This is part 3 of the MoonBridge Raid trilogy. Available from LightRaider Academy
Theme: The Love of Money
Type: Sandbox hexmap
Time for us to complete: 7 game sessions.
Player Characters:
Philip the Raid Leader: 6th mission, 3rd mission as Raid Leader.
Starflower the Lion Warrior (with Regulus the Lion): 6th mission, 3rd mission as a Lion Warrior.
William the Bear Knight (with Bill the Bear): 6th mission, 3rd mission as a Bear Knight
Edward the Light Raider: 6th mission.
Since this is a published adventure, I don't want to give away too many spoilers. But here's the stats with a few comments.
Session #1
Date in Real Life: Monday, 9 Aug 2021
In Game Day: Day 10
(First part of Anamos Island)
The players had a quiet introduction to Anamos Island (as in, there were no battles). They followed the beach south, encountering a crane who was trying to stop blindfolded people from walking off a cliff. They found a trail leading up through the rocks, but were caught in a flash flood. Some got hurt a bit. They continued on, meeting a self-assured fellow at an intersection. A squirrel pelted them with pine cones as they followed a trail through a forest, only to arrive at an abandoned ghost town. They continued on, encountering a peddler who tried to swindle them with junk. As they picked their way along a path, William fell into an abandoned mine shaft and twisted his ankle, forcing the party to rest for a couple of hours. They cut north through some forest and discovered a small pool, with a fishing rod nearby. They caught several fish, along with a rusty pail, an old boot, and a tattered cloak, all with money inside. They praised the OverLord, and made camp for the night, hoping to make it to a town they hoped was Goldton in the morning.
Most memorable scene: the peddler. My players are forever wary of peddlers, now.
Session #2
Date in Real Life: Tuesday, 17 Aug 2021
In Game Day: Day 11
(Second day on Anamos Island)
The players awoke in the morning, packed up camp, and promptly came across some poisonous snakes. They had to double back they way they had come. They encountered a Selfoe on the road, who ended up storming off without a fight. They followed the road around the forest, nearly getting run over by a speeding cart. They then arrived in Goldton. They spent most of the day in town, observing the effects of the Money Love Potion on the inhabitants of Goldton. They encountered Juterah and Kittereth, leading them through the Great Rescue.
The team eventually left town, heading towards the beach. They encountered a beach carnival of sort. A Greedo flew off. The team decided to wait around to see what would happen. Eventually, Havatack the water troll arrived with two human brutes. The team fought valiantly, killing the troll and overpowering the humans. They decided to set the brutes free in the carnival, and headed south to find a clear-cut area of the forest. They spoke briefly with the loggers, then headed deeper into the forest, where they made camp for the night.
Session #3
Date in Real Life: Sunday, 22 Aug 2021
In Game Day: Day 12
(Third day on Anamos Island)
The players awoke in the morning, packed up camp, and discovered they couldn’t get through the dense forest. They returned the way they had come, ignoring the loggers, bypassing the town and following the road to the East. They came upon a field of flowers, and found a large pack of goblins destroying the flowers. They debated whether or not to engage. The Raid Leader led them into the charge. There were twelve goblins in all. Starflower did a lot of Battle Prayer, and the Overlord even sent fire from heaven to incinerate two of the goblins. Some tried to get away, but they were overpowered and dispatched. The team was jubilant that they were strong enough to take down twelve goblins at a time! This was the largest horde of dark creatures they had ever dared to take on, and they came away victorious. It is also when they discovered what happens when you roll a 10 on a Battle Prayer. This battle was a big confidence boost for them.
In the distance, they could see a castle. They figured it must be Anamos’ castle, so they decided not to approach, since they hadn’t been to Southfast, yet. They cut across some grass as a shortcut and came upon the same Selfoe they had met the previous day. Philip attacked him from behind as he was trying to confuse a villager. The villager ran off, terrified.
The team headed south until nightfall. The raid leader ordered the team to eat quickly, then to move one more sector before going to bed. They came upon a carnival put on by some poor villagers. They happily spent a bunch of money and had some fun, as a way to help the villagers.
Session #4
Date in Real Life: Sunday 29 Aug 2021
In Game Day: Day 13
(Fourth day on Anamos Island)
The team woke up and made their way to Southfast. They encountered a woman named Sarol working in the fields outside the dying town. She invited them over for breakfast. The team talked with her, and led her through the great rescue (William did most of the talking, with help from Edward and Philip). They shared some food and some money, then happily left town.
As they went along, they fell into an old mine shaft. While exploring the tunnels, they found an abandoned mine cart. They boarded the cart, making it a battle wagon. Philip used his lance for the first time. They rode the cart downhill, clobbering a couple of orcs who were near the tracks. When they reached the bottom of the incline, they got out and started pushing the cart back uphill. They sensed evil behind them, so with some quick thinking, Philip ordered everyone to let go of the cart, which rolled back onto the orcs.
They had a lot of fun in this scene, and months later still say "remember the battle wagon we made?"
They continued out of the cave and found themselves in a forested area. They saw some tree houses, and suspected it was a grim village. Philip ordered everyone back into the mine shaft. They found two orcs hiding in the abandoned cart. They overpowered them, then pushed the cart back up the trail to a fork in the tunnel they had seen earlier. They rode the rails again, but crashed into a barrier, sustaining minor injuries.
They emerged elsewhere on the island, and traveled a little longer. They met a boy on the road who had a riddle. They solved the riddle, and he answered some questions about the island. Philip led the team westward, passing the ghost town they had seen a couple of days ago until the beach, which had some old mining equipment, such as rusty shovels and broken boxes. They made camp on the beach for the night.
