Jungles of Kemarth: Pre-Podcast

Before Jungles of Kelmarth was recorded, it was just a humble homebrew campaign. It was here that the adventure began, the party was gathered and the characters first developed.

It consisted of 8 sessions that followed the party as they met in Shinrin and completed a few short adventures. They took up a job by the Craftsmen of Kelmarth to investigate items being stolen from the Tomb of The Fallen Warriors and then they ended up hunting and slaying a tiger for Lord Jakku. You can find a transcript of the sessions below.

Session 1
This session started in Shinrin when two different travelers, Cor Pedra and Ash Brield, wanted to stay the night at the The Thriving Vineyard. Being both entertainers, they hoped to perform for their food and stay. The innkeeper, Naria Celestine, pointed them upstairs towards one of the local Craftsmen, Ser Selwyn Cooper, suggesting Selwyn’s stories might inspire a song or idea for their performance. His stories didn’t. However, then entered yet another stranger, a small tabaxi called Pounamu Shelter, who had travelled to Shinrin specifically to meet a member of the Cooper family. Together they all managed to spruce up Selwyn’s story of defending the Tomb of the Fallen Warriors from a robbery and made it a lot more lively and intense. As they talked and got to know each other they learnt that Ash was in Shinrin looking for a monk named Fletch and Cor claimed to be in Shinrin looking for work.

Cor and Ash's performance of guards thwarting a tomb robbery went down very well. It featured greatly exaggerated mock fights and heroism. With the audience satisfied the four of them then parted ways until the morning when Cor, Ash and Shelter decided to visit Ser Selwyn on his watch at the Tomb of the Fallen Warriors.

That morning, after Selwyn relieved Tyden Willican from the night watch, Selwyn noticed a sort of serpent dragging a bracer from the tomb. Cor, Ash and Shelter arrived at the tomb to find Selwyn looking for the snake and after Selwyn lead them inside they were all attacked by more serpents. The companions received some quite horrid snake bites but managed to kill most of the snakes. Selwyn called a young boy from the town to the tomb and got him to alert Selwyn’s superior officer, Ser Thomas Daere of the situation. Ser Thomas Daere arrived alongside Ser Gothar Ironmark to the tomb and Ser Thomas decided to send the four companions into the jungle to find where the serpents were coming from and to track down the stolen relics. Cor Pedra bravely took the lead, talking to a parrot and getting it to lead them to snakes. The parrot did what Cor asked. It lead them to a large waterhole before were the party was suddenly grabbed by a very large serpent wrapped around a tree.

Session 2
The party is attacked in the jungle by two giant pythons and a boar. They also encounter a woman who battles the beasts alongside them. The battle didn't go well and ended with Cor, Shelter and the mysterious woman all mortally wounded and unconscious as Ser Selwyn and Ash killed the rest of the animals. Shelter seemed to die, but after Selwyn picked up one of Shelter’s magical items, Shelter awoke from his death as he heard the ominous word ‘Mine’.

The group then headed back to Shinrin and on the way there the mysterious woman introduced herself as Leila DawnEyes. They then split up. Cor, Ash & Leila went to The Thriving Vineyard as Shelter & Selwyn went to report to Ser Thomas Daere before dropping into the Cooper Homestead. At the Cooper’s place, Ser Selwyn introduced Shelter to his mother, Marian. The three of them had a quick dinner and discussed Shelter’s great-great uncle, Three-Feathers, who once stayed at the Cooper’s in a time of need. Eventually everyone met back at the tavern and retired for the night. Ser Selwyn however, after trying to head to bed for the night but getting attacked by Ash who thought he was an intruder, headed back down to the bar and drank himself to sleep.

The morning arived and the companions, now including Leila, headed through the city center towards the Tomb of the Fallen Warriors. In the city they briefly encountered some kobolds, who were angrily trying to barter with the travelling salesmen. Ser Selwyn broke it up and they continued to head to the tomb, where they encountered Ser Gothar and looked for clues as to where the serpents were headed. Cor spoke to Ser Gothar and ended up accepting to duel him the next afternoon. Ser Selwyn also got in on the challenge and challenged Ser Gothar to a duel the next day also. While the discussion went on, Leila found part of a trail which Cor then managed to lead the companions from towards a stream. Suddenly, the group came face to face with the kobolds they encountered earlier and Cor, Ash & Leila disappeared into the jungle, to try and sneak up on the creatures. Shelter took to the trees, and Ser Selwyn Cooper was left as the only one visible on the ground, sword drawn and shield out.

