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A SIMPLE DELIVERY

9 Eleint, 1385 DR

Our first session of D&D Next used the most recent package made available in December 2012. We used the pre-generated characters. Here is a truncated explanation of what happened in the first session.

The characters were all traveling in a small caravan of two wagons. Each had their own reasons for going from the city of Threshold to Falstaff, but primarily Xe was to deliver his mysterious box to an equally mysterious place.

The trip went without incident for the first few hours, but then suddenly all Hell broke loose. Men appeared on either side of the road, firing crossbow bolts, arrows, and sling bullets at the wagons. The driver of the first Wagon, Travevon, was hit and knocked from his seat almost immediately. To add to the chaos, the second wagon was hit with bottles of Alchemist fire, causing it to ultimately explode in a blast of fire and shattered wood.

The attackers were dressed in heavy black hooded capes. They seemed to be trained well, and operated as a unit. They broke into groups of three and four to engage the caravan guards and passengers.

The characters worked together to defend themselves. Rippin and Waldamar fought off the cloaked men savagely, risking life and limb to defend the remaining wagon and its passengers. Chak took the reins of the wagon, and urged the horses to rush away from the ambush site.

Xe used his Owl Familiar to located and attack three humanoids who seemed to be observing the ambush from afar. Xe was able to seriously wound a woman whom he discerned was a Drow Elf wearing heavy dark clothing, and dark-lensed goggles. She was accompanied by two large hulking creatures who resembled disfigured and mutated Ogres.

These two brutes would ultimately end up getting ahead of the wagon, and attempting to block its path. However, Chak tossed one of his daggers with deadly accuracy, skewering one of the creatures in the eye. It howled, and stumbled off into the woods. Rippin charged the other, swinging his Dwarf Axe and knocking the mutated beast off balance long enough to allow Walamar to land two hits with his arrows. The second brute screamed in pain, and tumbled into the side of the road as the wagon rolled wildly past.

The box ended up being dropped from the wagon, recovered by Rippin, and then passed off to Chak. As a ploy to deter the raiders from chasing them, Chak tossed the box from the wagon. Chak was not concerned about this because he had already picked the lock and removed the odd contents. The box went flying, and Xe saw it tumbling through the air through wide, horrified Elven eyes.

Xe jumped from the swiftly moving wagon, reaching out for the box. He was tasked with delivering this box to Falstaff by his Mentor and Master. He would not fail. He grabbed the box, hugged it close to his frame, and crashed mercilessly to the ground. Reeling with pain, wind knocked out of him, Xe looked up to see the wagon rumbled ahead, and then jolting to a sudden stop.

It was then that they noticed the dark plume of blackness emerging from the trees behind them, and off into the woods. The black cloud ascended slowly, filling the already dimly lit sky. And then suddenly there were eyes in the darkness. Bright orange eyes glared out, and flashed with anger.

Black_Dragon_by_BenWootten

A huge black dragon, scales glimmering with wetness as if having risen from a swamp, swooped elegantly out of the black cloud and roared with a screech that shook the trees. The dragon hovered there for a moment, scanning the roadway, and centered its gleaming eyes on the wagon … and the characters.