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Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”
We strode into the tavern, smelling of smoke and seawater. We hadn’t so much as sat down after our trip from Hundelstone before we were forced to deal with yet another giant-related crisis here in Luskan.
At least this time the giants were already dead. If only every city had a powerful conclave of wizards to defend them.
With evening setting in we opted to unwind at the local tavern and canvas the locals for any pertinent information before turning in for the night.
Despite what must have been a terrifying attack just hours ago, the tavern was full of patrons. I suppose everyone deals with terror in their own way.
“T.I.M.,” Halfred whispered excitedly, “this is where you challenge them to a drinking contest!”
T.I.M.’s eyes lit up in a familiar way. He ambled to the middle of the room and shouted in his disarmingly friendly voice, “I challenge everyone in this bar to a drinking contest!”
Halfred practically clapped his hands in glee. “A drinking contest! Who’s in?” In an instant several older dockworkers, who looked like they practically lived here, accepted, their faces plastered with devilish grins.
Bryseis wasted no time and began collecting bets from curious onlookers, turning the entire event into a spectacle before I had any chance to react.
Our dragonborn sorcerer confidently walked up to the group, shotglass already in hand. “Oh, I’ll take you up on that,” she declared with twinkle in her eye.
I’m not totally thrilled with “Storm King’s Thunder” thus far. The linear intro in the beginning was, well, incredibly linear. Now that we’re braving the wide open world I’m finding it way too wide open.
The sheer amount of travel that lies before us is staggering, and we prove once again this week that once per day travel encounters are laughably easy.
After our encounter with Zhentarim ambushers last week we had a more peaceful encounter on our way to Luskan, a friendly group of refugees heading toward Fireshear.
After sharing a meal we learned that Luskan may not be safe harbor. The Frost Giant longships had made it down the Sword Coast and were attacking the port city.
We suggested to the nice family that they make their way to Hundelstone, away from the coast instead. The next day we hauled ass to Luskan, thinking yet another town needed saving from giants.
Instead we made it to the aftermath. Luskan is home to a conclave of wizards who rained a firestorm down upon the attacking giants, killing them and destroying their ships.
The giants were dead but the port was on fire. Bryseis dove into the sinking longship to search for loot among the wreckage (finding a sizable cache of gold) while we helped put the fires out.
With the crisis averted we were free to socialize in town that evening, which of course lead to a drinking game at the local bar.
Korinn and T.I.M. threw down with some local portly bar patrons while Bryseis took bets. At one point only Korinn and T.I.M. were left, until our warforged cleric gently crashed to the ground, leaving Korinn victorious. Don’t out-drink the dragonborn, kids!
I enjoyed that we could shop for some magical items in town, at least spell scrolls and wands. Unfortunately even the one-use scrolls were a bit too expensive, and we can’t exactly wander outside of town and grind for money.
Onward it is! So far the adventure consists of giants doing bad things and us scrambling to pick up the pieces in their wake. I enjoyed the Protector of Ten Towns bit because it felt like we got to proactively do things and make fun choices.
But on this lengthy road trip we’re once again at the mercy of traveling and having things happen to us.
We hit one notable encounter on our journey from Luskan to Mirabar. We came upon a young noble’s entourage traveling in the opposite direction. Their guard and horse were slain, and they themselves captured by a circling group of gnolls.
Half a dozen gnolls, as well as a pack lord and Fang of Yeenoghu threatened the group. We were allowed a brief moment to prep (everyone cast your buff spells!) before engagement.
As I’ve mentioned before, a single day encounter lets us start at maximum strength and unleash all our considerable power and spell slots, making us far more powerful than if we were in the middle of a dungeon.
We’re also a very spell-heavy and range-oriented team, so outdoor encounters are even more geared toward our favor.
We obliterated the poor gnolls.
Bryseis and Korinn fired off elemental spells of destruction, from mini meteors to chromatic orbs and witch bolts. Halfred launched his Spike Growth spell, but gnolls proved a bit smarter than Glaical Oozes and were able to maneuver out and around it.
T.I.M. and I ran up to engage the enemy as they closed in. My Armor of Agathys proved useful (no more cold enemies, yay!) as at 3rd level it gives me 15 temporary hit points and deals a whopping 15 cold damage to anyone that strikes me. It’s exceedingly satisfying to have a gnoll do 3 damage to my shield, then turn around and see them die from it.
Only T.I.M. took any damage, which has become a running joke now. His very high AC (around 19 I believe) simply forces enemies to always roll 20+ on their attack rolls against him. T.I.M. had the final laugh with some wicked damage from his Inflict Wounds.
The young man was grateful (and a bit pompous) for the timely rescue. He decided returning to Mirabar was a better idea and we agreed to escort them (for some payment of course, we remembered how expensive the magic stuff was in Luskan!).
The rest of the trip proved uneventful. I’m thankful we’re not constantly running into random encounters every day, and hope that in the later stages of this campaign they become even less frequent.
At Mirabar we were invited to stay at the young noble’s Aunt’s house and enjoyed the lavish amenities. The next morning we met with the Aunt who actually offered us a quest: meet with an old, former adventurer in Neverwinter who apparently can bankroll us!
That sounds great but it’s in the opposite direction of our current destination (Everlund). Hopefully once we ally with the Harpers we can teleport there and get some of that sweet, sweet money!
Next week – turning south to Xantharl’s Keep, taking our feud directly to the Zhentarim.
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