Banewarrens d20 (Angelsboi's party)

[diaglo]

A plan falls into place...

The first day's journey was cut short as the party neared Elven's Crossing. Dumic wanted to restock and rest. Elven Crossing had maybe 10 or so buildings in the heart of the town. The Inn was the largest. The Lady of the Inn made a big show of caring for Dumic the Red. Jhaer Brightsong left early. Arendel and Calrom left right after. Fiddle, Sully, and Alya in altered form entertained the large man and the small community. Darian and the animals kept watch for trouble. Alya didn't stay long. Her disguise magic was only good for an hour or so. Fiddle convinced several of the locals to help him carry Dumic to bed later. He paid them with Dumic's purse.

Calrom chose the north road along the Ashaba River. The next few days were harder. No beasts nor bandits bothered the party, but it always seemed like something was just out of sight. They placed extra emphasis on keeping the elf hidden from Dumic. Jhaer on the other hand knew. She kept the secret. She cautioned against letting more humans know.

Fiddle's birthday came and went. Much like all of his others were. He spent it on the road. He was a traveling hin afterall. They made good time. And Fiddle, Arendel, and Calrom provided from the wilds. While Sully cooked with his usual flair. Sully was not his normal self. He was worried about the vial of Dragon's blood.

The party reached Shadowdale. The Old Skull Inn and the Twisted Tower of Lord Mourgrym beckoned. Fiddle knew he could reach the Underdark now. He just needed to get inside the Old Skull and back to the Portal nexus. From there door number 12 led to the drow hallway the party had visited before. But how to get there without alerting Dumic or Jhaer or the residents.

Darian took the prisoner in secret to the Temple of Lathander. And Jhaer disappeared yet again. Arendel and Calrom again followed her. That left Alya in altered form, Sully, and Fiddle to handle Dumic. The Old Skull was hopping. Alya disappeared early again.

"I visited the portal," Alya told Sully and Fiddle in private later.

"Ha, I knew I wasn't the only one thinking of a way," Fiddle leapt with joy.

"What portal?" Sully asked.

"The one that will lead us to the Underdark," Fiddle replied. "Behind door #12 I saw a drow and a..."

"The Underdark," Sully smiled. "I'm in. But what do we do?"

"If I can get ahold of Arendel," Alya grinned. "I have a plan."

The plan was simple. Sully and Arendel would enter invisibly into the portal nexus. And from there go thru door #12. Sully would check for the presence of the Underdark magic. If lucky, Arendel would shape the wall or a column of stone and insert the vial. A week later the party would return and collect the vial.

 

[diaglo]

Onward and upward

But the plan was too simple. The Gods of Confusion and Extra Activity bid against the party. Dumic the Red tried to get the party on the road early. However, Fiddle had kept watch on the comings and goings of the Shadowdale forces. There was to be trouble on the road, so he advised Dumic to wait until they knew more. This worked in the party's favor.

The next kink came with the a meeting of Lord Mourgrym. He and his retinue offered to travel with the party to help keep Dumic safe. The number of eyes and ears and bodies was now rather large. But at least Lord Mourgrym and Dumic were old friends. Although, they did start talking politics from the hellos. Another partial problem now avoided.

This meant Sully, Alya, Fiddle and Arendel had little time in which to enact their plan. They hurried to the Old Skull. Fiddle taught Sully and Arendel the needed phrases to use the portals. Alya cast her spells and waited with Fiddle while Sully and Arendel hurried down below the Inn. A few minutes later they were back. They still had the vial. Not good.

Last night, the Purple Dragons of Cormyr hadn't been on guard. Whether Alya's opening the portal or whether they only took duty in the light of day, it didn't matter. The way into the nexus was blocked to the party. Several dozen armed and prepared Purple Dragons plus at least one War Wizard kept vigil. They now knew the portal to the Old Skull was active. They hadn't seen Sully nor Arendel, but they did see the door open and close and probably heard voices.

So it was onto the Council Meeting in Daggerdale. Alya and the prisoner hidden as well as they could be. Fiddle had run out of options to get the party to the Underdark. Rumors in Shadowdale did provide several more clues as did talking with the guards on the road.

