Stormwreck Isle: A Campaign Chronicle
This is the running chronicle of our Dragons of Stormwreck Isle campaign — the official D&D 5e starter adventure, run by a first-time DM (me), for a group of friends who had varying degrees of prior D&D experience ranging from “some” to “none.”
The session recaps were written after each session from my DM notes, with Claude as a narrative collaborator. If they read more like epic fantasy than a DM’s summary, that’s intentional. My players get these dropped in a Discord timeline channel between sessions. The bar is “make them excited to come back.”
The Party
| Character | Class | Player | The Short Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trenzor | Druid of the Tall Trees | — | Son of cartographers. Orphaned by gnolls. Carries his father’s compass everywhere. |
| Harlen Vex | Fighter / Marksman | — | Veteran of the Crown Wars. An archer who doesn’t miss when it counts. |
| Levendel ‘Levy’ Thatchtop | Halfling Swashbuckler / Rogue | — | Gilded Gallows alumni. Fast hands, faster exits, persistent treasure hunt. |
| Hobrion Tel-Astra ‘Hobs’ | Wizard of Uncertain Time | — | Astral elf. Found a cursed book. Has been stuck in a time loop ever since — which loop he’s currently in is unclear. |
Session 1: The Blight of Seagrow Caves
December 2025. Party Level 1.
DM note: First session. I was nervous the whole time. The players immediately went off-script trying to learn more about the hot springs than the adventure expected them to care about, and Harlen’s player managed to roll a natural 20 at the single most dramatically appropriate moment possible. I didn’t plan any of that. That’s the job.
Our four adventurers—Trenzor, Harlen Vex, Levendel ‘Levy’ Thatchtop, and Hobrion Tel-Astra—awoke refreshed after their first night as guests of the Dragon’s Rest cloister.
Harlen and Hobs had chosen to sleep in the sacred Temple of Bahamut, with Harlen secretly hoping the Platinum Dragon might bestow some divine favor upon him in his dreams. Meanwhile, Levy and Trenzor rested in the carved chambers near the towering statue of Astalagan, the ancient bronze dragon whose legacy still watches over the sanctuary.
At dawn, they were warmly greeted by Runara, who leads Dragon’s Rest. She invited them to join the early-rising members of the cloister for breakfast, and extended an open invitation to return for the communal dinner served each evening after sundown.
It was Tarak the Flamesinger, the contemplative elf monk, who brought news of their first potential quest: the myconid colony inhabiting caves on the southwestern corner of Stormwreck Isle was in dire need of assistance. Tarak urged the party to seek his counsel before departing, as he knew the safest routes. True to his word, he provided them with valuable provisions — trade goods that might prove useful in negotiations with the fungal folk.
Varnoth, a concerned member of the cloister, also approached the party with troubling news: mysterious shipwrecks had been occurring with alarming frequency near the dangerous reefs on the island’s northeastern shore. The cause remained unknown, and the matter warranted investigation when time allowed.
The Journey to Seagrow Caves
After a hearty breakfast and detailed consultation with Tarak, the party took a small boat along the southern coast of the island to reach the cave entrance during high tide.
The voyage proved more challenging than anticipated. While Trenzor bore the brunt of the rowing with druidic endurance, his companions found themselves battling waves of seasickness as the boat navigated the rough waters around the island’s southwestern passage.
The Hot Springs & the Fume Drakes
Roughly halfway to their destination, the party spotted a clearing marked by steaming hot springs — exactly the location Tarak had mentioned might yield valuable herbs and mushrooms.
Their arrival was not welcomed. Three fume drakes — small, irritable creatures of smoke and flame — took exception to these intruders and attacked with fiery breath. The party quickly dispersed the territorial guardians, with Harlen providing expert cover fire from the boat.
It was Trenzor, drawing upon his deep connection to nature, who unveiled the true significance of this sacred site. These were no ordinary hot springs — they were formed from the final resting place of a noble bronze dragon who had perished in ancient battle against the forces of chromatic evil. The waters still carried healing magic from that heroic sacrifice.
The party bathed in the restorative springs, soothing their fresh burns. During their rest, Trenzor’s exceptional knowledge of nature allowed them to harvest six wind spore mushrooms — rare specimens with valuable properties.
The Spore Servant Guardian
Refreshed and provisioned, the party reached the cave entrance at high tide and prepared to swim into the darkened cavern.
An enormous undead octopus — grotesque and covered in fungal growths — surged from the depths to confront them. The myconids had taken control of this “spore servant” to guard their home while dealing with an internal crisis.
The battle was fierce. The undead creature’s crushing tentacles nearly claimed Harlen’s life in a devastating series of strikes. But in that crucial moment, Hobs bent the threads of time itself, reaching across causality to save his companion from what should have been a fatal pounding.
Welcome to the Myconid Colony
Beyond the fallen guardian, the party encountered the myconids: fungal folk who communicate through clouds of rapport spores. Though initially fearful, they relaxed when the adventurers introduced themselves as friends of Tarak.
Blighted violet fungus — corrupted by plague — attacked without warning. The party fought valiantly, clearing the infection, and were introduced to Molen and Kraz, who led them deeper into the colony.
