TOPIC: [R2] D&D5e Harpers Game (Bane DM)

Background for Karnock the Legend

Karnok spent his youth as a "debt collector" for a ruthless urban syndicate in Waterdeep. He used his natural orcish strength and a foundling worg pup named Skall to intimidate merchants. He was known for his cold efficiency, viewing his violence as a simple transaction.

His life shifted during a botched raid on a secluded archive belonging to a Cloud Giant sage. While his crew sought gold, Karnok found himself mesmerised by a set of glowing runes. When the syndicate leader ordered the archive burned, with the sage trapped inside, Karnok experienced a rare moment of conscience.

He defended the giant, using his sheer mass to shield the scholar from the flames using his body to block the door and prevent the flames entering the Giants last sanctum. The burn scars on Karnock’s back remain as a reminder, a legacy of his sacrifice and a promise all things can endure.

In gratitude, the sage granted Karnok the knowledge of the Haug (Hill) and Ild (Fire) runes, teaching him that true strength is found in the balance of power, and the meaning of the word. He learned that not all battles are won by force and that many can be won without fighting or by guile. Karnock didn’t understand those lessons until the morning he woke to find his mentor dead, a rune traced in the earth clearly visible to the orc. The Cloud Rune, a rune of deception allowed the old giant to conceal his illness (exacerbated by inhalation of smoke) and train the young orc. With his death the old sage provided his last lesson. Under the rune silvery metal ingots rested. The ‘Kriga-stel’ (Literally ‘light steel’) was familiar to Karnock, and the rune laden smith’s tools beside it provided the final clue to his transformation.

As a Rune Knight Karnock gained automatic proficiency with Smith’s Tools. Karnok used this skill to forge his own Mithral Half Plate, a feat that serves both a mechanical and symbolic purpose, the Act of Creation itself in making something rather than stealing his gear as he might have in his criminal past, provided a means to purge his past. Karnok spent weeks in the hidden mountain forge. He combined the lightness of mithral with giant-taught runic techniques.

The armour has served him well in his travels and has become mark, with many whispering of the ‘Silver Vigilante’. Karnok travels the wilds on Skall, using his giant-granted powers seeking to "balance the scales" for every life he once ruined as a criminal, though not much concerned with the vagaries of law, simply the essence of justice.

Harpers Session 2

Having extracted deep cover agent Elrond Bruhar from Zhent territory, our heroes return to the Harper safehouse for debriefing. The Handler is not impressed with the amount of collateral damage caused, nor the abundance of witnesses who can finger us for the strike. Karnock the Legend does not respond well to criticism. Their argument is interrupted when a guard staggers in with an arrow through his shoulder. The Zhentarim are launching a counter-attack, lead by the big bastard Karnock threw off a building!

Robin Shyte (Halfing Rogue 8, played by Alex) joins the party, but there is no Harper d'Ajent this week, as Tom had to work late.

Lia smashes a window to return fire. This does nothing to endear us to The Handler - do we not know how much glass costs, not to mention the call-out fee for the glazier?! Fapp checks the back door, and - sure enough - there are more Zhents lurking in the alley. Fapp barricades the door.

The front of the safehouse is now on fire. The heroes retreat, but the back door is blocked, so they head upstairs. Karnock hurls The Handler's bed out the window, crushing the Zhent champion. The flames are spreading and the building is surrounded. Things are looking grim for our heroes - when suddenly, the Lords of Waterdeep appear > freeze time > put out the fire > and sanction everyone involved for causing a ruckus. Suitably chastised, the Zhents disperse.

There has not been open conflict between rival factions for many years, so why the increased tension all of a sudden? It probably has something to do with the rumours that the goddess Lilaria has been reborn, and is gallavanting around the countryside with a group of perfomers, spreading joy wherever she goes. Both the Harpers and the Zhentarim are racing to find the goddess first, and thanks to new intel from Elrond, the Harpers have the upper hand! A civilian caravan was attacked outside the city, and our heroes are sent to investigate.

Exhausted from dealing with our bullshit, The Handler wants nothing more than to go to bed, but his bed is out in the street. Several hobos are using it for an impromptu screw party. It's Dirty Mike and the Boys!

Everyone gets a Rare magic item!



The crew leave Waterdeep. Fapp interrupts a bear shitting in the woods to ask for directions to the ambush site. We find bodies, blood and fresh tracks leading into the undergrowth. Robin scouts ahead and finds seven thugs recovering from a battle. Robin casts Prestidigitation to make the number 7 appear on the trunk of a tree. We are all mightily bamboozled by the numerate topiary, until the seven thugs attack, and all becomes lucid. Fapp gets magically missiled. Lia summons a Spirit Guardian. Karnock smash! The leader of the thugs gets a beehive stuck on his head and goes into anaphylactic shock. If only he had his EpiPen!

We search the bodies and find infomation suggesting Lilaria and her troupe are somewhere in the Grey Hills!

