Post/Author/DateTime	Post
yggdrasil 09-08-03, 01:34 PM	I have thought to share my current campaign structure with other DMs. It is my intention to do so through my site, but one would have to read through all the fluff to get to the good stuff. And I cannot simply post the plot structure on the website, as my players regularly visit it, and I obviously don't want to give anything away. That said, I do want to share it with other DMs, and hence this post. Comments, suggestions, feedback or your own mega-plots most welcome in this thread. >WORLD Forgotten Realms >CHARACTERS Stedd (Dundragon) Ridestead - Human: Fighter Illuminor Anoron - Sun-elf: Sorcerer/Cleric of Corellon Larethian Orrusk Starag - Half-orc: Monk of the Order of the Yellow Rose >CHARACTER PLOTS (partially written by the players for their characters based upon their background history, and then fleshed out by me) Stedd (Dundragon) Ridestead Stedd's mother (Jessandri) and father (Darduvan) were Purple Dragon Knights who were slain at a very large battle against orcs and dragons in the stonelands soon after Stedd was born (15 years ago). Stedd's mother created a set of magical bracers that was heralded across Cormyr as works of a master-craftsman, when her charred remains were recovered (the red dragon breathed on her), only one of the bracers was found. Stedd's father's body was found next to the remains of his wife, but there wasn't a mark on him, most presumed he died of a broken heart for his dead wife. He was however poisoned by a sect working to overthrow the ruling family of Corymr called the Hidden Grove. Darduvan exposed the Hidden Grove a year before, and King Azoun IV evicted the Wivventry family (the noble family that secretly led the activities of the Hidden Grove) from Cormyr. The Wivventry family moved to Sembia and plotted to assasinate Darduvan, and when they learnt he had had a son, his son too. Icozad, a bounty hunter in the employ of the Hidden Grove poisoned Darduvan with a slow-acting poison the night before the battle that claimed both Stedd's parents' lives. Another assasin was sent to kill Darduvan's son, Stedd, but the Dundragon's Marshall Hamfast Ridestead (a personal man-at-arms in the employ of the Dundragon family) foiled the attempt. The Wivventry family were not happy that Darduvan's son lived, so attacked in another way. The hidden grove still had several nobles within elite Comryian society and these corrupt lords and ladies spread an elaborate lie that charged Hamfast as being a spy against the crown, an assassin and a collaborator with the Hidden Grove. Hamfast fearing for the life of his charge (as well as his own), fled Cormyr with the toddler Stedd west to the Western Heartlands. Hamfast was now charged with kidnapping and branded a criminal. Cormyrian knights hunted for Hamfast, but he managed to evade them every time. A year passed and Hamfast still roamed free. King Azoun IV, under pressure from nobles to act, offered a sizable reward for his death or capture and the return of the child Stedd Dundragon. Icozad, the bounty hunter that killed Darduvan, responded to the call and went in search of Hamfast. After three years of hunting and info gathering, Icozad found Hamfast and Stedd. A duel ensued and Hamfast killed Icozad. He knew that if Icozad didn't return, others would follow... so for several months he assumed Icozad's identity and went both to Cormyr to report his failure and the Hidden Grove to report he had killed Hamfast and Stedd. Both Cormyr and the Hidden Grove gave up looking for Hamfast and he returned to the Western Heartlands to raise Stedd, who he loved as his son. Hamfast died of old age when Stedd was 16; Stedd wanted a life of adventure and to become a Purple Dragon Knight (Hamfast told him many tales of epic bravery and knightly honour and courage). So he set off for Cormyr to reclaim his heritage, knowing his parents were Pruple Dragon Knights. He knew that Hamfast adopted him because his parents died on a battlefield and that he is a Dundragon, but he doesn't know anything of Icozad, the Hidden Grove, the criminal charges against Hamfast or the Wivventry family (these things are slowly revealed to him throughout the storyline). In Suzail, he asks to be recognised as a Dundragon, and is given a quest to prove his name. One of his mother's mithril bracers is in a glass case in Lord Sthavar's tower in Suzail, the other was sought for many years but is still lost. Stedd must find and return the lost bracer to reclaim his family name, otherwise he is to keep using the name of Ridestead. The Ridestead name is not well-received by most, as this is the name of a famous criminal, which is a double blow for Stedd, who knew only love from Hamfast. To complicate matters, Stedd has an older sister, Katernin Dundragon, who was adopted by a Cormyrian noble family soon after their parents both died. She grew up alone, angry and bitter. She doesn't initially accept Stedd as a brother. She now lives in Waterdeep, married to a silk merchant. Summary - Recover lost magical bracer (it was removed from the battlefield by anything that could do so). It has been sought for many years, so cannot be too easy to find. - Reclaim Dundragon name and all property the name is entitled to. - Become a Purple Dragon Knight. - Once a Dundragon, clear the name of Hamfast Ridestead. - Reunite the Dundragon family by convincing Katernin that he truly is her brother. Illuminor Anoron Illuminor is a sun-elf born on the isle of Evermeet. From an early age it was obvious that he had an innate sense of the Weave (magic). While this was a gift, it was also a terrible burden; the Weave was stronger in him than in most and this weakened him physically. His childhood was one of wracking pains that ran through his body. In time he learnt to manage these "nerve fires", but although the pain was lessened, it is always present. He found temporary solace in the healing magic of Corellon cerics, and so developed both his love for divine magic along with his innate arcane abilities from an early