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Running Commentary on Rel's 4e Campaign (Complete 8/2/10)
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<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 5102340" data-attributes="member: 99"><p>They found themselves inside a circular room with a pedestal in the center. On the pedestal was an orb, identical to the Sanctuary. Only one exit led out of the room and an eerie purple glow emanated from it. They approached to see chunks of the stone ceiling had fallen and the purplish light was shining down from above. Amid the rubble they could make out a couple of skeletons. They looked like Dragonborn.</p><p></p><p>Eshik stepped forward to see where the purple light was coming from and was transfixed. His eyes glazed over and his jaw hung slack. Zanne stepped forward and caught a glimpse of what he saw and it was all she could do to tear her gaze away. With Astavian's help they dragged Eshik back into the circular room.</p><p></p><p>"What was up there?"</p><p></p><p>Zanne and Eshik both replied, "Nothing." They had gazed into the Void. The Sanctuary sat inside the Place Between Places.</p><p></p><p>Zanne commented that this made a certain sense when one considered that the Nexus also exerted some control over the planes. The Place Between Places, she posited, was the nowhere between them and these twin artifacts had some connection to the concept.</p><p></p><p>This made sense to Eshik as well. Because he knew that Io, or at least some part of his consciousness, existed in the Place Between Places. He had encountered it there when they had crossed over from the world into the Feywild. He'd been dead at the time but that was hardly the strangest thing about the experience.</p><p></p><p>In any event, it was decided that the best course of action if they were to proceed was to hurry through the section of hallway with the gap into the void as quickly as possible. This proved harder than they anticipated because something about the immensity of the Place Between Places pulled at the mortal mind and drew them to look into it. But those who were caught by it were dragged free by those who resisted and they made it to the other side, hurrying to leave its terrifying strangeness behind.</p><p></p><p>The passage soon opened into a huge chamber where grass covered the floor and terraces rose to either side. Ahead of them was a gigantic staircase that must have at least a hundred steps up to a narrow landing and passage beyond. There were sconces that burned with red fire but seemed to give no heat. Mialain knelt to observe that the grass seemed thin and brittle and somehow a bit unnatural. This was all they had time to notice before a group of Dragonborn came at them from the terraces above, howling with madness.</p><p></p><p>These were accompanied by bipedal lizards the size of large dogs who leaped into the midst of the party and attempted to drag them to the ground with their hooked claws. After a moments hesitation however the group pulled together and began hacking down their attackers. Astavian and Eshik traded blasts of dragonbreath with the enemy Dragonborn. The enemy fought with ferocity and abandon, seemingly heedless of the wounds they sustained until they had been hacked down. Eshik had a moment to notice that they all had uniform armor and weapons bearing the seal of the ancient city of Arkhosia.</p><p></p><p>There was little time to study it however as a group of similarly dressed Dragonborn gathered atop the staircase. Their leader was grand, mighty and unquestionably insane. His heavily accented Draconic echoed down the to the party as he pointed at Eshik:</p><p></p><p>"Your treacherous line has come to try and unseat me, have they!? I have reigned forever and I SHALL reign forever!! I am Karthask...the ETERNAL EMPEROR!!"</p><p></p><p>He raised a banner with the image of a fiery dragon on it and ordered his guards to attack. The party stood their ground at the bottom of the chamber. Zanne waited for their approach and broke the formation with a Stinking Cloud. Astavian and Eshik moved to attack one of the flanks while Mialain picked off the wounded with her bow and provided healing to the party when needed.</p><p></p><p>All was going well and more than half the guards were dead when the Emperor stepped up and planted his banner and flame exploded around him. The intense heat blistered the flesh and scales of the party and they knew that they could not bear such flame for long. Eshik jumped forward and grabbed the banner away from Karthask and the flames subsided. They caught a brief glimpse of the dragon on the banner changing from red to green when Karthask seized it back from Eshik.