Malevolence in Pursuit

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Campaigns: Slaadi Invasion | Northern Strife | Heroes & Traitors | Hollows | Black as Pitch | Air Islands of Nack | BUFD Wars

Air Islands of Nack: Flight of the ElectroZephyr | Malevolence in Pursuit | Rousing the Dragon | Betrayal at the Dragon Temple Malevolence in Pursuit (DMed by David W.) As the Dragon War seems to subside once the Orb of Dragon Command is kept safe within Selubrius' Radiant Tower, the heroes face off against all new villains... some of which are within the Dragon Shipwright's Guild and others are from the Nine Hells!

If you would like to read about the first and third "seasons" of this campaign, visit the Flight of the ElectroZephyr page and the Rousing the Dragon page. You can also read up on the one-shot session set in the Air Islands of Nack, Betrayal at the Dragon Temple.

For character information, go here.

Episode 1: "Unicorns!"
Date: SH 670, December 11 - 17

Played by Alba, Ckodjr, Essence, Freia, and Umer

So... nobody knows exactly how to find the mysterious Sweetwater Island. Of course, the only sensible thing to do is hire a half-elven guide to lead them to Sparinon (the city) and talk to the elves who know all sorts of shit! Doy! Their guide, a renowned pacifist named Ckodjr. He's actually a PC, not an NPC!!! How exciting! Anyways, they get halfway there, fight a displacer beast, no big, and find the secret entrance to Sparinon. Easy for a guide who knows the area like the tips of his own ears. Apparently all the elves both know and love Ckodjr and lead him the oldest and wisest elf in Sparinon, known simply as The Elder.

Okay, ready for some kick-ass lore?! I thought so! The Elder tells them everything he knows about the Sweetwater Island, including the fact that many of the elves of Nack used to live there, but back then they were known as the Svar-tu. Some of these ancient elves were even the grandfathers and great grandfathers of many elves living today. In the dawn of time when the dragons ruled the realm, elves managed to live in harmony with many of the righteous and goodly dragons. Elves were spread throughout the air islands, including on Sweetwater. However, some horrific and unknown catastrophe occurred on the island very near to the dawn of time (or at least when historians began keeping track of it). Near SH 10, the elves of Sweetwater died in confounding numbers. The surviving elves kept their remains in the sacred site known as the Sweetwater Sepulcher. Seriously, the Elder just went on and on and on! Oh yeah! And apparently Sweetwater is named after the purple-ish water that flows through its jungles and hills. The Elder said that the easiest way to find the island is to locate the "purple beam" roughly three days northwest of Mastik. From afar, the beam will look like a thin line of purple light shooting upward. But upon closer inspection, it is actually a massive waterfall of purple sweetwater! The island floats at a much higher elevation than most other lands in Nack, and of course, only dragon bladder ships are capable of reaching such tremendous altitudes. How convenient! So they leave Sparinon, hop aboard the ElectroZephyr and fly there. Takes about four days or so. It's snowy but no big deal, nothing happens during the trip.

Oh yeah, I forgot that the Elder mentioned something about unicorns. Anyway, they get there, high above the rest of the realm and above the stormy snowclouds and such and it's a jungle island! And there ARE unicorns! Everywhere! It's like a unicorn utopia -- a unicornucopia, a unitopia, a utopicorn! And they are super-happy to see bipeds! The unicorns swiftly take them to a native girl named Jalathee who has been stranded on the island for several years. Apparently, her adventuring party were also in search for the magical armor somewhere inside the Sweetwater Sepulcher, but they all died shortly after entering. Jalathee escaped with her life and has lived in harmony with the unicorns...

But of course this information doesn't phase the heroes! Off to Sweetwater Sepulcher! Surely they won't die because they are PCs! Not mere NPCs! The unicorns quickly teleport them to about a mile away from the Sepulcher. Turns out its nestled within a massive cliffside, a mesa of sorts. And the unicorns and all other faerie creatures avoid the sepulcher like the plague. They all say it's cursed and such, blah, blah, blah. They follow the Sweetwater River up to a waterfall gushing out of the side of a cliff. A long, steep, winding stairway wends its way out side, just south of the waterfall. Only about a hundred feet up, ya know, not so bad! Once they start climbing the steep, narrow stairs, however, a volley of arrows rains all over them! OMG! They start rushing up the stairs as more and more arrows fly from the cliff above. Using his super-duper magic powers, Umer teleports up the steps and sees that there are several skeleton-archers attacking them! He promptly blows them up with fireballs and magic missiles. Oh, and Ckodjr cast invisibility on himself so he didn't even get hurt. A pacifist AND a coward! This one's a keeper, ladies!

Anyway, they make it through the first wave and find a door at the top of the steps. They go in and it's super dark. After some quick searching inside the cave-like foyer, they find a large sarcophagus with the holy symbol of Lorressa above it. Ckodjr begins to cast his detect magic ritual. Right before finishing, however, Freia, Alba and Essence are beset by shadows! No really, they're these shade-like undead creatures that creep along in darkness and suck the strength out of good-natured folks like you and me. Anyway, it's bad, REALLY BAD. Freia jumped in and did the heroic thing, attempting to turn undead but they all seemed unphased by it! Ridiculous! Both she and Freia nearly die in this stupid shadow encounter! My goodness, now they're starting to realize that the native girl Jalathee wasn't joking! Perhaps they're in over their heads... perhaps I made this too difficult... NO! This is no time to start questioning your greatness! That goes for both PCs and DMs! We must fight through the hard times and bath in our struggles to become the heroes we truly are! YAR!

Anyway... they don't die. Thank Myralda/Ulsted/Runsted/etc.! They kill some more skeletons that jump out in the darkened distance. Oh, and Alba found a secret room full of treasures and such! Other than that, this is where we leave our heroes for the time being! I'm literally on the edge of my seat... *sigh*

Notes: We kinda ran outta time so there were no draws from the Deck of Many Things this session. But let it be known that the great and powerful DM is a force to be reckoned with! Your PCs are indeed mortals! I have killed before, and I will kill again (if I roll well)! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH*cough*

Episode 2: "The Crimson Plate of Raz-Hindur"
Date: SH 670, December 17 - 18

Played by Silaqui, Leucosa, Poppy, Ranor, and Umer

FLASHBACK!!! Back on the ElectroZephyr, Silaqui had an unusual dream after she fell to sleep from her usual nightly meditation. She found herself atop a small hill surrounded by forests, the mysterious hill from her homeland. In the darkness that filled the sky, she could spot a small flickering flame. Soon, the flame grew to reveal in her dreams that a Nightmare had arrived. For those of you who don't know, that's an evil demon-horse with the mane and tail made of fire, a-doy. Just then, the sacred weapon crafted by her elven ancestors known as the Oathbow appeared in her hands, and she instantly knew what she must do... She freakin' slew her Nightmare! The mythical beast and the legendary weapon were both the direct result of her drawing the Comet and Key cards from the Deck of Many Things. Now she has legitimately upgraded to baddass since her dream-victory.

FLASH FORWARD!!! The adventurers find themselves in yon donjon, still wading their way through undead corpses and elven runes dating back to the Svar-tu. After some quick navigation and tracking of skeletal footprints, Umer finds a wall engraved with ancient runes which read, "One source, one evil. He keeps the sepulcher, the crimson plate keeps him. His spirit rests above." Of course! The plate is the armor they're here for in the first place! Unless it is a red piece of dishware... Nevertheless, the hardy adventurers ventured further ahead through a long and spiraling stairway.

On the second level of the sepulcher, the heroes found themselves in a circular room with seven doors, each inscribed with a pictograph. Starting at the north end, these pictographs depicted a plus with the elven symbol for "?", three taut ropes, a pit with an arrow pointing through it, a series of perpendicular lines representing a maze, three curved lines pointing up representing a gaseous substance (this was on two doors), and finally, a face with fanged teeth. Given all of their awesome options and after they "taste-tested" each door (the gaseous symbols revealed a horrific smell, btw) the group decided to judiciously head through the door with the plus sign on it, 'cause, you know, PLUS! Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Leucosa used her handy dandy Bag of Tricks to summon up a goat, which she used as her trap-bait. After discovering that no traps nor monsters lay ahead in the darkness, she found out that the goat had inadvertently discovered a secret passage! Turns out there were hidden glyphs on the four ends of a larger room, each read in the ancient elven Svar-tu language: "Disruption." So Umer, Silaqui, and Leucosa worked together to simply use brute strength to open the secret door -- Silaqui's strength is appalling low, by the way, it was quite hilarious. Anyway, they eventually got in and there was a magnificent mace adorned with the symbol of Myralda at its tip. From his wizard-like studies, Umer immediately recognized this to be a Mace of Disruption! And what luck! A weapon meant to destroy undead of all forms hiding away in an undead-ridden sepulcher! It's like somebody planned for this place to be overrun with necromantic energy or something...

