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CLOSE LOOK AT NPCs: Tinve Aleeza'baen

Tinve Aleeza'baen.

Drow female.

b.2448 – d.2501

Tinve Aleeza'baen was born the youngest daughter of a minor house in a minor drow city. At the very bottom the pecking order, House Aleeza'baen was reduced to constant infighting with other small houses and putting together raids on the people of the Pagan Plains above. Most of her siblings were placed into the clergy or trained as warriors, but Tinve showed an early aptitude for assassination. Bloodthirsty and stealthy, Tinve's skill at murder allowed house Aleeza'baen to climb the complex hierarchy of drow society. However, it wasn't long before the upstart house stepped on the wrong toes. After the successful assassination of venerable drow matriarch, House Aleeza'baen was challenged and charged with murder beyond its bounds, a serious crime among the black elves. To appease the aggrieved house, the Matron Mother Valeni Aleeza'baen offered up Tinve as a sacrifice to Lloth. Furious at being hung out to dry like this, Tinve escaped her fate by plunging her dagger into her mother's back, and fighting her way out of the drow city.

Alone in the underdark and exiled from her home, Tinve was surely doomed to die, as so many drow renegades before her. However, her aptitude for survival beat the odds, and she slowly crept her way to the surface. But it turned out at the surface was just as hostile to a drow as the wilds of the Underdark. Following numerous attempts on her life by suspicious and nervous surface-folk, Tinve decided to travel to Khare, the home of all of Allansia's renegades and outlaws.

Khare suited Tinve just fine. Her skills were highly prized, and she soon found plenty of wet work to do in the city. The bloody path she cut across the streets of Khare was soon noticed by one of the city's crime-lords: the Evaressemmeem mage known as Forkiz Geung. It wasn't long before Tinve became his personal assassin, and with Tinve as his weapon Forkiz and his House of Pale Lanterns soon became one of the premier gangs, outstripping the violent Hanged Men, and even cowing the mysterious and powerful House of Jakob.

It was in service to Forkiz Geung where Tinve met Germane del Sesuro, a minor sneak-thief from Tethyr. They worked together on jobs, drank and fought together in taverns, and in time became lovers. Their union however was not liked within the House. Nelson, the half-orc doyen feared their collaboration, and began to distance them from Forkiz. Angered at this, Tinve and Germane planned to leave Khare, and take a sizable amount of Forkiz's gold with them. Their pockets full, they fled by night to Arventine, but were dogged by Pale Lantern men at every turn. It soon became apparent that there was only one way to get out of this: return the gold to Forkiz and bargain for their exile. Surprisingly, the usually cruel crime-lord agreed, but on the condition Tinve do one last job.

Tinve agreed, and Germane decided to go into hiding until the deal was secure. He took a boat to Port Gong, a remote pirate isle off the coast of Evaressemme, and Tinve remained to complete her last task. She was to find an elf named Orrind who had stolen from Forkiz, and bring him back to Khare. Easy, she thought. Suspiciously easy. The job went without a hitch until Tinve ran into Orrind's friends, the group who would be later known to most as the Heroes of Arventine. Fearing a double cross by Forkiz, she offered them a chance to kill Forkiz should they wish to pursue her to Arventine (Tinve had no fear they would disrupt her task here). Good to have that in the back pocket. Her fears were right. Upon returning Orrind to Forkiz, it became known to her soon after that Germane has been killed by hired mercenaries backed by Pale Lantern coin. Fearing assassination herself, she withdrew into the shadows of Khare, vowing not to leave the city until Forkiz lay dead. It was mere weeks before the chance arose.

News came that the Heroes of Arventine had arrived in Khare, so Tinve made her move. With a small band of hired blades, she crept into the city sewers, and waited. Soon the Heroes arrived, their own task of rescuing Orrind on their minds. She followed the path of destruction they left, and found the heroes facing off against Nelson and Forkiz. It was Christoph, a paladin of Melora who was quite a pleasant distraction to Tinve, who left her alone with the crime-lord.

Vengeance sated, Tinve left the House of Pale Lanterns only to see the streets of Khare awash with horror. It was known as the Eclipse of Khare, demons pouring into the city underneath a blood-red conjunction of moon and sun. The only thing on her mind was survival, so she made for the edge of town. Her path crossed with the Heroes of Arventine one last time, aiding them against a war troll. A debt paid. However, the mass of demons made escaping hard. Cornered by barlgura, she thought her time was up. At the last minute, she opened her eyes and saw not the maw of an abyssal horror, but a troupe of warriors dressed in black. Come with us, they ordered, and led Tinve out of the city. Little did Tinve know these were the Red Men of Mampang, the soldiers of the Black Mage.

There were others rescued from Khare by the Red Men. One of which was Dogbone, an ranger in the employ of the Harpers. It was only he and Tinve who agreed to become Red Men as the price of rescue. The rest were butchered. Tinve and Dogbone were stripped of their belongings, tied up and slung over horses. It seemed like an age travelling like this over mountain and plain, but in time they found themselves amidst the old trees that make up the Direwoods. Why here? They both asked. They had no answer except being forced onto slabs of stone. The leader of the Red Men, a tall thin man with black hair, steadily carved the tripod sigil of Mampang upon their flesh. What happened next is known to only a few, but soon Dogbone and Tinve were looking at ragged scars in their chests, and their hearts beating in the man's hands.

Not knowing what had happened or why, the two of them managed to steal away one night, a feat not easy even for Tinve. Shocked, confused and horrified by what had happened to them, they sought out clerics and mages to aid them. In the months that followed they learned many foul secrets of the Red Men that cannot be repeated here. One diviner took Tinve's custom repeating crossbow in payment for locating her heart. A few more seers, a handful more mages, and Tinve had access to the Unspeakable Merchantry, the planar auction house that had come into possession of her heart. With Dogbone in tow (he had fallen in love with Tinve at this point, a love that was definitely unrequited), Tinve trod the planes in search of her missing heart.

Nothing is ever easy. The Unspeakable Merchantry was closing for the astral season, and there was only one ticket left in the strange city of Linger that surrounded the auction house. Falling back on old habits, Tinve stabbed and hacked her way into the possession of the last ticket. Only one obstacle remained – Captain Dwendae, the cunning and dangerous astral pirate. Knowing Dwendae would ambush her as soon as she tried to enter the auction house, Tinve remained hidden and waited for an opportunity. This came in the strangest of coincidences.

The Heroes of Arventine, who Tinve thought had died in the Eclipse, turned up looking to buy a skiff for their own ends. Despite being fond of Balthazar, Fu, Eored and Sarah, Tinve's survival instincts took over. She manipulated them into killing Dwendae, and attempted to make for the auction house. However, she underestimated the Heroes efficiency, and they caught her skulking through the streets of Linger. Both sides knew what would happen next: One of them would have to die to use the last ticket. Throwing herself at the Heroes, thinking victory easy, she was easily beaten down. Desperately looking for a method to stay alive, she began to draw out an agreement with Balthazar. Her life possibly safe, she started to relax. However, Eored the elf had little time for her slippery ways. Tinve fell to the ground for the last time, Eored's arrow embedded in her forehead.

So passed Tinve Aleeza'baen, bounty hunter of Khare.

