The division of the world of Faerun is in five parts. To the North lies what’s commonly referred to as the banditlands. It’s a place of chaos and disorder where evil tends to lurk and coalesce in the form of evil strongholds from thieves to brigands to assassins and much more. The East is quite different from the rest of the world. Broken into several Kingdoms and a feudalistic society, they tend to fight among themselves over territory, but not daring to move West against the Magocracy. The South is mostly free city-states who have developed treaty pacts to come to each other’s aid in time of war, but are otherwise independent of one another and not very wealthy. To the West lies the great Sword Coast and the territories of Amn which are full of politicians, extreme wealth, military might, and abundant resources. The West is highly developed with Autocracies and Plutocracies as governing systems. The islands in the West and Southwest are independent militaristic city-states. In between, the Magocracy and the Kingdoms lies the void, the eternal darkness, the nothing; which is a 100 mile radius sphere of complete magical darkness. Finally, just above the Southern city-states in the center of Faerun lies the Magocracy. A massive mega city made up of eight sectors, each sector being a metropolis itself with a 1,600 mile wall 600 feet high and 300 feet thick surrounds the Magocracy as a protective wall. Each sector of the city represents each school of magic with a tower in the center where the best Archmages in the world take up residence. In the center of the each sector is the Academy, where spellcasters of every kind come to learn the arcane arts and pay fortunes in tuition in order to do so.
The Magocracy – It’s largely a neutral superpower whose content with the lands it holds and the power it wields. In recent years they have been sending out emissaries on behalf of the Magocracy to create deals with neighboring lands to reclaim magical items.
The Void – It’s rumored that the darkness was the work of the Magocracy, but no one knows why. The Magocracy has declined it is their doing and have sent many of their order to investigate the darkness only to never return. It’s rumored that Dragons, Liches, Tarrasques, and many more extremely evil things live inside the nothing. It first appeared around 200 years ago, which set off cataclysmic earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and maelstrom winds within a 200 mile radius of it’s origin that lasted several days. No one has been able to determine how it came into being and an answer is still sought after to this very day.
The party returns with the children…well most of them anyways. We’re tasked with going back to eliminate the vampire threat, but need help. Luckily there were two new travelers that arrived in town the night before, one of which was sent here to aid Verdain with the lost children. Just before we left, the father of Elizabeth came to us and asked us to bring her back alive. He gave us the deed to the Inn as payment. We’ll most likely need to go to a larger city to accomplish this task once we “suspend” her undead life. Zane claims he can postpone the effects of decay long enough to bring her back and Talis claims a stake to the heart will kill the vampire inside her once she’s incapacitated. So, with our two new allies; Kite and Zane, we head southwest. We fight some bears that appeared startled by our presence so much so that they attacked us. They were easily dispatched and we feasted on bear steaks, while Magnus tanned one of the bear hides. We were attacked in the night by undead ogres. It would appear that their jowls matched the marks on the bears. Something is awry in these woods.
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After a rough night without a fire a cold damp blows in from the Northwest covering the area with a thick dense fog. As the party navigates their way to the Dilapidated Manor they run into a pack of dire wolves running away from something. The party continues onward and gets lost in the woods trying to find their way. They spend the majority of the day trying to find their way in the fog and eventually settle down for the night. Magnus builds a concealed fire using the Dakota hole method taught to him by his years in service. In the morning the fog still hangs in the air and they attempt and mostly succeed at navigating their way through the terrain using Zane’s map. As afternoon is upon them they find a fort of sorts. The fog doesn’t seem to be affecting this area. A moat of approximately 20 feet across encircles a camp of goblins. The fortifications of the camp seem to be built out of old wagons that the goblins perhaps raided on the road. The party finds a secret passage into the camp through an underground path. Fights ensue. Goblins take heavy casualties. Treasure is discovered.
