From what I can read I like how you mixed lore mixed with a little bit lore of old. Seems like a fun campaign!
Our groups mage was working/studying/teaching in the Blackstaff tower and often working with the Blackstaff or Laerial in an attempt to use a magical portal-mirror to find our way home. It was a 1 in 1,000 chance to find not only Earth (which wasn't that hard) but the precise time in which we left and the correct dimension. After months of looking and searching Khelben finally found the correct sequence and summoned us to his chamber. One stipulation was we couldn't take any magical items with us on our trip so with a fare-well good buy to the friends that wanted to stay we made our leap......and was expelled from the portal-mirror back into the same room yet 104 years into the future (we left at 1375 DR).
With everything changed, we sought our old friends in hopes that they were still alive. Luckly two of them were Dwarves (Mac and Gimmland). They were just as suprised to see and and after some divination magic to verify our identity, had a lengthy sad chat about the past century.
With no work, no responsibility, and idle hands our group decided to journey north to the besieged city of Neverwinter. There we had hoped to put or steel and magic to good use for a grand cause of restoring the city.
So the campaign started with our group joining a convoy of goods and supplies to the location of Fort Locke (nestled on the out-skirts of the Mere of Dead Men). There, the fort was supposed to be a way-station for troops to be ordered where they were needed most. But the supply trains were constantly attacked by Lizardfolk tribes from the swamp. Our first mission was to eliminate the Lizardfolk tribe and see what is their connection to the war was.
As it turned out, a black dragon named Auroxas had taken residence in the swamp and was turning the tribes into his little minion army. But there were some lizardfolk who revolted. With their help, the PCs defeated the Lizardfolk champions (who were in league with Auroxas) and Auroxas himself. With the swamp cleansed, the Lizardfolk and the people of Fort Locke have started a truce.
So ended Chapter 1.
Thanks for posting, Diffan. I have always wanted to run some adventures involving black dragons and lizardfolk in the Mere of Dead Men, ever since reading the 2E Dungeon series Mere of Dead Men, possibly the major inspiration behind later Dungeon adventure paths.
Anyone else?
C'mon, this is a chance to actually post something positive about the new Realms.
I dont want to just rehash that, I suppose I could go further in depth, but I think what i'll do is post from the player's prespectives, one of the players decided to start a journal to chronical their adventures...
The Misfits
As chronicled by Cassi
We are the Misfits, a most diverse collection of beings banded together, and I Cassi have taken it upon myself to chronicle our journeys.
So, just who are the Misfits ye ask? Well among our small ranks are; Angus a barbaric minotaur, Desirae a religiously bent half-elf, Aulken a goliath warrior, Drago a dragon-born arcane warrior, and Kronus the Changeling, our inspiring leader in battle. Then there is I, Cassi, a human student of the arcane arts. We’re as diverse and odd lot as ye’ll most likely ever see.
Our story starts in fabled Myth Drannor, where our families claimed refuge from the aftermath of the Spell-plague. Well, everyone except I, who eventually found my way to that realm by offering my services to various caravans, just to be off to see the world. I hail from Baldur’s Gate.
As I was mentioning, we started off in Myth Drannor. Our unique individual skills honed through clearing out threats and problems of that cities old ruins. More or less minor threats and problems I should add, giant vermin in the form of rats or spiders, the occasional undead or small band of goblins. Being a late-comer to the scene, I was able to undertake only a few such foray’s before the work dried up. There were many groups engaged in such work, most of whom were comprised Fey-folk or other more common races. The members of our group, being nearly lone representatives of their folk, were oft shunned by a bulk of the citizenry resulting in their drawing together forming their own clique of outcasts, hence the Misfits.
Session 1 1 Mirtul, 1479 DR
We had been sitting in our favorite watering hole, quite bored from the lack of work and had just determined to leave the city in search of a more exciting clime, when a scroll floating by itself came in through the door and over to our table. It was a most curious event so we grabbed the scroll and read its contents. It was a summons to the RoyalPalace. Scroll in hand, we made our way to the Palace. We were admitted and lead to the throne room, where we were introduced to the Queen and then passed of to an half-elven arcane advisor named Reginald. There was a bit of confusion as to whether we were the correct individuals so summoned. As it turns out it was the scroll’s ability to choose those most suited to the task at hand, not the expectations of the planners, so we got the job.
