Solethania

New episode. The party has left Cottingham and has resumed traveling toward Jamport. An intelligent angry badger and a mysterious hill were encountered.

There’s some important stuff that went down in this session. I figured I’d save what the various characters experienced here. Watch the session to get the full context.

Pria Tama:
A flat, snowy mountaintop above a great city carved into and from the mountain. There is a long stone table of black marble surrounded by chairs in various states of disarray. Fallen over onto the table is a figure, vaguely elflike in figure, her extravagant clothing continues to shift with the colors of the rainbow. Her skin is prismatic and scaled, hair and eyes red were like rubies. Her now lifeless expression is one of shock as she lies surrounded on the table by a pool of now dried blood. She looks eternally at her hand, the ghostly form of a ring still resting on one of her fingers. As you try to look closer at it, it fades and disappears.

Venita:
An Eladrin King. His crown is dented and cracked but still rests defiantly on his head. Bandages cover part of his face and neck. His eyes are fire in color and purpose. He’s dressed for war, elegant elven-fey plate armor as white as snow, trimmed with glowing orange runes. His long orange hair flickers like fire in an unseen wind. He rides a unicorn, also adorned in plate armor. It’s horn is as red as a maple leaf, its color is almost glowing white and its eyes are literal fire,  crying tears of lava into a rich dark dirt. The king’s left hand is in a sling, but he rides forward with purpose out of a castle the same white color as his armor. Behind him march thousands of Autumn Eladrin, in differing shades of skin and hair tone from bright red to deep earthy brown. Their armor the color of a setting sun, shining and glittering in the dim light of the early dusk. You are drawn like a ghost through the procession to the courtyard, in the center of which stand two knights standing watch over a freshly dug grave, whose headstone is a statue, an elegant Eladrin queen.

Plume of Smoke: 
A mighty armada of warships, hundreds, possibly thousands, of them, sailing toward a blood red sky. In the air are four airships, built for war, keeping pace with the rest. Behind them a chain of islands are burning, the great clouds of smoke partially concealing the armada. At the head of this armada is one great and imposing ship, a man-o-war, with hundreds of crewmembers and carrying almost 300 cannon. And yet it looks like it has been dredged out of ocean, and barely looks seaworthy. At the prow of this mighty ship is a figurehead. It’s a stone statue of a girl tied to a bow, eyes blindfolded, her face etched in an eternal silent scream.

Kerrek:
Vast dunes of sand as far as the eye can see. Walking across them you see giant mechanical scarabs, they are the size of semi trucks. They’re carried along on metal mechanical legs as thick as people, these things are so large a person could walk underneath a moving one and not have to duck to avoid its underbelly. There are dozens of them, atop each are flags, weapons like canons or ballista, one even looks like it has a trebuchet on its back. Trotting in formation around them are raptors, ridden by undead skeletons. Their armor is comprised of thick cloth and scale male, and a cloth wrapped around pointed helmet gives it the helmet the look of a turban. They each carry a spear, with a bow and quiver on their backs. Behind them march thousands of undead footsoldiers. Armored in a similar style as the riders, they carry a large shield (like roman style) and a long spear. Flags and pendants of multiple colors blow in the hot desert wind. They pass you by almost soundlessly.

Andrut stared at the near perfect sphere of rice sitting in the clay bowl in front of him. Bright white, it stood in stark contrast to the deeper reds of the bowl and the dark brown of the bar counter. A little steam trickled from it into the air, and small clay saucers sat around the bowl holding an array of different sauces, dressings, and vegetables.

It had been a day or so since the Bard Pria Tama had come through, showing them all how to make a meal of the town’s windfall of rice. Rice, when you know how to cook it, seemed to Andrut a very flexible thing with a lot of possibilities. The Tabaxi pirate that was traveling with the Bard had shown them that, when she made a small dessert out of it.

Two elderly human sailors entered the bar. It was fairly empty, being it was early afternoon and most regulars were still out on the ocean fishing or working the docks. They both walked over and sat themselves down on stools opposite Andrut. He looked up from the food at them, his voice resounding with the depth of the sea,

“Karl, Dave.”

