Session Recap: Cormyr Goblin War Act 3, Session 2

Read Act 1 and Act 2 recap and session 1 recap.

The first watch goes to Whitehead. Piper is largely unresponsive and ill looking. Feek dreams of a pleasant scene with the family, except it is not his, it is Proster Obarskyr's, now long dead. Hjalmar dreams of Clangeddin wrapped in a tentacle. Feek takes the second watch and spends the time talking to Nana Opal, who has rested only a little. She says she is going to her home and talks about the friend's home she watches over. Feek asks if this is Elminster and she says it is! And that she has had a good and congenial, and sometimes conjugal, relationship with the old mage since her retirement.

In the morning the party hikes a few more bells to the base of the ledge the College of Rune Magics sits upon. They decided to add it to their itinerary and begin the hike up the many stairs. At the top the encounter illusions and an old Rune Adept, Edwood. Edwood berates them and tells them to leave. They draw weapons upon him but decide he is not worth the trouble and promptly leave without exploring the largely ruined campus.

At the bottom of the stairs they find Nana Opal, who has caught up after their detour. She invites them to Elminster's Castle for a pot pie after their trip to Volkumburgh. But in conversation she lets slip that she is a retired member of the Zhentarim. After a heated exchange (only on the side of the Purple Dragons), they punch her in the face and continue on to the College of Shaping Magics.

At the top of the stairs Feek touches a runestaff embedded in the stone. He teleports to a round chamber with eight doors. The rest of the party decides to camp and see if he comes back. He opens three doors, is tossed around and the room starts filling with sand, before he opens a door to an old storage room. He finds four magical items. Another runestaff which does not do anything obvious, a set of leather armor as heavy as plate, and a tenser's flying disk that seems dysfunctional.

He then receives a sending from Hjalmar asking him his whereabouts. He responds and says it is safe. Everyone else touches the runestaff and meets him in the room before the head outside to the college campus. 

Once outside they quickly encounter undead denizens roaming the grounds. Five zombies and one wight, which they don't recognize, only notice its hateful glare. They are able to ward off the undead without any harm done.

As the shortly settle into camp, Hjalmar consecrating the ground, Stardust takes the first watch. The second watch goes to Feek who has been sleeping poorly, dreaming of a place of madness far from the material plane. He enjoys Selune high in the sky, the wind calm. When clouds cover the moon and her train of tears, a figure walks into came. It is a tabaxi. It does not deign to acknowledge Feek until he aggressively calls it out.

 The tabaxi apologizes, and says he is here to talk, calling Feek by name. He introduces himself as Stream Runs Dark and tells Feek his friends will not awaken. Feek tries to wake Hjalmar and discovers he cannot. The tabaxi then pulls out a yarting and sings a beautifully magical song. Feek is seemingly transported body and soul out of space and time, and sees a maddening and dark scene, full of loss and despair. The tabaxi stands and says he would like to speak again. Stream invites Feek to seek out Black Ice near Thunder Gap.

When the tabaxi leaves, Feek is shaken. He wakes Stardust and shortly everyone else and recounts what just happened. He does not sleep the rest of the night.

Pages Behind the Pixels: The Eye of the Beholder Trilogy and the Sparse Fiction that Accompanied It

 Eye of the Beholder released in 1991. Developed by Westwood Associates and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. for MS-DOS. It was later released on other systems and also spawned two sequels. The first, The Legacy of Darkmoon released in 1991 and developed and published by the same companies as the first. The third game, Assault on Myth Drannor, released in 1993 and was developed in-house by SSI.

All three take place in the Forgotten Realms, the focus of this blog. The first two are set in Waterdeep but the third is far to the east in the ruins of Myth Drannor. While all three were popular enough in their day, they received relatively little fiction compared to some other games (like Baldur’s Gate). In fact, there is only one story for the games, and it’s for the third. “Moonrise Over Myth Drannor” by Ed Greenwood has been reviewed on this site before. It can be read only in the game’s guide. I’m not sure if it can be found online, I cannot find it. Beyond purchasing a copy of the game with the manual, or maybe just the manual, maybe finding someone willing to share from their copy is an option?

--

You can track my current progress here.

How I got into TTRPGs

 I didn’t start with Dungeons & Dragons. I want that to be clear. I became exposed to the Realms via video games first and then novels and then I played Lost Mines of Phandelver beginning in March 2018. But I had already been playing TTRPGs for years at that point. One, really, though I had tried one other.

