Hello, everyone! WaterDragonMaverick here to welcome you back to my Owl House Dungeons and Dragons story, "Your Turn To Roll". When we last left off, our heroes were able to defeat an owlbear with the help of Luz's character being able to use a magic ring. But because it's broken, it'll be in a weakened state for the foreseeable future. But thanks to reaching Daggercrest Quay, they stop at The Blue Moon, a magic shop that tells them that they can repair it with some special gemstones they can find on another island. With new magic items purchased, the gang is a bit low on cash to start and they need to do some sidequests to earn more money. And with that, we'll be beginning our next chapter.
However, this will be the first chapter where the regular players are joined by a guest. And who better to join the Hexsquad in this session than our favorite little guy? Time for King to join in the game. But what will his first character be? You'll have to read to see.
The Owl House is owned by Disney and was created by Dana Terrace
Dungeons and Dragons is published by Wizards of the Coast and was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
A few days after their last session, Luz and the others were spending their afternoon setting up for their next game inside the back room of The Owl House. Or rather, Luz was watching the store and working the cash register for Eda while her friends got their table set up until it was closing time for the store. After the last customer of the day paid, Luz was happy to flip the shop's sign to 'Closed' and head off to join the others. "Okay, are we ready," she asked.
"Just waiting for our guest player," Vee said before the back room's door opened and King Clawthorne was waddling in while carrying a large bowl of snacks.
Grunting as he carried everything, King managed to get it all to the table to be passed around. "Let's play! What happened to you guys last time," King asked as he was ready to join with his character, which Vee was checking over.
"Vee will explain, King," Willow said before taking a handful of popcorn for herself.
"You'll love what happened," Gus told him.
After figuring out a good point for King to join in, Vee nodded before she began to recap everything for him. "When we last left our heroes, they had finished defeating a goblin camp on the outskirts of Woodpine Village. After they left, they traveled through the Gingawood, a dangerous forest where they had to camp for the night. But during their rest, they encountered an owlbear and had to fight it off. With a combination of magic spells, weaponry skills, and Carmen Valentina's Ring of Shooting Stars, they were able to survive the attack and took apart the creature to sell in the town of Daggercrest Quay," Vee told King. "After some shopping, the party acquired some magic items and decided to earn more money by checking the job board at the Tidepool Tavern. We now open up our session as the five of you are walking into the tavern, seeing it full of rowdy people enjoying drinks, telling stories of their adventures, and even looking at a large notice board on the far wall. You watch as a trio of adventurers take a paper down and leave the building with it."
"Can we see anything that shows what it might have said," Hunter asked.
"Everyone but King, roll me a Perception check," Vee responded.
"I got an 8, so that's 10 total," Amity says.
"Straight 4," Hunter groaned.
"Natural 20 for me," Gus says with a smile.
"7 plus 6 would be 13," Willow says.
"13 on my die, so that'll be 18 total," Luz tells Vee.
"Wrenn and Carmen are able to see that the paper the trio took was basically a job for retrieving lost items back in the Gingawood. With that job taken, the rest of you head up to the job board and look at everything. Everyone but King, please roll an Investigation check," Vee said.
Rolling their d20s again, the main 5 players went to see what they were able to find for possible ways for their characters to earn more money. "I got a natural 18. That'll be 19 total," Luz exclaimed.
"Natural 20 for me," Amity says happily.
"I got a modified 16," Willow said.
"I have an 8, so my modifiers make it into a 14," Gus stated.
"I have a natural 20, too," Hunter said with a smile.
"Everyone is able to find a job on the board ranging from moving cargo off ships, to retrieving lost items from nearby areas, to even security and escort jobs for rich locals. Philomena, Caleb, and Carmen are all able to find some notices behind other job opportunities that haven't been claimed yet. The three of you find one job that sparks your interest greatly," Vee states. "Philomena, you notice a posting for some research at the local library. Caleb finds a job that deals with some monster sightings, yet all attempts to stop them end up in failure as they escape somehow. And as for Carmen, you find a wanted poster for an unknown thief that's evaded capture around the area. The last known sighting was around the auction house."
"Three different types of jobs, but five of us. Should we at least handle the least action-focused one first, then get to the auction house," Gus suggested.
"Sounds good," Willow agreed.
"Alright, let's go ahead to the library. I'm sure that a number of us will be able to handle this," Hunter says.
"And if we get good enough rolls, we can head to the auction house faster to deal with that thief," Luz stated.
"The five of you soon leave the tavern with the jobs you take, then locate the library thanks to the directions on the paper, making it there in about 10 minutes. When you reach the library, an employee comes up to speak with your group," Vee narrated before doing a voice for the NPC. "May I help you five find anything," she asks as an elderly woman.
"We found a job posting at the Tidepool Tavern for some research help and were wondering if we could be of service," Amity says as Philomena.
"Wonderful. The books we've acquired need some translating, but they're in dialects I don't recognize. I've been waiting for some experienced travelers to give us some help in handling everything. Or at least, help us identify what language the writing is," Vee says as the librarian.
"We'd be glad to help. I've studied a few different cultures, so I'm sure that we can at least narrow everything down," Gus voiced as Wrenn.
"Even that would be of good help. We'll make sure you're compensated for your efforts. Sometimes there are people who have to pay late fees or even wish to buy the books from our library, so we make sure to have reasonable prices for our books. We can give you at least 250 gold for helping us with this," Vee said as the librarian.
"You can count on us, ma'am," Hunter says as Caleb.
"As you are shown to their archive, she guides you to the table where several old books are located. The pages are worn and discolored, but the books themselves are stable and aren't falling apart. Before we make rolls, what languages do your characters know," Vee asked after explaining the job the characters were doing.
"I'm sure we all know Common, but here's what I have. I've got Druidic, Sylvan, and Dwarvish," Willow says.
"My character knows Gnomish, Halfling, and Celestial," Gus remarked.
"Elvish and Draconic," Hunter says.
"Elvish and Sylvan," Amity says.
"I've got Thieves' Cant and Merfolk," Luz said.
Nodding at all of that, Vee looked at everyone. "Go ahead and roll me Investigation checks," she told the others.
Rolling their dice, the party went ahead to see how well they could do this first sidequest. "I got a 7," Hunter said. "That'll be 9 total," he added.
"I got a natural 18 for 24," Gus exclaimed.
"I have a total of 10," Willow says.
"I got an 11 for 15," Amity declared.
"3 for a total of 4," Luz muttered.
"As you all check the books out, Wrenn's knowledge of the Celestial language allows him to decipher the books and is able to figure out the translations. He's able to handle most of this by himself with Philomena managing to notice a mix of Sylvan and Elvish in some spots, which Wrenn uses as a translation guide after she writes the information down," Vee states. "After Wrenn managed to get into the zone and starts writing the information down, he's able to find the translations for the books and even finds spell equations and other possibilities for magic casting in the tomes," she adds.
"Awesome! I bet it's because he rolled so high," Hunter cheered.
"While Wrenn is wrapped up in his work, he says that the rest of you can go check out the auction house for that thief while he earns the money for the job," Vee states.
"We might as well check the place out," Willow says as the others agree with her.
"Following the second poster for the jobs you accepted, you find your way to the Wondrous Wares Auction House, a large three-story building with griffon statues at the front steps. You see that there are guards posted at the front doors, outside near the cellar entrance, and in certain areas inside. As you approach, the guards at the front cross their spears in front of you and block your path until they see Caleb's insignia he applied to his armor. After they do, they allow you entrance as they immediately believe that you're here for a reason," Vee narrates.
"We're here to see about the thief that was sighted in the area," Hunter told the guards as Caleb.
"You'll want to speak with the owner of the house. Come with us," Vee says as a guard, gesturing for the party to follow. "You all make your way up to the third floor of the auction house and reach an office where two other guards are placed. Seeing the other members of their team escorting you, they allow you to enter the office and speak with an elven man wearing a fancy suit."
"Hello. We're here because we heard of a thief seen around these parts," Luz says as Carmen.
