March 25, 2011

Poised for battle with four horsemen, the party met the challenge boldly. They proved themselves more able than usual, not being subject to Death, War, Pestilence, or Famine. The struck down War and gained the Claddagh Hammer, but they felt removing these spirits was a good idea. It was eventually Signy who brought down Death.

The party journeyed quickly to Caer Corwell, and there met up with Cathal, now the High Druid. From there they flew on Pewta’s back up to the peak of Mt Finnisglen where they found a massive piece of solid Moonstone in a small bowl. Using the Claddagh hammer, they shattered the Moonstone and found a tunnel beneath it. This was clearly the source of the contamination as the air coming out of it was quite vile.

After a journey down the tunnel, they came to the original Moonwell, a large body of water set inside the mountain high above the clouds. Had they viewed the Moonstone at night, they would have seen a beautiful white glow as it fed its power into the Moonwell. As it was, the Moonwell was basically acid. The party had to make their way through the Moonwell to another cave, where they came to a vertical shaft. They knew it was deep, but they did not know how deep. They decided to jump with the intent of casting Featherfall when they could see the bottom. The problem with this plan was multiple traps set in the shaft. After the first two, Eron decided to cast Fly on the party, and Marchosias disarmed the remaining eight traps on the way down.

The shaft descended two miles straight down and emptied into a very hot cavern with lava flows, a red dragon, and a beholder. Since the party was flying, they were bravely able to sneak past the beholder and red dragon. From there, they walked deeper below Gwynneth, following the single path towards the source of the contamination. They found one clean spot, where the roots of ancient oaks reached down. Cathal insisted they snuggle with the roots to become healed.

Then they came to a very large cavern with a massive, black stone dome inside. Doors led inside the dome, and a deep, rumbling voice told them to enter when they were ready. The party cast all sorts of self-enhancing spells and summoned Pewta to help them. Then they entered the massive doors.

Before them was a powerful red dragon, though of alien appearance. He had four wings instead of two, and his sharp features made normal dragons appear cuddly. He was joined by a wizard, a sorcerer, a melee fighter, and an archer. Behind him was a massive pile of treasure, and to one side was a dark rite with seven divine sparks and one nasty cauldron.

The dragon looked at them with eyes of fire and hatred.

“It is you, pathetic creatures, who have thwarted my will for years. You have come here to your deaths, which is pleasing to me. I planned on hunting you down once this rite was completed.”

“That you have come here tells me you do not know who I am. I am Goranlerto. I was the mount of the Valheru, the Dragon Lords. I carried Hasrat-Belaida through the endless reaches of the cosmos. The short memory of your race is why you do not tremble at his name alone. He, the most powerful of the Valheru, settled on this land called Toril and learned the magic of all the people of the cosmos. Your little band should know him, for you defiled his home. I am told that one of you even stole his robes from his fallen body. I have spent thousands of years continuing his study of all magic and power, and I have learned the key to becoming a god without the consent of this new upstart named Lord Ao.”

“I offer you a single chance… you may submit to my will completely and I will let you live. I will need servants to help me rule this world and many more. You have proven yourselves capable for your weak races. If you continue this attack, I will destroy you. And when I become a god in a few more days, I will hunt the realms of the dead for you and ensure you endure endless torture. Decide now. Come, tiefling, lay down your arms and take your place by my side. I will give you Cormyr or Waterdeep, whatever you choose.”

He also offered deals to Yenrab and the drow, but they were rebuffed. Marchosias got his party to agree to a double share of the treasure to keep him loyal. It’s a shame, because a future campaign in a world under the control of a god native to the Prime Material Plane and not subject to any constraints of worshippers, avatars, and the like and starting in a large kingdom ruled by Emperor Marchosias would have been awesome. Nonetheless, battle ensued.

The minions were not too difficult for the party, in their heightened state, to deal with. The sorcerer was paralyzed, the fighter beaten down, the archer killed by the monk, and the wizard bitten by Pewta and finished off by a prismatic spray from Goranlerto.

That was when the battle got interesting. Signy was sent to another plane, one of the seven heavens, due to a prismatic spray. The monk was turned to stone, and then turned back by Cathal. The wizard attempted to touch Goranlerto with an Otto’s irresistible dance, but this made him vulnerable to Goranlerto’s own magical attacks. Finding himself too weak to resist Slay Living, he was killed. Yenrab brought him back, but then in turn was quickly killed by a crush and breath weapon of the dragon.

Fortunately, Eron managed to prevent the dragon from seeing invisible opponents, and the rogue managed to do significant damage. The monk continued bashing consistently as well, and eventually Goranlerto lost consciousness and fell to the ground, erupting into an explosion of sparks.

