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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 6673406" data-attributes="member: 508">ADVENTURE 100: ENDS AND NEW BEGINNINGSPC Roster:  Cal Trop, human cleric of Kord             Chalkan, half-elf ranger/cleric of Corellon Larethian/sorcerer/arcane archer             Delphyne Babelberi, human witch (wizard)/arch-witch             Feron Dru, half-elf druid             Galrich Slayer, half-orc barbarian             Rale Bodkin, human rogue             Telgrane, half-fire elemental human conjurer/archmage             Thunderwolf, human fighterNPC Roster: Aerik Battershield, dwarven fighter/dwarven defender"Thank you all for meeting with me," said Brother Altamaic the Calm, as the Wing Three adventurers filed into a conference room in the Church Library of Boccob.  However, as they took their seats, they noticed his expression was more animated than normal, belying his name.  His face seemed flushed with excitement, and he played nervously with his fingers."I believe this last endeavor will complete the collection of Elemental Items," he said.  "Now that you have gathered three of them, we can focus the plane shift spell through them and it should take you to wherever the last item, the Elemental Water Halo, happens to be, no matter on which plane it might be found."Brother Altamaic's voice cracked as he continued: "I-- I had a vision last night, possibly a sending from the god Boccob Himself.  This mission is of the utmost importance – nothing can be allowed to prevent you from gathering the Elemental Water Halo and adding it to the others.  I cannot stress that enough.  If you fail, you fail not only yourselves but Boccob as well.  That cannot be allowed to happen!"But I'm sure you will all do fine," he finally added, gathering in his nervousness with visible difficulty."Let's cast our normal prep spells," suggested Cal.  "Who's got an attune form ready?  We don't know where we'll be showing up - it could be the Negative Energy Plane of the Elemental Plane of Fire, for all we know.""I would not mind going to the Elemental Plane of Fire," piped up Infernia."Yeah, well, you're a little more suited for it than the rest of us," countered Cal."I've got one ready," replied Delphyne to the cleric's original question."Me too, if it comes to it," offered Telgrane.The normal bevy of ready-for-combat spells having been applied, Telgrane cast the plane shift spell as directed by Altamaic through the three assembled Elemental Items, and the group of heroes vanished from the Material Plane."Best of luck to you all," muttered Altamaic, wiping the sweat from his face.  "Wherever you end up." - - - Telgrane had absolutely no idea what was going on.  His last memory was of turning in for the night, in one of the bedrooms of the Daern's dollhouse - since the destruction of the Adventurers Guild Headquarters, some of the heroes had been staying over at Cal's new villa across town, while others stayed in the dollhouse in the Church Library of Boccob.  Now, for whatever reason, he was sinking in a body of dark water, his robes of the archmage dragging him down.  He felt seaweed brush by his arms as he flailed around; he must have instinctively closed his eyes upon entering the water, for fear of the damage it might do to the jets of flame that had replaced his own eyes, many months back.  But since he seemed to be in an aquatic environment, whatever the reason, he polymorphed his lower half into that of a merman, the better to swim around.He had a brief moment of panic then, wondering if Infernia was inside the tinderbox on his belt or if she, too, was sinking to her death, for he well knew just how briefly a fire elemental might survive full immersion in a body of water.  But then he relaxed, recalling he had purchased her a necklace of adaptation for that very reason some months back.  If she were indeed submerged, the flames of her fiery body would be safely encased in a sheath of air.All at once, a cacophony of voices came over the Rary's telepathic bond that Telgrane suddenly realized was active."Master!  Are you all right?""What the hell--?"Where are we?""There's something--""Where's Galrich?  I'm supposed to be--""How'd we--?""Is anyone--?""--thought I saw--""Aerik?  Is that you?""SHUT IT, YOU LUNKS!"This last was definitely Rale's voice, and it had the desired effect: everyone stopped "talking" over the telepathic bond to listen to him.  "It sounds like you've got some memory problems, so I'll fill you in as best I can.  First order of business: swim back up to the surface, pronto, and head for the barge!  Those who need help, call out; those nearby, give 'em a hand.  