Faith is Lost

Faith is Lost

(DMed by David W.) A group of heroes band together with one common attribute: they are all mysteriously immune to the Hollow Plague. This adventure follows the group as they search for a cure to the plague.

For character info, go here.

Introduction: “The Hollows”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, August 30

Three days ago, the chanters of Tochku (see locale details here lost their divine powers. The gods have suddenly and without warning stopped giving their favor and power to the mortals of the world and have since become silent to all prayers. Shortly after this sudden divine blackout, the dead began to rise out of their graves to feast upon the living. Graveyards in all parts of the empire became spawning points for hordes of the undead. And worse yet, each victim of the hollows turned into a hollow as well. Within a day, the majority of the peoples of Tochku have turned to terrorize the ever-dwindling amount of survivors. This sudden scourge of the peoples of Tochku has since become known as the Hollow Plague.

Now, three days later, the cultural landscape of Tochku has been decimated. The feudal clans have fallen apart, but the remaining samurai still hold fast to their honor, many of whom committed ritual suicide (seppuku). Some have convinced themselves that honor is still kept by helping those who have survived the initial wave and form some new sense of order that is so integral to the culture of Tochku.

The story starts here, where several adventurers who have managed to survive the beginning days of horror have made their way to the town of Satori, where they had heard rumors that the hollows hadn't yet overrun the place.

Episode 1: “The Dead Rise at Satori”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, August 30

The session opened up when hollows began to surround the adventurers in the town center of Satori. Several other peasants and laymen were also converging on the town center when the horde of hollows slowly crept inward. Many of them were overtaken as their flesh was torn off their bodies from the decrepit jaws of the hollows. However, the adventurers managed to stave off the initial wave of the hoard. One other survivor, known as Kasala, heard that the chanters at the Ryuku monastery still hold their divine power and that perhaps they will know how to end the plague and save those who have been infected.

Shortly thereafter the adventurers traveled north with their beleaguered companions toward Ryuku: a three day journey. On the second day, their companions were struck with a horrid fever for several hours and eventually died. Within minutes, they came back as hollows and attacked the heroes, who fortunately were ready and quickly dispatched them. Kasala was the only remaining survivor, who had lost her entire family, including her sister who had just been slaughtered by the adventurers. However, her close friend, Stellaluna remained by her side for comfort and support.

They made it to Ryuku in three days, and as they climbed the long stone stairway to the monastery perched on a mountainside, they began to smell a foul stench. As they opened the gateway doors to the monastery courtyard, they saw dozens of corpses built up into a handful of piles. Thousands of flies were swarming the mounds, laying their eggs in the ungodly crevasses of the dead.

Notes: Several of the adventurers were bitten or scratched by the hollows in the initial battle. Although their non-heroic companions who were bit quickly succumbed to the plagued within days, the heroes felt nothing more than strong headaches for a day or two and then recovered mysteriously. Cafall is unsure about Stellaluna's true nature (both as a changeling and a vampire).

Episode 2: “A Herd Approaches Ryuku”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, September 3

As the adventurers approached the monastery of Ryuku, they slowly surveyed the surrounding area. Ryuku rests on the side of a cliff, nestled in the rock as it watches over the farming valley below. After a quick inspection of the surrounding courtyard within the monastery walls, they broke into the main door. They were taken aback from the putrid stench that emanated from the monastery. Several lobotomized corpses fill the main hall. As they searched the area more closely, Dracaena discovered a magical shroud covering one of the bodies. As she lifted the shroud off the body, a hollow who was still surprisingly intact reached for her and let out a long, low belly-moan.

The noise startled awake several more hollows who abruptly burst through the paper door leading to the back of the monastery. Worse yet, several more hollows who were in the piles of smoldering corpses stirred to action and began to surround the beleaguered adventurers. They were stalwart and tactical, however, and managed to overcome the crowd of hollows while keeping Kasala safe.

After the battle, the group debated for a while on whether they should fortify and monastery and keep it as a base of operations as they explored the surrounding area or if they should abandoned the defiled place altogether and look for something better. They decided (albeit rather reluctantly for some) to set the Ryuku monastery up as a base of operations.

