Don't have a cover image for this campaign yet, have a friend who will draw one for me.
Welcome to the Order of the Gauntlet: Reign of the Dead Three! This will be a short, homebrew adventure with the players starting at lvl 3 and ending at either lvl 7 or 8. The adventure will begin in the city of Neverwinter, and the party will be within a temple known as the Hall of Justice where they are being initiated into the Order of the Gauntlet.
The Hall of Justice, a holy temple in which resides the knights & priests of the Order of the Gauntlet. The city of Neverwinter is among many within the realm that houses this faction. The Hall of Justice is filled with commoner's that are praying for their loved ones, repenting for their sins, and seeking justice for a heinous crime. Vigilantism is strictly forbidden, and the Order of the Gauntlet will not act unless there's probable cause.
Beyond the facade, the Order is initiating four new recruits into the Order. These four individuals have undergone trivial tests and benign trials to earn their ranks as Chevall's. A knight stands adjacent to a priest, in which is holding four silver pendants. Before the knight and priest, are the four recruits.
Captain Lanniver Strayl
The knight steps forth, clearing his throat and speaks clearly. "Here at the Order of the Gauntlet, we are faithful and vigilant seekers of justice who protect others from the depredations of evildoers. The Order is honorable, vigilant, and zealous." The grizzled knight says, clearing his throat yet again. "Faith is the greatest weapon against evil—faith in one’s god, one’s friends, and one’s self. Battling evil is an extraordinary task that requires extraordinary strength and bravery. Punishing an evil act is just. Punishing an evil thought is not." The knight concludes, taking another step forward as he brandishes four silver pendants. The silver pendants are the insignia of the Order of the Gauntlet. The pendants depict a blade of retribution held in place by the gauntlet of justice.
"I, Captain Lanniver Strayl, shall be commencing the initiation ceremony for our new Chevall's." Lanniver says proudly, as he approaches Aer Adertha, a sorcerer who's quite adept at fighting. "Friendship and camaraderie are important to members of the order, and they share a trust normally reserved for siblings." the knight says calmly, as he hands over the silver pendant to Aer. He then steps to the right, being in front of the next recruit, Gar Bleeding Hands, a Goliath whom has endured much and has gained honor among his friends here.
Lanniver hands the silver pendant to Gar. He then takes another step, approaching Hrothgar Densfell. He is a devout crusader who has dedicated his life as a soldier. Lanniver smiles warmly as he hands the silver pendant to Hrothgar.
Last but not least, Lanniver walks over to Irzhalin Destazar, a Gith warrior who excels at hand-to-hand combat, having a grim reasoning for swearing an oath to the Order. Lanniver hands the silver pendant to him and walks back.
The priest, Anika Pyrecrest, cites a prayer to Tyr, and then cites a prayer to Helm, and lastly, a prayer to Torm. The woman looks over to Lanniver and nods her head as she finishes. Lanniver looks unto the newly recruited Chevall's, as the other members of the Order surrounding them begin to clap and cheer excitedly. "Congratulations, you're no longer prospects, but initiates." Lanniver says, as he waits to see if any of them have any words to share.
Hrothgars face remains stern throughout the ceremony, respecting the ways of the order. As Lanniver hands Hrothgar the pendant he does return however a small smile as he is glad he has been accepted.
Hrothgar will waste little time and put on the pendant, his short dark brown hair provides little restriction to get the string loop over his head. He looks down to see the silver pendant shine brightly on top of his chain mail, where he leaves it for all to see.
After Lanniver congradulates us and awaits a response Hrothgar shall take a step forward. He graps his pendant a moment and bows his head to Lanniver.You honor us. He looks down again at his hand holding the pendant and lets go of it watching his signet ring a moment as he pauses. The ring is the only thing Hrothgar wears that resembles a quality such as the pendant and for those that have looked closely it displays a small simple carving of a griffon on it. Stretching out his hand not hiding to the others that he is looking at his ring he continues speaking. All of us have travelled different paths. Some darker than others.He glances at the others. But our conviction, .. our faith has brought us here.
