Session 2: Into the Haze#

Summary#

The party ventured into Drakkenheim for the first time, meeting River at Eckerman Mill and fighting ratlings, contaminated undead, and contaminated monsters in the ruined streets. After harvesting delerium and monster parts, they returned to Emberwood Village to sell their haul, make faction contacts, and prepare for the challenges ahead.

What Happened#

Scene 1: Evening at the Bark and Buzzard#

Back at the Bark and Buzzard, the party regrouped over dinner. Margareta shared what she and Heda had learned from the Hooded Lanterns, while Theobroma kept her conversation with River close to the chest — only telling the group she needed to get to Eckerman Mill by sunrise and could use some company.

Meanwhile, Cory slipped out to the Skull and Sword. A half-orc woman at the door directed her to the back table, where Blackjack Mel sat surrounded by thugs. Cory introduced herself as a friend of Zayn, offering her services in document forgery and help in evening the score for “the little people.”

Mel was unimpressed. “Those sorts of skills might get you a long ways in a regular town, but Drakkenheim’s not a regular town.” He told Cory to bring back some delerium or proof she could survive in the city, and then they could talk business.

Scene 2: First Sight of Drakkenheim#

The party left before dawn and headed north, retracing the road from Tonsberg to the bridge over the Drann River. As they branched west and crested a ridge, Drakkenheim spread out before them for the first time.

Castle Drakken perched atop a high rocky hill above the city. Below it, cobblestone streets wove through densely packed stone buildings. The great dome of St. Vitruvio’s Cathedral stood prominently southwest of the castle. At the city’s heart rose the cosmological clock tower of Market Square. To the northwest, the Amethyst Academy’s obsidian glass tower was broken in half at the middle — but the top still hovered above in defiance of gravity.

Four bridges reached across the Drann River, and billowing clouds of midnight purple and dusky violet masked the sky, casting the city in a dismal gloom. There hadn’t been a clear day in Drakkenheim in fifteen years.

Margareta asked the others to keep an eye out for the throne of Drakkenheim. “It’s my first time restoring a throne, so I’m not really sure how to do it.”

Scene 3: Eckerman Mill#

After about four hours of travel, the party found Eckerman Mill — a dilapidated windmill on a lonely hill northwest of the city. Its stone base was covered in moss, its wooden walls riddled with holes. Around the mill lay remnants of countless expeditions: a bonfire pit, tattered tents, abandoned bedrolls, and battered cookware.

The walls were covered in chalk graffiti — names of adventurers who’d ventured into the ruins, many crossed out to mark those who never returned. Cory searched for Hooded Lantern names but found none.

One inscription caught their eye: “The noble man in his noble home, withered old and all alone. His stare can chill you to the bone — a pale man on a pale throne.” Cory brought everyone over. “This mentions a throne. That might be helpful.”

River appeared behind them without warning. Theobroma attempted to play it cool but failed spectacularly. River assessed the group and was blunt: none of them had actually set foot inside the city. She tasked them with spending the day in Drakkenheim, bringing back some delerium, and proving they could survive. She mentioned that the last mages who answered the Amethyst Academy’s summons two weeks ago — seasoned veterans — had not returned. She then walked to the wall and carved out three names.

River also revealed that a large delerium deposit had been found under the Rat’s Nest Tavern, but warned the party not to rush there yet. She preferred to meet at the mill rather than in Emberwood Village, where all the factions had a toehold and everyone was in everyone else’s business.

Scene 4: Into the Haze#

The party entered Drakkenheim’s outskirts, passing a bloated horse corpse. The smell of ozone filled the cold air as they walked through rubble. They searched for delerium for an hour without luck.

Then Cory spotted a glint of purple down a dark alley — which turned out to be glowing yellow-purple eyes. More appeared. A scurrying mass of ratlings surged toward them, brandishing rusty blades and screaming “Kill! Kill! Kill!”

