Ivarkian Campaign Episode 5 - I'm Mister Hatemonger! I'm Mister Mad!

Eighteen Months later.

Indra is now Swordmaster for Jalen Whitecloud.
Moscato has become chief curator of the official library.
Chet is now a Lord Chet MourningManSavageWood, steward.
Baretta Walther is still swordmaster for Jala Whitecloud.

Inception has grown to be the shining jewel, eastern doorway to the west.

Innermost ring is called "The Dawning Spawn", and where the whiteclouds share power as co-rulers. The outer layer is the "academic center" - The Dawning ring. It has it's own Mage college.  There is a trade sector as well.

Indra has been on a mission and returns with a man from the "Coast of Eternal Starlight". He is known as The Hitman Jangleman - aka  Ambassador Nixus.

Moscato, Chet, and Baretta are waiting for the "emissary from the elves" to arrive. The Whiteclouds are nervous about the reception.

Nixus' hair is tied back and is dressed flamboyantly in mismatched dark colours. Moscato and Chet recognize him as a "Dark Elf" or "Death Elf" - one of the commandos of the original Elven army.

Baretta makes conversation and asks about the Coast. Nixus describes it and it's history.During the meal, Baretta is told that someone wishes to meat the ambassador. Baretta excuses herself and is brought out. Two guards with griffon symbols flank "Katyana Thorvold". She indicates she is the newly appointed sword mistress of Jeness Thorvald (enemies of the Walther family), Jarl of Westspire.

Katyana barges in and sits at the table next to Nixus. After some verbal parrying, Nixus excuses himself and talks with Moscato. Katyana excuses herself as well.

The party notes a man who seems familiar in the hall witnessing. Baretta steps aside to talk to him. He introduces himself as "Lord Thaddeus Truevillain". He says he came here on behalf of his order to monitor the situation. Specifically, that the Thorvalds have a history with the Whiteclouds and Baretta. He is cagey about who he is and who his order is.

Nixus comes to visit Baretta before the evening is over. He says we have impressed the sorcerer Uguri. and he gives Baretta a case and leaves. Baretta opens the case carefully. The case has elven writing on it (Starpiercer) and contains a long blade. It has the imagery of a Quetzalcoatl. It's a thin Masterwork rapier style blade. She finds out it is an Elven Thinblade.

Chet is given a package from "Blackfang", the gnoll who Chet resurrected the child of. The package contains a perl - a "Perl of recalling."

Indra is given a box with two blades.

Next evening there is another banquet with Jarls from other cities to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of Inception. While Chet makes a speech a mist rolls in and forms into a being which attacks Moscato. It very quickly becomes apparently, only Moscato saw this. Baretta escorts Moscato out of the hall to "Show him something" and as soon as the door closes, she lightly smacks the back of his head.

Nexus asks to "Play something" and pulls out his musical instrument. He plays a haunting melody and a few other songs.

After this Chet calls Indra and Baretta over and notes that Nixus and Truevillain have been chatty. Baretta assigns a couple of house guards to keep an eye on Nixus and Truevillain.

The week continues somewhat uneventfully. Nixus meets and entertains and sees the sights of the town. At one point he meets with Timeran. Many people are in town.

Moscato does research on the sword "Burning hatred" that Nixus sang about in one of this songs. It was probably one of the first artifact weapons. It is thought to be so dangerous as to kill it's wielder.

A couple days later, while watching a performance, Moscato, Chet, Baretta and Indra note guards reacting. They follow. They hear and crazed gutteral voice. They look and people are starting to transform in beings with yellow eyes and claws. The party is separated and makes their way to the podium where the Jarls are. Nixus, the Jarls, Moscato, and Chet run through the tunnel through a trapdoor on the podium.

Upon arriving a wolf-like being appears and starts attacking.

The swordmasters jump down and follow. The party makes their way to the central spire. They manage to get in. They look out the top of the tower and see fire and chaos. On a nearby building a mysterious figure looks on.....

Ivarkian Campaign Episode 4 - The goddess "Snooty-kins".

Moscato suggests that we leave Taraza behind, but the Ogre disagrees.

The party asks Taraza where the monument is. Taraza asks the Ogre something and he points north.

Baretta asks for a description. The Ogre says that no one has seen it in several hundred years. But we will know it as things there both die and live simultaneously. Taraza indicates thats we must amuse the guardian. The party asks for more information. Uguri leaves without answering.

The party departs. They travel for the better part of a day. The party follows the path the Gnolls would take. The path appears to be heavily travelled. Eventually, the party comes to the first major signs of water - a lake that feeds the river going east. They see a large fairey.

They use it to cross the lake without incident.

They continue on, and find a large field where they camp. First night passes uneventfully.

Two days later, they come to a valley where there is a large wall surrounded by huts. It is very quiet. There is no evidence of working hearths. They soak a shirt in fabric which Baretta uses to cover her mouth before scouting. Moscato looks through his spyglass and sees a few small gnollish figures but mainly women and children.

Baretta heads down and the smell of death is overwhelming. She sees 4 long rows of bodies covered with sheets and skins and anything else. The town is very quiet and the few gnolls she encounters are laconic and dazed, but do not seem to have noticed her.

She attempts to inspect the bodies. She witnesses a gnoll bringing a small body out and leave it amongst the dead. She returns to the group.

She reports that the plague appears to have killed most of the town. They decide to bypass the town and continue on.

A couple days later, they run across villages in similar states. While travelling the party speculates that Ogres may be immune to the plague as various areas around the villages are sharpshooters.

The party makes camp and sets watches: Moscato, then Baretta and Taraza, then Chet. Taraza and Barretta talk. Taraza indicates the mural is dangerous as it is a window from another times of  things "better left forgotten". There was a time before the human empire when "They" were watching. Baretta suspects that "They" were something of an apocalyptic nature such as a dragon or dragons. Baretta notes that during the conversation, Taraza refers to Timeran as "The Mindbender". During the war with the elves there was a "weapon" the elves used called "the Mindbenders" who were spellcasters. Baretta notes that Timeran is human. Taraza suspects that Timeran's mentor was an elf. Baretta suspects Taraza can read her thoughts, but Taraza indicates that she is very good at reading people. The rest of the night passes uneventfully.

The next day they travel. Moscato spies something off in the distance. It appears to be ruins of some type. They head to the ruins and scout the area. The ruins seem to be granite. Baretta asks Taraza if these ruins are what they are looking for. Taraza indicates that it isn't, but is nonetheless important.

There is creation text upon the ruins. Taraza and the party read the ruins. She tells the party the information they have learned could cause gods to mark them for death.

Taraza and Beretta hear a sound. A LARGE group Gnolls attack. While at first the battle seems difficult, 3 heavily armored Gnolls appear to assist, scaring off the gnolls. Baretta turns and see the gnolls who assisted.

The gnolls tell them that while they are not friends, they are not enemies. Baretta notes her wounds are healing and the forest is especially lush. They approach the shrine.The soil oddly seems dry and dead and littered with bones and corpses. Upon stepping on the soil, they start taking damage. They back up and heal immediately.

The gnolls give them healing potions. They RUN. Once they reach the inside of the shrine, they stop taking damage. Party quaffs healing potions. The party searches and finds the staff - a long staff with scales, on one side a skeleton and the other side overgrown plants. A large stag walks up behind the party. The stag talks to them. Taraza notes the stag is the guardian of life and plagues. They ask if they can have the staff. The stag suggests a proposal.