We have always served a greater cause and now our paths have merged to protect those who need us most.He puffs his chest and stands proudly. Today i stand here with my new brothers. And under your command captain, we shall do whatever is in our power to honor the Order.
Hrothgar then takes a step back again, falling in line with the others. Quickly putting his hand on the hilt of his sword for a moment. As his sword, sheathed on his belt , bounches back and forth against his leg as he moved.
Gar is a goliath standing seven feet tall wearing leathers with hand wraps and the symbol of Illmater tattooed on his chest. He takes the pendant and places it around his neck. "Thank you Lanniver. It is an honor to serve the Gauntlet," he says in his deep voice. "Indeed we have come from different paths but we are here together."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I have an intelligence of six, I know what I'm doing.
Irzhalin stares with a serene, emotionless gaze as he is handed the silver pendant. Without moving his lanky arms, the trinket swiftly floats through the air and over the Githzerai’s bald, tattooed head and onto the armorless shoulders. Dipping his head in acknowledgement and thanks, he calmly replies to Lanniver with a simple “Thank you.”
The Githzerai stands around six and one-half feet tall, with slender muscles, sallow cheeks, and lanky arms. Fierce eyes jut out of a thin skull, and instead of a nose, the Gith has two slits to breathe from. A thin-lipped mouth is curled in a neutral stance. Two long, pointed ears emerge from the skull. One of them is pierced extravagantly with all sorts of small jewels and studded with pieces of gold. Simple tattoos line the edge of his chin and the top of his head, usually in the form of a line or a curve. Adorning his body is a dark maroon, sleeveless robe with golden trimming and edges that flow into a cape at the back, wrapped in various golden-coloured sashes at the waist that spill towards the front. The sleeveless robe reveals mottled, bright-yellow skin of Irzhalin’s wiry arms, stopping at an array of maroon forearm bracers, similarly studded with jewellery. Simple, grey-patterned pants lead to a similar array of bracers that adorn his shins. Interestingly, he seems to not be wearing any footwear, and at the edge of his appendages you see elongated, sharp nails instead of more humanoid fingers, accentuating his alien-looking features.
”I am glad to be here today. What is our next task to assist the Order?”
Aer stands tall and bows deeply after receiving the promotion....he stands at 6'-4", is dressed full chainmail, and carries a long two-handed sword. By all appearances he is a warrior. Those that know him realize that is only part of what he is. On the back of his neck, what appears to be a tattoo in the shape of a White Right Gauntlet is scoured into his neck....marking him as blessed by Torm.
Once the ceremony is over, Lanniver and Anika usher the four into a secluded, private room several feet from the altar. The room is filled with food and wine as means for celebration. "Please eat and drink." Lanniver says, as he and Anika pour themselves some wine. "Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, will be your first mission as Chevall's. We've prepared beds for you to stay the night. We'll be leaving Neverwinter tomorrow morning." Lanniver concludes, as he begins to eat some of the food and drink wine.
Anika speaks up. "Helm's Hold has reported an unusual amount of undead sightings lately and they've requested aid from the Order for investigation." Anika says politely, as Lanniver sighs with a mouthful of food. "If you aren't aware, Helm's Hold is that fortified city southeast from here. The city is dedicated to Helm, and they've formed their own order known as Order of the Gilded Eye." Lanniver swallows his food, and then continues "They once were within our ranks, but they felt the need to secede as they didn't believe in our ideals any further. They're fierce, and reckless. Which is why their numbers are small. In a nutshell, they're just the city's police force as they cannot muster much on their own; which is why they requested aid from us." Lanniver concludes, as his indulges himself with more food and wine.
"We're going to travel to Helm's Hold and conduct an investigation on these undead sightings and determine the cause." Anika says as she watches Lanniver stuff his mouth. She then pours herself a glass of wine and sits down at the table. "Any questions?" She asks with a warm smile as she sips on the wine and prepares a plate of food.
Walking behind Lanniver all will clearly see Hrothgars shield attached to his back for easier carry. The shield contains a large painting of a hand with an eye on it, Helm's holy symbol. The shield itself has seen some battle as the paint of the hand is scratched, missing some of its paint on a few points.
