Myriad: City of Tiers Campaign Report - Session #4

What: Myriad: City of Tiers, an adventure for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons

Premise: Originally created for magical research, Myriad disappeared and has been lost to civilization for centuries. Its recent reappearance has spurred interest in creating trade relations and exchanging information to learn more about its absence and possible hidden powers, dangers, and struggles.

Notes: I’m writing this in the 1st person, from my character’s perspective. This will not be a bird’s eye view of all information in the campaign.

Characters

• Talullah Rynn Bahk (Rynn) (Me) – Orc Monk 6 (Warrior of
  the Elements), Barbarian 2
• Palamandrix (Pal) – Gnomish Fighter/Ranger
• Louise – Tiefling Druid
• Lady Jackie Sintara – Halfling Bard
• Greer – Goliath Rogue

Read Session #3

Character Description & Backstory:

See session #1 for backstory and character details.

Previously: 

My name is Talullah Rynn Bahk, of Clan Bahk. I have been assigned as an emissary of Baldur’s Gate to the city of Myriad, a magical city lost to time that has recently reappeared. We are to create trade relations with them, and my role is also to protect the group from threats that it may encounter in the city.

Previously, I displayed my martial prowess to a group of onlookers in the Bards’ fight club. I can only hope they have warriors of greater skill than those we fought if they are to thrive in this apparently dangerous city.

Session #4 – Cloak of Centipedes

Fendra, leader of the Bards in the city, puts us up for the night. She has shared information with us that is of interest, and in exchange for goods and information we have agreed to investigate an anomaly for her.

She scries on much of the city to maintain her information network. One area of the subterranean area of the city is a “dead spot” in the scrying, and she wants to know why.

Concurrent with this, there have been elemental disturbances throughout the city. The wizards maintain control over the elementals, but their numbers are dwindling and the city itself may be in danger if the elementals – which form the foundation of the entire city’s magical operations – are not kept in better order.

The lack of discipline is striking. I would have expected better from those who claim knowledge of the arcane arts. But the factions of the city seem too at odds with one another to truly work together toward harmony. This saddens me.

We are provided two dwarven guides, Polan and Moril, and from them learn more of the elitism of the wizards. The dwarves lead us through the city’s underground sewers and tunnels. The smell is pungent, but I use it as an excuse to focus my thoughts in order to ignore it.

We come upon a trapped water elemental whose binding keeps him locked in a collapsed tunnel. We release it, and it seems pleased with us.

Further along, in a large cistern, a Carrion Crawler lurks, and Louise speaks with a swarm of centipedes – which disturbingly crawls all over her – and we agree to rid the area of the much larger crawler. Louise does not seem to mind the crawling. I squirm a bit despite my training. This is a mental block I will need to focus on.

The crawler is dispatched quickly, but an Otyugh, hearing our fight, surfaces from a dark pool and attacks us. We dispatch it as well. Greer, hidden in the water, smells horribly until he is cleaned off with a Prestidigitation spell. The centipede swarm leaves us, thankfully, though Louise does not see the need to similarly cleanse herself as Greer did.

Deeper in the tunnels, we find a hidden temple to Ilmater and nearby some graffiti that implies the presence of death cultists (of the tyrannical god Bane). However, the tunnels are extremely old, parts even predating the city of Myriad itself. So it is uncertain if these are new markings or old ones.

As we near the area we were sent to investigate, Polan points out a painted hand symbol on the wall and goes to touch it. Crying out, Moril stabs him! Lady Jackie magically holds him and I grab him by his neck against a wall, while Louise heals Polan.

Magically compelling him to share what he knows via one of Lady Jackie’s spells, he reveals the presence of a cult of Bane beneath the city, a god the city of Baldur’s Gate has a history with as well. Working with the cult are other factions who have taken to keeping slaves.

Pressing the painted hand reveals a secret entryway to what we presume is a hideout of the Bane cultists. Some three hours from the start of our journey, we decide to investigate it. We send Polan to a nearby enclave to hide for the time being (he happily agrees), and after knocking him out, I carry the unconscious Moril over my shoulder with me into the cultist area…

Post-Session Player Notes

I was pleased that there were a handful of skill checks where Greer (Rogue) and Jackie (Bard) were able to shine. The so-called “skill monkey” classes stand out in a good way next to, say, my monk, where I have to worry about low rolls even for skills I’m proficient in. This creates meaningful juxtaposition between classes and when they can be expected to shine.

I have more-or-less found my role in the group. Our Ranger/Fighter is dex-based and sometimes prefers to fight at range, meaning that I am more qualified than most to command the attention of our foes in taking damage (though both Druid and Fighter classes have some good mitigation as well). Regardless, being the punching bag, so to speak, is fun.

While I built my character for roleplaying purposes – a monk who struggles with anger management – the Monk 7 / Barbarian 2 build, particularly as I have statted it out (and with Gauntlets of Ogre Strength for high strength) is a shockingly synergistic character build. The interplay of abilities is considerable, with the caveat that if I wasn’t a strength-based Monk, a couple Barbarian abilities would no longer be useful. It’s all combat-based, though, meaning that I can be bodyguard and/or accidental comic relief in the social scenes (which is to my liking) and fade into the scenery while the others in the party take the spotlight.

Read Session #5