Wrath of the River King was the first 4th Edition Open Design project from Kobold Press and is set mostly in the Summer Lands, Midgard’s version of the Feywild. I ran this adventure in 2009, starting it in the Feyshore Forest near Parsantium.
Here’s the write up from the 11th and final session.
The adventurers arrive at a millpond very similar to (but not the same as) the one in Riverbend, where they are reunited with their genasi friend Margarita.
Arrows fly from the millhouse striking the ground in front of the party! “That’s a warning shot. Trouble us no further” cries Lord Flax from the opposite side of the dam. “We have waited long years! Now, we burn the humans out of their huts, and take their land! Spill their blood for the River King.”
The half-eladrin charges across the dam to attack the party, unleashing his Storm of Swords which dazes the group as Flax’s ettercap axe guards and Black Fey raiders close in. Bolval protects the party with spirit of healing and consecrated ground while Krivinn and Ella attack Lord Flax, and Margarita and Sharden defend themselves against the shadow-jumping Black Fey. As the archers fire from the millhouse, the ettercaps throw their nets, trapping Bolval and Rita before closing in with their polearms. Flax strikes back with his howling strike but falls to Sharden’s purging flame and Bolval’s consecrated ground. His Golden Fey warhorse, Lionheart, fights on for a while before fleeing across the dam as the characters take down the Black Fey and the ettercaps. The archers inside the mill flee, leaving the adventurers the victors. Krivinn takes Lord Flax’s +2 frost greatsword, Iceriver; Ella takes his +2 sunleaf hide armour.
The party have time for a short rest before the second wave attacks the mill – this time from the river and led by Ambertan of the Black Fey. Bolval and Sharden are both some distance from the millhouse, Ella is nearby and Margarita and Krivinn are inside. Unluckily for Bolval, the dwarf is lured into the river by a merrow and is knocked unconscious by several bites from eel hounds. He fails two death saves before recovering (by rolling 20).
Meanwhile, the others defend the mill but are taken by surprise when a merrow teleports inside. Ambertan blasts Ella but the ranger uses her disruptive strike to force a miss. Sharden summons his onyx dog as the second merrow teleports inside and a couple of eel hounds slither in through the windows. Margarita stands firm in the doorway, holding back an ogre while Brave Ella continues to exchange ranged attacks with Ambertan.
Eventually, the tide turns – the characters take down the two merrow inside and the ogre at the doors while the recovered Bolval is able to get rid of most of the surviving eel hounds and eladrin warriors. Ambertan is bloodied and flees, taking the second ogre with him. The adventurers have won the day!
After resting in the false mill, the adventurers wake up to find themselves inside the real mill in Riverbend. Krivinn heads to the barn where Hamid the miller is being held to check he hasn’t been executed. He hasn’t – it’s morning on the day after the party entered the Feywild.
The characters go to see Kemal the muhtar and show him the note from Ellessandra and her wedding ring. The headman orders Hamid’s release and the grateful miller rewards each adventurer with 100 gp and a fey acorn (a one-use item that allows the PC to fey step 5 squares as a minor action). As the characters go to leave Riverbend, they meet Ellessandra one last time – the eladrin is mourning Flax, her son.
Now that I’ve finished reposting the session logs from Wrath of the River King, I thought I’d move onto Halls of the Mountain King next, then Courts of the Shadow Fey to complete the Kobold Press 4e trilogy .
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Main image by Florian Stitz
Richard Green | Game Designer 