26. december 2009
Changes to Draegor
25. december 2009
The Second Age - Fallcrest Map

1. The Tower: Protecting the town from waterborne attack from the north, the Tower was sacked by the Bloodspear Orcs 22 years ago. Local rumor says that before the Godswar, the Tower was a prison for those that the town couldn't execute. Today it is simply called the Tower of Love, because many of the youngsters of town come here to "have fun".
2. Upper Quay: This is where all boats depart from.
3. The Dwarven Bridge: Originally made of stone that lasted for a millennium, the bridge is now of wood, but still sturdy. It is also the only way across the Jade River for miles, the town of Fallcrest charges 1 cp per head and 1 sp per mount for those who wishes to cross. There is at least 1 guard stationed here at all times.
4. Nentir Inn: Built on the west side of the Jade River, Nentir is a popular place for those living on the west bank, so that they can go drinking in town, without having to pay the toll on the bridge. Most people heading south stop here. Nentir Inn is owned by Erandil, an half-elf that came to town a bought some land a couple of years ago.
5. Knight's Gate: One of two main gates in Fallcrest, Knight's Gate is named thusly because it is through it that the Lord Warden's riders normally leave the city. The gate itself is reinforced timber with an inner portcullis. The Gatehouse Barracks are always manned with 5 guards and Sergeant Nereth an old and hard man who does everything by the book.
6. Silver Unicorn Inn: A luxurious inn run by the halfling Madam Osterman, the Silver Unicorn Inn was for many years the pride of Fallcrest, but ever since Nentir Inn opened, it has lost a lot of its business. Obviously, this doesn't please the Madam.
7. Halfmoon Trading House: The headquarter of a clan of halflings (The Halfmoons) who have widespread interests in the region. Selarund Halfmoon currently runs the "house", a friendly although slightly odd halfling who offers advice on just about everything. However, few people understand his advice, which leads them to call him Half-wit, at least behind his back.
8. Moonstone Keep: The home of the Lord Warden, in this case Faren Hayhill. Moonstone Keep is an old castle that sits atop a steep hill overlooking the town. The Lord, a bold middle-aged man, is married to Lady Allande, 10 years younger than her lord. They have 3 children. Evil tongues claim that the Lady Allande is a witch who steals children at night. Of course, anyone repeating such thing would be wise to do so out of earshot of the Lord.
9. The Tombwood: A large thicket on the slopes of Moonstone Hill. Within lies the old castle's cemetary as well as a battle-mound dating back to before the arrivals.
10. House of the Sun: Technically a big church of Pelor, the House of the Sun is all but abandoned. Only one priest lives here now. There are also shrines to Kord and Bahamut, but they are seldom kept clean. Brother Grundel tries his best to fix up the once great church, but there is only so much one dwarf can do.
11. House Azaer: A small well-off trading company owned by the Azaer family of tieflings. They primarily import weapons and armors. Amara Azaer, a young beautiful tiefling is currently in charge of the operations in Fallcrest.
12: The Fallcrest Heights: A unique feature in Draegor, the Fallcrest Heights are older than any recorded history. It is basically a reversed waterfall. The river arrives at the cliff at great speed, but instead of simply smashing against the rocks, they ascend the cliffs more than 200 feet up, only to continue as a river further north. Up top is a small island which holds the statue of local hero Vendar, who is said to have slain a dragon who was lairing in caves below the Fallcrest Heights.
13. Temple of Erathis: The largest temple in town, towering over most other buildings with its 30' dome, also holds shrines to Ioun and Moradin. High Priestess Dirina oversees the church and has for nearly 40 years. She is an 60 year old lady who is convinced that the dogma of Erathis is absolutely superior to all other gods, and is thus very disappointed that more people of Fallcrest do not pay proper homage to the patron god of Fallcrest.
14. The Bluffs: Fallcrest is divided in half by a great cliff cutting the town in half. The bluffs average 150-250 feet in height, and while not vertical, they are certainly too steep for most people to climb.
15. The Catacombs: The limestone bluffs between Hightown and Lowtown holds a lot of caves. For years, they have been used as burial chambers. As caves are filled, they are walled up and left. Naturally, there are plenty of stories in town about hidden crypts, undead and deadly traps in the caves.
16. Moonsong Temple: The third of Fallcrest's temples, dedicated to Sehanine, with shrines to Corellon, Melora and Avandra has been deserted for more than 15 years.
