Monday Recap: Setting Sail for Adventure!

A brand new adventure, a brand new DM!

Hello everyone! My name is Makayla, and I’ll be your guide to the high seas shenanigans of Jandar’s Lions. This is my first campaign, and Jon has asked that I write the recaps for it, so here goes nothing!

This article is part 1 of a series. The campaign is ongoing.
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |

Let’s start off with our cast:

Jon: Captain Jandar Monroe
Lawful Good Human Paladin. Age: 36

"ADVENTURE!" Awkward silence

Every since he was a child, Jandar Monroe felt the sea calling his name. His parents took that as a sign of the God Fharlanghn, and raised him to be ever-pursuant of proper ideals and good companions. He swore that he would find a crew or purpose worth defending, and travel the sea to prove the worth of that ideal.

However, his first job as a sailor was a disaster. He ended up under the command of Hyon DeDonta, a merciless conman who convinced Jandar that he was a kind man. When it came to adventuring, though, Hyon was cruel and greedy. Jandar realized that if he was to pursue his dreams, he would have to learn all he could and find his own ship to captain.

Hyon was less-than eager to lose a crewmate who was proving to be a capable combatant and healer. Their parting ended with Jandar, covered in whip wounds, leaping overboard and swimming 3 miles to shore. Since then, their paths have not crossed, but there will likely be bloodshed if they ever do.

Upon landing, Jandar found himself in Porayvon. He lived simply and worked in a small tavern for nearly a decade before he had saved up enough gold to purchase a keelboat. Realizing the time was right, he asked his two closest friends, Lin and Dekkard, to join him in finding an adventuring crew and setting sail. They agreed, and their journey began!

Wes: Barry the Basher
Lawful Good Dwarven Barbarian. Age: 265

"I have an idea..."

Hailing from the southern mountainous region around Ashlen, Barry the Basher (Originally Baren Rigfnar) lived with the rest of the Lutger clan until the day the orc army raid came. Led by a green cloaked figure, the orcs burned a path straight up the mountain, killing anyone and everyone in their wake. Barry and his team went up the mountain and destroyed the entrance to a cave in order to cause a rockslide. Before the rockslide could block off the orc armies, the green clad figure made a motion and sent the rocks sailing straight back at Barry and his men.

When Barry came to, he was the only survivor, and the dwarven city had been plundered by the orcs, leaving only one black feather remaining. With his home and comrades gone, Barry swore to seek lawful revenge against him, preventing this massacre from happening again. He set off to the forests, coasts, and seas, searching for clues about this figure, looking for the truth.

Tom: “Barth” Perth
Chaotic Good Human Rogue. Age: 32. Believes he’s more than 4 centuries old.

"Sorry, captain!"

Barth, born “Barfolomew” by his parents who genuinely thought that was how it was pronounced, is from Porayvon. Barth used to make a quasi-honest living in the rougher parts of Porayvon, as a go-to source for information and contacts. He generally kept his head down and tried to be well-liked by as many people as possible, and was relatively successful at this. He never stole, but over time he started receiving more and more ethically-dubious gigs, including spying and breaking-and-entering.

One day, he was spying on a local noble on behalf of the noble's wife, who wanted to know if her husband was having an affair. Unbeknownst to Barth, the noble was paranoid of being spied on, and Barth was ambushed by the noble's private guards. Barth doesn't remember much (if anything) about that incident.  Ever since, it seems to many around the community that Barth might be addled somehow. He has taken up the belief that he is centuries-old and used to have a private manor in Porayvon where the park currently resides. Barth, being no fool, has basically stopped trying to bring these facts up to anyone, due to how he's treated whenever he tries to talk about it.

Still trying to keep his rogue-for-hire career moving, Barth spends most of his time in Porayvon skulking around on rooftops and in alleys, eavesdropping on random townsfolk and trying to find his next big score.

Shannon: Otaroinae “A’ro’wan” Kalepeach
Neutral Good Water Genasi-Halfling Coast Druid. Age: 27. Doesn’t know she’s a Genasi.

"Have you heard about the many health benefits of kelp?"