age. Illuminor, however, never viewed the two types of magic as separate, he understood them to be one in the same; both from the Weave, as the Weave is in everything, even in gods. He believes in Corellon Larethian, but has rediscover some small secular teachings that focus on the sun, instead of the moon. He wishes to spread this "new" (really very old) understanding of Corellon to other elves. He also wishes to understand his magical affliction and knows that the answers he seeks lie outside the safe protected environment of Evermeet. So one evening, he stole one of his tutor's wands of colour spray and jumped through a portal. The experience almost killed him, as the portal led to a sea-elven city beneath the waves of the Sea of Dragons. Luckily, they saved his life and put him on a human trading vessel that was heading to Suzail. What Illuminor doesn't yet know, is that he is a physical manifestation of the Weave on Toril. He is highly sensitive to powerful magics and his usually physical ill when exposed to either powerful or chaos magic. He is also the one prophesized by Ezarus to prevent the doors of hell from opening. (More on Ezarus, the main plot for the campaign, later.) Summary - Overcome physical ailments due to heightened innate magical ability. - Spread the gospel of the Sunrise Sect (ancient Corellon Larethian sect) - Fulfil the prophecy of Ezarus Orrusk Starag A half-orc born in Damara to a human mother and an orc chieftain. The orc raided a small village and raped and killed many as they swept across the frozen plains of Damara. Orrusk's mother was left for dead, but she managed to survive and gave birth to the half-orc Orrusk. She was ashamed of her son, and the terrible night of her rape and so anonymously dropped him at the door of the monastery of the Order of the Yellow Rose. The monks looked kindly on the toddler Orrusk and raised him in their teachings. He was a good student, but he constantly battled with his orcish bestial nature. When Orrusk was of age, his teacher, Daraega received a vision of Orrusk planting a seed in rich fertile soil. This seed grew into a yellow rose bush. Daraega took this to mean that Orrusk will in time spread the word of the Yellow Rose, and so set him upon a quest to destroy an evil tree known as the Gulthias Tree. Daraega never revealed to Orrusk his vision, or his real reason for sending him on this quest (see session 8 at www.denestor.com for more details). When the tree was destroyed Daraega appeared in a vision to Orrusk and proclaimed that one that he travels with, holds the future of the Yellow Rose in his hand. Daraega hopes that Orrusk will always remain true to the monastery's rules and will therefore be the one to establish another monastery. What Daraega nor Orrusk know, is that this new monastery is essential to the survival of the Yellow Rose, as the Dark Tide (from the Ezarus Prophecy) will destroy the monks and the monastery in Damara. Summary - Teach others racial tolerance through patience, understanding and the honourable teachings of the Yellow Rose. - Find a balance within his two dichotomous natures; contemplative versus bestially aggresive. - Spread the teachings of the Yellow Rose - Establish new monastery before old monastery is destroyed. MAIN PLOT This plot has been slowly revealed to the players with each session. Sometimes they might learn alot within a session and then other times they don't learn anything relevant. Three things are important in how I am revealing this plot: 1) Fore-shadowing. By fore-shadowing, alluding to things in the future by examples in the present, the players have a feeling of expectation and believability when those things do in fact occur. It also provides some security for them, as then they can make decisions without having to suffer the consequences of ignorance. It also means that when I need to surprise them, the surprise has more punch, as they truly didn't expect it. 2) Important bits of information should be revealed first, several sessions from when they need it. Usually my players forget something startling or revelatory if it was 3 sessions ago, as they are receiving potentially useful information all the time. This works wonders with puzzles or key-worded magical items, and they feel pretty silly in not getting it immediately, because they have been told the answer or how to work out the answer several sessions ago. Don't do this if the time frame is less than one session between you giving the info and them using the info, otherwise you are simply force feeding them. 3) Be flexible. Players hate feeling rail-roaded... don't plan too much up front with the plot. Let it naturally develop dependent on the actions of the players. Reward ingeniuty. If they solve something you thought was hard in seconds, don't punish them because all your fun was ruined, reward them for truly understanding and solving the problems you throw at them. Right... onwards with the BIG plot. Ezarus was a figure of unknown age, race, sex or religion who recorded dream visualizations into a book thousands of years ago. He (neuter term) wrote that his dreams revealed a cataclysmic event where the balance of good and evil (heaven and hell) would be irrevocably damaged. He also foretold of two that could perform the Succession Ritual that would either restore balance, or open the gates to every hell. He referred to the rise of evil as the Dark Tide. This is all he wrote that could be deciphered, the rest of the book (known as the Book of Ezarus) is written in dream symbology... for example SOUTH-DULL-BOAT... means... YELLOW-RIVER-NORTH... the yellow river is north. For millenia people have tried to decode Ezarus' writings, but have nver succeeded as there was never a Key to decode what his dream symbology meant. Ezarus created three books, all seemingly identical. Scholars believe it is because he feared that his prophecy might be lost with the passage of time and so duplicated it. All three copies still exist and are the prize possessions of three organisations. Each of the organisations