I have a few simple rules for my events that help everything go smoothly.
Stick together and try to roleplay at least a little bit. Sticking together is important! If you are going to run off let the dm know first!
Don't just make dice rolls, let me know what you are doing and I will prompt you for a roll. If you just start rolling dice I may not respond to it.
Don't be afraid to be proactive, to ask questions via the dm channel, to poke around the 'scenery' even if the game engine (and the z key) says there are no chests or interactable items.
If the DM crashes please wait around for her to come back. Sometimes a dm will crash repeatedly. The dm client is not very stable. If you see the dm for your event having trouble logging back in, please try to get rid of any spell effects if you can -- I'll force rest you so you can recast them once I'm in.
Word was put out by a high ranking member of the School of Conjuration that he was seeking some able bodied warriors for a task. They were to gather in the Gloura's Wings. While they began to gather there a way too drunk minotaur repeatedly threatened anyone it percieved as competition to 'his' job. He was too drunk to pose any real threat and was killed by a half-drow after attempting to grab her.
The High Mage Vim who put out the notice finally arrived with an impressive guardian construct in attendance. He explained the task at hand, recovery of a darksteel shipment that had been waylaid and captured by dwarfs. He explained that under no terms were they to return without the ore. He explained that he had scried the location of the ore, it was being held in a small dwarfen forge-outpost in a cave. He was familiar with some ancient elfin ruins nearby that he could place the mercenaries into, from there they would have to find an exit, find the dwarfen forge nearby, recover the ore and convey it safely back to the portal in exchange for their reward.
Things went bad from the start. The presense of drow in the elfen ruins activated one of the remaining magical traps, a guardian golem that nearly beat their wizard to a pulp before it was defeated. Then the group ran through the ruins looking for dwarfs and finding goblins instead, forgetting that the dwarf outpost was located elsewhere. After running around in circles through the ruins for a while they encountered a surface explorer whom they quickly defeated. After some more exploration, they finally thought to exit the ruins and found themselves on the world above.
Thankfully it was nighttime so they were not impeded too greatly. They followed the cliff face, and despite one of them spotting the cave that lead to the dwarf outpost they went entirely in the other direction and became fascinated with some battle-wreckage from a months old combat. Eventually they decided to investigate that cave that one of them spotted, and not a moment too soon as the sun was beginning to show it's horrible face.
They ambushed another surface traveler on the way, leaving him for dead as they made for the cave.
Inside they found what they were looking for -- a dwarfen outpost, alive with the sound of dwarfs toiling away at the forge. They stealthily snuck in, placing traps and readying themselves for the ambush. They gave the signal when all was ready and the startled dwarfs were quickly cut down. More dwarfs came from the other corridor, apparently it was their feast time and they too were cut down as they struggled to push their fatty masses through the doorway and onto the swords of their attackers. It was over too soon for the liking of the drow attackers, though they had slain more than a dozen of the hairy creatures in the brutal battle.
But they had another problem now. The amount of darksteel was too much for them to carry! There were crates upon crates of the stuff! They sent a runner back to the portal to ask for assistance from their employer and grabbed what they could, plundering the dwarf's sleeping chambers and finding hidden caches of gems to add to their pockets.
Their runner returned with some magic marbles in his possession and the instructions needed to activate them. He passed these off to their wizard and gave him the command word, but neglected to mention that he had to throw them at the ground. After some 'friendly' laughter at the wizard's inability to activate the marbles, he remembered the other step in the activation and told the wizard to throw them at the ground while speaking the trigger word. When he did so, six large, metallic beetles sprung forth from the marbles. They were sturdy enough to carry the entire pallete of crates on their backs.
However their dalliance had cost them the element of surprise. More surfacers had come chasing the rumors of drow attacks on travellers. One surfacer in particular harassed the drow, placing traps in their path and cutting down stragglers, of which there were a few, laden down with dwarfen armor and goods.
Eventually they made it back to the portal with a the murderous surfacer hot on their heels. A brief, brutal fight bought them enough time to flee through the portal with their goods and run in after it. The surfacer decided not to follow.
Members and allies of the N.T.E. were returning to Beregost after some brutal fights with the giants that they were trying to drive out of the vicinity of Nashkel. Before they reached the safety of Beregost they came across a curious scene; A wagon that looked like it had been the victim of a bandit raid, but with it's crates of cargo fully intact. Armor, clothes and weapons were scattered around the wagon. There was no blood or bodies, but every other indication that there had been an ambush was present.
The curious adventurers began to pry open the crates, curious as to what was inside. They found bolts of cloth and other trade goods, material that could certainly bring them some good money. They saw that one of the crates was already open, and hidden among the bolts of silk and textiles they found an ornate, expensive looking red chest covered in gold filigree.
Their locksmith inspected the chest for traps -- he found a few which had already been set off or disabled. They opened the chest, eager to see what treasure awaited them.
Inside nestled in red silk and velvet was a white cube. It was nearly a foot long in each dimension and made of a strange, smooth, marble-like substance. It was flawless in every regard. As soon as the chest was opened the cube floated up out of it's container and waited.
The adventurers were intrigued, but a little unnerved. The magic users among them sensed great, powerful magics within the item. When Keshari Bleth reached out for the cube she cried out in pain and stumbled back with thin lacerations all over her hand.
