WMD's D&D Campaign: Strixhaven University

[WMD]

Session 34


[Got to have another in person session this weekend!]

We pick back up with Kaylah's free time
the gang finalise what spells they're readying and Kaylah with Timmy, Archemedes and Elleva go to wait outside the Student Mages of Faith Club. Even though they aren't hiding Shuvadri is in conversation with a group of other girls as she leaves and doesn't notice the gang.

Kaylah calls out to Shuvadri, who dismisses the girls, who in turn, look annoyed, and serenely glides over to the gang. Kaylah introduces herself and Timmy then immediately cuts to the chase asking her about what happened to Timmy. Kaylah notices a brief look of shock on Shuvadri who starts off coy saying it's complicated and, Archemedes and Elleva immediately turn on the intimidation.

Shuvadri then reveals her past; how a trickster God named Lowenwreck came to her homeland but as it gained notoriety its tricks became bigger and bigger until calamity struck and it wrought devastation. The only way to stop it was to use a special ritual to trap it in a willing sacrifice and Shuvadri was that sacrifice.

Lowenwreck is always trying to break free and/or take control of Shuvadri's body so she is in a constant battle of wills with it. It seems it has taken note of Timmy as a person of renown who has won a great magical staff and wants to use Timmy to grow its own renown and strength. Shuvadri had known something had happened but didn't know what and if she dies Lowenwreck will be set free.

Throughout the conversation Lowenwreck is briefly brought out sneering TIMMY! and Shuvadri, regaining control, excuses herself as she must rest and meditate. The previously dismissed girls are all suddenly back at her side and lead her away.

Py goes to the Entrepreneurs Club and shows Grayson the upgrade package for the Cogwork Archivists. Grayson is impressed and says he can set up a meeting with officials at the uni through the Silverquill Dean of Radiance, Shaile Talonrook.

They discuss the increase of wierd events happening and Py mentions the odd book that his rival Newton has out of the Biblioplex. Grayson immediately looks panicked and drags Py off to a secluded area. Py has CAS follow and start recording their conversation.

[At this point I take Py's player out of the room so we can continue this discussion in private without the others knowing.]

Grayson warns Py about Newton, that he's plotting to take over the Uni. The reason for Newton's family meteoric rise to wealth and influence is because of Grayson's family assistance. Assistance they were forced into as they have abducted Grayson's sister and they haven't been able to find where she's being kept. Grayson has no choice but to work for Newton. He knows people hate him and that he's doing bad things but he wants to keep his sister safe. He also reveals the The story about Bran and Leucis was brought to him by Newton. He fears he is the public face for Newton's crimes and when Newton doesn't need him any more he will become a fall guy so Newton stays in the clear. He also knows Newton is smuggling stuff into the Uni but doesn't know what. Py wonders if it might be the chitin and explains their investigation. Grayson promises to look into Proffessor Lang and check whether she's safe to confide in.

Py reveals he's been recording their conversation and they could add that functionality to the upgrade package with control software. Grayson thinks this is brilliant and asks Py if he can hide it in the design. They come up with a plan to leak the upgrade package to Newton so he can bring it to the Uni and feel like he's got one over on Py. Then they will be able to spy on Newton.

Py says he'll speak to the others to get them to back off but Grayson fears that Newton may become suspicious as he probably plans to use Archemedes to dispose of Grayson eventually. So Archemedes and Grayson will have to continue their dance to try and take each other down for appearances sake.

From all this Py jumps from +2 to +4 with Grayson and gains a daily inspiration die and also Artificer's Pride:

Through your discussion with Grayson about upgrades for the Cogwork Archivists you have made a startling discovery!

You gain an extra use of Infused Item that can only be used on CAS. The infusion must come from your Infusions Known list.

Py then collects everyone in Archemedes room, has CAS cast silence around them and plays them the recording of his conversation with Grayson. Everyone is dumbfounded by this revelation and Ophelia who knows Grayson from The Strixhaven Star has never heard Grayson sound so panicked and distressed. He's normally so agrrogant and composed.

Deciding she trusts the story she reveals her discovery of the Journal, that it linked the events of last year, that the scrawls they found in Witherbloom matched it and the name Murgaxor and its Bullywug etymology. She also informs them that Mina also knows about the journal.

Elleva wants to go study in the Biblioplex as they now have a lot to uncover with these recent revelations and also need to retrieve a book for Proffessor Blackstone. The gang goes with her and they get the key for the Scriptoria Collection and head down.
In their first hour in the room:

• Py searches for the book for the proffessor and finds it.
• Archemedes finds a new poisons book.
• Elleva finds one of the potions books Uzmaktok reccomended.
• Timmy finds a book about Lowenwreck.
• Ophelia searches for the symbols from Murgaxor's Journal but comes up empty handed.
• Kaylah searches for info on bullywugs and also comes uo empty handed but shes having fun ganging out with everyone.

In their second hour searching the room:

• Py searches for info about the Chitin and finds a passage about Mage Hunters. Fearsome beats who hunt down powerful mages in pairs.
• Timmy searches for writings matching the scrawls from the journal but comes up empty handed
• Ophelia finds information about bullywugs.
• Archemedes and Kaylah Search for the name Murgaxor. Kaylah isn't much help but Archemedes finds a curious passage from 200 years ago referencing a student who practiced life draining magic with an aura very similar to the stage aura they sensed in Witherbloom. Every mention of the student's name (who was expelled) has been redacted.

All of a sudden an Astrolabe against the wall starts moving producing tentacle and attacks! Kaylah immediately manages to stun it and keep it stunned, so it is defenceless as the group wittle it down and defeat it.


They find more pieces of chitin in wounds on teh creatures body and surmise it was coerced by Mage Hunters to wait here and ambush prey. The group then do a focused search for info on the Mage Hunters and manage to find out more about them.

They do one last search of the room looking for campus maps or secret door but do not find anything. As they leave and return the key Elleva transforms into a spider and follows the staff member to see where the keys are kept. The group then go an deliver the book to Proffessor Blackstone who is delighted and promises them extra credit on their next exams!

 

[WMD]

Session 35

We pick up with Ophelia heading to the Strixhaven Star Offices hoping to see Mina and/or Grayson. She quickly finds Mina and discreetly beckons her over to a quiet area to discus matters. She reveals the info that Py discovered about Grayson also being blackmailed and that they need to rethink their investigation.

Mina wants to speak to Grayson but Ophelia warns they need to maintain the look of the investigation. Ophelia doesn't want to reveal too much at this point incase theyvare being watched but asks Mina to look into Grayson's family and other rich families, their relationships and if their are any rumoured secret societies. They need to be careful as this is bigger than they realised and decide to also look into methods to protect their work, and so they head to the Biblioplex.

At the Biblioplex they start looking around for books that might help. Ophelia is a bit stressed and isn't much help but Mina finds some interesting tidbits. The only spell they find is Illusory Script which would be a good back up option but not ideal as it only last 10 days. Ophelia wonders if she should start using the spell to protect her notes around exam time.

However, Mina also finds information about Eberron Spellshards which can hold the equivalent of one book that's no more than 320 pages long and requires a password. They do research into Eberron and discover its another planet and that there is trade between the 2 worlds with some civilizations on Arcavios having trade with specific ones on Eberron.

One night while the group are hanging out together they bump into Erky and Metsutha who inform them the retention pool behind the Tavern has been drained for cleaning so teh students have turned it into a mages skate park and there's going to be a competition! They get to use a training wand to try and improve their skills!

They notice a stand doing organised betting (a response to Archemedes fleecing everyone previously!) and Py wanders over to check it out and make bets. He places a bet on Kaylah to win her first match and take the tournament as a whole.

[As 5 wanted to enter I had them roll to see which rivals would be included and then rolled to see who would compete against whom]

QF1 Ophelia vs Shuvadri
Ophelia uses her mind to calculate all the angles and maximise her effort! A competent and successful attempt.
Shuvadri spots Timmy in the crowd mid jump which causes Lowernwreck to momentarily try and break free causing her to stumble and fall!
Ophelia progresses!

QF2 Timmy vs Nora
Timmy uses the wand to manipute and spin board in the air and then to crontrol it to land again! The crowd love it.
Nora tries to use brute strength to gain as much air as possible but over does it and misses her landing!
Timmy progresses!

QF3 Elleva vs Tilana
Elleva goes for big jump into grind around the edge of the pool showing a great display of balance and technique!
Tilana goes to use wand but gets distracted by Ophelia and produces a sub oar display.
Elleva progresses!

