Hi all,

I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ campaign I ran in 2017-18, the ‘Tomb of Annihilation’ campaign I ran in 2018-19 and ‘Out of the Abyss’, a campaign I ran in 2020. CoS was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that). Here’s another grand campaign that started out with a slightly warped version of ‘Lost Mine of Phandelver’, then rolled on to merge ‘Storm King’s Thunder’ and ‘Princes of the Apocalypse’ (it took the intrepid heroes to 20th level using experience points – yes, those antiquated things lol). Please note it was never called ‘Footfall’ in the beginning, as it was originally just going to be playing the Lost Mine, but I had some ideas along the way and the campaign grew as it went along in an ad hoc, improvised manner, adapting parts of Storm King’s and Princes to pad out the story. The main villain wasn’t even thought of until about three-quarters of the way through the 70-session campaign. Each session was approximately 5 hours (sometimes more) long. This campaign was also the first time I didn’t write all the summaries – some of the players were given that task and did so admirably! Most of the summaries appear here as they first appeared (with minor edits). If you’re a D&D fan you may enjoy them. And maybe even if you aren’t.

Steve 🙂

Part 11: Neverwinter & Thundertree

(Transcription by Graeme, who played Grigor the Fighter. This one is much more detailed than previously as Graeme used an app to capture the whole session, then transcribed from that)

The party, camped just under 10 miles from the city of Neverwinter, woke up bright and early and headed into the city. We arrived back in the familiar city from which we originally departed when our adventure began. Entering from the south, we found ourselves near the Protector’s Enclave where Fuzz, the halfling rogue, had a task to complete.

We met Fuzz’s contact “Bill” from the Lord’s Alliance and delivered an item – a bone scroll case – as requested by Sildar. Bill asked for news of Phandalin and of the missing wizard Albrek. Fuzz briefly summarized our achievements there. He seemed very pleased with our progress and offered us all membership of the organization, however most of the party were hesitant to join and were happy for Fuzz to act as our liaison to the Lord’s Alliance.

On learning we were heading to Thundertree, Bill requested we make a map of the area and provide a report on the state of the area. He also indicated that if we cleared out Cragmore Castle, that would solve a lot of problems.

Bill also provided some locations and names of merchants where we could sell our loot and pick up things we needed. Aelfwyn, the elvish wizard, provided some magical cleaning to the items, so they looked their best for sale. Lady Atrasian, human fighter, dressed to impress, and also had her charisma magically fortified by Striver, dwarven cleric, giving her a significant advantage dealing with merchants. The four gems were soon sold for 20 gp each. We learn that the jeweled Breastplate and Torc Crown might have additional value due to their age and historical significance, so we headed to the House of Knowledge to see what they were worth there.

The sage at the House of Knowledge was impressed with these items and was soon persuaded to pay full price for both of these (450 gp) plus an additional 50 gp. He advised he would pay us a 20% premium on any similarly jeweled or ornate items relating to the period (the Netheril period of around 2000 to 5000 years ago) that we could find and bring to him. In response to Aelfwyn’s enquiries about the history surrounding these items, the sage provided the following information:

“THE RISE AND FALL OF NETHERIL – More than five thousand years ago, a group of human fishing villages on the shores of the Narrow Sea joined under the rule of the shaman-king Nether, becoming known as the empire of Netheril. The Netherese learned the use of magic from the Eaerlanni elves and became renowned wizards. Centuries later, they discovered the arcane texts known as the Nether Scrolls in the ruins of Aryvandaar and subsequently abandoned the practices of the Eaerlanni in order to procure even greater magical power. Netheril grew to become an invincible nation of magic and wonders, dominating much of the North for three thousand years. Then the power-mad Netherese arcanist Karsus attempted to usurp the role of the goddess of magic. The resulting disruption in the fabric of magic sent Netheril’s floating cities crashing to the ground, destroyed a host of other wards and enchantments, and brought about the end of the great empire.”

Versh’arek the Lucid was a well-known Necromancer of the Netherese Empire, primarily responsible for ground defenses in the area that had become part of the Sword Coast. He built six Guard Towers and was buried in one when he died.

The party divided the proceeds, allocating 100 gp each, with an additional 50 gp each for Lady Atrasian and Aelfwyn for additional armor and spells respectively.

The party spent an additional day or so in Neverwinter. Aelfwyn stayed at the Temple and arranged for accommodation there for any party members who also wished to stay. He spent the time learning his new spells. He also privately discussed our travels and achievements with his handler there, who offered to research the location of the remaining towers of Versh’arek. When Aelfwyn suggested establishing a new Shrine to Oghma at our Tresendar Manor headquarters he was encouraged to do so, but only after destroying the competing Shrine of Luck at Phandalin, which Aelfwyn seemed reluctant to do. The handler also ignored Aelfwyn’s request for funding for the new shrine, encouraging Aelfwyn to do the job on their behalf.

