The party continues their assault on the Asmoden temple, looking for the infernal engines fueling the tyrant Barzillai Thrune and his guardians. The rogue-wrestler, Guts Clobber, continues their tale. (-GM)
17th of Rova, 4715 AR
Our story begins on the ground… Or rather on a balcony. We just finished our previous fight against the cult of Asmodeus, where over twenty men lay slain at our feet. They would use their will and force others to do their bidding, so they had it coming… Although this endeavor is against a group of hellhounds. The handwraps around my fists tell me so, and purge spirits deemed unworthy (1d6 good damage vs evil aligned). But for now, we can take a breather. From our previous endeavors, we learned that using traditional medicinal techniques takes too long, so we instead brought a magical bag full of potions. Easier to drink a potion than laboriously applying bandages over 10 minutes, after all. My wounds begin to fade, but the potions were not going down easy; consuming that much magical liquid and then exercising too much is bound to make anyone queasy.
We could hear the bells ring louder in our ears. The fire ritual at the center of the church is now growing even larger. From here on out, all enemies are only the most ELITE as they are boosted by the flames of hell. We decide to press onward. What good is a hero that runs away anyway?
The next room has a large brazier that priests would use to immolate themselves in order to be purified in the image of their god. Fitting. They would rather light themselves on fire in subservience to another than rise against the forces that control them. Their fate is to be nothing more than pawns in a greater scheme and they run TOWARDS that goal instead of challenging it to become their best selves. I now see why they fall so easily. They have no drive except to follow the path laid out for them, never diverging to find their own. Our fighter Narkwood plunges his icy axe into the heart of that brazier putting it out. They may not be willing to challenge fate, but we are.
In a missing chapter of our story, the rebellion marshaled its resources to bring Malcolm, “the Angel of Kintargo,” back from the dead. TBD returned from his travels with an undead psychic skeleton, Dasya, and a world-renowned orc wrestler, Guts Clobber, who joined the strike team. They resumed their assault on the Temple of Asmodeus to disrupt their summoning ritual and get to Barzillai Thrune, defeating the High Priest Corinstian Grivenner who was leading the ritual. (-GM)
17th of Rova, 4715 AR
The temple’s defenses were definitely ready for our second attack. We were knee-deep in the enemy’s forces; it was hard to tell between the massive skeletal wyverns and the priests, let alone my own allies. We thought we were coming out on top, when suddenly a door opened to reveal: nothing. Or, rather, there was a small group of invisible priests who piled onto myself, all alone on the back lines. Another demon also emerged from the great black sphere, this one wielding a massive flaming longbow and clad with massive bat-like wings.
“As the vampire tried to flee in gaseous form, by some power unknown to me, Guts Clobber grabbed and restrained her.”
But now was when we started to get serious. I summoned a great cloud of spirits that uttered a guttural scream causing most of the enemies to flee in total fear. This allowed Narkwood to cleave through every enemy that ran past, and many fell at his feet. Dasya continued to stir up a massive storm of objects, a massive storm of debris and leftover… battle parts. It caused a massive din that did nothing for the enemies already-faltering mental wellbeing, as they continued to be battered by the maelstrom. Guts Clobber continued to grapple with the vampire as she tried to wrestle from his orcish grip.
As she broke free, she shouted some phrases in an infernal chant. Her words echoed throughout the massive chamber, and the great pillar of flame in the center of the room seemed to recede into the massively domed ceiling. Another great hum added itself to the sound of battle and the eyes of all our enemies glowed with a new fire.
However, it was only a matter of time until we whittled them down. We defeated the vampire, and as her gaseous form tried to return to her coffin to reform, by some power unknown to me, Guts Clobber grabbed and restrained the suggestion of form that was the vampire. We all gawked at this, as TBD was still struggling for his life back with the remaining enemies who had fled and were now returning, their senses regained. I spent my time chasing down the demon with the magic bow. I was trying to banish it back to the depth of hell from whence it came, but it stayed just out of my reach with its flight. Narkwood unleashed a bellow of rage and charged into the fray with TBD. They fought back-to-back, knocking down enemies left and right. With the help of Dasya, we finally brought the demon out of the sky, and found ourselves alone in the massive chamber.