Session 3
The party managed to defeat the surrounding kobolds and Cor continued to track the group to where he believed the snakes were headed. They came to a small ledge that they had to climb over then were met with Cheval de frise at the top of it. They then started to look around the area, Cor, Ash and Ser Selwyn found a small tunnel where the snake trails lead to and managed to find a log trap above them before setting it off. Meanwhile, Shelter and Leila investigated a symbolistic hieroglyphic-like carving etched into the mountainside ahead of them.

They all met up once again and Shelter traced the log trap to a large, rotten, hollow tree near them. Upon closer inspection of it, large centipedes started to swarm out of holes in the trunk and attacked Cor and Leila. Both of them were knocked unconscious and Ser Selwyn charged up to help with Cor’s wounds and finish off the remaining insects, while Shelter rained down magic ice shards from his vantage point in the trees. They managed to kill the centipedes but found that Leila didn’t have a pulse.

Leila found herself walking towards a light source while surrounded by darkness, but she was stopped as one of her angelic allies convinced her to turn around and go back to the land of the living. While she was dead, Ash let out a prayer to Ilmater and as he started to pray, she woke up.

After investigating the rest of the area around them, the party discovered another four entrances as well as the hollow tree and the original one they had found. They then started to strategize as to which one to enter into, but after about half an hour without any definitive decision, Cor chose one at random and entered, but is met by sharpened bamboo that sliced into his feet in front of it. The party finally decided to go with an idea Ash had, which was to enter into the store-room-like-entrance and hold the supplies ransom to whoever or whatever lived in this area. Ser Selwyn, Ash and Leila entered only to all be ripped to shreds and knocked unconscious by a tiger hidden in the room. Shelter made his way inside and started stabilizing the party while Cor managed to talk to the tiger and persuade it to let them go in peace. Cor and Shelter managed to then get the party into a safe cave-like shelter to camp out until the party awoke and were able to regain their strength.

Session 4
As day became night, Cor & Ash awoke in an ethereal-like state to see some sort of interdimensional goblin-demon-creature steals Leila’s soul. They both realized they were in another plane of existence and went onwards to retrieve the soul. They ended up crossing paths with an old elvish woman, Jelenneth, who helped them get towards their goal. After getting through various puzzles and fighting various battles, the companions came face-to-face with the demonic creature and engaged in battle with it. It went horribly and the group was nearly defeated. However, they just managed to get Leila's soul and escape back to Kelmarth before utter destruction.

Session 5
The party woke up in the cave, and Ash and Cor’s memories of what transpired the night before slowly faded away. Cor led the companions back the kobold’s den and started up conversation with the kobolds. The kobolds said that they wanted mercenaries, or better yet, Ser Selwyn’s sword, and in return, they would give the party trained snakes and feathers. Cor secretly cast a spell on the kobold leader, Vixadoo, which made him like the party a little more. Eventually Vixadoo realized he was under a spell and the three kobolds along with their trained snakes attacked the party. Ser Selwyn took the brunt of the damage, but still injured from the day before, fell unconscious. Cor also took a beating from the kobolds and fell to the ground. The rest of the party managed to take down two of the kobolds, one of which being Vixadoo, with the last one retreating deep into the den. Ash and Shelter decided to go after it, leaving Leila to stabilize Cor and then carry Ser Selwyn and the two defeated kobolds back down to the cave.

After a while of searching through the den tunnels, Ash and Shelter came across a kobold armoury room, where Shelter found a small stone hot to the touch. They then entered the big rotten tree they were outside of before and find the escaped kobold hiding behind a throne. After being grilled by Ash, the kobold told them that the stolen armour was in a secret compartment under the throne itself. It then tried to escape but Ash and Shelter managed to kill it after a short struggle. Ash then decided to have a look for the stolen armour and after moving the throne to see what was underneath; he was impaled to death by a spike trap trigged by a pressure plate under the throne. Panicking, Shelter then rigged a rope between himself and Ash and pulled him out through the tunnels back to the cave the rest of the party was recuperating in.

