Drakonia Logs - Sessions 10 through 24

The Forming of the Shadowbane

Characters in our party over this entire time:
♦ Alvana (deva avenger -> deva pacifist cleric)
♦ Barrus (bugbear rogue)
♦ Sergo (half-elf warlord)
♦ Rhakka (tiefling warlock -> tiefling monk)
♦ Hadarai (eladrin swordmage)
♦ Ilarion (half-orc rogue)
♦ Elerra (drow warlock)
♦ Oshul (shifter warden)
♦ Elessar (goliath barbarian)
♦ Eckseth (warforged artificer/swordmage)
♦ Balasar (dragonborn elementalist)
♦ Riven (revenant sorcerer)
♦ Zibatar (tiefling warlord)

Note: Despite this long list, we were no more than 8 in a group at one time, and even that proved quite inconvenient, so we forced the group size down to 6, which is more manageable. 

Note2: The "->" indicates characters who have chosen to switch builds, while maintaining roughly the same character personality, and personal goals. More often than not, such decisions were necessary for the party to function well mechanically, and also allowed the player to continue playing characters they were attached to.

Our adventures throughout the last few months (real-time, not game-time, in game it's been about a couple of fortnights) have taken us far and wide across Endallion, the continent shared by the Human Duchies, the Fey Kingdom, the sealed Dwarven Strongholds, and the barbarian Lost Tribes.

Battle at the Gates:

Following Barrus' reinstatement as his tribe's rightful heir and chief, he took the bugbears and headed with them stealthily into the forest, as a strike group for the great battle ahead. He had about 200 trained warriors.
Meanwhile, the Omega Company arrived, and we met Durom for ourselves, a gruff dwarf, with a fondness for liquor, but a ready and able crew at his hand. Not quite as able was his aircraft, an ooooold eladrin vessel which was powered by a fire elemental rather than a storm one (like more modern vessels). To be kind, it was a hunk of junk, but the armament on it was front-line. Durom's men were likewise rough around the edges, but excellent and dedicated soldiers. And acting major, Hadarai now commanded the Omega Company, and all its men. Oshul's tribe was perhaps the most defensible position, being on a high hill with a pass through the mountains nearby. We took ornithopters to sweep the coming forces and rid ourselves of some of them, Barrus's met attacked from the safety of the forests, and when they reached the gates we'd built around Oshul's Tribe, they were few and decimated by our small army. We sustained considerable, but relatively few casualties, compared to the massive army that came at us, which was almost entirely decimated, the remaining men captured.
In the aftermath of the battle, we had a group of 2000 men, ready to aid the elven war effort against the Shadow, on the other field. They would take a long time to travel to their new war-front, but would indubitably add much needed muscle to our cause.

Revisiting the Kraken

After the battle, everyone had a while of downtime, a period which Alvana spent in training to become a ritual caster, and to transcribe ritual scrolls in her own book. In the meantime the others met with Elven officials, including high ranking members of the Spider League (Elerra and Kalrethral), and learned of the Shadow's current intent was related to the Dwarves. These creatures had sealed themselves in their underground mountain strongholds a century prior, and they had not been heard of since, but old elven sages knew the dwarves had captured a primordial elemental. Some rumors said this might be Vessuvu himself (although not all rumors turn out to be true, and this one did not). In any case, the Shadow wished to unleash the primordial, so it would do great harm to the dwarves, allowing him to safely peruse their runic archives looking for the Key to the Forge (of which our party had a small piece of a larger image, in the book of Ervaril)
Although the dwarven situation sounded like it required urgent-enough attention, our party, being the adventurers that they are, decided to revisit the Kraken they had fled from before, the one who spoke of its "shinies", and who was no doubt an awkward guard placed there by a mage in his desire to protect his treasure cache. It was Alvana who proposed that a series of well-placed rituals could not only return them to that same location in the mountain, even though a cave had collapsed meanwhile, but even grant them the gifts that aquatic creatures enjoy - such as breathing underwater, swimming expertly, and fighting underwater without penalties.
The battle was still difficult, the fiendish Kraken had been touched by hell, and it was all the more a worthy opponent for seeing us again, and truly wanted us dead. Fortunately, we killed it instead.
Inside the chamber he was guarding, we found a treasure cache of things, gold and gems and assorted treasures of all sorts, but also a Lesser Ring of Feather Fall, a Shadow Warlock Armor, a divine boon known as Nature's Fervor, and a strange dreamcatcher. When Alvana picked it up, it awoke and greeted her, as a a Fearcatcher of Bane, an awakened item. He told Alvana that the Banisher and it were once a set, but sensed that the Spirit of the Banisher was gone now, perhaps it had died. In dialogue with the Fearcatcher, Alvana summarised that its soul was evil, and was resolute to not heed it for advice, although she still tried to obtrain information from it, to little success.
After obtaining the treasure in the cache we made our way towards the Dwarven mountains, and we found two trails heading in opposite directions - one leading up and one down below. We chose to head up the mountain, and we came to a small cavern where we fought ogres and goblins.

The Howling Cave

The path towards the dwarves was wroth with peril. We had to deal with an unseelie cave dryad, who was bound to a very beautiful tree that grew at the center of one cave, on an island in the middle of a lake. A vile controlling creature, it kept us far away and kept caging us with the trees roots, that spanned the room, making her nearly impossible to attack outright, which frustrated many of us. After she was destroyed, we searched the area and found a baffled tiefling woman buried at the roots of the tree, barely breathing. We managed to stabilize her and explained that we'd lead her back to civilization if she came with us for now. (We made good on this promise, leaving her at the first real civilized establishment we could find).
Following stairs made of marble and granite, we reached a long chasm, a great ravine. Unknown to us, this location was The Bridge of the Faithful, a defense dwarves had established before reaching one of their secluded monasteries. The real trick was that air currents from above and bellow cancelled each other out, allowing someone who'd run head first into the ravine, and jump, to float safely on the other side. It took us a while to understand he physics of it, but once we realized the trick, we moved safely across.
We traversed a forest of luminescent giant mushrooms, known as deathcaps, and prior to arriving at the dwarven Monastery of the Rolling Barrel, notes on the walls explained and portrayed the principles of the Fists of Zuoken - Discipline, Serenity and Harmonious Perfection. The Monastery itself was located at the top of a mote of earth and rock, with a winding road leading from the exit of the cave all the way up to its gates. Inside, a peaceful, if inebriated, group of 100 dwarven monks welcomed us into their temple and brewhouse.

The Monastery of the Rolling Barrel

The Dwarven Monastery, led by a drunken master by the name of Thoril, was a place of meditation and revelation for many of us. We were welcomed to drink the mighty dwarven ale, which put all of us out-cold, as we were unused to the very strong alcohol, and placed us in a common dream, where Thoril joined us, and welcoming our questions. Hadarai's warring attitude did not sit well with the pacifist grand master, and he removed him from the discussion very soon. Hadarai was annoyed by this, and sought understanding among other dwarves, who likewise embraced the ways of peace. He pointed out that people are dying and that their action may help reduce war losses. Hadarai's attempts to make them join the war effort fell on deaf ears, which infuriated him. The angry eladrin rudely changed the composition of the dwarves' beer (ahem. if you know what I mean.), which they did not mind. However when Hadarai spoke ill of the grand-master, and spoke against the teachings of Peace, he was rapidly knocked out, and left to awaken at the outer gates of the monastery. He made a small cut on his hand, with his sword and wrote in his own blood "This is the price of dwarven peace."
Meanwhile, Alvana and Rhakka in particular were rather fascinated by the teachings of the monks. Although the concept of peace seemed somewhat foreign to the deva, exploring the monastery's inner sanctum made her past lives speak to her in an amazing way. Travering the spiraling room, she read about the principles of the unbroken circle, which she clumsily tried to meditate upon:
     1. "Strength lies in knowing oneself."
     2. "A willingness to learn, is a sign of strenght."
     3. "Endure. In enduring, you grow strong."
     4. "Learn to see the whole, or be blinded by the truth"
     5. "Many in unison can accomplish more than many alone"
     6. "Seek balance, or lose sight of your goal"
     7. "Patience is a virtue"
     8. "Focus and discipline are key to strength, division is a key to weakness."
In traversing the wisdom of these words, even though some seemed like foreign notions, and others as truths, close to her heart, Alvana saw a vision of Korevar, the one her sweetheart's confection was attuned to. He seemed almost an ascended angel, and made Alvana realized that she had lived through 100 incarnations to get to the point where she was now. Her current, 101st, would complete a cycle, and she could begin anew. She realized that she could make a powerful statement with her final incarnation, and if she'd embrace the spirit of fate, knowledge, and civilization, of all that is good, and of Peace itself, she too had to become a symbol of peace... A compassionate symbol of life, rather than a steel blade that delivers death. As she reached the top of the spire, her conclusions and inner changes brought forth powerful winds and she radiated, illuminating the top of the inner sanctum like a lighthouse beacon. In a moment of brilliant insight, she realized that the names civilizations have given gods are false, and that faith lies in principles alone. Gods may be illusions, but faith can move mountains and make the spirit soar.

Alvana of the Sacred Heart - Pax Lilium. My own artwork.