At the heart of Seagrow Caves, they met the myconid sovereign Sinensa, gravely ill and tended by Auranta and Enok. She explained the dire situation: a mysterious blight was destroying their colony from within. The colony was dying.
The party pledged their aid.
The Source of the Blight
Investigation led them to a dangerous section infested with fume drakes. Harlen scouted ahead, confirming the area was manageable, and the party cleared out the hostile creatures.
At the far end, they discovered the source: an enormous fire elemental crystal lodged in the natural ventilation system, blocking airflow and spreading corruption.
Hobs examined it with arcane knowledge, revealing it as a shard of the Elemental Plane of Fire. It had to be removed.
The Fire Snake
Levy and Trenzor worked together to pry the crystal free. For a moment, success seemed certain — then the massive crystal slipped and crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces.
From within emerged a fire snake, wreathed in flame and fury.
Trenzor, standing closest, bore the brunt of the assault. Searing flames and crushing coils brought him perilously close to death. But Harlen, with masterful archery, loosed a perfectly-aimed arrow that struck the serpent’s vital core.
Victory, but at great cost.
Among the shattered crystal: 25 obsidian shards worth 250 gold pieces.
Gratitude of the Myconids
With the fire snake defeated, fresh air flowed through the restored caves. The blight’s source was purged.
The myconids rushed to help, showering the party with gratitude and healing aid. That night, the adventurers rested in fungal beds, lulled to sleep by soothing spores.
They had saved an entire colony from extinction.
Session stats: Party leveled 1 → 2. Enemies defeated: Fume Drakes, Spore Servant Octopus, Violet Fungus, Fire Snake. Loot: 6 Wind Spore Mushrooms, 250 gp in obsidian. MVP: Hobs bending time to save Harlen.
Session 2: Visions, Ambush, and Ancient Alliances
December 2025. Party Level 2.
DM note: This was the session where the character backstories paid off. The dream sequence — where Sinensa reads the party’s memories and shares them with each other — was planned, but the players’ reactions to each other’s stories weren’t. Hobs’ time loop, in particular, hit harder than I expected. Harlen’s opening shot on the kobold lieutenant ended what I’d built as a tense ambush setup in approximately one round. I was annoyed and delighted simultaneously.
The Dream Communion
Dawn broke differently in the Seagrow Caves. Our heroes did not wake to light, but to luminescence — soft, drifting spores that filled the sleeping chamber like fallen stars. They found themselves suspended between sleep and waking, their minds connected by the gentle telepathic presence of Sinensa, the myconid sovereign.
Her voice echoed in their shared consciousness: “Forgive the intrusion, young ones. Your minds were wounded by flame and fear. I sought only to soothe… but in soothing, I have seen. Your stories. Your pasts. The paths that brought you here.”
The dream-space shimmered, and one by one, the party’s deepest memories unfolded before them all.
Harlen’s Dream: A battlefield. The Crown Wars. Through Harlen’s eyes, the party felt unwavering commitment, steadfast loyalty to a cause greater than oneself. A fighter’s heart, tested by fire and found true. Sinensa: “Strength born of duty. You carry this still, warrior.”
Levy’s Dream: A grimy Luskan alley. A small halfling boy, bloodied and beaten by a burly sailor twice his size — small fingers working with practiced precision even as the blows rained down, lifting coins from the sailor’s pocket. Pain endured. Profit earned. Survival. A dive bar. The Gilded Gallows. A rumor of a guild member who’d betrayed their partner, emptied a coffer, and vanished with a fortune. Sinensa: “Freedom and chains, both chosen. You run toward something, not merely away.”
Hobs’ Dream: Time fractured.
The dream didn’t flow — it stuttered, rewound, skipped like a damaged record. The party watched through Hobs’ eyes, but the eyes kept changing age, kept seeing the same moment from different angles.
A restricted section of an old church. A padlock opened. Pages turning. Forbidden lore absorbed and forgotten and absorbed again. Until: a tome wrapped in dark cloth that seemed to drink the light. The Looped Tome.
He reached for it.
He reached for it.
He reached for it.
Dozens of versions of Hobs, all reaching for the same book across countless timelines. Some hesitant. Some eager. Some weeping because they knew what came next but couldn’t stop themselves.
He opened it. Reality shattered. The words were written in languages that existed before language — speaking of time as a loop, of existence as recursion, of lives lived again and again. As Hobrion read, he felt the curse begin.
Sinensa’s telepathic presence recoiled: “Your time is broken. Shattered and reassembled wrong. I see you reading the Tome, and being scolded, and dying, and reading it again… How do you remain sane? How do you know which life is real?”
And then, terrible clarity: Hobs had been in the myconid caves before. Many times. In some loops they all died here. In others, he drowned on the journey back. In one loop he’d lived on the island for forty years before the loop reset. This conversation — Sinensa asking how he stays sane — he’d heard it before. Would hear it again. Was hearing it for the first time.
The dream collapsed, unable to sustain the paradox.