Legends of the Desert - The Father of Worms

On The Father of Worms

Ephrain of the Tomes, Salamonis 2256 AC

Olghoi-Kohorkhoi comes. Melora sends Him up from beneath Her dunes. The earth trembles in anticipation of His passing. The sands and the air become one, marking His coming. The Father of Worms comes. The devourer of armies, the shaker of walls, the doom of the works of men comes. He will eat you.

From The Songs of Hebet, an oral tradition amongst the desert peoples.

One of the most persistent legends of the desert is that of Olghoi-Kohorkhoi, the Father of Worms. He is said to have been created by Melora during the Dawn War as a response to the demonic Nephilim. Descriptions of him vary across different accounts, but all agree that he is an enormous worm with a chitinous shell and a circular maw filled with teeth longer than a man.

According the the stories of the desert peoples, Olghoi-Kohorkhoi sleeps beneath the sands, occasionally awakening when men become to arrogant, too assuming in their domination of nature. He is a counterpoint to them, devouring armies and smashing cities when civilizations try to tame Melora's wild desert. Some stories suggest that the Meloran priesthood has the ability to summon him to fight on their behalf in times of need.

I cannot say if the Father of Worms is real, or merely a myth. There, however many accounts across the ages, some from reliable sources, that describe him as if he is real. At the least, should you encounter a two-hundred foot long worm with a maw the size of a house whilst travelling the Desert of Skulls, you will know what to call it.

A Brief History of Carsepolis

Ephrain of the Tomes, Salamonis, 2448 AC

It is not clear precisely when the port city of Carsepolis was founded, but evidence suggests that there has been at least a settlement on the same site since prior to the fall of Arkhosia. A surviving fragment of the reports made by Arkhosian explorer Ahzad the Frequently Lost describe a small fishing town in a natural harbor on the desert coast that tallys with present-day Carsepolis.

“Some eighty flightes out of Arventus we came acrosse a small towne of men. The called themselves the Carseps and said that this was their home. It is a fine place indeed for a citye, with deepe waters surrounded by high cliffes to the north and south and shallowe beaches to the west. There is a high peninsula in the centre of the bay, connected to the shore by a small spit of lande. On the highest point of this they have built a temple, grande to them but of course smalle and crude by our standards, to the God of this place who is named by them Maradurk.

They are a rich people for the area. They have many metal swords and a number of fine boats which they use to fish and to hunt for the whale. Freshe waters flowing from the hills to the north, which they take as a blessing from Maradurk, allowe them to growe crops. They have cattle numbering fifty and an equal number of camels and sheepe.

They warned us not sail too far south, for if we did we could come to the broken landes of the Illiacs, which they say are haunted by the ape and the wraithe.”

An Arkhosian 'flight' is a measure approximate to the distance that a dragon could fly in a day (for a comprehensive, if rather dull, discussion see The Measure of a Dragonman: Weights, Volumes and Lengths in Ancient Arkhosia by Vallenger the Blue and Gray). If we take take Arventus to refer to what is now Arventine then this squarely places the settlement described by Ahzad in the location of Carsepolis. The description of the bay matches Carsepolis well. It is likely the fresh waters described refer to streams flowing from the vast freshwater lake underneath the high lands north of the city. It is of interest to note the similarity between the name of the City-God of the Carseps, Maradurk, and the ceremonial name Marduk that is taken by the Tyrant of the present-day city upon ascension to the throne. It seems reasonable to suggest that the latter is a corruption of the former, although it does not appear that the modern inhabitants of the city realise the origins of this name.

The rise of the city as a trading power came after the fall of Nerath, with the resulting vacuum creating many opportunities for the canny merchant. The first records of trade with the Empire of Everessemme are from some three-hundred years ago and this seems to be the point at which the city became rich and the merchant classes began to gain power. This money also allowed to the city to construct a powerful navy and impose some form of control on the pirate infested Illiac Archipelago, further filling their coffers as trade began to flood in from Heliopoli.

The rise of the city was not uncontested. It's enforced pacification of the land trading routes angered many of the desert-dwellers and Arventine was most displeased at the emergence of a potential competitor. All of this came to a head in 2279 AC when Lotar of the Red Sands, a powerful invoker of Melora, managed to unite many of the desert tribes in a war against Carsepolis. The city folk were shocked by the size of his army and the speed at which it came out of the desert. Caught unprepared and with only crude fortifications to defend them, the bulk of the Carsepolite army was routed and soon most of the city was in flames, with only the Old Gates district, protecting the approach to the central penninsula standing. An earlier treaty with Arventine promised military aid in the event of an invasion, but relief never game. Arventine had decided to let its rival burn. Some even suggested that Lotar himself was an Arventinian stooge. The siege persisted for months – Lotar's army was unable to take the bridges to the Old City and although the Carsepolite army was unable to retake the city, their fleet ensured that the citizenry remained fed. Still, the morale of the Carsepolites was not steady – more soldiers flocked to Lotar's army with each passing month and it was clear that they could not hold out forever. The siege was finally ended in its ninth month in a desperate act by Massinissa, an Avenger of Erathis. In the dead of night Massinissa snuck ashore in a small boat and crept through the enemy lines to Lotar's tent, where he slew him in single combat, albeit at the cost of his own life.

With Lotar dead, his army crumbled. Most soldiers who not slain by the resurgent Carsepolites simply melted back into the desert. If the invasion had been planned by Arvenine, or if their denial of relief was simply a callous act of opportunity will never be known, but Arventine's desire to curtail Carsepolis was not fulfilled. Although much of the city was in ruins, its navy, both merchant and military remained intact. With the desert tribes now utterly broken the city's dominance of the land trading routes was completely uncontested. Trade began to flood in again and the city was rebuilt quickly, complete with high walls to thwart any future invaders. None have threatened it since.

ALLANSIA LORE: Legend of the Usurpers

LEGEND OF THE USURPERS

CREATION MYTH OF THE PYROMANCERS OF HELIOPOLAI

This creation myth is pieced together from the rather secretive religious practices of the many pyromancy sects of Heliopolai. It seems to be rather negative towards the gods, but this is explained by the usual hostility shown to divine matters by wizards and sorcerors. The legitimacy of this 'eternal flame' is questionable, but it can't be denied that the fire magicks of Heliopolai are a wonder to behold.

-Vallanger the Blue and Grey, Scholar of Salamonis.

Published the History Dept., Salamonis 2469 AC

In the beginning there was just flux and matter. Fire weaved with water, air blew through stone. There were creatures in this time, elementals which danced and played within the flux. However, there was one flame, one fire thaty burnt too hot and for too long, and became aware of itself. Within this eternal flame was birthed the very substance of permanence: time, entropy and thought. Some creatures came to the fire, small beings of no consequence within the great flux. They reached into it, and burnt themselves in its crucible. They emerged anew, aware of the permanence that only the fire knew. 

 

With such power, they called themselves gods and set about their great work. They forged seas, plains and mountains, permanent things and set them on an orb apart from the flux. They grew trees, creatures, set peoples of all creeds and types upon it. They ruled it as kings.

