Here's two short sessions worth of stuff.
The PCs
Ardashir the Bloodthirsty, a human fighter from the City State of the Invincible Overlord and former general of the city-state of Ajjah
Crixorus the Red Leopard, an upper Altanian (red halfling) whose a former gladiator (rogue swashbuckler)
Eorn de Colbach, a human ranger from the Sarnian valleys who know host the soul of a female savage elf (see my last post in the thread)
Kraag of the Triple Chains, a minotaur barbarian
With them are Wassim (warrior sidekick), a loyal hoplite from Ajjah with a gambling problem, and Svana, a Northerner and valkyrie (paladin with the aspect of vengeance) with a short temper.
Two sessions ago
The PCs, their sidekick and their paladin friend arrived to the City State of the Invincible Overlord (I kept the name but it's pretty different). Their next stop would be the elven city of Lormil, where lived the greatest astrologer of the world and whose wisdom was sought by the PCs regarding the mysterious appearance of two stars in the night and the fate of a third star, which had started to scintillate and which they had learned was invisible to elves.
They initially visited Ardashir's mother, who had written to her son that she had been in dire straights but a mysterious benefactor had come to her rescue. Indeed, the relevant PC noticed his family mansion was undergoing much needed renovation. The mother was much happy to see her son and his friends and explain that this mysterious benefactor, Scipio, had the hear of the invincible Overlord. She then introduced them to Scipio who happened to be none other than the Master, the former slave master of Crixorus and Kraag who had escaped his clutches many years ago. How was he alive*? Had they not kill him in the ruins of Jhadda, the city of bandits? Scipio scoffed and explained he was not stupid enough to leave himself vulnerable to the swords of the PCs. Indeed, he had Iron Hounds, the best and most cruel slave-takers in the known world attacked the PCs two years ago, but he needed to make sure the PCs would be tough enough for a futur task, of which he said nothing.
After that, Eorn went into a tavern and met two blue elves, those called Syndics of the North, who explain they were looking for tough mercenaries for a job in their city of Abalonne. Of course, they would be honored if the rest of the party would join in, as they knew their reputation. A meeting was arranged but quickly derailed, as the job included "pacifying" the "savage" Northlanders, the very people of Svana! She stormed out, screaming that they would meet on the battlefield. Ardashir, who always had a big crush on her, followed Svana to her room. She explained that her destiny was to defend her people and win its freedom from the tyrannical rule of the Syndics. The paladin didn't knew if they would meet again. She kissed Ardashir and they made love, after mysteriously saying "I hope she forgives me." Who was she? Ardashir (wrongly) believed she talk about her goddess. The next morning, Svana was gone.
Last session
The PCs traveled to Lormil and found the border deserted. They entered the ancient oak forest but were ambush by grey elves, not unlike the one who had attacked them on their way to the City State. The PCs defeated the elves who fled in the forest and, after an hour or so, were met by Gardian elves. These explained that the elven kingdom was split in two factions: the Gardians and the Renegades, whose skin had turn grey.
The PCs entered the city proper, only to notice that it was in dire state. Everything was crumbling. They were then introduced to the Queen of Lormil, the Mistress of the Stars. She appeared sodden, frail and seem to be dying, just like the other Gardian elves. The Mistress of Stars gave them many answers:
- the two mysterious stars were the eyes of the Oblivion Serpent, a great being from outside time and space who wanted to consume the World - he had been called to this world when a mysterious three-legs urn had been unsealed. Crixorus didn't share he was the one who unwillingly was responsible for that catastrophic event ;
- the other star is not a star proper but an anchor that was set when the elves were created and which assured their immortality. Since the star had started to scintillate, elves were no longer instantly reincarnating - their death was final.
For once, Crixorus felt very solemn. He knew he had a big part in this and wanted to settle things.
The elven queen explained that further information was in a book called The Treaty on Things of the East, which was in a library, unfortunately located in the section of the city under the control of the Renegades. The Gardians would launch an attack, which, it was hoped, would distract the Renegades and let the PC enter the library.
While the elves attacked the other elves, the PC stealthfully navigated the city and avoided the grey elves. They entered the library, only to notice it seem abandoned for many years - which was quite unlikely. They were confronted by their hidden doubts and fears which had taken form:
- Eorn saw himself as staggering from one place to another, finding comfort nowhere, before finally falling to the ground and dying ;
- Crixorus saw himself buried in a rough burlap sack, the grave diggers having kept the money he had set aside for his funeral because no one would miss him and he had no friends ;
- Kraag saw himself as the executioner of Lucius, another minotaur who was deeply in love with him and that he had left behind when the PCs fled Ajjah ;
- Ardashir heard many voices, like those of soldiers, asking him what would he do about the queen (of Ajjah) and how could he forget his oath to her.
The ghost of the librarian confronted the PCs, but they were able to convince her of the quality of their intentions and quickly found the book. The dust in the library had been only an illusion.
When the PCs left the library, they noticed the many corpses of elves littering the streets of Lormil, which was quickly becoming a ruins. Distant sounds of battles were heard but they could see nothing. The PCs left with the ancient elvish tome.
PCs are now 10th level!
* Death is final in my homebrew world.
