Campaign journal
by RPGPunditThe PCs started out in Sayr Ulan, but with the victory there over the Master of Hule, they had no reason to stay there anymore, so they decided to head back to Darokin City, and see how the war was going there.
Since Duroc's player didn't show up today, he disappears mysteriously in a teleportation accident. The PCs have seen this happen before, so they're unfazed by it and carry on without him, knowing he'll turn up at some appropriate moment.
Turns out it was going well. The bad news for Corwyn was that his stronghold (still being constructed) was badly damaged by the Hulean forces, but the good news was that a great alliance of Darokinians, Karameikans, Elves, Dwarves, some independent halfling snipers, and paladins and avengers of Vanya managed to lift the siege on Darokin City, and push the Huleans back to the hills.
The President of Darokin, Corwyn Mauntea, who had been hiding out in Selenica all this time, flies triumphally back into the capital on a flying carpet in full armour, and declares this to be "Mission Accomplished"!
However, there is another menace, one the PCs were responsible for. The minister of Defence who Corwyn talks to tells them that the giant mutant Beholder is heading straight to Selenica and is over the Altan Tepes mountains as they speak. He makes it clear that Darokin's government expects them to take care of this little problem before it reaches Selenica.
So they teleport over there, and fly over the mountains. And they see...
(cue "flight of the Valkyries" on my computer at that moment)
A huge Undead Beholder the size of a three story building, with two rows of teeth, flying slowly over the peaks of the mountains, heading to them!
Luckily, Alen had cast invisible on the group, so they fly at a good distance, around the beholder till they're behind its main eye, and Alen "dimension doors" Sir Firearm to smash it.
Sir Firearm hits it hard, but doesn't kill it. The beholder turns around and fires its eyebeams: it hits Galafilo with the paralysis beam. And, tragically, it hits Sir Firearm with a 1 level energy drain beam.
This makes something like 500 000 XP that Sir Firearm has lost over the years due to energy drain.
Corwyn uses Cure Paralysis on Galafilo, and Alendalan Dimension Door's Galafilo down to join the Beholder-bashing. Galafilo misses, but Sir Firearm hits with multiple very palpable hits, and the beholder explodes, deflating all across the mountains like a popped balloon.
Their own "mission accomplished"; the PCs head back to Selenica where Corwyn casts a Restore on Sir Firearm, taking Corwyn out of commission for 10 days. During that time Galafilo travels back to Darokin City and learns basic training in the Torch, probably the weirdest weapon slot he could find. Sir Firearm slips into a deep depression and starts drinking heavily, and Alendalan starts making a "top secret" magic item in his room.
When Corwyn is better, Alen is still working on the "top secret" item, so Corwyn decides to contact his immortal in a ceremony, to find out what he needs to do to begin the immortality quest.
He succeeds in the ritual, sees Asterius in a dream, and first asks about the Radiance. He finds out that a cabal of immortals is using the Radiance for their own ends, but that it is a very unstable power source and the rest of the immortals want it shut down, as it could destroy the whole world. Unfortunately, this Cabal has used certain barriers to prevent other immortals from accessing the Radiance, so Asterius hopes to use the mortal PCs to get to the radiance, and shut down the barriers so that the immortal rogues can be dealt with.
Then Corwyn asks about immortality, and finds out he must travel to one and only place in the universe where Asterius receives requests for patronage, and that he must bring a gift suitable to the immortal. He may travel with friends, but the last five miles he must travel alone, and once he reaches the site and makes the offering he must wait there as long as is necessary. Corwyn agrees, and cuts off the immortal contact. The last things he hears as he fades out are "wait.. you never asked WHERE my place of petition is....."
Alendalan finally finishes the "top secret" magic items, and they turn out to be little pink booties of flying for Sir Firearm.
The rest of the gang head off to rejoin Galafilo in Darokin City. There, they learn the war effort is going really well. Akorros has been retaken by the allied forces, and Akesoli is about to be retaken. Since everything is going so well, the PCs don't feel rushed for the first time in ages, and stay in Darokin city doing some business.
Galafilo realises he should start his immortal quest too, and goes with Sir Firearm to ask the Patriarch of Vanya to perform a Ceremony to see if Vanya is disposed to consider his petition and what he needs to do to present the petition.
Alendalan hangs out with the Alfheim elves, and finds out that his wife Arewyn is pregnant! And the kid is "probably almost definitely" his!
Fortunately, there are no real parenting requirements on his part, since elven children are raised by the clan and not the parents per se, so he says "cool" and then heads on his way, travelling to Alfheim to try to get into the college of advanced elven magic in Mealidon.
The others also hire a number of sages to learn different things they've been meaning to learn about for a while. They discover the secret formula for creating scrolls of protection from magic (it requires a high level mage), and Corwyn asks about immortal artifacts that let one travel or teleport (after finding out that the only way to get INTO the radiance is using a gate, wish, or immortal magic). He is given the names of certain artifacts, and their alleged origins, and uses find the path to discover a few of their locations.
Meanwhile, they hear that "Power Ring" has been sighted appearing as a messenger from the Master of Hule to the armies of the Darokinian alliance. He tells the armies that the Master will no longer attempt to invade the known world, but he is Cursing it, with a revenge that will strike the entire known world like the fist of an angry immortal.
No one makes too much of the warning, and the PCs are carrying on with their business. Galafilo is waiting for an answer from the temple of Vanya, Alendalan is testing to be admitted into the school of magic (he fails the first exam, and can only try two more times or be rejected forever), and the others are getting ready to start some training or magic item construction, when suddenly, on the 25th of Yarthmont, people throughout the known world are surprised to see a big black thing streaking down from the daytime sky. Its a meteor, and it comes crashing down north of Lake Amsorak, creating a mushroom cloud that can be seen for miles around, causing the ground to rattle as far away as Darokin city, and over the next 24 hours covering the entire sky above most of the known world with a thick black cloud of dust.
The PCs realise: this ain't gonna be good.
Its the 16th of Yarthmont, 1006 AC
The PCs are:
Corwyn, Patriarch of Asterius cleric lv. 31
Sir Firearm, avenger of Vanya lv. 22
Alendalan, Karameikan/Alfheim elf lv.10
Duroc, Dwarf Lord lv.10
Galafilo Halfling Sheriff lv.8