It’s been a long, long time since I properly played Dungeons and Dragons. So when my sister messaged me with a campaign idea she’d had, I jumped at the idea. For the first time in over a year, we would finally get the group back together and play. Well, we were playing online via Discord, but you get what I mean.
After a long time discussing characters, we settled on three characters: Regret, a Tiefling Spore Druid with ties to the Fey Lands; Leoric, a Wood Elf Rogue who also has ties with the Fey Lands; and finally, me, Milo, a human Rouge who had been turned into a cat after an incident in a wizards’ tower – basically Puss in Boots but more sneaky. The three of us are great friends, despite how weird we all look, and in the past, we fought against waves of undead, trying to help the city. We also have close relationships with Edward Gaunt, one of the kindest captains in Neverwinter, beloved by all.
Our campaign starts with Regret, Leoric and Milo getting into trouble. A popular bar nearly burned down and we were being blamed for it. Now, after a night in jail, we’ve been given a task to do, as community service. Under Edward Gaunt’s supervision, we are to go into the Neverwinter woods and seek out a Banshee, offering some sort of tribute to get the Banshee to back off a bit. Either way, it’s better than staying in a jail cell indefinitely.
For Regret and Leoric, this isn’t too much of a big deal. After all, they basically grew up in woods and forests. For Milo, this is his first adventure outside the city, so he’s quite curious about it all. It’s a journey that will take a couple of days just to get to the Banshee’s location in the first place, so we’re ready to go camping.
Things are pretty calm at first. We’re dumped on the edge of town and follow a rocky hiking path towards the woods. We do bump into some campers, who are sitting around sharing stories, but Edward pushes us onwards. After all, we have a job to do.
The same can’t be said for the weird fairy with a wagon of various trinkets which we run into as we head into the woods. Edward and Milo watch on as the two fey-touched members both buy some strange trinkets. Once the fairy disappears, we continue on our way. Regret says we ought to be careful.
As our journey continues, we pause at the dilapidated village of Thundertrees. We did plan to have a look around, but the very first place we look has an undead person in it, which brought back painful memories from the past. We had originally fought during a spell plague, in which we killed a lot of undead, people we used to know. Leoric remains outside, Milo climbs Regret’s cloak and Regret attacks the undead. It then turns to dust as Milo swings his rapier at the undead.
Not wanting to fight more undead, we decide to go around the former village. For all of our sakes. Including Edward.
As it gets dark, we set up camp, and Regret makes a nice meat and mushroom stew. Edward relaxes, writing in his journal, while we all take turns keeping watch.
The next day, we reach a logging site, where we ask around to see if anyone has seen a Banshee around. The logging company’s boss gives us a lead, while the rest of the camp is mostly perplexed by the small talking cat walking on two legs. With a bit of acrobatic flare, Milo explains that he’s a human who was turned into a cat, and everyone just accepts that. After all, wizards turning people into animals is a pretty common occurrence.
With a fresh lead, we venture deeper into the woods, until it starts getting dark. We make up camp, and Edward insists on watching out, even though we all offered to do so, what with us all having dark vision.
When we wake up in the morning though, all hell has broken loose. Someone has not only rummaged through and trashed most of our stuff, but Edward is nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, we find Edward tied up and leaning against a tree, beaten and bloodied and the symbol of Asmodeus branded on Edward’s skin. Edward’s belongings are all strewn around, but his book is clearly missing. He’s also been dead for hours, and Regret calls upon the forest to help. The local flora give us a rough direction and a trail of where those damn murders went. After a quick blessing from Regret to preserve the body, and the rest of us getting Edward’s body into our bag of holding, we quickly discuss what we can do. We also find a coin left behind by the murderers, which was minted in Helm’s Hold.
Unfortunately, being known in Neverwinter as the last three people to see Edward, it’s insanely easy for them to blame the Tiefling, Wood Elf and Cat for Edward’s murder. We’re strange creatures, no one would believe us if we told them the truth anyway. At the same time, we want revenge, and the trail the murderers left point towards Helm’s Hold. With few options, we decide to follow the trail that the murderers left, and we do so at a ludicrous speed.
As we reach the edge of the woods though, we finally see the murderers. Three cultists, still bloodied from their recent kill. They smile at us as we charge forward, only for them to teleport away. As they disappear and our trail goes cold, all that’s left is a scroll of some sort, with a secret code on it. Almost as if they are taunting us.
Utterly exhausted, all we can do now is make camp. There is a nearby clearing just before the woods, where we set up our camp and try to calm down and work out our next plan. We all decide to head to Helm’s Hold, once we have recovered slightly.
What was going to be a simple adventure is soon to become a path for revenge. Because Regret, Leoric and Milo are all very, very angry…