Once Leucosa drew the weapon from its delicate stand, the place lit up tremendously with holy light. Right then, four specters entered through the walls and attacked! Silaqui almost died, what a chump! I guess having a legendary longbow isn't terribly useful in close quarters and you're surrounded... Anyway, Umer ended up shoveling a near-unconscious Silaqui into his Portable Hole and she hid in the extradimensional space for the remainder of the encounter. Afterward, they decided to spend the night in this vile but hidden area since they were all badly wounded.

With some luck, they awoke to the darkness unscathed and undisturbed. They proceeded immediately up the stairs just outside the secret treasure room to eventually meet an exceptionally smoothed corridor that winds its way steeply uphill -- a stony slide of sorts! So of course Leucosa immediately reaches into her Bag of Tricks and randomly produces a grizzly bear! How convenient! These bears can pretty much climb any reasonable surface without having to worry about it. So Leucosa immediately mounts her temporary animal companion, ties a rope around the bear's belly and has the bear drag the rest of the group up the slide! As she treks up the winding corridor, it opens up into a much more vast atrium that seems to be completely smoothed out, the slides seemingly meeting at an unseen apex in the center. Just as she's noticing all this, a black pudding (that's a giant ooze-creature for those out of the know) splats down on her and her bear-friend! EWWW!! A fight breaks out! And the bear almost dies! But everyone smashes and stabs and burns the ooze into nothingness without much hassle.

After the battle, they proceed up the hill with the help of the cave bear and find that a "shadowy" flame-pyre rests at the center and top of the atrium. The flame, instead of producing heat, appears to be a dimensional gateway of sorts. After overthinking it for about half an hour, the group decides to take the plunge and step through the gateway, finding themselves in a large rectangular room with lightly colored concentric circles lining the floor. Umer notices immediately that there are glowing Svar-tu glyphs lining the walls that seem to tell the epic tragedy of the elven Svar-tu peoples of Sweetwater Island. You can read all about that lore over in the history page -- it leads to so much ridiculous lore about everything else, too! ANYWAY... as Umer is reading this and the rest are just kind of staring in awe, an ominous, whispering voice invades the heroes' minds. The voice states that it is an elven vampire named Raz-Hindur and that his spirit was entombed within a suit of plate armor by the brotherhood of warlocks who captured him. In so many words, he simply states that he wishes to be free of the sepulcher, even though he may never be free of the armor. If one of the adventurers were to choose to don the armor he possesses, he promises that individual glory born from the ceaseless bloodlust that will encapsulate every fiber in their being. Since she never really got to experience true vampirism in the first place, Poppy gladly accepts her consolation prize, and the Crimson Plate of Raz-Hindur manifests and shapes itself onto her body. She feels as though the plates of the armor are as natural as her own skin, and she immediately begins to feel the wrath and bloodlust boiling from a pit deep within her spirit...

SO anyways... the group decides to start clearing out the rest of the dungeon for a change now that they have a lot of cool goodies. They fight a ghast and Ranor gets his chance to wild shape into a grizzly bear! Huzzah!

Notes: Raz-Hindur gently asks Poppy if he could pay a visit to the vampire lord Diovax. Apparently he wishes to see his old friend (and a vampire he created!?!?), but how does Diovax feel about Poppy and Halcyon now that they've effectively severed their bond with the dude? Silaqui now has the fabled Oathbow, so her life is officially complete! Leucosa still hasn't found her sister, Naïlo, but did you really think it'd be that easy? Her soul is freakin' trapped in the deepest pits of hell! Come on! And Umer Deszeld still has a long way to go before he levels up to 10... Seriously, WAY overpowered.

Episode 3: "The Flagship Judicature"
Date: SH 670, December 18 - 25

Played by Silaqui, Leucosa, Lilhani, and Lats

Okay so this one will be short and sweet... I think. Continuing on the dungeon crawl! Leucosa insisted on scouring the rest of the Sweetwater Sepulcher and so the group did. After navigating stinking hallways and mazes that repeated themselves, Silaqui discovered a small compartment in a wall that hid a Necklace of Prayer Beads and an Ioun Stone! They fought some other baddies and that was about it.

Upon exiting the cursed cliff side, the group discovered that the unicorns that were so friendly and happy were nowhere to be found. They ended up having to trek through the jungle for nearly a day in order to reach the ElectroZephyr. Except on the way there, Lats noticed a strange symbol etched into a boulder. The symbol glowed red-orange and suddenly the boulder melted away to reveal some gateway. Immediately a massive army of modrons poured out of the gateway in the remains of the boulder and from other hidden locations nearby simultaneously. All of these automatons glowed red with heat and seemed to be on the verge of melting. They instantly went after Lats, who through his training and ingenuity shrouded himself and his allies in magical stealth. They snuck off the island with only a few close calls. I'm sure they would've certainly been overwhelmed by the thousands of modrons who have by now completely engulfed the idyllic island of Sweetwater.

But they escaped nonetheless! Onto the ElectroZephyr! They determined it best to ignore the wishes of the old coot Selubrius and listen to the malevolent whispers of Raz-Hindur and return to Diovax for some words and salutations and such. It would take roughly twelve days to travel to Spatera, so off they went. About seven days in, on December 25th, Lilhani and Silaqui spotted a massive ship far off in the distance. After traveling closer, Silaqui realized it was the infamous Flagship Judicature, the largest ship in the Nack fleet, a veritable city of a ship, held by the body of the ancient and legendary Locqwerthalyn, a mythical gold dragon whose death represented the victory of the Nack humans over the old dragon dominion... ANYWAY... the Judicature also had a fleet with them, doing gods know what. Lilhani and crew knew they were spotted... Just then, Leucosa remembered the ring she had taken from Naïlo, the signet ring of one Jayce Borgas! Only official members of the Dragon Shipwright's Guild, who of course are in a strong alliance with the Empire of Nack, wear these rings! They decided to pretend to be guild members and it paid off. They were hailed by the Judicature and then boarded in their hangar bay. After mistaking them for guild members, a solemn but friendly Mr. Dejen escorted the crew to the to the guest wing and eventually they were granted an audience with Admiral Tes, commander of the Judicature and head of the Nack Fleet. They convinced Tes that they were indeed guild members, but the ship they flew was not on their list of properly licensed ships. Silaqui, thinking fast, said that it was a prototype which they were testing -- the fastest ship they had ever made. And she was not wrong, the ElectroZephyr was by far the fastest ship ever to fly the skies of Nack, clocking in at 1.5 dragons! For a reference point, the massive Judicature can top out at 0.6 dragons while the next fastest ship in the fleet maxes out at 1.2 dragons (dragon in this case being the average speed of an adult dragon). Tes immediately felt unsure about the situation. If Emperor Rustingard hadn't known of this ship's construction well in advance, this could easily be seen as a possible sign of treason, for the Guild could possibly want to sell such a fast ship to an enemy of the empire. Tes knew he couldn't let these people go, even if they were guild members. He told Lilhani and company that they would remain aboard the Judicature for the next few weeks until their mission was complete and then would return to Namara to speak with Emperor Rustingard about the ship.

Back in their private quarters, the group decided it best that they escape well before their ruse was uncovered in Namara or perhaps even before then! They now only need to formulate a plan... (was that short enough? I don't think so... my bad!)

Notes: Lats realizes that the modron attack on Sweetwater likely had something to do with his picking the Flames card from the Deck of Many Things. Lilhani seems to be getting restless in her adventuring, wanting something more concrete to happen, and to have more of a mission! Turns out Silaqui really knows her Nack history! Her studies at Boar Herpes Academy really paid off! Too bad the school is apparently no more... Hoping to find a method for escape, Leucosa brazenly drew three cards from the Deck of Many Things while sitting inside the luxurious guest quarters aboard the Flagship Judicature.

Leucosa first declared three draws:
 * Throne: The fabled Keep of Sir Alistair De'Armisen (whoever that is) now belongs to her! She only needs to rid it of monsters that apparently plague the fortress...
 * (The following information should be hidden from all except Leucosa.)


 * (Hidden Information on Drawing the Throne Card)


 * As you (Leucosa) draw the Throne card from the Deck of Many Things, a vivid image invades your mind. A noble half-elven lord, Sir Alistair De'Armisen, fights off packs of lycanthropes: werewolves, wererats, wereboars. He valiantly leads them away from his family whom he has safely locked away in a secret vault. After a desperate struggle, the noble falls to the beasts who overrun his keep. The image zooms out and you see the keep from a bird's eye. It rests a couple miles away from a small town you do not recognize on a sparsely wooded island. Off in the distance, maybe twenty miles, you can see a looming, foreboding castle atop a hill. Immediately you recognize it to be the Castle of Lord Diovax!