"Ah, yes. Thank you for taking the job. My name is Aelar Liadon. I'm the owner of the Wondrous Wares Auction House," Vee says in a prim and proper masculine voice. "For the last month, there's been various figures seen taking items from our storage space in the basement and even during auctions themselves. Whenever we try to apprehend him, he escapes because doors and windows suddenly open and close for him."
"Really? Have you tried locking them," asked Willow as Sariel.
"We have, but the locks keep getting broken," Vee explained as Aelar.
"They could be in here making sure they secure their route. They're probably a stealth expert that blends in with the crowd and does everything subtly. Making sure that you never find it until it's too late," Amity theorized as Philomena.
"Actually, no. This thief seems to leave a calling card whenever he's planning to steal an item he wants. Like this one that arrived just this morning," Vee says as Aelar. "As he does, he shows you a card with the image of a demonic skull with coins for eyes."
"Would we be able to recognize this design," Hunter asked.
"Roll me a History check," Vee asked the four at the auction house while King snacked on cupcakes.
"I have a 7, so that's a total of 11," Hunter says.
"10 for 16 total," Amity states.
"Total of 15," Willow declared.
"I have 10 for 11 total," Luz says.
"Philomena, you're able to figure out that this mark on the card is based on a pirate flag from a storybook you've read to your younger siblings before you put them in bed. The main difference is that the demon horns were added to this design and instead of coins, the original had jewels in the eye sockets," Vee explains, giving Amity's character a way to recognize the look of the calling card.
"This is based on the Gem Eye Pirates in a book I read to my siblings, 'The Adventures of the Daybreak'. I think that whoever this thief is, he sees himself as a criminal like them," Amity states for Philomena.
"Or he likes the design. It is a nice flag in the book," Luz adds as Carmen.
"Either way, we'd best be careful. Who knows when he'd strike next," Hunter says as Caleb.
"King, it's time for you to play. Go ahead and roll me a Stealth check," Vee asked.
"Finally! Let's roll," King exclaimed before grabbing a red d20 and rolling it. "13."
"Total or is that on the die? Add your modifier from Ability Scores and Skill Proficiencies," Luz asks, helping out the younger boy.
"Oh, then… that's a total of 17," King says.
"What's everyone's passive Perception? That'll be 10 plus your Perception modifiers," Vee asked the others.
"If counting my Expertise, then mine is at 15 total to start," Luz says.
"12 for me," Amity voiced.
"16 total," Willow says.
"Only a 10," Hunter says.
"King, your character is able to sneak his way through the auction house until he reaches an unguarded room that's locked. What do you do," Vee asked.
"I'll start picking the lock with my Thieves' Tools," King says.
"Give me a Dexterity check with your tool proficiency added," Vee told him.
Rolling his die again, King waited for it to stop so he could see the result. "11 plus 4 is 15," he tells Vee.
"You're able to open the door and inside, you see a small storage area that holds the item you seek, a bronze crown that would have been auctioned off at 250 gold pieces to start," Vee says.
"I chuckle to myself and leave the same calling card shown before in the spot I take the crown from," King says eagerly.
"As you do, roll me a Sleight of Hand check to swiftly take the crown away," the DM told the youngest player.
Rolling his die, King was happy to see his introduction was going well. But when he saw the result of his next roll, he gave off what Eda likes to call his 'Squeal of Rage'. King gave off an angry high-pitched sound like a tea kettle going off before he said what he got. "Natural 1. No fair, I have Expertise in Sleight of Hand," King complained.
"Hey, even we got 1s on our dice before," Willow told King as she comforted him.
"Plus, this helps us see what your character is," Amity added.
"As you try and reach for the crown and put your calling card in its place, you accidentally knock it down and it clatters loudly on the ground. This ends up alerting everyone and you realize you're about to be caught. What do you do," Vee describes.
"I'm not going to leave without the crown, so I pick it up and start bolting for the nearest window," King says.
"Everyone else, you all heard the clatter and go to investigate when you see what looks like a draconic being. Kind of like a large kobold more than a dragonborn. But the figure is holding a bronze crown in his hand and going for the window," Vee narrates.
"I immediately chase after him," Luz says. "Hey, para!"
"Philomena will do the same with her Bladesong active since she remembers we're on the third floor and it gives her an advantage on Acrobatics checks. It also speeds me up," Amity says.
"I use Thaumaturgy to slam the window open, letting me jump out of it and onto the roof of the next building," King declares.
"All three of you roll me Acrobatics if you're jumping out the window and onto the rooftops below," Vee says.
"Natural 19 for me," King exclaimed as he got a better roll than his last one.
"I got a 5, but my Dexterity and Expertise make it 13 total," Luz says.
"11 on the first roll and 7 on the second. That makes it 15," Amity says.
"All three of you jump out the window and land on the tile roof next door. While King's character is able to do an impressive flip as he jumps, Carmen nearly loses her footing when a loose tile slips away. Luckily, you recover just in time for Philomena to pass by you," Vee states before turning to Hunter and Willow. "What are you two going to do after seeing your teammates jump out the window to chase this thief?"
"I'll have Caleb go and alert the guards to try and corner him somewhere by blocking potential escape routes," Hunter says.
"I'll teleport out with my Fey Step, then chase after them from the ground," Willow tells Vee.
"With the four of you in a chase, I want the characters on the rooftops to give me another Acrobatics check as you run from roof to roof," Vee instructs.
Rolling their dice, King and the girls went to see how everything would go for the chase. "10 plus 2 plus my Expertise… 16," King declared.
"13 plus 4 plus my own Expertise would be 21," Luz says.
"Wow, I rolled 18 twice. That's 22," Amity said.
"As you make your way across the tops of the buildings, you all jump with great skill like parkour practitioners. But thanks to Philomena's Bladesong, she's starting to catch up to you, King. What do you do," Vee tells the kid.
"I'll take a handful of ball bearings I stole before, not taking away from my pack I already have, then drop them when I get to a flat roof," King says.
"You manage to do so after another 50 feet away, which means I need Luz and Amity to roll Dexterity saving throws," Vee says.
"I have a 17 on my die for the save," Amity says.
"10 on my die," Luz says.
"While Philomena is able to jump over the ball bearings, Carmen steps on them and nearly slips before recovering and continuing the chase. Willow, what does Sariel do," Vee asked after describing the results of the ball bearings being tossed.
"I'll use Wild Shape and turn into a horse to chase after them as I see where they're going," Willow declared.
"Hehehehe, I'm picturing Willow turning into Applejack from My Little Pony," Gus says.
"Ha! That would be hilarious. And cute," Luz remarks.
"I would look adorable as a My Little Pony character from 'Friendship is Magic'. But as I turn into the horse, I use the better speed as one to try and get ahead of the three on the rooftops. That way, I can cut the thief off," Willow says.
"Wait, maybe you don't have to," Amity said as she checked over her spell list that she updated when her character leveled up. "I cast Hold Person so our thief has to roll a Wisdom saving throw or be paralyzed. And for flavor, it'll be from me sending out some slime to wrap him up like I'm a waterbender freezing him. My DC is 14," she stated.
"King, roll the saving throw," Vee told the boy.
Shaking his dice, King tossed the d20 down and looked at the result. "Natural 20!"
"You don't even notice the slime get on you as you simply shrug off this strange feeling like a shiver running up your back," Vee states.
"Dang it, that's a spell wasted," Amity groaned.
"I'll keep dashing after the guy," Luz says.
"Roll me Acrobatics checks, you three," Vee requested.
"11 plus 6 for 17," King proudly said.
"I have a 3, so that's… 11 total," Luz tells everyone, hoping she doesn't fail in the chase.
"3 on my first one, but the second roll is… seriously? Another 3," Amity says, surprised by her roll. "That's only a 7."
"As you all jump to the next roof, Philomena's unable to make it across and winds up on a balcony instead of the roof. As for Carmen, she's able to get onto the roof, but stumbles a little before regaining her balance. After that, the thief continues running. Do you give chase," Vee narrates.
"I'll keep chasing him," Luz says.
"I'll try another Acrobatics check to jump back onto the roof," Amity says before rolling her d20 again. "Ugh, 3 again. But I got a 19 on the second one. Where was that five seconds ago?"
