This is the personal diary of one Theo W. Burns, student at Miskatonic University, a record of the "Day of the Beast" campaign, of which the first session was January 30, 2009.
5/30/1927
Another semester completed. I am beginning to enjoy my choice of Ancient Greek as my new course of study; much more dignified than English. The Greeks always were wise in matters of the spirit. Explains the majesty of their mythology as such a primal force in human culture. Madame Dulagi’s consultation was hopeful today, and it echoes my own reading of the cards.
7/8/1927
A perfect opportunity to further my explorations of the occult has opened to me! In the Arkham paper, I came upon an advertisement that invited those interested to “experience the supernatural.” For the nominal fee of fifty dollars, I could finally put first hand knowledge of these subjects behind all of the books I have studying so avidly. For so long, I have felt certain that mystical ideas are hidden behind the façade of the mundane, that humans have abilities that the stolid businessman and the scientist scoff at. Oh, if the gray citadels of temporal power are correct and the universe remains the sole domain of the “jealous God” and we have only to keep to the path and not question, then the world will remain as dead to me as the November skies of my northern homeland. If even worse, as the skeptics purport, the universe is under the sole custodianship of blind chance and the idiot rule of pure natural law, than all life is meaningless and without reason at all. Such a thing I cannot accept! We humans are gifted with wonderful eyes for the symbolic, and as Jung and Fraser have shown, these themes remain remarkably consistent through the world.
In short, what some would dismiss as a mere “haunted house,” well, in it I see a total confirmation of my beliefs! I could never pass up such an opportunity! It is scheduled to be held in a small Massachusetts village. Next week, I shall travel to New York City to meet Paul Lamont, the acclaimed spiritualist who will be guiding us on this endeavor.
7/12/1927
I have arrived at Carrington House and I am impressed both with the house and with the famed spiritualist Paul Lamont. He appears to be a gentleman of unquestionable honor and if what he says is correct, he has a rare skill with communicating with the afterlife. His agent on the other hand is a most disagreeable sort, the kind of annoying toad of a man that gives critics of the mystical arts call to condemn the lot of them. He is a self absorbed, greedy nitwit of a man interested only in his own fame. I don’t know what Paul is thinking for working with him, but I will try not to let his ill presence interrupt my appreciation of the mysteries.
The Carrington House itself certainly looks like a place where the spirits of the dead can communicate with the living. Several hundred years old, it has long been the host of unexplainable apparitions, our host George Carrington attesting to them himself. His family owns the house, but his is not a man taken to flights of fancy. Ah, tonight’s séance promise to be most interesting. Perhaps only half as interesting, though, as Cecelia, the most beautiful member of the female species that ever I have laid eyes on! Oh, Cecelia, forever more will the acrid odor of harsh European tobacco be associated for me with the pangs of love! A young lady of the most sensitive and sophisticated nature, I feel a kindred spirit with Cecelia. We both share the pain of lost loved ones, and are both deeply interested in the unseen world as well. If all goes well, I shall propose to Cecelia when the opportunity presents itself.
I should mention the other members of our little party as well. There is a strange artist, Junker. German, I think. His work seems very skilled, but of the recognizable style of the New Objectivity, not to my taste. He seems a good sort though, as I definitely feel akin to artists of all types. Then there is a mysterious older woman by the name of Audrey. She is quiet and rarely associates with the rest of us. She is one to watch I think. Finally, there is Graeme, a common and annoying man. He appears to have little knowledge or interest in the occult at all. It is a mystery to me as to why he is here, but he seems to stick his nose into everything. It is very vexing. Definitely should end here for now, I hear dinner is being called. Our host’s housekeeper has been esteemed for her cooking and I haven’t eaten anything all day!
Later
Tonight’s séance was far more than I ever could have hoped! As soon as John began, he quickly got into contact with a spirit; it proved to be none other than our host’s young sister, who died in the house. He was quite beside himself with unbidden memories at her easily recognized voice. I have never seen such a successful channeling. However, our young guest was frightened herself by the appearance of another apparition, this one in the physical! Graeme was strangely affected and ran upstairs to an empty room, where the air had become unnaturally cold. It was at least 40 degrees in there, and in the middle of July! Here, at John’s suggestion we performed another séance and this time he got into contact with another spirit! This was that of an old Puritan woman who called herself Catherine. She claimed to be protecting the house from some kind of demon spawn and seemed much less pleasant than the little girl. I think that devotion to such a savage and crude religion as the Congregational church could certainly keep an angry spirit here on this plane (in fact, they burnt a witch in this very town!). Catherine claimed to have murdered a child to keep the Devil at bay. How horrific, such a self deluded spirit. It is no wonder she clings to this world.
7/13/1927
What a strange night! While I was having trouble sleeping in the spooky old house, I heard a noise from deep in the house. I summoned the others before we investigated, discovering old Margaret the housekeeper in the basement carrying an axe! I am concerned that she may be being affected by the house. She did do us the favor of bringing our attention to a strange locked door in the basement, behind which we found some profoundly disturbing evidence. A nail was found to ooze spectral blood. Even worse, a human skeleton was unearthed in the corner. Audrey was able to determine it as a child, the cause of death being blunt force trauma to the head (she is quite knowledgeable about anatomy, it seems). These, no doubt, are the sad remains of Catherine’s young victim. I wonder what proper procedure is in this case. Should we notify the authorities? It is nearly breakfast, after which Cecelia and I will take a walk into the village to see if we might be able to find out more about the history of the Carrington house.
Afternoon
Much was discovered in the records of the old church in town, coupled with some documents we have found in the Carrington house itself. I believe I am beginning to peace together the tragic history of the house. Built for Catherine’s husband, the childless colonial woman claimed the son of an executed witch for her own, later going mad and killing him as she believed he had his mother’s “curse.” After her death, she stayed on in the house and later drove others mad, including George Carrington’s sister, whom she forced to commit suicide in the belief she too was a witch. Tonight we shall attempt to contact the spirit of the murdered boy. Oh, and Margaret continues to act strangely; her meals are not up to normal standards. She may be in spiritual danger.
Late
Tonight we were not able to accomplish much; Paul Lamont is physically drained from his encounters with the spirit realm. We cannot ask much more of him, he has earned our money and more. We can only hope now to put some of these poor spirits to rest. The young boy seems to be especially difficult to contact. Tomorrow shall be the last day of our visit, so I hope we are able to succeed.
7/14/1927, very early
Another long night; again Margaret was found wandering the house with an axe, muttering to herself. Audrey put her on some medication, so I hope her episodes are over. I do believe that the spirit of Catherine is having a malign influence on her. In the morning I shall propose we attempt to force the Puritan ghost from the house.
Later in the Day
The day has proved to be the most event and successful we have had; all are satisfied by Paul Lamont’s wonderful gifts (save for his agent, who selfishly wanted to keep the house “haunted”) and we are all linked in our spiritual accomplishments. The morning started when Paul attempted to contact the boy, succeeding! He answered our questions through knocking and he and George’s sister appear to be friends in the world of the dead. They both have an undying fear of Catherine, and imply that she is always near. We determined to rid the house of her malign influence and we all joined our thoughts to forcing her to move onto her final rest, Paul’s mind linking with ours. Without warning Margaret came bursting through the room as we were near to completing our task, attempting to strike Greame with an axe. He attempted to defend himself with a pistol, but fortunately missed as Catherine’s evil ghost was forced from the old housekeeper leaving her in control of her actions once more. It was a miracle no one was injured, but all fear was extinguished when we saw the graceful spirits of the two murdered children dissipate gratefully into their final reward. I feel that we did a very good thing in helping these restless ghosts to move along in their spiritual progression. I have never felt more accomplished in my life, Lamont has helped to show me how right I was in holding that the world held great spiritual power. I can only imagine what wonders he will lead us to next!
Cecilia has agreed to visit me Arkham as well, so I am nearly floating on a cloud right now. I cannot remember when I last was so happy, probably not since mother and father died. Perhaps I can finally improve myself to the place I know I should be.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Call of Cthulhu: Day of the Beast
I'd like to start up a new Call of Cthulhu campaign for Fridays when we're not playing Star Wars. The campaign is "Day of the Beast" - a more traditional Cthulhu campaign, rather than the action-pulp oriented "Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep". It's not terribly long either, probably about 12 sessions in total give or take a few.
The campaign begins in July of 1927. Create an investigator who would be attracted to the following New York City newspaper ad:
"Experience the Supernatural!
Responsible persons of both intrepid and open-minded nature are invited to join famed New York spiritualist in a weekend of observation, investigation, and verification of a haunted house in New England. Contact with the spirit world is guaranteed. Not for the faint of heart. No experience necessary.
Write Box G 28 New York
* $50 fee, inclusive of full catering and transport to the site"
Characters of all types are welcome to join. This campaign will span several years in game time, and there exists the possibility of death and madness 'round nearly every corner. We'll be using the traditional Call of Cthulhu BRP system - it's just simpler that way, and I've never had a chance to use that system.
The campaign begins in July of 1927. Create an investigator who would be attracted to the following New York City newspaper ad:
"Experience the Supernatural!
Responsible persons of both intrepid and open-minded nature are invited to join famed New York spiritualist in a weekend of observation, investigation, and verification of a haunted house in New England. Contact with the spirit world is guaranteed. Not for the faint of heart. No experience necessary.