But I need a hand up here, 'cause I'm fighting a giant drow chick and a big, blue dude all by my lonesome!"Those in the heaviest armor - Aerik, Galrich, and Cal, as Thunderwolf's new armor of the deep was custom-built for underwater maneuvering - were the slowest to make it to the surface.  That actually worked in their favor, for they were not alone in the oily, black water.  Four piscoloths swam between the black weeds and did their best to pull back under those who made it to the surface.  Delphyne and Feron each fought off one of these aquatic terrors; Thunderwolf was fortunately within visual range of Delphyne's foe and tried diverting its attention away from the witch by slashing it with Xanthros.  One tried pulling Galrich back below the surface after he suddenly shot up like a cork; what the piscoloth failed to realize was that Galrich had activated a ring of water walking and his attempt to pull the barbarian back down by his ankles was never going to work.  While bobbing up and down in the water like a crazed buoy, the half-orc chopped away with his vorpal axe onto the piscoloth's head, splitting it asunder like a ripe watermelon.  Feron's opponent grappled her from behind, pinning her arms to the side and pulling her back down below the waves; he was taken completely by surprise when his seemingly helpless prey suddenly wildshaped into a giant constrictor and not only escaped from his grasp but immediately turned the tables on him by squeezing the piscoloth in a constricting embrace.Telgrane made it to the surface, opened his flame-jet eyes, and took a quick look around.  The sky above was a sickly orange-red, punctuated by occasional fiery explosions.  The body of water in which he floated was wide enough to be a river, its oily black waters being fed by the occasional rivulets of blood seeping in from tributaries.  Everything clicked into place at once for the archmage: they were in Hell, specifically Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells; the river was the River Styx, which drained those who touched its foul waters of their recent memories; the black barge bearing down on him was undoubtedly the one Rale had mentioned.  Speaking of which, Rale was flying in the air off to the side of the shore, courtesy of his winged boots; he had his bow out and was shooting at a twice-normal-sized drow woman wielding twin swords who stood on the deck of the barge.And if they had all shown up near a barge on the River Styx as it flowed through Avernus, then it followed that the Elemental Water Halo was likely somewhere on the vessel....Seeing some of his companions fighting creatures in the water, Telgrane called out over the telepathic bond, "Anybody have any problems with all of us getting out of the water at once?"  Hearing no objections - and several desperate votes for the archmage to do whatever he was about to do, fast! - Telgrane cast a wish spell: "I wish that I, and all of my present companions, were instantly teleported to the rooftop at the back of the barge directly before me."The piscoloths grappling with the submerged heroes got quite a surprise when their foes were suddenly no longer present.  Popping up to the surface, they spotted them upon the rooftop of the back of the barge and started swimming towards it.Infernia was standing right at the edge of the rooftop; directly below her was the "big, blue dude" Rale had mentioned.  This was Ventifex Rosch, a mercane merchant who traded with the denizens along the Lower Planes from his black paddleboat barge, the Low Planes Drifter.  He stood alert, looking about him for where the mortals who had appeared on his boat might have gotten off to.  A swipe with a flaming fist from above gave him the answer he sought.On the boat before him, his current paramour and bodyguard, the succubus Sumi - currently wearing the form of a 12-foot-tall drow woman, in order to be more compatible in size to the mercane she served - heard Ventifex's gasp of pain and swung around, her twin swords at the ready.  Seeing her foes all grouped together on the rooftop, she quickly tried summoning a vrock into their midst, but her mental call was left unanswered.  Snarling in fury, she resolved to have a few words with the vrock demon she usually dealt with the next time she saw him, while part of her wondered if he had somehow known she was attempting to summon a demon into Hell, the land of their arch-enemies, the devils."Watch out for those swords!" cautioned Rale over the link.  "We first landed on the front of the barge, and she went slashing sideways with both blades - that's what sent you all into the drink!"  