17. Fallcrest Stables: Owned by Lamnar. Here you can buy horses, harnesses and wagons, get your horses shoed, and just about anything dealing with horses or mules.
18. Wizard's Gate: The eastern gate out of Fallcrest is named for the two ancient statues of wizards flanking the gate on the inside. Just like at Knight's Gate, there is a gatehouse, with a sergeant and 5 guards on duty at all times. Sergeant Murgeddin, a dwarf veteran from the Bloodspear War runs this gate.
19. Narumar's Imports: Considered Fallcrest's finest retail establishment, Narumar's Imports deals in gems, jewelry, art and other expensive trinkets. The owner is Narumar, a tiefling.
20. Kamroth Estate: Home of Armos Kamroth, one of the wealthiest landowners in Fallcrest, a very greedy and petty man.
21. Moonwash Heights: Just as Fallcrest Heights, the river runs up the cliffs here.
22. Septarch's Tower: This seven-sided tower was formerly the seat of Fallcrest's mageguild, who all died during the Bloodspear War, it is now owned by Wizard Nimozaran, an elderly mage who keeps to himself.
23. Blue Moon Alehouse: The best tavern within 100 miles, or so the owner, a female halfling named Kama claims. And she is right, according to most guests. Of course, if you do not like ale, this is not the place for you.
24. Teldor's Arms: Teldor is the town's weaponsmith and armorer. He likes smoking his pipe and dispensing advise while his two apprentices (his sons) work. Their work, under his guidance, is excellent.
25. King's Gate: The southern gate of Fallcrest was destroyed during the final attack of the Bloodspear War, and has still not been rebuilt. The place is still being used as a guardpost however, with Sergeant Gerrand in charge.
26. The Market Green: A market square were the inhabitants and the merchants who pass through come and do business, especially when the weather is good.
27. Sandercot Provisioner: Largest general store of Fallcrest run by Nimera Sandercot, a woman who is said to have little morals.
28. Lucky Gnome Taphouse: The cheapest drinking establishment in Fallcrest, a place where fist- and knifefights are all too common. Run by Kelson, a sordid fellow.
29. Lower Quays: This is where most boats arrive. If they wish to continue up the river, they must unload and move the shipment to the upper quays. The porter's guild, run by a dwarf named Strongbeard, jealously protect their monopoly of moving things.
24. december 2009
The Second Age - Places of Interest
Ash Grove: A small village of 350 inhabitants, mostly human, but with a strong presence of half-elves. Known for it's Meystival, a celebration of the Primal Spirits on the 13th of Mey every year, where thousands of people from the nearby villages and farms flock to Ashgrove to celebrate for 3 days and dance around their ancient obelisk.
Slag Fort: A village built on pontoons. It takes a certain man to live on the edge, with trolls as neighbors, but the good people of Slag Fort have none the less chosen to do so. Outsiders tend to few them as somewhere in between odd and mad. They live off the land, hunting rare animals in the swamp, especially the Slag Frog, a human sized frog that produces both a potent poison and a powerful painkiller.
Fallcrest: The second biggest town of the area, only dwarfed by Laketown. For years it has functioned as the first line of the defense against attacks from the North. For years, there was little need for it, but then, 22 years ago, the Bloodspear Orcs came down in force from the Hollow Hills and sacked Fallcrest, moving on south: Luckily they chose to move on Laketown, and were exterminated by General Balthazar at the Battle of the Red Pines. Since then, there has been a lot of rebuilding, but they are far from done and there are still ruined buildings in town.
Deerfield: Is not so much a village as a big collection of tents, where a large number of hunters live. They are sworn to the Ancient ways, forsaking the strappings of civilization, but otherwise accepting any person of any race that wishes to live like they do. They are lead by the Council of Clover, which consists of the 5 eldest female members. Aside from humans, Deerfield has an extraordinary large contingent of Goliaths, halflings and elves, the former who ended up there during the Godswar.
Miner's Gate: A small fortified mining village which has more guards than miners. Placed on top of the iron mine that is vital to the economy of Laketown, where lots of dwarven miners work. It is a place where no one enters without permit, a grim place of hard men. Such a place has to be run by a hard man, and that is precisely what Captain Tork, a huge monster of an half-orc, is.