 * Talons: Oh no! She loses all her magical items! Good thing Leucosa's one smart cookie! She had given all of her magical belongings to Silaqui and told her that they were officially hers for the time being. Stupid loopholes!
 * Talons: Again!?! Ridiculous amounts of nothing happen!

Bored with the results and feeling lucky, Leucosa decided to declare on more draw:
 * Jester: What the freakin' hell?! Now she's just that much more badass after gaining an instant 10,000xp! BOOOOO!!!!

Episode 4: "Escaping the Judicature"
Date: SH 670 - 671, December 25 - January 4

Played by Bruni, Lilhani, and Poppy

Holy crap summer in real life just kills D&D! First session in a long time, and we got to pretend like it was winter, just after a non-existent Aleen-gha Christmas! We find our adventurers aboard the Flagship Judicature on "house arrest"... it's a long story. Don't worry about it. Or read stuff beforehand. You're a smart person, figure it out! Anyway, the adventurers decided that they need to get the hell off the ship before Admiral Tes and the rest of the Nack military realize that these people actually DON'T belong to the allied Dragon Shipwright's Guild and are, for the most part, ENEMIES!

Enter Bruni: a half-orc dockhand and materials handler working on the Judicature just to make ends meet and pass the time. Her interest was piqued when she heard about the ElectroZephyr docking aboard the city-ship, and rumors have run rampant about the ship being the fastest in its class! Not to mention, Bruni just needed the perfect reason to get off the stinking Judicature and find something more meaningful for her own life. So she valiantly decided to help Poppy and Lilhani escape their confines of the Guest Quarter -- a roomy hotel with luxurious accommodations -- what a freakin' travesty! Bruni promptly spent EIGHT FREAKIN' DAYS figuring out how to hell to get these people past the watchful eyes of dozens of guards and off the ship. In the interim, she actually got a brief tidbit of actually useful information for the campaign as a whole. I'mma gonna set up a new paragraph with italics and color to make it abundantly clear the that words spoken between Admiral Tes and Mr. Dejen are IMPORTANT!!!

Mr. Dejen: "We must find that orb before the guild does! Gods know what'll happen to the Judicature and to the entire fleet if they find out how to awaken Locqwerthalyn."

Admiral Tes: "Not to worry, Dejen. Even with the orb, at most they can summon a horde of soulless dragons. Without the Canary Scrolls, there's no chance in the nine hells that Locqwerthalyn will awaken."

Mr. Dejen: "Nevertheless, it is imperative that we make our way to Bruya before anyone else finds out that the orb is in that rat bastard Selubrius' possession!"

Admiral Tes: "Agreed. Let us away."

Anyway, Bruni paid a couple other half-orc buddies of hers to create a distraction at the dock when the time was right. On a particularly winter-stormy night, she grabbed a large crate and packed Lilhani and Poppy in there. No problem leaving the building and getting to the dock, but there were some issues with uncoupling the ElectroZephyr from the dock itself -- which is what her two half-orc buddies were there for! And on top of that, Lilhani quickly tossed a card from the Deck of Illusions onto the dock, summoning an illusory succubus! YOWZA... So there wasn't really much more distraction necessary for that moment, and essentially the ElectroZephyr made a hasty escape in a thunderbolt snowstorm and went on their way to Bruya, primarily because it happened to be closer than their original destination of Spatera.

As the trio approached Selubrius' Radiant Tower, they noticed that Manty the manticore was slain by something awful and the tower itself was eerily silent and empty. Lilhani rushed up to Selubrius' quarters where she found him laying in a pool of his own blood, on the brink of death. They quickly healed him with magic and he told them that there was another hooded man who was looking for the orb. He told them that there was a secret entrance to the extradimensional chamber where he had hidden the orb on the roof. So they ran to the roof and killed some minotaurs on the way there... no big deal. And once inside the chamber, they saw the orb atop a dais behind a cylindrical force field. Runes littered the force field and an illusory hourglass overhead turn itself over. As they watched the sand begin to pour through the glass, they knew that they were in for some serious time-sensitive riddle-solving!

Notes: Lilhani was aching for a fight for way too long while Poppy kept awkwardly hitting on Bruni in a very trans-racial lesbian fashion. Also, Poppy decided it'd be a good idea to draw some cards from the Deck of Many Things!

Poppy declared three draws:
 * Void: Well fuck. Poppy's soul just up and jumped out of his body and passed straight through the impassable force field and into the Orb of Dragon Command! Now she'll just have to wait for the others to figure out the riddle to, you know, get her soul back! What an IDGIT!

Episode 5: "A Stern Talk with Lord Diovax"
Date: SH 671, January 4 - 10

Played by Poppy, Leucosa, and Halcyon

We found ourselves in yon extradimensional chamber and very quickly, the crew realized that they were in a timed riddle with unforeseen consequences! Not to worry though, the super-smart adventurers managed to weave their way through the Nackaran/Nrukianak cipher and determine how to use the right keys to unlock the magical padlock that turned into handles and let the heroes zip-line into the cylindrical chamber which turned out to be an illusion and... yeah, it's a bit ridiculous. In the end, Leucosa ended up getting her paws on the Orb of Dragon Command! Oh yeah, and she also freed Poppy's soul which had momentarily been trapped in the orb. Right after that, they were jettisoned back onto the roof of Selubrius' Radiant Tower where they saw one Jayce Borgas pop out of the extradimensional chamber as well! (This is the guy who originally had the orb and then lost it to the heroes and has since evaded capture and has been trying to recover the orb ever since! See Episode 10: "Renauld and the Orb".) Anyway, Jayce was in a bad situation, and he immediately surrendered and offered some crucial information concerning the orb and something called the Canary Scrolls...

But screw that! Leucosa was pissed that this guy was involved in harming her sister Naïlo and decided that he had to get got. And get got he got... and get got he got. But not before some random-ass soulless red dragon who called himself Thex showed up and started chowing down on Poppy! A few seconds of horrendous battle and what seemed to be like a dire situation ended when Leucosa used the orb to her advantage and commanded the dragon to stay his wrath, sorta. Thex introduced himself and then promptly charred and devoured Jayce's limp corpse.

Anyway, they noticed that some hobgoblin pirates were trying to hijack the ElectroZephyr! They didn't bother to say bye to Selubrius who was still in his bedchamber as they rushed down the tower to confront the pirates. Battle ensued, the heroes won. Then they decided that the Flagship Judicature and the rest of the Nack Fleet were probably hot on their heels by now and they needed to get the hell out of Dodge! So they took a roundabout way of getting off of Bruya and proceeded back on their original quest of getting the Crimson Plate of Raz-Hindur back to Diovax (finally)!

Five days passed and they found themselves at the gates of Castle Diovax. The lovely Valosine answered the door but was none too pleased to see the adventurers, in particular Poppy and Halcyon, who were decidedly NOT vampires anymore. However, Halcyon used some honeyed words and sound reasoning regarding switching off the vampirism. Something about his devotion to Runsted was more important than his devotion to Diovax. The vampire lord was skeptical at first, but the fact that Poppy herself was wearing the possessed plate mail of Raz-Hindur combined with the fact that Raz-Hindur AGREED with Halcyon and the fact that Raz-Hindur is Diovax's creator, Diovax essentially got his ass diplomatically owned. In the end, he conceded to Halcyon and Poppy's argument and moved on to the subject of the Keep of Sir Alistair De'Armisen, which had recently been overrun by lycanthropes and magically and mysteriously fallen into Leucosa's possession. (For more information on this, refer to the notes of Episode 3.) Diovax actually needed the adventurers to clear out the keep and then he would grant Leucosa the property surrounding the keep, including the town of Shivash and the regional farmlands. In essence, this would be roughly one-third of the island of Spatera! Leucosa was excited to become a governor! But first, to the matter of clearing the keep!

Diovax gave them some rudimentary information regarding the keep and the group snuck into a secret passage on the side of the keep. After passing by some grizzly scenes of desiccated corpses, the adventurers were ambushed by a few wererats! They dispatched a few of them while others turned into rat form and ran through cracks in the walls, but not before cursing Leucosa with wererat lycanthropy! MWAHAHAHA! Until next time...

