| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Apr 2005 : 00:07:04
1370 DR
Wulgar of Hillsafar Hall in the Galena Mountains is a well respected and accomplished student of Thoror Irondelver, a dwarven defender, who is grooming Wulgar to follow in the traditions of that most respected dwarven dicipline. Until that time, Wulgar is working as a caravan guard for his clan's mining interests, travelling to the human settlements to sell their wares.
Though the entire event is a misunderstanding, Wulgar is found in a compromising position with the daughter of one of Hillsafar Hall's Elder Councilmen, in a bath. Wulgar is proven to be completely innocent of any wrongdoing, but being a very private and prideful dwarf, Wulgar vows to leave until his accomplishments are so great that no in the Hall will remember the embarrasing incident.
Wulgar travels with a caravan into Damara, then hires on as a guard and makes the trek all the way to Cormyr, hoping to find his glory far from the laughing eyes of his clan members. While most of the caravan guards gamble with dice and cards in their free time, Wulgar plays chess with the merchants and passengers, and reads anything relating to history or philosophy that he can get his hands on, at least in part to help him understand the humans that he will be among for a while.
Meriden Greystag, a native Cormyrean, finishes his training as a cleric of Helm at the relatively small Shrine of He Who Watches Over Travelers in Arabel. After his ordination, Novice Watcher Meriden Greystag is assigned to say blessings over the travellers that come to the shrine. While many caravan guards and mercenaries come to receive Helm's blessing, Meriden also hears the grumblings of those who have come to disparage Helm's faith, blaming Helm for the death of many of the gods, and accusing the Helmite priesthood of virtually enslaving the poplation of the far off lands of Maztica. Meriden realizes then that his calling within the priesthood is to restore Helm's good name and the good will of the common folk of the North.
Wulgar and Meriden meet when Wulgar's caravan arrives in Arabel. Wulgar immediately likes the young cleric, and the two spend much of the quiet winter visiting taverns, debating philosophy, and playing chess. The two make plans to travel as soon as Meriden's superiors give him an assignment that allows him to travel.
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| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 06 Mar 2007 : 04:18:22
Kythorn 21-28th, 1375 DR
The adventurers revive the elves, and the elves give the adventurers gifts of several rare gemstones. They also tell Haresk that they will find another time to have their meeting. Haresk asks Meriden if there is anything he can do for Naurvintha. Meriden reluctantly mentioned the Mindsword of Murdane, and Haresk says that he wants to use it on Naurvintha.
Upon returning to the temple of Helm, Naurvintha is “restored” after contact with the sword, but she has no memory of the years going back to when her sister was first kidnapped by Khez'rit. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 06 Mar 2007 : 04:17:43
Kythorn 20th, 1375 DR
Upon arriving at the elf camp, the party notices that it is unnaturally quiet. They scout around, and Grim turns into a bird to fly around the country side. The elf camp is still except for some glow globes floating around, but Grim then sees a strange, malignant giant made of black energy, gaunt and with a fearsome gaze, standing taller than a hill giant.
Grim warns the rest of the adventurers about this figure, and they cast a few protective spells and begin to get ready to assault the monster. The beast itself lumbers into view, somewhat awkwardly, as if listening to distant commands. The creature fires a blast of cold over them, then closes on them.
The party attacks the creature, and Meriden can tell that it is some kind of undead creature, and perhaps from the plane of Shadow. The adventurer so little harm to it, and Meriden is prepared to use healing magic to damage it, but then an unseen spellcaster speaks a word of power and knocks most of the adventurers senseless, unable to attack or defend themselves effectively.
Wulgar is unaffected by the word of power, and invokes the talents of the Dwarven Defender to root himself to the spot, standing between himself and the undead thing, keeping it away from his friends. He tears into it will all his might, and although he does little to it, he will not budge.
Some unseen caster continues to hurl spells, and Meriden thinks he recognizes the voice. Blasts of cold rock the wounded party, freezing but not killing. A hand touches Meriden and tires to utilize translocational magic, but his will holds out against this. Meriden is almost certain that the voice in Naurvintha's.
The creature uses its fearsome gaze to try to terrify the adventurers, and it picks up Meriden's sword and crushes the relic as if it were a twig.
Haresk, who is far enough away to avoid most of the magic that has been hurled, is using the rod of Pelden to shield himself, as well as to throw shards of force into the undead creature. The adventurers recover, and together they bring the creature low, although Grim has the distinct feeling that the creature could have done much more damage than it did.
The adventures pin point the invisible assailant, and eventually they knock her unconcious. When she comes into view, it is clear that it is Naurvintha, but she appears much older than she should be for the age when the adventurers last saw her.
When Naurvintha is captured, a figure, with grey skin and cloaked in swirling shadows appears. He introduces himself as Ambassador Venthraen, and says that he is Borsaelis' replacement. He tells the adventurers that the Shadovar had replaced Naurvintha months before the wedding, but that the Maulaugrym foolishly kidnapped their agent, who was then eaten by the raging green dragon.
Venthraen mentions that they used “advanced temporal techniques” to train her quickly, and showed her alternate realities where Meriden and Haresk did unspeakable thigns, in order to turn her against them. Unfortunately, the training was too destablilizing for her psyche, and she seems to have snapped.
When Grim attacks, Venthraen is reavealed to simply be a projected illusion, and he tells the adventures that he will meet them again later, and to thank the gnomes for their generous contribution to the “grand experiment.”
Naurvintha is terrified of Meriden and Haresk, and mutters about what she has seen in the alternate timelines.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 06 Mar 2007 : 04:16:52
Kythorn 19th, 1375 DR
The travel during the day is uneventful, but at night, the adventurers find a single figure trying to stalk into the camp. Fairly quickly he is recognized as Sentesk, the monk who has vowed revenge upon Meriden and Wulgar. Wulgar makes short work of the monk, and curses that he has died so easily.
Other figures stalk out of the woods. A goblin dressed as the Grodd goblins do, the two halfling Dancers that Wulgar and Meriden faced down in Scardale, the orc warrior that the pair embarassed outside of Scardale, and Khez'rit, the drow wizard that Wulgar and Meriden captured years ago.
Khez'rit and the Dancers are somewhat less bloodthirsty than the rest of the accosting band, but the goblin and the orc are fully ready to shed blood. After a few moments, the halflings are ready to surrender, but Khez'rit is too afraid of their “mistress” to give up on what he has been hired to do. All of the band seems afraid of this shadowy mistress.
Khez'rit is killed, the halflings surrender, but the goblin brings down a blast of cold, shadow lightning which arcs to all of the adventurers before he himself is felled. The orc fights to the death, cursing them with his dying breath.
Meriden carefully collects Khez'rit's remains, remembering the drow from their conversations years ago, and the halflings agree to be imprisioned in a manner similar to the drow. They are reluctant to talk about their employer, until Mourn shows them his true vissage, and accesses some of his infernal traits. Between this display and Wulgar's insistance, the halflings give up that they were hired in Scardale by some shadowy figure that never revealed its face, that it was a female that paid very well, and that everyone hired seemed to have some kind of connection to Meriden.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 06 Mar 2007 : 04:16:11
Kythorn 17-18th, 1375 DR
The meeting between Haresk and Meriden is somewhat strained, with neither being fully able to relax. Still, Haresk asks the adventurers to acompany him to a secret meeting with some of the elves, including Luvon Greencloak and representatives of the new force in Myth Drannor. The elves wish to discuss recent events and rumors about Sembia, and they want the meeting to be informal. Haresk wants to travel in secret, without a detatchment of Mistledale Lancers.
The adventurers agree, and Grim goes to the Velvet Veil to secure some makeup and other items to help disguise Haresk for their trip. The adventurers set off mid day, and head toward the Standing Stone, as the elves have a camp nearby.
In the evening, while on watch, a group of shadowy figures near the camp. Expertly thrown daggers sail toward Meriden and Stilgar, but neither one finds a home in their flesh. As they rouse the other adventurers, Meriden is struck with a blast of heat that takes him unaware, and magical energy nearly overwhealms him.