Trenzor’s Dream: The scent of parchment and ink. His parents — Mara and Halden Varro, cartographers who believed maps were stories of the world itself — working even as the gnolls attacked, trying to save their life’s work from the flames. Young Trenzor fleeing into the High Forest, wounded and alone. Then: the Druids of the Tall Trees, finding him, teaching him that balance could be charted like any map.
In his hand, always: his father’s compass. The only thing he’d saved.
Sinensa: “Loss. Growth. Purpose. You carry their legacy in every step, every map you draw. The island called to you because it knew: you are a mapmaker of balance, not just of land.”
The Cartographer’s Gift
The party woke as one, eyes meeting with new understanding. They had seen each other’s souls.
For Trenzor, Sinensa had prepared something special: sheets of fungal parchment, a writing implement made from hardened mushroom stalk filled with dark spore-ink, and a sturdy satchel. “Map what we could not. Your parents would be proud.”
Trenzor spent the morning carefully documenting the cave system — every tunnel, chamber, and passage. The Seagrow Caves added to his growing map of Stormwreck Isle.
The Compass Stirs
As they emerged into daylight, Trenzor’s father’s compass began to behave strangely. The needle spun wildly, then suddenly locked — not north, but inland. Toward Dragon’s Rest, but suggesting a specific path: up the great cliffside.
Trusting the ancient instrument, they took the high route. The compass tugged right at a fork in the path. They followed.
Thirty minutes later, they found out why.
The Kobold Ambush (That Wasn’t)
Harlen’s instincts saved them. The fighter rolled forward with supernatural stealth and crept up on what should have been an ambush.
What he found was coercion, not conspiracy.
Six bronze-scaled kobolds and one winged kobold huddled in a clearing, clearly terrified. Two larger kobolds stood over them. “Sparkrender will feast on your eggs if you fail! The meddlers who saved the mushroom-folk must not reach Dragon’s Rest! Kill them, or your hatchlings die!”
Harlen made a decision. His bowstring sang. The first lieutenant — Szzrik — was pinned to a tree before he could draw breath to scream, killed instantly.
The second lieutenant, Krazzt the Clever, bolted immediately. Harlen’s second arrow caught him mid-sprint. The remaining kobolds dropped their weapons.
Tikkit’s Tale
The lead kobold — a scraggly creature with kind eyes — introduced himself as Tikkit. The story spilled out: Sparkrender, a power-mad kobold who believed himself a dragon reborn, had claimed the Clifftop Observatory. Forcing kobold tribes across the island to serve him, threatening hatchlings if they refused. He could breathe lightning. He was furious that the party had saved the myconid colony — it had somehow interfered with his plans.
Tikkit marked the Observatory’s location on Trenzor’s map. He spoke of a hidden map aboard the northeastern shipwrecks that might reveal a secret entrance to Sparkrender’s stronghold.
On Krazzt’s body: a note. “Kill the meddlers. Bring me proof. Don’t fail me like the others. —S”
The party offered to escort Tikkit’s group to safety. He declined with dignity — they would return to their warren and prepare. But he made a promise: if the heroes needed aid, they need only call.
Return to Dragon’s Rest
The journey back was uneventful. As they approached Dragon’s Rest, two young kobolds — Bleep and Frub, sanctuary residents — rushed out to greet them. When Tikkit was mentioned, Bleep’s eyes lit up: “Tikkit is my cousin! Good kobold! Very smart!”
Frub took off running: “TARAK! TARAK! THEY’RE BACK! THE HEROES ARE BACK!”
Runara received their report with genuine joy — and then, when the conversation turned to Sparkrender, with quiet concern. “I had hoped he’d left the island. He believes he deserves to rule Dragon’s Rest. He’s been gathering power for months. I have taken a vow of pacifism… but if he continues to threaten innocent lives, we must act. And I will need your help.”
Varnoth pressed: the northeastern shipwrecks first. Supplies, intelligence, and potentially more allies before facing the Observatory.
A Secret Exchanged
That evening, Tarak the Flamesinger sought out the party personally, examining the mushroom harvest with reverent care.
As he finished discussing the potions he’d prepare overnight, Levy caught his eye and made a small, specific gesture — a sign known only to certain circles. The flash of fingers, the tilt of the wrist. A message from the Gilded Gallows.
For just a heartbeat, terror flashed across the monk’s normally serene face. His eyes widened. Then, with practiced control, he composed himself and responded with a subtle nod — the countersign.
I understand. We’ll talk.
But not here. Not now. Not with others watching.
What connection did the peaceful monk of Dragon’s Rest have to the Gilded Gallows thieves guild? And why did the sign terrify him so?
Those were questions for another time.
Session stats: Enemies defeated: 2 Kobold Lieutenants (Szzrik, Krazzt). New allies: Tikkit’s kobold warren. Loot: 8 Heart-Shaped Mushrooms, 2 Ruby Morels, Sparkrender’s Note. Maps updated: Seagrow Caves (complete), Clifftop Observatory (marked), Northeastern Shipwrecks (marked). MVP: Harlen’s stealth approach and one-shot kill.
More sessions to come. The party is approaching the northeastern shipwrecks, Sparkrender is gathering forces at the Clifftop Observatory, and there’s a compass somewhere on this island that’s going to change everything.