</p><p></p><p>This however bought enough time for Astavian and Zanne to bring down the captain of the Imperial Guard whose imposing presence was clearly instilling some discipline among the rest of the Guard. As he fell the rest broke into a mob who were easily dispatched.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile Eshik and the Emperor continued to struggle for control of the banner with the Emperor getting the better of it. Karthask continued to unleash bursts of flame that charred Eshik's scales and it was all Mialain could do to keep him on his feet. But Eshik finally managed to plant a sword thrust into the chest of the insane Emperor that sent him staggering back and Astavian and Zanne quickly closed in for the kill. The last gasp of the mad Emperor hissed from him and all was silent.</p><p></p><p>In the aftermath they discovered some writings inside one of the chambers upon the terraces, alongside a great many broken eggshells. The writings were disjointed but indicated that the Emperor's subjects who had followed him into the Sanctuary over 500 years ago soon discovered that they were no longer hungry, thirsty or tired. Their eggs were not fertile and none of them aged. Some tried to convince the Emperor that it was time to end their exile but he cut down any who dared suggest that they emerge from hiding. In the end many died by their own hand and some tried to dig their way out only to find that, beyond the thin veneer of stone, there was only the void and the even quicker madness that it contained.</p><p></p><p>The party all agreed: A useful place as a refuge, but dangerous if used too long.</p><p></p><p>From the dead Captain of the Imperial Guard, Astavian took an ornate set of magical greaves. Eshik awkwardly took up the badges of office from the dead Emperor: A ring and the banner.</p><p></p><p>A brief search turned up a few more items of historical significance but none of them wished to tarry in this place that felt more a curse than a blessing. Struggling to get beyond the baleful window into the Place Between Places, all were relieved when they reached the orb once more. Eshik willed them out of the Sanctuary and they appeared in the courtyard.</p><p></p><p>Though they had only been gone a couple of hours the angle of the sun seemed entirely wrong. They further noted that an enormous amount of the debris had been cleared away from Drakaru's fallen temple. As they were still puzzling over this one of the workers approached and commented, "Ah! You've finally returned!"</p><p></p><p>"How long have we been gone?"</p><p></p><p>"Oh...over a week I'd guess. Not quite sure."</p><p></p><p>**********</p><p></p><p>Phew. Ok again sorry for all the delays. Luckily I had some last minute work come in yesterday that kept me out of town all day.</p><p></p><p>Mechanics:</p><p></p><p>The window into the Place Between Places was handled by having it make a +15 attack vs. Will as they tried to cross it. If it hit then they were transfixed and could only try and make a Save against it if somebody distracted them in some way. They primarily got through this area by grabbing each other and pulling along any who got caught by it (which was usually Astavian and Eshik being dragged to safety by the girls who had much better Will Defenses).</p><p></p><p>The Imperial Guards of Arkhosia were Dragonborn Gladiators with a few sidekick Scytheclaw Drakes added in the first encounter. For the Captain of the Guard I used the stats for Bax (which I pulled off the DDI Compendium but looks like was published in King of the Trollhaunt Warrens). The stats for Emperor Karthask were those of a Dragonborn Fire Adept. His Immolate, Dragon Breath and Fiery Denial were nasty business. Also he had the Shroud of Flame causing 10 points of fire damage to any who attacked him in Melee which is why Eshik mostly fought him alone while Astavian and Zanne cleaned up the guards. Mialain also shot him with a few well placed arrows in between times she was healing Eshik.</p><p></p><p>I felt like the struggle between Eshik and the Emperor for the banner was a very cool scene. I was hoping that Eshik would get the chance to plant the banner and proclaim himself the new Emperor but he never really had enough of a break in the action to do so.</p><p></p><p>Speaking of which, mechanically the banner was a Standard of Eternal Battle. The Emperor also had (appropriately) a Ring of the Dragonborn Emperor. The Captain of the Imperial Guard had some Dragonborn Greaves which Astavian took possession of. It had been a while since they'd gotten some meaningful treasure so I took this opportunity to throw them a few juicy items. I note that the Ring of the Dragonborn Emperor was the perfect signature item for Eshik, not only because of his bloodline but it dovetailed great with the necklace that he'd found WAAAAAY back at the start of the campaign which gave his Dragon Breath a recharge on 5 or 6. So that was pretty cool too.