This is part of a series about my DMing Princes of the Apocalypse, a D&D 5e adventure by and copyright Wizards of the Coast.

Table of Contents. The Party.

There will be SPOILERS. If you are playing in a PotA game, please don’t read this. If you are DMing a PotA game, or are a DM who wants to see what the ride was like … read on!

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GM Recap

Session 18 (Day 23) 

1. 

   The party fought the three Hell Hounds, taking substantial flame damage before Theren Lightning Bolted them (and a patron of the Watchful Knight) to death. This put a bit of a chill on the proceedings. The Hell Hounds had iron collars with Another Symbol on them, which the party speculated had to do with Fire.

2. Faith took the dead man to the chapel, and met the priest-in-residence Feffel Quintex. She promised to raise the dead man the next day.
3. The party adjourned (with encouragement from barkeep Neshor Fleurdin) to their rooms — at which point it was realized that one of the patrons in the bar had been the escaped necromancer, Oreioth.
4. … Who was gone by the time they raced downstairs. The party inquired of bystanders (who were gathered, still talking about what they’d done), and were directed down toward the Teal Weasel and the town graveyard (conveniently enough).
5. Theren and William intimidated the barkeep there, who didn’t actually seem to know much, but was able to finally serve Aldrik an ale. Meanwhile, Nala spotted Marlandro Gaelkur, who had relocated from Red Larch for reasons unknown, and was very nervous about her and the rest of the party being there.

6. 

   Outside, Moony sniped down Oreioth and took him prisoner. The party brought him to the constabulary and interrogated him. Oreioth revealed that there was a power rising in the Sumber Hills, and the smell of Necromancy in the area. That power had detected the party and was turning against them. He confirmed that the various symbols the party had run across (the Black Earth symbol, the Crushing Wave symbol, and Another Symbol were all part of the Necromancer’s Sigil in his cave.

7. Leaving Oreioth with the constable, they headed to bed at the Watchful Knight, considering what they would do on the morrow.

Player Recap

Bad Dog? Bad Wolf? 

The Hell hound leap through the inn’s front window. A stunned party drops their drinks to react. 

**Margie is so engrossed in the action that she forgets to start journaling.**

In the end Theren takes out the remaining hounds and an unfortunately-located sailor. The hounds smolder for a while and then burst into flames and disintegrate leaving only iron collars behind. Theren hands the collars to the bartender as a souvenir. [Though someone in there notes a strange symbol on them — something fire-related, maybe? – Ed.]

Faith makes her way to the All-Faiths chapel with the body of the sailor. The main chapel is empty and sparsely decorated. Faith kneels at the altar with the body held close, waiting to see if anyone comes out from the back. Soon a Gnomish priest of Rill Cleverthrush comes out. He is shocked to see the dead body. “How did this happen” “What a terrible shame! Hellhounds killing a gentle visitor to our fair town.” Directed by the gnome, Faith brings the body to the back quarters of the chapel. The priest will watch over him until Faith returns in the morning to attempt a resurrection. 

The bar remains mostly empty with a few dazed or unconscious patrons. After a pointed look from the bar keep and a refill of drinks, the group retires upstairs to discuss the situation, and what they know about the Mirabar Delegation. 

Suddenly Faith and Moony suddenly realize that the reader in the corner of the bar is Oreioth the necromancer, from Lance Rock. Everyone races down stairs and he is gone from the bar. The barkeep says that he is a quiet sort and has been here for a ten-day or so. Racing outside, William tries to look for prints, but there are too many footsteps in and around the door. William steps apart from the party and approaches the well where several villagers are gossiping. After some forced small talk, he asks the group if they know where Oreioth might be staying. A townsman suggests the “Teazle.”

The Teal Weasel, a small, non-descript building to the southeast of Beliard’s central square, with a brilliant blue-green weasel hanging over the door. Moony stays hidden outside, in case someone chooses to leave by a window. The group enters, Theren, Aldric, and William head towards the barkeep. Nala glares from the door and Faith looks around at the patrons. William asks the barkeep politely about his patrons. He declines and suggest that he only talks to customers. Aldric asks for a beer. William suggests that the town would not appreciate it if they knew he was harboring a necromancer. At that point Theren lights a flame on his finger. Barkeep denies knowing anyone who reads. Suggests that they try Madame Zelda’s boarding house / brothel next door. 

