Every day at 4pm MST I will continue the story and add new polls to decide what happens next. 

HAVE FUN VOTING!

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POLL RESULT: what you voted for...

Where does the campaign start? At The Store 

Who should be in our party? Paladin Ranger Fighter

Which NPC should they meet? Bill and Grace (tied)

In the town of Arwen, a town with so much racial diversity that no one is surprised by the party's arrival, the party searches for a blacksmith's shop.

The Paladin: "Ahh, what a peaceful town full of nice people."

The Ranger: "Some of these people aren't so nice."

The Fighter: "What do you me-"

A tall muscular blacksmith bumps shoulders with the fighter. (Male dragonborn)

Bill: "AYE! Watch where you going! ALRIGHT?"

The Fighter: "Watch where I'M GOING?"

The Paladin: "Woah hold on, just stay calm I'm sure we ca-"

Bill: "Look PAL. You might be a visitor but I know where I'm going, DON'T get in my way."

The Ranger: "Perhaps you can help us then?"

Bill: "HM?"

The Ranger: "We are looking for a good blacksmith shop to repair our equipment and-"

Bill: (smiling) "AAH! Why didn't you say so? Come on, everyone round here knows I'm the guy! Come!"

The Fighter: (muttering) "Are we sure we want the FIRST guy we bump into?"

Bill: "You comin or not?"

The Paladin: "Let's at least see what he's got."

After a short walk, to a small but brightly lit forge being run by another tall and muscular blacksmith, (female dragonborn) the party glances at the shop's items and equipment.

Grace: (currently forging a short sword) "Welcome home honey! Find us some visitors I see."

Bill: "What'd I TELL YOU about calling me HONEY!"

Grace: (begins hammering harder on the sword) "What'd I TELL YOU about raising your voice!" 

The Paladin: (points at a freshly forged great sword) "How much for this one?"

Bill: "HUH? What, which, oh this thing? (picks up great sword with a sour expression) Well, Grace and I made this one a few weeks back, standard iron and steel mix with leather grip on the handle, not best for tough slicing, but decent for travel purpose."

The Paladin: (points at two more great swords) "What about these two?"

The Ranger: "I recognize one of those, it's dark iron right?"

Bill: (Squints at the sword) "Yep, good eye there, dark iron it is. Ever had a dark iron weapon? Long time to make, but VERY durable. Never seen one break in all my years. As long as it's made right."

Grace: (sticks forged short sword into cool water creating a billow of steam and a hiss) "Anything catch you're eyes yet?" 

The Fighter: (glaring at Bill) "I think I'm good."

The Ranger: "That short sword you're making. How much for it?"

Grace: "Hmm, well it's pure steel so it ain't cheap. How much you willing to pay for it?"

The Ranger: (pulls out coin pouch) "What does steel go for in this town. 50 silver?"

Grace: " ARE you gonna BUY or NOT." (impatient staring)

The Ranger: "1 gold and 25 silver. That should cover material cost and more. I won't pay a single coin more."

Grace: (pauses for a moment as if doing mental math) "Sounds about right. But you going to have to wait for it to cool or it'll bend out of shape."

Bill: (talking to Paladin) "What about you? You buying?"

Poll Results:

What should the Paladin buy? Other mysterious great sword 

Where should the party go? Bill and Grace's house

What should the party kill? A goblin prince

Paladin: "I think I'll take THAT one."

Bill: "oh, uh, are you SURE you want that one?"

Paladin: "YES, I'm sure."

Bill: "ALRIGHT but it's only a Deep Wood great sword so don't come back to me if it breaks." (hands wooden weapon to Paladin)

Paladin: "Very light weight! I like it, how much? For the sword."

Bill: "hmmmmm, well see here. Deep Wood Forest isn't safe, and the trees take AGES to cut down. That gonna cost you 74 silver."

Fighter: (mutters) "WELL ain't that cheap?"

Bill: (glaring at fighter) "You got something to say to me?"

Paladin: "DEAL" (hands over 74 silver)

Grace: "It's getting late, you travelers have anywhere to stay tonight?"

The party: "No ma'am."

Grace: "well, I see no reason you can't stay the night then. Come on with me, suns dipping real low already." 

Bill: (grunts uncomfortably)

Grace: "NOW BILL, they are good people, and besides, it'll still cost 'em coin if they want any food or drink from our home. Come on now, sun is almost gone."