Lady Atrasian stayed in slightly better accommodations, but was still slumming it by her aristocratic standards, and spent her day trading in her chain mail armor for some higher quality splint armor. Striver investigated buying a warhorse, finding it a little beyond his means for the moment. Grigor, human fighter, stayed in an inn near the docks, drinking and buying rounds for old friends and colleagues there.

The party then set off for Thundertree, more than a day’s travel away. While camping along the way, Grigor, with some divine Guidance from Striver, had a very successful hunt and the entire party dined very well on deer for the night, with plenty left over for a second day’s provisions.

The next day, well fed and rested, we approached Thundertree and found the area covered in darkness. A magical barrier surrounded the town, the same as we encountered at Conyberry. It took some effort to force our way in, with Lady Atrasian assisting Fuzz.

Finally in Thundertree proper, we found some ruined buildings as we entered from the northwest, but were unable to see most of the town due to the unnatural darkness. A sign warned of dangerous “plants, monsters and zombies”. As we entered, Aelfwyn sent his familiar – an owl named Athena – to overfly the town. He provided information about a tower to our east. It wasn’t completely ruined like most of the town, although part of the roof had fallen in. Outside the tower were the bodies of two giant spiders.

We first explored a ruined cottage on our right, finding nothing of interest inside. Outside, however, were some walking plants who looked at us curiously but were not hostile and seemed unable to communicate with us. The party decided to leave them alone – Grigor and Aelfwyn ensured Striver went along with the party’s decision.

Continuing on to the east we encountered another building not in ruins. Before we could stop him, Striver kicked down the door. A huge puff of ash and dust escaped and the sounds of zombies could be heard from inside. The party wisely stayed outside the house to deal with the “ash zombies”, as they emitted an incapacitating cloud of ash when they were first hit. It didn’t take long for the party to dispatch the zombies and enter the ash-filled room. Not finding anything of interest, Striver proceeded with his destructive exploration, kicking down the door to the adjoining room of the two-room structure. This room wasn’t ash-filled and appeared to have been a kitchen and common room. The scent of ale could be detected around some old barrels, but no ale remained.

Striver, despite Grigor’s pleas, also kicked down the rear door of the building and found nothing of interest outside other than the town boundary. As Grigor explored the structure, he realised this place used to be a tavern called “The Brown Horse”, once renowned for its fine ale.

The party then continued east towards the tower and encountered the bodies of some long-dead spiders. True to form Striver explored with his boots, kicking the spider bodies. As he did, a shadowy creature reached out from the body, grabbing him, sapping both his health and strength. He despaired at the now-familiar feeling of his strength draining away and called out to the party. Several more of the creatures appeared and Fuzz’s strength was also drained. During the fight several of the creatures were dispatched when Striver cast an impressively powerful Shatter spell, destroying the wispy, shadowy creatures but also knocking Fuzz unconscious. Striver, seeing this, immediately spoke a magical incantation to return Fuzz to consciousness and partially healed his injuries. Some impressive attacks from the whole party dispatched the remaining creatures and the fight was won.

The party returned to the kitchen of The Brown Horse to rest and recover from their injuries. Grigor attempted to repair the damaged doors to make the room safer. After a short rest, Striver and Fuzz found their strength restored to normal and their injuries mostly healed.

On further exploring the tower from the outside, we determined that although the tower was very old, it had a much newer attached cottage. Athena flew over the tower to see through the broken roof, but the interior was filled with inky darkness. We found no external entrance to the tower and surmised it could only be entered via the attached cottage.

Lady Atrasian knocked on the door of the cottage saying, “Pizza delivery!” In response, the door flew open and the inky darkness spilled out with creepy hands emerging from the darkness. She luckily ducked away from the darkness as it emerged and escaped its grasp. As the battle continued, Versh’arek the Lucid floated in wraith form down from the tower into our midst. He was twice the size as he was before. Versh’arek taunted the party and claimed that rather than killing him we only made him stronger. Nonetheless, the party attacked in force. During the battle, Lady Atrasian fell victim to the strength-draining creatures multiple times and was close to death. Aelfwyn was also hit by one. But with some powerful spells from both Aelfwyn and Striver and some good hits from the rest of the party (including some crucial assistance from Athena the Lightning Owl), eventually Versh’arek was defeated again.

As the magical darkness was lifted from the town, the party discussed possible reasons for Versh’arek’s increased size, strength and resilience. Possibilities included the destruction of the previous two towers concentrating his power in the remaining towers, or something related to the disappearance of his bones from the first tower. It might even be possible the goblins were bolstering his power somehow. No conclusion was reached, however, since not only did we not have enough information, but the discussion was abruptly interrupted by the arrival of a large green dragon swooping in from above.