Let's go back to the Summer of 2013. I was visiting Illinois for the first time since I had moved away in 2008. It was my childhood home, almost all my family is still there, including my eldest brother. I had not seen him for about a year, since we moved from Florida, and we were living in Texas at the time. If you note the year, Fifth Edition, my first D&D edition, was not yet released. At the time I played a decent amount of Magic: The Gathering. That feels so long ago as I haven't played it at all in several years. But we were going to the local game stores, and we stopped by a favorite of my older brother's, Armored Gopher Games. I'm not sure on the state of it now, but at the store my older and younger brother found something. 

It was a beta test for a forthcoming Star Wars TTRPG. The way the guy-behind-the-counter spoke about it sure made it sound exciting, and guess what? The full thing had just released. Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, hot off the presses. We were broke teenagers, I think my older brother pulled through and we got the massive tome into our hands. We took it back to my friend's house, who we were staying with, and what ensued?

an ad for the game store in Saints Row IV, made by a local developer

Surely some mediocre and garbage roleplaying. We didn't know what we were doing. But I do very strongly remember that I felt like the possibilities were endless. Not in a shallow way lost in some tagline, but truly I had the world at my fingertips, uninhibited. I often felt there should be more to MTG, and now I had it.

I'm not a big Star Wars fan, but my brothers were. We played Edge of the Empire almost exclusively for five years. In 2015, when I went back to Illinois, I received a gift of the Pathfinder box starter set. I tried that out and didn't like the gaminess, the rules. Even though I'm generally more of a fantasy fan, it didn't stick. I haven't played it since. I have tried many other systems though.

But those are asides. The world of TTRPGs was opened to me more than a decade ago. I did not know they existed, I did not know what I was missing. My mother had apparently played 2e when she was in high school, but that was her friend's hobby, not hers. Well, this became a big hobby of mine. I felt like I had found a treasure trove, endless and overflowing. I still feel that way. It is why I have this project. 

I am curious, how did you get into TTRPGs? If you want to hear my brothers and I discuss our discovery of this amazing genre, check out the video below. Thank you!

--

You can track my current progress here.

Session Recap: Cormyr Goblin War Act 3, Session 1

On February 2, 2025, my group kicked off act 3 of our campaign in Cormyr. You can see recaps for acts 1 and 2 if you want. 

Only two characters from act 2 remained: Hjalmar the Red from the Earthfast Mountains, a cleric of Clangeddin; and Faelivrin, a half-elf servant (Castles & Crusades pacer class) of House Huntcrown that goes by the name of Stardust. 

We also had three new characters. First is Feek Bolb, from Saerb, a reformed follower of Loviatar that was an in-house priest for Ilmater at the College of Shaping Magics during the reign of Proster Obarskyr. When the college fell, he went into stasis and awoke at the present age with a king's tear stuck in his forehead. There is also Piper, a bard/warlock. He somehow found a patron with a much reduced in power Myrkul. His origins are not clear. Lastly, we have Whitehead Rallyhorn Joyner, a skald from Hultail and a bastard child of House Rallyhorn.

At the end of Act 2, the survivors from Vast Swamp made their way to Hector Crestfallen's camp in the Thunder Peaks. This camp is just north of Hidden Vale, a gnome village in the High Dale. The winter lasts longer at higher climes and the party waited out the rest of Mirtul waiting for the passes to be more accesible. Feek wandered into camp, and even though he is a Sembian, he was recruited to aid in the cause of the Goblin War. Whitehead and Piper were recruited for camp bards. Hector misses Magnus Trumpettower, who is busy down in Dawngleam, and so has been looking for a suitable replacement musician. He hired these two and wishes to see which proves the better, so maybe one will get fired.

Hector sent out three scouts when the weather started turning brighter, Kythorn approaching. One went to the northern passes, one in the middle north of Thunder Gap, and the last south of Thunder Gap to the borders of the High Dale and Archendale. Only the one from the north has returned, though he retrieved minor reports from the other valleys and peaks on his return. Another setback is this: Hector's forces were reassigned elsewhere. While quite a force had been recruited, the same that moved against the Norgath in Vast Swamp, Oversword Wolfwinter ordered them stationed to Thunderstone to guard the secret way through the High Dale and to Thundarlun to ward Thunder Gap. Only the player's party will be on missions in the mountains proper, to root out oppurtunists and threats to Cormyr's sovereignty during this crisis.