"With the grace and skill of a cat, you manage to jump from the edge of the balcony to the rooftop before seeing Carmen and the thief a bit of a distance ahead of you. But luckily, other rooftops lead to the area he seems to be heading," Vee tells Amity.
"I'll go ahead and do that," Amity says.
"As you all chase him down, Sariel in her horse form manages to get to a point ahead of the thief. She's now in an alleyway just underneath where he'll jump next. What do you do, Willow," Vee asked.
"As soon as I get there, I undo my Wild Shape. When I see the first body over me, I'll cast Thorn Whip to pull them down," Willow declares.
"Willow, you roll me the attack. King, make another Acrobatics check as you jump over Sariel Belladonna," Vee says.
"My Acrobatics check is a 22," King says.
"My attack is a 15 on my die. That'll be a total of 21," Willow says.
"Does that mean I dodge it," King asked.
"Hmmm… how about this? Roll me a d100, the two d10s, and you'll be able to get away if it's over 50," Vee says, not sure how to go with the ruling. Instead of scouring the rules, she decided to make it more interactive for King's character.
Picking up his red d100, King shook them in his hands before releasing them onto the table. "I got a 100," he exclaimed victoriously.
"Good roll, King," Luz praised.
"You managed to get away from the Thorn Whip with the edge just grazing the edge of your boot as you clear the jump and are ready to get to the next one," Vee says.
"I'm still chasing him with a total of 16 on my newest Acrobatics roll," Luz says.
"And for me, I got a 12 and a 6. That'll be 16 for me as well," Amity adds.
"The two of you continue your chase for the thief as you watch the thorned tendril lash out onto the roof, missing the intended target," Vee tells them.
"I'll use my last Fey Step to teleport into range, then cast Thorn Whip again," Willow declared.
"Give me the roll as you end up on the roof and see the thief ready to jump toward the next building," Vee says.
"Oh wow, the same as last time. 15 for a 21," Willow says.
"As Sariel teleports onto the roof, the thief clears a good portion of the jump before the Thorn Whip grabs him by the waist and he's pulled back 10 feet, causing him to be pulled to the gap between the buildings. King, roll me another Acrobatics check," Vee describes before asking for another roll.
Rolling his die, King looked at the result and grumbled at the number. "I got a 3, so that'll be 9 total," he said.
"Unfortunately, that's not enough to land unharmed aside from the damage you took from the Thorn Whip," Vee says.
"It was a 3 if you wanted to know," Willow added.
"As you fall down into the alley, you end up taking another 7 damage as you fell 20 feet and end up prone on the ground. This gives Caleb time to get to the scene and point his sword at you," Vee describes.
"Hands where I can see them," Hunter ordered as Caleb.
"I'm groaning in pain as he arrives," King says.
"As Carmen, Sariel, and Philomena all arrive at the scene, you watch as the large kobold's appearance changes as a guard picks him up. King, do you want to say what your real form looks like," Vee asked.
"Gladly," King replied before clearing his throat. "As my disguise vanishes, you see that I'm a young tiefling teenager with red skin and solid gold eyes. My horns point up kinda like they're meant to be cat ears stuck in place. I also have dark gray hair tied back in a wolf tail that reaches my neck. You see that under my cloak, I'm wearing old studded leather armor that has seen better days and my tail is wrapped around my waist," he describes.
"With his real form shown, Caleb will speak to him," Hunter says. "You're under arrest for multiple robberies of the Wondrous Wares Auction House."
"You can't prove anything," King says as his tiefling.
"As you say this, the crown falls out from your backpack," Vee says with a grin.
"I look at it awkwardly, then back at Hunter's Paladin," King says before voicing his tiefling again. "That was a gift."
"A likely story," Hunter remarked as Caleb.
"Who are you," Amity asked as Philomena.
King chuckled as he finally got to introduce his character. "I am the greatest thief you'll ever meet! The master of disguise and sleight of hand! The demon that runs through the night with his ill-gotten gains! I am the king of crime, Reverence!"
"Hunter, you and the girls roll me a History check," Vee requested.
"I got a 7 to make 11 total," Hunter says.
"I have a 3, so that's only a 4," Luz remarks.
"Natural 1 for me," Amity moaned.
"Natural 19," Willow says.
"Caleb and Sariel remember from interacting with people in their travels or training that tiefling names come from three broad categories. Names from the culture they're born into, names derived from the Infernal language to reflect their fiendish heritage, and names that are virtues and concepts they wish to embody. With your knowledge and this tiefling's appearance, you realize he's a young orphan that's trying to make a name for himself," Vee explains.
Willow gives King a sympathetic glance to show her character doing the same to his, then begins speaking. "I'll roll Insight on him to see what he's hiding," she says before tossing her d20. "And I got a natural 20."
"Sariel, you read Reverence like a book and notice that with his body language and boasting, he's desperately trying to be known because he's been ignored by nearly everybody in Daggercrest Quay. It doesn't matter what reputation he gets as long as he draws attention to himself when needed and gets what he can to survive the city," Vee states.
"Yeah, basically," King agrees as that's what he wanted for his first character.
"Rev, right? Why not work an honest job? We only found you because there are all these jobs at the Tidepool Tavern and your wanted poster was one of them," Willow says as Sariel.
"I have a wanted poster? Cool! I'm definitely making it here," King says as Reverence, ignoring the mention of honest work.
"Yeah, but what if some adventurers took the job to bring you in dead or alive? I think that you'd prefer to live and stay out of jail," Amity says as Philomena, then rolls a Persuasion check. "Wow, natural 20 on Persuasion."
"Rev immediately has a nervous face and his tail squeezes around his leg," King says. "Y-yeah… It would have been bad if you guys actually wanted to hurt me more than you did."
"If he's a Rogue, then I'll speak to him in Thieves' Cant and help convince him more," Luz says.
"Oooh, this is gonna be fun," King said with a grin.
"Look, I'm sure that you weren't expecting a bottleneck to your work with getting your cornbread, but perhaps a paradigm shift could help keep things from going pear-shaped. I'm sure you like marching to your own drummer, but this crossroads might be a fresh-baked loaf," Luz says as Carmen. "Basically, I'm telling him he wasn't expecting us to get in his way of stealing that crown, but he could help us out and it would be good for him to do this instead of constantly getting in trouble."
"Hehehehe, bread jokes," King chuckled as he and Luz always liked to make those when she watched over him for Eda.
"Roll me a Persuasion check, Luz. King, roll an Insight check," Vee told the two.
"I have a 14 on my die and no modifiers for it," King says.
"I got the same result, but my modifier makes it 17," Luz tells the others.
"Hearing this, I'll talk back in Thieves' Cant as well," King declares. "Fresh loaf, huh? Is this from the bakery? If you make it yourself, I'd be interested if you can get a baker's dozen to share."
"And what does that mean since we'd just be hearing you talking in buzzwords and bakery stuff," Hunter asked.
"I'm saying that I'm interested in the work if not with the local rogues and I'd want a good cut of the money we'd earn from the work she's offering," King says, clarifying what his character meant in his words.
"Carmen will nod and offer her hand to him after picking up the crown," Luz says.
"Reverence with take it and shake her hand while coiling his tail around their wrists to mean they have a deal," King describes.
"At this time, the local guards arrive and see that you've got the thief surrounded. One of them that's one rank under Caleb speaks up and asks how everything's going since he sees the tiefling shaking hands with the human," Vee says. "Is everything handled? Why is your companion shaking that tiefling's hand?"
"I can take it from here. This tiefling is young and wants to not be arrested. I propose that he'll work some community service while my companions and I supervise his progress. I'm sure that he can agree to all of this," Hunter declared as Caleb.
"Rev will nod his head as he would agree with the guy talking," King said.
"Roll me a Deception or Persuasion check with an advantage since Reverence is helping," Vee told Hunter.
"Rolling… and anything is better than a natural 1," Hunter said before rolling once again. "That's an 11 for a total of 13," he tells the others.
"The soldier will roll Insight… and gets a natural 1 of his own. He immediately salutes you and goes about his way with the other guards, trusting your decision," Vee states. "What do you all do now?"
