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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gfunk" data-source="post: 518036" data-attributes="member: 1813">Greetings new readers! I hope you find this Story Hour entertaining. To make your lives easier I have begun to compile these tales into PDF format. All three sagas will eventually be available. These documents also contain extensive backgrounds, character bios and game notes. Saga 1 - City of the Spider QueenLink: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=72749" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=72749</a> ----------------------------------- Introduction Welcome everyone and thank you for reading! The following Story Hour takes place in the Forgotten Realms with characters who begin at level 16 and eventually go well into epic levels. It takes place in three major parts:     <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">City of the Spider Queen (detailed here)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Bastion of Broken Souls</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lich-Queen’s Beloved</li> </ul>Back Story     Our campaign world is, by no stretch of the imagination, new. It has been in existence since the mid-1990s. Joe, Richard and several other players (who have left the group) began with the exploits of Alphar Turrin and his famed ‘Vorpal Blades.’ Below is a summary of the major events of our campaign world (mainly precipitated by our own PCs). Note: This was the campaign handout distributed to us when we started our current campaign at the launch of 3rd edition. Forgotten Realms: The Dark Ages In the year 1369 DR, known as the Year of the Gauntlet, the city of Tilverton, in the forest kingdom of Cormyr, vanished. In its place was left a vast dome of utter blackness, and a mystery, that once solved, would change the face of Faerun forever . . . It was Eleint, early fall, and the new peace that Cormyr had found since the coronation of Queen Alusair was shattered. Bands of giants had descended in force from the Storm Horns, the Thunder Peaks, and the Deserts Mouth Mountains, laying waste to several small villages, and posing the threat of a full-scale war. Then, without warning, all communication with the frontier town of Tilverton was suddenly cut off.  Investigators soon discovered that the city had simply disappeared and had been replaced with a dome of impenetrable darkness. Efforts to pierce the dome met with disaster. None returned from beyond its dark boundary. The Queen mustered the best and the brightest of her retainers, drawn from the ranks of both the War Wizards and the Purple Dragons to attempt to solve the puzzle. This expenditure of resources sorely taxed the campaign against the giant raiders, and the Crown was forced to rely upon the services of mercenaries, so-called "adventurers."  One such company was led by the famed Alphar Turin, one-time leader of the legendary band of heroes known as the Vorpal Blades. With him traveled a group of experienced troubleshooters, which included the mage Godfrey, of the Cormyrian War Wizards; the renowned minstrel, Mendryl Belarond; and the former Vorpal Blade, Ace Deepstalker.  The company set out to deal with the giants by striking at several hidden strongholds within the mountains. However, during the course of their investigation they stumbled upon the hidden identity of the puppet-masters who held the giants' strings . . . the drow.  The dark elves were apparently organizing the giants into a unified force with the purpose of destabilizing the power structure of Cormyr. A priestess of Ghaunadaur named Eclavdra led these particular drow. Alphar and his band managed to defeat several groups of the dark elves, and then found the subterranean highway, which led deep into the earth towards the fell city of the drow, Erelhei Cinlu. Pursuing the drow into the bowels of the Underdark, the heroes left the world of light behind...and were never heard from again.  The truth of the matter is this: Alphar himself never made it into the Underdark. He fell in battle with a rogue band of illithids, and was taken prisoner. The rest of the group pressed on without him, making new allies along the way, and losing some of their own as well. Eventually, they did indeed find the drow city, and managed to infiltrate its dark heart. What they found there took them totally by surprise.  Yes, Eclavdra and her supporters had indeed organized the giants for their own evil schemes, but they were not the ones responsible for the disappearance of Tilverton. No, that particular atrocity was the doing of the Spider Queen herself . . . the demoness Lolth. It was Eclavdra's goal to break the spider cult's power in Erelhei Cinlu, and raise up Ghaunadaur as the chief Power of the Underdark.  