The assailants are drow, and as one passes by Emen's tent, a large hand shoots out of the tent, and yanks a drow warrior inside. Emen easily accosts the warrior and begins to crush the life from him in a massive bear hug that he cannot break.
The drow wizard continues to fire blasts of heat, while the cleric of the dark elves invokes the power of their god to fire streaming, slashing ribbons of darkness to injure those nearby. The adventurers make short work of most of the drow, except the wizard and the warrior that Emen has captured. The wizard surrenders, and tells the adventurers and Haresk that he will gladly give them any information that they wish to know if they will spare him, and he begins to detail a demonic creature stalking the drow, as well as the mishaps that have occurred from the returning elves and the marauding devils.
Meriden casts a spell on the surrendering drow to imprison them in the Etherial Plane until such time as they can suitable retreive them.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 02 Mar 2007 : 05:27:00
Kythorn 15th-16th, 1375 DR
The party travels until sundown, and set up watches. Early hours of the morning, on the last watch, Stilgar hears the mounts disturbed, trying to break their bonds and trying to run, squealing and neighing as if injured. Stilgar calls to the rest of the camp, but sees nothing. He peers out into the woods to investigate, but still sees nothing . . . but claw and bite marks apear across his body.
Everyone is awake but Mourn, and Stilgar finds the assailants, a group of four creatures that look somewhat like decaying, hairless, black skinned gnomes, with long red claws and sharp teeth. As they giggle and slash one another, Stilgar is injured by their wounds.
Stilgar and Emen close on the creatures, and Emen nearly kills one, and everyone near her is hurt as if struck by a huge fist. Stilgar cleaves through one beast, then into another, killing both cleanly. The creatures heads hover and curse in a multitude of languages as once before disappearing. The last two try to summon more aid by drawing symbols in the air, but they fail.
Despite this, two more demons teleport into the camp, huge armored toadlike creatures that walk upright like men, with mouths filled with sharp teeth and reeking of horrid otherworldy filth. One creature waves its claw, and everyone but Mourn and Stilgar are battered with mystical force. The other creature does the same, and everyone but Emen are assaulted with otherworldly dread.
Meriden calls on Helm to bind one of the demons to Faerun, unable to teleport or bring forth allies from the Abyss. Stilgar finishes off the smaller demons, and everyone closes on the toad demons. Mourn is still further away, near camp, firing blasts of eldritch energy at the creatures.
While this battle rages on, yet another demon teleports into the fight, this one a fearsome creature with four arms, a canine head, and massive pinchers. The creature prounounces a powerful word, and just as one of the toad beast's perishes, the entire band of adventurers, except for Mourn and Grim, are completely stunned, unable to keep up the fight. Grim tears into one of the demons in bear form.
Mourn blasts the large new demon, trying to draw it off of his companions. He then calls forth some black, writing tentacles infused with cold, trying to hold the abyssal creature away from his friends. The creature manages to teleport away from the tentacles, and closes on Morn. Morn tries to teleport himself, but the creature is too close to him, and its pincher nearly slices him apart, nearly killing him.
The second toad demon fails to summon help, and is finished off, and the adventurers attack the largest demon. Mourn slinks away, and wills himself to begin healing, using his newfound infernal powers. The demon tears at the air with its smaller hands, and with a pincher reaches into the Abyss and draws forth a vulture like demon. Grim strikes the killing blow with his magically enhanced claws, and the beast explodes in a sickening buurst of yellow energy.
After this encounter, the rest of the travel into Ashabenford is uneventful. The party travels back into town, and rest for the evening before their meeting with Haresk the next day. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 02 Mar 2007 : 05:26:26
Kythorn 11th-14th, 1375 DR
The adventurers travel back to the temple, and Emen remembers to tell Meriden about the sword that she was entrusted with. He knows who Murdane was, but knows nothing any artifacts sacred to her. He tells Emen that he will put it in a safe place at the temple. Meriden also prepares to commune with Helm, in order to dicern what he should be doing, and if Mourn can be trusted, and how to help him.
Meriden learns that Helm does not wish him to investigate the troubles in Sembia, and that Mourn's path is his own, and that Meriden can freely try to work with him to aid him, but in the end, his path will be decided on his own lessons.
Meriden sends word to Tsurlagol about the artifact, and the attack, and they let him know that a force of paladins from the Vigilant Eyes of the Deity will be arriving soon, and they may be able to help fill him in on the artifact.
Stilgar and Wulgar propose a drinking contest, and Meriden shocks the whole party by telling them he doesn't drink alchohol any longer, but he has the best temple stock brought out for them. Emen and Mourn also start the contest, but Emen takes one drink and realizes that she no longer feels any effects from the alchohol, and Mourn passes out fairly quickly.
Stilgar and Wulgar drink each other to a standstill, until both have to be carried out of the common room of the temple.
Meriden learns from his clerics that the temple was attacked by a lich, who appeared in the area of the temple where the Moonstar agent sent by Myrmeen Lhal discusses the information gathered by the Helmite spies. The Moonstar agent tells Meriden that the lich was a being known as the Frustrune, and that he struck several sites of the Moonstars back during the fall. This attack took place back in Marpenoth, not long after Meriden left, and the agent tells Meriden that the lich apparently has been “dealt with,” according to a missive from Laeral.
The next day, the paladins of the Vigilant Eyes of the Deity arrive, and their leader, a Watchknight, knows a bit more about the sword and what it might be able to do. When it is passed through Mourn's head, his mind is cleared, and he is not only sober, but remembers almost all of his past and what has led him to this point in time.
The sword can restore clarity to one's mind, and it can take away painful memories, though it might take away one's recollection of time passed as well as the painful memories. Meriden locks the sword up in the safest chamber of the temple. Stilgar and Wulgar donate some of their gold to the temple, and Meriden has his priests clear their minds from the drink of the night before.
Neylessa Shendean, leader of the Mistledale Lancers, arrives, and tells Meriden that Haresk would like to see him, if he is available. Meriden tells her that he would like to come, and he will leave soon. She says her goodbyes, and Meriden is a bit aprehensive about seeing Naurvintha's father again.
After a short time preparing, the adventurers set off back to Ashabenford.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 02 Mar 2007 : 05:25:38
Kythorn 8-10th, 1375 DR
Grim tells Emen and Stilgar what is going on in the dale, all of them head to the ruins of the farmhouse to see if they can find any of their old belongings. The trip to the farmhouse is relatively uneventful, and they arrive at the farmhouse unscathed.
Wulgar Browniefriend sets out from Glen on his trusted war boar, heading toward the farmstead, and narrowly misses Meriden on the road back from his voyage to Tsurlagol.
A naked figure find himself in the woods, near some robes, a piece of jewelry, a ring, and a sickle, with a note written in Infernal that explains that these are a gift for him, and that he should continue to honor those that have bestowed this gift upon him.
Grim, Emen, and Stilgar arrive at the ruined farmhouse and start to sort through the rubble, when Meriden arrives, followed shortly by Wulgar. Wulgar and Meriden share an emotional greeting, and Meriden introduces Wulgar to Stilgar, whom he has not met. After the introductions, they all share their stories from the last few years, and Grim, Emen, and Stilgar share what happened to the temple with Meriden.
In the shadows, the adventurers see a figure, and are on guard. The figure has red metallic skin, silver hair and eyes, small black horns and black fangs. His features are very elf like, and Meriden is nearly ready to draw his sword and attack what appears to be a fey'ri, but Grim recognizes him, and stays Meriden's hand. They all then recognize the elf-thing as Mourn, but Mourn himself remembers almost nothing, though he has an amazing grasp of arcane knowledge and planar trivia.
The party stays at the White Hart Inn and catch up with Holfast Harpenshield. They hear about the rumblings of civil war in Sembia, and they catch up on local gossip as well. There are many adventurers staying at the inn, hoping to hire on with the elves to clear out Myth Drannor and the woods around it. Grim is concerned about them, and so talks to a few of them, as does Wulgar.
Wulgar takes up drinking and trading adventuring stories with the Company of the Iron Hammer, a group of Cormyreans and Tuigan who have decided to seek fame, fortune, and adventure after meeting each other in Kourmira in the Hordelands. They hope to impress worthies in Cormyr with their adventures, but are fairly forthright folk.