Notes: Leucosa Enna contracted wererat lycanthropy and managed to kill three different hobgoblins in one turn back on Bruya! She now prevents all others from sleeping soundly around her, forcing her to find someplace over 300 feet away while the others set camp and such due to her carrying the Orb of Dragon Command. What a freakin' chore! Poppy (rather, her player known as Gillfrost) managed to kill the gloomy atmosphere that is the foyer of Castle Diovax by pretending to by thrown about by the Armor of Raz-Hindur. Raz-Hindur actually helped out the group by participating in the riddle to obtain the Orb. It was pretty interesting to see an empty suit of armor shouting at people. And Halcyon managed to successfully talk his way out of getting freakin' destroyed by Lord Diovax after arguing that loyalty to the goddess Runsted trumped loyalty to any vampire, as Runsted is of course the mother and creator of all vampires (at least in Nack). All in all, a very successful session!

Episode 6: "Infiltrating the Keep of Sir Alistair De'Armisen"
Date: SH 671 January 10 - 11

Played by Lilhani, Halcyon, Lats, Leucosa, Kiva, Andras, and Elizagerth

A bit of backstory! A couple of swords-for-hire, Andras and Kiva were sitting around Shivash when they heard of the lycanthrope problem that had befallen the Keep of Sir Alistair De'Armisen. They ran into the rest of the group outside of the Keep.

Now moving onto the freakin' stealth SWAT tactics that these bastards were employing! As a DM, I was very vexed by this method of taking care of things. However, the OCD side of me couldn't help but notice how brutally efficient the group was at taking care of business. They started off first entering into a cistern with hiding wererats, most of whom they vanquished. However, one particularly measly and cowardly wererat named Sijenam managed to weasel himself out of a certain death by providing information on the whereabouts of their leader -- a werebear by the name of Grisold. Leucosa did a fantastic job of scaring the shit out of this poor wererat while Elizagerth kept a hand on him. They tied him up and had him lead the way through the darkened hallways of the Keep. In an ingenious maneuver, Lats used his mystical shadow-arts powers to cast a veil of silence over Sijenam and the area surrounding him. The wererat led them to a cathedral within the keep decorated with a statue of Ulsted wielding the Meteor Hammer. A wereboar and a couple of werewolves were hanging out in there but weren't looking in their direction. Thanks to the silence spell cast by Lats, they didn't hear a damn thing, leading to the near-perfect execution of sneak attacks and such which quickly dispatched these foes. However, Sijenam was scolded after he admitted that he was hoping to get them all killed after walking them into an ambush. I feel that it is important to note that both Kiva and Halcyon were cursed with lycanthropy (rat and wolf respectively) during their battles up to this point. That being said, Kiva, Halcyon, and Leucosa were all keenly aware of the impending full moon that was to rise within an hour or so!

The group subsequently decided to retreat the keep and camp about a mile or so outside, tying up their cursed brethren to trees and waiting out the long night in which the curse took its toll. Screams were heard from afar and there was certainly blood shed in the nearby town of Shivash, but the group was fortunately unseen throughout the night. The next afternoon, they went back into the keep and made their way to the barracks where they snuck in on a half-dozen werewolves (again using Lats' silence spell), most of whom were asleep... It was a slaughter. Lilhani used a coup de grace and stabbed a sleeping werewolf through the heart, the others did similar things with their swords, mauls, and other such instruments of brutality. Afterward, Sijenam led them through a wending tunnel and a thin downward-spiraling staircase to a wine cellar and an adjacent dungeon! There, they fought a few random ogres and an ambushing umber hulk! Don't worry, they freakin' destroyed everything! We ended here in the midst of battle because I was just fed up with how much crap I could throw at these guys and barely make a scratch...

Notes: Leucosa, Kiva, and Halcyon have passed through their monthly ordeal as lycanthropes, but have yet to decide whether they want to rid themselves completely of their curses. Andras did something awesome by summoning his trusted greatsword Goldenheart to his hand. He apparently had it buried somewhere special and far away. It was pretty neato for a fighter! Elizagerth was freakin' brutal the entire time, smashing his maul into anything that moved. Lats, true to his style, proved that not everything is based on combat brutality and used his stealthy training to aid his companions toward feats of true awesomeness. And Lilhani used Lats' aid to really, really do some damage with a knife and a crossbow. Until next time!

Episode 7: "The Lycanthropes are Dead!"
Date: SH 671 January 11 - 13

Played by Halcyon, Leucosa, Andras, and Alba

After slaughtering a couple of poor ogres and a humble little umber hulk, the ruthless adventurers proceeded to question their hostage Sijenam about what was beyond the massive double doors in the prison guard room. After he gingerly gave away the fact that werewolves and their like were hiding behind those doors, Halcyon had realized that there was nothing keeping this poor hostage alive. He quickly proceeded to melt his face off with a Sacred Flame spell, courtesy of the unholiness that is the moon goddess Runsted. They quickly proceeded to take their damn time figuring out how to open a door. After much deliberation, Leucosa decided to throw two fuzzy balls which turned into an ape and a goat. The ape opened the door and he was promptly peppered with arrows coming from the chamber within. A fight broke out! And before anyone could blink, a weretiger leapt into the fray to disembowel poor Andras. "He's only level 4!" the others shouted, but Andras realized that he knew this particular weretiger when she was only a human. Her alias was Wasp, and she was once a soldier in the same elite force Andras was in during their time in the Nack Army.

She said that Andras going AWOL had caused the squadron's downfall and that she and Minx had left. She had become cursed with lycanthropy in her time on Mastik and had since found refuge from civilization with the lycanthrope group led by Grisold. Speaking of which, the werebear himself who led the lycanthropes into the Keep was in the chamber too! He waded into battle with a wicked two-handed sword and lobbed off the head of the poor, poor ape. No matter, that ape was a soulless manifestation of Leucosa's Bag of Tricks! Anyway, Andras convinced Wasp to stay her claws while Leucosa and Halcyon proceeded to whip Grisold's ass into a corner and finish him once and for all! Wasp, with no more ties to her leader Grisold or the rest of their pack agreed to wait in the chamber (which, by the way, was adorned with massive statues of the De'Armisen line of lords and ladies) for the adventurers to clear the rest of the Keep and return with a long-awaited cure to her lycanthropy.

After doing some more searching of the halls, Halcyon discovered a secret chamber that led from beneath the grand bed of the lord's bedchamber to a small stone room guarded by a solemn golem! Adamantine weapons that glowed with a green hue were hung on weapon racks behind him, and the group quickly sprung into action to grab those weapons -- the only kinds that could possibly destroy such a powerful creature of stone. And after a few swings back and forth, they group realized that they were in WAY over their heads! Would this be the end of the adventurers??? Would the stone golem just crush them all into oblivion??? NO! Because Halcyon had cast a Shatter spell that cracked the stone floor below the golem and Andras had thrown a water-filled marble made by the mystical Dust of Dryness right into a crack beneath the golem's feet! The marble burst and released precisely 3,375 cubic feet of water in one instant, shattering the floor beneath the golem and causing the golem to fall 30 feet to the area below! And Alba and Leucosa managed to not fall with him. No, seriously, it was ridiculous! Andras rolled a natural 20 on his marble throw and Leucosa and Alba both rolled natural 20's on the Dexterity saving throws to avoid falling into the pit the marble created. Three natural 20's in a row is ridiculously rare. Actually, that's a one in 8,000 chance of achieving!

Anyway, the adventurers proceeded into the next room and opened up a sweet treasure chest that yielded surprisingly little, which in turn balanced out their ridiculous d20 rolls. And then beyond that small room was a stone door, behind which was the Lady Ashwin and her two small children. After some back and forth, Leucosa Enna proved to be a cold, calculating she-elf in terms of staking her claim and proving of her inheritance of the Keep by showing the Title Deed given to her by Lord Diovax. Ashwin reluctantly seceded any possible claim she had to the Keep, particularly because some sword-wielding savages were telling her to do so. She did, however, manage to convince the group to let her stay on and act as a majordomo for the Keep, dealing with all of the day-to-day business that involves running a Keep of that size.

In the meantime, Halcyon spent the next two days preparing the Remove Curse spell and ridding the lycanthrope curse on himself, Kiva, Leucosa, and the weretiger/ex-soldier "Wasp". Wasp, in exchange for the lycanthrope cure, agreed to become the captain of the guard at the Keep as well as giving the group a menagerie of poisons she had created herself. She is now the go-to poison lady for the group! Yay!

Notes: Wasp and Halcyon definitely DO NOT get along. And Ashwin seems to be pretty hurt about her situation all of a sudden -- better keep an eye on her! Although, she did turn off the stone golem before he could tear a hole through the Keep to get back at the adventurers. Halcyon has proven to be every bit as evil as his goddess Runsted would like, which is excellent! And Andras leveled up after saving his former comrade-in-arms from a certain death!