QF4 Archemedes vs Kaylah
The competition comes alive in the fourth match. Archemedes is out doing flips and spins using his wings to guide his body.
However Kaylah does it better. Using her years as a dancer and training as a monk to put on a real spectacle for the crowd including a somersault!
It's a close one but Kaylah progresses!

SF1 Ophelia vs Timmy
Ophelia trash talks Timmy before the match getting into his head!
She then uses the wand to help her do a large Q in the air mid jump!
Tim nervously drops in, gets air to do a flip and tries to cast fireball straight up but unfortunately it sails over teh crowd and into a nearby tree!
O phelia progresses!

SF2 Elleva vs Kaylah
Elleva changes into weasel in the middle of spin and then changes back to land but messes it up loses the board in mid air!
Kaylah steps up amd produces a double somersault!
Elleva throws her board down in a strop and stomps off!
Kaylah progresses!

Final Ophelia vs Kaylah
Feeling a bit miffed at other people's big choices Ophelia decides to copy/outdo Timmy and cast guiding bolt into sky spelling Rubix. Timmy boos her but she she remains focused.
Py with a fair bit of money on the line sneakily casts guidance on Kaylah. She goes for the triple somersault but alas, it's one rotation to many for her!
Ophelia wins and as she's beinga wards the prize of 250gp yells to the crowd and her competitors “I’m Ophelia Rubix and you just got cubed!”

As the students cheer and yell one students traing wand sounds a large crack! All of a sudden in the confusion a creature erupts from the ground!

[Next time into battle!]

 

[WMD]

Session 36

[After missing a few weeks for one reason or another we were able to have another dnd live session this weekend!]

We pick up with the combat just starring after a rock creature was summoned into the festivities. Archemedes fires off an ice knife which causes some harm to other students as it's all still a big melee. Kaylah and Elleva barrel in and the stone creature summons 2 more similar creatures. Its a tense fight with Py and Kaylah raking some serious damage but when they finally defeat the main creature both it and the other 2 vanish!

Elleva as a bear sniffs out the wand that caused the event and realises it has some slimy substance on it. They eventually work out its algae, probably from Witherbloom and analysis of the wand reveals it was made to be one time use and the magic is fading from it. Py takes the wand to experiment with.

And now with have their third and final exams for the year in the Scrivening and Symbology course. This time on Augury and so the gang gets to studying.

Kaylah persuades the gang to teach her bits here and there. Timmy and Py both go to the Biblioplex to study books on the topic. Ophelia sneaks off, invisible, to study by herself and not get distracted. Elleva gets Uzmaktok to tutor her. And Archemedes nabs some of Py's notes when he's round resetting the trap.

Their results come in and the extra credit Proffessor Blackstone promised them is evident as Ophelia is sure she had failed but is given a passing grade. The other's too have elevated scores above what they feel they should have got.

And now we're into free time. Elleva goes to catch up with Uzmaktok and Timmy tags along with her. They share their recent discovery of the Mage Hunters with hime and he puts it together with his research into the chitin. He's able to deduce more about their abilities/resistances/immunities and let's them know his findings. They also talk about the algae on the wand but had left the wand with Py and their descriptions aren't very good so Uzmaktok can't help much but he advises them to speak to Yedora.

First they go find Py in his room and he let's them take the wand (everything in his room is dirty and greasy so he hadn't yet taken it out of the bag they'd put it in) and then the pair head off to find Yedora.

Once at Witherbloom it doesn't take Timmy long to find Yedora and they explain about what happened and show her the wand. Yedora explains its a fairly innocuous algae that grows in the northeastern park of Sedgemoor towards the Detention Bogs. They report this information back to the group as they feel they should all go together to investigate this.

In the meantime Archemedes goes to Poison Clav and takes the book he found in the Scriptoria Collection with him. They spend the day studying the book and find 3 new poison recipes they feel they understand and should be able to replicate.

Ophelia decides to go shopping with her winnings from the skate tournament. She wants yo find something impressive and shiny that might entice a Bullywug and after browsing the magic item shop unearths a circlet of blasting. She manages to haggle down to 210gp so buys it even though she initially didn't want to spend more than 200gp. While at the shop she also inquires about Eberron Spellshards and the merchant promises to look into it and see what she can dig up.

Kaylah runs a session of Defence Club and takes some time to set up an obstacle course for them to tackle. She wants them to work on strength and agility but underestimates the group and makes it a bit to easy for them. They then split into 2 teams (Kaylah and Rosie vs Cadoras and CAS) and have a match around the course. Cadoras shines and he and CAS win comfortably. Kaylah highlights where everyone did well and gives them encouragement for the future and decides to leave teh course up for future sessions.

Timmy heads to the Biblioplex with Archemedes and Ophelia to get some research in. Timmy reads the book about Lowenwreck and gains more information about how he gains power from notoriety and feels like Lowenwreck is trying to feed if Timmy's growing fame. Archemedes looks into methods to trap/kill gods and finds some leads but nothing concrete immediately. Ophelia tries to study about the staff Timmy has and whether it a factor but doesn't uncover anything.

Timmy and Archemedes then decide to follow up on the leads Archemedes found and discover tales that the five Founder Dragons of Strixhaven once fought and defeated a god! Ophelia looks into items to block Lowenwreck's influence on people [but I need to have a way more detailed look at the DMG to see what's available]

They decide to try and find and speak to the Oracle of Strixhaven who should be able to contact the Founders. They head to the Hall of Oracles in the centre of the Biblioplex. All of a sudden a old and wisened voice is behind them saying they figured the gang would be turning up. They turn and see an incredibly old lady floating, legs crossed, in front of them.

They try not to be too specific when talking to the Oracle and definitely don't want to mention Lowenwreck by name. But do say they wish to know more about the time the Founders defeated a god. The Oracle asks if there is a specific threat. At first they are evasive but eventually admit there is one but won't say more. The Oracke says she will look into it and turns and floats off!

 

[WMD]

Session 37

We were supposed to continue with Py's free time but his player couldn't make it, so instead we continue wity the others who are pooling their free ttime to go investigate the algae they found on the wand. [I'm having them nominate whose free time gets used up as they go]

Archemedes uses his free time first and the gang head to Sedgemoor and take a punt from the jetty to head off into the swamps. Kaylah takes control of the punt and they head off north east. As they go Archemedes spots an islet with some plants that could make good poison ingredients so they stop so he can harvest some.

As they head off again Kaylah loses her way and takes them in a big loop arriving back at the islet! Archemedes decides to step in and help guide Kaylah but after a while they spot the jetty they had originally left from!

We move onto Kaylah's free time and Ophelia decides to take charge of the punt but is soon heading in the wrong direction. Archemedes uses stealth and deception to act as Ophelia's conscious and head in the right direction. Ophelia thinking she's great at navigating!
Soon they come to the right part of the swamp to find the algae.

They find an island with the algae blooming around it and Kaylah notices an oddly moving plant on it. They scoop some of the algae up from the water and collect it. Eventually they decide to go onto the island and have a look around keeping away from the plant. Timmy finds some odd looking tracks and Archemedes confirms they seem to be Mage Hunter tracks! Ophelia judges them to have been made within the last couple of weeks.

Archemedes follows the tracks to the edge of the islet and notices the direction they head into the water. The gang get back in the punt and head in that direction. Soon the get to another islet. Most of gang in their excitement trample the area but Timmy is able to pick up the tracks that cross the island and continue into the swamp.

At a third islet with some dense foliage the tracks lead to a rotting carcass, a few days old, that they surmise has been eaten by the Mage Hunters. They check the tracks but can't be sure if there's more than one. They persue the tracks.

At this point we move onto Timmy's free time.

The gang get to a forth island. Here they find many sets of tracks, old and new, and they converge on a cave. Kaylah and Archemedes stealth into the cave to look around while the others stay on alert above. All of sudden a surprise attack! One Mage Hunter pounces at Archemedes and Kaylah while another attacks the rest!

Next time will the gang survive?

 

[WMD]

Session 38

As Kaylah and Archemedes crawl along the cave bright purple shines suddenly above them and 2 scything blades swing down and hit them! Kaylah turns to flee and spiked onto its tail. She manages to extricate herself and stumble down the passageway back towards the entrance. The beast attacks and fells Archemedes who's lying bleeding on the ground and heads in pursuit of Kaylah, scuttling along the ceiling, and soon catches up with her!

