Introduction

I previously posted some warts-and-all email summaries of the ‘Curse of Strahd’ DnD 5e campaign I ran in 2017-18, the ‘Tomb of Annihilation’ campaign I ran in 2018-19, the ‘Out of the Abyss’, a campaign I ran in 2020, the ‘Phandelver’s Pact’ campaign I ran from 2020-21, the ‘Shadows over Saltmarsh’ campaign from 2021-22, and my current Pathfinder 2e campaign, ‘Vaults of Otari‘. CoS was the first campaign I sent summaries to players by email after each game (I was a bit lazy prior to that), which is why I can use them for this column. Now, I post summaries to Roll20 after each session.

Here are the session summaries from my first Dragonbane campaign which I started running in 2024 after buying the Dragonbane Starter Set. It’s adventures from that set, plus some homebrewed content.

I apologize in advance for the writing in these summaries – they’re a bit raw, and not fancy at all (I don’t have time for fancy writing when typing them up late at night after each game lol). Some will be more detailed than others. The campaign continues!

Steve 🙂

Session 2 – An Offer & A Demand

Making their way through the village of Outskirt, the party noticed a ruined temple high up on a hill in the center of town. They arrived in the market square and found the Three Stags Inn. Makander the mallard knight stopped at a time-worn statue at the center of the square – it was Eledain the dragon emperor, which she recognized from the statuette sections drawn on the Weatherman map.

The inn was filled with rowdy locals. Vagnihild, the jovial innkeeper, waved them to the bar and introduced herself. After a round of introductions, she offered them all a free mead. Makander mentioned they were looking for someone called Leanara, but Vagnihild wasn’t aware of such a person. She was curious about their intentions, and the adventurers were quite open about wanting to explore the valley, so Vagnihild informed them that the Misty Vale was originally part of Eledain’s empire. She mentioned the legend of the sword of Um-Durman:

“The sword Um-Durman was forged by the dragon emperor Eledain eight hundred years ago, when the world was a battlefield for dragons and demons. It is the blade of life, made to maintain the balance between order and chaos. It is a weapon for the free and unbound against the ancient evils. But in the wrong hands, Um-Durman becomes a weapon of tyranny – an instrument of demonic darkness or draconic fire.

“After Eledain’s death, the sword was buried in a crypt that can only be opened with a special key: a statuette split into four pieces, one for each direction under Eledain’s rule. The Misty Vale was originally the heart of Eledain’s empire, and it is said Um-Durman’s crypt is hidden under the old temple ruin in the center of the village. Entering the crypt requires the four pieces of the statuette. They have been missing for centuries, sought by Eledain’s servants as well as the followers of the demon prince Sathmog. The pieces may be somewhere among the ruins of the Misty Vale.”

When the party enquired about treasures in the vale, Vagnihild mentioned the Riddermound to the west was said to contain a dark knight buried alive with his family, servants and riches.

While this was happening, Bastonn the wolfkin fighter noticed a blond waitress listening in on their conversation as she served tables. He also saw a female knight seated sullenly at a table not far away, watching the group.

Krisanna persuaded the amnesiac Volcarian the wolfkin mage to perform with her for the crowd. Archmaster Aodhan the mage found it amusing to convince the bemused wolfkin that he was actually a circus performer. Krisanna threw three knives at the agile wolfkin, who easily avoided them all. The crowd cheered and Makander collected tips. They now had enough money to pay for some roast boar for dinner and their room.

The blonde waitress served their table, and introduced herself as Annabella, before leaning in and whispering she had overheard their conversation at the bar. She re-introduced herself as Leanara, part of the secret Truth Society, dedicated to recovering sacred objects and keeping them out of the hands of evildoers. She mentioned there were dangerous people in the Misty Vale, which was why she kept her identity secret. Leanara wanted to offer them a job, and the party agreed to meet with her later in their room.

During dinner, Aodhan noticed a shifty looking mallard and several thuggish fellows appeared to be watching them from a table across the room.

As the party retired to their tiny room, Annabella/Leanara knocked on the door. She spoke to them about her organisation, offered them a job to recover the four parts of the key to the crypt (at 50 gold coins a piece) and answered their questions. Makander checked her for any demonic cultist brands, but her forearms were unmarked. They chose not to tell Leanara about the statuette they recovered, but they did show her the map. Leanara advised she had given the map and the job of recovering the pieces of the statuette to Weatherman. Because the party didn’t reveal he had given them the lower part of the statuette, Leanara found the message Weatherman relayed to them incomprehensible. Makander advised Leanara they would consider the job and advise her on the morrow.

That night, Aodhan noticed a shady figure in the street below, watching the inn (was he watching their room?). Aodhan waved, and the figure scurried away into the darkness. Bastonn was keen to climb out the window and pursue, but the party persuaded him otherwise.

The next morning, Bastonn headed downstairs to find a jobs board. He ran into Vagnihild, who mentioned she had heard Blind Hildi’s farm to the south had been attacked by a beast from Dead Eyes Cave. He informed the others, and as they exited the inn they ran into Leanara. Makander told her they would take the job, but didn’t know where to start. Leanara mentioned there were many ruins across the Misty Vale, and perhaps they might want to check Bothild’s Lode, a dwarven mine to the west.

Krisanna and Bastonn went to Master Ulvar’s across the street from the inn and bought some rations. Krisanna noticed a bat flying from the temple over the wall and then north with something attached to its leg. The party agreed to check the temple on the hill prior to heading out on the road to the Riddermound. Aodhan tried to climb the rocky hill but took a nasty fall, before realizing using the nearby stairs might be a better idea.

The temple itself was a crumbling ruin, neglected and unused by villagers. Just as the party were preparing to leave, the thugs from the inn appeared and encircled them. Their leader was Quasimund, a spiteful mallard who asked the party to pay a toll. When negotiations fell flat, the party attacked! Volcarian nearly destroyed himself as his gust of wind spell backfired, blasting him into a wall. Aodhan’s fireballs were very effective against the thugs, and he and the wounded Volcarian managed to blast several of the thugs to oblivion. Makander fought with one thug who evaded most of her attacks. Krisanna fled from another who pursued her around the room. Quasimund fled the scene after several of his men were barbequed. Bastonn killed another two and the battle was done. Sniffing the air, the wolfkin fighter vowed to pursue…    

Next Week: To the Riddermound…

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