"I think we should still get our money, so let's go and tell that auction house owner we got his crown back," Amity suggested as Philomena.
"Would he want the crown back or know we've handled his thief issue," Willow questioned, voicing Sariel.
"Probably both. Let's go and handle them, then meet up with Wrenn," Luz says as Carmen.
"Very well. I'll lead the way," Hunter says as Caleb.
"The five of you soon return to Wondrous Wares and Aelar Liadon is waiting for you. When he sees the tiefling captured and the crown safe, he walks toward you," Vee narrates before speaking as the auction house owner. "Thank you very much for retrieving our merchandise and stopping that thief. I'll make sure you're rewarded for your efforts as soon as this rogue is properly punished."
"Actually, we've made it so that he's going to be doing some community service with the guards to make amends because he's still young," Luz says as Carmen.
"Roll Persuasion or Deception," Vee requested.
"Natural 19 for 22 on Persuasion and 24 on Deception," Luz tells her sister with a grin.
"Seeing that as understandable, Aelar nods before he goes to get the money for both retrieving the crown for him and stopping the thief. He returns after a good five minutes with a small chest the size of a lunchbox. When he opens it, you see it's filled with platinum pieces," Vee narrates before voicing Aelar again. "Seeing as the crown's retrieval was so sudden, I'll give you double the reward for stopping this thief. You'll be given a total of 30 platinum," Vee says as Aelar.
"That's like 300 gold," Amity said, surprised at the amount of money the team acquired.
"Carmen immediately grabs the money and thanks him for the reward, dumping it into the Bag of Holding before giving him the box back," Luz says.
"Thank you for your assistance. All I request is that you keep that thief away from my auction house," Vee says as Aelar.
"We'll make sure he doesn't steal anything worth of value from your establishment again," Luz voiced as Carmen. "As soon as we leave, I pull out 5 platinum from the Bag of Holding and give it to Rev," she tells the others. "Consider this a down payment for you helping us out with what we have left. Anything else we find or get, we'll split the rest with you accordingly."
"Reverence will look at the coins in surprise, then pockets them as he nods in agreement," King says.
"It's at this time that Wrenn meets you at the auction house after he's finished with his research, carrying the pouch of money he earned," Vee tells everyone.
"I got our money from the library research," Gus says as Wrenn, then does a double-take as he imitates what Wrenn would be doing in the scene. "I'm sorry, who's this?"
"I am the king of thieves, Reverence! You shall bow before me," King declared as his tiefling.
"This is Rev, the thief we caught for the auction house. We'll be keeping an eye on him so he doesn't go to jail. He's only a teenager," says Willow as Sariel.
"Ah, okay. Anyway, I got the 250 gold for the library work, so each of us gets 50," Gus said as Wrenn, gesturing like he was passing out money.
"And we got some platinum for catching this kid, so everyone gets 50 gold worth," Luz voices as Carmen, miming herself pulling the rest of the money out of the Bag of Holding.
"That's an extra 100 each after everything, so we'd be at 150 gold now," Amity remarked as she counted up how much money the characters had.
"But since you said I'd be starting at Level 3, I could have my starting equipment and the maximum money from rolling for buying new equipment," King says, going over the math in his head. "That would be… 16 times 10 is 160, plus the 50 I got and the 10 I started with as an Urchin background… 220 gold, right?"
"Has Eda been teaching you math when I'm not around? That's exactly right," Luz says as she hugged King.
"If that's all handled, let's go and find the last job's area," Hunter said.
"Okay. As you all reunite and look at the final poster you took, you follow the directions on it to find the docks and speak to a worker there," Vee tells the others before doing another voice for the dockhand. "How can I help you? If you're looking for a ship to take you to the next island, you're not gonna find one here. There have been some monsters attacking the place lately and stealing merchandise from ships. We can't leave until somebody goes to deal with them," Vee says in a gruff voice.
"We're actually here to do that. Do you know where those things live? We might be able to deal with them easier if we know where they reside," Hunter says as Caleb.
"If you're all here for that, then you'll want to check the beachside caverns to the southwest of the docks. After every attack, they seem to swim over toward the cove there. But every time we send somebody after them, they either run away or don't come back. Be careful," Vee voiced as the dockhand.
"I guess we'll start heading down that way," Willow says.
"You all heading down the docks and come across the beach after another 20 minutes of walking. The crystal blue waters sparkle in the afternoon sun, giving it a majestic and beautiful appearance. Occasionally, you can see dolphins jumping out of the water as you walk down the path you were told," Vee says. "At this moment, I'd like you all to roll Perception checks for me."
Taking their d20s, the six players began to see what happens with their newest sidequest for Daggercrest Quay. "I have a 12," Hunter says.
"Modified 20," Gus told Vee.
"3 for my die," King said.
"10 total," Willow counted.
"11 for me," Amity states.
"12 for a total of 17," Luz declared.
"As you all keep an eye on the water, you see something emerging from the water. Wrenn and Carmen are able to see what it is exactly. You two see a green and scaly humanoid with fins and a tail emerge from the sea with shells on its shoulders and a makeshift spear in its hands. As it turns around, it notices you and lets out a sound that seems like a gurgling hiss, prompting several others to surface from the water about 50 feet away from you. As a total of six of these creatures appear, I'd like you all to roll initiative," Vee told them.
Rolling their dice once more, the players all went to see who went in what order. "I have a 14 and a bonus of 2 for my Dexterity, so I'm at 16," King said.
"A 6 for a total of 8," Amity says.
"Regular 15," Hunter told the others.
"Modified 19 for me," Gus voiced.
"An 8 for 9 total," Willow said.
"And for me, I have a total of 22," Luz says.
Taking a handful of d20s, Vee rolled them all to determine the order of the creatures. "2, 11, 8, 13, 4, 16… Okay, I've got the order. Carmen, Wrenn, Rev and one of the creatures, Caleb, another creature, the third one, Sariel, Philomena and the fourth creature, the fifth, then the last one," Vee said. "Luz, you're up first."
"Seeing them still a distance away, I'll take aim with Picaro and fire my pepperbox pistol at the closest one," Luz says. When she declared that, she rolled her d20 and everyone leaned in to look at the result. "12 for 18 total."
"That hits. Go ahead and roll damage," Vee tells Luz.
"That's 9 on the die, so 13," Luz says.
"My turn. I'll cast Magic Missile at 1st-level, weaving arcane energy to create three magical darts and throw them at the injured monster," Gus declared before tossing some 4-sided dice and counting up the total damage. "5 total on the first, then a 4 total on the second, and a total of 2 on the last. 11 force damage altogether," Gus says.
"As the magical energy condenses into the darts you hold in your fingers, you launch them and the first fish-like monster goes down with dark blue blood staining the water," Vee narrates.
"My turn," King exclaimed. "I'll move to the side and pull out my hand crossbow. Then, I'll fire it at the next monster with a… wow, natural 20!"
"Roll damage," Vee says with a smile.
"That'll be… max damage with a 6 on the die. That's 14 total," King exclaimed.
"With a precise shot of your crossbow, the next monster gets hit in the throat with the bolt and starts gargling out angrily at you," Vee says. "Hunter, time for Caleb to fight."
"I'll play it smart and figure out what these things are. What should I roll for it," Hunter asked.
"Give me a History check," Vee answered.
Rolling his die, Hunter checked the result to see if his character could recognize the creatures they were fighting. "An 11 on the die for a total of 15," Hunter said.
"After seeing them surface and watching the damage dealt, you can tell that these monsters are Sahuagin, also known as 'sea devils' to coastal settlers," Vee states. "With that information, what do you do now?"
"Since they're too far away for me to attack at the moment, I'll go ahead and cast Bless on Carmen, Sariel, and Philomena. Now as long as I have concentration on the spell, they can add a d4 roll to any attack rolls or saving throws," Hunter decided. "After that, I'll move to prepare for battle and get closer to the sahuagin."
"With a small prayer, you give the girls a warm feeling that gives them a sensation of a higher being smiling down upon them. After you do that, the injured sahuagin will run toward Caleb and attack twice. For the bite attack, that's 19. And for a claw attack, 17. Do either hit," Vee narrated.