believe they have the original book, and the others are merely copies. The truth of the matter is that each of the books is an original and actually differs from each other in small ways. These difference offer a clue as to how to perform the ritual. No-one knows this and the players are expected to figure it out. The first copy resides in Tantras under the protection of the Church of Torm. Torm followers believe Ezarus to have been an avatar of Torm, and although Ezarus never wrote any scriptures, followers of Torm believe Ezarus to provide instructions for them to stem the tide of evil. The second book is hidden in Zhentil Keep and jealously protected. The Zhentarim wish to try and understand the book to unleash the hordes from every hell and rule over a destroyed chaotic world. The third book is in the possession of the Shadow Enclave (they had it in their possession before they plane shifted to the plane of shadow)... and don't pay it much mind, yet. Two hundred years ago, a priest of Torm founded the little mining town of Skull Crag, on the westside of the Storm Horns . His name was Eliador. Very few know that Eliador suffered from terrible nightmares and visions that he recorded in a journal. These nightmares are the key that unlocks Ezarus' dream code. Eliador was slain by a barbarian horde, but the battle pushed the barbarians back into the mountains. Eliador was interred in a mausoleum for his bravery and leadership dedicated to Torm on the battlefield. All of his valued possessions were sealed with him in a specially-built sarcophagus. To deter grave robbers the seal requires a good cleric to channel positive energy to open it. The players learn that Skull Crag has been destroyed by an unead army, newly arised from the battle field. The evil priest, Nishan, is truly a Zhentarim agent who has learnt after years of travelling that Eliador wrote, what could possibly be, the Key to the book of Ezarus. He wants that book, but the sarcaphagus remains stubbornly sealed. The priest tries to get the good-aligned players to open the sarcophagus and take its contents, but he fails. The players defeat the priest, open the sarcophagus, take the journal without realising what it is, and return to Suzail. As the mausoleum was dedicated to the church of Torm, they think to hand the journal to the first church of Torm they find. They cannot read the journal as it is written in an old celestial script, peculiar to Torm followers. The leader of the church of Torm, Euttis Flanastone is shocked to receive the book and explains that he cannot accept it. It must be delivered to the Church of Torm in Tantras (largest church of Torm in the realms, as this is where Torm and Bane fought during the Godswar). The book has a strange effect on Illuminor. He cannot bear to be far from it, if he is for any length of time he becomes anxious for its safety. During the next full moon, Illuminor collapses into a coma and cannot be roused. In this coma he dreams, but the dream feels like anothers... it is as if he is looking through someone else's eyes and seeing strange visions. He awakes, voluntarily 2 days later and immediately as if in a trance decodes Eliadors Journal. This is what he automatically writes: apple - wait arrow - water ash - radiance axe - goblin badger - face bear - short bird - place black - true blue - stand boat - north boots - flame bottle - heroes bridge - journey bright - indigo candle - power carpet - south castle - hate cat - alive/life chair - knight chest - man chicken - shallow child - safe clothed - door cloud - fast cow - two crawl - search cross - ghost crow - dwarf dark - woman daughter - half-elf dog - weapon door - holy dragon - last dull - river/stream dwarf - high earth - magic/the weave east - wolf eight - large elf - sing/song elk - grind eye - six farmer - war father - blue feather - wind field - chamber fire - east fish - mankind five - half-orc flower - key fly - better/more forest - mythal forever - elf four - metal frog - flee ghost - talk gnome - clover/sprig goblin - desert green - mix grey - time half-elf - trace halfling - deep half-orc - finger hammer - human heart - peace helmet - horse hill - body honey - king horse - fire house - leader human - alone indigo - leave jewel - rock key - eight king - talon knight - dark kobold - west lake - book lantern - spider large - good lava - orc light - mountain magic - orange man - false mist - bird moon - dragon mother - ocean/sea mountain - god/goddess mouse - worse/less mouth - nought naked - halfling nest - seven nine - sun north - bowl/container nought - hand ocean - strong one - red orange - dangerous orc - breathe owl - unexpected path - unholy pelt - moon pentgon - white queen - pool rain - create red - long river - group road - shrub/moss rock - five root - black rope - queen run - read safe - small sail - bear seven - road shark - crystal sheep - slow shell - mother shield - grey ship - kiss six - smoke sky - chosen sling - lake/pond small - average smoke - dirty/soiled soil - four son - leather south - yellow spider - clean star - cult statue - wood stream - one sun - three talk - green thief - forest three - child tower - gnome tree - servant tree stump - father two - earth violet - look walk - fight wall - staff war - star water - dead/death wave - nine weapon - violet web - love west - mithril whale - light/glow wheel - eye white - nearby wind - mythic window - ring wolf - far woman - passage wood - clouds worm - touch yellow - evil The first word is the dream visual, the second word is the actual meaning. Download the player handout from my site. So, to say the following: the real message: "The Dragon Cult are creating unholy dragons in Myth Drannor" the coded message: "DRAGON - CULT - CREATE - UNHOLY - DRAGON - ELF - FOREST - MYTHAL - PLACE" the dream in single words: "MOON - STAR - RAIN - PATH - MOON - FOREVER - THIEF - FOREST - BIRD" the dream being described to the player: "The moon shines with a star when it rains upon the path. It seems to have been raining forever. Suddenly, a thief