With apologies...
I am taking an extended break from DMing PbPs for a while. If anyone wants to have a seat in the DM's chair for this campaign, you have my blessing. The basic plot outline appears below.
[sblock=Paths of Legend: Origins Plot Outline]
Leo is Leothandran Y Moodrinthal, son of the recently slain leader of the elven nation of Qualet, Moodrinthal. Leo was blamed for his father's death and exiled. He currently seeks a means of discovering the true killer but has lost focus due to depression and makes his living as a mercenary.
The expedition to the Tower goes as planned, except that the PCs discover a strange gem. The gem actually contains the soul of Azilyk, the sorceress behind the last war. Imprisoned in the gem, Azilyk manages to free herself by occupying the body of Eldrina, the woman the PCs were sent to rescue.
Azilyk reveals herself in stunning fashion when she assassinates the King of Larent. The PCs must find the King's only heir, a hermit living in the wilderness, before Azilyk does.
Azilyk is captured, but makes a deal with the demon lord, Orcus, to become a vampire just prior to her execution. She sets out to find her infamous weapon, the Dagger of Souls, which is currently in the hands of Zeraynus, Leo's uncle, current leader of Qualet, and the true murderer of Leo's father. Leo confronts Zeraynus and takes leadership of Qualet while the PCs are tasked with attempting to destroy the Dagger of Souls.
The PCs quest takes them to the ancient elven homeland of Qualor, site of the final battle of the last war. The PCs discover Azilyk's true ambitions, both now and during the last war - to use the time portal secretly located in Qualor to go back to the dawn of time and usurp the first Immortals before they gain power. The PCs are accidentally thrown back in time to the pivotal battle of the last war. Although not destroyed, the Dagger of Souls is lost in time. Upon their return, they bring back with them a man named Baloran Blanik.
Baloran is the Creator reborn, son of Kiraya TiDrekan, and the first Immortal. The Creator was the first mortal to discover the paths to Immortality and he created the world to be a home to the mortal races he had...borrowed from other worlds. The Immortals who came after him cursed him for his crime by making him live as a mortal on his own creation, continually reincarnated and never truly dying. The PCs time traveling adventure inadvertently brought Baloran, native to 100 years in the past, and the Creator's current incarnation together. This allows them to break the curse by being reborn as a single entity. Kiraya becomes pregnant with the new Creator and the PCs must escort her to the Tower to give birth so that the Creator can become the first true god. They are pursued by Azilyk, who used the time travel incident to steal the power of the Serpent, Immortal of the serpentfolk, becoming the Serpent Queen.
The campaign ends with the PCs witnessing the birth of the first true god and the banishing, at least for now, of that god's adversary, the Serpent Queen.[/sblock]
