Hammerhead
Explorer
So much for loyalty to your namesake.
JollyDoc's Age of Worms!
LordVyreth
First Post
Joachim said:
On that note, what exactly has Joachim been up to lately? We've seen Entropy galavanting around the planes and interfering with other Story Hours, but her good counterpart's been pretty quiet as of late.
Solarious
Explorer
But we know WotC has no such loyalty to an outdated concept such as 'game balance'. We figured that out once they said Wildshape stacked types, you could use templates (and stack them too!Joachim said:
) on any of your polymorph effects (such as Alter Self), and they heedlessly publish badly designed PrCs that are snapped with a flick of the wrist. ![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
Not all of that is completely true, but let a WotC basher have his time in the spotlight, no?
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LordVyreth
First Post
Joachim said:
Really? I'm a little disappointed. It's one thing to retire after saving the world et. all, but leaving his old friend to run around after she betrayed him, is using some of his other friends as undead minions, and is actively trying to destroy the world seems a little reckless.
Neverwinter Knight
First Post
I thought he was up on Mount Celestia, playing dragon chess with Pez...Joachim said:
JollyDoc
Explorer
WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE…PART ONE
Grubber’s tale began several months before in Daggerford, a town along the banks of the river Delimibyr some 120 miles southeast of Waterdeep. Up until two years ago, Daggerford was ruled by a hereditary duke, Pwyll “Greatshout” Daggerford. The town was located along the Tradeway where it crossed the great river, and so was a prosperous stop-over for travelers and merchant caravans. Then, in the year 1372 DR, the Duke of Daggerford, his sister, Lady Bronwyn, and his bastard brother, Lord Llewellyn Longhand, were all three poisoned…assassinated. The duchy was left without an heir. Soon thereafter, the Town Council met and elected Lanod Ondabar of Irieabor, the little-known brother of the well-respected Delfen “Yellowknife” Ondabar, as Governor-Mayor. Rumor had it that Lanod was a compromise candidate and lesser evil in lieu of a corrupt mine manager named Balabar Smenk. As Governor-General, Lanod quickly appointed an old crony, Cubbin, as sheriff and began selling political favors to the highest bidder. In less than two years, the once proud town of Daggerford became synonymous with vice and exploitation. Long-established businesses were sold, their owners forced out by “new investors” allied with Lanod and Cubbin.
The iron and silver mines of the nearby Forlorn Hills became the town’s new boom industry, with various mine managers vying for power. But the mines were not all that lay in the hills surrounding the town. Numerous tombs and burial cairns, remnants of a half-dozen long-dead cultures, pock-marked the area. In ages past, Daggerford boasted an export much more valuable than metal in the form of treasure liberated from these sites. However, those days were long past. The last cairn in the region coughed up its treasures decades ago, and few locals paid much mind anymore to stories of yet-undiscovered tombs and unplundered burial cairns. On occasion, a handful of treasure seekers would visit the town, but few returned to Waterdeep with anything more valuable than a wall rubbing or an ancient tool fragment.
Present day Daggerford was home to hundreds of laborers who spent weeks at a time underground, breathing recycled air pumped in via systems worth ten times their combined annual salary. The miners were the chattel of Daggerford, its seething, tainted blood, but they were also its foundation. Their weekly pay cycled back into the community via a gaggle of gambling dens, bordellos, ale halls and temples. Because of the demanding and dangerous work in the mines, most of the folk who came to Daggerford were there because they had nowhere else to turn, seeking an honest trade of hard labor for subsistence-level pay simply because the system allowed them no other option. Many were foreigners displaced from native lands by war or famine. Work in a Daggerford mine was the last honest step before utter destitution or crimes of desperation. For some, it was the first step in the opposite direction: a careful work assignment to ease the burden on debtor-filled prisons, one last chance to make it in civil society.
________________________________________________
It was this set of circumstances, in this particular community that led to the formation of the League. The first official member was a young man, barely more than a boy actually, named Gideon. Gideon was of unknown parentage, found abandoned on the steps of the temple of Tyr, which happened to be located in the local garrison of the Waterdavian Guard. The high priest of the temple, Valkus Dun, immediately recognized that there was something unique about the boy. This became obvious to all when Gideon sprouted a pair of large, white, feathery wings at puberty. Valkus took this as a sign that the lad had been touched, favored by Tyr himself, and he endeavored to teach Gideon the stern philosophy of the Even-handed One. Gideon took these teachings to heart, but he did not feel the calling of the clergy. Instead, he looked upon the suffering that surrounded him every day in Daggerford, and took it upon himself to do something about the corruption that was the source of the town’s rot.
Vladius was born the son of a Thayan merchant loyal more to the Temple of Kossuth than to the Order of the Red Wizards. Kossuth blessed the boy with a touch of fire, making him a genasi. While it was not apparent to any around Vladius of his nature, his elemental bloodline was recognized by one of the local Red Wizard zulkirs, who demanded that the ‘boy’ be given for formal training as a Red Wizard. Sadly, the merchant gave his son to the cruel tutelage of the wizards. Vladius learned of his mixed blood, and came to accept it, but when the opportunity arose he fled the academy as well as the depredations and evil of Red Wizardry. He could not return home, for that would surely mean the death of his family, so he chose to continue south, across the Sea of Fallen Stars, landing eventually in Daggerford. There, he found employment as a local prestidigitator at the Emporium, pleasing the masses (and separating them from their hard earned coin) with his minor spells and cantrips.
