Characters in this session
Butterskull Ranch Overview
Alfonse Kalazorn used to be the sheriff of Triboar, a town to the east, where he was known as Big Al Kalazorn. He retired a decade ago, but retirement didn’t sit well with him. Looking for a new challenge, he claimed a plot of fertile land five miles east of Conyberry and turned it into a cattle and horse ranch. Later, he added a pig farm, chicken coops, vegetable gardens, corn fields, and an apple orchard. Most of his money comes from the sale of butter skulls — lumps of butter cleverly molded into the shapes of humanoid skulls. He sells his butter skulls primarily in towns to the east, although a few make their way to Barthen’s Provisions in Phandalin. Big Al’s butter is made from the milk of Petunia, his prized cow.
When the white dragon Cryovain drove the orcs out of Icespire Hold, they descended into the lowlands. A tenday ago, a small band of them attacked the ranch, freeing the pigs before setting fire to the barn and the smithy. A few other animals, including a dozen horses and Petunia the cow, escaped during the blaze. Big Al and five of his ranch hands were not so lucky. In their attempt to fend off the orcs, Big Al was captured, and the ranch hands were killed. The only surviving hand escaped on horseback, fled to Phandalin, and delivered news of the attack.
The Journey East
Our heroes embarked on a two-day journey to reach Alfonse "Big Al" Kalazorn's ranch, five miles east of Conyberry. The former sheriff of Triboar had built a prosperous farming operation, famous for his butter skulls - cleverly molded lumps of butter shaped like humanoid skulls, made from the milk of his prized cow, Petunia.
Perils on the Road
During their journey, the adventurers witnessed the terrifying sight of Cryovain, the white dragon, flying overhead - a deadly reminder of the dangers plaguing the region.
Day 1: Uneventful travel
Day 2: Bandit Ambush! Four bandits attacked our well-rested heroes. Mulush and Leia proved victorious, killing two enemies and forcing the others to flee.
The Ranch Under Attack
When the heroes arrived at the ranch, Leia and Mulush saw the devastation spread across the land. Broken fences, trampled crops, and an eerie silence told us something terrible had happened here.
Mulush: "We need to check inside, if there's even a chance someone's still alive in there..."
Leia: "I can see movement through the windows. Orcs, definitely. We don't know how many, but we need to move carefully."
Mulush and Leia walked carefully inside the farmhouse (successful stealth check).In the basement, they found Big Al bound and gagged but alive. They immediately cut his ties.
Big Al: "They took Petunia, my prize cow... they took everything. We need to make them pay for what they did!”
Leia: "Absolutely not! There are too many of them; we need to head back to Phandalin before they see us.”
Mulush: "She's right. This isn't the time for revenge. We need to be smart about this."
Big Al: "You're both right, I’m sorry… Getting killed won’t bring back Petunia.”
But fate had other plans. As we made our way back upstairs, Big Al stumbled into a chair, and I accidentally knocked over a wooden table. The crash echoed through the farmhouse and alerted every single orc inside…
Big Al: "Run!"
In an instant, the Mulush, Leia, and Big Al were surrounded, and combat ensued.
The orcs struck first, and Big Al fell immediately. Mulush was heavily injured by the axes that hit him.
In a last attempt to help Leia, Mulush cast a powerful spell that killed two orcs. Leia killed another one with her scimitar and shortsword.
Still three remained, and all struck Mulush, who fell. Only Leia remained and tried to flee to safety, but was blocked by the orc.
Her only hope was to fight back. She was able to defeat another one, but finally succumbed to her injuries.
She fell, and with her, our adventure came to an abrupt and tragic end.
Reflection
This is the third time playing this adventure, but the first time that I had my party wiped like that. Still, love the module so much though. An unfortunate roll doomed our heroes this time.
Sometimes, I admit that I can “fudge” the roll if I want to continue the story or adventure, but since I have already done it before, I was fine with letting fate decide this time.
One quick thing I want to mention is that I really enjoy playing with the new 2024 Ranger. I know it got bad press the last few months (since the new PHB release), but I feel it has a good amount of utility and damage output (at least at low level).
Looking forward to the next adventure, hopefully with better dice rolls!
This is cinema
Welp. I didn't see it going like that...*pours one out for Mulush and Leia* What are you going to play next?
I'll have to check out that module someday; it looks like it could be fun. I might use another system, though. I don't think I'm up for solo D&D yet.