Running a Medieval Ball

A few weeks ago the characters in my Swords & Wizardry campaign were in the big city of the campaign to attend a Yule Ball. It was a chance for them to meet the big NPCs of the campaign. I had a number of plot hooks and small disruptions planned for the ball if they only pulled on a few threads. The session ran smoothly and I enjoyed it but I think only one of the five players enjoyed themselves. To make matters worse this was the session that one player invited a non-gaming friend to sit in (he played the NPC Fenris). The lack of dungeons and dragons to fight probably soured him on gaming. Well, I tried.

Session 108: The Yule Ball

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Flora (elven thief), Aldus (human cavalier), Fenris the Filch (human thief), Domago (human cleric NPC).

The Company is in Dolmvay with several days to wait before the night of the Yule Ball. Lakima decides to spend much of his time in his wife’s room at the Black Dragon Inn. He sends out one of the Inn staff to buy him some passable common merchant’s clothing. Later Lakima asks Aldus to buy him a list of items. He offers Aldus some spending gold to do so. With nothing better to do, Aldus is accompanied by his squire Ian, Eathwund, and Alrix. Aldus asks Fenris where he can find the Adventurers Guild Hall. Fenris tells him that it is located on Riverlord island. Aldus and company head over to Riverlord island and Aldus asks at the Adventurers’ Guild Hall about buying magic items. The bemused attendants explain to him that this is the Adventurers’ Guild, not the Mages Guild. The Mages Guild is located at the southern end of the island. They do ask Aldus if he would like to register as a member of the Guild – only 50 gold per year. He declines. The group does look about at the magic shops near the Mages Guild but none of them cater to non-guild members. The entire disappointed group returns to the Black Dragon Inn.

Lakima suggests that they ask around in the Scholars’ district where he is sure they can find magic ink and quills. The entire group sets out again. Aldus stops a man in the middle of the street and asks about magic. The man is suitably startled. Eventually, they ask about ink and quills and they are directed to a tiny shop called Dyson’s Delve. Aldus and Ian enter and ask about ink and quills. The owner is a peculiar fat man with one deformed large eye and one normal eye. The man hops about the cluttered shop showing them quills. When Aldus lets it be known he is looking for magical ink and quills the man hurriedly tells them to close the door and blinds. Then he produces the items from behind a bookshelf. They negotiate and Aldus is able to buy everything on the list that Lakima gave him.

Outside Alrix wanders off and explores the neighborhood. He notes several houses of scribes, alman, clothiers, and a few theatres and libraries. He decides to enter one particularly cluttered library. He finds several books on local history and settles down on the floor to read them.

Meanwhile, back at Dyson’s Delve, the owner attempts to entice Eathwund into buying one or more treasure maps. He requests 450 gold and suggests the treasure will be 10 times or more than what the map cost. Eathwund decides not to purchase a map. Finally, the owner hints that he has a map to a Mud Sorcerer’s Tomb but Eathwund does not ask to see it. Before returning to the Inn, Aldus gives his squire 20 gold and tells him to be back in the evening.

A few days later Lakima takes up the invite to visit the Windmaster Bryan Stulaker. He brings Fenris along for protection and travels incognito dressed as a common merchant. Sturlaker welcomes him inside and they are served lunch by invisible servants. They discuss some of the exploits of the Company of the Black Dragon. Sturlaker reveals that he has had his eye on their group since the events of last year when they aided the Library of Antiquity. He notes the Amulet against Scrying the Fenris is now wearing and comments that he has not been able to watch their adventures of late. Lakima tells Sturlaker of the threat of the White Worm. Sturlaker seems to have some knowledge of this through his “contact in Edgerton.” He is horrified when Lakima tells him about the three body parts of the Ghoul King they have in their possession. Lakima asks if there is some safe place where the items could be stored. Sturlaker tells him that the only place capable of protecting the items would be the Vaults beneath the Valenon (a district of the city controlled by the church of Law). He ponders this for a while and tells them he does know one member of the Church they should be able to trust – Lawlord Ethun Barrigan. He will try to arrange a meeting with him. Fenris and Lakima eventually depart.

On Dechem 26 the day of the Yule Ball arrives. They discuss the issues they will have at the ball without weapons, armor, or magic items. Lakima decides that they cannot risk bringing the Bag of Holding. Alayna assures him that the bag will be searched. The Duke has survived several assassination attempts and security will be high. They can bring weapons onto the Palace grounds but will not be able to enter with them.

