session-2026-05-13

Save Ferris (and Our Skins)

Date: May 13th, 2026

Summary

The party had split for the night, with Tybal, Thunda, and Izzy choosing to remain at camp alongside their paranoid beholder companion, Frogra, rather than risk bringing a monster into the city. They settled around a campfire, sharing stories and gazing up at the stars, while Frogra grumbled suspiciously about their motives, convinced they were plotting to escape their roles as his minions. The mood was almost peaceful — until Thunda, keeping the first watch, noticed something deeply unsettling: several stars were moving far too quickly across the sky, drifting into an unnaturally straight line directly overhead. Before anyone could make sense of it, a blinding white beam of light crashed down upon the entire group.

When the light faded, the dirt road and surrounding trees were gone. In their place were cobblestone streets, tightly packed buildings of remarkable craftsmanship, and the distant silhouette of a massive oval-shaped vessel drifting through the sky above. Frogra had vanished without a trace. The party stood in the middle of a city they had never seen, with no explanation for how they had arrived. Thunda’s investigation of the surroundings confirmed one unsettling truth: everything around them was entirely real.

Before the group could gather their wits, a young elven woman with long ears and the bearing of a druid approached them, handing out printed flyers that read “Save Ferris.” Her name was Degra, and she was accompanied by a woman dressed head to toe in black and a rough-looking man carrying a heavy mace. Degra explained that they were in the city of Ferris, and that a prince from a powerful religious empire called Sinte had arrived to purchase the city and install his church — just as he had done to Degra’s own hometown, where druids and anyone outside the empire’s faith had been driven out. The party listened carefully, and though they were strangers in a strange land, they agreed to at least hear more before committing to anything. They found an inn — a rowdy establishment called the Pig’s Third Leg — and settled in for a much-needed rest before deciding their next move.

Come morning, the party accompanied Degra and her companions to the Mayor’s house, where they found Prince Sina already deep in conversation with the Mayor. Sina was a striking figure — square-jawed, battle-hardened, and dressed in fine armor — with a composed female bodyguard who kept her hand near her sword at all times. The party introduced themselves, with Jolly making a particularly memorable entrance by causing his eyes to glow as he explained, with complete deadpan sincerity, that he had simply “gotten friendly with some nice folks” to account for his tiefling nature. Degra challenged the Prince directly, declaring that he had no right to purchase Ferris as he had done to her town, while the Mayor defended the deal as necessary for the city’s prosperity.

The tension shifted dramatically when a group of soldiers arrived and one of them whispered something into the Prince’s ear. Thunda, whose hearing was exceptionally sharp, caught every word: the Prince’s father was dead. Sina’s face revealed absolutely nothing — his expression was a flawless mask, betraying no grief, no surprise, and no relief. Thunda offered quiet condolences, watching the Prince’s eyes carefully, but found nothing to read. Whatever Sina felt about becoming king, he kept it buried beneath a surface of perfect composure.

Later, Sina led the party to a private corner of the Pig’s Third Leg, tossing a bag of gold to clear the table and throwing extra wood on the fire to drown out their conversation. There, he spoke plainly. He did not want to be king. His father had been a crusader, and Sina had no intention of following that path — but the road ahead was treacherous. The hundred soldiers sent to escort him home were mercenaries, not loyal men, and he suspected that powerful figures within Sinte — a man named Galley and a woman named Sarah — may have sent them not to protect him, but to ensure he never made it back. In exchange for the party’s loyalty as personal escorts, he offered them magical rewards and free passage into Sinte, a city otherwise closed to outsiders. The party agreed in principle, but immediately began plotting to thin the herd. With Degra’s help, they crushed nightshade seeds into a fine powder and dissolved it into the barrel of wine the Prince had purchased as a gift for his guards, expecting it to keep the soldiers deeply asleep for several hours.

