Episode 35
📜 Session 35 – “One Night in Longmorn”
1️⃣ Opening & Housekeeping
The table rolls through a quick roll‑call, everyone gives consent to record, and a colonoscopy joke lands on the table. Laughter eases the group into the night’s adventure.
2️⃣ Shopping Spree – Gear, Books & Oddities
The party did quite a bit of shopping, purching several mundane adventuring supplies, potions, enchanted items and books. Voscheck was the only one to sell anything, and pocketed a good bit of gold for an unused set of +1 Studded Leather.
DM/Player Followup Needed For:
- Dirk - Who purchased "1 of everything" on page 1 of The Ranger Station, and now needs a total weight for encumberance.
- Voscheck - Detail for "Binding the Arcane" and "Chronomancy" books.
3️⃣ The Skull‑Gilding Mini‑Quest (Aubrey’s Alchemical Art)
While the party is still in Longmorn, Aubrey makes good on her commission to gild a human skull and earns her magic mirror from Ephemeralda.
- Mix the gold solution – Arcana + alchemist’s ring → she rolls a natural 20 and the liquid stabilizes instantly.
- Apply while chanting – Performance (22) with help from Peppercorn; the gold spreads like molten sunrise, no streaks.
- Polish & mount – Sleight of Hand (18) finishes the piece flawlessly.
Result: a gleaming skull ready for delivery without the extra several days the party feared. The swift success frees up a full week of downtime for studying spells and several tips hither and tither to the Tower of Malignius library and component stores!
4️⃣ Ship‑Salvage Skill Challenge – The Wayward Heart
The wreck sits half‑buried in a dark cove, waves crashing against jagged coral. The weather threatens, and a rising tide makes switf action paramount. Six rounds of coordinated checks move the vessel from reef to dock.
| Round | Problem | Key Skills | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – Plug Hull | Find & seal biggest breach. | Investigation / Persuasion (rally dwarves). | Two breaches sealed; a few dwarves dragged under, rescued unconscious but alive. |
| 2 – Raise Mast | Build lever to lift broken mast. | Carpenter’s Tools (Int) + Athletics aid. | Mast raised, makes way for a temporary crane. |
| 3 – Tow‑line Prep | Choose sturdy wood & treat rope with gooey glue. | Survival + Alchemy (ring) → 23 total. | Rope holds; skeptical dwarf persuaded → later advantage. |
| 4 – Pull Ship Off Reef | Tug‑of‑war with dwarves, keep morale high. | Performance (22) to inspire, Athletics assistance. | One dwarf slips, timber falls, rope snaps; dwarf knocked out, hull takes extra damage. |
| 5 – Tow to Dock & Sea Serpent | Navigate while a small sea serpent slithers onto deck. | Intimidation (16). | Serpent flees into the surf. |
| 6 – Final Docking & Shimming | Carve shims, treat injured dwarves, inspire a human pyramid. | Intelligence (23) for carpentry, Medicine (20) for wounds, Performance (23). | Ship shimmed perfectly; all dwarves patched up (natural 20 medicine). |
Result:
- Hull HP: 260 / 300 (Excellent).
- Speed: 30 ft. (unchanged).
- Ballista: All four functional.
- Repair time: 1 week (thanks to some quick thinking and an "ahem"... replacement worker or two summoned by Voscheck).
- Casualties: No permanent deaths; a handful of non‑lethal injuries.
5️⃣ The Bear‑Quest – Leah Arrives
After the ship is secured, Leah, Longmorn’s ranger, appears with a tiny baby bear cub (the one rescued from the tower). She explains:
- The cub’s mother, Makota, has been tearing down fences and raiding fish stalls while searching for it.
- Makota shares a den with her younger sister.
- Returning the cub could earn the party a new animal companion—the sister bear—and lasting goodwill.
Leah hands a hand‑drawn map fragment showing an elevator down to the Nipper River delta, then a winding path through marshes toward “Bear Island”.
6️⃣ Marsh Trek – From Town to Bear Island
🚡 Elevator Descent
The party steps into a creaky lift that clanks down between sheer cliffs. A rusty pulley system groans as they descend, the smell of damp stone filling their nostrils.
🏚️ Fisherman’s Shack (First Encounter)
At the riverbank they find an abandoned shack, its door ripped off its hinges. Inside:
- Evidence of a bear – broken fishing rods, torn nets, and fresh bear tracks across the floor.
- Supplies – a pipe, a tin of tobacco, a weather‑worn broken terracotta cup.
🎣 The Fishing Finagle
The group decides to try their luck for catching bear bait and after about an hour and a half spent fishing, manage a handful of sizable fish, along with a couple comically small ones.
🐇 Talking to the Rabbit
While tracking onward, a rabbit darts out from the underbrush, twitching its nose at the party.
- Animal Handling and Speek with Animals later: The rabbit pauses, eyes them curiously, then hops forward and sits on a dry patch of ground.
- The rabbit “speaks”, revealing knowledge of the surrounding area and a biggoted hatred of squirrels. it's ears perk up toward a higher, drier trail, then it scurries away, effectively pointing the party around a treacherous bog.
The group follows the rabbit’s guidance, saving roughly an hour that would have been lost slogging through muck.
🏞️ Shortcut & Cliff‑Scaling Mishap
Presented with terrain that alternates between hills, marsh, and a small rocky ravine, the party decides to scale the small cliffs rather than going around or thru or under it ("We're going on a bear hunt!)
- Bryn’s Leap – With her strength and bug-bearess tallents, she launches herself 20 ft into the air (Athletics 19) and grabs the edge.
- Rope Setup – She throws a rope down for others to climb, then pulls up Dirk's rope ladder to make it even easier.
- Dirk and Voscheck Take a Tumbel: - Still, climbing a rope ladder up a sheer 20 foot incline is no small feat, and a few bruised buttocks and dignitiy result.
🌾 Swamp Navigation (BugBear Guided)
Attop the outcropping, Brynn surveys the land and feels she found a shortcut through the swamp. The party doesn't question her read of the land, and set forth... leading to them getting lost in the swamp for another 90 minutes before recovering their bearings!
7️⃣ Encounter on Bear Island
A young brown bear (Sister Bear) stands near a clump of berry bushes, startled by the party’s arrival.
- Animal Handling (Peppercorn, 14) → Sister Bear sniffs, rolls onto her back, and allows gentle tummy rubs.
- She grants Pepepercorn a Bear’s Blessing: +1d4 damage on his next melee attack and a promise to aid the party later.
The party feeds her the freshly caught fish; she munches happily, clearly content, and has a warm reunion with her niece cub.
Sister Bear tells the party that Makota, the mother bear, is trapped deep in their cave den by "evil rocks". Sister Bear doesn't want to enter the cave alone, having been driven out by the evil, though she displays great enthusiasm for mauling the skulls of evil and licking the cheese out from Dirks goblin toes...
8️⃣ Pause & Cliffhanger
The session ends at the cave entrance, with Sister Bear warning of the dangerous rocks within and urging caution. The party decides to call it a night before confronting the cavern next time.