From the small halfling village of Canallee, Otaroinae never knew her father, and her mother left her with her grandparents. She grew up an outcast, being slightly taller with pale, almost bluish skin. Because of this she feels strongly for those that are outcasts or are bullied. She feels most at home where the land and water meet, feeling like she could almost hear the river sing to her at times. She learned the ways of the Druid to be able to commune with them and protect them.

As soon as she was able, she left for the sea on a fishing vessel known as “The Rusty Hook”. She worked with them for a few months, feeling fairly at home. One day, they docked just off an island with seals on it. They took in fish as normal, however they also went to the island with the seals, against the protests of Otaroinae. They proceeded to beat the seals to death for their skins, not caring that they had done so in the slightest. Otaroinae was furious, and absentmindedly controlled the water, drowning some of her crew mates. At the next port, she disposed of their clubs and left the ship, heading out to look for a different ship to work on.

Along with them are two of Jandar’s friends:

Lin Kurwa, First mate to Captain Jandar. Chaotic Good High Elven Blade Bard. She helps take care of the ship while the captain and crew are out adventuring. Sometimes argues with Dekkard that two one-handed weapons are better, but cares greatly for him. Age: 115

Dekkard Sudar, Purser of Jandar’s Lions. Lawful Good Mountain Dwarven Eldritch Knight. Helped build the ship, and helps repair it when needed. Also does most of the finances and trade agreements. Sometimes argues with Lin that one two-handed weapon is better, but cares greatly for her. Sometimes treats her like a child. Age: 180

Whew. Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time for what you actually came here for! A recap!

Jandar's Lions: Setting Sail for Adventure!

The Golden Duchess, in all her glory

Our story begins in a former tavern owned by Boney-Nosed Pete. Lin and Jandar awaited food made by Pete, waiting for Dekkard to return bringing the ship that Jandar will be purchasing. Pete served up the last of the food from his old place, and finalized the sale of the former tavern with Jandar, because he was moving away. Jander advised that he no longer wear the Boney-Nosed mask that he is known for as to not scare off younger customers.

When Dekkard finally returned, he explained that the ship, “The Golden Duchess”, is waiting just outside at the docks. The group finalized the purchase of the ship, and Jandar stared longingly at his ship. Having previously put fliers are up in town exclaiming “ADVENTURE, POSSIBLE TREASURE, HORIZON CHASING” among other things, he expectantly waited for the morning and the arrival of any crew willing to go with him.

In the morning, Otaroinae, Barry, and Barth showed up. Otaroinae and Barth showed up looking to join the crew. Barry meanwhile was swinging blindly at a flier stuck to his face. After brief introductions, each of them agreed that they were ready for adventure and were ready to leave immediately. Otaroinae seemed to want to leave before the fishing boats come in.

After a brief interview process, the crew set off to the ship for some simple explanations of the work needing to be done. Otaroinae had worked on ships before and was able to be the third steersman (or steerswoman in this case). Dekkard went off to get cargo from a job he accepted to bring cargo to Jeonju, the Elven continent to the East, while Captain Jandar impatiently awaited to set sail.

After asking multiple times, the final piece of cargo was loaded up onto the ship, and the group was ready to set sail. Not wasting any time, Jandar gave the order to set sail for adventure.

The crew each had a decent amount of downtime, so some of the time was spent honing skills. The first day, Barry decided to try his hand at fishing and managed to catch 5 fish. Combined with the rations on board, they had a well-balanced and delicious meal for the whole crew. Jandar, eager to test out the arcane cannons that were equipped on the ship, test fired one, but managed to make it misfire. Barry asked where the meat he had caught went, since he stored it in an empty metal barrel. And so the first day they dined on cannon fried fish and pickled vegetables. Other than that, only a civilian ship was seen.

Not pictured: months of travel time

On the second day, around noon, Otaroinae smelled blood and chum in the water and recognized the fishing vessel, The Rusty Hook, that she used to work on. This was the crew that brutally killed seals, including babies and mothers. After some talking with the Captain, they decided it was best to have Otaroinae go into the cabin while the rest of the crew signaled that they were friendly and meant no harm. The Golden Duchess and The Rusty Hook parted ways peacefully, heading their separate ways.

