DM_Matt
First Post
PLAYERS IN THE REGULAR AGAINST THE STORM GAME SHOULD NOT READ THIS THREAD.
First-Off, some excerpts that shed some light on the general situation....
Alex and Rana over dinner.....
Alex inquires about the state of the war, especially in regard to Storm's forces. He doesn't have anything that he needs Rana to get from the city- as someone on the run, he has learned to keep his important belongings with him (or in his Haversack)
What is the state of the forces who are fighting against Storm? Is there anyone who can stand up to a fraction of Storm's direct power? What alliances are in place among the forces opposed to Storm (formal, informal or secret)? What prevents Storm from conquering all of the remaining peoples of Toril?
It appears that many of Storm's spirit allies were banished at Silverymoon, but not destroyed. How many of his supernatural brethren does Storm have left? Several months have passes since the battle at Silverymoon- how much time do we have before the first of them start to reappear (or are they appearing already)? How much time before they all reappear?
Is Storm the post powerful being alive (in existence)? If not, is the most powerful being concerned with the present conflict? Storm could probably bring entire cities to their knees by himself, but he has not done this yet. What prevents him from doing this? Clearly he must be afraid of something. Since Storm has the power of a spirit, does there appear to be a way to kill him? If he would reform with time, like all of the other spirits, would there be a major benefit to be gained from his defeat?
How much dissention is there in the ranks of evil? How strong are Storm's personal armies, and does he have support from other organizations? If so, how loyal are they- do they contribute troops to his armies of conquest, occupy the lands whose armies he has already defeated, or merely remain indifferent to the events of the world?"
Rana gradually broaches all of Alex's points.
Storm's opposition is currently only powerful enough to hold him back. All the free people's of the North are openly allied, under the leadership of the Lords of Waterdeep and Queen Amruil of the Elves. Their cohesion is relatively strong, but the centralized authority of the secretive Council no longer exists because so many of its prominent members were slain at Silverymoon.
<Meanwhile, Rana drinks wine until it makes her wound stop hurting (That would be quite a lot)>
One problem with Storm is that we are unsure of his true power and he knows it. He is very cautious. This has been millennia in the making, and he is not going to suddenly become impatient and show his hand. We destroyed most of the spirits' forms at Silverymoon a few months ago, but we do not know how ling it will take for them to reform or return, or even how or where this is accomplished. We do know this, however: those we lost at Silverymoon are gone forever, but the Spirits will return. They are powerful, but they CAN be defeated in combat. Storm is the most powerful spirit, but he too can theoretically be slain.
Unfortunately, we are no sure just how powerful he is. An ogre mage that fought publicly and was thought to be Storm has since proven to be a fake.
His armies are mostly loyal purely to him or to leaders with planer blood who are biologically compelled into loyalty to Tiamat. Some of the collaborators are manipulated, charmed, or opportunistic, though.
<Rana is now a bit drunk and continues on further than she should have>
There are theories, though. About how to stop him. Many think that a researcher who defeated from the Council with many secrets regarding Storm may have completed the last pieces of the puzzle, using what the Council had already gleaned from those who had tried and failed in the pastÉsomething about the creation of humanity and a strange metal from space...<getting angry>...gods I hate that bitch...slut...Ace should have been mine, damnit....Oh, well....no matter now <suddenly sullen> He died with all the others.
Then there's Kirstin....The little girl that we brought back through time with us, from Netheril....Us, funny term....precious few of US still live. Only me and Hermod...and that bookish bitch....(sullen again)....the others are all gone now...perhaps it was fate paying us back...Kirstin should have died young, before becoming powerful...when she came onto the scene, the powerful forces of good were all but wiped out...perhaps there is some sort of unseen balancing hand at work or something.
Irusyl's Mission for the other PCs...
"I need to be sure that I have chosen the right individuals for the job. Thus, I will give you some easier missions for you to prove your worthiness.