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Explorations of the underground hovel ensued. Secret passages were discovered that lead up. Talis and Kite sneakily scoped it out. The party uses their newfound knowledge of these secret passages to ambush the rest of the goblin horde gaining pernicious advantage over their enemies. Their leader was a full plated greatsword wielding hobgoblin overlord who was severely punished by Magnus for sleeping during the day. Elise burned goblins, Kite viciously attacked with a frenzy of blows, Zane assisted in face tanking the overlord, and Talis kill stole everything he could. The day was won. More hordes of treasure were found. The party rested. The next day they spent yet another day in the thick fog wandering aimlessly. They made it to the outskirts of the dying trees. In the night on Elise’s watch (again) they were attacked. Demon dogs breathed fiery death on the party, but were quickly dispatched. Things are getting worse the closer we get to the Dilapidated Manor.
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We’ve reached the Manor by means of following the dark vortex in the sky that Talis’ owl; Strix was able to see. The fog is even thicker here if that’s possible. As we made our way back through the Manor’s underground secret passages we found the familiar rooms we traveled through but they were somehow darker. The air was thick with some kind of poisonous cloud and the walls were black with veins. Many of us succumbed to the stench of what seemed like the purple flower exploding with coughing fits and the occasional spurt of blood from our lungs. Passing through that room was a relief. We made our way through the hallway of water. Magnus thought it would be a good idea to open the casket that was underwater. When he did he was repulsed by the abhorrent scene before him as bubbles of gas mixed with an obscene amount of blood and body parts were released from the casket. The water turned blood red and Magnus began holding his breath instead of relying on his ring of water breathing. He searched the casket and found a marvelous emerald necklace. The party ventured onward to vampire spawn’s lair and found her chanting at the alter with a shadow demon watching over her in the corner. A battle ensued where we came out victorious. The shadow demon was dispatched and the undead reanimation of Catherine’s body was put to rest. Zane preserved her body with a spell called Gentle Repose. Before the party left they explored the room with all the swirling noises. The room with the dark portal Talis had been telepathically spoken to the last time we were here. As we opened the door we noticed the portal was open. A spectral dagger lie on the alter in the corner, a vortex of darkness stretched up into the sky and sounds of fighting could be heard on the other side of the portal. The portal itself seemed to be spewing fog into the air and was swirling around wildly. After some inspection and thought Talis eventually took the spectral dagger from Magnus and stabbed himself in the chest with hit. His face paled as his spirit was seemingly drained from his body into the blade and out the hilt. As the last of his spirit exited the hilt the blade disintegrated in upon itself and swirled in the air around the portal. Talis’s spirit could been seen entering the portal and moments later another spirit exited. It walked over to the bones on the ground near the alter, hovered a moment and then ascended to the heavens. Talis’s corporeal body fell over, but Zane determined that he wasn’t dead. The portal closed. The party ventured out to the larger city to see about getting Catherine resurrected with Talis’s unconscious body in tow.
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The party reached the town of Whalestone after three days of traveling on foot. Within a day the mist dissipated as the sun burned it away. The first night was uneventful. Talis continues to remain unconscious and the party continues onward. On the second day of travel there’s a loud crashing in the trees up ahead. The companions ready themselves. They notice a large lumbering demon wreathed in shadows come out on the road ahead of them. A very tough fight ensues where the demon utilizes invisibility and teleportation spells, but is eventually dispatched. Magnus takes the claws of the demon while Kite takes its one eye. Another day passes and the party makes it to the town of Whalestone. The guards point them in the direction of the temple of Kelemvor. They meet a young girl who seems fascinated with their bag of holding and an older gentleman named Kane. The party pays Kane for the resurrection of Catherine and a diagnosis of Talis. Kane informs the party that the portal they discovered sounds like a permanent portal linked to the Abyss and Talis is now its guardian. He’s never heard of anyone whose physical body has survived the ritual, but he’s also never seen the ritual performed. He’s agreed to send word to the magocracy for guidance. The party has sold their hordes of art and procured a wagon, two horses and rations for the travel back to Verdain.