Up on the surface the gang are quickly in a big melee and Ophelia is soon grappled in its spiky tail. The other start to wear it down but Timmy has a few spells partially backfire on him! Py catapults some rocks at it to great effect and Elleva now in bear form finally manages to break through its chitin and take it down!

During this Timmy has started fleeing to boat and Kaylah has come running out of the cave yelling about a Mage Hunter chasing her only to see the commotion above. While Py and CAS do the bulk of the work on the second one Kaylah drinks a health potion and steps back in to deal the final blow on it!

With the threat dealt with Kaylah rushed back into the cave to find Archemedes unconscious but stable an administers a health potion to revive him. She rushes him out of the cave as she doesn't want to hang around in there. They tie one of the Mage Hunter bodies to their punts [this was a pre agreed retcon where if Pys player could make it to this session him and CAS also being present would mean they'd have 2 punts] and take the head of the other.

As they punt back to campus they discuss options as they want to alert the uni authorities but also not just inform possible evil teachers to what happened. They discuss the possibility of causing a commotion on Central Campus but in the end decide to hide the bodies in Archemedes room and contact all the College Heads in the morning and inform them as a group.

The level up to level 6!

 

[WMD]

Session 39

To begin we went back to Py's free time he missed as his player a few sessions. Py heads to the Biblioplex to research recording devices for his plan to spy on Newton. His research goes very well and comes up with some solid designs which he hides with Illusory Script. Meanwhile, he gets CAS to do his own research and he studies poisons and makes good progress towards getting to Archemedes level.

We now jump back to the present and move into Ophelias free time. The gang head back to the island they fought the Mage Hunters on with Kaylah and CAS punting. They find their way back easily and head into the cave. No subtlety this time as Archemedes is waiving his sword around and Kaylah is humming a tune. They notice scrawls on the walls similar to those in Murgaxor's Journal. They find a nest full of bones and scraps and within it find a +2 light crossbow which Archemedes takes. They look for any secret passages to no avail.

As they leave the cave Ophelia spends some time prancing around with her circlet on but nothing untoward occurs. They take the decapitated course they had left behind and head back to campus.

We move onto Elleva's free time. Back at Witherbloom they head straight to the office of Dean Lisette and show her the corpse and start to complain about conditions at the university. They are reminded that a magic university is a dangerous place and 1 or 2 students do die most years! Dean Valentin is called down who is very curious of this magical beast. Ophelia mutters an insult under her breath and Valentin warns her she could be heading for detention, and tells the Witherbloom students (Elleva and Archemedes) to keep better company!

They describe this and other encounters that occurred this year in detail and Py gives Valentin the book list of information they had acquired and Valentin asks them to take the body to the Campus Labs so it can be properly studied. They keep the other one a secret in Archemedes' room.

We go onto Py's free time. He heads to Archemedes room and gets to work on the body of the Mage Hunter, dissecting and cleaning the carcass to remove the chitin. From the head he managed to make a Mind Sharpener helmet for Timmy using his Artificer abilities.

A few days later the gang are at the Biblioplex when Drazhomir finds them explaining that the other Mage Tower team they will face at the Battle of Strixhaven is there and is winning over their fans! They head over and see Newton speaking to the crowd who spots the gang and challenges them to a song off!

[So I had prepared and written a little diss track where each of their rivals has a go at them one by one which was all fun and jokes but them most of the rest proceeded to sit and write their own rap responses, which I was absolutely delighted by!]

The rivals go first:

Spoiler: The rivals song

Newton (Py)
Tinker topper lamer Py
Thinks he's a big shot, hes small fry
His crappy junk makes girls cry.
His scope is small, barely inches high!

Tilana (Ophelia)
O-Phelia, O-phelia
You’ve got no poise, we see through ya
Your chess moves suck, 3 moves behind
Your flames don’t burn, they cool my mind

Aurora (Elleva)
Moody Elleva at the bar
Want some service, she’ll faux pas
Flirts with boys so unconcerned
Stealing jobs, she hasn’t earned

Shuvadri (Timmy)
A treasure hunter? My how basic
Crawl through dungeons so archaic
Timmy, grow up from this schtick
Your boring dreams make me sick

Grayson (Archemedes)
Seedy-medes, troublemaker
Trashes rooms? just shuffles papers
Thinks he’s subtle, he can’t hide
Sneaky? Weaky. Bless, he tried!

Nora (Kaylah)
Sh-sh-sh-sh-She ain’t the greatest, ain't the brightest
Got no style and ain't no artist
Hey ya, Kaylah, whats that? Failure!
Clings to a Cad, she’s just a traitor!

The crowd whoop, cheer, laugh and go oooooh throughout and as the chatter simmers down all eyes turn to our heros to see how they'll respond.

Timmy lays down a beat, beat boxing and drumming on himself, using thurmaturgy to increase the volume.
Archemedes goes first rapping and using stealth to disappear and reappear during his verse.
Ophelia uses hellish rebuke to produce flames around her during her verse.
Elleva uses her shillelagh to make a beat while rapping.
Py stands with CAS alongside him as he spits his verse.
And Kaylah closes thing out by suddenly having her Cheer Club outfit on busting moves with her verse.

Spoiler: The gangs verses

Archemedes
Now I’m over here,
Now I’m over there,
I’m creeping and stealing yo mamas’ underwear,
You think your paper’s the biggest?
You think your paper’s the baddest?
With your big boy words,
You only audience is nerds!
You think it’s your legacy,
But it’s just jealousy,
Coz it isn’t nothing compared to me and my supremacy!

Ophelia
Tilana, Tilana, how I pity your drama.
One minor scorch and your poise is torched.
If you can’t take the heat, step away from the beat.
You and your cronies and weak and are phonies.
We are the archetypes, unstoppable, courageous,
Our achievements are unmatched, totally outrageous,
So, tell me this, but spare me the spineless tears,
Are you ready to get cubed by the Rubix?
Take that, checkmate.

Elleva
Wow Aurora’s come out gunning!
Thinks she’s head of the band but punters are running!
Entitled girl think she deserves my job,
Top tip, start working and stop being a slob.
Not my fault the boys can’t stop staring.
Get your own man and try to stop caring!

Py
Hey Newton,
Thanks for the introduction,
We’re protecting campus,
While you’re writing this madness.
You know its funny you take shots at my height,
But I’ve never seen you rise to the fight.
Think your brains so smart sat up on the council,
Yet everyone knows that big heads just skull.
You call this scrap,
He’ll do a rapid lap.
65 feet in 6 seconds.
Wait here, the next monster beckons!

Kaylah
Ohhhhhhhhhhh, ready – okay!
Nora, Nora, she’s so lame.
She steals your art and claims all the fame!
She seems so meek, mild and diligent,
But don’t be fooled, she’s not so innocent.
Come on people make some noise!
Commiserations to the team we’ve just destroyed.

The crowd go wild and the gang just manage to scrap a win!

 

[WMD]

Session 40


After the rap battle last time Archemedes, Elleva and Py all gain another -1 with their rivals as they did especially well and upstaged their rival. A fair bit of time has passed since I had people with jobs collect pay so I had them do that and have also decided to change Archemedes poison collection supply so he gets an attempt a week, regardless of whether he also uses free time to find stuff. With his attempts he found enough for 1 1/2 doses of poisons. He still has to use time to brew them himself.

Py goes to the Biblioplex to research the Battle of Strixhaven and also Mage Tower in general. He does pretty well, finding old match reports in copies of the Strixhaven Star and also finds some books on the sport and tactics used. Whilst he does that CAS does some history research but he finds it boring and, unfortunately, makes no progress with the mind palace.

Py then calls a group meeting to discuss the match, tactics and other details surrounding it including producing merch to sell and make some money.

Some of the outcomes of this discussion:

Team name: Sassy Sally Squad
Chosen mascot: pest mascot
Team numbers:

1. Ophelia
2. Py
3. Elleva
4. Timmy
5. Archemedes
6. Kaylah

Kit design: purple with gild trim and Sassy Sally emblem
Merch:

• Purple flags with gold SSS emblem
• Purple sashes with gold Sassy Sally Squad
• Small plushie Sassy Sally charms

They discuss having the flags have some sort of enchantment on them but realise that would cost too much and take too much time. Initially Kaylah wanted pink to he their team colour but that was swifty vetoed by the rest.

Kaylah knows a tailor as she's part of the Cheer Squad and they have had costumes made before. So the next day she takes the gang down there so they can get prices.

