Argonloft Adventures, session 3: The Haunted Bridge

Player characters:

- Denethor (Kye) - a polite changeling wild magic sorcerer, usually appears as a young male cloaked human with tanned skin and messy dark hair, tries to keep his changeling nature secret.

- Thane Morthal (Harvey) - a human paladin, formerly a legendary soldier known to many as 'Crusher', now a preacher of peace, hoping to redeem himself for past actions. He appears scarred and middle-aged, with a red bandana and heavy armour.

- Venis (Aaron) - a sarcastic wood elf archer, and member of the Kassen city watch, has a wolf companion called Shay. He is 6ft tall with brown hair, wearing lightweight hooded leather armour.

- Smirnoff (Paul) - a mad human actor, gone too deep into one of his roles, now believing himself to be a bounty hunter folk hero. He wears a red leather coat and a wide brimmed hat with a feather in it.

- Vlad Umbaro (Dom) - a fire genasi necromancer, a former marine looking for an old crew mate who betrayed him. He stands 5ft 7inches tall with orange skin, short hair that moves like flames, wearing black robes under an orange cloak.

A party of many shenanigans was had the night before the adventure - Denethor and Venis woke up in their beds at the inn, but Smirnoff woke up on the roof with a face tattoo, and Thane woke up handcuffed to the tallest branch of a tree. After causing quite a loud ruckus helping each other down, the four had breakfast in front of the news board in the inn. Smirnoff managed to cover up his tattoo with makeup. Of the 5 posters on the board, they decided to investigate the mysterious warning posted by the city guard, that simply said the eastern bridge into town was haunted. They set off at around 5am, and upon visiting the offices of the city guard, the law enforcement seemed underfunded and understaffed, as a young man who couldn’t help much was the only one in the office.

It was at this point that Vlad caught up to the party after sleeping in. They headed out of the town, across field and dirt road, towards the eastern bridge. They noticed the environmental sounds dying down, slowly being replaced with the sounds of battle. Thane used his Divine Sense to sense a vengeful ghost haunting the bridge. Venis and Smirnoff started crossing the bridge while the others stayed back. Once at the middle of the bridge, Venis felt a force trying to overtake his mind - he resisted, but glimpsed some memories of another life, learning that a soldier fell to his death here when the bridge crumbled long ago, feeling robbed of a great destiny. Smirnoff wasn’t so lucky - he was possessed by the ghost, and believed himself to be waging a war on a great enemy, and that it was his destiny to vanquish this enemy. Denethor levitated Smirnoff into the air to stop him from hurting anyone.

The party ejected the ghost from Smirnoffs body by dropping him to zero hitpoints and then healing him. The ghost, who revealed his name to be Flampnuts Gnuush, did battle with the party, until Smirnoff was able to convince him that they were his allies, meaning to help him defeat his enemy - the dreaded emperor Tangun Weir, who had conquered these lands. With some quick thinking and some crafty disguise and acting, Smirnoff disguised himself as the Tangun Weir he had seen while possessed, and allowed himself to be struck down by the ghost, some illusory blood cast by Vlad selling the fiction, and Flampnuts Gnuush, believing he had killed his eternal enemy, was able to move on from this world.

The party went back to the offices of the city guard and were rewarded for solving the problem, before taking a long rest back at the inn. Then they went to the alleyway behind the Warriors Wonderland Emporium to check out the wares of the mysterious Shadow Baker - Venis, Vlad and Smirnoff ate the pastries and gained the benefits of the Heroes Feast spell. Next, they went into the shop and bought some magical items:

Everyone bought an Earring of Far Speech: when worn, you may communicate telepathically with anyone who wears a corresponding earring from up to a mile away.

Venis bought the Gnashing Key: when placed in a lock, this key will take 1 minute to destroy the inside of the lock, making gnashing sounds that are audible for up to 30ft.

Vlad bought the Ring of the Grammarian: The Ring of the Grammarian can be used, once per day, to alter one letter in a spell title, as you're casting it, for a different effect. For instance, the wearer can start casting Cause Fear and activate the ring to instead cast Cause Bear.

Thane bought the Bands of returning: one band on your wrist, another fastened to the handle of a weapon. This allows you to summon this weapon to your hand as a free action.

Smirnoff bought the Shield of Heroic Memories: This perfectly round silver shield initially has a mirror finish. As a hero takes it into battle it remembers the enemies encountered, gaining a +1 to AC on any subsequent battle with creatures of that type. The events of the battle are intricately engraved onto the shield’s surface (which has a seemingly endless capacity for detail). The bearer of the shield may also attempt to recount past battles (real or imagined) to the shield. Upon a DC 10 persuasion check or DC 15 deception check, the shield confers a +1 AC against the creatures described in the tall tales. 3 failed attempts at recounting stories cause the shield to be cleared of all of its memories. The engravings disappear as it reverts to its mirror finish. All bonuses are lost.