The fight was brutal. Five ratlings swarmed Cory in the alley, dropping her to a single hit point. Three more piled onto Heda, whose heavy armor master feat reduced the slashing damage just enough to keep him standing. Theobroma flew ten feet up and cast Mage Armor on herself, then tried to telekinetically shove ratlings away from Cory. Heda cast Bless on the party and breathed fire into a cone of ratlings.

Cory used cunning action to disengage and dove behind Margareta. Margareta activated Action Surge, killing two ratlings with devastating maul strikes and using Second Wind to recover. Cory’s rapier took down another. With half their number slain, the surviving ratlings used their Ratling Cunning ability to disengage and flee through a crack in the wall.

Scene 5: Short Rest and the Contaminated Undead#

The party retreated to Eckerman Mill to rest. On the way out, they noticed the bloated horse corpse was no longer where it had been.

After two short rests and healing, they re-entered the city. This time they spotted shambling figures through the haze — contaminated undead with delerium shards protruding from their rotting flesh. Theobroma pre-cast Grease on the street ahead of them, and when the undead shuffled into it, one fell prone. Heda breathed fire into the grease, igniting it in a spectacular combination of flaming grease, purple mist, and burning undead.

Cory hid behind a building and picked off the undead with her crossbow. Margareta charged in with her maul but had to make a constitution save as purple contamination erupted from a fallen creature — she succeeded, feeling only an uncomfortable itch on her skin.

They attempted to salvage delerium from the corpses but found nothing usable.

Scene 6: More Contaminated Monsters#

A third hour of searching brought them face-to-face with something worse: contaminated monsters — wretched figures twisted by contamination, with purple-gray flesh, crystalline protrusions, and elongated tongues. One had a yellow eyeball blinking on its neck.

Cory landed a behind-the-back trick shot, and Heda cleaved one’s head clean off with his longsword. But one of the creatures landed a critical hit on Heda — claws raking through his armor and dealing necrotic damage. He failed his constitution save and gained one level of contamination.

Scene 7: Meeting Pluto#

As the party was elbow-deep in monster corpses, a trio of adventurers strolled up. Their leader, Pluto, a self-proclaimed famous monster hunter, pointed out they’d have better luck selling delerium than viscera. His companions — a hooded ranger and a scholarly type writing everything down — had clearly heard this speech before.

Pluto advised them to check the sides of buildings rather than the picked-clean main streets, and to look more carefully at spots they’d already searched. He mentioned dwarves operating a mining operation at the Scar on the other side of town. “I don’t know if you guys want to go there just yet.”

Margareta asked for his name and where to find him. Pluto told them he frequented the Gilded Lily’s open mic nights to “regale people with stories of my adventures.” The ranger rolled her eyes.

Scene 8: Delerium at Last#

Taking Pluto’s advice, the party re-searched their area more carefully, this time with advantage. Theobroma, flying near rooftop level, spotted two delerium fragments lodged in the sides of buildings. The others collected thirteen delerium chips from lower down. Theobroma carefully extracted the fragments and stored everything in her vessels.

The party traveled four hours back to Emberwood Village, arriving as the sun began to set. They sold monster parts to Armin Gainsbury and purchased monster harvesting kits (50gp each), extra vials, and animus vessels.

Scene 9: Evening in Emberwood Village#

The evening was busy.

Heda at the Chapel: Heda found armored warhorses outside the Chapel of St. Ardenna and Silver Order paladins inside. High Flamekeeper Ophelia Reed was speaking with Flamekeeper Bella. Heda overheard them discussing a lead on the Scepter of Saint Vitruvio, a sacred artifact. Ophelia noticed his contamination immediately and offered to purge it — waiving the usual fee if Heda would help retrieve the scepter. She placed her hand on his chest and cast a spell beyond his ability, restoring his sacred flame stronger than before. She told him to meet her at Camp Dawn when he had the scepter.

After Ophelia departed, Bella quietly reminded Heda to speak with Nathaniel Flint of the Falling Fire at Hendrix Farm before committing to the Silver Order to ensure he is hearing both sides of the theological debate.