However, as the adventurers were chucking the dead bodies off the cliffside, Lark, who was acting as a lookout seeing as how she has no real strength to lift corpses, saw a massive horde of hollows climbing up the steps to the monastery. A handful of them even began flying over the walls of the monastery, much to the adventurers' surprise. They were quickly overwhelmed by the oncoming horde and were forced to shut the main doors to the monastery walls before the horde could break through. Stellaluna began to flee through the back doors of the monastery, looking for a way out of the place through the back side. K'dath fell unconscious after he was swarmed by flying hollows, but fortunately Lark lifted him with her pixie magic and Kragg lifted him up and carried him into the monastery.

Notes: With the massive horde starting to pile up against walls of Ryuku, the adventurers must decide if they will stand their ground and fight these seemingly overwhelming forces, or if they will follows Stellaluna's lead and find a way out through the back.

Episode 3: “Overwhelmed on the Cliffside”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, September 3

The battle continued. While Cafall, Stellaluna, and Malachai fled to the back of the Ryuku monastery to find a way out, the rest of the party were steadfast in the decision to stand and face the oncoming horde of zombies. Kasala discovered a scared schoolgirl hiding in a closet at Ryuku, who quickly explained that she had come to the monastery to visit her uncle but then the plague broke out. Her name was Kos-Mos. She tried her best to help the others who were beset by the horde by shutting the doors to the main hall of the monastery while both Oda Kragg and Dracaena were lying unconscious and dying. In the end, however, Kos-Mos ran and saved herself.

K'dath was locked out in front, but fortunately he had the time to shove Lark into his pocket and run around the side of the monastery, climb to the outer wall and jump off the other end. Unfortunately he fell too hard and knocked himself unconscious when he hit the ground.

Meanwhile, the others decided to start climbing down the side of the cliff to escape. There, discovered a wanderer who introduced himself as Francis. He showed them that there was an intricate series of tunnels that ran through the cliff and eventually came out to the valley below. While they were scrambling into the tunnels, Cafall stood back to defend the entrance from the winged zombies. One of them charged the hero and lobbed his head right off.

The rest of the survivors ventured into the tunnels, where they discovered an ascetic dragonborn resting at the edge of a pool. Her name was K'lir. She gave them a place for rest, and here is where the session ended.

Notes: Dracaena and Cafall both died from their wounds. Dracaena actually turned to a hollow quickly and began to nibble on the unconscious and dying Kragg, but he miraculously recovered. His story ended here, however, and nobody knows if he managed to escape Ryuku or not.

Episode 4: “Players in the Valley”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, September 4-5

After resting the night in the tunnels with K'lir, the adventurers found their way out of the tunnels and into the valley of Ryuku, where drying rice fields lay the grounds between small huts with thatched roofs. An unseemly mist rose from the ground as the heroes steadily moved forward into the farming hamlet. Suddenly, skittering creatures began to burrow out of the ground and the cliffside behind them and attacked. These creatures, known as kruthiks, swarmed the heroes who quickly assumed a defensive tactic.

Roughly a hundred yards away, two former players of a traveling circus were rummaging through the huts on the far side of the hamlet when they heard the clashes and yells of battle taking place. Assuming they were survivors beset by a horde of the hollows, they quickly ran toward the sounds of combat and realized the devilish creatures attacking a rare pack of live flesh were not the hollows at all.

After a tiresome battle, the two players, known as Howie Feldersnatch and Bran Facecut introduced themselves; and after a short deliberation on the integrity of the newcomers, the adventuring group welcomed them to their ranks, adding their tactical skills and battle healing abilities as valuable assets toward the survival of the group.

They continued to search, loot, and destroy the huts as they went. K'dath made absolutely certain that no corpses or structures were left un-torched. Near the end of their search Howie discovered, much to his surprise, two young girls in school uniforms hiding in a closet. Keiko and Miki, ages 10 and 12 respectively, were both sweating with terror and pale from dehydration, starvation, and lack of sunlight. They quickly latched onto Howie as a protective figure. Left with no other choice, they adventurers brought them along (despite the fact that they would likely be more of a burden than an asset).