Write Box G 28 New York
* $50 fee, inclusive of full catering and transport to the site"
Characters of all types are welcome to join. This campaign will span several years in game time, and there exists the possibility of death and madness 'round nearly every corner. We'll be using the traditional Call of Cthulhu BRP system - it's just simpler that way, and I've never had a chance to use that system.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Age of Worms Campaign Update 12/14/2008
CHRONICLE VAULT 20081214, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Planting 18, 596 CY
Holed up in the giant city of Kongen-Thulnir, the companions contemplated their next course of action. They held in their possession both of the keys necessary to open the vault, behind which they presumed lay the phylactery of Dragotha the dracolich. One key was given to them by King Achaime Silvereye, and the other they had just taken from the corpse of the hill giant Charlgar in the pit of the Mother Worm.
The vault lay within the Citadel of Weeping Dragons towards the southern side of Kongen-Thulnir. It was a rocky outcropping rising from the canyon floor, with a natural stone bridge arching from the cliff-side city of giants. According to their map given to them by Loncer Amorocco the bridge was about a half-mile south of their current position. Argo poked his head out of the Undercity where they currently were and noted that the dragons attacked the city in regular intervals of about a half hour.
Utilizing this information, the companions - Duke, Kong, Drake, and Argo - made their way through the winding tunnels of the Undercity to the main level of the City of Kings, dodging falling debris along the way. From there they ducked and hid amongst the ruins of the buildings during the dragon raids and ran through the rubble when there was a lull. It took several hours, but they managed to get to the stone bridge with little or no incident.
This side of the bridge was capped with a large archway. Upon it were ancient runes in old dialect of Giant, that Duke was particularly fascinated with. His companions, however, urged him not to tarry as they had a several hundred foot bridge to cross.
They could see the Citadel of Weeping Dragons fairly clearly from their vantage point. It was a foreboding structure, easily four or five stories high with several probably extending into the base of the spire. Fire, stone, and hill giants stood at catapults and ballistas awaiting the inevitable new attack from the rampaging dragons. Two fire giants stood guard at the entrance to the citadel on the other side of the bridge, and it was these two that caused the heroes the most worry.
Should they launch a straight-up attack? Or try to parlay? There wasn't a lot of time in either case, but if they could somehow reason with the leader of the Tiamakal Nul-Shada - a fire giant named Kagro Thundersmiter - their going through the citadel would be much easier. The four companions decided to sneak as much as they could around the sentries and hopefully catch them off guard.
With that in mind, Duke cast a spider climb spell on each of them from his spellbook, as it was agreed by everyone that walking across the bridge was a bad idea. But climbing underneath the bridge ...? Much better idea. So, empowered by magic, the four climbed as fast as they could along the bottom of the natural stone bridge. Argo especially was a shadow amongst the rocks, moving quietly and stealthily.
Once they reached the other side they stealthily climbed around the sentries to a higher point just beyond them. Upon reaching this outcropping, however, Drake scraped his hand against the rock and let loose a shower of debris. This alerted the two fire giant sentries, who immediately gripped their weapons for attack. One of them shouted an alarm, and his voice carried through the citadel.
Deciding that there was little choice in the matter, Drake hefted his sword, gave a shout, and ran forward. He had the advantage of the higher ground, which he used when he leapt off the small ledge and brought his greatsword down in a powerful stroke. The giant was taken aback by the powerful maneuver and staggered.
Kong, not to be outdone, gave a shout announcing his furious barbarian rage and jumped - sword held high overhand - at the other sentry. His blow struck true and the giant was mortally wounded. Argo dropped into the fray as well, cutting the giant with his blades. Duke, however, decided to try a more diplomatic approach - he figured that if they could talk to the guards they could be convinced to take them inside.
The dwarf wizard cast Tasha's uncontrollable hideous laughter on the giant fighting Kong, sending the sentry into spasms of uncontrollable laughter. The other giant fought valiantly against Drake, and the fighter came to a startling realization. Him and Kong were still very wounded from the fight with the Mother Worm!
Seeing death approach at the hands of their giant opponents, Drake used the last of his wishes granted from the Deck of Many Things to heal the companions. It turned out to be a good idea, as Argo heard the sound of wings beating on the wind nearby. Suddenly a huge blue dragon appeared out of invisibility, breathing a cone of electricity on the hapless combatants! The two giants were no match for the attack and died in that initial onslaught, but the rest of the heroes steeled themselves and shifted focus to the dragon.
The dragon announced itself as Vermirox (a particularly vain move, but not uncommon amongst dragonkind) and promised a slow death. But he ate his words as Drake and Kong moved forward to engage it in melee, Argo taking up a flanking position. Duke stayed out of claw range and lobbed orbs of acid at the dragon, and after a few furious exchange of blows Vermirox's lifeless draconic corpse fell to the canyon floor below.
Knowing that the rest of the dragon raid was on its way, the four heroes beat feet towards the entrance to the citadel. Pushing open the doors revealed a wide corridor, and Drake and Kong took the lead side by side. In anticipation of trouble, Duke created a mirror image of himself to walk alongside his companions.
Disaster struck when the two warriors trigged a trap. They looked up just in time to see a gargantuan gelatinous cube creature fall from the ceiling! Neither ducked out of the way fast enough and they were both engulfed by the creature's gelatinous mass. Kong managed to struggle free, fighting with his barbarian might against the creature's oozy interior, but Drake was not so lucky. Paralyzed by the thing's ooze, the fighter could do nothing but float there and be slowly eaten away by the acid.
Argo and Kong faced off against the gelatinous cube, unsure as to how to proceed. Sadly, the thing proceeded instead, surging forward with a massive schlucking sound and engulfing both the halfling and the barbarian. This time Kong's limbs went stiff, but Argo held his breath and fought to escape the creature's insides.
Duke was left outside the gelatinous cube, lobbing spell after spell at the thing. While the creature did not seem to possess any inherent resistance to his arcane will, it was a long fight that forced the dwarf wizard outside the citadel to avoid being sucked inside. All the while his companions were slowly being eaten away by the cube's acidic digestive juices. Finally, after a particularly well-thrown orb of acid, the gelatinous cube's structure collapsed, sending a small tidal wave of crystalline ooze flowing in all directions. Luckily the creature's death ended the paralysis and capture of the three heroes.
Duke used charges from his wand of cure moderate wounds to patch up his companions as best he could. They forged onward, finding little on the first floor. The second floor also contained no giants, but they did not pause for full investigation. The third floor held a chamber right in front of the stairs, and Kong kicked its door open to find out what was inside.
It appeared to be some sort of meeting room, with a giant-sized table and chairs dominating the center. Seated at one of the chairs was a fire giant, who had been gripping the sides of the chair so hard that there were visible grip marks. One of his eyes was bigger than the other and twitched incessantly. He said nothing, simply staring at the intruders.
Duke ventured a phrase of greeting when suddenly the giant leapt on top of the table, bellowing in rage! He pulled out a giant battleaxe and handaxe, each wreathed in flames, and charged the heroes. Clearly deranged and mad with battle lust, the four companions stood their ground and fought the insane giant. He was a clever opponent, but Argo finally dropped him after several intense exchanges of blows.
As the giant fell to the ground, the door on the opposite side of the room opened. Inside stepped another fire giant, but this one held a more regal pose and carried a massive greataxe. He announced himself as Kagro Thundersmiter, clan leader of the Tiamakal Nul-Shada, and demanded to know what the companions were doing here, and if they were the ones who stole the key. Argo stammered out a few suggestions when Kagro noticed the body of the fallen giant.
His eyes turned fierce and he stepped forward, raising his axe in a killing stroke. Just as the heroes prepared for a tough melee Drake's last ability from the Deck of Many Things kicked in. He shouted that they had both of the keys to the vault and that Charlgar was the one who stole it. This caused Kagro to stop and consider the situation a bit more carefully. He lowered his axe and demanded an explanation.
Argo and Duke explained that they met with King Achaime Silvereye and were given one of the keys to the vault, and got the other from the body of the hill giant Charlgar. Kagro indicated that Charlgar was seen in the company of Vercinabex Tor, the frost giant sorcerer and advisor to the Tiamakal Nul-Shada. The fire giant explained that Tor had been obsessed with the contents of the vault, with which the clan was tasked with defending against all foes. He had no idea what was behind it and he didn't want to. But Tor needed to be confronted.
Kagro demanded that the companions follow him to confront the frost giant sorcerer in his chamber in the lower levels of the citadel. Seeing little option, and wanting to go along anyway, they agreed and the five of them followed the winding staircase to the lower levels. There, Kagro kicked down the door to a chamber.
Inside was a large room, clearly the dwelling place of a frost giant - it was noticeably colder than the rest of the citadel. Vercinabex Tor sat at his desk poring over volumes of lore when Kagro Thundersmiter demanded to know the truth of the situation. The heroes slowly entered the room and took up flanking positions on either side of the fire giant. Tor sighed and stood up, saying that it was time to finally end the charade. With blinding speed he shouted arcane words and a blast of prismatic color burst from his hands, encapsulating everyone!
Luckily there were no terrible effects from the spell, and Kong, Drake, and Kagro charged forward to engage the frost giant in melee. Tor carried a massive warmace and was no pushover in melee, but it was his spellcasting that caused the most trouble. Duke lobbed a few orbs of acid at the sorcerer, but it wasn't enough to stop him. Vercinabex Tor unleashed another prismatic spray at his opponents and things did not go so well this time.
Drake the Slayer and Kong of the Mountains died after being hit by the green ray of the frost giant sorcerer Vercinabex Tor's prismatic spray.