The job sounded fairly straight forward and simple: Deliver to one Ingus, a man who was the proprietor of Ingus Curiosities in Saerloon, a sealed scroll and return to Reginald with a package in return. Only it wasn’t that simple. Ingus is some sort of leader among a resistance group against the Shadover who secretly run Saerloon in the background. The return package is a book among whose pages is a part of a separate book, detailing some ancient rite, allowing one to become or replace a deity in return, which was scattered to the and hidden in pieces long ago. The Shadover have an interest in acquiring the pieces of this ancient book, while those in Myth Drannor oppose this goal in secret. So we need be careful about this delivery letting none know whom we are working for, preventing open warfare between Myth Drannor and the Shadover, an event which Myth Drannor is ill prepared.
Ingus will contact us in the Flaming Eye, a tavern across from his shop. There was something more about a torch being lit in front of his shop. We were paid a hundred gold crowns up front and another one hundred upon our return. After Reginald explained the mission and paid us we were led to a teleportation circle within in the palace and transported to environs a few hours outside Saerloon.
Within an hour of setting off down the road, we encountered a caravan of merchant’s leaving Saerloon. We hailed them for news as to how far to the city. The merchant’s Josef and Dolbi halted their caravan and were willing to do some business. My intuition told me not to trust them. Never the less, Angus traded his axe for one that flamed, plus some gold. Kronus bought an enchanted amulet that’s supposed to convey a minor amount of physical protection upon the wearer. The merchant’s recommended the Dancing Centaur for its excellent wine before travelling on their way to Urlamspyr. We followed a short distance behind a ragged caravan, that had passed us while doing business with Josef and Dolbi, to the city. The gaurds at the gate were stopping all entrants and checking papers. We hurried on in with the caravan and weren’t questioned. A good thing as I don’t have any papers. We quickly separated from the caravan and made our way on into the city. We decided to first locate Ingus’ shop and find lodgings nearby.
-This turned out to be a little longer than I thought, I can post the rest of it later if any ones interested.
the code is screwed up
Yeah, I think I got it worked out.
And before anyone says anything, I know that Castle Cormanthyr (sp?) isnt exactly a royal palace, and the Coronal isnt exactly a queen, but from Cassi's human perception, thats how she would see it.
consider myself interested
Well in that case I'll go ahead and post the rest of session one, he never did get around to doing anything after session 2. I'll have to get on him about that, or just do it myself. I've been meaning to keep a journal of events myself, just to keep track of the days, something like a fill in calendar.
Session 1 Continued
Not long into the city, I was clumsily bumped into by a man. Drago and I immediately grabbed hold of the cut purse and retrieved my pouch, which the man had attempted to steal. Angus bullied the thief into giving up his purse then we continued on our way.
Ingus’ shop wasn’t hard to find, so we made our way to an inn nearby. The inn wasn’t able to accommodate patrons Of Angus and Aukens size, and were directed to the StoneCastle that does cater to larger sized patrons. The Stone castle caters near exclusively to large sized patrons. There weren’t any smaller sized patrons except those of our party. We took two rooms for the night, Desirae, I and Angus in one room, Drago, Auken and Kronus in the other. We paid 10 gold for each room, which included two meals and all drinks. Angus and Auken immediately proceeded to get drunk. Kronus and I decided to check out Ingus’ shop to make a preliminary contact. Meanwhile Drago would make his way to the Flaming Eye to await us. Desirae would stay behind to watch over Angus and Auken.