After much deliberation on where to travel to next, including plans to travel to the coastline or to the capital city of Ren, the adventurers ultimately decided to follow Lark's prophetic auguries that prompted her to head north into the higher peaks of Ishigawa, in search of people chanting atop a mesa.

They traveled north along the eastern front range of the mountains for roughly a day and a half before they came across the grand River Hiroi, confronted with the daunting task of finding a way across.

Notes: Howie is desperate to find alcohol as a constant fix. Keiko and Miki are rather cautious of everyone in the group except for, for whatever reason, Howie. Lark's most recent augury gave her nightmares and caused her to wake in the middle of a night in mysterious fever which subsided in a few hours. She has yet to discuss the reasons for this. An image of the augury can be found here.

Episode 5: “Crossing the River Hiroi”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, September 5-13

Upon reaching the River Hiroi, the heroes came upon a raging current one hundred feet wide, bordered by cliff sides fifty feet tall. Several floating islands lay roughly twenty five feet above the water's surface, as if the islands were tethered to the sky by an invisible rope. The islands even seemed to shift slightly by a strong gust of wind.

Using their skills and resources, the group slowly progressed across the group of islands. Lark took one of a handful of ropes the adventurers had on them and flew across to the largest island, securing the rope to a tree. To make sure that they wouldn't fall while crossing on the rope, K'lir and Stellaluna both tied ropes further to those traversing. One rope tied around the waist and onto the taut rope connecting to the island. Another rope was also tied around the body and was held by anyone staying on the southern end of the river.

This plan turned out to be life-saving as Bran was crossing. Just before he made it to the initial island, the rope attaching him to the main rope snapped, and he was unable to react in time to hold on. However, the third rope, being held by stronger friends such as Francis held strong as Bran swung back to the other side and slammed into the cliff side. Francis and others quickly pulled him back up to safety.

As the crossings progressed, K'dath and Kasala noticed a massive swarm of the hollows approaching from the south. K'dath reacted quickly and made a desperate jump to the nearest island, fortunately grabbing on for dear life instead of falling into the raging river. However, he reacted a bit too quickly, as the swarm of the hollows was nearly 500 yards away, giving the others ample time to get across to the largest island.

Once they were all off the southern end of the river and onto the islands, the tree seemingly sprayed a whiff of toxic gas, causing many of the adventurers to become dazed. K'dath quickly shot a fire bolt at the tree, setting it ablaze. Immediately following this, an old with a long, wispy beard man appeared on the island. Dressed in a ragged but silky robe, a rice hat, and adorned with jade jewelry, the man introduced himself as Faritu, a wandering hermit in search of a cure to the Hollow Plague and helping any survivors he would happen to come across.

Unsure of his true intentions, the heroes convinced him to help them cross the rest of the river. At the same time, both Malachai and Lark snuck down into a cave at the bottom of the northern side of the river. The cave was adorned with fine art and had a wide, luxurious bed. Several items and equipment were at the base of the bed, of which the thieves quickly snatched and went back to join the others.

After some diplomatic exchanged that was undoubtedly littered with deceit, the adventurers and the Faritu agreed to go their own separate ways. Lark was almost certain that Faritu was an oni in disguise.

From there, the heroes traveled for roughly eight days along the front range of Ishigawa until their rations of food ran out. With an combined effort to gather more food, Bran and Francis spotted a group of halflings traveling north into the Hills of Shendai from the Kupaberry Meadow. After confronting and conversing with the dozen halfling survivors, their leader, Trike, and his group decided to join the adventurers and continue further northwest into the mountains.

Notes: When Lark and Malachai were rummaging through the cave, they also discovered a papyrus scroll written in the giant language of Kyojinsa. It seems as though the inhabitant of the cave was an oni, and that the Hollow Plague may have very intentional beginnings. Lark's augury concerning the halflings gives her the notion that they will be protectors. Trike and his group have revealed to the heroes that any creature can become a hollow, including smaller animals like rabbits and squirrels.

