D&D 4E Running Commentary on Rel's 4e Campaign (Complete 8/2/10)

[Rel]

While in Enmur there were a few items of note:

Mialain checked on the sapling from the Tree of Life seed that she had planted there on their previous stop and found that it was growing. She wished to enhance this however and used her link to Melora to encourage its growth. The results went far beyond any expectation and the tree grew within moments to tower above everything around it. Passersby gaped and gasped at this and she could hear them whisper about the rumors of Melora's return being true.

Eshik and Astavian meanwhile learned that the contingent of Dragonborn who had been helping to repel the threat of the Lizardfolk had suddenly and completely withdrawn to Alboa (the plateau inhabited primarily by Dragonborn that lay to the west). They had hired nearly every commercial airship available for this task. Astavian especially had a very bad feeling about this.

Zanne stopped at the embassy to the Empire of Vond and sent a missive to be carried upon the next available airship or Mist Whale. It included word of the rift between the Eladrin and Arcanon Confederacy as well as the rituals to both open and close Linked Portals. These were the sorts of secrets that had been in the sole possession of the Arcanon Confederacy for many years and would radically change the ability to move goods and people throughout the Empire.

The PC's sought an audience with the King of Enmur and he received them graciously. They were after all local heroes, having rescued many Elves from the clutches of the Lizardfolk. In addition, the King had heard about Mialain being the High Priestess of the resurgent worship of Melora.

They told the King about how they had left relations with the Lizardfolk who now wanted only peace. They also informed him about the threat represented by the Dracolich and that he should be on guard against any attacks by such a creature. He asked if there was anything he might do to repay their aid and they asked if he had any information about the whereabouts of their airship or its pilot Lyra as they were in need of transport to Alboa. The King had no such information but promised to secure them an airship paid for from the royal treasury.

They had to wait several more days before such a ship was available but were finally on their way to Alboa aboard the Dwomorian ship "The Princess" (whose captain was less than enthusiastic about this side trip).

 

[Talltree]

While in Enmur there were a few items of note:

Mialain checked on the sapling from the Tree of Life seed that she had planted there on their previous stop and found that it was growing. She wished to enhance this however and used her link to Melora to encourage its growth. The results went far beyond any expectation and the tree grew within moments to tower above everything around it. Passersby gaped and gasped at this and she could hear them whisper about the rumors of Melora's return being true.

High roll of the campaign = 62 Nature roll. Gotta love those exploding 6's for skill rolls!

 

[Rel]

During the trip to Alboa the Princess came under attack by a pair of Wyverns but the seasoned party dispatched these easily. As they came into view of the Alboa plateau however, things were clearly amiss. There was a thick pall of smoke hanging over everything and they spotted numerous places where forests or fields were on fire. In one instance they even thought they saw a glimpse of lava! They continued on to the capital city of Drakerise in the north.

The captain of the Princess wanted no part of an extended stay in Alboa given the current conditions and he dropped them off in the temple district and immediately lifted off. The party quickly made their way to the temple square and saw things in terrible disarray. There was a sizable baracade dividing the temple district from the rest of the city and the Temple of Gorunaga was in ruins. Various Dragonborn in the garb of priests and soldiers hurried about clearly adding whatever rubble or furniture they could find to the baracade.

They entered the Temple of Ryukaar to find the sanctuary stripped of the pews and most other trappings. The altar still stood and in front if it, facing away from them, stood the golden-scaled Ryukaar, just as Astavian had seen in his vision. The PC's approached cautiously as the god turned to greet them.

Astavian knelt before his deity but Ryukaar quickly dispelled all formality as his Paladin was anxious to learn what evil had befallen Alboa. Ryukaar explained that the Dracolich had arrived and denounced the three Dragonborn gods (Drakaru, Gorunaga and Ryukaar) as frauds and impostors. It had called upon the people to throw down these false gods and turn their worship to the "true" Ryukaar of old.

