SATURDAY, APRIL 4TH - MASTER AND APPRENTICE CAMPAIGN 1 : SESSION 10 RECAP
Aldors Journal - Entry 10
Hanging out in the sewers with the rightful king, hiding from the other king.
We’ve survived enough roadside violence and questionable decisions that the world has apparently decided we’re “experienced” now. “Veterans of the road”. Hardened. Tempered. Whatever makes the gods feel better about throwing worse things at us.
Cade leaned into it immediately—something about becoming a Champion. He hits harder, surer, and with even more confidence that problems can be solved via blunt force. Ukalis, meanwhile, unlocked some new flashy spells and began grinning like someone who knows something you don’t, the usual for him.
As for me? I’ve devoted more time to the arcane and occult. Bolstering my stealth, magic, deception, the weave and I are coming to terms with each other, and I am finally harnessing the power to track down the filth that killed my family. The more into the mystical side of the Realm, the more I can understand, and use against them.
Clearly, this all meant we were ready for…
A warehouse. Or as the Sons of Algondar call it - Our Extremely Secret Safe House.
The warehouse we were staying in — adjacent to the actual safe house — was about as defensible as a wet paper bag. Too many windows. Too much open ground. Too many directions for someone to kill you from.
Naturally, the plan was “eat rations and wait.”
Melania assured us we’d be briefed in twenty‑four hours alongside other agents of the Sons of Algondar.
Twenty‑four hours of doing absolutely nothing?
I immediately volunteered to go into town.
Using Disguise Self, opting for the aesthetic of an older, heavier farmer. Someone forgettable. Someone who buys supplies and minds his business. Cullen requested mead or wine. I figured morale was important, so I also grabbed a chess set and a deck of cards.
I got back to the warehouse, gave the correct signal… and completely forgot to drop the spell.
Ukalis looked at me like he was reevaluating every life choice that brought him here.
After some shenanigans and mild embarrassment, I remembered to drop the spell and was allowed inside.
Melania returned with allies. They immediately began staring at Cullen like he was an unsatisfying answer to a very important question.
Turns out they weren’t sure he was the Algondar they were looking for.
This… did not go over well.
Cullen — whose full name is Cullen Alandahl — was asked to prove himself. They asked if he had “the ring.” He did. A necklace carrying his grandfather’s ring. Something passed down through his family, whether he liked it or not.
Cue awkward silence and bruised egos as these supposed allies realized they’d made absolute asses of themselves.
Cullen walked away.
Honestly? Fair.
After some calming words, a sip of wine, and my personal explanation that “people south of the Wall are just… different,” we convinced him to return.
That’s when the apparent leader, a Thayan — decided to tell us why we were really here.
We’re now hunting a crown.
Specifically, the Neverwinter Crown, tied to Jannar Algondar, first of the bloodline. He ruled temporarily. The people loved him. They begged him to stay. History, as usual, went poorly afterward.
So yes. We’re being sent into the Neverwinter Wood.
Nothing bad has ever happened there.
Ukalis took possession of a floating orb Cullen could use to locate us, and I reclaimed the sending stone. Melania returned once more, this time with an actual feast.
After which, she gave us:
A scroll (sealed, ominous)
Gold
Supplies
And instructions to open the scroll after we left the city. Always a good sign.
We cleaned up Cullen’s safe room, packed what we could, and left early—via the sewers, because heroes apparently smell terrible.
The map told us we’d reach the edge of the Neverwinter Wood by tomorrow lunchtime. We followed the Neverwinter Run, camped one night without a fire, and pretended we were professionals.
The next morning, Cade heard a horse. We hid, expecting trouble.
Instead, it was a lumber caravan from Thundertree heading for Neverwinter. Crisis avoided! But joking aside, we live in strange times, and lumber workers can just as easily be monsters.
Another day of travel. This time, a fire. Cade even made hanging rope beds—functional, if you don’t fear gravity.
That night, Ukalis spotted something small and winged—possibly a fairy dragon—being chased by what I can only describe as a mound of flesh with needle teeth maniacally laughing. Quaint.
Ukalis launched a fire bolt.
It did nothing to the monster.
Magic missiles followed. I slipped in with a sneak attack. Cade did what Cade does best. Eventually, the creature died… and dissolved into ash.
Hellish thing. Absolutely foul.
The fairy dragon, grateful in that unsettling way magical creatures are, gifted us a small leaf‑woven bag containing a gem and what may or may not be honey. We accepted it politely and did not ask questions.
The further we traveled, the woods stopped looking like woods.
Older. Stranger. Alien.
We found a skeleton that nature had grown around and through. Almost as though this person wasn’t dead, just kind of a part of somethign else now? Anyways, gross.
Later, an area where voices whispered and figures flickered at the edge of sight. Haunted? Probably. We kept moving.
Then we reached a clearing dominated by a massive tree — charred, split by what appeared to be a lightning long ago, yet sprouting new limbs, and somehow the air still smelled of burnt wood…why did it still smell burnt?
We camped there anyway. Fire blazing. The globe at full light. Because surely, nothing bad—
OOPS! During Cade’s watch, he heard something.
The tree seemed to open.
Red slits for eyes opened and glowed like coals from a smiths forge.
And the damned thing looked like it was trying to stand up…
That’s where we leave it for now, I’m sure this creature is just asking us if were the famous supposedly dead caretakers of the crater that was odds and ends…..right?