Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Alac_Gane 10-16-06, 10:29 AM	:bump: Alright... seven months down the road, I'm still not too much farther in this campaign that was first explained here (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=593653). However, since I left such a big gap of time, THIS time, I expect something like this from new members: :invasion: :pile: :ton: Right. I did quite a bit more research on Castlevania lore, so I don't need much of a hand with that, but the Ebberon part is kinda hindering me, even with all the plot stuff it throws at me... Maybe it's some type of 'too many cooks in the kitchen' kind of thing. For those who would rather have a long version that explains a whole snotload of stuff [including a good jist of Eberron and Castlevania history for people who didn't know about the campaign setting when I gave it to them in paper form], just start off from the beginning of what I'm hiding here: Essentially, whether or not you know Castlevania lore, Richter Belmont, the most powerful vampire hunter of his time, was under the mind control of Dracula two decades ago [1797 AD/978 YD]. During this time, Richter followed orders from Shaft, Dracula’s subservient and resurrector. Shaft had tried to help Dracula once before this took place and failed, only to bring him back to life once again to cover the world in darkness. After a vicious battle in Castlevania, the Count’s son, Adrian , destroyed Shaft, Dracula, and the castle. Thus Richter was freed from his mental bond to the vampire. Afterward, Richter took a path of secrecy, handing down the legendary whip, the Vampire Killer, to a good friend named Zachariah Morris, a priest who had helped Richter in the past. On the other hand, Alucard chose to leave the others in order to keep the powers of Dracula in check by succumbing to a self-induced slumber… even when a beautiful girl named Maria sought him after what transgressed in Castlevania - the “manifestation of Chaos.” In the present day [October, 1817 AD/998 YD], a powerful undead scourge of a lich who calls herself Vol, the Queen of the Dead, has sprung an interest in Dracula, the Dark Prince of Vampires, via various divinations and intertwined schemes over the course of centuries. She wishes to resurrect him for her own malicious deeds - mainly to overthrow Dracula once they have devastated the world with malevolence in order to take control of her new planet as “the one true God,” as she puts it. With the power of the Count’s magic [and also Death and Chaos itself] and her loyal subjects under the guise of her religion, the Blood of Vol, she could easily smite anyone who opposed, but she would also exact her revenge upon the descendants of those who wronged her and her family, before and after she became undead – being the ‘test’ offspring of both elves and green dragons, this would be quite a task without suitable power from Chaos. However, if Dracula were to be too powerful, she would reluctantly accept a role as his informal Queen of the Dead, thus they would reign as forever-joined forces over an enslaved mankind. However, various denizens have their own ideas, including the self-named Lord of Blades. Being a powerful warforged – essentially a human-shaped construct made to work through powerful magic tied to a suit of armor and various other components – he is almost a messiah to others of his kind. All warforged were made to be tireless soldiers during the aptly-named Last War, the embroilment that held all the countries of the main continent, Khorvaire, in the tides of war for just over a century. Now, with the war over and the country of Cyre completely annihilated from an arcane cataclysm during it, the Lord of Blades has taken the razed land over and made it his own, plotting in the shadows and listening to other beings across the continent for his chance to take control over mankind. If the Lord of Blades was to hear of Dracula’s return, he certainly would take any chance to topple him and absorb his forces or, in a pinch, to simply destroy everything about him outright – the world is to be the Lord of Blades’, governed with an iron fist over his machine-kind, not ruled by some undead freak who just sets out with his evil magic. Another wicked force includes The Lords of Dust – various demons trapped in the earth thousands of years ago by a coalition of couatls and dragonkind to bring peace to the planet. Their plans, which often unfold over the course of centuries, are difficult for mortals to fathom. However, the ancient and powerful magic attuned to The Crimson Stone, Dracula’s source of power - and one of the main catalysts to summoning Castlevania – may be more than helpful to them, if not Dracula and Vol themselves. A different, almost neutral faction in the grand scheme of things