Rhakka himself embraced the monastic traditions, although his own experiences were tied to an enchanted book in the monastery's library, "The way of the Desert Wind". Rhakka found it is a way of preserving the body in the most harsh and cruel conditions, it is a way of balancing your mind, body and soul to withstand the lack of resources needed for survival, it was a way of survival. The discipline is meant to balance your life even when darkness swallows you, when you feel the world turn against you and you feel the fear, when even your people want you dead for their own purposes. Rhakka had visions of  the sands of the tiefling deserts on Yiluma-Orod, and found a new monk calling attuning his fiery blood to incendiary daggers.

Rhakka of the Burning Sands. My gift to Dumi on his bday!

The Pits of Molten Death

After a brief time spent in the monastery, we asked where we might find the other dwarves, and Thoril explained that they are beyond the Gates of the Golden Mithral, a door which opens only with the Eternal Flame. They add that it was stolen by an unknown evil (which we all assumed to be the Shadow), and that one more was given to guard and protect by a very powerful guardian. To reach him, we'd need to tread beyond the Mushroom Forest, past the Echoing Tunnel, through the Venting Hollow and across the Pits of Molten Death.

Rhakka in the fiery pits. Drawn by Dumi

 Traversing these chambers was essentially a delve, we dealt with sulfurous gas and aggressively territorial myconics in the first room, then the basalt changed to a crystalline rock that propelled sound, finding ourselves taking thunder-damage from the attacks of destrachans - blind creatures that used sound and thunderous voices as defenses. The Venting Hollows were an area where geysers could pop from almost anywhere and made the aid rancid with an acidic smell. The heat in the air made it obvious that we were approaching some sort of underground volcano.
Finally the Pits were a large cavern with a real volcano, and a volcanic dragon and fire bats, at the top of which was the artifact we were looking for. We battled the shifty fire breathing creature, but when Alvana pacified the dragon, forbidding it to attack, it flew to the top of the cavern, took the Eternal Flame, folded his wings, and plummetted safely into the lava pit below him, thus ending the combat.
Quite upset for our failure, we returned to the Dwarven Monastery.

The Vaults and the Four Paths.

If there's one thing dwarven drunks can do, is confuse you, and send you on a wild goose chance, which you later find out was QUITE unnecessary. Upon our return, Thoril asked us if we have the eternal flame, we commented that we didn't manage to obtain the artefact, and he explained that the Eternal Flame is rather within our own powers, and our quest to the Molten Pits have given us the wisdom and experience to know what must be done at the Gates of Golden Mithral.... Groaaaan.

Indeed, the Dwarven Gates were opened by triggering a specific sequence of runes by infusing them with fire, and the Eternal Flame was merely an artefact that could have accomplished the infusion. All magical fire would have worked, and it did, as our group treaded into the deep complex of mines. A warforged named Eckseth, who had been manufactured by a dwarf named Hex Redbeard, but then lost track of him, asked to join our party as he wanted to find his maker and master.

Inside the dwarven corridors, we found a gruesome sight, thousands upon thousands of slaughtered dwarves, many with burn marks on them. It appeared that inside their sealed gates, none remained, and few answers could be given. We knew the Shadow wanted to steal the dwarven runic keys, but did not know where to start in searching for it ourselves, so Hadarai and Alvana tried to find the body of a dwarven general, and Alvana cast Speak with Dead on its body. After some flattery and diplomatic explanations, th spirit introduced itself as Durambar the Grey, Defender of the Stonefist Clan, General of the Manticore Legion, and allowed us to ask our 3 questions. Firstly, we asked how they managed to chain the primordial in the first place, and why. They used binds of steelsong, forced upon the primordial, Etnassan, by the Runepriests of the Steel Circle. The primordial was their nemesis, for in its volcano he stirred and collapsed dwarven mines, and with fury roared and flooded mine-shafts with lava, sealing them and many lives. Understanding, we then asked, where are the rune keys?, to which the spirit responded simply The Lost Vaults of the 7th clan. Finally, we asked it who could assemble the key, an answer which he did not know - he believed the one who knew the assembling mechanism to be long-gone, but was uncertain about the nature of the rune keys in general. As the information was essential, we agreed to cast the ritual once more, to ask one final question - How were we to get to the Lost Vaults? We were told we'd need to traverse 4 challenges, the Path of Famine, The Path of War, The Path of Plague, and the Path of Death.
The Path of Famine was a lesson in endurance, we walked into an encased dome filled with a mold of rotting, which spoiled our food supplies and turned our water into a poisonous gelatine. We had to wait and allow the mold to make lacerations on our skin, and resist the temptation to eat the fowl thing, for what seemed like days, although an enchanted sphere at the center of the room which controlled the light, may also have controlled the passage of time in the room. Once enough time had passed, 3 doors opened, and in dwarven runes a ritual of Traveller's Feast was awarded to us. Alvana cast Comprehend languages, and also made an Amanuensis ritual to copy the ritual once she understood it, in case it may be necessary later.
The Path of War was a familiar sight to any adventurer, a group of relentless monsters, who attacked us and wanted our final deaths. They were vile ghouls, and they were defeated swiftly. Although the enemies were killed, dwarven tradition also calls for one to honor their ancestors through battle. While the next door did not open, we found the walls covered in a time-consuming religious ritual for honoring the departed. We slowly deciphered each word. The rune of understanding bore with it a message: "Death is not only the end, it is also the beginning." Near it, a rune of opening, which, once activated, opened 3 doors. It was hard to see in the pitch darkness, and our magic light seemed to be absorbed in this eerie area. The runes on the wall read that we were approaching the laboratory of Phadar the Mad, a genius who developed diseases, powerful plagues, and viruses. He was killed by his clan members after accidentally freeing a disease upon his own people. A living gate barred the way into his laboratory however. It demanded blood to open. We fed it our very vitality, and it cackled louder with every drop it absorbed. When it was satiated it opened with an eerie "Welcome to your doom, fools."
Thus we arrived at the Path of the Plague. On a big cauldron, many runes spoke of death. We found Phadar's Scheleton in the room, and his hard to ignore phantom stirring the cauldron muttering "boil boil work and toil" repeatedly. Upon seeing us, the phantom demanded that we drink from the cauldron, and be amazed at the variety of effects his diseased soup would give us. Unsure, but aware that in the Path of the Plague, the soul had to cleanse itself, the four of us drank up our diseased bowls, and Phadar's ghost laughed maniacally, exploring our initial effects, and telling us just what the diseases we manifested were: Lockjaw, Fowl Rotting, Cackle Fever and Blistering Corruption, each affected our bodies, and we felt oozy and weakened. Phadar declared that the antidote was ours to create if we wanted to avoid a most gruesome death, or tremendous impairments in our futures, and a puzzle unfurled before us. Two bottles labeled enhancer and nullifier, and some colored liquids with different labels on them - a red one, fire and speed, a yellow one, high temperature and a nerve ending, a green one, with a tree on it, and a violet one with poisonous acid. Combining the red and green one with an enhancer, and the yellow and violet one with a nullifier created a transparent potion that smelled like honey, and Phadar scoffed, as we drank the potion and got rid of the fowl diseases. In the room. a large book with a big skull on it, which read The Alchemy of the Body, was a useful ritual focus which we took with us.
In Phadar's laboratory, a teleportation circle activated which would lead us into the cavern which would take us through the Path of Death. We were attatcked there by a group of orcs, but when they saw a reddish glow, they used grappling hooks to propel themselves to another area of the cave, and fled, hiding.

Etnassan is coming. Drawn by Dumi.

Down the corridor the fabled Etnassan was stirring, making his way towards us. Anybody could have seen by his looks that we were no match to defeat him, so we too fled, down the opposite corridor. The earth was cracked, and narrow bridges traversed the lava filled ravines bellow. As we tried to walk across them they broke, pillars supporting the bridges forcing us forward, in a most dangerous display of athletic skill. Hadarai attempted to speak to Etnassan from across the chasm when we landed safely on the other side. Etnassan furiously demanded their lives. Hadarai flat out told the primordial how he may reach the Monastry of the Rolling Barrel, since it was truly the dwarves he had his qualms with, and dwarven lives he hungered for. In reaction, Etnassan quickly turned away and left, heading towards the Monastery. Alvana was outraged. Had Hadarai trully ensured that the last community of dwarves in the land would be erradicated? How dared he? And over what? The simple fact that they refused to join the war effort? "Their peace is paid for with the blood of my people", Hadarai flatly stated, and Alvana argued that they had a right to stay out of the war if they so pleased, but to send a dangerous primordial after them was far more than spiteful, it was downright vile.After a prolonged argument, Alvana and Hadarai had little more to say, although they carried heavy resentments towards each other.
In the room we were now located, an important rune could be read, a Ward of Power, which protected The Lost Dwarven Archives.

The Dwarven Archives. 

