A Feast for Crows. Campaign Journal: Session 1.

Totems of the Dead: A Feast for Crows.

Campaign Journal: Session 1

Real World Date: Saturday, January 31, 2015

Campaign World Date: Days 1-2, Month of Planting, 112 Summers since the Founding of the League of the Longhouse

 

The Heroes

 

Jeremy

Ohanzee. A skilled bowman.

 

Heath

Built-Like-A-Bear. A warrior who, strangely enough, is not built like a bear. He fights with two weapons.

 

Brandon

Haldor. A warrior who fights with his fists. Helgrim is his brother.

 

Devin

Zogar. A human who can turn into a lynx.

 

Keanu

Hope. A shaman. Faith is her sister.

 

Miranda

Faith. A shaman. Hope is her sister.

 

Steven

Helgrim. A Skadian warrior. Haldor is his brother.

Know, Oh Prince, What Has Happened Before Our Tale Begins . . .  

The city of Ottnondaeg in the lands of the League of the Longhouse has been beset by strange illnesses. These are believed to be the work of the nigh invulnerable Necromancer who dwells in the swamplands and demands tribute, fancying himself the de-facto ruler of the region.

Songs from the loremasters of your tribes say that years ago a demon terrorized the lands around the city of Lahnoak in the lands of the Wannua Confederacy. Then a warrior named Isiqua came to Lahnoak to kill the demon. He had a jade knife blessed by the shamans of the League of the Longhouse. Tales say that he entered a cave where the demon laired, but never returned. However, the demon never again appeared. It would seem that Isiqua sacrificed himself to kill the demon.

Based on this tale, the loremasters reason that Isiqua’s knife is somewhere in the demon’s cave. You have come to the city of Lahnoak in hopes of finding the magic item. You will then return to Ottnondaeg and use the Knife to kill the Necromancer!

Let Me Tell You of the Days of High Adventure!

 

Saving a Seer

· Angry Dog the Seer is being attacked by a band of scoundrels.

· An imp disguised as a crow.

· The seer tells the party that there is evil in Lahnoak. Someone is disturbing the spirits through sorcery. She doesn’t know who, though.

· Angry Dog has the gift of the Second Sight. She is able to give the party a portent: “A sorcerer of great power seeks to unlock the mystery of a Totem of the Dead”.

· Totems of the Dead are ancient stone effigies that imprison powerful and alien spirits. Evil sorcerers and cults have always sought out these totems for nefarious purposes. With the recent turmoil in the spirit world, many of the wards and spells that hid and guarded the Totems are failing.

Meeting the Leaders of the Lahnaypay Tribe

· Broken Arrow the chieftain.

· Bloodhawk the shaman.

· According to the laws of the Lahnaypay tribe, no one may enter the Demon’s Cave, under penalty of death. The City of Lahnoak is in need of food. The Party offers to find food in return for being allowed to enter the Cave.

Finding Food for Lahnoak

· Short Extended Task: Survival. Success!

Spirit Dance

· Bloodhawk is impressed that the party was able to secure food for the city. He calls for a Spirit Dance to divine the will of the Spirits of the Ancestors. After the dance, Bloodhawk says that the Ancestors are pleased with the actions of the party. He gives them permission to enter the cave. However, he demands the Knife.

Exploring the Demon’s Cave

· 6 statues of demonic creatures. Fear checks. Blows with a tomahawk, an iron axe, and a fist do no damage to the statues.

· Another room. Sulfur smell. Explosion when the party’s torch is brought into the cave.

· Drawings of human sacrifice on the walls and a strange creature: a tentacled body and a seal-like head bearing a multitude of spider-like eyes; its long arms end in clawed fins and its enormous gaping mouth is a mass of jagged tusks arranged in shark-like multiple rows.

· Faith tells everyone that this is Tornassuk, an ancient deity of deep caverns and the ocean depths. It consumes those souls unworthy of entering the Eternal Hunting Grounds after death. Once every few centuries, this wrathful deity has been known to rise up from the underworld and above the waves to satiate its unnatural hunger on the bodies and souls of the living, devastating entire communities and driving all who look upon it mad with terror. Tornassuk’s cultists worship it out of fear and the dark desire to understand the spirit’s sorcerous secrets of power over life and death.

· Another room. Cliff top, 100 feet down. Hundreds of skeletons (not undead) at bottom. As the party descended, strange human like creatures attacked. They were able to climb the walls easily and their touch caused paralysis. [I used the stats for the Ghouls out of the Fantasy Companion. I changed their paralyzing attack to a target being automatically Shaken when hit, before the damage dice were rolled.]

· The party had to explore the pile of bones for the Knife, while fighting off the creatures. They eventually found a jade dagger etched with runes that glowed slightly when touched. They found another jade knife next to it as well. This one did not have runes and did not glow when touched.

Meeting the Atlanteans

· As the party exits the cave, they are confronted by a large, mysterious group of warriors. They wear strange, blue armor; and carry long daggers. Atlanteans!

· The Atlanteans demand the Knife.

And that’s where we stopped for the night.

Active Hooks

Find Isiqua’s Knife and return to the lands of the League of the Longhouse with it.

Other Hooks

Kill the Necromancer.

XP

1 Experience Point awarded. We spent the first half of the session on character creation. Actual gaming was about 2 hours.

Ohanzee 21 XP

Built-Like-A-Bear 21 XP

Haldor 21 XP

Zogar 21 XP

Hope 21 XP

Faith 21 XP

Helgrim 21 XP