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<blockquote data-quote="Kerrick" data-source="post: 2553487" data-attributes="member: 4722"><p>The next morning, they awoke early and continued on their journey to the Red City. The remainder of the ride passed without incident, and they arrived at the gates a week and a half later. The line of people attempting to enter the city was longer than usual, due to the sheer numbers of those attending the call of the Blossom of Death; it took them nearly three hours to get into the city. </p><p></p><p> Inside the walls, little had changed since the last time they had been there; they rode down the broad avenue where they were ambushed by nearly a dozen warriors on the rooftops, and were saved only by the fortuitous appearance of Cornelius [in those days, before he became Zargo's lover, he came and went as he pleased; he is now a permanent member of the party]. </p><p></p><p> Near the docks, there is a large pavilion set up. A banner above it proclaims, "Join the Iron Legion – see the world, crush the Lich Kings." One long line of people wound its way into the front of the tent; two more came from the side and back. </p><p></p><p> "The Iron Legion?" Zargo said. "They haven't existed for five hundred years."</p><p></p><p> "Well, someone's putting it back together," Kariann noted. "Look, there's a ship in the harbor bearing the Legion's standard. Looks newly made, too."</p><p></p><p> The party split up to go to their respecitive guilds – Krevik to the mages' guild, the paladin to the church of Drax, goddess of life, Zargo to the bardic guild, and Kariann to the psion's enclave to report in and catch up on things (it's been awhlie since they were last at their guilds). Cornelius went to report to the Iron Legion commander for duty.</p><p> </p><p> Zargo and the paladin decided to investigate the pavilion, while the others split up. She stopped a man walking away from the tent and asked him what they were doing. </p><p></p><p> "Recruiting for the Iron Legion, of course," he replied. "Those as can pass the physical exams, they give platinum and send out the back of the tent, to the ships. Those as can't, they give a few gold lions and send on their way."</p><p></p><p> "They give you gold even if you fail the physical exam?" Zargo asked incredulously.</p><p></p><p> "Just because you can't serve in battle doesn't mean you can't serve," the man said. "I rated high enough to get a campaign notch" – he held up a notched bronze bar about the length of his forearm – a campaign bar – with one of the notches filled with iron – "but not high enough to actually participate." He didn't sound angry about it He didn't sound angry about it – merely getting a campaign bar from the legendary Iron Legion was an honor in itself.</p><p></p><p> "How does that work?" Zargo asked. </p><p></p><p> "It means he was capable enough to serve under normal circumstances, but this campaign, whatever it is, is far too dangerous for him," the paladin said.</p><p> </p><p> Zargo nodded and thanked the man, and he went on his way. </p><p></p><p> That evening, they all met at an upscale feasthall for dinner. Cornelius, strangely enough, rejoined them, saying that he been sent back with a mission for them.</p><p></p><p> "Do you really have anything better to do?" he asked. "Besides run from the Followers of Silence?"</p><p> </p><p> They looked at each other and shook their heads. </p><p></p><p> "What's this mission?" Krevik asked.</p><p></p><p> "Five hundred years ago, by the end of the Lich King War, the armies of both sides were nearly decimated," Cornelius began. "The armies were lacking any real leadership, and had been going on sheer hatred for centuries. Now, the dragon armies were still mostly intact - or at least moreso than other units. They still had commanders, however, and the commanders realized that nothing but death awaited them f the war kept going. So they did something highly unusual – they made an agreement to exchange dragons, riders, and keepers, then lock them away in stasis until the time came where they would be needed again. The commander of each side, along with his staff, would oversee the 'storage' of the other side's forces, thus ensuring that everything went smoothly. </p><p></p><p> "Dragons are also tied to their wealth," he said after a sip of wine. "The commanders knew this, and so they also locked away the vast hordes that each army had gathered with the dragons, so as to sustain them in their long sleep."</p><p></p><p> "So why hasn't anyone unlocked them and brought them out before now?" the paladin asked. </p><p></p><p> Cornelius held up a finger. "I am not done yet, my son. Patience." He took another sip of wine and continued. "The commanders selected a different location for each color dragon, someplace not likely to be found by accident. Even if they were, the lairs themselves are filled with guardians, traps, and other magical and mundane defenses. In addition, each dragon species can only be unlocked by a creature of the opposite alignment – an evil being for metallic dragons, and a good being for chromatic. Trouble is, no one is sure how to unlock the neutral dragons – the gem dragons. We know they were locked up first; all the research Ralts Bloodthorne, NahaJawen the Wanderer, and others have done indicates that each lair holds a key that can be used to unlock the neutrals, but you have to have all ten keys. And, no dragon can be awoken until all the seals have been breached."