While some of the party went to speak with the Mayor about transferring the Prince’s gold to the people of the city, they walked in on a scene that stopped them cold. A group of roughly ten unsavory men were in the process of hauling the chest of gold out the door. A tense standoff followed, with the party invoking the authority of the new king until the men reluctantly set the chest down and left — but not before the Mayor erupted in fury. He revealed that the gold was meant as a protection payment to local bandits, and without it, the city was now exposed. The party, realizing they had just poisoned the guards and driven off the bandits’ payment in the same afternoon, seized the chest anyway, intending to give it to Degra for distribution to the citizens. When the Mayor continued to protest, Corneleus swept his legs out from under him, and the party hog-tied, gagged, and blindfolded the man before strapping him to a roasting spit in the back room. Corneleus stayed behind to guard him while the others left to handle the gold and the Prince.

Alone with the bound Mayor, Corneleus was not alone for long. Five guards entered the house, looking to help themselves to whatever valuables remained. Corneleus attempted to bluff them, claiming authority on behalf of both the Mayor and the new king, but the guards were unimpressed and turned hostile, demanding he empty his pockets. What followed was a brutal, one-sided brawl — one-sided in the sense that it was one man against five. Corneleus fought with ferocious efficiency, swinging his great axe in wide, devastating arcs and hurling a magical iron sphere that expanded into a tangle of metal bands to restrain one of the guards. He took blow after blow, pushing through the pain with sheer stubborn endurance, and when the last guard fell, he stood alone in a room full of bodies. He looted the fallen men, found their armor worth keeping, and was still catching his breath when the guard captain appeared in the doorway.

The captain took in the scene — five of his men dead, a stranger standing over them — and offered Corneleus a choice: join his regime and pay a fee, or die. Corneleus’s answer was to smash a healing potion against his own face, leap through the nearest window, and run. The captain gave chase, and crossbow bolts began finding their mark as Corneleus sprinted through the streets toward the Pig’s Third Leg. By the time he rounded the corner near the tavern, he had been struck multiple times and was barely standing. He collapsed in the alleyway, riddled with arrows, as the rest of the party heard the commotion and came pouring out the back door.

What followed was a desperate, chaotic battle in the narrow alley. Papa Jan rushed to Corneleus’s side and poured healing energy into him, pulling him back from the edge of death. Umbra unleashed a torrent of psychic agony at the nearest soldier, sending him fleeing in blind terror before he crumpled to the ground. The captain, seeing his advantage, pressed his blade to Barnabas’s throat and demanded the party surrender. Jolly slipped silently around the building, came up behind the captain, and drove a dagger deep into his sword arm. The opening was all Tybalt needed — he launched himself at the captain, taking the man’s legs out and sending them both crashing to the ground.

Barnabas, who had been moments from death, surged back to his feet as a beam of sunlight broke through the clouds above. He immediately brought his great axe down on the captain pinned beneath Tybalt, splattering blood across the cobblestones. The rest of the party fought on with everything they had left — Thunda hurling crackling bolts of lightning, Izzy pouring the last of a greater healing potion down a fallen ally’s throat, and Jolly darting between enemies with blade and dagger. One by one, the guards fell, until the last man standing was blasted off his feet by a final surge of electrical energy from Thunda. The alley went quiet.

When the party returned to the Mayor’s house to clean up the evidence of Corneleus’s earlier battle, they found the bodies already gone — retrieved, almost certainly, by the bandits. The party regrouped around Prince Sina, who urged them to move quickly and leave the city before more trouble arrived. There was a brief, heated debate about whether the gold they had given to Degra would actually help the citizens or simply attract more bandit violence, but the group ultimately agreed that Degra and the city’s druids were capable of defending themselves — and that it was no longer their problem to solve. With the Mayor still tied to his spit, the bodies of a dozen guards scattered across the city, and a poisoned column of mercenaries sleeping somewhere nearby, the party slipped out of Ferris and onto the open road, battered, exhausted, and somehow still alive.

