak out at night, and Sai investigates one of the wagons and finds a lot of shoes. He steals some.

Davomir is getting lucky with Tessa in the forest, and he manages to nick some items from her, which he later has Dhell identify, before returning them to the forest on the pretense that they had merely become lost.

Dhell makes a reflective mirror and copies Lord Drake's writing.

Sai and I stumble across a button and a scrap of cloth in the forest, evidence of Davomir and Tessa, but we lack the knowledge of who it could be. We come to the conclusion that it might be a servant, and we follow the trail back to the manor.

Sai spots a tiefling and runs after her, finding out that she is squatting in an abandoned hut. Sai confronts her and finds out her name is Panic, and he fills her in on our "game". She agrees to help.

I meet up with Ravosh, and we spot Davomir running outside to return what he stole from Tessa to the forest, but in the dim light, we are unsure who it might be.

Whew, that was still pretty long!