You will be asked to operate in the city of Luskan, a collaborator state in the far North that is renowned for its seamen and axe-weilding warriors (i.e. its vikingville). Your targets will be temples, your goals diverse.
You will need to destroy, utterly and in a spectacular fashion, the large temple to Umberlee, goddess of bad weather and evil sea creatures, and to steal the books from the Vault of Mechanical Lore underneath the temple of Gond.
You will perform all of your own research and reconnaissance. You will be paid 700gp up front and 2300gp at the successful completion of your missions. You will have to pay for your own expenses, but may keep all booty that you find.
Once your missions are complete, return here. If you have succeeded, you are indeed the ones fated for the role that I, and my employer, have in store for you."
"...If you pass this test, my employer will entrust you with his most prized possession, and in turn with the fate of Toril. But if you do not take the first step, perhaps my readings of the oracles were mistaken."
"...If you do in fact carry out your missions, and are able to explain why I chose those missions when you return here to me, I will grant you a bonus proportional to the level of insight that you have into my employer's motives."
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Initial Position....(being that he had more background, this is mainly through Kelnar's eyes. Kelnar was sent by Queen Amruil of Evermeet to work for Irusyl, and Emcat was sent by Kurdin, the mighty Alaghi druid whose woodland armies keep more isolated areas of the far North from being utterly overrun by Storm's forces.
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When Kelnar's request to act as an agent of Queen Amruil was granted, perhaps the last place he expected to wind up was assigned to a drow witch and professional problem solver in Skullport. In spite of what his superiors told him, he always had a natural inclination to distrust Irusyl Eraneth, partially because she is a drow, a witch, and a mercenary spy and killer, but especially becase her deeds are not well-known and with all his knowledge he cannot for the life of him find out any information about her whatsoever for stretches of years at a time.
She did seem, however, to be quite charming and pleasant to be around (to the best of his ability Kelnar is sure that she is not using mind control magic to achieve this), although uncomfortably fearsome when angered. Kelnar once witnessed her catch a Zhentarim spy sneaking around the inn in which she generally meets her clients. She lifted her hand in the air, drawing the hapless intruder's neck into her grip, and then as she stared into his eyes, he began smoking as he burned to death from the inside, until she dropped him to burn into a fine dust within a minute.
Her employees, too, seemed nice for spies and assassins, owing to the fact that they were gleaned mostly from former council operatives who were suddenly looking for work after the Council was dissolved.
While you see many others, her lead agents are a pair of rather well-known adventurers (adventuresses?) in their late 20s named Rana and Wethrin, who distinguished themselves in the wars against Sembia and later (covertly) as agents of the Council. It is known that Laeral (who was in charge of covert operations for the Council) adopted them around the same time as orphans at the ages of 11 and 9 respectively, after which they had an illustrious and sometimes scandalous adventuring careers.
Wethrin, a human originally form Baldur's Gate, is younger and more down-to-earth of the two, slower to anger and more methodical in her work. Having spent far more time in formal military arrangements, she sometimes seems uptight and formal, but with that experience comes a wealth of tactical knowledge and s frighteningly-effective two-sword fighting method (her preferred weapon). She is tall (5'10") for a human woman, and fit and sturdy, possessing what a modern observer would probably call a volleyball player's figure, has green eyes and brown hair that flows down most of her back (braided in combat). She always carries a small, thick, golden staff with a gold dragon head carved onto each end. The staff can be pulled apart revealing two swords within. Both the swords and the staff seem to have their own fire-based powers, and neither of you are aware of its exact origin.
Rana, a half-elf from Sembia with considerable magical and fighting talent, was adopted out of pity after her abusive father and brothers were slain by a Council hit squad for their dealings with the Drow. Violent and rebellious from the start, she was quickly taught to channel her rage towards constructive ends and is known to be fiercely protective of friends, sometimes to the point of recklessness. Outgoing and friendly, she was prominent on the Waterdeep social scene at the height of the Council's power, and her personal life was wracked by scandals and rumors, some (like her drinking problem) true, and others (like her alleged looseness) false. She is somewhat shorter (5'7"), thinner, and smaller than Wethrin, having much of the grace and delicate features of her elven mother. She has dark brown hair down to her shoulders and dark brown eyes, and when not on a mission she tends to wear stylish clothing and expensive jewelry.
