Dragon of Icespire Peak - Campaign 1

     Kaemgen wiped his brow and sighed heavily, trying not to let his shortness of breath show to the others.  That...  was not easy.  He looking at the last remaining boulder with some loathing and sighed again, making no move to stop it from remaining the last boulder.

     "Those crab things were handier than I expected, I must admit Factore!  Could some be made bigger?  Like big even for us?  Could maybe even make a dragon think twice, couple of those going at it..." Kaemgen said, as a way of delaying picking up the boulder if nothing else.

     "And these moving belts... Genius!"

     With compliments shouted out, Kaemgen then looked around for Castor and Pollux. "C'mon you two!  Let's get you something to drink now..." Kaemgen offered, pulling out a Waterskin and pouring some of it's contents out into the shallow bowl of his Mess Kit.  Once those two were taken care of he took a couple long pulls himself.  Eventually he gave a long sigh, grunted, and walked over to the last remaining boulder.  Kneeling with an audible crack from his knees, Kaemgen wrapped his eyes around the boulder and reminded himself to lift with his knees, not his back...

Smack!

Joybell innocently saunters out from behind Kaemgen bending for the boulder. With a gesture of her arm, she ushers in the rest of the kitchen staff who carry in platters of Gnomengarde delicacies while others bring jugs of water, mugs of ShroomWine, and of course, flasks of herstruly, Joybell's ShroomShine.

Once Kaemgen recovered and the final hunk of rubble was hefted onto the belt and swept out of sight, Joy would direct the inventors to shut it down for Facktoré to make a few adjustments. The engineer would rearrange a few belts in a circle, then place a top. Helpers would lay out a table cloth and then the spread of food and drink. Joybell would then whistle and the inventors would turn the power back on. The table full of goodies would light up in various lights and begin to rotate slowly.

"Wonderful." The voice of a King echoed through the room. "Please," And it was. "Eat and drink your fill. Take rest." King Gnerkli had entered the space along with Korboz. "Share with us your success, and allow us to present you with your rewards." From behind them, spectral mage hands carried forward items to present the group. In one hand a tiny amulet containing tiny interlocking gears, and in the other, a 1-foot-long rod. "Also," King Gnerkli would look to Facktoré. "Please bring it here." He'd hold his own hand out to the young engineer.

Facktoré would try to look around behind her as if he were speaking to someone else, full well knowing he meant her. Of course he knew she had grabbed it during the tour... Eventually she'd concede. It was her King after all. With a flick of her wrist a uniquely intricate book would appear in her hand and she'd hand it to King Gnerkli.

"Thank you Facktoré." King Gnerkli would nod and then look to the group. "This contains all the spells which we specialize in." He'd say with pride as he'd present it very formally. "In a gesture of gratitude, we would like to share our gnowledge with you."

     Kaemgen eats.  A lot.  And much is accidentally dropped to the floor, much to the delight of Castor and Pollux.

     After the presenting of the gifts, Kaemgen insists that they are being too kind.  Too kind, by far!  But in that "but of course we'll take it" kind of way.  He looked curiously at the amulet and the rod as they were present, quite curious about them.  "What do they do?  One can never tell with your ingeniousness..." he asked.

     Kaemgen was far less curious about the book.  He had much respect for books, but little personal use for them.

     When the festivities were much over and complete, and Kaemgen was not only overfull but had also gotten past the over full feeling, he addresses the others in the group.  "Well our job here is done and as entertaining and rewarding as it has been, we have more work to do... And perhaps should get after it before we wreck anything else here?"

Auric:

”Thou art gracious and generous hosts, Kings Gnerkli and Korboz.  I am most intensely curious as to how these great inventions might be used to enable us to prevail against the mighty dragon,” says Auric as he gratefully takes his ease after the hard work.

Mr. Dark, covered in dust and dirt and sweat wanders into the room, wiping his brow with the back of his hand, leaving a streak of muck looks around the celebration. He quietly slips out the back and heads out front to the waterfall.  He walks across the bridge and uses the icy cold water to wash himself up. He removes his shirt and lets the water spray across his hairy chest as he tries to rid himself of all the muck.  He stands there, both hands on the railing, head dunked into the stream of water for a few moments...collecting himself. Then, shaking his long hair about like one of the puppers, he puts his shirt back on after roughly smacking it about to rid it of the dust.  Looking, somewhat cleaner, but still wearing the same old mucky clothes, he heads back in. 