Grim talks to the Company of the Spur, an oppourtunistic and cynical band; the Starcrossed, a group of romantics and dreamers, many of whom are followers of Sune; and the Rolling Drundle, a band of gnomish adventurers hoping to prove themselves to the elves in Myth Drannor as worthy allies. Grim is wary of the Spur, and the Starcrossed remind him too much of the ill fated Varim's Band, and he directs them to the Velvet Veil to relax and to pursue safer pursuits. The Rolling Drundle actually seem to be the most goodly and competant adventurers he talks to.
When Grim mentions something about the competancy of Varim's Band to Meriden, Meriden sharply points out that he'll not hear an ill word about the Sunite adventurers, as they were brave and he himself sent them out to die two years ago. Everyone retires soon after, though Grim visits his centaur friend once more.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 02 Mar 2007 : 05:25:03
Kythorn 5-7th, 1375 DR
Grim flies ahead, and while he sees some places ravaged by the hordes of fiends, he sees no sign of immediate trouble. He flies toward the farm house that the Meriden rented, and finds that it has been destroyed in the battles. Grim then flies north to Ashabenford to find out more information.
Grim tries to get an audience with Haresk Malorn, but finds that the High Councilor is too busy to see him, but he also notices that the meeting hall of the Councilors is being built in town. Councilor Ulwen Sharin meets with Grim and informs him that while some of the outlying farms were hit hard, Ashabenford survived the recent events fairly well, and that they are slowly rebuilding.
Grim spends some time with his centaur aquaintance at the Velvet Veil before setting back out to Pelden's Helm to tell his compatriots about what is going on. The next morning he flies back toward his friends. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 02 Mar 2007 : 05:24:22
Kythorn 4th, 1375 DR
Upon arriving in Pelden's Helm, the group secures rooms at the Man with Fire in his Hands, and the gnomes set up lodging, while Emen, Stilgar, and Grim head to the temple of Helm on the edge of the Beast Country.
The temple has clearly been damaged, not just by scortch marks and seige damage, but by a large hole that appears to have been blown out from the inside of the building. The preists are close mouthed about what happened, but one of the underclerics slips and mentions something about a lich.
Although they will not talk about the more recent attacks, the clerics do fill in the adventures about what has happened in the Dalelands since they left for Wildspace, explaining the arrival of the Elven Crusade, the Daemonfey troops, and the armies of fiends that swept through the region. They also confirm that Meriden made it through the battles fine, and is away on temple business.
The adventurers meet back up at the Man with Fire in his Hands and Grim agrees to fly ahead in bird form to scout the way to Ashabenford given recent events and the mysterious happenings at the temple. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 02 Mar 2007 : 05:21:56
Kythorn 3rd, 1375 DR
Just outside of Ashabenford the gnomish ship is nearing its destination, but it begins to act erratically. Killidaegra believes that the ship has been affected by some kind of spell, and she tries desperately to land the ship without damaging it.
After the rough landing, the adventurers as well as the gnomes exit the ship to see what is going on, and they see a large shadow pass over the ship. A blue dragon, being ridden by a dark form, circles above, enclosed in a cloud of darkness. The adventurers prepare for battle, but do not provoke the dragon, and the dragon, ignoring them, flies down and lifts the ship up off the ground, and begins to fly off.
Neither the gnomes nor the adventurers want to challenge the dragon, but Swarnart begins to blubber about losing the ship, over and over again, and Killidaegra tells Swarnart to act like a grown male.
The adventurers and the gnomes head into Pelden's Helm.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 02 Mar 2007 : 05:21:08
Mirtul, 1375 DR
Meriden finished up his business in Tsurlagol, boards a ship, and sails back to the Dalelands, at which point he begins his ride back home to the temple, not fully aware of the other events that have been going on around the region, and spending a bit of time conversing with his elven associates on the way back home.
Wulgar Browniefriend returns from the Great Rift and his work defending the merchant caravans of Brongulf Ironfurrow, and during his time in the Great Rift completes his training in the ancient dwarven dicipline of the Dwarven Defender. Wulgar and Yrend set a date for their marriage, and Wulgar decides to travel from Glen back to Ashabenford to see if his friend Meriden is there, so that he can catch up with him on events that have transpired.
Killideagra and Swanart set the adventurers down in the Marsh of Tun so that Stilgar can doll out some of the gold that he has collected in his adventuring career to his mother and his community. While Stilgar makes his way to the hidden caves of the Mir, his mother is so thrilled that he has a child that she has the tribal shaman call for a tribal meet. The shaman calls the tribe to a common meeting place, away from the hidden caves, and the available tribesfolk show up for the naming ceremony for Stilgar's child.
Lhoeriath is intrigued by Stilgar's people, and by the tribal shaman and their devotion to Silvanus, and she accepts the oath as a member of the tribe, pledging to stay with the other women and defend them with her ability, and after she takes this oath, she and Stilgar are joined in marriage. She agrees to spend time with the Mir, and the adventurers rest in the caves for a while.
After the ceremony, Grim uses the fey crossroads and his abilty to take the form of a bird to travel to the Tower of Lurue on the west side of the Moonwood. Grim has a talk with the head of the Tower, Sanaraen Ladystrider, about the Harper's learning about the quest set before him by his inheritance of Rollivard's Catalogue of Fey Crossroads. Sanaraen tells Grim that she is sorry that they allowed his secrets to get out, but that they implicitly trust the Harpers. Grim is skeptical of this, and tells her to keep his business away from Harper eyes, but holds his temper in check. He then returns to the Marsh of Tun.
After Grim returns, the adventurers say their goodbyes and set out for Ashabenford. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 09 Feb 2007 : 00:43:04
Interlude: Spring 1375 DR (Mourn, The Fugue Plane)
Mourn's spirit arrives on the Fugue Plane, and almost as soon as he arrives, a diabolical creature appears, and tells Mourn that he is ready to claim him. Almost as soon as this happens, a glowing, elf like being arrives, an emisary of the Seldarine, just as the first being was a representative of the Nine Hells.
The two beings argue over the fate of Mourn's soul, the devil argueing that Mourn had signed a contract to give over his soul, and the eledrin argueing that Mourn dided nobly and that he was not in his right mind when he made the pact.
Eventually an armored figure with black and white wings, wearing steel armor arrives, and says that this matter will have to be decided within Kelemvor's court of Judgement. All three travel to the Crystal Spire, and an aspect of Kelemvor awaits them in one of the audience chambers within the room.
Kelemvor's aspect reads over the contract, and the eledrin produces a kiira stone that Kelemvor's aspect touches, which then displays Mourn's life before all arrayed. The eledrin argues that clearly Mourn was not sane and could not be held to the contract. Kelemvor's aspect rules that Mourn may have been insane, but he was sane when he benefited from the pact, and that he showed that he was capable of making the pact when he nearly sold the child to the Durzagon in the fey crossroads years ago. However, he also died a heroic death.
Kelemvor rules that Mourn will have a second chance to prove where he belongs. He is to be resurrected as a hellbred, and he may try to prove his worth on Toril until death takes him again, at which point his final fate will be decided.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 08 Feb 2007 : 21:34:25
Late Spring 1374 DR to Early Summer 1375 DR
During the summer of 1374 DR, Meriden is busy with the invasion of the Daemonfey, part demon gold elves that bring with them hordes of demons and daemons, and try to take over Myth Drannor. Once in Myth Drannor, the Daemonfey enslave the devils native to the ruined city. An army of elves comprised of units from Evermeet and Evereska arrives in the Dales, and meets with Haresk Malorn, as well as Mourngrym, Randal Morn, and Lord Ilmeth of Battledale. While Meriden knows about the meeting with the Dalelands leaders and the arrival of the elves, he doesn't know about the armies of fiends until just before a combined force sweeps through Mistledale.
Meriden and his fellow clerics manage to get most of the population of Pelden's Helm into the temple and fortify them against the demon attacks. Overblade Lyrkaen from Tsurlagol manages to lock the temple down from extraplanar intrusion, and the temple's spectator dies defending the last of the retreating clerics. Meriden's sword manages to kill quite of few of the soldier demons, but he has to retreat when he the devils and daemons enter the stage. His guardian justicator buys him some time, and when they manage to fall back into the temple, Lyrkaen contacts his superiors in Tsurlagol, and they manage to send several inevitables to defend the temple.