Jonathan is a small, blonde haired, blue-eyes pretty-boy Hospitaler of Mystra who defected from the Sembian military. He defected partially on principle and partially because of his love for Wethrin. In his own words "I was a Sembian Hospitaler who realized the evil that my lord was committing. When Wethrin was brought to me captured, for healing, she convinced me to lead the others who worshipped the gods of goodness against my countrymen during the pivotal Battle of Miklos' Folly. Some in Sembia are still hunting me, but most outside the country recognize the great good that we accomplished."
Jaina is Irusyl's apprentice, a relatively small and young girl of 13 or 14 with black hair and striking blue eyes learning the arts of witchcraft. She is kind, polite, and seemingly quite innocent, and has a practically-familial relationship with the three described above. In imitation of her mistress, she usually covers herself in a cloak, and refuses to speak about her past before she began her training (at least, she refuses to tell Kelnar and Emcat).
Presently, Emcat and Kelnar, along with the NPCs described above, are poring over maps and books in a back room of the Elder Brain Inn and Tavern in Skullport which Irusyl often operates from. Her real base (or rather, perhaps just the deepest level of base that Kelnar and Emcat know of), is an underground dungeon complex nearby. Irusyl is away somewhere (only Rana and Wethrin know where), leaving you all with research and meeting assignments. You were all told of the other PC's mission, which makes you job somewhat curious: you are in the process of piecing together information that has been gleaned regarding the troop strengths, troops movements around, defenses, military patterns, and, oddly enough, weather patterns (which Emcat find to be almost impossible to explain for some reason) of Luskan and the surrounding areas.
(Obligatory pause for conceivable dialogue and/or OOC clarifications)
First-Off, some excerpts that shed some light on the general situation....
Alex and Rana over dinner.....
Alex inquires about the state of the war, especially in regard to Storm's forces. He doesn't have anything that he needs Rana to get from the city- as someone on the run, he has learned to keep his important belongings with him (or in his Haversack)
What is the state of the forces who are fighting against Storm? Is there anyone who can stand up to a fraction of Storm's direct power? What alliances are in place among the forces opposed to Storm (formal, informal or secret)? What prevents Storm from conquering all of the remaining peoples of Toril?
It appears that many of Storm's spirit allies were banished at Silverymoon, but not destroyed. How many of his supernatural brethren does Storm have left? Several months have passes since the battle at Silverymoon- how much time do we have before the first of them start to reappear (or are they appearing already)? How much time before they all reappear?
Is Storm the post powerful being alive (in existence)? If not, is the most powerful being concerned with the present conflict? Storm could probably bring entire cities to their knees by himself, but he has not done this yet. What prevents him from doing this? Clearly he must be afraid of something. Since Storm has the power of a spirit, does there appear to be a way to kill him? If he would reform with time, like all of the other spirits, would there be a major benefit to be gained from his defeat?
How much dissention is there in the ranks of evil? How strong are Storm's personal armies, and does he have support from other organizations? If so, how loyal are they- do they contribute troops to his armies of conquest, occupy the lands whose armies he has already defeated, or merely remain indifferent to the events of the world?"
Rana gradually broaches all of Alex's points.
Storm's opposition is currently only powerful enough to hold him back. All the free people's of the North are openly allied, under the leadership of the Lords of Waterdeep and Queen Amruil of the Elves. Their cohesion is relatively strong, but the centralized authority of the secretive Council no longer exists because so many of its prominent members were slain at Silverymoon.