The triumvirate had tried to defend themselves from these accusations. But ultimately there was little they could say...because it was true. Ryukaar went on to explain that he and the other pair of deities had been friends, Metallic Dragons, who had fought together in the Dragon War that preceeded the coming of the Mist. For many years they dwelled in solitude living with the regret of having been unable to stop the Cataclysm. Finally the came together once more for one last adventure. They went seeking answers and perhaps a solution in the far off city of Arkhosia, once the seat of power of the Chromatic Dragons and their Dragonborn creations. There the found some artifacts that had been left behind when the city was overrun by the Metallic Dragons and the armies of Men, Elves and Dwarves who supported them.

But Dragons though they were, powerful evils lurk in the depths of the Mist and they were treading upon dangerous ground. They were beset by a horde of Mist Demons and might have been doomed had they not located a portal that retained its enchantment after many long years. Seeing no other escape, they fled through this portal.

But, in the Place Between Places, something strange happened (at mention of this, Eshik nodded in agreement). They found themselves transported thousands of miles away into a gate in a chamber at the base of the Alboa plateau. They had no memory of their former lives and all wore the forms of large Dragonborn. They believed themselves to be invested with the power of the Dragon Gods of old but without the malice and evil designs that had motivated them. Thus the set out to turn the race of the Dragonborn, a race created to serve the evil dragons, into the noble people they knew they could be. Using the names of the forgotten Dragon Gods of old, they turned the Dragonborn away from their mercenary ways and forged Alboa into a bastion of good in a world where survival often led to callous indifference.

But over the years the old memories of their former lives crept back in. They became aware that they were not who they said they were. But seeing that their followers were going forth to do good in the world, they felt that it was a lie that they must continue to tell. Dragons, Ryukaar explained, no matter how noble their intentions, were prone to pride and arrogance. They could not see how the truth would serve their purpose.

And so, when confronted with this truth, many of their followers were outraged at having been lied to for half a century. And in their rage they rose up against their former gods and attempted to destroy them. Gorunaga the Protector stayed true to her nature and kept the horde at bay but she was slain by those who once worshipped her. Drakaru was nowhere to be found and Ryukaar was left to throw back this tide of attackers. But there were still some who believed that the message taught by the trio had value, even if the messengers bore false names. They rallied to his side and together they held off the attack long enough to collapse some buildings and block entry to the Temple District.

Now they were under seige while the rest of the city was in chaos. A few had come to join their defense but many more had lost the faith and were simply waiting for this civil war to be over. Still others had rallied to the call of the Dracolich and departed Alboa a few weeks ago aboard a small armada of airships headed north.

Unfortunately Ryukaar was aware of where their destination must have been: The Isle of Wyrms. This he knew because of what had happened since. The Gate inside the base of the plateau had been aligned to open into the Elemental Plane of Fire. Heat and fire and lava were creeping up through the cracks in the land, setting forests ablaze and filling the air with choking smoke. Ryukaar feared that it would not be long before the entire land collapsed into a pool of molten lava...

 

[Rel]

It was the party's turn to share news with Ryukaar and theirs was more hopeful. They spoke of their journey into the Feywild and how they had exposed the treachery of the Arcanon Confederacy to the Eladrin, thus breaking their alliance of nearly 30 years. More importantly however, they told of how they had used the ritual passed on from Galiban the Wizard to close the Gate that was letting Mist pour into the Feywild.

This caught Ryukaar's attention as he jumped to the same conclusion the PC's had: That ritual could close the Gate within Alboa and save his people! He requested this ritual at once and they provided it, watching as his eyes leapt from one line to the next. "This we must do," he proclaimed.

The party exchanged glances, not wishing to question the wisdom of a god, but then pointed out the fact that the ritual could only be completed if performed from both sides of the Gate simultaneously. This would leave one party trapped on the Elemental Plane of Fire.

"Of course," responded Ryukaar, "and that is an unfortunate circumstance. But this remains our only available way to save this place and so it is what must be done. Which brings up an important question. Are you all immune to fire?"

The PC's looked at each other and Ryukaar, knowing that everyone present already knew the answer to this question.

"Well I am," said Ryukaar.

Astavian couldn't refrain from objecting, "You'll be trapped on another plane! Is there some way you can return?"