Deactivating the ward, we made our way inside the Lost Archives. Eckseth found himself able to understand the secret indexing method of the dwarves. We walked towards the middle of the archive, the walls along our trip detailing the creation of the dwarves. At the center, a black orb caught in some claws, A password to access the archives was necessary, and it had to do with a date. Important world history is to be remembered, but we did have to base ourselves a bit on luck when it came to translating the date of the event (a great storm), into the Dwarven calendar, which begins with their settlement in the mountains. In any case, we used Eckseth's console to connect to the archive of the clan, and guessed the password via a dangerous trial and error attempt. Fortunately, we were able to gain access. We found that the extremely large archive, also kept a runic imprint of the key. 6 layers of stone, stretching over 3 square kilometers, contained the detailed version of the entire fractal - an undertaking so great, that only dwarves or dragons could attempt it. We tried our best to copy the fractal key via a magic ritual, after downloading the files into Eckseth. The information surrounding the key in the archive spoke of a foresign continent, The Mists, where Terrenis of the Hands of Fate once journeyed, to unlock the forge, and she returned with great power. We now also had a key to this location. Using a teleportation circle we manage to teleport to Gunner's Pride, the Omega Escadron flagship. Unfortunately, we teleport in the middle of an attack...

The Leviathan of Dis

To be continued.

Drakonia Adventure Log - Session 9

The Bloodied Bite

Party: 
♦ Alvana (deva avenger)
♦ Barrus (bugbear rogue)
♦ Sergo (half elf warlord)
♦ Rhakka (tiefling warlock)
♦ Elessar (goliath barbarian)
♦ Hadarai (eladrin swordmage)

Barrus, Sketched by Dumi

    In the morning Hadarai made use of a scroll of sending to talk to the King's Majordomo and send a report, asking for reinforcements. He was told the Omega Company contingent could be sent. It was commanded by a dwarf, by the name of Durom Stormhammer, a man who gets things done. The Legate promotes Hadarai to major in-field, a promotion which remains to be confirmed into position at a later date. The others familiarized themselves with Oshul's stronghold, and Alvana even did a bit of shopping in the tribe before leaving to reinstate Barrus in his rightful position.
    A scout from the Golden Fang led us part of the way towards the Bloodied Bite. The rest of the way was up to them. As the party drew closer to the territory of the enemy tribe, they find the land tainted by Shadow. No animals chose to live on this land. Barrus remembered the forest was once known as The Mad Forest, because the primal spirits were very active in the area. Traveling the tainted land was harrowing, but we endured its difficult conditions.
    We came to a fallen tree, climb atop it, and see a clearing up ahead. This place looked like an ancient fey place of passage, marked by two Guardian Trees, and all could sense this was a perfect spot for an ambush. Hadarai explained that in antique times, this was a place of pilgrimage to a small fey temple of the primal spirits, since before Illithiria was established, when the fey people were nomads. This was part of a Path of Purification. Alvana notices some wisps coming from the lake, and each of us has a sense of peace and homecoming. Despite this, Hadarai feels that something is amiss here, as we are, after all, in a tainted place.
    A prayer to the primal spirit incites the undead in the region, as the wind bares the message “Your gods are worthless here”. We are attacked by a Battle Wight, a creature which drains vitality when it attack with its soul-draining sword, Ghoul Ambushers, who ate their victims when they were immobilized, and Skeletons, which were essentially just cannon fodder compared to the rest. During the combat, from the ruins, a Green Arcanian arose, a ranged undead fighter who was the most dangerous yet. The combat was excruciating, particularly for Barrus, who dealt with the Battle Wight in melee, and was drained of most of his energy. After the fight, we tried out best to redeem this once holy place, and we invoke the spirit of Pakkun, in a ritual to cleanse the place of evil. When we completed it, we heard a mighty bear's roar, and due to a boon named Pakkun's Endurance, we all regained some of the vitality we had lost in the fight.
    A small winding path opens up towards a road that we follow for 2 hours. At the edge of the forest, we find a plateau where the war camp is situated, and we arrive just in time to see its wooden gates open and 2 warbands departing from it. A group of 180-200 warriors in all. The warcamp would likely keep a few remaining guards, sentinels, slaves and other few, about a fifth of the tribe remaining behind. Haradai used a scroll of sending to contact the legate, sending a brief message about the Bloodied Bite warriors who would reach the Golden Fang next sunrise, and asked her to inform Durom.
    The autumn moon was in its first quarter, and it was foggy, perfect conditions for an ambush. We noticed the patterns the sentinels were using between the four guard towers in the camp, and we attempted to disable the sentinels, knocking them out. The camp was still slightly benumbed, only 20 sentinels seemed to be awake in all. We disguised ourselves as sentinels of the camp, and approached the main tent inconspicuously.
    Barrus saw his brother inside, talking heatedly in Goblinoid, about the foolishness of the attack, and the half-orc woman assured him that the sacrifice would not be in vain, and that The Shadow works in mysterious ways. The main army was 3 days away from that measly tribe. “The tactic is very simple”, she explained, giving details that made it apparent that she was an excellent tactician. “The Shadow is now away, and attempts to communicate with the dwarves.” It was obvious to those of us with insight that she knew more about the plan, but if we did not act soon, the window for action might slip away as other guards could be on alert.
    Barrus' Brother bore the same symbols now found on Rhakka as tattoos, but he did not resist the half-orc woman, instead, he was empowered through them to be an even more excellent melee fighter. The guards inside the tent, two Bugbear Wardancers, were dispatched during our surprise attack. Possibly seeing us as a threat, the half-orc woman  used a linked portal which took her through the Shadowfell, to a predesignated destination, one still on this continent, Haradai's keen arcane senses noticed. The fight with the half-machine bugbear was very difficult, Alvana even banishing him for a few seconds in which her companions gathered their breath. “Long have I wanted to decorate my tent with your head”, Barrus' younger brother threatened our friend, but when it became obvious that he would perish, the half orc woman detonated his body with a word from afar, which nearly floored all of us, leaving Barrus standing, in time to reclaim his authority in the tribe, having slain his contender.

Drakonia Adventure Log - Session 8

The Moaning Cave of the Howling Pass

Party: 
♦ Alvana (deva avenger)
♦ Barrus (bugbear rogue)
♦ Sergo (half elf warlord)
♦ Rhakka (tiefling warlock)
♦ Oshul (longtooth shifter warden)
♦ Elessar (goliath barbarian)
♦ Hadarai (eladrin swordmage)
 
    The eladrin was hot-dropped among us in The Howling Pass, a tall fellow, with silver hair, fully equipped for battle, who bore a simple smile and told us he was an officer in the Gloaming Guard, a lieutenant, sent by the High King to aid us.

    Oshul told us that up ahead we would face the Weeping Willow Waterfall, which was very treacherous, and that beyond it, we’d come upon an enemy tribe. However, he realized that there may be a cave which could lead us directly to his tribe’s territory, although it was tainted by the Shadowfell. On the way to the cave, the weather changed suddenly and we sought shelter, but still had to endure the elements somewhat. We then found the cave, which seemed dug by a remoraz, but at least half of it was a natural formation. We lit a sunrod and travelled in bright illumination until we reached a large chamber, lit by poisonous, luminescent fungi. Rhakka and Hadarai sense an otherworldly rift in the middle of the room, and tossed the sunrod near it so that it would become visible to the rest of us. The two then approached the rift to seal it, by channeling arcane energy at it, but something goes wrong and otherworldly creatures step through it: Fowl Spawns. These were mutant humanoids, perverted forms of humans and goblins, who had become immune to fear. The portal, a far-realm anomaly turned Elessar’s leg into a tentacle as he walked by it to engage the brute spawn. Throughout the combat, both Hadarai and Oshul tried to close the rift, to prevent other creatures from escaping through it, but failed. The portal turned into a sphere and detonated, dealing damage to all of us, and to the cave itself, which would fall in a matter of seconds. We ran down one of the passageways, and soon we find we need to crawl.

    We come to a place where we can hear a well or perhaps an underwater lake. Hadarai dropped into the water, with all of our party supporting him on ropes, knotted together. As an underground mountain lake, we knew it had to have a draining spot somewhere, as for the lake itself it could hold any creatures, from a remoraz to small fish.

    Suddenly, a gaping maw approached Hadarai, a flesh-eating shark. Within seconds, in which Hadarai moved back to the surface of the lake, a large Kraken appeared to attack. Alvana dropped on the rope next to Hadarai, on top of the Kraken, and used her keenest powers against what she perceived as a terrible threat to her and her group. Luckily, Sergo managed to avoid the thick of this particular battle by using diplomacy to convince the kraken that we simply sought passage through his lake, and we were not after the treasure he guarded. The kraken spoke in a booming ancient voice and led us to a small current which took us to the edge of a small lake, The Lake of the Frozen Spirits. Here we rested, Alvana and Oshul recovering from their illness, though Barrus remained infected.

. ___ . - ♦ - . __ ...--.--- ♦ ---.--... __ . - ♦ - . ___ .

    In Oshul’s tribe, which had moved into a stronghold in the mountains and reinforced their position, all but Barrus were welcomed. Barrus was also taken care of, and healed of his disease, but due to his connection to the Bloodied Bite, the Shaman of the Golden Fang asked that he be treated with caution.