Meanwhile, Nala spots Marlandro Gaelkur, the barber of questionable repute from Red Larch. She signals Faith and approaches. Just before Nala arrives at the table he looks up and gives her a friendly greeting. Faith comes up and they question him. He dissembles in terror but does not reveal anything. Before they leave Faith asks how long he has been in town. Marlandro stutters and replies 10 days.

Outside the Teal Weasel, Moony sights Oreioth leaving a building near the bar. He is is looking around and moving down the street towards the bar or graveyard. Moony melts into the shadows tracking his prey. When the necromancer comes into range Moony pulls his short bow and drops Oreioth in his tracks. He yowls in pride.

As the adventures leave the bar they join Moony. They bring the body to the lawmakers house. The servant eventually gathers that they want to leave a prisoner and directs them to the jail. In the jail, Faith heals Oreioth just enough to bring him around. He rants some about trying to get away from the Great Eye. He left Red Larch and has traveled and studied. He says that there is a great power person in town trying to recruit people to join the Circle of the Moon in the hills to perform a ritual to restore balance. A few additional points are picked up.

Faith – Oreioth is scared of more than just the party. He is scared about whatever power is growing in the hills

Theren – The power in the hills is aware of us 

William – He escaped because the minds of the villagers are weak. He does not even know who Marlandro is.

Moony – Tries to get him to tell us more about the element symbols. He breaks down an cries, It is the eye, the eye…

Game Notes

Old Home Week

Not one, but two repeat appearances this session.

Marlandro was the owner of a shady barbershop and jackleg bar and information brokerage and stolen goods pawn shop back in Red Larch. He was a member of the Believers, but not a (if you will) True Believer, and when that whole thing went south (complete with actual murders involved), he blew town before he ended up taking any heat.

Which brought him as far as Beliard, which seemed like a good place to maybe set himself back up again … until the party blew into town.

Marlandro was fun to play with, but not nearly as fun as Oreioth.

In my campaign, at least, Oreioth was brought alive from his necromancer’s cave at Lance Rock, and tossed into what passes for jail cells in Red Larch (a chamber for hanging meat at the constable/butcher’s shop). But Oreioth was no push-over and managed to escape pretty easily …

But we’d already seen his mind had gotten caught in the power of the Evil Elemental Eye, and rather than hightailing it as far away from Red Larch and the danger as he could, he’s been circling it like a moth, ending up here in Beliard, just in time for our players to encounter him and pump him for information (and, maybe, get him put in a better jail cell).

Every time Oreioth came on stage, I had more and more fun playing him — clever, egotistical, terrified, and quite a bit unstable — and the players got into the fun, too.

Building Out Beliard

As mentioned last time, Beliard comes in the game with no map, a few people with rumors they know or things they saw when the Delegation came through town … and that’s it.

The rest I got to make up, and while it was a pain, I had fun. I loved the idea of The Bar The Locals Go To,  because who wants to pay the jacked-up prices at the Whispering Knight, which caters to the traders that come to/through town.  The Teal Weasel, on the other hand (or, as it’s lovingly called by the locals, the Teazle) made for a nice locale for the party to feel a bit more out of place and be a bit more intimidating.

The other thing that I kind of played into is that, while their Red Larch is run by an impromptu town council made up of influential folk, and has a butcher as their part-time constable, Beliard is a bit wealthier (per the book) and a bit more organized. They’ve got a Head Guy, and an actual full-time constable. Probably pay more in taxes, too, but the local ranches can afford it.

This difference in governance will come into play next time.

Bits and Bobs

Well, one way to end a party — even one that’s been crashed by Hell Hounds — is to kill an innocent bystander in dealing with them. A bit of a yikes moment there.

The fact that the party cleric made it very clear that she would do a Raise Dead on the poor guy in the morning, and that the party caught the hint from the bar keep and headed up to their rooms, kept it from developing into a bit more of a problem.

That meant, of course, fleshing out the local All-Faiths Shrine, figuring out a gnomish priest, etc., all on the fly.

The new elemental symbol that was on the Hell Hounds’ collars is, of course, that of the Eternal Flame. That makes three of the four cult symbols they’ve seen (ironically, as it was their first stopping point, they never actually saw a Howling Hatred symbol at Feathergale Spire).

Overall, the evening was a good mix of combat, action, and talking, largely driven by the party, who ended up knowing a lot more than before they came to town.  Which is a good thing.

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