“The companions approached two dockhands in the midst of loading crates onto a ship. After Valcora made some small talk about the sunny weather, the sea dogs grumbled something about rain tomarrow. The pair continued their labor, paying little attention to the newcomers. “I hear a storm is brewing tonight,” she said in a serious tone. “Do you know where we can seek shelter?” The two workers almost dropped the load they were carrying, and turned to gape at the dragonborn, their jaws dropped and their eyes wide. “I think you should talk to the Captain. Follow me…”

In our last Episode, the Empress herself charged our group of three stout heroes to find the kidnapped Ambassador. They are to find him in the lair of an anarchist group who seeks to separate themselves from the Empire. But who do they really represent? The Ultairians? The Elves? The Gnomes? And what is this secret that the Ambassador was in such a hurry to deliver to the Empress?

The three companions weigh their options. They could travel to the forests of Ultair, where the Ambassador was last seen. Perhaps there was a witness to his kidnapping. They could travel to the mapmaking sage, and seek out any ancient caves, ruins, or hideouts in the Grey Mountains. Or they could travel blindly into the Grey Mountains, and without any clues or information, hope to luckily stumble into the lap of the cultists. Of course, they chose the later.

The Royal Wizard agrees to teleport the trio to a Cathedral of Light in the Grey Mountains, since there just happens to be a magic circle still active there. There is no one to greet the PCs, as the temple has been abandoned decades ago. Oh well, at least no one saw the group enter town, so they’ve got the element of surprise on their side…

The group walks in to the local tavern, the Blind Pig Inn. A Dwarf jumps up onto a table and shouts; “I need a hearty band of adventurers for a quest!” No, wait, that’s the wrong story. Let me start over:

The group walks in to the local tavern, the Blind Pig Inn. Can you smell a Skill-Challenge coming on? After using some Streetwise, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, and Bluff, the party passes themselves off as sympathizers to the rebellion. Valuable information is gathered about the local magic shop owner, and a curious verbal code about the weather is revealed.

Wait. Hold the story. How does a Knight of Sarpadia in red plate mail armor bearing the symbol of the Empire fool the townfolk into believing that she is indeed a rebel sympathizer? She put on a non-descript, baggy grey robe, that’s how! Anyways, the trio heads off to the local magic shop where some more successful Diplomacy (lying) by Delsior gets the owner to reveal that “Its the docks where you may find what you are looking for…”

And so, as the companions walk down to the docks, they happen upon two scurvy sea dogs loading boxes onto a boat. They strike up a conversation with some small talk. Then the subject quickly turns to hatred of the Empire, the blasted Empress, yada yada yada, and soon the sailors are nodding in agreement. Then Valcora turns the conversation to the weather, and everything changes. The pirates suddenly look afraid of the companions (or afraid in general) and they insist on taking the group to see the Captain.

The Captain. He doesn’t beat around the bush. “So these are the annoying newcomers that walk into our local watering hole asking too many questions. Boys, let’s do to them what we did to that stinkin’ Ambassador! Lock ‘em up in the lion’s cage!” Roll initiative. The dice gods were cruel, cruel hosts to our heroes this evening, as the tank of the party rolls a “1″ on the die. Afton rolls a “3″, and Delsior gets a “4″. It can’t get much worse.

DM Note: for this encounter, I used One Level 3 Pirate Captain, One Level 2 Githanki Sky Pirate (First Mate), and 4 Level 1 Human Pirate Minions. The deck of the ship also contained a 2×2 terrain feature: bars. Walking across the bars requires an Acrobatics check of 15, or the creature falls prone. The pirates can open the bars with a standard action, and then try to push the PCs into the cage. The pirates can then shut the door to the cage as a standard action, trapping the PC within…

And so, dear readers, suffice it to say that the party was victorious, and is learning to work as a team. Valcora toasted two pirates the first round with her dragon breath, and Afton zapped the other two with a lighting bolt. Delsior didn’t hit any of the pirates even once throughout the entire encounter, but his Bard’s Aura came in handy for a couple heals.

And so, fast forward to the Pirate Captain’s footlocker, where the PCs find an order for delivery of one “wild animal” in a cage. The travelling circus apparently picked up the wooden cage from the docks, and is delivering it to an abandoned temple in the Grey Mountains. Tune in next week when the party follows this circus train, and wanders into the Temple of Anarchy! Mwah ha ha haaaa!

-Uncle Andy

And now, dear reader, we meet Delsior, the Satyr Bard. What can I say, I’m a DM, so when the new rules on Satyrs came out from WOTC, I had to try it. Obviously, bard is the ‘favored class’ (if such a term exists in 4E???) and this was my chance to test it out. So, Delsior is in fact an NPC in game terms, because he is being controlled by the DM. But the group is simply a pair of players, so I felt it would round out the party to bring in a healer. No background info on Delsior is given to the other players – he is a complete mystery.

The adventure begins with an Arena Battle, where the Empress chooses this season’s champions. If any of the PCs are victorious in defeating another level 1 adventurer (with one magic item), that PC will gain experience points and that magic item.
DM Note: each character starts by roleplaying a backstory, which will have a major story event at the end of level 10, as well as the end of level 20. The story will conclude with a major battle and story hook at the end of level 29. In other words, when the character is created, the DM already has a plan for major events in the character’s career, and eventual success in their life’s major quest…

The Empress then called on her new champions. She described a sticky situation that needs a brave group of heroes to solve. A Sarpadian ambassador was kidnapped, and is held for ransom. The group claiming responsibility is a sect of anarchists, intent on bringing down the Empress’ rule. What’s worse, the Ambassador had some important and secret news he was bringing back for the Empress’ ears only. The party is to save the Ambassador if possible, but more importantly, get the top secret information and bring it back as soon as possible.

-Uncle Andy