Ingus’ shop had some suspicious customers. It didn’t help that Kronus was less than suspicious acting himself and drew attention to ourselves. Ingus was off on a trip re-stocking some goods. I tried to cover by making up a story about needing to purchase fresh ground bat hair, wanting to talk to Ingus personally about any such stock he may have acquired. Unfortunately, the associate running the place didn’t know when Ingus would return. Kronus did however find out from the associate that his amulet was not enchanted. One of the shoppers wanted to talk to us about Ingus in a different location as there may be spies present. We met this person at the Green Rat, a tavern a few doors away, for drinks and some discussion. Our newly made acquaintance, was interested in talking with Ingus about joining the resistance to the Shadover, whom he believed is a leader. We managed to keep out true business with Ingus a secret, mostly by my maintaining the story about needing fresh ground bat hair. I don’t think he believed me when I claimed to be from Phlan, as he said my accent was that of Teflamm (to which I didn’t reply). Apparently he didn’t get what he wanted from us and soon left. We then made our way to the Flaming Eye. We joined drago at a table near the window with some mercenaries. We all had a great time, I made 40 gold gambling with them. Late in the night towards last call, the rest of the party joined us, Angus and Auken reeking horribly from a restorative healing salve Desirae had smeared on them.
Around this time a lit torch had been placed outside Ingus’ shop, so we made our way over. It was guarded by two city watchmen denying us entry. We fought our way in to discover more city watchmen ransacking the place under the direction of the man from our conversation in the Green Rat. We engaged them in battle and eventually slew them all. We found a man who had been severely beaten. We revived him and it turned out he was Ingus. We made our transaction and left out the back door, Kronus garbed in a watchmans uniform. Back on the street we could hear several groups of watchmen making rounds, as we started to make our way back to the StoneCastle. We got stopped and questioned, Drago and Desirae were missing. Kronus leading half of the twenty man patrol after, as if being in pursuit of those the guards were looking for.
The rest of us were being placed under arrest for breaking curfew. Angus and Auken were quite belligerent in their protests and decided to run away while wearing manacles, half the remaining guards giving chase. I tried to play itself by spending a night in the local lock-up and pay a fine for breaking the curfew. I had to re-think my position, the guard-lietenat started to question me about the location of the book. I tried to lie about knowing what he was talking about, but he revealed that he was equipped with a ring of truth to detect such. So I too made a break for it.
We were chased throughout the city in groups or singly as we happened to be for most of the night. Any subsequent encounter with guards led to them knowing when lied to if we tried bluffing our way past and yet another pursuit. Somehow we eventually managed to meet up more or less at the same time, near one of the city walls. Desirae noticed that crates were stacked against the wall, and urged us to scramble up them and jump down the other side to freedom (which of course we did).
Thanks for posting, The Silversword. This is sort of stuff I hope more people post.
Heretics of the Harlot's Coin
I have tried four times now to post my third campaign but I keep getting the same formatting errors. Anyway, it's based on the Harlot's Coin heresy as mentioned in Dragon 355 in the Demon Cults of the Realms about the Cult of Graz'zt and its corruption of the Church of Waukeen. My plan is to set it in Returned Abeir and tie it into the Embers of Dawn mini-campaign put out for LFR plus steal liberally from Paizo's Council of Thieves and Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure paths. The epic tier will conclude with an updated version of For Duty & Deity.
There, I hope a short post is OK.
That sounds pretty cool Cyber-Dave, Up until the time travel part, thats a little wiggy, but it seems to be a pretty popular theme around here. But it is a very possible occurance in the realms, there are still functioning Time gates in Toril, I personally have had some bad expieriences with Time Travel, letting one of the players become a Chronomancer, they relied on time travel entirely too much. Any time things didnt go their way theyd just go back in time and change things, this lead to some ideas on my part that they would have worn a hole in the fabric of space-time so they started having to deal with beings from other time periods who were intent on taking the characters timeframe as their own, this basically started off this temporal war, they ended up going back in time (yet again) to the very beginings of the Realms and wipping it out, causing the timeline to recreate itself without the influences of the PCs and other beings, that was basically my transition from 2e to 3e Realms. It was fun to a degree but it got pretty whacked out. But as long as the Time Travel thing is like a one shot deal it should be okay.
My plan was very much to have it be a one shot deal. Basically an artifact with just enough power to be used once. I am still a little hazy on the details, but I have this idea floating around in my head that perhaps this artifact would have some sort of ties both to "the first gate" and the now defunct and nonexistent plane of mechanus (which would be a plane of existence from before "the paradigm shift"). The plot arc of the epic tier of the campaign would revolve around trying to get a hold of the artifact.