leaps out from hiding and jumps into the forest. A bird flies out startled." Or, you can give the player a print out of the visuals. See my site, player handouts for examples. If it is someone's name, I put the visuals close together, or if I describe it, I say that the visuals happen quickly one flashing after one another in quick succession. This is their clue that these visuals belong to one thing. They way names work is that each code represents the first letter of their name...so to say Orrusk... Woman breast-feeding a half-orc child (mother - Ocean) Silver symbol eclipsing a star (Jewel - rock) Man running (run - read) White owl (owl - unexpected) Bear (bear - short) Yellow rose (flower - key) Ocean Rock Read Unexpected Short Key First letter of each reads as Orrusk. Illuminor frequently receives dreams about the future; sometimes the players are 100% correct, other times they read too much into it and make up a whole lot of extra stuff. As this happens at the table, some of it may be useful (and stolen by me). Other times it is just too far-fetched, but in time they realise that it isn't fitting and come to their senses. if they are realy struggling I provide minor clues, but not too many. It isn't critical that they get it... they must get some of it and keep thinking that there is more to get." For instance I recently told them that: SUN LAKE BLACK LAKE which means: THREE BOOK TRUE BOOK As far as they have figured out, this means that the third book is the true book, not that "to have the true book, you need all three books." In time they will have to get all three books, as the campaign demands it, so I can force this later with more dreams if need be. These dreams are providing clues as to the Succession Ritual, which is described in the book of Ezarus. The Book of Ezarus describes when the ritual can take place, where it must take place, the ingredients, the instructions and the incantations to say aloud. All of this is written in dream code. The players need to get all three books to see which of the bizarre medieval lithographs doesn't match the other two, the instructions beneath this lithograph are to be followed. The order of the lithogrpahs to follow are the dates that Illuminor has a dream/vision (ie, 17, 4, 21, 12, et al). I'll be writing up the Book of Ezarus solution later, if there is any interest to what I have written so far.
yggdrasil 09-10-03, 08:41 AM	Once I have made the player handout of the Book of Ezarus (I will actually make 3 books... 30 pages in length each, each with an illustration and a coded message)... I will upload a link to those too. The players will receive these books as they find them and it is up to them to discover the differences between the selected illustrations. Illuminor has already had a vision of one of the strange medieval illustrations as a clue to look at this one and specifically compare it to the other two in the bother books. Some more info: During the first new moon after Illuminor has translated Eliador's journal, he felt he needed to hold tightly onto the journal. in an agonising experience, Illuminor's rib cage opened up, tearing, bleeding, with light sparkling from within him and devoured the book into his chest. His chest reknitted itself, and Illuminor screamed during the entire duration. He collapsed afterward exhausted, but soon felt nauseaus and began throwing up mulched pages. They tasted of old mildewy paper. These attacks are sporadic and cause the elf to projectile vomit pages, especially if an important vision is about to occur. The plus side of this experience (yes there is a plus), is that he understands his dreams/visions much better. What this means in game terms, is that I help him by guiding him what he thinks is in important in the vision... For example, "Is the bird more important than the colour of the bird", is something he might ask... and I would reply... "the colour seems shine brightly, almsot blurring out the silhouette of the bird..." It also means that the visions are more simple and punctuated... allowing him to make more sense of what he experiences. The problem is, however, that he needs to give the book to the Church of Torm in Tantras... and as of now, he has no idea as to how to get the book "out" of him. I might use the Pool of Radiance in Myth Drannor to expel the book from him.... but as of yet, I am still undecided. Once in Tantras (the group is right now in "Pools of Radiance"... so tantras is a number of sessions away)... the church of Torm take over the book and thank Illuminor. the church do not believe he is the Chosen of Torm and have a candidate of their own. It will be apparent through visions and perhaps even divine intervention that Illuminor is indeed the chosen, but the leaders of Torm won't accept it. This will take place once he has handed the book back... the PCs willnow have to break into the Torm temple, fight "good" (but misdirected) guys and steal both books (Eliador's journal and the book of Ezarus). They will then have the followers of Torm chasing them. (They already have the Zhentarim after them for the book... not to mention the Cult of the Dragon for other unrelated reasons). The book of Ezarus when properly decoded, reveals the following: LOCATION text (t): arrow-shark-horse-light + pentagon-feather + arrow-shark-rope-flower literal translation (lt): water-crystal-fire-mountain + white-wind + water-crystal-queens-key* true meaning (tm): the ice volcano called white wind within the ice necklace * a queen's key is a colloquial expression for a necklace. The origin of the word is that a queen traditionally keeps her key/s on a chain around her neck. these might be for a secret room, her daughter's chastity belts or a figurative key denoting the right rulership. The players have been given this piece of information as "texture" when interacting with female royalty. TIME t: human-black-pelt-grey + arrow-shark-horse-light + mouth-arrow-shark-feather lt: alone-true-moon-time + water-crystal-fire-mountain + nought-water-crystal-wind tm: only when it