Short

The party’s night at camp was cut short when a blinding beam of light transported them — without Frogra — into the unfamiliar city of Ferris. There, they met Degra, a druid rallying locals against Prince Sina of the religious empire of Sinte, who sought to purchase the city and impose his church as he had done to Degra’s hometown. After settling at the Pig’s Third Leg inn, the party accompanied Degra to the Mayor’s house the next morning, where they met the composed and unreadable Prince Sina. During the meeting, Thunda overheard soldiers inform Sina that his father had died, making him king — though Sina’s expression betrayed nothing. Later, Sina privately revealed he had no desire to rule and feared the mercenaries escorting him home were sent to kill him. He offered the party magical rewards and passage into Sinte in exchange for serving as his personal escorts, and they agreed — immediately scheming to poison the mercenaries’ wine with crushed nightshade to neutralize the threat.

The party’s plan quickly spiraled into chaos. When they interrupted bandits hauling away the Mayor’s gold — a protection payment — they seized the chest for Degra and the citizens, then hog-tied the furious Mayor to a roasting spit. Left alone to guard him, Corneleus fought off five looters single-handedly before fleeing a vengeful guard captain through the streets, collapsing in an alley riddled with crossbow bolts. The rest of the party poured out to help, fighting a desperate brawl that saw Papa Jan pull Corneleus back from death, Umbra break a soldier’s mind, Jolly stab the captain from behind, and Tybalt tackle him to the ground — allowing Barnabas to deliver the killing blow. After the dust settled and the evidence of their mayhem was quietly cleared away, the party regrouped with Prince Sina and slipped out of Ferris, leaving behind a bound mayor, a dozen dead guards, and a column of poisoned mercenaries — battered and exhausted, but alive.

Classic

Last we left off, our party found themselves torn from the familiar comfort of their campsite by a blinding column of light — deposited, without warning or explanation, into the cobblestone streets of a city called Ferris. Their beholder companion, Frogra, vanished in the chaos, and the group was left to find their footing in an unfamiliar place. There, they were approached by a young elven druid named Degra, who warned them of a looming threat: Prince Sina of the religious empire of Sinte had arrived to purchase the city, as he had done to Degra’s own hometown — driving out druids and nonbelievers in the name of his church. The party listened, agreed to learn more, and settled into a rowdy inn called the Pig’s Third Leg to rest before deciding their next move.

Come morning, the situation grew considerably more complicated. A meeting with the Prince and the Mayor revealed a man of iron composure — one who, upon learning of his father’s death and his own ascension to the throne, betrayed not a single flicker of emotion. Sina, it turned out, did not want to be king, and he feared the hundred mercenary soldiers sent to escort him home were loyal not to him, but to dangerous figures within Sinte who may have wanted him dead. He offered the party magical rewards and passage into the otherwise closed city in exchange for their protection. They agreed — and immediately set about poisoning the mercenaries’ wine with crushed nightshade, confronting a group of bandits hauling off the Mayor’s gold, hog-tying the Mayor himself to a roasting spit, and touching off a brutal street brawl that left Corneleus riddled with crossbow bolts and collapsing in an alleyway.

What followed was a desperate, blood-soaked battle in the narrow streets — healers pulling allies back from the edge of death, psychic terror scattering soldiers, and Jolly slipping silently behind the guard captain to drive a dagger into his sword arm before Tybalt brought the man crashing to the ground. When the last guard fell and the alley finally went quiet, the party regrouped around Prince Sina and made their decision: leave Ferris behind, battered and barely standing, before anything else could go wrong. With a poisoned column of mercenaries sleeping somewhere in the city, a dozen guards dead in the streets, and a Mayor still tied to his spit in the back room, the group slipped out onto the open road — exhausted, bloodied, and somehow still breathing. And so we pick up as the party departs Ferris, their fates now bound to a prince who never wanted a crown…

Middle English

Harke well, ye souls of wandering fate, Who slept beneath the stars so late; A beam of light, both white and fell, Did snatch them from their camp to dwell In Ferris, strange and desolate.

There came a druid, Degra bright, Who warned of Sina’s creeping might; A prince who bought up towns with gold, And drove the faithful druids cold From hearth and home and sacred rite.

The party drank of Sina’s word, And poisoned wine without a sword; They bound the Mayor to his spit, And Corneleus, refusing quit, Did fight five guards — and none were spared.

Through cobbled streets with bolts in back, Did Corneleus flee the captain’s pack; His fellows poured their healing art, And Jolly’s blade found captain’s heart, While Tybalt brought the tyrant slack.