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rel, post: 5102340, member: 99"] They found themselves inside a circular room with a pedestal in the center. On the pedestal was an orb, identical to the Sanctuary. Only one exit led out of the room and an eerie purple glow emanated from it. They approached to see chunks of the stone ceiling had fallen and the purplish light was shining down from above. Amid the rubble they could make out a couple of skeletons. They looked like Dragonborn. Eshik stepped forward to see where the purple light was coming from and was transfixed. His eyes glazed over and his jaw hung slack. Zanne stepped forward and caught a glimpse of what he saw and it was all she could do to tear her gaze away. With Astavian's help they dragged Eshik back into the circular room. "What was up there?" Zanne and Eshik both replied, "Nothing." They had gazed into the Void. The Sanctuary sat inside the Place Between Places. Zanne commented that this made a certain sense when one considered that the Nexus also exerted some control over the planes. The Place Between Places, she posited, was the nowhere between them and these twin artifacts had some connection to the concept. This made sense to Eshik as well. Because he knew that Io, or at least some part of his consciousness, existed in the Place Between Places. He had encountered it there when they had crossed over from the world into the Feywild. He'd been dead at the time but that was hardly the strangest thing about the experience. In any event, it was decided that the best course of action if they were to proceed was to hurry through the section of hallway with the gap into the void as quickly as possible. This proved harder than they anticipated because something about the immensity of the Place Between Places pulled at the mortal mind and drew them to look into it. But those who were caught by it were dragged free by those who resisted and they made it to the other side, hurrying to leave its terrifying strangeness behind. The passage soon opened into a huge chamber where grass covered the floor and terraces rose to either side. Ahead of them was a gigantic staircase that must have at least a hundred steps up to a narrow landing and passage beyond. There were sconces that burned with red fire but seemed to give no heat. Mialain knelt to observe that the grass seemed thin and brittle and somehow a bit unnatural. This was all they had time to notice before a group of Dragonborn came at them from the terraces above, howling with madness. These were accompanied by bipedal lizards the size of large dogs who leaped into the midst of the party and attempted to drag them to the ground with their hooked claws. After a moments hesitation however the group pulled together and began hacking down their attackers. Astavian and Eshik traded blasts of dragonbreath with the enemy Dragonborn. The enemy fought with ferocity and abandon, seemingly heedless of the wounds they sustained until they had been hacked down. Eshik had a moment to notice that they all had uniform armor and weapons bearing the seal of the ancient city of Arkhosia. There was little time to study it however as a group of similarly dressed Dragonborn gathered atop the staircase. Their leader was grand, mighty and unquestionably insane. His heavily accented Draconic echoed down the to the party as he pointed at Eshik: "Your treacherous line has come to try and unseat me, have they!? I have reigned forever and I SHALL reign forever!! I am Karthask...the ETERNAL EMPEROR!!" He raised a banner with the image of a fiery dragon on it and ordered his guards to attack. The party stood their ground at the bottom of the chamber. Zanne waited for their approach and broke the formation with a Stinking Cloud. Astavian and Eshik moved to attack one of the flanks while Mialain picked off the wounded with her bow and provided healing to the party when needed. All was going well and more than half the guards were dead when the Emperor stepped up and planted his banner and flame exploded around him. The intense heat blistered the flesh and scales of the party and they knew that they could not bear such flame for long. Eshik jumped forward and grabbed the banner away from Karthask and the flames subsided. They caught a brief glimpse of the dragon on the banner changing from red to green when Karthask seized it back from Eshik. This however bought enough time for Astavian and Zanne to bring down