Dramatis Personae - An Update

Out here in the corner of the United States we just learned that as of tomorrow we're going back into COVID-19 lockdown, this time for four weeks.  The very first outbreak of the disease occurred less than two miles from our home in Kirkland, and Washington was one of the first states to basically shut itself down.  This time around it doesn't sound like it will be quite as severe as before, but pretty close.  We've been lucky - neither my wife (Holly / Katla) or I have been sick and no one close to us has come down with COVID.  Plus we're both still working and earning paychecks.  But like probably everyone else we're just tired.  Tired of working from home.  Tired of not being able to travel.  Tired of seeing our favorite small businesses shut their doors for good.  Tired of not seeing our friends.

Thankfully we have our D&D game via Zoom.  I think we're around nine months into our campaign at this point and we're consistently playing once per week.  It gives us something to look forward to each week, as well as text fodder.  And for me, Defenders of Phandalin has opened up a creative outlet that I'm grateful to have.  We all want to get together to play some sessions in person, but that's going to have to wait a while longer I guess.  Did I mention that the five of us have never, ever been together in the same place in the United States?  I had to add that clarifier because, oddly enough, the only place we've all been together is Reykjavik, Iceland, and we've done that three times so far for the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival.

Anyway... our last 16 gaming sessions have seen the party adventuring in Avernus, the first layer of hell, and those sessions make up Defenders of Phandalin.  I'm not sure how many more sessions we'll have there, but I wouldn't be surprised if we're somewhere around the halfway point.  If you've been keeping up to date on our adventures, thank you!  We're about 98,000 words into our story, the equivalent of a roughly 250 page novel.  I'm not going to lie - doing about 5,000 words per week takes a fair amount of time, and I know if I miss a week I'll probably never catch back up, but it's been a ton of fun and the fact that a handful of folks outside our group are reading it is just icing on the cake.  I only wish I would have started it when Almont and the kids were just wet-behind-the-ears adventurers escorting a merchant's goods from one town to another and dealing with an ambush by four goblins.  They've come a long way since then.

By way for further backstory, the party ended up using the village of Phandalin as a base of operations when they first started out.  They helped drive out the Redbrands gang, killing their leader the wizard Glass Staff, as well as destroying the orcs that were hurting the regions trade.  As a way of showing thanks the villagers allowed the adventurers to take over the abandoned Tresendar Manor, which they cleaned up and improved upon using their share of the earnings of a mine at Wave Echo Cave they helped liberate from the undead. 

When their skills became more widely known the Order of the Gauntlet asked them to travel to Baldur's Gate to retrieve an evil artifact, the possessed Shield of the Hidden Lord.  While there they met the paladin Reya, who joined them on their journey to Avernus, as well as their other companion, the hollyphant Lola.  They retrieved the shield, which should have been the end of the mission, but once they learned that Elturel had been transported to hell they decided to journey there to see if they could save the city and its inhabitants. 

Since arriving in Avernus as 5th level adventurers they've advanced steadily, making it to 9th level last week.  Their powers are growing, as is their inventory of magical items, so I figured it might be a good time to make sure everyone is up to speed on what the party members have at their disposal as well as their backstories, portions of which have been shared on Defenders of Phandalin.  Because some of you may also be players, I'll include some game-specific info that my be useful.

Almont Bonecrusher (Player - Jeff):  Almont is a male human war cleric, a holy man and warrior in the service of the god Kiri-Jolith.  Kicked out of his parents' home at a young age, Almont grew up quickly living in the streets.  Eventually he became a gang leader and was beginning to live a close-to-normal life when a rival murdered his woman and left him for dead.  While recovering from his wounds he made a pact with Kiri-Jolith, agreeing to serve the god in return for the ability to extract his revenge, which he did in grisly fashion.  After that he became a mercenary for a time before striking out on his own, eventually ending up on that fateful mission to escort a merchant's goods alongside Kent, Katla, and Donyxn.  The four have been inseparable ever since.

Pale skinned and with jet black hair down to the middle of his back, the cleric has a scar running from the edge of his right eye to the corner of his mouth.  He and Donyxn are the two toughest characters in the party (74 HP) and he prefers to get into close combat when possible.  Almont is armored with a +1 breastplate and a +1 ring of protection (AC 19).  His primary weapons are a +2 warhammer and a +1 mace called Lightbringer, and since he has the Dual Wielder Feat he often uses both at the same time.  In addition to being a +1 magic mace, Lightbringer can be used to radiate light, it will automatically radiate light in the presence of the undead, and it inflicts extra damage (an additional d6) to the undead.  Almont also has a non-magical crossbow and a pair of daggers.  An adept spell caster (Wisdom 20) and a cleric, Almont keeps a number of different healing spells prepared at all times as well as some attack magic such as Guided Bolt, Inflict Wounds, Sacred Flame, and most recently Flame Strike.  He can also use his magic to allow others to Water Walk and to Control Water, things he has yet to use in Avernus... but he's been eying that River Styx...