is The Aurum, a secret fraternal order of wealthy guildmasters, merchant princes, and nobles of all races who seek more economic power, influence, and gold. However, rumors of some type of ‘shadow cabinet’ lurk in its history within the tomes of an epic saga written by an affluent dwarf, referred to as “Lord of Gold and Shadows.” Could they have an interest in the Dark Prince? Recently, Vol has used various factions to capture adventurers, scholars, and other strong figures in order to A: find information on or the whereabouts of Richter Belmont, the only evident person of the Belmont lineage alive [or is he?] and B: kill off any would-be vampire hunters preemptively, especially Richter himself. One group of people that was utilized was the Order of the Emerald Claw, a coalition that was once a chivalric military order that served King Kaius I of Karrnath during most of the Last War. During the war, Vol scarred the very confines of the Karrnathi army by allowing her priests to make an undead army to protect the country and fight the warforged and living soldiers of opposing countries. After a long and drawn out turn of events, which included Vol turning Kaius into a vampire himself, Kaius faked his death, only to have return as a ‘long-lost heir’ in disguise to the throne seven years ago to try and fix what he had ruined. In his absence, another ruler that took over the throne in his absence outlawed the Order after various extremist activities, and they are now viewed as a terrorist organization, although the undead that ‘survived’ the war are still being used for border patrol… and are still being made in secret by Blood of Vol priests. The other faction was hired by disguised Emerald Claw members through Vol’s direct orders: House Thuranni. As an organization dedicated to espionage and other acts of subterfuge during the Last War, their mostly unscrupulous activities shine even in ‘peacetime…’ even when capturing various people unwittingly for a client that wishes mankind ill. House Thuranni uses various magical abilities, most of which are contained within a member’s body itself [in the form of a tattoo manifested on the body during one’s life, called a dragonmark], in order to perform to their maximum efficiency when performing their duties. October 13th & 14th: eight individuals from different countries around the continent were captured and brought to an undisclosed location where a boat was waiting for them and their captors on an unbeknownst course – five of the passengers survived the ordeal: Jack Mightyheart, a bemused but quite talented Cyran refugee, scarred by the experience of seeing his homeland being destroyed [who is actually Richter’s son – Jack was relocated to an orphanage at a young age after his mother fell ill whilst Richter was under Dracula’s mind control]; Virgil De Vries III [elf], an excommunicated cleric who took to a life of crime and unbridled passion after forswearing his family; Sir Emmanuel Denevere [dwarf], a brazen and just, if not zealous and stubborn knight [cleric] of the theology of The Silver Flame [Christian-esque religion]; Selah Rek’rylfash [halfling], a wise, earthy shaman who entered society to try and find out what was blighting her homeland in the plains; and William Hooks, a occasionally cynical, once-considerate bodyguard who became a guide after a terrible mining accident near his home of Irontown [which is actually right next to the lake where Dracula’s castle once stood]. The destination of the ship they were on was actually straight to Vol’s castle, an icy protrusion from the northernmost mountain range on an island of Khorvaire. October 15th: Those other than the survivors on the vessel were tortured, and after each strip of flesh was cut from their body and each lashing and each impure deed, they were being asked, "WHERE'S BELMONT?" The individuals knew very little about the name, but it didn't take long to figure out that he was 'an esteemed ex-adventurer.' Before long, the crude assembly loosed their chains and escaped their cell with the help of a monstrous crew member [who wasn't fond of his poor position]. However, a great kraken [actually a warforged version of the squid like monster] took over the boat shortly thereafter, and the PCs decided to abandon ship... only to be pulled into a maelstrom. October 16th: The survivors awoke in the normal cliché after such a night: what seemed to be a desert island, complete with a vast jungle behind the shoreline. However, Selah concluded that it was not an island, but in fact Q'Barra, a country where lizard people roamed and war criminals escaped to. After a day of trekking down the beach and a confrontation with the indigenous life, they came across a deep, protected foxhole to bunk in for the night when it approached... October 17th: After