<Meanwhile, Rana drinks wine until it makes her wound stop hurting (That would be quite a lot)>
One problem with Storm is that we are unsure of his true power and he knows it. He is very cautious. This has been millennia in the making, and he is not going to suddenly become impatient and show his hand. We destroyed most of the spirits' forms at Silverymoon a few months ago, but we do not know how ling it will take for them to reform or return, or even how or where this is accomplished. We do know this, however: those we lost at Silverymoon are gone forever, but the Spirits will return. They are powerful, but they CAN be defeated in combat. Storm is the most powerful spirit, but he too can theoretically be slain.
Unfortunately, we are no sure just how powerful he is. An ogre mage that fought publicly and was thought to be Storm has since proven to be a fake.
His armies are mostly loyal purely to him or to leaders with planer blood who are biologically compelled into loyalty to Tiamat. Some of the collaborators are manipulated, charmed, or opportunistic, though.
<Rana is now a bit drunk and continues on further than she should have>
There are theories, though. About how to stop him. Many think that a researcher who defeated from the Council with many secrets regarding Storm may have completed the last pieces of the puzzle, using what the Council had already gleaned from those who had tried and failed in the pastÉsomething about the creation of humanity and a strange metal from space...<getting angry>...gods I hate that bitch...slut...Ace should have been mine, damnit....Oh, well....no matter now <suddenly sullen> He died with all the others.
Then there's Kirstin....The little girl that we brought back through time with us, from Netheril....Us, funny term....precious few of US still live. Only me and Hermod...and that bookish bitch....(sullen again)....the others are all gone now...perhaps it was fate paying us back...Kirstin should have died young, before becoming powerful...when she came onto the scene, the powerful forces of good were all but wiped out...perhaps there is some sort of unseen balancing hand at work or something.
Irusyl's Mission for the other PCs...
"I need to be sure that I have chosen the right individuals for the job. Thus, I will give you some easier missions for you to prove your worthiness.
You will be asked to operate in the city of Luskan, a collaborator state in the far North that is renowned for its seamen and axe-weilding warriors (i.e. its vikingville). Your targets will be temples, your goals diverse.
You will need to destroy, utterly and in a spectacular fashion, the large temple to Umberlee, goddess of bad weather and evil sea creatures, and to steal the books from the Vault of Mechanical Lore underneath the temple of Gond.
You will perform all of your own research and reconnaissance. You will be paid 700gp up front and 2300gp at the successful completion of your missions. You will have to pay for your own expenses, but may keep all booty that you find.
Once your missions are complete, return here. If you have succeeded, you are indeed the ones fated for the role that I, and my employer, have in store for you."
"...If you pass this test, my employer will entrust you with his most prized possession, and in turn with the fate of Toril. But if you do not take the first step, perhaps my readings of the oracles were mistaken."
"...If you do in fact carry out your missions, and are able to explain why I chose those missions when you return here to me, I will grant you a bonus proportional to the level of insight that you have into my employer's motives."
----------------------------------------------------
Initial Position....(being that he had more background, this is mainly through Kelnar's eyes. Kelnar was sent by Queen Amruil of Evermeet to work for Irusyl, and Emcat was sent by Kurdin, the mighty Alaghi druid whose woodland armies keep more isolated areas of the far North from being utterly overrun by Storm's forces.
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When Kelnar's request to act as an agent of Queen Amruil was granted, perhaps the last place he expected to wind up was assigned to a drow witch and professional problem solver in Skullport. In spite of what his superiors told him, he always had a natural inclination to distrust Irusyl Eraneth, partially because she is a drow, a witch, and a mercenary spy and killer, but especially becase her deeds are not well-known and with all his knowledge he cannot for the life of him find out any information about her whatsoever for stretches of years at a time.
She did seem, however, to be quite charming and pleasant to be around (to the best of his ability Kelnar is sure that she is not using mind control magic to achieve this), although uncomfortably fearsome when angered. Kelnar once witnessed her catch a Zhentarim spy sneaking around the inn in which she generally meets her clients. She lifted her hand in the air, drawing the hapless intruder's neck into her grip, and then as she stared into his eyes, he began smoking as he burned to death from the inside, until she dropped him to burn into a fine dust within a minute.
