The Inn at the Top of the World: Cloud Kingdom Chaos (Day 1)

The skies are aboil with lightning, the thunder constant as vast continents of vapor clash against one another. All nations and peoples below suffer the consequences as the chaos in the cloud kingdoms reshapes regions with landslides and floods of proportions thought long relegated to myth.

Above the banks of refugee clouds that sail ever lower to avoid the storm of storms, Eaglespoor Perch stands on the crossroads of the old Imperial roads and the tracks of countless trappers and miners that call the lofty peaks home. The giant eagles that roost amidst the surrounding peaks control the trade routes skyward, to the Cloud Kingdoms themselves, yet none will venture into the looming banks of inky black clouds.

The first thing we do is learn to make characters. I talk to the players about the story that’s coming, the title and the starting place. Then they tell me about why their characters would be in that place, and together we weave together a beginning.

Then the hard part starts. The first time through building a character in an RPG can seem daunting for some kids. I’ve always loved doing it, and still use it for a character analysis system when I’m trying to organize thoughts around a new work of fiction, so teaching it is fun for me too.

The most important part of building a character is having a chance to see how the numbers show up in the game, when the action is really happening. So after everyone has got their race, class and background sorted out, abilities set, proficiencies noted, we’re off to high adventure!

The common room of the Eaglespoor Perch, somewhat less lively than usual without the eagle’s deck in operation.

Survivors of the Apotheosis Institute, the idle curious, and fortune hunters find themselves sharing a roof, and perhaps a quest.

What may have otherwise been a quiet evening had settled into the Eaglespoor. Dom and Myrt had finished serving dinner, though dueling bards had kept the guests lively and (more importantly to Dom’s thinking) ordering ale. That several bands of adventurers at once didn’t seem like a coincidence, and Dom was happy to adjust his prices to match his concerns. It also distracted him as his bouncer kicked out a local woman whose husband had died in the mines. An incident also missed by the adventurers as they made for the bar to fill their empty bellies.

The majority of the Legends who answered the call to discover the source of the chaos in the Cloud Kingdoms chose to share the inn’s main bunk room.

One spent quite a bit more to ensure his privacy, the better to confer with his dark patron in the long night before the journey up, and above, the mountain.

A camper who arrived late, found their character still making for the inn, only to happen across Cerran and her children just in time to rescue them from wolves.

And so night settles over the inn, as ‘Wolf’ (Woodelf Druid) kept watch over her new found allies, and Korathank (Halfelf Paladin) pushed himself to the limit to carry Cerran and her children, Amli and Fellden up to the inn. Luckily, the druid heard the crying of little Fellden and then the grunting of Korathank struggling up the last few feet of the ragged cliff face with the family clinging to his back.

Korathank, semiconscious from blood loss and exhaustion, managed to push the wayward family up into the courtyard in front of the inn.

While ‘Wolf’ rushed the injured Paladin and terrorized family upstairs to their room, the pack that had hunted them up the mountainside sized up the inn…

In the bunk room, our heroes learn that Cerran had been trying to talk to Dom for quite some time. With a bit of healing magic, the family were fast asleep.

In the morning everyone gathered at the bar, taking extra care to sneak Cerran and her children past the bouncer. Myrt was horrified to see Cerran and stormed out back to clean the eagle deck, while Dom first thanked our heroes for saving his friend, but for letting him know what had been going on behind his back.

It didn’t take much convincing for Tomack to be the one doing the bouncing as Dom threw his former employee out, sending him skipping across the courtyard like a stone.

Meanwhile, the guard arrived to ask about a wolf corpse that had been discovered down the trail and were as horrified to hear about such an organized pack as they were thankful to have some already dealt with.

After a solid breakfast (on the house) and a bit more gossip with priests about the nature of what might be causing the floods, local mavens about how all the roads were blocked, and at last a young merchant calling herself Sam, who first offered to deliver a letter for Ferran (Warlock), then asked if they would be interested in the reward being offered for any information leading to the reopening of the cloud kingdoms and an end to the flooding and destruction.

A contract was produced, wisely tested for magic and trickery by several canny players, all of whom signed, though there was a bit of a conjuration spell upon the parchment. When they had all signed, the masked bard, who had been dueling with the satyr flutist the night before, tumbled atop a nearby table and pulled duplicate contracts from his calico coat.

The contracts sighed, the masked bard flipped the table Sam had been sitting at to reveal a teleportation circle drawn on the underside. (a back door to the mountain peaks now trapped beyond the lightning wracked banks of cloud that loomed above.

The masked bard spun through the air and leapt through the portal, calling for our heroes to follow, only after they had begun to jump through after the man did anyone realize they had forgotten to ask him his name.

One by one our heroes come shooting out of an inverse whirlpool, which rises up as it swirls and which water flows away. The Paladin quickly lights a torch, as most of the band is blinded in the dark. The bard’s mask gives off a faint glow of visible light itself, though it glows like a bonfire to those with. drakvision

Draw by the sounds of our heroe’s haphazard splashing through the underground river, water wolves come diving up from the flow to drag the unwary beneath the water, and dig teeth and claws into those who remain above.

The huge white wolf is Friga (dragonborn druid), trying first a little diplomacy, then intimidation as her allies get pulled down or cornered.

Will our heroes escape the fetid dark and nashing jaws in the strange tunnels beneath the mountain?

We’ll let the dice decide in:
Belly of Stone, Cloud Kingdom Chaos (Day 2)