Having missed the gifts, he sidles over to the rotating table and picks at the left overs. As Auric inquires about the gifts, Mr.Dark looks on curiously, but feeling more than a bit like an outsider.

While outside splashing around in the water, Mr. Dark gets a passing sense as if he was not alone. Back over in the room with the others, he gets to enjoy his left overs in company. Snorting snouts sniff, snooping to secure seconds. Although Kaemgen had dropped and slopped plenty for them to enjoy a fair share, that didn’t stop them from finding a seat at Mr. Dark’s feet.

The Kings would rub their chins in thought to Auric’s ask. Gnerkli would purse his lips and eyes glance over to the inventors, then pan over to Facktoré.

Joybell would take the 1 foot long rod in hand and with a gentle flick of her wrist it’d expand 10 times the length. “It’s a grower, not a shower.” She’d wink, showing off the Pole of Collapsing. “I’m sure you could get quite creative with this!”

“This,” Facktoré takes the amulet and holds it up to her ear before placing it to Kaemgen’s. He can hear faint ticking and whirring noises coming from within. “Is a Clockwork Amulet.” She’d go on to explain it’s functions.

Mr.Dark grumbles to himself, "Coulda used that pole with those bladed gate things."  He absently rubs his ribs where he'd taken a bad cut. 

Shushing the eager pups away from his heels, he begrudgingly tosses them a final bit of food, then joins the others.  "Well, thank you very much for the lovely gifts, the food, and so on. I'm glad we could help you with your....hungry wine barrel situation. I think we'd better be going now. We have a lot of work to do and this dragon isn't sitting on it's laurels waiting around for us."  He makes the "let's go" eyebrow pop and eye glance towards the door to the rest of the group.

Mr.Dark, his hair still damp, his shirt dirty, but also wet in a blotchy 'this got put on over a wet body' sorta way, lets the group figure out who best to take the two interesting magical items, hoping they're ready to move on.

Auric:

"Indeed, we thank thee most felicitously for thine hospitality and gifts," agrees Auric, taking the items on behalf of the group, and preparing to leave.  Although curious about the spells, he resolves to look at it later, though he suspects only a true wizard would benefit from such a tome.

Being shooed away the twins groan at Mr. Dark, not before sneezing at him though. They’d saunter over to Kaemgen and begin weaving through his legs.

The Kings would nod to acknowledge their thanks. “You’re welcomed to come visit any time.” Gnerkli would say. “We wish you the best on your quest ahead.”

     Kaemgen  make a the proper thanks and farewells in his own particular proper but rough kind of way.  He tries, with likely little luck, to get their wolfy companions to do the same… or at least behave while he does.

     “Seriously, time to exit before we break more stuff,” he whispers to his friends and edges them all towards the doors. 
     Assuming no unexpected delays, Kaemgen would head straight out and put a couple miles on before asking “What’s next?”

Auric:

"Let us make our way back to Phandalin and consult with Townmaster Harbin," suggests Auric as they leave, "For he hath promised recompense for those Gnomish items which we needest not.  Though perhaps we shouldst consider a fortuitous detour if those in need are along our path..."  

Once they are a bit away from the gnomes and have an opportunity for a short pause, Auric spreads out the items gathered and asks, "Which of these shouldst we keep, and which shouldst we barter?"

1) Uniquely intricate book containing all the gnomish specialty spells (gnowledge).

2)  Pole of Collapsing

3) Clockwork Amulet

4)  hat of wizardry

5) wand of pyrotechnics

When that is settled, Auric asks for the map and marks the locations they have explored--and those locations of people yet needing help (per the reminder quests below), trying to decide if any of the quest sites are a reasonable detour on the way back to town.

“Seriously, time to exit before we break more stuff,”

CRASH! CLING. CLANG. KABANG! 

Scratching against the floor and rolling dishes.

Looking over, one of the kitchen staff carrying dirty dishes must have tripped, having tossed everything up into the air for it to only come crashing down around them.

As if in a blink of an eye, both wolves were sitting suspiciously proper, waiting in the doorway. Big dopey innocent faces look to Kaemgen. Castor licks the top of Pollux’ head, because he’s a good brother, not because there was food in his fur…

They had practically spent the the whole day chasing barrels and hoisting rubble, so the sun was quite low in the sky. Though the path back to Phandalin was familiar enough, they would have to travel in the dark some of the way. If they were afraid of the dark, they could cut the trek to Phandalin short there was always Umbrage Hill.