Session #5
Date in Real Life: Monday, 6 Sep 2021
In Game Day: Day 14
(Fifth day on Anamos Island)
As the day began, a heavy fog rolled in, and the party became separated from Philip, the Raid Leader. Stumbling around, not knowing where to go, they all fell into an abandoned mine shaft.
Philip spotted a group on the road that looked like soldiers accompanying the person who ran off scared when Philip had killed a Selfoe. Philip avoided them, and eventually found the rest of the team, and managed to get everyone out.
This is probably when the team realized on a deeper level that their actions can have far reaching consequences. After that terrified villager ran off, a patrol of dragon soldiers from Goldton were looking for them, and they had to hide and avoid them for the rest of the mission. They now knew they had to handle Selfoes with a little more subtlety.
They encountered a farmer selling his stuff. They bought a number of items from him, including a sword, some cookware, some jewelry, and a mysterious rock. The rock glowed when near some dragon scales they found.
The team then came to a tower in the forest. They explored the tower, getting a good view from the top floor, and decided it was a safe place to spend the night. Philip decided to repel down the outside of the tower with his rope for practice.
Session #6
Date in Real Life: Sunday, 12 Sep 2021
In Game Day: Day 15
(Sixth day on Anamos Island)
The team set out, sticking to the cover of the trees as much as possible. Edward wanted to head to town to get new clothes, so he had to be rescued from his enchantment first.
On their way to the mountain, they encountered a sorcerer, whom they quickly dealt with by throwing sleeping powder at him.
When they arrived at the base of the mountain, there was a lady there who gave them some stew and figs. She made a comment about seeking the King of the Cedars, before vanishing. They remembered seeing cedar trees near the other large mountain on the island, but since they were so close to the castle, they approached it first. They found a greedo/granog selling admission tickets, and Starflower and Edward got caught by the Unearned Wealth sin enchantment. Philip killed the greedo, but Starflower took over the ticket booth and started earning money from people coming. William and Philip managed to talk some truth into them. They went to the castle, but quickly learned it had been abandoned by the dragons years ago, and now the greedos were using it as a tourist trap. They left, feeling tricked. They made their way to the cedar grove (still avoiding the roads) and met Arundell the giant eagle, who helped them plan their mission against Anamos’ castle, which was on top of the larger mountain. They relaxed in the cedar grove until evening.
Session #7
Date in Real Life: Monday, 20 Sep 2021
In Game Day: Day 15 (night)
(Sixth day on Anamos Island)
(Possible Spoiler alert)
With plans in place, the Raid Team was flown up one at a time by Arundell the eagle. Regulus the Lion and Bill the Bear had to stay behind. Philip went first, and easily dispatched the sleeping orc guard before the others arrived. The vultures arrived and began dealing with the body. The team used the gate opening word rune to enter the castle. They encountered a slime pit, but were able to crawl across the log bridge. They started going from room to room, not wasting time exploring what they perceived to be traps or distractions. They saw brief clues about some other plot regarding dragon idols, but they did not linger. They found the Money Love Potion lab, and dealt with the cave troll who was working there. They accomplished their mission, neutralizing the potion. The team found another exit, and Arundell spotted them and began airlifting them to safety.
Philip elected to go last. This is the scene depicted on the cover art. I was quite worried one of the characters would die when I read the guidebook for this portion. In case it was to be the end, I did what I could to make it memorable. I put on some bitter sweet rock music (P.O.D.'s Youth of the Nations) to heighten the emotions. And so we began. Orc guards began swarming from everywhere when he was the last one waiting. The team had the foresight to give Philip the leftover Raider Tablets they still had from the Lightraider Test. He swallowed a black raider tablet, giving him extra speed (my players nicknamed the black ones "caffeine pills"). 20 arrows flying at him each turn. May the dice roll. Philip dodged countless arrows while the rest of the team upheld him in prayer. He took damage, but came out alive. Not only did he manage to survive, but with the caffeine pill in his system, he fought back. He killed several orcs before Arundell came back. He deliberately dropped a decoy diamond, and Arundell flew him to safety, but Tarache the fledgling dragon spotted them and gave chase.
Once the team was reunited (Regulus and Bill were there, too), Arundell turned to face Tarache. The team thought he was sacrificing himself and tried to get away while Arundell was killed by the dragon. The dragon spotted them, and they had no choice but to fight. Tarache used mind speech several times, which the team was able to refute with truth, doing severe damage to its pride factor. He lobbed a fire ball at a group of them, who repelled it with their combined shield of faith ratings. They fought back with their weapons, and Philip’s slung stones made it through Tarache’s defenses, which was enough to kill the beast.
This was the first time the team had killed a dragon. They now knew it was possible with their current skills.
After a quick breather, they team continued on to the Moonbridge. They met up with Juterah and Kittereth and hurried across the bridge. They made it back to the mainland, and dashed towards the nearest Hollow Tree. Anamos and Ponerla chased them. A fire ball hit the small bridge crossing the gorge, leaving Starflower suspended above the river and rocks. The guys helped her up, and they evacuated out the Hollow Tree while defending themselves from the dragon’s mind speech and breath attacks.
At last, they were all back in the Liberated Land, mission accomplished.
Back at Ras Telesar:
This mission qualifies Edward to undertake training as a Knight of the Way. He will return in the next mission with this ability.
Treasures to return:
Starflower donated her dragon egg to the Academy museum.
6 Diamonds were returned to the OverLord’s treasury for future mission use.
Money turned in included 1 Tal, 1 Agor, 30 Pinnis, and 50 Beoks. ($20, $50, $150, $50= $270). 4 Pinnis and 7 Beoks were tithed to the OverLord’s treasury. The rest was put to use, helping Juterah and Kittereth get settled in the Liberated Lands.
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