The company arrives at the Ball dressed in their finest. Lakima, in particular, is wearing a robe that calls to attention that he is a wizard. They enter the Palace grounds and are forced to check their weapons in the guardroom before the doors (although Fenris manages to sneak in a dagger). No one checks for magical items. They enter and some members chose to be announced by name and others are announced as members of the Company of the Black Dragon. The main ballroom is a huge room with about a hundred guests milling about in a mob of people. Food is brought to guests by servants and there are tables laden with food where they can help themselves. They see nobles openly eating food while standing and talking with their peers. A few people sit at tables. A wide area has been kept clear for dancing and a small group of mistrals plays nearby. Flora immediately attracts the attention of the group. They have only spotted one other demi-human in the crowd and he was the halfling chamberlain.

The party splits up. Lakima, Alayna, and Alrix wander about as a group. Eathwund and Aldus walk over to the food and start helping themselves. Fenris dodges into the crowd eyeing the expensive baubles on the fingers and about the necks of the nobles. Domago walks over to where he sees some priests who have been invited to the party. A short time after they enter, the ambassador of the Vanhurr elves is announced and her companion. Lakima makes his way over to Ambassador Wildblossom and converses with her in elvish. The elves answer a few questions politely. They learn that the elves have yet to be given the invitation to visit the newly arrived fey elves of Haven. Lakima lets them know that his group ended the curse that kept the fey elves in winter. The elves move along into the crowd and Lakima briefly finds himself standing beside Earl Claude of Thurmany. The Earl promises to introduce the party to the Duke when he arrives.

Duke Robert arrives escorting a beautiful young woman announced as Lady Osene. He is accompanied by the Wolflord (head of the ducal guard) Lord Mikael. The Duke makes his way to Earl Claude of Thurmany and makes polite conversation with nobles who come to introduce themselves.

The next major stir happens when Earl Uther of Calwell is announced. Traveling with the Earl is a Lady Sasha and Alayna’s father Nevain. As they pass Alayna whispers at her father demanding to know why he had not told her he was in Dolmvay. Nevain smiles and asks if she has a poison antidote with her and moves on. Lakima asks Alayna if her father is going to cause any problems. Alayna does not know but explains to everyone that Earl Uther is Duke Robert’s older bastard half-brother – who is known to believe that the throne of Valnwall should be his. She suggests that they keep their eyes open. They watch Nevain for a few minutes but he does nothing suggesting he plans to poison someone.

With the Duke now in attendance, the halfling chamberlain calls for quiet and introduces the entertainment – Delanna the bard. The woman sings an enchanting elvish song about the coming of winter to elven lands. Lakima and Alrix judge that the bard is using some type of enchantment magic. Enough to make her music captivating without actually controlling the audience. The crowd listens in silence and cheers when the song is finished. The regular musicians then take over again led by a halfling lute player.

Spotting a small party of dwarves seated at a table, Lakima makes his way over to introduce himself. He meets the dwarven ambassador Emdain Darkstone and a female dwarven mining expert named Nisdyl. Emdain tells them Nisdyl was unable to return to Gundamark because of problems with frost giants blocking Icefang pass. Lakima tells them that his group of adventurers were the ones to unblock the pass. Emdain is suitably impressed and is not at all surprised when Lakima brings up the story of the White Worm. The dwarves of Gundamark are aware of the rumors about the creature. Emdain gives Lakima a token from the dwarves of Gundamark. He tells him it will announce him as a friend to any Gundamark dwarves and even the gnomes of Winterhaven. During the conversation with the dwarves, Lakima notices a middle-aged woman eavesdropping. At the close of the conversation, he turns and asks the woman if there is anything he can do for her. She makes an apology and quickly walks away. As he watches her retreat, Lakima notices that she goes to speak with a white-haired, bearded old man sitting in a corner – Windmaster Bryan Sturlaker.

Lakima notices now as he turns from the dwarven delegation that he has misplaced his wife. He spots Alayna dancing with a distinguished gentleman on the dance floor. Lakima heads over to the halfling minstrel and hands him some gold and asks him to play a tune from the Sea of Sands. The minstrel snaps up the gold and tells him he knows one song – he hopes he likes it. He proceeds to play a popular dance song from Lakima’s homeland. Lakima walks over to Alayna and cuts in and proceeds to lead her in one of the dances of his homeland. The other dancers leave the floor as they are all unfamiliar with the tune or the dance. Lakima manages to remember most of the dance moves – somewhat clumsily – and Alayna does her best to follow his lead. At the end of the dance, there is a round of polite applause.

“We are going to be invited to so many parties!” Alayna says.

