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[el-remmen]

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the 'Out of the Frying Pan' Story Hour

I thought now would be as good a time as any to go over the various plot points of the "Out of the Frying Pan" campaign, both for its faithful readers and for the actual players. In the last three years, the party of adventurers known as the Fearless Manticore Killers have collected a good number of threads to follow, in hopes of discovering how they might weave together, if they weave together at all.

I have to admit, they have gotten into the habit of assuming everything they run across somehow has something to do with each other, which is not necessarily true (and not necessarily not true) - which can make prioritizing things difficult.

I am only including things here that have been covered in the story hour so far, which means a few more current pieces of info will be omitted, but as I don't want to spoil anything for readers, the developments are relatively minor, and they should be fresh in the players' minds as they have recently happened, it should not matter too much.

The Search for Hurgun's Maze

First brought to the attention of the party by presence of the strange pyramidal-shaped creature living among the Garvan gnomes and the insistence by the half-fiend gnome Mozek, it is a thought to be some kind of planar nexus created by the legendary geomancer, Hurgun of the Stone. The Maze though closed and lost for centuries, is said to give he who controls it easy access to various planes of existence (foremost the elemental planes, but through those all planes) and the ability to manipulate the powers of said planes, including the summoning of creatures and phenomenon thereof. The party believes that Mozek is seeking the Maze to increase his own power, and grab dominion over Derome-Delem and eventually all of Aquerra.

Additionally, the party has discovered that existence of four planar nodes around Gothanius has led to tearing of the veils between the planes, creating unpredictable anomalies, especially increased taint from the Plane of Shadow, which according to the notes of the necromancer Zedarias can be furthered by increased violence, fear and chaos in the area of Greenreed Valley. The possibility of war between the Garvan Gnomes and Gothanius is thought to have been manipulated by Mozek to help achieve this. They hope they might use the power of Hurgun's Maze to reverse this process.

The trip to and subsequent exploration of the Pit of Bones is to find a map that supposedly marks the entrance to Hurgun's Maze.

The Schism of the Brotherhood of Anubis

Beorth Sahkemet, Paladin and Ghost-Hunter of Anubis discovered that there was a group of monks who did not attend the mandatory convocation of Monks ordered by the Grand Master of the order. These monks, led by a brother named Adder, claim that they felt Anubis' will was being flouted by the change of means and demeanor that was to be commanded by the Grand Master before the collected monks, and that his hubris in gathering all the monks in Aquerra, left the world susceptible to undead and grave-robbers that the monks are sworn to defend against and destroy. They too seek Hurgun's Maze. They claim to hope to use its power for direct communication with Anubis on this matter.


Richard the Red

The PCs first met the rogue watch-mage of the Academy of Wizardry Richard the Red when he used a potent magical item to charm the elves of Aze-Nuquerna in order to facilitate the spirits of three imprisoned drow witches of legend. Though he claims all he has done has been for the greater good, his means have brought him in violation of the oaths and by-laws of the Academy. Ideally, Martin the Green would have to bring him before the Academy Masters for questioning, and possible trial, but has vacillate in his attitude towards the elder watch-mage, having traded information and gained training and even spells from him. Only recently has he broken off their agreement. Ratchis and Kazrack hold Richard responsible for Jeremy's death, as the young warrior died while under the influence of one of mage's charm spells.

The Dragon, Glamorganna

Little is known of this wyrm, except she is of a great age and considered to be one of the first generation of dragons. While ostensibly the PCs first traveled to Gothanius under contract by its Crown to hunt the dragon in return for lands, and possible titles and marriage with one of the king's many daughters, for a good while the party was convinced the dragon was nothing more than an elaborate ruse concocted by a splinter group of Garvan gnomes to scare off humans from settling in Greenreed Valley. Recently, information brought by Derek Jamison from the Academy wizard, Barnstable the Brown, has reversed this opinion, along with a sighting of what was thought to be the dragon upon the destruction of the Necropolis of Doom.

The Succubus, Ora-Amira-El

The mother of Mozek and his 12 other half-fiend gnomish brothers, this greater Succubus has either already discovered Hurgun's Maze, or seeks it still vying with her own son for power and serving an unnamed Balor. The party has also learned by studying books found in the Necropolis of Zedarias that she may have born children to leaders of different races, tribes and kingdoms in an attempt to sow evil, chaos and mayhem for her fiendish lords, and for her own nefarious plans. The party has speculated (without any evidence) that the King of Gothanius himself might be result of such a coupling.

The Book of Black Circles

The remaining of the four tasks promised to Osiris in return for Jeremy's resurrection, Martin is bound to find the book, cast a single spell from it and then destroy the book, or forfeit his life. The geas from Osiris said that the book should be gained from the 'Brotherhood of the Lost' - the party has assumed this to be the schism of monks. Martin the Green found out from Richard the Red that the book was written by seven powerful necromancers, the last of which was the legendary Marchosias the Corruptor. Richard the Red's advice was for Martin to forfeit his life rather than deal with the book at all.

Lesser Quests & Plots

Dragon-hunters, Slavery & the King of Gothanius - When Ratchis first joined Crumb's Boys, it was to investigate rumors he had heard that the King of Gothanius had actually gathered together the young men to sell as slaves to fill his royal coffers. The party's run-in with the unsavory bounty-hunter, named 'The Glaive' seemed to lend credence to this theory.

Tirhas Tesfay & The Drow Witches - Two drow witches of legend were freed from their stony prisons in Aze-Nuquerna, one of which inhabits the body of the party's one-time ally Tirhas Tesfay (in fact, it seems that she even aided them once while possessed of this evil witch, confusedly enough). The other inhabits the body of a local half-elf handmaiden. The witches seem to have summoned scores of quaggoths to do their bidding, endangering the subterranean races of Derome-Delem.

Rindalith - The former master of Jana, for a time this warlock was seeking to kidnap her for whatever plans he might have. After forcing him to flee with the help of Richard the Red, the party was later asked by the King's Steward, Daniel Ortegun, to retrieve from him a personal diary of the Queen that came into the warlock's hand after what was described as an "indiscretion". The party has made no effort to fulfill this debt to Daniel for his help in clearing up the misunderstanding of their arrest with the king. Rindalith's plans and disposition towards the party now that Jana is dead is unknown.

Champion of the Circle of Thorns - Ratchis agreed to father a child with a human woman doomed to die for being a murderess in exchange for a scroll that would mend Kazrack's broken arm. The child is to be a champion for the monstrous druids of the Circle of Thorns.

The Amulet of Undead Control - Beorth is in possession of an evil amulet that was gained on one of the party's earliest adventures. They have been unable to find a way to destroy it.