Eventually the demons and devils fall back to Myth Drannor and aid arrives from the elven armies as well. While the demons and devils lessen after the daemonfey have been driven away, many monsters are still roaming Myth Drannor and Cormanthor in general, so Meriden aids the elves in hunting demons in the forest, and is named as a human welcome in Myth Drannor. He also sees several adventurers arrive in the ruined city to aid the elves, and meets Florin Falconhand and Dove from the Knights of Myth Drannor, as well as Fflar Starbrow, commander of Coronal Miritar's forces and Consort to the Coronal herself.
After spending a few months aiding the elven army in clearing out demons and devils, and after receiving a gift, a crossbow enspelled to harm evil creatures from other planes of existance.
Meriden heads out for Tsurlagol to obtain more funding to repair demon damaged temple and to request more priests and funds to fortify the place. He is in Tsurlagol until the spring of 1375 DR, and receives a promise for the potential for new funds, temporary staffing, and the rank of Guardian. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 08 Feb 2007 : 21:30:06
Late Spring 1373 DR to Early Summer 1375 DR (Stilgar, Mourn, Emen, and Grim)
The adventurers travel with Killideagra and Swanart into the expanse that the two gnomes refer to as "wildspace," and the group does their best to steer the strange vessel. Following the charts on the ship, they manage to head toward the moon, and then veer off toward the Tears of Selune to a space station known as Dragon Rock.
Upon arriving on Dragon Rock, the adventurers talk to several space farers to learn about wildspace and what is found there. After spending some time here, while the gnomes try to hire crewmen and learn more about their inherited ship, a man comes up the Emen, Mourn, Grim, and Stilgar and strikes up a conversation.
Easal Gifford, a paladin and member of a group called Code Helm, wants to know if they would be interested in aiding with raids on illithid bases on a world of Glyth. He explains the nature of illithids in space as well as generally the layout of Realmspace, the planets nearest to the world of Toril.
Mourn is excited to go, Emen feels somewhat compelled since Code Helm was founded by Helmites, Grim is guarded and thinks that Mourn is insane, and Stilgar is influenced by Lhoeriath to check in on this situation. They take the job, and tell the gnomes that they will be in touch.
Lhoeriath and the child set up shop on Code Helm's base in the Rings of Glyth, and the adventurers prepare for their assault on Glyth. The adventurers will fly past a patrol ship and check in as a slaver ship, and once the ship checks out, they will falsify a wreck, and the adventurers will head off toward one of the illithid "ranches" to investigate Code Helm's concerns.
The adventurers travel to the surface in the manner described. The party manages to evacuate the ship properly, and then travel toward the "ranch" as planned. Stilgar and Emen proceed to then entrance while Mourn and Grim use their shapechanging abilities to scout out the edges of the ranch.
At the entrance of the place Emen and Stilgar see only one guard, a strangle armored illithid that also has spiked chains affixed to its tentacles. While all members of the party have rings protecting their minds from illithid assault, the illithid seems to know where they are, though it may have just been especially perceptive. As it moves towards them, Stilgar charges the creature and Emen prepares for her attack. The illithid launches into a whirling attack with its chain flail tentacles, striking both adventurers and knocking them off guard.
The strange fighting illithid manages to pull Stilgar's axe away from him, and another tentacle reaches out and strikes Emen at a distance. Stilgar dives for his axe while Emen closes on the illithid and catches the creature in a grapple. Stilgar strikes the creature hard, sending jolts of electricity through it, but despite Emen's hold on the creature, its tentacle manages to reach out and trip Stilgar. Emen knocks the creature to the ground, and Stilgar strikes while the creature is prone. If fights with its reaching tentacles for a few more moments, but eventually Emen rips off its tentacles as Stilgar buries his axe in its chest. Using a potion of comprehend languages, Grim decides to gather some information, and approaches on of the humans on the ranch. They mention that the masters will be coming to take the most enlightened ones soon, but that they have recently changed their procedures. In the past, the enlightened ones took the most promising of the humans away to live in a city filled with the enlightened ones to give them advanced training, but now they have been returning some of the "trained" humans back to the ranch, so that they might take parters and produce children.
The returned ones say very little, except that they have been given a great gift by the enlightened ones. The female tells Grim that she didn't know when he arrived, and asks if he is one of the enlightened ones from the illithid cities. He tells her that he is just a new inhabitant of the "school" recently moved there, and she says that she hopes to mate with him soon, as she will soon be in season.
Skulking around the edge of the camp, Mourn is taken unaware by a group of savage looking humans. He uses his potion of comprehend languages, and speaks with them. They tell him that they can sense he is a magical creature, but that the "tentacled devils" rarely alter animals without causing them to change their appearance, so they wanted to be sure of what Mourn was. They tell him that they are rebels that travel this region of Glyth, and that they have hired mercenaries from beyond to aid them in their attacks. They paid them with stolen magic items from the last ranch they raided.
Grim meets up with Mourn and is surprised to find the rebels. All of them meet up with Emen and Stilgar, and they tell their companions how lightly guarded the front gate to the place was. Before any of them can react, a Spelljamming ship streaks over the horizon and starts launching exploding balista bolts at the ranch, scattering the humans. The rebels say that these are their mercenaries, but that they aren't suppose to attack yet. A cloak of shadows goes up over the whole ranch, and the rebels say that its a standard feature of the ranch that the illithids can throw up the "Shadow Cloak" when they have to arrive in large numbers. The mercenaries disembark their ship, and they appear to be wiry, yellow skinned creatures, with tight skin drawn tight over their bodies. They seem to be rounding up the humans, while waiting for something to come out and meet them. From one of the buildings on the ranch, a creature bursts out at the mercenaries. It looks like a dragon with small purple scales, and large kite like wings of flesh, but the head of the dragon has small white eyes, and where the mouth should be are long, slimy tentacles. In addition, three illithids fly out of the same building, and being to attack the mercenaries, who attack them with wild abandon.
The humans are being trampled and attacked left and right by the dragon thing, while the illithids are hurling bolts of psionic energy into the ranks of the mercenaries. The rebels charge the creature, and the adventurers follow suit. Mourn begins to fire at it with scorching rays, and Stilgar and Emen charge the beast, while Grim moves some humans out of the way of the creature. Emen tries to grapple the things head, Stilgar hacks at its body, and Mourn keeps firing spells, many of which fail to penetrate its resistance to magic. Grim jumps onto its back and absorbs his daggers into the claws that he grows as a bear. After a few more blows, the dragon thing incapacitates Stilgar and Mourn with its mental powers, but Emen and Grim manage to finish the dragon off.
The pirates are nearly routed, and more illithids show up. The rebels ask the adventurers to help round up the wounded and get them into the forests beyond the ranch. They do so, and get away from the mounting number of illithids.
The party reaches the rebel camp, and they rest for the night, the rebels stunned to have their mercenaries turn on them, apologize for what happened, and ask for some help in healing their newly freed humans, who are confused, since they believe that the illithids are enlightened teachers. The rebels say that they will have to go deeper into the forest before the illithids decide to follow them, but first they will likely pick through the mercenaries.
It takes a few tenday to reach another camp, and in the meantime, Grim finds out that rebels worship a goddess they call the Earthmother (which he knows is another name for Chauntea, and assumes is the same goddess). Some of the rebels speak common, as they have been in contact with the warriors from Code Helm. Grim has some harsh words for Code Helm in his message to them, and soon a ship arrives with another group of adventurers. These call themselves the Sisterhood of Lost Murdane, and they are working with Code Helm at the moment. They wish to go back to the ruins to find out what was going on at the ranch, as it was not being run like a standard illithid ranch.
Emen knows that Murdane was a goddess that died centuries ago, and was purported to be Helm's lover. The sisterhood informs them that she was the goddess of Reason, and that she had some followers that purportedly took to wildspace, and as such, their order has been searching wildspace for years looking into if the goddess is truly dead and gone, or if "reason" is just sleeping and may be awakened.