Upon entering with Ash dead at his feet, Shelter was punched in the face by Leila before she started to pray for Ash to come back to life. Strangely, the stone Shelter had picked up became hotter and hotter before it then burnt through Shelter’s pack and fell to the ground. Ash received a vision. He was flying towards a hooded figure who was carving a stature of a demonic visage. As Ash flew past he heard the figure cheer, shouting that he had finished. All of a sudden, the statue opened it's mouth and sucked Ash towards it. It then stopped pulling him and Ash suddenly fell through a crack in the floor and feel back inside his own body, but also saw a kobold fall inside his body with him. He then awoke, back in the land of the living.

Session 6
The party had a short rest as everyone regained their strength. Confident the job was completed, they headed back towards Shinrin carrying the unconscious Vixadoo, but were ambushed by some remaining kobolds on the way there. They were dispatched swiftly by the party, but yet again, Cor was knocked out cold and the companions needed to stabilize him. Upon reaching Shinrin, they walked past the Tomb of the Fallen Warriors and saw Ser Gothar guarding it. Cor convinced Gothar to fight him outside The Thriving Vineyard at sunset. Ser Selwyn then led the party to the Craftsmen barracks and they locked up Vixadoo then reported to Ser Thomas. Ser Thomas was very impressed and paid them for their troubles.

Ser Selwyn, Cor, Shelter & Leila then headed to the inn, but Ash walked back through the town looking for someone who could put some carvings in his staff for him. Selwyn & Leila started up conversation over drinks and discovered that they both had gone through troubles with their parents. Shelter studied the staff he had found in the kobold den and Cor played his flute quietly in the corner of the inn. Ash ended up talking to one of the workers at the general goods store and she told him about her husband, Keyril, who did carvings. She invited Ash to come for dinner that night and talk to Keyril. Happy with that, Ash then headed back to The Thriving Vineyard and sat down right in the middle of the conversation Selwyn & Leila were having.

Eventually Ash left to have a bath before heading to dinner and Ser Selwyn & Leila finished their conversation. Selwyn, who was getting a bit intoxicated, began to complain about his life in Shinrin, and the job that he hated. Leila suggested leaving it to do something he loved instead. The time then came for Cor’s fight against Gothar as the people in the inn gathered around the two men getting ready to fight outside. Ser Selwyn tossed Cor his sword, and Leila ended up giving Cor her rapier before the two of them then placed bets on who would win. Leila put 5 gold on Cor before a drunk Selwyn put 15 gold on him also. The fight began and Gothar started by slashing Cor across the legs with his shortsword. Surprising, Cor combated it by throwing a few rose petals in Gothar’s face (casting the spell Sleep), which made Gothar fall face-first to the ground. Cor then proceeded to hit him on the head with the butt of Leila’s rapier, which knocked him even further into unconsciousness. The crowd was vastly astounded as people cheered for Cor’s win. Selwyn and Leila received their winnings, 5 extra gold for Leila and a whopping 30 extra gold for Selwyn. They then proceeded to congratulate Cor and obtain their weapons back. Cor then made his way back inside, and Leila and Selwyn began to make their way toward were Ash had gone dinner before Ser Selwyn caught Ser Thomas’s face in the crowd and walked up to him. Still very intoxicated, Selwyn proclaimed to Ser Thomas’s face that he would be leaving the Craftsmen and went on about how he was never promoted and was stuck doing the lowest job available. Ser Thomas, very staggered by the outburst, instead told Selwyn that he had been meaning to offer him a promotion. Taken aback, Selwyn then joined Ser Thomas back inside the inn for a drink to discuss matters, leaving Leila alone outside.

Ash met with Keyril and his family for dinner and afterwards asked Keyril about carving some sort of rune as well as a design into his staff. Keyril suggested a few protection runes, but told him that for anything further, Ash would have to talk to an old woman in the forest and gain instructions on how to make those runes to relate back to Keyril. Nevertheless, Keyril did some ornamental carvings in Ash’s staff for him and said he could add some luck runes into it if Ash could pick it up the next morning, which Ash happily agreed to. Upon exiting, Ash was mockingly asked about his ‘date’ from Leila hidden in the shadows. Not wanting to put up with her jokes, Ash dashed back to the inn, with Leila in close pursuit. Meanwhile, Ser Thomas suggested multiple promotions for Selwyn, from supply-guard to surveyor, the surveyor job in particular Selwyn liked the sound of. Unfortunately Ser Thomas told him that as of yet, there would not be anyone to replace him as day-watch at the Tomb of the Fallen Warriors, as the trainee guard, Ciro Chronis, had just lost his father, Simon Chonis. After letting Ser Thomas know that he would talk to Ciro in the morning, Selwyn retreated to bed for the night, and fell soundly asleep.