Karl answered, an elegantly carved whalebone pipe jutting out like a lighthouse from a giant bushy beard of silver, “I reckon we’ll be having a pint, to start the afternoon.” He looked at the rice between them with eyes the color of the sea, “I’ll take a six copper meal atop that, though we can be convinced to go half if you want to use us to test this here northerner food.” He placed some coins on the counter.

Andrut laughed as he counted out the coins and handed a couple back before pouring their beer,  “Fair enough. Help yourself to the rice and whatever else is there. Tell me what you like best.”

Dave was a bit younger than Karl, but not much. He had short hair and a well trimmed beard. They were a couple of old retired fishermen with little to do anymore now that their sons had taken over the family responsibilities. Lifelong friends, they now spent most of their time down at the Leaky Whale, reminiscing about the good old days, talking shop with Andrut, and offering advice to anyone who’d listen (and a few who wouldn’t) until their sons would come in and take them back to their respective homes for the evening.

Today was no different. All the news about the medusa, some jokes about the new stone bar decor, the pirates just leaving a heavily laden ship behind kept the conversation between the three of them quite animated. Andrut’s booming voice would echo out from wherever he happened to be in the building as he kept up with their chatter while cleaning or preparing for the evening rush. Karl and Dave tried a few different sauces, by pulling off chunks of sticky rice and rolling it up into bite size balls and dipping them into the various sauces. They settled on a beer cheese sauce as the preferred sauce. There was a minor discussion between them before they called Andrut over. Dave pulled out a couple more copper,

“You got any mutton around? We want to try something here, we’ll need it real thin, like almost…”, he looked around the counter before settling on the Tiefling himself, “Thin as your apron. Hell, if you got any sea veggies to go with, that’d probably be good too.”

Andrut cocked an eye, “Ain’t every day I hear you two requesting a thinner cut meat.” They laughed and shooed him towards the kitchen area.

In the kitchen there was a large grey chest, bolted firmly to the floor and wall. Blue runes flickered and danced across the top and sides, leaving a trail of frost behind them. The front had a small handle that connected to a circular rune in such a way as when Andrut walked over and turned the handle the magic of the rune went out, the dancing runes disappeared, and the top of the chest popped open with a frozen hiss. The interior walls of the chest were covered in a thick layer of frost. It was here Andrut kept most of his non-fish meats to prevent spoilage. He grabbed a decently sized chunk of mutton from there and tossed it onto a grill and covered it. When he closed the magical chest and returned the handle to its original position, the rune lit up and the various other runes resumed their dance across the surface.

A short period of time later he returned from the kitchen with a small plate of thin cooked mutton slices and sea veggies and set it in front of the two old men. They handed him another copper each for more beer, and as Andrut poured, they simultaneously explained and built their new food concoction. “Y’see Tiefling, the thing about mutton is it goes good with this here beer.” Karl said, “And this rice keeps its shape when dipped in this here beer cheese sauce. So,” he winked conspiratorially at Andrut, “Stands to reason that this here mutton goes together with this here cheese sauce, and that when you shape the rice in a long shape like this, you can drape the mutton over it like so, tie it all together with the veggies, and dip the thing in the sauce, take a bite, and then a swig.” Karl, finished up his sentence in that precise manner. Dave and Andrut waited expectantly for him to finish. He put down his pint with a grin, “Aye, that’s the stuff. Go ahead, try it yourself.”

This odd dish was quite the hit among the dockworkers and fishermen who arrived that evening, and its popularity quickly spread throughout the town, and led to more experiments with different kinds of meats and sauces, wrapped or tied with edible seaweed. The ‘Classic Slice on Rice with a Pint’ would continue to be Karl and Dave’s food of choice in the times to come, when they would pull up their seat at the bar and shoot the breeze with Andrut, until their sons would come to take them home.

Last week (yeah I was slow getting this up) I created a log raft challenge/race for D&D. It involved a water elemental, and was the very first time I tried streaming one of our sessions. There were some minor things I’d like to get cleaned up with it, but hopefully it improves as we go along.