    Here Alvana and Rhakka had a chance to sit down and discuss things once more. Rhakka felt some doubt towards her having found out that she had been a follower of Bane, as in the old Tiefling Empire, once, one of the houses, who worshipped Bane, started conquering the others and led them with an iron fist. Eventually their expansion was stifled, and since there was a decree that Bane would never be worshipped on Yiluma-Orod on tiefling lands. Despite this, cults survived to this day.

    Most notably, during their discussion, Alvana has a flash of the Khitomer Battle, which took place 100 years after the formation of the Tiefling Empire, where her band of tiefling mercenaries fought wave upon wave of dragonborn, seeing herself lobbing off one soldier following another. It is a vivid, pleasant memory, a moment of glory for her, and her eyes glow red as she remembers it. Rhakka is slightly disturbed by her smile as she explains that it was a glorious day, and from their talk concludes that it is a very good thing indeed that Alvana now worships Ioun, and cautiously, they seem to decide to trust each other. Alvana realizes that she must have had several lifetimes as a follower of Bane, at least two as Lady Clarick. Alvana also concludes condescendingly, regarding Rhakka, that despite the power he wields, he’s quite young and naïve, and consequently, he urgently needs to free himself from his devilish pacts.

Colored sketch of Alvana, first concept which defined her looks

    Oshul is told to see his father, who dies in his presence from a disease similar to what plagues The Elven King. The Shaman mentions to him that, although it’s too late for his father, the disease may be potentially cured with the aid of Black Lotus, a powerful poisonous plant that grows “where darkness has touched the earth”. He also tells Oshul that he needs to pass the test of blood, and he goes, alone, into the Spirit Forest. There he encounters a great white bear, with red eyes. This was Pakkun, the Great Spirit Bear. He fights it fiercely, but when a tree falls and the bear is caught under it, Oshul aids him. Pakkun then declares that Oshul is fit to lead the tribe, demonstrating ferocity when it is needed, and mercy when it is due. Upon his return from the forest, Oshul accepts his childhood friend, Barrus, into the tribe.
    The Shaman tells Barrus that he is the one who bears the sigil of authority in his tribe, being the older brother, but that he should tread carefully as an envoy of The Shadow, a powerful half-orc woman, lingers in the tribe and keeps it under The Shadow’s  control.

Drakonia Adventure Log - Session 7

Of Rituals and Honor

Party: 
♦ Alvana (deva avenger)
♦ Barrus (bugbear rogue)
♦ Sergo (half elf warlord)
♦ Rhakka (tiefling warlock)
♦ Oshul (longtooth shifter warden)
♦ Elessar (goliath barbarian)
♦ Fredegar (dwarf runepriest)

    Alvana, Elessar and Barrus headed into Dr. Caerniv’s Laboratory, the door which the undead creatures were trying to tear down, pushing it open with ease after it had been assaulted by the enemies. Inside they find Dr. Caerniv who, wanting to keep her knowledge from reaching enemy hands, had shot an explosive bolt through her head, and surrounding her, a wall of fire cast around the desk. Dr Caerniv was one of the most important associates within GEARS, who helped create the warforged. In the room, we also spotted a false wall, and beyond it a control console which could open the other room in Laboratory A51. It was however beyond repair, and we needed to short-circuit the whole system in order to make way into the other chamber, where Rhakka was kept in stasis.

    Alvana phased through the wall to get past the runes infused with fire, and deactivated the security in the room from the desk. After a bit of research and a lot of intuition, Barrus and Alvana realized that short-circuiting the system needed to be done by reversing the positive and negative charges. By doing so, the safe in Dr. Caerniv’s office opened, and inside we found an experimental warforged model, TX-DA-00, which was in prototype stage, and notes about Rhakka’s condition. It seemed that the ritual on Rhakka was a real breakthrough, a means to control a warforged without sentience, through remote circuitry. There was a great question mark about the specifics of this ritual though, and it was the main research of Dr. Caerniv.

    The short-circuitry awoke Rhakka, who was in the adjacent room. Although he was otherwise naked, there was a thin layer of ghost-gear on him. He was however, it became apparent, possessed by the war-chief. In his mind she appeared, mocking him, controlling him, but ultimately fighting him for dominion over his body, while Alvana, Barrus and Elessar fought to restrain Rhakka in the real world. Alvana realized that by dealing psychic damage with The Banisher, she could perhaps aid Rhakka in his struggle to regain control over his mind, and cast blow after blow with the Githyanki Silvered Weapon, until Rhakka himself addressed us, in control of his being once more. It was apparent however that should we not perform the ritual soon, she might return to his mind, once she gathered her strength.

    We left GEARS and found Sergo looking for us, who told us to quickly leave the city for the elven encampment, where the ritual could be performed safely.

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    Meanwhile Fredegar and Aalana had returned to the elven encampment with Oshul, an important member of one of the Lost Tribes, specifically the Tribe of the Golden Fang. They had been on a mission to enlist the tribes’ aid, but where they expected to find a force ready to unite against The Shadow, they found only war and strife. The Lost Tribes were a group of people who had broken off from the former Salronta Empire, during the Dark Ages, before the forming of The Eight Duchies. Each of the human tribes made a pact with a Druid of the Fang, who were lycans, to gain strength and skill and defend themselves in the absence of imperial patrols. The heirs of these people, became shifters, and the Duchies drove them over the Dragonspine Mountains, in their attempt to expand across the lands of the former Empire. There is also one tribe of rogue bugbears, which came to Endallion after facing oppression in the Northern continent of Karaz-Kor, known as the The Tribe of the Bloodied Bite.

    The Shadow saw an opportunity with these people, and sent “advisors” in the midst of the tribes. As a result the tribes became corrupted, one by one, all but the Tribe of the Golden Fang, and were at war. Aalana’s diplomatic plea fell on deaf ears among most tribesmen, but Oshul and his father, the tribe chief, saw wisdom in aiding the elven war-effort, and sent Oshul as a sign of good faith.

    Oshul recognized Barrus as a childhood friend, and explained that he was a prince among The Bloodied Bite, but that The Shadow’s envoy, had killed his father and poisoned his brother, who now ruled the tribe.

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    In the rush to perform the ritual on Rhakka quickly, Sergo diplomatically asked the king for the necessary components, and Alvana rushed to a ritualist’s tent to requisition them. A young looking elven girl, who seemed no older than 12 by human standards, could tell Alvana was struggling with Hell Fever and asked Gloaming Guards to hold her down and keep her in bed until she could be cured of the disease. Despite some serious protests, Alvana soon realized that everyone around wanted to help her, and relaxed when she saw the ritual’s components taken to Fredegar. She also warned that others suffered from Mummy Rot (namely Elessar and Barrus) and they too were given the same care she benefitted from.

    All rituals performed, including Rhakka’s, which purged the iron from his bones, and lifted the runes to the surface, as tattoos, the party gathered their strength and resources thus far. Fredegar inspected the Book of Ervaril to find that inside it there was a small piece of an Iocaric Key. In order to understand it, the runepriest copied it onto a tent, but, realizing what it meant, that it was part of the means to enter the Forge, tore his drawing from the tent and asked Rhakka to burn it. Better there be a single copy of the key, and better it stay with us, than end up in the hands of The Shadow.

    Soon afterwards, Alvana found herself locked in a discussion with Rhakka regarding the God he served, Asmodeus. Alvana knew that souls are a commodity in hell, a type of currency, and was startled to understand that all the creatures under Rhakka’s Warlock’s Curse ended up enforcing the evil god. She tried to point out that there are threats in the Multiverse beyond The Shadow, and that, while she understood that Rhakka’s powers came from a pact, one which he did not choose for himself, he should try to free himself of it, rather than remain a lackey, and thus just as guilty of evil proceedings as those they try to vanquish. Fredegar defended Rhakka, saying that his allegiance was clear from his actions, having always acted with our party and not against it. Alvana had however quite a narrow and harsh perspective on the matter, but before she could argue further, out of the corner of her eye she spotted a tiefling whom she recognized clearly. She even remembered his name – Zebron. He was a war-prisoner, chained by the elves, but when she exited the tent and he saw her, he pulled the entire column of prisoners closer to her, in an effort to face her and he bowed. “Milady Clarick of Winter!” he said. He wore the symbols of Bane. Alvana, somewhat startled and unsure how to respond, declared that she indeed once bore that name. Seeing Zebron reminded her of a collaboration with a Tiefling House, quite powerful and warlike, from the times when she swore faithfulness to the God of War. Alvana asked the Gloaming Guard what the fate of the prisoner was, and they explained that they were to be executed. She asked to interrogate him first, and they agreed, although they positioned ten guards with her as she did so. Zebron looked towards Alvana with admiration at first, and asked her for an honorable combat. He wanted to die at the hands of an Angel of War, and wanted to remind her of her conquests while she served Bane. When she declared that she now serves the Goddess Ioun, he was disappointed, and called her weak. He mentioned the traitor who poisoned her, and when she would not fight him he was truly spiteful. She wanted to find out the name of the traitor who gave her the lover’s confection though so she asked Zebron if he’d speak the name, if she decided to fight him. He swore by his position as a paladin, a warrior’s pledge, that on his dying breath, he will speak the name.

A random but clearer portrait of Alvana.

