D&D Session 30: Mark of the Ninja

I actually don't know what session number this was, but I'll just say it was 30 and begin counting from here.

The Hot Water Party is traveling in the Realm of Fire on behalf of a demigod (called a Valryn) who is busy trying to save his people from the hellish prison a different group of demigods (called the Ma'ari) put them in.

The Realm of Fire is not that hellish prison.


The party's duties are thus: Explore the realm for a while and report back any discoveries, from the mundane to the sweeping. They must keep their mission and, most of all, the identity of who sent them a secret, in case the Ma'ari catch wind that the Valryn are escaping their prison.

The Realm of Fire turned out to be a jungle world in which the sun never sets. Frequent rains keep the vegetation growing, so that most of the realm's inhabitants have never seen dirt, much less steel.

Rumors from fleeing refugees suggest that massive humanoid creatures have been rampaging and destroying nearby kingdoms. An orcish prince named Yotsu has asked the party to travel to the lands of humans to smuggle powerful elver weaponry to his town so that his people can defend themselves against the coming threat. They must hurry, since who knows when the giant creatures may arrive.

That was weeks ago. The party has since arrived in human lands and made contact with a weapons dealer willing to smuggle weapons for them, but the timeline for such a massive order would have taken months. So, the party ventures to the elven lands to expedite the process.

One final note that should be mentioned before getting to the events of the latest session: in this realm, all Halflings are members of a clan of assassins known as the Shinku. The assassins are a powerful force in the realm, with full control over the orcs and great influence among the constantly warring humans. Only the elves seem to be above relying on the assassins to get their way, since they are peacefully becoming rich as the manufacturers of weapons which they sell to the warring humans.

Regardless, any member of the Shinku clan who abandons their duties is hunted down as a traitor by the rest of the clan. And so, no Halfling travels unnoticed.

And to we reach our latest session, which began with the party's Halfling Tyriron waking up to a knife at his throat. With luck, he was able to squeak out a noise before a hand clasped over his mouth, which alerted the party member on watch.

And so, battle began. It took place during the rainy cycle, the closest thing this realm has to "night" in which the sky is overcast and rain pours down for hours as a time.

The party's assailants are dressed in grayish-green garb, perfectly colored to blend in with the rainy jungle-like setting. The party had camped in the rotting remains of an old fortress, which was little more than a few walls barely standing, yet giving just enough shelter from the rain.

The elven warrior Akito immediately woke up Buck, the half-orc bard, who began to hum a tune which slowly woke up the rest of the group. Then, despite being attacked in the dead of night with half of the party unarmored and groggy, the party managed to completely subdue the ninjas without any serious injuries. Of the four ninjas, one ran away, one died, and two were captured alive.

After the battle, the team questioned the ninjas, discovering that they had been attacked solely because they suspected that Tyriron was a defector. Had the operation worked out, Tyriron would have been killed in his sleep and nobody would have needed to notice until the morning. Again, luckily, Tyriron's reflexes surprised everyone by alerting the team, and the entire plan was wrecked.

After some discussion, the ninjas were convinced that Tyriron may, in fact, not be a deserter from the Shinku Clan, something they would have had no reason to suspect. Eventually the party worked out a deal with the captured ninjas: they would be released and, in return, they would inquire among the clan to see if anybody of Tyriron's description had deserted.

And so the session ended with the captured ninjas walking away from the scene as the party goes right back to sleep.

(Continued in Session 31)