Kagro Thundersmiter fell to the spell as well, but Argo and Duke escaped without too much permanent damage. Seeing an opportunity to end the fight, Argo lunged forward in a rage and stabbed at Tor repeatedly with his daggers and sword. Combined with the spells of Duke the frost giant sorcerer collapsed against the side of his chamber, dead.
Argo and Duke were left standing in the chamber, their two dead companions lying nearby. They knew the vault containing Dragotha's phylactery was not far beyond his chamber, but they also knew that they didn't want to confront the traps and guardians with their friends. So, gathering up everyone, Duke cast a teleport spell and transported the four of them to Bloodstone.
There they managed to get an audience with King Toka, who understood the plight they were in and decided to help. He needed to rest for a few hours, but afterwards he would be able to bring back the dead companions with a powerful resurrection spell. Seeing little choice Duke and Argo slept fitfully, knowing that the dragon siege of Kongen-Thulnir could be over and the phylactery of the dracolich claimed before they could return.
After a few hours Toka called upon the grace of Pelor and restored Kong and Drake to their bodies, whole and unhurt. With nary a moment to waste Duke cast another powerful teleport spell that took them right back to Vercinabex Tor's chamber. Descending the last flight of stairs they came to the entryway to the vault in the depths of the Citadel of Weeping Dragons.
As they approached they were suddenly confronted by the spiritual form of Shanks Dar'Rill, the halfling warrior who died in the gladiator arena of Greyhawk! Shanks explained that he had been traveling in the spirit world since then and had learned much about the upcoming Age of Worms. He told the story of what had happened so far, including a recap of Kyuss' rise to godhood and his bid to bring about the apocalypse many centuries ago. Luckily, descendants of the mighty Wind Dukes of Aaqa - the druids of the Order of the Storm - were there to stop him then. And now, it fell the companions, who Shanks believed had the blood of the Vaati in them as well.
Shanks warned the heroes that behind the vault door was indeed Dragotha's phylactery, but by opening the door they were inviting a world of trouble. Firstly, once it was opened Dragotha would know of the phylactery's precise location, and would certainly send his draconic minions that raided Kongen-Thulnir even now to retrieve. Secondly, and more important, he told them that if they chose to destroy the phylactery, Dragotha might be able to regain some of the escaping essence to grow even more powerful.
With that the ghostly halfling disappeared with a smile. The four heroes approached the doors to the vault, which seemed to detail Kyuss' final defeat at the hands of the druids. They also found carvings representing themselves, fighting the undead horde beside the druids! It was an eerie feeling, but they pushed past it to open the doors.
Beyond lay a magnificent chamber, at the far end of which rested a strange multi-facteded box. The sides of the box were carved to resemble leering draconic faces and strange whispers echoed in the room constantly. They knew they had found the phylactery of Dragotha the dracolich.
The four companions gathered around the phylactery, trying to decide what to do. They faced a tough decision - destroy it now and risk Dragotha being more powerful, or keep it and risk the safety of everyone around them. It was eventually decided to keep it for now, at least to study, and Duke reached out with eager hands to grasp the box and place inside his bag. As his flesh touched the sides, the dwarf's head was rushed with shouting words, nothing distinct but mind-numbing. He barely managed to shove it into his bag before his will gave way completely.
The deed done, they prepared to leave. Fate, it would seem, had other ideas, as the four discovered when the side of the chamber melted away like so much butter. Suddenly, bursting forth from the rock now made mud, an enormous red dragon emeged, bellowing in rage! Argo recognized it as the largest of the dragons leading the assault on Kongen-Thulnir. The dragon announced itself as Brazzemal the Burning and demanded the phylactery in exchange for quick deaths.
Argo wasn't have any of that, and charged forward to confront the new threat. Unfortunately Brazzemal was quicker and snatched up the hapless halfling in one snap! Too close for comfort the remaining three companions attacked the dragon, but after a moment it spat Argo out onto the group in a torrent of fire!
The blast was devastating, sending Duke into unconsciousness. A powerful barbarian rage gripped Kong and he fought on heedless of his wounds. His sword, made of crackling energy, cut through the dragon's thick hide and connected with true blows on every swing. Drake, though stronger, had a difficult time piercing the beast's side, and only landed a few telling blows. Argo managed to dump a potion of healing down Duke's throat, reviving the dwarf, but the halfling was knocked aside like a ragdoll and sent into unconsciousness.
Duke, Kong, and Drake were now faced with a difficult decision. Duke had the phylactery, and he could teleport away, but he would be leaving some of his friends behind - the time it would take everyone to gather in close proximity before the dragon breathed again was too short. Kong was in the throes of his rage and fought on, sending dragon blood flying and Brazzemal into a fury. Drake fought desperately, and when it was decided he was going to grab the halfling his mad dash was stopped when Brazzemal snatched the fighter up in his powerful jaws!
Duke closed his eyes and prepared to teleport away, hoping he could have his friends brought back from death, when suddenly the red dragon bellowed out a deafening cry - a death cry! Kong's barbarian rage induced blows had finally struck home, and his sword cut through the dragon's heart. Brazzemal the Burning's eyes went dark and the gargantuan dragon corpse fell to the valley floor below.
Quickly Duke healed Argo and Drake enough to bring them to consciousness. It was decided at that moment that breaking the phylactery was the better option - they simply couldn't risk the safety of everyone around them. Dumping the box out onto the ground, Drake raised his sword and brought it crashing down onto the phylactery. It cracked and after another blow broke, sending wisps of essence disappearing into the ether around them.
They decided to teleport to Bloodstone to regroup before setting off to confront the general of Kyuss' army and keeper of the Wormgod's physical presence - Dragotha, the first dracolich in existence.
Session Updates
Whew! Good session, good session. We start in on the end game here - the end is finally in sight. Will it be for better or worse? Good or evil? Glorious triumph or horrendous defeat? We find out soon.
XP Recap
17th-level 25,500
18th-level 18,900
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Planting 18, 596 CY
Holed up in the giant city of Kongen-Thulnir, the companions contemplated their next course of action. They held in their possession both of the keys necessary to open the vault, behind which they presumed lay the phylactery of Dragotha the dracolich. One key was given to them by King Achaime Silvereye, and the other they had just taken from the corpse of the hill giant Charlgar in the pit of the Mother Worm.
The vault lay within the Citadel of Weeping Dragons towards the southern side of Kongen-Thulnir. It was a rocky outcropping rising from the canyon floor, with a natural stone bridge arching from the cliff-side city of giants. According to their map given to them by Loncer Amorocco the bridge was about a half-mile south of their current position. Argo poked his head out of the Undercity where they currently were and noted that the dragons attacked the city in regular intervals of about a half hour.
Utilizing this information, the companions - Duke, Kong, Drake, and Argo - made their way through the winding tunnels of the Undercity to the main level of the City of Kings, dodging falling debris along the way. From there they ducked and hid amongst the ruins of the buildings during the dragon raids and ran through the rubble when there was a lull. It took several hours, but they managed to get to the stone bridge with little or no incident.
This side of the bridge was capped with a large archway. Upon it were ancient runes in old dialect of Giant, that Duke was particularly fascinated with. His companions, however, urged him not to tarry as they had a several hundred foot bridge to cross.
They could see the Citadel of Weeping Dragons fairly clearly from their vantage point. It was a foreboding structure, easily four or five stories high with several probably extending into the base of the spire. Fire, stone, and hill giants stood at catapults and ballistas awaiting the inevitable new attack from the rampaging dragons. Two fire giants stood guard at the entrance to the citadel on the other side of the bridge, and it was these two that caused the heroes the most worry.
Should they launch a straight-up attack? Or try to parlay? There wasn't a lot of time in either case, but if they could somehow reason with the leader of the Tiamakal Nul-Shada - a fire giant named Kagro Thundersmiter - their going through the citadel would be much easier. The four companions decided to sneak as much as they could around the sentries and hopefully catch them off guard.
With that in mind, Duke cast a spider climb spell on each of them from his spellbook, as it was agreed by everyone that walking across the bridge was a bad idea. But climbing underneath the bridge ...? Much better idea. So, empowered by magic, the four climbed as fast as they could along the bottom of the natural stone bridge. Argo especially was a shadow amongst the rocks, moving quietly and stealthily.
Once they reached the other side they stealthily climbed around the sentries to a higher point just beyond them. Upon reaching this outcropping, however, Drake scraped his hand against the rock and let loose a shower of debris. This alerted the two fire giant sentries, who immediately gripped their weapons for attack. One of them shouted an alarm, and his voice carried through the citadel.
Deciding that there was little choice in the matter, Drake hefted his sword, gave a shout, and ran forward. He had the advantage of the higher ground, which he used when he leapt off the small ledge and brought his greatsword down in a powerful stroke. The giant was taken aback by the powerful maneuver and staggered.
Kong, not to be outdone, gave a shout announcing his furious barbarian rage and jumped - sword held high overhand - at the other sentry. His blow struck true and the giant was mortally wounded. Argo dropped into the fray as well, cutting the giant with his blades. Duke, however, decided to try a more diplomatic approach - he figured that if they could talk to the guards they could be convinced to take them inside.
The dwarf wizard cast Tasha's uncontrollable hideous laughter on the giant fighting Kong, sending the sentry into spasms of uncontrollable laughter. The other giant fought valiantly against Drake, and the fighter came to a startling realization. Him and Kong were still very wounded from the fight with the Mother Worm!
Seeing death approach at the hands of their giant opponents, Drake used the last of his wishes granted from the Deck of Many Things to heal the companions. It turned out to be a good idea, as Argo heard the sound of wings beating on the wind nearby. Suddenly a huge blue dragon appeared out of invisibility, breathing a cone of electricity on the hapless combatants! The two giants were no match for the attack and died in that initial onslaught, but the rest of the heroes steeled themselves and shifted focus to the dragon.