However, Lolth would not be so easily undone. She set her own plan in motion, to invade the surface world by creating a portal directly from Tilverton to the Abyss! Eclavdra revealed these facts to Godfrey and his remaining comrades, convincing them that the only way to restore Tilverton was to destroy Lolth. The party set out to do just that. They invaded the unholy Fane of the demoness, and encountered an avatar of the deity herself.  A fierce struggle ensued with the end result being that Lolth was banished back to her home plane, but not defeated. Godfrey became obsessed with destroying her, and led his band through a magical gateway . . . a gateway to the Abyss.  What happened thereafter can only be guessed at, but the fact remains that none of the company ever returned from that journey. Furthermore, their mission was obviously a failure...which leads us to the story at hand... Over the next two months, the black dome surrounding Tilverton began to expand, devouring much of the northern half of the Stonelands. Alusair mustered all the forces at her command, but the inexorable expansion could not be stopped. Then, on the first day of Nightal, the dome opened. From within its inky blackness issued forth a host made of the stuff of nightmares. Demons, monstrous spiders, drow by the thousands, and creatures never before heard of poured out of the Abyssal portal and into the Stonelands. Included in this dark army was the so-called Devil Dragon, Nalavarauthatoryl the Red and her goblin horde.  The armies of Cormyr fought back valiantly, but the tide could not be stemmed. At last, a company of War Wizards led by Vangerdahast stormed the gateway, disappearing into the Void. Though the Devil Dragon was destroyed in the assault, it seems that wizards’ sacrifice was in vain. The portal remained open, and the demonic host continued to advance. They flooded across the Stonelands, defeating the garrisons at Castle Kilgrave and Castle Crag. The Gnoll Pass was open to them, and the heart of Cormyr itself.  Arabel was the first city to fall, followed by Immersea and Hilp. In the end, only Suzail stood fast, but it was only a matter of time. When the jewel of Cormyr finally succumbed the city was all but burned to the ground. Queen Alusair, her consort Ren, and the sorcerer Caladnei, successor to Vangerdahast, managed to escape at the last moment, and fled across the Lake of Dragons to the Sea of Fallen Stars, and eventually to Aglarond. By spring, the unthinkable had come to pass: the Kingdom of Cormyr was no more. A perpetual gloom blotted out the sun over the once beautiful forestlands. The land itself was a ravaged ruin, the smoke from countless fires adding to the lingering pall. Refugees fled to the north, to the Dalelands, and east, to Sembia, leaving their homelands to the invaders. Leaving Cormyr, in the hands of the Drow . . . Game Notes:      <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">As you can probably tell, Alphar and Co. ran through the classic Gygax module series (G1-3, D1-3, Q1).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">At the start of this series of modules, the ‘troubleshooters’ sanctioned by Queen Alusair included Alphar (specialty priest of Kelemvor), Godfrey (War Wizard/Evoker), Argyria (Purple Dragon Knight), Mendryl Belarond (Bard), and Ace Deepstalker (Deep Gnome Ranger).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The battle to slay Lolth’s avatar was indeed a difficult one. It was won only through sheer luck and some tactics as well. Lolth (in her spider form) had climbed to the ceiling of her Fane, having had cast a horizontal Blade Barrier below her to discourage pursuit. She then proceeded to pelt us with damaging spells. In a last ditch effort, Godfrey cast Transmute Rock to Mud on the ceiling where Lolth was attached. Unable to hang on, Lolth fell through her own Blade Barrier, took damage from falling to the ground, was constricted by the Evard’s Black Tentacles spell Godfrey had placed there, and was finished off when the transmuted mud fell on top of her!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The party didn’t last very long in the Demonweb Pits and was slain by a group of Hezrous long before they met Lolth. This was a point of debate in our group. Many of us felt very attached to our characters and felt that our DM was sending them to their doom, merely to facilitate the upcoming campaign (the launch of 3rd edition).</li> </ul>Character Backgrounds     Our party, originally a group of friends from Ashabenford, slowly grew from small-time adventurers to major players in the politics of the Moonsea.  