Nerds and Dragons – Session 1
Hey everyone!
If you haven’t already guessed: We here at The Unsheathed Quill are a huge bundle of NERDS!
As such, I run a Dungeons and Dragons campaign every other weekend. As such, I write a huge story hook for each of them, and I wish to share those with you, as well as an overview of how the session went. Hopefully this will help stimulate your own ideas, and offer up some new and interesting ideas for you to work with!
The first session of any long campaign is going to be rough. My friends had to spend nearly two hours of our playtime sifting through their characters to make sure they were finished. We are playing 3.5 in Forgotten Realms, with a specific focus on Waterdeep and the intrigue at the height of the Masked Lords power before Baulder’s Gate takes over pole position on Faerun.
I have a lot of things that I intend to do with this, and just so you are aware, I am disregarding large chunks of established canon to tell the story I wish to tell. That’s one of the beautiful things with Dungeons and Dragons: all it does is offer you the framework to build whatever you wish. Use your imagination, break down the walls, and tell the story that burns deep within you. D&D is the ultimate vehicle to do just that.
Without further ado, I present you the first story portion of my campaign, read out loud to the party before the session begins:
Nerds and Dragons – Part 1
Your party assembles at Waterdeep’s famous Cliff’s Watch Inn on the night of the feast of Kessel the Vain. Four years ago, the wizard Kessel sold his soul to a sun-shard named Crenshinibon in an attempt to gain immortality and dominion over the northern lands. Waterdeep now throws an extravagant feast each year on the day of his defeat to celebrate the hubris of human nature and to remember the price of our vanity.
Unbeknownst to each of you as you arrive at the secluded table one by one, it is Illsvar whom has gathered you together for the Feast to Folly. Illsvar is the
Hand of a Masked Lord of Waterdeep. It is not known to you which Lord Illsvar serves, but upon discreet inquiries taken by each of you, his identity and authority are beyond reproach. The Masked Lords are a cabal of imposing and powerful individuals who run the richest and most influential city on all of Faerun in secret. A Masked Lords Hand is tasked to run the Lords financial enterprises as well as any operations of ill repute. A Hand acts with the will and authority of their Lord, bound to them by oaths sworn and magical rituals of obedience. They walk without fear on the streets of Waterdeep, and walk with power amongst the tunnels and dark alleys in the murky depths of Skullport.
It has only been two short years since gods walked amongst mortals, bringing their wars and petty squabbles with them. Baulder’s Gate was spared from the worst of Ao’s vengeance. Waterdeep is still rebuilding, the Masked Lords quiet as they lick their wounds and continue to govern with a light touch. But there are whispers of power, as there always are within the confines of Waterdeep. A new Masked Lord was raised during the Time of Troubles, and the new blood within the council has upset the balance of power.
You do not know to whom Illsvar bends the knee, but his domination over you leaves no doubt for now: Do the task he asks of you, do it promptly, and above all, don’t ask questions.
You have decided it was wise indeed to accept Illsvar’s offer of employment, despite any personal misgivings on the subject of your new overseer.
The amount of pay offered to each of you for this mission helped ease many of your concerns. The reward on offer is a full platinum upon completion of the unnamed task Illsvar has gathered you at the Cliff’s Watch Inn to perform. A single platinum is six months of wages at a skilled profession anywhere within the city, and almost a full year of wages anywhere outside of it. The generosity of the contract is both frightening and impressive.
Waterdeep is a multi-colored hive of activity and the feast is in full swing as the last of you arrives. There are four of you in total, each of you fingering the copper token given to you by Illsvar as you try to stare down one another in turn. Embossed upon each token is a disquieting symbol: A mask with one eye-slot in front of a pillar of flames. The innkeeper simply nodded at each of you as you presented the token to him as instructed by Illsvar, the Innkeeper pointing you back to the table you now occupy. As you exchange mute stares of mild suspicion with your fellows, the subtle care used to choose your table sinks in. From your seats, you have an almost unimpeded view of the whole Inn, but your table is recessed enough that any attempt to scan your party would be easily noticed.
Even in this, Illsvar’s attention to detail is fiendishly thorough.
An inebriated, slightly well-to-do woman begins making her way towards the table that you all share. Her approach is not obvious unless you could see that each time she drifts from table to table, it is always towards the four of you. She exchanges slurred hurrahs, jeering taunts, and quaffs no small amount of beer as she partakes of the jovial atmosphere.
One moment the woman is a few feet from you, drinking with a bright-faced collection of elderly merchants, the next she is seated amongst you. You’ve no recollection of the woman closing the distance which separated you.
All pretense of drunken celebration has been abandoned, and though no other aspect of the disguise has shifted, you can tell that your new employer has finally joined you. As Illsvar circles the table with his eyes, none of you are able to meet that gaze. Empty, devoid of anything but the calculations of deceit. Weighing, assessing, dismissing.
“Good evening adventurers. Welcome to Waterdeep. I hope none of you suffered overmuch deciding to come this night.”
All of you shuffle uncomfortably at the memory of receiving your summons.
Illsvar continues, heedless of any personal discomfort on display. The palest of your companions, skin the color of bleached bones, has evinced no reaction to either Illsvar’s approach, his arrival, nor at the reminder of the pains of his first meeting with each of you.
“Now that all of you are here, I shall give you the particulars of your assignment. You are to clear out a small gang of petty thieves which have taken over one of our Inns in the dockyards. Part of your mission is to find these malcontents on your own. Bribe, steal, lie, I care not. All I care is that by the dawn, you’ve achieved your goal of clearing them from the Inn. You’ve twelve hours, I suggest you get started.”
With a casual flick of his wrist, Illsvar sends four small sacks to settle neatly in front of each of you.
“Half now, half after successful completion of your mission. If you fail and try to remain in Waterdeep, I shall see to it that you are found facedown in the nearest gutter. Good hunting.”
With a flash, the inebriated carouser has returned, and with equal skill as he had approached your table, he makes his way out into the boisterous evening.
Dungeonfully,
The Unsheathed Quill
