Sneak Peek: Kala's Tale! (Patreon)

Last year I started the Threshold tier as an experiment. Here's the basics of it...

• Each month I run an online D&D session set in Threshold. Patrons have a chance to play in each session. 
• Here's a sample of one of those sessions; patrons have access to the full recordings of all of the adventures. 
• Patrons have access to a set of Discord channels where we discuss the campaign and other topics. 
• Each month, I run a story hour—a serialized tale in which the patrons can shape the direction of the story.  

Aside from this, I also periodically post polls that allow patrons to shape the story and the setting. I'm just starting a new story hour and I wanted to post a poll about the protagonist, and I thought I'd share this first story installment with all of my patrons, so you have a chance to see what Threshold is all about. 

The players in the Threshold campaign change each week, but the campaign uses an established set of characters. One of those player characters is Deven Sar'kaas, a goblin rogue who may not be the simple tailor he appears to be. Deven brought his family to Threshold from Sharn, and over the course of the campaign we've had a few glimpses of Kala, his moody teenage daughter. This month, Threshold patrons requested a story hour dealing with Kala Sar'kaas. As we're learning more about Kala, I also want to run a short poll to help establish a few details about her. This goblin teenager has a talent for music, but who taught her to sing? She also has a particular treasure she found as a child—what is it? You can help determine the answers to these questions by answering the poll below. 

Meanwhile, here's the first installment of Kala's story hour. If you'd like to see more, it's going to be unfolding on the Threshold Discord over the next few weeks! 

Ruined temple, a ruined life

Secrets sharper than any knife

Secrets hidden by burning wings

Now I know what tomorrow brings

Kala loved broken things, and there was no shortage of broken things in Malleon’s Gate. Her family lived in Southgate, the prosperous side of the district. There was hope in Southgate. There were cracks in the walls, but there were no holes in the ceiling. The coldfire lanterns had been stolen long ago, but her people didn’t need lanterns to see. Most of all, Southgate was a place where people worked together. There was a feeling in the air, a certainty that if people worked hard and worked together, they could build a better life.

Kala hated Southgate. She preferred the north side of the district, with its shattered floors and bridges. There were no shops in Northgate, no tenements filled with families, no Naan Tuuva trying to teach her history. Northgate always smelled of smoke and blood. There weren’t as many rats in Northgate, but that’s because the people of Northgate hunted them and ate them. And Northgate wasn’t just goblin families huddled in their hovels. Ever since the war, more and more interesting people had settled in Northgate. Ogres. Bugbears. Gargoyles. There was even a medusa somewhere in the district, and Kala loved guessing which statues they had made. She loved listening to the harpies singing as dusk fell over the towers. No surprise that her father hated it all. Northgate was dangerous, home to criminals and desperate refugees. If an ogre didn’t eat her, she might get caught in the crossfire and killed by a Boromar bolt. Deven knew he’d never convince his daughter to stay out of Northgate, but he insisted that she only go there during the day—when most of the residents would be sleeping. Today, the noon bells were still ringing as Kala climbed up the side of the ruined temple. Even the fiercest residents of Malleon’s Gate left this old church alone… and that was enough to draw Kala’s interest. She knew it was superstition—that some power lingered in this place—but no one ever said what it was. Kala had come up with a dozen tales of her own. Maybe the old priest had been crushed in the middle of a service, and her ghost was doomed to haunt the hall until the ceremony was completed. Or maybe it was a shadow of the Sovereigns themselves—maybe when a temple was abandoned, a sliver of the gods remained within it, growing ever more bitter as decades passed without song or sacrifice. Kala imagined what it might be like if she could capture a forgotten Sovereign, maybe keep it as a pet. Or maybe, if she helped the trapped priest finish their ritual, the ghost would grant her a boon before it slipped away. Kala had spent a lot of time thinking what she’d ask for.

It was fun to imagine, but the fact was that she’d been in the temple many times and hadn’t seen any ghosts or Sovereign shadows. Most likely the real reason people avoided the building was because it was dangerous. Dust and rubble were everywhere. A few major supporting beams had collapsed, and the floors were far from stable. But Kala was small and light, and she loved perching on the broken beams and imagining the ghosts around her. She’d just never actually heard one… Until today.

“Kala…”

The voice came from the first floor, deeper than Kala usually went. It was female, clear and strong, and yet somehow unlike any goblin or human voice she’d ever heard. It was musical—a voice made to tell stories, to sweep away the senses. Looking toward the sound, Kala could see an orange glow down in the hall, as if a great fire had been lit below her.

“Come to me, Kala Sar’kaas.”

Will Kala approach the voice boldly, try to sneak closer and investigate, or attempt to flee the ruined temple? Threshold supporters will decide on Discord!

Thanks for joining me for this sneak peek into Threshold, and thanks to all the Patrons who make these stories possible! And if you have an opinion, vote in Kala's poll!