several hours of sleep, Jack awoke from a slight dozing on his watch to find that thorns were falling through the entrance hole above - long, dark, and [upon magical inspection] evil thorns that simply had fallen from the sky like rain. The barbs choked out any vegetable life it pierced, and it twisted the fronds of the jungle trees and other plants into cruel, darkened, and crippled forms. Before they could question it thoroughly, the rest of them awoke to the painful cries of what was found to be a jaguar. It, too, was pierced by the thorns, and it attacked the group posthaste with a malicious fire in its eyes. After killing it, the party picked up their things and left without delay. Soon afterwards, they found several of the beastly shipmates that washed ashore... but when they stood, the survivors found that their faces were torn apart by their own claws, and thorns stuck out every which way from their bodies. Soon after they escaped from the creatures, the party fell into a pit-and-net trap set by the lizard folk, and the group was carted off to their metropolis: Ka'rashan. After a short imprisonment, the head sage and oneiromancer [aka dream seer] ordered them to be set free, instead of being given the normal treatment: a fight to the death in their arena against a powerful opponent, whose winners had the grace of their god’s will. No, the prisoners were brought before the lizard king and told of their apparent destiny within the shaman's recent dreams: they were the ones who would ultimately cleanse their now abandoned temple, which they felt was tainted by evil. The crew accepted, lest a worse fate came to take them. October 18th: The group headed to the temple under the afternoon sun and cleaned it of its zombified and even skeletal inhabitants to find that the vile source was actually a vampire - one that was 'sacrificed' via a stake on the temple’s main altar several years ago. However, a martial artist who calls himself The Mantis [who, coincidentally, was trained by Virgil’s grandfather, Virgil I] was sent to the very same place to revive the vampire, Orlox, a powerful ally of Dracula and one of few who had knowledge on how to revive him and Castlevania after being destroyed by the Belmonts. The monk’s current 'master,' Vol, ordered him to do so and offered him a seemingly legitimate alliance and pay in exchange. Once The Mantis took the stake from Orlox’s body, the monk fled, leaving the rest of them to deal with the hungry undead. When doom seemed imminent and the ghoul feasted upon Jack’s blood, he recoiled from the blood that sprang from his wound [unaware of his lineage and the Pure Soul feat.. haha]. The vampire escaped moments later, perplexed as to what had happened. With that, the party left the temple, and the now twilit skies seemed to clear even as they stepped out into the jungle. The troupe returned to a feast prepared for them by the lizard people for apparently stopping the source of the evil weather patterns. They accepted the native hospitality, and were escorted to human civilization the next morning. October 19th: With her situation apparently resolved, Selah feels at ease, but she continues to accompany the others, who were trying to decide how to get back to their own places of origin under the roof a local bar… they also were wondering who captured them and why. [b] They were approached by a pair of men who said they overheard what they were speaking of, interesting in their talk about vampires especially. The two men introduced themselves as Allister von Hartmann [Richter’s alias!] and Zach Morris, and stories were exchanged over drinks – the party finds that Allister and Zach heard of the same evil disturbance that the group had quenched and had arrived to do it themselves. With the job done, Allister and Zach had little to go on and simply acted as though it wasn’t nearly as big a deal as it actually pertained to be. The two remained vigilant with several secrets kept between the two friends – they were unsure if the four people they had come across were genuine, or yet another group of spies looking for Belmont and his sympathizers. As the night rolled on, the six ultimately struck a deal to help each other: the four who were abducted just a week before promised to perform a favor for Allister and Zach if they would find out who their kidnappers were. Within hours, their new associates had a plan and offered the others a lift to the capital of Karrnath, where they believed they could find some answers. October 20th: The passengers aboard Rosa’s Glory, an airship rented by Allister and Zach, are well on their way from the jungles of Q’Barra to the somewhat supercilious capital of Karrnath. Even with the alliance made between them, the two vampire hunters still felt they couldn’t completely trust the people