Session 7
The party slowly woke up and headed downstairs in The Thriving Vineyard for breakfast. Ash picked up his staff from Keyril’s home and then after helping with a few chores, headed back to the rest of the companions. After taking some herbs for his hangover, Ser Selwyn headed off to see Ser Thomas at the barracks, and the rest of the companions followed. Upon arriving there, they saw Ser Thomas and a couple other Craftsmen escorting the now bound Vixadoo outside. After Selwyn briefly spoke with Ser Thomas about the surveyor job, Ser Thomas, the Craftsmen, Vixadoo and the companions headed off to present Lord Jakku with Vixadoo.

Lord Jakku was not your usual kind of royalty and came across as a more jolly and easy-to-talk to figure. They spoke about the kobold den and then Ash told Lord Jakku about the tiger, which Lord Jakku then tasked the party with hunting for its hide. After hearing about the kobold den and how the party was attacked by the kobolds, Jakku decided to publicly execute Vixadoo as a warning to other kobolds. Jakku then left to get back to his work and the companions split up to prepare for the tiger hunt.

Ash & Cor travelled to the general goods store for supplies and messily tried swindle their way into buying some supplies on Ser Thomas’s account. They ended up just getting all the supplies they needed from the barracks and forgetting the general goods store altogether. Leila went to see one of her guild-members, Stephanos, for tips on taking down a tiger. Meanwhile, Selwyn asked Shelter to come along with him to the Chronis household, as Selwyn had been tasked by Ser Thomas to console the eldest boy, Ciro on the loss of his father and to try to get him to stay a Craftsman instead of working on his father’s farm. Shelter kept the two youngest boys, Acaris and Pan, entertained with some magic while Selwyn spoke to Ciro and his mother, Kristabelle. Selwyn’s convincing did not go all too well, he very much convinced Ciro to the idea of staying a Craftsman but could not convince Kristabelle. And thus, Selwyn and Shelter left the Chronis’s with Selwyn’s task failed.

Session 8
The group once again met up at the Craftsmen barracks where Ash was being assessed by Ser Thomas to become a Craftsman. Ash was pitted against numerous Craftsmen in boxing and sparring matches and managed to best two of them, but then fell to the third. Nevertheless, Ser Thomas was greatly impressed by the boy and said he'd think on the whole matter for a while.

The party then started off for the kobold 's Den, to kill the tiger in the storeroom. The arrived without trouble and because of the late time of day, decided to sleep in the cave nearby before hunting the beast in the morn. Morning came and the companions came up with a plan. They set a hunting trap in front of a tree in a small clearing, which Cor, Selwyn and Leila then hid behind. Shelter was above them, watching out in case any further attackers came. And Ash would drop two sets of caltrops between the storeroom and the hunting trap before enticing the tiger to come out and acting as bait to lure him through the caltrops and into the trap. It didn't go as planned. The tiger did indeed take Ash as bait and follow him out of the storeroom and through the forest, but it dodged both sets of caltrops and evaded the hunting trap. It then ripped at Ash with its large paws and locked its mouth around Ash 's neck, leaving him unconscious and barely alive. Ser Selwyn then took the chance to attack and together with Cor 's magic and Leila 's bow, they managed to bring it to the ground. The group then proceeded to get ready to see Lord Jakku, with Leila healing Ash and then skinning the tiger.

The group trekked back to Shinrin, Ash carrying the tiger skin, and went to see the Lord. Upon arriving there, they were told the Lord would be with them in a couple hours, and were then welcomed to stay, get some refreshments and tidy up before he came. Leila went off with some of the servants, who gave her a dress to get changed into, along with doing her hair and makeup. Meanwhile, the rest of the party drank some wine and watched a puppet show that Lady Jiru had prepared for them. After Leila returned, Lord Jakku also appeared and thanked them for the hide, paying them and then offering them dinner and a place for the night.