6x kits 30gp
400x flags 20gp
200x sashes 100gp
200x Sassy Sally charms 100gp

Total: 250gp They get this halved due to Py's friendship with Grayson amd so pay 125gp

 

[WMD]

Session 41


[Another DnD live session last weekend.]

As the group wait for the first of their merch to arrive Ophelia decides to go to the magic shop and ask the merchant about the spellshards. The merchant informs her that she can aquire one for 150gp and that if she brings the money before the end of term it will be ready for collection at the start of the next one. She pays 30gp up front to act as a deposit while she works to secure the rest of the funds.

She also purchases a fancy Dragonchess set for 10gp as she needs the best to be the best! Then asks the merchant about bullywugs but they are if no help in this matter. So she decides to head to the Strixhaven Star and gets Py to tag along.

At the Star Ophelia finds Mina and asks her about Grayson. Mina tells her that an older student sometimes pays Grayson fairly quick visits and Mina has also observed him going into a building in Quandrix for longer visits. Ophelia recognises this as the building that Newton lives in. She also asks Mina to find out if their rivals have merch and let's her know about a discount code for their merch hidden in her puzzle in the current issue of the paper.

While that is happening Py goes to see Grayson and asks about making the puzzles in the Star harder (as he finds them easy). Grayson tells him to speak to Ophelias editor. Py also asks him about the upcoming match and what mascot they will be using. Grayson let's him know they are using a fractal mascot as Newton has taken charge of the ream. As they discuss Newton Grayson is relieved to hear that Py is almost ready with his plans for the Cogwork upgrade.

Py then goes to find Tom, Ophelia's editor, amd starts to ramble about how the puzzles aren't challenging enough and how he'd be happy to go over them. Tom isn't interested and tells Ophelia to not let her friends bother him again. Ophelia storms off but Py follows on a panther from his bag of tricks. Ophelia uses expeditious retreat to get away from him as she is not happy with him in the slightest!

Timmy goes to see the Oracle again and this time tells her about Lowenwreck and what is going on. She promises to inform the Founder Dragons and hopes they might be more receptive now she has real information to give them.

Timmy then spends some time researching in the Biblioplex. At first hes looking up exorcisms and the like but isnt able to find a book with information that seems truely useful. He then searches for books on Mage Tower tactics but ends up reading a bunch of conflicting books that dont seem to help him much.

Elleva goes to work and puts in extra effort during her shift. On her break she goes to talk to Tulk and asks about selling their team merch at the Tavern. Talk explains he is not against it in principle but has to check with University guidelines that it's allowed. If it is he will also give Aurora's team the opportunity to do the same however.

She gies to find Javenesh after work and sounds some time bad mouthing Aurora! She also asks Javenesh to put in a good word with Tulk for her as it could be a fun addition to the pub and bring a party atmosphere!

She also let's him know about yhe Mage Hunters incident. He's proud of her and also let's her know that he thinks he saw a bag drop occur at the pub and that it may be involved Smith some of their investigations! She tells him to not get directly involved but to keep his eyes open and that they need a plan to find out what's in the bag!

Archemedes decides to wait until the first of their merch arrives. 1 week after placing their order the first half of their stuff arrives and they decide to go set up a stand in the park. They take a couple of tables from the Biblioplex with Py's influence. Kaylah brings a roll of paper from art class to make signs and banners. Elleva makes posters advertising the sale and goes around the university posting them. Ophelia goes around finding places the Star is available and leaving it open on the puzzle/ad page.

They decide to charge 8cp for a flag. 8sp for a sash and 1gp for a Sassy Sally charm. With a discount code from the solved puzzle getting a 10% discount.

Archemedes hides in a tree casting minor illusions to create fireworks and music. Kaylah acts as the primary sales person bringing in punters. Ophelia operates the discount voucher section. Py is manning the till and Timmy is ensuring stock gets replenished. When she finally returns Elleva helps Timmy with the stock.

Over six hours of selling with some ups and downs. Timmy starts to flag with the stick running but eventually Elleva returns to help him and for a while Py gets muddled and slow on the till but they manage to sell:

35 flags at full price
55 flags at discount price
20 sashes at full price
30 sashes at discount price
27 charms at full price
42 charms at discount price

 

[WMD]

Session 42


Py works on finishing his designs for the Cogwork Archivist update wirh hidden spy magitech so he can get dirt on Newton. He sends a note to Grayson with Illusory Script so arrange a drop off and heads to the Biblioplex at the specified time.

He makes a fairly bad show of looking natural as he leaves the design rolled up on a table and goes to search the book shelves. When he returns the design is gone as planned.

He allows CAS to take a book to study for the mind palace and CAS gets into this one learning Charm Person.

 

[WMD]

Session 43


Timmy gathers everyone to do some preparation for the Battle of Strixhaven. He gets everyone to go to Py's room and have Py go over the tactics and strategies he's learnt and devised.

After Py's lengthy lecture they go out to the Aerojuant Field (which give Archemedes slaad flashbacks) and try to put what they've learnt into effect. Kaylah and Py do especially well and gain an advantage roll to use in the match.

Py sets them homework to do and Archemedes tries to get CAS to do it for him. CAS refuses saying people should learn for themselves. Archemedes then tries to intimidate CAS but CAS casts Charm Person on Archemedes who immediately goes back to his room to write an essay on Mage Tower. He gets most of the way through when he comes to and realises what happened and in rage starts looking up poisons!

Ophelia decides to get some Dragonchess practice in with her new set. She goes to the Dragonchess Club and brags about her new set but people aren't especially interested as they're concentrating on their own matches. She storms off into the corner muttering she doesn't need to practice with anyone as she's so good already! She then performs her Gangamhaka to mentally prepare.

Calmed down she asks more politely if someone with practice with her. She starts her match by talking about the history of the game and pulls her opponent I to a deep conversation which allows her to start well as her opponent is distracted. But as the match goes on she grows over-confident and starts to brag which focuses the mind of her challenger.

The match descends I to chaos with both making mistakes until, somehow Ophelia comes out victorious. She quickly leaves knowing how lucky she actually was and heads to the Biblioplex to do more bullywug research. She finds nothing new of note and gets into a strop making a lot of noise and gets sushed by a cogwork archivist. She tell it to sush and storms off!

Kaylah gets the gang rallied for their night of merch sales at the Bow's End Tavern. She will be be dancing and enticing in customers. Archemedes will stay hidden and use Illusory spells to enhance Kaylah's performances. Timmy will be running the tills. Ophelia the discount section. CAS will be managing stock. Py has decided to mingle and advertise by going table to table. And Elleva is on shift and will make sure people get as drunk as possible so that they spend more.

The evening starts slow but picks up as more students turn up and Kaylah puts on her performances. Things are going well when all of a sudden Nora, Tilana and Aurora turn up! Nora and Kaylah get into slagging match calling each other tacky and the like. Kaylah then puts one of the sashes they are selling on Nora and Archemedes causes sparkles to glitter around her.

At the same time Tilana and Ophelia share barbed jabs at each other over who deals with pressure better. Eventually Kalyah calls them bitches and then starts up a song to pull the crowd in and drive teh other girls out. Her song strikes a particular chord with the dwarves in the pub who become riotous with adulation for Kaylah!

Kaylah takes another -1 with Nora and Ophelia another -1 with Tilana.

 

[WMD]

Session 44

Over their 2 selling events they've manages to sell 172/200 flags, 100/100 sashes, 138/200 charms and made 220 gold so are firmly in profit.

Archemedes goes to speak with Dean Valentin and Elleva, Py and Timmy go with him. They learn some more about the Mage Hunters, that they were thought to be Myth, that their strange aura seems to tie them to the Deadlands, Badlands and Land of Ruin and that they work in pairs so the threat should be over, at least for now. They have many questions about detecting them, whether they could have a master, how their magical aura works etc. Valentin explains the researchers still have a lot of work to do but he will keep them appraised of developments.

Elleva gets the gang to come hang out on the night their rivals are selling merch at the Bow's End Tavern as she'll be working that night. The rest turn up in their kits and get their close friends to turn up in sashes and waving flags. The Dwarves are delighted to see Kaylah and they order a huge round for them with Kaylah handing out drinks and trying to pull attention away from their rivals store.

During her shift Elleva notices a person with a bag like the one Javenesh described. She sends Archemedes over to keep an eye on them. Soon there's a bunch of guys at the table with several of these bags. Archemedes tries to grab one but is spotted. He apologises saying he thought it was his friend's.