In time they grew greedy. They wanted more material for more creations, and waged war against the flux, which in turn raised powerful beings of its own. So began the First War, or as northerners say, the Dawn War. One god known as Um to Heliopolitans, Tharizdum to the North, Manimac to old elves and Glythagul to those of the Underdark, ventured to the edge of the flux, where dark things live, and stole a piece of their power. Attempting to make the gods stronger, Um flung the darkness into the eternal flame. But it was hubris, and the darkness consumed the eternal flame. The poison flowed from the flame into the flux, and created the Abyss. The joyful elementals began the horrific demons, and the Dawn War began anew. 

 

Worlds and planes alike were ravaged, but the gods in the end where victorious, as the creatures of flux had no place within the permanence, and were banished. The gods dwelled in their world at peace. But the jealous minds of the gods soon turned on themselves, and they went to war with each other. The creatures of world, who had undertaken much sorrow on behalf of the gods, communed with deeper spirits that dwelled within rock and sea, and cast the gods into exile. 

 

But let it be known that fragments of the eternal flame still exist in the flux, despite the stupidity of the gods. It is the role of all Pyromancers to search and harness the power of this flame, to ignite it anew. The usurper gods be damned, all honour to the eternal flame.

ALLANSIA LORE: The Monomyth

  THE MONOMYTH

Note: This myth is one of the most enduring creation myths in Allansian history. It was pieced together from fragments found in Arkhosian ruins, and in turn it is believed this information was transcribed from oral traditions dating back to as yet unknown cultures. It is however one of several hundred creation myths recorded by this prestigous department.
It is also worth noting that in some of the more gnostic wizard towers of Xistomagistos there can be found shrines to "E'ell" and "Vanmut", which could well be remnants of an ancient form of creator worship.

-Vallanger the Blue and Grey, Scholar of Salamonis.

Published by the History Dept., Salamonis 2467 AC.

In the beginning there was the void, and within the void were two prime spirits; El and Vanu, each with distinct powers that began to grow within the infinite nothing of void. El would dance across the void, her divine imagination weaving shapes and matter that grew, collapsed and changed form. She was the mother of chaos, of change and mutability. She invented fire, cold and the very elemental substance of things. Vanu instead would brood and think on her own mind, dreaming up concepts and shaping the very core of thought. She was the mother of permanence, of progress and order. At first, the creations of El and Vanu did not meet, as the Void was a vast place. However, as El and Vanu's work continued, they began to meet and mingle. In one great moment, the matter of El and the thought of Vanu collided, and created worlds and permanent substance. Notions of time and linearity melted together with shifting forms, and created the passage of time, history and causality.

In this clash of power, the Prime Material Plane was created, and the many worlds that make it up, all characterised by both elemental matter, and linear time and causal laws. In this violent act, El and Vanu were destroyed. El was shattered into hundreds of entities, each as chaotic and furious as their mother. These powerful beings were too be known as the Primordial Gods, creatures of pure chaos and change. Vanu's myriad ideas all split away from each other, becoming individual personalities in themselves. These entities would be known as the Supernal Gods.

As the Primordials lashed in out in fury at what they considered to be the alien bondage of time, the supernals despised their directionless creativity and lack of rational intelligence. For an age both sides lived in tense peace, each nullifying the creative endeavours of the other. There was one Supernal who became frustrated by this, and his name is now lost. This God travelled to the edge of the void, far beyond the universe of El and Vanu, and reached into the what is known as the Far Realm, a space beyond spaces that troubled not any of creation is this age. With a fragment of this alien terror, he returned and plunged it deep into the Elemental Chaos, hoping to poison and destroy it. The plan did not work, and as a result of his folly, the God created the Abyss, and brought evil into the elementals. For his crimes he was cast into the Abyss and would be known forever as the Chained God. Primordials quickly succombed, and became what is known as the Demons. Some still live now; Demogorgon, Orcus, Lloth and the myriad Nephilim of legend amoung their number.

With evil thought in the minds of the Primordials, a war broke out, a cataclysmic conflict that is known as the Dawn War. Both Primordials and Supernals were slaughtered in vast numbers, but eventually the Supernals triumphed and cast the Primordials into bondage within the Elemental Chaos. The Supernal Gods now ruled uncontested over the Prime Material Plane, and shaped it in their image. The mirror planes of the Shadowfel and the Feywild were created to fuel their creation. Elves, Humans, giants and other creatures of the world were made, and governed. The Supernal Gods ruled over them as great lords. This began what is known as the Mythic Age.

But the varied personalities of Vanu would not hold in peace. The Supernals went to war with each other. Corellon fought Gruumsh, blood was spilt in gallons between Kord and Bane, and Asmodeus turned on his master in a dark lust for power. However, a new power had grown amidst the Dawn War. The Prime Material Plane itself, watching the conflict between Primordial and Supernal for millenia, had grown a mind of its own. This consciousness would be known as the Primal Spirits. Angered by the violence the Gods brought upon the world, it cast them from its surface, exiling the Gods to the Astral Sea – the vast ocean made from the disparate body of Vanu. Forever more, the Supernal Gods could only watch and influence the Prime by proxy. The races of world gained free will, choosing their patrons from not just the Supernals who made them, but from the Elemental Chaos, the Far Realm and even the Abyss. Thus ended the Mythic Age, and began the many different ages of the Mortal Epoch.

ALLANSIA LORE: The Founding of Gallantria

THE ORIGINS OF Gallantria lie in the final days of the Empire of Nerath. During that time, in the year of 1983 A.C., Nerath was ruled by the young Julianos IV, a vain and foolish man, infamous for the volatile blend of his short temper and limited intelligence. Against the advise of his lords, he began a campaign of rapid expansion, pushing the empire deep into Turmish. So began a summer of defeat. With the Nerathi forces spread thin and unfit for the heat of the south, the Turmishmen massacred whole armies, but Emperor Julianos in his arrogance pushed on the attack. With the coffers drained back home in the heartlands of the empire, and many provinces rebelling with little resistance, the lords of Nerath grew impatient of the Emperor's folly. While most were content to grumble in their estates, there was one lord who decided to take action. Lord Farengar Gaunt, a great fighter and close friend to Julianos' father, marched on the capital. He amassed his most loyal knights, among which were four of his fellow conspirators: Morgana Huntsilver, Rhen Tavinter, Tristen Lachance and Castegen Lhal. With little resistance they pushed their way into the throneroom of Crownkeep, the ancient high seat of Nerathi royalty, where they encountered eight members of the royal family gathered aroud the throne.

It is unknown who fired the bolt into the infant prince's forehead, but ballads claim it was either Tristen Lachance or Morgana Huntsilver who pierced the lad to the back of the great throne. With that act of bloodshed all the hells broke loose, and before long all eight members of the royal house lay massacred on the stone floors, and Farengar Gaunt took his seat as the new ruler of Nerath. In the following days they built up an army to prepare for the coming civil war, but it was not to be. News soon came to the keep that Emperor Julianos had been killed by Turmish outriders, and province by province of the Nerathi empire began to fell. Farengar used his new army to hold back a myriad of invaders from the heartlands in a nine year war that came to be known as the War of the Bloodied King. With the empire collapsed into ruin, Farengar consolidated his power by giving each of his friends a corner of the heartlands each, naming them Dukes. With the very crown of Nerath liberated from the Crownkeep throneroom, he named himself king, officially announcing the destruction of Nerath and the birth of a new kingdom within the borders of the heartlands: a kingdom he named Gallantria.

