Tales from the Ledge: A Last Look Down

“They made it out! Those buggers actually made it out of the black mist!”

It’s the grinning and slightly amazed, gold-toothed Barbella who spots their employers escape the black chasm below them.

Henshaw wanders over.

“What, even Fortu? In all that heavy armour?! I’d’ve bet good money against that happening… If’n I actually had any money that is.”

Barbella rolls his eyes while waving at the faraway Arowe, Liga Bur and Fortu until he manages to attract their attention.

“LEAVE... THE... ROPE... DOWN... THERE!”

He shouts, but the rushing wind steals his words, so he and Henshaw are forced to exaggeratedly mime what they need and what they’re going to do.

Fetching the woozy Doberman and the deafened Rifkin, they all prepare themselves to jump from Dulcetta’s mouth. Rifkin though, despite his sudden disability, manages to cast ‘light’ spells on all four of them, to enable them find each other in the swirling darkness below.

Rifkin jumps first, and his lithe half-of-a-half-elf, frame floats gently downward, supported by the tower's magically generated winds. The smallish Barbella jumps second to similar results. Then, almost round and green around the gills Doberman totters of the ledge…

And plummets!

Well, relatively to Rifkin and Barbella. He actually passes them before they enter the dark mist beneath them. 

Finally, with one last look at the door at the back of Dulcetta’s stone throat, Henshaw jumps last. He falls faster than Barbella but slower than Doberman, as the updraft dramatically slows his fall.

The straw-thatched mercenary can’t help but marvel at what he’s doing and what he’s seen and been through these last few months. His four elder brothers wouldn’t believe what he’s experienced. Frankly, he can barely believe it himself!

DMs Run the Game they’d want to Play in

Congratulations! We finally (after a few false dawns) finished the ‘Givrad Void’ module! I hope you’ve all enjoyed playing this adventure as much as I did running it. 

Like the title says though, I think Dungeon Masters, Dungeon Master because they get frustrated as Players in other Dungeon Master’s games. Assif, I know is just there for the ‘kick-in-the-door’ combat. Scott enjoys devilishly circumventing or disrupting my carefully contrived plans and Cousin David’s probably just there out of love and loyalty. 

For me though, it’s all about the story. Everything has to make sense within the internal logic of the fantasy setting and common sense and reason must always be able to be applied. Villains will behave as smartly or as dumbly as their stats state and monsters will exploit their own environment and physical advantages to the full. Henchmen and associates will behave in a way depending on their own agendas and as a reflection of how well or poorly they’ve been treated. Actions will always (well usually at least) have consequences.

That said; everyone finally gets to Level-up to 7th level! (Even Rifkin and the lesser Henchies!)

Fortu: 24,763 xp (7th!) 

Arowe: 24,558 xp (7th!)

Liga Bur: 24,331 xp (7th!)

Rifkin: 15,009 xp (6th!)

Henshaw: 6,271 xp (4th!)

Barbella: 6,271 xp (4th!)

Doberman:  6,271 xp (4th!)

At this point, I’ll also give you all an opportunity to have a little tweak of your characters, if you want. No changing race or class (apart from the new 7th level cross-class level if desired), but if you want to replace a previously chosen Feat that never came into play or you want to rearrange your skill points a little; fine by me. 

This is all under the assumption that we all want to soldier on with this campaign? Even though we’re occasional players rather than weekly grinders, a long-form D&D game is still a time consuming commitment.

I’m going to try to take a break from compulsively thinking about it until the new year, aside from possibly/definitely posting up some videos and the last of my background stories. Despite the routinely depressing ‘No comments’ underneath each posting, I still hope that you read and enjoy them all.

They’re chock-full of clues and reminders of what’s happened, but hopefully entertaining too. If we are to continue, I’d urge you to spend some of your free down-time to read back through them and take a few notes to remind yourselves what’s been happening, why it’s been happening and who it’s been happening to?

After you’re latest decision, I’m already wondering what’s going to happen next? I wasn’t sure whether you were going to charge into the lower levels of Hell after Hetzabah and Sir Briefadel or return to Fissa to face the potential wrath of the (small ‘g’) goddess; Estrid and the hulking Druid; Thornberg? Now though, wIll the seven (and a dog) of you try to seek out and warn the eyepatch wearing, old Lord Urdurel that his errant son is coming to get him?

At the end of yesterday’s session (as Scott’s full-time back in England), I suggested that we perhaps just drop the online sessions and revert back to the quarterly ‘Cottage of Doom’ weekends?

David though suggested that we might instead do a combination of both? 

Either way; Fun, fun, fun!