The group quickly get up and leave. Archemedes, Timmy and Ophelia go in pursuit with invisibility active. The group of guys has split up so they follow one of them who eventually arrives at a terraced house, knocks on the door, whispers some words and is let in.

Archemedes flys up and breaks in through an upstairs window into what appears to be a normal students room. He begins to search the deathly quiet house and as he sneaks downstairs spots a guard sat just inside by the front door. He explores downstairs, still invisible but soon finds the only way further down is a door under the stairs near the guard.

He casts Thurmaturgy to create a knock at the door, loosing his invisibility and tries to sneak into the basement but is still spotted by the guard. As the guard starts to exclaim Archemedes casts Charm Person and becomes friends with the fellow. He calls the others in and tells the guard they're planning surprise and to keep quiet. They cast invisibility on Archemedes again and the 3 head down into the basement.

Downstairs they find a laboratory! The stuff from the bag, a powder is being poured into a vessel. And at the other end of the operation finished batches of purple powder are being packaged up!

Sneaking around Timmy finds a coded ledger and swipes it. Archemedes manages to swipe a sample of the finished product. Ophelia inspects the reagent packaging and exides to also take it but is far less finesse about it and the people working notice something must have moved so the gang high tails it out of there before they get caught.

Back at the Bow's End Tavern an angry girl arrives claiming CAS charmed her to buy the remaining tock the gang had left. It turns out Py had sent him down the road to sell the remaining stuff and CAS had simply used Charm Person on the first person who showed any interest. Py tries to say that's ridiculous but the girl has 60gp of their stuff and is very upset. Kaylah jumps in to refund the girl and lets her keep a flag and charm for free saying she's their 500th customer! Kaylah also gets her a drink to mollify her. Kaylah lectures Py to train CAS to use spells properly. CAS sulks in the corner not really understanding what he did wrong and Cadoras goes out to sell for the gang.

 

[WMD]

Session 45


In the aftermath of the drug lab discovery the gang go find a secluded spot towards the back of the Tavern to discuss options. Should they tell a teacher, try and work out what the substance is themselves, go back to the lab, simply try the substance Archemedes took? They then remember Timmy took the ledger so spend some time investigating it.

Py and Ophelia are able to deduce its in a code with certain words clearly referring to product, location, times, people but they are unable to work out specifically what they might be. Ophelia checks the reagent packaging she took and is able to deduce which word represents this product and they see it comes in around once a week but the location it comes from changes, with locations repeated about once a month.

They decide to split up to maximise their chances of getting things done. Archemedes, Timmy and a slightly drunk Py head to the Campus Labs to test the powder. Archemedes uses his poisons knowledge to try and determine the effect the powder causes. Py tries to break it down and deduce the components it was made from. Timmy with his experience at the labs is able to prepare samples and use the analytical equipment.

They only have limited success in short time frame. They know the powder affects the mind in some way but exactly what it does. And they work out it has 3 major components its made from. Exhausting their options they decide to head to the others who have gone to keep an eye on the house.

While all that was going on Kaylah, Ophelia and Elleva head back to the drug house and see that it's rapidly being abandoned with a couple of guys loading up a cart outside. Elleva turns into a spider and clings onto Kaylah who drubkenly stumbles down the road "accidentally" bumping into the cart and allowing Elleva to sneak on. She gets a glare from one of the guys as she stumbles off and hides round a corner. Ophelia goes invisible to stay close. Soon the guys finish loading the cart and start to move away.

Kaylah and Ophelia follow at a distance while Elleva hides in a box on the cart having made a note of what the 2 guys look like. Soon they arrive at a new house at the edge of campus and a couple of other guys already their help them unload the contents into the house. They don't really talk amd are clearly trying to just get the job done fast.

After unloading the cart the 2 who brought it quickly head off with the cart again and Kaylah follows, with Ophelia standing guard outside the house. The 2 guys deposit the cart at a stables and then disperse into the night. Kaylah follows one of them.

Meanwhile Elleva, in a box of lab equipment, has the sensation of going down stairs and once the box is placed sneaks out of the box and hides on the underside of a table where the lab equipment is being set back up. After around 40mins with the guys still working she sneaks out into the empty street heads round a corner and transforms back into herself. She whispers back into the night but gets no response so decides to run towards the labs. Ophelia hears the noise of running and heads off in pursuit, soon realising its Elleva and goes with her.

Kaylah ends up back at the Tavern and huge cheer from the dwarves erupts when she goes in. She settles down with the dwarves whilst trying to keep an eye on the guy who has gone to the bar.

Archemedes, Py and Timmy arrive at the house to see smoke is coming out from the windows! Py and Timmy alert nearby houses to evacuate while Archemedes rushes to a nearby fire hydrant and activates it, directing the water elemental inside towards the house and raising the alarm. Soon authorities arrive to take charge and deal with the situation. Among them are a few teachers including Valentin, who as a vampire is often up at night. Archemedes goes to talk with Valentin and explain they they spotted the fire as they were passing by and that this house has always had a weird vibe with people coming and going but being secretive and jumpy.

One of the investigation crew reports to Valentin that residue of Expanse had been found inside which give him a grim look on his face. Archemedes asks about it and Valentin explains its a drug for cheats who would try to get a better grade, that it expands the mind and allows one to learn vast amounts quickly. However after its affects wear off those parts of the mind are closed off again back in the subconscious. You have to keep taking it to remain functioning at that level but there are dire side effects. An overdose can overload the mind and drive someone insane and repeated use will eventually block the mind from the body killing the user. It's not physically addictive but it is mentally addictive as people yearn to have their mind freed!

They surmise the operation must have moved location and Archemedes offers Valentin help. Valentin says they must scope out the size of the operation first, whether its an organised operation or merely a few making it for themselves.

A drunken Py asks him if he's bought his Sassy Sally Squad gear and Valentin explains he has to remain impartial over such things. (Later Py has CAS leave a charm outside Valentin's office).

Meanwhile Kaylah gets drawn into the party with the dwarves and misses the guy she was tailing leaving. After finding the others gone from the labs Elleva and Ophelia head back to the Tavern. Elleva gies to flirt with Javenesh and Ophelia decides ssmhes had enough for one night and heads home to bed.

 

[dmfoo]

This is absolutely WONDERFUL!
Thank you for sharing such a great work. I really enjoyed reading every bit of this. Kudos to your efforts.

Beautiful!

 

[WMD]

This is absolutely WONDERFUL!
Thank you for sharing such a great work. I really enjoyed reading every bit of this. Kudos to your efforts.

Beautiful!

Thank you so much. It been a lot of fun so far. My group constantly manage to surprise me with their descisions so they definitely keep me on my toes! One of the reasons for this thread was so I can keep a decent record of what's been occurring as we have a lot going on!

 

[WMD]

Session 46

The day of the big match is here! The gang head to Strixhaven Stadium early to prepare (and Archemedes gets Erky and Metsutha to help sell their remaining merch stock). The crowds are already forming with everyone in a celebratory mood! As they change in the locker room they can hear the sounds of the growing crowd outside, the music, the Cheer Squad amping up the crowd further!

Soon it's time and they emerge one by one as their names are announced to the crowd to huge cheers. The 2 teams of rivals line up for some pre-match banter. They ask the Sassy Sally dolls what she thinks of the New Town Flyers and her reply is "You bore me." Striking much mirth in the audience. Archemedes does a little flying display getting in their rivals faces and setting off some sparkles around him, which is a little odd but still entertaining.

Soon Proffessor Sharpbeak takes each teams mascot and places them on the 40ft pillars at either end of the pitch and then she announces the start of the match!

[From a mechanics point of view the match is a series of ability checks - each player making 2 checks in each of the 3 phases of play. A character can sacrifice a check to cast a spell - 1st and 2nd level spells give their next team mate advantage and 3rd or higher is an automatic success. The total number of successes for each team giving the final score. I probably could've rewritten the mechanics for this but it would've been a lot of work and hard to test so I just went with how the book did it.]