When silence fell upon the lane, And Ferris streets were red with stain, The party rode with Sina’s grace, And left that troubled, tangled place — To seek what fortune might remain.

Snarky

Nothing says “relaxing night at camp” like getting abducted by a mystery beam of light, losing your beholder, and waking up in a city where a religious empire is trying to do a hostile takeover. The party barely had time to process any of this before agreeing to help a druid hand out flyers, poison a barrel of wine, hog-tie a mayor to a literal roasting spit, and accidentally start a street war with the local guard — all before lunch. Corneleus, bless his heart, decided that “one man versus five armed guards” was a perfectly reasonable situation to walk into, survived entirely on spite and a healing potion smashed directly onto his own face, then got shot with multiple crossbow bolts while sprinting through town. Totally normal Tuesday.

The grand finale was a chaotic alley brawl where the party somehow pulled a win out of what should have been a total party wipe — complete with a dramatic sunbeam, an axe to the guard captain’s everything, and Thunda blasting the last guy off his feet with lightning like she was ending a concert. They handed the gold to the druid, decided the city’s problems were no longer their problems, and quietly slipped out of town with a prince who doesn’t want to be king, leaving behind a trail of bodies, one very tied-up mayor, and absolutely zero loose ends. (There are so many loose ends.)

Limerick

The stars moved in line overhead, Then a white beam of light filled with dread. Their camp disappeared, And Frogra — just cleared — They woke in a strange city instead!

A druid named Degra appeared, With flyers for Ferris she reared. Prince Sina had come To buy up the slum, And the party said, “This must be cleared!”

They poisoned the mercenaries’ wine, Then hog-tied the Mayor just fine. Corneleus fought five, Barely came out alive, Then sprinted through town on the line!

In the alley, the captain held sway, Till Jolly crept up from the fray. Tybalt tackled him down, Barnabas claimed the crown, And Thunda blew the last man away!

They slipped out of Ferris at last, With the brawls and the bloodshed now past. With a prince and some gold, And a story to told, They rode hard — and they rode out fast!

Memorable Moments

Stars align in the night sky and a beam of white light transports the camping party from a dirt road into the middle of a cobblestone city, with Frogra the beholder vanishing without a trace.

The party was mid-long-rest when the sky lit up; they woke to find trees gone, cobblestones underfoot, and a zeppelin floating overhead.

“I got real friendly with some folks. Some nice folks.” — Jolly

Jolly’s deadpan explanation to Prince Sina for how a human came to be a tiefling, delivered while making his eyes glow with magic.

“I don’t want to be king.” — Prince Sina

Prince Sina’s private confession to the party at the inn, revealing his true feelings after learning of his father’s death and his impending ascension.

Corneleus single-handedly slaughters all five corrupt guards in the Mayor’s house, using his great axe, the Iron Bands of Bilarro, and multiple bursts of second wind to survive the overwhelming odds.

Left alone to guard the bound Mayor, Corneleus was cornered by five armed men demanding his gold — and killed every one of them.

“You stay here and watch this motherfucker. If he tries to get out, kill him.” — Corneleus

Leaving instructions for a party member to guard the Mayor, who is hog-tied, gagged, blindfolded, and strapped to a roasting spit.

Barnabas miraculously rises from unconsciousness as a beam of sunlight breaks through the clouds, standing up with a defiant shout before immediately swinging his great axe at the captain pinned beneath Tybalt.

The captain had just threatened to execute Barnabas; Jolly’s dagger and Tybalt’s tackle created the opening for a miraculous comeback.

“We just poisoned them.” — Corneleus

Blurted out loud immediately after the Mayor warned that the bandits would attack the town now that their payoff was gone — and the party had just spiked the guards’ wine.

“You don’t know what you’ve fucking done.” — The Mayor

The Mayor’s furious reaction after the party drove off the bandits who were collecting their protection payment, leaving the city defenseless.

Scenes

A Night Under the Stars

The party splits up, with some members staying behind to camp with a paranoid beholder while others head into town for supplies and rest.