The stag takes human form, but one hand is a skeleton. "I think if you can take it then take it."

The Staff turns into a dire owlbear and jumps upon the deadly soil. It starts flying when Chet "commands" it to "Stop". Baretta runs and tries to grab it and misses. The party attempts to attack but fails. The owlbear hits Baretta and combat begins.

The battle is very difficult, but the party barely defeats the fiendish owlbear. The stag being is about to congratulate the party when suddenly a ring comes off of his finger and he falls into the negative energy zone and dies. Taraza has his ring.

Taraza tells them to let the Jarl know that expansion to the west will be unchecked for now.

The party returns to one of the plagued villages. They arrive at the home of one of the gnolls who'd saved them. His family is dead. Chet attempts to use the staff of healing on one of the dead gnolls. He brings an infant gnoll back to life. Chet heals every gnoll village on the way back. They note that Zora are in each city they pass through.

They return to Ugiri and the goblin warrior. Chet returns the staff to Ugiri and hands them the missing sealed box. The goblin with Ugiri says, "There was a time before the empire, an old time. A time of the paladin city and the paladin king. The mural that you discovered is the only known picture found in 6 millenia of the paladin king. Ugiri doesn't know much of him, but that Zora fear his name because of the power he wielded across the world."

Ivarkan Campaign Episode 3 - Do you remember that Ogre who threw a house at us?

Three months later.

First group of guards have been deployed, possible names of guard captains are being considered.

Chet has been promoted to senior clerk.He is now the steward under Jalen Whitecloud.

Wealthy families are coming in, first wall has been built. Stone masons guild have come in. Inception has been growing, many new people are arriving. The burrows are being demolished and higher end buildings are coming in.

Moscato has continued investigating history, areas before the fall of the human empire.

Chet suggests that Baretta would be a good choice for captain of the guards. He approaches her. She asks about money but has also been approached about being Whitecloud's House Swordmaster.

Baretta wants to talk to Whitecloud about his offer. Along with general security work, there is the occasional find out information for damage control. She decides to accept the position.

Chet goes on to talk to Moscato to see if his research has uncovered anything important. Moscato notes that the mural (last adventure) predates the last human empire. Moscato points to evidence that elves are apparently very long lived.

Chet meets with Baretta and asks her to gather a team of people because Moscato and he are doing an expedition to check out a wall that has been discovered (previously mentioned). Baretta picks 3 people (Bleys, Brand, and Corwin) to go with them.

Chet, Moscato, Baretta, and the three head out.

Three days later, they stop at an inn. A man walks in and picks up a package with the imperial seal from the barkeep and walks out. They get rooms for the night.

Baretta finds out that the package was delivered by official courier. (Symbol of hawk under the sun)

Night passes uneventfully.

At the mine.

As the party continues their journey they encounter a party with the emperor's seal on a standard. They encounter one of the headmasters of the sword school. He greets them (and is pissed at the emporer's group) and leads them in to the mine.

As they head in, there is a woman who they encouter wearing a simple outfit. A Zora (think Bene Gesserit).The Headmaster informs her that she and Zora have no authority here. She turns and walks back in. Two of Timeran's come in who have been researching. One of them indicates to Moscato that she knows what has been going on.

Moscato and Chet examine the mural. Baretta notes the Zora isn't looking directly at the mural. The Zora asks, "And what are your impressions." Baretta says, "It's a nice mural". The Zora turns and walks out.

Moscato starts studying the rest of the room looking for clues.Moscato notes that spells do not function in the room.

Timeran says he will post guards. He asks to speak to Baretta aside. Timeran psychically tells her that there is a situation. A package was being sent from Prince Havisham Sunlighter. On it's way to them, it was stolen by Gnolls. Lady Taraza is going to tell them she is going to accompany them. We need to make every effort to recover the package.   Taraza  needs to witness that we've made every effort to recover it. The Zora is very good at manipulating circumstance to get what she wants. We cannot leave any recourse to allow her to  manipulate the situation.

Meanwhile, Moscato is overcome by a feeling of dread while looking at the mural and he runs out.

Baretta witnesses the Zora talking to another woman. Baretta hears that the younger woman "hasn't finished her task for the Zora". Furthermore, the "southern amazon tribe are unwilling to give them an embassy because of risk of reprisal from the Silver Talon". Zora notes that Baretta has been overhearing them.

Zora tells Baretta that she (Baretta) is "Angela Bell's Granddaughter".

Timeran updates everyone.

The townsfolk show the party some Gnolls who'd been killed.

Baretta tries to follow up with the couriers about the package. The couriers indicate that they never recieved the package. Baretta asks the barkeep who handed an imperial package off. He doesn't remember anything.

Moscato investigates the stables. They notice a saddle with the seal of an imperial courier. Chet rummages through the bags. He finds rations, and water but no horses. They attempt to track where the horse that would have had the saddle went.

They do find the horse and the courier that was stomped. The Zora follows them. They follow the trail and find a settlement that appears to be made by gnolls.

The gnolls are afraid of the party and they hide. Taraza notes them to back away from the water and 4 ogres move out of the water.

The Ogre says that Uguri wants to speak with them. Taraza speaks to them in another language (Moscato has cast comprehend languages and understands what was said and that they have passage into the "singing circle"). The Ogres leave (apparently they breath underwater). The party leaves the settlment and goes to talk to Uguri. Moscato asks about the sickness the gnolls had. Apparently Chet knows about this illness because this is what the the secret item the caravan had. Moscato observes that the gnolls have it and that it will spread. Chet advises that the cure/disease is secret.

After several hours of walking, they hear a sound. Baretta shudders due to the haunting quality of the sound. The party makes camp near the area that Taraza describes as "Sacred". The party sets watches. During first watch (Moscato's) there is an unusual wind that comes up. Moscato is hit with something. Moscato cries out.

The party wakes. Baretta and Chet are hit. Taraza appears to cast something. Moments later a huge winged lion pads up to the camp and walks around. Taraza indicates that it cannot see them and they have a round to attack

The party attacks. After a few rounds the manticore flees.

The next morning, after the party wakes up, there is a loud thud. Four ogres materialize.

The Ogres lead the party up to a stone circle with a Ogre sitting in the center. After discussion, the Ogres believe that the humans have brought the wasting disease to destroy the Gnolls. Chet offers healing medicine for the gnolls. The Ogre leader tells them that if they do what he wants, they will get the "item they want".

Uguri tells them to go to an old monument. The old god of plague and healing has a guardian in the area. Inside is a staff. If they bring it back, past the guardian, he will give them what they seek.

Ivarken Campaign - Episode 2 - You mean you just wear your hair long and no one notices you are an elf?

Four Months later!

Indra - A half-elf fighter
Baretta - A swashbuckler
Chet - A Clerical Cleric
Moscato - A Half-Elf Oracle

(halflings weren't halfings they were goblins)

The party has become local legends because of having faced the Imperial Orcs and survived.

Party gets 150 (Chet extra 200, Moscato exta 100)

Inception has grown and is building a wall. Construction is beginning and clear cutting is occurring. Various skilled laborers and shopowners have arrived. Rangers and settlers for other areas.

Morning baretta heads down for breakfast. She gets a couple steaks and sits down with Niah and Galen. Talking about training the Rangers and City Guard and who is going to do it.

Chet is having his morning meeting with the Jarl and others who is showing a map of the area layout and how expansion is occurring. Lydia is there too (she is the main smith of the city). Planning to establish city guard.