On further examination, the ritual was mostly diminished, but not completely. We decided to ascend to the balcony above us, searching for Thrune, to finally end this occupation. As we opened the first door, we faced three massive Nessian Warhounds, creatures bread from shadow, fire, and hatred. I felt their flames flow into me; I was consumed by it.
Until next time, I hope, Malcolm the Healer (Kyle)
In two missing chapters (that included a hiatus), the party won leadership of the Gladiators’ Guild, which installed Normal Person 2.0 as its guildmaster. The party continued influencing guilds to vote to oppose the Scarlet Triad. They also conducted an elaborate heist, securing invitations and donning disguises, into an exclusive Scarlet Triad slave auction. They found the slaves (which included the leader of the Jewelers’ Guild) and are trying to break out! (-GM)
3rd of Rova, 4720 AR
Duneshadow
The party finishes their fight with the mage and her calikangs, snatch a look at their bodies and run. Then Goodfellow tries to blow the place up. The party finds a dagger, a healing potion, some perfume, a wand, a ledger, and a shield.
Normal Person discovers that this shield is an artifact that can explode on command, but he sells it. Rem searches for clues and tips to help find the mythical camel. The rest of the party spends a few days trying to convince the guilds to vote against the Scarlet Triad and try to find more info on DUNESHADOW, the legendary purple-striped camel.
Normal Person goes to the court to find out why a metalworker in the Order of the Anvil was framed by the Scarlet Triad and who the people in the case were.
The party searches 90 miles from Katapesh. After five hours, the party fails to find the camel and they decide to leave, but they practically have to drag Rem away. After that moment, Rem changes. The party hears that a huge fire battle attacked a camping caravan, so they teleport down to the spot where it happened and see nothing. The party looks everywhere, only seeing a huge bloody battle with wreckage everywhere. The party remembers the attack happened at night, so the party rests, waiting for the monster of a beetle to strike.
They all lie down, but Rem has another idea: what does a FIRE BREATHING beetle do? It breathes fire, so rem digs a 4-5 foot hole and lies down in it, then goes to sleep. The party notices a bump under the sand (oh jeez I wonder what that is). The bump starts moving quickly toward the party, then stops about 10 feet away.
Everyone gets ready, standing up straight and putting up their shields, but Rem just stays flat, places his staff on his chest, and covers his mouth. The large beetle jumps out of the sand and sprays the whole party with fire (all but Rem). After the wave of fire, Rem jumps out of the hole and shoots a huge ball of death at the beetle, taking out its pain and sadness on the unrelated creature.
Normal Person and Vinny smack on the beetle, getting it to around half health, then Rem drops a herald of Sarenrae, blessing everyone. Then Normal Person hits it crazy hard, dealing even more damage, then Vinny misses.
-Rem (Cort)
============================ Godfrey “The Great” Goodfellow, human summoner 15 –and Vinny (demon eidolon) Ible Clack II, goblin gunslinger 16 Normal Person 2.0, human fighter 16 Remissionem, kobold (angelic) sorcerer 16 Septius Augustus, human-mummy psychic, 15
In two missing chapters of our story, THE PEOPLE OF KINTARGO OVERTHREW THE GOVERNMENT. The Silver Ravens were instrumental, of course. Fortunately, the party fighter, Narkwood, describes some of those events before telling our next chapter! (-GM)
16th of Rova, 4715 AR
The guards at the bridge looked at the massive crowds ahead of them, then at each other. Slowly, but with increasing conviction, they put their weapons down and walked away. A massive cheer erupted, and we began our march toward the Opera House. There, the guards were not so understanding.
In the midst of fighting both human and infernal servants of the Mayor, the haft of my axe snapped cleanly in half. It was remarkable that no one took the chance to kill me in that moment of shock, but it gave me enough time to switch to my clan dagger, a much less effective weapon. As I finished off the last of the party crashers, word reached me that Malcolm had died in the fighting. Luckily, the building we just liberated fixed that.
I felt the magic chants of power from the ritual casters at the opera chamber infuse my soul. As Malcolm opened his eyes again, so did the rest of us see the world in a new light. We could take on anything with this power, we felt. How very wrong we were.