Joachim Dethick, High Inquisitor of TyrLawful Good, Human MaleFighter 1/Cleric 7/Chruch Inquisitor 9 Originally an acolyte in the small town of Homlet (in the middle of the Dales in our world), Joachim was a brash young man who thirsted for justice in Tyr's name. He has often been the de facto leader of the group and acts largely as its moral compass. In early travels with the group, he held on to an extremely strict interpretation of the law and even tried to apprehend party members whom he thought broke the law. However a seminal event in his life occurred in Hillsfar. Originally looking into an Alienist cult plaguing the city, he found that the local Church of Tyr had been corrupted. In the main temple he found a gateway to the Nine Hells and many former Tyrites who had been corrupted by its diabolical power.  After rooting out this evil with the aid of the party, Joachim's attitude towards justice began to change. He began to realize that things were not as black and white as he had thought in his youth. Corruption, decay, and evil were aspects of life that could be found even in the most holy institutions. From that day on he became a Church Inquisitor dedicated to destroying those who would do evil under the guise of goodness and light. Unfortunately, this has led to several crises of faith with Tyr. As Joachim looked into the abyss trying to cleanse it, it looked back to him as well. He committed several morally questionable acts such as slaying a Storm Giant (out of ignorance of its nature) and negotiation with a Red Dragon to save his life. However, after atoning for these sins Joachim has achieved a more balanced philosophy. Recently, Joachim has chosen to leave the Church and become a wandering Justice. In conjunction with the sorcerer Entropy and Dante, High Priest of Oghma, he founded an organization known as the Triumvirate. It is dedicated to removing the drow from Cormyr and restoring just government. Of course this is a very long term goal, but Joachim is patient and knows that his comrades certainly have the power to make major headway towards their common goal. Game Notes:     <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Joachim was actually Richard’s third character since we started playing 3rd edition. His initial character, a female elven ranger, was slain by a bugbear whom Entropy had charmed. His second character, a male dwarven monk, was critted by an ogre.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The module ‘Speaker in Dreams’ probably heralded the greatest change for Joachim, and probably the rest of the group as well. Here was where the cleric helped destroy an infernal corruption in the Church of Tyr in Hillsfar.</li> </ul>Entropy, Blessed of the Moonsea   Chaotic Neutral, Human FemaleSorcerer 10/Alienist 7 Entropy's path to power was quite a strange one. Originally a brothel proprietor, she used her minor arcane skills to calm angry customers or put them into a comatose slumber if they got too rowdy. However, she never committed to any one thing for long, so when Entropy heard a local group of adventurers were exploring a nearby abandoned citadel, she invited herself in.  Often a thorn in the side of other party members, Entropy is both a boon and bane. In some cases severe conflicts arose, such as when she animated the corpse of a dwarven warrior (in a consecrated tomb no less) to fight enemies of the party. Joachim, a priest of Tyr, vowed that he would bring Entropy to justice for this evil act. Unfortunately for him, Entropy snuck away invisibly in the middle of the night andsought atonement on her own through a local Church of Mystra. Joachim eventually was placated by this, though he still bears deep resentment against Entropy. The major change in Entropy's life came, like Joachim's, in Hillsfar. While fighting an Alienist cult, Entropy found a wealth of literature on the subject in the "Blessed's" main headquarters. Coupled with the power of pseudonatural creatures that she observed (one party member was promptly dismembered by a Wyst), Entropy slowly sank into madness. Over time, she learned to tap into the Far Realms and pull alien creatures into the Prime to serve her. Strangely, she began to develop an extreme phobia of spiders. Partly fueled by this fear, she formed the Triumvirate to rid Cormyr of the spider-worshipping drow. Despite her capricious nature and lack of organizational skills, Entropy is extremely charismatic -- a born leader. She founded H.E.L.L. (Haven for Extraplanar Learning and Lore) which she declared was meant for ridding the Moonsea area of evil outsiders. Although she has garnered considerable fame for this "noble" cause, the organization is actually a front for a massive Alienist cult. Not content to be merely a "Blessed" of a single city, Entropy managed to combine cults of many major cities including Zhentil Keep, Mulmaster, and Thentia. Their plan is to contact Darruth Winterwood in the Far Realms (an ancient elf who has long since gone insane) and open a permanent portal. The fact that the resulting insanity would probably spell the end of the continent does not seem to trouble Entropy.         