Reminder of additional quests:

Butterskull Ranch Quest.
“Orcs have attacked Butterskull Ranch, five miles east of Conyberry along the Triboar Trail! Travel there with haste, assess the damage, and help any way you can. Ranch owner Alfonse “Big Al” Kalazorn is a retired sheriff who can reward you for your efforts. If he’s dead, return to Townmaster Harbin Wester with proof of Kalazorn’s demise to receive a reward of 100 gp.”

Loggers’ Camp Quest.
“Deep in Neverwinter Wood, along the river that flows west toward Neverwinter, is a logging camp. Every two months, Phandalin delivers fresh supplies to the camp, which is run by the half-brother of Phandalin’s townmaster, Harbin Wester. Barthen, the local provisioner, has prepared a new delivery. He needs someone to bear the supplies safely to the camp. Return to Harbin Wester with a notice of delivery signed by his half-brother, Tibor Wester, to claim your reward of 100 gp.”

Mountain’s Toe Quest.
“The Mountain’s Toe Gold Mine lies fifteen miles northeast of Phandalin. The new overseer, Don-Jon Raskin, just made the trip from Neverwinter to Phandalin and needs to be escorted to the mine. There’s no telling what dangers lie between here and there. Once you deliver Raskin safe and sound, return to Townmaster Harbin Wester to collect a reward of 100 gp.”

((LOL, them wolves!!  They need their own cartoon!))

     "Can any of us use the hat or the gnowledge?  If not, may as well give to the cause of Phandelin.  The pole could come in handy but I don't know it matters much who carries it.  Doubt very much we'll be wanting to whip our pole out in the middle of a fight or anything..." Kaemgensays.  "The amulet could likely be useful to any of us, but have to wonder who can get the most out of it?"  ((Actually I'm not sure the amulet is that big a prize for any of us.  We all seem to have max +5 to attack roll which would be a 15 on one attack, which is a *maybe* hit depending what it was.  Even this could go to Phandelin?))

     "As for our next stop, sounds Butterskull Ranch may be the most pressing... Perhaps more so even than a return to Phandelin.  What do you two think?" Kaemgen says as he squats to roughhouse with the wolves a bit while they have all paused the walking for a bit.

Auric:

"A capital idea, good Kaemgen.  Let us proceed, though I fear we may be in need of my light afore long," he responds, glancing at the lowering sun, "And if it be a far enough trek, mayhaps an evening's rest would be in order as well."

Mr.Dark nods to Kaemgen, "I agree these items are unlikely to be terribly useful to us. If there is a reward for turning them in then perhaps we do. The only one I might keep is that stick. This wand, now that I understand it, is....not particularly useful. As for our destination, the ranch for sure. Let's try to get a few hours of travel in before setting up camp."  He flips the coin in his hand, sending it twirling up until it returns with a slap. The coin is now glowing brightly with light. "This may help light our way for a while." 

The wolves were bursting with energy after filling their bellies, therefore they were naturally full of play and more than willing to roughhouse with Kaemgen who instigated. Since they were encouraged, the pair pounced the man, completely taking advantage of the fact that there were two of them and only one of him. Of course they didn't go out of their way to hurt the human, but they didn't go easy on him this time either. Not forgetting that they now had the freedom of the outdoors, Castor and Pollux would take additional advantage of their affinity with the natural environment. They'd duck and weave through the brush and tall grass, stalking and jumping Kaemgen as if in practiced intervals.

Kaemgen

Taking this time to calmly review their options, Auric pulls out their map and quests. Even with Kaemgen causing chaos with the turbulent twins, the golden dragonborn pours over the documents thoughtfully without even fluttering a wing. With the discussion on the table and Dark shedding some light on the subject, it's decided that Butterskull Ranch is to be the groups next destination. The information available to him on the map would allow Auric to roughly pinpoint where they could expect to find the Ranch. Thanks to Halia's additions they had the location of Conyberry along the Triboar Trail, and Butterskull is said to be 5 miles east of that, so only an extra hour. Seemed easy enough.

Conyberry poked at Auric's mind. It was familiar in the sense that he felt like he had come by it a few times now, but it was as though he was forgetting something. Going back to the quest cards, he'd thumb through them. One, two, three. He cycles back. Butterskull, Logger's Camp, Mountain's toe. He cycles through again. One, two, three... One of Auric's scales catch the edge of a card, separating it. Four? He'd peel it away from behind the first card.

Ruined Temple
As the Triboar Trail runs east, it passes through the ruins of Conyberry, a town sacked by barbarians years ago. There’s a ruined temple south of Conyberry where it’s said the locals hid their gold.