Phase 1
Nora and Grayson get the New Town Flyers off to a cracking start with some great acrobatic teamwork to take an early lead. Py disrupts them casting Earth Tremors and Elleva and Kaylah make it count. Timmy casts a fireball between members of the NTF to disrupt Newton and Tilana. Ophelia pounces with Darkness aimed at Tilana and Archemedes is able to score!
The NTF are ineffective for a time until Aurora is able to spot a gap in the SSS defence! Py rallies his team mates, Elleva casts Hold Person, and Kaylah reads the situation to mount a counterattack! Timmy goes invisible confounding Tilana but Newton and Ophelia trade scores! In the hubbub Archemedes is left floundering amd Shuvadri gets the final point of the Phase to great thunderous cheers from the crowd!

Score at end of Phase 1:
Sassy Sally Squad 8 - 5 New Town Flyers

During the first interval the band strike up and Cheer Squad reappear to do a routine while the gang get a quick drink of water, an orange slice and Py gets a massage from the team physio CAS. As they return to the field Elleva casts Guidance on Archemedes.

Phase 2
The firat half of the 2nd Phase is pure devastation as the Sassy Sally Squad come into their own with a period of total domination. Elleva uses Fig Cloud to great effect to disrupt the NTF and Timmy is able to cast Sleep on Shuvadri. Archemedes and Py pounce on the opening made. The NTF is unable to respond and Kaylah also runs through. At the exact midpoint of the match Ophelia announces its time for the grand finale to much cheers but also many befuddled faces in the crowd!
Things settle into more of a rhythm as the Phase continues. Aurora is able to score and get the NTF heads back in the game. But Elleva once again uses Fog Cloud to great effect preventing a proper come back. Timmy uses Shatter to distract Shuvadri and Archemedes is able to pounce. Py tries using Catapult but Grayson is still able to retrieve the mascot to score the final point of the Phase!

Score at end of Phase 2:
Sassy Sally Squad 16 - 7 New Town Flyers

After the second interval which plays out much like the first the teams return to the pitch for the final phase of the match!

Phase 3
The final Phase starts strongly with Aurora scoring and Timmy casting Shatter to prevent too much of a fight back. Py is able to sneak by and score. Ophelia casts invisibility but its not as effective as she'd hoped. At this point the match sees a dramatic drop in quality. Both teams are exhausted and making mistakes left right and centre. The finale becomes scrappy with barely any points scored; the outcome having been decided during the period of dominance in Phase 2.

This doesn't diminish the crowds enthusiasm at having been able to witness this legendary battle for the ages! Everyone goes wild at the final whistle as music and celebrations begin in earnest!

Battle of Strixhaven final score:
Sassy Sally Squad 19 - 9 New Town Flyers

As team captain Ophelia Rubix goes up onto the stage to collect the trophy she announces that the New Town Flyers did indeed get cubed. Asking the Sassy Sally dolls what she thought the doll replies "Please, just once look at yourself."

[This next section, under the spoiler, I read to my players]

Spoiler: Story event introduction

It is the last day of term and students are milling around the park saying their goodbyes to one another before taking a transport circle towards home. Conversation is full of recounts of the Battle of Strixhaven. As you meet up to say farewell to one another Timmy catches the eye of Shuvadri. All of a sudden, a piercing scream echoes around the park and is cut off as suddenly as it started.

Shuvadri, blood pouring from her eyes, falls to the ground. Above her, growing before your eyes is a most terrible being! Made of shadow consuming darkness, its form twisting and churning. Eyes shimmering gold and red form on its undulating surface.

“I am free!”

A wave of force sends the students nearest flying back, crumpling to the floor. Others start screaming and fleeing. Fear taking hold.

You stand there insensate, barely able to comprehend what is happening when a shadow blots out the sun!

“I see, so the oracle was right to trust you.”

The earth shudders as a huge mass hits the ground and the sky returns as 2 enormous wings fold up. You peer up at where the new voice came from. Shadrix Silverquill, Strixhaven Founder stands tall observing the chaos, grim determination and rage burning from his eyes. His gaze turns in your direction…

“I will hold him as long as I can, but I need the other Founders. Convince them with haste little ones!”

With that his tail whips round catching you all and flinging you up into the air! As you fall you see huge wings erupt out, envelop you and beat with such tremendous force you are sent soaring out across the sky!

A few moments later you realise you are each surrounded by a cushion of shadow as you soar across the landscape below. All of a sudden you descend!

Elleva splashes down in shallow, dirty water while Archemedes is able to flutter down and land on a fallen tree. The pair find themselves in a swamp, eerie quiet apart from a soft rumbling coming from a particularly dense area!

Timmy lands face down in sand. As he looks up he finds himself in a desert at the entrance to an old ruin!

Kaylah is able to nimbly land on her feet finding herself a top a smouldering volcano, steps seemingly carved into the mountain lead down inside!

Py and Ophelia land in a crumpled mess in snow. As they disentangle from each other they find themselves in at the edge of a frozen lake, but a dark shadow moves beneath the ice!

Will our intrepid gang be able to get help in time to help Shadrix and save Strixhaven?

 

[WMD]

[As a small aside one of my players said oh so we couldn't save Shuvadri anyway. And I had to explain that none of them have kept an eye on Shuvadri so don't know what she's been upto. She out performed Timmy at the rap battle. Also after finding out she was competing in the match they did nothing to prevent her taking part- a huge event in front of thousands so its not really a surprise Lowenwreck has built up the renown necessary to break free.]

 

[WMD]

Session 47

[So I'm running 4 mini sessions before the main one with each person/pair as there's a similar rhythm to each scenario and I don't want them to know what the others did. I've put them, with the chalkboards, under the spoiler tags.]

Spoiler: Witherbloom: Archemedes and Elleva

Session 47a

Archemedes and Elleva head in the direction of the soft rumbling. They make their way through the foliage and find a path that splits in 2. One route is lush with flowering plants, the other is dying and decayed. Elleva feels drawn to the light path and heads in that direction. Archemedes to the dark path and he goes that way.

Along the path Archemedes notices a plant he's sure will make for a good poison ingredient and spends a while harvesting some. It's tricky but he manages to get a couple of samples.

Meanwhile Elleva comes across a creature she hasn't encountered before in a small clearing. It sits there watching her but is non aggressive. She spend some time studying it and feels she can now add it to her list of wild shape transformations. [Originally I made it a worg as I thought she could only become CR1/2 creatures but she's the druid path that allows for better creatures and she can become CR2 things s9 ill work out something better for her.]

The rumbling gets louder as the travel down the paths and soon the 2 of them come out into a larger, clearly tended area of the swamp. Across from them is Beledros Witherbloom, hunched over clearly busy with some activity they can't quite make out. They interrupt her and mention an emergency, and that Shadrix sent them. She starts complaining about her garden and asks who they are. They inform her they're Witherbloom students and she tells them to come her her with their tiny hands. She has them clear an invasive plant that's choking part of her garden and gives them a lesson about life and death, the need to preserve nature but also the difficult choices that can arise in such situations.

Once they're done she finally asks about Shadrix and they are able to quickly explain what's going on and that the university is under threat. She grabs them and launches into the air!

Spoiler: Prismari: Kaylah

Session 47b

Kaylah, finding herself alone, inspects the area. She can see some small flashes of different colours down in the volcano and she calls out but there is no response. She checks the top step, which seems study enough so she heads down.

The light if enacting from a passageway that goes into the mountain. Down the passageway is elemental chaos as burst of fire, lightning, ice and water shot across seemingly at random. As she studies it she gets a feel for the rhythm and realises she could dance through. Her dance results in a bracelet snapping onto her wrist at one point.

She comes to an immense cavern where Galazeth Prismari is moving about rapidly and in all directions. She realises he's performing some sort of dance with elemental bursts exploding around him.

She interrupts him, which makes him falter briefly but she asks if she can join in. His loud, boisterous voice booms out telling her join him. As they dance she tells him the school is in danger and they need. She tells him about Shadrix and the evil god and says they can come back and finish dancing later. Hes quickly pursuaded, picks her up and flys straight up at the cavern ceiling. Before hitting it he flips round and with a huge beat of his wings plants his feet on the ceiling disloging a huge boulder, which he pushes past and launches into the sky, as the boulder falls back in place.

As they fly, both of them enjoying how awesome it is, she asks about the bracelet and he explains it can transfix and charm someone who sees the wearer dancing!

Spoiler: Quandrix Ophelia and Py

Session 47c

Ophelia frantically shakes Py off her, blaming him for the bad landing. Py pontificates that Shuvadri might be dead and is glad it didn't happen during the Battle of Strixhaven which leads them to chat about the match a bit. Py also says he was pleased to be called "little one" in a group with the others and even Ophelia can respect Silverquill calling them that.