Episode 8: "Mosquito Fighter Down"
Date: SH 671 January 13 - 21

Played by Halcyon, Freia, and Andras

After things settled down at the newly-named Keep of Lady Leucosa Enna, our adventurers heard many rumors about the pursuit of the Nack Fleet, including that every crew member of the now infamous ElectroZephyr has been branded a traitor and have colloquially been named the Blue Bandits. News has even spread as far as Spatera since couriers to the Keep have been keeping the adventurers up-to-date. They even heard about some mysterious artifact that may work in conjunction with the Orb of Dragon Command known as the Canary Scrolls. With this knowledge, the party decided to trek across the island back to Helmar in order to retrieve the ElectroZephyr, which has been docked in a hangar for several days now. With any luck, the ship will not have been discovered yet!

Once they arrived in Helmar, Andras had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he momentarily glimpsed a gruff individual hiding in a dark alley who he could've sworn he knew somehow... As the group reached the hangar, Freia immediately began asking the dock workers if they had seen anybody in or around the ElectroZephyr who shouldn't have been there. One dock worker warily said no, but sensing that he was lying, Freia pressed him into giving up one of the bounty notices that had been spreading about town. As Freia and Halcyon were looking over this, Andras got punctured by two bolts coming from across the hangar! It was Hawk, an ex-compatriot still in the employ of the Nack Army and clearly out to kill Andras and the other Blue Bandits! Just then, Halcyon got slammed thrice by a great warhammer. Andras swung around and immediately recognized his other former associate and leader, Wolf, the silent killer. A nasty fight broke out and the adventurers were forced to retreat to the ElectroZephyr, and none too soon as Andras nearly bled out to death aboard the ship. Halcyon managed to use the spell gust of wind to blow Hawk off the ship, cleverly quipping, "Let's see if this Hawk can FLY!" (oh Halcyon, so punny!) But Wolf seemed to manage to jump up to the top. Freia kicked the ElectroZephyr into full gear and whipped it around starboard side, causing Wolf to lose his balance and fall off to the Cloud Canopy...

The group fled to the Schism to hide their ship from the Nack Fleet and anyone else who might be looking for a quick coin. From there, they took their little winged velocipedes and pedaled with all their might to get to the mainland and travel across land to Castle Diovax. Watching them pedal like that was sooo cute! Anyway, they got to Diovax in order to find out more about the Canary Scrolls and the connection they have with the Orb of Dragon Command. Other than the various reasons the Canary Scrolls exist, they were able to find out that the scrolls were likely hidden away in the Namara Library. But given that all of the Nack Empire was out looking for the Blue Bandits and the ElectroZephyr, the group thought it best to give the ship to Diovax to hide somewhere on the island in exchange for one of his lesser-known ships, the Grey Whistler, a converted merchant ship that was currently docked in Shivash. Without further ado, the party traveled to Shivash, boarded the Grey Whistler, and set sail for the island-city of Namara, the heart and capitol of the Empire.

After several days of uneventful travel, the Grey Whistler was flagged down by a massive ship known as the Golden Law. Andras immediately recognized it as a warship class that holds a maximum of six Mosquito Fighters, clearly able to overcome their measly little merchant ship. The trio quickly came up with aliases (and had already donned merchant civilian garb over their armor) and tried to talk their way out of the inspection that ensued. Several guards aboard the Golden Law boarded the Grey Whistler and began ransacking the ship's supplies, looking for evidence of the Blue Bandits. Their leader asked Freia and Andras what their business was. Most of their information was benign... shipping supplies to Namara, etc. But the one factoid that tipped off the Fleet official was the fact that they came from Spatera! By orders, they were to take the group as prisoners and seize the Grey Whistler! And by prisoners, given the scorched-earth policies of the Empire, that basically meant they were going to be fed to the dogs!

Once they were put into their cells aboard the Golden Law, the group sprung into action and fought their way past guard dogs, guards, and lieutenants aboard the ship! They managed to sneak and fight their way to the engine room which contained a massive mess of copper piping and a magical flame that fed into the dragon bladder of the Golden Law. After taking a minute to figure it out, Halcyon decided that a shatter spell would adequately disable the engine and cause it to slowly fall out of the sky. Good thing both Freia and Halcyon know their shit when it comes to airship engines! Anyway, it worked! And they made their way into the hangar deck below the ship to escape on three of the six Mosquito Fighters. They barely managed to get out before the Golden Law really started to sink out of the sky. Over the magical loudspeaker, the group heard that all six mosquito fighters were ordered to seek assistance from the nearest warship which was located somewhere to the south. They saw the remaining three Mosquito Fighters begin to take off in that direction.

The party knew that if anybody escaped the wreckage, it could totally blow their cover! The group then engaged in what can only be described as an epic dog fight in the skies amidst the shadow of an exploding warship. Andras and Halcyon quickly took down one of the enemy Mosquitos, but Andras himself was shot out of the sky and his ship began to fall rapidly toward the Cloud Canopy! Freia took care of the second Mosquito while Halcyon began to chase down the remaining Mosquito, but he was getting away! Before he got too far, however, Halcyon cast sleet storm and heavy hail pummeled the ship into bits, leaving only a screaming pilot careening toward the Cloud Canopy and certain death. Meanwhile, Freia used her awesome maneuvering to get her Mosquito Fighter to nose dive faster than Andras was falling to catch up with him. Andras used his jump spell to hoist out of his failed ship and temporarily slow his rate of descent. Freia seeing this used the opportunity to steer her ship underneath the airborne Andras and just barely managed to catch him! With the other Mosquito Fighters all taken care of and the Golden Law quickly losing altitude, they attached their ships to the Grey Whistler and escaped the carnage! It was truly a sight to behold! Until next time!

Notes: While they were headed to the Schism, devils in the employ of Egon the Lustful created gateways aboard the ElectroZephyr and attacked Andras and the others! Halcyon was barely able to shut the gateways down using his dispel magic spell, but it left a crusty crystallization all over Lilhani's quarters no less! FYI the Grey Whistler aliases Andras, Freia, and Halcyon came up with were "Felipe," "Ella," and "Hal" respectively. I doubt that'll come into play later though... Lord Diovax also sent the group out to find one of his rogue vampire spawn known as Farlin who had gone silent somewhere in Namara. He was seen to frequent the Inn of the Copper Sweep. Might as well get some work done for Diovax if you plan on raiding his library, right?!

Episode 9: "The Grey Whistler and the Black Wind"
Date: SH 671 January 21 - 25

Played by Lilhani, Leucosa, Alba, Poppy, Dug, and Lats

Whilst aboard the prosaic Grey Whistler, Lats began reading over a mysterious message given to him via courier at the Keep of Lady Leucosa Enna imploring that he return to the place where he was first trained in the arts of shadow-monkery: the Monastery of the Black Wind. Also, Lilhani discovered a stowaway! The rogue known as Dug Madonna had been hiding aboard the ship, apparently in the midst of some heist when the new crew had boarded and promptly left the docks of Shivash. Not to worry, everyone immediately trusted this dubious halfling and welcomed him with open arms.

The crew decided to take a day-long detour past the island-city of Namara and futher northwest toward the monastery. Once they boarded, the group immediately noticed that something was off about the place. Lats saw that mysterious gears had appeared on the monastery walls where there were none before. But it had been years since he last visited with the Black Wind so it could easily have been some odd upgrade. Anyhoo, the group was led by a monk who called himself Adoam into the inner cloister of a large seven-story pagoda. There Brother Zeio welcomed his gnome companion but immediately delved into unsettling news: the monastery had been invaded by an army of evil fiery robots! Lats immediately knew that this could only be the work of none other than he who is known as the Molten Juggernaut! Zeio simply stated that the monastery would uphold its utilitarian philosophy, as the agents of the Juggernaut had demanded that Zeio bring Lats to the plane of Dis in order to spare the brotherhood of the inferno of the robot army. Zeio logically agreed and therefore summoned the poor Lats to his doom. Crazy thing is that the group even agreed to go with him to Dis for a moment! But right at the last second before Zeio and the adventurers linked hands to planeshift to Dis, Leucosa piped up that this was batshit crazy and suddenly a fight broke out! Ninjas from the upper tiers of the pagoda flinged throwing stars at the adventurers while the group, mostly comprised of backstabbing backstabbers, launched a barrage of daggers and crossbow bolts and blades and fists at Brother Zeio. Lats had the opportunity to save his life at the last moment, but instead opted to snap his neck with an elbow jab. Oh, and Adoam was killed too, poor guy.

