27 December 2020
The party
·
Kisandra Starlight – Half-Elf Sorceress (Heather)
·
Barendil Dawnwood – Elf Ranger (Robert)
·
Guillerme don d’Lyonne – Human Paladin (Martin)
·
Friar Buck Norris – Human Cleric (Silas)
·
Nobby Nobbs – Human (probably) Rogue (Tom)
Next steps in Phandalin
The party awoke the
next morning in the Stonehill Tavern, with Barendil and Nobby licking their
wounds from the beating they received the night before from the Redbrands at
the Sleeping Giant taphouse. Nobby had jokingly offered to allow ‘Baz’ to lick
his wounds for him, but even the hypothetical notion of getting his tongue
anywhere near the filthy rogue brought tears to the elf’s eyes. The joking continued
over breakfast, but neither Nobby nor Barendil were unaware of the assistance provided
by Kisandra, her magicks being the only thing preventing them from being taken
prisoner or killed by the ruffians. They nodded their thanks to the sorceress
before getting down to the business of the day.
Nobby had taken it upon himself to act in the capacity of
the band’s accountant – an interesting choice for a thief, and perhaps even
more interesting for those who agreed to the arrangement (which was in fact the
entire party). Based on his calculations, the group went shopping at the two
stores in town. Nobby convinced Guillerme to rein in his expensive tastes and
buy hempen rope rather than the pricey silk stuff, though strangely the rogue
walked out of the Lionshield Coster with a shiny new rapier that must have cost
a coin or two.
 |
| The simple regional map obtained from Barthen's Provisions |
And so, with their provisions stocked up, the group departed
south for White Willow Farm, picking up a rough regional map from Barthen just
before heading out. The snow that had fallen out of the farmer’s envelope
intrigued Kisandra in particular, indicating something unusual and perhaps
otherworldly was happening back at the farm…
Winter comes to White Willow Farm
Driving the cart along the trail, the adventurers arrived at
White Willow farm just as night was falling. They were met with a pleasant
welcome by the farmer, who invited them in for supper and warm beds while his
farmhands unloaded the supplies. The party were not able to glean much in the
way of specific information about the nature of what had been happening since
they had destroyed the animated scarecrows and departed the farm for Phandalin,
but considering the late hour they decided to retire to their beds and
investigate in the morning.
It was the dead of midwinter at White
Willow Farm
And a strange quiet fog had settled round
the barn.
The sounds of the chickens at home in
their roosts
Were silenced as if foxes had just been set
loose.
But no one was listening, no one was
awake
And someone was coming, with mischief to
make.
Guillerme slept soundly, not making a
peep
Surely dreaming of damsels he saved in
his sleep.
But the rest of the party started to
stir,
Even Nobby who’s snoring Buck’s wrath
did incur.
Looking out of the window, Barendil saw
a strange sight
The whole of the farm was covered in
white!
Chestnut Hollow was warm this time of
the year,
Why white snow was falling was a little
unclear.
Kisandra could taste the magicks in the
air
While Guillerme and Buck clasped hands
together in prayer.
It was clear to the adventurers that
something was afoot,
Action was needed, they couldn’t stay
put!
So they crept from their beds, grabbing
their gear
And descended the stairs feeling quite
cavalier.
When from up above the silence was ended
By the sound of sleigh bells, a-jingle
most splendid.
Was it the sound of salvation or a
portent of doom?
Wondered our brave heroes as they stepped into the front room.
The party descended the stairs of the farmhouse, finding everything eerily quiet. The fire had gone out and a light dusting of snow covered the hearth. Suddenly, the door was thrown open and a blizzard of white snow flew into the room with the sound of gusting wind outside. Despite the fact it was morning, it seemed strangely gloomy outside the door. Barendil took it upon himself to look outside, finding that a combination of thick cloud overhead and driving snow all around reduced visibility to some 60 feet or so. From what he could see, they didn’t seem to be in White Willow Farm any more – at least, not in the farm they had arrived in last night. Although some of the landmarks remained, they seemed to be in disrepair and covered in snow. A thick forest of pines stretched as far as he could see, but nothing seemed to be stirring. The elf looked for signs of life and any tracks, but the snow was falling so heavily that he knew he wouldn’t be able to see any traces at all – even his own boot prints from the house were already being obscured. Aware that they would have to stick together to explore the snowy landscape lest they get separated, he called back to his companions to come outside and they joined him in front of the house.