It was not long before Vladius came to know Gideon, whom he recognized to also have blood mixed with creatures from outside the Prime Material Plane. The two young men, having somewhat similar outlooks on law and stability, became fast friends and commonly spent their off-hours together dreaming of adventure and excitement. This friendship served as the starting point and foundation block for “The League”. In time, Vladius’ skill with magic brought him to the attention of Delfen Ondabar, and the mage offered him an apprenticeship, which the young wizard eagerly accepted, hoping to grow in skill and power so that he would never again have to fear enslavement.
Grubber was born in a small goliath tent city in the mountains of Chessenta. The goliaths, being very close to the earth and rock as well as of a balanced view on good/evil/law/chaos, were some of the more staunch followers of Grumbar the Earthfather. So it was with Grubber, and he became an apprentice to the high shaman of the tribe. Trouble beset Grubber when he and the tribal chieftain’s daughter fell in love, as it was strictly forbidden for Grumbar’s goliath clergy to marry. Their eyes were supposed to be kept solidly on the flock, not on personal interests. The affair between Grubber and his love was quickly exposed, and the young goliath was exiled for his dereliction to the needs of the tribe. Dejected and without other prospects, Grubber soon found himself in Daggerford as a miner, working for Balabar Smenk. His large size and great strength, as well as his skill with a hammer, made him well suited for his new position. At no time did the goliath explain his former role, keeping his magic and his prayers to himself, until one evening at the Emporium.
A fiery-looking young man with flaming red hair approached Grubber at his table. Vladius had been watching the giant for weeks, and knew that he could be the kind of muscle that he and Gideon needed in their gang. Learning that the goliath had some degree of divine spell casting only sweetened the deal. By the end of the conversation, Grubber had made himself a new friend and had committed himself to membership in a new adventuring group, should the opportunity ever arise. He welcomed the opportunity to better himself outside of the stale air of the mine, as well as bring some street justice to the local gangs.
Grim hailed from Citadel Adbar, one of the largest and most influential dwarven strongholds on Toril. Like many dwarves, he was trained in the art of martial warfare, and was skilled with any blade that you put in his hands. He was training in the Temple of Gorm Gulthyn, dwarven god of protection and defense, to be a church templar when he was approached by one of the priests with an opportunity. He was offered the chance to undergo the Rite of Stone whereby his essence would be mixed with that of a minor earth elemental. The end result would be that the dwarf would be forever changed, his flesh transformed to that of living stone. He would be more powerful and well protected than any average dwarf, but in repayment for the gift he would have to serve one of the dwarf nobles on the surface for one year. The noble, a merchant by trade named Derval Ironeater, was a master smith located in the town of Daggerford. His brother, Derwin, managed a mine in the town as well. The vein on which the mine had been placed ran true with pure metal, and could be fashioned by dwarf artisans. The trade between the miners was critical to the craftsman of Adbar, and as such the noble’s protection was of utmost importance. Thus the reason that Gorm’s clergy had been contacted.
Grim’s time with the noble was pleasant, with little to report. Just the rocky dwarf’s presence was commonly enough to end problems before they were started, and Derval came to see Grim not only as a bodyguard but as sort of a spiritual advisor. The year of servitude came and went, and Grim elected to remain on an interim basis. This was partly due to the Derval’s fair treatment and their friendship, but was mostly due to outside contacts that Grim had made. Through Derval, Grim had become familiar with the local Governor-Mayor as well as Derwin.
Grim also befriended several locals, including a winged freak follower of Tyr, who told him that he and his wizard buddy were putting together a new adventuring party. The prospects sounded very, very interesting as well as potentially lucrative.
Shay had been on the run. Those damnable Shadow Lords were after him. It was not without deep consideration that he had been selected for the Rite of Shadow Walking, but then he subsequently decided that he was too ‘moral’ to follow through with the guild master’s orders. Those orders had been to assassinate a local merchant’s five year old son in order to apply pressure to the man. That was enough to convince Shay to get the hell out of Turmish. But where would he go? Where would be so remote that he would never be found? The only place so large that a person could disappear…Waterdeep.
Waterdeep was far away, but was outside the long reach of the Shadow Lords. He wasn’t worth that much trouble to the nefarious group of thieves and assassins…was he? Stowing away on a series of merchant caravans, Shay found himself in Daggerford, a town bustling with sheep to fleece. The rogue decided that it would be the perfect place to get lost in…the Shadow Lords would never find him in that wretched mud hole.
For a time, Shay made a living on petty theft, and lived at the Daggerford Inn, a converted warehouse that was home to nearly a hundred pitiful indigents. During his stay there, Shay met Gideon, who on occasion would minister to the poor and pathetic. Gideon, sensing skill and good in Shay, offered him a chance at redemption…and adventure!