The dragon announced itself as Vermirox (a particularly vain move, but not uncommon amongst dragonkind) and promised a slow death. But he ate his words as Drake and Kong moved forward to engage it in melee, Argo taking up a flanking position. Duke stayed out of claw range and lobbed orbs of acid at the dragon, and after a few furious exchange of blows Vermirox's lifeless draconic corpse fell to the canyon floor below.
Knowing that the rest of the dragon raid was on its way, the four heroes beat feet towards the entrance to the citadel. Pushing open the doors revealed a wide corridor, and Drake and Kong took the lead side by side. In anticipation of trouble, Duke created a mirror image of himself to walk alongside his companions.
Disaster struck when the two warriors trigged a trap. They looked up just in time to see a gargantuan gelatinous cube creature fall from the ceiling! Neither ducked out of the way fast enough and they were both engulfed by the creature's gelatinous mass. Kong managed to struggle free, fighting with his barbarian might against the creature's oozy interior, but Drake was not so lucky. Paralyzed by the thing's ooze, the fighter could do nothing but float there and be slowly eaten away by the acid.
Argo and Kong faced off against the gelatinous cube, unsure as to how to proceed. Sadly, the thing proceeded instead, surging forward with a massive schlucking sound and engulfing both the halfling and the barbarian. This time Kong's limbs went stiff, but Argo held his breath and fought to escape the creature's insides.
Duke was left outside the gelatinous cube, lobbing spell after spell at the thing. While the creature did not seem to possess any inherent resistance to his arcane will, it was a long fight that forced the dwarf wizard outside the citadel to avoid being sucked inside. All the while his companions were slowly being eaten away by the cube's acidic digestive juices. Finally, after a particularly well-thrown orb of acid, the gelatinous cube's structure collapsed, sending a small tidal wave of crystalline ooze flowing in all directions. Luckily the creature's death ended the paralysis and capture of the three heroes.
Duke used charges from his wand of cure moderate wounds to patch up his companions as best he could. They forged onward, finding little on the first floor. The second floor also contained no giants, but they did not pause for full investigation. The third floor held a chamber right in front of the stairs, and Kong kicked its door open to find out what was inside.
It appeared to be some sort of meeting room, with a giant-sized table and chairs dominating the center. Seated at one of the chairs was a fire giant, who had been gripping the sides of the chair so hard that there were visible grip marks. One of his eyes was bigger than the other and twitched incessantly. He said nothing, simply staring at the intruders.
Duke ventured a phrase of greeting when suddenly the giant leapt on top of the table, bellowing in rage! He pulled out a giant battleaxe and handaxe, each wreathed in flames, and charged the heroes. Clearly deranged and mad with battle lust, the four companions stood their ground and fought the insane giant. He was a clever opponent, but Argo finally dropped him after several intense exchanges of blows.
As the giant fell to the ground, the door on the opposite side of the room opened. Inside stepped another fire giant, but this one held a more regal pose and carried a massive greataxe. He announced himself as Kagro Thundersmiter, clan leader of the Tiamakal Nul-Shada, and demanded to know what the companions were doing here, and if they were the ones who stole the key. Argo stammered out a few suggestions when Kagro noticed the body of the fallen giant.
His eyes turned fierce and he stepped forward, raising his axe in a killing stroke. Just as the heroes prepared for a tough melee Drake's last ability from the Deck of Many Things kicked in. He shouted that they had both of the keys to the vault and that Charlgar was the one who stole it. This caused Kagro to stop and consider the situation a bit more carefully. He lowered his axe and demanded an explanation.
Argo and Duke explained that they met with King Achaime Silvereye and were given one of the keys to the vault, and got the other from the body of the hill giant Charlgar. Kagro indicated that Charlgar was seen in the company of Vercinabex Tor, the frost giant sorcerer and advisor to the Tiamakal Nul-Shada. The fire giant explained that Tor had been obsessed with the contents of the vault, with which the clan was tasked with defending against all foes. He had no idea what was behind it and he didn't want to. But Tor needed to be confronted.
Kagro demanded that the companions follow him to confront the frost giant sorcerer in his chamber in the lower levels of the citadel. Seeing little option, and wanting to go along anyway, they agreed and the five of them followed the winding staircase to the lower levels. There, Kagro kicked down the door to a chamber.
Inside was a large room, clearly the dwelling place of a frost giant - it was noticeably colder than the rest of the citadel. Vercinabex Tor sat at his desk poring over volumes of lore when Kagro Thundersmiter demanded to know the truth of the situation. The heroes slowly entered the room and took up flanking positions on either side of the fire giant. Tor sighed and stood up, saying that it was time to finally end the charade. With blinding speed he shouted arcane words and a blast of prismatic color burst from his hands, encapsulating everyone!
Luckily there were no terrible effects from the spell, and Kong, Drake, and Kagro charged forward to engage the frost giant in melee. Tor carried a massive warmace and was no pushover in melee, but it was his spellcasting that caused the most trouble. Duke lobbed a few orbs of acid at the sorcerer, but it wasn't enough to stop him. Vercinabex Tor unleashed another prismatic spray at his opponents and things did not go so well this time.
Drake the Slayer and Kong of the Mountains died after being hit by the green ray of the frost giant sorcerer Vercinabex Tor's prismatic spray.
Kagro Thundersmiter fell to the spell as well, but Argo and Duke escaped without too much permanent damage. Seeing an opportunity to end the fight, Argo lunged forward in a rage and stabbed at Tor repeatedly with his daggers and sword. Combined with the spells of Duke the frost giant sorcerer collapsed against the side of his chamber, dead.
Argo and Duke were left standing in the chamber, their two dead companions lying nearby. They knew the vault containing Dragotha's phylactery was not far beyond his chamber, but they also knew that they didn't want to confront the traps and guardians with their friends. So, gathering up everyone, Duke cast a teleport spell and transported the four of them to Bloodstone.
There they managed to get an audience with King Toka, who understood the plight they were in and decided to help. He needed to rest for a few hours, but afterwards he would be able to bring back the dead companions with a powerful resurrection spell. Seeing little choice Duke and Argo slept fitfully, knowing that the dragon siege of Kongen-Thulnir could be over and the phylactery of the dracolich claimed before they could return.
After a few hours Toka called upon the grace of Pelor and restored Kong and Drake to their bodies, whole and unhurt. With nary a moment to waste Duke cast another powerful teleport spell that took them right back to Vercinabex Tor's chamber. Descending the last flight of stairs they came to the entryway to the vault in the depths of the Citadel of Weeping Dragons.
As they approached they were suddenly confronted by the spiritual form of Shanks Dar'Rill, the halfling warrior who died in the gladiator arena of Greyhawk! Shanks explained that he had been traveling in the spirit world since then and had learned much about the upcoming Age of Worms. He told the story of what had happened so far, including a recap of Kyuss' rise to godhood and his bid to bring about the apocalypse many centuries ago. Luckily, descendants of the mighty Wind Dukes of Aaqa - the druids of the Order of the Storm - were there to stop him then. And now, it fell the companions, who Shanks believed had the blood of the Vaati in them as well.
Shanks warned the heroes that behind the vault door was indeed Dragotha's phylactery, but by opening the door they were inviting a world of trouble. Firstly, once it was opened Dragotha would know of the phylactery's precise location, and would certainly send his draconic minions that raided Kongen-Thulnir even now to retrieve. Secondly, and more important, he told them that if they chose to destroy the phylactery, Dragotha might be able to regain some of the escaping essence to grow even more powerful.
With that the ghostly halfling disappeared with a smile. The four heroes approached the doors to the vault, which seemed to detail Kyuss' final defeat at the hands of the druids. They also found carvings representing themselves, fighting the undead horde beside the druids! It was an eerie feeling, but they pushed past it to open the doors.
Beyond lay a magnificent chamber, at the far end of which rested a strange multi-facteded box. The sides of the box were carved to resemble leering draconic faces and strange whispers echoed in the room constantly. They knew they had found the phylactery of Dragotha the dracolich.
The four companions gathered around the phylactery, trying to decide what to do. They faced a tough decision - destroy it now and risk Dragotha being more powerful, or keep it and risk the safety of everyone around them. It was eventually decided to keep it for now, at least to study, and Duke reached out with eager hands to grasp the box and place inside his bag. As his flesh touched the sides, the dwarf's head was rushed with shouting words, nothing distinct but mind-numbing. He barely managed to shove it into his bag before his will gave way completely.
The deed done, they prepared to leave. Fate, it would seem, had other ideas, as the four discovered when the side of the chamber melted away like so much butter. Suddenly, bursting forth from the rock now made mud, an enormous red dragon emeged, bellowing in rage! Argo recognized it as the largest of the dragons leading the assault on Kongen-Thulnir. The dragon announced itself as Brazzemal the Burning and demanded the phylactery in exchange for quick deaths.
Argo wasn't have any of that, and charged forward to confront the new threat. Unfortunately Brazzemal was quicker and snatched up the hapless halfling in one snap! Too close for comfort the remaining three companions attacked the dragon, but after a moment it spat Argo out onto the group in a torrent of fire!
The blast was devastating, sending Duke into unconsciousness. A powerful barbarian rage gripped Kong and he fought on heedless of his wounds. His sword, made of crackling energy, cut through the dragon's thick hide and connected with true blows on every swing. Drake, though stronger, had a difficult time piercing the beast's side, and only landed a few telling blows. Argo managed to dump a potion of healing down Duke's throat, reviving the dwarf, but the halfling was knocked aside like a ragdoll and sent into unconsciousness.