The Blind Man
Moving towards the thick one forest, the party spotted a
clear path between the trees and heard the sound of bells jingling ahead. Kisandra attempted to sense whether there was anything magical about this path, but the entire area was so suffused with unnatural arcane energies that she could distinguish nothing different about this path, other than the sound of bells that they could all hear. Following this sound, the party soon came upon a clearing with a lone lamp post in
the centre of it, glowing in the snow. Beneath the lamppost, an old, stocky man
with milky eyes and a stick with an ice skate attached to it shuffled back and
forth, murmuring to himself. He wore a long, dirty red cloak and looked dishevelled
with hunched shoulders. He paid no heed to the adventurers as they walked into
the clearing.
 |
| The blind man in the clearing paid no heed to the adventurers as they approached |
“I am one with Christmas and Christmas is in me,” said the blind
man, apparently to himself.
The party hesitantly approached, and still the man shuffled
back and forth. Their hushed whispering while they discussed what to do was
interrupted by the man’s muttering, which raised in volume as he exclaimed, “You
look but do you see?”
Buck attempted to talk to the old man, but his unseeing eyes
seemed to look straight through the cleric.
“Naughty, nice, naughty, nice. Which is which? Roll the dice,”
was all the man said.
Holding out an alms box, Buck offered the blind man some
coins. Still giving the appearance of ignoring him, the man pointed down to a
beggar’s bowl that sat at the foot of the lamppost. Understanding the
intention, Buck placed the coins in the bowl. A smile erupted across the man’s
face and he quickly stooped down to pick the bowl up.
“You have been nice!” exclaimed the blind man as he shuffled
off into the trees on the other side of the clearing, his red cloak rapidly
disappearing as the snow swirling behind him. “Well, quite nice I suppose,” he
called back as he felt the measly collection of coppers that Buck had dropped
in the begging bowl, "Just remember that not everyone in this place will be as kind."
These are not the Elves you are looking for
 |
| three apparently jolly festive elves enter the clearing |
Barendil immediately knocked an arrow to his bow string and
prepared to shoot, but Guillerme put a restraining hand on his arm.
“Should we not talk to them?” asked the paladin. “They could
be friend rather than foe in this gloomy place.”
The elf ranger turned angrily on the human for interrupting
his aim, feeling sure that the way the diminutive figure at the back was
holding his crossbow was hostile. Guillerme, however, was convinced that these
jolly fellows deserved to be treated with kindness. The rest of the party stood
back while the two argued with one another, an argument that was soon cut short
by the sound of a twanging bowstring and the thud of a crossbow bolt burying
itself into Barendil’s thigh – it seemed that the ranger’s instincts had been
right!
 |
| The adventurers close with the not-so-jolly elves |
Meanwhile, Barendil found that despite his growing anger at
Guillerme’s interference and the crossbow bolt sticking out of his leg, his aim
was as sharp as ever and he sent an arrow straight through the eye of the crossbow-wielding
elf. Suffering such a grievous wound and now with only one usable eye, the elf’s
attempts to fire his crossbow at Guillerme were hampered and the bolt went
wide. The paladin ground his teeth in frustration, knowing that not only was
the wood elf right about these three but that his expert archery had just
helped save Guillerme from a painful crossbow bolt.
Kisandra finally dropped the crossbow-wielding elf with a
stream of magic missiles that tore through the bright coloured clothing, while
Nobby decided to move forwards and try out his new rapier. Unfortunately, he
was still feeling unfamiliar with the noble weapon and dropped it on his toe
with a surprised yelp of pain.
Once the second elf had been dispatched, the group focused
on the bearded one in the red jerkin. Guillerme called out that he wanted to
keep this one alive to question, presumably still wondering whether they had
made a mistake in quarrelling with these small fellows. Kisandra and Barendil
agreed to hold their ranged attacks, instead watching the perimeter in case of
any other attackers.
Guillerme knocked the elf to the ground with the butt of his
glaive, and Nobby rushed forwards with some rope to tie the creature’s limbs
together. Friar Buck assisted the rogue in hoisting the prisoner to his feet
and towards the lamppost, but Barendil cut in and strode forwards to take over
the ‘interrogation’. Guillerme walked to the other side of the clearing in
disgust as Barendil and Nobby hung the little elf upside down from the lamppost,
setting his cloth boots on fire and piling snow onto his upturned face.