The party: "We accept your gracious offer." 

Bill: "Alright, but NO sleeping inside. Last guest we had over would snore like an elephant! I am not losing sleep tonight, they can take the old shack."

After following Bill and Grace until the sun disappeared and the moon rose up, the party is lead to a somewhat small and clean looking 2-story home with a wooden shed on the side of it. (it smells like an outhouse)

Fighter: "On second thought, I think it would be better to spend tonight at an inn or a nearby-" (gets elbowed by ranger)

Ranger: "This will be perfect for tonight, thank you both. We won't require food till' the morn."

The party: (walks into the shed which is now DEFINITELY an outhouse they realize) "Let's hope they'll fall asleep quickly."

Waiting close to an hour in UNFORGIVABLE stench, the party quietly leaves the shed once Bill and Grace are asleep. 

Fighter: (gasping for FRESH air) "You wonder why I don't sleep anywhere but inns. THIS is why."

Ranger: (crouching suddenly) "SHHHHH. There is someone nearby."

A tall and muscular prince wearing a silver crown and a purple cape, (Male goblin) is walking down the streets headed for Bill and Grace's house. They watch in secret as the goblin knocks on the door. Seconds pass. He knocks again but louder. One full minute passes before Bill answers the door. They have a hushed conversation before the goblin suddenly knocks on Bill's head with a rock and starts dragging his unconscious body away from the door.

Paladin: "Excuse ME. What do you think you are doing?" (The goblin jumps at the sound of the voice)

Goblin Prince: "What, woah, I, how, I just am......." (drops Bill and draws out two sickly black dripping daggers)

Paladin: (draws wooden great sword) "Stop what you're doing so we can talk."

Ranger: (Instantly draws bow but realizes his quiver is still empty from his previous encounter....) "Watch it! He has poison!"

Fighter: "Ugh feels like EVERYONE has poison these days." (Grudgingly pulls out long sword and shield and follows behind paladin)

A few well-timed parries and good blocks by the fighter and paladin allow the ranger to sneak from behind and tackle the goblin.

Goblin: (bites something in his mouth) 

Ranger: what is he doing? stop him!

Goblin: (starts choking and foaming at the mouth, he just killed himself yes)

They watch in the dark as the goblin seizes to breathe. The ranger begins digging a hole by the wooden shed. The Fighter and Paladin join him in burying the goblin. Before doing so, they search the dead man's pockets and find a contract to kill Bill for a reward of 100 billion pounds of gold.

Ranger: "It looks like this is the same person contracting all these kills. The last hitman was just like this one."

Poll Results:

Where should the party go? Cave and Tavern (tie)

Which NPC should they meet? Cultist and Spider (tie)

Who should they kill? A powerful queen

 

The following morning, the party respectfully thanks Bill and Grace for letting them rest in their "shed" which comes as a shock to both of them.....regardless, Bill and Grace let them leave and secretly they hoped to never see them again. Why? Well Bill thinks the party is responsible for his TERRIBLE sleep last night- although- he can't quite remember what happened last night. His head aches ALOT though.

Paladin: "We should find a local tavern to investigate these hitmen further." (Perception check 10)

Ranger: I think we should get our bearings on the land surrounding this town called Arwen. (Persuasion check 11)

Fighter: OR MAAYBE WE JUST DON'T? (no checks made)

Paladin: (ignoring fighter's question) "Either way, we need to find and take care of these murderers. The longer we wait for the enemy to make the first big moves, we will be at a disadvantage."

Ranger: (slaps his arm, killing a tiny spider) "You have spiders on your arms."

Paladin: (casually pinches a spider off of his arm) "Well I suppose that this town might have multiple taverns, and it could take a while to ask around, perhaps checking our surroundings is our best option."

Fighter: (quickly pinches off spider, and brushes off his arms just in case there's more) "Why are these spiders black? Are they POISON too?"

Ranger: "I'm not sure...they don't look like they belong here...."

Fighter: "What do you mean they don't BELONG here? Of course they don't belong ON ME!"

Ranger: "They aren't native to this region. These are dark web spiders, barely enough poison in a small one to kill an insect."

The party begins heading for the town gates as they discuss spiders and the Deep Wood Forest.