they had come across – with that in mind, they prepared to kill multiple birds with one big stone. That stone was in the form of a party which opportunely landed on one of the biggest festival nights of the year: Wildnight. The get-together they wisely chose was hosted by none other than Morgana d’Thuranni, the daughter of the head of House Thuranni itself. The plan was fairly simple itself and was drawn up over the course of that evening; Allister figured that whoever was looking for his alter-ego would certainly overlook crashing a party in order to find him. A few cleverly-placed rumors quickly spread through the capital’s underground and reached the ears of both House Thuranni and the Emerald Claw just hours after the group arrived. The gossip was that “Belmont planned on meeting an important figure and the hostess of the Thuranni mansion party at midnight in the main hall before they would depart to discuss business matters.” Allister presumed that a decoy deployed at a certain time he was rumored to appear before Morgana would be perfect to not only find out who would try to kidnap him and/or those involved with him [to finish his end of the bargain], but to also test the faithfulness of the agreement he made with the others. Surely, he imagined, if the ones he had made a deal with joined forces with whoever sought the legendary Belmont, they could not be trusted in the least. October 21st: The cards were laid down; Allister left a formal invitation to the party at the meeting point that Selah found a few hours later – it read to meet him in the mansion’s main hall at midnight. Meanwhile, Allister hid himself away from the city’s festivities and asked Morris and another crony [a local female rogue] to survey the aftermath of the Thuranni party. The heroes suited themselves for the occasion and went to the d’Thuranni mansion by the strike of eight o’clock. Morgana introduced herself to her patrons at 11 sharp, only to be scooped up by Jack, who offered her a dance in her mansion’s ballroom. By the time they were even mildly weary, the clock hung on 11:45 PM; as it ticked by, she kept a sharp mind on what House Thuranni was prepared to do: catch Belmont and, hopefully, keep him alive. However, the Emerald Claw had already begun setting up their dramatic entrance for nearly an hour around the perimeter of the mansion and even on top of it; they were more than prepared to scoop up the target and leave Thuranni in the dust if they could not perform well enough. Several minutes later, she headed to the second floor, telling Jack that he was quite a good dancer, but that she had business to attend to – her meeting point to see Belmont was in a different place than where our heroes planned - to the precise manner that Allister had planned: this way, Belmont and Allister would continue to seem like two different entities with similar agendas. The Emerald Claw’s field leader in this assignment, Garland Frederic Vang – better known simply as Captain Vang – holds a potent relic that he intended to use on Belmont to trap him. The item, codenamed Pandora’s Key, has the power to project one’s mind [as in astral projection] into another dimension: Dal Quor, the realm of Dreams; this is where people’s spirits go to overnight whilst they sleep. However, the Key doesn’t just comatose the target and send them to this dream world in that simple of a fashion. The mental journey is wrought with painful memories and experiences, as the subject is thrust into a nightmare realm of sorts – these are the lurid dreams of a prisoner [nicknamed The Dreamer, The Keeper, or Pandora’s Lock] that the Emerald Claw has captured and kept under wraps for something along the lines of a perverted experiment. When the person’s mind is projected into this nightmare realm – designated Pandora’s Box – their own thoughts and emotions subtly change the environs and inhabitants into a twisted form of the reality they left behind, blending the prisoner’s and the astral traveler’s memories into one dreadful and convincing experience. In theory, by the time the people sent into the nightmare realm awaken [if their bodies don’t dehydrate or die from fear first], their minds will be shattered by the experience – perhaps even being so drained as to continue sleeping... making yet another dream realm for the Emerald Claw to annex to Pandora’s Box. However, much to all three groups’ dismay, Belmont was nowhere to be found – once the clock rang 12, a man poorly disguised as Allister came to the central hall, only to be apprehended by Denevere, Jack, and William. Moments into an interrogation, the Emerald Claw sprang their trap, but mistook the heroes for being a counterattack to protect Belmont [who wasn’t even there]! After a short episode of fighting and a quick evacuation of the building, Captain