Calrom also learned of the truth behind the mysterious Elminster of Shadowdale. A charlatan would steal the guise of the great wizard and try to make money or fame for himself by posing as the long dead mage. The folk of Shadowdale had a good laugh about it.

They made Daggerdale two days ahead of the Midsummer. There they bid farewell to Lord Mourgrym's group to find their own camp. The place was crowded and Banners and men of all the Dales were in attendance. Even Cormyr, Sembia, and a few other neighboring countries had sent representatives. Darian, Arendel, and Alya went to look for the Elven Court with Jhaer Brightsong as their guide. Sully, Fiddle, and Calrom were left to help Dumic the Red. Mistledale's camp was empty of people. Only the tents, banner, and now the party marked its occupancy.

 

[diaglo]

One last hurrah

The end was near. Two days flew past and the council had their meeting. A split vote, 4 to prevent the Zhents from further incursions, 4 to deal with the drow threat, and 3 undecided. Randal Morn of Daggerdale, a farmer representative from Featherdale, and Dumic the Red held out.

Randal Morn also hired the party to investigate more closely the raids in Daggerdale by the drow. They were even more chaotic then usual.

The Stormslayers accepted the contract, some helpful dungeoneering gear, and a commission. Find out all they could about the raids and report their findings to Randal Morn and eliminate the threat if possible.

Randal Morn's scouts showed the party the location of the raids and the tracks back to the family crypt of a wealthy Daggerdale family.

Fiddle checked the doors. Wealth meant they could afford to buy expensive traps and wards. Plus with drow involved who knew what added secrets they would find.

No traps. and the lock was simple enough. But someone had chained the doors shut on the inside. Fiddle threw up his hands.

Alya, Sully, and Darian winked out of sight.

Fiddle heard voices on the other side of the door.

 

[diaglo]

Calrom hitched up Mulebone and the party helped attempt to open the doors. The noise it generated didn't seem to matter. Still it didn't budge.

So Arendel assumed Ape form. The druid easily muscles the doors aside. The chain snapped and Alya, Sully and Darian were revealed on the other side. Five drow bodies were also there not of the party's doing.

Fiddle checked them over. Handcrossbow bolts riddled the bodies. They wore the dress and costume of the spiderkissers. But who killed them? And why? By the looks it was a doublecross. Some other drow or one vying for more power. They hadn't even stripped the bodies.

Alya wandered ahead. He at least could see without giving off a light. The others wandered ahead to catch up. He stood outside an undisturbed door on the side. Fiddle looked for traps. None.

"I'm not a grave robber," Fiddle advised against opening it. "And unless we can prove the drow came and went this way I don't see the need to become one."

The others agreed. The passage continued passed the door anyway.

 

[diaglo]

and the party continued further into the opening to the Underdark...never to be heard from again.

or so it seemed.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Bump on behalf of the chat and new readers ...

 

[LordVyreth]

Err, what happened to the group, exactly? What broke the campaign up?

 

[JoeBlank]

Thanks for asking, LordVyreth. The DM, known as Olgar Shiverstone around here, finished grad school and the Army decided they wanted him to earn his keep again. He ended up in Columbus, GA., which is a few hours from the rest of us and just too much of a haul for a regular game.

Hopefully we can get him to make guest appearances in the future, either as a player or a DM. The rest of the group is still together, gaming with a new DM in a new campaign. In debating our options, having someone take over the existing campaign we frequently mentioned. Olgar was willing to turn over a mountain of material to the new DM, but we all decided he was just too hard and act to follow.

 

[LordVyreth]

Ah. What about the characters? Do any of them still make guest appearances? Also, if the campaign is basically over, can the various secrets get made public? Like what the deal with the Veridian/Alya family was?

 

[diaglo]

Ah. What about the characters? Do any of them still make guest appearances? Also, if the campaign is basically over, can the various secrets get made public? Like what the deal with the Veridian/Alya family was?

well, i don't have the DM's notes...nor do i know the whole truth. but i do know Veridian lives.

the mask was used to true resurrect him back in Cormyr.