is full moon, does the ice volcano stop erupting ice into the sky VOCAL 1 t: wheel orc in my shell's arrow and tree stump;s horse cow sail the three of pentagon six 1 phonetic (p): eye breathe in my mother's water and father's fire two bear the child of white smoke 1 tm: I breathe in my mother's water and father's fire to bare the child of white smoke -- 2 t: wheel elf of the sheep pelt and cloud nine 2 p: eye sing of the slow moon and fast sun 2 tm: I sing of the slow moon and fast sun -- 3 t: wheel ship the wars and badger the two 3 p: eye kiss the stars and face the earth 3 tm: I kiss the stars and face Toril (the ground) -- 4 t: wheel am the whale of fish 4 p: Eye am the light of mankind 4 tm: I am the light of mankind -- 5 t: orc door life into the three of pentagon six, soil whale is fly than knight 5 p: breathe holy life into the child of white smoke, four light is better than dark 5 tm: breathe holy life into the child of white smoke, for light is better than dark -- The vocal components must be said aloud while following the actions... I breathe in my mother's water and father's fire to bear the child of white smoke breathe in the smoke caused by the ingredients bubbling in the large dwarven bowl I sing of the slow moon and fast sun point one end of the staff at the full moon rising in the east and the other end at the sun setting in the west I kiss the stars and face Toril (the ground) look at the reflection in the bowl to see the stars above and blow a kiss to them I am the light of mankind step into the large bowl breathe holy life into the child of white smoke, for light is better than dark raise hands above head and the ritual is complete the actions might be automatic as Illuminor fulfills the ritual... his body just does these things... or it could be something else he (and the rest of the party) must figure out. INGREDIENTS these aren't translated yet... but are as follows: x1 waterskin of red dragons blood x1 black magial mithril staff of spiders x1 green crystal size of a man's hand x1 fire rock ring x3 sprigs of starcloud (kind of flower) x1 anti-magic eye from a beholder x1 large dwarven metal bowl (in dwarven a "ballaga") -- the metal bowl looks like a large wok... 4' in diameter. place the dragon blood, anti-magic eye, green crystal, and starclouds into the bowl. drop the ring into the contents of the bowl... they'll start bubbling and issuing forth a cloud of smoke. hold the staff in two hands, one end point at the rising moon, the other end pointing at the setting sun. -- Side note (or How to determine the correct translation from the Book of Ezarus): the books all look identical at a glance, each page has an illustration and some dream words written beneath it. To find the right dream words, one must compare the illustration on the page to the two other illustrations on the same page of the other books. The one that is different... ie, has three eyes instead of two, has stars in the sky, when the others don't... is the correct one, and the dream words beneath this visual is the one to use in the ritual. As is standard in counter-rituals, saying the ritual backwards, does the opposite of saying it forwards. Doing it properly, will *very dramatically* balance good and evil, by unleashing goodness or angels or good gods or whatever... doing it backwards will open rifts in the multiverse to every hell ever conceived - and GAME OVER. -- more (as it occurred): Illuminor didn't like the idea that he might be the chosen champion for some human religion (Torm)... and devised a test for his god Corellon Larethian to indicate that his elven god approved of the quest with the Book of Ezarus. Now... in my opinion god's don't like tests... not very faithful... but I understood that the player could be feeling rail-roaded... and his test was quite interesting. He met an avariel elf that had had her wings chopped off for sport in the gladiatorial ring in Hillsfar. She managed to escape Hillsfar and ended up at a monastery of the Broken Bones (Ilmater). Her suffering, both physical (she walked funny as she didn't have her wings, the pain at having two stumps at her shoulder blades, the scabs, the weeping wounds) and mental (she can no longer feel the wind on her face as she swoops in the sky, mental anxiety of being persecuted for her race, leaving her homeland (elven court) and being surrounded by mostly humans) made the monastery an obvious destination, where one's suffering can propel one above one's lot in life. She found great strength in herself with the monks of Ilmater, and their kindnesses kept her there. Orrusk had been invited (he is a member of the Order of the Yellow Rose) by Carosib, the leader of the Broken Ones, and so the whole party went along. Orrusk took part in the Broken Ones physical endurance tests and they spoke about their different teachings. The young human Stedd got druk with a visiting dwarven geologist... but Illuminor met the Avariel elf, named Cognisel, and was drawn to her plight. Her story was an especially sad one, and Illuminor wished he could do something (anything) to help her. So... the clever player devised this plan... he said this to the elf: "What I am about to ask of you is both unjust and cruel. However, it is not my intent to harm you, rather I am motivated by my combined desire to both resolve a torment I am suffering and rekindle hope and light in you. It has grieved me greatly to hear of an Elf that has lost faith in our Sacred and most Glorious Pantheon and lost sight of the beauty and celebration of life. Would you allow me to try and call on Corellan to restore your wings? And if he does, will you revert to celebrating life through Corellan? I must however warn you that I do not ask this solely for selfless reasons. I am presently tormented by my own destiny. I need to know whether I have indeed been correctly chosen. I desperately need a sign to restore my faith. I need proof that I can meet the destiny the Priests of Torm say has been chosen for me. I need to know that this is not the confusion of human