Vang appeared before the heroes… but with Morgana on one shoulder and a dark, ornate rod in the opposite hand. “Let her go!” Jack shouted, only to be scoffed at. Vang explained that he was impressed that they cleaned up his task force so quickly, but the mission was a minor success in the long run. With a length of laughter, he held the rod up high and told them that the trap he intended to use on his target would suit just fine to help him escape cleanly – the rod opened up to reveal the end of a key, and with the press of a button, the heroes were comatose. “I have no need to draw my blade when I can have the denizens of this world take you, instead,” Vang uttered just before the deed was done. Now... The party was flung into Dal Quor unknowingly. The 'smart' one of the party, Virgil, ended up killing himself in order to free himself from the dream after some consideration of their surroundings... so I let him float around in the Astral Plane for a bit while I tended to the others. The rest of the party pittered about the dream world for awhile, fighting undead and having pretty silly things happen to them while making CHA checks against the dreamer... and they eventually found that the dream is 'taking place' over a century in the past, when the dreamer's villiage in the southern Cyran forests [at the time, Cyre wasn't split up, nor was it destroyed] was burned to the ground [which they have no idea was the dreamer's, nor do they know that the dreamer exists]. Eventually, I'll have the other players 'killed' in gruesome fashions, and have everyone wake up about an hour later from when they were hit with the astral projection... give them some taint points for failed Will saves and such. :D Afterwards, I figure that the White Lions will have been taking care of them since the attack on the mansion, will question them, etc. etc... and perhaps deputize them to find where Morgana is being held... and perhaps Vol will get a better glimpse of the party's power when they raid the Emerald Claw hideout. For the short version, just open that up and read/skim the bolded text for what I've got so far. I hate writer's block... if you'd rather not read a good ten minutes worth of stuff about it, though, could you at least give me some ideas for an adventure that could have something to do with Castlevania and/or House Thuranni for a bunch of level 4's? My wracked brain thanks you. :) -S
Charles Phipps 10-16-06, 04:57 PM	Truly awesome stuff. I imagine a good idea is to have a minion of Drac's equivalent kidnap a significant other of the PCs and take them to a castle for the "Castlevania" theme only to reveal the castle is just part of a larger raising of such dark pinnacles of power across Eberron.
cancerousmango 10-17-06, 11:16 AM	Air Bud.
Alac_Gane 10-17-06, 01:32 PM	Hmm... I do like that castle idea - it would kind of give them the flavor of what I plan on them doing once they get to the REAL Castlevania. :D And... Air Bud. I really would like to get that into Eberron, too. COUNT ME IN.
eehamburg 10-17-06, 03:25 PM	And... Air Bud. I really would like to get that into Eberron, too. Don't encourage him ... it will only bring more :eek:
Alac_Gane 10-17-06, 04:09 PM	Don't encourage him ... it will only bring more :eek: :angelhide
cancerousmango 10-17-06, 07:37 PM	Don't encourage him ... it will only bring more :eek:People saying "I want to put x in eberron" will bring more.
operations 10-17-06, 08:59 PM	I'm just wondering why you didn't just use Ravenloft...
Charles Phipps 10-17-06, 09:09 PM	I'm just wondering why you didn't just use Ravenloft... Eberron is Pulp Adventure. Ravenloft is "Keep fighting because the Dark Lords will kill you next week. Oh yes, and the planet will keep drawing in evil and rewarding it so that you'll never make any real difference."
demonic_dante 10-17-06, 09:38 PM	why not have the PC's ally with whatever Belmont you are using (after some encounter that proves they are on the straight and narrow). I realize one fight with some zombies or blood of vol baddies doesnt really prove anything but it will do. Later after the PC's have learned what they need to learn have Belmont kidnapped. He can be the catalyst for the rise of Castlevania (or rather his death). If you had planned on having him help the PC's then allow them to arrive just in time to save him, some other person will have to die though (perhaps a different member of Belmont's crew). Also, I do realize Belmont worked alone but if you need to change it so he had an ally that no one really knew about so be it. By the way this is awesome, pure genious. Go Alac_Gane The ramblings of Demonic_Dante
eehamburg 10-18-06, 11:52 AM	People saying "I want to put x in eberron" will bring more. That is true
operations 10-19-06, 05:21 PM	...? Um, ... No, just walk away Ops, just walk away.