The remainder of the day passed quietly, with only an Elven ship passing by at night, with peaceful prestidigitation flares exchanged. Unfortunately, Barry didn’t manage to catch any fish that day, so salted meat was on the menu for the day.

The third day started with a bang as usual, with Jandar and Otaroinae successfully firing off the arcane cannons. Around noon however, a small Eelven ship was spotted. After a quick check with his spy glass, Jandar recognized this specific ship as belonging to a single elven woman who had been in port a few months back. However, there were multiple humans onboard this ship, without the elven woman. Barth, dagger in hand, suggested killing them, though Jandar shot the idea down quickly, trying to avoid needless death.

After noticing their cannons in the ready, and them not waving a peaceful signal, Jandar had the cannons moved to the front of the ship. After a tense time of both ships coming at each other, they came within shouting distance. After a brief conversation that ended with the enemy captain nearly giving the fire command, Jandar quickly used the Command spell to make the enemy captain dive into the water.

Arcane Cannons: like this but with ~magic~

After a brief arcane cannon exchange, with bows being fired from both sides, and Otaroinae launching a quick Thunderwave at the captain in the water, the ships were brought within boarding distance of each other. Barry and Otaroinae swung gracefully and not-so-gracefully to the other side, while Barth shot a man down hard. With every man that fell on the other ship, Jandar flinched, with Barth exclaiming “Sorry Captain!” whenever he shot someone down. The Enemy captain was climbing back up to the deck, and Jandar tried to persuade him to surrender, which he refused even after being shot with a crossbow in the shoulder. After Barth shot him too, Barry shoved one of the men into two that had just come up from below deck, knocking them back below deck.

Jandar and Lin went across to the other ship and started stabilizing the ship thieves, however it was too late for the first one Barth shot down. Jandar ordered Barth to gather their weapons, and throw them overboard. Barth responded “Throw the weapons overboard, right?” much to Jandar’s dismay. Lin then reminded Jandar that they could be sold for additional profit for the company, and suggested they throw them over to the Duchess instead.

Meanwhile down below deck, Barry had his shield out, and was pushing against the 3 remaining men, with Otaroinae spraying one of them out cold with Poison spray. Jandar meanwhile healed the enemy captain, and then punched him to knock him out. He then headed to join Barry and Otaroinae, helping them knock out the other two remaining bandits, and stabilize the last one. Otaroinae meanwhile ran and took the arcane core, rendering the enemy’s cannons useless.

After a brief discussion, the men were tied to the mast, the arcane core and cannons were brought over to the Golden Duchess, and a search of the ship was made. Barth managed to find a letter listing the owner of the ship as an elven woman named Coria, meanwhile Otaroinae found scrolls in druidic explaining how to turn into certain small to medium animals found in Strofuwin, Jeonju, and Eiselon.

Jandar and Barry meanwhile woke up one of the men, had a talk with them and managed to convince him to turn in the ship thieves that ‘he’ managed to stop, sending Dekkard to write a letter to the Porayvon city guard. The man agreed, saying the ship was stolen in Dagos, and he and his brother were only doing it because they were tired of going hungry all the time. Jandar convinced him that there is better money in doing good than doing bad.

With letter in hand, and the only weapon on the ship, the reformed bandit was sent to Porayvon to return the ship to the proper authorities and to make sure it was returned to its owner. Jandar and Co. meanwhile continued on their way to Jeonju, with the rest of the day being uneventful.

On the fourth day out, early into his first early morning shift, Jandar spied an island off in the distance, and turned to Lin, who was currently trancing. “We don’t have a deadline do we..?” Lin sat up a little straighter, paused for thought for a moment before smiling coyly, “No captain, there is no deadline.. No perishable cargo either.”

And thus, Jandar turned the wheel towards adventure.

Too much adventure! TOO MUCH ADVENTURE!

And that wrapped up our session. It was a little slow and slightly unbalanced, due to my lack of experience with these kinds of things, but everyone seemed to enjoy it overall. I'm sure that I'll get better at things as time goes on, and with a little help from my friends.

When next we meet, there will be more adventures awaiting, just over the horizon. And there is a lot of horizon to explore.

Until next time, take care.