Hrothgar will take a seat and eat as he listens to Anika and Lanniver.
Are there any locations around Helms Hold that would be large enough to hide an undead force, or at least serve as a breeding ground?
He continues to eat some and swallows it with a gulp of wine.
Anika shakes her head. "Not that we're aware of." she says, as Lanniver seems to pull up a map of the surrounding area. He sprawls the map across the table after spreading some of the food and wine apart to make room.
Lanniver studies the map closely. "Nothing notable, other than Neverwinter Wood. Could be anything in there. They supposedly don't have the numbers to send scouts."
Lanniver nods his head. "That's the plan. Although we can't quite discern the threat of the undead sightings, that's why the commanders has issued the six of us to investigate. Once we've assessed the threat, we can send for aid if I deem it necessary."
Irzhalin will calmly take a rather small plate of food and no wine. Listening to the information presented, he asks; “Do you ask of us to destroy the undead population, find out the origination of the large numbers of undead, end the creation of them if we find there to be one, or a combination of all three?”
Lanniver stares at Irzhalin for a brief moment while chewing a mouth full of food. After gulping the food and washing it down with wine, he continues staring for another few seconds. He lifts up his finger and points at Irzhalin and jovially responds with "Yes."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Hrothgar nods while eating as he hears the 6 of them are going. Lanniver and Anika will go with the new recruits. As is the way for the captain to be in charge of new members. Hrothgar would be taking note on how Lanniver goes about this task.
Are we expecting a warm welcome from the members of the Gilded eye? He looks up to Anika and Lanniver as he asks this, to read their expressions of what to expect.
Insight check on Anika and Lanniver for their reaction 19
Lanniver looks to Hrothgar with worried look. "I wouldn't say 'warm welcome'. I know it's bitter to them to request aid from us. I hope that given the circumstances, they're willing to coexist since we now have a mutual goal for once."
"They've reported sightings of zombies, skeletons, ghouls, and ghasts. Hopefully there won't be anything else to our surprise." Lanniver answers, while Anika finishes her plate of food and wine.
"I'm going to check on the others and then will prepare out carriage for the journey." Anika informs the party as Lanniver nods approvingly.
(assuming no more questions or events before the end of the evening)
Hrothgar will raise a last drink Today we ended our journey as prospects and start our new path in the Order. He raises his drink high in the air and looks around at his new family.
May Helm bless and protect us in our mission to save a settlement that bears his name.
With that he takes a big gulp with a smile. After finishing the drink he will retire for the evening. Returning to his room to gather all his things and prepare them for the journey ahead.
He will be sure to get some sleep before they set of in the morning, he might not get another chance in the next few days.
The next day, Lanniver and Anika have a carriage prepared to venture to Helm's Hold. The carriage is filled with enough food and supplies to last the expected time on the journey, with some to spare. The trip shouldn't take more than a day, but they prepared extra rations just to be safe. They expected to begin their journey at dawn.
(It's hard to tell from looking on the map, so I'm going to say it's 50 miles to get to Helm's Hold. I did some rough math, in which I concluded it would take about 11 hours to travel there.)
The adventurers are ushered to their carriage by priests and all six begin their departure from the Hall of Justice. The carriage is being pulled with two horses with Lanniver holding the reins. Anika is seated inside the carriage with the others. They ride down the streets of Neverwinter, which is bristling with merchants and shoppers alike.
"Breathe in that air, boys. Who knows when we'll get to breath this air again." Lanniver says, as he continues steering the horses down the road. They arrive to the gates, in which Lanniver has to halt and show his credentials to get by. They officially leave the city.
They are able to remain on the High Road, which is a common traffic way so the likelihood of encountering trouble is low, but not impossible. While they ride down the road, Anika looks upon the party.
"We have a long ride ahead. You have any stories to tell, just to kill the time?" Anika asks politely, eager to hear more about their lives and backstories.
Don't have a cover image for this campaign yet, have a friend who will draw one for me.