There was no sign of the Mayor, or any more of his entourage. They were all in the Temple of Asmodeus, which pulsed a dark aura in time to the opera house’s vibrant glow. We had complete control of the city – we were free, but that freedom would only last a few days if we didn’t stop the ritual at the temple. Archfiends that were beyond our capacity to fight were being summoned there, and our victory hinged on the disruption of that summons.
Temple of Asmodeus on the right
Our plan was to enter the temple by stealth. First, a spell to turn one of us into mist, so that they could pass through the heavy door and open it from the inside. Then, a sphere of invisibility to get us past the main room at the entrance, a giant pentagram with priests and devils at each point, into the upper rooms where their leaders would be hiding.
Everything went smoothly at first, and we entered one of the side corridors undetected. But priests were there as well, and the task became the much harder one of a quiet ambush. You’d think it wouldn’t matter much, whether a blade strikes the edge or the center of a heart. When those few inches are the difference between dying silently and crying out first, it matters very much.
We emerged from the corridor of dead priests to find the temple on high alert. A massive snake with a head on each end bathed the surroundings in a darkness that only I could see through. Enemy fighters, spellcasters, even a vampire closed in to fight us. We fought like vengeful angels, but it was soon clear that we were overwhelmed.
I found myself to be the only one left standing. Thinking quickly, I finished off the two-headed snake, freed myself from its death clutch, dashed to Malcolm’s unconscious form, and poured the last of our healing potions down his throat. Immediately upon awakening, Malcolm cast a powerful spell that healed everyone around us. The positive energy slew the vampire and awoke the others, but it also awoke the snake, who attempted to ensnare me once more, but not before Veld’s gun killed it for good.
It was now a race against time, and I could no longer afford to worry about the others. With a burst of adrenaline, I dashed across the central chamber towards the front doors that we had silently entered such a short time ago. Their casters took notice and summoned fiery explosions in my path, but I endured them. Their devils took chase, with claws that tore at my armor, but I outran them. The door had magically reinforced itself, even from the inside, but I was ready for it, swinging my axe at the handles with all the strength I had left. Sunlight! I ran across the shattered doorway, knowing that the devils would not follow.
Were any of the others able to escape? The rebellion lived on, but how many more setbacks could we afford?
In a missing chapter, the party drove off the dragon and turned the tide against the giants! After interrogating (and befriending!) one of the captured stone giants, they found out they needed to take out Mokmurian, who is gathering an army of giants in a keep called Jorgenfist, in the Storval Plateau. This some weeks travel away. The party’s inventor, Jail, tells their tale. (-GM)
19th of Abadius, 4708 AR
The party’s journey
After the party’s few days of resting and helping the town of Sandpoint rebuild, they travel to Galduria and speak to some of their villagers about the attacks by giants. They find out the attacks have also been happening to them as well. Then three giants try to attack but Aranea shoots a bolt of electricity at the giants, bouncing it off a house 360 no-scope trick shot almost killing them. Ralramp shoots a bolt of electricity, finishing off two of them and Kondjure hits the last one and the villagers finish it off.
After a while of Jail teaching the kids to make knives and how to use them, the party leaves and heads to the next location, a place called Wolf’s Ear and Ravenmoor, where the party spends the night uninterrupted then leaves the next day to the final area called the Storval Stairs.
There, the party encounter five hill giants. Aranea fires another shot off, hitting four of them for almost no damage. Kondjure runs to them and uses his boots, making him as tall as the hill giants, and starts attacking. Aranea shoots at them, dealing lots of damage but not much compared to their health. Many swift shots almost kill Kondjure, but Ralramp heals him.
Jail and Aranea run into the battle to help attacking these huge creatures, doing what felt like nothing. Kondjure gets knocked unconscious but is healed by Jail. More difficult battling leads to Kondjure almost dying again, only to be saved by Ralramp. Still low health, Kondjure melds into the stone floor, leaving Jail and Aranea alone in a huge crowd of giants, and then one of the giants kills Aranea.
Jail, infuriated, scares and crits the giant. Kondjure then gets out of the stone and tries to push one of the giants off the edge of the stairs, but fails. One more is killed by Jail and Kondjure. Jail fixes Aranea only for her to get knocked back down dead (well more dead then she already was).