Yorkpoint: Founded during the height of the Godswar, when some eladrin families fled the war in the Feywild, Yorkpoint is a village built more than 150 feet above ground in the tall oak-trees of the forest. The York river runs through the village and the village serves as guardian of the way to the wild east. The eladrins still run the town, but it is open to all races, as long as they behave by eladrin standard.
Laketown: Once the thriving capital of a new-founded kingdom with more than 10.000 inhabitants, Laketown now barely holds a third of that. Gone are the kings as well, and although some noble families still wield considerable power, the power was completely given back to the people 12 years ago, when it was decided that Laketown would attempt to be the first democratic town of Draegor. Opinions vary on how that is going, but at least so far, the town still stands and remain the biggest force in the western part of Draegor.
Sandpoint: Run by a council of paladins, Sandpoint is by far the most ordered and orderly village you will ever encounter. Both it's street and walls are uniformly the same size, planned from the beginning. Founded shortly after the Godswar by 3 paladins of Ioun, Raven Queen and Bahamut, Sandpoint, with its barely 1000 inhabitants, is dominated by the sumptuous tri-god church in the center market square. Every 10 years, they hold the Trigodlon, a contest sponsored by the three churches in order to find the most crafty, sneaky and brave heroes.
Knaves Hollow: One of the first Laketown governors after the Godswar, Jeremy McCracken, got the brilliant idea that all prisoners and rejects of Laketown should be shipped elsewhere. That didn't work too well, and soon after, the prisoners staged a coup and took over the prison. After several years of battle across the lake, Knaves Hollow was accepted as a legit town and its leadership acknowledged. Lots have happened since then, of course, but some still consider it a place where gambling, whoring and other illicit things set the tone and run the town.
Brynport: Also known as Fishtown or Fishport. Almost half of the town seems to works with fish, catching it in the Lake of Reflection, which has an abundance of all sorts of tasty fish. They catch so many fish in Brynport that they could feed most of the area, which they actually do.
Natural Areas
Swamp of Death: In the old days, the Swamp of Death was full of hydras and trolls. Ever since the Godswar, things have been quiet and not much has come out of the swamp. But most people still avoid the place, except the people of Slag Fort.
The Shadow Forest: While some forests can seem dark and menacing, the Shadow Forest truly is both. All trees are ashen grey, with no leaves. Despite the lack of leaves, the area is always dark as if it is in the middle of the night. Some say that the darkness comes from the veil to the Shadowfell being exceptionally thin here, but so far, it is just talk. Very few people enter the forest and even fewer come out alive. The Shadow Forest was not always like this, before the Godswar, it was a normal forest.
Hollow Hills: The Hollow Hills to the north are called so because of the many caves that riddle the area. Uncountable monsters live here, and no one knows exactly what they all are or in which cave they live, seeing that some of the caves a miles deep. There are however several tribes of orcs that make their home in the Hollow Hills.
The Silent Forest: The huge forest that encompasses most of the western part of Draegor. It's dark and scary and full of monsters. At night, it often goes very quiet, with no animal or other noises to hear. Some people believe it to happen just before the real monsters come out of the dark.
Skyfire Lake: Covering more than 30 square miles, Skyfire Lake is famous for it's many fish like the Skyfire Perch which get to weigh more than 400 lbs. Skyfire Lake got it's name after the Godswar, because of phenomenon that has been happening every 26 years on the 19th Awgost since then. At sunrise, a mile wide fire column rises from the middle of the lake, disappearing up into the sky. This lasts until sunset. Each time it happens, a lot of prophets and doom-sayers make their way to the edge of Skyfire Lake to see the happening and try to make some sense of it. Wizards, warlocks and other wielders of magic that cast a lot of fire-based spells often come here to witness the Skyfire because it is widely regarded as giving them power.
Lake of Reflection: Clear and calm are probably the words that describe the lake best. Widely known as one of the most beautiful places within hundreds of miles, and many weddings take place on the border of the lake.
High Rock Mountain: Before that was only one big lake here, but during the Godswar, Moradin, Bane and Melora fought the Keeper here. The Keeper was losing this battle, and in attempt to throw off the armies of good, he raised High Rock Mountains and the Volcano known as Keeper's Cauldron in the blink of an eye. While he still lost the battle, he did manage to get away. High Rock Mountain is an extremely steep mountain, more than 30.000 ft high, with the top half always covered in snow and fog on all but the clearest days. Odd and powerful monsters occasionally come down from the mountain, but know one knows what is up there, as no one has been stupid enough to try climbing to the top.