Welcome to the Order of the Gauntlet: Reign of the Dead Three! This will be a short, homebrew adventure with the players starting at lvl 3 and ending at either lvl 7 or 8. The adventure will begin in the city of Neverwinter, and the party will be within a temple known as the Hall of Justice where they are being initiated into the Order of the Gauntlet.
The Hall of Justice, a holy temple in which resides the knights & priests of the Order of the Gauntlet. The city of Neverwinter is among many within the realm that houses this faction. The Hall of Justice is filled with commoner's that are praying for their loved ones, repenting for their sins, and seeking justice for a heinous crime. Vigilantism is strictly forbidden, and the Order of the Gauntlet will not act unless there's probable cause.
Beyond the facade, the Order is initiating four new recruits into the Order. These four individuals have undergone trivial tests and benign trials to earn their ranks as Chevall's. A knight stands adjacent to a priest, in which is holding four silver pendants. Before the knight and priest, are the four recruits.
Captain Lanniver Strayl
The knight steps forth, clearing his throat and speaks clearly. "Here at the Order of the Gauntlet, we are faithful and vigilant seekers of justice who protect others from the depredations of evildoers. The Order is honorable, vigilant, and zealous." The grizzled knight says, clearing his throat yet again. "Faith is the greatest weapon against evil—faith in one’s god, one’s friends, and one’s self. Battling evil is an extraordinary task that requires extraordinary strength and bravery. Punishing an evil act is just. Punishing an evil thought is not." The knight concludes, taking another step forward as he brandishes four silver pendants. The silver pendants are the insignia of the Order of the Gauntlet. The pendants depict a blade of retribution held in place by the gauntlet of justice.
"I, Captain Lanniver Strayl, shall be commencing the initiation ceremony for our new Chevall's." Lanniver says proudly, as he approaches Aer Adertha, a sorcerer who's quite adept at fighting. "Friendship and camaraderie are important to members of the order, and they share a trust normally reserved for siblings." the knight says calmly, as he hands over the silver pendant to Aer. He then steps to the right, being in front of the next recruit, Gar Bleeding Hands, a Goliath whom has endured much and has gained honor among his friends here.
Lanniver hands the silver pendant to Gar. He then takes another step, approaching Hrothgar Densfell. He is a devout crusader who has dedicated his life as a soldier. Lanniver smiles warmly as he hands the silver pendant to Hrothgar.
Last but not least, Lanniver walks over to Irzhalin Destazar, a Gith warrior who excels at hand-to-hand combat, having a grim reasoning for swearing an oath to the Order. Lanniver hands the silver pendant to him and walks back.
The priest, Anika Pyrecrest, cites a prayer to Tyr, and then cites a prayer to Helm, and lastly, a prayer to Torm. The woman looks over to Lanniver and nods her head as she finishes. Lanniver looks unto the newly recruited Chevall's, as the other members of the Order surrounding them begin to clap and cheer excitedly. "Congratulations, you're no longer prospects, but initiates." Lanniver says, as he waits to see if any of them have any words to share.
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Hrothgars face remains stern throughout the ceremony, respecting the ways of the order. As Lanniver hands Hrothgar the pendant he does return however a small smile as he is glad he has been accepted.
Hrothgar will waste little time and put on the pendant, his short dark brown hair provides little restriction to get the string loop over his head. He looks down to see the silver pendant shine brightly on top of his chain mail, where he leaves it for all to see.
After Lanniver congradulates us and awaits a response Hrothgar shall take a step forward. He graps his pendant a moment and bows his head to Lanniver. You honor us. He looks down again at his hand holding the pendant and lets go of it watching his signet ring a moment as he pauses. The ring is the only thing Hrothgar wears that resembles a quality such as the pendant and for those that have looked closely it displays a small simple carving of a griffon on it.
Stretching out his hand not hiding to the others that he is looking at his ring he continues speaking. All of us have travelled different paths. Some darker than others. He glances at the others. But our conviction, .. our faith has brought us here.
We have always served a greater cause and now our paths have merged to protect those who need us most. He puffs his chest and stands proudly. Today i stand here with my new brothers. And under your command captain, we shall do whatever is in our power to honor the Order.