TBC

Harpers Session 3

Our heroes head east through the Grey Hills. Nobody fancies walking, so we yoke a bear to our newly acquired wagon and dangle a slab of honeycomb in front of him to get moving.

Some time later we hear hoofbeats to our rear. We hide in the bushes to see who is travelling these lonely roads with such urgency. Tis but a merchant caravan, hauling goods from Waterdeep to the exotic markets beyond the desert. We approach the caravan master Derek Deelz and offer our services as additional security, since we are all travelling the same road and there is safety in numbers (except the number 7 apparently).

The wagon train trundles along for many miles, until we spy an apparently dead man sprawled in the road. The other caravan guards groan and reach for their weapons.

"Shouldn't we help him?" Lia asks.
"It's an ambush. Obviously." the guards grumble.

Sure enough, a dozen robbers rush from the treeline to attack the caravan! Our heroes fight alongside the guards to defend the merchandise. At some point, two Red Wizards pop up and start casting big magic. Fapp snipes one in the head, but the second wizard opens a portal, and the heroes are pulled into Into the Abyss!

TBC

Apologies, I will not be at club tomorrow night.

Hi all apologies for late notice show last night. Unfortunately my Dad had another fall. Fortunately he was only shaken and didn't need medical treatment this time!.

I trust you time in hell was fully appreciated and that you were awash with the milk of human kindness.

Harpers Session 4

Having been sucked through a portal to the Abyss, our heroes are unceremoniously deposited in a desolate wasteland of grey ash. Intermittent geysers of molten rock erupt from dark cracks in the barren ground. A half dozen bandits were also pulled through the portal, dazed and disorientated by the alien hellscape. Karnock the Legend is nowhere to be seen, perhaps being temporarily diverted to some other plane of existence. A pair of passing Glabrezu demons spot the new arrivals and wander over to greet us. Sorry, EAT us.

Without Karnock to dish out the big damage, taking out the demons is a debacle. Fortunately, one of the Glabrezu is occupied with the bandits, so we only have to worry about the other one. Lia takes it out with what will quickly become her signature move; running up to a group of enemies and casting Fireball on herself to immolate everything in a 20ft radius. She emerges from the smoking crater with a wide grin and a thumbs up to the rest of the party. We slip off quietly while the other demon splashes around happily in a puddle of bandit entrails.

We take shelter in a cave. Only Fapp can see in the dark, so he is sent to scout things out. It seems safe enough, although the cave does continue on for some distance. We make camp for the night. In the morning, Lia can commune with her goddess to seek guidance, re: getting out of this dogshit dimension. Being a halfling, Robin is (always) hungry, and nobody else is getting any rest while he is bellyaching about his belly aching. Grumbling, Fapp heads deeper into the cave to hunt bats and/or cave lizards to feed the party.

Hundreds of eyeless albino bats dangle from the roof of the cave. The colony seem skittish, indicating the presence of a predator. A baleful red eye opens on the surface of a stalagmite and writhing tentacles whip out to grapple the feckless elf.

"Aggghhhh!!!" Fapp cries, "I'm being attacked by some kind of hentai-monster!"

Fapp's screams echo throughout the cave, disturbing the bats and sending them into a frenzy. A particularly large bat hits Harper d'Ajent in the face. Robin pounces on the stunned animal and starts eating it raw. Somewhat nauseated, Harper and Lia go looking for Fapp. They turn up just in time to watch him get eaten by the Roper. Harper dashes forward, reaches into the monster's mouth and casts Dimension Door to teleport himself and Fapp's mangled body back to camp.

The rest of the night passes uneventfully. With a nice full tummy, Robin sleeps like a baby. As whatever passes for a sun rises over the Abyss (I'm pictuing a perpetually screaming face that orbits the plane), Lia communes with Selune.



"Blessed Moonmaiden," Lia prays, "How do we return to the material plane?"

'Heed my words, child of silver. You must gather 6 crystals -"

"Oh, we're doing the 6 crystals thing. That's cool. Hey guys, we're doing the 6 crystals thing to get outta here."

"I still have some crystals left over from the last time." Fapp offers, producing a handful of gleaming stones from his pack.

Sadly, those crystals don't count. Selune puts a quest maker on our map and we set off for the first challenge. We meet a fancy-looking gentleman sitting on a rock. Harper pauses to compliment the stranger on his impeccable fashion sense. The fancy gent transforms into a hulking gorilla demon and punches Harper in the face. Two more Barlgura demons jump out from behind the rock, and a horde of Dretches rise up from the ashen ground to surround us.

Harper casts Hypnotic Pattern. The Barlgura demons are transfixed. Lia brandishes her Wand of Fireballs and runs toward the nearest cluster of Dretches. The rest of the party scramble to get out of her way. We survive the ambush and defeat our adversaries. As the last demon falls, a quest crystal appears. One down, five more to go!

TBC