It spoke in draconic, which only Aeflwyn and Lady Atrasian understood. It had been watching from a distance and was greatful to the party for defeating Versh’arek. It identified itself as Venom Fang and claimed to have recently moved its lair to the tower before being ousted by Versh’arek. It had an agreement with some cultists on the other side of town, who had agreed to help it remove Versh’arek, however we did the job for them.

Aelfwyn replied in draconic, explaining that we also intended to reclaim the town, antagonizing the dragon with implied threats but failing to intimidate it. Lady Atrasian stepped in to calm the situation, but also failed to persuade it to calm down, resulting in Aelfwyn being knocked unconscious by the dragon’s claw. The dragon then expressed annoyance at the party’s rudeness, thanked us again for defeating Versh’arek and departed to the tower. As it left it explained that it had been thinking of rewarding the group for their efforts but decided not to due to their rudeness. It then entered the tower via the broken roof.

Striver magically stabilized Aelfwyn and then brought him back to consciousness, while Lady Atrasian explained to the non-draconic speakers what just happened. We agreed that we would need to deal with this after a proper rest and recovery overnight.

The party enjoyed the remainder of the deer from the previous night and agreed to set watches as we all settled in for a good night’s sleep in the back room of The Brown Horse.

Part 12: Dragon 1, Party 0, Tower 0

(Transcription by Pieter, who played Aelwyn the elvish wizard.)

After the party’s first encounter with Venomfang the green dragon, we rested back at the old tavern in Thundertree. we decided to explore the town further, while Striver decided to stay behind and look after the cart. The first building we entered was near the walking twigs we came across earlier. We found more of their buddies and tried to communicate with them, however, these turned out to be less friendly, as they started attacking us. We tried to be nice, but were forced to defend ourselves and had to take them all out. A little fire was started by Aelfwyn’s Burning Hands, but he put it out.

We found an old chest, containing a good amount of money (700 cp, 160 sp, 90 gp), which we loaded into our cart, and took a short rest. Those twigs did more damage than expected! Continuing our exploration, we found the druid Reidoth in one of the houses that was still standing. We received a nice cup of tea and asked about the town, but he could not provide any new information. He was a bit rude in his replies, too.

Next up, we found Grigor’s old home. Had to clear it of ash zombies, but that didn’t take too long. We cleaned the place up a bit, and Grigor found some of his belongings. As we were cleaning up his place, we were approached by some people from the building across the street. A weird duo. After they went back inside, Fuzz snuck up to have a look, and found several of what appeared to be cultists, talking to a giant. Grigor went to the building where the cultists came from and tried talking to them. Upon learning their allegiance, swords were drawn. As one cultist was struck down, the giant came rushing in to smash us, but due to its size, found little room to maneuver between the buildings. It got some good hits in, but fortunately its size made it an easy target to be hit in return. A few good slashes with the greataxe, a few arrows and a couple of spells, and the once mighty giant tumbled down. After that, the cultists were easily dealt with and loot gathered: 4 dead trout = snacks for Athena, 23 gp, 23 sp, small map of Triboar, 3 diamonds worth 100 gp each, 1 potion of flying.

After fighting off some spiders in another ruined house, we found the remains of an adventurer with a shortsword, studded leather armor, a potion of healing. The last place to explore was an old barracks – still in good condition and could be used as a small keep. As we glimpsed through the window, we saw more ash zombies. Aelfwyn had the idea of sending Athena in the deal with them, so that the rest wouldn’t have to do anything, but then they opened the door, which defeated the whole purpose of the plan. Thus, we fought off the zombies, which didn’t take too much effort. Nothing of value was found in the barracks though. Just a good place to rest.

The party took a long rest and hatched a plan on how to deal with the dragon. It had to die, as it could not be allowed to lay claim to this land. The party went inside, with Aelfwyn standing ready at a window to shoot spells from behind a sturdy wall. However, Venomfang was aware of our presence, and as soon as Grigor opened the door, a roaring flow of poisonous gas spewed forth, nearly killing all in that chamber. Another bite on Grigor and he fell unconscious. At this point, Lady Atrasian tried to negotiate and explain the need to destroy this tower. The mutual hatred for Versh’arek convinced Venomfang, so he took his belongings and started flying off. However, as Aelfwyn was outside for this entire exchange, he was not aware of this negotiation. All he saw was a roaring puff of poisonous gas, and remembering the plan to kill the damned thing, sent magic missiles flying towards it. Aelfwyn quickly rushed inside to take cover, where he heard about the unexpected change of plans. An angry dragon descended upon the party, demanding recompense for this slight. Everyone needed to hand over their treasure and reluctantly did so, but also managed to convince the dragon to destroy the tower. Lost: 105 gp, 3 diamonds worth 100 gp, gold necklace with emerald worth 200gp, other gold and treasure on hand.

Meanwhile, Aelfwyn turned invisible and took off with whatever he was carrying, Athena puffing out of existence. No happy ending this time…

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