Broadfield Campaign Diary
The following details the escapades of a group of adventurers, initially brought together as guards for the town of Broadfield.
Introduction
Welcome to Baleteia, A continent surrounded by a Wall of Storms. There are few that attempt to cross the wall, and those that do are never seen again, presumed dead. It has been this way since The Shattering over 800 years ago, where Baleteia was split off from the rest of the world - or the rest of the world was destroyed. It is not known which one.
To the east lies the Riverlands and Wesland, the green heart of the east, providing grain and fish to much of the continent, the Riverlands being home to many powerful sorcerers and druids, Wesland being a haven for those interested in martial disciplines. Further northwest from there is the Khathari Empire, a warring nation that seeks to expand their influence through blood and conquest and Abricaciu, a culturally isolated land where those that can use magic are persecuted : executed or enslaved.
In the south, The Southern Coalition lies. A collection of smaller city states, each with their own cultures and political schemes, but united though opportunity of free trade.
Central to the continent is The Expanse, a cold desert only inhabitable to a few nomads living on the outskirts, trading and providing escort to those that would wish to cross.
In the north, lies the Kindom of the Sun and the Kingdom of Taive, lands ravaged and hardened both by Evil monsters bent on the destruction of civilisation and by heavy storms , being the closest lands to the stormwall.
This story, however, begins in the largest whole country in Baleteia, Candor. Candor ranges from the outskirts of the desert and rocky badlands in the southeast to temperate forests in the west. Central Candor is filled with golden and green fields and hills, perfect for farming grains and vegetables.
It has become somewhat of a cultural centre in the world, given how turbulent the east has become. Some flee war, others search for a free land to start a new life with new work. Many end up here, in the free land of Candor.
Premise
The annual Twinspire Arts Festival is arriving soon, and many have already gathered in the fairly large town of Broadfield, easily identified by the beautiful black and white marble dome. Many peoples from the surrounding areas of central Candor are visiting, and many who wish to take refuge here are accepted with open arms.
Session 1 - 28/03/2022
Greysword, whilst queuing for the festival, encountered Tiili, who was looking for "a man with an acorn on his head". Greysword was directed to the overflow camp to pitch up, and ran into Thunril and Tosco whilst looking for a place to camp. Tiili arrived moments later, again looking for the man with the acorn on his head, who she explained was her creator. The group so far ran into Persinette whilst fetching their evening meal from the communal serving area. Her frog , Weber, was introduced to the group. They returned to the Thaldrein camp for a bonfire, and Tiili continued to ask about the acorn man. Greysword did not integrate, preferring to remain on his own.
That night, the camp was awoken by shouting and an explosion. They found a tent next to the Thaldrein camp burning, and a gang of bandits arguing beside the blaze. Thunril confronted the bandits, and the miscreants attacked the party. During the fight, Bezivil arrived on the scene. The bandits were defeated after a short skirmish, the sole survivor was apprehended by Bezivil and Thunril. Unfortunately, the grunt knew next to nothing - they had been ordered to "cause some chaos", but didn't know the name of their overall commander. In interrogation, it was further discovered that there were a few camps of bandits in the surrounding area. A town guard requested the party's presence to see their captain after the fire had been put out.
Taken to see Redoras, the sherrif, in their office in the outskirts of the town. Introductions were made, and the party were offered work as contacted guards. Redoras also mentioned they had seen the man with the acorn on his head. Instructed to return at 9AM that morning. Upon Tosco's protestations, Redoras changed the start time to noon.
Session 2 - 03/04/2022
The next morning, after getting breakfast, and a bit of other dithering, the party made their way to the guard post for noon. Instructed by Redoras that they would be outfitted with uniforms and that Bezivil and Rod(the guard from the previous night) would be showing them the town and the ropes. Whilst getting kitted out, Rod revealed that the surviving bandit from the attack was being kept in the cells pending interrogation.
