The Provokers: Session 01 - Brook is Burning

Episode Link

**Brook is Burning** is the first session in the Provokers campaign that originally aired on September 7th, 2014.

## Synopsis

### Recap

The Provokers are formed after Turl Loam and the surviving villagers of Brook arrive at The Wayward Wanderer. The party commits to repossessing a lost relic in the Temple of Gefion and bringing the person responsible for the destruction of Brook to justice. Upon reaching the town, the group finds four raiders inside the temple and engage in combat...

### In-Depth

##### At the Wayward Wander

On a typical evening, a various assortment of travelers enter The Wayward Wanderer. Four of note are inside however, including:

* Aaron Ellington, who is shaving with a dull knife,
* Brasswick Feeblehammer, who is changing the color of lights to impress patrons,
* Deurgen Bloodmountain, who is enjoying a drink, and
* Aerdon Saroscient, who is clutching his sword and trying to keep to himself.

Rhian, the barkeep, visits each adventurer's table throughout the evening. However, an interaction between her and Dice, sparks the kindness of Deurgen to buy Dice a night at the Wayward Wanderer, as well as a meal, due to him “looking a little thin.” Brasswick beckons Aerdon to come and drink with him and Aerdon obliges.

The atmosphere in the inn would be quiet, but one group of drunken patrons breaks up the peace. Led by Khaldor, a Fabio-esq half-orc, the group of ruffians continue to be particularly rowdy throughout the night. Khaldor takes note of Brasswick and Aerdon and decides to boast to them of his encounter with a red dragon. This catches the attention of Dice who goes over to the table. Dice wants to know if Khaldor is telling the truth and casts a spell to probe the inner workings of Khaldor’s mind. Dice is able to reveal Khaldor’s great pride and insecurity, deep inside. Deurgen offers to buy Khaldor a drink, but Dice’s disbelief in Khaldor’s encounter provokes Khaldor into starting a barfight. Khaldor sweeps all the food and drink off the table sending the four adventurers into a fight. Fists are swung and swords are spun, but two of Khaldor’s thugs quickly flee the scene, while the group quickly subdued Khaldor into backing down. Seeing his chances of winning dwindling, Khaldor flees the inn after Deurgen non-nonchalantly heals his wounds. Rhian and Rorge take note of the squabble that happened and thank the party for dealing with the thugs.

As the evening continues, the four adventurers slowly become the only patrons of the inn. Deurgen buys a round for the group and they become acquainted with each other through small talk. Rhian joins them and discusses her past as an adventurer. As Rhian turns to check on Rorge, the four are interrupted as a bloodied, exhausted Turl bursts in.

Turl Loam, with his arm in a sling, leads the group outside to show them the battered and bruised townsfolk of Brook. Turl explains that Brook was sacked by raiders of the G'valt wilds. Turl tells that the refugees who made it were the only ones who made it out alive. Turl also believes he saw an armored man circling the town on a griffon during the destruction. With the threat of a rogue Convoker on the loose, the group agrees to band together and stop him. Turl also asks the group to search for a relic in the Temple of Gefion to help Turl rebuild Brook elsewhere. The group decides on a name, The Provokers, and goes to sleep. After a good night’s rest, the group accepts a parting gift of five days worth of rations from Rhian and Rorge in the morning and set out on the Meridian.

##### On the Road

On the road, Brasswick studies his prayer book and tries to convert his fellow Provokers. Dice takes note that he and Brasswick share the same prayer book. However, Dice uses his to write spells in the margins of. Brasswick states the act as “disgraceful” and becomes outraged as a result. However, he brushes it off quickly and the group continues.

##### In Brook

After two days travel, the group arrives in Brook at dawn. The town is smoldering and the air is still thick with ash. Blackened corpses litter the ground as well as the footsteps of giants. It is revealed that the fire used to burn Brook was arcane in nature, as it burnt so hot and long. Two buildings remain: the forge and the Temple of Gefion. The group makes their way to the temple and begin to hear low-guttural voices coming from inside. The temple itself has been defiled, as vague threats of “false god” have been written in blood on the outside walls. Brasswick plans on deafening the occupants by using a thunderclap. Dice looks inside to find a giant man with a mohawk, two normal men, and a bald-headed woman in robes. The raiders are keeping to themselves and wondering when "the Corrupter" is coming back. However, this conversation is cut short as the Provokers begin their assault. One of the two axe-wielding raiders is defeated and the larger man with a mohawk suicides himself by destroying a flask of alchemist fire, leaving two enemies left...

## Quotes

> “Are there any corpses in the room? ... No harm, no foul." - Rorge
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> “Has been a while since I’ve been in a good bar fight, though!” – Deurgen
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> “I suppose this is kind of how it happens, isn’t it? Y’all come into a tavern, total strangers, walk out with some sort of adventuring band? Maybe have a name for yourselves even, like the frolicking rhinos?” – Rhian
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> “But... uh… we need a name, like the enchantress said. What do you think? I mean, we’re going after the Convoker… we could be the *Provokers*…?” – Dice
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> “Freeze the meat, Dice.” – Dice
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## Trivia

* In Deurgen’s character introduction, Tim’s limited bandwidth creates a large technical difficulty. The result is a jumbled audio mess. This type of problem will continue on sporadically throughout other sessions, becoming a Provoker inside joke.
* The beginning of the Provokers stereotypically and self-awarely begins in a tavern, like many D&D campaigns.
* The Provokers was originally planned to be a one-shot. However, due to not reaching a natural conclusion by the end of the first session (and the fun had), the one-shot became a campaign.
* Aerdon’s name is mispronounced countless times throughout the session. Mispronunciations include “Air-den”, “Air-i-den”, and others.
* The session ends on a cliffhanger after Matt Click mysteriously drops off of the Google Hangout during combat. Barker's rambling is, of course, non-canon.