They decided that discretion was the better part of valor and they placed the cube back in the chest. They would take it to Candlekeep, where people wiser than they could figure out what it is they found.
They left behind all the other valuables and unopened crates in the wagon and set forth for Candlekeep.
When they arrived at Candlekeep they presented the chest to Gorian. Gorian explained he was just a guest at Candlekeep, but offered to look at their find anyways. He was as intrigued as the rest of the group was when the cube floated out of the chest, but his eyes were drawn to some script on the inside of the chest. It was in a language nobody present was familar with.
Someone among them decided that grabbing it was the proper way to interact with it. As he held onto the cube, immeasurable pain washed through him. Accompanying the pain were visions, but before he could make any sense of them he passed out from the intense pain. Lacerations covered his arms all the way to his elbows. When he came to, he declared that the pristine white cube was a prison of some sort from the lands of Calimshan.
Thinking that they had seen enough of the cube, someone tried to move the cube back into the chest using a Mage Hand spell. The cube didn't react kindly and a chain shot out at the caster who barely managed to avoid it. The chain tore into the rock behind her instead, punching a hole clean through it before withdrawing back into the pristine surface of the cube.
Now clearly unnerved, the same wizard prepared to cast Mage Hand on the chest itself, to move it up to encompass the cube. Keshari Bleth had other ideas, and cast a light spell on the cube. The cube responded in the same way, but Lady Bleth wasn't as quick or nimble as the other wizard and the chain gored her, piercing her stomach and anchored her to the ground. Her blood began to flow back up the chain towards the cube.
All hell broke out. Various people present began attacking the cube, throwing objects and spells at it as well as hacking at it with their swords. With every attack the cube's response escalated, until it was spinning rapidly while emitting an ear-shattering scream with chains whipping around in a spiral. Two more people were anchored by chains; one of them, a wizard who had tried casting a rather powerful spell at it, had three chains which pierced him. Chains that had missed their targets had torn into the fountain, destroying a good portion of it's outer rim, and into the cobblestone.
Eventually the cube calmed down as people stopped attacking it. Lady Bleth had been freed by the creative use of an Etherealness spell and the others present worked steadily at hacking apart the chains with their enchanted weapons, an act that didn't seem to draw a response from the cube.
Eventually they freed everyone and managed to secure the cube back within it's chest. Those that had been attacked by the chains were weak and feeble, almost ghostly in appearance.
After another short experimentation, they witnessed that all the blood spilled during the battle was drawn towards the cube when the chest was opened. They quickly closed it again and gave it to miss Selah to safeguard.
On an otherwise sunny and unremarkable day a strong gust of wind blew through the region, knocking down loose items and even blowing people off of their feet. Shortly after a large ship was spotted in the distance, sailing north towards the Troll Hills. A ship was dispatched after them and a foot patrol sent to investigate.
An adventurer beat them there and waited in hiding to see more of the ship and it's occupants. It was a gargantuan ship, more like a floating palace than a galleon. A longboat was lowered and made it's way to the Winding Waters.
They soon disembarked, revealing 10 gray-skinned women, all warriors. They quickly spotted the Fist scout and took him hostage but the adventurer managed to evade their notice. A stalemate began between the women and the rest of the Fist patrol.
Eventually other adventurers arrived. The women didn't speak common and nobody knew their language. They tried all the languages that they knew, they finally found some common ground when they spoke the halfling language. The adventurers convinced the women to release the scout in exchange for Keshari Bleth, who was a little nervous but otherwise amiacable to the deal. The priestess among the women took an interest in Bleth and examined the wounds on her hands, wounds that were inflicted by touching the White Cube that had been found in the caravan south of Beregost. The priestess had similar markings on her hand, though they were far more elegant; their patterns almost like floral artwork.
The women were here to reclaim a sacred treasure of theres that had come to this land and it seems that they didn't intend to be stopped by anything. The Fist weren't too keen on letting armed warriors barge through the duke's lands. Eventually a compromise was reached where the adventurers offered themselves as prisoners and assured the warrior women that the artifact they sought would be delivered to them as soon as they could find the person who took possession of it.
Both parties agreed to the deal, the Fist would remain nearby to keep a watch on the women. The women would keep hostages to ensure that their treasure was delivered to them. Nobody was hurt aside from the Fist scout and it seemed like it was a peaceful solution and a way to avoid a costly battle. The warriors didn't seem keen on punishing their captives, in fact they took a liking to them after Bleth offered them several bottles of Calimshan Wine. One took Seadin to her tent, much to the young half-elf's liking. Bleth and the pack leader compared their weapons and armor.
After an evening, some of the Fist patrol members took the adventurer's places so that they could go free without breaking the deal negotiated with the women.
Ozoch, a Svirblefen, stumbled upon an argument between a merchant and a group of mercenaries that he had apparently hired many months ago. It seems that he had written them off for dead as well as their cargo and it's unexpected arrival put him in an awkward position with no place to store the goods.
Ozoch followed him to his shop, The Genie's Wish, and engaged him in conversation. The Drow merchant explained his business and the gnome eagerly hired him to find a particular style of belt for him.
The merchant took his money and told him that he would contact him once he found anything resembling what the gnome had described. The gnome overeagerly shoveled more and more gold into the merchant's hands, which he gladly accepted.
If you see the dm for your event having trouble logging back in, please try to get rid of any spell effects if you can -- I'll force rest you so you can recast them once I'm in.