The Race Mechanics, as written before the session started. I made some adjustments on the fly, simply to help things go smoother. If I revisit this, I’ll probably rewrite them to be more in line with what I’ve learned.

• Perception at the start. Perception dictates how aware of the obstacles in front of you before hitting them. If you’re well aware, you can roll to potentially avoid, mitigate, or even target an obstacle’s effects.
• If the HP of your craft hits 0, it breaks apart and the logs are lost downstream, to hopefully be recovered by those at the end.
• More than one person can handle any raft. However, 4 log rafts suffer disadvantage on roles with more than one, 12 log rafts have disadvantage with less than 2, and 20 log rafts have disadvantage with less than 4.
• You can add a sail to the raft. It gives +10 speed, but makes it more difficult to maneuver out of the way of obstacles. It takes a turn to set up or take down.

Eddy. Eddy is a water elemental who lives at and near the confluence of the Draime and Limlar River. He is, at least for the denizens of Cottingham, a literal force of nature. Eddy is not malevolent or hostile, however it likes to ‘toy’ with passerby, by manipulating the waters of the river. The larger the craft, the more likely it is to draw the attention of Eddy.  And Eddy loves to have fun. He always goes first in initiative, because he is pretty much the literal embodiment of the river in the area.

Other Racers:
-Gene’s Rafters (4 man, Big One 20log)
-Bel (Traditional 4log) played by Pria’s player
-Rainald’s Racers (4 man, Pyramid 12log)
-Inyen (Nimble 4log) played by Venita’s player

Crew:
Navigator  -calls out upcoming obstacles,
Polemen/Paddlers -push or paddle to control raft as needed,
Helmsman -Mans the rudder.

Turns:
Initiative order is based on the raft, and the people within the raft.
At the start of a raft’s turn, roll to see if any hazards happen.
On the second turn, Eddy starts doing his thing at the start of the turn, and retains first spot in the initiative order. Roll a 1d12 and see what happens from the table, to someone who is targeted by whatever means you think is good. I used a dice roll because that seemed to work out ok.

Table of potential hazards:

No.	Name	Description	Effect
1	Sand Bar	A slow, shallow area of sand either above or just below the surface.	Slows/stops movement for a turn until able to push off. (STR, or STR Athletics)
2	Stump	A tree fell into the river at some point, and the stump/roots became lodged here	Roll 1d4. 1-2 take damage. 3-4 half speed next turn to disantangle from roots.   Log Size: 12-20 half speed 2 turns.
3	Eddy	Water rushes around behind an obstacle towards shore in a reverse current. A large enough eddy will form a whirlpool.	Roll 1d8. 1-2 is a whirlpool, become stuck until successful Dex/Str save, 3-4 get launched toward nearest shore and lose control for a turn, 5-6 retain control and slingshot downriver an extra 15 ft. 7-8 Eddy the Elemental is having fun. Log Size: 12-20 ignore unless 7-8.
4	Water Pillow	Water piles up against an underwater obstacle and flows around it.	Lose 5 ft of movement. Log Size: 8-20 take damage.
5	Pourover	Submerged ledge. It’s like a vertical eddy. A quick slide down effect into a wave of angry recirculating backwash at the bottom.	Roll 1d8. on a 1, get knocked off in the backwash (DC 10 save). On a 2-3 get stuck for a turn in the backwash. 4-7 nothing happens.  On an 8, get catapulted forward an extra 5 ft. Log Size: 12-20 ignore 2-8.
6	Rapids	Either due to underwater boulders, Eddy the Elemental, or just the two rivers slamming into each other, the water moves fast and is very turbulent and frothy in this section.	Roll 1d6. 1-2 boulders, take damage. 3-5, It’s just the river, go faster 5ft. 6, It’s Eddy having fun (see table). Log Size: Traditional, nimble, long make DC10,14,12 or get rolled.
7	Sweeper/Strainer	A tree hangs over the river (if near shore, sweeper) or a submerged tree lies underneath, slowing the water and whatever goes through gets slowed down.	If sweeper, DC10 to stay in boat. If Strainer, slowed by 10ft. Log Size: 4 ignore strainer. 12-20 Save Advantage vs sweeper.
8	Hole/Hydraulic	Water is flowing back in on top of itself creating a large churn. Usually caused by water flowing over a rock and creating a void behind it. May also be a breaking wave.	DC 12 or become stuck until a succesfull save. Log Size: 12-20 ignore.
9	Flock of Birds	Up to a flock of ducks, pelicans, geese, doves, swans, or cranes fly through your space.	DC12 to become slowed by 5ft next turn.
10	Deep Current	You found a deep, possibly main, channel. It’s deep and fast.	Gain 15ft this turn. No obstacle roll next turn.
11	Headwind	A strong wind blows water in  your face, impairing sight, and negating a sail if you have one.	DC12 save. If sail equipped, must choose either disadvantage next turn on roll with no avoidance roll, or be slowed 15ft next turn.
12-20	Nothing Happens	N/A	N/A