The Thunderspire Mountains: Ancient and mighty, the Tunderspire Mountains separate the western part of Draegor from the southern part. Unchanged for thousands of years, filled with valleys, ruins and monsters, the Thunderspire Mountains form a barrier to all but the bravest of souls. Few of the peaks break 15.000 feet.
Obelisk Valley: A small valley just south of the High Rock Mountain that was formed when the Keeper raised High Rock Mountain. But when it was discovered, it's 8 miles were already with a perfect row of marble-white obelisks evenly spaced out ever 33 ft.
Jade River: By far the longest of the 3 big rivers, Jade River has its origin in Thunderspire Mountains (just like the other rivers) and runs several hundred miles to the north, all the way up to Dead Man's Marsh.
Wild River: Rumored to have its origin in the Feywild, the Wild River lives fully up to its name. The spread is so great that it is almost impossible to navigate the river. Coming from up in the Thunderspire Mountains, it splits off, connecting with both lakes, but also disappearing into some caves south of High Rock Mountain. Where it goes from there, no one knows.
York River: Flowing from the Thunderspire Mountains and north, through Yorkpoint and all the way (almost) to the Swamp of Death, York River also splits in two and connects with Skyfire Lake. It is a river that runs at an slow and easy pace, and thus very easy to navigate. It is however almost 300 feet wide and very deep, making it almost impossible to pass, unless there is a bridge.
Devil's Tear: Named after the rare gems that was once found here, these hills are otherwise fairly normal, except for the many abandoned buildings after the Great Rush of 567, where thousands of people rushed to the hills after a sizable amount of Devil's Tear gems were found by the Muffin family. Most of those who got out alive came home with empty pockets.
Man-made Places
Castle of Flames (Ruins of): Once the home of the Sorcerer-Kings ruling the area, Castle Flame was like many other things destroyed during the Godswar when a portal to the Abyss was opened and demons poured in. Today it is just a huge ruin, which still, a 100 years later, is visited by treasure-seekers, who are looking for the fabled treasures of the Sorcerer-Kings.
Fortress Shieldmight: Shieldmight is an ancient fortress that has stood for thousands of years. Already there when the Draharians came close to 600 years ago, it was later restored by King Azul, King Azir I's great-grandson. After the Godswar, which is survived surprisingly unshattered, it has stood empty for many years, mostly due to no one being able or willing to pay for the upkeep necessary. Brigands of various sorts have used it for hideout, but 3 years ago, a tielfling named Leucis Firecold arrived and struck a deal with Laketown to take over the keep. So far, there has been no issue with Lord Leucis as he styles himself, but a lot of people fear his Red Riders. Recently rumors have started to emerge that Leucis claims kinship with Torn himself.
Bridge of Accord: Called so because according to the stories of the Godswar, it was here that the original gods met up shortly before the Primal Spirits came free and killed the Usurper Gods. The adventurer and chronicler (and notorious liar) D'agor Lubarion claims he witnessed the meeting and says it was called and led by none other than Asmodeus.
Second Age Campaign - House Rules
Why? - To fix the math
2) Everyone gets a scaling +1/+2/+3 bonus to defenses at level 5/15/25
Why? - To fix the math
3) You get an AP after every combat.
Why? - It's easier to remember, and I plan to tone down the amount of magical items a little bit, so this is to off-set that.
4) There is no creation of magic items, but you can still upgrade an item you have with the proper ritual (which is the Create Magic Item ritual). You can also still disenchant items for residuum.
Why? - Because I hate the whole magic-shop concept which inevitably comes up with the possibility of creating magic items. Also, I am going to attempt to make a slightly more "realistic" economy, instead of the default exponential one, and the creation of magical items interferes with that.
5) BETA Change ritual casting times expressed in minutes to rounds. This means that rituals with their casting time expressed in hours or days do not have their casting time changed. Characters count as Dazed while casting and/or aiding to cast a ritual, due to the concentration required. Rituals are Sustain (Standard) until the start of your next turn while casting.
Why? - I want to make rituals a bit more interesting and flexible. Stopping up for 10 minutes in the middle of a crypt to chant so that you might be able to see a door is a tad weird at times, while stopping for a minute might be more realistic. It also gives a mechanic to use for NPC's when they cast rituals.