Sputtering, the elf woke up to his predicament. He managed
to move his head enough to bite off a chunk of his candy cane, after which his
eyes rolled back into his head and green foam started to froth from his mouth.
In a moment, he was dead, and the party’s questions for him remained
unanswered.
Rudolph Needs a Friend
 |
| The adventurers spy a reindeer through the trees, though something isn't right |
 |
| Friar Buck approaches the melancholy beast |
Friar Buck decided to move forwards and try to communicate
with the beast, offering it an apple and softly speaking to it. The reindeer
responded positively, taking the proffered food and nuzzling against the
cleric. There was no malice in the beasts intentions, just sadness in its eyes.
Clearly the magical corruption of this place had been affecting the local
fauna.
The reindeer pushed off through the trees, lowing softly.
Buck decided not to follow, instead returning to the path so that the group could
continue on their chosen trail.
I Have Felt Your Presents
 |
| A gloriously decorated Christmas Tree with lovingly wrapped presents sitting beneath its snow-laden boughs |
 |
| Nobby moves forward alone to investigate the potential ambush site |
 |
| As the presents and tree come to life before their eyes, Nobby attempts to scarper back to the safety of the group |
The adventurers acted
swiftly, targeting the treeman with fire-based attacks. Nobby turned and doused
it with oil, ignoring the presents snapping at his heels, and ignited the tree
with a *whoosh* of flame. Kisandra’s fire bolt and Buck’s sacred flame added to
the conflagration, needles on the branches crackling whilst baubles exploded
from the heat. The monster flailed its arms but was swiftly dispatched, still
burning as it fell to the ground.
Nobby disengaged from the presents, bleeding from numerous
bite marks but still bravely pulling his shortbow from his back to continue the
fight. It didn’t take long to send the rest of the presents to their doom with
the treeman out of the way, allowing Barendil to rush forwards and catch Nobby
as he fell forwards, feeling weak from the loss of blood. The ranger performed
some magical healing to restore Nobby as best as he could, to at least keep the
rogue from falling while they searched for the source of the jingling bells in
this snowy nightmare. “Thanks Baz,” said Nobby with a friendly wink.
Perhaps he was touched by the elf’s display of kindness, or
perhaps he had just realised his earlier mistakes, but once Nobby was standing
again, Guillerme approached Barendil holding a flask of wine in front of him.
“Please, accept my apologies,” began the paladin. “I realise
now that you were not being simply bloodthirsty with those colourful elves, but
that you were right to prepare for battle. Please, take the wineskin and my
hand – but first,” continued Guillerme, handing over a bar of soap and pointing
to Nobby, “make sure you wash yourself after touching that filthy creature!”
 |
| The Awakened Christmas Tree and its Attendant Presents |
Walk the Path
Finally, the adventurers reached the end of the path and emerged out of the trees, finding themselves standing before an enormous ravine that stretched to the right and left as far as they could see. The snow abated slightly, giving them a good view over the ravine. Opposite, they could see large, ornate fence broken by two opulent gates, in front of which was a drawbridge that slammed down in front of them as they approached. Instead of the expected wooden planks, this bridge comprised of lettered tiles laid out in a grid. A sign over the gate read “Only in the footsteps of his beardiness will you proceed.” It was clear that the party had to decipher this riddle to get across the ravine, but they weren’t sure what the word could be.
 |
| The lettered grid on the drawbridge leading to the ornate gates on the other side of the ravine |
Kisandra thought she knew the answer. The party
‘volunteered’ her to test it out but, being the kind souls they were, they did
tie a rope round her waist in case it went wrong. She stepped onto an ‘S’,
which immediately gave way and she fell into the ravine. Fortunately, the rope
round her midriff stopped her falling to her doom, but she did feel the harsh,
coarse hemp rope digging painfully into her torso. If only they had bought some
soft silk rope, she thought to herself as they dragged her back up to solid
ground.
As they continued to debate the riddle, a sound came to them
as if whispered from the trees, “Sounds like the bells. Like the JINGLE of the
bells…”
Friar Buck clicked his fingers as he listened to the voice on the wind, realising what needed to be done. He stepped first on the ‘K’ and, when the bridge remained firm and the letter illuminated itself, he confidently moved forwards onto the ‘R’, ‘I’, ‘N’, ‘G’, ‘L’ and finally ‘E’. Striding forth off the drawbridge, he beckoned the others to follow in his footsteps and they steeled themselves to march through the ornate gates and towards whatever laid beyond.