Rod led the party out into the streets of Broadfield, first stopping at the town hall. He explained that the town hall and adjacent square were a sore spot for conflict between townsfolk. Also explained was the difference between guard duty and research duty - the latter covering active investigation, the former covering immediate threats that become apparent. Rod has a family, and moved in to Broadfield around 5 years ago. He mentioned that the previous festivals had not outbursts of violence. Also mentioned that a famout painter from Gryndal, Lissa, was unveiling a new piece this year.
At the festival ground, Tosco's mind turned to recreational activites, and thus naturally on to the subject of employment rights. Rod explained that it was a 5 day workweek, with the possibility of flexible shifts. Went to inspect the arson site at the festival ground. Two or three dead, no known witnesses have come forward. Had a poke around the site - it appears the fire here was not set by alchemy, but by magic. The party spent a few hours investigating Broadfield for clues, across the festival grounds and the dome. Bezivil found nothing suspicious in the dome. Greysword and Tosco searched the arson site more closely, and managed to discover that the tents that were burnt down were musicians tents. Thunril and Persinette got little enough from the people near the festival arson site, but Tiili had more luck - apparently a guy in a mask had been seen running around throwing flames. Unfortunately, Tiili had no luck finding any information on the man with the acorn on his head.
Meeting at the dome, Rod suggested that the party take a look inside for the sake of learning about some of the art. Persinette and Tosco realised that having a formal education in art history was not the usual for the party, and Rod explained that the unveiling of the new painting by Lissa would be attracting a large amount of important dignitaries and bureaucrats. Given the high-risk nature of this plan, the party realised it would be best to at least increase the security on the event. Rod explained that the unveiling would be midday on the fourth day hence.
At the third arson site, in town, there was evidence that alchemist's fire had been used, though it had not been effective as the buildings are made of stone.
Whilst the rest of the party returned to Redoras, Thunril and Tosco stuck around to try and sound out some of the rumours, but learnt naught beyond what Tiili had gathered in the festival ground. In the town however, there were reports of some sort of argument being heard at around the time of the attack.
In Redoras' office, the party debriefed the sheriff, and were paid the 2sp for their days work. Tosco and Thunril returned a little later, and brought their extra sliver of information. Tiili was paid in information rather than money, and discovered that the man in the acorn hat was mentioned in a legend from the past age.
After the shift, the party, along with most of the off-duty guards, shuffled off to the local tavern. After a fair few drinks, they then moved on to the festival ground. The group made a good enough impression at the ceilidh all in all despite most members being in various states of drunken stupor. Greysword found himself aggravated by the mere mention of war, Persinette spoke to Thunril and Tosco to discover their relationship, Tiili was thrown about by most of the participants, Tosco blathered, and Bezivil realised his dancing heritage.
As the night wore on and people started to leave the festival grounds, a scream and two whistles were heard from the direction of the dome.
Session 3 - 14/04/2022
The party raced to the dome to find, on the other side of a barricaded door, a trio of demons destroying the paintings within. Greysword identified the larger demon as a wrecker demon, or Abrikandilu, a demon that has an inherent hate for beauty, and its own reflection. The party defeated the demons, and ensured that the new painting to be unveiled was largely intact. Upon Redoras' arrival, they identified that the smaller demons must have been summoned to this plane. It was agreed that the party would meet the next day at the guard tower to further the investigation.
The next day, Thunril arrived to find the gnomish administrator having an argument with Redoras. After the former left, the sheriff apologised for being out of their depth, but urged the party to carry on the investigation. Greysword and Thunril resolved to interrogate the prisoner whilst the others talked to the painter, Lyssa. Redoras also mentioned to Tiili that there was a small library in town that could serve her well to find out more about the man in the acorn hat.
Under interrogation, the prisoner revealed that the man in the mask was real, and had multiple masks. He payed a small group well, over the course of multiple nights, and they met at a site north of town, noted for a stone circle.