Eddy having fun table:

No.	Ability	Description	Effect
1	Ice Sledding	A large sheet of Ice rises up under the raft, for a good distance in front of you. You lose control of the raft and speed dangerously fast down the sheet of ice. Until you hit the end, hit an object, or slide off the edge.	Roll 1d6. 1-2 you shoot off the end of the ice and catch a bit of air doing so. Gain 15ft this turn. 3-4 You hit an object, take damage and fall off ice and off your raft. 5-6 You manage to somehow manipulate your raft off the edge of the ice (sail gets advantage)
2	Water Splash	Eddy Splashes you with a wave of water.	DC10 to hang on. Get pushed 15 ft. Roll 1d4 to determine direction your raft gets pushed. 1 = North, 2 = East, 3 = South, 4 = West.
3	Geyser	Eddy causes a geyser of water to explode under the raft, lifting it into the air.	The smaller the craft, the further in the air it gets launched. 4log, 6 dmg. 8 log, 4 dmg. 12log, 2dmg. 20log no dmg. 4log raft, make DC14 to stay on raft.
4	Giant Whirlpool	Eddy creates a giant whirlpool and spins your boat around in it.	Get stuck for the turn. At the start of next turn get launched 25ft. Make an obstacle roll, cannot avoid it.
5	Passenger	A small humanoid blob of water plops itself down onto the boat and relaxes on the deck in a manner not unlike the bystanders on the shore. Your raft slows to a leisurely pace.	Half speed next two turns. No need for obstacle rolls, as obstacles just ‘get out of the way’.
6	The Waterfall	A section of the river literally arcs toward the sky for a good 30 ft, and then falls down in a gigantic fall. Hang on.	Eddy loves waterfalls. He loves going over them,  He loves being one. He thinks you do too. So you find yourself and your raft unexpectedly going over a 30ft fall where just moments ago there was no waterfall.  DC15 to hang on. 5 damage to your raft. On a successful save, get launched 15ft extra down the river, ignoring obstacles due to ‘riding the wave’.
7-12	Nothing Happens	N/A	N/A

It was a beautiful, warm sunny day in Edriksport. A light sea breeze carried the smell of salt and fish across the fields and meadows and rustled against the leaves of the Oltree Forest. A group of shepherds sat in the shade of the tall cobblestone wall that surrounds the town, idly watching their flocks. To the south, various farmer’s hands were alight with magic, as they stood by their crops, guiding large stone and metal golems in their work. Smoke rose from dozens of cooking fires in the houses across the town, and the sound of saws and hammers rang through the streets as the shipwrights plied their trade. In the port three large merchant vessels and a small frigate floated gently at their docks. Surrounding them and dotting the bay beyond were numerous fishing vessels of all shapes and sizes, coming and going, with the Duke’s orange-sailed warship anchored in the middle of it all, a still guardian of the bay. Fishermen and sailors working the docks were the life of the town in the early afternoon, leaving the main street and connecting lanes that held the simple wooden houses and businesses together peaceful and quiet, the only noises therein came from the occasional shrieking laughter of a group of children playing, dogs barking, or roosters crowing.