Galen wants more information on the Orcs. Chet says that he thinks the orcs weren't being aggressive, more defensive. HOWEVER, they do have very large ships and have the ability to deploy orcs on our side of the river.

For Moscato, things have been "annoying". He has decided to research Orcs. He discovers the Orc empire dates back to the collapse to the old empire when humans discovered orcs. Five thousand years earlier was the last contact. They beat the human empire rather hard. That was after the human emporer died and hiswife took over then his son. They encountered Elves who were much more bloodthirsty and vicious than the orcs that contributed tot hecollapse of the human empire. He finds also about the enigma of the half0rcs and halflelves. Half Elves dont come from inside the human empire. The first was discovered among the elves. The theory is that there may be another human civilization since the Elves knew human language upon contact. similar to the half orcs.

Indra takes some of the students on a run for conditioning. They head out toward the forest making a big loop. Trainees are coming along well, others need help. She breaks the group down and picks two as "squad leaders" to help build up those falling behind.

First layer - sleep and mess
second layer - ranged practice and apprentice
third - practice
fourth - meeting.

Galen informs Indra and Baretta that his sister will be coming with a group a rangers and talens "She is a Silver Talen". (Silver Talon are a legendary order of female mercenary scouts - in the old empire they were an important ally to many).

Galen asks about the Gnolls, they were bandits and the broke easily.

At the end of his meeting, Chet gathers his notes and takes them back to his office, and grabs a bite to eat. then heads off to see the trainers.

Finishing up breakfast finishing and head into kata class.Baretta is teaching bodyguards in training and Indra is teaching about armor.

That evening, Indra, Baretta and a couple other teachers head to the "Queens Unicorn". Chet arrives and the group chats.

Indra notices an individual sitting off to the side with a beautiful masterwork sword. He is just sitting there looking around. His armor is dark silver with intricate designs. He stands and leaves. Indra points him out to Baretta. Baretta notes that he meets a woman with dark skin and robes. They walk out.
Chet observes that the guy was a half-elf.

Moscato gets up from his reserarch and starts walking home. While he is walking back, something catches his eye - a pin leaps off the lapel of a man part of a couple which he grabs. Moscato follows them and tries to catch up. He asks the couple for assistance in researching the elves and orcs since he'd heard them speaking elven. The female grabs Moscato by the throat. They realize he is a half-elf. They are suprized that no one has realized Moscato is a half elf. They let him go.

Evening winds down. (Baretta gets action).

There is a crowd outside the school the next morning.

Galen is talking to his sister.He introduces Kara to Baretta and Indra.

They see a person standing around looking confused. He tells Baretta and Indra that he is looking for rangers. Indra suggests that he speak to Galen and to the Jarl.

Indra takes her trainees on another run.

That afternoon the Talons demonstrates combat prowess.

Later that day, they witness a number of the students gathered around the Ranger with a wolf. He is discussing animal training and interaction. He relates this to interacting with environment.

Moscato goes to meets up with Chet.

Chet cannot find any information about the people from the previous evening.

Moscato finds Chet. Moscato asks about where the "Elven Ambassadors" are staying. Chet is unaware of any Elves in town.Chet takes Moscato to his office for a chat. He explains that there aren't ANY elves in town because they are bad news.Chet sends Moscato back to his place and will contact him this evening.

Chet seeks out Baretta and Indra to tell them about this. They discover Indra is a half elf too. Chet wants to hire them to figure out why the Elf and Orc are here.

Moscato is looking at the docs that Chet handed him (random docs from his desk) the "elf" appears and tells him that he is leaving him.

Chet flags the city guard and tells him to collect Moscato so they can all meet at the mayor's office.Moscato brings them up to date that the elf was leaving after doing recon in the city and were going on. There was a warning about an expedition which is bringing something "bad" back.

They go to visit the Jarl. They update the Jarl.

They decide to head out to check on the expedition. They follow the trails out.

A week later the trail is getting weaker but continue to head up to the mountaiin. They see a column of black smoke and head towards it. It leads to the smoking ruins of a small town. Looking through a spyglass, she sees knocked down tents, and burned buildings.

Baretta sneaks down there. She finds a dead body with a speak in the back. She takes the spear and keeps looking. She is attacked by a miner but easily blocks the attack. The miner is in shock. The miner reports that there were Gnolls who attacked at night. Eight ofthe miners hid in the mines.

Baretta signals the rest of the group to come up.He informs them where the Gnolls are.

The party finds a group of Gnolls with human slaves. Baretta sneaks up to see what's going on and discovers a Gnoll village. While trying to leave, the Gnolls hear her and a fight ensues. The party rushes in to help.

After a desparate battle with the Gnolls and an Ogre, the party manages to defeat the bad guys and free the captured humans. They find various precious metals, uncut diamonds, a bull strength scroll, a masterwork  spear, 300 gold coins.

The party dings 4th level.

They take the prisoners back to the village. The Foreman of the village is shocked that the party killed the ogre and defeated the gnolls. He announces they found not only silver but gold as well along with something else.

He takes the party back to the mountain, to the mine. He tells them the Gnolls wouldn't go past a certain point. He shows them a door in the mine, in the mountain. There is a room with a mural of an individual wearing black and gold trimmed plate armor with a black cloak. The eyes are brightly glowing sapphires. Below that, is written in Elven, "The Emporer made in man but not man".

Moscato thinks on the history, but doesn't know anything.

The party stays overnight but then heals and heads back.

Ivarken Campaign - Part 1

Disclaimer: As always, these notes are taken from notes taken in game and so they are poorly edited.

The story opens in the region of Ivarken.

Baretta is an ex-soldier who came here under the leadership General Denazec Clashhammer, retired. The city of Inception  She teaches one of the classes on swordsmanship at the Dawning Academic Hall.  Denazec is a co-headmaster there. Inception is the newest frontier city against the wilds forests area. Inception is run by 3 major factions : jarl (yarl) Jayleh Whitecloud "coinlord" (she controls the banks) . Her twin brother Jarl Jaygen white cloud tradelord (he controls commerce and major landowner) - Timarna arcanocon the OTHER headmaster - legendary tagteam - veteran heroes of Ivarken expansion. The Dawning academic hall is the onlybuilding the whiteclouds don't own.


Chet Mansavage (yes really), junior advisor under jarl jaygen whiteccloud . intermediary between workers and jaygen.

We are all expecting a caravan to arrive with the first years goods.


Indra works on this caravan and is working as a guard and decided to head on in hopes of joining the academy.

Moscato keeps hearing "Visit me on the way back".


Baretta has heard  that the caravan is going to be bringing people to teach at the academy.. Getting revenue for the first years work. She is waiting by the city gates.

Caravan arrives. Baretta and Chet head out to meet them. Chet arranges for items on the caravan to go where needed.

Indra heads to the inn called "Howlers" to get a room and rest.

Baretta heads back to the academy and greets the initiates and routes them appropriately.

Chet reports to Jarl who sends him to the Academy to meet.

Chet tells Baretta that the caravans have arrived. She notes that the special one has arrived  Indra and Baretta meet.

Lord jjarl asks if Chet has seen the "Special carriage" (he has).

The senior instructors return and they have 3 individuals with them, who they force to the ground. Baretta and Indra walk up. Niah orders them to check out the warehouse where the individuals worked


Warehouse worker said that 4 halfings came in, sent by Chet, to check out  the caravan. They left with it.

Until Moscato found them dead.