I'm in the early stages of the campaign: the PCs are in Undermountain, tracking down a artifact for a patron. It's eventually going to involve a war between Netheril and Sembia vs. Luruar, Cormyr, Evereska and Myth Drannor, and even worse when Szass Tam threatens the entire planet and indeed the planes.
It's a very basic outline, I'll flesh it out as the campaign progresses.
The party spent some brief time in Sigil, but other than that have been in the realms (or the shadowfell) the entire campaign. Pretty soon, they are going to discover an item that will take them back in time, and they will visit ancient Netheril before Karsus screwed everything up...
My campaign is following a very similar path!!
The Netherese are once again attempting to shroud the world in Shar's perfect darkness. The militaries of both Shade and Sembia are now encroaching on Cormyr, while the Princes of Shade are working towards the demise of the remaining members of the Triad, as well as Amanautor and Sune. Their goal is to release Cyric from the Supreme Throne.
My players were also requesting some form of time travel, they wanted to go back to the months before the Spellplague, to try and stop it.
There are some twists and turns that have yet to be revealed (the players are only level 4). I'm really digging the setup for 4E, it is giving me a lot of room to work with at the same time that it is providing me with lots of content.
(There is no criticism expressed or implied. I'm very interested in why you chose that as one of their goals.)
I started my campaign in Shadowdale (purely because it was one of the few places that my entirely new to the Realms group had heard of!).
From there, they encountered a the standard 'Goblin Warren' to get use to the lvl5 characters I had let them start with. Whilst in the cavern they found the goblins interacting with a Tiefling and chant going on about 'Power to the Pool'.
Now I expect that most of you now know where this going....
Yep, straight to Phlan and another wild magic affected Pool. Basically for the last few months the party has been trawling through the tombs of Ren, Tarl and Shal, usually just behind the Tiefling, trying to recover clues and Ioun Stones to stop the tiefling gaining control of the pool.
Tomorrow night they are going to find the clues that send them off towards the location of the pool, but along the way are going have to fight off a few demons and deal with a party of snnoyed Zhents (they have beaten up a group of Zhents before now after they lifted the curse that Bane had but on Tarl's Tomb following Tyr's 'death').
Not quite sure what they are going to face in the Pool dungeon yet, but I expect that it will be suitably impressive
I am going with the angle that Cyric has unknowingly received the portfolio of magic. His madness, and his captivity, have kept him blind from the truth. Shar, however, has known about it all along. She was planning on keeping Cyric controlled while the Shadow Weave absorbed the Weave. His captivity is hindering this though, as the Weave and Shadow Weave are not accessible to her. By releasing Cyric, she will keep him on a leash (without him realizing it) and slowly leach the power of the Weave away, empowering herself.
Here's to hoping my players don't check these forums (they hardly check ours, so I'm sure they won't be on here, lol).
I am going with the angle that Cyric has unknowingly received the portfolio of magic. His madness, and his captivity, have kept him blind from the truth. Shar, however, has known about it all along. She was planning on keeping Cyric controlled while the Shadow Weave absorbed the Weave. His captivity is hindering this though, as the Weave and Shadow Weave are not accessible to her. By releasing Cyric, she will keep him on a leash (without him realizing it) and slowly leach the power of the Weave away, empowering herself.
Interesting.
Does the Spellplague or do the plaguelands play any part in your campaign? If so, is there any link between them and the Weave?
)Yes, it does. The moment Cyric gained the portfolio, his madness kind of ran rampant with the Weave. During the short time between this and his imprisonment, the Spellplague came about from said insanity. When he gets locked up, the Spellplague dissipates, but the plaguelands remain.
The plaguelands are not spreading as easily as before though. If Cyric were to be released, and somehow kept ignorant of his control over the tatters of the Weave, the plaguelands would ramp up to full strength again and begin devouring everything around it. Eventually, the plague would consume everything on Toril, except that which Shar wishes to keep.
Shar's control of Cyric would then allow her minions to be safe, while all other gods minions would be destroyed. This weakens those gods, and then allows Shar's minions to work their will without hindrance, bringing about the end of all things.