the captain of the Imperial Guard whose imposing presence was clearly instilling some discipline among the rest of the Guard. As he fell the rest broke into a mob who were easily dispatched. Meanwhile Eshik and the Emperor continued to struggle for control of the banner with the Emperor getting the better of it. Karthask continued to unleash bursts of flame that charred Eshik's scales and it was all Mialain could do to keep him on his feet. But Eshik finally managed to plant a sword thrust into the chest of the insane Emperor that sent him staggering back and Astavian and Zanne quickly closed in for the kill. The last gasp of the mad Emperor hissed from him and all was silent. In the aftermath they discovered some writings inside one of the chambers upon the terraces, alongside a great many broken eggshells. The writings were disjointed but indicated that the Emperor's subjects who had followed him into the Sanctuary over 500 years ago soon discovered that they were no longer hungry, thirsty or tired. Their eggs were not fertile and none of them aged. Some tried to convince the Emperor that it was time to end their exile but he cut down any who dared suggest that they emerge from hiding. In the end many died by their own hand and some tried to dig their way out only to find that, beyond the thin veneer of stone, there was only the void and the even quicker madness that it contained. The party all agreed: A useful place as a refuge, but dangerous if used too long. From the dead Captain of the Imperial Guard, Astavian took an ornate set of magical greaves. Eshik awkwardly took up the badges of office from the dead Emperor: A ring and the banner. A brief search turned up a few more items of historical significance but none of them wished to tarry in this place that felt more a curse than a blessing. Struggling to get beyond the baleful window into the Place Between Places, all were relieved when they reached the orb once more. Eshik willed them out of the Sanctuary and they appeared in the courtyard. Though they had only been gone a couple of hours the angle of the sun seemed entirely wrong. They further noted that an enormous amount of the debris had been cleared away from Drakaru's fallen temple. As they were still puzzling over this one of the workers approached and commented, "Ah! You've finally returned!" "How long have we been gone?" "Oh...over a week I'd guess. Not quite sure." ********** Phew. Ok again sorry for all the delays. Luckily I had some last minute work come in yesterday that kept me out of town all day. Mechanics: The window into the Place Between Places was handled by having it make a +15 attack vs. Will as they tried to cross it. If it hit then they were transfixed and could only try and make a Save against it if somebody distracted them in some way. They primarily got through this area by grabbing each other and pulling along any who got caught by it (which was usually Astavian and Eshik being dragged to safety by the girls who had much better Will Defenses). The Imperial Guards of Arkhosia were Dragonborn Gladiators with a few sidekick Scytheclaw Drakes added in the first encounter. For the Captain of the Guard I used the stats for Bax (which I pulled off the DDI Compendium but looks like was published in King of the Trollhaunt Warrens). The stats for Emperor Karthask were those of a Dragonborn Fire Adept. His Immolate, Dragon Breath and Fiery Denial were nasty business. Also he had the Shroud of Flame causing 10 points of fire damage to any who attacked him in Melee which is why Eshik mostly fought him alone while Astavian and Zanne cleaned up the guards. Mialain also shot him with a few well placed arrows in between times she was healing Eshik. I felt like the struggle between Eshik and the Emperor for the banner was a very cool scene. I was hoping that Eshik would get the chance to plant the banner and proclaim himself the new Emperor but he never really had enough of a break in the action to do so. Speaking of which, mechanically the banner was a Standard of Eternal Battle. The Emperor also had (appropriately) a Ring of the Dragonborn Emperor. The Captain of the Imperial Guard had some Dragonborn Greaves which Astavian took possession of. It had been a while since they'd gotten some meaningful treasure so I took this opportunity to throw them a few juicy items. I note that the Ring of the Dragonborn Emperor was the perfect signature item for Eshik, not only because of his bloodline but it dovetailed great with the necklace that he'd found WAAAAAY back at the start of the campaign which gave his Dragon Breath a recharge on 5 or 6. So that was pretty cool too. [/QUOTE]
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