_____________________________________________________
At first, the League was more of a concept, an ideal if you will, than an actual entity. The stated purpose of Gideon and his friends was to ultimately rid Daggerford of corruption by starting at a grassroots level. They imagined themselves to be vigilantes of a sort…foiling mugging attempts, helping little old ladies cross the street…that kind of thing. In truth, they spent most of their time at the Happy Cow, a seedy tavern that held dog fighting competitions each night. Here they discussed their grand plans and how they might accomplish them, but came no closer to acting on those plans.
Everything changed the night three strangers from Waterdeep appeared in town. They were so-called adventurers, come to explore the ancient ruins in the hills and claim the hidden riches there. The citizens of Daggerford were used to this sort of thing, but this trio, two men named Auric and Khellek (the very same that now comprised Auric’s Warband in the Champion’s Games) and a woman named Tirra, were not dissuaded by the locals assurances that all of the cairns and tombs had been tapped out. They were determined that one such, known locally as the Stirgenest, still had secrets to reveal.
Word and rumor traveled fast in Daggerford, and the members of the League soon got wind of this new venture. This gave Gideon an idea. Having spent his entire life in Daggerford, he knew of another tomb, know to the local youth as the Whispering Cairn. A teenager had stumbled across it near an abandoned iron mine some ten years ago, and since then, adolescents had been daring each other on occasion to step inside to prove their bravery. Occasionally, when the wind was just right, haunting, almost magical tones were said to emerge from the depths of the forlorn tomb. Gideon related all of this to his companions, telling them that if there was reason to believe that even one cairn might yet hold hidden secrets, then the Whispering Cairn might be the one.
Eager for a chance at real adventure, the companions set out for the location, which lay a half-day's walk from Daggerford. The Whispering Cairn did indeed have mysteries yet to reveal, and it wasn’t long before the young members of the League found themselves facing true, life-threatening danger. Within the ancient halls, they discovered several deadly traps, and also living inhabitants, such as a wolf pack, and swarms of carnivorous beetles. The artwork, statuary and carvings of the tomb seemed to indicate that it belonged to a member of some long-forgotten race of tall, hairless humanoids called the Wind Dukes of Calim.
Eventually, the group made their way past the maze of traps to a room spanned by a single wooden beam, which served as a bridge across a sea of iron balls. As they crossed the beam, more iron balls were fired at them from hidden holes in the walls. Ultimately, the young adventurers were able to avoid the deadly barrage and defeat a grick which lurked in the spheres below them, only to encounter the ghost of a boy named Alastor Land. The ghost briefly possessed Grim, and then related to the others that he had stumbled across the cairn thirty years before, having run away from home, only to die in this very room. Since that time, he had been cursed to haunt the chamber until someone would agree to take his bones back to his family’s farm and bury them with his family. In exchange for this, he offered to open an impassable door, which he said led to a glorious chamber full of riches.
The group agreed, and unearthed the boy’s bones. They took them to the farmstead Alastor had described, to find it abandoned and decrepit. Furthermore, the graves of the boy’s family had been recently dug up, and no trace of the bodies remained. Further search of the farm brought the team face-to-face with a wounded owlbear that had taken up residence in the farmhouse. After killing the beast, they discovered evidence of a recent fight, including an intact human arm. This arm bore a tattoo which Grubber recognized as one used by a gang of toughs that worked for Balabar Smenk. This gang was led by an albino half-orc named Kullen, and it was common knowledge that he and his boys frequented the Happy Cow.
That night, the League confronted Kullen and his gang at the tavern. At first, the brute denied knowing anything, but a subtle threat to turn him in for grave robbing to the Cult of the Ascended Lovers, a local sect that venerated Kelemvor and Mystra and warded the town’s burial sites, convinced him to come clean. He told them that Smenk had ordered them to assist an associate of his by the name of Filge who had recently moved into an abandoned observatory at the edge of town. Filge’s only request had been for the gang to procure for him corpses, which Kullen and his lads had taken from the old Land farm precisely to avoid any entanglements with the CoAL.
The obvious next step for the League was to investigate the observatory. Once inside, they found the skeletons of the Lands almost immediately…they were animated and armed with crossbows! Filge, it seemed, was a necromancer. All throughout the building the party encountered animate corpses and evidence of past murders. Finally, they cornered Filge himself, and after a pitched battle, they managed to beat him into submission. He revealed that he and Smenk were old acquaintances, and that Smenk had contacted him to come to Daggerford from Waterdeep to help him out of a jam. It seemed that Smenk had been involved in a business deal with Derwin Ironeater, the dwarven manager of the Ironeater Mine. At some point, Derwin had taken Smenk into a hidden part of the mines, which, according to Smenk, was crawling with awful beasts in hooded robes. They were part of a cult which called themselves the Ebon Triad, and they said they were preparing for something called the Age of Worms. They mentioned the dead walking in the Forlorn Hills and the Lizard Marsh. Smenk knew that he’d gotten in over his head, so he had written to Filge, hoping that his knowledge of necromancy would be of use. Filge had actually heard of the Age of Worms. It was known as the Waiting Age, an era of catastrophe. Scholars of apocalyptic visions claimed that its advent would signal an interminable period of suffering in which the cosmic scales would shift disastrously towards evil and light would fade from the land. Filge also knew something of the Ebon Triad, but only what Smenk had told him. Apparently they worshiped the so-called Dead Three, Bane Bhaal and Myrkul, although technically, only two were really dead. Smenk had also stolen from the mine a jar containing a strange, green worm. Filge said it came from a powerful undead creature known as a Spawn of Kyuss. Kyuss was a being rumored to have existed a thousand years ago in a place called Skullgorge. Known as ‘the Harbinger of the Age of Worms,’ he was said to have created dozens of new undead breeds and amassed a legion of creatures bound to his will. It was also said that an undead dragon had stood at his side, acting as the general of his forces.