Edit: Heh, forgot to put this in; the bits of Spellplague still in the plaguelands, are the remnants of both the Weave and the Shadow Weave. Their co-mingling is what caused the Spellplague to begin with.
---==---
Introduction:
The face of Faerun has changed forever. In 1385 DR, known as the Year of Blue Fire, the goddess Mystra was murdered, and the magic so closely bound to her Weave burst forth uncontrolled. Entire landscapes were vaporized, mountains rose and the land sank as parts of the Underdark collapsed. Gods and animals alike were destroyed as the Spellplague washed over the world of Toril. But as the dust settled and many things were erased or destroyed, just as many things were also created and changed, and the inhabitants of Faerun adapted. Along with this time, several new realms emerged from the chaos.
The year is 1479 DR, and one land that has emerged from the Spellplague is Elturgard, a theorcracy tucked between Baldur’s Gate and the Dragon Coast. Berdusk, a city on the east end of Elturgard, is normally a peaceful trading town doing business with travelers heading into the Dragon Coast. The Paladins of Elturgard have only stationed one of their caste here, as they can handle the troubles of this town with the help of the local guard and warden. The town boasts a number of general stores offering the standard gear and tools needed by the caravans and their guards, and in the middle of town is the Midnight Sun Inn, where the townsfolk meet after dark and trade stories over stew and ale.
Lately, trouble has been brewing in and around this quiet little town. Rumors are drifting south from the Reaching Woods (where travel is strictly forbidden and enforced by the Paladins over the past twenty years) that the gnolls have begun overwhelming the other races and are organizing for something big. The Paladins have steadfastly denied these rumors and continue to forbid travel in and out of the woods. More pressing to the local guard, though, is the number of disruptions of the peace occurring. Bar fights have been breaking out, rumors of patrons being poisoned or disappearing or both, shops finding valuable wears missing overnight. Warden Kinsley has his hands full trying to juggle all of this at once, and his frustration is starting to show as he continues to lack a single suspect or willing witness.
In this region of Faerun that is shown upon by the light of the Second Sun over Elturel, darkness rarely is seen by the residents of this moral and righteous land. Many people have grown complacent and even forgotten the terrors that exist outside this realm and out of sight. Only the foolish believe themselves protected, though, for darkness exists where the gaze of the good does not land.
---==---
The story thus far ("A Shifter, an Eladrin, an Elf and a Genasi walk into a bar..."):
The party find themselves in Berdusk for one reason or another, and naturally they are drawn to the large inn located in the market square in the middle of town: the Midnight Sun Inn, named as a homage to the Second Sun over the capital city of Elturel. The party is brought together by the keen eye of Mac, bartender, owner of the inn and retired adventurer, and a light discussion ensues over food and ale or wine. The discussion, however, is cut short as one after the other, each of the party becomes dizzy, then fatigued, then their worlds go black.
They awaken later in a jail cell, much to their shock, but as they began to take stock of their situation, they are let out by a young Tormish Paladin named Sir Jastor, and they learn that they were poisoned by bandits who have been a plague on the city for three months, looting and kidnapping and murdering townsfolk and merchants alike. At Mac's suggestion, they were "kept safe" in the fortified city jail, but they were not in trouble. The party is asked by Warden Kinsley, head of the city guard, jailor and something of a diplomat to the travelling merchants, to assist in finding the source of the bandits and stopping them for good.
The party investigates the inn and start slowly coaxing information out of the townsfolk, which draws the attention of the bandits. They are assaulted overnight, but the bandits were little match for the skilled heroes, and the last bandit left alive revealed that there was a warehouse in the Northwest District in the older part of town where the bandits were staging their efforts. The next day the party raids the warehouse and, with some effort, successfully clear the warehouse of bandits. They find two things of interest: one, none of the missing loot or people are there; and two, a map pointing to an area far SW of town near where the river Chionthar bends from north to east.
The next day, they head out on the road and eventually find the bandit camp a day-and-a-half later. Thanks to the element of surprise, they quickly wipe out the last of the bandits, freeing two merchants held prisoner and reclaimed most of the missing loot.... but not all of it. And what was more troubling was that they found invoices for weapons, armor and medical supplies... written in Goblin. Using a skull from a nearby shallow grave and the Last Sight Vision ritual, the party learns that some of the missing people and loot was purchased by a band of hobgoblins and goblins.