• Tybal, Thunda, and Izzy decide to stay at the camp with the beholder, Frogra, to avoid bringing a monster into the city.
• The party discusses purchasing healing potions and rations before settling in for a long rest.
• Thunda attempts to bond with Frogra by sharing stories and watching the stars by the campfire.
• Frogra expresses paranoia, questioning the party’s motives and suspecting they are trying to escape their ‘minion’ status.
• During the first watch, Thunda spots a dragon flying overhead and notices stars moving in an unnatural, linear pattern in the sky.
• Thunda watches as the stars align into a straight line directly overhead, then a bright white beam of light shines down on the entire party.

The Arrival at Ferris

A mysterious beam of light transports the camping party from their dirt road to the cobblestone streets of a strange, more advanced city called Ferris.

• The party is violently awoken by the beam of light and realizes their surroundings have completely changed — the trees and dirt road are replaced by cobblestone streets and well-made houses.
• Frogra the beholder has vanished without a trace.
• A large oval-shaped object resembling a zeppelin floats in the sky above the city.
• Investigation and nature checks confirm the new surroundings are real, not an illusion, though the party is baffled by the change.
• A druid named Degra approaches the party, handing out flyers that read ‘Save Ferris,’ explaining they are in the city of Ferris.
• Degra explains that a prince from Sentai is attempting to buy the city and enforce religious propaganda, having done the same to her own town.
• The party discusses the political situation and decides to find an inn to rest and plan a reconnaissance of the mayor’s residence.

Planning at the Pig’s Third Leg

The party settles into a local inn called the Pig’s Third Leg to rest and discuss their next moves regarding the Prince and the Mayor.

• The party finds an inn with the colorful name ‘The Pig’s Third Leg’ and secures rooms for a long rest.
• The group discusses whether their gold will be worth anything in this more advanced setting.
• The party prepares to head to the mayor’s house the following morning to confront the Prince.

Confrontation at the Mayor’s House

The party enters the Mayor’s residence to confront him about the sale of the city, finding Prince Sina and his bodyguard already present in a tense meeting.

• The party enters the Mayor’s house, led by the woman in black from Degra’s group, with Degra following somewhat reluctantly.
• They encounter Prince Sina, his female bodyguard, and the bewildered Mayor.
• Prince Sina introduces himself as being from Sinte and politely invites the party in.
• The party members introduce themselves; Jolly uses magic to make his eyes glow ominously during his introduction, causing the bodyguard to grip her sword tighter.
• Degra challenges the Prince, stating he cannot purchase the city as he did with her town.
• The Mayor defends his decision to sell the city, claiming it is for the town’s prosperity.
• A group of soldiers with ill-fitting uniforms arrives, and one whispers to the Prince that his father has died.
• Thunda, with exceptional hearing, overhears the news and offers the Prince condolences, watching his face carefully for a reaction.
• The Prince’s reaction is stone-cold and unsurprised — a perfect poker face that reveals nothing.

A Prince’s Confession at the Inn

Prince Sina leads the party to a private corner of the Pig’s Third Leg to speak plainly about his precarious political situation and propose an alliance.

• Prince Sina leads the party to a corner table at the Pig’s Third Leg, throwing a bag of gold to clear the space.
• He throws extra wood on the fire to create noise cover so they can speak privately.
• Sina admits he does not want to be king and expresses deep distrust of the hundred guards sent to escort him.
• The Prince reveals that his father was a crusader and that he wishes to rule differently.
• He identifies two powerful figures, Galley and Sarah, who may want him dead now that he is heir.
• Sina offers the party magical items and royal favors — including free access to the otherwise restricted city of Sinte — if they agree to act as his personal loyal escort.
• The party debates the risks, fearing they will be caught between a legion of zealots and a city of revolutionaries.
• The group begins plotting to neutralize the Prince’s untrustworthy guards by spiking a barrel of wine with a sleeping draught.

A Poisonous Plan

The party conspires with Degra to neutralize the Prince’s untrustworthy guards using nightshade seeds crushed into a sleeping powder.