Game Notes: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The ‘Speaker in Dreams’ module strikes again! This is where Entropy converted to Alienism (what, with the timely publication of ‘Tome and Blood’).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Darruth Winterwood is a 20th level Elven Wizard (detailed in ‘The Manual of the Planes’). </li> </ul>Dante, High Priest of Oghma   Neutral, Human MaleCleric 16 Originally born around Silverymoon, Dante was obsessed with knowledge from a very young age. This led to his indoctrination into the clergy of Oghma where his thirst for knowledge increased manyfold. Unlike Joachim, who is idealistic, or Entropy, who is probably insane, Dante is a realist. He often serves as a balance between his two companions. For example, he actually shares Entropy's interest of Alienist literature, but does not know of the practical implications of this study. Dante has constructed a castle in Silverymoon with the large amount of funds gathered from a lifetime of adventuring. He is actually in semi-retirement, content to administer to his new holdings rather than lead a life of adventuring. However, he is a very powerful diviner having constructed a crystal ball himself with the power of true seeing. This fact, in addition to his vast library, makes him a valuable member of the Triumvirate. Game Notes:     <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">As mentioned above, Zach (Dante’s player) stopped gaming with us due to marital obligations. However, his actions are important to this story and he is a significant NPC, so he was included here.</li> </ul>Hor'ahun, The Wanderer   Chaotic Neutral, Male GithzeraiPsychic Warrior 14 In a race known for its disciplined style of martial combat, Hor'ahun is somewhat of an oddball. He actually joined the party fairly recently, having met them in the Underdark while hunting for Illithids. With the ability to move between planes virtually at will Hor'ahun is a hardened, but extremely cynical traveler. He has no real long-term goals or desires to speak of, adventuring primarily for the hell of it. His only stipulation is that he personally kill any mind flayer that the party encounters. Hor'ahun's capricious nature changed somewhat following a draw from the artifact known as the Deck of Many Things. With the powerful arcane powers of the artifact, he received a keep as well as the services of a retainer. He decided to place this structure in the Dales rather than the swirling chaos of Limbo. In combat, Hor'ahun is supremely confident in his psionic powers. Usually enhanced through several powerful manifestations, he wades into combat fearlessly. For this reason, if no other, he is a valued member of the party. Game Notes:     <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hor’ahun is Brian’s second character in this campaign. His first character, Puck, was a rogue (Brian’s trademark) but met an unfortunate end in a lava pit.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Deck of Many Things, actually owned by Entropy, has been used by every party member except for Entropy herself. Generally, one party member gained 1-4 wishes, which were used to reverse the devastating effects of the Deck on other party members. Hor’ahun, however, luckily drew the keep and a retainer.</li> </ul>Noir, The Last Paladin of Cormyr  Lawful Good, Female HumanPaladin 16 Also a recent addition to the group, Noir is descended from one of the many noble houses of Cormyr. For this reason she, above all others in the group, wishes to see the drow eradicated from her homeland. Before the drow invasion, Noir operated openly with pride, confident in her abilities and the laws of her nation. However, things have changed drastically for her and she has had to learn subterfuge to survive. She has mastered the art of disguise and diplomacy to pass unnoticed through Cormyr.  Because of the many hardships that she has had to endure, she often performs actions that she would have considered morally questionable years before. Surrounded by evil, she is slowly losing her Paladinhood. Though she still shows flashes of nobility and goodness, she finds it difficult to continue to do so in the face of such depravity. Nevertheless, she is loyal to her god and country and constantly seeks ways to undermine the dark elves. Game Notes:    <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Noir was a relatively late edition to our group, joining us when we were running through ‘The Demon God’s Fane.’</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">As hinted in her background, Noir often skirts the line with Paladinhood – this will become more and more evident as the story progresses.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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