Party Roster:
Felix, 10th level dwarven fighter, 100 hp, played by Alex
Rathbane, 7th/6th level dwarven fighter/cleric (Clangeddin), 54 hp, played by Katherine
Hendel, 9th level dwarven thief, 52 hp, played by Joel
Gates, 8th level dwarven cleric (Moradin), 52 hp, played by Aaron
Donald, 9th level coastlander mage, 48 hp, NPC
Aral, 2nd level Northerner woodsman, 27 hp, henchman of Felix
[Events of September 7-8, 2007 in Ithaca, NY; Telvar date: December 2189]
A somewhat short but very cool game session, played in Alex’s parents’ house down the hill from Cornell…
When we last left the party, Felix and Friends were trying to decide on further missions. Felix’s interest in restoring the glory of the dwarven kingdoms (or at least halting the decline) led him to seek out quests to benefit the kingdoms. Knowing we wanted something small, Felix needed to decide whether to help the Shabrundians, who were stagnant and at a crossroads as an empire, or to help Eralla, which was believed to be doomed with a hundred years (a single generation).
Some numbers for perspective:
The White Mountain dwarves (the only actually prosperous dwarven kingdom) number roughly fifteen thousand. The Eralla (I’ll start spelling it Arala next time, as I apparently got it wrong, but didn’t want to confuse readers…) dwarves number less then 250, although there another few hundred scattered about southern Cromwell who might well return in good times. The Eralla dwarves are resigned about their fate, and despite their ludicrous mineral and adamantite wealth, cannot grow. They are under constant assault from the gnolls, giants and derro dwarves that border them, as well as occasional hideous creatures from the Limgut’s kingdom, the Southern Wilderness, and the Pit. Additionally, whenever they really try to trade their wealth, an evil adventuring party takes note and assaults the place. Eralla is actually one of the oldest dwarven kingdoms, thought to be more than 15000 years old, but has been under siege for at least the last 5000 or so.
It really is a grim setup. Felix decided to do what he could to help. One smaller scale mission was to clear a mine shaft that had been abandoned to monsters a while ago, and open some more convenient wealth. But this isn’t really Eralla’s fundamental problem, and Felix found a more satisfying alternative.
Felix Summary #7: Forked Tongues
Then Rathbane said, “Hi!” in Guardian Naga. The creature’s eyes turned suddenly fearful and it immediately dashed down the wall (it was climbing like a spider), and fled.