Memoirs of a Bard Week 3 - The Return to Shavalant, and a Very Interesting Warforged

An excerpt from the journal of Duncan the Bard -

Having successfully defended the town from bandits, our group was divided on the question of what to do next. Some were in favor of finding the lair of the owlbears we fought earlier while the rest of us, the more reasonable ones, wanted to get back to town.

Snap was in favor of going after the owlbears. I, of course, was not. Honestly, why would we go looking to kill animals that never hurt anyone needlessly and scrounge around in the decaying pockets of the dead for treasure when we’re got a chest to be opened? The old man just doesn’t think these things through.

After much debate, the group finally listened to me and we decided to take the chest from the bandits’ den and go back to town. I was generous enough to offer use of my wagon to transport the thing. After expertly talking the sheriff out of sending guards with me, I returned to our meeting place. Dag and Henrietta were helpful enough to carry the trunk to the road.

The guards let us in without any hassle.

Having gotten the chest safely into the city, our group parted ways for the evening, leaving Snap and I to look after the chest. It was so late that the rest of the town was already asleep, but we noticed that the smithy in town was still open and decided to take the chest to see if we could get it open. The smith we encountered was a fascinating Warforged named Q who said he prefers working late. He gets his best work done when the town is sleeping, he said.

He seemed sad. Said he used to be an adventurer himself, but he didn’t solve a puzzle fast enough and his companions died because of it. I wonder what he meant by that. Kind enough man, he opened the chest for free because of the time we saved him by going to take care of the bandit camp ourselves. Said he would have done it if we hadn’t. He’s making something so I can get in touch with him in the future, should the need arise. I wish he could join Snap and I in our journeys, but he seems to be content staying where he is.

We regrouped in the morning to open the chest (Snap and I having been good enough to wait for everyone else before opening the chest). Inside, we found –

-          A set of gloves, masterfully made with runes embossed into them in White, Red, Black, Green and Blue thread.

-          A necklace with a Stag Beetle encased in Amber as the medallion.

-          A silver Pearl, An Aquamarine, and a Lapis Lazuli

-          A Golden Chalice set with three Rubies,

-          400 gold coins, 1500 silver coins, and a letter of credit from House Kundarak for 500g.

Throwback Thursday - The Princess Bride (1987)

I have a lot of fond memories involving The Princess Bride. It was the first "grown up" movie my grandma would let me watch back when she was picking me up after school every day. When I was in college, I met my closest friends during a movie night watching The Princess Bride. We then proceeded to watch it nearly every day for a year, and it is still in the lineup for movies we watch when we get together. The Covenant (2006) also continues to make a frequent appearance.
Not bad for a movie was made the year I was born. So what is it about that movie that makes it timeless? I think there's a few factors.
For me, there's two main reasons. One is Inigo Montoya (played by Mandy Patinkin). Inigo is a mercenary on a quest for vengeance, and he is the most sympathetic character in the movie. Westley (played by Cary Elwes) and the central love story combine into the second reason. Seriously, who doesn't love the Dread Pirate Roberts? He's a swashbuckling pirate, a brilliant strategist and, to top it all off, has a heart of gold - believes in true love, remained loyal to one woman during a five-year separation and even came back from the dead just to be with the one he loves (with a little bit of help from Miracle Max, Valerie, Inigo and Fezzik).
Of course that kind of thing doxesn't happen in real life, but that's part of what makes this a timeless film - no matter how old you are, you willingly suspend belief for an hour and a half because the world of swashbucklers, true love, giants and miracles is so attractive. I can't say I'd want to give up the luxuries for modern life forever, but for just a little while? Absolutely. 
The special effects hold up, mostly because there aren't many. Digital special effects age fast, and bad effects can be jarring. They age a movie faster than anything else. But the effects in The Princess Bride are mostly mechanichal and physical stunts rather than  computer generated. They're always going to look real because they are real. That adds to the film's timeless quality.
As much as I love talking about old movies that's not the entire reason behind this post. I've got a bit of trivia that people don't seem to remember. 
The Princess Bride was based on a book by the same name. 
This is an example of a book-to-film adaptation done absolutely right.
The book was published in 1973 by William Goldman, who is credited as the screenwriter for the film. And you know what? It's amazing. It's presented as a literary version of a found footage film, with his fictional account of abridging the book from its original version. The chapters are interspersed with his fictional account of deciding to abridge the book, the trials and tribulations of doing it (from creative and legal perspectives) and the eventual publication of the book. 
I've loved this movie since I was a kid and it's still one of my favorites. But nobody ever seems to talk about the book, and that's a shame because it's as well done as the movie. Did you ever want to know why Westley left Buttercup to begin with? Did you ever want to know what Buttercup did when he left and how she came to be engaged to Prince Humperdink? How about the backstories for Inigo and Fezzik? It's all in there. All of it.
I like the book's version of Buttercup a little better. She's still a damsel in distress, but she has a more active role in her life. She has a family. Westley worked on her family's farm and they  grew up together. You actually get to see the two of them falling in love, more so in Buttercup's case. You get motivations for the characters, which can be difficult to get across in film.
If you haven't seen The Princess Bride, what are you waiting for? You can get it free from your library! And while you're at it, see if you can find a copy of the book. This is the only time I will ever give this piece of advice, but read it after you see the movie. 