reasoning but a path lit by our Celestial Star. I dare to test Corellon! If I through the light of our Celestial Star restore you, this will be a sign that I have been correctly chosen and I shall devote myself to this new course. However, should I fail, I will know then that my destiny lies elsewhere and I apologise in advance for raising false hope. I must stress that I seriously doubt that I will be able to restore your wings as it would ordinarily be far beyond me and you should expect disappointment. Should I fail this will confirm my thoughts that the priests of Torm are deeply misguided or even worse, could be attempting to manipulate me for their own ends. Will you venture this trial?" She, sobbing at the glimmer of hope, replied positively and added that if Corellon did restore her wings, then she would give up Ilmater and return to the elven pantheon. So, he planned that if Corellon healed the elf, then it was a sign from his god to continue on the quest. I didn't want Corellon to just swoop down because the elf tested him... but I also wanted to give him a positive answer regarding the quest (or at least not a negative answer), as the quest is not just for humans but for the survival of Faerun. He started to pray, and try to connect to Corellon, however other images, visions, voices started assaulting his mind. (Go to player handouts... Illuminor's Test of Faith for the visuals). He began babbling the words over and over again and couldn't connect to his god. He was furious and unleashed his burning hands on himself, trying to burn the book from within his chest (the player did this himself... nothing to do with me! I was just as shocked). The avariel elf ran from the room terrified and found his friends (the other players)... and they came quickly. Illuminor was babbling, frothing and smouldering (he almost killed himself) and together they decoded the message. Once decoded Illuminor realized that he must ask Torm for the power to heal the elf. He is unsure that he must do this, can do this... questions of faith plague him, but then argues that he cannot leave the elf the way she is if there is a chance to heal her. They call her back in - she is quite scared... and he does as the visions instructs, he asks Torm for the power to heal her, and in a brilliant reverential moment, huge divine energy channelled through illuminor into her stumps, which he kissed and her wings grew back. To say she was elated is understated. She was sobbing, hysterical in gratitude and thank Illuminor who was weak, tired, near death and vomiting pages from the book of Eliador. She hugs him regardless and says, "Now that Corellon has healed me, I can once again turn to the elven fold." Illuminor grimaces, (the player actually sneered at me - he was impressed but unhappy with the twist) and spat that it wasn't Corellon, but Torm. She looked confused... and said, then I owe my gratitude to Torm, not Corellon. This incensed Illuminor... who tries very hard to spread his religious views to other elves. Illuminor spent the next three days resting. No magical healing healed him (in fact it pained him)... and he eventually recuperated naturally. Cognisel was soon outside, flying high above the cliffs (the monastery is situated between hermit wood and suzail in the white cliffs overlooking the dragonmere) with the terns and seagulls. Illuminor could hear her high trilly laughter echoing off the cliff-face, and fell asleep with an exhausted but content smile. He did still have a question in his mind though, did the healing of the avariel elf constitute a positive sign that he is indeed the chosen?
Dargoth 09-10-03, 09:25 AM	My Campaign set in the Dalelands Overview After Banes return Fzoul decides to reacess the goals and strategy of the Eastern Zhentrium. The goals of church of Bane and the Zhentrium have in the last 100 years or so have been to control trade from the Moonsea across Annouch Desert to Waterdeep and the sea of Sword, this made it necessary for the Zhentrium to occupy Dagger Dale in order to control the link between Zhentil keep and The Black Road which spans the Desert and connects the Eastern and Western halves of the organisation. However these goals and objectives no longer seem important 1) The Return of Shade has restricted the amounted of Traffic that can travel down the Black Road. 2) The Western Cyric dominated Half of the Zhentrium has or likely will leave the organisation (likely be subsumed by the Church of Cyric) 3) Daggerdale has driven the Zhentrium out of the dale effectively cutting off Zhentrium traffic heading out of the Moonsea area and Along the Black road. 4) Fzoul and Khelbhan Blackstaff made a pact where Fzoul would not expand the Zhentrium West of the Desert for next 30 years. For these reasons Fzoul decides to cut his losses and abandon the Western Zhentrium to the Cyricist. So whats a chosen of Bane to do with all this free time? He looks else where For years it has been the gaol to conqueror Shadowdale but every attempt has resulted in failure. Fzoul recognises this and decides to leave Shadowdale alone, the costs of attacking launching a campaign against it is simply to high and the potential gains limited. So where else can they go? North? The northern Moonsea is undeveloped and scantily defended, but it would require a huge amount of resourses to Garrsion and the rewards would not be that great and why bother when another strategy will drop the northern cities into the palm of Banes Hand. Fzoul decides that the Southern Moonsea and the Western Dragon coast are his goals. To this end the following happans Scylla Darkhope travels to Scardale and presses her claim as the rightful Lord of Scardale as the Daughter of its former ruler Lashan. Her claim is accepted and her rulership confirmed. A church of Bane is established in Scardale town however it focus on Law and obedience and it quickly brings order to Scardale town with help of the 500 Zhentrium soldiers Fzoul sends to garrision the town. Scylla rules Scardale with a Velvet glove she keeps more