Duke, Kong, and Drake were now faced with a difficult decision. Duke had the phylactery, and he could teleport away, but he would be leaving some of his friends behind - the time it would take everyone to gather in close proximity before the dragon breathed again was too short. Kong was in the throes of his rage and fought on, sending dragon blood flying and Brazzemal into a fury. Drake fought desperately, and when it was decided he was going to grab the halfling his mad dash was stopped when Brazzemal snatched the fighter up in his powerful jaws!
Duke closed his eyes and prepared to teleport away, hoping he could have his friends brought back from death, when suddenly the red dragon bellowed out a deafening cry - a death cry! Kong's barbarian rage induced blows had finally struck home, and his sword cut through the dragon's heart. Brazzemal the Burning's eyes went dark and the gargantuan dragon corpse fell to the valley floor below.
Quickly Duke healed Argo and Drake enough to bring them to consciousness. It was decided at that moment that breaking the phylactery was the better option - they simply couldn't risk the safety of everyone around them. Dumping the box out onto the ground, Drake raised his sword and brought it crashing down onto the phylactery. It cracked and after another blow broke, sending wisps of essence disappearing into the ether around them.
They decided to teleport to Bloodstone to regroup before setting off to confront the general of Kyuss' army and keeper of the Wormgod's physical presence - Dragotha, the first dracolich in existence.
Session Updates
Whew! Good session, good session. We start in on the end game here - the end is finally in sight. Will it be for better or worse? Good or evil? Glorious triumph or horrendous defeat? We find out soon.
XP Recap
17th-level 25,500
18th-level 18,900
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
December 21st - Lord of the Rings!
I have a theater in my garage. Well, sort of - I have the beginnings of a theater in my garage. Why do I have a theater in my garage? There are a whole pile of reasons, but the one that always stands out in my mind is thus: to watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. That's been one of my goals, and I don't think it's going to happen in the Garage Theater for a couple of months.
But we don't have to wait. Riverview Theater in Minneapolis is showing the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on Sunday, December 21st, including the extended editions of Fellowship and Two Towers. It starts at 10:00 am and ends at 10:30 pm, with intermissions between each film. Pizza and hot dogs will be available and you can leave the theater during the intermissions to get other food. The best part? It's only $10.
$10. For the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy. In a theater.
Mark your calendars, folks. December 21st. You're either going to be there, or wishing you were there. Your choice.
But we don't have to wait. Riverview Theater in Minneapolis is showing the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on Sunday, December 21st, including the extended editions of Fellowship and Two Towers. It starts at 10:00 am and ends at 10:30 pm, with intermissions between each film. Pizza and hot dogs will be available and you can leave the theater during the intermissions to get other food. The best part? It's only $10.
$10. For the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy. In a theater.
Mark your calendars, folks. December 21st. You're either going to be there, or wishing you were there. Your choice.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Age of Worms Campaign Update 11/9/2008
CHRONICLE VAULT 20081109, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Planting 16, 596 CY
The companions, armed with the information that the phylactery of the dracolich Dragotha was somewhere in the giant-filled city of Kongen-Thulnir, set out from the Barony of Bloodstone on foot to reach their destination. All except the elf rogue Fin, who felt that more research was in order before they confronted this newest challenge. The rest - Kong, Drake, Argo, and Duke - took to the roadn spent three days of travel through the rough terrain, back and forth on switchbacks and cut acrosses, until they finally arrived at their destination.
Kongen-Thulnir was built into the side of the Rift Canyon on a ledge about halfway down the 1,000 foot cliff face. The heroes came upon the City of Kings from the top and were looking down at its buildings and structures some 500 feet below them, but they knew something was wrong. The keen eyes of Kong were not to be fooled and he spotted them first - dragons. Lots of dragons. Lots of dragons laying siege to Kongen-Thulnir.
They counted at least 30 winged beasts making strafing runs at the city, where desperate giants were holed up shooting ballistas at the attacking force. It was difficult to say who was winning - occasionally a giant would get a lucky shot in, but the dragons were slowly demolishing the entire city. It was not a good sight.
But unfortunately the heroes didn't have much time to ponder the situation. The sound of wings beating on the wind told them their position had been given away, and indeed it had. Some hundreds of feet behind them a huge green dragon was making a diving attack straight for them. They had scant moments to prepare for the creature's arrival, during which Duke cast a quick spell and Kong and Drake prepared themselves. Suddenly, however the dragon's fear rolled over them and Drake found himself paralyzed with fear.
The green dragon gave a quick shot of acid, catching Kong in the face but leaving the rest of the heroes untouched. Then she was on the ground, digging into the barbarian with ferocity as Argo gave Drake a potion of remove paralysis. Duke tried to launch offensive spells against the huge green dragon but the beasts natural resistances and mental fortitude preventing any of his spells from sticking. Kong, Argo, and Drake launched a powerful offensive against the dragon, dealing blow and blow.
The dragon knew she was in trouble and decided to cut her losses and run. But not without a snack, so she quickly clamped up Kong in her powerful vice-like jaws and lifted off into the air! Drake gave a quick swing but didn't manage much more than a scratch. Argo, on the other hand, decided enough was enough and plunged his short sword into the dragon's hide, clinging on as she took to the skies!
Kong struggled to free himself from the dragon's jaws but he felt death close in around him as his blood dripped down his captor's throat like the squeezings of a ripe lemon. The halfling ranger had different ideas, and as the winged serpent flew fifty feet into the air Argo's dagger strikes hit true again and again, until finally he hit a nerve. Literally, which sent the dragon into a desperate tailspin towards the ground.
With a mighty crash the green dragon slammed into the clearing next to Duke and Drake, sending Argo and Kong into a tumble. She was dead, killed by the halfling's dagger, but the barbarian was in a world of pain. Duke administered the wounds as best as his druid training would allow and everyone swallowed potions of healing so that they could get walking again.
They now faced the problem of getting down to Kongen-Thulnir. As they observed Drake noted that the dragons seemed to attack in waves, every fifteen or twenty minutes. If they timed it right they should be able to fly down into the city and try to find King Silvereye, whom Loncer spoke highly of as a noble giant. After a quick exchange Duke gave the human fighter his winged boots, Argo activated his sword of Aaqa from the Tomb of Icosiol, and the dwarf cast a fly spell on Kong and himself.
And so they were off, flying down the cliff face of the Rift Canyon during a brief interlude in the dragon siege. Loncer had sketched out a map for the heroes, and they had no trouble finding the palace of King Silvereye. It was clearly once a magnificent structure, but the dragon attacks had taken its toll. The two hill giant guards demanded to know their business, and after a quick explanation they were hurried into the stone palace, through tunnels and hallways built for giants. Everywhere they saw giants - broken, beaten, and scarred, they were clearly exhausted from the relentless strikes of the siege forces.
Eventually the companions were brought into what was once a magnificent hall, but not seemed like just a huge rubble-strewn chamber. At the far end was a throne, pitted and broken, upon which sat an aged storm giant in the same condition. Large hill giant guards were stationed around the room, and at the king's side was a particularly huge and flabby hill giant. Duke guessed (correctly) that this was Bagg.
Bagg shuffled his flabby form forward and demanded to know what the puny manlings were doing in the hall of King Silvereye. No explanation seemed good enough, and Bagg was about to order the hill giant guards to kill the intruders when Argo mentioned that they were after Dragotha's phylactery. That sent the giants into a terrible fit - and managed to get a rise out of the still storm giant king.
Silvereye motioned for Bagg to approach, and the two giants conversed for a moment. Afterwards Bagg looked sullen but stepped towards the heroes - and then turned and bowed low to the ground as King Silvereye stood up. The ancient storm giant used a massive sword as a walking stick, and slowly he hobbled forward to face the companions. The king spoke in a slow deliberate voice, and explained that recent events had created a schism in Kongen-Thulnir.
The Tiamikal Nul-Shada, keepers of the Citadel of Weeping Dragons, have been charged since time immemorial with guarding a secret vault deep within the citadel. To reach the vault one needed two keys, and one of the keys - the one normally possessed by Kagro Thundersmiter of the Tiamikal Nul-Shada - were stolen. This was right before the dragons attacked, and none of the giant clans had the time now to deal with the situation. King Silvereye gave the heroes his key and told them to find the other and destroy the phylactery of Dragotha, for it made sense that this was the treasure kept within the ancient vault.
The storm giant told the companions that the most likely culprit of the theft was one of the Rift Crawlers in Undercity, and suggested they start their look there. With that, King Silvereye returned to his throne and the heroes were ushered out of the palace.
Just as a force of dragons launched a new offensive, and it was all the four heroes could do to find shelter amongst the broken shells of the city's buildings. The attack lasted for twenty minutes or so, and afterwards Kong, Argo, Duke, and Drake made their way to where the Undercity was. Unfortunately it was located another 200 feet below their current level, and they had to make similar flying preparations as they did before.
They made it to the entrance of the Undercity and stepped forward into the building, where they were hushed voices. Argo identified the voices as belonging to a dwarf and a giant, and they caught the two of them by surprise when they stepped into the room. The dwarf demanded to know what they were doing there, but the companions offered no reasonable explanation. So the dwarf ordered Charlgar (the hill giant) to kill them.