Dug quickly retreated out of there and Alba had sheathed her rapier and began jolting out of the inner pagoda on all fours when the group was suddenly beset by molten mini robots coming through the gears on the wall! They all began to flee back toward the Grey Whistler, but of course Poppy began to lag behind. Leucosa had summoned a brown bear from her Bag of Tricks so that Poppy could ride faster, but the dwarf proved to be no good at impromptu bear-saddling and quickly fell off. As the others were much farther ahead, Poppy was quickly surrounded by dozens of the modrons (robots) and it did not look good... Then out of nowhere Lilhani had cast a sleep spell which surprisingly works on frickin' robots! Many of them passed out in front of Poppy and she saw the opportunity to get up and retreat back to the Grey Whistler, and none too soon as the ship was just beginning to take off from the dreaded monastery. As the crew looked back, they saw that the central pagoda was ablaze and the forests surrounding the monastery were up in flames. Screams could be heard off in the distance as undoubtedly the Molten Juggernaut had kept his part of the bargain...

But that's all in the past! There's no such thing as a conscience in Lats' mind! On they went to the sky-city of Namara in search for the fabled Canary Scrolls that promise an immense power when combined with the Orb of Dragon Command. The crew had learned that the scrolls were held within the massive Namara Library and promptly headed right under the noses of the imperials who were all searching for them, known as the Blue Bandits. Once in the library filled with dusty tomes and disorganized beyond belief, the group had taken the aid of an aging librarian who was immediately intrigued by the fact that they were searching for the Canary Scrolls. Instead of thinking of the ramifications of a group of strangers searching for so powerful an artifact, she absentmindedly began mumbling to herself as she searched furiously throughout the upper levels of the library. After half an hour had passed, she finally discovered a secret passage to a small room reserved for the Canary Scrolls and related texts. But the Scrolls themselves were missing! In its place was an iridescent dragon egg that looked like it was ready to burst apart. The calcification surrounding it suggested that it had been there for some time. Leucosa had simply touched the egg and it burst open with dozens of miniature dragons, known as dragonites, who immediately began to swarm the outer reaches of the library. Lilhani and Leucosa managed to tame a few of them, and realizing that this was the perfect opportunity for others to attune to the Orb of Dragon Command, Leucosa suggested that each individual mercilessly slaughter one of these relatively helpless dragonites. And so they slaughtered the dragonites, one for each character, in the dark recesses of the library, leaving the rest to scatter amongst the lower levels (again, all morality and conscience thrown out the window). Before leaving, Leucosa quickly grabbed as many tomes and loose leafs as she could from the room and they retreated out of the library.

At the front entrance, however, they were stopped by several guards who had been tipped off by the same librarian that help them. As the imperial guards began raising their voices in anger over the situation, the dragonites swarmed them, leaving the perfect opportunity for the Blue Bandits to escape the grasp of the Empire yet again! They quickly fled back to the safety of the Grey Whistler and rummaged through the books Leucosa had gathered. Lilhani had seen a simple note scrawled into a page of one of the books which revealed that the Canary Scrolls had been taken by the authorities within the Nack Fleet itself.... OMG!

Notes: Before jumping into a fight, Brother Zeio had given Poppy the great maul, Betina, as a tool to help with the perils that awaited the group in Dis -- what a BAD decision that was! Alba had managed to show off her cat-like nature by running faster than anybody else on all four legs/feet. Lilhani managed to convince a librarian to help them find an illegal artifact, lied like crazy to imperial guards, and managed to save Poppy's life with her ever-useful sleep spell! Dug quickly proved his worth in the fight against Zeio by not only stabbing him in the back but then quickly scaling a seven-foot wall--and he's not even three feet tall! Lats' quick decision to kill his mentor Zeio and leave the monastery where he trained in ruins is rather unfitting for a neutral good monk, but right in place for a monk of a shadowy organization known as the Black Wind! So there's that... Poppy, finding herself rather bored aboard the ship and not so much into reading and such, decided to draw from the campaign-fucking-up Deck of Many Things.

Poppy declared two draws:
 * Gem: Twenty-five pieces of jewelry worth roughly 2,000 gold pieces appears at Poppy's feet! So I suppose that makes up for the fact that she's been broke since the beginning of the campaign. Oh, and Lilhani swiped two of those pieces of jewelry without Poppy noticing...
 * Idiot: Bam! Poppy loses three points of intelligence immediately, leaving him at seven total -- a bumbling fumbling idiot. He is then forced to draw one last card:
 * Skull: As the skull card is drawn, a deathly avatar appears before Poppy, ready to slay him or himself be slain! No help can be provided by the other players, and Poppy immediately began praying into his newfound Avenger's Maul and the light provided by Alfan Skystone infuses into the maul just before Poppy was able to strike the ghostly avatar, absolutely obliterating him in one fell blow!

Episode 10: "A Vampire Lord's Betrayal"
Date: SH 671 January 25 - February 2

Played by Lilhani, Halcyon, and Lats

Once she looked closely at the note left by Dejen in the Namara Library, Lilhani and crew decided to first go back into the city to investigate the disappearance of Lord Diovax's vampire fledgling named Farlin. After first disguising themselves as a father with his two children (gnomes apparently disguise well as kiddos!), they headed to the Inn of the Copper Sweep, where Farlin was said to have frequented at night. During the day, the inn was fairly quiet, but still about six patrons were at the lower level nursing their ales. Halcyon first started by talking to Walhorn the bartender when he recognized both Prodiga and Gruber sitting in the corner talking quietly to each other! This was strange since both of them were in very different lines of work, but Halcyon felt it necessary to talk to the odd pair and see if they knew anything about Farlin. As the conversation began, Halcyon quickly revealed his true identity to them and without notice, Prodiga flew into a mad rage, casting invisibility on herself and flinging cones of cold and fireballs at Halcyon unprovoked! The inn quickly became a shitstorm as innocent patrons tried to run away but couldn't (since Lats had finally found a use for his trusted Paddy the Padlock). Several people died in the wake of the fireballs flung by the mad wizard. In a stroke of genius, Lilhani decided to "help" Prodiga by flinging another fireball Halcyon's way, but instead just cast minor illusion to make it look like she dealt the killing blow to Hal. Halcyon played dead and also quietly cast thaumaturgy to increase the look of death on himself. Prodiga quickly snapped out of it and continued on with her conversation with Gruber as if nothing happened at all. While she wasn't looking, Lats snuck up on her and stabbed her in the throat multiple times before she could get little more than a magic missile out. Halcyon skewered her body with his glaive and bathed her in unholy radiant energy from his goddess Runsted.

After quickly evacuating the burning tavern, Gruber led the trio to his other stomping grounds at the Inn of the Peaceful Storm. There, he and Hal argued over the amulet of health that was owed to him from a job he sent them on back in October! (see Episode 1: "Two Jobs, One Trip" and Episode 2: "The Amulet and the Crown"). Instead, Halcyon convinced Gruber to accept the crown of King Raylin as an adequate substitute. In exchange for the crown, Gruber told the group where Farlin lived. They promptly left the inn and headed over to Farlin's apartment which rested in the shadow of the Sky Citadel. The apartment had clearly been abandoned for what looked like months, and after a quick B&E, the group found an open coffin in the cellar, only to find a dead vampire, stake through the heart, and dead flesh stretched tight over his vampiric skull. A note was attached to the stake, saying that the vampire hunters of the Empire are on the move, and will quickly destroy every vampire in Nack and make their way to Diovax himself eventually. So the group did what any sane group would: they cut off the vampire's dead head and took it with them back to the Grey Whistler and to Spatera to visit Lord Diovax.

A long and uneventful week or so of travelling through open air went by and the crew arrived at Castle Diovax both to deliver the head of Farlin and to glean some information regarding the location of the Canary Scrolls. After looking over the note left by Dejen, Diovax quickly stated that Dejen must be diverting the group in a ruse designed to trap the Blue Bandits as they would search fruitlessly for the scrolls amidst the fleet. Instead, Diovax was certain that the scrolls were residing within the ruins and ancient battlefields on the mystical island of Locq. That being said, Lilhani and her companions requested that they get the ElectroZephyr back post haste. Diovax promptly led the trio down into the catacombs beneath the castle through what seemed to be an endless hall lined with sarcophagi. One alcove however caught the group's attention momentarily: within it was a tall glass cylinder within which seemed to be a floating ethereal mass that radiated a vibrant energy. Deep within her heart of hearts, Lilhani could sense that this light was none other than the soul of one Naïlo Enna. Knowing full well that it was indeed Diovax who had been holding her spirit and doing gods-know-what to it in the interim, she held her tongue for fear that he would simply destroy them all as they stood there. No, instead they continued down the endless hall until it opened up to a great gaping chasm, the very walls of which seemed to emanate a menacing evil. As they crossed into the outer edges of the chasm, Halcyon could instantly sense that they were no longer in the realm of Nack but were somehow transported to the fourth level of the Nine Hells, Phlegethos. A thin, spiraling staircase wound its way down the outer edges of the dome-like pit through pitch darkness until the heroes could see with their innate darkvision the outlines of the ElectroZephyr resting at the bottom. Diovax led them onto the ship and told them to wait there as he prepared the magical gate for the ship to traverse back to Nack and the realm of Aleen-gha.