Santa’s Workshop
 |
| Red clothes, considerable belly, white beard, sack full of toys... and an axe...? |
Stepping through the ornate gate, the party saw a glorious
sight ahead of them through the snow. Workshops and warehouses stretched out in
all directions, industry enough to create all sorts of toys and trinkets for
children across the world… but something wasn’t quite right. No smoke spiralled
from the forest of chimneys and there was no sound of hammers banging or goods
being moved around. There seemed to be no sign of life at all until they
spotted a large, bearded fellow in red walking down some steps in front of
them, casually holding an axe by his side and carrying a large sack of toys
over his shoulder.
Of course, this was Santa Claus!
Barendil’s fingers twitched towards his bowstring, but Guillerme
rushed to stand between him and Santa, refusing to allow the elf to shoot the
fat fellow. The ranger, bemused at Guillerme’s change of heart since their previous
conversation, could do nothing to protect the paladin as Santa walked up behind
him and struck Guillerme in the back with his axe. Stunned, he turned to face
Santa, seeing darkness in the eyes that were nestled between the big bushy
beard and the big bushy eyebrows. It was hard for the proud paladin to
determine what hurt more – the axe or the knowledge that he had once again
mistrusted his companion and made a grave error of judgement.
 |
| The adventurers fight against Santa |
The final blow of the combat was struck by Santa himself,
who finally managed to get his axe past Buck’s defences and strike the cleric.
Fully anticipating this, the Friar had been focusing on his tempest abilities
and reacted with a roar, throwing his attacker back with thunderous force.
Santa landed hard on the ground, his body limp from the mystical energy unleashed
as his axe squarely hit Buck. The cleric sighed in relief, kneeling and saying
to himself, “And a Happy New Year, you bastard.”
 |
| The evil Su'szaan is revealed! |
Buoyed by their success, the adventurers breathed a
collective sigh of relief and looked about themselves. A cracking sound drew
their attention back to where Santa’s body lay, no longer unmoving but jerking
in sudden spasms. As the adventurers looked on, Santa’s body jerked, his spine
arching back on itself. His skin began to darken as horns popped out of his
skull, pushing the red hat from his head. Cloven hooves sprouted from his
boots, the tattered leather dropping to the ground. Perhaps this wasn’t really
Santa all along!
The purple-skinned creature slowly stood to its full height
before pointing at the party and screaming with a raspy, grating voice, “What
have you done?! You’ve ruined everything!”
 |
| Instead of presents, his sack contains captured children! |
“I am Su’szaan, I
have spent years chasing the magic of Santa and now you’re here killing my
minions and you don’t even understand what is going on!!” wailed Su’szaan. “Where
is the artifact? I can’t return triumphant to the Underdark without it!”
Before the adventurers could react, the evil creature waved
its taloned hands in the air, raising them up above its head as two humanoid
forms erupted from the snow either side of him. His snowman bodyguards lumbered
forward, blocking the way with their shields to protect their master and
hefting their weapons. If it was possible for eyes made of coal to narrow
menacingly, then that was what they did.
 |
| The adventurers battle against Su'szaan and his snowman bodyguards |
The snowmen were tough, but Guillerme and Buck stood toe-to-toe with the frozen monsters. Nobby and Barendil fired arrows into the swirling melee, attempting to take down the bodyguards to leave their summoner defenceless. Kisandra traded magical attacks with the evil creature, finding that he was at least as skilled in the arcane arts as she was – probably more so. Her attempts to magically probe his weaknesses were not as effective while he was in this form as they had been when he appeared as Santa, so her Witch Bolt was ineffective. Meanwhile, the grinning purple beast summoned a Sacred Flame just like Friar Buck had been, though the flames were a sickly green colour. It directed the spell’s energies at Barendil, though fortunately the lithe elf was agile enough to dodge out of the way of the searing magical flames.
Having been fighting outside the workshop continuously, the
party found that they were tiring and some of them severely wounded. Buck
finally succumbed to his injuries and dropped to the floor, beginning to bleed
out. He summoned just enough energy to whisper to Guillerme, “Leave me for now,
I’ll be OK, destroy this evil!” The paladin attacked with renewed fury, his
glaive slicing through the snowman in front of him with a series of frenzied
attacks. He knew they needed to finish this fight quickly so that his comrade’s
wounds could be tended to.