The biggest rumors surround giants in the vales and dragons on the ridges and peaks. These latter are with the Cult of the Dragon and the name Sibilant Shade, that mysterious figure, is still being whispered. The party eats from the mess tent and then meets with Hector in his tent.

He confirms the rumors, introduces the two prospective bards, and gives more information. He also introduces a local gnome, Gnomo, from Hidden Vale. He wants the group to show him the ropes, and to protect him.

There is a brief encounter of Hjalmar attempting to remove Feek's gem from his head, but even though he gets a great grip on it, he does not succeed. Instead, he sees a dark scene of twisting shadows and otherworldly stares. The party then heads north to Volkumburgh, with plans to stop at the College of Shaping Magics on the way. After acquiring provisions, they hit the road.

After some hours, they reach a bridge, only about 15 feet across, spanning a stream that runs into the Thunder River west of the reaches. At this bridge is a bent-with-age halfling woman berating three kobolds. These scaly fellows are pressing her for a toll to cross. The party, led by Feek, rush in to assist. As they are dispatching the three kobolds, a score more appear over the ridge across the bridge, and Whitehead is the first to meet them while Piper sings a constitution increasing song. 

But behind these kobolds comes a figure in black robes, masked to the point where it looks like the figure has no neck. He immediately casts Cloudkill. The kobolds gasp out there last while Gnomo, not knowing what is happening succombs as well. While the haze continues, choking the party, an explosion comes from in their midst. The bridge is gone! 

A voice sounds in everyone's head, the mage calls himself Khalgixer, Scion of Aurgloroasa.

Hjalmar is able to make it over to Whitehead as another fireball rocks them, pushing Piper to the brink of death. A weakened Myrkul sends him back with a spell and a scolding. Stardust and Feek have avoided the explosion by teleporting with Stardust's magical sword, Maltanecel, to the ridge where the mage lies. Feek is able to stagger him with two blows of his fists before the figure teleports to another ridge and sends a personal fireball at the two brave Purple Dragons. Stardust is brought low, but stays conscious, as a voice speaks once more: "The Sibilant Shade controls these passes, this is your warning. You are beneath me."

The party camps for the night, Hjalmar providing healing and everyone licking their wounds and mourning Gnomo.

Review: The Innkeeper’s Secret by Troy Denning

 “The Innkeeper’s Secret” is a tie-in to Beyond the High Road, book 2 in the Cormyr Trilogy. it can be found in Dragon Magazine issue #266, on pages 56-65. It was released in December 1999. This was the first fiction I had read in the magazine since reading Odom’s “Dark Legacy” in 2023.

story art by Carl Critchlow

The story opens with Princess Tanalasta Obarskyr and Vangerdahast entering a village. It’s quiet, too quiet. This village is Torrinville, and the pair travel to Condor Pass in the Storm Horns, and Huthduth must be relatively close by.

They encounter an innkeeper that tells them not to travel the pass, but doesn’t say specifically why, just that they will need up dead. 

We get an array of creatures. My favorite was the cultural play with cats, Cormyr being against harming them in law and custom. We learn of a Sorela Dunsleigh and Tanalasta teaching empathy, being neighborly, and gaining interests in “spellbeggars.” It’s a good little story, Denning is fine.

--

You can track my current progress here.

A Forgotten Realms MUD in 2024 - TorilMUD

I have played very little MUDs, unless you consider graphical ones like RuneScape. About the time I first played EverQuest, late 2012 or so, I played a MUD set in Middle-earth, Two Towers Mud, or T2T. When I was browsing a post at The Ancient Gaming Noob, a blog I've followed for years, I saw a reference to a game new to me, TorilMUD. Toril was immediately recognizable to me as the name of the planet the Forgotten Realms is set on, Faerun being a continent upon it.

I looked it up, found a very convoluted Wikipedia page, and learned it was still running in some form and that Brad McQuaid had played it before creating EverQuest. 

I quickly set up an account, made a shield dwarf named Hemvar (this race was marked with an * meaning it is easier for new players), and chose paladin as my class. I rolled stats and then began in Scardale. There are several classes, more than present D&D offers, and Barbarian is a race.

Finding out time it said it was the month of Annaxes, which is not in the Calendar of Harptos. The "Breath of Frost" subtitle indicates it is winter though. The year is 1236, DR is not indicated. The first named NPC was Khelvos Dermenn, implying this is likely around 1370 DR. Obviously the lore is not strict to the setting, this game not being an official product and it is also considerably aged, it is older than I am. 