A few minutes passed while the group patiently, albeit relatively naively waited within the cargo hold aboard the ElectroZephyr for something to happen when suddenly devilish claws began to tear apart the wooden boards of the ship itself! Through the holes that were torn open, Halcyon could see a handsome figure levitating within the chasm. He quickly revealed himself to be none other than Egon the Lustful, and that he was only interested in the torture and demise of Halcyon. A battle broke out as Halcyon cast a magic circle that proved to keep out all the devils that would attempt to shred the crew apart. In a fit of madness, Halcyon inexplicably stepped outside the bounds of the circle in a valiant attempt to lure Egon away from his companions. It worked, but Egon had quickly skewered Halcyon with his ranseur Akaid and began to sear the flesh off of his face with necrotic energy. However, Lats had miraculously landed a stunning strike on Egon, causing him to be temporarily paralyzed. This opened up the opportunity for Lilhani to quickly pour a philter of love down Egon's throat which promptly caused him to become madly in love with her. Needless to say, Lilhani quickly told Egon to send his devils away and to step aboard the ElectroZephyr. After being revived with a potion of greater healing, Halcyon quickly cast another magic circle around Egon, enclosing him within the cylindrical force field. Lilhani told Egon to send them back to Nack and obligingly in a maddening love, Egon cast a dark spell to send the entire ship back to the middle of nowhere above the Cloud Canopy.

It was at this time that the crew decided to have Egon strip away his obsidian armor and his ranseur, Akaid, as they questioned him as to his intent. Having already studied much of the goings on between the higher eschelons of gods, demons and devils alike, Halcyon was aware of why the handsome devil was nicknamed so (see more on Egon the Lustful here), so they struck a chord with the notion that his love for the devil Fierna was not a true one and that she did not love him back. Furthermore, her father/lover Belial was using him for their own twisted purposes, even though he had become a powerful lieutenant in charge of legions of devils. Nonetheless, Egon recounted his days as a righteous paladin riding through open fields and the loss of his first true love, a common woman named Judith. Of course, all this had happened centuries ago before he was lured in by the wiles of Fierna. None of this information however has yet to prove terribly useful, and as the philter of love began to wear off, Lats quickly added a truth serum to the mix to make sure his words did not ring false. At that time he confessed that it was no longer his desire to be a devil in the service of such vile lords, and that he only wished to be with his first true love, Judith, once again. Unfortunately, his infernal connection with both Belial and Fierna cannot so easily be severed, and the crew now has to decide what to do with this lost boy who happens to be an extremely powerful villain...

Meanwhile, it has become abundantly clear that Luciditus Diovax had thrown the adventurers to the wolves by leaving them aboard the ElectroZephyr in Phlegethos, but it isn't terribly clear as to why he chose this exact time to betray them. Now it is up to the Empire-dubbed Blue Bandits to decide as to whether Dejen or Diovax was telling the truth in regards to the location of the Canary Scrolls!

Notes: The note written by Dejen suggested that the reader look through chapter five of the book detailing historical events surrounding the War of Ascendancy, which revealed not only the location of the fabled island of Locq, but also that an admiral known as Luciditus Diovax was crucial to the burgeoning empire's victory at the Battle of Locq. After reading the stars, the crew has determined that the ElectroZephyr must be somewhere between Spatera and Locq. Lilhani has yet again proven to be quite resourceful by tricking Prodiga into believing Halcyon was dead and by administering the TPK-saving philter of love to Egon. Lats was also instrumental in using Paddy for the first time in forever and for delivering the TPK-saving stunning strike to Egon while also managing to officially shift to True Neutral from Neutral Good since he keeps killing people when it isn't terribly necessary. And also, Halcyon proved extremely useful in his ability to get his ass kicked by a rogue mage and to practically have his face melted off by a ridiculously good looking devil-dude who has had it out for him for quite some time. Just goes to show that drawing from the Deck of Many Things has added quite the mess to some characters' well-being!

Episode 11: "The Death of an Immortal"
Date: SH 671 February 2 - 5

Played by Andras, Halcyon, and Lats

After pleading with the adventurers, Egon convinced the trio to help him commit suicide by bleeding himself out completely. Lats slashed the archdevil's forearm with a shortsword and as a minute or two went by, Egon's blood slowly seeped out, creating a pool of steaming black ichor. Before he could be bled dry, however, Egon's veins began to bulge and his skin began to subtly transform into a scale-like quality. Small horns sprouted from his head and his eyes sank in, leaving only dark pits that seemed to reach to Hell itself. In a deep, throaty voice, Egon revealed that he had been possessed by none other than Belial himself! And he immediately cast a powerful spell to erase the magic circle that Halcyon had created. Even without his devilish plate armor and his infamous ranseur Akaid in his possession, Egon proved to be a formidable foe against the relatively inexperienced heroes. After a few quick blows from the group, Egon unleashed a dreadful aura that managed to frighten the hell out of the adventurers. However, Halcyon slowed him down by casting magic circle again, forcing Egon to yet again dispel it. Afterward, Egon evoked a crackling energy that emanated from his bare fist and slammed Halcyon with it, instantly banishing him into a harmless pocket dimension and leaving the other two to fight the archdevil on their own. Things were looking bad as Andras was forced to flee after a terrible fear had overcome his senses. Egon had cast the same banishing spell on Lats, but in a moment of error, he had accidentally forced Halcyon back onto the Material Plane, leaving his flank temporarily exposed to Halcyon's attack. With Akaid, Halcyon skewered the possessed devil in the back, and Egon shrieked in an otherworldly voice as his steaming blood splattered over Halcyon's body and his flesh began to turn to ash. Within moments, Egon's immortal body had succumbed to the power of Akaid and had been reduced to a pile of ash and embers on the cargo hold of the ElectroZephyr. Whether his soul was outright destroyed or if he perhaps received some salvation and was sent to Mount Celestia to be with his true love Judith is unknown. However, Halcyon can rest easy now knowing that the archdevil is indeed no more.

After taking care of that mess, the trio decided it best to investigate the mysterious island of Locq, which was only a day's journey south from where they were located. Even though Lord Diovax told them that the Canary Scrolls were located somewhere near an ancient battlefield during the War of Ascendancy, the group could easily distrust his words, especially after the fact that the vampire lord had left them to be slaughtered by Egon. But there was still the chance that he was telling the truth, and they were too far from any other option to discount it. Andras and Halcyon recalled the legends and lore of the island as they traveled there, invoking stories of a powerful draconic magic that enveloped the land after the Empire's victory over the dragons, producing wild dragon-like beasts that would slaughter any human settlers who tried to claim the land as their own... As they approached the island they saw a primordial landscape that seemed to be untouched by any civilization, human or otherwise. A vast jungle canopy covered steep and ominous mountains, and eventually the airship hovered over what seems to be a vast valley where the jungle stopped. A long, mile-wide streak scarred the landscape and ended in a shallow crater, leaving Halcyon to believe that this valley was indeed the where the legendary dragon goddess Locqwerthalyn had fallen during the Battle of Locq -- the same battle that Luciditus Diovax had been in. The group landed the ElectroZephyr and began to investigate.

As the group waded through muddy streams and three-foot-tall grass in the valley, Lats spied a few large humanoid creatures several hundred yards out who were eyeing their approach. After a few short minutes, the creatures began to charge the adventurers, shouting out in a warlike chant in a strange dialect of Vrash Ankul which Andras understood roughly as "Slaughter, bleed, and maul!" Given a few moments to prepare for the charge, Lats quickly cast pass without trace on his companions while Halcyon conjured a fog cloud in their immediate vicinity. The trio quickly dispersed and hid among nearby bushes as five of these humanoid beasts charged into their area. As they grew closer, they could see that these beasts resembled massive orcs but their skin was scaly and their heads seemed awfully akin to dragons of different colors. Some of these beasts were red, while others were gold and blue. Soon, the creatures were stalking about, right on top of the adventurers, but thanks to the spells cast by Lats and Halcyon, they were undetected. When the opportunity arose, the trio struck at their foes in the back, and a battle raged momentarily. Amidst the savage swinging of their stone axes, the creatures displayed their draconic nature by expelling elemental breath, shooting bolts of lightning or waves of fire out of their orc-like maws. However, the adventurers managed to best their foes, leaving the last one standing alive momentarily. Andras exchanged some words with the creature who named himself Anrag, a half-dragon orog with orcish ancestry. At first, Anrag spat at Andras and his companions, claiming that they were cowards for not killing him outright and that death was the only proper ending to their conversation. However, Andras cleverly persuaded the half-dragon, saying that if he did not give them the information he was looking for regarding the location of the Canary Scrolls he would leave him there to be found by his tribesmen, alive and shamed for his cowardice in battle, allowing himself to be maimed but not killed. Reluctantly, Anrag told the group of the tombs that housed the dead warriors of the ancient battle beneath the crater where the great dragon-mother fell. He said that powerful items were to be found there, protected by the long-dead. The entrance was hidden in the marshy grasses in the center of the crater. With that information, Halcyon granted Anrag's wish for an honorable death, and sliced his head off with Akaid.