6) Raise Dead is a once in a lifetime happening for a character, and only under the most exceptional circumstances. It is a quest and very expensive.
Why? - Because death should be something to fear, not just another way for the players to spend their gold.
7) Summons are DM controlled when not directed by their caster (and no Instinctual Action). Will likely attack last attacker, or random adjacent creature (depending on alignment/intelligence). Will never attack caster.
Why? - Because it adds some flexibility and usefulness to the whole summoning stitch, which otherwise is overshadowed by other options.
8) Push into wall = Prone (w/ save)
Why? - Because we have always played with it.
The Second Age - Introduction to the Campaign
No one knows for sure what happened then. But word of the original gods about the story of what the Swords fought for spread amongst the general populace, not just in Drahar, but everywhere in the world. Slowly, at first, without attracting too much attention, followers of the original gods became more numerous and the original gods (at this time still exarches) began to amass power. Not all of them understood fully why this was happening, but eventually, even they heard the tale of the Usurper gods, as discovered by the Swords and chronicled by a humble priest of Kord named Simon. They were not pleased, because they started to remember what they once had been, and wanted to be so again.
At some point around 501, the original gods transcended to real gods, and thus began the War of the Gods, 483 years after the Swords died. At first, it was a silent war in the shadows of civilization, a war fought between the faithful. But after only a couple of years, it had become a full-blown, world-spanning war between empires, kingdoms and city-states, but also in the dark corners of the world and in every small village..
The war continued this way for around 14 years, slowly depleting the humanoid resources, and yet, there was no clear advantage to any of the sides. Then somehow, in 515, the real disaster struck. The Ancient Compact was broken, and once again the gods (both new and old) walked the earth again, without restrictions. Without being tempered by the primal spirits who had guarded the world since the Dawn War.
The world was sundered. Cities were destroyed, empires fell, mountain ranges were leveled, seas raised and even the weather was affected. Entire kingdoms worth of people were killed, and it looked as if there would be no one left to worship whoever would win the war.
Fortunately, the war did come to an end. Whatever had kept the primal spirits in check vanished around 521, and suddenly the gods found out what kind of fury and power the World Serpent and the other spirits have. The Usurper gods were all killed, and the original (and new) gods were once again banished from walking the mortal world and sent into the Astral Sea.
So the original gods won. Once again the gods are called Kord, Bane, Pelor, Asmodeus etc, but not much was left to rule, not many people were left to worship them. Draegor is a broken world, filled with smoking ruins where there once was might empires and cities.
The Auran Empire, gone. The Empire of the Keeper (also known as the Ebon Empire), destroyed. Drahar a shattered ruin, etc, etc.
And a lot of those left behind share an arguably strong distrust of the gods and those that still worship them. After all, they did almost destroy the world. Instead, people have come to worship the primal spirits to a larger degree. To them, the Swords were misguided fools who brought on a cataclysm, but to those of us who believe in the gods, the Swords of Drahar are the greatest heroes to ever walk the mortal world. They are the ones that freed us from more than 10.000 years of deception. They are now exarches and saints, standing at the side of the gods (Gnoguh and Saint Carric are exarches of Kord, Gork is an exarch of Moradin, Torn is an exarch of Ioun, Truxas is an exarch of Melora and Tagron is an exarch of Asmodeus). Saint Carric is even attracting quite a following.
It has now been 78 years since the second banishment (the year is 599), and the world is still licking its wounds. People live in villages and small towns, and to my knowledge, no man rules over territory much larger than what you can ride in a day. Monsters are everywhere, and the ruins after an apocalypse hold treasure beyond our wildest dreams. If there ever was a time for heroes, this is it.
23. december 2009
64th session
Demons have assaulted and overrun Drahar, Entrance portal in church destroyed, Church will soon fall, Heart not safe. Hurry or there won't be anything left.Blowing 40k in residuum opened a cross-planar portal in matter of minutes, and soon the Swords found themselves in the small palace of Torn's father. As Truxas opened the door to exit the portal room, a demon tossed the head of Torn's father at him. A short battle followed and soon the Swords were running towards the church of Kord. On the way a building was dropped on them, they ignored the pleas from a mother whose baby was getting ripped apart by demons and were ambushed by a nasty marilith and her minions.