Hrothgar then takes a step back again, falling in line with the others. Quickly putting his hand on the hilt of his sword for a moment. As his sword, sheathed on his belt , bounches back and forth against his leg as he moved.
Gar is a goliath standing seven feet tall wearing leathers with hand wraps and the symbol of Illmater tattooed on his chest. He takes the pendant and places it around his neck. "Thank you Lanniver. It is an honor to serve the Gauntlet," he says in his deep voice. "Indeed we have come from different paths but we are here together."
I have an intelligence of six, I know what I'm doing.
Irzhalin stares with a serene, emotionless gaze as he is handed the silver pendant. Without moving his lanky arms, the trinket swiftly floats through the air and over the Githzerai’s bald, tattooed head and onto the armorless shoulders. Dipping his head in acknowledgement and thanks, he calmly replies to Lanniver with a simple “Thank you.”
The Githzerai stands around six and one-half feet tall, with slender muscles, sallow cheeks, and lanky arms. Fierce eyes jut out of a thin skull, and instead of a nose, the Gith has two slits to breathe from. A thin-lipped mouth is curled in a neutral stance. Two long, pointed ears emerge from the skull. One of them is pierced extravagantly with all sorts of small jewels and studded with pieces of gold. Simple tattoos line the edge of his chin and the top of his head, usually in the form of a line or a curve. Adorning his body is a dark maroon, sleeveless robe with golden trimming and edges that flow into a cape at the back, wrapped in various golden-coloured sashes at the waist that spill towards the front. The sleeveless robe reveals mottled, bright-yellow skin of Irzhalin’s wiry arms, stopping at an array of maroon forearm bracers, similarly studded with jewellery. Simple, grey-patterned pants lead to a similar array of bracers that adorn his shins. Interestingly, he seems to not be wearing any footwear, and at the edge of his appendages you see elongated, sharp nails instead of more humanoid fingers, accentuating his alien-looking features.
”I am glad to be here today. What is our next task to assist the Order?”
Aer Adertha
Aer stands tall and bows deeply after receiving the promotion....he stands at 6'-4", is dressed full chainmail, and carries a long two-handed sword. By all appearances he is a warrior. Those that know him realize that is only part of what he is. On the back of his neck, what appears to be a tattoo in the shape of a White Right Gauntlet is scoured into his neck....marking him as blessed by Torm.
Once the ceremony is over, Lanniver and Anika usher the four into a secluded, private room several feet from the altar. The room is filled with food and wine as means for celebration. "Please eat and drink." Lanniver says, as he and Anika pour themselves some wine. "Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, will be your first mission as Chevall's. We've prepared beds for you to stay the night. We'll be leaving Neverwinter tomorrow morning." Lanniver concludes, as he begins to eat some of the food and drink wine.
Anika speaks up. "Helm's Hold has reported an unusual amount of undead sightings lately and they've requested aid from the Order for investigation." Anika says politely, as Lanniver sighs with a mouthful of food. "If you aren't aware, Helm's Hold is that fortified city southeast from here. The city is dedicated to Helm, and they've formed their own order known as Order of the Gilded Eye." Lanniver swallows his food, and then continues "They once were within our ranks, but they felt the need to secede as they didn't believe in our ideals any further. They're fierce, and reckless. Which is why their numbers are small. In a nutshell, they're just the city's police force as they cannot muster much on their own; which is why they requested aid from us." Lanniver concludes, as his indulges himself with more food and wine.
"We're going to travel to Helm's Hold and conduct an investigation on these undead sightings and determine the cause." Anika says as she watches Lanniver stuff his mouth. She then pours herself a glass of wine and sits down at the table. "Any questions?" She asks with a warm smile as she sips on the wine and prepares a plate of food.
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Walking behind Lanniver all will clearly see Hrothgars shield attached to his back for easier carry. The shield contains a large painting of a hand with an eye on it, Helm's holy symbol. The shield itself has seen some battle as the paint of the hand is scratched, missing some of its paint on a few points.
Hrothgar will take a seat and eat as he listens to Anika and Lanniver.
Are there any locations around Helms Hold that would be large enough to hide an undead force, or at least serve as a breeding ground?