    Alvana asked the others of her party to not intervene, although both Barrus and Elessar had been all too eager to step in and “help” with the interrogation. Alvana demanded respect for her curiosity towards her past and did everything to ensure honorable combat. During the fight she felt all the forces of her past lives whispering that she should pray to Bane, that it would bring her luck. She adamantly refused to be tempted, fighting for Ioun’s grace, and trying to keep her focus and her accuracy. It was symbolically a duel between the honor of culture and the triumph of waging war, a fight doubled by her inner conflict between the two deities. Even though Zebron tried to tell her she was weak, he ultimately conceded when he realized that her belief was not to be shaken. He stopped fighting, and told Alvana that the name she sought was “Korevar”, known among their cult as Korevar the Betrayer. “He is Korevar the Redeemer, to me.” said Alvana, who then saw the tiefling drive his sword through his chest. She prayed intensely for the soul of the lost one, and felt comfort in the belief that it will end up somewhere good.

. ___ . - ♦ - . __ ...--.--- ♦ ---.--... __ . - ♦ - . ___ .

    Soon afterwards Elessar was spotted by a goliath in the Elven camp, who went to salute him. When Elessar introduced himself as former chief of the Chimera Clan, the other was shocked, and said that he too is from the Chimera Clan, now positioned to the north of the Elven encampment, and that if he is truly the Elessar of Legend, the Shaman will have to speak with him. Elessar called for his black griffon, which greatly impressed the young goliath, and together with Fredegar flew north swiftly.

    The Shaman was incredibly ancient, and through withered eyes recognized the chief. He was just a child when Elessar left, but throughout the years had gathered enough wisdom to know the truth of Elessar’s words.

    Fredegar was initially not allowed passage into the tribe, but was accepted at Elessar’s command, and passed the rite of fire, wherein the runepriest and the blacksmith both held hot coals in their unprotected hands for a duration of time. Having succeeded to match the blacksmith’s prowess, he was welcomed to craft with him.

    The Shaman asked Elessar to undertake the rite of blood, to regain control of the tribe. He and a challenger cut wounds on their bodies with a ritual dagger and bled to show their dedication to the tribe. Elessar managed to remain standing longer than his opponent, and the rite of blood was complete. Elessar was now once again leader of the Chimera Clan, though the situation he had inherited, of the goliath tribes of Karaz-Kor was still cause for much concern still.

. ___ . - ♦ - . __ ...--.--- ♦ ---.--... __ . - ♦ - . ___ .

    At dawn the following day, everyone had gathered together again. We saw Calrethral, having returned from a secret mission, covered in lacerations and stab wounds. The High King told us that The Lost Tribes were at full-out war, and asked us to go on a diplomatic mission to enlist their aid, hopefully to find out more about the situation than Aalana and Fredegar had understood alone. Oshul was sent back with us as a guide of sorts. When entering the Howling Pass on canoes we had to maneuver ourselves, we were attacked by werepeople – wereboars, werewolves and weretigers. After a swift combat the majority of our party found themselves infected with Moon Frenzy, while Oshul had contracted Moon Tusk Fever. Luckily, help was, supposedly, just beyond the pass…

Drakonia Adventure Log - Session 6

The Tomb of Ervaril II and The GEARS Central

Party: 
♦ Alvana (deva avenger)
♦ Barrus (bugbear rogue)
♦ Elessar (goliath barbarian)
♦ Hakumen / Vornafein (drow assassin)

    In the midst of the scene described above, each character tried to make their way inside, slowly uncovering what each of the traps did. Alvana stood behind, somewhat apprehensive of the initial jump over the spiked pit trap. Luckily Elessar helped her over, by extending her a rope and pulling her while she made the jump, and she was safely in the middle of the room, from where she spotted a few loose stones in one of the walls. Heading there to investigate, past one of the fire braziers which had been disabled, she found the entrance to a control room, and just in the nick of time, as Vornafein had been tossed into acid, and Barrus was struggling with the treasure he felt compelled to bury himself in. She disabled the traps in the room, and then slowly disarmed the traps in the entire tomb. In the control chamber there were also some treasure parcels, potions of regeneration which we split amongst ourselves, gold, and a scabbard with a large bastard sword which Barrus immediately claimed.

    Also in the chamber in one of the chests we found the sealed Spellbook of Ervaril.  The party rested here, tending to their wounds and diseases, before heading out of the tomb.

    Outside of the tomb the forces of The Shadow awaited once more, though disconcertingly, this time they were Spider League Drow, like Hakumen, who also had a black dragon tattooed as a sign of allegiance to The Shadow.

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    The party then met the legate, Lilianne Caelys and Gloaming Guard Captain Varlanna who were thankful that we had recovered The Book of Ervaril, and tasked us with urgently finding Archmage Pynar in the GEARS Academy in Griffin’s nest, who would know how to use the book to save our friend. The Shadow had been spotted and was looking for something.

    Due to a notice of intruders, all the compound’s laboratories were under lockdown. We use one of the floor maps in the lobby to locate Pynar’s room, and also spot a staircase going towards the lower levels. The archmage’s tower was relatively easy to reach, using an elevator which we first had to fix. In her chamber, Eveline lied at her desk almost dead. She told us that Rhakka was kept in stasis in A51 Laboratories, and that she was not certain what The Shadow was searching for, but with her dying breath begged us to keep the Book of Ervaril safe. In Pynar’s office, we found a key with a symbol which resembled the arcane markings on the Book of Ervaril, a master key to open locked down doors.

    On the trek down, into the lower levels of the academy, we almost stumbled upon the Shadow, but thankfully we were able to sneak into a hiding place before he spotted us. It became apparent that he came into GEARS to look for the book, and finding that it was not with any of the archmages, turned into his dragon shape and left the compound.

    After an urgent search, we found a passageway marked A51. The first chamber of it was guarded by undead creatures, no doubt The Shadow’s lingering forces. We dealt with an Undead Hulk, a giant undead who acted twice as fast as any of us in combat, could phase, and was insubstantial, but also some burning skeletons, essentially a similar combat to that in the Tomb of Ervaril. The chamber that followed was heavily trapped and not even our master key could help us disable the traps without experiencing them head-on. There was a spike trap, a loose tile, but most spectacularly, 2 braziers which were shaped like female statues, which released gas in a small opening around their bellybutton, while the tiles directly below it sparked continuously with a very low flame. Putting the two together, we had an almost impenetrable wall of fire (which Barrus failed to disable). Elessar braved the flames and opened the next door, which thankfully stopped the blaze. The next room was a summoning chamber, with runes of binding on the floor, and The Shadow’s creatures were trying to break down the door to our right, as we entered. Due to the arcane fluctuations in the room, mindless wisps appeared in the room. The combat was difficult, Alvana making use of all her resources aginst the undead monster that stood before her, including banishing the creature with her sword. The fight left Barrus and Elessar infected with Mummy Rot, but we managed to successfully clear the room.

    That evening, Vornafein died from foul rotting, having struggled with the disease alone throughout the perilous adventure.

Drakonia Adventure Log - Session 5

The Tomb of Ervaril I

Party: 
♦ Alvana (deva avenger)
♦ Barrus (bugbear rogue)
♦ Elessar (goliath barbarian)
♦ Sergo (half-elf warlord)
♦ Hakumen / Vornafein (drow assassin)
♦ Elera (drow warlock)

    The party received a map to the Tomb of Ervaril, and were offered fully equipped ornithopters to take to the location. In the meantime (while the main party had been off on the mission concerning the army of Karaz-Kor), Barrus had been browsing the various valuables of the people in Griffin’s Nest, stealing what seemed shinier and more expensive, while Elessar met with the High King and was introduced to Hakumen and Elera, members of the Spider League. Elessar and Elera decided to forgo the tricky-to-maneuver ornithopters and instead requisitioned griffin mounts. Elessar convinced a black and fierce griffin named Storm to respect him, while Elera accepted a calm beast called Princess, even though she strongly objected to her name.

    Near the entrance to the Tomb of Ervaril, we found fallen undead bodies and dead Gloaming Guard elves, but also a dying survivor, a green haired elven woman with a greatbow. She told us that the forces of The Shadow had been there, trying to plunder the tomb, but after a glorious combat, they prevailed. With her dying breath, she warned us of the sphinx inside the tomb. To our knowledge, a sphinx was a powerful magical beast, which was very passionate about riddles, and who were otherwise very powerful creatures, who could fly and cast spells. Alvana performed a religious ritual to set the souls of the Gloaming Guard to rest, remembering the funerary rites of the elves as if from a distant lifetime.

    The entrance to Ervaril’s Tomb was a large basalt door decorated with a bas-relief of Ervaril, looking quite haughty, while wearing a crown of laurels. It had to be pushed 10 feet (a deed performed by Elessar and Barrus) until it fell. The first chamber was decorated with ivy all over its walls and well lit with a golden hue. Prominent in the stonework were bas-reliefs depicting Ervaril’s daily life. The room seemed new, although there was a pile of corpses in the corner. On a closer inspection, Alvana realized that those were disabled undead creatures, which looked to have been ripped to shreds by a powerful predator, most likely the sphinx, which presented itself as a statue in the opposite corner of the room.