Finally they arrived at the church, and found a goristro in the middle of killing Trevor. A short and furious battle finished with one dead goristro and the Swords hurried on to stop the demon that was fleeing with the Heart.
Unfortunately, he proved too strong, and everyone died in an epic battle that saw Gnoguh almost managing to kill him alone...
Game Over
17. december 2009
63rd session
They didn't quite make it all the way though, because about halfway across the rocky island, they were hit by an imploding thunderstorm. That turned out to be quite painful, and Truxas ended up dieing to a weather phenomenon.
Of course, with Revive handy, Truxas was up and running in only a few moments. Torn quickly made some new flying Phantom Steeds, and the Swords continued their trip towards the Tri-volcano-area. Once there, they quickly noticed several cave entrances, picked one, and landed in front of it. And promptly got jumped by 5 elementals. Even though they seemed to do their best to focus their firepower on a couple of targets (Torn and Gnoguh in this case), the Swords managed to dispatch them without anyone dieing.
Once the elementals were dead, the Swords searched the area, and Carric determined which entrance was the most likely to lead to the dragon's lair. And his perception didn't fail him again. Deep inside the volcano, they found a huge grotto with a lake of lava, an island covered in gold, and of course the dragon and his two pet fire titans.
And boy did they get owned. First Torn slept one of the Titans, which made Gork rip him a new one in a matter of seconds. Then Torn rendered the other helpless, which caused Gork and Truxas to rip it apart in a few more seconds. And thank god for that, because the Dragon proved just as hard as expected. For a while it looked like an easy fight, and the Swords even wounded it greatly (bloodied) but then suddenly the tide turned, and its aura became more and more lethal. But in the end, it still died.
LOOT: 350.000 gp and a Medic's Amulet +5
Medic’s Amulet
This amulet helps healers staunch wounds.
Level: 24
Price: 525,000 gp
Item Slot: Neck
Enhancement: +5 Fortitude, Reflex, and Will
Property: You gain an item bonus to Heal checks equal to the amulet’s enhancement bonus.
Property: When you use a healing power on an ally or succeed on a Heal check to perform first aid on an ally, that ally also makes a saving throw against an ongoing damage effect.
First published in Adventurer's Vault 2.
15. december 2009
9. december 2009
62nd session
Before leaving, they do invest 100.000 gp into healing potions.
The Swords asks around a bit, and find out where this place is located. They track down a captain with an elemental ship willing to take them their for some gold (10.000 gp) and head out. A couple of days later, they arrive. The rock of ice upon which the fort is supposed to be is hidden inside a permanent blizzard laying on the edge of a maelstrom of lava.
Arriving at the edge, the Swords bravely jump off and head towards the center, because "that must be where the bad guy is".
A couple of hours later, the Swords are closing in on the fortress, when they are jumped by a few ShadowIce Archons. Even though surprised, the Swords make short work of the Archons.
Pressing on, they find a huge icebridge that leads to the fort. No enemies in sight and the Swords move over it cautiously. On the other side lies the fort, right on the edge to the nothingness of the Elemental Chaos. After a quick round of recon (still no enemies in sight), the Swords open the gate and are (yet again) surprised by an archon and two death giants. The Swords, except for Gnoguh (who was held by the ice magic of the archon), move in, and before they can do anything about it, the archon has raised a wall of ice and shadow, blocking Gnoguh. Fortunately, Gnoguh has little regard for pain, so grabbing his axe he started climbing the wall, despite the pain it inflicted.
With Gnoguh back in the fight, the foes were quickly dispatched, although the Swords were by now beginning to miss Carric just a little bit.
Once they were dead, the Swords took a quick breather and entered the unlocked fortress. Inside, they eventually got to a big room with a black pool and some stairs. On the stairs was a death giant telling them to bugger off, or they would die. They could still run, his master would not seek justice for what they had done so far. The Swords took that as a sign of weakness, and attacked. Out of the pool came a little surprise, a death Titan
The Titan especially proved nasty, and the fight was very tense for a while, but eventually the Swords got the best of the death dudes.