Reluctantly, the adventurers released Filge, after exacting from him a promise to leave Daggerford and never return. They gathered the remains of Alastor’s family and returned them to their graves, burying Alastor’s bones along side them. From there, they went back to the Whispering Cairn, and this time the doorway to the hidden part of the tomb was now open, just as Alastor had promised. Beyond, they did indeed find a magnificent chamber, consisting of a central pit ringed by stone walkways, and containing a huge pillar of air in its midst. No sooner had they entered the room, than two creatures which looked like ancient suits of ceramic armor, each wielding a pair of longswords, flew from the pillar and attacked them. The battle was harrowing, but in the end the guardians were defeated, crumbling into dust as the magic that sustained them dispersed.
Beyond the chamber, the League discovered the final resting place of a Wind Duke named Zosiel. Interred with his remains were a silver diadem, a pair of long, slightly curved black horns with red tips, and a strange adamantine loop of metal attached to a long handle. Bas-reliefs on the wall of the tomb showed a Wind Duke facing a cloaked creature with horns identical to the ones in the sarcophagus. The creature was wielding the adamantine loop to control a sphere of absolute blackness, which was shown touching the Wind Duke, and destroying him.
The no-longer naïve adventurers took their spoils, and their new-found knowledge and returned to Daggerford. Vladius suggested they approach his master, Delfen Ondabar, with the information they had discovered and seek his advice. This they did, and the old mage was delighted to see the ancient artifacts. He told the group that the Wind Dukes had been a race of djinni generals of the Calim Empire in what was now Calimshan. Their ancient foes were the armies of Memnonnar, led by the great efreet general Memnon in service to Kossuth, the elemental Lord of Fire. The Era of Skyfire ended thousands of years ago in the destruction of both genie-led empires and the creation of the Calim Desert. The Scepter of Calim was a symbol of the djinn’s sovereignty in the lands south of what was now the River Agis, until it was shattered by the elven High Mages of Keltormir. It was now known as the Shattered Scepter of Calim. It was rumored that the djinni buried their dead in the cold, unclaimed lands of northern Faerun, putting them far beyond the grasp of Memnon’s tomb-raiding legions. Delfen also knew that the strange metal loop was called a Talisman of the Sphere, used to control Spheres of Annihilation, which were holes in the continuity of the multiverse, destroying anything they touched. After the Era of Skyfire, it was rumored that the Wind Dukes scattered the Spheres to the corners of the planes.
Far more disturbing to Delfen was the information the adventurers had wrung out of Filge. Delfen himself had recently unearthed increasing evidence of strange, undead creatures infested with tiny green worms stalking the Forlorn Hills. If what half Filge said was true, Daggerford could be in great danger. At his urging, the League decided to investigate the matter further, starting with the Ironeater Mine.
Grubber’s tale began several months before in Daggerford, a town along the banks of the river Delimibyr some 120 miles southeast of Waterdeep. Up until two years ago, Daggerford was ruled by a hereditary duke, Pwyll “Greatshout” Daggerford. The town was located along the Tradeway where it crossed the great river, and so was a prosperous stop-over for travelers and merchant caravans. Then, in the year 1372 DR, the Duke of Daggerford, his sister, Lady Bronwyn, and his bastard brother, Lord Llewellyn Longhand, were all three poisoned…assassinated. The duchy was left without an heir. Soon thereafter, the Town Council met and elected Lanod Ondabar of Irieabor, the little-known brother of the well-respected Delfen “Yellowknife” Ondabar, as Governor-Mayor. Rumor had it that Lanod was a compromise candidate and lesser evil in lieu of a corrupt mine manager named Balabar Smenk. As Governor-General, Lanod quickly appointed an old crony, Cubbin, as sheriff and began selling political favors to the highest bidder. In less than two years, the once proud town of Daggerford became synonymous with vice and exploitation. Long-established businesses were sold, their owners forced out by “new investors” allied with Lanod and Cubbin.
The iron and silver mines of the nearby Forlorn Hills became the town’s new boom industry, with various mine managers vying for power. But the mines were not all that lay in the hills surrounding the town. Numerous tombs and burial cairns, remnants of a half-dozen long-dead cultures, pock-marked the area. In ages past, Daggerford boasted an export much more valuable than metal in the form of treasure liberated from these sites. However, those days were long past. The last cairn in the region coughed up its treasures decades ago, and few locals paid much mind anymore to stories of yet-undiscovered tombs and unplundered burial cairns. On occasion, a handful of treasure seekers would visit the town, but few returned to Waterdeep with anything more valuable than a wall rubbing or an ancient tool fragment.