The party crashed the door down and moscato was arrested. At this point, the party got caught up in trying to figure out the murder mystery.

At that point, Chet found out that the shipment is missing. The party headed east looking for the caravan. As they moved east it was pretty much a single route to follow but Moscato kept looking off into the distance and suggesting that they head off into the path. The party was unaware that he was seeing a "light" because he was specifically told not to mention any "crazy sh!t".

The party was attacked by Gnoll, which they quickly dealt with while Moscato ran off chasing a gem off into the woods.

When they caught up with him, he'd found a shrine of some type run by a boy. Moscato and Chet helped him with some rituals. In return, the boy gave them a place to stay at the time and some extra equipment.

They caught to the Imperial orcs who took the carriage at the side of the river and fought them and took the carriage back and return to Ivarken.

Sharn - The Cauldron - Episode 10

Bah Mole and Talyn Nichec need to take care of some errands and do not participate in this episode’s events.

The party visits Councilman Hruit. Before Hruit enters the room, Perry casts sift to see if there is anything out of the ordinary in the room. He concludes that Hruit is a druid of some type who is respected by the businessmen in The Bazaar. Hruit asks about the nature of the mission Linech Cran sent them on. He is suprised about the reason for the party being hired, but pays the party the remaining 150 gold for finding out what his enemy was up to. After speaking with him, it becomes clear that Hruit is hiding something.

The party returns to Coldflame Keep and speaks with Flamebearer Mazin Tana. Mazin agrees to provide Perry with a room in the keep. Mazin advises the party that he has heard rumours of violent crime in Lower Tavick’s Landing and advises them to check it out.

On the way down, they stop for lunch in Middle Tavick’s Landing and ask the waitress for information. She tells them that there are grusome murders occurring, no one wants to go out at night, vagrants are targeted, Ratmen are about, and the murders started in the past week. The party thanks her and give her a handsome tip. Perry purchases a bottle of cheap wine.

The party visits the Black Arch district to speak to the garrison Commander Iyana ir’Talan. Kal’ Torak shows the seal of Hruit from the paperwork they’d previously been given to bluff the way in. Iyana is helpful when she finds out that they want to deal with the murders. She provides the party with the following information (with the help of sketches of crime scenes):

1. Murders started about week ago.
2. The modus operandi is that people are hung upsidedown and there throats are slashed.
3. Two city guards have been killed.
4. The majority of the crimes have occurred in the High Walls refugee district.
5. If people stay in small groups they tend to not be targeted.
6. There have been many “Ratmen” sightings.
7. There has been an increase in graffitti in the area.

The party examines the sketches and Kal notes two interesting details:

1. The slit throats are familiar somehow – with unusual tearing on one side followed by the expected slash
2. The grafitti “Agotha is dead! Long live Agotha!”

He stops and thinks (making a very difficult INT check) and remembers…

Agotha Broska is an Elven Vampire. She brutally murdered a vagrant near the Lantern Way Orphanage and used a similar method to try to cover her tracks. However, many details are missing as these events occurred during the time of his memory loss.

Perry suggests that he use the bottle of wine that he purchased to masquerade as a drunkard and become a target.

The party sets out and discovers Ratmen in the middle of another attack. They attack the Ratmen and manage to take all three prisoner.

Sharn - The Cauldron - Episodes 8 and 9

Kal and Talyn hire a boat to go out to the center of the harbour to check out the wreck of the Arrowhead. Seanus agrees to stay in the boat while they drink the potions of waterbreathing and swim down. They quickly find the wreck and must deal with two Sahuagin that attack.

After they have done that, they investigate the wreck to discover it’s been ransacked. They swim underwater and follow the trail of detrius and flotsom to an underwater cave. In the cave they fight a giant crab and uncover a bandolier of potions which Kal determines are healing potions. They continue down the cavern and the water becomes shallower.

Bah Mole finds them and follows them to investigate the cavern. Using Speak with Animals, he talks to a fish and a bat and discovers that there are other entrances into the cavern and that groups of humanoids have been carrying things into the cavern.

They notice some dim torchlight and proceed. Talyn casts predigitation on Bah Mole’s spear causing it to be very reflective and shiney allowing him to use it as a mirror and see inside the cavern.

Meanwhile, Nysra Iradi awakes. She realizes she has been bound with someone behind her. She is unaware of where she is or how she got there. Looking around, she realizes she is in an underground cavern. Nysra wakes up the person behind her who turns out to be an elf named Perry.

Bah Mole sees these two in the reflection but cannot clearly see that they are bound. He steps around the corner and casts entangle on the area. The spell manages to also capture two humans and a Sahuagin on the far end of the cavern. They disarm the humans and Sauhagin. Upon dismissing the entangle, the Sahaugin attempts to escape. Talyn casts daze and stops the Sahaugin. Behind the two humans is a bag with Nysra and Perry’s weapons along with two greatcoats.

The party also notices that the crystal coffin IS there but it is empty.

The humans reveal the following information:

1. Their names are Carleynn and Aravyre
   
2. They were purchasing the salvage from the Sahuagin
   
3. Their boss, “Castar” told them to “Dispose” of Nysra and Perry because he thought they were “snooping around”.
   

The Sahuagin regains his senses and starts panicking and worrying about the “Demon girl”. He reveals that he saw her rise out of the coffin holding something in her hand.

The party leaves them tied up, but leaves them means to escape if they promise to say that Nysra and Perry were “drowned”. The two captives tell the party that the stairs lead up into the Mud Caves district.

They track steps from the crystal coffin to another side cave where they find a half-orc (about 3/4 human) named “Linele” who claims to be Linech’s daughter. She has no memory of how she got there but has a vague recollection of flames. Her skin is extremely pale and Bah Mole smells “death” around her.

They discuss how to “safely lead her out”. She asks for some food as she is very hungry but everything they offer her, she spits out in disgust. Talyn and Nysra decide to go ahead and get Linech while the rest of the party leads Linele out.

Taylen explains to Linech what happened to Linele. Linech demands that they show her to him.

The rest of the party gets to the outer parts of the Mud Caves shanty town and realize that due to the sunlight, Linele cannot proceed out. Bah Mole fakes and injury to buy time.

Talyn , Nysra, Linech , and Abbercombe return to the mud caves. Linech is horrified, and reveals that his daughter had been killed by his enemies. Linele “vamps out” and attacks him. The party fights and Talyn and Nysra entangle Linele and tie the other end to Linech’s cab. Linech runs to the cab. Talyn , Nysra , and Linech order the cab to leave – pulling Linele into the sunlight. She burns up immediately.

Before leaving, Abbercombe points out a gold fob watch that Linele dropped.

The party realizes that the watch is incredibly magical and very evil. They bring the watch to the Cathedral of the Cleansing Flame for Archierophant Y’Thana Morr to deal with. Perry realizes that she is the clergy he is to report to. She advises him to return the next day for his “briefing”.

The party visits Linech and he rewards them with the remaining gold he owed them. They tell him about the fob watch they found.

The party then decides to report back to Hruit so that he is aware of the situation.

Sharn - The Cauldron - Episode 4

The trio decides to investigate Phon's home. They travel to the block where she lives and investigate. During the search, they are interrupted by the town guard who received a report from a neighbor of intruders. Talyn easily convinces the guards that they are good guys and the guards assist. Rexton questions the neighbor who summoned the guard but gets no information. After examining Phon's room, Kal concludes that there were at least 2 attackers who kidnapped Phon. Talyn investigates the outside of the building and determines the most likely path where Phon was taken, even finding a scrap of her clothing. The party questions another neighbor (an elf) who informs them that he heard a noise, but didn't see anyone.