• The party discusses their distrust of the Prince’s guards with Degra.
• Degra provides nightshade seeds to the party to create a sleeping draught.
• The seeds are crushed into a fine dust.
• The party spikes a barrel of wine, purchased by the Prince for his guards, with the nightshade powder.
• The poisoned wine is delivered to the guards’ camp under the guise of a celebratory gift from the Prince.
• The party estimates the draught will keep the guards asleep for roughly three hours.

Confrontation Over the Chest of Gold

The party enters the Mayor’s house to find a group of unsavory bandits attempting to walk off with the Prince’s chest of gold.

• The party enters the Mayor’s house and finds him meeting with roughly ten unsavory individuals who are picking up a large chest of gold.
• A tense standoff occurs as the party demands the bandits put the gold down, claiming to be acting on behalf of the King.
• The bandits eventually leave without the gold after a heated verbal exchange.
• The Mayor reveals that the gold was a protection payoff to prevent the bandits from attacking the town.
• The party realizes they have complicated the town’s safety by both poisoning the guards and driving off the bandits’ payment.
• The party seizes the chest of gold, intending to give it to Degra to distribute to the citizens.
• Corneleus physically subdues the Mayor, taking his legs out and causing him to fall to the ground.
• The party hog-ties, gags, and blindfolds the Mayor, placing him on a roasting spit in the back room.
• Corneleus stays behind to guard the Mayor while the others leave to handle the gold and the Prince.

Corneleus’s Last Stand in the Mayor’s House

Left alone to guard the bound Mayor, Corneleus faces off against five corrupt guards who arrive looking to loot the gold.

• Five guards enter the Mayor’s house, looking to steal the gold for themselves.
• Corneleus attempts to bluff them by claiming to be the right hand of the Mayor and the left hand of the new King.
• The guards discover the Mayor tied to the spit and turn their aggression toward Corneleus, demanding he empty his pockets.
• Corneleus initiates combat, swinging his great axe and using the Iron Bands of Bilarro to restrain one guard in a tangle of metal bands.
• Using his martial prowess and the cleave technique, Corneleus strikes multiple guards in a single fluid motion.
• The restrained guard manages a feat of incredible strength, breaking free from the Iron Bands of Bilarro.
• Despite being outnumbered and taking several hits, Corneleus uses his second wind multiple times to stay in the fight.
• After a grueling exchange of blows and the use of a healing potion, Corneleus manages to slay all five guards.
• Corneleus loots the bodies, finding half-plate armor.
• The guard captain arrives at the door to find his men slaughtered; Corneleus holds up a severed head as a grim warning.
• The captain offers Corneleus a chance to join his regime for a fee, but Corneleus smashes a healing potion and leaps through a window to escape.

The Chase and the Alleyway Ambush

Corneleus flees the mayor’s house under arrow fire and collapses in the alley near the Pig’s Third Leg, triggering a desperate battle as the party rushes to his aid.

• Corneleus attempts to stealthily exit the mayor’s house but is spotted by the King’s Guard.
• A high-speed chase ensues as Corneleus dashes toward the Pig’s Third Leg tavern.
• The guards fire crossbows at the fleeing Corneleus, striking him multiple times in the back.
• Corneleus collapses unconscious in the alleyway near the tavern, riddled with arrows.
• The rest of the party hears the commotion and rushes outside to find their friend near death.
• Papa Jan rushes to Corneleus’s side and uses divine magic to stabilize and heal him.
• Papa Jan casts a radiant spell that causes one of the guards to glow with a dim light.
• Umbra unleashes a psychic attack at the nearest soldier, causing him to flee in terror before collapsing dead.
• The heavily armored captain approaches the unconscious Barnabas and threatens to execute him if the party does not surrender.
• Jolly maneuvers stealthily around the building and hurls a dagger into the captain’s shoulder.
• Tybalt seizes the opening to tackle the captain, knocking him to the ground and away from Barnabas.
• Barnabas miraculously regains consciousness, standing up with a defiant shout as a beam of sunlight breaks through the clouds.
• Barnabas immediately retaliates by swinging his great axe at the captain on the ground, splattering blood across Tybalt.
• Izzy uses a greater healing potion and nature magic to keep the party standing.
• Thunda exhausts the last of their sorcerous energy to blast the final guard with a chromatic orb of electricity, ending the confrontation.
• The party discovers the bodies of the guards from the mayor’s house have been retrieved — likely by the bandits.