"The bite does, but the claw doesn't," Hunter says.
"The sahuagin bites down on your shoulder for a total of… 2 damage," Vee says. "After that, you manage to knock away its claw with your shield just as the third sahuagin rushes up and attacks you with its jaws and a spear attack. Since you've lost some health, it'll have advantage on attack rolls with its Blood Frenzy," Vee states. "The first is a 21 total and the second is a 19. Both will hit, so let me roll damage."
"Dang, you're getting hurt," King remarked.
"That'll be 5 damage on the first attack and 7 on the second," Vee tells Hunter.
"That brings me down to 22," Hunter said.
"Make sure to roll for concentration on Bless," Vee reminded.
"Three rolls, huh? 9 plus 2 for 11 on the first. Natural 16 on the second. And the third is a 10 on the die for 12," Hunter says. "I manage to keep Bless up."
"My turn. I'll run toward the water, scoop some up in my hand, and cast Ice Knife to throw the spell at the three that are grouped together. I'll aim for the one in the middle," Willow declared.
"Make sure to add a d4 roll to your attack," Vee reminded.
Rolling a d20 and a d4 at the same time, Willow counted up the total. "5 on my d20, plus spellcasting modifier of 6, add my Bless of 1, that's 12."
"Just hits," Vee says. "Roll damage."
"Okay, the one in the middle takes a d10, but the Ice Knife explodes to send shards of ice at it and anything within 5 feet of the target. They have to roll a Dexterity saving throw or take an extra 2d6 of cold damage," Willow says. "For the knife itself, that's 5 piercing damage."
"They'll have to roll a 14 or higher to avoid being hit with icicles," Vee says as she takes 3d20s and rolled them. "6, 15, and 3. The one that was stabbed managed to jump back enough that the ice shards pierced into his companions instead of him, but all of them are injured. Roll the 2d6."
"I got 4 twice, so both take 8 cold damage," Willow tells Vee. "Amity's turn."
"I'll start with my Bladesong as a bonus action to boost my defenses, then I'll get within 30 feet and cast Witch Bolt at the uninjured sahuagin," Amity states before rolling her d20. "A 6 for my die, but I have a total of 12 and my Bless roll is a 1 for 13 total. That'll hit and I deal a d12 roll for the damage, but I can keep the spell going with concentration," she says before rolling. "That's 4 damage to start."
"As Philomena does a dance that acts as a way to use her Bladesong, her crystal necklace and sword spark with crackling blue energy before it lances out and strikes the fish man, electrocuting him," Vee narrates. "But now, the three sahuagin will get closer to all of you after what Sariel did and prepare to gang up on the druid during their next turn. That brings us back up to the top with Carmen."
"Carmen looks over at the one sahuagin that's heavily injured, then aims her pepperbox at him for a shot with… sweet! Natural 20," Luz exclaimed as she decided on her attack. "With that, I roll a 6 for the damage and that's doubled before my modifier. That's 16 total damage. I want his head to explode from the bullet going down his throat."
"YES! Let there be blood," King cheered.
"I feel like we should be concerned about that, but Eda probably knows he's like this at times," Amity remarked about the kid accompanying them.
"With the pepperbox bullet flying at the second sahuagin, the monster's head explodes with dark blue blood and fish teeth scattering," Vee states.
"After that, I'll actually use an Action Surge to fire another shot at the one Philomena's zapping in hopes of getting it hurt more," Luz declared. "12 on my die for 18. That'll hit, so I deal… a 7 on the die for 11 damage."
"With a surge of adrenaline after that kill, you turn to the fish-like humanoid being zapped with lightning from Philomena's Witch Bolt and hit it in the shoulder, shattering one of the shells it was wearing as armor," Vee states. "Gus, your move."
"Wrenn will cast Fire Bolt and aim it at the healthiest sahuagin in hopes of bringing it down closer to the rest," Gus says before rolling his die. "5 plus 6 is 11."
"Just misses. The sahuagin sees the mote of flame shooting at him and ducks underneath it," Vee narrates. "King, your turn."
"I'll move a bit closer to the three monsters, take aim with my crossbow again, and fire at the one Wrenn missed," King declared.
"Given the distance, that'll be at disadvantage. Roll your d20 twice and take the lower number," Vee told the youngest of the table.
Rolling his 20-sided die, King hoped he managed to get a good strike in. "10 on the first and 18 on the second. Plus my bonuses, that's 14 to hit."
"That it does. Roll damage," Vee says.
"That's a 2 for 4 damage," King says.
"If you were to be sneaky, you'd be able to get Sneak Attack damage in more," Luz suggested, remembering her great moment in the goblin camp.
"Maybe when we aren't on an open beach," Hunter told them before he started his turn. "Okay, I'll run up to the ones about to attack Sariel, then slash at the closest with my sword." Rolling his d20, he checked the result. "14 on the die for 19 total. That'll hit, so I'll make this a two-handed strike," he says before rolling a d10. "5 for 8 total."
"With a strong slash that sends the bluish blood flying, the sahuagin looks at you with anger and changes who he wants to attack," Vee says. "The sahuagin being attacked by Philomena will try and get closer, then attack with its bite and spear. The bite is a 10 total and the spear is a natural 19."
"I block the bite, but his spear hits me," Amity said.
"As you block with your rapier, the sahuagin thrusts his spear into your guts," Vee states.
"Phrasing," Willow couldn't help but crack with a smirk.
"You know I don't swing that way," Amity said, not liking the joke that much.
"I need you to roll me a Constitution save while you take 2 piercing damage," Vee tells Amity.
"Luckily, Bladesong gives me my Intelligence modifier to saving throws on concentration spells I use," Amity remarks before rolling her d20. "Natural 20! Great roll."
"I'll say," Luz adds.
"Willow's turn. What does Sariel do now," Vee asks Willow.
"I'll have Sariel scoop up more water and throw another Ice Knife at the group close to Caleb, aiming for the middle one," Willow says before rolling her d20 and d4. "That's a 4 on my d20, plus my modifiers to make 10, and finally a 3 on my d4. 13 total."
"That hits. Go and roll damage while I see which ones make the Dexterity save," Vee replied.
"An 8 on the center one and the d6s will deal 7 total cold damage if they fail," Willow tells the DM.
"A 9 on the first, the second gets a natural 1, and a straight 10 on the last. The ice shards explode into the trio of sahuagin, but only one is left standing as icicles tear through their gills and leave them dead in the water," Vee narrates after rolling. "Next up, Philomena."
"With my Witch Bolt still maintained, I'll have my action be used to simply deal more damage to it in hopes of it dying," Amity says before rolling another d12. "Ugh, only a 1."
"As you maintain your spell, the sahuagin powers through and is able to resist it enough because of the damage done before momentarily hindering your concentration. With the damage to the third sahuagin done, the final one will approach Caleb to try and deal more damage to him thanks to his Blood Frenzy giving him advantage," Vee narrated before rolling two attacks. "3 on the first roll, natural 20 on the second for a critical hit on the bite. As for the claw, 6 for the first while the second is 15 for a total of 18."
"Both hit," Hunter groans.
"That's a 2 on the first die for a total of 5 damage while the claw is a 3 for 4 damage. With a bite to your neck, the sahuagin slashes at your face before you manage to push him off," Vee says.
"That's 13 hit points left for me," Hunter remarks, knowing he's down quite a bit of health.
"Back to the top with Carmen," Vee says with a twirl of her finger.
"With things looking bad for Caleb, I'll run up closer to him and take aim at the sahuagin with Picaro. I'll fire my pepperbox and hope to shoot the thing in the head," Luz declared before rolling her d20. "Ugh, that's a 3 for a total of 9."
"Your bullet misses as a splash of seawater gets in your eyes and the shot goes wide, avoiding any friendly fire," Vee says.
"My turn. I'll cast another Magic Missile, but at Level 2," Gus says. "This gives me an extra dart to fire and I'll send two at both enemies."
"Go ahead and roll," Vee says.
"The first one is 3 and 4 plus an extra 2 because of the darts being sent together, so 9 damage on one. The second one gets a 2 and a 4 for a total of 8," Gus tallied up.