As the hill giant chieftain stepped forward menacingly Duke decided to try a new spell. It was called fear, and it would instill weak-minded beings with a terrible sense of dread. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the area of effect, and instead of just affecting Charlgar - he caught Drake and Argo in the effect as well. The dwarf wizard's spell mastery was considerable and all three subjects were stricken with a sudden fear that sent them running away in sheer blind terror.
Kong, luckily, was not affected, and decided to charge the dwarf who was wielding a spiked chain with some proficiency. The barbarian gave a mighty yell and chopped at the dwarf, cutting deep, and sending him running away in fear (not magical fear, but simple fear for life). He ran down a hallway taunting the barbarian all the way.
Meanwhile Duke tried desperately to dispel his own enchantment without dropping the fear effect from Charlgar. It took a few attempts but he was eventually successful. Kong, however, had had enough taunting from the dwarf and charged down the hallway. Halfway through the dwarf pulled a trigger and a section of the hall gave out.
The barbarian's quick reflexes saved him from a tumble down the pit, and the dwarf gave a loud and sailor-like curse. At the same time Duke, Drake, and Argo were torturing the poor hill giant trying to get information. Drake managed to intimidate Charlgar into telling them that it was him who stole the key from Kagro Thundersmiter and that it was thrown into the "pit." He refused to elaborate on what the pit was, so the three of them used the spell effect of the fear to herd the hill giant down the hallway.
Where he promptly blundered straight into the pit and tumbled down, where he landed somewhere else. A deep grumble echoed from within the pit, which seemed to be almost a slide, as they heard Charlgar give a strangled cry. On the other side of the pit the dwarf cursed Kong and the rest and fled into the next room.
With a flex of his mighty muscles the barbarian leapt clean over the ten foot wide pit and landed into the room, right next to the dwarf. Argo made a similarly acrobatic jump, and Drake decided to carry Duke with him during his jump. This turned out not to be a good idea, as the human warrior didn't quite make it across. Duke managed to grab the side of the pit, but again Drake wasn't so fortunate. He tumbled head over heels down the chute, which deposited him into a massive underground cavern covered in glowing fungus.
The dwarf wizard hoisted himself up as Kong and Argo made short work of the taunting dwarf. In the massive cavern Drake found himself facing off against a monstrous creature that resembled a colossal carrion crawler. Luckily the titanic slime-covered beast hadn't taken notice of him, and Drake slipped quickly back up the tunnel with the help of his winged boots. He related what he had seen, which they surmised was just beyond the door in their current chamber.
After a quick moment of healing and decision-making the four heroes decided to face the creature, which Duke called the Mother Worm. It was, he surmised, probably the progenitor of the entire carrion crawler species. Destroying it was not a bad thing. So, girding themselves for the fight ahead, they downed their potions and kicked open the door.
The Mother Worm was huge and had already devoured the flesh of Charlgar, tossing his bones to the side. The door entered the massive cavern at a point fifty feet up from the bottom, so Kong and Argo started to descend to the bottom of face the disgusting beast. That left Duke and Drake on the platform, which was unfortunate for them as the Mother Worm spewed acid over them like a mother bird coughing up food for her young.
Drake, Argo, and Kong made it to the ground of the cavern pit as Duke tried lobbing spells at the kaiju carrior crawler. It was surprisingly resistant to sorcery, but the dwarf wizard used some of his druid tricks to summon a storm that shot lightning bolts. The warriors on the ground charged and started hacking at the creature's immense hide. They took lash after lash from its tentacles, and they could feel its paralyzing poison course through their veins. Duke continued to get acid blasts in the face, but he luckily had his elemental standard from the wild watchers of Last Resort that helped resist the damage.
It was a tough fight, and just as things seemed their most hopeless- as Drake finally succumbed to the poison and was swallowed whole by the Mother Worm - Kong dealt the killing blow. The creature gave a mighty screech and collapsed, spewing its innards all over the cavern floor. Drake tumbled out of its belly, alive but just barely, and the heroes reveled in their victory over the kaiju carrion crawler.
After a moment Argo searched the cavern and found a key that looked identical to the one given to them by King Silvereye. They looted the body of Charlgar and set about healing themselves, knowing that more precarious situations awaited them in the Citadel of Weeping Dragons.
Session Updates
Sorry Bill - we had to go on. We're so close to finishing the campaign I can feel it! Probably just a handful more sessions, especially if they go like the last few.
XP Recap
16th-level 19,200
17th-level 15,300
18th-level 10,800
Until next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
Planting 16, 596 CY
The companions, armed with the information that the phylactery of the dracolich Dragotha was somewhere in the giant-filled city of Kongen-Thulnir, set out from the Barony of Bloodstone on foot to reach their destination. All except the elf rogue Fin, who felt that more research was in order before they confronted this newest challenge. The rest - Kong, Drake, Argo, and Duke - took to the roadn spent three days of travel through the rough terrain, back and forth on switchbacks and cut acrosses, until they finally arrived at their destination.
Kongen-Thulnir was built into the side of the Rift Canyon on a ledge about halfway down the 1,000 foot cliff face. The heroes came upon the City of Kings from the top and were looking down at its buildings and structures some 500 feet below them, but they knew something was wrong. The keen eyes of Kong were not to be fooled and he spotted them first - dragons. Lots of dragons. Lots of dragons laying siege to Kongen-Thulnir.
They counted at least 30 winged beasts making strafing runs at the city, where desperate giants were holed up shooting ballistas at the attacking force. It was difficult to say who was winning - occasionally a giant would get a lucky shot in, but the dragons were slowly demolishing the entire city. It was not a good sight.
But unfortunately the heroes didn't have much time to ponder the situation. The sound of wings beating on the wind told them their position had been given away, and indeed it had. Some hundreds of feet behind them a huge green dragon was making a diving attack straight for them. They had scant moments to prepare for the creature's arrival, during which Duke cast a quick spell and Kong and Drake prepared themselves. Suddenly, however the dragon's fear rolled over them and Drake found himself paralyzed with fear.
The green dragon gave a quick shot of acid, catching Kong in the face but leaving the rest of the heroes untouched. Then she was on the ground, digging into the barbarian with ferocity as Argo gave Drake a potion of remove paralysis. Duke tried to launch offensive spells against the huge green dragon but the beasts natural resistances and mental fortitude preventing any of his spells from sticking. Kong, Argo, and Drake launched a powerful offensive against the dragon, dealing blow and blow.
The dragon knew she was in trouble and decided to cut her losses and run. But not without a snack, so she quickly clamped up Kong in her powerful vice-like jaws and lifted off into the air! Drake gave a quick swing but didn't manage much more than a scratch. Argo, on the other hand, decided enough was enough and plunged his short sword into the dragon's hide, clinging on as she took to the skies!
Kong struggled to free himself from the dragon's jaws but he felt death close in around him as his blood dripped down his captor's throat like the squeezings of a ripe lemon. The halfling ranger had different ideas, and as the winged serpent flew fifty feet into the air Argo's dagger strikes hit true again and again, until finally he hit a nerve. Literally, which sent the dragon into a desperate tailspin towards the ground.
With a mighty crash the green dragon slammed into the clearing next to Duke and Drake, sending Argo and Kong into a tumble. She was dead, killed by the halfling's dagger, but the barbarian was in a world of pain. Duke administered the wounds as best as his druid training would allow and everyone swallowed potions of healing so that they could get walking again.
They now faced the problem of getting down to Kongen-Thulnir. As they observed Drake noted that the dragons seemed to attack in waves, every fifteen or twenty minutes. If they timed it right they should be able to fly down into the city and try to find King Silvereye, whom Loncer spoke highly of as a noble giant. After a quick exchange Duke gave the human fighter his winged boots, Argo activated his sword of Aaqa from the Tomb of Icosiol, and the dwarf cast a fly spell on Kong and himself.
And so they were off, flying down the cliff face of the Rift Canyon during a brief interlude in the dragon siege. Loncer had sketched out a map for the heroes, and they had no trouble finding the palace of King Silvereye. It was clearly once a magnificent structure, but the dragon attacks had taken its toll. The two hill giant guards demanded to know their business, and after a quick explanation they were hurried into the stone palace, through tunnels and hallways built for giants. Everywhere they saw giants - broken, beaten, and scarred, they were clearly exhausted from the relentless strikes of the siege forces.
Eventually the companions were brought into what was once a magnificent hall, but not seemed like just a huge rubble-strewn chamber. At the far end was a throne, pitted and broken, upon which sat an aged storm giant in the same condition. Large hill giant guards were stationed around the room, and at the king's side was a particularly huge and flabby hill giant. Duke guessed (correctly) that this was Bagg.
Bagg shuffled his flabby form forward and demanded to know what the puny manlings were doing in the hall of King Silvereye. No explanation seemed good enough, and Bagg was about to order the hill giant guards to kill the intruders when Argo mentioned that they were after Dragotha's phylactery. That sent the giants into a terrible fit - and managed to get a rise out of the still storm giant king.
Silvereye motioned for Bagg to approach, and the two giants conversed for a moment. Afterwards Bagg looked sullen but stepped towards the heroes - and then turned and bowed low to the ground as King Silvereye stood up. The ancient storm giant used a massive sword as a walking stick, and slowly he hobbled forward to face the companions. The king spoke in a slow deliberate voice, and explained that recent events had created a schism in Kongen-Thulnir.
The Tiamikal Nul-Shada, keepers of the Citadel of Weeping Dragons, have been charged since time immemorial with guarding a secret vault deep within the citadel. To reach the vault one needed two keys, and one of the keys - the one normally possessed by Kagro Thundersmiter of the Tiamikal Nul-Shada - were stolen. This was right before the dragons attacked, and none of the giant clans had the time now to deal with the situation. King Silvereye gave the heroes his key and told them to find the other and destroy the phylactery of Dragotha, for it made sense that this was the treasure kept within the ancient vault.