The trio decides to return to the Cathedral of the Cleansing Flame to further question Flamebearer Fabitor. At the party's request, the Archierophant sends a courier to find Fabitor and have him return. The party sends a scribe to Morgrave University to research the symbol on Phon's body. Finally, Rexton sends a courier to Coldflame Keep to get his equipment.

The courier sent to Coldflame returns with the equipment and informs Rexton that Mazin has important news for him. Rexton leaves Kal to wait for Fabitor and returns to Coldflame Keep. There, Mazin informs him that Phon was pregnant. The fetus didn't appear to be human, having minimal facial features and a symbol similar to the one Phon had, only larger.

Talyn asks questions around the Cathedral of the Cleansing Flame about the Archierophant and Fabitor. He finds out that she tended to focus on tending the congregation rather than on business which Fabitor was primarily involved in.

Rexton makes a copy of the symbol and heads directly to Morgrave University Library. There, he meets the head librarian who appears to be an orangutan.

The Librarian leads him to the other scribe sent to research Phon's mark. Rexton sends the scribe back to the Cathedral with an update of information. The researcher who was looking for information on Phon's mark reveals the following information:

Phon's mark appears to be a "lesser" or "least" abbberant Dragonmark. Within the Dragonmark houses, only a small percentage of every generation manifest dragonmarks, which are marks on the body that grant abilities to those born with them. Aberrant dragonmarks are deviations from normal marks and are not recognized by the dragonmarked houses. The aberrant lords of the War of the Mark wielded terrible powers. Madness, flame, and plague were the least of their weapons. These tales inspired the superstitions that haunt the bearers of aberrant dragonmarks to this day. But in the centuries since the War of the Mark, no aberrant mark has ever bestowed the sort of powers seen in the past.

Rexton returns to the Cathedral at the same time Fabitor arrives. The group questions Fabitor about stealing money and he confesses. However, he maintains that he didn't really know Phon.

Talyn observes to the general group, "You found out about her and had to do something about it." The entire group in the room gives him a quizzical look.

The party decides to hold Fabitor to be brought to Wroat (the capital of Breland) for trial. They further decide to watch the Cathedral for the next few days to see if someone impersonating Fabitor arrives.

Sharn - The Cauldron - Episode 2 & 3

EPISODE 2
After leaving Indenture Hall, Kal moves around the area trying to get any clues regarding the statues in Malleon's Gate. He remembers hearing a raspy sound just as he crossed through the gate to exit that section of town. He heads back to and starts looking around there.
Rexton follows. As he and Kal walk through town, “So…Just what are we looking for?”

Kal doesn't answer.

As Kal and Rexton proceed to the edge of Oldkeep and Malleon’s Gate, there are the sounds of someone running down an upper walkway. As you glance up you see an odd shadow of a person about 15 feet up hanging from a rope by there feet.

“Umm Kal...There's a guy hanging up there..” says Rexton as he looks at the body.

The “body” is actually breathing – so “he” seems to be alive. A flash of light from a torch (it is dark and rainy) reveals it is Sequiter (Kal, of course, recognizes him – Rexton does not because he’s never met him).

Sequiter’s eyes flutter open.

Kal looks around for a way to get Sequiter down, before he becomes "NonSequiter".

“Well nice to see you hanging around sir,” quips Rexton as he gives the dangling man a once over after Kal gets him down.

Sequiter takes a look around him, and gathers is thoughts. Then checks out how he is bound.

"Sequiter," asks Kal, "how did this come to be? Who would have done this to you?"

Sequiter looks and it appears to be a very simple loop around his feet that has been tied very quickly and clumsily. It would be easy to get himself down if he wishes. (And no, Sequiter has no memory of how he got here). It doesn’t appear to be any type of “trap”, but rather someone lifted him up there quickly and slipped an existing noose around his feet to hold him upsidedown.

“See anything interesting while you were hanging there?” asks Rexton.

Sequiter unties the knots and rights himself (hanging right side up) “I'll take a look”

Sequiter notes that the rope is lower quality and likely near the end of it’s operational life; even having had frayed areas tied back together. It is tied to an upper walkway.

“How did you get up there sir?” looks inquisitively at Sequiter.

Kal looks around to see how Sequiter would have been tied up. Looking for any place the rope would be attached to looking for any sign of a scuffle or drag marks.

Sequiter gaves the corners of his cape to slow his descent to the ground, then looks around.

Kal and Sequiter both notice that there are scratches on the wall (like some critter with sharp claws climbed up). There are no clear signs of a struggle. They conclude that Sequiter was likely unconscious when he was put there.

Kal notices a clumsy shallow mark on Sequiter’s neck (someone was getting ready to cut his throat but got distracted).

Rexton wryly grins, saying “Looks like he almost lost his head over whatever he was into.”

As Sequiter is about to make a pithy comeback, he thinks, “What is that scurrying scuttering noise?”

“What is that noise?” Rexton asks, looking around trying to find the source of the skittering…“I hope I dont loose my head too.”

Rat creatures attack, but are quickly dispatched by our heroes. They leave one alive and question him about the attack. He responds that "Lady Death is coming".

Kal continues back to Malleon's Gate where he asks about the statues more. After doing some more looking around, Rexton leaves to go back to Coldflame Keep. Kal and Sequiter encounter Gasslak - a Medusa who is blindfolded and apparently uses the snakes on his(?) head to see.

He shows them the body of a young girl who'd been left there and asks them to track down the culprits lest unwanted attention and demihuman purges be focused on Malleon's Gate. They look at the body and notice that she had been beaten and strangled. She is dressed in nice clothes, like that of a clerk in a nice district and has an pendant of the "Church of the Silver Flame".

They take the body back to Coldflame Keep and examine it. There they notice an odd "birthmark" on her back. They continue examining the body but cannot determine anything else. Mazin says he will summon someone to examine her more closely.

That evening, they return to Indenture Hall. Gast shows them his "special merchandise" which turns out to be the group of missing children. They attempt to bargain and are able to become the main bidders, but are about to fight them when a Mind Flayer enters. He takes one of the children and leaves the rest to them and leaves. The trio grabs Gast and threatens to kill him unless his guards drop their weapons. One guard looks around and indicates that he really doesn't care - he was not interested in dealing with slaves and thinks that Gast should be taken away.

They take Gast to the local City Guard station where they are given a reward and Gast is taken into custody. Rexton says that there are others who are also responsible for the slave trade. The guards come back with two more employees of Indenture Hall and indicate that the head of the Hall has turned over everyone who is responsible.

The trio takes the children back to the Lantern Way Orphanage. And go to sleep for the night.

---

METAGAME: I run the first level of my D&D/Pathfinder games as a pilot and permit total character redefinition on level 2. The story follows the player, not the character so if there is a rename-the person has always had that name. The changes are as follows:

• Kal'Torak is changed from a "Duskblade" to a "Magus" - forthcoming Pathfinder class, still in "beta". He is much more intimidating. 
• Rexton is changed from a "Cleric" to an "Inquisitor" from the Pathfinder Advanced Players Handbook. He is less flippant and more direct. 
• Sequiter Cross has become Talyn Nichec. He is a "Manipulator" Wizard from the Pathfinder Advanced Players Handbook with a penchant for being charismatic and baking cookies.