</p><p></p><p> He sat forward. "The mission I have for you, if you wish to accept it, is to return the dragons to Shtar. I was given the rough locations of each of the tombs, but if you want anything more exact, you're on your own."</p><p></p><p> Zargo's eyes lit up. She was obviously thinking of the potential for an epic in this. "I'm in."</p><p></p><p> After some discussion, the others agreed. </p><p></p><p> "So where are they?" Kariann asked.</p><p></p><p> "Not here," Cornelius said. "There are too many ears to hear. I'll wait until we get back to our rooms."</p><p> </p><p> They spent the rest of the meal discussing their immediate plans. Since they would be leaving on a potentially world-spanning trek, they would need supplies. They decided to stay for a week and get what they needed, make connections, and gather more information.</p><p></p><p> At last, they returned to their suite. Once everyone had gotten situated, Cornelius produced a scroll and laid it out on the table.</p><p></p><p> "This is the list I was given," he said. "It starts with the chromatic dragons, though nothing I have heard indicates that we have to do them in any sort of order – as long as the good and evil dragons are unlocked first."</p><p></p><p> [The following is the list, as read off the scroll by Cornelius:</p><p></p><p> <em>White:</em> The Angel's Mercy Plains, Vak Cinter;</p><p></p><p> <em>Red:</em> Great Carved Glacier, in the lands of the former Lich King Molinux;</p><p></p><p> <em>Green:</em> The Steps of Breketh-Khan, on Lister'in;</p><p></p><p> <em>Blue:</em> Beneath Lake Fairiespark;</p><p></p><p> <em>Black:</em> In the ruins of the elven Kingdom of Bright Sharp Leaves;</p><p></p><p> <em>Gold: </em> The Fens of Hope's Woe;</p><p></p><p> <em>Bronze:</em> The Great Poison Desert;</p><p></p><p> <em>Silver:</em> The ruins of the kingdom of Hakim-Stelit;</p><p></p><p> <em>Copper:</em> The Grimweird Backlands, NNE of Von Lon;</p><p></p><p> <em>Brass:</em> The Valley of the Stacked Skulls;</p><p></p><p> <em>Amethyst:</em> The Plains of Blood;</p><p></p><p> <em>Crystal:</em> The Eye of Karghast;</p><p></p><p> <em>Sapphire:</em> The Great Grass Sea;</p><p></p><p> <em>Topaz:</em> The Great Sandy Shallows, the ruins of the Kingdom of the Sea Elves;</p><p></p><p> <em>Emerald:</em> The Ruins of Anteniele-Traxx.]</p><p></p><p> There was a few minutes of silence as the group silently digested this information. Some of the locations were already known to them: the Great Poison Desert, for example, was famous throughout Shtar as an uninhabitable wasteland that no one has ever been known to return from. The Valley of the Stacked Skulls was the site of the single largest battle in the Lch King War, where the Armies of Light were ambushed and lost 90% of their forces. Even in the present day, very few ventured there, as it is the home of fiends, undead, and restless spirits. </p><p></p><p> "The Ruins of Anteniele-Traxx," Krevik said. "It figures."</p><p></p><p> Zargo chuckled. Their first mission, the rite of passage into adulthood for their tribes, had been for them to go to the ruined city and find out why the magic sustaining their valley was failing. Along the way, they had slain a giant ape worshipped as a god by a band of goblins and had reawakened the magic of the city. They had also found the first pages of the legendary bard Electulu's lost epic there. There was a certain symmetry in this, events coming full circle to return them to their beginnings.</p><p></p><p> "So where do we start?" the paladin asked. </p><p> </p><p> Cornelius pulled out a map of Shtar and spread it on the table. "My suggestion, for what its worth, is to go west, to Vak Cinter, up to Von Lon, head up to the Valley of the Stacked Skulls, and then over to the Eternal Empire on the coast of Abinay. After that… well, we can play it by ear." </p><p> </p><p> [The actual discussion was a little longer and more involved, but I decided to gloss over it for simplicity's sake.]</p><p></p><p> "Sounds good to us," Zargo said. "We'll need to gather some more information on where, exactly, these tombs are located. The Plains of Blood, for example, covers half of Balikimayn."</p><p></p><p> "Simple enough," Demetrios piped up. "I have contacts in the planes above and below; if anyone knows, they will."</p><p></p><p> "So be it, then," Cornelius said. "I will inform my superiors tomorrow that you have accepted the mission, and that we have a preliminary plan laid out."</p><p> </p><p> "We have a week," Zargo said to the others. "I'd suggest we use it productively."</p><p></p><p> The next day, the heroes split up and went to their repsecitve guilds and churches and informed their guildmasters/elders of their upcoming mission, and asked for suport. Each was allowed to borrow magic items, up to a certain limit in power and cost. Krevik set aside some time to craft a staff of the spirits, using several of his own spells. The paladin's elder mumbled something about not attending ceremonies often enough, and falling behind in his ecclesiastical duties, while rubbing his holy symbol, so he spent the week at the temple, performing church duties appropriate to one of his rank and status. </p><p></p><p>[Me: "You stole that from the 2E PHB, you old hack!" Ralts: "Yes I did!"]