Session Report: The Black Tablet - Introduction

Spring: a time of renewal, a time of celebration and a time of festival. It is a chilly, wet morning as the sun peeks over the mountains to the east. Thin streamers of fog fade away, but low-hanging clouds threaten rain throughout the morning. It is Spring Morning in Berador, a time of reverence and celebration. Villagers make a great work about the village green erecting tents, cooking up spring meals, and preparing for the Spring Morning festival. Gerry Woodcote makes his way among the people offering blessings and words of encouragement as they go about their muddy work. By noontime most of the clouds have cleared and the rain has let up. A stiff breeze blows in from the west setting children's kites to flight. Wholesome aromas drift from the cook pots and the villagers gather to a fine meal. Tam Rivers makes a spectacle of himself, just like every year, telling tales in his blustery way. Some of the village elders gather in small knots to discuss business or pleasure as is their wont. By mid afternoon the festival is well and truly underway. Games of chance and skill, drinking and eating, dancing and singing occupy the people's time. As if on cue a Traveling Carnival, the first since before the winter rolls into town. The combination of the Spring Morning festival and a Traveling Carnival brings more excitement to the tiny berg of Berador that the place has seen in years.

The Heroes

The heroes of the story are all long time residents of Berador and have been friends for many years. As the entire town has gathered for celebration, they each have a break from their normal labors and join the everyone else at the festival.

• Varrin: male elf cleric of Bahamut (Jon)
• Mizuni Umareru Feetskuttle: male halfling rogue (Michael)
• Ekemon: male tielfling warlord (Zach)
• Dorin Greyski: male human ranger (Matt)
• Bracken Fireaxe: male dwarf fighter (Josh)
• Katerin Liossa: female half-elf warlock (Rozanne)

The Job

A wizened, bent-backed figure makes his way toward you. Long, pointed ears poke out from behind a mass of stringy tangles of gray and white hair. He peers at you with cloudy gray over a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles perched on his long, bulbous nose. He wears a recently patched, but still rather ragged old cloak and leans heavily on a gnarled wooden staff. "Come, come, children, we must have words. It's very important," he waves to you with age-spotted hands, bent and twisted with age. He speaks in a high, melodious voice that shakes a bit with age "I may have a spot of work for you."

Everyone knows the ancient half-elf; he is Vardigas Asmos, a local seer and healer. The heroes agree to meet with him and head off to his home to speak privately.

You make your way into Vardigas's home. You've been here before, but it still amazes you to see the mass of books and trinkets and knickknacks littered about the place. A gold pocket watch rests on a workbench, forgotten among papers and candle drippings. A set of tiny carved stone men and beasts lie strewn among vials and inkpots and quills. Vardigas leads you to a sitting room with several deep comfortable chairs arrayed around a central coffee table. On the table are scrolls, books, a leather boot with a hole in the toe and an ancient tabby cat that's missing one ear. "Please, have a seat and I'll bring it to you." Vardigas makes his way up an iron spiral staircase situated in the corner of the room. In his absence you hear a rummaging in his "tower" above. A few minutes later he totters down the steps holding a book made of heavy dark leather. He flings aside the mess on the table, and the cat yowls in protest as it rushes out of the room. He lays the book on the table and opens it to some pages near the middle. "This is the Tome of Evronkeep. I bought it from Aldaleem Applecart some months ago. He was in with the last Traveling Carnival before winter. I have only recently managed to decipher part of it. You would be amazed at the work I had to – well, never mind that; you don't care." "My point is that I have found information that speaks of a relic of great power hidden in an abandoned dwarf temple in the White Mist Mountains. If my reading is correct the temple lies not far from Dalton's Camp. The relic, according to this Tome, holds the secret to a ritual of protection that will guard the whole village against any enemy. I want this relic. I can use this ritual to protect the people of Berador from the goblins and kobolds that raid here in the hard times. What do you say?" Looking over the book you can make no sense of the writing in it.

The heroes look over the book and question Vardigas about it at length. They discuss the matter among themselves and struggle to recall any information about the abandoned dwarf temple, the Tome of Evronkeep or this mysterious Black Tablet. They make little progress, but agree to set out as soon as possible to find and return with this relic that Vardigas might use to set a ward over the village.