---

EPISODE 3

The heroes proceed to the Cathedral to research the murdered girl. Rexton bursts in on a wedding wanting to talk to the high priestess. Flamebearer Fabitor pulls him aside and tries to help him with the information he is looking for. Fabitor doesn't remember the girl but indicates she is somewhat familiar. Rexton still wants to talk to the high priestess, Archheirophant Morr.

Kal runs to a nearby store and purchases a gem encrusted falcon as a wedding gift (from a human seller named Lorre) to try to make up for Rexton's bluntness. Talyn turns on the charm, apologizes and offers everyone cookies, indicating he was invited by "Bob and Carol". The wedding proceeds without incident.

After the wedding, Rexton asks Morr about the girl. Morr says she doesn't recall the girl but will ask her acolytes and give him an answer the next day. Talyn asks the bridesmaids about where he can "find a certain store employee who was helpful". He is directed to "Smithwicks".

Kal dances with Archheirophant Morr while Talyn is thanked by Bob for showing up.

Later that day, the trio goes to "Smithwicks". There they discover that the girls name was "Phon Quartermain"; that she and her friend, Annabell (another clerk) both attended the Cathedral; and that Phon had had a "boyfriend" who's description matched Fabitor. Talyn buys a very cool hat.

The trio returns to the Cathedral to follow Fabitor that evening. Fabitor leaves the church and they follow him (he apparently doesn't notice). He goes and has dinner at The Noble Wyvern in Lyrander Tower. The group observes him having a very expensive meal. Talyn casts an illusion of Phon (complete with bruises) to gauge a reaction. Fabitor is initially troubled and follows the image.

He encounters Rexton (pretending not to see the illusion) who questions him about Phon and indicates that there are witnesses placing the two of them together. Fabitor finally agrees to come down and look at the body.

That evening, Talyn goes back to the Cathedral to ask around. He speaks to a temple guard named Aliatis who says that Fabitor does occasionally speak to members of the congegration who seem to be less well off. He does indicate that Phon sounds familiar and he'd seen her with Fabitor. He also indicates that Fabitor does seems to have a great deal of wealth, but he doesn't know where it comes from and speculates that it could be due to family money.

The next day Fabitor comes down to Coldflame Keep to examine the body. He is troubled but claims to have no knowledge of the murder. Rexton thinks that he may be telling the truth. Fabitor also tells Rexton that Archhierophant Morr wants to speak with him about something, but he doesn't know about what.

The trio goes to Cathedral to speak with Archeirophant Morr. She tells them that acolytes have seen the two of them together and she presents evidence that he may be skimming money from the church coffers. She offers to let them search his quarters and his office. They also ask her about the mark on Phon's back. She suspects it may be some type of Dragonmark, but not like any she knows about and recommends they investigate at the library of Morgrave University.

In his quarters, they discover a bag of money and a small notebook containing, among other things, addresses. After searching his office, they find a note mailed to one of the addresses.

They proceed to the address, a nice apartment in the Mithral Towers district. There they find a bottle of perfume which Kal remembers is a scent he'd smelled when around Phon's body.

Sharn - The Cauldron - Episode 1

I've restarted my Dungeons and Dragons campaign set in Sharn. The characters are:

Kal'Torak - Risen Demon (e.g. Good Demon) Duskblade
Rexton Baxter - Human Cleric
Sequiter Cross - Swordsage


Our story resumes...

Kal Torak woke up in his crypt at night. He realized that he’d had a very limited memory of the past few days and had no memory of how he got home. He decided to Oldkeep and visit Sequiter.

As Kal progresses through Malleon’s Gate towards OldKeep, he notices statues. He inspects one and tries to move it. However, it is very heavy and he can’t move it. He goes into the hobgoblin bar. He orders an ale and asks about the statue. The bartender tells him about Gasslak (protects area because of no city guard except by the gates). Kal decides to continue on. As he gets toward border of the district he hears a “rattle” just as he leaves.

He finally arrives at Sequiter’s tenement brownstone. Sequiter does not seem to be home, so he leaves the following note

“Sequiter, came by to see you, you weren’t here. Please come by some time, Kal”

Kal continues to backtrack and he heads over to High Hope – Coldflame Keep. There, he is greeted by a young acolyte who invites him to wait until Mazin arrives as it is very early in the morning at this time (about 4 am).

Mazin finally arrives and is dismayed over the news. He believes that it is too late for the children. He asks Kal to followup on reports on slavery in the city as some of the children may be sold there. He introduces a visiting cleric named “Rexton” and suggests they team up. Mazin’s suggests that they start their investigation in the Bazaar in Dura.

When they arrive, they note that the City Guards are watching the customers, but don’t seem interested in stopping crimes as they observe a drug dealer (dreamily) operating and being ignored. Rexton looks for a Ranked City Watchman, but sees none.

Kal intimidates a drug dealer into going “Out of business” and gets information about where to go. Indenture Hall is located on “Song Way” and may have what they are looking for.

They head there and ask about acquiring a “servant” suggesting that they are looking for someone “young”.

Gast, the Half-Orc who runs the place, suggests they return that evening around midnight for “Special Merchandise”.

Odds and ends

It turns out I still have friends who obsessively play WoW. Furthermore, it seems that there are heavy changes to the game coming in the next expansion. So, I'm going to give it another spin while I wait for Champions to come out. It is possible, I may keep up two accounts, but I don't know. I guess we will see who is playing what.

Blasting through Champions has been quite fun, and I do enjoy it, but I think the first iteration may be a bit rocky for a few people. I guess we will see - and I hope it gets polished up enough to grab more people.

I HAVE AN OFFICE AGAIN! All of my D&D books are on shelves in my private sanctuary, the walls are painted, pictures are on the wall. There is still a little ways to go (adding white boards, painting touch up, and such), but I now have a "Fortress of Privacy" to relax and work in.

*Raises Blended Iced Mocha in Toast*

Cheers! Have a great week!

Farewell Dave Arneson

I hope he and Gary save a place at the table for me to roll up a character when my race is run.

The Empty Chair
Eulogy for a Gamer
By Jolly Blackburn

There is an empty chair,
at the table this day.
A hallowed place where,
a friend once played.
The roll of his dice,
my ears long to hear.
Or perhaps it would suffice,
if he should suddenly appear.
With character sheet in hand,
and a bag of Cheeze-doodles to share.
All his friends would stand,
as he sat in the empty chair.
I hear his voice a-callin’,
and it ties my heart in a knot.
For he cries, “Though a comrade has fallen,
You must play for those who cannot.”
We conquered worlds on the run,
he and I in the name of fun.
And as others may come and go,
I make both both friend and foe.
But what I long for most,
is our past now long a ghost.

Dave's not here, man. Farewell, Dave.

Aborting a campaign

Sadly, I prematurely terminated the Eberron Campaign I was running. I wasn't that happy about having to do it, but there were logistical problems that made me decide to not continue. I still have the campaign material (and boy do I have a LOT of it), but the group dynamic didn't work in the way I was hoping.

Now, some of the problems listed here involve observations on my group's dynamic (many of whom are readers). To those people, THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE CRITICISM - it's more an observation of how I try to run the group. I ask y'all to please not get upset about this - I'm not upset about it.

Problems encountered:

• Unpredictable attendees - We are a VERY laid back group. So, we ran into the problem of not always being able to have the people in the group there. This meant it was difficult to convey the story I wanted.
  
• HUGE group - I am not a great GM and trying to wrangle 8 players was too painful.
  