This is a disturbing revelation, because the Reaching Woods is the only place where these creatures exist in this region, and the Paladins sealed the woods off after being horrified at the creatures and demon-worshiping chaos that occurred in here. It's been two decades since anything entered or exited the Woods. Alarmed, the party gathered up what they could, loaded the bandit's cart and made their way back to the trail to hitch a ride with a merchant caravan to return to Berdusk.
When they got back to town, instead of a peaceful return and a victory celebration, they were greeting by the horrifying sight of half the town engulfed in flames. Their ears caught the faint sounds of heavy combat, and they rushed into a town under siege by a hobgoblin warband. Goblins were running through the alleys setting buildings ablaze faster than they could be stopped, and at the north gate, the city guard and Sir Jastor were locked in desperate combat with a large force of hobgoblins. The party rushed to the aid of the guard and Jastor, and eventually they did succeed.
However, it was not a victory for the city of Berdusk: half the town had been burnt, a third of that was completely destroyed or unusable. Merchants were slaughtered by the score and their wares were stolen. The city guard was decimated; few survived the assault. Sir Jastor pulled through, but his arm was shattered by the hobgoblin commander and no amount of healing would fix that injury, only time can. Merchants were quickly fleeing the city, never to return, fearful of a repeat assault and unconvinced they would be guarded. A few days later, Jastor pleaded with the heroes to pursue the warband and find out how they got out of the Reaching Woods and to stop them if at all possible.
Following the tracks made by the fleeing hobgoblins, the trail lead them to the plains near the Reaching Woods. Surrounding the forest as far as the eye could see was a shimmering wall of holy energy, reaching hundreds of feet into the air, as well as a number of towers outside the wall where the Paladins were stationed. The trail, however, veered to the side and an abandoned cart was at the end. Nearby, the party located a hidden shaft that dropped down far underground. They entered the tunnel to see where it ended.
Working their way through the tunnel, the Shifter turned a corner and was greeted by the sight of a large natural cavern followed immediately by an arrow. Two hobgoblins had set up an ambush at the far end of the cavern. As soon as the Eladrin entered the cavern, the other hobgoblin raised his bow and shot at the ceiling. Far above them, a bottle of Alchemist's Fire carefully placed at the top of the cavern exploded, and seconds later the ground and walls began to shake violently as the roof began to cave in! One archer fled down the far tunnel while the other continued to fire arrows at the party slowing them down. Although the Eladrin was hit by some of the falling roof, the heroes dispatched the archer and made it through to the other side safely as the cavern partly caved in, sealing the way behind them.
Travelling a long distance down the hewn tunnel, they came to a crossroad. To their right, a steep and muddy shaft headed upwards towards a distance faint light. Ahead, further down the passage, was only darkness as well as a faint sound of "tink! ...tink! ...tink!" Perplexed and suspecting the archer who fled was up to something, the shifter worked her way down the tunnel, turned the last corner and saw the hobgoblin hacking away at the end of the tunnel. He turned and grinned at her, then with a mighty heave slammed the pickaxe through the wall. Water immediately began bursting through the wall, growing in intensity as the wall began to crumble under the pressure of the water behind it. The hobgoblin climbed a rope nearby and disappeared into the ceiling.
The party, realizing that they had precious few seconds to escape the inevitable flash flood, scambled with adrenaline-fueled alacrity and climbed their way up the muddy shaft. The wall behind them collapsed and water rushed through like a stampede, barely missing the shifter by mere feet as they successfully climbed to the top and into what appeared to be a wine cellar of some sort. Catching their breath for a few minutes, they entered a door nearby only to be greeted by more arrows as a small group of hobgoblins greeted them. Combat ensued, and after the dust settled, the party grabbed what they could, headed through the final door and emerged into the dark and shady open air of the Reaching Woods.