The combined group returns to the ranch, and the Sisterhood, with many psionic members, does its best to cloak them as they enter the ranch. They encounter a few more of the armored illithids, which the Sisterhood refers to as "bodytamers," and says that they are a form or martial artist native to illithids, who harness their psionic abilities to make them more deadly and coordinated with their physical attacks.
Several more illithids are encountered, and Emen nearly dies when she defends one of the Sisterhood from an illithid that nearly devours her brain. The Sisterhood are impressed with her, and after all are healed, they lead into the ruined buildings on the ranch, specifically the one that that dragon came from. They are attacked by somewhat feline, tentacled creatures that appear to be a cross between some kind of hunting cat and an illithid. Inside the building, the group is ambushed by a pair of huge, quivering sack like creatures segmented legs. After the ambush, many of the Sisterhood of Lost Murdane die, but the creatures are destroyed. The place is filled with broken jars and magical equipment all over the place. Eventually, the group notices tiny little purple worm like creatures, very small and slithering around. They start to slither around some of the members of the group, and swarm into them. Those who are swarmed turn on the rest of the group, and chaos ensues.
Eventually everyone except for Mourn has been covered with the parasites, and a huge creature walks out from further into the complex. The creature is a nine foot tall illithid with very long tentacles. He tells Mourn to come out and face him, and accept his fate. He tells Mourn that his fate, as all of theirs is sealed, and that he knows right where Mourn is. The large illithid then orders his companions to attack him. Mourn calls up reserves within him and manges to cast a spell to paralyze his companions, and the one remaining member of the Sisterhood of Lost Murdane that is still alive. He then casts another one that starts to wither and kill the swarms of purple creatures, and as the die, they wriggle to the next group of them and spread the "disease" to the next group. The creature picks up Mourn in its long tentacles and moves toward his brain, but Mourn turns to wolf form and begins to furiously bite and tear at the creature. It begins to take over his mind, but before Mourn is lost to the creatures mental control, he speaks the most powerful spell that has ever entered his mind, and an blast of arcane fire destroys Mourn and the powerful illithid in one massive blast.
The group gathers what is left of the lab and teleports back to the Code Helm base. The members of Code Helm explains that the last illithid they faced was an Ulitharid, a very advanced form of illithid that is held in awe by other illithids. After looking at the creatures and the notes and equipment that was salvaged, they find out that the little creatures are called nerve swimmers, and they can infest a host and make them vulnerable to control by outside forces, but these ones are modified. The nerve swimmers that the illithids were developing were undetectable when dormant, and could be activated at a certain time or at great distance, and unlike other nerve swimmers, they were working on making these ones able to mutate into an illithid tadpole, meaning that eventually they could, by remote, turn a host into an illithid over time.
Code Helm is sorry for the loss of the adventurer's companions. The members of Code Helm that have appropriate rank elevate Emen to Trusty Lady Knight Emen, and they provide her with papers to present to Toril side churches to confirm her promotion. Nearimma, the last of the Sisterhood, upon hearing that Emen has gone up in rank and that they have ties to the Church of Helm, presents Emen with the Mindsword of Murdane, an artifact of the lost goddess that she wishes to be kept safe with the Church of Helm, barring any followers of Murdane being able to keep it safe. She asks them if they will deliver the sword to Toril for her.
The adventurers stay at Code Helm's base for a while, and eventually fly back to Dragon Rock to reprovision. After a while, the gnomes end up arriving on Dragon Rock, and the adventurers set back out to Toril.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 06 Feb 2007 : 00:50:32
Interlude: Chess 18-21st, 1372 DR
On the night of the full moon, Mourn leaves his companions to hunt in his wolf form all night. He is sure that eventually he will catch up with them, but reasons little due to his enjoyment of his wolf form. The next morning his father arrives, and tells Mourn that his adventure is over, and that he must return so that the shamans of the tribe can determine what is wrong with him and if he can be allowed to continue to practice magic. He tells Mourn that if he does not return home to the tribe soon, he will be branded as an exile.
Mourn begins to see the images that the Spirit of the Land showed him, and his grip on his sanity starts to fail again. He remembers his moral failing with the child in the fey crossroads, and his lack of skill with magic, and is afraid that the shamans will see these shortcomings in him, and brand him an exile, ban him from his magic, or even deem him too dangerous to live.
He prays to his spoon that he has convinced himself is an avatar of Corellon Larethian, but it doesn't respond. Then before him appears a creature he doesn't know, one that has red skin and fine clothes, and looks somewhat like a satyr. Mourn begins to wonder if the creature is a representative of the Seelie Court sent to deliver him.
The being asks Mourn what he wants most, and Mourn says that he wants to be a competent and fearsome user of magic, one that commands the respect of others, and one that is more dangerous to his foes than to himself and his friends. The being smiles and says that as long as he agrees to commit his soul to the satyr like creatures masters for all eternity, then he will grant his wish.
Mourn agrees, and the pact is sealed. Mourn feels more lucid, and more competant, and vaguely remembers his discussion with the satyr like creature. He also begins to wonder about all manner of strange magic and dangerous dark artifacts that he has never really considered before, and wonders why he never thought to study them before.
Mourn follows his father back to his tribe, and undergoes the tests of the shamans. Mourn passes these tests, but they detect soemthing otherworldly and dangerous about him, but find him much more competant and sane than before. They also sense that his destiny is intertwined with the humans he travels with, so they give him leave to return to them in time. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 06 Feb 2007 : 00:33:20
Interlude: Nightal 30, 1371 DR
The lythari Mourn has been deemed to be possesed of natural sorcerous abilities, and his father is escorting him to the tribe's oracle, a powerful spirit of the land that often manifests as a cloud wolf. They travel to a remote region of Cormanthyr, on top of a hill open to the moonlight.
Mourn's father jokingly tells his son that he is about to assume his adult role in the tribe, and that his time skulking around the edges of human settlements spying on them is over. Despite this its clear that his father is not thrilled with Mourn's facination with humans.
Upon arriving at the peak of the hill and tranforming into theif wolf forms to call the Spirit of the Land, the cloud wolf appears, and challenges Mourn to face the future ahead of him as a lythari entrusted with the power of magic.
Mourn sees images of shadows, hellfire, demons, and devils, and he sees himself being responsible for the lives of many of his tribesfolk. He doesn't know what to make of all of it, and his head spins. He only wants to escape, so he lets out a howl and charges into the night.
Mourn's father and a few other lythari finally find him, and he is curled up in elf form, crying and saying that the Seldarine are have possesed his clothing and that the Seelie Court sings him to sleep at night. The tribal shamans rule that he is insane, try to work spells to ease his mind, but he is inconsolable for a tenday.
After this time period, Mourn sneaks away from the lythari, somewhat more lucid, but unwilling to accept his role as a tribal spellcaster or shaman. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:47:07
Well, if you have gotten this far, thanks for coming along for the ride. For the foreseeable future this campaign is over, and I caught A LOT of flak from some of my players (good naturedly, of course), for not beleiving in happy endings. Then again, there really aren't any endings . . . just beginings of something new.
At any rate, if you have been following this, I hope you enjoyed it. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:44:58
Summer, 1374 DR (Epilogue)
When the demons, devils, and daemons commanded by the Daemonfey ravaged Mistledale and the lands around it, a contingent of the horrid creatures broke off and headed for Peldan's Helm. As the creatures neared the area, the priests of Helm gathered the inhabitants of the town and the nearby farms into the temple, and the temple held out for several tenday against the assaults of the creatures of the lower planes, until a contingent of elven warriors managed to swing through and draw the demons and devils away from the areas.
The Temple of Helm saved the lives of nearly everyone in Peldan's Helm and the nearby area during this time.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:44:18
Tarsakh 29th, 1373 DR
After clearing the battle scene, and helping with the dead, and making sure that the temple site is alright, the adventurers prepare to leave, although Meriden believes that he may indeed stay where he is at. The temple is all that matters now.
