The story begins as the players gather around the table to roll some dice. Natural 20s are rolled, some bandits killed, and a conspiracy uncovered.
The Players[]
The party consists of Aiden Elluel Ellenari , The elven cleric played by Alex Livanos, Bogra , the dwarf Bard, played by Mike Musser, Ellanor , the halfling druid and her pet hawk, Floyd, played by Valerie Bestor, Lukalas , the elf ranger played by Luke Short, and Searill , the human barbarian played by Spencer Lafferman.
And so it Begins...[]
It was a dark and stormy summer night as the party sought the refuge of a roadside inn, called The Leaping Wizard. As the rain poured outside, wet patrons flooded the inn's main room to seek shelter from the storm. After the capacity had been met, a band of rogues snuck around to different sections, and their hand-crossbow toting leader stood on the bar to demand everyone's coinpurse, while a stout axeman guarded the door, a swordsman contained people near the fireplace, and another character held a knife to the guardsman's throat.
The armor-clad leader demanded the valuables of Searill, who was sitting at the bar and promptly refused. After introducing Searill's face to the countertop, the leader repeated his demands. Searill retaliated, and the melee ensued.
Aiden cast his obscuring mist spell, and the inn quickly fell into chaos as patrons made a break for the door, or cowered in fear. Ellanor was unsuccesful at hitting anything with her sling and bullets, as was Lukalas with his bow and arrows. Bogra wrestled with the knife-wielder, as Searill continued to swipe at the leader with his hand axes.
Lukalas dropped his bow, switched to his longsword, and landed a hit on the knife-wielding rogue. Bogra took this opportunity to explore the kitchen for anything valuable, but all he found were dity kitchenware and a scared cook. Aiden and Ellanor evaded the swordman in the mist, while the guard broke free and attempted to aid people out of the inn. The axe wielder was overwhelmed by people flooding around him and was unable to make a move. The leader fired a crossbow bolt at Searill, piercing his hide armor and wounding his shoulder.
The party ganged up on the leader, now the most obvious threat, and through a series of stabs, bludgeonings, and throwing axe slices, managed to send him to the next world.
The axe man found himself free of the torrent of patrons, and charged at Searill. Summoning the strength of his barbarian heritage, Searill managed to break the shorter man's neck in a single move.
Bogra looted the leader's corpse and found a note that read: "During the storm, at the Leaping Wizard." signed by the letter B. After interrogating the surviving thieves, the party discovered that this group was trying to garner the attention of some sort of organization known as The Briars.
The guard captain, Laneer, showed up with a retinue of guards to arrest the surviving thieves and question the party. He offered the players some work if they could be a little less kill-crazy in the future, and some money for a room at less blood-splattered inn.
The party found their way into Renwood during the night, and over to the Griffon's Door Inn, a more peaceful establishment. Over a few tankards of ale, the players got to know each other better, and discussed their future plans.