Taking stock of their surroundings, they were shortly thereafter greeted by a Wild Elf, who answered their questions about recent events. Most significantly was the tale of how a huge army of gnolls were swiftly killing the rest of the forest's inhabitants, and the hobgoblins they encountered were some of the last warriors of the hobgoblin tribe who lives in this forest. The wild elf led them north a distance to show them an altar of Torm... or at least, it once was. Instead, it has been desecrated by the gnolls, the iron gauntlet of Torm inscribed into the stone shattered. In front of the altar, bodies of creatures of all races and origins were heaped up in a stack. All of the blood had been drained from the bodies, and the stench of rot and decay caused the party to reel away. The wild elf then led them back to a small tree-top camp that was the last standing home of their kind in the woods, where the party rested.
---==---
And that's where our last game ended. The players are now stuck in the isolated hell that is the Reaching Woods. What started out as a simple bandit problem turned into something far greater than them, and even that is nothing compared to the atrocities that they will face in the coming days. The gnolls are furious at being caged in the woods like mongrels, and not only do they want out, they want revenge. The blood that the gnolls have been collecting is being ferried north towards their main camp for unknown purposes, but whatever happens, the peace that Elturgard has been enjoying will soon be shattered, and night will fall over the lands for the first time in their waking memory.
This is my first game I've ever run, and I'm having such a magnificent time with it. The feedback from my players has been very positive, so I know I'm doing something right! ;) Thanks for reading!
If I ever run another FR game I think I will choose one of the regions detailed in DDI actually. The Moonseas are a forerunner because I never did get to run that piratry campaign I wanted to do properly. Hmmm.
(snip) This is my first game I've ever run, and I'm having such a magnificent time with it. The feedback from my players has been very positive, so I know I'm doing something right! ;) Thanks for reading!
Great stuff. I like they way you ran with the hook from the FRCG. I hope you post more.
(snip) Edit: Heh, forgot to put this in; the bits of Spellplague still in the plaguelands, are the remnants of both the Weave and the Shadow Weave. Their co-mingling is what caused the Spellplague to begin with.
Hmmm. Some good ideas there.
IMC, the Spellplague and the plaguelands etc... are the blood or essence of Mystra. However, after reading your post I'm thinking that they should also include some of the madness of Cyric because of his role in her demise and subsequent imprisonment.
On that note, if I accept that this is true then the liberation of Cyric would allow stop the chaos of the plaguelands and other remains of the Spellplague and potentially allow for Mystra to be reborn. Now that could be an interesting campaign with the right group!
The spellplague affected their imprisonment in horrific ways. The person who imprisoned them had planned to come release them, but then the Spellplague struck, and he was nearly destroyed, relegated to only an astral presence, seeking a way back to the Realms. After 100 years, he has managed to find his way back, as well as determined a method of releasing our characters from magic that no longer exists.
And so, my characters souls now inhabit the bodies of spellscarred death row inmates, as spellscars were necessary for the ritual that released them to work. Everyone believes these men were executed. The ritual was supposed to wipe the previous occupants clean and insert the new owners, but it didn't happen as cleanly, and the old owners minds are now locked inside them, giving them memories and nightmares that are not their own. They lack their old powers, and so have to start anew in a new world.
And old enemies die hard.
The campaign I'm running is located in the bloodstone lands (Vassa & Damara)
The PCs will be witness to the events that have already happened in the region since I'm starting the game a few years before the current year (either 1460 or 1469).
If anyone wants to see the campaign website I'll pm you the link. I'm posting the journals of each session on the site and I'm slowly detailing my own take on what has logically happened there given what we know so far.
For example,
The Order of the Golden Cup
Over the last century the Order of the Golden Cup maintained a strong presence in Damara. Their largest stronghold is the castle and fortifications of the Damaran Gate. The knightly order has refused to become directly involved in political disputes throughout the kingdom. It is only out of a sense of loyalty to the old throne of bloodstone that they are lending money to the various baronies of Damara.
Truly, if there is anything resembling a bank in Darmara, it is the Order of the Golden Cup. Over the years many of the baronies have become indebted to the order, the most noteworthy of which is the current king of Damara.