Satisfied with the information they had gathered but severely wounded from their recent battle, the trio agreed to retreat to the ElectroZephyr and rest for the night while on autopilot, circling hundreds of feet above the battlefield. However, while on first watch, Andras was caught unawares by a great wyvern in the dead of night. He became frighteningly cognizant of his unfortunate predicament as the winged beast clenched his side within his jaws and administered a debilitating poison through his tail stinger. Had the beast managed to bleed Andras unconscious, Lats and Halcyon would not have heard his screams. However, Andras managed to hold onto consciousness just long enough to cry out and awaken his two companions, who quickly gathered their weapons and hastily defeated the wyvern in a desperate battle to save Andras. Afterward, the three of them managed to finally sleep for a full night in preparation for searching the tombs beneath the marshy battlefield for the fabled Canary Scrolls...

Notes: Now equipped with Egon the Lustful's devil armor and Akaid, Halcyon is really embracing his evil nature. If he lives long enough, perhaps he himself will become a new lieutenant of some archdevil or another! Andras has time and again proven himself in battle in that he has either successfully ran away due to being frightened or will simply fall asleep during his turn as lookout and get nearly mauled to death by random wyverns! Lats, however, has really shined this session with all of his super-hidey spells and his five-attacks-per-round monk shtuff! The adventurers as a whole are faced with a few different missions to undertake: find the Canary Scrolls, either somewhere on the island of Locq or with Dejen and the Nack Fleet and eventually exact vengeance upon Luciditus Diovax for both his betrayal and the fact that he's been holding Naïlo Enna's soul hostage for months!

Episode 12: "The Tomb of Locq"
Date: SH 671 February 5

Played by Leucosa, Freia, and Lats

After a night aboard the ElectroZephyr, the adventurers geared up and searched for the entrance to the Tomb of Locq amidst the crater that Locqwerthalyn had left over 150 years ago. After searching for nearly six fruitless hours, the trio had managed to find a ten-foot wide opening in the ground amidst shrubbery and grass. An algae-covered stone staircase led them down to a wide hallway adorned with two large statues depicting gold dragons upright on their hind legs, spread wings and mouths agape, peering toward each other. The group immediately smelled a trap ahead of them and after noticing that the statues' mouths were blackened by fire, Leucosa began to investigate the bases of the statues. After a quick minute, she found a small hidden lever and managed to trigger the statue on its own, causing the two dragons to spew fire from their mouths into the area between them.

After learning of their nature, the group took the necessary precautions and passed the statues unharmed. They eventually wound their way into a massive draconic statuary complete with rotating statues of various colors of dragons, each with their wings spread and their mouths open, ready to wreak havoc upon any creature who dared cross their invisible threshold. After a moment of using her bag of tricks to lure hapless fluffy critters to their doom, Leucosa and her companions discovered that the traps only triggered infrequently. As the group slowly tried to decipher what was indeed triggering the traps, they were beset by half-dragon phase spiders and ettercaps! The ettercaps quickly flung webbing at their opponents, which would sometimes get stopped by the traps triggering. And as each trap triggered, the statues would seem to randomly rotate, recreating the trap sequence all over again. Lats had quickly decided to pounce on the nearest spider with sword and fist while Freia flung her spells from afar, safe from the triggering traps. After a long and drawn out battle, the adventurers managed to best their foes and continued to fumble their way through the seemingly complicated mechanisms that caused the traps to trigger. Either way, Leucosa had managed to get a pet jackal from her bag of tricks to lead the way and miraculously led them to a large dome-shaped chamber unscathed. The chamber was filled with draconic symbolism. On the bottom were ten sarcophagi, each representing a color of dragon on the spectrum while above there were only nine doors, each also representing a dragon but missing the green dragon. In a central sarcophagus, the group discovered that within was not an old corpse as to be expected but instead was a small shelf holding ten colored keys, one for each dragon. Without any other clues, Lats had decided it best to take the gold key and place it within the gold door above. It fit like a glove, and when he pushed the door open it led only to a shallow alcove and nothing more. However, a ghostly gold dragon was summoned below.

The ghost revealed himself as Zakaria, a lieutenant in the great Battle of Locq who fought and died alongside the dragon-mother Locqwerthalyn. He had been buried in this tomb with the men who had also died there, despite their being enemies in the battle. He simply stated that if they were righteous and true of heart, then he would guide them to the location of the Canary Scrolls. Leucosa had answered that they were there to end the chaos and save Nack from the evil empire that was ruling it, but Zakaria had simply stated that the answer was insufficient and soon began to attack them. Thinking quickly, the group decided to reveal that they had the Orb of Dragon Command in their possession. With that knowledge, Zakaria had persuaded them to give him the orb for safekeeping and he would reveal the notes left behind by the last adventurer who had trekked into the tomb. After reluctantly relinquishing the orb, Lats and the others discovered a makeshift map which led them to the secret passage back in the draconic statuary. Using the green key from the circular chamber, they discovered a room in which they found the lever which could turn off all the statues, along with a magnificent staff of fire and many other treasures from a bygone era.

Moving forward, they returned to the circular chamber and read closely the quatrain that had apparently been lifted from the Canary Scrolls themselves:


 * <font face="helvetica" color="lightseagreen">The faces of dragons made plain on keys,
 * a spectrum of purity incomplete.
 * Among gates and guises the extra key
 * through Locqwerthalyn's visage must needs meet.

They deduced the the extra key from the incomplete spectrum, the green key, must go through the door or gate which depicted Locqwerthalyn's visage -- the gold dragon door! When Lats took the green dragon key to the gold dragon door and opened it, the tiny alcove was instead a vast chamber with more dragon-statues and a large balcony surrounding the upper area. Beyond, he saw a robed figure hunched over what seemed to be an altar, mumbling to himself. Leucosa first walked into the room and was immediately beset by a wall of fire which had manifested out of what Freia noticed to be a hidden glyph of warding! The robed figure turned around, revealing a copper dragon's face and a long beard that belonged to none other than Selubrius and pointed at them feebly saying, "I must... kill you..."

A fierce battle ensued in which the adventurers at first had trouble coping against. The wall of fire had prevented Lats from rushing forward at first while Leucosa was forced to jump through its fiery veil to prevent further inevitable burns. To top it off, Selubrius was able to thwart all of the spells cast by Freia with his counterspells and a quickly cast globe of invulnerability. However, Leucosa drew out her longbow and shot a couple of arrows that struck him true, causing him to lose the concentration on his protective spells. Seizing the opportunity, Lats quickly darted up the stairs and stabbed and punched the old half-dragon wizard while Freia unleashed her most powerful spells all at once. Quickly, the old wizard fell to the floor in a pool of his own blood. He was dead. And alas, the adventurers were able to see what he was working on at the alter in the chamber: he was reading over the fabled Canary Scrolls! Alas, the scrolls have come into the adventurers' possession. But even with this great power, they will still need to plan carefully how to even find Locqwerthalyn and the Judicature once again...

Notes: For a more detailed map of the Tomb of Locq, go here. Freia managed to do some serious damage to Selubrius, only after he had lost control of his globe of invulnerability. And she was able to traverse the wall of fire with relative ease while wielding her new-found staff of fire. Lats managed to do what he does best, sneak in and deliver a flurry of blows to each enemy he encountered. And Leucosa found that her dragon slayer sword worked wonders on all the half-dragon beasts in this island! Not to mention, she was the one who had solved the mystery of the green key and the gold door that was ever-so-present within the scribbled quatrain. Even though their goal seems clear, there are still as of yet a couple major adversaries that might stand in their way of awakening the goddess...

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Campaigns: Slaadi Invasion | Northern Strife | Heroes & Traitors | Hollows | Black as Pitch | Air Islands of Nack | BUFD Wars

Air Islands of Nack: Flight of the ElectroZephyr | Malevolence in Pursuit | Rousing the Dragon | Betrayal at the Dragon Temple