They make their way back to the village green to rejoin the festival which will continue throughout the night.

The Counter Offer

A well-dressed, dark-skinned man approaches you. The great ram-like horns on his head and the long tail trailing behind him mark him instantly as a tiefling. His deep red eyes and dark hair mark him as one of the Branloth clan. You know him; he is Ighttor Branloth, one of Lady Caer's many grandsons. "If it please you, my friends, the Lady Caer would ask a word with you at your convenience. She has made arrangements for tomorrow evening and would very much wish to have you to dinner.”

They agree to meet with Lady Caer for dinner the next evening. They spend the rest of the evening and much of the early morning (or very late night) in the Spring Morning festival. A few hangovers, a fine breakfast and a rest during the day see them through to the early evening.

You arrive at the Branloth manor in the early evening. It is a cool and cloudy evening, a bit chilly for spring with a bit of fog rolling in from the Greywood to the north. At the outer gates two tieflings stand guard and nod you through without a word. A cobblestone path lined with precisely manicured hedges leads from the Road through a well-trimmed acre of yard dotted with pecan trees to the front porch of the manor house. Oil lamps light the path every twenty feet or so. The Branloth manor is a dash of old world luxury in the rustic fabric of Berador. The front of the house sports a wrap-around porch decorated with a handful of marble and stone statuettes, several potted plants of various sorts and a finely appointed set of outdoor chairs from which one could sit peacefully and bask in the serenity of the gorgeous landscape. As you move up the steps the front door opens and a tiefling dressed in the same livery as the front gate guards bids you welcome. He shows you in to a sitting room, where you find finger foods and fine wine laid out for you. "Please, make yourselves comfortable and feel free to have a bit of the refreshments. Dinner will be served within the hour, and your host will arrive shortly."

The adventurers take to the refreshments and await their host.

The door opens and a tall, elegant tiefling woman enters. Her blue-black hair is swept back and knotted tightly in a ponytail behind her head accentuating her long, angular facial features. Her near black eyes blaze with a bit of deep red or orange when they catch the light just right as if smoldering embers hide behind them. She wears a stylish purple robe and soft velvet slippers that whisper as they brush the floor. "Thank you ever so much for coming, my friends. I trust the food and drink pleases you?"

Dinner is served. A whole roasted pig with a full arrangement of vegetables, fruits, drinks of all sorts, salads and bread pours from the kitchens. It is an exceptionally fine meal and Lady Caer makes for a fine hostess. She spends the meal in small talk, discussing minor items of interest and carefully splitting her time evenly among her guests. She knows all of them and seems to know a little about their doings.

When eveyone has had their fill the servants take the remains of dinner and serve fine after dinner cordials, a delicate pie with a hint of lemon and coffee.

"Well, that was most pleasant, but now to business." Lady Caer looks over each of you in turn, measuring and weighing your worth. "I have it on good information that the sage Vardigas has sought you out to aid him in a quest." She pauses expectantly, "I trust that he told you there may be other interested parties?"

Somewhat taken aback by the tiefling's directness, the heroes are momentarily stunned. They then "get to business" as she says.

Lady Caer hints that the Black Tablet may serve a greater purpose than that which Vardigas understands. She wants it for herself and will indeed use it to lay a ward of protection on the village. Her manner, while polite and kindly, somehow puts the heroes off. They do not trust her and feel that she has some ulterior motive. They discuss the matter at some length, and she further reveals that she wants also Vardigas's book, the Tome of Evronkeep. She claims it is an ancient work from the early days of the tiefling empire.

Even though Lady Caer sweetens the pot the heroes have no interest in working for her. The offer of gold and a potion of healing is not enough to overcome their suspicion that she is up to something. They point out that if she and Vardigas both have the same goal of protecting the village, would it not be better if they worked together. Lady Caer is dismissive of the idea and of Vardigas. She has no confidence that the tottering old fool can handle the magic in the Tablet.

The heroes take their leave, agreeing to meet with Lady Caer and Vardigas together to discuss the matter and only then will they take action.

To be continued . . .