For fourteen more years King Farengar ruled, until succombing to sickness in his seventy-third year of life. His son Orthan was crowned soon after, known by history as Orthan the Builder, due to his great work constructing the city of Royal Lendle around Crownkeep. He also raised much gold and funded the building of magnificant cities for his Dukes, and Brugge, Hustings, Suzail and Gilleon were built. He also built the watchtowers of Arn Ferrig and Mac Tyr to protect the borders. His last work, well into his halycon days, was the huge castle of Nilfheim in the northeast of the kingdom.

Nilfheim was a castle to match Crownkeep itself in grandeur. Orthan's son, King Parsifal, garrisoned many troops there in order to extend Gallantria deep into the Pagan Plains. But Parsifal was doomed to follow Emperor Julianos in his folly. The Gallantrian army met a huge orc force in the Dawnforge mountains, and was routed back to Nilfheim itself. Within a week of hard siege, the orcish horde has taken the castle. To this day no Gallantrian force has ever taken back Nilfhiem, and over the decades many fell powers have made it their lair. The castle now is a deadly dungeon, a grim reminder of the horrors that lie just over the Gallantrian border.

ALLANSIA LORE: The Triad Religion of the Ash-Tieflings

While most Tieflings found their homes in the cities of the Fallen Stars or in the transient cities in the southern deserts of Evaressemme after the great cataclysm that brought down the mighty empire of Bel Terath, there are some who remained loyal to their dead empire, and made their home in the wastelands of Kakhabad. Existing in small tribes deep within the deathly landscape, they call themselves 'Ash-Tieflings', and are arguably considered to be the toughest people in all of Allansia. 

Kakhabad is notorious in modern day Allansia not for its disastrous history, but for its extreme hostility. Once a traveler passes beyond the eastern gate of Khare (now a ruined city infested with demons since the infamous 'Eclipse') he must traverse hundreds of miles of ash covered flat-lands, even before he encounters the haunted valleys of inner Kakhabad, or the volcanic horrors of the Ximon mountains. All a traveler will encounter will be vile and ancient monsters, foul undead and devilish remnants of the Cataclysm. However, he may be lucky enough (or unlucky) to encounter a tribe of Ash-Tieflings. If not shot with a well aimed hunter's arrow, or skewered on the end of a tribesman's spear, a traveler will be able to explore the leather tents and ashbricked huts of the numerous tribes of Kakhabad.

The tribes vary in size and hostility, but all are united under two common beliefs. The first is a rabid (and slightly odd for scattered, anarchic tribesmen) patriotism for the lost empire of Bel Terath. They all believe themselves to be the children of the greatest civilisation that Allansia has known, and one day it will emerge anew from the blasted landscapes of Kakhabad. The second belief is their religion. Shying away from the loose pantheon-ism of the rest of Allansia, the Ash-Tieflings have their own cosmology that revolves around the harsh conditions of Kakhabad itself. 

The religion itself is known as the House of the Ash Triad, and rejects the legitimacy of all gods apart from three, albeit a heretical and twisted versions. At the foot of the Ash Triad are the 'godwives', or the 'two mothers of the grey land'. These gods are Sehanine and Melora. Sehanine is known as the 'wife of the night', and held in high regard, as the sun is seldom seen in Kakhabad, and its twisted vegetation is nourished only by moonlight. It is under Sehanine that the Ash-Tieflings commit their schemes and murders, praying to her to bring down vengeance and bloody death upon their rival tribes. Melora is known as 'she that stalks the wastes', and represents the inherent danger of the Kakhabadi wilderness. She is prayed to by huntsmen, and petitioned by her priests to keep the more dangerous denizens of the land away from the tribe. She is also called upon to fight the 'Great Enemy', a shadowy antagonist who is known to the rest of Allansia as Asmodeus. 

At the head of the Triad is 'the all-encompassing father', a figure that is considered omnipotent by the Ash-Tieflings. Most would know this figure to be the greatest sorceror in all of Allansia: the Black Mage of Mampang. While existing as the highest god in the religion, he is feared and placated with sacrifice and bloodshed. Even his priests are feared, and often live outside of the tribes, only turning up to enact the twisted and cruel whims of their master. At a young age they are identified by the tribes as being especially sociopathic, and sent on a pilgrimage to Mampang itself, the feared tower of the Black Mage. If they are not killed on the journey, they are taken into the tower and subjected to unknown rituals. Then they return to the tribes, and instruct them on the wishes and demands that issue forth from Mampang. It is also common to see these priests travelling with the infamous Red Men, the mercenary killers loyal to the Black Mage. 

The Ash-Tieflings may be savage, violent and worshippers of possibly the darkest force in Allansia, but it is folly to judge them as evil. As one of their proverbs goes, 'a paladin walks a mile in the ash, a mile more and he eats the flesh of his children. Ash shapes a man in its image, greenwalker.'

ARVENTINE: Map of Gallantria

Desert of Skulls Chapter 1 - Welcome to Iskandria. 

As the party sight land, their long sea voyage finally coming to an end, they spy another ship on the horizon. It quickly draws alongside and the Everessememe soldiers crewing it insist on searching the party's ship. The fail to find whatever it is they were looking for, but realise the Zhang Zhou is a graduate of the University of Mongxar and thus obliged to offer help to soldiers on the Emperor's business they requisition him for their secret mission. They refuse to let Gordon join Zhang, but do promise to return him to the small port town of Iskandria, where they suggest that the party wait in the meantime.

As the party sail into Iskandria, they see an ancient, but slightly crumbling, town. Despite a large number of berths, the docks are mostly deserted save for a single merchant vessel and a few listless dockhands. One of them informs the party that the docks are normally bustling, but recently caravans travelling along the desert road have been prevented from reaching the town by a group of 'mad northmen'. The party then make their way to Iskandria's premier eatery, Hammurabi's grill for a bite to eat. Whilst feasting on delicious grills, the enthusiastic Hammurabi asks for the party' help: a tribe of horrible lizard men have recently taken up residence by an oasis normally used by his camel and sheep herds. They are eating the normally well-treated camels indiscriminately and Hammurabi asks the party to drive them off, a task for which they will be rewarded with gold and free grills for life.

The party next visits the Caranvaners' Guild whose head, Ilu-Shuma, asks them to deal with the Northmen who have been raiding the caravans travelling into Iskandria. They are striking out of the hills surrounding the desert road and killing or taking captive the passengers and crew of any caravans that pass, leaving the cargo strangely untouched. The party agree to help and head off to the west gate, passing through the marketplace on their way.

In the market, the party encounter a mad beggar who babbles to them about elves having stolen his name, asking if they could find it if they are going into the desert. Before he can be questioned further he scarpers, terrified by the monstrous faces of Gordon and Charlie Martin. With the exception of Gordon, the part also all buy sunhats.

Their business in town concluded for the time being, the party head into the desert. They find the lizardman tribe by the oasis and are told by their shaman to go away – it's their oasis now. The draconic-speaking Strawson attempts to negotiate but fails and the party leaps into battle. After our heroes make short work of the Lizardmen's front line and artillery the shaman surrenders and agrees to lead the tribe back to the hills where they used to live.