Rale had only survived such a fate himself because his winged boots kicked in as he went flying from the concussive blast of her swords.Aerik went leaping down the giant-sized stairs along the right side - the starboard side? - whatever - of the living quarters.  He readied his axe for combat.  In the meantime, Infernia continued swiping at the mercane with her fists from above, while Rale, Thunderwolf, and Chalkan took the opportunity to keep the drow active dodging their arrows.  With no room along the front edge of the roof among Infernia and the archers, Delphyne cast a magic circle against evil spell upon herself, and Feron, still in giant constrictor form but still able to cast spells due to her specialized training, tried casting a finger of death at Sumi; unfortunately, the drow succubus managed to shrug it off.Telgrane, meanwhile, reverted back to his normal form (as a merman's tail wasn't much use for maneuvering along a rooftop) and brought out the big guns: specifically, a meteor swarm that went flying into Sumi as she was far enough forward on the deck that he could see her to target his spell.  Weakened by the dozen or so arrow shafts sticking out of her body, the spell easily finished the job and she fell to the deck, dead.Galrich opted not to wait any longer.  Pushing Infernia to the side, he jumped past her and onto Ventifex Rosch's head, then from there leapt to the deck.  The mercane was staggered by the impact, but managed not to fall over.  As Aerik was still running around the deck from the stairs, the mercane focused his attention on the nearer threat: the bloodthirsty half-orc barbarian standing before him with axe raised to strike.  Ventifex made a fist and pointed it at Galrich; a ram-shaped burst of force energy came exploding out of the ring and struck Galrich in the chest.  Ventifex ran forward, his momentum pushing Galrich across the deck and over the side of the paddleboat, where the mercane no doubt expected that to be the end of him.  However, Galrich's ring of water walking was still active, and he merely bobbed on the waves from the boat's propulsion through the dark waters of the River Styx.By then, Aerik had come up to the mercane and gotten in a couple of good whacks with his own axe.  Infernia leapt down to the deck and bull rushed the mercane off the side of the deck and into the River Styx.  The archers above changed their target to the mercane as he struggled to climb back up onto his vessel, and the poor merchant, now peppered with a myriad of arrows, soon followed Sumi in death.  He sunk like a rock into the dark waters, never to be seen again.The nearby piscoloths, the closest of which had reached the Low Planes Drifter by this time, took a good look at the carnage that had happened on the deck and decided to go seek elsewhere for their fiendish entertainment.Together, the group descended the steps.  While Rale looted Sumi's body (finding nothing but her oversized swords, which were too big to use), Telgrane opened the door to what he assumed were the living quarters.  He was correct; plush pillows and bedding were piled in the back of the room, while a variety of exotic drinks and smoking supplies – including an elaborate water pipe – stood along one side."Search everywhere!" commanded the archmage.  "The Elemental Water Halo has got to be here somewhere!"Sure enough, it was.  Behind an oversized pillow, Rale discovered a small wooden chest.  It was neither trapped nor locked, and when opened, a disk went flying out of the chest in a beeline for Telgrane.  It hit the three previously assembled Elemental Items and merged with them, forming a roughly spherical chunk of rock surrounded by three rings, each perpendicular to the two others.But that wasn't all that happened.  As soon as the four Elemental Items had been joined, Telgrane's body started breaking apart and scattering away into nothingness.  Infernia barely got out a strangled cry of "Master!" before it started happening to her as well, then Rale, then the rest of the group all at once.  In a matter of seconds, the assembled group of Wing Three adventurers were no more, and the Low Planes Drifter continued its meandering trip along the River Styx unguided. - - - Telgrane suddenly found himself standing in the middle of a Y-shaped platform, floating in a vast, empty field of shimmering white.  Surrounding him were his fellow adventurers, all hale and hearty - plus their familiars and animal companions, even those who had been left behind in Greyhawk City rather than be subjected to a visit to an unknown plane.  Even Dez was at Rale's side, looking surprised at her sudden change of location.Infernia stood at Telgrane's side.  "Where are we, Master?" she asked."The Astral Plane, it looks like," Telgrane answered, looking around.At each end of the "Y" stood a humanoid figure some 15 feet tall.  The first of these was an elderly, white-haired man in the flowing robes of a wizard.  To his right stood a grizzled-looking human sporting well-worn travel gear.  To his right stood a humanoid figure looking to be carved of living wood, with green leaves sprouting from his face to take the place of hair and beard.With a communal gasp, the heroes recognized them as Boccob, Fharlanghn, and Obad-Hai, three of the neutral gods.  Boccob was the god Telgrane revered above all others, for he was the God of Magic and Knowledge.  Fharlanghn was the God of Travelers, and Obad-Hai was a God of Nature."You have done extremely well," said Boccob to the assembled group, smiling.  "You have found and assembled all four of the Elemental Items.""But not in the correct order," grumbled Obad-Hai, holding out his hand to summon the Elemental Items from Telgrane's hand.  The archmage's first impulse was to try to hold on to them, but then quickly realized thwarting a god was probably not a good idea.  Reluctantly - and with thoughts that here was another "assembled-from-different-parts" artifact he probably wasn't going to get to keep - he released the three-ringed sphere and watched as it floated over to Obad-Hai's outstretched hand.Fussing over the fused artifact, the Nature God said, "The Elemental Fire Disc should be at the center of the Elemental Earth Stone, for one thing."  Passing his hand over it, the continuous ring of fire seeped into the rough sphere of solid stone, sliding through fissures that suddenly broke out upon its surface, until it could no longer be seen."Then the Elemental Water Halo, which should be spread out evenly across its surface," he continued.  With another wave of his hand, the ring of water seemed to lose coherence, spreading out evenly over the sphere, yet somehow still remaining in contact with the rock's surface instead of spilling out upon the floor.  The heroes could see chunks of the uneven stone popping up out of the water otherwise covering its surface."And then finally, the Elemental Air Torus," said Obad-Hai, passing his hand a final time over the sphere.  The remaining ring of air immediately discorporated, covering the entire sphere in a series of what looked rather like tiny clouds.Satisfied with his work, Obad-Hai looked up and pierced Feron Dru with his green gaze.  "Step forward, Feron," he commanded.  "I'd have preferred one of my own druids, but I suppose you'll have to do."Nervously, Feron stepped forward down the path of the floating "Y" that led to the Nature God.  Obad-Hai took her hand and held it, palm down, over the modified sphere.  With a thorn that suddenly sprung forth from the tip of one of his fingers, he sliced across Feron's palm and drops of her blood spilled down onto the sphere, quickly absorbed into the water areas.  He then plucked a leaf from his beard, rubbed it over the druid's sliced palm, and the cut healed up instantly.  Feron bowed and returned to the rest of her group."You must think of the entirety of this Universe as a gigantic, living organism," explained Boccob in a regal voice, looking down at the group.  "Like any other living thing, it has a means of creating its own offspring, so that upon its death the next generation will remain, to live, to grow."  He then looked at his other two companion deities.  "What do you think?" he asked them.  "'Planet Wing Three,' in their honor?""That sounds ridiculous," replied Fharlanghn, speaking for the first time."'Planet Three,' then?" asked Boccob."Hrrm.  That sounds more like a scientific classification.""How about spelling it backwards, then?" asked Boccob.  "After all, there has been plenty of precedent.""'Planet Eerht'?" asked Fharlanghn, wrinkling his nose.  "That sounds just as stupid, and it's hard to pronounce.""We'll just scramble the letters, then," announced Boccob, having reached a decision.  "'Planet Erthe'.""Won't that be confusing?" asked Fharlanghn."E-R-T-H-E," explained Boccob.  "I'm sure the inhabitants will get used to it."Fharlanghn reached out a hand towards Obad-Hai, and the fledgling planet hovered over to him.  "Planet Erthe it is, then," he said.  "We'll release it into the Astral void, to find its way into a pocket dimension of its own.  Over the span of millennia it will grow in size, and the drops of your blood, Feron, will be the spark of life that some day – when this tired old Universe has outlived its usefulness – will become the dominant species.  