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.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
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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