I reccomend this Newbie Guide and this map of the starter zone. This will teach you about combat, glancing (like consider in EQ), skills, travel, quests, etc. and help with having an idea of where you are outside of just the places you can go from each area. Of course, there is a forum on the official website for more answers and to ask questions. The game also still gets updates by a figure named Shevarash.

Overall, it is low commitment if you can figure the genre out or are already familiar with it. Join up, play around. If you really want to get committed, join a raid! I will definitely log back on, as this is coming out over a year after I initially played!

--

You can track my current progress here.

Review: Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn by Philip Athans

 In the year 2000, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, the novel by Philip Athans, was released. While the first novel was released half a year after the first game, this one released with the second game. Listen to my review here.

                              

Like in the first novel, our protagonist is Abdel Adrian. Characters such as Jaheira reappear, while Minsc and Yoshiro are new to the novel story but familiar to game players. My favorite new character was the vampire elf, formerly of Suldanessellar, Bodhi. She presents as a human though. Imoen is a young woman that gets pulled along with Abdel because of her parentage too. Her arc involves some homoeroticism, particularly where some drow are concerned. 

Bhaal, Lord of Murder, is dead. His followers want to bring him back, so naturally his mortal children become targets of these machinations. We know Abdel is a surviving Bhaalspawn, and thus the story has its call to adventure.

The story begins with a nightmare where Abdel is a prisoner in a dungeon. It’s a nice set up, though we get a flashback explaining how he got there. He’s treated how heroes often are in life, torturously and in the dark. 

Shadow thieves and vampires play a part, and of course Amn, a nation south of Baldur’s Gate and Candlekeep. We get a good look at Athkatla in particular.

Abdel is still an angry but capable warrior, though he starts this story naked, in a place for rebirth of sorts. 

The plot itself is more interesting than the first. It does grey deeds well, being close to bad and good. The action is fast and bloody, like last time. But the plot is more interesting and not as ridiculous as the first. What fans of the game think of it, I’m not sure, since my exposure to its plot is limited. Overall, it is an Acceptable novel though.

--

You can track my current progress here.

Eastern Plains, Cormyr, 1370 DR: Act 2 - Campaign Recap

It is a slushy day in Mirtul. At Battlerise, a company of 200 Purple Dragons, arrayed in purple, fought the black clad cultists numbering 300 and headed by a black dragon from the ruins of Battlegate Castle. The dragon was slain and the cultists slain or scattered.

While gathering requisitions a group of select individuals were selected by the high knights to save a Huntcrown noble woman, kidnapped by fleeing cultists. This took them to the caverns below the castle where various monsters were fought, including a vampire and shapeshifters (the caverns were based on the Lost Cavenrs of Tsojconth, and yes with an o, not an a). Of course, our heroes should rightfully be mentioned. They were Stardust, a discreet servant of house Huntcrown, Clack Paddle, a local legend of the Thunder Peaks, Hjalmar of the far off Earthfast mountains and servant of Clangeddin, Manlove from Ghars, and Greg Bob the gnome.

Greg perished in the caverns and they sadly did not rescue the noble lady. Afterwards the group murdered, remember they’re not high knights, a bard before taking a historian named Shaan Smallpine into Vast Swamp. They were joined by the Paladin Raheem on the road. They came into contact with a Cormyr loyal faction of lizardfolk in the Sharptooth clan. They defeated goblins and darkenbeasts and a slaad and a Red Wizard of Thay, and sneaky Sembians. They unified the swamp. In the efforts, Clack Paddle fell to a devil at Orvaskyte Keep, Manlove fell at the Norgath village along with the lady Daoine Huntcrown. They were met there by forces of Hector’s. A fey creature named Dave Grigger and a gnome that was not all he seemed, hight Illikut, briefly joined them, and Stardust went to the mountains to ask Hector for aid at Norgath after Clack’s death. Raheem disappeared into the Astral Plane after Norgath were subjugated.

They then made their way to the Thunder Peaks.

News: The Forgotten Realms show

 Last week, while I was out of town at a conference, the news dropped about a D&D tv show, specifically a Forgotten Realms one. I have been hearing rumors of such for years, but now we have some confirmation and some solid looking plans that will likely come to fruition.