Episode 6: “Warriors at Shiga Forest”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, September 13-18

After leaving the Kupaberry Meadow, the adventurers traveled for five days north, along the eastern front range of the Ishigawa Mountains until the reached the edge of the Shiga Forest, where they discovered a group of warriors and mages locked in combat with a large horde of the hollows. They waited for about five minutes and watched the battle unfold until the horde began to overcome the warriors.

Trike and his group of halflings decided to flank the horde while the main heroes waded into battle and helped the beleaguered warriors. However, it was too late for some of the warriors, and a couple of them had been bitten and infected. The adventurers watched in amazement at the superb battle formation and strategy demonstrated by Trike and his group, as they quickly darted in and out of their formation while skewering hollows with their spears.

After the battle ended, the adventurers introduced themselves to the leader of the warriors, a battle-hardened ex-samurai dragonborn known as Katsuo of the Tajiko Clan stated that he and his group were traveling west past the Ishigawa Mountains and into Mitsuko, where they believed the plague had not yet spread. With their different plans, the two groups decided to go their own separate ways and bid each other hopes for safe journeys.

The heroes and their halfling allies continued into Shiga Forest, where they came to a path, presumably the beginning of the dreaded Oni Passage. There, they were beset by plant-like creatures that attempted to engulf them in vines and branches. However, the heroes quickly dispatched of them.

Notes: Katsuo and his fellow comrades Cradnor and Gekido seemed to distrust the adventurers and laughed to themselves as they parted ways with the heroes. Perhaps they know something our adventurers do not.

Episode 7: “Omatsu's Attack”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, September 18-21

Further into Shiga Forest, the adventurers encountered a great spider's nest and a battle between spiders. Upon further inspection, the spiders were fending off other spiders who had turned and become hollows. After realizing this, the heroes stepped in and defended the still-alive spiders. Stellaluna soon thereafter realized that she had the ability to speak to spiders telepathically and quickly befriended the survivors. In the meantime, Trike and his band of halflings were nowhere to be found. Somehow they had been separated during the battle. Or perhaps they had simply run away. Nobody knows where they went or what happened to them.

Moving further north of the forest, the adventurers continued to travel on the eastern front range of the Ishigawa Mountains when they came across another group of travelers who had lowered their weapons and introduced themselves. Their leader called himself Omatsu, a samurai of the Emerald Sword clan based in Kanjuro - a city further to the north. After explaining their situation, the new group decided to join up. However, shortly after traveling together Omatsu and his band suddenly attempted to ambush and destroy the adventurers. A fierce battle broke out with the heroes coming out victorious. Upon Omatsu's death, an eerie blue mist began seeping out of his skin. Quickly, it moved into each of the adventurers, as if some spirit had quickly possessed them. Each adventurer felt more powerful. They could not tell, however, whether this power was a blessing or a curse.

Notes: Stellaluna's mysterious power of being able to talk to spiders came from an equally mysterious and secretive part of her past - a part of her life she had almost forgotten, or was trying to forget. Either way, the ability was both innate and learned.

Episode 8: “Mesa Top”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, September 21-26

Five days passed and the adventurers made great time, continuing to travel to the north and west and eventually cut into the Ishigawa Mountains and closer to the mesa, atop of which was supposedly a clue leading to the cure to the Hollow Plague. Stellaluna and Malachai climbed atop a tree, half a mile out from the Mesa Top, where they both saw herds of zombies slowly moving toward and converging on the mesa. Once the zombies got there, they would fall down add to an ever-growing pile of corpses, no longer moving. After getting closer and looking at this mysterious phenomenon from roughly fifty yards away, Kos-Mos clearly saw an arcane circle that formed a glowing dome over the pile of corpses which seemed to have some simple protective properties. Three hooded mages were performing a dark ritual which they could not identify within the circle. Even though these mages clearly saw the adventurers, they did not react. The same blue mist that seeped out of Omatsu's skin and into the heroes was present, wrapping around the ten-foot-tall pile of corpses centered within the arcane circle.