destructive Banites out of Scardale. She wins the people of Scardale over by demostrating the advantages of a strong lawful ruler which the people of Scardale find a pleasant change from the Chaotic and disorderly rule theyve experienced since Lashans fall. Fzouls other goal is to Dominate the southern Moonsea, and the major opponent to that goal is Zhentil keeps old foe Hillsfar, because of this Fzoul has decided that Hilsfar must be conquerored, to achieve this end Fzoul intends sending 2 Armys, one from Voonlar made up of troops from Zhentil Keep and one from Mulmaster they will link up outside Hillsfar and together lay siege to the city. Fzoul plans to bribe the less loyal leaders of Purple Plumes and assasinate those leaders those who remain loyal to Hillsfar. At sea the navys of both Mulmaster and Zhentil Keep will blockade Hillsfar port, cutting it off from its sea trade routes and starving the city into submission. The assault on Hillsfar will begin in 1374 With the taking of Hillsfar the Zhentrium will control the entire southern coast from Zhentil keep in the west to Mulmaster in the east. He also intends to sieze the strategic River Lis which connects the Moonsea with the Sea of Fallen stars. He intends to build a series of Fortresses along the length of the river making it impossiable for non Zhentrium traffic to transit the river and enter the Moonsea . This will starve the Northern Moonsea cities of income and force them to enter the Zhentrium fold. Fzoul also intends on invading Harrowdale thus linking Scardale with the Zhentriums Moonsea possessions. Hillsfar has few allies who are willing to help it against the Zhentrium th most likely to help them would be Sembia however Sembian troops would have to travel a long way to reach Hillsfar and would face a major obstacle in the form of Drow who occupy the territory a Sembian army would have to march through. When the Zhentrium take over of Scardale will also distract them and make them less willing to send troops north to Hillsfar when Zhentrium troops are on there door step. To make life for the Sembians even harder Scyllua will get the Monks of the Long death, who have a monastary in Scardale to wage a campaign of murder and terror across Sembia killing off the leaders of Sembias merchant familys. The campaign starts with a modified version of Raiders of Galaths roost When Fzoul decided to abandon the Western Zhentrium and focus on Hillsfar instead he ordered Suddilis to gather all those members of Darkholds garrision who where followers of Bane or loyal to the Eastern Zhentrium and lead them East back to Zhentil Keep. This he did and on one moonless night 350 members of Darkholds garrision slipped out and headed for the Zhentrium outpost that contained the portal to Galaths roost. Since there arrival at the Outpost Suddilis has been sending 60 Zhentrium soildiers through the portal everytime is active, 50 of whom return to Zhentil keep, the other 10 have been raiding Mistdale for food and supplies that they take back through the portal to the garrision they have also killed or kidnapped anyone who has come across the Zhentrium using the portal. (this accounts for the Moon elf, Drow elf and gold dragon in the dungeon at the outpost. The people of Mistledale catch on that something up and send Pcs to investigate however by this time most of Zhentrium garrision has left and already gone through the portal and gone on to Zhentil Keep to join Fzouls army mustering in Voonlar. Assuming the characters finish the module. If they stick around at the Outpost after defeating Suddilis then they will encounter a Cyricist scount party from Darkhold who are looking for the missing garrision. The Pcs will have to hold the Cricists off for 10 rounds before the portal is active agian. If there successful they return to Mistledale through the portal. Having healed their wounds and leveled up after ROGR (This likely takes a month to 6 weeks) they will now be ready for Woe to Mistledale. Suddilis left a small rear guard north of Mistledale which was going to escort to Zhentil keep, when Suddilis and the last few members of the garrision pasted through the portal. If Suddilis lives then he has just reached them having had to walk all the way from the Outpost to Mistldale. If Suddilis didnt make it then a new cleric has been sent by Fzoul to issue new orders to rear guard. Either way the rear guard has been instructed to cause problems in and around Mistledale. fzoul has instructed them to do this as Mistldale occupys a strategic position, any force sent from Sembia or Cormyr to relive the Siege of Hillsfar will have to pass up the Moonsea road. Having completed Woe to Mistledale the party is approached by a cleric of Tempus he asks them to come to Abby of the Sword in neighbouring Battledale where the high priest of the Temple hires the Pcs to track down the Glabrezu who killed and ate the previous high priest. (See the Abbey of the Sword in Faithes and Pantheons) Around this time word reaches Battledale that a Zhentrium army is laying siege to Hillsfar and that Scylla Darkhope has been recognised a the rightful ruler of Scardale. As for the Glabrezu the High priests suggests the PCs go into the Cormanthor wood in search of the drow who controlled the demon. The High Priest doesnt know which faction the drow belonged all drow look the same the a follower of tempus. If they follow the suggestion they eventual come across the House Jaelre encampment described in Lords of Darkness. If the PCs released drow prisioner in ROGR then she is there to and offers to cash in the favour she owes them by helping them. The Pcs learn the following: No it wasnt House Jalere who appeared out of the portal beneath the Abbey of the sword it was probably the Auzkovyn clan. The prisoner they released in ROGR offers to lead the PCs to the Auzkovyn clan. During the journey the PCs stumble across the Tower of Life (as found in the Races of Faerun web enchancement) While there looking for the traitor in the elven stronghold the Towers attacked by a party of