    When we approached the statue it activated, and the leonine creature proclaimed in a booming voice that we had to pass the Test of Wit, and should we fail it, what awaits us is the Test of Brawn. Then he spoke our first riddle:

        The kingdom’s soldiers will look like it,
        When the headsman gives them a lop.
        For then, like it, they will have a neck,
        But not a head on top.
            Our answer: a bottle.

    “Good” the sphinx proclaimed and continued with the following riddle:
        With flashing swords and booming cry,
        With darkness staining land and sky,
        The army comes, prepared to die,
        Soldiers fall in glistening dress,
        As battles are joined without egress,
        Save comfort in the earth’s caress.
            Our answer: a storm.

    The sphinx agreed our answer was acceptable as well, although he was thinking of rain. “Correct” he said after some deliberation. And finally:
        An untiring servant it is,
        Carrying loads across the muddy earth
        But one thing that cannot be forced
        Is a return to its place of birth.
            Our answer: a river.

    The sphinx then moved aside and revealed a passageway to the next room which he was guarding with his entire body. The next room had a similar door, and once we pushed it aside, we had to deal with a room filled with undead – most notably a Zombie Hulk (which would rise again after being defeated) and Burning Skeletons (which had an aura of fire around them, and could hurl small fireballs at us) – and some Stone Harriers, used to guard objects, who could fly, and slow/immobilize their targets.

    After defeating the creatures, we made our way through trapped corridors, decorated with images of Ervaril being flailed by other archmages, and we contracted several diseases (Hakumen fell ill with Foul Rotting, and Alvana subjected herself to a needled trap which made her contract Hell Fever) while deactivating the triggers for the traps. What laid ahead was a door decorated with a bas-relief depicting treasure. Fool's Gold for sure, as Ervaril's tomb was primarily a repository of knowledge, not of actual treasure. In any case, the following chamber was heavily trapped, there was a spiked pit at the entrance, a deep acid pool, statues on the sides which triggered fire blast-zones, a secondary group of two statues which pushed targets towards the treasure or towards the acid pit, and a great pile of treasure, which was quite compelling.

Drakonia Adventure Log - Session 4

The Army from Karaz-Kor

Party:
♦ Alvana (deva avenger)
♦ Dunov (dwarf ranger)
♦ Sergo (half-elf warlord)
♦ Rhakka (theifling warlock)

    The party would have to take elven ornithopters to the location where the army from Karaz-Kor was situated, ornithopters that would be deployed from Lilianne Caelys' flagship, The Zephir, a majestic vessel whose design was reminiscent of a swan. The ornithopters we were shown had some camouflaging on them, and were stripped down to make them as light as possible, consequently making them considerably harder to maneuver too. In addition, we were given 175 gold pieces for goods requisitioning.

    As Alvana wandered through Griffin's Nest looking for the best way to spend that money she ran into an old woman that she instantly recognized as a Vistani mother, who looked to be in her 40s. The Vistani are gypsies that travel through the Shadowfell... The woman looked at Alvana and addressed her as “Milady Clarick”, and spoke of her having a dark past. In essence she offered to read Alvana's fortunes, in exchange for 500 gold pieces, which was most of what she had gathered since the start of her adventure. Alvana however didn't look at the hefty cost, being entirely too curious to interact with someone who looked like she understood something about her and her past. Alvana met her at the established time in the Vistani campsite on the edge of the lake. Children seemed to want to steal from her, but she kindly offered them the sweetheart's confection she had been carrying since the start and asked to see the Vistani Baba. Upon hearing that the children were afraid to accept even the gift she gave willingly, and directed her to the Baba's tent. The Vistani woman reiterated that she has a dark past, and was entirely surprised to find that she was “new” now. She told her that Alvana was once devoted to Bane (God of War, Civilization and Tyranny). As Lady Clarick, she was an exceptional prelate, who conquered and defeated the Lion Clan of the Dragonborn Shogunate. The Baba added, looking at her hand, that Lady Clarick had been disposed of, redeemed by someone dear to me. Alvana's insight suggested that this someone dear may have been who the sweetheart's confection was related to... But regardless of that, she felt grateful to whomever changed her, because she found this relating of her past to be quite disturbing, being so far removed from her current moral compass. Upon leaving the tent, the children she'd given the sweetheart's confection to rushed to her to return it, explaining that this item was not a toy, and clearly meant for her. When she took it once more in her possession it began to glow, and a faint and distant empathic connection could be felt through the token. While this event had planted in Alvana the seeds of curiosity, and a certain desire to talk to the man who had changed her, she had to put that thought on hold, their current mission entirely more important.

    So Alvana went and requisitioned some goods, namely alchemist fire and alchemist acid, to hopefully throw from their ornithopters and wreak havoc in key places of the invading army.

    After returning to the Zephir, where Caelys was waiting, the entire party was reunited and ready to head off. They travelled on the airship, which was manned by Gloaming Guard Elves, and seemed to be powered by a storm elemental, and for propulsion it used an arcantrik generator (a generator of arcane power), which gave it a halo of silvery light. We were told our mission required 3 stages:
    1. An aerial surveillance of the camp,
    2. Finding out is the enemy army has war documents, and preferably destroying them if they exist, and
    3. Sabotaging the army.

    Additionally, we were told that we were on our own, because it would be 4 days before reinforcements and the Zephir, would arrive again.

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    We were told that the stripped down ornithopters would be difficult to maneuver. Rhakka realized that his visual senses might betray him, so he chose to fly the machine blind, guiding himself only via the controls and dials in front of him. Our ornithopters were deployed from high altitude above the edge of the enemy camp, and were difficult to stabilize. Dunov tried to guide Rhakka, but in the process approached his aircraft too closely, which caused both machines to start spinning out of control. Alvana stayed a bit away from them, and managed to take control of the aircraft and hide it in a low-altitude cloud. She was however powerless to help her companions who, nearing a crash, got ejected in random locations. Dunov and Rhakka were not very lucky, landing in the middle of the enemy camp, however, Sergo, landed far enough outside of it to be safe for the moment.

    Alvana, seeing the situation, tried her best to accomplish the given mission on her own, and succeeded on doing quiet and stealthy sweeps of the enemy camp. The first revealed that they were alerted, having clearly spotted the commotion. In the second sweep she noticed the races of the assailants: ogres, orcs, goblins and hobgoblins. With a third sweep of the campsite she managed to obtain a complete and perfect distribution of the enemy forces, and noticed, surprisingly, that they were a very organized and trained army, not at all what one might expect from the warmongering tribes of Karaz-Kor.

    After finding this, Alvana continued looking around, and eventually spotted Sergo. She landed the ornithopter away from the camp, and traveled on foot to meet him. Together, they at first hid upwind while orcs came to investigate Alvana's ornithopter, and then continued with stage two of the plan, to find out about the documents of war. They were quite lucky to find a marginal tent which was only loosely protected by goblinoids. After a quick combat, they entered the tent to find an old scared goblin inside, and on the table documents in all sorts of barbarian languages, and a general order written in Common: “Forced march to Illithiria. Arrival within 3 days.” Among the papers Alvana could also find a ritual of comprehend languages as a scroll, which she cast in order to better understand the documents in the strange languages. They were indeed war-documents, with details about the army's placement in combat (orcs and hobgoblin overlords on the flanks, which made up the bulk of the army; goblins were trained as a group, bugbears acted as infiltration teams and ogres were shock troupes). All in all the army was very well organized, which was very disconcerting. Alvana manages to intimidate the old goblin, who by chance turned out to be the army's scribe, into delaying the army a day, hopefully giving the Zephir enough time to gather reinforcements.

    Alvana and Sergo then returned to Alvana's ornithopter (they were thankful the orc patrol left it alone) and attempted to use the communicator inside it to contact the Zephir, or the elves, to share all the information they had gathered, and warn Griffin's Nest of the incoming assault. The elven forces thought the four of them were lost for good, and were surprised to hear from Alvana. She wanted to continue on with the mission, attempting to sabotage the camp but the elves told them to stand down; they were too few.

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    Meanwhile, Rhakka and Dunov had been captured by the barbarian army and taken to their leader, a half-orc female war chief with exceptional good looks even by human standards. Rhakka was the first to be interrogated by her, and she essentially probed his mind. She warned him that should he resist, it would hurt him more, but he defied her, making the probing exceptionally painful. Through this invasion of his mind, the woman was able to see all that Rhakka had seen of the elven defenses and even the Zephir's mechanisms. She thanked him mockingly and sent him back in stockades, where goblinoids mocked and humiliated him for the duration of the entire day.

    The war chief's probing of Dunov was kinder, because he chose not to resist her, but the information she found from his keen dwarven mind was all the more dangerous.

    The following morning, Rhakka was washed and taken to the war chief's tent, where she told him that he should please her. After the deed was done, she appeared content, and ordered that Rhakka be put in a cage, one alongside Dunov.