After the battle is done, Gordon and Charlie's sharp eyes spot a figure on the edge of the hills to the north – the party is being watched. Suspecting that it was one of the Northmen that they are after, the party goes to investigate. After some disagreements over which way the tracks lead from the hill, the party decide to follow Gordon's lead. However the have spent too long deliberating and as they are walking along the bottom of a narrow ravine, bowmen appear at the top and they see a boulder being manoeuvred into position at its mouth – the party are being ambushed! Luckily Gordon manages to push the boulder back the other way before it can crush the party. The northmen seem uninterested in talking, their leader merely instructing his men to take the Goliath alive as he would make a fine meal for 'Mother Wyrm'. After a tough fight the northmen go down and on the leader's corpse the party find a crude map indicating a path through the hills.

The map leads to the party to a rune-covered cave mouth and they proceed to enter. Inside they find “Mother Wyrm” - an enormous snake that the northmen had been feeding their captives to. Faced with such obviously dangerous beast, the party dig deep into their reserves and vanquish the monster in under thirty seconds.

ARVENTINE: Chapter 2: "A Problem Most Dire(woods)"

With the party back together, the heroes prepared for the week-long trek north to the Direwoods, to uncover the true story behind the Harpers and Baba Yaga. The road north was quiet except for a few traders and farmers heading to the markets of Vos and Arventine. Passing first through the salt-flats, then across the Merildor Hills, and finally along the coast road, they arrive in sight of the dark and ominious looking Direwoods.

Suddenly, Eored had a feeling that they were being tracked. Sure enough, a band of ranger looking types surrounded them, weapons at the ready. Their leader emerged, a man in rough leathers with a bushy black beard and long black hair tied back in a topnot, Flatlander-style. He introduced himself as Brynam Riv, and demanded that the party submit to a search. Recalling her youth in Gallantria, Sarah Lachance recognised the name Riv as one of the noble houses of her home realm. By proving his association with Melora, Christophe convinced Brynam a search was not needed, and Sarah pressed the man on why a Gallantrian noble was so far from home. Brynam Riv seemed prickly, and avoided the question, simply asking her what the lost daughter of Duke Trevec Lachance was doing travelling with mercenaries out east.

After some discussion, Brynam revealed that him and his rangers were hunting a cabal of infernalist devil-worshippers that has absconded into the Direwoods. He skillfully avoided the topic of the purpose of this hunt, and instead recruited the party to aid him. Brynam told them that the Fey of the Direwoods had gone feral, and killed several of his men, impeding his search. In the hope of finding either the Harpers or Baba Yaga, the heroes agreed to search the forest. Brynam told them there was a warlock who dwelled in the forest called Igris who might be able to help them. As they departed, Brynam told them to be careful of an unknown creature who stalks the forest, known only as 'The Wolf Mother of the Woods'.

The Direwood was an eerie place, utterly devoid of any signs of wildlife. Fearing the worst, the party search around and find some Hellish symbols engraved on several trees, which soon turned into a trail deep into the forest. Soon they came to a wooded canyon where a cave entrance lay beneath. Clambering down ropes, they investigate the cave, to see it had infernal runes etched on the entrance. Creeping inside, they came to a large chamber bedecked with poisonous mushrooms with a battered and bloody door at the far end, and and a passage leading further into the cave complex. In the passage they found a moribund wilden lashed to the rocks by his own tendrils, but before they could investigate further, wild looking eladrin emerged from the ivy covered walls and attacked.

A furious battle took place, with some opportunistic hags joining in. After the rabid fey were dispatched the hags fled, and the party gathered their wits. They returned to the sleeping wilden, but as Balthazar approached him, vile Hellish runes glowed suddenly all around them, and two chain devils emerged out of the aether and attacked. With a cry of 'back devils!' the party slew them, only for a smoky, possessing devil to slip out of the wilden and take over Sarah. After a battle of wills with the devil, Sarah banished it from her mind, and the thing was slain. Free of the possession, the wilden thanked the party and told them of what had happened. He claimed that several black-cloaked humans had arrived a few days prior and performed an occult ritual on the fey-oak that lay at the heart of the cave, tearing out its heart. With the fey-oak dead, the connection to the Feywild was broken and the fey, now trapped in the Material Plane, were driven mad with rage. He feared for the fate of Igris, worrying that the eladrin had killed him in their frenzy. When asked, the wilden knew nothing of Baba Yaga or the Harpers. Gifting Eored with a fine wilden bow, he thanked the heroes once more and slunk wounded out of the cave.

Returning to investigate the door in the previous chamber, the party notice it is covered in scratches and has been busted off its hinges. Inside they found a rude living quarter with a table of alchemical ingredients bubbling away, and the savage and broken body of Igris. Upon examination, they find Igris to be recently dead, and vow to take him to be raised when the adventure is over, if at least to quiz him on the nature of the witch Baba Yaga.

Steeling themselves, they leave the body of Igris in his chambers, and head deeper into the cave to find the desecrated fey-oak. The party enter a large chamber with crevices in the floor, and strange fungus growing from the walls. At the back of the chamber they see a sorry looking oak, with a great rend in its trunk. in the center of the room is a vast creature, a mixture of a spider and a giant tick, 8 foot tall with beautiful irredescent chitin tipped with lethal looking barbs. It was an Arachonoptrix, the fabled 'Wolf Mother of the Woods', a magnificantly dangerous Feywild predator made up of two creatures: a mindless savage animal, and a psionic parasite within, working in harmony. As the Arachonoptrix lept at the party they fought back hard, avoiding it's acidic mandibles. Strange goblin-like creatures called Nilbogs crawled from the crevices to join the fight, wierd fey that heal through damage, and suffer through healing. Solving the mystery of the Nilbogs the party soon dispatched them, and eventually killed the Arachonoptrix. Landing the final blow, Sarah tore off a fragment of chitin to fashion into a helmet.

While the others recovered, Eored and Christophe approached the ruined fey-oak, and found a strange drawing pinned inside the gaping wound. (see prior post). It was a Tartarigraph, a cryptic request from infernalists to the Hells themselves, a plea that accompanies a sacrifice, in this cast the fey-oak itself. Through a commune with his god, the paladin of Melora understood that he could heal the tree, but only at great cost to himself. Eored offered to step up, but Christophe felt it was his holy duty to do this himself. Reaching into the wound, the Paladin's lifeforce bled slowly into it. As it healed, to everyones horror the wound began to hungrily close around Christophe's arm. Despite the assistance of Eored, Christophe was too slow, and his arm just below the elbow was crushed and torn off. Despite the horror of losing his limb, Christophe knew he had healed the forest, and his lost arm would become one with it, feeding it.

Wasting no time, the party quickly examine the Tartarigraph. The collection of images made no immediate sense, but they recognise three symbols: the rune of the Black Mage of Mampang, the lily of Gallantria, and the grail of house Lachance. The rest of the image a mystery, they return to gather up Igris' body and head back to Brynam Riv. The going it hard, with Christophe's ability to climb reduced by his severed limb, and the burden of carrying Igris. Suddenly they are confronted by the beginnings of radiant portals all around them, oozing the same substance they fled from in the journey from Khare. With some arcane trickery, Alain Fu managed to dismiss the portals for now, and the party pressed on. With the end of the forest approaching, they deemed their ordeal nearly over. But in the fading light, Eored noticed torchlight in the distance, a mass of torches all around them, approaching them slowly...