Moving on, they found a corridor full of 12 iceblocks, all but one containing an Efreet. The Githzerai was as noted earlier planning to use the souls of the Efreets to power up a portal to the Shadowfell and explode it, creating a rift which would infuse the Elemental Chaos with the necrotic energies of the Shadowfell. Or something. Either way, it never happened, because further in, the Swords found the so-called Temple, with the rebel Gith was working the portal and the magical pedestals that would serve as conduits for the efreets' souls. He and his death titan and archon, of course. The battle was long and brutal, with both Gork (finished battle with 1 hit points and 0 surges) and Truxas (bloodied and 0 surges) very very beaten up. There was some close calls (all 3 were below 0 at at least 1 point), but it all ended well. And they even found some loot.
150.000 gp
Resilience Amulet
A platinum disk overlaid with a crystalline star, this amulet repels lasting injuries.
Level: 23
Price: 425,000 gp
Item Slot: Neck
Enhancement: +5 Fortitude, Reflex, and Will
First published in Adventurer's Vault.
Savage Hammer (Mordenkrad)
Cruelly shaped, this weapon fuels your courage and your alacrity.
Level: 23
Price: 425,000 gp
Weapon: Flail, Hammer, Mace
Enhancement: +5 attack rolls and damage rolls
Critical: +5d6 damage
Property: You gain an item bonus to saving throws against fear effects equal to the weapon’s enhancement bonus.
Power (Daily): Free Action. Use this power when you successfully hit with this weapon. You can shift 1 square and make a melee basic attack with this weapon.
First published in Dragon Magazine Annual 2009.
8. december 2009
6. december 2009
Intermezzo in the City of Brass
Not long after, they find themselves facing the Sultan, announced by a slave:
Slave: My Lord of Fire, Rule of the Center of the Universe, I present you the Swords of Drahar, heroes of the mortal world. They are the ones who killed the avatars of Tiamat, Yeenoghu, Orcus, Demogorgon and Grazz't recently.
Sultan: HA HA HA - Swords of Drahar. I have heard of ya. You might be big around where you come from, but here, in the center of the Universe, you are nothing. But I am guessing you are beginning to figure that out. Why are you here?
Truxas (bowing): My Lord of Fire, we have come here with a mission of great urgency and secrecy. We besiege you to let us use your Chamber of Rituals for powering a ritual of ours. We would of course be willing to compensate you for the use of the Chamber.
Sultan: HA HA HA. The only reason I do not kill you is that I like creatures with big brass balls. HA HA HA, the audacity of coming here, asking me of a favor. You bring no gifts of significance, you do not kneel, you hide the truth and you barely show the proper humble attitude - You must have me mistaken for someone else, because I am Jazir Al-far, Sultan of the City of Brass, the Lord of Fire. I rule the greatest city in the Universe and even the gods fear me and my infinite legions of Efreets!
Truxas: But..
Sultan: Silence mortal, another word and you will scream in the Minaret for an eternity. Come back when you have earned the right to stand before me. Be gone from my sight now, before I tire of your silly requests.
1) There is a rebel Gith that has built a strange castle of Ice in one of the colder areas of the Elemental Chaos, a couple of days travel from the City of Brass. The Sultan recently learned that the same rebel Gith (who has assaulted several merchants and diplomats from the City of Brass) is somehow trying to infect the Elemental Chaos with the Shadowfell. How that works, he has no idea, but the Gith and his death giants have surely been an annoyance.
2) There is a Djinn Lord in town that infuriates the Sultan to no end. He will probably die sooner than later, but whoever kills him will surely be owe more than gratitude. Of course, no one else can know of this.
3) One of the Volcanic Dragons that guard the Plane of Molten Lava (the solid piece of land on which the City of Brass is located) has gone mad and is one a rampage, even assaulting people traveling under the banner of the Sultan.
4. december 2009
61st session
In particular, Torn and Carric are leery about the ritual. What will happen once they are inside? What will happen to the target? And a host of other questions. Obviously the very long talk didn't result in an actual decision, since they do not feel they have enough information to base a decisive decision on. On the other hand, they did end up deciding to check out the City of Brass, and find out how hard it was going to be to get to the Chamber of Rituals.
They also realized that they will have to bring the bitch (thats what they call the drow high-priestess lover of Grazz't they have locked up in the "basement") to the City of Brass. And that from what they know, the City of Brass is not on the mortal world (okay, they did know that!) and does not have the same limits for gods and arch-demons as Sigil. Ie the real Grazz't (whom they have banished from the mortal world for 101 years when they slew his aspect recently) might show up and claim his love. Not something they were looking forward to.