• Raucous group - I often found myself usually having to yell over the group and carefully manage the players to make sure that everyone got an action. If we played in the afternoon, it wouldn't be as much of a problem - but as many know - I tend to run out of steam after 9 pm, so I'd run out of energy too early.
• Too many details - Because of the large group, it meant that trying to tailor encouters proved far too difficult given the time I had to prepare.
  

The Saturday is a fun group - and rather random. The fun part of this for a GM is the fact that the party tends to GIVE you material. For example, we had a "vampire" in the group. Well, she had done a few things that were rather brutal - especially in a city based campaign. I suddenly had a WONDERFUL subplot where a member of the city guard noticed her activities and was out hunting the "Vampire" in town.

Gold, right? Yes indeed.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do about this beyond the fact I've stopped the campaign because I couldn't keep it going. I may look at creating something that is a tad more episodic that would better lend itself to the group, but I'm not sure what that'd be.

The sad part is, I LIKE the campaign I came up with. I was using a series of resources and combining them to create a rather rich setting: The Sharn Sourcebook (because it's a Sharn based campaign), Ptolus (to fill in the setting gaps), and The Shackled City (the mega-campaign I was using). I even found a few more sources to sprinkle in as I was going to gently transition from 3.5 to Pathfinder. However, I think I'd need to run this game in a smaller group until I got a better handle on things.

The great thing about Eberron/Sharn is that the setting was rich enough that I was able to pull a lot of different concepts from other campaign ideas I'd had to pull together. For example, a long while back, I'd tried to start a Traveller campaign. In this I'd added a large number of concepts to make it fit the story. I never was able to get that campaign going - but - I was able to pull a number of those concepts and fit it into my Sharn setting (great houses wielding power in a powerstruggle with each other, the group becoming involved in things just below the surface, strong criminal organizations). However, that time has just not come.

Now, of the things I COULD run - I think perhaps something more rules light would help and a campaign design that didn't require me to keep as much continuity in place.

Alternatively, I could make "my" night a "hey, lets play this boardgame" night. If I could get my hands on a copy of "Warhammer Quest", that'd really be cool.

Pathfinder update!

Pathfinder has released a beta web enhancement for prestige classes.

Political Post

I try to stay a-political, But

From McCain's Campaign Blog.

I can't really say I'm thrilled by that comment. I don't like being marginalized. It is EXACTLY this type of comment that makes me hide my real name when I post about games. I've been treated like garbage in a couple of jobs when it was revealed I was a gamer.

A couple of Eberron bits

For those in my Sharn Campaign, you might find these two articles specifically interesting.

The cleric that was rescued was a member of the Church of the Silver Flame:

• Part 1 of Wizard of the Coast's information about it.
• Part 2 of Information about the Church

You don't need to read it, but if you'd like more information, you might enjoy learning more about it.

Dungeons and Dragons Session - Hellenika Campaign - No Trans Fat !

Arion is by Callisto's bedside whispering to her. He turns to the group and asks for some time with her. The party leaves them alone (taking the horn). Upon leaving, the party hears a scuffling downstairs. The party heads down, to see the staff stopping a crowd of people trying to get by.

Tesla asks what they want, and the members of the crowd cries out that they are cursed and want the party to help each of them. The party attempts to calm them but fails. A voice from the door calls for them to calm down. It is the high priest of Apollo. This calms the crowd. He advises the crowd that this is the work of the gods and they should look to the gods for help. The crowd disperses.

The staff parts to let him through. He asks to speak to the party. The group heads to Arion's office. They introduce themselves (Tesla using his elven name, "Teslanthasa", as opposed to the name he is known by and pulling his hat down). The priest speculates that a member of the staff had started spreading the news that Arion's curse had been lifted.

He wants to know what the party is doing here. Gal reveals that the party is here to prevent a portal to the realm of the dead opening. The priest points out that being here would be problematic due to the party's fame and status as fugitives. He points out that due to magic and time travel. Kerin points out that he obviously knows more than he is letting on. The priest reminds her that Apollo is the god of Knowledge and Prophecy. The party points out that they have no other plans though Tesla says that he probably has an inkling as to what else they may do.

The priest, Kierkos, points out that he'd sent Stephanos to the party to assist them. He also points out that the party is in possession of a music box. He asks that while the party closes the portals, that they attempt to solve "The Riddle of the Music Box" as Aktitos plays a roll in what is happening and somehow the box is connected. The party tells him that Aktitos is dead. While melancholy, the priest indicates that it IS possible for Aktitos to return. Because Aktitos was "favored of Apollo", and that Apollo came to personally claim his body, the priest believes that Aktitos isn't in the land of the dead, but is instead, in a land far to the north, that there is a hidden valley in the mountains where Apollo stays when not driving his chariot across the sky. It is said that in this land, Apollo keeps all of his favourites who have passed on and so it is possible that Aktitos is there and possibly retrievable.

Somehow the box is connected, and Gal observes that they could travel north to retrieve Aktitos. The high priest suggests that he speak with Arion to assist the party in being low profile. He thanks the party for helping Arion and says he will do what he can though he cannot admit to knowledge of what the party is doing and cannot be seen helping the party. He recommends keeping distance from the temples of Zeus, Hera, Poseiden, Aries, and Demeter. Hermes is a "wild card" in this scheme. He points out there are factions in the remaining temples that aren't safe.

He goes on to reveal that it is likely that Gal's deity is 'Kybele', and is one of the banished gods. While he does not know the ultimate will of Apollo, he has been instructed to aid the banished gods especially in stopping the plans of the darker gods. He also points out that Tesla's outfit is very dated and bad.

The party decides to hide until dark, so they can quietly return to their inn. The priest excuses himself. Tesla gets a book on magic and sits down to read and wait for lunch. Lunch arrives. Tesla describes Stephanos to Gal who shapeshifts into a nondescript human male form. Tesla hands her his hat which she puts into a bag. (S)He heads out.

Gal notices a lot of people milling about the inn. However, Gal heads to the Bazaar with little difficulty. She puts on Tesla's hat. A person does meet Gal. The person is suspicious of Gal, and Gal ineptly attempts to convince him. fortunately for Gal, this person is as inept as Gal. (Sadly there is no way that I, the blogger, can describe the interchange between the GM and the person who plays Gal and do it justice).

They head back to the Golden Sunbeam, with Gal in the form of a beautiful woman. She provides cover for him to head to the rooms. She makes sure he is OK, and then heads back to the Brilliant Bard. A staff stops her from continuing to the office. She changes back into her normal form, allowing her to pass.

Tesla attempts to complement Gal, who thinks he is chiding her. Arion comes in, and he is much better and more ably. Callisto apparently does not recall anything from the past decade of being cursed. He says he is going to perform this evening and will perform an enchantment that will wipe the party from other people's memories. Its not permanent, but should last a couple weeks.

He tells the party that the Aries worshiper has apparently returned from a stroll with his "uncle", though no one recalls the uncle leaving. Arion points out that the suite next to the room is empty and will remain so to deal with the problem. The party casts detect magic to determine if the horn still has an enchantment on it. Tesla notices enchantment, but they don't know if that is still the same compulsion.

Arion creates a diversion by announcing his concert this evening to celebrate the lifting of his curse (free performance, free drinks). The party leaves and returns to the Golden Sunbeam and meets Stephanos. Tesla tells him that they will help, but he must help them with the portal. He is aware of a "Sideways hole to nowhere" as part of the prophecy he was given. He knows that he was to be instrumental in the battle by fighting "the undefeatable foe".