Persinette dropped Tiili and Tosco off with Calick, the librarian, and she then moved on to see Lyssa, the painter. Tiili managed to find a book on the man with the acorn hat, though it was a children's story. The told of how the man with the acorn hat (Treeman) banded together with all the creatures of the forest to defend the woods from the man with the flame in his hand. On the topic of demons, Calick took the pair to the basement, where Tiili found The Demonic Necronomicon. Tosco searched the tome, and found some basic information on wrecker demons. Furthermore, the tome contained information on Quasits - the smaller demons seen at the dome; Quasits are made by sacrificing a portion of the summoner's soul.
At the inn, Persinette was taken to Lyssa's room by the bartender. She explained to the painter that she was with the guard, and was looking into unrest surrounding the festival. Upon being asked about her whereabouts the previous night, Lyssa appeared a little sheepish. She was, however, glad to know her painting was intact. Persinette asked Lyssa if she had any enemies, and the painter explained that she had an apprentice, Einath, and they no longer got on at all. Einath had made friends with somebody Lyssa didn't know - all she knew is that their skin changed colour between the times she had seen them. She had the feeling that they were talking about her behind her back - Einath had become much more bitter since then, until they stopped talking altogether. Upon a second asking, Lyssa claimed she was in the bar downstairs the previous night. Before Persinette left, Lyssa asked, with a slight undertone, where she might find the sorceress if she was feeling unsafe.
Session 4 - 11/05/2022
Greysword and Thunril caught up with Tiili and Tosco at the library. The younger pair updated the warriors on the research they had done, and the interrogating pair relayed the information about the stone circle meeting spot. Soon enough afterwards, Bezivil, a little hungover, caught up with the others. They moved on to the inn, and found Persinette along the way, who reported the bounty of her chat with Lyssa. The investigators returned to the barracks to pluck Rod's brain on the subject of local knowledge.
At the barracks, none of the other guards had seen Rod, and a few seemed concerned about him - Bezivil took the party to Rod's home to further the search.
At Rod's house, his wife welcomed Bezivil in, and Persinette and Tosco also went inside to talk to the family. Greysword and Thunril stayed outside so as to avoid worrying the family. Rod's wife, Ashwin, explained that she hadn't seen Rod since the previous night, and he had been acting incredibly shifty recently. For the sake of the investigation, the party searched Rod's desk. Inside, they found his notes on the strange goings-on, though they were vague. Furthermore, they found a note in his desk drawer that detailed a threat on his family if he didn't bring the anonymous writer a key of some sort. Bezivil informed Ashwin that Rod had clearly been blackmailed with a threat to the family, and offered them accomodation in the guard tower. Persinette successfully persuaded Ashwin to take up the offer of protection in the guard tower.
After some deliberation, the investigators resolved to report back to Redoras, obtain directions to the stone circle, and press the advantage of information whilst it was still fresh. At the tower, they reported the blackmail to Redoras, and obtained permission to head out to the stone circle, as well as directions. Tosco also encouraged the sheriff to check on their staff, in case any others were under duress.
With some relatively easy navigation thanks to Redoras' directions, the party approached the stone monument - a flat-top hill with the pillars of stone spread evenly atop. They approached discreetly, but Greysword went over on their ankle, drawing attention to the group. The masked mage was waiting on the hill, and set his spells and his devils against the party. During the fight, Thunril was knocked unconscious and wounded, though the party eventually drove the spellcaster into fleeing. As the masked man fled, he made a threat to Greysword: "Greysword, I'll kill you yet."
After the fight, the investigators searched the stone cirle, and found demonic writing etched on the back of the pillars, though they could not decipher it. In addition, Bezivil unearthed a map scratched into the base of one of the pillars, which marked out Broadfield, the stone circle, and a cave to the east. With that matter resolved, the party made their way back to town, safely.