In addition to providing financial stability to the Kingdom of Damara the Order has many other responsibilities. The knights have taken it upon themselves to protect wealthy merchants and their caravans traveling through Damara. In fact, during the civil war they insured caravans from brigands and various other threats. The knights are also sworn to protect the pilgrims traveling to and from various monasteries and churches of Ilmatar. Rumor has it that the Order of the Golden Cup is in possession of several artifacts and much of the late King Gareth Dragonsbane's treasure horde.
Recently, the Order was defeated at the Vassan wall by a Warlock Knight named The Scourge of Telos and his army. The Order claims that they were betrayed by the current Duke of Bloodstone City. They also allege that that the Duke used the defeat as an excuse to have the Order and the church of Ilmater evicted from Bloodstone City for incompetence. Needless to say, the baron's new militia has already threatened the knights with several overtly aggressive actions.
Rather than name the Warlock knights I figured it would be cool to simply refer to each of them in the same way they refer to their leader, "The Voice of Telos". I could then make, "The Eye of Telos", "The Scourge of Telos", etc.. That way I wouldn't have to worry if a new Vassa article appears detailing them them all.
The Spellplague freed many demons imprisoned by magic and the demon cults are spreading fast in the once striving kingdom of Impiltur.
Several people were brought together by fate and the divine power of Selûne. Together, they began the fight against cultists and seek clues to find the lost heir to king Imbrar's throne.
At this time, the party is composed of a human staff wizard, a human warlock, a tiefling warlock/rogue, a gnome illusionist wizard and a cleric of Ilmater.
During their travels their uncovered several plots in the region.
* They reconstructed the legendary staff of the wizard Tyridis, an ancient hero of the kingdom of Impiltur and used its powers to advance their quests (and in the quests to achieve this goals braved an island on which the Spellplague is still active).
* They prevented a cell of cultists to sacrifice innocents in order to bring more demons on Faerûn.
* They answered the call of the archfey with which the tiefling warlock made a pact to help him reduce the strength of his enemies in the Feywild.
* They discovered that the wizard hero Tyridis became a lich a few years after the Spellplague and that he wants to help Impiltur get rid of the demon cultists. In fact, the adventurers made an alliance with the lich in order to strike at the most powerful cultist cells in the region, including the Brotherhood of Tharos).
* With the help of the mentor of one of the characters, they discovered that demons want to resume the Blood War with the devils (war that was terminated when the Abyss was cast down at the bottom of the Elemental Chaos) on Faerûn and chose Impiltur as a starting battleground.
* During a specially hard mission against the demonic cults, the adventurers perished and found themselves in the Fugue Plane. There, they met Kelemvor who, thanks to a deal made by Tymora and someone else (Tymora being the goddess worshipped by most characters), returned the characters to life but banished them to wander the Astral Sea during one year and one day.
* Their journey in the astral Sea began harshly with an encounter with Githyanki slavers, the exploration of an ancient workshop dedicated to Gond, the finding of Gadarn's Haven, a place of learning and crafts founded by a high priest of the God of Crafts. In their latest adventure, they were seeking a group of adventurers who went missing and found themselves trapped into a maze where many challenges waited for them. They learned at the end that the maze was constructed by an exarch of Tymora in order to test the adventurers to see if they were powerful enough to face the challenges ahead.
* They are currently en route to another island in the Astral Sea, still seeking the lost adventurers...
Meanwhile on Impiltur, the allies of the characters try to know what happened to them and continue their quest to find the heir to Imbrar's throne.
This is so far a very intense campaign with a lot of events meant to allow the characters to change the fate of Impiltur. I try to involve the characters in many of the events taking place so that they can feel they have some weight in the challenges they face.
I do not know up to where this campaign will go but I have high hopes of it reaching epic level in a few more sessions. The party is at the moment level 17. We started at 1st level.
(snip)If anyone wants to see the campaign website I'll pm you the link. I'm posting the journals of each session on the site and I'm slowly detailing my own take on what has logically happened there given what we know so far. (snip)
Good stuff!
Yes, would you please post the link. I would really like to read more.
Thanks for posting.
I'm running several campaigns in FR at the moment, but the most advanced originated in Impiltur. (snip)
Lots of good stuff there, too! I hope you post about your other campaigns also.
Thanks for posting.