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As the party was leaving Whaelstone they happened to notice a bounty board on the way out of town by the Captain of the Guard’s office. One bounty in particular was investigating and neutralizing the bandit threat on the road between Verdain and Whaelstone. The party collected on the bounty since they’d realized the bandit threat was the goblin encampment they destroyed earlier. Magnus’ new full plate armor bore the name of a soldier the Captain knew, which served as proof for the deed. The Captain then propositioned the group to escort a caravan headed to Verdain the next day. He provided a writ of passage, which would allow the group to travel on the road past the order of the Magocracy and informed the group that Verdain’s Mayor; Malaki was in Verdain and would be on the caravan heading back. The party took their leave and headed to the Inn that the caravan company was staying at. After speaking with Malaki they learned that thousands of refugees from the northern city of Fale have taken up refuge in Verdain. With the sudden outbreak of undead within the forest and dangers on the road the refugees took up refuge in Verdain and quickly depleted its stores and supplies and so Malaki rode to Whaelstone in the mist to get help. In the time that it took him to collect supplies, meet with the town Mayor of Whaelstone and setup trade agreements the mist dropped out of the forest, but new problems arose. The road was closed between Whaelstone and Verdain in lieu of rumored demons roaming about. Further proof of this threat was the appearance of Magocracy mages that were sent to aid the locality by quarantining the zone and preventing travel between Whaelstone and Verdain. In the morning the party headed out to Verdain and met with representatives of the Magocracy. They were allowed to pass and told that the road was very dangerous and to be careful. Explosions and fighting could be heard off in the distance close to the where the party surmised the Manor House to reside. They continued onward and spent the night in the woods just off the road. As soon as the sun went down the woods were filled with horror ridden screams and wailing from every direction, which didn’t cease until the morning sun arose. There were many of the caravan who failed to get any sleep and were exhausted the next day. During the night almost immediately after sundown the caravan was attacked by spectral ghostly warriors that seemed to resemble wraiths. They were dispatched easily enough, but when they died they left behind a floating flame-like floating ectoplasm. When the last wraith was killed the ectoplasms quickly combined with each other and went into Kite’s body. Kite’s eyes glazed over as if something else was in control of him and he ran off into the dark woods. It being too dark and dangerous no one could pursue Kite, but they found him the next morning in the road about an hour from Verdain…unconscious. When the party reached Verdain they returned Catherine to her parents, left Talis in the care of Catherine’s parents at their farmhouse, assisted the hurt and dying at Jonus’ house, helped the refugees by distributing supplies and encouraged idle workers. They also spoke with the sprite Emerald who fled the woods and came to reside in the gardens of Verdain with his fairy community. As payment for refuge and protection they’ve been successfully been warding the town from attacks for the last two days and nights using fairy magicks. After inquiries and conversations were seemingly at an end Emerald asked after Talis and learned of his predicament and the possession of another compatriot of theirs. Emerald offered his assistance in freeing their friend from his possession by utilizing fairy magicks that would allow them to enter Kite’s mind. They were warned that should they die in Kite’s mind they would die in real life as well, but freeing a possessed person with fairy magicks is far more successful than anything Emerald has ever known or heard of. The party accepted Emerald’s offer and a ritual was prepared…
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Much has happened. The party saved Kite, although his mind fortress has been completely destroyed. He’s opted to stay behind to rest and look after Talis.
The party has recovered from their bouts with the mind demon and just in time to defend the town of Verdain from a monstrous dog-like animal, which burrowed it’s way past the shield of protection and knocked down several trees along its path of destruction. The sounds of the dog and the fighting that ensued brought upon the attention of zombies. They were quickly dispatched.