A strange object appears in the sky, something that looks like a giant sea shell fused with a ship, and it descends on the parade grounds outside of the temple site. Within it are Swanart and Killidaegra, the gnomish siblings. They tell the band that they have just found this part of their uncle's lost adventuring treasures, a ship that can sail the stars. But they need a crew to help them. They promise they will only be gone a little while, since they just want to see what the ship can do.
Meriden smiles grimly at them, and nods for them to go, as he walks back toward the temple. The ship lifts high into the sky, heading for the Tears of Selune.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:43:36
Tarsakh 28th, 1373 DR
When the group returns through the portal, Neylessa and Haresk are waiting for them. Haresk seems very dejected, but hugs Raina as she comes through. Neylessa tells Meriden that when Varim's Band caught up with the Malaugrym, a flight of raging dragons showed up, and the creatures devoured all of them, adventurers, malaugrym, and Naurvintha included.
Meriden is devastated, and wanders lost the rest of the day. The cleric from Tsurlagol performs any rite for the dead that may be needed, and bodies are arranged in a caravan if they are to be buried, interred, or to have service provided elsewhere. The Cormyreans leave, and the Lancers turn away the contingents of guests from Shadowdale and Battledale that have arrived this day.
Meriden sees the vision that Kaeldarra spoke to him about, the vision of himself as an eternal guardian of his temple, an arch lich, and sees now that this may be the only destiny for him, and unfeeling guardian forever doing the will of Helm, without fear of a broken heart.
Stilgar and Lhoeriath find that they may have enough in common that they may stay together. Lhoeriath had never known her father, and was distant from most men she knew, but she has grown interested in spending time getting to know Stilgar, and perhaps even having more children with him.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:42:38
Tarsakh 27th, 1373 DR
As Kaeldarra lay dying, she gathers Meriden and the adventurers to her, telling them she will soon pass on to Arvandor. She tells Meriden that he is at the most crucial point in his life, and a great determining event will happen today. She tells Emen that she will have many students that do her much honor. She tells Mourn that he will unleash a great evil, but will learn what it is to be a hero. She tells Grim that he will be the bane of the unseelie, and she tells Chorn he will die richer than his employer. She tells Stilgar that he will defend his people from shadow, but only after they have suffered by them. Then she fade away into Arvandor, hearing the call of Labelas Enoreth to come home.
The adventurers examine the gate with one of the surviving War Wizards, and determine that it leads to an area outside of Westgate. They touch the glyph and activate the portal, and they step through in a carefully planned pattern.
There are four short, two tiered stone pillars in this area. They are near the water, and Westgate is able to be seen in the distance. Mourn sends his hawk to view the area, and it lands next to one of the carved, winged statues on top of the short pillars.
A hooded figure arrives, covered from head to toe, holding Raina's hand, and wants to know where her granddaughter is. Meriden asks who she is, and she begins to recount her origin and why the girl is special to her.
She tells Meriden that when she was younger, many centuries ago, she was a paladin that opposed a human tyrant named Bane. That tyrant tricked her into using an artifact that cursed her and cut her off from her paladin abilities, and gave her unnatural long life. She eventually tried to seduce Bane to get close to him and kill him, but instead she became pregnant with his son, Iyachtu Xvim. She hoped to raise him to be a valiant paladin, but instead, he had his father's taint, as was raised to demigod status, ruling Westgate as a king when his father became a god.
She says that she can no longer say her own name, and that she wants he granddaughter so that she can study Xvim's power in her and perhaps use it to free herself from her curse. Meriden knows from his religious history lessons that Xvim's mother has been rumored to be either a paladin or a demon, and he senses that some of what she said was true, but there were a few lies and many unspoken parts to her story. He asks to make sure Raina is alright.
She allows Meriden to examine the girl, but then asks where her granddaughter is. Meriden says that they will have to go get her, and Xvim's Mother demands to have Raina back until they come back with her granddaughter. Grim slowly places Raina on Chorn's pony and tells her to get ready to ride to the far side of the beach when he tells her to do so.
The statues on the pillars come to life as gargoyles, and one tears Mourn's hawk nearly apart, though it still lives. Stilgar and Chorn leap up the pedestals to the gargoyles, and Xvim's Mother turns invisible. Grim sends Raina away on the pony, and dives at Xvim's Mother. Meriden casts a spell that, by Helm's ever vigilant eye, purges all invisibility from the area.
The rest of the adventurers attack the gargoyles, and Xvim's Mother strikes Grim with her unholy scimitar, and further enhances the weapon with her unholy essence, nearly killing the druid-ranger. She then tries to turn invisible again, but Meriden's field is still in effect.
The gargoyles are dispatched by the other adventurers, and they close in on Xvim's Mother, slashing and battering her. She flies off and heals herself, then dives back into battle, taking several wounds again after returning to the fray.
Grim heals himself, but Xvim's Mother pronounces a horrid phrase that weakens and stuns everyone around her, but Mourn is still far enough away to keep raining burning rays of heat at her. She heals herself while the adventurers are stunned, and then casts another spell, a vicious spell that drains the fluids out of the bodies of those around her, and Grim falls.
Meriden rapidly heals Grim, and then casts a spell on himself to make himself infused with Helm's righteous fury, and heads toward the pillar that Xvim's Mother has flown off toward. Stilgar, Emen, and Chorn scale the tower to reach her, and Grim again uses the spell he used the day before to infuse his allies with the speed of the serpent, causing them all to strike Xvim's Mother before she could counter any of their attacks, and she falls.
Since the portal will not function again until the next day after sunrise, the adventurers gather Raina to them and set up camp for the evening.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:41:41
Tarsakh 26th, 1373 DR
Meriden finds Myrmeen and tells her something bad will happen, but he doesn't know what, but to be prepared. He find Haresk and tells him the same. Soon after, dark storm clouds roll in and blot out the son, and while the sun is obscured and there is lightning, there is no rain.
Saerlith, the catfolk scout with the Militia, says that a small force of grey skinned humanoids is marching on Pelden's Helm from the east. Before they can react, several huge blue dragons fly over Pelden's Helm, as well as the strange insect-worm creatures known as veserabs.
In addition to the flyers and the marching troops, a figure in black robes on a demonic horse rides toward the group, along with the Herald of Arabel, flying a flag of truce. The rider on the nightmare proclaims that he is a duly appointed representative of the city of Shade, and that he has recruited the Herald of Arabel in order to show a proper flag of truce.
He tells Haresk and Myrmeen that he brings gifts from the city of Shade, and has the chests brought forth brimming with gold and magic. He then says that as a show of good will and in an effort to repair the damage between Shade and Cormyr, he offers these gifts, but asks a favor in return.
The Shadovar want Grim Greycastle for the murder of their diplomat, Lord Borsaelis. They also want the elven chronomancer Kaeldarra and all of her magical effects turned over to them, because all of her effects are “stolen” artifacts of ancient Netheril, and thus belong to the Shade.
Myrmeen says that she will not turn over a son of Cormyr to the likes of the Shadovar, and Haresk says that no adherent to the Dalelands Pact would turn over a Tel'Quessir to the Shadovar either. The shadovar retreats, but as he gets back to his line of troops, he kills the Herald of Arabel in a fit of rage.
Grim, in the form of a hawk, dives at the shadovar general, but strikes a magical field that repulses him. While the negotiations were going on, Mourn points out that he has noticed that something is not right about the dragons, that they somehow don't seem “authentic” to his sense.
As the shadovar troops move toward Pelden's Helm, Chorn, Stilgar, and Mourn notice shadows rising up in the ranks of the Mistledale Lancers and the Purple Dragon Knights, taking the form of Shadow Elementals.
Meriden warns the knights and the riders about the shadow elementals, and warns the War Wizards about the blue dragons. He and his friends then make sure that Haresk and his family are safe in the pavilion, and Haresk gets out the Rod of Peldan to defend his family.
Myrmeen and one of her War Wizards rides out to fight the shadovar general on the nightmare, and the War Wizards and Kaeldarra engage the shadovar wizards on the veserabs. The knights and lancers are split between the shadow elementals and the krinth troops of the shadovar, and Neylessa rallies the paladins among the lancers to take on the shadow elementals.
