Beholder Group D&D Blog

Wed 29th Nov 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (9th day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" return to Evernight after a busy evening in a Vampire mansion, playing games, pretending to be other people, rescuing dragons etc - a usual Friday night for this crowd. The city of Evernight is in turmoil. The Battle of Evernight is reaching a peak and there are lots of small-scale skirmishes going on, some of which seem to be becoming more full-scale battles, as well as looting and opportunistic fights in every corner of the city. Arriving back in the warehouse that is home to the Portal Guild, it is a busy place. People are coming and going, and some rooms are hosting injured fighters - Solveig lends a hand with some healing. The party report back on their activities - some of which were known, as Agratheron did arrive there some hours ago, though he has since headed off to help with the recruitment and fighting efforts, so he is not around at present. The party have a rest for the remainde

  Wed 13th Sep 2023, Wed 11th Oct and Thu 19th Oct In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (7th day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" are impersonating some minor nobles at a masquerade ball that has a large number of vampires and lycanthropes. They feel a little uncomfortable. After having a drink (or two!) their nerves settle a little and they disperse to talk to the various members of nobility, vampire families, gypsy-like vistani and were-folk who are mingling around the ball. They make polite conversation, but as and when the opportunities arrive they probe a little deeper regarding the possibility of a silver dragon being held in the mansion somewhere, as well as asking about the Cult of Malar and the Black Sun. They discover various snippets of information, including gaining a view into the complex politics and sexual proclivities and dalliances within and between the vampire families. They do manage to achieve this without annoying anyone, surprisingly, though Alwaith, in the guise o

  Wed 6th Sep 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (6th day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" return to the centre of Evernight and back to the HQ of the Portal Guild. The numbers of people in the warehouse have been reduced, as skirmishes have already started in places around town. After some discussion about the information that they received regarding countess Allani and the names on the note they had regarding the Vessels, the party eat a welcome meal and head to bed. Except for Sanada, who seemed to receive something from Lord Graysing that helps her level up. The following morning, with an even more exhausted Sanada, the group receive some useful information about Allani's Masquerade Ball, as well as two more invitations that the Guild has managed to get hold of. Faith disappears with Quinlen, Alwaith's father, apparently for some training, and Alwaith takes the opportunity to rest in preparation for the upcoming events. Solveig spends some time creating an impressive c

Wed 30th Aug 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (4th day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" have obtained the second pebble, and have placed it on the idol. Only one remains missing, and they are pretty sure that is currently on the chess board in the playroom. After some planning, the party head back to the playroom, using the detailed maps produced by Faith and Sanada. They enter the playroom to see it in the exact same fashion as when they first encountered it. Toys still scattered on the floor, none of which are of unusual size, or seem to have murderous tendencies…yet. Following their plan, they line up at the edge of the chess board and plan to all step on at the same time. Alwaith is the quickest and steps on fractionally before the others. Immediately the walls of force spring up around the board and the others find they are unable to step on the board. Alwaith finds himself transformed into a white queen chess piece, and a black queen chess piece appears on the opposite sid

Thu 10th Aug 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (4th day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" close the door on the flying pots and pans and destroyed stove and turn their attention to the voice coming from the sink of water. Alwaith and Faith approached the basin and spoke to the young lady who appeared in the reflection - Poppy. They finds out that Poppy was stuck in this 'other world', similar to Dracomere and Olivia whom they had spoken to before. Poppy said that shortly before she seemed to be transported to this world, Grace had come in and asked if the stove was likely to be lit in the near future. When she was told no, Grace had placed something into the stove and run out of the kitchen. Given our "Heroes" recent experiences and finds, this now all makes some kind of sense. Whilst talking to Poppy, they hear the striking of a clock - sounding strangely close given that the nearest clock is supposed to be in the Great Hall. After talking to Poppy for a short w

Tue 25th July  & Wed 2nd Aug 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (4th day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" have managed to get rid of the strange, nightmare-ish creations of diseased rats that attacked them following their carriage crash. Wanting to get out of the creepy mists, they quickly enter the mansion through the open front doors, passing through the veil of fog that surrounds the door and finding that these veils, which surround each doorway within the grand hall too, seem to dispel any magical effects that are ongoing. They have entered a grand hallway, empty of people, with artefacts on display around the room and a large tapestry depicting a family tree. The artefacts are interesting, with mysterious labels, but their attention is drawn to both an empty case labelled "Necromical" and to a large golden idol that seems to have some missing coloured stones from its four outstretched hands (only one is present). Sanada investigates the landing, up the grand sta