"How do you want to do this," Vee asked, making the table cheer as Gus scored the finishing blow.
"Wrenn will have the darts spiral around like birds before nailing both sahuagin in their eyes," Gus declared.
"With the magical darts being sent flying from his hands, they soar and spin to confuse the sahuagin before they drive themselves right into their faces, knocking both down as their eyes explode from the magical impact," Vee narrates. "When the sahuagin fall, what do you all do?"
"Well, I think we know what's been responsible for the attacks on ships," Luz says as Carmen.
"Sahuagin are dangerous to coastal areas. But judging from the number here, it was just a scouting party. We'll need to check the area by the cove for a possible leader," Hunter states as Caleb.
"What would lead sahuagin anyways," Gus asked.
"Everyone roll a History check," Vee said in response.
Rolling their d20s, everyone checked to see if their characters knew anything. "10 for a total of 11," Luz replied.
"I have a modified 20," Amity declared.
"19 for my own modified 20," Willow said.
"Lot of modified 20s since I got a 16 to make that myself," Gus remarked.
"14 total for me," Hunter replied.
"I got an 11 like Luz," King said.
"Philomena, Wrenn, and Sariel. You all know from studies or talking with people that were at sea about encounters with sahuagin, which are typically commanded by mutant versions of their species that impose themselves as self-proclaimed rulers and have four arms," Vee described. "These sahuagin barons will be a lot tougher than the ones you just fought."
"I think it would be best for us to rest up before we take on a four-armed mutant version of these things," Willow voices as Sariel.
"I'll go ahead and loot the bodies," King declared.
Rolling some dice to see what the sahuagin had, Vee calculated how much money the fish people had on them. "Okay. You find 26 copper on the first one, 4 gold on the second, 10 silver on the third, 24 copper on the fourth, 5 gold on the fifth, and the last one has 15 silver," Vee says.
"50 copper, 9 gold, 25 silver. All of that makes it around a total of 12 gold," Gus tells King.
"That makes my money 232 gold," King declared.
"While the rest of us still only have about 150," Amity reminded. "Anyway, we need to figure out what to do now because that was a tough battle."
"Well, I checked a few things out for my character lately," Willow said. "First, the reason why I thought I could turn into an owl was that I saw I could use my Wild Shape to use Find Familiar. I confused it with that while you guys used your familiars and that's why I chose an owl," she explained.
"That makes sense. Easy confusion there," Luz remarked.
"And second, I can enter a trance of sorts for 4 hours to get the benefits of a long rest," Willow then added.
"I'm sure we'd only need a short rest, then some healing from my Paladin and potions," Hunter stated. "But that depends on if we need your teleporting."
"Good point. I get my Wild Shape uses back on a short rest anyways," Willow replied.
"Same with my Action Surge and Second Wind," Luz added. "I think it would be best if we all took a short rest to recover."
"That's good. With our Arcane Recovery, Amity and I can get back some spell slot levels on a short rest," Gus stated. "We can get back half our wizard levels rounded up. Either two Level 1 spells or a Level 2 spell."
"Both sound good," Amity agrees.
"What about me and Hunter? We're down a lot of hit points," King asked.
"I can help with that," Vee says. "As you all take a moment to relax and catch your breath with a short rest, you check over all your equipment or meditate to calm yourselves. Tending to your wounds from the battle or even while in town, everyone that wants to use their hit dice, please roll as many equal to your level."
Taking some dice, King rolled to heal his Thief Rogue alongside Hunter's Paladin and Amity's Wizard. With low rolls on his d8s, King rolled everything he could to make sure he got his health back. "I'm back to full with my Constitution boosting my rolls of two 2s and a 3," he says.
"I'm back up to 36 with my three dice as well," Hunter says as he checked his d10s.
"I didn't take much damage, so I'll just use one die," Amity says before rolling a d6 and getting her health back. "As for spells, I've got all my spell slots back."
"I've got my Wild Shape back, so I can help on the front lines since I've got two Level 1 spells and two Level 2 spells," Willow declares.
"I have three Level 1s and two Level 2s," Gus says.
"I've just got two Level 1s left, but they might help with my Smite attacks," Hunter remarks.
"I think we're all ready to check out the caves now," Luz said.
"Very well. As your group heads down the path again, you all listen to the ocean waves to the side and seagulls calling out above you before they head down to check the dead sahuagin you left behind. While you're all making your way, I'd like Survival checks from all of you to search for the cavern you were told about," Vee tells them.
Rolling their dice as a group, the party checked to see what they got. "I have a natural 19," King exclaimed.
"9 plus my Wisdom for 10 total," Luz says.
"I got a 4 to make 6 total," Amity muttered.
"7 plus modifiers for 13 total," Willow declared.
"16 to make 17 total," Gus says.
"Straight 13," Hunter told Vee.
"Thanks to knowing where to find shadows and Wrenn's own research while back at the library, he and Reverance know exactly where to find the caves. They guide you to the edge of the water and you all manage to find the entrance to the coastal cavern. When you enter, you see that there's water going into the mouth of the cave and it looks like there's a path," Vee narrates. "What do you do?"
"I suppose we should figure out a marching order. Do we want to go with stealth or get ready for a brawl," Luz asked.
"I say we go half and half," Gus states. "I'll go with the rogues while the others prepare for a full battle. And with that, I'll have Wrenn cast Mage Armor on himself."
"Philomena will do the same. Now, both of us have an Armor Class of 13 plus our Dexterity modifiers for the next 8 hours," Amity added.
"Honestly, you two should have cast it when leaving town," Hunter remarked.
"Live and learn," Luz said.
"Well, we better get going," Willow says.
"You're right. Caleb will lead the way," Hunter tells Vee.
Luz took her d20 and gave it a toss as she spoke about what her move was for traversing the cavern. "I'll start rolling for Stealth with a… 9 for a total of 13."
"I have a 10 for the same as Luz. 13 total for Stealth," Gus stated.
"I got a 17 for a total of 21," King declared.
"While Caleb marches forward with Sariel and Philomena, Carmen takes Wrenn and Reverence to sneak around as quietly as they can. However, the seawater has splashed into the cavern so much from the tide coming in and out that Carmen and Wrenn step in some puddles as they walk, making slight noises. Reverence is able to spot them and carefully makes his way through while everyone arrives at an inner chamber of the cavern," Vee states. "It's pretty spacious with about 200 feet of room around you, various pools of seawater in the area, and bioluminescent plants from the ocean lining the walls and pools to illuminate the cave in dim light. I'd like everyone to give me a Perception check, please."
Grabbing their dice, the teenagers and King rolled to see what they could possibly see. "I got a 5," King muttered.
"9 for an 11," Amity said.
"11 for me," Hunter declared.
"11 for a total of 12," Gus states.
"14 for a total of 19," Luz told everyone.
"13 for 19," Willow voiced.
"As everyone looks around the area, Carmen and Sariel spot something glimmering in the far corner of the cave and are able to tell it's the treasure that the sahuagin must have stolen," Vee explains, getting a cheerful exclamation from Luz. "However, you also see that there's a large creature emerging from a pool of water close to the treasure and throwing stuff onto the pile. You can tell it's a sahuagin by the fish-like features, but is much bigger than the rest you've encountered. It has four large muscular arms, carries a trident in one of its hands, and is wearing a breastplate that resembles shells pieced together."
"I think we found the Baron," Willow voices as Sariel.
"Looking around the room, it spots the three in front of it and two others that are standing too close to the glowing plankton pools. Glaring at the five it can see, it lets out a gargling roar and points its trident forward. Roll for initiative," Vee describes before picking up her d20.
With the party rolling their dice, everyone went to see who went in which order. "Natural 1 for a total count of 3," Amity says.
"15 for a total of 18," Gus said.
"12 for 13," Willow tells the others.
"Straight 9," Hunter states.
"I got a 10, so that's 12," King replied.
"I got a 10 of my own for 14 total," Luz told everyone.
"Okay, here's the turn order. Wrenn, the Sahuagin Baron, Carmen, Sariel, Reverence, Caleb, and Philomena. With that, go ahead and start off the battle, Gus," Vee declared.