Session 5 - 16/09/2022
The next morning, there was a thick fog in the air. After breakfast, the group (minus Tosco) gathered together, and had a brief conversation about finances. Deciding they needed no more supplies, the group set off into the mists. Fortuantely, Thunril's elven sense of direction led the group easily enough to the cave, albeit slower due to the weather.
At the cave, which had a small stream flowing out of it, the group proceeded into the mouth, and followed a dry, left-hand fork until they came face-to-face with a pair of demons. Fighting through underground foliage, the freelance guards eked out a strong victory over the demons, thanks to deft maneuvering from all involved. The group salvaged a spell scroll and a healing potion from the undergrowth before turning back to the other branch of the cave. The group encountered a strange water-dwelling bat which had been assigned to guard the passageways, but it offered them a chance to pass unharmed if they told a good joke. Unfortunately, none of the group were natural comedians, so the critter and two wisps attacked them. Midway through the fight, Persinette cracked a reasonable joke, and the mephit surrendered. Once the group agreed to not tell other things in the cave that it had let them through, the mephit fled upstream.
The group paused to take a breather, then explored a passageway at the top of a small waterfall. Before they did however, Tiili took the time to tell a few more jokes to the mephit, and persuaded it to tell them the layout of the cave. Behind a large wooden door was the man in the mask apparently, and down the last remaining passageway were some sort of slug creatures. Tiili and Greysword had an argument about the masked man's fate, which spiralled into Thunril and Persinette arguing about Greysword's behaviour. With a tense mood, the group pushed on to the large wooden door that apparently hid the man in the mask behind it.
At a small campsite, the masked man revealed himself, holding a knife to Rod's throat. Greysword and the masked man exchanged terse words, and the mask wearer revealed himself to be Lewin, the man who slew Greysword's wife. Incensed, Greysword charged the mage, which led the latter to slit Rod's throat. After a short fight, Lewin was slain, and Grewsword pummeled the mage's corpse until Thunril pulled him away.
However, the danger was not over yet - alongside his life, a strange crystal slipped from Lewin's grasp, and began speaking. Greysword recognised the voice to be some sort of demon - this assertion was proven correct moments later when an infernal portal opened beneath the dead mage, and not only resurrected him, screaming, but dragged him through reality to a hellscape.
In the wake of their phyrric victory, the party carried Rod's body back to town to deliver the bad news to his family.
Session 6 - 02/11/2022
On their return to town, the party met with Tosco outside of Redoras' office. Tosco was in a bad way due to food poisoning, and was saddened to see Rod's corpse. Once informed, Redoras took care of the affairs so that the party wouldn't have to deal with Rod's family, and suggested Tosco take some time to rest. They also reminded the party that the festival was concluding tomorrow, and suggested they do their best to deal with whatever dark force was still out there. Persinette and Tiili had a heart-to-heart about the nature of death, and what to do about Greysword's current temper.
Outside, Greysword explained the extent and certainty of his vengeance to Thunril, and the latter offered his assistance if they continued to travel together. Soon enough, Redoras arrived, and had Rod's body stretchered away. Thunril reminded the group that there was still a clear and present demonic threat. They each agreed to return to the cave and check for any lingering evils. Persinette and Greysword requisitioned shields from the armoury, and the group set off once more.
Back at the cave, the group faced down some strange giant amoebas, and after defeating them easily, found a weapon potency rune. Back at the shallow lake, the party once more ran into the water mephit from that morning, and easily pleased it with a joke. It told them that some friends of Lewin had been into the cave since the group left, and had mentioned that they would "abandon the plans now that the puppetmaster was dead". In a small side tunnel, the group found a large nest of crystals, and a magical leatherbound book. As Thunril handed the tome to Greysword, it exploded, damaging the whole party. Once read, it revealed that Lewin had probably been controlling the wrecker demon that the party had fought at the dome, and he was himself under control of a greater demon. Nobody could identify what the demon was that could be controlling Lewin.