Tune in next time, for Chapter 3: "A Farewell to Arm".      

ARVENTINE: The Tartarigraph.

The obscure request to the Nine Hells that the party found in the desecrated Fey-Oak tree in the Direwoods:

"The Tartarigraph"

ARVENTINE: Paragon Chapter 1: "How Balthazar Beat City Hall"

Charging the portal up with their diamond reagent, the party open up a passage to Fu's tower in Arventine. However, things are never simple for our heroes. Facing some turbulence as they flew across the planes to their destination, the companions found themselves in a strange landscape: a tall white marble canyon, where a thundering wave of radiant energy flooded towards them. Darting over rubble, the party just managed to reach a dormant portal, and flee for their lives through it. They arrived back in Arventine to see Fu's butler Parp diligently greasing up the tower. The party discover to their confusion that their strange delay had kept them away from the material plane for nearly ten months, and much of Arventine had assumed they had died in now infamous 'Massacre of Khare', and the denizen of Scholar Street had their greedy eyes on his tower...

Not allowing this strange occurrence to irk them, they set about their original intention; bringing the traitorous Blind Varlet Tawni Abbas to justice. This proved problematic. Enough time had passed for Balthazar to lose his Hidden Lord status, but after an enlightening trip to the City Library, they discover he still retains the right to pursue a grievance against another Hidden Lord. The party seek out a meeting with the Hidden Lords, and after a tense negotiation surrounded by twenty of the deadly Hidden Priest Avengers, they manage to arrange a Trial of Combat against Abbas.

 With the battle laid on for tomorrow morning, the party set about reacquainting themselves with Arventine. A trip to the Golden Lamprey Inn has the companions meet with their old friend Sirius, no longer working as Tawni's gopher but instead now an influential doyen in Glipkerio's Thieves Guild. Christophe has a pleasant reunion with his girlfriend Marigold, now running a orgiastic service in the Grove of Melora. Believing this to be the will of his lady Melora, Christophe makes use of the grove's new 'service' and has a fertility statue commissioned.

As the night draws in, curiosity leads the party to strange street mystic. Claiming to be a chosen of Ioun, the mystic grants the group a tarot reading, only to divine the sentence 'YOU DID NOT DIE AT SHAREAT'. Spooked at this, she determines that the party has somehow avoided a destiny that Ioun herself had bestowed upon her. With knowledge of this 'dissonant destiny' condition, the party assume there must be some connection between this and the strange radiant light they encountered in the portal.

The morning of the Trial soon came, but Tawni was not done with his tricks. Successfully poisoning Sarah Lachance's breakfast, he managed to hamstring the party for the fight. As the party made their way to the Hidden Lord's sepulchre, Tawni had also laid on some assassins to take them out, but they were easily dispatched, and the Arventine river gained a few more bodies.

After the ceremonial pomp was completed by the Hidden Priests, Tawni's champions were introduced. A Tiefling fire mage, a minotaur arena champion, a veteran of the Brass War, a brash cleric of Erathis and an old friend - the were rat crime lord Scurrilous Gunny, scarred from fire and lusty for revenge. But the party were fighting fit, and dispatched all but Gunny and the Tiefling to the grave. Cursing Christophe's name and vowing a 'blood debt', Gunny slunk away, determined that this would not be the final time they meet...

Justice was soon to be done. Balthazar was called up to pass sentence on Tawni Abbas. As Balthazar called for the execution of Abbas, the tricksy senator activated a magical ring, and teleported away. The party wasted no time in racing to his estate to stop his escape from the city. Finding his estate servants in the process of packing pocessions into carts, the party put these carts to the flame and storm inside. There they found preparing for the road. Shocked, he fell to his knees and begged Balthazar to allow him to flee to Evaressemme, were they would never hear from him again. Full of rage, Balthazar wastes no time in running Abbas through with his blade. As the duplicitous senator bled out in disbelief at his end, the party ransacked what pocessions are left in his house. In his vault they find a portion of the Abbas fortune, a fancy shield and a curious essay on some Dawn War golems called "The Iron Four".

 With the death of Tawni Abbas, the party gain some closure on the terrible events they have been a part of. However, one issue is still bothering Fu: the Neighbourhood Watch Committee of Scholar Street wanting his tower. They roll by the estate of one of these berks, a horse trader. After some heated words, Fu ends up turning the horse trader's mind to pulp, and they make their swift exit, glad that the honourable Balthazar wasn't their to witness this. Perhaps this is not the last our heroes have seen of the Scholar Street Neighbourhood Watch Committee...

CHAPTER 1.5: "A PREVIOUS OWNER"

At a loose end, and with Sarah still recovering from her poisoning at the hands of the now dead Tawni Abbas, the party head to the Golden Lamprey to attend an "evening of food, poetry, wine and excess" event that the Temple of Corellon is laying on. The heroes party on until the wee hours, and wake up with fuzzy heads, with the tavern surprisingly serene in the morning light. Eored is gone, and they party vaguely remember him saying he wanted to attend the "Bow and Arrow Expo" going on in the Blackhand District today. Searching for breakfast, the peace is soon broken as Parp charges into the inn, shouting that something has gone terribly wrong with the tower.

As they chase across the city, Parp explains that during his daily greasing, He found a stone, rune-covered disc under the floor of the basement and when he went o grease it, the grease came alive with black, creeping veins.

As expected, the tower was a mess when the party arrived. The black misty tendrils of the Shadowfel rose off it, and the Scholar Street Neighbourhood Watch Committee stood around it, tutting and shaking their heads. Over calls of anger at the eyesore the tower had become, the party push through the crowd and into the tower. Inside, the walls are a mass of living black veins, all seemingly originating from the basement. As they descend downstairs, they encounter a raging portal, and after looking around find a diary entry from a previous occupant of the tower - a 'Cressida' - who seemingly wanted to sojourn into the dead realm of the Shadowfel. Naturally, Christophe, Balthazar and Fu bundle through the portal.

Now deep in the Shadowfel, they find themselves confronted by a gothic looking facsimile of Fu's tower. Inside they encounter Shadar'kai, a shadowy version of Parp, a strange machine and a grumpy undead butler, before ascending to the top of the tower to find Cressida. Cressida herself, mistakenly trapped in the Shadowfel, asks the party to help her and her Shadar'kai return to Arventine, in exchange for a share of the dark kingdom she will turn the city into. The boys had their fill of things from other planes wanting to set up 'dark kingdoms' on the Prime Material, and so dispatched the sorceress. Returning home, the party take the stone disc and stow it (for some reason) in the library so that Cressida can never return.  

With the Tower back to its greasy self once more and the Neighbourhood Watch placated (for now...), the party turn their attention to more serious matters. With the role of the Witch of the Direwoods - the mysterious Baba Yaga - in the machinations of the Blind Varlets still a puzzle, they prepare to return once again to the Direwoods to confront her...  

ARVENTINE: Timeline.

HISTORY OF THE ARVENTINE CAMPAIGN, IN THE YEAR 2500 A.C. (After Cataclysm)

 

14^th Febuary – 28^th June: The Brass War. The Brass Coalition, an alliance of Flatlander tribes go to war to Arventine. They are resoundly defeated.
 