When Kos-Mos put her hand through the arcane dome, the mages quickly stopped their ritual and attacked. They reanimated some of the corpses in the pile and had them attack. After a harsh battle, the adventurers overcame the mages, who also turned out to be zombies. The blue mist enveloping the zombie pile dissolved and after a few moments the characters noticed two slow-moving vortexes forming in the clouds above Mesa Top. In the eyes of these clouds, the sun's rays shone through, its light illuminating two spots on the ground. Using what religious knowledge she had, Kos-Mos could tell that whatever this was, it was not of any known deity and perhaps could be part of something even more profound or more powerful than the gods themselves. Either way, it was a clear indication that the light was pointing them in a specific direction.

The bold warrior Francis stepped into the light on one side of Mesa Top and suddenly the ground beneath him began to give way. Two spiraling stone staircases formed, reaching deep into the earth, and skeletons and zombies poured out. These enemies were quickly dispatched and the heroes and their sole surviving companions: Kasala, Keiko, and Miki started delving into earth, deeper into the unknown and perhaps closer to an answer to the plague.

Notes: Malachai and Kos-Mos both are beginning to realize their true potential as combatants!

Episode 9: “Jishikami's Hidden Temple”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, September 26-27

The dungeon beneath Mesa Top proved to be full of tricks and traps -- but the heroes managed very well to avoid any serious injury and also picked up some valuable treasure while traveling through. During their dungeon crawl, Kos-Mos saw ancient texts carved into the walls. Using her formal education with the language of Kotoba, she was able to decipher the text, which described the many attributes of some ancient and forgotten deity known as Jishikami, the Clever Benefactor. After successfully eluded or bypassing the traps laid out in her temple, they made it to her sanctuary, which contained a large golden statue of Jishikami's likeness: an elegant woman dressed in two kimonos. She was holding a woven basket in one hand, with the other hand outstretched openly and welcomingly.

Above them was a glass ceiling holding up what seemed to be countless gold coins and other treasure. However, taking note of the plaque on the statue that read:

"Jishikami’s light shall shine on the honest and righteous! A better way always lies ahead, and those who follow their true hearts shall never know fear again. Unless you understand this vital lesson, you will always be asleep and fearful in dreaming."

The adventurers, gaining some wisdom from the other texts throughout the temple, decided not to follow their material desires and did not attempt to obtain the gold. Instead, they picked the locked door on the other side and proceeded to the hall of the Old Gods of Tochku which contained five distinct statues. Before the group had a chance to closely inspect these statues, they were attacked by a mysterious tiefling who attempted to steal something from the statues and/or kill the adventurers. Fortunately, the adventurers managed to prevent the thief from taking something from the statues. Unfortunately, the thief managed to escape with his life, shouting as he left, "This will not be the end! I WILL be the last!"

The five statues depicted distinct ancient and forgotten gods -- Sensokami, the Blade Mistress, Jishikami, the Clever Benefactor, Shizenkami, the Weeping Shaman, and Raisekami, the Eyes of the Next World. The fifth statue depicted a plainly dressed woman with her arms outstretch as if ready for embrace, her head tilted toward the sky. Her statue was unmarked and nameless. The other statues were each holding a specific artifact and pointing in a specific direction. After playing around with their options, the adventurers realized that they could take an artifact: Sensokami's Sword, Shizenkami's Wreath, or Raisekami's Skull, heading north, east, or south respectively in search for the corresponding god's temple.

Notes: Kos-Mos was particularly interested in the Old Gods and the fact that none of them had ever been mentioned in the history texts she studied back at school in Tadashi. Jishimaki's statue was holding a basket in both hands, her head titled down. It appears as though her artifact was exactly where it belonged, in her statue within her temple.

Episode 10: “Kragg at Hanakaga”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, September 27 - October 3

The group decided to takeSensokami's artifact, her katana north toward Kanjuro in search of her forgotten temple. After six days of grueling travel, dodging hordes of the hollows, they came across the small farming town of Hanakaga. Smoke rising from the chimney of the largest building in the town indicated that the town was still occupied by hopefully living people.

