$Id: elwin-campaign.html,v 1.11 2004/10/07 18:37:54 ksulliva Exp $
This campaign has been running (off and on) for more than five years. It's inevitable that the players (and GM) will forget many of the details of it. This document is an attempt to cover the highlights of the campaign, with special emphasis on events which have had a lasting effect on the campaign. --Kevin Sullivan
On a bright June morning, on the road several days east of Elwin, a group of bandits attempted to grab a young noblewoman traveling alone. This turned out to be quite a large mistake on their part. The woman was Reantha, a mage, who was leaving Elwin to avoid a unwanted marriage. Alone she was no match for the rather large group of bandits, but her cries attracted a large number of passers-by. Realgar, a dwarrow warrior, and Klantic, an albino healer-bard, were the first on the scene. They were soon joined by Logan, a halfblood ex-sailor from Kreb and Zorith, a halfblood mage. The battle was furious, and the numerous bandits were gaining the upper hand, when a traveling hero, Maric of the Sea Otters, joined the fray and tipped the balance against the bandits.
Reantha had been grabbed while examining an unconscious girl found by the road. Maric gave the party the job of returning the girl to her home before he left them on his own mission. The girl was only partially lucid but mentioned a lake in the mountains.
On the way to the lake, the party met another group of bandits. This group, like the first group, was a part of a large band which preyed on travelers around Elwin. The band was led by Greyith, a mage. The party also found a young boy who tried to steal supplies from the party but was captured by them. The boy had been with the bandits for a while with his older brother, but left when his brother was slain a week before.
Greyith demanded that the party give up both the girl and Merith. The party refused and managed to escape. They eventually arrived at the lake which was fed by a magically pure spring. The touch of the lake water made the girl resume her true form of a winged spirit. She thanked the party by leading them to a pair of silver wands before vanishing.
The dwarrow, Realgar, was overcome with greed and stole away with one of the wands. The party pursued him. While following him they stumbled upon an abandoned village. Zorith found some coins and refused to share them. After an argument he abandoned the party, who continued after Realgar.
Zorith found an old and seemingly harmless Flan Acar living as a hermit near the village. The Flan Acar had been cursed to try to dig up his ancient enemy each night, but he filled in the hole each morning. With Zorith's help, he was able to finish the job that night. Kirilan was released.
Kirilan was a powerful mage who died shortly after the Northerners arrived. He employed some powerful magics to bring him back after death. This is unusual, since the known Acarian magic rarely delves into necromancy. Kirilan seems to have all of the power of an old Acarian lord, and also some new powers associated with his state of undeath. Rumors have reached the party that Kirilan is immune to standard weapons and commands an army of undead.
Zorith escaped with his life, barely. He soon caught up with the party who were returning to investigate the strange occurrences. They faced Kirilan and fought inconclusively. Kirilan flew away after some damage was inflicted by both side. The party investigated the tomb but found it empty with few clues about the Flan Acar.
The party went to Elwin to find out more about Kirilan. They stayed with Reantha's father, Doriath, who was overjoyed to see her return. Unfortunately they ran afoul of the local Council mage there and several party members were imprisoned when he suspected (correctly) that they had information about Kirilan's release. The Council mage also summoned Red Hunters from Lorn to question the party. While Logan and Zorith investigated some strange raids on her father's lands, Reantha secured the release of the rest of the party by agreeing to marry Lontil, the son of the Governor of Elwin (and the man she had run away from). The party (sans Reantha) quickly left the area and headed north to Sarelin before the Red Hunters could arrive.
While in Sarelin, Zorith was attacked and taken by Kirilan. The party hired another halfblood mage, Dalkin, to be their guide. Dalkin was secretly working for Kelson of Sarelin, a powerful lord who wanted to contact Kirilan. Over time Dalkin decided that loyalty to the party was more important than loyalty to Kelson and stopped sending messages to Kelson.
The party met Carynth while investigating strange events in a nearby village. Carynth was from a village near where Kirilan was freed. Kirilan killed her fiancé and looted an Acarian burial mound near the village. Carynth vowed to slay Kirilan; she put together a suit of Acarian armor from pieces found the tomb and set out. Carynth decided that joining the party was her best chance of defeating Kirilan.
The party headed back towards Elwin in search of Kirilan and Zorith. They came to another village, Caermor, which was under some sort of curse. The curse seemed to be tied to a young blonde girl named Belle. Eventually the party battled a Larca-du, a demon summoned by Acarian magic. Belle revealed herself as Belapharia, a powerful Flan Acar, and lent the party the iron needed to slay the demon.
At this point a band of mercenaries who had been tracking Logan caught up with him. The party was besieged in an ancient stone cave but was able to escape. They counter-attacked the mercenaries but were not successful and retreated after sustaining several injuries. They left Merith with a local farmer to heal while they fled the area.