He continues to eat some and swallows it with a gulp of wine.
Anika shakes her head. "Not that we're aware of." she says, as Lanniver seems to pull up a map of the surrounding area. He sprawls the map across the table after spreading some of the food and wine apart to make room.
Lanniver studies the map closely. "Nothing notable, other than Neverwinter Wood. Could be anything in there. They supposedly don't have the numbers to send scouts."
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Gar shakes his head. "None at all. Regardless of why they left our ranks, we should help and rid this city of the undead."
I have an intelligence of six, I know what I'm doing.
Lanniver nods his head. "That's the plan. Although we can't quite discern the threat of the undead sightings, that's why the commanders has issued the six of us to investigate. Once we've assessed the threat, we can send for aid if I deem it necessary."
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Irzhalin will calmly take a rather small plate of food and no wine. Listening to the information presented, he asks; “Do you ask of us to destroy the undead population, find out the origination of the large numbers of undead, end the creation of them if we find there to be one, or a combination of all three?”
Lanniver stares at Irzhalin for a brief moment while chewing a mouth full of food. After gulping the food and washing it down with wine, he continues staring for another few seconds. He lifts up his finger and points at Irzhalin and jovially responds with "Yes."
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Hrothgar nods while eating as he hears the 6 of them are going. Lanniver and Anika will go with the new recruits. As is the way for the captain to be in charge of new members. Hrothgar would be taking note on how Lanniver goes about this task.
Are we expecting a warm welcome from the members of the Gilded eye? He looks up to Anika and Lanniver as he asks this, to read their expressions of what to expect.
Lanniver looks to Hrothgar with worried look. "I wouldn't say 'warm welcome'. I know it's bitter to them to request aid from us. I hope that given the circumstances, they're willing to coexist since we now have a mutual goal for once."
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
Aer,
"What kind of undead.....?"
"They've reported sightings of zombies, skeletons, ghouls, and ghasts. Hopefully there won't be anything else to our surprise." Lanniver answers, while Anika finishes her plate of food and wine.
"I'm going to check on the others and then will prepare out carriage for the journey." Anika informs the party as Lanniver nods approvingly.
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
(assuming no more questions or events before the end of the evening)
Hrothgar will raise a last drink Today we ended our journey as prospects and start our new path in the Order. He raises his drink high in the air and looks around at his new family.
May Helm bless and protect us in our mission to save a settlement that bears his name.
With that he takes a big gulp with a smile. After finishing the drink he will retire for the evening. Returning to his room to gather all his things and prepare them for the journey ahead.
He will be sure to get some sleep before they set of in the morning, he might not get another chance in the next few days.
Gar will also get some sleep before tomorrow. "We ride to help save Helm's Hold."
I have an intelligence of six, I know what I'm doing.
After saying his thanks and making an exit, Irzhalin will return to his quarters and briefly meditate before turning in for the night.
The next day, Lanniver and Anika have a carriage prepared to venture to Helm's Hold. The carriage is filled with enough food and supplies to last the expected time on the journey, with some to spare. The trip shouldn't take more than a day, but they prepared extra rations just to be safe. They expected to begin their journey at dawn.
(It's hard to tell from looking on the map, so I'm going to say it's 50 miles to get to Helm's Hold. I did some rough math, in which I concluded it would take about 11 hours to travel there.)
The adventurers are ushered to their carriage by priests and all six begin their departure from the Hall of Justice. The carriage is being pulled with two horses with Lanniver holding the reins. Anika is seated inside the carriage with the others. They ride down the streets of Neverwinter, which is bristling with merchants and shoppers alike.
"Breathe in that air, boys. Who knows when we'll get to breath this air again." Lanniver says, as he continues steering the horses down the road. They arrive to the gates, in which Lanniver has to halt and show his credentials to get by. They officially leave the city.
They are able to remain on the High Road, which is a common traffic way so the likelihood of encountering trouble is low, but not impossible. While they ride down the road, Anika looks upon the party.
"We have a long ride ahead. You have any stories to tell, just to kill the time?" Anika asks politely, eager to hear more about their lives and backstories.
DM: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist