An Arcanis campaign.
Chapter 1: Everything and Nothing
Doctus 1, the one thousand and twenty-fourth year of the Imperial Calender.
A lone tower sits at the edge of the city of Aliegis. Within this tower lived the great wizard Vinus Callus, servant of the previous emperor and man of great honor. With him lift his younger herald, student, and servitor of Kioish stock who went by the name of Vanya. She had been entrusted to Vinus Callus’ care years ago after he discovered something very special about her.
This something was very important to both him and the empire as a whole, and it was why he called upon the others who are important to this chapter of this story. One by one he sent messages to those whose aid he needed, using tiny magical constructs designed just for this purpose. Each one was brought a scroll requiring their presence at his tower within the month.
Gideon val’Virdan (1), fiery haired inhabitant of the great city of Coryan, was brought his scroll by his superior in the priesthood of Nier (2), Canus val’Virdan. He suggested that Gideon should go in order to see what the wizard wanted and how it could aid the cause of Nier in the Empire. He was informed that within Aliegis there was a member of their organization, named Inus Taras, who he should deliver any information he received too. Gideon val’Virdan agreed eagerly, as a true Nierite would, and began to pack for his journey.
Demetrius (3), drug-dealer and enforcer for the Iron Star lotus cartel in the city of Coryan, was approached by a small construct of shadow that gave him his scroll. While this might cause a normal man to pause and wonder at the oddness of its arrival, Demetrius was not a normal man. He was a dark-kin, descended from fiendish sires, and touched by the reaches of the netherworld. Plus he was not a particularly wise man and it did not occur to him to think that this was odd. He did know better than to just trust a scroll delivered to him and went to ask around for information on Vinus Callus. His informants directed to him visit a scholar by the name of Zanus, a customer of the Iron Star. Zanus was able to inform him of who Vinus Callus was after reassurances that he would be given ten ounces of purple lotus within the next day or two. Demetrius than checked with his boss about getting some time off (his boss basically did not care about it. He was hopped up on purple lots powder at the time though) and booked passage on a ship heading to Aliegis.
Blackscale (4), hunter of the Black Talon Ss’ressen (6) had returned from his latest hunting expedition to find the shaman of his tribe. He handed him a scroll, forgetting that he could not read, much less speak, the Coryani language. Blackscale informed the shaman of this, and the shaman apologized, relating to him the contents and telling him that he had consulted with the spirits that served the Fire Dragon and had been informed that it was in the best interests of the tribe if he went and saw this human wizard. Blackscale, being a dutiful servant of his people, agreed.
Avalon val’Assante(6), magically talented daughter of a noble of the great city of Coryan, was hidden away in the basement of the family estate, brewing various herbal and chemical concoctions. Her mother brought her the letter and encouraged her to agree to Vinus Callus’ request. She secretly wanted her daughter to leave the confines of the basement and get the neighbors to talk less. Getting her to visit a great and renowned servant of the Empire would serve to solve both of the problems. Avalon was amiable to the idea of traveling and, gathering some of her belongings and her raven familiar began her journey.
The journey to Aliegis was uneventful for Blackscale and Demetrius but, by mere coincidence, Gideon and Avalon ended up on the same boat. They spoke rarely, as Demetrius did not find his first contact with her at all pleasurable and Avalon was primarily preoccupied with keeping the contents of her stomach inside of herself rather than over the side of the boat while deflecting the taunting of her familiar.
When they arrived in Aliegis, Gideon noticed that Avalon and he were traveling in the same direction. He chose to trail her from a discrete distance and see if he could find out if she was heading to the same place she was. Unfortunately for him, trailing someone in half-plate mail is somewhat difficult and she was able to spot him. She yelled after him inquiring as to whether or not he was following her. She failed to notice that she was yelling across a crowded marketplace, however, and felt quite self-conscious as everyone turned to stare at her. After a few moments of them looking at her she turned and continued on to the wizard’s tower, attempting to conceal her embarrassment. Gideon continued to follow her but she decided not to say anything about this again.
At the gate to the tower were a huge door and a similarly proportioned knocker. Avalon knocked upon it and moments later a lovely, young Kioish woman with black hair and the pale skin that characterized her race. This was Vanya (7); she cheerfully greeted them and invited to show them to their rooms. Gideon insisted to be showed to see Vinus Callus immediately. Vanya politely insisted that he wait till the others arrived. After some righteously annoyed comments about how he came here to see Vinus Callus not to get a room, he finally agreed to come in. Avalon came in without any difficulty beyond constant arguments with her rude raven familiar.
The chamber they were welcomed into was warm and inviting, displaying a variety of types of frescos, murals, and paintings, with the most prominent one being that of an old man who Vanya identified as being of Vinus Callus in his younger years. Gideon continued to act annoyed about the present circumstances and generally made things uncomfortable for the others.
Eventually another knock was heard at the door and a tall, heavily cloaked lizard man was revealed to be waiting behind it. Noone was able to understand the lizard man, as it seemed to lack the capability to speak Low Coryani. Vanya motioned for it to come in, as she had been warned by Vinus Callus to expect it. A few futile moments passed where Avalon and Vanya attempted to speak with the confused Blackscale while Gideon made snide remarks about what he viewed as a monster. After a few minutes of this Vanya remembered Vinus Callus had given her a charm in case that Blackscale could not speak the language that was common to the others.
With this rectified Blackscale asked to see Vinus Callus. Vanya told him the same thing she had told the others, so Blackscale preoccupied himself with hunting Avalon’s bird. She, and the bird, reacted to this with a great deal of annoyance. Vanya noticed the Ss’ressen’s apparent hunger and whispered the arcane words required to summon an unseen servant carrying a platter of food. Everyone reacted warmly to this and seemed to relax a bit, save for Blackscale who was still looking at the bird, when the last of the five arrived.
Demetrius’ arrival was met with some shock as his appearance, while primarily humanoid, also had more “unique” features, including large gray spots and eyes that seemed to gaze into the depths of ones soul. Everyone, even Gideon, found him vaguely intimidating. He, like the others, immediately asked to see Vinus Callus and Vanya, noticing that everyone had finally arrived, promised to check with him immediately.
Vinus Callus, an old man with little hair beyond a ring surrounding his scalp, was in his study enjoying a book and listening to a popular Milandir orchestral piece played by his mystical servants. Vanya entered and informed him of the arrival of the others. Vinus Callus appeared to be pleased at this and told her to bring them up in fifteen minutes.
Vanya went to gather them, and found that they had spent the time since she had left consuming the food she has summoned. Demetrius especially, seemed to be absorbed in the food, as a good portion of it was stuffed in his mouth and both of his hands were full. He smiled sheepishly at Vanya when she spotted him and she could not help but wonder why the others were such freaks. She informed them that Vinus Callus was ready to see them now.
Upon hearing this, Blackscale sprinted up the stairs, quickly leaving the sight of the others. The others followed a bit more slowly, not being able to match the Ss’ressen’s speed. Blackscale found two doors. One smelled unnatural and the other had a man-scent behind it. He chose to go into the room with the man-scent. When they reached the top they found Blackscale chatting amiably with Vinus Callus. Vinus Callus did not appear particularly sorrowful to be turning away from this conversation, and immediately welcomed the others with a smile.
He asked them about their trips and listened attentively for a moment before launching into an explanation of why he had summoned them to his tower. He revealed to them that several years ago, just before his retirement, he discovered a book and some relics relating to a civilization dating back from the time before the serpent men.
Within the book was a tale, transcribed as historical fact, about how five beings of almost deific levels of power tapped into the fabric surrounding the world to unlock the seal that prevented beings from the next reality from entering Arcanis. Through this newly breached hole came the beings that would eventually become the gods of this world. Eventually the beings that opened the seal died as all mortals eventually do, and the spark that allowed them to break the seal passed into other beings of Arcanis.
The relics turned out to be magical items of some power, including one that allowed the user to sense the state of the aura that surrounded Arcanis. Vinus Callus decided to use this out of purest curiosity. What he found troubled him.
A great mass of pure Nothing appeared to be slowly moving through Arcanis’ aura towards Arcanis itself. This troubled him for obvious reasons, so calling upon his magic and another of the relics he was able to find where each of the sparks was currently ensconced. Vanya was the first one he found, and with little prompting he was able to convince her parents to allow her to become his student. Her talents turned out to be in the magic of the song and soul rather, than words of arcane power, but still he trained her in what was to come. Finding the others required a more exhaustive search, and finding the ritual needed to close the Seal required even more work. He finally completed his preparations a month ago, when he contacted them.
All he asked of them is that they stand in a circle for an hour the next morning while he performed his ritual. Demetrius immediately asked how much it paid while Blackscale, who had not quite understood what Vinus Callus had just related to him, listened to Vanya explain it in simpler terms. Vinus Callus offered each of them a thousand gold for their services. Blackscale refused, not seeing much use in gold. Instead Vinus Callus offered him first magical protections and then food, upon which Blackscale decided to settle.
With that Vinus Callus asked Vanya to show him to his bed before she showed each of their guests to their rooms. She did so, with Demetrius expressing a bemused “This will do” about his room selection and the others being impressed about the appropriateness of their selection. Blackscale was impressed most of all because his room appeared to be a swamp, right down to the miniature pool within it.
Blackscale was the first to awaken the next morning and immediately went down to the first floor to stalk around for food, or to at least start a fire (8). Unfortunately he did not find anything that was suitable for this endeavor, as the first floor lacked even a fireplace.
Avalon was the next to awaken and she wandered down to the first floor to wait as well. Blackscale looked upon Avalon’s raven with hunger as it made rude comments to both Avalon and Blackscale alike. Avalon warned Blackscale away from her raven while glaring at it for its smart remarks.
Eventually Vanya awoke and joined the others downstairs. Noting Blackscale’s hunger she summoned some food. Its smell alone was enough to awaken Demetrius who flew down the stairs dressed only in his towel. Both Blackscale and Vanya saw more than they wanted to, resulting in Vanya having a miniature nervous breakdown. Demetrius ignored it for his part and immediately began to dig into the food.
Vanya’s cries awoke Gideon who dressed himself and descended the stairs. Upon discovering the situation he asked Demetrius why he was in a towel. Demetrius responded with a single word: food. Gideon sneered at this and told him to go get dressed. Demetrius ignored him. So Gideon began to cast a spell. Fearful at the potential effects of this Demetrius attempted to grappled Gideon but failed miserably, dropping his towel in the process. Vanya did not take this well at all. Avalon and Blackscale, for their part, ignored the spectacle while the raven made several smart remarks about the situation. Demetrius decided it probably was a good idea to get dressed and withdrew to his room.
Just after Demetrius returned, Vinus Callus arrived on top of one of the tower’s floating platters. He informed them that their presence was requested in the ritual room, and that they should join him. Immediately afterwards he flew back up the stairs. Blackscale immediately began to chase after Vinus Callus till he realized he did not know where he was going. Instead he chose to follow Vanya like the rest of them were.
Vanya led them to the top tower and over to the room that previously smelled unnatural to Blackscale. A moment before she opened the door, Vanya warned them that what was beyond might cause their head to spin momentarily and that they despite what they saw it was safe to walk through the room. Then she opened the door.
Beyond them it looked as if the very cosmos was spread across the room. Stars stretched in every direction, mesmerizing while at the same time striking a bit of primal terror into the hearts of those who looked into the room. Vanya confidently walked across the room, heading for the distant figure of Vinus Callus. Demetrius and Gideon followed soon afterwards, slowly at first, but with increasing confidence. Avalon had to close her eyes in order to avoid having to absorb the sheer magnitude of what was around her. Her raven was able to handle it just fine. Blackscale resolved his dilemma with the room by using a javelin to test the strength of the ground just as he would do for the swamp. Finding that it was solid he followed the others in.
When they eventually came upon Vinus Callus, he instructed them to each stand on one of a circle of stars. After they did so he placed, one by one, keys in front of the five. Demetrius received bronze, Avalon iron, Vanya silver, Gideon gold, and Blackscale tin. With the keys in place he started the ritual chanting as he circled them, with an occasional stop to toss dust on certain members of the group or wave various objects around them.
After forty minutes of this Vanya noticed that Vinus Callus appeared to be straining under the effects of the ritual. This worried her as he had said that this ritual would probably not be stressful at all. After a few minutes of attempting to continue he stopped, kneeling near Vanya. Looking around for a moment she stepped off of her star and walked over to him. He gasped, saying that there was something wrong. He appeared to be about to continue when his eyes appeared distant for a moment. With a startled intake of breath he said that the magical defenses surrounding the tower were gone and that spots of a pure absence of anything were making their way up the stairs of the tower. He instructed the five to stand behind him as he pulled a staff seemingly out of nowhere. Demetrius pulled out his composite short bow and prepared himself for whatever was going to come through the door.
A few, tense minutes later the door began to be pounded on. This lasted but a moment before it dissolved and a number of shadowy creatures, surrounded by some sort of blurry aura, began to pour through the door. Vinus Callus called upon great words of power and summoned forth a number of flaming meteors that pounded into the areas from which the shadows were emerging. After the flames cleared it was apparent that the shadows had been unaffected. Trying a different tactic, Vinus Callus summoned forth a storm that hailed down ice and snow upon the shadows. Once again nothing happened. Now fearing for the results of this attack Vinus Callus opened up a doorway in the seemingly infinite expanse of the cosmos, instructing the five to go through it and head for the city of Plexus where they should seek out Inuous Taurus. He would hold off the shadows.
The five stood gaping for a moment as the shadows converged on Vinus Callus. As they struck him black smudges appeared across his skin. With a great yell as he drove his staff into the ground, a sphere of multihued energy surrounded him. The shadows ignored it like it was not even there. A few of them moved towards the group.
Acting first was Demetrius, who grabbed his key and ran through the doorway. One by one the others followed until only Vanya and Blackscale remained. Blackscale realized he had forgotten his key and rushed over to grab it. As he fled one of the shadows lashed out at him before he could escape from its grasp. Luckily he was able to nimbly avoid the blow and rushed towards the portal. Vanya saw him coming and jumped through the portal. Blackscale followed soon after and emerged with the others into the streets of a Coryani-style city. A heavy downpour was falling onto the city streets and it appeared to be dark in the sky.
Much to everyone’s horror it appeared that half of one of the shadows had made it through the portal. As they watched it slowly regrew its lots half, while moving forward to menace the five. Gideon surrounded himself with a ward to defend himself against evil while, with a mighty yell, Blackscale struck with a combined great axe and tail attack. Much to everyone’s shock and joy this resulted in the creatures demise, as it appeared to dissolve into the world around it.
Demetrius immediately began to look for a light source while Gideon went over to examine where the shadow creature stood. All Gideon was able to find was a single fragment of shadowy material that seemed to be surrounded by a blurry aura along its edges. He sliced at it with his dagger again and again and watched in amazement as it split each time he struck it. Deciding it was best to leave the blotch alone considering its origin he followed the others as they went, miserable and worried, into the depths of this unknown city……
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(1) Gideon val’Virdan is a first level aasimar cleric of Nier, god of Flames, War, and Destruction
(2) Ever since the priesthood of Nier attempted to launch a coup to overthrow a corrupt emperor they have been effectively banished from the Coryan Empire. The sect that Gideon is a member of is dedicated to seeking to reintegrate Nier into the Mother Church of Coryan and hopefully end the decadence that has seized the Coryani Empire.
(3) Demetrius is a first level tiefling rogue.
(4) Blackscale is a Ss’ressan first level barbarian/first level ranger. In exchange for his track, two-weapon fighting, and ambidexterity feats I let him take Tail Attack and Scent.
(5) The Black Talon Ss’ressen are a group of lizard folk who were once servants of the evil Ssethregorians but fled after they declared their refusal to utterly exterminate another lizard folk people. They ended up in the nation of Milandir where they declared featly to one of the local Dukes. They have served the nation well to this day.
(6) Avalon val’Assante is a first level aasimar sorcerer (Monte Cook version)
(7) Vanya is a second level human bard (Monte Cook version)
(8) The Black Talon Ss’ressen worship a deity known as the Fire Dragon. He was seeking to venerate this being.
Chapter 1: Everything and Nothing
Doctus 1, the one thousand and twenty-fourth year of the Imperial Calender.
A lone tower sits at the edge of the city of Aliegis. Within this tower lived the great wizard Vinus Callus, servant of the previous emperor and man of great honor. With him lift his younger herald, student, and servitor of Kioish stock who went by the name of Vanya. She had been entrusted to Vinus Callus’ care years ago after he discovered something very special about her.
This something was very important to both him and the empire as a whole, and it was why he called upon the others who are important to this chapter of this story. One by one he sent messages to those whose aid he needed, using tiny magical constructs designed just for this purpose. Each one was brought a scroll requiring their presence at his tower within the month.
Gideon val’Virdan (1), fiery haired inhabitant of the great city of Coryan, was brought his scroll by his superior in the priesthood of Nier (2), Canus val’Virdan. He suggested that Gideon should go in order to see what the wizard wanted and how it could aid the cause of Nier in the Empire. He was informed that within Aliegis there was a member of their organization, named Inus Taras, who he should deliver any information he received too. Gideon val’Virdan agreed eagerly, as a true Nierite would, and began to pack for his journey.
Demetrius (3), drug-dealer and enforcer for the Iron Star lotus cartel in the city of Coryan, was approached by a small construct of shadow that gave him his scroll. While this might cause a normal man to pause and wonder at the oddness of its arrival, Demetrius was not a normal man. He was a dark-kin, descended from fiendish sires, and touched by the reaches of the netherworld. Plus he was not a particularly wise man and it did not occur to him to think that this was odd. He did know better than to just trust a scroll delivered to him and went to ask around for information on Vinus Callus. His informants directed to him visit a scholar by the name of Zanus, a customer of the Iron Star. Zanus was able to inform him of who Vinus Callus was after reassurances that he would be given ten ounces of purple lotus within the next day or two. Demetrius than checked with his boss about getting some time off (his boss basically did not care about it. He was hopped up on purple lots powder at the time though) and booked passage on a ship heading to Aliegis.
Blackscale (4), hunter of the Black Talon Ss’ressen (6) had returned from his latest hunting expedition to find the shaman of his tribe. He handed him a scroll, forgetting that he could not read, much less speak, the Coryani language. Blackscale informed the shaman of this, and the shaman apologized, relating to him the contents and telling him that he had consulted with the spirits that served the Fire Dragon and had been informed that it was in the best interests of the tribe if he went and saw this human wizard. Blackscale, being a dutiful servant of his people, agreed.
Avalon val’Assante(6), magically talented daughter of a noble of the great city of Coryan, was hidden away in the basement of the family estate, brewing various herbal and chemical concoctions. Her mother brought her the letter and encouraged her to agree to Vinus Callus’ request. She secretly wanted her daughter to leave the confines of the basement and get the neighbors to talk less. Getting her to visit a great and renowned servant of the Empire would serve to solve both of the problems. Avalon was amiable to the idea of traveling and, gathering some of her belongings and her raven familiar began her journey.
The journey to Aliegis was uneventful for Blackscale and Demetrius but, by mere coincidence, Gideon and Avalon ended up on the same boat. They spoke rarely, as Demetrius did not find his first contact with her at all pleasurable and Avalon was primarily preoccupied with keeping the contents of her stomach inside of herself rather than over the side of the boat while deflecting the taunting of her familiar.
When they arrived in Aliegis, Gideon noticed that Avalon and he were traveling in the same direction. He chose to trail her from a discrete distance and see if he could find out if she was heading to the same place she was. Unfortunately for him, trailing someone in half-plate mail is somewhat difficult and she was able to spot him. She yelled after him inquiring as to whether or not he was following her. She failed to notice that she was yelling across a crowded marketplace, however, and felt quite self-conscious as everyone turned to stare at her. After a few moments of them looking at her she turned and continued on to the wizard’s tower, attempting to conceal her embarrassment. Gideon continued to follow her but she decided not to say anything about this again.
At the gate to the tower were a huge door and a similarly proportioned knocker. Avalon knocked upon it and moments later a lovely, young Kioish woman with black hair and the pale skin that characterized her race. This was Vanya (7); she cheerfully greeted them and invited to show them to their rooms. Gideon insisted to be showed to see Vinus Callus immediately. Vanya politely insisted that he wait till the others arrived. After some righteously annoyed comments about how he came here to see Vinus Callus not to get a room, he finally agreed to come in. Avalon came in without any difficulty beyond constant arguments with her rude raven familiar.
The chamber they were welcomed into was warm and inviting, displaying a variety of types of frescos, murals, and paintings, with the most prominent one being that of an old man who Vanya identified as being of Vinus Callus in his younger years. Gideon continued to act annoyed about the present circumstances and generally made things uncomfortable for the others.
Eventually another knock was heard at the door and a tall, heavily cloaked lizard man was revealed to be waiting behind it. Noone was able to understand the lizard man, as it seemed to lack the capability to speak Low Coryani. Vanya motioned for it to come in, as she had been warned by Vinus Callus to expect it. A few futile moments passed where Avalon and Vanya attempted to speak with the confused Blackscale while Gideon made snide remarks about what he viewed as a monster. After a few minutes of this Vanya remembered Vinus Callus had given her a charm in case that Blackscale could not speak the language that was common to the others.
With this rectified Blackscale asked to see Vinus Callus. Vanya told him the same thing she had told the others, so Blackscale preoccupied himself with hunting Avalon’s bird. She, and the bird, reacted to this with a great deal of annoyance. Vanya noticed the Ss’ressen’s apparent hunger and whispered the arcane words required to summon an unseen servant carrying a platter of food. Everyone reacted warmly to this and seemed to relax a bit, save for Blackscale who was still looking at the bird, when the last of the five arrived.
Demetrius’ arrival was met with some shock as his appearance, while primarily humanoid, also had more “unique” features, including large gray spots and eyes that seemed to gaze into the depths of ones soul. Everyone, even Gideon, found him vaguely intimidating. He, like the others, immediately asked to see Vinus Callus and Vanya, noticing that everyone had finally arrived, promised to check with him immediately.
Vinus Callus, an old man with little hair beyond a ring surrounding his scalp, was in his study enjoying a book and listening to a popular Milandir orchestral piece played by his mystical servants. Vanya entered and informed him of the arrival of the others. Vinus Callus appeared to be pleased at this and told her to bring them up in fifteen minutes.
Vanya went to gather them, and found that they had spent the time since she had left consuming the food she has summoned. Demetrius especially, seemed to be absorbed in the food, as a good portion of it was stuffed in his mouth and both of his hands were full. He smiled sheepishly at Vanya when she spotted him and she could not help but wonder why the others were such freaks. She informed them that Vinus Callus was ready to see them now.
Upon hearing this, Blackscale sprinted up the stairs, quickly leaving the sight of the others. The others followed a bit more slowly, not being able to match the Ss’ressen’s speed. Blackscale found two doors. One smelled unnatural and the other had a man-scent behind it. He chose to go into the room with the man-scent. When they reached the top they found Blackscale chatting amiably with Vinus Callus. Vinus Callus did not appear particularly sorrowful to be turning away from this conversation, and immediately welcomed the others with a smile.
He asked them about their trips and listened attentively for a moment before launching into an explanation of why he had summoned them to his tower. He revealed to them that several years ago, just before his retirement, he discovered a book and some relics relating to a civilization dating back from the time before the serpent men.
Within the book was a tale, transcribed as historical fact, about how five beings of almost deific levels of power tapped into the fabric surrounding the world to unlock the seal that prevented beings from the next reality from entering Arcanis. Through this newly breached hole came the beings that would eventually become the gods of this world. Eventually the beings that opened the seal died as all mortals eventually do, and the spark that allowed them to break the seal passed into other beings of Arcanis.
The relics turned out to be magical items of some power, including one that allowed the user to sense the state of the aura that surrounded Arcanis. Vinus Callus decided to use this out of purest curiosity. What he found troubled him.
A great mass of pure Nothing appeared to be slowly moving through Arcanis’ aura towards Arcanis itself. This troubled him for obvious reasons, so calling upon his magic and another of the relics he was able to find where each of the sparks was currently ensconced. Vanya was the first one he found, and with little prompting he was able to convince her parents to allow her to become his student. Her talents turned out to be in the magic of the song and soul rather, than words of arcane power, but still he trained her in what was to come. Finding the others required a more exhaustive search, and finding the ritual needed to close the Seal required even more work. He finally completed his preparations a month ago, when he contacted them.
All he asked of them is that they stand in a circle for an hour the next morning while he performed his ritual. Demetrius immediately asked how much it paid while Blackscale, who had not quite understood what Vinus Callus had just related to him, listened to Vanya explain it in simpler terms. Vinus Callus offered each of them a thousand gold for their services. Blackscale refused, not seeing much use in gold. Instead Vinus Callus offered him first magical protections and then food, upon which Blackscale decided to settle.
With that Vinus Callus asked Vanya to show him to his bed before she showed each of their guests to their rooms. She did so, with Demetrius expressing a bemused “This will do” about his room selection and the others being impressed about the appropriateness of their selection. Blackscale was impressed most of all because his room appeared to be a swamp, right down to the miniature pool within it.
Blackscale was the first to awaken the next morning and immediately went down to the first floor to stalk around for food, or to at least start a fire (8). Unfortunately he did not find anything that was suitable for this endeavor, as the first floor lacked even a fireplace.
Avalon was the next to awaken and she wandered down to the first floor to wait as well. Blackscale looked upon Avalon’s raven with hunger as it made rude comments to both Avalon and Blackscale alike. Avalon warned Blackscale away from her raven while glaring at it for its smart remarks.
Eventually Vanya awoke and joined the others downstairs. Noting Blackscale’s hunger she summoned some food. Its smell alone was enough to awaken Demetrius who flew down the stairs dressed only in his towel. Both Blackscale and Vanya saw more than they wanted to, resulting in Vanya having a miniature nervous breakdown. Demetrius ignored it for his part and immediately began to dig into the food.
Vanya’s cries awoke Gideon who dressed himself and descended the stairs. Upon discovering the situation he asked Demetrius why he was in a towel. Demetrius responded with a single word: food. Gideon sneered at this and told him to go get dressed. Demetrius ignored him. So Gideon began to cast a spell. Fearful at the potential effects of this Demetrius attempted to grappled Gideon but failed miserably, dropping his towel in the process. Vanya did not take this well at all. Avalon and Blackscale, for their part, ignored the spectacle while the raven made several smart remarks about the situation. Demetrius decided it probably was a good idea to get dressed and withdrew to his room.
Just after Demetrius returned, Vinus Callus arrived on top of one of the tower’s floating platters. He informed them that their presence was requested in the ritual room, and that they should join him. Immediately afterwards he flew back up the stairs. Blackscale immediately began to chase after Vinus Callus till he realized he did not know where he was going. Instead he chose to follow Vanya like the rest of them were.
Vanya led them to the top tower and over to the room that previously smelled unnatural to Blackscale. A moment before she opened the door, Vanya warned them that what was beyond might cause their head to spin momentarily and that they despite what they saw it was safe to walk through the room. Then she opened the door.
Beyond them it looked as if the very cosmos was spread across the room. Stars stretched in every direction, mesmerizing while at the same time striking a bit of primal terror into the hearts of those who looked into the room. Vanya confidently walked across the room, heading for the distant figure of Vinus Callus. Demetrius and Gideon followed soon afterwards, slowly at first, but with increasing confidence. Avalon had to close her eyes in order to avoid having to absorb the sheer magnitude of what was around her. Her raven was able to handle it just fine. Blackscale resolved his dilemma with the room by using a javelin to test the strength of the ground just as he would do for the swamp. Finding that it was solid he followed the others in.
When they eventually came upon Vinus Callus, he instructed them to each stand on one of a circle of stars. After they did so he placed, one by one, keys in front of the five. Demetrius received bronze, Avalon iron, Vanya silver, Gideon gold, and Blackscale tin. With the keys in place he started the ritual chanting as he circled them, with an occasional stop to toss dust on certain members of the group or wave various objects around them.