After deciding their tactical plan in approaching the town, Stellaluna decided to use her stealthy abilities to throw a lit torch to set fire to the thatch roof of one of the houses. A red dragonborn and three other kobold and tiefling samurai went to investigate. After some consideration, Stellaluna decided at last to change her form from human to a sexy red dragonborn woman, revealing that she was a changeling to her onlooking companions Francis and Kos-Mos. Stellaluna nearly revealed her true nature to the dragonborn the instant she recognized him to be Oda Kragg, the lost adventuring companion who was thought to be dead after he was trapped by a horde of zombies in the monastery at Ryuku.

A heated argument ensued when Stellaluna revealed a little of herself -- not that she was in fact Stellaluna but that the party she was traveling with was the same party that left Kragg at Ryuku. Apparently, Oda Kragg had discovered a few members of his clan, the Order of Fire and Scale. He went on and on about pride and honor and the cowards that left him there. The group did not reveal much about their plan, except that they were traveling north toward Kanjuro in search for the cure to the plague or at least an answer to the death of the gods. Kragg revealed the truth about a group of people he called the "Mist Breathers." These individuals are immune to the plague that ravages the land. Whenever one of them is slain by another Mist Breather, a strange blue mist escapes from his or her mouth and then seeps into the skin of the slayers, making them more powerful.

Eventually, Stellaluna had the others come down -- but Oda Kragg would not be negotiated with. One thing led to another and he eventually set an honorable duel with Francis. After some minor preparations, the duel began, but the two were completely mismatched. The blood-coated maul in Francis' muscular arms smashed Oda Kragg's head into a meaty pulp. The other samurai, whose master was suddenly killed, begged to commit seppuku, a ritual suicide, so that they might be able to obtain some honor in death after the shame they had from letting their master die. After the potential enemies were all dead, the adventurers decided to sleep in the main building of Hanakaga, completely devoid of any remorse for sleeping in dead men's beds.

Notes: Oda Kragg was apparently the second Mist Breather the group had killed. The adventurers also found a map in the town that showed a lot more information about the area of Tochku -- none of which was particularly or immediately useful, but it may be for the future.

Episode 11: “Conference with Kanjuro Uizado”[edit]

Date: AB 1230, October 3-16

After obtaining a map with more information on it, the group headed north to Kanjuro, only to discover it had all but been abandoned, with only a few straggling hollows left behind. They searched the houses, Castle Kanjuro, the headquarters of the Emerald Sword Clan, the trade district, and other places and came up only with a few hints that all the residents of the city had evacuated and went to Uizado's Tower.

Twelve days passed as they travelled the length of the Setsudan Road, pressing against the great winds that flow through the Setsudan Valley. Finally they reached the ivory tower and discovered a massive hoard of zombies surrounding it. Kos-Mos cleverly devised a plan to set a prairie fire north of the tower, letting the southbound winds spread the flames which engulfed the majority of the hoard. The adventurers then approached the tower and quickly dispatched any remaining zombies as they went inside.

They climbed the spiraling steps of the tower, passing by many doors that went seemingly to nowhere and discovering complex arcane machines that seemed to give energy to the tower. At the very top, the found a room in which an old wizard smoking an elaborate pipe greeted them warmly. He introduced himself as Kanjuro Uizado, the seventh daimyo of Kanjuro and the creator of the tower.

After the group told him that they wished to know the location of Sensokami's temple, to which Uizado replied that he knew where the temple was, but for that information, he wanted them to obtain a massive emerald which was the pommel of his personal sword. It had been stolen by Akaitana the Pundit, a ruthless red dragon that resided in the Dog Cut Mountains. The adventurers would need to sneak into his lair and find the gem.

Uizado did propose another idea as well -- something a bit outside the box. He asked Kos-Mos if she'd like to join him as his apprentice. She would be trained in the arcane arts and her friends would also receive training over a long period of time. The tower was extremely protected and had a renewable source of energy with which Uizado used to live quite luxuriously.

After a day to discuss the options available, Kos-Mos and the others decided to have an extended stay at the tower and start the apprenticeship program.

Notes: Much time will pass as the program is carried out. By the time the adventurers are ready, Kanjuro Uizado will send them on their way to finally retrieve the emerald gem. It seems like this strange old man could be their valuable advisor, patriarch, and friend.