Before Meriden and his friends can throw in with any of the combatants, they are charged by a force that has slipped in between the other combatants. A force of werebadgers led by a werewolf in hybrid form charges the group. The werewolf demands the book from Grim, and the adventurers charge to attack the lycanthropes.
The adventurers are set upon hard by the werebadgers, and the werewolf druid calls down a pillar of flame on Grim, wounding him badly. Emen, Chorn, and Stilgar wade through the werebaders, and Meriden charges the werewolf, but is badly savaged by several of the werebadgers, their lycanthropic teeth even tearing through his armor.
The werewolf druid calls down several more columns of flame, reveling in the destruction that Malar grants him, and casts spells to bolster the stamina of allied werebadgers. After tearing through a few more of the werebadgers, when everyone is near the werewolf druid, Mourn continues to throw magic darts of force at the remaining werebadgers, and when everyone is in reach, Grim casts a spell that grants the swift strike of the serpent to all of his allies at once, and in a burst of inhuman speed, all those around the werewolf druid manage to strike him at once, negating any chance he has to defend himself.
Meriden has only a few moments to heal his allies when a dozen of the krinth shock troops charge them. Mourn falls back and rains fireballs from his wand at them as they charge the adventurers, weakening and scattering them as they get nearer. Meriden, Emen, Stilgar, and Grim take on the front ranks of the krinth, while Chorn finishes off the last of the werebadgers, and Mourn picks off some of the krinth warriors with more spells.
Before all of the krinth are dispatched, however, the largest of all of the shadow elementals appears, towering over the party. Emen and Grim are badly hurt by the chilling touch of the shadow elemental, and Stilgar has a hard time sinking his axe into the creature's supernatural form.
The krinth are routed, but the Shadow Elemental still looms, but Meriden quickly heals Emen and Grim tends to himself. Chorn's elementally enhanced weapons bite into the creature and pulse magical fire into it, and Stilgar's electrically enhanced axe bites into the creature as well finally. Meriden casts some spells to bring Helm's blessings to the group and to increase their competency, and Morn, Grim, and Meriden cast spells to damage the creature. Eventually its shadows dwindle to nothingness.
The adventurers hear a cry for help, and while Meriden heals the party members, Chorn and Stilgar charge down the ridge to respond. Varim, the Sunite paladin, and his companions are under assault from a shadow elemental, and his friend, the half-elf sorceress, seems to have fallen to the creature, and his other allies are in bad shape. Stilgar and Chorn make short work of the next elemental, already wounded by Varim's smiting ability, and they stabilize the halfling and the cleric, but the half-elf sorceress is beyond help.
After the battle, the adventurers find out that nearly all of the War Wizards have fallen, Kaeldarra is badly wounded, and many of the Riders and Knights have fallen as well, though Sir Evast and Orlass are fine, as is Meriden's famiy. Searlith has died in the fight, however.
During the battle, a shadow elemental separated Haresk and his daughters, and after he blasted it with the Rod of Peldan, they found Naurvintha, but not Raina. Mourn tracks Raina in his wolf form, and finds a note telling the adventurers to bring “the child” through the gate after dawn the next day, through the portal that is near where the not was found.
When Stilgar checks on Lhoeriath and his son in the tent, he finds that the half-elf druid has staked a female drow vampire through the heart in the defense of herself and the child. She raises an eyebrow and says to Stilgar, “she asked specifically for you . . . what kind of women have you been consorting with in my absence?”
Grim and Chorn notice a strange glint in Naurvintha's eyes, a glint of gold. They tell Meriden of this, and they realize that Naurvintha has been replaced by a Malaugrym. They attack the creature, hoping to capture it and find out what has happened to Naurvintha, and while the creature puts up a good fight and manages to spellshift away from the grasp of the half-ogre monk, they eventually batter it senseless and demand to know what is going on.
The Malaugrym says that Naurvintha is being taken as breeding stock back to the Plane of Shadows, and that the Malaugrym was to subvert Mistledale and the temple with its new identity. Before they can question it further, it manages to spellshift away again.
Meriden divines Naurvintha's location through Helm's power, and sees her being flown north toward a portal to the Plane of Shadows. While he wants to go after her, and starts making plans to that effect, he and the other adventurers decide that they must rescue Raina first, and Varim, the surviving members of his band, and several of the Lancers volunteer to ride north to try and catch the Malaugrym and Naurvintha.
When Meriden sleeps for he night, he dreams of being marked by Helm, and when he awakens, his forehead is branded with the vigilant gauntlet of Helm.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:40:36
Tarsakh 25th, 1373 DR
Meriden is surprised when he finds that not only has Sir Evast and his family come from Cormyr, but Myrmeen Lhal herself, as well as a patrol of purple dragon knights, and several War Wizards have come to Pelden's Helm. She explains that while Meriden is a fine son of Cormyr, she actually came because Mistledale helped Arabel during the poor growing season last year.
Myrmeen takes Meriden aside and tells him that she has heard of his interest in starting a branch of the church of Helm that is more interested in intelligence gathering, and she also tells him that she has contacts with the Moonstars, an organization headed by Khelben Arunsun, the Blackstaff of Waterdeep. She says that in exchange for sharing information, Khelben may aid his temple with some extra funds and contacts.
She also tells Meriden that the Harpers have used his band of adventurers as a distraction over something that happened last year. The Harpers refused to deal with Semmemon in regards to freeing his effects from Darkhold, but they did send several undercover agents into Darkhold themselves to retrieve them without Semmemon's help. They are planing on secretly using the information they found to purge the child with Xvim's essence of its dark influence, all the while allowing any in the Zhentarim to follow a trail leading to Meriden's friends.
She also tells him that Semmemon had already given this information to Khelben, and the whole thing was essentially a ruse to allow Khelben to send Semmemon elsewhere, while still making sure the Harpers got the information he wanted them to have. She then asks if Meriden wants to take Khelben up on his offer, and Meriden agrees.
At about the same time, the tressym that was Taldon Forestward arrives in Pelden's Helm, looking for Grim. His own Harper contacts have let him know that the clerics of Deneir in Silverymoon made a copy of Grim's book, and passed it onto the Harpers, and that the Harpers have secured the “heart” from Chult already and put it in a safe place. Grim is furious.
A mysterious moon elf female arrives in Pelden's Helm, and asks to speak with Meriden. The woman is Kaeldarra, the moon elf chronomancer that once sent Meriden and Wulgar into the past. She apologizes for manipulating Meriden and Wulgar, and tells him that she has had a vision from Labelas Enoreth that has made her abandon her quest to change the past, as she has seen Myth Drannor reborn. She also tells Meriden that she say into an alternate future where he was alone, unaging, unemotional, an eternal guardian tinged with sadness and resolve in the depths of his temple.
That evening, Meriden has a dream, where he sees the justicator that has appeared to him before. The justicator tells him that the greatest trials of his life are about to begin, and to be warned and vigilant.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:39:33
Tarsakh 21st-24th, 1373 DR
Meriden, Stilgar, Morn, Grim, Emen, and Chorn all set out for Pelden's Helm. While the first day of travel is uneventful, the second day, the group sees a griffon bearing a rider being chased by a green dragon and several wyverns.
Following where the griffon rider apparently went down, the adventurers are set upon by a the wyverns. The party tears into the draconic creatures, but Mourn, Emen, and Stilgar are all badly injured by the poisonous stingers of the creatures.
Despite being badly hurt Stilgar pushes on in battle, but Mourn falls back due to the poison in his veins, and Emen succumbs to the poison, and collapses, appearing to be dead.
Meriden quickly unfurls a scroll and uses its stored power to infuse Emen with the power of Helm, jolting her back to life even as she nearly separates her soul from her body.
Stilgar, Grim (practicing his ability to absorb his weapons into his claws as a bear), and Chorn manage to dispatch the rest of the wyverns, and Meriden casts a spell that fortifies Mourn against the poison in his veins. He purges Stilgar's poison, and purifies Emen as she begins to move again, and finally cleanses Mourn as well.
After healing the group of the wounds the wyverns dealt them, the adventurers continue to track the griffon and the dragon that followed it. They find a small cave, overgrown with newly formed plants, and a frothing, raging green dragon.