Aftermath and Departure

The party regroups after the violence, debates the fate of the city and its gold, and prepares to flee Ferris.

• Corneleus recounts his solo battle against five guards at the mayor’s house.
• The party discovers the mayor is still tied up and gagged on a roasting spit.
• Prince Sina urges the party to hide the evidence of their combat and leave the city quickly.
• The party debates whether the gold given to Degra will actually help the citizens or simply attract more bandit attacks.
• The group acknowledges that Degra and her people, as well as the city’s druids, may be capable of defending themselves.
• The party prepares to leave Ferris and find a safe place to rest on the road.

NPCs

Frogra

A paranoid beholder who had been living in a pit near the party’s camp. He is highly suspicious of the party’s friendship and believes they are his minions. He vanished when the party was teleported to Ferris.

Degra

An elven druid with long elf ears who is part of a resistance movement trying to save the city of Ferris. She hands out flyers and explains that the same thing happened to her own town when the Prince’s empire moved in. She assists the party by providing nightshade seeds and is entrusted with distributing the seized gold to the citizens.

Prince Sina

A handsome, blonde-haired, square-jawed warrior from Sinte who arrived in Ferris to purchase the city on behalf of his father’s religious empire. He received news of his father’s death with a stone-cold poker face. In private, he admitted he does not want to be king and wishes to rule differently from his crusading father. He offered the party magical items and royal access to Sinte in exchange for loyal escort, expressing deep distrust of the hundred guards sent to retrieve him.

Sina’s Bodyguard

A woman wearing a Roman-style soldier’s outfit who remains highly alert throughout the meeting at the Mayor’s house, keeping her hand on her sword. She appears apprehensive and her body language shifts noticeably when the Prince speaks of changing his father’s ways.

The Mayor

A somewhat out-of-shape man in fine clothes who appears bewildered by the party’s intrusion. He was attempting to sell the city to Prince Sina, claiming it was for the town’s prosperity. He was revealed to be using the Prince’s gold as a protection payoff to local bandits. He ends up hog-tied, gagged, blindfolded, and placed on a roasting spit by the party.

Sinte Guards

A group of roughly a hundred soldiers whose uniforms are ill-fitting and whose behavior is unprofessional — joking around and picking their noses during a royal meeting. The party suspects they are mercenaries rather than loyal soldiers. Their wine was spiked with nightshade by the party to put them to sleep.

Corrupt Guards

A group of five soldiers who entered the Mayor’s house looking to steal the chest of gold. They attempted to mug Corneleus, leading to a violent confrontation in which all five were killed by Corneleus alone.

The Guard Captain

A well-armored and capable leader who arrived at the Mayor’s house to find his five men slaughtered. He was opportunistic, offering Corneleus a chance to join his regime for a fee before Corneleus fled through a window. He later caught up with the party in the alleyway, threatening to execute Barnabas before being tackled by Tybalt and ultimately slain.

Locations

The Party Camp

A simple campsite on a dirt road surrounded by trees where the party attempted to rest alongside the paranoid beholder Frogra. The camp vanished when the party was teleported to Ferris.

Ferris

A city with cobblestone streets and well-made, defect-free houses reflecting a post-industrial revolution aesthetic. A large oval-shaped zeppelin floats above it. It is described as a druidic city with diverse religions, currently under threat of being purchased by Prince Sina of Sinte.

The Pig’s Third Leg

A rowdy local inn in Ferris featuring a large fireplace. The party stayed here for a long rest and later used it as a meeting point. Its back alley became the site of a bloody ambush by the King’s Guard.

The Mayor’s House

A moderate but nice residence in Ferris where the party met Prince Sina, his bodyguard, and the Mayor. It later became the site of a tense confrontation over a chest of gold and a brutal solo battle by Corneleus against five corrupt guards.