Present day Daggerford was home to hundreds of laborers who spent weeks at a time underground, breathing recycled air pumped in via systems worth ten times their combined annual salary. The miners were the chattel of Daggerford, its seething, tainted blood, but they were also its foundation. Their weekly pay cycled back into the community via a gaggle of gambling dens, bordellos, ale halls and temples. Because of the demanding and dangerous work in the mines, most of the folk who came to Daggerford were there because they had nowhere else to turn, seeking an honest trade of hard labor for subsistence-level pay simply because the system allowed them no other option. Many were foreigners displaced from native lands by war or famine. Work in a Daggerford mine was the last honest step before utter destitution or crimes of desperation. For some, it was the first step in the opposite direction: a careful work assignment to ease the burden on debtor-filled prisons, one last chance to make it in civil society.
________________________________________________
It was this set of circumstances, in this particular community that led to the formation of the League. The first official member was a young man, barely more than a boy actually, named Gideon. Gideon was of unknown parentage, found abandoned on the steps of the temple of Tyr, which happened to be located in the local garrison of the Waterdavian Guard. The high priest of the temple, Valkus Dun, immediately recognized that there was something unique about the boy. This became obvious to all when Gideon sprouted a pair of large, white, feathery wings at puberty. Valkus took this as a sign that the lad had been touched, favored by Tyr himself, and he endeavored to teach Gideon the stern philosophy of the Even-handed One. Gideon took these teachings to heart, but he did not feel the calling of the clergy. Instead, he looked upon the suffering that surrounded him every day in Daggerford, and took it upon himself to do something about the corruption that was the source of the town’s rot.
Vladius was born the son of a Thayan merchant loyal more to the Temple of Kossuth than to the Order of the Red Wizards. Kossuth blessed the boy with a touch of fire, making him a genasi. While it was not apparent to any around Vladius of his nature, his elemental bloodline was recognized by one of the local Red Wizard zulkirs, who demanded that the ‘boy’ be given for formal training as a Red Wizard. Sadly, the merchant gave his son to the cruel tutelage of the wizards. Vladius learned of his mixed blood, and came to accept it, but when the opportunity arose he fled the academy as well as the depredations and evil of Red Wizardry. He could not return home, for that would surely mean the death of his family, so he chose to continue south, across the Sea of Fallen Stars, landing eventually in Daggerford. There, he found employment as a local prestidigitator at the Emporium, pleasing the masses (and separating them from their hard earned coin) with his minor spells and cantrips.
It was not long before Vladius came to know Gideon, whom he recognized to also have blood mixed with creatures from outside the Prime Material Plane. The two young men, having somewhat similar outlooks on law and stability, became fast friends and commonly spent their off-hours together dreaming of adventure and excitement. This friendship served as the starting point and foundation block for “The League”. In time, Vladius’ skill with magic brought him to the attention of Delfen Ondabar, and the mage offered him an apprenticeship, which the young wizard eagerly accepted, hoping to grow in skill and power so that he would never again have to fear enslavement.
Grubber was born in a small goliath tent city in the mountains of Chessenta. The goliaths, being very close to the earth and rock as well as of a balanced view on good/evil/law/chaos, were some of the more staunch followers of Grumbar the Earthfather. So it was with Grubber, and he became an apprentice to the high shaman of the tribe. Trouble beset Grubber when he and the tribal chieftain’s daughter fell in love, as it was strictly forbidden for Grumbar’s goliath clergy to marry. Their eyes were supposed to be kept solidly on the flock, not on personal interests. The affair between Grubber and his love was quickly exposed, and the young goliath was exiled for his dereliction to the needs of the tribe. Dejected and without other prospects, Grubber soon found himself in Daggerford as a miner, working for Balabar Smenk. His large size and great strength, as well as his skill with a hammer, made him well suited for his new position. At no time did the goliath explain his former role, keeping his magic and his prayers to himself, until one evening at the Emporium.
A fiery-looking young man with flaming red hair approached Grubber at his table. Vladius had been watching the giant for weeks, and knew that he could be the kind of muscle that he and Gideon needed in their gang. Learning that the goliath had some degree of divine spell casting only sweetened the deal. By the end of the conversation, Grubber had made himself a new friend and had committed himself to membership in a new adventuring group, should the opportunity ever arise. He welcomed the opportunity to better himself outside of the stale air of the mine, as well as bring some street justice to the local gangs.
Grim hailed from Citadel Adbar, one of the largest and most influential dwarven strongholds on Toril. Like many dwarves, he was trained in the art of martial warfare, and was skilled with any blade that you put in his hands. He was training in the Temple of Gorm Gulthyn, dwarven god of protection and defense, to be a church templar when he was approached by one of the priests with an opportunity. He was offered the chance to undergo the Rite of Stone whereby his essence would be mixed with that of a minor earth elemental. The end result would be that the dwarf would be forever changed, his flesh transformed to that of living stone. He would be more powerful and well protected than any average dwarf, but in repayment for the gift he would have to serve one of the dwarf nobles on the surface for one year. The noble, a merchant by trade named Derval Ironeater, was a master smith located in the town of Daggerford. His brother, Derwin, managed a mine in the town as well. The vein on which the mine had been placed ran true with pure metal, and could be fashioned by dwarf artisans. The trade between the miners was critical to the craftsman of Adbar, and as such the noble’s protection was of utmost importance. Thus the reason that Gorm’s clergy had been contacted.
Grim’s time with the noble was pleasant, with little to report. Just the rocky dwarf’s presence was commonly enough to end problems before they were started, and Derval came to see Grim not only as a bodyguard but as sort of a spiritual advisor. The year of servitude came and went, and Grim elected to remain on an interim basis. This was partly due to the Derval’s fair treatment and their friendship, but was mostly due to outside contacts that Grim had made. Through Derval, Grim had become familiar with the local Governor-Mayor as well as Derwin.
Grim also befriended several locals, including a winged freak follower of Tyr, who told him that he and his wizard buddy were putting together a new adventuring party. The prospects sounded very, very interesting as well as potentially lucrative.
Shay had been on the run. Those damnable Shadow Lords were after him. It was not without deep consideration that he had been selected for the Rite of Shadow Walking, but then he subsequently decided that he was too ‘moral’ to follow through with the guild master’s orders. Those orders had been to assassinate a local merchant’s five year old son in order to apply pressure to the man. That was enough to convince Shay to get the hell out of Turmish. But where would he go? Where would be so remote that he would never be found? The only place so large that a person could disappear…Waterdeep.
Waterdeep was far away, but was outside the long reach of the Shadow Lords. He wasn’t worth that much trouble to the nefarious group of thieves and assassins…was he? Stowing away on a series of merchant caravans, Shay found himself in Daggerford, a town bustling with sheep to fleece. The rogue decided that it would be the perfect place to get lost in…the Shadow Lords would never find him in that wretched mud hole.
For a time, Shay made a living on petty theft, and lived at the Daggerford Inn, a converted warehouse that was home to nearly a hundred pitiful indigents. During his stay there, Shay met Gideon, who on occasion would minister to the poor and pathetic. Gideon, sensing skill and good in Shay, offered him a chance at redemption…and adventure!
_____________________________________________________
At first, the League was more of a concept, an ideal if you will, than an actual entity. The stated purpose of Gideon and his friends was to ultimately rid Daggerford of corruption by starting at a grassroots level. They imagined themselves to be vigilantes of a sort…foiling mugging attempts, helping little old ladies cross the street…that kind of thing. In truth, they spent most of their time at the Happy Cow, a seedy tavern that held dog fighting competitions each night. Here they discussed their grand plans and how they might accomplish them, but came no closer to acting on those plans.
Everything changed the night three strangers from Waterdeep appeared in town. They were so-called adventurers, come to explore the ancient ruins in the hills and claim the hidden riches there. The citizens of Daggerford were used to this sort of thing, but this trio, two men named Auric and Khellek (the very same that now comprised Auric’s Warband in the Champion’s Games) and a woman named Tirra, were not dissuaded by the locals assurances that all of the cairns and tombs had been tapped out. They were determined that one such, known locally as the Stirgenest, still had secrets to reveal.
Word and rumor traveled fast in Daggerford, and the members of the League soon got wind of this new venture. This gave Gideon an idea. Having spent his entire life in Daggerford, he knew of another tomb, know to the local youth as the Whispering Cairn. A teenager had stumbled across it near an abandoned iron mine some ten years ago, and since then, adolescents had been daring each other on occasion to step inside to prove their bravery. Occasionally, when the wind was just right, haunting, almost magical tones were said to emerge from the depths of the forlorn tomb. Gideon related all of this to his companions, telling them that if there was reason to believe that even one cairn might yet hold hidden secrets, then the Whispering Cairn might be the one.
Eager for a chance at real adventure, the companions set out for the location, which lay a half-day's walk from Daggerford. The Whispering Cairn did indeed have mysteries yet to reveal, and it wasn’t long before the young members of the League found themselves facing true, life-threatening danger. Within the ancient halls, they discovered several deadly traps, and also living inhabitants, such as a wolf pack, and swarms of carnivorous beetles. The artwork, statuary and carvings of the tomb seemed to indicate that it belonged to a member of some long-forgotten race of tall, hairless humanoids called the Wind Dukes of Calim.
Eventually, the group made their way past the maze of traps to a room spanned by a single wooden beam, which served as a bridge across a sea of iron balls. As they crossed the beam, more iron balls were fired at them from hidden holes in the walls. Ultimately, the young adventurers were able to avoid the deadly barrage and defeat a grick which lurked in the spheres below them, only to encounter the ghost of a boy named Alastor Land. The ghost briefly possessed Grim, and then related to the others that he had stumbled across the cairn thirty years before, having run away from home, only to die in this very room. Since that time, he had been cursed to haunt the chamber until someone would agree to take his bones back to his family’s farm and bury them with his family. In exchange for this, he offered to open an impassable door, which he said led to a glorious chamber full of riches.
The group agreed, and unearthed the boy’s bones. They took them to the farmstead Alastor had described, to find it abandoned and decrepit. Furthermore, the graves of the boy’s family had been recently dug up, and no trace of the bodies remained. Further search of the farm brought the team face-to-face with a wounded owlbear that had taken up residence in the farmhouse. After killing the beast, they discovered evidence of a recent fight, including an intact human arm. This arm bore a tattoo which Grubber recognized as one used by a gang of toughs that worked for Balabar Smenk. This gang was led by an albino half-orc named Kullen, and it was common knowledge that he and his boys frequented the Happy Cow.
That night, the League confronted Kullen and his gang at the tavern. At first, the brute denied knowing anything, but a subtle threat to turn him in for grave robbing to the Cult of the Ascended Lovers, a local sect that venerated Kelemvor and Mystra and warded the town’s burial sites, convinced him to come clean. He told them that Smenk had ordered them to assist an associate of his by the name of Filge who had recently moved into an abandoned observatory at the edge of town. Filge’s only request had been for the gang to procure for him corpses, which Kullen and his lads had taken from the old Land farm precisely to avoid any entanglements with the CoAL.
The obvious next step for the League was to investigate the observatory. Once inside, they found the skeletons of the Lands almost immediately…they were animated and armed with crossbows! Filge, it seemed, was a necromancer. All throughout the building the party encountered animate corpses and evidence of past murders. Finally, they cornered Filge himself, and after a pitched battle, they managed to beat him into submission. He revealed that he and Smenk were old acquaintances, and that Smenk had contacted him to come to Daggerford from Waterdeep to help him out of a jam. It seemed that Smenk had been involved in a business deal with Derwin Ironeater, the dwarven manager of the Ironeater Mine. At some point, Derwin had taken Smenk into a hidden part of the mines, which, according to Smenk, was crawling with awful beasts in hooded robes. They were part of a cult which called themselves the Ebon Triad, and they said they were preparing for something called the Age of Worms. They mentioned the dead walking in the Forlorn Hills and the Lizard Marsh. Smenk knew that he’d gotten in over his head, so he had written to Filge, hoping that his knowledge of necromancy would be of use. Filge had actually heard of the Age of Worms. It was known as the Waiting Age, an era of catastrophe. Scholars of apocalyptic visions claimed that its advent would signal an interminable period of suffering in which the cosmic scales would shift disastrously towards evil and light would fade from the land. Filge also knew something of the Ebon Triad, but only what Smenk had told him. Apparently they worshiped the so-called Dead Three, Bane Bhaal and Myrkul, although technically, only two were really dead. Smenk had also stolen from the mine a jar containing a strange, green worm. Filge said it came from a powerful undead creature known as a Spawn of Kyuss. Kyuss was a being rumored to have existed a thousand years ago in a place called Skullgorge. Known as ‘the Harbinger of the Age of Worms,’ he was said to have created dozens of new undead breeds and amassed a legion of creatures bound to his will. It was also said that an undead dragon had stood at his side, acting as the general of his forces.
Reluctantly, the adventurers released Filge, after exacting from him a promise to leave Daggerford and never return. They gathered the remains of Alastor’s family and returned them to their graves, burying Alastor’s bones along side them. From there, they went back to the Whispering Cairn, and this time the doorway to the hidden part of the tomb was now open, just as Alastor had promised. Beyond, they did indeed find a magnificent chamber, consisting of a central pit ringed by stone walkways, and containing a huge pillar of air in its midst. No sooner had they entered the room, than two creatures which looked like ancient suits of ceramic armor, each wielding a pair of longswords, flew from the pillar and attacked them. The battle was harrowing, but in the end the guardians were defeated, crumbling into dust as the magic that sustained them dispersed.
Beyond the chamber, the League discovered the final resting place of a Wind Duke named Zosiel. Interred with his remains were a silver diadem, a pair of long, slightly curved black horns with red tips, and a strange adamantine loop of metal attached to a long handle. Bas-reliefs on the wall of the tomb showed a Wind Duke facing a cloaked creature with horns identical to the ones in the sarcophagus. The creature was wielding the adamantine loop to control a sphere of absolute blackness, which was shown touching the Wind Duke, and destroying him.
The no-longer naïve adventurers took their spoils, and their new-found knowledge and returned to Daggerford. Vladius suggested they approach his master, Delfen Ondabar, with the information they had discovered and seek his advice. This they did, and the old mage was delighted to see the ancient artifacts. He told the group that the Wind Dukes had been a race of djinni generals of the Calim Empire in what was now Calimshan. Their ancient foes were the armies of Memnonnar, led by the great efreet general Memnon in service to Kossuth, the elemental Lord of Fire. The Era of Skyfire ended thousands of years ago in the destruction of both genie-led empires and the creation of the Calim Desert. The Scepter of Calim was a symbol of the djinn’s sovereignty in the lands south of what was now the River Agis, until it was shattered by the elven High Mages of Keltormir. It was now known as the Shattered Scepter of Calim. It was rumored that the djinni buried their dead in the cold, unclaimed lands of northern Faerun, putting them far beyond the grasp of Memnon’s tomb-raiding legions. Delfen also knew that the strange metal loop was called a Talisman of the Sphere, used to control Spheres of Annihilation, which were holes in the continuity of the multiverse, destroying anything they touched. After the Era of Skyfire, it was rumored that the Wind Dukes scattered the Spheres to the corners of the planes.