Lakima and Alayna move off the dance floor as the music being played returns to the music that the locals are more familiar with. Lakima is approached by Cadriel Tresallinde as he steps into the press of people, Cadriel recognized the music as he is from Southport near the borders of the Sea of Sands. He discovers that Lakima is a member of the Company of the Black Dragon and he asks how many men he has underarms. He is disappointed when he learns of the size of the group. Cadriel is hiring mercenaries in Dolmvay to launch a coup in Southport to install himself as Emperor. He invites Lakima to come and visit him at his Villa in the District of Nobles.

On the other side of the room, Fenris continues to look for nobles to rob. More like a game than through any intent. He is surprised to spot a familiar face. He watches as a servant moves through the crowd serving food. He watches closely and realizes the man is Kavien – someone he worked with in the thieves’ guild 3 years ago. He checks the other servers and spots two more familiar faces. The brothers Throck and Adin were also members of the guild. Fenris makes his way over to Alrix and Lakima and tells them that he suspects a heist is in the making. He has counted three servants who are actually members of the thieves guild. He points them out to everyone. Lakima waves one of the thieves over and is offered a tray of food. While the man has his attention focused on Lakima, Alrix gazes into his eyes and charms him. Alrix then asks what heist is being planned. They learn that the three thieves plan to steal a painting from the adjoining library. They thank the man and move away. Lakima steps up to Earl Claude who is standing with Duke Robert and Lord Mikael. He tells them that the Duke is about to be robbed. Lord Mikael, who tells them the security of the ball is his concern, is skeptical. But he sends a guard to detain one of the men they point out. At this point, they can only spot two of the thieves. The guard returns several minutes later to confirm their story. The man they detained is a member of the thieves guild. Mikael orders more guards to the library and tells them to detain the other two men. Eventually, the guard returns to tell them they detained the second fake servant and caught the third trying to make a break for it. Mikael does thank the company for their help. The Duke appears amused by what has happened at his party. Earl Claude takes this opportunity to introduce Lakima and Alrix to the Duke. They get to spend a few minutes speaking with the Duke before he makes an excuse to move along.

The group continues to mingle about the party. Lakima finds himself near his father-in-law Nevain so he goes over and introduces himself to Earl Uther. The man seems to lower his opinion of Lakima when he learns he married into his food taster's family. He is interested when he learns that Lakima represents the Company of the Black Dragon. He recalls their adventure facing off against the blue dragon Synastarax. Earl Uther asks Lakima if the Company would be interested in a job. Lakima tells him they have some free time but they are not cheap. Earl Uther tells them of problems he is having in the north with “Sky Raiders”. He tells Lakima that he is staying at the Emerald Rose Inn for the next few days. He suggests that they pay him a visit which could benefit their mutual interests. Lakima notices that his father-in-law has a strained look on his face. Earl Uther makes his goodbyes and moves on.

At this moment, Lakima hears raised voices and sees a fat man in a clerical vestment shaking his finger in Flora’s face. Lakima and Alrix quickly move through the crowd to intervene. They hear the cleric accuse Flora of being a “creature of chaos” who should be banished. Lakima steps in to confront the cleric who tells them, “do you know who I am! I am Patriarch Sorlund.” Lakima appears less than impressed. The situation is defused when a grey-bearded fat man arrives who looks like sainted Klaus. The man informs Sorlund that he has overstepped his bounds and asks him to move along. An angry Sorlund is led away by a member of this entourage. The man who intervened introduces himself as Lawlord Ethun Barrigan. He apologizes to the group and again to Flora directly. He tells him that only the most conservative members of the church have views like Sorlund. Lakima realizes that this is the man Sturlaker told them he would try to arrange a meeting with. Lakima takes the opportunity to quietly tell Barrigan about the parts of the Ghoul King they have in their possession. Barrigan is shocked and has to sit down to recover. He tells them to bring the items to the Valenon – East Gate first thing in the morning. He will personally make certain that the items get into the Vaults. Lakima thanks Barrigan and moves on to the party.

Nearby, Lakima spots a woman who looks to be from the Sea of Sands. Both her appearance and her dress. He walks over and introduces himself. The woman introduces herself as Dona Maria. She is indeed from the City of Veils. She tells Lakima that she has been in exile in Dolmvay for six months. She makes a living retelling the stories of her homeland. Her local patron sitting nearby tells Lakima that the stories are wonderful. During the conversation, Lakima learns that one of the favorites is the story of Maikin the mighty – defender of the City of Veils.

The night continues on and some of the guests appear to have imbibed too much wine. Fenris finds himself standing near a drunk noble with a gold ring set with emeralds on his finger. Fenris reaches in to snatch it off the noble’s finger but he finds it is stuck. The noble notices the tug on his hand and looks unsteadily over at Fenris. Thinking Fenris is shaking his hand he returns the shake and then sits down in a chair. Fenris quickly moves to another group of guests.