Last week, you got your first taste of the upcoming release The Treason of Dakaan.

As we played the adventure, each of the five players began to adopt the rigid caste structure of the skorne, speaking more carefully when addressing Tyrant Lexaar (Ed) and scoffing when deigning to speak to Warki (Will). When we left off, our heroes were finishing their final preparations in the relative safety of House Kralest’s compound. Meeting at the animal pens, the four characters reconvened to share what they had discovered.

This phase of the adventure allowed the players to expand their roleplaying and investigative skills. Ashuur (Simon) and Eberu (Valerie) interacted with low-caste slaves to coax information out of them about Dakaan’s recent behavior, the efaarit scout Warki (Will) was sent to find traces of Dakaan fleeing the house, and Sakad (Michael) spoke to the extollers with equal measures of respect and authority.

Entering the hallowed halls of the house shrine, Sakad was struck by the presence of the venerated souls held within the house’s sacral stones. He paused to read the inscriptions before the statues, taking in the deeds of those exalted from the warrior caste, his caste. Should he prove himself in battle, earning glory for himself and his house, Sakad could similarly be saved from the horrors of the Void, forever watched over by the extollers.

Breaking from his reverie, Sakad spotted the senior extoller who had been assaulted when Dakaan fled. Although they are from a lower caste and are thus usually beneath a warrior’s notice, the extollers are still those who preserve the spirits and act as the link between Caen and the Void. So, speaking respectfully, Sakad began to question the senior extoller as to the precise happenings on the night of Dakaan’s disappearance.

One of the objectives of The Treason of Dakaan was to provide multiple opportunities for the characters to gather information during these first few scenes, information the Game Master can modify (or withhold!) based on the caste of the PCs pursuing it and the methods of their approach. Thus, when Sakad approached the senior extoller of House Kralest, he was able to gather important information by treating the extoller respectfully, learning that Dakaan had communicated with Ixdavar multiple times before the theft. This was strange, as ancestral spirits do not often deign to communicate with the living.

Investigating the animal pens, Warki could hear the slaves speaking in hushed whispers. His keen vision spotted the tracks of a number of skorne heading out into the desert. Drifting closer to the slaves, he could hear that Dakaan left in a hurry, taking with him whatever supplies could be carried, his warriors in tow. The slaves milled about, awaiting orders from nearby beast handlers. The creatures in the pen were lowing and crying out. Warki, wanting to bring a detailed report back to Tyrant Lexaar, hopped up on the fence, trying to avoid the attention of any skorne who would view him as a lowly slave.

The investigative portion also allowed players to get their footing with the pregenerated characters in the confines of the house compound. While it’s possible for the characters to run into danger here, they would have to make major missteps in their dealings with other castes in order to find it.

Their investigations complete, the party gathered at the animal pens and shared the information they had acquired. Tyrant Lexaar took his subordinates’ reports and determined their next move: they would follow the tracks Warki had found into the desert, trusting the efaarit’s tracking skills and the rest of the party’s fighting skills to lead them through the dangerous desert sands and to the treasonous Dakaan.

Check back next week when blood hits the sand!