The old Universe will break apart and fade away, leaving little Planet Erthe behind it to start anew.  The heavens will erupt from it in all directions, and a new Universe will be born."And in that new Universe," Fharlanghn continued, "a bright new pantheon of gods will arise, patterned after you, its collective founders."  And with a smile and a wink at the heroes, the God of Travelers blew on the newly-fashioned planet, causing it to float away into the vastness of the Astral Plane like a soap bubble.  They all watched it until it could no longer be seen.Then, with a harrumph, Boccob spoke again.  "And now, onto other matters," he said, turning to look directly at Galrich.  "Galrich Slayer, the spirit of your slain mother once said you will know when the time has come to return to the kingdom of your mother's birth, to take the crown of Kordovia as its next ruler.  You probably didn't expect that the God of Knowledge Himself would be the one to inform you when the time had come, but such is the case.  Thank you all once again for your service, but you now have other matters that require your attention."  And with a dismissive wave of his hand, the group was gone from the Convocation of the Neutral Gods in the boundless Astral Plane, and suddenly found themselves standing in the grand hall of Castle Kordovia.An aged Lord Hammershard looked relieved to see them.  "It's time," he said simply in a tired voice, leading the group to the throne room. - - - Galrich was whisked away almost immediately upon the group's sudden appearance in Kordovia, and Aerik soon excused himself as well, eager to get back to his normal duties now that his service as an adventurer's bodyguard was over.  The rest of the heroes spent the next several hours being treated like honored guests.  Finally, a castle page came to escort them to the throne room.The throne room was packed with the nobility of Kordovia.  Aerik once again wore the ornamental armor of a castle guard and stood at attention to the right of the throne, holding a crown upon a padded tray.  Sitting in the throne was Lord Hammershard, holding the scepter of succession, the magic item the Wing Three adventurers had unearthed for the kingdom and found out shortly thereafter that Galrich would be the next king of the small country.The doors at the far side of the room swung open and a page announced to the assembled crowd, "His Majesty, Galrich Slayer, son of Queen Kathenta of Kordovia."  In walked Galrich Slayer, sporting no longer his combat armor and a veritable armory of weapons; he now wore a purple robe tied with a golden sash.  Perhaps most striking of all, he appeared to have been recently bathed and his shaggy mane of hair cut to a moderate length and – wonder of wonders – actually combed.Galrich strode purposefully to the throne and came to a halt before Lord Hammershard."Kneel before the symbol of Kordovian royalty," commanded the elderly regent, holding aloft the scepter of succession.  Galrich lowered himself to one knee.  Lord Hammershard then passed over the scepter of succession to Galrich, who cradled it under one arm.  Lord Hammershard then took the crown from Aerik and placed it upon Galrich's head.  "You may rise," he said to the half-orc kneeling before him.  Then, turning to the assembled crowd, he said, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Court, I present to you King Galrich the First, Ruler of the Kingdom of Kordovia, by the blessings of the Gods Above.  Long may he live!""Long may he live!" repeated the crowd with enthusiasm."May he rule wisely," intoned Lord Hammershard, then turned to the newly-crowned king.  "Your Majesty, the floor is yours."  He then stepped aside so that King Galrich might make his coronation speech to those assembled.King Galrich stepped up to the throne, turned around, and looked out at the veritable sea of faces staring at him.  His voice froze up, followed almost immediately by his mind.  What was he going to say?"He's gonna blow it," whispered Rale to Thunderwolf, standing at his side."Nah, he'll be okay," whispered back the fighter.  "Just watch."King Galrich took a deep, calming breath and slowly let it out.  "Thank you all for coming," he began.  "I never really expected to become a king, given the circumstances of my birth.  But as my life as an adventurer has shown me, there is an amazing world out there, and I've seen many stranger things than a half-orc bastard like myself becoming the ruler of a great nation like Kordovia....""Told you," smirked Thunderwolf.  "He's doing fine." - - -The next morning was a morning of farewells.  "I can't believe I won't be seeing you guys anymore," remarked King Galrich."Well, you've got a kingdom to run here, but I've got to get back to Greyhawk City," explained Cal.  "Now that the Adventurers Guild is no more, I guess I'll spend most of my time getting my merchant empire running smoothly.""Well, now, wait a minute," argued Thunderwolf.  "The Guild Headquarters might have been destroyed, but I fully intend to rebuild.  It might take me years, but there will be another Greyhawk City Adventurers Guild.""Guildmaster Thunderwolf," remarked King Galrich.  "Good for you, kid.  And hey, thanks again for the mace, Cal.""No problem," replied the cleric of Kord.  At the coronation, after Galrich's speech, Cal had presented him with a mace he had personally crafted for the occasion: a silver goblinbane heavy mace carved in the shape of a screaming goblin, which provided its wielder the benefit of a magic circle against evil spell when held.  "I'm sure you'll put it to good use.""I'm heading back to Greyhawk City, too," replied Rale.  "I've got my own Guild to run, so to speak."  He fully intended to shape his band of followers - Dez and the acting troupe, plus the various rogues and kenku he had working for him - into the premiere source of information in the city.  He'd give those kenku Collectors a run for their money!"Well, I won't be returning," said Feron.  "I think my days of an adventurer are over.  I'm going to go seek out Ehlonna's Grove and join the Sisterhood there.""I won't be returning, either," added Telgrane.  "Infernia and I plan on exploring the Elemental Planes.""Can we start with the Elemental Plane of Fire, Master?" asked Infernia eagerly.  "I wish to take you home and introduce you to my parents!""Your-- your parents?" sputtered the archmage, causing his familiar to laugh out loud.  "I am making the joke, Master!" she giggled.  "Elementals do not have parents!  We spring up from the Plane itself!"  Telgrane merely shook his head in amazement."I'm going back to Greyhawk City," said Delphyne, "but only to return for Coventry.  I believe we'll do some exploring ourselves, only we'll stick to the Material Plane for now, I think.""What about you, Chalkan?" asked King Galrich."I'm not sure," admitted the half-elf.  "I thought maybe I'd start up a school for arcane archers, make sure that Vlaegoroth's knowledge gets passed on to the next generation.""Well, I'm staying right here," added Aerik.  "I'm just glad t'be home with me wife and daughter again.""You have a wife?" asked Chalkan, dumbfounded."And a daughter?" added Rale.  "Is she hot?"  This last comment earned him an elbow in the ribs from Dez and a dark scowl from the dwarven castle guard."She's...underage," Aerik snarled at Rale.  The rogue opted not to press his luck any further with any additional comments."Well, that's it, then," replied King Galrich.  "I guess this is officially the end of Wing Three.""And the beginning of the next chapter of our lives," replied Cal.  "But who knows?  Our paths may yet cross in the future."  He shook the hands of his erstwhile companions, which started a frenzy of handshaking and hugs as everybody made their goodbyes.And then Telgrane plane shifted away with Infernia, and Delphyne cast a greater teleport spell on those headed back to Greyhawk City.  Feron wildshaped into an eagle and flew off towards the Vesve Forest, her eagle companion Felix flying at her side."Well," sighed King Galrich, "I guess we'd better head back inside and start the day's appointments.""Yes, me king," replied Aerik, following his liege back into the castle. - - - And that was the end of our campaign, save for one final epilogue I read to the players to finalize the campaign.  (I'll include it as a separate entry to this Story Hour, just to close things out.)I built the Low Planes Drifter out of black poster board, back at the same time I had built the planeshifting tower from "Expedition to Earth" (which is where the PCs first discovered the Elemental Earth Stone, which ended up being a handy way to wrap up the campaign - although at the time I first designed the Elemental Items, I had no idea they would join to become a proto-planet and "seed" for a new universe).And, of course, the end of this campaign isn't the end of our D&D group.  We'd already decided - more than a year ago -  that when this campaign finished up we'd "fast forward" 20 years and start up a new campaign in the Kingdom of Kordovia, with a bunch of 1st-level characters being assembled by King Galrich to become his first batch of professional adventurers.  Our next session is 8 Aug 15, which will be a combination PC creation workshop and short, introductory adventure session combined.</blockquote>

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