After a day of traveling the party stopped so that Klantic summoned a familiar, a spirit-dove. The dove arrived leading Thyr, a northern warrior who decided to join the party. The group headed east and found Greyith and his bandits again. The bandits were using an ancient hexagonal Acarian tower as their base. Based on the runes carved around the outside of the tower, the party thought that there was some connection with the silver rods. They made a deal with an ambitious bandit; the party ambushed and slew Greyith, and the bandits left the area.
Inside the tower on the second floor there were carvings on three of the walls. The party was able to activate one of them using the remaining rod. It was a portal to a similar tower in some icy land. There the party slew a great wyrm and returned through the portal. The other two carvings seemed inactive.
Now that they knew the value of the rods they started tracking the stolen rod. They retrieved Merith and headed to Elwin, again staying with Doriath. In Elwin, agents of Lord Kelson tried to convince Dalkin to betray the party. He refused and was almost slain but escaped. It was revealed that he was wearing a magical amulet which gave him mana and magic resistance, but could be used to track and control him. This amulet was removed and discarded. Unknown to the party, Logan was also wearing one of these amulets. The amulet prevented him from revealing this fact to the others.
A combination of magic and sleuthing led them onto a boat bound for Tirilan. A storm wreaked the boat, leaving some of the party on the shore and others on an island crowned by an Acarian castle. The castle held Belapharia and another Flan Acar, Valdirian. The two Flan Acar wagered on the survival of the party with the second rod (purchased in Elwin from Realgar) as stakes. Eventually the party drove them out of the castle, but at great cost; Logan lost the first rod to Valdirian (the second going to Belle since the party survived), Belle gained Dalkin as a retainer, and Thyr was slain.
Since they now possessed neither rod, the party decided to return to the lake where they initially found the rods. They meet up with Rana, a southlander mage. At the lake they found no more rods, but they did meet the spirit they had released. The spirit revealed that Logan also wore an amulet. Carynth and Login fought, and Carynth was able to knock Logan down and remove the amulet, freeing him from its control.
The party headed towards a castle where they thought Kirilan might be, but detoured north to avoid the mercenaries who were after Logan. They are attacked by ghostly nighthunters who tainted Rana, slowly turning her into a spirit. The party headed to Sarelin to find a cure for Rana. There they were told about a mage, Ithin, who might be able to help. Ithin sent them in search of water from a holy spring. They retrieved the water after battling a strange group of northern warriors who Klantic identified as Blood Brothers. Ithin healed Rana, then asked the party to travel to the Blue Hills in the north to trade for an item known as the Dagger of Night.
While traveling the party noticed a large number of mercenaries on the road. The rumor was that Sarelin was hiring an army to attack the pirate city of Scraith.
On their way to the Blue Hills the party encountered a patrol from the Elks, a clan which was friendly with Klantic. The party helped the patrol slay a group of mulits and gained honor with the clan, especially Carynth who slew two of the beasts. The Elks has a feast in honor of the party.
The party met with the Lord of the Blue Hills and traded for the Dagger of Night, though they were told that it contained a great evil. They returned to Ithin and gave him the blade though with great reservations. Rana asked Ithin for permission to cast aura on him but was refused. She decided to leave the party and return to the north.
To the party's horror, Ithin told them that Kelson of Sarelin had used the mercenaries to invade Elwin. The party immediately left for Elwin. On the road they saw the Black Hawks, an elite mercenary group. The Black Hawks had participated in the attack but left afterwards when they found that Kelson was working with an undead Flan Acar, Kirilan.
The group found Elwin occupied by Kelson's troops. Doriath's house was in ruins and Doriath was dead, but they heard the tale of the attack from a refugee. While Kelson's mercenaries had attacked the outlying areas, Kirilan had transported the Blackhawks into the center of the city where they had slaughtered the nobles. Reantha had been at her father's that night, and had led the defense of his house after he had fallen. The next day, finding that she was one of the few nobles left alive, she had rallied the remaining Elwin fighters and used them to protect a stream of refugees from the city. Her forces were camped a day's ride from town.
The party made their way to Reantha and found her totally consumed with the defense of her people. Her greatest concern was finding shelter for the winter. The party agreed to investigate a series of caves for her. They found that the caves were inhabited by a strange group of men who called themselves the "K'rik'm". Their speech was oddly distorted, and they disliked the outside. The caves were also full of large white mole-like creatures, 4 feet long. The K'rik'm agreed to allow Reantha's people to stay there during the winter in return for food from the surface.
One of Reantha's advisors was Ronat, a dreamwalker. Dreamwalkers are Druids with the power to communicate with the spirit world through their dreams; they often have the gift of prophesy. They are also strident in their opposition to the Flan Acar. Ronat had seen that three items were needed to succeed versus Kirilan: the Seal of Ulim, a gem, and a dagger. Reantha sent the party to find the Seal and to investigate the other items. They headed towards Lorn and the vast libraries therein. Reantha gave them a writ of passage (for whatever good it might do) and messages of introduction to Wintoth, a member of the Council of Mages.
Several days out of Elwin the party rescued Lady Farella of Or from bandits. They agreed to escort her home to Or. Her brother, Jared of Or, gave the party an recommendation to the the School of Rilis, where Logan looked for clues about the Seal.