Before leaving, they had just a couple of things to take care of. Gnoguh and the 3 potential wifes, and a gold dragon looking for information. Torn handled the gold dragon, researching the information the gold dragon wanted about a lich and ways to defeat it. For that he was paid 500.000 gold pieces, money he decided to split with the party. Meanwhile, the others went on a small trip to meet those who wished to add Gnoguh to their family.
First up was Queen Azimella, a proud and independent queen from the land of Tudar far to the west, who wanted Gnoguh to marry her and lead her 450.000 men into conquest of the world. She offered him a Rimefire Griffon as wedding gift, should he accept.
Next was Drahomir Zulfur, merchant prince of the Auran Empire and probably one of the 3 richest men in the mortal world. He wanted Gnoguh to marry his only daughter, Isabella. She would take care of the business, because she was able and raised to handle it, but she needed a strong husband who could take care of the private army that protected the thousands of ships in the merchant fleet. Also, men were the only ones allowed to own companies and land, so she couldn't do it on her own. He offered Gnoguh a pair of very powerful magical gauntlets, should he accept to marry his daughter.
Last was King Hjanko, King of Fredia, a kingdom to the east. Hjanko needed a strong man to marry his grand-daughter (everyone else in the family was dead) and to run the country after he was gone. He needed someone who could take up the fight against the Ebon Empire (Which is run by Bane, exarch of the Keeper). This was perhaps the most tempting offer, not because it came with 500.000 gold pieces in dowry, but because the idea of fighting against the Ebon Empire appealed to Gnoguh.
But in the end, he declined all three offers and the Swords took off.
Arriving to the City of Brass, they found themselves waiting outside, looking up on the Elemental Chaos. There was a long line of people entering the city, and the wait took some time. At a point, they watched a man being take from the line and executed - apparently, he had been bad-mouthing the Sultan.
Once inside the city, they went exploring a bit, soaking up the flavor of the city. Slowly they were making their way towards the Great Repository, allegedly the greatest library in existence.
On the way to the Great Repository, they were suddenly facing some angry efreets who were claiming Torn was a thief. Not waiting for anyone to clear up the charges, battle followed. The people on the marketplace spread out, enough for the Swords of Drahar to have some room to fight the efreets.
As soon as the fight was about to end (1 bloodied efreet left) a host of archon guards arrived, wanting to arrest the Swords for attacking and killing efreets. Some attempts at bluff and diplomacy was made, but nothing helped. The Archons were firmly determined to have them arrested and executed or serving as slaves for many many years. Luckily for the Swords, their exploits had drawn the attention of Lord Zural, one of the lords of the 17 noble efreet houses.
He vouched that they had acted in self-defense and that had no choice. While the archon had little choice, he was clearly not happy at the prospect of having to let the players go. After having settled their little problem, he invited them to diner in his mansion to spend the night and talk.
After a good night of sleep, the Swords headed back towards the Great Repository. What they found was definitely not what they had expected. A 1600 ft tall purple tower with blood coming out the doors. Inside was filled with small canals of blood and pieces of flesh and the stench of rotting corpses. Naked obese servants wandering around amongst the petitioners with sacrificial daggers, just waiting to exact the price of knowledge. Small questions are paid with blood and pain, but the big questions are paid with either an eye or your soul. In case of the soul, you have to soul-swap with a inhabitant of the tower while your questions are researched.
Oddly, Torn agreed to swap his soul without asking around or thinking about the consequences. What he didnt know was the most soul-swapping end badly, because the researcher, who has been locked up in the Repository for an eternity cant handle the freedom, goes berserk, often ending up using the possessed body to do great harm, which in turn gets the body killed by the guards. Or sentences to an eternity of slavery. Luckily for Torn, his friends were a bit smarter than him. They let the researcher go wild for a night, drinking and whoring himself into a stupor, then bound him and tossed him into a cell until the time was up and the soul of Torn found its way back into his body.
1. december 2009
Raise Dead House Rule
1-7 Not possible
8 2,600
9 3,400
10 4,200
11 5,000
12 9,000
13 13,000
14 17,000
15 21,000
16 25,000
17 45,000
18 65,000
19 85,000
20 105,000
21 125,000
22 225,000
23 325,000
24 425,000
25 525,000
26 625,000
27 1,125,000
28 1,625,000
29 2,125,000
30 2,625,000