</p><p></p><p> Demetrios summoned and questioned various denizens of the upper and lower planes, gathering the exact locations of several of the tombs. </p><p> </p><p> At the end of the week, the group gathered once more, armed with information, magic items, and a plan. </p><p></p><p><em>Up next: the party embarks on the beginning of their next epic campaign!</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kerrick, post: 2553487, member: 4722"] The next morning, they awoke early and continued on their journey to the Red City. The remainder of the ride passed without incident, and they arrived at the gates a week and a half later. The line of people attempting to enter the city was longer than usual, due to the sheer numbers of those attending the call of the Blossom of Death; it took them nearly three hours to get into the city. Inside the walls, little had changed since the last time they had been there; they rode down the broad avenue where they were ambushed by nearly a dozen warriors on the rooftops, and were saved only by the fortuitous appearance of Cornelius [in those days, before he became Zargo's lover, he came and went as he pleased; he is now a permanent member of the party]. Near the docks, there is a large pavilion set up. A banner above it proclaims, "Join the Iron Legion – see the world, crush the Lich Kings." One long line of people wound its way into the front of the tent; two more came from the side and back. "The Iron Legion?" Zargo said. "They haven't existed for five hundred years." "Well, someone's putting it back together," Kariann noted. "Look, there's a ship in the harbor bearing the Legion's standard. Looks newly made, too." The party split up to go to their respecitive guilds – Krevik to the mages' guild, the paladin to the church of Drax, goddess of life, Zargo to the bardic guild, and Kariann to the psion's enclave to report in and catch up on things (it's been awhlie since they were last at their guilds). Cornelius went to report to the Iron Legion commander for duty. Zargo and the paladin decided to investigate the pavilion, while the others split up. She stopped a man walking away from the tent and asked him what they were doing. "Recruiting for the Iron Legion, of course," he replied. "Those as can pass the physical exams, they give platinum and send out the back of the tent, to the ships. Those as can't, they give a few gold lions and send on their way." "They give you gold even if you fail the physical exam?" Zargo asked incredulously. "Just because you can't serve in battle doesn't mean you can't serve," the man said. "I rated high enough to get a campaign notch" – he held up a notched bronze bar about the length of his forearm – a campaign bar – with one of the notches filled with iron – "but not high enough to actually participate." He didn't sound angry about it He didn't sound angry about it – merely getting a campaign bar from the legendary Iron Legion was an honor in itself. "How does that work?" Zargo asked. "It means he was capable enough to serve under normal circumstances, but this campaign, whatever it is, is far too dangerous for him," the paladin said. Zargo nodded and thanked the man, and he went on his way. That evening, they all met at an upscale feasthall for dinner. Cornelius, strangely enough, rejoined them, saying that he been sent back with a mission for them. "Do you really have anything better to do?" he asked. "Besides run from the Followers of Silence?" They looked at each other and shook their heads. "What's this mission?" Krevik asked. "Five hundred years ago, by the end of the Lich King War, the armies of both sides were nearly decimated," Cornelius began. "The armies were lacking any real leadership, and had been going on sheer hatred for centuries. Now, the dragon armies were still mostly intact - or at least moreso than other units. They still had commanders, however, and the commanders realized that nothing but death awaited them f the war kept going. So they did something highly unusual – they made an agreement to exchange dragons, riders, and keepers, then lock them away in stasis until the time came where they would be needed again. The commander of each side, along with his staff, would oversee the 'storage' of the other side's forces, thus ensuring that everything went smoothly. "Dragons are also tied to their wealth," he said after a sip of wine. "The commanders knew this, and so they also locked away the vast hordes that each army had gathered with the dragons, so as to sustain them in their long sleep." "So why hasn't anyone unlocked them and brought them out before now?" the paladin asked. Cornelius held up a finger. "I am not done yet, my son. Patience." He took another sip of wine and continued. "The commanders selected a different location for each color dragon, someplace not likely to be found by accident. Even if they were, the lairs themselves are filled with guardians, traps, and other magical and mundane defenses. In addition, each dragon species can only be unlocked by a creature of the opposite alignment – an evil being for metallic dragons, and a good being for chromatic. Trouble is, no one is sure how to unlock the neutral dragons – the gem dragons. We know they were locked up first; all the research Ralts