  Wed 12th July 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (4th day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" have the best night's sleep they have had so far in the Shadowfell - though that is not saying much. The following morning they are transported as promised to the edge of Evernight by the ravens of the Raven Queen. Evernight looks a miserable city. A twisted reflection of Neverwinter, but without the colour, the gaiety or the bustling nature. And with a flow of lava through the centre of the city where Neverwinter has a (vaguely) clean river. Wanting to make good progress to avoid more punishing rests in this plane, our "Heroes" walk to the city walls and enter through one of the dilapidated gates. After a little wandering, Alwaith asks someone for directions to the Portal Guild and receives on a gruff, pointed indication in response. Walking for another 30 minutes in that direction leads to nothing useful so Alwaith asks another and this time gets some more useful directions

Wed 5th July 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (4th day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" awake in their Tiny Hut and realise they are unfortunately still in the Shadowfell. Heading out into the sparse and dead forest, they see a flock of dark birds, looking like large vultures, approaching from the north. As the party tries to hide before they are spotted, an unkindness of ravens appears from the south and attack the vultures - killing some and driving the rest to seek shelter within the keep in the Rotted Heart, before the ravens fly back south. The Raven Queen is obviously rooting for our "Heroes"! Cautiously, the party decide to scout around the keep, looking for other possible entrances. It takes them an hour, and they find nothing useful, but there are also no guards around the outside of the keep. Arriving back at the door, Solveig opens the door a crack and listens. He hears the flapping, as if a large bird is stretching its wings. Armed with all this information

Wed 21st June 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (3rd day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" spend some time discussing their next steps, knowing that whatever may be in the lower level(s) will now be alerted to their presence. Solveig is very concerned about making good use of his summoned black bears and would prefer to press on quickly. They scout round the rest of the caverns on this level - Faith finds another cave but with no other obvious exits. Despite the time pressures, Alwaith and Faith look at the books that are in the rough-and-ready bookcases around this area, finding a number of hand-written journals that seem to describe personal events and lives. One especially piques their interest, as it seems blank at first, but as they stare at it writing appears in their most familiar language (dwarvish to Faith and elvish to Alwaith). They have no time to study it, but Faith tucks it away for later perusal. A statue to Vecna is found in the next room, standing above an altar w

Wed 31st May 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (2nd day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" are trying to hide from a group of undead guards, behind a small pile of boulders in an otherwise empty cavern. Unsurprisingly, their hiding place did not last long. However, they did manage to gain surprise on the creatures. The battle lasted longer than they usually do for this party. Using some area control in the form of Sickening Radiance, Silence and Entangle, they manage to prevent themselves from being overwhelmed, and Faith's healing abilities proved useful enough to give them a little breathing space. They came a little unstuck when, after managing to get away from the initial attacks, our "Heroes" decided to return to finish the job. However, as soon as Sanada opened the door to the next cavern, she was set upon by a number of small dog-like creatures that Alwaith had come across before, known as Wretched. They proved her undoing, as , alone, she was unable to fight t

Wed 24th May 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN (2nd day in the Shadowfell) Our "Heroes" have received a vision from the Raven Queen. They have been tasked with finding the Conspirator's Visage from someone called Ghoriliath - a general of Vecna who is posted on the border between Vecna's and the Raven Queen's lands. Markella provides them with an escort out of the City of Broken Dreams, ensuring they do not run the risk of losing more memories - at least for now, and they decide to camp for the night just outside the city gates. Faith's Tiny Hut provides welcome protection from potential denizens of the Shadowfell outside, though it is unable to prevent the general malaise of gloom and despair from affecting those unfamiliar with this realm. Solveig, Faith and Sanada all awake after a sleep feeling rested, but morose. In the case of Faith, he is feeling somewhat mistrustful of all those around him, whilst Sanada is feeling a little hopeless towards their situatio

Thu 18th May 2023 In-game timeline: UNKNOWN Our "Heroes" have experienced a battle with undead within the Shadowfell. For Alwaith, this brought back old memories. For the others, well - they tried hard NOT to remember things. It becomes quickly apparent that being this close to the Raven Queen's fortress means they are all at risk of losing their most cherished memories. The group learn that they are able to attempt to make touchstones against this risk, but, should that fail, the memory will be lost - perhaps forever. Even should they succeed it means that this memory is forever locked within a particular item, and should that item be lost, stolen or broken, the memory will be gone. Our heroes are keen not to tarry here for long. Unfortunately the city itself has other ideas. As the party tries to rush through the dark and misty streets, aiming for the centre of the city, they realise that the city seems to shift around them. Or perhaps their own memories of where they h