If you can easily describe a session with the cliché, “the plot thickens,” then it was probably a pretty good session! We came in to the session with a plan, circumstances changed that plan, and now the situation has changed. In these Campaign Diary posts, I talk about what happened in the last session of the campaign I play in.

What’s SBotLL again?

That’s the campaign I play in! There’s two separately-run parties of adventurers. The good-aligned party is on the Surface, while the evil-aligned party is in the Underdark. I’m on the good squad with my elf bard Finnith, the tiefling ranger Allora, and the dragonborn rogue Nala.

Recap

The party was on a stealth mission to infiltrate an important government building, but they were caught by a powerful enemy. Finnith was knocked out during the fight and taken away by the enemy. The rest of the party retreated to regroup and call upon their allies in the Moon’s Eye*.

During this session…

Allora, Nala, and the NPC Verge travel the day and a half journey back to the Moon’s Eye base after the fight. They successfully sneak out of the city and make it back to the base. They’re in the middle of giving their report when there’s a knock at the door.

Finnith and NPC former Coven of Eternal Light** member Antonio are at the entrance to the base. Antonio had rescued Finnith from captivity, and they had rushed to catch up with the rest of the party. The Moon’s Eye meets Antonio with distrust, given that he is dressed like a Coven member and only recently changed allegiances. While Finnith is trying to convince them that Antonio is speaking the truth, the rest of the party isn’t so quick to trust. The Moon’s Eye decides to hold Antonio for questioning.

Finnith also realizes that the seele rune is missing from his belongings, doubtless taken by the Coven of Eternal Light. He is in the middle of reuniting with his party when something strange happens. Time seems to freeze, and he has a conversation with Osorei, a mirror version of Finnith who claims to represent his fears. These mirror selves have appeared to the PCs individually in the past. No one else is able to see these versions of the characters. Osorei pinpoints Finnith’s anxieties about the situation with Antonio and then disappears after a few more taunts.

Shortly afterwards, the party hears the deity Vindus*** calling them in their minds. Allora only gets part of the message, but Finnith and Nala hear it loud and clear: something dire has come up, and they must return to his realm immediately.

The party returns to Vindus’ realm, but Allora is having increasing levels of difficulty navigating through, eventually vanishing into darkness. She finds herself on a mysterious shore where she has a conversation with an ephemeral but familiar being. Allora remembers the promise she made to Vindus with the rest of the party. After that, she is able to return to Finnith and Nala and travel through Vindus’ realm with relative ease.

They meet up with Vindus, and he tells them of their quest—a druid grove called Grunfeld Vale is starting to rot. Fungus has overtaken the vale and threatens the surrounding area. He transports them to Ishanette, a village near Grunfeld Vale. The party gathers some supplies there and begins travelling to the vale. On the way, Finnith uses dream to inquire about the situation with Antonio. He finds out that while the Moon’s Eye have judged him to be sincere, they have also figured out one, uh, small detail that is complicating things further: he’s a vampire.

And that’s where we stopped!

Keeping the session moving

A DM has a few ways to keep the session moving, depending on the situation. In roleplay-heavy sessions, or circumstances that preclude combat, it might be more difficult to move characters along within the fiction of the game (as in, without just asking your players to move on, or asking “so, what do you do?” which both work but aren’t particularly evocative).

At the start, I expected this session to mostly comprise of the party getting Finnith back and being back at the Moon’s Eye base. The DM threw a few curveballs at us here—one at me by pulling Osorei back into the picture, and the other at the party by having Vindus call upon us. This kept us on our toes throughout the rest of the session.

I’m excited and curious to see what happens next!

*The Moon’s Eye: A secretive organization that opposes the Coven of Eternal Light and the Sidus Council. They’re allies of the party and are currently coordinating with them to fight the Coven.

**The Coven of Eternal Light: An enemy organization of elves who claim to stand against the darkness. They believe that creature like tieflings are dangerous and have taken steps to make life difficult for them. They’ve taken over the capital city Alame’a and are spreading throughout the elven lands.

***Vindus: A deity the party encountered early on in the campaign. The party played a part in reawakening him, and they promised to help him: Allora to bring balance, Nala to be his scion, and Finnith to defend his precepts. He grants the party additional power, and he is associated with the wind.