On the road from Or to Lorn, the party met Belapharia, again in her Belle disguise. She told them that Valdirian was performing a ritual with a deathmaster to the north and that they should disrupt it. The next day a man came up to Logan and greeted him "in the name of the Circle of Silver". He told Logan the people hunting him were on the road ahead. The party headed off the road towards Valdirian.
The night before they found Valdirian, Belapharia lured Merith away and took his form. At the battle they found that Zorith was there with Valdirian, the deathmaster Finrod, and a bunch of skeletons. Belle revealed herself and Zorith helped the party. They killed Valdirian and Finrod and took back the one silver rod. Belle still had the other rod. Zorith rejoined the party.
Carynth and Logan argued over a magical sword and Carynth's armor; a fight broke out. Carynth left the party and returned to Elwin.
The party arrived at Lorn and hired Rodan as a guide. They met with Wintoth. Wintoth sent them to retrieve a text dealing with Ulim from a School outside of town. On the way, the party came across a merchant whose daughter had been kidnapped. They entered an old sewer system but failed to save the daughter before she was killed at midnight at the dawn of the new year. They found that the sewers were the domain of a cult known as the "Circle of Silver", which was becoming very powerful in Lorn. The cultists worshiped Flan Acar.
The party retrieved the text and returned to Lorn. That night, Wintoth was attacked. The party received word than Wintoth was alive but they must leave town immediately and go to Portius, the last known residence of Ulim. Meanwhile, Klantic took pity on a northerner slave, Morna, and bought her, intending to return her to the north. The party left for Portius the next morning.
In Portius the party found that Ulim was Kirilan's teacher and that Kirilan once possessed the Seal. Kirilan's pupils were Taldaloric and Estorial, both of whom died during the Lorn Revolt. The Seal was stolen by a thief at the end of the Revolt, along with a glass orb and other items. The thief was thought to have fled towards the haunted ruins of Jortala.
On the way to Jortala, the party stopped at a ruined waystation. The orb was also there, and its power shrunk the party until the tallest of them were less than two inches tall. They found that the thief had gotten this far before the orb's effect had shrunk him, and that many other travelers had also been shrunken. The halfblood thief, Ratilius, was still around. The party was able to destroy the orb and break the spell. They then found the Seal and left.
While shrunken, they met a mute northerner, Meat. Meat had also been trapped by the orb and helped the party destroy it. He joined the party when they grew back to full size.
Returning to Lorn, the party found the Wintoth was healed but that he was afraid of a spy in his midst. His assistant became his contact with the party. The assistant told them about a ritual being conducted by the School of Loralis, thought to be Circle of Silver cultists. The party went to investigate.
The party succeeded in disrupting the ritual, but when the power collapsed the party was caught in the backlash and was sucked into another world. They found themselves in a world where there the creatures seem to feed on light. After several days struggle the party escaped that world to find that only a few hours had passed in the real world.
The party learned from Wintoth's assistant that the gem which they need is an Eye of Truth. Three Eyes were known to exist. One was lost in the sea near the Grey Isles, one was given to the Archdruid far to the north in Krelleb Gor, and one was lent to Torlith, an adventurer who sought the Isle of Aldic. The party decided to go after the last one, since it was the closest. The last known location of Torlith was in the city of Simtar 52 years ago.
Meat had a day in the arena of Lorn. He won his fight (barely), and decided that the professional gladiators were not the pushovers he had thought. After the battle Logan and Meat were invited to a party at House Agoria.
The next day, Belle (in the form of a little girl) ran up to Logan and pulled him into a tavern. She gave the party an Acarian device to help them in their search, and told them to take the Seal to see the deposed Queen of Simtar. In return, she asked to "borrow" Zorith for a few weeks. The party saw the Queen and used the Seal to close some sort of magic portal. They were told that a survivor of Torlith's expedition had made his way back to Simtar. He didn't survive long but his story was recorded in the library of the School of Valdis. The librarian of the school was named Pontilius and was probably still alive. She gave them a recommendation to Pontilius.
On their way out of town the party met Tegid, a traveling druid, and Wonarith, a southlander warrior who served him. They traveled with the pair for several days. One night in an inn a man stole the Acarian device from Meat. The party tracked him to a cave and entered it accompanied by Tegid and Wonarith. It turned out to be another shrine for the Circle of Silver. The party battled the cultists and a Larca-du. In the middle of the battle with the demon, Tegid caused tremors in the rock which collapsed many of the tunnels trapping the party in the cave. Tegid and Wonarith fled as the earth shook. When the party was able to dig themselves out, they found a note from Tegid admitting that he had had the device stolen and that his job was to stop them from finding the Eye.
This story is not yet complete. Kirilan and Kelson still rule Elwin, the Eye and the dagger are yet unfound, and Zorith's fate is unknown. The road to Simtar is fraught with peril, especially with a druid opposing the party. Will the party prevail in the end? Only the Great Spirits know. -Kevin Sullivan