Py then wonders if Silverquill really meant to send them here and wonders how they are going to get back. Ophelia says she doesn't think this was an accident but is worried none of the rest are there.

They finally look around their surroundings observing the mile wide frozen lake surrounded by dense fir trees and notice an igloo out on the ice. They finally put 2 and 2 together and realise this must be where Quandrix lives. Py gets very excited about this and bothers Ophelia immensely, repeatedly poking her arm!

Py gets his rope out and ties it round himself and then tries to tie the other end to Ophelia. When she questions what he's doing he simply replies "a reef knot." Ophelia is starting to get irritated which leads to chat about how quickly air can heat up (due to her being a tiefling).

Py starts to head towards the igloo saying they have to be the first ones back [which is remarkable given the total lack of urgency these 2 have!] Ophelia wants them to be cautious given the dark shadow they noticed beneath the ice and tries to cast message but the ice is too thick. They go slowly across the ice, Py hyposthesising that the igloo will hold the key!

Reaching the igloo they hear nothing inside so venture in. Ophelia reveals she can speak gnomish so the 2 chat in gnomish for a bit and Py comments that Ophelia's gnomish is very good but her accent is a bit off.

Inside there are 2 staircases carved into the ice heading down. One is surrounded by theorems and equations relating to physical mechanics/natural sciences and the other to more abstract theoretical physics. Py is drawn to the mechanical staircase and Ophelia to the abstract one.

Py tries to wander straight down his staircase but is still tied to Ophelia. They untie themselves and Py just goes straight down explaining each theorem and equation he sees. As he gets to the bottom he yells back up at Ophelia to use message if anything happens. Exasperated, Ophelia heads down her staircase.

Each find themselves in a room with an equation that needs solving on the wall with 5 boxes below each with a possible answer in it. They start working on the puzzle and Py quickly solves his puzzle. When he opens the box he finds a a pair of gloves he immediately dons and then the wall behind the box dissolves and he heads through. He finds himself at the top of a staircase and can see it opens up to a larger cavern at the bottom. He decides to wait for Ophelia as he can see the doorway she will presumably come through.

Ophelia struggles a bit and gets the equation wrong. Upon opening the wrong box the equation disappears and is replaced with a new one. Annoyed at herself she steels her focus and is able to get it right. In the box she finds a fancy circlet. As they reunite Py shows off his gloves which have fancy tinkerers attachments for holding screws and such. Ophelia is much less sure about the circlet but Py convinces her to put it on as they don't want to disrespect Quandrix! They agree these items must be for only the most elite Quandrix students and talk about all the things they've done well as they descend the stairs.

As they enter the huge cavern at the bottom they spot Quandrix moving about from board to board scribbling furiously. They can tell that Quandrix is struggling with an equation she's working on. Examining the work Py spots a misplaced decimal point and points it out. Quadrix flys over and is impressed at Py for spotting it. Ophelia exclaims it's a great honor to meet her and then lists all of her achievements in life. Quandrix patiently listens and tells her its nice to see such a good representative for Quandrix. Ophelia is stunned into silence at the compliment and simply bows.

They finally explain whats been happening at Strixhaven (Ophelia also explaning that they won the Battle of Strixhaven) and Quandrix exclaims she thought Shadrix was investigating. They say Shadrix sent them so she grabs the 2 of them and launches herself up. Using her breath weapon to break the seemingly impenetrable ice above and launch into the sky.

Py has a barrage of questions for her as they fly including: What was equation you were working on? Is this biggest threat the University has faced? Whos her favourtie of the other founders? What your favourite of your inventions? Whats your favourite invention of someone else? What do you think about mechanics? What do you think about arcano-mechanics? Would you like to see CAS?

Spoiler: Lorehold: Timmy

Session 47d

Timmy gets up from the sand and notes that the ruins seem familiar. They appear to be a lost ruin associated with Lorehold. He heads in and finds a staircase. All along the walls are hieroglyphics and carves languages from across time and cultures. Various mosaics and artwork also from various cultures.

He comes into a room full of stuff. It's chaotic and random and Timmy feels a bit overwhelmed by it all. He wanders around the room taking it in and trying to find a door. As he pours over it he notes that actually it's an organised catalogue but arranged in a weird way he hasn't seen before. He notes that the room is actually very clean and well kept. He realises the system is leading to a certain point in the room hidden behind a statue where he finds a hatch with a lever. The lever seems familiar but he's not sure why and as he pulls the lever it snaps off, flys past his head and joins onto his rod of alertness. As he gets out the rod he notes that the design work on both is the same and the 2 rods have neatly fused together.

The hatch is now open so he heads down the ladder beneath and at the bottom finds a archway into a large cavern where he finds Lorehold busy with piles of artifacts, fossils etc.

He heads into the cavern makes some noise to get attention and introduces himself. As he starts to explain the situation Lorehold guves hims a item and tells him where to put it. As Timmy puts it away he continues to try and explain what's happening. Lorehold, focused on her cataloguing gives him another item to put away.

This time Timmy uses magic to increase the sound of his voice and speaks much more sternly. Lorehold notices the staff and exclaims he's found the 2nd piece and asks who he is. Timmy reintroduces himself and says where he found the other part of the rod. Lorehold corrects him that the rod is not yet complete and asks why he's here? Timmy explaisn about Lowenwreck and Lorehold exclaims that it's too soon! She grabs Timmy, flys up at a patch of ceiling that is just sand that isn't falling and flys straight into it. Soon she bursts out into the desert sky! Timmy asks about the rod but she says she has to confirm things with the other founders.

Spoiler: The big fight...everyone reunited!

Main Session
Prismari and Kaylah are the first to arrive. As they come flying down they see the faculty have set up a perimeter and are trying to erect and maintain barriers to halt the spread of damage and chaos. They see Silverquill fire a blast of his breath weapon at Lowenwreck and then dodge as huge dark spike come from Lowenwreck's churning shadowy mass. Prismari yells that this is going to be fun! And enters the fray with his own breath weapon. As they start to trade devasting blows soon Lorehold and Timmy also arrive. Lowenwreck starts sending out shadowy spectres from his body to swarm the dragons and the riders do what they can to fend them off. Not long after Witherbloom with Elleva and Archemedes riding her back swoop down and join the battle. Eventually Quandrix arrives, Py still yammering away with questions and Ophelia getting embarrassed.

The fight is tense and brutal and after a time Lowenwreck recalls all the shades back to his body which results in a huge, multi-elemental shock wave blasting out. As the dragons get their composure they see Lowenwreck has doubled his main body, doubling his attacks! The fighting is fierce as the dragons swoop about and huge spikes erupt from Lowenwreck's forms to skewer them.

As everyone is starting to tire for the grueling fight the 2 bodies coalesce and start to glow as the whole surface gets covered in spikes.

Quandrix: Looks like it's powering up for something big!
Witherbloom: I think he's caused enough damage to this beautiful park.
Lorehold: We need to do this all togther!
Prismari: Ha, this is going to be great!
Silverquill: Everyone into position, quickly!

The dragons all get into position around Lowenwreck as he charges up and focus their bodies to recharge their breath weapons. They then release an almighty blast of devastation in unison! [This was over 500hp of damage!]

As the smoke clears they see a faint wisp of shadow descend back into the body of Shuvadri and the echo of a voice claiming he won't be defeated!

Witherbloom starts to tend to the park repairing all the damage. Silverquill simply settles down to rest. Prismari starts a victory dance, throwing Kaylah around as part of it. Lorehold goes over to Timmy and asks to see the rod. She then shows it to Quandrix and they discuss it for a time. Py goes over to join in. After a while Prismari yells at them to get on with it!

They explain its 2 of the pieces of the Staff of Kleensdune (the ancient battle that Timmy was previously investigating). If they can find the 3rd piece and complete the staff it can be used to finally banish Lowenwreck for good. It is thought to be lost deep in the ruins of the dungeons as Kleensdune but the dragons can't get down there. Witherbloom will guard Shuvadri and keep her comatose for now but even so Lowenwreck will break free again one day. They can't be sure exactly when just yet and will need to examine Shuvadri closely.

[This little event was a lot of fun. It allowed me to progress Timmy's storyline and tie his various threads into a single story which I think works well and also give my players an epic moment controlling the dragons. They're described in the Strixhaven book but aren't actually used in the given campaign which I thought was a shame and I wanted to find a way to use them. The fight was only 7 or 8 rounds but it took hours as everyone had legendary actions so lots of people were acting every turn. It would be very hectic to always play at this level but as an event to mark the midpoint of the campaign it was fun. They've now finished 2 of 4 years at Strixhaven!]