Ah, yes. Now you remember. It was the card handed over by the mysterious robed figure back at the Inn in Phandalin. That's where you read Conyberry before. And with it's mention of a ruined temple to the south of it he could guesstimate that on the map, adding it for the groups consideration while they'll be in the area.

From there, Auric worked on some rough routes and calculations to at least present some travel options, though it was looking more obvious from their discussion that the latter option would most likely be the choice. It was still worth presenting to everyone as they still needed to finalize a few last minute details before committing to their trek.

Auric's Calculations

Destination: Butterskull Ranch
Day light remaining: 4hrs

Route 1: Turtle
(Slow and Steady)

Route 2: Rabbit
(Blaze it)

Adventurer's Roll Out!
(It's time to answer some questions and check it.)

Questions
(Something to answer through RP preferably)

Confirm Route: Turtle or Rabbit?
Attention: Where's your mind and focus?
Marching Order: Where are you in line?
Other: Any extra interests or efforts?

Checks
(Time to make your rolls. Don't forget bonuses or advantage opportunities)

Required
(Need at least 1)
Survival: For navigation and travel success

Optional
(Not required but efforts will contribute to outcomes and success)
Nature: If you're reviewing natural terrain or weather
Perception: If you're focused and keeping your awareness
Other: Are you trying to be quiet? Are you investigating anything along the way? Do you care to cover your tracks? Update the map along the way? etc.

Roll Call: Everyone!

     As he was roughhousing with the wolves, and as it was getting late enough in the day, Kaemgen would take the opportunity to try to teach the pair some key words / tactics.  

     "Hard!" Kaemgen calls out in a quick, direct manner and falls into a rage as he steps up his roughhousing, trying to show the pair that they can cut loose for a bit.  

     "Easy... easy..." he calls out loudly but gently, just before he knows his rage will fade away.  He puts his hands up and backs away, trying to show them that it was time to stop the uncontrolled attacks...

     This won't be learned overnight, Kaemgen knows.  And if this pair decide to hang out long term there will be much more to teach them...  And for them to teach him.  Tactics, friends and foes, but restraint was going to be an absolute necessity. 

     After the raging and the roughhousing, Kaemgen is beat.  Not quite falling down tired but he most definitely wouldn't complain about sleeping in a bed tonight.  "Is four hours going to make a difference?" he asks, selfishly after Auric explains the options.  "I had been in favor of pressing on to the next job but the difference doesn't seem like much and a stop back at town where we could drop off the goods the Mayor wanted and re-equip ourselves may be wise..."

     Kaemgen indeed would like a comfortable bed, but he's not hard up for such.  He will make his argument but won't try to persuade anyone excessively over to the idea.  Whatever is decided, Kaemgen will look to lead the way (following the directions of someone better with them) as he considers himself the most able to take an unexpected hit... And the wolves can surely help him be on guard for unexpected threats. 

---

Required: Will definitely leave the Navigation and Travel rolls to others.  I don't think the survival stats matter for one providing help but still, someone else is surely better than -1?

Optional: Leading the march, Kaemgen would of course be trying to pay attention to natural surroundings as well as be on the lookout for threats.  He's also trying to focus on the wolves which are instinctively better at such things than he is,  trying to learn from them.

Nature:  13

Perception: 13

And through this all, Kaemgen realizes he definitely needs to work on his Animal Handling :)

Auric:

"Mister Dark, if thou hast decided against keeping the arcane wand of light and sound, I may yet have a purpose for it," states the golden dragonborn, asking, "Woulds't thou part with it?"

Looking at the map, he says, "Tarrying with the gnomes proved quite educational, but not excessively wearying.  I woulds't not be averse to sojourning directly to the ranch, sleeping underneath the canopy of stars.  Though staying far removed from the ruined temple south of Conyberry is most advisable, given that is where we were given to understand the fearsome dragon has its lair.  What say you?"

OOC:  One vote for the fast route, an assist with survival using the map (so a total of +5 and advantage)

Confirm Route:                 Rabbit +1 vote
Attention:                          Map and destination (assisting with survival check)
Marching Order:               Near the middle with his dragon orb held high to shed light
Other:                                 Yes!  A special event during the night if we camp outside!

"I agree. Let's beat a quick retreat to the ranch. Sleepin' under the stars never hurt anybody and I could go for some open sky after Gnomengarde and bein' cooped up in that itty bitty crab."

Another vote for Rabbit. Xenophon will allow someone better to take Auric's help with the survival check, but he will march in the front.