At last, the snowmen were both destroyed, leaving two piles
of snow capped with woollen scarves and hats on the ground. Su’szaan roared in frustration
as the adventurers turned their attention to him, throwing arrows, magic missiles
and glaive strikes in his direction. He was unable to defend himself against
such an onslaught and fell to the ground, defeated. The child in his sack
crawled out from under the monster’s body, looking around bleary-eyed at the
adventurers through tear-filled eyes before a blinding, golden light shone out
and caused them all to drop their gaze.
Christmas is saved!
Bells jingled once more as the golden light faded and a
glorious figure appeared. The figure was not Santa as you had seen him before;
he was dressed in rich robes, holding a golden staff and a sack overflowing
with presents. But goodness emanated from him– this was clearly the real, bona
fide Saint Nicholas.
 |
| Saint Nicholas appears in a golden haze! |
He greeted the party with a warm, fatherly tone,
“Adventurers! Thank you! You have defeated the evil Su’szaan – he used his
magicks to keep me imprisoned here while he impersonated me to steal children
away and search for the ancient artefacts of Christmas, which have been lost
throughout the realms…”
Santa’s speech was interrupted by a groaning from Su’szaan –
he wasn’t quite dead! As they turned towards him, the purple fiend rose up just
enough to give them all the finger with one hand whilst the other traced a
complex pattern on the ground. With a sound like ripping cloth, a tear in
reality opened up beneath the monster and he dropped through. The last thing that
could be seen as he dropped from view was his middle finger descending through
the portal before reality stitched itself back together again.
“Don’t worry,” said
Santa. “I don’t know how he managed to figure out the way in, but I’ve
reinforced the defences of my Christmas realm – he won’t get back in here
again. But I’m sure he will continue his search for the Christmas artefacts,
they are incredibly powerful if brought together and it is to my shame that
they have been misplaced over the centuries. I expect I shall need to call on
your assistance again, but for now be reassured that you have indeed saved Christmas!
I thank you for your efforts, you truly are brave heroes.”
 |
| The heroes are congratulated by Santa for saving Christmas |
Rolling his eyes, Santa asked Buck whether saving his life
wasn’t present enough, at which the cleric became rather sheepish and looked at
his feet. Father Christmas laughed loudly at this and turned, whirling his
staff in a wide circle in front of himself, creating a golden portal through
which the adventurers could see White Willow Farm. This time, the farm was
clearly as they had left it – not a snowflake in sight and everything seemed to
be in order. With grateful smiles at Santa, the party began to walk through the
portal and into the sunlight.
Barendil shook Santa’s hand and thanked him for his selfless
service to the children of the world. Nobby seemed to walk close to the robed
figure, surreptitiously sneaking a present out from the sack, but a quick hand
shot out and closed around the rogue’s wrist.
“Careful Nobby,” said Santa. “I haven’t decided which list
you are on yet!”
Dropping the present back into the bag with a shrug, Nobby continued
out through the portal muttering “Cheapskate”. As he got to the other side, he
felt something move in his pack. Opening up the bag, he found a large lump of
coal inside, and shook his head while laughing to himself.
The Aftermath
 |
| The aftermath of the DM's area |
For this session, I used an adventure that I wrote last year for a one-off with my other regular D&D group, where I’m usually a player rather than DM. I had got the War in Christmas Village kickstarter and so painted up the various characters from that and designed an adventure to make the most of those models. There was some modification required for this session – primarily personalising it to these characters, but also toning down the encounters as we had five level 6 characters there! I was happy with the balance here, as the party found some of the fights giving them a bit of trouble and the cleric was in trouble at the end, but you wouldn’t want it to be too much of a breeze would you?
Next session, we’ll take stock of where the Christmas saviours are and they’ll be returning to Phandalin to decide what story threads they explore next, which should be interesting. And I received the remaining models from the Christmas Village kickstarter just before Christmas, so I’ll be getting those painted up and thinking of the next chapter for Santa, Su’szaan and the mystical Christmas Arefacts – probably for around 12 months from now!
 |
| The supporting cast for this Christmas Adventure |
No comments:
Post a Comment