Kondjure kills another giant and pushes another off the side of the stairs finally, but it doesn’t really care. It just walks back around and up the stairs. Jail tries to trick one of the giants, but fails and gets two more little hits in.
We last left our heroes as they were breaking out of Kintargo Keep with one of the original Silver Ravens, Jackdaw, in tow! The Silver Ravens’ recent recruit, the time-dragon wizard, Kaidan, continues their tale. (-GM)
11th of Rova, 4715 AR
Our scene starts with us in a fight. The enemy surrounds us, and our bold, incredible, and dashingly handsome wizard is in a troubling situation… The dastardly enemy mage just finishes Dominating him and forces him to take a deep breath against his own side!
The shadow hound we have (TBD’s animal companion -GM) was too STUPID to be dominated though! Veld charges in with a MEGAVOLT and STRIKE putting hefty blows into our adversaries… THEN I TIME TRAVEL TO SEND THEM THROUGH TIME sickening a couple of them and damaging a few… Our magus Valdo ran away to help our new companion AND ACTUALLY HIT A SPELLSTRIKE! (we are very proud)… I DRAIN BONDED ITEM AND HEROICALLY DEAL MASSIVE DAMAGE… Killing none… I black out. When I wake up my team won… GOOD JOB TEAM!
Jilia Bainilus #1
I then unlock the deeper secrets of the multiverse and learn how to manipulate the dark energies that blinded me earlier, and manipulate time on A LOT of people for more accuracy, haste, or slow (7th level spells).
We attempt to resurrect Jilia Bainilus, the old mayor who everyone liked a lot… Our first attempt fails CRITICALLY and that causes a whole lot of issues with an Unrisen… Which is HEALED BY POSITIVE!!! (Malcolm is a fool who does not read up on random undead creatures)
From there, we play the politics game around town for a bit and scared the poop out of some guards to try and get them to abandon their post… Wolash the guard has agreed to march with us during Freedom Day… We have then gone back to resurrection duty…
Jilia Bainilus #2
We finally resurrect that mayor successfully, while I made ammunition and learned some basic spells…
We are going to make a float and have the Song of Silver ritual at the Opera House, that gives us bonuses against Charm and Fear and lets us Breath of Life those that die near us for 1 week!
In a missing chapter, the party did a daring attack on Rizovair, defeating the great dragon that rested atop Kintargo Keep! After Malcolm was sent to a different dimension, the party reunited and began their jailbreak of one of the original Silver Ravens, Jackdaw herself!
8th of Rova, 4715 AR
Rizovair
We pick up in the middle of an intense intrusion into the great castle dominating the silhouette of Kintargo. We were face-to-face with many of the Hellknights’ elite as well as the entire garrison’s commander, ready to receive us after we flew over the walls with apparent grace and humility. Enough with the poetry; we bowled through them like a hot knife through butter.
We delved deeper into the castle searching for the captured Silver Raven. This person in particular was a part of the original Silver Ravens from Kintargo’s past. We were surprised to even hear of her existence at all. As we kicked down every door, ready for even the smallest foe, we realized that the entire castle was understaffed to the point we struggled to find any enemies. We knew they had been out in the streets harassing the greater populace.
The First Warden
The only thing we did find was prisoners, and after much heated discussion we decided to free them and see what chaos they could cause throughout the castle. We also found a hidden area with unholy contracts for devils, meaning we were about to banish some baddies. We did however discover some records that told us where Jackdaw, the person we were looking for, was being held. She was in the deepest level being guarded by something called ‘The First Warden.’ We were in for a fight.
Inside one of the cells we met Name TBD who wanted to join our merry band of idiots fighting for freedom. And we threw him into the deep end as we faced a squad of phantom armor sets, clanking as if there were people inside. The altar in the room gave off a powerful evil aura that would have buffeted us if we did, in fact, worship some ‘god’.
With their platemail spread across the floor we began to descend. We found monstrous things like skeletons of starved prisoners. One was different from the others, however, it was alive. We faced against: The First Warden.
He was a powerful spellcaster who engulfed us in flames while cackling maniacally as he himself burned in them.
It was a hard fought battle but with our overwhelming numbers we dispatched the warden, and he dispersed back to his home plane, free of his enslaving contract.
We found Jackdaw in the adjoining room, singing a song of Kintargo’s founding. A hundred years in a room alone cannot be good for one’s mental well being. It took some convincing but we were able to get her to come along with us.
On our way out we were, of course, stopped by a full squadron of hellknights and a few of the unholy vampires that were immune to sunlight. They had powerful domination magic and took control of Kaidan. We are deep into this fight when I must sign off, best of luck and great knowledge to you,
The party’s fighter, Narkwood, wakes up from his nap to find that that the rebels’ secret hideout is being raided by the government!
6th of Rova, 4715 AR
“Our head of security burst through the door, panting. ‘They’re here!’ “
I woke up to wild shouting and clashing of metal. Where was I? I could have sworn that I spent last night at the base. Looking around, I realized I was at the base. They must have found us. I dashed out into the hallway, still blinking the sleep from my eyes as I readied my axe.
It was chaos. Our pit trap had been sprung, but it was hampering us as much as them. Taka valiantly held off the attackers, but he was quickly surrounded. I ran forward, praying that I would get there in time to save him. Just before I could reach the attackers, Taka was stabbed through the throat, falling to his death in the pit.
In a missing chapter of our tale, the party encountered the ogres’ leader, a stone giant spellcaster who had a note saying there would be a raid on the humble town of Sandpoint, the party’s starting town! The alchemist Gustav Gustav pursued his dream of opening a troll restaurant, and a ranger named Petey joined the party. The party returned, worked with the city to mount a defense, and are now fighting stone giants and a dragon!(-GM)
4th of Abadius, 4708 AR
Quite frankly, the giants weren’t that big of a problem. They were pretty tough, but we managed them. The dragon was another matter. Surprise surprise, dragons, even young ones, are not creatures that die easily. We tried valiantly, but to no avail.
That thing added us to the list of adventuring casualties pretty quickly. It didn’t help that I had about a shot glass’s worth of magical energy still in my system, not enough to heal anything worse than a broken finger. Sure, we tried, but that’s not going to magically make that dragon die. Hopefully our successors shall have better fortune.
In three missing chapters(!), the party went through the next elf gate and saved a halfling desert town from a wendigo and powerful sandstorm. They reach the great trading city of Katapesh, the headquarters of the Scarlet Triad, and are now are turning the members of the Council of Guilds against the Scarlet Triad. They take on the head of the gladiators’ guild and fight for leadership! (-GM)
1st of Rova, 4720 AR
Bshez “Sand Claws” Shak
The party is finished with their battle with the giant spider and are challenged by Bshez “Sand Claws” Shak. We are now trying to convince a bunch of guilds to drop the Scarlet Triad. Rem births cows. Goodfellow captures escaped slaves. Ible helps build homes. Rem convinces the Union of Breeders that the Scarlet Triad is tipping over their pregnant cows. Deku and Goodfellow make counterfeit money to pay off loans to buy as many slaves as possible. The party then starts preparing for a heist and rescue some guild masters by making invitations and scoping out the area for a while.
Calikang
The party starts a battle with Bshez in the arena, and she summons a bunch of six-armed creatures called calikangs. Now its a 6v4, and Bshez still says it’s unfair to her. They all start using breath weapons, which heal them and damage the party at the same time.
Goodfellow sends a huge bolt of light from the sky, exploding with light, and heals them with it because it turns out they heal whenever someone deals energy damage to them. A huge attack by the party almost kills one of the calikangs, then it dies to fire. Meanwhile, Bshez Shak yells at the crowd, riling them up giving herself and her friends a bonus. Soon after, another dies by Vinny. Then the first damage is dealt to Ible and another is killed by Deku. Rem heals Goodfellow many times and Bshez finally catches on and starts to attack him, but he cringes at her attack and saves himself. But then the last one hits Rem knocking him unconscious.
-Rem (Cort)
============================ Calvin Magoo, gnoll magus 15 Deku, goblin alchemist 16 Godfrey “The Great” Goodfellow, human summoner 15 –and Vinny (demon eidolon) Normal Person 2.0, human fighter 16 Remissionem, kobold (angelic) sorcerer 15
Pathfinders' Guild of Berkeley 