The party then dispersed the divine sparks back into the world, even though they did not even know from which worlds these came. Then it turned out they were very rich. It took some time to get the gold out of there, but they were very dedicated to that task.

Queen Alicia of the Moonshaes was waiting for them in Caer Corwell along with Prince Rayan. As the Moonwells recovered in just a few days, it was clear they had saved Gwynneth. They explained how they had actually saved the entire world and perhaps several others, but for the most part the others didn’t seem to believe it could have been that bad. The world is typically saved in a deep cave or hidden fortress, and it is rarely known by those who have been saved.

Yenrab was quickly resurrected, and Signy was returned by the angels. They would liked to have returned her quickly to the battle, and returning someone to the prime material plane can be done quickly. Returning someone to a cave of unknown location inside a mountain on an island off the coast of Faerun on the world of Toril somewhere in the cosmos takes a few minutes.

They were given a parade, and then named Lord Protectors of the Moonshaes. They were given new estates. They were not as large as those in Shou Lung, but land is a bit more valuable on an island than the gigantic continent of Kara-Tur. The estates themselves were very beautiful and quite wealthy. Sunny was given Kinsale, Signy Kilmallock, Marchosias Wexford, Yenrab Rathvilly, Eron Kildare, and Tyrone Farbill.

After returning some wealth to Gwynneth from where it was clearly stolen, there was enough money for each of them to have roughly half a million gold pieces, but Marchosias’s deal obviously shifted that a bit. He ended up with about 860,000gp compared to 430,000gp of the others.

Afterwards, Sunny, Eron, and Marchosias decided that they would prefer to live mostly in their estates in Shou Lung.



The years passed quietly. Sure, they teleported back and forth between the lands and put down the occasional orc uprising, but there was no more traveling the cosmos or battling ancient forces. In many ways, they enjoyed being filthy rich and doing very little. In other ways, they missed the thrill of adventure and, more significantly, the friendship of those fighting next to them.

Signy and Tyrone, inevitably, found a bond deeper than they expected. His vile tongue and ability to sing really appealed to Signy, and her exotic nature appealed to him. Signy found a way to free Pewta from her magical bonds, and they remained close friends. Their last adventure was to purge from Gwynneth a druid who had turned evil named Monroe. Signy remembered him from years before, and the man had decided that all civilization needed to be destroyed and Gwynneth returned to the wild. After that, she hung up her chain. Eventually they had a little daughter named Ami, which was a whole new sort of adventure. Ami, being only a quarter drow, did not have too much difficulty making friends. Even so, Signy’s attempts to interest her in learning the chain with others failed. Ami was more interested in reading and studying. It became apparent that she would follow more in her Uncle Eron’s footsteps and become a wizard of some sort. Signy was saddened, but she loved her daughter enough to support her in her decisions.

Eron himself was busy in Shou Lung. He finished his tower, much larger than the original plan, and worked intensely with Wu Jen to improve the magic of both. Additionally, he managed to make off with some of the books found in treasure hoard of Goranlerto. It was certainly no how-to, but it gave him enough tips to begin sorting out some lost magic in the world including High Elven magic. His efforts to enhance the knowledge of magic in the world pleased Mystra, the keeper of the Weave. After several years of study, he found himself as the Minister of Magic. Rillanon was perhaps more pleased with this post since he convinced all the servants to carry him around and feed him things. And, of course, the Imperial Court always wondered where Eron went on most weekends. The people of Violet always wondered where Eron went during the weeks.

Sunny established a fine monastery in Shou Lung. He often asked Eron to take him to Ten Towns to visit a dwarven priestess named Braga Dunn. Rillanon was getting tired of this after a few visits, and told the young priestess that she should just come back to Shou Lung and say goodbye to Ten Towns. She agreed, and Sunny found himself quite pleased with the arrangement. Braga was even happier when she realized she didn’t have to be cold all the time. She set up a room for herself in the deepest basement of the estate, but eventually she managed to live entirely on the surface. Sunny also managed to make a more solid Harper presence in Shou Lung.

Marchosias managed to use his estates in Shou Lung and Gwynneth to engage in human trafficking and, with other questionable business activities, doubled his wealth in just a few years. His network became known throughout the world… though no lawful authorities could ever prove anything. It came as quite a surprise when he was found in a ditch with a knife in his back just a few years after saving the world. No one knows who took control of the network, but there were rumors it was the brother of a cook from Gwynneth.