An article from Deadline tells us Netflix is looking to produce a live-action tv show. This is headed by Shawn Levy, known for Stranger Things and Deadpool & Wolverine. Drew Crevello is a writer and showrunner that wrote the pilot. 

While this is early news, and the previous shopping around did not lead to anything, I am hopeful this will lead to something good. Honor Among Thieves was a fantastic movie, and I want more of stuff like that.

Shawn Levy and Drew Crevello, note the art is not related to this project, that is the cover for 

D&D Forgotten Realms comic series from IDW Publishing that Ed Greenwood wrote in 2012.

--

You can track my current progress here.

The Sad Regression of Neverwinter Online

This is a post I have avoided for some time. Neverwinter, an MMORPG based around 4e Neverwinter in the Forgotten Realms, released in 2013. In early 2015 it went into beta on the Xbox One and released later that same year on the console. While I’ve played a tiny amount on the PC, the Xbox One beta is where I began my journey.

I was immediately gripped by a couple things. At the time I had enjoyed other video games set in the Forgotten Realms, particularly the Dark Alliance games, but I had never played Dungeons & Dragons nor read any novel set in the Realms. What really gripped me was the action in the gameplay. I’ve played many MMORPGs throughout the years, from RuneScape to World of Warcraft to EverQuest and things more far afield. I had never played one that had a limited number of attacks, that made combat fast but engaging rather than tab based. It was new and exciting! Not to mention the first time I had spent many hours on a MMO for a console, though I had tried Phantasy Star, DCUO, etc.

Besides being mechanically fun, I really became engrossed in the story. Going in the different districts of the Jewel of the North, going without to Icespire Peak, the Underdark, Helm’s Hold, and so forth. It was all a grand adventure. It was alive. By time I read my first novel in the Forgotten Realms it was a story connected to Neverwinter, and the ones afterwards were too! These were Brimstone Angels, Cold Steel and Secrets, and I even tried Gauntlgrym (before realizing that is a bad place to start with Drizzt).

It wasn’t my introduction to the Realms, but it was like puberty, pardon the analogy. It led to so much more. Reading, playing, writing this. I loved that the recent movie was set largely in Neverwinter!

It’s because of this love that I sadly feel obliged to share my disappointment. More than a year ago I tweeted this video from Josh Strife Hayes, it is too accurate: 

2015-2019 were my golden days in the game. I got married and started having children and the game took a backseat. My first room was named Hemvar and we explored things together. In 2017 I made Farideh, recognize the name? This was the first character I got to end game with. I’ll admit, I was never a big fan of how the story was handled once level 60 was hit. Or 70 for that matter. It is also free to play and has too many microtransactions, though I never spent money on the game. 

My disappointment started to blossom in 2022, when I returned to the game a little. The game had made some big changes. While it was built around 4e, a huge overhaul brought it more inline with 5e. Bard was introduced as a class, the other classes were renamed (scourge warlock became simply warlock, for example), the intro quest was revamped, and the max level became only 20. Exciting enough right?

Sure. But while most games keep adding content as they get older, this large overhaul saw much content shuttered. I realize this happens some in MMOs, I get it. But the leveling before endgame (the endgame I didn’t like much anyhow) became shorter. We lost several zones: Blackdagger Keep, Pirate’s Skyhold, Tower District, Blacklake District, and even more! I didn’t understand it or enjoy it. Some has been added back in in pieces or enhanced but only intermittently and for endgame. I don’t appreciate chopping up your game so you can make “development” easier by just using old material.

Helm's Hold

In January, almost ten years after the beta release on Xbox, I noticed I was close to getting an achievement for slaying dragons. So naturally I go to Neverdeath Graveyard, still in the game. Imagine my surprise when the green dragon, Charthraxis, wasn’t there. Just his bones. So I went to Icespire Peak, another zone still in the game. Was Merothrax (not to be confused with Cryovain) there? Just his corpse.

I feel like I’m walking in the corpse of something once great. It is depressing. The only thing I can experience of these things are my memories. I feel I must say amarast to it 

But not all is bad. While frustrating, the game still is pretty and my girls enjoy playing it. I think I’ll play it as long as the servers are up, but I can easily say I’d be there more often, like an old home, if it felt like what I remember. And that’s not just the nostalgia speaking. 