Almont is a member of the Order of the Gauntlet, a loosely organized group of good-aligned warriors who take it upon themselves to right wrongs and take on missions that legitimate rulers either can't or won't handle.  He's also the de-facto party treasurer, carrying the magic Bag of Holding that allows them to easily transport a significant volume of items.

Donyxn (Player - Norberto):  Donyxn is a male tiefling ranger.  Tieflings are part human and part infernal, meaning he has devils in his bloodline.  His rust-red skin, horns, tail, and disturbing mercury eyes make him hard to miss.  People view him with suspicion back in the material plane where the characters live, but he feels right at home in the hot and windy plains of Avernus.  Donyxn dreamed of being a noble paladin knight as a child but failed during the trails, his dreams crushed.  He was later taken in as the apprentice and student by an ancient drow elf who taught him the ways of the ranger.  He and Kent met and were friends prior to the job that brought them together with Katla and Almont.

As a ranger he is an expert with the bow and very adept at tracking and befriending animals.  He is the sturdiest member of the party (77 HP) and seems to have a knack for avoiding damage and injuries in combat, using his bow to stay away from direct attacks.  He is protected by leather armor (AC 17) and aided by a very high dexterity (Dexterity 18).  In battle he prefers to use the +1 longbow that was custom made for him in Avernus, and he has a handful of magic arrows he can use with it as well.  When the fighting gets in close he uses a +1 longsword.  He wears a magic pair of goggles called the Eyes of the Eagle to enhance his already above average vision.  Donyxn has some spellcasting abilities too, most notably the Hail of Thorns that often accompanies his arrows, and the thus far little-used Hellish Rebuke that allows him to cast fire upon a person or creature who injures him.

Donyxn is a member of the Emerald Enclave, a secret society devoted to preventing the use of powerful magic for destructive purposes.  He seems to have a story for every occasion, even we're not always sure if they're true...

Katla (Player - Holly):  Katla is a female high elf.  Her early years (and given how long elves live, we're talking decades) were spent as a scholar.  She and her mentor discovered a way to predict the arrival of a portal to the land of the Drem elves, an event that changed the course of Katla's life when her mentor was taken by the Drem and the Drem leader unlocked the magic powers that Katla did not she possessed.  She is the oldest member of the party by a significant number of years, but had no significant adventuring experience before meeting Donyxn, Kent, and Almont.  As the most charismatic of the group (Charisma 20) she often speaks on their behalf.

Katla does her best to avoid physical combat, but she is adept with the quarterstaff and carries a brace of throwing stars.  Though she is unarmored, she carries a magic Staff of Defense and wears Bracers of Defense making her difficult to hit (AC 18), which is good because she's also the physically weakest of the characters (Strength 8, 56 HP).  She does most of her damage from a distance using spells and is especially fond of effects that involve fire, though she's had to branch out during the journey through hell since many creatures there have resistance to flame.  She also utilizes Chaos Bolts, Chromatic Orbs, and Rays of Frost to great effect.  In addition to the Staff of Defense she also wields a Spider Staff that allows her to cast sticky (and flammable) webs as well as imbue her and her companions with the ability to walk on vertical surfaces (Spider Climb).  

Katla is a Harper, part of a semi-secret organization devoted to preserving history and maintaining the balance between nature and civilization.

Kent Karrus (Player - Andy):  Kent is a male dwarf rogue with a tragic backstory, having watched his family butchered and their business burned to the ground as well as having the love of his life die in his arms.  All in the same afternoon.  During the years he spent wandering and on the run he met Donyxn and the two became fast friends, eventually adding Almont and Katla to their circle.  It was this new family who helped Kent get revenge against David for all the destruction he had caused in Kent's life.

Kent is fairly hardy (Tough Feat, 66 HP), and while he can be quite dangerous at a distance with his pistol crossbow he often gets right into the fray, his studded leather armor and magic Cloak of Protection (AC 17) making him hard to hurt.  He wears magic Boots of Striding and Springing that allow him to move quickly through battlefields, and the roguish sneak attacks he can unleash on a foe already engaged with another character are quite deadly (extra 5d6 damage).  When fighting in close he relies on his magic Scimitar of Speed.  Two other magic items Kent utilizes to great effect and creativity are his Wand of Magic Missiles and Immovable Rod.

Is Kent part of a secret society as well?  No one knows for sure.  What they do know, however, is he has a weakness for tapestries, and there are at least four purloined wall-hangings currently in the party's Bag of Holding.  He plans to use to decorate their house in Phandalin.  He's also incredibly lucky (Lucky Feat) regardless of the situation.

Dungeon Master (Tristen):  We can't forget our intrepid DM!  Tristen's been running a solid game so far, keeping us honest and not letting us get too powerful.  We've thrown him some curveballs, but he's hit them all so far.

So there's the update kids.  Hopefully that gets you up to speed in time for Session #17!

(Oh, and if you're wondering how I made those cool character images above, check out HERO FORGE! You can even order them as your own custom miniature!)