Bloodthorne, NahaJawen the Wanderer, and others have done indicates that each lair holds a key that can be used to unlock the neutrals, but you have to have all ten keys. And, no dragon can be awoken until all the seals have been breached." He sat forward. "The mission I have for you, if you wish to accept it, is to return the dragons to Shtar. I was given the rough locations of each of the tombs, but if you want anything more exact, you're on your own." Zargo's eyes lit up. She was obviously thinking of the potential for an epic in this. "I'm in." After some discussion, the others agreed. "So where are they?" Kariann asked. "Not here," Cornelius said. "There are too many ears to hear. I'll wait until we get back to our rooms." They spent the rest of the meal discussing their immediate plans. Since they would be leaving on a potentially world-spanning trek, they would need supplies. They decided to stay for a week and get what they needed, make connections, and gather more information. At last, they returned to their suite. Once everyone had gotten situated, Cornelius produced a scroll and laid it out on the table. "This is the list I was given," he said. "It starts with the chromatic dragons, though nothing I have heard indicates that we have to do them in any sort of order – as long as the good and evil dragons are unlocked first." [The following is the list, as read off the scroll by Cornelius: [i]White:[/i] The Angel's Mercy Plains, Vak Cinter; [i]Red:[/i] Great Carved Glacier, in the lands of the former Lich King Molinux; [i]Green:[/i] The Steps of Breketh-Khan, on Lister'in; [i]Blue:[/i] Beneath Lake Fairiespark; [i]Black:[/i] In the ruins of the elven Kingdom of Bright Sharp Leaves; [i]Gold: [/i] The Fens of Hope's Woe; [i]Bronze:[/i] The Great Poison Desert; [i]Silver:[/i] The ruins of the kingdom of Hakim-Stelit; [i]Copper:[/i] The Grimweird Backlands, NNE of Von Lon; [i]Brass:[/i] The Valley of the Stacked Skulls; [i]Amethyst:[/i] The Plains of Blood; [i]Crystal:[/i] The Eye of Karghast; [i]Sapphire:[/i] The Great Grass Sea; [i]Topaz:[/i] The Great Sandy Shallows, the ruins of the Kingdom of the Sea Elves; [i]Emerald:[/i] The Ruins of Anteniele-Traxx.] There was a few minutes of silence as the group silently digested this information. Some of the locations were already known to them: the Great Poison Desert, for example, was famous throughout Shtar as an uninhabitable wasteland that no one has ever been known to return from. The Valley of the Stacked Skulls was the site of the single largest battle in the Lch King War, where the Armies of Light were ambushed and lost 90% of their forces. Even in the present day, very few ventured there, as it is the home of fiends, undead, and restless spirits. "The Ruins of Anteniele-Traxx," Krevik said. "It figures." Zargo chuckled. Their first mission, the rite of passage into adulthood for their tribes, had been for them to go to the ruined city and find out why the magic sustaining their valley was failing. Along the way, they had slain a giant ape worshipped as a god by a band of goblins and had reawakened the magic of the city. They had also found the first pages of the legendary bard Electulu's lost epic there. There was a certain symmetry in this, events coming full circle to return them to their beginnings. "So where do we start?" the paladin asked. Cornelius pulled out a map of Shtar and spread it on the table. "My suggestion, for what its worth, is to go west, to Vak Cinter, up to Von Lon, head up to the Valley of the Stacked Skulls, and then over to the Eternal Empire on the coast of Abinay. After that… well, we can play it by ear." [The actual discussion was a little longer and more involved, but I decided to gloss over it for simplicity's sake.] "Sounds good to us," Zargo said. "We'll need to gather some more information on where, exactly, these tombs are located. The Plains of Blood, for example, covers half of Balikimayn." "Simple enough," Demetrios piped up. "I have contacts in the planes above and below; if anyone knows, they will." "So be it, then," Cornelius said. "I will inform my superiors tomorrow that you have accepted the mission, and that we have a preliminary plan laid out." "We have a week," Zargo said to the others. "I'd suggest we use it productively." The next day, the heroes split up and went to their repsecitve guilds and churches and informed their guildmasters/elders of their upcoming mission, and asked for suport. Each was allowed to borrow magic items, up to a certain limit in power and cost. Krevik set aside some time to craft a staff of the spirits, using several of his own spells. The paladin's elder mumbled something about not attending ceremonies often enough, and falling behind in his ecclesiastical duties, while rubbing his holy symbol, so he spent the week at the temple, performing church duties appropriate to one of his rank and status. [Me: "You stole that from the 2E PHB, you old hack!" Ralts: "Yes I did!"] Demetrios summoned and questioned various denizens of the upper and lower planes, gathering the exact locations of several of the tombs. At the end of the week, the group gathered once more, armed with information, magic items, and a plan. [i]Up next: the party embarks on the beginning of their next epic campaign![/i] [/QUOTE]
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