{"id":3149,"date":"2023-12-02T14:47:18","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T21:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/?p=3149"},"modified":"2024-01-17T15:04:26","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T22:04:26","slug":"princes-of-the-apocalypse-session-0-the-wake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/heroes\/2023\/12\/princes-of-the-apocalypse-session-0-the-wake.html","title":{"rendered":"Princes of the Apocalypse, Session 0: “The Wake”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Princes<\/a><\/p>\n

This is part of an a series <\/span>my DMing\u00a0Princes of the Apocalypse,<\/em> a D&D 5e adventure by and copyright Wizards of the Coast.<\/span><\/p>\n

Table of Contents<\/a>. The Party<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There will be\u00a0SPOILERS<\/strong>. If you are playing in a PotA game,\u00a0please don\u2019t read this.<\/em> If you are DMing a PotA game, or are a DM who wants to see what the ride was like \u2026 read on!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

So two recaps were kept per session. I had a short GM Recap<\/strong> — “When Last We Left Our Heroes” — available as a hypertexted Journal entry in Roll20 for the players to consult (I always started each session reading from it). There was also for much of the campaign a Player Recap<\/strong> kept by my lovely wife, which usually included a lot of color text. It was kept in the Roll20 forum for the campaign. I’m going to include both.<\/span><\/p>\n

GM Recap<\/h1>\n

The party was summoned as individuals by <\/span>Gemvocs Leofhyrn<\/strong>, an oracle of Waterdeep, and given the task of stopping some great evil arising in the Desserin Valley by saving <\/span>The Mirabar Delegation<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Player Recap<\/h1>\n

The Invitation<\/b><\/h4>\n

Theren<\/b>: Comes to town for reagents. The halfling shop keeper hands him an envelope. Inside is a note on fine vellum, in a good hand, offering an invitation from Gemvocs Leofhyrn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Faith<\/b>: During her exit interview from the temple orphanage with Edgrid bids Faith farewell and wishes her solace and peace. A donor, one Gemvocs Leofhyrn, has made a small endowment for Faith and they send her off with travel goods and some spending money. There is also a note that arrived when you endowment was made. Faith shares the contents with Edgrid.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nala<\/b>: In the mercenary hall, there is a steady flow of people in the hiring hall and the main hall is a swirl of merchants, runners, and members. An urchin comes in from the street and runs up to Nala. He delivers a high-quality envelope with a note in fine vellum, an invitation from Gemvocs Leofhyrn. Nala thinks they might know the name, but she can’t pull it from her memory, until she passes an apothecary. Early after their departure from the clan, her parents were very sick. The innkeeper brought medicine for them. What is odd is that the innkeeper had received the bottle before the Dragonborns had even arrived.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moony<\/b>: Wandering the markets and thinking of where to bed down, when an ornate carriage draped in white catches his eye. Random passerby points out the funereal nature of the carriage. Moony jumps onto the back of the carriage and slowly rides to the funeral until a guard shouts at him to get off. After he disembarks the carriage continues on. A slender man hands him an envelope from Gemvocs Leofhyrn. After some comedy Moony reads the note.<\/span><\/p>\n

William<\/b>: A women in peasant dress steps up and engages with William and similarly gives him an envelope. William knows the name Gemvocs Leofhyrn. At one point his father received a note from a stranger suggesting that he plant a different grain and included some money to purchase it. The next year the new plants thrived and the ordinary crop failed. It saved the homestead from a very hard winter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An invitation from Gemvocs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rumors:<\/b><\/h4>\n

Theren <\/b>– Blue dragons have seen. (“Not again!”)<\/span><\/p>\n

Nala <\/b>– River levels are not what they should be. Either too high or too low. Also, a fortune teller has left town for Baldur’s Gate because it is safer.<\/span><\/p>\n

William<\/b>: Castle is buying a lot of supplies in preparation for a big treaty negotiation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The House on the Street of the Groves<\/b><\/h4>\n
\"Valkh\"<\/a>
Valkh – I loved this guy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Valkh<\/strong> the half-orc majordomo for the late Gemvocs Leofhyrn<\/span><\/p>\n

Richly appointed, the walls and shelves lined with odd curios from distant lands and books whose spines are often illegible with age, or with foreign script. Magical lighting above illuminates the room dimly. Plush chairs are on either side of a fireplace and a central table, where a small cask sits, an incense burner placed atop it it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smoky Ghost Host.\u00a0 Speech [below].<\/span><\/p>\n

Game Notes<\/h1>\n

The Party<\/h2>\n

The party, starting out, was five:<\/span><\/p>\n