May 23 08 - Story Form - The Bigger They Are
The group split back up and moved to cover two of the three still unknown doors. Kit, Tori and Moirra covered one that said “No speaking with the prisoner”; with Paul, Finglas and Anterias covering a door that was labeled living quarters.
(end of round 120)
Kit slammed her shoulder into the door to break it open, but failed to make it budge. Paul opened the door on their side of the chamber and moved into a foyer with other doors leading into more living chambers. Anterias and Finglas moved in behind Paul to cover the doors as he went to open one. Moirra tried to open the door in front of Kit with no luck.
(end of round 121)
As Paul's group moved through they found beds, chests, tables and chairs. In a secondary chamber they found three tables laid out with the seeming intent to use as torture devices. Kit and Tori combined to smash through the stubborn doorway. Moirra slipped past them to explore, finding the first room on this level with any sort of lighting. She peered around a corner and saw an old man sitting in a chair reading a partially burned journal. Remains Of A Burned Journal In The Fire Priests Temple He looked up and greeted her as she entered.
(end of round 122)
As Kit and Moirra conversed with the Head Priest who was apparently being held captive, they heard part of a story where he had been usurped and the new Head Priest had invited in the Fire Giants. It was discovered that it was this Head Priest who had hired the Dragonslayers to come rid the temple of the new Head Priest and her Fire Giant friends.
In the other room Finglas and Anterias found two prisoners in separate chambers. Talking with them revealed that one of them was the person mentioned in the journal the Head Priest had been reading. The other prisoner turned out to be someone who was tracking that person, and had followed him here to this Temple.
(end of rounds 123-143)
The group brought the Head Priest and the two other newly released prisoners to the central chamber where Percival and Lady Kylia would help get more information out of them. The hunter turned out to be Rave Starfire, a person hired by the Art House Gang in Rivertown to track down a Jason Carter. Rave ‘’entangled’’ Jason to prevent him from escaping now that the two of them were with the rest of the Dragonslayers. Arilyn? and Kylia decided that keeping the Head Priest’s hands tied would be prudent, and the group discussed who should be taken where. There was some debate on the Head Priest’s religion and if the Dragonslayers should leave him free to practice or turn him over to which authorities.
Then a couple of the characters went to explore the last unknown door.
(end of rounds 144-167)
While part of the group stayed near the exit with the prisoners Rave accompanied Arilyn?, Tori, Finglas and Anterias to explore the final chamber behind the sign that read “High Priest’s Quarters”. A quick search showed an altar and several desks in the main room, with an adjoining fully furnished bedroom. The final door was for some sort of cells. Behind it they found three large cells with straw bedding but no prisoners.
After finding no one else alive in the Temple the group decided to take the reward from the valuables that the Head Priest had indicated. The group then ‘‘teleported’’ back to Roadhaven to handle the two remaining prisoners they had in the safety of home.
Rave, Moirra and Tori escorted Jason Carter back to Rivertown while the rest remained in Roadhaven to determine the fate of the former Head Priest.
(end of rounds 167-200)
Here ends the story of The Bigger They Are.
This was a fun adventure to run and the players seemed to enjoy the ‘novelization’ of the story in this form. Things they would not have known about like the priest who escaped using the chest tumbling down the stairs, or some of the activities of their party members when they were involved in other parts of the combat.
I hope that this inspires the players to do their own forms of telling the story of the Dragonslayers in a way that appeals to them.
BOB
