Drink Talk Roll Extended #24: The Winter Court Soldier

Session Recap

After Sirocco detected the presence of an explosive device at the end of last session, the party this one by making Dexterity saves to avoid the explosion. Even with advantage, Sirocco was the only one who failed on his taking cold damage as the bomb exploded with an icy blast. The rest of the party fell into the canal and quickly made their way back to the street.

Khorr managed to spot a mysterious robed figure on a roof and started pursuing him along with the rest of the party. The all gave chase in different ways.  Amra climbed up onto the rooftops and tried to catch up with the assailant.  Khorr kept to the ground using his small stature to dart among the crowds of people. Jedah took his time as he tried to get his guns dried up and working again and Sirocco moved at a less urgent pace and just helped Jedah how he could.  

On the rooftops, Amra made the most of his Shaddar-kai teleportation abilities to close in on the hooded figure only to be greeted by two bolts of eldritch blast every round which nearly sent him off the roof. Thankfully, he was able to recover with successful Strength saving throws. He eventually caught up with the hooded figure on the roof of a temple in the religious ward of the city.  As they crossed swords, the hood finally came off revealing their assailant to be Darius, the Knight of the Winter Court sent to retrieve Amra and Jedah.  

The two continue dueling on the roof as the rest of the party catches up. Sirocco uses his divine power to bind everyone together in a blessing that also lets him throw Khorr up to the rooftop to intercept a slash meant for Amra. Working together the part is able to subdue him fairly quickly.  

When it seemed like he was nearly finished, Darius pulled two more bombs off his belt and threw them. The party ducked out of the way expecting another set of ice bombs but they turned out to be smoke bombs. By the time it had cleared, Darius was nowhere to be seen and the few witnesses to this battle couldn’t give a clear answer on where he might have gone.

After this, the party had to deal with the local guard to explain what had gone on. It took some negotiation to get Amra and Khorr to cooperate but after they underwent an offscreen questioning and paying the cost of repairs for the building damage, they were let off with a warning.

The party was once again at a decision point. Amra wanted to continue to the Feenritter estate and let Ulrich’s parents know about his passing but was voted down by the rest of the party who figured they should wait until after they had resurrected him. To do that, they would need to charter a ship to the Rotti Islands. Following advice they’d received last session, they headed down to the dock ward and found the Bearded Billy. There they found Captain Iskandar “Alex” Sunwolf, captain of the Leaping Lemure. He initially tried to overcharge them but after the party lied to him about getting a better offer from another captain and Amra and Jedah promised to pitch in, he lowered his offer to a more reasonable price and set the date of their departures for two days afterwards.  

During that time, Jedah and Khorr go drinking with Talliyah who had just announced her intention to party ways with the party and return home to To’anata. Khorr and Talliyah have a coded conversation about Khorr’s connection to the group known as the Midnight Society and that his mentor T.K. was the one to induct him. She also relayed new info from T.K. about the translation of a tower in the Dola Sanctuary the party visited all the way back in episode 2. The important snippets were the mention of a “Wingless Traitor” who sided with the ancient writers in dealing with some ancient evil.

With their goodbyes said and an extra spot already booked, the party headed out in the early morning for the Leaping Lemure where they found an old man asking to be let on the ship. And that’s where the session ended.

Following Up

So, this is less a new topic and more a follow up on the issue I talked about last time: Having a player hogging the spotlight at the table. Manuel seemed to be hogging it in last session so I did my best to keep it balanced this session.  

That’s one of the reasons I ran the pursuit of Darius after the attack like it was in initiative. It lets me have a definite “No, [Other Player]. You can’t do that right now. This is [Current Player]’s turn.” (Obviously, this also works with combat initiative as well) and it also lets off of them have a chance to shine and show off how their character reacts. Everyone moved in pursuit but went about it differently. Amra made the daring, heroic chase on the rooftops, while Khorr dashed through the road keeping an eye out. Jedah had to deal with his guns to make sure he could take care of Darius when the time came and Sirocco was more chill. (Pun intended)

After combat ended and we moved into the time between booking a ship and setting out, I also made each character had their turn to take the spotlight even if they didn’t want it. There are many different types of players. Some of them might want the chance to shine but need someone to hand them the chance. Some of them might not need it and all those are valid but it’s good to make sure everyone at least has the opportunity. It is the season for giving and sharing after all.

As always, this is an ongoing process and I might revisit it again in a future DTRE but for now, it’s the end of the line... for this year. We’re going to be off from now until a few weeks into 2025. Thank you for reading and keep on rolling into the new year.

-J.D.