Her employees, too, seemed nice for spies and assassins, owing to the fact that they were gleaned mostly from former council operatives who were suddenly looking for work after the Council was dissolved.
While you see many others, her lead agents are a pair of rather well-known adventurers (adventuresses?) in their late 20s named Rana and Wethrin, who distinguished themselves in the wars against Sembia and later (covertly) as agents of the Council. It is known that Laeral (who was in charge of covert operations for the Council) adopted them around the same time as orphans at the ages of 11 and 9 respectively, after which they had an illustrious and sometimes scandalous adventuring careers.
Wethrin, a human originally form Baldur's Gate, is younger and more down-to-earth of the two, slower to anger and more methodical in her work. Having spent far more time in formal military arrangements, she sometimes seems uptight and formal, but with that experience comes a wealth of tactical knowledge and s frighteningly-effective two-sword fighting method (her preferred weapon). She is tall (5'10") for a human woman, and fit and sturdy, possessing what a modern observer would probably call a volleyball player's figure, has green eyes and brown hair that flows down most of her back (braided in combat). She always carries a small, thick, golden staff with a gold dragon head carved onto each end. The staff can be pulled apart revealing two swords within. Both the swords and the staff seem to have their own fire-based powers, and neither of you are aware of its exact origin.
Rana, a half-elf from Sembia with considerable magical and fighting talent, was adopted out of pity after her abusive father and brothers were slain by a Council hit squad for their dealings with the Drow. Violent and rebellious from the start, she was quickly taught to channel her rage towards constructive ends and is known to be fiercely protective of friends, sometimes to the point of recklessness. Outgoing and friendly, she was prominent on the Waterdeep social scene at the height of the Council's power, and her personal life was wracked by scandals and rumors, some (like her drinking problem) true, and others (like her alleged looseness) false. She is somewhat shorter (5'7"), thinner, and smaller than Wethrin, having much of the grace and delicate features of her elven mother. She has dark brown hair down to her shoulders and dark brown eyes, and when not on a mission she tends to wear stylish clothing and expensive jewelry.
Jonathan is a small, blonde haired, blue-eyes pretty-boy Hospitaler of Mystra who defected from the Sembian military. He defected partially on principle and partially because of his love for Wethrin. In his own words "I was a Sembian Hospitaler who realized the evil that my lord was committing. When Wethrin was brought to me captured, for healing, she convinced me to lead the others who worshipped the gods of goodness against my countrymen during the pivotal Battle of Miklos' Folly. Some in Sembia are still hunting me, but most outside the country recognize the great good that we accomplished."
Jaina is Irusyl's apprentice, a relatively small and young girl of 13 or 14 with black hair and striking blue eyes learning the arts of witchcraft. She is kind, polite, and seemingly quite innocent, and has a practically-familial relationship with the three described above. In imitation of her mistress, she usually covers herself in a cloak, and refuses to speak about her past before she began her training (at least, she refuses to tell Kelnar and Emcat).
Presently, Emcat and Kelnar, along with the NPCs described above, are poring over maps and books in a back room of the Elder Brain Inn and Tavern in Skullport which Irusyl often operates from. Her real base (or rather, perhaps just the deepest level of base that Kelnar and Emcat know of), is an underground dungeon complex nearby. Irusyl is away somewhere (only Rana and Wethrin know where), leaving you all with research and meeting assignments. You were all told of the other PC's mission, which makes you job somewhat curious: you are in the process of piecing together information that has been gleaned regarding the troop strengths, troops movements around, defenses, military patterns, and, oddly enough, weather patterns (which Emcat find to be almost impossible to explain for some reason) of Luskan and the surrounding areas.
(Obligatory pause for conceivable dialogue and/or OOC clarifications)
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