Yenrab, having spent a significant amount of time dead, was sad to learn that you don’t remember that. It’s a shame, because he experience a deep and meaningful conversation with his god. Still, he continued work on his temple in Shou Lung and began a new temple in Gwynneth. This new temple was a tall spire, and storms seemed to range around this spire constantly. Inside, Yenrab felt comforted by the constant thunder and lightning. Others were a little concerned, but some also enjoyed it. There were those who claimed that they could see a figure up above in the lightning, flowing through the storm. This was where Yenrab was happiest. And as powerful priest, he acquired quite a following.

Zargofoop and Lankyforpot, brought together by this party, discovered that they had a special connection. It took them several years to understand it, and a few more to admit it. Once they did, though, they were very happy. With their various gadget-making abilities, their bliss was enduring. They became leaders of Lanton, and brought a new level openness to the island.

A new profession existed in the land formerly known as the Calimshan desert; farmer. The city of the elves, Myth Drannor, recovered again and brought new growth to the ancient forest. A governor of Thay did something never done before; he wrote a kind letter to his parents.

Has the sun set on this band? Will they ride again to save the world, or will the menace of the years continue to find them apart?

A young boy named Davin, the son of a farmer from the lands east of Caer Corwell, once witness this party in action. He first saw them among the crowds with his father in Caer Corwell as they were rewarded for saving Prince Rayan from the poison. He saw then a few years later on the back of a great silver dragon, riding into the rising sun towards Mt Finnisglen to save Gwynneth and the world. He had great dreams of becoming something more than a farmer, and from that point forward he worked for it. He told his father that his younger brothers could take the farm, and he set off on his own. Years later, Davin was high above the Emerald Pass pursuing thieves in the name of King Rayan. Word had just been received that Lord Marchosias had been killed, and some chaos had erupted, particularly among those who walk in shadows. It was near sunset when he suddenly felt rain, despite the clear skies. Peering upwards, he realized he had just been blessed with the tears of a great silver dragon.

And with that, the sun dipped below the western horizon.
The end.





Not my best work, but I hope you enjoyed it.

I lollerd about Signy and her daughter

Thanks for all the hours you put into each session, Mark. I had fun for sure!

Good thing Marchosias was so skilled in Disguise. It would've been too bad for him to actually be killed.

Thanks Mark, another fun campaign. I'm sad that the era of Mark The DM is over (at least for awhile), but I'm looking forward to sitting beside you as a player again.

...obviously.

Thanks Mark for all the work you did. I am glad an awkward ugly dwarf like Sunny could find love. Im also surprised that Sunny would use a knife but I guess it would help deflect any suspicion.

Thanks for the confession, dwarf. I'll be sure to explicitly use your share of the final battle loot that was abdicated to me to burn your temple to the ground.

10/10 would play again.

Make sure you all keep your character sheets, of course. Soaking or not. Or I can toss them in my red folder. We'll assume saving the world is worth 25,112 xp. Maybe when Jay is 50 we can play "Where did Marchosias go!?!"

Nice! I'd like to see what Marcosias would be up to with all that gold, all that experience, and all those minions.

....err, that is, were he not dead.

Mark, awesome job as always. You ability as a storyteller is fantastic.

I jist wish that I didn't die so much at the end.

You should feel honored that you were a target.

Targets die.

Come get some!

Sorry, was I supposed to be scared by teenagers wearing pajamas and wielding polearms that are missing the pointy ends?

You clearly haven't watched the new Karate Kid. Those Asian kids are MEAN!

We have all seen you use your bow to fight less...

I think that was around 6th level, thanks. These days, I'm fucking up Great Wyrm aspiring-to-be-a-god four-winged red dragons with my twin pointy swords of destruction.

Only pussies use swords, I believe I used my hands to fell that vile beast. You think you can come burn down my monastery, pfffttt.

You know... it's all fantasy, but some things are farther from reality than other things. Sure, an ancient red dragon that can soar across the cosmos and aspires to become a god sounds like it's pretty far out there, but not compared to the natural response of a monk... which is to punch it.

If you'd like, we can tally the damage done and see who REALLY brought him down. Poking an already-bloodied elephant with a sharp stick after it's been hit 7 or 8 times with an elephant gun doesn't really count, you know.

When you do, be sure you take the extra damage and probability of hitting from the buffs and assign it to the priest and wizard. Also, in cases where someone wouldn't be around unless they were healed by the priest, he gets assigned all damage after that.

Ooooh, the priest probably wins, then. It's too bad that I don't get any bonus for taking less than 60 damage the entire battle.

Its very hard to have a slap fight with the rouge when someone keeps coming in with facts and hmmm well actually the priest through his spells has blah, blah blah, snoreeeeeeeee .. . . . . . .

He usually does.


Well, you're not enslaved to an evil dragon god that, native to Toril, could block access by all other gods. There's a bonus.

Plus the extra gold. The sweet, sweet extra gold. Thanks again guys!