    When the chance for escape came, Rhakka realized that his cage's locking mechanism was easy to crack, and he stealthily unlocked his cage, then unlocked Dunov's as well, and went back into the cage waiting for a better occasion, and intent on revenge for his humiliation. While Dunov took the quickest occasion to stealthily escape from camp, Rhakka sneaked back into the war chief's tent, wanting to assassinate her. He thought he saw her between the veils of her bed's canopy, sleeping quietly, and planted his knife deep into the female looking shape. His dagger however found only soft pillows, and when he turned around, she faced him, casting a powerful Blasphemy spell, which knocked him unconscious.

    He awoke later to find his body opened up as part of an evil ritual. Each of his muscles was neatly dissected and cold iron was being poured, in a runic pattern, on his bones. This was, once again, exceptionally painful, and Rhakka could not realistically understand how he was still alive, how he had not yet perished from internal bleeding. When the ritual was complete, she sealed his body, and Rhakka could still see the cold iron under his skin, like a second set of veins circuited over his entire body. The war chief commanded that he attack her, and he resisted. A shock-wave of pain surged over his body as his hand, no longer under his control, attacked her. She then summoned a goblin to her tent, and then commanded Rhakka to attack him. This time he did not resist, and with a swift blow killed the small creature.

    “Good, my pet. You're learning...”

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    Alvana and Sergo managed to find Dunov, who shared all he knew about the half-orc female general and the army itself. Alvana reported a second time to the elves, and tweaking around with the ornithopter, realized that its engine could be jump-started. She did so, and allowed Dunov to ride away with Sergo on the ornithopter, to find the Zephir, or at least safer ground. She would walk on foot.

    Soon after she departed from the enemy campsite, Alvana heard, through the sending stone she took from the scribe, “Prepare to depart, all armies, all formations”. The Zephir arrived, fully battle ready, and started effectively bombing the barbarian campsite. Unfortunately, it seems that they were ready for an airship attack, because they uncovered ballistas and targeted the Zephir. After a powerful exchange of fire, the Zephir is touched and it retreats, and the camp is dispersed.

    Alvana continues on her trek back to Griffin's Nest, and at one point, surprisingly, Rhakka appears next to her, with his items near him, and otherwise naked. Not expecting any foul play, Alvana concernedly asks him how he survived, how he managed to teleport to her, and equips Rhakka. He does not manage to explain much, when he feels the half-orc woman's intrusion in his mind, making him attack Alvana. She shielded herself with a layer of vitality, and attacked Rhakka with some of her strongest powers, hoping that divine light will cause him to regain control of himself. It does not, but a few seconds later, he is able to regain enough mental leverage over the woman that he tells Alvana “Save me, please, save me” and drops his weapons. Alvana ties his hands and removes the more dangerous of his equipment, taking him back on the road to Griffin's Nest. The Zephir however spots Alvana and Rhakka, and picks them up while they are retreating.

    On it, Archmage Pynar tells the party that Rhakka is a liability and that they should probably end him. Dunov readies his crossbow and aims her at Rhakka, waiting for a word from the elven legate. She tells the party that it is their decision, and Pynar explains that the Tomb of Ervaril may hold the key to undoing the foul ritual cast on Rhakka. The party agrees to go search the tomb, and Rhakka is placed in a temporal stasis device which looked a great deal like the vats Alvana and Barrus awoke in. While Rhakka is taken to the GEARS's laboratories in stasis, the rest of the party heads to the Tomb of Ervaril.

Drakonia Adventure Log - Session 3

The Fey Lands of Illithiria

Party:
♦ Alvana (deva avenger)
♦ Barrus (bugbear rogue)
♦ Elessar (goliath barbarian)
♦ Rhakka (theifling warlock)
♦ Dunov (dwarf ranger)

    Having saved the refugees and evacuated them safely out of Pridemaine, the party now was charged with safely traveling with them to some dolmens where a passage way may be set up to lead them all into Illithiria. Lancelot assured us that the journey should not be too perilous, but that he was also protected by the charms of his lady. The party of adventurers may indeed have taken to the journey without much difficulty but having the 50 refugees with them made things considerably trickier. Alvana tried to aid the group with a heartening prayer, or by scouting ahead to ensure a safe passage, and her efforts, coupled with those of the other adventurers led the group safely on the first day. At night however the characters felt watched by something not of this world. They shrugged it off, set up camp and allowed the humans to go to sleep, setting up a watch between themselves. That night they were attacked by 3 insubstantial hounds of ill omen which marked them and cursed them with their howl. The refugees panicked about the combat, and a few fled right past the hounds, who tore through them. Luckily, for the rest, Elessar was able to intimidate them, thereby saving their lives, as we battled the hounds and dispatched them.

    On the journey the next day, Alvana found in an old and battered house a beautiful Githyanki Silver Fullblade. When she took hold of the weapon she instantly recognized it as her sword, the Banisher, and the place as an old sanctuary of some past reincarnation of hers.

    The sky was a beautiful purplish color as we finally reached the dolmens with the refugees, and Aalana told us that she must perform a ritual at each of the 5 dolmens so that everyone may travel safely to the fey lands. The ritual had to be uninterrupted, so our ranged combatants, Rhakka and Dunov, placed themselves on two of the dolmens, and the others readied their weapons from the ground. We were met by an envoy sent by The Shadow, led by one Azara Iceborn, an unseelie fey who might have been affiliated with the Prince of Winter. She was a fierce ranged combatant herself, but our tactical positioning helped considerably, and we prevailed without considerable losses, even though in the heat of battle, one of the dolmens was destroyed.

    Rhakka, the only one of us skilled in the arcane arts, had to withstand incredible pain, as he channeled the arcane energy needed to complete the passageway to Illithiria through his own body, completing thus the network of Dolmens. He survived, but almost just barely, as arcane voltage shot through him, and he resisted as the refugees passed into the passageway 5 by 5, and finally all of us, including him crossed over to the Lady of the Lake's domain. Rhakka collapsed from sheer exhaustion on arrival.

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    The Lady of the Lake did not show herself until Queen Aalana did not speak a greeting in elven. She then appeared, white haired with very dark, dark eyes, with aquatic plants from the lake's depths clothing her, stepping on water so softly that it provoked no ripples. She wielded a beautiful scimitar.

    The Lady thanked the adventurers and Aalana, and welcomed them. She was particularly moved by Rhakka's efforts, and she helped awaken him.

    The Lady then proceeded to speak to each of the characters, who in this moment of respite longed to hear about their past, of what had happened to their homes and loved ones in 120 years. For Alvana, the Lady of the Lake recognized a past life of hers when she wielded a staff with a swan on top of it, and had brought news of dire consequence from the land of the dragons.

    She explained that The Shadow had renounced his or perhaps her name. By killing the Hands of Fate he had achieved dragon apotheosis. After the Shadow's campaign against the humans, 10 years had passed, in which he was still. As for the battles on other continents, the tieflings are now scattered houses, trying to reform the empire, the Dragonborn Shogunate was bickering, and the barbarian horde from Karaz-Kor is always warring between themselves. Illithiria itself wasn't doing gloriously better, as the High King was sick with an unknown ailment.

    The Lady of the Lake told us to travel to the capital – Griffin's Nest – to seek an audience with the High King, and gave us an ever-blooming rose as a fey token. The refugees remained with the Lady of the Lake, who would ensure that they were taken care of.

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    Griffin's Nest was presented a big clear deep lake, and above the lake, on an earth mote, stood the great city. There was no apparent way of entering the city, but when we presented the fey token, a beautiful rose bridge formed towards it. Its gates were made of marble, lined with silver and mithril.

    We were greeted by a contingent of elves and were taken to the palace, where we were greeted by the King's majordomo, a very difficult, haughty and condescending woman, who explained that we may see the king after we have been “educated”. What followed was a difficult lesson on order and rulership in Illithiria, difficult not due to its content, but because the majordomo was doing her best to treat us as though with our simple minds and weak intelligence we would not be able to follow her explanations about the fey history. All of the boys did their best to hasten the lessons and disrespect the woman, but Alvana saw her as a fount of vital information and paid as much attention as possible to her explanations, apologizing for her companions, even though inside she found the exchange excruciating as well. She simply had the wisdom to not act ridiculously upon that, and when the King's majordomo had to leave momentarily, she gave her party a summary of the explanations they had essentially blocked out of their minds.

    Essentially the fey kingdom was organized in 3 factions:
      ♦ the Gloaming Guard, which were the elven protectors of the kingdom,
      ♦ the Spider League, made up of mainly drow, but also some gnomes, which dealt in information brokerage, and was a network of loosely affiliated agents scattered throughout Illithiria
      ♦ the most esteemed of these organizations - GEARS – The Griffin Elementary of Arcane Research and Study

    All three of which together with the High King and the Senate made up the Court of Stars. The Senate was made up of each noble across Illithiria, and they were the ones who appointed the legate, a general in times of war.

    Finally, the Office was the term used for the conglomerate of leaders from the aforementioned organizations.

    We were told the king would receive us after the evening meal, and we were given fine elven clothing worth around 500 gold pieces to wear on the occasion. The receiving chamber of the High King was a large round room, lined as a library, with fey lights offering bright illumination.