The storm giant told the companions that the most likely culprit of the theft was one of the Rift Crawlers in Undercity, and suggested they start their look there. With that, King Silvereye returned to his throne and the heroes were ushered out of the palace.
Just as a force of dragons launched a new offensive, and it was all the four heroes could do to find shelter amongst the broken shells of the city's buildings. The attack lasted for twenty minutes or so, and afterwards Kong, Argo, Duke, and Drake made their way to where the Undercity was. Unfortunately it was located another 200 feet below their current level, and they had to make similar flying preparations as they did before.
They made it to the entrance of the Undercity and stepped forward into the building, where they were hushed voices. Argo identified the voices as belonging to a dwarf and a giant, and they caught the two of them by surprise when they stepped into the room. The dwarf demanded to know what they were doing there, but the companions offered no reasonable explanation. So the dwarf ordered Charlgar (the hill giant) to kill them.
As the hill giant chieftain stepped forward menacingly Duke decided to try a new spell. It was called fear, and it would instill weak-minded beings with a terrible sense of dread. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the area of effect, and instead of just affecting Charlgar - he caught Drake and Argo in the effect as well. The dwarf wizard's spell mastery was considerable and all three subjects were stricken with a sudden fear that sent them running away in sheer blind terror.
Kong, luckily, was not affected, and decided to charge the dwarf who was wielding a spiked chain with some proficiency. The barbarian gave a mighty yell and chopped at the dwarf, cutting deep, and sending him running away in fear (not magical fear, but simple fear for life). He ran down a hallway taunting the barbarian all the way.
Meanwhile Duke tried desperately to dispel his own enchantment without dropping the fear effect from Charlgar. It took a few attempts but he was eventually successful. Kong, however, had had enough taunting from the dwarf and charged down the hallway. Halfway through the dwarf pulled a trigger and a section of the hall gave out.
The barbarian's quick reflexes saved him from a tumble down the pit, and the dwarf gave a loud and sailor-like curse. At the same time Duke, Drake, and Argo were torturing the poor hill giant trying to get information. Drake managed to intimidate Charlgar into telling them that it was him who stole the key from Kagro Thundersmiter and that it was thrown into the "pit." He refused to elaborate on what the pit was, so the three of them used the spell effect of the fear to herd the hill giant down the hallway.
Where he promptly blundered straight into the pit and tumbled down, where he landed somewhere else. A deep grumble echoed from within the pit, which seemed to be almost a slide, as they heard Charlgar give a strangled cry. On the other side of the pit the dwarf cursed Kong and the rest and fled into the next room.
With a flex of his mighty muscles the barbarian leapt clean over the ten foot wide pit and landed into the room, right next to the dwarf. Argo made a similarly acrobatic jump, and Drake decided to carry Duke with him during his jump. This turned out not to be a good idea, as the human warrior didn't quite make it across. Duke managed to grab the side of the pit, but again Drake wasn't so fortunate. He tumbled head over heels down the chute, which deposited him into a massive underground cavern covered in glowing fungus.
The dwarf wizard hoisted himself up as Kong and Argo made short work of the taunting dwarf. In the massive cavern Drake found himself facing off against a monstrous creature that resembled a colossal carrion crawler. Luckily the titanic slime-covered beast hadn't taken notice of him, and Drake slipped quickly back up the tunnel with the help of his winged boots. He related what he had seen, which they surmised was just beyond the door in their current chamber.
After a quick moment of healing and decision-making the four heroes decided to face the creature, which Duke called the Mother Worm. It was, he surmised, probably the progenitor of the entire carrion crawler species. Destroying it was not a bad thing. So, girding themselves for the fight ahead, they downed their potions and kicked open the door.
The Mother Worm was huge and had already devoured the flesh of Charlgar, tossing his bones to the side. The door entered the massive cavern at a point fifty feet up from the bottom, so Kong and Argo started to descend to the bottom of face the disgusting beast. That left Duke and Drake on the platform, which was unfortunate for them as the Mother Worm spewed acid over them like a mother bird coughing up food for her young.
Drake, Argo, and Kong made it to the ground of the cavern pit as Duke tried lobbing spells at the kaiju carrior crawler. It was surprisingly resistant to sorcery, but the dwarf wizard used some of his druid tricks to summon a storm that shot lightning bolts. The warriors on the ground charged and started hacking at the creature's immense hide. They took lash after lash from its tentacles, and they could feel its paralyzing poison course through their veins. Duke continued to get acid blasts in the face, but he luckily had his elemental standard from the wild watchers of Last Resort that helped resist the damage.
It was a tough fight, and just as things seemed their most hopeless- as Drake finally succumbed to the poison and was swallowed whole by the Mother Worm - Kong dealt the killing blow. The creature gave a mighty screech and collapsed, spewing its innards all over the cavern floor. Drake tumbled out of its belly, alive but just barely, and the heroes reveled in their victory over the kaiju carrion crawler.
After a moment Argo searched the cavern and found a key that looked identical to the one given to them by King Silvereye. They looted the body of Charlgar and set about healing themselves, knowing that more precarious situations awaited them in the Citadel of Weeping Dragons.
Session Updates
Sorry Bill - we had to go on. We're so close to finishing the campaign I can feel it! Probably just a handful more sessions, especially if they go like the last few.
XP Recap
16th-level 19,200
17th-level 15,300
18th-level 10,800
Until next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
Age of Worms Campaign Update 10/19/2008
CHRONICLE VAULT 20081019, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Planting 13, 596 CY
With the followers of Vecna defeated or driven off the Kings of the Road found themselves with the four Trials of Tilagos completed. They had the feather from the Roc King, the belt of the titan Krathanos, had silenced the Doomshroud's mournful song, and defeated the Nightmare Beast. They were weary and exhausted but eager to be rid of Last Resort.
They did not have long to travel on that island demiplane before being confronted by the strange fey beings that they first met upon traveling to the planar site. The lead wild watcher, Tylanthros, approached and congratulated them upon completing the trials. As a token of their success the remaining druids gave each hero a gift - one of the elemental standards kept by the fey druids. Each hero chose one of the artifacts according to their own needs, and afterwards things became strange.
"And so you have earned the right to return the lore of the Order of Storms to the world. The Age of Worms is upon us, and what the powers of old began so long ago now falls to you to complete. Drink deep and remember. Dream the dreams of the ages."
No sooner had the words left Tylanthros' lips when a sudden darkness washed over the heroes. After a short time they found themselves standing on a ridge overlooking a mountainous crevasse. Duke recognized the place as the Rift Canyon but things were not what they appeared. It was as if they were in a dream gazing back at a time in ages past, except they were not gazing - they were living.
A small group of sombre druids aproached them, and the Kings of the Road recognized Tylanthros as their leader. But he was different - he was a man, not the strange fey being they were just conversing with in the demiplane of Last Resort. He gave no sign of recognization as he spoke.
"The heroes of prophecy. Your timing is perfect. We can hold them no longer, but we have been successful in our task." Tylanthros indicated towards the dozen or so druids who stood behind him. The druids clustered around a large package with its sides carved in the shapes of leering demonic and draconic faces. "Dragotha's phylactery is ours, yet at a great price. His minions even now come for us to reclaim it, and soon he himself shall learn of its theft. We must hide it forever from his reach, for I fear its destruction at this juncture would ounly drive him to an unstoppable frenzy. But if we can take it from this land, he will sense its loss. He will abandon the army of Kyuss and they will be lost, without leadership. You must hold off the spawn that even now scramble at the edges of the cliffs around us. Our trusted ally will stall his aerial forces whil you must hold off the rest of his spawn long enough for us to transport the phylactery."
A familiar figure stepped forward at this point, a young and vivacious woman dressed in ornate silver armor. It was the strikingly beautiful figure of Lashonna! She spoke to the heroes, but once again there was no recognition in her eyes. "I shall engage Dragotha and his children myself, but I cannot defend against his Swords. They come too, scrambling up to our location even now, along with - something else. Something most unnatural - an abomination. You must hold them off, for all is lost if you fail."
With that Lashonna spread her arms and before the dumb-struck eyes of the companions she transformed into a magnificent silver dragon. With a single tremendous beat of her wings she launched into the air. Tylanthros spoke again as she flew towards a small group of draconic shadows led by a massive undead beast - Dragotha leading the flight.
"We go now, to hide the phylactery within its cradle in Kongen-Thulnir. Save us from the Words of Kyuss, or the Age of Worms shall doom us all!" The druids then departed and the heroes - now well aware that they were not only witnessing but participating in a historic moment from 15,000 years ago - steeled themselves. The massive force of swords of Kyuss climbed over the lip of the cliff and battle was engaged. It was a surreal experience - sword and spell clashed with bone and claw, and through it all the heroes were aware that they were not fully in control of their actions. During the frantic melee the companions could see Lashonna facing off against Dragotha - and losing.
Just as darkness began to creep over them like a wave crashing against the shores of an island they saw Dragotha deliver a killing stroke to Lashonna, sending the silver dragon tumbling into the mists of the Rift Canyon.
Then, with a sudden blink of their eyes, the Kings of the Road found themselves standing upon the island of Tilagos. But no storms battered the island, and the waters were calm. They were back on the material plane, and back in their own time as well. Sort of, at any rate, for they learned from Captain Shadowstalker as the Sunshadow came into view that they were gone three months. Time, it seemed, passed differently in the now extinct demiplane of Last Resort.