Iridinae tests Stephanos with swords. He is "moderately good", but not great. He tells the party that over the past few months, a number of his friends and family have died. Many were people who'd been contracted to educate the royal children. Kerin speculates that it has something to do with "The Queen's Daughter" (from a while back).

The party explains to Stephanos about Garm's attempt to overthrow the gods. Stephanos gets worried as this talk is heretical. The party convinces him that they're on the right side and have worked with Keirkos. He recognizes Iridinae and asks about her. She says that she was instructed by her temple to work with the party.

Gal asks about the prophecy. He says that he was to find the rogue who does not hide, hire him to do the unthinkable in reverse. He would reveal to him the sideways hole to nowhere where he'd fight the unbeatable foe and that would lead him to the answers he seeks. Tesla and Iridinae realize that the "unthinkable" is the heretical thoughts of Garm overthrowing the gods. After all, heresy, by definition, is unthinkable. In reverse would mean maintaining the "status quo" (A phrase used repeated in Timeos'/Boxo's journal).

Stephanos officially hires the party to prevent the overthrow of the gods.

Session ends.

*The decision has been made to temporarily put the campaign on summer hiatus.*

Dungeons and Dragons Session - Eberron Campaign - A story begins

On Saturday night, the Eberron Campaign started...

The cast of characters (in order of the sheets next to me):

• Tosca Zarchadis - Changling Rogue
• Kal'tozak - Fallen Demon Duskblade
• Sequester Cross - Humanoid Swordsage
• Liver Mist - Quickling Jester
• Dominicus - Illonis Cleric
• Agotha Broska - Vampiric Elven Warlock
• Chava Arvid of Clan Roza at Stormhold Eyrie - Niomus Spellsinger

(Changling is in the Eberron Campaign Setting; Fallen Demon, Illonis, Niomus are listed in The Fantasy Flight Games Supplement Mythic Races; Quickling is in Arcana Evolved; Duskblade is in Player's Handbook II; Warlock is in Complete Arcane; Spellsinger is in Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Handbook; Jester is from the Dragon Compendium; Swordsage is from the Book of Nine Swords - level adjustments have been taken into account)

It is two years after the end of The Last War that ravaged across the continent of Khorvaire. In country of Breland is the city of Sharn, the City of Towers. This thriving, cosmopolitan metropolis is the largest on Khorvaire and looms atop an inhospitable outcropping of rock near the mouth of the Dagger River. It is here that our story begins.

The story opens on a late summer evening in Sharn. Drizzle was falling from a dark, grey sky.

Deep below the city, in the area of Sharn known as "the Fallen", Agotha awoke. The hunger gnawed at her, she knew she must feed soon. Her eyes fell upon Liver, who shared her lair. He was a small being but she had little choice and asked for him to submit to her, so that she may feed. She took just enough blood to satiate her hunger, but not enough to kill. They proceeded to The Bazaar in Middle Dura.

In the Dragon Crypts, a lone figure walked toward a small mausoleum. Dominicus was an Illonis, a blind being from a long forgotten plane of existance. He resided in the necropolis as a last resort. Pushing the the door to the mausoleam open revealed a demonic being sitting in the darkness, Kal'toras. He was also an outcast from society, as his demonic visage alienated all those who saw him. Despite the rain, Dominicus desired company and they chose to walk to the lower class necropolis known as Halden's Tomb.

Meanwhile, Tosca walked through the Bazaar in Middle Dura, hoping to find work. She was greeted by Chava who'd just finished her last errand for the evening. They began to talk as they heard a cry from a nearby alley followed by sounds of a scuffle. The two ran to discover a man being beaten up by a couple of thugs. They easily intimidated the two toughs who fled, with a threat of "Stay away from the orphanage."

They helped the cleric up and made sure he was OK. At this time, Agotha and Liver were walking through the Bazaar when Agotha caught the scent of the clerics blood, piquing her curiousity. They find Chava and Tosca (Chava and Agotha have met previously). The quartet offer to escort the cleric back to his temple (The Church of the Silver Flame) in Upper Dura. Agotha first pauses to get food for Liver (as he was still weak from being fed upon). She found a street food salesman who she attempted to intimidate. Chava simply paid for the food.

Back in the Necropolis, Dominicus and Kal'toras encounter Kal'toras's friend Sequiter. They continue to Halden's tomb. Dominicus sings a haunting song of battle which attracts the attention of two ghoulish beings. They were skinless bodies with grey, wet musculature. While the party made quick work of the two, the battle attracted two largers ones, who they barely defeated.

In the Bazaar, Tosca asks the Cleric why he was attacked. The cleric informs them that the Lantern Way Orphanage had recently had four children kidnapped. His church had sent him to perform a preliminary investigation. It was on the way back that the two thugs attacked him. He had yet to uncover any information, as the doors of the rooms the children were in had been locked for the night.

Session ends.

Sharn Primer

For those readers who will be participating in my D&D Campaign, I recommend keeping up with my blog for info.

First, note that anything to do with my campaign will have the "Eberron" metatag. By Clicking on the metatag, you will be able to view all posts that deal with this campaign.

Secondly, as previously noted, this is a city based campaign located in Sharn: The City of Towers in the realm of Eberron. While I don't require any players know anything about Sharn, I would like to offer these links to provide deeper information if you'd like a primer.

• Welcome to Sharn!
  
• Wizard's of the Coast Sharn Excerpts - There is a great deal of City info here
• Wikipedia's Eberron Article - general world info here
• WotC Eberron Archive
  

From a GM perspective, I'm using Ten Foot Wiki to manage campaign info.

Also, I ask my players to do two things in combat:

1. Know what you are going to do when I call on you
2. If necessary, have the rule/spell out and ready for me to look at

3.5 House Rules

In prepping to run my 3.5 campaign I am assembling some house rules. I figured I'd log a few of them here along with the reasons why.

Bull Strength, Cat's Grace, Bear's Endurance, Fox's Cunning, Owl's Wisdom, and Eagle's Splendor - the duration of these is 10 minutes/level, not 1 minute/level. I did this because I do not like 1 minute/level spells. They encourage rushing through encounters rather than balancing the buff/duration. I'm not a great fan of 1 min/level spells. Monte Cook talks about the issue here.

I'm a big fan of Monte Cook. I think he has a knack for balancing and figuring how what is "cool".

I'm using the 3.0 version of Polymorph. Read the 3.5 version of Polymorph self, then look at Alter Self. Its a rather pathetic spell. Also, 3.5's baleful polymorph - GONE.

Weapon sizing works like it does in 3.0. A dagger for a "medium-sized" creature is a "short-sword" for a small creature. 3.5 differentiates the two. That always rubbed me the wrong way, especially since J.R.R. Tolkein set the precidence that the interchange was OK. Remember Bilbo/Frodo's short sword, Sting? It was actually WAS a dagger that got passed along.

Action Points: Eberron uses Action Points. If you look at the d20 SRD, you will see how that works. Well, I'm expanding that a little bit. You can be awarded Action Points for doing something Cool, Heroic, and especially Herioc at a Dramatically Appropriate time (if you remember WEG Star Wars, you will understand this concept comes from Force Points).

Damage Reduction: Monte Cook puts it best.

Now, many readers I'm sure are saying "Wow! 10 people!" Well, I again turn to Monte Cook for information: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

I'll post more on this later.