"I'll start off with moving around the area to distract him and cast a Mirror Image spell," Gus declared. "With it, I create three copies of myself that shift around with my real form so that the enemy doesn't know exactly who's the real me. When they attack, I roll a d20 to see if they hit me or my copies. The copies also have a DC of 10 plus my Dexterity modifier," he explained.
Nodding, Vee began to describe what happened. "With a burst of glittering smoke, Wrenn has multiplied into four versions of himself and they begin to run toward the far wall, catching the Sahuagin Baron's attention. With it, he'll get close and start to attack three times," Vee said, prompting Gus to prepare his own die. "He'll start the first attack with a 12 for a bite."
"No need to roll on that first one. It misses all of them," Gus states.
"The next two will be with his trident. A 10 and a 15," Vee told him.
"Now to roll for that last one to see if he hits me or a copy," Gus says before rolling his d20. "That's a 5, so he'll hit me. But thanks to my Mage Armor, my AC for this battle is 16."
"The Sahuagin Baron tries to bite at whoever he can get close to, but all the Wrenn duplicates avoid his teeth. When the fish-like monster thrusts his trident forward, the four dodge the first one before the second strike bounces off the magical force protecting Wrenn's small gnomish chest like his own breastplate. Luz, it's Carmen's turn," Vee tells everyone.
"I'll start by running around behind him thanks to an Action Surge to dash, then pull out my cutlass and slash at him from behind," Luz declared. With her d20 clattering in the tray, Luz looked at the result and added her bonus numbers. "9 plus Dexterity and proficiency make 15."
"That just misses. As you try and swing your sword, the sound of metal clashing against metal rings out and your blade only managed to graze against the monster's breastplate. With your Sneak Attack failed, the Baron turns to look at you and growls," Vee states.
"My turn," Willow says with the light reflecting off her glasses in a way that makes her look like a menacing schemer. "I'll get close to the monster and focus my attention on the breastplate. With a twist of my hand, a flower with flame-like petals instantly grows and it spits some sap onto the armor. As soon as it makes contact, it glows red-hot and my Heat Metal spell takes effect."
Hearing this move, the others cheered as Vee smirked and nodded. "Go ahead and tell us what that does," the DM requested.
"With the Heat Metal being concentrated on, anything in physical contact with a metal object takes 2d8 fire damage and I can use a bonus action on my next turns to continue rolling that damage," Willow explained. "As for the monster, it has to succeed on a Constitution saving throw or drop what it's holding if it can. If it keeps the item, they have a disadvantage on attacks and ability checks until my next turn. This repeats when it takes damage from the spell again. It's a great move since they take damage if it holds the item and loses the object if it fails the save. But since I chose the armor…"
"It takes damage as long as you hold concentration on it," Hunter exclaimed with a smile.
"Exactly. And to have better Constitution to hold it, I'll use my bonus action to Wild Shape into a brown bear," Willow states while rolling her d8s for the damage. "As I turn into a bear, that fish is fried for 9 fire damage."
"With the breastplate burning from the sap and Sariel turning into a mother bear, the Sahuagin Baron hisses in pain and glares at the larger physical threat," Vee describes. "King, it's your turn and the enemy hasn't noticed you yet," Vee told the youngest of the group.
"Sweet! I'll use my movement to get close enough, then use my hand crossbow to aim at his neck," King says before rolling his d20. "I have a 16 for a modified 20."
"That hits. Go and roll damage. Level 3 Rogues get 2d6 for Sneak Attack," Vee tells him.
Rolling 3d6 for his crossbow's bolt and the extra damage, King counted up what was done. "Okay. I have a 5 and two 3s, plus I have my Dexterity bonus… that's 13 damage total. After that, I'll use my bonus action to hide away with a Stealth roll of… ugh, a total of 6," the boy says.
"With a carefully aimed bolt while hidden away, you hit the Baron in his neck and he grunts out in pain," Vee narrates. "With the surprise of that attack, the Baron turns to see where it came from and sees the devilish humanoid currently standing underneath some glowing algae on the walls from the tide."
"My turn," Hunter replied before picking up his d20. "I'll get close by getting in front of Wrenn and swing my longsword at him with a modified 20."
"That'll hit," Vee says.
"This'll be with one hand, so that's 8 damage total," Hunter states as he rolled the die.
"With a swing of Caleb's sword, it slashes at the fishman's bicep. The Sahaugin Baron's dark blue blood drips down onto the floor and it hisses in pain. Amity, it's your turn," Vee describes before turning to Amity.
"Alright. I'll start by activating my Bladesong and it'll bring my AC up to 19 total," Amity declared. "After that bonus action, I'll cast Hold Person on it to tie it up with a tendril of goo like I tried with Reverance before. The spell's DC is 14 for a Wisdom save."
Rolling her die, Vee looked at the result and turned back to Amity. "As Philomena tries to paralyze the creature, it shrugs off the feeling of the slime coiling around it and is unaffected thanks to a natural 19," Vee says. "Top of the round, now."
"Okay, I'll go ahead and cast Fire Bolt at the monster," Gus says. "9 on my die for 15 total."
"The Sahuagin Baron deflects the mote of flame shot from your fingertip by swinging his trident at it like it's a baseball bat," Vee says. "He'll then start attacking with his teeth and weapon. The first attack will be on Carmen with his bite, but he has disadvantage because of Heat Metal. With a 20 and a 15, the second one does hit. The fish man bites down with his piranha-like teeth on your shoulder for 8 piercing damage. But with two others in range, he'll swing his trident with two hands both times," Vee declares. "First will be on Wrenn with a… wow, he got a natural 1. Let me roll something quick," she told the others before rolling a d100. "Okay… this got interesting. Because of the heat from his armor and the illusions of Wrenn messing with his head, the Sahuagin Baron thrusts his trident down at the closest gnome it sees, but accidentally stabs himself in the foot."
Upon hearing that decision for the turn, everyone started laughing at the luck that the Sahuagin Baron suffered. "Oh my gosh! Really!? That's hilarious," Willow laughed.
"Yeah. I rolled low on the d100. Since he took that attack to himself, I gotta roll his own two-handed trident attack on himself," Vee stated before rolling dice. "He takes a total of 13 damage when his own trident prongs skewer his foot and he lets out a gargling scream that sounds like when Tom gets hurt in Tom and Jerry cartoons."
"Hehehehe, that's hilarious," Hunter chuckles.
"Anyways, he'll fight through the pain of stabbing himself in the foot and try again by thrusting the trident at Caleb. With an 11 on the roll, he gets his weapon blocked by your shield and growls in pain as the dark blue blood leaks from his injured foot," Vee states. "Your turn, Luz."
Humming in thought, Luz decided on what her next move would be. "Carmen will go ahead and swing her cutlass again. Since he's engaged with Hunter, would I get Sneak Attack?"
"Yes," Vee nodded.
"Okay, I got a natural 18, so that'll hit. For what he takes, that'll be a total of 15 slashing damage," Luz says after rolling her d6s and adding her modifier.
"With a skilled swing of your sword, you slash at the exposed arm of the Baron and cut his forearm deep, sending the dark blue blood of the fish man dripping down his claw," Vee described.
"That'll be my turn, then," Willow says. "I'll use my bonus action to maintain Heat Metal and deal another 2d8 fire damage. He'll burn up more with 5 points of fire damage. Then, I'll attack him in my bear form," she declared before rolling her d20 for her attacks. "First hit is a 12 for 18 with my teeth. That'll do 7 piercing damage as I bite into his arm like he's fresh salmon. And for my claw attack, that'll be a 2 for 8. No luck there."
"With the heat and fangs of the bear hurting him further, the Sahuagin Baron pulls his arm away and stains Sariel's bear jaws with his blood, hissing and grunting in pain as he does," Vee narrates.
"My turn. I'll use my bonus action to hide, then take aim with my crossbow again," King says before rolling his d20. "18 total on my Stealth check and for an attack, I've got a 9 on the die."
"While you manage to hide away in the shadows, the crossbow bolt you fire goes wide and splashes into the water nearby," Vee narrated. "Luckily, the Sahuagin Baron doesn't notice. Hunter's turn. What does Caleb do?"