Fighter: "How big do they get? Is that what killed the goblin last night? Are there gonna be MORE in the Forest?" (Voice pitching higher and higher as he speaks)

Paladin: "I'm sure we'll be fine, besides I didn't see any SPIDER last night, the goblin must've swallowed some poison or something."

Ranger: "Yeah, only I think the poison he swallowed was THIS spider's poison."

Fighter: "So someone is poisoning their hitmen, so they won't tell us who sent them?"

Ranger: (annoyed at the questions) "That's how it seems."

Walking some distance past the gates, and on the edge of the forest, the Fighter and Paladin mostly just watch as Ranger surveys and tracks the creatures that are in the forest. They are on a small hill with a few trees around it. Straight ahead of them is the Forest, and behind them is Arwen.

Ranger: "It's quiet." (Kneeling down he picks up some small squarish animal droppings and licks them)

Fighter: "Did the POOP tell you that or just the obvious SILENCE?"

Ranger: (briefly giving Fighter an angry stare) "What I MEAN is that, the creatures aren't MOVING. If they were I would hear their tracks."

Paladin: "And what does THAT mean, if they're silent."

Ranger: (explaining as if talking to a child) "Usually it just means there are too much PREY and not enough PREDATORS in the area. But sometimes it can mean, there is a PERSON hunting somewhere nearby, because they are loud and bring attention to themselves most of the Forest will move away from them."

Paladin: "So which is it?" (Slightly vexed)

Fighter: "Let me guess, it's a hunter right?"

Ranger: "Not exactly, even in both scenarios I described, the forest goes QUIET not SILENT. This forest is SILENT. Maybe it would be natural if we were in a swamp or a decaying biome, but a regular Forest? Even when a noisy hunter goes into the woods some creatures decide to stay still and wait. Right now, either ALL the animals are dead in this area, or hunters come here VERY often. (Points at squarish poop on the ground) This animal was stressed before it defecated, which means it heard a noise, probably a predator, so it's probly dead."

Fighter: (hesitant to ask) "So now what do we do?"

Ranger: (Points at a tree with a small web on one of its branches) "We follow the spiders."

Following tree after tree with small dark looking webs, they eventually arrive at a large boulder that covers part of the entrance to a cave. The Cave is just a hole in the ground about 5ft wide. It's dark depths are filled with MUCH THICKER WEBS. A strange hissing voice speaks to the party as they arrive next to the cave.

 Stange Voice: "What do you seeeek from meeee?"

Ranger: (silent pause) "Who or what are you?"

Voice: "I am the QUEEN, your queen if you wish, I have bid my time in the void waiting to return from the shadows."

Paladin: "Do those who work for you kill people?"

The Queen: "Those who SERVE me know I am loyal to them as they are to me. Those who my servants HIRE are nothing but mercenaries looking for coin, I cannot speak for their actions against you or anyone."

Fighter: "Yeah, so are you a SPIDER OR NOT?"

The Queen: "I would have thought the answer was obvioussss......mindless mortals."

Fighter: "ALL RIGHT THEN, HAVE A NICE DAAAY!!"

The Fighter quickly strikes his flint against his shield several times showering down sparks into the cave. Setting EVERY SINGLE WEB on fire.

Polls results:

What should the party do? wait by the cave entrance.

Ranger: "You probably should have waited until we actually learned ANYTHING from the spider."

Fighter: "Yeah? So that she could poison us and slowly turn our bodies to mush? Nope."

Paladin: "For once I agree with you, I sensed an evil presence within the cave, but you still could have waited a bit before burning the web."

The party sits in silence watching the burning webs create a large "fire pit" as they discuss what to do now.

Paladin: "Perhaps now we should ask around for more info."

Ranger: "No, we need to have a talk with Bill."

Fighter: "You're joking right? I am NOT spending another night in a stinking shed full of-"

Paladin: "We won't be spending the night; we will be asking him questions I assume?"

Ranger: "He has to know SOMETHING about why a merc would want him dead."

Fighter: "But he doesn't even REMEMBER last night."

Ranger: "Even if that's the case, I still need my new sword."

The party eventually arrives at the forge where Grace is at work hammering a massive chest plate.

Grace: "I was wondering when you'd be back for this." (reaches down to a small wood stool behind her picking up a sheathed steel short sword)

Ranger: (hands out 1 gold and 25 silver coins) "Just as promised, thank you for the steel, Grace. Do you know where we can find Bill?"