Meriden cast more of his divine spells to enhance the adventurers, and Mourn fires spells at the creature from a distance, and Stilgar, Chorn, Grim, and Emen manage to kill the young, but vicious, dragon, before it can do much damage. They walk past the corpse of the griffon to the cave, and within the cave they find Lhoeriath and her son. She cast a divination to find Stilgar, and came to see him, but was set upon by the enraged dragons.
The entire group rests, heals, and heads on toward Pelden's Helm.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:38:45
Tarsakh 20th, 1373 DR
Emen and Mourn travel to Meriden house on the outskirts of Ashabenford, and they tell him what happened the night before. Meriden discerns that the unholy mace must be the phylactery for the lich, and destroys the unholy object.
Chorn arrives in Ashabenford, and Meriden tells everyone that Heresk and his family, as well as Neylessa and several of the Mistledale Lancers and Militia, have already headed out to Pelden's Helm. Chorn decides that the best course of actions for today would be to take Meriden, Mourn, Stilgar, and Grim to the Velvet Veil for a rousing send off, while Emen quietly meditates at Meriden's home. Meriden is on his best behavior, and his catfolk friend is not in attendance this day.
After dragging Grim away from his female centaur friend at the Velvet Veil, the group repairs to Meriden's home and plans their trip to Pelden's Helm.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:38:05
Tarsakh 19th, 1373 DR
Upon arriving in town, after sundown, Emen convinces Mourn that it would be rude to barge in on Meriden at his house, and convinces him to go with her to the White Hart Inn to stay for the evening.
When the two arrive, the common room is deserted, and upon looking behind the bar, they find that Holfast's trap door leading down to the cellars is open. Emen squeezes down the trap door, followed by Mourn, and they find two barmaids, seemingly dead.
Mourn notices dark, cold, hand shaped marks on the barmaids, and Emen notices that they are still alive. They carefully drag the waitresses bodies upstairs into the common room, and Mourn lets his hawk familiar poke around the cellars to find anything useful.
The hawk describes to Mourn that there appears to be an open vault further into the cellar, and Mourn and Emen remember that Meriden had told them that Holfast had secret chambers and vaults for hiding various things in the cellars. The two carefully make their way to the vault, and find Holfast, dragging him to safety.
Before they can get fully out of the vault, they see a skeletal figure inside, carrying the mace that the party brought back from Anauroch with them when they defeated the lich. The creature looks at them and speaks, telling them that they will pay for causing such damage to his home, and for robbing him of his speech before he could even warn them away from his temple.
The lich grabs Emen, chilling her to the bone, but not managing to paralyze the powerful half-ogre. Focusing her spiritual energy, she manages to actually damage the lich with her massive fists. Morn fires several spells at the lich, burning it with rays of intense heat.
The lich retreats and casts a spell the repulses the living, while the creature casts various spells to repair its damaged undead body, fixes the scorches and cracks in its bones. While it does this, Emen throws every cask she can find at the lich, trying to harm it from a distance.
The lich hurls a few more spells at the pair, including a spell that brings down a column of flame. Emen dodges easily out of the way, but Morn is hurt badly by this spell. The lich casts another spell to cloak itself in darkness and darting shadows, then charges Emen.
Emen has a harder time hitting the lich with the distracting shadows darting around it, but she does manage to strike it again, and resists its cold touch once more. After Emen strikes the lich and shatters many of its bones, Mourn manages to fire another spell striking the creature with magical darts of force and shattering its body. Emen carefully picks up the mace and stores it in her pack, and Emen and Mourn travel to the Temple of Tyr to explain what happened to Holfast and his waitresses, and the clerics gladly cast the proper curative spells to release them from their paralysis and heal their wounds.
Holfast gratefully gives them room and board and his eternal thanks for the rescue, and asks them to find somewhere else to dispose of the mace.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:37:11
Nightal 1st 1372 DR-Tarsakh 18th 1373 DR
Despite the weather, Meriden travels back and forth to Pelden's Helm several times to give directions to his clerics during this time and to further plan for the spring season and the building to take place. He also receives a sending that tells him a cleric will be arriving from Tsurlagol that will be granting him another rank, pending examination of the preparations of the temple, and will be consecrating the site.
Upon hearing this, Naurvintha decides that Greengrass would be the perfect time for the wedding, that the cleric from Tsurlagol could perform the ceremony after Meriden receives his rank, on the consecrated grounds of the temple. Meriden agrees, and the two go to Haresk and Imbrautha to finalize plans. Imbrautha is somewhat put out due to the difficulty of getting messages out, and Haresk is more put out when he realizes that he can get invitations out if he is willing to spend gold for Noristuor to send out some magical messengers.
Although there are fewer patrols in the winter, Stilgar still busies himself by traveling with the militia and looking for wild creatures between Glen, the Sharin Freehold, Ashabenford, and Pelden's Helm. He will not send another message to Lhoeriath until she contacts him first, but is anxious to hear more about his son.
Using the fey crossroads, Grim travels back to Silverymoon and spends much time in research about Chult in the libraries of the temple of Denier. Given his shapeshifting powers, he also flies back and forth to the Tower of Lurue on the northwest edge of the Moonwood, aiding them in their patrols as well as spending more time learning about the skills he first practiced at the tower.
Early in Tarsakh the cleric from Tsurlagol arrives and begins consecrating the site, as the dwarves and Raesef get started on construction of the temple. Haresk receives notice from Sir Evast Huntsilver that he will be bringing members of Meriden's family, and various representatives from the Dalelands send either regards or plans for arriving near to the Greengrass holiday.
A sending that Meriden cast for Emen alerts her to the wedding, and despite the difficult weather, she begins to travel back from Elturel to Ashabenford. By sheer coincidence, and much to her consternation, Mourn Ninefingers manages to find her after once again slipping away from his father's watchful eye and traveling through the fey crossroads back to the Dalelands.
Wulgar Browniefriend is unfortunately unavailable, as he is currently in the Great Rift with his future father in law's business interests, but Chorn Stoneturner will be coming to Ashabenford soon to convey both Wulgar and his employer's regards for the wedding and to attend for them.
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| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:36:10
Feast of the Moon, 1372 DR
Both Meriden and Grim participate in various religious ceremonies during this feast, blessing travelers that have returned home, those that make their living off the land and the wild, and saying prayers for the souls of those that have passed on in the last year.
Stilgar happily takes his turn with the others during the feast, recounting the deeds of great heroes of the Mir that have passed on to Tempus' halls after great feats in battle.
Meriden receives a sending from Lhoeriath telling him that the child has been born, that it is a boy, and it is very healthy. She appreciates Stilgar's interest, and has not yet named the child, but that eventually she will contact Stilgar and try to name the child and learn of any traditions that she should be aware of from that point on. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 28 Jul 2006 : 07:34:23
Uktar 26th-30th, 1372 DR
Meriden sends messengers with the Riders to further delineate the duties that he has outlined for the clerics, and begins to ask questions of them to aid in a special idea he has about an intelligence gathering branch of the faith, and begins to try and sort out what clerics would be better for this duty than the others.
Meriden also talks with several of the dwarven farmers from Glen that are still looking for work after the last poor growing season, and formally hires those that have stoneworking experience to aid in building the temple.
Stilgar, being relatively restless as well as eager to find out about his child when it is born, asks Meriden to use a sending to contact Lhoeriath about how she is doing. He then falls in with the scouts in the Mistledale Militia to help scour the country side of goblins and orcs.
Grim studies his book of fey crossroads, as well as the translations of the various hidden messages that the Deneirath clerics have given him, and makes plans to return to Silverymoon and the temple of Deneir when the Feast of the Moon is over. |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 26 Jun 2006 : 06:55:43
 Intermission
Just thought I would chime in and point out that we will soon be begining the final arc of this campaign. Another friend is moving soon, and as such, it just wouldn't feel right to keep this going, and I want him to be able to go out with a bang. For anyone keeping track at home, its Meriden's player, and he has put a lot of time into his character. Its been a wild two years, so the wrap up is something that should be fitting.
And very much inspired by Ed Greenwood style endings . . . |
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