Pondering his next move, Hunter nodded his head as he thought of his action. "I'll just go ahead and swing my sword at him with two hands this time," the blonde boy said before rolling his dice. "19 total. And for my damage, that's a 7 on the die for 10."
"With a swing of your sword, the blade impacts into his heated breastplate and the strike injures the large fish monster more. Amity, it's Philomena's turn," Vee stated.
"Philomena will focus on her weapon and with a swing of her sword, she'll cast Chromatic Orb to do acid damage on the monster," Amity declared. "I make a ranged spell attack and on a hit, I send a 4-inch sphere of energy that does acid, fire, cold, lightning, or poison damage to the foe. My choice of what and it does 3d8 damage. And for the die, I rolled a 12 to make it an 18."
"That'll hit. As Philomena's crystal necklace glows with arcane power and you swing your rapier, the energy sphere turns to a sickly blackish-green that splashes onto the Baron and starts to melt his armor and body a bit. How much damage would that be," Vee describes before asking for the results of the attack.
Rolling the 8-sided dice, Amity counted up the total and nodded. "17 points of acid damage," she told the table.
"With that splash of acid, the Baron's looking rough and is barely standing. Back at the top with Wrenn. Gus, what's our illusionist do," Vee said before asking the boy for his move.
"I'll move back more and cast Fire Bolt, taking aim at the acid burns that the Sahuagin Baron has suffered," Gus says before he rolls his d20. "Ugh, a 5. I'd say it misses because it's flailing around in pain too much," Gus says as he looked at the number on his die.
"You'd be right. As for the Baron, it'll start running toward Philomena because the acid damage it took made it angry and the mage swordswoman who cast the spell is in sight," Vee states.
"Don't we get attacks of opportunity on it," Luz asked.
"Why, yes. You do. As it runs, I want Sariel, Carmen, and Caleb to roll a melee attack roll as their reactions," Vee told the group.
"I got a 10 for a total of 16," Willow says.
"5 for 10 total," Hunter says.
"12 for 18," Luz declares.
"As Caleb swings his sword at the sahuagin, he's a little too slow and misses. But Sariel's bear form lets her just get a hit in on him while Carmen's quick to attack at the right chance," Vee tells the others. "Roll damage."
"I'll use my claws," Willow decides as she rolls 2d6. "5 and 6 plus 4… 15 damage."
"And for me, I got a 2 on my die for 6 damage, plus my Dueling for an extra 2 to make 8 total," Luz says.
"Carmen and Sariel, how do you want to do this," Vee asked, making the group erupt in cheers as this was their first finishing attack with two people working as a team.
After a minute of whispering to each other, Willow and Luz figure out what to do. "Carmen will slash the trident out of the monster's hands by cutting off his wrist and grab it," Luz
"Then I'll use my bear strength to slash the fish man down onto the weapon he was disarmed of, making him die on what he would have hurt Philomena with," Willow added.
"Brutal," King exclaimed with a smile.
"With a clean slice, the Sahuagin Baron's hand is cut off and as Carmen grabs the trident, Sariel utilizes her bear form's strength to force the fish down onto his own polearm, impaling his head and leaving dark blue blood trickling down the prongs and shaft of the weapon," Vee narrated.
"Way to go, Willow," Luz said as she hugged her best friend.
"You too, Luz," Willow thanked.
"As you all take a breather from the battle and Sariel returns to her normal appearance, you remember the treasure at the edge of the cave that the sahuagins hoarded," Vee said as she rolled dice to determine what the party gained. "Altogether, you find enough coins to bring everyone up to 200 gold. But Reverenace does grab enough to bring himself up to 250 gold."
"That's fair enough," King said with a shrug. "They did more heavy hitting."
"I'll take the time to grab the trident and put it in the Bag of Holding. Maybe we can sell it later," Luz told the others.
"And if not, I could always use it as a backup weapon," Hunter added.
"I say that we all head back to town and tell them that we handled the Sahuagins for them," Gus says.
"Good idea," Amity agreed.
Vee nodded as she began to narrate the next events. "The six of you all begin to leave the cave and make your way back to Daggercrest. As you do, you see that it's still bright out and that your entire sidequest of dealing with the fish people only took about an hour. When you get back into Daggercrest Quay, you see the same dock worker from earlier," she says before speaking as the character from before. "You're back. And you're still alive, if banged up somewhat. I take it you handled that problem we had?"
"I'll pull the trident out of the bag and show it to him," Luz said. "Aye, the sahuagin were tough. But we were able to deal with them and their boss."
"Well, blow me down. You're definitely strong if you could handle a Sahuagin Baron. I'm sure that if you were on a ship, it would be safe," Vee said as the gruff worker.
"Actually, I was hoping you could point us in the direction of a ship heading off for the next island associated with the Alexandrian Empire. We have business to attend to," Hunter said as Caleb.
"Well, nobody's going head off immediately after what you guys did. These ships take time to get stocked up and ready to sail. Try coming back tomorrow and asking in the morning. I'm sure you can find a crew to take you somewhere," Vee says as the dock worker.
"That's good for now. You go tell everyone what we were able to do. We're going to rest up. It's been a long day," Luz voiced as Carmen.
"I bet it was. Take care. Might see you in the morning," Vee says as the worker. "So I take it you all return to the Tidepool Tavern," she asked as the DM.
"Yeah. After all that, we need to rest up," Willow replied.
"Very well. When your group gets to the Tidepool Tavern, word of your fight against the sahuagin has spread since your first encounter with them on the beach and speaking with the dock worker. When you get there, the person who posted the request is there having a drink and thanks you for all the hard work. They give everyone of the original party an extra 50 gold to bring everyone's money up to 250 total each," Vee states. Everyone cheered at that, then wrote down how much money they had before Vee continued. "After you get the money, you're also given two rooms for the night with the girls sharing one and the boys in the other. With that, I think we'll end the session here."
"Oh man, those fish people were intense," King said.
"I know. The ones on the beach gave us more trouble than the Baron did," Gus added. "Luckily, he ended up stabbing himself in the foot and Willow's spell helped out quite a bit."
"Thank you, Heat Metal. Thank you for being so powerful," Willow smiled.
"Well, next time is when we leave the island of Kuugaw," Amity says.
"Probably," Hunter remarks. "We've got to see what happens later."
"I do know that with my background, we can get a ship if we pull our own weight around," Luz says, reminding everyone her character is a pirate that sailed on a ship before.
"Right! We can actually keep our money that way," Willow says. "That'll come in handy for when we get more shopping done."
"Exactly," Luz beamed.
"Well, I know I want to keep using this character for now. I wanna see how my demonic king of thieves can make a name for himself," King declared.
"Then we'll just have to find out next time," Vee says as everyone packed up all their stuff and wondered what could happen next time.
And now, we've finished the chapter! I'm sure some of you were surprised by King's choice of character when he joined in. I was torn between a few classes, but remembered I could easily have him do multiple depending on the story and stuff. So, he'll start out as a Dispater Tiefling Thief Rogue at Level 3. Later on, I might change it so he'll play as a Barbarian Dragonborn or some type of Sorcerer. But for now, he's going to see how his thief can help out.
Reverence's stats are as follows. 11 for Strength (+0), 14 in Dexterity (+2), 14 in Constitution (+2), 11 for Intelligence (+0), 11 in Wisdom (+0), and 12 in Charisma (+1). King didn't get the best rolls, but he's fine with this for now. He also has Expertise in Sleight of Hand and Acrobatics. His other skills include Stealth, Athletics, Deception, and Investigation. All good for a Thief.
I also managed to explain my earlier mistake with Willow turning into an owl at the goblin camp. I got that part confused myself, so Willow would have done the same. To be fair, everyone can't immediately remember every detail of every class and race. We're only human. And it just adds to the fact that the characters themselves are playing the game. They can make mistakes as well. Happens in Critical Role and other D&D groups online as well.
With the Daggercrest Quay sidequests done, the group has more money and will start heading off to the next island when the story continues. Where will their journey take them next? How will Reverance help out our heroes? What other encounters will they have? Find out next time.
Until then, WaterDragonMaverick signing out.
