Session 1: The Call

a sketch of the party walking through the ruins by thekaelman.

## Chapter Order

“**The Call**” (1x01) is the first session of the first chapter of Race Against the Unending Dark. Gundir Hammerfoe has sent word out to the land of Seria that he is looking for a group of adventurers. Adventurers from across this vast continent were told to meet at Meridor to start this new quest.

## **Synopsis**

### **Chapter 1**

The story begins with a cart traveling through the town of Meridor. On the cart are two people, one of which is Gundir Hammerfoe. The other is Bren Daebjorn, an elven looking man with glowing blue eyes, scruffy white hair with a burgundy streak in the front, grayish tan skin, and runic scars that give off a blue glow. The cart stops in front of the Drunken Raven inn and Bren jumps off of the cart and unpacks his things. Gundir had tasked him with waiting here at the Drunken Raven for the adventurers. He told Bren that once gathered, they were to stay at Meridor for three days. Before leaving for Flamehammer, Gundir tossed Bren enough coin to pay for the living expenses for the party and said his fair-wells.

Bren steps into the tavern and pays for the rooms, taking the keys, and walking to a table where he has a few drinks. About 20 minutes later, a man walks in wearing a long black brimmed hat, dark green trench coat, brown button up, black vest, pants and boots, with black hair that gradients to a forest green and jade vine blue eyes walks in. Bren approaches him and introduces himself, gesturing over to the table he is currently sitting in.

A few more minutes pass when an aasimar woman wearing a calf low grey dress accompanied with a light blue coat with blond streak that blends with her black hair. Bren approaches her just as he did with the other man, seeing that her scleras were jet black and her pupils white. He introduced himself and told her to sit at the table.

Not too long after, a tan half-elven girl with neck length brown hair, wearing a white dress complimented with a green corset comes in. Bren, deciding to stay near the entrance introduces himself and she introduces herself as Caydence. He tells her to take a seat and that he will join shortly once the last slot is filled.

After some time has passed a woman with strong jaw, red hair, and a prominent tooth gap walks in and notices Bren. She was wearing a white dress shirt under a asparagus green sweater that was tucked into her brown pants. Bren offered a handshake as he introduced himself, which she promptly ignored and began walking to the table with the others.

Once they had all settled, Bren walked up and asked if they could all introduce themselves. The first person to join introduced himself as Wil and kept quiet, the aasimar woman said her name was Anndraqis and seemed happy to be there, Caydence introduced herself to the others, and the final member of the party was TK. Once introductions were complete, Bren gave each party member a room key and briefed them on their job so far, telling them they were to wait in Meridor for three days. As he did so, a man donned in plate armor walked to the table, but seeing as the table was full realized he was too late and began walking away.

The party began to make their way up, they were stopped by a bar maiden. She had informed them that the innkeeper would like to speak with them. She gestured over to the bar, where the party saw the innkeep. They made their way to the counter asking what he would need of them. The innkeep’s name was Morgan and he asked if they could do a favor for him, in exchange for some coin. Morgan has been working on a business venture, in which he needs access to an abandoned village north of Meridor. However, he wants to make sure it is safe and wants the party to investigate the abandoned village and clear out any dangers that may lie ahead.

Bren agreed to go and stated that if the party would like to join they could, but he would not force them to. The party agreed to the job and as a sign of good faith, Morgan gave each party member a upfront payment of 25 gold, stating that they would receive the remaining 50 when they were done. Bren picked up his pouch of gold and walked out of the inn to check on his horse, with Anndraqis following suit.

At the stables, Anndraqis saw that Bren was keeping to his horse, which he called Porridge. Anndraqis introduced him to her cat familiar, Nan, who was hidden in her bag. Bren told Anndraqis that he needed to do some preparations for the job and she promptly left to join the rest of the party.

**♦♦THE PARTY WENT SHOPPING AND I DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED HERE♦♦**

As the Anndraqis, Caydence, Wil, and TK came back to the Drunken Raven, they saw Bren waiting there with Porridge. He asked if they were all ready to go. They asked if they were to travel by foot, and looked at Porridge. Bren told them that, they would be and said that Porridge is a draft horse and is not meant to be ridden. The party said they were all ready and they all left the town of Meridor to make their way to the abandoned village.

The party followed Morgan’s instructions and saw the road that would lead to the abandoned village. As they approached the road, Bren told them that they should be careful and suggested they moved stealthily. The sun began to set as the group continued down the road. As they approached, Caydence stepped on a branch and movement was heard in the foliage around them. Bren drew his blade while the rest of the party tried to find the source of the sound. After a brief pause, the party concluded it was probably nothing and continued.

### **Chapter 2**

They eventually arrived at the village, seeing it past the tree line. Caydence used this change to cast *Detect Magic* to see if there was anything of interest. Upon casting she saw that the entire town had been encompassed by a dome of abjuration magic. She told the party what she was seeing and told them to approach with caution. Anndraqis said that she could scout the scene and Bren agreed to follow. Anndraqis then sprouted wings and took to the sky as Bren left the tree line. Upon crossing the threshold, both Anndraqis and Bren felt a drop in their stomach and both began to feel a cold sensation, similar to being in a snow storm.

Anndraqis decided to push onward and continue scouting. Bren tried to dispel the sensation with a *Dispel Magic*, which purged the sensation for a short while before coming back stronger. He then dulled the sensation with the use of his Lay on Hands and cast *Message* to warn Caydence, Wil, and TK.

After a short while, TK looked the Wil and Caydence and told them to stay there. She drew her flintlock pistol and began making her way into the town. As she entered the village, she felt the same cold sensation, but continued onward nonetheless. As she continued through the town, she saw movement in the corner of her eye inside one of the buildings.

Worried about her friend, Caydence summoned a fox that had a faint glow to it and sent it into the village to follow after TK. TK spotted the fox, but could see that it was not trying to harm her. She leaned down and saw that its eyes were glowing, since Caydence was looking through the fox’s eyes.

In the air, Anndraqis was able to spot smoke coming from one of the huts and flew down to investigate, seeing this Bren rendezvous there.

TK moved further into the town and saw Bren and Anndraqis approaching the house with smoke. She whistled to them, both of them turning to see the noise. TK told them that she saw movement in the other building and suggested they go look.

Bren told Anndraqis to check out the hut while he and TK went to check out the movement. Upon entering the building, the two could infer that the building was once the town’s tavern. Upon looking through the first floor, they heard noises coming from the floor above. The two went up the stairs, Bren in front and TK in tow.

The two found themselves in a hallway with 3 rooms on each side. Knowing that the noise came from right side of the inn, they began opening each door, one by one. Bren, believing they may be enemies, kicked the first two doors down. TK suggested she would take the last door, and she slowly turned the knob of the door. Upon opening the door, TK was met with an arrow.

TK was unable see, as she did not have darkvision, but Bren saw that the room was full of towns people. He quickly jumped in front of TK explaining that they were there to help. In the room, were four men, two women, and three children. The arrow came from one of the women, Sophia.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Player Characters**

* Bren Daebjorn
* Wilvalor Stronglydon
* Anndraqis
* Caydence Howe
* TK Lurrie
* Gullveig

### **New**

* Morgan, the innkeeper
* Viktor, the general good store’s shop keep
* Sophia, the huntress
* Tobias Oakenshield

## **Quotations**

* Bren: I don’t ride Porridge. No one does.