Charthraxis

That being said, I will keep on playing. It’s still fun in levels 1-20. I’m sad they cut it short, but I’ll enjoy the journey. I’ve always been a journey person in MMOs, it’s why I never really liked WoW (which is very endgame heavy even if you can max out in a day). Lord of the Rings Online, EverQuest, RuneScape: all have lovely journeys, where I can take my time and enjoy the beauty and the story, not so much the mechanics. Neverwinter is there too, just not as much as it used to be.

Tower District

Blackdagger Ruins

--

You can track my current progress here.

Eastern Plains, Cormyr, 1370 DR: Act 1 - Campaign Recap

 In Spring of 2024, I began running a campaign for three players. This was four by the end of act 1, which culminated in July. In this time, we only missed a couple weeks and sometimes we played twice in a week. That’s been the most consistent with playing we’ve been since the group members started having their own children! I wanted to give the campaign a sandbox feel but here was the premise:

Cormyr has just entered the earliest days of the Goblin War. The players are appointed high knights of the Forest Kingdom and charged with stopping any threats to the kingdom east of Wheloon while the war wages in the north around Arabel.

I came up with hooks for several places in this part of the country, and they did their best to pick a route and figure it out along the way. Now for the recap proper.

Three loyal Cormytes were summoned to Wheloon and ordained High Knights in service to King Azoun Obarskyr IV himself, but with guidance from Oversword Wolfwinter. The Oversword would stay in Wheloon while the high knights travelled the Eastern Plains bringing peace and stability and fouling any malign plots against the crown or Forest Country while war rages in the north. These three were Hector Crestfallen, a giant raised scion once of the now disgraced House Cormaeril; Magnus Trumpettower, a renowned bard from Baldur’s Gate in service to the Huntcrowns; and Miirthin Hawklin, a young noble and war wizard.

In Wheloon, while distributing food to refugees. they encountered members of the Fire Knife gang, the Redeemer’s Guild. Put to the question, a gang member revealed the organization was up to something in Dawngleam. While they travelled there, they gathered troops to Battlerise to face the Cult of the Dragon and secure the border on the Dark Flow. In Dreamer’s Rock they fought an oytugh and recruited a local farmer to keep order. They encountered someone magically transformed and refused to give aid as the law bids. They also encountered a bard, heard claims of a rival of Master Trumpettower’s deception, and heard rumors of Sembian troop movements on the border. They punished a murderer in Monksblade, slew a hoos-snake and bought some magical items at a local store. In Gorthin, they met unlawful practices. A small fest hall was refusing to pay its employees, but worse, they were killing and serving cats! This blasphemy was met with the removal of the innkeeper.  In Kirinwood they went into the Tower that Would not Fall and felled it, after looting it. This removed a hazard from the environs. In Wormtower they bought apple butter and slew leucrotta left by a mysterious fellow, who also left behind a letter. It was at this last stop that Lucky the triton Paladin of Sune joined the trio.

There once was a young man named Magnus

Who was has in a wood by the abraxus

And he liked it so good

That he stayed in the wood

Just as long as the abraxus stayed erectus.

- Yohn Ravenwood

At Dawngleam they found two gangs openly fighting, the Fire Knives and Night Masks. They tried to find the origins of the letter. Loyalties were hard to deduce as a Zhentarim agent was pulling strings and playing factions against each other. After the death of the mayor, a raid from sea, gnolls, a fireball in an old inn, a raid on a warehouse, kidnappings, executions, discharging justice, and much more, things climaxed. In an old elven fortress, the Soond Shar, things culminated in the founding of a Cormyr sword of state, Shiningbite, and the Zhentarim agent’s demise. Peace was restored to the port, the gangs driven out, and a new mayor elected after the death of the last, the high knight Magnus Trumpettower himself.

This is the summarized version. Hopefully you can tell that a great many things occurred. Overall, the players were happy. I was even told by the two I’ve run with the longest that it was the best they had ever played! The options and puzzle that they did not guess but were close to unraveling (and so it made sense when all was revealed) was satisfying. Note: don’t trust priests of Diancastra. 

This was largely inspired by my reading of the Cormyr Trilogy. Though books like Murder in Cormyr and to a lesser degree many, many more, did inspire this. The party ran into the likes of Sharantyr, Kromlech, and even Florozt'a and co. We played act 1 in 5e. It had been a while since I had ran as Dungeon Master. With that under our belt, we returned to my preferred DnD version: Castles & Crusades. More on that in the act 2 recap!

--

You can track my current progress here.