Far more disturbing to Delfen was the information the adventurers had wrung out of Filge. Delfen himself had recently unearthed increasing evidence of strange, undead creatures infested with tiny green worms stalking the Forlorn Hills. If what half Filge said was true, Daggerford could be in great danger. At his urging, the League decided to investigate the matter further, starting with the Ironeater Mine.
R-Hero
Explorer
Civilar Hawk Veritas, (Capt. America)
Male Aasimar Paladin (CW) 6-Anointed Knight 2
hp 77; Init +0; Spd 20;
AC:23 (Flatfooted:23 Touch:10); Divine Shield 28
Atk +11/6 base melee, +8/3 base ranged;
+12/7 (1d10+4, +1 Sword, bastard);
+12/7 (1d6+4, +1 Shield, heavy spiked);
SQ: Daylight, Darkvision 60 ft.,
Resistance: Acid, Electricity & Cold 5,
Unbroken Flesh Damage Reduction: 3/- (Annointed Knight)
SV Fort +16, Ref +8, Will +12;
STR 16, DEX 10, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 12, CHA 22.
Skills: Bluff +9, Craft (Alchemy) +4, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +9, Gather Information +9, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Listen +3, Speak Language +5, Spellcraft +4, Spot +3.
Feats: Ancestral Relic, Divine Shield,
Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Sword, bastard, Improved Shield Bash
Possessions:
Veritas Family Relic
+1 Bastard Sword of Stunning, Holy and Lightning Surge (8,335 gp);
2d6 extra damage (quickened action) Holy & Lightning,
Stun Resist DC 20 Reflex (Failure= 1d4+1 rounds stunned)
Charisma Based, +6 times a day.
Sunder Resistance (Hardness 22 Hp 25 Anointed Knight)
+1 Shield, heavy spiked (2,010 gp). +1 Full plate (2,650 gp).
Circlet of Persuasion (4,500 gp); Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2,000 gp);
Cloak of Charisma +3 (Spc. Order) (9,000 gp).
+2 Unholy Burst Dagger (32,000) : Coin: gp (3536)
All Weapons wielded by Hawk are Good aligned for damage reduction.
Turn Undead 9 times a day
And then there is always Alieese……
Male Aasimar Paladin (CW) 6-Anointed Knight 2
hp 77; Init +0; Spd 20;
AC:23 (Flatfooted:23 Touch:10); Divine Shield 28
Atk +11/6 base melee, +8/3 base ranged;
+12/7 (1d10+4, +1 Sword, bastard);
+12/7 (1d6+4, +1 Shield, heavy spiked);
SQ: Daylight, Darkvision 60 ft.,
Resistance: Acid, Electricity & Cold 5,
Unbroken Flesh Damage Reduction: 3/- (Annointed Knight)
SV Fort +16, Ref +8, Will +12;
STR 16, DEX 10, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 12, CHA 22.
Skills: Bluff +9, Craft (Alchemy) +4, Diplomacy +9, Disguise +9, Gather Information +9, Intimidate +9, Knowledge (Arcana) +4, Listen +3, Speak Language +5, Spellcraft +4, Spot +3.
Feats: Ancestral Relic, Divine Shield,
Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Sword, bastard, Improved Shield Bash
Possessions:
Veritas Family Relic
+1 Bastard Sword of Stunning, Holy and Lightning Surge (8,335 gp);
2d6 extra damage (quickened action) Holy & Lightning,
Stun Resist DC 20 Reflex (Failure= 1d4+1 rounds stunned)
Charisma Based, +6 times a day.
Sunder Resistance (Hardness 22 Hp 25 Anointed Knight)
+1 Shield, heavy spiked (2,010 gp). +1 Full plate (2,650 gp).
Circlet of Persuasion (4,500 gp); Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2,000 gp);
Cloak of Charisma +3 (Spc. Order) (9,000 gp).
+2 Unholy Burst Dagger (32,000) : Coin: gp (3536)
All Weapons wielded by Hawk are Good aligned for damage reduction.
Turn Undead 9 times a day
And then there is always Alieese……
Last edited:
Neverwinter Knight
First Post
Wow, it seems the group has ended the confrontations without killing their opponents. Impressive !!!
I doubt the next installment will be as peaceful, though.
Great update and interesting character! Joachim, will we get to see Gideon as well (although we know he didn't make it) ??? Pleeeeeaaaase...
I doubt the next installment will be as peaceful, though.
Great update and interesting character! Joachim, will we get to see Gideon as well (although we know he didn't make it) ??? Pleeeeeaaaase...