    The King and his Office were sitting comfortably, drinking tea and smoking pipe, in a casual and relaxed atmosphere which was a welcomed change from the majordomo's rigid stance. The King greeted us and then introduced us one by one to his staff:

   ♦ Miss Eveline Pynar, archmage and head mistress of the GEARS, a pretty gnome lady.
   ♦ Daevis Calrethral, chief of information from the Spider League, who was a serious drow male, who had a cane near him and a belt sporting a skull with spiders on it.
   ♦ An elven lady, named Jocelyn Varlanna, who was presented as the leader of the Gloaming Guard.
   ♦ And the legate, a young eladrin woman named Lilianne Caelys, who wore short black hair, a bit unusual for an eladrin, and wore a fullplate and a holy symbol with a sun and a book upon it. She was most likely a paladin.

    The king proceeded to explain that there are two things that the elven kingdom could use the adventurers’ help with, namely with the barbarian invasion from Karaz Kor, which required a small taskforce to infiltrate and sabotage the army, or with the tomb of Ervaril, the sage, which held weapons, arcane secrets, and treasure. After some debating, the party decided that the army was the greater threat, and decided to be part of the task force to disable it.

Drakonia Adventure Log - Session 2

The Shadow Dragon and the Ruined City

Party:
♦ Alvana (deva avenger)
♦ Barrus (bugbear rogue)
♦ Elessar (goliath barbarian)
♦ Rhakka (theifling warlock)
♦ Jenn (half-elf fighter)
♦ Dia (pixie rogue)

    The party travelled back to Pridemaine only to find the city in ruins. Everything looked like a total blast area, and Alvana recognized the surrounding conflagration as what a dragon might have done when pillaging a city. Pridemaine itself did not appear very familiar to her. Those who knew Pridemaine as the Capital of Griffin Dutchy, one of the Human Dutchies, however find various clues which suggested that a very long time might have passed. In the ruins they eventually encounter an old woman with a screechy and maniacal voice, who tells them that queen Aalana had been gone for 120 years, and that The Shadow now reigns supreme. She turns out to be a wraith, and she breathes undead life into the nearby dead bodies and the party has a fight with the dark creatures which they destroy. (Alvana was particularly effective against the wraith abjuring her.)

    In the distance, the castle of Pridemaine, in ruins, displayed on its highest level, the bodies of the Hands of Fate, as a disgusting demonstration of the Shadow's current level of power.

    With Aalana we decided we needed to infiltrate the castle while The Shadow was away, to collect remains of the Hands of Fate for potential resurrection, or for rituals which may aid us against The Shadow. She knew of a secret passage, which we took, only to find it guarded by one Saevis Silvertongue, with which the party had had previous encounters, and which Alvana herself stupidly remembered from a past life as a brief lover. This made her quite hesitant in battling him, despite his being surrounded by cambions and legion devilgrinds. This was sort of a frustrating encounter because enemies blocked our way and kept the many melee combatants of our party out of reach in the corridor of the secret passage.

    Saevis was eventually disabled and we interrogated him. He confirmed some of our worst fears, stating that The Shadow had achieved apotheosis into a huge Shadow Dragon, and as such had obtained immortality. After the interrogation, the party killed Saevis, who did not beg for his life, but rather spoke in a zealot manner about The Shadow's power with his dying breath.

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    After following the secret passage all the way to the tower with the Hands of Fate, the party collected small samples of all the bodies and quickly tried to make their way out of the castle through a different passage, but were spotted by The Shadow Dragon.  What followed was a dangerous chase scene, during which Queen Aalana wanted to sacrifice herself to hold off the Dragon while the party escaped, conjuring a great bubble of light around herself, and telling the party to flee. The Goliath Elessar would hear of no such thing, and tossed his great fullblade at The Shadow. Although it was but a small distraction, he grabbed Aalana's hand and ran with her, effectively saving her life. At one point during the chase, a member of the White Knights, dressed in silver and green, riding on a unicorn mount, moved to fight the dragon, and later opened a portal for the party to leave through.

Brief comic about Aalana's would-be sacrifice, and Elessar's desperate tossing of the sword.

    The portal took them to a small house outside of Pridemaine, and in the distance the party could see The Shadow Dragon releasing his full fury against the ruined city, but thankfully the party had escaped his wrath.

    The knight introduces himself as Sir Lancelot of the Lake, the Green Knight, and when removing his helmet we find he is an eladrin. He speaks of the forests of Illithiria, which he fears might fall to the Shadow's ambitions. He also tells the characters that after murdering the Hands of Fate, The Shadow managed to ascend, and people still aren't sure how he accomplished this. Lancelot explained that he was on a mission in the Dutchies from the High King of Illithiria, to save survivors who may still be living in Pridemaine. He charges the party with the task of rescuing some refugees who were living in Pridemaine's sewers, whose passage was blocked by some kind of guardian.  Lancelot activated his shield with a word in Supernal, and it sent us on our way back near Pridemaine. We had to face poisoned waters, as we swam towards the sewers (Dia, the pixie rogue, was lucky enough to be carried in a jar throughout the experience.)

    The refugees were thankful when they saw us, and were amazed that we could deliver them from their difficult existence, but warned us that all who tried to defeat the guardian before us had perished.

    We entered through a portal to find the guardian was a far-realm abomination, chained to walls made of flesh and eyes. The battle was fierce as the creature could move several times in a mere couple of seconds, and its damaging auras claimed the life of little Dia.

    The party then took charge of 50 refugees, and they all rested to gather their strength before the journey to Illithiria.

Drakonia Adventure Log - Session 1

The Avatar of the Shadow

Party:
♦ Alvana (deva avenger)
♦ Barrus (bugbear rogue)
♦ Elessar (goliath barbarian)
♦ Rhakka (theifling warlock)
♦ Jenn (half-elf fighter)
♦ Hadarai (eladrin swordmage)
♦ Elendil (elf ranger)

Alvana sleeping in stasis.

    Alvana and Barrus awoke from stasis in a laboratory, completely naked, and with vague recollections of their equipment being carried to an adjacent room as they fell asleep in their pods. Surrounding them was a motley group of adventurers, which included a tiefling named Rhakka, a dwarf who introduced himself as Fredegar Boulder, a half-elven female fighter, Jenn, Elendil, elf ranger, and Hadarai, an eladrin swordmage. One of their group (Elessar) was locked in stasis in a nearby vat.

    While Alvana asked for a blanket to cover herself up, she looked around at the strange laboratory, trying to remember things about it, and feeling a bit intimidated by the large group of adventurers who in the meantime were arguing about things she couldn't focus on. She quietly asked them who they were and what their purpose was, and Jenn came to her to explain their quest... In a way which pretty much confused the hell out of the amnesiac Alvana. Jenn spoke of a thieves’ guild, of the Queen of Pridemaine, who had been or they were trying to resurrect, of how they thought they were traveling through the Shadowfell, and other things, spoken in a sudden blur. What hit home however, was the mention of The Shadow, which sent a chill down Alvana's spine. Jenn explained that as far as they could tell, the Shadow was some sort of Drow fighter/caster, and that he had been so strong as to destroy a flying ship.

Silly comic about Barrus' sword. [CLICK to full-view]

    They then moved on to exploring the next room, where their equipment was supposed to be, Alvana found her things and clothed and equipped herself swiftly, while Fredegar smashed various wooden cases, in the process succeeding to destroy Barrus's sword, who was understandably furious. Luckily a scroll of mending was found, but one of the adventurers, Elendil, who harbored spite for bugbears and feared that mending his weapon would make him turn aggressively towards them, threw a torch at the scroll, destroying it. Obviously enough that did make Barrus turn towards Elendil, grabbing him and almost choking him, while others of their group likewise responded aggressively. In the process Alvana was plainly shocked by how disjointed the group seemed to be, and begged Barrus, whom she felt a vague kinship towards, having been through similar experiences, to stop the senseless violence.

    Soon after the group relaxed the tension, the goliath who was locked inside one of the vats awoke from stasis himself, shocked at the madness of the current situation, and in a bossy manner told each of the people involved in the incident off and reminded them that they need to work as a group to rescue Queen Aalana. Thankfully, then, a second scroll of mending was found, and Barrus' sword was repaired.

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    The next room on their journey was a portal to a throne room where it seemed the Shadow himself stood before us to fight. The chamber, lined with statues contained a large round table in the middle, to which a powerful living soul was chained. A living soul, Alvana realized, was the spirit of a powerful creature, which had been disintegrated incompletely, thus becoming corrupted. It would require a ritual in order to be purified.

The villain we faced, The Avatar of The Shadow.

    The Shadow himself was a dire adversary even on his own, appearing to us as a very capable drow swordmaster, wielding two elegant rapiers, and nearly devastating the exhausted party. We did our best to vanquish him, and as he perished he laughed maniacally stating that through his death he will now become more powerful than any of us could possibly imagine. It was only later that the party would understand that this was not The Shadow himself, but a mere avatar of his, chained to the Shadowfell. By destroying this avatar the party inadvertently freed The Shadow of his bindings.

    But for now, the party was glad to have a chance to rescue Queen Aalana. Fredegar performed a purification ritual on the table and through it, Aalana once again stood in flesh and blood, before the party, and a portal opened behind the throne which would lead the party back to Pridemaine...