Auzkovyn drow and a Glabrezu during the attack one of the elven mages banishes or Dismisses the Demon so the party are unable to kill it. The party are however able to get the Glabrezus truename from the Drow wizard who summoned it in exchange for not killing him (Failing that speak with dead is used, after all one of the PCs is a Cleric of Kelevour) Depending on how event unfold the PCs guide may have a change of heart theres a follower of Ellistree in the Tower of Life and she may convert the PCs guide ie her alignment changes from CE to CN during the module. The Drow guide offers to travel with the PCs as part of the party. As for the quest the party will need to Summon the Glabrezus and kill it. The party travels back to Ashabenford to talk to Noristuor the tiefling wizard who lives in town. He offers to summon the Glabrezus for some magic items and some gp. However when he summons the demon it doesnt respond. Noristuor tries a diffrent tack and summons an Imp which tells him the Glabrezu has been summoned by someone and is no longer in the Abyss. Noristuor suggest the PCs contact a powerful spell caster and ask them to find out where the demon is. He suggests the PCs travel to ScarDale and speak to the red Wizard enclave. When the party gets there they find the town under control of the Zhentrium. The PCs eventually persuade one of the Red Wizards to cast the spell for them (ill use the red Wizard enclave in loD and drop it in Scardale) and finds that the Glabrezu is inside the walls of Hillsfar, one of the Wizards in Hillsfar summoned the Demon to protect him during the siege. ----------------------------------------------------------- Hillsfar is now of course completely surrounded by Banite troops which means the Pcs are going to have to find away to get inside. However Scyulla has been keeping track of the Pcs activities in the enclave and she arranges to meet them and offers them deal she'll give them a pass that will let them travel through the Zhentrium lines if they do her a favour. The favour involves killing a cleric of Cyric in Harrowdale http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/pg/20030521a If the PCs kill Evah hen Dorgath gives them the pass. The PCs reach Hillsfar to find the city complety encircled. The Zhentrium army has dug trenchs up to the walls and are currently trying to mine the city walls else where Catapults and Trechbuts are lobbying boulders and dead animals and cauldrons full of oil of Firey burning into the city. The Pcs will now have to decided how to get into the city, there are several ways in. 1) They can try and enter the city when the Zhentrium open a breach through the wall , and fight there way through those Purple Plumes who try and seal the breach. 2) they can use one of the tunnels that the Zhentrium are using to mine the walls and sneak into the city that way. 3) they can travel to the docks and infiltrate the city through its sewers which flow out at the bay. The Glabrezu is serving Wak Rathar a wizard (Im going to give him levels as a Demonologist or maybe a Nar Demon Binder) The Pcs will likely have to kill both the wizard and the demon before making there escape. While the PCs having been dealing with the demon Fzoul has opened up a gate to Banes realm in the Barrens of Doom and Dispair the gate feeds on the fears of the city of Hillsfar and through the gate come a horde of Fiendish Fithyr and Greater Fithyr hwich terrorise the citys population and feed on their fear. Once the gate opens the Zhentrium storm the city (The defenders are 2 scared to resist). If the PCs still havent managed to kill Suddilis the Banite cleric from Raiders of Galath roost and Woe to Mistledale then they run into him on the way out of the city, and he decides to get even with the PCs, after all Scylla pass only granted the PCs safe passage to enter Hillsfar it doesnt give them safe passage out of Hillsfar) Having escaped Hillsfar the party return to The Abbey of the Sword (hopefully with the news that the Demons dead). If there successful the party recieves their reward likely in Magical weapons one pof the weapons the Pcs recieve will be "One thousand broken dreams" A magical sword detailed in magic of Faerun (it will come in handy) plus other magic items. If the Pcs think to help Tempus clergy in Hillsfar escape then they will also recieve the Sword "Prayer of Anger" also detailed in Magic of Faerun. Having rested they'll be ready for City of spider queen which Ill alter sum what. Instead of starting in Daggerdale it will start in Mistledale or Battledale, the drow will emerge from Haptooth hill instead of the Crypts. Ill also swap out the vampire in Crypts with an old friend of the PCs (A previous party did the Curse of the Azure bonds module) and they'll find that Dracandros isnt "dead" hes undead, im thinking of making him a spectre with levels of the Red Wizard prc and the catecombs populated with various red wizard monsters and items. The Pcs will then complete COSQ and the Dungeon module Spiral of Manzessine. I may alter the module some what using material from the Underdark Sourcebook due out in october Ive also got a few idea for a campaign in the Silver Marches
yggdrasil 09-10-03, 09:50 AM	hey Dargoth, nice! I think I will pick and choose bits... it can work well within my campaign. My PCs hate Hillsfar (by reputation) and the Zhentarim (by experience)... would be interesting to get them involved in some huge battle. Who's side do they pick? Do they do it alone? I could put the staff of spiders in Hillsfar... give them a reason to go... :devil: One of my players keeps asking to read the Leadership feat in the DMG... he wants to lead armies. Would be interesting and I think he'd love being in a full-scale battle. Thanks for the post. :)
kidjay76 09-11-03, 12:04 AM	Dargoth, some tasty stuff in there. I'm running a potential invasion scenario storyline out of Scardale Town right now, and I may steal and modify some of your ideas. My PCs started life in Harrowdale Town so the later planned invasion of Harrowdale works too.