Grace: "Running a delivery of shields to the guards at the tower, he just left not to long ago." She nods, pointing in the direction of a thin, but 3 floors tall brick tower.

Traveling at a quick pace towards the tower, the party sees no sign of Bill....

Poll Result:

Who should die? the fighter

Several years have gone by before anything interesting happens. At the moment, the party is in a cave looking at ancient runes left by someone long ago....

Fighter: "I think I'm better off just waiting outside." (turns to walk for the cave entrance)

Ranger: "Wait, I think I found something, Paladin, are you versed in CURSED SPEECH?"

Paladin: "Of course, I've studied all kinds of it when I hunted a-"

Ranger: "I don't need proof, just come look at this. I think it's a message left by our Spider Queen."

Paladin: "It is cursed speech but POORLY written, perhaps if I use my magic upon it...." (Reaching forward towards some horrifying runes, the paladin touches them with a single hand that glows very softly, like a firefly)

A silence fills the cave. Not that it wasn't quiet before, but now it sounds deafening as if the air around the party is thicker. Feeling a strange sense of vertigo mixed with light headedness that felt like dehydration, the Ranger and Paladin instantly notice the Fighter is gone. The Ranger notices a bit more....

Ranger: "We have been moved; something isn't right. We need to regroup at the entrance." (Pauses for a second, licks his fingers) "The wind is coming from there." (Points at a tunnel nearby in the dark underground cave)

Paladin: "Hold on let me light a torch or something, I can barely see two feet in-"

Ranger: "NO. That can wait, just follow the sound of my feet."

Walking in uncomfortable silence and darkness, they follow the tunnel until the they can feel the outside air on their faces, the Ranger pauses, and the Paladin bumps into him.

Paladin: (whispering) "Whoah, what? What is it? Do you see the exit yet?"

Ranger: (whispering quieter) "SHH, there is someone up ahead...."

Both slowly creep forward crouched and focused on the path ahead. Moonlight from ahead makes them feel safer as they can see clearly once again.

Paladin: "Hey wait is that the fighter?" (Pointing up ahead)

Ranger: "Yes, it is but why is he...."(holds out a tense arm behind him to stop their movement)

KNOWING something is wrong, they sit and watch the fighter who is lying face down at the cave entrance. They hear him moan and groan in the uncomfortable and uneasy silence.
UNTIL a leg, two legs, three, and four massive spider legs crawl their way over the fighter, dragging a web over him like a blanket.

Paladin: "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING TO OUR FRIEND?"

The Spider: "You not only walked into my webssss, you actually TOUCHED them, you mindlesss mortalssss."

Ranger: "Wait a minute.... are you the Spider Queen?" (Standing up and walking forward for a better view)

Spider Queen: "That depends....are you my next meal, or just lost travelers....either way I guess you'll taste the same."

Paladin: "DIE QUEEN OF EVIL!"

The Paladin goes in for a swing at the spider with two longswords, one in each hand. The spider nimbly dodges. The Ranger notches an arrow, releasing it, missing. He notches a second one. Releasing, it hits into the spider with a thunk like wood, only it's flesh. The spider leaps at the paladin.

Paladin: "DIEEEEE!" (He yells continually as the Spider Queen lands onto him biting his face. Both the longswords are sunk deep into the abdomen of the queen.)

Ranger: "NO! RETREAT, We must...." (Releasing another shot that sticks into the spider leg like the last one, he watches as the Paladin groans before letting go of his longswords)

Knowing both of his teammates are poisoned and stunned, options are slim, the Ranger slowly begins backing up. HOT tears of frustration and anguish blur his vision for a moment as he watches the Queen struggle to remove the swords in her belly. THREE OPTIONS LEFT. Rationalizing, and calculating her speed, he knows it's suicide to run past her. TWO OPTIONS LEFT. A few good arrows to the face, would cause a lot of blood, but there wasn't time to watch her bleed out, he would already be dead. ONE OPTION. Go backwards and find an escape in order to regroup....The choice wasn't easy as the Ranger glanced at his commrades on the floor, but the screams and screeches of the Spider Queen kickstarted his legs, then his lungs. He ran. Then he sprinted.

Ranger: "Forgive me...."