Memoirs of a Bard - The Team Finishes Off the Bandit Camp

Due to a snowstorm, I had to miss the second week of our campaign. Luckily, our Dungeon Master, Cullen, wrote the summary below.

***

"Someone managed to find Duncan's journal, and the excerpt regarding the last adventure follows:

As we set off into the forest in search of the bandits, I couldn't help but feel like this could be the prologue to a tale for the ages. A rag-tag band of adventures brought together by misfortune to save the village from marauding bandits and the world from certain doom. And judging by the prowess of these four strangers, following them could inspire tales beyond number.

This feeling was only strengthened when we dispatched those two Owlbears with such ease. They couldn't even land a single blow, although there was that close call when one of them almost grabbed Dag in it's deadly embrace, only to be heroically thwarted by a thrust of Henrietta's shield.  Of course I directed the brilliant tactics that the group used, and inspired them to truly heroic deeds with my brilliance and charm.  Snap got the killing blow on the first Owlbear, and would NOT shut up about it.  It didn't matter that Henrietta and Dag had clobbered it silly by that point.  The party swarmed the second Owlbear and brought it down with ease, following my inspired leadership.

We then waited for a while as Steve had to find the trail again, having been thrown off by the scent of Owlbear blood.  Of course he did eventually find the trail again, and off we went.  No more than an hour later, as dusk fell, we found the bandit camp.  As I drew up the battle plans and described the tactics, Snap kept insisting that he would throw a shroud at them or some other nonsense.  I swear that anachronistic lunatic will drive me mad one day.  

So, we engaged a classic pincher movement against the feeble bandit camp, and executed a marvelous ambush, with Steve quietly taking out the forward scout while Snap was finally useful!  He cast some sort of party trick that covered the whole bandit camp in motes of brilliant stardust.  Two of the bandits were instantly struck blind, the other two were so startled and confused that by the time they noticed us, Dag and Henrietta charged from the forest and cut them down.  But alas!  Foul trickery was the nature of the bandits game, for there was a hidden bandit in a pitiful tree stand.  The ragamuffin struck Dag a terrible blow, planting an arrow with perfect precision right betwixt the giant's shoulders!  Of course, Dag is no mere mortal, and weathered the shaft that would have felled a lesser man.  Snap filled the pathetic treehouse with foul smoke to provide some cover whilst I quickly redirected my allies to a more tactical position.  Jesepi came to Dag's rescue and ensured that the wound would not be fatal, while Henrietta and Steve both waylaid the remaining bandits and began to combat the deceitful sniper.  Meanwhile, Snap almost got his fool self killed again, misfiring his crossbow while falling on a tree stump right in front of a bandit that almost clove him in twain.

While Henrietta puzzled out a method to destroy the frail structure, Steve continued to harry the occupant that was causing us such consternation.  Snap was saved from the bandit by Dag once again; and so brought his staggering intellect to bear on the situation, vis a vis the elevated combatant.  Finally Steve's uncanny aim finished off our foe, and brought to light a deficiency in this band's capabilities.  I must find a method to increase our combat prowess at a distance, afore a similar opponent spells our doom.  Perhaps I will describe to my team this need and we can draw party funds together for some wands of arcane destruction.  After all, it was quite a haul we found in the bandit camp.

End journal entry."

After dispatching the bandits, the group ransacked the camp and grabbed the locked chest from the tree-house.

The chest has not yet been opened, but in the tree house, various pouches and bedrolls, and taken from the bandits bodies, the group found:

A set of thieves tools (lockpicks, hooks, crooked wires, etc.)
4 thunderstones,
a Masterwork shortbow,
a masterwork studded leather armor (medium sized),
a suit of full plate armor(medium sized),
10 gold, 500 silver and a moonstone.

The bandits were all human.