On the only road that led into Edriksport, a woman stepped out of the Oltree Forest. She was tall and lithe, her baggy brown pants and white shirt seemed both loose and yet well tailored. They were accented by a blue vest and a red sash about her waist from which a sword in a leather scabbard hung, and giving her an appearance of what a noblewoman might imagine a pirate or seafaring adventurer to look like. On top of all this she wore a thick grey cloak with a hood covering her head and tightly clasped at the neck, and a thick black blindfold covered her eyes.

She appeared completely unaffected by the blindfold, as she marched toward Edriksport with great purpose and confidence. The guards at the gate, wearing orange tunics emblazoned with a black hammer and plank greeted her with some surprise as she walked by, and asked if she needed any help. The woman smiled at them and politely declined, her voice soft and melodious. The road continued straight down to the port from the gate and was bracketed on either side by houses and small shops. The few people out and about paused what they were doing and stared as she swept by. The woman paid no heed.

Upon arriving at the port itself, the woman followed the street down to the Leaky Whale, which was the tavern nearest the docks. While it was busy in this part of town, sailors, shipwrights, dockworkers all going about their business, everyone gave her wide berth, and her going down the street was like a shark going through a school of fish, and the murmurs and curious whispers as she passed by going seemingly unnoticed or unheard by her.

The woman entered the Leaky Whale, an old establishment seemingly cobbled together from multiple different ships and rigging. It was clean and decently lit, and mostly empty at this time of day. She sat herself down at a table with a good view of the entrance, and almost immediately the tavernkeeper, an elderly Tiefling man with deep maroon skin and numerous golden tattoos covering his body, came over. His hair and horns were a chalky white to match his clothing, and he walked with the gait of a man who had spent far too long at sea.

“How can I help you miss?” He asked, a voice deep and powerful enough it could carry across the entirety of a ship in a storm.

The woman pulled a gold coin out of a small pouch and placed it on the table in front of him with a coy smile,

“A tankard of ale, and an audience with the captain of the frigate on the dock if you would be so kind.”

The Tiefling’s face flashed briefly in confusion as he tried to process how a blindfolded woman would even know what ships were docked. But, magic being what it was, he didn’t give it too much thought. His brow furrowed.

“Are you sure miss? That ship belongs to Captain Kersha, a known pirate of these parts. If you’re looking for passage somewhere, there are safer options.”

“The ale and the audience please.”

“As you wish.” Taking the gold piece, the Tiefling walked over to the bar, and said some quiet words to someone in the back who quickly disappeared. He then returned with her ale and left her be.

A half hour later Captain Kersha entered the tavern, with two wiry lackeys at his side. His face was hard and sea worn, and a thick braided auburn beard stretched almost down to his pants. His clothing was a gaudy mixture of bright colors, rings of every shape and size adorned his fingers, and necklaces of different shapes and gold colored metals draped across his ample form. Every step he took was accompanied by the jingling of his jewelry. He swaggered over to the woman, and sat himself opposite her, eyes greedily looking her over. The lackeys took up position, standing behind him.

“Yer as beautiful as me men have said when ye walked down through to here. I’m hearin’ you’re wanting to book a passage on me boat. I might be amenable to the situation… fer the right price.”

The woman laughed, it was as soft and beautiful as any songbird.

“No, I don’t want to book passage.” With a playful expression she leaned forward over the table, her elbow on the table and hand on her chin, “I want your ship and crew.”

The men were surprised and taken aback for a brief moment, and then the captain burst out in uproarious laughter quickly followed by his lackeys. When it had subsided, Captain Kersha wiped the tears from his eye and said,

“Lass, there ain’t enough gold in the world can separate me from me ship and crew.”

Without moving her hand from her chin, her fingers reached up and gently tugged her blindfold down, revealing eyes the color of which could only be described as fiery strokes of copper and glittering white stars warring on a field of blue -one of the most staggeringly beautiful sights one could never see. The Captain’s smile froze, along with the rest of him as he petrified into solid stone.

“Hopefully your crew is amenable to a change in leadership.” Sibiliss said, as she pushed her blindfold back into place and leaned back in her chair. “After all, I can’t sail a ship like that on my own now can I?”

The three new stone statues in the Lucky Whale had no response.