1-2th July: The party find work with a local merchant, who claims his caravans have been going missing in the mountain passes. The party find a tribe of goblins led by a chieftain called King Knak, who they capture and hand in to the authorities of Brindlehowe. The local merchant explains that they will find more work to the south, in the city of Arventine. 

3-10^th July: The party arrive in Arventine, and take some dubious grave robbing job. Falling foul of the family who owned the tomb – the Thysas family – they end up caught in a conspiracy. Aided by the wealthy senator Tawni Abbas, they defeat the Thysas family and acquire the Orb of Qlippoth.

 

11-13^th July: The party investigate the Tower of Sulla, and after defeating a black dragon, Eored is branded with the Mark of Qlippoth.

 

14^th July – 7^th August: The party travel across the Southern Flatlands to Salamonis to meet with the Starlocks.

 

8-10 August: The party meet with the Starlocks and find out the truth about the Vault. After taking a job with the Mage’s Guild to recover a jewelled skull, the party track down Yaztromo to a temple of Ioun and slay him.

 

11^th August – 2^nd September: The party return to Arventine. Upon arrival, they find the city under martial law, and refusing to aid Vos.

 

25^th August: Seige of Vos begins.

 

3-5^th September: The party rescue Tawni Abbas from the prison. With the help of Glipkerio the head of Thieves Guild, the party hunt down Sapphoro and destroy him.

 

5-7^th September: The green Star of Qlippoth is visible in the sky.

 

6-8^th September: The party travel to and from the Vault of Qlippoth, retrieving the Cyrinishad from the Far Realm. They meet Castello, the drunk seacaptain.

 

9^th September: Tinve Aleaz’abaen kidnaps Orrind and takes him to Khare.

 

10-18^th September: The party travel to the Dire Wood on the behest of the Harpers.

 

19^th September: The Seige of Vos ends, Arventine is victorious.

 

19^th September – 11^th October: The party travel to Khare, by way of the perilous Shahamunti Peaks.

 

12-15^th October: The party investigate Khare, and defeat Zod the Immortal. The Eclipse begins, and the party eventually battle and defeat the Pilgrim.

 

15^th October: The Eclipse occurs above Khare. Few survive.

 

16^th October: The party enter the portal in Sapphoro’s shop to Arventine, to seek revenge on Tawni Abbas.  

 

ARVENTINE: Finale - "Alain Fu and the Clone-o-saurus"

            As the Pilgrim and his vile coterie of demons and Blind Varlets enter the Palace of Lord Azzur of Khare, a memory is stirred in the minds of Balthazar, Christophe and Alain Fu. They remember a day during the Brass War, a day blanked from their minds by Varlet magick, where they were sent to recover some missing Flatlander scouts. Following a trail of bandits through the wilderness, the young party come across a strange ritual site, where they are beset by thugs in black garb, and a strange undead spirit who they dispatch by deactivated a standing stone. From over a bluff, suddenly a horde of cultists with blindfolds emerge led by a man who they recognise now as Tawni Abbas, the sponser and friend of the party. He told the party that they would lead Alain Fu on a great adventure to retrieve the Cyrinishad and grow in power ready for his sacrifice during the Eclipse… 

            Back in Khare, the Pilgrim attempts to seduce Fu to his side one last time, explaining to him that Fu is a clone of the Pilgrim, made to take his place as the Annointed One who would bring Cyric into the world. He tells the party that Fu was once the best of the Varlets, but he went mad with the constant whispering of Cyric from the Far Realm and fled. But the Fu was not for turning. The party drew steel and charged the Pilgrim, and an epic battle broke out. While Sarah battled a Blood Demon from the darkest pits of the Abyss, Balthazar and Christophe set about dispatching a Vrock, a huge vulture-like demon. Eored and Fu focused on the Pilgrim himself, destroying the strange clones that kept an impenetrable shield over him. Just as the battle seemed to be going in the party’s favour, the Pilgrim took magical control over Christophe and made him take out the Cyrinishad. Suzzarn leapt from the shadows and snatched the book and attempted to flee the palace. Thinking fast, Sarah and Balthazar ran after him, taking him down and stopped the book from falling into Varlet hands. Battered and bloodied, the party took the fight to the Pilgrim himself, and with a swing of her feywildian axe, Sarah LaChance cut him down. 

            As silence fell over the battle, so did the sounds of demons from outside. Emerging from the Palace they saw their efforts had vanquished the Eclipse, and all that was left of Khare was lifeless rubble. As they explored the smoking ruins, Alain Fu determined that the death of his creator had bestowed upon him the power to destroy the Cyrinishad once and for all. Summoning an aspect of the ancient sorcerer Cyric, with his magics Fu obliterated his spirit and the book burst into cinders, never to threaten Allansia again. 

            After a rest and a fruitless search for onions in devasted Khare, Balthazar suggests they investigate Mount Shareat for anything they may have missed. Strangely reticent about going there, Christophe protests, but the noble dragonborn warlord heads there anyway. The mountain is quiet, but in the shadows of an ancient standing stone Balthazar finds an moribund Orrind, his feet and hands severed and his eyes and tongue removed - seemingly the work of the sadist Forkiz Geung. He is carried back to Khare, and after a quiet moment, Christophe allows the cleric to slip off to death, to finally be at peace at Melora’s side. 

With victory still swelling in their hearts, the party realised there was one final loose end in all this grim business. Tawni Abbas has betrayed them, led them on a merry dance into the hands of the Blind Varlets. After acquiring a diamond from Lord Azzur, they made their way to Sapphoro’s shop and activated the portal to Arventine. Stepping in, they steeled themselves in anticipation of justice to come…

Winterhaven – The Keep on the Shadowfell.

Winterhaven – The Keep on the Shadowfell.

The party:

Eggs Benedict – A mysterious cloaked figure wielding a huge blade, a servant of Avandra he has vowed to destroy all who would rob people of their freedom. (Hates slavers with a vengeance).

Poppin Thunderlips – A proud and stout dwarven cleric in the service of Avandra, his knowledge of healing and religious matters may be vital for the party. (Can be a touch hamfisted).

Trixie Jumblepuff – A young Halfling; beneath her unassuming appearance lies a chaotic power that she is still learning to control and wield.  (Hobbies include fashion)

Britfilta Erwater – A Wilden, has the ability to control a battle using his psionic powers (likes nature walks and learning about different cultures).    

On the road to the village  of Winterhaven our party of adventurers, seeking the fate of their mentor Douven Staul, is ambushed by a small band of kobolds, after some initial troubles they dispatchtheir foes and continue onward.  Staul had trained our adventurers well and given them their first taste of life on the road.  They had last heard from their mentor three months previously when he claimed that he had heard tale of an ancient dragon’s tomb near to the village of Winterhaven.  He was due to return some time ago and his continued absence did not bode well, our adventurers, fearing the worst set out to discover his fate. 

On arrival at the village, they find a small walled enclave surrounded by farms and thatched buildings, a fairly unassuming place.   They head to the local inn, Wrafton’s, keen to enquire about their missing friend.  The villagers are more concerned about the bands of kobolds that are frequently disrupting the local trade routes, the party is directed to the local village lord Padraig, who offers them a reward if they can find and shut down the kobold’s operation.  The party accepts hoping that this favour will foster good relations with the villagers.