 

[WMD]

Session 48

To begin with we go over some of the things the Founders would have spoken to them about before leaving including Quandrix being very impressed at Py's robot and she encourages him to continue to push himself. Archemedes discovers the poison ingredient he found can be used to make a dose of poison stretch further and get more use out of it. Ophelia asks Quandrix about dragonchess who promises to lend her a book on asvanced gameplay techniques. Kaylah asks about remaining in contact with the Founders but they tell them to speak to the Oracle and we'll see...

As we enter summer activities we first jump back a couple of weeks to Ophelia in the Dragonchess tournament. She turns up in full Mage Tower kit sporting Sassy Sally and wearing her circlet of blasting like a crown. She's blasé and arrogant with her quarter final opponent and she really puts the pressure on, easing through the match without much difficulty and even does some of her Gangam Haka.

In the semi final she comes up against Bhedum. She's much more respectful with Bhedum and they have a good match but Ophelia ultimately sails through and even performs her Gangam Haka with more gusto. At one point Archemedes streaks across the room in full flight to much shock from the crowd!

In the final she’s up against Tilana and she uses Sassy Sally who tell Tilana "Only your mother thinks your smart!" They have a tense and close fought match with the advantage swaying back and forth but ultimately Ophelia emerges victorious! She gets the crowd to chant with her that Tilana got cubed! And she wins 50gp and the Golden Queen Trophy!

Elleva's summer is spent studying potions. After spending some time studying she goes out and spends a few weeks tracking down the equipment and resources she needs. After that she goes out to find ingredients. The final few weeks of the holidays she spends brewing and manages to make a heroism potion and a potion of healing!

Kaylah has a disastrous summer. She ventures off to travel to a monastery to study ways of the monk but spends half the summer hiking in circles lost before eventually finding the temple. She's not a good study and doesn't learn much, she becomes restless and agitated when trying to meditate and doesn't fully understand the principles of the mystic arts. She fares better with the martial arts but ultimately doesn't make and grand steps forward with her abilities.

Py spends the first part of the summer working to improve CAS' abilities with the mind palace. He also takes Expanse to try and speed up his work. In the early weeks CAS studies history and gets a bonus to things relating to Kleensdune. And he also learns a new defensive move for combat to act as a shield and hold the line.

Half way through the summer the mind palace is upgraded and CAS can now work on 2 areas at once. Through the rest of the summer CAS also learns the spell Witch Bolt and gets a bonus to determining creatures weaknesses! Py discovers the network has gone live and Newton must now be producing the Cogworks with the spy package hidden in them. He let's Grayson know who is relieved and he finally has some hope of saving his sister. Towards the end of the summer Py improves his Artificer infusion and can produce 3 sending stones together. For some reason his Expanse riddled mind decides to send both to Ophelia with a lengthy manual expaning how they work!

 

[WMD]

I've been absent for a while (was taking a bit of a break from constant social mediaing as it wasn't great for my mental health) but we've still been playing so I'm going to start updating this again from my notes. Also as a point to note 2 of my players are expecting a child so we're gona try and speed things up with the hope of finishing the campaign before the little one arrives this has led to reducing free time back to 1 activity each and some of the "sub plots" are going to be resolved in 1 shot style adventures I'll plan for when we meet up in person occasionally.

Session 49


We continue with Timmy's summer break. He decides to go on a training camp to build his stamina and endurance as he's now planning to go and get the final piece of the staff at Kleensdune. Unfortunately it's not very successful. Whilst he's good and finding and setting up camp for rest, when he's out hiking he tires quickly and struggles. Also when he turns his hand at tracking he quickly gets befuddled or alerts his quarry to his presence.

Ophelia gets a report on various secret societies and cults in high society from Mina. After studying the report she decides on which group to first infiltrate. She initially manages to act her way in but finds her attempts to get deep into the cult thwarted and eventually has to leave. She tries to infiltrate another group and initially gets in but her lack of knowledge of the group gets her found out and she is cast out!

The gang return from their variously successful summers and choose their courses for their 3rd year:

• Archemedes: Advanced Arcano-mycology, Aquatic Crytozooology, Turning Inner Fire into Outer Flames
• Kaylah: Turning Inner Fire into Outer Flames, Introductory Aesthemancy, Aquatic Crytozooology
• Py – Advanced Abstraction, Extradimensional Architecture, History of Magic Rings
• Ophelia – Advanced Abstraction, Overview of Magic Notation, Extradimensional Architecture
• Timmy – History of Magic Rings, Principles of Warsinging, Overview of Magical Notation
• Elleva – Aquatic Cryptozoology, Advanced Arcano-mycology, History of Magic rings

Upon arriving at their rooms they find scrolls which are invites to that years Magister's Masquerade - an annual ball held for third years where they have to help prepare and go in costume without college affiliation! There will be an opening event at the Bow's End Tavern that very night!

The gang head to the Tavern and find it bustling with both students and proffessors. Kaylah heads straight to the snacks and samples oddities such as cheese puff that pop in the mouth and emit small fireworks from your mouth and eel rolls with still wriggling eels!

Soon a group of them are at the games area. Archemedes wants to hustle people but backs out after realising their are teachers about but Timmy has a go at the magical darts with moving/rotating dart boards. He puts on a great performance and wins his match also hearing a rumour that one of the Founders might turn up at the ball.

Elleva goes to hang out with Javenesh. They tell each other about their summer breaks and soon end up in a doubles pool match against Kaylah and Cadoras. The pool tables undulate making planning your shots that much harder! It's a tense match but Kaylah and Cadoras emerge victorious. Kaylah celebrates with cheese puff fireworks while Elleva and Javenesh lament always having to work at the bar so can't get good at the games!

 

[WMD]

Session 50


We pick up still at the festivities at the Tavern. A bunch of them head over to the Masquerade's Organising Committee table where Zanther and Bhedum are manning the station. Py gets heavily involved and ends up joining the committee. As per usual Py rattles off his ideas for the masquerade in a stream of consciousness and has a million questions about the budget/entertainment/food/decorations etc. Zanther loves the gun ho attitude! Archemedes wonders if he can get away with poisoning the food at the ball as a jape.

Ophelia spots Dean Kianne, her Extradimensional Architecture Proffessor for the year, and gies over to suck up to her. She exclaims how excited for the course she is and can't help but show off about meeting Quandrix herself and being loaned one of books from Quandrix's personal library. She manages to get an extra reading list for the course as she wants to get ahead and show she's better than everyone else!

Several of the gang get bored at the Committee table and head back to the bar where they hear a rumour about an ailment already going round campus that has sent several students to the infirmary already!

Archemedes spots Dean Valentin and manages to startle him by suddenly appearing behind him! After some initial small talk about the summer and aftermath of the end of last year they get into the topic of the Mage Hunters. Valentin explains the research is going well and they are building a full profile on their magical abilities which will be published with the gang credited for their efforts in obtaining the samples.

Archemedes then asks about the Expanse situation. Valentin doesn't want to speak in public about it so tells Archemedes to come to his office another time. Archemedes whips his cloak and attempts to stealth out but Valentin is able to watch him as he crawls off between someone's legs!

Timmy heads over to the snack tables to sample the dishes like the pickled lotus root that turns your tongue purple and hears a rumor about that Dean Tullus wants the Masquerade's theme to focus on Strixhaven's history - which many find boring!

The festivities are momentarily interrupted as a student, worse for wear, is carried out by two others claiming he must have had one too many eel rolls!

Kaylah gets into a panic, as she ate an eel roll and goes running after them. Outside she is confronted by Nora, Tilana and Aurora who are fed up of the gangs attitude, their accolades, and believe they cheated in the Mage Tower match! The 3 challenge the gang to a duel. Kaylah who is preoccupied hastily agrees and runs off in pursuit to the ill student.

The guy has a terrible headache but seemed fine earlier, he had drunk a fair but and eaten a load of the eel rolls. Kaylah ends up going with them all the way to the infirmary where she badgers the staff about whether other sick people have the same symptoms. The staff refuse to share other patients confidential information and she makes them give her a check up. She's fine but gets annoyed that they wont tell her anything.

Kaylah goes back to the Tavern and makes them throw away the eel rolls in her role as a fake EHS officer and tells the others about the duel they've been challenged to.