The next morning they set the villagers on a mission to retrieve the downed trees and Elise rested. Magnus and Zane went out to survey the damage done by the dog. They walked for two hours through destroyed trees until they came upon what they believed was its lair. By the looks of things the beast was scarred off to the south by what looked like the tracks of hundreds of undead heading northeast. Magnus and Zane headed east to the known burial grounds there.
After an hour of traveling they arrived to a scene of disturbed ground, broken crypts and an eerie silence. They went down into the catacombs and heard a female voice speaking in a strange language. They hailed the voice and greeted her. As they walked into the catacombs they were greeted by a woman in black robes who was somehow alive despite her being a walking corpse. Flanking the entrance to the chamber were two Ghostly Knights on ghostly horses wielding a lance and dressed in half-plate. By the looks of the situation Magnus assumed correctly that this situation called for militaristic diplomacy. His assumptions were confirmed by Zane when he told Magnus that this corpse must be “Em” (short for Emra) who was a General and Hero of The Great War about 200 years ago. Magnus greeted her with respect and rank.
They asked questions about her rising from the dead. It was discovered that an orb was taken from her tomb. Somehow Em is tied to this orb and the desecration of her chambers has caused her to rise from the dead and assemble a massive undead army to retrieve the orb. Snake-like creatures to the northwest (probably the sunken temple) stole the item. She won’t rest until it’s been retrieved. Magnus and Zane bargain with Em. If they provide their assistance and successfully return the orb then Em will owe a favor. That favor would be to defend the town of Verdain in a future time of need. An accord is made.
Magnus and Zane retrieve Elise from Verdain, go back to the catacombs, get a blessing from Em and head northeast toward the Sunken Temple. Following the trampled path the undead blazed, they move much more quickly through the forest as they would’ve expected. Nightfall reveals that they can see in the dark. They realize the blessing from Em must’ve provided them with this unnatural ability. On the second day they encounter and fight with a snake-like humanoid creature that can cast spells and disrupt Elise’s spells. The threat is quickly realized and dealt with. Magnus musters all of his focus and strikes at the snakes most vital areas, dispatching the creature swiftly. They continue onward…
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Things happened! The party ventured forth into the territory of the evil snake men. Undead remains and slaughtered snake men lined the path all the way to the temple. The party fought their way through tiny snakes, large snakes, and huge snakes using their wits to get across a river and eventually opening the doors to an abandoned temple of Chauntea. A massive unique looking tree was growing inside the main entrance to the temple. Old marble shrines where plants used to grow were embedded in the temple walls. As the party rounded the corner they were accosted by snake men. They quickly vanquished them and are gathering their strength to move onward, down into the depths of this temple.
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The trio enter the desecrated ruins of the temple of Chauntea. Upon entering the temple proper, they proceed to fight their way through more snakemen before coming to what appears to be the final chamber. The snakemen in this part of the temple seem heartier than the decimated minions outside. Zane discovers several magical potions and a few items of note. In particular he uses knowledge of temples of Chauntea to open a secret compartment in a statue and discovers a magical sling blade (glaive). The weapon is tested by Magnus as he quickly takes a liking to it’s feel and maneuverability. Exhausted from a full day of slaying snakemen they settle into a room and barricade the door for some much needed rest. The night goes by uneventfully and in the morning they greet the towering figure of authority over these snakemen in the main temple chamber. The monstrosity attempts to undiplomatically get them to leave. A hard fight ensues. Immediately the party is feared and run for their lives. When they return they find the snake man laughing in a hissy undertone. Magnus steps in and give him the whatfor. He’s quickly grappled, bitten, and slashed before he’s dropped on a pit trap where he falls on spikes. Amazingly he survives and climbs back up to face his foe. The snake man continues to grapple and drop Magnus at every chance. Zane makes a brave leap of faith forward down into the pit and heals Magnus. Elise continues to blast the Snake Abomination with spells and he eventually falls. The party finds and recovers the orb that Em requested and they make their way back to the catacombs…
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