Having been given directions to the potential site of the kobold lair, our adventurers set off, once again, they are set upon by a group of kobolds, accompanied by a shaman, he is carrying a small necklace which they discern to be a charm dedicated to Orcus.  After dispatching this group the party arrives at the site of a waterfall, which is teeming with the reptilian creatures.

After a frantic battle the party finds a path through the waterfall and into the lair iself, the kobolds are ready for them and wave upon wave of the creature attack the party, until finally their chief, ‘Irontooth’ steps into the fray.  After a fierce and exhausting battle he is dispatched along with his allies.  Upon his corpse the adventurers find a troubling letter, addressed from a man named Kalarel, it speaks of opening a rift that will allow the servants of Orcus to attack Winterhaven! It also speaks of a spy within the village itself. 

On returning to Winterhaven and collecting their reward they present this information to Lord Padraig, he is very concerned and directs them to speak to a man named Valthrun the Prescient, one of the village elders and a font of knowledge.  They find the sage in Wrafton’s Inn, he conveys to them a story about the rift being beneath an ancient keep not far from Winterhaven itself, however he urges the party to wait so that he can undertake some more research.  When asked about Douven Staul, Valthrun is able to tell the party that he last saw him heading to an ancient burial site south west of Winterhaven, he draws a map for the adventurers who decide to set out in the morning after resting, following the day’s ordeals.   

The next morning our party set out for the burial site, on arrival they find what appears to be a ghostly apparition, overseeing a group of workers who seem to have uncovered some sort of relic.  One of the workers, a gnome, attempts to tempt the adventurers into the pit, claiming to be a friend of Douven’s.  The party refuse to believe him and after dispatching their guard drakes into a pit, slay the remaining men and battle the gnome and the mysterious spectral apparition.  Upon dispatching the spectre the gnome cries out “Kalarel, I have failed you.”  It would seem that our adventurers had found their priest of Orcus.  Staul is found bound and gagged, upon releasing him he rewards the party with his amulet and informs them that Kalarel is attempting to open a rift to the Shadowfell, he believes that the site of this is an ancient keep nearby.  The party also discover the relic that Kalarel’s minions were seeking, an ancient mirror, although any magic it may have had appears to be spent. Douven decides that his adventuring days are over and sets off to return to his beloved wife.

On returning to Winterhaven the adventurers call upon Valthrun, who has been conducting research into the rift.  It appears that the ancient keep was built during the time of Nerath and was constructed to contain an ancient evil, a gateway between this world and the Shadowfell.  The keep was abandoned after the last Protector of the Keep, Sir Keegan, was sealed inside having been driven insane and murdering his family.  The party decide to set out for the keep as soon as possible, after speaking to some of the villagers they are warned that there are frequent goblin patrols in the area.

On arrival the party discover an entrance that appears to have been recently used, they proceed into the dungeons and discover a large amount of goblins that have taken up residence there.  After battling through several rooms the party find a goblin chieftain, Balgron the Fat, and slay him, however before doing so they interrogate him and discover a pass phrase for the next level of the keep, “and life fails in the dark.”

Whilst exploring the keep our adventurers also discover a small, damp cave that hides a vicious blue, slimelike creature. After a frenzied battle the party discover two corpses, they are carrying a letter from a Chief Krand of the Bloodreavers.  It hints that Kalarel may also be providing slaves to Duergar in an area named Thunderspire.  This news greatly upsets the party, especially Eggs and Poppin, who swear an oath to Avandra to look into this matter and fuelling their hatred for Kalarel himself.

As well as goblins the second part of the dungeon is crawling with undead zombies and skeletons, there are also evil arcane runes set into the floor in some areas, that shriek wildly and attract these necrotic denizens to the party.  After a particularly gruelling encounter which involves a seemingly endless wave of skeletons inside a chapel dedicated to Bahamut, the party stumble across a tomb and a ghostly spectre.  Realising that this is Sir Keegan, the party successfully convince him that their motives are pure.  Sir Keegan relays to them his tragic tale and asks that they seek out his children’s effects and lay them properly to rest.  He urges the party to make haste and close the rift as catastrophe will ensue otherwise. He gives Britfilta his blade, Aecris, and tells them to seek ‘Bahamut’s boon’ in the altar outside.  Upon searching the altar Trixie finds 4 silver dragon statuettes.  On exploring the area further the party discover a hidden room, which contains a magic hidden wall.  On killing the zombie residents inside they manage to solve a riddle and discover some ancient armour, they also realise that this may be a safe place to rest.

After several hours our adventurers find a stairwell leading further into the depths of the keep, upon descending they are confronted by hobgoblins who challenge them with the phrase “Shadow seeks Shadow”.  When Poppin replies with the correct password, the guards are suspicious.  One of them backs further away towards a cage containing an enormous spider.  A battle ensues and more hobgoblins appear from all sides, but the party emerges victorious. 

In another area the group are attacked by a hideous gelatinous cube, in an old tomb.  After defeating it and the two corrupted corpses that dwelt in there, they find a toy sword, a hairbrush and a small doll, amongst a pile of rags they find two medallions, indicating that these are the effects of the Keegan family.

The adventurers eventually stumble across a seemingly empty room, containing a huge statue of a warrior and two dragons, at the far end of the room are cherubic statues holding vases.  Upon setting foot inside the room the party finds itself in the centre of an elaborate trap!  The warrior swings its huge sword around, knocking people prone in its wake, whilst the dragons breathe fiery plumes towards the party..  Seeking safety, Eggs, Trixie and Britfilta hop onto the statues dais.  Poppin makes a break for the double doors on the opposite side of the room, but much to the party’s horror an impenetrable magical wall appears, trapping him.  The remaining party members eventually manage to disable the warrior and avoid the dragon breath. However Poppin is in dire trouble, the cherubic statues begin to pour a never-ending supply of water into the tiny space he occupies.  Fearing that he may drown, Poppin tries to smash the statues to pieces, doing so slows the rate of the water and in the nick of time he decapitates the last statue, destroying the magical wall and breaking the spell; he emerges gasping for breath, very damp and extremely irate.

The path through the double doors is treacherous, with ghoul like creatures and a small clay homunculus barring their way.  After negotiating this warren the group emerge into a large cathedral-like structure, where they are confronted by vampire spawn, several beserkers and a priest of Orcus.  Huge streams of blood flow from an altar down a large hole in the centre of the room.  Our heroes dispatch their foes in another savage battle and decide to scale the bloody chains that descend into the pit below.

After safely negotiating their descent the party comes face to face with Kalarel and the portion of the rift he has opened as well as several wight like creatures and skeleton sentinels.  A huge portal on the northern wall attempts to grab Britfilta and drag him into the abyss beyond.  The party battle fiercely and as they strike the killing blow, Kalarel is swept into the portal by dark shimmering tentacles.  However the rift remains open, in an attempt to close it Trixie throws the dragon statuettes, ‘Bahamut’s boon,’,inside.  This has no effect and unbeknownst to her, hinders the party’s efforts.  Eventually after calling upon his religious knowledge Poppin manages to successfully seal the rift. Deciding that they should immediately escape, the party head back to Winterhaven.  On their arrival they are greeted as true heroes and richly rewarded by Lord Padraig.  Now, they decide.... it’s time to investigate these slavers up at Thunderspire.....