After forty minutes of this Vanya noticed that Vinus Callus appeared to be straining under the effects of the ritual. This worried her as he had said that this ritual would probably not be stressful at all. After a few minutes of attempting to continue he stopped, kneeling near Vanya. Looking around for a moment she stepped off of her star and walked over to him. He gasped, saying that there was something wrong. He appeared to be about to continue when his eyes appeared distant for a moment. With a startled intake of breath he said that the magical defenses surrounding the tower were gone and that spots of a pure absence of anything were making their way up the stairs of the tower. He instructed the five to stand behind him as he pulled a staff seemingly out of nowhere. Demetrius pulled out his composite short bow and prepared himself for whatever was going to come through the door.
A few, tense minutes later the door began to be pounded on. This lasted but a moment before it dissolved and a number of shadowy creatures, surrounded by some sort of blurry aura, began to pour through the door. Vinus Callus called upon great words of power and summoned forth a number of flaming meteors that pounded into the areas from which the shadows were emerging. After the flames cleared it was apparent that the shadows had been unaffected. Trying a different tactic, Vinus Callus summoned forth a storm that hailed down ice and snow upon the shadows. Once again nothing happened. Now fearing for the results of this attack Vinus Callus opened up a doorway in the seemingly infinite expanse of the cosmos, instructing the five to go through it and head for the city of Plexus where they should seek out Inuous Taurus. He would hold off the shadows.
The five stood gaping for a moment as the shadows converged on Vinus Callus. As they struck him black smudges appeared across his skin. With a great yell as he drove his staff into the ground, a sphere of multihued energy surrounded him. The shadows ignored it like it was not even there. A few of them moved towards the group.
Acting first was Demetrius, who grabbed his key and ran through the doorway. One by one the others followed until only Vanya and Blackscale remained. Blackscale realized he had forgotten his key and rushed over to grab it. As he fled one of the shadows lashed out at him before he could escape from its grasp. Luckily he was able to nimbly avoid the blow and rushed towards the portal. Vanya saw him coming and jumped through the portal. Blackscale followed soon after and emerged with the others into the streets of a Coryani-style city. A heavy downpour was falling onto the city streets and it appeared to be dark in the sky.
Much to everyone’s horror it appeared that half of one of the shadows had made it through the portal. As they watched it slowly regrew its lots half, while moving forward to menace the five. Gideon surrounded himself with a ward to defend himself against evil while, with a mighty yell, Blackscale struck with a combined great axe and tail attack. Much to everyone’s shock and joy this resulted in the creatures demise, as it appeared to dissolve into the world around it.
Demetrius immediately began to look for a light source while Gideon went over to examine where the shadow creature stood. All Gideon was able to find was a single fragment of shadowy material that seemed to be surrounded by a blurry aura along its edges. He sliced at it with his dagger again and again and watched in amazement as it split each time he struck it. Deciding it was best to leave the blotch alone considering its origin he followed the others as they went, miserable and worried, into the depths of this unknown city……
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(1) Gideon val’Virdan is a first level aasimar cleric of Nier, god of Flames, War, and Destruction
(2) Ever since the priesthood of Nier attempted to launch a coup to overthrow a corrupt emperor they have been effectively banished from the Coryan Empire. The sect that Gideon is a member of is dedicated to seeking to reintegrate Nier into the Mother Church of Coryan and hopefully end the decadence that has seized the Coryani Empire.
(3) Demetrius is a first level tiefling rogue.
(4) Blackscale is a Ss’ressan first level barbarian/first level ranger. In exchange for his track, two-weapon fighting, and ambidexterity feats I let him take Tail Attack and Scent.
(5) The Black Talon Ss’ressen are a group of lizard folk who were once servants of the evil Ssethregorians but fled after they declared their refusal to utterly exterminate another lizard folk people. They ended up in the nation of Milandir where they declared featly to one of the local Dukes. They have served the nation well to this day.
(6) Avalon val’Assante is a first level aasimar sorcerer (Monte Cook version)
(7) Vanya is a second level human bard (Monte Cook version)
(8) The Black Talon Ss’ressen worship a deity known as the Fire Dragon. He was seeking to venerate this being.
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