Ryukaar turned his calming gaze upon his loyal Paladin. "Let me ask you, brother, what do you think is your best course of action from this point?"

Astavian didn't need to hesitate before answering, "I must go and destroy the Dracolich and see to it that he is no longer in control of the Nexus."

Ryukaar nodded. "Quite so. And when you have the Nexus then you can open a way for me to come back."

Astavian had too many unanswered questions, "How will we do that? We don't even know where the Isle of Wyrms is! Can the Dracolich simply use the Nexus to escape if we do find him?"

Ryukaar smiled, "I have faith in you. Now give me some time to prepare for what must be done. I need a few hours to gather some things we'll need. I'm sure that you can find a way to occupy yourselves."

They exited the Temple of Ryukaar. Astavian knew exactly where he was going.

*********

Alright, despite my desire to try and catch thing up, there was no way I could shorthand this in any way that would do it justice. This was one of the coolest roleplaying scenes in a campaign that has been full of cool roleplaying scenes.

Really excellent job by everybody involved. I think I was able to get across the sense that "Ryukaar" had brought hell to the world thanks to his good intentions. Remember that ultimately this is all his fault! He was the one who told Astavian to bring the Seal of the High Priest from the skeletal dragon inside The River Gate at Old Karak Tor. This was because he felt that it was a piece of evidence that could expose the deception of the trio of "Dragonborn Gods". So he wanted Astavian to bring it to him so that he could hide or destroy it.

But in doing so he brought a long dormant evil back into the world. And of course the very first thing the Dracolich had done was to denounce Drakaru, Gorunaga and Ryukaar. It then set about stealing their followers and destroying their homeland.

But now he has the ability to fix some of what he has done and of course the fact that he's almost martyring himself in the process is the kind of juicy story opportunity that I just couldn't pass up. It also really solidified this plot arc as the one that the remainder of the campaign would focus on.

In terms of how I design my campaigns, this is a critical turning point that is the unknown goal from the start of the game. Up to this point the game has been a series of plot hooks that I've tossed out here, there and everywhere. But then there comes the point when I see a clear direction leading to an exciting conclusion that the PC's latch onto.

This fundamentally changes the game from being fairly "sandboxy" to being "plotted". But the important thing, really in some ways the ONLY thing, I'm striving for is that the PC's are the ones who have written the opening to the final scene. It's not in any way forced and, even though the game is on rails of a sort, the players are the ones who decided where this track leads.

That's not to say that there aren't meaningful choices to be had for the rest of the game. Far from it. But the end goal has been decided and that's where this campaign is headed. As I write this, we are one session away from its completion. But I'm WAY behind and there is a lot of excitement yet to come in this thread.

 

[Derulbaskul]

I just wanted to say, once again, what a great thread. I'm really enjoying the story developments and am challenged to improve my own.

 

[Rel]

Wow. We wrapped up this campaign tonight and I can only say that it surpassed all expectations. I need to get cracking on the writeups because there is some GOOD stuff yet to come here.

 

[Wik]

Whoa. Campaign's over? Can't wait to see how it all turned out!

 

[Ruined]

Wow. We wrapped up this campaign tonight and I can only say that it surpassed all expectations. I need to get cracking on the writeups because there is some GOOD stuff yet to come here.

Guess I picked a good time to catch up on the thread. =) So what's next in the many campaigns of Rel, I wonder?

 

[Piratecat]

I can't believe the campaign is already over!

What's next?

 

[Rel]

Sheesh! Gimme a second to bask in the glory of the moment, would ya?!



Honestly I have no idea what is next. We'll certainly be taking a few weeks off during the holidays and then we've talked about possibly running a few weeks of one-shot games using some other systems. I'd like to run a session of Savage Worlds and also try out the Mongoose Traveller game I picked up at the DCGD raffle. Talltree has a couple ideas for Dread games that she's thinking of running too, which would be her first ever time of GMing.

After that I have no idea. We tend to rotate GMs in our group so I'd presume that somebody else will run the next one. I've had a tremendous time running this game but I'm happy to give somebody else a turn.

Plus there's a rumor I might spend some of my upcoming time doing a bit of RPG writing if I can get my poop in a group.