The Alleyway

A narrow passage near the back of the Pig’s Third Leg tavern where Corneleus collapsed after being shot with crossbow bolts, and where the party fought a desperate battle against the King’s Guard and their captain.

Items

Healing Potion

A restorative tonic discussed by the party during their rest; one member offered to brew one in eight hours for 25 gold. Corneleus used one during his solo fight in the Mayor’s house and another just before leaping through a window to escape the captain.

Save Ferris Flyer

A printed leaflet handed out by Degra and her associates to recruit people to the cause of saving the city of Ferris from the Prince’s religious and political influence.

Barrel of Wine

A large container of alcohol purchased by Prince Sina to be sent as a gift to his guards’ camp. The party spiked it with crushed nightshade seeds to create a sleeping draught, putting the guards out for roughly three hours.

Nightshade Seeds

Potent seeds provided by Degra from nightshade flowers, crushed into a powder by the party to create a powerful sleeping draught. The concoction was dissolved into the guards’ barrel of wine.

Chest of Gold

A heavy container of wealth provided by Prince Sina, originally intended as payment to purchase the city. The Mayor planned to use it as a protection payoff to local bandits. The party seized it and handed it to Degra to distribute to the citizens.

Bag of Gold

A heavy pouch used by Prince Sina to bribe an old man into giving up his corner table at the Pig’s Third Leg inn, securing a private space for the party’s meeting.

Roasting Spit

A kitchen implement found in the Mayor’s house, used by the party to humiliate and restrain the Mayor after hog-tying, gagging, and blindfolding him.

Iron Bands of Bilarro

A magical three-inch iron sphere that, when thrown with a command word, expands into a tangle of metal bands to restrain a creature. Used during the fight in the Mayor’s house to temporarily trap one of the guards, though the guard eventually broke free through sheer strength. The bands cannot be used again until the next dawn.

Great Axe

A massive, heavy-bladed weapon used to cleave through multiple opponents in a single fluid motion. It was used to devastating effect during the solo fight in the Mayor’s house and again against the guard captain in the alleyway.

Half-Plate Armor

Shiny, well-made armor looted from the fallen guards after the battle in the Mayor’s house.

Greater Healing Potion

A potent restorative liquid found in a dragon’s hoard, used by Izzy to pour down a fallen party member’s throat and bring them back from the brink of death during the alleyway battle.

Short Sword

A quick blade used by Jolly to dispatch guards and deliver a critical dagger throw into the captain’s shoulder during the alleyway skirmish, creating the opening for Tybalt to tackle the captain.

Spells

Goodberry

A level one spell mentioned by the party as a potential source of nourishment on the road, surprising some members who did not realize it was a first-level spell rather than a cantrip.

Thaumaturgy

Used by Jolly during his introduction to Prince Sina to make his eyes glow ominously, emphasizing his tiefling nature and causing the Prince’s bodyguard to grip her sword even tighter.

Guidance

A divinely inspired boost used multiple times throughout the session to assist party members with investigation checks, insight checks, and reading the true intentions of Prince Sina during their tense conversations.

Healing Word

A quick divine incantation used to magically mend wounds from a distance, bringing a fallen party member back from unconsciousness during the alleyway battle.

Sapping Wisp

A radiant spell cast during the alleyway battle that dealt radiant damage to a guard and caused them to emanate a dim, revealing glow for a short time.

Dissonant Whispers

A discordant psychic melody whispered into a soldier’s mind during the alleyway battle, causing intense psychic pain and forcing the target to flee in terror before collapsing dead.

Witch Bolt

A beam of crackling blue energy cast by Thunda to tether an enemy and deal continuous electrical damage. The initial cast went awry, but the connection was maintained as a bonus action to continue shocking a restrained foe.

Chromatic Orb

A sphere of elemental energy, specifically lightning, hurled by Thunda at guards during the alleyway battle. It was used multiple times, dealing significant damage and ultimately finishing off the last standing enemy.

Stellar Wisp

A radiant burst of light used by Izzy during the alleyway battle to strike enemies and leave them glowing with a dim celestial aura, marking them for the party’s follow-up attacks.