I have often read online discussions of what to do when a player is absent from the table. For me, it happens a lot because I am running a weekly game that is online only. Sometimes players vanish permanently without so much as an email. Sometimes they just miss a session.
If the player characters are currently in the middle of an adventure, I treat the missing player's character as an NPC and try to run him/her as I believe the player would have. If we are at a break in the adventure, I will come up with an excuse for why the character is not available. This could be as simple as the character saying they are not interested in the latest adventure, busy, or off somewhere. For this week's session, I knew that one player was going to miss a few sessions. His character was a cavalier which made it easy for me to tell everyone that the character was off at a tournament with his squire. A second player was unexpectedly absent for this session so I had his character tell the other players that he was more interested in staying in town. With only 2 players this week I let the players decide the direction of the story and tossed in a few minor incidents that could become future plot hooks.
Session 156: Hot time in Mirdton
Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), August (human magic-user NPC).
Remembering where the grave is, they head over to the still-open grave, finding the coffin of Arcos the Ageless closed at the bottom. "Hey, Arcos," Lakima shouts, "We are here to collect on your promise." After waiting a minute, Lakima tells Luna to break open the coffin. Once she reaches for the lid, which is nailed shut, the ghost of an old sage appears. They haven't seen Arcos before, as he possessed Fendar the last time they met him. "Who disturbs my rest?" the ghost asks. "We have come to collect on your promise," Lakima says.
"What promise? Go away, I'm busy with research," the ghost replies, proceeding to ignore them and pantomime opening and reading a book. "We brought your golden cat back to you, and you promised to tell me the location of a vast library of magic," Lakima insists. "Oro, he is right here," Arcos says, and a ghostly cat leaps up on his leg. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Maybe we need to take your golden cat again to get your attention," Lakima suggests. The ghost of Arcos pulls the ghostly cat close and tries to shield him from Lakima. "I'm busy and accustomed to being paid for my research," Arcos says. "You promised if we found Oro and returned him, you would reward us," Lakima says impatiently. "Fine, fine. I know of a Library of Knowledge. A hidden library. Have you ever heard of a city called the City of Glass?" Arcos says. "I have," Lakima says. Arcos seems put off by Lakima's knowledge of the City of Glass, but he explains that the Hidden Library is accessible from inside the Great Library of Hukara in the City of Glass. The entrance is hidden inside a sky well. A staircase will be revealed if they say the password while standing above the well, "Harvest knowledge and let it be shared." Once he has given up his secret, Arcos disappears.
Lakima, Eathwund, and Luna head back to the Manor house. When they meet Domago later that day, they ask about Brovin. Brovin is recovering from his near-death experience under the care of the priests of the Church of St. Aleena. "There is also something I wish to discuss with all of you," Domago tells those gathered for supper in the Manor.
Domago goes on to tell a little of the history of the Church of St. Aleena, how St. Aleena died fighting a mage known only as the Infamous One, and how she was declared a Saint by the Church of Law, with a shrine erected near her hometown. "Two years ago, that town, now called Aleenton, was sacked by goblin raiders. The entire area has become a dangerous wilderness where war bands of goblins, kobolds, ogres, and trolls move about freely. All contact was lost with the brothers at the Shrine, and they are assumed to have perished," Domago says. He explains that he has always felt it was his mission to drive the goblins from the land about the town and clear any interlopers in the shrine. He also tells them that St. Aleena's tomb is in the shrine and deserves to be protected. "I was not strong enough before to try this on my own. I am probably not strong enough to do it on my own now. Will you accompany me to the Shrine and free the land from the goblins?" Everyone agrees they will aid Domago. Lakima asks when Domago wishes to go, as he has some tasks he would like to look into first. "The land has waited two years for release from the goblins. It can wait a few more weeks," Domago tells them.
Lakima then asks Eathwund, Grasshopper, and August to accompany him on a quick trip to the Bridgeway. They leave the next morning on the Cloudstealer. It takes them only half a day to reach the hidden bridge. Greeting them when they arrive are the custodian Ezmeralden and his young apprentice. "Trouble?" Ezmeralden asks them. "No, I have something to ask you," Lakima says. He explains to Ezmeralden that he has created a successful portal between the Mages Guild in Edgerton and the Temple of Medamellara in the Valley of Heroes. "I would like to create a portal between our Mages Guild and the Bridgeway," Ezmeralden is unsure at first, raising concerns about misuse of the bridgeway, which is an artifact of the ancients and has been kept secret for centuries. But Lakima convinced him with promises to allow the gate to be closed at this end and for the opportunity for his apprentice to study at the Mages Guild. He eventually agrees to the plan and even suggests that he might want to teach some classes. Shaking on the deal, the adventurers spend the evening at the Bridgeway and head back the next day. They arrive in Edgerton late in the evening.
"Fires ahead!" one of the crew yells out. As they near Edgerton, they see the glow of fires in the area of Mirdton. Eathwund rushes to the bow, looking anxiously to see if the fires are near his tavern. As they fly closer, it is apparent that the Cheese Factory in Mirdton is burning out of control. Dark smoke blackens the night.
Once the Cloudstealer is docked, Lakima, Eathwund, Grasshopper, and August head over on foot to Mirdton. Crowds of onlookers watch the fire while a chain of locals stretches from the fire to a nearby well. Buckets of water are passed along the chain of people until they reach a member of the town watch near the fire. A constant stream of buckets of water is tossed on the fire, but it appears hopeless. The building is blazing out of control. "I know one way to put an end to this fire!" Lakima shouts to his friends.
He chants an incantation, and an enormous water elemental erupts out of the well, towering more than ten feet above the square. Many of the locals run in fear of the elemental, but Lakima points at the fire and yells at the water elemental to put it out. The water elemental moves quickly to the fire and begins spraying it with blasts of water. It has an immediate effect. The fires begin to be put out. The force of the water blasts also knocks over damaged walls and ceilings, but soon the fires are put out, and the water elemental looks actually smaller. Lakima then dismisses it.
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| Fire fighting Water Elemental |
The crowds of people near the fire immediately begin cheering. They talk to a member of the Town watch who tells them they do not know how the fires started or why they were burning so fiercely – almost supernaturally. The watchman suggests that there might have been squatters living in the abandoned Cheese Factory. The adventurers return to the Manor to get some rest. The next day they begin to make plans to travel to Lockeland where the Shrine of St. Aleena is located. Lakima does go to the mason and collects the three helms he asked to be constructed for the Duke's flying ships. He tells the mason that he has plans for him to build another pair of stone arches made from the strange aetherium they discovered in Whetwhistle.
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