Ice Cream Contest: Margareta challenged Cory to an ice cream eating contest at the Gilded Lily. Margareta rolled a natural 20 on her constitution save. Cory rolled a 6 and got brain freeze almost immediately, taking one point of cold damage.

Theobroma and River: Theobroma and Margareta found River at the Red Lion and showed her the delerium. River took them upstairs and was unimpressed that they’d sold most of it, but accepted one chip as proof. She then offered 1,250 gold if the party could retrieve a large delerium node from beneath the Rat’s Nest Tavern. She gave them each a potion of healing for the road.

Margareta at the Red Lion: Margareta formally apologized to Kosta Stavros for her behavior regarding the bed. Kosta accepted — since she hadn’t actually jumped on any beds, no harm was done.

Cory’s Performance: Cory took the stage at the Gilded Lily as Corvin Steelfeather — a confident, jewel-toned persona with a plume of steel peacock feathers. The trick shot crossbow routine earned 20 gold from the crowd.

Heda and Old Rattlecan: At Pluto’s invitation, Heda went behind the Bark and Buzzard to fight Old Rattlecan — an animated suit of armor found in the Drakkenheim ruins, used as a sparring dummy. They took turns attacking it, and Heda’s longsword strikes brought it down. Pluto was impressed.

Visiting Blackjack Mel: Cory, Theobroma, and Margareta returned to the Skull and Sword and presented Blackjack Mel with a delerium chip. He acknowledged they’d done what he asked and told them about Buckledown Row — if they wanted to do business with “the Queen,” they should drop 100 gold into a well there with a note stating their intentions.

Walking home, Theobroma confronted Cory about the shady connection. “The bandits on the road mentioned the Queen too.” Cory explained that Zayn had a code: take from those who have too much, give to those who have nothing. Theobroma chose to trust her.

Margareta’s Letter: Margareta arranged to send a letter to Uncle Olaf: “Dear Uncle Olaf, I know that family is very important, and I have been reminded of that today. I just want you to know that I love you, and I miss you, and I’m thinking of you. Sincerely, your niece, Margareta.”

Key Discoveries#

  • Drakkenheim’s layout: Castle Drakken on a high hill, four bridges across the Drann River, the broken Amethyst Academy tower with its hovering top, St. Vitruvio’s Cathedral, Market Square clock tower
  • The Haze: Limits visibility to about 60 feet; no long rests possible inside the city
  • Contamination: Can be contracted from aberrant creatures (constitution save); tracked in levels; can be purged by any flamekeeper or possibly a druid north of town
  • Delerium harvesting: DC 15 investigation/survival/arcana check; revisiting areas grants advantage; fragments are worth 100gp, chips 10gp
  • Monster harvesting: Must be done within 10 minutes of death; common parts can be taken by hand, but higher-tier creatures require a harvesting kit (50gp)
  • The Scar: Dwarf mining operation on the far side of Drakkenheim

Loot & Rewards#

  • 2 delerium fragments + 13 chips harvested (sold 11 chips + 2 fragments for 310gp, split 4 ways = 77gp 5sp each; 2 chips given away to Blackjack Mel and River)
  • Monster parts sold for various amounts
  • Purchases: Monster harvesting kits (50gp each), animus vessels (10gp), vials (2gp each)
  • Cory earned 20gp performing at the Gilded Lily
  • 2 potions of healing (from River)
  • 900 XP each — party reaches level 3
    • Cory: Swashbuckler
    • Margareta: Rune Knight
    • Heda: Oath of Devotion
    • Theobroma: School of Enchantment

Memorable Moments#

“My friends call me Theo. You can call me Theo.” — Theobroma, extending trust to Cory

“I’ve been to it emotionally.” — Margareta, when River asked if anyone had been to Drakkenheim

“I’m not feeling good. I don’t know what percentages are.” — Cory, declining to quantify her remaining health

“I went out to Drakkenheim. And I’m afraid I am infected.” — Heda, confessing his contamination at the Chapel