The heroes now had a goal, or at least the name of their goal - Kongen-Thulnir. Their first stop aboard the Sunshadow was at Greyhawk City to resupply, and it was there that Duke learned that Kongen-Thulnir, the City of Kings, was a site somewhere in the Rift Canyon. After a bit of decision making the companions decided to make their way north to the Barony of Bloodstone, which lay at the foothills of the Rift Canyon and seek the advice of Toka and the rest of the Heroes of Bloodstone.
The Sunshadow took to the late spring sky easily and it was only a few days before they reached Bloodstone. Toka greeted them, and Argo related their tale. Loncer Amorocco, one of the fabled Bloodstone legends, indicated he had been to Kongen-Thulnir recently and was able to fill the heroes in on some details.
First it was a city ruled by giants. Hill giants, fire giants, storm giants, stone giants - all sorts. And they were broken up into three distinct "clans." The Khargakhan, or Riftlords, were the largest and most powerful, and commanded the most respect from the others. They were led by King Achaime Silvereye, an aging storm giant that Loncer had immense respect for, but the hill giant advisor named Bagg was not a good or trustworthy giant.
The second clan were the Khargak-dwergun, or Rift Crawlers. They were a splinter faction led by the hill giant Charlgar, who staged a coup against King Silvereye and failed. The Rift Crawlers controlled the Undercity and kept some large beast in a pit there.
The third clan were the Tiamikal Nul-Shada, or Hunters of Tiamat's Children. These were an elite fighting force of dragon hunters that kept the Citadel of Weeping Dragons. They were secretive and Loncer didn't know much about them, but he respected their methods and views immensely.
Loncer also told the companions to either walk or fly into the Rift Canyon. A horse or other land-based animal would only slow them up, and it was three day trek to Kongen-Thulnir. And so, thus armed with information the companions set their eyes on finding Dragotha's phylactery.
Session Updates
This was a clean-up session more than anything else, and as such no XP was awarded. But it was an important bridge between "The Library of Last Resort" and the "Kings of the Rift", so a necessary evil. Good to put it behind us, though.
Until next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
Planting 13, 596 CY
With the followers of Vecna defeated or driven off the Kings of the Road found themselves with the four Trials of Tilagos completed. They had the feather from the Roc King, the belt of the titan Krathanos, had silenced the Doomshroud's mournful song, and defeated the Nightmare Beast. They were weary and exhausted but eager to be rid of Last Resort.
They did not have long to travel on that island demiplane before being confronted by the strange fey beings that they first met upon traveling to the planar site. The lead wild watcher, Tylanthros, approached and congratulated them upon completing the trials. As a token of their success the remaining druids gave each hero a gift - one of the elemental standards kept by the fey druids. Each hero chose one of the artifacts according to their own needs, and afterwards things became strange.
"And so you have earned the right to return the lore of the Order of Storms to the world. The Age of Worms is upon us, and what the powers of old began so long ago now falls to you to complete. Drink deep and remember. Dream the dreams of the ages."
No sooner had the words left Tylanthros' lips when a sudden darkness washed over the heroes. After a short time they found themselves standing on a ridge overlooking a mountainous crevasse. Duke recognized the place as the Rift Canyon but things were not what they appeared. It was as if they were in a dream gazing back at a time in ages past, except they were not gazing - they were living.
A small group of sombre druids aproached them, and the Kings of the Road recognized Tylanthros as their leader. But he was different - he was a man, not the strange fey being they were just conversing with in the demiplane of Last Resort. He gave no sign of recognization as he spoke.
"The heroes of prophecy. Your timing is perfect. We can hold them no longer, but we have been successful in our task." Tylanthros indicated towards the dozen or so druids who stood behind him. The druids clustered around a large package with its sides carved in the shapes of leering demonic and draconic faces. "Dragotha's phylactery is ours, yet at a great price. His minions even now come for us to reclaim it, and soon he himself shall learn of its theft. We must hide it forever from his reach, for I fear its destruction at this juncture would ounly drive him to an unstoppable frenzy. But if we can take it from this land, he will sense its loss. He will abandon the army of Kyuss and they will be lost, without leadership. You must hold off the spawn that even now scramble at the edges of the cliffs around us. Our trusted ally will stall his aerial forces whil you must hold off the rest of his spawn long enough for us to transport the phylactery."
A familiar figure stepped forward at this point, a young and vivacious woman dressed in ornate silver armor. It was the strikingly beautiful figure of Lashonna! She spoke to the heroes, but once again there was no recognition in her eyes. "I shall engage Dragotha and his children myself, but I cannot defend against his Swords. They come too, scrambling up to our location even now, along with - something else. Something most unnatural - an abomination. You must hold them off, for all is lost if you fail."
With that Lashonna spread her arms and before the dumb-struck eyes of the companions she transformed into a magnificent silver dragon. With a single tremendous beat of her wings she launched into the air. Tylanthros spoke again as she flew towards a small group of draconic shadows led by a massive undead beast - Dragotha leading the flight.
"We go now, to hide the phylactery within its cradle in Kongen-Thulnir. Save us from the Words of Kyuss, or the Age of Worms shall doom us all!" The druids then departed and the heroes - now well aware that they were not only witnessing but participating in a historic moment from 15,000 years ago - steeled themselves. The massive force of swords of Kyuss climbed over the lip of the cliff and battle was engaged. It was a surreal experience - sword and spell clashed with bone and claw, and through it all the heroes were aware that they were not fully in control of their actions. During the frantic melee the companions could see Lashonna facing off against Dragotha - and losing.
Just as darkness began to creep over them like a wave crashing against the shores of an island they saw Dragotha deliver a killing stroke to Lashonna, sending the silver dragon tumbling into the mists of the Rift Canyon.
Then, with a sudden blink of their eyes, the Kings of the Road found themselves standing upon the island of Tilagos. But no storms battered the island, and the waters were calm. They were back on the material plane, and back in their own time as well. Sort of, at any rate, for they learned from Captain Shadowstalker as the Sunshadow came into view that they were gone three months. Time, it seemed, passed differently in the now extinct demiplane of Last Resort.
The heroes now had a goal, or at least the name of their goal - Kongen-Thulnir. Their first stop aboard the Sunshadow was at Greyhawk City to resupply, and it was there that Duke learned that Kongen-Thulnir, the City of Kings, was a site somewhere in the Rift Canyon. After a bit of decision making the companions decided to make their way north to the Barony of Bloodstone, which lay at the foothills of the Rift Canyon and seek the advice of Toka and the rest of the Heroes of Bloodstone.
The Sunshadow took to the late spring sky easily and it was only a few days before they reached Bloodstone. Toka greeted them, and Argo related their tale. Loncer Amorocco, one of the fabled Bloodstone legends, indicated he had been to Kongen-Thulnir recently and was able to fill the heroes in on some details.
First it was a city ruled by giants. Hill giants, fire giants, storm giants, stone giants - all sorts. And they were broken up into three distinct "clans." The Khargakhan, or Riftlords, were the largest and most powerful, and commanded the most respect from the others. They were led by King Achaime Silvereye, an aging storm giant that Loncer had immense respect for, but the hill giant advisor named Bagg was not a good or trustworthy giant.
The second clan were the Khargak-dwergun, or Rift Crawlers. They were a splinter faction led by the hill giant Charlgar, who staged a coup against King Silvereye and failed. The Rift Crawlers controlled the Undercity and kept some large beast in a pit there.
The third clan were the Tiamikal Nul-Shada, or Hunters of Tiamat's Children. These were an elite fighting force of dragon hunters that kept the Citadel of Weeping Dragons. They were secretive and Loncer didn't know much about them, but he respected their methods and views immensely.
Loncer also told the companions to either walk or fly into the Rift Canyon. A horse or other land-based animal would only slow them up, and it was three day trek to Kongen-Thulnir. And so, thus armed with information the companions set their eyes on finding Dragotha's phylactery.
Session Updates
This was a clean-up session more than anything else, and as such no XP was awarded. But it was an important bridge between "The Library of Last Resort" and the "Kings of the Rift", so a necessary evil. Good to put it behind us, though.
Until next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
New D&D4E Campaign
It's going to take a bit of time (a week or so?) but everyone interested needs to make a new Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition character. So far Travis and Jesse have both completed their characters - they are as follows.
Travis: Dregg'd, dragonborn warlock
Jesse: Ash, tiefling paladin
Plenty of character ideas still available, including a lot more races than presented in the PHB. As far as a setting I've decided to go with Garweeze Wurld - the setting of HackMaster and the playground for the Knights of the Dinner Table. I've got cool maps ready to go and it's going to be a lot looser than previous campaigns (like Age of Worms). Not as much overall structure, which means individual characters can explore according to their whims and goals. I'm pretty excited about that aspect.
Anyway, start thinking about it. Mondays at around 8 pm is when I'd like to start, and we can play missing people as well.
Travis: Dregg'd, dragonborn warlock
Jesse: Ash, tiefling paladin
Plenty of character ideas still available, including a lot more races than presented in the PHB. As far as a setting I've decided to go with Garweeze Wurld - the setting of HackMaster and the playground for the Knights of the Dinner Table. I've got cool maps ready to go and it's going to be a lot looser than previous campaigns (like Age of Worms). Not as much overall structure, which means individual characters can explore according to their whims and goals. I'm pretty excited about that aspect.
Anyway, start thinking about it. Mondays at around 8 pm is when I'd like to start, and we can play missing people as well.
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